Author's Notes: Yeah, I know the last chapter was kind of boring. There really wasn't much opportunity for a plot and it was more filler to take up some time between the chapter before and this one. This chapter is much different though. I had a complete blast writing it, especially Ellie's parts. I think you guys and girls will get a kick out of her in this chapter. It does get a little bit more serious towards the end, but this is overall a fun and lighthearted chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Last Of Us or the characters in this chapter, except the ones I introduce. All credit goes to Naughty Dog.

Brand New Start

CH. 4: Misery

"Ugh… I'm sooo fullll," Ellie groaned as she threw herself onto the couch. They had served deer at the diner for dinner, and Ellie pigged out like she never has before.

"Didn't I tell you not to eat that much?" Joel had warned her multiple times that she would not feel well if she ate as much as she did. A hunting trip a couple days prior had brought back several deer, so there was plenty of meat to spare. Ellie had three full helpings of it.

"Yeah," her voice was muffled from her face being buried in the pillow, "but did you really expect me to listen?"

Joel chuckled. Ellie certainly was a stubborn kid. "I was hoping you'd be smart enough to, but I ain't really surprised you didn't."

She picked her head up to respond. "Oh, so I'm stupid now?" she asked with false anger and a snarky voice.

Joel smiled and answered "Dumb as a post."

Ellie stared at him with a blank expression on her face, while Joel stood there with a smirk on his. She was playing it off as if she had been offended. She couldn't keep a straight face for long, and she burst into a fit of laughter, causing Joel to do the same. He ambled over to the couch to sit down. "Scoot," he said as Ellie sat up to make room. "It's okay though. We have all this food available to us now, may as well make the most of it."

Ellie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. I almost wish it didn't taste so good so I wouldn't be tempted to eat as much and feel sick afterwards."

The two shared another laugh at her most recent remark. "Now listen, Jeffrey's gonna be over here to take me to the guard station and leave Hannah here with you. I'm gonna want you girls to stay here while we're gone."

Joel saw Ellie's mouth turn into a devious grin. "Won't do any good, Joel. We'll still find a way to get into trouble here."

Joel sighed in response. "Yeah, don't I know it. Just, please try to stay out of trouble."

Ellie held her hand up to her head in a military-style salute. "I'll try, sir."

"Good girl," Joel said as he pat her on the head.

"Oh, so I'm a dog now?" she asked in the exact same manner as earlier.

Joel tried to think of a more smart-ass comment this time around. He thought quickly. "You certainly smell like one." Ellie had never really had a proper shower, and in the last year bathing consisted almost entirely of going into a shallow river to wash some dirt away. But Joel had not had a shower in over twenty years.

"Oh, like you smell any better! Even Buckley thinks you smell like shit."

Joel gave her a gentle nudge on the arm. "I didn't say I don't smell like shit. I'm just saying you do too."

Ellie gave Joel a two-handed shove, but ended up pushing herself back more than Joel. As the two sat on the couch laughing, there was a knock on the door.

"That's probably Jeffrey," Joel said as he stood up. He opened the door and sure enough, Jeffrey and Hannah were standing there. Hannah had a bag slung over her shoulder, and Ellie was very curious as to what was in it. "Well hey, you two. Hannah you can come on in." He stood aside and let Hannah walk through the doorway before stepping out. "We'll be out about two hours, so remember: don't leave the house, and stay out of trouble."

"Got it," the girls said simultaneously.

After Joel had closed the door, Hannah went over to Ellie and the two shared a quick hug. "It's great that we get to hang out. I've got a lot I want to talk about, and I bet you do too."

Ellie thought about that, and realized that she did have a lot she could talk about, but not a lot that she actually wanted to talk about. "Actually, a lot of this stuff is pretty personal to me and, don't get me wrong, I like you, but I'm not comfortable talking about some of that stuff since I just met you."

Hannah nodded slowly. "I see," she said as she took the bag off her shoulder. "I brought a little something with me. Maybe it will get you to open up." She unzipped the bag and took out a bottle of vodka. She displayed it proudly like a trophy with a large smile.

