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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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persimmon, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — when you and joel miller are having a relaxing day outside of jackson, you accidentally come across one of his favourite things.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson era!joel, female!era, no use of y/n, relationship-like content from joel and reader, cute bickering and flirting, literally just fluff, mentions of guns/injuries/swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.1k

a/n: i am heavily obsessed with the new fruit for flies ep by the army, the navy so i was heavily inspired to write for this. tell me joel wouldnt absolutely love persimmons like ik he would love them. remember to like, comment, reblog, and follow for more!! xoxo

—

Days spent outside the walls meant days spent with him. You were not one to complain about company, not now, not ever. You two started your runs a year ago, by a force of sorts. Tommy, one of your best friends, had assigned you the role of "protecting" his brother while outside. Tommy trusted you with his life, the two of you rolled together before you guys found Jackson, so he knew you very well. To ask such a big thing from you, to keep his brother out of trouble, meant a lot to you.

Though, it also brought on a lot of stress. Joel had none of it at the start, he thought it was stupid to have more people around him then needed. At first, you thought it was stupid that Tommy had wanted this, Joel carried himself well and was very smart when it came to surviving outside the walls. Soon enough, you had realized why. Joel was old, as much as he may have not wanted to admit. He couldn't move as fast as he once could, his reflexes weren't instant, he ran a step slower. You, on the other hand, were young and stealthy- you were the sense of freshness in his life.

Joel didn't like you at the start, he made it crystal clear. For weeks, he would barely talk to you, only to bicker or to give you directions. It was after you helped Ellie recover from a flu that almost wiped her out that he started talking to you. It went from zero to one hundred very quick, but as mentioned earlier, you would never complain about it.

Today was the first day the two of you had gone and done your usual route outside of the walls since spring had started. The winter was long and rough, many people caught some sort of sickness and passed in the town the two of you resided in. It was sad, some people you knew, but that's what happens when you're not able to operate with proper medical care. Anyway, after it had rained for about a week straight, the sun was out today. It's warmth made you think about the nice weather to come, and not the rough time everyone had months prior.

Your hands were gripping onto your backpack straps as though your life depended on it. Your eyes were shut the opposite, gentle and carefree. Joel's presence beside you was enough to shut your eyes for just a moment, and not worry about everything around you. In this moment right now, Joel was protecting you when it should be the other way around. "Careful now, cowgirl," He said so casually, "Don't go'n trip on my watch."

You didn't want to open your eyes, you really didn't, the sun didn't want that either. Your eyes opened, though, and you were left blind for a moment due to having to adjust to the brighter area. As you did this, you could feel Joel's hand linger around the small of your back and lead you past some piece of rusted metal that was on your path. You swatted him away after he did this, shooting him a glare. "Don't baby me, Miller."

He could only laugh as his hand moved off of you. He held his hands up in defence. "Ya' better start watchin' where y'ur goin', then. Tetanus will get ya' before a runner does." You wanted to stay mad after he said that, you really did, but you couldn't help but let a small laugh or two escape from your pissed off expression. Joel would never say it out loud, but he thought it was cute when you did that. When you did anything, really, but that was a topic for another day.

You and Joel had been walking for what felt like forever now, but in reality, only about three hours. As per usual, the two of you were further than deep in conversation. "Y'ur such a country guy. I'm bettin' on Keith Urban." A smile rose to your face, trying to remember other country artists that were popular around the time before hell rose. "Listen, I won't deny it," Joel began, "Rock'n'roll is where it's at, though." You almost stopped dead in your tracks, before you burst out with laughter. Joel? A rock and roll man? There's no way.

Joel stood there, extremely unimpressed, as he waited for your laughs to die down. Once you stood back up and composed yourself, you dramatically wiped a fake tear from under your eye. "I've never laughed so hard." He shook his head, "Ya' piss me off, you know that?" You gave him a pat on the shoulder as you continued down your path, "Love you too!"

The two of you bickered for the next while as you walked down the road. It went from concrete to gravel in a short amount of time, indicating you two were in the remote part of the city. By stepping along this gravel road, it brought back so many memories that you had distanced yourself from. The first time out with him, the day both of you got caught in the rain, the day he kissed you. It was in the heat of the moment, no feelings attached. Some days you wish there were feelings attached, but you had more important things to worry about.

It was strange, the second the two of you stepped on the gravel path, three deer were seen down the street. You went to open your mouth, but you could feel a hand cover the bottom half of your face. It wasn't yours, you were sure of it, the hand felt too rough to be yours. That meant only one thing. You turned to face Joel, your eyes focusing on his. His arm was outstretched (not by much) to cover your lips and chin, his other hand reaching up and placing his pointer finger on his lips, indicating for you to be quiet. You listened.

You both turned your heads back in unity, to face the deer. They seem to have seen you, now turning and carefully running back into the woods. You shoved Joel's hand off of your face as gentle as possible, yelling a quick 'shit!'. Joel had reached back for his hunting rifle that was slung across his back, "Hungry?" Before you could even reply to him, you were taking off. You were sprinting like you were in a race to win a gold medal at the olympics.

Joel was on your tail in no time, he was taller which meant that his strides were longer. The two of you ran for fifteen minutes, following the deer as closely as you could. Though, they were still faster. As they slowly exited the picture, from where the both of you could see, Joel fired a shot. He swore he hit one, but nothing decided to wait around for when you two got closer. A sigh left his lips when he came to the realization that he didn't get one, not so much for him to enjoy, but for you to have.

You noticed this, shoving his arm with your elbow. "Cheer up," You began, "We can set up here for a little bit. If ya' need somethin' to do, I'm out of water." You passed Joel a small smile, sticking out your water bottle for him to grab. He wanted to stay upset, but he couldn't help himself. He nodded and took it, "Stay put'n call if ya' need anythin'." And he was off. Joel didn't question you, or bicker to stay. He knew better when you were looking out for him.

You did anything but stay put, actually. You decided to scavenge the area. If there was anything (or anyone, for that matter), they would've came over when they heard you and Joel. The ground was extremely unreliable, bumps and holes were scattered everywhere so you took your time. You weren't sure how long you walked for, but it was long enough to get to an open field from the secluded forest.

It was so beautiful, the long rows of nothing. The once short bushes that were probably maintained were now grown completely out of control, growing everywhere but in place. You wish you had a camera, to keep more than just a mental image of this beautiful place.

You stood in the same spot for at least ten minutes, just capturing every small detail. Sure, Jackson had a nice garden, but it came nowhere near as unique as this one. Just when your eyes finished the look-around, they laid on the deer you and Joel had tried to get earlier. Your eyes had widened, you had found them.

If they hadn't noticed you before they heard a twig crack, they sure as hell did now. They took one look at you and ran off. You hadn't moved a step, so who made that sound? Your hand fell onto your holster as you spun around faster than you had thought you did. Your eyes landed on the man you knew too well. "Didn't think ya' had it in ya' to shoot me, cowgirl."

For fuck sakes, Joel, you thought to yourself. You buttoned your holster back up and turned back to face where the deer stood just a moment ago, too angry to look at Joel right now. He must've taken the hint, since he didn't bug you anymore. Instead, he decided to walk in front of you and to where the deer were. Joel didn't crouch, but he stuck his hand into the tree's green and brown branches.

You rose your brow, how couldn't you. Joel was channeling his inner garden boy with this, but you didn't break a laugh. A quiet 'ah, there ya' are' had escaped Joel's lips, just loud enough for you to hear. Instead of remaining where you were, you followed his trail and closed up on him. Your gaze fell onto the small orange thing he had in his hand.

Without warning, he just- bit into it. You had a blank stare, your mouth slightly opened. This could've been poisonous for all you knew, for all Joel knew. He took note of your horrific look, "Eat it, it's good." He handed you the small, orange fruit and waited. You had no choice but to take it, and take it hesitantly. You rose it towards your lips, and carefully took a bite.

It was mushy and sour, definitely too ripe for your liking. You handed it back and turned your head, spitting out whatever remained of the fruit in your mouth. You had a grossed-out look to your face as Joel popped the rest of the fruit in his mouth. It was genuinely disgusting, and you didn't know how he could eat it, you thought to yourself.

"It's persimmon." He told you, wiping the juice from his hands off and on his pants. Persimmon, you've never heard of it. "Like the colour?" You had asked him, giving up on your strike from talking to him. He let out a loud laugh, definitely scaring off any animal that might've came to check the two of you out. "Like the fruit, cowgirl."

"Well," You had stood on your tip toes and picked another one of these persimmons off the tree, "you enjoy them then." Your hand moved without thinking, it reached forward and grabbed Joel's, and placed the fruit in it. The fruit was about one fourth of the size of Joel's hand, so it looked a bit silly to you.

His hand closed, almost taking yours with his. "Ya' best believe I will." A small smile rose to your lips as your eyes rolled, he was too cocky for your liking. You thought to yourself for a moment. You had remembered this one story that Maria, Tommy's wife, had told you, about an olive theory. One person absolutely hates olives and refuses to eat them, whereas the second person loves them and will eat them for the first person. This story had reminded you of this moment, reminded you of yourself and Joel with the persimmons.

You two would mingle around the tree for the next while, Joel stuffing his face while you stuffed your bag with the bright orange fruit. Even though you didn't eat them, you smiled as you watched Joel enjoy something he loves. The two of you wouldn't dare tell anyone back home about what you had discovered while out and about. For this, this was yours and Joel's persimmon tree.

—

persimmon, the army, the navy

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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comfort crowd, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — joel miller shows you and ellie how to properly play golf, he's in it to win it - without a doubt.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, pre-jackson era!joel, female reader, no use of y/n, implied relationship, ellie being the comedic relief, these three being a happy and loving family, mentions of weapons, swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.7k

a/n ha..haha... (im in denial). guys i thought this was really funny and this was my brilliant idea. plz i hope u love it LOL. remember to like, comment, reblog and follow for more! xoxo.

—

You hated lawn chairs for as long as you could remember. The pain of your skin getting lodged between cracked pieces of plastic, your skin slipping and sliding off from the seat when there was just a slight temperature change, you could name five thousand different things. Yet, right now, those were the least of your worries. A nice lawn chair propped up at the top of a house, overlooking the entire street. You were far from complaining, Joel as well.

The two of you not only walked for the entire day without taking any breaks, but had to keep up with Ellie, your 'special mission'. The little girl, immune to everything, was the fastest and most talkative kid you had ever came across, apocalypse or not. You were hesitant at first, as anyone would be, but grew to trust the girl with your life. She did protect you a handful of times, your reflexes not as keen as they used to be.

The three of you were in South Dakota right now, your car breaking down in Iowa and having to walk the rest of the way to Utah. You knew the whole thing was sketchy after Boston, but Joel was set in his ways. You never questioned that man, you feared that he knew too well to put the three of you in a bad situation.

The three of you were in the outskirts of some suburban town, already done clearing the street. By the amount of runners, and the walls built around, you could tell people used to live here. Not many people, five or six people at most. This place had reminded you a lot of Bill's place, though, you weren't sure if that was a good thing.

You were ripped out of your thoughts when you heard Ellie's voice ringing through your ears. "Do you wanna hear a construction joke?" Your hand fell onto your forehead, blocking out the sun that highlighted your face too much for your liking. A small 'Leave her alone, Ellie.' was heard from behind you, Joel wanting you to go back and rest. "Awh, fuck you Joel- you ruined it!" Ellie had complained, which only made you laugh, "But, I'm still working on it, the joke."

You had actually laughed, despite not wanting to. Her jokes were so bad, if there was an award given to the worst jokes ever said, Ellie would win it by a landslide. "That fits him, ya'know." You nodded your head over to Joel, who had made his way in front of the two of you, and knelt down to search through his bag. Ellie rose her brow, giving you a questionable look. "He was a very good fixer-upper."

Joel cut you off, "A contractor." You had nodded your head at that, "The best one'n Austin that is." You had added to his comment, and he could only let out a laugh. Ellie had asked him what a contractor was, and he explained it as you shut your eyes and just- enjoyed the sun for a moment. It was hot as fuck outside, you didn't deny that, but not having to drag your feet across the hot pavement for the next while was so damn nic-

Splash. You yelped as your eyes shot open, scanning the surrounding area. You weren't sure if it were your survivor instincts, or this just really fucking pissing you off, but you were ready to pounce on whoever did this to you. In fact, you had taken out your knife that was tucked away in your waistband, the sunlight reflecting heavily off of the blade.

You turned your head, to see not only Ellie, but Joel laughing. Ellie was one thing, but Joel too? This had to be some inside joke or something, you thought to yourself. "I'm going to fucking kill you guys." You did everything in your power to suppress your smile as you stood up, put your knife back in your waistband, and launched forward. You grabbed onto Joel as he did nothing in his power to stop you, just standing there with his arms crossed and a smile to his face, but Ellie? Oh no, she ran back, and to the other side of the roof.

"Alright," You admitted defeat, "One's good enough for me, run away while you can, Ellie." This brought an even bigger smile to her face, she was having fun with this. Sometimes, you forgot Ellie was just a kid. Ellie didn't have a childhood, not whatsoever- the poor girl lives in the fucking apocalypse, for Christ sake. If she wants to have fun like this, let her. You had planned to talk to Joel soon about not dropping her off with the doctors in Salt Lake City, but who knew if he would even consider that.

The three of you played around for a while longer, careful not to get too close to the edge of the roof and have the possibility of falling off. You three were acting like a family, maybe not the sanest one, but a family. After these months out by yourselves, you may as well be family. You would take a bullet for Joel or Ellie, within a heartbeat.

"Alright, Joel." You had replied, "Whatever you say." He could only chuckle as he folded his arms now, leaning against the space beside the window. You had abandoned the lawn chair, and were now laying down right in front of him. It was uncomfortable for you, but he was definitely not complaining about you being there. You two weren't officially a couple, but you acted like it. Kisses being exchanged here and there, the occasional hand holding, sleeping in the same bed every night. You had claimed it was because it made you sleep easier, which wasn't totally wrong, but you knew Joel loved it.

"I'm tellin' ya'," He held his hands up un defense, "A degree in doodlin' was stupid, ya' could've saved a shit load'o money." You two were conversing about your lives before the apocalypse, school and what not. Ever since Ellie brought up the whole contractor thing, it had been on your mind. You met Joel when he and his brother Tommy (you think it was) had started to fix up your house, but the project never got finished due to- well, everything.

"'Kay, Mister 'I fix houses'. Not like I would’ve gotten a job, anyway." You could only laugh at this, "Plus," You added, "I only minored in arts. My major was environmental biology." Joel went back to crossing his arms, his brow cocked back. "My girl's a biologist, eh? Best get you to Utah too, ya' can help'n restoring the planet." He let it slide off his tongue so easily, his girl. It felt too innocent coming from him, knowing what he would use that little pet name for all too well. Though, you liked when he did that, he wasn't much of a PDA man so it was nice when the two of you were alone like this.

Speaking too soon about being alone, Ellie had popped back out of the window and basically gave Joel a heart attack. You brought your hand over your mouth to cover your laughs as Joel shot you a look, and Ellie yelling a quick 'sorry!'. Though, she was excited about something. "You will absolutely not believe what I fucking found while snooping around!" Joel turned his glare from you over to Ellie, "Ellie," He began, "You know what I told ya' 'bout lookin' in these homes." He set a rule with her at the start of this mission, that she would never explore more than they needed to. For example, in this house, he didn't want her to look around and find photographs of the previous homeowners and grow- attached, in some sort. You weren't really sure, you found the rule stupid.

"Doesn't matter, I was bored as fuck." She then tossed this case over, it landed in between of you and Joel. By looking at it, you would've assumed it was a guitar case, though, it was too skinny to be a guitar. Following suit, another smaller and more round case may it's way over, hitting the first and landing beside it. "Guess." Your eyes moved from the cases to Joel, having no clue what this could be. He shared the lost look, both of you turning your attention back to Ellie.

"Ugh, you guys are such grandparents." That had to be an insult, you thought to yourself. Joel, yeah sure, but you? No way. Before you had time to bicker with the girl, she reached forward and started to unzip the cases. You were pelted with small balls in a matter of seconds, not processing what they were yet. It was only after actually picking one up from the tens of them that were on your lap, that you realized what they were.

Golf balls. Ellie had found a golf set. Thank god for these rich South Dakota folk, for a nice and big roof, and now this. You hadn’t golfed in twenty years, so this was going to be so much fun. You looked up to see how Joel was reacting to this, he looked to be somewhat interested as well. "Alright, before we do anythin'," Joel started as he got up, "Clean these up and we'll do everythin' in an orderly fashion." Even if he was acting like an old man right now, he was your old man.

Ellie did so while Joel helped you up, a reassuring hand placed on the small of your back and the other intertwined between your fingers. You were surprised, this was the most affection he had showed you around Ellie. Though, you weren't complaining. After what felt like forever (once again, no complaints), he let go and Ellie turned in unison. "I have to admit this, nobody laugh. I have no fucking clue how to golf."

Before the man beside you had time to reply, you did for him. "Joel'll show you, he's the best golfer outta the three of us." You brought your arm up and rested it on his shoulder for a moment, before giving him a few reassuring pats on his chest. "Go get 'em, tiger." He was annoyingly staring at you, knowing this would only amuse you.

"Get two clubs, kid." He ordered Ellie, (gently) shoving you off of him. He shook his head at you, eyes lingering for a moment too long, before moving over to the edge of the roof. He would find a way to get you back, you could feel it. As Ellie searched through the bag to find the tallest club, you went over to find a few tees. Once the tees were in hand, and the case of golf balls in the other, you made your way over to where Joel was.

As you set up the tees and golf balls in an appropriate place, just on the edge of the roof, Joel started to explain this whole thing to Ellie. She looked mesmerized, the few times you turned your head to see this. Joel acting like a teacher and all to her was sweet, when he usually treated her like an adult. Not that Joel was Ellie's father by any stretch of the way, but it was nice she got to experience a father-daughter moment right now. It warmed your heart too much.

After Ellie was taught the correct form, Joel moved her in front of the tee and ball, helping her get the correct stance before swinging. It missed, by a foot. This sent you through the roof (figuratively, not literally), you couldn't help yourself. Ellie was a bright red from embarrassment as she cursed you out, and Joel couldn't help himself either.

Ellie swung twice more with added force each time, before successfully hitting the golf ball. it went flying, not far, but high. "Good job, kid." Joel congratulated her, despite just laughing about her misfortunes prior. You rose your hand up beside her head, she replied with a high five and you two giggled. Since Joel's job was done, he now picked up his club and went to the tee set up to the right of Ellie. You followed suit with the left.

It took you a moment to get back into the swing of things, the last time you had moved your body like this was- well, dealing with runners. After a swing or two, it came back to you like you had been playing golf for the last twenty years. Joel too, from the looks of it. He let out a complaint or two about how this would strain his joints, but you guys were planning on spending a day or two here anyway.

Eventually, the three of you had came up with a game. Whoever could punt their balls the farthest wins. It was simple, really, but there were little roadblocks in the way- cars, mailboxes, you name it. Ellie's golf balls were blue, yours were red, and Joel's were yellow. You had counted down from three, indicating when all of you could start.

Three. You placed your feet in the appropriate position, cracking your neck just a little. Ellie twisted the club in her hand, as if it were a pencil or something. Joel stayed calm, his club resting on the floor.

Two. You rose your club into the swinging position, focusing on the middle of the red golf ball right in front of you. Ellie took notice of what you were doing and copied the motion, she was eager to hit it on the first go this time. Joel slightly raised his now, still sluggishly moving.

One. You started to move your club to hit the ball, Ellie too. After both of yours were hit in sync, you could hear Joel's being hit after. Your eyes made their way over to him, to examine his strategy, he was still remaining calm. This annoyed you, to say the least.

The three of you went through thirty golf balls each, eventually punting at your own pace. You were the first to finish, feeling pretty proud of yourself of where the balls had landed. Ellie was next, she was proud too. After not golfing for her entire life, this looked pretty promising. Joel was last, no surprise to that. He took his sweet time and finished around five minutes after you and Ellie were done, only earning snickers from Ellie.

"Alright," You told the girl, "Go down'n check who made it the farthest." She obliged, a small 'yes ma'am' before taking off for the window. Your eyes followed her with a smile to your face, "Havin' fun, aren't ya'?" Joel asked. You turned back around to face him, "Not as much as you are, clearly."

