Of all the things Clementine thought she would be doing today, scrubbing the shower block wasn't one of them.
She and Violet knelt down in the huge, tiled room with brushes, buckets, a bottle of vinegar and paint scrapers.
The humidity in the room made it all so much worse. Not only had it caused mold to build up in between the grout that they had to clean, but it also turned the bathroom onto a sauna.
Clem wiped sweat from her brow with her forearm. Her legs were soaked from kneeling in puddles of water all day and the smell of the vinegar was making her nauseous.
"Ugh, this fucking sucks." Violet groaned.
The blonde threw the brush down onto the floor, landing with a splash that hit her in the face.
She let out an exasperated growl before composing herself and stepping out of the cubicle, taking a seat on the wooden bench against the wall.
"Come on, Clem. Take a break for a minute."
Clementine looked up from her work and shrugged.
"Yeah, fuck this."
She joined Violet on the bench and stretched out her legs, sighing with satisfaction. Her back and knees ached from being hunched for hours, so this felt fantastic.
"You know, the one thing I thought I'd never have to do in the apocalypse was scrub a bathroom, but here we are." Clem joked.
"Heh, yeah. It's crazy, this bathroom is bigger than the trailer I used to live in."
"God, really?" Clem asked with a worried air.
"Yeah. My life was pretty shitty before, but the apocalypse was sort of an improvement in a kind of fucked up way." Violet shrugged.
Violet sighed and turned so that she was facing Clem. There was an uncertain look in her eye.
"Clem, I gotta ask you something..."
She scratched the back of her head nervously with the hand that wasn't in a sling.
"Of course. What is it?"
"Is there something going on between you and Minnie?"
The question caught Clem completely off guard. She sat there silently for a few seconds in shock.
"... No, there's not." She finally answered.
The disappointment in her voice was obvious.
"Even if there is, I don't care. You don't have to lie to protect my feelings or whatever."
"That's the truth. There's nothing going on between us..."
"I'm guessing you want there to be?"
Clem let out a weak chuckle and leaned back, resting her head against the wall.
"Is it that obvious?"
"You know, when Minnie disappeared and I thought she was dead. Instead of confiding in the people I knew cared about me, I pushed them all away. I kept my friends at arms length, I was horrible to Brody, all because being alone felt easier than talking about my feelings."
She tucked one knee up against her chest, hugging it with her free arm.
"I think if you like Minnie, you should tell her. Even if she says no, it's not like you lose anything."
Clem sat up straighter off the wall and sighed.
"You're right. I'll talk to her after this shift."
Violet gave her a soft smile and stood up.
"Well, we better get this finished so you can leave straight away."
Clem breathed a laugh and returned to the cubicle she had been cleaning.
***
Clem walked nervously down the hall to Minnie's apartment. Her heart was racing, and as she stopped in front of the door, she took a series of deep breaths to calm herself down.
She knocked on the door, waiting for a response. When one didn't come right away, she continued knocking, maybe a little too aggressively.
The door opened slowly inwards and Minnie's freckled face gazed through the crack.
When she saw Clem, she opened the door all the way.
"Oh... Hi, Clem." The redhead said awkwardly.
"Minnie, hey. Is it okay if we talk?" Clem asked.
Minnie folded her arms and leaned against the doorway.
"Uhh, yeah. That's fine." She replied sheepishly.
Minnie moved out of the way, letting Clem into the apartment before shutting the door.
Clem orbited the bed and the desk, staying perfectly at the centre of the room, not touching anything.
Minnie sat on the edge of her bed, looking up at Clem.
Alright, I guess I'm doing this.
"So, about what happened..." Clem began with a sigh.
"Yeah... that." Minnie's cheeks flushed pink.
"Look, uhh... if you had told me when I was on that boat that we'd end up being really good friends, I wouldn't have believed you. I think you're an amazing person, Minnie, and the more I spend time with you, the more I realise I don't want us to be just friends."
Minnie brought her knees up to her chest, curling in on herself while looking up at Clem.
It was funny, she looked so little right then. It was a stark contrast to the assertive girl who usually stood half a head taller than everyone else.
"I don't know why last night ended the way it did. Maybe you don't like me the same way, but I kind of just want to be honest, get it all out in the open, you know?"
Minnie uncurled herself and stood up, meeting Clem's gaze.
"Clem, what happened wasn't because I don't like you. But you and Violet are friends, and we just broke up. The last thing I want is to make things weird between you and her for my own sake. That would be selfish of me." Minnie replied sadly.
"Wanting to be happy isn't selfish."
Her heart still beating a mile a minute, Clem cautiously reached out and touched Minnie's hand. She took another step towards the redhead, having to look up to compensate for the height difference.
Their eyes met and Minnie leaned down towards Clementine's face.
Clem stood up on her toes and softly pressed her lips against the redhead's.
Minnie let out a quiet moan as she put her hand against Clem's cheek and pulled the shorter girl closer to herself.
Eventually, Minnie broke off the kiss. Clem bit her lower lip.
"So, like... do you wanna go out with me... or whatever?" Minnie asked, scratching the back of her neck.
"Yes. Yes I do." Clem giggled back, trying in vain to fight the smile that grew on her face.
Minnie laughed awkwardly as the two of them stood there grinning stupidly at each other.
"Do you think Violet will be cool with it? She wasn't in a good way when we broke up." She asked.
"Violet was actually the one that said I should tell you how I felt." Clem admitted.
Minnie's eyes widened at that.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. I think you two should talk and just clear the air."
Minnie closed her eyes and sighed quietly.
"Yeah. You're right."
Minnie sat back down on the bed and Clem joined her, taking a seat at her side.
She glanced down at Minnie's hand before committing to resting her own hand on top of it. Minnie smiled at her and planted a kiss on her cheek.