"You know, there's lots of places to hang out near the school," Clementine pointed out as she and Louis climbed over a fallen trunk.
"I know, but what fun would that be?" replied Louis, "Plus, I think you'll really enjoy this new place I'm taking you to."
She smiled at him from beside him, and they kept walking forward. The sun was just beginning to come out, its first rays casting long shadows over the wild terrain of the forest, looming over them like monsters. A mild breeze blew from the west, causing goose bumps to form on Clementine's arm under her denim jacket.
According to Louis, who'd kept track of the days of the year since the start, spring had begun merely two weeks ago and some lingering winter chills were to be expected. It didn't help that he wouldn't tell her where they were going, so she was left to wonder. He had waked her up almost in the middle of the night, telling her he had a special mission he wanted her to assist with. Turned out it was a walk through the forest.
But Louis insisted it was important, and so Clementine now found herself in the middle of nowhere with her boyfriend, possibly lost. She looked around and examined the vegetation surrounding them. There were beautifully colorful flowers sprouting everywhere in the wake of spring, and birds of all kinds chirped from their nests up above.
"We're nearly there," Louis assured her, getting his bearings when he spotted a fallen sign. It read 'Travis Cottage'.
"Uh, Louis?" Clem asked, raising an eyebrow. "Where are you taking me?" she said slowly.
"Nope, not telling," he replied, doing his best to imitate her voice. He did that often, mocking the way she'd confessed she had feelings for someone in their first game of Truth or Dare.
"Is this really necessary? We've got hunting duty with Aasim today, remember?" she said. Her tone clearly wasn't a complacent one, Louis noted.
"I know, but that's not until midday, and this will only take like two hours, tops," he promised, crossing his heart.
"I'll hold you to that," she replied, shoving his slightly and grinning. Despite what she would tell him, she did enjoy these moments she and Louis had together. It was very rare to get a moment to themselves when they were at the school, surrounded by the other kids, and Clem refused to let AJ out of her sights for more than a couple hours at any given time.
Clementine could tell they were getting close when they stepped onto a small dirt path. They walked it for twenty more minutes until they arrived at a small cottage in the middle of the woods. Its roof had collapsed on itself and almost all the windows were either shattered or boarded up. Clem snorted and looked at Louis,
"How romantic," she commented, making Louis laugh.
"We're not going in there, silly," he teased, walking on through the yard and around the back of the cabin. When they did, they were greeted with a beautiful lake, at least fifty yards wide. "We're going there."
They walked slowly toward the bank of the lake, stopping at a spot where rather big rocks lined the shore. Reeds grew along their side of the bank, hiding all kinds of animals inside them. Clem saw a toad leap from inside the waters and onto a rock, give them a once over and go back into the lake. Louis slowly sat down on one of the steadier rocks and extended his hand to Clementine. She took it and sat beside him.
From their little spot they could sense the calmness of the atmosphere here. It felt as though time stood still in this lake, and the only souls left were Louis and Clementine. She smiled contently for a while, silently admiring the beauty of the scene in front of her. It was times like these that Clementine lost herself in her thoughts.
AJ and she had been on the road for so long that she no longer had time to appreciate the beauty of the world, and she had failed to pass that ability onto AJ. Now that they had a steady home, though most likely not permanent, it was a welcome change of pace. Louis had made her realize that it was okay to take a break from time to time.
"Thanks for bringing me here," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She lifted her head slightly and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, huddling closer to him.
"That's not all," he said, smiling and wrapping his free arm over her shoulders. He's learned that watching some old movie before the world went to shit. "How about we go swimming?"
To his surprise, Clementine almost jumped away from him and her smile was replaced by a frown. Had he said something wrong? She looked at him with caution, her golden eyes darting from him to the still waters beside them.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he said, concern filling his voice as he leaned forward to embrace her. She didn't let him, and scuttled back further. "Clem, what is it?"
"I –," she paused, looking away from him, "I don't want to," she whispered.
"Don't want what?" he asked, clearly confused.
"I don't wanna get in," she replied, more clearly this time.
"Why not? I've done it a thousand times, it's pretty warm this time of the year," he joked, a frail attempt at lightening the mood.
"I don't care," she snapped, harsher than she meant to. "I haven't had good experiences with water."
"You," Louis hesitated, debating internally whether he should approach her or not. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
"I don't know," she whispered again, looking down in embarrassment. Louis didn't deserve for her to snap at him; he'd done nothing wrong. "You'll think it's stupid."
"Clem, c'mon," Louis said, almost incredulously, "if you really believe I'll think it's stupid, you may not know me all that well," he reminded her.
