A New Verge

Hope for Tomorrow

Clementine glanced to her sweet, sleeping AJ in her arms, taking a deep breath as she watched the peaceful boy. He was so calming, so...perfect. Clementine couldn't get enough of him. The moment was beyond surreal, and she never thought she'd see this day again. It was a miracle that he had lived. A beautiful miracle. And with that miracle, came Christa.

"I'm going to keep you safe, AJ. We won't be split up again." Clem spoke, glancing up when she heard some steps coming into the room. Luke had already left, and Kate and Javi went out for a walk. Hell, she and Gabe were supposed to be in bed. But neither of them were all too good at listening.

Whenever Clem saw Gabe standing in the archway, she sighed. "Hey, Gabe."

Clementine spoke, instinctively curling AJ a bit closer. Clem was hoping he still wasn't mad at her, as she didn't want to be pushed away from one of the only people she trusted.

"Hey..I thought you went to bed?" Gabe spoke, scratching the back of his head now. Clementine truly had no where to go, but stay here with the Garcías.

There was no where safe to keep AJ in her eyes. In her mind, being close to The Garcías was the best option, despite her history with Christa and Luke. Clementine just felt safer here.

"Well...I didn't." Clementine spoke, bluntly, but she realized there was no sense in being tough like this to Gabe. "I...can't seem to sleep. It's just...So unreal to have my friends back and to be safe. It's..unbelievable...We have water, food, and plenty of other supplies. I just can't help but feel afraid that all this is going to fall. It's too good to be true. I mess everything up that's too good to be true." Clementine explained, her voice soft as she didn't want to wake AJ up.

Gabe listened to her words, understanding where she was coming from in a sense. In the past four years, his family had never settled down. They never settled down because the muertos always seemed to find a way to seep in or catch up. Here, it seemed like the muertos were gone, but Gabe knew it was farthest from the truth.

"That's...how I feel. Especially because we saw how the muertos were traveling. We can never be too careful." Gabe spoke, seriously, showing a more mature side. He walked over to the table Clementine was at, sitting down next to her.

"But worrying isn't going to do you any good, Clem. You need some sleep." Gabe explained, all his anger and frustrations from earlier seemingly left behind. Gabe reached out a hand, hesitantly to stroke her cheek. Clementine really was beautiful, and looking at her now, he was taken back by her beauty. Gabe felt a lump grow in his throat as he tried to hold the eye contact, but he couldn't bear it.

Gabe looked away, dropping his hand from her surprisingly soft cheek. Gabe sighed some, feeling that want for Clementine grow and rage again, but respecting her wishes enough not to put pressure on her.

Clementine watched Gabe, a sort of sadness in her eyes that she wasn't able to let her guard down, even for a minute. She felt her honey brown hues well with tears, and she quickly blinked them away.

However,  the tears were clear as they rolled down her cheeks. Clementine hated crying as she thought it exhibited weakness. She didn't think she had yet done it in front of Gabe, and she felt a gut wrenching hurt from that alone.

"I want to be normal. I want to be like any other 13 year old girl. I don't want to be thinking about how to protect a baby...how to protect a community. But I am. I can't ever slow down. I can't ever not be afraid." Clementine explained, her bottom lip trembling as she thought about all of this.

Gabe frowned, hating to see Clementine so upset. He moved over to the edge of his seat and put his arm around her. "Hey...it's okay. You're safe here. And you don't have to worry about those things anymore. We can let my mom and dad...or Luke and Christa worry about it all." Gabe spoke, truthfully feeling it was time that Clementine slowed down and got to be a kid again. She looked up to Gabe with wide brown eyes, unsure if she was even capable of such a thing.