𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡, 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡, 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡, chris sturniolo.

𝟬𝟭𝟲. make you break

clint watches the clearly nervous boy and waits for him to defend his actions. when he doesn't, he just shakes his head and begins to turn around.

chris notices though, and realizes he has to try to say something at least. "i..." he starts, catching his attention and making him turn back around fully. "i love her."

clint scoffs. he scoffs and chris feels like his own father is disappointed in him. "at one point? sure," he says, shrugging before continuing with a more stern voice. "now? no. you don't do that to someone you love, son."

son, chris' mind repeats. he does, in fact, want to die at this very moment.

chris clamps his eyes shut for a moment, trying to ignore the way his heart hurts and just work up the courage to continue fighting. he knows he has to continue fighting because it's for clementine. if he can't get through to her dad, he'll never get through to her.

he takes a breath and opens his eyes. "i made a mistake. please," he practically pleads with clementines father. "come on, she's with jax cunningham now," he emphasizes. he's never been shy about his hatred for the boy and he remembers talking about it with clint. he agreed and said the douchebag gene runs back in his family. turns out, he knows jax's dad. it was a bonding moment for them honestly. "just—just let me talk to her," he begs.

clint goes silent for a long moment and chris sucks in a breath. he can't tell what he thinks because of how hard his expression is, but when he speaks, it's with a sigh. "she's not here," he tells chris, watching the way his face immediately falls and giving in, "she's on the rooftop."

the rooftop is on the top of the apartment building, of course. it's accessible to anyone that lives here and chris remembers how much of a sacred place it was for clementine. it had become a sacred place for him as well, almost thinking of it as their spot. he remembers all the times they'd bring blankets up there, all the times she'd paint while he watched, all the times they'd sit in comfortable silence and stargaze—he remembers every thing.

chris' face softens with relief and he tries to express how appreciative he is. "thank you."

clint just shakes his head. "i better not hear you've disappeared again after this."

chris pauses, his eyebrows furrowing just slightly. "what?" he asks, not really understanding what he means.

"if you're going to reenter my daughters life, i don't want to see you leaving it again. this better not be the last time i see your face, chris."

chris' eyebrows raise and his chest fills with possibility. clementine's dad wants to see him here again, which means there's a part of him that's rooting for him and clementine. there's not a lot of people that are rooting for them anymore besides chris, so his heart swells a bit. chris can't resist the slight grin that forms on his face. "it won't," he assures him, nodding his head slightly.

clint gives a look that suggests he'll believe it when he sees it. "counting on it," he tells him shortly, giving the same nod of his head that chris gave him before taking a step back into his house.

he shuts the door with him and chris is suddenly by himself. he takes in a deep breath. now, it's time to face another battle—clementine. clementine's wrath is like an entire war at this point, but it's okay because chris, for once in his life, is ready to fight.