Author's Notes/Announcement: We've reached the penultimate chapter. I wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect on my experience with writing this story up to this point. Like I said in the opening author's notes, I never thought of myself as a story writer, so I wasn't expecting great feedback. For the most part, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, which was a huge surprise for me. I've really enjoyed writing this story, and I'm a little upset that we're almost at the end. I plan to end this story in an unforgettable way. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope. The very end will be happy, but what happens before that will ruin you. I don't expect it to be as powerful as the game's ending, but it's still powerful nonetheless. And because people have expressed concern that something bad will happen to Joel or Ellie: Something can be "shocking and sad" without anything happening directly to them. There are lots of things that could be sad that don't involve death, injury, or anything like that.

Now for the announcement, I'll do it in a bad news/good news way: The bad news is that there will not be a sequel to this story, on account of the finale not leaving it open to a possible sequel. The good news is that you will see more from me. *I am happy to announce that after Brand New Start is completed, I will be writing a SPIN-OFF of this story!* That is kind of surprising for me, because in the story's first author's notes I said that this will be the only fanfiction I ever write. This may sound cliche, but it was the great feedback from all you guys that gave me the confidence to write another one. I will be announcing what the spin-off will be about after the finale in the closing author's notes, but for now I'll let you speculate on what it'll be about. A lot of you will probably figure it out actually, but I'd like to hear what ideas you have. I hope that what happens in the finale won't like discourage you from reading it though.

Onto this chapter. I really wanted to have a lighthearted chapter before the finale, which is very dark. This chapter will be fun and happy, with a particularly funny exchange between Hannah and Ellie. On a different note: in the Spring chapter of the game when Joel says "I guess you can't escape your past" after Ellie gives him the photo of Sarah, to me that wasn't Joel coming to terms with Sarah's death. I think that was just him saying he wasn't going to run away from it anymore, but he still hasn't faced up to it yet. That will come into play at the end of this chapter, and it's very important for the finale. So pay attention during that conversation. That's enough from me, enjoy!

P.S. I worked in a brief quote from the iconic 80s movie The Breakfast Club, one of my all-time favorite movies. See if you can find it.

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

Brand New Start

CH. 18: Appreciation

It was going on two years since fate brought Ellie and Joel together for the first time. Although they didn't meet on the friendliest of terms, it didn't take long for a bond between the two of them to form. Over time, that bond grew to be unbreakable. Ellie and Joel had done so much for each other, and neither one could live without the other. Grateful was too insignificant of a word to describe Ellie's feelings about having Joel in her life. There was actually no word that could accurately sum up the way she felt about him. She needed to do something to show him how much she appreciated him. She got an, albeit far-fetched, idea, but she hoped it would work.

She went over to Paul's house to try and get a gift for Joel. "Hey, Paul. You busy?"

"Not at all, Ellie. What're you looking for?"

"Well… I've been with Joel for almost two years, and he's been like a father to me. I wanted to get him something to show how much I care about him."

"Anything in particular you had in mind?" Paul asked.

"Uh…" Ellie rubbed her hands together. She knew what she had in mind was stupid, as there was no way Paul would have one in stock. "I know you probably don't, but is there any chance at all you have a guitar in that garage?"

Paul took a moment before giving any kind of response. "Hmm…" was all it was initially. He put his hand on his chin, thinking hard about whether or not he had one in stock. "You know, I just might," he said. Ellie perked up when he said that. "Wait right here." He went back into his garage and seemingly disappeared behind all the junk he had in there. Ellie heard noises of shuffling, a few crashes, and what sounded like a glass breaking. "Ah dammit, those cherries are gone," she heard from deep in the cavern of junk. Eventually he emerged with a large leather case. It had the shape of a guitar, but whether or not it contained one remained to be seen. "Sure feels like a guitar in here," Paul said as he walked out to Ellie. He set the case down, flipped the latches, and opened it up. What the case contained was beautiful. Inside was a pristine acoustic guitar in flawless condition. It had an orange sunburst pattern, and strings which had no rust whatsoever. It was almost too good to be true.

"That's perfect!" Ellie exclaimed as she reached for the guitar.

Paul quickly closed it. "Now hold on missy. I'm not just gonna give it away because you want to show Joel how much you love him. You better be willing to part with a lot of supplies to get this."

"I… I don't… have anything to… trade," she said, defeated.

"Well, back in the garage it's going," Paul said as he turned to carry the guitar back into the garage.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ellie said frantically. "Paul, you have no idea how much this means to me. I have to get this for him. There must be some other way I can get it."

