A/N: Here's part two, hope you enjoy reading it! Thanks for all the wonderful comments, I love all the positive vibes and good feedback.
It had been a week since Clementine's outburst in class and her friendship with Violet began. That day had been the start of a new routine. The girls would go pick up AJ from school, on days when Clementine had track practice Violet would sit with AJ and help him with his homework. On days she didn't have practice the two would use the extra time to work on their book report. They made dinner together, Clementine making sure to follow Christa's recipe precisely. Clementine would help AJ get ready for bed by bathing, brushing, story and song. Then they would finish their homework, on days when homework was light they would watch tv, play video games or talk until Clementine would drive a nervous Violet home.
The bell rang to signal the end of the school day. Violet packed up quickly to go wait outside the ISS (In School Suspension) room. Brody and Louis yelled after her as she left. "We love you too!" Louis called after her.
Violet made it to the ISS room just as the door opened. She smiled when she caught sight of Clementine walking out in sweat pants and a hoodie, hood pulled over her head.
"Congratulations on completing your prison sentence!" Violet clapped Clementine on the shoulder, "You look... comfortable." Violet racked her eyes over Clem's outfit.
"It is freezing in that room." Clementine shivered, pulling her hood down, "See!" She pressed her frozen fingers against the back of Violet's neck.
"No!" Violet squealed, leaping away from Clem's hands. Clementine giggled, shoving her hands into her hoodie pocket in an attempt to warm them up as the two walked out of the building and toward AJ's school.
"I think they keep it freezing so that no one falls asleep," Clementine said, "but then everyone just wears warm comfortable clothes that makes them want to fall asleep even more."
"Did you fall asleep?" Violet asked, looking more closely at Clem's face, noticing red sleeve indentations on her face.
"Maybe," Clementine smirked, cutting her eyes at Violet. "but not until after I finished my work for the day. Which was around lunch time..."
"What?" Violet was shocked, "They call that punishment? That's better than school, how do I get ISS?"
"Apparently you wear a hat to Lit class." Clementine shrugged, Violet laughed.
"Well, don't do it again." Violet said, "I missed staring at the back of your head... sorry, that sounded stalkery."
"I'm glad you stalked me, I like having you around." Clementine said, reaching down and grabbing Violet's right hand with her left. Violet's face heated up as her brain tried to register what was going on, her hand tingling at the contact. "Is... is this okay?" Clementine asked nervously, starting to loosen her grip on Violet's hand, Violet came to her senses and tightened her formerly limp hand, intertwining their fingers and grabbing onto their clasped hands with her free one as assurance, unwilling to break the contact.
"This... this is great." Violet stuttered out, dropping her extra hand to her side. They walked in silence for a minute, Violet relishing the feeling of Clem's hand in her own. "I've liked you for a long time Clem, I liked you before I even realized I liked you. It seems obvious now, looking back. Louis always teased me about it, but I never believed him. I mean, I guess it was just...I just thought you were cute at first, but this week I've grown to like everything about you."
Clementine blushed at her confession, "I like you too Violet, I've never felt this way about someone before... I felt it that first day you spent with me but it took me a while to sort out my feelings. Then when I sorted them out, I wanted it to be special but... I couldn't wait any longer..."
"I'm glad," Violet admitted, "I didn't want to risk our friendship, but I don't think I could have gone much longer without saying something." Violet squeezed Clementine's hand in her own, an unstoppable grin on her face.
"Clementine! Violet!" AJ yelled, running over to them. He glanced at their intertwined hands briefly before grabbing Clementine's other hand. "Do you have track today Clem?"
"Not today buddy, but I do have my therapy session."
"Ugh, I hate when you have therapy, that office smells funny," AJ whined, "and that lady at the desk always pinches my cheeks."
"I know AJ, I'm sorry. I don't like going either." Clementine said, "but it's only twice a month now. The doctor says as long as I keep progressing I'll be able to stop soon or only go when needed."
Violet cocked her head at Clementine, "I didn't know you saw a therapist. I had to go to one for a while after my grandma..." Violet glanced over at AJ, "passed away. My mom couldn't afford it for long though."
"Christa's been making me go," Clementine explained, "when she first started fostering me I had really bad nightmares, I would wake up screaming, heart racing, panicked. I could never tell her what the dreams were about, I never remembered. I don't have those dreams much anymore. Now my doctor mainly wants to 'deal' with my 'fits of rage'." Clementine rolled her eyes, "Maybe it has helped, I don't know, I feel like running is better therapy than any therapist I've ever seen."
"Running? Really?" Violet hated running with a passion, she couldn't imagine how anyone could find it therapeutic.
"Absolutely," Clementine smiled at the thought of it, "When you're pushing your body to the limit, all you can think about is your own heart beat, the pounding of your feet on the ground, the burning in your legs and lungs as you push your body to go faster. It makes me feel almost... weightless... No cares, no worries, no bad memories fighting to be remembered. Just me, alone, free."
