Joel idly strummed the guitar on his knee as the sun shone down on him, pausing only to take a sip from his beer to cool him down. He glanced up and smiled to himself when he seen Ellie run by with a group of kids, laughing and joking as they raced each other to the kitchens. Must be lunchtime. Catching his eye, Ellie waved quickly as she ran by and he nodded back at her. Living with Tommy had been the best thing for Ellie, she got to be a kid again and not have to kill to survive. Plus she was smiling again and telling bad puns. Joel was thankful for that, however corny her jokes were.

Clearing his throat, he continued to play the song that had been stuck in his head but God only knew what one it was, all he could remember was the tune and not the words. It was beginning to annoy him as well as Earl – who had kindly let him and Ellie move into his cabin until theirs was ready.

Looking up again, his eyes were drawn to his little brother and his wife. Watching them interact as they spoke to the guys who were going out for a supply run. Maria laughed loudly, throwing her head back at something Tommy said while the latter sneaked his hand around her waist and pulled her in close, a tender smile on his face as he looked at her.

Joel couldn't help but be jealous… he had that… and he had lost it.

Or at least he thought he had.

Melanie.

Stopping his playing, Joel rested the guitar against his knee and leaned against the porch thinking about the woman who had been plaguing his thoughts ever since he met her. Closing his eyes, he sighed when he thought how she had barely spoken to him since they had got back, except for polite conversation and a feeling of irritation ran through him.

Why did they both have to be so stubborn?

For once, he was willing to be the bigger person and break the silence. A week ago, he had made his way determinedly over to her at dinner one night only to notice that she wasn't sitting alone. Fuckin' Tony the technician! Seeing her smile and laugh at his joke made his blood boil and he had turned on his heel and headed back to his table.

He had often caught her glancing at him, looking like she wanted to say something before her eyes would lower and she would go back to ignoring him.

"What a fuckin' mess," Joel muttered, taking a longer drink of his beer.

"You should really stop talking about yourself like that, big brother."

Chuckling, Joel squinted in the sun to see Tommy standing in front of him. "That jokes gettin' a little old baby brother," he said sarcastically, putting the guitar to one side and looking up at the other man, "you've hardly grown old gracefully either."

"I don't think anyone has," Tommy replied, walking over and taking a seat on the porch next to his brother, "well, except Maria. But that goes without saying."

"Better that you have said it, or else I'd tell her you didn't."

Tommy grinned before glancing somewhere in front of them, "Saying that, Melanie's still lookin' pretty damn good."

At hearing her name, Joel stiffened and tried not to glance over at the woman in question, "Hmm..." he said gruffly.

"You two still not speakin'?" Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow at him and took his moody silence as a yes, "Why don't you just be a man about it and go talk to her?"

Joel sighed, "Just… just stay out of it Tommy," he said quietly "it's complicated alright?"

"Complicated?" Tommy laughed, "More like a high-school drama – she see's Esther flirting with you, you see Tony trying it on with her and the both of you decide to ignore the other."

Frowning, Joel shook his head "I didn't flirt back with Esther," he said heatedly, hating the smirk on Tommy's face, "she was all over me and I…"

"Didn't tell her to back off," Tommy rolled his eyes "and you were so jealous that you didn't notice that Melanie was using her fake laugh and smile with Tony. You two are as bad as each other."

"Piss off."

Tommy laughed a little louder and ran a hand through his shoulder-length brown hair with a few strands of grey, "Admit it… you've had a touch of the green-eyed monster ever since you heard about her and Tony."

"Can't say I have," Joel narrowed his eyes at Tommy, "hell, you slept with her and I'm still civil to you."

"Just barely," Tommy shook her head "you two have been through so much shit… and yet, you find each other again. Go on a helluva journey to get 'Elle to the Fireflies and then fight like hell to get back only to act like a couple of teenagers and get all dramatic over nothing."

"It ain't nothing-!"

"You love her," Tommy cut Joel off and he fell silent, "and she loves you. Hell, she never stopped and I don't think you did either."

Rubbing his face tiredly, Joel shook his head "I didn't wanna…. I didn't wanna put myself out there and have her…."

"Reject you?" Tommy finished his sentence and nodded slowly, "I get that, I really do. But considering the shitty world we live in – you're just wasting precious days without her. Pretty fuckin' stupid in my opinion."

"So tell me, Doctor Tommy," his brother chuckled at the name, "what would you do?"