Again, Paul went deep into thought. He could tell Ellie was serious about wanting to get Joel the guitar, but he couldn't just give it away. If she didn't have anything to trade, she would have to earn it. "It has been busy around here…" he thought he found a compromise that would make everyone happy. "Maybe there is something you could help me with."

"I'll do anything," Ellie said. She didn't know what Paul had in mind, but she was willing to do whatever was necessary for Joel.

The usual group was having dinner at the diner. Ellie was not only approaching two years with Joel, but in two weeks she would be sixteen years old. Joel's baby girl was nearly a full-grown woman, and he was noticing changes in her both physically and mentally that only further reinforced that. Even though he had only known her for two years, he still got the same feeling any father would watching their daughter grow up. She went from a little girl to a woman in just two years, causing Joel to go through sixteen years of emotions in a fraction of the time. While he should be feeling happy watching Ellie reach the next level of maturity, it brought sadness more than anything. Sadness that he could not see the same thing happen to Sarah. As his mind went to the daughter he lost so many years ago, his hand went to the watch on his wrist. As soon as his fingers touched the cracked glass, he snapped back to the present, and pushed those haunting thoughts aside... for the moment.

"So, Ellie," he said to her, "I assume you'll be spendin' tomorrow with Hannah like always?"

"Uh... actually I'll be busy tomorrow. Well... actually the whole week."

"Busy doing what?" Hannah asked.

Ellie blushed; she was embarrassed about how she would be earning the guitar for Joel. "Try not to laugh," she said. The group gave her their word that they would not laugh. "I got a job," she said bashfully.

Joel snickered a little bit, but quickly caught himself. "Sorry."

"What's funny?" she asked him.

"Nothin', it's just... hard to picture you doin' any kinda work."

"Well, since I'll be sixteen soon, I feel like I should be taking on some more responsibility."

"Alright then. Where're you workin'?"

"For Paul. He promised a special payment at the end of the week; it'll be really helpful for us."

"What is it?" Hannah asked eagerly.

"Can't say."

"C'mon Ellie, just tell us what he's givin' you," Joel said

"It's a surprise," she asserted.

"Ellie, you know I don't like surprises," Hannah said.

"Well good, because it's for Joel and not you."

"Ellie, you don't have to get me anyth-"

"After all we've been through... yeah, I do."

"You really don't."

"Joel, I can't live without you. And I know you can't live without me. I have to get you this to show how much I appreciate everything you've done for me." She was insistent that she needed to get something for Joel.

Joel really didn't think Ellie needed to go to all that trouble to show her appreciation. To him, just them being around each other was good enough. "If you really insist, I guess I won't argue too much."

"You shouldn't argue at all. I really think you'll like it." She was extremely eager to be able to give Joel the guitar, but she wasn't as eager for the process of earning it. She figured that her feelings for Joel were worth going through what would undoubtedly be a week of boring, tedious work to get him the guitar.

Ellie made her way to Paul's house the next day for her first ever day of work. She was confident and upbeat, because she knew there would be a great reward at the end of the week. She arrived at Paul's house and knocked on the garage door. "Paul, it's Ellie."

"Coming right there," he called from inside the garage. He opened the door and immediately handed her a clipboard with several pieces of paper and a pencil.

"What's this for?" she asked.

"For your first day of work, you will be taking inventory. I want you to count and write down every item in this garage."

Ellie looked around the garage and at how much stuff he had piled in it. Many of the supplies were on shelves, but there were a lot of random piles of junk scattered around the garage. "You mean everything?" she asked with a far less enthusiastic demeanor.

"Everything."

"That'll take all day!" she snapped.

"That's work. You said you were up for it, so don't complain. And remember that if you back out, you don't get the guitar." He turned and walked back into the house. "Let me know when you're done. And don't miss anything." He went in the house and closed the door, leaving Ellie to do the painstakingly boring task assigned to her.

"Maybe I shoud've traded Joel's rifle... nah. Tough it out, Ellie. It'll all be worth it."

Joel and Jeffrey were exchanging stories about some of their post-outbreak experiences. While listening to Jeffrey's stories, Joel grew curious about something he hadn't talked about. "So, Hannah's sixteen, but you've only been here for thirteen years. How did you raise Hannah out there for three years?"

