"Singularity" Chapter 4: "The Old Man and the Sea" [4/49]
Title: "Singularity" Chapter 4: "The Old Man and the Sea" [4/49]
Fandom: The Last of Us (first game only)
Characters: Ellie, Joel, Tommy, Maria, OCs
Pairings: Joel/Ellie
Warnings: Underage
Word Count for this chapter: 8,225
Rating (for fic as a whole): R
Author's Note: Apologies to Hemingway (and Joel!) for the chapter title. It was meant to be just a "working title" but I couldn't bring myself to replace it!
~
The tree thing couldn't have gone any better if Joel had scripted it himself, the way it all played out. He pretty much did script it, as the others had all deferred to his 'expertise' in the matter (having done this to exactly one tree of such a tremendous size in his lifetime -- and this redwood had that sycamore beat by at least a hundred feet). No one got hurt, nothing got damaged. Even with the branches flying every which way on impact... like little javelins, some of them. I wish Ellie could've seen it... she would've thought it was cool, coming down like that... Or, alternatively, she might have just shrugged and said "It's only a dead tree, Joel."
He liked to think it was the former.
"How much of this we bringing in today? Half?" a voice behind him asked. Alex... who had deferred to him back in Jackson, too, although Joel technically wasn't his boss at either place. There were no bosses here; even the bosses didn't admit to being bosses.
Joel supposed he was just bossy enough that people listened to him... or perhaps it was an age thing. "Maybe a third. It's gonna overrun the woodshed, easy. Ain't really a problem when we've got so many empty rooms to stash things in, but..."
"What's the hurry, right? We can reuse most of this rope, too..."
The excitement now over with, Ray, Carlos, and Jamal had all headed back Inside already, leaving Joel and Alex to the more tedious work of chopping up the tree into manageable chunks of firewood and loading it onto the makeshift flatbed thing they used for such tasks -- which was fine, as there was only enough hacking equipment for two. Nina stuck around because of Alex -- her boyfriend -- and she made herself useful gathering up armfuls of wayward limbs. Joel didn't mind the work; if Ellie weren't part of the equation, he'd take an honest day's work over dicking around on a beach all day doing jack shit. And a few hours could hardly be considered 'an honest day' anyhow. Maybe that's good, old man... you ARE getting a little old for this shit, ain't ya?
Ellie didn't like it when he thought of himself as old. She was certainly doing her best to keep him young, all right! Most days, he probably did feel younger than his age. And sweet little Ellie... she was patient with him on the days that he didn't.
He tried not to think about her all the time, but it was hard not to. Oddly enough, he felt he could keep his mind on other things better when she was actually in his sight. His brain sure didn't know how to follow the "out of sight, out of mind" rule of thumb. But panic-wise? He was doing pretty good today. Maybe on account of all the pride he felt at 'beating' the goddamn tree? Like there was no room left for anything unpleasant to well up inside him.
It wasn't what he would consider a warm day, but by the time they finished hacking up the allotted portion of tree, he was drenched in sweat, his shirt plastered to him in patches (even with an undershirt on). He reckoned it was the humidity as much as the work that did it. A cool breeze here might chill him at times, but generally, if the air was still, the density of it kept him feeling warm. Not Ellie, though... maybe if she didn't feel the need to run into the damn ocean all the time, she'd stay warmer...
There she was again, never far from his thoughts. He hoped to hell she'd stayed true to her word and not gone in the water. Wouldn't that be something, if the one time she went in without him nearby...
Not gonna happen, he chided himself for even letting the thought cross his mind. She promised. And Ellie was real good about keeping promises.
After they'd emptied their load, Alex offered to take the designated 'cart horse' back to the paddock, and Joel took him up on it, even though his own suite was in that direction. I did good today on the Ellie front, real good... but it's been long enough... time to find her. He'd been hoping she would be close to the gate, as if she couldn't wait for him to get back. At the very least, he thought maybe she'd come running when she heard the bell. When neither of those things happened, he'd felt the first itching of panic... nothing severe. He managed to talk it down some by convincing himself that she had estimated the time that would pass between hearing the bell and him walking through the door to their room, and she would be waiting there, sprawled out on the bed... probably not completely naked... in those sexy shorts, though, maybe... Ellie was wise to his moods and proclivities; she would know that if the tree job went well, he'd be raring to go when he got home. Especially since they hadn't had sex that morning.
When that little fantasy had dissolved, he tried to believe that it was for the best, because now he had a chance to clean up before he saw her, and he was pretty damn gross. He wouldn't have minded a little company in the shower...
...although that didn't usually go too well, with no hot water. Ocean water was 'allowed' to be cold, in Ellie logic... shower water was not. She suffered through showers as infrequently as possible. Sometimes he suspected she exaggerated her discomfort, the better to garner his affections... other times, he kissed her goosepimpled flesh and knew that she was truly freezing her ass off. We'll have to take shitloads of steamy hot showers together when we get home... whenever that is...
The Ellie-on-the-bed fantasy made a brief reappearance in his thoughts when he got out of the shower... maybe she had seen Alex on the beach or wherever and realized that they had come back? ...but nope.
Freshly dressed in more beach-friendly clothes, Joel set about searching for Ellie... as nonchalantly as possible. Maybe she'd gotten into building sand castles and unicorns and who the hell knows what else with the kids (it was mostly unicorns these days... the little girl had just been given some new toy set featuring the things, all rainbow-maned and sparkly). Maybe Ellie had become so absorbed that she'd completely lost track of time, or forgotten when to expect him back.
-Nope, that wasn't it, either. The two little kids were running around on the beach as usual, but Ellie was nowhere in sight.
He checked 'their' spot, which was tucked away from the main part of the beach... he checked the Hall (or cafeteria)... the stables -- because what if she'd been waiting to meet him when he dropped off the horse, only to meet up with Alex instead?... he even checked the golf course, though with no balls left on the grounds, no one could even play until the requisition for more went through. Unless someone took it upon themselves to go Outside and hunt down the ones that had gone AWOL.
Ellie was in none of these places. He found Sophie... but she had no idea where Ellie was, either -- she had assumed that Ellie had gone out with Joel earlier, because she was positive Ellie hadn't been down to the beach at all.
If you're playing hide-and-seek with me, baby girl, it's awfully cruel of you to take it this far, considering all that's happened to us. Joel didn't believe she would do that. But then... where in the hell was she?
He learned the answer to that question when he got around to talking to Janelle. Her husband, Ray, was usually the 'gatekeeper' of the place, but seeing as how he'd been Outside with Joel, Jan had taken over. Unlike Jackson, there was no official guard duty... no sentinels constantly monitoring the gate. But if anyone had gone out, someone -- generally Ray or Jan -- stayed close enough to hear the bell. The fucker was loud, so basically that only meant staying off the beach, or at least the shoreline area, where the roar of the ocean might possibly drown it out. With no official structure in place, there were occasionally times a person might have to wait quite a while for the bell to be answered, ringing multiple times to be let back in. Joel had never had to wait long, but even the short waits were a little nerve-wracking, knowing that the ringing bell would attract any Infected in the area.
...Not that there really were any in the area, to speak of. But you never know.
Jan said she'd been fiddling with a leaky faucet in the kitchen when Parker and Ellie had approached her to let her know they were going out.
"When was that?" asked Joel. "How long ago?"
"Oh, I don't know... not long after you left?"
Answers like 'not long' frustrated Joel, but no one here bothered to keep a working clock around, measuring time by the sun instead. Sunrise, midday, sunset, campfire, nighttime. Perhaps with an 'early' or 'late' modifier thrown in, preceding morning/afternoon/evening/night, if someone cared to specify. It made sense, since there was really no need to keep an eye on the time here, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. All right... just chill, asshole... what difference does it make? The main thing is, she's been gone for several hours... "Did they say where they were goin'? Did you ask 'em?"
"Didn't have to... they had a fishing pole and a tackle box."
...Ellie went FISHING? He would have seen her out on the jetty... "Did they say where."
"That, I had to ask. They didn't seem too sure of that themselves. Parker just said he was taking Sweet Caroline, if she was there. That's his favorite."
"She went out on a boat?" Damnit, Ellie...
"That's what they told me."
Joel struggled to remain calm. "And you just let two teenagers waltz out of here to go sail a--"
"Hang on, now," Jan cut him off, clearly miffed. "Parker's got experience. He's gone out on the water by himself before. Always comes back safe and sound. Usually he doesn't even bother to tell anyone when he leaves. If no one's around front when he means to go, he just goes. We can preach safety 'til we're blue in the face, but when it comes down to it, this isn't a prison we're running here. You can talk to him if you'd like. Maybe you'd get more than a 'whatever' out of him."
Joel doubted that. He hadn't talked to the boy very much, and Ellie said Parker was way more talkative when Joel wasn't around (as in, when the two of them went in or near the water while Joel stayed in the cabana, hovering nearby but not interfering).
"I think it was Ellie who wanted to tell us they were leaving," Jan continued. "I got the feeling she was taking the lead on that."
He nodded. "Ellie knows better than to leave unannounced." But apparently, she don't know better than to leave WITHOUT ME... Joel hadn't seen the need to extract promises from her regarding that. It hadn't even occurred to him. Nor had it occurred to him to speak to Jan and Ray and anyone else around here to let them know that Ellie was not to be let Outside unless he was present -- not that it would have done any good, with no guard at the gate. Plus, the teenagers here were treated like adults. That Parker kid even had his own suite. No real parental guidance from anyone that Joel had observed... even from Mark (passing on hunting tips might be a father/son thing, but it wasn't life counseling). He hoped the boy had received enough... guidance from a knowledgeable party when it came to operating a boat. "How long does he usually stay out fishin'? Did he say how long they'd be?" Let me guess: "A WHILE"...
