a safe haven | one
Jackson! Joel Miller x Female Reader
series masterlist
chapter summary: After the events in Salt Lake City, Joel and Ellie are back in Jackson, Wyoming to start a brand new life in the safe haven; Ellie has a difficult time fitting in, but she finds a friend in you; Joel meets you for the first time and a foreign feeling instantly takes root.
warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI. AGE GAP (reader is 30 and Joel is 57). minimal physical description of reader, she is shorter than Joel and has longer hair (exact length/type is not specified). reader is married, reader’s husband is mentioned and makes an appearance at the end of the chapter. lightly implied domestic violence. mentions of character death (reader’s father, unspecified illness). tlou2 timeline deviations (maria has only just found out she’s pregnant).
word count: 6.1k
a/n: well, here she is! apologies for the delay. life happened. :( i had this huge nervous ramble-y note planned out, but instead i just want to thank anyone who has shown me kindness for this series. this is for you. <3
His dark eyes linger on you from across the mess hall.
He doesn’t mean to stare.
Though, truthfully, Joel Miller doesn’t even realize he’s staring in the first place.
It’s half past twelve o’ clock in the afternoon, Jackson’s designated lunch hour, and the steadily growing town’s cafeteria is nearly too overcrowded, buzzing loudly with obnoxious, overlapping chatter. He pays no mind to the commotion around him—bitching patrolmen, gossiping women, giggling children running around as if the mess hall is their playground. He tunes it all out, too focused on the prettiest damn thing he’d seen since the world ended two decades ago to acknowledge any of it.
You’re sitting at a small, round table that’s tucked away over in the furthest corner of the packed eatery—as far away from all of the chaos one can possibly be during midday mealtime.
Craning his neck slightly, Joel squints to get a better look and notices your only company for lunch is a large open book beside your plastic tray that takes up most of the table’s surface. In between bites of Cornish hen and roasted vegetables, you thumb through the book’s pages, occasionally pausing to scribble in the notebook on your lap with a pencil.
It’s not the first time Joel’s seen you around. In fact, he still remembers the moment when he’d first laid eyes on you several months ago that cold, winter morning.
He’d been fresh on the heels of a devastating fight with Ellie. She’d confronted him about his plans to hand her off to Tommy—a choice Joel believed to be selfless, the right thing to do, had been mistaken as a selfish act of abandonment, leading to harsh words exchanged and a door slammed in the heartbroken girl’s face. Little had she known that it’d been just as painful for him to walk away from her. His choice hurt him too, but he couldn’t keep on failing her.
Older, slower, his hearing no longer what it used to be, he feared he would only end up getting Ellie killed if she continued on with him. He couldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t let that happen. He would not cradle another child’s dead body in his arms, not again. Not her.
Following a long, sleepless night of tossing and turning, Joel pulled himself out of bed the next morning, quietly slipping past Ellie’s bedroom door and out of the house with his pack in one hand and a map in the other. He’d quickly made his way across town towards the stables hoping he could escape Jackson without notice from his brother.
And more importantly, without notice from Ellie.
It’s not like he wanted to leave without saying goodbye to her, but Joel couldn’t be certain he would be able to find the strength to stand firm on his decision if he saw her face again.
So there he had been, in one of the stalls at the stables saddling up a mare he planned to take off on when you walked by, the loud crunch of your heavy winter boots on the frosted concrete startling him.
“Good morning,” you’d greeted politely, flashing him a friendly smile over the top of the thick, knitted red scarf around your neck.
Silent, Joel’s lips pressed together into a tight, thin line, no trace of emotion on his hard, stony face.
“Getting ready to head out on early morning patrol?”
“Yeah, I am,” he’d replied curtly, deciding to go along with the assumption.
Another smile. “Alright. Be safe out there.”
He’d almost forgotten about you since then.
Almost.
