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

A/N: Again I want to thank all the people that are reading this fic. I never thought that it was going to be this accepted since is nothing to do with the game. But as I love this character so much I try to do something different with them. I really love writing this fic and I glad that I touch a few people in some different way. So to those people that are been follow this story and comment on all the chapters and enjoy it so much, my thousand thanks. And I dedicate this story to all of you. Thanks again for stay with this story and love it. Now let's continue with it.

Chapter 22: A New Year

The next day after Joel and Marlene have a conversation bout his past and give her the money for the treatment, Joel starts to prepare things for New Year's eve. As they were going to celebrate it in Joel's house, he decided to drive out of town and buy some fireworks for the night event. But before he goes out, Ellie calls him and asks him if she can go with him. After he picked her up from her house, Joel starts to drive in the direction of the next town close to them.

"So… things are good with your aunt now?" asked Joel to try to make some conversation, since Ellie has not talked much since they left the house half an hour ago.

Ellie was looking at the road when she heard Joel question and looked at him. Her mind was in another place and she wasn't talking much. "Yeah… I guess." She answered him, then looked back to the road.

"You don't sound convinced… I thought things were getting better between you and your aunt… So something happened?" he asked curiously because the last time he talks to Marlene she said that things were better between them.

Ellie continues looking at the side of the road. "No… is not that. We're better now… is that… I don't know, it seems like something is wrong with her sometimes," said Ellie with a concert tone.

"What do you mean?" asked Joel with a worried tone.

She turned her head and looked at him. "I don't know, but sometimes I hear her go to the bathroom and throw up. I hear her before so I thought she was getting sick or something. But lately, it is getting worse. She said is nothing when I asked the next day, but I not sure about that and that is worrying me."

Joel knows what is going on, but he can't tell her anything, at least not yet. "Maybe she had the flu or something. That is common with this climate or maybe she ate something that made her sick," Joel says trying to don't look at her. He does not want to keep lying to her about her aunt's sickness, but he promises to give her aunt the time to tell her. So for now, he needs to keep the secret for himself.

"I don't know… maybe, but it's still weird and she doesn't want to talk about it." Ellie turns her head again and looks back at the road. Joel can see that she was lost in thought and worry. He doesn't like to see her like that especially after being so happy at Christmas. So he needs to do something about it. Maybe this trip will distract her enough to make her stop thinking about her aunt, so it was good that he brings her with him.

After driving for a while on the road, they finally arrive at their destination. "Okay, we're here," said Joel as soon he arrives at the place. He was lucky to arrive there before noon. Joel thought that maybe passing a little more time here can help her to not think about her aunt. Joel parked his truck in the first parking lot that was close to the store. There were a lot of cars there and people walking around. "This looks like a big place for just selling fireworks… so let see what they got," said Joel after they get out of the pick-up and look at the place.

Ellie gets out of the truck and walked to the back where Joel is and stop beside him. "I never see a place this big that only sale firework," she said, looking at the store.

"Yeah, it looks like a big supplier store for other ones around the country." Joel starts walking toward the store with Ellie beside him. Soon they get to the front door, it gets open when few people walk out from it carrying a few bags. After they pass them, Joel holds the door for Ellie to enter.

"Ladies first," he said with a smile.

Ellie looked at him and smiled too. "Oh… thank you… you're so kind sir," she said with a playful tone then walked inside followed by Joel. The place was full of people, probably making their buying for the celebration day too. The place was decorated with all kinds of signs for the New year. And has a lot of racks with different kinds of fireworks. "Wow… look at this place. I have never been to a place like this." Ellie said, a little excited.

Joel looked around and saw some people watching them. "Yeah… Why don't you look around while I look for someone to help us… okay." Ellie noddle and walked toward some of the fireworks racks close to her and started to check them out. Joel left Ellie there and walked around trying to find an employee that can help him with what he needs. After a few minutes, he saw one working in racks on the other side of the store. Joel started to walk toward the worker woman to ask her if she can help him. Soon he got close to her, Joel waits for her to finish talking with another customer before he asks her any questions.

Soon she finishes with the man that was talking to her, the woman turns around and looks at Joel. "Hi... Welcome to the 'Wonderful Emporium of Fireworks' My name is Becky, what can I help you with?" she asked while looking at him with some interesting sight.

"Hi, my name is Joel and I am looking for a few safety fireworks sets, that I can use in my backyard. Can you tell me where I can get those?" he asked politely.

The woman looked at him and smiled. "Oh, so you're celebrating New years eve at home?" The woman looks at Joel, liking what she sees.

"Yeah… It is not a big celebration or anything… it is just a few... people there… well, two to be honest." Joel starts to get the feeling that he doesn't need to give her much information.

