Chapter 5: Heal Me When I am Broken
Louis, Violet, and AJ returned to familiar grounds after crossing paths with some survivors from the caravan group. Louis slows his pace down a little to fall in line with Violet, who seems a bit on edge from meeting one of the girls from the other group.
"You okay, Violet?" Louis asks
Violet looks at Louis, "Just want to get back to the school." Louis looks forward to keeping an eye on AJ. Then the young adult went ballistic at seeing Clementine's old hat and wondered how he knew Clementine. Violet spoke just now, breaking his thoughts, "Who the fuck are they?"
Louis looks in Violet's direction as he answers her question, "A few days ago, Clementine asked AJ and me to look on the mysterious caravan of people just beyond the old safe zone to find out if they are friendly enough to want to trade or work out something with them. I saw that Indian girl," Louis was interrupted by Violet just a bit.
"Maya," Violet said, as her gaze shifted back behind them just a bit.
"Right, Maya, and I believe the other girl is her sister. They were out gathering food or supplies with the guy with glasses and a redhead older lady when Aasim and I were trying to find more food. I told Clem, I didn't feel comfortable making that call of getting in contact, and I am so glad I made the right choice." Louis finishes.
"Well, it is obvious your girlfriend has a history with the man who has glasses. He saw AJ's hat and went berserk, and advanced onto him." Violet said and for the first time acknowledged Louis's relationship with Clementine.
Louis looks slightly ahead at Aj, who is posing danger, "Yeah..well, Clem did have a dark past."
Violet nods, "You might want to ask her if she knows a man named Arvo."
Louis looks at his friend and knows she does have a good point, "I will when we get back." He pauses as he just realizes that Violet reference Clementine as his girlfriend, "Did I hear you correctly? You called Clementine my girlfriend."
Violet rolled her eyes, "Yes. You don't need to make a big fuss or anything. Jeesh."
Louis nudges her shoulder, "Thank you, Vi, it means a lot to me really."
Violet sighs, "Yeah…whatever." She then moves up a pace or two to lead them back to the school as Maya is still on her mind and got to her.
Once they reach the gates to the school Tenn waves down from the lookout tower as AJ, Violet and Louis came through. Clementine and Ruby are attending the greenhouse and making sure the herbs are growing smooth. Aasim feeds the new horse Scarlet what Ruby calls her when Violet and Louis came to one of the picnic tables.
He gives the last of the hay to the horse and then walks over to see what the scavenging crew came up with. "Find anything?"
"Some canned food, matches, and Vi found some medical supplies which are in dire need," Louis reported.
Violet sighs, "Almost had a close call with several walkers, but we managed." She then made eye contact with Aasim, "And ran into some creeps, from the Caravan."
That surprised Aasim. "You made contact with them."
"Actually they came and surprised us." Louis jumped in.
"Well, they wouldn't have been if you would have let the bore go instead of chasing it." Violet reminded Louis.
"I was trying to bring back something other than rabbits and fish for us to eat. It has been forever since we had, venison or pork to eat." Louis defended his actions of stalking the bore. Violet shook her head at his idiocy.
Aasim looked at the two of them, "Did these new people follow you?"
Violet moves her gaze from Louis to answer Aasim, "No. A girl in their group let us go, and they went back to their camp. But a person in there was really hostile towards AJ when seeing his hat. If it wasn't for me and the other chick in that group, he would have… let's just say it wouldn't have ended well."
Aasim looks at Violet and then in the direction where Clementine is, "Well, that might be something to ask of Clementine later on tonight when she is feeling better. She looked like she was in pain from you know.." Aasim trails off. He then shook his head and adds, "I got to go out scouting for food for tomorrow." Aasim then looks to Louis, "I finished Clem's new foot. Have her test it out when she feels better."
Louis nods. Violet then walks off to where Tenn is to do lookout duty. Before Aasim takes off to hunt Louis turns to him and asks for a favor, "You got a second Aasim."
Aasim turns on his heels to look at Louis, "Sure. Only for a second."
Louis looks down for a moment and then at the smartest person Louis knows around her, "Can I ask you to help me with a project I have in mind."
Aasim rolls his eyes, "Not another one of your stupid fixing up the music room thing, or your piano. I don't have time to…"
"It isn't about that I swear…." Louis interrupts a little.
"Okay.." Aasim plays along with what Louis has in mind.
Louis pulls out the notebook of ideas for building a treehouse from within his inner pocket and hands it over to Aasim. "Can you help me build a treehouse?"
Aasim looks at the notebook of ideas AJ and Louis wrote down together weeks ago. Aasim took his eyes off the book and up at Louis, "Seriously, this seems a waste of our resources. And who is going to use this?"