He knew he was acting cocky, and was for the past little while. Though, since you definitely didn't seem to mind, he kept up the act. "Ya'know what would make this even better?" He asked you, shifting his weight from his right leg to his left. You tilted your head, indicating that you were waiting for a response. "A golf cart." Before you had time to slap him for his ridiculous request, Ellie was yelling something from down the street.

You averted your attention from Joel, and now at the girl. She was mouthing something, that only you were able to understand after she repeated herself four times. Joel. Joel had won, for fuck sakes. "Well, shit." Was all you could say. He, on the other hand, was ecstatic, the most ecstatic you had ever seen him. For a moment, while he acted like that, you enjoyed it. Joel was having fun, that's what had mattered- he had to let loose every once in a while too.

After a moment, he collected himself once again. The same grin plastered on his face, though, as he folded his arms across his chest and watched as Ellie ran back over to the house. Before she came up, he nudged your shoulder. "Today was fun, eh?" He asked you, which had earned your head nodding almost too quick as a response. "Y'ur a pretty good golfer too, I guess." He admitted. You could only laugh, nudging his arm back. "Not as good as you, Mister Winner. Ya' should've skipped contractor school and went pro golf."

—

comfort crowd, conan gray

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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finally alone, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — you and joel miller are nothing but flirty towards each other, no matter the situation. when the two of you decide to take an unauthorized visit outside of jackson, it really shows.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson era!joel, gender neutral!reader, no use of y/n, fluff, implied-ish relationship, friends to lovers type beat, mentions of cheating/death/hooking up, reader is a bit of a player, stripping, swearing. lmk if i missed anything else!

wordcount: 2.3k

a/n: guys comment what u want me to write abt cuz im running out of ideas haha :,). remember to like, comment, reblog and follow for more! xoxo

—

It was a torrential downpour right now, the sun had disappeared hours ago and there was nowhere to wait it out. It was nice and sunny this morning when the two of you had left the walls, passing by the sleepy guards with no issues whatsoever. Tommy had given everyone working the walls instructions to not let you or his brother go through without clearing with Tommy first, but some rules are meant to be broken, right?

Not that you had a bad reputation, but not too many of the conservative mothers and elderly were fond of you. It had to have been because of your loud mouth, you had convinced yourself. But the weeks following yours and Joel's arrival, you were sure it was more than just your loud mouth. You were always on edge, and ready to fight people for what you needed- for Christ sake, you lived outside of the walls for ten years, you couldn't have been any different. It probably also didn't help that you hooked up with a married man or two, but that's besides the point.

You and Joel were partners, not literally, but the two of you had been teamed up for a while. You met at the Boston QZ when Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, had tasked the both of you to move 'precious cargo'. You grew close to Joel, and eventually Ellie. After arriving at Jackson, Ellie had separated herself a bit from Joel and you, but you two remained tied at the hip, despite what everyone thought about it.

People had suspected and assumed what was happening between you and Joel, that you two were a couple and you were cheating on him with married men. First of all, the two of you weren't together, and second of all, those men wanted to fuck you, not the other way around. You and Joel had only laughed off the allegations, not really giving a shit about what anyone else thought about the two of you.

The two of you were completely drenched, right through your clothes, when you arrived at the place you had planned to visit, a Walgreens. Well, an outdated Walgreens. You could tell the place was still stocked with food after twenty years, there were just a few runners the two of you had to get rid of. You two were at the back of the Walgreens, the employee entrance. "Do we have to go in?" You asked, "I wanna stay out and dance in the rain!" You had to have your voice raised a bit, the water muting many of the room tone-like sounds.

He checked the clip in his pistol, before shoving it back in. "Y'ur actin' like we ain't gonna have all the time in the world to dance in there, plum." You hated that, plum. First of all, he knew you absolutely hated the name, second of all, plums were your least favourite fruit. "I'll feed you to those runners if y'ain't careful." You threatened him.

Joel shook his head, knowing you wouldn't do anything. It was funny, really, you saying you would hurt him. He found it cute if anything. "Ya' know what to do in there, you get one'n I'll get the others." You nodded your head as Joel silently opened the door. The three runners in there turned their head and screamed, immediately running to the two of you. They spared you some time, though, from tripping over everything in the way.

Joel went first, shooting at the one that had flew over for him. It went down without a fight, and you had leaped over its body in a careful matter. You were better in hand-to-hand combat, so you had your machete swinging to cut half a head off of the runner. When the runner you had killed fell to the floor, another gunshot and body drop was heard from where Joel was. You turned to see all three down, Joel almost grinning. "Too easy, eh?"

You shook your head, your eyes rolling. "Alright pretty boy," You said, "Help me drag 'em outside." He holstered his weapon, sliding a sly 'yes ma'am' to you before helping, knowing that would drive you crazy. It did, though you chose to ignore it. The two of you were very flirty with each other, it was a second nature in all honesty. Though, you didn't mind it, Joel was anything but ugly.

He helped you bring the former-runners outside, it only took a couple minutes - you two didn't want to go back outside, but you had to do what needed to get done. Once the two of you were finished, Joel had locked the door, which meant the two of you were stuck in here for a while. "Did the list get destroyed?" You questioned him, as he searched through his bag. Joel, not long after, took out a small piece of paper with a grin on his face. "All good."

Not too long after, you were down one aisle, Joel the one beside. You decided to sort of split up, and efficiently scavenge for what you needed to get. You two wanted to keep this place on the downlow, in case things ever went south in Jackson and you needed a place to take Ellie to. It was perfect, really, despite the few runners that were here previously. Food, water, medicine, shelter, everything you needed when the world was in this state.

The two of you were in comfortable silence, until you broke it. "Joel?" You had called out, a small 'hm?' being returned from him not long after. "What type of, uh- lotion did she want? There's forty different kinds." Your eyes scanned the shelf, reading every different label. Ellie had promised you that she wouldn't tell anyone about yours or Joel's whereabouts if you picked her up this certain type of lotion, one to help her bite be less itchy, or something.

"Uh," He began, "Nivea? 'M not sure." Your eyes scanned the shelf once more, before picking up the bottle and sliding it in your bag. It almost slipped out of your hands, you were still completely drenched from the shitty weather outside. Just as you were about to leave that aisle, and join Joel at his, something caught your eye. This is perfect, you thought to yourself, you needed a good laugh and this would crack you up.

You reached for the wrapped box, "Joel?" You had called out once more. You heard shifting around from the other side, "What is it?" He replied. You threw the box over to his side, putting your hand over your mouth as you tried to muffle your laughs. The thud of the box hitting the floor was the only other sound, other than you laughing of course.

"Really?" Was heard from the other side, "Condoms? Real fuckin' mature o'you." This sent you through the roof, honestly. Maybe it was the lack of sleep you had been getting for the last few weeks, or that this was genuinely ridiculous, but you just bursted out with laughter. Let the whole world hear you, you thought to yourself, who cares.

"I'm sorry!" You had exclaimed in between laughs, "It was too fuckin' funny not to!" You slipped past into Joel's aisle, looking for him. He wasn't there. Your laughs calmed down, "Joel?" You drug out the last part of his name, curiously stepping forward. As soon as you did that, you felt arms wrap around you and pick you up. Not arms of a clicker, no, but arms that felt too familiar to your waist.

Joel spun you around, his chin resting in the crook of your neck from behind. The roles were reversed, he was now the one with the laughing fit and you were the unamused one. You had let a few 'let me go!'s escape your lips, trying your best to stay upset, though it didn't work for long. Joel set you down after a few more spins, trying his best not to fall over from the dizziness.

Things between the two of you were complicated, you hooked up all the time but were nothing official. It felt weird, making things official during a time like this. Nobody wanted to care for someone too much, since they didn't know what tomorrow would bring. It was a mutual feeling, you were sure of it, you just didn't know what to do about it.

"I hated that." You flatly-as-possible said that to him, as you turned and faced him. He met your gaze, you could stare into his eyes all day. "That's what you get." He had simply replied to you with, this earned a confused look and a raised eyebrow from you, "Excuse me?" Joel could only hold his smile back, "They were too small, should've at least thrown over the right size."

For fuck sakes, Joel Miller. You slapped him on the shoulder after he broke the shared gaze and walked off, yelling a 'Christ, Joel!' as you chased after him. He drove you crazy, and he knew that. Not a bad crazy, not anything close to that. Whatever crazy it may be, it was mutual.

With another hour of scavenging under the two of yours' belts, you both grew tired. You were still wet from outside, your hair had started to dry, though. Both Joel and you had found an upstairs to the grocery store, it looked to be an employee break room or something like that. You had brought up a few blankets, candles and matches, and a change of clothes. You had set up the candles around your room, not as a romantic gesture, but as a light source. Obviously the power wasn't working, and the two of you needed to see what you were doing.

Joel had set up the blankets by the time the last candle was lit, a proud look to his face. You took notice, as you shrugged off your bag and bent down to untie your boots. "You're a great blanket-layer, Mister Miller." He tsked when you had said that, "No need to remind me." He took notice of you starting to unzip your pants, and push them down. He rose his brow, waiting for you to explain what you were doing.

You took notice of this after you had removed your pants, and stood back up to get your shirt, "What? I'm soaked." Joel had completely forgot about that, in all honesty. His clothes were soaked through as well, no doubt in that, he was just too caught up in the moment with you that he had pushed it to the side. He had removed his shirt as you took yours off, if someone else was to see this, they would definitely think something else was happening.

You two had stripped down to just your undergarments and towel-dried yourselves off. God bless Walgreens for carrying everything, you had thought to yourself. In no time, the two of you were dressed back up in comfortable clothes for the time being, making an unspoken decision that you guys would spend the night.

You were the first one to lay down on top of the blankets Joel had set up, Joel was looking through his bag for something. "Can we just stay here forever, you'n me?" You asked, eyes closed and sprawled out. He could only chuckle in response, "What 'bout Ellie?" Shit, you had forgotten about her. You were too caught up being with just Joel that you had forgot Ellie was at home, probably wondering where the fuck the two of you were. "Pass me the walkie," You asked, "Let me call her."

That was what you did, you went onto the right channel and began talking into the walkie talkie. It took a minute or two until you actually got a response from Ellie. She had made sure you two were fine, and not 'absolutely fucking deceased' (her words, not yours). With much reassurance and whatnot, you soon bid your farewells to her, and had promised you would be back the following day. Ellie had also made the comment saying not to 'come back knocked up', sounding like your mother. This earned Joel to yell at her from the background, but only made you laugh. You loved that kid, like your own.

You placed the walkie down, moving to one side of the not-so-bed bed. "Joel," You groaned, "Hurry up, I'm freezing." You complained. You were in wet clothes for hours, you were bound to be frostbitten at this point. Joel was your heat source for tonight, though he didn't mind, not one bit. With you basically cuddled up to him the entire night, it brought ease to him sleeping.

He shortly lay down beside you, stretching his arm out which had only caused you to lay on his chest. He was chewing something, it smelled too familiar. "What're you eating?" You had hummed, a yawn following your question. "Dried plum." He only replied, doing everything in his power to suppress his grin.

You shook your head, well, as much as you could with your head laying on Joel's chest. "Where the fuck did you even get dried out plums? That's the stupidest thing ever." Joel didn't think it was, plums were his favourite fruit- he wouldn't say anything about that, though, not yet. If you didn't want to eat any plums, he would help you out. This was another case of the olive theory. "One of Maria's friends does 'em, seriously, you should try 'em."

You bickered with him about it for a moment, dropping it the next. Joel loved when you bickered with him, it made you two sound like an old, married couple- though you weren't, not yet. He loved how you would rant on about your hate for plums, or what you had done during the day throughout Jackson. He was just happy to be finally alone with you, not being able to handle anymore time spent not by your side.

—

finally alone, mac demarco

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

Text

flawless, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — joel miller comes to you hurt and in pain, after realizing that you are the only one that he can find peace with - you're there to welcome him with open arms.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, boston qz era!joel, gender neutral!reader, no use of y/n, frenemies to lovers type trope, angsty to fluff, mentions of blood/injuries/death (lightly mentioned), joel being so sappy i love it, swearing, cute ending. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.9k

a/n: i hope u love this as much as i do. i've been meaning to write it for a while, and it's a bit of a diff style from my writing but i love how it turned out! make sure to reblog, like, comment and follow for more! xoxo

—

It had to have been three in the morning by now. When Joel said he was going to be at your place by seven, you believed him. He was a man of his word after all - or at least ninety nine percent of the time he was. He had told you this morning that he was heading outside of the walls after his shift at the "graveyard" (the nickname given to where the bodies of infected were burned), and he would be back just after sunset. You had protested to join him on his well-travelled route, but he had forbid you from going with him. Despite not going with him, he had promised to swing by your place once he was back and drop off any goods he may have scavenged while out.

You weren't sure why he wouldn't agree to let you come, it wasn't like he was your father, or brother, or boyfriend - you guys were friends. Sure, the two of you had hooked up every so often, but that gives him no right to make decisions for you, about what you can do or where you can go. It's the zombie apocalypse for Christ sake, you can do what you want when you want.

You had been up for an extra few hours, it was way past the time you would usually be asleep. You were waiting for that knock on the door, you were waiting for the bickers on why you were awake and waiting for his return, you were waiting for Joel. In all honesty, you weren't sure why you were up. Maybe it was the thought in the back of your head that he was dead, or stranded alone somewhere far outside of the walls.

You had to shake those gruesome thoughts out of your head as you were forced up and toward your window, having to close it due to the newly started rain. As soon as the window was shut, the sounds of pitter-patter were echoed through your entire apartment, the only thing it did was put you on edge. He was probably at home, you thought to yourself, thinking it was too late to bother you and that he would see you first thing tomorrow. You could only hope for that.

You had decided it would be best to go and sit down on your sofa, the one in front of the TV that hadn't worked for twenty something years. It wouldn't hurt you if you remained up for the next little bit, just in case. In case there would be a knock on your door, in case he showed up. You took a seat on the well weared in part of the sofa, kicking your shoes off and cuddling up to the blanket covering the arm. It wouldn't hurt you if you stayed up waiting with your eyes shut, would it?

It was a quarter to five when a few sets of knocks went off at your door. You had shot up from the light rest you had fallen into, mentally cursing yourself for not being able to stay up. Was it Joel? You really shouldn't be caring this much about him, or this situation. You were sure it wasn't anything serious, but this is what friends do for each other, right?

You had gotten up as quick as you could, tripping over your shoes and almost face planting on the ground. Without spending any time to worry about it, you moved over to the door. Whoever it was on the other side, Joel or not, mustn’t have heard you make your way over to the door since there was another set of desperate knocks. It felt like an eternity while you undid all four locks, before swinging it open.

Your eyes could only fall into the gaze of the grey ones in front of you. You weren't sure if he was crying, or if the paths under his eyes were extra watery from the torrential downpour happening outside (though, you wouldn't question him about it). Your eyes had scanned over his saddened face, to the puddle of water beneath his shoes. Your hand had automatically found its way to cup his cheek, your thumb running over his skin as gentle as possible, "Fuck, Joel."

You could feel him soften his muscles when you did this, despite his facial expression remaining neutral, "I gotta come in." He had mumbled, just loud enough for you to hear. You had immediately dropped your hand from his face, and moved out of the doorframe, allowing Joel to enter. It was only when the dull light from your candle lit lamp engulfed Joel that you could really see what had happened to him.

A black eye, a busted lip, small bruises littered around every masculine feature he had. You were going to kill whoever did this to him. "I got clothes that'll fit you, hold on." You had turned and shuffled your way into your room, digging through the drawers when you had reached them. You had a pair of black sweatpants that were too big on you, but would most likely fit Joel. Before leaving the room, you swiped a shirt that was laying in the pile of clean clothes off to the side.

You emerged not long after, seeing the barely-clothed man remove his last sock off his right foot. You two were past the point of being embarrassed in front of each other, you had learned to adapt due to the many years spent surviving together. As you walked past Joel, toward the kitchen, you shoved the clothes into his arms. You wanted to give him a little privacy, so he could hold onto his pride, if he managed to have any left.

Making your way into the kitchen, you immediately got out a mug from your tiny mug collection, and turned the gas-powered stove top on. Placing the mug beside the stove, you had brought over a little pot and dumped an entire bottle of water into it. It didn't take long for the water to boil, so once it was done, you immediately put it in the mug labeled "World's Best Boss" and started to scavenge. You hadn't opened the box of tea you were looking for, you wanted to save it for a special occasion. Tonight was special enough, right?

You had found it after a moment of searching, taking a packet out of the box and moving back over to the living room. Your eyes fell on the emptiness of the sofa, the man nowhere to be found. He couldn't have left, you didn't hear the door open or close. Just before you were going to call out for him, he walked out of the darkness (his limp more noticeable than before). "Put the clothes'n y'ur bath tub, didn't want the floor all wet for ya' to clean." His voice was hoarse.

You shot him an almost unapologetic look as you placed the mug down, dropping the tea bag inside. "Stop worryin' 'bout that, now sit down and let me help." For once in his life, Joel Miller kept quiet and did what you told him. You had wished it would be under different circumstances, but a win is a win. "Now," You began, "I know you like coffee, but this was all I could find."

It had to taken Joel a moment before he realized that there was a warm drink waiting for him, his nose too stuffed to have taken in the scent. It had been a while since Joel had something warm to drink, a while since someone's cared enough about him to make him something like that. Even though he despised any sort of drink other than coffee (and water, of course), he would not complain about this. Not now, not ever. He reached forward for the mug, carefully bringing it back to his lap. "Best boss, hm?"

You could only giggle as you were now opposite of Joel, instead of being on the couch, you had pushed it away and were digging on the floor. Months ago, you had figured out there were two layers of wood that divided you and the person who occupied the apartment below you. That space served as a cubby, so you figured why not use it for its purpose? "You're gonna be jumpin' with joy, Joel Miller." He looked puzzled, trying his best to ignore the immense pounding that came from everywhere in his body. That's when he caught glimpse of what you were holding, headache medicine.

Sure, headache medicine was some measly little thing that probably didn't work as well as it used to anymore, not many people would bat an eye at it before the apocalypse. But now, it was gold. People were sentenced to the firing squad if any guard in the QZ found out about medicine that wasn't recorded, since it was so scarce. "Why the fuck do you have that?" Was all Joel could say, forgetting about himself for a moment, and worrying about you. That's what friends do, right?

"For emergencies like this." You had gotten up from the floor, kicking the wooden plank back into its home before moving over to Joel. You had opened the cap, taking out four. Four would send you into the doctors office if you took them before they expired, but since they expired twenty years ago, they only worked half (if you were lucky) of what they usually would. You had reached out for Joel's hand and placed the pills in there, "Drink tea with'em to help them go down easier."

He listened to you, silent for a moment. After he had swallowed the mouthful (literally) of pills, he broke silence. "I don't want you runnin' 'round'n gettin' shit like that." He was referring to the pills, "You know what happens if ya' get caught." How could even talk this much with a busted lip, you thought to yourself. You repeated the 'if ya' get caught' part to him as you slipped away once more into the kitchen.

Joel called your name out a few times as you left, leaning farther back into the couch each time. By you talking to him, he was distracted. Distracted from the crushing headache, the horrible tension that rose to his lips every time words were escaping from his mouth, the pain throughout his body. He would tell you what happened, when you came back, but only if you asked.

You returned with a small bowl and a rag, something to clean up his face (and anywhere under the clothes he may want cleaned). You sat down beside Joel, on the sofa, "Lay down." He looked confused, not really understanding what you had meant. Not wanting to waste anymore time with those open wounds leaking every so often, you grabbed his shoulders and forcefully (yet carefully) brought him down so his head was rested in your lap.

You could tell that it hurt Joel when you did that by the small grunts he had managed to let escape his lips. You didn't mean to hurt him, not at all, but you couldn't deal with any bickering if he decided to start now. "So, Mister Miller," You began, dipping the rag into the bowl, "How did you get your shit rocked so badly?"

He wasn't impressed by the way you put it, shooting you a quick glare, "Runners." Was all he said. Runners? How could runners do this to him? A million thoughts ran through your head, but you quickly cut yourself short. "Are you-" Joel knew what you were asking, was he bit? "No." He responded, a bit too quick, before continuing his short, yet descriptive, story, "Was with a few people ya'dunno, came across Runners out in a building, they all turned on me'n tried to get out." He paused for a moment, "Four'o them plus two runners on me, would've killed 'em myself if the runners didn't get 'em first."

