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

A/N: Hi again, first I hope for everyone to be okay other and second, I want t to thank you all for the support you're giving to the story. Thank you for all the review and comment and I glad that you're liked this story so far. I want to apologize for any grammar mistake this story has, but all you already know the reason for that. Anyway, thanks for reading and hope a good day for all of you. Now lest continuing with the story.

Chapter 9: Small Steps

( A few days Later )

"How do you feel today?" Asked Joel while approaching Ellie from behind. She was sitting on the pier that was close to Joel's house. It was the same one where Ellie and Joel have their second encounter after they met 6 months ago.

"You're late…" answered Ellie with a soft tone. She still feels strange around Joel, even though she is glad that he is back, is going to take time for things to go back the way it was before he went away.

They've been talking for the last few days, trying to connect again as they did before. But it's been hard for Ellie to go back to the way she was. Ellie has been asking him a lot of questions; like where he went after he left or how now her aunt and he are getting well after she was the one responsible for his departure and all kinds of questions like that. Joel tries to explain to her a few things and answer some of those questions, but not all of them and sometimes Ellie feels a little frustrated about that.

"Sorry about that, I get a few calls from people that need me to fix things. Anyway, you should not be here alone. Besides, it is cold and the news said that it is going to snow today." said Joel while standing behind her.

"I'm okay… I like to come here all the time to read and write, remember?… this place makes me feel good." Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Are you looking for jobs with this weather?

Joel looks at her at the half-frozen lake. "No right now, but I have to give my new number to the man from the hardware store yesterday. So he let people know that I'm back."

Ellie turns her head back to the front and looks at the lake. "Who wants to work with all this snow anyway? Lucky for me school is over until January and-"

"And you need to continue to study. Your aunt told me that your grades are bad and that you need to recover for next year."

"Yeah, I see that my aunt told you a lot of things about me… right? That is why you came back… to help me because you feel sorry for me… or because she asked you? I am not your daughter, so stop treating me like that."

Joel sat beside her and tried to put his arm around her, but Ellie resisted at first. "I know that we're not been talking much about what happened after I left. I know that things go bad between you and your aunt and in school too. But I'm here because I want to. And yeah, I want to help you too with school and be sure that you go back to the way you were before. I know that you're not my daughter Ellie and I'm sorry if you feel like I'm treating you like one. I know that all this is going to take time. But I want to let you know that I am not going anywhere."

"Yeah, you said that to be the last time and-" Ellie lowered her head and looked down.

"Yeah, I know… and I'm so sorry for breaking my promise." Joel finally put his hand around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. Ellie tries to resist, but after a few tries she just gives in. She really wants things to get back the way they were before, but she doesn't know-how.

Ellie closes her eyes and tries to go back three months ago when she loves to be in Joel's arms. She wants to feel like this again, but for some reason, she can't. "Joel, I don't understand what is going on between you and my aunt. Because you two have been acting strange since you came back. I mean, she has been calling you a lot lately and let you come to the house. So please can you… just tell me the truth?"

"The truth? The truth about what?" asked Joel not getting what Ellie tried to ask him.

Ellie looked at his eyes. "Are you and my aunt… are together now?"

"What!... " Joel was surprised at what Ellie was thinking. No, I can assure you that nothing is going on between us, except for both of us caring about you. Your aunt really loves you and she only wants the best for you. I know that you're not talking to her because of what she did, but you need to understand that she was worry about you and-"

"And she pushed you away from me… And now she is acting all weird. Joel, you're the only person in this fucking world that makes me happy and you want me to forget what she did just like that?" Ellie grabs Joel's arm and moves it away from her. "Why are you defending her after what she did to you? It just looks like you like her..."

"I am not defending her, and I am not happy with the way she treated you before I met you, but she is your family and you can't be mad with her forever."

"Why not? She hasn't cared about me since I was a little… She never wanted kids, so now I just feel like I was just a burden to her." Ellie lowered her head and started crying.

Joel didn't like to see her like that, but it was good that she was letting out all those bad feelings. They've been talking for the last few days, but this was the first time that she opened herself like that. Joel put his arm around her again and pulled her close to him. Ellie just buried her face on his chest while continuing crying.

"I know it is hard Ellie, and I'm not asking you to forgive her right away. But you need to understand that what she did, means that she loves you very much. She thought that I was just an old man that wanted to take advantage of you. Because men like that are out there, so she was only protecting you."

"But you're not like those men… you care about me and I was happy with you… and… and she took that away from me."

"I know… but this world is not perfect… And sometimes people just see the bad part of someone when they are scared… especially for the one they love. I'm sorry that that hurt you this bad, but I think that in time you can get back to your old self."

Ellie stops crying and moves her head away from his coat and looks at him. "So what is going to happen to us?"

"Us? Nothing. Your aunt is okay with us being friends, so if you still want that is okay for me. I mean... we can be like we're before."

"Before I tell you that I love you?" Ellie looks back at the lake but moves her body close to him. "Joel… what I said before you went away… it was true. I'm still hurt, but those feelings are still there… I know that you think that I'm just a kid… but the truth is that I never felt like this before. When I was with you, I was the happiest girl in this world and I wanted to let you know. I really wanted to talk about that after… I kiss you, but we never have the chance."

