Summary: you settle into your new normal with joel
Tags: age gap, fluff, not much to warn about actually. haven’t said that in a while
A/N: *gasp* I finally wrote a sequel to something? why yes, I did. I actually wrote it a bit ago and had to edit it and randomly got a burst of inspiration today. hope those who were interested still are…
Sequel to ‘Cherry’ which I wrote a bit ago
tlou masterlist + main masterlist
You thought that when you and Joel became you and Joel that it would’ve been life altering. And it was. It really, truly was. For a while. But then… it all seemed so normal. The further into this you went, the more you realized how small the changes to your life were.
You lived together, but you moved into his room. You slept in his bed and it reminded you of when you’d set up camp and huddle close to keep warm on the way to Jackson.
You still went on patrols together, except now Joel was free to smile to himself as much as he wanted about it. It was a good look on him. You liked seeing him happy.
You’d still talk and laugh and be attached at the hip. It was just like before, when you had no idea Joel was months, then weeks, then days away from confessing he was in love with you. Sometimes he’d lean in and kiss you, and that was something he’d never done before, but you got used to it. You got used to all of it.
Ellie was okay with it, you and Joel being together. That might’ve been the biggest shock. You were closer to her age than his, and she definitely saw you as more of a sister than a mother figure, but she had told you “it makes sense.” Of course she had made her jokes, made fake gagging faces whenever Joel was affectionate with you, or when you found yourself being affectionate with him, but she didn’t seem genuinely bothered.
You didn’t understand how it made sense at first, until Joel had Tommy and Maria over for dinner. Ellie had run off with Dina, but Benji came along. After Joel told Tommy and Maria that the two of you were together, their boy (who had always been fond of you) began calling you ‘aunt Y/N’ immediately.
The smile on Joel’s face at that… you wished you could see how you looked at him. You wished you could see what everyone else saw in you, when they confused the nature of your devotion.
Tommy and Maria were happy for you two as well. The way Ellie was. Tommy of course teased him for going after a younger girl, and Maria told you that you must have a lot of patience to deal with a grump like Joel.
“If anyone could, it’d be me,” you had said without a second thought. It just came to you, and with the way everyone at the table chuckled, you figured they must’ve believed it. “I just don’t know how he puts up with me.”
Joel had looked at you with a sincerity that made your heart ache and flutter all at once.
“‘Cause I love you,” he’d said, tone light despite the depth of his expression.
He always looked at you like that now, like he knew you could see into his soul and wanted you to.
You wanted to. You wanted to know every bit of him and you wanted him to know every bit of you.
After a while you started to think that maybe they didn’t have it confused. Just as Joel was drawn to you, you were drawn to him. You’d find yourself reaching for his hand when walking down the street, or missing him when your bed was empty.
When you told Joel you loved him, you meant it. When Joel told you he loved you, it meant everything.
The first time you told Joel that you loved him and meant it the way he did, he was playing guitar.
You’d woken up in an empty bed and found him on the porch in his rocking chair. He was strumming the guitar, playing a melody that you didn’t know.
“Should’ve woken me for the concert,” you had teased lightly, sleep still in your voice.
Joel had looked at you with a smile and said, “Couldn’t.” He continued playing as he spoke, voice carrying along with the music. “You looked too peaceful.”
“Well, now I’m awake.”
“Then by all means.” Joel gestured to the chair nearby, but you had missed him. You didn’t like waking up without him now. Not when you’d gotten so used to it. “Join me, darling.”
Instead of sitting in the chair, you had curled up in his lap, your head on his shoulder, longing to be close to him. He had figured out how to keep playing and keep you close by now.
You hummed along to the melody, fingers tapping on his chest.
“Wish you’d sing,” Joel mused. “In more than just the shower.”
You shook your head a little. “I’m no good. That's why I sing in the shower, not on a stage.”
“You are good,” Joel insisted. “If you need a stage, I’ll build you one.”
You’d snorted at that, slapped his chest a little. Just to be playful. Then you glanced up at him, and something shifted.
You believed him. He would build you a stage if you wanted to sing, even though you were sure you couldn’t. Hell, he’d build you a new house if you decided you didn’t like this one. Didn’t like Jackson either? He’d build you a town.
He’d do anything you asked, you could see it in the gentle way he looked down at you.
Maybe you couldn’t see the way you looked at Joel from the outside, but you saw the way he looked at you. It took your breath away, how much he adored you. How completely consumed with love you felt in his presence.
“Somethin’ on your mind?” Joel wondered. “You got that look on your face. The ‘I’m thinking’ one.”
“I have an ‘I’m thinking’ face?”
Joel shrugged a little. “When you’re thinking hard, yeah.” His fingers finally halted on the strings. “So what’s got you so deep in thought? I know it’s not your singing career.” He paused before adding, “You never like my ideas.”
You grinned. You couldn’t help it.
“Just…” you reached up for his face, your thumb brushing his cheek. “Just thinking that I love you.”
Joel smiled. “I love you, too. More than anything.”
Hi i just wanted to let you know that your coriolanus snow fics literally changed my brain chemistry. I must have read them both upwards of twelve or thirteen times by now but I just keep going back to them. The way you write his character as manipulative and unapologetic about it falls so in line with how I pictured him while reading his inner thoughts in the novel and perfectly itches that scratch I have for stories about him and actually is what pushed me to start writing my own snow x reader fics (even if I never publish them). Thank you so much for sharing your work ilysm 💜💜💜💜💜
Oh wow! Thank you so much, I’m honored 🫶 I don’t think of myself as an inspiration for other writers so this was so sweet and amazing to see! coriolanus was fun to write and even though it was a while ago, those fics are still some of my faves, so I’m happy to see they’re still getting some love!
As for your own fics, if you want to publish them, go for it! It’s intimidating at first but if you write what you want to read and share it, it turns out there’s other people who want to read it as well- I for one would love to!
Thanks again for sharing this with me, you made my night! 🫶🫶
Heyy, would you consider doing some sort of follow up to ‘Cherry’ or is it a solo kind of thing?💕💕
I planned it being solo but I could definitely see a follow up. It most likely wouldn’t be a full story, but maybe a glimpse at their lives after the change in dynamic if that’s something people would even be interested in
thinking about how joel would react if cherry reader slipped up and called him daddy
conflicted for sure. if he liked it then it would immediately be followed by some shame but cherry!reader would do everything to keep him from feeling bad
Hi I would just like to point out that some people like myself find darker stories to be coping mechanism and a way to explore fantasies at a safe distance,,,, “hahaha” is not very cool other anon 🙄🥱
Yeah fanfiction or fiction in general is not the same as what you want/like/condone in real life
I feel like cherry should have gotten a tag or cw because of the whole father daughter dynamic turning into a sex thing? like don’t you think it’s a little jarring for those of us who have normal relationships with our parents or father figures and don’t want to think about that being tainted with sex haha
bold assumption to make based on fanfiction, yikes… writing/reading about taboo subjects and having normal relationships are not mutually exclusive. that’s why it’s only in fiction. aka fake, aka not real
I genuinely don’t want people reading something they’re uncomfortable with. I’ll definitely add the “cw”, that’s my bad for not having it italicized like I usually do, however, I don’t feel like I was misleading about the premise either?
I’ll still add the cw but all of these things are right there at the very beginning before you even get to the fic itself
