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Assistant: Title: Welcome Home
        Author: SeleneUnderworld3 SeleneUnderworld3 
        Chapter: 6/37 
        Summary: After the events of Season 4, survivors are left to deal with their traumas and complications. Everyone learn to leave in new realities and everyone struggle and grieve in their own way. And yet, life goes on and it can be beautiful sometimes. Clementine now knows it, she knows that love, humor and music can make everything more manageable and tolerable.And then old friends from her past appears and asks her for a favor that might ruin a delicate balance in the school.In this world so many people can't be trusted anymore... but not all of them are bad people. Sometimes you just have to give them a chance.Warning! Sm@t happens in chapters:- Chapter 22 (Clementine and Louis)- Chapter 27 (Clementine and Louis)- Chapter 29 (Violet and Wren)- Chapter 36 (Clementine and Louis)
        Contents: Chapter 6: "Boy from the woods"
    

    

        
          
          
            After fishing trip AJ meets a person he thought was dead. Meanwhile Louis learns what jealosity feels like and he hates the feeling.
          
        

      
        
          
          (See the end of the chapter for  notes.)
          
      
  

  
  
    
    The walker fell on the ground when a crowbar hit its legs. Before the rotten creature had any chance to stand up or even move its hand, the same crowbar hit it’s scull, creating a hole in it and damaging its brain. Regan took a dirty old piece of cloth out of her pocket and wiped her weapon, before hiding the cloth back.AJ pulled his knife out of another walkers scull and quickly checked their surroundings to make sure there was no more enemies approaching but luckily there were none. Regan showed him thumb up, indicating that they both were fine and could continue walking to their usual fishing spot, which was new for a girl.AJ couldn’t help but feel a bit proud what he was the one to show it to the older girl. Of course other kids at school set everything up long time ago, before they even met each other. But AJ was the one to show the cabin, the spears, the river. In a way he was going to teach another person something. Wasn’t that cool? Sometimes he wondered if Clementine felt the same excited feelings every time when she explained something to him.When two kids reached the cabin, the boy opened a door in front of his older friend, delighted to see how her brown eyes sparkled with curiosity when she looked around, noting every detail in old building. Suddenly she spun on the spot and fell on old mattress, giggling and coughing when the dust rose up in the air. AJ thought that she was funny, more like a kid than him. But he learned from kids in school that having some fun sometimes was nice, so he smiled at Regan and went to grab a couple of spears.He liked new girl. She seemed like a good person, sometimes she struggled with tasks like shooting with bow, but she tried to learn. In her free time the girl liked to paint and AJ loved when she did that. Tennessee was a great artist, but his arts were… arts. Clem said what that was only because Tenn was still very young when he died. Regan’s pictures looked… real. Yesterday she painted Rosie and for a second AJ thought that the dog on the picture was going to bark as if it was alive. The picture Regan drew for him he and Clem hanged on the wall next to Tenn’s drawing.Alvin Junior shook his head. He missed Tenn. Why did he have to ran to that stupid girl on the bridge? She was his sister but she tried to kill Clem. AJ tried to ask Louis about it one time, but the boy said that love might make people’s brains to stop work correctly. May be he was right. AJ thought about that horrible morning in barn, when he thought that Clem was going to die. He didn’t want to die, he wanted to live, but he would prefer to turn into Walker with her, than live in the world without his closest person.He had his own spear now, not as long as spears of other children, much more comfortable to use with his height. When he turned to hand one of the longer spears to Regan, he noticed her looking at him. She pointed at the roof.“I don’t know that happened.” He explained. “When Clem and I came here for a first time there was this hole already. Don’t worry, Aasim said the rest of the roof is stable and solid. It’s OK.”Red-haired girl nodded and took the spear from little boy’s hands nodding gratefully. Two kids left the cabin and came closer to water.“OK, now you stand like this and try to hid the fish with a spear, OK? If you succeed, put a fish into the basket.” AJ shoed his older friend a position he used to comfortably hit his targets. Regan smiled and shook her head in amusement before her head turned to water, trying to view anything. AJ struck with his spear and let out delighted squeak when he pulled out fish out of the water. Not the biggest one he ever saw, medium size, but that was a beginning.“See, Regan? I did it! You can do it too!” The boy threw his catch into the basket, while his partner clapped her hands.AJ heard a water splash and Regan growled in annoyance, her spear missed her target.“It’s fine, sometimes you miss, that’s OK.” He explained. “Violet said that you have to try to guess which direction the fish is going to swim and struck ahead of the curve. I do that and that works most of the times. Clem always says that if you can’t succeed in sometime, you have to try again and again until you do.”She nodded before biting her lower lip as if she wanted to ask something. But she couldn’t. Or she didn’t want?