"Talk to her… tell her how you really feel. Or else you'll be hating yourself for not trying."

Joel was quiet as he mulled over Tommy's words before he smiled "When did you get so good at advice?" he asked jokingly.

"It's all on Maria… and those damn chick books she's always reading," Tommy admitted, leaning back and gazing at the sunset, "I'm ashamed to say I've read a few myself."

They both laughed before falling silent and watching the sunset together, "Don't let her away again Joel," Tommy whispered, "you've been lucky enough to get a second chance – don't waste it."

"I'll think about it, Tommy, I'll think about it."

Melanie yawned as she shut the door behind her and rubbed her face tiredly, it had been a long day and she was looking forward to sleeping in her bed tonight. She had been on guard duty this morning with Carla and Esther and it had taken all of her willpower to not punch Esther in the face when the subject of Joel came up.

"Let's just say ladies, it won't be long until he's moved into my cabin. Not after last night."

It had been surprising how she had managed a fake laugh and to joke with Carla about Esther's successful 'hunt', usually she would be able to stomach it but just imagining Joel and Esther together made her blood boil and she had the urge to hit something.

Melanie had been so distracted that night at dinner that she hadn't noticed Tony come sit beside her and barely took in anything that he had said, forcing a smile and faking a laugh when it was necessary. It was only as she about to make up an excuse for leaving early that she noticed Joel heading her way.

And then the jealous girl inside took over.

Inching closer to Tony, she had smiled widely at a joke at his that she already had heard him tell and laugh loudly. While he had looked delighted at her reaction, Melanie had seen Joel angrily walk the other way out of the corner of her eye. Instead of feeling smug, she had just felt guilt for making him feel that way.

Sighing, Melanie flopped down onto the armchair and rested her head against the back. She had really became a jealous psycho. Like the women that she and Lucy would judge, that played manipulative games on people to make themselves feel better. Why did Joel have to affect her still after all these years?

Melanie was still deep in thought when she heard a knock at her door and groaned quietly: it was probably Maria or God forbid Esther wanting to dish the dirt on her and Joel. Surely the man upstairs didn't hate her that much?

Reluctantly getting up from her chair, Melanie was surprised to see neither Maria nor Esther standing in front of her but instead it was Joel. "Evenin'," he said in his deep voice that was like chocolate to the ears.

"Anything wrong?" Melanie asked, wondering why on earth he was here this late, "Is Ellie okay?"

Joel shook his head, "Nothing's wrong – Ellie's probably talking Earl's ear off but he doesn't mind luckily. He's patient enough to answer all of her questions."

"So… Ellie's fine and there's nothing wrong?" Melanie raised an eyebrow, "What brings you to my door then?"

"I think we need to talk," Joel said simply and walked inside without waiting for an invite.

Melanie was taken aback but rolled her eyes, "Come on in," she said sarcastically.

She closed the door and watched as he slowly looked around her cabin and then sat in the armchair opposite the one that she had just vacated. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable, Melanie wrapped her cardigan around her tighter before sitting back down in her chair. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm not…. I can't do…" Joel sighed exasperatedly as he tried to find the right words "is there anything going on between you and the technician?"

It took a moment before Melanie realized what Joel had said to her, "The technician?" she frowned slightly, "Are you talking about Tony?"

Joel merely grunted in reply.

Melanie felt her eyebrows rise, "This is what you wanted to talk about?" she asked, stunned.

"Just… answer the damn question."

She frowned at him, feeling annoyed at him demanding answers to stupid questions from her, "For Christ's Sake! This again?"

"A simple yes or no will do."

"Why are you bringing this up again?"

"So there is something going on?"

Throwing her hands up, Melanie made a small noise of annoyance "No! There is nothing going on with Tony and I!" she snapped, too angry to notice the relief in Joel's eyes, "We slept together once, years ago and nothing else has happened. Happy now?"

"A little, yeah," Joel said honestly and Melanie felt her brow furrow more as she seen the look on his face, "and just to let you know… nothing's happened between me and Esther. So no need to be jealous."

"I wasn't jealous," Melanie said quickly, eyes narrowing at Joel "and that isn't what Esther is saying. You two are practically star crossed lovers in her version of things."

Joel leaned back in the chair, "She came around one night with a bottle of scotch and a promise of a night of wild sex," Melanie felt like he had slapped her "but I turned her down and shut the door. I guess she doesn't deal well with rejection."

