The weights…
"Yep, that's little me…"
"No way!.." AJ said, in disbelief. He took the frame from Clementine's hands. "...You're so little!" The idea of his mentor, the person who he looked up to all his life, actually being a little kid herself once felt surreal to him.
"Yep, I was. But I grew up… and so will you!.." Clementine said, as she put her hand at little goofball's head towards the end, gently messing up his hair.
AJ kept examining the photo. He did notice the other two people on it, but he wasn't sure if he should ask about them since it looked like they were Clementine's parents.
It didn't take long for Clementine to notice AJ's hesitance towards pointing out or asking more about the photo. Poor thing was probably afraid to ask, so she decided to take the initiative:
"...And these were my parents. My mom, Diana… And my dad, Ed…" Clementine said while pointing them on the photo with her finger. For a split second, she couldn't help but be amazed at how easily she was able to talk about them now. It was almost like she was wearing fetters on her heart that caused pain to the young survivor whenever she was about to talk about her past. But now, she felt nothing. Nothing but relief. Talking about her parents to AJ felt like she was taking these excruciatingly heavy weights off of her shoulders, making Clementine feel relaxed and free.
AJ was in a mild shock during his mentor's exposition. He thought she would get angry if he was to ask about her past. After Clementine was finished, he looked at her in disbelief. Contrary to his expectation, Clementine responded to his look with a huge smile which made AJ feel overjoyed. Finally, it seemed like Clementine was willing to talk about her past, her family… He had so many questions….
"How old were you? Where did you live? What was…"
"Hey! Hey, slow down!.." Clementine interfered with a laugh. She was delighted to see AJ being so curious about her past, and felt bad that she kept it from him for so long…
"...Okay… So, I was… probably seven years old when this photo was taken. I lived in a house with two floors, a big fence around it. Kinda like Ericson, only a lot smaller…"
AJ picked his legs up, sat cross-legged on the bed, turned his body completely towards Clementine. He looked so excited to hear more…
"… Hmm, what else… My mom was a doctor, and my dad was an engineer. I h-"
"What's an engineer?" AJ asked immediately. Clementine chuckled to his question a bit:
"It's a person that… umm…" Clementine wasn't sure how to describe an engineer in a way that AJ would understand. But then, a method dawned on her:
"...You remember the thing that played music, back in Ericson?"
"Yeah?.."
"Engineers are the people that build stuff like that. Machines, like that alarm clock, for example."
"Ooooh…" AJ felt like he understood what an engineer is. With a content smile, Clementine continued:
"Where was I? Oh, I had a pet fish. His name was Peanut…"
"Wait, a pet fish?!" AJ cut her. He seemed riddled as to how a fish could serve as a pet..
The worry…
Clementine and AJ spent the next couple of hours chatting. AJ's enthusiasm to learn more about his mentor filled Clementine with joy and confidence. With every single fact about herself she gave, she felt the weights get off of her more and more. She had no idea opening herself up to someone else like this would make her feel serene and cheery.
"And this Alfred, he-"
Suddenly, their door was knocked twice, cutting Clementine's story. AJ got on his feet and opened to see who it was.
"Hey you!" It was Violet. Looked like she just wanted to say something since she didn't get inside.
"Hey, Vi. What's up?"
"Just wanted to drop by and say we're gathering in half an hour. Looks like the weather's all good. Ruby thought it would be a good evening to celebrate Aasim's return, it being Friday and all. Also… apparently she has a surprise for everyone..." Violet explained. "...You guys up for it?"
"Of course!.." Clementine jumped in. "...We'll be there in a minute."
Violet emoted a 'Yes!' with her right hand as she went towards the dormitory's exit. AJ closed the door and Clementine was getting ready to put on her prosthetic.
"Hey little guy, you wanna come?" she said. AJ looked a bit tired to her eyes, so she wanted to ask. A week's lessons tended to take a toll on him as he was still getting used to the whole process.
"Yeah, I'm good. I don't wanna miss it!" AJ replied with enthusiasm. As Clementine was done with her leg, she wore her biker jacket and her hat that was hung on top of the bunk bed's leg. Both then walked towards the exit, ready for another Ericson reunion.
AJ and Clementine went outside the building, headed towards the little grass-filled hill just on the outskirts of the city. The sky was completely clear of clouds and the moon started showing itself quite early. The evening seemed to will be quite warm as well, there was barely any wind.
Violet was right, it was a perfect evening for a reunion.
They slowly approached towards the top of the hill. Looked like they weren't the first ones, as they saw Omar cleaning the circle of stones from the ashes. Seems like someone forgot to clean up the campfire last time they were here. Clementine saw Violet and Willy coming out of the little forest at the edge of the hill, their hands filled with logs.
As Clementine and AJ got closer to the campfire, Omar greeted them. Clementine waved a hello as AJ said:
"Hey Omar! Can I help?"
"Nah, I can handle this. But we can use more wood." As Omar was finished, Violet and Willy reached the campfire and emptied their hands.
"Yeah, we can. Wanna tag along for another round?" Violet asked. AJ turned towards Clementine and gave her a look as he was asking her permission.
"Sure, but stay close to them." said Clementine with an approving voice and a smile. She found it adorable that AJ still felt like he had to get permission for these minor tasks.
As soon as she gave the get-go, AJ ran towards the tree line in excitement. Violet, not being able to get a moment's rest, suddenly found herself running behind AJ to keep an eye on him. Willy joined to the urgency too soon enough, as Omar and Clementine laughed at their haste. And then, she realized something. She… wasn't worried… Normally AJ running off like that would at least frustrate Clementine a bit, but now…
The Commonwealth's grounds were completely free of walkers, thanks to its troopers' hard work. Apparently for over 3 years, there hasn't been any breaches which made the whole place feel like the pre-outbreak world.
Clementine, having to live through hell that was the outside world for so long, had a hard time believing the place's security. It all felt like a mirage to her, at first. However that feeling of insecurity, in time, turned itself into disbelief, and at last serenity. The never-ending worries that she would carry with herself on outside world started to trickle down as she got more comfortable within the grounds.