Louis cast his look away for a moment then returns his gaze to Aasim as he answers, "It's for Clementine. I want to give her something special, as a gift. When we made an imaginary home together on the walk back from the Raider fight, I know we can't build the house we designed together or thought of because it was impossible to do. But I figure I will give her one ticket item thing she voiced to me of one last flourish to bring the home altogether. She wanted a treehouse, and she will be getting a treehouse."
Aasim stood there in silence as Louis spoke. Then he softly spoke out, "You really love this girl huh." Aasim half smiles at Louis's stare. "Planning a future for her, and giving something she wishes she had. Sounds like you are invested in spending your life with her and making her happy."
"It's not like I am asking her hand in marriage here or anything." Louis shot back.
"Actually with this kind of romantic gesture Louis, it does kind of say that." Aasim pointed out.
"What are you some kind of love doctor," Louis asks getting a bit frustrated with everyone picking on his new feelings for Clementine.
Aasim chuckles, "I will see what I can do Louis." Louis walks off and before he does Aasim tells him straight up, "Louis, if you really love her in the way your actions show, just say it to her. We all know how you two feel about each other. I'm sure she does as well."
Louis pauses and turns to look at Aasim, and admits to him "I don't know how to express what I feel or say it in the right way. She is the first person I am crazy head over heels nuts about. And I feel I am going to say something…..stupid."
Aasim rubs the back of his neck as he too shares the same insecurities with his own true feelings with Ruby. Then he gazes at Louis and puts a hand on Louis's shoulder, "Say it from the heart, Lou. I'm sure Clem wouldn't mind if you say dumb things. She kind of digs you, which I never understood why."
Louis smiles at him as they had a bro moment for once. Louis than with a smug look looks at Aasim and says, "Well…maybe I have more romantic charm than you do, and know how to flirt."
Aasim rolls his eyes and punches Louis's arm lightly, "Well, if you don't need my advice then don't ask for it."
Louis jokingly laughs, "I was only messing with you. You make it too easy. But thanks again for helping."
Aasim looks at him and smirks. Just before he walks away, he looks over at Louis, "Clementine is in her room taking it easy. She looked like she was in pain." He gave Louis a nod for encouragement to go see her. Aasim walks away as he prepares to head out and hunt and set traps for tomorrow morning.
Louis looks in the direction of the dorms and goes tends to help Clementine with what she needs.
…
Maya travels back to camp with her little sister ahead of her. When Maya got to camp she places her bow and arrow with the rest of the weapons as the older black guy was sharpening a knife when he spoke, "Sounds like you had an eventful day."
Maya looks at him with her brown eyes, "I shot a bore and managed to find some herbs to help with fevers."
"That is not all according to Arvo, who is talking to Bonnie. You ran into some kids I hear." The man replies.
Maya looks at him through the shadows. And the dread hair boy looks almost identical to this man, "Yeah…they snuck up on me when I was tracking the bore down. One of them a boy almost got between me and my arrow. Funny thing is, he looks a bit like you, Robert."
The man stops sharpening a hunting knife and fixated his brown eyes on Maya, "Who."
Maya looks down at the ground trying to remember the dread hair boy's name, "I think from what I gather from the little five-year-old kid that was with them, refers to him as Louis."
Robert looks at her, "Did you get his last name?"
"No. Why does that have to matter…" Maya asks.
The man grew silent as he leans back down on a wooden chair, "Forget it..not important."
Maya looks at him for a moment longer, but he continues with his task of sharpening the knives. Maya shakes her head as she walks away from the weaponry tent and makes her way to her tent. Before she does she takes off her stitched pouch bag she brings when scouting for herbs. She places rosemary and lemongrass by her tent for good health, then enters. She shares her tent with her sister as Aniya is all she has left of her family. She is convinced the rest of her tribe is all dead or turned. She lays on her straw bed and pulls out her hawk totem necklace from under her shirt and traces over the details of the necklace her grandmother made her years ago. A faint voice echoes from a distant memory of her grandmother as she runs her fingertips over the wings of the wooden bird figure.
Remember Maya, keep this close to your soul.
What is it?
It is your spirit animal and a guiding way to our ancestors. You are a healer and a noble leader Maya. The Hawk in you will come through in your darkest hour. Remember the way of the Lakota life. Our stories live within you and use the stars at night to guide you when you are lost. No matter where you are, our ancestors are always listening and will guide you when you need them to.
Just then her sister comes into the tent which breaks Maya's memory of her grandmother and snaps her back into reality. Maya tucks her hawk totem necklace back under her shirt as she turns to look at her sister.
