Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog and its creators.
A/N: Hi, just wanted to thank the people reading this, so now let's go with the chapter.
Chapter 14: Surviving the Day
Ellie opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. She didn't recognize the place at first, but as soon as she noticed that she wasn't in the hotel room. She quickly took the sheet off her and sat on the couch that she was sleeping on and started to look around. Oh… yeah, this is Joel's house. She said to herself as soon as she took a look at the living room. Ellie quickly tries to find where she left her phone until she remembers leaving it on a small table after recharging the night before. Ellie stood up from the couch and walked toward the table where her phone was and picked it up. Soon she turned it on, she saw a few missing calls from her mom and one from Rodrigo. Oh yeah… he said he was coming this morning. So she quickly returns the call, but it only sends her to the voicemail.
Hey… Rodrigo. Can you pick up some of my clothes from the… never mind… call me back as soon as you can okay. Oh, Joel needs some food in the house so if you can bring some I can pay for it… thanks. She leaves the recorder message before hanging up. Ellie looked at the time and put the phone back on the table. Shit!... It is almost noon… so why the fuck I'm up this late?" she said with a worried tone. Okay, I think it is better to check on Joel and see if he's okay. Ellie walked toward his room until she saw his door half open. Joel! Are you still sleeping? She asked before opening the door completely. Soon she moved into his room, and Ellie noticed that he wasn't there. Shit! Ellie quickly walks out of the room and starts looking for Joel inside the house. She looked in the bathroom then the kitchen and he wasn't in any of those places.
Ellie quickly went out of the house to check if his jeep was still there. She made a relive sound when she saw it in the same spot it was yesterday, so that means that he didn't go out where she was sleeping. Where the hell are you… Joel? She asks herself as she moves around the front part of the house. Shit!… is hot. She said as soon as she felt the heat from the sand under her foot. Ellie quickly walks back to the house and looks for her shoes. Soon she put them on, she hears a loud noise coming from the back of the house. The shack!... Why didn't I think of that? Ellie stands up again and walks toward the back door. She was still wearing Joel's clothes, so she needed to check if hers were dry. Soon Ellie opened the back door, she saw one of the little shack doors open, so she quickly walked there. "Joel!... Are you here?" she asked as soon as she stopped at the entrance of the shack.
A minute later Joel stood up from behind the table in the middle of the shack and looked at her. "Hey… you're finally awake? I thought that you were going to sleep all day long," he said with a normal voice. He didn't find it strange that Ellie was standing there still wearing his clothes.
Ellie looks at him. "Yeah… sorry, I think I overslept a little…" she said while looking inside the place. "Are you okay? I mean the doctor said that you need the rest."
"Yeah… I'm fine, don't worry about it," he said while putting a few things he picked up from the floor on the table. "Did Rodrigo arrive?" he asked.
Ellie looks at the board on the table. It was the same one he was using on the beach a few days ago, but now with more light, she can see the damage on it. "No… but he called me a few times, but my phone was in mute so I didn't hear it… I called him back, but he didn't answer."
"Don't worry, he's probably busy with something… do you need something? Or if I want to eat, can I prepare something?" He moves around the table and starts to work on the board that is on top of it.
Slowly Ellie walks inside the shack and gets close to him. "No, I'm fine thanks… Are you sure that it is ok for you to be working here? I mean the doctor said that you need to rest…"
"The doctor was exaggerating things. Look at me. I'm perfectly fine… and yes I take my pills in case you're going to ask."
"Yes… I was going to ask you, I'm supposed to take care of all that…"
Joel turns his head and looks at her. "You don't need to… as you can see I'm okay," he said before going back to his work.
Ellie looks at the board at him. "Well, if you feel fine… I guess it is okay." She moves beside him and looks at the board. "I can see that your board got damaged… but why are you working on it? You're not thinking of going to the water again… are you?"
Joel continued without looking at her. "No, at least not on this board anyway… the holding cable is broken and it also has a crack on the lower part… and the fins are crackers too. So right now it is not in conduction to surf," he said with a calm tone. Joel looked at her face and the glare she was giving him. "You… don't need to look at me like that… I'm not going to surf… I'm not that crazy…"
"Espero que no…" said a voice outside the shack.