The next time Joel had seen you was on his second day back in Jackson. While Ellie settled herself at home, he took a trip to the market over on the main street to pick up vegetables for their dinner that night—the first real, proper meal he cooked in over twenty years. No more stale jerky, no more old, barely-edible Chef Boyardee.
“Regular potatoes or sweet potatoes?” he’d muttered to himself, hands on his hips as he stood in front of the bins, looking over his options for produce.
“Sweet potatoes aren’t in season quite yet.”
Eyes widening, Joel looked up only to see you standing one aisle over in front of a cardboard box full of carrots, a woven shopping basket hanging over your arm. Much like that winter morning in the stables, you offered him a friendly smile he didn’t return.
Surely, by this point, you must have thought he was an asshole. He wouldn’t blame you if that’s the case.
“Hellooo?” Tommy waves a hand in front of Joel’s face, looking thoroughly amused. “Anyone home?”
“Sorry, you say somethin’?”
“Maybe we should find you a damn camera,” he teases, chuckling when he finally has his attention. “Y’know, so you can take a picture. It’ll last longer.”
Joel scowls at him, though he says nothing.
He can’t very well deny that he’d been caught gawking.
“Shut up, Tommy,” is all he can come up with before taking a large bite of seasoned carrots. Heat floods his face when he catches the mischievous glimmer in his younger brother’s eyes.
“Hey, I don’t really blame you.” Tommy reaches over for his glass of iced tea and picks it up, gulping down half of it in one swallow. Smacking his lips together, he casually shrugs a shoulder, shooting Joel a knowing smirk over the top the glass as he comments, “She’s certainly a sight for sore eyes, ain’t she, big brother?”
“Watch yourself. Don’t think Maria would appreciate you sayin’ that kinda thing about another woman,” Joel warns, cocking an eyebrow at him. “Have a little more respect for your wife, asshole.”
Tommy shrugs again. “Ain’t no harm in just lookin’,” he remarks, although there’s a joking edge to his tone. He sets his glass back down on the table and leans back in his chair, glancing over at you. He lets out a long, low whistle, another smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. “Oh trust me, I get it, Joel—hell, every man ‘round here gets it. She’s gorgeous. And a real sweetheart, too. But don’t go gettin’ any ideas about her.”
He asks without thinking. “Why not?”
Surprised, Tommy’s brows raise to his hairline. “Well for starters, she’s damn near half your age, you old fucker. What in Jesus’ name is wrong with you?” Rolling his eyes, he adds, “And besides that, she’s already spoken for.”
“Oh,” Joel clears his throat awkwardly and sits back in his chair. “She’s got a boyfriend.”
“Husband,” Tommy corrects him. “She’s married, Joel. And here’s the real fuckin’ kicker. She’s married to the town’s doctor.”
“Luke?”
“You’ve met him?”
“Heard of him,” Joel clarifies. “Maria keeps on insistin’ I get checked out by him. Ellie too, but—” He glances at his own forearm. “Don’t think that it’d be wise.”
Stiffening in his chair, Tommy’s lips purse together.
His one rule?
Ellie’s immunity was not to be mentioned.
Ever.
Joel clears his throat again, shifting gears and steering the conversation back into less sensitive territory. “He legit?” he questions before shoving another forkful of carrots into his mouth. “Luke?”
The younger man’s shoulders relax slightly. “Yeah, he’s legit. Well, as legit as he can be—he was still in medical school when the outbreak happened,” he explains. “Bit on the younger side, but he knows his stuff, Joel. Looks after everyone in town. Delivers the babies, stitches up wounds. Hell, I broke my arm in a ridin’ accident a year ago and he set the bone right back into place. Had me as good as new within a few weeks. It’s a miracle we’ve got someone like him ‘round here, y’know?”
“Mm,” he hums in response, twiddling his fork between his thumb and index finger.
Of course you’re a married woman.
And to a fucking hero doctor nonetheless.