Maya picks up Aniya's slight disapproval look, "What is it?"
Aniya casts her sister a look and shrugs, "Nothing."
"You know I can sense you're angry and disappointed in me right?" Maya asks. "So say what you got to."
"You shouldn't have let those three go so easily, Maya," Aniya said.
"They are not a threat I told you," Maya responded. "You think I would have picked up that vibe when we all crossed paths? I'm an empath remember."
Aniya flashed her an annoyed look, "You don't have to constantly remind me of your rare gift Maya, I know."
Maya pushes up from her bed, "Well then trust me when I am speaking the truth."
Aniya casts a look downward and nods in silence. Then she shot her eyes at her sister, "You hesitated a bit when the blonde girl moved past you, and you never hesitate."
Maya still didn't know what the hell happened between her and the blonde girl. Her pale hazel eyes got to her for some reason, and her voice was cool and raspy. Maya shook her head and looks at her sister as she responded to her question, "I was tired from tracking that bore all afternoon, okay? You know how long I tracked that fucking bore. From the coastline of the river up until the spot I found those three kids." Maya told a half-truth and a half-lie. But still, she didn't know how she felt when coming across the blonde hair chick. She thanked her ancestors that Aniya did not have her gift and sniffed out half-lies.
Aniya shrugged as she plops down on the bed, "The dread hair boy was cute though, I do admit."
Maya picked up on that, "Don't start to fall for strangers now, we don't know them you know."
"I know I am not stupid. But can I say he is cute? and funny. Charming." Aniya admitted.
"I guess. But don't put in hope when there is none do you hear me." Maya advises her sister.
"I hear you," Aniya responded. Then she eyes her sister, "What was Arvo going on about when he saw the little boy with the hat that has a D on it."
Maya looks at her sister then her gaze shifted out at Arvo and Bonnie, "How the fuck do I know. Whatever it is he has some beef with the girl who used to wear it."
Aniya looks at her older sister, "Did you share conversations between the three strangers before Arvo and I showed up?"
Maya turns her gaze from a distance to Arvo and Bonnie as she looks at her sister. She doesn't want to tell her everything the little boy told her, but she did not want to lie to her sister either. So she told her a little, "Yes, only to get the names of the three strange kids."
"Do they have a group?" Aniya asks.
"I am assuming so, they refuse to tell me when I asked that. And the little boy there with the hat was about to tell when the dread hair boy named Louis ushered him away before he said anything. But I am guessing they are not the only kids in the forest out here. There could be more." Maya admitted.
"Is one of them the leader? The blonde." Aniya asks once more.
"From my impression of reading her body language no. She didn't have the leadership quality trait, of taking command." Maya said.
Aniya nods to that, then she looks at her sister, "Did they tell you who their leader is?"
Maya eyes her and worded her words carefully, "No. They wouldn't give me that information. And one of them tried, but the blonde silenced him." Aniya nodded and then rolled onto her back and didn't bother her sister with any more questions. Maya breathes a silent sigh as she doesn't want to give up this new group's leader's name. She will keep it to herself for now until she gathers more information. She eyes Arvo as he makes his way to his tent. She doesn't trust the Russian guy in her group, and how he went off on the little boy like that raised some red flags. Maya eases her tired body on her makeshift bed and rolls on her side as she closes her eyes for a little nap and relaxation before dinner.
…..
Louis walks into the dormitory and makes his way down the hallway to Clementine's room. The red sunset shadows illuminated the hallway with dark shadows overcasting. Louis pauses at her door as he hears soft sobs coming from inside. His face pulls together in a concerned frown, as he knows she is crying.
He softly knocks so he doesn't startle her when he comes in. When she doesn't greet him or even voice to him to come in, he turns the door nob anyway and pokes his head in. "Clem?"
From where he is standing he sees Clementine in her bed, hugging a pillow from the pain she is enduring. It broke Louis's heart to see her in such agony that he wishes he was the one to lose a foot not her. I wish he can bare that pain. Without another word, Louis closes the door and moves to her side in a gentle walk.
When he was by her bedside, Louis said nothing, and all he did was gently touched her shoulders, to let her know he is there. When she didn't flinch from his touch, he slide his body to lie beside her and gently wraps his strong arms around Clementine's small body and brought her close to him as he held her until she eases up on her sobbing.
