I watched Joel walk away from the picture of Sarah. I couldn't leave the memory of her behind.
"Tommy? Do you mind if I take that?"
He smiled at me and handed me the photo. Joel was much happier back then. Even though I wasn't Sarah's mother, I loved her like she was my own. Joel loved it when he saw us together; it gave him the happiness he deserved. I smiled at the photo and put it in my bag.
"Thank you. Please don't say anything to him." Tommy patted my shoulder and we followed Joel out. I followed Joel outside and he turned to look at me.
"Come with me, I need to talk to you." He led me to one of the warehouses where people slept and luckily no one was in there. I knew what he wanted to talk about. I had to be firm with him.
"You asked Tommy for that picture, didn't you?" I shrugged at him.
"So what if I did?" Joel ran a hand down his face at gave me a stern look.
"Now you listen to me, you're gonna give him back that photo, alright? We only take what's necessary." I looked at Joel like he was out of his mind. I put my hand on my hips and talked back.
"Okay…now you listen to me Joel. I am a grown ass woman, okay? I can take whatever I damn well please, so don't you fucking stand there and tell me what I'm going to do. I want this picture to remember the good times we all had. When we were happy. I'm pissed off because you are trying to run away from your past and you act like you have no life in you anymore. It's like the memory of Sarah has been completely erased from your mind. Well not mine. Even though she wasn't my real daughter, I still loved her as if she was my own. If you really loved Sarah, you would've taken this picture a first glance when Tommy offered it to you."
Joel looked at me and turned away. He ran his fingers through his hair and then turned back to me.
"You're right. I can't run away from my past. I guess I thought if I could forget about her, I could still live on to fight for something in this hell hole we live in now." I cupped his face gently in my hands.
"You can fight for something. For me and Ellie. I see the way you look at her Joel. Like she's like a daughter almost. Even though you act cold and tough on the outside, I know on the inside you're scared as well and you're a big ol' teddy bear inside." Joel smiled slightly and cupped my face in his rough hands.
"You always did know how to make any day worthwhile." I smiled. Joel gently rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs and pulled my face towards him. He planted his lips on mine and held me close. I kissed back and never wanted to let him go. Joel pulled away and placed his forehead against mine. I looked up at him with my bright, blue eyes.
"I love you Joel. We're going to be okay."