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

A/N: Hi this will be the final chapter of the story, besides the epilogue. Yeah, it's going to be sad to get to the end of this but like all good things they have to end. But don't worry is going to be a little more out there for this story. I want to thank the people that read and comment on this story and be a follower of it. Is been good to see how much people care and like this story, even if is nothing to do with the game. But Joel and Ellie are such a good character and I love to write things about them. I know some people not agree with me on this but I have such hope for the second part, but they destroy the story some people love so much. I know that some of you like the second part, but for me, they just destroy the magic this game has with Joel and Ellie. And now I wish that they do the second part using new characters and let Ellie and Joel the way they end in the first game.

Anyway, that is just my opinion, so lest continuing with this story.

Chapter 25: When we became Family

( Two weeks later )

Ellie was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when she heard her aunt coming down the stairs and entering the kitchen. "What are you doing?" She asked as soon she saw her.

"What do you think?… I am preparing breakfast," said Ellie turning her head and look at her aunt with a smile on her face.

Marlene rolled her eyes and walk toward her. "You don't need to do that. I can still do things around here."

"Well, the doctor said that you need to rest and don't do hard things for a while, so I wanted to help you with things around here. So today I own the kitchen, so go to the table and sit, I will be there in a few minutes," says Ellie with an authoritative tone.

"Yes, mom…" Said Marlene with a giggling voice, then she moves close to her and hugs Ellie from behind. "Thank you sweetie… but you really don't have to do that, I'm fine. Besides, you need to go to school and I have to get back to work."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Well lucky for us today is Saturday… so I don't have to go to school and you don't need to go to work," said Ellie while finishing the scramble eggs.

"Really! Wow… will all that rest I get for the past two weeks and you taking care of the house makes me lose my sense of time," Marlene laughed a little then let go of Ellie and started to walk out of the kitchen. "Are Joel coming today?" She asked while sitting at the table.

"No in the morning, he calls me last night and told me that he has to work today in the ranch for a few hours." Ellie grabbed two plates and put the eggs on them. "I don't know, but sometimes I hate that he takes that job after he promises that he won't do it. I love horses, but that job is keeping him away from me."

Marlene looked at her from the table. "Yeah, it is hard work… but you know why he takes it right?"

Ellie looked at her aunt. "Yeah, he told me that he needed the money to pay his bills and all that. He probably used some of the money he got to buy me the car too. I know he needs a stable job, but it takes too much time and we don't have much for us."

"Yeah… but he has another reason to do that too. I am not supposed to tell you this, but I don't want you to be mad at him because of that job," said Marlene with a sad tone.

"What do you mean?" asked Ellie, more curious now.

Marlene looks at her. She promises Joel no to tell her about the deal he makes with the old man to get the money for her. But Ellie deserves to know and she doesn't want to keep more sacred with her. "Joel didn't want me to tell you this, but he not only took that job because he needed the money for himself. He took that job because he made a deal with his boss to get the money I needed for my treatment. He didn't want to tell me either at first. But I get it out of him a month later."

Ellie looked at her aunt with her eyes wide open. "Did… he does that... for you?"

Marlene smile at her. "Yes, he did. I didn't want to accept it at first since it was a lot of money… but he insisted. He told me that he wants me to get more time with you to fix things. He told me not to tell you, but I think that you need to know. And after what happened before, I don't want to keep any secret to you."

Ellie doesn't know what to say to that. He didn't want to take that job because of her the first time the old man asked him. And now she knows that he took that job because he wants to help her and her aunt. She knows that Joel cares about her and loves her, but making a deal like that to help her aunt, that was incredible news. If she loved him before, now she does even more, even if that was impossible to pass.

After that, Ellie brings the food to the table and both girls continue talking while eating their food. Marlene was losing some hair because of the treatment so she cut it short. Luckily for her, she won't lose it all, but sometimes she likes to use a hat when she goes to work or go outside. Marlene and Ellie spend all morning talking about Ellie's mom and how good she was.

Joel arrived at Marlene's house later in the afternoon. He parks his pickup truck in front of the house and gets out. Soon he started to walk toward the front door, he saw it get opened and watch Ellie running toward him.

Ellie jumps at him, wrapping her arm around his neck, and kisses him in the mouth. Joel was really surprised to see Ellie like that and lucky for them, not one lives close enough to the house to see them like that. After a minute, Ellie moved her mouth apart from his. "You don't know how much I love you," she said with a smile on her face.