Both Joel and Ellie turn their head and look at the old man standing there with two bags on his arm. "Hey… you're here, sorry I missed your call… I overslept," said Ellie quickly.
"Is okay girl… I know how difficult it can be with Joel…hope you two are hungry…"
"Hey…" Joel quickly protested.
"Don't mind him… I'm starving…" answered Ellie while moving closer to Rodrigo.
"I thought you said that you were hungry," said Joel.
"Well, not for soup… again,"
"Oh so you find Joel's surviving food?" said Rodrigo with a smile.
"Yeah… how can you miss that? Is the only food in the house… oh and beers," she said with some giggle.
"Yeah… that you drink by the way… maybe that is why you wake up late."
"Well, better me than you… you can't drink it, remember?" she replied to him.
"Vamos entonces… nadie puede vivir solo con comida enlatada, " said the old man while turning around and walking toward the back door of the house. Ellie starts to follow him but remembers that she needs to change. So she walked faster until she was beside him.
"Hey, can you take me to my hotel after lunch? I need to pick up some clothes and-"
The old man stopped and turned around. "Oh… about that… you don't need to go there," The man interrupts her quickly. "Your bags are in the trunk of my car."
Ellie gives him a strange look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I received your message after I finished shopping. So I went to the place you're staying to pick up some clothes for you, but when I got there and asked for your room… the old woman at the front desk gave me your bags and said that they cancel the rest of your reservation and rent your room to new tourists that arrive today."
"What!..." said Ellie while moving closer to him. "They can't do that? I already paid for two weeks," she said with a furious tone.
"Yeah… I know, but another boat full of tourists came this morning and they need the room, since you have not shown up in two days, they decided to cancel your reservation."
"Fuck!… you can be serious?" said Ellie furious. "I will call them right now and let them know that they can't do that… or better, just take me there… and I let them know in person… they can't do this to me-"
"Why all this yelling… What is going on?" asked Joel, finally walking out of the shack with a headache.
Ellie turns around and looks at him. "Those assholes from the… place I was staying, they… they just kicked me out," she said with a furious tone.
"What! Why?" Joel said with a surprised tone.
"I don't give a shit why… I'm calling them." She turns around and walks toward the house, leaving Rodrigo and Joel behind without saying another word.
Rodrigo watches her go, then looks at Joel. "Qué rayos fue todo eso? ¿Cómo que la echaron?" asked Joel as soon as he got close to his friend.
"El sitio donde Ellie estaba hospedada, decidió rentar su cuarto, debido a que ella no fue por 2 días y arribaron muchos turistas ayer y hoy." the man explain.
"Shit!... ¿Ellos pueden hacer eso?"
"Legalmente?… no estoy seguro de eso… pero me dieron sus cosas y me dijeron que iban a reembolsar lo que quedaba de la estadía." Both men stay in the backyard talking for a few minutes before they hear Ellie yelling and cursing at someone apparently on the telephone. As she continues yelling, the old man looks at Joel. "Hey… cómo te sientes?" he asked
"Better than yesterday… I think. Pero las patillas que me dieron me marean y me hacen dormir mucho…" Joel answers him while they continue hearing the yelling.
Rodrigo looks at the back of the house for a moment, the back at Joel. "No quiero incomodarte pues sé que todavía no estás bien y Ellie está aquí. Pero tenemos que hablar de lo que pasó después… por el momento comamos algo," the old man turn around and start walking toward the back door of the house. Soon both men enter, and they hear a louder Ellie discussion on the cell phone.
"I don't care what your policy says… you can't rent my room just because I was not there for two days… I pay for the room for two weeks and let it open for another week in case I need to stay longer." Ellie yells to the person on the phone. "NO!... I didn't abandon my room… I was in the hospital helping a friend… Fuck!... Can you put your supervisor on the phone?" Both Joel and Rodrigo stay in the kitchen looking at her while she walks around the living room with the cell phone in her ear. "How do you mean he doesn't speak English? Argggg Rrr…" Ellie grabs the phone with her two hands and starts to move them side to side cursing. "You know What… Fuck you!... I will find another place better than you… and all this shit will go to the internet review…" yell Ellie before hanging up the call.
