The Best Of Us. (Ellie X Male Reader)

His Past.

"The hell?"

Joel can't believe what he just heard from the boy. (Y/N) knew who Ellie was way before Joel did.

"Yeah. Hell. That's how we met in the first place."

(Y/N) placed the book besides him, shifting his gaze towards Joel. The old man ain't gonna leave without the scoop.

"I grow up in an orphanage outside Boston. Not sure how I got there but, someone would frequently checked in on me. Someone we're all familiar with."

He stopped for a brief moment, awaiting Joel's response. But the guy couldn't quite grasp who he's implying.

"It was Marlene. She knew my mom before I was born and said something about promise to look after me."

"Yeah. She said the same thing about Ellie too." The conversation between him and Marlene resurface inside his head.

"Yes. Until one day she showed up at the orphanage with a girl by her side. Asking me to look after her for a bit. So I did."

"Ellie..."

"It was a smooth sailing. She's a loner. But what can I say? I look after her, then we changed from friends to best friends to nothing."

That statement somewhat caught Joel's interest.

"We moved to Boston when we were eight. Military school, Fedra, wars. It was never a problem. Until that Riley showed up."

(Y/N) hate saying that name.

"She might've mentioned that name before." 

"Well, Marlene didn't even try to show up after that. It was only Ellie and me. She would go on and on about this new friend she made. Eventually, we stopped talking to each other. Then one day, she just disappeared. No trace, no nothing. It was around the same time Boston began to fall."

It was around the time when Joel and his old partner Tess, was about to leave the gate, but Fireflies started attacking the Fedras, and all hell broke loose.

"What happened there?"

Joel fully invested his focus on the story.

"Fireflies started throwing bombs and shit. Some foot soldiers arrived at the front gates and started shooting. It was only for a short moment but, those were enough to draw in the infected. Place was overruns, people die, bit, killed themselves. I packed my things and escaped the place. It was a tough journey for a few days before I was reunited with Marlene. She was with this woman Tess when I found her."

A beat.

One of the name that is seemingly taboo to Joel, is mentioned again. (Y/N) noticed the uneasiness in Joel through his facial expressions after that name.

"Want me to stop?"

His question snapped him back.

"No... But Tess. She's... When was it that time?"

Determined to find out more, he asks the boy.

"Marlene told me that she sent Ellie with someone away. When I found her back in one of the Fireflies' camp, she was in a terrible state. Wound around her waist, possibly gun shot. Besides her was this Tess. Apparently some weapons and deals are going on between them."

Joel thought for a moment. It was too good to be true.

"The attack. Was it started by the explosion in front of Boston's gate?"

"Sure is. I was watching in on the roof of some building. I always thought you look familiar. You and that Tess."

It clicked. Before Joel and his partner Tess went on the suicide mission of smuggling Ellie, they were gonna leave the place through the gate. But the Fireflies started attacking which prompted them to use alternate route instead.