Jeffrey sighed at Joel's question. Raising Hannah after the outbreak had proven to be the hardest task Jeffrey was ever charged with. "It wasn't easy, that much I can tell you. After Rose ran off, Houser tried to tell me that it was a mistake to bring Hannah into the world in the first place. Hannah being born was the greatest thing that ever happened to me, so I was pissed when he said that, as you can imagine. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to see where he was coming from. I began to have doubts about myself; about whether or not I could keep my infant daughter safe, or if I would let my attachment to her get me killed, leaving her orphaned.

"Now, I had always been a very devoted follower of God, but after the outbreak, I felt betrayed." Joel knew exactly how Jeffrey felt about being betrayed by a deity that was supposedly loving. "I had abandoned my faith long before Hannah came into my life. But I'm tempted to say... that it was only by the grace of God that I was able to keep her safe for all those years. I don't know if I can even believe myself when I say that, but I can't think of any other way to explain it."

"You wanna hear what I think?" Joel asked. Jeffrey turned to him, listening closely to what he had to say. "I think you're exactly right."

Jeffrey nodded in agreement, understanding that there was no other way to explain it. "I guess I am. Hannah has been a blessing since the beginning. If it weren't for her, I don't know if there would've been anything to keep me going in this world."

Joel felt the exact same way about Ellie. Ellie had been like a second daughter to him for a long time. She was not a replacement for Sarah, but she did fill the hole in his heart left behind by her when she died. "I know exactly what you mean. Ellie's been a Godsend for me. She's everythin' I have; I don't know what I'd do without her."

"After everything Ellie's done for my girl," Jeffrey said, "I'd say the same thing about her. Since the two of you got here, I've seen a happy Hannah; I've seen a high-spirited Hannah, and I've seen a Hannah that didn't keep to herself 24/7. I'd never seen her get so much joy out of life before she met Ellie, but she's turned her into a completely different person. It really makes he happy to see everything Ellie's done for Hannah."

As the two were talking about how their girls were everything in their lives, they began to feel a strong connection. That was one major thing they had in common; they couldn't live without their girls, and their girls couldn't live without each other.

Ellie had been working for three hours, but if felt like twice that to her. In all that time, she had only managed to take inventory of half of Paul's garage. She was amazed at just how much random junk he had in his garage. While he did have a lot of valuable supplies or luxury items, he had a lot of items that served no practical purpose at all, outbreak or not. As she was sorting through the junk, she found one item that seemed particularly random; a four-foot wooden pole. The work so far had been excruciatingly boring, and all of a sudden an idea came to her. I guess if I goof off for just a moment he won't notice. She needed to find some way to alleviate the boredom. She set the clipboard and pencil down and started playing with the pole like it was a sword. She got into a pretend swordfight, trying to find some escape from the horridly tedious work she was doing. She started to get cocky. She twirled around, spinning the pole over her head, and ended up knocking several glass jars off of the shelf behind her. When she heard the crashing of glass and splattering of the contents of the jars, she knew she was in trouble.

She heard a call from inside Paul's house, and within seconds the door opened and he emerged from inside. "What was that ruckus?"

"Could you... describe the ruckus?" she asked playfully, trying to use the puppy-dog trick that usually worked so well.

Paul saw the broken glass and food all over the floor, as well as the pole she was trying to hide behind her back, and it didn't take long for him to deduce what happened. He walked over to her and ripped the pole out of her hands. "Take a break from inventory and clean this up. There's a broom in the corner so you don't have to use your hands for the glass. Come to me when you're done, and I will tell you if it's satisfactory. You will go back to inventory only if I say it is. And remember that you aren't going home until it's all done." He turned around and stormed back into the house, slamming the door once he was inside.

Ellie sighed heavily. She had no one to blame but herself. "Nice fucking going, Ellie. Stupid!" she smacked her hand against her forehead, "Ow... Again, great job."

Ellie had been at work for nearly seven hours. The group back at the house were waiting patiently for her to return. Hannah was being less patient, but she wouldn't have to wait much longer. Ellie walked in through the door, and immediately blurted out "Work is stupid!"

Joel smiled. She had finally gotten a taste of what everyone in the world had to put up with every day. "Enjoy your first day of work, kiddo?"

"No, it's stupid. You know what I did all day? I took inventory. I had to count every single fucking thing in that garage. Do you have any idea how much shit he has in there? It took six fucking hours to count it all."

"You were there for seven hours," Joel said.

"That's because I was an idiot. Let's not go there." She didn't want to bring up the story about how she broke a bunch of jars because she was acting foolish.