"Eh... it varies. He's been staying out longer now that the weather's starting to get nicer. If the fish are biting, he'll likely be gone for most of the day. If they're not... he still could be gone all day hoping for better luck."
...That was just a whole lot of extra words to tell me next to nothing. "So... sundown?"
"A little before that, I would say."
That was hours from now. Wonderful. NOW what?
Jan looked thoughtful. "You know, I seem to recall Ellie saying she only wanted to stay out there an hour or two. Not that they'd even know when an hour had passed... Parker said he'd just bring her in whenever she wanted. Yes, I remember him saying that."
"An hour or two," Joel repeated dumbly. Surely Ellie has honed her telling-time-by-the-sun skills enough by now to know the difference between one hour and, say, FOUR...
"She seemed a bit... nervous. Guess she really didn't like the thought of being out there all day." She laid her hand on his arm -- a sympathetic gesture -- and Joel resisted the urge to shake it off; Jan was a nice enough lady. "I'm sorry. I just assumed... she probably figured that since you guys were out chopping trees, she would go have her own fun? I really didn't think much of it. I'm sure she'll be fine."
Joel just grunted, and the hand slipped away. He wanted to blame Jan, but even in his irritation, he knew the only person to blame was Ellie herself. As well as himself, perhaps, for not being clear enough with her. -No, she knew damn well I wouldn't like it... she wanted to make sure she got back before I did.
So then... why in the hell didn't she?
Joel estimated they'd parted ways about four hours ago. Maybe five. Even if she'd left a whole hour after him, she still should've been back by now. Maybe she was enjoying it so much she decided to stay longer? Or maybe she really did lose all sense of time... she IS used to ME keeping track of things like that... Either of those possibilities seemed likely enough.
Less likely, but not completely implausible, was that she decided to stay out there as long as possible to spite Joel, for God knows what reason. Joel could usually tell when she was pissed at him -- she tended to make it glaringly apparent -- but there were times she seemed to be nursing a more subtle wound, something he didn't even realize, and it eventually manifested in some way other than her snapping at him. He really couldn't think of anything from this morning... other than not wanting to have sex, but she hadn't seemed bothered by that... WAS she actually upset about it? It ain't like morning sex is routine for us... especially after going a couple rounds the night before. Joel did his best to make sure she felt loved and wanted, but sometimes the need inside her was so great... there's only so much I can do. Maybe I misread her mood...
He really didn't think that was the reason, though. It was just more pleasant to think about than the rest of the possibilities he had to keep beating down; his mind was like a goddamn game of whack-a-mole.
"You know what?" Jan was saying now. "Keith and Summer went out early. They're usually back... not too long from now, assuming they catch enough."
Nina's parents. Joel was somewhat familiar with their habits. "They'll stay out longer if they don't."
"Either way... I'll ask them if they happened to see Parker and Ellie..."
"I'll ask 'em myself -- when I meet 'em at the gate." Then I'll kindly ask them to hand over the keys, or turn back around and take me out themselves, if they're so inclined... Joel was hardly a seaman, and he didn't know what trouble the kids might've run into out there, so he would much rather go with someone more experienced if possible (he really didn't have as big a male ego as Ellie liked to say he did). "The only other boat available is the dinky little rowboat, is that right?"
"Yessir. The Bowrider isn't seaworthy yet."
As small as this community was, Joel reckoned one or two boats would suffice, but if the military was helping to fix up another one, it probably had something to do with the trade agreement between them. After all, there was only so much fish they could consume in a day, and the surplus could only be stored for a short time in their... bizarre underground 'fridge'. Anyway, he sure as hell didn't want to go chasing after Ellie in a goddamn rowboat, especially without knowing which direction she'd gone. He would wait for the fisherpeople to return. It was too early to panic yet.
You hear that, brain? TOO EARLY TO PANIC.
He knew time was going to drag if he didn't keep himself occupied. Both sets of boat keys were missing from their usual spot in what everyone referred to as 'Ray's office,' which didn't tell Joel anything other than yes, they probably were indeed sailing; he just had to make sure, because how stupid would he feel if the keys were there the whole time? He went out and checked the route from the gate to the docks... checked the surrounding area... the 'dead' boats in the marina... he was pretty sure Ellie wouldn't be in any of those places, but he had to look, for his own peace of mind. ...Not that peace of mind was something he expected to have much of, until he saw Ellie.
He was of half a mind to go back out to the tree and chop up some more of it. He would be able to hear the bell from there, if he listened for it. However, people didn't always need to ring the bell; Ray tended to hang around that second-floor office -- or on the roof itself there -- from late afternoon until the last person came back in. If Ray spotted them, he would go open the gate before they even got to the bell. Joel could keep running back to check on who all had returned, but he might as well just set up shop on the roof with the old man and keep a look out himself.
Old man... tch. He was only eleven years older than Joel. Joel only knew this because Ellie had made it a point to learn everything about everyone, and she delighted in sharing her knowledge with Joel -- especially when he got something wrong. Sometimes he did it on purpose, just to annoy her. "Jesus, Joel, don't you listen to a thing I say? I TOLD you it was KIM who used to raise rabbits!" or whatever shit. She was so cute when she was irritated.
Joel didn't even realize he was pacing until Ray jokingly offered to stay out of his way; the guy knew better than to make small talk with Joel right now, at least. And Ray didn't even bother to tell him he was sure Ellie was okay... although Joel knew he was thinking it. That he was right to think it. There's no reason to worry. I'm overreacting. Ellie's fine. She's just asserting her independence... possibly BECAUSE of the worrying and overreacting. That's all it is.
Logical as all that was, Joel was still surprised to find that he was actually believing it... similar to that time last summer when everyone had believed that Ellie was Outside with a group that had been attacked by Infected. Some people in that group had been killed. He had worried, of course -- he couldn't not be concerned about something like that -- yet there'd been an underlying calmness... a belief that it had all been a misunderstanding, somehow.
And that was all it had turned out to be -- a goddamn clerical error. ...Maybe tracking shit is overrated, come to think of it... He never would have thought Ellie was out there if the 'books' hadn't said so.
He wouldn't know what had happened here until he spoke to Ellie, but his gut was telling him there would be a reasonable explanation. He just had to kill some time now. Rather than dream up all manner of calamities that may have befallen her, Joel tried to work out what he should say to her when he saw her. He quickly discarded the first things that came to mind: "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" "Are you TRYING to give the old man a heart attack?" "Did it ever occur to you that I might be WORRIED when I got back and you were gone? Couldn't you have left a goddamn NOTE, at least?" No, he wouldn't go that route. That's what she would be expecting from him. Maybe he'd be snarky... "How did I do in your little extra-credit experiment? ...I reckon you'll take points off because I didn't just sit back and wait for you to come home." Then there was... the passive aggressive guilt trip approach: "I should've known better than to expect you to keep your word."
Joel had to chuckle to himself at that last one. He was sure she would have the perfect retort prepared for that -- something that highlighted the exact wording of her promise, and how she'd adhered to it. And she would probably be correct, because Joel couldn't remember making her swear she wouldn't go Outside without him. They were always together, so why should he? (Of course, situations like this were precisely why he should have... but he still felt like it should've been UNDERSTOOD, for chrissakes.)
He couldn't really lecture her about trusting some 'kid' with her life; Parker was older than her, and she considered him a friend. Joel wasn't concerned about the boy personally (to be honest, he suspected Ellie could kick Parker's ass if necessary) -- just about his boatmanship. Assuming the boat was in decent shape, and the weather wasn't vastly different a few miles away from here, the chances of Ellie ending up in the water were slim. He hoped the kid wasn't prone to fanciful thoughts of, say, trying to sail out to some imaginary island to look for pirate treasure. The ocean was so... vast. If they went out too far... lost track of their heading and went out farther when they actually meant to come in... for whatever reason, if they ended up way the hell out there in the middle of the Pacific -- how long would it take to find them? Did they have flares or distress signals on the boat? And if they did, did they know how and when to use them? I don't think Ellie would know that... shit, I should've made it a point to go over a few things with her. Just in case.
Except she probably wouldn't have listened. She definitely wouldn't have listened if they weren't on a boat at the time, where he could actually show her the things he was talking about. I should've made it a point to familiarize MYSELF with the boats here... hell, he and Ellie had even been out on the water a few times, always with other residents. Why had he been content to sit back and be a spectator then?
He did think Ellie was level-headed enough not to let Parker do anything stupid, like purposely venture out a million miles into the ocean. Into the unknown. No one had ever reported shark sightings in the area, but no one could say for sure there weren't any out there... and Joel had somewhat conditioned Ellie to think there were sharks lurking just beyond the breaking waves -- a precaution to keep her from venturing too far away from the beach while swimming. Sophie had unwittingly undermined him on that one, after Ellie started worrying about how far out Sophie was going... Sophie then tried to backpedal, once she caught on, but it was too late.
Ohhh Ellie was pissed at me then! Joel was amused to recall. Later on, she had confessed to him that sometimes she was still sort of afraid of sharks being right there, even though she knew better now. It was still in her head. Presently, Joel felt a pang of sympathy for her; what if she was afraid of that, this very moment? How much control could she really exert over Parker anyway? If the boy decided he wanted to race out into the center of the ocean...
...if she gets into any sort of physical altercation with him... loses her balance...
GODDAMNIT.
