Chapter Text
Joel had promised Sarah he’d be back by nine at the latest and yet here he was just rolling into the driveway at ten, turning off the engine of his truck with a sigh. He’d spent the whole day working with only one short break. His whole body felt heavy as he got out of his truck and walked up to his house. Surprisingly Sarah had locked the door for once, he digs into his pocket to fish out his keys, opening this front door quietly just in case Sarah had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him.
The house was silent. Joel walked upstairs, too tired to check on Sarah, but her light was off when he walked past her door, walking down the hall, into his dark bedroom. It’s hard to see in the dimly lit room with his old eyes but he can still see his fiancé, Tess asleep under the covers. Joel tosses his keys onto his bedside table and flopping down onto his side of the bed, rubbing his eyes with a groan. He was so exhausted he didn’t bother taking his work boots off or getting under the covers.
As soon as Joel slowly started to drift off and felt his muscles relax, Sarah opened his door and walked into his room.
“Dad?” The sound of his daughter's voice was like a bucket of ice on Joel. His head had only just hit the pillow and was already up again, his eyes slowly turning over to his daughter standing in his doorway.
“Yeah?” He asks in a quiet tone.
“Can you get me pads? There aren’t any in the bathroom and none in my backpack.” The request was a simple one, really. He had zero problem getting her pads but he really didn’t want to get up. But of course he is her dad and it's his responsibility. He sighed softly and shifted into a sitting position, taking a second to rub his eyes. And then he was swinging his legs over the side of the bed, already getting to his feet.
“Baby it’s so late.” He groggily said. Getting no response from Sarah, he decided to pick his battles and just go quick. He groaned getting up, his back cracking as he stretched, grabbing his boots.
“You're so old.” Sarah chuckled at all his old man noises as he walked out of the room. ——
He pulls up to the store, the neon sign of the 24 hour grocery store in the middle of the lot shines brightly, giving his tired eyes enough light to see in the dark. His back is crackling and his head is pounding as he pulls into a spot, leaving his truck to idle. He gets out and heads inside, the lights a bit obnoxious but manageable. He grabs the pads and a bag beef jerky, just to make the checkout slightly less awkward. The cashier rung him up and placed the objects in a brown plastic bag, handing it to Joel, Joel quickly walking out.
“Hey!” A voice calls out at Joel, getting his attention. He looks over to see who’s talking to him. A young girl that looks about Sarah’s age, maybe a year or two younger, standing outside the store with her short brown hair in a messy ponytail, a healed scar on her eyebrow, an oversized black T-shirt, pajama pants with little dinosaur prints, and dirty red converse. Joel glances over at the girl, raising an eyebrow at her as he pauses. His first instinct is to think he’s about to get asked for money or get robbed. But maybe he was just overthinking things.
“Hi? Are you ok?” He tried be polite.
“Can you um… buy me cigarettes?” She asked, nervously. Joel wasn’t surprised, It was one of the things he was thinking might happen. The girl’s hands were digging in her pockets and her eyes were shifting, trying desperately not to meet his. Joel sighed. He could just say no, of course, and he would be right.
“How old are you?” Joel tried to hide the annoyance in his voice but not really.
“Old enough!” The teen shot back, defensively.
“Then you can go in and get them yourself.” Joel crossed his arms, the patience he had left draining away. He already had other things on his mind, and this girl was just the cherry on top. He knew she was lying, and while he could probably deal with it, it would be a pain in his ass. Especially if he got caught. “Look, kid, I’m not breaking the law for you.”
Joel walked over to the driver’s seat door of this truck. “Please!” The girl whined. If it was just some bum pestering him for cigarettes he would get angry and tell them to fuck off. But it was a kid his daughter’s age. He was annoyed but worried because why in the world was she out at 10:56pm, asking a random man to buy her cigarettes. Joel paused, walking back over to her. She actually looked like she might cry if she didn’t get her way. He wanted to ignore it and get back in his truck and go home, but there was something about this that rubbed him the wrong way.
“What are you, like 12?”
“I’m 14. Not that, that has anything to do with anything.” Joel crossed his arms, his frown deepening. There was his confirmation. Why in the world was she out at nearly midnight, asking him to buy her smokes? Did she not get in trouble at home? Did she run away? Whatever the problem was, it was going on past just being a dumb kid.
“You should be home at this hour. Why aren’t you? Do your parents know you're out so late?” He was saying all his thoughts out loud, hoping to get some idea of what in the world is going on.
“It’s none of your damn business!” She shot back at him with anger.
“Kinda is when your asking me to comment a crime.” Joel dropped his arms, holding the flimsy plastic bag more firmly, stepping away from the girl. Did she think this was a negotiation? Like he’d change his mind to stop her being upset? “Go home kid.”
Joel tossed the bag into the passenger seat then hopped into the driver's seat, slamming the metal door, and starting up the engine. He looks up and sees the teenager, kicking the brick wall of the store and tears of frustration falling down her cheeks. Joel sighed, he feels guilty for making her cry. Maybe he’d been a bit too harsh. It’s unlikely the kid had a good life if she was out this late on the streets. He knew that feeling.
