Chapter 18

Joel parked his truck just outside Ellie's high school. In less than ten minutes, there would be a flurry of cars surging through the gates to pick up their kids, but for now, the old, white buildings and empty courtyards seemed almost peaceful. Joel climbed out of his car and nodded to the security guards at the entrance as he made his way to a quiet bench just within the school grounds.

Ellie had been back at school for a little over a week, and it seemed like her life was already back to pre-Emily normal. Her new math teacher was much kinder than her old one, and now she came home with stories about whatever dad jokes he'd told that day. Even the other kids had stopped bothering her fairly quickly.

On her first day back, she'd gotten a lot of stares, and people hurrying away from her in the halls. One boy had been bold enough to shout "Killer!"

Huge mistake. Ellie and Dina had glanced at each other and burst out laughing. "Killer?" Jesse called out derisively. "What, is that the name of your grandma's pit bull that you're still scared of?"

"Here, Killer!" Bria whistled at the boy and clapped. "Here boy!"

Then Lev started singing Killer Queen and all the other kids in the cafeteria had joined in as the now pale-faced boy skulked off.

Or at least that's how Ellie told it. Joel figured she was exaggerating, but he was happy to see the huge smile on her face as she said it. He hadn't heard stories of anyone messing with her since. Every time he picked Ellie up, he saw her leave the building with at least two of her friends flanking her. He remembered Ellie confessing that she had no friends the day after the coldest day of the year, when she'd slept at his house for the first time. That felt like a long time ago.

Joel's phone chimed. For a moment, he flashed back to Officer Peltane's call last week. She'd called a couple times since, but he hadn't picked up. He wasn't ready to think about what she'd said. Not now. Maybe not ever.

Thankfully Joel pulled out his phone to see a text from Tommy. 'We're about finished over here. Bring her over when you pick her up.' Joel smiled and sent back a thumbs up. When he'd left Tommy to drive to the school, he wasn't sure if they'd finish in time, but thankfully Maria had come home as Joel was leaving. She was better at getting things done than the two brothers combined.

Joel hadn't expected to do anything special on this seemingly random Wednesday. However, when he'd gone through Ellie's papers a couple weeks ago as he was calling to book her first gynecologist appointment – Ellie had loudly informed him that she was not looking forward to that one – he'd seen something that had stunned him. And now here he was.

But he wasn't at school early to pick up Ellie. She had her first robotics club meeting, so he knew she'd be out a few minutes late. No, Joel was here because Ellie had gotten into the car with a scowl yesterday and told him that Emily was back at school after sick leave. And apparently, she was talking up a shitstorm about Ellie to anyone who would listen. None of this to Ellie's face, at least – the girl had literally turned tail and ran when she saw Ellie in the hall. It was more of a smear campaign behind Ellie's back to slowly turn the whole school against her.

Joel liked to think he was above terrorizing fourteen-year-olds. However, he wasn't above protecting his foster daughter. And that little brat hadn't learned her lesson.

He'd been planning how he would do it since last night. He'd call Emily's name, all friendly, make a comment about how she knew his kid. Then he'd crouch down to her level and say that his kid was Ellie. Then he'd tell her to stay away from Ellie or else. All with a polite smile and a deadly tone. Hopefully, that would solve the problem.

Joel jolted in his seat as the bell rang. Good. He stood up, stretched, and ambled to the pick-up area. Kids started pouring out of the building and Joel examined each one, trying to remember the Instagram picture Ellie had shown him last night. Not that she knew he was doing this. She'd just wanted to point out how Emily's nose had looked before she broke it.

There! He spotted the blond hair and arrogant blue eyes of a girl hurrying past her classmates. Joel winced when he saw the plaster on her nose. Ellie packed a powerful punch.

He strode casually toward the girl. When she was in hearing distance, Joel opened his mouth to call out her name.

"Emily!"

Joel froze mid-step. That voice. His stomach turned to ice as his eyes found a man he'd hoped he'd never see again.

Adrian grinned at Emily, who'd stopped as abruptly as Joel had. "How about a hug for your favorite uncle?"

Uncle? Joel suddenly realized that he was one glance away from being recognized. He turned away and pretended to tie his shoes as he listened.

"I thought Mom was picking me up today." The arrogance in Emily's eyes was not in her voice. She sounded strangled.

"Another meeting." Adrian's laugh echoed through the courtyard. "Looks like it'll be just you and me for dinner, kiddo."

"Uh, I think my dad texted that he was going to pick me up." Emily squeaked. "I'll just wait for him." Even Joel, who'd never talked to this girl, could tell she was lying.

Adrian was similarly unconvinced. "Hey, don't lie to me. I don't like that. I just talked to your dad; I know he's in a meeting too." A pause. "We can get whatever you want to eat. Doesn't that sound nice?" Joel knew that deceptively sweet tone all too well. He tensed.

