Ledge [Lee Everett]
The kitchen table top was looking more colorful than usual, not to mention this morning Lee was in a rush. He didn't have very long, seeming as the kids would probably be back at the house soon. If not for that calendar slung up at the infirmary, he might've almost forgotten again. At least, it gave him a few days to prepare and inquire about things.
"Jesus Christ..." Lee muttered cheerfully at the sight, sighing out as he stepped away from the cake on the table, hands on hips. The last candle was in place, as was everything else. Fourteen years old… He had a hard time believing it himself, the way the years had quickly just flown by. Luckily enough, the woman at the farmyard was nice enough to offer when he asked about getting a cake done. That must've been the upside of having livestock around. The rest, he managed to scrounge up at the markets. Back out on the road, there usually wasn't much time for celebrations as... extravagant as this.
Checking the time on his watch, he decided it was best to approach Joel about it, who he figured had caught on by now. The man's room was practically the front porch, where he usually spent the most time, just wanting to be alone. Heading towards the front door, he slowly opened it with a soft creak, peeking his head out to see him glued to the chair. He'd been withdrawn lately, more so than usual, but with Joel you just couldn't tell if it was him... Well, just being himself.
"Hey…" He spoke out whilst leaning on the door frame, crossing his arms. A few moments of silence passed as he averted his gaze towards the open field of houses before looking back to Joel, breaking the silence. "It's for Clementine's birthday. All the stuff I've been getting." He knows…
"Today's actually the day, I wanted to surprise her when they get back… if you're not doing anything else, you could stick around? In case you wanted to… y'know. Be there for it." If Joel was going to run off at the sight of a birthday, then Lee at least wanted some beforehand notice… He honestly wasn't sure what Joel planned to do, but he figured it was best that he oughta let him know that he was always welcome to stick around.
Kentucky [Joel]
Joel had been sitting on the porch for a good bit of that morning; a daily ritual he now took part in. His mind would wander, take a dip into the cold water of the atmosphere and then draw itself back out with a yelp. This silence of thought was shattered with a simple door creak and crash; Joel's head curled to the side to watch Lee enter his expanse. The gruff fellow on the porch blinked, uncrossing his legs. "Hey." He responded, grimacing in the same lackadaisical way he treated so many things nowadays.
He considered the man's comments carefully, listening in as cautious as he could. The hairs on his arm ever so stood up, a thick gulp in his throat followed by a throaty sigh speaking his thoughts for him. "I..." He winced, grabbing onto his knees. "Maybe I'd be better off goin' somewhere else." He didn't follow up with anything there, just looked away from Lee and glared at the porch.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
Lee could see that Joel was battling with the possibility of staying, refusing was probably the guys first instinct. If the man wanted his personal space, Lee wouldn't get in the way of that, but he'd at least give it a second shot at convincing him. "C'mon, man."
"I didn't think even you could say no to cake." Lee joked, followed by a slight pause.
"Stick around." He proposed again. Sitting in that chair all day, doing nothing with shit on his mind probably drove Joel nuts. Lee had been there too, until he realized keeping himself occupied managed to help. He figured something like this would be good for all of them, even if it was just to get the mind off things for a bit.
Kentucky [Joel]
Joel's seemingly everlasting frown stayed on his face. He stared at the floor for a minute, impatiently tapping his foot with anxiety. He didn't want to think about birthdays; he didn't want to think about any of this. Lest he open old wounds, it was a dangerous forte for little gain. What would happen? In Joel's mind, whatever it was, it wasn't worth it. Yet... guilt was eating at him, gnawing at his dying skin in little nibbles, nibbles that were building to the point where his bones would be uncovered before long. "Alright. Alright." He paused, looking up at Lee and giving his best weak smile. "Haven't had cake in a while. It better be damn good."
10:51 AM
Ledge [Lee Everett]
Lingering around the window like a bad smell with an occasional glance at his watch. The former history professor eagerly awaited the return of the birthday girl and her friend. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he could finally pull off something special for Clem, she deserved it after so long. Hell… even Joel was in on it too, and Lee had undoubtedly appreciated him deciding to stay. Not a moment later, the sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts.
"There you are." Lee greeted almost excitedly, not paying too much mind in the heat of the moment as Ellie scurried in rather quickly. He approached the front door and held it open for a brief second to look out before noticing Clementine wasn't in sight. He quickly shut the door behind him before attempting to turn his attention to Ellie. "Alright, we quickly need to talk before Clem gets here too."
