This is my first story, so it's probably not all that great. Let me know what you think, and be sure to leave a review when you're done! It gives me an idea of what you guys like/dislike and what I can do to improve the story. :) Thank you!

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Ellie's eyes slowly fluttered open to the sound of that familiar Texan accent.

She rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. "Morning, big guy."

He was sitting in a chair beside her bed, his legs crossed with an old motorcycle magazine sitting in his lap.

"How'd you sleep?"

Stretching her arms out as far as they could go, she yawned once again. "Eh. As good as I can on this shitty thing." She motioned towards the old, torn mattress she was sitting on with holes covering its entirety.

"Well, c'mon, get some breakfast in you. The kids are playin' some movies in the main room if you're interested. Tommy's gettin' some men together for a supply run, so I'll be with them for the rest of the day."

"Aw, can't I come with you?" She asked, pouting her lips and slightly raising her eyebrows.

"Not today, kiddo," he said, lifting himself out of the chair. "We're headin' a few towns over - it's all unknown territory. We won't be back 'til late."

"I'm 15," she huffed. "I may be young, but I'm not an idiot. I can handle myself. Besides, I'd rather hang out with you guys then sit inside and watch shitty princess movies all day."

He chuckled. "Just... do it for me, alright? I'll feel better knowin' you're here safe and sound."

She glared at him, her arms folded across her chest. "You never let me do anything fun anymore."

"Maria needs your help doing some work around the town, anyways. You can meet up with her after you eat." He gave her a quick smile and ruffled her hair. "Next time, I promise."

And with that, he made his way out of the door. Ellie sighed and fell back onto her bed. Ever since they arrived at Tommy and Maria's settlement, Joel had been acting strange - he was always holding her back, like he was trying to protect her from something. And he seemed... distant. Like he was hiding something. Whenever someone asked about their trek back to Wyoming or the Fireflies, he'd immediately change the subject or ignore it completely. She couldn't help but remember their conversation at the top of the hill, when Joel had sworn everything he said about the fireflies was true. What if it wasn't? Was Joel really capable of that?

She quickly brushed it off and cleared her head as she went outside to meet with Maria.

"Good morning, Ellie!" Maria yelled from across the courtyard, leaning on her shovel and wiping her forehead. "Wanna give me a hand?"

Ellie nodded her and grabbed another shovel from the tool shed. They were working on a small garden - one of Maria's big plans for the town - that included several different kinds of fruits and vegetables and provided them with extra food for when the winter rolled around.

As they dug through the cold, hard soil, Ellie noticed a group of Tommy's men opening the gate and leaving on horseback into the woods. She quickly picked out Joel from the group and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Everything alright?" Maria asked, noticing Ellie's expression.

"Can you give me a minute? I need to do something really quickly."

Before she could respond, Ellie had dropped her shovel and run towards the gate. Maria watched curiously as she disappeared into the forest alongside Tommy's men. She shook her head and smiled, then continued her work.

"Man, it feels good to be back out here again," Joel said as he made his way along the rocky forest path. The sun filtered through the trees and caressed his face, and he breathed in deeply as he took in the cool, morning air. It was all very refreshing to him.

Tommy laughed. "Yeah, kind of takes your mind off of all of the shit we've had to deal with."

His laughing quickly faded as he noticed the suddenly somber expression on Joel's face. He took a deep breath and carried on the conversation.

"You alright there, brother?"

"I'm fine," Joel retorted. "Just have a lot on my mind."

The birds were chirping loudly and the breeze began to pick up, filling the silence between the two brothers.

"So, are you ever gonna tell me what happened back in Salt Lake City? Or are you gonna keep mopin' around like you're hiding something?"

Joel could feel Tommy trying to catch his gaze, but he continued to look forward at the path ahead of him.

"God damnit, Joel!" He pulled his reigns back tightly and the horse came to a complete stop.

"Keep your voice down, Tommy," Joel said through gritted teeth.

"Don't you dare. You're livin' by my rules now. Now you best tell me what the hell happened back there, or I'll send your sorry ass right back to where you came from."