"Actually, I told my friend I would meet her." Emily sounded desperate now. Joel was five seconds away from getting up and claiming to be said friend's parent when Adrian spoke.

"Emily." The pretend kindness was gone. "Get in the car."

Now the girl sounded like she was near tears. "Uncle Adrian, please. I don't like-"

Joel heard a muffled gasp, and he risked a glance over his shoulder. Adrian had crouched down and grabbed Emily's arms. "Do you want me to tell your parents that you're being difficult?" He murmured. "I don't want to have to tell them that. Or about the other things you've done."

Emily stared at her shoes. She nodded. Then she walked to the car, her uncle's hand on her arm, and climbed in.

Joel stood and stared after the car as they drove away, ignoring the kids flowing past him. He remembered Adrian's leering grin when he saw Joel and Ellie arguing in the bar parking lot. 'You and your girlfriend breaking up?'

Oh God.

"Joel!"

Joel turned to see Ellie running toward him, Lev close behind. She stumbled to stop when she was a few feet away and grinned up at him. "We caught her!"

Joel blinked. "Who?"

"Emily." Lev broke in. "Ellie couldn't get near her, so I hung out with her all day." He made a face. "She sucks. But I had my phone in my shirt pocket, and it caught all the horrible stuff she's been saying about Ellie."

"Now I can report her, like you said." Ellie chimed in.

Joel stared at them for a beat too long. Then he nodded. "Yeah. Right. That's good."

Ellie's smile shrank. "Joel, are you ok?"

"Uh-" Another text chimed. He glanced at his phone.

Tommy: 'All the kids are on their way minus Lev. Haven't heard from Lev's mom.'

"We better go, Ellie." Joel said abruptly.

"Oh, ok." Ellie was startled. "Bye, Lev."

"Bye." Lev waved at her, then mouthed 'See you later' to Joel with a grin and a thumbs up when Ellie turned around. Joel couldn't bring himself to do more than nod back before taking off for the car. He sorely regretted choosing today of all days to try to scare Emily.

"Dude, slow the fuck down, my legs are shorter than yours." Ellie protested as she hurried after him. Joel slowed down fractionally until they reached his truck. "Seriously, what's going on?" She asked. "You look like someone just punched you or something."

Ellie gazed at him from the passenger seat, her light green eyes curious. Joel didn't want to tell her. Not today. "What if we talk about this tomorrow?" He suggested, his voice strained.

Ellie's eyes widened in indignation. "No fucking way. You can't act all weird and not tell me why."

Joel sighed. "Ok. Well. I came early because I wanted to… tell Emily off."

"Wait, really?" Ellie grinned. "What did she say? Was she scared?"

"I never ended up talking to her." Joel responded. "A guy came to pick her up before I could."

"Huh. Shame." Ellie shrugged. "Well, I appreciate the thought." Then she frowned at him. "So why did that freak you out?"

Joel swallowed. "The guy who picked her up was Adrian."

Ellie let out a strangled gasp. "Like Adrian from the bar?" She demanded, her face pale. "Like the guy whose friend grabbed me? That fucking Adrian?"

Joel nodded at the steering wheel. "He's her uncle, apparently."

"Holy shit. I've never even seen him at school before. I've only seen a woman picking Emily up. Wait-" Ellie grabbed Joel's arm, forcing him to meet her anxious eyes. "He called me your girlfriend. And I'm the same age as her. Do you think- do you think he-"

Joel looked back at her, gritting his teeth against the sick feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to say it.

He didn't have to. Ellie saw the confirmation in his eyes. Her hand slipped from his arm as she fell back into her seat. Her eyes were wide with horror. "Well- we have to do something!" She burst out. "Which way did he go? We can follow him!"

Joel shook his head. "And do what? Rear-end him?"

"We can tell the police about him!" Ellie had her phone out of her pocket and was dialing 911 before Joel stopped her.

"Don't bother. Adrian should have been arrested a dozen times over for all the shit he pulled while he was drunk, but his buddy at the police department gets him off every time. And we have no proof of this." Joel sighed. "That does solve the mystery of how Emily knew what happened to you. I'm sure Adrian heard from his friend and told her."

"Who cares?" Ellie snapped. "We have to go after her!" Joel stared out the window at all the parents driving away with their kids. He felt like his heart was breaking. "Joel!" Ellie shook his arm. "We have to save her!"

Joel looked to see tears in Ellie's eyes. "Ellie." He said, his voice strained. "I heard them talking. Whatever he's going to do, he's already done it. More than once."

Ellie stared back at him. Then she punched the glove box hard enough to leave a dent. "NO!" She screamed. Joel winced at the sound. Ellie punched the glove box again, then slumped into her seat. "I was such a dick to her." She whispered. "I broke her nose."

"You didn't know." Joel offered.

"Everyone was a dick to me when I always wore the same dirty clothes to school." Ellie said dully. "No one knew."