"Hmm, well, who doesn't," Melanie replied, trying not to show how happy she was at hearing Joel and Esther hadn't slept together, "it isn't the nicest emotion to feel, you know."

"Oh I know that, it's the fear of feeling it that stopped me from having this conversation with you sooner."

Melanie froze on the spot and knew her eyes had widened with shock, "What?" she said quietly, replaying his words over in her head.

Joel's eyes softened as they flickered over her face "I'm just gonna say what I want to say," he said honestly "when I came here with Ellie, and seen you after all those year, it was like I had been drowning and finally came up for air. And after going through what we did… I don't wanna feel like I'm drowning again," Melanie let out a shaky breath as Joel leaned forward and looked at her seriously "I love you Melanie… and I don't want anyone else, no matter how much wild sex they offer me, I only want you."

For the first time, Melanie was honestly lost for words…

After all these days of trying not to think about him, to just see him as a friend, Melanie suddenly didn't know how to respond to his words. As if he guessed how she was feeling, Joel stood up and offered her a sad smile.

"I just wanted you to know that," he said softly, "when you make a decision on how you feel, come find me… I'm not going anywhere."

It felt like the air had been punched out of her as Joel kissed her forehead gently before letting himself out of the cabin. Melanie didn't know how long she had been sitting there before she covered her mouth and felt the tears in her eyes as she realized what had just happened.

He loves me.

She smiled to herself and let out a shaky laugh to herself, wiping her eyes quickly "He loves me…" Melanie whispered, standing up she pinched herself quickly and laughed even louder when she didn't wake up, "it isn't a dream… he really said that," she murmured and felt a giddiness she hadn't felt in a long time.

Glancing at her watch, she seen it was just coming up for midnight and cursed herself for sitting in here like a stupid idiot while Joel was probably sitting at Earl's thinking that she didn't feel the same. Grabbing her coat, she quickly put it on and hoped that the rain would stay off as she slipped out of the door.

It had been an hour…. No, an hour and a half now and yet still no sign of her.

Joel sighed and ran a hand through his greying hair, maybe she really didn't feel the same and he had just made a massive arse of himself in front of her. He was just about to call it a night and head inside when he heard the door open and seen Ellie come out wearing her pyjamas, her hair tousled from sleep.

"Why are you still up?" she asked, yawning.

"You should be in bed," Joel muttered, leaning back on the bench and ignoring her question, "it's late."

Ellie caught sight of his guitar and smiled slightly, "Hey, you're finally playing it," she said picking it up and coming over to sit next to him, "I knew you would. C'mon, play me something!"

"I ain't playing the guitar, Ellie," Joel said impatiently, giving her a frown, "get back to bed."

"Not until you play me a song."

Sighing, Joel knew she would be true to her word and stay up until he played a song. "Alright, alright. One song and you go back to bed, deal?"

"Deal!" Ellie said excitedly, sitting with her feet under her as she watched him take the guitar and start playing, her eyes watched his fingers carefully and she smiled as the gentle strumming's filled the air. Finishing the song, Joel wished he could remember the damn words as she played the final chords. When he had stopped playing, he was surprised at the look that Ellie was giving him.

"She's gonna show up," Ellie said quietly, smiling at him, "Melanie would be an idiot to give you up. She'll be here."

Joel didn't even bother asking how she knew that he was waiting for Melanie, it was a talent of hers knowing where there was drama. "Here's hoping, kid," he said tiredly, glancing out into the dark compound and feeling down heartened when he didn't see anyone approaching.

"Keep playing," Ellie said, getting up from the seat and stretching "it will help make the setting more romantic and work in your favour."

Raising an eyebrow, Joel shook his head "I'm not even gonna ask how you know that."

"Tommy's not the only one who's read those books," Ellie said laughing slightly, "but I don't want to hear you complaining, with my help, you'll definitely get the girl. We're a team remember?"

"I remember," Joel said affectionately, "I'll see you in the morning, kiddo."

"You can start teaching me to play tomorrow then," Ellie said, giving him one more smile over her shoulder before she opened the door, "can play cupid to other people besides you."

He chuckled at her words and waited till it was quiet again before he picked up the guitar again, "Well, she's hardly been wrong before," he whispered as he began the song again. He was lost in his playing that he didn't hear the footsteps indicating that someone was walking towards him.

"Doing alright there, Elvis?"