You could tell Joel was hesitant to tell you, thinking you would see him as weak. No, far from that actually. You could only think highly of the man laying in your lap, for he's how you were thriving in this apocalypse. You brought the dampened rag to the gash on his cheek, he jumped as it was alcohol, and not water, "Don't beat yourself up too much for it," Joel flinched at the stinging sensation, "Your secret's safe with me."

Joel had crossed his arms, his hands brushing past your thighs. You felt as if they lingered too long, maybe it wasn't a passing matter. He's comfortable with you, you know that. This is what friends do, right? You had assessed the other wounds on his face, almost all disinfected completely. The bowl of alcohol now having a slight red tone to it.

After a moment, Joel broke the comfortable silence the two of you were in, "I shouldn't have came. Wastin' all y'ur supplies'n all." This didn't impress you, so Joel had earned a slight slap on his shoulder. "Just let me take care of you, god dammit. How many times have you done it for me?" He was silent after that, knowing. Countless times, after roudy street fights for ration cards, Joel had cleaned you up. Cleaned the blood from your face and stitched the deep gashes that would appear. You were only returning the favour, because that's what friends do.

"Plus," You added now, "we can just scavenge more stuff the next time we take a vacation from this place." If you taking out medicine for him didn't piss him off, this sure as hell did. Without thinking, he reached forward and grabbed your wrist, the wrist that was cleaning up his purpled lip. "Ya' ain't goin' out there, not now, not ever." You had shooed his hand off from you, brushing the comment off, "Can't protect me forever, boss. What's a little fun anyway?" You shouldn't have had the playful grin on your face, but you couldn't help yourself.

Joel could only give you an unhappy look, knowing that you couldn't be stopped with it, as much as he might've tried. He wasn't in the mood to fight you, he wasn't ever really in the mood to fight you. Joel had sat up without a warning, almost causing whatever was left in the bowl to go flying. This earned a whack from you.

"Uhm, ow." He muttered, maybe you shouldn't have done that, added to his pain and all. "Gotta get goin', though." He didn't want to say that, you could tell. It was the tone that he said it in. You could only meet his gaze for a moment, "Stay the night." When someone was hurting like this, how could you say no. How could you turn your best friend away, and let him go home, when he wasn't okay?

You weren't expecting Joel to agree to stay, or at least not cave in without any convincing. It was strange, really, he was acting different. It had to have been the drugs that you had given him, you thought to yourself, maybe it had something that made you nicer to the people you're close with.

You had helped the man up, and left the dirty rag on the table. That was tomorrow (well, when you woke up)'s problem. You took his arm and wrapped it around your shoulders, helping him walk better. You would mother him about his limp and legs when he was recovered. Joel was holding onto you as he moved in sync with you to your room.

Once you got there, you had let go of him. He looked at you for a moment, before turning away. "Can ya', uh, help with my shirt?" He asked. You could only nod your head, maybe a bit too quick for your liking. "Yeah, o'course." Then, following what you just agreed to do, you grabbed the hems of the shirt Joel was wearing and helped to slide it off of him. This is what friends do, right?

You tried your best not to stare, you really did, but the marks on his chest pulled you in. After taking a moment longer to let your eyes linger, you pulled away and helped him under the comforter. "I'll take care'o those tomorrow." You had turned to make your way the door, to sleep on the couch, to give Joel as much space as he could. He grabbed your wrist, though, before you were able to get too far from him. "Can you, er, stay?"

Joel wasn't looking at you when he asked that, he was looking anywhere but. You wanted to stay, really did you, but you felt like you couldn't. "Listen, Joel, I want to, bu-" You were cut off by him interrupting you, "Please." Please. Joel Miller doesn't say please. This took you almost by shock, but you tried not to show it. You only nodded your head, and moved over to the other side of the bed.

You could feel Joel watching your every move, but you didn't care at this moment. You removed your pants, but kept your shirt undergarments on. You would call today a day of victories, not for Joel, but for you. He had listened to you so much, and didn't fight it. You wish it was under different circumstances, but a win is a win. You knew he wasn't up to his usual par, but it still counted.

It happened with a blink of an eye. First you were hesitant to get into the bed with him, not wanting any mixed signals to be sent at the current moment, next you were laying right beside him, and his current good arm wrapped around your waist. If Joel was happy, you were happy. The sounds of rain made it better, made it more peaceful for Joel. He could relax, and take his mind off of the pain he was feeling. This is what friends do for each other.

—

flawless, the neighbourhood

464 notes · View notes

chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

Text

best friend, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — joel miller, the person you care most for, ventures outside of the walls with you for your birthday gift, and has the best surprise waiting for you at the nicest spot in boston.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, boston qz era!joel, loverboy!joel, female!reader, fluff fluff and more fluff, joel being an absolute sweetheart as per usual, very brief mentions of death (like twice), swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.3k

a/n: guys i started playing tlou and im obsessed. its acc bad like my obsession keeps growing and growing. make sure to like, comment, reblog and follow for more! make sure to send requests in. xoxo

—

It was a week since your birthday. Being a year older than before didn't really change how you felt or acted, or hadn't brought new responsibilities to your daily life (not yet, at least). The one thing it did, though, was remind you how far into the apocalypse you were. Twenty years, god it felt like eternities. This apocalypse had only brought one good thing to your life (well, two if we consider the amount of free time you had gained), and that was Joel Miller.

Joel was like your unspoken best friend, you two met years ago and had just clicked instantly. Though, at the start, it was more of a 'i despise you with everything' type of clicking, but you two had a little enemies-to-friends dynamic in the long run. You were a couple years younger than Joel, so maybe he felt the need to keep you safe- you weren't really sure, you just knew he had an almost soft spot for you.

As your birthday gift this year, he had promised to sneak you out of the walls and you two would enjoy a couple days roaming the god-awful city of Boston (Joel's words, not yours). You were excited, more than excited, it had been months since the two of you were outside the walls together.

Joel went frequently with some girl named Tess, you had met her a handful of times but she wasn't really a big fan of you. Joel and her had ran some sort of underground black market for weapons, or so you've heard.

Anyway, the two of you (you and Joel) had snuck out late last night to avoid any alert guards. You had remembered the way to get out of the Boston QZ through the sewers, but Joel didn't think you were capable of it. He had lead the two of you out, with many roadblocks and detours which took hours to leave. The two of you were just leaving the tight corridors.

"Joel," You had began, moving through years of fermented water, "I will actually die from the smell if we don't get out soon. You will be liable for my de-" He had cut you off as he turned the corner, "Stop worryin', princess. We're almost out'ta' here." Princess, you hated to admit it, but you loved the nickname. You couldn't even remember when or why it started, but you definitely weren't complaining.

You could finally see the daylight, and with no time you were jumping down from the disgusting sewers, and onto a nice spot of concrete. "Oh- my god!" You breathed in the fresh (well, sort of) air, air you haven't smelled in months. "This is great! Best birthday gift ever." You spun around with your arms out, like you were in some sort of cliché coming-of-age movie.

While you were too caught up in the moment, and had a few too many spins, you found yourself growing dizzy and tripping over your own feet. Thankfully, Joel was there to catch you. As he caught you, you had locked eyes with him for a little too long. He set you back on your feet with his hand lingering for an extra moment as you thanked him. Maybe if you weren't too focused on this, you wouldn't have noticed it.

The two of you had been walking for a few hours now, the sun threatening to spill from the horizon. Joel had made it clear to you that he had scoped out the perfect spot, and made sure it was safe for the two of you, even though you had argued that thrill was brought when checking out new places, to Joel's dismay.

"Okay," Joel had said in a gruffy-life tone, his voice was hoarse from all the chatting, "Pancakes or waffles?" You had almost acted taken aback from his question. You found it almost ridiculous that Joel didn't know, "Are you kidding, cowboy? How long have ya' known me?" The two of you had a synced laugh, both faces being engulfed with a large smile, "Y'ur right, y'ur right." Joel had admitted defeat, "Pancakes, I know."

The two of you shared so many more laughs and questions within the next while, just before the two of you had arrived at Joel's perfect spot. He had walked into the building first, to make sure everything had remained how he left it - clickerless. It was, and he gave you the cue to enter inside with him. You had looked around, after all the hype, it was sort of- ugly.

"This is where you're taking me?" You had questioned the man in front of you with your right brow raised, and he could only chuckle in response. "'Course not, princess. Ya' know I wouldn't take the birthday girl to some sort'ta bar. I'm a classy gentleman." Joel had folded his arm, signalling you to hook yours onto his. You took this opportunity and brought your arm through his. You had held onto his bicep as he led you two up the stairs, letting go once you both reached the top.

He had opened the door for the two of you, and let you enter first. He had cleaned up some sort of rooftop terrace that overlooked downtown Boston, the QZ in the far distance. "Jesus Christ, cowboy. You really outdid yourself, huh?" You turned to eye the man beside you, an idea sparking in your head.

Right as Joel went to reply to you with some sort of snarky remark (you just knew he would), you jumped into his arms, and wrapped yours around his neck. You had muttered about a thousand 'thank you's into his ear, just loud enough for him to hear. Joel was the one you cared about in this world, the only one you've been caring about for as long as you can remember. And by the looks (and feels) of it, he cared about you too.

A little bit of time had gone by since the sweet interaction between you and Joel had happened, the both of you had decided it would be fun to explore the building a little more, more in depth rather than anything. It was a great way to scavenge for things to take back home with you, anything from a nice frame to overly expired medicines that could maybe help you in the slightest way.

You and Joel lived together, back in the QZ. When the two of you had arrived, the head of living regulations people had housed you guys together since that's how you guys arrived. There wasn't any complaining, though, from both sides. You two were living with each other outside the walls, so why have it any different inside the walls?

You were in a few rooms down from Joel, searching through a few cabinets. Your hands fell upon a little glass jar with a lid, before pulling it down and popping the lid off. The immediate scent of warm vanilla and sandalwood flooded through your nose, and filled the room. "Joel!" You had called out in a frantic tone, when in reality you were just so excited. Finally, you thought to yourself, it wouldn't smell like death in your apartment anymore.

Joel had came bursting in, "You okay? What happened?" He looked panicked, his revolver out of the holster and in his right hand. You could only have a puzzled look on your face, before you realized why he was acting a bit strange. "Sorry, everythin's fine. But- smell this!" You had shoved the glass jar in his face, confusing him even more.

Once Joel had finally processed what was going on with you, he took a whiff of the candle. "No." He flat out said, "I'ain smellin' that any longer than I got to." He holstered the revolver before stepping back, and out of the room. "Please!" You begged. A firm 'no' was heard from down the hallway by your favourite person, which had only resulted in a loud groan from you.

“Sit.” Joel had tossed his bag on the red and white checkered blanket, it was laying right beside the edge of the terrace. Not the edge-edge, but right before where the building had started to dip off. You and Joel had done some more exploring, and more playing around (a serious pillow fight, where Joel had somehow won against you), before the two of you grew tired and made your way back up top.

Joel had set up a nice, lamp-lit, picnic area for the dinner he had claimed he prepared for tonight. You knew he was not any five star chef by any means, the best thing he could make was reheating canned ravioli (that he nine out of the ten times burnt horribly), so you were interested to see how this was going to go.

You had dropped your backpack on top of Joel’s and (carefully) collapsed onto the barely cushioned cloth. “Feels nice to get off my feet after the ungodly amount of walking we did earlier.” You complained, like you weren’t jumping with joy earlier to be able to get out of the walls after this long, “What did we walk, a thousand miles?” Joel could only shake his head as he cautiously, and slowly, sat down. “Quit complainin’, ‘nd pass me the bag.” You complied and tossed it to him.

“What gourmet meal have you prepared tonight? Let me guess-” You were cut off by Joel slapping your shoulder, basically telling you to shut the fuck up. He had unzipped his backpack and took out a plastic bag, filled with- “Sandwiches! You’ve really outdone yourself, cowboy!” He tried his best to hold back his laughs, but managed to let one or two slip through his stern look. “Peanut butter’n banana.” Joel had told you, reaching in the bag and handing the one without crust to you.

You didn’t realize that Joel paid attention to you when you talked about anything and everything that came to your mind. One night, when Joel had came back from his painfully long duties of halling and burning bodies at the QZ, you couldn’t stop talking his ear off. He was probably annoyed as fuck at you, and just wanted to sleep, but you told him about everything. Two of the many things you had told Joel was that your favourite sandwich ever was peanut butter and banana, and that you would only eat sandwiches if they had zero crust on them. And he remembered, after all this time.

“Joel, you big fuckin’ softie.” You took a bite into the uncrusted sandwich, savouring everything about it. You could kiss him right now, you really could. “I cannot believe you remembered!” You had said with a mouthful. He had already bit into his portion of dinner, raising his brow. Joel had swallowed the piece of sandwich in his mouth, “What did I tell ya’ ‘bout talkin’ with y’ur mouth full, hm?” You had shot Joel a look, only causing a laugh to escape his lips.

The two of you talked (yes, talking and eating at the same time) for the next while. The hours had gone by so fast, the sun now threatened to fall back under the horizon. Earlier you had been sitting across from Joel, now you were laying on his chest with his arm wrapped around your shoulder. The two of you were laying in comfortable silence for the last little bit, bellies full. You had shifted around a little bit, under Joel’s arm- this caused him to break the comfortable silence. “You enjoy today?” You could only nod your head, “More than enjoying it. It’s been the best day in god knows how long.”

Before he said anything else, Joel had gently placed you to the side as he sat up and reached to the side, for his bag. You groaned, previously in a comfortable position. “Joel- come on, man! I was this close on fallin’ asleep.” Joel ignored you as he pulled out a little box from the main pocket in his bag. He tossed it over and in your lap.

You raised your brow as you read the label, ‘Happy Birthday Princess, From Joel’. You couldn’t believe it, this was the nicest Joel had been to you, ever. “A birthday present?” You questioned as you looked at him, waiting for a response. “Open it.” Was all he said. You tore your gaze off of the man beside you, and to the box in your lap. You carefully ripped the brown paper (makeshift wrapping paper) off of the box, to reveal what was underneath.

“No fucking way, Joel!” Your face lit up, it was a polaroid camera. This was another one of your late night rants to him, how you loved to take pictures and wish you had something to capture moments. This man was a godsend, you thought to yourself. You had immediately opened the box, (carefully) ripping the camera out. “C’mere.”

Joel had started to move over, going to sit beside you. Within a blink of an eye, the flash went off and a picture was taken. A grin rose to your face as Joel was temporarily blinded, muttering a line of curse words under his breath. “What a cutie!” You had shoved the picture in his face, too close for him to see. “This is my new favourite thing ever, I swear! Thank you.” Not bothering to curse you out for blinding him, Joel had smiled. “Thought I was your favourite thing?” He questioned, his brow cocked back. “Eh,” You said, “You’re a close second.”

You two stayed the night at the rooftop terrace, you were sleeping like a rock while Joel pretty much kept watch, a force of habit from when the two of you were out on your own before. He was relieved when the day was over, at peace knowing you had a great time. When morning were to come, you would shower Joel in your thanks once again, for helping you have the best birthday in these twenty years of the apocalypse. Joel was your best friend, and that’s what best friends do for each other, even in the midst of an apocalypse.

—

best friend, laufey

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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sunshine, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — after getting lost on your little getaway, out by yourself, help is on the way once your situationship - joel miller - gets wind of it.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson era!joel, f!reader, angst into fluff!, (almost)smut at the end - hints to it, joel being caring for you, mentions of guns, swearing, joel being husband material as usual. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: i got HEAVILY inspired from the lyrics behind sunshine (steve lacy/fousheé) for this, its also my first go at a little angsty vibe so i hope u love it as much as i do. remember to like, comment, reblog and follow for more! send in requests. xoxo

—

It had been weeks since you last saw him. You felt bad, you really did- you just couldn't bring yourself to love him and then lose him like you did with everyone else. This world was so cruel to you, you didn't want it to be any crueler. Not anymore. You had been through so much in the last few years, that you were now holding on with a thread, and the thread was thinning out even more. You didn’t tell him that you didn’t want to be with him, no, you told him that you just needed time to- think it through. He seemed more than happy with the decision when it happened, it just (sort of) backfired after.

You found out it had gotten bad after you talked with Ellie last. Over the period of time you two were together, you grew closer to her - she trusted you, and you trusted her. Ellie had told you that Joel was always locked in his room, other than when he had work. He would skip meals every so often, but it was something that didn’t bug her (it bugged you, though). After she had told you all of this, she made you swear under the non-existent god (her words, not yours) that you would never tell Joel. You promised, of course, but this made you nothing short but scared, scared for him.

You and Joel worked together, that was how you met in the first place. You were both on the more-experienced end of the patrollers unit throughout Jackson, and often went outside of the walls together. That had changed, though. A few days after you had loosened (not ended) the ties with Joel, you had been assigned to a new sub-unit by Tommy Miller (Joel’s younger brother), one that wouldn’t intertwine with Joel’s at all. You weren’t sure if he had said something (you really hoped he hadn’t, you couldn’t deal with any pre-apocalyptic drama anymore), or if it was just the world doing you guys a solid.

You were close with Tommy’s wife, Maria, so you had somehow convinced her to let you take a small trip outside the walls by yourself, to scavenge for supplies and what not. You told her you knew the outside area like the back of your hand, and you weren’t all wrong. It was just- well, you didn’t know it off the top of your head, you knew it through a map (that was something you’d never tell Maria, though). She made you promise her that you would radio her if anything went down while you were out, anything ranging from getting lost to coming across unfamiliar people. That’s where you found yourself right now.

You left the walls two days ago, and now you were lost. You had lost your map after having to kill a clicker late the night before, and couldn’t find it no matter how hard you looked. Though, you only looked for about an hour- you had to get out of the area quickly, because if there was one clicker, there was bound to be others. You now found yourself in the living room of a house you had cleared out earlier in the day, praying to whoever was above that someone would answer the radio call.

“This is- it’s me, Maria,” Your hand was holding down the side button, as a sigh was heard across this station, “I’m lost, I should’ve listened, my coordinates are-” You had listed off the rough points, admitting defeat. Maybe this was the universe’s way of telling you that you needed to move on and start off fresh. Hell, you thought to yourself, this was a damn good way of Mother Nature telling you to leave those people behind, if that was her goal. You waited a moment before flipping through the channels, having absolutely nothing else to do but this. It was still radio silence throughout all of the twenty-some odd channels. You decided to give yourself an ultimatum, if no signs were shown by the morning, you’d move on for the better.

You had fallen asleep not long after you gave yourself the ultimatum. You only realized that after your brain woke itself up god knows how long after. Your body was nowhere near waking up, this had to have been the best sleep you had gotten in weeks, after everything that happened with Joel. You weren’t a cliche person, no way. But, you knew you hurt Joel, even if he refused to show it ever. You felt like shit for doing it, you really did, but maybe he would’ve figured out that it was for the better (sooner or later, at least).

Speaking of figuring it out, you had figured that you better get up. It was probably around nine or so in the morning, and you had already slept in far too late. You shifted around on the floor, where your makeshift (not really) bed was, before you heard breathing. Not your breathing, no, but something- someone else. If you weren’t fully awake before, you sure as hell were now. You didn’t open your eyes, but you shifted once more, you had a pistol in your back pocket that you had to get out. As you tried your very best to shift as normal as one could in their sleep, you finally reached the pistol. You hand wrapped around the body, and finger hovering the trigger, before shooting up and ripping the pistol out of your pocket. Your eyes were translucent-like right now, which meant you weren’t able to see properly who was in front of you. It was only by the tone of the voice that gave the person away, “Now cowgirl, what’d I teach ya’ ‘bout pointin’ guns at people ya’ know?”

It was him, it was Joel Miller. With the gun still pointed at him, a million thoughts started to race through your head. Why was he here? How did he find out? How did he get here so fucking quick? Though, your thoughts were cut short when your pistol was ripped out of your right hand- and you just let it be. You rubbed your eyes, finally able to lay your eyes across the man in front of you. He looked like he had lost a bit of weight in his face, but his hair was still curly and untamed, his muscles still threatened to strip the seams out of his shirt, his eyes were still- no, you thought to yourself, you couldn’t and shouldn’t be thinking like this.

