Save each other // Joel Miller

Wall

The tension in the home was thick enough to cut with a knife. Everyone sat in a circle around a dark wooden coffee table. Tommy and Maria exchanged looks every once in a while. Ellie strummed her fingers along her leg, which was crossed over her other knee and bounced nervously. Joel sat very still, looking slightly above Sophie's head and to the left. What she would give to figure out what he was thinking.

Sophie looked around to see what Joel's home entailed. It was a bit dusty and dark. Decorated with dark woods and black shelves. She noted stacks of books and music sheets scattered across the place and two framed photos. One was a much younger Joel, draping his arm around a little girl. The other was a drawing of him and the young women who was so eager to meet her. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized she had not learned her name. Or had she? She couldn't keep all of these people straight and she wasn't sure she was really even trying.

Tommy cleared his throat and Sophie shot her eyes straight to him. "By the way darlin', this is Ellie," he points to the girl. It was like he read her mind. "And Joel, but you know that already, 'm guessin'" he tips his finger to point towards the man she saved. She smiled slightly and nod to them both.

"Darlin'?" Joel asks in a thick confused voice. His eyebrows pinched together and he shot Tommy a look, annoyed maybe? Sophie couldn't really read him yet.

"Yeah, heh, thing is... we don't know her name." Tommy chuckles slightly and leans back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck. Both Ellie and Joel point sharp looks at Sophie. She could tell by their change in demeanor that they didn't like that she had built a wall.

Sophie straighten her back and squeeze her fists, digging her nails into her palms. She had nothing to explain to these two. She didn't own them anything. But why did it feel so bad to make them feel so uneasy?

"It's alright." Maria sighed out. "This world is rough on people like her. Alone for god knows how long. We don't judge those who need kindness instead." She finished her sentence with a quick smile and swung herself up and out of her chair. "I'm grabbing drinks, anybody want some?" No one responded until Tommy made a move.

"I'll come with ya love. I could use a break from all... this." He gestured in circles around Sophie, Ellie, and Joel. Maria chuckled and they sauntered out into what seemed to be the kitchen.

The room was still and quiet for what seemed to be hours before Ellie sucked in a loud, hissing breath through her teeth. 'Here we go.' Sophie thought to herself.

"So, for a second there I thought you might have something to do with what happened to Joel, but that can't be..." she tapered off her sentence as she shot dagger looks at Sophie. Ellie's testing her, and she did not want to fail. She looked her directly in her stare and responded as firmly as she could.

"Absolutely not. Those people were animals." Her voice came out much more meek than she hoped but must have done the trick because Ellie's shoulders seemed to relax and a glint of relief passed through her lips. Joel still looked firmly at her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Then why not tell us you're name?" He asked in a low, questioning tone. His eyebrows raised a little and his deep brown eyes burned a hole threw her. She couldn't quite gain the courage she had with Ellie and she divert her look to her bawled fist in her lap before licking her lips to answer.

"I don't plan on staying here, okay? I'm not meant for a life like this and I won't do anything to make you guys think anything other than that." Sophie sighed and brought her attention upward again. It was exhausting to keep up this tough guy act. She was scared out of her wits and she just wanted to let her guard down so badly. She slouched just enough to relieve her aching back and noticed Ellies face. She looked confused.

"No body is going to keep you here against your will, although you might find you might like it here." Ellie said with a slight scoff to her voice, almost like she couldn't believe she had to explain that out loud. "You should stay until you can fight properly though, or you are just asking for a death sentence."

"Ellie." Joel shot her a stern look. She ducked her head and nodded, realizing what he meant. A silent conversation after just one word between them. It was like a knife to Sophie's heart to watch it. Bittersweet. Their relationship was so familiar to some of her faded memories and it hurt her to the core.

"I just wanna know.." Joel trailed off looking back towards her, "why did you help us? From what I've heard we were good as dead out there before you barged in." Sophie knew someone would ask eventually but she wasn't ready to answer truthfully. She wasn't ready to admit that she was saving herself and her brother, not Ellie and Joel.

Sophie shrugged, feeling her sling tighten with the motion. She flinch a bit and Joel noticed.

"You ever been shot before?" He asks. She was caught off guard by the change in subject but welcomed it with open arms. She shook her head no before looking between the two. Their reactions are almost the same, a mix between realization and wisdom, like they had been through it all.

"Hurts like a bitch!" Ellie stated and laughed as Joel nudged her arm. "What? It does!"

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Joel didn't know what to think of her. She was quiet and spaced out, barely reacting to anything said or done around her. Not that much had been said or done. It was like a damn funeral in his living room. And when he found out she wouldn't tell anyone her name, he got suspicious. He didn't like secrets. He had too many of his own to know that they were the core of a person.

Ellie seemed to feel the same way, because she tested the waters and put her on the spot. Ellie was good at reading people and she was ready to read her like a book. But Joel was not expecting her response. She didn't want to stay? He got that she may want her freedom, but what did that have to do with her name?

Ellie tried to break the tension by explaining that Sophie wasn't a prisoner here but she seemed to fall further into her shell. Joel watched her carefully, not caring if she may feel uncomfortable under his gaze. He wanted to study her. Finally seeing her face in the lit room her skin was pale and her face was kissed with freckles along her nose and cheeks. Her eyelashes were long and slightly darker than her hair and he found himself drowning in her eyes. Big pooled saucers of green, sprinkled with bluish grey. Eyes made to point directly to the soul.

She didn't give much away with words but she was bad at hiding her thoughts behind her body movements. She seemed to want to stay tough or appear strong but that was fading fast. Her shoulders slouched and her back bent just slightly. Her eyes dropped more often and she hadn't look at him directly in a while.

Why? Joel had asked to see if she would be truthful. He watched as her seemed to stop breathing for a moment before shrugging and wincing. Liar. She knew why but she wasn't telling them. Joel wanted to ask more, interrogate it out of her but she just looked so sad and beaten down. Fully and completely exhausted. So instead, he changed the subject. He watched her relax, ever so slightly and made a note of that in his head.

Ellie was swearing up a storm and already sharing war stories with her when Tommy and Maria walked back in with drinks for everyone. Joel's good whiskey. He quirked a brow, looking up at his brother and sister in law. Tommy had an apologetic smile on his face and Maria gave a Joel a 'don't you argue' look. They placed the drinks on the table and Ellie eagerly snatched one up.

"Hell yeah!" Ellie exclaimed excitedly, sloshing the drink around. Joel never even let Ellie drink his watered down stuff, let alone his good stuff. Joel bent over to the table and grabbed his drink, catching Sophie's gaze before raising his glass with a smirk.

'This should be interesting' Joel thought to himself.