Celebrity One shots and imagines

Joel Dawson Request

(thank you GraceTheRunner1 for requesting this imagine! And for all your supportive and positive comments! I tried to keep this as short as possible to there isn't a ton of detail in the prologue-)

Hi, I'm Joel Dawson. I am one of the 5% of the population that actually survived the apocalypse. Barely. You see, it was actually kinda, foreseeable. So, this huge asteroid, Agatha 36, was flying towards earth. So you know, naturally humans did what we do best. Solve our problems with explosives! Yeah.... We shot a bunch of rockets up in space and destroyed the asteroid. However.... What we didn't see coming, was the face that all of the nuclear debris rained back down on us. And... Suddenly, ants, bees, cockroaches and other harmless little creatures, turned into huge, horrifying, man-eating monsters. And in just under a year, 95% of the population? Gone.
So the rest of us, hid. Underground in bunkers. I'm in bunker 7045. I am the, only single person, in my bunkers. Which you know, has it's perks... I get to talk to Mavis. Although she doesn't talk back much. Her core circuit is fried. I used to have a girlfriend. You know, before all this happened. But that was seven years ago. My colony says I'm sensitive... So I cook. That's my job here. Everyone loves my minestrone.
Anyway, so remember that girlfriend I was talking about? Well she also survived! I recently found her colony over the radio. She's approximately seven days away from me. I've decided that, I've spent seven years in that bunker and it's high time I actually live a little. That's why I'm going to find her. Her name is Amiee by the way. She's... Great. Pretty, smart, funny, adorable. The whole package!

Joel climbed out of the bunker after saying goodbye to the people he called his family for the past seven years. They were scared for him. They made that clear. You see, he had a freezing problem. Anytime he saw a monster... He couldn't do anything but stand there shaking. Which was... A pretty ok reason to worry. He got to the ground and breathed in, remembering the smell of the earth and the air.

"Ok... West, I need to head west... Which way... Is... It's that way? Or is it...tha-? You know what split the difference. Done. First decision made... Good. Good start." Joel said to himself trying to stay positive.

Day three:
Joel was walking through the forest with boy, drawing in his journal. Not watching where he was going... And like anyone else would've figured. He fell into a hole. One full of baby monsters. "Oh this is bad... This is bad-" one of the monsters jumped at him and he screamed. The next thing he knew they were all over him! Or so he thought... "It's a rope you numbskull! Tie it round your foot and let me pull you up!" A man above said. Joel had no intention of arguing and did as he was told. "One, two, three, four-" BOOM!! Joel looked to see a little girl had thrown a grenade into the hole. "How in the heck does anyone fall into a sandbogglers pit?" "Is that what those things were?" He asked the old man. "And those are just the babies." Joel's eyes widened. "Come on kid, out here you gotta keep moving." He helped Joel up. "I'm Clyde, that's Minnow, and up ahead is my daughter, Grace. What's your name son?" "Joel. Uh, Joel Dawson." They shook hands. "How long have you guys been up here?" "About four years. How about you kid?" "Three days." "That makes since." Minnow said. "Because if you knew anything about survival, you wouldn't have fallen into a sandbogglers pit." "Thanks." Joel replied sarcastically. She smiled back at him. "So where are you headed?" "Uh West, to the coast. You?" "North. There's some rumors around about a whole colony of survivors on stop of a mountain. The elevation and the cold, seem to keep the monsters away." Joel nodded. "Well, that's... That's interesting." "What are you heading to the coast for, if you don't mind me asking." "No, I... There's this girl. I used to ... Know. That I found again recently. And we... We were really close. So we are both like... Pick up where we left off kinda people." Joel muttered. "Well she's not gonna like you." Minnow said as they walked. "You can't even stay out of a sandbogglers pit." Joel rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the trees above them began to shake, and so did Joel. "Wh-what is that?" He whispered to Clyde. "Grace get down here and quit scaring our guest." There was a huff heard from in the tree line. "But scaring people is fun." She jumped down. "Joel, this is Grace,. Grace, please be nice to Joel, he's only been up here a few days." "Really?" Her eyes widdened. "I couldn't tell!" She laughed. "Oh ha-ha." Joel sat down and put a hand on his pounding heart. Grace sat next to him, as did Clyde and Minnow. "Sorry... For real. I remember my first few days on the surface. You're doing great Joel. And dad, Minnow and I will teach you all we can." Joel smiled a little. "Thanks." They shook hands and Clyde began surveying the area. "Dad you know I already did that... Right?" "Uh-huh. But what's rule 278?" "Few minutes go by, so do a few monsters." She held up her hands in surrender. "There's a Chumbler on our tails. Best get to moving. I suppose it has our new friends sent." Clyde said. Grace got up, and got her bow and arrows. "Dad watch-" Minnow drew a target on a cactus a few feet in front of her. Three arrows were against her bow. "Needle through water, right Minnow?" Grace smiled at the little girl as she nodded vigorously. She breathed out and shot, the arrows landing in a line.

