A/N: Here we are, the last chapter! Please listen to 'Shiver' by Lucy Rose for the first half if you want to get into the feelies!

20. Oh my darling Clementine

"Clem?" asks Sarah. "There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" the younger girl adjusts herself as she sits cross-legged on the mattress, leaning slightly forward with peaked interest.

As soon as Clementine says those words, Sarah's heart begins to pound as she sits directly in front of her, the two facing each other on Clementine's bed. She thinks it might just burst out of her chest from how fast it's beating.

A part of her doesn't want to do this. There are so many reasons why she shouldn't do this, but Clementine is staring at her with so much concern in her eyes that the older girl forces herself to swallow the fear.

"You know when we were back at the house and… you surprised me with all those really nice candles and you got really drunk?" begins Sarah, her heart skipping another beat upon remembering such a beautiful time.

It had been such a perfect night, despite the circumstances. The calming lantern on the bedside table illuminates the dark room and casts shadows on the younger girl's face, reminding Sarah of how Clementine looked that night.

"And then the next day you were throwing up and you asked me if you did something embarrassing? Well, you still didn't do anything embarrassing but, well…" she clears her throat, despising herself with every word. "There is something you did do that I didn't tell you about. And I thought you should know about it because we're best friends and it's not fair for me to lie to you, so… here it goes." She firmly locks eyes with the girl in front of her, breathing deeply. "You kissed me."

Sarah had expected at least some sort of reaction, but she hardly gets one. Clementine only stares at her for a moment longer before her gaze falls in between them as if she's not sure what to think. However, Sarah doesn't even offer her more time to speak before interjecting once more.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she bursts. It feels like a nightmare is coming true. "I was going to that day on the roof but then the walkers came and we had to leave and then you… fell," her voice falters from the memories. "I just couldn't find the right time after that because there were more important things, you know?"

Sarah isn't even looking at Clementine anymore because she's too focused on trying to save herself. She's speaking so quickly with her mind a jumble, feeling like she might just start crying.

"But I understand if—if you don't wanna talk about it or—or if you're mad at me, I just… I didn't want you to hate me or not want to be around me anymore because I really like you and—"

The next thing she knows, Clementine is grabbing her face and pulling her into a firm kiss so sudden that Sarah doesn't even remember how that sentence ended. She freezes, her muscles tensing up with uncertainty. The older girl eventually melts into her lips and closes her eyes, too.

When Clementine slowly pulls away, Sarah finds herself holding onto the feeling of her lips long after they're gone.

"I remember," smiles Clementine, her voice only loud enough for Sarah to hear. Her hands are still planted on Sarah's cheeks. Their faces are now inches apart and the older girl is in so much shock that she's not even sure if any of this is real.

"But… but I thought you said you didn't," Sarah sputters with wide eyes.

"I didn't, but after I woke up here, I guess I regained that part of my memory," she says.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asks Sarah, still dazed by the fact that Clementine just kissed her. Again.

"There just wasn't a right time." Clementine begins to stroke the other girl's hair, her bangs, her cheek. "I didn't know it bothered you so much." Her fingertips shoot a shiver up Sarah's spine. "I'm sorry," Clementine whispers, her eyes sparkling beneath the glow of the lantern.

"It's okay," Sarah raises her hand to touch Clementine's own. Her eyes begin to water and she's not even sure why. She's just so happy – happier than she's been since that drunken night at the house. Sarah had been dreading this conversation for so long, but it turned out to be everything she had hoped. She wishes the two of them could just live in this moment forever.

"I like you, Clem," she says. The way Clementine is smiling at her makes Sarah feel as if she can't breathe.

"I like you too."

"Really?" asks Sarah. It feels as if a weight has just been lifted off her shoulders.

"Really," confirms Clementine with a breathy chuckle. The sound of her laugh makes Sarah smile, their voices so intimate within the still room.

"Does this mean…"

"It's whatever you want it to mean," she breathes.

Sarah can't describe the way her heart soars in that moment.

Sarah watches with admiration as Clementine's fingertips lightly trace the other girl's wrist. They've been lounging like this since their previous conversation, with Sarah sitting up against the bed's backboard and Clementine's head resting in her lap, neither of them wanting to be anywhere else.

Sarah stays with her whenever she can. The poor girl has spent most of her time in this bed since they arrived here, only rising to her feet when necessary. Even though Clementine has to stay here, Sarah will sacrifice any time of her day if that means keeping her company.

