Author's Notes: Things got pretty intense in the last chapter for sure, and that trend is going to continue. Things will get real testy between Joel and Ellie this chapter, and you will absolutely hate Joel for part of it. You'll see what I mean. Since it gets so intense, I decided it would be best to end this chapter on a lighthearted note since it's been a while since we've had one of those in the story.

Also, it will take longer than normal for the next chapter to be put up. I want to really take a lot of time and make it special because it will be a MAJOR turning point in the story.

And because someone asked, I'm really excited about the DLC.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Last Of Us or the characters in this chapter, except the ones I introduce. All credit goes to Naughty Dog.

Brand New Start

CH. 9: Monster

A week had passed since the community of Jackson witnessed the worst tragedy in its history. Nobody was hit harder than Connie MacCallan, who watched both her husband and only son die. After the deaths of her family, she nearly joined them, but Joel was there to help her see that there was much more to live for. Although the two had exchanged brief pleasantries in passing several times, they hadn't talked since when they met in the church cemetery. Joel thought it was time to change that.

Connie was sitting in her house one night when she heard knocking at her front door. She rarely had visitors show up, and never since the deaths of Barry and Adrian. She opened the door and was greeted by Joel standing on the porch. "Mind if I come in?" he asked.

"Why?" she responded.

Joel held up a bottle of whiskey. "I just wanna talk to you."

She considered his proposition. She had wanted to be alone ever since the incident, but she had strong feelings towards Joel. He did save her life after all. It would probably be good to talk for a while. "Yeah, sure. Come on in."

The two shared a couple glasses of scotch, and just talked. Joel spent much more time listening to Connie than actually talking himself. During the time they were talking they had somehow managed to avoid talking about her husband or her son. But Connie had kept it bottled up, and she had to let it out. "Barry was a very good man."

Joel paused, trying to find the right thing to say. She had shown that she was very emotionally unstable, and he knew saying the wrong thing could set her off. Choosing his words very carefully, he responded, "I bet he was."

"We met eight years ago; I was only sixteen. I was with my parents when we ran across him. He was starving and dehydrated, so we took him in. I was very skeptical of him when we first met. Even though he didn't seem like a threat, I knew that I couldn't trust anyone. One day we were ambushed. My parents were both killed and I was shot too. Barry was nowhere to be seen the whole time this was happening. But when I was on the ground with one of those bastards holding a gun to my head ready to finish me off, he came back and saved me. I was fucking mad at him that he wasn't there to save my parents, but I was grateful to be alive."

Tears were starting to run down her face. Joel tried to give her comfort he could see she needed. "He was there when it was most important. That's what matters."

She sniffled. "He saved my life." She then looked at Joel with affection in her eyes. "Just like you did."

Joel didn't reply. Suddenly, Connie threw herself around Joel and began kissing him on the mouth. Her sudden advance shocked him, and he quickly pushed her off of him. When he pushed her off, a look of dejection came over her. "I… I think I should go now," Joel said as he stood up, taking the whiskey with him.

"Joel, wait," she pleaded as he opened the front door. He turned to face her and hear what she had to say. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," he said as he walked out.

He arrived back in his house and saw Ellie asleep on the couch with a Savage Starlight comic book on the floor next to her hand. He went over to the couch and picked her up to carry her to bed. She stirred and woke when he lifted her off the couch. "So, how's Connie?" she asked groggily.

Joel didn't want to tell her any details of what happened. "She's still takin' it kinda rough."

Ellie gave a tired moan before responding. "I guess something like that would take a while to get over."

Joel didn't say anything in response to her statement, and gently laid her down on her side of the bed. "Get some sleep, kiddo." He laid awake in bed longer than he wanted to, dwelling on what happened between him and Connie. Eventually he was able to silence those thoughts and fall asleep.

"Connie," he said as he knocked on her door the next morning. He waited for a few seconds for her to answer the door but she did not. He knocked again. "Connie, look I ain't mad about what happened last night. I just wanna talk." He waited longer this time, but again she didn't answer. He knocked a third time. "Connie!"

Tommy walked up to Joel. "What the hell you doin' bangin' on her door like that?" he asked.

Joel took a step back from the door. "Somethin' happened between me and her last night; I just want to talk to her about it."

"Well, she's probably tryin' to sleep. Let her."