“You shouldn’t be here, Joel. Not after what happened.” You immediately shot up, not letting your eyes linger for a second longer. He was sat, leaning against the door frame into the kitchen. His rifle was resting against his knees, the safety on since he knew you wouldn’t do anything. “What? Just ‘cause we- doesn’t matter.” He muttered, “Ya’ called, and I came’n checked on my colleague.” A colleague? It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, when he said that. You had to ignore it and keep your guard high, it wasn’t like you if you didn’t.

“How the fuck did ya’ get the radio station? It was only for Maria.” You had gotten up, honestly just wanting to leave. Even after feeling like the shittiest person on earth for distancing yourself from Joel, you would’ve preferred anyone else to answer the call for help. As you made your way to the entrance of the kitchen, just beside to where Joel was sitting, he put his rifle up and covered your path. “Made ya’ somethin’ to eat, missy. Ya’ still eat y’ur eggs over easy?” This set you off, almost. Why was he being so nice to you, after everything you did to him?

You pushed your way through his rifle and into the kitchen, the smell of freshly cooked eggs, something you hadn’t smelled in god knows how long, came passing through your nose. Joel always treated you right, you didn’t deny that. You had heard the man in the other room getting up, so you quickly ripped off a piece of the over easy egg and shoved it in your mouth. He would’ve obviously seen you had taken a bite, but you wanted to hold onto the little bit of pride you had left. “Listen,” Joel had began as you turned to face him, he was leaning against the frame, “I’ain here to rehash anythin’, just wanted to make sure everythin’ was alright.”

It wasn’t before, but why did it feel like it was now? You shouldn’t have been feeling like that, you thought to yourself. You should be running away and pushing him farther away from you than before. “It is, you can- leave now.” You had hesitated, and your eyes fell from Joel’s. You couldn’t even look him in the face when you said it, you knew it was wrong. All you wanted to do was hug him and kiss him again, but the fear of attachment you had was lingering heavy right now. Joel noticed this, crossing his arms. He knew that you were bull-shitting him, and that everything wasn’t fine. He had been with you long enough to know when you were lying, and when you weren’t your usual self. “‘M sorry- ya’ know that, Sunshine.” He told you, one of the few times you had ever heard an apology escape the man’s lips. This had roped you into meeting his gaze again, your heart almost dropping.

Joel went to say something else, but you immediately cut him off. “Don’t you apologize. I was the one to- to push ya’ back.” You began, “It shouldn’t have happened and’m sorry for it- Jesus Christ Joel, you know I still love ya’.” There was different tones said to this, angry ones, sad ones, embarrassed ones. You knew, and Joel knew, that whatever you had done was to try and protect him, but no matter how much you pushed him back, you guys were meant to be no farther than three feet away from each other.

“There’s the girl I know, not some pistol whippin’ chick.” He had a rough smile playing against his face, he couldn’t help it. Joel, despite not showing it, had butterflies that were running through his stomach like crazy right now. You made him feel like that whenever you wear near him, and he hadn’t experienced that for twenty years. He unfolded his arms and rose one, signalling you in for a hug. You couldn’t help it, you immediately stepped forward and embraced the man that you had missed so dearly. Though the fear of attachment was still alive and well, you felt as if you could outrun it right now.

It felt like it was your first hug in years (in weeks, actually), and it felt so rewarding. Joel was praying (even though he wasn’t a religious man at all) that you would come around, and that you would love him again- like he loved you. Your head fit into the crook of his neck just like a puzzle piece, and he was happier than ever. “‘M sorry.” You repeated yourself once again, wanting to say so much more but just couldn’t find the words to. His hand fell to the bottom of your neck, “I know,” He began, “Now, go eat y’ur meal before I eat it for ya’.”

You had a small smile rise to your face as your arms dropped from Joel’s embrace. You had reached over and gotten the egg, ripping a piece off the edge of it. You turned back and turned your glances up (Joel had practically towered over you) to meet his eyes, bringing the piece of egg to his lips. As Joel took notice of what you were doing, he parted his lips in order to assist you. As your finger slipped into Joel’s mouth, he started to suck around your finger. It felt good, almost too good, in your opinion. He let out a small, raspy moan against the piece of you that was in his mouth.

He had let go after a moment, letting your hand fall back to the side of you. “Missed everythin’ ‘bout ya’.” He had started, tucking a piece of your hair behind your right ear. “‘Specially the late nights.” You knew what he was talking about, sex. Even though the world had gone to complete shit, people were still going to be people. “Before anythin’,” You had started, “Do ya’ wanna, I’dunno, get back at it?” You were bad with words, Joel knew that. But he also knew that you were hinting at continuing your relationship together. He didn’t want anything else, honestly. He missed waking up to you, going to bed with you, and everything in between. Joel wasn’t an emotional guy by any stretch of the way, but he tried to be more considerate when it came to the people he loved.

Joel had answered your question by leaning forward and placing his lips on top of yours. He was soft at the start, unsure on how you would take it. He was also hoping that this would give you an answer, instead of a verbal ‘I need you now’ one - thankfully, it did. It gave you a clear-as-fucking-day answer. You had parted your lips, allowing Joel to take control over the both of you while you two were catching up on the missed kisses from the last while. This is when he had started let his rough edges show, he slipped his tongue in and started to love on you more aggressively. He was still hesitant on how you were going to take it, but you reacted very positively (to his pleasure).

Joel became handsy first, his hands travelling from over your hips to under your shirt and unclipping your bra. He knew that you wanted it as much as he did right now, he could tell by the muffled moans that were escaping your lips against his. You were soon to follow suit, your hands moving from Joel’s chest, to his more southern regions. A grunt had escaped his lips when you began to undo his belt, and he removed your bra from under your shirt. This was the only person you had ever wanted to do anything like this with, Joel knew that. He felt the same way with you, he knew that you were delicate with him and his subconscious.

Now that things were finally figured out between the two of you, you could go back to loving Joel. You would deal with your fears at a later date, not now, not anytime soon. You had to focus on what you loved most, and it was the man right in front of you. Joel was glad you had come around, he didn’t know what he would’ve done if you didn’t. In this hell-bound world, you were one of the few things that really mattered to him. Everyone goes through their hardships, it just makes the shared relationship stronger. You had finally figured that out as Joel was making love to you. Fears can come and go whenever they want, but people you love will stick with you- even through the fucking apocalypse.

—

sunshine, steve lacy/fousheé

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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nightclub love, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — your best friend, maria miller, sets you up with someone she knows you'll fall in love with in no time, despite it being your co-worker.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson!joel, gender neutral!reader, slow burner-ish, maria love, dom-ish!joel, cutesie patootsie dina, drinking, touching-ish, swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.9k

a/n: should i make a pt 2?? love this one icl! remember to reblog, like, comment, and follow for updates!! also make sure to send requests! xoxo.

—

For weeks, you had been preparing. Maria, your best friend, had begged and begged you to help with her famous (and upcoming) Summer Solstice Party. Every year since Jackson had been up and running (and Maria was in charge), she hosted this party. She had aimed it to be a night of normalcy, a night to remember what had happened before the world went to shit. It was successful, these parties. You had enjoyed the partying aspect of it, not so much the setup.

In your post-apocalyptic life, you were a painter. You had lived and breathed art, you had even got into MIT for the arts program, but the world ended before you were able to start your post-secondary tour. Though, after everything happened in the early two thousands, you discovered your hidden talent for hunting, and being able to operate firearms quite easily. This lead you to many successes in protecting yourself while you were out on your own, and being able to protect others while leading them outside of the Jackson walls.

Maria had appointed you as the co-leader of the "Jackson Protectors" (something Tommy, Maria's husband, had came up with). After Maria had her baby, Tommy had decided to step down from the role to spend time with his family, and make sure he was always there for his newborn baby and his wife. Maria had only thought of you for the person to step up and take on such a big responsibility, so she didn't really give you a choice in co-leading the group. You hadn't minded, though, it was nice to get out of the walls.

Maria's annual party was only a few hours away now, and you had finally brought over the piece she asked you to make. It was an oil and acrylic painting of the beloved town you all had resided in, she wanted to put it behind the bar (in the town's pub, called "The Nightclub"), so that everyone was able to see the beautiful artwork you were able to create so easily.

"Hello?" You called out as you pushed open the wooden door with your foot, your arms were too occupied carrying the canvas that your foot was the next best option to get the door. There wasn't a response, so you had just proceeded in. Glancing around, you had seen that the bar was turned into a nice hall. Tables were pushed to the outskirts of the room, chairs had pieces of colourful string tied on the backs and legs, the stage was decorated, everything felt so warm.

You had moved your way over to the bar, spotting a tool kit sitting on the counter. It was perfect, you could hang this now and have it be a surprise for Maria whenever she went in the room next. Tucking the canvas under your arm for a split second, you went behind the bar and reached into the tool kit. You had gotten a few flat-head nails out, along with a mallet. You had lined up the nails along the middle of the empty space on the wall, gently nailing them in before hanging your painting up.

Before you could double check that it was nailed in straight, you heard an 'eek!' coming from behind you. You could only recognize it as your best friend, Maria Miller. "Oh my god! It's the most beautifulest thing I have ever seen!" You felt the girl embrace you from behind, this made you fold your arms upward and return the hug (without turning).

"Was nervous ya' wouldn't like it." You chuckled as she let go, you turned around. "Wouldn't like it?" Maria had questioned, "Are you kidding me? I love every piece of art you do." She embraced you in a proper hug now, and you hugged her right back with a smile on your face. You were honestly nervous that she wouldn't like it, and you had braced yourself for any feedback she might've given you.

Maria had let go of the hug, now holding your shoulders. "I have a surprise for you." The smile dropped off your face, you didn't like surprises. Surprises before were nice, but not in this hell-bound world. "What?" You were doubly as nervous about this than with the painting. "Okay, so, I've set you up with someone at tonight's part-"

"You what?" You interrupted the woman in front of you. Oh no, no no no. Your facial expression fell even more after this. "Don't worry! He's a good boy, I promise. You'll love him- please, just please cooperate with this." Maria had pled with you. You could only stare at her, like you were dumbfounded by what she was saying. In reality, you were far from dumbfounded, you just didn't know why she would do this without consulting you first.

You waited a moment before you replied, "Am I able to back out?". Maria could only smile at you, indicating that you most definitely would not be able to back out of this. After a moment of silence between the two, you couldn't help but let out a small laugh while shaking your head. "'M not forgiving you for this, woman."

You had walked out from behind the bar, leaving Maria there. You knew she had much more organizing (things she had made clear she wanted to do by herself, otherwise you would've helped her) to do before tonight. "I'll drag you out of your house if you don't show up tonight, mark my words!" She laughed as she called out to you. Right before exiting the bar, you waved her off, a small 'yeah, yeah!' escaping your lips. You knew that Maria had good intentions setting you up with someone she knew, but you didn't think it was going to go well. God, you thought to yourself, if this party doesn't go well, a hole would be dug and that would be your new home.

You had put on a nice outfit for tonight. The temperature had rose a ton (despite it being dark) since earlier, which had confirmed your questioning of what you should attend the party in. You had showered, fixed your hair, sprayed perfume, and put on some lip products you found inside the bathroom cabinets before making the treacherous walk through hell's half acre to get back to the bar.

You were neighbours with Maria, and she lived in the farthest part of the town. It didn't help when you had events like this, or the long trail to and from work in the early mornings and late nights. Thankfully this was only the third time you made this hike today, earlier going and coming back from dropping the painting off, and now. If Maria and Tommy hadn't given you a few days off of work, you probably wouldn't have went to the party. Work was exhausting, especially when it was hot outside.

You had your hands in your pocket as you were walking, humming to yourself. You were ripped out of your thoughts as you heard someone call your name, you turned immediately to spot a familiar brown-haired girl. "Hey." You nodded over to her, as you slowed your pace so she was able to catch up. This was Talia's (a friend of yours) younger sister, Dina.

"Hi! You're going to the party, right? I'm so excited." You could only bring a smile to your face, nodding your head. "Wouldn't miss it for the world." Dina mimicked the smile you had on your face. You two had talked for a while as you approached closer to the bar. You had found out that she was so to-the-moon for this party because someone she had liked asked her out, and they were attending together. You had given Dina the 'make sure you're safe' and whatnot talk, since apparently Talia hadn't.

As soon as you had gotten to the bar, Dina had bid you a goodbye with a tight hug, before running off and finding her date. You couldn't remember when you had been happy like that. Sure, you were happy a lot of the times, but never beaming. There was too much worrying in this world to ever be beaming anymore, as depressing as that sounds. Not getting into it too much, you had finally stepped into the bar.

You were immediately engulfed with the scent of whiskey, sweat, and good food. Despite what had you had just said, this brought a genuine smile to your face. Seeing people just embracing the current moment, and having no worries for just a little while- who couldn't smile at this?

You had glanced around, looking for Maria. Though you didn't see her, you saw the next best thing. "Hey, Tommy! Have you seen your wife?" The man had turned, raising his brow before he had seen you. "Hey- naw', pro'lly runnin' 'round somewhere, being a hostess and whatnot." He passed you a smile before taking a sip from his dark brown bottle. You smiled and nodded.

You shortly found your way over to the bar, ordering the strongest of whatever they had. You had recognized the bartender from around town, but had decided not to make conversation with him. He passed you the drink in a glass cup, before going back to serving others. You had brought the edge of it to your lips, sipping the amber liquid. Holy fuck, you thought to yourself, this was some strong shit.

Before you had muttered a string of swear words under your breath, something- someone had caught your attention. A hand was placed on the bottom of your back, and you shifted your weight a little. Earlier it was mentioned that you were the leader of the "Jackson Protectors", Joel Miller (Tommy's older brother) shared the role with you. He was tall and extremely muscular, and was definitely older than you.

"Sorry, peach. Just gotta squeeze on in 'ere." Joel had muttered, just loud enough for you to hear. He let the nickname roll off his tongue, although you didn't think anything of it. Nobody would hear, as the bar area was packed like a can of sardines and extremely loud from the many different conversations happening. Joel had ordered something on draft, you didn't really hear.

You had never really seen him outside of work, only a handful of times. You wouldn't have taken Joel as a party type of guy, he was extremely closed off and- well, alone. Not in a rude way, no, but in a protective way. "How's it goin'?" He had asked you, "Noticed ya' haven't been in for a few days." Joel's hand was no longer on the low of your back, but gripping the tall, glass cup. He was leaning his elbow against the bar top, as you were leaning your back against it.

"Way too busy, I've sort of- I'dunno, missed it? Work, ya' know." It came out of more of a question rather than a statement. This only earned a laugh from the man across from you. "I get what ya' mean, felt like that when my arm broke-" He let out a small laugh, "-had nothin' to keep me occupied, wishin' I was out'n huntin' things." You nodded your head as you took another sip from the glass in your left hand, keeping your face neutral this time.

"Ya' didn't come across as the type to like- well, things like this." You hinted toward Joel. He shrugged his shoulder, taking another sip from his cup. "'M not, never was." You had an almost concerning look now, why was he here if he didn't like these types of things? "-But," Joel quickly added, "Figured I'd try it out after all these years o'not goin', ya' know?" You could only nod your head. It was true, you've never seen Joel Miller attend anything other than his daily work shift. Maybe he had a change of heart, but you didn't know if you really believed it.

Joel had started to talk about something else, but for some reason, you had zoned out. Your best friend had caught your eye from right behind Joel, so you were now focused on her. It didn't take long for her to notice you staring at her, and her face turned upwards. She was mouthing something to you, but you couldn't make sense of what it was. After squinting your eyes, and Maria repeating it twice more, it hit you. She had mouthed 'that's the one'.

Your expression fell as you snapped back into reality. Really? Your work partner? You weren't saying Joel was ugly, or had an ugly personality (far from that, actually), but you couldn't mess around with someone you worked with. "You alright?" Your eyes moved from just above Joel's shoulders to meet his gaze. You nod your head before almost feeling lightheaded, you were going to kill Maria.

"Do ya' know how to dance?" You spit out before thinking it through. You were pretty sure you didn't have a crush on Joel Miller, but- no buts, you had thought to yourself. You couldn't, if something bad went wrong, you would still have to work with this man every single day. You could slap yourself right about now.

"Drunk words're sober thoughts, eh?" He asked (rhetorically) to you, which had earned a true, dumbfounded look on your face. You only managed to let a "huh?" escape your lips, and Joel shook his head with a small laugh. "Nevermind, c'mon." His hand fell to the bottom of your back once again, and before you knew it, you were walking with him to the packed dance floor. You could feel the eyes of conservative mothers on you, probably spreading lies about how you two did this at work. It wasn't true (not yet at least).

You two got on the floor, and Joel let go of your back. He moved his hands more forward, placing them on either sides of your hips. You looked down, an immediate heat rising to your cheeks. It was the alcohol, you told yourself (only half of that statement was true). Your actions took over your thoughts as your arms wrapped around Joel's neck, the only thing running through your head was if you still smelled like the perfume you put on earlier.

The song had changed, it turned into a slower one- one that you were able to dance to properly. "Now, I'ain' gone dancin' in years, so don't go too hard on me if I mess up, alright peach?" There it was again, peach. The nickname was given to you by Joel a while ago, after you had found a peach tree while out on a run with him. Joel thought it had really fit you and your personality, so he didn't give it up.

You laughed, probably louder than you should have, "Don't worry, I'm not any professional neither." You were following Joel's lead, following where he put his feet. You never learned to dance properly, there was never anybody to teach you. You had managed to step on his toes a few times, but there was no yap from him about it. Joel was- enjoying himself, the first time in a (long) while.

"You didn't have to," You had began, the drunken thoughts taking over you, "I know Maria put y'up to this, it doesn't need to go further than dancin'." You could feel Joel's grip tighten slightly on your waist, something you wouldn't have noticed if you weren't so focused on him. "I wanted to," He quickly reassured you, "Just had to make sure ya' wouldn't- I'dunno, not let me?" You could tell Joel was being genuine, the tone was in his words. This was the first time the man had ever let you in on what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

You two talked and danced for another while, before the party started to die down into the early hours of the morning. You found out he didn't live too far away from you, so you both accompanied each other on the walk home. You too were far too drunk to be walking alone anyway, despite the town being safe. Joel's house was first on the way back, but he had decided to walk the few extra blocks to make sure you got home okay.

As you got home, you had fumbled with the front gate before stepping in and closing it behind - it was only two feet high, so you could still bid your goodbyes to Joel. You had turned around once the gate was shut, his eyes already down on you. "Had fun tonight, almost too much fun." This brought your face up into a smile, nodding your head. "Guess I better-"

"Can we do this again sometime?" You had interrupted Joel, catching him a bit off. "Only if ya' wanna." You had bit your lip, bracing yourself in case he were to say no. Thankfully, he didn't- far from a no. "Wasn't thinkin' we wouln't go out again, now were ya'?" You two were very close, close enough that he could hear the spike in your breathing pattern. "I'll see ya' tomorrow?" You questioned, your hand on top of the fence post. Joel followed suit, his calloused hand now overtop of yours. "I'll pick 'ya up, bright'n early."

You thought this was going to go horribly earlier, you really believed it was. You didn't want to fall for anyone, because you didn't know how much time everyone had left- you were afraid of loss, afraid of losing the people you got close to. You were scared that one day, you would wake up and they would be gone. Within a span of a day, though, you had gotten over the fear of loss. You had found someone who was just like you, but also the complete opposite in many ways. You knew, for a fact, that you had just found someone else you trusted with so much in you, he wasn't just someone you worked with anymore. Who knows, he could turn into something more with time to come, and you almost hoped he would.

—

nightclub love, matt maltese

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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for every mood, there is a pedro pascal character as husband

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chasedbyatlantic · 2 months

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highway to hell, joel miller

masterlist summary: IN WHICH — ellie drives a car for the first time with you and joel attempting to teach her, but it doesn't go as you had imagined.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, pre jackson!era joel, female!reader, implied relationship, protective joel, secretive-ish joel, ellie being a fucking comedian as per usual, stripping, swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.7k

a/n: this is genuinely so funny to me. i can SO see ellie doing all of this HAHA. plz request ideas for fics i am out of them!!!! also if u want me to write for any other characters. remember to like, comment, reblog, and follow for updates! xoxo

—

It was no earlier than eight in the evening. The sun was just below the horizon (it was late autumn), and the breeze had started to pick up. You, Joel, and Ellie had been up since before the sunrise this morning, continuing your journey down to Wyoming. Right now, you were in the outskirts of the Illinois countryside, in some small town that was in a time capsule from decades ago.

