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

A/N: Again I want to thank you for ready this story and give it all your support. I still surprised how well this story is going and for all the comments that you're been let in here. Sorry for the grammar error this has, but English is not my native language. I hope that all of you are enjoying this and I wish that all of you be safe at this time of crisis at home and let's pray for all to pass soon. Now let continuing with our story. Thank you.

Chapter 8: Can love fix Everything?

Ellie was in the pier of the old cabin looking at the half-frozen lake. She wakes early in the morning and goes there. That was always her favorite place, where she can go and be alone. She has been going to Joel's house after he left, but as her aunt knows about all that, she can't go there anymore. So she decided to go to her first favorite place instead. She has been seeing Joel again, not only when she goes to sleep, but now when she is awake too.

Ellie starts to think while looking at the lake. I don't know what to do now that my aunt knows everything. She even forced me to go to see a doctor, because she was worried about me… yeah, worry about me after more than 10 years of practically ignoring me. She even makes me take those pills, that the only thing they do is make me feel worse. I just want to go away… and maybe try to find Joel now that I know that it was my aunt that made him go away.

Ellie moves closer to the edge of the pier. She probably told him that she will call the police and get him arrested… arrest for what? We're only friends… and even if I... Ellie lowered her head and embraced herself. I have to stop this… because I see him everywhere… in my dreams or anywhere I go... Ellie stops soon after she hears someone calling her name. Can't be her aunt because she doesn't know about this place. Then she turned around when the voice could be heard closer.

But her eyes were wide open when she saw who it was. "Joel?"

"Yes… is me, Ellie,"

She can hear his voice, but she has heard him before, so she can't believe that it is really him this time. "No… you're no real… you're gone forever and never coming back. This is another projection of my imagination." Ellie put one hand on her head and pointed at him with the other. "Just go away and leave alone…"

"Ellie is me… I'm here…"

Ellie saw him walking toward her. She started to move back. "No… you're not real!"

"Ellie… I'm real… I'm back…" Ellie wanted to believe it, and even his voice sounded real, but she has seen him before and those times he looked real too. So Ellie just continues to moving away from him. She is tired of this; to feel sad all the time and crying. But he continued speaking to her, he did that before, but why do things look different now, why did he not disappear like he always did? "Yes… I did go and leave you alone… but now I'm back… I came back for you, so give me your hand and let's go home."

Ellie looked at him not knowing what to do or think. Joel was there and looked so real. So now she doesn't know what to think. "You leave me… after you promise… that you… never will," her voice sounded weak and her head felt like spinning, she was starting to feel her body get numb.

Ellie saw Joel move closer to her. "Yes, I did… and I'm so sorry about that… but I'm here now… so give me your hand, so that way we-"

"No… you're… no- '' Ellie doesn't have time to finish because at that moment her mind just goes blank and her body goes numb.

Ellie was falling down and toward the cold water, but lucky for her, Joel moved faster and grabbed her before she fell. Yeah, the water was not so deep in that part of the lake, but it was half-frozen and it was going to take one hour to get back to his house. So if she falls there she can freeze to death before Joel can get her warm.

"Ellie!... Ellie!" Joel starts to care for her face with his hand. But she wasn't responding. So Joel was getting desperate and quickly checked her pulse. Soon he did, he was relieved that it looked to be normal, so maybe she just faints for another reason. Joel picked her up and walked toward the old cabin. He needs to keep her warm and even that is not the best place, but it is better than to stay outside. He needs to call Marlene, so she can pick them up, because he can't carry her all the way back, and she probably was worried.

So soon he entered the cabin, he put Ellie on the floor close to the old fireplace and sat down beside her. He put her head on his lap and made the call.

The phone rang a few times before Ellie's aunt answered the call. "Did you find her? Oh please… tell me that you find her," said Marlene with a desperate tone.

"Yes, I found her… and she is… fine."

"That doesn't sound good Joel… maybe it's better if I call an ambulance or-"

Joel looks at Ellie and uses one hand to rub her arm to warn her. "No, you don't need to do that, she is fine. She just faints… and is cold out here. I just need you to pick us up."

"Okay… where you?" She asked, a little nervous.

"We're in an old abandoned cabin by the lake… a few miles southeast from my house." Joel pauses for a moment before continuing. He knows that Ellie does not want anyone to know about this place but he doesn't have any choice now. "Is an old road closer to the cabin, is it blocked by trees but I can take Ellie close to that road, so you can pick us up there… okay?"

"Okay… I own my way… and Joel, Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for that." After that Joel hung up the phone and looked at her face. He was not expecting to see her beautiful face again, but here he is. He passes his hand on her face and it feels cold. So Joel takes out his coat and put it on her. "Don't worry kiddo, I'm here now… everything is going to be fine." After 5 minutes, he picked her up and started walking toward the road.

( One hour later )

"How, is she?" asked Joel soon he saw Marline walking down the stairs.

"I think she is sleeping… but she looks so pale and cold," Marlene said as soon as she gets to the first floor. Then she lowers her head and looks at her phone. "I don't know Joel… maybe it is good for her if we take her to the hospital or something… it is not normal for her to faint like that."