“Regan, can I ask you a question?”She nodded again.“You can talk, right? I heard you… swear. So you can. Why don’t you do that? Isn’t it easy to communicate this way? I see others struggle to understand you sometimes. And if you want to say something you write notes. Isn’t it… harder for you?”“I…” The girl quickly shook her head and pointed at her lips. “I… ha… hard…”Her voice was shaking, as if she tried to push words out of her mouth but couldn’t.“No, it’s OK. You don’t have to talk if you struggle. You know, I didn’t even try to talk till I was almost two years old. Clementine said that it usually happens earlier, but she believed in me. She jokes what I only started talking since I had questions about this world. Staying silent might be a good thing. Monsters can’t hear you when you don’t talk, and they are attracted by noise. You are OK. You make it hard for them to spot you.”The girl smiled at him gratefully and turned away to face the river again. Her fingers squeezed the stick tightly, her face became very serious and focused on the task ahead. Water splashed again and Regan let out an exited squeak when she actually managed to hit a target and pulled out one of the fishes out of the river.“Good job!” AJ exclaimed, feeling so proud that he managed to teach his older friend something. “See, I told you we can do that! I think we still need more, in case Aasim have no luck with hunting today. If we manage to catch a lot, may be we can save it for winter, Omar said there are ways to keep it from spoiling!”Regan placed the palm of her hand on her chest and nodded, clearly trying to say something like “thank you” to the younger kid.In a couple of hours the basket was full, much to two kids’ delight and pride. They were lucky that fishes seemed to be very slow today and were easy target. Clementine once said that some animals sleep during winter, AJ remembered that. May be fishes were one of those creatures and they were so slow because they were sleepy?“We’ll eat well tonight!” He tried to lift the bucket but it was a bit too heavy. Regan winced a bit and lifted it with some struggle. Good thing that school wasn’t too far, otherwise they’d have to abandon some of their precious fishes. “How do you thing, what will others…”He stopped talking when he felt somebody’s presence behind his back. The boy quickly grabbed his knife, fully expecting to see another walker, but the person in front of him was alive. His a bit slanted eyes weren’t watery white, they were brown, almost black, his skin was tanned and wasn’t pale, his hand hesitantly hung at his sides and didn’t try to grab him. There stood a person AJ thought was dead and his body reacted before he even could think straight. They parted ways in a horrible way, but that didn’t matter now. The young boy ran to his friend and hugged his as tight was he could, feeling strong arms wrap around him in return.“James!” AJ’s vision became a bit blurry when he felt hot salty tears on his cheeks. “Oh, my god, you are alive! I can’t believe it! There were so many walkers in that cave, it was dark, I thought… we all thought…”“Hey, it’s OK.” The older person whispered, as quiet as usual. “I… I think I got lucky.”“But why didn’t you find us if you survived?” AJ pulled away. “Are you still angry? You are… you are not going to take me away, right?”“No… I know I acted stupid back then. You tried to protect your group and I wanted everything to be peaceful. I managed to avoid conflicts for so long and then I was dragged into yours and… I guess I was scared that old me, heartless, emotionless old me could come back and… I regret attacking you in this cave. I still don’t know how I feel, but I’m not angry anymore. That’s why I didn’t show up earlier. I needed time to cool down before I could apologies. I’m sorry, AJ.”“I’m not angry any more too. I’m glad you made it.” The boy turned to the girl near him, who put the bucket back on the ground and was watching hesitantly at the scene in front of her. “Regan, this is James, he is my friend. He helped everyone in school once.”“It’s… nice to meet you, Regan.” James stated calmly before he turned back to the younger boy. “How are you? I mean, after everything that happened. Are you OK?”“Yeah, I’m fine.” AJ sighed. “I mean, my best friend, the one who was in the cave, died when we tried to come back home and that’s sad… but life goes on, Ruby, the girl from school, always says we have to keep living and enjoy life for everyone we lost so… I try to do it. Look, we caught enough fish to feed everyone tonight and maybe we can even save some for winter, and that’s good news, right? But we both struggle to lift the bucket. Oh, maybe you can help us carry it back home! Everyone in school would be happy to see you. W@lly especially, he thinks you are so cool. He is a bit weird, but he is nice, we are friends now and…Oh, I still have your mask! It’s in my room and I could…”“Wait, AJ, stop.” James stopped the flow of words from the kids mouth. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”“Why not?”“Wont they… blame me for her death?”“Death of… who?” AJ frowned in confusion. “Tennessee? He was a boy, not she. And it wasn’t your fault.”