"Just a little bit further. I think there's a clearing around here. I'm not sure though. We'll keep lookin'," Joel said loudly.

He was a few steps ahead of Ellie, who was trudging along in the back. It was about 1 day and a half after the horrific event that managed to scar Ellie. It wasn't the first time, though, that's she's been scarred. And even before, back in the wintertime, it wasn't as traumatizing as this was. Joel didn't know the half of it. What Dylan did in front of him was just the beginning. Ellie thought to herself; debating if she should tell him the whole story or just ignore it. But, how could you ignore something so significant as this?

Joel looked ahead and saw a small shed-like structure in a tiny clearing in the woods.

"Ah, see over there? That's perfect. Whaddya say?" Joel asked in a light nature. Ellie didn't say anything. Her emerald eyes were fixed on the ground. Her face was emotionless as it has been for the past 36 hours.

"Ellie? Did you hear me? We're going over here and…" his voice trailed off. He looked at her facial expression and stopped walking. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better. What the hell was he supposed to say anyways?

Ellie lumbered over to the small shed. It had a light concrete floor inside and a worn mat on top of the concrete. She sat in the corner of the shed and laid her head on the wall. Joel sighed.

"Ellie. Ellie? Listen you're gonna have to talk soon-"

"Don't talk to me."

Joel was taken back by the harshness of her tone. He looked at her. "Ellie-"

"Don't. Talk," she replied in a monotone voice.

His hazel eyes moved slowly to the ground and let out a small, partially hurt breath. He decided to give her some time by herself and he left to go find some firewood.

Ellie rested her head against the wooden wall. A million things were going through her mind all at once. But her face still remained impassive.

Is it even worth telling him what happened to me? I mean there's nothing he can do or say to make the pain go away, right?

She closed her eyes. She remembered all of the events that happened a year ago. When she first met Joel and Tess. How Joel kind of freaked her out at first. She then realized that it's been a complete year since last fall. She remembered when she was at the ranch and she was heartbroken that he was going to leave her. How he made her feel unwanted. Unappreciated. Then, at the last minute, he changed his mind. He and she both realized that he does care for her on some level. She remembered the relief and gratitude she felt when he said he would stay and wouldn't give up on her. So, why the hell does it seem like she's giving up on him?

Ellie silently started to sob as she submerged her face into her arms. She was guilty for a lot of things, but the number one reason for her guilt was because she was making Joel feel the exact same way he made her feel at one point; undesirable. She perked her head back up and dried her eyes when she heard Joel walking towards the shed. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She still wasn't in any proper clothing. Joel let her borrow his jacket but that was about it. At least that was something that was comforting. The jacket smelled like him, which seemed to soothe her mind a little. Joel walked into the shed with some firewood. He placed the firewood in an open space on the floor.

Ellie still had on that awful, thin shirt from the water treatment plant. She managed to cover up her back. That's the last thing she wanted him to see.

"Ellie. You're bleeding," Joel stated and motioned to her side.

"It's nothing," she murmured hastily and moved the jacket to cover it up some more.

"No, let me see it. We need to clean it." Joel reached his hand out to pull the jacket off of the small girl but she immediately swatted his hand away.

"Don't! Don't…don't touch me…"

Joel slowly backed his hand away from her. He started to become concerned. The blood got worse.

"Ellie. Ellie I'm being serious I need to clean this." He reached in his bag and got a bottle of alcohol and a rag. He cautiously moved over and gently pulled off the jacket. His mouth dropped open.

Her back didn't have just one, but several cuts all over. There had to have been at least 20. They seemed like whip marks. And others seemed like chain scratches.

"Jesus…"

Ellie hunched over her bent knees, hiding her face.

"Um, Ellie," he said in a very small voice. "This might sting a little bit so just hang in there, okay?" He poured a little alcohol on to a rag and tenderly moved them over the wounds. Ellie yelped out in pain.

"I know, I know…"

He moved the rag slowly over each cut, cleaning them slowly. Her exposed back was so bruised and bloodied—how did he not see this before?

After he finished, he put the rag and alcohol back in his bag and put the jacket back on Ellie.

"See that wasn't that bad, was it?"

Ellie didn't respond. Her face was lifeless. She blinked a couple times.

Joel got desperate and utterly worried.

"Ellie? Ellie, please, please, I beg of you, just talk to me? Tell me what happened."

Still no answer.

"Ellie, listen. You didn't even have to speak. Just…just smile. That's all you have to do. Just please smile. Please…"

He looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Your smile is the best part of my day. You have no idea what this means to me. Your smile could stop any war and cure any disease, so please, for love of God, please, baby, smile?"

He started to forget and not even care about what he was saying.

Ellie didn't say or do anything. Her facial expression didn't change one bit. All she had were tears in her eyes.

Hours. That's how long it's been. Not one of them speaking to each other. For hours. It seemed unnatural. Ellie still huddled up in Joel's jacket and Joel, warming his hands near the fire due to the brisk autumn air. Her appearance still depressed, just like before. She just stared and concentrated on the small fire. Joel studied her. He looked at how there was barely any light in her eyes. The hope just…gone. After endless attempts of trying to make things better, Joel just gave up. He lay back onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He watched how the flames' light danced and made shadows on the ceiling.

"You know. I don't think I've ever told anyone this before," Joel started. Ellie sighed.

Great. He's telling me another useless story.

Joel recognized her exasperation and paused for a moment; then continued.

"It was right after the outbreak. The world was going into this mad chaotic whirlwind. I was just with Tommy at the time. We barely had anything with us. I mean, we were able to go back to the house for maybe a minute but we weren't able to grab anything valuable. But, I remembered grabbing something very important."

Ellie looked over at Joel, waiting for him to continue.

"You know, me and Sarah used to go to this beach every Saturday. It was probably one of the worst beaches I've ever been to but she loved it. And every time we went to the beach, Sarah would always blow up this beach ball. She absolutely adored that ball."

Joel stopped. He swallowed and sighed deeply. He started to speak in a softer voice.

"In that minute that me and Tommy were allowed to go back to the house to grab a couple of things, I secretly grabbed that beach ball. I carried it with me everywhere and it was small enough so it could fit in my bag. For me, that was the only thing I had left of her. Everything that I had that reminded me of her was broken and destroyed…except for that beach ball. I never let the air out of it because… it… still had her breath in it. I guess I couldn't let that go." Joel's voice was now nonexistent. He blinked back a few tears.

Ellie looked over at him. Her auburn hair was still all in her face so she couldn't see him very well, but she could tell by the way that he spoke that he was heart broken. How could she be so selfish? How dare she do this to him?

She slowly got up and walked over to him, taking her jacket off in the process. She lay down gently next to him. He wrapped his strong and safe arms around her, warming her at the same time. He placed his chin on top of her head. Ellie heard the familiar heartbeat that she loved. Her breathing was now even and calm. Her head rested on his toned chest.

"I love you," she muttered.

Joel's eyes shot open. She's never said that before. Ever. He was stunned. That was the very first time that she's ever done anything like that. He looked at her and saw that she was looking straight into his eyes. She meant it. He could see it. A small light had been restored in her eyes.

"I love you too, baby," he whispered into her ear. "I love you, too."

This chapter (well, part of this chapter) was inspired by a scene from one of my favorite TV shows, CSI:NY. I loved the beach ball story and I thought it would be perfect in this story. Also, I'm doing something a little differ-if anyone has any requests on a new chapter whether it's fluff or emotional, I would love to publish it! Just privately inbox me on some ideas and I'll see if I can work something out. I already have some ideas for a next chapter but I want to keep this story going for as long as possible. As always, please check my profile for updates and thank you for reading!