So together they lay there as Clementine delicately runs her fingers over Sarah's scars. They've been on her arms for years – faded, then returned. Now they're faded again. Sarah had always told her that she hated them. They're ugly and only remind her of the past and why she'd put them there in the first place. But Clementine had told her they were beautiful. The memory of Sarah locking herself in the bathroom and Clementine finding her on the floor stays at the back of the older girl's mind. There had been other times after that, but Sarah hasn't picked up a blade in months. In this moment, she considers how far they've come since then – how everything has changed.

Clementine is her girlfriend now. That's a thought Sarah never thought would become true. She's never had a girlfriend before, or a boyfriend, but she always wondered what it would be like. She'd been so unsure about it all – unsure about how Clementine felt about her. But after today, Sarah has never been more certain of anything in her life.

Despite all the bad things that happened to them, she doesn't wish their lives had worked out any other way if it meant leading them here.

When she notices that Clementine has fallen asleep with her head in Sarah's lap, the older girl soon finds her own eyes doing the same, and she drifts into the deepest sleep she's had in a long time.

2 weeks later

Sarah readies her stance, bending her knees and planting her feet on the gravel below her. After taking a deep breath, she peers through the obscuring helmet on her head. She raises the bat by her shoulder, re-gripping the handle.

When Nick chucks the ball her way, she swings with as much force as possible, causing the ball to shoot directly to the side.

"Jesus!" Luke flinches when the flying object bounces off the nearby picnic table he's sitting at, his attention suddenly snapped away from the book he'd been reading.

Sarah slaps a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from laughing out loud, which Nick doesn't bother to hide at all.

"Could you maybe not teach her to almost kill me with a baseball, please?" advises Luke, shouting at the two in the near distance.

"Sorry!" apologizes Sarah while Nick continues to snicker at the other man's dramatic reaction. "My bad, Luke."

Neither Nick nor Luke are on chore duty tonight, and since the weather is so warm today, they'd opted to spend time in the yard and get some fresh air instead of staying inside. Nick had told the girl it'd be good for her to practice her aim, but they'd mostly started playing just for fun. It isn't every day they have the opportunity to do something like that, so they'd decided to take advantage of it.

The sun has just begun to go down, casting a bright orange glow on every surface. It's so unusual for Sarah to be outside without needing to worry about walkers, but she's become quite comfortable within the walls that circle the hospital. There are guards surrounding the perimeters as well, keeping watch for any potential threats that may be on the other side. There are only a few other residents chatting and walking about the community, but Nick and Sarah had made sure to stay far enough out in the nearby field so as not to hit anyone.

"All right, you ready?" asks Nick as he prepares his stance, raising his arm to pitch.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sarah strikes again with a grunt, the two of them watching as the ball soars overhead and lands a distance away in the grass. It's definitely been her best hit so far.

"Okay, now you're just showin' off," remarks Nick with fake annoyance.

"It's not the first time I've used a bat before. Except I was using it on walkers and not baseballs…" comments Sarah.

"Same basic concept," he shrugs.

When Sarah swings the bat once more, all sense of aim is lost once she suddenly becomes distracted, just barely hitting her target. "Look!" she gasps.

"Whoa!" Nick ducks as the ball just misses him, which Sarah is too preoccupied to even notice.

"It's Clementine!" she exclaims with joy, pointing in the distance and catching the two men's attention.

Clementine had just wheeled out of the front doors of the hospital with Elizabeth alongside her, pushing the young girl in her wheelchair. She's smiling as Elizabeth helps her to her feet, the two of them conversing words that Sarah can't make out.

As Sarah, Nick and Luke hike over to meet the unaware pair, Sarah watches in awe as the woman helps Clementine in transferring from her wheelchair to her crutches, but her focus is more on the younger girl than anything else.

She notices how much happier she seems to be, as well as how Clementine doesn't seem to mind the wheelchair during the past few days that she's been using it. As Clementine adjusts to the crutches underneath her arms, Sarah's eyes glaze over the girl's smile, her hair, her eyes… and the prosthetic leg that she wears on her left side.

Sarah had hoped that she'd be over the sight of her missing limb by now. It isn't even the first time she's seeing it, but noticing the added prosthetic, it makes her want to cry right then and there, yet more from the relief than anything else.