“Wait… when you said you lost best friend you meant the boy with scarred face?” This time it was James turn to frown in confusion. “I’m sorry he died, but… what’s about Clementine?”“What’s about her?” AJ turned to Regan who looked at his with the same confusion.“I.. found her leg in the barn. There was so much blood and walkers… Didn’t they…?”“No!” AJ exclaimed, finally understanding his friend’s words. “She… one of the walkers bit her and we had to hide in your barn, sorry about that. But I managed to chop off her leg just in time and she survived that! She is alive and as fine as she can be! She even has new leg now, W@lly and I made it for her, once her wound heals she can walk again! I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you and… James? Are you OK?”The Asian young man slowly lowered himself on the ground with his eyes closed. AJ hesitantly placed his small hand oh his friend’s shoulder, not sure what to do and what this behavior meant.“I’m sorry about your friend… Tenn, you said?” James breathed out. “It’s just… I thought Clementine died. You know, when I saw her leg I didn’t think about my anger or disappointment. I thought about how she was grateful for my help, how she tried to respect my way of living and was ready to risk her life to save her friends. All I could think about was how I acted in that cave and how she… still tried to be nice to me. She only fought back to protect you but she also tried to talk some sense into me. I still don’t know if she was right, but… God, I can’t believe she is alive.”AJ sighed in relief. OK, at least James was relieved to hear that Clem was alive. That was a good sign.“Hey, come back to the school with us.” He suggested and James lifted his face again with unreadable expression on it. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you are alive as well. She thinks that you are dead too and… she is sad about it. I think you two need to talk. May be you both need to ato… atone?”James hesitantly nodded, before he raised back on his feet and slowly took the bucket in his hands. Once AJ quickly went to put spears back in the cabin, the trio headed to the school direction, with a very confused Regan trailing behind. *** “You are doing this on purpose!”“No, I just really suck in this.”“You don’t even look at the target!”“And I blame you for that!”“Wait, what?” Clementine indignantly gasped. Part of her wanted to hit her boyfriend with her crutches.This whole morning, as she promised, she tried to teach him how to shot arrows. She patiently helped him to take the right position, explained how high he should aim to hit the target, even gave him a short lecture about how wind can be used as an advantage. All in vain since Louis kept missing every time.“You are just a bad teacher, Clem.” He shook his head, pretending to be strict and unhappy with her. “Don’t you understand? I can’t learn anything when you are constantly distracting me!”“And how exactly do I distract you?” That was a good question. She always stepped back after every explanation and watched him trying to shot from a distance. In silence.“You exist. That’s a distraction!” Louis gave her the goofiest smile, clearly enjoying himself and his cheesy remarks, his arms grabbed his jacket the same way he always did when he was excited or a bit nervous. The eye roll Clementine gave him in return could make a great competition to Violet’s best eye roll.“OK, that’s it. I’m calling Aasim. He and W@lly are back from hunting trip, I’m sure he won’t mind to give you a couple of lessons instead of me. And I’m sure he won’t be such a distraction.”“Giving up too fast on me as well? Oh, come on, Clem, you are better with that.” He winked. “And you knew what you was dragging yourself into before we started dating. Don’t deny that.”She really hoped her eyes could tell him how unimpressed she was with his behavior. Clementine knew Louis could be reliable when it came to difficult situations, he proved that many times already. And yet during calm days he preferred to hide his insecurities behind fun mask. Actually, that was one of the reasons she fell in love with him, he was so different from everyone and everything she was used to see in this world. Louis was all about humor, laughing, music and she quickly realized that she wanted him whole for herself. But he hesitated to much, thought too poorly of himself and that was the part she tried to fix by constantly reminding him that she believed in him. She loved him the way he was but she also worried about his safety. As much as she would love to always be around to protect him she knew that was impossible. So she had to stick to another strategy, the same one she did with AJ: to teach him how to take care of himself.She knew Louis would have no problem fighting walkers, but the sad truth was that dead people weren’t their main threat. People were.“OK, you need a motivation, may be?” Clem suggested. “How about no piano till you hit the bullseye?”The freckled boy looked at the target hanging on the tree, at the bow in his hands, then back to his girlfriend.“That’s impossible, you know that.”“See? You aren’t even trying. Nothing bad is going to happen if you miss a couple of times. I won’t laugh, nobody would. We’ll pick arrows and try again. When I did it for a first time I missed as well.”“You are still natural when it comes to fighting. You are strongest person I even met, Clem.” Louis sighed and smiled sadly at her. “And I… you know. I’m just not good with this kind of stuff, you know?”