A/N:
Has it been a week? Well damn. I'm finally back.
I barely slept this week and hope this coming week my insomnia dies down before I be a night quill addict.
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Modern Period of The Walking Dead Game
High School AU
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The next morning, Clem woke up from yelling outside her room. A pillow couldn't muffle out the noise from outside her door. The girl sat up, rubbing the sleep off her face.
The shouting increased. The clueless brunette got out of her bed, following the sound.
As she opened the door, the noise subsided into hushed whispers. The bickering never stopped. What was all that racking a few seconds ago.
Clem climbed down the steps, hoping her mother made breakfast for her. Her stomach kept yapping and scratching her gut.
Usually, the smell of breakfast would linger around the house but this time nothing. Nothing, but air freshener scented the heavy atmosphere that the girl witnessed in the kitchen.
Lee dressed in his suit and winter coat. He lifted his head up when Clem stepped in the kitchen. The wild hair on her head of curls bounced in each step as she scanned the two adults. The adults stared at her as Clem roamed the fridge.
Clem decided to take the last cup full of orange juice. She sat down on the kitchen chair and gulped the carton.
"Clem, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that." Carley scolded her daughter. Clem blinked. Not in the mood to start fueling her mother's pit. Judging by the tension, she's at her peak to explode.
"There's nothing much in here." She shook the carton.
Carley rubbed her wrinkled forehead as she nodded her head. Tired and angry at any little thing in sight. She took a breather. Not wanting to nag Clem's ears off. Clearly, the girl isn't her focus in this situation.
Ever since, Carley woke up from two hours of insomnia, she locked herself in the bathroom for an hour. She did her best to get ready for work, like applying a decent amount of makeup to mask her zombie appearance. When she came out the bathroom, she bumped into Lee and that's where everything cracked.
Carley went over to Clem, touching her curls on the crown of her head. Clem looked at her and then saw a couple of suit cases on the floor near by the arch frame.
"Are you going on a trip again?" Clem asked before finishing the orange juice.
"Not exactly, sweetie. Um... I'll be staying at my parents for a while." She told her. Clem arched her brow. She glanced at Lee, who wore a resentful frown. She looked at Carley, who is forcing a smile.
Had her parents gone mad? Do they think she's stupid? Clem could easily read the room.
By the looks of it, Carley is running away from her troubles and Lee can't do a thing to stop her.
Clem stood up in front of Carley. She not as tall as Carley but she looked her in the eyes. Searching for any type of false signs or hope that she isn't leaving them.
Carley probably want to see her parents, Clem truly hope so.
"Is something wrong with them? Would you like us to join yo-" She stopped talking when Carley pulled her in a hug. Clem's shoulders started to quiver. Fearing the worst.
"Clem, no. It's fine. I'll be there for a couple of days... or week." She tried to sound as sympathetic and calming as possible. Clem harshly pushed her back, surprising the woman.
Why is Carley leaving them? Clem panicked.
"Is there something going on between you two?!" She asked the two adults. Lee stood there quiet. Carley's face hardened.
Neither of them said anything. A small bits or pieces would cause a scene on Carley's behave. Hearing his story over again will make her believe him less and cry no tears. She couldn't stand looking at him, being near him, and feeling his disgusting rough hands.
Carley smiled at Clem.
"Everything is fine." She lied.
"Why are you leaving us? How can we make you stay? We'll do anything Carley! I-I stop going to parties or-or shovel the sno-" Clem rambled on and on. Carley sulked as betrayal tears formed at the corner of her eyes.
Lee knitted his brows. Watching Clem trying to reason with Carley. Her face was getting red while her voice trembled and hiccupped.
Carley held out her arms.
"Shhh. Clem. Honey, I'm not leaving you."
Clem brushed her off, snatched the carton and trashed it in the recycling bin.
She eyed Lee. He didn't say a word at all.
"If you guys spit up, I don't know what I'll do to myself."
Lee came up to her, but she took off, stomping up the stairs to get ready for school. Slamming the door hard, startled the adults in the kitchen.
The dark brown male sighed.
"I should take Clem with me." Carley said out loud. Her husband shockingly stormed towards her.
"Carley this is insane! Why won't you believe me!?"
"Believing a perverted man who target younger girls is unacceptable and disgusting! I would never think you would do something so... Ugh! I can't let Clem stay here with someone like you!"
"Carley don't say that! That isn't me! What I told you is the truth about that girl-" Carley grabbed her stuff. Can't deal with her husband's words.
"After work, Clem is coming with me. Don't even dare touch her!" She threatened Lee.
The first woman he ever loved since college, is now leaving him. And taking away their child that developed their relationship stronger and better.
This is outrageous and overbearing to handle. His head pounding as if he's hungover.
How can Lee rationally open Carley's eyes to see he isn't lying?
