SPRING

CHAPTER ONE

Divide

A/N: This is a second part to an already finished fanfic. I suggest you read part l first. Thank you for everybody who decided to continue sticking with this story, inspite of the sudden change. I owe you guys an apology for that. It means the world to me that you would still read this crap that I write. I love you guys, you're awesome :D

Theres one thing I really wish to address in tlou fanfiction community. I observe so often that there's this stigma around Joel or Ellie finding any romantic interest in a story. I don't get it. I really don't. They walk into the town with the hopes of having second chances at life, so they would obviously take anything that comes their way. Think of yourself in that situation. After all those 20 years of brutality, when you finally enter normalcy for the first time, wouldn't you want to embrace it? I get it with Joel, his priority is always Ellie and that's a given. But I don't understand why people think the presence of a romantic interest in his life would overpower his dynamic with Ellie. That's stupid.

Joel maybe damaged beyond repair, but if there's one thing that's always been constant in him is his mental soundness. He's endured more harshness than anybody can imagine, been through and done things that would question his humanity, and yet he can always make the better judgement. With the Fireflies and Marlene? I don't think it was a breakdown. He still stuck to his decision, after everything he did for Ellie. He might've been impulsive, but he knew exactly what he wanted and didn't care what he had to do to get it. And also, once they start living in the town, Joel and Ellie will eventually have to have their own flow. They can't stick to each other all the time, society doesn't work that way. Think of yourself and your parent/guardian. Put yourself in Ellie's shoes. Accepting a normal day-to-day life requires them to let other people into their lives, maybe as friends or lovers.

Thanks for sitting through my ramblings. Even after all that, if you find JoelxOC and ElliexOC weird, well I can't help you. You're entitled to your own opinion. Don't hate.

You can read the fanfic now. Can't tell how long this is gonna be, just gonna have to wait and watch. Hope you enjoy :)

'Look at that,' Joel mumbled lightly, his finger pointed ahead at a fleeting silhouette, four long legs leaping through trees and bending to get a taste of fresh green.

'It's still young,' Kenda said, as her eyes lingered on the doe, in slight wonder. The sun was thin, like it was still waking from its slumber. The first signs of dying winter had been knocking at their doorstep for nearly two weeks. A bird chirped on a nearby branch, a twig cracked. The doe grazed on the thin grass poking out of the white ground.

Thwack.

It's body sank to the snow, red seeping into the white and blending to taint the forest floor.

'Clean shot,' Joel grunted casually, as he got up and made his way to the kill. Kenda still held her bow up, sighed once. She watched him as he pulled the arrow out of it's neck and tied its front legs together. She stood up, waiting for him as he dragged it with the rope.

They tied it to her horse, using Roger to travel back to town together, since the doe took all the space on hers. They rode in silence, exchanging only comments about the snow, the weather, the day in general.

Joel was never one to find silences awkward. On the contrary, he preferred them to constant quipping. He found something beautiful in two people enjoying each others' company in solitude. Today though, he could tell the silence carried some sort of heaviness. Like something was waiting to be shared, but an invisible wall sat between them.

He helped her off the horse as they reached the diner in the town, dragged the kill in to sell it to the cook. They exchanged it for some spices, a sack of corn cobs and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

They came home to an empty living room, eerily quiet, with the sun streaming in through the window. Joel placed the goods in the kitchen and came back out, sitting by Kenda on the couch.

'So, we got the whole day to ourselves,' he said, as he exhaled in peace and leaned back, resting his head against the edge. 'My patrol duty's not until tomorrow afternoon.'

'Where's Ellie?' Kenda asked, her eyes drifting to upstairs. The hallway and the rooms were empty too.

'Her and Vera are over at Angelica's,' he said. 'Doin' somethin'.'

'Oh,' Kenda mumbled, her eyes on the open door, gazing out at the thin snow that still lingered on the street. She saw three kids passing by, smiling, talking, water guns in hand.

Joel looked at her discreetly, observing her disturbing silence, her distant attitude. He saw the faint lines on the sides of her eyes that the sun traced, strands of hair coated in the light, soft and golden.

'Hey,' he gently called, sitting up and moving towards her, leaning in to look into her eyes as she turned to him.

'Somethin' on your mind?' he asked, as he saw her masking her emotions immediately, giving a light shrug.

'No,' she mumbled, with a jerk of her eyebrows, like she was caught off-guard. 'It's just . . the weather. It's changing and I have this weird feeling about it. That's it . .'

Joel's concerned gaze lingered on her for a while, and she shook her head, giving him a wry smile, squeezing his fingers. 'I'm okay, really,' she nodded. She took a deep breath, swallowing the emotion. She wrapped her hands around his shoulders and pressed her forehead against his lovingly.

'Alright, then,' Joel uttered gently, his eyebrows still drawn together, but light hands finding her waist. A crease formed between his brows at her poorly formed excuse.

She ran her fingers in his hair, stroking a long strand that was poking out from under his ear, almost touching the angle of his jaw.

'I think it's time for your cut,' she mumbled, and he glanced at her once, tired. 'Already?' he uttered, incredulously. 'The scissors is in the kitchen.'

Kenda brought them, and sat down beside him as he leaned forward, head held up as she picked out the longer strands and chipped them off.