“Lou, look at me.” Clementine’s voice became quiet, as if she was afraid somebody was going to hear them. “It takes strength to admit that you aren’t strong. That’s a good thing. I’ve seen many people who struggled with something, tried to hide it and got themselves and people around them killed. Just because they were scared to admit their weaknesses. I know who you are and I know your strongest and weakest parts. I don’t want to change you. I’ll just… I will feel better knowing that you have archery as a skill as well. Just in case you need it.”“OK, you know, you saying that you care about me is better motivation than trying to ban me from using piano.” His smile faded a bit before it came back in full force. “OK, my lady, let’s make a master archer out of me!”“Yeah, and this time, please look at the damned target!” She giggled and stepped back. “Come on, give it a try while there is no wind.”Louis took a position again and aimed, trying to keep his hands the same way Clementine showed him previously. He gave her a quick glare, delighted to see that she nodded, indicating that he did everything correctly. He breathed and tried to predict the way the arrow was going to take after his fingers would release bowstring. He could not help but feel nervous again. She needed him to learn, she believe he could learn. He just wished he wouldn’t disappoint her when he miss. The last thing he wanted was to see her upset.Realizing that he was standing in the same position for too long already and was a bit ridiculous, Louis finally released bowstring. Much to his surprise, he managed to hit the target. Not the bullseye, but… the arrow was in the circle.“See? You can do it.” Louis heard Clementine’s voice. “May be next time you miss and that’s OK. We’ll try again. We already know you can do it.”The way she kept saying “we” made Louis feel something warm and pleasant moving in his chest, right in the spot where his heart was beating. But before he could say anything to his girlfriend, he heard the gates open. Right, it was getting late, AJ and Regan were supposed to get back from their fishing trip. He turned to great his little friend and new girl but blinked in confusion. Who was the third person? He looked familiar and it the same way Louis was sure he saw this Asian face for a first time.Clementine gasped near him and hobbled on her crutches fast as she possibly could. The Asian boy also quickly moved into her direction, crushing her petite frame into a bear hug as soon as he reached her.“James! You are alive!” The girl let go of her crutches to hug her friend.So that was James. That explained a weird feeling of knowing and not knowing a person in front of them. During their first and last meeting James was wearing a mask and his face was hidden.  After that… Clem mentioned that their “walker friend” stayed in the cave fighting dozens of walkers to buy others some time to escape. How on earth did he manage to survived that? Total badass. And… Louis had to admit. James looked handsome, well-built body, cute face. Girls like that type of guys… right?Louis helpful mind immediately reminded him of their Truth and Dare game the same evening raiders attacked. Violet’s question. Marry, F@ck, Kill. That was just a game but… Clem said she’d Flip James.
  
    Oh, my god, Louis. You are jealous!
  
Great. Just f@ck@ng great. One minute ago he was enjoying Clem’s support and now he could even be happy for her to be reunited with her friend. But he couldn’t help the feeling. He never was jealous before. Other boys in school clearly didn’t make her heart flutter and the girls… well, her knew Clem was bisexual, but she clearly thought about Ruby and Violet as friends and wasn’t interested in Regan that way too. Even knowing that Vi had a crush on his girlfriend didn’t make Louis jealous before. Just before the raiders attack, when he was still thinking of best words to use for apologizing to Clementine, he and Violet had a talk. They both agreed that they had feelings for her and if one of them was lucky enough to have her choose them, another one was not going to be salty about that. They would still be friends no matter what. Back then, Louis couldn’t even dream that Clem would forgive him, let alone want to date him.Meanwhile Clementine let go of James and reeled a bit awkwardly, supporting herself on his shoulder. AJ handed her the crutches.“Regan and I were going back with fishes and look who we met!” Little kid exclaimed as if Clem haven’t already had a chance to see ex-whisperer in front of her.“I thought you died.” James sighed with in quiet voice.