This is dedicated to my gal pal, chibi, who insisted I write her a fanfic about this pairing the INSTANT I finished the game. Here I am delivering on that promise. Hope you enjoy it!

School's Out

"How are you feeling?"

The warm, familiar voice washed over Clem, enveloping her in a cocoon of comfort. Lifting her head, she focused on the figure leaning against the frame of her bedroom door. "Like I just had part of my leg chopped off with a rusty old ax," she said, lips twisting with amusement. She figured if she pretended like it wasn't a big deal, the others wouldn't make it a big deal.

Louis' face fell, proving her wrong. Apparently, he wasn't ready for jokes. "I'm so sorry, Clem," he said, his dark eyes swimming with remorse.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything wrong."

He ran a hand along the back of his neck, his gaze flitting about the room, looking anywhere but at her. "What happened to you? It's my fault."

"Your fault?" she asked in surprise.

He finally looked at her, with brows furrowed in distress. "We got separated at that fence. I ran and left you and AJ to fend for yourselves."

"I told you to run," Clem said reasonably.

"Doesn't mean I had to listen to you. I ran, and you got bitten. I can't help but feel responsible for that." He shook his head, his hair swaying around his face. "And I keep thinking back…how many other times did I take off and leave you? The fence. After the explosion on the boat…"

"You didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice, Clem. And I don't feel like I've been making smart ones lately." He snorted. "I voted to kick you out, for crying out loud. It doesn't get much worse than that."

She fell silent at this, her gaze dropping to the blanket pooled in her lap. She wouldn't lie and tell him his vote hadn't cut deep. Her feelings for him had just been developing back then, and his decision had hurt. She understood that Marlon was his best friend. Even so…

"I've made some dumb choices lately. But I promise you I am going to do better. When you care about someone, you make the right choices. No matter how hard they might be."

It was a nice speech, but one part in particular stuck out in Clem's mind. Her eyes lifted from the blanket to his. "You care about me?"

Louis rolled his eyes, his lips twisting into a wry grin. "If you don't realize that by now, I'm not doing something right."

Clem smiled, unable to help herself. Of course he cared about her. And just as important—he cared about AJ. Another thought entered her mind, causing her smile to falter. Letting out a sigh, she said, "Can I ask something of you?"

"Always." He pushed off of the wall and made his way over to her bedside. After only a slight hesitation, he sank down onto the blanket and angled himself in her direction. "Ask away."

She studied his face for a moment, knowing he wasn't going to be thrilled with her request. She needed his assurance, though. She'd never rest unless she knew for certain… "If the school is ever overrun, and you're faced with a hard choice…" She lifted her gaze to his. "Leave me behind. Save AJ."

Louis sucked in a sharp breath at this and automatically shook his head. "I left you behind too many times. I'm not doing it again."

Frustrated, she clenched her hands in her lap. "Louis, I need you to promise me that you'll get AJ out. He's always been my responsibility. Mine. I've always done it alone, but…" She motioned toward her missing foot. "It's really hard for me to admit this, but I can't do it alone anymore. And there's no one I trust more than…more than you." By the time she ended this confession, she was blushing. She was also angry. She hated admitting weakness. She hated asking for help. But for AJ, she would do it. "I just need to know he's going to be safe."

Louis reached out and took one of her hands in his. "AJ doesn't need anyone's help. That little dude has more survival skills than I do." He arched a brow. "Besides, soon, we're going to get you back up on your…foot. And you'll see that you're still more capable than half of us."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "I don't think this request is ever going to be relevant. If anything, it will be AJ saving my ass…again. But if there ever comes a time where the school is overrun and things look grim…I'll get AJ out. I promise you."

"Swear it."

"I swear it." Louis climbed to his feet, his hand slipping from hers. Bending, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Now get some rest. Leave the problem solving to the rest of us for a bit."

Clem wanted to argue, but she was so tired. After everything they'd been through in the past few weeks, her body had reached a point of exhaustion. "Alright. But just for a little while." And for the first time since she'd returned, she found herself sinking easily into sleep. Louis' assurance that he would protect AJ was the exact thing she'd needed. Peaceful slumber was finally going to come.

