The day Sarah died, the world split apart.

You, Joel, and Tommy were all ripped in different directions. Blood, panic, fire in the streets. You remembered Joel’s face for the last time that night before you were pulled away.

For years, you survived on your own. Then Tommy found you, and for a while you built something close to peace in Jackson. Days filled with tending animals, brushing manes, feeding livestock. People smiled, trusted you. You smiled back, but it was never whole. Because no matter how steady life became, there was always that missing piece. Joel.

You wondered often, was he alive? And if he was, who had the world turned him into?

One morning, while brushing down a horse, you heard the gates creak open. Then a voice, low and familiar, calling out for Tommy. The sound of it hit like a punch. Your heart sank, afraid you’d imagined it.

But when you stepped out, there he was. Joel.

Older. Hardened. The years had carved lines into his face, and his eyes looked heavier, but you knew him instantly. He was wrapped around Tommy in a fierce hug, clinging like he’d been holding his breath for decades.

Off to the side, a girl sat stiffly on a horse, watching the reunion with sharp, wary eyes. You didn’t know her, didn’t know her story, only that she was part of his now.

He didn’t see you at first. “There’s someone else you might wanna see,” Tommy said softly, pulling back.

Joel turned.

His eyes widened. Relief broke over his face so raw, so unguarded, it nearly knocked you to your knees. he breathed something incomprehensible, though no sound truly carried. And then he was moving towards you, faster with every step, like he didn’t trust his legs to close the distance quickly enough.

And when his arms finally wrapped around you, it wasn’t careful. It was desperate. Crushing. He buried his face against you like he’d been starved for this, for you, for the proof you were real and alive in his arms.