Violet noted how wistful Clementine looked, "You make it sound amazing Clem. Running's never made me feel anything but tired. I would love to feel weightless though, like you describe." Violet inhaled sharply as she looked into Clementine's eyes. The sudden realization that the closest she had ever felt to that feeling was being with Clementine. The thought made her a little light headed. Luckily AJ picked up the conversation.
"Tenn wants me to spend the night this weekend, can I go Clem? Please?"
"I don't know AJ," she looked worried, "I don't know his parents or anything, I wouldn't feel comfortable. Besides, Christa's going out of town this weekend." AJ frowned down at his tennis shoes. Violet thought about speaking up. She knew Tenn's parents really well, they were good people, but she didn't want to make Clementine uncomfortable when they had just admitted their feelings. She felt bad for AJ though, he was a good kid and Violet knew that he and Tenn would get along well together.
"Please Clem? Please?" AJ begged.
"I said I don't know AJ," Clementine snapped, "I'm sorry, okay, can I think about it? We'll talk about it later."
"Okay," AJ grumbled.
Soon they arrived at a small strip mall.
"Here we are," Clementine said, releasing Violet's hand and grabbing her book bag straps with both hands. Violet frowned at the loss of contact. They walked in together, the door making an obnoxious beep as the door opened. The receptionist looked up at the sound.
"Well hello there little miss Clementine! Has it been a two weeks already?" The receptionist said as she walked out from around the desk, pinching AJ's cheek even though he was trying his hardest to hide behind Clementine's skirt. "And who might this be?" she asked gesturing towards Violet.
"This is my..." Clementine hesitated, making eye contact with Violet who smiled encouragingly, guessing the question that was in her eyes. Clementine continued her introduction, "girlfriend, this is my girlfriend Violet. Sorry... this is... new... we haven't really defined it yet." Clementine awkwardly holding the back of her neck. Violet's stomach did a flip.
"Well aren't you just the cutest!" the receptionist said giving Clementine's cheek a pinch as well. "It is so good to meet you Violet. You take good care of this girl here, she's a special one."
"Yes ma'am." Violet smiled at the chipper older lady in front of her. Girlfriend introductions weren't always so well received in her experience, but she liked this lady.
"It'll just be another couple minutes before the doctor is ready dear." the receptionist said, going back behind her desk.
Clementine blushed, as she grabbed Violet's hand and pulled her to the nearby couch. "Yes ma'am, thank you." AJ sat down on the floor in front of the couch, leaning on the coffee table and looking at a Highlights magazine.
Clementine took off her book bag, digging in to find AJ's snack and placing it in front of him.
"Do I have to do my homework here?" AJ whined, "Can I play games on your phone now and do my homework at home? It is called homework right?"
"AJ you ha-," Clementine started before Violet waved her off.
"Here AJ," Violet said, sliding on to the floor to sit next to him, "Maybe we can read some from this magazine for your homework and then we can get the math done real fast, get it over with so we have the rest of the day to play. I'll even let you play a game on my phone after you finish."
"Ready Ms. Everett?" A middle aged woman asked as she stepped out from a door in the corner.
"Yes ma'am." Clementine said, squeezing Violet's shoulder gratefully as she stood and followed the doctor into the room, door closing behind them.
Thirty minutes later AJ sat playing a game on Violet's phone as she lazily flipped through a magazine. A creak of the door signaled to Violet that Clementine was done, when Violet looked up she caught Clem swiping quickly at her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Alright?" Violet asked, concerned. Clementine simply nodded her response as she packed up all of AJ's school supplies, helping him slip his back pack on before throwing her own bag over her shoulders.
"See you in a couple weeks." Clementine said with a wave as she took hold of Violet's hand and headed out of the door, AJ following behind.
"I'm sorry I got all flustered introducing you earlier," Clementine said, "I'm not embarrassed or anything, we just didn't really put a label on it yet and I didn't want to call you my girlfriend if you didn't think that's what we were..."
"It's okay, I mean, we just barely held hands, I understood why you were confused. But yeah, I'd be happy to be your girlfriend." Violet's heart fluttered at the word. "Did your session go well?"
"Yeah, I mean, I love talking about all the terrible things I've done," Clementine said sarcastically, AJ was jumping ahead of the girls, focused on avoiding cracks on the sidewalk. "We were talking about Christa mainly today, she's just been so hard on me lately, I'm a little afraid I'm going to snap and then off I'll be shipped to a new foster home and a new school... I don't want to move again."
"What is the deal with her?" Violet asked, "since you brought it up... She's always so harsh to you. I've been close to snapping myself."