However, as she watched little AJ disappear into the woods, a sudden rush of anxiety filled Clementine. She forgot all about what she knew about Commonwealth's security. Her instincts to protect AJ started to kick in, all of a sudden. She felt like she was getting careless as she almost jumped on her feet. She had trouble controlling her balance, jumping off like that with the prosthetic which resulted in her almost falling right down on the ground again. Omar, still busy with the campsite, noticed Clementine's struggle:
"Hey! Hey, what's wrong?"
"Gotta go, AJ might need me…" Clementine said with a hurried voice. She got on her feet, firmly this time. As she was about to run towards the woods, Omar straightened up from the campfire to put his hand on Clementine's shoulder, gently stopping her:
"He's with Vi! It's fine…"
"No!.. I…" Clementine was ready to slap Omar's hand out of her. She even started to hyperventilate a bit unconsciously. However, determined to calm her down, Omar put both of his hands on her shoulders:
"Hey, look at me..." he said calmly. "...AJ is fine, we're safe here. You don't need to worry. There's nothing dangerous out there for him…"
Clementine's eyes were still scanning the treeline as Omar was talking. Eventually, she looked at him and saw him smiling towards the Ericson's leader:
"...It's fine. Relax." Omar said. His words and presence seemed to free Clementine out of her anxiety attack as she slowly took control of her breathing, started to nod and sat down again.
What just happened? Wasn't she just thinking about how secure this place is? How perfect it is for AJ to grow up like a normal kid? Like he deserved? She was having a hard time trying to understand what's going on with her. She trusted Violet, hell she trusted all of her friends, AJ especially.
As Clementine sat down, Omar started to clear out the ashes and rubbish out of the campfire again. He couldn't help but notice that Clementine was still looking a bit concerned:
"You don't feel like we're safe here?" Omar asked. He just wanted to open up a conversation to try and calm her down completely as he was getting concerned about their honorary leader, as well.
"No, it's not that… I…" Clementine tried to reply. She was still trying to figure out the reasoning behind what just happened.
"Well, we are. But looks like you don't believe we are…"
"I do. I do… It's just… I felt like I was being a bit careless. That's all."
"Careless?" Omar queried as he turned his face towards her.
"You know… He started running… and went out of sight. I just felt like I was being irresponsible, allowing him to go away like that and not follow him afterwards." Clementine answered. It seemed like this pretty much summed up how she felt.
Omar, in disbelief of what he just heard, walked towards Clementine and kneeled down. Looking straight at her on the same eye level, with a serious tone:
"I don't know what you think the word 'irresponsible' means, but I can assure you what just happened wasn't it. Nor was it 'careless'. You know what it was?" Omar asked. Clem gave an inquisitive look but before she could say anything, Omar continued:
"Compassion..." he said. "… and a bit of unnecessary doubt." he added with a smile. As he got on his feet again, he continued:
"We're all here, and always will be here for every single one of us. And like it or not…" Omar said as he was beside the campfire again. He turned towards Clementine and while pointing at her:
"… that us also includes you and AJ..." Clementine couldn't help but smile against such endearing words. She did know all this, she wasn't foreign to the Ericson kids' embrace towards her and AJ. But hearing it again after what happened helped reassure the young survivor.
"...Even if you feel like you are at times, never forget that you are… not… alone!" Omar added, with a firm tone towards the end.
"I know… Thank you…" Clementine could only say. Omar's words seemed to cleanse any drop of doubt she had. Her smile towards what he said grew even bigger, as she saw AJ leaving the woods. He had couple of logs on him and started running towards the campfire with Violet and Willy behind him.
The crew…
AJ was the first to reach to campfire. He emptied his hands and said:
"Violet said these should be enough." Clementine, glad that her goofball accomplished his mission, smiled and said:
"Good job AJ! Come here…" AJ, again, ran towards Clementine to sit right beside her. There wasn't a slightest hint of exhaustion on him. She immediately threw her arm around her goofball and embraced him as if he was gone for years. It wasn't long till Violet reached the campfire, too. As she did:
"Why… the hell… do you… have to…. run everywhere?.." Violet complained, trying to catch her breath. She emptied her hands while Clementine was struggling to hold a laughter. Violet, completely out of energy and will to counter the impending mockery, allowed herself to collapse on the grass face down.
"Oh, how the mighty warrior have fallen!.. Beaten by a mere youngling…" Clementine said in a theatrical voice, chuckles escaping throughout.
"Uuuuugggghhh…" was the only response Violet felt like she could give, her face still on the ground. Everyone, other than Violet, let out a laughter.
As Louis approached towards the almost complete campfire, with a big covered plate in one hand and a bag in the other, he pointed towards Violet with his eyes as to ask: "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh nothing… Just the cruel reality weighed on her, a bit…" Clementine answered sarcastically. Violet, still feigning exhaustion, flipped Clementine off while trying to talk through the ground in gibberish. After he put the the items near the stone circle, Louis sat beside Violet and started patting her head. Seeing that Louis also got on the mockery in his own way, Violet let out one last "Uuunghh" and started to straighten herself to sit up.
"You guys suck." Violet said at last, in a jesting frustration which was responded with everyone nodding their heads in acceptance.
"So, what's on the menu, today?" Clementine asked, pointing towards the plate. Louis reached to its newspaper cover and lifted it up a bit to reveal the ribeye steaks. Varying degrees of satisfaction swept through the group, as Omar and Willy finished lighting up the fire and put the barbecue iron on top of it.
By the time Aasim and Ruby arrived the campsite, the sun just sat down and the steaks were almost ready. Aasim was bringing up some plastic plates and silverware. Ruby only had a cartoon bag with her.
"Hey folks!" Ruby cheered, to everyone's greetings in return. Louis, looked at the newcomers and signed:
"Sorry, none for you, you lollygaggers."
"Don't look at me!.." said Ruby, pointing towards Aasim. "...I practically had to winch him out of bed." she said as they put down what they brought with themselves and sat down.
