The Mourning of A Crush.
Summary: Youâve confessed your feelings to Joel.
Warnings: Spoiler Alert- Rejection. Jackson!joel. No aged specified for reader. No description mentioned.
a/n: So this is a little four part series I found in my Google docs, they need a little tidy up and the other chapters may have had some things added or removed. Rather than leaving them to rot, Iâd thought Iâd just share them. Part two, three and four will be longer and do include someâadult themed things ;) pinv, m!masturbation. Dirty thoughts etc (tags will be added)and I maaaaay have changed the ending. ;) Thereâs no real deep meaning for this seriesâŠthink it was something I wrote while I was drunk or something đ€ŁI had re edit this as it didnât make senseđ€Łif you noticed Iâm sorry but hopefully itâs all correct now đ€Ł
The sun shone through the blinds. The birds tweeted their little songs. The neighbours started their day.
You were lying bed, eating a box of chocolates watching Steel Magnolias. You needed to watch a sobfest of a film, starring some of the bestâSally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis for fucks sake and you needed words of wisdom, a kick up the assâto remember who the fuck you areâbecause the other night, was agony. âMen are the most horrible creatures honeyâŠthey will ruin your life.â Best quote ever.
However, it was an ordinary night at The Bisonâfor everyone else, anyway. Tonight was the night you were finally going to work up the courage to tell Joel how you felt. You knew he felt something too. But he was justâŠa man about it. Never going to be the one to say it first or make the first move, which meant it was all on you.
The New Yearâs party was only a few days away, and youâd asked him to go with you. Heâd said yes so quickly, so confidently, like it was the most obvious thing. It shouldâve made you happy, but instead it left you wondering if he thought it was just two friends going to a party together.
So you were going to make yourself clear. You were going to tell him what the invitation had meant to you and hopeâprayâheâd tell you he felt the same.
He didnât.
Near the end of the night, you asked him to come outside for a cigarette. Standing beneath the cold night sky, you finally found the words. âHeyâŠwhen I asked you to go to this party with meâŠâ you said quietly, ââŠI meant it asâmore of a date.â
Joel didnât answer straight away. He didnât even look at you. The silence stretched long enough for panic to creep in. âI-Iâm sorry,â you stammered, your voice trembling. âI donât mean to, ya know⊠put you on the spot. But I had to tell you how I feel about you, Joel.â You continued to tell him that for months your crush turned into something deeperâbut you darent tell him you love him.
When he finally spoke, his voice was gentle. He admittedâmodestly as he couldâheâd known for a while. Heâd just hoped you wouldnât act on itâhe didnât want to have to watch your face while he turned you down.
It felt like the ground disappeared beneath your feet, noâŠnot just the groundâthe whole fucking planet. The tears came before you could stop them. You stood there sobbing while Joel remained completely still, and for once you were grateful for it. If heâd tried to comfort youâif heâd reached for youâyou were certain whatever was left of your soul wouldâve shattered completely.
He offered to walk you home. You told him he didnât have toâhe ignored you of course but stayed a few yards back, never saying a word, making sure you got home safely. When you reached your street, he stopped at the corner and watched until you disappeared through your front door.
You never looked back.
So that was two days ago. The next morning, Joel knocked gently on your front door, careful not to disturb you too much. The house was lifeless. No No noise. No movement. He called your name a few times, hoping youâd answer.
Upstairs, you lay curled in bed, crying. You heard the knocks. You heard him call your name. But you didnât want to move. The knocking stopped.
A few hours later, another set of knock echoed through the house. Youâd spent the last five hours staring blankly at the ceiling. The loud growl of your stomach forced you to think about the last time youâd eaten.
Just before youâd confessed your feelings to Joel last night, youâd had the best damn burger of your life. With a tired groan, you finally dragged yourself out of bed, but you waited until the knocking had stopped before pulling on your robe and heading downstairs.
You were only halfway down the stairs when a sheet of paper slid beneath the front door.
The figure on the other side lingered for a moment. Through the glass, it looked as though they rested a hand against the door before quietly walking away.
You waited another minute before crossing the room and picking up the note. The handwriting gave it away immediately.
Joel.
The first thing you did was crumple it up into a ball and throw it across the room, but not knowing what heâd written wouldâve eaten away at you. With a frustrated sigh, you carefully smoothed the paper out on the kitchen table. You still couldnât bring yourself to read it. Instead, you made yourself some scrambled eggs on toast and a coffee.
When you sat down, you didnât eat.
You just stared at the coffee. Joel had given it to you a few weeks ago as a gift. Suddenly, you didnât want it anymore and the way you were feelingâŠyou werenât sure you wanted any of it anymore.
Finally, you took a deep breath and leaned over the table to grab the note. His handwriting was atrociousâyou could barely make it outâbut eventually the words came together.
-Darlin, you know Iâll always love you, but it can never be more than that. I donât hate you for tellin me. If anythingI think it was brave of you to make that first move. I donât want you to hate me either. I want us to talk face to face. Ellieâs stayin at Dinaâs tomorrow night, and i want you to come over so we can talk properly.
Talk soon.
Joel
You slowly straightened up from the table, letting out a quiet, defeated sigh. Some stupid, secret part of you had hopedâŠthat maybe heâd changed his mind.
You went back to bed, leaving your eggs and the letter discarded on the table and went back to bed. And stayed there until around 4 am when your belly grumbled in protest and you needed a good cry that wasnât related to Joel miller. You grabbed snacks and booze and went back to bed.
Youâre still watching the movie, you havenât been bothered to change it to something else. You could help but just dress this day and this talk with Joel later.
















