Disclaimer : I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog
Chapter 10 : One Good Day
Ellie opens her eyes slowly, trying to figure out where she is, and when she looks around, she sees that she's in Joel's room. "Okay... I'm in Joel`s bed so that part wasn't a dream then! But where's Joel? He's not here, must be down in the kitchen! But I slept with him again, that's great, and I slept all night without having any nightmares," says Ellie, removing the blanket, now sitting up in the bed.
Did Joel touch me last night? Or was that a dream? He kissed me, too… on my neck... wow. Okay. Should I ask about last night… how he feels about me? -or maybe I can let him talk first. After all, he didn't do much, just a kiss on my neck and… he touched my... butt! Shit, was he thinking about me when he did it? Or someone else? Then was he awake or asleep? Dammit, so many questions! I have to figure this out first before- She is taken out of her thoughts.
Riiiinnnngggg….
"What?... shit, it's the alarm clock, I have to go to work - where are my clothes?… yeah, shit, this isn't my room." Seeing that, Ellie gets up off the bed and goes to her room as fast as she can.
"Ellie! Ellie! Are you awake? I hear the alarm," Joel asks her from downstairs.
"Yes… Joel, I hear that, I'm just going to the bathroom to change, okay?"
"Hurry up or you'll be late for work, kiddo," answers Joel.
Ellie goes to the bathroom and cleans herself up, changes into her regular work clothes, and gets down to the the kitchen. When she enters, she sees Joel put some pancakes on the table, Shit... He made my favorite breakfast now? Damn, Joel, what did you do last night that I don't remember, Ellie tells herself.
Then Ellie sits at the table with a big smile. "Wow... Joel, this is my favorite food… what's the occasion?... My birthday was more than a month ago." Is he feeling guilty or happy about last night? Ellie asks herself.
"Ha,Ha, no! Kiddo, it's not a special occasion, I just wanted to do something for you, that's all," Joel says.
"Well… Thanks." Yeah... Maybe you did that last night! Ellie says to herself, and starts to eat. "Oh… Joel… did you sleep... well last... night?"
"I think so, why?"
"Oh... nothing… because of your injury on your arm... and all that happened yesterday, I thought that you might be having some problem sleeping."
"I`m fine, kiddo, no need to worry about that, okay, I'll be in good condition soon. Speaking of that, I talked to Tommy yesterday and he told me to take a few days off, 'til my arm gets better. So I was thinking of asking if I can go on Sunday to a place north of the dam."
"What?... You want to go out again? You promised me that you're not going out there again!" Ellie says, standing up from the table.
"Hold your horses, kiddo, just let me finish, okay?" Joel says, putting his hand up in front of him. "Ellie, there's a little lake there, and I was thinking of taking you there and starting to teach you how to swim."
"Joel! OMIGOD… Are you serious?... You aren't trying to… OMIGOD," Ellie says, then goes over to Joel and gives him a hug and a kiss on the cheek several times.
"Okay, okay, it's not a big deal, kiddo."
"Are you fucking kidding!... I'd forgotten about that promise you made me, when we were out there. Wow, thanks, Joel - now I love you even more," Ellie says, smiling and blushing at the same time.
"Yeah, I love you too, kiddo, but now you have to go to work or you're going to be late, okay?"
"Shit... I have to go, but thanks, you made my day so happy that I can-"
"You're still going to do laundry, after you come back from work later, okay?" Joel says.
"Damn, Joel… you sure know how to take the happiness of something," says Ellie, dropping her smile and walking to the door.
"See you later, kiddo, have fun at work."
"Yeah… See you later, Joel, and thanks for the breakfast, that was, wow… great. I can't wait for the swimming lesson on Sunday," says Ellie before leaving the house.
Joel stays seated at the kitchen table for a little longer, thinking. Dammit, Joel, what're you doing? You are a fifty-year-old man, you don't need to act like this. You should not be touching her like that, or having those fantasies about her, she is just a kid, Joel says to himself. At least she didn't mention it, so maybe she thought it was a dream or something. Maybe teaching her how to swim can change this whole thing with Ellie, yeah… that could be a good distraction.
Okay, seeing as how Ellie's gonna be occupied almost all day, I should go to the clinic to check on Harold, and then go to ask Tommy about the swimming lesson that I'm planning for Ellie. With that, Joel gets up from the table and goes upstairs to change so he can start his day.
