Firefly

Twenty-Seven

A/N: I've had this part of the story planned since the beginning. I didn't realize it was going to be so long. But it's a very important part of this story.

Present Day

I hadn't realized that I had made my way over to the garage until I was speaking. "I never stopped loving you." His back straightened, but he didn't turn around. "I know… I know what you said that day wasn't true. You were angry because I kept pushing and pushing. I know you care about me, and you love me." I let out a shaky breath.

"But I also know you don't love me the way I love you. Because… I'm in love with you, Joel Miller. I have been for the past twenty years. Hell, I fell in love with you when I was eighteen. I mean, I always had a crush on the really hot neighbor but…I knew I fell in love with a man that would never feel the same when I was eighteen.

The man that picked me from a hotel on prom night because I called him in the middle of the night crying. Crying because I was drunk and scared and pretty sure the asshole who I went to prom with slipped something in my drink after we got to the hotel. The man who didn't even hesitate to come get me and didn't ask questions. Just burst into the hotel room, picked me up, and took me back to sleep it off in his guest room.

I know you're not the same man as you once were. Not after…and I know that you were only doing everything in your power to not to let anything happen to me. Tommy joined the fireflies and left after quitting them. I was the only person from your old life you had left. And didn't care you didn't love me the way I love you, because just you loving me in any way was good enough."

He still hadn't moved from his spot. His back still faced me, shoulders tense. I took a few deep breaths before I continued saying what I needed to say. "I left because it all became too much for me. I was jealous of Tess. I was threatened by her. She was closer to your age, strong, capable of handling herself. She got to spend more time with you than I did. And even though I know you didn't mean what you said, those words cut deep.

They cut really dee,  and it made everything worse. I shouldn't have left. I should have stayed and waited for you to get back. I should have just talked to you about how I was feelin,  but instea,  I ran awa,  and I avoided you at all costs. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I made you think I was dead. I'm sorry I broke your heart."

When he still didn't turn around or say anythin,  I walked back to the house. "Is everything okay?" I looked over to see Ellie standing near the dining room and wiped my face. I cleared my throat, nodding, "Yeah. Everything is fine." I walked past her and through the kitchen. "You hungry? I can make something for you."

"Starving!" I found something in the pantry and made it for her. Then I went to where they had all the boxes of clothes and brought a box out that should have clothes to fit her. "There should be hot water. Here are some clean clothes." She smiled and dug through the clothes after she ate. Joel hasn't come back in yet. I was assuming he was still out in the garage messing with the truck.

Ellie went upstairs to the shower and I dug through the boxes for clothes that would fit me and then pulled out a box of men's clothes for Joel. After Ellie was down and came back down I headed upstairs. I couldn wait to take a hot shower.

Narrator

Ellie sat at the dining room table and waited for Joel to come inside. She had found more than two letters. She had found three. One to yn, one to whomever, and one to Joel. Except this letter came with a little black velvet box. She didn't open the letter but she did peek inside the box. And now it was her mission to make sure the two got back together.

Joel walked in the door and looked around until his eyes fell on Ellie. "Show me your arm." He walked closer to her an,  she pulled up her sleeve to show him the already healed bite mark. "I just finished makin’ a truck battery. It’s charging right now," he said.

He was still looking around. He needed to talk to yn. He needed to tell her he was sorry for the harsh words that were said ten years ago. That he didn't mean any of it an,  she was never and could never be a burden to him. He needs to tell her she's wrong. That he does love her the same way she loves him. He struggled for a long time when it came to the age gap between them.

Back then, it was a huge deal. She was so young, and he was in his damn thirties. He shouldn't have even been attracted to a girl that young. Seventeen years is a big gap. People judged even if they didn't say anything. But when all that anxiety and doubt were just about to overtake him, she would smile or laugh, and everything went away. She made this shitty world better to live in.

He was overprotective of her. Never wanted her outside the walls. Didn't want her smuggling shit. She was his weakness, and people knew that. It would only take one person to take advantage of that and use her against him. If something were to happen to her he would lose his fucking shit and nobody would be safe. But as he looked around he couldn't find her and that anxiety and panic was slowly settling in.

"She's upstairs. There's hot water! Can you believe that?! I already took a shower. She just went up before you walked in the door." Joel looked at Ellie and hummed. "I have a brother out in Wyoming. He’s in some kinda trouble, and I’m heading out there to find him. He used to be a Firefly. And my guess is he knows where some of them are out there. Maybe they can get you to wherever this lab is."

Ellie looked down at her feet and nodded. "All right. Uh, listen, about Tess, uh…" she stuttered, not sure what to say. "If we're takin’ you with is, there’s some rules you gotta follow. Rule one, you don’t bring up Tess. Ever. Matter of fact, we can just keep our histories to ourselves. No more asking about me and yn. Rule two, you don’t tell anyone about your… condition. They see that bite mark, they won’t think it through. They’ll just shoot you. Rule three, you do what I and yn say when I say it. We clear?"

Ellie sighed heavily with a sigh. "Yes," She said. "Repeat it," Joel told her. "What you say goes." He curtly nodded his head and she walked over to her bag and pulled out the letter and the little velvet box. "There was another letter. I didn't open it. It had just your name on it." She handed it to him and he gently took it from her.

"I'm guessing it's from Frank because the handwriting is different," she said. He looked down at the white envelope in his hands. "And it…it um…it came with this." Ellie slowly held out the black box and Joel could have sworn his heart stopped. "It's pretty. I know you said not to ask but were you going to ask her?"

Joel took the box from her, opening it and looking down at the small Diamond ring. He remembers asking Frank to help him pick something small and simple out to give to her. It asked the first day they came here and met him and Bill for the first time. Seeing her in that sundress and how happy she was. They had a fight but he made sure to make it up to her.