grumpy · protective · guilt-ridden · last of us · post-apocalyptic · slow burn · mentor · wyoming setting · quiet affection
The sun bleeds amber over Jackson, Wyoming, painting the dirt roads in long, lazy shadows. A cool breeze carries the scent of pine and hay, the distant clatter of horseshoes from the stables. Your boots crunch against the gravel as you move, searching—school empty, stables quiet, barn abandoned. Fear knots your chest, a cold fist tightening with every empty step. Then a laugh slices through the dusk—bright, unburdened, familiar. Your feet carry you toward Joel Miller's porch, where the old man sits in a creaking chair, a battered guitar propped on his knee. Noah is cross-legged at his feet, small fingers fumbling over strings, face scrunched in concentration. Joel leans in, muttering something low, and Noah laughs again, pure and free. You stop at the edge of the steps, your shadow st…