Underneath the table, Tommy lightly kicks his shin with the steel toe of his boot. “Y’know Joel, there are plenty of other single women in the community. If you want, I could introduce you around. In fact, Maria has a friend named Esther, she’s a real cute blonde. I could set you two up if you’re interested—”
“I’m not,” Joel interjects with a tight shake of his head. “I just got got here, Tommy. Besides, I’ve got Ellie that I need to look after. She’s my priority right now. My only priority,” he emphasizes firmly. “Not meetin’ women.”
Knowing better than to push him on it, Tommy changes the subject. “Uh, speakin’ of Ellie, how’s she been doin’ by the way? I haven’t really seen much of her since you two got back. She alright?”
Joel hesitates, averting Tommy’s gaze.
It’d been a couple of weeks since the events that took place in Salt Lake City.
Since the hospital.
Since the Fireflies.
Tommy’s clueless, had been fed the same bullshit story as Ellie about raiders invading the hospital—he had no idea about what Joel had done. How he ruthlessly killed all of those people. How he shot Marlene dead at point blank range without hesitation, not an ounce of mercy despite her gasping pleas for him to let her go. How he single-handedly prevented the Fireflies from perfoming that operation on Ellie, stopping what might have been humanity’s only chance at potentially finding a cure.
The surgery would have killed her.
So, he had no other choice but to kill them.
Joel doesn’t regret it. If it came down to it, he would do it all over again.
Though he doesn’t carry guilt over what he’d done, he does carry the guilt of having lied to Ellie about it after it was all said and done.
“Swear to me,” she’d said, her eyes looking up into his as they stood atop the mountain overlooking Jackson Hole. “Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true.”
“I swear.”
Ellie’s smart, too fucking smart for her own good. She might not have known the extent of it all, but she knew Joel wasn’t being entirely honest about what had gone down in Salt Lake City.
Joel’s chest heaves as he exhales a heavy sigh, finally answering the question. “Not too great,” he admits, quietly. “I’m real worried about her, Tommy. It’s been a couple weeks now since we’ve been back and she still hasn’t made one single friend around here. She doesn’t fuckin’ talk to anyone. Hell, she hardly even talks to me these days.” He sighs again, tiredly scrubbing his free hand down the side of his face. “She spends all her free time hidin’ out in the stables with the horses. Seems to me like she’d rather be around them than people.”
“Think maybe it’d be a good idea to have her see Gail?” Tommy suggests lightly.
“You’re kiddin’ me, right?” Joel snorts. “Take her to see a fuckin’ shrink?”
“Don’t knock therapy. It’s been pretty helpful for a lot of folks ‘round here, y’know. Gail’s pretty good, she could give Ellie some guidance on how to make friends. Ain’t that what you want for her?”
Joel raises an eyebrow. “And how well do you think it’ll go over when I tell her I’m puttin’ her in therapy?”
“You’d have to sleep with one eye open,” Tommy muses with a laugh. He catches the tick in the muscle of Joel’s jaw and his smile falters. “Just give her time, Joel. After everythin’ she’s been through, it ain’t exactly a surprise that she’s strugglin’ to fit in. I know Ellie means a whole lot to you, and you’re worried about her. I would be too. But it’s only been a couple weeks. Give her some more time to adjust. She’ll get there, I know she will. She’s a strong kid, brother.”
“Yeah, I know she is,” he murmurs in agreement. “Hell of a lot stronger than someone her age should have to be.”
“She’ll be fine,” Tommy reassures him with a confident nod. “She’ll find her place here. You’ll see.”
Joel sighs in defeat. “I hope you’re right.”
You relish the feeling of warm sunlight on your skin.
Summer’s arrived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and after a particularly long, brutal winter that swept the western state last year, you couldn’t have been more thrilled to see warmer weather well on its way. Sure, summer heat can be just as unforgiving as bitter winter cold, but at least now, you’re not walking around ankles-deep in the snow or rubbing icicles out of your nostrils.
Clutching the thick strap of your worn, leather satchel, you leave the town mess hall and hastily make your way toward the horse stables. It’s after lunch, and there’s still plenty of work to be done before the end of the day rolls around—most of it which would without a doubt trickle into the next day, as it usually does.