After he finishes getting ready, Joel leaves the house and goes to the clinic first. When he arrives at the clinic, opens the door, and enters, he sees that the nurse is attending a kid that looks like he has a broken arm. The kid looks like he's only about ten years old. "Hi, sorry for the interruption, my name is Joel Miller, I came here to see Harold Thompson?" asks Joel.
"Just a moment please, Mr. Miller," answers the nurse.
"Okay, honey, you're lucky that the arm's not broken, just dislocated. I put your arm back in place but you can't use it for a week, okay? Now put your arm here and the other part around your neck, that way you can't move your arm, and rest it for a week. Now you can go home and tell your Mom you're okay, and stop jumping down from the roofs of those old houses," says the nurse to the boy before the kid leaves the clinic. "Okay, Mr. Miller, now how can I help you?"
"Harold Thompson?"
"Oh, right, your friend. Just follow me, Mr. Miller - we moved him to a separate room," says the nurse.
"You can call him Joel, he don't much like to be called Mr. Miller, isn't that right?" says Dylan as soon as he gets out of the room where Harold is.
"Dylan! What're you doing here? You're supposed to be working on the wall?"
"I came here to donate blood for Harold. After that, your brother gave me the rest of the day off," says Dylan.
"Wow, that's great, I didn't know you were Harold's blood type. I know that Harold and you are not close, so thank you for all your help - not only for this but for all that you did out there, too."
"Oh, c`mon, Joel, we all live here - we're like a big family now, so we have to help each other, right?" says Dylan, putting his arm around Joel's shoulder.
"I don't want to interrupt your little chat, but your friend is sleeping right now. I gave him something for the pain so he can rest, so you need to lower your voice, okay? He can't be disturbed. His condition is stable, but he needs the rest, so now if you came here to donate blood you can come with me. After that, I can check your wound for any infection and change the bandage, okay, Mr. Miller - oh, I mean... Joel, is it?" says the nurse as she proceeds to collect Dylan's blood.
The nurse gathers the things for the extraction and orders Dylan to lay back on one of the clinic beds. She starts to do her job while the two men continue the conversation between them.
"Hey… How's everything with Ellie? Are you two okay now?" asks Dylan. "After that fight in your house, I thought she wasn't going to talk to you for awhile."
"We're okay, I think. We talked after she got a good rest yesterday. Wow, she almost slept all day. I don't think that she's slept very well for the past few days."
"Yeah... I know, I went to your house yesterday to see how you were doing, and Maria answered the door and told me that you and Ellie were sleeping all day long. So I told her that I'm going to come back to see you later. Then I went back to my house to rest a little until my next turn shift on the wall…"
After an hour in the clinic, Dylan and Joel finish their conversation. The nurse finishes taking Dylan's blood, and proceeds to attend Joel's wound and change the bandage. Then Joel says goodbye to Dylan and asks the nurse if he can come back later to see his friend when he wakes up. After that, he goes to the front door of the clinic and leaves.
Now I need to find Tommy, and discuss the swimming thing with him, says Joel to himself as he walks on the streets on the way to Tommy`s house.
*Some time later with Ellie*
"Okay, Mr. Torres, I'm finished with the chicken and pig, so what do you need me to do?" asks Ellie.
"Por favor, Ellie, puedes llamarme Victor, ya llevas trabajando aquí por más de seis meses. A si que no necesitas ser tan formal, puedes llamarme solo Victor okay?" says Victor, speaking Spanish to Ellie.
"What?... Sorry, Mr. Torres, I don't understand what you said to me right now. You want me to do what?" says Ellie with a lost expression on her face.
"Ja, ja, sorry, young lady, some time I forget not to speak Spanish to the people, except for my son. I just say that you can call me Victor, okay?"
"Okay! Señor Victor, so what do I do now?"
"Ha, ha, just Victor, okay? Well, there not much to do in the stables, my son Toby and Jennifer are taking care of the cows now. But you can go and feed the new ponies, seem like we lost 4 horses three days ago and the rest are been using to patrol and hunt trip. We need to give more attention to those one now. After that, you can go home, okay?"
"Okay, I can do that - thanks, Mr. Torres," says Ellie.
"Victor! Please," says Victor on the way out of the stables.
Ellie goes and starts to do her new assignment; she goes to the stables where the ponies are and starts to get them cleaned up. Two hours later, she finishes cleaning up all of them and starts to feed them, when she hears a familiar voice.