The woman looked at his hand trying to look if Joel was wearing a ring and when she didn't see any, she smiled. "Okay… Joel… is it right?"

"Yeah, that is right."

She smiles at him. "Okay, follow me I think we have what you are looking for," She continued looking at him. She is not the type that likes a man at first sight, but somehow she finds Joel very attractive. "So… you're going to celebrate with… your family alone or with your friends... or girlfriend?" she started asking, trying to find out if he was alone or with someone.

Joel followed her to a few racks on the back of the store where she stopped. Joel put one hand on the back of his neck and looked to the side. "Well, they are not… family… " Joel doesn't know what to say to that. Is not like he needs to tell this woman anything about his life anyway.

After five minutes later, Ellie looked around and didn't see Joel anywhere. So she starts looking for him inside the store. The place was huge, is like a big department store. After five more minutes, she saw Joel talking to a woman in the back section of the store. The woman was smiled at him with some sexy eyes and that doesn't make her happy at all. Ellie down her brow and put her lips in a flat line getting mad at the picture in front of her.

Ellie didn't like what she seems. She is working hard to have Joel with her and she is not going to let another woman steal her man away, so she walked toward them as soon as possible. "Hey, I was looking all over the place for you… why didn't you wait for me?" Say Ellie grabs Joel's arm and looks at the woman with a mad expression. She really wants to hit that woman for trying to steal Joel from her, but it wasn't good to make a scene there, so she will try another approach that can work better. "And who're you?"

Joel looked at her with a surprised expression. "Ellie!... that is not a way to talk to someone," he said with a serious tone.

The woman looked at Ellie with curious eyes. She didn't see any ring on his hand, so she didn't think that this girl was his daughter. She likes to think that she is maybe his niece or something like that. "Is it okay Joel she is only a teen girl and sometimes they just act like one…" the woman look in Ellie's direction and try to be polite. "Hi, my name is Becky and I work here… so what is your name?"

"Joel? You're calling him by his name?" asked Ellie with a furious tone.

"Yes… he told me his name…" The woman looked at Ellie trying to figure out why the girl was acting like that. "Anyway, I just was helping… you uncle with the things he needs," She paused there looking for her reaction to confirm her theory.

Ellie looked at her with mad eyes and holding Joel's arm with a firm grip. "He is not my uncle…" She quickly said with a firm tone. Ellie saw the disappointing expression on the woman's face and that confirm her intention. Ellie starts to feel something inside of her, just as if someone was squeezing her heart and she didn't like it. So she moved closer to Joel and put her head on his shoulder. She wants so hard to tell the woman that she is his girlfriend and to back off, but she knows that she can't do that. So Ellie chooses another way to make that woman stay away from Joel. "C'mon dad… lest find mom and finish the shopping. She must be crazy looking for you by now." she doesn't like to use the daughter card… but she is not going to stand there and watch this woman while trying to steal Joel away from her.

The woman looked at both of them. "Oh… so you're married?" she asked Joel with a surprised tone.

Ellie pulls Joel closer and answers her. "Yeah… he is taken… so if you don't mind we need to go and find my mom," Ellie pulls Joel away from the woman and starts walking in the opposite direction. "C'mon dad, let's go and find someone else to help us." Ellie continues pulling Joel until they arrive at the other side of the store. They were walking into an empty aisle when Joel pulled her arm to stop her.

He not want to attract attention so he waits until not one was close to speaking. "Okay… I want to know what the hell was all that? Because you know that the last thing we need right now is getting attention from people into us."

Ellie let go of his arm and crosse them in front of her chest. "I'm sorry… but I know what that woman was trying to do and I didn't like it," she said with a mad tone.

Joel rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?" said Joel, trying to be as quiet as possible. "I don't know what you're thinking, but we're just talking. Besides she was only helping me out, that is her job." Joel tries to explain as he notices why Ellie was acting like that.

"Yeah… do you think that I don't know what she was doing?" she pointed one finger at him. "I watch a lot of movies about all that, Joel… and I know when a woman is flirting with a man. I may be 16, but I'm not that stupid."

Joel knows now what her reaction meant, so he moved closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Ellie, you don't need to be jealous about that woman… okay? She just works here and she was only helping me to find what we came here for." Joel moved one hand to her face. "You don't need to act like that okay? I am not interested in anybody, beside you so you don't need to worry about that." Said Joel to calm her down. "Just let's go and find out what we came here for. We can talk about this later... okay?"

Ellie lowered her head as she felt so embarrassed, but she is not going to lose Joel again, especially to another woman. "Sure… but I do not want you to be close to that woman again… so let's find someone else to help us… okay?" Ellie doesn't like these feelings, but she is not going to lose him after all is happens between them.

