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punkshort · 4 months

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look what we've become - ch.6

Chapter Summary: You arrive at Ellie's family's house, but it's not what you expected.

Chapter Warnings: language, mentions of child abuse (not SA), mentions of slavery, angst

WC: 6.3K

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Ellie was quiet the next morning, picking slowly at her granola bar and bent over, staring at her book. It was the day you expected to arrive at her aunt and uncle's house, and you had a hunch she was feeling bittersweet about it. When you woke up, you had a pit in your stomach that you assumed had something to the conversation you had with Joel the night before, but as the morning wore on, you realized there was a different reason. You weren't ready to let Ellie go.

"Hey," you said, nudging her knee so she would look up. "You excited to see your family?"

"I guess," she said with a shrug. Joel appeared to only be half listening as he nursed his coffee across from you.

"I'm sure they'll be happy to see you," you replied. "They probably don't even know you're alive. You said you were taken from their house, right?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "After my parents died, they took me in. I can't really remember much, but I know it was nighttime and I had a bag over my head, but I don't remember them breaking into the house, I must've been asleep."

"And it was the Fireflies who took you?" you asked.

"I'm not sure. It wasn't Marlene's group, if it was. There was more of us, they kept us all in this gross basement or something. No one could tell where we were, and whenever they moved us, they had the bags over our heads."

"Jesus," Joel muttered to himself with a shake of his head.

"How do you know it wasn't Marlene?" you asked gently, curious to learn more, but worried about upsetting her.

"Because after a few months, they took me and a couple others to Marlene's camp. She never made us wear the bags," Ellie explained.

"They hurt you?" Joel asked. His eyebrows were pinched as if he were bracing himself.

"A little," she admitted quietly. Your gaze dropped down to your hands, trying not to show her the emotion on your face. "They'd hit us if we weren't working fast enough, or trip us just for fun, I guess."

"I'm so sorry, Ellie," you whispered, reaching out a hand to place on her knee.

You exchanged a pained look with Joel before dropping the subject. At least she was going back home. She might not be excited yet, but you were willing to bet she would be once she saw her family again.

"We're doing the right thing," you murmured to him when you were out of earshot as Ellie packed up her belongings. "I know you weren't on board with this at first, but we're giving her a chance at a decent life."

"Second we get back I'm tellin' Tommy we are cuttin' all ties with these people," he said through gritted teeth. "I don't care what they got to offer."

You nodded, feeling the anger rolling off of him as he aggressively folded up his sleeping bag. You grabbed your pack and kicked dirt over what little fire remained, snuffing out the embers before reviewing the map once more.

Thankfully, her family didn't live within the city itself. Cities were heavily populated, which meant more risk of infected, soldiers, or hostile people. You tended to avoid them at all costs. They lived in a small town outside of the city called Morristown, which didn't have much outside of a post office, a school, and a fire department. The residential homes were built far apart from each other, scattered and disorganized. You got the feeling that people who used to live in this town knew everyone's business, it was so tiny. And you also had the feeling these were the types of people that shot first and asked questions later, given the extent it appeared they went for privacy.

"That's my school!" Ellie said excitedly, pointing down the street. Joel was focused on the map, trying to find the way to Spirit Drive, but you twisted your head so you could see the building she pointed out in the distance.

"That's cool, Ellie," you said warmly, happy to see she finally had a small smile on her face. "What was your favorite subject?"

She went on to tell you about her art class and a teacher she adored, and all the while you stared at her, listening to her stories while your heart ached. You imagined her in that school, with her friends, playing sports, eating lunch, and something inside you burned. It almost felt like jealousy, but that didn't make sense. It was a feeling you couldn't put your finger on, but you thought you knew what it was when you turned down her street, swallowing the lump in your throat when the realization set in that you were minutes away from never seeing her again.

"This the place?" Joel asked Ellie, squinting his eyes between her and the map. The house didn't look like much. It was a small, brick ranch with a long, gravel driveway that led up to a dilapidated grey barn. The hinges on the storm door to the front house were originally black, but now orange with rust. White paint chipped from the door in long strips, and the front garden was long abandoned and overgrown.

"Yeah," she said, looking at the barn.

"Do you think they're still here?" you asked, a flicker of hope igniting in you. Maybe if they weren't here, you could convince Joel to take her back to Jackson.

"Oh, yeah. They're here," she said confidently. You both glanced down at her.

"How're you so sure?" Joel asked, and she tilted her chin up towards the corner of the house. You both followed her gaze, noticing the cameras for the first time. They were small, it was no wonder you missed them, but they were there and definitely working. You could see a little red light flashing in the lens when the camera swooped across the lawn and over the driveway, where you all stood.

Joel slowly flicked his eyes around the house, counting at least seven cameras that he could see from his position. Then his gaze traveled to the barn, where he thought he could make out at least five more.

"How in the hell did you get taken from this place with all these cameras?" he asked. She didn't reply, and he wasn't really expecting an answer.

"So, what do we do?" you asked Joel quietly. "Do we just go up and knock?"

Joel twisted around to glance at Ellie, but she wasn't paying attention. She fidgeted her fingers inside her long sleeves as she stared out across the wide open dusty, dirty land the house was built on.

"I'll go up and knock, you two stay back," he decided, wiping the sweat from the back of his neck before venturing further down the driveway. The sun was blazing, even more so in the desert with little to no shade. You couldn't imagine how uncomfortable Ellie must have been in her long sleeves.

"That's far enough!" a man's voice rang out. Joel stopped dead in his tracks, whipping his head around to try to locate the source. Then he saw movement. An older man with a scraggly grey beard and balding head emerged from the barn, aiming a rifle right at Joel. He held his hands up in the air, showing from a distance that he meant no harm.

"Is that your uncle?" you whispered, holding your hands up as well.

"Yeah, that's Uncle Dave," she said, but she seemed unbothered by the threat. In fact, she shoved her hands in her pockets as she waited for him to approach.

"We aren't lookin' for trouble," Joel called out as Dave slowly made his way closer, his eyes transfixed on Joel. "We're here-"

"Toss your weapons on the ground!" Dave ordered, readjusting his grip on his rifle.

"Okay," Joel said, nodding, and slowly reached around to pluck the handgun from the back of his pants with two fingers. He held it up and gently tossed it on the ground in front of him.

"You too, missy," Dave said without even looking at you. You followed suit, slowly removing your gun and tossing it on the ground at your side. When you were no longer armed, Dave relaxed a bit, letting his shoulder drop but still aiming the rifle at Joel's chest. He finally allowed his gaze to drift behind Joel, looking briefly at you before his eyes landed on Ellie. He hesitated and swallowed roughly before forcing out a harsh chuckle.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "Junebug! Get out here, you ain't never gonna believe this!"

A rounder woman with glasses and tight curly blonde hair emerged from the barn behind Dave, a scowl painting her features as she walked forward, aiming a revolver at Joel. When she looked over and noticed Ellie, her expression changed. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise and she let her gun fall to her side.

"Ellie!" the woman cried out, trotting clumsily down the driveway towards you. You looked down at Ellie, expecting her to finally show some excitement, but she only offered them a pained smile.

"Hiya, Aunt June," Ellie said before being enveloped in a huge bear hug.

"Oh, my sweet girl! I thought I would never see you again," June said with tears in her eyes. Dave watched the two reunite from his position in front of Joel, the rifle now slung over his shoulder.

Ellie stepped back and introduced you and Joel to her family. She explained you were helping her and keeping her safe, and the two adults began to warm up to you after that.

"Please, why don't you stay the night?" June offered. "We'll make you dinner and give you a warm bed, it's the least we could do." Ellie turned to you and nodded, a genuine smile finally spreading across her face.

You felt Joel hesitate next to you, but you quickly accepted her offer, not ready to leave Ellie just yet. He gave you a sideways glance before giving June and Dave a tight smile and followed them into the house, only after picking up your weapons from the ground.

The inside of the house matched the outside. It was well lived in and dated, but it was clean. You glanced around the living room, noticing there didn't seem to be any family pictures around, just landscape art and a clock on the wall.

June gave you a brief tour of the small house and showed you their spare bedroom, where you and Joel left your backpacks.

"Why don't you help me in the kitchen, dear, and leave the men to their own devices," June said, her pink cheeks pinching into a smile. You looked at Joel, trying to read his expression. He gave you a quick nod, confirming he was comfortable with being separated, and you returned her smile.

"That sounds great," you told her.

Dave led Joel down into the basement, explaining along the way that he would be 'blown away' by his set up down there. Ellie had mentioned they were preppers, and based on the cameras, you had to assume the basement was remodeled to be a safe room or a bunker.

You helped June chop up vegetables while she kneaded dough to make chicken pot pie. Your mouth watered at the prospect of a home cooked meal.

"We've been traveling for over a week, eating mostly trail mix and rabbit. This will be wonderful, thank you so much," you told her.

"Of course, dear. It's no trouble at all. Ellie!" June called out. Ellie came around the corner, her sketch pad hanging limply at her side.

"C'mon, girl, you forget how to help out around here?" June asked, her brows furrowed for a moment before she realized how harsh she sounded. She turned to you and laughed, her features relaxed again. "Kids, you know?"

You smiled and looked back at Ellie to gauge her reaction. She seemed quiet and closed off, but you brushed it off, chalking it up to the long day.

June held out a butcher knife to her, and Ellie hesitated, her eyes flicking from her aunt to the knife.

"Auntie, please don't make me," she said, eyes wide.

"You know the rules, don't tell me you forgot now," she replied lowly. Ellie reached out a shaky hand to pick up the knife.

"What is this?" you asked, putting your hand out to stop her.

"Well, we need chicken for the chicken pot pie, don't we now?" June said sweetly, and you were beginning to feel like that ruddy smile of hers was a little fake.

"I'll do it," you said, stepping in front of Ellie, hand outstretched for the knife.

"Now, I appreciate the offer, dear, but Ellie understands it's part of her chores, right?" she said, narrowing her eyes at Ellie. She nodded slowly, her gaze drifting to the floor.

"She can chop the vegetables and I'll take care of the chicken," you told her, your tone becoming more insistent.

June's watery eyes wavered between you and Ellie as she weighed her options. You glanced down at the butcher knife in her red, flour covered hands, then looked back at her.

"I insist," you said darkly, dropping the fake pleasantries. June's gaze dragged up to remain locked on you.

"Girl's gotta learn to be comfortable with killing," she replied, but you reached out and snatched the knife from her grip before she had a chance to blink.

"That's alright, I could use some practice, myself," you told her, refusing to break eye contact.

The tension in the room was thick, even Ellie was shifting her weight, trying to make herself as small as possible. You waited for June to try to argue with you again or say something to Ellie that didn't sit right, but it never came. As if storm clouds passed, her eyes cleared up and she blinked at you, a smile spreading across her flushed cheeks.

"Well, then," she said, dusting her hands on her apron. "Coop's out back. Suppose we should thank our guest, right Ellie?" June said, raising an eyebrow at the girl. Ellie nodded and looked up at you.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"No problem, kid," you muttered, giving June one last glance before heading out the back door.

"This here's an AK-47, got maybe six of these fuckers," Dave said, his fingertips grazing the weapon on the wall as he passed. "Just about anything you can think of, I probably got two of 'em."

For someone who hoarded weapons in an underground bunker, Joel would have thought the man would be a little more subtle. A little less eager to show a complete stranger his entire stash. But then again, men like Dave loved to show off. If they couldn't boast about it, then what was the point?

"Real nice set up you got here," Joel murmured, knowing the man was waiting for a compliment. Dave's chest puffed with pride before he opened a sliding door in the back of the basement, revealing a small room filled with different sized monitors, cameras all cycling through the different angles he had covering his property. Joel was wrong: he had way more than just the cameras he saw. They rotated to different views all around the outside of the house. He noticed the only cameras that were monitoring indoors were in the barn where he saw an old John Deere tractor and a pickup truck flash on the screen.

"Jesus," Joel whispered, taking a step forward, but still not entering the small room. "How the hell you manage to watch these all the time?"

"Ah," Dave said proudly, tapping his finger against his temple. "I got motion alerts. Sends out an alarm when I'm sleeping or taking a shit or whatever. Gets annoying, though. Mostly just birds or other animals, so I turn it off during the day. But sometimes... sometimes I get something good."

"Like us?" Joel said, and Dave laughed.

"Yeah... yep, exactly like you," he replied, trailing off as he stared at Joel.

"Y'know," Dave said after a moment, stepping back to shut the door. "There's folks around here who pay good money for things, if you're ever in the market to buy or sell."

"We don't got much, but we're doin' just fine," Joel said, beginning to feel uneasy.

"Nah, see, that's where you're wrong, friend," Dave replied, pouring two glasses of whiskey and handing one to Joel. "You do got somethin'."

Joel held the glass tightly, bringing it up to his lips and pretending to take a sip before setting it down. Something told him he should keep his wits about him. He raised his eyebrows at Dave, waiting for him to continue.

"That girl with you up there," he began, and Joel felt his stomach twist at the mention of you. "She would fetch you a fair price with the folks I know."

Joel froze, doing his damndest to not let his emotions show. The pieces were starting to click. He clenched his jaw and swallowed lightly before taking a deep breath.

"That right?" he replied, urging him to continue. He needed to get back upstairs, for the first time realizing you all might be in danger.

"Hell yeah. Medicine, food, weapons. I'm sure of it," he said with a click of his tongue. "I make one radio call and they could be here in two days."

"Hm," Joel replied, clenching his fists behind his back. "Lemme think on it, yeah?"

"Sure, sure," he said with a wave. "Don't think too long, though. One day, someone'll take her. It's just a matter of if you get to benefit from it or not, you get me?"

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Yeah," Joel said. "I get you."

Joel decided you weren't leaving his sight. He was relieved when June called down, letting them know dinner was ready, so he could make sure you were okay without making an excuse to leave and raise suspicion. A man like Dave with a whole arsenal at his disposal wasn't someone he wanted to tangle with. He had to be careful.

A cynical part of him wondered if he should be worried about the food, but he knew you helped prepare it. You were smart, you would have noticed if something was going on.

But when he climbed the stairs and locked eyes with you, he knew something was wrong. You didn't show it, but he could tell by the way your smile didn't reach your eyes.

He settled down at the table as you and June scooped out the meal on everyone's your plates while Ellie silently brought everyone glasses of water. When she set Joel's down, he tried to catch her eye, but she wouldn't look at him.

"Ellie, why don't you get Joel 'n me whiskies. You ladies want anything stronger?" Dave asked, tucking his napkin into his shirt. You shook your head and politely declined as you took your seat next to Joel, your knee purposely knocking against his under the table. He glanced at you, your lips pressed in a thin line as you looked down at your food, not wanting to raise suspicion but desperately wanting to warn him that these people seemed off.

"You know, I've been meaning to try that margarita mix we traded for last week," June said thoughtfully. "Ellie, let me show you how to make it." June waddled out of the kitchen and into the living room, behind Ellie. You heard their voices carrying over faintly as June instructed her how to make her drink.

"This looks great, honey. What's in it?" Joel asked, turning and giving you a pointed look. Honey. He never called you that. It got your attention, and you gave him a quick, curious look before you understood his underlying question. Is this safe to eat? Your gaze drifted back to Dave, who was watching the two of you talk.

"Just normal stuff," you told him. "Nothing special. Veggies, chicken."

His eyes bored into yours, trying to communicate silently with you. You figured it out. Something happened in the basement that worried him, the same way June's behavior worried you.

"Alright, let's dig in!" June said cheerily, entering the kitchen with a yellow drink in her hand. Ellie followed dutifully behind with two glasses of whiskey, placing them in front of the men before sitting across from you.

"This is great, Junebug," Dave told his wife after a few forkfuls. June smiled as she sipped from her glass. You and Joel choked down the meal, offering your compliments and thanks once again, while Ellie silently pushed her food around her plate.

"Not a whiskey man, Joel?" Dave asked, his eyes growing glassy from the drink he had in the basement and now his second one.

"It's just been a long journey," Joel explained, but took a small sip anyway. "Feelin' real tired, is all."

Ellie glanced up and looked at Joel, knowing full well he wasn't tired. In the short time she knew him, it was like pulling teeth to admit he was tired. She looked back and forth between him and you, trying to read your faces without being obvious.

"Quit playing with your food," June told her harshly, finishing up her margarita. "You should be so lucky to have a roof over your head and food in your belly."

Joel stiffened next to you but didn't look up from his plate, his mind racing, trying to formulate a plan.

"You know what? That drink looked good," you said suddenly. "Ellie, why don't you show me if you remember how to make it?" You stood up from the table and Ellie jumped to her feet to follow you.

"Bring me another, too," June barked as Ellie followed you around the corner to the bar cart in the living room.

"What the hell is going on here, Ellie?" you muttered quietly, picking up the margarita mixer and pouring it into a glass.

"It's how they always are," she whispered. "They aren't exactly good with kids, but it's fine."

"No, it's not fine," you whispered back, holding your hand out to keep her from pouring tequila in your glass, choosing to just drink the mixer, not wanting alcohol to dull your senses. You nudged her hand to make her pour a little extra tequila in her aunt's glass. "This isn't how you should be living."

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she asked sharply before turning on her heel and heading back into the kitchen. You trailed after her, finding your seat next to Joel and taking a sip of the fake drink and trying to ignore the guilt. You had no idea how you were going to be able to leave her behind with these people.

You helped June clean up the dishes after dinner while the men filed into the living room. Joel had drank his first glass, but held up his hand when Dave offered a second, rubbing his eyes and reminding him how tired he felt. He needed to get you alone and get you the hell out of here, paranoid that Dave would call those people to do a "trade" for you like he was already suspecting happened originally with Ellie. What else would explain kidnappers being able to bypass his security system?

As if reading his mind, Dave asked "Think any more about what I told you downstairs?"

Joel yawned, trying to hide his anger by contorting his face.

"Lemme sleep on it, get back to you in the mornin', I'm beat," he said, hoping he wasn't laying it on too thick. If he was, Dave didn't seem to notice, the whiskey doing its job by keeping him oblivious.

"Alright now, Ellie. Time to get ready for bed," June said, her drink sloshing in her glass. "Say goodbye and thank you to your friends."

You could see the despair in Ellie's face. Trying hard not to cry, you wrapped her in a hug and whispered it will be okay in her ear before pulling back, swallowing hard. She was about to reach for her sketch pad when, much to your surprise, Joel suddenly leaned down and pulled her into a hug. Ellie also looked shocked, not sure what to do at first but eventually brought her arms up around his ribs. You thought you could see him whisper something in her ear, but it happened so fast, you weren't sure.

"Okay, off you go," June told her, and Ellie quickly walked down the hall without another word. You watched her go, tears threatening to spill down your cheeks.

You sat next to Joel, trying to appear interested in what her aunt and uncle were talking about, but you realized it didn't matter the more they drank. Joel's hand dropped on the couch next to you, grasping your hand and stroking his thumb over your knuckles. You looked up at him sadly as he tried to wordlessly say it's okay, I'll get us out of this.

After another hour, Dave stood to tend to the fire, stumbling in the process. June chuckled, her face redder than usual.

"Time for bed, old man," she teased, and he grunted in response, pushing a log around with the poker before straightening back up.

"Suppose you're right, Junebug," he replied. You could hear the alcohol in his voice, the way he spoke slightly louder and slower than usual.

"You two need anything, you just holler," June said, pushing herself off the couch. "Clean sheets are in the closet."

You and Joel stood, watching as they made their way slowly down the hall to their bedroom, June mumbling to Dave until their door quietly clicked shut.

You immediately swiveled around to Joel but he clamped a hand over your mouth, shaking his head. You nodded and he removed his hand, leading you down the other end of the hall to the guest room, and shut the door.

"Joel-"

He held his finger to his lips before he made his way around the room, checking the furniture and closet for any possible hidden cameras or bugs. When he was satisfied, he finally spoke.

"Don't get comfortable. When they fall asleep, we're leavin'," he whispered.

"We can't leave her here," you said, sweeping your arm towards the door.