"What did they say?" asked Joel, trying to not let her know that they hear almost all of the conversation.
Ellie moves back and forward in the living room with a mad expression. "They… they… cancel the rest of my reservation… those assholes."
"Sorry about that… I think all that was kind of my fault… if you don't stay in the hospital with me… none of this-"
Ellie stops and looks at Joel, trying to calm herself. "You don't need to be sorry about it… that was an accident… I will call another hotel and book up the rest of my trip."
"I will help you with that… I mean is the least I can do," replay Joel while the old man starts to get the groceries out of the bags and put them on the kitchen table.
"Thanks…" said Ellie while moving closer to the kitchen. "I don't get how they can cancel a reservation just because I didn't stay in my room for two days."
"I don't know what to say… but here things are different…" said the old man before starting to take out the food they were going to eat. "Who is hungry?"
Ellie was so frustrated right now that she needed some air. "I will get my suitcase… I just hope that they don't steal anything of my stuff or they will be in real trouble." Ellie walks away from them and goes out of the house.
Soon she was out of sight, Rodrigo looked at Joel. "Ella estaba usando tu ropa?..." he said with a smile on his face. "Did you two finally hook up?" He makes a sex gesture with his fingers.
"What the hell… man!" said Joel while glaring at the old man "Are five? We didn't… you're sick."
"Ok… ok… no tienes que ponerte asi, solo preguntaba," he said while opening one of the bags and starting to take out the food.
Joel moves close to the table and starts to help him out. "No hay nada entre esa chica y yo… so stop saying those things… okay?"
"Lo que digas Joel… lo que tu digas." He grabbed one of the meat burritos and bit a big part of it.
After a few minutes, Ellie entered the house with her suitcase. "Can I use your room to change?" she asked while looking at Joel.
Joel takes a bit of his burrito and answers with his mouth full. "Sure… go ahead," he swallowed part of the food before speaking again. "Hope you don't mind… the mess." Ellie rolled her eyes before walking toward his room.
"Men…" she said while walking away.
Rodrigo sat on one of the chairs at the table and continued eating. "So… que estabas haciendo allá atrás con la tabla de surf? No estarías pensando en meterte en el agua otra vez con esa cosa… verdad?"
"Solo estaba reparandola… el cable se rompió y la parte de abajo esta crackeada."
"Para que la reparas? Sabes bien que tus días de surf terminaron hace mucho… asi que que rayos te hizo agarrar esa tabla y volver a hacerlo?" he said with a mad expression. Especialmente estando borracho… en qué estabas pensando?" he add in a lower voice.
Joel looked at him but did not say anything. He walked toward the fridge and opened it. "Pensé que dijiste que no me molestarias con eso." he was going to grab a beer, but the fridge was practically empty. "Shit… I forget that Ellie drank them?"
"Ellie drinks what?"
"My beers… I thought she was kidding, but I guess not," answered Joel while closing the fridge door.
"Good for her… you should not be drinking… not after what happens."
"Para tu conocimiento no estaba completamente borracho… Y eso de no beber cuando uno está en medicamentos es estupido," Joel put his food on the table and walked toward his room.
"A donde vas?"
"A dejar algunas cosas claras." said Joel before arriving at his room door. Joel quickly opened the door and looked inside. "Hey… I thought you were kidding about the beers… so let me tell-" he was yelling but stopped as soon as he saw Ellie beside the bed.
Ellie turns around and looks at him. "What the hell Joel!" said Ellie, covering her breasts and turning to the other side so he wouldn't continue to look at her naked chest. "I haven't finished dressing… why don't you knock first?"
Joel turned around as soon as he saw her. "Sorry… I thought you were already finished… I don't mean to interrupt you." he said with an embarrassing tone.
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Can you give me a few minutes… to put my shirt on? Or you're going to stay there looking at me?"
"Sure, sure… take your time… sorry." he walked out of the room and closed the door. Joel leans on the door and takes a deep breath. Shit! Joel, that was really stupid. Then he moves away from the door and walks back to the kitchen.
"Todo bien?" asked Rodrigo before finishing his burrito.
Joel does not really want to tell him how embarrassed he feels for walking inside the room and seeing Ellie half-naked there. So he lied. "Si… todo bien…" he said while walking to the table and sitting there.