Clem raised her legs to her chest, hugging them close and overlooking the crystalline water. The sudden stillness of it unnerved her. She was suddenly reminded of the last time she'd been in a lake, and how it had cost Luke his life. Closing her eyes, she spoke up,
"When I was eleven, before AJ was born," she started. Louis looked at her with rapt attention, reading her face as she spoke. "I was running from some bandits, and fell into a running river. I was dragged for hours, and I very nearly died."
"I'm sorry –," said Louis, but was cut off by Clem moving on with the story.
"Then a few weeks later, me and my group were crossing a frozen lake. Walkers started following us, but they were slow. Unfortunately, one of my friends, Luke, was wounded. The ice broke out from under him and I tried to save him. I broke the ice myself and fell into the freezing water. I nearly drowned looking for him, but I was too late. A walker that had been beneath the ice got him, and Jane pulled me up."
Louis stared horrified at Clementine, the goose bumps on his arms more due to her story than to the breeze that was blowing from the lake. He knew Clem had had it rough out there, looking out for herself most of her life. But he'd never have imagined she had this much trauma hidden under her usually inscrutable expression.
"I'm so sorry, Clem," he said lamely, looking down. "I didn't know."
"It's okay," she assured him, offering Louis a small smile, "I don't even know how to swim either way."
"You don't?"
"I used to, but then I forgot," she said dismissively.
Louis considered it for a moment, scratching his chin and eyeing Clementine.
"How about I teach you?"
"Are you crazy?" she exclaimed, her eyebrows almost disappearing under her hat.
"Maybe I am, but I do know this: you'll need to know how to swim at some point," he said sadly. "Look I wish you hadn't gone through everything you went through, but I can help you get over your fear," he told her slowly, gauging her reaction. To his relief, she didn't shove him off the rock, but she didn't agree either.
"I don't know," she replied hesitantly, pursing her lips. "I've never had to swim in my life," she reasoned.
"Well, what if you're stuck at the edge of a river and there's like, a thousand walkers coming after you?" he exclaimed, making exaggerated gestures with his arms and causing a small smile to tug at Clem's lips.
"You sure you know what you're doing?" she asked after considering it.
"Absolutely. We'll take baby steps, alright?"
She studied him for a moment, deciding. His smile contrasted with her frown, and his eyes were alight with anticipation. She wondered what it felt not to be weighed down by the ghosts of your past, and considered asking him. Instead, she settled for, "Alright, I'll do it."
Louis's face lit up at that and he jumped to his feet immediately, ready to impart his wisdom. She was already regretting her decision, but she stood up nonetheless. The boy took his coat and shit off, folding them neatly and setting them on a rock. He stepped over to the edge of one of the boulders and dove head first into the lake, splashing the dirt around him. Clementine recoiled slightly, but smiled when he resurfaced and cleared his face of dreads.
She couldn't stop her eyes from lingering a second longer on his physique. She noticed that the freckles that covered her face also adorned his shoulders. Though he wasn't by any means built strongly, she couldn't deny the heat that rose up her cheeks.
"Eyes up here, darling," Louis teased, waving his arms dramatically and getting her attention back.
"Sorry," she muttered, looking away.
"Lesson one," he said, raising a finger, "always focus on the task at hand when near bodies of water."
"Oh, ha ha," she shot back, mock disgust on her face as he chuckled.
She took a deep breath and looked around. It really wouldn't do to soak her clothes for nothing, she thought. Taking her jacket and hat off, she placed them neatly beside Louis's belongings. Clem took her boots off and rolled up her jeans, taking a few tentative steps toward the water. She reached forward with her right foot and dipped a toe in.
The water was pleasantly warm, she thought. This should be easy, right? She stepped forward once more and dipped her whole foot in. Though the temperature was okay, it still sent chills up her spine. Unbidden memories filled her mind, gluing her to the spot. Louis stepped forward and took one of her hands gently, nodding.
"Hey, it's okay," he assured her, "I'm here. One step at a time, okay?"
"One step at a time," she repeated, steadying her breaths and closing her eyes. "You can do this, Clementine," she said to herself.
Slowly, she put one foot in front of the other and started following Louis deeper into the lake. By the time she dared open her eyes, the water level was at her waist. Panicking, she jumped up, letting go of Louis's hand in the process and almost tripping on herself.
"You're doing amazing, Clem," he cheered, taking her hand again for balance. "Just stay focused on my beautiful voice, and you'll be fine."
"Don't make me punch your beautiful face, Louis," she warned.
"I'll take that as a free compliment, thank you very much," he retorted, a smug grin on his face. "Alright, think you can go deeper?"
"I don't know," she said hesitantly, glancing at the deepest spot in the lake, where the water turned a deeper blue.
"That's alright, we can chill here for a while," he assured her, stepping forward to stand beside her. "How's it feel?"
