The Walking Dead: Return to Paradise

Chapter Seventeen: As Good As It Gets

"How did you go out there?" Violet asked as Clementine dropped her backpack onto the ground.
Clem chuckled and fell onto the couch.
"Pretty good, definitely an eventful day."
She stretched and let out a long sigh.
"Well at least someone had one of those, fuck inventory duty." Violet said, taking a seat next to her, "Wish I could have come with you guys."
Violet reached out and touched a hand to Clementine's cheek, caressing it with her thumb. Clem smiled at her, causing the blonde's face to become flushed.
"You has blood on your face." She chuckled, holding up her thumb as proof.
"Right, and that's definitely the only reason you did that." Clementine said sarcastically.
She kissed Violet on the cheek and put an arm around her. Violet leaned into her shoulder and they laid back on the battered sofa, getting comfortable. She stopped feeling the exhaustion from the fight at the station, instead being overcome by a feeling of total calm.
Just when she was on the verge of closing her eyes, Minnie walked past and stared at her as she went. Clem could see the sadness in her pale blue eyes. Their conversation in the woods came rushing back to her, Minnie declaring her love for her was not something she expected to happen that day, let alone at all. Violet needed to know, that much Clem was sure of. The last thing she wanted was to start drama, but her wife deserved to know.
"Hey, I gotta tell you something that happened today." She said quietly to Violet.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. While Louis was....away, Minnie told me she liked me."
Violet was silent for a while. Clem couldn't tell from her expression whether she was confused, angry or disgusted. It was most likely a combination of the three.
"What the fuck." she finally said, spitting the words out.
"What the fuck is right."
"I just... why the fuck would she do that? She knows we're together." Violet said, sounding increasingly frustrated.
"I told her I proposed, seemed relevant."
Violet shook her head, at a loss for words.
"God, I can't fucking believe her." Violet was now whisper-yelling, wary that Minnie was probably still in earshot.
"Well there is some good news from today." Clem grinned.
Violet raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
"Follow me."
Clementine lead Violet back to their shared room, shutting the door behind them. She put a hand into her pocket, feeling the cold silver rings.
"So what's the good news?"
Clem took Violet's hand and held it gently, she pulled one of the rings out of her coat pocket and slipped it onto her wife's finger. Violet's eyes widened, she began smiling uncontrollably and staring at the ring on her finger.
"Holy shit, how did you...?" She trailed off as Clementine placed the other ring into the palm of her hand.
Violet followed her lead, taking Clementine's right hand and putting the ring on her remaining ring finger. Clem put one hand on Violet's waist and brushed her messy blonde hair out of her face with the other. They pressed their lips together, holding the kiss for as long as they could. When they pulled away, Clem touched her forehead against Violet's, closing her eyes and sighing.
It occurred to her that she had never been happier than in this specific moment, it was all perfect. All her problems, the raiders in the woods, Minnie's confession, her missing finger, all of it became irrelevant when she was in her wife's arms.
"Isn't it tradition for the couple to dance at a wedding?" She whispered.
"Well if it's tradition..." Violet quietly chuckled.
Clem put her head on Violet's shoulder, closing her eyes as they began swaying. They moved in synchrony to an imaginary song that was as clear to them as if it were being played over a loudspeaker.
"Are we gonna tell everyone tonight?" Clem asked, not opening her eyes.
"Yeah, I think it's time."

