Pedro's characters one shots

Firworks (joel miller)

Just fluff
Reader is in her mid 20s
You and Joel are in Jackson. You came on your own about a year ago. You were sick (not infected) and malnourished, the only surviving of your group and some members of the commune found you on patrol and took you in once they realized you weren't a threat. You were put in a small house next to a middle aged man and his teenage daughter.

July 4th is approaching and all though it seems irrelevant, some of the people who were born before the outbreak want to light off some firework to show the kids what it use to be like. The main goal of the Jackson commune was to bring up the kids in an environment that allowed them to actually be kids for as long as possible, separate from all the horrors of the world they now lived in. Tommy and Joel had found some old fire crackers on one of their recent patrols for materials and it sparked the idea. They would have to test some to make sure these 20+ year old fireworks were safe and it turned out they were. Maria agreed it could be fun for the kids.

That evening in the dining hall there was a noticiable buzz of excitement. Not just with the younger kids, but with the adults who hadn't seen fireworks in 20 years. You sat with Joel and Ellie which was a routine at this point. "You girls excited for the show?" Joel asked. "Fuck yeah!" Ellie responded through mouthfuls. "Ellie, language" he grunted. You repressed a laugh.

The truth was you were excited for fireworks, but there was very little you remember from pre-outbreak. You were only 5 on outbreak day. Your first memory after outbreak was a traumatic one. Your town was one that was loaded up onto busses by FEDRA. You were told that the bus would take you to a QZ. That of course wasn't true. FEDRA used this tactic to cut down the population of people who might be infected. They combed through the states setting up QZs and some people did go there, but the rest of the were executed by FEDEA. They might not have even been infected. FEDRA eventually rolled into your small community. For whatever reason you weren't hit. For whatever reason your playing dead tactic worked, for whatever reason you survived. It didn't matter how many times you wish you had died on that day. One of your earliest memories was of gunshots ringing through the air and total chaos. You lost everything, everyone.

Jackson felt like a fresh start after hopping from FEDRA school to QZs, to groups. Joel and Ellie started to feel like family and you let yourself relax, you let your guard down.

You went on a short walk down to the stables after dinner. Your kind had been heavy as of late and you weren't sure why, but time with the horses seemed to help. If was like they knew what you were feeling and knew what you needed. They would press their warm, black noses on your head and make you giggle.

"Joel" Tommy called to his brother from across the street. Joel stopped and waited for Tommy to catch up. "Hey can you help me with the fireworks tonight. It's a two man job getting them lit." "I wanna keep an eye on Y/n, she's nervous about almost everything and I'm worried about how the fireworks will affect her tonight. I just wanna stay close.." Tommy nodded. "I understand, no worries. I'll get one of my guys to help out." Joel placed a brotherly hand on Tommy's shoulder. "Thanks for understandin."

Joel was ever the protector and felt responsible for you in a similar way that he felt responsible for Ellie. You weren't a kid, but you didn't have anyone else here. He took it upon himself to keep an eye on you ever since you got here.
That night you decided to watch the fireworks from your front porch. You weren't one for crowds and curled up with a blanket in your rocking chair seemed like a good plan. Joel came out of his house with Ellie. "Not sure you're going to be able to see anything from there, kid. Why don't ya come down with me and Ellie?" You tossed off your blanket and hopped down from your porch. You knew Joel wouldn't put you in harms way, and Joel knew you and your anxious tendencies. Ellie darted ahead pretty quickly when she spotted one of her friends. Joel seemed to sense your anxiety and held out his hand. You gladly took it. "Why do people light fireworks on the 4th?" You asked trying to distract yourself. "Well" he said "I wasn't one to pay much attention in school but basically there was a fort that the American colonies took over on July 4th. The first draft of the national anthem was written that morning when the American flag was seen still waving-indicating we had won. But basically the fireworks symbolize the victory from that day." You nodded with a hum. You always enjoyed his explanation of things that were before your time no matter how mundane. He explained how to play football to Ellie and the other kids. You happily watched from the sidelines. He showed you how to fire a riffle, something you have never been able to do before. You only ever fired hand guns.
"Don't you have to hurry up and go help Tommy get it all said up?" You said loosening your grip on his hand. He didn't let go. He just shook his head. "Uh uh. I'm staying right here with you." You felt a little embarrassed because here were all these kids who were born after the outbreak excited to see the fireworks and you were a grown woman and you felt nervous about seeing them. You felt embarrassed that Joel passed up helping his brother to be with you. Joel have your hand a squeeze. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay I know this is new and all." You tried to smile. "You have other responsibilities tho and" Joel cut you off. "You think I wanted to help Tommy set up explosives." He laughed his deep rolling laugh that always made you smile. "I'm too old to be messin' around with that stuff. He's got younger guys who can help him out"
"How old are you?" You asked inquisitively. Joel smiled at you and said "guess." You hummed quietly to yourself. "4o?" He actually threw his head back and laughed that wonderful, deep laugh. "C'mon now darlin you're not gon hurt my feelings what's your real guess." You shrugged "I don't know that was my real guess!" "I'm 56" you furrowed your eyebrows at him "are you sure? You don't look that old." He chuckled again "yes I'm sure." You decided now was a good opportunity to make him feel really old. "Well I'm 25 and I never was one to pay attention in math class but I'm pretty sure that makes you more than TWICE my age." He looked at you with his brown puppy dog eyes. You admired his tan arms in his white t-shirt, his worn jeans, and laced up boots. Your eyes swept back up to his chocolate brown curls that were garnished with streaks of grey. "You think you're real funny huh kid?" You smirked. "Yeah I guess I do." All this time you had been walking towards the site where the fireworks were to be set off. "Here" he pointed with his other hand. "we can park here, be away from the crowd a bit." "Why didn't I bring my blanket" you wondered out loud. "I forget how fast the temperature drops at night." It had been a hot day and you were still wearing your jeans and a worn, thin t-shirt. You repressed a shiver. "Yeah it gets cold quick once the sun goes down." Joel agreed as he let go of your hand to wrap an arm around you and give you a squeeze. You tell settle on the ground a little ways from the group. You rest your head on his arm. You often thought of the life you had before Jackson, you were constantly in fight or flight, you never got a chance to let your guard down, never trusted anyone, but now there was Joel. Joel was rough and scruff, but gentle and soft at the same time. You had heard stories from Ellie about some of the things he had done. Joel didn't like her talking about it, but sometimes that girl had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. You didn't judge him for any of it. "We all did what we had to do to survive." You told Ellie one afternoon when she had just finished telling you about how Joel killed a man with his bare hands who had pointed a gun at her. "I've never had anyone to protect, but myself. I imagine when there are others you've got to protect the list of  things you are willing to do gets longer. Everybody is willing to go great lengths and cross uncrossable boundaries for the people they really love." With this somber statement you looked at Ellie who seemed to be deep in thought. "Yeah, you're right"

