Sorry for being gone for a while, got busy with some things. I'm currently working on my portfolios and revising a novella so I've been everywhere. Anyway, here's chapter 4. It's a little short but it does the job. Anything related to Uncharted and Tomb Raider series belongs to the respectful owners, you know the drill.

"Oh, good job, old man," Sam said, watching his younger brother stomp off towards the room. The door closed gently, much to his surprise, considering he had thought there would be a slam that would rock the whole house after what Sully said. "What the hell was that?"

"You wanted me to talk to the kid."

"About Madagascar. Not whatever that was," Sam sighed, clenching his jaw. He knew Sully was somewhat protective over Elena. They had also gone through a lot together. Hell, he was practically her father-in-law at one point. Sam didn't have as close of a relationship with her, even if he did worry about her and the baby.

"Sam," Sully let out. "I don't want him to screw up again."

The tone in his voice was not one Sam was as familiar with. It sounded soft, concerning, much more fatherly than he had ever really heard from the old man before. Realizing what that meant, Sam began to walk over towards the living room with the other. They would need to talk.

"You mean–" Sam started, but ceased his talking when he noticed Lara on the couch. Part of him felt she had maybe been in the bedroom since Nate had gone in there, but no. So this was why Nate had shut the door so softly. He was glad she hadn't woken up during the conversation. This wasn't the right way for her to ever find out about what Nate had done, because Sam knew damn well his brother wouldn't have told her that. But then again, Lara was good at sneaking. "So that's where she is."

"Christ," Sully murmured. "Thank God she's asleep."

"Mm, I'm not so sure," Sam let out, looking over at Lara. He put his hands on his hips and made a face, squinting as he did. He felt as if there were something off. Something about this didn't mesh well with him at all. He sighed. "Come on, Lara. You don't gotta keep pretending."

It was quiet, but only for a moment. Lara pushed herself up and huffed, her jaw tight as her brows were knitted together to show she was rather confused. Sam wondered how much she had heard. Probably the gist of it, he figured. He stepped over and sat down next to her.

"So… how much did you hear?" he asked.

"Enough," she replied, raising her voice barely above a whisper.

Sam took a deep breath, his eyes looking to Sully as he tried to ask for guidance. What was he to do? He never seemed good at this sort of thing, he could remember trying so desperately to comfort Nate during the entire divorce but he felt like he always failed miserably.

Sully rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly unsure of what to say himself. However, both of them knew they had to say something. They couldn't let Lara just sit there with no answers.

"This probably isn't how you were supposed to find out," Sully said, trying to be lighthearted to some degree. He offered her a lame smile. "And I—"

"He walked out before?" Lara asked, seemingly wanting confirmation.

Sully gulped, "Yeah."

Sam looked between them before he spoke, "Elena and Chloe. He… well…" Suddenly, he lost his train of thought. There was nothing there anymore and for some reason he couldn't find what it was he was trying to say. Perhaps it was an excuse for his brother, or maybe an actual explanation, he wasn't sure.

"He ran off right when he and Chloe started to get serious," Sully budded back in. "Then with Elena… It was after he proposed the first time."

"The first time?" she asked. "So… okay." She nodded, her arms wrapping around herself. She was obviously anxious, unnerved even. Sam was concerned that she may cry, but he hadn't known Lara to be so forward with her emotions. She always tried to be so strong, he worried that this revaluation might change things. "Commitment issues in a long-distance relationship don't really bode well with me, you know." She let out a weak laugh, ducking her head down. She looked like she was trying to hide her face.

Sam perked, suddenly wrapping his arm around her shoulder to try and give her some kind of comfort. "Hey, hey, don't think like that," he murmured. "Nevermind what Sully said. Don't listen to him."

"That just makes the most sense," Lara told him.

"No," Sam said. "I promise you, it's not."

"How do you know?"

"I… I guess I don't," he sighed.

"We don't," Sully told her. "But he's been a lot happier lately since you've been around.. and I don't want him to screw that up."

Sam nodded, "Yeah. He talked non-stop about you coming over here."

Lara stayed quiet. Her eyes were strained, looking ready to let tears loose at any moment.

"Listen… we're gonna go," Sully said softly, walking over to Lara. He bent down a little and patted her shoulder. "You need to talk to Nate. He sure as hell isn't gonna talk to me for a little while."

She nodded in response, pursing her lips before lurching forward and giving him a hug. She was in need of some kind of affection. Sully perked, though was quick to hug her back as to let her know things were okay. When he pulled away, Sam had stood up.

"We'll… see you whenever," Sam joked lamely. "If anything, just call, okay?"

"Okay," she said. "Thank you."

The two begrudgingly said their goodbyes, though they knew this was for the best. This was something the two needed to speak about. If anything, it was better to talk about it so early in the relationship rather than later.

