Secrets And Hope {The Last Of Us Fanfiction}

VII

By the time the sun was setting, the sky burned a warm mix of red and orange bringing another day to an end. After an afternoon of fishing, Nora and Joel made their way through the town back to the house. Nora held on to a bag filled with their successful catches while Joel carried the fishing rods. A few glances were exchanged causing Nora to smirk. A smile found its way across Joel's face as he moved closer to Nora nudging her shoulder.

"Knock it off!"

"What?"

Nora faked an innocent smile and continued walking as she looked back to Joel. When they finally arrived back at the house, both looked around for any sign of Ellie. Joel scratched his neck before stepping onto the porch and calling for Ellie.

"Ellie? You here?"

"Yeah!"

Joel stepped back at the sound of her voice, it sounded distant but close. Nora and Joel both looked up to the roof as Ellie appeared from behind the chimney.

"Ellie, why are you on the roof?"

"No one bothers me when I read up here."

Joel shook his head and let out a deep sigh before glancing back to the roof.

"Well get down from there, it's almost dark out."

Ellie didn't answer as she disappeared again. Joel waited until she was safely back on the ground again as she walked to meet them from behind the house. For a moment she paused when she saw Joel, narrowing her eyes at him before looking to Nora for some kind of explanation.

"Uh...Joel why are you all wet?"

Nora smirked again causing Joel to groan. She held back a laugh as she looked at Ellie.

"Well while we were fishing, Joel here decided to go for a swim. Ain't that right Joel?"

"No."

Ellie screwed her face up in confusion, Nora laughed as she nudged Joel causing a slight smile to appear on his face.

"He caught a bite and was tryin' to reel it in, but tripped on a rock and fell in the river instead."

Ellie smirked along with Nora as they both glanced at Joel stood silently with water dripping from his hair that hung in his face.

"Nice going Joel."

"Alright that's enough you two, come on this ain't gonna cook itself."

"Tell ya what, why don't you change into some dry clothes and Ellie and I will take care of the food."

Joel's only answer was a mumbled grunt as he disappeared into the house. Ellie and Nora both smirked at one another before following him inside.

Later in the night Joel finished cleaning the dishes and placed them by the sink to dry. He glanced out the window and smiled slightly at Nora and Ellie sat by a warm campfire in the back garden. Stepping outside to join them, he noticed Ellie picking at the strings of his guitar while Nora sat listening. When she finished Ellie placed the guitar gently on the floor and looked back to Nora.

"That was really good Ellie, you been playing long?"

"Just a couple of months. Joel's been teaching me."

"Not bad kiddo, you're getting pretty good."

Joel sat by the fire, instantly feeling it's radiating heat against his face. Nora smiled down at Ellie and noticed her looking at the guitar placed on the ground, she quickly picked it up and handed it Nora.

"Why don't you try Nora, I bet you're better than me anyway."

"Oh no I can't play. Never had the time to learn. But nothin's stopping Joel from playing somethin' for you."

Joel scoffed as he sent Nora a glare.

"I don't think so."

"Oh come on Joel you promised!"

"Nora promised, I didn't agree to nothin'!"

"Please Joel."

Joel looked at Ellie as she beamed with a smile of excitement. Letting out a deep sigh, he knew he was fighting a losing battle as he took the guitar from her grip.

"Alright, you win. Now I haven't played for a while, so here's somethin' Nora might remember."

Ellie smiled and went to sit beside Nora as they cuddled up against the fire's warmth. Joel tested the strings before he began to play the melody.

"Sometimes it feels like I'm so far away.

Like everything I love has lost its place.

When life gets the best of me,

I just close my eyes and see...

Fireflies dancing in the yard

Under a blanket of stars

The sound of that rusty string guitar

Playin' songs we know.

And all that I have to do,

Is think one little thought of you,

And I'm back home

I'm right back home."

As Joel continued to sing Nora joined in on the chorus, their voices harmonizing together as they sang. When he finished playing he placed the guitar down beside him, silence fell over the three as the sound of the crackling fire hung in the air along with the floating smoke. Joel's eyes met Nora's as a small smile appeared across her face. She looked down to Ellie and chuckled quietly to herself when she noticed that Ellie had fallen asleep in her arms.

"I think someone is ready for bed."

Nora glanced back to Joel as he rose to his feet and took Ellie from her, gently lifting her into his arms. He turned back to Nora as she put out the fire before following him inside. He carried Ellie to bed as he draped the blanket across to protect her from the autumn cold then switched off the light and softly closed the door behind him.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught Joel's attention as Nora appeared from the stairs.

"Hey, is Ellie okay?"

"Yeah, out like a light. I'm gonna call it a night too."

Nora nodded and averted her eyes to the floor as Joel headed for the stairs. Taking a deep breath she quickly looked back stopping Joel in his tracks.

"Joel?"

"Yeah?"

Nora hesitated for a moment, carefully considering her words before she said them. She met Joel's eyes with her own as a warm smile played on her lips.

"You're a good father Joel, Ellie's lucky to have someone like you in her life."

Joel couldn't stop his smile. They both knew Ellie wasn't his daughter by blood from all the conversations they'd had throughout the months they'd spent together, but Nora's words still meant a lot to him.

"Thank you, you know I reckon Ellie really cares about you. She looks up to you."

"Yeah, she's a good kid."

Joel smiled as they both fell silent, he rubbed his chin and cleared his throat before turning back towards the stairs.

"Well we'd better get some sleep. Night Nora."

"Night Joel."

Nora headed to her room as Joel went downstairs. When he was gone she paused as she opened the bedroom door, she looked back to the stairs and sighed deeply. And in that moment she was beginning to think that maybe Tommy was right.