He might not be dwelling on horrific scenarios like the kids getting kidnapped by hunters or ambushed by Infected on the docks, but his imagination was still serving up unpleasantries.
Eventually, his mind and his gut seemed to reach an accord of 'cautiously optimistic.' As for his heart... I just need to lay eyes on her. Hold her in my arms. I won't be satisfied until I do.
He felt a surge of adrenaline when he heard voices, coming from Outside. He readied the shotgun, just in case, but he expected it to be their people. A male and female... could it be?...
No, it wasn't Parker and Ellie. It was just Keith and Summer. He didn't recognize them by voice before they came into view, but he registered the female voice as not-Ellie, at least. Still, there was reason for excitement: his useless waiting was over. No matter what the pair did or didn't know about Ellie, he was going out there.
As it turned out, they didn't know jack shit. Unless observing Sweet Caroline's empty dock space counted. Which, he supposed it did; after all, how much worse would he feel if the boat was sitting there and the kids were still nowhere to be found? (He hadn't seen it during his search of the boats earlier, but he also didn't know where each boat was typically docked, and could have missed it.) Keith agreed to take Joel out to search for them while Summer transported the day's haul to the kitchen, with Ray's assistance.
On the way to the docks and after they set out on the water, Joel took the opportunity to pump Keith for all the information he should've consumed earlier about the boats. Keith was happy to oblige; Joel had found that most people enjoy imparting their knowledge to willing pupils, especially if it was something they knew well or took great pride in. Keith definitely looked at home, there at the helm: wild gray-blond hair somewhat tamed by a red bandana... a ruddy, weather-beaten complexion... even a goddamn anchor tattoo on his bicep. He was a likable guy... but Joel was pretty sure he and Summer were swinging with another couple, and that suspicion alone made Joel a bit wary of both of them.
Not that he gave a shit what they did; he couldn't care less. That was their business. But Ellie was innocent, oblivious to all of that... and Joel was afraid that somehow they might, perhaps inadvertently, plant ideas in her head that didn't need to be there. (And, frankly, if the man dared to even hint to him that Ellie should participate, Joel would probably beat the living daylights out of him.)
None of that mattered right now, of course -- they had a job to do. And Joel felt like he was with the best person to get the job done.
Just as he was cursing himself for not fetching the binoculars from his room, Keith produced a pair from the glove box. Joel snatched them up and eagerly began scanning the horizon for boats.
...Nothing.
That sun up there sure is bright... she's gonna be burned to a crisp, poor girl... Joel just wanted to find them before darkness became an issue. Plenty of time yet...
"You been out with this Parker kid a lot?" Joel asked his sailing companion. "He any good?"
"Well... sure." Keith chuckled.
What the hell does THAT mean? "But?" he prompted.
"He's young, that's all. Bit impulsive. Can he steer? Bring her in? Sure. Can he trouble-shoot a problem? ...Who knows. Never been tested, that I know of." Keith sighed. "I'm afraid this might be a needle-in-a-haystack situation here. They could've gone aaaaanywhere from the dock. Any direction."
Joel lowered the binoculars. "I'm afraid you might be right about that haystack." I wonder... "Lemme try somethin'." Joel cocked his pistol and glanced at the man to make sure he wasn't taken by surprise by what he was about to do, then fired a round into the water (at a sharp enough angle that it wouldn't skip off to God-knows-where). She better have her gun on her... I know she had it when I left...
He was rewarded with an answering shot -- there she is! He could exhale now.
"That way," Joel said needlessly; Keith was already changing course. They weren't heading directly towards the sun now, at least. Joel resumed scanning the horizon through the binoculars. He didn't think a second shot would be needed, given the high visibility here (although he supposed they could pass them if they were off by enough degrees... he would reevaluate later). And who else could it be? The military? ...possibly, but he knew Ellie was out here. It just had to be her.
It couldn't have been more than a couple minutes before a second shot rang out.
Joel chuckled. "She ain't very patient sometimes." Almost there, baby girl... His eyes were glued to the binoculars, slowly sweeping the expanse of sea in front of them. The second shot had slightly altered their course, so he was glad she had fired it. He had a good feeling they would find her before she resorted to firing a third shot. ...There's something... SOMEthing... a boat? ...YES! "There -- I think that's them! You see that?"
"No, but I'll take your word for it."
Joel continued watching the little blob take shape through the binoculars. "I think they see us. Or hear us. I see... arms wavin'..."
"I do see something now!" Keith exclaimed. "Yeah! I'll slow down when we get close -- do you see anything wrong?"
"No. Nothin' obvious." Joel tucked the binoculars back into the glove box. "Maybe they ain't even in trouble. If that's the case... I apologize for wastin' your time."
"It's alright, Joel."
"It just... ain't like Ellie to be so late," he explained anyway. "So much later than she said."
"I hear ya. I'd prob'ly do the same thing if it was Nina coming back late."
Nina -- who was his daughter, not his wife. Well, she's closer in age to Ellie... and I don't think Summer ever goes out in the boat without Keith... Joel wasn't going to read anything into it. The man was just trying to empathize with him anyhow, attempting to justify Joel's fears.
Joel stayed near the helm until they were close enough to verify that yes indeed, it was Ellie and Parker occupying the little boat. He glanced at Keith. "How close can you get without hittin' 'em?" The smaller boat didn't appear to be moving, at least...
"Uhhhh... pretty close, I think... you wanna be my eyes on that side to make sure?"
Joel moved to the port side and leaned over the rail a little. Just when he was about to holler back to Keith to slow down, the man slowed way the hell down on his own. Parker was standing at the stern, leaning on... well, the closest thing to a railing the little boat had... looking quite happy to see them... whereas Ellie was slumped in a seat behind him, not even looking in their direction. Oh God... is she hurt? She hadn't appeared to be when he'd seen her at a distance...
Joel helped Keith navigate right up alongside their boat; if the kids were having engine trouble or something, Keith might need to hop down there (and there was a noticeable height difference between the hulls). Even if they weren't stranded, Joel intended to ride back in with Ellie one way or another, and he said as much to Keith.
"You'll never guess what happened!" Parker called out to them cheerfully (... and Joel would like to think if there was anything seriously wrong with Ellie, Parker wouldn't be so damn chipper). "We ran out of gas, man!"
Keith was already throwing the kid some rope. "Tie 'er up so I can get down there. There's a spare tank under the--"
"There's not! I checked that -- first thing! Must've got left behind, last run -- not swapped out, I mean. Unless someone actually stole it." Parker started tying a basic knot on the railing-type thing (just a bar across the stern). "Is this good?"
"Yeah." Keith frowned. "There's a reserve tank, built into this one... but I can't think of how to get any of that over to you, that easy... Are you sure that's what the problem is?" He asked the boy a few technical questions, and came to the conclusion that they were indeed out of fuel.
Parker tugged his knot tight. "Can you tow us back? Or..."
"Not with this grade of rope, no... I doubt it. You're completely dead weight."
Joel looked at Ellie while the other two were chatting; she hadn't looked up once, but thanks to the binoculars, he knew she'd been standing earlier, watching him and Keith approach. He willed her to look up at him... and she just wouldn't. If he didn't know better, he would wonder if she was asleep down there, she was slumped down so much. "Ellie," he finally called to her.
"I don't feel good," she called back miserably.
"Well, you're gonna have to stand up an' come back here so we can get you up on this boat. C'mon." Joel sized up the angle that the boats were connected: nowhere near flush, which would have been ideal, but it looked do-able. The kids' little boat was maybe hovering between thirty and forty-five degrees against the port side of the bigger one, the rope leash keeping it from drifting more than ten feet out. More like six feet, really... "Parker! Help Ellie get up on the... thing, there..."
"The railing?"
"No! No -- behind it..." Or, in front of it, from where Joel was standing. Standing on the railing would give her the height to make a clean jump over, but it wasn't wide enough to be a stable launching pad -- she wouldn't be able to balance on it, especially with the boat rocking. "Take the fishin' rod down first. How slippery is that end, to stand on? Can you wipe it off?" She could slip right off into the water there...
There was no obvious place to tie the boats together on the bow side, like a railing or any sort of hook or other protrusion; that dinky little boat looked like it should use oars for power, not gas. It don't have to be way up front... we could use the steering column... cut this rope and tie it to the railing to get another length of it... But it really wasn't that far of a jump, especially if Keith could hold the rope taut to keep them close.
The kid dutifully reeled in the fishing line, then stripped off his T-shirt so he could wipe the little platform with it.
"Shit -- I could've given you my shirt," Joel told him. "It's cold out here."
"It wasn't even that wet," Parker shrugged, tugging the shirt back over his head.
"Ellie, where's your gun?" asked Joel. "Can you put it in Parker's bag? We don't want it fallin' in the water."
She handed it to Parker, who was stuffing various other items in the bag as well. He looked at Joel and Keith. "Hey, what about the fish?"
"The fish?" Keith echoed.
"Yeah! We caught... uh... five? Yeah, five -- not counting the little one we threw back," Parker said proudly.
"You got 'em in the livewell still?" Keith asked.
"Yeah..."
"Toss 'em back."
"Whaaaat? No! Then it's like we did all this for nothing!"
...That sounds familiar...
Keith seemed mildly amused. "Well, what do you suggest, then, Skippy?"
Parker thought about it for a moment. "Leave them in there and come back for them tomorrow?"
"They'll be dead by then."
"Tonight, then! We can come right--"
"Gotta find that gas tank first. Or something similar."