"We?" Joel asked, surprised.

Marlene looks up. "Yes… we. I think that you're part of her life now…" Marlene turned her head and looked upstairs. "She is going to need you now more than you think." She turned her head again and looked at Joel. "Why don't you go up there and take care of her while I call her doctor and ask him a few things?"

"Are you sure that that is a good idea?"

"I just want to be sure that she is okay and nothing is wrong."

"No, I mean about me going up there. What if she wakes up and-"

"Well, you're coming today to see her and talk to her anyway…" Marlene put one hand on Joel's shoulder. "Maybe it is better if she sees you face when she wakes up than mine. She is still mad with me, remember…"

"She is not going to be happy to see me either…"

"Just go up there… I will make some coffee." Marlene gives him a smile and starts to walk away. Joel does the same and starts to walk upstairs when Marlene speaks again. "Hey, Joel!... Thank you for finding her."

"As I said before. You don't need to thank me, I will do anything for her." Joel watches Marlene enter the kitchen, then he continues to climb the stairs. He already knows where Ellie's room is, so he doesn't need to ask, he was there before. Besides he was the one that took Ellie to her room after they returned. Soon he got to her room, he saw Ellie in her bed covered by her blanket. Her aunt already put a chair beside the bed, so Joel just walked inside and sat there. Joel feels strange about all this. Almost four months ago her aunt almost sent him to jail, and now all that has changed.

Yeah, he knows that she's just doing all this for Ellie, and that is good, but it still feels strange. Joel looked at Ellie's face, she was sleeping, so he put his hand on top of her head and took care of her hair. After a few minutes, he lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm so sorry… Ellie. I didn't know that this would affect you this much." Joel grabs her hand and takes it to his mouth and kisses it. "I know that I made a promise that I was always going to be there for you and I broke it." Joel lowered her hand and put his head on top of it. "I don't know if you can ever forgive me for that, but I am here now… and if you left me I will try to fix this out. I don't know what is going to happen or how I'm going to deal with this. Because my life is all fuck up… and I only was trying to do the right thing… But I can see now that the only thing I did was hurting you," Joel closed his eyes as tears started to fall down his cheek. He never wanted to see Ellie like this, all sad and hurting. It was like looking at himself in the mirror and that made him think that Ellie and he are not so different. Joel does not remember how long he was there, but he shook his head when he felt Ellie mumble something and her hand move. "Ellie!"

Ellie opens her eyes slowly and looks at him. "Joel? Is it really you?" she asked with a weak voice.

"Yes Ellie, is me. I am real… I'm Here."

"But… you leave me…" she replied with a sad voice.

"Yes… I did and I'm so sorry about that."

Ellie moves her hand away from him and turns herself to the side. She was looking now at the window in her room. "You hurt me… you go and leave me that awful later… I know now that my aunt made you… but you can stay and we could talk about it..."

Joel lowered his head, he knew that made things right with her is not going to be easy. "Yes… we could talk about that… but I didn't know what to say or do back then." he up his head and looked at her back. "Yes. I know that I hurt you and that was never my intention… but I was the adult and I had to make a choice, even if your aunt never finds out it was the right thing to do."

"If you think that that was the right thing to do why are you back?" she asked with some tiers on her eyes.

"I come back because of you… I know I hurt you, and I want to fix that…"

"I was not lying when I told you that I love you. Did you know what it takes for me to say that? And when I saw you laying on the ground that day all that was in my mind was that I would never go to see you again if something happened to you." Ellie turns her head over her shoulder and looks at him. "But in the end, nothing of that really matters, because I end up losing you anyway."

"Ellie… I just-"

Ellie turned her head and looked back to the window. "I want to be alone…" she started to cry.

Joel felt that it was nothing he can do, for now, so he decided that it was better to go and leave her alone. "Okay… I will let you rest and we can talk later if you still wanted." Joel stands up from the chair and walks to the entrance of her room but stops there. "I don't know if this means anything to you… but I never stop thinking about you… and I never said that I didn't love you back," after that Joel walked out of her room and went downstairs.

Soon he got to the living room and saw Marlene sitting in a chair there. So he walks toward her and stops as soon he gets in front of her. "Did she wake up?" Marlene asked him.

"Yes… , but I think it is better if she gets some rest…"

"She was mad at you right?… Well, that was expected, but don't worry she is not going to be like that forever. This was the first time you two talk in almost four months, but you care about her, so all you need is wait. Don't give up so easily because love is like a battlefield."

"Wait… Did you really say that…?" Joel was really surprised by that.

"Yeah, I can't believe it myself. I know that this looks all wrong and me agreeing to all this… I just don't know. The doctor said the reason that she faints can be because she was stressed out. So he told me to let her rest and make sure that she eats and call him if she doesn't get better."

"Well, I hope there is nothing worse than that. Anyway, I better go… but call me when she feels better okay?" After that, he turned around and walked toward the door.

