ClementineXLouis ~ The Walking Dead the Final Season

Still Secret

||Louis' POV
Louis had never expected death to be such a norm. And he hated to admit it but Mitch's death was easy to recover from - especially compared to the trauma Marlon's caused. Louis was sure the bandits wouldn't return, and if they did, their traps were still ready in case of an emergency. But for now, life was returning to normal. Or as normal as life could be without Brody, Marlon and Mitch.

To say Louis wasn't filled with guilt, grief and self-loathing would be a lie, but there was one person who had been making everything a little bit better. Making every day a little easier to endure. Giving him a purpose. A reason.

He and Clementine were currently searching the old library for a new diary.
Clementine had complained about the one he had given to her, what felt like, a lifetime ago. He hadn't expected her to like it as much as she did, but apparently she had been writing in it everyday and had, consequently, finished it. She had insisted that there was 'absolutely, positively no way he'd be reading any of it'.

"Over here!" Louis said when he found an empty notepad, wiping the dust off of it. "Looks a bit bigger too. Might take you longer to finish."
"Let's hope so..." Clementine took the book from him giving him a grateful smile. "Thanks."
"Nooo problemo." He said with a smirk.
"...Can you... meet me tonight? Just in the courtyard or something." Clementine said hesitantly.
"Sure thing. If I'm awake, that is."
"Har har." She said, rolling her eyes before pecking him on the cheek and exiting the library.

Shortly after, Louis also left the library with a large grin which he couldn't drop even if he tried. Everything had been going so well with Clementine. He simply had no reason to be glum.

But his good mood instantly dissolved as he saw how everyone else seemed to move in autopilot. Their feet almost dragged as Violet, Aasim, Ruby and Omar walked around in the courtyard, performing their duties. Understandably, they were upset. Mitch was too young to die, and they were too young to witness it. But the eerie quietness that now engulfed the school was too hard to handle.
Just as Louis had came up with the perfect idea to cheer everyone up, Violet has gathered the group together. They all sat at a table and took turns to speak. Louis wasn't sure what exactly they were saying as he was too far to hear but some words had seemed to initiate laughs while others, whimpers. But they had all seemed to loosen up a bit. Deciding the leave them be, he headed to the piano room.

He played for what didn't feel too long but when he had finally lifted his eyes from the keys and looked outside the window, it was already dark out.
He rushed his way out to the courtyard and was met with Clementine sat at one of the benches tracing a shape on the table with her finger. Everyone else must have turned in for bed ages ago.

|| Clem's POV
"Hey, sorry I'm so late I got caught up." Louis' voice said before she quickly raised her head. She was unable to hide her smile as he started lightly jogging towards her.
"I thought you actually fell asleep." She replied patting the space next to her. He took a seat.
"Lost track of time." He said with a guilty chuckle.
"Okay, well... I er...wanted to talk."
His smile instantly dropped before he took a large visible gulp. "A-alright."
"It's nothing bad just, um, nerve racking. For me."
"I'm listening." He said, seriously.
"Okay, well that's not helping..."
"Me listening isn't helping?" Louis now looked thoroughly confused.
"No! You being all serious and nervous or whatever you're being. It's... it's not helping..."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"You know what? I'm just gonna do it."
"Do what?"

Clementine took a small, folded piece of paper out of her pocket and stared at it for a couple seconds. She let out a deep sigh before speaking. "Just... don't laugh okay? It's probably really cringy or whatever but it took a long time." She put the piece of paper on the table and pushed it towards Louis ensuring to look anywhere but at him. "Much longer then I'd like to admit." She muttered.

She heard him ruffle with the paper as he opened it. She closed her eyes anxious for his reaction, remembering perfectly well what she had written:

To love you forever would still seem too short.
So when you are not with me, I wish to teleport.
For you are now part of me.
And you hold the only key,
To the heart which belongs to you.
So one can be made from us two.

It was stupid and she almost instantly regretted writing it let alone actually giving it to him. She opened her eyes and panicked as she realised he hadn't said anything yet. She turned to face him and was shocked to see him still staring at the paper, smiling.

"I said not to laugh!" She said, crossing her arms.
"I'm not laughing! I love it actually. It's cute."
"I dunno about that..."
"I can't believe you made such a big deal out of this." He said, eyes still glued to the paper.
"There's more." She said with a sigh.
His eyes instantly shot up to face hers. "More?"
"Yeah, well, kinda. I've been thinking... and it's not really official official what we are, right? Like, we were just testing the waters. Seeing what us would look like. And I..." she sighed. "I've liked it. A lot. And I hope you have too otherwise what I'm about to do will be super embarrassing and I might just have to never talk to you again which would totally suck because I really like you." He was smiling now, so much that Clem was beginning to calm down. "And now I'm rambling.... Soooo this is where I ask. This is either going to be super good or super bad but... will you... maybe... only if you want to...be my boyfriend? Like, officially." She bit her lip, anxious for a response.

Panic flooded through her as his smile dropped. "No!" He said, suddenly.
"No? Okay, alright." She said quickly, trying to hide how upset she was.
"No, I wanted to ask!" Clementine looked at him, puzzled as she watched his face turn from shook, thoughtfulness and then as if he just had a lightbulb moment. "Clementine, I just really - aw, fuck it. You're pretty. And funny. And fucking badass and apparently I'm into that - into you - so, will you be my girlfriend?"
"...yes?..." she said, hesitantly as she thought about what had just happened. "Yes!"

They were both smiling now, so wide their cheeks were starting to ache. And as if they had read each others mind, they both smashed their lips together. Louis cupped her face as Clem leaned into him, steadying herself by pressing her hands into his thighs. The kiss had probably only lasted around 30 seconds but had made both heads spin with excitement. They reluctantly pulled apart.

"Still secret?" He asked, with a smile.
"Still secret." She said, returning the smile.
"It's funner that way. Keeps us on our toes."

||Thanks for reading!!
So yesss I wrote the poem. And as you can tell, I can't write poetry at all loool but I tried. I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter will take a lil longer to come out because of exams but it defo will be soon, dw. I've been picturing Clem asking Louis to be her boyfriend but Louis being annoyed because he wanted to ask her first for agessss so I finally sat down and wrote it and I think I like it? Idk. I hope you do 💞