a losing battle - the last of us

[003] silent conversations.

CHAPTER THREE

silent conversations.

SARAH LOOKED INTO THE PEEPHOLE, SLOWLY OPENING THE FRONT DOOR SO THAT LUCIA COULD GET INSIDE, HER MOVEMENTS SLOW AND CALCULATED TO ENSURE JOEL WOULDN'T WAKE UP JUST YET. "Is your Dad still asleep?" Lucia whispered, gently placing her purse on the kitchen table. Sarah nodded, moving back to the stove to finish cooking the eggs. The two girls had planned to surprise Joel for his thirty-sixth birthday, something Joel had attempted to turn down time and time again. Considering Lucia and Joel's birthdays were only a couple weeks apart, the man had even offered to have a party on the same day. However, Lucia knew that was just him trying to divert all the attention away from himself.

Though Joel would only be there for a short time, having to leave for work soon after he woke up, Lucia figured it wouldn't hurt to surprise him anyway, considering tidying up his house whilst he was out, even drop Sarah off at school for him. "I thought we were cooking pancakes too?" Lucia questioned.

"Dad forgot." The girl murmured, a slight pout on her face. Lucia chuckled softly, her laughter cut off by the faint sound of buzzing, Sarah swiftly recognising it to be Joel's alarm. Whilst the girl ran upstairs, Lucia found herself pulling a small box out of her purse, crouching beside the stairs as she waited for the older man to make his way down. 

Lucia watched Sarah run down first, pressing her finger to her lips signalling for her to be quiet as she continued cooking breakfast. The stairs slightly creaked as Joel stepped down them, his shirt slightly lifted as he put on his belt, his hair slightly messy upon his head. Quietly approaching him from behind Lucia, spoke a quick 'boo' into his head, the man's head snapping to find Lucia looking up at him with an impressed smile. 

Without giving him a moment to think, Lucia slipped the small white box into the palm of his hand and walked back to the stove to help Sarah, her eyes jumping to the man's figure every few seconds. The two stared at one another, Joel giving the woman an unimpressed but appreciative smile, unable to suppress the high he felt the moment he laid eyes on her. 

The small black ribbon slipped off the box rather easily, the lid falling to the kitchen countertop to reveal a small gold ring. Lucia knew the man wasn't all for jewellery unless it held a real purpose - like his watch that had been broken for some time -, but Lucia couldn't help herself when she spotted it in the storefront. Joel looked up to Lucia, his lips curving into a soft smile, his eyes slowly drifting downward to find the gold bracelet he had gifted her a few weeks earlier adorning her wrist; the gold perfectly matching that of the ring that she'd just gifted him.