You and Ellie have been best friends ever since she got to Jackson. You genuinely thought she was a fun person to be around, yet, every time you stayed over, you found yourself sneaking downstairs at the chance to see Joel sucking down a glass of whiskey.

Sometimes, if you were lucky, his flannel would be unbuttoned lower than usual since he didn’t expect either of you to be sneaking down the stairs. You didn’t think he ever noticed you ogling him in the middle of the night, but he did.

Joel had just chosen not to mention it since it was only ‘innocent’ curiosity, or so he thought.

One night, you were feeling particularly brave and lonely (despite Ellie being upstairs), so you decided to actually go all the way down the stairs and talk to him.

“Joel..?”

You mumbled, tapping him on his big, broad shoulder.

“Hm? What is it, kid?”

Joel grumbled.