Lost in your grip

Chapter 32 | The Tree house

AJ's POV
I went downstairs and went into the kitchen. I look out the window and see our tree house. I kinda miss playing The Walking Dead with Clem. When I was 3 and Clem was 14, we would go in the tree house and pretend we had to survive in The Walking Dead world. We would pretend to kill walkers and hide in the tree house. I miss those days. I miss Clem..."What's wrong buddy?" Mom asked. She noticed my frown. "I miss Clem." I mumbled. "Want me to have her come over?" She asked. I looked at her with a sad face. She handed me her phone so I could call Clem. I didn't call her. I don't know why but I gave mom her phone back. I went upstairs and didn't come out of my room for days.

General POV
"Clementine honey, I need you over here right now, it's AJ..." Carley said on the phone with Clementine. "What's wrong with him?" She asked. "It's hard to explain over the phone, just please come over." Carley said. Clementine hung up. "Louis!" She yelled from downstairs. "Yeah?" He asked. "I'm heading to my parents house, you wanna come?" She asked. "What for?" He asked. "Something is wrong with AJ." She said as she grabbed her keys from the key rack. "Yeah I'll go." He said as he grabbed his shirt from the couch. They left their house and headed to Clem's parents house.

AJ's POV
I haven't talked to mom or dad. I think they are worried about me. I heard the door bell. It's probably one of Mom's friends. Soon my door opened. "Whatcha doing there goofball?" A similar voice said. I turned and saw Clementine. "Clem!" I said as I jumped out of bed and into her arms. "Woah, easy there." She said. She got down to my level. "So mom called me...are you okay?" She asked. I looked down. "I just...I really miss you Clem..." I muttered. She smiled. "I miss you too kiddo." She said. I grabbed her arm and dragged her downstairs. "Where are you taking me?" She asked. We got to the sliding door. "Clem, there's walkers everywhere! How are we going to get food for our people?" I asked, acting nervous. She smiled. "You got a weapon?" She asked. I showed her a stick, pretending it was a knife. She smiled. "Louis, you got a weapon?" She asked Louis. He grabbed a log from outside. "Just Chairles." He said. We both looked at him with a confused look. "it's a chair leg." He said with a smile. "Really? Chairles?" She asked. "What? It's a chair leg and you know instead of naming it Charles I named it.." "Yeah, we get it Louis." She sighed as she put her hand over her face. I smiled. "Clem, where's your gun?" I asked. She looked around and couldn't find it. "Damn it, I left it at camp." She said. "We got to protect her Louis or she'll get bit." I said as I pretended to kill walkers. Louis nodded and pretended to kill walkers with me. Clem hid behind things in our backyard. "Clem! We got an opening, come on!" I yelled. She bolted to the tree house. Louis and I did too. We got into our tree house. "That was close." I panted. "Look AJ, a map of Georgia." Clem said. "There's Macon." Louis said. "There's the pharmacy. We need medicine for dad." I smiled. "Okay so here's the plan." Clem said. We played outside for hours.

Thanks mom.

Clementine's POV
I love AJ so much. I missed playing with him. When we were younger, we loved watching The Walking Dead on AMC. It was and still is, our favorite TV show. I knew why he was sad. He wanted to play in our tree house again. He missed the old days just like I did. I'm glad Louis followed along. 'Chairles.' What an idiot, Chairles is the name he picks for a log. It is cute though. Seeing AJ and Louis play together. Louis is gonna make a great father someday. I don't think I'll be a good mom...I'm such a bad influence. I don't know though, maybe I underestimate myself. Only god knows at this point.

"AJ you have to kill me.." I said as we pretended that I got bit. "Please...try..." He said as he started to tear up. I don't know if he's actually upset or he's really good at acting. I tried to get up but I pretended that I couldn't. "Don't give up, you can't give up....I need you.." He said. "I'm so sorry kiddo..." I muttered. Louis was watching us. "AJ, you have to kill me...don't let me become one of them...be a good boy....kill me...." I said. Tears fell down AJ's face. He started to sob. I felt bad. I got up and hugged him. He started to cry in my shoulder. "AJ it's okay, it's just pretend. I'm okay." I said as I held him tightly. "Don't leave me Clem, not ever." He mumbled. "I promise, I won't." I said. I looked at Louis with the 'I didn't mean for this' look. Louis hugged us. I started to cry. He really cares. I felt his arms wrap around me. "I love you....don't ever forget that.." I said. "I love you too Clem." He said. I looked at him and wiped his tears. I tapped his nose. He gave me a sad look. "Gotcha." I said with a smile. "This is not the time to be silly." He said. "I just wanted to see you smile." I said. "Hmm, you know what." I said. "What." He said. "I started to think then I remembered....you're ticklish." I said as I started to tickle him. He bursted out laughing. "Clem stop!" He shouted as he continued to laugh. I started laughing at the sight of him laughing. I stopped tickling him. I kissed his forehead. "Want to go to the park tomorrow?" I asked. He nodded. "You and me." I said. "Can Louis and Tenn come?" He asked. "Of course they can." I said. "Vi and Brody too?" He asked. I nodded with a smile. He hugged me again. We got down from the tree house and went inside. "There you guys are." Mom said. "Sit at the table, I made fried chicken." She said. AJ and I love fried chicken. We raced to the table. Louis, AJ, and I were smiling. We started to eat. We were watching the football game on tv too. It was the Cleveland Browns vs. the New York Jets. My family is huge on the Cleveland Browns. My dads family is from Cleveland and AJ and I grew up to love them. We had their jerseys. "Fucking bullshit." Dad said as he sighed at the TV. "What?" I asked. I looked at the game. "What the fuck?" I asked. "Whatever, we'll still beat your asses." I mumbled.

I love spending time with my family. I never knew how much it would effect them when I left. I miss playing with AJ and having stupid pointless arguments with him. I miss watching sports with my dad and buying books with my mom. Family is important to me and I need to spend more time with them..

(Thank you again for the support and the nice comments. I wanted to write something heartwarming with AJ and Clem's relationship with each other as siblings. They always don't fight. ~Cameron)