This piece takes place in the common universe; after Tess is found alive in Joel's apartment about a year after they start living at Tommy's town.

Y'all should've seen this coming like, a mile away though.

Something's wrong with Tess.

Her quiet is too quiet; her fidgeting multiplies, becomes anxious more than restless. He notices, of course he does - if there's one thing Tess never learned to do, it's hiding her emotions from him.

Try as she might; her thoughts spread across her face like paint on canvas to him.

She hasn't been eating much lately; everything she puts in her mouth comes right back up in the next ten minutes. Her moods are awful, he thinks it's maybe her time of month, but Tess is never this strange even then.

Surly Tess is normal, but this...this quiet Tess...this haunted Tess...

It troubles him.

She won't say, though. No matter what angle he comes at it from - she won't say a thing to him about it. Eventually Tess can't stand for his prying and stands abruptly from the couch when he reaches out to touch her. It's nearly flinching, the way she moves away from his reach, and Joel stares after the woman with a bewildered frown. "Tess, c'mon -."

"I need a walk," she murmurs, before he can stand to corner her. She sees it coming; from the way his shoulders bundle under his shirt to the way his arms are braced on the couch prepared to push himself up and onwards to her, Tess knows how this game goes.

If he corners her, pins her against the wall like a backed animal - maybe she'll give in.

She's out the door by the time Joel's fully on his feet.

Joel sighs in defeat, shoulder sagging as he watches the door shut, shaking his head as he rounds the couch to his bottle of whiskey. Something settles over his skin like a fine layer of dust; uncomfortable and niggling with the sensation of something just isn't quite right, but he can't place just what.

He rubs at the back of his neck, willing the sensation away as he throws back a shot of the amber liquid, swallowing slowly to savor the burn. He wipes at his mouth with the back of his hand, figures what to do to pass the time while Tess gets her thoughts together.

Maybe there's something for him to fix.

She comes back a while later - two hours and fifty two minutes later, to be exact, but who's counting? Joel's done fixing the faulty coffee table leg and done organizing their stash and goods for their next drop when Tess slips in through the door, standing almost guiltily by the door when Joel straightens away from the gun he's cleaning.

"Where ya been, Tess?" he asks immediately; doesn't even bother to hide the way his brows pull together worriedly and disapprovingly at how late she stays out. "I was gonna come find you but I didn't know -."

"The roof," she says quietly, and Joel stares at her for a moment, blinking slowly.

"You been up on the roof for three hours?"

Tess shrugs.

His brows pull lower. "Doin' what?"

Another shrug, she starts to shift on her feet; cross an arm over her body as she stares at the scuff marks on her shoes. "Thinking." That's all she says to him, kicking off her shoes and one hand already unraveling the bandana from her hair.

"Hold on a second - hey." He reaches out to her, just grazing the skin of her arm before pulling back when Tess flinches away as if he's burned her. The concern becomes real now, and Joel steps towards her openly, taking her hand in his gently as Tess twitches at the contact.

He brushes a strand of dark hair from her face - it's fallen over her face like a curtain; suddenly she looks as young as she was the first time they met. "Hey," he soothes her gently, stroking her chin, running his thumb along her cheek as she glances up at his face briefly.

Joel frowns deeper at the tears gleaming there, but she looks away before he can linger on it, and instead he steps into her space, pulling her slowly into his arms. Stroking her arms, he tilts his head down to murmur into her ear, "c'mon now, Tess. You gotta tell me what's eatin' at ya."

"You gotta tell me what's wrong so I can fix it, sweetheart."

He feels her fingers tighten over his arm a moment; feels the tremble in her body and makes a promise to himself to break at least four major bones of the person who's shaken Tess so. Again he tilts his head to an angle, pressing his nose into the side of her face, pressing his mouth to the corner of her lips for a split second before Tess stiffens in his hold - turns her head away from him completely.

Hurt flashes across his face, burns in his chest as he releases her slowly. "Tess -."

"I'm just tired," she mumbles, and brushes past Joel to the bedroom. There's a fleeting glance backwards, as if she's contrite, as if she's afraid or ashamed, and she disappears into the bathroom adjoining to the room where they sleep.

Joel's in bed by the time Tess comes out of the bathroom, paler as if the water had washed away whatever sense of self she had. She slips into bed beside without another word, curling onto her side away from him without so much as a goodnight.

He moves closer to her; feels the ache in his chest as he reaches out gently in the dark, fingertips grazing her cold skin.

She cringes in the dark, curling tighter into a ball. "Please," her muffled voice sounds small and defeated in the dark. "I just wanna sleep, Joel. Just let me sleep."

He has no choice but to obey - another rejection and he won't trust himself not to beg her for forgiveness for nothing. He's done no wrong; perhaps that's all she really needs.

And so they sleep.

The wall between them in bed stays all through the night.

She wakes to agony.

She's not in bed when he wakes the next morning. Even in the haze of his sleep-addled mind, Joel knows it to be strange that Tess is awake before him. She's never awake before him, and it troubles him more as he stumbles out of bed calling her name out into the apartment.

The volume and desperation in his voice escalates before he can help himself, when Joel spots the crumpled pile of Tess' nightshirt - his shirt - lying on the floor by the bathroom.

Stained in blood.

"Tess!" He's bellowing now, searching the bathroom, barging out into the living room and kitchen. His eyes dart from space to space frantically; searching a sign - a blood trail or something - something to tell him where she is!

The front door sounds just as he reaches it, and Joel is startled backwards by the very woman he's looking for. He feels the clench in his chest relax, he breathes out heavily in relief. "Christ, Tess! Y'damn near gave me a heart attack!"

Tess stands staring at the man, eyes wide and startled like a doe as she registers why he's breathing so hard and half-glaring at her with pajama pants on and his hair sticking out in every direction possible. "I'm - sorry," she murmurs weakly, and the apology only seems to amplify Joel's concerns for her.

"I just - I needed some air." Her stomach cramps again, and the flash of pain - no matter how brief - has Joel on high alert.

"Where've you been? What happened to you? You okay?" He touches her again, and this time though she flinches, Tess accepts his affections with a reluctant silence; he pulls her to him. He sighs heavily into her hair again, even if Tess stands stiff and unmoving in his arms. "Damn it, Tess, you're makin' me crazy worryin' about you like this!"

She's pale and shaken, and Joel pulls back long enough to stare intently at the woman's face. Something's wrong - something's happened. "Tess -."

"Just leave it," she utters suddenly, and Joel finds her pressing her face into his chest as if she might die without him near. Her fingers tighten around his arms hard, her body locks tense and trembling as he touches her and holds her close, murmuring to her gently.

She never answers his questions.

She probably never will.

Wheeee angst