Look For The Light

Life in Boston

Please see the Notes for this story. I love THE LAST OF US show and the video game! So here's my What-If fiction. I want Ellie and Joel to be happy, damnit! As always, I OWN NOTHING! This is just for fun!
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Jack always believed Ellie took sick enjoyment out of waking him up in the most random of ways. Sometimes a pillow knocked him in the face or he felt her body slam on top of his. The most annoying prank was waking up to her laying next to him staring at him with a creepy grin like a psycho. Ellie liked to think of herself as a jokester, but to Jack she was just his annoying sister. To his joy, he woke up first this time and was able to dodge her plotting. He stretched and looked down from his place on their bunk bed. Ellie was still lightly snoring while hugging her pillow. As quietly as he could, he climbed down the bunk and headed to the kitchen checking the bedroom clock on his way out. If Mom and Dad don't get up soon, they'll be late for work. He thought. He looked to his parents room and saw that the door was closed. That usually meant they were still asleep or enjoying some "quiet time" as his dad elegantly put it. Jack gagged at the thought of his parents fucking.

He walked to his parents' door and knocked loudly. "Alarm! Alarm! You'll be late for work!

He heard a grumble from the other side and recognized his dad's grouchy rumble. He also heard his mom's giggle as she called to him. "We'll be out in a minute."

He quickly marched back to the kitchen as soon as he heard the bed creak. "Gross!" he muttered.

"What's gross?" Ellie popped her head out of their room.

"Mom and Dad having a morning fuck."

"Eww!" She covered her ears. "What would you tell me that?!"

"Why were you asking?!" he threw his hands in the air.

The pair continued to banter as they got breakfast together while Joel and Tess got ready to greet their rowdy kids. Jack wasn't wrong. When Joel heard his son's knock, he was steadily thrusting into his woman while Tess stifled her moans by biting into his shoulder. The parents chuckled as they heard their kids argue, as usual, and continued until they climaxed together. Still laughing at the ridiculousness of it all they jumped in the shower together for a quick 5 minute cold rinse. After throwing some clothes on, they joined their kids in the kitchen for what little they had for breakfast. It looked like it was the last of the eggs they smuggled from Bill and Frank's town and a couple of MREs.

Joel observed his family while nursing a bland cup of coffee. He thought about the day the midwife came back with paperwork to register their son. It wasn't difficult to bribe her to say that there were twins and the second just happened to come when she had already left. They knew FEDRA wouldn't investigate further and Ellie was easy to pass off as Tess' child. She had fair skin and a dash of freckles around her nose with reddish brown hair. She even mimicked Tess' sarcasm and no bullshit attitude. She loved to pull pranks, joke, and explore. He was so thankful they decided to keep her with their family. Jack, on the other hand, resembled Joel more with darker skin and jet black hair. He even took on his father's reserved behavior, rarely saying anything unless he was talking to someone he trusted. Jack wasn't always that quiet. There was a time where he was such a chatterbox who said 'hello' to everyone they passed by. However, The Fireflies changed that. Joel and Tess left for another job and trusted a neighbor to watch over the kids while they were gone. They had done this before without any problems especially if the job only took a couple of hours. A FEDRA official came to the kids' school to observe how funds were being used when a car bomb went off on the street. The FEDRA official died but the collateral damage touched many. Half the class was heavily injured and a couple of students died. Poor Jack lost hearing in his left ear while Ellie developed a scar over her right eyebrow and had a broken arm. The guilt he felt at not being there for his kids broke Joel's heart. Seeing his son in a rundown hospital bed and being told someday he would completely lose his hearing, crushed Joel making him feel like a failure. How was his son supposed to survive this world if he couldn't hear? Tess shot that thinking down quickly assuring Joel that Jack could survive just like any other child. Joel lost his hearing in his right ear so there was no reason Jack couldn't learn to live with it as he did. He just needed them to be strong and give him the tools he needed. It was fortunate that Frank found materials to teach them ASL so Jack wouldn't feel like he couldn't communicate even when the day came that he lost his hearing completely. Tess and Joel felt so guilty for not being there and it took time to make peace with the fact that it was beyond their control and that they needed to teach the kids how to protect themselves sooner rather than later.