𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 || joel miller ¹

[ 𝟎𝟖 ] 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧

─ ❝ IF I SAY YES, WILL YOU SHUT UP? ❞

──── ⋆◖◍◗⋆ ────

"IS MY DAD IN JAIL?" Julie asked once Renee emerged from her room, sporting a sizable backpack on her shoulder. The young girl noticed it and her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly, but she didn't mention it just yet.

Renee stayed silent for a few seconds before letting herself nod. "The Fireflies attacked near his work. They might be holding him 'til they can prove he wasn't part of it."

It wasn't a total lie. Sure, Renee had no idea whether Beau was even still alive or not, especially with his co-existing reputation both with the Fireflies and FEDRA, but she'd never explicitly stated her thoughts on it. She just gave Julie a possible outcome.

Julie only hummed in reply while she finished off the last of her fruit. "Oh." She said, but Renee could tell there was something else on her mind.

Renee circled around the living room, stuffing things into her pack as she went. Things that would be of use on the journey.

"What are you doing?"

Renee visibly winced at the question, her back turned to Julie. When she turned around, Julie was already facing her. Her glass hovered just below her chin, and her eyes were wide with curiosity.

She couldn't lie; truthfully, she didn't care enough to lie. It wasn't like Julie was her responsibility. She was Beau's.

It did hurt to know that she'd be leaving the little girl all alone without her father for God knew how long, but it hurt worse thinking about the situation Tommy could be in right now.

"I'm leaving." Renee said, her voice scarily monotonous.

"When will you come back?"

Renee shoved the last of her stuff into her backpack with a deep sigh. "I'm not."

Julie fell quiet for a few seconds, watching Renee as she pulled her coat back on. The woman set her pack down beside the couch before dipping back into her bathroom to raid her cabinets. She emerged with a few medical supplies and a small bag that held a couple of hydro tablets. She zipped those into the small pockets in the front.

"Why not?"

Julie's voice was so soft Renee almost didn't catch it over the sound of her own shuffling. She heard the gentle crack in it as she tried to hold back tears. Renee finally spared her a glance, wincing when she saw the girl's scrunched up face and quivering lip.

"Why aren't you coming back?" She repeated when Renee failed to reply.

The woman snapped out of her own sorrow and opened her mouth to say something. Nothing came out. Instead, she set her backpack down and took the seat beside Julie's, letting her cling to her side.

Even then, she still said nothing. She only looked down at Julie's tiny form melded into her side, finding the foreign warmth of her embrace strange. She let the girl cry, gently draping her arm over her back.

"Can't you take me with you?" asked Julie through soft sobs.

Renee was surprised by how eager Julie was to follow beside her. She was hardly a parental figure in Julie's life, though she could understand how she might have filled the void her mother left. Her drug addict of a father was always absent too, never telling her where he was going or when he'd return.