(Time skip cuz I just looked at the word count 😅)

I decided to stay with Joel when it came time to part ways. My father understood. I wanted to make sure he survived, and actually made it to the colony he was looking for. Over these last few days, I've realized how fond I had grown of this helpless man. I felt needed, and appreciated. Anymore he wasn't bothered when I took guard, or that I could shoot better then he could. Then after meeting a Mav1s, and seeing his reaction to seeing a photo of his mother, that's when it hit me. I liked him. I had of course had other boyfriends in my past life, that were just like Minnow described. Tall, strong, powerful and protecting. I had nothing against them. Not their personality, nor their appearance. But this man. This man that couldn't even shoot straight in a world of mutated monsters, made me feel different. A good different. Like I wasn't settling. Of course I didn't realize this until the day we arrived at Amiee's colony....

_____________________________

So Amiee, had been leaving out parts of her life when Joel had communicated with her through the radio. He found out she had married, but was widowed. He also found out that there was a sea captain who was planning on "saving" their colony by bringing them on a boat. He was Australian. And he brewed his own beer. Grace could see how threatened Joel felt by Cap. In his eyes, his posture and just by the way he talked. So she decided it was time to give him a pick me up. She knew that by doing so, she would possibly cause the two ex lovers flame to rekindle. But that was her love for Joel. She just wanted him to be happy. Even if he wasn't happy with being with her.

"Joel?" Grace called as she walked into the room he was staying in. "Ah!" He covered his stomach with his shirt. "Sorry." She winced seeing his reaction. "No... It's. It's fine. Just a little self conscious I guess." "How come?" Joel scoffed. "Have you seen that guy?" "Who? Cap?" "Yeah, Cap, he has a six pack, a tan and he has that annoying accent that apparently even the older women love." He sat down on the bed and lay his head on the wall behind him. "Minnow was right. Amiee wants some protector. Some guy who's built. Not me, that's for sure. Did you see the photo of her husband?" Grace shook her head no. "Oh my gosh he was like- massively muscular, and she said that whenever he held her she felt so secure and i- I could never provide that!" He pressed his temples with his fingers. "Joel..." Grace sat down next to him. "Not every girl is like that. Not every girl was a strong knight in shining armor." "Yeah nane one." Grace put her lips together. "Well, I don't." Joel looked at her confused. "For a long time I didn't realize that I like guys who are sensitive. Who are secure enough in their manlyhood that they can step aside and let me do the protecting sometimes. The kind of guy who doesn't need to be Alpha. The kind of guy... That's just like you." Joel's breathing quickened. "When did you realize..?" "When you let me help you with the leaches." She said nonchalantly. "I think I'm misunstanding something." "What?" "Well, it almost sounds like you're saying you like me. But that can't be right because I'm ... Well ..." "Just because you aren't your own idea of a dream guy doesn't mean you aren't already someone else's Joel." She bit her lip. "I do like you. Everything about you. But I think my favorite part about you is that you aren't self centered like Cap. That and your smile. I really like your smile too." She giggled causing him to smile in spite of trying to keep a playfully mad face. "I guess, I was scared to admit that I've liked you too ... Pretty much since the day I met you. When you shot your arrows. I felt protected and secure." Grace had been leaning closer and closer. "Are you going to kiss me?" He asked, whispering. "I was just going to keep leaning till I got as close as I could so I could tell you ..." "That I have something in my teeth?" He laughed quietly. "that I would really love to kiss you right now." He cupped her face with his hands. When their lips finally connected you would have practically seen the sparks. She slowly climbed over him and onto his lap, deepening the kiss as she did, untill they had to part for air. "Grace?" She pressed her forehead against his. "Yes?" "I don't belong here." "Nope." "Let's go back to my colony?" "Both of us?" "Do you think your dad would kill me?" "No, he knows you're a good man." She poked his sides. "Then come with me?" She placed a hand on the side of his face. "I will go anywhere so long as you're beside me."

(Thinking about possibly making a part two but lmk in the comments!)