Shaded In

Meeting You In Person

The door opened and in walked the guys. Luke and Louis talking about something but suddenly growing quiet once eyes landed on the upright form of the brunette. AJ didn't miss a beat and took off in a sprint towards her.

"Clem!" He practically jumped into the girl's lap just like Violet had predicted. The blonde letting out a few silent chuckles.

Clem had to stop herself from nearly falling backward at AJ's forceful hug. "Whoa, there goofball. Easy."

AJ let go and moved off her lap his excitement replaced with guilt. "I'msosorryforwhatIsaid! Ididn'tmeantomakeyourunaway!" Everything coming out in a blur of rushed and jumbled words as he tried to apologize.

"Whoa, whoa, AJ slow down. It's okay." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Breathe."

AJ did as he was told and inhaled deeply before letting it out. "I'm sorry for making you sad. I-I never meant to make you run away."

Clem brought him in for another hug. "It's alright, AJ. I forgive you and...I'm sorry too."

She let go of the little boy and looked up to see Louis approaching. "So the orange lives. Hope you're doing okay?" He smiled at her, hands on his waist.

Violet rolled her eyes. "I'm sure she'd be doing a whole lot better if you didn't call her things like orange." Louis flashed her a smile as a response.

Clem smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Louis." She got up and hugged him. "Sorry about everything."

He waved her off. "It's cool. Just glad you're still in one piece is all."

Clem then saw Luke walk by them. She saw him nod his head towards the stairs. "Clem. Can I talk with you a minute?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Here we go. The conversation she's been dreading. She just hoped Luke wasn't too mad at her. The last thing she wanted was to get into another heated argument like how she did with Violet. She still felt guilty for going off the way she did.

She followed Luke upstairs and down the hall to his room, where he closed the door behind them. It'd been a while since Clem had been in here. She forgot how empty it really was in Luke's room. With just the bed, a small side table next to it hosting a lamp that no longer worked, and a large closet, it really wasn't much to look at. The room didn't hold bookshelves and dressers like hers and AJ's did. His bed was quite comfy though as she ran her fingers across his comforter.

Clem took in a deep breath it was time to get this over with. Enough with looking at the decor. She turned around to face him. "Luke I..."

She didn't even get to explain as large arms wrapped around her bringing her in close for a hug. "God, Clem. I'm so glad you're okay." Luke released her. "You had me really scared there kid."

Clem was surprised at Luke's show of concern and kindness. It wasn't what she had been expecting, but it was way better than getting a stern talking to and yelled at. Though she probably deserved to get punished after scaring everyone like that. Now realizing how stupid it had been of her to take off like she had. Upset or not, it was a foolish thing to do.

"I-I know Luke. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." She rubbed her arm while looking to the floor. "I'm sorry, for-for everything. A-are you mad at me?"

Luke sighed and walked over towards his bed sitting down. He patted the spot next to him prompting Clem to sit down. "No Clem, I'm not mad. But...I wish you would of told me what was bothering you. You know I'm here for ya, Clem."

"Yeah, I know." Clem shamefully replied.

"Violet told me what happened," Luke admitted. "It's okay if things scare you, Clem. But we can't help you if you don't tell us."