Archive of Our Own ^beta

A rather loud crack of cartilage startles you, your gun aimed toward the direction Joel approached you and the horses from. He had dismounted to check out the small wisps of smoke with an urgent but quiet request to remain behind.

“Just me ‘n my bad back.”

“Should soak in some hot water when we get back.” You say as you lower the barrel, turning your attention to the tittering horses. You miss the way his eyes darken at the image of you covered in nothing but scented bubbles flashing in his mind. It was the middle of summer, your shirts having given way to tank tops that gave the man more than a glimpse of the swell of your breasts glistening with sweat. His hands twitch at his sides, his own gun secure over his back, pistol nestled in the holster at his hip.

“Afraid that won’t do much at my age.”

“You’re not that much older than me.”

“I’m far older than you, you can’t be more’n forty.”

“Tommy’s got a few on me, but he said you’re not much older than him?”

“I’m fifty-seven, he’s about fifty. Even older with a birthday comin’ up soon. More’n a few years, actually.”

“Oh. Well, I always did go for older guys.” And fuck if his cock didn’t twitch and his stomach didn’t swoop at the implications of your words. You must’ve realized they were uttered aloud as you spin back to face him with a twisted face, heat tinging the tops of your ears and your chest rising with a deep exhale of an apology he didn’t think was necessary.

“Shit. That was wildly inappropriate, Joel. I’m so sorry.” The worry in the lines of your face, the few wrinkles he could see around your eyes made his stomach swoop again. You were so god damn expressive once he got you talking, something relatively new as you both got used to being around each other, reading each other’s moods.

“No need to apologize, we all got our preferences.”

“Still, you-you’re…I’m just gonna shut up now.” He could hear the clack of your teeth as you snap your jaw shut, tense at what he figured you thought was too forward of a conversation with someone who you interacted with only a few times a week. But he frowned, not liking the way you interpreted their easy-going patrols that had begun to develop into something he would call genuine friendship.

“Nah, is okay. Filters are for people who actually say inappropriate stuff. You’re fine, Olive.” He watches the way you begin to lead the horses down an overgrown path, falling into step behind you. Something that paired with the smoldering fire he had found keeping his eyes and ears open to those responsible. “When’s your birthday?”

“I’m a winter baby, which is ironic because I don’t like the cold.” His eyes trace the same line a drop of sweat as it makes its way from your braided hair and down the back of your neck. The increasing heat not seeming to bother you as it did so many others who had the relieve of central air in Jackson.

“Not a fan either, being from Texas we didn’t get much of it.” Joel realizes he hadn’t told anyone of his past other than Ellie in…god knows how long. You were smart though, no doubt picking up on the twang his voice carried, the particulars of it telling of his past just as much as his answers to each new question. But he was willing to share it with you, something about you softening the edges of the walls he had built up around himself. Of wanting to find out what you had in common and what you didn’t.

“Do you…like sweets?”

“Huh?” Even if he were privy to the innerworkings of your mind, the question would still have caught him off guard, doubly so since he wasn’t.

“Uh…sweets? Like cake or tart or even muffins?” Nervous, he realized, you were nervous around him sometimes. But it was so unlike the rest of the town, nervous as in worried about accidentally offending him or saying the wrong thing, not nervous he was going to throttle them. He had done his best to work alongside Tommy, to appease Maria and the council, to show them that he was committed to turning a new leave and abiding by their way of life to ensure he and Ellie had a place to call home. It had been a rough couple of months, but you sure as hell sweetened the deal.

“Wouldn’t say no to ‘em, but never went out of my way to get any for myself.” The question of who he would go out of his way to get them fore glints in your eye, but you purse your lips and refrain from another question. He rather likes betting against himself to see if you would ask the many he sees cross your face. Your brow was twitch just before you did, if you allowed yourself. Your lips would twitch if you didn’t, like you were holding back the words springing up in your mind.

After a rather awkward first couple of patrols, he had realized the set of his face may have come across as uninterested. But you were so sweet, so quiet and he found himself wondering about you beyond the bubble of time you shared while out on patrol. Tommy had barked a laugh when he asked how long you had been here, the glimmer of teasing only a younger sibling was capable of lighting up his face. Longer than him, he had said. Which meant you had to have been a part of it for a while.

Time passes and his birthday is suddenly something Tommy makes a point to stop by the house with a classic yellow cake covered in chocolate frosting.