Parker just really wasn't liking the prospect of discarding his prize catches. "Well -- okay -- like, what if I just toss them over to you guys and you put them in your--"
"Oh hell no," Keith replied before Joel could express that very sentiment. "We're not gonna wrestle your fish into-- just let them go. You can show 'em to us so we see what you got, okay? You can keep the bragging rights. Summer'n'me caught plenty for tonight so we don't even need 'em for dinner." Keith looked at the boy expectantly.
"Okay," Parker grumbled, his reluctance evident in his slouching posture and slow movements towards the livewell.
Ellie had finally roused herself to get up and go lean on the railing... bar... thing. Her hair was mostly freed of her ponytail, even more unkempt and windblown than usual. The white hoodie she was wearing had to be Parker's. Her legs were still bare (and not sunburned all to hell, miraculously). And that scowl on her face...
She just looks utterly miserable, poor thing. Joel tried not to show any amusement over her appearance. "You're lookin' a little green around the gills, kiddo."
She glared at him. "I don't have gills."
All right... since my attempt to conceal my amusement seems to have failed... "You don't even look happy to see us. Do you want to stay on this boat?"
Keith chuckled. "Not a bad idea, that. Firing your gun was very helpful. Not sure I'll be able to find this little boat again on my own. Might need to ask those army brats to help out -- they have a helicopter, you know."
Joel knew he was referring to the soldiers at the base with that term, although in olden times, it had referred to their children. As far as he knew, they didn't have any kids over there. Joel was pretty sure he had seen a compass or some kind of gauge like that on the console of the boat; Keith would probably have no problem finding the abandoned boat again, as long as he made note of their current heading. But that's no fun! "No need to bother them. Ellie can stay," Joel offered.
She scowled at each of them in turn and muttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" asked Joel.
"I said FUCK YOU GUYS," she replied, much louder this time.
"Is that any way to talk to your rescuers?" Joel chided her.
She rolled her eyes and turned to... go back to her seat, presumably... but Parker blocked her path. "Hey -- come on. Aren't you ready to get off this thing? You go first. I'll help--"
"I got it," said Ellie, waving him off. "Pretty sure I can handle taking one step up by myself."
"Wait," Joel stopped her. "Do you have life vests over there? Life jackets?"
"I dunno? I'll go look," Parker replied.
"What do we need those for?" Ellie asked dubiously. "We're not like... going in the water..."
"Ideally, no--"
"I might, though, huh." She surveyed the transfer situation. "How..."
"You just have to... jump a little. I can help you up."
"But you can't catch me... you want me to jump like... face first into the boat?"
Joel did wish Ellie's boat was just a little higher than barely above the sea... "Pretty much. I can grab you once you're over here an' help you climb over. But unless you've got a trampoline hidden over there..."
"Can't you just lean way over and pull me up, without me jumping?" she asked hopefully.
It was cute, the way she overestimated him sometimes. "You want me to topple us both into the water?"
"No!"
"Well then. It's easier if you jump." They might be able to devise some method wherein Keith held onto Joel while Joel stretched way the hell out there and pulled Ellie over... but he was confident she could make that little bitty jump. "You can do it. Parker will be there to help you back into the boat just in case, all right?" If I don't dive right in after you... no, DON'T DO THAT-- Ellie could swim now. It was more beneficial for him to remain on the big boat. He could wait for-- well, probably all of two seconds, and then if she didn't surface--
Parker handed Ellie a life vest. "Here. I only found one."
"I'll go rustle one up for you," Keith told Parker.
"I don't need--"
"It's just a precaution. Hang tight."
Joel surveyed the little boat again. "Parker, why don't you go to the other end... I'm afraid the boat might not take too kindly to Ellie standin' on its backside like that if you're there also."
"Great. So I might just... slide right off into the water?" Ellie finished buckling the third strap on her vest and eyed him warily.
"Just tryin' to make sure that don't happen."
Once Keith returned with a vest for Parker, Joel directed Ellie to step up onto the edge... but to hang on to that bar behind her until she was ready to go.
She looked up at Joel with those big green eyes of hers. "At least I can swim this time, right?" she quipped as she stepped onto the platform.
"That's right. This lil' jump is nothin' compared to that first dive you took." They had almost drowned, of course, but Joel had been impressed nonetheless; it took some balls to take a leap like that, even if it was prompted by fear of the alternative.
"Lemme help... I'll give you a little push," Parker teased.
"Nodon'tpushme!" she shrieked at him.
"Don't push her," Joel agreed. "Stay back for now, son."
She inched toward the edge. "So I just... slam into it?!"
"Basically. You can grab on where you can, an' I'm gonna grab hold of you as soon as you get close enough an' help you climb over, all right?" But she's still scared... And there was another way-- "How 'bout this: I know you're good with rope. We have a whole reel of it... if I tie it up real good an' toss the end to you, you can climb--"
"No no, that's silly... you're like right there. I should be able to..."
"Don't look down," he advised when he caught her doing it. "Forget there's water down there. Even if your jump ain't perfect, I will not let you fall in, all right?"
"Then why did you make me put this thing on, if you're so sure I won't end up in the water?!"
Keith chuckled at that. "It's a standard safety precaution."
"Ellie, you better hurry up," Parker urged... sounding worried.
"Um... why?"
Parker was looking out at the sea. "I'm not sure, but... I think maybe I just saw..."
"Saw what?!" She followed his gaze; Joel sneaked a glance, too, but didn't see anything alarming.
"It was a fin, I think..."
"A fin? You mean like a SHARK FIN?!"
"Or something else that has fins?"
"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck -- okay, I'm jumping! Readyyyyyy--"
She jumped!
She was able to reach the edge with her arms extended, and Joel immediately grabbed her wrists to prevent her from slipping, shifting his grip down her arms to help her climb up. "Good -- I got you -- just grab the railing..." With his firm grip on her, she could use her feet and sort of walk up the side. Once she was able to close her fists around the chrome railing, she didn't need his assistance to climb up and over.
"I did it!" she laughed in relief.
Joel engulfed her in his arms before she even cleared the railing. "You sure did. Are you all right?"
"Yeah--" She broke away from him and turned back to her friend. "Parker! Parker, your turn! You have to--" She stopped short when she saw the look on his face. "There's no shark, is there! ...Motherfucker!"
Keith and Parker roared with laughter (and Joel couldn't help chuckling a little himself).
"It would've taken you another ten minutes to jump, otherwise!" was Parker's justification.
"No it wouldn't! I was just about to jump anyways! Fuck -- let's just go. Let's leave him out here!" Ellie glowered at the boy. "Maybe a real shark will come along and eat you! That'll teach you... it'll be like the boy who cried wolf!" Sophie had shared that fable with Ellie on their trip to California.
"Huh?" Parker was clearly not familiar with it.
"And you're lucky I didn't shit my pants!" she scolded him.
Parker was unfazed by her outrage, calmly tossing things up to Keith that he didn't want to leave behind.
Joel reeled her back in and hugged her from behind, dropping a kiss on the side of her head. "Calm down, kiddo. He was just helpin' you out."
"Pfff. Yeah right. More like he was just laughing at me. You guys all laughed at me for being so stupid."
She could be really sensitive about that; Joel supposed everyone could, at times. "Not stupid -- you had a natural reaction to thinkin' you might get eaten by a shark. Come sit with me." Parker had half a dozen inches on Ellie; he was already clambering up over the railing, with very little help from Keith, so Joel was free to focus on her. This boat may have been bigger than the Sweet Caroline, but it also had limited seating, so Joel settled Ellie on his lap (and, well, he reckoned her legs must be freezing, in those shorts).
"It's fucking cold out here," she grumbled. "And I don't feel good. So if you could wait 'til tomorrow to yell at me, I'd appreciate it."
"All right. Tomorrow it is." At least she don't seem to mind sitting like this... He draped his free arm over her legs as best he could. He was wearing short sleeves now himself, but his skin was generally warmer than hers to the touch.
She tucked her head into his neck. "You're supposed to tell me you're not gonna yell at me at all," she informed him.
"I am? Shit, I messed that up," he said lightly.
"You can still say it. It's not too late."
Joel chuckled. "Yes it is. I already told you it would be tomorrow. Don't make me go back on my word."
"What if I still feel shitty tomorrow?"
"...Tell you what. You tell me when you're ready to get yelled at, an' I'll start yellin'."
A little giggle. "Deal."
Keith and Parker had disappeared from Joel's view, now that he and Ellie were on the other side of the cabin. "Keith! Anythin' I can do?" Joel called to him, fully expecting the other man to--
"Nope! We'll be ready to leave in a few, just sit tight!"
--not need him for anything. "All right!"
Ellie snorted. "I'm not letting you get up anyway. I'm finally warm for the first time in hours."
He gave her a squeeze. "Shoulda worn your jeans. And brought your jacket -- you're lucky Parker was a gentleman an' gave you--"
"You said no yelling 'til I was ready!" she admonished him.
"You consider that yellin'? That was a... observation."
"It was yelling. I could hear it in your voice."
He didn't think his voice had sounded even mildly reproachful, actually. "What are you afraid I'm gonna yell at you about anyhow?" Joel was pretty sure she already knew -- or thought she knew -- everything he might possibly be upset about, so there was probably no need to lecture her on it. "Do I even seem one lil' tiny bit mad at you?" I got that out of my system while I was waiting for the damn boat for so long...
"No," she admitted. "But that's only cuz you're happy you found me. Once that wears off..."
"I'll be mad as hell. Sure. An' you know it's real easy for me to stay mad at you," he teased. Joel couldn't think of an instance where he'd stayed angry with her for any decent length of time -- certainly not overnight.