Joel looked up and stopped his playing to see Melanie standing on the first step of the porch watching him play. "Elvis? What are you talking about?" he asked, trying to ignore how his heartbeat had increased as soon as he had seen her.

"But I can't help…. Falling in love…. With you," Melanie sang quietly, a small smile on her face as she quirked an eyebrow at him, "considering our early conversation, it's a bit of a corny song choice."

"That's what I've been playing?" Joel chuckled to himself, wondering how he had forgotten that song, "Yeah, it's a bit corny now that I think about it."

Melanie folded her arms and leaned against the wooden railing, "Surprised you had forgotten the words," she said, her smile teasing now "you were so good at singing it on karaoke."

"So… what brings you to my door then?" Joel asked, repeating her earlier words and Melanie blushed a little – knowing it was her turn to put her heart on the line.

"I'll be honest… you really threw me by what you said earlier," Melanie said quietly, running a hand nervously through her hair, "I thought, at the most, we'd be friends. That being… a couple just wasn't in the cards for us and I stupidly thought you were moving on with Esther," she looked over the wall where she knew there was clickers and runners stumbling in the darkness, forever on the hunt for more people and to ruin more lives, "I mean, this world is so fucked up it seems silly to think about anything other than surviving and yet…"

She stopped talking and met Joel's eyes, he was gazing at her with a small frown and when he didn't say anything else, Melanie sighed and forced herself to say what she wanted to say. What she should have said months ago…

"I've done the drama… the heartache and been on the emotional merry-go-round, feeling like I was drowning in the loneliness," Melanie's tone was sincere and she bit her lip nervously as Joel's gaze grew more intense as he slowly got up to stand in front of her, "I'm… I'm ready to just stand still with someone, you know? Be happy and live out the rest of my days, however many that is, with someone who wants to be still with me and… and let someone in. Let someone love me again."

Joel's face remained emotionless but there was a hopeful glint in his eyes, "You ain't messing with me, are you?" he asked slowly, hoping that this wasn't the case, "you mean it?"

"I mean it," Melanie's voice shook a little before she smiled at him, "I love you Joel… it's always been you."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Joel threw caution to the wind and tilted her head upwards and bent down to press his lips against hers. It felt like forever since he had kissed her and he slid his hands around her waist to pull her tighter against him. Feeling Melanie smile against his lips and he felt the happiness surge through him as he deepened the kiss.

Melanie let out a happy giggle as Joel's grip tightened and he lifted her slightly and he put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. There were no words to describe the happiness that flooded through her as they kissed in the moonlight, she had almost given up of this happening and was determined to never lose Joel again. This time would be different, their situation was different but how they felt about each other wasn't different… in this moment, this could have been their first date when he had knocked on her door and shared their first kiss, when they got back together after her miscarriage or when he had carried her over the threshold on the day she moved in. It was love.

"Hey! Keep it clean!" they heard Ellie's voice above them and broke the kiss to look upwards "Though I gotta say, about fuckin' time!"

"Hey! Language!"

"Just keep it down on the lovemaking, people need to sleep!" Ellie added cheekily, winking at them before shutting her window and closing the curtains.

Melanie rolled her eyes as Joel lowered her back down but kept his arms around her, "Well, this was one hell of a corny and cheesy reunion," she said, sliding her arms around his neck "but I gotta admit… I loved every second of it."

Joel's grin was wide as he kissed her again, making Melanie feel weak at the knees, "I aim to please ma'am," he whispered against her lips before kissing her one last time, "life's too short and I've already had to live without you once, I'm not doing it again. I'm going to make each day count."

"I hear you."

They shared a tender moment just looking at each other and enjoying each other's presence before Melanie entwined her fingers through his and gave him a loving smile, "I don't know about you, but I feel so damn tired, how about we go catch up on some sleep?"

"Well, we'd better go back to yours," Joel chuckled and indicated to Earl's cabin, "I've been sleeping on the couch ever since we got back here."

Pulling on his hand slightly, Melanie smiled as they began to walk back to her cabin "Probably for the best to get some privacy," she said raising an eyebrow at him, "don't think I'll be able to keep my hands off you."

"Now that sounds interesting," Joel said amusedly, raising his own eyebrows as Melanie laughed as he pulled her in closer to his body. This time it was gonna work, she decided, this time, she was going to get a bit of happiness in this world.

No more drama… no more heartache.

Just her, Joel and Ellie. Facing whatever problems this shitty world threw at them: one day at a time.