"I know," he said, and you breathed a sigh of relief. "They'll sell her off again the first chance they get."

"Wait, what?" you asked, eyes wide. "I thought someone snatched her?"

"I really fuckin' doubt it," Joel said, running his fingers through his hair. "When we were in the basement, that asshole was tryin' to convince me to sell you to slavers. Said if I don't do it, somebody'll take and sell you anyway. Sounded awful lot like a threat, if you ask me."

"Jesus Christ, Joel!" you whispered, wrapping your arms around your ribs and pacing nervously around the room. "So you think they sold Ellie into slavery? Their own niece?"

"Wouldn't put it past 'em. You should see the shit he's got in that basement. Must've cost a fortune. I'm sure Ellie wasn't the only one they sold off."

It started to make sense. The way June spoke to and treated Ellie like she was a servant didn't leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.

"But they seemed so happy to see her," you said, thinking back.

"Yeah, probably saw her as another paycheck. Two for one," Joel said with a scoff.

"So what's the plan?" you asked him, biting on your fingernail anxiously.

"Give it an hour or so," he began, sitting down on the bed. "Make sure they're passed out. Then, you go get the kid, and I'll go to the basement. I gotta figure out how to turn off the motion alerts on those cameras so they don't wake up. Then we get the fuck outta here."

"Okay," you said quietly, sitting down next to him, stunned. Twenty minutes ago, you just thought they were bad guardians. You had no idea it was this bad. You buried your face in your hands, feeling guilty for bringing Ellie back into this house. You should have fought harder to get her to stay in Jackson. Now, you all ended up in danger, anyway.

"We have to try to warn Tommy and Maria," you whispered. "What if something happens? It'll take us a week to get home."

"Maybe not," Joel replied. "I saw on his cameras that they got a truck in that barn."

Joel stuck his head out into the hallway, craning his neck to listen for any movement from the master bedroom. After a few minutes of silence, he looked back at you and nodded. Quietly, you followed him down the hall, pausing outside of Ellie's room. Before you could open the door, Joel put his hand over yours. He cupped your face and quickly pressed a kiss against your lips, then pulled back to look deep into your eyes while his thumb caressed your cheek.

I'll get us out of here, I'll keep us safe.

You nodded, understanding without him having to say a word. He dropped his hand and made his way down the hall to the basement door, clicking on his flashlight before descending the stairs.

Taking a deep breath, you slowly pushed the bedroom door open. You took care to close it gently behind you, then turned around to find Ellie fully dressed and waiting for you at the foot of her bed.

"Hey," you whispered, and she stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'm ready," she whispered back.

"How did you-"

"Joel told me," she said quietly. "He said to keep my bag packed, and not to fall asleep."

So he did whisper something in her ear when he hugged her.

"Okay, good," you breathed, trying to hide your nervousness.

"I packed all new clothes, and a few other things I wanted. Do you think I need anything else?"

"You have your flashlight?" you asked.

"Yep. And I got this," she said, proudly reaching into her pants pocket and pulling out a switchblade.

"Where did you get that?"

"Does it matter?" she replied.

"Just be careful with that thing, put it away," you told her. She folded it back up and shoved it into her jeans.

You poked your head out of her door, making sure the coast was clear before taking a step out. You made it two feet before Ellie's hand shot out and grabbed your arm, pulling you back into her room just in time. The master bedroom door swung open and June hobbled out in her nightgown, making her way groggily to the bathroom. You and Ellie stood with your ears pressed against the bedroom door, listening intently as the toilet flushed and the sink ran.

"Where's Joel?" Ellie mouthed.

You pointed down to the floor and mouthed back basement.

You waited until you heard her door click shut and the squeak of the boxspring before opening Ellie's door again. Silently, you made your way down the hall and to the dark kitchen, where you waited for Joel.

"What's he doing?" she said as softly as possible.

"Motion sensors," was all you said back. She shook her head.

"He won't know - I'll do it," she replied, and before you could stop her, she opened the door and made her way down the steps, turning her flashlight on in the process. You went after her as quickly and quietly as you could, knowing Joel wouldn't expect you to be down there.

You entered the bunker, taking a second to gawk at all the guns adorned on the walls. There was also an elaborate looking radio and a workbench filled with electrical parts. You passed five dressers that looked to be filled with different types of ammunition, and you thought you even saw a couple grenades.

"Joel," you whispered, and you heard him shuffle near the back of the room. You swung your flashlight towards the noise, your heart pounding in your ears. He stepped out from behind a tall shelf of canned goods, shaking his head and holstering his revolver.

"This wasn't the plan," he scolded with a deep frown, but before you could explain, Ellie pushed past you both and made her way to the little room in the back that housed all of the security system equipment.

"Ellie!" Joel whispered, going after her.

"I know what I'm doing," she said over her shoulder. He glanced back at you and you shrugged.

"There, the alarm is turned off and so is the recording," she said, emerging from the room. Joel gave her a confused look.

"Recording?" you repeated.

"Yeah, the cameras record everything. So they won't know what direction we go when they wake up tomorrow and try to review the footage," she explained, looking at you like it was obvious before heading to the stairs.

"Did you know-" you began to ask, but Joel cut you off.

"Hey, wait," he whispered, making Ellie stop on the bottom step. He unscrewed the cap of whiskey Dave had shared with him earlier and poured it all over the radio, watching as it sparked a bit. And for good measure, he cut the wire that powered the device before making his way toward the stairs, pushing past Ellie to lead you both out of the house.

Joel led you to the barn, maneuvering on the soft grass instead of the noisy gravel. There was a standard padlock on the door, which he was able to break relatively easily with his hunting knife. He was beginning to realize Ellie's aunt and uncle had all the appearances of being survivalists, but lacked most of the skills. He had lost count of the things he would have done differently if he was defending his own home.

Still, he didn't want to wake them when he was so close to safety. So, he put the truck in neutral and had Ellie steer from the driver's seat while the two of you pushed the car down the long driveway, waiting until it reached the road before making Ellie move to the back and starting it up.

He drove for a few hours until you were both struggling to keep your eyes open, the adrenaline that was previously fueling you both long since worn off.

"Let's pull off here, maybe we can find some gas before we head out in the mornin'," Joel said softly, trying not to wake Ellie.

"Okay," you said quietly, staring out the window as he got off the interstate. He drove for another half hour until he found a volunteer fire hall.

There were a few abandoned cars in the large lot when you pulled in. Joel parked the truck and turned to you.

"Lemme go in and check it out, you stay with the kid," he said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"I'll come with you," you said, but he held out his hand.

"Stay," he repeated firmly, and you shook your head.

"What if-"

"Just do as your told for once," he snapped. You clamped your mouth shut, too tired to argue. He was clearly annoyed that you improvised back at the house and brought Ellie in the basement.

"Fine," you seethed, and he slid out of the truck. You watched with your arms crossed as he approached the door, shining his flashlight inside the window before working on the lock and pushing his way in. You could see the beam of his flashlight through the windows as he moved from room to room, carefully checking out each one before finally coming back out to let you know it was clear.

"Ellie," you whispered, nudging her shoulder gently. Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a yawn, turning around to try to figure out where you were.

"We're gonna stay here for the rest of the night and try to get some sleep before hitting the road tomorrow," you explained as you hopped out of the truck.

She silently followed you into the building, where Joel was waiting, holding the door open. He led you both up the stairs where the firefighters had a small living space with bunk beds. Ellie snagged the first one she saw, curling up with the blanket that was already draped over the bed and falling back asleep.

"You good?" Joel asked, looking over as you flopped down on one of the beds.

"Yeah, are you?" you replied. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Long fuckin' day," he murmured.

"Why don't I keep watch tonight and you get some rest, I'll sleep in the car tomorrow," you told him. You could tell he wanted to argue with you but his exhaustion won.

"Yeah, alright," he agreed after a moment.

You stood back up, checking your gun before heading back downstairs. After you peeked out the windows to confirm everything was all quiet, you wandered around the first floor a bit. It looked like after the outbreak, the building may have acted as a safe zone. There were abandoned bags, cots, blankets, and trash overflowing in the bins.

You were looking through some duffel bags for anything useful when you heard a noise outside. You froze, quickly pulling your gun from the back of your jeans as you made your way cautiously out into the room. At first glance, your flashlight didn't show anything out of the ordinary. You were about to give up when you heard the same noise again. Whipping to your left, you advanced towards the sound with your gun drawn.

The last thing you remember is a hand gripping your throat from behind and a needle slipping into your neck.

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theetherealbloom · 1 year

Text

UNEVEN ODDS — CH. 2

Chapter Two: Roll Up Your Sleeves

Summary: The Reader is dragged into the Last of Us universe and has no choice but to watch the events unfold or will she be able to change what was already written?

Paring: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Age-gap Romance, Violence, Angst, Fluff, Guns, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Swearing, Reader wants to sacrifice herself, Zombies, eventual SMUT, MY SCIENCE IS WONKY, probable plot holes, rusty writing

Word Count: 4.8k

A/N: Holy shit there are so many of you sjdfhgsk AHHHH thank you so much for all the notes and comments, I appreciate it! Here’s a little bit of info for you to understand a little bit of my thought process. In my outline, the reader is an Enneagram Type 9: The Peacekeeper. (This helps me add a little bit of depth to you so I don’t feel entirely lost when writing) if she seems “passive” or “complacent” it’s cause she wants everything to go smoothly and be without conflict. I’d like to believe there’s a little part of us that prefer to avoid tension, due to the fear of loss and separation from the people or things you love. I’ll go a little bit more in-depth about this in the story as it progresses. Hope you enjoy!

Song: evermore (feat. bon iver) by Taylor Swift

Previous Chapter -> Next Chapter | Series Masterlist

TLOU WORLD – 2023

BOSTON - NOON

You walk along the ruins of a long-abandoned Boston with an overpowering sense of dread. It feels like the build-up of a song in which you know the tune, the lyrics, and the beat. Strings of violins, drums, and bells ring and thump in your mind, unwanted and uncaring of how you feel. This curse of knowledge you never asked for but which you carry follows you as the four of you approach the Bostonian Museum. Creeper vines and Cordyceps grow on the sides of the building, marked by conspicuous veins and all-consuming every red brick of this once-beautiful structure.

The four of you stand outside the entrance of the museum. Cordyceps consume every part of the foundation, Ellie tilts her head to look up at it appalled, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” You stand next to Joe, using your hand to rub your right eye, and mumble, “Shit.”

“Well, there’s a way across from the top floor,” Tess says while moving to place her hands in the pockets of her pants. Ellie sarcastically replies, “Well, then I guess it’s fine.” Tess reassures her by adding, “We use to take it all the time.”

Ellie answers, “Okay.” Joel leaves your side and approaches a dry vein of the Cordyceps, removing the rifle he stole from the FEDRA guard, he crouches and touches a part of it to check if it was still active. He swings downward, hits the vein with the butt of the gun, and a puff of dust releases from the dead fungi, he stands to walk over to Tess, “It’s bone dry. It could mean they’re all finally dead in there.”

Tess nods, then they both kneel to prepare their flashlights and weapons, just in case. You and Ellie watch them both rummage through their backpacks, “Oh, man,” the kid mutters.

Joel whips out a flashlight and waves it at Ellie, “Marlene pack you one of these or just sandwiches?” She removes her backpack, “Yeah,” and pulls out her flashlight. Joel looks to you, “Catch, hummin’ bird.” That was the only warning he gave you before tossing you the flashlight, “Luckily, I have a spare.”

You’re short of breath as you hear the nickname he gave you. Miraculously, caught it with both hands, and without even thinking you wink, “Thanks, cowboy.” Thankfully, no one says anything about your quip directed at him.

“Okay, so… more ground rules.” Tess announces and turns to Ellie, “We’re gonna go slowly. If we come up against anything you get behind us and you stay there, okay?” The young girl nods and wears her backpack, “Yes.” Tess brings out her handgun and flashlight, positioning her hands in a way that she can use both. Ellie glances at the gun she’s holding, “I have a spare hand.”

Joel is unamused by what she is insinuating, dryly replies, “Congratulations.” He walks forward with determination, he pokes his head through the door to do an initial check before turning around to nod at the three of you to signal it’s clear. Reluctantly, you follow them inside, your mind has kicked into overdrive, trying to figure out a way to get past this with zero casualties. If you sacrifice yourself, would that change the ending? Would it buy Tess a little more time? This might be your grand attempt to do something right and kind without assurance, without the promise of an afterlife.

Flashlights dance and shine around the walls of the abandoned museum, you watch your step and try to calm the beating of your heart as you look at the artifacts left behind. You navigate through the hallways and come across a corpse of an infected deceased. Joel shines his flashlight on the fungi, “Yeah, cooked.” Tess exhales, “Finally, some fucking luck.” Ellie steps a little closer to investigate the remains of what was once human, Joel continues, “I guess we should’ve gone this way in the first place.”

You were so caught up in trying to ground yourself in the reality of all of this, that this is actually happening, that you forgot to at least warn them about the Clickers they were about to face in a couple of moments. Just as Ellie was about to turn a corner, you whisper loudly to her, “Ellie wait!”

Too fucking late. “Oh shit,” Ellie exclaims with wide eyes, and Joel makes a move to inspect what she found. A dead bruised, bloodied, young man slouched against the corner. Ellie’s eyes were full of shock, “What the fuck did that?”

Joel and Tess look at each other knowingly, and you finally decide to speak up, for her and theirs, “Whatever you’re about to say or hope for, don’t bother.” The three of them turn to look at you and you decide to continue in an audible whisper, “I wasn’t sure if I could or should warn you, but we need to stay quiet from now on.” You gather your courage to look directly at Joel with an unwavering stare, “It’s exactly what you suspect it is.”

“Are you saying an infected did that?” Ellie whispers to the three adults, and she resumes, “Because I’ve been attacked by one and it wasn’t like that.” Joel looks at you and he can see the way your face twists, your lips curled downwards, and your eyes show your remorse and guilt, he whispers to everyone, “Okay, from this point forward we are silent. Not quiet. Silent.” Ellie looks at him concerned and confused, “What?” But Joel shakes his head, “No. No questions. Just do it.”

This is it. You think to yourself as you will your feet to move, continuing, you follow Joel and Ellie up the stairs with Tess trailing behind. You remember when you could cover your eyes to the scary moments of the show, you could press pause, or fast forward, not needing to witness and feel the distress and panic.

The quiet creak of each floorboard of the steps as your boots land on the rotting wood, it groans all of your weight and dust falls from the ceiling. You all stop silently, waiting for any indication of an infected discovering that all of you were in the museum. After a moment, Joel looks back at you, a silent way of asking if it’s okay, you throw him a bone and give him a tiny spoiler, then you nod at him. And all four of you continue up the stairs.

As you make the first landing of the steps, you shine your flashlight to meet a horrifying view. Multiple corpses of people who were infected with Cordyceps lay on the wooden floors. It’s unspeakable and all-consuming, the silence overwhelms your system, there is a sudden tightness in your chest, and feel a part of your mask slip, your eyes shift and move to look at the pile of bodies. Organs and parts that were once human, were scooped out and transformed into fungi.

Your mouth opens silently, quivering as you do, and you lightly shake your head. Joel steps over the rotting fungi, just as you were about to grab Ellie and warn her about what she couldn’t see, you were too late. Again. A satisfying crunch could be heard throughout the building and you squeeze your eyes shut in fear for a moment then you reopen them. Joel whips around to look at Ellie with annoyance, the kid gives him an apologetic look.

Thankfully, you managed to make it up the steps with no more issues. Joel slowly opens the door to Independence Hall, and the wood gives a quiet creak. He quickly scans the area before deciding to nod at all of you, telling you it’s clear.

With your foresight and knowledge of events that had already happened in your time, you decide to act accordingly and give a hard shove to both Tess and Ellie inside the Hall and quickly follow after, gravity takes place and parts of the museum collapse, pieces of wood and cement block the doors. You were trapped.

Tess and Ellie push themselves off the ground, but you take a little longer to get up. You scraped your arms and hands, and the pain in your head came back. Joel quickly and quietly helps Ellie up then realizes you haven’t moved yet. He immediately makes his way to you, lightly shaking you to get up, you blink back the blurry black spots that are forming in your eyes and stand up with his help, both of his hands on the underside of your forearms.

You squint and slowly look up at him, and for what felt like a second, you see the worry that lines his face. Concern and need to protect you, even though you’re just a stranger. The moment doesn’t last long, you hear the familiar sound of screeching in the room adjacent to you. Flashlights shine in the direction of the noise and you hold your breath as all of you walk backward, keeping your eyes on the monster that emerges from the shadows. The twitchy movements are followed by the croaky noises of the infected, it tries to navigate, searching for its next prey. And on queue, the other Clicker screeches, indicating that there are two of them. This is no longer a museum, it’s a fucking horror house and all of you are in for the worst experience of your life.

You are now surrounded by predators, and prey, playing a twisted game of hide and seek. You press your back against the glass of the cabinet, Tess to your right, Ellie to your left, and Joel being the farthest left. He gestures to his eyes and ears, quietly mouthing, “They can’t see, but they can hear.”

The creature groans and croaks, clicking sounds from its throat. It’s right behind the glass, your eyes drift to the monster and see its jerky movements. You bring your eyes to look at Joel, he lifts his pointer finger to his lips, indicating to be incredibly still and silent. Fear is the darkness and the unknown, a hard-to-shake feeling, it overstays its welcome and leaves you panting.

Tess watches the monster make its way around the corner, limping and shaky. Ellie closes her eyes to try and control her breathing, and you get yourself ready for the fight you never wished for. ‘Why is it always so fucking dark?’ You wonder inside your head, The Clicker comes into view, and you hear an audible gasp come from Ellie. Shit.

The creature turns in your direction at full tilt, mouth wide open with its yellowing teeth, and gives the loudest high-pitch screech. Joel sprays bullets into the Clickers’ chest, but it fights back, he looks in your direction and yells out, “Run!”

The second clicker begins to sprint toward you and Tess shoots at it but the bullet misses. Tess grabs Ellie by the arm and drags her away, while you run with them. The four of you get separated, Tess trips and so do you and Ellie, she yells out to tell her, “Run… Run!”

Ellie crawls her under a table and finds her way out, while the Clicker runs after Tess. You are now at a crossroads, Joel is running at the other end of the exhibit while Tess heads in the opposite direction. You swiftly make a split-second decision and duck, right behind Ellie under the table, however, you do not crawl away, instead, you wait for the Clicker to run by you and quietly get up to follow after Tess. This is your chance to make things right, to ensure she doesn’t get bitten. Will this cost you your life?

You grab an ax hanging from the wall and run to the other side of the room, you hold it with both hands and feel the sweat coating your skin. You turn a corner and see Tess pinned up against the wall, the creature feasting on her neck, your heart drops to the bottom of your stomach, and you let out a scream, “No!”

The creature quickly turns and shrieks at you, angry for interrupting its meal, now it begins sprinting towards you, and the adrenaline pumps into your bloodstream and system. The anger starts to flare in your chest, the silence grows louder along with the ringing in your ears. You stand unwavering and with the courage that has been asleep for so long, it awakens at the right time.

Aiming directly at its head, you throw the axe with everything you have. It lands on a portion of its mushroom-infected face. Yet, it only slows the creature down a second, screaming and swinging its long mutated arms, and tries to locate you, but, it hears the commotion in the other room, loud pops of a revolver can be heard and you assume it’s Joel killing the other Clicker.

The abomination of what once was human turns and screeches at Joel and Ellie, it scampers towards them and you feel the pulse in your veins like a fighter, you fight the fear and let the rush take over, you sharply glance at the handgun Tess had dropped during the chaos and without hesitation, you pick it up and pray it still has some bullets in the chamber.

This was a skill you wished you never had to use. All those days in the range were just a precaution, the world is not kind to women, and you learned to protect yourself just in case. It meant only using a gun when you or the people you loved were in danger.

Using one hand, you swiftly remove the safety with your thumb, aim, and shoot at the head of the Clicker. With three loud pops and then a fourth one for good measure, the monster falls to its knees and on the ground.

