rome and clem

part eighteen

rome never knew how an event could just..drag like this one.

he sat on a porch swing, kicking the heels of his feet back an forth so he could rock. he could hear the faint noise of people laughing and talking and Christmas music ringing. 

the party became too loud for him to manage so after a while clem offered somewhere private. although, rome was expecting her to take him to her room, she took him on the porch on this bench swing. and he was more than okay with it.

"how is it?" she asked, head tilting towards the smoothie drink she had made him.

he nodded, letting the little smoothie mustache canvas his upper lip, "delicious."

clem giggled. his hold on the glass tightened and the oxygen to romes heart was decreasing.

"you uh- here, let me..." she stuttered, bringing her thumb up to his skin. small finger brushing past his lip. just dancing on his sensitive soft skin.

he saw her tense up when he did.

they both tensed up.

it was almost either ones touch, effected the others.

"oh, wow. that's shameful." he shook his head, wiping a palm over his mouth just to be safe.

she laughed again and rome knew he'd never wanted to stop hearing her laugh.

"I never asked you, why exactly did you move here?" she asked, brows dipping down in curiousity.

"it's um a long story." he huffed, wanting to change the subject. he didn't need the demons of his past to start flooding into his future. and he especially didn't want clem to know of the things he keeps in his closet.

"this feels like deja vu." she sighed, hunching down and letting her curls fall into her face.

rome frowned, he couldn't see her face. without much of a thought, he brought his fingers closer to her hair, wrapping gently around it in his small harmless fist and curled the hairs over her shoulder. he could see the side of her face. her eyes were clenched shut and her lip was flattened. she looked nothing like she normally did. he almost didn't recognize her.

"clem, wanna go get some more foo-" he started but clems head shot up rather hastened and unexpectedly.

"why do you do that?" she interrupted. rome could see the balls of fists under her legs.

"do what?" he asked slowly.

oh no, he was losing her, wasn't he?

"that!" she sighed, eyes gathering attention back towards the ground. "you act like you like me but then...you don't tell me stuff and I don't know." she shrugged. "I tell you everything you ask because i feel like you should know. I feel like I want you to know me. but if you don't want me to know you, then I get it. just tell me. I may be a girl, but don't trust the stereotype. we're stronger than you boys think." she snarled, voice raising and lowering into something morbid.

"clem-"

"i need to find my mom." she interrupted yet again which only made rome clench his fists. she stood up from the bench, muttered an 'excuse me' and then was walking back inside. the last thing rome heard was the door hitting the hinge and someone growling asshole.

rome slumped back into the bench and spent the rest of the night waiting for sam.