AN: Okay so here is my next Chapter for Leave. A few people showed interest, so they inspired me to write another Chapter =) I had to play the game for a while to get this kicking around in my head. It was a little difficult to capture the style of what I was going for.. I don't know if it did come across at all but hopefully it's just drama and cute events =) Like I said.. still aimless with this one. I'm honestly not sure where to head with the story.. I guess I'll just keep writing =)

I'm officially turning this into an in-progress story now 'cause I'm tired of writing random little sequences and not a true story. Let's face it.. I love The Last of Us and this section needs more attention.. especially the romance section =) So I'll write between my WD and TLoU stories so I don't get tired of either =) Also.. I challenge my readers, any or all, to do a romance story =P I can't be the only one out here.. we're all looking for that so why not write it so it's out there.. So.. ? =)

– – Page Break – –

'You handled that well..'

'Ellie, just.. don't start..'

She snorted at that 'Fine,' she hopped down from her perch on the counter and made for the doorway 'I'll just hang out with your girlfriend!' she announced as she exited through the door to the outside. Not bothering to give Joel a chance to retort.

He watched her leave and stared at the doorway for a few minutes after she left. Various thoughts crossed his mind before he mumbled something to himself as he ran his palms over his face and leaned on the counter.

He really needed to think about things.

– Outside Barn –

You couldn't believe what he'd just said. Sure, Joel had a tendency to say things that didn't come out right, but that?! You were livid.

The horses must have picked up on it as you walked by. They shied away from the fence as you walked toward the gates, whinnying at the upset energy you were projecting.

You huffed out a breathe and watched as it crystallized in the frigid air before closing your eyes a moment and calming yourself.

'I'm sorry guys..' you muttered, opening your eyes and picking up two halters at the edge of the gate.

You swung open the rusty gate and cringed at the metal shriek it let loose.

'Really should look at fixing that thing..' you whispered as you zipped up the front of your leather jacket and pulled a pair of warm gloves out of your pockets.

You headed out across the field to the two horses at the back of the paddock. They looked sturdy enough to handle this weather.

'Hi there, boy..' you cooed as you offered him a piece of carrot with your palm flat. The tickling of his lips on your hand made you laugh as he ate the food off your thin glove.

You slipped the halter on his head and buckled it up before turning around and fastening the halter on the others head. You gathered both ropes in your hand and trekked back across the open field toward the gate.

You rounded the corner into the barn where the tack was when the door to the outside opened up and the small girl who was traveling with Joel came out.

She waved to get your attention once she scanned the area and spotted you 'Hey! You need any help?'

You smiled back at her and nodded 'Yeah, sure.' you reached over with your left hand and picked up the rope of the smaller of the two horses and held your hand out to her 'You know how to tack a horse up?'

'Yeah. Believe it or not I actually do,' she reminisced with a small smile 'Had lessons back where I came from.' she took the rope and traded hands so she could offer her other gloved hand to you 'I'm Ellie.'

You took her hand and shook it 'Cale.'

'Nice to meet you.' she replied with a warm smile.

You both walked into the barn and tied your horses to their respective sides and went to work on brushing them. It wasn't very long before Ellie started in on the questions.

'So, .. did you used to date Joel? Wait, that's stupid.. you obviously did if you were engaged to him.' she offered you a rueful smile before she quickly asked another one 'What went wrong?' she moved to stand on the stool and peered over at you as she tugged the saddle from the shelf onto the back of the horse standing patiently.

'Uh.. ' you eased the brush along the horses back as you spoke 'we just never got around to getting down the aisle..'

'The outbreak?' she asked curiously.

You nodded 'Yeah. That stopped a lot of things, other stuff took priority.'

'Like surviving, of course.. so did you loose Joel while you were escaping or something?'

'No..' you shook your head 'I managed to stick around with him for a while in the city. He was pretty lost for a while..' you walked around the back of the horse to the other side 'He worked odd jobs, little construction things to help barricade places from all the danger outside..'

You bit the inside of your lip at the next thought 'He started working smuggling jobs pretty quick after that.. the money was better, but the risk was worse.. he met some pretty brutal people there.. others were.. I.. don't know..' you drifted off a little at the memory of those times.

Ellie must have seen the uncomfortable look that crossed your face, she quickly changed the subject.

'Did Joel ever smile? Or was that something else that was lost after the infected showed up?'

You actually barked out a laugh at that 'No, Joel still smiles when something means enough to him.. don't get your hopes up though..' you shot her a playful smile 'it doesn't happen often..'

Ellie laughed too as she started finger combing out knots in the mane of her horse 'So, did you ever meet Tess?' she asked with mild curiosity.

'Oh – I.. uh..' you were about to say something when the door from the house opened. Your head swung around to watch as Joel edged down the steps to where you were talking. Your gaze shifted to the ground and you avoided eye contact with him as he made his way into the room.

