We'll Meet Again (Clementine x Fem!reader)

Reunion

"Is it... is it really you?"

1st Person | Past

"We're setting a great example," Javi said humorously, his voice strained after taking a deep inhale of the weed. Clearly, he was trying not to cough.

Kate let out a few coughs of her own, the two acting like I wasn't awake too. "Don't judge me," she responded, taking an inhale before blowing the smoke out the window.

It really didn't help.

"When I found out David had kids, I told him, I am not changing who I am around them. And when he proposed, I reminded him that I'm not exactly stepmother-material." Kate let out another cough for before rolling of the joint. "Case of point. He was reassuring, but yeah, I could tell he was worried about it. I knew he'd try to get me to change."

"And that's not exactly husband-material either," I interrupted, leaning forward to the space between them as I rested my elbows of the shoulder parts of their seats. "When you propose, don't you love the person for who they are?"

"Usually," Kate responded. "And at least I thought he'd hope that being around the kids more would change me, you know?"

"Do you miss him?" Javi suddenly asked, the car going silent for a moment.

"... I think about that a lot. Honestly, I'm not sure. I used to talk shit about all those mothers who'd go on about raising their kids being the hardest thing in the world," she confessed. "Gabe's making me start to think they had a point."

Oh great, here they go again.

"His mood swings are just... I don't know... some days I wanna leave him by the side of the road."

Valid.

Of course, Javi didn't think so as he gave Kate a concerned look, who took a joint before laughing.

"I'm joking," she reassured. "Jesus. Obviously."

I wasn't.

"You really shouldn't say things like that," Javi retorted, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

"I said it was a joke."

"It's half a joke."

"It's all joke," Kate finalized. "Look, I love these kids, but I could do without Gabe reminding me I'm not his mother whenever he's pissed."

"He's a teenager. Puberty. Hormones," Javi said, trying to ease the tensions. "Oh yeah. The second you start getting bone—"

"Don't finish that sentence," I interrupted hastily, sending the ex-baseball player a quick glare.

Suddenly, there was a groan from behind, making me turn around to find a little Mariana awake, propping herself on her elbows in the back seat as her groggy face grimaced in disgust. "Ugh... what's that smell?"

Of course, I didn't want to lie to her. Although, I also knew she had figured out about Kate and Javi's activities due to Gabe's big mouth.

"They're smoking weed, Mariana," I said truthfully, ignoring the immediate side glances Kate and Javi sent me.

"I already know you guys do drugs," Mariana reassured, sitting up to her full posture.

"That's a... pretty severe way of phrasing it, Mariana," Kate responded tentatively with the evidence of a joint in her hand. "Don't tell Gabe."

"He's the one who told me."

Before any of us could respond, a sleepy teenage boy's head perked up at his own sense of smell, making me roll my eyes internally.