Don't Let Go: Deleted scenes & Extra's

Ex's and Oh's

A/N: As promised, here is the book of deleted scenes/ one shots. Please note that these are not in chronological order because my brain is like a sieve and I'll be sure to leave something out and ruin it anyway😂 but I will highlight where about in the main story it's in relation too at the start! For those of you who may be new here, howdy and enjoy! As usual all views, votes and comments are greatly appreciated and as mentioned before, I'm open to requests! Anyway, let's kick things off with some smut and protective Joel!

Trigger warnings for this one shot:
- Smut
- Mentions of fertility issues
- Mentions of infant loss 
- Canon typical violence
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Set three months after chapter 49 (Till Death Do us Apart Pt2)...

The crisp ground crunched coldly beneath his heavy leather boots as he soundlessly made his way through the darkened streets, the insulation within not doing much to prevent the numbing of his toes. The frigid late November air whipped across his bitter cheeks, lashing at his already chapped lips- Not that it particularly bothered him at this stage. A seven day supply run will do that to you, numbing your senses toward the volatile climate that being this far north brought with it. Winter was coming in hard and fast. Each lampshade extinguished leaving just the early morning twinkle of the stars and the glare of the moon to illuminate his path. His path home.

It hadn't been his intention to creep back into his house at the ghostly hours of three in the morning;  his initial scheduled plan to hit the gates by early evening squandered by a reasonable sized horde that had begun their migration south (at least that is what they all assumed it to be, with the increase of larger groups that always seemed to appear around this time of year) around ten miles out... and so here he was, doing everything in his power to not awaken his Wife at this ungodly time as the wooden slatted porch steps creaked under each of his movements.

As soundlessly as he could, Joel flicked the lock on the front door with a quiet click before kicking off those damn boots that had barely left his still frozen feet for the past week, the item of footwear  starting to feel like an unwelcome extension of his limbs as they begun to grate the skin of his heel raw by the fourth day. It was an instant relief as he padded his way into the living room, throwing a few logs of cedar into the fire place along with a lit match before finding himself at his stash of bourbon. Anything and everything to help thaw out his otherwise frosted body - a thought spared to Ava as he considered the fact that she wouldn't be best impressed if he jumped into bed beside her as a block of ice.

A pacified sigh escaping his lungs as he kicked back into the comfort of the couch. A week out in the wilderness being a stark reminder of the luxuries he would always come to take for granted a short while later.

The heat radiating from the fireplace warming and mollifying his stiff limbs. Weary and rigid muscles finally easing to a state of calm after days on end of being on high alert. Joel lifted the glass tumbler to his lips, taking a large sip of the deep amber liquid. A deep inhalation breathed in as the alcohol burned down his throat, heating up each organ it passed through before settling pleasantly in his gut.

He had never intended on going on this run, it wasn't his scheduled turn but after Greg took a fall from his horse just days before and subsequently fractured his ankle, as head of patrol, he wasn't left with much of a choice. It was the last big outing before the winter storms fully kicked in and they couldn't afford to send the group out with one less.

It wasn't even that he particularly minded heading out on supply scouts, usually he didn't but this time was different... With Ava finding out that she was pregnant just weeks ago, he didn't want to leave her side. Especially not after last time... He hadn't wanted to let her out of his sight, hadn't wanted her to lift a damn finger just in case something horrific were to happen. He couldn't bare the thought of losing another child... That was reason number one as to why his presence on this run was reluctant at best. Reason number two? Reason number two was that he'd be stuck within close proximity of Lewis Burns for a whole damn week.