Joel put his hand around her to hold her. "Well… you jumpy at me and kiss me in front of your house, give me some idea. But if you don't want your aunt to kill me you should not be doing this in front of your house," Joel says with a smile on his face. " Remember, we are not supposed to be kissing in front of her… what if she is looking through a window?"

Ellie looks at his cute way to said things, but not move away from him. "I don't care… I love you and she knew that. Besides she is in her room sleeping, so no one can see us right now," Ellie move her head forward and kissed him again, but more passionate this time. After she breaks the kiss, she lowers her legs to the floor but stays in his arms "Joel?". She said his name while looking at his eyes.

"Yes!" Joel answers while looking at hers.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked in a lower voice.

"Sure… You can ask me anything," he answers back.

"Will you marry me?"

Joel was surprised about what he just heard. Yeah, he loves her and they talk about getting married in the future, but he didn't expect Ellie to ask him to marry her. Joel doesn't know what to say to that, he is the one that supposes to propose to her in the future, so this was really a surprise. Of course, he wants to marry her, but right now that will be impossible.

Joel looked her in the eyes and tried to find an answer that didn't hurt her feelings, but they need to face the reality of the situation they are. "Ellie, are you proposing to me?" Joel asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah… is that wrong?" she asked him with a smile on her face.

"No, well no really… I will love to marry you… one day, but you know that you need to be older for that… right?"

Ellie was smiled at him. "Yeah… I know. I wasn't talking about doing it right now. So I was thinking that we can get married after I finish high school."

Joel looks at her with surprised eyes. "Ellie… I love you, but maybe it is better if we wait a little longer for that. You need to get into college and handle marriage is going to get a little complicated for you. Why don't we wait until you finish that and then we can talk about it. Besides I'm the one that supposes to ask you that question… Even if you're so cute asking it."

"I don't want to wait… Joel. I want to be your wife as soon as possible. You're the best thing that happened to me in a long time and I don't want to wait for us to be together for the rest of our life." Ellie put her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "I love you Joel and I know that our relationship is going to be complicated because some people are not going to understand it. But I want this more than anything."

Joel moved his arm around her and hugged her tight. He looked at the house and saw Marlene looking at them through the bedroom window. "Well, I think we need to discuss all this with your aunt first. But we don't need to rush anything. We will have time to work this out, so don't worry about it. I just want to make you happy," Joel lowered his head and kissed her on the top of the head.

"You already have..." Ellie hugged him tightly.

"Okay, I think your aunt just saw you when you kissing me, so it is better to do some damage control before I show up on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper," he said in a joking way.

Ellie moves away from him and takes his hand. "C'mon, I don't think that my aunt is going to kill you. But is better if we go and talk to her about you asking me to marry you right now, so we can have sex."

Joel's eyes got wider. "What!… I didn't say anything like that…" Joel saw her face as she winks at him and starts giggling. After a few minutes, Ellie pulled him toward the house and opened the door. Soon Joel and Ellie get into the house, they see Marlene standing there with her hand on both sides of her body and withing for them.

After Joel and Ellie enter the house, they sit down on the couch in the living room and have a conversation with Marlene. Ellie tries to convince her to let them get married after she finishes high school. But after a few hours of talking, Marlene only agreed to let them do that after she got at least two years in college. So that why she will be 20 and it will be better for both of them. Of course, Ellie didn't want to wait that long to be married to Joel, but for now, she will accept that.

After that, things start to go back to normal. In the following months, Marlene got the rest of her treatment, and Ellie continues getting back on track at school. Joel continued working on the ranch and learning more about how to get things done. Even if he always worked in construction, he was starting to like the life of a rancher. Marlene's treatment and things in her house were getting better. Ellie has to help her when the side effects make her feel sick sometimes. That makes Ellie sad, but also makes their relationship was getting stronger.

Joel came to her house every day after work and Ellie stayed in his house on the weekends. They're becoming a family now, and Ellie loves it. Thanks to Joel things were good between Ellie and her aunt and she loved that too.

Ellie was helping Marlene in the kitchen to make some dinner for today. "So when is your last treatment appointment?" asked Ellie while cutting some vegetables.

Marlen was beside her helping her with the food. "It is going to be in two weeks. The doctor said that my body responded well to the treatment, but it is still a possibility that is not going to cure me," she said sadly.

"I don't get why this can't cure you if they said that is working well," said Ellie with a mad tone.

