Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog and their creators.

A/N: Here is the second chapter of part-2 and I hope to see the people that read the first part back. I know that this part has some change things in the story as Joel and Ellie get apart, but thinks are going to get better as the story continues. Thank you for reading and I hope the best for people out there with this pandemic, stay safe.

Chapter 2: When we lost our way

After Joel buys his new phone, which is more sophisticated than the last one, he goes back to his motel room. Again he tries to get some sleep for a few hours, but his nightmares don't let him.

"Joel… you need to stop this and move on."

"Move on from what? Our daughter is dead and it is obvious that you don't want any now… so what is the point?

"We can't continue like this… you already lost your job and got arrested two times for driving drunk. We're losing the house, the medical bills were too high and that takes all the money we had on our serving."

"Why are you protesting? We use that money to try to save our daughter…"

"Yes we did and I am not sorry for that… but if you don't get yourself together we're going to end on the streets. I know that you're in pain for what happened, but you're not the only one. She is dead and there is nothing we can do about it, so stop burying yourself down in alcohol and your pain, so that way we can continue with our life."

"What life? My end ten months ago… so why you just leave me alone?"

"… fine, if you want to destroy yourself, go ahead. But I am not going down with you… I want the divorce a soon as possible."

"Yeah… that is fine with me… All that I wanted is gone anyway, so who needs you."

"I do."

"Ellie?"

"Yes, Joel. I need you, so why did you leave me too?"

"I'm so sorry kiddo… but I don't have any choice. I have to go."

"Why? You did have a choice, you were just too scared to take it."

"You don't understand… maybe all that was easy for you but not for me. I am just an old broken man and you were just a kid… I just can't-"

"Love me?"

"It is more complicated than that… kiddo. Maybe you will understand someday."

"Yeah, maybe things were complicated, but love is a complicated thing. But we can make it work, we just need time. I love you, Joel… just come back to me and let me help you,"

"Is too late for that… kiddo."

"Is never too late… you just need to open your heart and take the chance. I will be waiting for you when you're ready."

Joel wakes up after that. He doesn't know why Ellie always shows up in his nightmares. It was only a few days since he left the town. But the nightmares started since the day Ellie ran away after the kiss. Yes, it wasn't a surprise to keep Ellie in his mind after all the good times they have together, but why did she show up on his nightmare like that… It was like she was inside his soul and trying to help him.

After that night Joel continues driving away and tries to forget Ellie, but it was harder than he thought. So he decided to go back to Texas and tried to get Ellie out of his head, maybe if he finds a job there and tries to start over again he can forget her. But things never go as we want them to be. So soon Joel arrived in Texas, he contacted a few of his old friends that he had there and asks them to help him to find a job.

After a few days of getting back there, one of them contacted him back and helped him to find a job and a better place to stay. But after two months there, things started to get bad again for him. The nightmares never stopped. So he starts to drink again to try to bury those filling down, but as before that doesn't help him much.

One night he went to a bar with his friend after work. A few hours later and too many drinks, things start to go bad. Joel hears a man there starts talking with his friends, about his wife and daughter. He told them how he hates them for ruining his life and making him miserable. But when Joel hears him say that he was hoping that his daughter never should have been born. That makes Joel blow his mind away. So he just walked to the table and punched the man in his face and broke his nose.

The man's friends get up and quickly try to hold Joel back and hit him. But Joel defends himself and after that, a fight started inside the bar. After half an hour the fight stopped when the police arrived and all those involved in the incident were arrested. Joel stayed in jail for two days until his bail was paid from the last person he didn't really want to see again.

"Hey, you? Get up… someone pays you bail," said a police officer while opening the jail door.

Joel gets up from the bank there and walks toward the door. "Who pays for it? I don't remember calling any lawyer or anyone for that."

"I don't know, but his lawyer showed up with the paperwork, so you're free to go."

"Just like that? What about the court process?" asked Joel with curiosity.