You hold yourself together fairly well, bear the brunt of your stressful job without making too much of a fuss. But on those rare occasions where you feel completely in over your head, you wonder if maybe you’d made the wrong decision taking such an enormous responsibility into your hands. Then again, the more you think about it, it’s not like you had been given much of a choice.
In a way, this had been expected of you.
Prior to his passing two summers ago, your father had been the town’s equine veterinarian. He had offered to begin teaching you to care for the horses, knowing one day, eventually, someone would have to take his place. Not long after you started joining him at the stables, he became sick. Over the course of one year, your father’s health began rapidly deteriorating, his illness one you both knew couldn’t be treated, much less cured, not in the post-outbreak world. Even as he wasted away, he’d used every ounce of strength he had left to teach you everything he knew. He spent countless hours in the stables with you until he lost most of his mobility—and in the final weeks of his life, when he became bound to his bed, you’d curl up at his side, the ache in your heart growing unbearable as you watched him scribble notes in the margins of his books with his trembling hand.
“My body might be failing me,” he’d rasped. “But I still have my brain.”
Your father prepared you to the best of his knowledge and ability, and while you certainly know a thing or two, it’s still so daunting. Horses are how everyone travels when in search of supplies, how patrolmen and women get around while protecting the community against the dangers that lurk outside the gates. Horses are one of the most important, most precious resources Jackson possesses.
They keep everyone moving, everything going, and you would be lying through your teeth if you said that being the sole person in charge of caring for them didn’t put the weight of the world on your shoulders.
“You need to stop doubting yourself,” Maria would tell you. “He believed in you. I believe in you. Everyone in this town believes in you. Don’t you think it’s about time you start believing in yourself too?”
You rush inside the stables, lips pursed together as you go through a mental checklist of all the horses that still need to be looked over for the day, including the group of horses that arrived back from that morning’s patrol.
But first, you decide stop in and see your favorite girl.
“Hi there, Stella,” you coo sweetly, walking into a stall housing a beautiful, chestnut-brown pregnant mare. “Hi, gorgeous. How are you doing today?”
“I’d be a hell of a lot better if I could have one of those apples I know you’ve got in your bag,” a voice answers, startling you.
Peering around Stella’s body, you find Ellie laying on a small bed of hay in the furthest corner of the stall, her head resting on her backpack as she flips through her favorite superhero comic book for the hundredth time.
“Ellie,” you sigh her name softly.
She offers you a silly, lopsided grin. “Howdy.”
“What in the world are you doing in here?”
“Just keeping ol’ Stella girl here company,” she shrugs. “What else does it look like I’m doing?”
“Ellie,” you say her name again. “You can’t just hide out in here with the horses every single day, you know,” you point out, dropping your satchel onto the ground. Stella lowers her head and gives it a sniff, no doubt smelling those apples.
“Wanna bet?” The teenager quips with a smirk as she sits up, tossing her comic book to the side. Bits of hay stick out of her brown hair and to her clothes.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at school with all the other kids? Until you’re sixteen, that’s the rule isn’t it?”
Ellie rolls her eyes. “No, I already went to school. Back in Boston. FEDRA’s finest, man.”
You don’t know very much about Ellie Williams—nor do you know much about the broody older man she’s here with, Joel Miller.
The only thing you do know is that Joel happens to be Tommy Miller’s older brother, and he took on the role of Ellie’s guardian. You’d mistakenly assumed he was her father, and when Maria informed you that there was no familial relation between them, you couldn’t believe it.
“You’re kidding! They’re really not related?”
“I know, I know. Those two even walk the same. But I can promise you, they’re not related.”
Their arrival in Jackson in the winter had caused a bit of commotion and had the entire town talking—but by the following morning, the pair were gone, not to be seen again for several months until their return towards the end of spring. Rumors flew once the word of their return had gone around, but in reality, no one had the slightest clue about where they had been, or why they decided to leave the safe haven in the first place.