"Cancer is a condition that is hard to predict and difficult to cure. But even if this doesn't work out, It's been helping me a lot, Ellie. When I first got the result from my first doctor, he told me that I have only a little more than a year left and that things were going to get worse before that." She looked at Ellie and put one hand on her shoulder. "But look at me now, I feel better, and if this treatment can give me a few more years I will happily take them."

Ellie lowered her head and looked down. "But you are still going to die…at the end… and I don't want that," a few tears escape Ellie's eyes. "I want you to live…I want you to stay with me for a very long time."

"I want that too baby, but that is not after us. All people are going to die at one point, but I'm glad that we have time to get close again. Yeah, it is bad that this is going to happen to you twice, but I will be happy to know that you will have a good future ahead of you."

Ellie moves closer to her and hugs her. "But I don't want to lose another mom…"

"I know baby… I know." She hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. "I'm so happy to have you in my life, and I'm so proud to be able to have a daughter like you," tires started to fall out from both girls.

"Thank you... thank you for being my mother and always take care of me… I love you," said Ellie while burying her face on her chest.

"I love you too honey... Just promise me one thing."

Ellie moves away and looks at her face. Tears were falling down her cheek. "What?"

"When the time comes, I want you to promise me that you will be the best mom you can be."

Ellie's face turns red, but sherry to cover it by whipping her tears from her eyes. "I promise… but you need to promise me that you will be there to see them."

"I will do my best honey… I can promise you that." Marlene pulled her close and hugged her again. After a few minutes, they move apart and wipe their tears. "Now let's finish this before you man comes from work and finds out that dinner is not ready yet."

Elie giggles at the comment. "Yeah, he always came so hungrily that he can eat an entire cow…" Both girls laugh at the comment. "One more thing?" she asked while starting again working with the food.

"What?" asked Marlene while looking at her.

"Joel and I can go with you to the last appointment? We want to be there with you."

"Sure… honey. I will be glad to have both of you there with me. Just talk to Joel and make the arrangement for that... okay?" she said with a smile on her face.

"We already did that," Ellie answers her quickly.

( Two weeks Later )

Ellie and Joel were sitting in the lobby of the clinic in Chicago waiting for Marlene to finish her last treatment. They fly the day before the appointment and rent a room in a motel close to the place. They wanted to be there for her last section for support and to see how things go. The doctor told Malene that he will check the result of her treatment that week and give her the results on where her conduction stands.

Ellie was sitting beside Joel in the rest area. She was grabbing his hand tightly, as she started to get nervous. "How long is this going to take?" asked Ellie a little desperate.

"I don't know… but if you keep squeezing my hand like that, I will be the next one that is going to need medical attention," he said in a joking way.

Ellie looked at her hand and noticed that she was squeezing his hand very hard. "Holy… I'm so sorry Joel... I don't mean to do that," she let go of his hand and stood up. "I just a little nervous about all this. All this waiting is killing me." She said while moving around in front of Joel.

"Is okay… Ellie. I know you're worried, but she will be fine. Is not like she has not been here before and this is the last one. So after today, all this will be over," At that moment, Joel saw a nurse walking toward them.

"Are you two the relatives of miss Willian?" asked the nurse as soon she gets in front of them.

"Yes... She is Ellie, her niece and I'm Joel… I am just a friend of the family," he said while standing up from the chair.

"Okay, she has been talking to a recovery room, so you can see her now... follow me.'' The nurse turned around and started walking toward the elevator. Joel moves close to Ellie and puts one arm around her neck and starts following her. After they get to Marlene's room, the nurse opens the door and lets them in.

Soon all of them were in, the nurse walk closer to the bed and check on Marlene. "She will be sleeping for a few hours, but you can stay here and give her some company until she wakes up." the nurse check her file and put it back. 'Okay, I will go now, but If you need anything just go to the counter on this floor and ask for me. My name Samanta."

"Okay… thanks…" says Ellie while watching the nurse go out of the room and close the door. Then Ellie walks to the side of her aunt's bed and grabs her hand. "Don't worry… aunt, we're here with you now." She won't know if Marlene can hear her, but Ellie wanted to let her know that they were there for her.

Marlene woke up two hours later and found Ellie sitting in a chair beside her bed looking at her and Joel standing up in front of the room window. She was glad to have Ellie and Joel there to support her. "Hey, honey… how long you are been sitting there?" she said looking at Ellie and how tier she looks.