"¿Estás seguro? Pues parece como si hubieras visto un fantasma o algo así." Joel grabs his food and continues eating without saying anything. The old man looked at him but chose not to ask what happened in the room. ¿Qué vas hacer hoy? Además de descansar?"
"Nothing I guess… Maybe I will just continue repairing the board or go to the bar and talk to Matt and explain what happened."
"Don't bother to go there… That stupid rich boy has been in charge of the place for the last few days. So I do not recommend you to go there."
"Really!... Where is Matt?"
"I don't know… He visits you in the hospital the next day you're there, but after that, I don't see him in the bar."
"Fuck… Ellie told me that he was going to call me… I need to check my messages. I just hope that that kid doesn't ruin that place."
"Hey… Ellie." said the old man while looking over Joel's shoulder and toward the girl. "Did you find all your things in the suitcase? Because if not… I can send Joel there to kick some asses." he said in an amusing tone.
"Don't tempt me…" she said while walking inside the small kitchen. She was wearing some jeans and a green blouse. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing her sneakers. "Where is my food? I need to eat something to calm down before I change my mind and decide to go there myself and kick that fucking guy's ass."
Rodrigo starts laughing at the comment. "Esta mujer es una pistolita… I love her." he said looking toward Joel now. "Ella me recuerda mucho a Tess… creo que seria muy buena para ti." Joel looks at him with a glare. "What!... is true."
"What did you say? Who is Tess Joel's old girlfriend?" Ellie asked while sitting on the table and started opening the last bag with food.
"I don't think that is important…" said Joel while finishing eating his food. "Now… back to the issue with the beers. I don't think it was right for you to drink all of them."
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. Her face turned red as soon as she remembered that a few minutes ago Joel entered the room and saw her breasts. "Well, I told you last night that I did it for you…" she took a bite of the burrito before continuing. "You can't drink any for a few days, so I did it." She takes another bite. "Man, this is really good," she said while looking at Rodrigo.
"Yeah… don't try to change the subject girl… I just wanted to know why you need to drink all of them. It's not like I mind that you drink some… but all of them?"
"Well, no… but as I told you last night. I just eliminated the temptation and I know if I leave any there you will drink them." Ellie stays looking at his mad expression. "You don't need to worry, I will buy you some when you get better," she added.
The old man started to laugh again. "Ves… ella es como Tess." The man finishes his food before Joel has time to react and stand up. "Okay… I need to go and do a few things… but if you two are interested, I will go fishing later today… so if you want to go, just drop by my place before 3:00 pm." Rodrigo said before standing up.
Ellie took another bite of her burrito. "That sounds great… but I don't know if I can go. I need to find another place to stay. I already called a few places and they're all booked up." she said while looking at him.
"It's going to be difficult to find something this weekend if more tourists arrive yesterday," said Joel from the other side of the table.
The old man stopped before walking out of the kitchen. "Well… I have a solution to that problem… you can stay here with Joel until you find something… you're going to stay a few days here anyway… so that will resolve the problem." The man smiled in Joel's direction, before turning around and walking out of the kitchen. "See you later."
"Wait…" Said Joel while standing up and following him. "¿Cómo va ella a quedarse aquí? Solo tengo una cama." said Joel in a lower voice as soon he got closer.
The old man put a hand on his shoulder. "Se que tu lo resolverás my amigo… nos vemos luego," he said before walking toward the front door and getting out of the house.
Ellie walked close to Joel and hit him in the shoulder. "What did I tell you about speaking Spanish about me… I'm right here you know… and I don't like when you two do that." Joel turns around and looks at her.
"Why did you hit me? It was not only me… besides It wasn't anything bad… so you don't need to get mad about it."
"Yeah… I get what he said about staying here and you don't need to worry about it… I will find something before the weekend ends." Ellie takes a bit of her burrito. "Mmmmm! This is good," she said before moving away from Joel. "Soooo… are we going fishing with Rodrigo or not? I know you are not well yet… but if you don't go to the water I think is okay,"
Joel looked at her and rolled his eyes. "You really are taking this too seriously… I'm okay so you need to stop worrying too much. So, if you want to go… I think we can." Joel walked back to the table and sat in one of the chairs. He was going to apologize for what happened early on in the room, but as she is not on the subject it was better to leave like that. He did not expect to see her half-naked there and luckily she turned fast before he got a good look at her naked chest. So he hopes that she doesn't make a big deal about that. "I will go to the shack and close it… then we can get what we need to go to Rodrigo's house."
