"I know," she replies, a little terse. It's unfair to put Ellie in the middle of them, and she knows that, but she doesn't particularly care. She lost her life for this. Joel's life is changed for it. Ellie can do that much for them.

(Is it odd to feel relieved in some way, that her feeling that there was something between them was correct? Doesn't it mean something to be someone important enough to be locked away in his memory forever? Better than being forgotten entirely, she supposes. Oh, Joel.)

She stops the car at a crossing; it judders as she fails to downshift fast enough to match, and then stalls entirely. Fucking manual cars. Pay attention, Tess. She starts it again, shifting back up aggressively.

"Do you push his buttons with that?" she asks. "Bring up shit he doesn't want to talk about anyway?"