Much like everyone else, you’re curious about Ellie, and you’re especially curious about Joel. You’ve seen him around, had a couple close encounters with him where your pleasantries had not been returned. A man of few words, he keeps to himself for the most part, seems to have no interest in getting to know the townsfolk.
Ellie’s just as reserved. She spends most of her days in the stables with the horses while she reads her comics or listens to tapes on the old Walkman she’d borrowed—stolen, rather—from Tommy. Having taken notice of the young girl hanging around your place of work, you began carving out some time in your hectic schedule to talk to her. You’d tested the waters with casual chatter about the most trivial of things, such as the weather or what had been served in the mess hall for lunch that day. Although Ellie seemed annoyed at first, she had quickly warmed up to you, and by the end of the week, you had yourself a little foul-mouthed shadow following you around.
You walk over to her. “Listen Ellie, as much as I really enjoy having you around me all the time, you really do need to make friends.”
She blinks. “But you’re my friend.”
“Friends your own age,” you rephrase yourself, biting back a smile. “My husband has a niece about your age. Her name is Dina. I could introduce you to each other if you’d like?”
Ellie furiously shakes her head. “No.”
“Ellie—”
“Everybody around here looks at me like I’ve got two fucking heads or something. She probably fucking will too,” she mumbles. She pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. “Fuck that.”
Sighing softly, you squat and lower yourself to her eye level. “I know how hard it is when you don’t fit in with others. It can be tough.”
“You? Not fit in?” Ellie scoffs and rolls her eyes in reply. “I don’t believe that for one second, sweet cheeks.”
“Hey, I was fifteen once too,” you chuckle. “When I was your age, I was living in one of the quarantine zones. In Albuquerque. My mom was a nurse there, so she had the privilege of enrolling me and my little brother into their best school—a preparatory school. She hoped he and I would become officers, have a chance at a decent life. She didn’t want us working in the sewers.” There’s a strange glimmer in Ellie’s eyes, but she says nothing.“So, as you can imagine, I went to school with a bunch of kids whose parents were officers and other higher-ups in the zone.”
She raises an eyebrow. “And?”
“And it was the worst three fucking years,” you tell her. “The world may have ended, but even the apocalypse doesn’t stop teenagers from being fucking assholes.”
Ellie laughs loudly. “Jesus! And here I thought you were too prim and proper to curse.”
“I’m not all that prim and proper,” you counter, winking playfully. “Besides, I think you might be starting to rub off on me a little bit.”
You grin, but upon meeting her gaze, it falters.
Ellie certainly isn’t the only child refugee who has lived a life outside these gates. Yet, there is something about her that sets her apart from the others.
She’s different.
There’s no telling what unspeakable things this girl has survived, but one thing is for certain, the haunting look in her eyes confirms your suspicion that she has been through a horrific kind of hell.
“So,” Ellie finally says after a minute. “Is it okay if I keep coming to the stables to spend time with you and the horses?”
“Of course it’s okay.” Rising to your feet, you glance at Stella. “But on one condition. You have to help me out with taking care of these guys—bathing, grooming, and feeding, things like that. I’ve been really short-handed lately and I could use the extra help. Plus, if you aren’t going to school, then you need to pitch in around here. Do we have a deal?”
She jumps up, nodding eagerly. “Fuck yeah we have a deal! When can I start?”
Joel dumps his plastic tray and used dishware into the designated dirty dish bin before shoving through the mess hall’s double doors. He steps outside and starts toward the horse stables to find Ellie, who had skipped lunch again.
He keeps his sights set straight ahead of him, trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with anyone who so much as even throws a glimpse in his direction. People seem to be getting used to him, but they’re still wary, and he feels like something of a pariah.
He can handle it, though.
Stares, whispers, pointed fingers.
Being an outcast.
It’s Ellie he’s worried about.