"When Christa started fostering me she was married to a man named Omid." Clementine started, "He was amazing, he was sweet and funny. He really brought out the best in Christa. The two of them had just filled out the adoption papers for me, we were going to be a real family, the four of us, Christa, Omid, AJ and me. We went on a family vacation to celebrate. Just a quick weekend trip to the beach." Clementine's face got dark and Violet could tell that the pain was still fresh. "I insisted that I needed to stop and use the restroom even though we were only about thirty minutes from the hotel. Christa wanted to wait but Omid pulled over anyway. It was some awful place where you had to get a key with a giant key chain attached to use the outside bathroom. Well, when I went back inside a man came in with a gun, waving it around, demanding money. I was frozen in place with fear. When Omid came in to check on me and see what was taking so long, the robber turned around and fired."
Clementine's eyes were glazed over, like she was seeing the whole thing happening all over again, making Violet feel guilty for asking, "Obviously we didn't make it to the beach. We went home the next day. A couple of police officers drove us all the way home. Christa was a mess for a long time. I took up all of the household chores, cooking, cleaning, taking care of AJ, trying to ease the guilt I felt. Christa never turned in my adoption papers once she got back on her feet and she just kept letting me do the chores. I know she blames me for Omid's death, I can't blame her."
They arrived at the house, Clementine unlocked the door and AJ ran in first, jumping onto the couch, clicking on the tv. Clementine took her back pack off, releasing Violet's hand, and wandered to the kitchen, looking for the day's recipe card. When she found it, she stood there staring at it blankly.
Violet frowned as she approached her, not sure how to help, but desperately wanting to. She couldn't make the pain go away, but she could offer comfort. Violet stood behind her girlfriend in the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her from behind, Violet swore she could hear Clementine inhale sharply at the contact. She leaned forward, her cheek against her neck, enjoying her warmth and trying to give her own.
"I'm starting to notice a pattern with this self blame non-sense." Violet said, "You didn't fire the gun, it's not your fault... but I'm sorry you never got adopted." Clementine hugged the arms that were hugging her.
"I guess I'm not as close to getting out of therapy as I thought," Clementine chuckled softly, letting herself be held. "Thanks Vi."
"No, thank you," Violet grinned, "I've been dying to touch your stomach since I went to that first track practice with you."
"What?" Clementine giggled, "Why?"
"Oh come on, you pulled your shirt up to wipe your face off and I swear you were taunting me." Violet said, turning both palms towards Clem's abs, touching them admiringly. "You can't tell me you weren't teasing me."
"I wasn't!" Clementine swore, "I wish I had something to tease you with, but this..." Clementine broke away from Violet, turning to face her, gesturing towards her own body. "I couldn't tease anybody with this."
"You can and you did, Clem, you are hot, I'm sorry you don't see it." Violet grinned as Clementine's cheeks reddened. Violet reached out and gently touched Clementine's stomach one last time before picking up the recipe card laying discarded on the counter.
The next day Clementine was back in class as usual. She kept her arm down and head low, avoiding eye contact with the teacher and other students. Whispering abounded every time she walked into a classroom, people would knock into her in the halls on purpose trying to get a reaction. Violet stuck close and tried to shield her from the hurtful stares. When Gabe 'accidentally' knocked Clementine's books on the ground, Violet was livid. Clementine reeled her in though, telling her it wasn't worth it.
Since seats had been assigned at the beginning of the school semester, Clementine was stuck in the front row and Violet remained in the back. By the time they reached their last class of the day, the constant glances at one another had Louis in an uproar.
"Something is going on here!" Louis yelled suddenly after Clementine glanced back and smiled at Violet for the umpteenth time. "What's going on here!" Louis grabbed Violet's arm, speaking entirely too loudly.
"Shut up," Violet smacked Louis's hand away.
"Something is going on!" He repeated, drawing the attention of several nearby classmates.
"Look, if I tell you, will you shut up?" Violet whispered, sliding down in her seat. Brody leaned in eagerly. Louis nodded vigorously.
"Clementine and I are... together now. She's my girlfriend." Violet admitted. Louis whooped so loudly that the teacher told him to stay after class., Clementine looked back with a raised eyebrow. Violet rolled her eyes in Louis's direction.
"Worth it." Louis whispered back, "I knew it, I knew you had the hots for her. I totally called it."
"Congratulations Vi." Brody smiled. "We should all get together sometime, you need to introduce her to the group."
"Yeeeees! Party this weekend at my house!" Louis said loudly, drawing more looks from the teacher. "I'm inviting the whole gang." He continued unphased as he pulled out his phone and started texting.
"I don't know guys, meeting all you at once might be a little... much." Violet said, "Besides, she's got to take care of her little brother, her... mom's gone most of the time."
"Violet, you owe us!" Louis said, putting his hand to his chest dramatically, "you've all but abandoned your true and trusty friends for a week now in order to romance the fair Clementine. Well, you've succeeded, now we need you too!"
"We really have missed having you around Vi." Brody added.
"I'll talk to Clem, see what we can work out." Violet agreed. Pulling out her phone.