Dot [Ellie]
While Lee spoke, Ellie's gaze was focused on the stairs at the back of the room, wanting nothing more than to just walk around Lee and head to her room without a word. She crossed her arms over her chest, finally managing to send a half-scowl in the older man's direction as he finished his statement. She hadn't been listening in the first place and found herself not caring about what he had to say.
But she knew that telling him to fuck off wasn't going to do her any good.
She let out a heavy sigh, biting back angry responses she desperately wanted to say, before finally settling for something neutral. "Can this wait until later?"
Ledge [Lee Everett]
A mixture of concern and confusion quickly filled up his demeanor in response to the looks he was getting from her. What's gotten into her? There was no way to be sure, and he probably didn't have a lot of time to find out why she was so quick to try and brush him off.
"Not really... I mean-" He quickly cut himself off as he halted the explanation, getting the feeling that something was terribly off here. Finally, he decided to question it. After a brief moment of exchanging a silent glance with the girl, he spoke up. "Did something happen out there?"
Dot [Ellie]
Of course, he was going to make a big deal out of it. She resisted the urge to simply walk away from him, instead forcing herself to stand in place. Clearly, there was something wrong with her, and Lee would have to be an idiot to miss it. She wasn't very good at hiding it, though, something she desperately wished she had done. Ellie focused her gaze on the wall behind Lee, trying to find something to look at other than Lee's face.
"It's nothing," she stated bluntly, keeping her arms crossed over her chest as she finally met his gaze. She wasn't going to get out of this conversation without a fight, so… she might as well just endure it. "What's going on?"
Ledge [Lee Everett]
He just couldn't, he couldn't let whatever was going on hang over his conscience for the entirety of this day, he wanted to enjoy this with everyone... and part of that meant figuring out whatever this was first. Part of him wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go ahead with telling her about the surprise until he knew. She looked upset, and Clem wasn't with her. That was already a bad sign. He shook his head slightly before continuing. "That's what I'm trying to figure out." He spoke in a near accusing tone, taking a step forward. "Because it's not just nothing..." Lee had Clem to thank for knowing that little detail. "It never is."
Dot [Ellie]
"What do you want me to say, Lee?" Ellie snapped, that pent up anger she'd been holding towards Carl and Clementine coming out all at once. She knew that he didn't deserve it, but couldn't stop herself. She needed to vent, even if it meant venting towards Lee. "I'm in a bad mood, okay? Jesus. Nothing happened."
Hopefully Lee would take the hint and back off, but she somehow doubted that. She started for the stairs, hoping to get away from him before he could say another word.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
"Hey, wait..." He sighed out as she brushed past him and beelined towards the stairs. He'd really done it now, hadn't he? It wasn't a side of her he'd really seen often, aside from when they'd first met. Usually, he'd expect this from Clem or Joel… but not her.
He didn't follow, watching in restraint as she started to make her way up the stairs. He stammered, trying to figure out something to say. He sighed out, closing his eyes and shaking his head at himself. He considered letting it go, in fact… he almost did… but something caught in his throat in a last-ditch effort, then it spilled out.
"It's Clementine's birthday." He finally spoke up, almost in desperation. He was sure that must've meant something to her… hopefully enough for her to at least hear him out. "I was hoping to surprise her when you guys got back, been planning it for a while now and…"
He drifted off, his tone softer now as he tried to continue.
"I know she'd appreciate you being there to celebrate. You're her best friend, Ellie."
Dot [Ellie]
She stopped mid-way up the stairs, grasping the handrail tightly as she cursed underneath her breath. Of course, he'd find a way to guilt-trip her. Of fucking course -
She twisted her body to look back down at Lee below, her expression one of both hostility and guilt. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. Clementine was going to be pissed at her, that much was certain. After all, Ellie just walked away after they left the church. Clearly, they were gonna need space to… figure things out. Mostly for Ellie to calm down, but she wouldn't admit that to the girl's face. However, that one word was enough to force her hand.
Birthday. It's Clem's birthday…
Fuck.
Every single thing she's done wrong that day started piling up in her mind like a rap sheet, realizing then just how shitty she's probably made her friend's day, intentionally or not. She'd been so caught up in how pissed off she was that she didn't even stop to consider how Clementine felt, or even the possibility of something like a birthday to come into the mix.
A sigh escaped her lips, followed by the repeated thumps of her feet descending the stairs. She stood at the edge of the stairway, biting her lip as she struggled to find something to say. At this point, she knew she couldn't say anything to make the situation better.