"Weird," she said simply, shuddering when her foot touched something slimy. "Ugh, I hate water," she declared.
"I feel offended," Louis said suddenly.
"And why might that be?" asked Clem, indulging him.
"Well," he replied, scratching his chin dramatically, "I read on one of those books in the library that humans are like 70% water or something."
"So?"
"So, I'm offended you'd hate 70% of me, you know?" he exclaimed, feigning offense and failing miserably.
"God, you're such a dork," Clem said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Yeah but I'm your dork," he corrected her. Clementine had to smile despite herself. He really was her dork.
After about twenty minutes, she finally felt ready to go all the way. She nodded at Louis, and together they set forward. It was then that Clem realized just how much taller Louis was than her. By the time the water was almost touching her neck, it was barely above Louis's abdomen. She stopped then and turned to him.
"What now?" she asked, already struggling to keep her head above the water.
"Now, onto floating," he replied, taking both her hands. "I want you to lean against me and lift up your legs. Yeah, just like that," he encouraged when she kicked off and her bare feet almost touched the surface of the lake.
"Am I doing alright?" she asked tentatively, looking up at his smiling face.
"Excellently, you're by far my best student," he announced proudly.
"I'm guessing I'm also the only one," she teased, attempting to ease some of the tension building up in her muscles.
"True as that may be, you're still a great student," he complimented her, "Now, extend your arms as if you were on a cross. Exactly."
"Are you sure this is right?" she asked, frowning.
"Absolutely," he assured her. "Before learning to swim, you have to know how to float. Otherwise that defeats the purpose of swimming. Now, I'm going to let you go."
"You're gonna what?" she exclaimed, her eyes opening wide with terror.
"Relax, it's okay. While you're in this position – if you relax, of course – you'll float perfectly fine."
"You sure?"
"Totally," he assured, nodding once more. Hesitantly, she nodded back and closed her eyes. Slowly, Louis removed his hands from her back and took a step back. Clem didn't even feel his pressure leaving her body.
She felt as if she were on a cloud, drifting off to where the physical world was but a dream. All her troubles seemed to fade away, a state of serenity overtaking her entire body. She didn't even know how long she had spent in that position when she heard fingers snapping over her head. Her eyes fluttered open, and she had to adjust to the light before seeing Louis smiling down at her.
"What?" she asked, squinting when a ray of sunlight landed on her face.
"You kind of fell asleep," he told her, raising an eyebrow.
"I – what?" she exclaimed, struggling to stand back up. When she got her feet to the ground, she noticed him smiling at her.
"Yeah, only for twenty minutes though," he assured her, watching her traipse through the crystalline water toward the shore "You looked so peaceful, I figured you needed the sleep."
Clem considered his words and sighed. She really had enjoyed the peace. "Okay, I guess you're right. I think we should be getting back though."
"We should dry off first," he said, eyeing her soaking wet shirt and jeans. "It's gonna be a hard walk back with those clothes," he warned.
Clem looked down and frowned. He was right. She was soaking wet, and the moisture would just slow her down. They decided to wait it out and sat down on one of the rocks on the bank. Clementine lay down and looked up, closing her eyes as she drank in the early morning sun.
"You know, you looked so beautiful there," Louis said suddenly, breaking the spell of silence that had fallen over them. His comment took her by surprise, and she shot up.
"Why do you say stuff like that?" she asked him, confused.
"Like what?" he inquired, still smiling. It was one of the qualities Clem loved most about him; his constant desire to smile in the face of life.
"Like that. You suddenly compliment me at odd times, and I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?" he asked, frowning now.
"Why do you even like me?" she asked suddenly, looking down and startling Louis. He, however, took it in stride. He did what he always did; he laughed.
"What kind of question is that, Clem?" he asked her incredulously, which made her shrug. "I love you because you're beautiful, because you're protective of your own, you're resourceful, you're badass, you're caring," he listed the reasons on his fingers, making Clem blush.
"Is that all?" she asked, only slightly teasing. Louis smiled and waggled his eyebrows.
"Not even close. I love the way you blush when I compliment you. I love the way small dimples form in your face when you smile. I love the way your eyes light up when you're talking about something you're passionate about, like AJ for instance."
"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?" she said, glancing back up at him.
"I have, ever since I met you," he admitted, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
"I love you too," she whispered, leaning closer to him and pressing her forehead to his.
They stayed silent for a second, basking in the moment. Clementine sighed contently, and Louis cleared his throat. "Hey, Clem?"
"Hm?" she murmured, her eyes never opening.
"Can I kiss you?"
The question lingered in the air, and Clem couldn't resist the urge to chuckle. She opened her eyes and looked at his chocolate brown ones, smiling.
"What kind of question is that, silly?" she asked, leaning in and pressing her lips to his in a tender kiss.