The River (Clemerva)

Chapter Fifteen: Something More

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."