Louis felt Clementine gripping the bedsheets as more soft sobs escaped from her mouth. When he heard the soft cries, he hugs her tighter, nuzzles the back of her neck, and kissed the side of her cheek, letting her know how much he loves her and want her to be okay. His right hand slid down to hers, as he entwines his fingers to hers letting her squeeze his hand if need to, to take the edge of the pain off and into him. Louis can take the pressure off her squeezes, he just wanted her to be in less agony. Because seeing her in pain, an invisible pain, that he can't help but to hurt and made him feel helpless. The only thing he can do for her is help ease the pain she feels whatever he can, and holding her tightly was the only thing he thought of. Maybe he can transform healing powers to her this way.
Clementine took the hint and lets her grip go on the bedsheets, and gripped Louis's hand instead as more tears fell out of her eyes and soaked in the worn-out fabric of the pillowcase. Louis then softly hums a soothing melody to her to help calm her and her pain and give Clementine something to focus on other than the pain.
Hmmm humm humm. Humm humm humm. Humm humm humm. Humm hum, humm hum humm. Humm humm humm hum humm humm. Humm humm humm hum humm humm. Humm humm humm hum humm humm. As Louis hums out the melody to the love theme of one of his favorite piano pieces, as he repeats the melody out loud in a flowing rhythm.
Clementine hears the soft melody Louis is singing to her, and her breathing slowed as she eases in her sobs and focuses on the song Louis is humming instead of the pain. She holds Louis's hand and nuzzled his other arm that was wrapped around her chest. When the pain eases and no longer causes her leg to spasm she eases up on squeezing Louis's hand tightly, but her fingers still remain entwined to his.
Clementine lays in bed with Louis holding her close, in a soft whisper she finally utters a word. "Thank you."
Louis looks down at her and smiles to her as he nuzzles the back of her neck breathing in the sweet scent he loves so much. "Any time."
Clementine turns her head slightly to look at his charming face. Then she rose and sit up with her knees to her chest as spoke out her pain as she knows what Louis is going to ask, "Nights are sometimes hard for me. I was having pain in my leg. And then something came over me as I lost control and just sobbed. I don't know what is going on with me. My mind keeps circling around the idea that I am damaged goods, and not the same Clementine as before, and you all will look at me and start treating me….. differently. Like I am fragile glass, a burden."
Louis sat up with her as he puts his legs on either side of her as spoke softly behind her ears, "You are not a burden Clem. Those are your inner demons talking and telling you false truths."
Clementine closes her eyes as she wants to believe in his words, "I want to believe that is true of what you say, Louis, of people not looking at me like a burden."
Louis sighs, "Clem, no one will look at you differently. And you," he puts his soft hand under her chin to have her look at him. He eyes that golden amber gaze a moment then spoke what he wants to, "You are not a burden to me, to AJ, or anyone at this fucking school. And never have been and I can prove it." Louis then eyes her lips. He then in one smooth motion leans down and kisses her tenderly.
Clementine never felt Louis kiss her like this, as she felt his hand grazing her jaw as he kisses her sweet and tenderly. It started as a sweet tender kiss, then it moved to a passionate one. Where she didn't know she can feel this strongly about someone in a passionate way. She felt her body getting a warm sensation when her lips flowed to Louis's rhythm. It felt like a fever but not. And then his touch felt electrifying. Then for the first time, she felt her senses coming alive when she collided her tongue with his for the first time. She moves her hands to touch and stroke Louis's cheeks, which Louis gladly moved his hands to run through her hair sending chills down Clementine's spine.
The moment lasted another few seconds which felt like a lifetime, when Louis pulls away from her lips, this time leaving Clementine feeling helpless and starry-eyed. Clementine slowly opens up her eyes to gaze at Louis, and a soft smile comes over her face. She looks deep into those chocolate brown gaze and melts in them. Clementine then leans down into his chest to hear his heartbeat wildly after their intense kissing and smiled at his pounding rhythm. She needed that reminder.
Louis smiles at her in his chest as he plays with the end strains of her hair, "You still have doubts though." Clementine nods in silence and heard Louis sigh. Then in a calming voice, he spoke out again, "Well, I will be the first person to sock them in the mouth if they ever refer to you as a burden." He kisses her forehead to make that a promise.
That got a chuckle out of her; that is what Louis was hoping to get out of her. Clementine softly spoke, "That would be a nice gesture of you, but you and I both know you are not the conflict starter kind of guy. Even if you are defending my honor."
Louis plays with her hair some more and shrugs to her comment, "I can be you know."
Clementine tilts her head up and eyes him, "I like you more with your sweet heart that you already have."
"You mean the heart that makes me feel like a wimp sometimes and not tough and strong." Louis looks away.
Clementine reaches up and places her hand on his cheek, "No. The tender heart that you have makes you a good judge in character and who is not hardened by this world." Clementine strokes his cheek in a loving, tender way. Her hand moves down to his collarbone area and fond the collar of his green shirt and gently tugs on it to kiss him again.