Joel's shoulder was broad and warm. He seemed to radiate heat. You let out a sigh. Joel did too. "Hey" you said breaking the silence. "Um ..I'm really glad that I know you. I mean im glad I got put in the house next to you and Ellie." You fumbled. Joel seemed to understand anyway. He smiled down at you. "Yeah me too. Someone has to keep an eye on you!" You look up at him to give him a look of fake exasperation. He just chuckles and winks at you. "Gosh I love this man" you think to yourself. With a crack you're snapped out of your thoughts. The sky lights up with blue, green, purple, red and white. You nearly jump out of your skin. "Okay it's okay I've got ya." Joel has a hand both your arms. "C'mere" he says with a jerk of his head. You sit between his raised knees on the ground. You hold your hands over your ears and you feel the comfortable rise and fall of his chest on your back. He hold his hands over yours to help cancel the noise. You try to focus on the pretty lights, but the sounds aren't just loud in your ears, you feel it in your chest. Like gun shuts ringing through the air, the air is so thick with the sound that you can feel it in every fiber of your body. You feel your chest start to rise and fall more rapidly. Joel has been watching you very closely this entire time. He suddenly gets up and mutters "okay, we don't need to put you through anymore c'mon sweetheart." Feeling like a child you take his hand. You didn't realize it before but now you feel the tears rushing down your face. Joel wraps an arm around you and pulls you close. "C'mon home ain't far we'll be there in a minute."

Joel opens your door and helps you onto the sofa. He sits next to you and tries to apologize but you don't hear it. The tears come fast and hard. You realize you've held this in for a very long time. Not once in your time in Jackson had you let yourself fall apart. You weren't sure it was safe, but now here with Joel nothing could hurt you. He wrapped his arms around you and you buried yourself in his chest. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have brought you tonight. I should have stayed right here with you." You shook your head. Through sons you wailed. "No it's fine don't apologize." It was almost comedic. Joel smiled down at you "you're breaking my heart" he said with his puppy dog eyes. After a while the tears stopped. You had your arms flung loosely around Joel's neck and he had one hand rubbing your back gently. "You okay?" He whispered. You nodded. He looked at his watch. Your stain has dropped. That meant he was probably getting ready to go home. "Please don't go." You whispered. You pulled away to look at him. "Okay" he said to your surprise. He pushed your hair out of your face and said quietly "let me just go make sure my little teenager is actually getting in bed and not getting into trouble, but then I'll come right back okay." You nodded.

Less than 10 minutes later Joel lightly knocked on your front door than came in. He wasn't wearing his jeans anymore. He wore his white t-shirt still but was now wearing gray sweatpants. He shed his jacket and boots and said "I promise I won't go anywhere, I'll stay on the couch that way you can just come wake me if you need me." You stood in there wrapped in your blanket. "Please I don't want to sleep alone tonight." Was all you managed. "Y/n I don't know what you need from me honey." He said looking at you sympathetically. "I don't have small bed, it's like the kind big enough for two people." You say in almost a whisper. "Okay" he says. And follows you upstairs. Before you open your bedroom door he grabs the knob. "Sweetheart I don't know that this is a good idea, I know you're from a different generation but in my generation this kind of stuff had a certain connotation." You furrowed your eyebrows. "Joel I don't know what you're saying..." he sighed. "Before the outbreak people went to bed with other people to do more than just sleep." He Raised his eyebrows at you hoping you understood. You suddenly felt flustered "Joel I don't want . I didn't mean to. I'm not trying" he held his hand up. "Hey hey I know I know you didn't." He lets go of the doorknob. "Do you want me to go in there and lay down with you so you can fall asleep?" You nodded. "Okay" he said. "I just wanted you to be sure of what you wanted. You kick me out whenever you want okay?" You nodded again. You were honestly exhausted. You curled up under your blankets and felt Joel get in the other side of the bed. You scooted your body backwards hoping he wouldn't push you away. To your pleasant surprise he gently grabbed your middle and pulled you into his chest. You let out a deep sigh. "Go to sleep babygirl"