Jeffrey chimed in. "How about as a reward for your first day of work, I cook a special dinner?"

Ellie perked up majorly. Jeffrey was a tremendous cook, and she always loved it when he made a meal for them all. "I have no objections."

The meal was over, and everybody was satisfied. Jeffrey had made a special casserole out of beef and vegetables that titillated Ellie's taste buds and made her stomach smile. "Thanks again for the food, Jeffrey," she said from the couch

"Don't mention it. Now, Joel and I are going over to Tommy and Maria's for spades. You girls try to stay out of trouble."

"Don't get your hopes up," Hannah said, sitting right next to her friend.

"Hannah," Joel said, "make sure you keep an eye on Ellie. Don't let her burn the house down."

Hannah laughed, while Ellie said, "Oh, have a little faith in me, would ya?"

"Just please stay out of trouble."

"No guarantees," Ellie said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"See you girls later," Jeffrey said as he and Joel walked out of the house.

There were a few seconds of silence, before Ellie said, "Now it's just the two of us."

"Yup... just you and me." There was a long pause, and a devilish grin slowly formed on Hannah's face. While her dad's meal certainly agreed with her taste buds, it didn't exactly agree with her digestive system. "I'm sorry Ellie," she said with a smirk.

Ellie turned to Hannah and saw the smug look she had on her face. "Sorry for what?... Oh, FUCK!" she called out as the rancid stench hit her nose. She jumped off the couch gagging when she smelled the awful odor that came from deep within Hannah. Hannah laughed as she watched Ellie react to her silent but deadly attack. "Good God, what crawled up in you and died?" Ellie asked as she ran to the front door, opening it and sticking her head out to get some fresh air.

"Why are you freaking out so much? It's a completely natural body function."

"That's not natural, Hannah!" she called as she turned her head back to her gassy friend. "It's not funny either. That's almost as bad as Buckley."

"You obviously forgot about the time where that mutt smoked out the entire park courtyard."

"Oh I remember that well; I almost fucking threw up. But that, Hannah... that's up there."

Hannah got a smug look once again. "Yeeaahh... I'm pretty proud of that one."

"You should be. We could bottle that up and use it as a weapon against bandits. Call it a bowel bomb."

"Bowel bomb," Hannah chuckled. "I gotta start using that."

"I remember back in school I learned about this thing they used in war a long time ago. It was a gas that would make you cough up liquefied pieces of your lungs. I think I just found where that gas came from."

Hannah took that as a compliment, but also felt like Ellie had gone just a little too far with her praising. "I think you're giving me a little too much credit. It was impressive, but not like that."

After about a minute, the stench for the most part had died down. Ellie walked back over to the couch and sat down again. "Fuck, that was legendary, Hannah. I never would've thought a smell like that could come from a girl so small."

"I'm the same height as you now."

"Yeah but you're skinny."

"I'm not that skinny."

Ellie grabbed onto Hannah's forearm with her right hand. "I can wrap my hand around the widest part of your forearm and make my fingers touch. I'd only need this hand to break your arm if I really wanted to do it. And there's no reason for you to be so skinny. You have plenty of food to eat here." She saw another smirk slowly form on Hannah's face. "What are smiling about?"

"Fire in the hole," Hannah said smugly.

Ellie let go of Hannah's forearm. "Oh shit, not again!" she screamed as she jumped off the couch and ran upstairs to avoid Hannah's most recent bowel bomb.

Hannah laughed again at her friend's reaction. "Such a wuss," she said.

One Week Later

It was Ellie's last day of work, and she was thankful that it was almost over. She didn't know what Paul had in store for her, but she was just ready to get it over with so she could be done with work. She arrived at Paul's house and saw that he was already outside waiting for her. "Ready for your last day?" he asked her.

"I'm just ready to be done with this," she replied.

"Well I hope you don't have a bad back like I do. Come with me." Paul led her around the house to the backyard. When they got behind the house, Ellie saw a pile of wood, a sledgehammer, and a steel wedge. She had a bad feeling about what was coming for her.

"So, what am I doing today?" she asked nervously.

"Since I can't swing a hammer anymore with my bad back, you're going to be cutting firewood today."

"I'm gonna be doing what now?"

"I'll show you." He took a piece of wood and set it on the chopping block standing up. "Put the wood here, take the wedge and stick it in the top," he stuck the wedge in the wood to demonstrate, "take the hammer, and bring it down on the wedge. It'll split the wood so it'll fit in my fireplace."

