Chapter 17

Joel and Ellie weren't the only ones who enjoyed the presence of alcohol. After they arrived back to the cabin five, they shared the piece of news with Andy, who also admitted he wanted a taste. He had tasted a terrible self-made wine back at the village, but it was not a beautiful memory to him. Andy had prepared the deer, and it was cooking by the fireplace as soon as they got the fire going.

"I don't know what this is, since the label's worn off, but it smells quite wild" Ellie explained as she walked down the stairs. Andy had found glasses from the kitchen, and had laid them onto the living room table. He sat on the floor again, and Joel had taken the other end of the couch with both of his feet on top of the table. They both looked at the girl as she arrived with the bottle. It was large enough for a few nights of nice fireplace chats, and the bottle was familiar to Joel.
"Oh, hell. I've seen these before" he said after receiving the bottle from Ellie. She sat down next to him, grabbing a glass from the table. As Joel observed the bottle, Ellie became anxious from the waiting. He put his legs down to the floor while the girl looked at him.
"Joel, stop hogging the bottle and give us a taste!"
He did as the girl said, and slowly opened the bottle. The first smell confirmed his thoughts, and he knew what they were having.
"Oh, it's good stuff" he whispered, grabbing his own glass from the table. Even though he noticed the frustration from Ellie's face, he poured the first shot to himself.
"Oh, come on!" Ellie cried, weakly hitting the man's shoulder with her other fist. He lifted his eyebrows, taking the bottle further away from her.
"Hold on, minor" he chuckled, turning his head to Andy. He leaned towards him with the glass, and Joel poured.
"That's enough, thanks" Andy said, even though the bottom of the glass was almost showing. Joel stopped pouring, but he frowned his face in disbelief.
"Okay, it's your loss" he shrugged, turning towards Ellie. She looked at him with a wide smile, and then stared at the bottle as he poured.
"Oh, hell! This is so bad ass.." she murmured, and she did get more than Andy. Once Joel stopped pouring, he put the bottle on the table and sighed while leaning back.
"Cheers" he whispered, lifting the glass in the air. Andy followed his example, but Ellie had her concentration somewhere else. When Joel turned to see her, she was smelling the glass.
"Oh! That's, uh.. interesting" she winced. Joel chuckled as he shook his head, and turned his head to get a taste. He drank at the same time with Andy, and they both had a very different reaction compared to the girl's.
"Hmmm" Joel mumbled, closing his eyes. He leaned as far back as he could, and hanged his head over the couch.
"It is good" Andy nodded, and Ellie took a brief look at him. She was way too concentrated on the drink to care about the boy. She sighed and lifted the glass to her lips.
Joel lifted his head, opening his eyes. He turned to see as the girl grinned while pouring the drink down her throat.
"Ellie, you ain't supposed to drink it at once... " Joel said, but he was too late. Ellie had emptied the glass, and she leaned forwards to put it on the table. She frowned her face, but she nodded while doing so.
"Not bad" the girl said, fighting greatly against what Joel and Andy had thought she would say. Joel lifted his eyebrows, shaking his head.
"Can I have more?" Ellie asked, turning her head at Joel. She had cleared her face, and lifted her eyebrows.
Joel chuckled, and continued shaking his head after a brief break.
"I don't think so..."
"Come on, give her my share" Andy laughed, putting his glass on the table. Joel turned to see him.
"What?"
"Fuck yeah! Joel, you heard him, now.."
"Hang on a second... "
"She's not your problem anyway, a babysitter can't be blamed" Andy interrupted, and the four eyes that landed on him showed that he should have stayed quiet.

After looking at Andy for a while, Joel and Ellie turned their heads at each other. Ellie's eyes showed how she really felt, and she sighed as she hoped he would understand.
"Okay.." Joel said after a long break. He leaned towards the table and grabbed the bottle. Ellie took her glass again and offered it to him for another shot.
"But you ain't getting more than this, so try to enjoy it this time" Joel said before opening the bottle again. He poured her a little less than the last time, and put the bottle on the table again after closing it. Ellie looked at him a long time before turning her eyes at the glass again.
"I won't" she promised, having another smell at the stuff. Andy observed quietly, leaning towards the wall behind him.
"It'll be alright, it's not like you would've been all sober as a minor" Andy dared to laugh, and the older man turned to see him. He leaned back again, and a deep exhale escaped his lips.
"Can't say otherwise"

The evening continued pretty fast, as Ellie became more talkative while drunk. She had finished the last drops of her drink, but they all saw that she didn't need any more. Even she realized it.
"You wanna fucking fight?" she blustered, piercing Andy with her eyes. She got up from the couch, but Joel followed right after, putting his arm between the two of them.
"Whoa, whoa.." he said, even though he knew she didn't mean it. Or how the hell would he know how crazy she was after two shots?

Andy laughed. He didn't take her seriously, since they had been talking so smoothly for almost an hour. Joel had been sipping his drink the whole time, and he was only enjoying the taste. Since he didn't even feel drunk, he was on the same level with the sober Andy.
"No, I definitely don't" he chuckled, rising his arms up in the air. The atmosphere was no longer tense, but quite relaxed and easy. They had all laughed together after Ellie's blood's alcohol level had risen, and she seemed to have forgotten all they had discussed earlier.
"I could totally beat your ass" she said while sitting down, pointing her finger at Andy while backing down. Joel also sat back to the couch, putting his empty glass on the table with a sigh.
"I wouldn't bet my meal on that" Joel sneered, thinking about the conversation back in the woods. He knew Ellie was a good shot, but without a gun she was just a 14-year-old girl with a loud mouth.
"What did you say?" Ellie rose the volume again, turning her head at Joel.
"Whoa, easy" he replied doing the same hand lifting that Andy had used to protect himself. Ellie smirked, nodding a few times.
"That's what I thought" she laughed, leaning back again.
"My head is so goddamn heavy" she muttered, closing her eyes for a moment. She had crossed her legs and held her hands on her face.
"You should really go to bed" Andy said after observing her drunken moves for a while. She didn't open her eyes, but lifted her left index finger to the air after moving her hands off her face.
"You should go to bed" she answered without a slightest bit of hesitation. She was obviously tired, and it was no miracle considering that she had drank quite big shots and it was already late.
"He's right. I'll walk you upstairs" Joel said, getting up from the couch. He leaned towards Ellie to grab her arm, and fortunately she didn't fight back.
"Hm, alright" she gave in, getting up with a little help from Joel. She swayed as she got up, but luckily Joel had already grabbed her right arm.
"Whoa, careful now" he said, taking a good look at the girl. She held her eyes open most of the time, but after getting up the world just started turning in her head.
"Whoa..." she muttered, closing her eyes.
"I can take her" Andy suddenly offered. Joel turned around, taking a look at the boy who had also gotten up.
"You?"
"Yeah, have another shot. I'll be going to sleep anyway, you can come up whenever"
Joel wasn't entirely sure about this offer, but he couldn't think of a reason not to trust the boy. He looked at him for a while before stopping his eyes on Ellie.
"Alright then" he sneered, slowly letting go of her arm as Andy replaced him as her back.
"I'll come up in a... "
"Come on, Joel. I can handle her" Andy looked straight into his eyes, and Joel had to admit that he trusted him. He sighed and nodded, and stood quietly as Andy slowly and carefully walked her upstairs.