Set Me Free ▪︎ Joel Miller ▪︎

▪︎○ Thirty ○▪︎

The waves crashed against the sandy shore, washing away pebbles and seaweed along with the trail of footsteps Henry left behind as he paced back and forth with his makeshift map in hand. He mumbled to himself while Olivia, Ellie and Sam sat beside Joel's unconscious figure.

The smugglers breathing was steady, calm even. It offered Olivia relief and reassurance that he would wake up and be the same old Joel she had grown to care deeply for. Though, as the sun began to rise off in the distance, she frowned; he'd been out all night and still showed little sign of waking up anytime soon.

She was scared. She didn't want to lose him - she couldn't.

She reached out with trembling fingers, brushing them gently along his head and through his short, damp hair. She mentally pleaded for him to wake up but as those familiar steady footsteps approached them once more, anger rose up.

"He is gonna be fine," Henry assured with arms folded and his map now tucked away safely in his half empty pack.

Olivia scoffed and turned to the dark skinned man with a dangerous glare, an edge to her tone. "For your sake, he better be."

"Look, I'm sorry we took off back there but we had no choice." he sighed, "besides, if it weren't for me, you three would still be in that river."

Olivia shook her head, ignoring him completely as she kept her gaze focused on Joel. She didn't care for the bullshit excuses Henry tried to feed her, even if she could sense that he truly felt bad about leaving them behind. His reasons didn't change what he'd done.

Sure, he'd saved them from drowning, but that didn't make up for his actions before that.

"Is he gonna wake up?" Ellie asked softly, a lingering worry dripping from her tone.

She was just as scared and worried as Olivia. Not only because Joel was as good a protector as they get but also because amongst all the chaos they'd been through together, the teen had also grown attached to him. She cared about him and his well being. You could even say she saw a father figure in him. And so, Olivia offered the only response that seemed both honest and suitable.

"I hope so,"

The teen nods sadly whilst shifting her gaze to the two brothers further along the beach, talking amongst themselves like they often did. She sighed whilst shuffling closer to Joel and Olivia for silent comfort.

Then, after a few minutes of silence had passed by, a sudden hoarse cough echoed through the air while Joel's body jolted and his eyes opened rather suddenly.

Immediately, Olivia and Ellie rushed to his aid. Together, they assisted him in sitting upright whilst fussing over him like they always did. Until, Olivia did something rather unexpected - at least to her and Joel it was - she reached out and wrapped her arms around him with visible relief, embracing him tightly with her head resting on his shoulder.

She heard him sigh softly whilst lifting his own arms to hold her. Clearly, he realised just how much she needed this moment to appreciate him being alive, or perhaps, he too needed to hold her just as much as she needed to hold him.

Ellie smiled at the pair, watching them pull back while Sam called out to his older brother to inform him that Joel was awake and very much alive.

"Take it easy. You hit your head pretty hard." Olivia told Joel while stroking the sand from his face.

"I'm fine, Liv." he grumbled whilst scowling at the fuss she was making over him. He didn't enjoy seeing her worried about him. It felt wrong. He sighed heavily as his hand lifted and moved to rub at the back of his head where a dull ache remained. Truth be told, his head still very much fucking hurt and his body, though moving fine, felt heavy and sore.