#happy birthday baby girl ellie

[ohhiplumbob]

[whocaresstillthelouvre]

Harvest Moon

Rating: Explicit. 18+ (Minors DNI) Pairing: Jackson Joel Miller x Female Reader Word Count: 3,100 Summary: It's Joel's birthday and you're going to make sure he has a good one. Warnings: smut, fluff, dancing in the kitchen to neil young, unprotected p in v, public-ish sex (but under a blanket), talking to neighbors while sitting on joel miller's cock, apocalypse birth control (pulling out), fingering, riding, joel has a filthy mouth, no use of y/n, not beta read.

A/N: I spent most of tonight adding 2,500 words to this barely written piece. Now it's two hours past my bedtime, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEL MILLER!!! This can absolutely be read as a standalone, but, this is yet another singular smut entry for my Elks babies. This was originally going to be posted as a birthday celebration chapter for that, but I really wanted to give Joel his gift on his actual birthday. Happy birthday you gorgeous old man, you. Hope you like the porn I wrote about you. ❤️🥴

Masterlist

🌕🌕🌕🌕

You’ve been looking for the CD since you learned of Joel’s love of the song. Tommy did it, he actually did it. Somehow by some miracle he found the CD. 

“Not a problem,” he gives you that same shy Miller lopsided grin. “Milt had it. Told me to tell you it’s yours to keep… said he owes you since you were his daughter’s favorite teacher ‘n all.”

“Thanks Tommy,” you say, barely being able to contain your excitement, “this is going to be amazing.”

“Of course. Should be thanking you really,” he shrugs. “It’s about time he had a good birthday.”

—

Joel said he’d be helping fix one of the greenhouses today, but you’re still scared to ruin the surprise as you unlock his door. 

“Joel?” you yell out into the quiet, seemingly empty house. 

No answer. Perfect.

Quick steps lead you to his CD player, the same one he first showed you how much he cared for you with. Now, it’s your turn to show him just how much he means to you. The disc tray opens and you place the CD into the system, you can’t wait to surprise him. 

—

“More coffee?” you ask, holding up the percolator.

He nods and smiles, happily sitting at the table full from the steak, potatoes, and cornbread you made him. He had insisted on sharing the meat, but you refused, happy to let him enjoy the first taste of steak in over twenty years.

Your friend Helen got her boyfriend Greg to cut a small filet of steak from the newly butchered cow. She handed it to you with a knowing smile. It’s nice to see everyone accept yours and Joel’s relationship. 

You lean over his lap, and top his coffee cup off. 

“Have I ever told you how much I love seeing you in a dress? Can’t believe you got yourself all dolled up for me.” He surprises you by pulling you onto his lap. 

“Careful!” you shriek, quickly placing the carafe on the table. “Yes, you have… many times. That's why I wore it.”

“Hmph,” he hums happily, burying his face into the crook of your neck, his arms wrapping securely around you. “Thank you for dinner–and everything sweetheart.” He presses a soft kiss to your skin. 

“That’s not all,” you giggle as he nips at a sensitive spot under your chin. 

He chuckles, his breath warm against your skin. “You’re so good to me.” 

You clutch his chin tilting his head up to meet your eyes. “You deserve a happy birthday.” His big brown eyes search yours, like he’s forcing himself to believe it. “Joel, you do.” 

He rests his forehead against yours. “I love you,” he sighs warmly.

“I love you too. Now, I have something else for you,” you slip off his lap and head towards your backpack. “It’s something small, I promise.”

You return with a bundle of fabric held behind your back. 

“Remember when you tore your favorite flannel and you tossed it in the rag bag?”

You place the flannel in his hands.

“Well, a certain girl named Ellie grabbed it for me. I mended it, reinforced the buttons, and sewed up a couple holes. It’s not perfect, but it’s fixed.”

He holds the flannel up and inspects it. “This is–wow–this–I can’t believe it.” He looks up at you, his eyes wide with adoration. “I was wearing this that first day I saw you, y’know? This is so sweet sweetheart, thank you.” 

He likes it, you thank your lucky stars. Your handsome Joel, here with you on his birthday, allowing himself to be taken care of. 

You know the story of his birthday, you’ve retold the tale to yourself every night as you anticipated this day. Afraid to upset him, afraid to cross a line, but all you’ve wanted to do is give him the world he so deserves. 

It wasn’t just you who thought of him today. It’s Tommy finding the CD. It’s Helen getting you the steak. It’s Ellie grabbing the flannel from the rag bag. He deserves all of it. 

“You’re welcome,” you say with a kiss to his forehead. “Now, put it on. I have one more surprise.”

He slips the flannel on as you head to the living room. The CD waits in the stereo. You turn it on.

The soft guitar and brushes of a drum fills the air as you turn the volume up.  

Joel’s huge smile greets you when you walk back into the kitchen.

“You– how?” he asks, unbelieving. 

“Asked Tommy and he found it for me. Milt had his greatest hits. Now,” you reach your hand out to him, “may I have this dance birthday boy?”

He chuckles and takes your hand, pulling you into him. The two of you sway along to the music, his strong arms enveloping you as your cheek rests against his warm chest. You can hear the steady thump of his heart beneath your ear. Your hands slip around his broad back, one of them trailing up to play with the soft curls at the nape of his neck. He sighs deeply before placing a tender kiss against the top of your head. 

“This is my favorite song,” he murmurs.

The sun has long since set, the singular lamp above the sink casts a warm dark amber glow across the kitchen Your shadows dance across the walls as you sway. He smells of coffee and sweet corn bread, like home and comfort. 

He starts to hum then softly sing along. His deep voice reverberates through your ear, pressed against his heart. 

“Because I’m still in love with you,  I wanna see you dance again,  Because I’m still in love with you,  On this harvest moon”

You can hear the contentment in his voice as he holds you closer. Moving in synchronicity with each other, gently stepping across the small kitchen as the harmonica solo plays. If you could stay in this moment forever you would.

You tilt your head up, and his eyes meet yours. The smile he gives lights his face. Lines crinkling at the corner of his eyes, dimple sitting deep on his cheek, mustache curving with his plush upturned lips. He serenades you with the same lyrics as before, looking deep in your eyes. 

“Because I’m still in love with you,  I wanna see you dance again,  Because I’m still in love with you,  On this harvest moon”  

His lips meet yours, thanking you with a gentle kiss. The man you love and adore, feels good on his birthday all because of you. 

The song plays on repeat, the two of you dance together, Joel gently hums and sings along as the harvest moon rises above the mountains. 

You gently pull away, unclasping his arms from around you.

“Come on birthday boy,” you say with a playful smile, “let’s go watch the stars.” 

—

You and Joel sit beneath a large plaid comforter on his porch. The early fall breeze that rolls down the mountainside leaves a chill in the air. The night sky is lit bright with the orange full moon. Most of Jackson is at the Harvest Moon Festival tonight, you can just make out the distant sounds of laughter and music flowing through the air from the main street on his porch. Ellie was especially thrilled about the teen sleepover happening at the Bison tonight, giving you both this rare moment of solitude in his backyard. She told Joel she knew he was in good hands with you for his birthday. 

And he is–or at least you’re in his good hands. 

“Oh, god,” you softly whisper into the night, you’re so tense from keeping yourself quiet. The stars are a little harder to see tonight thanks to the ambient glow of the bright moon, and yet you see stars whenever you squeeze your eyes shut while fighting the urge to moan. Joel’s deft, large thumb rubs circles against your clit while you ride two of his thick fingers. 

He’s driving you crazy like this. His large body and the blanket wrapped around you, overheating all of your senses in this chilly night. You’re completely covered, nobody would know that your legs are spread wide, one draped over his thick thigh while his hand is stuffed up your dress making you quake as he finger fucks you.

“Easy now, easy now,” he says nuzzling against your neck, his large nose charting a course across the sensitive skin. “Gotta remember where we are. You're the sweet, innocent teacher 'n librarian here. Lotta people look up to you, can’t have them knowin’ what my girl really likes when she’s with me.” Your hips slow their movement, he makes up for it by pumping you harder. “See, I can help, just gotta let me know you want it baby.” 

“Want to take–neyugh–care of you,” struggles out of your mouth. 

“You’re taking care of me right now, sweetheart, touching you is my favorite thing to do.” 

“Want to go inside… w-want to–want–to, want to feel you in my mouth,” you grip the straining bulge underneath the fly of his jeans. 

“Not yet,” he sighs deeply when you squeeze harder. “Like seeing your skin glow in the moonlight. What you’re doin’ now is enough, want to enjoy my night with you.”

Your hold tightens around his cock as you fight harder to suppress the urge to scream into the night. His fingers angle up hitting your most sensitive spot and you feel like you could explode. You’ll be the fireworks to celebrate Joel’s birthday. A whimper is fought by biting your lip, it’s so hard to not scream. His brown eyes look almost black in the low light as he watches you struggle and blink rapidly. 

“Shh baby, you’re doing so good, bein’ so quiet, don’t ruin it now. If anybody was out right now they could walk right on by and they’d have no idea what I’m doing to you under here.”

You’ve never done anything like this, so out in the open. Jackson is a peaceful town full of law abiding citizens, and right now you’re sitting on the back of the porch of Joel’s house getting felt up by him. 

“Joel… I–I’m gonna—”

“Cum for me baby.” His hot breath hits your lips before sealing his mouth against yours. Your cunt spasms against his thick fingers, you feel set alight by your orgasm, overheated and burning. Maybe you’re glowing just as bright as the moon. His tongue dances with yours, swallowing all of your gasps and cries. You’re sure at this point, anybody that walked by would know exactly what was happening between the two of you. You don’t care, all you want is to feel Joel’s cock inside you.

“Want you, Joel, want you so bad,” you mew as his fingers rub against your sensitive folds. 

“Okay baby, okay.” His fingers slip from your warmth before he brings his soaked digits to his lips. His eyes flutter shut when he tastes you. 

“Sweeter than birthday cake,” he declares before raising his hips and pulling his jeans down with a grunt. “Come here. Come sit on me.”

Your legs spread wide as you straddle his large lap with your back pressed against the warmth of his chest. He grips himself and moves the half hard heft of his cock against your soaked core, swirling his tip back and forth across your clit. 

“Tell me you want my cock,” he whispers against your neck, licking a line up to your ear. “Tell me baby.”

“I-I want your cock–I need your cock Joel,” you beg. 

“I know you do darling,” he chuckles deeply, lining himself up to your entrance.

The sounds of the festival go silent and the bright orange moon fades as you slowly sink down on his cock. Taking all of him, thick and throbbing into your tight cunt. 

“That’s my good girl,” he grits. “Your sweet pussy is taking me so well, isn’t she?”

Clutching your bottom lip tightly between your teeth, you try to fight the moan his words bring up.

“Oh, you must like that. You’re squeezin’ me so hard sweetheart.” 

You set a pace, riding him gently under the moonlight, his fingers gripping your hips tight. 

His hot breaths hit the back of your neck as your back molds even tighter to his front. His hand snakes down to rub your clit, small circles making your body meld even more against him.. The rhythm of his fingers and cock spearing you pulls another orgasm down from the ethers of space. Shivering, sweating, and stuttering Joel’s name, you’re trying to be good for him, trying to not scream into the night. 

“That’s my girl, grippin’ my cock so good, cummin’ all over me. Getting yourself nice and slippery so I can fuck you real good, huh?” 

“Mmf,” is the only response you can muster. Your cunt flutters around him, and he doesn’t relent, slowly fucking into you while his finger pulses against your clit. 

The sound of two people conversing approaches. Your movements come to a halt, Joel stays still, his finger still resting against your sensitive bundle of nerves and his cock sitting deep inside you. Hank and Billie, the nice couple that lives three houses down from Joel, walk past the porch. Both look over and wave a greeting. Fuck.

“Beautiful moon, isn’t it?” Hank says with a smile. 

“Quite.” Joel responds. The rumble of his loud voice radiates through you.  

“You guys get any barbecue tonight?” Hank asks. “It was really go–”

“We stayed in,” Joel gruffly responds. He subtly knocks his hips into you causing a wave of sensation to hit against your already cock-drunk pussy.

Your nostrils flare with a deep exhale.  

“Oh, well, there will probably be leftovers tomorrow,” Billie offers. “Tell them I sent you and they’ll give you the good stuff.”

“Thanks Billie,” you breathlessly reply, wishing on every star you’ve seen behind your eyelids, they’ll leave. “We appreciate it.”

“Best be getting home,” Hank says, grabbing Billie’s hand. “We both had a bit too much to drink!” 

Oh thank god.

“Enjoy your night,” Joel says plainly as he starts to slowly rock into you once they turn away. 

To the eyes of your neighbors, you and Joel just look like a normal couple enjoying the night sky cuddled together under a blanket… little do they know he’s filling you with his thick cock under the shield. 

“That was close,” he whispers against your ear before nipping it. 

Your giggle is cut off by a moan when he fucks into you harder. 

“Guess we shouldn’t take our time, don’t want to get caught, now do we?” he asks. 

“We can just–nyuh–go inside,” you plead, wanting to be able to moan and scream Joel’s name in the comfort of his home. 

“Gimme one more baby, gimme one more,” he grunts against your neck. “And then I’ll take you into my home and fuck you.”

His hips pound against your body, his thrusts bucking into your core harder. “That’s it baby, you really want me to take you in and lay you down ‘n fuck you, don’t you?” 

“Mmhmm,” you moan, your stomach tightening and thighs trembling as the universe splinters around you. Your orgasm rockets through your body. Color turns to black and white, noise falls silent. All that exists is Joel Miller and his big cock shattering you into a million pieces like your own personal big bang on the back of his porch. 

“Good girl,” he groans, “let’s take this party inside.”

—

The plaid comforter is laid out on the kitchen floor. Your wobbly legs move your still blissed-out body to Joel’s stereo, starting “Harvest Moon” on repeat all over again. 

You lean against the kitchen entrance, admiring Joel as he rests atop the blanket, naked and supporting himself on his elbows. No man over fifty should ever look as good as him. Broad shoulders frame his strong arms, his chest has a smattering of dark hair that trails down to the slight bulge of his stomach. His cock rests in between his legs, still hard and shining with your slick. He’s so gorgeous, and he’s all yours. 

“Come here sweetheart,” his voice is gruffer. “Lay down next to me.”

His dick twitches as you walk to the blanket and settle beside him. 

He moves over you, covering you with his warmth as he engulfs himself in your slick heat. Your legs instinctually wrap around his waist allowing him to take more. 

“Joel,” you moan. The angle allows his cock to push farther in and your walls to tighten harder against him. 

“Ooh, you’re so fucking wet, you hear that?” he asks incredulously. The squelch of your pussy soundtracks along to the song quietly playing in the background. “Sounds so fucking good baby.” 

He gasps when buries himself to the hilt, soaking the curly hairs around the base of him with your wet.

Your body trembles as your hips meet his, his cock sliding in and out of your cunt at a brutal pace. 

He takes no time to own you now behind the walls of his home. Your hands clutch at his wide back, sobs and screams of his name echoing out into the air as Neil Young softly sings in the background. 

You’re so full of him. His body surrounding you, his lips against yours, his cock pounding into your accepting cunt, his name chanting out of your mouth. 

“You want it baby?” he growls against your neck, his cock pumping in and out of your hole at a speed no man over fifty should be able to ever reach. “You want my cum?” 

“C-cum Joel,” you cry, tears sprouting from your eyes as your fourth orgasm launches through you. 

He gasps your name, pulling out of your tremorous pussy and shooting thick white ropes of cum across your pussy and stomach. 

His sweat is slick against your overheated body, you’re a mess of sweat, orgasm, and love. 

He kisses you, his tongue licking against yours before he rolls off you. His chest rising and falling as he catches his breath. “Fuck,” he pants, stretching his limbs out. “Gonna feel this tomorrow.” 

“Well, you are another year older, old man,” you tease, curling up next to him. 

“Yeah,” he turns his head to look at you. “I guess I am,” he sighs. “Thank you for–my birthday and–all of this. I can never put into words how much it all means to me.” 

“So I guess you’re still in love with me?” you tease.

“Always. Especially on this harvest moon,” he returns your smile. 

---

Tagging a couple people who had asked about this piece earlier this month: @almostfoxglove, @sawymredfox, @burntheedges, and @littlemisspascal 🩷🌝

[blckbrrybasket]

𓆩 𓉸 𓆪 Kinktober 2024

• MDNI! porn with little plot

• all of these are x reader with no use of y/n

• both female and gender neutral readers featured

꒰33k+ words total꒱

1st. — “Hotter than a Burning Fire”

        -> Face sitting + Inexperience, Robin Buckley

2nd. — “Give and Take”

        -> Squirting + Edging, Steve Harrington 

3rd. — “Bite her Hip”

        -> Caught + Hate Sex, Nancy Wheeler

4th. — “Yer Killin’ Me”

        -> Boot Worship, Arthur Morgan

5th. — “Girls on Film”

        -> Being Filmed, Mickey Altieri

6th. — “Heaven in Your Mouth”

        -> Throat Fucking + Breath Play, Rafe Cameron

7th. — “Closer”

        -> Mutual Masturbation + Forbidden, Robin Buckley 

8th. — “Oh Honey”

        -> First Time + Domination, Kurt Kunkle

9th. — “Hearts a Mess”

        -> Public Sex + Gag, Art Donaldson

10th. — “Ghosting”

        -> Under the table, Javier Peña

11th. — “Burning For You”

        -> Sleepy Sex + Cockwarming, Sejanus Plinth

12th. — “She’s in Parties”

        -> High sex, Rafe Cameron

13th. — “Melting With You”

        -> Double Penetration, Stu and Mickey

14th. — “As You Are”

        -> 69, Ellie Williams

15th. — “Of Love For Love”

        -> Cream Pie + Cum Play, John ‘Soap’ MacTavish

16th. — “Maneater”

        -> Dacryphilia + Masochism, Kurt Kunkle

17th. — “What I Need”

        -> Degradation + Cum Eating, Ethan Landry

18th. — “I was made for loving you”

        -> Praise Kink + Body Worship, Steve Harrington 

19th. — “Takin’ Time”

        -> Spanking + Orgasm Denial, Joel Miller

20th. — “Sweet As Whiskey”

        -> Blood Kink + Period, Vampire!Eddie Munson

21st. — “Wind You Up”

        -> Hair Pulling + Rough Sex, Trevor (Hellraiser)

22nd. — “Eyes On Me”

        -> Bondage + Femdom, Agent Whiskey

23th. — “Show and I’ll Learn”

        -> Sex Toys, Robin Buckley

24th. — “If You Knew”

        -> Overstimulation + Wet Dream, Joel Miller

25th. — “Hell And You”

        -> Mask Kink + Knife Kink, Stu Macher

26th. — “You’ve Got Me Now”

        -> Dry Humping + Tipsy Sex, Eddie Munson

27th. — “Happy Birthday, Baby”

        -> Lingerie + On The Counter, Walter ‘Keys’ McKey

28th. — “Quit While Ahead”

        -> Pussy slapping, Rafe Cameron

29th. — “Love My Way”

        -> Scissoring, Tara Carpenter

30th. — “Suck It Up”

        -> Marking + Possessiveness, Love Quinn

31st. — “Body Electric”

        -> Cucking + Breeding Kink, Eddie Munson and Steve Harrington

taglist closed!