Figured you for a simple man, so a simple cake seemed the safest bet. Hope the day is good to you, Olive.

The note attached to it was inscribed with beautiful, looping writing. Tommy had remarked that you were the go to baker for cakes, even if the requests were made at the mess hall where he learned you were one of the cooks behind the scenes. Each new piece of you he learned making him want to know more. With the thought to thank you next patrol, he accepted the cake and his brother’s company.

Ellie had made him breakfast before school, but he had remained inside all day, busing himself with cleaning and carving to ignore the memories the date always brought up. But that evening, he smiled over a small dinner with his brother as they cut into the cake almost immediately after. Glad he had opened up to you and to find that you thought of him as much as he was beginning to think of you. He would return the favor by bringing coffee, something he was learning was a commodity few had a steady supply of. A branch of his own to let you know he didn’t think you were being too forward in any capacity.

Even more so when he noticed a third slice stolen from the platter it was delivered on the next morning, a card beside it from Ellie wishing him another year for her to tease him.

“Reading.” You had replied almost instantly, causing a hearty chuckle to sound from somewhere deep in Joel’s chest. His random question of hobbies barely leaving his plush lips. “I spend a lot of time reading, researching.”

“And what exactly do you research?” He didn’t turn from his survey of the trail ahead of him, the trees thick and dense with summer blooms. You had been with him for a few months now, partnered up as Maria begins to reduce her activities, Tommy wanting to remain as close to her as possible in case anything happened. Due in winter, she was about halfway through her pregnancy, something you were trying to fuel with protein and nutrient dense foods. Things you could make to allow for some hormone control and balance. Hence the research. Any and all books on food and cooking found their way to your doorstep, or were delivered to you by hand from the couple themselves, even a few of the other council members should they need to see if had anything of interest for the whole community first.

Your answer wasn’t as instantaneous. Voice caught in your throat as you took in the rather picturesque view of the man’s broad body atop his trusty stead trotting slowly up ahead of you. His shoulders were swathed in a denim button up, fabric taut over the planes of his shoulder blades, allowing you to see how his back tensed and clenched as Kiana, his favored brown and white patterned horse, tackled the overgrown trail. His hair was shorter, as if he had tried to curb the prevalent heat but it only made the disheveled curls his hair had been in begin to show themselves around the nape of his neck. Sweat beaded up and dampened the denim, no doubt even more noticeable on the tank top or undershirt he donned underneath.

But you hadn’t been so modest today, decked out in a pair of jeans and tank top. The sleeveless top allowed for your arms to feel the embrace of the sun, not quite smoldering but still sweltering. Sweat was surly discoloring the pale blue of it, the tone matching Joel’s attire. He had teased you over it when he approached the stables, you already having prepared the horses for the early morning route. But the grin with his tongue between his teeth had told you had hadn’t really minded, and maybe he had even liked that you had unconsciously matching him…

“Olive?” He turned to you know, one thick brow raised in question. “Heat got ya?”

“No, sorry. Just, taking in the views.”

“Views are pretty good.” His eyes moved over your body, taking in the way the strap of the shotgun was nestled over your chest, the collar of your top low. The shade provided by the wide brimmed hat you favored allowed for your eyes to remain hidden from him, though you were sure he could’ve felt the weight of your staring.

“You said you do a lot of research?” You shook the mental image of you both sprawled out on your couch, you with a book in your hands and a notebook to scrawl notations, him with another or even just content with something playing brightly across the room on your small television. He was so…alluring. His quiet demeanor, his willingness to do what he could to earn his keep in the community, his skills of helping Tommy and the scant crew with construction and home repairs. He had been a there since spring, a part of your life since then. Unwilling to imitate the rest of the town as he noticed how they either ignored your presence or gave you tight lipped smiles in response to your scarce interactions. He didn’t really see you much around town, something you had admitted to not doing much, leaving your house. He must’ve sensed the shift in your mood when he had asked why, moving his focus onto something else.

“Oh! Y-yes, research. O-on the nutrient offerings of food, of how certain crops can be boosted through simple scientific fixes, I work in the gardens a lot, have one in my own backyard.”

“I been reading a lot lately myself.” He turned back to face forward, the column of his neck glistening with a light sheen of sweat. “Also been dabblin’ in woodworking.”

