Pinch Me

The Save

Louis POV

Neither one of us spoke on the way back to the school. And for once, I didn't try to fill the quiet with my noise; it just seemed wrong. Disrespectful, even. Violet and I just walked in silence, hearing nothing but our footsteps and the harmony of crickets chirping.

"Violet! Louis!" The sudden shouts made me jump, and I turned in the direction that they were coming from. We stopped walking, and Aasim ran to meet us, stumbling on a stone as he came. Once he made it, he put his hands on his knees while he caught his breath. "I must have ran about 10 miles looking for you guys!" He panted. "Why didn't you answer when I called?"

"We didn't hear you," replied Violet. "We were... busy." Aasim pulled back up into his normal standing position.

 "By the looks of it, you guys haven't had any luck finding Clem, either."  Violet and I exchanged a look. Aasim noticed this, asking, "What?"

"We did find her," Said Vi. "And?" He questioned.

I pulled out her hat, handing it to him. His eyes widened as he connected the dots, holding her trademark accessory in his hands. "Oh my God..."

Violet filled him in on everything, for the most part.

We all stood there for a moment, examining Clementine's hat. My throat began to tighten up, and my stomach twisted and turned.

"C'mon, let's go," Violet said finally. Aasim handed the hat back to me, and I replaced it where I had it before. Our trio turned and continued back to the school.

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The moon was high in the sky by the time we finally arrived back home. Surprisingly, no one was there at the front gates keeping watch. Violet sighed, saying, "I guess I'll take first watch. You two head inside, see what everyone else is doing." I nodded, and Aasim did the same. We entered the gates, and Violet climbed up our little platform overlooking the woods.

I trudged back to the dorms, dreading the discussion I was about to have with AJ. I still had no earthly clue how I was going to break the news to him. Aasim jogged to catch up to me, asking, "Hey, man, how are you doing?"

"I'm holding it together the best I can."

"Look, I know you two sort of had a thing, and I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry. For your loss, I mean."

"Thanks." We continued to walk toward the dorms.

Before I knew it, we were standing at the doors to the our living quarters. I placed my hand on the handle, but hesitated as I was about to turn it, retracting my arm. I had yet to figure out how I was going to tell AJ. As if reading my mind, Aasim patted my back, saying, "Don't know how you're gonna tell him, huh?"

"Nope. I have no idea what I'm gonna say," I admitted, shaking my head. 

"Well, if you need me to, I can help you," he offered. "Maybe calm him down or something."

"No, I think he needs to hear it from me," I replied. "I think I was the closest to him, after Clem and Tenn."

"Alright, if you say so," said Aasim. "Still, I'm willing to help if you need."

"Thanks, Aasim." I tried to smile, but at the moment it felt like the corners of my mouth had five pound weights dragging them down.