“I thought you died!” Clementine smiled warmly. “Good thing that we both were wrong, right?”Two friends looked at each other awkwardly, clearly knowing they both had a lot to talk about, but not knowing how to start the conversation. Last time they saw each other, they both were tired, scared and angry. Now they were in peace. Clem really hoped she’ll can explain herself and her actions to her friend and he’ll can understand.She didn’t blame him for his actions. She knew well enough how hard it is to come back to being yourself again after you fall into the darkness. When she thought she lost AJ, the last person she deeply cared about she… snapped. She stopped care about anybody but herself. What was the point to care? Everyone were dead. All Clementine did was lose and lose and lose, again and again, everything she ever did for others were in vain. Until then she met Javier and something in him made her put the chocolate bar back in his backpack when he asked, claiming it was for his little niece. He, Kate and Gabe reminded her of humanity again and that there was hope for something better. If it wasn’t for Garcia family, she wouldn’t learn that AJ was alive. Without them she would never come back from darkest parts of her mind.James was different. He wasn’t pushed to be cruel by the fact that he was alone. People around him made him cruel. Clementine was lucky enough to never met Whisperers but thing she heard made her realize that those people weren’t… friendly. She was amazed by the fact that James managed to realize that he was turning into a monster and was able to become better person all by himself. He survived on his own, avoiding other people. And his life was peaceful, only him and walkers who thought he was one of them.Actually Clementine agreed with him in some aspects. If she had to choose between a road full of walkers and a road with unfamiliar group of people she’d choose walkers any time herself. Walkers never tried to rob or rape her, they never pretended to be friendly only to stab her in the back. You always know that to expect from dead. With people… Even if you think they know them, they still might betray you. People like Bonnie and Mike, for example.But may be James avoided people for far too long to remember, that sometimes you have to kill to protect yourself and your friends. He avoided people and that’s why he survived… until one day he saw a teenager girl and the little boy in the woods being chased by two raiders and decided to help.Clem just hoped he’ll let her explain why Lilly had to die. That he’ll listen for her and try to understand how world really works.“Come with me.” She suggested. “There is an old principal’s office upstairs, we really have to talk and nobody will disturb us in there.” *** It’s been two hours since Clem and James left to talk. Omar’s dinner was almost ready, and now Louis and Violet both were preparing extra fishes for winter, removing the guts. Actually Louis himself had no idea how to dry the fish or make preserves out of it, but he trusted other kids, who have done it before. It was hard to hunt and fish during winter, so Ericson kids always tried to save as much supplies as possible during autumn. Plus they still had some stuff from train station left.Louis used to love winter before the end of the world. Christmas was his favorite part of the air, he loved playing snowballs and making snow angels, and when the world was pained in white everything looked so beautiful and pure. Now… well, winter was the worst time of the year. If hunger will not kill you, cold will. Not everyone in Ericson died because of walkers or raiders. Some of the kids died simple because they became sick and had no proper medicine.Actually right now he was more worried about Clem. It’s been two hours. What exactly was she even talking about with James for two hours straight?He trusted Clementine, of course. He knew she would never betray him and when she said she loved him, she meant it, he knew she did. But there was this awful and insecure part of him, that kept reminded him, that may be the only reason she only paid attention to him was due to the fact there wasn’t much of the choice. She was in age when young girls had constant crushes and somehow he was lucky enough to become her crush. But comparing him and James… well, he would lose in every aspect. If James would ever become interested in Clementine, would she still choose Louis?He didn’t doubt Clem but he doubted himself.“I know we need those fishes to survive the winter, but god they smell disgusting.” Violet moaned and winced her nose. “If I try one of them later and I don’t like the taste, I’ll be p@ss@d.”She expected her friend to crack a joke about her being too soft, but he said nothing. It fact, Vi realized he didn’t say a word for the last two hours. And for Louis being silent was… weird. If he would suddenly fly into the sky like a bird she’d find it more normal.“Hello, earth to Louis. Are you OK?”“What?”“I said, are you OK?”“Oh… yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine.”“You don’t look fine. Come on, Lou. You know that no matter how much you annoy me I’m always here to listen to whatever you want to say. What’s wrong?” Violet tilted her head.“Do… you think James is attractive?”“I don’t know. I guess? I mean, I’m not interested in males in romantic way, but I guess he is… handsome. Why do you ask?” She looked at him in confusion before she realized. “Oh, come on, don’t tell me you are jealous!”“Hey, don’t scream!” The freckled boy hushed at his friend.“God, poor Clem. Her boyfriend is an idiot. I mean, she clearly digs your stupidity, but that’s too much even for you. I’m the one f@ck@ng blind in this school and yet even I know how much you mean for her. I mean, compared to James, you are awkward, weak, stupid…”“That’s rude, Vi!”“A bit weird…”“I said I get that you mean!”