“That’s pre-pretty cool. What made you interested in that, if I may ask?” Silent for a beat, his eyes tracing the way a long limb up ahead shook. Searching for anything that would signal another soul this far into the forest, or if it was just a small animal scurrying as they foraged or fled at the gentle rise and fall of your voices as you shared with one another.

But he was also thinking…picturing you sat beside him in his newly set up work room in his home. The light woodsy, floral scent you seemed to have naturally encompassing him as you watch him walk you through carving and painting the small figures he had begun to sooth his aching hands with. Turning to you, a smile so soft you often aimed at him in full bloom as you relished in sharing his space and the smooth baritone of his voice. He knew you liked it, how it was low and gravely sometimes in the early morning. Coffee smoothing the edges of his sleep and shifting it to velvet that prompted more conversation on the days your eyes dilated upon his arrival at the stables.

“Always so sweet with your questions. Thought we were passed that, I’ll talk with ya. About anything.”

“I really appreciate that, Joel.” You tightened the grip of your hands around the reigns. Thinking about how he didn’t shy away from you like most people, even if he was notoriously hard to connect with when he was out and about in town. So busy at all hours of the day, returning to his home, his and Ellie’s home well into the evening nearly every day. You only noticed because his street was just beyond yours, his large build passing by your windows as you made dinner each night. The urge to call out your open window and offer him a serving always on the tip of your tongue. “It…it means a lo-lot to me.”

“I like our conversations, sweetheart. One of the easiest people to talk to.”

Your breath hitched and you hoped he hadn’t heard it, but the minute swivel of his head to the left told you he had despite his bad hearing in the other. He had only ever called you by your nickname. He only ever called people by the names handed to him along with their introduction. Your skin tingled, pride at earning such an endearment from the man making your head swim and your mind go blank.

“Would love to show you the figurines I make sometime, started it as a way to curb the pain in my aching hands but it’s actually pretty calming.”

“Ye-yeah, I get that. Zone out and create something.”

“Exactly, you got it just right, sweetheart.”

There it was again, the new reference and you felt heat rise up from where it came to live in your chest and up the column of your neck. You…you wouldn’t mind hearing it more or even the invitation to see his home, his work. The niggling feeling of the town taking the occurrence and fueling the fires of gossip surrounding you springing up and tainting the moment. You frowned, not liking that the mere possibility of talk deterred you from the man’s kindness.  

“This pressure in the air is…” You trailed off as you gazed up at the darkened sky. The deep, moody gray having crawled across the sky to blanket the sun. Lightning burst to life on the horizon, making you freeze atop Lowry. The sweet horse so attuned to you that she paused in her slow, meandering steps.

Thunder boomed, echoing across the open plains, startling you even as you waited for the sound with held breath.

“We should head back, storm’s comin’ in fast.” Joel regarded you atop his own horse, Kiana. She whinnied, not liking the direction he was turning her toward with gentle motions of the reigns. The hush of rain on the horizon was loud as it moved toward you both. Wetting the plains with fat droplets that  did nothing to quell the humidity that had made the air dense and hard to breath. Intensifying the heat of the mid-summer day.

“Yeah, good call.” Following his lead, you steered Lowry to turn around. It had been too slow a realization on both your parts, clothing soaked and sticking to your skin and weighing down your hair as you closed the distance back toward the settlement. With a piercing whistle just as you crested a slippery hill, Joel let the guards on duty know that you were back.

Laughter bubbled up from them underneath their makeshift protection against the rain atop the tall, foreboding wall that protected your town. You couldn’t help but share in their good moods despite the sudden shift in weather when you and Joel finally found yourselves underneath the eaves of the stables.

His graying curls were soaked, one of them so affected it looked like a ringlet as it fell over his forehead and flopped with his every move. Heat bloomed in your chest when he tossed you a mild glare, but the sparkle in his dark eyes told you he didn’t mind it so much.

“Alright, I get it, I look like a drowned rat.” He shoved at you lightly as you dismounted and began to tend to Lowery. She knickered before she shook out the water from her fur without warning. Kiana imitated her, pelting you both.

“Alright, enough.” His quiet command had the two horses baring their teeth in a true flehmen response.

“That the worst weather you been caught in?” You removed your wide brimmed hat, grateful for the little shield it had made over your hair and face. Until the horses had decided to mess around, picking up on the easy going mood despite the rain.

