Prologue

Cold breeze whistled gently in the night of the full moon. It was partly hidden by dark clouds but it still provided with enough light. Ben traversed through the streets with hands shoved in pockets of his red winter jacket. His ears were freezing, and he cursed to himself for forgetting his hat back at his house. He was nearly at his destination, though, and too lazy to go back. Streets of the Jackson community or Jackson county settlement, depending on how one would call it, were enlightened by dozens of light bulbs used as décor on wooden beams of the houses. The settlement itself was only a small portion of what was once a city of Jackson. A celebration was hosted at the church, for reasons unknown to Ben. Emily was already there, having left about an hour ago. The celebration itself started two or three hours ago, with most people present there, clue for it being the empty streets. Only people Ben could spot outside were sentries at the towers, and even they frequently changed shifts to be able to attend a celebration. The church itself was built in the middle of the settlement, across the street to Cooper Peak Inn. It was a rectangular wooden building with a stone base. Ben walked up the stairs onto the porch and stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath. A muffled sound of music and people could be heard outside even though the wind was stronger with every moment. He was never the one for gatherings such as this, but he didn't mind attending one or two in a while. With his right, he twisted a door knob and pushed forward to walk inside.

Interior of the church revealed a merry atmosphere inside. People danced, sang songs, drank and had fun together. It was crowded, but they didn't pay any attention to Ben who just walked in. Light bulbs were used as a décor inside as well as outside. They were hung on the cable which stretched along the walls and on the ceiling in various shapes. People enjoyed the fast music judging by everyone who danced, couples, parents and their children, friends and even some unofficial lovebirds here and there. Taking off his jacket, Ben placed it on the rack which was already packed with other jackets and walked through the middle of the dance floor, trying his best not to bump into anyone. "Excuse me." he said as he slowly progressed through the dance floor with a bit of difficulty. He earned some mean looks from people he managed to bump into, except for Dina. She just grinned at him when he bumped into her while she danced with Tyler. When he finally made it out of the dancing crowd, he looked around for any sign of his sister. But Emily was nowhere to be seen. Everyone was laughing and having a good time, except for one person at the bar. Ellie was leaned back on the wooden bar as she examined a dancing crowd with a glass of liquor in her hand, looking lost in her thoughts. He hadn't seen her in a few days, though it seemed much longer than that. Light blue flannel shirt looked nice on her, rolled sleeves revealing a tattoo on her right forearm. Short brown hair was at the back of her head.

"Move it, move it." bartender ordered angrily as he walked past Ben with a tray filled with drinks, prompting Ben to realize that he just stood there, staring. This caught her attention, and she snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him. He approached, looking around the bar for a drink without saying anything. Ellie was quiet too, making the situation quite awkward. Their eyes met for a single moment and Ben decided to break the ice.

"You think Andy would be mad if I took a drink while he's not looking?" he made an attempt.

She smirked "You can try."

Ben was trying to think of a response to that, something that would not make the situation more awkward. Something smart.

"Right." He hated himself.

Deciding a drink wasn't worthy of Andy's wrath, Ben brushed it aside and turned towards the dancing crowd, leaning backwards on the bar in the same manner as Ellie. They just stood there in their own silence. Ben was never shy or awkward around people, but something about Ellie was off in that manner. She was not weird, he just didn't know how to behave when he was around her.

"I hate these things." Jesse said out of blue, approaching them from the side with his own drink. Thank God for Jesse, Ben thought when Jesse ended the silence.

"Tell me about it." Ellie replied.

Jesse poked Ben with his elbow, catching his attention. "Heard you got three clickers on a patrol yesterday."

A mention of the clickers awoke memories from the past day when Ben went on a patrol with Emily and Khan. "Yeah. Emily wanted to kill me because I engaged them without her. She was looking for supplies in the house across the street."

Jesse laughed, and the topic grabbed Ellie's attention as well. She remained quiet, listening. Jesse proceeded to tell something to Ellie about Joel and patrols which Ben didn't bother to listen to. Andy walked past them holding a tray that still had several drinks on it. Using the opportunity, Ben quickly snatched one and took a sip of the strong beverage.

"I give you guys two weeks to get back together." Ellie told Jesse. Ben hated that he was in the middle between them, having to listen to what they're talking about.

"She uh.. say something to you?" Jesse asked, not hiding his surprise.

"Make it one week." Ellie replied to which Jesse just shook his head. He broke up with Dina a few days ago. Ben knew enough to understand what they're talking about.

"Speak of the devil.." Ben said absently as Dina approached the three of them, stopping in front of Ellie. "Hey! What took you so long?"