Ellie stepped back and held her hands up with confusion. She wasn't confused about what she was to do, she was confused about his expectations for her. "So let me get this straight. You expect me, a scrawny little girl, to be able to swing that heavy hammer all day to cut firewood, when it's SUMMER?"

"Relax, I made sure to give you my lightest hammer. This only weighs about fifteen pounds"

"I still can't swing that all day! I'm not as strong as I used to be when I was in military school."

"You agreed a week ago that you would do anything I asked of you. You don't do this, you don't get the guitar."

Ellie grunted in frustration. She wanted the guitar for Joel, and she did agree to do anything he asked. "Fine."

"Good. I'll be inside." Paul turned around and walked back in the house, leaving her alone to do her work.

"You really are going senile, old fuck."

She had been swinging the hammer cutting firewood for a couple hours. She was only about halfway done with her work for the day, but she thought her body would give out before then. She brought the hammer down again, it struck the wedge, and the wood split in two. She put the head of the hammer on the ground, keeping her hand on the end of the handle, and panted heavily. Paul popped his head out of the back door to check on her progress. "How's it coming, Ellie?"

"Super," she said through her heavy breathing. "Never been better."

"You sound out of breath," Paul chirped.

Ellie got a strong urge to curse him out, but she bit her lip and tried to hold herself back. "Just ignore him, Ellie," she said to herself. "He's just trying to get a rise out of you."

"You're halfway done. Once you're finished you'll never have to work again. Hurry up and get it done, and I'll give you the guitar this evening when Joel leaves for guard duty." He went back in the house and closed the door.

Ellie had pushed her body nearly to its breaking point. She had doubts if she could actually finish the job assigned to her. "Joel, you better fucking like this guitar."

Joel was sitting at the dining table in the house reading one of Ellie's Savage Starlight comic books out of curiosity as to what the hype was all about. To him it was nonsense. He was not the science fiction type, so he didn't understand Ellie's enthusiasm over the comics. Just then, Ellie got back to the house earlier than she had the other days. She opened the door, and very slowly took stiff, small steps toward the couch. She plopped down on the couch, and let out a long and over-exaggerated groan. She was horribly sore from the four hours of cutting firewood.

"How ya feelin' kiddo?"

"Every muscle in my body is sore," she moaned into the couch cushion. "Do you know what he made me do? I had to cut fucking firewood."

Joel got down on the floor in front of the couch, and put a hand on her back to comfort her. "So, now you got a taste of what most people had to do every day."

"That's one thing I'm glad I never got to experience."

"So, what's this special thing Paul was gonna give you?"

"I didn't get it yet. I'm gonna pick it up later."

"Let me guess. Once I leave for guard duty?"

She didn't speak, but moved her head in a nodding motion while keeping her face buried in the cushion.

"Well, I'm lookin' forward to when I get back. You go ahead and rest up. You've earned it." He stood up and let her lay on the couch alone.

"Thanks, Joel."

Ellie was taking a nap on the couch waiting for Joel to get back. The moon had replaced the sun in the sky, which meant that Joel would be home any minute. She had already gotten the guitar, and had stuck it under the bed to give to him as a surprise when he got back. She was woken up by the front door opening, which could only mean one thing. "Joel!" she shouted as she stood up quickly. As soon as she got up, she immediately sat back down on the couch to let the blood return to her head so she wouldn't faint.

"Slow down, kiddo," he said to her.

"Thanks for the advice," she said, still dizzy from standing up too fast. "Once everything stops spinning, I'll bring you that gift I got."

"Take your time. We ain't in any kinda rush."

Ellie sat silently for a few seconds for the dizziness to fade. "Okay, just wait there," she said eagerly as she stood up and tried to run to the stairs. Once again, she stood up too fast, and nearly fell down immediately after starting her run. She gathered herself and quickly ran up the stairs. "Close your eyes until I tell you to open them," she called down to him. Joel played along, closing his eyes so he wouldn't see whatever she had gotten before she was ready. Seconds later she was running down the stairs carrying the leather case the guitar was in, being careful not to bang it against anything. She ran over to the coffee table and set the case down on top of it. "Open your eyes," Ellie said.

