Don't let go: Joel Miller x OC

Don't You Want To See For Yourself?

14th February 2027

February the fourteenth. A date within the year that is marked as an annual festivity that celebrates everything about love. Tess scoffed at the thought as she sipped at the froth of her freshly poured beer.

She didn't want to come. It wasn't really her scene but her hand had been basically forced by Tommy, him claiming that it would 'be good for her', what ever the fuck that meant...

It had been the first Jackson party she had attended since arriving. She had to admit, it had outdone what she expected as she admired the fairy light that hung overhead. It kind of reminded her of those cozy pub like bars from pre-outbreak. It was somewhat normal... this whole damn place was. She never would have thought that small sections of normalcy still existed in the world today.

She remained stood on the outskirts of the room. Away from the crowds and just left of the bar. Far enough away so that nobody would feel obliged to start a conversation but close enough for her to quickly run up to refill her cup.

She stood and observed all of the couples around her as they drank and danced the night away. Of course, there was one couple in particular that had the majority of her attention.

Joel stood near the adjacent wall alongside Tommy and Maria with a pint in hand- he had never been much of a dancer. He hadn't even noticed she was stood there. His gaze firmly fixed on the pretty blonde who danced away with Tommy's little boy and with her and Joel's own child propped up in her arm... Attractive little bitch...

Tess continued to watch closely as after a little while, the younger woman skipped over to him. His arm naturally moving to snake around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. She observed as Ava tilted her face up to him and without even the slightest hesitation he pressed a loving kiss to her lips. The look in his eyes was one that she would have killed for at one time... to have him look at her in that same way. She could barely recognise the man he had become in the last three years...

Her thoughts were disrupted by a somewhat familiar voice.

"Didn't think I'd see you here..." Ellie spoke as she came to stand next to the older woman.

Tess gave the teenager a shrug before her eyes fell back onto the couple that she deemed an unlikely pairing, "I'm not here by choice."

The girl followed the woman's gaze and gave her self a mental nod before turning her head back toward Tess, "I get that it must be hard seeing... well, Y'know...I'm sorry"

The older woman took another swig of her beer. He hadn't actually officially told her that it was over between them for good but she'd come to accept it as a fact over the months but yeah, it didn't make it any easier to watch... "Was more than just a shot gun marriage then?"

Ellie chewed the inside of her cheek and gave a subtle nod, "Yeah... it wasn't that at all..."

Tess almost looked surprised as she looked around at the teen. Joel had always been against marriage after the fiasco with his ex wife... After learning about the kid, a shot gun marriage was the only logical explanation she had for it...

The young girl shrugged as her focus landed on the man that had acted as her guardian over the last few years, "They got married before Lily..."

The older woman's brows knitted together at the teens words. He chose to get married and then chose to have a kid? It didn't make sense to her at all, "I just couldn't imagine him doing that without a solid reason..."

Ellie's brows also furrowed at Tess's response. It was obvious, wasn't it? "He loves her... she makes him happy."

"Shit." Tess scoffed as she took yet another sip from her now near empty glass. Well that fucking hurt...