"Clem!" Sarah rushes over and gingerly embraces the girl, Nick and Luke following close behind.

"I'm okay," Clementine murmurs knowingly once they pull away, imagining the anxiety Sarah must be feeling upon seeing her like this.

"I can't believe it. You're outside, and… you're walking!" marvels Sarah, gaping at the other girl's crutches. She's wearing regular clothes now as opposed to the hospital gown she had previously worn. the sight of her now is so different than what they had all gotten used to.

The three had been aware of the amputation before it even happened. Clementine has been in recovery for eleven days, and hasn't actually been on her feet since. She'd been in her wheelchair for the time being, but the prosthetic is something that she hadn't started wearing until today. Her arrival outside had also been a surprise to them. Sarah couldn't be happier witnessing the girl's recovery process.

"Does it still feel okay?" asks Elizabeth.

"Yeah. I mean, it's still a bit weird standing on it," Clementine shifts her weight and looks down at her leg.

"It'll take some getting used to, for sure," notifies the woman.

"Thanks for helping me. You know, with walking on it and everything," says Clementine.

"I think it looks pretty badass," Nick examines with his hands on his hips, sounding impressed.

Clementine drops her gaze to the prosthetic once more. "I… guess you could say that," she ponders, still unconvinced.

She doesn't mind having it. They'd told her this was going to happen long before it did, so Clementine had plenty of time to accept it, which wasn't very hard for her anyway. She doesn't care what she looks like, she's just glad that it means she gets to live. She had considered how much more difficult it would make her life from now on, but they don't have a lot to worry about here at the hospital. Things could be a lot worse, and that's all Clementine ever needed to tell herself.

As Nick and Luke briefly chat with Elizabeth, Clementine turns to Sarah and lowers her voice so she's the only one that can hear. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," grins Sarah, her heart fluttering.

The younger girl scans Sarah's expression for a moment, unsure of what to say as the three others converse in the background. After a hesitant moment, she quickly leans forward to peck Sarah's cheek just as Elizabeth leaves to return inside.

"All right there, lovebirds…" teases Luke with his hands on his hips.

"Lovebirds? Seriously?" groans Clementine.

Sarah only blushes by her side.

"You guys are one to talk," she continues.

The two men exchange looks, impressed by her comeback. "All right, that's fair," decides Nick.

"Welcome back, kid," Luke lightly pats Clementine on the back of her shoulder with a deep sigh, returning to a more serious tone.

"Thanks," she smiles.

"We're glad you're okay," adds Sarah.

"Yeah, we haven't been separated for two years just for you to go and die on us, have we?" jokes Nick as he briefly tugs on the brim of her hat.

Clementine chuckles faintly at his attempt to lighten the situation. "I'm glad you guys are here. Really. Thanks for everything."

"Ah, don't mention it," Nick responds. "We're family. We look out for each other."

"He's right," grins Luke. "Hey, the last time I saw you on your feet, you were about this tall," he teases, placing a level hand in front of his torso.

"Ha ha, very funny," she comments sarcastically in a low voice.

When the four of them decide to walk, Clementine sits back down and Sarah instinctively pushes the girl in her wheel chair. They begin strolling aimlessly through the hospital grounds, lively birds singing in the leafy trees above them.

"So what now?" asks Sarah. The setting sun casts a comforting warmth onto her skin.

"Well, like we said before, if y'all really wanna stay here, our doors are wide open," offers Nick. "We can get y'all some jobs, have you help out around the community. I mean, I don't know why you'd wanna go back out there anyway. This hospital is probably the best thing you're gonna get."

"It was already starting to feel like home to me," coos Sarah, the idea seeming like a dream. "A real home." She can't but look at Clementine when she says that.

"Well, there you go. But hey, we might as well make it official, right?" suggests Luke. "What do you think, Clem?"

They slow to a stop, the three of them peering down at the girl in the wheel chair.

"It sounds perfect," decides Clementine, smiling at the thought of it all. She never imagined it any other way.

A/N: Thank you so so much to everyone that has stuck through with this story to the end! I appreciated every review, favorite, and all that good stuff that you guys left for me. Again I apologize that I went on hiatus for a while there, but I'm so happy to be back and proud that I got to see this story through. Please check out my other Walking Dead stories and also stay tuned for more that are to come! :)