Joel squeezed her upper arm a little just to make sure that he cared. "Ellie, I am not sure what to say… this is hard for me too. My life always was a mess, and I didn't want to bring you into that. But all these months away from you make me think a lot about what is the right thing to do."

"And?" She turns her head and looks at him.

"I don't know yet… I'm still looking for the answer to that. Ellie, you need to understand that me being with a teenager is illegal and not only that is immoral."

"Why? What is wrong for two people to fall in love?"

"The age gasps for started. You're a minor and it is not right for a man my age to be around a girl like that."

"Joel… I know that all this is difficult for you. And I know that you're dealing with some pain when I met you the first time. But I'm not a kid anymore, I will be 17 in a few months and it is not right for the law to dictate to whom we fall with.

"Well, this world is governed by laws and there is nothing we can do about it. Sometimes it sucks, but that is how things are and we have to live with that."

"Yeah… that sucks." Ellie looks back at the lake. "I just want to know one thing."

"And what is that?"

"Do you feel something for me?" Ellie turned her head and looked at him because she wanted to see his face when he answered the question. "I want you to be sincere with me. I don't want the logical answer, I just want the one from your heart."

Joel looks at the lake and starts thinking. Ellie is maybe 16 years old, but she has always been so mature for her age. Part of him loves that about her, but sometimes he doesn't know what to think or what to do with that. He can give her a logical answer. That he is too old for her because that is the truth. But the truth in his heart tells him another thing. He has been trying to forget her by going away, but that didn't work. He remembers Marlene telling him that 'love can fix anything' If she was telling the truth? Can love fix anything? He doesn't know the answer to that, but love is something he didn't really feel until now. Joel looks back at her and looks her in the eyes. "I know that this is not the right thing to say this, but I think I do."

Ellie smiles and stares at him for a few minutes. She was happy with the answer because she never had the chance to ask him before. She just wanted to kiss him again, but maybe that wasn't the right moment for that. Because the last time she kissed him, she lost him, and she doesn't want that after getting him back. So it is better to move things step by step.

"I'm happy to hear that," she turned her head and looked at the lake… the temptation was too hard for her to resist, so she needed a distraction. "So what are we going to do now?"

Joel pulls her closer and hugs her from the side. "As I said, we just move one step at a time. We have time to fix things with us. Besides I want you to feel better first and help you fix your grades at school."

Ellie closes her eyes and hugs him back. "I feel much better when I'm with you… just promise me that this time that you are never going to leave behind…"

Joel hugged her back. "I promise… and this time I really mean it, no matter what."

Joel and Ellie stay there for half an hour until the cold starts to get to them, so they decide to go back to the house and get warm. They don't talk much after Joel promises her to never leave her again, but hugging together was enough for both of them. So after they walk out of the pier. Joel put his arm around Ellie's waist and guided her back to his house.

Ellie stops as soon as they get closer to the house. "It is okay for us to get inside alone?"

"Of course, I already called your aunt and told her that I like you to spend the rest of the day here. I told her that I will help you with your studies and that we talk more… Now, c'mon we need to get out of this cold and get warm."

They start walking again until they enter the house. Joel let go of Ellie and started to take his coat off. He already put the fire on before he went to get Ellie from the pier, so the house was already warm up. Joel puts the coat on the stand he has closer to the entrance and moves close to Ellie.

'Here, let me help you with that." Joel helps Ellie take off her coat and put it on the stand too.

"Are you trying to get points with me?" she asked with a teasing tone.

Joel was glad that Ellie was starting to get back her humor, even if it was just a little. He knows to fix things with Ellie is going to take time, but this was a start. He needs to work hard if he wants Ellie to get better. "I don't know… maybe... Is it working?"

"Not really… but it is good to see you trying." She smiled at him again.

Joel loves that smile on her, it makes him feel happy. "Well, then I think I have to make more effort on that part. Are you hungry? It is almost lunchtime, so I can prepare something."

"Sure… but I want to help this time."

Joel walk to the kitchen and open the fridge and saw that he only was to the market when

He goes to the hardware store and only buys a few things. "Oh, I forgot that I need to go to the grocery store and buy more food." He closed the fridge door and looked at her. "What about pizza? I can call for delivery… what you think?"

"I think that that is fine for me."

"Great," Joel goes to the counter and grabs his phone and calls the pizzeria. Ellie went to one of the chairs on the other side of the counter and sat there.

"I like your new phone, it is better than the one you had before. Does this one have a video camera?"

Joel waited until he finished talking with the guy that answered the phone and took his older. "Okay, that will be all... so the guy will be here in half an hour? Okay thanks," he hangs on and looks at Ellie. "Okay, what did you ask me?"

"That is if your new phone has a camera?" Joel already gave her his new phone number, but she didn't have the chance yet to see his phone. "Because if it has, we can have a video chat when I'm at home."

"Well, I'm not sure of that, I'm not good with modern phones anyway."