"The owner is not going to press charges if the people involved pay for the damage. And nobody remembers who started the fight as all of you were drunk, so if all of you pay no one will go to the court. That is all I know if you want more detail just talk with the lawyer that pays you bail."

Joel looks at the man, then goes out of the cell and follows the police officer. "Well, that is interesting. Is the lawyer still here? I just want to talk to him and-"

"I don't know, I think he is gone. But there is someone waiting for you outside the building."

Joel follows the man until they get to the lobby of the police station. They walked to the main counter, when another policeman gave him a paper to sing, then gave him his stuff back. After that, Joel went out of the building and looked at the parking lot. There he saw the person that was waiting for him.

"Hello, Joel… I didn't know you're back?" said Tommy while looking at him.

"Tommy!" Say Joel while getting closer to his brother. "Yeah… I arrived two months ago… but I didn't think that you wanted to know that." Joel stops in front of him but keeps a distance between them. "Don't worry little brother, I am not going to bother you while I'm here."

"I think you already did that big brother. Just two months here and I have to bail you out already.".

Joel rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask you to do that. So don't start to give me shit… alright?" Joel starts to walk away from him.

Tommy turns around and follows him. "Jesus Joel, when you're going to stop being an asshole? I thought when our grandfather left you that house in Minnesota you're going up there and change. But I can see that you didn't change shit. Still getting in trouble and treat people like shit. That is why you're back here? Because you get into trouble again?"

"Joel stops and turns around. "Look, little brother, if you're worried about the money you just pay for me, don't need to worry I will pay you back. Otherwise, I don't need this crap from you."

"I don't care about the money, I just want to talk to you. Can we just talk like civilized people? Like brothers?" Tommy asked while grabbing his arm before he started to walk again.

Joel looks at his hand and shakes his arm away from his. He knew that this would happen if he saw his brother again. That is one of the reasons he didn't want to come back to Texas. So he turned his head again and looked at him. "Why do you want to talk to me… Did you… a wife sends you to give me shit again?" said Joel with a mad tone.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "She doesn't know that you're back here and I prefer to keep it that way. Now can we go out of here and talk?"

Joel doesn't really want to talk to him, he already knows what he is going to say. But he didn't have much choice, his truck wasn't there and neither was his phone. He was hoping that his friend had them both because he was not in jail with him, so he didn't get caught by the police. When the Police gave him his call, he was going to call his friend and ask him what happened to him, and if he took his cell phone and truck, but he forgot his cell number. "Okay, there is a dinner a few miles from here, so let's go there."

Tommy doesn't like the idea of going to a public place to talk with Joel. Because knowing him that can't end well. But he didn't come to fight with his brother, so he will stay as calm as he can and just talk. "Okay, my car is over there, so let go there," said Tommy pointing to his car. After they get into the car, Tommy drives to the diner and both of them go inside. Since it was still morning, Tommy and Joel ordered two cups of coffee and the breakfast special. Soon the waitress came back with the food. Joel starts to talk first.

"Okay, you get me here to talk, so what do you want to tell me?" Joel takes a sip of his coffee and looks at him. "Because after the funeral and the will hearing, I have the impression that you didn't want to see me again."

Tommy grabs his coffee and looks down. "I know things never go well between us, but even that never going to change that we're brothers," Tommy takes a sip of his coffee and continues. "I know that you always wanted to live your own way. And when our mother dies you need to take care of me, because our father wasn't the same after that. But when he dies too, things change when our grandfather shows up and has to take care of us."

Joel looks at him. "I already know all that, so why are you telling me all this?"

Tommy put the cup down and looked at him. "Because I know you and for what I see you're not changing."

Joel put his coffee down. "Okay if you want to tell me something just said it. I know that you always were the correct guy and I was the screw-up. I try to forget what happened, but… I can't, so what the hell do you want for me?"

"I need you to do something for me. As they explain to you at the police station. The charges will be dropped if the damages are paid. I know the brother of the owner, so I convince him to do that for me. And as the guys, you fight with, have some problem with the law too, they're not going to press any charges against you either."

"So… I'm free to go right?" Joel looked at his brother a little surprised.