Joel opened his eyes to look at what she had gotten, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It seemed too good to be true, and that usually meant it was. "Ellie, is this what I think it is?" he asked. Ellie didn't give an answer to his question, instead simply gesturing for him to open it. Joel flipped up the latches, and opened up the case. When he revealed the near-mint condition guitar, it seemed to illuminate the room, as if it contained a gift from God himself. Joel seemed to be in disbelief of what he was seeing. He dropped his hands to his sides and pinched himself discreetly, testing to see if this was actually real. He felt the pinch in his thigh, telling him that it was, in fact, real.

He took the guitar from the case, and saw that there was even a pick to go with it. The pick had a black pearl finish, and was only slightly damaged. He touched the pick to the strings and strummed, finding that the guitar was even still in tune. He felt a tear form in his eye, and he tried as hard as he could to keep it contained, and succeeded. "This is almost too much," he said to nobody in particular. He turned to Ellie to say something to her. "Ellie... I don't even know what to say."

"How about..." she straightened up as much as she could, "...you done good, kiddo," she said in her best Joel impression.

Joel chuckled at the way she tried to imitate his voice and posture. He looked at her, and this time she could see the tear in his eye. "Thank you, Ellie... This means a lot."

"Well, you mean a lot to me. I had to get this to show you just how much you mean."

"I know I told you that you didn't need to get anythin'... but I think this time you done good."

"Thank you." Joel sat down on the couch holding the guitar, and Ellie sat next to him. "Of course, that's not the only reason I got it."

Joel looked at her curiously. "What's the other reason."

"I haven't forgotten, you know. You still need to sing for me."

"Oh, do I now?"

"Yes, I got you out of the university, and you promised you would sing for me."

"Now, hold on. I didn't promise I would sing. You said that if you got me out, I had to sing for you, but I didn't agree to that."

Ellie was getting truly frustrated at that point. "Joel, after all we've been through, it's the least you could do for me."

Joel though for a moment, and found a compromise. "I'll tell you what. Your birthday's next week, correct?" Ellie nodded. "Well, that'll be your present from me." Joel put his arm around Ellie, and she hugged him back.

"There's nothing wrong with giving presents early," she said innocently.

Joel chuckled. "Nice try. It's late, how 'bout we turn in for the night?"

The two released each other from the embrace. "Sounds good," Ellie said.

It was the middle of the night, and Joel and Ellie were both asleep. It wasn't exactly restful though, as Joel kept muttering in his sleep, eventually causing Ellie to wake up. After waking, she heard what it was Joel kept muttering. "Sarah... Sarah, no..." It had been so long since Joel had ever brought up Sarah, or even hinted that he was thinking about her. "Sarah, please baby..." Joel all of a sudden began tossing and turning rapidly. "No, no, no, Sarah no," suddenly he awoke with a gasp, and Ellie saw tears in his eyes. He put his hands to his face, and sat up in the bed.

"A nightmare about Sarah again?" Ellie asked.

Joel scoffed at the remark. "Again? They've never stopped."

Ellie didn't fully believe him. He hadn't shown any signs that it still haunted him in a long time. "You seemed to have gotten over it."

Joel let out a long sigh. "That was an illusion... a mask I was wearing. I haven't gotten over the grief, I've just gotten better at hidin' it. Not a second goes by where I ain't thinkin' about her, but you just don't see it. I can hold it in around you or others, but sometimes when I'm alone, I just break down and have to let it all out." He showed her the watch on his left arm. "I know you've caught me lookin' down at this... strokin' it sometimes..."

Ellie looked at him with sadness in her eyes after hearing him talk. "Remind you of her?"

Joel sighed again. "It was a... birthday present. She gave it to me on the night she died." He took his hand away from Ellie. "It broke over a decade ago, but it's never left my wrist. When I look into the face of this watch, I see Sarah smilin' back. It's my only reminder of her... so I can't lose this watch. Otherwise I'll have lost what little I have left of her."

Ellie reached out and put her right hand on top of Joel's left hand. Her touch had a comfort that could take away any pain he was feeling, and he savored the feeling in that moment. "I'll always be here for you," she said to him with heartfelt affection.

Joel nodded at her comforting remark. "I don't think I'll ever get over Sarah's death. But as long as you're here... I can say I have somethin' special to keep me goin'."

"Everything's gonna be just fine," she said, still with her hand on top of his.

Joel knew that Sarah's death was something he could never let go. But as long as he knew Ellie was right there, he got the comfort he needed to keep going. "I know, baby girl. I know."

That concludes chapter 18 of Brand New Start. In the next chapter: Joel and Ellie's story comes to its shocking conclusion.

Don't forget to leave a review. And I encourage speculation as to what the spin-off will be about.