𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐏𝐄𝐓 (joel miller) ✔️

chapter thirty-nine: stargazing

just a shorter filler chapter sorry..
hope you like it anyway :)

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„Sorry just surprised me, but you can't pull shit like that in my house, are you crazy?" said Steven who suddenly stood at the door. Surprised, the two broke away and immediately brought some distance between them.

„I'm sorry Mr. Grant" Millie murmured embarrassed.

Steven sighed, „It's not your fault, but you should come back in. The others were already asking for you guys, so I wanted to get you before anyone else saw you"

"Thank you" Joel said and led Millie back into the house. She immediately walked past Steven and down into the living room.

"Didn't you say you ended things?" Steven asked his friend when they were just the two of them.

"Yeah I did, but it didn't quite go to plan"

Steven sighed, "I was pretty sure you wouldn't stick to it anyway"

"Why?"

"Oh come on, it takes only a second to realize that she means a lot to you. Just by the way you look at her" Steven said with a chuckle.

"That's not true. You always said it's hard to tell how I'm feeling"

"Oh it is, but not when it's about her. I really hope you two make it"

"I hope so too"

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"How are you?" Joel asked Millie a few days after New Year's Eve as she got into his car.

"Fine, just a little tired," she replied as she buckled up.

"Oh, we don't have to do it tonight, if you're too tired" Joel said softly and put his hand on her thigh.

"What? No, definitely not, I'm really excited" she replied and smiled at him.

She was so looking forward to tonight, Joel had promised her that they would go stargazing.

For that they had to drive a little further out of New York, and after they've been on the road for about half an hour, Millie got a bit thirsty and wanted some snacks.

"Hey uhm, do you have something to drink? Or can we stop at a supermarket?" she therefore asked.

"Sure, we can stop here if you like"

In the supermarket, Millie was standing in front of the chip shelf when a woman bumped into her.

"Oh my god, sorry excuse me" said this woman immediately.

"It's okay, don't worry" Millie said politely. When she then turned slightly to the woman, she stared at Millie in surprise.

"Oh, I think I know you," she said hesitantly.

"Oh?" Millie turned over to her in confusion and looked into her face. Somehow the woman seemed familiar to her, but she didn't know where from.

"Yeah, you're Millie, right?"

"Uhm yes, but I'm sorry, do we know each other?"

"Oh I don't think you know me, but I recognized you right away from one of Joel's photos" the women explained with a smile.

One of Joel's photos? She turned around briefly to see if he was in the store, knowing they weren't supposed to be seen together. But he wasn't here. He had told her that he will wait in the car because they hadn't found a legit parking space.

"Yes, that's me, who are you?" Millie asked a little nervously.

"Ah sorry! I'm Maria, Tommy's wife. Sorry that I confused you like that, but I recognized you from a photo"

Oh, his sister in law? And he showed her a picture? And what exactly had he told her about them?

"Ah yes, Mr. Miller, my history professor"

"Yeah, you're his secretary or something, aren't you? He drank a little too much at Christmas and then talked about you"

"He did?" Millie asked nervously.

"Yeah, Tommy asked him how he liked his new job at NYU and at one point he started talking about you"

"Oh okay," she murmured, feeling herself blush a little.

"I can imagine that it's not easy for you both. And I'll keep it to myself of course, don't worry"

"What do you mean?" Millie asked nervously. Before she said anything wrong, she wanted to make sure and find out exactly what his sister knows.

"Well, the way he talked about you, I was immediately sure that you are very important to him. He didn't say it out loud, but I know my brother, I know how he thinks. Then he proudly showed me a polaroid camera and a small photo from his wallet. And you know, he said it was the best present he ever got."

Overwhelmed, Millie listened to her. And she was so touched, she didn't even know what to reply.

"I hope he is as important to you as you are to him. And maybe we can get to know each other officially one day. But, I gotta go now, my husband is waiting at home."

"Okay sure, it was nice meeting you. Thank you a lot" Millie replied, still a bit shy.

But after Maria said goodbye too and Millie was left alone again, she couldn't stop smiling.

That was the first time it was normal for anyone that Millie and Joel are in a kinda ‚relationship'. Maria hadn't addressed them as teacher and student, but simply as two people who liked each other, and Millie loved how that felt.

When she paid and went back to Joel car, she immediately kissed him on the cheek after sitting on the passenger side. She was just so glad to have him.

"There you are, I was starting to worry" he murmured and took her hand in his.

"Yeah sorry. I couldn't decide"

They drove on for a while, and an hour later they were parking at the shore of a lake. It was pretty cold so they had to stay in the car, but Millie loved it and luckily Joel's car had this big moon roof. The night sky was beautiful and she could see the stars so well, which was not possible at all in New York.

"Thank you" she said and snuggled up to Joel.

"You're welcome baby" he answered and kissed her softly on the lips. Millie immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"I love to kiss you" Joel murmured and felt how she grinned into the kiss.

After they broke apart after a few moments, she rested her head on his shoulder and went back to watching the sky.

And Joel watched Millie. For him she was the most beautiful and sweetest thing in the world. And he loved how fascinated she was watching the nightsky, staring up with wide eyes and slightly open mouth.

Until they were interrupted by a phone. "Ah shit I'm sorry, I'll turn it off." Joel mumbled immediately.

But before he switched off his phone, he saw who had called him. His ex-wife.

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and a huge thank you to all my dear readers! thank you for all votes and comments, I appreciate every single one!

to see that you enjoy my fic so much, makes me so fucking happy, I wanna cry. THANK YOU <3

especially since my first language isn't even english and you still like it (with all the grammar/spelling mistakes) means a lot to me