"Yes, but there is a catch in all this. I do this for you, but now I need you to do something for me.'

Joel looks at him and knows where all this is going. "You wanted me to leave… right?" He looks at Tommy's expression and shakes his head. "Well, there is no surprise there. And I thought that my little brother was happy to see me and wanted to do something nice for me.

"I did something for you, I keep you out of jail. Listen, Joel, I don't have anything against you, but all you do is get into trouble all the time and hurt the people that try to help you. I have a lot coming up for me, and the last thing I need right now is getting involved in your problems. You're my family and I don't like to do this, but I need to for Maria. She is seven months pregnant, and the last thing I need, is her getting stress out because-"

"Because of me?" Joel moves back on his chair while looking at his brother. "Wow, is it good to know that all you and your wife think of me is that I'm the fucking brother that screw all up.

"And do you think we're wrong? You just came back and already started a fight in a bar and ended up in jail. I also know that you're drinking again and the last time you get into that it didn't end well for you or everybody else."

"If you're talking about my ex? She was just a quitting bish that did not have a heart. We lost our daughter and she wants our life to continue as nothing happened. I also find out that she didn't want to have a child"

Tommy looked at him with a sad eye. "Joel, I know that what happens to you it was hard, but you need to forget yourself, because if-"

"You don't know anything about me, little brother, because you were busy trying to be the perfect son. You never really care about what happened to me or the pain I was dealing with. You only saw me like the screw man that fuck things up."

"That is not true Joel. And I never said that I was the perfect son. I always try to help you, but you don't want help from anybody."

"Because I never need any." Joel stands up and takes his wallet out. He takes out a 20 dollar bill and throws it on the table. "Thank you for the pleasant breakfast, and don't worry I will pay you the money you use for the bail." Joel starts to walk away, but Tommy grabs his arm.

"Joel, I don't want things to be like this, I just worry about Maria and the baby… can you understand that?

"Yeah, I understand little brother… But you don't need to worry. I will be out of here as soon as I can." Joel shakes Tommy's hand away from him. He knows that he always was a pain in the ass, but he never expects his brother to do something like this. Yeah, his brother has a happy marriage, or at least that is how he shows it. He knew that coming here was a mistake, but maybe this was for the best. He already was going to lose his job, so maybe it is good to find another place to live. "I hope things work out for you bro… and congratulations on your baby."

Tommy stands up and looks at his face. "I'm so sorry about all this Joel, I really am. And you don't need to pay me anything. I am always going to try to help you if I can… It is just that right now is not the best time for you to be here… please try to understand."

"Don't worry Tommy, I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself and your family." With that Joel turns around and walks away. He knows that his brother was right, he always fucks things up wherever he goes. Just like he fucks up his marriage and Ellie's life back in Minnesota. So the only option he has now is to go to Arizona and pay Bill a visit. Maybe things will go better there or at least better than here.

( Back to Ellie )

Back in Minnesota things for Ellie have not been so good since Joel left. She missed him very much and sometimes she went to his house hoping that he would be there, but gets sad when she finds the house empty. She never thought that she would miss someone so much that it hurt. Of course, she misses her mother, but she died when she was too little, so she didn't remember her much.

Some times when she comes back from school, she just gets to her room and checks her phone to just watch some of the pictures she has with him. She is still waiting for him to call or text her, but even though he has never done that since he left, she always hopes that one day he will. In the last few months of Joel's been gone, Ellie was starting to get depressed and that was starting to affect her in school too.

"Ellie, stop playing with your food," says her aunt while taking a bit from her food into her mouth. They were on the kitchen table eating after her aunt came from work and made dinner.

"I'm not hungry… Can I go to my room?" she asked while still looking at her plate.

Her aunt lowered her spoon on the table and looked at her directly. "No, you're going to finish that. I don't know what is going on with you lately, but this has to stop," she says with a firm tone.

Ellie drops her spoon on the table and looks at her aunt. "I say that I am not hungry, so why are you trying to force me to eat?" Said Ellie with a harsh tone.