It stayed silent after that. Dead silent.

'Ellie, can you give us a minute?' he asked her roughly after giving it a few moments. You could tell by the tone of voice he was using that he was deeply upset.

'Yeeahh..' she drawled as she looked between you and Joel a few times before stepping down from the stool and giving him a questioning look as she passed by him. She looked back at you and smiled as she departed. You returned the gesture and returned to your work tightening up the cinch on the saddle.

He dared to move a bit closer to you but stopped once he heard a low growling emitting from the floor inside one of the stalls. Apparently your dog didn't want him here either.

You looked up upon hearing the noise yourself and saw his nervous look at the medium sized canine with it's tail thumping heavily on the ground as it watched Joel with a predatory glare.

'Don't worry, he won't hurt you..' you offered with a nod in the direction of the animal for reassurance.

'How can you be sure?' he asked while gently making his way past with soft footsteps so as to not further agitate the floor dweller.

You raised an eyebrow and looked at him seriously 'I wouldn't hurt you?' you replied with mock question.

He laughed and leaned against the stall door next to you and crossed his arms 'You sure about that?'

You couldn't help the smile that appeared on your face. He seemed to notice and took advantage of that to get you talking 'When did you get a dog?'

You knew what he was trying to do 'When you weren't here..'

He sighed at that and came to your side of the horse. You'd made him loose whatever conversational momentum he thought he'd had.

'Can we.. talk about what just happened?' he asked carefully as he scanned your features.

'Sometimes his feet get away from him, but he's a solid boy..' you ignored the question as you rounded under the horses neck to the other side of the room to grab the bridle from the hook. You came up to his head again to untie the halter and replaced it with the bridle.

You eased the bit softly into the horses mouth and let him adjust to the cool metal. Tightening the straps to secure it to his head you pulled the forelock of air out from underneath the headband and smoothed it 'Don't pull on his mouth, he responds to gentle cues..' you stroked the horses neck gently a few times. You decided it was best to leave now.

'You know how to saddle up, you can finish with the other one..' you gave the cinch on your side one final tug to make sure it was secure before turning around to make your exit. You barely had time to react before his hands were on yours pulling you to the side.

'Stop, stop..' he soothed gently when you pulled against his grip in an effort to be released. The action reminded you of the night of the outbreak. You'd been scared and he'd held your hand in an attempt to comfort you in what little ways he could. You didn't like that feeling.. the affection that was overwhelming the hate that you wanted to feel right now.

'Joel.. don't..' you warned as you fought a little harder, still not looking him in the eyes.

'Talk to me?' he asked again. You shook your head 'Look at me?' you inclined your head with a sniff and looked him in the eyes.

'What is it that I did?'

You choked on a sob you hadn't realized had been building up. It took you a while to move past the lump in your throat to yell at him.

'I loved you! I didn't want you to leave!'

That did it, you were full blown crying now.

The hot tears flowing down your face only served as a invitation for more sobs to wrack your body as you shook violently. Partially from the cold, partly from all the tension leaving you at that moment.

'I know w-when you're pushed.. you'll do things you didn't.. didn't think you could, but I didn't know that.. included abandoning me by myself.. all alone out here!' you drew a shaky breath 'You're a JERK!'

He didn't let go of your hands as you started pulling against it again with more and more fight every-time 'Okay, I get that and I deserve that. You have to understand.. I thought it would be best for you if you stayed out here away from the city. I couldn't put you in that situation!' he argued back.

'So you put me in the only other alternative?' you asked sarcastically 'Tell me Joel.. who was it supposed to be easier for? Me or you?'

You took his unresponsiveness as his answer. It was definitely for him. Selfish bastard.

'It was a horrible thing to do, and you know it..' you stated after he'd been quiet for a while.

'I know..' he muttered apologetically.

Your face crumpled and you tried desperately to choke back the tears. It had been so long since you'd seen him. You'd never even gotten the chance before to tell him how all this made you feel. You figured since most of it had found it's way out already there was no harm in telling him the rest.

'I.. love you..' you sobbed out.

He looked up.

You saw something in his eyes that indistinctly flash some type of emotion. It spurred a feeling on your part as well '..then you went and did that..' you sobbed again in obvious reference to his departure.

He shifted uneasily on his foot before taking a firm grasp on your hands 'I'm sorry..' he tried quietly.

'I don't care..' you sniffled back.

'I'm so, so.. sorry..' his voice shook with a rough edge this time at your indifference as he drew you closer.

'You can apologize all you want for it..' shaking your head with a shrug you huffed out a breath.

'Is there any type of explanation I could offer that you would believe?'

You looked off past his shoulder at the wall of the barn for a few seconds while you thought through his question. You settled on one.