Dead.

Blood oozes from the infected’s head, and you stand there watching the crimson splatter grow larger. Tess appears from the archway and takes in the vision before her. You turn to aim the gun at her, your fight instincts kick in, still high from the adrenaline, and you stand there breathing heavily.

Joel yells out your name. You blink once, then twice. A beat passes, and you don’t register Joel approaching you in a calm slow manner, his arm stretched out with his palm facing you, treating you as if you were a frightened animal, now he places his hand on top of yours, a touch so gentle you barely register it. Carefully and steadily he takes away the gun in your hand and turns the safety on before handing it to Tess, which she slowly takes, while you let it happen.

Your vision is blurry and tries to swallow away your guilt. You were too late. You couldn’t save her. Joel says your name again, he’s in front of you now, his frame covering and protecting Tess, but he has replaced the gun you once held, with his hand. Ellie watches the events unfold from the side, not wanting to create any more noise or movement. He squeezes your hand and whispers, “It’s okay… It’s okay.”

It’s not, but his voice brings you back anyway. You look to Tess, your eyes full of sorrow, and your voice quivers as you speak, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tess nods knowingly, she swallows her pride and sadness to say, “It’s okay. You tried… um, thank you.”

Her words completely snap out of your trance, and you see the world a little clearer now. You nod back at her, then bring your eyes to Joel, who is still holding your hand. His eyes dance around, observing and taking note of every detail of your face. You’re the first to break the staring contest, realizing that Tess doesn’t have a lot of time. You step back away from him, dropping his hand, “We should get going.”

Joel turns to Tess, “You all right?” She nods, “Twisted ankle, but yeah.” She limps over to Ellie, “You all right?”

“Well, I didn’t shit my pants, so…” Ellie says and pulls up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a bite from the infected. “You fucking kidding me?” she exclaims and turns to look at Joel, “I mean if it was going to happen to one of us.”

Tess stays silent at that, glancing at you to keep your mouth shut. You give a discreet nod in response, Tess calls out to Joel, “Hey. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Joel pushes the window up and opens, stepping out onto the roof, Ellie follows and you do too, leaving Tess for last, who plops down to rest her ankle, “Fuck.”Joel kneels and opens his pack to give Ellie a bandage, “Put this around your arm.” She takes it and says, “Thanks.” You watch as Ellie makes her way to a wooden plank, makeshift bridge, “Over there?” Joel glances over while continuing to fuss over Tess, “Yeah, I know it looks scary.”

“That was scary. This is wood.” Ellie states and proceeds to walk across the wood plank to get to the other building’s roof. Joel watches in disbelief and hollers, “Just wait there. Give us a minute.” He turns to look at you, “Can you go make sure she’s…” You only nod, knowing that Joel and Tess need to talk, you look at the wood plank they call a bridge and mumble to yourself, “If the way I die is falling from a high place, so be it.”

You walk across with no problem and catch up to Ellie, “Hey,” you say as you stand by her and take in the view. “What happened to you back there?” Ellie asks, the wind blowing strands of hair away from her face. You huff, “I don’t know. The adrenaline took over, I guess.”

You both stand in silence now, then you can hear the heavy footsteps of Joel walking up to the right of Ellie, she merely glances at him and then turns back to see the State House in the distance, glittering under the sunlight. “Is it everything you hoped for?” Joel asks her, Ellie blinks but answers him, “Jury’s still out. But, man you can’t deny that view.”

You hear Tess approaching from behind, eager to keep moving, “Come on, let’s get there before it’s dark.” She turns and then climbs a ladder down, letting out a groan of pain no one question or brings up. Joel nods at Ellie to follow Tess which he does, you look at Joel as Ellie climbs down. And you held his gaze for a moment, then look to his broken watch, before climbing down after the young kid.

Leaves crunch with every step you take, Tess lightly limping ahead, she turns to look at you, and you could only stare back. Tess looks straight ahead once more, and you can’t help but wonder about the violence of the dog days and what could get you through this. You see the State House from a distance, a hauntingly beautiful sight, creeper vines growing on the pillars and sides of the edifice.

The group decides to hide behind an abandoned car near the state house, and immediately could tell that something was very wrong, “Where the fuck are they?” Tess harshly states, Joel, shakes his head and decides to go check the truck parked outside by the steps of the ruined State House.

Joel walks over cautiously to the door of the truck, he swings it open to aim his rifle at it, only for the seats to be empty. Joel sees the blood splattered on the sides of the door, and turns to mouth at you all, “Stay back.” He rounds the side of the truck and notices a recently deceased, he continues to the back of the truck, swinging the giant blue metal doors, to confront no one.

You follow Ellie and Tess as she demands, “Joel, what the fuck is going on?” Joel shakes his head, “I don’t know.”

No longer wanting to play along, you look down to see a trail of blood up the steps and into the State House, you hear someone call your name, but say nothing as you walk up to the doors of the building. You push your way through, briskly walking to the center of the structure, and you take a good look at the multiple dead people scattered on the ground. You shake your head and close your eyes, “Fuck.”

You hear the three come in after you and they notice immediately what happened, Tess goes into a panic, “Okay. I mean there’s gotta be a fucking radio or something, right?” She proceeds to open the kit boxes that contain nothing but supplies, searching for anything that could help them win.

“Who killed them? FEDRA?” Ellie asks, and you reply, “No,” you nod to the man on the ground, Joel rolls him over with his boot and you continue, “One of them got bit. The healthy ones fought the sick ones. Everyone lost.”

Joel’s nostrils flared as he stared at you, “You knew? You knew and didn’t even bother to warn us that this was all for nothin’?” You raised your chin, “They were already dead hours before we got here.” His jaw clenched while you stood, fists clenched by your sides, and rolled your shoulders back, glaring at Joel.

Joel calls out to Tess, “Tess, what are you doing?” She ignores him and approaches Ellie, “Where did Marlene say that she was taking you?” Ellie responds unsure, “Uh, I don’t know. Just west.”

“Just west. Fuck. okay. Well, I mean, one of them’s gotta have a map on them, right?” Tess then goes to search one of the deceased Firefly’s pockets, “Joel, can you help me?”

“No.” He fumed, “Tess, it’s over. We are going home.”

“That’s not my fucking home!”

You let the exchange happen, while you move to one of the kits to retrieve a handgun, some ammo, and a small first-aid kit, and steal a backpack sitting on top of the chairs to shove all your supplies inside. Then, you hear Tess say the words you knew would happen, “I’m staying. I mean, our luck had to run out sooner or later.”

“Fuck.” Ellie whispers, “She’s infected.”

Tess sighs, and Joel’s eyes hardened and narrowed into slits, “Show me.” She takes a step forward and whispers his name, only for him to take a step back. Tess then steps back, anguish splashes across her face, then pulls the collar of her shirt and jacket, to reveal the growing infection on her neck, “Oops, right? And don’t bother taking it against her,” Tess gestures to you, “She did everything she could to save me, but I guess fate had already cut my string.”

Joel takes in a breath of disbelief while Tess looks to Ellie, “Take your bandage off.” Which she does to reveal no evidence of infection, just a new scar on her forearm to add to her collection. Tess makes her way to Ellie and holds her arm, “Look. Joel? This is real.” She drags Ellie closer to him, “Joel, she’s fucking real.” Her grip suddenly becomes twitchy and she wills her hand to stop shaking and hides it behind her back, she stares directly into the eyes of whom she once loved, “I need you to get her to Bill and Frank’s.”

Joel is shaking his head as he replies, “No.” But Tess continues to speak, “They’ll take her off your hands. They’ll handle it from here.”

“No… I can’t. They won’t take her. They’re not gonna take her.” He says and you watch each part you knew to unfold, Tess whispers to him, “They will because you’ll convince them. Yes, you will. I never ask you for anything. Not to feel the way I felt…”

“No.” He stubbornly states, but Tess lets the tears stream down her face and exclaims, “Now, you shut the fuck up because I don’t have time.”

He grants her request and listens, “This is your chance. You get her there. You keep her alive and you set everything right. All the shit we did.” Joel shakes his head as Tess begs, “Please say yes, Joel. Please.”

Despite the somber mood, a screech from one of the corpses has come to life and taken its revenge on the living, Ellie screams out, “Oh, fuck!” But your reaction time is faster this time, and you no longer hesitate as you walk towards the parasite, remove the safety of the gun and shoot it point blank in the head. Joel comes up behind you, and takes notice of what you’re staring at, the Cordyceps patch has awakened the rest of the infected and you hear the croaks and shrieks from outside of the State House.

Joel runs up to one of the doors to check how many are on the way, he shuts the door and locks it after making out the horde approaching. “How many?” Tess asks, Joel walks past her, “All of ‘em. Maybe a minute.”

Tess takes one of the rifles off of the floor and uses the butt of the gun to remove the lid on the fuel barrels. She pushes it to the floor, and the clear yellow liquid pours out of it and coats the floor. You help and do the same to the other barrel, knowing how this will end for Tess. “What are you doing?” Ellie asks, watching you and Tess scatter grenades on the ground, “Making sure they don’t follow you.”

Tess then approaches Joel, breathless and shaking, “Joel. Save who you can save.”

He clenches his jaw and his nostrils flared, angry, confused, upset, everyone he ever loved leaves or dies. He stares at her, soaking in her image as much as he can, and then he makes his decision. He quickly grabs Ellie by the arm and drags her away, her protests can be heard as it fades away around the corner, she punches his arm to try and break loose but he’s much stronger, “No! We’re not leaving her! Get off me, you fucker!”

Tess says your name and you turn to face her, “You weren’t lying? About the whole different universe thing?” You can only shake your head in response, hoping she can see your heart breaking into pieces.

Tess hums and gives you a small smile, “Take care of them for me, please? Especially Joel. Stubborn as a mule but you’ll learn to love him, just like I did.” You decide to grant the woman her dying wish, you nod and whisper, “Goodbye, Tess.”

You turn to run and didn’t look back, pushing out of the wooden doors, while tears stream down your face slightly obscuring your vision. But you manage to catch up with Joel and Ellie, as you did, the blast from the State House is sudden and loud. The smell of burning kerosine fills the air and you turn to look back at the raging fire, Joel turns and points his rifle at the area, ready to shoot just in case, only to hear screeching and the infected burning on the steps of the building.

You stare and one-half of your senses silently wish Tess would walk out, but you can no longer rewind, she’s gone. Ellie pants, trying to catch her breath, tears rimming her eyes and Joel lowers his rifle to turn away from the roaring flames. You and Ellie turn to watch his lone silhouette walk away from you both.

A/N: WELL that’s the end of Episode 2! Lowkey was fighting invisible demons to get this chapter edited and out bcs I wanted to improve on describing movement, anger, sorrow, etc. IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT T^T but I hope I didn’t disappoint ya’ll <3 ALSO YEP MHM TAGLIST! Send me an ask so I can add ya! It’ll stay open for a tiny period of time so send away :D

I’m proud of you for doing the right thing by trying to save Tess! Even though we all know you secretly admire Joel and would have chased after him to ensure his safety with Ellie. hehehehehe

Yes, the reader only knows everything up to Episode 3, meaning she has no clue about the rest of the show! She knows (most) parts of the video game but alas we know Television series like to change things so she’s lowkey fucked lol

I LIVE FOR YOUR COMMENTS ya’ll crack me up and have the best reactions. Thank you for your support and love. I’ll try and get the next chapter out soon!

-Grace

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nervoushottee · 7 months

Text

A Solemn Promise Ch. 4 | Joel Miller Series

Summary: A blast from the past.

Warnings: Cursing, blood, death, guns, like I said previously: just regular the last of us shit.

NOTE PLEASE READ: From this chapter on out, I will be turning reader into more of an OC character. I will keep it in second pov so it still reads how its been (using you, instead of she while reading/writing). However reader will have a name that she will be called throughout the series. You can see a bit of it in this chapter but it will pop up more withthin the rest of the series. Doing this truly helps me get more into the character and into writing this fic.

Thank you for reading that big ass note. Also, Thank you SO MUCH for all the love I've been getting for this fic. It means so much to me truly...Enjoy!

(limited editing)

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Joel wasn’t surprised to see the dead bodies in the hallway when he did.

When Tess told him earlier that Robert had fucked up with the battery, his hope for it slowly disappeared with each waking hour. He barely had any hope to begin with. But what made him keep pushing was to find his younger brother.

To find Tommy. Help him, protect him and/or get him out of any trouble he probably put himself in. Because that’s what being an older sibling is. To protect the ones that are younger than you like a parent would. No matter if you were told to or not. And no matter how many years went by, or how old they got, that is what Joel was and always would be.

So when Tess revealed that the battery the two of them had been putting all their marbles on was simply a piece of junk in the middle of the hallway, Joel didn’t react. He knew Tess was angry, hell so was he internally, but who wouldn’t blame her from what she had gone through the night before. Joel simply just knew it was back to square one.

He perked up at the sound of someone else being in the hallway. With the bullet wounds in all the dead bodies that littered the hallway, he already assumed there would be more danger ahead. Joel walked ahead of Tess with his gun raised as he followed the sound.

Slowly with each step, the sounds grew louder. And just from listening, Joel didn’t think it was anything dangerous, but still proceeded with caution. He peaked out from the corner of the hallway to see two women injured.

One woman tried to stand and walk away from what looked like a battlefield. Blood on both of them showing that although they survived, they still took damage. Joel slowly walked toward them, aiming his gun at the ready. The question was, would he shoot first ask questions later? Or vice versa.

He didn’t have time to answer when a door to his right swung open to a young girl charging at him with a knife. He didn’t waste anytime to throw her to the ground with his gun aimed at her face.“Fuck.” the girl muttered, winded from the sudden shove to the wall.

“Joel?”, he turned his head to see that one of the injured women he almost shot was no other than someone he really didn’t feel like seeing.

“Marlene?”

Marlene doesn’t say anything else to him. Instead she brings her attention to the young girl Joel had just pushed. Asking her if she was alright, in which the girl responded with a nod of her head. Her eyes were still staring at Joel. Full of bravery and fear all tied together as she reached to collect her switchblade. Joel doesn’t hesitate to press his foot firm into the weapon to keep her from getting it back.

What the hell was a young girl doing in the middle of this mess? Let alone with Marlene and the Fireflies.

“Ellie.” Marlene says to calm the girl down.‘So that was the girl's name’. Joel thought to himself. Ellie's attention didn’t move away from him until Marlene called her name a second time. Finally, Ellie turned her head to Marlene, her eyes widened to see the two older women bloodied and injured. “Oh shit!” she exclaims as she stares at Marlene’s side.

The older woman dismissed her worries, “You can’t be stupid like this.” she says to Ellie with exhaustion in her voice. Both her and Kim lowered their weapons.

Joel hears Tess walking into the hallway with the rest of them and she isn’t pleased from what he could tell. “So this is who Robert screwed us over with? The Che Guevara of Boston? I mean, war must be pretty bad for you to be buying from scum like him.” she taunts.

“Yeah it kinda has been. The merch was bad and he obviously didn’t take fuck off for answer.”

Marlene says.

Typical Robert. Joel didn’t trust that man to give him a drink of water if he was simply thirsty. Let alone keep his end of the bargain for something as big as a car battery. But when you’re desperate, you’re desperate. And he was, hell, even the Fireflies were from he could see.

“What do you need a car battery for?” he asked her, ignoring the plead from Ellie, asking him to let go of her knife.

The girl didn’t take him ignoring her as an actual answer. Reaching out to grab the weapon still sitting under Joel’s shoe. He turns his gun back on her, honestly not having the patience with the kid in the first place. “Don’t.”

Not even a split second after he aims his gun at the young girl, two more guns are aimed back at him. He hears the sound of Tess aiming her gun at Marlene and the other woman he didn’t know.

“Not at her…Point it at me.” Marlene says to him quickly.

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of footsteps coming from behind the two women. Both of them not moving, guns still aimed at Joel almost if they knew who was approaching them.

“Ellie?!?” he heard a woman exclaim. Her voice grows louder and louder as she rounds the corner and finally comes into view.

You.

It felt as if Joel’s heart had almost stopped. He could’ve thought he was dead right then and there as he locked eyes with you. There you were, twenty years later. Stuck in this mess of what the world was, just like him.

Twenty years older than what you both were all those years ago. You were here and you were alive.

How were you even alive?

He mourned you, he remembers finding out that you were no longer here. It was like the final piece to the puzzle of losing the rest of his humanity. The warm feeling of love and hope went away when his girls left him. When you left him.

How the fuck weren’t you dead? Where was your kid? Their kid? Joel couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Still stuck in a daze of disbelief, the grip on his gun loosened. His aim towards the young girl started to falter, dropping slowly. You hadn’t said a word. You too had been taken back from the sudden blast from the past. Joel could tell as much when he saw your feet falter as if you were taking steps to run back in the way you came in. He watched your eyes trail down at him from his head, to his chest to his hands that were still gripping the gun he was aiming loosely at Ellie.

And almost if a switch flipped, the sudden shock you had on your face was quickly wiped away with anger. You didn’t hesitate to raise your gun at him. “You’d lower that if you know what’s good for you.” you snapped.

Joel still didn’t move. Still shocked to see you alive and standing there. “Do I need to shoot you for you to understand? What I’m saying is not a request.” you speak to him again. The anger is still in your voice. “Woods enough.” Marlene says to you, her eyes not leaving the situation in front of her. “Joel, point it at me.”

Woods. He didn’t think he’d hear that last name in so long. He didn’t know if that brought him anxiety or comfort.

Joel turns his head back at the young girl, whose eyes hadn’t left the barrel of the gun. Her hands are raised in surrender when Joel sees her. The bravery he could tell was just oozing out of her the moment she came out that door had gone. Her breath was heavy as she waited on his next move. Slowly, Joel moves his gun away from her and aims it at Marlene. He can hear her sigh of relief as he does.

Marlene and Kim both lower their guns. You keep it straight forward for a few seconds, before lowering it also. “To answer your question, I need it for a better reason than you do. No offense, but Tommy is just one man.

Joel eyebrows furrowed and he looked back up at you, you had done the same reaction. He doubted it was for the same reason. He quickly looks back at Tess who was just as confused as he was because how the fuck did Marlene know?

“It’s our job to know things.” Marlene states, knowing the reason for Joel's confusion.

He scoffs, “To know things? You’re the cause of it. You turned my own brother against me.”

Marlene rolls her eyes, adjusting her stance and applying more pressure against her wound.

“That was a lot of gunfire. FEDRA’s going to be on the way.” Kim says to her. He sees you get closer to Marlene. Coming closer into the light he can get a better glimpse of you. You were bleeding. You knuckles bloody, a cut on your lower lip and the side of your neck had what looked like a cut from a knife.

“Kim’s right. We gotta go Marlene.” you add, staring at the woman. And Marlene knew, she said as much. But Joel didn’t see she was in a hurry to move. “We were going to move Ellie out of the zone tonight, but we won’t make it anywhere like this. Not for a while anyway.”

“So now I’m thinking…you’re gonna do it.”

Joel didn’t like the sound of that fucking statement. No way in hell him or Tess was going to waste their time on some girl. “The hell we are.”

You and Ellie had the same sentiments as you both exclaimed with the same attitude.

“I’m not going with them!”

“Marlene what the fuck?!?” You exclaim. Kim takes a step closer to her as she speaks. “Let me and Woods take her. That was the plan anyway, we’re just a few people short.”

Joel didn’t want to entertain this any fucking longer. His night was waisted, his battery was gone, and he’d have to go home and start back over again at square fucking one. To try and find a way to get to Tommy. “Tess, we don't have time for this.” He insisted. But from the looks of it, Tess was intrigued. “Who is she?”

“To you? She’s cargo.” Marlene replied quickly back to her.

Joel still wasn’t having it, pushing the statement that it wasn’t going to happen. “We don’t smuggle people.” He could tell his statement was ignored as you, Marlene and Kim both converse among yourselves.

