A Love Worth Fighting For: A Clouis Fanfiction

Chapter 5: Unexpected Encounter

Clementine looked up at Louis. "Please. Don't be mad..." she said quietly. "So earlier, when I ran out of the infirmary... I... Violet kissed me. Right after you left to get her water."

Louis had a confused look on his face. "What do you mean she 'kissed you?'" he asked.

"I mean, when I turned back to look at her, I felt her lips on mine. It only lasted a second."

Louis' expression changed from confused to concerned. "Well, surely that's not got you all worked up, Clem," he said. "Yeah, it was probably a shock. But not enough to affect you like this."

Clem slid away from him. She started crying again. Louis tried to move next to her, but she signaled him to stay where he was. "I'm fine. Just give me a second," she said, trying to dry her face. She looked at him. "I don't know how I feel about it. The kiss. Violet. I never...I never thought about her, or any girl for that matter, like that. I just don't know what to think, how to feel about it."

His look of concern had morphed into a look of irritation. "What do you MEAN, you don't know how you FEEL about it?" he asked in a harsh tone. "I thought WE were becoming something. Now, you're having second thoughts because Vi fucking kissed you? What am I supposed to think, Clem?" All traces of irritation were gone from his face; all that remained was a look of anger. "You know what. Figure your shit out," he said as he stood up and walked toward the door. "Once you've got yourself fucking thinking straight, then come talk to me," he said as he slammed the door behind him.

Clem sat on the bed, a shocked look on her face. She expected him to be a little bothered, but not that angry. She laid down and closed her eyes. More tears came, but she didn't care to suppress them. She cried until she fell asleep.

It was late afternoon by the time she woke up. She looked up to see A.J. sitting on his bed. He was looking at her with the utmost concern. "Clem, are you okay? I tried waking you up, but it didn't work.." he said, walking over to her.

"Yeah, kiddo. I think I'm fine, just worn out is all," Clem said.

A.J. jumped up on the bed with her. He hugged her.

"I love you, goofball."

"I told you, I don't like goofball."

"Well, it's what I've always called you. And what I will continue to call you, GOOFBALL," Clem said, nudging him playfully. He laughed and nudged her back.

The rest of their night was quiet. They took their turn keeping watch, ate Chef Omar's famous rabbit soup for dinner, and then retired for the night.

A week went by. Clem's ankle had fully healed, Violet was improving, and no major walker trouble. All was well, except Clem's relationship with Louis. She hadn't spoken to him since she'd told him about Violet's kiss, and she was getting very worried. He wouldn't even look at her. She was on the verge of giving up hope for the two of them.

They were getting low on food and had voted to explore outside of the safe zone. Clem, Louis, Aasim, and Ruby had been tasked with the exploration. The group set out at dawn, wanting to have an entire day to gather whatever they could. Louis had put as much distance between he and Clem as he could. Clem tried not to focus on him, instead keeping an eye out for trouble and for food. After a few hours of fruitless scavenging, they reached the border of the safe zone.

"Okay. I'll go ahead, the rest of you trail behind in case something happens," Clem said, looking at the other three.

"Right. We got your back if anything goes south," Aasim replied.

As the group traveled farther from the safe zone, Clem began to feel uneasy. There were raiders somewhere near the school, and they had no idea where the camp was. She looked back to check on the others, focusing particularly on Louis. He had a blank expression on his face.

As Clem turned around, she was struck across her right eye. She fell on her back, in immense pain. She looked up just in time to see a raider pierced by an arrow. He dropped on the ground next to her, and through her left eye saw what had hit her face. The raider had a whip-like weapon with rocks and broken glass embedded in the frayed ends. She couldn't open her right eye at all and was still feeling enormous amounts of pain. She felt someone grab her from behind, and she tried to fight them off.

"Clem, stop. It's me, Louis. I'm gonna get you safe. There are more raiders coming," Louis said as he pulled her behind a large tree.

"Tha...thank you," she said weakly, her head starting to spin. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was the sound of a gunshot, followed by a body hitting the ground and Ruby screaming "NO!!!"