“…And annoying! But Clem don’t care about that. Do you remember when she woke up in the school for a first time? She was a ball of nerves, like she was expected we all were going to suddenly grab our weapons and attack her. Look at her now. She constantly smile, she looks… happy. You know why? Because she is in love. Even before I lost my vision, I saw the way she was looking at you.” Violet pushed him with her elbow. “God, I honestly don’t know what she sees in you but… Clem does know.”Louis sighed. So far his friend’s words only made him doubt himself more. If Clementine saw something in him, there was a chance she might see something in somebody who was better than him, right? Violet clearly saw how his mood dropped and became more serious.“Listen, I know that I’m going to regret that I’m about to say… but Louis, you are amazing.”“Wait, what?” He felt his mouth to open wide in shock. That were the last words he expected to hear from Violet.“I mean it. You care about people, you lighten up the mood and… you came for me, Omar and Aasim through the crowd of Walkers. And look at Clem. I don’t think she cares about the looks. She cares about kindness and softness. She cares about music and jokes. That’s you, OK? So… stop doubting, OK? She loves you and as long as you two dorks make each other happy, I’m also happy for you.”“Clementine isn’t a dork.” Louis smiled a bit. Truth to be told Vi’s words calmed him down a bit.“She isn’t, but she isn’t smart as well. Like yesterday she asked me if you might one day stop find her attractive because she has only one leg.”“She did?” Louis gasped and Vi nodded. That was silly. As long as Clem was alive, she was the most beautiful person in the world. Even if one day scars would cover all her face, Louis knew he’d still call her beautiful. How could she doubt herself? Young pianist looked at the watch tower, where Ruby and Aasim were supposed to be on watch. The pair clearly was more interested in each other than in the forest around the school. Freckled boy wondered if any of them also thought that they didn’t deserve another.“OK, I’m done here.” Violet wiped her hands with an old piece of cloth and Louis did the same after throwing the last fish back into the bucket.“Hey, Vi?”“Yeah?”“You called me amazing.”“Am I going to regret it?”“Of course.”“I knew it.”“Hey, dinner is ready!” Omar called everyone. W@lly helped him to pour the food into bowls.Much to his relief Louis finally saw Clementine and James slowly leaving the school building. She kept telling him something softly, while he kept shaking his head. But he still followed her to the tables and sat near AJ who beamed excitedly at his friend’s presence. Omar without hesitation brought another bowl with stew for James as well which he accepted gratefully.Everyone began eating in silence. Usually somebody would try to tell a story about today’s events or try to crack a joke but nobody knew how to act around James.  Young man looked like he had a weigh of a whole world on his shoulders, not sad, but not happy either. Whatever he and Clem were talking about clearly made him think about something.“I suggested James to stay with us.” Suddenly Clem interrupted the silence. “I know I didn’t ask your opinions about it… But I hope nobody minds. We all know we wouldn’t take down Delta without his help.”“Of course, Clem.” Ruby smiled fondly. “Omar, Aasim and Violet wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for James’ help. I don’t think anybody here is against him staying.”Everyone nodded, including Regan who clearly had no idea what everyone were talking about.“I haven’t said “yes” yet.” James sighed. “I’m not… used to be around people.”“Oh come on, James, you have to stay!” AJ jumped in excitement. “You can stay in my room instead of Clem!”“Excuse me? “ Clementine asked with amusement. “Are you kicking me out?”“It’s not like you sleep in there anyway!” The boy frowned. “I know you sneak out to hang out with Louis every night!”He turned around in confusion when everyone started laughing, Clementine’s cheeks became as red as tomatoes and Louis choked on his stew, coughing and gasping for breath. AJ clearly had no idea what everyone thought about and what kind of rumors he just started.“I…” James hesitantly looked at two blushing teens. “I promised Clem that I’ll stay for a night. And after that… we’ll see. But if possible, I’d prefer to sleep alone. I’m not used to be around somebody.”“I guess we have only one free room left?” Clem looked at everyone. So far all other rooms were taken. Ruby lived alone after Brody’s death, Violet and Regan shared, Aasim and Omar also shared the apartment, Louis and W@lly both lived alone after Marlon and Mitch died and she shared her room with AJ. The only room what wasn’t occupied was… Tenn’s. “Or may be we can move furniture a bit and free one of the old rooms nobody use.”“No, it’s OK.” Violet sighed, clearly also thinking about her little friend, her ex-girlfriend’s brother. “We do have an empty room. Let’s use it.”Nobody else seemed to mind. *** Louis fingers danced over piano’s keys, cleating a slow and charming melody of Moonlight Sonata. Actually, during previous training lesson Clem mentioned “no piano till he hit bullseye” but… she wasn’t serious, right? Plus he still managed to hit a target, that was a start, right? He deserved some piano. Everyone have already left to sleep and no Louis had a bit of free time to calm himself down and… to think.Talking with Violet helped a bit but still… he didn’t expected from himself to feel that way. Was being jealous even normal? Clementine was his first girlfriend, so had no experience to compare. He never saw his parents being jealous about each other. In fact, he didn’t really see them being too emotional around each other. He saw his dad kiss his mom’s cheek before they both left to their jobs and he gave her flowers on Valentine’s day… but that was it. They never showed how deeply they both cared about each other to him. The only time he really saw his parents being emotional about each other was the day Louis’s mom “found the truth” about his dad’s “affair”.While they fought, he saw it. How betrayed and lost his mother felt when she thought the man she loved cheated on her. How heartbroken his dad was when his wife refused to believe him. They did love each other… until he ruined it.Now when he had Clementine Louis was more horrified with himself that before. Did he even deserve happiness with her after everything he done?