She closed her eyes for a couple seconds too long, breathing in and out, before finally speaking in a calm tone. "Okay. She should… be here any minute, then." If she hasn't already decided not to follow me home. She left it there, deciding that apologies wouldn't get her anywhere right now. The list of people she owed those to was getting longer and longer with each passing day.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
"Alright, it's a go then." Lee spoke with a confident not, relieved at the fact Ellie wasn't going to be spending the day upstairs. Whatever was going on, surely cake could fix it, right? Regardless, it was probably best to just brush whatever was wrong aside for another time. "Thank you... for staying." He spoke with a tinge of gratitude. "I've set everything up in the kitchen. Joel's there, too. Now it's just a waiting game."
Art [Clementine]
The rest of the walk home was bittersweet at best. She'd stopped Ellie from sneaking out of Jackson on the total sly, only to end up… probably pissing her the hell off with all the stuff she said. Some of it, Clementine regretted immediately, while the rest only got accentuated in her head the longer she spent having to think about it on her own. Clem was convinced that she was in the right back there, so how come she still felt so freaking awful about it? Chances are Ellie wouldn't wanna talk to her for the rest of the day, and... to be totally honest, she didn't really want to talk to Ellie either. They'd just have to deal with sharing a room for the night, as awkward and flat out grisly as the prospect sounded.
Following the front door's soft creaking was little more than the girl's gruff-sounding "I'm home…", the door being shut behind Clementine as she leaned her back against it. Her stare was fixated on the floor underneath her ragged boots, some sense of apprehension stemming from the fact that she'd have to patch things up with Ellie one way or the other, whether either of them liked it or not.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
Lee had turned the corner with near perfect timing to greet her at the door… almost like he'd been waiting. He just hoped it wasn't that obvious that he was. "Here she is." He spoke aloud with a smirk. Joel and Ellie were waiting for her in the other room, now all that was left to do was simply to lead her there. Days of planning left him feeling excited, maybe even a little overexcited, to be honest.
"Can I grab a hand in the kitchen for a second? There's something I need to show you." He gestured his head towards the other room, trying to keep his cool.
Art [Clementine]
Lee's voice dragged the girl's gaze away from her feet in an instant, asking her to come to the kitchen for some reason or other. Clementine, in turn, reacted visibly clumsily to the suggestion, not too deft in the least at hiding her rush to go upstairs. "Actually, I…" She stuttered her way through her words, tilting her head to the side before giving up part way through. Maybe that… other thing could wait, right? It wasn't like she was looking forward to making up with Ellie anyway... "... Okay." Clem responded evenly, largely just wanting to get it over with, whatever it was.
Even in the middle of all that, well engrossed in her own head, the lively smile on Lee's face didn't escape her notice. Something was up, definitely. "What's got you so jumpy?" Clementine asked with a smirk of her own, following Lee towards the kitchen.
Ledge [Lee Everett]
"Nothin'," he spoke dismissively whilst trying to conceal his smirk, eyes fixated on the hallway ahead. Hope she doesn't get too embarrassed, or something like that. Even if he was overdoing it a tad, he had no regrets. This is how it was usually done when he was a kid anyway. The closer and closer they got to the kitchen, the more the facade began to unveil itself.
They finally turned the corner to see Joel and Ellie standing behind the decorated kitchen bench top. On it sat a cake accompanied with lit candles on top. Fourteen candles to be exact. He gave it a brief moment to sink in before approaching her from behind, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We just wanted to say happy birthday, sweet pea."
Kentucky [Joel]
Joel watched the scene before him with a strike of curiosity and delight. "Happy birthday, Clementine." He still hadn't much taken to calling her by her nickname, still preferring the full name in moments such as this; slow moments. They were unconventional nowadays and had been even more so unconventional back then. Joel managed to give a weak smile, as best as he could, at least. His mind was rushing, though, as he stared at Clementine approaching the cake. Memories resurfacing - memories that had never really disappeared - and broke back into his plans. Tommy was taking too long to decide; he loved his little brother, but... he needed someone else to do the deed for him.
He looked over the room.
Dot [Ellie]
Ellie stood next to Joel, awkwardly tapping her fingers on the kitchen counter as Lee and Clementine entered the room. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to be in this position of trying to figure out a balance between the awkwardness she felt for how her previous conversation with Clementine went, and the responsibility of being there for her friend. Despite that, she managed to force a smile, for the girl's sake. It wasn't enough to make up for everything that happened earlier, but… it was a start, right?
As Joel was, surprisingly, the first one to say the greeting, it gave Ellie a chance to take in a deep breath, following it up with what would hopefully not come out as awkward and forced. "I guess we're on even ground now." Don't fuck this up don't fuck this up don't fuck this up… "Happy birthday, Clem." She managed to get the words out, an agonizing moment passing where she found herself wondering if she should stay put or try and give the girl a hug. She chose to do nothing, in the end, trying to maintain the smile she could feel drooping slightly. For Clementine, she'd try anything.