"Okay… let go and finish our shopping here." Joel put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her with him.

They stay in the store for one hour searching for the firework they need. Ellie makes sure to keep Joel away from the woman employee while they stay there. After they finish and pay, they get out of the store and go back to Joel's pick-up truck and get out of there. On the way back, Joel tries to talk to Ellie, but she seems to be pissed by the woman incident and she doesn't want to talk about it. But he needs to let her know that he is not interested in another woman beside her.

Joel looked at her and asked. "Ellie are you okay?"

Ellie looks at the road trying to avoid his eyes. "Yeah… I'm fine… I'm sorry about what happened in the store… it's just… that I feel something inside when I saw you talking too friendly with that woman… and..."

Joel looked back at the road and continued driving. "You just feel jealous… I think that is a normal thing, but you don't need to feel like that every time I talk to a woman. I love you… Ellie and not one else... okay?" He knows that sometimes women or girls feel that way, but Ellie doesn't need to feel like that.

Ellie looked down. "Yeah… I know… but… I just feel like I wanted to tell everyone how much I love you and that we're together… I don't want to pretend that you're my dad or my uncle every time we are around people. I just want people to know that you're my boyfriend."

Joel looked at her again. "I know baby… but we can't do that… you know that," he said with a sad tone.

"Yeah, I know… but sometimes it's hard to just pretend that we're not together." Ellie wants them to be normal, just like a regular couple, but she knows that that will be impossible right now.

"I know you want things to be different… but you need to be patient." Joel put one hand on her shoulder while continue driving back home. "We will talk more about this back home okay?" Joel feels bad for her, and for all this situation. He knows that this will get complicated at some point, so they need to talk soon about that.

"Okay…" Ellie answers him, then looks back to the road. She feels bad for acting like that inside the store. But not in hell that woman was going to steal Joel from her. Yeah, Joel said that it was nothing, but she knows that that woman was after him. She probably wanted to have sex with him and men are so weak on that part. Is hard to think that Joel will not like to have sex with a woman closer to his age. After all, Joel should have some need and he won't do that with her because she is only 16.

Joel drives for one hour until they get back home. Ellie didn't talk much the whole trip back. So soon Joel parks his truck in front of his house, Ellie gets out of the truck without saying anything and goes inside the house. Joel gets out of the truck and shocks his head as she doesn't even help him with the bags.

Joel grabs the bags from the back of the truck and walks toward the shad. He opened the door and put the bags with the fireworks inside and closed the door again. After that, Joel walks to the house and open the door. Soon he was inside, he saw Ellie sitting on the couch looking at the fireplace that she already started.

Joel took a deep breath and sat beside her. "Are you mad with me?" Joel asked while putting his hands on top of his knees and looking at her.

Ellie didn't say anything for a few minutes. She stayed looking at the fire. "I'm not mad at you… but I don't like to feel like that." she finally answered with a lower voice. "I know that we have to control ourselves when we're out there. But this is harder for me since I have never felt in love before. All this is new for me and I don't know how to handle all this."

Joel looked to the front, thinking about what to say. "I'm sorry if I make you feel that way." he started. "But, you don't have to get jealous every time a woman talks to me. Is always going to be a woman whatever we go, but that does not mean that I'm going to like them like that," Joel looked back at her and moved one hand to grab one of hers. "We knew that our relationship is going to be complicated from the start, but I can assure you that I am never going to look at another woman the same way I look at you."

Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Are you sure about that? Because sometimes I feel like I'm just a kid to you."

"Oh… Ellie, I'm never going to look at you like that. But you need to understand that some people will think differently," Joel squeezed Ellie's hand a little. "Ellie, you must understand that until you are an adult we need to keep all this between us."

"But I'm an adult… I will be 17 in a few months."

"I know… but legally you need to be 18. After that, there is no law against people going out with a person of different ages." Joel squeezed her hand a little. "But you also need to understand, that even when you get a little older, some people are not going to agree with our relationship. Some people find wrong for a man my age to be with a younger woman like you." Joel doesn't want to think about that but it is the reality of this world.

Ellie looked away from him. "That sucks… I don't care what other people say about us. But what is worse right now is that my aunt is not even letting us kiss." Ellie moves her hand away from Joel and stands up. "I hate to be like this… no, be able to kiss the man I love, because people think it is wrong. I read a lot of books, and ages ago girls could marry at 13 and it wasn't a law against that." Ellie walked close to the fireplace and stood there.

