~~~~~
Her marks weren't something Clem was proud of, to say the least. They represented mistakes, mistakes that nearly cost her her life, and another made her almost lose something she loved so dearly.
Her New Frontier brand on her upper left arm was what ashamed her the most, the fact that she had been so stupid as to let a bunch of strangers burn a symbol onto her skin. She could vividly remember the way she had squirmed in her seat, a bunch of impatient voices telling her to stay still.
Clem could remember asking them if it was necessary, to which they replied it was, it represented loyalty, although Clem could easily say that the group weren't exactly loyal to her.
The scar was something she regretted every day, and she done everything in her power to hide it.
The dog bite however, was more of a sad, distant memory, she didn't mind it being on show as much, but whenever someone would ask about it, it brought up sad, painful memories for the girl. The cabin group was filled with amazing people who she will forever cherish in her heart, people that she missed every day.
She done well at hiding her scars. However, she tried to keep her jacket on whenever she could, but some days were just too warm.
It was one of those warm days, she had rolled up her sleeves ever so lightly, when he had noticed.
She had reached up to grab a can to start preparing dinner for all the kids, and she hadn't noticed how her sleeve had raised slightly, now showing almost all her New Frontier brand.
"Urgh...Clem?"
Clem had turned to him with a raised eyebrow upon hearing Louis' confused voice. His eyes remained glued on a certain place, she followed them, noticing that they were stuck on her left arm, on the scars she had so desperately tried and failed to hide from everyone.
Clem placed the can down with a loud thud, roughly pulling down her shirt to hide the brand once again. But it was too late for that, he had seen it.
"Clem, what is that?"
He sounded so demanding to know that it almost scared her and she flinched at his tone of voice.
"What is what?" Clem said.
"Don't play dumb with me Clementine, I saw that mark on your arm" He moved a step closer to her, his eyes filled with concern and worry.
"It's nothing"
"It's not nothing Clementine!" His voice raises slightly, causing the girl to take a step back, putting distance between them. His eyes soften.
"I'm sorry, it's just...Clem you can talk to me" He says gently, taking a step closer. When she doesn't respond, he slowly brings one hand to her wrist, the other to the bottom of her sleeve. When she doesn't move away, he begins to slowly pull her sleeve up, exposing her long ugly scar, she exhales loudly.
"How'd you get this?"
The curiosity as well as the concern in his eyes was easily spotted, and it made Clementine feel as if she could trust him.
"Dog bite" She tells him simply, watching the way his eyes widen in surprise before turning into one of understanding.
"Is that why you were so scared of Rosie when you first got here?" Louis says, things finally starting to fall into place. Clementine nods.
"Well, at least you had someone to stitch that up for you"
"I didn't exactly, had to do it myself"
His eyes widen and his jaw drops in shock, he takes an extra look at the scar.
"You did that yourself?!"
"Yeah, the group I was with thought it was a walker bite, none of them believed me when I tried to tell them otherwise, except for one"
"Who?"
"A guy named Luke, he was the best..."
"I'm sorry for asking"
"No, you're good".
"So, how old were you when that happened?"
"Eleven"
"Jesus, when I was eleven, I was probably crying over a graze"
The comment made her laugh, lightening the mood ever so slightly, Louis was good at that.
"So what about the other one?" Louis said after a few seconds of quiet.
"Other what?" Clementine said, not fully understanding what he was talking about.
"The other scar, the symbol one" He explains.
"Oh, right" The girl says, rolling her sleeve up the rest of the way, showing him the mark he was referring to.
He takes one long good look at it, before looking back to her, waiting for her to explain.
"It's from a community I used to be apart of, they made me get it to prove my loyalty to them".
"Like an initiation thing?"
"Yeah, exactly"
"Did it hurt?"
"Yeah" Clementine grimaces at the reminder of the burning pain she had experienced the day they had branded her.
"So, what happened?" Louis says curiously, breaking her out of her thoughts.
"I got kicked out, but then it fell apart shortly after that, it was being run by a bunch of assholes when I was there, but there's good people taking care of it now"
"Why'd you get kicked out?"
"Stole medicine"
"You stole medicine...after letting them brand you to prove trust?" He said, smirking slightly.
"Well yes, but I had no choice"
He nods in understanding, taking one final glance at the scar before looking away for good.
"Anything else you want to know?"
"Don't think so, but I'll be sure to come and find you if I can think of anything"
She chuckles once again, going to pull her sleeve back down. However she's stopped, Louis' hand reaching out to grasp her own.
"You should keep your sleeves up, it's a hot day"
"B-but..." She stumbles in uncertainty.
"You don't need to be ashamed of them Clem, they show how strong you are, you don't need to hide them".
His voice sounded so genuine that it caught her off guard. She took a few deep breaths before nodding at him, he slowly releases her hand from his grasp. She smiles softly at him, he returns the gesture.
She takes another look at the ugly marks, and for the first time, she doesn't feel ashamed when she looks at them.
She wore her sleeves up whenever she wanted to after that.
~~~~~
This is so bad and so rushed oof