Now way is he giving up his marriage life and family on some stupid student of his.
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In P.E, Clementine and Violet decided to run laps together. Usually the teacher starts off fitness drills; fifteen pushups, twenty sit ups or crunches, thirty squats, fifteen lunges, and four laps around the gymnasium.
The blonde and brunette kept up with the fit students in class. Mostly the guys finished first because they live and breathe that athlete life.
Clem and Violet are simply competitive. Sometimes they would race each other to see who finish first.
This time, the girls relaxed and paced themselves. Clem's left leg felt better than last month. The teacher allowed her to exercise with the class when Clem showed him the doctor's note.
While jogging, Violet and Clem played a random game. Only to distract themselves and kill the silence.
"If the guys were gay, who would be on top and bottom?" Violet said with a smirk on her face.
Clem crackled. Out of all games, Violet picked this one.
"Seriously?!" She asked the blonde. Violet bobbed her head, her high small ponytail swinging like a mini whip.
"For instance, image Marlon.... with Louis! Who would be pitching or catching?"
Clem scrunched her brows low. Thinking hard about this.
They're tall, lean, have unique somewhat long hair, and always bromance. The guys don't mind hugging each other. If one of them don't finish their meal, the other picks at it like a vulture. And Clem assumed they still sleep at each other houses till this day.
Wondering if the boys share the bed. Curly top girl shook her head.
Clem started thinking about her... boyfriend inappropriately. A blush spread across her cheeks.
This is too easy. In an awful way.
"So... in my understanding, pitching is the guy on top and catching is the guy receiving at the bottom." She explained. Violet laughed to herself. Obviously amused by this game.
"Yup! That's right!" Violet chirped.
Clem can't believe what she is going to to say to Violet. If Louis was here....He'll murder her. Or even....choke he-
She immediately pushed that thought to the side before her eyes roll back.
"Marlon is the pitcher and Louis's the catcher."
Violet laughed her guts out. They finished the laps and Violet broke down on her knees cracking up.
"Violet! It's not that funny."
"You right. That's hilarious!!"
Clem rolled her eyes.
"Come on, let's go play volleyball." She whined. Violet wiped the tears on the corner of her eyes. She got up with Clem's help.
Later that day, Clem entered her history class. She saw Brody talking to Louis and Aasim.
Clementine ran up to them with a smile on her face. When Louis noticed her, he walked to the middle of the class room and sat down. Slouching forward on the desk with his head resting on his folded arms.
The small girl came up to Brody with a questionable expression. Kept her amber eyes locked on Louis's back.
"He's... a bit....grumpy." Brody said while looking up at Louis.
Clem crossed her arms. She glanced at Aasim for a clear explanation.
"He didn't get any sleep last night." He told her.
Clem dropped her arms on her side. Fearing that the boy caught a cold or something from the freezing weather.
The girl marched up to him with concern in her eyes. Louis looked up and forced a smile.
"You texted me before bed that you were okay. What's going on?" She whispered to him. He could tell she was worried by the look on her face and the sound of her voice.
He reached for her hand. Remembering that their relationship isn't open, he with draw his hand quickly before anyone saw.
He sighed. All he wanted is to hug her tightly in his arms and sleep like that. The night of their date, he slept like a baby under her. She wasn't heavy for him and she smelt amazing after her shower.
"Sorry. My family forced me to dinner with another family. The weather wasn't so nice last night." He sniffed.
Clementine sulked. She stepped closer to him, desire to hug him tightly. Wanting to let him know she's here and willing to comfort him.
"That sucks. Please take care of yourself." She smiled with furrow brows.
"Will do, m'lady." He winked. She smiled at him as she leaned down to his ear.
"Unless you want me to nurse you again." The girl whispered in his ear. Her warm breath gave him the shivers. He turned to her, staring directly into her golden eyes.
"Is that an invitation?" He arched his brow. She shrugged.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asked her. She scrunched her brows.
"I'm fine. Why?" She asked.
The teacher walked in the room. The students scrambled around to their seats.
"Um. We'll talk later." He whispered.
Clem rolled her eyes and went to the back row to her seat.
The lecture was boring Clem to death. Her mind would zone out from boring math problems to her parents.
Her parents were inseparable. Always hugging, kissing, and other lovey dovey things. Always expressing their love and affections. They love each other so much, how could one of them let the other go in a blink of the eye.
The thought of them two leaving her built up a long-lost pain she thought would never come back. Losing them drove her crazy. Different scenarios of her living with one parent result to one of them want nothing do with her and leave her. Leaving her alone for herself because she isn't their biological child.
If they toss her away, she rather goes back to the orphanage that had no care for her. No one care about her when she first went there. No kids wanted to play with her or talk to her. Most of them were raised as orphans unlike her. She was the odd ball.