"Hey! Ellie… you in there?" asks Jenna before entering the stables.
"Jenna! ...Jenna, is that you?" Ellie answers as she gets out of the corral where the ponies are.
"Yes, it's me."
As soon as the two girls see each other, they run and hug. After a few moments, they separate from each other and smile.
"Are you alright? I was so worried about you, after all that happened with your father and-" Jenna is cut off.
"Jenna… Joel is not my father, remember?" says Ellie.
"Oh… right, sorry, sometimes I forget. But he's okay, right? I heard that he was injured during the search for that guy.. Harold, is it?"
"He's fine, he just got a cut in his arm, nothing serious."
"What about the… fight you had with him? Are you okay or do you need to talk - I can help if you want. We can talk with my mom, or…" Jenna stops when Ellie puts one hand on her shoulder.
"Jenna, I'm fine, everything's okay. I talked to Maria, and with Joel when he came back," says Ellie.
"Okay, but you know that I'll always be there for you, right?"
"Yes, I know, thank you, you're the best friend I've had in a long time." She starts to think of Riley.
"So you want to hang out this evening?" says Jenna.
"I would love to, but I can't. After I finish here, I have to go home and do my laundry," says Ellie.
"Okay then, we can do something tomorrow - it's Saturday and there won't be much work to do around here," says Jenna.
"Okay! We can go out tomorrow," says Ellie, then says goodbye to Jenna. "And tell your mom that I'm going to go to work on Monday, okay?"
"Sure, I'll tell her that, so see you tomorrow, and don't think that I forgot about that boy of yours," says Jenna, smiling at Ellie on the way out.
After Jenna is gone, Elie goes back to finish her job and heads home.
*Later in the afternoon with Joel*
Joel arrives at Tommy's house and knocks on the door. After a moment, the door opens and Maria is standing in front of him. "Oh, hello, Maria, I didn't know that you were going to be here at this time of day. Is my brother here?" Joel asks her; for some reason she always makes him a little nervous.
"Sorry, Joel, Tommy's not here, he's with Albert right now, discussing some security details. There something I can help you with? -is Ellie okay?" says Maria.
"Oh, okay, I just wanted to ask him something, but I can come back later; it's not urgent."
"Joel, it's okay, you can ask me - is it something you need help with, or Ellie? I know that these last few days have been difficult for the both of you, so if there's something I can do to help, just tell me, okay?"
"It's just… I need a favor. I know it ain't the best time, but-" Joel is interrupted.
"Of course, Joel, please come in. We can discuss this inside." Maria pulls Joel inside the house and closes the door, then directs him to the kitchen. After half an hour talking, Joel finishes explaining what he wants to do for Ellie to Maria.
"Well... I think that that's a good idea, Joel, that you want to teach Ellie to swim. She can use that in the future, and after all that's been happening between you two... I think that Ellie and you need a little time together. But going outside after yesterday's incident with the infected... do you think that's a good idea right now?" says Maria.
"Yeah... I thought about that, but the place I'm talking about is north of the dam, like half an hour from there. The incident with the infected was way south of the river, so I don't think we'll have any problem with that," answers Joel.
"Yes, that may be true, but don't you think it's a little risky? Even though we're sending more patrol to check the perimeter of the town, we don't know if there are more infected close to town now."
"No offense, Maria, but I think that Ellie and me can take care of ourselves out there just fine," says Joel with a stronger expression on his face.
"I don't doubt that, Joel, I just don't see how this is a good idea right now - maybe you can wait until Carl`s group comes back and checks all the areas."
"Well... in some ways I would agree with you, but Ellie is going through a tough time right now. I think that she needs this right now. She's confused, and having this nightmare again ain't helping."
"Okay... Joel, I'll talk to Tommy tonight and we'll let you know tomorrow, okay? But you have to promise to take all the precautions to secure the safety of both of you out there, okay?" says Maria in a more serious voice.
"You don't have to worry about that - you know I'll do anything to make sure that nothing happens to Ellie," says Joel. Then he gets up out of the chair and prepares to leave the house.
"Oh, one more thing, Joel," says Maria as she gets up out of her chair too and goes to follow Joel.
"And what's that?" asks Joel.
"That we need to talk about the problem you and Albert have," says Maria as she stands in front of the door of her house.
"Shit... woman, can't we leave that for another time? I have other concerns right now than talking about that shithead, okay?" says Joel as he starts to walk out to the street without looking back at her.
