Always & Forever (A 'The Last Of Us' Fanfic)

Chapter 9

Joel and Tommy pulled up into the station's parking lot.

"Look! It's their car. They're here," Tommy said.

Joel suddenly felt his nerves begin to sink in.

"What if she ignores me?" Joel asked.

"She can't ignore you if there's people around. Now come on. Quit being such a wimp," Tommy said stepping out of the truck.

Joel reluctantly stepped out and followed Tommy to the entrance of the news station. Tommy walked in before Joel and right when Joel made it through the door, his eyes scoured the place for Beth. There were large groups of people that were chatting it up. To Joel, it seemed as if they were all celebrating something. Maybe Mr. Logan had gotten a promotion. He was the town's best meteorologist so it wouldn't be all that surprising to him.

As Don was talking to one of the news reporters, he spotted Joel looking around the place.

"Will you excuse me, Richard?" he said.

He walked over to Joel.

"Mr. Miller. What are you doing here?" he asked once he reached him.

"Mr. Logan...I uh..." Joel started.

"You're looking for Beth?" Don assumed.

"Yes, sir. Is she here? I don't see her," he said.

Don looked around.

"She was here. But she may have stepped out. Everyone kind of overwhelmed her," Don said.

"Overwhelmed?" Joel asked.

"Oh. She accepted an internship at the New York studio she had applied to," he replied.

Don suddenly felt guilty for telling Joel the good news. Beth probably should have been the one to tell him.

"Really? Oh...wow. That's...that's great. That's the one where she'd be spending the whole summer there, right?" Joel asked.

"Yeah...that's the one. Look, son, I'm sorry for telling you. She probably wanted to be the one to let you know. Try checking in the back. She goes there sometimes when she's waiting for me after school," Don said.

"Thank you, sir," Joel said.

So, Beth was going to be spending the summer in New York. Joel's heart sunk a little more than it already had. What if things between them never got fixed? He'd spend the whole summer thinking about how bad he fucked up their relationship. He wouldn't be able to handle it. But this was something that she's always wanted. Being a well-known photographer in the big city was probably the biggest dream she had. Whatever happened, Joel was certain that he wouldn't hold her back. She had to do this. He wanted to see her succeed and he knew that she would. He reached the door to the back and went out. He looked to his left and saw her there, sitting on the ground.

Beth looked up to see who had interrupted her thoughts and her eyes widened.

"Joel..." she said standing up.

"You're going to New York," he said.

That was all he was able to think to say. He regretted it instantly.

"Um...yeah. I called them up earlier," she said fidgeting with her fingers.

She couldn't look directly at him so she'd make eye contact with his shoulder. It was the safer play.

"Well...uh...congratulations. This is something you've always wanted," Joel said sticking both his hands into his pockets.

Beth couldn't take this anymore.

"Okay, Joel. Can we...can we just stop this awkward small talk? I can't take it anymore," she said.

"Okay..." Joel said.

"I was gonna tell you...you know...eventually," Beth said.

"When are you leaving?" he asked.

"In two and a half weeks," she said.

"Oh...look, Beth. About last night..." he started.

Beth crossed her arms and looked away. She could feel the tears wanting to come down. This was exactly why she didn't want to deal with Joel so suddenly. Joel had no idea what to do. If this was going to be the end of their friendship, then so be it. He couldn't stand hurting her for a second time.

"Beth...I know you probably hate me. And you will more than likely feel that way for a very long time. I honestly don't blame you. I accept that. I just want you to know that I never intended to hurt you. That is the last thing I would ever want to do. I mean...I..." he hesitated.

Beth had an inkling as to what he was gonna say next and that caused her to turn and face him.

"You love me?" she assumed.

He looked her in the eyes. She let out a light chuckle.

"You know that's funny," she said.

"Why is that funny?" he asked.

"Cause that's what I was gonna tell you when I got back to the party," she said wiping away a tear.

"Oh...oh...shit Beth...I'm...I am so, so sorry. I'm such an idiot," he said closing the gap between them.

She looked away from him. He reached over and placed his hand on her cheek. She would have pulled away if she didn't love the feel of his touch so much. She closed her eyes and welcomed it.

"Look at me, please," Joel whispered.

"It's kind of hard to," she whispered back.

"Beth...I love you. God, I've loved you since we were first introduced," he admitted.

"Then how could you do what you did? Having sex with her...regardless if you were wasted...that's something that's always gonna be in the back of my mind, Joel. I...I love you...I love you so much...but what do we do about this?" she said finally looking up at his beautiful eyes.

"It meant nothing. I...I hardly remember it. The only thing I do remember is thinking of you the whole time," he said.

That got Beth to smile ever so slightly.

"You were thinking of me?" she asked trying to sound as appalled as possible.

She was doing a horrible job at it though.

"There's not a day that goes by when I don't," he said moving a piece of her light brown hair behind her ear.

For years she had thought about this moment. Their first kiss. He was leaning in closer and closer to her. She closed her eyes and welcomed his lips.

He looked at her and she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. The urge to kiss her was something that he couldn't hold back any longer. He had had multiple dreams about how this moment would go. He could not resist. She was standing right in front of him so he did the only thing he could think of. He began to lean in.

Halfway to her lips, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer. Their lips met for the very first time and it was unlike anything either of them had ever experienced before. It was as if their lips were completely in sync with each other. Joel wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. Her lips were intoxicating. They parted and remained silent with their foreheads pressed against the other. It was made clear that their friendship had finally led to the something more that each had craved so desperately, for almost their whole lives. Minutes passed before they finally leaned back to look at the other.

"Wow..." Beth said.

"Was it that bad?" Joel asked seriously.

"No...Joel it was...it was just as I hoped it would be. Maybe even better," she said with a big smile.

"Really?" Joel asked. She nodded.

"Really," she said as she began to lean in for another one.

They kissed for the second time and it was just as incredible as the first.