Louis felt her lips lock onto his and for the first time felt her smile when her lips met his. It only lasted for a moment or so, then she pulled away and nuzzled her nose into his chest and heard his heartbeat. Clementine softly admits to her boyfriend, "I guess I am not used to being this vulnerable, and this is an adjustment I am struggling with." She looks up at him and half smiles, "but you help give me strength back with your music. You have a gift, Lou. Knowing when someone is in pain you try and comfort them in their hour of need with what you know will make them better. Don't ever lose it."
Louis blushes a bit, looking away for a moment when he responds, "I guess…I can sense when people are down, and I try to make them feel better even if some of my sayings are stupid and dumb, and half the time, I don't know what I am doing." Louis admits.
Clementine smiles and entwines her fingers to his, "I don't think you give yourself enough credit there, Lou. You are better at it than you think you are, and that is what I like about you, and you got to me." Louis was warmed by the encouragement and gave Clementine's hands a squeeze of his thanks. She then looks at him and asks, "What was the song you hummed to me."
Louis let out a cough and was flustered when he answered because he didn't think she would ask him this. In a sweet voice and a cute innocent look, he casts his gaze down to her, "one of my favorite composing piano pieces. There are no words, just the beautiful melody on the keys. I tried to remember the pacing of the melody."
"Well, it is a beautiful melody. Maybe you can play it sometime." Clementine looks at Louis, and this time she sees a shade of red hue on Louis's cheeks, and it is not from the glow of the setting sun. Louis was blushing, and it was adorable. Clementine couldn't contain her emotions at the sight of him blushing, so she reached up and kisses his cheek as she smiled at her kisses.
…
Once Clementine settles from her pain and her self-doubt in herself, she allows Louis to take her out to enjoy this breezy nearing first of the autumn night. They missed eating dinner with the group, but Clementine needed space alone to regroup her thoughts of her inner demons and needed some confidence boosting from Louis to help mash those lies down.
Louis brings her to the table where Aasim and Willy finish making her new and permanent foot. "Aasim wanted you to try it out and make sure it fits, or he needs to make adjustments." Louis pointed out. He notices Clementine's hesitancy on the foot, and he comes to her side hugging her close. He softly whispers near her right ear, "You can try it out later if you don't feel up for it tonight, after…."
Clementine shifts her gaze from the new foot then to Louis. With a deep breath, she released a sigh and softly spoke to him, "Thank you, Louis, for being sensitive with this and my..." Clementine trails off as she eyes Louis on what happened several minutes ago in her room. She felt a squeeze in her fingertips as Louis replied to the end of her sentence that was not verbalized. Clementine moves her eyes from Louis's gaze and back to the prosthetic foot again, "But if this is going to get me to walk and move around this place better, I got to get used to it and get in the practice of using it like it is an actual foot." Clementine closes her eyes momentarily and opens them up as she places a seat on the table. Still feeling uncertain about learning to do things over with a prosthetic foot. Clementine looks at her boyfriend and then adds, "You still up for coaching to learn how to walk again and relearn everything."
Louis knelt down, so he is eye level with her, "Yes. I want you to be confident in yourself again and will be there to help you gain that back, I swear."
"It is not going to be easy, Lou," Clementine advises him. Clementine also adds in admitting her flaws, "I sometimes can be stubborn as a mule at times."
Louis nods and smiles, "I know you can be, and sometimes you will be a pain in the ass to work with, but I said what I said to you a few days ago, I want to be your rock when you need me to be when you feel like your world is collapsing and you need something to hold you up." Louis cups Clementine's face as he looks into her soft golden eyes, "I want to see that spark in your eyes again of being the confident woman that you were. How you took charge in planning the boat rescue and giving me the strength to push through my own doubts of fucking it up." Clementine smiled as he held her face in between his hands in a tender way. "You trust me."
Clementine looks into his eyes as she leans forward with her lips inches from his, "Yes." As she replies, she kisses him lightly, confirming her answer.
Clementine pulled away, looking into his eyes, and the two of them held their stare until Louis broke the look to move his legs from kneeling to long. Clementine took hold of her new foot and held the wooden object with a bent metal rod and a flat metal end piece to help with a mobility more. Louis hands her a belt cup to go around her knee, "Here, Aasim said this will secure it to your upper leg..errr knee part of your limb."
Clementine eyes the object as she shifts her gaze to Louis, "You are going to have to show me what Aasim has in mind with this."