Before the outbreak, you had worked with Joel (and his brother Tommy) in their contracting business, as a secretary (well, secretary-in-training). You decided to stick with him during his travels after the apocalypse had commenced, despite his bitching and complaining about you being there. Though, the complaining only happened for a short while, he learned to appreciate you and enjoy your company, you were one of the few people he had cared about in this horrible world.

It had only been a few months ago since you had met Ellie for the first time. You didn't like her at the start, to say the least - she was an 'annoying little shit', like Joel would say. All Ellie did all day was nag and pester both you and Joel, but she, as well as the two of you, learned to interact peacefully with one and other. Now, all three of you were inseparable. You sure as hell didn't mind this, but Joel didn't want Ellie (or you, for that matter) near him when he would get himself in shit. Oh well, you can't have everything you want.

Ellie was talking to the two of you about something she had probably learned from all the books she had read at the Boston QZ. To be honest, Ellie had taught you lots of things. Not any survival things, far from that, but brainy things that you would have probably needed if you actually ever lived a normal adult life - paying the government, how much you should ideally spend on groceries, etc.

You weren't paying attention to the girl beside you, tuning her out completely. You were far too tired to be in any more conversation than you had to be in right now, and you just really couldn't give a shit about the percentage rate of silverback gorillas being born in American zoos in the late nineties compared to the early eighties. As Ellie was talking, you had spotted a nice little home of sorts, one that the three of you could spend the night in.

"Hey," You had interupted the other two who were in small conversation, "we can spend the night there." A nod was sent from you to the direction of the small home. The other two went silent, Joel had sped up a tad bit, now in front of you and leading the way. "Wait out here, lemme check't out." With that, he was off inside.

Ellie turned to you, breaking the silence. "When're you gonna teach me how to drive, princess?" That was the nickname she gave you, princess. According to her, it was because everyone had always treated you like royalty. You thought different, but it was whatever. "How old're ya'? Twelve? Not yet, missy." This had earned a gasp from Ellie, like she had just seen a ghost. "Fourteen, actually! More adult than yo-"

She had gotten interrupted by Joel stepping out of the small home, "It's clear, y'all're safe t'come in." He did his little head motion, signalling you guys to come in. You began to walk, and Ellie was on your heel. You brought your hand around her shoulder, roughing up her hair. "Soon, promise."

When you two had entered the tiny abode, it reeked of old. You weren't sure if it was the contained moisture, or nobody cleaning the place in twenty years, but it smelled old. "Fucking Christ! Someone open a window!" was exclaimed from Ellie as she moved out from your grip, and plugging her nose. You and Joel had eyed one another, before you moved to the two windows (one each) and hoisted them open. An immediate relief was sent through the room, with a nice breeze of wind following suit.

"So much better." Ellie groaned, now moving over to the couch in the middle of the room. The house was not big at all, there were a total of three rooms. The living space, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The bathroom was totally out of commission, so that meant only two rooms. "Ya' can have the bedroom," Joel had said to Ellie, "We'll take the livin' room."

"Sleep with a fucking pillow divider, please. I am not babysitting any kids in the near future." This had earned a stern look from Joel, and a wack from you. "Bed, now." You told her after she yelped from the hit across her shoulder. "Jesus! Let me go piss, and then I'll go!" You tsked as Ellie quickly and efficiently moved out the front door, to go and do whatever she needed to do.

"Un-fucking-believable." You had only managed to get out, before sitting down on the couch. Joel had let out a small sigh as he removed his gun that was slung over his shoulder. "Kid's got'ta mouth." He sat down beside you, arm now draping around your shoulder. "I fucking know! How does she even- even know what that shit means? Swear ta' god, I was her age'n playin' with barbies."

After not replying to this, knowing it was just going to keep setting you off, he began to unbutton his shirt. You had glanced down, taking the hint Joel was giving to you. You had tugged at the hem of your jeans, sliding them off. This wasn't for sex, not tonight. You two had known each other for years, and you trusted each other with your lives, so you were both able to get undressed in front of each other without a caring what the other would think.

After Joel was just in his jeans, and you were just in your shirt and underwear, you two had melted into the couch. The couch was the cleanest part of the entire room, which was a huge plus- though, even if it wasn't, you would still have a great sleep on it shortly. Joel had his arm wrapped around you once again, and you were pulled into his bare chest. He hated PDA, so it was perfect when the two of you were just alone- even though Ellie knew something was up between the two of you.

"Can we take the day off tomorrow?" Your voice wasn't loud, just barely loud enough for him to hear. You ear was pressed against his chest, head rising everytime he inhaled and exhaled. "'M sorry, ya' know we can't." After Joel had said this, an audible exhale was heard through the room. Joel's thumb started to rub up and down your shoulder, his hand staying in place. "Don'tcha worry, baby. Only a bit longer, then we'll get time, 'kay?"

Before you had time to respond, you heard a booming sound coming from a bit away. It was an engine. You shot up, causing Joel's arm to fall off of you. He had grunted as he sat up, his brain running a thousand miles per minute right now. Then, you two both had a moment of realization. "Ellie."

It felt like an eternity for the both of you before you had your clothes back on, when in reality it only took about fifteen seconds. "We shouldn't have fuckin' let her go out there." Joel had stated as he grabbed his gun and quickly made his way to the door. You were on his heel as Ellie was to you earlier, praying nothing had happened to her. If something did, you would never forgive yourself- and Joel sure as hell wouldn't forgive you either, despite it not being any of your fault.

The door had burst open as the two of you emerged from it, eyes scanning everywhere all at once, looking for the small brunette. As you did this, you could see some sort of headlights approaching quickly. You had grabbed Joel's arm and pulled him down with you. By the speed the car was approaching at, they wouldn't see you at all if you were on the ground. Joel had his gun aimed towards the approaching vehicle (the only reason he hadn't taken a shot was because he couldn't get a clear one, due to how fas the car was going).

Before you could even process it, the car was stopped in front of where you and Joel were, and the window had rolled down. A honk or two was set out, very loudly. You still weren't able to process what was happening, neither did Joel. Finally, after a moment or two, you snapped back (harshly) into reality). "Is that-"

"Get in fuckers, we're going on a road trip!" The familiar brunette you two were so scared you had lost was, in fact, sitting in the front seat of this random pickup truck, the biggest fucking grin on her face. You were on your feet just after Joel was on his, he looked like he was about to kill someone. "Get out'ta the fuckin' car, Ellie." He had slung his rifle back over his shoulder once he knew that she wasn't some sort of raider.

"No can do, Joel-ly boy. I already got yours and the princess's bags in the back. Hop in, I need to show you this cool fuckin' shit I found!" You had only turned to look at Joel, his view still at the young girl. He was thinking to himself. First of all, how the fuck did Ellie find the keys for the corresponding car, and how the fuck was she able to drive it without any previous experience or help? He was dumbfounded at the moment.

All you could do was grab Joel's arm and lead him to the car, Ellie was refusing to get out and well- you promised to teach her how to drive. God, he was going to kill you later. "I told her I'd uh- you know, teach her." You had audibly gulped, your eyes not meeting Joel's. He was silent, the only thing heard was some Brittany Spears song Ellie had playing.

Once your eyes had met his for a split second, he gave a 'fine, but we're having a long talk about this later' look to you. You opened the door for him like the nice person you were, and he hesitantly got in. You were so nervous right now, you felt like you had broken Joel's trust by doing this. But hey, if for some reason Ellie is on her own in the future, she needs to know how to drive a car.

You made your way to the other side and got in the passenger seat. Joel was sitting in the middle seat of the second row, his hands resting on the shoulder of the seats in front. Once the door was shut, you most definitely did your seat belt up. You had turned your head to eye Ellie, as she just grinned at you. "First rule, always wear your fuckin' seatbelt."

You could tell her heart fell by this, "Right- my bad." She quickly pulled the piece of material over her chest and into the lock. "Alright, now-" She had reached over you, and to the compartment in front. "I found some killer albums. Ones that our Joel-ly boy would love. I'm playing them so the mood isn't totally fucked."

You shook your head, eyeing Joel through the rearview mirror. He met the gaze, looking absolutely annoyed. Though, he was silent and just watching what the two of you were doing. Ellie had finished fumbling with the tapes, and removed the one that was playing. She put the new one into the radio system, and tossed the recently-played one into the compartment. The play button was hit.

"Okay, uh- where do I start? I guess now we talk about the gears? Basically, you'll take the shift and-" Your heart had dropped as you were suddenly cut off by the engine roaring, and now going about eighty miles an hour. For some fucking reason, Ellie was laughing. You and Joel were sure as hell not laughing, as a matter of a fact, Joel was screaming with you.

Some 'oh my fucking god!'s and some 'stop!'s were heard through the music, that was now blaring through the car's speakers. Taking a fraction of a second to listen into the music, you had figured out it was Highway to Hell by AC/DC, an old rock band that was popular when Joel was growing up. How fucking fitting for these circumstances.

Joel's hand, from the back seat, had found your shoulder as he held you to the back of your seat. He didn't have his seatbelt on, but he didn't care. He had to make sure you wouldn't go fucking flying through the front windshield if Ellie came to a halting stop. "Stop the fuckin' car! Slowly- off the gas! Jesus Christ!" He was screaming from the back.

Sure, adrenaline was an exhilarating feeling every once in a while, but going eighty miles an hour in a car from someone with zero driving experience? Not exhilarating one bit. Though, Ellie would beg to differ. She was draining out the screams and panicked tones coming from both you and Joel, and was just having a great time.

After another minute or two of screaming and pleading for the girl to stop, the song came to an end- and so did her manic driving. "Ellie-" You were panting, like you had just ran a marathon. In reality, you were panting because you had just held your breath from the exact time the engine accelerated, until now. "-Ellie, pull the fucking car over. Please god." You were in no means religious, but right now you felt like you needed to go to church and pray.

Ellie didn't really know how to pull over properly, so she just- swerved off the road and pushed the car's "off" button. Joel's hand had fell from your shoulder, and he brought both to his face. He covered his face by his hands for a moment, and Ellie smiled to herself. She felt accomplished by this, even though she almost fucking killed everyone (including herself).

After a moment of silence, Joel had made a sound. It sounded like he was crying. Both you and Ellie, in unity, had turned to him in the backseat. It was so muffled that you did think Joel was crying. You immediately brought your hand to his knee, your heart still racing from what had just happened.

It was only after you did this that you realized he was in fact not crying, but had bursted out with laughter. Joel fucking Miller, the most serious man on the planet, was laughing after he almost just died. You had removed your hand from his knee and turned back forward, shaking your head and crossing your arms. "This isn't funny, Joel!"

Ellie turned back after you, glancing in your direction. She couldn't help but burst out with laughter too. Not at you, but at everything (it also didn't help that she, along with you two, were exhausted). Your gaze went from forward, to the left of you, to Ellie. You could only shake your head, disappointed.

But, if you were disappointed, why had you started to laugh as well? This situation sure as hell wasn't funny, to you at least. "I hate you guys." You managed to get out between your laughter fits. Even if you were setting a bad example right now, you couldn't help it. Everyone's laugh was so contagious, despite the current situation.

Moments like this, you would remember forever. You would remember this as the time your psycho kid almost killed you while driving for the first time, and all three of you bursting out with laughter afterward. Even though the world had ended, you couldn't help but enjoy the small moments like this, where you almost died (but didn't), just being surrounded by the people you had loved more than anything. You had learned so much from moments like this, like not to let a fucking fourteen your old girl drive a car without proper lessons, or that Joel Miller was in fact not made out of stone, and he was able to laugh alongside the rest of you.

Even though the world you used to know was gone, you were happy that, whenever it came, you would get to spend your last minutes surrounded by the people you loved most. Joel and Ellie.

—

highway to hell, ac/dc

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chasedbyatlantic · 3 months

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opening night, joel miller

masterlist

summary: IN WHICH — the famous joel miller, who happens to be your husband, decides to have some fun with you on the opening night of his tour.

warnings: no outbreak!joel, famous!joel, current day!joel, using characters for other roles, female!reader, established relationship, dom!joel, anxious(ish)!joel, total fluff, hints to smut, lots of swearing, super cute joel moments, ellie making a grand appearance (as per usual). lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 4.7k

a/n: i had to cook with this one chat. no but i had a dream abt this and was like, omg???? i hope you love it as much as i do. AND THANK U SM FOR THE NOTES AND FOLLOWS ILY. remember to reblog, comment, like, and follow for more! xoxo

—

Joel Miller was as famous as they came. Within the last twenty years, he had been one of the most known artists (or you liked to call it, 'cowboys') in the world- most known for his country music and lifestyle. His debut album "Havana and Heartbreak" was released in the early ninetys, and had gone Diamond in the music industry. He won tons of awards (and still does) for his music, such as a grammy award for best album the year he released his debut album, a few AMAs, and a couple PCAs. The most important thing he had won, though, was you.

Joel had met you in a bar in the early 2000s, as he was at his complete high in fame. It started with him buying you a couple of drinks and a few hookups, but eventually turned into you two tying the knot in 2004. You had gone from a quiet, kept-to-yourself, suburbs girl to a centre-of-attention, hollywood, city girl. You weren't a fan of being in the spotlight, but you made sacrifices to be together with your husband outside, in public.

A few years into your marriage, Joel had (somehow) convinced you to be his manager in the industry. You were extremely hesitant at the start, this had meant you had to leave your daytime job and be in charge of so much, the burden was heavy but you definitely didn't want to disappoint him. You had agreed, and it was the second best decision you made in your life (the first marrying him, of course). Now, if anyone has anything to do with Joel, they have to come to you about it first.

Every couple of years, Joel dropped a new album. Times like this were so stressful for you, you had so much planning to do for him. Studio sessions, producer meetups, promos, you name it. Joel was the (pretty, at that) face of his business, and you were the brains. He knew this, so he would try anything and everything to get you to have breaks from the stress whenever he could. From sex in the studio bathrooms, to short trips to the Bahamas, he would treat his girl however she wanted.

Although, that had stopped about a month ago. You had stopped it, despite Joel's pleads not to. All he wanted was for you to be happy and stress-free, but you couldn't control it (unfortunately). Joel's newest album, "Rendezvous on the Riverbanks", had been released. This had meant a tour was upcoming- well, it was upcoming; tonight was the opening night. So much time and effort had gone into this tour, it had just completely drained you.

It had been around ten in the morning now, and you were already at the stadium where Joel was to perform tonight. He had wanted to open in his hometown of Arlington, Texas, and it ended up working itself out. Thankfully, the Dallas Cowboys were playing an away game the night Joel wanted, so you were successfully able to book it for him. You were standing backstage with a headset on, talking to someone apart of the lights team. Joel was standing in the middle of the stage, strumming his guitar to himself, almost silently.

"Alright, uh- dim four, but raise seven by about half." You rose your eyes from your clipboard to look at Joel on stage. The lights changed and he was now illuminated perfectly. A small 'perfect' escaped your lips as you pushed one side of the headset off your ears. "We're gonna keep this lighting, Joel." You called out to him.

He had turned his head over, almost snapping out of a trance. "Fine with me, baby." He had replied with a small smile upon his face. You couldn't help but mimic the smile. Even if Joel was blinded by the light, he would agree with you and say it was fine. If you were happy, so was he. As much as you had wanted to stand here all day and admire your beautiful man, many things had to get done before tonight.

For the next hour or so, you had played around with the microphone. Joel had absolutely hated the microphone attached to his earpiece, so he opted to use a good ol' fashion microphone and stand. One of the microphone tech's, Riley (you thought her name was), was helping fix Joel's microphone. "Just a little lower, darlin'." He had told the girl, standing with his back slouched.

You still stood from the sidelines, headset and board now down and off to the side. "You're slouched, Joel. Stand up!" You (jokingly) scolded him. A small laugh had escaped his lips as he flicks his hand at you, standing up completely straight. Now, Riley was properly able to adjust his stand to the correct length. Once she did this, he stepped forward and muttered a 'one, two, three, check' into the microphone. He and Riley had glanced over to you, getting your final opinion on it. "Sounds great to me, definitely the right height."

Riley's job was done, so this caused her to exit the stage to the opposite side of you. This had left just you and Joel out now (and of course the tens of others of workers scattered around the building). You had walked out to where your husband stood, leaving every piece of equipment you had out to the side for a moment. He had turned to face you just before you pulled him in for a kiss, followed by a tight hug.

"I’m proud o' ya'." Joel had muttered to you, barely loud enough for you to hear. He had stroked the back of your head as your head was tucked into the crook of his neck. "When all o' this is done, we'll take a long trip to wherever ya' wanna go." He had reminded you, still stroking your head.

You had brought your head up for a minute, bringing your hand to cup his right cheek. You met his bright eyes, he was yearning for you. "Anywhere you wanna go, I'll follow you." This had sent Joel smashing his lips to yours, practically off in his pants from just hearing you say that. His free hand had snaked its way around your waist to keep you in place. You did not back away, in fact, you brought your tongue eagerly to the entrance of Joel's mouth. He fought back for dominance, but before either one of you won, your name was being called on the speaker system. This caused a sigh from you, as you had (sadly) pulled back from your husband's lips.

"We can never get a moment of fuckin' silence, can we?" You tucked a piece of hair behind your ear as you shake your head and tsk. This earned a chuckle to escape from Joel’s lips, “Later we will, don’t ya’ worry, sweetheart.”

You brought your lips to his cheek in a quick fashion, pecking the soft skin before turning to walk away. As always, Joel had rose his hand and slapped the bottom of your ass as you walked away. If it were in any other circumstance, you would get pissed at Joel and would've told him to act professional. But, right now, who were you to mind? All you wanted was your husband's hands on you one last time right now, and he just granted that wish.

A golf cart had already been down the steps and waiting for you. You had quickly gotten your clipboard and headset before wasting no more time and getting onto the back, allowing the driver to move. You had found out that the opening act, Abby and the Outlaws, had arrived. Since Joel wasn't able to leave his set prep just yet, you had to go and greet the guests.

After a few minutes, the golf cart had rolled up and stopped in front of the suites. You got out of the back and panned the driver a small 'thank you' before knocking on the second door. You clutched your clipboard in hand, the headset finding its way back to around your neck. After longer than you had hoped, the door had finally opened after what felt like hours. A smile rose to your face a bit quicker than anticipated, with your hand pushed out for a handshake. "Abby and the Outlaws?"

The tall man smiled and nodded his head, "God'damn right we are." He brought his rough hand into yours, shaking it up and down two or three times. He had called the rest of his group over, a tall and blonde girl followed by an even taller and brunette man. The person who had opened the door introduced himself as Owen, the girl as Abby (if it weren't quite obvious), and the brunette by Manny.

"It's great to meet you guys, your music is great!" You had shaken each of their hands, of course still beaming from this encounter (it wasn't fake like before, these people seemed genuine). "I'm sure someone has already gone over everything- this isn't everyone's first rodeo I'm assuming?" You eyed around at the three, the blonde sitting on a nearby chair.

"It definitely ain't." Manny had told you, which had earned a nod from your end. "Figured as much-" You paused, reaching into your back pocket."-Here. This is a map of the entire place, we've reserved you this area for you from three upwards until six. Everything'o yours is already set up, ya' just gotta show up." A small laugh had escaped your lips after pointing to the map. They followed suit with a small chuckle, understanding what you had said.

"Got it. We'll head up in a bit- thank you." The woman, Abby, had stated. With one last smile, and a 'radio me if there's any issues' comment, you were off again. They seemed to have settled right in, plus, people would be coming to assist them shortly, so you were pleased everything was under control. Now, it was time to go find your husband once again.

You had called him about three times before he had answered. Usually, you wouldn't do that because you knew he was busy, but you had to find him. You had answered with many quickened apologizes, but he hadn't minded (he loved to hear your voice, even on the phone). You two chatted for a minute or two before deciding on a place to meet. As soon as you hung up you heard the faint music (you were far away from the open arena) pick up again and finish whatever song the man had been playing.