Me: Well, Louis and Brody know we're dating now...
Clem: So that's what all that yelling is about :)
Me: Louis is having a get together at his house this weekend. He wants us to come.
Clem: Christa's going out of town, AJ needs me.
Clem: unless...
Clem: Maybe he can stay with Tenn?
"Ms. Everett!" the teacher boomed. "No phones out during lecture, put it away and stay after class."
"Yes sir." Clementine said, lowering her phone and glaring back at Violet and Louis. Violet shrugged apologetically but Louis smiled big and gave her a thumbs up.
As the bell rang to signal the end of class everyone got up and put their things away, heading out of class for the day. Everyone except for Louis and Clementine. Violet stopped at Clem's desk on the way out, "Want me to get AJ from school so you're not late to track?"
"Would you really?" Clementine asked in complete surprise, Violet nodded in assurance, "Vi, you're the absolute best, thank you!" Clementine jumped out of her chair and hugged her gratefully. Violet burned red, not usually one for public displays of affection. "I'll call the school and let them know you have permission to get him, thank you. I'll meet you at the track as soon as I'm done here." Violet waved at the two as she left the room.
The teacher came up to Clementine and Louis, setting the cleaning supplies in front of them, giving them instructions on what and how to clean. "Got it?" He asked.
"Yes sir," Clementine said, "Sir, can I please call my brother's school real fast?"
"Make it quick Ms. Everett." he answered, going to sit at his computer, putting headphones on. Clementine made a call to the Elementary school and then began cleaning. Louis moved to clean the desk next to the one Clementine was cleaning.
"Hey there Clementine." Louis said, grinning excessively.
"Um, hi Louis," Clementine said, raising an eyebrow at the boy, continuing to clean.
"So you've won our Violet's heart have you?" he said. Clementine froze for just a moment before continuing.
"I... guess so?" Clementine stuttered, "I mean, I hope so... she's certainly won mine."
"Hmm," Louis suddenly looked serious, "you know, I give Violet a hard time a lot. She's just so easy to rile up, I can't help myself. It's all worth it when I can get her to laugh though. I love her, like a brother, I don't want to see her get hurt."
"I would never hurt her Louis," Clementine said, making sure to look him in the eye, "never on purpose at least."
"Excellent!" Louis seemed satisfied with her answer, "I'm throwing a party this weekend just so the whole gang can meet you, so, obviously you have to come!"
"I'd love to come, I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with AJ, my little brother." Clementine explained, bending down to pick stray papers off the floor, "I'm supposed to be watching him this weekend. He wants to spend the night with his friend Tenn, but I don't know."
"Yeah, you think it might be weird since Violet used to date his big sister huh?" Louis asked. Clementine stood so quickly that she whacked her head on the underside of the desk.
"owowwow," Clementine groaned, holding her head and sitting back down on the floor of the classroom.
"Can I take that to mean you didn't know that Violet used to date Minerva, Tenn's older sister?" Louis asked, scratching his head nervously, "oooops."
"I knew Violet dated someone named Minerva," Clementine sat crisscross, still rubbing at her sore head, "I didn't know she was Tenn's older sister though. That certainly makes things a little more awkward." Clementine looked at her watch, "I'm going to be late for practice again, I'm sorry Louis, I've gotta hurry." Clementine rushed around the room, finishing up the job before getting permission from the teacher to leave. She scooped her book bag into her arms and rushed out of the room. As she hurried around a corner she slammed into someone unexpectedly, dropping her bag and nearly falling to the ground.
"I'm so so sorry!" Clementine yelled, reaching out to stabilize the person she had knocked into.
"If you missed me that much, you could have just told me Clem," the boy said, "No need to throw yourself at me."
"Gabe..." Clementine said distastefully, it was amazing to her that the same nickname could feel so magical coming from Violet and so dirty coming from Gabe. "Sorry I ran into you, I'm late for track, I've gotta go, sorry again." Clementine reached down to pick up her book bag only to have him kick it across the hall.
"Ooops," he said with a fake frown, "Clumsy me. I saw your little outburst in Lit, someone sent me a video. I've never seen you get so fired up before, I wish I had known I was dating a bad girl instead of a goody-two-shoes." Clementine backed up, picking her bag off the ground without breaking eye contact with Gabe.
"I've got practice Gabe," Clementine tried again, moving to go around him, only to have him step in front of her again.
"I also heard you're dating that lesbian Violet now." Gabe said, glaring down at her.
"Yes, I am, now get out of my way I have practice," Clementine attempted to shove past him, only to have him grab her wrist tightly.
"Do you know how that makes me look, you dating a girl right after you dated me?" Gabe growled.
"I don't care how it makes you look honestly, let me go." Clementine pulled her free hand back, ready to punch Gabe if necessary. Just then Louis came jogging around the corner, stopping at the scene in front of him.
