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We Can Keep the Whole World Waiting by WitchOnARollback
Fandoms: The Last of Us (Video Games), The Last of Us (TV)
14 Nov 2023
Tags
Summary
PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS "Beefaroni and Lime Soda"
"Damnit Ellie, will you listen?" Joel snapped, unable to listen to it any longer.
She went silent and turned her head slowly, eyes the only thing above the arms she was shielding herself with, red and shiny. In those eyes, he could see all of her pain, her abandonment, her fear. Joel couldn't bare it.
"You do have someone." The words came out slow and awkward. They were uncomfortable on Joel's tongue but that didn't stop them being true. They were just a taste he hadn't had for a long time. They were coming in bursts, blunt and harsh. "Why do you think I've come all this way with you? Why do you think I have risked everything to get you where you need to go?" He hesitated before letting it out. "I don't want to go somewhere you're not. I will not let you face what's out there alone. I can't." Her eyes were fixed on him, her face matching the redness of her eyes as she listened from the safety of her curled up ball. "If you want to say I'm your dad, then good. I'll be your dad, because I would be damn proud to call you my kid." The word hurt, but not like before. It didn't take his breath away, it didn't block his vision. It didn't mean the same thing anymore.