"Whispers Through the Ruins"

Joel Miller x reader (The Last of Us fanfiction ) In a world stripped down to survival, trust is a risk few can afford. Joel Miller learned that the hard way. The years have carved him into something unrecognizable-quiet, guarded, and carrying more ghosts than he'll ever admit. The ruins of the old world stretch around him, hollow and unforgiving, where every step forward is paid for in blood. Then he meets **Kayleigh**. She's not like the others.
Fierce, stubborn, and carrying a fire that refuses to be put out, Kayleigh has survived in ways Joel doesn't understand-and maybe doesn't want to. She doesn't just endure the world... she challenges it. And somehow, she sees through the walls Joel has spent years building. Reluctantly, their paths intertwine. What starts as survival turns into something far more dangerous. Connection. As they travel through collapsing cities and silent forests filled with unseen threats, Joel finds himself pulled into something he thought he lost long ago-a reason to care. But in a world where everything is temporary, caring can be a death sentence. And Kayleigh? She has secrets of her own. Secrets that could either save them... or destroy everything Joel has left. Because in the ruins, the past doesn't stay buried. It whispers. And this time... Joel can't ignore it.