OOOOO

Four Months Later

"Hey, Clem! The group needs you outside."

Clem turned and gave AJ a bright smile. It still awed her how well he was adjusting to life at the school. She could see it in his face. He felt secure, safe. He was happy. It was more than she could ever have asked for.

"Okay, kiddo. I'm coming." She picked her crutches up from where they leaned against the wall and used them to rise. Using them to get around was becoming second nature, but she still missed her foot. She missed the easy mobility. And she hated relying so much on the others. She'd always been so independent. Thinking of herself as the weak member of the group did not sit well with her.

Sighing, she hobbled forward, following AJ outside to the tables where they ate most meals. As soon as she exited the building, she could see everyone assembled there, watching her approach expectantly. It drew a frown to her lips. Life around the school was rather free. People didn't tend to gather until meat times. They were out hunting, fishing, or foraging for supplies. Seeing everyone staring so expectantly at her filled Clem with anxiety. "Um…what's up?"

Ruby grinned widely and shared a secret glance with Aasim.

Violet rolled her eyes at them before waving to the empty place beside her. "At least let her sit down before you start in on this."

"Uh oh," Clem said as she carefully slid onto the bench seat beside Violet and placed her crutches against the side of the school's porch. "Should I be worried?"

"Only if you're afraid of awesome," Ruby stated.

"It was AJ's idea initially," Louis said cryptically.

Clem looked at AJ, expression full of suspicion. "Is that so?"

AJ puffed his chest up proudly, a grin on his lips. "It sure was."

Clem looked at each of her new friends in turn, waiting for someone to fill her in on exactly what had them all so excited. "So is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

"AJ's been harassing us about finding you a new leg," Violet said.

"Hey!"

At AJ's protest, Violet stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, you have been." She turned to Clem, continuing as if the interruption had never even happened. "So we started looking into different options. Turns out there's a factory not too far from here that used to produce artificial appendages. Willy's uncle worked there, and our talk of finding you something sparked his memory…somewhat."

"I know it exists," Willy said eagerly. "He took me there to see it once, and it was so gross." Realizing how that might have sounded, he winced and shot Clem an apologetic look. "Sorry." When Clem waved his slight off, he continued. "I just didn't remember exactly where the place was. I knew it was nearby, though."

"So we searched the school and found a map of the area," Ruby explained.

"It took some digging, but we found the place," Aasim added.

"I found the place," Omar corrected.

"Right. Omar found the place," Violet said with an eye roll. It was impressive she could still do such a thing with her healing eyes, but Clem figured she'd been an expert at it before. It was one of those things that was such a part of her personality, Violet could never forget how to do it. "Anyway, it's about a four-day horse ride from here. If you can get there, you'll hopefully have your pick of anything in the warehouse."

"I don't know," Clem said slowly. "It sounds dangerous."

"We're not taking no for an answer," Louis said in his ever-pleasant tone. "I'm going with or without you. I hope you'll come with me, though. If you aren't there, I'm going to bring home every single artificial leg they've got in the joint. That would make it a much more dangerous trip home."

"You're coming with me?" Clem asked with a small smile. She tried to hide how much this pleased her, but she was pretty sure she wasn't fooling Louis with the way his eyes lit up at her reaction.

"Louis has been to that area before," Violet said with a shrug. "He said he might recognize the place. And that's better than any of the rest of us can claim."

"What about AJ?" Clem asked with concern.

"I'll be fine, Clem," he said, sounding slightly embarrassed by her overprotectiveness. "I've been getting really good at fishing. I'll stay here and practice. And I told Ruby I'd help her with the greenhouse. She's going to try to get it fixed up again."

Clem flinched and glanced in Violet's direction.

"It's okay. No need to tiptoe." She frowned. "The Minnie I knew has been dead for years. That person you encountered…that wasn't her. Besides, it's about time we got that greenhouse operational again. It could help with food come wintertime." She pushed back from the table and got to her feet. "You're going, Clem. Don't make a big deal about it."

Laughing lightly, Clem conceded. "Alright. I guess I'm going."

"Good," Louis said in a chipper voice. "Pack a bag and get a good night's sleep. We leave in the morning."