AN:

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Naughty Dog does.

Alright, so as I'm sure many of you also did yesterday, upon the official release of The Last of Us, ended up playing into the wee morning hours and bawled your eyes out like I did. I'm sorry but that opening Cinematic had me in tears. Thus why my stories today will be a little bit more emotional and tissue-box orientated.. I'm sure I'll get back more into action but all these heart-felt human emotion stories kept striking me so I figured I'd try them out for sample.. I could be being over dramatic or just plain off the mark but I wanted to try anyways. Urggh.. here it goes :S Employing some flashbacks for story purposes here.

– – Page Breakers Still Sucking Away – –

'Just take the damn horses and leave!'

'No!'

You look over at him, you really are getting tired of his stubbornness. His refusal to leave has you extremely on edge.

His expression softens a bit when you finally look at him 'Not until you talk to me..'

'What's there to talk about, Joel?' you throw your hands up in the air 'You left, now you're back and you want something. Isn't that how it always goes? So just..' you motion toward the door with your hand 'skip the pleasantries and just take what you want and get out of here.'

'If I agree to leave, will you talk to me first?' his question is a test. One your about to fail.

He knows if you say yes it will confirm everything everybody has been telling him since he left all those years ago.

That you still love him.

You still do have feelings for him, and the thought of denying him is tearing a hole in your heart. But you can't say no to him. No one can it seems.

- -

'JOEL! Stop – it!' you shout.

'And why should I?' he asks as he continues.

'I – give up-p!' you sputter out between laughs.

'You quittin' already?' he teases you but ceases the tickle attack 'Woman you are no match for that rough world out there.'

'Oh would you stop being so high and mighty.'

'Fine, fine. Just so long as you concede that I'm the Master.'

'HAH! That's laughable.'

'Oh really?' His tone of voice has you nervous. You dare to look at him.

'Joel, no.. Joel! JOEL!' you scream as he starts tickling you again.

You end up in various awkward position strewn about the grass hill you've been sitting on as you are ruthlessly attacked.

'Admit defeat!' you announce proudly as you sit in your victorious position atop his chest.

'Not a chance in hell, sweetheart.' he laughs back and uses his weight leverage himself sending you flying sideways.

'W – uffmp!' you make an effort to stand, but it's quickly deterred by his hands on your wrists bracing them back on the ground.

The smile on his face is enough to make you melt. He really is happy.

'Do you admit defeat?' he asks, using your previous words against you.

You struggle against his grip only momentarily successfully jarring him before he expertly stops your attempts by lowering almost his full weight a top you.

'Oh, jeez.' you try to suck in a breath, but that's very difficult 'You're heavy.' you wheeze from under him.

He laughs at you again, the action causes a small item to fall from the confines of his shirt pocket.

You immediately take note of the item as it falls. It's a box.

Not just any box..

A ring box..

Oh god.

You tear your eyes away from the small object in front of you to look at him.

'Well, now that the secrets out..' he mutters as he moves off of you, grabbing your hands to pull you into a sitting position.

Reaching out and picking up the box he opens it to reveal a beautiful ring.

You have absolutely no idea what to do. You're completely frozen. You now understand how Deer feel when cars come around the bend.

You can hear him talking.

'Will you marry me?'

You let your eyes meet his. There's absolutely no hesitation in your answer.

'Yes.'

- -

'No.' you answer plainly.

He's obviously not convinced as he doesn't move from his position in front of your sink. Instead, he moves to lean against it 'I don't buy it.'

'You don't have to. Leave.' you bark back.

'What is it that I've done to you?' he yells back at your short answer.

'What haven't you done?' you're screaming at him by this point 'You cheat, you lie, you steal, you beat people up, you smuggle illegal stuff and you leave all the time with NO warning!'

He sees the tears welling up in your eyes and turns his head before they start to fall.

'You left with no warning.. just.. up and left, Joel. Do you understand how much that hurt?'

When he doesn't answer you continue

'I had no idea where to find you.. no contact, no nothing. I wondered for months if you were dead, or if you'd just decided you'd had enough of me.' you wipe at your eyes with the sleeve of your jacket.

This doesn't seem to be getting through to him. Or he's just not showing it.

'I didn't get tired of you..' he replies quietly.

'Oh really? Then where'd you go?' you demand.

'I was trying to protect you.' he's getting madder now.

'How?' you march right up to him and stand toe to toe. 'How could you protect me, when you weren't even here?!'

'I was trying to protect you from loosing someone you love the hard way.'

You feel your breath hitch as you take a step back 'I did loose someone the hard way. I lost someone I loved to a coward. It doesn't make it easier if you run away. If we were going to die, I would have wanted to die with you.' you make eye contact with him 'Not without.'

You can see the tears that were brimming in your eyes a few moments ago appearing around the rim of his now in turn.

You inhale a steadying breathe and reach across to your other hand and rip the fingerless glove you wear on a daily basis to reveal that ring he gave you all those years ago.

'I would have married you.'

He seems taken aback by that.

'You..' he steps toward you to take hold of your hand and examine the ring.

It's no where near the condition you got it in, but that's not what matters to you.

'You kept it all these years?' he looks up to you for confirmation.

You nod 'Yep.' you're still fighting back the tears threatening to spill.

Any moment that was being exchanged between the two of you was quickly cut short.

'Do you know how easier it would have been for you if you'd just traded this for supplies?'

You smile. You're not sure why, but you do.

'Yes. Joel, I do realize how much easier it would have been.' you pull your hand from his grasp and walk out of the kitchen without so much as a second glance at him.

It's quiet there for a few moments before the voice of reason takes an appearance.

'Wow.'

Joel looks up at this and quickly spots the person belonging to it 'What?'

Ellie walks into the kitchen and pops herself onto the counter beside a still stunned Joel.

'You really are an asshole aren't you.'

– – Yup Still Doing This – –

AN: Okay.. so.. what did everyone think? Am I being ridiculous? Should I just stick with what I know and continue to write WD stories and leave TLoU alone? :P I'm still not entirely in love with Tess so I'm just making it a RI story.. sorry if that makes people mad but I love those types of stories. This scenario just popped into my head and I write. I'm starting to think the creative side of my brain owns me completely.. Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry I mucked with the back story, but I wanted to. Urghh.. I'm so nervous about what people will say :P The more and more I re-read this story the sillier it seems.. I'm just going to post it and run away.