"Let me see," Ellie extended her hand, so Joel could pass the phone to her. After she grabs it, Ellie starts to check it. Well, it has a camera, but you need to download the application... I think I can do it." After a few minutes, she gave Joel the phone back. There, now we can see each other by phone if we want to talk when I'm home."

"Well, I'm not sure how that works, but okay," he said, grabbing his phone back and put on top of the counter.

After the pizza arrives, Joel and Ellie move to the living room and eat the pizza in front of the fireplace. They talk a little more while eating until the time arrives to get Ellie back to her house. Soon Joel takes Ellie back home and says goodbye, Joel goes back to his house to get some rest. He was happy to see Ellie a little better and more talking, So is hope for them to get the way they were before. But as Joel says before they need to take one step at the time.

( A few days later )

"Are you sure about this? Because I don't want to go to jail for cutting a tree out here." Say Joel while walking behind Ellie in the forest behind his house.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Joel is Christmas… and you need a Christmas tree in your house. My aunt gave us some extra lights and ornaments that we can use to put them on your tree." Ellie was walking in front guiding Joel into the forest.

Joel looked around like he was expecting someone to be close and see them. "Yeah, but it wasn't better to just buy one in town? I still have money, you know."

Joel and Ellie were walking into the forest looking for a pine tree to cut. Joel tries to convince her to just buy one, but Ellie insists on going into the forest and cutting one. Joel feels nice to start to do something together outside. But doing something illegal wasn't part of getting her to get better. Ellie still needs to take the pills every morning, but after a week of Joel returns her dosel was reduced and the doctor said that if she gets better she can stop taking them.

Ellie moves slowly as she tries not to get stuck in the snow. "C'mon… I thought that you said that it was going to be good for me to have more time out," she said, moving between some trees.

"Yeah, I said that, but that doesn't mean right now or in this weather… fuck… is getting too cold out here." Joel was surprised that the cold was affecting him more than to Ellie.

Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "I think we're close now. Besides, is going to be good therapy for us putting the tree together, don't you think?" They continue walking in the forest for a few more minutes until Ellie stops. "There… I think that is a good one. Is not too big or too small, is perfect,"

Joel rolled his eyes but followed her. "Okay... now you will want me to cut it right?" say Joel moving close to the tree and looking at it.

"Well, you're the man… and the one good with the hands for this kind of job," says Ellie while turning around and looking at him. "Besides if we get caught, I can say that you did it, so that way they can't put me in jail."

"That is not funny… Ellie," Joel bent over and pulled out the saw from the bag he brought to cut the tree.

Ellie moves around the clearance while Joel starts to cut the tree. "This looks strange… because now that I think about it, I never go out this far into the forest during winter. My aunt never let me go far from the house during this time."

"Well, she was right, is not good for- I mean for anyone to go out here alone. We're pretty far from the house and if you get lost out here you can freeze to death." Say Joel while continuing cutting the tree.

Ellie rolled her eyes again. "Joel… that is never going to happen to me. I know this forest like the palm of my hand."

Joel stops and looks at her. "That is maybe so, but snow can cover the trail or change the views of things. Believe me, it happened to me once."

Ellie stops moving and looks at him. "Really? How? I thought you're living in Texas and there's no snow there because it's all desert… right?"

"Yeah, most of the states are, but will still have mountains up north that get snow in winter. Besides I was 12 when that happened, so I don't remember all the details." He answered her question then continued cutting the tree.

"Okay… so you get lost in a snowing winter in Texas when you're a kid. That sounds like an interesting story." Ellie waits for him to start the tale, but he just continues with the tree. "So... are you going to tell me the story or not?" she asked, a little desperate.

Joel stops cutting the tree again and looks at her. "Well, I will tell you the story after I finish this and we're back to the house where it is warmer."

Ellie rolled her eyes and looked back at him. "Ahhh… c'mon, now you're made me all curious…"

Joel turns around and continues with the tree. "Sorry… girl, but I don't want to stay out there more than I need to. So you will have to wait until we get back."

Ellie doesn't have any other choice now but waits until Joel finishes. "Okay, fine. But hurry up I want to know what happened to little Joel back then."

After Joel finishes cutting the tree. They start walking back to the house. It takes them 40 minutes to get where the tree was, but it takes them one hour to get back. Ellie talks all the way back and that makes Joel happy. She told Joel about a few things that happen to her during the wintertime, but nothing bad.

After they arrive at the house Joel tells Ellie to look for the support base that he prepares for the tree in the chad. While Ellie does that, Joel takes the tree and put it inside the house and waits for Ellie to come back inside.

"Here, is this what you want?" Ellie said soon she entered the living room.

"Yeah, that is the one. Now help me with the tree." Joel grabs the tree and moves it into a corner on the other side of the fireplace.

"Okay, now what do I do?" asked Ellie after Joel moved up the tree and put in position.

"Just put that under the tree when I pick it up." It takes a few minutes to get the tree ready. But Ellie was happy that Joel had a Christmas tree in the house now since he doesn't put any light outside.

"Okay the tree is ready, but before we start to put the ornaments and lights on it, I want to hear your story when you get lost," said Ellie moving away from the tree.

"Okay… But first, I will go to the kitchen and prepare some hot chocolate."

"That sounds good to me…"