'Why are you here, Joel?' you asked as you let your gaze drift back to his.

'Why did you come to find me after all this time?' you made a noise of disdain as you kept your focus on him 'You obviously need something. So what is it Joel? You don't really spend much time with people unless they have something to offer, do you?'

He shifted a little uneasily as he carefully considered his next statement 'Well.. if you're looking for honesty I do need your help..'

Your heart sunk a little at his words. It was stupid to think he came back here to continue what he'd started all those years ago. You gave him some credit for being honest though.

'Okay.. what kind of help?'

'I need to get Ellie to the Fireflies and I have no idea where they are.. I need to talk to Tommy..'

You inclined your head toward him curiously 'The Fireflies?' you sputtered out a laugh 'Joel, do you know how hard it'll be to find those guys?' You shook your head and smiled at him 'You're insane..' you shrugged again and pulled your hands from his grip and moved to get past him.

His hand shot out to grab your wrist harshly and tug you extremely violently to your previous position, your back collided with the wood of the stall door powerfully. You leaned back at little over the top at his intensity in an effort to put a little space between you and him.

No one did intense like Joel did.

'I need to get that little girl to the Fireflies..' he started again, a little bit of the harsh edge to his voice still audible 'Now I need to find Tommy to do that, ' He seemed to take note of your frightened posture and backed off a little 'you know these woods better than anyone.. you grew up here.. I know you could help me find him..'

Joel normally never sounded this desperate about anything.

You considered his request carefully, it wasn't very often he engaged other people in helping him.

'Okay..' you sighed 'I'll come with you..'

He seemed a bit thrown off guard as you backed down from your previous vehemency.

'Okay?' he responded in disbelief.

You let out a small amount of air escape in frustration at having to say it again 'Yes.'

You didn't know if it was a little slip up due to the fact that you hadn't seen each other in a while or whether he consciously did it but in his excitement he landed a kiss on your lips affectionately before you were fully aware of what was happening.

You closed your eyes and let the few moments pass as you soaked in the moment. You doubted this would happen again and you wanted it to last.

You tried to be careful about letting the noise of protest leave your throat when he pulled his lips a thin distance from yours.

You decided to cover it up as best you could.

'Please tell me we're not kissing and making up?' you laughed

He laughed softly and placed several soft kisses against your neck slowly moving down to your throat as he threaded his free hand into the loose hair gathered softly at your neck to lift it away. His mouth was starting to do amazing things there when the door behind him to the right flew open and startled him into backing up and away from you suddenly.

'JOEL THE HORSE ACTUALLY – '

His head went down to examine something invisible, but oh-so-interesting on the floor. His hand sifted through his hair nervously. You fumbled with the two edges of the coat, fidgeted with the zipper and pulled it back up successfully and turned to face the intruder.

Ellie's gaze shifted between you and Joel and few times before she finally figured it out 'Oh.. oh-h did I interruptsomething?' Ellie teased as she took in the scene in front of her, casually making her way over to Joel's side.

'Uh.. I uh – no.. Not at all..' you looked at Joel and when you saw he wasn't making eye contact with anyone but the floor, you tried to think of a quick way to get yourself out of this situation.

'I'll uh.. catch another horse and – ' you tripped over a bale of hay on the ground as you tilted backward in your clumsy attempt at a quick exit. You steadied yourself and felt your face flush as you decided to just turn around and leave, taking another halter with you.

Silence filled the empty space as Joel still refused to acknowledge Ellie's presence in the room. She decided she could have some fun with this. There was so little entertainment elsewhere.

'Wow..' she observed as she went around to the other side of the horse to finish tacking up 'you must have done something right to have her that distracted..' as she shot him an amused look, safely putting the horse between her and Joel should he have decided to lunge at her.

'So, I take it she's coming with us?' Ellie decided to change the conversation for his comfort.

'Yeah..' he shuffled his boot along the ground before making his way over to the other horse 'She's gonna' help us find Tommy..'

'Nice..' Ellie nodded in response as he came closer 'Oh, Joel?' she let a small smile play at her features.

'Mm?' he shifted his head in her direction.

'Keep it in your pants.'

– – Page Break – –

AN: Okay, hopefully it was as good as my other stuff =) I liked the ideas I came up with.. o.O I KNOW, I KNOW.. I'm using the same name for both my Characters in my WD and TLoU stories but I really like that name. I know, I know again.. I have a problem with random sequences of romance.. they just.. happen =) I wanted to do a whole sequence there but then I realized Ellie was outside and that would just be.. not okay. So hopefully since this has turned into a story the opportunity for that will happen somewhere down the writing line. Trust me, I have so many ideas for this series. The idea's are endless.. if that's what people want I can start a random one shot category just purely for that and make this more of a unrequited love/ adventure thing? Leave all the smut for a separate story, like what I did with Interruption?