~Please, Say You Won't Let Go~ Clouis

Chapter Twenty Two: Home Again (Clem's POV)

"Clem, wake up." I heard the low sounds as I slowly woke up.

Aj was kneeling in front of me. I smiled at him.

"Violet says it's time to go, Clem. You wake Louis up, I don't want to scare him." He said looking at him.

"Aj, he's non-verbal, not deaf. You won't scare him." I explained to him, slightly laughing. "I'll do it, it's okay."

Aj nodded before standing up and walking back to Violet who was getting the backpack on and ready to hand Aj one too.

"Louis... Louis wake up. It's time to leave." I whispered rubbing his arm.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing his chocolate brown eyes that shimmered in the darkest of lights.

"It's time to go home, Lou. Pack up really quick and we need to get going." I told him, kissing his cheek before getting up and helping Aj and Violet pack up anything they might've forgotten.

Shortly after, Louis joined us.

"Hey Vi, I need to talk to you privately about something. Do you mind?" I asked her. "Louis and Aj, you guy can wait up at the front while we talk."

"Yeah of course. What's up Clem?" She asked as the boys waited at the front and we walked to the back.

"Louis and I were talking last night and we think that it'd best if he gets away from the school. He's so used to being around people and hiding himself that I think he just needs time away from everyone to loosen himself again and not have to hide like he's he's used to." I explained.

"I mean, if you think it'll help him, I'm all for it. I just don't wanna see him all depressed and sad and shit. That's not Louis." Violet solemnly stated, looking at him fool around with Aj.

"Now, this is gonna be hard to hear for you and Aj but I need to go with Louis. Just for safety. I'm the one closest to him so I think it's only right for me to go with him. And you're my best friend and I hate to ask you to do this but, can you look after him while we're gone? It shouldn't be super long, a week at most but I can't take him with." I asked and she very understandlingly nodded back.

"Of course. I kinda owe it to both of you guys. He's able to take care of himself but I'll take care of him when he needs someone, absolutely." She said, smiling and nodding.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." I thanked and we headed towards the front of the store with the guys.

We started on our way back, leaving the mall and carefully heading back up the exit we came from.

"So, Aj, Louis and I talked last night about his mentality and, well, we came up with a posible temporary solution but you're not going to like it." I lagged behind with Aj as we walked up the highway and started through the woods.

"I don't care. It's going to happen either way because you guys are the grown-ups. I'll be mad but that's not going to change your desicion." he blurted slighrly frustrated.

"We decided that when we get back at the school, Louis and I are going to take off-"

"You're just going to leave without me?!" he shouted.

"Quiet Aj, walkers. And let me finish; We've decided that we're going to take off just a little down the road from the school. We won't be in the school but we'll be just down the entering road. Violet said she'd step up and help you when you need help. You're old enough to take care of yourself and not have to rely on me for everything. He needs a place where he can not hide how he's feeling. I hope you can understand why we need to do this." I beseeched.

"No, I do. I wish it could be different. Louis could still have his tounge. We would all be happy again. We could spend time together and not have to worry about Louis or how he's doing all the time. That way, Louis wouldn't have tried to run away or get himself killed." Aj mumbled.

"I miss the old Louis too bud. Things should've and could've went down another way but unfortunately, they went down in a way that is unfixable. We should be glad that we still have him though because Lily could've easily killed him.  I don't know what I'd do without him now. I really thought we could survive with just the two of us but I didn't realize how much we needed other people for things. Everyone in that school helped us in some way. Louis made me want to not die for once. He even saved you, remember when he shot Abel in the woods that day? It was the same day he carried you back into the school." I remembered our past weeks.

All those bad days and those terrible memories were bad in the moment but they've lead me this far and what we have now... it can't equal out to all of those bad days. Louis' caring personality is the homliest thing I've felt in a long time. I don't remember the last time I felt wanted by someone so special. Louis changed that for me. I feel wanted and worth my life again like I did when I was eight.

"Clem?" Aj asked.

I snapped back into reality and looked at our suroundings, there was a weird overgrown cabin that nobody had ever seen before.

"Just keep alert. Everyone goes in but keep your weapons drawn. Let's go." I pulled my knife, demanding orders and walking to the front of the group, leading them into the cabin.

We entered cautiously with our weapons drawn. Violet took Aj and walked through one side of the house and I took Louis to walk through the I side. Once we were sure it was clear, we searched each and every room for any supplies, finding quite a few things.

We all met up in the living room area after searching high and low for anything useful.

"Okay, are we all ready?" I spoke.

"Should we stay here, just in case there's more?" Aj asked.

"There is always fresh meat out there. We will find other food when we need it. This can keep us going for a while now and if we desperately need more, we can just come back. For now we should go, I don't feel safe being out here for this long anyway." Vi said and Louis nodded along.

We left, quickly making our way back to some path that would lead us back home.

...

"Hey Vi, I was thinking and maybe we should get the greenhouse up and working so if we don't have actual food, we won't starve because we'll have the greenhouse." I suggested.

"I'll talk to Ruby about it. It's a good idea but I'm not sure what our options are for what we can grow." she rejoined.

...

We finally arrived back home with two overfilled backpacks of food and other supplies.

The gates opened and Aj ran in to find Willy.

"Hey Clem! You're finally back!" Ruby shouted, rushing up to me.

"Hey Ruby! We have to talk about a few things..."

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This is a shorter chapter but I'm going to try to hurry and edit and publish more soon.