[abbyshands]

gf!ellie who is the prettiest girl in the whole world. there’s a natural look to her, considering she doesn’t wear makeup, leaves her auburnette locks tussled, and hardly ever shaves. she takes care of her body, but leaves it just the right of natural that makes you swoon for her. one day, she’s getting ready to shower, grabbing essentials as she rummages through your shared dresser. you’re engrossed in a book until ellie snaps you out of your thoughts by asking you, “baby, did you buy more razors?” you raise an eyebrow, setting your book aside. “razors for what?” you ask. ellie mirrors your expression in confusion. “so i can shave? it’s been a while,” ellie says. you shake your head, like it’s the most incredulous thing she could have ever said. “not long enough. don’t shave yet,” you say. ellie turns around fully to walk up to you, clad in only a towel as she looks down at you, a little smirk on her face. “why?” she asks, like she doesn’t already know the answer. “because,” you smirk back, tugging at her towel, pulling a gasp from her as she’s left bare before you. “this,” you say, gesturing to her underarms, “this,” you say, pressing kisses down her happy trail, “and this,” you finalize, pressing two fingers against her pretty pussy, causing her to gasp out, “make you perfect just the way you are. now go shower.” ellie blushes in response, pressing a little kiss to your forehead before leaving. “yes, ma’am.”

this is so short dear god but it’s been sitting in my google docs and the queen deserved a little birthday post so <3 happy birthday, aestra! @astralnymphh ♡

[elliesspacewalker]

Ellie with your kid and your pregnancy head cannons 🥺

Warnings: like absolutely none, a bit suggestive at the end but pure fluff! Transgender!Ellie.

---

- Ellie was quite literally bouncing off the walls when she found out you were pregnant, couldn't wait to tell Joel.

- when Ellie had told Joel, he was also bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"I'm so excited for you kiddo" he said with a firm hand squeezing the poor girl's shoulder.

- Ellie who most definitely held your stomach so you didn't have as much pressure on your poor stomach carrying her baby. She'd come from behind while you're doing the dishes and would hold your stomach softly upwards as you slightly moaned at the feeling.

- Ellie who was there throughout the whole birth, the poor girl nearly fainted but had to stay strong as she knew if she fainted in front of you, it would stress you the fuck out so she stayed strong.

- Ellie who carried the baby in her arms so softly to the bed as soon as you guys got out of the hospital, absolutely loving your son.

"he's so fucking cute babe, I cant- I just- I love you so much" she chuckled, hugging you from behind with her head on your shoulder as you held him, almost sobbing.

- Ellie who definitely woke up at 2am from the baby screaming at the top of his fucking lungs.

"babe please" you whispered and Ellie groaned "I'm tired" she complained "so am I, go!"

She groaned harder before getting up to check on your son- she changed his nappy, before waking you up again "he's hungry".

She watched in admiration as you breast fed your son, "bet you wish this was you huh?" You teased and she laughed "shut up" she got back into bed "nuh-uh, you're putting him back to bed" you gave her a mom look and she immediately got out of bed and grabbed him gently to put him back to bed.

- Ellie who definitely had her favourite t-shirt covered in vomit, after her kid threw up all over it, it didn't matter. She loved him anyways but she wasn't too happy about it, always complaining to you.

"babe look" you chuckled at the sight of vomit all down her shirt.

- Ellie definitely cried so hard when it was your son's first day of kindergarten, he was growing up and she was sobbing in the car over how 5 years has gone by so fast.

- Ellie who always took him to Macca's after you said too much unhealthy food was bad but she just wanted to see her boy all happy.

- Ellie who brought him all this gaming shit for his 12th birthday and gamed like crazy with him and it made you giggle at the sight of her teaching him how to play- and of course he was growing up so fast, who knew 12 years would go by so quickly?

SUGGESTIVE THEMES

- Ellie who asked to go to Joel's for lunch, and whispering in your ear after Joel went to go get food "wanna make another?" She joked, your eyes went wide and you looked at her- "jokes!" This girl was scary fertile, you knew she was joking but you would've considered it.

[kumkaniudaku]

TBT

Summary: A young Terry and Patrice spend a Christmas morning together.

Pairing: Terry Richmond x Black!OC

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: None. Just some holiday fluff.

Previous: Merry Christmas, Baby

A/N: I love this one so much. I hope you enjoy too.

The coldest Christmas in recent history was no match for the overwhelming heat Terrence felt beneath his thick winter sweater as nervousness crept into his chest. The low purr of his uncle’s Honda slowly disappeared into the bitter afternoon chill, leaving him no other option but to press the doorbell to the Ellis home and pray for entry. 

Weeks of planning, sneaking, and tutorial-watching had gone into this mission. Heavy convincing and a shoddy handshake agreement to throw a couple of dollars his uncle’s way for gas had him snatching a poorly wrapped package from beneath the tree and hopping into Uncle Myron’s front seat before his parents could ask any further questions. 

His hands felt wet and slippery under the warm pecan pie he’d begged his mother to make for reasons he wouldn’t share the night before. His heart raced as he carefully adjusted the pretty orange bow on top of a covered box, suddenly nervous about how it looked. She deserved nothing less than perfection and he’d labored over careful folds and clean lines to deliver her his best. 

Rustling and a voice growing louder as it approached made him stop short before he could press the doorbell again. He quickly pulled at his coat and stood a little taller as her father appeared behind a glass storm door.

“Oh! It’s just you Terry. Thought you might’ve been my sister. Merry Christmas, son. You gettin’ big, boy. You benching ‘bout 250 now huh?” 

Terry smiled bashfully. “Yeah, I am. Tryin’ to bulk up a little before Spring.”

“You doin’ it. Next time I see you, you gon' be bigger than me. What you got there?” 

Terry blinked twice, trying to think through a response as Mr. Ellis stared back at him before finally sputtering out a response. “A-a pie! Sorry. It’s a pie from my mama. She sent me over here to drop it off and say Merry Christmas.”

“And that,” Mr. Ellis asked pointing at the gift adorned in the pretty orange bow.

“A gift for Patrice. Is she home? I know she said she would probably be at the store with her mom, but I can wait. Or I-I cou-”

“Calm down,” Mr. Ellis laughed as he stepped aside with the door pushed open wider than before. “She’s in here helping her mama set the table. Come on. She’ll be happy to see you.”

A deep breath that created a white cloud in front of his face calmed Terry’s nerves as he moved past Patrice’s father into the house. He didn’t need directions past the wall of family photos, down the hallway, and into the living area. In four years, he’d spent entire days lazing around that house. He’d shared Sunday dinners at her kitchen table, taken naps on her bedroom floor, and played video games with her younger brother on the living room couch. This was as much his hang-out spot as his own house in his mind. 

Christmas music crackled and popped from the worn record player on a bookshelf full of Black literature, the object flanked by his two favorite photos of Patrice. He gave the framed memory of her fifth birthday party a glance and a soft smile like he usually did before making his way into the kitchen. 

“Baby Girl and Ros, the Richmond boy brought us a pie this morning,” Leon announced on his way through the living room and out of the back door to return to his turkey frying duties.

“A pie! How sweet!” Terry’s introduction made Patrice whip her head around to get a look at her surprise visitor. He offered her a small wave and smile that she returned as Rosalyn approached to give him a warm hug. “Look at you! Have you gotten taller since the school year started?” 

Rosalyn had watched Terry grow from a boy into a young man. Once lanky, slender arms now carried budding muscles and extra weight. The first fuzz of facial hair carefully shaved per his father’s instructions left light shadows. His voice was deeper and smoother than the once cracking alto of his youth. Changing mannerisms had him looking more sure of himself. His development alongside Patrice’s presented further reminders that the only thing certain in this life was the passage of time. She’d never be prepared but embraced it all the same. 

“A little bit. Think I’m at 6’3” now,” Terry boasted, smiling at the newest adjustments in his measurements.

“Six-three! I know your mama can’t keep a lick of food in the house,” she laughed. “You made your decision on college yet?” 

“Not yet. Still considering trying to walk on at A&T. I feel like I’ll like it there.”

Rosalyn smiled, knowing the reason for his switch from UNC Chapel Hill. “Well, that’s good. You and Patrice work well together. You can keep each other on track.” 

“I keep myself on track, mama. Terry too when his head gets all up in the clouds.” 

“She helped me study one time and now she think she my teacher.” 

“You a one-time lie and you know it.” 

Terry’s infectious toothy grin spread to Patrice from across the room, creating a spark almost tangible enough for Rosalyn to reach out and grab. She noticed the emergence of shy glances and extra physical contact where senseless bickering once lived. Knees that occasionally touched while they watched movies on the couch were now shoulders pressed tightly together in the backseat after school without shame. When they weren’t in the same room, cell phones remained pressed to listening ears as they ran down chats about everything and nothing at the same time. Their trajectory was clear. 

More conversations about hormones, love, and the perils of unprotected sex than Rosalyn could count had been passed down individually and as a pair with no care for their obvious discomfort. Both sets of parents could only pray that their children retained at least some information to use when the inevitable took place.

“So, the pie,” Rosalyn pointed out, cutting through the open display of affection. “What kind is it? Smells good!” 

Terry blinked twice to pull his eyes away from Patrice to look at her mother. “Uh, pecan. My mama’s special recipe.”

“Really! That’s Patrice’s favorite. What a coincidence.” 

Terry’s ears slowly turned red as he tried to laugh off Rosalyn’s observation. She winked at him and pulled the dessert from his hands, careful to return the gift on top before making her way to the food table.

Patrice nervously shifted her weight as she leaned against the counter for her first break of the morning, now hyperaware of how her body looked with a set of blue-green eyes following her every move. 

They’d matched unintentionally. Terry’s red sweater complimented Patrice’s white one with both teenagers sporting black bottoms to top off festive looks. Searching for something, anything to say, Patrice pointed at his head. 

“You decided to stop growing your hair out?” 

Terry ran a hand down the back of his fresh fade. “Yeah. My dad was on me about it. Said I looked like a hoodlum. I don’t even know what that means but I guess I don’t really need the extra cushion for the helmet now anyway.”

“Well, my opinion probably doesn’t matter, but I think it looks nice. I’ll miss the widow's peak, though. It was cute.” 

A twinkle of happiness flashed across Terry’s eyes, making his cheeks rise into a proud smile. The haircut was staying. No doubt about it.

“Thank you,” he spoke quietly, still processing the tingles rolling across his body. “You, um…you want some help? My mama showed me how to set a table. Fork on the left, right?” 

Rosalyn watched the pair watch each other with a knowing smile on her face as Terry took slow steps across the kitchen toward Patrice. He didn’t come there to set the table for a family he didn’t belong to. He came to spend a few minutes of stolen time with the only person worth existing in his small world. 

She stopped him before he could get too far. “That’s sweet of you, baby, but I don’t need too many people in my kitchen. P, you can take him to your room. You know to leave that door open. Don’t have me come back there and I can’t see what y’all are doing.”

Neither Terry nor Patrice needed the reminder but ensured they showed their understanding with head nods and verbal agreement. They’d been down this road plenty of times. Leave the door half open, answer when called, and keep your hands to yourself. The first two were easy. Resisting the desire to touch became more difficult as the days flew by. 

Patrice led the way down the hallway toward her room, making small talk before holding the door open for him to enter. The sunny orange and yellow motif hadn’t changed much since they hung out for the first time. Posters and photos of her favorite artists still lined the wall beside her bed. The sunflower plushie she called Sunny rested in its usual spot at the top of her dresser. His favorite spot in the house, a soft yellow beanbag, was empty and awaiting his arrival. He took a deep breath to inhale the birthday cake candle she kept burning on her nightstand before sliding his shoes and coat off to place them in their designated spot. 

She kissed her teeth as she flopped on the bed. “You gon’ stop havin’ your toes out in here.” 

“I should start charging you. People would pay good money to see these. Even in socks!”

“Oh yeah right. People like who? That Cierra girl in 11th grade?” 

“Here you go,” Terry groaned from his spot on the bean bag. He flipped through a random magazine beside him to avoid eye contact. “I don’t like that girl. We just hang out because Xavier talks to her friend and he be needin’ back up sometimes.”

“No way. She was wearing your jacket.”

“She took my jacket out of Zay’s car to be funny and I got it back as soon as I could find her.”

“Say swear.”  

The ultimate test. Saying swear was their way of ensuring the other was telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 

Terry looked up from the pages of Seventeen Magazine to look Patrice in the eye and confirm his statement. “Swear. She kinda annoying, honestly. Nice girl, but all she ever wants to talk about is reality TV and school drama.” 

“Ooooh. Terry likes a little substance in his conversations, huh,” Patrice laughed, exaggerating her words to mimic their creative writing teacher. “Let me find out you’re out here discussing Of Mice and Men without me. I’m gonna have to put my hands on you.” 

Terry scoffed at her threat. “Yeah, right. Plus, you talk about stuff without me all the time. I heard about you and Robert Mitchell kickin’ it after winter formal.” 

“That’s not what happened!” 

“Let me know what happened then.”

It was Patrice’s turn to explain herself. What started as a night between mixed friend groups turned into Terry sneaking looks at his best friend while she engaged with a guy that he frankly didn’t think was smart enough for her. He’d never share how it made him feel outside of light jabs to be annoying. 

He waited for her to stop chewing her bottom lip and respond. 

“Rob doesn’t like me. He just wanted to see if he could convince me to sneak off with him to the parking lot which I didn’t do. So he left me alone and I rode back with Vicky to spend the night. Nothing to see there, as always.” 

Terry took in her truth with equal parts sadness at the circumstance and anger at the young man bold enough to cause her pain.

“Dang, Treece, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it went like that. Want me to talk to him?” 

Patrice adjusted to sit in front of Terry at the edge of the bed. She kicked her feet as she played with her painted thumbnails. “No. I wasn’t even supposed to tell anybody. Plus, we both know that you don’t talk. Don’t need you getting in trouble because of me. Thanks, though.” 

“You don’t gotta thank me.” He was still gonna have words with Robert when he got the chance, but that was for him to know and Patrice to never find out. Trying to shift the energy, he pretended to use her fuzzy sock-covered feet as a speed bag to get a rise out of her. She rolled her eyes but allowed him to continue. “Wanna see your gift now or should I put it under the tree?”

“I’ll open mine but you gotta open your’s first? Deal?” 

“Deal.”

Terry chuckled as he watched her prance to her closet and back with an excited smile dimpling her cheeks. In her hand, she carried two gifts of differing sizes. They were expertly wrapped in shiny festive paper and a Carolina blue bow so that there was no mistaking who was the lucky recipient. 

She reclaimed her spot on the bed, setting the smaller of the two packages beside her before handing the other to Terry to grasp with two hands. “Okay, do this one first! Hurry!” 

“Alright, alright! Calm down.” Terry made a show of slowly peeling tape and wrapping paper from the large, flat object for no other reason than to watch Patrice squirm impatiently. She tried to rush him along but he wouldn’t give in. 

Their smiles grew in tandem once Terry ended his torture and revealed a framed pristine Francis Edward High School football jersey. 

He used his index finger to trace out the letters stitched to form his last name behind the glass. “How’d you get this?” 

“Coach Robinson let me have it for tutoring his daughter in Spanish. Then my auntie did the letters for free. Look at the pictures!”

Shock at seeing his name printed on a jersey for the first time distracted him from the small collage of photos neatly placed beside it. A picture from his senior night sat next to a photo from his record-setting game as a junior. Another capturing a game-winning touchdown had him reliving the memory in full color. But his favorite, a snapshot of them being crowned homecoming king and queen at midfield, made him smile. 

“Do you like it,” Patrice asked, her eyes wide and expectant as she waited for some indication of his feelings. “You can take all the stuff out if you want. This just seemed better to put on your wall at home.”

“I like it a lot, Treece. Never thought I’d have my own jersey. Especially now that the scholarships aren’t coming.” Terry looked over the gift for a few seconds more before giving her smiling face his full attention. “Thank you. Mean it.” 

She pushed her hair behind her ear and shrugged. “You’re welcome. Mean it.” They sat there, grinning and staring back at one another in silence until Rosalyn called their names for one of her periodic checks. They responded promptly before Patrice attempted to get them back on track. “C’mon. Open the last one!” 

“If I would’ve known we were going all out, I would’ve done more,” Terry spoke, preemptively apologizing for coming up short as he peeled away the crinkling paper. Patrice waved him away. They weren’t in competition. If anything, she’d gone too far in her pursuit of his happiness. 

A final rip of wrapping paper unveiled a small gift box with his name scribbled across it. He carefully lifted the lid and then closed it once he caught a glimpse of its contents. His face began to flush with incoming emotions. 

Nestled inside a plastic key chain was a photo of Terry and his maternal grandmother. His summer had been filled with dread that she may not make it through her sickness to end the year, a fear that was realized before the school year began. He’d all but camped out on her bedroom floor in complete silence, desperately searching for some reprieve from funeral arrangements and repast activities at home. 

For Patrice, it was a no-brainer to use some of her babysitting money to take a photo she’d nabbed from his MySpace profile and turn it into a keepsake. 

Terry stilled himself with a deep breath. “You’re nice when you wanna be.” 

“Yeah, well, you’re my friend and you were sad. It’s the least I could do.”

“Thanks. For real,” he whispered, holding eye contact a little longer before pointing at her gift. “Your turn. It’s only one box but there’s a lot in it. And don’t judge my wrapping skills.” 

“Too late! This bow is super cute though. I’m gonna stick it to Sunny.”

Patrice ripped through messy silver paper, discarding scraps at her feet her that Terry gathered into a small pile to throw away later. She popped the top on a white garment box and then squealed as she pulled a folded sweater from inside. 

Future Aggie. He thought the grey, blue, and yellow sweatshirt would be a fitting gift for someone finally realizing their dream of attending college. Patrice rushed to press the garment against her chest as she looked at herself in the mirror hanging on her closet door. 

She twisted and turned to see all her angles. “I’m wearing this to school on the first day back. Thank you, TJ!” 

Her announcement created a rush of emotions bursting in all directions. Something he’d purchased adorning her body? What a sight. What a feeling. 