Joel stands up and walks close to Ellie. He stopped behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Those were different times, and believe me you don't want to be born at that time. Those times were controlled by men, and women were nothing but objects to them."

Ellie rolled her eyes at the comment. "No, if you're a princess… or a noble. I read that some women have power too."

Joel moved his head close to her. "Well, you have power over me and you're not a princess." he moved his head down into her neck and gave her a kiss there. Maybe your aunt does not want us to kiss, but I don't see that stopping you before." he said with a sexy voice.

That gives her some chili so Ellie closed her eyes and leaned her head back into Joel's shoulder. "Joel... I… can't wait for the day we can be together forever… But right now I just give anything to just make love… I just wish I was older enough for us to do that."

Joel stops kissing her and moves his head away. "You know that we can't do that… we promise your aunt to not do… anything… remember? Besides, it will be wrong for me to have sex with a minor."

"I know, but… but sometimes it is so hard to resist that feeling," Ellie knows that they can't do anything for now, but sometimes she just wants to feel Joel close to her. She wanted him on her arm and never let him go.

Joel moved his hand and hugged her from behind. "You don't need to worry about me… Ellie, I'm all yours and I'm not going anywhere," He moved his head and put it on her shoulder again. "We need to wait if we wanted this to work out, but I have to admit that you sometimes make me feel young again."

Ellie moved her hand and put them on top of Joel's. "I will wait until we can officially be together and be able to be married. Ellie turns her head to the side and grabs Joel's lips with hers. After a few minutes, she breaks the kiss. Maybe we can have sex yet, but that not mean that we can't do other things. She moves Joel's hand up until they are on her breast.

"Ellie!" Joel tries to protest, but he was silenced by Ellie grabbing his lips again and kiss him. They continue kissing each other like that for a little while.

( Three days later )

December 31 has come, Ellie and Marlene are going to Joel's house in the afternoon, to pass the new year there. Ellie promised Joel to help him with the dinner, so soon they arrived, Joel let them work in the kitchen. He left Ellie and Marlene to take care of some of the cooking while he went to the backyard and put the meat on the grill he put there.

Even though there was some snow in the backyard the weather wasn't so cold. So Joel decided to use his grill to cook the meat for the evening. Joel will prefer to do this in summer, but this will be okay if there is no snowing during the day. Joel wanted to cook a few steak, ribs, and burgers. The girls said that that was too much for just the three of them, but Joel told them that they can eat what they left the next day.

After half an hour later of they arrive Elle leaves her aunt finishes in the kitchen to finish the rest of the food, while she goes out of the house through the back door and walks toward Joel. "You know that all this is crazy right?" says Ellie soon she gets close to him.

Joel uses his big fork and moves one of the steaks. "I know this is better in the summertime, but I want this meat to be grilled…" he said while moving another one. "Don't worry it is not that cold out here, so this is going to work just fine."

Ellie rolled her eyes. She doesn't understand why men like to grill everything. "Yeah, if you say so," said Ellie while hugging herself. "So, if you insist on doing this. I want mine medium rare… so try not to burn it." She giggled a little.

"I didn't know this was a restaurant where you can order the chef, but for you, I will make an exception," said Joel while continuing to moving the meat. Anyway, you're talking to a grill master, so it is an insult to ask me to not burn the meat.

"Well, you better not," Ellie said with a smile on her face. Then she looks at the house making sure that her aunt is not looking at them through the window. She walked closer to Joel and hugged him from behind and moved her head to his ear. "Is so bad that we're not alone here because if we do, I will kiss you right now," she said with a sexy voice. "But I will love to have moments like this when we get married," she whispered to him.

Joel turned his head to the side and looked at her. "Shit... girl… you need to take it to slow okay. I know that you wish all that to happen soon but, we need to wait."

Ellie started to move her hand in front of him. "I know, but I can still dream about," Ellie moved her head and kissed his cheek. "Now, let me know when the burgers are done, I'm a little... hungry for you meat," she said it in a playful way.

"Yeah… you can dream all you want, but when your aunt is here, try not to let her see you kissing me… okay?" Joel knows that her aunt has seen them sometimes kissing and doesn't say anything, but he does not want to push his luck.

"Yeah… I know. Don't worry about it, I will behave…" Ellie moved her hand down his chest and close to his waist. "You have to admit that you like when I touch you like this." she was going to go lower but had to stop when she heard the back door opened. So she moved her hand away from Joel and took a few steps back.

"Well, the salad is done… So how is meat doing?" Marlene asked with a glass of wine in her hand and walked toward them.

Ellie moves away from Joel and walks to one of the chairs in the backyard. "I think Joel meat is getting hot…" she said with a smile on her face.