He could feel her smiling into his neck. "Real easy. Fuck, I'm in big trouble now!"
~Continue to Chapter 5~
Fandom: The Last of Us (first game only)
Characters: Ellie, Joel, Tommy, Maria, OCs
Pairings: Joel/Ellie
Warnings: Underage
Word Count for this chapter: 8,225
Rating (for fic as a whole): R
Author's Note: Apologies to Hemingway (and Joel!) for the chapter title. It was meant to be just a "working title" but I couldn't bring myself to replace it!
~
The tree thing couldn't have gone any better if Joel had scripted it himself, the way it all played out. He pretty much did script it, as the others had all deferred to his 'expertise' in the matter (having done this to exactly one tree of such a tremendous size in his lifetime -- and this redwood had that sycamore beat by at least a hundred feet). No one got hurt, nothing got damaged. Even with the branches flying every which way on impact... like little javelins, some of them. I wish Ellie could've seen it... she would've thought it was cool, coming down like that... Or, alternatively, she might have just shrugged and said "It's only a dead tree, Joel."
He liked to think it was the former.
"How much of this we bringing in today? Half?" a voice behind him asked. Alex... who had deferred to him back in Jackson, too, although Joel technically wasn't his boss at either place. There were no bosses here; even the bosses didn't admit to being bosses.
Joel supposed he was just bossy enough that people listened to him... or perhaps it was an age thing. "Maybe a third. It's gonna overrun the woodshed, easy. Ain't really a problem when we've got so many empty rooms to stash things in, but..."
"What's the hurry, right? We can reuse most of this rope, too..."
The excitement now over with, Ray, Carlos, and Jamal had all headed back Inside already, leaving Joel and Alex to the more tedious work of chopping up the tree into manageable chunks of firewood and loading it onto the makeshift flatbed thing they used for such tasks -- which was fine, as there was only enough hacking equipment for two. Nina stuck around because of Alex -- her boyfriend -- and she made herself useful gathering up armfuls of wayward limbs. Joel didn't mind the work; if Ellie weren't part of the equation, he'd take an honest day's work over dicking around on a beach all day doing jack shit. And a few hours could hardly be considered 'an honest day' anyhow. Maybe that's good, old man... you ARE getting a little old for this shit, ain't ya?
Ellie didn't like it when he thought of himself as old. She was certainly doing her best to keep him young, all right! Most days, he probably did feel younger than his age. And sweet little Ellie... she was patient with him on the days that he didn't.
He tried not to think about her all the time, but it was hard not to. Oddly enough, he felt he could keep his mind on other things better when she was actually in his sight. His brain sure didn't know how to follow the "out of sight, out of mind" rule of thumb. But panic-wise? He was doing pretty good today. Maybe on account of all the pride he felt at 'beating' the goddamn tree? Like there was no room left for anything unpleasant to well up inside him.
It wasn't what he would consider a warm day, but by the time they finished hacking up the allotted portion of tree, he was drenched in sweat, his shirt plastered to him in patches (even with an undershirt on). He reckoned it was the humidity as much as the work that did it. A cool breeze here might chill him at times, but generally, if the air was still, the density of it kept him feeling warm. Not Ellie, though... maybe if she didn't feel the need to run into the damn ocean all the time, she'd stay warmer...
There she was again, never far from his thoughts. He hoped to hell she'd stayed true to her word and not gone in the water. Wouldn't that be something, if the one time she went in without him nearby...
Not gonna happen, he chided himself for even letting the thought cross his mind. She promised. And Ellie was real good about keeping promises.
After they'd emptied their load, Alex offered to take the designated 'cart horse' back to the paddock, and Joel took him up on it, even though his own suite was in that direction. I did good today on the Ellie front, real good... but it's been long enough... time to find her. He'd been hoping she would be close to the gate, as if she couldn't wait for him to get back. At the very least, he thought maybe she'd come running when she heard the bell. When neither of those things happened, he'd felt the first itching of panic... nothing severe. He managed to talk it down some by convincing himself that she had estimated the time that would pass between hearing the bell and him walking through the door to their room, and she would be waiting there, sprawled out on the bed... probably not completely naked... in those sexy shorts, though, maybe... Ellie was wise to his moods and proclivities; she would know that if the tree job went well, he'd be raring to go when he got home. Especially since they hadn't had sex that morning.
When that little fantasy had dissolved, he tried to believe that it was for the best, because now he had a chance to clean up before he saw her, and he was pretty damn gross. He wouldn't have minded a little company in the shower...
...although that didn't usually go too well, with no hot water. Ocean water was 'allowed' to be cold, in Ellie logic... shower water was not. She suffered through showers as infrequently as possible. Sometimes he suspected she exaggerated her discomfort, the better to garner his affections... other times, he kissed her goosepimpled flesh and knew that she was truly freezing her ass off. We'll have to take shitloads of steamy hot showers together when we get home... whenever that is...
The Ellie-on-the-bed fantasy made a brief reappearance in his thoughts when he got out of the shower... maybe she had seen Alex on the beach or wherever and realized that they had come back? ...but nope.
Freshly dressed in more beach-friendly clothes, Joel set about searching for Ellie... as nonchalantly as possible. Maybe she'd gotten into building sand castles and unicorns and who the hell knows what else with the kids (it was mostly unicorns these days... the little girl had just been given some new toy set featuring the things, all rainbow-maned and sparkly). Maybe Ellie had become so absorbed that she'd completely lost track of time, or forgotten when to expect him back.
-Nope, that wasn't it, either. The two little kids were running around on the beach as usual, but Ellie was nowhere in sight.
He checked 'their' spot, which was tucked away from the main part of the beach... he checked the Hall (or cafeteria)... the stables -- because what if she'd been waiting to meet him when he dropped off the horse, only to meet up with Alex instead?... he even checked the golf course, though with no balls left on the grounds, no one could even play until the requisition for more went through. Unless someone took it upon themselves to go Outside and hunt down the ones that had gone AWOL.
Ellie was in none of these places. He found Sophie... but she had no idea where Ellie was, either -- she had assumed that Ellie had gone out with Joel earlier, because she was positive Ellie hadn't been down to the beach at all.
If you're playing hide-and-seek with me, baby girl, it's awfully cruel of you to take it this far, considering all that's happened to us. Joel didn't believe she would do that. But then... where in the hell was she?
He learned the answer to that question when he got around to talking to Janelle. Her husband, Ray, was usually the 'gatekeeper' of the place, but seeing as how he'd been Outside with Joel, Jan had taken over. Unlike Jackson, there was no official guard duty... no sentinels constantly monitoring the gate. But if anyone had gone out, someone -- generally Ray or Jan -- stayed close enough to hear the bell. The fucker was loud, so basically that only meant staying off the beach, or at least the shoreline area, where the roar of the ocean might possibly drown it out. With no official structure in place, there were occasionally times a person might have to wait quite a while for the bell to be answered, ringing multiple times to be let back in. Joel had never had to wait long, but even the short waits were a little nerve-wracking, knowing that the ringing bell would attract any Infected in the area.
...Not that there really were any in the area, to speak of. But you never know.
Jan said she'd been fiddling with a leaky faucet in the kitchen when Parker and Ellie had approached her to let her know they were going out.
"When was that?" asked Joel. "How long ago?"
"Oh, I don't know... not long after you left?"
Answers like 'not long' frustrated Joel, but no one here bothered to keep a working clock around, measuring time by the sun instead. Sunrise, midday, sunset, campfire, nighttime. Perhaps with an 'early' or 'late' modifier thrown in, preceding morning/afternoon/evening/night, if someone cared to specify. It made sense, since there was really no need to keep an eye on the time here, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. All right... just chill, asshole... what difference does it make? The main thing is, she's been gone for several hours... "Did they say where they were goin'? Did you ask 'em?"
"Didn't have to... they had a fishing pole and a tackle box."
...Ellie went FISHING? He would have seen her out on the jetty... "Did they say where."
"That, I had to ask. They didn't seem too sure of that themselves. Parker just said he was taking Sweet Caroline, if she was there. That's his favorite."
"She went out on a boat?" Damnit, Ellie...
"That's what they told me."
Joel struggled to remain calm. "And you just let two teenagers waltz out of here to go sail a--"
"Hang on, now," Jan cut him off, clearly miffed. "Parker's got experience. He's gone out on the water by himself before. Always comes back safe and sound. Usually he doesn't even bother to tell anyone when he leaves. If no one's around front when he means to go, he just goes. We can preach safety 'til we're blue in the face, but when it comes down to it, this isn't a prison we're running here. You can talk to him if you'd like. Maybe you'd get more than a 'whatever' out of him."
Joel doubted that. He hadn't talked to the boy very much, and Ellie said Parker was way more talkative when Joel wasn't around (as in, when the two of them went in or near the water while Joel stayed in the cabana, hovering nearby but not interfering).
"I think it was Ellie who wanted to tell us they were leaving," Jan continued. "I got the feeling she was taking the lead on that."
He nodded. "Ellie knows better than to leave unannounced." But apparently, she don't know better than to leave WITHOUT ME... Joel hadn't seen the need to extract promises from her regarding that. It hadn't even occurred to him. Nor had it occurred to him to speak to Jan and Ray and anyone else around here to let them know that Ellie was not to be let Outside unless he was present -- not that it would have done any good, with no guard at the gate. Plus, the teenagers here were treated like adults. That Parker kid even had his own suite. No real parental guidance from anyone that Joel had observed... even from Mark (passing on hunting tips might be a father/son thing, but it wasn't life counseling). He hoped the boy had received enough... guidance from a knowledgeable party when it came to operating a boat. "How long does he usually stay out fishin'? Did he say how long they'd be?" Let me guess: "A WHILE"...