“Nah, worst would be a snowstorm back in Boston. QZ hadn’t been prepared for it, we lost what little power we had for nearly two weeks.” He easily spoke as he began to tend to his own horse, rich velvet voice soothing with the backdrop of the hard rain. “Before that it had been…fix or six years ago when I was out on a run. Nearly got picked up by a tornado as I sought out shelter where I could.”

“Oh geez, that’s intense.” You hung up the saddle just outside of Lowrey’s nook, closing the tall door behind you and ensuring the lock latched shut.

“What about you?” You turned from where you had offered the appaloosa a handful of hay. The tickle of her soft, velvety muzzle bringing a smile to your face. Joel was hanging up his own saddle, detaching the supplies he had fastened to it. His shot gun still secured across his broad shoulders.

“Hands down the ice storm that hit my city before the year before the Outbreak. Entire thing shut down because ice was built up about three inches thick on every roadway and street. Then it hailed and snowed for a week straight. Took forever for it to thaw out with the temps below freezing for so long. It was a bad winter, that’s for sure. But we never lost power, thankfully.” Walking side by side, you stoon just inside the stables with the man. Both of you staring out at the sheet of steady rain coming down from the even darker sky. It looked like dusk, even though the day had been new and the sun had just risen a few hours ago.

“Chicago?” He looked over at you, eyes roving over your profile. He noticed how your long lashes stuck together, the way your clothing stuck to your skin. Stepping away he rummaged around the collection of items stored around the doorway. With a grunt of appreciation at his stroke of good luck, he presented you with a worn umbrella.

“Yeah, born and raised.” Your eyes held long felt emotions as you shook your head at his offering. With a tug, you secured your leather hat back atop your head. Fingers tipping the brim, you dismissed him. “Got my hat, you need it more.”

“Why don’t we share, sweetheart?”

“Joel Miller’s gonna walk me home in the rain.” The teasing tone of your voice may have been lost in the way your voice lilted but he didn’t seem to show if he noticed.

“Someone’s gotta protect you from the thunder.” A raised eyebrow, a challenge from the handsome man had you feeling weak in the knees. He was teasing you, he was actually being friendly with you and your stomach flipped. It had been so long since anyone outside of your extremely small circle had felt comfortable enough around you to do so.

“Y-yeah, I’m not the biggest fa-fan of loud noises.” One of your hands rubbed at the back of your neck, heat filling your cheeks as you realized he had noticed your twitch of every boom as you made your way back to the settlement.

“Don’t worry, I gotcha. But once the ice forms, you’re on your own.” His lips quirked up in a grin as he opened the umbrella and sidled back up beside you. With a small brush of your shoulders against his in silent retaliation, you both stepped out from under the safety of the stables and into the rain.

It was silent, the only hint of your whereabouts was the clop clop clop of hooves on the hard ground outside the settlement walls. It was the perimeter patrol, your normal route. But what wasn’t normal was the broad man sitting astride a horse beside you. The first time you and him are beyond the walls together and you’d be the first to say it’s completely out of your comfort zone.

He was intimidating, to say the least. He had rolled into town one day last year, in the middle of winter with a snarky, lively teenage girl in tow. Tommy had come to you that evening, confiding in you that it was his brother, the one Maria had been worried about keeping in contact with. Having known Maria longer than him, you trusted her judgement at the time. Even if you and Tommy were friendly enough on your own, the rapport built over time. But the confliction of Tommy saying to you that his silence worried his brother to the point of trekking across the country for a glimpse of him admittedly softened your heart for both men.

Your heart had stuttered through the entire first exchange you had with the man. He had been short, like he wasn’t sure how to interact with people anymore. The rumors flying about him returning with a more subdued Ellie half shielded behind him. Whispered words of the things he had done before his time here and how it had been a long debate on what his contributions would be from the council.

-

It was a quiet morning, you were sitting in the mess hall after a particularly hectic shift. Something had gotten into the supplies the night before, dwindling down the stock enough to affect the meal plan you had drawn up for this week’s menu. But you had managed to get enough breakfast stuff made for those who relied on the mess hall for their meals. Sighing, you settled at a small table underneath a window in the kitchen, coffee steaming from a mug in front of you as you looked over the list of remaining supplies and tried to adjust your plan until the next batch.

“Joel, I wanted to formally introduce you to someone.” Tommy’s voice was…different as it flowed through the open space. Was he…nervous? His normally calm voice edged with a twang was a little higher pitched than normal. “Now, I want you to just keep an open mind, yeah?”