Between her survivor’s guilt and her struggle to fit in, Joel feared for her mental and emotional well-being. He can only hope Tommy’s right, and all that she needs is time—that she will find her place here in Jackson.
Joel walks into the stables. “Ellie?” He calls her name, peeking into each stall. “Ellie? You in here?”
“Wait, what?”
He hears her voice.
“Stella’s pregnant? I didn’t fucking know that!”
Rounding the corner into the very last stall, Joel finds Ellie standing there, her hand resting on the muzzle of a brown horse. In her opposite hand, she holds a mane brush.
She’s not alone.
You stand in front of her, one hand planted on your hip, the other resting on the animal’s back. Joel takes in the sight of you, your lower body clad in a pair of well-worn blue jeans, the legs tucked into weathered black riding boots whose soles are caked in muck. He recalls you in a long-sleeve, red flannel shirt, but it’s now tied around your waist, leaving you in a white cotton tank top—the material fits snug on your frame, and his eyes wander, settling on the patch of smooth skin peeking between the hem of your shirt and the waistband of your jeans for a brief moment before trailing back up to your face.
“She sure is,” you reply to her question with a wide grin. “We just found out about a week ago and believe she’s about a few weeks along. We’ll have a sweet new baby in a year.”
Bewildered, Ellie glances at the horse. “Really? They’re pregnant for a whole year? That’s fucking insane!”
“Well, eleven months,” you clarify for her, giving Stella a gentle, but firm pat. “This is Stella’s first. I’m hoping to see her pregnancy reach full term, but sometimes their babies decide to come sooner than expected when it’s their first one.”
Joel’s lips part slightly.
He almost can’t believe it.
Ellie hadn’t spoken a word to anyone in two weeks and yet there she is, engaging with you so effortlessly. His gaze flits over to her just in time to see her crack what had to be the first real, genuine smile he’d seen since they had fed the giraffe in Salt Lake City. Ellie is being herself, cursing up a storm and all, and you don’t seem the slightest bit bothered by it, not like the other adults whose jaws dropped in utter horror at her use of such foul language.
Joel wills himself to move and steps into of the stall. He lightly clears his throat. “Ellie.”
Simultaneously, you and Ellie both whip around in his direction.
“Joel? What are you doing here?” Her smile falters as he approaches her.
“Lookin’ for you. It’s lunchtime. Y’need to eat, kiddo.”
She holds up the brush in her hand. “But we were just about to—”
He stops her with a stern glare. “Lunch. Now. Go.”
“Fine,” Ellie huffs and rolls her eyes at him. Picking up her backpack, she hands you the brush and stomps out of the stall, roughly shoving into Joel’s shoulder as she pushes past him without another word.
Suddenly, the stall feels much too small, and just as he opens his mouth to excuse himself and leave, you say, “You’re Tommy’s older brother, right? Joel?”
He nods. “Yeah. I am.”
Stepping away from Stella, you walk over to Joel and introduce yourself, extending a hand for him to shake. Your name is just as beautiful as you are—he repeats it, and it rolls smoothly off his tongue. He takes your hand in his own; it’s small and soft in his large and rough, a stark contrast, but somehow a perfect fit.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Joel.” Your eyes find his, meeting them in a way that makes something inside of him stir from a decades-long slumber.
Realizing he’s been holding onto your hand longer than necessary, he drops it and takes two steps back, lightly bumping his back against the stall door. “I’m—uh, I’m sorry about Ellie,” Joel apologizes to you after a minute. “I know she’s been spendin’ a lot of time in here. I hope she hasn’t been botherin’ you too much or gettin’ in the way of things. If she is, I can have a talk with her.”
“She hasn’t been bothering me at all,” you assure him, shaking your head. “It’s been nice having her around. I enjoy her company very much.”
“You do?”
You toss him a puzzled, but amused look. “Yes. Is that strange for me to say?”
Joel places his hands on his hips, leaning back against the stall door. “Well, it’s just that Ellie’s been havin’ a bit of trouble,” he confesses. “Adjustin’ to life here. Meetin’ people has been kinda hard for her. She ain’t like all the other kids around here, y’know?”