It took you around ten minutes to trail to the complete other side of the arena in a quick fashion. You were extremely out of breath when you had arrived, this hadn't to have been attractive you thought to yourself. After the weaving in and out of hallways, you had finally landed on the door your husband stood behind of. There was a man you hadn't recognized standing in front, definitely security from the venue- of some sort.

You passed him a small smile, an 'excuse me.' leaving your mouth as you tried to swerve past him. He followed your swerve, shaking his head. "Nobody's allowed in, manager's rules." He had stated to you, which just made you stare blankly at him. You were Joel's manager. You brought your hand up, showing the guard your (extremely) flashy engagement and wedding bands. "I'd like to see my husband, is that such a big deal?"

His face had dropped as he realized who you were. This had only caused you to laugh, it was almost ridiculous. The boy had almost fallen over as he moved to the side. "Sorry, Mrs. Miller." He looked down in shame as you just patted your shoulders, moving past him and into the room. Your husband turned over, a coors in hand. He smiled once he realized who was standing in front of him. You could only smile back as you approached the man you had loved. He brought you into his embrace with an immediate arm over your shoulders, and a peck to the forehead.

"You're good to leave, Tommy." He had stated, to his personal body guard- and his brother. Yes, that was right. Tommy Miller, Joel's younger brother, was Joel Miller's bodyguard. Tommy was always rough, and getting into trouble when the two were young. When Joel had rose to fame, he figured why not give his brother the chance to rough someone up every once and awhile- while getting paid to do so.

Tommy had nodded his head, a small 'hello' to you as he slipped our of the room and waited outside for Joel. "Took ya' a while to make your way up here, darlin'." Joel had said as he maneuvered the two of you over to the extremely uncomfortable couch in the corner of the room. As he sat first, he brought you over his lap. "Hey, I can only run so fast- and it doesn't help when you've lost your all entrance pass." You slightly chuckle as you wrap your arms around his neck. "We'll get ya' another before tonight, don'tcha worry."

Joel's hands had moved from your waist, slowly up your shirt. His lips were now latched onto your neck, which caused a small moan to escape your lips. "Not in here, baby." You had brought your hands up to his hair, your hands running through. Joel had only hummed in response, not really caring if anyone had heard the two of you. Everyone knew you were his- but, maybe they needed a reminder.

Remember earlier, it was said that Joel Miller would do anything and everything for you to lower your stress levels- including having sex with you wherever the two of you were? Well, this was one of those cases. He wanted everyone to know who you were - You were Mrs. Miller.

It was a while later, about an hour until Joel had to go on stage. Right now, fans were going absolutely feral for Abby and the Outlaws. You and Joel were waiting backstage together, having a few drinks. Being with you had helped Joel a great deal, he was able to let loose and stay calm before he went on stage. Even though he had been doing this for years and years, the anxious vibes were radiating off of the man for the last while.

You had changed into a nice, black minidress from your basic tee and jeans. You liked getting dressed up for the occasion once in a while. Unlike Joel, who always seemed to be in his nice pair of jeans and a flannel (his signature look), you didn't mind it at all. Joel sure as hell didn't mind you getting dressed up every once in a while, he wanted you to wear short dresses more often- but it was just too uncomfortable for you, unfortunately.

Out of the small silence you two had maintained for a while (the only "words" were Joel's hands resting on top of your thigh), it was completely broken when a loud voice came echoing through the walls. You knew who this was. Before the name could even pop up in your head, the door had bursted open "Joel!"

The familiar brunette head had launched forward at him, this completely took him back and he rose from his seat- just in time to catch her. "Hey, kid." He had only laughed, ruffling her hair. It feels like too long since you've seen Ellie. Life must be hard as a sixteen year old, and your dad an international superstar, you had thought to yourself.

"Hey, Elles." You had beamed at the girl, pulling her into a tight hug once she was done with Joel. Even though the two of you weren't related, you were extremely close (well, when she had decided not to be a moody teenager). You and Joel had decided to take Ellie in when one of your family friend's had passed away, as a newborn. You had adopted Ellie not long after, and had considered her your own daughter.

The three of you had sat down and talked for a while, Ellie going into detail about the book she was creating for her finals project- some joke book of sorts, as per usual. Time had flown when you were spending time with the people you loved. Before you knew it, people were coming up to collect your husband.

"Aw, fuck! Just another five minutes- I'm sure these lovely Texans won't mind, Joel'ly boy-" Joel shook his head, helping you up from the seat. "There's a seat front row reserved for ya', now be a good girl'n go sit." He had told Ellie so casually. All she did was groan, letting a 'fine' escape her lips and exiting the room before any of the rest of you (she knew she wouldn't get far if she fought Joel on this). It was almost like Ellie was complaining on sitting front row at a sold out venue, with eighty thousand other people dying for the seats she got given to her.

You had tsked, followed with a quick laugh. Joel placed one of his hands on the bottom of your back, guiding you out of the room. His hand removed from your back once you were in a nice and big hallway, linking his fingers between yours. You could feel the nervous energy from him more than he thought.

"This ain't your first rodeo, baby. You'll knock their cowboy hats off." You made the remark to Joel, the two of you were getting closer and closer to the crowd of people. He could only squeeze your hand and give you a peck on the forehead. He knew everything would be fine, but the thought was always in the back of his head. "I'll be fine, sweetheart. You, on the other hand- ya'gotta worry 'bout not throwin' yourself all on me out there."

There was the man you recognized, the prideful and charismatic cowboy. "I'll hold myself back until you're done, I suppose." You made the small remark, pulling his arm as you sped up. "The time's cutting close- we're walking too slow." Your arm was almost painfully yanked back (he didn't mean to, Joel was too in the moment right now). "Show ain't startin' without me, now is it?"

You had turned to face your man, your Joel. The paparazzi pictures didn't do him justice, he was so much hotter in person. Your eyes had went from scattering to everything around, to focusing on the big, brown eyes in front of you. You had inched your face just a tad bit closer, enough for Joel to hear the hitch in your breath when you spoke to him. "It ain't."

He could only smirk at your words, wanting to do so much more but there was no time. His hand found its way to the back of your neck as he pulled you into a kiss. You, of course, complied, leaning in and fighting for dominance (just like earlier). This came to an end when you heard Joel's name being called from somewhere behind the two of you - his face fell from in front of yours. "We'll finish this after, yeah?"

You could only nod, a small smile rising to your face. You didn't have to worry about it not happening, Joel would make any and every time slot available for you. Your hands were still connected with one another, so you had continued to walk with Joel as he approached the stage. You two had went into a makeshift cover, so nobody would see him approaching (they would go even more feral).

As the lights in the stadium started to dim, indicating he was about to step out on stage, the crowd went insane. Your hand left his, and moved to cup his cheek. He was staring out into the crowd, but you brought his focus down to you. "Go kill 'em, cowboy."

Joel's expression went from unsure, to confident in a blink of an eye. He had nodded his head, "Ya' got it, princess." Joel's guitar tech, Dina (you think it was), had brought his guitar over. You barely played any instrument, but god this guitar was gorgeous. Joel had scored a nice deal with Fender a year or two ago and made a nice custom guitar with his collab. Joel had slung the guitar strap over his shoulder, strumming the strings to make sure everything was in tune (it was, that's why Dina was here, this was just a superstition he had).

The man in front of you had turned around, facing the stage. He was as ready as he could ever be- so were you. Everyone apart of the Joel Miller team around you seemed to be having a heart attack, just because of the stress and everything leading up to this moment, though. You could hear, clear as day, an inhale and exhale from Joel's mouth, before he walked out on that stage.

Everyone around had went silent, except the crowd. It was even louder than before, which you didn't think was possible. Soon enough, you heard (barely, through the crowd) Joel's voice throughout the stadium. He had started with the first song on his setlist, 'Wyoming' - a definite personal favourite. You were so proud of him, and hoped he knew. He put so much, if not more, work into this than anyone else had, so he deserved to have the best time. Your cowboy deserved the world and more.

It was near the end of the show, the setlist of forty-something songs had gone by quick. Everyone (especially you, with a few drinks in your system) had let loose, and were having a great time. Joel was definitely having the most fun, almost completely sober too. He finished strumming his guitar to the second last song, before the crowd erupted into cheers and claps. Honestly, other than venues like this, you had never seen so much country folk. If there was one thing country folk could agree on, it was music.

"Alright, now. Before the las' song o' the night-" Joel was cut off by a bunch of disappointed people booing (the only time booing was understandable). He had laughed, swatting his hand around. "I know, I know. But, before it all comes t'an end, I gotta introduce someone to y'all." Gasps and excited screams were heard from all around.

Joel had turned his head to search for you beside the stage, his eyes panning everyone- until he met your gaze. It was hard to determine if it were you for a split second, just because the lights out in the open were extremely blinding. "Now, some'o y'all might just know 'bout this, might just know who this is," He brought his hand up, signalling for you to come out.

You only shook your head, you couldn't believe he was doing this. "Hey, uh-" you turned to some random crew member around, "-can you hold my drink? Thanks." Before a response was given, you handed it over and moved your way over to the stage entrance. You could only brace yourself for what was about to happen to you. "Come on out, little lady."

The lights were very blinding, he was so right. You had also went temporarily deaf from everyone screaming their hearts out at you. You didn't realize you were such a hot commodity around these places. If the screams weren't loud from when you walked out, they sure as hell were loud when Joel pulled you into a kiss. It was actually insane- you couldn't believe it. Your mind was racing, both from the anxiety and the thrill.

You turned now, to face the crowd. Joel's arm fell around your shoulder as you grabbed the microphone stand and adjusted it to your height. "So many beautiful faces 'round this crowd." There were a few girls dead centre in the front who were screaming and crying, waving up to you. Your heart completely melted, you wished you could just jump down and embrace them.

"Now," Joel had started as the crowd hushed, dropping his head to be able to reach the top of the microphone, "Ain't nobody go gawkin' at her, ya' can't have her." This caused an in-sync laugh to escape both yours and Joel's lips. He had found his way to the necklace dangling just above your chest, playing with it between his thumb and index finger (from the arm that was wrapped around your neck).

"Jokes aside, now, this little lady's gonna help with the closer." The nickname, you swore it did something to you. You had brought your head up, mouth right beside Joel's ear. "Ya' know I can't play for the life of me, Joel." He could only smirk at this comment, he was nowhere near trying to embarass you with this- he only wanted you to live it up, just like he was.

Joel ignored your comment and brought his head down to the mic once again, "She said she cannot wait to play!" This was in fact not what you had said, so this earned a slap on Joel's chest from you. He had removed his arm from around you, now standing straight on. He took his guitar off from around him, and slid the strap over your head. You couldn't help but smile at Joel, despite the fake-angry look you tried to maintain.

"Ya' got the rhythm'n chords down, don't worry." Joel had reminded you, his love language most definitely being words of affirmation. Before he had started to adjust the strap so the guitar sit perfectly on you, you slid the hair elastic he had always kept for you off of his wrist, and started to tie your hair back and out of your face. A few people who were close up noticed this, and blew a few whistles over to the two of you.

"I'll count us in, 'kay?" He hummed, and you nodded. Your eyes slid up the neck of the guitar as you stepped up with Joel, beside the microphone now. Joel's 'Cowboy' was the closing song, definitely the fan favourite from all his music throughout the years. You knew this song like the back of your hand, even without practice, you'd be fine.

Whenever he had counted himself in, it was three foot taps. He knew that you knew this. The entire stadium was silent, waiting to hear the last song choice.

One. Your eyes quickly fell down to the man's boots. His Black Jack Caiman Crocodile heels tapped the wooden floor. Joel's hands started to creep up the stand, his grip tightening once it hit the microphone.

Two. Your fingers from your right hand fell over the corresponding spots to be able to play the song. Your left hand found its way down to the middle of the guitar, ready to strum away.

Three. Joel inhaled, you inhaled, you both exhaled in sync. It was now or never, in front of eighty thousand people, streamed for the entire world to hear.

Luckily it wasn't just you playing, the backtrack was also able to be heard in unity with you playing and Joel singing. You were far too concentrated at multitasking (with the chords and the strumming) to hear Joel singing, or the crowd cheering for you, or even your own thoughts. But, before you knew it, you strummed your last beat.

An exhale left your lips rather quickly, as if you were holding it in the entire time. You just looked to Joel, and he looked back at you. Both of you had drowned out the sounds of screaming coming from every single nook and cranny of the arena from around you.

You wanted nothing more then to spend your nights just like this, with Joel, with your cowboy - and in everything he had loved, you were in the centre of it. He didn't want it any other way, he wanted to spend every breathing moment of his life with you, even if it was in front of the entire world to see. You were his partner in crime, you were his cowgirl.

—

opening night, scowl

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chasedbyatlantic · 3 months

Text

joel miller

when you wash your hair IN WHICH — you decide to surprise a sleeping joel after you've been working all day outside of jackson's walls, but it doesn't go as you plan.

puppy love IN WHICH — when joel is upset, you do anything and everything in your power to cheer him up. this means showing him your new guitar skills, while singing one of his favourite songs to him.

from the dining table IN WHICH — ellie brings dina home to you and joel for the first time. joel thinks it's too soon and tries his best to protect her, but it doesn't go as planned.

beach baby IN WHICH — while driving out along the coast, joel miller decides to surprise you with one of your favourite things - a visit to the beach.

opening night IN WHICH — the famous joel miller, who happens to be your husband, decides to have some fun with you on the opening night of his tour.

highway to hell IN WHICH — ellie drives a car for the first time with you and joel attempting to teach her, but it doesn't go as you had imagined.

nightclub love IN WHICH — your best friend, maria miller, sets you up with someone she knows you'll fall in love with in no time, despite it being your co-worker.

sunshine IN WHICH — after getting lost on your little getaway, out by yourself, help is on the way once your situationship - joel miller - gets wind of it.

best friend IN WHICH — joel miller, the person you care most for, ventures outside of the walls with you for your birthday gift, and has the best surprise waiting for you at the nicest spot in boston.

flawless IN WHICH — joel miller comes to you hurt and in pain, after realizing that you are the only one that he can find peace with - you're there to welcome him with open arms.

finally alone IN WHICH — you and joel miller are nothing but flirty towards each other, no matter the situation. when the two of you decide to take an unauthorized visit outside of jackson, it really shows.

comfort crowd IN WHICH — joel miller shows you and ellie how to properly play golf, he's in it to win it - without a doubt.

persimmon IN WHICH — when you and joel miller are having a relaxing day outside of jackson, you accidentally come across one of his favourite things.

#chasedbyatlantic #masterlist

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chasedbyatlantic · 3 months

Text

beach baby, joel miller

summary: IN WHICH — while driving out along the coast, joel miller decides to surprise you with one of your favourite things - a visit to the beach.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson era!joel, gender neutral!reader, implied/established relationship, love dovey joel, literally joel being husband material, relationship things, stripping, swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: this and puppy love are tied for my fav fics rn. i am genuinely obsessed w this like i can imagine him doing this so vividly ugh. also! i opened my requests so gogogo and request any sort of fics! remember to reblog, comment, like and follow for updates on new fics. love u all xoxo

—

It had been years since the two of you had travelled together, outside of the walls. Of course, you weren't complaining about the safety that the walls had provided you and Joel, but you missed it. You missed the thrill, the always-on-edge feeling you got when travelling hundreds of miles from safety. Plus, to be quite honest, you missed when it was just you and Joel. Of course you had loved Ellie with everything in you, but there was just something that happened with you when you were by yourself with him; a euphoric feeling- a feeling you only got when you were with the man you loved.

Joel had gotten clearance (like he needed it, he would've just left anyway) from Tommy weeks prior to your departure from Jackson. Though you would only be gone for a month or two, Tommy had to reschedule people into your shifts at work and what not. When he had asked Joel on where he was going, he got no answer. Joel didn't know himself, usually he was a 'prepare for everything' type of person, but lately he has been more of a 'i'll go wherever the road takes me' guy.

The last time you were awake, it had to be hours ago at this point, the window was rolled far down and some sort of song by The Beach Boys was playing on the stereo (Joel had installed one just for you, as you proclaimed your undying love for music more times than he could keep track of). This time of the year was your favourite - it was summer. The days were long, the sun was out, and your hair grew a shade lighter. Joel, on the other hand, hated summer. He hated the way his clothes would cling onto him, and the way sweat would roll down his neck the second he stepped outside.

Joel had told you that you guys were going to head to California. Apparently there was a trader that he knew from a while back that he needed to pay a visit to, and had asked you if you were in for the ride. Without a doubt, you were. This lead you to the current moment.

You had moved around a little bit in the passenger seat of Joel's pickup truck, it wasn't the most comfortable. Although, you hadn't minded. Wind was still blowing in your face and through your hair, which had muted out the sounds of the familiar song you had fallen asleep to. As you attempt to stretch your leg and shift around, you can feel pressure holding it down. You had opened your eyes and glanced down, blurred vision, to observe Joel's hand resting upon your thigh.

You had exhaled as you sunk back further into your seat, life felt good- it felt normal. Joel's hand had reached up off your thigh for a split second to turn down the stereo a bit, but his hand took his returning place on the open of your skin. "You were out for hours, darlin'." You had only hummed in response (since you were only half awake, not completely aware of where you were).

"We're in California, crossed the border 'bout'n hour ago." This caused you to glance over at Joel driving. One hand on the wheel, sleeves rolled up, focused- god, if he wasn't driving you'd tell him to get in the back seat. "How long 'til we're at this place you're takin' me to?" You had to rip yourself out of the depths of your imagination after seeing him like this.

Joel had hummed to himself, attempting to mental math his way through the question you asked. "Don't know baby, before sun fall I'm guessin'." That was a good enough answer for you. You had brought your hand to rest on top of his over your thigh, and you could feel his grip loosen a bit once you did this. Joel always had to have a part of his body on yours, his love language most definitely being physical touch. In reality, though, he was afraid that if he let go of you- you'd disappear with the blink of an eye.

With the next few hours of just you and him talking about anything and everything, you had finally noticed the sun start to set. You hadn't even realized the day was almost gone. Being deep in thought with the hunk of a man right beside you had its cons, you had guessed. Right before you had opened your mouth, Joel beat you to it, "Gonna pull over here, I'll finish the drive tomorrow."

He did just as he said and took a right into an open field, the car ride became about fifty times bumpier than previously which you weren't a fan of. Though, it was over soon, Joel had found a nice place tucked just after the tree line for you guys to spend the night in. "Backseat?" He had questioned, glancing over at you.

"Jesus Christ, at least take me out to dinner first!" Had escaped your lips, followed with a bunch of laughs. Joel couldn't help but turn his neutral look into a happy one, a few chuckles in sync with yours. He loved you, but he loved you even more when you were like this. To say you being cocky and arrogant in a joking way turned him on was an understatement.

"The car'll get a flat if we do anythin' in that sorts, ya' know that." He had (sort of, not really) scolded you once both of your laughs had calmed down. A fake frown was now plastered on top of the beaming smile, sighing with a small 'fine'. All jokes aside, you had gotten out of the truck to hop in the backseat. Not for any funny business (unfortunately), but for actual sleep. Joel had beaten you there by just (in a bad fashion) crawling through the middle piece.

The seats had already been down from the nights previous, with the sheets and pillows already in place. Joel had already taken his shirt off and was laying down, stomach side up. You couldn't help but admire him as you switched what you were wearing to become more comfortable. "Starin' ain't well-mannered, doll." This resulted in you laying down beside him, stomach side down.

"You love it, don't lie." Joel could only chuckle in response as he drooped his arm around your waist. Sweet nothings were whispered to each other for the next while before one or the other fell asleep, you couldn't really remember. Nights like this were the most uncomfortable thing, but you found comfort in the man beside you every time.

You woke up without the feeling of your man wrapped around you, which wasn't a good start to your day. You had only figured that he had probably gotten an early start to his day (once again), in the driver's seat was the new normal for Joel, at least for the last month.

You felt the sun beaming in your face- it was blinding, even with your eyes tightly shut. This had indicated to you that you were no longer in the forest, and for sure on the road. "Joel." You had hummed, moving around a tad bit.

There wasn't a response, he had to have been concentrated on the road- or you were just quieter than you thought. "Joel." You hummed once again, a yawn soon following suit. The only sound that had returned was the sounds of birds chirping, and- a sound you couldn't recognize. You brain was going about a hundred miles an hour, but you couldn't place what it was.