"Where did you get that?" Ellie asked as she took a small step back.

"I stole it from my dad when he wasn't looking," she declared proudly.

"Are you crazy? What happens if he finds out?"

"He won't find out. Trust me, I sneak a few sips fairly often and he's clueless of it. Come on, let's drink."

Ellie could tell that Hannah didn't have much of a guilty conscience when it came to alcohol, but Joel gave her strict instructions to stay out of trouble. Drinking alcohol was certainly on the list of things she couldn't do. "Joel would kill me if he found out I was drinking."

"He won't find out. A couple sips won't get you drunk, but it'll make for better conversations." She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to convince her new friend that there would be no harm in drinking just a little bit.

Ellie thought about it for a long while. She at first wanted no part of Hannah's proposition, but she was seriously considering it now. I guess if I don't get drunk, he won't find out. "I guess… I guess a couple sips wouldn't hurt anything."

Hannah's face lit up now that Ellie had agreed to partake in her method of socialization. "I knew you'd come around. Let's chat."

"There's three towers along each wall. This wall right here, the towers would be designated, starting from the far left one, North 1, North 2, and North 3." Jeffrey was explaining to Joel the basics of guard duty. It was for the most part fairly straightforward, but there were still things that needed to be clarified. After Jeffrey explained everything he planned to take Joel up in each of the twelve towers to shadow the guards a little bit. "Hey Joel, I gotta ask you something."

"What is it?"

"As I said this morning, Hannah's never tried to make friends with anybody. It really surprised me that she took such a liking to Ellie. I just want to know what you think it is that makes the two connect."

Joel pondered Jeffrey's question, but he couldn't really find and answer. Ellie hadn't exactly been a social butterfly in recent months, so it was a bit of a surprise to him as well that she made friends with somebody so quickly. "I really don't know, Jeffrey. I like seeing her happy and talking to someone so I'm not complainin' about that."

"Oh, I'm not complaining, I think it's wonderful that Hannah's found someone she can talk to. I just wonder what she sees in Ellie that she doesn't in the other kids in town."

"Like you said, Ellie's got a gift," Joel said. "It's as simple as that."

Jeffrey thought about the to-the-point explanation Joel gave. "I guess you're right," he simply replied.

"Ugh," Ellie grunted as she took the bottle away from her lips. The clear liquid burned her throat, but gave her a warm feeling inside. "You know, once you drink more of this stuff it starts to taste alright." The first sip she took was vile and repulsive, but she quickly developed a taste for it.

Hannah just giggled. "You got that right, girl." The liquor was having an effect on both of them; they were getting very giggly. She took the bottle from Ellie and took another sip. They had both had a lot more than a few. "I think this is a great bonding experience." Hannah passed the bottle back to Ellie, who also took another sip.

As she removed the bottle from her lips she started giggling softly. "Hehehe… My fingers are tingling," she said as she held out her hand.

"That's what alcohol does." There was a long pause before she said anything else. "I think I can do a handstand," she declared as she stood up.

"No you can't."

"Watch me." She got on her hands and feet, but barely even managed to get her feet off the ground before she fell over, causing Ellie to erupt with laughter.

"You fell!" She exclaimed through manic laughter.

"Yeah sure, laugh at my pain," Hannah said as she sat back down next to Ellie.

"You're not actually in pain, you dummy." Ellie stopped laughing when a thought hit her. "You know, how are Joel and Jeffrey gonna react when they see that we're drunk?"

The question got Hannah's full attention. She wasn't laughing any more either. "Oh… I didn't think this through." The two were in trouble, and they knew it. Out of the blue, Hannah came up with a cunning, foolproof plan. "I got an idea."

Joel and Jeffrey walked up to the door of Joel's house. "I'll send Hannah out to you. You can just wait here." He took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door before pushing it open. When he entered the house he saw the two girls slouched up against the back counters in the kitchen.