The surprises and elated responses continued. A new journal and pens for her to use at her leisure earned him a high five. A bottle of Hollister body mist that she fawned over on one of their many trips to the mall received a wide smile and a few sprays on her new sweater. But her favorite was the gift that cost him nothing but time. 

A CD with “For Patrice” written in thick marker and Terry’s slanted handwriting caught her attention. Try as she might, Patrice couldn’t get him to spill the beans about the disc’s contents, instead pushing her to pop it into her dusty boombox and press play. 

“Uh, this is kinda weird. Recording my own voice for a CD. Feel like I should start rappin’ or something.” Patrice smiled as Terry’s voice flowed through the speaker like a late-night radio host. He listened with his eyes closed, too embarrassed to watch her reaction in real-time. “This is for you, though, Treece. Just in case we never see each other again after high school, I hope these songs are enough to remember me by. If not then all this shit was for no reason and just pretend it never happened. I’m gonna stop talkin’ now. Hope you like it.”

His introduction flowed into a collection of songs that they considered their shared favorites. 

Terry spoke up over J. Cole’s ‘Dollar and a Dream II’. “It’s for when you’re in the car and stuff since you said you hate listening to the radio. I figured you could listen to a little mix of stuff you like instead.” 

“You know I’m gonna bring this everywhere with me now, right? My mama’s car, your car, everywhere! It’s great.”

“That’s like three compliments in a row. You getting soft on me,” he laughed. “I’m wearing you down.” 

“Why can’t you ever just let the nice things happen without saying something? I’m startin’ to think you like makin’ me mad. You sick in the head, TJ.”

Justin Timberlake, T.I., and everything in between told the story of moments spent together, inside jokes, and unspoken feelings that flowed through romantic lyrics. While they listened to track after track as background music to their winding conversation, minutes turned into hours. 

Terry had seen all of Patrice’s other gifts, taken pictures on her brand-new digital camera, taste-tested a few pieces of her aunt’s pound cake, and found time to play a few rounds of the newest Dragon Ball Z game with Junior without the passage of time ever registering in his brain. 

In Junior’s dark, dingy cave he called a bedroom, Patrice and Terry sat next to each other on the floor half paying attention to the television while her brother played video games and half fiddling with the directions and pieces from his newest Lego set. 

Leon knocked twice and poked his head into the room with the family phone in his hand. “Son, your mama’s on the phone. She said she’s been calling your cell phone looking for you.” 

Terry’s eyes widened at the realization that he’d left the small device in his coat pocket across the hall. He scrambled to his feet, limbs flailing and socks twisting as he rushed to grab the phone from Mr. Ellis before the older man stepped away to tend to other business. 

“Ma, I’m sorry!” 

“Terrence James, if you weren’t somewhere that I know for a fact is safe, I would kill you! What goes on between those ears of yours?”

Patrice winced at the non-stop yelling coming from the other end while Terry tried to listen with a poker face. She couldn’t make out all the details of his incoming punishment, but she could tell by the way the call ended that he wouldn’t be enjoying time away from home any time soon. 

Terry hung up and bit his bottom lip as he turned to Patrice. 

“How bad?” 

He shrugged. “Not that bad. She was just worried. I do have to go soon though. My uncle will be here in like 10 minutes.” 

“I mean I didn’t wanna have to be the one to kick you out, but…”

Their loud laughter at Patrice’s joke was enough to get them unceremoniously ousted from Junior’s bedroom with the door shut tight behind them before they could fully re-enter the hallway. Patrice followed Terry back into her room and watched him gather his belongings.

“My cousin Imani is coming later today. I wish y’all could’ve met each other. She’s silly like you.” 

“Yeah,” Terry questioned as he tied his sneakers. “Maybe I could try and come over tomorrow?” 

“That’s okay. You’re already in trouble. I don’t wanna make it worse. Maybe we can all hang out for Spring Break or something.” Terry looked up from his task to smile at Patrice until she mirrored his expression while rolling her eyes. “What are you smiling at?” 

“You.” 

“Why? What did I do?” 

“Just be you.”

Terry wished there was a mistletoe somewhere in the room to aid his cause. If only there were a reason to press his lips to hers as the cherry on top of the scariest confession he’d ever made. Or near confession. He couldn’t tell if his words had made the desired impact until Patrice slowly shook her head. 

She began laughing as she handed over his coat. “You sure you don’t wanna switch your major from math to English since you always talkin’ in riddles?” 

“I know what I be sayin’, you just don’t know,” he laughed to play off his blunder. 

“That completely defeats the purpose of a conversation.”

Patrice waited until he was finished securing the zippers and buttons on his coat before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him close. Terry stood stunned for a beat, too caught off guard to reciprocate her affection until a switch flipped in his brain to snap him back into reality. 

He jammed his one hand into his pocket while his free arm snaked around her waist to avoid breaching an unspoken boundary. 

“Thanks for coming here this morning. Gift or not, it was fun to have you around,” she spoke over his shoulder. 

He smiled though she couldn’t see. “I know how much you love Christmas so, of course. It was fun being around. I like being with you.” 

Terry held his breath as Patrice slowly pulled away for a look at his face. Her eyes scanned for some indication that he was telling a joke or simply being annoying but found nothing but sincerity in those intense blue-green eyes she’d learned to read. 

A glimpse at his lips made her subconsciously run her tongue over the bottom of her set. Her heart raced. His hand slowly exited his pocket to find a home on her hip. They leaned forward in sync, both of them closing their eyes for whatever came next. 

“Terrence! Your uncle is outside! Get your stuff, baby!” 

Though she couldn’t possibly know the magic unfolding in her daughter’s bedroom, Rosalyn had successfully thwarted an attempt to further break the third rule. 

The pair repelled like opposite ends of a magnet until they were back at their respective ends of the room. Patrice pretended to take an interest in the purses hanging on the back of her door while Terry quickly gathered his gifts. 

He fumbled with the packages on his way out of the door, timidly inching past Patrice in hopes that she would speak to him one more time. 

“See you later.”

“I guess I should go.” 

Words overlapped in a harsh head-on collision, making them both shrink away in embarrassment. Terry chucked and took the lead. “Ladies first.” 

Patrice adjusted the hood on his coat and smiled. “I was just gonna say Merry Christmas, TJ. I hope you got everything you wanted.” 

“Merry Christmas, Treece. This is probably the best one I’ve ever had. Even if my mama is gonna rip my head off when I get home.”

“She definitely will. I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool.”

Patrice didn’t respond with words. She offered him a sweet smile as her thumb brushed stray cake crumbs from the corner of his mouth. Another holler of his name from the kitchen forced him out of her orbit and back into the cold with Patrice hot on his heels. 

She bid him farewell from the front door, watching until the champagne-colored Honda was out of sight and Terry was just the faint smell of cologne far too adult for him on her sweater and the memory causing goosebumps on her arms. 

When Patrice turned to finally retreat back into her room, Rosalyn stood at the threshold smiling at her daughter.

“You two have fun?”

Patrice put her head down to hide the wide smile spreading across her face as she sped past her mother. “It was okay. Did Auntie Mae make the mac and cheese yet? I’m gonna get some.”

“Make sure you wash those hands, young lady,” she called after Patrice. 

The spice of expensive cologne left a trail of secrets in her wake. Rosalyn inhaled deeply and shook her head. 

They’d need a refresher on the rules before New Year’s Eve.

-----

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[talaok]

Pedro Pascal characters

♡ = smut        ☆= fluff         ➹ = angst

JOEL MILLER

People →Joel met the reader a while ago and now they do illegal shit together to get by, but some shit goes down on one of your runs out of the qz (☆+ ➹)

I can save myself → Joel comes to your rescue once more, and for some reason, for as many times as you tell him, he doesn't seem to get the message you don't need to be saved. (♡)

A little favor → You fucked up a trade and want to make it up to Joel (♡)

Blushing →Ellie tries to convince Joel of how obvious it is he likes you.(☆)

Incentive →Ellie makes you convince Joel to not get back on the road yet, and you find a way to persuade him (☆)

Hunting lesson →You try to teach Ellie to hunt, and Joel comes to help. ( Inspired by that 1x06 scene) (☆)

Forgotten love →just a blurb about Joel realizing he loves you.(☆)

Drooling →You find a lake and convince Ellie and Joel to take a swim, according to Ellie, giving Joel the perfect opportunity to confess his feelings for you.(☆)

Interrupted →Ellie interrupts your and Joel's alone time and somehow, to her horror, realizes it. (☆ + ♡)

Helping out →While traveling, You, Joel, and Ellie find some marshmallows, and as you decide to roast them for old times' sake, you start talking, some conversation's topics piquing Joel's interest more than others. (☆)

Stay →the reader is the one who gets hurt in ep 1x06 instead of Joel (☆ + ➹)

The boss’ bunny → Joel is the boss of a group of criminals in the QZ, and you're his little bunny everyone knows better than to look at. (♡) [pt.2 - pt.3 - pt. 4 - Xmas special]

Joel miller x plus size! reader  (♡)

The cheating → You misinterpret a situation and think that Joel is cheating on you. (☆ + ➹)

Us → Pregnant!reader [pt. 2] (☆)

Daddy’s tired → Daddy's tired so he lets you take what you need from him yourself (♡)

You find out you have a white hair and Joel comforts you (☆)

Reader’s with Joel during the hospital scene

No-outbreak!Joel finds out you got a bikini wax from a guy

Our own → After spending the day with Tommy and Maria, you can’t help but notice how great Joel is with their baby, and a thought sparks your mind. (☆)

Keeping up → You convince Joel to go on a hike with you, but being that he's 56 years of age, he gets home barely in one piece, which means he needs a massage, which may lead to something more... (☆+♡)

Like a virgin →It's been a really long time since Joel has felt the feel of anything else besides his own fist, and once you remind him how good the real thing is… let's just say it's hard for him to live up to his full potential.(♡)

The final jump → Step-dad!Joel (♡) (dark) [pt. 2 - pt. 3 - Pt.4]

Needy →Joel needs his fix of you, and he doesn't care if it makes you late. (♡)

Mornin', Birthday girl → it's your birthday, and Joel and your daughters have planned the perfect morning (♡)

Just this once → Joel Miller x fem!babysitter!reader (♡)

Your husband Joel makes you mad, so you make him regret it (♡)

The mask → you ask your husband Joel to buy a Ghostface mask to wear during your "alone time", and he’s more than happy to comply (♡)

Joel catches you masturbating (♡)

reader has scars down there so she's insecure, but Joel reassures her

Joel marks up your neck and Ellie and Tommy ask about it

You mark up Joel's neck and are unashamed about it

Joel being your first kiss

Hot teach → You force Joel to go ice skating (☆)

A gentleman →  Your boyfriend is a good guy, but he's not so good at sex, but thankfully, his dad makes up for it (♡) [bfd!Joel]

Joel gives in to his breeding kink

Until now → It's Valentine's day morning, and your husband Joel is telling you all about what he's planned for the day, only he doesn't know you have a surprise of your own. (♡)

Dad!Joel getting frustrated with how long your skincare routine takes

You're in trouble doll → Joel, your dad's best friend, has pissed you off once again for his constant fear of your father finding out about you, so you decide to make him jealous, only he doesn't take it as well as you expected... or maybe exactly as you had (♡)

The sweetest remedy → Joel has a bad day at work, but you know how to make him forget all about it (♡)

But Daddy I Love Him → You and Joel shouldn't be together. According to the people in Jackson, he's a bad, cruel, crazy man, and yet... he's all you ever wanted. (♡+➹)

PostOutbreak!Joel likes you, but he tries to hide it because of the age difference. Ellie however, can see past his act

Enjoy the view → You surprise your husband with a new cooking attire, and he's more than happy to show you how much he appreciates it- even if he has an audience… especially when he knows how much you like it. (♡)

Your hands around my neck → You choke Joel for the first time in bed, and he likes it... maybe even a bit too much. (♡)

What's a fanfiction? → By mistake, you send Joel, your neighbor, your dad’s best friend, a fanfic you wrote, and when you go to his house to talk to him about it, your worst fear comes to life… and then your biggest dream. (♡)

Old Man → Joel needs glasses but won't admit it, and there's only an amount of teasing a man can take before he decides to show you just how much of an old man he is. (♡)

Sunbathing → you’ve decided to sunbathe topless, or as your husband Joel would put it, you’ve decided to torture him. (♡)

Give up → Once again you've found an excuse to invite your neighbor over, except for once you might be able to make him look past your age difference and have a little fun. (♡) [pt. 2]

JAVIER PEÑA

A bad informant → Self-explanatory (♡)

Steve will kill me → Javier x Steve's daughter! reader (♡)

Begging → Javier is desperate to see you, and he's not above begging (♡)

The pause → You and your colleague Javier Peña have never gotten along, but with just a simple proposition that started off as a joke, it turns out you do work well together in some areas. (♡)

MANDO

Negotiating →Mando captures you and you try to find a way to get him to let you go.(♡)

Close your eyes → After a few months of living in your new cabin on Nevarro, Din confesses to you he's ready to take the next step. (♡)

MARCUS ACACIUS

Win again → Marcus has won yet another match, so to reward him, his master has granted him another hour with you. (♡)

[justagalwhowrites]

Gurll, lavender is my go-to reread everytime. Ig u are taking requests (😂🫶🏻), I would really like to see how Joel found out Doc was pregnant of Sylvie and those sweet pregnancy exchanges - like him being worried (‘cause in the original we skip the whole pregnancy). 😎

OMG Hi Bestie!!!

So you'll see some of this in Girl Dad, a canon one shot I did for Doc's birthday back in October. You see some of Doc panicking about Sylvie on her birthday because she's never made it further in a pregnancy and her birthday has just such an awful personal history for her and Joel loves her through it. We also see Joel being just a precious father to his newest baby girl.

BUT... here's some more of the pregnancy for you ❤️

Expecting

20 years after your first pregnancy, you find yourself expecting again. Things are a bit different this time. A Lavender Drabble.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader from Lavender

Warnings: Pregnancy. Smut adjacent. No use of y/n. 18+ only Minors DNI

Length: 2k

September 2, 2024

The first time you threw up, Joel was on patrol.

It's not like you'd gotten your period since the two of you had started trying but you didn't put much stock in that. You'd never been regular and you were nearing menopause now. Missing a period or two was hardly monumental.

But the nausea the morning you woke up alone was.

You rocketed to the bathroom, doubling over the toilet, everything left in you from the night before coming up.

"Shit," you whispered, wiping your mouth on the back of your hand as your stomach still churned.

You knew this feeling. It had been a long time but you knew it.

And you knew you should be happy about it. It wasn't like last time. You and Joel were together now. Not just together, you were married. Things were secure - as secure as they could be in the apocalypse, anyway - and you were trying for this.

But it was still the apocalypse.

It was no small part of you that thought this wasn't going to happen. That you were going to try and try and then menopause would kick in and you'd never have a child you made with Joel. You'd resigned yourself to that a long time ago, that you'd never be a mother to someone that grew inside of you, never raise someone that you'd brought into being through love. You had Ellie who was your child in every way that mattered and that was more than enough.

But you were pregnant. You were sure of it. And you should have been happy about that - thrilled, in fact. Part of you was. The rest of you was terrified.

What had you been thinking? Bringing a child into this destroyed world? Would Joel even still want this now that it was real and not some imagined, idealized thing on the distant horizon? How were you supposed to protect a baby from the horrors of this reality? Even here in Jackson there was fear and risk and you'd gone and done this on purpose.

You didn't tell anyone, though the nurses at the clinic could tell you were off all day. You assured them that you were fine while trying not to panic. What if Joel changed his mind? What if, when faced with the reality of it, he didn't want to bring a baby into this world?

You threw up again that afternoon, the sickening feeling hanging around after everything came back up and you tried not to cry.

Joel got home after Ellie was already in bed that night, his patrol keeping him out late. You were pacing the kitchen when you heard the front door open and close quietly, the squeak of the floorboards under his heavy boots.

"Baby?" He frowned poking his head into the kitchen. "What're you still doin' up, it's late..."

"I know," you smiled a little, looking him up and down and taking stock to make sure he was still in one piece. "I'm glad you're back."

He smiled back, coming all the way into the kitchen to take you in his arms and kiss you, gentle and deep.

"You and me both," he said. "Gettin' too old to be sleeping rough like that, feel like I did my time with that shit getting out here..."

You laughed a little and nuzzled into him, breathing in the sweaty, woodsy scent of him.

"What's wrong, baby," he whispered, his arms enveloping you totally, holding you against him. "Can tell you got somethin' on that big brain of yours."

You pulled back from him just enough to see his face, his arms still holding you loosely. His face was smeared with dirt, the grime of the trail and sweat on his skin and his eyes were soft and warm and like home.

"I'm pregnant," you said softly. Those eyes got wider. "I know we've been trying but... It's real now and..."

"You're pregnant?" He breathed, stepping back from you, his hands going to your shoulders. You nodded, tears stinging the corners of your eyes. "Oh Baby..."

He took your face in his hands and kissed you again, so hard you could taste the passion on his tongue.

"Really?" He asked, his eyes searching yours as he pulled back from you and taking your shoulders again. You just nodded again, your heart pounding. "Fuck, that's... that's amazing, we're gonna... Baby, you're pregnant!"

"Yeah," you laughed a little. "Yeah, I am... You're happy?"

"Happy?" He laughed back. "Baby, I'm... I'm so far beyond fuckin' happy that word don't even begin to cover it."

He got to his knees in front of you, his hands on your hips, sliding around to cradle the small of your back as he looked lovingly at your stomach.

"You're pregnant," he said, awed, almost to himself. He pressed a kiss to you, over your womb, before one of his hands came to hold you reverently there. "Our baby is in you, right now."

"Yeah," you smiled, voice wet. "Yeah, they are."

"That's amazing," he whispered before looking up at you. "You're amazing, you're the most amazing thing I've ever seen..."

You ran your fingers through his curls before cupping his cheek.

"Thank you," you said, your whole being feeling lighter now, knowing that he was really in this with you.

"For what?" He asked, getting to his feet and pulling you against him again. "You're the one doin' all the work."

You smiled a little.

"For wanting this with me," you said quietly. "I was afraid... I'm still afraid. But we can do this."

"We can do this," he echoed you, kissing your temple. "You, me, Ellie, this baby. We're a family. We can do this."

You put a palm over your womb again, cradling where the child you'd made with Joel was growing inside you.

He was right. You could do this.

But things were different after that.

Joel hovered. It reminded you a bit of when he first came to the QZ, back when he thought his fear was something he could push past if he just got close enough. You’d be working at the clinic, turn around to pick something up and then Joel would be there. You’d be relaxing on the couch and decide you needed a cup of water and, the second you started to move, he was up instead asking what you needed.

