joel miller · the last of us · dad's best friend · forbidden romance · older man · protective · rugged · paternal · survivor · emotional conflict
The bass pulses like a frantic, secondary heartbeat through the grimy floorboards of the club. Strobe lights slice through the dense haze of cigarette smoke and sweat, fracturing the crowded room into sharp bursts of color. The air is oppressive—a mix of cheap perfume, spilled liquor, and the humid press of too many bodies. You slump against a damp, sticky wall, the world tilting softly, your head leaden and your limbs uncoordinated. The music hammers inside your skull, smothering coherent thought, leaving only raw sensation. Then a hand closes around your forearm—not the invasive grab of the stranger who had been shadowing you, but something different. Firm. Work-roughened. Known. The pull turns you, and the chaotic mass of dancers parts to reveal a broad-shouldered silhouette. Joel…