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

Chapter 40

Beth headed over to Joel's and wasn't surprised that he'd been waiting for her. Tommy and Sarah were with him as well.

"Hey, Bethy! Long time no see," Tommy said, getting up and giving her a big hug.

She'd missed him so much.

"Agreed. I missed you, kid. You've grown too much for my liking. How's senior year?" she retorted.

"Good. Looking forward to being done with it," he said.

"You'll miss it, trust me," she said.

"I highly doubt that," he said.

His smile faded and he went up to give her another hug.

"I'm so sorry about your old man. I'm so sorry, Beth," he whispered.

This was the first time Beth ever heard him sound so sad. She squeezed him once and leaned back to look at him.

"Thank you, Tommy," she said softly.

He pressed his fingers against his eyelids to keep his tears intact. He sniffled and cleared his throat.

"I'll see you two later," he said.

Without another word, he turned and headed back in the house. Beth exhaled a shaky breath. She didn't want to break down again. Her head hurt from all the crying she'd done earlier. She looked at Sarah and smiled widely.

"She's gotten so big," she commented.

"Yeah. She really has. She said her first word," he said handing Sarah to Beth.

Beth looked over at him and smiled wider.

"What was it?" she asked.

"Dad. Well technically her first word was 'poo' but 'dad' came not long after," he said proudly.

Beth kissed the top of her head and held her close to her.

"How's Roxanne?" she asked.

"Well...Beth to be honest, she's been out of the picture for about a year," he said.

Beth looked over at him wide-eyed.

"Why did you never tell me? I could have come over and...I could have helped you," she said woefully.

"Maybe I should have told you. At least then you would have had more time with your dad," he said feeling guilty.

He hung his head. Beth lifted his chin to so he could look at her.

"He didn't want anyone to know. But I should have been one of the people who did," she said.

Sarah started pulling at Beth's necklace.

"What are you doing, huh?" Beth said in a baby voice.

Sarah started to giggle which quickly made Beth smile.

"You still have it?" Joel asked.

Beth looked down at the necklace he'd given her all those years ago.

"Of course I still have it. I wear it every day," she said looking over at him.

The desire to be with him burned profusely right when their eyes met for the first time in the three years since she'd moved to New York.

"I missed you," she whispered.

Joel placed his hand on her cheek and she leaned into it. For the first time in a long time, she felt she was home.

He held her gaze for a while before he started to lean in. She wasn't sure she was ready to receive that kiss just yet so she moved away right before their lips met which caused Joel to kiss her cheek.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly.

"Don't be. I think I overstepped a little," he admitted.

"No...I just...my mind is so preoccupied with everything going on with my dad. It wouldn't feel right to start anything without giving you my full attention. That's what you deserve," she said.

"Beth," Sarah said out of the blue.

Beth's eyes widened and she hugged her closer.

"She said my name," Beth said looking at Joel.

"Yeah well, I tend to talk about you a lot," he said scratching the back of his head.

She smiled at him then looked back at Sarah. She was giggling and clapping while Beth bounced her in her arms. She suddenly got an idea.

"Hey um...so I told my dad about our place," she started.

"Yeah? What about it?" he asked.

"Just...how beautiful and how serene it is. And I told him that I wanted to take him there tomorrow," she said.

"You should. He deserves to see a beautiful landscape," he said.

"Yeah. And that got me thinking," she said.

"About?" he asked.

"Why don't you come with us? We can make a day out of it. You, Sarah, your mom and Tommy. We can all be together," she said.

"That sounds great, Beth. I'm surprised I didn't think about it first," he said.

"So you'll come with us?" she asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said.

"Great. My dad will appreciate it. Also, he appreciates you coming by the hospital. He wanted to make sure you knew that," she said.

"My mom found out a few hours ago herself and she told me about it. I came to the hospital the second I knew...Beth...I can't even imagine what's going on in your head right now," he said.

"It isn't fair...he said that he's known about his diagnosis for a year and a half. He made April swear not to mention it to anyone...He should have told me...he should have said something before. The doctors say that he's got about 5 months. I should have come back more often," she said still rocking Sarah in her arms.

"You were up in New York living your life. He knew you were happy up there," Joel said.

"I was..." she said.

"You tell your boss what happened?" he asked.

"I quit. The second I learned that my father was sick, I just dropped everything and came. I'm not going back, Joel," she said.

"Beth, don't say that," he said.

"I've already missed too much. Time I could have had with my dad, hearing Sarah say her first words. I don't want to miss any more. I don't...I don't want to miss spending time with you," she said saying the last part softer.

"Come here," he said pulling her in to give her a hug.

She had started to cry softly. There was something that she needed to tell him. She needed to tell her father but with everything they were currently dealing with, more bad news would just make it worse. She wasn't sure when she'd tell Joel. She was sure that telling her dad would just break his heart. She couldn't do that...she just couldn't.

"We're going tomorrow, okay? I'll make sure that all of us get there," he said with his arms still around her.

"Dad," Sarah said.

Both Joel and Beth parted to look at her.

"What is it, baby girl?" he asked.

"I got potty," she said.

"She's potty-trained too?" Beth asked.

"Not just yet. But we're getting there," he said.

Beth handed Sarah to him.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," was all she said before turning around and heading back to her house.