“I’m perfectly capable of getting my own drink, you know,” you said a two months after you’d told him you were pregnant and Joel had damn near held you down instead of letting you go to the kitchen. “Also capable of walking to the mess hall on my own, making my own lunches…”

“All the work you’re doin’ growing my baby, I should do something,” he replied, bringing you a glass of water. “Seems like this is the least of it.”

You might have believed him if it wasn’t for the other things, too.

You’d become insatiable during pregnancy, all but demanding sex at least once if not twice a day. You couldn’t get enough of Joel but he seemed to be able to get enough of you.

It was close to Christmas when you finally brought it up, Joel’s hands more gently roaming over your skin rather than with any desire or need.

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not interested, you know,” you said, hoping you didn’t sound too desperate.

Joel frowned, looking over your face for a moment.

“What?” He sounded completely puzzled. “Why would I not be interested?”

“I know I look different now,” you ran a hand over your growing bump and took a deep breath. “It’s OK if you’re not as attracted to me at the moment…”

“In what fuckin’ universe am I not attracted to you?” He asked, his eyebrows knitting together. “Baby, if I could spend the rest of my damn life inside you, I’d be a happy man.”

Your confusion must have shown because he brushed your hair back before adjusting your face to look at him.

“What’s goin’ on,” he asked gently. “Why are you saying this stuff.”

“You don’t touch me like you used to,” you said quietly, hoping you didn’t sound too wounded by it. “And it’s OK if you don’t want me like that right now, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t really want and…”

“Baby,” he cut you off. “I’m gonna stop you right there. I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted you more than I do right now. Not when I first met you and you were some hot young thing, not when you first got off the plane to come visit, not when I first saw you again in the QZ. Seeing you grow our baby is the most beautiful, most sexy thing in the damn world, don’t go thinking otherwise.”

“Oh,” you frowned. “Then… I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“I just…” he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before looking at you again, a pained look on his face. “I’m scared, baby. I’m scared in a way I ain’t been since we came to Jackson.”

“Joel,” you whispered, running your fingers through his hair. “We’re OK here, we’re safe here…”

“I know,” he said. “You’re safe from infected and you’re safe from raiders but… baby, what if you get hurt? You’re the doctor here, what if something happens to you or the baby? What if there isn’t someone who knows how to save you? What if I do somethin’ to you on accident, what if I’m too rough because I’m caught up in touching you the way I want? I can’t risk that, baby, I can’t.”

“Oh Joel,” you breathed, pressing yourself closer. “You’re not going to hurt us. I promise, you’ve never been too rough with me. If something doesn’t feel right I’ll tell you but it’s OK. We’re safe. You’re safe.” You guided his hand to your breast, his large palm curving around the soft flesh. “And I want you to touch me, really touch me. Please.”

He was cautious at first, hesitant. Now that you knew he was afraid, it was easier to see it on his face and feel it in his touch. But you guided him through it, holding his hand, reassuring him, until he was lost in you and things felt right for the first time in months.

You learned how to head things off after that. When he would appear in the clinic, you would give him a kiss and tell him how you were feeling. If the baby was moving, you’d guide his hand to your stomach to let him feel them alive inside you. When you needed something at home and could see that he was restless and distracted by worry, you’d ask him for help. You started meeting him at the gates after patrol so he could see you and touch you as soon as he was back, feeling how he relaxed when his hands were on you.

When you went into labor, though, you were worried. You knew he was afraid but then, so were you. You were afraid not just of what could happen, of how it would hurt under the best of circumstances, but of how to help Joel through it, too.

But he sensed what you were doing right away, so in tune with you now. He climbed into the bed behind you, pulling you back so your head was resting on his chest.

“Don’t you dare worry about me,” he said, kissing the crown of your head. “I’ve got you, baby. Got both of you.”

You smiled a little as the contraction eased and he held you a little tighter.

“I know you do,” you relaxed into the firm, strong body of your husband. “I know.”

[elliespuns]

Just imagine Joel coming back home from patrol and he's got his jacket zipped up. Then Ellie hears a tiny "meow" coming from his jacket and is like "what's that???" and he opens up the jacket and this tiny black kitten just pokes its head out and meows at Ellie 🤧🤧🤧

Ellie's eyes widen in disbelief, tears of joy pricking at the corners. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she exclaims incredulously.

Joel smirks and opens his jacket a little more, revealing more of the tiny black, but smudgy kitten that weighs next to nothing. "You've already had your birthday, but I mean..." he says, gently scratching the little thing behind its ears.

"No way, seriously?" Ellie can't believe it. Had this hardened old man really softened up just for a kitten?

Joel rolls his yes playfully. "He wouldn't leave my side when I told him about you."

"Oh, shush!" She giggles as she reaches for the tiny thing, carefully picking it up and snuggling it to her chest. "Did you say it was he?" She asks, not paying attention to Joel anymore as she becomes preoccupied with how soft the kitten's fur is.

"Mm-hmm." The weary old man lets out a heavy sigh as he plops down on the couch, thoroughly exhausted from his long 12-hour shift. "Reach into my pocket. There's a can of tuna." He instructs, his voice soft with affection as he glances over at the girl. The sight of her happiness never fails to bring a smile to his weathered features. He would move heaven and earth to keep that joyful sparkle in her eyes. "Feed that little asshole."

Ellie gives him an indignant frown, her eyes scrunched up with mock anger. "Hey! Don't talk to my baby like that!" She chides playfully, turning her attention back to the cat and pressing a kiss to its furry head, hearing it purr.

"He deserves it." Joel retorts, holding up his scratched and bleeding hand in proof of the cat's misdeeds. "He's got some claws." He adds, wincing slightly as he re-examines the wound.

"Orion surely didn't mean to do that." Ellie defends the tiny ball of fluff responsible for her old man's hurt. "I mean, have you taken a look at yourself? Poor little guy was probably terrified out of his mind when he saw you."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." He chuckles, letting her poke fun at him. He loves nothing more than this. "Orion, huh?" He raised an eyebrow at such an unusual name.

"It's a space thing." She grins, cradling the black fur baby in her arms before hugging it close to her chest. "And he is now a new respectable resident of Jackson." She makes a funny face at Joel, her eyes shining with love to the sound of the little meows.

"Okay, okay. I get it." He jokes, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. "I can't believe how easy it was for me to get replaced like this."

Gently holding the cutest creature she's ever seen in real life, Ellie sits next to Joel. "Thank you." She says quietly, leaning in to place a soft kiss on his bearded cheek, conveying her gratitude.

Joel wouldn't expect this, but he knows this moment is precisely what gives his life its true meaning and purpose.

[janeyseymour]

Hey babe it’s me, I know I’m the greatest😭 but let’s get to the point. What if we got a one shot of Melissa thinking about popping the question 💍to reader and she talks to Barbara about it and she looks back on all the time she spent with El and reader and ultimately decides to do so.❤️❤️

Im a sucker for happy endings bro ✨✨

Love Thy Neighbor, Two Families Become One- pt 2

PART 1

WC: ~3.15k

That night, Melissa dreams of a life where you are officially her wife and Ellie is officially her daughter. That dream that shifts into a sort of hellish nightmare where both Gary and Jared are there, and she’s doing everything that she can do to protect you. And then it flickers into a dream where you aren’t around anymore, and because Ellie isn’t officially her daughter in the eyes of the law, she ends up back with Jared. 

That dream is terrifying enough for her to wake up breathing deeply and making sure that you were still breathing before going to silently check on Ellie in her room. The redhead lets out a sigh of relief when she confirms that it was indeed just her imagination running wild.

When the two of you wake up for the day, she’s a bit more lovey than she usually is. Her hands don’t leave your body, whether that just be holding your hand or a hand settled on your hip and squeezing lightly. There are more kisses pressed to your head than a normal day. When she and Ellie come back from the grocery store while you stayed home to clean, they both come home with flowers for you. While you aren’t complaining, you are a bit curious as to why she’s being so romantic today.

“Is it my birthday and I forgot?” you ask as you hold both bouquets of flowers.

“No, you’re so silly Momma,” your little girl giggles from next to your girlfriend.

Melissa’s lips are on your own softly. “We just thought Momma should know how much we love her.”

“Well, thank you,” you smile against her. Then you lift your daughter onto your hip and pepper her face is kisses while she squeals happily. “I love you both too.”

As you’re getting ready for bed that night, Melissa texts her work wife.

We gotta talk tomorrow morning.

About? Barbara texts back almost instantly.

You’re still awake?

Well, I was falling asleep…

Sorry. We’ll chat tomorrow?

I’ll ask again… about?

Y/N, Ellie, and me.

Oh lord, what did you do Melissa?

Nothin. Just… please?

Meet me in my room tomorrow morning after you’ve stopped for coffee.

When the two of you head in for work on Monday, Nonna’s words still haven’t left Melissa’s mind. The three of you walk into the school hand in hand, Ellie’s backpack slung over your girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Little girl, you have to hang with your momma this morning,” the redhead tells your daughter. “Mom has a meeting.”

“You do?” you furrow a brow. “On a Monday morning?”

“With Barb,” she tells you. “To talk about insurance and how all of that stuff is changing.”

“Auntie Barb?!” Ellie asks excitedly. “Can I at least come say hi and give her a hug?”

Melissa almost says no, but those puppy dog eyes are strong and she relents. “But very quickly.”

“Wait, insurance is going to be changing?”

“There’s a possibility,” she tells you, although you don’t know that she’s referring to the fact that it might change because she’s contemplating asking you to marry her.

“Should I sit in on this meeting?” you ask her, concerned.

She shakes her head. “You just worry about El, and I’ll fill you in later.”

“Okay,” you sigh as you drop your things in your room. “Where are you meeting her?”

“Just her classroom after we get our coffees,” Melissa says.

After you’ve gotten your coffees, the three of you head down to the kindergarten wing. Ellie, of course, sprints ahead yelling Barb’s name as she goes.

“Auntie Barb!” Ellie is giggling and clinging to your girlfriend’s best friend by the time you both catch up with her.

“Baby girl, not that I’m not happy to see you, but where are your mothers?”

“Hey,” you chuckle from the doorframe. “Sorry to crash your meeting, but Ellie wanted to run in and say hi.”

“Well she knows Auntie Barb is always here to say hello to and give a snuggle,” Barbara chuckles as she releases your daughter.

“Alright, El,” Melissa looks at your daughter. “You got to say hi to Auntie Barb, now I gotta talk with her.”

“Can’t I stay?”

“I think you’ll have more fun with Momma coloring in her room,” your girlfriend says.

Ellie contemplates this for a moment before nodding. She runs to the redhead and hugs her tightly before taking your hand and pulling you off down the hall.

Your girlfriend watches the two of you make your way down the hall before she closes the door to the kindergarten room. 

“Well?” Barbara looks to her work wife curiously. “What on Earth could you have done that would require us to talk without Y/N and Ellie here?”

“I took them to meet my mom and Nonna,” Melissa states. “And Nonna told them that they were family and that Ellie was an honorary Schemmenti.”

“That’s great news,” the kindergarten teacher states.

“And now, I’m thinking about asking them to become official Schemmentis.”

Barbara gives your girlfriend a look in shock. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought that you didn’t want to get married again though, and Y/N seems perfectly content with that,” the woman says softly.

“I said that it would take a freaking miracle,” Melissa says. “And they… they are that miracle.”

“That’s great though, Melissa,” Barbara tells the redhead. “Why did we need to talk about this?”

“Because… I need you to tell me that I’m not insane for thinking this and throwing caution to the wind again for her,” the second grade teacher says quietly. “I- I never thought that I would consider getting married again.”

“Well, why are you?” Barb asks.

Your girlfriend folds her arms over her chest as she perches herself on one of the tables. “Because I love those two more than I’ve ever loved anyone… Nonna and my mother adore them, called them family and honorary Schemmentis. And then, that night I had a couple dreams about them.”

“What were they?” the kindergarten teacher inquires.

Melissa sighs softly. “I had a couple… one where Y/N was my wife and Ellie was my daughter, another where Jared came back and I couldn’t protect Y/N, and then… the last one was… something happened to Y/N, and because I wasn’t legally Ellie’s mother, she went back to Jared kicking and screaming.”

“Oh,” Barbara sighs quietly.

“That one had me so shaken that I checked that Y/N was still breathing and that Ellie was asleep in bed.”

“That makes sense, Melissa,” the kindergarten teacher says.

“Well? What do you have to say about this?”Your girlfriend asks.

“I think the answer is right in front of you, and you would be a fool to not follow your heart,” Barb states. “Y/N has been nothing but wonderful for you, Ellie already calls you her mother… you have already laid down the foundation for a beautiful marriage.”

“What if it’s too soon though?”

“When you know, you know,” Barbara says smugly. “Think about it.”

“Thanks,” Melissa smiles. She heads out after that, knowing that the kiddos will be coming in any second.

When lunch time comes around, Melissa makes her way into the staff room and has your meal out and ready for you when you get there. You sigh as you settle yourself in your chair and lean your shoulder on her head.

“Thank you,” you whisper.

She presses a kiss to your temple with a soft chuckle. “Happy Monday?” she offers.

“It’s Monday, that’s for sure… Roman started off the day spilling my coffee all over the floor and shattering my mug, so I’m exhausted.”

“Well, I can fix that,” your girlfriend laughs quietly as she stands from her place and heads for the coffee machine. She pulls another mug from the cabinet, and while the coffee is brewing, her eyes linger on you.

You’re half asleep as you bring your lunch to your mouth, but she can’t help but think that you are the most beautiful woman in the world. She gets so distracted just looking at you that she doesn’t notice the coffee is ready.

“Babe, stop staring at me,” you tell her.

She shakes herself out of her trance. “Sorry. You’re just… wow.”

“I don’t have any makeup on, and I’m in your old Eagles sweatshirt,” you roll your eyes. “I probably have bags under my eyes actually.”

She hums as she brings you the new cup of coffee, leaning down and kissing your cheek. “You’re stunning, and I won’t hear anything else.”

That day after school, the two of you take Ellie to the park like you do on any day that allows for the little bundle of energy to run around and tire herself out. You find Melissa watching Ellie with a sparkle in her eye, not that that isn’t uncommon, but there’s something different about the way she’s watching her today.

“What’s got you lookin’ at her like that today?” you ask as you squeeze her hand.

Melissa smiles fondly. “Just… thinking about how much that little girl has grown and changed, and how she’s changed my life for the better.”

“We’ve been through a lot,” you smile softly.

Ellie is put to bed, and for once, you’re not entirely exhausted. So, you prepare for bed before heading out into the living room with two glasses of wine. Melissa is in her spot, glasses on the tip of her nose and looking at her phone with a soft smile.

“What are you looking at?” you ask as you sit next to her.

“The album I have of you and El,” she tells you as she wraps her arm around you and pulls you practically in her laugh.

There’s a picture of Ellie’s seventh birthday up. Ellie’s eyes are wide and filled with so much love for your girlfriend as she grins at the camera, holding up the toy that your little girl had so desperately wanted but you couldn’t afford.

“I can’t believe you spoiled her as much as you did that day,” you roll your eyes.

She shrugs. “Have you ever seen the kid so happy though? It was worth it.”

You swipe over, and there are about a million pictures and videos of your daughter at the park running around with the sweetest smile on her face.

“This one’s my favorite,” Melissa sighs with content as she lands on a selfie of the three of you. Ellie was in her favorite lavender shirt, Melissa was wearing that salmon colored shirt you adore, and you were in your overalls looking exhausted but filled with so much joy.

“I look like a mess,” you roll your eyes.

“Do you remember that day?”

“Yeah,” you chuckle. “That was while we were moving in and I was at the end of my rope.”

“Momma! Please!” Ellie had pleaded with you, but you were in no mood to go out into the world after an afternoon of lugging all of your things across the hall or down to the storage unit a block over. “Please! I just want to go to the park!”

“Elizabeth,” you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose with your thumb and forefinger. “I already said no.”

“But please! I just want to play with you!”

“Elizabeth, you are on thin ice,” you warned, but she didn’t relent, and that finally got you to blow over. “Elizabeth Ruth! To your room, now!”

Your little girl, never used to being reprimanded, immediately burst into tears. And something inside of you broke too. Melissa came out from where she was rearranging her closet to make room for your things at the sound.

“What- what’s happening?” she asked as she lifted Ellie onto her hip and guided you to the couch.

“Momma- Momma yelled at me!” Ellie wailed into your girlfriend’s shoulder.

“I- I didn’t mean to!” you had cried right back into her other shoulder. “I- This has all been so hard, and I’m exhausted, and I just don’t have the energy to take her down to the park today!”

Melissa blew out a breath. This was all over going to the park?

“Momma telled me to go to my room, but I don’t even have a room yet!” your daughter whimpered.

“I’m sorry, El,” you apologized. “I’m sorry I lost my temper on you… that was not okay.”

“It’s okay, Momma,” your little girl forgave you quickly as she sniffled the last of her tears away.

“Why don’t we do this,” Melissa started. “I’ll take El down to the park and play with her while you get a nap in?”

“N-no,” Ellie shook her head into the redhead’s neck. “Momma said no.”

“Go,” you whispered. “Take her, have fun, and I’ll be in a better mood when you come back.”

“R-really?” your little girl peered at you from her place in Melissa’s lap. You nod, but your daughter doesn’t make any moves towards the door.

Eventually, with lots of promises that it really was okay, Ellie went with your girlfriend out the door and towards the park. 

You relaxed into the cushions of the couch, but you felt absolutely terrible for snapping at your child. So, about ten minutes after they leave, you too headed down to the park.

You stopped at the coffee shop down the street from your house, and you grabbed your girlfriend’s favorite, your drink, and a lemonade for your little girl. You found them almost as soon as you entered the gated area of the playground, and Ellie was giggling with glee as Melissa pushed her on the swing. Your daughter’s eyes lit up at the sight of you.

“Momma!” Ellie squeaked as she pointed at you.

Melissa turned in your direction, slightly confused. “Babe?”

“I thought I should come down,” you told them. “I’ve been so high strung lately, and I figured maybe I should just come down and spend a nice afternoon with my girls.”

“Really?” Ellie squealed as she continued to swing.

You nod and take a seat on the playground equipment next to her. You started to pump your legs, and soon you were in sync with your daughter. Melissa just chuckled as she continues to push Ellie.

“Momma! you never swing with me!”

“That’s because I’m always the one pushing you while Mel takes videos,” you laughed. And when you looked over, Melissa was indeed filming you both swinging.