Joel closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. From the moment he and Ellie arrived back at Tommy's plant, he hoped he'd never have to talk about the incident in Salt Lake City. He wanted to bury it in the past, forget it happened at all - but Tommy was making that difficult.

"Alright, alright. Just... not here, okay?"

Tommy managed to keep his cool and nodded in agreement.

"Hey, guys!" He whistled at the rest of the group. "Joel and I have something we need to deal with. Keep close and holler if there's any trouble." They agreed and continued towards the highway.

"Alright," he said as he unmounted his horse. "Shoot."

Joel hesitated for a moment. "Tommy, I..."

"Joel," Tommy said through clenched teeth. "Tell me what happened."

He sighed, struggling to find the right words.

"They?"

"Marlene and her men. They wanted to go through with the surgery even if it would kill her. And I couldn't..." He paused for a moment, a pained expression crossing his face. Joel was not keen on showing how he really felt, especially in front of his little brother. He hated feeling weak. "I couldn't let them take her away from me, Tommy. Not after all of that time."

Joel closed his eyes tightly and winced as he remembered seeing her lifeless body on that operating table. How he shot those doctors just to get his baby girl back, and the fear that ran through him as he carrying her small, fragile body down that hallway and away from those soldiers. That day was burned into the back of his mind; it was always there, lurking around and waiting for the perfect moment to resurface and consume him with guilt.

"There's no way Marlene let you out of there without a fight," Tommy added. His voice softened as he noticed how upset his brother looked. "How'd you get away? Is she after you now? I swear to god, Joel, if she sends her men out here-"

"Marlene's dead," Joel quickly interrupted.

Tommy took a step back, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Dead? Wha- how?"

"I shot her. She told me to let her go, but I knew she would just come after Ellie, and I... I just couldn't risk that."

"You're tellin' me you shot the leader of the Fireflies over a little girl?" Tommy tried to process what his brother was telling him. He wasn't fond of Marlene, that was obvious, but he was surprised Joel took it as far as he did. The deafening silence between the two brothers was soon interrupted by a loud rustling noise from the forest ahead.

"What the hell was that?" Tommy asked, clutching the gun in his jacket.

"Who's there?" Joel asked gruffly, his gun aimed at the brush before him. His finger pranced along the trigger until the source of the noise stepped out and revealed themselves.

It was Ellie.

The look on her face was so angry, so terrifying, that it even made Joel nervous - and normally it was the other way around.

"I knew it. I fucking knew it!" she cried.

Tommy gave Joel a say-something-before-shit-hits-the-fan kind of look. He took notice to this and tried to calm her down, but he was cut short before he could get a word out.

"Save it, Joel." She looked different - her eyes were swollen and red, her cheeks raw and wet from crying.

It killed Joel to see her this way, because it only reminded him more of the previous winter and everything she had been through. He wanted so badly to grab her shoulders, look her in the eyes and tell her everything would be okay. But he couldn't. Nothing he said or did would change the way she looked at him now. He lied to her after she built up her trust in him, and that would not be an easy thing to fix.

"Listen to me, Ellie. The surgery, it... you would've died on that operating table. Do you understand that?"

"I was their only hope," Her voice cracked. "I could've saved lives."

"There's no way of knowin' that for sure. You were an object to them. A prize. They didn't care about you or your well being, all they wanted was that god damned cure. And who's to say it would've worked anyways? If it wasn't already obvious, the Fireflies aren't very likeable people. People'd rather have 'em dead then take some bullshit cure from them."

"They didn't care about me or my welling being? They? You were the one who wanted to get rid of me the minute Marlene sent me with you."

It was true - when Marlene first announced that they'd have to take her to the Fireflies, Joel was livid. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with that little girl - all she did was cause trouble for him. If he had just turned around and left, Tess would still be alive and he'd still be living his old, dangerous lifestyle.

"People change, Ellie. I changed. Did you really think I was going to give you up that easily? After all we'd gone through together?"