Ellie grabs one of her hands and moves a little forward. "Just a few hours… the nurse let us stay here until you wake up."

Joel moves close to the other side of the bed. "How do you feel?"

Marlene looks at him and smiles. "I'm happy that this was the last one…" they talk a little for ten minutes until they see the doctor walk into the room. Ellie and Joel move away from the bed and watch the doctor move closer to the bed.

Soon doctor gets closer to Marlene, he grabs her record file and looks at it. "How do you feel miss Willians?" asked the doctor while looking at her file.

"A little dizzy, but I'm feeling fine," she answered.

The doctor lowered her file and looked at her. "Well, that is a normal reaction, so don't worry about it. That effect will pass in a few hours. After that, your family can take you back to your hotel and you can rest there for at least one more day."

Ellie moves away from Joel and walks close to the doctor. "Is she going to be okay? Do you think this will cure her?"

The doctor turned his head and looked at her. "This was an experimental treatment, so we don't know yet how the result is going to be. I don't want to give you false hope, but her body responded well to the treatment, so is a high possibility that she will be okay. But is a possibility that is not going to be enough to erase cancer completely."

"So she can be cured?" she asked with hope in her eyes.

"Well, we have to wait for the results of this treatment and the last test we did."

Joel moves close to Ellie and grabs Ellie's hand. "Thank you, doctor, when can we have the result of that?"

"I already sent the last result to the laboratory, so we can have the result in three days. So I will call you when we have them."

"Thanks, doctor…" said Marlene from the bed and.

The doctor turned his head and looked at her. "Don't worry we have hope that this is going to work, so just get some rest and I will call you in three days." the doctor turns around and starts walking toward the door.

Ellie and Joel watch the man go out of the room, then Ellie moves closer to the bed again. "Well, I think we have to wait a little longer to know if this will work, I just hope that it does."

Marlene grabs Ellie's hand and smiles at her. "Yeah, I do too. But whatever happens, I am always going to be proud of you." She looks at Joel and smiles. "I want to thank you for everything you have done for Ellie… and me. I know we have a bad start, but I'm glad that Ellie found a man like you… no matter how old you're… I know that you will be a good man for Ellie… so thank you." she said with some tears in her eyes.

Joel moved closer to the bed and put his hand on Ellie's shoulder. He saw the tears in her eyes too. "You don't need to thank me… I will do anything for Ellie and you… because we're like a family now."

"Yeah… I like that very much, just don't call my mom… it will make me feel too old." the three of them start laughing. After they wipe the tears from their eyes they talk for a little while before Marlene gets released from the clinic. After that, they go back to the hotel they were staying, so Marline can get more rest until the doctors call with the results.

( Three Days Later )

Marlene rests for more than two days and in the tried one the doctor calls and asks her to come to the clinic so they can discuss the result of the treatment. So after having some breakfast, Joel, Ellie, and Marlene go back to the clinic. Soon they arrived there, the doctor indicated to his secretary to escort them to his office so they can talk there. Soon they get to the doctor's office, the nurse opens the door and lets them in. "you patient is here doctor," said the nurse. Soon they were inside, they saw the doctor sitting in his chair looking at some paper.

The doctor look at them and stood up. "Please, you can sit. I normally do this with the patient only, but since Miss Willians wanted the two of you to be here too, I think it will be okay for me, so please," the doctor indicates them to sit on the chairs in front of his desk.

Joel, Ellie, and Marlene sat in the chairs in front of the doctor's desk after he sat down again and continue to look at her medical file.

After a few minutes, the doctor closed the file and looked at her. "How you feel after the last treatment? Any side effect or anything out of the ordinary?" he asked her.

Marlene looks at the doctor's face and answers him. "I did get some dizziness and trow up a few times, but that was a regular thing, so it was normal."

"Ok, that is good… You may be going to feel like that for a few more weeks after that all will back to normal."

"So how the treatment go? It did work? I'm cured?" asked Marlene impatiently.

The doctor lowers his sight and looks at her file on the desk. "Well, I check all your tests and result for the past few months." he up his head and look at her. "The good news is that the medication and treatment seem to be able to kill most of the cancer cells. But…"

Marlene's face turned down at the last sentence. Why is it always a but in everything? Because when someone said that it means that some bad news is coming soon. "So what is the bad news?" she asked while holding Ellie's hand.

