A/N: Imagine Choking on Flowers (the song I'd recommended last chapter) playing faintly in the background for this opening scene.


8. Instead we look around


"Clem… Clem!"

She hears it. Over and over again, the panicked sound of her own name fighting against her hazy mind. There's nothing there, only blackness. Yet at the same time, she's seeing so much at once that it hurts to keep her eyes open for more than a few seconds.

She lolls her head to the side, feeling heavy. The movement alone makes her groan in pain.

"Clem, can you hear me?"

A blurry face, looming over her as darkness surrounds everything else, hands touching her with brimming desperation, and that pleading voice shouting back at her.

"Hey, it's me. Look at me!"

Weighing further into the ground with every passing moment, her aching muscles are just begging her to move, and the words only continue to reverberate through her head as she lays numb.

"You're gonna be okay, kid… you're gonna be okay… you're gonna be okay…"


Sarah wakes to the sight of Clementine sound asleep next to her.

Some light is shining through the bedroom window, so she figures it must be well into the day already. Still half asleep, Sarah pulls her hand out from under the covers and checks her watch with her eyes barely open.

When she sees that it's only 8:15 in the morning, she curls herself further into the mattress with the satisfaction of knowing that there's still time for them to sleep in. Then her eyes focus back to the girl next to her. Clementine lies motionless on her side, her breath so quiet that the peaceful room is completely silent.

For a moment, her mind is blank. Then a tired smile automatically forms on Sarah's face when she remembers the night before, and she finds herself snuggling closer to Clementine when she remembers how she'd kissed her too.

At the time, Sarah had been so flustered and embarrassed about it. She didn't know what to think, or even what to do, and had mentally beat herself up over taking so long to fall asleep afterwards. Eventually she did, and Sarah grins to herself once more when she imagines how Clementine must have come upstairs to join her while she was sleeping, the thought comforting her.

But watching her as Clementine lays there peacefully, Sarah realizes she wouldn't have wanted the night to go any different. And she replays it all in her head until she drifts into a deep sleep once more.


When Sarah wakes again, she no longer feels the comforting warmth of the girl next to her, and momentarily feels around the mattress. With a sense of panic, she finally snaps open her eyes to notice the empty side of the bed.

The room is much brighter now, the sunlight from outside shining through the bedroom window and practically blinding her tired eyes.

She checks her watch, reading 11:35am. Then she rolls onto her back with a tired groan, figuring Clementine had probably just woken up before her, instead of whatever her paranoid mind had briefly led her to believe.

They usually never wake up this late into the day, but they'd gone to sleep well into the early morning and yet, Sarah still feels like she could sleep for hours more.

Constantly rubbing her eyes, she forces herself to get out of bed and practically stumble down the hall from how tired she feels.

"Clem?" she calls in a groggy voice. As she nears the bathroom door at the end, Sarah slows her pace when she hears faint coughing coming from the other side. "Clementine?" The door isn't quite closed, so she gently pushes it open the rest of the way with her fingertips, peeking her head through with caution.

Clementine kneels in front of the toilet with her hands gripping either side, vomiting up last night's alcohol followed by more heavy coughing as soon as Sarah walks through the door. Clementine moans painfully, not even reacting to Sarah who steps further in the room.

"You okay?" asks Sarah. Kneeling down next to her, she places a comforting hand on the girl's hunched over back.

"I feel like shit," she answers bluntly in a hoarse voice, her eyelids heavy.

"I'm sorry," Sarah murmurs softly, genuinely feeling guilty when she notices how pale the other girl looks. "You should've come to get me."

"I didn't want to. You were sleeping," defends Clementine.

"Still. I would've liked to know if you were sick instead of you just—"

Clementine lurches forward, throwing up into the toilet once more as Sarah continues to rub her hand across her back. The younger girl sniffles, breathing heavily afterwards.

"Well, you looked really peaceful, so…" Clementine shifts on the ground to lean her back against the side of the bathtub with her knees up, brushing away her disheveled hair. "Remind me never to drink that much again. In fact, don't even let me drink at all." She looks to Sarah who's kneeling in front of her. "How are you so… normal right now?"

"I mean, you pretty much ended up drinking that entire bottle last night," states Sarah. She does feel tired, but definitely not as terrible as Clementine seems to feel right now.

She ponders over her statement. "That… kinda does seem like something I would do." Squeezing her eyes shut, Clementine buries her face in her hands. "God, what did we even do last night?"

Sarah blinks, taken aback by the question. "You… don't remember?" She observes warily, partially fearing the answer.