Louis smiles and then kneels down and places the belt thing around Clementine's limb part where her lower knee should be. Clementine hands Louis the new prosthetic foot as he places it where the limb should be. Louis then shows her how to attach the prosthetic to the belt, "You wrap it like this, a figure eight, to keep the tension off your remaining limb and it will keep it cushioned and not inflamed. At least that is what Aasim is hoping with his logic." He then lets out a chuckling laugh and Clementine catches onto that.
"What is so funny?" Clementine arches her eyebrow a bit.
"Nothing….I just have a daja fu, moment that or a core memory unlocked in my brain, nor intentionally planned, but this moment seems very familiar in a certain Grimms fairytale story." Louis eyes her. When Clementine still would not get his random thought idea, he continued, "Cinderella. Prince charming putting the glass slipper on her foot to see if she is the match for him, at the end."
Clementine cracks open a smile this time as she gets his reference and rolls her eyes, and shakes her head as she chuckles, "You do love that saying, don't you."
"What?" Louis looks back up at her.
"Prince Charming." Clementine jokes with him.
"That is the dude's name in the book or story of Cinderella. The Grimm Brothers didn't give him an actual name in the story. Just 'Prince Charming'." Louis pointed out. "But it is nice to know you dig that name." Louis felt a kick with Clementine's new foot as he looks at her, "Hey." Clementine giggles with him at the thought of playful teasing him with his new nickname Prince Charming. Louis sneers back at her and playfully challenges her, "Oh, I will get you back."
Clementine one-ups him of his challenge, "I like to see you try, Lou."
"You calling my bluff." Louis comes back.
"Yes, I think I am." Clementine flirts with him some more.
Louis slowly stands as he eyes her. "You only have one leg."
"Oh, don't be fooled by this one leg." Clementine comes back with a zinger. "The other one packs a punch."
Louis towers over her just a bit, and he feels her gripping the ends of his long coat, as she is tugging on it slightly to have him kiss her passionately again. Louis reads the signals she is giving him, and he lowers his head to Clementine's and kisses her a bit more passionately this time than the usual soft sweet kiss. The other kids are around the couch by the target practice, so it is just the two of them in their little world, and the others were distracted by something else to notice the romance between Clementine and Louis. Louis kisses Clementine for a few moments more, then pulls back to put his forehead to hers, and the two of them smile and gaze into each other's eyes.
Clementine felt love for the first time in Louis's embrace. She still is afraid to say those words, but with each day she spends with him, the feelings of love keep getting stronger and stronger for him. She wonders if this is what her mother felt about her father.
Louis shook her from her what-if thoughts as he spoke, "You want to try walking? I will hold you if you need me." Clementine nods as he reaches over to the other side of the table with a wooden cane. "This is for your support when you walk with your new foot until you get used to it and don't need it. Ruby's suggestion."
Clementine looks at Louis, then at the redhead girl feeding Scarlet, and shakes her head, "Of course, she will suggest it." Clementine pauses as she takes hold of the cane in her right hand and looks back up to Louis, "Okay, I am ready."
Louis nods and watches as Clementine takes a step for the first time without her crutches and using the prosthetic foot. She was a bit wobbly with the first few steps, but she is finding her ground and getting used to her new foot. Louis stays by her closely, keeping to his word that he will not let her fall. It felt weird not having an actual foot, and she felt some pressure when she stepped down on the limb part, but the extra support Aasim made for her didn't hurt, and she was not in pain.
Louis asks, "How does it feel? Too tight? Not tight enough?"
Clementine tries to come up with words on her new foot and describe the feeling to Louis, "I don't know how to put into words how it feels if I am being honest."
Louis bobs his head a little to Clementine's reply, "Okay, let me ask you an easier question, does it hurt when you walk? Are you in pain when you take a step on that leg?" He points to her new prosthetic foot.
Clementine takes a step with the prosthetic foot and reports back to Louis on the feeling, "I feel a little pressure when I take a step and walk with it, but no pain at the moment."
Louis smiles his goofy look, "That's good, at least. Is it too tight?"
"No Lou, it is fine," Clementine reassures him. "At least this beats having those damn crutches. Aasim did a nice job on the design." Clementine looks down at her new foot.
"Willy helped too, don't forget," Louis added in.
"Yeah, but you and I both know Willy is not this logical in his ideas or thinking, and I doubt he would have thought of the cushion part, so it is not causing tension on my actual remaining limb. That has to be an Aasim idea." Clementiine eyes Louis.
"Okay, fair point," Louis admitted.
