Shaded In

What It Really Means

The sunlight filtered in through the window at the end of the hall. It was quiet, the occupants of the house still asleep. That was until the girl in the baseball cap started to stir, the light from outside rousing her from her sleep. Clem opened her eyes and was a bit confused at first upon seeing the interior of the hallway instead of the inside of her bedroom.

Then the memories from last night flooded her mind. She quickly looked to her left to find the blond-haired girl still asleep next to her. So it hadn't been a dream, everything that had happened last night was real. Her eyes traveled down to the floor where she realized their hands were still intertwined. Clem smiled at the sight, but it quickly turned into shock. There was no fucking way this was happening right now.

That really had been real. "Holy shit..." Clem accidentally blurted out. She quickly covered her mouth with her free hand.

It wasn't very loud but it had caused the girl next to her to stir. Violet opened her eyes. It took a minute for her to adjust to the lighting before she came to her senses. Then she took notice of the girl next to her.

Clem was inwardly freaking out, she didn't want to risk embarrassing herself any more than she probably had last night. Which is why she avoided looking in Violet's direction.

Violet was confused at first by Clem's behavior, until the events from last night came to her. Clem's panic attack, maybe she was still a bit shaken up about it. "Clem, you okay?"

Clem bit her lip, she could do this. She took a deep breath before facing the other girl. "Yeah. I-I'm f-fine." Her voice not all that convincing.

If Violet doubted her she didn't show it. Instead, she replied with, "Alright...but, you know... I'm hear for you if you need it." She gave Clem's hand a light squeeze.

The reassurance seemed to calm the brunette down again, a small smile coming to her face.

Just then the door next to them opened and AJ walked out giving a yawn as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Then he took notice of the two girls seated in the hallway. "Clem, Violet? What are you doing out here?"

"N-Nothing." Clem quickly replied, taking the moment for the two of them to release each other's hand. Hopefully, AJ hadn't noticed.

AJ didn't seem to suspect anything and his expression changed to one of concern. "Clem are...are you okay now?" He asked.

Clem's worries quickly diminished and were replaced with calmness. "Don't worry AJ, everything's fine."

AJ smiled at Clem's reassurance. "Good. I don't like it when you feel scared. I like helping you feel better."

Clem chuckled. "Trust me AJ, I hate it too."

Violet smiled at there words. It was nice to see two people care for each other the way Clem and AJ did. It was something rare to find now of days. A different voice pulled her attention away.

"Hey, an invite to the meeting in the hallway would of been nice." Louis stood at the top of the stairs with his hands on his hips in fake displeasure on being left out.

Violet rolled her eyes. "There's a reason you weren't invited."

Louis smiled as he sat down opposite them. "Well, then I guess I'm crashing the party." He took notice of the two girls and how close they were seated and the candle on the floor that had burned out a while ago. "Did you guys sleep here all night?"

Clem felt her heart rate accelerate at the question. She didn't want to explain everything that had happened hours prior. At least Louis hadn't caught them holding hands. He would have been much more vigilant than AJ had.