“Mind’s open.” A gruff voice that was similar in accent, but it was one you’ve never heard this close before.

“Honey?” Tommy’s voice projected as his eyes roved over the empty mess hall, over the chairs and cleaned tables until they landed on you bent over your notebook and an outline of the community garden. There was also a map of the town taking up the rest of the table, the walls outlined in a thick red marker and you were outlining sections in green and yellow. Tommy’s furrowed brow relaxing when he came up to the empty side and faced you head on, but not by much. “I wanted you to meet my brother. Would you prefer-“

“Oh! Olive is okay, you know that Tommy.” You don’t look up from the line you’re making on the larger map, but once you cap the marker and look up, your eyes widen just a bit at the image of the two brothers standing beside each other.

“Just wanted to make sure, the nickname is kinda my thing. Not that your actual name isn’t just as pretty as you are.” Lips quirked, he winked at you. His light-hearted teasing and harmless flirting nothing new for you, but Joel didn’t seem amused with the casual air between you both. His mouth was a firm line and the tension in his shoulders put you on edge- he looked ready to storm off.

“You’re married, aren’t you?” Before Tommy could turn around to motion to him, the man doubled down, letting you both know where his thoughts were. “With a baby on the way.”

“It’s har-harmmless, I swear. I wouldn’t even think of doing an-anything to interfere with him and Maria, they make the most darling couple!” You defended, feeling heat bloom in your chest at the insinuation there was anything more than friendship between you and Tommy. Maria was your friend and you wouldn’t dare betray her or anyone like that.

“Joel, this is Olive. My friend.” Tommy emphasized, your heart fluttering at the label. You knew you were friendly with both him and Maria, but to hear it said so plainly made you happy in a way that was bittersweet.  Like a stone in your middle, both filling and overwhelming.

“You do this everyday?” Joel’s hand waved over the maps. “What exactly is this?”

“O-oh, I’m outlining possible crop locations. I help out here in the kitchen and garden, b-but I al-also-“

“You patrol?” His words stung, like he didn’t believe for a second that you were capable, that you had the know how to properly pull your weight for the town. And he just got here. Shame and guilt flare, making you duck your head and begin to gather up everything sprawled over the table top.

“Menial work.” He states clearly, eyes clocking the book on plants you have stacked beside your notebook. It sounds like a judgement, like he’s reminding you that it’s all you’re worthy of doing, even if you’re just meeting him for the first time. His thoughts are already so aligned with the rest of the town, it’s obvious how useless you are- even to a complete stranger. “Seems more your speed.”

“E-everyday I’m not on patrol, yes.”

“’s a lotta work.”

“It is, but it’s where I’m needed so-so, um, I don’t mind.”

“Hmm.” It doesn’t sound like he likes the thought of you out beyond the gate, like he can’t see the reason for it if you’ve got the knowledge for the crops. As you get everything shoved into your bag, you hear Tommy say Joel’s name like a warning. But you walk away from them both while they seem to silently communicate with a shared hard look.

-

The memory hurts, no more words spoken between you two. His eyes moved down the paper you handed him with the information he needed- the patrol rotation, the walkie system that was still being worked out and not completely reliable yet as there weren’t enough for everyone, the check points, the horses that were available and the ones that weren’t. It was better than stumbling through explaining it to him out loud, even if he might already know the general ropes of the task at hand.

You were cautious, slightly paranoid, but definitely just wanted to help. Written words were better, despite the risk of someone getting their hands on it. Your stutter getting worse the more you shut yourself into your home and the kitchen, the gardens, kept to yourself. And he made you nervous, to be honest- it felt like he didn’t like you but you knew realistically that you probably weren’t even on his radar and in his thoughts.

They had settled on patrol and aiding Tommy and the handful of people with construction knowledge to help repair and build the town. Something the man had leaned into, taking on any projects he could to earn his keep. It was admirable, the way he devoted himself to the preservation and expansion of the settlement. His skills seemingly endless as he outlined new buildings, repaired damaged ones, mended leaking or broken pipelines and so much more while acclimating not only himself but Ellie to the new environment.

“You can relax a little, Mr. Miller, I’m not going to ask you any questions.” You internally commended yourself for not stuttering as you tried to console the brooding man just behind you. The horses were quiet, their heavy breathing and the hush of the leaves against their legs the only sounds between you since the gates closed behind you both.

