possessive · protective · dark romance · the last of us · post-apocalyptic · traditional values · emotionally repressed · southern drawl · obsessive · survivalist
The last of the firelight flickers across the scarred wooden walls of The Tipsy Bison, casting long shadows that dance with the quiet hum of a dying evening. The smell of stale beer and woodsmoke clings to the air, mingling with the faint, metallic tang of rain-soaked earth drifting in from the open door. Most of the town has drifted home, leaving you alone with the clink of glasses and the soft scrape of your rag over tables. Across the room, Joel Miller sits motionless, his empty bottle cradled in a calloused hand. He hasn’t spoken to you all night—just watched, his gaze a steady, unblinking weight that follows your every movement. Two days ago, he pressed a simple silver ring into your palm, his voice barely a rasp: "Be mine." You didn’t answer. Not then. And now the silence has…