"Need some help Clementine?" Louis asked casually, but his appearance alone was enough. Clementine jerked her wrist out of Gabe's grip at the distraction.
"Thanks Louis," Clementine sighed as Gabe stepped back to let them pass, " I'm ridiculously late for practice now."
"I'm going to walk you." Louis smiled at her, "You know, because you're one of us now. We have to watch out for our own. He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No, I'm okay, thanks." The two headed down to the track, where Clementine noticed the team had already started disappearing into the treeline.
"Stupid Gabe" she grumbled running to where AJ and Violet were sitting on the bleachers. Violet grinned at the sight of her, before staring confusedly at Louis's presence.
"What's Louis doing here?" Violet asked as Clementine dumped AJ's snack in front of him, kissed his forehead quickly before running toward the locker rooms.
"Ask Louis!" she yelled before disappearing behind the door. Louis smiled at AJ as he sat down next to Violet.
"Hey little man!" Louis said.
"Who are you?" AJ asked pointedly.
"I'm Louis, me and your sister are friends." Louis explained.
"She never mentioned a Louis to me." AJ said, continuing to look at his book. Louis held his hand to his heart.
"I'm wounded!" Louis yelled, falling backward off the bleacher onto the ground.
AJ laughed, "you're funny." Louis looked extremely satisfied.
"Are you done yet?" Violet asked, rolling her eyes, "Will you tell me what you're doing here?"
Louis ungracefully pulled himself back up on the bleacher. "You know we had to stay after and clean, which was fine, but as soon as we finished Clementine dashed out not wanting to be too late to practice," The locker room doors crashed open drawing Violet's attention and out came Clementine, Violet's eyes followed Clem as she struggled to get her arm through the sleeve of her tank top as she fumbled across the field. "And then Clementine told me she's a werewolf and that tonight's a full moon and she was afraid if you found out you would leave her." Louis continued jokingly.
"Clem told you what?" Violet said trying to tear her eyes away from Clementine's perfect push-ups. Violet was embarrassed to admit that she loved this part of the day, watching Clem come crashing out of the locker room, late as always, stumbling over her own feet in varying stages of dress. Not just because she could often see some skin, but because she loved seeing Clem look so carefree and clumsy. She was always so put together, responsible and strong, fake smiling for teachers, putting on the good face for Christa. This Clem felt real to her, she liked seeing this side of Clem.
Louis grinned from ear to ear."She told me she's a werewolf." He repeated.
"Oh, that's cool." Violet said, still distracted, finally Clementine began running on the trail and disappeared behind the trees, freeing Violet's attention. "I'm sorry Lou, uh, I didn't hear a word you said." Violet admitted bashfully.
"Really? I had no idea!" Louis said sarcastically. "As I was saying," Louis cleared his throat dramatically, Violet rolled her eyes, "Clementine ran out of the room before I did, trying to get to practice. By the time I got my stuff together and left, I heard her yelling. I hustled to catch up and Gabe had her by the wrist. She looked like she was going to punch him, but he let go when he saw me. I thought walking her down would be the gentlemanly thing to do."
Violet started swearing until AJ yelled, "Swear!" from behind his juice box.
"Sorry AJ," Violet said, "That stupid Gabe, he totally knocked into her in the hall this morning on purpose too. What's his deal? That good for nothing little..." Violet trailed off looking at AJ.
"And you may be interested to know that I told Clementine that your ex-girlfriend is Tenn's big sister." Louis said, reaching down and grabbing one of AJ's fruit snacks.
"Hey!" AJ yelled.
"You what?" Violet growled, running her hands through her hair. "I was going to tell her, I just didn't have the chance yet, thanks a lot Lou." She slapped him hard on the shoulder.
"What's the big deal? Tenn's a good kid, his parents are nice, it'll be fine." Louis shrugged casually. "Besides, Minerva and Sophie are off at school, it's not like they'll even meet."
"I know," Violet slumped over, holding her head in her hands, elbows on knees. "I just wanted it to come from me. I don't want it to sound like I'm hiding something."
"Hey, I'm here for you! It'll be okay. Clementine's perfectly reasonable," Louis smirked, "so long as you don't touch her hat. Which she thankfully isn't wearing today!"
Just then Clementine came back into sight, heading to the track, and continuing her run until the rest of the team caught up.
"She is fast!" Louis said surprised, "I'll remember that in case I need to run a heist, she can be my get away girl."
"A heist?" Violet raised an eyebrow, "Your parents are so loaded, why would you ever need to heist anything?"
Louis shrugged, "For fun? Well, as great as this is, I told Brody I would come over and give her piano lessons."
"Is that what they call it these days?" Violet snickered.
"Shut up, seriously, I'm giving her piano lessons." Louis said as he stood to leave, patting AJ on the head, "See you later little man." AJ gave him a disgruntled look and Violet waved goodbye.