It was a bit before you got off the swing, and the three of you ended up finding a nice little patch of grass that you could settle on. Ellie sipped on her lemonade while you drank your coffee. Melissa pecked your cheek before pulling out her phone and holding it out in front of her. She snapped a picture of the three of you, cheeks kissed with the sun and high on life.

“That was a good day,” she smiles softly. “It was so nice seeing you just be free for a little bit.”

“We should do that again soon,” you tell her quietly as you sip on the wine in your glass.

The two of you go through her pictures, reminiscing on all of the good times. 

“Do you remember this one?” she asks you as she shows you a picture of you and Ellie dozing on the couch.

“Oh god,” you groan. “I was exhausted that day.”

You don’t know what hit you, but the kids wore you down that day. And after school, you collapsed onto the couch and pretty much refused to move. Melissa started on dinner for that night while Ellie curled up in your lap and started to drift off too.

You only woke up when your girlfriend snapped a picture of you, trying to be sneaky.

“Dammit,” she mumbled as the shutter sound rang out from her phone.

“Did you just take a picture of us?” you asked as you blinked awake. 

She shrugs. “You guys are just so cute. I can’t help it.”

Eventually, the two of you head into your bedroom, and you fall asleep against your girlfriend rather quickly. But sleep doesn’t come easily for Melissa. She’s reminiscing on the time that she’s spent with you. All of the good, the bad, and the ugly. She remembers the first time she told you that she loved you.

The two of you had a night to yourselves, your parents offering to watch Ellie so you could spend some quality time together.

“This was really nice,” you smiled at her as she drives through the city to pick up Ellie.

She nodded and brought your hand to her lips. “It’s always a nice time with you… I love spending time with you.”

“I do too,” you whispered as you leaned over the middle console to kiss her cheek.

She pulled up to a stop light and turned her head to kiss you gently. 

“Honey, why are you stopping? You never stop,” you ask.

“Because I want to look at you when I tell you, I would even say… that I love you.”

Your eyes went wide. “What?”

“I love you,” she said again, just as softly and just as genuine as the first time.

You couldn’t help but kiss her again. “I love you too,” you mumbled against her lips. 

She remembers the first time the two of you had made love. You were beyond nervous, claiming that you were in no shape to be seen naked after having Ellie- that it’s been too long since you’ve been with someone knew- your only body was Jared. She didn’t care- she worshipped you that night.

She remembers the night that she met you. She can still see her first glance at the two of you in her mind. You looked beyond stressed, Ellie was in meltdown mode, and yet she somehow still knew that the two of you would become two of the most significant people in her life.

She remembers all of the good, and all of the bad. How you get giddy at the sight of her. How her heart broke for you when you would cry over your failed marriage. The way that you celebrated the case against Jared. That time that you had your doubts in the relationship and tried to run away, only to come falling into her arms that night telling her that you were terrified of giving someone your heart again, only for it to be shattered- she promised you that she would never, ever do that to you. 

She reminisces about it all, and by the time that sleep takes her she’s decided that she is indeed going to ask you to marry her… so long as Ellie is okay with it. You, and your little girl, are worth everything to her.

TAGS: @schemmentis @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @thesamesweetie @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @gwennybriggs @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @sapphicxrat @a-queen-and-her-throne @sunsol-22 @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson

[elsfavor1te]

can you write hcs of ellie being a simp gf 🫶🏻

SO INLOVE

warnings: i don’t really know what to put here tbh.. cutesy fluff stuff. 18+ smut included. oral (r receiving). thigh riding (also r receiving).

this was super fun to write man. i loved it 10/10. 💕💕 thank you for the ask. this is technically the first smut i’ve ever written, if you’d even count this as smut. be kind. 🥲

—————

simpgf!ellie who always has to have her hands on you.

you could be doing something as simple as reading a book and she’s there, head on your stomach , hand trailing up under your shirt.

she loves to hold your hand too. just when you’re walking through jackson or when she’s between your thighs.

she has you spread open for her, one hand holding your thigh down. her tongue swirling around your clit occasionally sucking. she uses her free hand to hold yours when you’re about to cum, talking you through it.

“that’s it. good fuckin’ girl.”

simpgf!ellie who loves kissing you.

normally ellie isn’t one for pda but with you she doesn’t care. kissing you where ever and infront of whoever.

she doesn’t neglect kissing you when she’s upset either, sure she might grip your neck a little harder than necessary when she’s dragging your face to hers to place the kiss on your lips. never hard enough to hurt you though.

she doesn’t care if you’re wearing lipgloss either. you’d try and stop her reminding her how she doesn’t like the sticky feeling of it,

“baby, lipgloss. it’s gonna be on your lips.”

“i don’t care. kiss me.” she’d pout cutely until you finally did. standing patiently as you took your thumb and wiped the thin layer of gloss off of her lips.

sometimes when you’d wear the pretty colored lipstick you found on patrol and kissed her cheek, neck, forehead she wouldn’t let you wipe off the mark it left. telling you it’s your special way of claiming her, (even though everyone already knows she’s yours).

simpgf!ellie who loves waking up with you.

loving the messy bed head look you wake up with, your hair sticking up in all directions and mouth dry.

sometimes you would wake up to her trailing her fingers through your hair, separating tangles gently when she came across them.

other times when you’d wake before her she would have you locked in her arms. your legs tangled together and you trapped in her arms.

at first you feel safe, admiring her pretty face while she holds you. after awhile you’d try to wiggle out, whispering her name.

“els, i gotta pee…”

“shhh, m’sleeping”

eventually you’d wiggle enough and whine enough that she would let you go, urging you to go fast and come back.

on special mornings after you would both wake up you wouldn’t even make it out of the bed before your lips are crashing urgently. her thigh pushing up against your clothed center as you grind down, letting little moans slip into her mouth.

simpgf!ellie who helps you when you can’t sleep.

she would make you snacks if you said that’s what you needed to sleep.

she’d rub your back for hours if it got you to sleep easier, whispering reassurances as her hand drew little shapes on your back.

“i’ve got you…”

at first she was against it but once she saw how fast humming little songs would get you to sleep it’d be her go-to. humming to you everywhere. when you couldn’t sleep, when you were crying, when you just needed ellie to hold you.

simpgf!ellie who talks about you to everyone.

“dina,” she would try to keep a straight face but ultimately end up with the biggest grin on her face. “she found me a brand new case of colored pencils AND a new sketchbook for my birthday. we’re in an apocalypse man. how does she do it?”

dina would smile, happy ellie found her person. even happier that it was her bestfriend she found it in.

sometimes when she couldn’t contain herself she would even brag to jesse. “she did my hair like this for me when we woke up,” she gestures at the 2 braids leading into a little ponytail at the middle of her head, otherwise it’s her normal half up half down hairstyle. “bet dina doesn’t do your hair in the mornings.”

“what? of course she doesn’t, i don’t have enough hair for that- you’re such a fucking simp.”

“yup.” she grins cheekily. “so inlove with her.”

[sixhours]

happy birthday, baby girl - camping

Ellie has never had a birthday. Joel can fix that.

Series masterlist | Read on AO3 | In progress

Rating: Teen Chapter tags: The Last of Us, The Last of Us (HBO), Joel and Ellie, Ellie Williams, Joel Miller, birthdays, swearing, canon-compliant, angst, implied past alcohol abuse/alcoholism Words: 7.1k

Notes: A bunch of birthday one-shots loosely based on this headcanon. This might be a five-times/one-time fic in disguise, it hasn't decided yet.

They walk out of Jackson at dawn. For four months, they’ve lived behind the protection of a steady rotation of guards and patrols and reinforced walls. Safe and sound, but Jackson is only so big, and Ellie can’t help but feel a little claustrophobic. Even if she doesn’t have to share her room with another FEDRA brat, even if there are no bodies hanging in the public square, even if Jackson smells like fresh-cut grass and woodsmoke and pine trees instead of piss.

No, Jackson is not Boston, not by a long shot. But it’s not the walls that have her feeling smothered. She’s not used to having so many people see her. Joel and Tommy and Maria and teachers and friends and neighbors; so many people who care where she is and what she’s doing and who she’s doing it with. There are rules to follow, schedules to keep, a community that expects her to contribute.

It’s fucking suffocating if she thinks about it too hard.

Today, not twenty feet outside the walls with Joel at her side, she takes what feels like her first deep breath in weeks.

“You okay, kid?”

“Yeah…fine. Just…it’s different than I remember.”

He blinks into the sun-drenched landscape, autumn just starting to tease the tops of the trees into a golden glow. It’s all familiar ground to him. He leaves the compound regularly for patrols and tells her about what they find at the end of his shifts–not a whole hell of a lot, usually.

But today it’s just the two of them, on foot, with a few supplies and a surprise destination of Joel’s in mind. She’s tried to harass it out of him without any luck.

“Is it…a lake?”

“Nope.”

“A racetrack?”

“Nope.”

“Is it a spaceship?”

This elicits a wry glance over his shoulder, at least. “Nope.”

“Umm…is it the ocean?”

“Kid, when was the last time you looked at a map?”

“When was the last time the maps were updated? For all you know, there could be a whole sea on the other side of those mountains now.”

“It ain’t the ocean, and I’m not tellin’, so you may as well stop askin’,” he says, but she knows he doesn’t really mind her questions.

His backpack and guitar are slung on his back, leaving her to carry the rifle. He has a small cooler in one hand and a walking stick in the other, something Tommy found and carved and sanded smooth. He’d promised to make Ellie one of her own this winter when construction work slowed down.

“How long does it take to get there?”

“Five hours, give or take.”

“And you’ve been through here before?” she asks, hoping her voice doesn’t betray her nerves. They’re walking through thick forest on a rough path, pock-marked with hoofprints from recent patrols.

“Yep. Meant to take you out here this summer but your cousin had other ideas,” he mutters. “Think you’ll like it.”

She shrugs.

“Figured it’s been a lot, these last few months,” he continues. “What with school…the new baby. New…everythin’, really. Thought we could use some time to, uh…I dunno. Talk. Just you an’ me. Like old times.”

Old times .

It’s a funny phrase under the circumstances, but it fits. It’s only been a year since Riley died, since Marlene found her in the mall, since she met Joel. Ellie felt like she’d lived a million lives in that time, like she’d stepped through a portal like Daniela Starr and wound up in an alternate reality. Even in her wildest dreams, she never could have predicted this. Never thought she’d survive a bite, that she’d live to see a life outside the walls of the QZ, that she’d travel across the country with a strange old man and ultimately find herself with a family, small and broken as it is.

She absently rubs at the scar under her sleeve. She’s fallen behind, feet dragging a little as she contemplates all the things that happened to bring her to this point. The mall, Kansas City, the hospital…

I swear.

She doesn’t like to think about the hospital.

Suddenly Joel’s hand is on her arm and she jerks away, realizes he’s been talking and she’s missed it, lost in her thoughts.

“Sorry,” she says.

“It’s nothin’,” he says. “I was just sayin’, I thought a little trip couldn’t hurt, get some fresh air before the snow flies…call it a birthday present.”

“You’re a little late, dude,” she says, picking up her pace to match his longer strides. “Or really fucking early.”

“Yeah, well,” he says, frowning. “Didn’t have a proper birthday this year. I figured you’re owed a few extra.”

“Does that mean I’m sixteen now? ‘Cause I can start patrol training at sixteen. Tommy said so.”

“Nice try, kid.”

She hefts her pack higher on her back, the hiking boots Joel found for her at the trading post rubbing against the backs of her heels. She’s not used to them yet, but she has to admit, they’re a hell of a lot better than her Converse for this kind of walking.

It’s an easy hike, a steady uphill climb on a narrow but well-maintained path. It’s clear it’s going to take longer than five hours when Ellie keeps finding things to look at; a cool black rock laced with glittery gold flecks to add to her collection, an iridescent beetle, a tiny dead bird carcass crawling with worms. Joel indulges her investigations the way he always does, grumbling good-naturedly, but he doesn’t rush her. They cross a shallow stream, Ellie hop-skipping over the rocks while Joel takes the wood patrol bridge, eyes on her the whole time.

The back of her left heel starts to throb about two hours in, but it’s easy enough to ignore.

It’s mid-afternoon, the sun already beginning to fall from its peak in the sky by the time they make it to their secret destination. They crest a hill and off in the distance, a wood structure sticks out over the trees.

“Is that…a treehouse?”

“Kinda,” Joel grunts, sweat shining on his forehead. It was cool when they left, but they’ve both shed their outer jackets in favor of tee shirts as the day went on. She doesn’t have to worry about hiding her scar out here. Eager to explore, Ellie runs ahead up the path and soon she’s standing at the edge of a clearing with a tower in the middle.

“Used to be a ranger’s station but they converted it to an outpost a few years back, I guess,” Joel says at her back.

“So cool,” she breathes, looking up at the tower, what looks like a cabin on stilts. Seeing it up close reminds her of the treehouse in the Swiss Family Robinson movie they played at the rec center a couple weeks ago. At the base is a fire pit and a lean-to, probably for tying up the patrol horses. Joel sets his guitar just inside the lean-to and puts his hands on his hips, squinting up at the structure.

“Can we go up?” she asks.

“Sure hope so,” he says. Joel goes to one of the thickets of shrubs on the far side of the camp and starts poking around. “Or we’re sleepin’ on the ground.”

“We get to sleep up there?”

“Yep,” he says, hauling a metal ladder out of the brush.

“Sweet!”

“Pull on that end,” he instructs, and she does, grabbing hold of the opposite rung and tugging until the ladder is fully extended. Joel lays it up against the side of the lookout so the top rung hooks onto a second ladder that’s attached to the structure higher up. He frowns and shakes the thing until it’s firmly seated, takes a few cautious steps up, testing its stability.

“Safe enough,” he pronounces, coming back to the ground. “You wanna go–”

He hasn’t finished his sentence before she’s leapt onto the ladder, climbing it like a monkey.

“–first? Jesus, kid, be careful…”

But Ellie is already clambering up, hand over hand until she reaches the top ledge. She pulls herself up to standing, walking along the side of the central cabin and down the wrap-around balcony.

“Whoa,” she breathes, leaning out over the railing. From up here she can see the whole valley and beyond. They’re too far to be able to see Jackson, she guesses, peering into the distance. It’s conveniently shrouded in trees.

Joel joins her, panting slightly. “Christ, few months of real cookin’ and I’m outta shape.”

“Sure you’re not just old?” she grins. “We could find you an oxygen tank and a wheelchair. Maybe one of those little electric scooters.”

“Brat,” he huffs, leaning on the railing, gently tugging her back by the handle of her backpack when she leans over too far. “Can still haul your scrawny ass around.”

“This is so fucking cool,” she breathes, turning around. The ranger’s station has huge plexiglass windows, and she cups her hands to one of the panes and peeks inside.

“C’mon,” Joel says, walking back around the building. He fishes a key out from behind a loose shingle near the door. “Let’s go set up.”

The lookout has obviously been maintained. Freshly stained boards stand out against the aging weathered ones like sore thumbs. The floor underfoot is solid, if creaky in places, and there’s a slight draft coming in around the windows. There are chests full of supplies and gear–enough rations to last a small patrol group for a couple of weeks, Joel says. Ellie wrinkles her nose at the familiar stock of canned goods and MREs.

If there’s one thing she has no complaints about in Jackson, it’s the food. Ellie didn’t know green beans could taste like summer, or that a fresh peach could drip sticky juice down her chin without being soaked in cloying syrup, or that soup could be more than a salty broth with shapeless chunks of mush. Until a couple months ago, she’d never had fresh whipped cream or apple pie or so many of the things they serve regularly at the caf. FEDRA rations couldn’t come close, and she can’t imagine going back to that.

She’s relieved to know they won’t be eating from the stockpile of MREs tonight. There’s not a single can in Joel’s backpack. Instead, he’s carrying pre-sliced potatoes and onions and cheese wrapped in foil, packets of roasted vegetables ready to be warmed over the fire, and several apples and granola mix for snacks. Joel said something about catching the rest of their dinner, but she wasn’t fully listening, knowing he wouldn’t make her eat the venison or rabbit or moose if they went hunting.

They lay down their bedrolls on top of foam mats on the wood floor, not dusty and ravaged by time but swept clean and tidy. Ellie flops down on her bed to test it out, staring up into the rafters. There are no cobwebs or birds’ nests. Instead, the exposed beams are decorated with odds and ends, trinkets left behind by other patrollers, random treasures found during scavenging runs. A broken lantern. A rusty horseshoe. Old farm tools. A doll that’s missing one eye and probably haunted, Ellie decides. She’s half tempted to steal it and bring it back with them to Jackson if she can figure out how to get it past Joel.

When they’re mostly settled in their makeshift camp, Joel asks, “Ready to go check out the water?”

“Water?”

“There’s a stream not far from here. You ever been fishin’?” Joel plucks two long poles off the back wall.

She rolls her eyes. “Dude, the Charles was a fucking sewer. No, I’ve never been fishing.”

That earns her a smirk. “Twilight’s the best time for brook trout. Let’s go catch dinner.”

Ellie gets up from her bedroll and makes the mistake of hissing in pain, unable to hide a slight limp from the chafing against her heel. She’s mostly ignored it until now but a few minutes of rest has brought the pain into sharp relief. Joel is immediately hovering at her side.

“What’s wrong? You twist it?”

“No, it’s just…these stupid boots,” she mutters. “Think I got a blister.”

“Let’s see.”

“It’s fine, man, I’m—“

“Sit,” he says in his you do what I say when I say it voice.

“I’m not a dog, asshole,” she grunts, but she does as she’s told, plopping back down on her sleeping bag.

“Foot,” he instructs, kneeling and putting out a hand. She undoes her laces and takes off her boot, peeling off her sock with a wince. The blister has already popped, oozing bloody fluid through the back of her sock. The top layer of skin has peeled away leaving a gnarly red patch of raw flesh in its place.

“Christ, Ellie,” he grumbles upon seeing the damage.

“It’s not that bad,” she says, even as she hisses. Exposed to the open air, the fresh wound smarts like a sonofabitch, as Joel would say.

“Like hell it ain’t,” he frowns, then goes over to the trunk of supplies. He has a first aid kit, but it’s little more than band-aids and salve. The outpost’s kit has gauze and tape and a flask of alcohol for disinfectant. “You been walkin’ on this the whole time?”

“Just the last hour or so,” she lies. “Wasn’t gonna be a whiny little bitch about it.”

He fixes her with a look that brings hot red patches to her cheeks. “Don’t say that. If you’re hurt, we take care of it.”

“Didn’t wanna slow us down–”

“Not on a schedule,” he mutters. “Leave somethin’ like this too long, it's liable to get infected. This is gonna sting.”

He wipes at the wound with a piece of gauze soaked in the alcohol, wincing along with her when the sensation of the cleaner on her raw flesh brings tears to her eyes.