Art [Clementine]
It was like something straight out of a lucid dream. The ones you know are just too… incredible and silly to spend even a second convinced that they were real. Clementine felt her shoulders hunch up as Lee placed his hands above them, as if the girl expected a walker to be in his place instead.
There weren't any, not in Jackson. No Saviors, or any of the nasty infected staggering, sometimes even running around in the west. Just Lee, and her, and her best friend… Joel, even. All of them celebrating her birthday. W - What? What day is it? Clementine thought to herself, oblivious to the fact until it was staring her in the face. There was an actual cake there, though at first glance, she hardly believed it. It looked like one, smelled like one… and it had fourteen candles on top, spelling out how old she was. No way…
The smile creeping up onto her face, she suppressed for at least a second or two, as she stared back at Lee in complete disbelief. "You… did all this?"
Ledge [Lee Everett]
The months on the road leading up to finding this place, they hadn't necessarily been the best. Everything was so preoccupied with the goal. It was all they were thinking about anymore, it was hard to find time to just... forget every now and then. He couldn't lie to himself, sometimes he found himself wondering if he was actually succeeding at this. Was Clem happy? Was he capable of giving her that? As she got older, it was definitely tougher to read how she was feeling.
As soon as she smiled, however, that doubt was washed away. "Enjoy it. You deserve it." Lee spoke as he saw the glee in her eyes accompanied with her shocked demeanor. They were surrounded by friends, had the safety they sought here. They might not have all been perfect, but they were together. This is what Lee wanted for her, for as long as he could remember.
"Go on, make a wish." He spoke encouragingly before gesturing his head towards the cake.
Art [Clementine]
"A wish." Clementine blinked, softly uttering the words whilst static in place. The atmosphere that room gave off felt pretty nostalgic and totally out of place on its own, but candles and wish-making? That's the kind of... embarrassing stuff her parents loved to do back when she was too small to even hold a gun. Clem ended up shaking the thought away with the smallest of pouts. Maybe that's what Lee was going for. That did sound just like him. Sure, it was dumb, but... in the end, she couldn't find herself hating it.
Taking a few steps forward, the girl thought about her wish long and hard, despite not being one to believe in that sort of thing. A little bit of dreaming never hurt anyone, right? Not like anyone's gonna hear it… She exhaled through her nose, leaning her hands against the table, staring at the needlessly large cake lying between them. There wasn't much she wanted, really wanted anymore, depressing as it might've been. Not losing what they already had… ultimately, that's all that ever seemed to cross her mind over the past few months. I wish… I wish that Joel and Ellie don't leave… like everyone else.
A puff of air blew out the fourteen candles all at once, the silence that followed leaving Clementine more contemplative than anything. Was she really gonna get to eat cake again? On a birthday…? It was so… normal, it made it too hard not to smile, and too easy to do nothing but stand there speechless. "I - I don't know what to say..." She crossed one of her arms, chuckling at the sheer absurdity of it all.
For a little while, she found herself not having to think about anything else.
Dot [Ellie]
While Clementine closed her eyes and blew out the candles, Ellie found herself closing her own, turning her face away from the counter. Her throat tightened, thoughts of how selfish she'd been plaguing her mind. She was still angry about what happened, and that only made things worse, because it seemed that Clementine had forgotten it, or forgiven her, or… simply not acknowledging it, which was just as likely. Despite that, she still managed to potentially ruin her best friend's day, only to find out later that it was her goddamned birthday. What kind of friend did that make her? To let her own selfish desire to escape, if only for a short time, get the best of her.
If she had gone, she wouldn't have even been here to celebrate her birthday. That was probably what fucked her up the most, thinking about the fact she would've abandoned her friend and missed out on something this important. How often did they get to have birthday parties anymore? Never. It's never happened for her. Not like those assholes at the preparatory schools would even care. Then there was Riley, who never got to live long enough for either of them to celebrate a birthday together. She mentally winced, forcing the thought away. She wasn't ready for that kind of pain, not when she was meant to be supporting her friend.
She opened her eyes finally, looking back to see the thin puffs of smoke dissipate into the air from the candles. Clementine was smiling, and saying something she only caught the tail end of. Ellie tried to smile, leaning against the counter. "Don't gotta say anything," she spoke in an attempt to lighten the mood further, before indicating the cake with an enthusiastic hook of the thumb. "Dig into that shit."