Hope And Faith In A Convicted Killer
Hey guys!
Welcome to a Lee/Carley one-shot!
I hope you enjoy it and if you do please leave a review! :)
It had only been fifteen minutes.
Fifteen minutes since the incident at the drugstore.
Doug was dead, Carley was grieving, Larry was pissed and Lee was defiantly confused as he rubbed his forehead vigorously.
"Lee? Are you okay?" the sweet voice came from below him.
Lee glanced down at the young girl, removing his hand away from his aching head. He smiled before speaking.
"Of course I am honey, just a little shaken that's all." Lee reassured while patting Clementine's beloved hat gently in which she gave an unsure smile in return.
"Look, don't worry about me Clementine, why don't you go and play with Duck for a little bit?" Lee casually mentioned, in which Clementine nodded happily before skipping over to a hyperactive Duck.
Lee smiled towards the young girl before darting his eyes around the motor inn. It was getting dark and he could only hope that this was a safe place for the night. He overheard Kenny speaking to Katjaa about how the motor inn could be sustainable for more than just one night, but Lee didn't know, he had other thoughts on his mind, like how Doug got devoured back at the drugstore and how Larry tried to knock the shit out of him on the way out.
Today had been hectic...
But one person, one woman that never left his thoughts was Carley. She saw the way Doug got dragged out of the broken window. They were good friends from what Lee could tell, baring in mind they only met each other not too long ago. Lee only wished he could've saved them both, but he couldn't. It was simply impossible, he was piggy in the middle and he had to make a decision. And God, wasn't it a hard one?
Speaking of Carley, Lee couldn't exactly locate her at the moment. Larry was lost in his own thoughts, leaning against a metal pole, occasionally glaring towards Lee, shooting daggers. Lilly was busy rushing around, sorting things out, juggling all the medicine and what was left of food, Kenny and Katjaa were in deep conversation, talking about the stability of the motor inn no doubt. Clementine and Duck were also playing around, Clem slightly more quiet but hopefully enjoying the company of someone who were around her age. And lastly Glenn, well he was gone. He was a kind guy but left to go to Atlanta where he would look for the slight chance of maybe finding his friends and family...
Now that left Carley. Lee could briefly remember her entering one of the many rooms of the motor inn, one near to where Larry stood. Lee took a deep breath before walking over towards the room, ignoring Larry's death glares. However, before Lee could reach the door successfully, Larry stood up straight, now ready to have a word, or two with Lee...
"Yes?" Lee questioned, slightly annoyed that he couldn't just go and see Carley in peace.
Larry huffed sarcastically. "You should be dead." he simply said, his deep, intimidating voice filling up Lee's ears.
"Well, I'm not." Lee replied as calmly as possible, trying to look anywhere else other than the large man.
"I know who you are, Lee! If you want to fuck with me, then go ahead! But if you get anywhere near my daughter or that little girl of yours, your next stop will be the grave!" Larry spat back, pointing a large finger towards Lee's face in which he took a step back.
Lee tried hard to ignore the harsh response from Larry, but he did kill someone before all this, of course Larry wasn't going to trust him, but was he taking it too far? It genuinely was a threat but Lee had to put that in the back of his mind for now, as Carley was his main concern.
"I get it..." Lee quickly replied to Larry before scooting pass the man and heading towards the the room Carley went into. Larry gave one last death glare towards Lee before going back to deep thinking, scoffing as Lee walked off.
As Lee got to the door, he paused to overthink a few things. Was it really the right thing to confront Carley now? After all, it's only been around twenty minutes since Doug had died, Carley may want to be alone...
Lee hesitated as he lifted his hand to the doorknob, however quiet sniffling alerted Lee's senses. Carley was bound to be crying, surely it wouldn't hurt to try and comfort the woman.
With no more distracting thoughts on his mind, Lee carefully opened the door, knocking twice before allowing himself in.
"Please, just give me a minute." a quiet and cracked voice came from inside the room.
"It's me, Lee. I'll go if you want..." Lee spoke through the door, pulling the door back so it was about to re-close.
"Wait, Lee?" Carley questioned, voice sounding a little more alive at the sound of the man's voice.
"Yeah?" Lee responded, debating whether or not he should close the door fully or not.
"Come in if you like..." Carley explains, her voice sounding slightly muffled again.
"Are you sure?" Lee questioned, not wanting to feel as if he was intruding. Carley's problems wasn't his exactly, but he cared for the woman. She was strong and brave and showed it clearly the moment Lee had walked in the drugstore.
"Yeah, please." Carley answered.
Lee nodded to himself before slowly re-opening the door and walking in, shutting it behind him. He knew Larry was most probably glaring at him with utter hate right now, but he didn't care.
"Hey Lee." Carley says casually, standing up from originally sitting on the bed and pulling herself together the best she could.
"Hey Carley, you um- you okay?" Lee asked as politely as he could, however he noticed how the brunette woman's face was stained with tears, her eyes red from crying.
"Well Doug just died like that...I, I don't know." Carley replied shakily.
'I'm sorry..." Lee says, kicking himself mentally as he felt the sudden urge to leave. He wasn't very good when it came to comforting...
