Hey guys, back with the next part of the story and actually not long after the last update. Surprising I know.

I still intend on writing an epilogue for the first part to wrap up the story as well as Jake and Ellie's relationship with a neat little but it's taking a bit longer than I thought since that kind of writing isn't exactly my forte. So I figured I'd at least put this out in the meantime, since the reception to the last chapter of part 1 was very positive.

This story will mainly focus on the events of part 2 that take in current times, with my own twists of course, so not including the numerous flashbacks. I may add in my take on the flashback scenes as bonus chapters either at the end of the main story or interspersed with the main chapters when I feel like writing something different. I may also add in my own stories of Joel, Jake and Ellie's lives before the main story. I also won't really be covering Abbey's story at all, she'll still be in the story of course but I'll be focusing mainly on the characters from Jackson.

As always I can't comment on the frequency of updates so I ask that you bear with me as I get the story out.

Thanks again for reading and please review!

Outside the abandoned St Mary's hospital in Salt lake city sat Ellie, who wore a sullen expression. A mixture of guilt for not being able to save humanity, anger at Joel and Jake for taking this chance from her, and disappointment at the two people she loved the most, betraying and lying to her. She sat there, playing the same section of a recording from one of the survivors of the incident over and over again. "Even if we found the girl, the only person who could make a vaccine is dead," the recorded voice stated. Affirming to Ellie that a vaccine was possible, Joel and Jake had killed the doctor who'd do it, and lied to her that the Fireflies had stopped looking.

"Ellie!" a distant Joel called out, riding atop a horse towards her, with Jake close by. Once close the two dismounted and made their way towards Ellie. Jake immediately pulled Ellie into an embrace, holding her tightly around the shoulders and his other hand behind her head, bringing his face close to hers and breathing a sigh of relief that she was fine.

"I'm so glad you're ok," Jake said as he held her tight. Joel joined the embrace soon after, putting his arms over the two teens, while Ellie simply stood there; not returning the embrace, but not pushing them out either.

"What were you thinking? You talk to us. Don't just leave us a god damn note," Joel explained with both relief and exasperation. Ellie then frustratedly pushed both of them off of her. The two then studied her expression closely, and while physically okay, they could tell that a lot was going on in her head. Her face appeared almost distraught, eyes welling with tears but held back.

"Tell me, what happened here," Ellie demanded "if you lie to me again, I'm gone. You will never see me again. But if you tell me the truth, then I'll go back to Jackson," she explained, her voice shaking slightly from the overwhelming emotions running through her mind. The two in front of her silently took in her question, both avoiding eye contact but not looking at each other either. They sighed heavy sighs knowing that they can't avoid the truth now, but weren't prepared for its consequences. Ellie then moved to be right in front of Jake who stood with his eyes towards the ground. "Jake. Just tell me. Please," Ellie insisted, to the one she trusted the most, who she loved. Jake looked up for a moment where his eyes met hers. Those deep eyes inflated with tears on the verge of overflowing. He couldn't lie to her, not again.

"To make a vaccine," Jake began, "they had to perform a surgery, which would...kill you," Jake explained. Ellie had put the pieces together and still couldn't believe it. She had it mostly worked out from the recordings of the abandoned facility, but to have it confirmed from those she trusted. She wanted to believe that they hadn't lied, that there was something else. But it was true. Ellie dropped lower, sitting back on the rock she was on before, clutching her stomach as if she had trouble breathing, or that she'd be physically sick. "And we couldn't live, without you," Jake finished with a sigh as he watched the distraught Ellie. It killed him to see this, but there was nothing else he could do. Joel slowly approached Ellie and put a hand of comfort on her shoulder but she quickly brushed it away.

"No! Don't fucking touch me," she snapped back as she stood back up. "How could you do this?" she questioned and then turned towards Jake. "And you. You're immune too. What's your excuse? You took away humanity's chance and can't even step in yourself?. You're pathetic," Ellie yelled out in frustration while hitting Jake on the chest as he stood there solemnly taking her anger. "I'll go back. But we're done," Ellie stated, then grabbed her bag and stormed away. Jake extended his hand to call out to her but then recoiled it, realising it wouldn't do anything.