Clementine ran over to the bleachers as soon as she was dismissed. "I just thought I'd come over here and casually wipe my face off before changing." Clementine said waggling her eyebrows at Violet as she pulled up the hem of her shirt and wiped off her forehead.
Violet crossed her arms, but didn't look away. "Hey, I told you that in confidence. Besides you know you like me to look as much as I like looking."
"Hmm," Clementine said walking backwards toward the locker room, "maybe..."
After Clementine changed the trio walked towards home.
"So, Louis told me that Minerva is Tenn's older sister." Clementine started awkwardly.
"About that," Violet started, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything before-"
"You don't have to explain Vi," Clementine interrupted, "and you don't need to apologize. Are Tenn's parents good people? Can I trust them with AJ?"
"They are," Violet nodded, "I don't think they even spank their kids. I've never heard them yell. They were completely supportive of Minnie when she came out to them. They're good people Clem, you can trust AJ with them. Tenn's a really sweet kid too, loves to draw and play with action figures, him and AJ will have a great time."
"Do I get to go to Tenn's?!" AJ yelled excitedly after over hearing the girls talking.
"I don't know yet AJ." Clementine started to feel anxious at the thought of letting AJ out of her sight over night, she lowered her voice as she talked to Violet. "It's just that after my parents died, my godfather Lee adopted me, then he got cancer and died a year later. After that I spent years in the foster care system going from house to house. I'd be in some houses for months, some for weeks, and some for only days, before I ended up with Christa. I got to see a lot of different people and I learned during that time that anyone can put on a mask. Some foster parents I had were so good at putting on a face for the social workers when they came. They would say and do all the right things and as soon as the social worker pulled out of the drive way they would slap me in the face and lock me in the closet for the night."
Clementine sighed, "I'm not telling you this for sympathy, I don't want you feeling sorry for me, it's just, I want you to understand why I'm worried about AJ. I've seen the absolute worst that people can offer and no one had a clue and I was too afraid to tell. I don't want that for AJ... ever. I need to be able to protect him."
Violet lifted her hand that was holding Clementine's and kissed the back of it gently. "I would never put AJ in harms way. I'm sorry you've been through so much, but AJ deserves to go to his friend's house and have a good time. I spent a lot of time over there..." Violet faltered over her words not wanting to make Clementine uncomfortable, "um...Tenn's adopted by the way. Not that that changes anything, just thought it was interesting."
"He is?" Clementine asked, "Is um, Minerva and her sister adopted too?"
"No, they're not." Violet answered. Violet felt uncomfortable, she had never felt uncomfortable around Clementine before but all this talk about her ex was starting to get awkward. She wanted to help AJ but the better case she made for him the more mental images she stuck in Clem's head that Violet didn't want her to have.
"AJ is adopted too." Clementine struggled to say something that wasn't Minerva related.
"Wait, he is?" Violet was genuinely surprised, she whispered, "Does AJ know?"
"He does," Clementine nodded, "Christa and Omid were pregnant, but they miscarried. Christa told me that they were too upset to try again and started trying to adopt. While they were waiting Christa's friend Rebecca got pregnant, she didn't know who the father was and offered her son to Christa and Omid. She died delivering AJ, Christa told me, so AJ's never known another mom besides Christa."
"Except for you," Violet smiled, elbowing Clementine gently, "you're practically his mom, you do everything for him."
Clementine was grateful they had arrived home. She hated feeling this way, all jealous. She knew that Violet had been in a relationship, she knew Violet was just trying to be helpful, it wasn't Violet's fault that Clementine couldn't stop imagining Violet and Minerva sitting together, holding hands, kissing... Clementine threw her bag in the corner with more force than necessary, before sinking onto the couch. AJ ran to his room saying he was going to play video games.
"Clem," Violet spoke softly, "you don't have to let AJ go. It's not my place, I shouldn't have tried to interfere. I know you'll do what's best for him. I'm sure Louis wouldn't mind if AJ came with us or Louis can just do it another night, when Christa's in town. It's not worth stressing yourself over."
Violet walked to the couch behind Clementine, setting her hands on her shoulders, she began to squeeze firmly. A shiver went up Clementine's spine, "What are you doing?"
"I'm rubbing your shoulders," Violet said sarcastically, "what do you think I'm doing, playing a piano? You are crazy tense, relax." If possible, Clementine tensed even more at her words, Violet rolled her eyes and kept rubbing. "You know, I've been thinking, we're together now, but we haven't even gone on a date yet. I want to take you out. When is Christa going out of town?"
"Um..." Clementine responded, she was finding it hard to concentrate as Violet's hands moved to her neck, moving her finger tips in small circles as they traveled, "F-friday?"
Violet smirked, "You think it's Friday or it is Friday?" She started gently pulling her fingers through Clem's hair, finger tips dragging against her scalp.
"Friday?" Clementine repeated, sounding confused, earning a chuckle from Violet.
