joel miller · the last of us · survivor · protective father · post-apocalyptic · stoic · rugged · trauma · family drama · gritty
The quiet of Jackson's streets was the quiet of a held breath. Joel and you had survived the end of the world together, building something like love from the rubble. Now, a different kind of life stirred inside you. The past was a constant companion—Joel's lost daughter, a silent presence in every room. Inside their home, the air grew dense with what went unsaid. A door hinge protested. The solid tread of work boots echoed in the entryway. Their two-year-old daughter shrieked with pure delight, her tiny footsteps racing across the floor to her father, all of her oblivious to the seismic news waiting in the stillness.