Ellie doesn't want to leave his side any more than he wants her out of his sights, but she's not worried. This place is safer than anywhere else she's ever been in her entire life. Even at school she was on constant vigilance for assholes eager to beat the shit out of her. Here, she can walk down the street and not think about the knife in her pocket. She hasn't had to fight for her life in weeks and it's a startling but welcomed change of pace. This is how she imagines life before the outbreak was like: peaceful. Unafraid. It's been hard to unwind, stop being so tense at every little noise or suspect everyone is trying to do something against her, but she's getting there. Slowly but surely.

She has a feeling Joel will take much longer.

"No detours. I promise," she says, looking him in the eye. On second thought, but without much thought to it at all, she reaches out and touches his arm. "I'll be back before you know it. In the meanwhile, you can shower, if you want. Not that that's a hint or anything."

She's used to him being a dirty mess. It's just that showers with shampoo and conditioner and soap are fucking awesome and Ellie takes a half hour one every night.