Violet leaned in close to her ear, lips brushing against it softly and whispered, "See, I can tease too." Clementine shivered again at Violet's breath on her ear, but only made an odd squeak in response. Violet grinned and felt Clementine relax a little as she moved her hands back to Clem's shoulders.
"So, Christa is leaving on Friday?" Violet repeated, "That doesn't give us any time, I was hoping she wouldn't leave until Saturday. I guess we could try for next weekend..."
"She is leaving early Friday morning" Clementine was finally able to think clearly, "... you know what, I'm going to let AJ stay with Tenn." Clementine said with a sigh, "He needs to be a kid and... and so do I... I want to go meet your friends." Violet grinned from behind her and Clementine patted the couch beside her, "Your turn, sit down."
"You don't have to do that Clem, I just wanted to do something nice for you." Violet said, but Clementine stood and steered her onto the couch before moving behind her and placing her hands on Violet's shoulders. Her hands were strong on her slender frame, Violet noted, but she was gentle too. Violet 'mmmmed' in pleasure as Clementine applied firm pressure to her shoulder blades. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Clementine leaned down and kissed the top of Violet's head.
"I need to start dinner now," Clementine said, giving her shoulder a final squeeze before walking to the kitchen.
Violet allowed herself to slump into a laying position on the couch, feeling warm and comfortable. "Depending on what time you drop AJ off at Tenn's house on Saturday. Maybe we can go on a date before Louis's party. I know we're together now, but it doesn't really feel official until we've gone on a date."
"I'll check with AJ, see if he has Tenn's number so I can confirm plans with his parents." Clementine said as she busied herself in the kitchen, chopping vegetables and throwing them in the pan on the stove.
"I... um... I have the number..." Violet said hesitantly, the sounds of chopping in the kitchen stopped momentarily before starting back up again.
"Great." Clem said, she didn't sound like it was great.
"I'll text it to you, I just never thought about deleting it, it's not like I use it anymore." Violet explained. "It's Tenn's mom's number."
"It's fine." Clementine said, she didn't sound fine. Her phone beeped as Violet sent her the number.
"Do you want me to delete it?" Violet asked.
"No, it might be nice to have it in there in case we need to track down AJ." Clementine said, "Do you... do you still have Minerva's number?"
Violet thought for minute about lying and deleting it right then, but she didn't want to lie to Clem. "I do. Look Clem, I'm deleting it right now. I swear since we've been together I haven't even thought about it and I certainly haven't used it." Violet tapped a few buttons on her phone, "There, it's gone. Um, what's that smell?"
Clementine swore loudly as she pulled a smoking pan off the stove. AJ came running out of his room yelling, "Fire! Fire!"
"It's fine AJ!" Clementine yelled back, throwing the pan into the sink and turning on the cold water. "Can you just, go in your room and play, I've gotta start this over." AJ looked nervously from Clementine to Violet and walked sadly back to his room.
"Clem! What is going on?!" Violet had started getting up at the smell of smoke but had frozen in her trek to the kitchen at the outburst, she now approached Clementine who had started to scrub the pan violently. Violet took it gently out of her hands, took her sudsy hand in her own, led her to the couch and sat down with her. Violet took both of Clem's hands. "What is going on?" Violet repeated, calmer this time.
Clementine avoided eye contact, "I'm sorry Vi. It's just been an awful day. I'm back in class but I can't even sit near you. Gabe won't stop messing with me. The thought of AJ spending the night away is giving me anxiety, I can't stop being jealous of Minerva and it's all just stupid. I'm just mad at myself for feeling this way. I mean, I haven't been this happy in a long time, what is wrong with me?"
Violet hugged Clementine tight. "I'm with you, because I want to be with you. Don't worry about Minerva. Louis told me Gabe grabbed you in the hall on the way to practice, did he hurt you?" Violet pulled away from the hug, her cheek brushing against Clementine's. Violet grabbed Clem's arms and ran her fingers softly over them, looking for sign of injury. After finding none, Violet looked up from the girl's arms to her lips, to her eyes that she noticed were bearing down on her, getting closer and closer.
"No..." Clementine breathed out, inching closer to Violet's lips. Violet's heart pounded out of her chest in anticipation. Just as their lips made the barest of contact, AJ's door opened with a bang and Clementine jumped back, ears burning red.
AJ stomped into the room, before looking suspiciously at the two girls, "What are y'all doing?"
"I'm starting dinner over," Clementine said, standing up and going back into the kitchen.
"Then why were you sitting on the couch?" AJ whined, "I'm hungry!" Violet fell back onto the couch in frustration.
"Hey AJ," Clementine said, changing topics, "I've thought about it and I'm okay with you spending the night with Tenn this weekend."
"For serious?!" AJ danced around in glee.
"For serious." Clementine said, unable to keep the smile off her face. "I'll text his mom as soon as I confirm it with Christa."