“Let us take her Marlene, I can do it.” Kim pushed. Marlene didn’t waste any time to lay it down on her. “Kim, you don’t have a fuckin’ ear on your fuckin’ head!” And she was right, the woman’s right ear was gone, leaving just blood and scar tissue in its wake.

“And what’s your excuse for me?” you demand from Marlene. Taking a step closer to her, “We both know that I’m not going anywhere without here and I won’t fuck this up.”

Marlene sighs, nodding her head softly. “You're right.”

“Woods you go with them.” she says loudly for both him and Tess to hear.

It was like Marlene loaded the gun and pulled the trigger all at the same time. Joel didn’t want to do this. Despite knowing you were alive, it wouldn’t be good for him. Or you. It would bring up things about himself, about his past that he spent years pushing away to stay alive. “Are you even listening to me?” Joel questions.

He sees you shake your head, “That wasn’t the plan Marlene.” you say bitterly.

And as if Marlene was through with the back and forth she turns around quickly but regrets it with a groan from her chest. Her injury is still causing pain from being left untreated. “The plan was to send you and Ellie out there with a group of us, not just you. What if you die? What then?”

You try to protest at the question but Marlene doesn’t give you time to do it.

“There’s a team of Fireflies waiting for her at the old State House.” Joel shook his head as he scoffed at what Marlene was telling them. “So why don’t you let Woods take her like she wants. No use needing us.” Joel snaps, putting emphasis on what they’d been calling you.

“I can get her there faster, those two would just slow me down.” You say to Marlene but your eyes never leave Joel’s. Slow you down? How the hell would you even know if him and Tess would “slow you down”?

“Is that right?” Joel question.

“Damn right.” you say without hesitation.

Joel didn’t know why he was upset at your assumption. He should just leave it alone, he didn’t want to be around you in the first place.

“Both of you enough.” Marlene sighs, “I know what’s out there. We were going with an entire squadron for that very reason. But now, I don’t have a truck, I don’t have a squadron and for the last time Woods, you going out there by yourself is too risky of a chance for me to take. You know that.” she states. You sigh, shaking your head. In a way, Joel could tell that you knew she was right.

For whatever reason why this girl needed to get out of the city, it seemed important enough that the three of you were willing to get shot for her when Joel raised his gun

“FEDRA is five minutes away, and what I do know is that I have you. And I know what you both are capable of. For better or worse.” Marlene finishes. “What are they capable of?”, the young girl's eyes widened in intrigue at the woman’s statement.

“Ellie, not now.” you say to her quietly.

Joel had noticed that Tess hadn’t said much of anything since she asked who Ellie was to them. Still listening to Marlene’s proposal and letting him do all the talking.

“You get her there safely with Woods and they’ll give you what you need. Not just a battery. The whole thing. Fueled-up truck, guns, supplies, all of it. I swear.”

Now that was something that perked his interest. He turns to Tess to she what she thinks, the woman tilting her head in the other direction so the two of them could talk about it privately. He walked over to her but not before sliding Ellie’s knife further away from her. “Asshole!” the girl exclaims.

Joel doesn’t react to her insult as he walks over to Tess. But he hears the sound of footsteps coming towards him and turns briefly to see you walking over to Ellie. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” your questions full of concern as you place a gentle hand against the back of her head.

Ellie quickly shakes her head, “No but you are. What happened?”

Joel turns away quickly. An old, yet painful memory creeps up his skin that makes him think of what could have been. Years before all of this happens. He forces it away before walking back to Tess, who had seen the whole thing.“You trust her? Marlene?” Joel gives her a look that clearly indicates he doesn’t. “Me either, but she seems desperate.”

“Firefly vehicle usually means repurposed FEDRA stuff. So, better than a decent chance of making it to Tommy in one of those.” Joel tells her. He hated to admit it and truly didn’t want to do it in the first place, but it was the best chance they could get. It was either this or going home and starting all over again.

Tess nodded, agreeing with Joel’s statements. The woman still stood there, giving him a look that he could tell she wasn’t satisfied. Like she wanted to say something else. “What?” Joel pushes.

“Who is she to you?” Tess questions.

Joel knew who Tess was referring to. You. The woman he mourned, the woman that haunts his dreams from time to time still after all these years. You who makes him think of his past self that is no longer a part of him.

He could play dumb and ask her who she meant. He could act like he didn’t have a clue who you were. But he knew better, Tess knew better.

“Nobody important.” he dismisses

Joel can tell that’s not the answer Tess wanted from him, and didn’t doubt for a second that she would press on it more later. He tries to change the subject, “The second we hand that kid over-”

“Y’all can talk this through but please remember I’m bleeding out.” Marlene says loudly with desperation. Reluctantly, he and Tess make the decision quicker than they would like.

“Okay. Here’s the deal.” Tess begins as she walks back over to the group of women. You were still crouching down at Ellie’s level. Your hand resting on her shoulder. “We’ll get her to your crew at the State House. But before we hand her over, they give us everything we want. If not we kill her. There and then.”

“Not with me there you won’t.” You say, standing quickly in defense against the young girl.

‘Who was she to you?’ Joel thought. A small brief thought lingered in his brain, bringing up something, or better yet, someone, who he could’ve thought she was to you. But from the looks of it, the girl was pretty young. And who Joel didn’t want to think too hard about would’ve been way older by now.

“Deal.” Marlene agrees.

Ellie scoffs, “Really? That fast?” the girl looks between you and Marlene.

Marlene sighs, “You are all that matters. My team won’t jeopardize that. Woods knows that.” she tilts her head up to acknowledge you. You look down at Ellie before speaking to her, “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”

“Remember what I told you…go get your backpack.” The injured woman instructs. Ellie doesn’t move, still upset about the decision.

“Ellie, go.” you say to her, the young girl looks at you. Almost pleading for this exchange not to happen. In the end she sighs, reluctantly getting up to get her things. Stomping in her wake.

Ellie comes back out with her things, heading to stand towards you. Joel watches as she stares at Marlene. “Let’s go.” Tess tells them as she walks back the way they came. Ellie stares at Marlene a little longer as do you.

Both Marlene and Kim nod their head at you as a goodbye. You reciprocate the gesture and softly pull Ellie’s arm for her to start walking. You don’t look at Joel as you pass him. Your eyes straight forward as you head the same way Tess goes. Ellie shoves Joel’s shoulder with her body as she walks past him, causing him to turn in annoyance. Watching as she grabs the knife he had kicked away from her.

He sees you stand and wait for her to catch up to you. Your arm extended toward her, you fingers wiggling softly for the young girl to take.

“Joel…” Marlene calls for him, causing Joel to turn away from the gesture he just watched between you and Ellie. “Don’t fuck this up…Please.” If this didn’t finalize how desperate Marlene and the Fireflies were then he didn’t know what would. Without a word, Joel turns and leaves. Leaving the two women alone once again.

— — — —

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justagalwhowrites · 10 months

Text

Lavender - Ch. 47

You, Joel and Ellie make your way back to Jackson. A continuation of Lavender Ch. 1-46 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Smut. No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ only

Length: 3.5 K

“Baby, we can afford to stop in a few minutes,” Joel glanced down at your thigh. Seeing blood coming from you made his stomach churn.

“I’m fine,” you wound tape around the gauze. “We should get as far from Salt Lake City as we can while we can. There’s not much more I can do about this until we’re in Jackson, anyway…”

He nodded once and kept his eyes on the road as you tugged your jeans back up, wincing. He tried not to wince, too. He should have killed Marlene when he had the chance, should have snapped her neck right there in that room the second she told him the plan was to kill Ellie. You twisted to look at the girl you would both kill to protect, still unconscious in the back seat.

“Joel,” you said quietly, watching her for a moment before looking at him. “Joel, what are we going to tell her? How do we explain this?”

“We don’t,” he glanced your way. “We don’t tell her any of it.”

“Joel.”

“What are we supposed to say?” He propped his elbow against the window sill, leaning his head against his hand. “Do you think she’d accept this? Any of it? Think she wouldn’t hate you and me and herself?”

“We can’t just lie to her,” you kept glancing into the back seat, keeping your voice low. “She’ll find out, it’ll be worse when she does…”

“You really think she can handle it right now?” Joel looked at Ellie in the rearview mirror. Her face was calm, relaxed. “We have to protect her, Baby. I didn’t protect her before, not from… I can now. We can. She can’t take this. She can’t. Baby, please…”

You put your face in your hands for a moment and took a deep breath before looking at him again.

“What do you want to tell her?” You asked quietly.

“The hospital was attacked,” he said, staring straight ahead. He couldn’t bring himself to look at you. “The research didn’t line up with what you thought would work. The doctor was full of shit.”

He glanced at you quickly and looked back at the road.

“Not even a lie,” he said, a finger absently tracing his mustache. “Not really.”

You looked into the backseat again, at Ellie’s prone body.

“OK,” you nodded. “OK.”

The two of you rode in silence for a while, Joel glancing at you occasionally. You looked like you were in pain. He just wasn’t sure if it was the gunshot wound or what he’d done.

He didn’t regret it. He couldn’t regret it. If it saved Ellie or you, it was worth the cost. Any cost. He’d do it again in a heartbeat.

He just wasn’t sure you felt the same way.

“Do you think I did the wrong thing?” He asked after a while.

Joel felt your eyes on him. Deep and strong and full of all the things that made life worth living.

“No,” you said eventually. “I don’t. I… I don’t know that there was a better way to do it but I don’t think it was wrong. You had to save her, Joel. And… as much as I hate how many people had to die for it, I’m glad you did. She’s… She’s ours. She’s worth it. She’s worth everything.”

He reached out and put a hand on your uninjured knee, giving it a squeeze, and you put your hand over his. His hand stayed there until Ellie started stirring.

You twisted around to face the back, Joel watching in the rear view.

“Take it easy,” you said gently as she groaned and squinted against the light. “You’re OK, Kiddo. It’s just us, we’re in a car, you’re safe…”

“But we were there,” she propped herself up on her elbows looking toward the front seat. “We were with the Fireflies…”

“We were,” Joel said, his chest tight.

“So why aren’t we there now?” She frowned. “Where are we?”

“We’re headed back to Jackson,” you said, tone slow and easy. “We had to leave the facility…”

“Why?” She demanded, sitting up straighter. “What happened?”

Joel looked at you and you looked at him.

“I met their doctor after they started running tests on you,” you said, looking back to Ellie. “His plan… it wouldn’t work with what they could take from your blood. It just wasn’t what they thought it would be…”

“Oh,” she looked down and nodded slowly. Then she frowned. “Then why didn’t we stay? At least for a few days…”

“The hospital was attacked, Baby Girl,” Joel said, his grip on the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white. “We barely got you out alive…”

“Is everyone OK?” She asked. “You guys? Marlene?”

“Doc got hit,” Joel said. Ellie’s eyes went wide.

“I’m fine,” you said quickly. “It was just my leg, I’ll be fine…”

She sat all the way up quickly, leaning forward between the front seats to look at the bloodstained pant leg.

“Jesus,” she said before looking between the two of you. “Marlene?”

“I’m so sorry, Kiddo,” you said quietly. “But I don’t think she made it out.”

She nodded and sat back, wrapping her small arms around her waist and staring out the window. You looked at Joel for a long moment before you reached out and rested your hand on his arm, in the crook of his elbow. Just touching him, reminding him that you were right there with him, that you were in this together. He was grateful for it.

The drive was a quiet one. Ellie lay back down, saying she was tired but just staring at the ceiling. You changed your bandages. Joel kept an eye out for a place to siphon gas, the roads almost deserted this far out from civilization. But he found a place and you opened the passenger door, turning so you were facing out into the world as he filled up the gas can. When he was done, he came and stood in front of you for a moment, kissing your forehead and holding your shoulders gently. You reached up and wordlessly held his face in your hand, your index finger lightly tracing the scar at his temple.

“I love you,” you said quietly. “Always have, always will.”

His hands slid up your shoulders to your face, cradling you gently, tilting your head back to kiss you the way he wanted, the way he needed, the way that helped him remember why this shitty world was worth the trouble.

The three of you stopped for the night somewhere in Idaho, not much further left to drive but Joel wasn’t sure he had it in him to keep going that night. He wasn’t sure any of you did.

There was a small town nearby and he found Ellie some clothes and you some jeans that weren’t covered in blood before taking the SUV into the woods off the road. He folded the back seats of the car down and the three of you slept there, Joel holding onto you and you holding onto Ellie. He looped his arm through yours, brushing the hair that had escaped your braid back and just holding onto as much of you he could reach. He was sure he could hear Ellie sniffling in the dark.

Joel hated that she was hurting but he loved that she was alive to be able to hurt. He’d take her railing against him, hating him, wishing he was dead. He’d take all of it if it meant she lived. That was all that mattered. That was enough.

***

You still weren’t sure you’d made the right call. If you should have pushed Joel harder to tell her the truth. If you should have told her, anyway, and risked losing him over it.

You couldn’t tell if he really thought she couldn’t handle it or if he was doing what he thought would protect him from Ellie’s wrath. That girl had him wrapped around her fingers, you weren’t sure he could handle her hating him. But you also weren’t sure Ellie could handle knowing what Joel had done. What you had done.

You didn’t think you could handle it, in her place. The idea that anyone died for you still made your stomach turn. You’d killed people. Joel had killed for you. There were people gone from this planet today because you were still here and that was a feeling that sat with you in your marrow, crawling its way out from the very center of your being to rip and tear at any sense that you could be worth that much loss.

It seemed like you needed to earn the right to live after all of that. In a way, it always had. You’d been made an unwanted thing, born to be someone’s problem. Everything you did, it seemed, was to make up for that.

Ellie, you thought, felt much the same way. For all her sharpness and casual detachment, she’d been left behind so many times that she dug her nails into anything that made her feel like she was worthwhile. It was the main reason, you suspected, that she’d gotten attached to you in the first place. You’d paid attention to her when no one else did. You’d fed her interests, given her a safe place to spend her time, offered her a listening ear. Even if she didn’t like you much (though you thought she did) you were certain she would have gravitated toward you just for that alone.

To Ellie, the thing that made her worthwhile was her immunity. It was there in everything she did. In her drive to get west, in her millions of questions about what life was like before, in her need for reassurance that something better was possible and that she was a key part of it. Now, that was gone.

“Why don’t you sit up front with Joel today?” You asked as you changed your bandage out on your leg. It had stopped bleeding quite so much, at least. “I want to stretch out in back, get the princess treatment…”

“You mean the front seat isn’t princess treatment?” She raised her eyebrows at you. She was teasing you. That was a good sign. “News to me…”

“Take it while you can get it, Kiddo,” Joel said, putting the back seats back up. “Not sure when you’ll get this kind of chance again. Who knows the next time we’ll have a car and Doc’ll feel like sharin’…”

You rolled your eyes but he lifted you gingerly out of the back of the SUV and carried you to the back seat, setting you down with all the care in the world. It always surprised you, when he was quite that gentle. He was large and strong, it had to take concentration for him to be soft. It wasn’t his natural state of being, he wasn’t made for it. But you could live in the soft spaces he made in himself, burrow yourself in deep and stay as close to those parts of him as you possibly could.

“Good point,” Ellie said, climbing into the front seat. You leaned your back against the door behind Joel, stretching your legs out on the seat.

“You know,” Joel said as the three of you got underway. “Her and Sarah’d fight over shotgun…”

Your head whipped around so fast you felt it in your neck. He said her name. Casually, as a fond memory. Something not wrapped up in the tragedy of her loss but something about her to Ellie.

“Shotgun?” Ellie asked.

“Another word for sittin’ up front,” he said. “Doc usually got it as a rule but Sarah liked to make an argument for it when we’d all go out… She’d get her way when her argument was good enough.”

“Still think that she’d have made a hell of a lawyer,” you smiled a little. “She came up with some really good shit…”

You caught some of Joel’s smile in the rear view mirror, his eyes looking into it to see you.

“So how’d you two meet, anyway?” Ellie asked, sitting more sideways in her seat. “I know you did a bunch of fun shit like ride roller coasters and go to the space center but I don’t know how you guys became friends in the first place.”

“She was Sarah’s nanny,” Joel looked in the rearview mirror at you and you smiled a little at him. “She was in college, I was probably too old to be chasin’ a college girl…”

“One, no you weren’t,” you said. “And two, I chased you a whole lot more than you chased me.”

“But you were her boss or whatever?” She crinkled her nose. “Ew.”

You laughed.

“Good instincts, kiddo, but it wasn’t exactly a typical working relationship,” you said. “We were more like friends for a year before we got together.”

“And you did shit like go to museums and stuff,” she said.

“And all kinds of stuff that seemed really boring at the time but seems a lot more special now,” you said. “Doesn’t really matter what it is you do. It’s all about who you do it with.”

Joel had to ditch the car a few miles outside of Jackson, gas low and roads not really equipped for vehicle traffic.

“I can walk it,” you said, with more confidence than you really felt.

“Like hell you’re walkin’ it,” Joel said, incredulous. “You and Ellie stay put. I’ll be back soon with horses.”

You watched him go, the two of you perched on the back of the SUV, until he was out of sight and looked to Ellie.

“Rummy?” You asked, reaching around for your bag.

“Sure,” she shrugged.

“We’ll have to see what kind of board games there are in town when we get a little settled,” you said after she beat you at the first game and you were dealing for the second. “There are so many different kinds, I’m sure we can find something that we can reliably clobber Joel at…”

“Hey Doc?” Ellie asked, the usual force behind her words gone. You frowned and looked up at her. She wasn’t looking at you, instead down at the floor of the car, drumming her fingers on the threadbare carpet.

“What’s up, Gremlin?”

“What you and Joel said happened with the Fireflies…” she trailed off for a second before meeting your eyes, her gaze intense. “Was that true? All of it?”

You looked back at her, your heart aching for her. She looked so fragile, like one wrong move, one wrong word, would shatter her like spun glass.

“Yes,” you said, resisting the urge to look away. “I met with the doctor, they ran tests that didn’t turn out the way I thought they would, the hospital was attacked… I’m so sorry it didn’t work out the way you wanted it to, Baby Girl. We both are. I know you wanted the cure to happen but it was always something that might not work. The important thing is that we got you out of there before anything bad happened.”

She nodded slowly and sighed.

“I just…” she picked at the carpet. “Wanted to do something. Wanted my life to matter.”

“It does matter,” you leaned forward and gently held her face. “You matter. You matter so much, and your immunity doesn’t have a thing to do with it.”

She nodded and picked up her cards, hiding behind them a little as she planned her first move.

Joel returned with Tommy a few hours later and the four of you rode back to Jackson together.

Tommy, it seemed, understood that the three of you weren’t exactly wanting a welcoming committee. You rode straight to the house that was now yours. Maria had brought some easy food and left it in the kitchen, as well as a few changes of clothes for everyone. Joel insisted on carrying you up the stairs and helped you stay steady in the shower (earning you both an “ew” from Ellie.) His hands ranged over you, all gentleness and caring, cleaning you and keeping you standing as you tried to navigate bathing with a bullet wound. It sent sparks of heat through you, even though your leg hurt and you were exhausted from the nightmare the last few weeks had been. You kept your hands to yourself, not trusting yourself to not try something stupid on a slick shower floor even in your condition.

“We can get some paints,” you said once the three of you were cleaned up and Ellie picked her room. “I’ll do whatever you want but I was thinking the solar system? Or maybe a giraffe?”

“That’d be cool,” she smiled, a little half heartedly at you.

“Are you OK?” You asked, frowning a little. “You don’t have to sleep in here tonight if you don’t want, the bed over there is huge…”

“No,” she shook her head. “No, I like the room. I want to have my own room and actually use it, it’s just… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. There’s no more fucking FEDRA. I’m not a miracle cure. So now what?”

“You live your life,” you smiled a little at her. “That’s the best part.”

Joel joined you in bed after obsessively checking every door and window on the ground floor of the house to make sure everything was locked. The heat from the shower was still swirling in you, stretching out into your body like light filling empty space. He crawled into beside you and you reached for him, bringing him in close and kissing him softly.