Ellie threw her hands up with excitement when she saw Joel enter. "Joel! You're back!" she yelled.

What the hell's gotten into her? "Yes… I am. I was… out for two hours and you knew where I was goin'."

"And I missed you," she said as she held her arms forward. Hannah was just as perplexed as Joel was. What's she doing? This is not according to the plan. "Wait there, let me come give you a hug," she said as she tried to stand up. She pushed herself up off the floor with her hands, but they gave out and she fell right onto her bottom. She and Hannah started laughing immediately as she hit the ground. "I fell on my ass," she said to the girl next to her. The laughing started to die down until a snort from Ellie caused another laughing fit, during which Ellie fell over onto her side.

Joel was as confused as he'd ever been. He had never seen Ellie act even remotely close to this. She was acting… drunk! And not just drunk, she was completely smashed. He did not see any alcohol near them, but after a quick scan of the room he saw the neck of a glass bottle sticking out from underneath one of the couch pillows. He started walking that direction and Ellie quickly stopped laughing.

"Oh, there's nothing to see over there Joel. Really there's nothing… don't go over there – oooooooooooo." Too late. He had found the evidence.

"Did you really think you could hide this from me?" he asked as he held up the bottle.

Hannah turned to Ellie. "Busssssteddddd-duh."

Joel was furious, but he wasn't showing it. "Ellie, this is unacceptable."

Ellie tried to find something to say in defense. "Well…" she looked back and forth between Hannah and Joel a couple times, before finding her defense. "It was her idea. Yell at her," she said as she pointed to Hannah. Hannah's jaw dropped when her friend ratted her out, and she looked at her in disbelief.

"It may have been her idea, but you didn't have to participate." He turned his attention to Hannah. "Hannah, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Your father is waiting for you outside. I'm sure he would like his vodka back, and would also like to know why his daughter was drinking it.

Hannah sat in silence for a few seconds, before reality slapped her in the face. "Ah, balls," she said as she bowed her head. "I guess I should face the consequences," she said as she gingerly stood up. She stumbled her way over to Joel, running into the dining table in the process, before taking the bottle of vodka from him and stumbling out the door.

Joel walked over to Ellie and folded his arms across his chest. "Now then, what made you think this was sensible?"

"In my defense…" she stood up slowly this time, trying not to fall again, "…I didn't actually want to drink any at first. She pressured me into it."

Joel shook his head. "Pressure… I guess they didn't talk about peer pressure in that preparatory school you were in."

"You know, I think there were more important fucking things to talk about."

Joel was noticeably angrier now. "You think this is funny? You could get very sick, Ellie!" He stopped himself from getting too angry, and spoke in a more calm tone. "Just... go up to the room and stay there the rest of the night."

Without speaking she stumbled over to the stairs and grabbed onto the railing. She put her right foot up on the bottom step, and then took it back down. She put it up again, followed by her left foot, before going back down to the bottom again. After one more failed attempt to climb the steps, she gave up. She leaned back while still grabbing the railing, supporting her full weight with that one hand. "Could you please carry me?" she asked.

Joel thought she should have to walk herself up to her room, but realized that she might fall and hurt herself. Just this one time. He went over to her and as he reached out to pick her up, she fell into his arms unconscious. "Woah-oah," he said as he eased her down to the floor, before putting his arms under her knees and neck and picking her up. "You... are gonna feel like hell when you wake up," he said as he started carrying her up the stairs. When he got to the first landing he stopped, and realized that it was more a case of if she woke up. She drank a lot of liquor, and as far as he knew she had never had any before. Alcohol poisoning was a real concern. He had heard of people choking on their own vomit after drinking a lot and passing out, but he didn't think she drank quite that much. Nevertheless, he was still worried.

He laid her down on her side of the mattress, and decided that he should get into bed as well. He didn't want to leave her side when there was a possibility of her getting sick. He laid down in the bed and put a hand of top of her head for a moment. He closed his eyes, and as he drifted off he hoped that she would wake up in the morning as well.