Ellie walked through the dirt roads of Jackson on her way back home from seeing Joel. The town was far from quiet, the lights were still on around her, people hastily walking through the streets and the low noises of bustling activity could be heard around. Despite this the town always maintained a level of tranquility. Walking along these unpaved streets always set the teen at ease. She made her way staring at the unturned dirt, her thoughts wandering aimlessly. Then she looked up and saw someone standing mere feet away. He had long, messy black hair that hung over the right side of his face and reached just above his shoulders. He wore a dark brown winter jacket, along with a pair of old black skinny jeans. The case of a musical instrument sat on his back with a half burnt cigarette hanging between his lips. And those distinctive copper eyes that reflected the street lights ever so slightly. The two stood opposite each other and briefly made eye contact. It was momentary but neither could tell that it only lasted an instant. Jake realized that he shouldn't linger any longer and then began to walk forwards. He walked past Ellie while not glancing at her again.

"Hey wait," Ellie called just as he walked by "can we talk? she asked gently. Jake froze where he stood, shocked that she was talking to him. He slowly turned to face her and nodded silently.

"Let's walk while we do," Jake suggested and began walking back the way he came with Ellie now by his side. There was an awkward silence between them both; both of them having a million things they wanted to say to the other but no way of how to put them forth, so their soft footsteps along the dirt was the only sound they got.

"Did you see what happened tonight?" Ellie asked, finally breaking the silence, turning her head slightly so she could see him as they walked.

"Yeah, who didn't? Saw everything from on the stage," Jake replied though not returning the glance.

"Right, you were performing. Sorry to put a damper on the show."

"It's not a big deal. Seth was a dickhead back there. You alright?

"You don't have to worry about me," she replied coldly.

"I'll worry regardless."

"Even after all this time?"

"Yeah," Jake replied softly.

"Don't you think you should move on?"

"Well, we both know I'm always late to that," Jake chuckled. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I went to talk to Joel. After what he did tonight," Ellie began "I told him not to interfere with me, I can take care of myself."

"What did he say?"

"He... accepted it."

"Makes sense, although I wouldn't have expected it."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's your life, you can determine how to lead it. But at the same time, you mean the world to him. He'd do anything to see you happy."

"And how do you feel?"

"Well the same. But I have even less right to say anything to you since I hurt you much more than he did"

"You're right about that," Ellie commented with restrained anger in her voice "do you know how many lives we could've saved? You're even worse than Joel, you had the opportunity to step in yourself but you couldn't. You don't get to talk like that to me you piece of shit. I hate you," Ellie burst out with scorn. Jake didn't respond, silently taking in her outburst and calmly blowing out smoke. "Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"It won't change your opinion on me," he said with a deep breath of smoke "I'll just have to accept your hate. At least it gave you your life. I don't have any regrets."

"You're fine with me hating you?"

"Of course I'd rather you didn't. But, if it were to be between letting you die and having you hate me, I'd have you hate me."

"But it's not between those. You're forgetting the other option. You take my place," Ellie explained. "why? Why couldn't you take my place if you were so hell bent on saving me?"

"Well, because I'm selfish," he started, "I wanted to live. I wanted to be with you, see you happy, spend time together. Do you remember the first time we arrived here all those years ago? It's a distant memory now but I remember how I felt when we walked through here. It was so calm and comforting. I couldn't help but fantasize about the three of us, living here together. And after all that I had seen, I finally managed to see good in the world again because of you. I wasn't about to let it go, even if it meant taking humanity's chance for a cure. To me, it was a cost I wasn't willing to pay. I put myself before the world, just like I always did. And you're right, that makes me a piece of shit, and I'm irredeemable. But I'd do it again and again for those years we got to spend together," Jake explained, to which Ellie silently absorbed. She was far from agreeing with him, but she did understand what he was saying. "Yeah, it'd be nice I suppose if we could've lived that lie till the end. Or if by some luck things remained the same after you found out. Where we could spend everyday together as they were before. But it's not like that. Life moves on, your affections have moved on, so it goes."

"It was just a kiss," Ellie replied awkwardly, remembering back to the exchange she and Dina had earlier that night.

"You don't have to explain, I won't pry. It's your life, do with it what you will. Just do what feels right, and it'll be fine."

"Even after all this time, I still hate you. I told Joel that I'd try and forgive him, so that we could maybe move on, because I don't want to go on hating him. And I want to do the same for you. I don't want to hate you, but you're just unforgivable."

"That's up to you."

"Go to hell asshole," Ellie spat angrily and then stormed away in the opposite direction. Jake looked back towards her as she walked away and observed her in silence.