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al-andrice · 1 year

Text

Future Days

Spoilers for TLOU PART I & II

Series: Hymn for the Weekend

Joel Miller x Female Reader

(Edited on 12/06/23)

Abstract: Joel and Ellie settle into Jackson with the help from you - a great shot, smart and reliable (according to Maria).

Contents: Reader has she/her pronouns, former counsellor, second person, Ellie's got jokes, maybe a little teeny bit of pining but we like a friends to lovers in this household, Joel smiles!

Rating: Teen

WC: 1.6K

Listen to Future Days by Joel Miller

Author's notes: Here I am, back with the writing bug. It's been a long time since I've wanted to write something. As TLOU has dominated my whole life with the games that I've loved for years and the HBO series, it's no surprise that I have a whole fantasy in my head that I needed to write fanfiction about.

Hope you guys enjoy reading this! Please do comment and reblog, anything that helps to get this around.

Troy singing Future Days always gets me in the feels. If Pedro ends up singing...I am DONE (unless he sings La Bamba LMAO). Or if Bella sings Take On Me...TEARS. I love listening to the Part II covers.

not to be thirsty on here, but praise naughty dog for making joel miller so...mmmm yeah. i wanna marry this man. even pedro says he's hot

GIF by vera-kozhemiakina

Everything I've found here, I've not found by myself.

Winter was coming which meant heavy snow and slower starts to days with the later sunrise and the numbing morning air. Jackson had started preparations for it - checking that its residents had everything to keep warm in their homes, protecting the allotments and making any repairs to maintain buildings.

Sweeping through the long patrol routes was the biggest task. Maria had to be sure that the people assigned to them could handle potential Infected and any people they may meet on the way. Past encounters have mostly gone smoothly, with trading links made between communities, like Jackson, and also helping any travellers who just needed a good night of sleep and food in their system, setting off the next morning. This was something that the residents of Jackson were incredibly grateful for - to be able to say that they were safe and had warm beds to greet every night, as well as being able to provide aid and supplies to people who come through was a privilege.

The few not-so-pleasant meetings with bandits ended with minor injuries and increased security at the power plant as a precaution.

Joel and Ellie settled in as well as they could after the hell of a journey they completed. You lived a road away from their new home, so you had seen them integrate into the community and get used to living instead of surviving.

Maria was the one responsible for your first interaction with Joel, who was getting to know the different patrol routes on the map. "She's one of our best. A great shot, smart, reliable. Expect to be on patrol with her if Tommy isn't around. She's a busy woman in this town."

"Wow." You leaned forward onto the desk of her office with your hands. "A great shot, smart and reliable? You flatter me, Maria," you joked with a smirk on your face.

That was the first time you had seen Joel Miller smile. Even if it may have been a small one.

In the few months since the older Miller brother and the 14 year-old had arrived, you've had the opportunity to introduce (and re-introduce to the man) the different parts of the town to them.

"Woah, you have art classes? FEDRA school was never like this." Ellie wandered around the empty classroom that was decorated with paintings and drawings made by the young Jackson residents. Her fingers trailed along the row of paintbrushes and stained palettes.

"If you want, we can enrol you in some of the classes? I know you said that you wanted to take up patrols, but you're still young. We've even got Spanish. Try bilingualism to stimulate that brain of yours," you suggested.

You would never forget the way she looked up to you with widened eyes and an excited smile. "Really?" You nodded. "Didn't you say you teach a class, too? Maybe I could join yours as well?"

You sat on a desk with a warmed heart for the kid who wanted to go to school and learn. "I teach some psychology. Not that it means anything now, but there was blood, sweat and tears working for my PhD and training, so I might as well put it to good use to fill in the time and help anyone who wants it."

"What's a PhD?" Ellie asked in confusion.

You chuckled to yourself and started to explain. "It's basically a way to get people to call you Doctor."

Then, Ellie took her chance.

"Why is a doctor always calm?" She asked with her legs swinging back and forth under the table she was sitting on.

You shrugged.

A smirk found its way to her lips. "Because they have a lot of patients."

Joel was standing a few feet away from the door, taking in the sounds of laughter before calling out for the jokester.

Your house was one of the smaller ones on your road; just enough for one person. I'm just lucky to even have a home. Only a short walk away from Joel and Ellie's, you hugged a small pile of books to your chest and with a bag hung from your shoulder, dressed in a well-worn pair of jeans and a thick jumper.

The house came into view at the end of the street. It was not unusual to find yourself walking up the steps to their front door to bring Ellie some things that you thought she might like.