"I had a long day, OK?" Aasim tried to defend himself, both his hands up to his chest. A wink he gave towards Clementine didn't escape her notice, which she responded with a smile. As she noticed they were about to begin, thanks to her prudent nature, Clementine picked one of the already cooked steaks and started slicing it into pieces small enough for AJ to enjoy.
Whole crew was here, and they started enjoying the pseudo BBQ with additional snacks and bread Louis brought. The joy of a feast on an open area was probably the only negative aspect of their new home. To mitigate that, ever since they moved here, the kids decided to try and organize dinners like these every other week to not forget where they've came from…
The toast…
"God, I'm about to burst!" Violet shrieked as she put down her empty plate and lied down on her back, belly up. Everyone in the crew seemed to share Violet's sentiment. As they finished up on the feast, sun's influence on the sky was completely out and the luminating bright full moon's took its place. With the still burning campfire's help, the whole gathering was illuminated almost perfectly.
"You full, kiddo?" Clementine asked to AJ. He was, of course, the first one to finish up so Clementine was worried if he ate enough.
"Yeah, it was really good. Thank you Omar!" AJ said, towards the group.
"Yeah, our compliments to the chef." Aasim agreed, as everyone started applauding the overall success of the feast which he responded with a formal bow. Louis, wanting to tease still lying down Violet beside her, poked her leg to get her attention and signed:
"Careful, you might get fat!"
With a low-effort kick to Louis' shoulder, she stood up with everyone's laughter to the whole exchange. Clementine loved to see Louis trying to interact with the group more and more. The collective effort of the crew to learn sign language for him seemed to boost his confidence. AJ and Willy were also trying to learn but their own curriculum were a bit tight for them to completely focus on it so Clementine would translate to AJ, whenever she could.
"That reminds me…" Ruby said as she reached towards the bag she brought with her. "...Time for the surprise!"
Ruby was sitting right beside Clementine and as soon as she saw what the surprise is, way before everyone else, she couldn't help but say:
"Oh no…"
"Ta-daaaa!" she yelled as she revealed a couple of whiskey bottles.
"No way!" Violet shouted in disbelief. "...How the hell did you get a hold of those?!"
Everyone else, other than Aasim, seemed to have the same question in their mind and face. While filling up the cups, Ruby answered:
"One of the last month's arrivals was apparently a distillery owner back in the old world. With the help from Commonwealth's administration, he set up right in front of the infirmary building…"
"And he just gave them to you?" Willy asked while Aasim started distributing the cups among the group.
"Not… really…" she said, a bit hesitantly. "...It took a bit convincing since he wasn't supposed to open up shop anytime soon. But after I said that it's for a trooper's return party, he couldn't resist but sell me a couple from his first batch."
"One of them saved his life, apparently." Aasim finished up as he was done giving the last cup to Clementine.
"Well, any first-timers?" Ruby asked the group. Everyone was holding their cups, not ready to take the first swing yet. Willy was the first one to raise his hand which was immediately followed up by Omar's. As she saw Aasim's hand up as well, Ruby yelped:
"No way!"
"What? I never had the chance." he said while laughing. During their exchange, Louis also raised his hand while smiling like a 5 year old toddler.
"Buuullshit!.." Violet yelled immediately. "...I don't believe that for a second, rich boy!"
But he shook his head like a little kid would after they were asked if they did a mischief. It seemed like he really never tried it, despite his former family's fortune. His apparent innocence filled the camp with smile.
From the looks of it, only Ruby, Violet and Clementine were the ones that had alcohol before. But someone else also didn't raise their hand…
"AJ?" said Willy, in a jesting disbelief. Everyone's gaze immediately turned towards the little goofball, some were even giggling. Clementine immediately understood what the crew was about to accuse her of. She suddenly grabbed one of AJ's hands and raised it up to everyone's laughter.
"Now that, I believe." Violet said. Amidst the noise, AJ turned to Clementine and whispered:
"I didn't understand the question." which resulted in Clementine joining the camp in their laughter as she hugged AJ's adorable head in loving embrace.
As the camp quieted down, Violet couldn't help but ask:
"Okay, are we doing this or what?" Couple people started to adduct their cups to drink them but Ruby shrieked:
"Wait! Hold on, we gotta make a toast first."
"Really?" said Violet in an impatient tone.
"Yes, really. It's a special occasion."
"Fine, who's gonna do it?" Violet asked as she looked around the circle. It didn't take long for all eyes to be on Clementine:
"Ugh… Why me?" she immediately complained and started to look at everyone clock-wise. Willy just escaped his gaze. Omar shook his head while smiling. Louis gave her an unserious angry gaze that implied "Seriously?" . Violet just shrugged and smiled insidiously. It was obvious that she wanted to get revenge on Clementine's earlier mockery. Aasim forwarded his hand to gesture a "Go ahead!" and Ruby gave a wincing smile that implied that she was sorry. Even AJ was looking up towards her expectantly, though he probably had no idea what he was expecting.
"Fine, just give me a second." Clementine conceded after jokingly giving AJ the eyebrow treatment, implying betrayal. But the problem was, she had absolutely no idea what she could say. She wondered if she could mention Aasim's success but then she worried about it ending up being a bit cheesy. Every single idea that came across her mind seemed to not cut it for Clementine.
But then, she started reminiscing a similar scene from her past. A campfire with friends all around it… The toast that was given that day, she could never forget. It was a bit melancholic, but also respectful since the merriment that they are allowed to enjoy today was thanks to so many people that each one of them were fortunate to had and unfortunate to lose. Clementine felt like honoring those people -shared and the personal ones- in a day that is filled with laughter and joy would be the most fitting.
After a silence that took half a minute, Clementine raised her cup and finally said:
"To the loved ones that we lost along the way… And to the hope that we see them again, someday…"
The dares…
"That was… really good!" Aasim said, after a brief silence. The toast seemed to hit everyone in their own way, especially for Willy and Louis who were trying to wipe their teary eyes.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to just drop the mood…"
"You're kidding? That was so heartwarming." said Ruby as she put her hand on Clementine's shoulder reassuringly. The sentiment seemed to be shared among the crew as they nodded their heads in respect and gratitude towards her.
