Losing you ; Joel Miller

xxxv. You're beautiful

A/n: loml^^

[2024]
EDEN

" Shit" Eden cursed to herself as thunder rumbled through the mountains, tugging the hood of her jacket over her head in a poor attempt to shield herself from the wind and rain that was whipping her in the face. This isn't going to work. Making Epona slow down, Joel shot her a questioning glance. " We gotta wait the storm out, there's shelter only a few minutes away from here."

     When the small cottage came into view, Eden felt like she could cry from relief. She was soaked to the bone, cold, and exhausted. After tying the horses up in the garage, Eden pulled out her walkie, pressing down the button as she spoke into the microphone " walkie check, Tommy do you copy? Over."

     " Loud and clear. What's your 20? Over" Eden slowly paced around the cottage living room, " Found shelter in the cottage out west, going to wait out the storm, over."

     " Copy that, wouldn't have sent y'all out if I knew it was gonna be this bad, over" Tommy sounded guilty through the speaker, he'd probably gotten worried when the storm hit. Eden sighed, shrugging off her jacket " Make sure someone keeps an eye on Ellie and Ada- not Callum though, poor guy needs a break. Over." She could hear the chuckle in Tommy's voice as he said " Rodger, stay safe out there, over and out."

     " Callum takes care of Ada?" Joel's voice made Eden jump, hand flying over her heart as she attempted to steady it. " Jesus you scared me, and yeah, it's hard taking care of a one year old by myself, Callum helps out every once in a while."

" You're not by yourself anymore" he muttered out, arms crossing as he leaned against the doorway. " Really? Is that true? Where have you been this past week then, hmm? You haven't even seen her yet. I gave birth to her alone in my own fucking bedroom! I raised her alone for eight fucking months! You then left me alone with her for another five months so don't you dare say I'm not raising her by myself anymore." Eden had gotten close, her finger digging into his chest. She was fuming, chest heaving as her hands shook.

She knew she hurt him. That's what she wanted. " Callum and I aren't a thing, never will be a thing. But fucking hell, he's helped raise this kid more than you have." He had left her alone for five months, and then when he finally came back, he had the audacity to throw a fit. " She's your daughter, Joel. Maybe you should step up and start acting like her dad."

Joel stayed silent, lips pressed into a thin line as he turned around and left. Eden's tears finally fell, overwhelmed of emotion and how her wet clothes felt against her skin. She wiped her tears, sniffling as she chucked wood into the fireplace. Removing her wet clothes, she pulled her hair into a bun. Crawling into her sleeping bag as she chewed on some celery sticks Callum had handed to her before she left. " You're basically a house wife" she had teased, flicking his forehead before turning around and grabbing her bag " shut up" she stuck her tongue out at him, picking Ada up to give her a large hug and kiss on the cheek " I'll be home soon."

The fire in front of her raged as her emotions calmed. A pang was felt in her chest, guilt. She regretted letting herself be steered by her emotions, she regretted snapping at Joel. They had barely talked the whole duration of patrol, and when they finally got the chance, she snapped and fucked it up. Worrying her bottom lip, Eden felt hot tears roll down her cheeks for the second time that evening. She'd missed him so much these past months, and now when she finally got him back, she was ruining it.

The door opened slowly, Joel walked in with tired eyes. Another pang in her chest. He only stopped for a second to look at her before taking out his own sleeping bag in silence. Just as he was about to leave to another room, Eden offered him a celery stick. He seemed to stare at the green vegetable for ages, as though he had no clue what to do next. " I didn't have an olive branch so I thought this would do" she whispered weakly, something resembling a chuckle leaving her lips.

He sat down, taking the celery stick silently as he watched the fire. " I'm sorry" she croaked out, wiping her tears with the back of her hand before playing with her fingers " I only said those things to hurt you- it was wrong for me to do."

" No, you're right, I haven't been around" Joel sighed, taking a bite of his celery stick before shaking his head " I promised I wouldn't leave you and I did anyways, I deserved it."

Eden choked out a sob, hands moving to hide her face as her body wracked. The arm that wrapped around her shoulders was reluctant, but she accepted it instantly and moved herself closer. " I didn't mean any of it" she cried softly " I just want us to be okay again."

Joel's heart felt heavy because of what he'd done to her. Pulling Eden onto his lap and moving her hands away from her face, he breathed in. " Take a deep breath, sugar, breathe with me" he instructed gently, taking deep breaths himself so she could copy his pace. " Good girl, now listen to me, 'kay?" She nodded, cheeks red and puffy from crying " you have a right to be upset, what I did was wrong and I'm sorry- now you don't have to accept my apology right away, take your time. But when you do, I'll be waitin' right here gorgeous."

Eden sniffled, resting her head against his chest " do you still have the rings?" She asked weakly, Joel felt his heart warm, nodding softly as he reached for his pack to take out the box.

" D'you want yours?" He murmured out, opening the box. She nodded, holding her hand out for him to slip the ring on. " S'beautiful" she mumbled, admiring her ring finger. He kissed the top of her head, relishing in the way Eden's breathing slowed down as she lied on his chest. " You're beautiful."

Honey is typing...
Literally word puked this in 2 hours oml, just want to clarify, none of my chapters are thoroughly proof read yet so if anything seems off that's probably why <3