“There you are!” He stopped playing when he heard familiar soft voice with a charming hoarseness. Clem sat near him and rested her crutches near the piano. “I came into your room and you weren’t in there.”“Sorry.” His arm automatically wrapped around his girlfriend’s waist, bringing her closer to him to keep her warm. “I didn’t think you’d actually come after AJ’s words.”“Well, the damage is already done, right? Might as well keep going with it.” The girl near him placed her head in his shoulder and sighed contently. “Actually, I have a favor to ask from you if it’s OK.”“Of course, Your Highness. Your words are my law!”“Can you talk to James tomorrow morning?”“What?” Louis frowned a bit. “About what? He is your friend. I barely know him.”“But you are better with words. You always know what to say. James… he isn’t easy when it comes to trusting people. I don’t think I managed to convince him to stay and trust me, we need him. He is an experienced survivor and like me, he knows life outside whose walls, but he has been in different kind of situations than AJ and I. I think we scare him a bit, he does not know how to act. He wants to come back to his previous peaceful like on his own, but… I’m scared it might kill him one day, Louis. He believes you can survive without spilling blood, but… you can’t. One day he’ll meet another group, somebody like Delta and he will hesitate to do the right thing to protect himself. I… I need a little more time with him, but I don’t know how to explain everything in right words.”“Why do you think I do know right words?”“If he refuse to talk to you or he still wants to leave after that, that’s fine. Just… try, OK?” Clementine turned to her boyfriend and frowned when he saw how he lowered him face a bit. He looked…sorrowful, like if he thought about something sad. “Lou? What’s wrong?”“Nothing. I will talk to him.” He was quick to give her smile.“That’s good, but what’s about you?”“What’s about me?”“Louis.” She shook her head, indication that he was not fooling her with his face smile.“It’s just… you two seem… close.”“I guess we just understand each other. I mean we both survived for a long time and some things we both experienced changed us. We both know how it feels. Why do you ask?”“I mean… I’m sorry, but… he is handsome, OK? And I think he might like you and…”“Wait-wait-wait.” Clem cupped his cheeks and turned Louis’s face to her. “Are you… jealous?”“I guess I am.” He admitted in defeat. “Sorry.”Much to his surprise Clementine giggled and shook her head, clearly amused. And then she kissed him. Soft and gently at first, before he felt her tongue hesitantly press to his lips. He opened his mouth without even thinking, feeling the kiss deepen, while their lips moved much faster and hungrily now. Those type of kisses were still new to both of them as they hinted at something much more serious, but right now it felt just right to kiss her like that. It felt like they were claiming each other as their own. He felt her arms wrap around his neck, sliding her warm hands under his jacket and his grasp on her waist tightened a bit, bringing her even closer, as close as possible. When they pulled apart, both were breathless and they rested their foreheads against each other.“Truth to be told, I’m a bit flattered, but there is no need to be worried about James, OK?” Clementine looked at her boyfriend with amusement. “First of all, I’m already head over heels for somebody named Louis. Which is your name, by the way.”He couldn’t help but laughed hard and pressed her to his chest, feeling so relived and happy. God, he loved that young woman. And looks like his sense of humor was rubbing up on her.“And also… James is gay.” Clementine sighed contently in her boyfriend’s chest. “And you called him handsome… so, maybe it’s me who should be worried and jealous?”OK, his sense of humor definitely rubbed up on her. *** When next morning Louis left the dorms, everyone were already outside. Regan was sitting on the main building’s stairs, drawing something in her sketchbook with AJ sitting near her and telling her something, Rosie laying near her boy’s foot, enjoying his head scratches. W@lly was on the watch tower, trying to see if any danger was hiding between the trees. Clementine and Violet were helping Omar to prepare the breakfast. Aasim and Ruby sat on the sofa, talking about something and holding hands. But as much as Louis loved all his friends, now he needed to talk to another person. And that person was also outside, looking at the graveyard direction.“Well, hello, James!” Louis hoped he sounded as friendly as possible. “How was your first night in Ericson?”The Asian young man looked at him for a moment before he turned away with unreadable expression on his face.