"Okay… that sounds good," she answered with her mouth full. "It will be a good distraction for both of us," said Ellie while finishing her food.
Joel walks out of the house and goes to the shack. He looks at the board on the table and the damage it has. He passed his hand on it slowly and started to remember the last time his board got damaged worse than this one. He also remembers what happened with the kid and Tess. In a way the old man was right, Elllie was so similar to Tess in a lot of ways and he didn't know if that was good. But she is keeping him so distracted that he has not been having nightmares since she has been with him in the past week. Joel was so distracted that he did not hear Ellie walking into the shack.
"Can I ask you what happened… I mean with your surfer career?" Asked Ellie as soon as she entered the shack.
Joel raises his head from the board and looks at her. "What makes you think I have a surfing career?"
"I don't want to bother you if you don't want to talk about it… but since I saw you on that beach and Rodrigo told me that you're a surfer… I looked on the internet and found some pictures of you with some winning trophies… well, I can say that it took a little time to find something about you since you didn't use your real name back then…" she said while moving closer to him. "I can say that Maverik is a cool name."
Joel turns his head back to the board. "Well, that was a long time ago… and I really don't want to talk about it… if you don't mind."
"Okay… I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable… So I can wait until you are ready to talk about it. Anyway, I just came to ask you if we are going fishing or not?"
"Sure… if that is not against your principles."
"Principles?"
"Yeah… you're studying ocean biology right?"
"Yeah… but that doesn't mean that I can't eat them."
"That is good to know…" Joel moves away from the table and walks toward the entrance. I will get a few things, so if you need to change and get what you need I will be ready to go in one hour."
"Okay, that sounds good to me."
Joel goes back to the house after closing the shack. He knows that if Ellie stays around him, she will continue asking about his past. He doesn't know how to open himself up with someone about his past or if he can really do it. Rodrigo told him that it will be helpful to do it and Ellie looks like a good person for that, but he doesn't know if that will be a good idea.
Joel gets to his storage room inside the house and looks for the snorkels, foot fins, and the rest of the things he needs. Soon he found what he needed, Joel walked out of the house and put them on his jeep.
Ellie goes back to Joel's room where she left her suitcase and changes her clothing. She put on her bikini under her new short pants and tank top. Soon she was ready with a few things she will need. Ellie put them in her backpack and went out of the house. Soon she was out, Ellie found Joel beside the jeep putting a bag on the back.
"Are you ready?" Joel asks as soon he sees her walking his way.
"Yeah… I haven't gone fishing since I was a little girl, but I bet it will be a good ride." Ellie walked toward the back of the Jeep and put her backpack there. "You're really taking a lot of stuff are you?" she said after seeing the bags that Joel put there too.
Joel walked to the driver's door and opened it. "Is it because we're… well I'll tell you later…" he went in and started the engine. "C'mon… we can buy some beer on the way to Rodrigo's house and are going to be your tread since you drink all of mine."
Ellie rolled her eyes but walked to the passenger door and got in. Soon she was seated, and Ellie looked at him. "I already told you that you can't be drinking beer when you're taking pills."
"They're not for me…" he said before driving away.
It takes half an hour to get to the closest town and find a liquid store to buy the beers and two bottles of rum. Joel told her that it was for Rodrigo too as soon as she gave him a look. Joel told her that it was part of a deal they have when they go fishing. Ellie was not sure about all that, but she will make sure that he doesn't drink anything on her watch. Sometimes Ellie feels strange for showing how much she cares for Joel, even if it is just a friendly thing. She knows that Joel doesn't understand why she is doing all this for him, but it was something she wanted to do. She is not really sure why she was like this yet. She thought at first that it was because of her father, but she is starting to think that is something else.
After another 20 minutes on the road, they arrive at Rodrigo's house. Joel parked the jeep in the front part of the house. He turns off the engine and opens the door and starts to get out of the jeep.