“I know.”
His raises his eyebrows.
“I was just talking to her a little while ago. I told her that I remember how hard it is being her age. Trying to fit in with the crowd. It’s tough, even in a world like this one.” You let out a humorless laugh. “It’s even tougher when you’re just so different.” You seem to notice the way the statement triggers a negative response from Joel—his eyes darken in a flash of anger and his nostrils flare out slightly. He knows Ellie is different, of course he knows it, but hearing it from someone else isn’t easy for him, and it certainly isn’t welcome. Observing his reaction, you hold a hand up and reassur him, “There is nothing wrong with being different, by the way.”
Upon seeing the sincerity in your eyes, Joel’s defenses switch off almost as quickly as they’d switched on and he takes a breath. “There isn’t,” he agrees with a careful nod of his head. “Nothin’ wrong with it at all.” He clears his throat. “M’sorry, I didn’t mean to get upset. It’s just that I don’t like it when people run their mouths about my kid. That’s all.”
“No need to apologize to me, Joel.”
Little by little, he starts to relax. Taut and tense muscles that have been wound up for years and years and years are suddenly beginning to loosen, and it seems that all it’s taking is being in your presence.
You radiate such warmth, and he can understand why Ellie’s taken such a quick liking to you.
Joel glances around the stall. “So, uh—what’s the deal? You one of the stable hands around here or somethin’ like that?”
“Something like that,” you repeat after him with a tiny grin. “I’m the equine veterinarian here in Jackson.”
He chuckles. “Veterinarian? Y’mean, those still exist?”
“Well, sort of. My father used to be the veterinarian for the horses,” you explain to him. “That’s what he did for a living before the outbreak happened. When we came here a few years ago from one of the quarantine zones, he told Maria and the council about it. They asked him to care for the horses in exchange for our place here.”
“And you?” Joel can’t help but wonder out loud. You’re young, and if he has to guess, you were probably still a child or a teenager when the outbreak happened. “No offense darlin’, but you seem a little too young to have gone to vet school before shit hit the fan.”
Darlin’.
He doesn’t mean to call you that. But it’s too late—and you don’t appear bothered by it.
Instead, you laugh, and the sound is a gorgeous melody he could listen to on repeat for the rest of his life. “No, I did not go to veterinary school. Actually, my dad taught me everything that I know. He was amazing at what he did, both in this life and in the last.” You speak fondly of him. “He taught me as best as he could considering the circumstances and all. I took over the job after he died a couple of years ago.”
Joel frowns. “Oh. M’sorry to hear about your dad.”
“It’s alright. You don’t have to be sorry.”
He peers at you, unable to mask his curiosity.
“He died of illness,” you continue, as if you had read his mind. “And please don’t say you’re sorry again. Believe me, for as much as I miss him, he’s in a much, much more peaceful place. Or at least, I’d like to think he is.” You cross your arms over your chest, tilting your head at him as you change the subject and ask, “So, how are you settling in?”
“S’been alright, I reckon. Real different from what I’m used to. From what we’re both used to,” Joel answers, referring to Ellie.
“Don’t I know it. It took me a while to get used to this place when I first got here, too. It’s such a different way of life compared to the zones and everything else that lies beyond the gates,” you empathize with him, sighing as you drop your arms back down at your sides. “You’re living a couple houses down from Tommy and Maria’s, right?”
“Yeah, two doors down in the brown and green house.”
“I’m in the blue and white unit right across from them,” you inform him, your pretty eyes twinkling as you give him a smile. “I guess that kind of makes us neighbors, doesn’t it?”
Joel’s stomach somersaults. “Yeah, I guess it does,” he manages to say. Remembering Tommy’s warning from earlier, he decides it's time for him to leave. The faster, the better because he’s beginning to notice how easy it is to fall under your spell. He pushes himself away from the stall door. “I should probably get goin’ now. I’ve got some stuff to take care of before my evenin’ patrol,” he says. “Listen, uh, I really appreciate you spendin’ time with Ellie and bein’ so kind to her. Thank you for that.” He gives you a small grateful nod and turns on the heel of his boot to leave the stall.
