Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

The Good life

1st December 2024

It had been a week since Ava had officially moved in and she was certainly making herself at home. The place had been decorated by vases of flowers, various throws and blankets, the furniture had been rearranged at least twice and the wardrobe was now filled to the brim with her clothes alongside the few recirculated garments that Joel owned. The place needed a woman's touch and that was something she certainly provided.

There had been some questions regarding the sudden change to living arrangements, especially from Maddie and Ellie but they had managed to pass it off by saying that it just felt right to move their relationship to the next level. Of course, they had strategically left out the small minor detail that they had actually skipped in the ball park of around fifty additional levels and that Ava was actually just less than seven months away from having his kid... Tommy appeared to be if a little bewildered by the sudden progress, ultimately pleased for them. Maria was... skeptical at best, not that either of them had expected anything different from her...

Ava carefully made her way down the stair case with her rucksack heavy with various vegetables and other supplies, she was about to sling it back over her shoulder before it was whisked out of her clutches as Joel all but ran up the first three steps, "Darlin', what have I told you about heavy liftin'? Ain't good for the baby."

"It's just a bag, Joel." She snorted with a lighthearted roll of the eyes. Since moving in, he hadn't wanted her to lift a single finger. It was sweet how he was looking after her if sometimes a little overbearing, it's not something she had ever experienced before. It was him who unpacked all of her belongings, him who rearranged the furniture whenever she had an idea, him who did the majority of the cleaning. She put her foot down when it came to cooking, that was something that she was adamant on. If she was living here, there was no way in hell that she was living off of his shitty cooking seven days a week. She managed to deep clean the kitchen the other day whilst Joel was out on patrol, that was nice... even if he did still give her a lecture when he did eventually arrive home on how she needs to be more careful on what chemicals she was breathing in, an what would have happened if she slipped off the chair she used to reach the top shelf of the upper cabinets. His expression had been a exasperation of held back irritation as she simply shook her head with a chuckle before planting kiss to his cheek and moving past him with no further comment.

Joel responded with no more than a grunt as he slung the pack over his own shoulder and meandered back down to the entryway. He paused at the front door, his fingers hesitating as they reached for the knob.

"I still don't think you should be comin' with me. All it takes is for you to fall from the horse..." He trailed off, not glancing back as his brows knitted together.

Ava sighed, her palm coming to rest flat over his shoulder blade which forced him to look back at her with a genuine concern, "Honey, if you had your way, you'd have me locked in that bloody bedroom and not let me see the light of day until this baby is out..."

"Damn right I would."

"Yeah, well. That ain't happening, can tell you that now."

"Hmph."

The blonde smiled sweetly, moving onto her tippy toes to place a quick peck to his lips before drawing back within less than a second and proceeding to move ahead of him. She could sense his shoulders tense as she reached for the door handle herself, another huff expelling from her lungs as she made her grip firm and final, "Joel, you gotta relax. I'll be fine. Florence is expecting me to do her hair, I'm not going to let her down. Anyway, you can't go on your own- you'd probably end up saying something to piss Marlon off. Your social skills are shit."