Chapter Text
The gate screeched open and Clementine lifted her head, watching as Louis, Tenn and AJ came through, all giggling between themselves. She couldn’t help but break out in a smile, seeing them relaxed and happy enough to be telling jokes again. They had been on guard for too long, and it was time for them to start settling down.
Louis made eye contact with her first, grinning ear to ear when their gazes met. He stood with the boys as they spoke to Willy on the watchtower, in a daze at the mere sight of her. She blushed when his tongue poked out to lick his lips and she had to look away to hide her face in her hands. He never failed to make her giddy.
Eventually, the three boys made their way over to the picnic table where she sat, waiting for them to come back since they had left about fifteen minutes ago. “Your desirables, malady.” Louis bowed in front of her, placing a handful of leaves into one of her palms.
“What’d you want them for?” AJ asked as he and Tenn clambered onto the bench on the other side. Louis moved her crutches to slide right up next to her. She felt tingles in her stomach when he wrapped a hand around her waist and kissed her on the cheek.
“I wanted to show you something.” Clem took the notebook Tenn had brought out. When she proposed a new way to make art, he had jumped at the chance and immediately offered up some of his paper.
“This better be good.” She could hear Louis’ smile in his voice. “I have to know, darling. What is it that you’re so desperate to show us?”
She elbowed him lightly in the ribs, lifting up one of the pages and placing one of the fallen orange leaves underneath. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not making fun,” he insisted. “I’m saying you’re cute.” AJ made a face at this comment, which of course made Clementine laugh.
“So, what now?” Tenn inquired with bright eyes. Though the world had come to an end, he never lost his desire to learn. This was something he shared in common with Aasim, who was still working through all the books in the library one at a time.
“Take your pencil and scribble over where I put the leaf. Not too hard, though.” Clem made sure to point out, knowing that AJ would go overboard whenever given the chance. They watched as Tennessee repeated an action she hadn’t done in years, waiting for the imprint of the leaf to come through the paper.
“Wow!” AJ audibly gasped.
Tenn slid the leaf out and his eyes widened when he looked back and forth between it and the page. “It looks just like it!”
“I wanna try!” The youngest boy excitedly grabbed for one of the other leaves.
“Now, where in the world did you learn that?” Louis rested his chin on his hand, gazing at her with love and admiration in his eyes.
“We went on a field trip to the Botanical Garden when I was in first grade.” Clementine answered, smiling right back at him. She could look at him for days and never get bored of connecting the freckles on his cheeks. He was the most beautiful person she had ever met.
“The what garden?” AJ tilted his head in confusion.
“My mom had one of those.” Tenn pointed out.
Louis chuckled as Clementine laid her head on one of his broad shoulders. “Not that type of garden, buddy. This kind wasn’t at anybody’s house, it was a place people would go to visit to learn about different plants.”
The three of them began discussing the different things Tenn’s mother had in her garden, along with a few of the plants they kept in the greenhouse. Louis told them that soon enough, the fruits, vegetables and herbs there would be ready to get picked, now that they had begun taking care of it again.
Although they started getting into an adorable conversation about teaching AJ what plants needed to survive, Clementine couldn’t focus on that. Her attention was on Louis’ hands.
One of which was still wrapped around her waist, drawing shapes on her skin where he had pushed her jacket up ever so slightly. The other rested gently on her thigh, tapping a repeating pattern with his fingers. As she paid more attention, she realized they were moving the same way they would when they would sit at the piano together. He was playing a song on her leg.
Her heart swelled in her chest. With AJ in her life, she didn’t know how much love her body could take. She loved him with every piece of her heart, so she didn’t entirely understand how she could still be so full of adoration for Louis at the same time. Wouldn’t she burst from loving too much?
And that’s when it dawned on her.
She snapped to sit up straight, startling everyone around the table as she turned in Louis’ arms. Clementine grabbed his face in her hands, pulling his lips down to her own. He sighed softly, taken by surprise by her actions just for a mere moment. It wasn’t often that she would display such affection in a place other than their rooms. He would soak this in for as long as he could.
When she pulled away, their noses brushing against each other, it took a few moments for him to be able to open his eyes. As he did, she took a deep breath and said the words that she had so quickly realized she felt.
“I love you.”
Louis didn’t say anything. His mouth turned upwards, making him smile so much that he could hardly kiss her again. It took a great amount of force to be able to purse his lips back to hers. However, this kiss was different than the one they had shared just seconds before. This kiss said, “I love you, too.”