The Last of Us © Naughty Dog

Macy © Jamzenn and Berneri

Thanks to Johis for translating!

Tumblr blog: "lifewithmacy"

BRIGHT EYES

• CHAPTER 10: ANGER •

Joel walked out of Emily's house, and for a moment he was just standing on the porch. Uncertainty had started to take over him.

Ellie didn't want to see him. Why? Had he done something? Was Ellie mad at him? Offended? Scared?

The questions were spinning around in his mind as he slowly headed towards the center of the village. Something kept troubling Joel, something to do with last night. It was like a rabbit running around in his mind that didn't want to get caught.

Ellie's behavior had already been weird at Tommy's the previous night, Joel had picked up on that. But at the same time he had thought it was nothing serious or nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't fix. Night.

Ellie had slept alone.

And Joel was always there for her, Ellie knew it. So why..

A sudden thought hit him. He hadn't heard Ellie's side of the chain of events yet.

What the fuck had happened there, and why couldn't Ellie tell it to him?

Ellie had gone to Emily, not Joel. The man was not jealous or offended, but wondered what he had done to cause his little girl not to tell him something that she was abel to tell Emily instead.. Something that Mark had said or done. Something Joel didn't know about.

There was only one way to find out.

He was weighing different options, but didn't trust himself not to kill the man, so instead he headed to Tommy and Maria's house where the latter was just stepping out of the door as he arrived. The woman waved at Joel, who asked the question she was expecting far before he had reached the house.

"Is Tommy in?"

Maria sighed a little.

"No…", the woman said, hesitating. Joel noticed this and deduced quite fast what caused the varying tone of her voice. The bearded man looked at her, and was clenching his fists.

"Where is he?"

Joel's voice was almost threatening, but Maria didn't really care. She was used to Joel's behaviour if it was something to do with Ellie.

"...he left about half an hour ago to visit Mark at his request to clear out some stuff. I don't know the details."

Maria stated, surrender in her voice.

"Perfect.", Joel just grunted and turned around, now heading towards the part of the village where he knew the scumbag lived.

"Don't make it any worse! We'll sort it out in the meeting!", Maria shouted after Joel, even though she knew more than better that Joel had set his mind of something, and it was little use trying to change his mind. The woman was grateful that Tommy was already there, and wouldn't let Joel do anything stupid. Hopefully.

Joel strode through the village, his clenched fists swinging on both sides of his body. The sun was warming his back through his shirt, but he didn't even notice it. He could now see the destination, a small, red house in front of him. He felt like kicking the front door in, but tried to control himself and instead knocked on the door.

And it didn't take long for someone to answer it. However, it wasn't Mark, but Tommy, who seemed really surprised to see who was behind the door.

"Joel, what are you doing here?"

Tommy knitted his brows and he could feel his brother's strong arm on his shoulder, and before he knew it the older man had stepped inside the house. Tommy ran after his brother, who had already picked Mark up by his collar and was now pressing him against the wall. Joel was staring at the other man's face that had been covered with bandages.

"Fucking lunatic! What are you doing here, let go of me!"

Mark tried to escape Joel's grip with no results. The man was about 6 inches taller than him, and stronger in all ways. Tommy was shouting his brother's name behind them, but the man didn't seem to care about his little brother yelling as he hissed the question from between his teeth.

"What. Did you. Say to her."

Joel grimaced at the man and then let him drop on the floor. The bearded man looked at Mark like a piece of smelly trash that the wind had carried too close to him. Joel had to restrain himself from not kicking the man on the floor who was now clumsily trying to get up.

"What's going on now?"

Tommy's voice was getting a little bit impatient now. He had been trying to discuss Macy with Mark but then Joel had raced in and ruined all the progress they had made.

Joel didn't turn to look at his brother.

"Ellie doesn't want to talk to me. Fuck, she doesn't even want to see me. And I know… I know that this… son of a bitch has said something that is causing her…-"

To everyone's surprise it was Mark who interrupted him.

"Alright. I'll tell. But Tommy, you keep that animal away from me or I'll make sure he gets the same fate as that mongrel. It was only a matter of time until someone else had asked him."

Joel took a sudden step towards the man because of what he said about Macy, but Tommy stepped in front of his brother and shook his head. Even Tommy was surprised about the new direction of the conversation. There was something more to this, and even he was now curious to know what Mark had to say.

However, Tommy had to be the voice of reason in this situation and he was patting Joel's shoulder.

"You have a chance to listen now. Sit down. Listen. Stay put. We'll draw our conclusions then."

He leaned on the stove, placing himself between his brother and Mark. This position seemed to be good enough for Mark, as he stayed quiet and didn't oppose. Tommy didn't like the little smirk that appeared on the man's bruised face.

Grinding his teeth, Joel grabbed a chair and sat on it, his eyes fixed on Mark who coughed briefly before starting. The situation was almost explosive, but Mark just shrugged as if it had been a no-brainer. He didn't even try to use being drunk as an excuse, and didn't give any explanations for his behavior. His voice was careless, as if he'd been talking about the weather.

"I just asked the price for the little whore."

Blood immediately rushed into Joel's head as he pulled a pistol out of his back pocket and aimed it directly at Mark's forehead. The man flinched a bit, but didn't seem to be afraid of the situation. Did this man really want to die?

"Did you.. call my girl a whore? DID YOU CALL ELLIE A WHORE?"

The man's angry shouting echoed in the walls of the house, and his strong hands were shaking on the trigger of the gun. Everything made sense now. Ellie's avoidance, distance and the thing she couldn't tell Joel…

Ellie. God damnit.

"So she's not one? Or do you only keep her to yourself? Or yeah, technically that's not being a whore then-"

The man folded over from a kick he received, and the force of it made his lungs empty. He stayed on the floor.

"Fuck, that won't be the last of it…"

Joel looked at the situation confusedly, putting his pistol away now. The kicker had been Tommy. There was a clear disgust on the younger man's face towards the man lying on the floor now.

"So you've always been the one spreading those rumours? Don't think that you'll be able to gather any kind of meeting now. This was it. And fuck yes, I can assure you that that definitely wasn't the last you'll hear from us. You can thank your luck that we won't just kick you out of the whole village. You're pathetic. Let's go."

The last two words Tommy aimed at Joel, and he then walked out of the house. The man knew Joel would follow him outside soon, and that's exactly what happened.

None of them said anything, and the brothers walked away from the house in silence. Tommy took a turn in the crossroads towards his own house, and Joel strode to Emily's house, opened the door, ran upstairs and embraced the confused girl sitting on the sofa, finally banishing all the loneliness and self-hatred the girl had had to deal with all this time.

And so we have approximately published 1/3 of the whole fic! Feels weird. In a good way. :)

Thank you all for those reviews, follows and favorites! It's so wonderful to see that people actually read and like this! Much appreciated!