Louis seemed like he wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out how to. In a childish sigh of frustration, he grabbed the notebook and the pen he had in his jacket's inner pocket and wrote something.
"It even rhymed!" he showed the paper with a thumbs up on his other hand and a dorky smile.
"Yes! Most importantly…" Violet sarcastically agreed as the rest of the crew chuckled.
Clementine and the whole crew started to drink their first cups. Willy immediately started to cough and bellow, so did Louis as it looked like they made the mistake of taking a big swig. It was quite a while since Clementine had any alcohol but she - through embarrassing experiences, unfortunately- knew how not to drink any alcohol. Under Violet's amused and wry gaze, Louis finished up his cup way before everyone and put it down like he gave up on it for today.
"Nuh uh, no way sir! You're getting drunk, tonight!" said Violet as she grabbed Louis' cup and went towards the bottles in the middle. She practically forced the now filled cup on Louis' hand and she sat beside him, looking mockingly content. Everyone -well, currently other than Louis- seemed to enjoy their efforts to annoy each other.
After everyone had at least a couple of drinks, Violet couldn't resist but say:
"You know what else this night needs? Truth or Dare!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake…" Aasim let out almost immediately those two damned words were out of Violet's mouth. The whole crew at this point knew how much Aasim hated this game. Clementine couldn't help but share his sentiment…
However, all this lack of enthusiasm didn't stop Louis from grabbing the cards and shuffling them. After everyone, including AJ since he was hoping for a game, grabbed a card, they started revealing them.
First round: Louis over Clementine. Louis thought about it for a second and ultimately declared:
"Truth." Afterwards, he wrote the question on his notebook and gave it to Violet.
"Let's see… Jesus, your handwriting sucks!" she said, immediately getting a low-effort punch to her right shoulder as a response.
"Oww!.. How old were you when you had your first drink? Huh, great question actually. You were the youngest among the people that didn't raise their hand."
This one was easy to remember for Clementine. The first times tend to stick around in one's memory.
"I was eleven." Clementine admitted.
"Not bad…" Violet nodded, as did Louis. But then, Violet couldn't help but wonder…
"...What was it?" she asked excitedly. Everyone seemed like they wanted to know too, even though it wasn't the original question. Clementine saw no harm in answering this one as well:
"It was moonshine." she admitted again. A silence engulfed the camp as Clementine's answer was received.
"You're lucky you didn't go blind." Ruby said while chuckling, breaking the silence.
"Badass..." Violet added, but then she wondered, again:
"...Wait, how the hell did you f-"
"Enough!" Clementine had to interfere with a jokingly intimidating stare. It was clear what Violet was trying to do.
"Fine, fine." she grunted as she picked another card.
Round two: Omar over Aasim.
"DARE!" Omar yelled as soon as he realized who lost.
"Oh, come oooon!" Aasim said lengthily. But unfortunately for him, everyone knew how much he abhorred dares. He even tried to plea to Ruby but she seemed to be the worst among the crew as she rapidly shook her head in response, completely allowing whatever's about to happen, happen. No mercy!
"Rules, my friend." Louis signed as the rest of the crew was busy giggling to Aasim's frustration.
Omar was taking his sweet time coming up with a good dare. He definitely didn't want to go easy on him. After a short while, he picked up the glass plate that had the steaks in it. It was empty, but had grease stains inside that were sitting there for over an hour.
"Clean this… by licking."
A sudden rush of "Eewww"s and "Really?"s swept across the camp as soon as Omar's answer was received. Violet couldn't help but laugh to death to this glorious dare.
"Come on, that's a bit harsh." said Clementine, feeling like she had to intervene.
"You are the last person to complain about harshness of a dare." Ruby opposed, while laughing. Understanding exactly what she meant, Clementine conceded with a smile. Poor and defeated Aasim, cussing along the way, walked towards Omar and grabbed the plate fiercely. Right after he sat down, the plate in front of him:
"I hate you all." he said as he started to do what exactly Omar said. Through everyone's laughter and cheering up, he finished cleaning and almost threw the plate towards Omar. Omar picked it up and started inspecting it in mockery:
"Huh, good enough." he said and put the plate away. As everyone was busy giggling or straight up laughing, Aasim simply showed a middle finger towards Omar to express exactly how he was feeling.
Round three: Clementine over Louis.
"Hah haaa, revenge!" Clementine yelled theatrically. As Louis tried to mentally brace himself from the impending doom, Clementine said in a sinister tone:
"Since the reputation of my dares precedes me, dare!"
As Ruby gave out a chuckle, Omar put his hand on Louis' shoulder to try and console him. Not breaking the act, Louis accepted the gesture with a bittersweet smile and a nod. Aasim couldn't help but sign "Rules, my friend." towards Louis.
Meanwhile, Clementine noticed something about Louis. She could swear Louis was still on his second cup that Violet gave him a while back. It even looked full… After examining the bottles in the middle, one of them was full and the other had one third in it:
"Chug your cup, and finish the half one." Clementine said with the same sinister voice. Violet almost screamed in joy:
"YES! Oh, thank you!" Then she immediately jumped up from her spot to bring the non-full bottle near Louis.
"Thank you…" signed Louis to express his fake gratitude towards Violet's help. Bound by the rules of the game, Louis let out a sigh as he emptied his cup on the bottle. After he gave a one last puppy-eye stare to everyone around him, which failed to gain any sympathy, he started chugging the bottle. With every gulp, he felt like he was burning inside. Through everyone's cheering, he was able to finish up the bottle which resulted in the crew's applause.
"Daaamn, my boy can drink!" Violet praised him. Louis was busy coughing up the burning sensation on his throat. When he, at last, got a hold of himself, he signed:
"Yeah, forced to…" Clementine couldn't help but feel bad about what she made Louis go through, but there seemed to be no hard feelings since it didn't take long for him to smile back and accept the praises of the crew with series of bows and hand gestures.
Round four: Violet over AJ!
As soon as she saw AJ's card, Clementine panicked and sneakily tried to swap her card with his to shield him from Violet's wrath but it was too late.