He rolled his window down, sticking his head out. “Look, just go home… your parents are probably worried.” His voice is the one he uses when he’s trying to explain difficult, adult things to Sarah. Her face was red with anger, she responded by flipping him off. Being a father, Joel knew that she was not angry and crying because of some dumb cigarettes. It’s deeper than that.
Joel sighed again, feeling a little frustrated with himself. He knows he needed to go home, he really does. But he also knows this kid has something going on too. And he can’t just leave her out here. He grabs the bag, removing it from the passenger's seat and tossing it into the back. He leans over and opens the passenger door.
“Hop in.” She looked up at him with confusion. “I’ll drive you home.” Even though he’s trying to look firm, there is a certain gentleness to his voice. He’s just worried about what’s going on with the kid. What got her here? “This isn’t a safe place for you. Especially not this late. I don’t want you getting hurt.” He had noticed a black eye from the moment he saw her. He hadn’t mentioned it because he didn’t want to make her upset or embarrassed. Even though she was already hurt, there is a lot worse than a black eye that could happen to her if he left her out here all alone.
She hops into the truck with some hesitation, Joel unlocks his phone, going to the GPS, and hands it to her so she can put her address in. Joel watched as the girl put her address into his phone's GPS, turning up the volume, and putting his phone back into one of the cup holders.
“You're not going to kidnap me or something right?” It was a fair question, he supposed. He didn't know this girl's name and he was driving her home. If Joel saw some strange man asking Sarah to get in his car and saying he’ll drive her home, he’d think he was kidnapping her too.
Joel let out a short laugh. “I’m not kidnapping you. Trust me I don’t need another kid in my ear 24/7.” She looked over at him, slightly confused what he meant by "another kid" he didn’t really seem like that fatherly type but then again but what the fuck did she know about fathers. Joel sees her confused look and clears the air “oh, I have a daughter your age… if you go to school in the area you might know her.” the way Joel talks about his daughter like he’s the proudest dad in the world. Is it normal to envy a girl you didn’t even know? Probably not, she told herself.
“I probably don’t, I don’t have a lot of friends my age.” Joel couldn’t help but feel bad for the girl.
“You don’t?” He asked, looking over at her. “You’re in school though, right?” He looks back to the road ahead of him
“Yeah, but I don’t have friends.”
“Why?” Joel asked, the question coming from a place of concern. This was a kid after all, being out at eleven at night, asking strangers on the street to buy her cigarettes, and from what it seems like, isolating herself. It was concerning to him even if she wasn’t his child.
“Well I had a friend but she transferred...” She moves to look out the window so he can’t see she’s sad when thinking about that friend, Joel wonders if maybe her and Sarah got it the same school, maybe he could get Sarah to be her friend.
“What school do you go to?”
She was confused why he was asking but she still mumbled out, “Austin high. Why?”
“Thats the school my daughter goes to.” Joel said with a small smile. He looks over at her quickly to make sure she was still ok. She looks sad, but maybe that was just her resting face “what’s your name hon? mine’s Joel.” Hoping she’d somewhat relax.
“Ellie.” She said slightly cold, Joel chocked it up to her just being tired.
“Ellie.” He repeated, rolling the name around in his head. It was a nice name. It suited her. “My daughter's name is Sarah.” Joel tells her.
“That’s a pretty name.” He reminds Ellie of the dad she saw on TV when she was small. The dads whose daughters were their whole world.
“Yeah, Her name was almost Amanda… but Sarah was a better fit.” Joel told her, smiling slightly at the memory’s of him and Sarah’s mother spending almost the entire nine months going back and forth on pick baby names.
He turned the final corner and pulled up in front of her house, putting the truck in park. It was a nice house, two stories, and looked freshly painted. All the lights were off except for one room upstairs, he assumes is Ellie’s room.
“Thank you.” The teen says.
“You're welcome, and stop smoking, you’ll have lung cancer before you graduate high school.” Joel tried to sound serious on the last part but he couldn’t fight the small smile creeping up on his face. Ellie chuckled as well before opening the truck door and hoping out, giving him a polite wave before walking to her house. Joel waited until she was inside and safe before driving away.
——
He pulled up to his home for the second time tonight. Hoping the sound of his squeaky truck wouldn’t wake anyone in the home, he pushed open the door, and climbed out of the truck once more, stretching his muscles out and letting the night air fill his lungs. He closed the door behind him and walked to the back seat door, grabbing the plastic bag then shutting it, licking his keys and locking the truck before he turned and headed towards his front door, taking in deep breaths of fresh air.
Opening the door, mumbling “fuck” as he realized he forgot to lock the front door when he first left. He’s always nagging Sarah about forgetting to lock the door and now here he is doing it like a hypocrite. He walked in and made sure to lock the door, walking to the kitchen and tossing the beef jerky onto the counter, then walking to the bathroom, tossing Sarah's pads under the sink. He was so tired he didn’t even feel human anymore. He felt so heavy as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.
sluggishly kicking his boots off and getting into bed carefully not wanting to wake his fiancé. His mind goes back to Ellie, hoping she’s ok and her parents weren’t too mad at her for sneaking out. As his thoughts get clouded by tiredness he slowly but finally gets some much needed sleep.