Joel woke up around the same time he had the morning before, and was relieved to hear the sound of Ellie snoring next to him. She made it through the night. Thank God. She lay on her left side, facing the window. He knew it would be best to let her sleep in, and he also knew that when she woke up she was going to feel miserable. He didn't want to be in the same room when she woke up. He sat up and stuck his feet off the side of the bed. When he stood up, he heard a loud and long moan come from Ellie. Ah, great... she's awake.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," she groaned.

"How ya feelin' this mornin', kiddo?" he asked. He realized he shouldn't have asked it, because he knew how she felt. She was having a hangover. Joel thought about that, and realized what it actually meant. Aww… baby girl's first hangover. In a strange way he felt proud, like a father who had just watched his child take their first steps.

"What the hell happened last night?"

Her memory was foggy, as he expected it would be. "You don't remember?"

"Not really," she said, agitated.

"You and Hannah got smashed and then you passed out. Now you're payin' for it."

There was a brief silence, followed by "That sounds vaguely familiar. Fuck, I've never had a headache like this before."

Joel wanted to show sympathy, but he didn't feel any. She was irresponsible and got drunk, she deserves this. "Yeah, that's what you get for getting drunk without any supervision. Now get up, it's time for breakfast."

Ellie did not move, and remained silent.

Joel was more authoritative this time. "Ellie, get up out of bed."

"Noooooo, let me stay here."

He thought about arguing, but decided it would be futile. Instead he thought it would be good to get her a glass of water. He thought it would make her feel better and make it easier for her to get out of bed. "I'll be right back."

He went downstairs into the kitchen to get a glass out of the cabinet. He grabbed the tallest glass he could find and turned the faucet on, making sure the water was nice and cold. He filled the glass about three quarters of the way full before shutting the water off. He walked back up the stairs and into the bedroom, walking around to Ellie's side of the bed. "I brought you a cool glass of water.

Without opening her eyes, she extended her hand up and out to where she thought she heard his voice. Joel looked at her hand – Oh, she's gonna hate me for this – and splashed the entire contents of the glass into her face. The shock caused her entire body to flail wildly for a couple seconds before she collected herself enough to scream "Fuck you Joel! Ahh…ahh..." She put her hands to her face as the pain shot through her entire head.

I have no regrets. "There, you see." He set the empty glass down on the nightstand next to the bed. "Now get up, I ain't playin'"

She growled, slid her feet off the side of the bed, and used her hands to push herself up off it. She got about halfway up before immediately going and lying back down in the exact same position she was in before.

"Ellie-"

"Just go. Enjoy your breakfast. I'll be here."

Joel stood there for a second thinking about whether or not he should try to coax her out of bed any more. "I'll bring you a plate from the diner."

"Don't forget bacon."

"I know."

Joel, Tommy, and Maria all sat down at the booth. They saw that Joel had a plate for himself and a plate for Ellie, but she was not with him. "Is Ellie going to be joining us?" Maria asked.

Joel gave a quick shake of his head. "Nah. She ain't feelin' well, so I decided to let her stay in bed."

"I see," she responded.

"What'd she come down with?" his brother asked.

Joel paused, and smiled. "You ain't gonna believe this."

Tommy chuckled. "Try me."

Joel took a dramatic pause before telling them what was wrong with Ellie. "A hangover."

Tommy let out a quick, breathy laugh. "You're shittin' me."

"I am not."

"You let her drink?!" Maria asked furiously.

"No, I wasn't there, I was out with Jeffrey. Hannah brought over a bottle of vodka and the two of them just… got plastered."

"Get the fuck out," Tommy said through his laughter.

"She passed out too. I'm surprised, and thankful, that she didn't throw up or… piss or shit her pants."

Tommy and Joel were both laughing quite hard, while Maria had a very different reaction.

"Oh my God! How can you guys be laughing at this?!" she asked with disgust.

"Come on, Maria. They're just kids and they're curious. I was curious when I was younger," Joel tried to reason with her.

"It doesn't matter! They could have gotten alcohol poisoning, and Brenda does not have the equipment to do anything about that!"