"Eh... it varies. He's been staying out longer now that the weather's starting to get nicer. If the fish are biting, he'll likely be gone for most of the day. If they're not... he still could be gone all day hoping for better luck."
...That was just a whole lot of extra words to tell me next to nothing. "So... sundown?"
"A little before that, I would say."
That was hours from now. Wonderful. NOW what?
Jan looked thoughtful. "You know, I seem to recall Ellie saying she only wanted to stay out there an hour or two. Not that they'd even know when an hour had passed... Parker said he'd just bring her in whenever she wanted. Yes, I remember him saying that."
"An hour or two," Joel repeated dumbly. Surely Ellie has honed her telling-time-by-the-sun skills enough by now to know the difference between one hour and, say, FOUR...
"She seemed a bit... nervous. Guess she really didn't like the thought of being out there all day." She laid her hand on his arm -- a sympathetic gesture -- and Joel resisted the urge to shake it off; Jan was a nice enough lady. "I'm sorry. I just assumed... she probably figured that since you guys were out chopping trees, she would go have her own fun? I really didn't think much of it. I'm sure she'll be fine."
Joel just grunted, and the hand slipped away. He wanted to blame Jan, but even in his irritation, he knew the only person to blame was Ellie herself. As well as himself, perhaps, for not being clear enough with her. -No, she knew damn well I wouldn't like it... she wanted to make sure she got back before I did.
So then... why in the hell didn't she?
Joel estimated they'd parted ways about four hours ago. Maybe five. Even if she'd left a whole hour after him, she still should've been back by now. Maybe she was enjoying it so much she decided to stay longer? Or maybe she really did lose all sense of time... she IS used to ME keeping track of things like that... Either of those possibilities seemed likely enough.
Less likely, but not completely implausible, was that she decided to stay out there as long as possible to spite Joel, for God knows what reason. Joel could usually tell when she was pissed at him -- she tended to make it glaringly apparent -- but there were times she seemed to be nursing a more subtle wound, something he didn't even realize, and it eventually manifested in some way other than her snapping at him. He really couldn't think of anything from this morning... other than not wanting to have sex, but she hadn't seemed bothered by that... WAS she actually upset about it? It ain't like morning sex is routine for us... especially after going a couple rounds the night before. Joel did his best to make sure she felt loved and wanted, but sometimes the need inside her was so great... there's only so much I can do. Maybe I misread her mood...
He really didn't think that was the reason, though. It was just more pleasant to think about than the rest of the possibilities he had to keep beating down; his mind was like a goddamn game of whack-a-mole.
"You know what?" Jan was saying now. "Keith and Summer went out early. They're usually back... not too long from now, assuming they catch enough."
Nina's parents. Joel was somewhat familiar with their habits. "They'll stay out longer if they don't."
"Either way... I'll ask them if they happened to see Parker and Ellie..."
"I'll ask 'em myself -- when I meet 'em at the gate." Then I'll kindly ask them to hand over the keys, or turn back around and take me out themselves, if they're so inclined... Joel was hardly a seaman, and he didn't know what trouble the kids might've run into out there, so he would much rather go with someone more experienced if possible (he really didn't have as big a male ego as Ellie liked to say he did). "The only other boat available is the dinky little rowboat, is that right?"
"Yessir. The Bowrider isn't seaworthy yet."
As small as this community was, Joel reckoned one or two boats would suffice, but if the military was helping to fix up another one, it probably had something to do with the trade agreement between them. After all, there was only so much fish they could consume in a day, and the surplus could only be stored for a short time in their... bizarre underground 'fridge'. Anyway, he sure as hell didn't want to go chasing after Ellie in a goddamn rowboat, especially without knowing which direction she'd gone. He would wait for the fisherpeople to return. It was too early to panic yet.
You hear that, brain? TOO EARLY TO PANIC.
He knew time was going to drag if he didn't keep himself occupied. Both sets of boat keys were missing from their usual spot in what everyone referred to as 'Ray's office,' which didn't tell Joel anything other than yes, they probably were indeed sailing; he just had to make sure, because how stupid would he feel if the keys were there the whole time? He went out and checked the route from the gate to the docks... checked the surrounding area... the 'dead' boats in the marina... he was pretty sure Ellie wouldn't be in any of those places, but he had to look, for his own peace of mind. ...Not that peace of mind was something he expected to have much of, until he saw Ellie.
He was of half a mind to go back out to the tree and chop up some more of it. He would be able to hear the bell from there, if he listened for it. However, people didn't always need to ring the bell; Ray tended to hang around that second-floor office -- or on the roof itself there -- from late afternoon until the last person came back in. If Ray spotted them, he would go open the gate before they even got to the bell. Joel could keep running back to check on who all had returned, but he might as well just set up shop on the roof with the old man and keep a look out himself.
Old man... tch. He was only eleven years older than Joel. Joel only knew this because Ellie had made it a point to learn everything about everyone, and she delighted in sharing her knowledge with Joel -- especially when he got something wrong. Sometimes he did it on purpose, just to annoy her. "Jesus, Joel, don't you listen to a thing I say? I TOLD you it was KIM who used to raise rabbits!" or whatever shit. She was so cute when she was irritated.
Joel didn't even realize he was pacing until Ray jokingly offered to stay out of his way; the guy knew better than to make small talk with Joel right now, at least. And Ray didn't even bother to tell him he was sure Ellie was okay... although Joel knew he was thinking it. That he was right to think it. There's no reason to worry. I'm overreacting. Ellie's fine. She's just asserting her independence... possibly BECAUSE of the worrying and overreacting. That's all it is.
Logical as all that was, Joel was still surprised to find that he was actually believing it... similar to that time last summer when everyone had believed that Ellie was Outside with a group that had been attacked by Infected. Some people in that group had been killed. He had worried, of course -- he couldn't not be concerned about something like that -- yet there'd been an underlying calmness... a belief that it had all been a misunderstanding, somehow.
And that was all it had turned out to be -- a goddamn clerical error. ...Maybe tracking shit is overrated, come to think of it... He never would have thought Ellie was out there if the 'books' hadn't said so.
He wouldn't know what had happened here until he spoke to Ellie, but his gut was telling him there would be a reasonable explanation. He just had to kill some time now. Rather than dream up all manner of calamities that may have befallen her, Joel tried to work out what he should say to her when he saw her. He quickly discarded the first things that came to mind: "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" "Are you TRYING to give the old man a heart attack?" "Did it ever occur to you that I might be WORRIED when I got back and you were gone? Couldn't you have left a goddamn NOTE, at least?" No, he wouldn't go that route. That's what she would be expecting from him. Maybe he'd be snarky... "How did I do in your little extra-credit experiment? ...I reckon you'll take points off because I didn't just sit back and wait for you to come home." Then there was... the passive aggressive guilt trip approach: "I should've known better than to expect you to keep your word."
Joel had to chuckle to himself at that last one. He was sure she would have the perfect retort prepared for that -- something that highlighted the exact wording of her promise, and how she'd adhered to it. And she would probably be correct, because Joel couldn't remember making her swear she wouldn't go Outside without him. They were always together, so why should he? (Of course, situations like this were precisely why he should have... but he still felt like it should've been UNDERSTOOD, for chrissakes.)
He couldn't really lecture her about trusting some 'kid' with her life; Parker was older than her, and she considered him a friend. Joel wasn't concerned about the boy personally (to be honest, he suspected Ellie could kick Parker's ass if necessary) -- just about his boatmanship. Assuming the boat was in decent shape, and the weather wasn't vastly different a few miles away from here, the chances of Ellie ending up in the water were slim. He hoped the kid wasn't prone to fanciful thoughts of, say, trying to sail out to some imaginary island to look for pirate treasure. The ocean was so... vast. If they went out too far... lost track of their heading and went out farther when they actually meant to come in... for whatever reason, if they ended up way the hell out there in the middle of the Pacific -- how long would it take to find them? Did they have flares or distress signals on the boat? And if they did, did they know how and when to use them? I don't think Ellie would know that... shit, I should've made it a point to go over a few things with her. Just in case.
Except she probably wouldn't have listened. She definitely wouldn't have listened if they weren't on a boat at the time, where he could actually show her the things he was talking about. I should've made it a point to familiarize MYSELF with the boats here... hell, he and Ellie had even been out on the water a few times, always with other residents. Why had he been content to sit back and be a spectator then?
He did think Ellie was level-headed enough not to let Parker do anything stupid, like purposely venture out a million miles into the ocean. Into the unknown. No one had ever reported shark sightings in the area, but no one could say for sure there weren't any out there... and Joel had somewhat conditioned Ellie to think there were sharks lurking just beyond the breaking waves -- a precaution to keep her from venturing too far away from the beach while swimming. Sophie had unwittingly undermined him on that one, after Ellie started worrying about how far out Sophie was going... Sophie then tried to backpedal, once she caught on, but it was too late.
Ohhh Ellie was pissed at me then! Joel was amused to recall. Later on, she had confessed to him that sometimes she was still sort of afraid of sharks being right there, even though she knew better now. It was still in her head. Presently, Joel felt a pang of sympathy for her; what if she was afraid of that, this very moment? How much control could she really exert over Parker anyway? If the boy decided he wanted to race out into the center of the ocean...
...if she gets into any sort of physical altercation with him... loses her balance...
GODDAMNIT.
He might not be dwelling on horrific scenarios like the kids getting kidnapped by hunters or ambushed by Infected on the docks, but his imagination was still serving up unpleasantries.