“Joel?”
He stops dead in his tracks, his back stiffening slightly.
The sound of your soft voice saying his name is almost too sweet for him.
Swallowing harshly, Joel turns back around to face you. “Yeah?”
“We’re having this big get together on Saturday night in the barn that’s right across the way,” you say, jabbing a thumb over your shoulder, towards the open window. “We do it every year on the first day of summer. It’s for the kids more than anything, but everyone comes out.” There’s a hint of shyness in your tone, and in the way you’re looking at him. “I’m not sure if Tommy or Maria have mentioned it to you yet, but there’s going to be a big cookout, drinks, and even a band to play live music. The whole nine yards.”
Joel bites back a small scoff of disbelief. “You serious?”
“People still know how to party,” you joke. You observe the genuinely perplexed look that crosses his face and giggle. “I know, I know. It must sound really bizarre. But it’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to really get to know the folks of Jackson. I think it would be great if you and Ellie both came.”
“Thanks for the invite, but I ain’t too sure a party would be the kid’s thing. Or mine,” he admits, raking his hand nervously through his hair at the thought.
“Well, you won’t know unless you give it a shot, Joel.” You gift him with another brilliant smile that just about makes his heart stop inside his chest. “Please? I would love to see you both there.”
Joel hardly knows you. Hell, up until five minutes ago, he hadn’t even known your fucking name, so how is it possible that he can’t say no to you?
He mulls over it in his mind for a moment. He doesn’t like the idea of having to interact with anyone outside of patrol duties, but if going to this damn thing means seeing you again, then he’s willing to give it a shot.
“Maybe we’ll both stop by for a bit and check it out,” he finally replies, exhaling a small sigh of defeat.
“Great!” You beam happily. “I’ll see you and Ellie Friday night, then.”
“See you Friday night,” Joel repeats, giving you one last nod before turning and leaving the stall.
As he leaves the stables and heads home, he can’t help the way his heart stammers a beat at the mere thought of seeing you again.
Shit.
He’s in fucking trouble.
His fork scrapes against the plate a little too loudly, the noise echoing throughout the kitchen. Your fingers curl tightly around your own silverware, and you flinch—it’s been a calm, quiet, and uneventful few weeks between you and your husband, but it’s a knee-jerk reaction you can’t control when you’re alone with him.
He doesn’t seem to notice, thankfully.
Loosening your grip around your knife and fork, you let your shoulders drop and force yourself to relax. You eat slowly and in small, measured bites, every move careful and contained, purely out of habit. Because, as tranquil as things have been, his moods are unpredictable, and you really never know which version of your husband is going to be coming home to you.
Your marriage to Luke hadn’t always been a nightmare—in fact there was a time where you could have sworn there was love. Somewhere along the way, he began to resent you, and now, anger and control has taken over the space where affection once lived.
Nights like this one, where it is silent and hollow, you’re almost grateful for it. His coldness can be painful, but his curled fists hurt even worse.
Luke abruptly drop his fork and pushes back from the table, the chair’s wooden legs scraping harshly against the tile.
You flinch again, your stomach twisting into a knot.
“I’m going to bed,” he murmurs. “I’ve got another long day at the hospital tomorrow.”
“Okay.” You bring yourself to meet his dark green eyes, giving him the best smile you can muster. “Goodnight.”
He doesn’t say it back, simply nods and disappears out of the kitchen.
It’s not until you hear the door close upstairs that you exhale a small sigh of relief.
After finishing your dinner, you bring both plates to the sink and start running the water, but make no move to wash them. Instead you stand there, hands braced on the counter.
Your wedding band gleams under the bright, overhead lights, catching your eye, and all you can do is wonder when, or even if, he will ever let you go.
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