𝐓𝐈𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐎 𝐖𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 ⚠︎︎ 𝐉. 𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐑

chapter ten

TW: Mentions of SA and excessive violence

Thalia's fingers ran along the empty shelves, scanning for even a scrap of- well anything. She hoped for a spare can of food, maybe even tampons for Ellie because that seemed to enthrall her so much last time.

Her eyes landed on something and she reached down to grab it. Her eyes lit up as she lifted the sunglasses to her face, resting them atop the bridge of her nose. They were a bit dusty, but still fashionable, all black and did a great job of blocking out the sun.

She smirked and happily skipped out of the gas station, wearing her sunglasses and feeling rather great. Something about screaming in the middle of a lawn- it does things to a girl. Not to mention taking a warm shower, snorting the last of her stash as well.

Thalia walked up to Joel and Ellie just in time because her husband looked like he was about to commit murder and the girl held a shit eating grin.

"What kind of trouble are you two getting into now?" Ellie beamed and turned to the woman standing before them, "What did the mermaid wear to her math class?"

She thought long and hard, a small smile spreading across her lips when she remembered one of the girls from one of her many dance classes telling her this joke. "An algae bra." Ellie immediately fell into a fit of laughter, rocking back and forth while closing the pun book.

She turned to Joel, "Dude, your wife is awesome." They both blushed at that but Joel fought the urge to simply tell her, I know. He kept his mouth shut and nodded, fighting off his own smile.

Thalia grabbed Ellie's shoulder, shaking it, "Come on, kiddo. Let's get into the truck before the grump tries to kill us." He shot her a playful glare, she only cocked a shoulder and lead the teen off to their truck. Joel joined the girls not long after, gassed up and ready to go.

They hadn't been on the road for five minutes before Ellie got restless, digging around in the backseat. "Oh I found one! Wait- two!" She pulled out two tapes, "One of them is ab- a-... I don't know how to say it." Thalia turned her head around so fast Joel was worried she'd get whiplash, "ABBA? As in the best band ever?"

Ellie shrugged and handed it over, the brunette practically glowing with pure excitement. "No way! He remembered!" Joel tilted his gaze, trying to look at the tape, "You loved that damn band."

"Don't question the power of the greatest band ever. Frank told me he'd put the tape in here but that was years ago, can't believe he actually remembered. Even better that he probably had Bill do it." She giggled like a little girl, popping it into the console and waiting for her all time favorites to start playing.

Dancing Queen was spilling into the car and she instantly grinning from ear to ear. Joel nearly crashed the car because he couldn't stop looking over at his wife. It's been twenty years since he's seen her smile like that.

The look of pure, unfiltered joy, it was stunning and breathtaking. She'd aged well but when she smiled, it made her seem years younger, more vital. Joel's eyes twinkled as he skipped his gaze from the road to her face. She pushed the sunglasses up onto the top of her head, then she looked over at him and he was quick to get back to the task at hand.

Ellie rummaged around some more before pulling out a magazine, "Got somethin' else. It's, uh... light on the reading but it has some interesting pictures." Joel and Thalia both turned their heads but his wife was quick to push his head forward, forcing him to focus on the road ahead. "Ellie, no! Give it- give- back!"

Half her body was in the backseat, her feet barely resting on the floor as she tried to wrestle for the very explicit magazine she was holding. "How would he even walk around with that thing?" Thalia kept grabbing for the pages, pawing at it but found it was useless only because Ellie had it at an angle she couldn't grab.