She gently pushed his face to the side, as she cut the hair behind the right ear. His gaze fell on her, on her neck, her copper skin. When she was done, his eyes lingered, flickering, scanning her face, lips parting like he was going to say something.

'What?' she asked softly, putting the scissors aside, noticing his sudden distraction.

He hesitated for a few seconds, before masking everything, burying it. Then he cleared his throat and shook his head.

She said nothing, simply let her eyes travel his face as he looked away. She stroked his hand once, comfortingly.

'She'll come around,' she mumbled. He felt the words twisting the pain in his chest, saw the swaying branches outside the window. Heard a lonely breeze shaking them.

'She's a big girl. She'll understand.'

Joel didn't reply, and his silence was comforting enough for her. It was a normal response for him.

He squeezed her hand in response, leaning back onto the couch, head turned toward the ceiling.

He wondered if Ellie would ever forgive him.

Vera jumped down from the wall, looked back up to find Ellie following her. Johnny came in last, stumbled at the top and fell on his bum.

'Goddamit, Johnny,' Ellie muttered, shaking her head gently.

'There was moss!' he exclaimed, his voice slightly louder. The two girls shushed him, anxious.

'We gotta be fucking quiet,' Ellie whispered, leaning in. The narrow street was almost empty, except for an old lady that was passing by. They lingered behind the walls of a neighbouring street, under the shadow of the pawn shop's ceiling.

'Nobody can know,' Ellie added, and Johnny nodded sincerely.

'Let's go,' Vera mumbled, and led them behind the building, into a narrow alley between the neighbouring wall and the pawn shop, stopping in front of the metal hatch that sat on the ground midway.

'Sometimes Paul leaves it open,' Vera explained. 'Like today. I saw them bringing new supplies earlier. They probably left for lunch or something, so we gotta hurry.'

'If we get caught,' Ellie said, her eyebrows raised. 'It's all going on you, you know that right?'

Vera held her gaze for a second, and then shrugged. 'We'll see. Let's go.'

The three of them entered the hatch one after the other, fell into the store room below the level.

Vera rummaged through an old box, carefully moving few things and roughly pulling away the others.

'Aha!' she uttered, pulling out a smaller box, about the size of three fists. It was a plastic box, yellow in colour, and had different flashing pictures on the cover. It was faded, but the label still clearly spoke of the contents: SPARKLERS. Not for children under 10. Inflammable.

'What's that?' Ellie asked, moving closer, taking the box in her hands.

'Oh, you'll like this,' Vera nodded. 'There should be a few more in there.'

Ellie looked back at the store room, as Vera and Johnny rummaged through the box again. She saw a number of unnamed boxes, the tops of which stuck out with different things - clothes, machine parts, books, ammunition. She walked to a nearby box full of papers, and went through some of them, seeing nothing but a bunch of notes about different delivery timings.

'Who do you think asked for these?' Johnny questioned, as they returned with three more boxes of sparklers. 'They look dangerous.'

Vera scoffed. 'You guys really know nothing,' she said, observing their clueless faces. 'Come on. I'll show you.'

They took the same way back up again, keeping the hatch back in place. Then they walked to the stables, to the grounds which were left open about this time of the day.

Vera pulled out a few match sticks and showed them, holding the sparklers down, the lights flashing and buzzing as they twinkled and fell to the dying snow on the ground.

Ellie's eyes widened with fascination as she took one from Vera, saw the changing red yellow and orange, the twinkling, dancing lights that looked like flowers.

'This guy from the zone used to find these for kids,' Vera explained. 'He found other firecrackers too, but I don't think we'd get them anywhere now.'

'It's kinda cool,' Ellie flashed a nervous smile, her fingertips wary as the sparklers climbed up to the tip. She held it away, and saw with twinkling eyes as the lights diminished, and finally disappeared at the end, like something invisible had consumed them.

'Eh,' Johnny shrugged, holding one in his hand, turning it over. 'It's boring.'

'You're boring,' Ellie retorted, glaring at him as she lit another in her hand.

The spark climbed to Johnny's fingertips and he squealed, dropping the stick onto the snow, where it sizzled and turned the snow black. The girls laughed, Ellie held her stomach as she saw his terrified face and slightly blackened nails.

'Not so boring now, huh?' Vera nudged him. Johnny simply grunted like it wasn't a big deal, but grimaced when she held out another sparkler for him.

'Wuss,' Ellie giggled, her eyes travelling back to her hands.

The sky turned a pale orange as the sun began to set. Horses neighed in the stables behind them, and towns people passed by on the street, paying no attention to the three teenagers in the grounds, talking, laughing.

A shadow lingered in the rocks far away, beyond the reaches of the town. A pair of watchful eyes drifted to the stables, and saw the three kids on the pale greenish white grounds.

Ellie felt a chill pass down her spine, and turned back immediately, her eyes drifting across the trees and rocks behind them, gauging the mountains.

'What's wrong?' Johnny asked, following her line of sight.

Ellie realised that her eyes were looking for something, like her instinct had kicked in suddenly with no explanation. Like someone, or something, was watching.

'Nothing,' she mumbled, looking at the grass under her.

The chill on her spine lingered until she left the stables to go home.

A/N: Thanks for reading. If you've stuck with the story since the beginning, please review/follow. Love.