"The difference is you never treated anyone the way Emily treated you." Joel said firmly. "And you didn't deserve the horrible things Emily said, no matter what she's going through. Don't feel guilty about any of this."

"Easier said than done." Ellie muttered. Joel could tell from the dark look in her eyes that she was thinking about her stepfather. "I just- I mean, what do we do? Can we do anything?" Her phone chimed in her pocket. She pulled it out and groaned. "And now I have Lev's video of her. Great."

"What are you going to do with it?" Joel asked.

"Fuck, Joel, I don't know!" Ellie snapped as she threw her phone into the back seat. "Like, you're right, this doesn't make her not a dick. And she won't stop if I don't do anything. But how the fuck can I do that to her?" She wrapped her arms around her legs and seemed to shrink into herself. "What should I do, Joel?"

Joel met Ellie's anxious eyes. "There's no easy answer." He said heavily. "We don't have any evidence, so the police can't do anything." Ellie's eyes narrowed. Then she smiled.

"So I just need evidence?" Ellie raised her eyebrows at Joel.

"No." Joel said harshly. "Absolutely not. You're not putting yourself anywhere near that monster."

"But if I could just get a video of him doing something to her-" Ellie argued.

"It would be thrown out in court because you'd be trespassing on Emily or Adrian's private property." Joel snapped. "Evidence gained illegally doesn't hold up. He'd never go to prison. You'd have put yourself in danger for nothing."

Ellie was relentless. "That sucks but surely that would get Emily's parents to keep him away from her, right? And-"

Joel looked her in the eye and cut her off. "Are you absolutely sure that Emily is Adrian's only victim? The only one he'll ever have?"

Ellie's rebuttal froze in her mouth. She stared at Joel as he continued. "Maybe a video would get Adrian away from Emily, but some other girl is going to take her place. And Adrian will be a lot more careful from then on because he'll know you and I are onto him. Do you want to give him that advantage?"

"Shit." Ellie stared at the dented glove compartment. "This fucking sucks."

"Not every kid gets saved, Ellie." Sarah's bright smile flashed through Joel's mind. "Not by a long shot." He started the car and started driving away from the school.

Ellie turned and dug around in the back seat for her phone. "Guess I better delete this video, then."

Joel shook his head. "Don't make that decision too hastily." He said. "Emily might have more than one victim too."

Ellie punched the glove box for the third time. "Fuck you, Joel!" She yelled. "Why does everything have to be so fucking complicated?!"

"I wonder the same thing myself." Joel muttered. "But put all that aside. You have plenty of time to think about it another day. We're closing the subject for today."

"Geez, glad you made that democratic decision for us." Ellie huffed.

"Well, it is a special day." Joel smiled. "I don't want to completely ruin it."

Ellie blinked at him. "Oh, yeah?"

"Oh yeah." Joel winked at her. "Don't think I didn't know."

"I… am confused." Ellie announced.

Joel laughed. Ellie hadn't mentioned anything this morning, so he hadn't either, but he hadn't expected her to play dumb this long. "You'll see. We may have planned a little something. I hope you like it."

Joel pulled into Tommy's driveway and parked the truck. He climbed out and Ellie scrambled after him. "What are you talking about? Who's 'we?'" She demanded.

In response, Joel opened the front door and gently nudged her inside.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Ellie jumped back into Joel's chest as Tommy, Maria and Ellie's friends jumped out from behind various pieces of furniture. The entire house was decorated like outer space, from stars and navy streamers on the ceiling to balloons painted like planets to large paper mâché boulders strewn across the floor, which was covered with a rug of constellations. Large purple letters hanging from the ceiling spelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIE. As Ellie gaped in shock, Tommy walked over holding a cake with iridescent blue and purple frosting and fifteen candles. "Happy birthday, kiddo."

Joel edged past Ellie to join his brother as Ellie's friends swarmed Ellie.

"Dude, the cake is so cool!" Lev exclaimed.

"Did you see the trampoline outside?" Bria asked eagerly. "Uncle Joel said it's for you."

"I inflated all those balloons," Jesse laughed. "My lungs are dead."

Dina touched her friend's shoulder, her tone concerned. "Ellie, are you alright?"

Her comment stopped all the chatter. Ellie looked back and forth between her friends, her face unusually pale. She took one step back, then another. Then she turned around and ran.

Guys. I've done it. I spent the last couple weeks writing and I've finished this fic! I have to do some editing, but the majority of the work is done, so you'll be seeing the last few chapters coming up very quickly. Ahhhh so exciting!

I hit writer's block a couple times, but I overall had such a fun time writing this. I love Ellie and Joel, and it was so cathartic to write them the life that they deserve. I also want to thank everyone for your comments. I haven't been good about replying, but I promise I've read all of them, more than once - they mean the world to me! A couple comments even inspired plot twists I hadn't intended on doing, so thanks for that!

Also, in regards to the cliffhanger at the end of this chapter - don't hate me too much. I had to do it at least once :D