Walking Dead Game Collection

"Love Is Love"

Title: Love Is Love
Characters: Clementine, AJ
Summary: AJ asks Clem about Violet and Minnie's relationship, and Clementine needs to explain to AJ that girls can like girls too.
Author's Note: This was so pure wtf
Requested By: MaddieTheTrashPanda on Wattpad
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♡ user: justajournalist ♡
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From the other side of the room, there was a gentle huff.

Clementine rolled over, confused as to what the noise was and where it was coming from. When her eyes opened, however, they spotted an empty bed across the room. AJ was gone.

Just as she gasped and threw herself upright, ready to pounce into action and find the child, there was another sigh. There, off to the side of the room, sat AJ at their desk. A pencil was pressed to his lips, and his eyes were cast down to his paper.

Hearing the commotion, the child turned, his gaze settling on his supervisor. "Bad dream?" He asked.

Clementine huffed, flopping back dejectedly on her bed. "I was having a bad reality not seeing you asleep." Not getting a response from her statement, not even a grunt, she pushed herself up. "Why are you awake?"

"I can't sleep," he commented, as if it were obvious. "Decided to draw."

Clementine rolled her eyes. "You need sleep, AJ."

"So do you, but you're awake."

Clementine hated that he had a point. She rolled her eyes and sat on the corner of the desk, noting how he refused to look at her. "So, come to bed. Then I can also get some sleep."

She noticed his brows furrow, as if confused. She knew he wasn't confused about her statement — that being because he normally ignored her when she asked him to sleep — but rather was confused at his drawing, or his lack of one.

On the page sat a sun, some grass, and front of the boarding school, but that was all. No people, no dialogue, no nothing. Only the start of a background.

"Can't think of what to draw?" She posed.

AJ shook his head. "No, I know what I want to draw." He hesitated, tapping the end of his pencil against the tip of his nose. He did it whenever he was working on drawings. Clementine thought it was adorable.

"Maybe it should wait until tomorrow?"

"I'll lose my inspiration!" AJ gawked at her claim. "All I need is some help."

Clem raised an eyebrow. "Help?"

AJ nodded, then hesitated before turning to look Clem in the eye. "What are Violet and Minerva?"

Clementine blinked in shock, somewhat taken aback by the statement. Realizing she hadn't yet answered, thus finally understanding why AJ was looking so confused in her direction, she stumbled out a word. "What?"

AJ shrugged. "What are they? You know, together."

Clementine's dumbfounded expression remained, studying AJ as if trying to uncover the secret meaning behind what he asked. Suddenly, like a light going off, she gasped. "Oh!" Her shoulders deflated, understanding settling upon her. "Ooh."

Now she understood.

She knelt down, waiting patiently as AJ manoeuvred around in his chair. She waited until he had fully turned to face her, giving her all his attention, before she began. "Violet and Minnie loved each other."

AJ's brows flashed together briefly before pulling apart. "What kind of love?"

Clem smiled. It was refreshing, in a way, to see someone still so innocent. She still remembered the day she taught AJ that people could have relationship love and family love. Until then, AJ thought the only type of love was paternal — parent to child and back. In a sense, it was adorable. At least to Clementine. The look on his face when he learned was priceless.

"Relationship love. Couple love."

"Were they married?"

Clementine giggled, amused that that was his first question. She did recall explaining to him how marriage worked when explaining different types of love. "Not married, but they were a couple."

"In love with each other?"

Clementine nodded, her stare gentle. She was thankful he was grasping the concept. "Exactly."

AJ paused, his face drenched in confusion. "I thought girls only dated boys?"

Clementine adjusted herself as she got ready to speak. "It used to be that way. At one point, you could only love someone who was different from you. It isn't that way anymore." Clem smiled sweetly. "Girls can love girls and boys can love boys."

AJ hesitated, thinking over the information. At first, Clementine was worried that it was because he didn't understand. Then, he spoke. "I can marry a boy or a girl?"

Sighing, relief washing over her, Clementine chuckled. "You can marry either, AJ." She said. "You can marry whoever you want."

These days, there was no society. There was no pressure to follow certain social guidelines. There were no laws, no regulations, nothing. Nothing but survivors and a drive to make it. It didn't matter who you were, or what you looked like, or who you loved. All that mattered was that you lived.

AJ gave a soft hum, a quiet hum, one of contemplation. It was as if the idea intrigued him. The sight made Clem's chest heat. It was reassuring to her to know that despite the odds, AJ was still growing up to be an understanding and accepting person.

However, the longer Clementine watched, the more confusion she felt. "Why did you want to know?"

AJ smiled, his intrigue diminishing. "I wanted to know how I should draw them." He grinned, flashing his teeth. "I'll have them holding hands."

Despite his decision, he didn't move from his spot. He remained stuck, staring at Clementine, and she knew what he was waiting for. Playfully, she rolled her eyes. "Finish up your drawing," she breathed, making her way to his art wall. "Then you can head to bed."

"Really?" He gawked.

Clementine smirked, but withheld a laugh. "I don't want to interrupt your creativity." With that, AJ didn't hesitate to throw himself back into his drawing.

Clementine's gaze turned from the child to his art wall, where his own masterpieces were pinned up with art from Tenn. It was also scattered with creations AJ made with others, like Louis and Violet. It was a scrapbook that took up an entire wall of their room. Clementine absolutely loved it. More so, she loved adding to it.

Turning to her side, spotting AJ madly scribbling, all she could do was grin. Clementine may often second-guess her parenting skills, but on nights like these, she felt as if she was doing an alright job.

"Done!"

Clementine snapped out of her trance, captivated by AJ's voice. Glancing down, able to register what she was looking it opposed to blankly staring at the boy, she spotted an image of Violet and Minerva, holding hands on the grass. Off to the side were AJ and Clementine, throwing hearts at them.

Clementine giggled. "It's adorable, AJ. I love it."

"Do you think Violet would too if I gave it to her?"

Clementine blinked in shock, already reaching out to pin it to the wall. This was the first drawing he ever made as a gift not for her or Kenny. A warmth flooded her chest at his proposition, and her hand retracted and settled on her heart. How she managed to raise him to be so kind, she'd never know. "I think she'd love that, AJ."

The sentence was halfway out her mouth when he leapt up from his seat, trotting out for the blonde's bedroom.

Clementine knew Violet would be awake. Maybe a good picture was exactly what she needed to help her get a great sleep.
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