The doctor put his hand together and looked at them. "The treatment works more than I was expected, but it wasn't enough to cure you completed. As I told you before this wasn't a guaranteed treatment to eradicate all the cancer. Part of it was already too deep into your system so the treatment can't destroy it all. The good news is that you will be back to normal in a few months, but the cancer can come back later in the future. Your conduction was very rare and we're lucky to have this result."

Ellie looks at her aunt then back to the doctor. "So what are you saying? My aunt is cured or not?" asked Ellie, desperate.

The doctor looks at her. "Not in the way we want it... but your aunt can have a longer life now. The only problem is that the cancer can come back. The treatment works in part, but that is not a guaranty that her cancer can come back again." the man leaned forward and looked at Marlene directly. "But, if you take the medication I will give you and take care of yourself you will live longer than before."

Ellie was not convinced that all this was good news. Her aunt's cancer can come back someday and her aunt is still going to die? Where is the good news on that?. Ellie looks at Joel with a sad expression then back at the doctor. "I don't get it, after all this and all the money this treatment cost, my aunt is going to die anyway?"

Marlene looked at Ellie then back to the doctor. "How much longer we're talking about?"

The doctor put his hand on top of her file. "I am not sure of that, but since you have only one more year I can say that you can get now 8 to 10 years, maybe more if you take care of yourself and continue taking your medication."

Marlene looks at the doctor and gives him a sad smile. She was hoping for a completed cure, but she knew that it was a long shot. "Thank you, doctor, I really appreciated all the effort you did for me."

The doctor feels sorry for her. He was expecting this to be more helpful and give her a cure, but at least this will going to give her more time than she has before "Sorry that I can't give you better news than this, but we try our best." he said with a sad tone.

"I know… but at least you give more time to be with my family." Marlene stood up and extended her arm to the doctor. "Thank you for trying to help me and give me more time," she said after shaking the doctor hand

Ellie stopped up and looked at the doctor. "That's it? After all, she has to suffer from this treatment, she is still going to die? That is not fair."

Marlene moves closer to Ellie and hugs her. "Don't worry about that baby, I will be fine even if I only get me 8 more years. It much more than I have before, so this is great news. Now I can see you go to college and grow up to become the great woman I know you will be. and that is enough for me." she starts passing her hand on the top of Ellie's head a soon Ellie buries her face on her chest and starts crying.

"This is…no fair… I still going to… lose you," she said while continuing crying.

Marlene hugs her tight. "I know it is not fair honey, but at least I will have more time than before."

The doctor looks at them and stands up from his chair. "I'm so sorry that I can't cure your aunt, but if she continues with her prescription, and takes care of herself, maybe she can live longer than that," After Ellie move away from her aunt and walk toward Joel and hug him. The doctor gets close to Marlene. "Also I want to see you once a year for a routine check. But if you get any complications in the future just give me a call any time, I will be here to help you with all I can."

Marlene was watching Ellie and Joel. she was hoping for better, but it was good to have more time with Ellie. After a few minutes, she turns around and looks at the doctor. "Thank you… I will." After that, the three of them go out of the doctor's office and out of the building. They walk back to the rental car, but soon they get there Ellie stops walking.

"I don't get it, you pay a lot of money to get cured and that didn't work?"

Joel and Marlene turned around and looked at her. Joel was going to say something but Marlene moved toward her and put her hand on her shoulder. 'I knew from the beginning that this was not going to cure me. Cure cancer is a long shot, but getting 8 or more years is better than before."

"I know… but it's still unfair."

"Yeah, it is. But we have to accept what life gives us and make the best with it." Marlene pulled her closer and hugged Ellie again. "Don't worry about all this honey… we're going to be fine I promise. Thanks for being here with me... I love you so much..."

"I love you too… mom."

( One year later )

"Ellie you're going to be late on your first day… so hurry up," yell Marlene from downstairs.

"I'm coming... I just finishing with something here," she answers her back.

"Is Joel up there with you?" she asked.

"Yeah... he is helping... me," Ellie tries to move Joel away from her a little. she starts to giggle when he kisses her neck and touches one of her breasts. "I think that our time is up…" she said with some giggle.

Joel continues massaging her breast and kissing her neck. "We never have time to finish anything..."

"And who fault is that?" Ellie grabs his head and moves it away from her neck. She looks into his eyes for a minute. "But I still love you..." she said with a smile on her face, then she kisses him again. After a minute they move apart and Joel looks into her eyes.

"I love you too, but your aunt is right, you need to get going is a long drive to Colorado…" he gives her another kiss and starts to move away from her and out of her bed. "I don't know why you don't let me drive you there, I don't like the idea of you going all the way there alone."