“We made it here,” you said, trailing your fingers through his hair. “It’s over.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, burying his face in your neck, his lips brushing your throat.

“Wouldn’t be here without you,” you said as he tugged you closer.

“Wouldn’t be here without you, either, Baby,” he said, kissing up to your chin and over to your mouth. He pulled you tighter to him. “Not hurtin’ you am I?”

“Not hurting me,” you breathed against him.

“Promise I’ll be gentle,” he said, kissing over your throat again before tugging your shirt up and over your head. “Need you…”

“Need you, too,” you breathed, running your hands over his bare back.

He undressed you slowly, gently, like you were a delicate thing that was worth the trouble. Neither of you were patient enough to get you off before he started pressing into you. He held your face in his hand when he did, the delicious stretch of him making you want to close your eyes but you couldn’t stop looking at him.

Joel sank into your body slowly, until he was fully within you and all but collapsed on top of you. HIs arms caged you in, his breath hot on your skin as he peppered you kisses. The fire in you was blazing now, your body full of aching need and longing and having him this close without friction hurt you wanted it so badly.

“Need you to move,” you panted below him. “Please… I can’t…”

“Just… need a minute,” he breathed. “Need to be this close…”

You nodded against him and resisted the urge to rock your hips up into him, the beautiful agony making your body needy and tight.

When he started to move, it was in fractions of him. He kept his body flush with yours but slowly, firmly rocked his hips, pulling back every so slightly before pressing down and in, like he couldn’t bear to be any further away from you, like you were the thing keeping him tied to this planet.

Your orgasm built slowly, the feeling of him so deep inside you, his body pressed against your clit, making it so you felt it everywhere. Your whole being was taut and ready, primed for some kind of relief, desperate for it.

“Gettin’ close, Baby,” he whispered, voice ragged in the dark. “I need you…”

“You have me,” you said when he didn’t continue, your orgasm just inches away from you. “Please…’

He started fucking into you with more force, careful to not move your leg, his breaths stuttering. Your body clung to him, like it was waiting for his eventual release to let go yourself. When he came, he pressed himself deep and you shattered around him, pussy throbbing as he spilled into you.

He collapsed and gently guided your injured leg over his hip before rolling onto his side and taking you with him, his softening cock still inside you. His arms wrapped around you, enveloping you, clutching you close as you both caught your breath.

“Got everything with you and her,” he said after a minute, still clinging to you. “Don’t need anything else.”

A/N: Are we ready for some *drumroll* JACKSON CHAPTERS TO WIND THIS FIC DOWN?

I sure hope so because that's what it'll be!

We're getting so close to the end now. Thank you for being here at the end. It means the world.

Love you!!

Taglist: @paleidiot@ayamenimthiriel@ginger-swag-rapunzel@drewharrisonwriter@flugazi @pedropascalsbbg@taoyuji@starstruckmusiciansartghost@splendsay@bigboiseason123@jpbplvr @ashleyandring @mrsyixingunicorn10@sloanexx@ninaminaromina @lady-bellyn @hufflepuffriver @sarap-77 @storyarcscribe @mellymbee @jasminedragoon @lemonmeli @reds-ramblings@arizonadaydreamer@mumma-moonchild@blackroseguzzi@candypeaches16@kittenlittle24@wrappedinfiction@oatmeaiboy@pedritosdarling@winchestergypsy90@imnotdatboii @lalalalemonade11 @maknimuk1@mrsdarcyinlovewithbuckybarnes@pedrosaidsheispunk@commanderawkward@n7cje@elliesgirlll@tsunamistorm123@spookyxsam@leeeesahhh @anoverwhelmingdin @untamedheart81 @pedropascalfan221 @pedr0swh0r3 @pedrobae@fifia-writes@fatima-marisa @acf2023 @1soff@encephalitiskat @ashleymsnodgrass @karlinspace

#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #smut fic

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the-bus-called-graveyard-8 · 4 months

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TURNING 10 TODAY: “Snowmageddon!”, which first aired on December 24th, 2013.

“Oh, and Kowalski, a woodchuck would chuck about three logs worth, given a standard diameter of fourteen inches and the typical hardness of an oak. You know, if they could chuck wood.”

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rollercoasterwords · 2 years

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wlw marauders fics

hello! this has taken quite a while to put together, but for anyone interested -- here is a list of a bunch of wlw marauders fics i have read and enjoyed :) green for a happy ending, blue for an angsty one, pink for something bittersweet <3

(note - on some of the longer fics/wips i have not finished reading the entire thing/all of what's available yet - those ones are marked with a *)

oneshots/single ch fics

seasons in desire, by dykesiriusblack (@dykesiriusblack)

pairing: dorlene

rating: M

word count: 12k

description: muggle university au; friends to lovers; mutual pining; get-together fic. one of my absolute faves, laura's writing always makes me want to bite my own fingers off like baby carrots.

let the ghosts sleep tonight, by outlaw_baby

pairing: dorlene

rating: unrated

word count: 7k

description: another one of my absolute faves; canon-compliant wartime look at dorlene's relationship w lots of mutual pining and some of the most beautiful writing i've ever read

Hey Dorcas, by moonymoment (@blurryayse)

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 14k

description: friends to lovers, tracing dorcas + marlene's relationship at hogwarts over time. everything jude writes makes me want to rip my hair out and knit it into a blanket and curl up under that blanket and stare at the wall for three hours and this is no exception. happy ending

'81, posted anonymously

pairing: dorlene (kinda)

rating: T

word count: 4.6k

description: AU where marlene survived the first war with voldemort; a story about dealing with grief after the death of dorcas and so many other loved ones.

marlene mckinnon is not a coward, by AllThisAndLoveTooWillRuinUs (@wishingitwerewolfstar)

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 6k

description: follows marlene coming to terms with her sexuality during the first war w/ voldemort, coming out, and confessing her feelings to dorcas.

sweet as rot, by vaindumbass

pairing: dorlene

rating: M

word count: 7.3k

description: au where marlene + dorcas are the ones to kill peter instead of sirius; they get thrown in azkaban. very much a toxic relationship, hurt/no comfort. gut-wrenchingly poetic writing

As The Light Disperses, by blanketed_in_stars (@blanketed-in-stars)

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 4k

description: canon-compliant; follows dorcas + marlene's relationship during the first war up

Oxygen, by Stupidsimp100 (@stupidsimp100)

pairing: marylily

rating: T

word count: 3.7k

description: canon-compliant; unrequited love. james + lily announce their engagement during the first war with voldemort. mary + lily have a conversation about it.

Painting Marlene, by You_must_tell_them_stories

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 3.5k

description: dorcas is an artist; a look at dorcas + marlene's relationship through her art

hackery, by orphan_account

pairing: dorlily (dorcas/lily)

rating: T

word count: 1.8k

description: dorcas + lily get caught in an ambush during the war. honestly reads like a very long and beautiful poem i love it SO much and i am so sad that the work was orphaned bc i want to find whoever wrote it and give them a passionate kiss on the lips

Soft, Strong, Disposable, by doshu (@vdoshu)

pairing: narcissa black/mrs. zabini

rating: T

word count: 1.4k

description: a series of letters tracing the relationship between lavilla zabini and narcissa black

All the truths untold, by SeaDragons

pairing: dorlene

rating: M

word count: 11.3k

description: follows marlene + dorcas in their time with the Order during the first war; marlene thinks dorcas is the spy and is determined to catch her out

By the Book, by Squidgilator (@squidgilator)

pairing: dorlene

rating: G

word count: 6.5k

description: the Hogwarts library is intent on getting Marlene to read a weird old book, for some reason. Dorcas gets involved, shenanigans ensue. super cute and sweet

room 41 (kiss me goodybe every time you leave), by fivecenturiesverse (@fivecenturiesverse)

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 1.6k

description: marlene and dorcas steal away to hotel rooms in the middle of the war

Wildflower About You, by jennandblitz

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 1.7k

description: modern + muggle au; marlene runs a cafe with sirius + remus, and she's been trying to work up the nerve to ask out her flower supplier

Perennial Tears, by violet_storms

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: T

word count: 1.3k

description: a short + beautifully written story about narcissa + lily's relationship. canon-compliant

Sugar Burn, by Remedial

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: G

word count: 1.4k

description: lily catches narcissa's eye at a bar

set me down in your warm arms, by NoStringsOnMe (@martelldoran)

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: T

word count: 2.6k

description: lily and narcissa accidentally get themselves snowed into a cabin

Better By Far You Should Forget by violet_storms

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: T

word count: 1.1k

description: achingly beautiful little oneshot of narcissa reflecting on lily's birthday

it can't be hard to find a present right?? (wrong) by dduucckk (@inthewild-flowers)

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 1.9k

description: modern + muggle au; dorcas and marlene are both trying to find last minute xmas presents for each other

if you can't love me honey go on just pretend by basketofnovas (@slashmarks)

pairing: bellatrix black/amelia bones

rating: T

word count: 3k

description: bellatrix decides to flirt with amelia bones for fun; it turns into something more

just hold out for tomorrow, by the_crownless_queen

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 1k

description: marlene + dorcas; a conversation during the war

How It Feels When We Fall, by veeagainst (@veeagainsttheday)

pairing: lilylene (marlene/lily)

rating: unrated

word count: 1.7k

description: traces marlene + lily's relationship during the war

will the muses sing our names?, by the_crownless_queen

pairing: dorlene

rating: unrated

word count: 2.2k

description: au where voldemort wins the first war, and the survivors have to find ways to keep on living

this is how it feels (when you fight back), by saiditallbefore (@saiditallbefore)

pairing: lily/alice

rating: T

word count: 3.2k

description: au where james + frank die, but lily + alice live. they end up going into hiding together, which leads them to grow closer + eventually makes plans to seek revenge...

laughing 'til our ribs get tough (but that will never be enough), by sapphfics

pairing: lilylene (lily/marlene)

rating: G

word count: 1.2k

description: a look at lily + marlene's relationship through the years, with an ending that gutted me

Darling, Tell Me Your Name, by shessocold (@hp-shessocold)

pairing: lilylene (lily/marlene)

rating: unrated

word count: 1.3k

description: marlene plays quidditch; lily definitely doesn't have a crush...

Devil's Snare, by elicitillicit

pairing: alice/narcissa

rating: M

word count: 1.4k

description: canon-compliant; friends-to-lovers; traces alice + narcissa's relationship throughout the years

Risking It All, by JackNSallyGal

pairing: marylene

rating: G

word count: 2k

description: during the first war, marlene and mary follow sirius on a mission to rescue lily

i hope you make it to the day you're 28 years old, posted anonymously

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: G

word count: 3k

description: lily + narcissa meet at the start of a zombie apocalypse (!!!!)

darling, don't leave me waiting (one night, i will be your star), by aheartcalledhome

pairing: narcissa/marlene

rating: T

word count: 1.7k

description: after it's all over, narcissa reflects on her relationship with marlene

auburn and ivory, by herrlucifer

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: T

word count: 3.3k

description: sad + sweet oneshot following lily + narcissa's relationship during their hogwarts years

The Captain's Girl, by JackNSallyGal

pairing: mary/emma vanity

rating: T

word count: 4.7k

description: after mary is attacked by mulciber, the slytherin quidditch captain becomes unusually protective of her

green looks good on you, by humanveil (@humanveil)

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: T

word count: 5k

description: a prank war between hogwarts houses leads to an unexpected relationship between lily and narcissa

bend towards the sun, by lastwingedthing

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: T

word count: 5.3k

description: narcissa + lily find themselves spending a day together after ending up in the same apothecary for the same reason

Between Prospects, by MiraMira

pairing: rita skeeter/mrs. zabini

rating: M

word count: 6.3k

description: canon-compliant fic tracing the relationship of rita skeeter + thea zabini - listen i would never in a million years expect to enjoy this ship but this story is so good i love it

Blindness and Stars, by featherxquill

pairing: rita skeeter/amelia bones

rating: E (this one is...very sexually explicit lmao so be prepared for that if u decide to read)

word count: 11.3k

description: canon-compliant; follows the developing relationship between rita skeeter + amelia bones as they both deal with politics in the aftermath of the first wizarding war

i would kill for some company (temporarily), by lesbianregulusblack (@lesbiansiriusblack)

pairing: pandalily (pandora/lily)

rating: M

word count: 4.7k

description: pandora is a vampire, lily is a human; three guesses what happens next! (this one is very violent + graphic, even though it has a happy ending it is definitely not for the faint of heart. please read tags + expect gore if u decide to read!)

Deadhorse, by thebloatedfrog (@thebloatedfrog)

pairing: dorlene

rating: E

word count: 11.4k

description: marlene is working at denali national park for the summer, dorcas is camping in her van. geology + road trips + alaska + lesbians!!!

carmine, by moonylove (@lesbiansforjamespotter)

pairing: dorlene

rating: G

word count: 1.2k

description: marlene needs to apologize; essentially 1000 words of poetic + beautiful musings about lesbianism <3

Speak Now, by arakhnee (@arakhnee)

pairing: marylily

rating: T

description: lily is marrying james. mary doesn't want her to.

multi-ch fics

how the flowers rise and open, by gaywitches* (@daphnedumaurigay)

pairing: narlily; lilycissa (lily/narcissa)

rating: M

word count: 40k

description: "Despite the sneaking around and the urgency that serve as constant reminders that this is forbidden, clandestine, there’s no denying the quiet domesticity that creeps in at the edges. That somehow plunges straight through Lily’s chest and grabs her heart with both fists making her want, and want, and want, refusing to let go no matter how hard she tries to dig it out.

But, hey, things could be worse. At least she’s not in love with her.

Things are totally under control, and not at all likely to blow up in her face at any moment."

Lily is a smitten idiot, Narcissa is a complicated mess, and things are about as shambolic and sweet as trying to eat a sticky toffee pudding with no hands.

No Strings Attached, by allthedeadgays*

pairing: dorlene; side wolfstar, jegulus, marylily

rating: G

word count: 53k

description: Marlene, Sirius, James, and Regulus have been waiting for the opportunity to compete at the Battle of the Bands for a long, long time; and they are quite sure that this will be an easy win. Until, that is, they find out that a certain band has also signed up— one that they have known and despised for months. Eager to emerge victorious, their fellow classmates Remus, Dorcas, Mary, and Peter are willing to do whatever it takes, but beware, unexpected feelings may arise…

wips

Your Laugh Like Flowers, by andromedas31

pairing: dorlene; side wolfstar, jegulus, rosekiller

rating: unrated

word count: 14k

description: Marlene and Dorcas are on opposing teams of the most suspense-filled war for the Quidditch Cup Hogwarts has ever seen. James Potter spreads the word about the teachers' supposed underground betting ring, and more importantly, how Dumbledore bet in favour of Gryffindor's win. Naturally, inter-house chaos ensues. Naturally, in spite of it all, Marlene and Dorcas manage to fall in love.

Invisible String, by a1phab3ts0up*

pairing: dorlene; side marylily, wolfstar, jegulus

rating: M

word count: 38.6k

description: And isn't it just so pretty to think. All along there was some Invisible String, tying Dorcas to Marlene.

pirate AU of the misadventures between two captains forced to work together while avoiding the occasional near death experience and desperately trying (and failing) to not fall in love along the way.

Mutually Assured Destruction, by Aiofhan

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 4.3k

description: Marlene finds herself stuck in an advanced Arithmancy class with Dorcas Meadowes and basically no one else; if she can't find a different class to take, she'll end up stuck sitting next to an uptight Slytherin all year. Oh, the horror.

to all the lions i've loved before, by shslflamingarrow (@shslflamingarrow)

pairing: lilylene (marlene/lily)

rating: T

word count: 16.2k

description: based on "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" - Lily Evans' love letters are her most secret prized possessions. She writes love letters when she has a crush so intense there's nothing else she can do. The four letters in total are Frank Longbottom the head boy from her first year, Remus Lupin her third year study buddy, Marlene McKinnon long-time best friend, and the newest one. James Potter. When her letters somehow get out, after James has settled ona new girlfriend, the only person she can turn to for help is Marlene and her own letter.

i'm a sucker for the wicked, by siriusisaswiftie*

pairing: dorlene; begins with pandora/dorcas, eventual side pandalily

rating: M

word count: 10k

description: Dorcas Meadowes is doing fine, thank you very much. She’s doing well in school, she’s finally found a group of friends that care about and support her, and to top it all off, she has an incredible girlfriend who she loves. Pandora is kind, caring, and everything Dorcas has ever looked for in a partner, and she refuses to let anything, or anyone, get in the way of her perfect relationship. Especially not Marlene McKinnon and her relentless flirting and ‘don’t care’ attitude.

A Darling, A Demon, A Lamb, by brightened

pairing: alice/lily, james/lily; past marlene/lily

rating: E

word count: 10.8k

description: this story follows lily during the first war; with ever-increasing discrimination against muggleborn wizards, her decision to marry james was more about survival than anything else. and besides, after the death of the woman she loved, what else was she meant to do? (heads up this one is incredibly dark!)

Alaska, by anotherbelladonna

pairing: dorlene

rating: T

word count: 2.3k

description: after marlene runs away, she finds herself living with a kind group of strangers and is immediately drawn to her new roommate

strange trails, by lovejoybug

pairing: dorlene (eventually)

rating: T

word count: 14.7k

description: Dorcas Meadowes wasn’t scared of anything – or at least that’s what she’d been telling people for as long as she could talk.

That wasn’t to say there wasn’t anything to be scared about; the Dark Lord was collecting everyone she knew like chocolate frog cards. Eventually she’d have to make her choice – and time was ticking.

in which Dorcas Meadowes, Slytherin’s self-proclaimed bitchiest witch of the generation, faces the trials and tribulations of a (quite literally) cursed love life, a tumultuous residency at the horror that was Nott Manor, and a rather aggressive desire to say to the hell with it all and take matters into her own hands

honey honey, by aeoneskova* (@aeoneskova)

pairing: past dorlene; marlene-centric fic

rating: M

word count: 156k

description: Marlene McKinnion is shunned from the Wizarding World after her insane claims of Sirius Black’s innocence.

Over the next decade, she has made a life for herself in the muggle world, working as a teacher in a Primary School in Surrey.

But when a boy with green eyes and a lightning bolt scar joins her class, she is thrown back into a world she has tried to leave behind, but will do what it takes to make sure he is safe.

canon-divergence au where marlene survives the war

+ bonus! fics abt pre-marauders era wlw

like a flower to the sun, by Krethes (@krethes)

pairing: minerva mcgonagall/poppy pomfrey

rating: M

word count: 2k

description: traces minerva's relationship with poppy over several years

Dark and Fearsome, by chantefable

pairing: walburga black/minerva mcgonagall

rating: G

word count: 3.3k

description: follows walburga + minervas relationship, from walburga's pov. written from first person pov which i personally normally don't vibe with, but the writing is so beautiful on this that i loved it anyway

Dark and Fearsome (The Constant Moon Remix), by The_Wavesinger

pairing: walburga black/minerva mcgonagall

rating: M

word count: 1k

description: a series of moments in walburga + minerva's relationship, caught on the brink of a war

what bitter thing is this?, by the_crownless_queen

pairing: rowena ravenclaw/helga hufflepuff

rating: T

word count: 1.2k

description: rowena can see the future, but nobody ever believes her

Her Fight & Fury, by jadepresley

pairing: minerva mcgonagall/augusta longbottom

rating: T

word count: 6k

description: academic rivals to lovers to exes; so well-written and somehow cute + fun while also being a little heartbreaking

Roots, by acidpop25

pairing: rowen ravenclaw/helga hufflepuff

rating: G

word count: 1.4k

description: short + sweet story about rowena + helga's relationship

Bibliomancy, by redsnake05

pairing: minerva mcgonagall/irma pince (past helga hufflepuff/irma pince)

rating: T

word count: 12.4k

description: irma pince is called into being as the librarian by the four founders of hogwarts. this story traces her life and service to the hogwarts library. so unexpectedly beautiful and one of the most unique fics i've ever read

With Love, The Pixies (WIP), by pumpkin_heist_lattes*

pairing: minerva mcgonagall/poppy pomfrey; side rolanda hooch/pomona sprout

rating: T

word count: 22k (ongoing WIP)

description: Minerva McGonagall is split down the middle. One half of her is the perfect student, the uptight girl who cares more about grades than feelings. The other half strains to run wild, playing pranks and laughing in the way only her closest friends get to see. Neither half has time for a silly crush on the Quidditch team healer.

