The Paths That Tie (Clementine x Violet)

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Firstly, I want to say that the same warnings that applied to the last chapter applies once more to this one. (I promise that it will get slighly less bad for a few chapters after this!)

Secondly, I wanted to give a moment of appreciation for all the love and support my last chapter received! It was great getting to talk to some of you about it, and seeing how much some of you resonated with the chapter. It makes my heart happy to know that my writing was able to reach some of you on an emotional level, and I hope I can continue to do the same! ^^

Finally, I want to give fair warning that a certain monologue that is spoken here will NOT be broken up by other dialogue, as usual. The reason being that I want this monologue from this particular character to get the full attention it needs, as it's crucial to the story moving forward. So, just fair warning that there will be a long section of this chapter with a character just telling a story.

That's all I've got! Once again, thank you for reading thus far, and I will see you again next chapter!

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The back patio.

When Lee and Clementine first moved into the house they currently resided in, there wasn't a front or back patio. Instead, only a relatively small sized patch of grass was contained within the fences in the back.

From what was told to her, Lee had grown up in a house that had a back patio. He would sit outside with his parents, as they would take in the days where the weather was good. Thus, Lee found within him a determination to allow Clementine to have the same experience he did.

A couple of months after moving into their house, he would work sunrise to sunset on the planning, building, and furnishing of a make-shift patio. Even Clementine found herself helping him, as she would sit by his side to hand him the different tools he needed.

Eventually, the patio was finished. From then on, Lee would always be found on his patio during the early hours of a weekend morning.

As Clementine suspected, she found Lee once again looking at the scenery around the house as he sat in his patio chair. Grabbing the door handle and swinging it open, Clementine put her bare feet on the wooden surface as she walked to the chair next to him.

"Morning, Lee. Do you think we could talk about something?" Clementine asked directly, as she looked over at Lee.

"Clementine, it's pretty early for you to be awake. Did you not get sleep last night?" Lee asked, as his expression showed his slight shock at Clementine's early appearance.

'You have no idea Lee...' Clementine thought, wishing that was the response she could give him.

"Actually...That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I had a strange dream last night, and I want to run some things through you."

Turning his body towards Clementine, he simply nodded as he took a sip of his still steaming coffee.

'I need to be careful about how I go about this. If he suspects something early on, he might try to change the subject.' Clementine thought, not sure how sensitive Lee would be to her questions.

"Well...My parents died in a plane accident, right?" Giving a look of genuine concern, Lee gave a simple response.

"They did. Why? Did you have a bad dream about them?"

'Dial it down, Clementine...Be more vague...' She told herself, as she carefully thought out her next question.

"Something like that, I suppose. It wasn't a particularly bad dream, but not an entirely good one either. I wanted to ask though...For whatever reason, I remembered being in the hospital for a while after their death. Do you know why?"