Summary: On a rare peaceful morning, Joel Miller clings to you in bed, finding comfort and refusing to let go for anything, not even coffee. Pairing: Joel miller x Reader. Word count: 1k Warning: Nothing, just fluff.
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The first thing you feel is warmth.
Not just from the sunlight spilling through the threadbare curtains, but from the heavy weight of Joel’s arm draped across your waist. He’s still asleep, breathing slow and steady, face buried somewhere in your shoulder like he’s trying to disappear into the blankets and you.
You try not to move. You’d rather stay here forever, tucked beneath the covers with the world shut out and Joel pressed against your back, solid and warm and so completely at peace that it makes your chest ache.
He doesn’t sleep much. Not really. So when he does, like this, you do everything you can not to break the moment.
Still, you can’t help the quiet smile tugging at your lips.
You shift slightly to glance at him, and that’s all it takes his arm tightens around you, pulling you even closer until your back is snug against his chest.
“Mm,” Joel grumbles, voice rough with sleep. “Where d’you think you’re goin’?”
“Didn’t say I was going anywhere,” you whisper, smiling into the pillow.
“Thought about it, though.” His voice is hoarse, slow, affectionate in that gruff, unmistakably Joel way. “Could feel it.”
You let out a soft laugh, hand reaching down to lace your fingers with his. “I was just trying to look at you. Thought you were still asleep.”
“Might’ve been,” he mumbles. “But then you moved.”
“You’re like a bear. One twitch and you wake up.”
You turn just enough to see him now his hair mussed from sleep, scruff rough along his jaw, eyes still half-lidded but warm and soft in a way he’d never admit to. You reach up and brush your fingers through his hair.
“You’re exactly that bad,” you tease gently. “But you’re cute when you’re sleepy, so I’ll allow it.”
Joel groans and presses his face into your shoulder again. “Don’t say shit like that. It’s too early.”
He doesn’t answer, but you feel the smile against your skin.
The two of you stay like that for a long while, tangled in sheets, limbs knotted together like neither of you ever wants to move again. Outside, birds chirp faintly, and you hear someone shouting down the street, maybe traders setting up early. But none of it touches you here.
Here, in this bed, it’s just you and Joel. Eventually, you murmur, “You wanna get up? I could make coffee.”
He tightens his grip, pulling you impossibly closer. “Nope.”
“Not movin’. Got you where I want you. Not givin’ that up for shitty instant coffee.”
You snort. “So you’re kidnapping me now?”
You shift to face him fully, your legs tangling with his, your hands resting on his chest. He lets you, watching you quietly, one hand drifting up to brush your cheek.
“Y’know,” he says after a moment, voice softer now, “never thought I’d get this again.”
You tilt your head. “What?”
“This. A bed. A quiet morning. Someone who makes me feel like…” He trails off, brow furrowing like the words are too big to say. “Like I ain’t just a survivor.”
You lean in and press a gentle kiss to his lips. It’s slow, warm, and easy the kind of kiss that says I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.
“You’re allowed to have good things, Joel.”
He blinks at you, then lets out a soft breath and kisses you again, this time a little deeper. His hands slide into your hair, and when he pulls back, he rests his forehead against yours.
“You’re the best thing I’ve had in a long time,” he murmurs.
Your heart swells, but you try to keep your voice light. “You saying I’m better than coffee?”
You both laugh quietly, and the world outside fades a little more. He pulls you back into his chest, and this time you don’t resist. You bury your face into the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent warm, earthy, familiar.
“Five more minutes,” you whisper.
“Take all the time you need.”
And in Joel’s arms, you do.
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