In The Dark (Sequel To Light) -Clementine/Louis, Clouis, Louisentine

Chapter 9

Clementine was sat at her desk, a collection of photos from the lake side sprawled out in front of her that Zara had taken. She taps the crayon in her hand against the desk as she thinks, trying to form a plan as to how, with Nathan's help, they might be able to deal with all the walkers with the least amount of risk.

Her eyes are drawn to the forest that was captured in the photo, an idea beginning to form in her head as to how they can use it to their advantage. While it wouldn't be possible to set up traps without the walkers noticing, they might be able to climb up the trees stealthily enough for them not to see or hear. And with Nathan's weapons...

There's a knock on the door, pulling her out of her thoughts. She glances up just as the door swings open, revealing a slightly nervous looking Louis who steps into the room, a smile appearing on his face once he catches sight of her.

"You busy?"

"Kind of" Clementine answers, placing the crayon down on the desk and pushing the photos away from her.
"Nothing I can't put off for a bit if you need something important."

"Just the pleasure of your company, and I cant think of anything more important" Louis tells her with a sly grin.

She rolls her eyes at him, though is unable to fight off the embarrassed smile that appears on her face. So long as she reacted like that, Louis knew he would never stop giving her such compliments.

"Seriously though, if you're working on something important I'll come back another time" Louis assures her.

"Well, it is important, but I have plenty of time to work on it before we meet with Nathan. What do you need me for?"

Louis loses a bit of his confidence, eyes darting around the room and refusing to look at her in the telltale manner she knows mean he's feeling nervous about something, particularly when he's about to ask her something he's unsure whether she'll agree to.

"I, uh... It's fine if you don't want to, I just thought it would be nice to go out for a walk. We've been so busy and it all just feels so crowded around here, hard to find some time where its just me and you, y'know?"

Clementine doesn't even have a chance to say a single thing before Louis begins to assure her that she doesn't have to go with him.

"You know what, I shouldn't have asked, what you're doing is more important than this-" Louis is stuck in his own head, rambling on as his nerves get the better of him.

Clementine doesn't say a thing, simply standing from the desk and walking over to Louis, who was still rambling in a panic even when she got closer to him. It wasn't until she was right in front of him that he began to stutter over his words.

"A-A--And, you know, you never really know how much time there is to do shit until-"

Clementine silences him with an unexpected kiss, reaching up on her tiptoes to match his height as he was so focused on talking and not expecting the kiss that he hadn't leant his head down. It takes his brain a few shocked minutes to kick in, leaning down slightly so she didn't have to stretch herself to meet him.

Clementine pulls away from the kiss, smirking at the owlish look he gives her, blinking rapidly in shock, still unsure as to whether all that had actually just happened.

"You're right, we don't know how much time we have. That stuff is important, but you're more important to me." She tells him, stepping away from him and making her way towards the exit to the room, stopping in the doorway and looking over her shoulder to Louis who is still stood in the middle of the room in a stunned silence.