Ellie smile at him and sat on the edge of the bed. "I will be fine, so don't worry about me… I'm 18 now." she grabs her t-shirt and starts to put it on.

"I always going to worry about you… I don't even know why you choose that university… is too far if I may say so," said Joel while moving away from her and let her finish her packing.

Ellie finishes to put her t-shirt on and stand up from the bed. "Because it has the best curse in the country on what I going to study… beside it only for two years after that I can move to one more closely to finish my degree," Ellie grab her back and finishes putting some books and paper on it and close it. Joel already put her two suitcases in her car, so now she was ready to go. "I'm going to miss you so much, so I hope that you get some free time in the following weeks, so you can go to the campus and visit me there… but until then I will call you every day…" she moves closer and gives him a passionate kiss.

A few minutes later Joel and Ellie get out of her room and go downstairs where Marlene was waiting for them. "I hope you finish all you were doing up there missy," she said with a mocking tone.

"Oh… I did…" she giggles.

Joel rolled his eyes and move closer to her to grabs her bag. Then he starts to walks toward the door. "C'mon, I will put this on the car… while you talk to your aunt," he said to let the two girls talk alone.

Marlene puts one arm on Ellie's shoulder and starts walking toward the door. "So are you okay to move this far away?" she asked while the two of them walked out of the house. "I know that you chose to be a vet and that will take a lot of studies but I going to miss you so much. This house is not going to be the same without you on it," she said with a sad tone.

Ellie stops and looks at her aunt. "I going to miss you too… and is not going to be forever. I will come when I go some free time and you and Joel can go there to visit me too." Ellie moves closer and hugs her. Suddenly they were interrupted by a dog barking coming from the back of the house. Ellie and Marlene move apart when Peches jump at Ellie and try to lick her face. "Ohhh… I going to miss you too… but don't worry aunt Marlen and you daddy Joel are going to take good care of you…" Ellie goes down and hugs the dog and kiss him.

The dog was a labrador retriever that Ellie hit with her car the day she gets her driver's license. After she hit the dog on one of the roads close to the house, Ellie and Joel take him to the vet to be check. Lucky for them and the dog he surfer a minor injury. After that Ellie take the dog back home and adopted him. She names him Peches and takes care of him until he heals completely the dog was only a year old. That was when she decided to become a vet and help animals to get better.

"I hope you have another one of those for me before you go," said Joel while walking closer to them.

Ellie gives another hug to the dog and stands up. "I wish I can give you more than a kiss before I go… but my aunt will kill you if I do that," she said in a mocking way.

"Well, you're an adult now, so is not illegal anymore, but I really want you to think carefully about what you going to do when that time comes. I know that you love Joel and have sex is part of that, but you need to study and-"

Ellie moves closer to her to stop her. "Is okay… I will know when the time is good for that and besides Joel will be a gentleman with me when we decided to have sex, so you don't need to worry."

Joel moves closer to them. "Hey, I right here you know!" the dog moves close to Joel and starts to move around him. He looks at him and goes down to hug him. Don't worry you mommy is going to go back in no time."

"Okay, it's time to go… is a long drive," said Marlene while moving closer to Ellie.

Ellie hugs her again while some tears start to go out from both of them. I will call you as soon as I get there... okay?" She kisses her aunt on her cheek and moves away. "I love you…"

"I love you too honey…" she put one hand on Ellie's cheek and smile. "Drive safe and be careful… your mom will be so proud of the great young woman you've become," said Marlene with a smile on her face.

"Thank you… and I so glad that my other mom is too." she moves closer again and hugs her. "I will see you soon okay… I promise," After that Ellie turns around and walks toward her car. Joel already was there with the door open.

"Well, I see you soon I guess…" said Joel as soon she gets close to him.

Ellie moves closer and hugs him. "I love you Joel and I can't wait to show you how much I do," she whispers in his ear. After a few minutes, they move apart. "I hope that you find the time to come to visit me soon."

"I will… I promise." with that Ellie gives him a long kiss then gets into her car. She starts the ignition and looks at Joel. "Drive safe, and call me on your first top okay?" said Joel while moving away from the car and get close to Marlene. The dog goes beside them and starts to bark toward Ellie.

Ellie moves one hand out and waves at them. "See you soon… I love you all."

"We love you too honey, " said both of them at the same time while watching Ellie drive away and into her future.