Eventually, his mind and his gut seemed to reach an accord of 'cautiously optimistic.' As for his heart... I just need to lay eyes on her. Hold her in my arms. I won't be satisfied until I do.
He felt a surge of adrenaline when he heard voices, coming from Outside. He readied the shotgun, just in case, but he expected it to be their people. A male and female... could it be?...
No, it wasn't Parker and Ellie. It was just Keith and Summer. He didn't recognize them by voice before they came into view, but he registered the female voice as not-Ellie, at least. Still, there was reason for excitement: his useless waiting was over. No matter what the pair did or didn't know about Ellie, he was going out there.
As it turned out, they didn't know jack shit. Unless observing Sweet Caroline's empty dock space counted. Which, he supposed it did; after all, how much worse would he feel if the boat was sitting there and the kids were still nowhere to be found? (He hadn't seen it during his search of the boats earlier, but he also didn't know where each boat was typically docked, and could have missed it.) Keith agreed to take Joel out to search for them while Summer transported the day's haul to the kitchen, with Ray's assistance.
On the way to the docks and after they set out on the water, Joel took the opportunity to pump Keith for all the information he should've consumed earlier about the boats. Keith was happy to oblige; Joel had found that most people enjoy imparting their knowledge to willing pupils, especially if it was something they knew well or took great pride in. Keith definitely looked at home, there at the helm: wild gray-blond hair somewhat tamed by a red bandana... a ruddy, weather-beaten complexion... even a goddamn anchor tattoo on his bicep. He was a likable guy... but Joel was pretty sure he and Summer were swinging with another couple, and that suspicion alone made Joel a bit wary of both of them.
Not that he gave a shit what they did; he couldn't care less. That was their business. But Ellie was innocent, oblivious to all of that... and Joel was afraid that somehow they might, perhaps inadvertently, plant ideas in her head that didn't need to be there. (And, frankly, if the man dared to even hint to him that Ellie should participate, Joel would probably beat the living daylights out of him.)
None of that mattered right now, of course -- they had a job to do. And Joel felt like he was with the best person to get the job done.
Just as he was cursing himself for not fetching the binoculars from his room, Keith produced a pair from the glove box. Joel snatched them up and eagerly began scanning the horizon for boats.
...Nothing.
That sun up there sure is bright... she's gonna be burned to a crisp, poor girl... Joel just wanted to find them before darkness became an issue. Plenty of time yet...
"You been out with this Parker kid a lot?" Joel asked his sailing companion. "He any good?"
"Well... sure." Keith chuckled.
What the hell does THAT mean? "But?" he prompted.
"He's young, that's all. Bit impulsive. Can he steer? Bring her in? Sure. Can he trouble-shoot a problem? ...Who knows. Never been tested, that I know of." Keith sighed. "I'm afraid this might be a needle-in-a-haystack situation here. They could've gone aaaaanywhere from the dock. Any direction."
Joel lowered the binoculars. "I'm afraid you might be right about that haystack." I wonder... "Lemme try somethin'." Joel cocked his pistol and glanced at the man to make sure he wasn't taken by surprise by what he was about to do, then fired a round into the water (at a sharp enough angle that it wouldn't skip off to God-knows-where). She better have her gun on her... I know she had it when I left...
He was rewarded with an answering shot -- there she is! He could exhale now.
"That way," Joel said needlessly; Keith was already changing course. They weren't heading directly towards the sun now, at least. Joel resumed scanning the horizon through the binoculars. He didn't think a second shot would be needed, given the high visibility here (although he supposed they could pass them if they were off by enough degrees... he would reevaluate later). And who else could it be? The military? ...possibly, but he knew Ellie was out here. It just had to be her.
It couldn't have been more than a couple minutes before a second shot rang out.
Joel chuckled. "She ain't very patient sometimes." Almost there, baby girl... His eyes were glued to the binoculars, slowly sweeping the expanse of sea in front of them. The second shot had slightly altered their course, so he was glad she had fired it. He had a good feeling they would find her before she resorted to firing a third shot. ...There's something... SOMEthing... a boat? ...YES! "There -- I think that's them! You see that?"
"No, but I'll take your word for it."
Joel continued watching the little blob take shape through the binoculars. "I think they see us. Or hear us. I see... arms wavin'..."
"I do see something now!" Keith exclaimed. "Yeah! I'll slow down when we get close -- do you see anything wrong?"
"No. Nothin' obvious." Joel tucked the binoculars back into the glove box. "Maybe they ain't even in trouble. If that's the case... I apologize for wastin' your time."
"It's alright, Joel."
"It just... ain't like Ellie to be so late," he explained anyway. "So much later than she said."
"I hear ya. I'd prob'ly do the same thing if it was Nina coming back late."
Nina -- who was his daughter, not his wife. Well, she's closer in age to Ellie... and I don't think Summer ever goes out in the boat without Keith... Joel wasn't going to read anything into it. The man was just trying to empathize with him anyhow, attempting to justify Joel's fears.
Joel stayed near the helm until they were close enough to verify that yes indeed, it was Ellie and Parker occupying the little boat. He glanced at Keith. "How close can you get without hittin' 'em?" The smaller boat didn't appear to be moving, at least...
"Uhhhh... pretty close, I think... you wanna be my eyes on that side to make sure?"
Joel moved to the port side and leaned over the rail a little. Just when he was about to holler back to Keith to slow down, the man slowed way the hell down on his own. Parker was standing at the stern, leaning on... well, the closest thing to a railing the little boat had... looking quite happy to see them... whereas Ellie was slumped in a seat behind him, not even looking in their direction. Oh God... is she hurt? She hadn't appeared to be when he'd seen her at a distance...
Joel helped Keith navigate right up alongside their boat; if the kids were having engine trouble or something, Keith might need to hop down there (and there was a noticeable height difference between the hulls). Even if they weren't stranded, Joel intended to ride back in with Ellie one way or another, and he said as much to Keith.
"You'll never guess what happened!" Parker called out to them cheerfully (... and Joel would like to think if there was anything seriously wrong with Ellie, Parker wouldn't be so damn chipper). "We ran out of gas, man!"
Keith was already throwing the kid some rope. "Tie 'er up so I can get down there. There's a spare tank under the--"
"There's not! I checked that -- first thing! Must've got left behind, last run -- not swapped out, I mean. Unless someone actually stole it." Parker started tying a basic knot on the railing-type thing (just a bar across the stern). "Is this good?"
"Yeah." Keith frowned. "There's a reserve tank, built into this one... but I can't think of how to get any of that over to you, that easy... Are you sure that's what the problem is?" He asked the boy a few technical questions, and came to the conclusion that they were indeed out of fuel.
Parker tugged his knot tight. "Can you tow us back? Or..."
"Not with this grade of rope, no... I doubt it. You're completely dead weight."
Joel looked at Ellie while the other two were chatting; she hadn't looked up once, but thanks to the binoculars, he knew she'd been standing earlier, watching him and Keith approach. He willed her to look up at him... and she just wouldn't. If he didn't know better, he would wonder if she was asleep down there, she was slumped down so much. "Ellie," he finally called to her.
"I don't feel good," she called back miserably.
"Well, you're gonna have to stand up an' come back here so we can get you up on this boat. C'mon." Joel sized up the angle that the boats were connected: nowhere near flush, which would have been ideal, but it looked do-able. The kids' little boat was maybe hovering between thirty and forty-five degrees against the port side of the bigger one, the rope leash keeping it from drifting more than ten feet out. More like six feet, really... "Parker! Help Ellie get up on the... thing, there..."
"The railing?"
"No! No -- behind it..." Or, in front of it, from where Joel was standing. Standing on the railing would give her the height to make a clean jump over, but it wasn't wide enough to be a stable launching pad -- she wouldn't be able to balance on it, especially with the boat rocking. "Take the fishin' rod down first. How slippery is that end, to stand on? Can you wipe it off?" She could slip right off into the water there...
There was no obvious place to tie the boats together on the bow side, like a railing or any sort of hook or other protrusion; that dinky little boat looked like it should use oars for power, not gas. It don't have to be way up front... we could use the steering column... cut this rope and tie it to the railing to get another length of it... But it really wasn't that far of a jump, especially if Keith could hold the rope taut to keep them close.
The kid dutifully reeled in the fishing line, then stripped off his T-shirt so he could wipe the little platform with it.
"Shit -- I could've given you my shirt," Joel told him. "It's cold out here."
"It wasn't even that wet," Parker shrugged, tugging the shirt back over his head.
"Ellie, where's your gun?" asked Joel. "Can you put it in Parker's bag? We don't want it fallin' in the water."
She handed it to Parker, who was stuffing various other items in the bag as well. He looked at Joel and Keith. "Hey, what about the fish?"
"The fish?" Keith echoed.
"Yeah! We caught... uh... five? Yeah, five -- not counting the little one we threw back," Parker said proudly.
"You got 'em in the livewell still?" Keith asked.
"Yeah..."
"Toss 'em back."
"Whaaaat? No! Then it's like we did all this for nothing!"
...That sounds familiar...
Keith seemed mildly amused. "Well, what do you suggest, then, Skippy?"
Parker thought about it for a moment. "Leave them in there and come back for them tomorrow?"
"They'll be dead by then."
"Tonight, then! We can come right--"
"Gotta find that gas tank first. Or something similar."