“Ain’t no mister.”

“Okay…well rest assured I’m not going to force small talk if you don’t want it.” You aimed a small smile at him from your own horse, a beautiful appaloosa named Lowry, not wanting him to wait with bated breath for the questions you wouldn’t be bothering him with. He dealt with that from the rest of the town as he settled in and found his place among them. He had done his patrols with Tommy until this point. A handful of them, but Maria was nearing the end of her pregnancy and Tommy had approached you about becoming his partner until things calmed down.

“Jus’ want to focus on the task at hand, no need for talk when we should be surveying the land.”

“O-okay.”

You feel his eyes on you, heavy and hard. But you do your best to ignore it as you take point and gently lead your horse through the trail hidden in the trees. You reach to tug your wide brimmed hat lower, over the back of your head, tilting it to keep your eyesight clear. That’s when you hear it, a faint sound that had nothing to do with the nature surrounding you. A strangled voice.

He doesn’t seem to catch the echo of the sound off to your right. You hold up a hand, palm closed signaling him to stop just as you pull on the reigns in your hand to do the same. A flash of faint orange between the green foliage has you quietly slinging your shotgun around to your front.

Before either of you could take a full breath, you’re lining up your shot gun and firing it. The screech of an Infected echoes all around, the horrifying sound bouncing off of the thick bark of every tree. The horses stop their hooves, and you pat a comforting hand over Lowry’s neck as you strain your ears for any other signs of life.

When there’s no more movement, you reset your gun and sling it back over your shoulder. His eyes are heavy on you and you swear you can sense his distaste for your actions. The lack of communication you exhibited. You dare a glance back at him and he’s frowning, his brow furrowed. The twitch of his jaw is enough to have you turn forward again, clicking your tongue to get Lowry to continue on the path.

He doesn’t say anything, either positive or negative. As if he’s stewing in his thoughts. You’re on high alert, focused as you both guide your horses through the rest of the trail. The sun beats down on you both, oppressive in the way it’s starting to become hot as the day progresses, taking you closer to the summer season with each hour.

-

“I can tell Tommy to put you with someone else.” The words are flat, polite despite the way your chest aches and your jaw aches from clenching the entire ride back. The horses are back in their stables and you both step back out into the sunshine. His boots plant firmly, and he turns to you with a frown.

“Why would you do that?” He seems…taken aback by your words. Well, what little his brows raise makes it seem so.

“Because you don’t trust me, a-and, and that’s okay.” You don’t look at him, you can’t. You don’t want to see the distrust that is surely there. For acting without proper communication, for giving him the paper rather than talking over the protocols, for…being the one he was stuck with when he obviously doesn’t think you’re suitable for the task.

“Don’t wanna patrol with someone else.” Your head flies up and his eyes connect with yours. He’s standing in front of you now, directly but not blocking. Your breath catches in your throat as your own flicker between both of his, searching. They haven’t softened, there’s something behind them, but it strikes you still all the same. Because you don’t know him.

“Mr. Miller, you obviously have a problem with…me. With my skills. So it’s okay, no hard feelings.” You dip your gaze as you feel heat build up behind your cheeks, at the back of your neck. Nerves lighting up and making your fingers tingle as you feel exposed.

“Hey,” His hand reaches for you and you step back quickly, heart racing. He raises them both in front of him, palms open in a signal that he realizes the mistake of going to touch you. “Okay, okay. Not gonna- not gonna hurt you, I swear.”

“Tommy can find someone better suited for you.” Vision tunneling, you know you’re overwhelmed. A flash of memories swarm you- blood splatter, a deafening gunshot, the weight of a body going slack in your arms. The loss hits you all over again, like slamming into a wall and you swear your lungs aren’t capable of working anymore.

“You suit me just fine.” And oh, his voice is so soft. It’s like a flip is switched when his face focuses through the haze of emotions and suddenly you can breathe again. He’s crouched down a little, his palms over your shoulders and he’s looking at you like he knows exactly what just happened. He urges you to breathe along with him as he inhales deeply, holds it, and then slowly lets it out. You match him a few times before your body feels like your own again. “I trust you, you heard that stalker before I even knew it was on our tail.”

The smile he offers you is a little firm, but it means so much more than he can ever know.

“Now let’s go sign out of patrol, put down the trail was cleared. That’s the final step on your list, right?”