“What’s the verdict, doc?” she rasps when she can speak without gritting her teeth around the pain.

“Don’t think we’ll have to amputate,” he says drily, then glares at her. “Yet.”

She rests her chin on her other knee and waits while he dabs salve on the wound, covering it with gauze and taping it in place. He pulls a clean pair of socks out of her pack and slides one carefully over the bandage, giving her toes an errant squeeze when it’s all done.

“Still gonna hurt, but at least you won’t be rubbin’ it raw. How’s the other one?”

“It’s fine.”

He scowls. “Swear to god, kid, if you’re hidin’ another blister–”

“Ugh, it’s not as bad. See for yourself,” she says, taking off her other boot and sock, sticking her foot directly in his face and wiggling it in front of his nose for emphasis. He swats at it and grumbles brat under his breath, before taking it gently in hand.

Two smaller blisters, still fresh, decorate the back of her other heel. He gives them the same treatment, padding the wounds with gauze so they won’t get worse.

“Was that so damn hard?” he asks when he’s done. “It ain’t a crime to ask for help, y’know.”

She shrugs. “Didn’t want you to worry–”

“S’my job to worry about you,” he cuts her off, then softens, gripping her chin gently between forefinger and thumb. “One I’m pretty damn lucky to have.”

Sometimes, even now, it’s a surprise that he cares. Her throat goes tight and she nods once.

“Now c’mon,” he says, groaning and stretching as he stands. “Fish ain’t gonna catch themselves.”

She puts on her boots and considers leaving them untied, eager as she is to see the water and the fish, but she can already hear Joel’s voice– gonna go ass over teakettle if y’ain’t careful –so she thinks better of it and re-ties the laces before bounding out the door behind him.

“Careful on the ladder,” he reminds her from halfway down, and she refrains from rolling her eyes, but she does take it slow, telling herself his old-man heart is fragile and she doesn’t want to be the cause of a heart attack.

They take a right from the tower and hike deeper into the forest toward the sound of running water. The stream sparkles in the last of the evening sun as they settle on the embankment with their fishing rods. Joel shows her how to dig into the soft parts of the soil for worms to use as bait (gross, but cool), how to wind them around the hook and stab them to secure them (just gross), and how to cast the line so it doesn’t get tangled in the brush on the side of the bank (nearly impossible).

After a few minutes, Ellie shifts from one foot to the other. “Now what?”

“We wait. If you feel a bite on the line, start to reel it in.”

They do. She holds the pole and she waits. And waits. And–

She slaps at a mosquito on her neck, then another one on her arm. Her nose itches and her hair tickles her ears. She recasts the line when it bobs and drifts too far, reeling it back in, watching as Joel does the same.

“So how long does this usually take?” she says when she’s cast for the fifth time and felt absolutely nothing. She watches the bobber drift along with the current. The sun has dropped behind the trees, taking most of the heat out of the air.

“Long as it takes.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Gonna take even longer if you keep yappin’ and scarin’ the fish away.”

She rolls her eyes, mimicking him. “‘ Yappin’ n’ scarin’ the fish away.’ ”

He side-eyes her, but his cheek twitches the way it does when he’s trying not to laugh at one of her puns.

“Did you used to fish a lot?”

“When I was a kid, mostly. Old man took us out once in a while.”

“So…early Jurassic period?”

“Yep,” he says easily. “Rode my dinosaur to the lake n’ back.”

“Har har,” she says, swatting at a mosquito that’s buzzing around her left ear. “I just thought there’d be, more, y’know…fish.”

“I liked it about as much as you do, at the time. Never caught much,” he grimaces, reeling in his line and casting it again. “Think the old man just liked gettin’ away from our mama so he could get shitfaced in peace.”

She arches an eyebrow. “Wholesome.”

“Not the word I’d use. Anyway, spent more time pushin’ Tommy in the lake than I did catchin’ fish.”

Now that sounds like fun. “Can I push you in if we don’t catch anything?”

“You can try,” he smirks.

More time passes. Ellie shifts on her feet and swats at more mosquitos, trying and failing to imagine Joel as a kid.

“Man…I wanna ride a dinosaur,” she sighs.

“Jesus Christ,” Joel mutters, but he’s smiling.

Then there’s a distinct tug on her line, so forceful and surprising she almost lets the whole contraption go.

“Joel!”

“What?”

“It’s…it’s going! What the fuck do I do?”

“Well don’t panic,” he says, setting his pole down carefully, wedging it between two large rocks. “Hold on, kid, I gotcha.”

“It’s probably a fucking boot or something,” Ellie says, holding the pole back with both hands to keep it steady, unable to reel in whatever is on the other end for fear of losing her grip.

“Dunno about that. It’s movin’. Here,” he says, offering a hand over hers to support the pole while she switches to turning the reel, the tension growing with each turn.

“Good job, not too fast or the line’ll snap,” Joel says. “Sometimes ya just gotta let ‘em run with it a little, wear ‘em out.”

Soon she can see the silvery green-red fish thrashing at the surface of the water.

“Holy shit!”

“Lookit that,” he grins, helping her lift the fish out of the water by the line as it writhes and flails. “Guess you get to eat tonight.”

She can’t help but be a little disappointed when she gets a good look at the result of her efforts. She’d been picturing a monster fish given how strong it had been, but the thing isn’t even a foot long.

“I thought it was gonna be a fuckin’ shark.”

“Sometimes the little ones fight the hardest,” he says softly, and she’s glad the fading light hides her blush. She’s pretty sure he’s not just talking about the stupid fish.

He puts the poor creature out of its misery by smashing its head with a rock, then promises to show her how to gut and filet the slimy, scaly thing once they’re back at camp. She silently vows to try a bite even if the thought turns her stomach.

“You gonna try again?” he asks.

She does, digging up a fresh worm and re-baiting her hook while Joel goes back to his line. By the end of the hour, they’ve caught two more trout and Ellie’s stomach is growling.

“Better than fishing with your old man?” she asks on the trek back to camp.

He huffs a soft laugh. ”Yeah, kiddo. Much better.”

Back at the lookout, there’s a pile of pre-cut firewood under a tarp in the lean-to. Ellie gathers small sticks and scraps for kindling from the surrounding woods and soon Joel has a fire roaring. The routine is familiar; night settling around them while they prepare dinner. Ellie takes pity on Joel’s knees and volunteers to climb back up the tower to fetch the cooler and cooking supplies.

By firelight, Joel shows Ellie how to strip the trout of their scales, gut them, and filet them without leaving tiny bones in the flesh. Then they throw the fish in the pan with a pat of butter and some salt and pepper that Joel brought with them in the little cooler, and set the other foil packets over the fire to heat.

The fish is flaky and tastes nothing like the gamey meat she’s used to, so Ellie eats her fill and tries to ignore how thrilled Joel looks to see her eat something that isn’t bread or fruit. He’s not subtle about it, offering her a second helping before she’s finished the first. It’s only a little smothering so she decides not to give him shit about it.

They’re full and sated by the time Joel pulls out his guitar and hands it to Ellie.

“You been practicin’?”

True to his word, he’d taught her how to play guitar when they got to Jackson. And he knows she’s practiced because he hears her every night up in her room with the smaller guitar he’d traded for, floundering through the chords to her favorite songs in the old, tattered copy of “100 Greatest 80’s Hits” she found at the trading post. She knows how to read music, but making her fingers do what she wants them to do on the strings is tough, and she doesn’t have the benefit of Joel’s calluses.

She stumbles through the first two stanzas and the chorus of “Don’t Dream It’s Over” before she has to stop and restart. Joel listens, eyes softened by the firelight, and suggests a slight adjustment to her posture that seems to help with the larger guitar.

Then it’s his turn. He makes it look easy; the music seems to come directly from his fingers, and his voice is soft but strong. It’s not nearly as bad as he thinks it is. She thinks he could have been a singer in the Before, but she’ll never tell him that. And his taste in music is still questionable, but it’s better than nothing.

The fire flickers and crackles and warms her. She slides off the log they’re using as a makeshift seat and puts her back against it, stretching out her legs. Between the darkness and the heat and the day’s long hike, she’s tempted to curl up at Joel’s feet like a cat and sleep, so drowsy that she doesn’t even notice when he’s put the guitar away.

“Bedtime, kiddo,” he says softly, nudging her with his boot. “Can’t carry you this time.”

“‘Cause you’re too damn old,” she yawns. “Need that scooter.”

“Uh-huh. Scooter ain’t gettin’ us up that ladder. C’mon, you first. I’ll clean up.”

She ascends the tower at a slightly less frantic clip and goes straight to her bedroll, barely having pulled off her boots before crawling into her sleeping bag. She hears Joel come up not long after, then he’s rustling around in the cabin doing Joel things–locking the door and loading the rifle and draping an extra wool blanket over her. By that point, she’s already sound asleep.

Then she’s being shaken gently awake. 

“Ellie…hey, kiddo. Wake up.”

“Whassit?” she grumbles. It’s not dark, but it’s not daylight. She can just make out Joel’s features looming over her.

“C’mere,” he says. “Wanna show you somethin’.”

She wriggles out of her sleeping bag, still blinking in confusion. Joel drapes the wool blanket over her shoulders and she pulls it tight around herself. It’s not cold enough for a frost yet, but it’s not warm. Outside, the moon is full and bright, casting lunar shadows on the landscape around them. It’s beautiful, but hardly worth waking up at the ass-crack of…what the hell time is it, anyway?

“What–”

“Shh,” he whispers, leading her around the balcony to the other side of the building. “Look over there. Not too far out.”

A black shape materializes, trundling slowly, cautiously along the western edge of the valley. A snout lifts into the air as if checking for something, and Ellie has the distinct impression it can hear them.

“Is…is that a fucking bear ?”

“Shhh, don’t scare ‘em,” he whispers, taking a seat with his back to the windows, legs dangling off the edge of the balcony. Ellie sits cross-legged next to him, wrapping her blanket around her to guard against the fall chill.

“Whoa.”

The bear is close…like, really fucking close. Even in the dim light, she can see the reflection off its sleek fur, the tip of its nose, its dark eyes. She finds herself reaching out to grip Joel’s wrist, surprised to be, well…a little scared. They never worried about animals during their time on the road. They never stayed in one place long enough, never had enough scraps to leave behind. There was the occasional moose or deer, and those were welcome because they were potential food. Occasionally they’d hear the haunting calls of coyotes, and those were enough to keep Ellie awake at night if her imagination didn’t do the job for her.

The real threat was other people, whether infected or not. But tonight, after months enveloped in the safety of Jackson’s walls, Ellie feels painfully exposed. She scoots closer to Joel. He knows better than to say anything, just puts an arm around her and tucks her against his side.

“Wait,” she says, eyeing the distance between them and the bear, then them and the ground. “Can’t bears, like…climb?”

“Not this far. That’s why I brought the food up. ‘Sides, she’s got other things to worry about. Look.”

It takes a second, but soon Ellie sees the smaller cub lumbering along behind its mother. The pair weave their way across the landscape, pausing occasionally to sniff the air.

“Den’s probably nearby if the cub’s out this late,” Joel says, rubbing at his chin.

“So bears have bedtimes, too?” she smirks.

She can feel his chuckle against her side, a deep rumble in his chest.

“We’ll wanna make a lotta noise on the way back, make sure they know we’re around. Shouldn’t be too hard for you,” he says, poking her lightly on the shoulder.

“You love it and you know it,” she says.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do,” he says, and she feels the warm press of a kiss to the top of her head.

“Hey, Joel…what do you call a bear without any teeth?”

“A gummy bear,” he says, so fucking smug. “You can do better than that.”

“Ugh, asshole. Okay, okay, umm…wait…gimme a sec…oh! Why did the grizzly wear a tank top?”

Joel sighs.

“He had the right to ‘bear arms’!”

“Terrible,” he groans. “‘Sides, bears don’t have arms, they have–”

“Dude, really? Don’t be that guy.”

He reaches up and musses her hair. Funny, when that jerk Michael Sumner did the same, she’d tried to break his nose. When Joel does it, it makes her chest feel warm and tight.

When the bears have wandered into the trees and out of sight, Joel yawns and stretches and gets to his feet. “You ain’t a bear cub, so it’s bedtime for you, twerp.”

“I don’t even have a bedtime.”

“Sure you do. You’ve just never stayed up late enough to see it.”

She’s pretty fucking sure that’s not true and he knows it, because she’s gone whole nights without sleeping and he’s been by her side every time.

“That was pretty cool,” she admits back in the cabin, when she’s wriggling into her sleeping bag and pulling the blanket over herself.

“Yeah,” he yawns into the crook of his arm, then reaches over to shut off the lantern. “Thought so, too.”

There’s another yawn and the briefest touch of his hand to her head before he says, “G'night, kid. Have good dreams.”

“Night.”

She lays awake, staring up at the rafters, too keyed up from seeing the bears to fall asleep right away.

For all of Jackson’s weirdness, their little house and her room and her bed have…grown on her. It helped that Joel had shown up at her bedroom door one rainy July morning and looked around the room with a certain determination.

“This place could use a new coat of paint, huh?”

It needed a lot more than that. They’d spent that weekend stripping the ugly wallpaper from the walls, and the following weekend covering the whole thing with primer and a light eggshell blue paint–leftover from the rec center remodel, Tommy said. Joel had shown her how to soften the wallpaper glue with a spray bottle and an iron set on low, how to cut in the corners and smooth out her brush strokes and use the angled brush around the edges so there weren’t blobs of paint everywhere. He’d repaired the broken shelves and traded for new bedding and curtains and added a wall mount for her guitar until the room was almost unrecognizable from what it had been.

Now the shelves hold her few books, her collection of cool rocks, her comics. The pictures and posters on the walls are all things she drew or found at the trading post. The photo of Joel and Sarah holds a prominent place on her dresser. It smells like fresh paint and the lemongrass wood cleaner Joel uses on the floors, and somewhere along the line, the bad memories faded a bit. Not gone…just not as sharp, not as vivid.

A sinking feeling settles in her stomach, a kind of unfamiliar, aching sadness. She knows the word “homesick”, but she’s never been lucky enough to have a home to miss.

She scoots closer to Joel until her forehead presses lightly against his shoulder. It isn’t because he smells like wood smoke and the lavender soap from the commissary. It’s not because the flannel is soft, or because he naturally shifts toward her in his sleep, ready to put an arm out if she needs him. It’s not because of that. She’s just a little cold.

He’s already snoring, the same rumbling cadence that drifts across the hall every night. It makes her think of the bear and her cub, tucked away in a cave somewhere nearby, curled up together. Safe. Home.

She doesn’t even remember falling asleep. When she wakes, she’s surprised to see daylight; faint, but the sun is almost up. Joel is…where is Joel? She sits up. He’s not in the cabin or outside on the balcony. She pads out the door, still in socked feet, wincing. Her blisters hurt, but not in the sharp, angry way they did yesterday. Just a dull, achy annoyance. She’ll live, as Joel would say.

Wisps of smoke rise into the air from below. She leans over the railing and finds him standing next to the fire. From this vantage point, all she sees is the top of his head, messy brown hair threaded with gray, the shoulders of his green flannel, and the mug of coffee steaming in his hand.

He looks up before she can call out to him, smiles while squinting up at her. “Hey, up there.”

She waves and runs back inside to put on her boots, then she descends the ladder–she’s gotten really fast at it, practically sliding down the rail–and jumps the last five rungs onto the ground.

”Jesus, kid, slow down. You’re gonna break your neck goin’ like that.”

“Morning to you, too, sunshine,” she chirps.

They eat around a small fire, finishing last night’s leftovers and some of the granola mix. Joel chops more firewood to replace what they used while Ellie packs up their camp. She restrains herself from stealing the one-eyed doll from the rafters.

Joel goes quiet after breakfast, focused on “leaving the lookout in better shape than they found it”, he says. But as they set off on the path back to Jackson, something feels off. They’ve barely covered the first mile when he clears his throat and catches her eye, that look that says something’s on his mind.

“So, uh…wanted to talk to you.”

She braces herself. She hears the conversation in her head in Joel’s signature drawl.

I’m sorry, but this ain’t workin’.

Time for us to go our separate ways.

You’re not my daughter, and I sure as hell ain’t your dad.

Part of her rails against it. There’s no way. Joel would never leave her, Joel would never…he would never .

But the other part–the small, mean, shameful part she keeps tucked deep down inside, the one that will always be there no matter how old she gets, no matter how long she stays with Joel–is waiting for him to make good on that threat.

She shrugs, muttering. “Okay, I guess.”

They’re side by side, almost brushing shoulders, and she straightens her spine and lifts her chin.

“Meant to tell you this last night, but…it was late n’…anyway. Outbreak Day’s comin’ up.”

“Uh huh.”

He screws up his face like he’s sucked on something sour, one of the tiny green crabapples that are just starting to grow on the tree in the backyard of the house they share. In the house where she sleeps now, in the room he helped repaint and redecorate. In the town where they live, where she goes to school, where he builds things. Home.

She suddenly remembers their conversation from months ago.

September 26th.

Joel’s birthday.

That homesick feeling wraps itself around her insides again and pulls, a steady downward tug of grief. Suddenly she wants nothing more than to be safe in Jackson’s walls, sitting at the dining table with Joel and Tommy and Maria and baby Isabel, laughing over some dumb joke Tommy told at Joel’s expense until milk squirts out her nose. She does not want to be here, does not want to be having this conversation, even if she doesn’t know what he’s talking about yet.

She picks up her pace, forcing Joel to do the same.

“That’s, uh…that’s kind of a rough…time.”

“For you and, like, everyone,” she says, practically marching away until he catches up, grasping her by the shoulder.

“Hey, would you slow down?” he huffs. “Let’s just…stop for a sec.”

She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. “If you’re trying to…to…pawn me off on Tommy again–”

“What?” he balks. “No, I–”

“Is this about the stupid Fireflies?”

He goes very still. “What do you mean by that?”

I swear.

“Nothing,” she mutters, kicking at a rock, unable to meet his eyes. “I dunno, I just…you’re being fucking weird, man.”

“No, it’s not about the…no. It’s–it’s…Christ, you know I’m shit at this stuff. Just…gimme a minute.”

He walks to the side of the path, hands on his hips, frowning. Finally he takes a breath and looks at her. 

“I’m not sure how I’ll…be for a few days. Might be…different, is all.”

“You gonna turn into a werewolf? Grow fangs and claws or some shit?”

He sighs in frustration. “No.”

“So, what? You gonna beat me or something?” She tries to smile, to make a joke of it, but her voice falls flat.

“No! Jesus, no, nothin’ like that,” he says. “Ellie, I’d never. Not ever . You know that, right?”

