Nothing to be done about it. Ellie feels her eyes burn despite having them squeezed shut. She hasn't cried over Joel in a long time, but hearing the words hits deep.

"I guess... I just wish he knew me now. I was such a brat," she sniffs, rubbing her nose not-so-subtly against Tess. "Yeah, yeah. Still one now, but I'm an adult."

An adult trying not to cry in her mother's bed, but still an adult.