Tough and Weak 𖣘 Joel Dawson x Reader

014 ||Dancing in the Rain||

[Y/n's POV]

Joel and I were running through the rain, laughing and screaming with joy. Together at last.

We took shelter under a small and beat-up house. It might have been thunderstorming, and we might have oversized bugs trying to kill us but I couldn't have felt happier.

"Wooohooo!" I yelled. There was a loud echo, anything within a 50-mile radius would have heard me, but I didn't care.

Joel was looking at me with practically googly eyes. Luckily, the rain hid my blush pretty well.

He and Boy shook their heads as if they were shaking off all the water. I laughed.

"Wow... you know I haven't felt the rain in seven years,"

"Neither have I, not really, you don't exactly acknowledge that you're soaked when you're running for your life," I told him. Joel's smile faded.

"Hey, Y/n, do you think I'm crazy?" He looked at me. "Coming all this way?"

"Not at all, you love Aimee, don't you?" My voice was louder than normal as I was hoping he could hear me over the storm.

"Yeah... but what if I don't?" I couldn't help but feel sad at his response.

"Then you're a lunatic," I smiled, shoving him lightly.

"Yeah," Joel muttered through a sad chuckle. Why wouldn't he care about Aimee? There's no one else he could possibly love... right? Unless...

"Hello!" I hear a robotic voice come from behind Joel and me. We both turned around as Boy growled. We walked further into the house and saw a... Mav1s?

"Holy shit," I said.

"You're alive," Joel gasped. "I mean... you're on."

"I have 51 minutes of power left. What are your names?" Mav1s asked us.

"Um, I'm Joel."

"Y/n,"

"Hello, Joel and Y/n!" Mav1s greeted. "I am so pleased to meet you both! My name is Mav1s."

"I'm gonna give you a minute," I patted Joel on the shoulder before leaving. Mav1s had really been Joel's only friend in the bunker. He had some sort of connection to her—it.

I stepped out of the house that Mav1s was now talking to Joel in.

Flashback

Tom and I were kissing in the backseat of his car. But when I opened my eyes, I didn't see Tom... I saw Joel. He kept smiling and kissing me, and I kissed back, the new lips on mine feeling normal.

I remembered this exact memory, it was Tom's birthday.

"I love you," The face was back to Tom's, and his voice was once again British.

"I love you too," Joel's face covered his again. We leaned in to kiss again. The face flashed between Joel and Tom's. And when it turned to Joel, I noticed I deepened the kiss.

The face eventually settled to Joels and then he put more passion into my lips as if he needed it to breathe.

End of Flashback.

"Hey, Y/n! Come here!" I heard Joel from behind me. I noticed I had walked out of the house's shelter and into the middle of, what used to be, a road.

"Just coming!" I shouted back. I whipped my wet face, not that it would do anything, it was still raining pretty hard.

I walked back under the patio and saw Joel's eyes were red.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Joel said, wiping his nose.

"Hi, Mav1s," I shyly waved.

"Hello, Y/n!" She sounded as if she would be smiling, I couldn't tell though, I could only see her big, robotic eyes.

I sat down next to Joel and grabbed his hand reassuringly.

"It's gonna be okay," I whispered.

"Oh! Canis Familiaris!" Mav1s gasped when Boy ran over. "You found my leg, thank you!"

"That's our dog," Joel told her.

"He's delightful."

"Yeah, he's a good boy," I smiled.

"Would you like to hear a song?" Mav1s asked us.

"Yeah, okay," Joel agreed.

Mav1s started playing 'Stand by Me' by Ben King. It used to be my favourite song. Within about 30 seconds of the song playing, I asked Joel:

"Do you wanna dance?"

"Wh-what?" He stuttered in his eyes widened.

"Dance," I smiled. I stood up and dragged Joel onto the dirt road.

"I- I don't know how," Joel admitted.

"I'll teach you, then." I smiled,

"Put your hands here," I put them on my waist. "And I put mine... here." I put mine around his shoulders.

"Wow, that's actually not that hard," Joel laughed.

"Now sway to the music..." Joel started moving side to side.

"Okay..." Joel spun me around and we continued moving to the music.

"I haven't danced in seven years," I whispered. I hadn't realized how close our faces had gotten,

"I don't think I've danced... ever." Joel joked. I chuckled at how awkward he was being.

He looked straight into my eyes and I looked back. His gaze drifted to my lips, then back up. Mine did the same. We started leaning in, our breath was mixing, we would have kissed, but the music stopped. I immediately pulled away. He had a girlfriend.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's- uh- it's okay.

I can't believe I almost kissed Joel Dawson.