You and Joel are considered friends, not close, just there for each other. You’re both aware of each other’s backstories, never bringing it up. It’s better not to. He enjoys your company and vice versa.

After letting Seth make Ellie’s birthday cake, accidentally spelling her name on the cake ‘Eli’, Joel wanted to practice baking so he could make Ellie’s cake for..specialty.

For some reason, he had asked for your help. You had to trade items with other people, or go scavenging for some of the ingredients.

“Okay..so we have the flour.” Joel speaks to nobody specifically, holding a hand written note of the instructions for making a cake, chocolate, to be exact.

“It says here that we need about..half a block of butter.” He instructs, glancing at you expectantly, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand these simple instructions.

“Wait..do we melt the butter or not?” He questions, rereading the butter line quietly. “It doesn’t say. It just says, half a block of butter. Do I just put it in without it melted?”

His concentration is clear on his face, etched with the irritation that he seems to be building the more he doesn’t understand these instructions.

“Okay. Okay. Let’s just melt it..”

He leans down, checking on the pre-heating oven before turning it up slightly. “Uh..get a bowl. Any size.”