"Joel, I'm not kidding, we need to talk about this!" she almost yells at Joel when he goes too far away.
Walking from Tommy's house to our home, it's late in the evening, probably like 6:00 or 7:00 pm. I can't tell for sure; I don't wear a wristwatch anymore. The watch that Sarah gave me for my birthday I don't wear anymore, even though that was a reminder of her. But after I almost lost it on a hunting trip a few months ago, I just put it in a box with other important things in my room. Ellie gave me a new one last Christmas, but I told her that I'm going to keep it in my room too, and that maybe I'll use it one day... she understood, Joel says to himself.
Okay... arriving home, I hope Ellie's here... So I open the the door and enter the house, I call her and close the door and go to the kitchen. Where is she? She's supposed to be here - her job time ended two hours ago, says Joel to himself.
Then I hear something coming from the backyard, so I walk to the kitchen door and look through the door window. I see Ellie there, hanging her clothes on a cable... seems like she's finished the laundry. I keep watching her for a few minutes and hear something that sounds like her singing, Joel smiles. Seeing her a little happy after all she went through... it always feels good to see that she can enjoy a little from life. That's all he can wish for: seeing his little girl happy.
Little girl? Funny - can I keeping calling her that? She is sixteen now, she's becoming a young woman. She's now more beautiful… shit, why do I keep thinking about her like that - c`mon, Joel, you're fifty years old and she is just a kid. Ain't she supposed to be like a daughter to you? But why am I still feeling like she's something more. What is wrong with me? Joel says to himself.
After a few minutes of staring at her, he steps away from the door and starts with the cooking. Then a few minutes later, Ellie enters the kitchen.
"Oh!... Joel, great, you're back - I didn't see you come in, where've you been?" asks Ellie.
"Yeah, I just came from Maria and Tommy's house, and-" Joel is interrupted.
"REALLY! ...did you ask them? ...Did they say yes? When are we going?" Ellie asks enthusiastically.
"Ellie! Ellie! Calm down, okay?" Joel says to her when he grabs her shoulders. "Yes, I talked to Maria about the trip."
"And! ...And! ...C`mon, Joel, just fucking tell me... Pleasssssse!" Ellie pleads in a desperate tone.
"Wow, girl, you need to stop the swearing thing. Young lady, we now live in a civilized place - well, more or less, of course. Anyway… She said that it's okay, but Tommy wasn't there and she needs to consult with him. But I don't think that we're going to have any problems with that. So, Maria told me that they're going to come tomorrow and let me know the decision," explains Joel.
"THAT'S GREAT! Thanks, Joel, that's going to be awesome." Then she throws herself at Joel and gives him a hug, and starts to give him little kisses on the cheek.
"Okay… Okay! Now, I saw that you did you laundry, that's good. So why don't you go clean yourself up and change so I can finish dinner, okay?" says Joel.
"Okay." Then Ellie pulls out of the hug, walks out of the kitchen, and goes upstairs.
After an hour, Ellie returns to the kitchen. Joel has just finished cooking and is putting the plates on the kitchen table. He sees that Ellie is wearing his clothes again; she makes the excuse that all her clothes are outside drying so that's why she's wearing one of his shirts and a pair of his shorts. After they finish dinner, and clean the plates and the kitchen, they both go to the living room and talk for awhile. Two hours after dinner, Joel tells Ellie that it's time to go to bed, and the two of them stand up from the couch and walk upstairs.
"Okay, kiddo, you can go to your room now and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
"What? ...Joel, I'm not going to sleep with you tonight?" asks Ellie with a sad face.
"No! Ellie, you don't need to do that - since you're not having any more nightmares, I think that you're going to be okay in your room, now," Joel says as he goes to enter his room.
"Joel! I was sleeping well these past two days with you, so why we can't we do that still? What if I start to have the nightmare again?" says Ellie with a pleading face.
"Ellie, I think we've talked about this. You're becoming a young woman now - you don't need to be scared of the nightmares, okay? I know that it's hard and difficult sometimes, but you need to get past that. Nothing is going to happen, and if you just have one, I'm here next door for you, okay?"
"Okay, but at least can you stay with me in the bed, until I fall asleep? Pleasssssse."
"Okay, kiddo, I think I can do that. C`mon, just get on the bed. I'll be here for you." With that, Ellie gets into the bed, and Joel lays beside her, on top of the covers.
"Good night, Joel!"
"Good night, Ellie!"