THE BEST KIND OF TROUBLE
Chapter 1: The Stream
He was doing it again. Hiding, like a fool. Eating alone and away from the rest.
He limited himself to look at her from a distance, in that way that provokes awkward silences and misunderstandings. To Clementine.
Louis kept a secret. It was intoxicating. He didn't have his best friend to vent his harshness. Nor could he take refuge in jokes. And he wanted to do it, he wanted to hide it so badly! He wanted to cover that feeling he could not explain, indecipherable. Something similar to what he had felt when he kissed Clementine, but increased a hundred times. He had no one to explain to him that it was that desire that normally surrounds people, and that not only would it stay inside himself, but it would also grow.
Why should he have been there, at that time? It had awakened something. Something that had been lethargic by the apocalyptic disaster they lived. Something that could have been contained with the daily fear of death. He would have succeeded in suppressing that flourishing need, if it had not been for the random machinations of that time.
...
Two days since the raiders had reached Omar, Aasim, and Violet. The school did not feel so safe anymore. Little and nothing the group had rested. Moreover, with Abel as a prisoner, without wanting to let go of a word of where his companions were. They would have to use other methods, but it was no longer known where the limit was, or even if there was such a thing. Added to that, they had installed traps of all caliber in the perimeter. Even small bells tied to strings to alert the proximity of a stranger. It was unlikely that the raiders would return, after it almost cost them their lives, but they couldn't swear that they wouldn't return.
Low spirits and low energy were causing havoc in the group. They were immersed in a terrible combination, and they knew it. No matter how much they prepared for an eventual rescue, they would not last three seconds if they continued like this. The most affected was Clementine, who had to watch over two. That's why, that morning, Ruby took the initiative to return to self-care.
—Clem, are you there? —the ginger asked, knocking on the door.
—Yes, come in. —Clementine answered, who had just awakened AJ.
—Hey, I've come to invite you here near the stream. We have to pause and clean up, or it will begin to affect our health.
Of course, Ruby knew about those things. And now that the group had shrunk, she was more valuable than ever. But there was a problem.
—What about AJ? —Clementine asked with concern.
—He can stay with Tennessee. He's downstairs, drawing.
—May I go with you, Clem? —AJ intervened.
—AJ, do you remember when I told you that the bodies of girls and boys are different?
—Nevermind. It doesn't bother me.
—Just stay, alright? I won't be long.
Already next to the stream, the flowing water transmitted a subtle, but significant peace. An armed peace, it could be called, because with one hand they removed dirt, and with the other they held a knife. Ruby was the first to take off some clothes to start grooming. Clementine imitated her, staying in her underwear, but she didn't know how to start.
—How...?
—Go by parts. You can start with the face, then the arms and the chest. You can get dressed as you progress.
Clementine did what Ruby told her. With the fresh water, her skin breathed again. She sighed in relief when she felt that layer of dust come off. She continued, wishing internally that the current would be carry as much as possible. She was already buttoning her blouse back when a gust of wind played a trick on her.
—Clem, your hat. —Ruby said.
—Shit! —Clementine exclaimed, leaving everything to run after her hat.
Agilely she went through the vegetation, determined not to lose the only memory of her family. The hat fell on the water, making it difficult to recover, but it was achieved when Clementine jumped into the water and took it.
Victorious, she returned to the shore, but she wouldn't go far. She couldn't take two steps when she found herself face to face with Louis. It was then when everything stopped. She was stupefied, facing a boy who, judging from the rabbit on his shoulder, had been hunting. She suddenly forgot the little clothes she was wearing, and the breeze between her legs blowing. She couldn't anything else. Not with him there, discovering her with a look she didn't dare to interpret.
Louis felt something hot pouring into his veins when he noticed the bare skin. A burning fire that paralyzed him at once. He did not exist. He suddenly knew that he was the most insignificant being on earth. If someone had wanted to knock him down at that precise moment, human or walker, he wouldn't have put up any resistance. He didn't realize that his eyes were contemplating longing and that his mouth was trembling. And even if it was Clementine who showed her legs, the one exposed was him. For the first time, he didn't know what to say.
The girl's agitated breathing didn't help either. She was equal or more tense than him. The messy moment had its end when Clementine made use of reason, put on her hat without saying a word, and returned with Ruby. Louis remained silent as she walked barefoot along the shore, and watched the water fall from her black hair to her shoulders, soaking her blouse.
A heavy sigh emanated from the boy's lips when he saw himself alone again. He leaned his back against a tree and closed his eyes, overwhelmed by what had happened. He conjured up the image in his head. He could keep watching it from there. The drops that ran down her neck, the clothes attached, her helpless shyness. Full wet. He looked at her mentally over and over again. The way her waist was marked, the deep curve that ran from the hips to the thighs, the extraordinary color of the skin. And when she reached out to pick up her hat, she inadvertently revealed some old marks, scars from past struggles.
They had been living together for a while. And finally he was really watching her.
…
The dinner hour seemed endless. Louis's only wish was to be alone so he didn't have to risk facing Clementine. He was supposed to eat in front of the fire, to claim a false feeling of being cold, and staying fighting his thoughts on his own. But then AJ took him by the arm.
—Louis, sit with us.
—It's just ... —he said— I'm starting with the flu. And believe me, you don't want me to infect you. Tomorrow, a walker will look better than me.
—But we're team fun.