"Okay, he is probably on the back…" he said as soon as he closed the door. "So let's see if he is ready to go," said Joel before starting to walk toward the back of the house. Ellie follows him as soon as she gets out too.
"Hey… old man… estas aqui?" He started to yell while walking toward the side of the house. Joel yells his name a few more times before he sees the front door open and the man shows his head out.
"Hey… decidieron venir que bien," said the old man with a happy expression.
"Si… creo que será una buena distracción?"
"Si… por supuesto," he looked toward Ellie who was now walking behind Joel. "Nice to see you too," he said as soon as Ellie got closer.
"Thanks for inviting us… it's going to be good to get out a little. I have not fished since I was a kid… well not so kid, but you get the point," she said while standing beside Joel.
"Yes… of course," he said before turning his sight toward Joel. "I was hoping to do this with you two, but sadly I have bad news."
"What bad news?" Joel asked quickly. "Estas bien?"
"Si, todo está bien… pero Sancho me llamó y necesita que lo ayude con un trabajo en su casa, así que no voy a poder ir de pesca."
"Oh… que mal."
"What did he say?"
Joel turns around and looks at her. "That he can't go fishing… a friend of his called him, so he needs to go to help him up."
"Oh… I see, well we can do it another day I guess."
The old man looked at both of them. "Don't worry about that, you and Joel can go without me … I don't mind if you two wanted to go. Joel can take the boat."
"Are you sure man? Because we can leave it for another day if you want to come with us."
Rodrigo turns his head and looks at Joel. "No… is okay. You two can go without me…" he said with a smile. The old man moves closer to Joel and whispers. "Incluso puedes llevarla a la cueva… sería un buen lugar para ver."
"The cavern?" asked Ellie, catching part of the old man talking.
Rodrigo moves closer to her and puts one arm on Ellie's shoulder and starts to guide Ellie toward the back of the house. "Yes… is a special place that Joel knows about… he can take you there if you like." he continued walking with Ellie ignoring Joel totally.
"Really… oh man now I'm curious about that…" she said while continuing walking.
"Hey… I didn't say that I will use your boat… for that," he said from the porch of the house. Joel shook his head as the two of them continued walking toward the pier where the boat was. He hear Ellie laughing and saw her turning her head back to look at him.
"Really?" he hears Ellie say in the distance.
"Hey… stop talking about me… that is not funny."
The man stops and turns his head. "Just get Ellie and your stuff and bring it to the boat." he before helped Ellie into the pier and continued walking toward his boat. "Excepto por las cervezas y lo otro que hayas traído de beber… eso es para mi." he said with a smile.
Joel rolled his eyes again. "Yeah whatever…" he turned around and walked back to his jeep, grabbed his bag and Ellies, and started walking toward the pier. "¿Tienes los arpones en el bote?" he yelled at the man.
"Si todo está en el bote… incluyendo 2 tanques de oxigeno."
After a few minutes, Joel arrives at the boat and drops his bag inside. "Here…" he passed Ellie's backpack to her. Joel waited for her to grab it before speaking again. "Está seguro que quieres que vayamos sin ti?"
"Seguro… solo trae mi bote entero y pesca algo bueno para mi." He said while putting one hand on Joel's shoulder. "Just enjoy the trip and be careful…" Rodrigo turns his head and looks toward Ellie. "Take care of him and ensure he doesn't do anything risky… and enjoy yourself."
"I will keep my eyes on him… Thanks," answer Ellie
Rodrigo turns his head back to Joel. "See you later… Joel." the old man started to walk away before he spoke again. "Thanks for the beers. I promise to leave some for the lady when you two come back. Have a good time, both of you."
Joel moved to the top part and started the boat. Slowly he moved it away from the pier and started driving the boat out of the bay and into the open ocean, but not far from the coastline. Ellie moved up to the driver part of the boat and sat on the bank beside Joel.
"Soooo. Where are we going?" she asked while looking at the front view.
"I know a place where we can go fishing…"
"Oh… that sounds cool." Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Are you sure you are okay doing this? I mean you are only out of the hospital for one day… I don't want anything to happen to you out here, since Rodrigo didn't come with us."
