"Hey, Clem?"

Clementine was pulled out of her thoughts by AJ's voice coming from beside her. The small boy was looking at her expectantly, and she realized she hadn't said anything in a while.

"Sorry, goofball, what'd you say?" she asked him, smiling at him.

"I asked if I could have a sleepover at Tenn's room tonight," he said slowly, fearing she might space out again and not hear him.

"Oh," she muttered, looking over at Tenn sitting on the other table. He was smiling at her, and she relaxed, "Of course you can, but don't stay up too late, okay?" she warned, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks, Clem," he exclaimed, kissing her cheek and bounding off to join his friend.

As he ran, Clementine delved once more into her thoughts. Before being interrupted by AJ, she'd been thinking about someone in particular. And that someone had still not come back from his stupid escapade. She was obviously thinking of Louis, who had left early in the morning to do an 'important errand', and had not returned yet.

"I'm sure he's okay," came the voice of Violet from behind her.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently, glancing back and seeing the blonde girl standing in front of her.

Violet took a set opposite her and smiled, "You can't bullshit me, Clem," she declared, "I know you're worried about Louis."

Clementine looked away for a second, and then turned to her friend, "Okay, maybe a little," she admitted.

"It's okay to be worried, I am too," Vi told her, "Despite our differences, he's my best friend."

Clem perked up and stared at Violet, "Really?"

"Sure is," Violet nodded, "he was the one… the one who helped me the most when all this started," she muttered.

Clementine looked around and saw that no one was around them, so she leaned in and put her hand over Violet's. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she said uncertainly, not sure what else to say.

Violet looked up and looked into Clem's golden eyes. She saw understanding in them; something she hadn't seen in a long time. Sighing, Violet nodded.

"When everything went to shit, no one really knew what was going on," she started, "The first few days, almost all of the adults packed their bags and left the school. They didn't even care about us, the fuckers."

"That must have sucked," Clementine piped in, to which Violet nodded once more.

"It did. It was crazy, being so small and alone," she continued, her voice barely above a whisper, "but Mrs. Martin and Mr. Howe were a big help," she added with a smile.

"Ruby told me about Mrs. Martin," Clem said, "she was your nurse, right?"

"Yeah, and Mr. Howe was our psychologist. They stayed behind, when no one else would, and took care of us. At first we thought it would be over in a couple days, and we would get to see our parents again. When weeks started going by, we started losing hope. I was so scared," she whispered, her brow tightly knit and her eyes sad.

"Every night, I would cry myself to sleep, thinking about my parents. About how much they hated me," she added bitterly, taking Clem by surprise.

"Why would they hate you?" she asked slowly.

"They were very orthodox Catholics, Clem. When they realized I was not interested in boys, they tried to suck the Devil out of me," she explained, letting out a throaty chuckle, "when that didn't work, they sent me here, to atone for my sins."

"But you were just a kid," Clem said in disbelief.

"That's not what they saw. They saw a wayward child, on a path straight to Hell, they described it."

Clem was at a loss for words, looking down at her hands. She looked back at Violet, and was surprised to see that she did not have tears in her eyes. Not even her expression was sad. "I'm so sorry Violet," was all she could think of.

"It's okay, Clem. Bygones are bygones," she said dismissively, "so anyway, one night, Louis came into my room and saw me in my bed. My face was filled with tears and I couldn't stop sobbing. He rushed to my side and just sat there. He didn't need to say anything, and I knew he was there for me."

"After that, Louis would come into my room every night and perform some stupid jokes for me. It never failed to make me smile, and he'd always come up with different bits. My favorite was when he did the Principal, and he would pretend to send me to my room. When I told him I was already there, he got all flustered and I would just crack up."

"It's good to see you smile, Vi," Clem said truthfully, only just noticing that Violet had started smiling halfway through her story.

"I know, it's weird, after everything that's happened," she said, her frown replacing the smile as she closed her eyes.

"Sounds like Louis has always been a great friend to you," said Clem.

"He always knows how to make me feel better, and I owe him my life several times over," replied Violet, looking away. "God, I hope that idiot's okay."

Clementine looked at the gate, unopened since morning, and sighed, "Me too."

That night, when Clem and AJ had gone to bed, Louis was still missing, and she was getting anxious. What if something's happened? she would question herself, with no way of answering it. Louis's face kept swimming into her consciousness, every time displaying some injury he could have attained outside the walls.

Late that night, her already exhausted body let itself sleep, and she dove right into a nightmare. Only this time it was different. Usually her nightmares consisted of the incident at the Ranch, where she'd gotten back AJ at a great personal cost.

This time, she was alone in the forest outside the school. The sun had already set, and she searched the trees for a familiar face. She called out to AJ, but got no response. She tried every one of the kids' names from the school, but no one seemed to be out there. She started panicking, and she looked around frantically searching for a way out. Her feet moved on their own and before she realized, she was tearing across the woods, calling out random names.

After what felt like an eternity, Clem arrived at a small hut. It wasn't like anything she'd ever seen, but she had a strange feeling that she had to go in. Bracing herself, she pushed the door open and went in.

Inside, it was empty except for two chairs that were facing each other. Warily, she walked forward and sat on the nearest one, looking around. After a few minutes of silence, a noise alerted her to the presence of someone else.

"Who's there," she called, reaching for the knife in her back pocket but finding nothing. Figures, she thought.