"Hey! I saw that!" Violet shouted immediately.
"Ugh… I tried, goofball." Clementine apologized, but AJ seemed excited. Violet was hoping she would find a way to do what she was about to do.
"Dare!" Violet shouted with and exciting and insidious tone.
"Oh, come on. What's up with all the dares, today?" Clementine felt like she had to oppose.
"Well, you didn't help on that, now did you?" Aasim responded with a smirk. Visible frustration took a hold of Clementine as Violet was getting ready to declare her dare. She was stroking her hands together with a villainous smile. She knew exactly what her dare for AJ was:
"Drink up, AJ!"
"Nope!.." Clementine opposed without a second delay. The possibility of this happening was exactly what she was fearing as soon as she saw the whiskey bottles.
"...Nuh uh, not happening!" Her adorable effort to prevent what was about to happen filled the crew with laughter again. But alas, rules were rules.
"Come on, just a little sip. It's fine." encouraged, Aasim.
"Guys, please no! He's only six!" Clementine retorted, still trying to stop the motion.
"What? You don't want to give up your record?.." Violet said sarcastically. However, She realized how serious Clementine's concern towards this was after the joke. She really seemed worried about AJ drinking this early. Violet found it both sad and adorable the fact that Clementine didn't really know much about alcohol either, despite her experience. With a more serious tone, she had to add:
"...Clem, a really tiny sip is fine. Trust me, it won't do anything." As Violet said that, the rest of the crew also slowly realized how afraid Clementine was about this dare.
Violet's reassuring words and the rest of the crew's encouragement made Clementine think that maybe she was exaggerating a bit. She did drink what was apparently a lot more powerful alcohol first time. Albeit, her concern wasn't really about the drink itself, it was the age.
She looked at AJ, who was also looking at her. He gave a stare and a sulk that implied "Why not?". Then added:
"I was curious, actually."
"Of course you were…" Clementine complained softly. That right there was her last line of defense, getting obliterated. At last, she felt defeated and extended her half-filled cup to AJ. Just when he was about to grab it, Clementine suddenly pulled it back and said:
"Hey Ruby, could you give me your cup, real quick?" Through everyone's questioning stares, Ruby gave her cup to Clementine. She didn't trust AJ's judgement on what 'a really tiny sip' should be, so Clementine figured she should empty her cup till that really tiny sip was all that's left on it, just in case.
Clementine gave the newly adjusted amount of whiskey towards AJ.
"You better not like this, little guy." Clementine said in a joking tone. As AJ took a hold of it, the crew started to cheer him:
"Chug! Chug! Chug!" Even Louis was shaking his fist in front of him, in harmony of the crew. Amidst the cheering, AJ chugged the cup and immediately started coughing up because of the burning sensation it had on his throat. Applauses and cheers were all over the camp as Clementine asked:
"You okay?" She couldn't help but at least smile to what just happened. AJ turned to her, with a sour face:
"That was the worst!"
"Yes, yes it was." Clementine agreed as she hugged him.
The heart…
The night continued with more Truth or Dare shenanigans but after AJ's dare, Omar offered that maybe it was enough dares for one night. He was probably more worried for a potential revenge dare from Aasim, but fortunately for him, everyone agreed.
While the game pressed on, Clementine noticed AJ's yawning. It seemed like he was finally out of energy. With an endearing smile, Clementine tapped her crossed legs to invite AJ to sleep. Little guy couldn't refuse such an offer and rested his head on Clementine, lying down on her left-side. The game kept going on for a little while, with collective effort from everyone to keep it a bit quieter.
After some series of truths from almost everyone, Aasim was the first one to throw the towel.
"Alright, I'm wrecked." he said in an exhausted voice.
"Spoilsport." Violet joked, immediately. Aasim couldn't help but say:
"Hey! He started it!" pointing towards still sleeping AJ, with a smile. Him and Ruby started to pack up the garbage and the stuff they brought for the night with Willy's help. The only thing they left behind was the whiskey bottle with a fifth of it left inside.
"Thanks for everything, guys. See ya later!"
"Bye, folks." Both Aasim and Ruby said while they walked towards the residentials.
"Welp, looks like that's it for tonight..." Willy said. He looked concerned for Louis, who was busy hiccuping.
"...We better get him to his room. Omar, give me a hand?" said Willy. Louis looked like he was completely torn from reality as he was just gazing towards absolutely nothing. Thanks to Clementine, he was straight-up shitfaced. All he could do while Omar and Willy put him on their shoulder was to wave "Goodbye..." towards Clementine and Violet. Now, Clementine knew that Louis does not take alcohol well, at all.
As they watched the boys carry Louis back to the dormitory downhill, the girls couldn't help but laugh at their struggle.
"Aaah, mission accomplished..." Violet said with a satisfied tone, referring to Louis' drunkenness. Violet stood up as well. She looked at Clementine and said:
"...Should we carry him, too?" while pointing her finger at AJ. Clementine chuckled at the offer, but she didn't really feel like going back to the room. The night was still warm, the campfire's embers were still providing heat and AJ was deep in his sleep. With her goofball right beside her, Clementine felt too comfortable to go back to the dorms.
"Nah, I'll stay. I don't want to wake him up." she said while looking at AJ and smiling. Her left hand was gently patting his sleepy head.
"Yeah, you're right. The night's still young." said Violet sarcastically as she walked towards them. She sat on left side of Clementine, right beside the sleeping AJ. It looked like Violet wanted to spent the night with them. Looking at her, Clementine couldn't help but feel happy for her. Compared to how she was in Ericson, the move to Commonwealth seemed to really bode well for her. If nothing, she seemed to enjoy life again.
"You were really joyful today. I'm glad." said Clementine. Violet felt touched towards this sudden compliment. Pointing towards the bottle she picked up on her way towards them:
"Well, this probably helped." she said with a laugh.
"Naah, that ain't it. You were, before those even entered the scene." Clementine claimed.
"Somebody has to keep the spirits up here, right?"
"I'd say, you're doing an awesome job as the group's official fool." joked Clementine.