"They didn't, though-"

"But they could've. When you get home you put Ellie in her place and let her know that she is never to do anything like this again!"

Joel was getting agitated at Maria. "Uh, Maria, you ain't in any position to tell me how to deal with her," he snapped. "And besides, I don't think I even need to scold her. I think this hangover will teach her a good lesson."

"Joel!" Jeffrey called out as he stood next to Joel at the booth. "Does your daughter have a hangover as well?"

Joel looked up at him. "She ain't my daughter, but yeah. Pretty bad one too."

"I can't believe Hannah would do something so stupid. She's gonna get an earful from me and you better do the same to your girl. And while you're at it, tell her she won't be seeing Hannah for a while." Jeffrey was fuming, and understandably so.

Maria shot a look at Joel, as if to say see, he has some sense. Joel took note of the look, and now he had two people supporting the idea of giving Ellie a stern scolding. "I'll consider it," he told them.

"I am so pissed," Jeffrey said as he walked away.

Joel sat and thought about what Jeffrey and Maria had said about disciplining Ellie. While Maria was certainly right about how she could have gotten sick, he didn't feel like further punishment was needed. Still, he knew that a hardheaded kid like her doesn't learn lessons easily. He needed to let her know that what happened the night before can never happen again.

He walked back into the house carrying the plate he fixed for Ellie. "Ellie!" he called out. "Breakfast is here!" When he got no response he went upstairs looking for her. He found her lying in the exact same position she had been before he left. She hadn't moved an inch. "Did you get up at all while I was gone?"

"Nooooooooouuuggghhh."

Without saying anything more, he walked over to her nightstand and set the plate down.

"Thank you," she said weakly without opening her eyes.

"C'mon, eat up," he instructed her.

"I will, eventually. I need to take a piss but I can't stand up."

Joel tried to encourage her. "Sure you can. I have faith in you, kiddo." Time to get corny. He put his hand on her shoulder and started ever so gently shaking her. "If you just believe in yourself, you can accomplish more than you ever thought – "

"Oh, shut up old man!" she snapped as she shook his hand off of her.

He immediately put his hand back on her shoulder. "If you want me to stop, you have to get up."

"Then get off me and let me get up!"

Joel obliged and took a step back from the bed to give her space to walk through. Very slowly, she managed to stand up. The pain in her head meant she couldn't open her eyes more than halfway. "Even my hair hurts." The words were barely discernible through the grumbling, which continued incessantly until she was out the door. When she was down the hall, Joel realized that he was still a bit hungry. He stealthily walked over to the plate to snatch a piece of bacon when she wasn't looking. He slowly reached out a hand to grab a piece of the delicious pork. "Don't even think about it!" she yelled from the hallway. He backed off, slightly disappointed.

He heard the bathroom door close, followed by the loud thud of Ellie falling to the ground. He was sure she was okay, but he still needed to check just in case. He walked down the hall and knocked three times on the bathroom door. "Ellie, what happened in there?" Obviously she fell. But was she okay? She didn't respond. He wasn't panicking yet, but it was definitely odd that she didn't even give a moan. He knocked again. "Ellie! You okay?" Again, no response. That partially threw up a red flag. If she was okay, she would have given some indication. He knocked again. "Ellie! Are you okay?!" When she didn't respond the third time, the red flag was fully up. He opened the door without caring if she was decent, all he cared about was if she was okay. Her feet kept Joel from opening the door all the way, but he squeezed through to find her lying on the floor with both eyes closed. "Ellie?" A slight panic had set in, but it was lifted when she opened her eyes and looked up at him, still squinting. By the way she was looking at him he could tell she was expecting some kind of reaction. The only reaction she got was an insincere pity sigh.

"I fell," she said faintly.

Wow! I never would have guessed. Captain Obvious saves the day! "Yeah, I can see that."

"Luckily there was a floor to break my fall."