Joel stepped back from the door and turned away. "Yeah, you're probably right." Immediately after Joel turned his back, he heard a gunshot come from inside the house. "Shit!" he screamed as he turned quickly. "Connie!" He screamed as he kicked her door down. He looked in the room and saw her lying on the floor with a pool of blood slowly forming around her head. "Jesus Christ." He walked over to her body and looked into her eyes. Though they were dead, they still showed sadness in them. She had put a bullet into her brain through her mouth. Joel knew it was because of what happened last night.

Tommy spoke up. "Now, what exactly happened last night?"

"It ain't important," Joel said.

Tommy looked around the room and saw a folded piece of paper on a table. On it was written Joel. "Joel, looks like she left you somethin'."

Joel took the note from Tommy, unfolded it, and read what Connie had written.

Joel,

If you're reading this, it means that you have found my body and that I am dead. What happened last night was a mistake, we both know it. It was a mistake all along to give myself a chance to develop affectionate feelings towards you, especially this soon after losing my husband. I've betrayed Barry, and in doing so, shamed myself. I chose to do the only acceptable thing. I faced up to my mistakes and did what I needed to do to prevent myself from making any more mistakes. I know you told me not to apologize, but I truly am sorry and hope you can forgive me. I hope my family will be understanding enough to do the same.

~ Connie

Joel crumpled up the paper and threw it on the ground next to her body. "Coward," was all he said as he turned to walk out of the house. He had also felt affection towards her. He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't deny it. He wasn't as mad at the fact that she was gone as he was that she ended her life by taking the coward's way out.

When he got back to the house, Ellie was sitting on the couch with a crutch on either side of her, resting her sprained ankle on the coffee table. Joel walked by without looking at or saying anything to her. "Is Connie okay?" Ellie asked once Joel got past her.

Joel stopped, but did not face her. "From this moment on, neither of us will bring up Connie."

"I guess it was bad?" she asked. Joel shot her an angry look that she hadn't seen in a long time. He hadn't looked at her that way since they had first met; back when Joel wanted nothing to do with her. She knew she had crossed a line and refrained from saying anything else about the topic. "So, we gonna head to the diner now?"

"No," he said sharply. "We're eatin' breakfast here."

Ellie was perplexed. "Why?"

"Because I said so," he snapped.

Ellie hadn't seen him like this in almost a year. When she thought about it, she actually had never seen him act like this. Although he didn't act kindly to her when they first met, he had never spoken aggressively to her. She didn't know what happened between him and Connie, but obviously it was bad if it was making him act this way.

Hannah and Jeffrey were locked in a heated battle: a battle of wits, a battle of will, a battle of determination, with only one possible victor. "Got your knight," Jeffrey said. Hannah watched as her last knight fell from the battlefield. He was a noble soldier and fought valiantly. Through his honorable sacrifice he had made a great contribution to the war. She looked over the field of battle, surveying the grounds preparing for her next attack. After a long wait, she found an opening. The time to strike was now. Her bishop moved across the battlefield, striking the enemy's king dead. The battle was over. Victory was hers.

"Checkmate," she proudly declared.

"Damn, I'm rusty," Jeffrey laughed. "Good game."

"Yeah. So now I've beaten you, what, four times in a row?"

"Something like that." There was a knock at their door. They didn't know anybody had planned on coming over, so they were a bit surprised. "Can you get that, Hannah?"

"Yeah, I got it." She hopped up and jogged over to the door. She opened it to see Ellie standing there, supported by her crutches. "Ellie! Well, this is a nice surprise."

"Yeah, sorry about the short notice. Can I come in?"

"Absolutely, come on in." Hannah stepped aside to let Ellie come through the doorway. "How's your ankle feeling?"

"It's getting better, slowly. Still hurts though." She turned to greet Jeffrey. "Hey, Jeffrey."

"Nice to see you, Ellie. What brings you over here?"

"Uh…" she hung her head and turned to Hannah. "Hannah, can we talk in private? This is… kinda personal."

"Yeah, we can do that. My room's upstairs, can you get up there?"

"Yeah, I can get up." She walked over to the stairs and stopped at the bottom. "Can you hold these?" she asked as she handed Hannah her crutches. She put her left hand on the railing and her right hand up against the wall, and hopped up the stairs on her left foot. When she got to the top, she took her crutches from Hannah and the two made their way to Hannah's room. Her room obviously belonged to a boy before the outbreak. The walls were painted dark green and adorned with posters of various heavy metal bands.