"Sweet pea?" the voice of Lee Everett broke through the silence as the man stepped from the shadows. He looked like he had when Clem met him, his blue button up shirt spotless.

"Le – Lee?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Is it really you?"

"It is, Clem," he said, his deep voice serenading her, taking her back to when she'd saved him from Sandra.

"I, what are you doing here?" she asked, all too aware that this was definitely a dream.

"I could ask you the same thing?" came Lee's response, sitting down on the chair opposite Clem.

"What do you mean?"

"What are you doing at the school, while Louis is out there, possibly dead?"

"You don't know that!" she snapped, her hands shaking, "We don't know anything. For all we know, he could have gone to that lake he likes to hang out at and he's still coming back, right?"

"Maybe; or maybe he died waiting for you to come rescue him." Lee's voice was distant, almost contemptuous, not unlike Carver had sounded. It sent shivers up Clem's spine, while his words made her eyes water in frustration and anger.

"I know, Lee!" she screamed at him, standing up, "I know he might be dead, and it's my fucking fault!" she kept saying, not really getting a reaction from the man.

"But what I don't get," said Lee, his voice dripping venom as he too stood up, towering over Clementine, "Is why you should care. Why should you care for this boy, whom you've known for two weeks?"

Clementine looked up at Lee and then closed her eyes, thinking. There had to be a reason she'd dream about Lee this way. Every time Lee had been in her dreams, he'd offered wise counsel, often pertaining to the situation she found herself in. She thought about Louis, mangled inside a broken down shack, swarms of walkers taking a bite out of him. She shook her head, unable to think about it any longer.

"Why, Clementine?" Lee's yell broke through her thoughts, and she looked into his eyes with determination.

"Because I love him, okay?" she screamed back, her voice hoarse. "I love him," she kept whispering to herself, her eyes closed shut.

When he tired herself out, she opened her eyes and saw that Lee had vanished. She looked around, and promptly fell to her knees. Uninhibited, she let the tears come and started crying, calling for Louis to come back.

"Clementine…" she heard Lee say, though the source of his voice she couldn't tell.

"Clementine," she heard more clearly. Though this time, it wasn't Lee speaking, but Louis. She looked around, but couldn't find him.

"Clem!" she heard him more firmly. She jerked awake, sitting up in her bed. Sweat clung to her body, and her breathing was ragged and forced. Looking around, she found a very concerned looking AJ and Louis standing over her beside her bed.

As soon as she spotted the dreaded boy, she launched herself at him, clinging to his trench coat for dear life. She let herself cry once again, sobbing into Louis's chest. The boy looked at AJ for support but found no help from the kid, so he tried to comfort Clementine, stroking her hair softly.

"It's okay, Clem," he kept saying.

"Okay?" she practically screamed, "how is it okay, Louis? You were gone a full day without warning!"

"I, ah," he stuttered, looking embarrassed.

"You scared the fuck out of me, Lou," she said, anger seeping out of her as both the boys stepped back.

"I… scared you?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, running off like that and reappearing in the middle of the next night," she said, throwing her arms up in the air. "I was scared…" she muttered.

"I'm sorry?" he said, straining his hearing.

"I said I'm scared," she said more clearly this time.

"What are you scared about? I'm back, aren't I?" Louis exclaimed, frowning and walking up to her.

"But what if you hadn't?" she whispered, stopping him in his tracks.

"I –."

"Louis," she said, a plea in her voice that broke his heart, "I think… I think I'm in love with you," she muttered unintelligibly.

"You're what?"

"I said I'm in love with you," she repeated, annoyed, "and I'm terrified."

"I… I love you too, Clem," Louis admitted, glancing back at AJ, whose eyes were darting between the two teens, "but what are you afraid of?"

"I'm scared," she said, wrapping her arms around her body and looking down, "Because everyone I've ever loved is dead. Lee, Kenny, Luke… Javi. Every time I got too close to someone, they either left me, or wound up dead. For years it's been just AJ and me, but I couldn't bear the thought of losing you too."

"Clem, you won't lose me, I promise," he assured her, rushing to her side and laying his hand on her shoulder.

"How do you know that, Lou? Everyone who's ever gotten close to me has died!" she exclaimed. "I must be cursed," she said bitterly, looking down at her shaking hands.

Louis took those hands in his and tipped her head so she'd look at him. "Listen to me, Clem. You're not cursed," he said slowly, searching his brain some way to comfort the girl. Then, he got it, "How old is AJ now?"

"I'm 5," the boy answered, nodding at Clem when she smiled.

"And how long have you been taking care of him?" Louis asked once more, already knowing the answer.

Clem looked at AJ, and a tear escaped her eye, remembering his parents. "Since before he was born," she replied, looking back up at her boyfriend.

"Exactly! So, I'd say that's a hell of a long time to keep someone alive while also being a badass as yourself," he explained, raising an eyebrow at her.

"But," she muttered, "I won't be able to protect you too. I'm just… I'm not strong enough," she said defeated.

"You are strong, Clem," he encourages, squeezing her arm, "you're the toughest person I've ever met, and you could easily beat all of our asses combined, probably. Plus, you've forgotten about something."

Sniffing, Clementine looked up at him and frowned, "What's that?"

"You won't be able to get rid of me that easily," he declared, planting a kiss on her forehead.