Walking into the bedroom caused so much anxiety within her. She usually only experienced such anxiety when she found herself in dangerous situations, tricky and with few options. Yet, now, she could hear her heart beating so fast in her ears. It was as if she had just been chased by a killer, fear endorphins coursing through her veins. But, there was no killer or anything insane like that. No, this was just a room that she walked into, with Nate sitting at the desk, his back facing her. She was fearing the conversation to come, a type of anxiety she never really had before. Suddenly, the idea of confrontation terrified her, if only because of what it was truly about.

"Nate?" she called out, though she could hear her voice crack. It made her wince, hating the sound of her own voice as it seemingly echoed through the room. That crack in her voice, it would indicate that everything was wrong. She tried to prepare herself to confront him about it all but it was so difficult. She could feel her palms start to sweat, a chill shooting down her arms as goosebumps trailed down her skin.

Nate jumped, surprised to have heard her voice. He turned in his chair to see her, though the usual smile he would greet her with was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she was met with a more stern face, telling her he was still annoyed by the conversation he had earlier.

"Yeah?" he let out. "You decided to wake up?"

"Yeah," she nodded, giving him an awkward smile. "I, um… I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"I think you know what it's about."

His face somehow fell more. He looked at the ground for a few moments, as if trying to gather his thoughts, before he stood up from the chair and walked over to her. He looked her straight in the eyes, his hand grabbing onto her wrist gently. "So you heard, I guess."

"I did…"

"I— I was going to tell you. I just— I didn't want—"

"No, I get it." She put her hand up and waved it off. This wasn't ideal for her either. She figured this was much earlier than when Nate wanted to tell her this. As conflicted as she was with the new information, she didn't have a doubt he wouldn't tell her. Something in the way Sam and Sully acted told her that. "I just… want to know why you did it."

"Why I—? Right," he muttered. He started to pull her over to the bed so they could sit down and talk to one another. She could tell he was going through many emotions all at once. He wasn't very good at hiding them, she had learned that well. His face somehow always gave how he felt away, even if he was smiling she could always tell if he was upset. They sat down at the edge of the bed. "Lara, I'm not going—"

"Tell me about why you left them," she repeated, reminding him that she wanted to hear that first. This caused him to purse his lips, in which she watched him with tired eyes. She needed to know. It was for her own sake.

He grabbed her hand, his eyes focusing on watching their fingers interlock as he held onto her. "I was scared," he admitted. "I don't know."

"Scared?"

"I've been used to people leaving me," he murmured, squeezing her hand. She could feel the tight pressure, almost like another gateway to how he felt in the moment. "So I would just leave before they could."

"You broke their heart before they could break yours," she said, repeating it in her own way of seeing things. Though, she knew she was correct just by looking at him. His face was scrunched up, as if hearing the truth was painful to him.

"I guess so, yeah."

She leaned forward, trying to think about everything he had told her. Instead of harping on the relationships, she decided to ask about the main factor. "'Used to people leaving you'? What do you mean?"

"I still thought Sam ate a bullet back then," he explained, giving her a weak smile as he tried to laugh it off. "And I'm an orphan, remember? My parents left me before I even had the chance to remember them."

His family issues were something she sometimes forgot. His mother had killed herself and his father had given his sons up to the state. Left to be orphans, without anyone to really rely on. She supposed after believing your brother was gone, you would maybe act out the way he did.

"Right," she nodded. "And I… I get it." She knew what it meant to be an orphan too, at least to some extent. She knew what it meant for the people you cared about to leave. Her parents, Roth, Sam, and the entire crew from the Yamatai expedition. She was sometimes still shocked she had Jonah. But at the same time, she would never do what he did. "But that doesn't–"

"I know it doesn't," he said. "But you asked why. So I told you why."

It was her turn to squeeze his hand. "Then why did you go back to Elena?"

"Because… " he murmured. "I did love her, so I tried to change things for the better. And things did change… but not how I thought they would." He gave a heavy sigh, glancing down the floor as if he didn't have the ability to keep his head high anymore. It seemed like he didn't want to look her in the eyes now.

Lara took a deep breath. She was still a bit taken aback by the new information, but she knew she couldn't hold these things against him. It was the past. Besides, he had tried to make the effort for Elena at least. Still, she felt she would maybe need to be cautious – optimistically cautious – but cautious nonetheless.

She grabbed the sides of his face then, lifting his head up to look at her as she gave him a gentle smile. "Okay… here's the plan then: all three of you need to kiss and make up, and we should go see Elena so Sully knows you really mean it when you say you're sorry," she suggested.
"You want to meet Elena?" he asked. "You're sure? It won't be… I don't know… weird for you?"

"I'll be fine," she smiled. She patted his cheeks. "So… is that the plan?"

He placed his hand on one of hers, nodding in response. "That's the plan."

I don't really have a schedule for posting this right now so it might be here and there. Or... I might make one, we'll see. It all depends on how things go. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and I hope you all are doing well! :)