Now pissed off with him, you sat up and looking around. Your eyes were glossy at it was too bright to properly see anything- but you could see the empty driver's seat. "This isn't fucking funny!" You began to panic. Why didn't he wake you, why didn't he tell you where he was going, was he safe?

The thoughts were emptied out of your head when you heard him call your name, you immediately turn your head left and look out the window. It was Joel, thank god, but was that- it couldn't be, there was no way.

A beach.

"Holy fuckin' shi-" You were interrupted by the back door quickly opening, and Joel reaching his hand out. "Surprise." Surprise? This was more than just a surprise, to you. This was heaven. You thought you had already met heaven when you met Joel Miller, but this? This came to a close second.

You grabbed his hand and he pulled you out (carefully and what not). This man had the biggest smile on his face, ever. He knew this would make you happy, you always told him stories about when you were younger. Your grandparents had owned a little cottage on the water before they had passed, years and years ago.

"I cannot fuckin' believe it, Joel!" You sounded like you were going to bawl. You were, to be honest. Why was he so good to you- he didn't need to be, you felt as if you didn't deserve it. If anyone deserved surprises like this, it was Joel.

"Well ya' better start to, I ain't goin' swimmin' by myself." If anyone had a bigger smile than you right now, it was him (and it was a genuine one, too). You had brought your lips to him in a quick, but hungry, fashion. He didn't hesitate to kiss you back, there was nobody around to worry about seeing you two like this.

After a moment, you pulled back. You had immediately turned around and stripped, just leaving your undergarments on. Joel had adverted his eyes, despite seeing you with less on millions of times. After the last shoe was pulled off your foot, you turned back around. He had tried his hardest to keep his eyes on yours, not to trail them down your curved body. You had to do the same, Joel was just in his boxers and- well, it was a sight, to say the least.

You grab Joel's hand, intertwining your fingers between each other. He glances down, another small smile raising to his lips. This didn't last for long, though. Within the blink of an eye, you were racing down the burning hot sand toward the water with Joel following suit (not by choice, he would've loved to take his time).

It feels like a thousand needles are piercing you - the water is so cold, but you don't care. All you wanted was to swim. You had let go of Joel's hand before you completely dived into the water (once deep enough, of course). You were fully submerged and swimming for what felt like forever. You loved this, you craved it.

You remerged a couple yards away from Joel, who was still standing on the shore looking absolutely breathtaking, to say the least. "What're you waiting for? Get your fine ass in here!" You had called out to him. Joel took some baby steps in, but not past his ankle. You had shook your head, before an idea hit you.

You had swam over to Joel, eventually standing up when it was shallow enough. You had opened your arms as you approached him, giving him the hint you were going to give him a hug. "You do that darlin', an' I ain't drivin' your pretty ass back home." Joel sounded serious, but you knew he would never leave you.

"Yes you will." You argued to him, still approaching. The man in front took a hesitant step back, not trusting you. Quickly, before Joel could do anything else, you ambush. You jumped full force at him and wrap your arms around his neck, he cringes. He cringes so hard that he almost dropped you. Almost.

Joel had let out a moan, now freezing cold. With you in his arms, practically in tears from laughter, he finds a way to get payback at you. Now that he was wet, he decided to charge deeper in the water (you still in his arms). You let out a squeal once Joel was shoulder deep, both syncing your laughs shortly after.

Joel had let go of you, and now you were treading. Since it was up to his shoulders, it was above your head. "You're perfect, ya' know." His hand had found yours under the water, you let him hold it. "I am? Baby, ya' did all this for me. If anyone's perfect-" You brought your free hand to Joel's cheek, cupping it, "-It's you." He couldn't help but let a smile shine through his face.

It was true, if you searched up "perfect" in the dictionary Joel Miller would come up. He brought out the best of you, even on days where you couldn't get out of bed. He made your world, even if it was nearing the end of everyone else's.

Hours later, once you two were completely red from too much sun and heat-tired, you lay in the back of Joel's pickup truck. It was night, pitch black. The waves were crashing alongside the waterline, and the birds had gone to rest. It was warm outside, but due to too much sun, the both of you were freezing. You were cuddled underneath a spare blanket that Joel had packed away before you guys left Jackson, bodies tangled with each other.

Today was the best day you had in a while- no, the best day you had period. Granted, anyday with Joel was a blessing, but today was different. You didn't have to survive, you got to take life for granted for a few hours.

You weren't the only one who enjoyed the day, Joel did too (if it wasn't clear). He needed both a mental and physical break after driving for hours and hours for weeks. When finding this beach while you were asleep, he knew it was perfect. Granted, he went and checked it out while you were sleeping to make sure everything was safe for you guys (it was), and that just added to his mood.

Light pollution wasn't a thing anymore, at least not in rural California, so you got to see the stars. Not just one or two, every star. "Joel," You spoke, squeezing his hand that was wrapped around your shoulder. He hummed in response, too tired for words. "The brightest stars in the sky, the one on the left is Spica, and the one on the right is Arcturus."

He looked up, almost surprised you knew this. He didn't take you to be an astronomy girl. "You're too smart for ya' own good." His finger rubbed up and down on top of your shoulder. You had leaned farther back into him, so carefree.

"I'm happy I got to be your beach baby." You blurt out, not really thinking about what you had said. This earned a quiet chuckle to escape from the man's lips. "You can be my beach baby any day ya' want." Joel's grip tightened around you, the pressure of his head was now felt on top of yours.

Everyday spent with this man was a good day- no, a great day. Being alive was luck, but being alive with your best friend was fate. You will never forget today, the day Joel Miller took you to a beach for the first time. You will never forget the look he had when he watched you being the happiest you've been in so long. For as long as you live, you'll never forget that you're Joel Miller's beach baby.

—

beach baby, bon iver

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chasedbyatlantic · 3 months

Text

from the dining table, joel miller

summary: IN WHICH — ellie brings dina home to you and joel for the first time. joel thinks it's too soon and tries his best to protect her, but it doesn't go as planned.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson!joel, gender neutral!reader, implied relationship, dom!joel, joel protecting reader and ellie :sob:, husband/wife bickering from reader and joel, dina hate (unfortunately), handsy joel, fluff/angst, swearing. lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: u guys, 100 notes on my first two fics?!?! i am literally sobbing thank u sm it means sm to me ily mwah mwah. i sincerely hope u enjoy this one because it was SO much fun to write. i'll upload a couple times throughout the week so stay tuned (follow to make sure u catch the uploads ;)). please like, comment, and reblog! xoxo

—

"Hurry up and wipe the dust off of it, they'll be over in five minutes!" You couldn't remember when you had a guest over last, a real guest. Well- sort of real, it was Ellie's new girlfriend visiting for the first time. Besides, you had never spoken to the girl face to face, only seen her in town or heard about her through stories from Ellie, so a guest it is.

Joel let out a small groan as he almost threw the fork out of his calloused hands. "For fuck sakes, darlin'. If I didn't love ya' so much I'd fuckin' punt this thing over fence." He sort of- dropped the fork on the table, not bothering to place it identically to the others.

You couldn't help but let a chuckle escape your lips. Before you said anything, you gave him a peck on the lips, "You know I appreciate your help. It's just- they have to be around an inch apa-" Before you could even finish your sentence, you were interrupted. "I'm going inside."

From the angered tones used toward you, you could tell Joel was pushed off the edge from this comment you had made. Not to worry though, he never stayed mad with you for longer than about thirty seconds, and he took the pieces of uncooked meat with him which was a total plus. Unfortunately, you weren't blessed with the cooking gene (despite your parents owning and operating their own restaurant before the world ended). If Joel wasn't around, you would've starved to death.

Pushing past the silly argument the two of you just had, you fixed up the dining table with the correct cutlery in the correct places, the nice middle piece you had traded for in the town's trade centre now sitting on the table, and some fancy napkins tucked under the cutlery, ones that had beautiful flowers decorating the edges.

It definitely took Ellie and Dina longer than five minutes to show up. You had time to (quickly) get changed into a nice shirt and your favourite pair of jeans. You also had a spare second to brush through your hair and fix it the way you like. Once you heard the door unlock from up in your room, you scurried to get up and run down. You had two different shirts in your hands, picking one for Joel to wear. You had ended up laying out a nice maroon one over your shared bed before booking it to the staircase.

"Hey- hi!" You came to a halting stop, sounding out of breath (you were, to be completely honest) in front of the two girls. "You must be Dina, it's so nice to meet you. Ellie has told me so much about you." You didn't really think about what you were saying, you were too caught up in the moment, and on making a good impression, that it slipped your mind.

You immediately pulled the girl in for a hug, not giving her anytime to reply. She didn't pull back, in fact, she wrapped her arms back around you. "I am, yeah- your house is gorgeous. Thank you for the invite for dinner." You let go as Dina said this, and you matched her smile. Ellie had her hands pocketed, a small smile threatening to peak through her neutral expression.

Soon after, you could hear the familiar voice call from the kitchen. "Food's ready, darlin'!" Joel definitely didn't know the two girls were over, because if he knew, he wouldn't use any of his nick names for you in front of them. The two girls looked at each other, breaking out into quiet laughter. You couldn't help but grin to yourself, watching the two girls. You couldn't remember when Ellie was this happy.

"Alright, show her to the backyard, Ellie. Everything's already set up'n everythin'." Ellie placed her hand on the small of Dina's back as she guided her out to the patio, through the living room (avoiding the kitchen, where Joel was). You made your way to the kitchen, looking at Joel with his absolute ridiculous apron on. Everytime Joel cooked, you forced him to wear this (ignoring the fact he despised it).

"My handsome man," you greeted him, moving over to hug him from behind. "I met Dina, she seems sweet." He only hummed in response, as if he couldn't care any less. Deep down inside, Joel was upset. Upset that his little girl, the little girl he protected for years, was growing up. He would never let these feelings unravel though, despite it being obvious to you.

"You'll approve, I just know it." You mutter, barely loud enough for him to year. With a small sigh, he nods. "I know I will, just don't want some corrupt girl messin' with Ellie's all." You tap Joel's stomach, giving a bit of a don't worry, it won't reassurance. "Alright," you let go from him, standing up, "I lay a shirt out for you, go up and change."

He turns around, a slight glance down as he was taller than you were. "After you do what the thing says, sure." The thing Joel was referring to was the apron, and it said "Kiss The Cook" in bold. You completely take this opportunity and smash your hungry lips into Joel's. You couldn't help it, he was so hot when he was like this. Your hands managed to sneak down the apron, making your way down south. Joel had to pull back from the kiss before things got too heated.

Your cheeks were bright red, which spoke for itself. You left the kitchen with no further words to Joel, as he already knew what you were thinking. You hoped and prayed Dina and Ellie hadn't seen this encounter through the windows into the kitchen, because it would not have made a good first impression from the both of you.

As you sat outside with the two girls, you were the one keeping conversation going. Ellie was the only one engaged in it, Dina was definitely more reserved and you didn't want to push anything- but you couldn't help it.

"I'm seriously telling you guys! We would line up for hours and hours to be able to get against the barrier at these concerts. I remember doing it with my friends for Destiny's Ch-" You were abruptly cut off by Ellie, when she took notice of Joel coming through the patio doors. "Jesus Christ, finally! I'm starving, old man." If Dina wasn't visiting, you would scold Ellie like she was a little girl for interrupting you so rudely, but you didn't want to embarrass her in front of her girl.

Joel had placed the food down in the middle of the table, and finally took the seat next to you. He was in fact not wearing the maroon shirt you laid out for him, but instead one of his more casual and less dressy shirts. You tsked silently to yourself, he would definitely hear about this from you later.

"Wow, Mr. Miller- the food looks delicious, thank you so much!" Dina beamed. All three of you (you, Joel, and Ellie) stared at Dina. She looked around after realizing this, looking absolutely mortified. "Mr. Miller?" was echoed between the four of you, Joel and Ellie in sync expressing this. You let out a small and quick laugh, as Dina flushes bright red.

"Joel'll do, Dina." He said, sounding completely unphased. Dina had made small eye contact with Ellie as she was just laughing her ass off, it looked as if tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. "Holy fucking shit! Mr. Miller- Joel I'm crying." It was true, you could hear it in Ellie's voice.

"Alright now, stop embarrassing her Ellie." You shoot her a 'shut the fuck up' look, as if she suddenly became oblivious to her girlfriend. "Sorry 'bout this, Dina. You're going to have to get used to this." You shoot the girl a smile, and she breaks her sad look with a small smile reflecting yours.

After the absolute ridiculous laughing fit from Ellie, the table grew somewhat silent as everyone had fixed themselves portions for their dinner. The food was absolutely amazing, as per usual - thanks to Joel's cooking. There was a side of roasted potatoes and a nicely tossed salad. Usually the two of you never ate like this, it was always some sort of canned food from twenty years ago- but who were you to complain about this amazing meal you man had prepared?

"You know," Ellie began, stuffing her face with potatoes as if she hadn't eaten for weeks, "I think comfortable silence is so overrated." Dina shot her a look, almost complaining on why she had broken the comfortable silence by that comment. "I agree." Joel stated, as he leaned back in the patio seat. He laid one of his hands to rest on your thigh (under the table, in secret) and the other by his side. "What are your, how do I say this, intentions- with her?" Joel eyed Dina.

Jesus Christ, if this couldn't have gone more in the shit heap. You swatted the man beside you in the side, basically asking him what the fuck that was for. He ignored you, and kept his eyes trained on Dina. "Jesus fuck Joel!" Ellie raises her voice at him, he furrowed his eyebrows. Poor Dina looked like she was going to cry. You didn't blame her, if a man like Joel had asked you what your intentions were with someone, you would already be in tears.

Dina's plate was almost empty, so you used this to your advantage. "Dina, honey, mind helping me with something in the kitchen?" Without her giving you a response, you stand up (Joel's hand visibly falling off of your thigh) and grab Dina's hand, bringing her with you inside.

Once the door was completely shut, and the bickering between your man and your child grew louder, you sighed. "I am so, so sorry. He's just- Joel's just Joel." You had let go of Dina's hand, leaning against the kitchen island as she stood in front of you.

"It's no worries- I swear. My sister would be just like him too. Well, she was when she met Ellie." Dina hadn't sounded as horrified anymore, maybe because Joel wasn't in the room. "He's just looking out for her." The girl stated, and you nodded. You were in total agreement with Dina, Joel didn't want anyone hurting Ellie so he was extra cautious.

"He'll warm up to you, don't worry. Next time he'll welcome ya' with open arms, I promise." You reached out and patted her shoulder. "You know what, I think you should come over again next week. I found this cool vintage make-your-own-pizza thing that we could all do as- what, family bonding? Whatever they call it, you know what I mean." Dina laughed at this, she absolutely loved the idea.

As peace and a better relationship was being obtained inside of the house, Joel and Ellie were arguing outside, for the entire fucking neighbourhood to hear. It had just been so back and forth, until Joel put his foot down.

"Fuckin' enough!" He boomed at her, and she actually shut up for once in her life. "All I do is fuckin' care for ya'. I don't want ya' hurt, alright? Is it so hard for ya' t'understand?" Joel's voice was breaking, and Ellie heard it.

"Okay- fuck, fine. I know you are Joel, I just hate being wrong." Ellie tried to joke around with him, but he was not having any of it. "Sorry." She muttered, after taking note of this.

Now, Joel had felt bad for snapping at her - for snapping at Dina. The girl didn't do anything wrong, he was just having a rough day seeing his girl all grown up. With a long sigh, Joel spoke up. "Don't apologize kid, I should be the one apologizin'."

He was doing everything to avoid eye contact with Ellie. He had muttered something under his breath that Ellie didn't catch. "I didn't hear you, say it again." Joel finally met her eyes, inhaling. "I said, don't go around doin' anythin' I would do. Be careful with this girlfriend've yours." This immediately sent a smile shooting through Ellie's face. "Oh Joel, you big fucking softie."

"And," He became serious for a second, "Don't do anything- bad with her under this roof. I'on wanna hear any of it while I'm try'n sleep." Joel fell silent, and Ellie's mouth fell agap.

"You know, you are one to talk. I can hear when you and-" There was a cutoff in Ellie's sentence from both you and Dina remerging from the kitchen. You two were laughing quietly to each other, "Anything we miss?"

Dina had just left, and Ellie went with her to walk her home. You were proud of Ellie, for finding someone to love and being such a kind person to her. You were proud of Joel, for allowing Ellie to live her own life, as much as he wanted to always protect her.

"She's a nice girl." You stated, as you and Joel were sitting on your sofa together. Your head was rested on his chest, and you were playing with the ends of his flannel. Joel only hummed in response. You gently pulled on the fabric, "She is, Joel."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He managed to let escape his lips, trying his hardest not to sound mad at you. He wasn't mad at you, or Ellie, or Dina, he was mad at the fact that growing up was happening so quickly.

"Anyway," You began, "You're going to have to love her as your own. I've invited her for dinner next week again, and I'll probably invite her over again for the week after next." You can only smile to yourself, as Joel rubs his index finger up and down over the exposed skin on your waist.

"If Ellie wants me to love her, if you want me to love her, I will. It'll take time, but it'll happen." You feel the weight of Joel's head now balanced on top of yours. He would do anything in the entire world and more to make the two most important people in his life happy; Even if that meant letting someone else into his small circle of people he trusted.

"Joel." You hum, but there is no response. This doesn't stop you, "She'll always be your girl, Ellie. She'll always need you- and I will to. We're more appreciative of you then you think." After a minute of silence after you had said this to the man right next to you, you had deemed Joel had drifted off to sleep. Good, you thought to yourself, he didn't need to hear you being vulnerable for the millionth time again.

But, what you said was true. Joel opened up to Dina with the weeks to come - he trusted her, he loved her like she was his own. Not only did this make Ellie fucking ecstatic, but it made you over the moon. Joel would do anything for the people he loved, even if that meant opening himself up to strangers.

—

from the dining table, harry styles

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chasedbyatlantic · 3 months

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puppy love, joel miller

summary: IN WHICH — when joel is upset, you do anything and everything in your power to cheer him up. this means showing him your new guitar skills, while singing one of his favourite songs to him.

warnings: post outbreak!joel, jackson!joel, implied relationship, gender!neutral reader, sub!joel, lovey dovey joel and reader, ellie being a little shit once again, swearing, literally all fluff because i can, brief mention of death/killing (very very brief! shows up like two times), bad descs of guitar playing since i haven't played in like 10 years LOL, lmk if i missed anything!

wordcount: 2.3k

a/n: my second fic!!!!! i sort of love this one?? also tysm for the love on my first! looking for moots too! hmu if you wanna <3 make sure to reblog, like, and comment on this plz and thank u! if u have any requests for a fic lmk (dms r open for it!) more to come soon xoxo

—

God only knew what time it was. You had an infuriating day at work, training all new people on how to successfully patrol Jackson's surrounding areas, and how to not- well, die. This was always your least favourite time of year, to say the least. All the "fresh meat" had been selected to be potential patrolers, and they had to go through extensive training to make sure they were one hundred percent qualified and committed to the role.

Both you and Joel were practically put into this role by Maria (Joel's sister-in-law), not by force, but more of a "you would be doing the entire Jackson community a whole favour if you did this" sort of thing - guilt, most would say. Maria had even tried to get Ellie to help train people, but Joel almost killed Maria by his glare when she brought it up to the two of you.

Even though you hated this role in the community, you think Joel liked it. He had a bit too much fun getting to put kids in check, and humble them big time. At least it was only for a few months, you had kept reminding yourself. The few months were from early June until late September, though - the hottest months of the year. The before dawn wake up calls, and after dusk ends would only last for another month, since it was sometime in the middle of August right now.

After getting home extremely late, around an hour or two ago, you had already taken a shower and changed into more comfortable clothes before you went and sat on your back porch. Even though you didn't want to be outside anymore than you had to right now, Ellie had one of her friends over and wanted privacy. You love the kid, so you gave her the privacy (not much privacy, only hanging out in the living room of your home).

You were able to tell Joel was finished with his shower when you heard high-pitched and muffled screams coming from inside the house behind you. Just as you went to turn your head around to see what exactly the commotion he was causing inside was, the familiar figure of Joel Miller left the glass door, with the door slamming shut behind him. "Everything alright in there, cowboy?" You hummed to him as the nickname rolled off your tongue, scooching over on the step you were seated on to give the man some room to sit.

