It had been a brutal week. A silent, suffocating kind of rough. Ellie wasn't speaking to Joel. Joel wasn't speaking to you. And you, in turn, were not speaking to either of them. It was a massive, tangled mess, the fallout from a string of lies.

You walked up to the patrol schedule board, heart already racing, and the sight of your name next to Joel's made your blood run cold. Your fist collided with Tommy’s old wooden desk.

"Change the patrol schedule," you demanded, your voice low and vibrating with forced control.

Tommy sighed, a sound heavy with exhaustion. He'd already had this exact conversation with Joel.

"Can't. Maria is so close to labor now, and... I need her calm. I need to be in Jackson for the next few weeks." Tommy explained, his gaze unwavering.

"Yeah, but Joel-" you started, a frustrated edge creeping in, but he cut you off.

"Isn't speaking to you. Yeah, I know, he told me." Tommy ran a hand over his face. "But as I said to him: I won't change the schedule. I need you both out there. You are honestly two of the best patrols we've got."

"The first rule of patrol is having each other's backs," you countered, throwing your hands up. "Joel hates my guts right now." The words slipped out, raw and undeniably true.

It had slipped. You hadn't meant to tell Ellie Joel had lied. But once you did, she nagged and pushed you for the full truth. You gave in, telling her about the Fireflies. Joel had walked in on the tail end of it. You could still see the look of devastation and betrayal he'd carried, like a fresh wound, as he watched you break his most dangerous secret.

He had trusted you with the heaviest lie he'd ever told, one you knew would shatter his relationship with Ellie. And it had. They weren't speaking, no matter how hard Joel tried. Worse, the fallout had destroyed your relationship with him, too. It ended the second Ellie told him she didn't want to see him again.

"He doesn't hate you," Tommy said, trying to inject some calm into the charged air. "He's just deeply hurt. Losing Ellie's trust was damn near impossible for him. You know that."

"It's not my fault he lied to his kid," you scoffed, rolling your eyes.

"I'm not his kid." Ellie muttered from the doorway behind you.

You spun around, sighing internally. You weren't exactly on great terms with her, either. "El..."

Then Joel appeared, stepping past her, and you stiffened. Your eyes locked, a sudden, electric current of tension and resentment.

A crushing silence fell over the office. Ellie didn't stick around and stomped out, the door slamming shut behind her. Joel watched her go, a profound, aching longing visible in his eyes, the memory of what they'd lost. When his gaze snapped back to you, that look hardened instantly. The unspoken accusation: you did this was plastered in his furious stare.

"I'm not changing the patrol schedule." Tommy emphasized again, his voice breaking the heavy atmosphere.

Joel said nothing. He just turned sharply and stalked out, disappearing into the common area. You let out a slow, shaking breath. Before you could stop yourself, instinct made you follow.

"Joel!" The November cold immediately bit into your cheeks as you stepped outside.

He didn't slow, his shoulders tight and his steps long and fast. He only stopped when you yelled his name again.

He spun around to face you. "What?!" The anger, or maybe a deeply rooted disappointment was on full display.

"What the fuck do you want now?!"

He wasn't yelling, not technically. It was just the rough timbre of his voice. But the sheer weight of his fury was enough to send a chill down your spine.