Scars | ✔

Chapter 25

"So, uh.. how did the execution go?" Louis asked as the group led Clem to the shed.

"I don't know.. like any other execution, I guess. She was mad and.. she said mean things, but, I guess nothing more." Clem said, rubbing her wrist.

"Well.. we made the shed feel more like a headquarters than a.. well, a shed." Louis said again, earning no type of different response from the brunette.

"Well, Clementine... welcome to the SNB HQ!" Louis said one more time, opening the door. Any pain, regret, or guilt Clem had felt before had immediately gone away as soon as she saw inside.

Purple walls decorated with Tenn and Sophie's painting's. Painting's of the gang, animals, quotes, and so many more.

The white table, the top painted rainbow colored. The seats all different kinds of colors; the tops with a cushion on it. Their own chairs with their names sewn into it.

A neon sign that said, 'Still Not Broken'.

A mini fridge; filled with different drinks. Shelves filled with snacks, collectibles, statues, and decorations.

Fairy lights strung all around the interior; lighting the place up.

A radio sat in the middle of the table.

A bookcase hand carved for Aasim's books; mini cooking supplies for Omar to cook snacks; A first aid cabinet; a small corner for the group to play cards in.

It was the best hang out place Clem could have asked for.

It was even better knowing her friends; no, her best friends; no.. her family, made it.

It was all she wanted,

and more.

"Oh my god.." Clem said as she looked around, admiring all the hard work her friends had put into this.

"They did this all in three days!" AJ said.

"It's a good thing your family wouldn't leave you alone for those three extra days." Marlon joked. Everyone laughed.

"Wait.. don't tell us.. we're the best, right?" Louis asked.

"Pfft. No." Clem said, getting a sad look and a whine from Louis and a couple of the others.

"I'm kidding. Of course you guy's are." Clem said, rolling her eyes, but smiling. Louis cheered, giving Clem a hug, making the others do the same.

Clem didn't reciprocate; instead, she hid her face in the crook of Violet's neck, smiling against her bare skin.

"So.. like.. do we need official group shirts or something?" Minnie asked, still hugging Clementine.

"OH MY GOD. THAT'S A GREAT IDEA! LET'S GO!" Clem said, jumping back and running towards Louis's van.

"Well, we're doing this now." Mitch said.

. . .

"This one looks nice. What do you guys think?" Clem asked, showing the group a rack of jackets. It was a baby blue like color, a rainbow design on the chest area, with some type of yellow circle badge like thing on it.

"Let's do it." Aasim said, looking for his size.

Everyone followed Aasim's lead, looking for their size.

"This is so ugly.." Mitch said, making Clem frown.

"Nothing is ugly, Mitch. You just have to change your perspective." Tenn said with a smile.

"Yeah, Mitch." Clem said, crossing her arms.

"We can make them look great!" Brody said, holding hers out in front of her.

"How?" Louis asked, generally curious.

"We could sew 'Still Not Broken' into the back. And our names on the front." Violet said huskily with a smile.

"That would make it official!" Clem said, nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

"We're missing something.." AJ thought.

"What?" Clem asked.

"Do we all need hats? Like, you have a hat." AJ said, pointing. Clem shrugged.

"It used to be my dad's hat when I was a kid. The night he died, he let me wear it to bed because I had a nightmare." Clem said, thinking, as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Necklaces's?" Ruby asked.

"Nah. They might get snagged on something." Clem said.

"Bracelets?" Marlon added.

"Nope." Clem said, shaking her head.

"What do you think, Clem?" AJ asked. Clem thought.

"I got it!" Clem said, pulling out a pocket knife she had stored in one of her pockets.

"Uhhh..." Louis stuttered, eyeing the knife.

"Who wants to go first?" Clem asked, jerking the knife up and down to make it go in and out.

"Guys, Clem wouldn't hurt us. I'll go first," Tenn said. "On the bright side, we'll have a cool logo imprinted into our arms!" Tenn said, lending his arm to Clem.

"Thank you, Tenn. It'll only hurt for a minute.." Clem muttered, pressing the knife against Tenn's arm.

Tenn whined in pain as everyone watched in horror.

. . .

"Done!" Clem said, pulling the knife away from a whimpering Tenn's arm about five minutes later.

"It.. looks cool.." Tenn whined.

It was a single 'X'.

"It looks really good, Clem." Tenn said with a smile.

"Thanks! Who's next?" Clem asked as Tenn pulled his sleeve down.

. . .

Clem laid in her bed with a content smile. Everything was going good now. They had a great HQ, Great gang jackets, and even their logo embarked in their arms.

Next, Clem is going to make Louis spray paint his van to look official. Not too official, like, she didn't want it to scream, 'Hey, look, it's us! The Still Not Broken Gang!' because they don't want to be obvious.

Still, it would be cool.

Oh, oh, and a secret door knock pattern. That would also be really cool. Yeah, Clem liked the sound of that one.

And an emergency code word, just in case they're surrounded?

Oh yeah, this is all happening.

They'll spend lots of time there.

After classes.

Planning raids or fun events.

Doing all types of fun things.

As friends.

Best friends.

Family.

Yeah. This was Clem's family. Well, her second, er, third family. After Diana and Ed, and Lee and Carley.

Her friends felt like a family.

She always felt at home with them.

She knew her purpose was right here.

Right next to the people she adored most.

With the help of the SNB gang,

and the help of the Everett family,

Clem can take the journey to healing.

To heal all the scars of the past.

All the scars of the past that haunts her to this day.

That's what ultimately put her to sleep that night. The thought of it all lulled her to sleep, giving her a sense of warmth and happiness as she drifted off to sleep in that cool room.