save me

I CAN'T HELP BUT LOVE YOU EVEN THOUGH I TRY NOT TO

Joel felt like an idiot. He didn't know what teenage girls like, much less Ellie. He had no clue where to start with shopping. Ellie had been standing close to him, much closer than she normally, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she looked around. The supermarket was busier than normal but it was a saturday morning so it made sense. "Alright, what do you want to look at first?"

Ellie glanced up at him. "I don't know. Is there a section that's for rooms?" she asked.

Joel glanced at her, confused because surely she's been in a supermarket before. Like he knows her mom was a very shitty person but she has to have been in a fucking supermarket before, right? "No, not unless they created a new thing. Have you ever been a supermarket before?" He asked.

Ellie shook her head. "Nope," she said, popping the p. "My mother was this really fucked up woman, remember? Supermarkets were deemed too expensive so we stuck to gas stations and convenience stores."

"Fucking hell," he scoffed. "Well, I guess we'll have to do this the old fashion way."

"Oh, so your way?" She teased.

He nudged her. "No, not my way," he huffed. "We'll go aisle to aisle."

She groaned. "Joel, if we do that then we'll be here all day."

He chuckled. "Good thing we have nothing to do besides this, right?"

She glared at him. "Ass."

"Fine, we can just go home and your room can stay bare?" He offered.

Ellie huffed before she grabbed his hand and started dragging him. "Come on, you fossil. I'd rather not waste any more time."

"How old do you think I am?" He asked, following her.

Shopping was...eventful for a lack of words. Ellie got distracted by almost everything, yet in the end, they managed to get her new pillows and bedding; wall decor and posters, a bookshelf, and books. It took a dent out of his wallet but it was well worth it seeing Ellie so excited about everything.

Somehow, shopping only made Ellie more hyper and she seemed to be full of energy, firing off questions faster than she ever had. Even as they clambered into the car.

"Hungry?" Joel asked, glancing at the teen.

"Starving," she replied, shooting him a look. "You're starving me, Joel."

He chuckled. "Okay, drama queen," he said. "How about we go out to eat?"

Ellie's eyes went widen. "Wait, you mean like one of those places where you go in and order fancy food and eat? I always wanted to go."

Joel nodded. "Well, now you can."

"Fuck yeah! Could this day get any better?" She exclaimed, swinging her feet onto the dashboard.

Joel chuckled, finding it sad how excited Ellie got over the smallest things. He started the car, driving to his favorite diner. It was a small mom and pop kind of restaurant that made the best food in this whole town.

He pulled into the parking lot, Ellie unbuckling and jumping out of the truck before he had properly stopped. His eyes widened as he turned the truck off, getting out. "Ellie, what the fuck was that? Don't fucking do that. You don't just jump out of a moving vehicle."

"It's fine, you were barely going," she scoffed.

"Ellie," Joel sighed. "Don't do that again."

Ellie groaned but nodded. "Fine, buzzkill."

"Sorry for worrying about your safety," Joel scoffed. "Now let's go inside."

"Great," Ellie perked up, going over to the doors of the restaurant. She opened the door and held it for Joel. "Fossils first."

Joel rolled his eyes but allowed a small smile to show, going inside the restaurant. He waited until Ellie was inside before he went to sit at a table.

Ellie followed behind, eyes wandering everywhere. She sat down across from Joel in the booth. "Wow, these seats are kinda shit."

Joel laughed. "Yeah, most are," he said.

A waiter walked over to them, putting two menus down. "Anything I can start you off with?" He asked.

"I'll have coffee," Joel said.

"I'll have some orange juice," Ellie said.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit to get your orders," he said, walking away.

Ellie grabbed one of the menus, looking through it. "Woah! There's so many options here."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point of the restaurant," Joel commented, looking through a menu of his own.

"How do you ever decide?" She asked.

"You just pick one that you want the most," Joel told her, glancing up from his menu to look at her.

"Oh," she said, looking down at the menu. The two fell into silence as they both thought about they wanted. The sounds of cups being set down on the table broke the silence, causing the two look up.

"Are we ready to order?" The waiter asked.

Joel glanced at Ellie who nodded. "Yeah, I'll get a patty melt."

Ellie spoke up once she was sure that Joel was done, glancing at the waiter. "I'll take the chicken strip basket," she told him.

The waiter wrote down their orders. "Got it, it'll be right out," he said before walking away.

"Are restaurants always this dead?" Ellie asked, her eyes scanning the room.

"Not always but this kind of shop tends to run slower," Joel explained. "Most people prefer fast food and more fancier restaurants but this is one of my favorite diners."

Ellie nodded. "Why is it your favorite?"

Joel hesitated. "It was where Sarah and I used to go on Friday afternoons," he told her. "You would've liked Sarah."

Ellie eyed the man, noticing how forlorn he got. "Yeah, I think I would've liked Sarah too, she kinda reminds me of an old friend I used to have."

Joel looked at her. "I thought you didn't have any friends, this is the first I've heard of it," he teased.

Ellie laughed, gently kicking Joel. "Fuck off," she snorted. Just like that, the mood was lifted and Joel got a laugh out of Ellie. Those are starting to become more common, which he was grateful for. She deserved to be happy.