The girls sat down on Hannah's bed. "So, what's on your mind?" Hannah asked her friend.

Ellie sighed, and took a long pause before saying anything. "It's Joel. He's been acting… he's not been acting like himself."

Hannah was confused, and concerned. Ellie seemed to be very stressed by this. "What do you mean?"

Ellie sighed again. "Something happened between him and Connie last night. I don't know what it was but he felt the need to check on her this morning. That makes me think it was something pretty serious. When he came back he said to not bring her up anymore. Whatever happened between them… it's made him really angry. He's been acting aggressive towards me and cursing at me when he's never done that before. It's… got me scared. It really has"

Hannah could tell that he hadn't taken Connie's suicide well. "I guess he's having a hard time dealing with her death."

Ellie snapped her head towards Hannah when she said that Connie was dead. "Connie's dead?"

"You didn't know?"

"Joel hasn't said a word about her today. I had no idea."

"Yeah, she killed herself."

Ellie was shocked at the news, then she wondered if Connie did it because of what happened between her and Joel. If Joel felt like he contributed to her taking her own life, she figured it would make him upset. "He's on guard duty right now; his shift ends soon. I really don't want to be with him if he's acting like this."

"He probably just needs some time to cool down." She made an offer to Ellie that she felt would comfort her. "Would you like to stay with us for dinner?"

Ellie strongly considered her offer. She felt comfortable with Hannah and Jeffrey, and she didn't with Joel right now. The only thing she worried about was how Joel would react when she came home late. She didn't tell Joel she was going out, and she was afraid he wouldn't take too kindly to her coming home late. She felt it was worth taking the chance to be with Hannah. "That would be nice."

Joel sat alone on the couch; his only company came in the form of a bottle of whiskey. It was not the same bottle he had when he talked to Connie. He had gotten a new one from Paul, the town's barter man. He poured another glass as he reflected on the previous night with Connie. He felt solely responsible for her deciding to end her life, and it weighed heavily on his mind. Ellie came in the door and without looking at her, Joel called out "Where the fuck you been?"

"Oh, I was at Hannah's house. They offered me to stay for dinner, sorry I didn't tell you." She walked over towards him and stopped suddenly when she saw him with a bottle of whiskey. "What are you doing?"

"I'm drinkin'," he snapped. "The fuck does it look like I'm doin'?" Joel was clearly intoxicated, and the alcohol had only made him more aggressive than he had been.

"I think you've had enough."

"I've had enough when I've fuckin' had enough."

"Do you wanna talk about what's bothering you?" she asked innocently.

"No," he snapped.

Ellie moved until she stood across the coffee table from Joel, and a thought crossed her mind. It was a stupid thought that would only make him mad and she didn't want to say it. She blurted it out anyway. "This is about Connie, isn't it?" She immediately regretted saying it.

Joel got a fiery look in his eyes as he looked at her. Without warning, he threw the glass at her with force, aiming right for her head.

Ellie dropped her crutches and hit the floor covering her head with her arms, narrowly dodging the projectile as it shattered against the wall behind her. "WHAT THE FUCK?!" she screamed.

Joel got off the couch and walked towards her menacingly. "Didn't I tell you to never bring up that fucking whore again?" His aggressiveness caused Ellie to scuttle backwards on the ground out of fear; she ended up backing herself up against the far wall.

"Joel, stop! Stop, stop, stop!" she pleaded desperately. "It's me… it's your baby girl."

Her pleas didn't settle Joel down. "I know exactly who you are. And when I tell you to never bring Connie up again, I mean don't fuckin' bring her up!"

Ellie was genuinely afraid of Joel at this point. "Joel, there's no need to be this angry."

"Well... guess what? I'm angry, and it ain't got shit to do with Connie." His voice was practically a growl. Ellie had never seen this anger in him at any time.

"Joel… just calm down…"

Suddenly, Joel did what Ellie thought he would never even attempt. He screamed "DON'T FUCKING TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" and kicked her in her left side. The alcohol had done more than simply make him angrier. It had made him violent.