"Well, I remember you coming downstairs. And… then I poured you a drink, which you almost spat out at first. Then… you told me you knew I was trying to make you feel better, and so I told you to keep drinking," recalls Clementine with great effort. Then she smirks weakly, escaping a breath of laughter. "Guess that plan kinda failed though, huh?"

"No, no I—I had a great time," interjects Sarah frantically, desperately trying to brush away everything else Clementine's statement implies. "It was really nice. Even though I was kind of taking care of you the whole time," she jokes, clearly exaggerating that fact.

Clementine scoffs at the idea. "Thanks for that, by the way. I just hope I didn't ruin your night," she responds, then grimaces at the toilet again. "It wasn't supposed to end with me puking my guts out like this."

"You didn't ruin it. You actually made it better," Sarah coaxes in an uplifting voice. "And I swear, I'm not just saying that."

"Well, I'm glad it helped," she says. "But… I'm not really sure what happened after that. I mean, I actually woke up in bed this morning which is a good thing, and not like... the floor."

Sarah chews nervously on her bottom lip, unsure whether she should tell her, or just change the subject all together. "So… there isn't anything else that you remember, other than that?"

Clementine presses her brows together. "No. Why?" she wonders. "Did I do something? I did something embarrassing, didn't I?" Her hand comes up to wipe her face. "God, I'm so sorry."

"No—you didn't," blurts Sarah without thinking, her voice sounding louder than she'd intended. Everything that Clementine did had been anything but embarrassing. If she doesn't remember kissing her, Sarah only wonders whether she'd still be embarrassed if she did remember, and that thought alone frightens her to no end.

"You sure?" asks Clementine with concern.

A huge part of Sarah is telling her that Clementine deserves to know, but when she opens her mouth again, she just can't find the bravery within her. "Yeah, I'm just… just clarifying," she lies, insecurity evident in her tone.

Clementine observes her suspiciously for a moment, her chin raised and eyes half lidded. "Okay, I'll trust you on that one," she finally decides, then drops her head into her hands again. "Mostly 'cause my head is just fucking killing me right now and I can hardly think."

"Well, maybe you'll feel better if you ate something?" suggests Sarah.

"No. No—don't even talk about food right now." She attempts to shake the thought away, her stomach churning all over again. "That'll just make me throw up again."

"No, its supposed to help actually," informs Sarah, rising to a stand and flushing the toilet. "My dad once told me that if you don't have anything in your stomach, it'll make you nauseous and throw up. But If you eat, then it settles your stomach or something like that."

They both know that sickness is something that's always been common for Sarah - her ongoing anxiety always forcing her to the worst situations, but neither of them choose to say anything about it. They don't mention that Sarah had actually spoken of her dad again, either. Mostly because Clementine is too busy thinking about how terrible she feels right now and is hardly even listening.

When Sarah looks down at her again, Clementine has now collapsed onto her side somehow and is groaning constantly as if she's in pain. "I don't want to," she whines, an overly-dramatic expression of distress on her face.

"Come on, get up," Sarah holds a hand out to her. "Don't make me drag you downstairs," she smirks, amused at how comical Clementine looks just laying weak on the bathroom floor, especially for someone who never likes to draw attention to herself.


"What are you doing?" Sarah can't help but get distracted from the book she's reading as Clementine pulls a pair of binoculars out of her backpack.

"Just… keeping a lookout," responds Clementine. "Making sure nothing's, you know, sneaking up on us." She raises the object to her eyes, casually viewing the neighbourhood before them as they sit on the roof of their house, lounging underneath the window. She briefly scans the rows of rooftops before them, before holding them out to Sarah. "Wanna try?"

In addition to enjoying the warm afternoon weather, the roof promises them fresh air while still maintaining distance from anything that might otherwise be dangerous on the ground, and has also become a regular way for them to pass time in each other's company.

Sarah observes the binoculars for a moment before deciding to play along, figuring they have nothing better to do. "I guess so." She lowers her book to her lap as she sits cross legged next to Clementine, making sure to fold over the page she's on. "And… what am I looking for exactly?" she wonders while peering through the lenses, her eyes meeting nothing of interest.

"Walkers, people, vehicles… anything moving that isn't us, basically," Clementine explains while digging through her backpack and pulling out her pistol.

Sarah looks to her with concern, noticing the weapon that's now in her hands. "You're not gonna shoot, are you?"

"Not unless there's something for me to shoot," Clementine tilts her head, closing one eye and gazing down the barrel of the gun, her knees pulled up to her chest.