Parker just really wasn't liking the prospect of discarding his prize catches. "Well -- okay -- like, what if I just toss them over to you guys and you put them in your--"
"Oh hell no," Keith replied before Joel could express that very sentiment. "We're not gonna wrestle your fish into-- just let them go. You can show 'em to us so we see what you got, okay? You can keep the bragging rights. Summer'n'me caught plenty for tonight so we don't even need 'em for dinner." Keith looked at the boy expectantly.
"Okay," Parker grumbled, his reluctance evident in his slouching posture and slow movements towards the livewell.
Ellie had finally roused herself to get up and go lean on the railing... bar... thing. Her hair was mostly freed of her ponytail, even more unkempt and windblown than usual. The white hoodie she was wearing had to be Parker's. Her legs were still bare (and not sunburned all to hell, miraculously). And that scowl on her face...
She just looks utterly miserable, poor thing. Joel tried not to show any amusement over her appearance. "You're lookin' a little green around the gills, kiddo."
She glared at him. "I don't have gills."
All right... since my attempt to conceal my amusement seems to have failed... "You don't even look happy to see us. Do you want to stay on this boat?"
Keith chuckled. "Not a bad idea, that. Firing your gun was very helpful. Not sure I'll be able to find this little boat again on my own. Might need to ask those army brats to help out -- they have a helicopter, you know."
Joel knew he was referring to the soldiers at the base with that term, although in olden times, it had referred to their children. As far as he knew, they didn't have any kids over there. Joel was pretty sure he had seen a compass or some kind of gauge like that on the console of the boat; Keith would probably have no problem finding the abandoned boat again, as long as he made note of their current heading. But that's no fun! "No need to bother them. Ellie can stay," Joel offered.
She scowled at each of them in turn and muttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" asked Joel.
"I said FUCK YOU GUYS," she replied, much louder this time.
"Is that any way to talk to your rescuers?" Joel chided her.
She rolled her eyes and turned to... go back to her seat, presumably... but Parker blocked her path. "Hey -- come on. Aren't you ready to get off this thing? You go first. I'll help--"
"I got it," said Ellie, waving him off. "Pretty sure I can handle taking one step up by myself."
"Wait," Joel stopped her. "Do you have life vests over there? Life jackets?"
"I dunno? I'll go look," Parker replied.
"What do we need those for?" Ellie asked dubiously. "We're not like... going in the water..."
"Ideally, no--"
"I might, though, huh." She surveyed the transfer situation. "How..."
"You just have to... jump a little. I can help you up."
"But you can't catch me... you want me to jump like... face first into the boat?"
Joel did wish Ellie's boat was just a little higher than barely above the sea... "Pretty much. I can grab you once you're over here an' help you climb over. But unless you've got a trampoline hidden over there..."
"Can't you just lean way over and pull me up, without me jumping?" she asked hopefully.
It was cute, the way she overestimated him sometimes. "You want me to topple us both into the water?"
"No!"
"Well then. It's easier if you jump." They might be able to devise some method wherein Keith held onto Joel while Joel stretched way the hell out there and pulled Ellie over... but he was confident she could make that little bitty jump. "You can do it. Parker will be there to help you back into the boat just in case, all right?" If I don't dive right in after you... no, DON'T DO THAT-- Ellie could swim now. It was more beneficial for him to remain on the big boat. He could wait for-- well, probably all of two seconds, and then if she didn't surface--
Parker handed Ellie a life vest. "Here. I only found one."
"I'll go rustle one up for you," Keith told Parker.
"I don't need--"
"It's just a precaution. Hang tight."
Joel surveyed the little boat again. "Parker, why don't you go to the other end... I'm afraid the boat might not take too kindly to Ellie standin' on its backside like that if you're there also."
"Great. So I might just... slide right off into the water?" Ellie finished buckling the third strap on her vest and eyed him warily.
"Just tryin' to make sure that don't happen."
Once Keith returned with a vest for Parker, Joel directed Ellie to step up onto the edge... but to hang on to that bar behind her until she was ready to go.
She looked up at Joel with those big green eyes of hers. "At least I can swim this time, right?" she quipped as she stepped onto the platform.
"That's right. This lil' jump is nothin' compared to that first dive you took." They had almost drowned, of course, but Joel had been impressed nonetheless; it took some balls to take a leap like that, even if it was prompted by fear of the alternative.
"Lemme help... I'll give you a little push," Parker teased.
"Nodon'tpushme!" she shrieked at him.
"Don't push her," Joel agreed. "Stay back for now, son."
She inched toward the edge. "So I just... slam into it?!"
"Basically. You can grab on where you can, an' I'm gonna grab hold of you as soon as you get close enough an' help you climb over, all right?" But she's still scared... And there was another way-- "How 'bout this: I know you're good with rope. We have a whole reel of it... if I tie it up real good an' toss the end to you, you can climb--"
"No no, that's silly... you're like right there. I should be able to..."
"Don't look down," he advised when he caught her doing it. "Forget there's water down there. Even if your jump ain't perfect, I will not let you fall in, all right?"
"Then why did you make me put this thing on, if you're so sure I won't end up in the water?!"
Keith chuckled at that. "It's a standard safety precaution."
"Ellie, you better hurry up," Parker urged... sounding worried.
"Um... why?"
Parker was looking out at the sea. "I'm not sure, but... I think maybe I just saw..."
"Saw what?!" She followed his gaze; Joel sneaked a glance, too, but didn't see anything alarming.
"It was a fin, I think..."
"A fin? You mean like a SHARK FIN?!"
"Or something else that has fins?"
"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck -- okay, I'm jumping! Readyyyyyy--"
She jumped!
She was able to reach the edge with her arms extended, and Joel immediately grabbed her wrists to prevent her from slipping, shifting his grip down her arms to help her climb up. "Good -- I got you -- just grab the railing..." With his firm grip on her, she could use her feet and sort of walk up the side. Once she was able to close her fists around the chrome railing, she didn't need his assistance to climb up and over.
"I did it!" she laughed in relief.
Joel engulfed her in his arms before she even cleared the railing. "You sure did. Are you all right?"
"Yeah--" She broke away from him and turned back to her friend. "Parker! Parker, your turn! You have to--" She stopped short when she saw the look on his face. "There's no shark, is there! ...Motherfucker!"
Keith and Parker roared with laughter (and Joel couldn't help chuckling a little himself).
"It would've taken you another ten minutes to jump, otherwise!" was Parker's justification.
"No it wouldn't! I was just about to jump anyways! Fuck -- let's just go. Let's leave him out here!" Ellie glowered at the boy. "Maybe a real shark will come along and eat you! That'll teach you... it'll be like the boy who cried wolf!" Sophie had shared that fable with Ellie on their trip to California.
"Huh?" Parker was clearly not familiar with it.
"And you're lucky I didn't shit my pants!" she scolded him.
Parker was unfazed by her outrage, calmly tossing things up to Keith that he didn't want to leave behind.
Joel reeled her back in and hugged her from behind, dropping a kiss on the side of her head. "Calm down, kiddo. He was just helpin' you out."
"Pfff. Yeah right. More like he was just laughing at me. You guys all laughed at me for being so stupid."
She could be really sensitive about that; Joel supposed everyone could, at times. "Not stupid -- you had a natural reaction to thinkin' you might get eaten by a shark. Come sit with me." Parker had half a dozen inches on Ellie; he was already clambering up over the railing, with very little help from Keith, so Joel was free to focus on her. This boat may have been bigger than the Sweet Caroline, but it also had limited seating, so Joel settled Ellie on his lap (and, well, he reckoned her legs must be freezing, in those shorts).
"It's fucking cold out here," she grumbled. "And I don't feel good. So if you could wait 'til tomorrow to yell at me, I'd appreciate it."
"All right. Tomorrow it is." At least she don't seem to mind sitting like this... He draped his free arm over her legs as best he could. He was wearing short sleeves now himself, but his skin was generally warmer than hers to the touch.
She tucked her head into his neck. "You're supposed to tell me you're not gonna yell at me at all," she informed him.
"I am? Shit, I messed that up," he said lightly.
"You can still say it. It's not too late."
Joel chuckled. "Yes it is. I already told you it would be tomorrow. Don't make me go back on my word."
"What if I still feel shitty tomorrow?"
"...Tell you what. You tell me when you're ready to get yelled at, an' I'll start yellin'."
A little giggle. "Deal."
Keith and Parker had disappeared from Joel's view, now that he and Ellie were on the other side of the cabin. "Keith! Anythin' I can do?" Joel called to him, fully expecting the other man to--
"Nope! We'll be ready to leave in a few, just sit tight!"
--not need him for anything. "All right!"
Ellie snorted. "I'm not letting you get up anyway. I'm finally warm for the first time in hours."
He gave her a squeeze. "Shoulda worn your jeans. And brought your jacket -- you're lucky Parker was a gentleman an' gave you--"
"You said no yelling 'til I was ready!" she admonished him.
"You consider that yellin'? That was a... observation."
"It was yelling. I could hear it in your voice."
He didn't think his voice had sounded even mildly reproachful, actually. "What are you afraid I'm gonna yell at you about anyhow?" Joel was pretty sure she already knew -- or thought she knew -- everything he might possibly be upset about, so there was probably no need to lecture her on it. "Do I even seem one lil' tiny bit mad at you?" I got that out of my system while I was waiting for the damn boat for so long...
"No," she admitted. "But that's only cuz you're happy you found me. Once that wears off..."
"I'll be mad as hell. Sure. An' you know it's real easy for me to stay mad at you," he teased. Joel couldn't think of an instance where he'd stayed angry with her for any decent length of time -- certainly not overnight.
He could feel her smiling into his neck. "Real easy. Fuck, I'm in big trouble now!"
~Continue to Chapter 5~