The more they walk around the courtyard the more Clementine is getting used to her new foot and walking kind of normal. Louis then decides to tell her what happened this afternoon and meet with the caravan. "Clem, can I ask you something and be honest. I wanted to wait until you were in a good spot, with your….struggles, to give you a report on what happened when AJ, Violet, and I scouted for supplies."
Clementine pauses in her walking as she picks up Louis's serious talk, which is not in his nature to do all that often. "Okay."
Louis turns to her and asks, "Do you, or have you met a person named Arvo before in your past?"
Clementine thought for a moment, then when the name clicked in her mind from back when she was eleven years of age, the son of a bitch Russky shot her and almost let her die. She looks back at Louis, "Yes. The bastard shot me when I was eleven when I warned Kenny what he, this guy named Mike, and a woman named Bonnie were going to do. Take our only vehicle, food, and supplies, and leave me, Kenny, Jane, and little AJ to die. Why?" Then further, she asks him why he knows his name when he wasn't there, and AJ was too little to remember, "How do you even know of him or what his name is when you weren't there."
Louis felt her anger and was afraid to tell her what had happened this afternoon. He looks away from her, and Clementine stares at him with an intense stare and demands him to reply to her, "Louis.."
Louis heaves a sigh as he meets his gaze on her when he replies, "Because we met up with him in the woods when Vi, AJ, and I went scouting for supplies. I think he may be with the caravan group."
Clementine puts one of her arms on her hip, which is a notion Louis took as an 'I am starting to get pissed' vibe. "I thought we agreed we were not going to engage."
"We did. They just came up on us somehow. I was trying to bring back a bore for us to eat," Louis explains.
"You were supposed to be scouting for supplies, not hunting Lou." Clementine reminded him.
"I know, but my stomach had other thoughts, and I thought it would be a treat for all of us to have some kind of pork tonight instead of the same old rabbits. " Louis said honestly.
Clementine softens her look a little as she sighs, sensing there is more to the story, "continue."
"Well, as I was chasing it, this super ninja chick who had the same thought I did, came out of nowhere and knocked me down to the ground. And pose to threaten me of taking her bore. She gave her name which is Maya after Violet and AJ came and backed me up. She started to fish for information from us." Louis explained.
Clementine eyes him, "You didn't tell her anything, have you."
"I didn't. I kept my mouth shut. And so did Vi, and Vi was keeping the situation under control, But AJ…Aj gave up your name to her as our leader. When this newcomer tried to ask AJ where you are, I step in and usher AJ away to silence him and not give away the location of our school." Louis admits.
Clementine shook her head and turns to look at AJ, who was playing with Willy some jacks. She moves her gaze to look at Louis once more, "You and I have got to teach him to know when is an appropriate time to say things and when it is not. Especially to strangers who we don't know. Thank you for stepping in when you did. How did Arvo come across you guys?"
Louis continues the report, "Shortly after Maya let us go. Then Arvo, and by the looks of it another chick like Maya comes out pointing their bows at me. Then the Arvo guy went nuts when he recognized AJ's hat, the hat you gave him, and started speaking in a different language."
"Russian," Clementine answers him.
"That's it. Wait, how do you know it is Russian?" Louis arches his eyebrows.
"Because he is Russian and started speaking it when he held me at gunpoint before he shot me," Clementine said in an angry tone. She clenches her fist, and her eyebrows folded in an angry glare. "Was the red hair bitch name Bonnie with him too? Or a black guy named Mike."
"No, just a young adult with glasses named Arvo, and then the two Indian girls, one Maya and I forgot the other one's name," Louis answers truthfully. "But Maya did mention a woman named Bonnie."
Clementine let out a curse, "fuck." She closed her eyes and try counting to ten as what she had taught herself, and took deep breaths to release her anger. She opens her eyes and looks at her boyfriend, "You were right to withhold your caution on meeting them."
"I was?" Louis asks.
"Yes. Because if they are anything as I remember them when I was eleven years old, they could be a possible threat. Especially the Russian weasel named Arvo." Clementine sighs "At least you and Violet kept AJ from telling them about this place. It is safe for now."
Louis looks at her, "Are you going to, you know."
"No, Louis, I'm not. I'm not like Lilly or the Raiders and destroy other people's camps because I feel threatened by them or what they did to me in the past. I am not that cruel. But I will still be protective and guard this place and make sure no harm comes to anyone here." Clementine admitted. "We need to not be complicit and keep a watchful eye out when hunting and scouting for supplies more carefully okay? We can be civil here as long as they don't threaten us."
"Keep vigilant," Louis adds.
"Yeah." Clementine echos. "And if they throw the first move of attack, we will be ready, okay."
Louis nods in support of her, "Okay."
Clementine sighs as she looks at him, "Thank you for telling me."