"Yeah, sure… I let you know if something came up," she said walking beside him. Soon they get to the door. Marlene opened. "So… I see you later…then?"

"Yeah… later," he said while smiling at her. "Thank you for all this, I know this must be hard for you."

"Yeah… I will be a bad mother for this. And we're probably going to jail too for doing this."

Joel didn't say anything. He just turned around and was going to get out of the house when a voice came from upstairs. "Joel!" Joel turned around and saw Ellie running down the stairs toward him. Soon Ellie gets close to him, she put her arm around Joel and hugs him. "Don't go… please…" she said while burying her face on his chest and starting crying.

Joel moved his arm around her and hugged her back. He lowered his head on top of hers as tears went out of his eyes. "I am not going anywhere this time Ellie… I promise." They stay like that for a few minutes.

"Well, I guess that I will be preparing breakfast for three, then," said Marlene while looking at them.

( One hour later )

Joel was sitting in the chair beside Ellie's bed. She was sleeping now with her head on top of his hand and holding it, like making sure that he won't go anywhere. Joel was watching her peaceful sleep after asking him a lot of questions; like why did he come back? Or how was it possible that he was in her room with her aunt in the house? She asked all kinds of questions, but in the end, she just fell asleep.

Of course, Joel just answers a few of them. He doesn't tell her about the arrangement that her aunt offers him or how Marlene finds him and travels all the way to Arizona to talk to him and ask his help. Of course, he will need to tell her all that later, but not now. Marlene makes him promise to don't tell her anything about the arrangement or her condition until she finds the way to tell her.

She wants to see Ellie as happy as she can before her time comes.

Joel doesn't know what to think about all this. Yes, he cares about Ellie and even loves her in a way, but she is so young and he doesn't know if this was the right thing to do. He has his own demons, the ones that have followed him since his daughter died. He never recovered from that and it made him push everyone away. So he starts to think if he will be able to make her happy?

Joel looked at her and started thinking about those strange dreams he had and that voice he hears on them. And how Ellie always shows up to them and helps him… Did he think that maybe it was some kind of sign? Joel was taken out of his thought by a voice coming from the entrance of Ellie's room.

"Coffee?"

"Hmm?" Joel turns his head and looks at Marlene.

"I just came here to tell you both that breakfast was ready and that you can come down. But… I can see that she fell asleep again… Well, I think that is good for her."

"I think she was really tired, she must have been awake all night," said Joel, turning his sight back at Ellie.

"Yeah… I never saw her like that before… she never feels like this for anyone… including me." she said with a sad tone and passed one of the cups with coffee to Joel.

"She… is a special girl… maybe with time…" Joel stops to remember that Marlene maybe doesn't have much time to fix things with Ellie. "I'm sorry… I don't mean…"

"Is okay… I never was a good mother to her. The loss of my sister and her decision hit me hard, and I guess... that that affected my relationship with Ellie." Marlene sat on the edge of the bed and put one hand on Ellie's side. "I could listen to her, or be more carried. I could do a lot of things, but now I am not going to be able to mend all that…" Marlene moves her hand from Ellie, and grabs the cup with both hands and looks down.

Joel sees some tears coming down her cheek. "Hey… you doing all that now, don't be so hard on yourself," Joel put the coffee on the table and put his free hand on top of hers.

"I know that we can't change the past, even if we want to. We all have our demons to deal with, and maybe that will follow us for the rest of our life. But we can do some good things too, look at you… You're already trying to fix things with her.. And even letting a 40-year-old man be with… well, that is not a good example… I think," Joel moved his hand away from her.

"Yeah… This sounds all crazy… we both can end up in jail for doing this… but even so, I can't believe that you give Ellie more love in two months than I give her in 16 years."

Joel looks back at Ellie's sleeping body. "I can't say that I give her love…"

"You did Joel, I never saw Ellie this happy in her summer vacation, and now I see why."

Joel turns his head and looks at Marlene with a surprised expression. "Did she tell you what she did in those two months?" he asks her with a worried tone.

"No, but like I said I have my source to find things… and when she started to act weird I started wondering who was the one that was making her like that. It was good to see a smile on her face, even if she lied to me when she told me where she was or telling me that she was with a friend… and now, I know that she was with you."

"I always wanted to meet you. I even ask Ellie for your permission when she starts helping me … Sometimes I ask her to let me come here and talk about things… But she never let me, I know that I never have any bad intentions with her."

"But she never let you... right?"

"No… but it is not her fault I'm an adult so I should not let her convince me… to…" Joel lowered his head and looked down. Yeah, Ellie doesn't want her friendship with him to be revealed, but he doesn't want either knowing what is going to happen if someone knew.

"I think both of you were afraid of what was going to happen back then." Marlene stands up and starts walking toward the door, but stops before she gets there. "I think that all is going to be okay now if you keep your promise to wait for Ellie to be at least 18 to do something."

"Do you think that things are going to be okay? That a 40 years old man can be with an 18 years old girl?"

"No, no that. I think that love can fix everything… and I see a lot of love between you two… so yeah I think that in the end, all is going to be fine."