Pressing her lips together, Sarah looks through the binoculars again, allowing a moment to pass before speaking. "You really think there could be people out there?" The neighbourhood they live in is often quiet with hardly any walker activity, and Sarah was just beginning to get used to the isolation from others.

"I don't know. I hope not," Clementine answers while continuing to aim her gun into the distance out of pure boredom. "I mean, we already managed to run into someone. I don't think she had anyone with her but… you can never be too sure."

"Why do you say that?" questions Sarah nervously.

"Pretty sure if they knew she didn't come back, they'd have come looking for her by now. She was the first person we've seen since we got here, so… I feel like we would've seen them already."

Clementine's explanation does little to ease Sarah's worried mind, and she attempts to swallow the fear just from the thought of meeting another survivor again. "And if we do run into more people?"

"Relax," reassures Clementine in a soft voice, already reading the other girl's thoughts. "I'm not gonna let what happened last time happen again."

Sarah doesn't respond, the memory already making her uncomfortable. She continues to zoom in and out of the lenses, failing to find an argument to that promise. Even though it's difficult to believe that something bad won't happen again, she trusts Clementine more than anyone.

"See anything?" The younger girl asks after a while of silence.

Pursing her lips, Sarah's eyes are met with nothing but trees and empty suburban streets, as well as the small city just on the edge of the neighbourhood that they'd already explored multiple times. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick to reading," she decides with a smirk while handing them back to Clementine and picking up the book in her lap again.

"Fine by me," comments Clementine, taking them back.

As Sarah continues with her book, she only finds herself advancing one page until she isn't actually reading anymore and is instead staring blankly at the words before her. Her mind begins to drift elsewhere, and Sarah finds herself lost in the memories of last night again.

The way she'd made her feel in that moment, it was like nothing Sarah had ever experienced before. It was weird, and new, but… exciting. She didn't have a clue what was happening, but that feeling of uncertainty is what kept the moment alive. Like she was holding onto something. Something she didn't even know was there.

And yet, Clementine doesn't remember a thing about it.

It's almost painful - knowing that it never even happened in her head, yet it's all that's going on in Sarah's. That thought alone has been bothering her more and more throughout the day, and every time Sarah looks at Clementine, all she sees is the same way she looked at her as she kissed her.

She'd tried to forget about it, tried convincing herself that it was just a stupid mistake. But above it all, a huge part of Sarah still feels guilty for not saying anything sooner. And every minute she spends procrastinating is just another minute that she is continuing to lie.

"Hey, Clem?" Sarah clears her throat, finally breaking the silence.

"Hm?" she mumbles in response, hardly paying attention while still peering through the binoculars.

Unsure if Clementine is even listening to her, Sarah forces herself to continue anyway. "We're friends, right?"

Confused, she finally looks to Sarah, lowering the object so they hover in front of her face. "Of course we are, why would you even ask that?"

"No, I mean—" Realizing that hadn't come out the way she wanted it to, Sarah is suddenly aware of how stupid her question was. She sighs in frustration. "I mean, we're best friends, right? And that means we're honest, and we tell each other everything?"

Clementine stares down in thought for a moment. "Well yeah, I mean… I've never really had a best friend before," she shrugs her shoulders, mumbling. Still unsure why Sarah is asking this, she raises the binoculars to her eyes again without thinking much of it.

"Well, I—I think that we should. I mean, tell each other everything. 'Cause otherwise there won't be any secrets between us," stammers Sarah, now conscious of the way she's constantly pulling down the sleeves of her flannel overtop her wrists, just from how nervous she feels.

Avoiding Clementine's eyes, she considers dropping the subject all together, then figures there's no way she can start this conversation without finishing it. And for a moment, she's at a loss for words, unsure of the best way to say this, but urges herself to keep going anyway.

"And well, you know how you asked me about what happened… last night? And I said that you didn't do anything? Well… I—um…" she clears her throat. "There's something you need to—"

"Get inside."

Sarah snaps her head towards Clementine who's still looking out at the street. "What? Why?" Her eyebrows pressed together in confusion, everything she was going to say is suddenly far from her worries.

"Get inside," Clementine repeats firmly, her voice slightly louder as she rushes to stand up. "Now!"

As the younger girl scrambles to push up the window behind them, Sarah's eyes frantically scan their surroundings. Slightly leaning over the edge of the roof, she eagerly looks out at the road below them.

It isn't until she hears the moans that she realizes the horde of walkers in the distance, emerging into view as they stumble onto the road, and heading directly towards the house.


A/N: Ah yes, the calm before the storm.