"Omar, where'd you learn to cook?" Louis asked as he put his spoon down next to the now empty bowl.
"Cook books." Omar said flatly.
"Cook books? Huh. Think I could take a look? Maybe I can learn too?"
"And have you stealing my job?" Omar chuckled, "I don't think so."
Everybody seemed to have finished their meals, Violet gave a sideways glance to Clementine, silently asking if the time was right. Clem nodded and they both stood up.
"Hey everyone, we've got some news."
Louis looked like he was about to burst, a smile growing on his face.
"Vi and I, we got married the other day." Clem held up her right hand, showing off the silver ring.
"Whoa, holy shit guys. Congratulations." Omar said, surprised.
"Yeah, damn. That's awesome news." Asim added.
"Thanks guys." Clem smiled, looking over at Violet next to her.
They sat back down and clasped hands under the table.
"So, who asked who?" Ruby said, grinning.
"Clem asked me." Violet chuckled.
"I figured life is short, really short if you factor in death by walkers and raiders. I didn't want to wait, just in case." Clem explained.
"I think this calls for a celebration, don't you?" Louis piped up.
A cheer erupted from the group. Louis led them back into the den and ran off to fetch something.
AJ walked up to Clem and Violet who were seated comfortably in a large beanbag.
"Is being married different to being girlfriends?" He asked with a quizzical look on his face.
"Kind of, it's more official." Clem explained.
AJ still looked confused. Violet leaned forward so she was at his level.
"It means Clem and I stick together, forever." She whispered with a smile.
The boy's eyes lit up in realization and he nodded his head.
"Oh, that's cool. I wonder if I'll get married one day." He mused.
"It'll happen buddy, eventually. You just gotta find the right person." Clem said, putting her arm around Violet's shoulder.
The double doors to the den burst open and Louis stood in the entrance triumphantly holding a bottle of dark liquid.
"I found this in the headmaster's office a while back, been saving it for a special occasion. Wine's supposed to get better with age so this one must taste pretty damn good."
Everybody gathered in a circle, sitting down on the floor and what furniture was around. Louis handed the bottle to Clem.
"Let's hear a toast from our fearless leader." He grinned before sitting down.
Clementine examined the bottle, the label was peeling and whatever the wine was called was no longer legible. She twisted the screw cap off and held the bottle up high.
"We've had a crazy couple of months. The shit we've had to deal with, most people wouldn't have gotten through it. But we did it, we're here, we're alive. So first I want to thank all of you guys."
There was a unanimous cheer from the group, Louis passed empty glasses to everyone who was sitting.
"I also want to toast to my beautiful wife. I've never been more happy to have crashed a car in my life."
A low chuckle erupted around the room as Clem gazed at Violet lovingly with a smile on her face.
"You've been there for me since day one, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
She kissed Violet, prompting another cheer from everyone in the room.
"Cheers."
Clem raised the bottle and took a swig of the wine. Almost immediately after swallowing, she screwed her face up and sputtered.
"Oh gross, that is not good at all."
She handed the bottle to Violet who threw her head back and downed a mouthful of the wine.
"Ugh, Clem's right that tastes like shit."
Louis took the bottle and began pouring everyone a glass, save for Tenn and AJ.
They all raised their glasses and took a sip, all with similar reactions to Clem and Violet, save for Omar who seemed to be enjoying his wine.
"Y'know, considering people made such a big deal over alcohol, I expected it to taste better." Asim said, putting his glass down on the floorboards.
"Maybe wine's just no good? Next time someone gets married, maybe we try and find a different drink?" Clem suggested.
Omar took another sip of his wine and addressed the group.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about, this is good stuff."
Despite the negative reception of the wine, everyone continued to sip away at their glasses, it was a special occasion and they didn't intend to waste Louis' only bottle.
Now that he had some alcohol in his system, Louis sprung up and sat at the piano. He began playing, giving the party some much needed atmosphere.
Everybody began chatting with each other. Tenn and AJ sat cross-legged, fervently discussing something, most likely to do with cartoon characters.
Ruby had her hand intertwined with Asim's while Omar spoke, his voice getting lost in multitude of conversations and music.
Minnie sat across the room next to the piano, she noticed Clementine looking at her and raised her half empty glass with a half smile.
Clementine turned her head and gazed once again into Violet's ocean green eyes. She placed a hand on her wife's cheek and kissed her softly on the lips.
"I love you." She whispered.
Violet smiled and threw her arms around Clem, pulling her down into the beanbag and closer to her chest.
"I love you too." Violet said.
As Clementine lay there in Violet's embrace on the moth eaten beanbag, she had a thought. This was what all of it was for. The running, fighting, scavenging, hunting, surviving. All of it was so they could have moments like this, enjoying the company of their newfound family.
Everybody had lost family, it was inevitable in the kind of world they lived in. But through the trials the new world put them through, they gained another. In Clementine's eyes, everything she'd been though was all worth it to end up here, in the arms of the woman she loved, surrounded by her new family.
And that, to her, was as good as it gets.

The End.