Joel turns his head and looks at her. "I'm okay Ellie… don't worry about me too much." Joel turns his head and looks forward. "I was only in that hospital for two days… it wasn't that bad."
"That's bad? You're unconscious for those two days… and you don't even worry? Besides, the doctor was worried about something that happened to you before and Rodrigo told me that you had a bad accident and that was why you're not surfing anymore."
Joel doesn't look at her. He knows that if he talks about it it will ruin the day. "Look, I really appreciate your concern about me and I don't want to ruin your vacation anymore. So maybe it is better if you-" he started but was interrupted quickly.
"I already told you that I'm not going anywhere… besides you owe me two days on my tour and I'm planning to collect them… besides I care about you so stop trying to push me away because it is not going to work." She said while crossing her arm on her chest.
"Okay, I know that I owe you that and I will finish that for you." Joel turns his head and looks at her now. "But I know that this is not about that… so what do you really want from me? No one will do what you did for someone that you just met."
"We did not just meet… we spent almost a week together. And I know that if someone saw a person in danger would do what I did, so that wasn't anything special on my part."
"Maybe not for you, but you risk your life on that beach to save me and you stay with me in the hospital that now costs you your reservation at the hotel and all that is because of me. So why are you okay with all that? You should be mad at me for ruining your vacation… I can see that you feel grateful for what I show you, but that was only my job. Wasn't anything special either."
"It was for me… you don't know how much I enjoy all that and I really feel good when I'm with you… is not only about the tour that you give me… it was something more. I'm not good at talking with people, but for some reason, I feel good talking to you." Ellie stands up and moves forward and puts her arm on the front part of the driver console. "I know that you have some issues that you do not want to talk about… I have some too, but maybe we can forget all that for the moment and try to get to know each other better."
Joel looks at her not knowing what to say. He is starting to feel things since he became her guide and spent too much time with her. Feelings that he thought he was never going to feel again and it was something that started to scare him a little at first, but after the accident things changed, and working on that board was waking up something in him again.
"Well… I think I can try to get to know each other a little more since we're going to spend more time together," he said looking forward again.
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "Really… Do you think that we can talk about ourselves… a little more?"
"Well, I guess… we can talk about things that do not bother us…"
"That is a good start…" she said with a smile on her face.
Joel turns his head back to her. "Can I ask you something?"
Ellie turns around and puts her hands on her back. "Sure… I guess I can answer some of your questions first… So what do you want to know?"
"Why do you want so desperately to learn how to surf? I know some women that are good at that… but I don't think that surfing is for you… no offense. Is not like you can't do it… is that I don't see the surfing in you."
Ellie thinks for a moment trying to find an answer without giving him too much about her father's list she wants to complete. She is not ready for that yet even if she knows that this will help her to move forward. "Well, maybe you're right… But I'm not want to do it to be a professional. Is more like a hobby… well not a hobby, I just want to do a few things in my life, and learning how to surf is one of them."
"So you want to learn surfing because it's just cool?" Joel asked, surprised.
"Well, not exactly because of that…but yeah it looks like something cool to learn. I just want to have some adventures in my life and learn how to do a lot of things I never thought I could do. Surfing is not the only thing I try to do… I already tried climbing rocks, jumping out of a plane… that was really scary I may add, but I did it."
"Did you really jump out on a plane?"
"Yeah… last year. It was cool and scary at the same time." Ellie smiles at the memory. "I know that some people will think that I'm crazy for doing all that, but that is part of life… don't you think?"
Joel looks at her and smiles. "I guess it is… I just hope you find what you are looking for before killing yourself in the process."
"I just want to prove to myself that I can do all those things… or at least try them. Now, what about you? Are you going to tell me something about you?"
"I guess that I need to do that now… but as we're getting close to our destination… we can talk a little more after our little dive fishing."
"Dive fishing? I thought we were going to do regular fishing?"
"Where's the fun in that? But don't worry we're not going deep, just on the surface… so go prepare yourself. I will prepare the tanks since we're closer to our destination." Joel turns his head forward and continues his driving. "You want some adventure girl… I will give you some if you really wanted."
"I can't wait for that…" she said while moving toward the stair and starting to get down from the driving part of the boat.