The illusion in AJ's face was priceless. A child so young had become the person who had the most expectations about Louis, as if he were an older brother. A super hero. That's why he didn't have the heart to give him a snub.
—You're right, little man. —Louis agreed, smiling docilely, though he swallowed when he realized that the free seat was next to Clementine.
At the table, the young woman's intense gaze met his. The contact was short, but sharp, as if an invisible force connected them from the chest and forced them to collide again and again, no matter how embarrassed they felt. They both noticed that they were skimming unconsciously. It was suddenly natural for one hand to look for the other in any way, even if it was for something as vain as passing the silverware. With every movement among his figures, Louis felt less and less able to keep dodging her. Where could he flee? Surviving seemed a more accessible journey than escape. Of dying he also felt capable, strangely. It is very possible to want to vanish because you want a person too much.
As never before, the youngest members of the group took over what was said that night. The troubled pair, on the other hand, was invisible. That was until the dishes were raised and the group dispersed heading to the dorms. Clementine and AJ were the first to cross the entrance. Louis entered the end, somewhat slow, reflective. But the introspection came to an end when Clementine stepped on the stairs.
He knew that position, with firm arms to the sides and chin held high.
—Come with me. We need to talk. —she ordered.
Shit. Here came the conversation he feared so much. Evasiveness and denials were over. Taking a breath, Louis followed Clementine down the hall until he entered what had been Marlon's office. By the time he crossed the door, the girl had managed to light a candle and was about to take a seat on the desk. Louis preferred to remain standing, at a safe distance.
As always, Clementine omitted to go around the bush.
—You've been eluding me lately and I don't like it. You haven't been yourself. You've always been the one who brings the group together and calms the mood with a game or something, but now you shun the company, and you don't like being alone.
It was true. He detested loneliness, and the silence caused him reticence, because the isolation made him think too much about the family he would never see again, in the people he had lost, in the low probability of reaching eighteen, and in the nightmares where he was bitten or worse. But now he needed that, because what he felt was stronger than his fears.
Before, being alone with Clementine had no greater science. He felt happy with her, as if renewed, and that's where he arrived. Now it was difficult for him to control his imagination. There was a faint, but enveloping heat in him. And it was fast, violent, decisive.
—What happened to you, Louis?
And he mentally shouted "I love you!" "I want you!", so that his desperate voice reached her heart. Not to ruin it with the clumsiness of words. Louis opened his mouth, but his tongue became heavy. How could he explain without being like a depraved bastard? She would slap him and close the door in his face. She wouldn't talk to him again. It would all go to hell. He preferred to silence the main thing and just say:
—You already know.
A singular modesty rose in Clementine's face, feeling evident. She looked away immediately, looking to one side. To break with the apparent break generated with his phrase, Louis began by apologizing for what he had not been accused.
—It was an accident. Don't think that I was -
—I know. —she said, looking at the floor, a bit embarrassed.
A clandestine shame shook the girl. Suddenly there were important doubts that only he could answer. She caressed the desk to calm herself. She was craving into cravings.
—Tell me the truth. When we kissed, did you feel something beyond the moment, or you don't like me anymore?
—Fuck, but what are you saying, Clem? —Louis asked, barely believing what he was hearing.— Of course I like you. I like you a lot. Who wouldn't like you?
That answer would have charmed any girl about Clementine's age, but she still wasn't finished.
—And when you saw me in the stream, did you like it?
Stunned, Louis fixed his eyes on the girl's. Maybe he had heard wrong. But no. When he found her looking at him peacefully, he was amazed at the naturalness with which she had asked him that question, as if he had told her. He smiled spontaneously in reaction. He looked at her for a long time, his fingers convulsing, as if they were still standing by the water, and he told himself that she was sublime, and a secret requiebrium invaded him.
—Clem ... it was much more than liking it. —he admitted. That was the problem.
—Show me
And he understood that that "show me" meant "I love you". He shortened the distance, approaching her more and more impulsively, with an enigmatic spark over his eyes, until he took her face and kissed her rapturously. And the kiss between them was also burning, because an unknown instinct was pushing them to open their mouths and let their tongues meet for the first time. Soft involuntary moans escaped from both.
How wonderful. What a delight to feel. Why hadn't they done it before?
Clementine's hands went to the boy's hair, entangling his fingers. He attached her to her body from the waist, until they were no longer just two joined mouths, as in the piano, but they two, full, from head to toe, separated by clothes and nothing more. Heat, too hot. The kiss, the desk, the frantic contact between their anatomies, conferred the tinge of a discovery. And they knew how exciting it was to touch their tongues, and the sweet agony of such closeness. Her and him.
But when Louis reached the neck, a hard protrusion betrayed him when it hit the belly of the girl.
Shit.
A sharp expression of surprise was present in Clementine's features, stopping the kisses immediately, as if she had awakened from a spell. Only then she look down and notice both his erection and the sensation of swelling in her own sex.
A moment of stupor reigned. Becoming a victim of her inexperience, Clementine was overwhelmed. She got scared.
—Sorry —she said sadly, pulling away from Louis and hastily arranging her clothes as she left.
Louis wanted to call her, but his eagerness was broken in a kind of choked and hoarse cry. He couldn't call her; how to do it, if he had seen the awe on her face? He gave her her space, to reassure her. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him.
He took a few seconds to regain normality in his breathing and left for his room. He still had a problem to solve between his legs.
