Survival Love: A Gabentine Story

Chapter 18 "Is This Love?":

Clem's POV:
We left the boarding school through a small gateway on the side of the wall as I had no idea where we were going. But I didn't really care because I knew I was safe with Gabe. He was a little farther up ahead of me as he appeared to be talking to himself. I'm not judging him because I do it from time to time as well. So I picked up the pace and walked right up next to him. "So Gabe I never got the chance to thank you. You know for standing up for me against Marlon. I know he was your best friend and all." I said as he just looked at me and smiled. "Yeah that wasn't till I found out he was an asshole. And I'd always stand up for you and AJ." He replied as I tried to hide my blush. "So where are we going exactly?" I asked him. "Oh you'll see. It's a place I like to go to think sometimes and just get some alone time from the others. And it somewhere I wanted to share with you." He answered as I felt really honored by that.
We were just approaching the place when Gabe suddenly covered my eyes. "Gabe what the hell are you doing?!" I said while giggling. "Well I wanted to be a surprise." He said back as I just shrugged and went along with it. We took a few more steps as I felt grass rub against my leg as Gabe removed his hand from my eyes. It was then that I saw a beautiful lake that looked completely clean and untouched as it glistened in the sunset light. "Wow!! This is amazing." I said in complete awe. "Yeah it really is. Now let's get in the water." Gabe said as it snapped me out and I gave him a confused look. "Wait we're going to go swimming? But we don't have any swim clothes." I said. "Well I'm just gonna swing in my underwear you can feel free to do the same." He said removing his shirt as I got a good look at his abs. And by God I could not get my eyes off his six pack and biceps. He looked so much stronger than he did when we first met and I began to feel a little bit of wetness in my underwear again. "So are you ready to go?" He asked as that snapped me out of my hypnotized state. "Oh uh... yeah sure. Just give me a moment." I said as I ran behind a tree and started stripping down to my underwear and sports bra while leaving my hat and hair tie back with the rest of my clothes before meeting him back at the edge of the lake's waterline.
I stood there at the edge of the water next to him as it had been a while since I swam at all. At the moment I started thinking of all the negative possibilities like maybe walkers were hiding under the water waiting for us or that I would suddenly not know how to swim and drown. Gabe must've known I was worried as he reached for my hand and held it tight. "Hey it's going to be OK. It'll be fun." He said as that one simple sentence convinced me. "OK. I'm ready." I said as we both began walking into the water hand-in-hand. I tried my hardest not to blush from our hands touching but I just couldn't help myself. As we got further and further into the water the deeper in deeper a car. Eventually we let go of each other's hands and started swimming around the lake in a fluent motion. I had forgotten how fun it was to swim as it was my favorite thing to do as a kid before the whole apocalypse happened. I started getting more and more into it as I did flips underwater like I used to. I resurface to see Gabe splash water in my direction as he just laughed. "Oh you son of a bitch." I play for lease it back as I splashed water right back at him. We continued swimming in the in the lake for a while until eventually the sun started to go down.
Before it was pitch darkness, we both got out of the water and just sat in the grass together. "Wow Clem. I had no idea you were such an amazing swimmer." Gabe complimented me. "Thanks. I've been out of practice for a while but it's nice to just chill out for a bit." I replied as Gabe then looked up at the sky and smiled. "Oh shit here we go. This is the thing I wanted to show you." He said pulling up at the sky. It was now complete darkness as the start is dominated the sky and it just looks so beautiful. Almost as if we were in space. "Whoa! It's so beautiful." I said still looking up at it. "Yeah it's pretty cool. But I've seen prettier." He said as I just looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? Like what?" I said in a slightly sassy tone as he replied, "You." My eyes went wide as it took me off guard as Gabe looked away with slight embarrassment. "Sorry if that came off of flirty I was just you know...." He said before I cut him off and replied, "It's OK Gabe. Thank you." "For what? For the compliment?" He asked me. "For everything. You always stand by me and show me that there can be fun in this world. I haven't felt this much joy since...." I stopped myself as I suddenly remembered Lee and froze. "Since what? If you don't mind me asking." Gabe said. "Since Lee." I replied as Gabe looked confused.
"Lee? Who is that?" He then asked me. "He was my protector when this all started. He taught me many things like how to use a gun and how to survive. He was like a father figure to me." I explained while trying to hold back tears. "What... What happened to him?" Gabe then asked. "Same thing that happens to most people. He got... bit. And I had to... Stop him per his request." I said feeling a single tear rolled down my cheek. I then felt Gabe move closer to me and wrap me and a hug as I hugged back. "I bet you miss him, Clem." He said as I sniffled and said back, "Every day. I just keep losing everyone except for AJ and... You." After that, we let go of each other as Gabe put his hand on my one cheek and said, "You will never lose me Clementine. I can promise you that I will always be here for you and for AJ." He then super my tear away with his thumb as I said, "Thank you Gabe but you can't make that promise." "Yes I can because I know we will always have each other's backs." He said as he let go of my cheek. "Absolutely." I replied as we then went back to looking up at the stars.
After what Gabe just said I knew that I had to tell him how I truly felt. I needed him to hold me every day and tell me everything ok even if it wasn't. I wanted him to cuddle with me, kiss me, and love me. "Gabe, I...." I begin to say until he accidentally interrupted me and said, "Clem, please don't hate me for this." "What do you me... MPH!" I said as Gabe then smashed his lips into mine. It took me by surprise at first but I eventually melted into it as I close my eyes and kissed back. Gabe went to remove his lips for mine as I cupped both his cheeks and just whispered, "No no no." as I pulled him right back into the kiss with both hands still on his cheeks. We eventually had to stop due to a lack of air as Gabe looked at me smiling and said, "I... I love you Clementine. I always have and I always will." I have waited to hear those words for a long time and hearing them now made me so happy as I cupped his cheek once again and replied, "I... I love you too Gabriel Garcia." He now had that adorkable look of surprise on his face as I could tell that wasn't the answer he was expecting. "You... You really do?" He asked as I giggled and replied, "Yes. Gabe I've been in love with you ever since we played our first game of Euchre in the back of that truck. My only regret was that I never got to tell you how I felt before I left Richmond. So I'll tell you now that... I love you with all of my heart." "So I guess that means its time to make it official. Clementine, will you be my girlfriend?" He asked me as my heart felt like it was on fire but in a good way. I grabbed both of his hands in mine as I replied, "Yes Gabe. I would love nothing more than to be your girlfriend." I answered as we both smiled, leaned our faces in, and shared another sweet and smooth kiss. We then got our clothes, got dressed, and walked back to the boarding school hand-in-hand as now an official couple and I couldn't be more happier.