Tears started creeping up. The pain in her chest balled up like a solid boulder, weighing her down.
Where's a hole to crawl in and be left alone and forgotten?
Unnoticed by her friend Brody, who was staring at her sniffling behind her hand. Brody texted Louis and Aasim.
The teacher had the class do some practice problems on the board, so it gave the guys a chance to glance at their cell phones.
Group Chat
Brody: Clem is crying
Aasim: Seriously? 😰
Brody: Yeah!! Anyone of you guys know what's going on? 🤷♀️
Aasim: No clue
Louis: I got it. I'll talk to her after class.
Brody: You sure? I can try and help you.
Louis: Its cool. 😌
Brody: Great!! Please text me if anything!
Louis: Sure.
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After class, Louis stopped Clementine from going to her next class. He noticed her swollen eyes, pink nose, and flushed cheeks. He knew something was up with her. She tried to hide it with her hat but he tipped the bill a bit to make sure she look up at him.
"Something is wrong." He proved his point. Clem avoided his eyes to stare to the side at nothing.
Louis wrapped his arm around her neck, strolling away from the door and noisy people.
"Clem, I'm here if you want to talk." He whispered to her. She nodded, a wave of emotions hit her. Louis dragged her down the stairs to the empty music room. Glad that no one saw them enter, he shut the door carefully behind him and pulled the girl to the piano.
"Louis... I have class in a couple of minutes..." She pouted her lips. Louis chuckled.
"We're skipping it." He stole her backpack and laid it on the floor next to the piano bench. He went down on his hands and knees and crawled under the piano.
Clementine sighed before letting out a soft giggle while watching the boy childish behavior.
"C'mon Clemster!"
She followed along, laying under the large piano, fearing if the old thing going to collapse on top of them. Louis joked about it at first, but she was in no laughing mood. In her boyfriend's arm, she buried her face in his neck. Both laying on their side to face each other and so Louis can drape his arm on her waist.
His thumb rubbing small circles on her back to soothing her. She enjoyed the small gesture and his company. Wishing that they can stay like this a little longer.
She pulled away to look at him. His face showed no expression. She scooted a bit closer to him. He smiled as he knew what she wanted. He met her half way, pressing his lips on hers.
The kiss felt long but it was short. Both aren't in the right mind to push it further. However, the light touches and comfort from each other pleased them.
Louis reached for her curls, brushing it behind her ear to see her gorgeous face fully. Visible tear stains marked her cheeks. The he could tell she was rubbing her face too much with bruised cheeks.
"Why were you crying in class?" He asked her. Finally, straight to the point.
Clem frowned her pouty lip even more so. A part of her want to avoid it and be quiet in his arm but the other half did want to be honest with him. If they're together, she must act like it. Sharing her feelings felt too mushy for her but Louis is concern about her.
"My parents are fighting and I'm not sure what to do." She said. Louis nodded his head, understanding what's happening so far in her home.
"I didn't want to say anything, but I did felt tension between them that day..." He told her. She gasped. Can't believe he noticed too.
"It bothers me because I don't want them to end up divorcing each other and I have to visit one house and the other. The trouble they are going through is destroying their dream to be together. And... and they wouldn't let me help. Without both of them, I wouldn't think...I'm scare to be alone again. They're the only ones that kept me whole." As much shit Clem pulled, they always have her back.
Sure, they would scold her about being rebellious teenager, but they still love her because growing up has life lessons, mistakes, experiences, and chaotic. They help guide her to maturity. And helping her live the rest of her life as a normal teen.
Living with one or the other, under a gray cloud is not the exact family she signed up for. Her biological parents raised her with love just like Lee and Carley from the beginning. Of course, her parents are older than them by ten years but the warm welcoming feeling they gave Clem, pushed her to keep going.
Keep living young.
"Alone again?" He questioned. She forgot. She barely told anyone she's adopted.
Clem furrowed her brows as he cupped her cheek, her eyes gazing in his. Louis adjusted himself. Propped one arm to stare down at her gorgeous face.
"I'm adopted, Louis." She felt embarrassed. Embarrassed that someone like her came from a gloomy past, witnessing no child should never face. All every kid wanted is a normal life. Unlucky for her, she didn't feel as normal. Without her parents, things didn't feel the same.
His stunned face jerked back. Taken back that his girlfriend's words. His adorable girlfriend lived as an orphan. Louis didn't believe her for a second before looking at her serious mopey face.
"Really?! How? What happened to your parents? Did they...not want you?" He asked her unsure about what happened to her back then. Clem folded her lips inward.
Memories clouding her eyes. As she blinked a tear away, Louis's thumb caught it in one swipe.
He gave her a kiss on the forehead. Ready when she is. She inhaled deeply. Appreciating his small affections.