Poppy Pomfrey only has one goal - make it through Hogwarts and learn enough to become the Healer her family needs. Friends are barely part of that plan, let alone falling for her judgy rival.

Before the Marauders, there were the Pixies. And Minerva, Rolanda, Poppy, and Pomona have their own share of heartache, laughter, mischief, and angst to get through first.

+ here's my own writing, bc why not :)

The Hand That Feeds, by rollercoasterwords

pairing: dorlene; side wolfstar + jily

rating: M

word count: 235k

description: Marlene McKinnon is a mess. She can’t sleep, she’s almost certainly going to fail all her NEWTs, and she’s 99% sure that if they don’t win the Quidditch Cup this year James Potter will throw himself headfirst off the Astronomy Tower. On top of all that, there’s a war on, yet their professors seem determined to pretend that the biggest problem any of them are facing is finding a Ministry internship. Marlene’s final year at Hogwarts has barely started, and she’s already pretty sure it couldn’t get any worse—that is, until she shows up for her first Potions class and hears the assignment.

Dorcas Meadowes is a stone-cold bitch. At least, that’s what everyone says. She doesn’t need well-meaning professors or overeager classmates or teammates or boyfriends or friends. She doesn’t need anything except to be left alone, the way she likes, until the day she finally leaves school. And she certainly doesn’t need Marlene McKinnon, with her sharp tongue and her snorting laugh and her stupid shiny hair, who seems intent on ruining everything that Dorcas has been working towards for the past two years.

canon-compliant fic that follows dorcas + marlene from 1977-1981

Alice, Look At Me by rollercoasterwords

pairing: alice/narcissa

rating: M

word count: 14.6k

description: canon-compliant fic following narcissa's life from 1955-1993; friends to lovers to a never-ending "what if"

Emmeline: Spring 1981 by rollercoasterwords

pairing: dorcas/emmeline

rating: M

word count: 5.2k

description: this a single-chapter oneshot from a series of oneshots written as companion pieces to atyd - sirius's pov; however, it can be read as a stand-alone, so i'm including it here :) a look at dorcas + emmeline's relationship during the first wizarding war

#fic recs #wlw marauders #wlw fics #if anyone has recs to add please feel free!!#also if anyone happens to know the tumblr for any of the untagged writers #please lmk!#txt

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mermaidgirl30 · 4 months

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Look for the Light

Chapter 29

Ch 29 is up! Loving all the angst and feelings of this story 😩 I am thinking I will be finished with this story in 3 more chapters

- Summary: Aly finds herself trying to escape the Boston QZ. What Aly doesn’t know is Tess is pairing her up with Joel to go on a dangerous mission to find Tommy. Will Aly survive the brooding, moody Joel or will she find herself falling hard for him? (18+ Only)

Joel’s POV

The weekend was quiet and peaceful as you sat in the living room. The fireplace was quietly simmering in the corner and the sunlight was beaming through the kitchen window. You were sitting on the couch with a cup of hot coffee, and Aly was laying her head in your lap. You were gently running your hand through her long waves as she quietly hummed at the feeling. A sound that drew you to her even more. This was what peace was. This is what you wanted all along, you just didn’t know it till it crept up on you.

You planned to stay in the entire day just relaxing in the warmth of your house as it was a down day for you. No patrols, no projects to help with. Just a day to spend with Aly while you lounged by the fire.

“What do you wanna do today?” you asked as you ran another hand through her silky hair, smelling that lilac smell that drove you absolutely crazy.

She looked up at you with those deep ocean eyes, making you smirk down at her. “We could just stay here all day. I’m comfortable and don’t see myself getting up anytime soon,” she said with a smile.

“Fair enough,” you laughed.

Before you could say anything else, you heard a loud pounding sound come from the front door, making you jump and nearly spill your coffee.

“Joel, I need to talk to you right now! Open the goddamn door!” Tommy yelled as he tried pulling the door, but it was locked. He pounded his fists against the door again, and you thought it’d break off its hinges.

“Just a second!” you yelled back annoyed as you placed your coffee on the table and scooted Aly off your lap.

“What’s up with Tommy?” Aly asked as she sat up with a confused look on her face, scrunching her nose up.

“I don’t know. Maybe Ellie did something. Who knows.”

“Joel!” Tommy screamed again as he banged on the door even louder.

“I’m coming, Tommy!” You made your way over to the door and unlatched the lock, pulling it open so Tommy would give it a rest. He came storming in, slamming the door tight with a bang and made his way into the room.

“When were you gonna tell me, huh?” he asked, turning to face you with bitter eyes.

“Tell you what?” you asked cautiously, furrowing your brows tightly.

Tommy gritted his teeth and slid his tongue across the top row, clicking before he spoke. “I had a little visitor stop by today. Her name starts with an M.” He put his hands on his hips as he stared at you with daggers in his eyes.

Name that starts with an M? Who….oh. Oh no.

“Who was it?” Aly asked slowly, cautiously looking at Tommy.

“Marlene,” he stated with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Holy shit. This couldn’t be happening.

“Marlene was here?” Aly asked quietly, averting her eyes away from Tommy’s glare.

“That’s right,” he answered back.

“What did she want…” Aly asked.

“I don’t know, Aly. Why don’t you ask Joel. Apparently he’s been hiding something this whole time,” he accused.

You were frozen in place. Unable to speak. Too stunned to answer Tommy.

“When were you going to fucking tell me that you were hoarding some infected girl?” he asked, demanding an answer.

“She’s not infected,” Aly shot back.

“Well, she was bit so I’d call that fucking infected!”

“But she never turned. It’s been over a month. She’s immune. Didn’t Marlene say…”

Tommy cut her off and turned to Aly, yelling into her face. “Same fucking difference! And yeah, she did tell me. Told me how she’s got a big bite mark on her right arm. Said they’re looking high and low for her. Demanding if we found her to bring her back to the fireflies. So why the fuck am I just finding out now that you two have been lyin’ to me this whole goddamn time and bringing my community at risk!”

“Hey!” you yelled, grabbing onto Tommy’s shoulder and spinning him around to you. “Don’t take this out on Aly. I’m the one that didn’t tell you. This isn’t on her.”

“Joel, it’s okay. I’m just as much to blame. It was my idea to pick her up in the first place,” she insisted, scooting to the edge of the couch in full attention.

“Why the hell did you pick her up when the fireflies were lookin’ for her?” Tommy asked with a scowl.

“She was freezing and all alone in the middle of nowhere! She didn’t want to go back to them. She’s terrified of them. Tommy, they were gonna kill her!” you screamed as you felt your face go from ghost white to bright red.

“Jesus Christ, Joel.” Tommy ran a hand through his slicked back hair and stared hard at you. “Do you know how violent those fireflies can get when they want somethin’? How low they’ll stoop to get it? They ain’t nothin’ to mess with. And you bringing that girl here is risking the safety of my people and my family.” He was glaring at you now, accusing you of committing the worst crime in history. This wasn’t what you wanted. To have Tommy turn against you again. This is exactly what you hoped to avoid.

“Tommy, I…”

Tommy put his hand up and cut you off. “Why didn’t you tell me in the first place? Why did you lie?”

“Because I was afraid you’d kick us out and that this exact thing would happen. I came to mend our relationship, not break it again. But more importantly I was afraid for Ellie. Afraid that if someone found out she was bitten that they’d try to kill her. They wouldn’t understand. She’s not gonna turn, she’s not infected. She’s immune and she’s unique.”

You stood there trying to catch your breath, trying not to lose your temper. So you asked the question in a calm, collected manner. Only a little timid with your words. “Are you gonna kick us out?”

Tommy ran a hand over his face and rested it over his mouth, deep in thought. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked like he was trying to keep his patience. The minutes ticked by until he spoke again.

“Lyin’ to me doesn’t help anything, but no. I’m not gonna kick you out.”

You let out a sigh of relief and saw Aly relax her body back against the cushions, letting out a long breath she was holding in.

“You better watch your fucking back though and pray to God Marlene doesn’t come knocking on my door again. I told her to never disturb my community again, but she’s a firefly. They can’t be trusted in the slightest.”

“Did you tell her? That Ellie was here?” you asked cautiously.

“No, I didn’t. In fact I told her I never seen a girl that looks like her. I didn’t let her pry around here either. I walked her straight back to the gate myself and saw her out.”

You let out a sigh of relief and put a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, Tommy,” you said with thankfulness in your tone.

“Don’t fucking thank me, Joel. I did this for my community. Didn’t want any bloodshed on my hands.”

You clenched your jaw and nodded your head, understanding where he was coming from.

“Does anyone else know about Ellie? Does Maria know? Was she there when you talked to Marlene?” you asked as you sunk your hands deep into your pockets, your fingers flexing and extending nervously.

“No, it was just me. But I might as well tell her. Hell, the whole community has the fucking right to know about her. But I won’t say anything. I might tell Maria in time, but right now she can’t take on anymore stress.”

“Thank you for keeping this between us,” you breathed out.

Tommy scowled and nodded his head. He walked up right in front of you and pointed a finger into your chest, pushing you off balance. “Don’t be starting any wars, Joel. I won’t be a part of anything like that. Me and Maria are expecting. Can’t be bringing trouble to the community.”

Your eyes widened. Him and Maria were expecting? Shit.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” you said with a faint smile. He didn’t return the smile. He just kept his scowl plastered on his face while he glared at you.

“I know you, Joel. You don’t leave things alone, but you’re gonna leave this alone or I’m gonna have to take some action,” he said with a warning in his tone.

“What does that mean?” you said with bared teeth, your eyes glowing from anger.

“Just watch yourself. And keep Ellie in line. I mean it.”

You stood there clenching your jaw and flexing your fingers into tight fists, twinging your lips to keep yourself from snapping at him. You thought it was best not to say anything, but you had to ask one more thing.

“Did you see Ellie before you came here this morning? Was she with Dina?”

“Haven’t seen her all morning or Dina.”

“Where is she then?” Aly asked from across the room. “I could’ve sworn she said she was going to see Dina and Jesse.”

“Fuck if I know. Haven’t seen any of them,” he said with a harsh tone.

“What do you mean you haven’t seen them?” you asked slowly.

“Like I said, haven’t seen them! Now I’m gonna go back to my wife to check on her. You two stay out of trouble and maybe I’ll see you at dinner later if I’m feeling like talking to you.” With that he stormed out of the house and slammed the door shut behind him, sending an echo through the house that could’ve woken the entire community.

You stood there frozen to the ground, unable to speak. Unable to move. Aly was just the same. Sitting on the edge of the couch looking blankly at the wall, her eyes wide in shock. A few minutes went by and complete silence filled the house. It was as if no one was even in here except for a devoid vacant room.

You finally heard Aly shift on the couch as she stood up and walked slowly towards you, stopping in front of you as she put a soft hand on your chest. “Joel, are you okay?”

You clenched your jaw and bit your tongue hard. “No. I’m not,” you stated firmly, nothing else coming out of your mouth.

“You don’t…you don’t think she went outside the gates do you?” she asked cautiously, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Outside the gates? No, she…she couldn’t be. Could she?”

The somber look Aly was giving you said it all. It was possible. Tommy said he hadn’t seen them at all this morning. Goddamn it.

“Let’s go find her.” You grabbed up the rifle that sat next to the couch and grabbed Aly’s wrist, pulling her along with you as you ran out the door into the bitter cold.

You pushed past large crowds, not even saying sorry or excuse me. Too desperate to find Ellie. You checked her usual hangout spot. A quiet playground area that was close to Tipsy Bison, but there was no sign of her. You checked the stables too, but she wasn’t there.

“Where the fuck is she?” you asked in a loud, angry voice.

“I don’t know. Maybe we should go ask Maria. I bet she’d know,” Aly said quickly.

When you exited the stables, you came face to face with Maria. A sick, worried look was spread all over her face. That couldn’t be good.

“Where’s Ellie?” you demanded, putting a little too much force into your words.

“She’s missing. We found a small opening at the back of the community. I think they slipped out. I sent some men to go look for her. Dina and Jesse are gone too. Can’t say for how long. Nobody’s seen them all morning,” she said with a hard line on her face, her eyes filled with sorrow.

Your eyes went wide as the shock hit you. What if the fireflies took her? What if Marlene somehow saw her and reeled her out of the community somehow? What if…

Goddamn it.

You pushed past Maria and jumped on Shimmer, hitting the reins so hard that she took off in a swift run out of the barn. You didn’t wait for Aly or tell her your plan. You had no plan. All you knew is you had to go find her and fast. Before the fireflies caught her before you.

“Joel, wait!” Aly screamed as you took off. You’d have to apologize to her later. There was no time. Time was of the essence and right now time was not on your side.

You hit the reins again, guiding Shimmer to the back of the community, looking for that space they could’ve slipped through. You rode the entire wall until you found a small opening, just enough to fit a horse through. They’d have to fill this in. Infected could easily squeeze their way through there. Or fireflies. You pushed the thought out of your head before it threw you into a panic attack.

You kicked the side of Shimmer and beckoned her to go through. She obeyed and rode along, stepping into a thick forest of snow covered trees. You could hear Shimmer’s hooves hit the ground, hear your gasping breathes through the air, see your smoky breath in the freezing cold.

You were trying to calm down, kill off the anxious thoughts that raced through your head, but you couldn’t. Not until you found her and made sure she was okay. You’re not really sure when exactly you started to care for this little girl, but it was there now. She was yours to take care of, and you’d be damned if the fireflies got ahold of her again.

“Ellie!” you called out, hearing your voice echo off the hollow trees. Nothing. You rode on a little further and turned a corner, coming into a more open area with mounds of snow piled high. “Ellie!” you shouted again, hoping she’d be able to hear. You heard some small giggles around the corner that sounded like her. Oh, thank fuck.

As you rounded the corner of some snow covered trees and a large rock mound, you saw Ellie, Dina, and Jesse having a snowball fight. They seemed to be having the time of their lives, all carefree and bubbly.

“Ellie,” you said with a low, stern voice. She froze in place and dropped her snowball, slowly turning around to face you.

“Oh, hi there, Joel. Didn’t see you,” she said with a high pitched squeak, not wanting to meet your glare you were giving her right now.

“Get over here, now,” you growled.

“But Joel we were…”

“I said now,” you growled again with bared teeth. She slowly made her way towards you, guilt written all over her face. You held out a hand and she hesitated to take it, but she took it anyways. You hoisted her up and waited till she got situated.

“You two,” you said as you narrowed your stare at Dina and Jesse. “Go home, now. I’m sure your parents are worried sick.” They didn’t argue and ran off in the direction of the community, not stopping for anything.

You pulled on Shimmer’s reins and headed back to town, moving at a slower pace than you were before. Ellie was quiet behind you, probably afraid of what you might say, but she had every right to be. You were fucking livid.

“Just what the hell did you think you were doing sneakin’ out? You could’ve been killed,” you said with ice in your voice.

“We were okay. Jesse had a gun. Nothing was going to happen. No one was out there,” she argued.

“You don’t know that! Do you know who came to pay Tommy a visit today? Marlene was here! She was looking for you. If she would’ve found you she would’ve taken you back to that hospital or maybe she would’ve shed some blood in town tryin’ to take you back. I don’t think you understand just how serious this is!” you screamed as you seethed with anger.

Ellie’s grip on you got tighter, fingers digging into your tan jacket. “Marlene was here? Oh, fuck.”

“Oh fuck is right,” you spit out.

“Is she going to be back? Did she say?” she asked nervously.

“I don’t know, I didn’t talk to her. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but you sure as hell ain’t sneaking out again, you hear? You’re not gonna draw any attention to this town.”

“Fine, fine,” she sighed.

“You’re gonna apologize to Tommy and Maria today for sneaking out, too. Tommy about had a heart attack this morning, was lettin’ me have it pretty good for not telling him about you.” You gripped the reins tighter and watched your hands get as white as a ghost, feeling the circulation slow down in your fingers.

“Oh, I see,” is all she said, saying it as quiet as a mouse. She could feel just how much frustration and anxiety was whirling through you. And you’re glad she didn’t say anything else because you would’ve started yelling even more.

By the time you got back inside the walls, you went straight to the stables and dropped off Shimmer. Aly was there waiting for you when you got back. She ran to Ellie and asked if she was okay, and Ellie barely said a word in response.

“C’mon, straight to the house. Let’s go,” you commanded as you grabbed her purple sleeve and dragged her back to the house with you. Aly followed along swiftly beside you, trying to keep up with your large strides.

“Ellie, what were you thinking? You’re not supposed to go out there by yourself, without an adult. It’s dangerous,” Aly said with concern all over her voice.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. It was Jesse’s idea. He said he knew a really cool spot to have a snowball fight, and I couldn’t resist,” Ellie stated with a plea.

“Doesn’t matter whose idea it was, the fact is you went when you weren’t allowed. And I better not be seein’ anymore of that,” you said with furrowed eyebrows and a large frown on your face.

As soon as you got to the house and went through the doors, you started letting Ellie have it again. “You’re not to do that ever again, do you understand me?” you said as you pointed a finger at her and then crossed your arms over your chest.

“But I…”

“None of that. Now, do you understand?” You were glaring at her, fixing your eyes on her as your lip twitched from anger.

“I guess so, yeah,” she sighed as she rolled her eyes.

“Go to your room.” You weren’t asking, you were telling.

“But I don’t want to,” she whined.

“Now,” you said again with a harsher tone. “You’re grounded. No hanging out with Dina or Jesse for a week.”

“You can’t do that!” she shouted as her green eyes got watery.

“I can and I’m telling you. I’m not asking. Now go to your room,” you said with gritted teeth.

“You’re not my dad! You can’t make me,” she yelled, a tear streaming down her face.

“I sure as hell ain’t your dad, but I’m your guardian and you will obey me!” Your nose was scrunched up and you could feel the lines in your forehead creasing so tight that you swore you were about to pop a vein.

She looked over at Aly to help her out, but Aly just shook her head and put a hand on her forehead. “Just go, Ellie. Listen to Joel. Think some time in your room will do you some good.”

Ellie rolled her eyes and grunted loudly. “Uhhh fine. This is so stupid,” she said as she trudged to her room and slammed the door shut, making the walls shake a little from the vibrations.

You went over to the couch and collapsed with a big sigh, leaning over and putting your hand over your eyes. You felt a small movement on the couch as Aly came and sat next to you, placing her hand on your back and rubbing small circles, trying to calm you down.

You put your hand down and turned to her, another sigh escaping your mouth. “You don’t think I was too hard on her, do you?”

Aly pursed her lips and thought for a moment. “I mean, maybe you were a little harsh, but no. I don’t think you were too hard on her.”

“Oh, good. Glad you think so.”

You threw your legs up on the couch and flattened your body against the couch, placing your head right in Aly’s lap. You needed to breathe, relax, unwind. You needed to stop the racing thoughts that were taking over your mind. You needed to calm down, but you didn’t know how. Now two people were mad at you. Ellie and Tommy. Christ. This was not how you wanted to start the day.

You sighed again as you closed your eyes. Aly must’ve felt all the tension that you were keeping in because she started running her fingers through your hair. Scratching along your scalp with her nails while her other hand went through your scruff along your jawline. Making a groan come out of your mouth as her fingers felt like heaven. She always knew how to make you feel better. She was a goddamn angel. Your angel.

She kept digging her fingers into you, making your entire body relax into hers. “Feels so good, baby,” you groaned out in a low, raspy tone.

“I figured it did,” she said with a laugh, her fingers still working their magic. “I’ll do this all afternoon if I have to,” she smiled.