Louis tries to give her a supporting comfort smile, "You're welcome." Then sensing the mood shift, he offered, "You want me to walk you back to your room and kiss you goodnight."
Clementine looks up at him, "Walk back to my room?"
Louis scratches the back of his head out of nervousness as he replies to her, "You know in old black and white movies, how a guy does a sweet thing of walking a girl to the front door after a date and shows chivalry to her, in a romantic gesture. I would do that if we had a home, but since we live in a boarding school, the best thing I can offer is walking to your room to say good night."
That got Clementine to smile and shyly look away from him as a giddy giggle escaped her lips. In the faint light of the moonlight, he thought he saw her blush. That got Louis to smile. Clementine moves her eyes to look into his dark brown ones that have a faint glow to them from the campfire's light, "Is this what you call one of the ways to sweep me off my feet kind of thing." As she made a call-back reference to his phrase when they had their first date when going to rescue their friends from the Raiders.
Louis nervously chuckles when she says it in that way, "Yes."
Clementine then takes a step toward him, and with her left hand, she places her hand on Louis's right hand and encircles her fingers around his. Then softly, she tugs on his hand and eyes him with her eyes, saying that she is accepting his offer. Louis smiles at her and walks in line with her as the two of them hold hands to the dorms.
Once Clementine and Louis made it to room 201. Louis pauses as he looks at Clementine. She looks back at him. The heat grew between the two teens as they stared intently into each other's eyes. Louis makes the first move and leans forward first as he watches if Clementine comes 90 in his direction. She does, and that gives Louis an okay signal to kiss her goodnight. The night glow made this moment between them feel magical.
Clementine closes her eyes when her lips touch Louis's. The kiss started soft and gentle for a few moments. Clementine kisses him, and she felt his hands move from her forearms and up to her shoulders, supporting her and giving her strength. Clementine moves her hands from Louis's chest and collarbone area, and for the first time, she encircles her arms around his neck when their kiss intensifies. She guides him to the door as Louis presses her back up against it. Still locking his lips to hers and kisses deeper than earlier this evening.
She felt his hands in her hair again, which gave Clementine chills. And the crazy feverish heat is back again in her body, and she doesn't understand why she feels this way whenever she and Louis intensify their kiss to something a bit more than light kisses on lips and kiss more passionately. When Louis felt her hesitancy, he backed off and pulled his lips away from her, respecting her consent and not what his manly desires wanted right now.
For the first time, both of them were breathless, and their breaths became heavy. Clementine's eyes slowly opened as she looked at Louis when she breathlessly spoke, "Why..did you..stop?"
Louis looked down for a moment, then back at her as their bodies were still close together, "Because I sensed your hesitancy, and I didn't want to force you into something you are not ready for, or myself for that matter. Trying to be respectful and well…not get too caught up in my 'boyish' ways with my feelings for you."
Clementine admires what Louis is trying to do. "What do you mean? Like you are."
"Let's just say, for us 'men' get turned on a lot when we get caught in the heat of the moment and get passionately kissed like that. Like what we just did a few seconds ago, and we tend to not think straight, and run on our emotions, and not validate yours." Louis admits. Then he eyes her and gently touches her face, and strokes it with his thumb tenderly, "I don't want to rush this feeling I have for you, Clem, and I want to go down that road with you someday when we both are ready, and we are absolutely one hundred percent to make that step. I want us to work."
Clementine smiles at his words, and he felt her smile with his palm resting on her cheek, "I want us to work as well. You are the first guy I ever feel this passionately crazy for. And…." She looks down for a moment, she doesn't want to say 'I love you' just yet, but she is willing to ask if he would come to join her and AJ and move in with them. She eyes him as she strokes his forearm, "I know we haven't had time to discuss this matter, but. I feel comfortable with you coming and sharing my room with AJ. You make me feel safe, and I love the feeling when I get when you lay close to me at night, and I fall asleep to your heartbeat and see your sweet face in the morning." She feels Louis closing the gap for another kiss. She eyes him intensely as she asks her question to him, "I guess what I am trying to say is, are you okay moving from your room into mine and sharing a room with AJ and me."
Louis didn't have to verbally reply yes, as he tilted her chin with his forefinger and moved her lips to his. Clementine kisses him back and grips his forearm as he kisses her, not as deep as before but enough to get her to feel something strong in that profound kiss. Louis pulls back with the end of his nose touching hers. He breathlessly replies, "Yes…." He eyes her as she smiles. He placed his hand to hers and entwined their fingers when spoke his next phrase to her, "Yes, I would love to move in with you my darling Clementine."