"Fucking Christ," He started as he took a seat next to you, "they were paintin' their nails, or somethin'. Said I wasn't allowed anywhere near 'em in that room, or they'd be off with me." Joel had grunted once he was completely lowered on this step, his bones weren't as good as they used to he would say.

This earned a snort from you, "No way- Ellie's paintin' her nails? Your girl's really growin' up, Joel." You couldn't believe she was doing this, to be honest. Ellie had stated to both you and Joel that she was not girly whatsoever, and would rather turn into a clicker than wear a dress or do her makeup. After you had said this to Joel, he looked to be upset. He didn't want Ellie growing up, his girl growing up. "Joking, joking."

He took his eyes off of you, and moved them forward. "Nah, you're right," Joel had sighed, "she won't need me soon. Soon she'll-" He had trailed off, quiet now. Fuck- why did you bring this up, you had thought to yourself. You could only place your hand on Joel's thigh. "She'll always need you, Joel. Shit, she'd be death without ya'. Lighten up a bit baby, she ain't going anywhere."

Joel knew it was true, he was just having a really emotional moment right now, it was most likely from being up since five in the morning. "Dunno 'bout that." He had only muttered, placing his hand over yours. You tsked, putting some pressure on his thigh as you got up in an awkward fashion. "Where are ya'-"

"I have an idea, hold on." You had cut him off, making your way back inside. You were engulfed by the sounds of laughter as soon as you stepped foot through the patio door. You were silent about it, not wanting to bother Ellie or her friend. You had silently moved to the house's spare room, where the three of you put anything and everything. You had grabbed what you were looking for almost instantly (it had a distinct shape) and made your way back outside.

Joel turned his head once you had stepped outside again, his eyes moving down to what you had in hand, then gaining eye contact. "Is that my-" he couldn't even finish his sentence. You grinned as you pulled the lawn chair over, placing the case on the floor and unlatching the sides. You had picked up the piece of polished wood and string and placed the curved part on top of your knee.

"Okay so," You had started as Joel turned around to give you his full attention. He looked handsome like this- more than handsome, actually. The way the dull light from inside of your home highlighted his face almost perfectly- ugh, you couldn't get enough of it. "From all of the, sort of, free time I have had in the last few months, I decided to sort of, really badly, learn a few songs?" It came out more of a question than it did a statement, and Joel took notice of this with only a laugh in return.

"Anything ya' play'll be gorgeous, baby." Joel could only look at you in complete awe; if he didn't love you one hundred percent before, he sure as fuck did now. Instead of sitting down, Joel stood up and was now leaning against the wooden beam behind him. He towered over you, only inches away- this got you on even more of an edge.

"Okay, please don't kill me if I don't get the chords right- I don't think I read the notes properly." You awkwardly chuckle as you avoid eye contact with Joel at the current second. Joel knows a guitar from the inside-out, but even if you messed up, he would not care at all. You took the time to learn his favourite instrument, and this only put him in an ecstatic mood.

"Pick a number one through three." You told him as you move your left hand up the neck, and your right arm drooped over the body. "Three." He replied almost too fast, he was just so eager to hear you play.

You brought your fingers through the strings before you started, making sure it was in tune. You glance up towards Joel, "It's in tune, right?" You ask him. A chuckle escapes his lips as he nods, "Don't worry baby, it is."

You (unfortunately) tore your eyes apart from Joel's as you focus on both your left and right hands now. Multitasking was hard for you before this, so you struggled a bit to play. You inhale slowly, placing your fingers on the top three strings on the fingerboard. You strum from both left and right, meeting to the middle string as the first chord.

"And they called it puppy love," your voice was quiet and sounded more hoarse than relaxed, which you mentally slapped yourself for. Before hounding yourself about it even more, you had to focus on changing the chords another four times as you repeated the strumming rhythm.

"Oh, I guess they'll never know," There wasn't any moving, or talking, or breathing (from the sound of it) from Joel. He was just- mesmerized, mesmerized by what you had been doing with your fingers, with your voice, with everything. If the world hadn't gone to shit, you most definitely would've had a big breakout as an up-and-coming music star, he had thought to himself.

"How a young heart, how it really feels, and why I love him so," You had changed the lyrics, and Joel noticed - you changed "her" to "him". Honestly, Joel only noticed because it was you singing it (and he loved you deeply), and that whenever he would spend time with his grandfather when he was little, this song was played a million times. Had he ever told you about his love for this song, or was it just a coincidence?

"And they called it puppy love," You repeated yourself, emotion starting to seep through your voice. "Just because we're seventeen," If you weren't so lost in your train of thought, of remembering where to put your fingers for the next chord, and the correct strumming pattern, and the lyrics, you would've noticed Ellie and her friend silently sneak out onto the porch.

"Tell them all, it isn't fair. To take away my only dream," You had paused strumming for a single second, it sounded like a dramatic pause in Joel's eyes. You had just completely lost your breath from a combination of singing and nerves. After the (painfully long, you thought) second was over, you started once again.

"I cry each night, my tears for you. My tears are all in vain," The chord pattern you had going changed for the last time, and your strums started to sound quiet, your voice dying out while all of this happened. Joel took notice of this, standing up completely now (from leaning against the wooden beam behind). The two girls behind you were still so silent, almost just as mesmerized with you as Joel was.

"Oh, I'll hope and pray, that maybe someday," You inhale as your thumb starts to brush down from the highest string to the lowest string, "You'll be back in my arms once again." A loud exhale falls through your mouth, followed by the two girls bursting out with clapping and compliments. This does nothing short than scaring the absolute fuck out of you, causing the guitar to slip out of your grip.

Luckily, with Joel being completely focused on you, he had came to the rescue and snatched the guitar before it had fell on the ground. You shoot him an apologetic look before turning around to the two girls, he just looks at you with understanding eyes. "You guys almost made me drop the fuckin' thing- how long were you there for?" You question them, eyeing between the two. Their clapping hands were now silent and playing with their thumbs, almost nervous from you.

"Ya' know what, it doesn't matter. Inside- go, it's bedtime." You had scolded the two, as if you were their mother. Ellie's friend had opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Ellie gripping her hand and yanking her back inside. You start to turn back to face Joel, after snapping. "Fuck, we can never have a minute of fuckin' sile-".

He cut you off by smashing his lips into yours. He was acting as if though he was touch deprived, if he hadn't seen you for years. You two just move in sync for what feels like forever (not that you're complaining, though), before you pull away.

Before you have the chance to say anything, Joel brings you to your feet and sets the guitar down on your previous seat, embracing you in a tight hug. You can feel his rough facial hair on the exposed parts of your neck as he exhales, you definitely don't mind. "I needed that more than anythin', darlin'." He admits to you.

"Anythin' for my favourite person." You remind him, bringing your hand to the back of his head. It was true, you would do anything for this man. You would steal for him, kill for him, anything he wanted.

The sun was threatening to peak through the moonlit skies, you knew you two had to be up and about soon enough, but that didn't stop you. You were laying in bed together, tangled between each other's arms. The covers were kicked off your shared bed, and a small breeze cruising the room every so often from the open windows.

"I think it's true." You had broken the comfortable silence that filled the room. Joel didn't move from his position (half of his body on you), just hummed with his eyes staying shut. "What is, baby?"

"The song- fuck, I don't want to sound cheesy or nothin'." You admit, before continuing, "You just, ya' know, I love you's all." You send a small squeeze through Joel's hand, that vibrates his entire body. This results in him dropping your hand and lifting it to wrap around your chest. "Nothin' cheesy 'bout that." His voice was even more hoarse than when you had lost your fears of singing in front of someone, in front of Joel. You now went silent, just loving his embrace.

"Darlin'?" He now broke the silence after a minute or two, eyes still shut and not moving whatsoever. You gave a hum in response, just like he did earlier. "Ya' said to pick a number between three before ya' played earlier, were the other options real?" This was your favourite, vulnerable Joel.

"It was, and before you ask-" you pause, bringing your hand to the back of his head, just like earlier. You ran your fingers through his restless curls. "-I'll play the rest for ya'. Promise." Joel had obviously liked this answer, as he responded with a sloppy kiss to your collarbone.

You would learn every lyric in the world, every chord in the world, every strum in the world, just for Joel to be happy. You didn't want anything more in this world than for him to be happy. If he was happy, so were you.

puppy love, paul anka

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chasedbyatlantic · 3 months

Text

when you wash your hair, joel miller

summary: IN WHICH — you decide to surprise a sleeping joel after you've been working all day outside of jackson's walls, but it doesn't go as you plan.

warnings: gender neutral x joel miller, post outbreak!joel, jackson!joel, mentions of you and joel in a relationship, sub!joel, joel has ptsd, joel almost hurts reader (doesn't tho so dw!), lots of fluff at the end, cute ending, lots of swearing, ellie being annoying as per usual LOL. lmk if there’s anything i missed <3

wordcount: 2.6k

a/n: hiiii this is my very first fic on tumblr! i have been obsessed w/ tlou for the LONGEST time now so why not start writing for my fav fictional mass murderer? anyway- hope u guys enjoy! i plan to post a ton more so stay tuned xoxo

—

You had just finished an ungodly long shift along the outskirts of Jackson, keeping everyone inside safe from- well, whatever lay outside (scary squirrels, mostly). It had been so different since you arrived, with Joel and Ellie. For starters, you weren't kept on edge every single second of every single day - Joel was, which you always got pissed at him for, since you two were more than safe inside these walls. There was also the fact that life had sort of just- resumed, after twenty years of fighting for your life. It was alright, though, a sense of normalcy was nice, even if it were to only last for a little while (you were hoping it lasted forever).

As soon as you were inside the gates of Jackson, you rode over to the stables in which your horse, Leo, was housed at. The big wooden doors were opened by a stable hand that looked no older than Ellie, maybe she knew who this was, you thought to yourself.

You had slid the kid a small "thank you." as they closed the door behind you, and you hopped off Leo. You reached in your bag and scrounged for a second, before pulling out an apple core, the remains of the apple you had eaten earlier. "Here boy," your hand raised towards the horse's snout with the leftovers in-palm, and he took it as if it were the best thing in the world.

Leo munched away while you swapped his bridle for a halter and lead, tugging him to his freshly-mucked stall. He had walked over to his water bucket and you moved with him, undoing his girth and removing his saddle. It was hoisted over your arm as you moved out and locked his stall. "Excuse me," You called over to the stable hand that had let you in as you put all of his tack on the stand in front, "Do you mind brushing him down for me? I've had a long day and gotta get home quick."

The kid nodded their head eagerly, which had earned a smile from you. You weren't lying about having a long day or needing to get home quick - besides, you had always stayed after your shifts, right now you were just craving to see your favourite person (and a warm bath too, you had guessed).

You had removed your gloves as you took one last glimpse at your boy before you left him to be taken care of by the stable hand. As you walked out of the stable, you were greeted with a nice breeze. It wasn't exactly winter yet, but it sure as hell wasn't summer. Autumn was close on finishing, which only meant the days were getting longer.

It took you a mere twenty five minutes to walk back to the Miller residence. If you had a little pep in your step, it would've taken no longer than fifteen. But, being up since before sunrise has its cons. Anyway, it isn't your fault that Tommy and Maria (Joel's brother and new sister-in-law) placed you guys in the farthest house literally ever.

As you approached closer to the home, you could see the familiar little (she would kill you if she heard you describe her as little) girl. The girl took notice of you too, "Fucking finally!" Ellie had kicked up her skateboard, grabbing the tip of it, and came running over. "Jesus Christ, I thought you had got eaten by like- fucking bigfoot out there!", She seemed to be only half-joking.

"I was not eaten out there, Ellie." You sigh as you messed her hair up slightly with your hand, "Is Joel still out on patrol?" You had asked the girl. Her face dropped, earning an "ugh!" from her. "You two love birds are gross. You should care more about me than him! He's a frail, broken, old man while I'm a super cool, and totally awesome young person." You rolled your eyes, an automatic laugh escaping your lips. "Another half an hour out here, Elle. It's almost sundown- and please be careful, for fuck sakes. I don't want to be popping your kneecap back in place because of a fall off that- board."

You weren't Ellie's mom, and you didn't mean to take any place of a motherly figure in her life - it just, sort of happened. After what had happened in Salt Lake City a year ago, and you had fought for Ellie back alongside Joel, you couldn't help but grow so much more attached to her- you and Joel both. This is when your motherly instincts (you were never a mother, not before or during this apocalyptic world) kicked in. You both shared a special bond, one that would never be broken, despite the cruel world you both live in.

A small grunt and a "fine" escaped the girl's lips as she flips her board down and kicks off down the street. You shake your head with an almost disapproving look and walk down the rest of the block to your home. A small smile plays upon your lips as you approach the house with a mailbox at the bottom of the driveway that reads "MILLER". Your last name was not Miller, but you were in a relationship with a Miller, so that could maybe, in the slightest, count as your name too.

Your hand brushed past the rusted metal box as you walk up the paved drive way, you're excited to see Joel. Hell, it feels like it's been an eternity since you've seen that man - when in reality, it's only been since this morning. You climb up the wooden stairs at the front of your porch and remove your boots before entering the house - this saved horrid amounts of mud that would scatter in the small foyer of your home. Once your feet are out of your dirty boots, you silently enter the home.

The door was never locked, not when Joel knew you or Ellie weren't home. You didn't know why he kept it unlocked- maybe in case something had happened and you needed to get home fast, or in case you would lose your keys while out and about. It wasn't that big of a deal, though; nobody else lived in this part of the town (besides Tommy and Maria, who were distant neighbours).

It was dead silent when you entered, too eery for your liking. "Joel?" You called out as you shrugged off your autumn layers. No response. "Joel?" You call out once again, moving to where you had seen the light. You approached tip-toeing, starting to get a bit on edge. Joel was always there to greet you when you got home, unless he had patrol duty himself. As soon as you step foot in your living room, all of the previous worries you had melted away as you saw your favourite person curled up on the arm chair, sitting back and mouth open slightly. You wish you had a camera, god a polaroid of this would be amazing.

You approached him, quiet as ever, sliding the sleeves of your soft-knit sweater over ninety percent of your hands. You had brought your face closer to Joel's once you were close enough. The smell of his vanilla and rose scented shampoo had engulfed you. Joel said he hated it (in reality, he definitely did not), but if it made you love him a little more, he would wash his hair with it.

"You're perfect, you know that." You whisper to him, even though he was sound asleep. From the faded freckles over the bridge of his nose from being out in the sun too much this summer, to the small scars that littered his forehead from years of just surviving, he was perfect.

You breathed hushly as you moved your hands up to his face, to cup his cheeks. You thought it was perfect, for him to wake up to you (as if he didn't every morning) at this moment. You knew he missed you when he wasn't with you, he told you multiple times. This would be a nice thing to make his day slightly better, you had thought. Your fingers made soft contact with the flesh on his face - but, this is where it all went wrong.

Joel had shot up from the deep (well, you thought deep) sleep he was in and grabbed the hands that were touching his face. It hadn't registered to him that it was actually you who was touching his face, and not a clicker, or a raider, or anything else. Rage and a sense of fear filled his eyes as they shot opened, eyebrows furrowed as they looked around frantically - he was ready to fight.

A loud grunt and an "ow." escaped your lips once your hands were grabbed and yanked. It had happened within a blink of an eye. You weren't exactly in the mood for getting manhandled in this current moment, but here you were. "Joel- hey, hey, it's just me. You're okay." You spoke quick, trying to pry him off your hand.

It was now that his eyes had met yours, and it took him a moment (which felt like eternity) to process it was you. "Baby.." His grip immediately loosened and his eyes fell. He looked horrified, at himself rather than anything. "M'sorry." There was a tone in his voice that made him sound ashamed, like he had just broken bad news to someone he loved.

"Don't apologize to me, Jesus Christ." You spoke almost too fast and brought your hand to his face again, you felt bad for scaring him awake- your plan had massively backfired. It took Joel a minute before he melted into the touch of your hand in his cheek, something he will only do when it is only you and him around each other. "Shouldn't have been sleepin' while you weren't home." He muttered, his eyes looking everywhere but at yours.

Your heart ached, he shouldn't feel like this- fuck, you're so stupid for doing this you thought to yourself. "Don't apologize baby, hey-" You brought his focus to you, and only you, "-listen, you're alright, okay? We're safe here, you know. I'm safe, Ellie's safe, you're safe." You reassured the man in front of you. "If you want to sleep all day without a care in the world, you can do it."

Joel was being extremely vulnerable right now- and he knew that you sensed it. This part of him never came out, he was always the strong one in the relationship (not that you weren't, he just had that aura linked to him). Your finger rubbed back and forth over his cheek. "M'sorry for waking you from your nap- I was just too jealous of how peaceful you looked. All comfortable in your blue sweater.." your eyes started to trail down his body right in front of you, "-your sweatpants.." you snapped yourself out of the trance you had fallen in, your eyes reaching back up to Joel's.

He was just quiet, in his own thoughts. "Ya'know I love you." you told him. He looked like he snapped out of his own thoughts once you said this to him, the smallest smile known to man appearing on his face (it was genuine, though). "I know, darlin'." This was your cue, you reached forward and placed your lips onto Joel's. Now this, this was home- god, you could've had your lips on his all day for eternity. Joel melted into the kiss, and placed one of his hands on your thighs.

Things had got heated between the two of you within seconds, suddenly the positions were switched and you were straddling Joel on the armchair in your living room. It wasn't until you tore apart from his lips that it hit you. "Ellie’s going to be home soon, baby. We can't have her catching us like this- not again." You tell him as you catch your breath. His lips find your neck, he only hummed in response. After a moment of no proper response from him, you tap his shoulder, "Seriously, Joel!". He had grunted, basically forcing himself off of you. "So let her see us, not like she don't know 'bout it." He muttered, leaning back in the chair you two were in. "Oh, suddenly you're mister PDA?" You asked as you got up, stretching.

He said something under his breath that you couldn't catch, but chose not to pressure him about it. "But hey.." You grab his hand and help him up, "Maybe you could help me in the shower, hm? Let me borrow some o' that good smellin' shampoo ya' got? Wash my hair for me?” Your eyes met his, a smile completely lighting up your entire face. "I'on mind, doll. Maybe you could help me with a few things too," He reaches down, pressing a wet kiss onto your lips.

You take this as the perfect time to slip your fingers between his, and lead him up to the second floor of your large house. Even though you had completely scared the shit out of Joel earlier, and you thought you were a dead man for a split second, he forgave you. He always forgives you - this is why you love him.

Joel had promised you that he would always stay, no matter what had happened between you two. After years of being together, through your ups and your downs, through your serious arguments and your little scares (like this), he was yours. Joel was always yours, and you were always his.

You two come laughing down the stairs, completely soaked from the shower you had taken together. Joel was back in the clothes he wore when you got home, and you were changed into one of his shirts and a pair of sleeping shorts you had. He had his hand in yours as you lead him down the stairs. Before you could even step foot on the first floor, an "ew!" was yelled by a familiar voice.

"That is fucking disgusting- I cannot believe it! I can't leave you two together for more than thirty minutes before you turn into fucking rabbits. I may as well start thinking about names for the baby!" Ellie over exaggerates, acting completely disgusted from you and Joel holding hands.

Joel shoots Ellie a death glare as he drops his hand from yours momentarily, about to open his mouth before you interrupt. "Do I need to send you to your room, or something? You're so fucking crazy Elle!" You had let the little nick name slip out of your mouth, "You know I would never do anything unholy under the same roof as you." Well, you weren't lying. You and Joel never did it while Ellie was there, you didn't want anyone hearing what happened while you two were alone.

"Don't care, that's gross! Dinner is already made, I am GOING TO BED!" She had yelled as she was already half way up the stairs to her room on the second floor. Joel's hand snaked around your waist from behind as you tsk. "We got stuck with the most batshit crazy kid, I'm telling you."

Joel's hand tightens a smudge when you say that, "I love her though, and you I guess." He rests his head between the crook of your neck and slightly lets go once you add that. Even after the little bicker between the teenager, you couldn't help but smile to yourself.

Even though you were in the midst of an apocalypse, life couldn't have been anymore good to you. They gave you Joel, and you were content - more than content - with it.

—

when you wash your hair, matt maltese

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