Joel went over to her and grabbed her arm to help her stand up. "C'mon. Get on up, do what you need to do, then eat your breakfast. I'll be on the couch downstairs; we need to have a serious talk."

He waited patiently on the couch for her to come down. He had a feeling in would be a while before she was ready to come down. After about ten minutes he heard Ellie come tumbling down the stairs and hitting the wall at the first landing where the stairs bend. He ran over to the stairwell and saw her lying there, looking at him with the same look she had in the bathroom. The reaction from Joel this time was an aggravated sigh.

"I fell."

"Ellie, knock it off, that ain't funny. Now get down here and sit your ass down on the couch."

"Geez, someone's bossy."

"Don't push me, Ellie," his voice was raised now. She made her weak and wobbly way over to the couch and sat down on the center cushion. She put her elbows on her thighs and rested her head in her hands. Joel stood across the coffee table from her with his arms folded against his body. "Now… Here's where we stand. What you did last night… was not okay, and you need to face the consequences."

She didn't respond.

"Jeffrey gave Hannah a good chewin' out over this whole thing, and I was strongly considerin' givin' you the same."

"Then go ahead. My head hurts so much I probably won't even know you're saying anything."

He paused before speaking again. "I strongly considered it, but decided against it. I'm lettin' this hangover serve as your punishment. Jeffrey wasn't as generous, so along with a hangover of her own, Hannah won't be gettin' out much for a while. Hopefully you'll learn a good lesson from this."

"Oh, I definitely learned a lesson. Never drink again."

"I didn't say you can't drink anymore, I'm just sayin' don't go gettin' hammered with no adults around. You're still just a kid, Ellie. Your body can't tolerate that much alcohol. You could have gotten alcohol poisoning, and if you did there wouldn't be a damn thing we could do about it. You wouldn't be sittin' on that couch there, you'd be lyin' under the ground... as in a grave"

Again, she didn't give any acknowledgement that she heard him.

"I was scared, Ellie. You really had me scared. Let me tell you a story," he said as he walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. "It was my sixteenth birthday, and some of my friends from school threw a big party for me. There was alcohol there and I was drinkin' and... I wasn't responsible. I drank too much and, like you, passed out. There was a big difference though. I woke up in a hospital bed with a tube goin' up my nose, down my esophagus, and into my stomach to pump out the alcohol. All this after being given CPR to revive me. As I was lyin' in that bed I couldn't stop thinkin' about my parents and Tommy. What if I hadn't come back? What if my parents had lost a son, and Tommy had lost a brother, because I was irresponsible? I couldn't imagine puttin' people who care about me through that." He looked directly at Ellie. "Now, let me ask you: could you put someone who cares about you through that? 'Cause that's what I thought I might have to go through last night. You're like a daughter to me."

That statement got Ellie's undivided attention. She figured he had thought of her that way, but he had never before said it outright. She looked right into his eyes and could see the affection in them. He genuinely thought of her as his daughter.

"I care about you... very much. Now I want you to promise me that you'll never put me through anythin' like that."

She sat there for a moment, and then she wrapped her arms around him. "I promise," she said as Joel returned the embrace.

After a few moments of hugging the two let go. Joel stood up to head into the kitchen. "Now then, I think this calls for a drink…"

Ellie let out a loud groan as she forced her head down into the couch cushion.

"…of water." He pulled a glass out of the cabinet that was identical to the one he had used to splash the water in her face and filled it up. "Seriously, you need to drink plenty of water today." He walked over to the coffee table and set the glass down in front of Ellie. She looked at the glass of water very skeptically. She believed it was water, but it sure looked a lot like the vodka she drank last night.

"That is water, right?"

"Yeah, I promise."

She sat up and began drinking from the glass. She then turned to Joel to say something she needed to say. "Joel, I'm glad we had that talk."

He nodded at her, and put an arm across her shoulders. "So am I, baby girl."

That concludes chapter 4 of Brand New Start. In the next chapter: An anniversary is celebrated at Jackson.

Remember to leave a review. Your feedback is the most important thing to me as a writer and it motivates me to continue.