"Something the matter?" Tess's voice pulled Joel out of his reverie.

Joel stepped into the bedroom they shared, leaning against the doorframe.

She met his eyes in the mirror on top of the drawers she was standing in front of as she got dressed for the day.

He'd noticed the small changes in her. She was normally hard and reserved, especially in terms of affection – but he found her quite affectionate lately, letting her hands linger too long, being generous with taps and pats and things of the sort. And that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. She smiled more often, laughed more often; the fatigue from her day (especially due to her line of work) always seemed to immediately wash away as soon as she stepped into their humble abode, where he and Ellie – mostly Ellie – waited welcomingly. Tess was happier.

Joel got the vague idea that this must be 'the Ellie effect.'

After gauging what her reaction might be, he spoke. "You look younger."

"Now what the hell does that mean, old man?" Tess bristled playfully – not quite hiding the teasing edge to her voice.

"You're just… radiant."

"Huh," Tess spun around to face him. "I guess we have Ellie to thank for that."

Joel sighed. He knew he had been quite withstanding and not very receiving towards the new addition to their duo (now turned group).

"You have to try," Tess beseeched him. "Look, there's enough here that you have to feel some sort of obligation to me. So you try."

Goddammit. Does she think…?

"Tess, I ain't in this with you just 'cause I feel some obligation. Obligation didn't make me agree to this in the first place. Y'know there's no one else I'd be doing this with besides…" he cut himself off. "Besides you."

Tess took a long look at him and sighed.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

The corners of her mouth turned up. "Nothing. See if Ellie's up, and get dressed, the both of you. I'll be downstairs with breakfast."

No one would disagree that Joel understood Tess better than anyone else. But sometimes, she was an enigma even to him.

"Bossy today," he remarked.

"We got stuff— shit to do."

He chuckled. "Gave up on thinking she'll suddenly develop exemplary behavior?"

Tess rolled her eyes. He left her to her own devices and proceeded to check Ellie's room.

The door was ajar. Pushing it open, he scanned the room from the threshold. "Ellie?"

The bed was empty.

Curiously, the room was still in the same state as it had been when he and Tess readied it for the girl. The only indication that the room had been lived in were the suitcases on the floor, lying haphazardly near the bed, and the poorly-folded pile of unwashed clothes near them.

It was almost like she felt unwelcome.

Joel brushed off the thought, chalking it up to her being with them for only a little over a week. He glanced at the empty bed again. He closed the door, headed back to the room he shared with Tess and got dressed.

He walked downstairs, shoes in hand. He made his way to the living room and sat on the couch to put his shoes on. The sound of conversation reached him from the adjoined kitchen. He finished up and walked over to the room and paused in the doorway.

Tess stood in front of the stove behind the bar, her back to Ellie. The girl sat in the bar with her elbows on the counter, balancing on the hind legs of the barstool as she fiddled with a wallet in her hands.

"So, Tessa Holmes," she enunciated while rocking her chair. She proceeded to read details aloud from Tess's driver's license.

Tess turned to place a bowl of oatmeal in front of Ellie.

"I'm actually not much of a cook, either," she was saying. "Guess you'll have to make do."

"I like everything you make," Ellie said simply, before putting a spoonful of oatmeal in her mouth to emphasize her point. Tess made a small noise of amusement, while Ellie continued to rock her chair.

Spotting a cup of coffee on the countertop, Joel walked over to the bar.

"You tryin' to break your fool neck?" he took a seat next to Ellie, righting hers in the process and giving her quite a jostle.

"What the f— oh, hey Joel," Ellie greeted, eyes wide in shock. Upon realizing she wasn't in fact about to topple backwards, she relaxed. "It's just you. Damn, I thought I was gonna fall and break my ass! You've gotta stop being so quiet when you walk. Are you really that quiet when you walk? Maybe I'm going deaf? I mean it wouldn't be impossible…"

Joel watched her as she rambled on. How she had so much energy before 9am should be perplexing, but he'd had enough mornings with her to know she had the energy to rival the Energizer Bunny's anytime.

"Uh-huh," he interjected. "Y'know, you could talk a coon right out of a tree."

Ellie scrunched up her nose. "Hmm, I'm gonna take that as an insult."

He gestured to her clothes, comprising of a plain long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. "You gettin' dressed or are we gonna have to sign you up for school like that?"

She waved him off. "Hold your horses, I'm not done eating yet."

At her attitude, he shot Tess an incredulous look, like; "You see the jaws on this thing?" and Tess shrugged, amused.

"Listen to the lady, Texas," she said.

Ellie grinned and spared him a triumphant look with a milk moustache above her lips, oatmeal on her chin.

He remembered what Tess told him about Ellie when they were at the mall. Joel had to admit, it's not quite fun to give her a hard time on moments like this, when she got to be a kid like she should be.

"Yes ma'am."