She looks at him for a long time, sees the desperation in his eyes, before nodding slowly. She wonders if he knows that a beating is the least of her worries as far as punishment goes. Doesn’t think he could take hearing about all the other shit that happened to kids in FEDRA school. For all his experience, Joel could be incredibly naive. Or maybe he just didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to think about it. She supposes she can’t blame him. If he knew just how broken and bruised she was, he’d probably run away screaming.

“I know, dude,” she huffs, trying to brush it off. “It was a joke.”

“Jokes are s’posed to be funny,” he says flatly. “And I’d never–ever–hurt you like that.”

She throws up her hands. “Then stop making me guess and just tell me what the fuck is wrong!”

“Alright,” he grumbles, running a hand through his hair. “Thing is…I used to drink. A lot. A lot more than…well, just a lot.”

Her brow furrows. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen Joel take more than a sip or two from his flask when they were on the road, and only when it got cold. Come to think of it, she doesn’t think she’s seen him drink anything stronger than shitwater since they came back to Jackson.

“After Sarah…after the…everything…well,” he says. “I ain’t proud of it. Could say I come by it honestly–”

“Your dad,” she says softly.

“Uh-huh. An’ it was always worse this time of year. Come end of September…I’d lock myself in the apartment and, uh…lose a week or so. Tess usually left, stayed…somewhere else. Checked in on me, made sure I didn’t…that I didn’t, uh–”

“I get it,” Ellie says, lump in her throat. “The guy who shot and missed.”

“Right. But I’m not gonna do that,” he says quickly. “No drinkin’. Between you and Tommy and everythin’ else…can’t afford to. Don’t want to.”

She nods carefully, fidgeting with her hands, picking at her cuticles. Just when she thinks she’s found her footing, something like this comes along and throws her off again.

“Just don’t know how it’s gonna go,” he says, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I haven’t been sober for this in…well, probably since the…the first one. Might be a bit…a bit cross.”

“So…normal, then?”

He sighs and gives her The Look, the one that tells her this is supposed to be a serious conversation and she needs to take it seriously. But she’s fucking lost, as usual. Is this the kind of shit people used to do Before? Stand around and talk about their feelings? It would almost be easier if he used his fists. She knows he’s good with those. He sucks at words even more than she does.

Besides, what does he want her to say? Thanks for not drinking yourself to death? Thanks for not offing yourself?

He continues more softly, struggling his way through. “I just want you to know…if I’m…if…I’m not good…for a little while…it’s not you. Okay? There’s nothin’ you could do to…to make me that way.”

She remembers the first time he told her he was sorry, how lost she’d felt when he’d tried to explain how she shouldn’t have had to shoot that kid. No grown-up had ever been sorry for anything in her life and she’d long stopped expecting them to be. Now Joel was apologizing for something he might not even do…and it wasn’t even that bad.

“Y’know, you can always go to Tommy or Maria if–”

Her eyes snap to his face. “I want to stay with you.”

“I know. But…if you need to. I won’t…be mad.”

She shrugs, not knowing what the fuck to say. “Can we go now?”

He considers her for a moment, then ducks his head in a nod.

“Sure. Yeah…let’s go.”

They walk in muted silence for a while. Ellie thinks about their house in Jackson, thinks about Joel pushing Tommy into a lake, about him squeezing her toes through her sock after bandaging her foot, about his arm around her shoulders reminding her where she stands. She realizes that the things she knows about Joel’s past can probably be counted on one hand.

He had a daughter.

He killed people.

He was a smuggler.

Now she could add “He was a drunk” to that list.

And yet, none of those things, save for the first, made the person she knew as Joel Miller.

He made good pancakes.

He bandaged her blisters.

He taught her how to hold a gun and play guitar and fish and hunt. How to keep watch and protect herself.

The silence lasts until Jackson is a tiny speck in the distance. Finally she breaks it.

“I know you said…you’re lucky to worry about me. But…that goes both ways.”

He shakes his head. “Ellie, you shouldn’t have to–”

“I want to.”

He looks over at her sharply.

“I just…I don’t wanna go away ‘cause you’re having a bad time…or whatever,” she says, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, on each step ahead. “You’re always there for me when things are shitty. It’s only fair.”

He opens his mouth, probably to tell her it’s not the same because he’s a grown-up and she’s a kid or some shit, but she cuts him off.

“And I know it’s not about…me, okay? I get it. I’m almost sixteen, which is practically seventeen, which is basically an adult. I can handle it.”

His eyebrow goes up to his hairline at that, mouth twitching in a little smirk. His hands are full, so she grabs his wrist, circling it with her fingers, squeezing to get the point across.

Finally he nods, speaking softly in his familiar warm drawl. “Alright.”

She nods back, satisfied, returning his smile.

Together, they walk toward home.

[honeyjars-sims]

Part 2 Prologue #2: Goatzilla vs. The Influencer

In addition to the chickens, Gail and Ellie bought a mini goat. Since I’ve been helping out a lot with the animals, they said I could name her. I went with Goatzilla–"Zilla" for short. She’s a big hit with the kids in the community, and even Taco seems to like her. 

I’m taking care of Zilla when I spot two of my neighbors near the greenhouse. I’ve seen them around but we haven’t officially met. Judging by their resemblance to one another, I assume they’re sisters and they appear to be around my age.

The blonde one is dressed for the hot weather in a crop top and skirt, but she doesn’t look ready for outdoor labor. She has a full face of makeup, long nails, and her clothes are clean and freshly ironed. The brunette looks more in place in ripped jeans and boots, both lightly dusted with dirt.

She’s holding a pink glittery cell phone in her hands that I can only assume belongs to her sister.

“Okay, I want it to look casual, like you just happened to catch me looking this way,” the blonde tells her while striking a pose I’m sure I’ve seen on Simsta somewhere. 

“I’m pretty sure people will know that it’s staged,” her sister complains.

“Oh my God, just take the picture, Glynnis!”

Glynnis sighs and holds up the phone just as Zilla scurries towards her sister’s skirt, which apparently looks like something good to much on.

“AHH,” the blonde screams. “He’s eating my CLOTHES!” 

I shoo Zilla away as the girls sit down on a nearby wooden swing. 

“She,” I correct the blonde. “Zilla is a girl. Sorry she ruined your photoshoot. And your skirt.”

“It’s fine,” Glynnis tells me. “I told her she shouldn’t have photoshoots near the animal pen if she doesn’t want to get dirty.”

“I think my skirt’s okay,” the blonde says as she smooths it out. She looks up at me. “I’m Hollis. I think I’ve seen you around. And this is my sister, Glynnis.”

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Johnny. And I guess you’re acquainted with Zilla.”

Hollis laughs. “I’ll say! You live with that hot Tartosan guy, right?”

“Uh yeah, that’s Paul,” I tell her.

“Cool. How long have you two been together?” 

I can feel my cheeks getting hot. “Oh, we’re not…together,” I explain. “We’re just roommates.”

“Oh, sorry,” Hollis responds. “I just assumed. Does that mean you're both single then?”

“Hollis, stop,” Glynnis pipes up.

“What? I’m just asking.”

“Yeah, we’re both single,” I tell Hollis. “So, what’s the photoshoot for?”

“Oh, just my Simsta,” she says, waving her hand nonchalantly. “People seem to enjoy the outdoorsy pics. Or at least that’s what the algorithm tells them they like.”

“Ah, yes, the algorithm,” I say, and we nod in solidarity like we’re speaking in a secret code language. Glynnis rolls her eyes.

Taco strolls over and mews loudly at Hollis, excited for the opportunity to receive attention from a new person. Hollis leans down to pet her.

“What a cute baby,” she says. Taco purrs and jumps into her lap. 

“That’s my cat, Taco,” I tell her. “She’s very affectionate.” Taco mews louder.

“And talkative, too! Ooh, would you mind if I took a few pics with her? Cats always get lots of engagement.”

“That’s cool with me,” I respond. I look at Taco. “Did you hear that? You’re gonna be famous on Simsta!” Taco lets out another big meow and we all laugh at her comedic timing.

Glynnis takes a few snaps of Hollis with Taco, who I have to say killed her first photoshoot. 

“Thanks for letting me borrow your cat,” Hollis says afterward.

“No problem! She’s just happy for the attention. Oh, by the way, my sister and I are having a little get together for our birthday here this weekend. Gail said we can use the seating area by the food truck to set up. Feel free to come by if you’re around.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Hollis says, and Glynnis nods in agreement.

“Cool, see you around!”

“See you!”

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[lesbianslvt666]

hiii i saw that your requests are open🤞🏼 ok one thing i can’t get out of my head is reverse cowgirl with ellie ,, like we all know she’s an ass girl so i think she’d love it

Cw: smut with a bit of plot, birthday girl Ellie, StrapOn!(both kinda?) cum! and spanking and something more but i am too sleepy to remember

The night before Ellie’s birthday you were still struggling to find something to gift her, i mean is not like she has everything or that she was too picky with gifts, but you wanted to make it special.

it was her twenty first birthday and your friends couldn’t come over for a party (her birthday was on a Monday), you wanted to make her day happy still. Until Friday which was when the surprise party was gonna take place, so you needed something to keep her entertained until then.

You looked up from your phone, calling Dina for any advice, but as you were walking back to your place from work you stumbled over a sex shop.

“Hello?” Dina was calling for your name over the phone.

“I was gonna ask you something but i think i found the answer, talk to you later Dins” you hanged up the phone, didn’t let her even say her goodbyes and.

Your eyes scanned the place, small but fun.

Colored LEDs separating different sections.

The gay section had pink lights, the kinky section was lit with red lights and the lesbian with purple ones.

Aha!

Long strap on, two sided and it vibrates.

The pretty pink color paired with holographic glitter.

She was gonna love it.

The next day was hectic to say the least.

You called Ellie as soon as you woke up from your class, hurriedly getting ready and telling her how much loved her and to please save the day for you.

She did.

After the most excruciating hours of your entire college experience.

You finally arrived to Ellie’s.

She opened the door as soon as you nocked.

You didn’t waste no time, as soon as she was in front of you you started to kiss her, hands roaming up her waist to her back to her breast. The pretty gift bag hanging from your fore arm.

She closed the door after you, not once braking the kiss, passion tinting her every move.

Her hands naturally traveled all the way down to your ass, she spanked you once.

With all the force you could gather you separated from the kiss, action that made her groan in frustration.

“I have a gift for you babe!” You said, extending the bag to her, she took the bag and went back to kissing you.

You giggled at her eagerness.

“Please baby, just open it!” You said in between kisses.

“I’ll do it later, right now i want you” and before she went back to kissing you your hand moved to her neck, wrapping your hand around it but never pressing or squeezing.

“Do what i say baby, i know you’ll like it” your words followed by a kiss on the cheek, you walked to her room, removing one clothing item every other step until you both where in her room.

You completely naked, standing in front of her bed.

“You nymph” her words laced with amusement as she took the strap out of the bag, looking up at you.

No time was wasted, for as soon as she saw you all naked and ready she was already getting off her clothes, kissing you on the process.

She sat down on the bed, man spreading while her back rested upon the headboard.

The strap standing proud upwards ready for you, your eyes lit up in lust, crawling up to her, pretty tits bouncing with every move you made.

She couldn’t take your teasing any longer, manhandling you she took you up her torso, purposefully missing the strap, she kissed you while you where un top of her.

You body moving front to back to try and get sone friction, she was too good at this, she always felt this good…

But she stopped your moviments.

Handling you to now give her your back, strap ticking your pussy, she took the rest of the length and massage your clit with the tip.

Your wetness falling from your cunt down your neg and her mouth watered.

She inserted the strap on you, your pussy swallowing almost instantly, you were so needy, so ready to take it.

She gave you time to adjust, cock warming so deliciously, your juices falling to her own pussy, essences mixing with each other on her cunt.

“Can i baby?” Her words patient, lust making her body desperate.

“Yes fuck” you started to move yourself riding her so good with your bubbly ass bouncing on her crotch, the strap hitting inside tour tight warm walls and Ellie felt she was gonna go insane.

Her own part of the dildo inserting so good with every bounce, every move, the shape of it creating friction on her clit.

She spanked your ass every now and then but she was about to cum and she wanted for you to do so at the same time.

Her tatted hand circling, finding your clit and massaging roughly.

You went insane.

The pleasure so intense, both of you feeling like you’ll reach the pick at any second.

Ellie did first, franatically pushing the strap in to you (and herself) so hard she came loudly, filthy words mixed with moans and grunts and so you came after her.

Both rode your highs together. Before you toon off Ellie kissed your ass, pretty cheeks in display for her, so, might as well.

You giggled at her sweetness, falling down to her side cuddling her.

“Let me get you clean” she said trying to stand up.

“Nuh huh, stay here i wanna sleep” she laughed at your words, barely making sense.

She still stood up and cleaned both of you.

Laying down back with you she kissed your forehead.

“Happy birthday baby” your words almost indecipherable.

But she understood with her heart, you are her twin flame, her soulmate, her everything.

[cowgurrrl]

“I want to be great or nothing.”

Summary: When world famous rockstar Joel Miller finds himself in some hot water with the press, his PR team suggests fake dating an up and coming actress to refine his image. However, when they actually start spending time together, the happy couple can’t stand each other. Will they be able to turn it around for the cameras or will it all be for nothing?

Warnings: smut indicated with an asterisk, tlou au, fake dating, enemies to ???, Sarah is alive :D

01. Smile You’re on Camera [1.7k]

02. When The Sun Goes Down [2.6k]

03. BWFW [3.8k]

04. Kiwi [3.8k]

05. A plea for tenderness* [7.3k]

06. Blueberry Pancakes* [4.5k]

07. Losing My Cool [1.1k]

08. Never Thought [3.5k]

09. Layla [2.3k]

10. Pine Point [4.7k]

11. Old Friends Die Hard [3.6k]

12. Too Close [2.5k]

13. The Chain [2.6k]

14. From the Dining Table [4.5k]

15. Wonderfully Bizarre [1.2k]

🎸🎸🎸

Drabbles

A Soulmate Who Wasn’t Meant to Be: You settle into life without Joel

Night Shift: Joel settles into life without you

Tennessee Whiskey: A (somewhat) quiet night as you and Joel adjust to sharing life again

Thank God I Found You: You and Joel talk about going public with your relationship

Gold Dust Woman: Oscars season with Joel

The Actress: Red carpet interviews with Joel

Je te laisserai des mots: You and Joel realize forever doesn’t sound too bad

I Want To Marry You: Joel asks you The Question

Kiss Me Once, and Kiss Me Twice: You and Joel get married

Heavy Metal Drummer: When Joel’s drummer suddenly drops out, who better to fill in than the girl who’s been there since the beginning?

Just A Boy: Joel struggles with your newest cast mate

Small Bump: You tell the girls you’re pregnant

Beautiful Boy: You and Joel find out the gender of your baby

Hayloft: Joel being protective of his family

Choreomania: Sammy tries to figure out if he likes what his dad does

Brooklyn Baby: You and Joel welcome your son

Iris: Sarah and Ellie hold Sam for the first time

Hey Me, Hey Mama: Mother’s Day

Jackie and Wilson: A night in the Miller household

Little Wonders: When Mom Guilt takes over, Joel finds a way to support you

Mama’s Boy: Sam’s going through a phase

Daydream Believer: Daisy seems to know something you don’t

As It Was: You and Joel have an announcement

At Last: Sam doesn’t seem to know the difference between real life and acting

Daylight: An almost perfect Texas day with the Millers

Yo Gotti: You and Joel read thirst tweets together

Beautiful Girls: Your first night at home with your twins

Love You: Joel being the best dad to tiny baby angels

How Could I Not Love You?: A special day

Unknown: You find out Violet has asthma

I’m Still Standing: Actors on Actors: You and Carolina Garcia-Long

My Girls: The first of many Sophia and Violet days

Lucky: The girls are going through a phase

Girls On Film: Joel accidentally starts discourse

I’m Just Ken: A Halloween fashion show with the Millers

Live from New York: You and Joel take on SNL

Please Come Home for Christmas: The Christmas season with the Millers

Wildflower and Barley: Jealous joel

Bug: The BuzzFeed Puppy Interview

Salad Days: The t-shirt coup

The Millers: A Year in The Life: A documentary about your lives

So This Is Love: A Beach Day

Good Old Days: A SAG-AFTRA Career Retrospective

🎸🎸🎸

Extras 🤠

Joel and sundress season*

Dancing with Joel

Your instagram story 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

ACL with the Millers

Joel’s tattoos

You and Joel find out you’re having a baby

Your reaction to questions about kids

Family headcanons

Random thoughts 1

Random thoughts 2

Honeymoon with Joel

Actress!reader freaking out about Joel on Instagram

Talking about your relationship with Joel

Sammy Insta posts

Family instagram posts

Sophia and Violet

Birthday headcanons

What the kids do later in life

Text threads :D 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The kids’ instagrams

Grandpa Joel

Grandpa Joel pt. 2

Instagram stories: Barbie edition

Random family thoughts

[ellieluvr420]

Friends? Never. Pt.21 (Ellie Williams x reader)

MASTERLIST (and information about Palestine) Please read!

SYNOPSIS: You and Ellie had been bitter enemies for years now but before that you were best friends. You had always planned to be roommates one day but when that becomes a reality the situation isn't exactly how you both imagined it.

Tada! Hope this was worth the wait, my sincerest apologies, please excuse me while i go scream into my pillow anyway, enjoy u angels !!

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧      

 

“Flip it mommy! Flip it!” 

“Okayyy, get ready, cross your fingers and your toes.” Clem looks at you perplexed and it only makes you giggle. “For good luck! I haven’t had as much practise as Mama.” She makes on O sound with her mouth before crossing her fingers and swaying as she tries to cross her toes. You take a deep breath in and flick the pan in attempt to flip the pancake. When it lands in the pan perfectly you both cheer before you quickly remember Ellie sleeping upstairs. She slept through most things but since Clem she has slept lighter, often beating you to the punch if you both heard Clem crying from a nightmare. You both giggle as you continue making the stack of pancakes. You put raspberries on the top pancake of Ellie and Clem’s plates in the shape of a smiley face before leaving Clem to pour syrup over her pancakes to her heart’s content as you check you have everything you need for when you leave. Your backpack was packed and so was Clem’s littler one so you returned to the kitchen to see the girl drowning her pancakes in syrup. She finally decides it’s enough when the syrup is almost spilling over the edge of the plate and lets you finish up your and Ellie’s pancakes. 

When everything was ready you let Clem carry her plate up the stairs as you carried yours and Ellie’s. Clem creeps into the room ahead of you and with a small nod of your head you both beam and take a deep breath in. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” You both yell in unison causing Ellie to jump awake. Clem quickly puts her plate on the bedside table and jumps at Ellie, wrapping her arms around Ellie’s neck and snuggling into the half-awake girl. 