"Well, I am here, aren't I?" Ellie answered shortly, having her drink stolen by Dina who drank it all at once.

"Hey, Ben." Dina greeted him to which he replied with a smile. She seemed to completely ignore Jesse until he greeted her.

"Jesse." was all she said, every trace of happiness and joy fading away from her face.

Ben could literally feel Jesse roll his eyes, and had to hold his hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. Dina grabbed Ellie's hand and pulled her away from the boys to the dance floor.

"Hey, don't forget, we headin' out early so get some rest!" Jesse ordered insecurely to the two of them and downed his drink as well. Ben smiled "What?" his friend asked, irritated.

"Ellie just took your ex girl right in front of you, dude." Ben mocked him, obviously joking.

Jesse smirked. "Nah, man. Dina took Ellie."

"It's the same, however you take it."

Asian laughed. "Too bad Ellie likes girls."

Ben raised his eyebrow and looked at Jesse "You chasing after Ellie now?"

"I'm not talking about myself." Jesse replied with a smug smile on his face, taking Ben by surprise. He just shook his head and blew it off "You're reaching."

"Am I?" Jesse added and smiled. "Shit."

"What?" Reacting to Jesse's shit, Ben noticed him staring at the dance floor to which he turned his own eyes Dina and Ellie dance or at least they used to dance. They began kissing. Two of them stood by the bar, dumbfound because of what happened right in front of their eyes.

"That..?" Jesse began, "..wow."

Trying to hide his own surprise, Ben attempted to turn the conversation in his favor "You jelly?"

"What? No, dude." Jesse lied, his face revealing everything "Dina and I.. we're history."

"Right."

Jesse gave him a mean side-look. Ben laughed at that. His laugh was partly forced, though. Jesse was jealous, but so was he. And he hated himself for it. Am I falling for Ellie? he asked himself and shook his head while taking a sip of his drink, feeling the alcohol burn through his throat, setting it on fire. I hope not.

"That's cold, dude." Ben continued, saying one thing while thinking about another, "You guys just broke up. Ouch."

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Shut up. As I said, Di-"

"Dina and you are history. I know." Ben finished and smirked mockingly, provoking black haired young man. "So um, you're going on patrol tomorrow?" he asked Jesse, trying to change the subject and take his mind off what he just saw. Jesse turned his back to the dancing crowd and put his glass down on the bar, obviously annoyed "Yeah. It's gonna be a long day."

Ben envied him, he longed for another patrol. Long days in the settlement can become quite boring. He'd often hang out with his friends, Jesse for the most part, and Dina. Since the two of them have broken up, they don't hang out as much. His patrol partner was usually his sister Emily. He did share a route or two with Ellie in the past. They didn't talk much, except when needed. The two of them used to hang around together a lot in the past when Ben first came to Jackson. Ellie was much more talkative then, she had good jokes to which Ben literally laughed his ass off. Their stories were similar, which was the reason they bonded quickly in the past. Yet, it didn't matter much. They were not as good friends as before. The two of them were shaped by the events that befell them and they simply grew apart. Ben frowned to that and moved the glass towards his lips. "If Emily asks about me, tell her I went home."

"You leavin'?" Jesse asked, surprised.

Ben nodded "Yeah, this is pain in the ass."

"Is this because of Ellie?"

Rolling his eyes, Ben looked at Jesse and said "No, dude. It's not because of Ellie." It was because of Ellie. Why did he even like her? They didn't speak like normal humans in months. "Later, man."

"All right." Jesse replied after a moment of hesisation, obviously disappointed, and two of them walked off in opposite directions. Ben headed towards the rack with jackets. The music was much slower now, it could be considered romantic even. He had to struggle going through the dance floor again, but it was easier this time. People were moving much slower, thus being much easier to avoid. Ellie and Dina didn't notice him as he walked past them.

Ben didn't realize how long he was sitting on the bench outside. It wasn't as cold as it used to be, which was a relief. He was just sitting there on the bench at the edge of the settlement, looking at the dark sky decorated with clouds and a large ball of light right in the middle of it. It was nice and quiet, though the silence would be interrupted occasionally by people walking by. He enjoyed the silence as he allowed himself to be lost in his thoughts again. What was he thinking about? Nothing specific, he was just thinking, about nothing in particular and everything at the same time. Footsteps on the snow ended the silence, and he turned around to see what's going on. Ellie stopped behind the bench.

"I thought there was no one here." she said shortly. Why did Ben hear I hoped I won't see you here instead?

Ben sighed and stood up "I was just leaving anyway."