"Thank you Clem! Thank you!" AJ wrapped his arms around her tight.
"Will Christa care?" Violet asked.
"I don't think so, I'll definitely talk to her about it tonight though." Clementine said as she finished scrubbing the burnt pan. "Go shower AJ, dinner will be ready when you get out." AJ danced his way to the bathroom without complaining.
After Clementine salvaged what she could of the dinner, the three ate. Just as Clementine was wrapping up Christa's portion to save for her, the front door opened.
"Christa!" Clementine exclaimed as the tall woman stepped into the house. Clementine's eyes darted around the room, dirty pans in the sink, potato peels still on the counter, dirt from AJ's shoes on the floor and the smell of burnt still hung in the air. "You're home early!"
"Yes, I had to come home early to pack for my business trip tomorrow. I have to get up early so I need to pack tonight." Christa explained as she looked around the room. She held out her arms to AJ for a hug. He walked up and gave her a hug. Violet noticed that he hugged Clem with much more enthusiasm.
"Here's your dinner." Clementine said as she unwrapped the plate and set it on the kitchen island. "I was just about to clean up."
"It can wait Clementine." Christa said, sitting down on a stool and picking up her fork. "Tell me about your day." Violet's mouth dropped in shock. She had never seen Christa eat dinner outside of her room or say anything to Clementine that wasn't bossy or demeaning. Clementine looked equally shocked.
"It was... fine. Track practice was great. I beat my personal record." Clementine said, Christa nodded politely as she started eating. "A boy named Tenn asked AJ to spend the night this weekend if that's okay with you. I haven't met his parents yet but I intend to introduce myself when I drop him off. Violet knows the family very well, she said they're good people."
Christa nodded again, "It's fine with me AJ, so long as Clementine meets his parents first, I trust your judgment Clem, I know you'll take good care of our boy." AJ cheered and ran out of the room.
"I'm going to pack now!" he yelled as he left. Clementine shook her head at him and laughed.
"It's good to see you Violet." Christa said, acknowledging the blonde girl's presence.
Violet nearly choked on her water, "Thank you ma'am, you too."
"You and Clementine sure have been hanging out a lot lately." Christa stated, looking between the two girls. Violet noticed Clementine turn toward the sink and start doing dishes in order to hide her red cheeks.
"Yes ma'am." Is all Violet could manage, she hated to admit it, but Christa intimidated her.
"Well, like I said, I trust Clementine's judgment," Christa said finishing off her dinner, "You're welcome here any time so long as you're responsible." Christa waited as Violet nodded dumbly, "I definitely like you a lot more than that Gabe guy Clem was dating before." With that Christa got up, placed her plate in the sink, patted Clementine on the back reassuringly before leaving the room.
"Did you? Does she?" Violet stuttered, "Did you tell her we were girlfriends?" Clementine shook her head, just as confused as Violet.
"I... guess I'll text Tenn's mom now." Clementine said as Violet continued to stare at the hall Christa disappeared down.
Me: Hello, this is Clementine, my brother AJ is a friend of Tenn's. AJ said that Tenn had asked him to spend the night this weekend.
Tenn's Mom: Yes! Hello Clementine! My name is Lydia, Tenn has been talking about AJ so much, we would love to have him over to spend the night on Saturday! How does dropping him off at noon sound? Then you could pick him up on Sunday around 10?
Me: That sounds perfect, thank you for having him, he is very excited. We'll see you then!
"Well, that was the easy part. I'm going to drop him off at noon on Saturday," Clementine said, still not looking thrilled about the situation.
"That's perfect Clem! We can drop him off and-" Violet started only to be cut off by Clementine.
"I think I should drop him off alone Vi. I mean, if Minerva's family liked you as much as it seems like they did. They might not like me very much if they found out we were dating. I don't want them to have any reason to be rude to AJ."
Violet looked disheartened, "Fine, I mean, Minnie's the one who broke up with me but..." Clementine looked pained at the comment. "I mean, I'm glad she broke up with me, I just meant, never mind. Yes, that's fine, you drop him off at noon and I'll pick you up at two for our date? Then we can go to Lou's after."
"Our first date!" Clementine smiled, "My first date ever really... I'm so excited! Should I make us lunch? How should I dress? Want me to drive?"
Violet chuckled before standing up and clearing off the table, helping with the dishes, "No, you don't do anything, I'll take care of everything, you just come, enjoy not being responsible for anything for once... and dress casual, like, super casual. I don't have a ton of money to spend on this, so don't expect anything grand."
"I have zero expectations!" Clementine grinned, grabbing on to Violet's arm and hugging it. Squealing with anticipation.
Violet laughed nervously, "Really, because you look like you have expectations..."
"Zero," Clementine repeated, causing Violet to roll her eyes.
A/N: This seemed like a good stopping point, I've started part 3 already. So much for a one-shot
o_O
Thanks for reading!