Marlene hit the table with her hand. "Listen, young lady, I'm the adult here not you, so you will do what I said is that clear? I don't know what is going on with you for the last two months, but this is going to stop now," she yelled at her, then tried to calm down. "I received a call yesterday from the chancellor of the school. Telling me that your grade is getting worse in almost all your classes…" She said with a more calmed tone and continued. "Can you tell me what is going on? You were such a good student and now you're on the list with the worst one?"

Ellie turns her head and looks away. "I don't want to talk about it. So I can go to my room now?"

Marlene put her hand together and took a deep breath. "No, you can't. Because we need to talk about a lot of things. For starters, your teachers are worried about you and so do I. You never went this bad at school before, so why is this happening now?"

"Nothing is happening to me, I just don't want to be at school right now." She answers without looking at her aunt.

"Well young lady, that is not going to be an option for you. You need to finish school if you want to be someone good in life." Marlene looked at her with a sad expression. "I really want to know what is in your mind now, you always like school and have good grades, so why the change?"

Ellie turns her head and looks at her. "I don't need to be good at school to be a good person. School is just a stupid way to keep people busy until you go out there in the world and meet the cruel reality."

"That is not true. You need a good education to be a productive person in this society. You always think that, so what does it change now?"

"Do you think that is the only thing that is out there… just be good at school to find a good job? If that works for you? What about love or find someone to be with and have kids? Did you ever want that, did you ever want to have kids?" Ellie was so frustrated that she just let things go out of her mouth even if she didn't want to talk about that.

Her aunt looked at her with surprised eyes. "So that is all this about? Are you doing all this because you fell in love with someone? Because if you do, you better stop now. I am not going to let you destroy your scholarship or your life for just a stupid guy." Say Marlene a loud.

"What!" now was Ellie's turn to hit the table with her fist. "Do you think that I'm like this because of a boy? I can see that you don't know anything about me. So stop pretending that you care. You never been here or did things with me… you… you just take care of me because you made a promise to my mom."

Marlen opens her eyes wider. "That is not true. I do care about you. I maybe didn't want to have kids in the past, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you. And all that I did in my life was to make sure you were happy and well."

Ellie stands up with a furious expression in her face. "Then guess what, you fail. Because I am never going to be happy here with you. I thought that I finally found my happiness, but that is gone, and now I just feel miserable," some tears start to go down from Ellie's eyes. So she just turned around and ran upstairs and went to her room, smashing the door as soon as she got in.

"Ellie!" her aunt stands up and yells, but she only hears Ellie's door smashed. She looked at the stairs for a few moments and then sat down again. I'm so sorry that you're feeling like that Ellie, but what I did was for your own good. You're only 16… and fall for the wrong person, it is not good for you. I know that you feel bad about it, but in time you understand.

Ellie drops herself to her bed and starts crying. Nothing she does feels good to her anymore. She misses Joel so badly sometimes that it hurts. Why does she feel like that? She only knew him for three months, and he already cut her soul so deep that she didn't want to do anything else in this life.

After a few minutes, Ellie passes her hand on her eyes and wipe her tears. She lays on her back and starts thinking. Maybe her aunt was right in one thing. She needs to stop thinking about Joel if she is going to get better, but how? She loves him and nothing is going to change that.

She sees him everywhere, even in school. Every time she sees a man with a bear, she thinks that is Joel. He may be gone and probably never coming back and even that thought is hurt she is never going to accept that.

Ellie knows that she needs to do something about school, to get her aunt out of her back. Even though she feels so depressed, she can't continue to let her grades fall down. Winter break is coming soon, so she needs to up her grade for the next semester or she is going to be stuck here forever. She had a plan before Joel came here and that was to graduate from high school and when she turned 18, she could go on her own and see what was out there in the world. Joel may have changed that a little, but maybe that was the solution she needed to get Joel back. She doesn't want to wait that long, but when she turns 18, her aunt can't tell her what to do or keep her there anymore. So that was something she needed to accomplish if she wanted to see Joel again.