Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

Floating

The day light shone through the bedroom window stirring Joel from his sleep. He hadn't even bothered to get changed before collapsing into bed. He checked the time, it was ten am. He could have probably stayed in bed a couple more hours but he was awake now and once he was up, he was up.

He thudded over to the ensuite to his room rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Another great aspect of this place was that there was fully functioning electric and hot water. After fifteen years in the QZ with lukewarm or cold showers, the showers in this place felt like a dream. He jumped in allowing the water to wake him up properly.

The house was quiet without Ellie's presence. Usually by this point he could hear her rustling through the cupboards downstairs and calling up to ask if she could eat whatever it was she found but today there was silence.

He chucked fresh clothes on and made his way downstairs, flicking the kettle on for his morning coffee. Just as he poured the hot liquid into the mug there was a knock at the door.

His brow furrowed as he made his way to the front door being greeted in the entryway by his brother who had already taken it upon himself to let himself in.

Joel ran his fingers through his greying curls with a loose sigh. "Mornin' Tommy. Couldn't wait for me to open the door?"

Some things would never change, not even after the damn world ended. Tommy would let himself into Joel's house quite frequently pre-outbreak and help himself to the contents of the fridge.

Tommy chuckled, a grin cracking across his cheeks. "Mornin'. You still haven't learned to lock your front door"

Joel scoffed and shook his head. Who locked their goddamn doors these days? Almost seemed pointless in a place like this. "How's Ellie?"

"Good as gold. A little huffy with Maria this morning but she made her way to school" the brother responded.

"She's just a mouthy shit for me then" Joel exasperated, trying to pin point a time when she had ever been as good as gold. A life saver at times, yes but there was always a glint of mischief  cursing her eyes.

Tommy smiled "You just had it easy with Sarah. I can remember you being a mouthy shit for Mom as a teen"

Joel nodded in agreement and rubbed a palm down his face at both the mention of his late daughter and his own pretty disastrous childhood. Sarah was just a bloody angel and he had no idea why or what he had done to deserve it. He himself, was a little fucker as a kid, not that he had any desirable role model to look up to... "True but god I hope I was a better parent than Mom. There was a reason for that attitude"

The brothers' relationship broke down with their mother early on. She was an alcoholic, had been for as long as Joel could remember and the drink always seemed to come before her kids. This left Joel taking on most of the responsibility for Tommy at quite an early age considering their own dad hadn't been in the scene for many years. The relationship completely broke down once he found out that Sarah was due and he hadn't communicated with her since then. He often wondered if she had survived outbreak but probably not...If he was honest, he'd be genuinely surprised if she was still kicking about at that point anyway. Probably drowned herself in booze long before...

Tommy chuckled "Let's be honest, just by being present made you a better parent than Mom. God bless her" he quickly moved the conversation on, knowing how uncomfortable both topics were for his older sibling "Anyway, how was your first watch shift?"

Joel scratched the back of his neck as he recalled the events of the evening prior, "Pretty easy stuff. There was one runner that Ava shot down but that was about it"

"And you got on alright with her?" Tommy pressed with a raised eyebrow, his tone hesitant as he asked. He knew too well how closed and stand offish his brother could be.