"Thank you." said Violet as she accepted the mockery with a hand gesture and a smile. It didn't take Clementine long to realize who she just compared Violet with. Both of them gradually replaced their smile with a bittersweet one. Violet, with a gloomy voice:
"Louis tries… He really does, but…" she had to pause. Thinking back on the trauma he had to endure, the girls couldn't help but delete the smiles on their faces.
"...It's just… not the same, you know?" Violet completed. Clementine, knowing exactly what she was referring to, nodded with a sad frown. To attempt and escape from the current dreariness, Violet said with a reassuring voice:
"The sign language lessons helped a lot, though. Thank you for practically ordering us to take those, by the way." she said with a chuckle towards the end.
"I did nooot!" Clementine retorted immediately, last part lengthily. Both appreciated the change in tone as they started laughing at their exchange.
Afterwards, Violet grabbed the whiskey bottle and forwarded it towards Clementine.
"Uh, no thanks. I already drank too much." she said with a smile. She never consumed this much alcohol before. Her early experiences with them was only based on taste-testing. It was only 3 cups, but it was enough for her to feel like her head lost it's weight. She couldn't help but like this feeling, but not enough that she would continue, of course. She still had AJ with him and was aware that she should keep her head straight, just in case. She also had a minor ache on her stomach but, it wasn't really severe enough to bother her.
"Suit yourself." Violet said just before she finished up the bottle. She already looked a bit tipsy but it didn't prevent her from continuing. To Clementine, it seemed like Violet wasn't really foreign to alcohol.
After Violet was done with the bottle, she kept silent and just watched Clementine patting AJ. She always admired how compassionate Clementine was towards him. Being able to own up to a responsibility like that, in this world, in her age… While thinking about this, Violet also tried to imagine how incredibly hard it must have been for her. Especially since Clementine said she was alone for all of it and she was always truthful towards Violet. She couldn't even try to visualize the challenges that she had to endure, and how those challenges shaped her.
"What's up?" asked Clementine, cutting Violet's thoughtful state. She didn't even realize she was staring at them for quite some time now.
"Nothing. Just, thinking about stuff."
"What about?" Clementine seemed genuinely curious. Violet never liked lying and, thanks to alcohol's influence, she just wanted to spill out whatever she had in her mind.
"Why are you alone?" Violet asked bluntly. Clementine, not really understanding what she tried to ask:
"Ummm, I'm… not?" she said, in a sarcastic tone.
"Okay, let me try again..." Violet said, obviously she didn't word what she wanted to ask correctly. "...Why do you want to be alone?" Clementine was really having a hard time trying to comprehend what exactly Violet was asking her.
"What makes you think that I want to be alone? Of course I don't!.." she said, a bit firmly. Afterwards, she took Violet's question a bit too literally and added:
"...I don't want you to leave, Vi. What are you talking about?!" As she finished that sentence, something dawned on her. Could she actually be talking about…
Just as Violet was about to redirect her question, Clementine jumped in:
"Did you talk to Omar?" Violet didn't understand how Omar had anything to do with their conversation.
"No. Why?"
"Oh, I... just thought he mentioned what happened to you, or something."
"Why, what happened?" It was now Violet's turn to be genuinely curious. Her question could wait.
"I just got a bit anxious when AJ ran into the woods. I wanted to follow you guys but he stopped me. He tried reassuring me by saying me and AJ are not alone and everything's fine."
"He reassured you, huh?" Violet said in a sly tone which Clementine, at the moment, didn't notice.
"Yeah, it was sweet. I probably needed it too, since…"
"Sweet, huh?" Violet intervened again with the same tone. Clementine, now looking at Violet and seeing the smirk on her face, realized what she really meant with the question.
"Seriously?! That's what you meant?!" Clementine yelled in whispers. AJ was still sleeping peacefully just above her leg. Violet couldn't help but giggle like a toddler and say:
"I don't blame you, he's, after all, reassuriiiing and sweeee…"
"Oh, you b…" Clementine cut as she started to try and land low-effort punches on Violet's shoulders which she responded with series of blocks and dodges while laughing. Towards the end of their little boxing match, Clementine too started to laugh. After the dust settled, Clementine, with a serious tone said:
"Was that really the question?"
Violet just gave a simple nod. Clementine had no idea how to respond to this. She herself didn't know what she felt half the time. Ever since she met AJ, all she tried to keep as absolute as possible was her sense of responsibility and affection towards him.
"What about the wink?" Violet asked, while Clementine was trying to come up with an answer.
"What wink?!" she asked but the moment she did, Clementine realized exactly which wink she was talking about. With a bit more serious punch on Violet's shoulder:
"Jesus, Vi! I'd never do that to Ruby!" Clementine retorted with the same whispery yelling.
"Ow! Okay, okay. Sorry!" Violet almost shouted. She felt bad as even she realized this joke was a bit too much.
"He fixed an item for me right after he came back from his expedition." Clementine simply explained. She wasn't sure how much detail she wanted to share. Exposing her past like she did with AJ earlier was already strange enough for her that Clementine did not want to experiment more with it just yet. Thankfully, Violet seemed like she was done with this particular accusation.
Violet, still feeling bad about the whole thing, wanted to apologize properly. However, she didn't want her question left unanswered as well. With a serious tone:
"Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't think you'd take it that seriously." Violet apologized. Clementine knew exactly why she took it that seriously, and didn't blame Violet for not knowing about the whole memento hunt ordeal.
"It's fine, Violet. I'm sorry too, for the punch." Violet just rubbed where the punch hit and put on an expression that implied "Not bad…". Both smiled to signal that their apologies were accepted.. However, Violet still wanted that answer. In a serious but a bit frustrated tone:
"I, just… Don't understand. Like, the moment you came to Ericson, you immediately started to care for people. Listened their concerns, solved them, make them your own even..." She switched to a more surprised voice-tone and continued: "...Hell, you did all that while still taking care of him!.." she pointed towards AJ with her eyes. Then, she got closer to Clementine, enough that they could easily reach each other. Violet hesitated at first, but she put her hand right where Clementine's heart is. With an inquisitive and sentimental voice, Violet continued:
"...You have this huge, compassionate heart… But why is it empty?"