She screamed in pain and fell over onto her side, holding her left arm tight to her side. She lay on the ground groaning in pain for a few seconds before partially getting up. She put her hands on the floor and supported her body, still favoring her left side. "What the FUCK is wrong with you, Joel?!" she screamed. "You're acting like a fucking monster!"

Again, Joel's anger boiled over. "Don't you talk to me that way!" he growled, and kicked her again in the side.

Once more she fell over onto her side, moaning in pain. Joel's violent outburst had hurt her more than just physically. She didn't know whether the physical or emotional pain from this was worse. She got back on her hands again and started crying. "What happened to kind Joel? What happened to loving Joel?" She was trying to find a soft spot to get him to snap out of his enraged state, but it was to no avail.

"You listen to me. I never was kind; I never was loving."

"That's not true Joel, you know it. I've seen you be both kind and loving." She sniffled, and let out a pained exhale. "But you're not anymore. You're acting like a psychopath and I hate seeing you like this."

Joel pointed to the back door. "If it bothers you so much, then get out of my house... and stay out."

Ellie cried harder after he said that. Although she didn't want to be with him if he was acting violent, she didn't think he would actually try to kick her out of the house. "You don't mean that."

Joel moved towards Ellie and grabbed her by her ponytail, causing her to yelp in pain. "I said get out!" He pulled her in the direction of the back door and threw her down when they got to the kitchen. Ellie quickly got up and sprinted out the back door, ignoring the pain in her ankle. She slammed the back door hard enough to cause the window to crack, leaned up against the side of the house, and slunk down to the ground. She held her knees tight to her body and was fully sobbing.

"Oh, Joel…" she cried. "What did I do to deserve this?"

After chasing Ellie out of the house, Joel went over to the cabinet containing the glasses and got another whiskey glass out. It was as if he had merely chased a fly out of the house. He felt no remorse at all. He walked back over to the couch, sat down, and poured another glass. The alcohol had blinded him to the physical and emotional damage he had done to the girl he supposedly loved like a daughter.

Ellie knocked on the door of Tommy and Maria's house. Although she trusted Hannah and Jeffrey, Tommy and Maria were practically family. The way Joel was acting, they were the only people she felt comfortable going to. She heard footsteps coming to the door and then Tommy opened it. "Hey, Ellie. Didn't expect you to come over."

She was doing a good job hiding her tears, but it was taking a lot of effort. "Hey Tommy, can I come in?"

Tommy was surprised and a bit confused that she would come over uninvited and without Joel, but he thought of her as his niece, and if she wanted to talk he felt obligated. "Yeah, come on in." Ellie limped into the house favoring her right leg since her crutches were still in the house after Joel kicked her out. "Why don't you have your crutches? Where are they?"

"At the house," she said softly.

"Where's Joel?" Tommy asked. Ellie didn't answer, and bowed her head low. "Is somethin' wrong?" As Ellie slowly walked into the house, she could not fight back the tears anymore.

"Sweetie, what's the matter?" Maria asked as she got off the couch, hearing Ellie's audible crying. She put her hands on Ellie's shoulders and helped her onto the couch. "Ellie, if something's bothering you, don't hesitate to tell us."

She looked up at Tommy and Maria, who both stood over her as she was sitting on the couch. "First of all, I came to you two because, other than Joel, I trust you more than anyone else in town."

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way about us," Tommy told her.

Again she was sobbing. "But I don't know if I can trust Joel anymore."

"What do you mean?" Maria asked with genuine concern. Ellie just shook her head. She was still in disbelief over what happened with Joel, and she was having a very difficult time finding the right way to tell them what happened. "Why can't you trust Joel anymore?"

She gave a heavy sigh and began explaining what happened. "Something happened between him and Connie last night." Immediately Tommy and Maria looked at each other, then back at Ellie. "I don't know what it was, but apparently she killed herself because of it. Joel took it really hard. I had dinner with Jeffrey and Hannah and when I got back I found Joel drinking on the couch. He had had… a lot of whiskey. I knew it was about Connie but when I brought her up he… he threw his glass at my head." Tommy and Maria were both shocked at that. "I ducked out of the way and it hit the wall behind me. But then he got up and backed me against the wall. And then he… he…" She stopped. She tried to bring herself to tell Tommy and Maria what happened, but she couldn't.

