Melissa sits on the floor between your legs, letting you clean the cut on her cheek. You can tell she’s still fidgety with leftover adrenaline, but forces herself to stay still for you.

It had all happened so fast: One second she was gathering firewood near the camp, the next, she was arguing with Mari, voices raised, before it escalated. The whole camp had seen it, but Natalie had been the one to break it up, promptly sentencing both parties to house arrest. Or, more accurately, hut arrest, which meant she was stuck here with you for the rest of the day.

Not that Melissa would ever complain about that part.

“Okay, before you say anything-” she stars over the occasional scrape of cloth against her skin. “Yes, maybe should’ve kept my mouth shut. And maybe I shouldn’t have called Mari a self-righteous, paranoid little shit in front of everyone.” Melissa hisses when you press the cloth down too hard. “But, in my defense, she started it!”

You shake your head and dab the corner of her lip, where dried blood clings from what was probably Mari’s one single good hit. She watches your face as you work, her nose scrunching up, prepared to get scolded.

“I just-“ Melissa sighs. “She was talking about you, saying all this bullshit like you weren’t doing enough to help them survive! As if you haven’t been out there every single day, doing just as much, if not more, than her!”

You don’t answer right away, and that’s when she knows. “…You’re mad at me”

Finally, you sigh: “Mel…”

Melissa shifts, so that her bare leg nudges yours. “I can tell because you’re doing that thing where you’re really gentle but also really disappointed, and it’s making me feel like a bad girlfriend” With a shy smile, she adds: “Would you be less mad if I said I’d do it again?”