To love…
If Violet's hand wasn't enough to baffle Clementine, her question sure got the job done. At first she got really confused as to what Violet was trying to do. Within the seconds that it lasted, she had no idea what to make of this touch. But at that point, she also received the question which made sense of one matter, but completely messed up another.
A part of her got frustrated that Violet was still trying to pursue this question. But deep down, Clementine also knew that her intentions were nowhere near malicious. It was obvious to her that Violet just wanted her friend to be happy, to feel love. Love of every kind…
To not show her brief frustration, in response to the question, Clementine raised her right hand in front of her and pointed her index finger down towards still sleeping AJ.
"Come on, be serious!" Violet insisted with a smile. Although she took it as a joke, which Clementine was hoping that she would, it wasn't really far from the truth for her. AJ really was a part of the reason why she didn't want to commit to something like a romantic relationship. However, seeing how unconvinced Violet was, she felt like there was no choice but completely explain why the reason was AJ.
Clementine couldn't believe she was about to share this memory with Violet, as she dropped her gaze towards AJ. Before even starting it, she already felt shy and she started to blush a bit. Without raising her gaze, she looked at Violet with a side-eye. Her cheeks all red, she said:
"Well, I almost kissed Louis."
"No, you didn't!.." Violet almost screamed in disbelief. Clementine had to shush her down while trying to hold down a chuckle. "...Tell me… everything… right now!" Violet added, full of anticipation and curiosity.
"Remember the night, bitch Lilly attacked Ericson?" Violet put on a suspecting face and nodded. "Before that, we had a game and afterwards both of you wanted to hang out with me."
"Yeah, you dick! You ditched me!" Violet said in a completely sarcastic tone.
"Oh, come o…"
"Your loss." Violet cut as she turned her head away from Clementine theatrically.
"Well I did that…" Clementine responded with a theatrical tone that matched hers. However, as she continued, Clementine replaced it back to a more serious tone: "…because earlier that day, he opened up to me and apologized." Seeing how Clementine went back to being serious, Violet dropped the act and asked:
"For?"
"Marlon. How he acted towards me an AJ afterwards. I mean, it did break my heart at the time, but… It was his best friend and it was obvious that he had no idea how to deal with such a fucked-up situation." Violet absolutely abhorred Marlon, still. However, she also couldn't help but acknowledge how absolutely horrible the whole thing was for Louis.
"After that apology and him inviting me to his 'piano duty'…" Clementine put in quotes, which was successful at getting a chuckle out of Violet. "… I felt like he was actually trying to open up more and… I did not want to deny him that." Violet nodded understandingly.
"I went into the music room. He was already on the piano, practicing..." Both gave out a smile to that remark. "...Then I remember him trying to prank me which was… goddamn awful." Clementine said as she laughed towards the end.
"Of course it was." responded Violet, joining in on the mockery with her own laugh. As the silence was achieved once more, Clementine continued:
"But then, there came a point. He dropped all act. Got really serious, all of a sudden. He further apologized for his attitude, which was exactly what I expected..." As her sentence ended, she smiled and her voice started sounding more sentimental.
"...But then, he said how everyone was not taking him seriously most of the time. How… everyone would just leave him as soon as the jokes and games ended..." Clementine turned her gaze towards Violet, looking right through her eyes, she said:
"...But how I didn't." Violet, content with her previous judgement:
"Told you so…" she said while smiling. Clementine continued with the same tone:
"As soon as he said that, my heart just… stopped. I did not see it coming. I wa…"
"Girl, how the hell did you not see it coming?!." Violet intervened with a sarcastically frustrated voice. "...All those stupid questions he asked, all the gestures… I mean, really?.." she asked and towards the end, she tilted her head to side, judgmentally. All Clementine could do was just look at her, empty as a clean slate, and blink. It seemed like she truly had no idea.
"...Anyways, continue." Violet said after realizing how clueless Clementine was on the court of love, which frankly she found adorable.
"Umm, I remember saying I liked him. When I did, he had this silly surprised face. He started saying bunch of awkward stuff…" Clementine couldn't help but chuckle as she said that. "… He had no idea what to say… what to do… The whole thing was… just… lovely, you know?.." Violet responded with just a smiling nod. Knowing Louis for so long, she knew exactly what Clementine was talking about.
"...And that right there, was the point where I almost… kissed him. It just felt… genuine..." As she finished, Clementine dropped her gaze towards still sleeping AJ. With a lower voice, she kept going:
"...Then, AJ entered my mind. I…" She said with a sigh attached to it. "...I got afraid that… I would lose control of my focus… That I would start caring less about AJ… I just got silent… didn't say a damn word till Ruby called out to me for the lookout shift. You know the rest…" Violet put on a bittersweet smile and nodded understandingly. Clementine raised her head to look at Violet:
"...I didn't think I could afford a commitment like that. I believed it would risk AJ..." Then, she returned her gaze back to AJ. With a smile, she said:
"...I guess, I still do."
To deserve…
The rest of the night was uneventful for the two young survivors. After the talk they had; they just decided to enjoy the peaceful scenery they were wrapped up in silently, especially since Violet got the answer she sought from Clementine which made her appreciate how prudent she was for AJ even more.
A quick but unremarkable breeze swept through the hill. It was nowhere near enough to send chills down anyone's spine but that didn't prevent Clementine from removing her jacket to make it a blanket for sleeping AJ. She adjusted the jacket to completely cover him and continued to caress his head with a smile.
Violet was also smiling as she watched Clementine's effort to further comfort AJ. However, her eyes caught something odd on her arm. It kind of looked like a burn mark, but as Clementine turned to her side a bit in order to adjust the blanket, the moonlight gave Violet a pretty clear vision.
"Umm… Clem... What's that?" Violet asked. She squinted her eyes in inquisitive fashion, looking at her left arm. What she just saw was a branding mark on Clementine's arm. It was an encircled "2" with the number's topside shaped to look like an eye.