"Nah, don't be. It's stupid, I only knew him for like... two, three days maybe?" Carley explained, looking away as she could feel the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. All she could picture was Doug getting eaten, screaming and pleading but to no avail. Guess who was going to have the nightmares tonight?
"No Carley, it's not stupid. Sometimes you can't help but to feel that way, it's all natural." Lee replied in the kindest way he possibly could, however he stumbled and stuttered on his words, ultimately making a fool of himself completely.
"Natural? Thanks Lee, but all I can see outside is the unnatural, everything scares me now. I don't want to loose anyone else..." Carley responded, now going back to sitting on the edge of the tattered bed. The height difference that she noticed between her and Lee made her feel embarrassed, for childish reasons.
Lee followed suit and sat down beside Carley, creating slight distance just in case Carley wouldn't approve.
"I'm sorry, I'm uh, not really good when it comes to this stuff... I'm still pretty sad my parents and brother are dead but I've got Clementine to look after now, that's all I have to make sure I care about..." Lee explained, looking down and remembering the fact that his family were all dead. He wanted time to think about them, maybe even have a good cry, but now was not the time.
"Jesus, I'm really sorry about them, but yeah, you got Clementine... she needs you, Lee." Carley explains, doing her best to sympathise with the man she had grown fond of. Doug and Glenn were probably the two she got on with most before Lee, Clementine and Kenny's family got to the drugstore. Lee's presence somehow felt refreshing beside the fact that he is a convicted killer.
"It's fine, I just don't want to see you feeling down. We're all gonna loose people, but in the end we will still have someone to look out for..." Lee replied, pretty happy with his response.
Carley smiled, probably for the first time after loosing Doug. Maybe Lee was her spark of hope, someone she will help protect just like Lee with Clementine. After all, there was no one she really had to look out for. Kenny, Katjaa and Duck seemed pretty tight together and Lilly had her father, not that Carley cared too much about them...
"So you wanna come out?" Lee casually asks, after noticing that Carley seemed more herself now.
"I might stay here if that's okay, just need to think things over if that's okay." Carley mentions, staying seated while Lee get's ready to stand up.
"Sure Carley, take your time... they'll understand." Lee explains with a reassuring smile.
Carley returns the smile of gratitude but suddenly feels a wave of loneliness hit her the moment Lee reach's out for the doorknob.
"Wait, Lee... can you, um maybe stay here a little bit? Please?" Carley asks, her voice going slightly higher due to the embarrassment rushing though her veins. Her face felt hot and flustered, surely she couldn't feel this way, not after Doug?
Lee considered it for a moment. He didn't know what he felt for Carley. It hasn't even been a day but he feels a sense of comfort when he's around the woman.
"Yeah, sure." Lee finally replies. He walked back over to the bed, sitting awkwardly next to Carley once again.
"I have a feeling you're not a bad man." Carley suddenly says after a few moments of silence.
"Thanks, I guess..." Lee chuckles slightly, in which Carley smiles warmly. She turns so that she is facing him and Lee does the same.
"How did you choose?" Carley questions out of the blue.
"Choose what?" Lee asks slightly confused by Carley's question.
"You know, between me and Doug..."Carley replies, her voice going quieter as she mentions Doug. It was at that same time that she remembers that Doug is probably a walker now, roaming around, having no clue of the people or the world around him. A tear escapes her eye once again.
"Carley, I didn't want to decide... it was something I had to go and do straight away without thinking. I would've saved you both if I had the time and the choice." Lee explains, placing a gentle hand on Carley's shoulder as he noticed that the woman started crying again.
"I know, I just... I don't know, just thank you Lee, for everything you've done so far..." Carley responds, sniffling slightly.
"No problem." Lee replies. He couldn't help but to watch the woman closely and feel sorry for her. As she cried, she would always look away like she didn't want Lee to see her grieve.
"I'm sorry, I don't want you to have to deal with me, you should get back to Clementine, I'll be out soon." Carley explains after wiping away at the tears on her face with her white blouse sleeve.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Lee asked, not wanting to leave just yet, but he had to get to Clementine before she starts getting worried about him.
"Yeah, I shouldn't throw all my problems on you... how's your head by the way? I heard Larry gave you a piece of his mind." Carley questioned, remembering how Kenny was mentioning something about Lee getting punched pretty badly.
"Yeah, he gave me a piece of his fist more like it... but I'm fine." Lee smiled, almost as if Larry's threats or painful punches didn't faze him once.
"Good, well you should get back to Clementine now, I'll be out soon like I said." Carley explains once again, now brushing a hand through her brown hair.
"Yeah, I should..." Lee says, now getting up and walking towards the door.
"And if you need me, just ask and I'll come..." Lee quickly mentions before leaving.
"Thanks Lee." Carley replied before the door shut close with a click!
She smiled to herself before laying down on the bed.
Maybe there was still a little hope left...
Doug was gone but Lee had just as a kind heart as he did. He wasn't a replacement for her good friend but he was someone to talk to...
Lee had Clementine to look after, and if nobody thought he was cable of doing that... well, Carley did.
She had hope and faith in this convicted killer.
Maybe things were going to be alright from now on...