"I was seven and my family and I were packing up to go to Florida for a small trip before school starts. And...And these men in mask barged in the back door to rob us. My father heard a rustling noise, so he went to check it out. My mother and I... we heard a gunshot..."
Louis's eyes hardened. His gut twisting and turning inside out. Heart almost stop as he intake her physical being. The idea of Clem not being here on this day-Louis wouldn't had met her if she would had been...
His girlfriend sigh quivered. Clem felt her tears rising and chest aching. Telling this story again and again seemed to get easier yet harder.
She continued.
"Mom hid me under the bed before they got in the room and shot her multiple times. I saw her body...her-her blood on the carpet, Louis...Her face...she smiled at me with a bloody face..." She muffled in Louis's shirt. Louis held her close. Clem didn't deserve anything like that. He couldn't imagine Clem going through a shitty childhood.
"Shit Clem. Thank God your mother hid you. She saved you Clem. And you know her dying wish was for you to live on... Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because it wasn't important."
That hurt. Deeply.
"Everything is important now. When it's all about us."
"Really?" She sadly smiled.
"Really. You're my girlfriend. I want to get to know who I am kissing all the time." He pressed his lips on her forehead again. The girl chuckled dryly as she wiped her cheeks.
The laughing died down when she gave him a blank face. With that face, he knew something was on her mind. Quickly, he straightened his features.
"What?"
"If we are going to be honest about each other... then answer me this. Why didn't you call your parents or go to the hospital?" She clasped his cheeks.
A large gulp throbbed in his Adam's apple. He stared deeply into her worry amber eyes.
"You sure?" He asked. She nodded. Thinking back to what Duck told her, she wanted to see if his facts were right. To see if Louis isn't a liar, a slut, or close himself from her.
She's his girlfriend, not every secret should be hidden.
How would she know, Louis might be an assassin or a criminal?
Louis sighed. Only his close friends knew pieces about his situation. Telling the whole world that he's a rich kid, that's paying off his grandfather dept and living expenses because of him, shamed the boy.
Clem would understand. If not, she's another Sophie, trying to distract his thoughts.
"I'm rich-"
"Wow. Nice way to brag." She said. Louis rolled his eyes.
"As I was saying, my family is filthy rich due to my grandfather music career. My father followed his old man's path and I must play that part too to carry on the family business. In middle school, I begged my father to sign me up in singing class. So~ I can play the piano and.... sing..."
He cupped her jaw, pulling her ear to his lips.
"Sing to make your panties w-" Clem slapped her hand over his dirty mouth. Glaring at his smirking face. His sly eyes sparkled in amusement.
"Okay. Shut up....Be serious." She let go of him. He chuckled before continuing.
"Sorry. Trying to lighten up the mood. Anyway, my father had a saying, 'you get to be happy, or you get to be rich, can't be both'. Which wasn't his words but my grandfather to him. Father used it against me to put me down. Not for long when my grandfather paid for my singing lessons till he was broke. The money he saved for retirement was handed to my selfish needs." Louis glared through Clem. Hating himself whenever he mentions this part.
"And I'm doing my best to pay for his living expenses. My father hates grandfather's guts and refused to help him. And any money taken from his account, he will immediately call me on speed dial. And I'm not taking any chances for father to know anything like working nights at bars or.....almost drowning in freezing ice because I'm saving my girlfriend's neighbor's dog." He whispered the last part.
She wrapped her arm around his torso, snuggling closer to him. Imagining what he's going through to protect his grandfather that established a family business, amazed her. Learning how he has a heart of gold confirmed that he's not soulless but private enough to not tell others about his business.
She didn't expect rich people going through normal issues too. Seeing how Louis fit in so easily with others in school shows how he wants to be known as Louis Knight, not some wealthy kid shadowing in his family's fortune.
"Are you scared of your father?" She asked.
"Terrified." He mumbled.
"Why?"
"I have a feeling that if I never achieve his expectations, I would be forgotten. Lost behind and be a good for nothing son. My mother and father want me to be the very best and... if not... I wouldn't have met you." He smiled, flashing his teeth at her. Clem giggled softly. Music to his ears.
"Oh, Louis. I'll never forget you." She hugged him closer to her. Louis chuckled at her cheesy words.
"Then I'll never leave you alone. Ring me and I'll be there for you whenever I can." He held her, breathing into her hair. Smelling like cherries.
"I'd like that." She whispered. He heard her soft voice. Louis rested his head on the floor, staring at the piano. Clem's eyes started drooping each time she blinks. Feeling her body numb in his arms.
"Wanna skip the next period?" He asked. She nodded in his chest before shutting her eyes. In his arms, relaxed her. Being accepted by him felt so great. Happy that she got to talk over things with Louis. Everything takes baby steps.