"Oh shit…" Clementine almost yelled as she immediately tried to cover the mark with her shirt's sleeve to no success. She completely forgot that she was wearing a short sleeve under her jacket.
"It's… umm…" Clementine was completely off-guard. She averted her eyes from Violet in shame. To this day, she tried to be really careful not to reveal this mark to anyone. She was always afraid of a New Frontier victim finding out that she was one of them.
"Clem, you okay?" Violet asked. She was starting to get worried as she saw how her friend was struggling. Clementine stopped trying to hide the mark and looked towards Violet. She didn't seem angry, or judgmental. Just… curious and a bit concerned.
"Wait… you didn't recognize it?"
"The symbol? No, not really... I just wanted to know why you would do that..." No word could describe how relieved Clementine felt after what Violet just said. She really thought that Violet recognized the mark and was about to expose her. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she corrected her posture and assured AJ's position on her leg.
"...You wanna tell me what all that was about?" Violet asked. Her concern for Clementine sounded heartfelt.
"I don't know, it's... a pretty long story." answered Clementine. As much as she appreciated Violet's concern, she wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about her past with New Frontier. Violet theatrically looked at her empty wrist and said:
"I got time." Despite Violet's efforts to ease her mind, Clementine really did not want to dive into the memories of that part of her life. Especially not after what just happened.
"Vi, please... Not right now." she said in a soft tone. Her head was tilted down in an angle that casted a shadow on her face.
"O… Okay..." Although she said that, Violet was still curious as to why she wanted to hide it. "...But, um... Do we have to worry about something? Are you in danger?" Clementine just kept her silence. She was still looking at AJ.
As much as she didn't want to, Clementine found herself deep into her thoughts. Her mind started wondering through her memories. The ones that she tried not to resurface. Dark ones… The ones that made her feel the shame and fear that she felt just now. The memories of what she became after she thought she lost AJ… The memories of what she did to get him back… The doctor… The ranch… Even though she wanted to prevent all this, it was happening.
Violet felt horrible and angry. Angry to herself because she just had to pry, didn't she? Her desire to know everything about her friends were starting to become a nuisance and she knew it. She was about to apologize for it but… She heard a voice. A voice that was about to make her feel even more horrible...
Clementine was wailing softly. Her face was still down, but the tears that were falling from her eyes down to her crossed legs were glaring for a split second under the influence of the moonlight. As soon as she understood what's going on, Violet rushed towards her friend's right side and hugged her.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Jesus, I'm…" She didn't know what else to do other than apologize. She should've known! She should've known not to fucking tamper with something that her friend obviously didn't want anyone to know about. Her self anger was through the roof, but she felt like all she should do right now is let her friend cry on her shoulder, for as long as she wanted.
With the hug's embrace, Clementine started to let her emotions flow more as her crying intensified and she threw her arms around Violet as well. After a minute spent like this, Clementine started to catch her breath and break the hug. As soon as they were on the same eye level again, Violet said:
"...Clem, I had-"
"How did I deserve you?.." Clementine cut, her voice still trembling. "...How did I deserve any of you?.." Abacked from the question, Violet's eyes were wide open, not knowing how to respond. Escaping her eyes from Violet's face, Clementine proceeded with the same trembling voice:
"...I did… so many bad things… To get what I want… To punish who I want… To get AJ…" Throughout, Clementine was continuously sniffling. It was clear that she was fighting hard not to sob again. She slowly caught her breath before she started speaking again:
"...These last couple days… The happiness I felt was so… intense that I couldn't believe it. AJ's future, what Aasim did for me, these reunions, what you're doing, I…" Towards the end, her voice started cracking again. And as it did, Clementine turned her eyes back to still shocked but listening Violet:
"...Here I am, trying to hide who I really am like a fucking coward… And you're asking if I'm in danger?.." she said as she let out a self-pitying laugh towards the end.
"...I don't deserve your sympathy… I don't deserve it… I don't deserve it when I denied so many others… this…" Clementine almost yelled as she raised her hands in order to refer to everything good that happened to her. It looked like Clementine was about to start wailing as her voice started to shake and her face got sour again. As she started to escape Violet's gaze in shame, suddenly she felt Violet's hands on her cheeks, gently turning Clementine's head towards her.
"Hey, hey look at me..." Violet's voice was calm. She looked at Clementine with reassuring eyes. "...I don't care what you did, who you've killed or who you've wronged..." As Clementine received her words, still in her self-accusing thoughts, she tried to escape from Violet's hold by shaking her head in frustration. But Violet didn't let it happen by holding onto her friend more firmly. Clementine had to listen what she had to say.
"...Hey! Look at me!.." Violet yelled with a bit more serious tone. "...So you've killed, huh? So what? I bet my ass all of them fucking deserved even worse!.." As she finished, she replaced her voice with the original reassuring one that she started with.
"...When I look at you, I see a friend whose heart lacks malice, I see an adoring mother who is doing such a magnificent job that she inspires everyone around her, I see a fucking hero who is not afraid to put herself in danger if it meant protecting the people she loves… So stop fucking being sorry for who you've denied. Instead, feel proud of those you've allowed, cause God knows one trumps the ever-loving shit out of the other!.."
Clementine felt her head spinning. All these endearing praises she was getting struck with felt like they were paralyzing her. Especially what Violet said about motherhood felt like it sat on her heart, taking her breath away. Violet, not done yet, got closer to Clementine's face and with a whispery but also affectionate voice:
"...When I look at you, I see a badass who deserves every single goddamn good thing that's left in this fucking world…" Violet felt like she just dropped a truck out of her chest. She was drunk, surely, but she meant every single thing she said and was glad that she finally said them.
With the last words out of her mouth, Violet pulled still perplexed Clementine towards her as she also got even closer. After this heartfelt moment, Violet was sure what exactly she was feeling towards her friend, at last.
As their lips connected, Clementine couldn't resist. Nor did she want to since she felt every single doubt, guilt, sorrow, shame and fear she surfaced a minute ago leave her consciousness in an instant. While she was in this enchanting state of mind, the only human emotion she could feel was… being loved…