Why Joel?

AN- Okay, so I know a lot of you guys are deeply in love with The Last of Us. Otherwise, why would you be here? Anyway, I know I wasn't the only one who was seriously scared by the almost-rape scene. This is how I thought it was afterwards between Joel and Ellie. I hope no one is offended by this because I meant no harm. Please, if you are offended, take my sincerest apologies. Thank you for reading. Enjoy.

All she could think about was swinging that machete into his skull. David was lying limp on the ground; his eyes that were once full of anger and lust were now cloudy and dead. She thought of stopping, but the cold breeze that was now seeping into her opened zipper kept her going. How was she supposed to just let it go? She was fourteen and he had just tried to rape her!

"Ellie!" A voice called but she shrugged it off, still crashing the blade into David's broken skull. "Ellie!"

"Fuck! You!" She cried, putting her entire body into each swing. "Fuck! You!"

"Ellie!" She heard as two strong arms circled around her, pulling her away from David's dead body. She tensed, thinking it was one of the random goons from around the building, swooping in to finish what their leader had started. "Ellie!"

"Don't fucking touch me!" She bellowed somewhat hysterically, trying to scramble away from her captor. "No-"

"Ellie! It's me! Stop!" Joel soothed, trying desperately to get her to look at him. He gently moved her head so she could see it was him. His warm brown eyes searched out her emeralds, filling with concern at the sight of her fear. "It's me… It's me."

"He tried to-" Ellie sobbed, collapsing into his arms and burying herself into his chest. He simply clutched her protectively, thinking back to how he'd be if Sarah had been upset.

"But this is different." A voice rang from inside his head that sounded suspiciously like his late wife. "Sarah was never almost raped. Ellie was."

"Oh, baby girl…" He whispered softly, smoothing her dark auburn hair with one hand while rocking her gently with the other. All the while trying to figure out whether she was hurt. No way did he want to give her any more pain that she'd already put up with. "It's okay… It's okay…"

"Joel…" She whimpered, letting go of his shirt and reaching down to yank up her zipper. Joel didn't miss her movements because his brow furrowed and he gently pushed her away, cupping her face in his large, scarred hands. "Why Joel?"

"I don't know, honey." He muttered as he wiped away her tears and took in the extent of her injuries. Her face was bloody and scarred, her hair was tangled and her jacket was hanging off her shoulder as if it had been roughly pulled off. "What I do know is that we're gonna get you back to camp, get you cleaned up and then you're gon' get some sleep. Okay?"

"Okay…" She sniffed, obviously trying to not break down into tears.

"Then, we're gon' set off again tomorrow and find somewhere that's a little bit more stable." Joel continued, staring directly into her sparkling emerald orbs. "We'll set off again once you're a bit more… well, once you're okay to go out on the road."

"Yeah…" Ellie gulped as she nodded her head. Joel chucked her under the chin and helped her up, guiding her towards the door protectively. Little did he know a lot more than Ellie's childlike innocence was left behind.

An Hour Later

"Here…" He said softly, setting the bowl in front of her. She didn't acknowledge his presence and simply sniffed from her position laying on the floor, facing the wall.

"I'm not hungry." She replied shortly, the only movement she made was the slight twitch of her bicep as she adjusted her body.

"Ellie…" Joel groaned, scrubbing his hand over his stubble. "Ellie you have to eat."

She sat up and stared at him through red rimmed eyes. Obviously she had been crying, possibly since they had returned.

Then she picked up a small piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth, swallowing it after just a few chews.

"Happy?" She growled, pushing the bowl away with her foot and laying back down. Joel rumbled as he picked up the discarded Tupperware.

"We need to talk about this, El." He sighed as he deposited the bowl to the side and perched himself on the edge of the couch she was sleeping.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"You know there is."

"Just… leave me the fuck alone Joel!" Ellie cried, finally losing her temper. "There's a guitar somewhere around here! Why don't you go dick around with that and leave me in peace?"

When he didn't budge from his spot next to her, she became even more angered.

"What do you want me to say?!" She cried, allowing herself to show her emotions once more. "D'you want me to be all happy? Do you want me to say 'Oh, hey! I almost had my virginity taken by some fucking creeper, but it's all okay! He's dead now! I killed him!' Well, do you?"

"You know I don't want that, Ellie." Joel groaned and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "But you need to talk about it."

"Talk about what, Joel?" Ellie sighed in a tired voice, looking at him through weary eyes. Then, almost as if a switch had been flipped in her brain, she burst into tears.

"Hey, it's okay…" He sighed, bringing her into a tight hug and running his hand over her back. "This is what you need, El. You need to let it out every once in a while…"

She simply held onto him tighter, letting out all of her emotions that had been pent up over years and years of survival. Eventually, her wracking sobs turned into hiccoughs and she loosened her grip on his shirt but didn't move, obviously comfortable in the fatherly embrace.

"I-I'm sorry…" She choked eventually, still sniffing but not bothering to wipe her eyes.

Joel's eyebrows retreated into his hairline and he looked down to the young girl in surprise.

"What in the hell for?!" He asked in surprise, his voice rising in pitch with every word. He felt Ellie let out a wet chuckle.

"If I hadn't have ran off, nothing would've happened." She whimpered, adjusting her legs and barely moving her head from his shoulder. He took a deep breath and patted her back assuringly.

"Now, I won't have you talkin' like that." He said firmly, moving her head away from his shoulder so he could look into her eyes. "Nothin' was your fault. Now, it's been a long day. Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"Okay…" She huffed, laying down and never taking her eyes off her guardian. "Joel…" She said softly, seeing him make as if to get up.

"What is it?" He asked tiredly, looking back at her.

Ellie gulped quietly before saying what she wanted.

"Will you stay with me?" She asked, feeling awkward as soon as the words left her mouth. Quickly, she tried to explain herself. "It's just, I tried to sleep earlier and… I slept next to you for so long that…"

Joel didn't answer, he just lowered himself back down and wrapped his arm around her protectively. Ellie clutched his shirt in her hand and rested her head on his arm.

"Thanks." She sighed, smiling into the fatherly embrace. "I just-"

"It's okay…" He chuckled. "You don't need to explain."

He felt her relax and noted how her breathing evened out. He knew he wasn't her father, but it felt good to know that he kept the nightmares away for even a short while, especially after what she'd been through.

"Night baby girl…" He muttered, kissing her forehead lightly before drifting off to sleep himself.

Thank's for reading. Please leave a review saying what you do/don't like? It makes a day so much better to know that people are actually reading my stories. See you guys