[ When he arrives it's ten minutes before the appointed hour for the meeting. Joel had only asked to meet in the warehouse to then take the meeting elsewhere, to somewhere more private. He had promised Ellie that he would be back within two hours at best and if he wasn't back by then that she could check in with him via the tablet, or vice versa.
Entering the warehouse through the connected underground, Joel pauses to look around for her. He's not sure what to expect; tension and lots of it, terse tones, accusing words. He knows he shouldn't be too hard on her, this isn't the same Tess after all and yet it is, through and through. She's the same Tess he remembers leaving behind in Boston, the same one he'd turned his back on at her urging.
Right now all Joel has to go by are the messages in his inbox, their discussions, his own memories of this place and the time they'd spent together. And the one precious bit of an accessory that had meant the world to her when he'd first placed it in her hand.
It isn't hard to pick her out in the crowds lingering about. He's more than familiar with the way she paces when she's restless, the look she wears on her features. Like she's trying to mask her thoughts and what's troubling her, but Joel knows. He knows that she knows that this is about them, him, and also about her. The things he's going to tell her today, show her even, might just throw her for a complete loop in the other direction but he's had enough time to sit and dwell on it by now.
Now he's ready to talk.
Joel straightens his shoulders and pushes himself forward, pushes one foot in front of the other, arms hanging uselessly and heavily at his sides. He still can't believe that she's back here with them, that this is really her.
That they have yet another chance. ]
You made it.
[ No other words. He can only stand there and look at her, and even then he can barely bring himself to fully do this, awkward and tense already as he looks around at the people moving about unknowing to the meeting happening. ]
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Entering the warehouse through the connected underground, Joel pauses to look around for her. He's not sure what to expect; tension and lots of it, terse tones, accusing words. He knows he shouldn't be too hard on her, this isn't the same Tess after all and yet it is, through and through. She's the same Tess he remembers leaving behind in Boston, the same one he'd turned his back on at her urging.
Right now all Joel has to go by are the messages in his inbox, their discussions, his own memories of this place and the time they'd spent together. And the one precious bit of an accessory that had meant the world to her when he'd first placed it in her hand.
It isn't hard to pick her out in the crowds lingering about. He's more than familiar with the way she paces when she's restless, the look she wears on her features. Like she's trying to mask her thoughts and what's troubling her, but Joel knows. He knows that she knows that this is about them, him, and also about her. The things he's going to tell her today, show her even, might just throw her for a complete loop in the other direction but he's had enough time to sit and dwell on it by now.
Now he's ready to talk.
Joel straightens his shoulders and pushes himself forward, pushes one foot in front of the other, arms hanging uselessly and heavily at his sides. He still can't believe that she's back here with them, that this is really her.
That they have yet another chance. ]
You made it.
[ No other words. He can only stand there and look at her, and even then he can barely bring himself to fully do this, awkward and tense already as he looks around at the people moving about unknowing to the meeting happening. ]