crossed paths | the last of us

𝔁𝓿 ; 𝓽𝓵𝓸𝓾, 𝓬𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓹𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓼

- 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 -

DAWN HAD COME AND JOEL WAS AWAKE with the sun. He hadn't much time to think, nor did he need it when he packed a bag and planned to steal a horse. As he sat at the edge of the bed, his neck craned back, staring at Noor's sleeping body with her back turned to him.

His fingers pulled the covers further up her body, covering the parts of her she failed to keep warm herself.
If he could, he'd simply stare at the way her hair scattered across the pillow and mattress and how her fingers curled when she let her arm dangle from the bed. There was something so refreshing in watching her sleep that Joel didn't want to wake her. He'd spent everyday with her, watching her struggle to stay awake and not being able to do anything about it. The entire night, he didn't hear a single mumble or incoherent sentence leave her lips, signalling to him that her mind was finally resting.

There was still curiosity lingering around Joel from last night; why had she been crying? Even as he tried to come up with an answer, he couldn't think of what could've made her, but beat himself up for not asking and trusting her when she told him not to worry. How could he not ask, but also how could he? He didn't know how.

Towering over her sleeping state, Joel found himself carefully pushing a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, feeling it glide against his calloused skin like pure silk and honey. And he quietly left when she began to stir in her sleep.

And as Noor turned to the other side, her arm outstretched and was met with a cold and empty side. Her fingers were hoping to find him but he wasn't there and she slowly opened her eyes, hoping to maybe see him sat up on the edge of the bed, but only saw the sun coming up. She rolled on her back, sitting up carefully and getting out of the bed as she rubbed her eyes. And then it dawned on her.

"Ellie."

She breathed out the girl's name like the promise she made last night and pulled on her sweater and boots as quick as she could, zipping up her jacket and running down the stairs when she found her bedroom empty.
Walking outside, Jackson was still asleep and her first thought were the stables. Tommy would surely need a horse to get her to the Fireflies, he wouldn't just walk.

Crunching the snow beneath her feet and pushing her arms by her sides, Noor ran to the stables and prayed her suspicion was right. Passing by the sleeping sheep and chickens, she entered the stables and saw a missing horse. Quiet chatter coming from the other side made her ears perk up and follow it. Her eyes softened at the sight of Ellie still there, up on a horse as she pet it gently.

Joel was standing with Tommy, and in that moment her heart had never felt fuller. Seeing him there, not allowing the world to beat him up and make him live inside himself, only made her heartstrings pull towards him.

Ellie's brown eyes caught Noor in her peripheral vision, turning to look at the woman who's breaths were ragged and barely caught up with her.

"Noor!" Ellie stammered off the horse, jumping off of it and nearly crashing into Joel's back.

"Hey," Noor smiled at the girl, "I'm sorry I'm late. Slept in."

"That's a first," Ellie commented, "You don't look like you've been run down by mules."

"Watch it," Noor spat back, walking up to Tommy and Joel.

Tommy had already packed a bag and Noor assumed he brought Ellie to the stables. She couldn't fathom the disappointment Ellie must've felt when she saw Tommy standing in her doorway, but it couldn't match with the way she was smiling and it was because of Joel. It was because Joel showed up and would be taking her.