Taking a deep breath, you knocked. Footsteps thumped through the door, the locks were undone and the man of the house greeted you. "Hey." He widened the opening as an invite into the home. "Lookin' for Ellie, Santa Claus?" He eyed the the books and the bag you were holding.

"I am, yes." You stepped inside and pushed the door closed with your shoulder. "As you can see, she's made it onto the nice list and is owed a lot of presents." He started to lead you through the hallway and the kitchen where the backdoor led to the garden where Ellie lived in her converted garage.

"Know anything 'bout me being on that list?" He sent a teasing grin over his shoulder and stepped out into the grassy area.

(That was a loaded question.)

"Oh, Joel Miller, wouldn't you like to know? Too impatient to wait for December, are we?" An eyebrow raised at him.

"No, I'm patient." Just as he was about to call Ellie's name, he faced you. "When I need to be."

"Woah!" Ellie inspected the orange glowing lamp in her hands. "It looks kind of like a rocket."

"Yeah, that's why I brought it over. Thought you'd like it," you said while she made rocket launching sounds and waved it around. "And to go with your journey to the stars," you placed the books on her coffee table, "these are photos from the NASA Archive."

Her eyes widened and she instantly started to flick through the pages without another word except 'look' when she tilted the pages towards you, completely mesmerised by what had been discovered.

Joel, who was sitting on the couch beside you, hadn't said anything since you showed her the lava lamp. Looking over your shoulder, you glanced at him. Shoulders and eyebrows relaxed, no tension shown.

He looked...content, as if he just had a day off work and stayed at home.

Then, his eyes met yours. A small smile of gratitude was sent to you before you both went back to watching Ellie get excited at all her new gifts.

This is what I saved her for.

When you and Joel finally left Ellie's garage, the sun was setting which left a warm filter on everything within its reach. She was left marvelling over her newly acquired 'space hub' as she called it - a new poster of Neil Armstrong on her wall, a collection of books that were not in the FEDRA school library and an 'alien spaceship' as a lamp.

"Thank you for doing this for her." His hands were stuffed in his pockets while the two of you stood by the gate that you would eventually walk out of to go home. "You didn't have to. Here, she gets to be a kid an’-"

"I know, and I wanted to." Letting out an exhale, you decided to just lay everything out. "Look, Ellie's so young and has been through so much shit. Definitely more than what we experienced her age. Death and survivor's guilt come by so easily now, and I do what I can to help people cope with it whenever they ask." Joel dipped his head down and leaned his elbow on the wooden fence. "But the children here don't have to face those things because we keep them safe and we have a responsibility to teach them how to be. I like her happy and I also like seeing you happy for her, Joel."

The next thing he knew, he felt your hand's light squeeze on his forearm. "It's a good look on you." Just before you pulled back, he patted and laid his hand on yours (maybe for a second longer than he intended), squeezing back.

"Thank you."

"You say that a lot. Might have to start collecting money from you." He laughed and shook his head.

"Tell me how much and I'll pay it. 'M feeling generous today," he went on. A few seconds of silence fell. "I don't want to keep you out for too long. I'm sure you want to get home soon." He stood up, preparing to unlock the gate for you.

"Yeah." Bringing down the bag from your shoulder, you reached to the bottom and extended the package to him. "I actually did get you something, though." He took it, unwrapping the paper. Guitar strings. "My attic had a load of junk when I moved in and there was some music stuff there, too. I remember Tommy telling me stories of him and his big brother going to see live music-"

"And we'd mess around on the guitars at the end of the shows," he finished. "I haven't touched one since then." His eyes stayed locked on the bag of strings between his fingers.

"I'm pretty sure they have a few in the old music shop." Taking small steps to the gate, Joel followed. "I put all the treasure from my attic in the back room. Go raid it sometime."

"I will," he replied. You both stopped and you turned to him, with a soft grin. "Again, thank you."

You sighed at that. "You're welcome." A few steps out, you faced him. "Again."

Quick shots of his breath lightly hit your face and you looked up at him. "Sun’s setting now, Joel, so I think that’s my cue to get home.”

He nodded. “See you tomorrow, then.”

“See you tomorrow, Joel.”

Unknown to you and the man, who stayed by the gate until you turned the corner, there was a curious set of eyes peeking through the curtains of their little converted garage.

A/N: what did you guys think of this?? tell me if there are any mistakes like spelling, grammar, switching tenses bc i didn't read it properly, etc.

this is the lava lamp that was gifted to Ellie if you just zoom in...

and he got guitar strings from santa!!!! since joel will eventually make his own gee-tars, he can have some strings that may hold sentimental value later.

i am planning to write more on this timeline, but work is piling. it'll be a while before i can really build on hymn for the weekend

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