Ellie wiped her eyes before more tears could spill over.

"The key word here is 'could've.' It could've failed, it could've worked. You didn't even give it a chance, Joel."

"Because it didn't deserve a chance. Take a look around you, would'ya? The world as we know it is gone. A cure could help the infected, but it wouldn't change the fact that our world has gone to complete shit. Bandits, cannibals... the dangers are endless. There is nothing left to save. Nothing worth saving."

"For once, I could have done something right! Something good, something to be proud of!" Her face dropped. "I know what's best for me, Joel. And this was it."

"You are a child!" The anger in his voice took both Tommy and Ellie by surprise. "How the hell do you know what's best for you?"

He knew that Ellie was more than just a 'child' - that she was strong and determined and capable of making decisions on her own. He just didn't want to admit it to himself.

"Just tell me why," she said, desperation clear in her voice. "Why'd you do it?"

"I was just..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" She cocked her head to the side and laughed. "Fuck you, Joel. I don't need protecting. And I sure as hell don't need you."

She turned around and ran back towards the settlement without a world. Joel started to run after her, but Tommy held his arm out to stop him.

"Give her some space," he said placidly. "She needs it."

One. Two. Three. Four.

Ellie counted the ticks on the clock as she lay on her bed, her legs comfortably tucked beneath her arms. The sound helped to calm her down when she was feeling stressed, but this time it had little to no effect.

All she could think about was the argument she and Joel had earlier. She knew he was lying to her right from the start, she just didn't want to come to terms with it. How could the one person in this world that she truly cared for, the person who knew her inside and out, someone she trusted with her life - lie right to her face? Because he was selfish. He didn't care about Ellie or her 'well being'; he only cared about himself and what he wanted. Did he stop once and think about what she wanted? How she'd feel about the situation? What if she wanted to die on that operating table, whether it gave them a proper cure or not?

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching her room. She quickly turned her back towards the door and stared out of the window to avoid any sort of conversation that would take place.

A few footsteps and two short knocks later, the door opened.

"Ellie?" That familiar gritty southern accent made her wince.

"Look, about what happened back there... I hope we can talk about it. I hope you'll talk to me."

There's nothing left to talk about, she thought to herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to make him go away, but it was no use. She could practically feel her eyeballs burning into her back.

He sighed. "Maria's almost done with dinner. Come out when you're ready, alright?"

He exited the room, slamming the door behind him and sending a shiver up her spine. She sucked in a deep breath and once again lay in silence as she counted the ticks of the clock. Then it hit her.

She propped one eye open and scanned the room around her until she caught sight of her backpack hanging on the back of the doorknob.

She quickly propped herself out of bed and grabbed the bag. Holding it by the tips of her fingers, she panned the room for any useful tools and supplies - her switchblade, of course; a half-empty box of granola bars; a canteen; some bandages and wire; matches; and the comic books Joel had collected for her. Along with those items, she grabbed her bow and arrows, her pistol, and some extra ammo.

She had no idea where she was going or where she'd end up, but that didn't matter anymore - all she knew was that she needed to get out there.

With her tears dried up and her bag slung over her shoulders, she took one last look at the room the two shared had shared those past few months and made her way out of the door.

Joel quietly approached their bedroom door, a plate full of food in one hand and a napkin in the other. Using his shoulder, he pushed the door open.

"Hey, uh, you didn't come out for dinner, so I grabbed you-" Joel's sentence was cut short after he noticed the emptiness of the room before him.

"Ellie?" he called out. No response.

"Ellie, this isn't funny." He set the plate on their dresser got down on his hands and knees, searching underneath both of the beds. Coming up empty, he ran down the hallway and asked everyone in sight whether they had seen her or not - they all shook their heads, deeming themselves useless.

He sighed and quickly turned back around towards their bedroom. As he stepped through the doorway, he felt a lump underneath his foot. Picking the object up, he realized that it was a piece of paper, crumpled up and rolled into a ball.

As he unraveled the letter, he noticed two words written messily in pen.

I'm sorry.