“Happy birthday Mama! Wake uppppp, we made you pancakes!” Ellie’s eyes jolt open and as her eyes fall on the plates in your hands a huge grin creeps across her features, it only grows as she meets your eyes. 

“Thank you baby! Oh you are the best.” She squeezes Clem before shifting over to allow room for you to sit down next to her. You pass her plate to her as well as her cutlery and then pass Clem’s plate to her also. You notice Ellie looking down at the raspberry smiley face and when she looks back at you, your cheeks grow hotter at her doting gaze. 

“Happy birthday babe.” 

“I love you so much.” She leans in and presses a sweet kiss to your lips before pressing a kiss to Clem’s forehead. “and I love you kiddo. Thank you so much.” Clem giggles and you nod your head towards the pancakes to get her to eat before they go cold. She wastes no time before stuffing her face, Clem following her lead, as you watch them both devour what looks more like syrup with a side of pancakes, smiling at the matching smears of syrup on their chins. You put your plate down on the side and get up off the bed. “Where are you going?” Ellie scoffs through a mouthful of food. 

“To get your presents silly.” 

“Babe, you shouldn’t have.” 

“Shut up and eat your pancakes.” You chuckle as you walk off to Clem’s room where you had hidden the presents. As you approach the room once again you hear Clem’s voice. 

“Mama how old are you now?” 

“I’m twenty kiddo.” 

“Wow that’s really old.” 

“You’re telling me.” You giggle as you walk back in the room with the presents in your arms, handing one to Clem and laying the rest on the bed. 

“Go on Clemmy, give Mama her present from you.” She hands it over and Ellie handles it so carefully as she feels the softness of it under the brown wrapping paper. You had been preparing for Ellie’s birthday for some time now so each time you went on patrol you’d always be on the hunt for presents or other useful items such as the wrapping paper you had somehow managed to sneak past her, she was so oblivious sometimes. Ellie ripped open the paper and gasped as a green dinosaur plushie came into view.  

“Oh thank you kiddo! This is the best. What should we name ‘em?” Ellie beams at Clem who had grown slightly flushed at Ellie’s giddiness, she was so like Ellie. 

“Mmmm, Rex!” Clem chirped causing Ellie to chuckle. 

“Perfect. Welcome to the family Rex.” Ellie goes to smoosh the dinosaurs nose into Clem’s face as a sort of kiss before you stopped her and pointed to your lips as your eyes flicked to Clem’s, suddenly she noticed the sticky splotches of syrup still shining on her chin and laughs.  

“I’m gonna go get a cloth so we can clean you both up!” You say pointedly at Ellie that suddenly darts her tongue out of her mouth to taste her matching syrup stains. 

“Wait babe I can go, you need to eat yours.” 

“Ellie shut up.” You smile lovingly before disappearing out of the room again missing Ellie and Clem both trying to lick all the remnants of their breakfast of the places they could reach. You return and wipe Clem’s face with the damp cloth and then move onto Ellie before she can try and grab the rag and do it herself. “Okay, now you can play.” Ellie rolls her eyes as she smiles before diving the plushie back at Clem and nuzzling it into her face while making obnoxiously loud smooching sound with her lips. 

“Ah mama that tickles!” Clem shrieks through giggles before Ellie lets up and points the plushie in your direction. 

“Pucker up buttercup!” You raise your eyebrows at Ellie as your face remains deadpan. “Uh whose birthday is it? Mine, sooooo... pucker up.” She grins cheekily as you huff and pucker your lips, your eyes fluttering shut out of habit. When you feel Ellie’s lips on yours your eyes flash open, squeaking ever so slightly at of surprise. “What you thought I’d let Rex here steal my mrs? No way.” Ellie sounds so serious you can’t help but laugh at her absurdity, you swear you never laughed this much with anyone other than Ellie. She places the plushie down between her and Clem, patting him on the head before grabbing another present, this time it was rectangular and solid – a book, she thought. She looks at you for permission and with a nod of your head she rips the wrapping off with even more might than last time. “Holy fuck, babe! Are you kidding me?” She holds the book up in awe as her eyes scan over the title again and again. “Stargazing for dummies” She repeats quietly. “Are you calling me a dummy?” 

“Yes but you’re my dummy.” You grin and she is so excited she doesn’t even snip back at your quip. She flips through the book quietly as you watch and her smile only grows with each page she looks at. 

“I can’t wait to use this, thank you babe, really.” She cups your cheek and rubs her thumb over the expanse of skin as she looks at you like you hung the stars in the sky that she was itching to look at with you and Clem, she didn’t want to wish the day away but she also couldn’t wait for nightfall. You nudge her with the next present as she seems completely lost in the book and although you loved to watch her, you were on a schedule and you wanted enough time for the big surprise you had planned before the next bigger surprise you had also planned, you had been preparing for Ellie’s birthday for awhile... 

She screeches when she reveals the set of watercolours you had found at Mabel’s stand at the market the other week. She only really drew with a pen or a pencil and after she had rambled to you about how she wishes she could add colour to her artwork sometimes, your mind was set, you were on a mission to find something to allow her to do that and Mabel, being Mabel, had the perfect timing. “Clemmy, how do you feel about me painting a picture of your cute little face?”  

“Really?!” 

“Oh yeah, it would be my honour. My first painting is gonna be of you and Mommy.” She beamed at Clem before muttering to herself. “My girls.” Her eyes met yours and they conveyed the love that was pouring out of her as if she was screaming the words at you, so loud and clear it caused you to tear up slightly. She looked elated and it made your heart sing.  

You all sat together as she opened the last few presents, the atmosphere warm and tender as the sun glowed throughout the room. When everything was done, you offered to help Clem get ready but she seemed eager to prove she was big enough to do it herself as she hopped off the bed and sped towards her, formerly your, room as you and Ellie chuckled at her. 

“Babe I genuinely don’t know what to say. I don’t deserve you.” She pulls you into her lap as you wrap your arms around her neck and lean in for a longer kiss now that Clem is out of the room. As you pull away you notice the glassy sheen over her eyes, mirroring yours. “I can’t even explain how much I love you.” 

“Oh El, I love you more and you deserve the world you dummy.” You smile as you recall her reaction to the book while snuggling into her. “Do you like all your presents?” 

“Are you kidding me? I’m the luckiest girl in the world, I can’t thank you enough, this has been perfect.” 

“Good but the day is not over yet, we’ve got a lot planned so you need to get ready.” 

“What are we doing?” 

“If I tell you that it ruins the surprise, just get ready, it’s gonna be hot today by the way.” You wink before climbing off of her to take the dirty dishes downstairs leaving her dumbfounded as she tried to figure out what you had planned. You smirked knowing she never would. 

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧        

“Maria, I know that lake, infected never get out there because if they go that way they’re spotted by the guards at the towers and taken out. Please it’s for Ellie’s birthday, I just wanna make it special.” You begged and pleaded with Maria as she looked at you like you were a thorn stuck in her thumb. 

“I wouldn’t be as opposed if it was just you and Ellie but Clem too? I don’t like the idea.” 

“Oh come on Maria, do you really think I’d do something that would put her in danger? I’ve been there so many times over the years and there’s never been any infected ever. I’ll even wake up super early to check out the area and make sure it’s clear before she wakes up if it will make you let us go.” Maria rubbed her temples as she contemplated your idea. 

“I will let you go, with Clem, for a few hours, I’ll send a team out to clear it in the morning so don’t get there before ten am alright?” 

“Oh my god thank you thank you thank you!” You pull her into a tight hug as she chuckles at your excitement. 

“Seriously though, don’t let your guard down and whatever you do, do not put that little girl in danger. If anything seems the slightest bit off, you come back, okay?” 

“Of course Maria, I promise we’ll all be fine.”  

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧        

“Babe why are we at the gates?” 

“Family outing!” 

“Does Maria know?” 

“You think we’d be going if she didn’t?” 

“True.” Ellie climbs on Shimmer and then you help Clem up to sit in front of her before mounting Greg. Your heart jumped a little as the gates opened and you began your short journey to the lake where you and Ellie had snuck off to so many times when you were fourteen and again recently. You had mainly seen the lake at night so the image of the crystal-clear water shimmering from the sun was making you antsy to get there. 

Ellie surveyed her surroundings desperately trying to guess where you were going until suddenly it popped into her mind. “Are we going to the lake?” 

“I don’t know, are we Ellie?” You look over your shoulder and flash a coy smile seeing her face light up. 

“Fuck yeah.” You hear her mutter causing you to roll her eyes, lovingly but still disgruntled by her potty mouth that had already worked its way into Clem’s vocabulary. It annoyed you more that you had to stifle a laugh whenever Clem swore than Ellie actually swearing but she didn’t need to know that because she’s never let you live it down. 

The lake came into view and Clem screeched at the sight, she loved the pond in Jackson, but the pond didn’t compare to the large lake that shimmered exactly like you had pictured. As you dismounted the horses and tied them up, Clem bounced around unable to contain her excitement. You slid her backpack off her shoulders and emptied the contents, a swimming costume and some arm bands that would serve well while you taught her to swim. You came across them on a patrol as well as the swimming costume in a shop in the mountain resort and it gave you the idea about the lake. You still didn’t understand why they sold that stuff at the mountain resort but it worked in your favour so you didn’t dwell on it. You found a bikini for yourself that you were already wearing under your clothes so you knelt down and grabbed the options you had brought for Ellie to show her. A forest green all in one swim costume, a black bikini that was similar to yours and a pair of black swimming shorts – or trunks as the package had called them. 

“I wasn’t sure what you’d want so er I grabbed a few options.” You say holding them out to her as she inspects them. She settles on the black bikini top with the black swimming trunks as you began changing Clem into her costume that was a pink all-in-one with a little frilly skirt running around her waist. She looked as cute as a button and as she span watching the skirt float around her, giggling and clapping, you knew she liked it too.  

“I’m never taking it off!” 

“We’ll see about that.” You grinned as you began blowing up the arm bands until they were firm then pushing them up her arms until they sat just below her shoulders. You looked up to see Ellie changed and the sight of her toned body had you licking your lips. “Why don’t you take her in? I’ll be there in two secs.” She nods and smiles before leading Clem to the water as you shrugged off your clothes to reveal the red bikini you had picked out. It was simple but it made you feel pretty and from the way Ellie’s jaw dropped as you sauntered over to the edge of the lake, you knew she agreed. 

You all spent hours in the lake, teaching Clem to swim, Ellie attempting to do handstands and failing miserably causing her to cough and splutter and moan about water going up her nose though you only scolded her for not learning her lesson over and over again. Eventually she managed to stay up right with her legs bent and flailing for a couple seconds and the proud look on her face when she emerges from the water has you relenting and telling her it looked perfect just to stop her from trying again. 

The sun made the water warmer but it was still a welcome reprieve from the sweltering heat on land. It was so easy to get swept up in the joy of the moment you almost missed the sun showing you it was time to head back to Jackson but you didn’t which gave you enough time to rush them out of the water and back into their dry clothes after they both practically shook off like dogs just in time. 

The whole way home Ellie moaned and groaned about not wanting to leave but you promised her over and over again that you’d go back soon and that seemed to satisfy her enough that she’d stop being a pain in the ass. 

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧        

“SURPRISE!” Ellie screamed like she had never screamed before as she walked through the front door and was greeted by her friends and family all standing in the living room. At the exact moment her face contorted and her body jumped away from them a bright flash went off followed by Jesse’s deafening laughter as he nearly collapsed on the ground.  

“I could’ve killed you all!” Ellie shrieked as she clutched her chest, you and Clem both in a similar state to Jesse. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure you could kiddo.” Joel walked over to her with a cocky grin as he embraced her in a hug that she wasn’t quite recovered enough to return. “Happy birthday, I love ya.” 

“Ew old man, don’t be gross.” You pinched her side and she winced before looking at her feet. “I love you too.” She muttered. 

“I know. I’m great, don’t blame ya!” He chirped and all of a sudden Jesse started cackling once again as he stared down at a... polaroid. Ellie snatched it from his hand and her moment of absolute terror had been caught at the perfect moment by Jesse. Her mouth was open, mid-shriek, one leg was pulled up to her chest and her arms were crossed over defensively. You peaked over her shoulder and started cackling like a hyena as you snatched the polaroid from her.  

“Look Clemmy! Isn’t this a good picture of Mama?” You managed through wheezes, Clem immediately giggled before the polaroid was ripped from your hand by Ellie once again. 

“Alright, alright. Can we be nice to me seeing as it’s my birthday maybe?” 

“Speaking of, happy birthday.” Jesse chimes in as he hands Ellie the polaroid camera. 

“Wait, seriously?” 

“Yeah, found it on patrol and figured you could use it seeing as you’re all artsy fartsy. I got you loads of the paper thingys that you put in the camera also, they’re in a bag in the kitchen. It was a sick shop.” He was so nonchalant after giving Ellie something that was going to allow her to make all the memories of Clem growing up and her growing old with you permanent. 

“Jesse you fucker this is fucking awesome!” She lunges at him and hugs him like she’s trying to break his back as he pats her back lightly with the hand that wasn’t pressed as firmly to his side than the other. 

“Ooh our turn! This is from me Maria and Tommy.” Joel smiled as they all stepped aside revealing something under a white sheet. Ellie inched over to it and ripped the sheet off to see an electric guitar, the amp and everything. She had seen one in the music store with Joel on patrol and picked it up saying how cool it would be to play one of them so when Joel was there a few weeks ago on patrol the idea suddenly popped into his head and he enlisted Tommy’s help to lug everything back to Jackson and fix it up so it was like brand new. He hadn’t been entirely sure it would be possible but when he tested it, it was near-enough perfect. 

“Are you fucking kidding me right now? An electric fucking guitar! Babe, I am gonna serenade you so hard tonight.” She almost sings her last sentence as Joel grimaces at you. 

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He says sheepishly as you chuckle. 

“Don’t be, this is really impressive guys. It’s perfect.” You answered as Ellie was too busy fiddling around with everything, she didn’t even know what to do first so she just started almost glitching as she moved from the guitar, to the amp, to the wall, to the cords all wrapped up neatly on the floor, back to the guitar, then to wall again and so on until Joel took pity on the frantically excited girl and set it up for her. 

“While he’s fixing that, Ellie, here’s your present from me. Happy birthday!” Dina beamed as she handed her a box. Ellie opened the lid and her jaw dropped. There were CDs, DVDs, vinyls and most importantly, the savage starlight comic that would finally answer the cliff hanger that has played on her mind since she was fourteen. She had found so many over the years but she had never found the comic that was the second part of the one she had stolen from Bill’s. “Your lovely girlfriend over there helped me a little with the other things, we kinda made the collection over the past few months but I found this the other week and figured you mightttt want to know what happened after that cliffhanger we’ve all heard you moan about for years.”  

“Dina, this is insane, thank you so much.” She hugged Dina before turning back to you and enveloping you in her body like you would float away any second. “And you... Thank you, this has been the best birthday ever! You are an angel.” She whispers into your hair as you hold back happy tears that you had been fighting all day, you had been so emotional lately you were honestly considering the possibility that the strap on Ellie found was magic and you were actually pregnant. It was more likely that you were due on your period but still, it was nice to fantasize.  

Ellie flipped through the contents of the box until Joel announced the guitar was ready causing her to leap over to him, almost tripping on the white sheet she had left discarded in the middle of the room. She took the guitar in her hands, slipping the strap over her neck and putting an arm through before strumming a chord then made the house vibrate ever so slightly. Clem clamped her hands over her ears as she winced slightly causing you to pick her up and kiss her cheek as she giggled with you. “Whoops, lemme turn that down a little bit.” She says sheepishly before repeating the chord with a look of awe painted all over her features.  

You grabbed the polaroid camera and snapped a picture of her standing looking down at the guitar and she frowned at you as you beamed in her direction while shaking the polaroid. Your mum had always done that when she’d take a picture of you on special occasions, so you simply did it out habit and not because you knew if it actually helped or not. 

The afternoon rolled round into the evening as you all sat outside round a fire Joel and Tommy had been keeping alight. So many pictures had been taken already but Ellie’s favourite by far was the one of you holding Clem, Clem cuddled into your side as you hold her on your hip, Clem was smiling cheekily at the camera and you were kissing her forehead with a smile that was evident even from the side of your face. You were glowing and she glowed even brighter every time she looked at it. She didn’t need any presents for this to have been the best birthday, it was already the best because this was her first birthday with both of you in her life, loving you was the best present she could’ve ever asked for. 

Everyone stayed until there was a chill to the air and the orange and pink hues of the sky had long turned to darkness with hundreds of thousands of stars glittering over their heads. The stars seemed clearer tonight and as she thought about the stargazing book you had gifted her, her excitement only swelled. 

Dina and Jesse were the last to go, Joel, Tommy and Maria leaving about an hour before, excusing themselves due to their tiredness. Ellie had scolded Joel for how much of an old man he was, as always, but when he quipped back with ‘watch out, you’ll blink and you’ll be as old as me’ she could’ve been scared at the thought, she would’ve been a year prior but as she looked at you and Clem it only made her excited for all the years you would share together. 

Once everyone had left you put a defiant but very sleepy Clem to bed and returned to Ellie in the back garden with two blankets and her stargazing book. 

“Oh you read my mind.” 

“It’s almost like I know you super well or something.” You giggled as Ellie stomped out the fire and you both laid out the first blanket before laying down and covering yourselves with the second one. You cuddled into Ellie’s side, leaning on her chest as she wrapped an arm around you and thumbed through the book with her free hand to find the section showing her different constellations. You spent at least an hour looking at the stars, occasionally arguing over what constellation was which though you always relented eventually. 

“Did you have a good birthday babe?” 

“Better than good, it was fucking perfect. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

“They all got you such good gifts, they know you so well. Feel like they put me to shame.” You chuckled as you said it but she picked up on the insecurity on your voice in a matter of seconds. 

“Babe, the lake, the surprise party, the pancakes in bed, you literally spoiled me rotten and then the presents on top of that, they were perfect, the whole day was perfect and so are you. I love everything you got me, especially because it came from you. This day wouldn’t have been perfect without you, okay?” 

“I love you Ellie, happy birthday.” 

“I love you more than there are stars in the sky, thank you, for everything.” You kissed her soft, sweetly as you cradled her head, smiling into the kiss. She was right, it was a perfect day. 

tags: @emiliabby @readbydayana @radioheadfan699 @lil-elliesgf @isitadinosaur @amberputh @maelovescashew @a-little-bit-of-everybody @moonspowder @bready101