"What did he do?" Tommy asked. There was noticeable anger in his voice. Ellie continued to sit in silence, except for her sobbing. "Ellie, you can tell us. It's okay."

Finally, she told them. "He struck me."

The two were completely stunned. Joel hitting a child? It was unthinkable to them. "How did he strike you?" Tommy asked demandingly.

"He kicked me twice in the side," Ellie said through her tears.

"Show us," Maria demanded.

Ellie waited a moment before turning her left side towards them, and lifted up her shirts to reveal two distinct bruises on her side. Tommy and his wife gasped in unison at the revelation. Tommy poked the bruise to see if it hurt to the touch. Ellie grimaced slightly as he did. "That hurt you?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh my God," Maria said silently to her husband. Ellie pulled her shirts back down.

After a moment's pause, Tommy turned and walked towards the door. "That motherfucker," he grumbled.

Ellie pleaded with him to stop. "Tommy, wait! You can't go over there."

Tommy turned back to Ellie. "Why the hell not? I ain't gonna tolerate a child beater."

"I know, but… he's really unstable right now. If you go over there and try to start something, I'm afraid he'll do something drastic. I don't want either of you to get seriously hurt or worse."

"She's got a point," Maria said. "He's clearly shown that he'll use violence without hesitation right now. He might use more than just his own body if you go over there looking to start a fight. Why don't you wait until morning?"

Tommy debated it in his mind. He was eager to teach Joel a lesson, but Maria's judgement had never been wrong in the time they've been together. "Alright. I'll wait until morning."

Maria put a hand on Ellie's shoulder. "I'll get a bed made for you. You're sleeping here tonight."

Ellie's crying for the most part had stopped. "Thank you," she said. "And I want you two to know… you're like family to me."

"Oh, sweetie," Maria said as she wrapped her arms around Ellie. "You're like family to us too."

Tommy joined in on the group hug, wrapping his arms around Ellie and Maria. Ellie put her arms around her unofficial aunt and uncle. "You can come to us any time you feel the need to," Tommy reassured her.

"Thank you," she said.

Joel woke up on the couch the next morning with a monster headache. He drank a lot of whiskey, and was paying for it. He had no memory of the previous night at all; no memory of hurting Ellie. For all he knew, she was still asleep in her bed upstairs. All of a sudden there was a furious knocking on his door.

"Joel! Open up!" he heard Tommy scream. He rolled off the couch and onto the floor, slowly getting up to his hands and knees. Tommy pounded on the door again. "Joel! Get over here and open the fucking door now!" He stood up and pressed his hands against his head, trying to suppress the pain. Last time I ever spend a whole night drinking. Tommy pounded harder this time. "Joel! You've got ten seconds to open the goddamn door or I'm breaking it the fuck down!"

"I'm comin'!" Joel called out as he slowly made his way to the door. He opened the door and saw Tommy standing in a confrontational stance. "What?"

Tommy shoved Joel back into the house and gave him a three punch combo. A right-handed body blow doubled him over; a left-handed uppercut knocked him backwards; and a right-handed cross knocked him off his feet and onto the floor. "Don't even try to stand up!" he yelled.

"Tommy! What the hell's gotten into you?!" he called out from the ground.

"You tell me. I don't know what happened between you and Connie and frankly I don't give a shit. But if you think that you're gonna get drunk, and take it out on that poor girl of yours," he motioned out the door to where Ellie was standing out of sight, "…and get away with it… you're in for a real bad day."

"What the hell are you talkin' about? I didn't take nothin' out on her." He thought he was telling the truth. The alcohol had completely wiped his memory of that night.

"Ellie, come here," Tommy told her. She walked into the house and stood next to Tommy. Joel was confused as to why Ellie was with Tommy instead of him. Tommy grabbed the left side of her shirts and lifted them up, showing Joel the bruises he had made. "See those?"

Joel extended a hand out to her. "Shit, did I do that?"

Tommy pulled Ellie's shirts back down. "Accordin' to her, she got those bruises when you kicked her in a drunken rage."

"Ellie, is that true?" he asked her with deep sorrow in his voice.

"Yes," was all she said.

Joel put his hand over his face. "Oh shit. Oh my God, I fucked up."

"You're damn right you did!" Tommy shouted. "You may as well say goodbye to her now, 'cause unless you can say somethin' substantial to change my mind, I'm takin' her off your hands for good."

