𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 : 𝐉𝐨𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫

-Quiet Talks-

Silver Lake, 2033

4 weeks earlier

"Okay, okay, hold on."

Ellie waves her hands out in front of her, and I stop talking, looking up from my food.

"So, the girl, starts to fall for the werewolf guy?"

I nod curtly. "Yes."

"Even though he's a werewolf?" The teen was not convinced nor as moved by the story as most girls her age would have been.

"Well, technically, she didn't know he was a werewolf yet."

"But she knew there was something weird about him?"

"Right," I reply.

This conversation had been going on for a good hour or so. Ellie could not fathom the idea of a supernatural creature, like a werewolf, becoming some kind of romance heroine. By her words, werewolves are supposed to "terrorize" and "eat the flesh" of human beings. Not fall in love with them. While I do agree, that was the endearing part of the story.

Now, I was younger than her when I saw Dawn of the Wolf with my sister. Back then, I didn't entirely understand what was happening outside the love story. The more I talked about it with her, the more I started to remember, and the more complicated I realized it was.

Since we'd been here, Ellie hadn't gone out much. I knew she was going a little stir-crazy. I gave her some responsibilities, so she didn't feel entirely helpless. Watching after Joel while I was gone – that was her main priority. She cared for the horses, which she enjoyed doing. I let her take Callus out for a while in the mornings to stretch his legs. And then when I get home, she would help me scrounge up some kind of dinner. We sit and talk for a few hours until she would eventually fall asleep then we would repeat the process the next day.

I did feel bad. Maybe I was being too overly protective. But all it would take was one wrong move, one mistake, and everything could fall apart. I couldn't let that happen.

She sighs heavily, once she thinks she understands and says, "Okay, you can keep going."

I continued to talk about the movie, and she continued to ask questions. We smiled, and we laughed. I looked forward to this at the end of the day. It felt normal. Like we were back home in Boston.

She passed out not too long after helping me clean up and now, I was lying beside Joel with a book that I found one day when I was out. I found a ton of them actually, but I only had room for one. It was a little more on the longer side, so I thought it would take me some time to finish it, but I was getting through it fairly quickly.

It was interesting and entertaining. It reminded me a lot of Dawn of the Wolf, actually. Except, this book was about vampires. I think it was targeted more toward teens, but who was going to judge me?

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" A voice lowly drawls, luring me from the words on the page.

I let my head fall to the side and find him staring – my heart skips. "Probably," I reply quietly, closing the book and setting it down. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I flip the question, and he sighs.

"I do enough sleepin'..."

There's disappointment on his features – frustration. He hates being stuck down here. He hates being hurt. Who wouldn't? But I think it might be a bit different for him. I know a part of him thinks he can just stand up and walk through it. And maybe he can, but I won't let him. That's just asking to make it worse than it already is.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, propping up onto my elbows.

There was concentration on his face as he contemplated. Maybe deciding whether he was going to tell me the truth. Sometimes I think he lies not to worry me. It's a sweet thought, but it doesn't work.

"Like shit."

The humor in his tone made me crack a smile. "Are you hungry?"

He frowns, shaking his head. "No, I'm fine."

"Ookay," I sang, laying back down onto my backpack. I lace my fingers together and they rest on my stomach while my eyes look up at the ceiling.

"Y'know, I've been thinking..."

"That can't be good," I teased, and I imagined him rolling his eyes.

"Hilarious," he mumbles, and I chuckle softly. "I've been thinking..." He reiterates slowly. "After we found the Fireflies, I'd go back to Jackson. Take Tommy up on that offer."

My head turns enough to see his face and my eyebrow arches. "Oh yeah?"

There was this certain spark in his eye. I hadn't seen it before. His lips curved into a small smirk. "Yeah. And, uh, I was thinking..." He trails off, his head tilts down to meet my eyes. "I was thinking you and Ellie could come with me. After everything is done with the Fireflies."

My lips parted as my face fell with shock. A good shock. There was this tingling sensation radiating all over my body. My stomach was so knotted I thought I might be sick. And it was over something so simple.

"You two could have your own place. Ellie could talk the ears off of someone other than us." I laugh softly, a smile remaining on my lips. His voice dropped to a whisper. "You wouldn't have to be miserable in a place you don't wanna be." He paused. "You would be happy."

I kept my voice low, like his. "Careful, Miller, it's starting to sound like you might actually care about me."

The corner of his mouth quirked up for a second. "We wouldn't want that now, would we?" I watched his eyes flick down to my lips and a lump formed in my throat. My heart thundered in my chest, rattling my bones. What was stopping me from leaning over and kissing him? Have him hold me in his arms and tell me everything was going to be okay.

The only thing stopping me – was me.

"Get some sleep, Ruth."

I huffed a laugh, and jokingly saluted, "Yes, sir." I heard him laugh as I started to turn onto my side. "And Joel..." I looked over my shoulder to see his face. "I think I'd like that."

I noted the faint smile on his lips before I lay down and closed my eyes.