✰ ClemxLouis Oneshots ✰

All of Our Lullabies

"AJ? Is everything alright?" She questioned frantically, pulling the blanket off and swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

He paced over in front of her. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Then why aren't you asleep? It's late."

The boy's eyebrows furrowed together, probably a habit adopted from Clem. He paused, staying quiet before admitting, "The storm was scaring me. It's just so loud. What if it's a hur-huric-"

"A hurricane?" Louis offered, now sat up next to his girlfriend.

"That!" AJ approved. "I was reading a book about them earlier."

"Trust me, I don't think it's a hurricane. They're usually a lot worse than this." Louis assured, glancing between him and Clem, noticing a little appreciative smile on her face.

AJ shivered at the thought. "I just thought...Can I stay in here tonight? Like I used to?"

"Yeah, of course you can, goofball," Clementine agreed. "Do you wanna sleep in the other bed or with one of us?"

AJ grimaced at the nickname, but didn't reply.

"I have a better idea!" Louis chimed in excitedly. "Let's make a pillow fort."

"What's that?" AJ asked curiously as Clementine shot her head over to look at Louis.

"Is there enough room for that?" She said.

"We'll show you what it is, AJ!" Louis beamed before turning to Clementine. "And of course it'll fit, come on. Let's gather up all of the pillows we can find, then we'll take the sheets off these beds."

The little family got to work in collecting as many pillows as they could find. AJ returned to him and Tenn's room just to snatch his three Louis, being the pillow-hog he is, contributed his seven to the fort, while Clem only had one. Once that was settled, they tore the not-so-white sheets from their mattresses. The two teenagers began tying up the fabric, supporting it up with the bedposts and desk chairs. Placing two thick comforters down that AJ had previously found and dragged into the room, the group of three carefully settled into the cave of comfort.

Louis admired their handywork, his pride only swelling after he saw how excited the child now looked. "Isn't this cool, little man?"

He giggled, looking up at how the sheets rolled and folded, almost as if they were morning clouds. "It's awesome! Did you make these as a kid, Clem?" He asked, peaking over Louis' body at her.

"I did a few times with my old babysitter," she reminisced. "But I don't think any of them were as sturdy as this one."

AJ was about to laugh again, only to be cut off by yet another heart-shaking boom. He yelped and automatically nuzzled further into the blanket and closer to Louis.

Louis obviously didn't mind. AJ was the closest thing he'd ever get to a little brother, maybe closer to a son. It was just another positive to being in a relationship with Clementine, to be such an influental figure in a little boy's life. All that Louis did was hope he'd be a better dad than his own.

He wrapped one arm around AJ's shoulders, the other around Clem's waist, pulling her closer, to which she put her head on his shoulder. Briefly, he gave her a kiss on the forehead, to then begin speaking. "How about we tell some stories to distract ourselves? I'm sure you two have some interesting ones."

"I don't know. Most of our time was spent driving, there wasn't much that was interesting." AJ doubted.

Clem spoke up, making the two boys look over at her. "Then, I'll tell a story. From when I was a kid."

Louis gave her an appreciative smile while AJ stared in anticipation. Soon enough, she began telling the story of when she took a roadtrip to New York City with her parents. She explained that while in Time Square, she actually got lost after strolling off to look at a street preformer. Her parents were looking all day in a frenzy, reporting her missing to the police and such. Eventually, they found her, sitting on a nearby bench, eating the peanut butter and jelly sandwich they had packed her earlier.

After she had finished storytelling, Louis stated, "I don't believe that."

"What? Why not?" She questioned, almost offended.

"I just can't see you causing any trouble as a kid," he explained, smiling widely at the thought of Clem being a troubled youth.

"I barely even did anything! I just wanted to watch the sword-swallower," she replied.

"That's gross," AJ winced. "Why would you swallow a sword?"

"Why would you want to see that?" Louis asked as well.

Clementine rolled her eyes, although she wasn't even annoyed at the two. "I can't believe my boyfriend and my kid are both disregarding my story. I'm hurt."

"Don't worry your pretty, little head about it—we still love you." Louis teased, looking down at the girl, watching her blush for the third time tonight.

He was pulled out of his trance when AJ called out his name.

"Hm?" He turned his head. It was becoming hard for him to focus on both of his favorite people.

"Can you sing us something?" The boy asked gently. "I like your voice."

"Yeah, of course. Thank you, AJ," Louis appreciated before thinking about which song to sing.

After a moment, an option came to mind: Put Your Head on My Shoulder by Paul Anka, which was a little ironic due to how him and Clem were sitting. With it being all he could think of, he began singing softly.

Put your head on my shoulder
Hold me in your arms, baby
Squeeze me oh-so-tight
Show me that you love me too

The soft pattering of water against the glass seemed to be keeping a tempo for Louis. His smooth, jazzy voice bounced off the walls and returned back to their ears. He continued as he felt Clem stir on his shoulder, kissing it as she did.

Put your lips next to mine, dear
Won't you kiss me once, baby?
Just a kiss goodnight, maybe
You and I will fall in love

In reality, it wasn't just a maybe of that happening. Louis knew that he was completely, utterly in love with the girl, and absolutely committed to looking after the boy. Until the day he died, he promised to dedicate his being to those two. After all, they were the best things to ever happen to him.

Soon later, he concluded the song, ending it with a hum. Sighing out, thankful he remembered all the lyrics and didn't mess up, he looked to his left and right. It was charming to see that Clementine and AJ had both fallen asleep against him.

Sinking back against the soft pillows, he closed his chocolate eyes, letting the darkness overcome him. The last thing he discerned before he slipped into sleep was the muted sound of thunder, now seeming much further away.