"You don't have to, but uh.. okay, whatever." she responded and took a seat on the bench, her hands shoved in her pockets as she stared in front of herself. Ben walked around it, towards the illuminated street.

"Why'd you leave so early?" she asked him out of sudden. Ben stopped, turning to face her. She was looking at him over her shoulder.

"It was not my cup of tea. What about you?"

Just now he realized this was the first time he was alone with her in like.. forever. A strange and unexpected situation. "Seth laid it onto Dina and me because she uh.."

"Kissed you."

"Right." she finished, looking away for a second. "He's an asshole.

He didn't like remembering it. After all, he left the party because of it. "What did Seth do?"

"This is a family event" she mocked Seth's speech. "He called Dina a loud-mouthed dyke."

Ben widened his eyes, almost surprised but not really. Seth is a dick. "What a dick."

She agreed with Ben's statement, judging by her facial expression. This was the most words they exchanged in a long time. "Joel pushed him, party was halted. Maria escorted him outside. I left too, couldn't stand the looks."

"Bummer. Too bad I left early." he attempted a joke, an inappropriate one as usual. She smiled weakly. For a second, Ben could swear he saw a spark in her eyes.

"Good job on those clickers." she said after a few moments of silence. Ben raised an eyebrow and decided to take a seat beside her. "Yeah, well, tell that to Emily."

They laughed at that. Everyone knew his older sister was very overprotective. It was very, very annoying at times, but he didn't blame her. Not after everything they went through to come here. Their father was bitten and died protecting them from the wave of the infected. He held the door for the three of them as they ran. Emily, Ben and their youngest brother Tom. He was just seven years old when they arrived at Jackson three years ago.

"Tom's birthday was two days ago, right?" she asked him.

Her question took him off guard. "I didn't know you'd remember. He would've been ten by now."

Her eyes were sad when she looked at him. "Tom was the sweetest. Everyone loved him. Him and I used to play quite a lot, you know."

"I know, I remember. He liked you a lot. He even told me he had this huuuge crush on you." he explained to her, causing another sad smile.

"I miss him, he was like a mini version of yourself. Same blonde hair, blue eyes, shape of your face. Copy-paste."

Ben sighed. "You spend a lot of time staring at my face, huh?"

She frowned. "Keep flattering yourself." to which he laughed. He actually enjoyed this talk for a change. A thought crossed his mind that he should mention this in a way that's not awkward or something, but he brushed the thought away, afraid he'd just ruin the moment.

They spent another few minutes speaking to each other. It was very weird for both of them to talk to each other. Last time they had a normal conversation was when.. last spring perhaps?

"Okay." Ben readied himself "You're gonna like this one."

Ellie laughed, anticipating a joke.

"What do you call a dinosaur that crashes his car?"

She gave him a questionable look, smile never leaving his face.

"Tyrannosaurus Wrecks."

Ellie burst into laughter, holding her belly with one while wiping a tear with the back of her other hand. She couldn't help it since she has always found his stupid jokes hilarious. Ben joined her in laughter, memories of the past suddenly hitting him hard. When the laughters died down, she gave him a long look with her bright, green eyes. Ben found it hard to look away. For a second, everything felt as if it was going back to normal.

"It's getting late. I should go." she suddenly said, looking away, "Jesse would kill me if I overslept." She finished and stood up. Ben looked down and nodded his head repeatedly, before looking up again to smile weakly, "Good night." I hate you Jesse.

''Night." she responded silently and walked away, leaving him alone. He felt she wanted to say so many things to him. Hell, he knew he had many stories of his own to tell her, a thousand topics and discussions. Yet, who would've thought, he actually talked to her in a normal manner that was not awkward or terrible. Suddenly feeling hot in his cheeks, Ben allowed himself to smile, yet his happiness was shook by sadness he felt in his heart. Looking at the watch, Ben realized it was well past midnight, but he didn't mind it. Staying there a while longer wouldn't hurt anybody.

Author's note: Hello everyone, I hope you like this prologue. First of all, I wouldn't say this is primarily a love story, because it isn't. It's a story about Benjamin Walker, 18 year old who's thrown into a world of violence such as the one we've witnessed in The Last of Us Part 2. The story is mainly centered around his development as character, as he is changed from an innocent, fearful boy into the man that he becomes later on in the story. Love story between him and Ellie will be a second most important part of the story. Yes, Ellie will be bisexual in this story, and I sincerely hope no one will mind it. Reason behind that decision is very simple. That way, her canon relationships are still valid while opening a window for new possibilities. Thank you, and I hope you will enjoy my story. Cheers.