[It's not what Ellie expects from him. She's used to his anger, his heavy disappointment. Joel's simmering upset had never frightened her the way it got to others; she's able to more than withstand it, to give it back in turn. She can cut him deeper than anyone.
She expects his anger, his worry- something like the time he caught up with her in Salt Lake, that desperation.
What she doesn't expect is to watch that pain and grief crack across his face, fracturing all his stony steadiness.
She's seen it before, though. On that dance floor, the night before she lost him.
Right, he'd said. Just a whisper.
It dies on her tongue. What she would have said. Something she now realizes would have been so much more cruel than she knew.
You would have done the same.
It hits her so hard he knocks her breathless, and she just -- squeezes her bloody fingers into fists, lets them go, feeling hollowed out. All of the anger leaves her expression, leaving her looking just as gutted as she feels.]
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She expects his anger, his worry- something like the time he caught up with her in Salt Lake, that desperation.
What she doesn't expect is to watch that pain and grief crack across his face, fracturing all his stony steadiness.
She's seen it before, though. On that dance floor, the night before she lost him.
Right, he'd said. Just a whisper.
It dies on her tongue. What she would have said. Something she now realizes would have been so much more cruel than she knew.
You would have done the same.
It hits her so hard he knocks her breathless, and she just -- squeezes her bloody fingers into fists, lets them go, feeling hollowed out. All of the anger leaves her expression, leaving her looking just as gutted as she feels.]