The walking dead One-shots

Nightmare

Clementine has a nightmare, and Lee comes to the rescue! Mettatonlover858 on tumblr requested this one and I had so much fun writing this! I miss lee so much oh no. But enjoy!

The Everett household has been quiet for a couple hours now, just like it used to be before Lee became a foster father to young Clementine. Nowadays, when it's not late at night, his home is filled with cheerful laughter and chatter from the girl. And if Lee was honest, he much more preferred it how it is now than to how it was before. Lee has gotten so used to the noise, that now, when its silent, he can't help but grow anxious. Though, the silence is drowned out by Lees thoughts as he tries to focus on grading his students papers. He doesn't understand how college kids are still using Wikipedia as concrete evidence for their essays. 

Lee gets ready to write down a students poor grade before a scream rips him from the papers. Immediately he's flying up the stairs and bursting into his girls room, expecting to see an intruder trying to hurt her. Instead, he finds the young girl curled up in the corner of her bed, between the two walls, sobbing openly and louder. Lee stands in shock for a few moments, he had never once see Clementine cry, not even when Duck shoved her off that swing on the dairy tour, and she scraped both hands and knees. It was a jarring and heartbreaking sight. 

Gently and quietly, Lee makes his way over to Clementine. Every movement makes her flinch, and he feels like if he moves too suddenly, she'll try to run straight out of the room. He slowly sits himself down on the edge of the bed before the girl realizes he's not a threat. When she finally comes to that realization, she's launching her tiny body into his arms.

"It was so horrible Lee!" The young girl sobs in the older man's arms. Her tiny hands clutching at the fabric on his back like her life depended on it. 

"Did you have a bad dream?" Lee asks, even though he knows the answer. 

"I saw my mommy and daddy...but they were monsters! They tried to get me, but you...you didn't let them," Clementine goes into an explanation without Lee asking. "You...you tried to make me shoot you...but I didn't! I couldn't!" The girl starts to sob harder, "And then...you became a monster too! I'm sorry Lee!" She pulls at his shirt, her arms tightening around him in an almost suffocating hug. The girl was a lot stronger than she looked.

"Oh, its alright sweetpea," Lee hushes gently. "it was just a dream. I would never let monsters get me, or you for that matter." He pushes her back slightly, getting her to make eye contact with him, though meeting her eyes makes his heartbreak all over again. Her hazel eyes were wide and wet with tears that just kept coming. "I'm right here... I'm not a monster." He gently runs his fingers through the girls tangled hair in a calming manner.

"I...I thought you left me too. I was so scared," Clementine seemed to calm down a bit, taking slow, hiccuped breaths as lee brushes her hair out of her face, again meeting her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere sweetpea, I'm always going to be here for you," Lee gives her a tired smile, which she weakly returns. Her eyes drop for a second, before she lifts her hand, holding up her small pinkie.

"Promise?" She asks, her bottom lip slightly starting to shake again. Lee lets out a small chuckle before wrapping his much larger pinkie around hers.

"I promise." He nods, and her eyes brighten with hope. She removes her pinkie from his to push herself forward and into his arms again, giving him a tight and loving hug as her tears finally stop flowing.

"If you break that promise, you have to cut your pinkie off." She reminds him as she sits back down. Lee again chuckles, once again reminded of how smart this young girl was. He brings both hands to her cheeks, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

"Yeah...I know." He then pats her head with his hand before standing up, holding his arms out for her. When she gives him a look of confusion, he raises a brow at her. "Don't you want to sleep in my bed with me tonight?" He asks, and the girl laughs.

"Well, since you asked," She grins, and then stands up on her bed, letting Lee pick her up, resting her on his hip before making his way to his room. He tucks Clem in before turning off the lights as he gets into the bed next to her. The small child snuggles up comfortably into his side, her eyes fluttering closed as a happy smile plays on her lips. "I love you, Lee." The girl says softly. Lee paused for a second, in all the months that they had lived together as a family, this was the first time Clementine had said those words.

"I love you too, sweetpea," Lee responds, smiling up at the ceiling before he closes his eyes.