Losing you ; Joel Miller

xxxi. I just need some time

The night sky filled with glowing stars, it was just the two of them, enjoying each other's company. " Do you wanna get married?" His question echoed through the vast darkness, when Eden looked over at him, she noticed he was gone. " Joel? Joel!"

" I promise, you'll never be alone again." He sounded so distant in the void, Eden stood up, sprinting through the darkness before stumbling over and falling with a thud. Her hands pressed against wood panels, she found herself at the old firefly safe house.

" I love you" Joel's voice surrounded her, bouncing off the old walls " I'll see you soon" Eden noticed him standing by the doorway, turning away from her as he walked away. She ran towards him, legs seemingly growing weaker and weaker. Sprinting out the door, she stared bewilderingly at her surroundings. She was back in the QZ. " You're too kind for this world... you're too kind to me" Eden felt her cheek, looking down at her fingers to find them stained with blood. " Joel! Where are you?" Voice cracking as she yelled, the blonde stood up before being punched back down to the ground by an invisible force.

The world spun around her, being picked up by strong hands, Eden heard Joel's worried voice " I know it hurts, baby, just need to get you off the floor." She was at Joel's apartment, tears welled up in her eyes as she sobbed " gonna get you some help, I'll be right back sweet girl, I promise." Eden cried, screaming and pleading for him to come back, for him not to leave her. Not again.

Falling. Her body felt weightless for a moment as she fell through the void, endless darkness surrounding her. Landing on a soft surface, she was blinded by bright light...

[2024]
EDEN

Eden groaned in annoyance when she noticed the curtains had magically opened, sun beaming through and feeling overbearing in her sleep filled daze. When she made eye contact with Callum, the obvious perpetrator, she muttered out a " fuck off..." before curling up into her blanket once again, the dream she just had soured her mood. It had been five months since Joel left with Ellie, he hadn't even had the decency to wake her up and let her say goodbye.

The man in front of her gripped her source of warmth and yanked it away " you're already late, c'mon, I made breakfast" if looks could kill, Callum would already be dead. Eden let out a childish whine in protest before dramatically crawling out of her bed, " you know I hate mornings... how are you so fucking energetic at 7am?"

Eden would never admit it, but she loved Callum's breakfast. He was quite the chef. Ada squealed as they walked into the kitchen, small legs moving as fast as they could " Mama! Mama! Look!"

The older Ada got the more she proved to be a splitting image of her father. " What have you drawn, baby?" Eden cooed, taking the piece of paper from the toddler. A smile grew on her face at the messy brown scribbles " woof!" The toddler said excitedly and pointed at her master piece, indicating that she was trying to draw their dog, a german shepherd by the name Heidi. " Oh it's Heidi... where is that dog now anyways?" Eden asked, turning towards Callum " I let her out when I came to wake your grumpy ass up" he quipped back placing a plate on the counter top with a sandwich on it. Eden gave the drawing back to Ada, kissing her head as she complimented her artistic skills.

" So, tonight you're going on a date with... what's her name again?" Eden took a large bite out of the peanut butter sandwich, tilting her head towards Callum " her name is Matilda" he informed, chewing down on his own breakfast. " Right, since you ended things with Brent... what even happened between you guys?"

" Nothin' really, he just sorta got boring I guess" Callum shrugged before gesturing at her to eat quickly " you have patrol in... ten minutes. Chop chop! You're still in your pyjamas."

" Hey! You're late" Max quipped, Eden rolled her eyes, sticking out her tongue. " Don't say anything, you were late last week."

" Yeah, yeah. How have you been?" His gaze softened slightly when Eden signed out " I'm fine, a bit tired" with a shrug before taking out her bow " you promised you'd teach me how to shoot some day..." Eden smiled at him, Max was a nice kid, he'd just turned 20 in March and was fluent in ASL because his little sister was hard of hearing, which meant they were often grouped together. " Let's see if we have the time for some lessons today then... they tell you where we're stationed yet?" His face lit up with excitement when at the mention of aaa potentially teaching him archery, speaking about their patrol round as they walked into the stables.

When they arrived back to Jackson, Tommy was anxiously waiting for her by the stables, informing her that they needed to talk and it was urgent.

" He's back" Tommy broke the news after Eden bid her goodbye to Max. Her sunshine bright smile falling immediately " who?" She knew who, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. " You know who..." Tommy fiddled with the ring on his finger " Tommy. Tell me who" Eden demanded, heartbeat racing. It felt like yesterday that she had fallen into Tommy's arms sobbing as he broke the news to her that they had already left.

" Joel... Ellie's with him too, they're getting themselves situated right know, the first thing he did was ask about you" Eden cursed under her breath, tears welling into her eyes from both relief and pain. For the longest time, she'd thought they were dead.

" I- I can't-" Eden's voice broke " I can't face him right now, Tommy" she signed, finding it easier to communicate through ASL. " And that's ok... take all the time you need- he's just- he just seemed really adamant about talking to you, E." she shook her head, worrying her bottom lip as she stared at the hay filled ground. " I'll keep him away for as long as I can, I just felt like I needed to tell you... I don't know what happened to them under these past five months, but y'know Joel, he's a survivor."

He was, Eden definitely knew that. She also knew that he was hard headed. He'd find her eventually, she just needed time.

Honey is typing
Callum and Eden, my favourite bisexuals <333