Joel looked at her and shook his head. Then go back to his cooking. "You don't think it is a little early for that?" said Joel, looking at Marlene's hand.

"Is only a glass of wine, besides this is a New Year eve, so let celebrate... Do you want one?"

"No, thanks. You know that I'm trying to quit drinking remember?" said Joel looking at her. A few moments later Joel looked at Ellie. "Ellie, can you go inside and bring my small radio? I like to put on some music," he asks her, so that way he can be alone with her aunt.

"Sure…" Ellie stands up and walks toward the house. Soon she goes inside, Joel turns to Marlene.

"Did you call the doctor in Chicago?" he asked Marlene as soon she got close to him.

Marlene takes another sip of her wine. "Yeah, they give me an appointment for next month. They are going to evaluate my condition and do more tests. After that, they will start the treatment probably by February."

"That sounds promising. I just hope that all that goes well," said Joel looking at the meat. "When you're going to tell Ellie?"

Marlene takes another sip of her wine. "I want to wait after her birthday. I really want her to enjoy that before I tell her. I know that soon I give her the news, things are going to change. Also, I want to wait for the results before I talk to her. Maybe I can give her good news, so that way she doesn't feel too bad," Marlen moved away from Joel and sat on one of the chairs. "I want to thank you again for-"

"Thank Joel for what?" asked Ellie as soon she walked out of the house with Joel radio.

Marlene was surprised to see her there. But she was glad that she didn't hear the entire conversation. " Thank him for this little party… you know," she answered quickly to change the subject.

"Well, I can't call this a party… but I like that it is only the three of us." Ellie put the radio on a table Joel has there and starts looking for some music channel. Soon she found one, Ellie up the volume, and started to move her body. "Okay… who wants to dance?"

( A few hours later )

After Joel, Ellie, and Marlene dance and talk in the backyard until the meat is done. Joel put the meat on a plate and they went back inside the house to have their dinner. After they eat, Joel and Ellie go back out and grab the fireworks from the shad and prepare them for the midnight show. After that, they go back inside and continue with their little party.

They sat in the living room and started talking about things in their life, trying only to talk about the good stuff they did in the past. They make some resolutions for the new years on things they want to do. Ellie took the opportunity to say that she wanted to be a nurse or study to be a vet. Joel and Marlene were surprised to hear that but happy that she finally was thinking about what she wanted to study after she graduated from high school.

The time passed quickly, so after they talked a little more and Marlene fell asleep on the couch. Joel and Ellie moved outside and were dancing a slow song on the backyard porch. The night was a little cold, but they don't really care, they can heat each other. "It's almost midnight… you think we should wake up your aunt?" said Joel while continuing dancing.

"Well, we still have 20 more minutes before that, So I think that we should use them for ourselves." Ellie put her arm around Joel's neck and put her head on Joel's chest. "I love to be in your arms…Joel. I can't wait for us to be together like this for the rest of our life."

Joel hugged her tight. He can't believe he has a girl like Ellie, no because she was young and beautiful, but because of the way she is. Ellie is maybe 16 years old, but she gets things and talks more like an adult. He never feels this happy before, no even when he falls in love with Tess, and before all his marriage goes to hell. "I'm happy to be here… with you. I'm glad that I found some like you. You make me feel alive again," They stay in each other's arms until the music stops and a man starts talking on the radio. He starts the count for the last minute of 2018.

Soon Ellie heard the count, she moved her head and looked at him. "I think that real love can fix anything. And I'm glad that I found it in you and you in me." Ellie moves her hands and grabs his face with them. "And as this is our last minutes in 2018, I want to let you know how much I love you… and I promise to never stop loving you no matter how many years pass after today."

Joel looked at her eyes and smiled. "I love you too Ellie, and I promise to love you until my time comes," Both of them move closer and kiss. The count continues until it reaches the last 10 seconds.

"This is it, people… start counting… 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1… happy new year!" yelled the man on the radio.

Ellie and Joel break the kiss and look at each other's faces, while fireworks start to explode in the sky making the night illuminated.

"Happy New Year… Joel!" said Ellie with a smile on her face.

"Happy New Year… Ellie!" He pulled her closer and hugged her tight. "I love you."

"I love you more."

After a few more minutes, Marlene walks out of the house. She wakes up as soon as the firework starter. "Hey, Happy New Year!" She comes closer to them and hugs them both. "I think it is time to fire ours… not you think?"

"Yeah… let's send them… up," said Ellie moving away from the embrace and walking to where the fireworks are. Soon Joel and Marlene go there, Joel starts to ignite them. The fireworks start to go up and explode in the sky about them. As the fireworks continue the three of them yell to each other. "Happy New Year!"