Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

Stay away

"Ellie!" Joel called out as he sipped his morning coffee, the satisfying burn of the hot liquid awakening his body for yet another day. It had been a couple of days since things finished with Ava, not that he was counting. Putting her to the back of his mind had become a very deliberate task, so deliberate that it became futile. The further he pushed her memory down, the more her damned pretty face would taunt his daydreams and so his usual stoic unphased mask came into play. The one where he simply seemed unbothered on the surface. He just needed to carry on as normal. It didn't work out and that was that... right? Life had dealt him far worse cards in the past, a break up with a woman he'd known for five minutes wasn't to be deemed worth stressing over.

Ellie sluggishly traipsed into the kitchen at his beckoning and poured herself a glass of water from the faucet.

"You look like you could do with a coffee yourself." He more or less grumbled as he watched her mope past.

"No thanks. You can keep your burnt shit flavoured water for yourself." She grimaced as she stuck with her plain tap water. Her body turning to lean back against the counter, brows raised in Joel's direction.

"Sooo..." The teen started as she tapped her glass.

He slammed his eyes with an exasperated shake of the head, already guessing correctly at what she was about to pry on. She'd been pestering him about it since their talk the other night, his voice growing stern. He wanted to just get on with his day, he didn't need to have this discussion with a fifteen year old kid, "Don't."

Ellie huffed a despairing sigh as she placed her used glass cup into the sink with a shrug. "I just think you need to speak with her, that's all..."

He really didn't want to discuss it any further, it was how he dealt with things. If it goes bad, block it out. Joel Miller didn't talk things out. He remained stern. "No."

The teen rolled her eyes. He was always so damn stubborn. Ava made him happy, why wouldn't he just try and talk with her? It didn't make sense to her.

Joel let out a deep sigh as he followed suit putting his empty coffee stained mug into the basin of the sink. He'd deal with the washing up later, his main priority at the moment was getting out of this conversation. "C'mon, you're gonna be late for school and I need to clear that old blokes yard to get that damned dog of yours."

He ushered the girl out of the door shortly after, not giving her a beat to question him before leaving himself not too long after.

The walk wasn't far. Nothing really was far in the community, you could probably walk the whole perimeter in about forty five minutes. Whilst it was handy to have everything right on the doorstep, it did make avoiding people difficult.

He walked by her house. Ava's house. He hadn't seen her at all since their fight which was unusual considering at one point she seemed to be everywhere he went. A good part of him was thankful for it, it made it easier for him to forget about her but another small part was disappointed. Disappointed that she hadn't sought him out... not that he was entirely sure why he thought she might...

He kept his head down low, focusing on the asphalt surface beneath his feet as he walked past. A conscious effort being made to not look over just in case she was there. It was silly really at his age but it's what he did- if it goes bad, block it out. It was a coping mechanism. It was how he survived this bloody long.

He had managed to make it to the end of the street before Ellie's constant pestering could be heard in his head. Maybe he should try and talk to her? Talking wasn't his strong point but Ellie was right, he couldn't avoid her forever. This place was too damn small and contained for that, especially when she spent most of her time in that damned shop that was an essential part of his patrol routine...