“You just might have to, darlin’.” You sent a gentle smile her way, staring up into those beautiful ocean eyes of hers. “You’re such an angel,” you said with admiration.

“I try,” she said with a blush. “Just close your eyes and relax. Everything will be okay,” she said with a promise.

You hummed and nodded your head, closing your eyes and letting her fingers lull you to sleep. It didn’t take long till you were snoozing, a nap was just what you needed to wash away some of the fear and anxiety of the day.

You woke up about an hour and a half later. You were still in the same spot, Aly was still running her fingers through your scalp which felt damn good. The house was quiet. You didn’t even hear Ellie shuffling around in her room. A part of you felt guilty for yelling at her, but she needed to know she was in the wrong. She could’ve been taken again or worse, killed.

“Hey there sleepyhead, you’re awake,” Aly said softly, still gliding those smooth fingers against your messy hair. “You were out for awhile.”

“You put me to sleep with those fingers of yours, darlin’. ‘Course I was out for awhile.”

She giggled at that and moved one of her hands down to find yours, wrapping her fingers in between yours tightly. It felt so warm, so soothing.

“Ellie still not come out of her room?” you asked as you looked towards her silent door.

Aly shook her head. “No, she hasn’t come out. She’s been pretty quiet.”

You thought for a minute, looking over the white untouched door and furrowing your eyebrows together. “You think I should go talk to her?” you asked quietly.

“I think that’d be a good idea,” she nodded as she traced her thumb across the side of your hand, sending relaxing vibrations through your body, calming you down where you could think clearly.

“You think she’s cooled off enough?” you asked timidly.

“Have you cooled off enough?” she asked as she looked down into your face with questioning eyes.

You slid your tongue across your teeth and drew a hard line on your face, feeling those wrinkles appear in your forehead when you were in deep thought. “Yeah, think I have. Thanks to you.”

Aly smiled down at you and gave your hand a tight squeeze. “Then go on. You’ve got this.” Aly released her hand from yours and pulled her other hand away from your hair. You internally groaned as her hands left you, wanting to stay in her embrace the entire day.

You pushed yourself off the couch and slowly made your way over to Ellie’s door, stopping right in front of it to catch your breath. You placed your hand on her door with knuckles contacting the smooth material, but didn’t put any force on it yet. You turned around to watch Aly, raising your eyebrows as if you needed reassurance from her. She gave you a gentle smile and nodded, telling you that you could do this. You gave her a small smile before turning back to the door. Here goes nothing .

You placed three easy knocks on her door. “Ellie, can I talk to you a minute?”

“Go away,” she yelled from inside.

Your face fell as you turned to Aly. Suddenly you were clenching your jaw and showing those worried lines on your face.

Aly nodded again. “Well, go on,” she pushed again.

You gave her a tight nod and put your hand on the door knob, gently turning it and pushing the door open.

“I said go away,” Ellie said again, sitting on her bed and reading a Spider-Man comic.

“Just wanted to talk for a minute,” you said quietly. “May I?” you asked as you nodded towards the bed, asking for permission to sit down on the edge with her. She nodded and scooted over, making room for you to sit.

You slowly sat down on the edge of the purple blanketed bed and put your hands in your lap, meticulously twiddling your thumbs together with nerves running through you. Ellie just sat still, looking at the floor as if she was mute.

You took a deep breath and focused on keeping your voice calm. “Look, Ellie. I didn’t mean to yell so much. I just…I just went off when I found out you had snuck out. Tommy gave me a mouthful earlier, and that was the last thing I needed to hear today. Can you just tell me what the hell you were thinking today?”

Ellie shifted on the bed uncomfortably and finally looked up at you, her green eyes hazy. “I just wanted to explore a little, that’s all,” she said quietly.

“You can’t just go out by yourself, it’s dangerous. You don’t know how to defend yourself,” you sighed as you placed a hand on your beard, running through it slowly in deep thought.

“Then show me.”

“Show you what?”

“Show me how to defend myself. Show me how to use a gun. Take me out on patrol one day.” She was leaning forward now, her eyes alight with tension.

“Now I don’t know if that…”

“Please,” she asked with pleading eyes.

You kept your eyes on her as you pondered her question. Maybe it would be good to teach her how to shoot. Better you than anyone else.

You sighed and nodded your head. “Alright…I’ll think about it.”

“Really?” she asked as she shot up out of the bed and jumped excitedly.

“We’re starting you off with a handgun though. No big guns for awhile,” you said with a low tone.

“Fine, fine. Holy shit I’m gonna learn how to shoot! Watch out infected, Ellie’s gonna blow your brains out soon enough!” she said humorously as she pretended to hold a gun and make shooting noises, pretending she was taking out infected right and left.

You couldn’t help but laugh at her in that moment. This kid was something else. You don’t know what it was, but she continued to pull you in. Even if you didn’t want to get close to her, she was something special. And you’d do whatever to make sure she’d stay safe.

“Alright, calm down a bit,” you laughed as she came back to sit on the bed next to you, beaming up at you with that big smile of hers that warmed your heart just a little.

“Does this mean I’m not grounded?” she asked with hope in her eyes.

“You’re not off the hook yet, kid,” you laughed.

“Damn. Okay, guess I deserve it,” she said as she pouted and stuck out her bottom lip. You shook your head and let another laugh out.

A couple minutes of silence passed until she spoke again. It was a scared, meek whisper that left her mouth. “Do you think the fireflies are going to come back here?”

You stiffened up at the question, your face going stone cold as your fingers curled into the purple blanket, almost ripping a hole with how strong you were gripping the bed. “I don’t know, Ellie. I really don’t know…”

“What are we going to do?” she asked with fright in her voice, her green eyes filled with unease.

You took a long breath, trying to calm all your senses. Trying to get a grasp on your growing anxiety. “We’ll do what we have to do,” you said with a low voice, eyes glaring into the empty wall.

She seemed to understand as she nodded her head and joined you in staring at the wall mindlessly, letting silence take over and white noise encompass your ears.

At dinner time Tommy was barely able to look at you. He didn’t fully ignore you, but it fucking hurt that lying to him had pulled you away from him again. You had worked so hard to come find him, to mend the relationship. And you had fucked it up bad. You were internally hitting yourself in the head over it.

Aly saw how tense you were, how bad this was bothering you. So she did what she always tried to do. Comfort you. She put her hand on your thigh in the middle of dinner and gave you that look that meant she was right there and she wanted to make sure you were okay. You were eternally grateful for her. The best there ever was. And she was all yours.

Before you left Tipsy Bison, you pulled Tommy aside before you headed back to the house. “Tommy, can we talk a minute?” you asked with a desperate plea in your voice.

Tommy ran a hand through his long greasy hair and nodded, leading you out of the bar. “Alright, what do you wanna say?” he asked when you were away from all the noise.

You swallowed hard before you spoke. “I just want to apologize again. For lyin’. I really am sorry, but you just gotta trust that I was keeping my best judgement in place for Ellie. I didn’t want you to turn us away before I even had a chance to talk to you and explain myself.” You could feel the tears pull in your eyes, fighting hard not to let any of them fall. But this was delicate. This was your brother and you needed to make sure the two of you were okay. Otherwise you’d never forgive yourself.

Tommy sighed and clenched his jaw as he raked a hand over his mouth in deep thought. After a moment he spoke. “I know you thought you were doin’ the best thing for her. I probably would’ve done the same if I were in your place. I was just really angry earlier. And after Marlene came in and started pointing fingers, I had just about enough. So I’m sorry for lashing out at you earlier. I got carried away,” he said with a huff.

Relief flooded through you as you relaxed your shoulders and gave a sigh of relief. “So…still brothers?” you asked tentatively.

“Brothers,” he nodded. He pulled you in for a big hug and gave you a strong pat on the back. You’d never felt so relieved in your life.

As he pulled away he gave you a warning look. “Just be careful. Remember what I said. No bringing wars into my community,” he said as he pointed a finger at you in warning.

You nodded in approval. “Fair enough. I promise.”

“Good. Well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Have a good night.” He waved and turned back into Tipsy Bison. Aly and Ellie followed out shortly after.

“Everything okay?” Aly asked with a worried look on her face.

“Yeah, everything’s alright.”

You took her hand and walked back to the house in silence, trying to enjoy the cool breeze of the fresh winter night.

You ended the night in one of your favorite spots, in the bathtub with Aly. You were leaning against the back of the tub with your head against the wall, and Aly was sitting with her back to you, leaning against you with her body in between your legs.

You were slowly running your fingers down her arms, gently washing her hair with your fingers digging into her scalp as low groans came from deep in her throat. She had tenderly washed your back and your torso as she dug her fingers through your trimmed beard, sending waves of serotonin through your body, making you hum in desire every time she touched you.

This was what love was right? Because it sure as hell felt like it. Two people that are so enamored and infatuated with each other that you just couldn’t get enough. So why couldn’t you just come out and say how you felt?

Because you were scared. That was the only reason. You’d never felt like this in your entire life, and then all of a sudden you get slammed with these overstimulating feelings that are bound to knock you off your feet at any given time. You just hoped she felt the same way. You didn’t know what you’d do if she didn’t…

“Joel?” Aly asked quietly.

“Hmm?” you hummed out, carefully running your fingers up and down her arm.

“What if Marlene brings her men back here? What if she saw Ellie somehow?”

You clenched your jaw and stopped the motion of your hand on her arm. Trying to find the right words to say, but you couldn’t. “I don’t know…I think if they saw her she would’ve taken her right then. I know she wouldn’t hesitate, but for now I think she’s safe. Tommy warned her not to come back, so I think they had an agreement,” you said firmly.

“Oh, I see,” she said quietly. Still on the borderline of nerves.

“We’re gonna be okay. Ellie’s gonna be fine. We’re safe,” you said as you continued sliding your hand down her arm, leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on her cheek.

She hummed in vibration from the kiss, reaching up to put an arm behind your neck as she scratched at your scalp, sending a low groan out of your mouth. “Okay,” she said with a soft lull to her voice, making you want to get lost in her.

God, you loved her. You loved her so goddamn much. You’d never let her go, no matter what. So you needed to express just how much you loved her by showing her one of your acts of love.

You slowly sunk your hand under the warm bath water, creeping down to her inner thigh, teasing her with your fingers while you held her to you with your other arm wrapped around her waist so she couldn’t escape.

“What are you…” she started to ask, but you cut her off.

“Just tryin’ to make you feel good, baby.”

You slid your fingers up her thigh and went to her center, finding her folds and parting her as you worked your fingers against her folds, and then you were pushing a finger inside her. She moaned and bucked her hips up, wanting more of you.

“Gotta be quiet, baby. Ellie’s asleep. Don’t wanna wake her up with your moans now, do ya?” you said with a smirk hanging on your lips.

You moved another finger inside her and spread her wide, finger fucking her in and out, feeling that spongy part of her walls that drove her crazy. She squirmed against you and groaned out, throwing her head back against you.

“Joel…” she begged as she still had her arm wrapped around your neck. Her mouth was right by your ear. Right where you could hear her breathy moans as you worked her with your fingers. A sound that sent you spiraling into arousal every time.

“Gonna be quiet for me, baby?” you whispered against her ear.

“Mhmm,” she groaned as you pushed against her clit with your palm. She jolted at the motion, and you knew exactly what to do to get that reaction out of her.

“Good girl,” you praised. You placed your thumb over her throbbing clit and started to circle slowly, feeding her building orgasm in just the right way. You kept your middle and ring finger inside her, pumping in and out at a building rate.

You placed your head down and found her neck, sinking your lips against her most sensitive spot in that area. She covered her mouth and moaned loudly, silencing the noise from carrying downstairs. You picked up the pace on her clit, speeding up and putting more pressure on her mound, feeding that primal instinct in you that fed on her pleasure. Wanting her to fall apart in your hands while you picked up all the pieces.

You slid your thumb down the entire length of her clit and put a slow, deep pressure on her. That was it. She was almost there. You could feel it.

“Come on, baby. Want you to come for me. Wanna feel that sweet release all over my fingers,” you coaxed as you repeated the action, sliding your thumb up and down her length as your two fingers pumped inside her, feeling her walls about to shatter.

“Joel…I…I’m about to…”

“Come for me, darlin’. That’s it. Let me hear those pretty moans. Such a good fucking girl,” you cooed while you continued overstimulating her bundle of nerves.

One more press to her clit and she was finished. You felt her walls constrict around your fingers and then felt them relax as you felt hot release come from inside, spilling all over your fingers. You caught her mouth in a kiss as she moaned into your mouth, letting her body fall back into your as you released your fingers from her and brought them up to your mouth, licking them clean of her sweet arousal.

“You’re amazing,” she purred as she folded into your lap, completely exhausted from her intense orgasm. You wrapped her tight in your arms and ran a hand down her back, easing her back down from her high.

“Such an angel,” you whispered into her ear, gently placing a kiss on her forehead as you ran your fingers through her silky hair.

You stayed like that, wrapped up in each other until the water turned cold. Then you helped her dry off and get dressed before you carried her off to bed and pulled her into your arms once again. This was what home felt like. She was your home. And you’d never let her go.

Chapter 30

Series Masterlist

#joel miller #joel tlou #joel the last of us #tlou fanfiction #joel x female reader #a03 fanfic #joel miller smut #joel miller fic #joel x oc #protective joel #joel miller fanfiction #look for the light #slow burn #angst #enemies to lovers #my heart

19 notes · View notes

devilsmenu · 1 year

Note

go ahead and be paranoid - astoria and marlene

"I'm not being paranoid, I'm just worried about my son. I know he's not a kid anymore but he's still my kid, I've never been this away from him and I'm worried. I'm not paranoid, I'm just a mom" she said and could feel some her eyes watering a bit.

#mcrcki #feat marlene #ch: astoria #paranoia mention tw #crying tw

0 notes

eddies-house · 1 year

Text

California Dreamin’

Chapter One - Lasagna (18+ ONLY)

Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4

Modern!Eddie AU - In which Eddie travels to California searching for something more out of life. And then he meets you.

Warnings: mentions of deceased parent, self doubt, insecurities, eventual smut

5.6K words

Eddie x Reader, Friends to lovers, Slow burn

Next ->

Note: This is my first time writing in a while and this idea came to me and just kept building in my mind. A lot of it is self indulgent, not gonna lie. It builds off some of my personal experiences. If you read I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think :)

Masterlist

—

The air is different from Hawkins. Not cleaner, dirtier if anything but certainly different. And different is good, different will be good Eddie thinks to himself. It has to be because at this point it’s all he’s got.

As he drives into the suburban area of Circle Crest, he can’t help but notice the palm trees pass him by over and over. He’s never seen a palm tree before, always figured they were reserved for the movies and shows he’s watched on TV. And there are mountains but not mountains like in the midwest he’s used to. Mountains that look like they could probably be from Hawaii with how green they are from the Winter rain, the golden afternoon sun cascading over them as if to welcome him. As if to say everything will be okay.

Approaching the top of the hill that overlooks the city, Eddie takes in the amount of homes scattered throughout the landscape. Definitely the suburbs, something he has never really experienced. Other than Halloween in the rich neighborhoods back home. But as he looks to the right there are those gorgeous mountains right in front of him. The head of a hiking trail is just off the side of the road where people park their cars and disappear into nature.

California so far is not at all what he had envisioned. Obviously he wasn’t expecting to show up to a red carpet, Hollywood sign right in his face but he never pictured a forest before him just right off the main road. This forest was different from the ones back home. There were no pine trees and there were many people heading onto the trail, no doubt trying to get a walk in before the sun disappeared on the horizon.

Eddie reaches the street of his temporary home for who knows how long. There wasn’t really a plan. He just needed to get out of Hawkins. Turning into the neighborhood, there are some nice looking homes on his left, the kind that he was always convinced he’d never be able to have. They had pristine lawns and basketball hoops out front that signified happy families lived there.

A little further up the road at the stop sign there is an open field to the left with what looked like a dam on the other end. It was a reservoir but for most of the year it was just a field since there wasn’t much rain. To the right across from the reservoir are some more homes, not as large or nice as the ones he previously saw down the road but still nicer than he’s used to. They are lined up down the road, four homes with a little more land than the others. Each one is a different style and were probably all built at different periods in time. He reaches the last house, Marlene’s house.

It looks like an older one, maybe built in the 80’s. There is a chain link fence in front closing off the driveway. The driveway is made up of dirt and there is a wooden awning next to the house with a car parked underneath along with boxes and storage containers, a place for where things couldn’t find a home inside the house. The house is dusty and looks like it could use a paint job but it's still cozy.

Marlene is an old family friend of the Munson’s. Or at least Eddie and his Uncle Wayne. She’s basically his aunt. And her daughter Jocelyn is like his cousin. Not related by blood but still family. Back at the trailer park years ago they would cause all kinds of trouble, pissing off the other neighbors by being too loud.

Unfortunately by the time Eddie was twelve her and her mom had moved back to California where they had some family. They were having a hard time in Hawkins as a Latino family, Jocelyn an even harder time being gay. It was a fairly unprogressive town and Marlene wanted better for her daughter. That left Eddie without his only friend in a town that hated him even at the innocent age of twelve.

Eddie reached the driveway where the fence was closed off. His van must have been noisier and closer to coming apart than he thought since Marlene came running out with excitement etched into her features. Following her are two chocolate labs, barking enthusiastically. She pulled the gate open across the dirt enough for Eddie to drive his van in and park to the side underneath a large tree sitting in the front yard.

Marlene was a short woman with long black hair and brown skin. She was beautiful and kind hearted, always reminding Eddie not to listen to a damn thing anyone in that small town says. She’s the closest thing to a mom he had since she died when he was seven. But even so, he hasn’t seen Marlene in years. He thinks the last time may have been on Thanksgiving in middle school. He tunes in on a phone call with Wayne every now and then having basic conversation, texts Jocelyn, but that’s about it since they moved away.

“Come here you!” Marlene shouts out of excitement as Eddie hops out of the van, briefly stretching his legs. The labs eagerly paw at him and he gives each a scratch behind the ear. Marlene wraps him up in a big hug which he isn’t used to. “Eddie you’ve gotten so tall, and your hair!” She looks at him proudly. “Oh, this ol’ mane? Grew it myself, thank you.” Eddie shakes his wild curls, jokingly flipping his hair with his hand. Always dramatic and outspoken.

“So how was the drive?” Marlene asks as Eddie rounds the back of his van, beginning to pull out his bags. She assists in grabbing one. He didn’t have very much to bring, just his clothes and some things like books, his guitar, and of course his bong. But Marlene didn’t need to know that.

“Pretty fucking long. I was bored out of my mind for most of it.” He responds while kicking the van door shut. “I’m glad I’m here though. Get to see you and Jos.” Marlene hums happily. “Well let’s get you situated, we’ll go through the garage and say hi before I show you your room. Jos is in there with everyone.” She leads the way across the yard to the garage connected to the house. “Everyone?” Eddie questions with a raised brow. “Don’t worry they’ll love you!” She waves him off, approaching the open garage.

The garage isn’t really used for cars or anything a garage would usually contain. There are two couches in the middle of the room along with a coffee table and some mismatched colorful rugs underneath. In the right corner is a drum kit along with a keyboard and some guitars. On the left side of the room there is a bench with cushions lining one wall, long enough to hold around six people. The walls are painted orange but not too bright, just a nice orange on the verge of being yellow but not quite. The other side of the garage is lined with storage cabinets. There is a chandelier hanging in the middle, it looks like it could be an antique and there are lamps in every corner and a couple wooden stools scattered randomly.

On those couches sit people. People who appear to be having a great time, laughing and talking. Marlene walks in with Eddie following, he momentarily sets his bags down. “This is Jonathan, Argyle, Will, El, and…” your name leaves Marlene’s mouth and you can’t help but stare at the man who just walked in. His chestnut brown hair is long, curly, and wild. He’s wearing a tshirt with the name of a band you can’t be bothered to pay attention to right now and ripped black jeans with a chain hanging on the side along with some worn out black converse. He’s wearing these chunky rings and has a couple tattoos throughout his forearms and then you get to his eyes and you’re met with a pool of chocolatey irises. He’s gorgeous and that golden hour sun is just making it worse by lighting up the hues throughout his eyes you would otherwise mistake as plain brown.