"You have to believe me," he pleaded, talking to both of them at the same time. "I'd never, ever, want to will any harm on her in any way. This is not what I wanted, and I am so, so, so fuckin' sorry."

"Well, you did," Ellie snapped. "It doesn't matter if you wanted to or not, you did. This isn't something I can just forgive and forget easily."

"I know," he extended an arm out towards her again. "And even if you're never able to forgive me, I just want you to know how sorry I am." He began to cry at the realization that he had just driven his own surrogate daughter away from him. "Baby girl, you know I care deeply about you. You know that I'd never want you to hurt, much less because of my own stupidity. All the time we spent together, have I ever laid a finger on you?"

Ellie shook her head, but didn't speak.

"Exactly. You know as well as anyone that I'd rather die than see you come to any harm. Ellie, part of me is dead knowin' that I hurt you. So even if you can't forgive me, at least take this to heart." He felt like trying to make her forgive him was pointless. He knew for certain that any trust or affection she had for him was gone, and would never come back. "Oh, God. Ellie, please try to understand... how shitty I feel right now. I know I've failed you, I know you probably don't love me anymore, but please take to heart what I've said. I ain't askin' you to forgive me, I'm just askin' that you understand how I feel because of this."

Tommy looked at Ellie, then to Joel. "Give us a moment to talk." He put and arm around Ellie's shoulders, took her to the door, and talked quietly so Joel wouldn't hear what they were saying. Joel didn't know if he even wanted to hear the conversation. "Now listen. I know you said you wouldn't just forgive him like that, but his apology sounded pretty genuine to me. And I can vouch that it's not like him to do this. What do you think? Do you wanna stay with Maria and me or do you feel comfortable goin' back to Joel?"

Ellie thought for a while. Of course she trusted Joel more than anyone else in the world. She didn't want to let this stand in the way of her having someone she thought of as a father. "Joel's like a father to me. I trust him with everything." Her affection for Joel outweighed any negative feelings caused by his alcohol induced outburst.

"So you want to keep livin' here with him?"

She thought for less time with this question. "Yeah."

Tommy and Ellie turned to walk back over to Joel. Joel had prepared himself for Tommy to tell him he would never see his baby girl again, that he had ruined everything he had loved. "I'm lettin' Ellie come back to live with you. But I'm cuttin' you off from any and all alcohol from here on out. And you listen to me." His voice intensified as he took a couple steps closer to Joel, who was still lying on his back. "If I ever hear that you put your hands on this girl again… she will come to live with Maria and me, you will be banned from ever seein' her again, and you will get a healthy ass-kickin' from me. Don't think I'll hold back just because you're my brother. Once you put your hands on a child, all ties are cut, and you're just another punk who beat a child. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely."

Tommy turned back to Ellie. "You sure you're okay?"

She looked at Joel, then back at Tommy. "Yeah."

Tommy reached out and put and arm around her shoulders. "You take it easy." He moved back over to Joel. "And you… remember what I said." He walked out the door, looking back at Joel just before closing it.

Ellie came over to Joel to hug him, and he stood up to welcome the embrace. "Ellie, thank you for listenin' to me. You know that what happened last night was the last thing I would have ever wanted."

"You had a moment of weakness," she said with her face buried in his chest. "We all have them."

After a long embrace, they let go. "So, you forgive me then?" Joel asked.

"It'll take some time," Ellie said as she went to walk over to the couch. "But I ain't gonna hold it against you forever." Immediately after saying that last sentence she put her hands up to stop herself, like she would to prevent herself from walking into a wall. She turned her head towards Joel with a raised eyebrow and a very puzzled look on her face. "Did I just say 'ain't?'" she asked as she pointed to herself.

"Yeah, you most certainly did," Joel said.

Ellie nodded her head very slowly. "That's what I thought." A playful smile formed on Joel's face. He felt proud that she was starting to pick up his dialect. "I wonder where I got that from," she laughed.

"Hey, beats me," Joel said. The two shared a laugh as they both sat down on the couch. They were thankful that neither of them let Joel's breakdown the night before ruin their relationship.

That concludes chapter 9 of Brand New Start. In the next chapter: Ellie and Hannah's friendship takes a dramatic turn of events./An important announcement concerning the future of this story.

Remember: Your feedback is very important to me. Please leave a review.