“And this is Eddie, he’s gonna be staying with us for a while so you guys better play nice.” Marlene jokes. Jocelyn scrambles off the couch to hug Eddie, screeching as she does so. They hug for a minute and then pull apart “I missed you dude.” Jos punches him in the arm playfully.

Jocelyn is 23, the same age as you. She has shoulder length black hair with choppy layers. She’s definitely an indie chick with her style and music taste. She’ll call you out on your shit but is a solid friend through and through.

“Yeah ya left be back in that shit hole remember?” Eddie grins, shoving her shoulder. “Someone had to look after all those stray cats we tamed and it wasn’t gonna be me, those fuckers hated me.” Jos laughs. “Well they’re Wayne’s responsibility now. He’s gonna be pissed when like 15 cats show up at the door.” Eddie winces. “So they don’t have mama Munson to take care of them anymore?” Jos gasps. “Nah, it’s okay though. Wayne’s girlfriend, Leslie said she’d take over so not all hope is lost.” Eddie says confidently.

The rest of you watch this banter play out in front of you. Eddie was cute. There was no denying that. “You gonna jam with us while you’re here?” Jocelyn questions, glancing at Jonathan and Argyle. They formed a little band a few years back in high school. Jonathan on bass, Argyle on drums, and Jos on guitar/keyboard/singing. She was a triple threat. “Nope I’m a one man show.” Eddie crosses his arms. “You’re still such a dickhead!” Jos shoves him jokingly. “Alright alright, you don’t have to beg Jos, I’ll be in your band.” he smirks. Everyone else laughs.

Eddie says hello to everyone individually and shakes hands. Once his hand touches yours you feel the nerves taking over. He offers a quick “Hi.” You can’t say anything, anxiety builds up as he looks directly at you, gorgeous eyes and all. His rings are a cool contrast to your skin. You're suddenly worried if your hand is clammy before he pulls away, smiling and then picks up his bags.

He’s now bantering with Jonathan and Argyle when Marlene speaks up. “Okay let’s get you settled and then you can bicker all you want. Looks like you’ll fit right in with our crew.” She carries one of his bags through the door into the house and he follows after shooting the room a wink. He’s charming.

—

“And this will be your room” Marlene wraps up a tour of the house. Eddie notices the freshly made bed, a dark wooden nightstand next to it with a lamp on top, and a wardrobe at the other end of the room. It was empty other than that. “You can do whatever you want with it while you’re here. We barely even use it anyway.” She opens the curtains to let the remaining daylight in. The dogs trot around the room, their paws clicking against the dark wood floor. “Treat it just like home.” Marlene turns to Eddie, offering a small smile.

“Thanks, Mar. Just so you know, I’m gonna find a job and do what I can to help out. I’m no freeloader.” Eddie smirks, setting his bag and guitar case on the bed. Marlene chuckles and gives him a nod. “You’re a good kid, Ed. Wayne did a good job.” She says. “Mar, I’m 24.” Eddie laughs. “Still a kid to me. All of you.” She responds, making her way out of the room, the labs following her. “Feel free to join everyone in the garage once you’re ready. I think they already love you. Dinner will be ready soon, I’m making lasagna.” She finishes before disappearing down the stairs, the wood creaking slightly under every step.

Eddie gazes out the window, taking in the garden in the yard. Tomatoes, peppers, and some other vegetables each in their own barrels of soil. Some flowers sit along the side of the house, stunning colors decorating the aged chipped paint they sit in front of. The hose is still coiled on the ground, discarded until the plants need watering again. The house sits on a little patch of land. It’s not huge but it’s more than the expensive houses up the road.

The sun is just setting and it’s summer so it’s around 7:45. Eddie begins unpacking some of his things, dumping some of his clothes in one of the drawers of the wardrobe. That’s really all he has to put away right now, everything else remains back in Hawkins. The only other time he’s packed up and started brand new was when he was seven. Except that time it wasn’t his choice. That’s when his mother died and his dad went to jail. It was either living with his Uncle or straight to the foster system.

He shakes off the memories of his past, he doesn’t need to relive that pain. Eddie was never one to tune into his emotions fully. He learned at a young age not to express sadness and to “be a man about it”. Threats of “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” were ingrained into him. Closing out his thoughts, Eddie picks up his guitar and heads downstairs.

—

“Dude’s pretty cool.” Jonathan expresses, plucking the string of his bass. Argyle is bouncing a small rubber bouncy ball as he lazily paces around the garage. El and Will are sitting on one of the couches scrolling through some Tik Toks, bursting out laughing every now and then. You and Jocelyn are sitting on the other couch with Jonathan, talking. “He’s such an ass but like in the good way, y’know? You guys are gonna love him.” Jos lounges against the arm of the couch, propping her head on her hand. “So you’re cousins?” You question leaning back into the cushions behind you. “Yep, not by blood but that’s basically it. We practically ran the trailer park. The neighbors hated us sometimes.”

Jocelyn was your best friend since high school. She’s basically your only friend other than Jonathan, Argyle, El, and Will. They were great friends but Jocelyn was your best friend. The one you could tell almost anything. Except that you think her ‘cousin’ is hot. Not even having much experience with relationships yourself, you weren’t even going to go there.

“How long’s rocker bro staying?” Argyle questions, not once looking up from his bouncy ball. “As long as he needs. He just had to get out of that place, dude. Hawkins is not a forgiving place to live.” Jos explains. “Just don’t bring it up with him though. He’s kinda closed off and if he wants to talk about it, it has to be his idea.” She finishes. You can’t help but want to know more. You just nod in response.

Jonathan continues playing around with his bass. “So is he gonna be taking courses with us at the college?” He asks, his eyes not moving from the instrument. Jocelyn shakes her head. “No, he told me he was gonna find a mechanic job.” She says. Jonathan nods. “Maybe he can fix my shit box then. Still can’t figure out why it keeps stalling.” He chuckles. “Yeah, he’s real good with that type of stuff-“ “Damn right. I knew you had nice things to say about me.” Jos is interrupted by Eddie striding into the room. He sets his guitar against the couch before plopping himself next to Will and El.

Will seems intimidated by the big personality that is Eddie Munson sitting to his left. “Shut up.” Jos rolls her eyes. Eddie shrugs, leaning back and is he—yep he’s manspreading and usually it’d give you an unimaginable ick but because it’s him you don’t seem to mind. He makes it work and you find it difficult to tear your gaze away although eventually you force yourself to.

“Holy shit is that DND?!” Eddie’s eyes gleam at the box on the small coffee table centered in front of the couches. “Yeah, i-it is. It’s mine.” Will’s face turns red, seemingly embarrassed. “Dude, you’re already my favorite. We gotta play sometime.” Eddie looks at Will with a smile. Will seems relieved that the cool new guy doesn’t think he’s a huge nerd, when actually it seems like he’s also a nerd himself. Jonathan beams at the interaction, his brother has always had a hard time putting himself out there so to see Eddie already taking him under his wing almost brings him to tears.

A few minutes later Eddie and Will are still going back and forth, practically speaking another language. It’s sweet, you think. He’s sweet. The way he interacts with Will, not for a second judging him and just allowing him to go on a tangent about his favorite fantasy game, letting him take the lead on the conversation. Meanwhile you’re the only one still engaged in their discussion while everyone else has moved on, talking amongst themselves. El and Jos chatting about an upcoming concert they had been raving about, Jonathan and Argyle quarreling over something again, no doubt being about a song they practiced earlier and you would chime in every now and then, a word or two.

You were usually the more reserved one of the group. Always observing more than participating. For the most part you liked it like that but there are times you wondered if you were just a background character in everyone else’s story.

As the sun started fading out of sight, the group started to disband. El, Will, and Argyle piling into Jonathan’s car. “You promise we’ll go?” El questions Jocelyn, they had just been talking about going to the mall next week to find an outfit for that concert. “I swear.” Jos waves as the car door closes and they drive off. They had a sisterly relationship which was nice seeing as both of them were only children.

Just down the road around the corner was your house so normally you opted for walking. It was about half a mile away just in the other neighborhood on the other side of the reservoir Jocelyn’s house sat in front of.

Before you get the chance to say goodnight Jocelyn pipes up next to you. “You staying for dinner? Mom made lasagna.” And how could you refuse dinner when Marlene was cooking up one of her home cooked meals. “You already know my answer.” You giggle.

—

Eddie is still sitting on the couch in the garage where he had been conversing with everyone for the past hour or so. Except now he’s strumming his acoustic guitar, glancing up when you and Jos come back in from the front yard.

As if on queue, Marlene peaks in from the door leading into the house. “Time to eat, get your butts inside.” Like ducklings, Jocelyn, yourself, and Eddie file into the house and into the kitchen. The smell is immaculate, marinara and cheese filling your senses. “Smells amazing, I’m so hungry.” You praise while pulling out plates from one of the cabinets. It was practically your second home. “Thanks, Mom.” Jocelyn takes a plate from you, beginning to pile it high with the gooey cheese and noodles. “Thank you, Mar.” Eddie slings his arm around Marlene’s shoulders playfully as she sets down a tray of garlic bread. You then realize he’s the human embodiment of a golden retriever.

Marlene hums in appreciation and observes Eddie proudly. “You look so much like your mom.” She blurts out. It’s no secret that this is a sore subject for Eddie with the way his face drains as he clears his throat. Marlene instantly has regret in her eyes. “Uhm-I’m sorry- I just-“ she stutters. “It’s okay.” Eddie states, avoiding eye contact and moving to the table situated in the breakfast nook of the kitchen.

It takes him a minute but as you all assemble around the table for dinner he’s back to his normal antics. “Do you jam with Jos and her band?” He inquires, gesturing toward you. This catches you off guard seeing as you haven’t even had a full conversation with him in the time he’s been here. In fact, the only thing he’s said to you so far was ‘hi’ when he first arrived and was introduced to everyone. “Uh- well no. No, I don’t even know how to play an instrument. I'm basically the moral support.” You nervously laugh. He flashes a grin before he stuffs a large helping of lasagna into his mouth. “Most important role, right?” He says through a mouthful, smirking somewhat shyly.

You just offer a nod and a polite smile in response. It’s not a full conversation but it’s a start. And you chime in where you can but again, not as often as you’d like. The rest of dinner entails old friends catching up, the dogs waiting patiently for scraps to drop. One of them, Winnie is next to you, drool hanging off of her jowl. The other, Diesel next to Marlene. It almost feels like you're imposing on a family dinner. And although you are also considered part of said family, it feels like you’re an outsider, your own anxieties and insecurities getting the best of you.

—

The four of you are cleaning up when Jocelyn makes it known that there is a trip to the beach planned this weekend with everyone. “Ed, you gonna join us? Pleeease?” Jos puts on an exaggerated pout as she wipes down the counter. Eddie is scrubbing a plate over the sink while he squints his eyes as if he’s contemplating the offer. “I guess.” He sighs dramatically. “Only for you though.” He winks mischievously. Jocelyn rolls her eyes, finishing up her task and throwing a dish rag into a nearby basket in the hallway next to the laundry.

“Jos, will you help me with this?” Marlene asks, carrying two bowls of cat food, two more prepped and ready on the counter. They had outdoor cats that didn’t officially belong to them but they never really left the property. Why would they when they had the promise of a meal waiting for them every morning and evening? Jocelyn grabs the other two bowls and follows her mom out the screen door just off the kitchen, through the little hallway where the laundry was located and to the backyard. The door smacks against the wood of the house as they walk out, Winnie and Diesel following eagerly.

“So are you and Jos…” Eddie breaks the silence in the room, the sounds of silverware clinking against the drawer as you dry and put it away. He’s finishing drying off a plate. “Y’know—uh-like together?” He finishes his thought, awkwardly clearing his throat, eyes on you from across the kitchen. You giggle at this and his brows furrow. “She’s my best friend and I love her but not like that.” You explain, your words soft as if speaking too loud could disrupt the balance of the universe. He nods. “Cool, cool, I just—I didn’t know. Jos doesn’t really let me in on the gooey details of her relationships you know? She’s got that tough guy thing going on—at least with me when we talk.” He further explains.

“Oh I know, she hates people seeing her soft. Even me and I practically live here half the time.” You finish up with the silverware. “I live just down the road but I live alone so…” you shrug. “I like to come over here most of the time, sometimes help Mar with her garden or whatever she needs. Keeps me from going crazy in that big house by myself.” You continue. “How’d you end up as Mar’s assistant?” Eddie jokingly asks, he rounds the island, now leaning on it with his hands tucked under his chin as he listens.

You’re across from him on the other side nearest to the kitchen cabinets, busying yourself with small tasks so you don’t have to commit to making eye contact with him. That would be daunting. His eyes would swallow you whole.

“Um—well I met Jos in high school, junior year. And as they say the rest is history. We hang out in the garage a lot of the time and suddenly Mar has you doing chores you can’t say no to.” You laugh, shaking your head at the thought. “Because then she feeds you and it’s like eating for the first time every single time so how are you supposed to say no?” You lean against the counter closest to the wall, finally bringing your gaze to Eddie.

He’s so endearing in the warm kitchen lighting. A small smile is pulling at his lips and the corner of his eyes are slightly creased. It occurs to you that he’s just been listening to you talk, no interruptions, full attention on you. And it’s not like Jocelyn or Jonathan or everyone doesn't listen to you but a lot of the time, your voice gets drowned out by interruptions. Not intentional but still wounding your self esteem. It isn’t their fault by any means, you know you should just speak up above it all but some things are hard to change and easier said than done.

“Sorry—I” you’re about to apologize for the little ramble you’d performed seconds ago but he cuts you off but not in the way you’re used to. “Don’t be sorry. Why are you sorry?” He questions, now bringing his forearms in front of him, clasping his hands together on the counter, fiddling with his rings with his brow furrowed in confusion. “I don’t know.” You offer a short answer. “Don’t apologize to me ever again. I don’t wanna hear it. Unless you like—I dunno, hit my car or something.” He stands up straightening himself out, stretching his arms above his head and ending with a yawn.

You don’t know how to respond, now too focused on the way his shirt rides up ever so slightly at his stomach, his happy trail on display for a brief moment. Marlene and Jocelyn stroll back into the house. Marlene announces that she’s going to bed and suggests the three of you think about doing the same.

“I’ve got a paper to write, so no sleep for me.” Jos sighs, grabbing her laptop from the coffee table in the family room adjacent to the kitchen. “You sleeping over?” She asks. “I have work in the morning.” You can’t fathom sleeping under the same roof as the metal head, maybe eventually as you get used to him but not now. Not when he’d be just down the hall and there was a chance of running into him on your way to the bathroom.

“You have work every morning. You work from home. Do you want me to drive you back and we can pick up your laptop—“ “No that okay, Jos. I’m just super tired, think I need to go home and recharge.” You say putting your shoes on. “Okay we’ll it’s dark so I’m gonna drive you anyway.” She grabs her keys off the side table by the front door. “I can drive her if you have that paper to write. I don’t think I’m gonna be sleeping any time soon either…” Eddie offers. Fuck. Now you have even more of a chance at humiliating yourself.

It’s decided and soon enough you’re hopping in the passenger seat of his van. It starts with a rumble, sounds like it could give out any minute. You don’t say anything though. “Sorry about the mess, I just drove across like half of America and couldn’t really bother stopping to throw away the trash.” He mumbles, throwing some of it in the back carelessly. “That’s okay, I don’t mind.” You respond shyly.

The tires crunch over the gravel and dirt that is the driveway, making their way onto the asphalt of the road but he stops just before. “Uh-pardon my French but where the fuck is your house?” Eddie looks cluelessly back and forth between the left and the right, unsure of which way to go. A laugh escapes your lungs and he looks back over to you, a grin on his face, a small chuckle falling from his lips. “Turn right and then make another right at the stop sign.” You manage to get out in between a wide smile. “Got it.” He snaps his fingers and begins driving.

—

The van stops in front of your house, Eddie seems to be taking it in. It’s a nice house, not like the fancy ones he first encountered earlier in the day but still nice. Most of the homes on the rest of the street are similar but different in their own ways. Different colors, different layouts, but the same general idea in the way that they’re all made of stucco. Somewhat cookie cutter but not all the way. Each house somehow still had its own personality with how one had a boat parked in the driveway and another had a swing hanging from the tree in front.

Your house was two stories, a cream color with a light brown trim and a hedge blocking the front door from view of the street with a little path leading behind it so as to reach the door. There was a small grass lawn in the front, not too large.

“Wow. Fuck.” Eddie expresses through an exhale. You quickly glance back to him, unaware that he was referring to your house at first. “Oh uh—yeah this is me.” You murmur, reaching for the car handle. “You’ve got shit figured out.” He says, still staring at the house. You feel the need to reveal that it’s not at all what he thinks. That you don’t actually have anything figured out at all. That it’s not even your house. Well not fully your house.

“It’s not like that. It’s my grandparent’s house.” You quickly say. “Thought you said you lived alone?” He inquires. “For the most part. They’re always going on cruises so most of the time it’s just me. I take care of the house, pay what bills I can. But I most certainly don’t have my shit figured out.” You explain, tucking your hair behind your ear.

“And here I was thinking I was the only one without my shit together.” Eddie smirks. You find a hint of insecurity behind his eyes, a fraction of self doubt but just as quickly as it came it’s gone, hidden away.

For some reason you feel comfortable enough to continue, clearing your throat before you do so. “And my mom and sisters are about an hour and a half away, living in the desert. I'm the oldest. Felt like I should stay and help out and eventually they put my name on the house. So technically it is mine, just not only mine.” You wince. “I—I don’t know why I felt the need to tell you-“ “If you apologize I’ll scream.” Eddie interrupts but again, you don’t mind because he’s preventing you from crawling back into the depths of your mind, insecurities rising. “So-“ just as the word begins leaving your lips he gives you a stern look, eyebrows raised. “Okay.” You say.

“That’s better.” He concludes. The moonlight is steaming in from the wind shield, brighter tonight than most nights. Eddie taps his rings against the steering wheel, following the beat of the song playing quietly over the radio, a metal song. “Do you visit your mom and sisters very often?” He asks. “Yeah, yeah usually every two months. They aren’t super far but I have stuff to take care of here. It’s real fun out there, the desert just does something to you, maybe it’s cause the airs super dry but I love it out there.” You grin at the thought.

“I’ve never been anywhere outside of Indiana so everything here is new to me. All I know is farmland and shitty small town people.” He says. “Well we always have people visit out there. Jos loves it, we swim and lay out in the sun. Have big family dinners. Maybe you can come out sometime.” You offer, nearly shitting yourself. How are you even forming coherent thoughts while speaking to the beautiful boy in front of you? “I’d like that.” He looks down at his rings tapping against the steering wheel.

His long eyelashes cast a shadow over his cheek and his silhouette is like something out of the renaissance.

“So Jos said you work from home?” He changes the subject. “Yeah, I do some insurance work. It’s really boring but it pays pretty well and I don’t have to be in an office building with people I don’t like all day.” He laughs at this. “I respect it.” He says. “What about you?” You question. “Well I don’t have anything going for me yet but back home I worked on cars at the auto shop. I’m really good at taking shit apart and putting it back together. I’ll probably find a shop here that’ll take me in.” He tells you. “You will. There are tons of shops down on Main Street.” You enlighten him.

—

You could have listened and babbled on and on with him all night but eventually you bid him goodnight and he waits as you make your way through the door. Only leaving when he’s sure you made it in.

You let out a long sigh, making your way upstairs and to your room for the night. Eddie Munson was going to be a problem in the best way possible.

~end~

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Masterlist

#Eddie Munson x reader #eddie munson fluff #Eddie Munson fic #eddie Munson x female reader #Stranger things #St4 #Eddie’s-house fic #Eddie Munson x fem reader #Cal dreamin’

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