“Quiet, I guess.” He finally said. “You have a graveyard.”“Yeah… we wanted to remember our friends. Most of the graves are empty since there was nothing left to be buried but… this a place where we come if we want to talk to them. It’s stupid to believe that they will listen… but we can pretend, right?”“Why not?” James turned to him. “You don’t believe in afterlife?”“I… honestly don’t know what I believe. People used to think that dead will never come back to life but… here we are.” Louis sighed. He was supposed to talk with James about him staying in school and instead they were talking about dead and afterlife. But maybe that was a good sign, may be this weird conversation would help James relax a bit. Louis decided to just go with the flow. “What do you believe, James?”“I don’t know about afterlife. Nobody tried to reach me from out there so far.” Ex-whisperer shook his head. “But I guess it’s comforting to think that somebody who you used to love is watching you from above. You feel less alone. I… I forgot your name.”“Oh, it’s Louis.”“You and your friends seems like nice people, Louis. But I’m not sure I can be the part of the group again.” James sighed.“Why not?” Louis tried to sound not too disappointed. May be there was still a chance to convince boy from the wood to change his mind? “Aren’t you tired to always be alone?”“I’m not alone. I’m used to be around walkers. I always know what to expect from them and… with them it’s peaceful. When I was with people, it was always fighting, fear and pain. When I met Clem and AJ I thought they were different, until I saw AJ shot Lilly. I don’t need another war, Louis. Sometimes I think Walkers are better than people are. As long as you don’t disturb them, they are harmless and peaceful. That’s all I need.”“I see.” It suddenly just clicked in Louis’ brain. He knew that to say. May be it won’t work, but he knew how he could try to reach out for Clem’s friend. In this moment he felt James’ loneliness, otherwise he wouldn’t come out of the woods to talk to AJ yesterday. He just needed somebody to show him that there was other ways to live. “I guess that would be nice to just... be. I understand. God, peaceful life sounds amazing.”He noticed the way James looked at him changed and smiled warmly in return.“Hey, look! Omar is signaling us the breakfast will be done soon. That is one of the people you helped to save from that boat, by the way. Omar loves cooking. Without him we’d probably starve or die of food poisoning. You liked his stew, right?”“Yes, it was good.” James nodded, clearly confused by Louis sudden change in behavior.“Oh, and the blonde girl who is helping him? It’s Violet. She was also on that boat but unfortunately, the explosion made her blind. She can see a bit with one eye but… not a lot. But Violet is one of the strongest people I know, she doesn’t give up. I… guess she is my best friend now, and I’m proud of it.” Louis pointed at the sofa. “The Indian boy is Aasim, the third person Delta kidnapped. We don’t agree on many terms but he is still my friend and I care a lot about him. Just… don’t tell him I said that.”“OK.” James still looked confused.“Aasim is very reliable and smart. He always has a plan and without him we wouldn’t even know what date it is today. It’s November the 13th, by the way. Aasim has a girlfriend, the red haired girl near him. Ruby is a sweetheart. She is our unofficial nurse. She loves animals and gardening. Sometimes I think she loves our horse, Carrot, even more than she loves Aasim.” Louis chuckled and turned into watch tower direction. “Remember W@lly? Yeah, kid is a bit strange, but he has a kind heart. He also very talented. Give kid some scrap and he’d build something useful with it. He created a fake leg for Clem, can you imagine.”“That’s great, Louis, but I don’t unders…”“Oh, look, Regan is drawing something!” Louis started to speak faster. “She is new here. She has been with caravan we traded with but decided that she wants to stay with us. Have you seen her pictures? They look so alive! AJ clearly likes her company. I think Clem is secretly a bit jealous but she still glad he has people he can talk to now. AJ also loves to draw pictures. I have one of them in my room. I think when he is older he’d become great artist too. But even if he don’t, it’s OK. He is good in many areas. He is still very young and he loves to learn new things every day.”He turned to Clem, who was too busy talking about something with Violet. Both girl laughed when one of them clearly cracked a joke.“And this is Clementine. But you know that already, right? She is… she is amazing. Kind, caring, forgiving, smart, beautiful and strong. She lost a leg and she still finds ways to be helpful. She loves books, her favorite color is purple and she wanted to become a doctor like her mom before dead came back to life. Well, she is also the only person except Ruby who has medical experience in this school so, if Ruby is busy, you can always come to Clem and she’d patch you up.”He turned to James who still looked at him in confusion. OK, it was time for hard part.“Walkers… do they help each other?”James’ eyes widened up.“I mean, I never saw that, but you spent more time around them. Tell me. Do they help each other to stand up if one of them falls? Do they treat each other’s wounds? Can they fall in love? Have you ever saw any of them to hold hands or kiss?” Louis kept asking.James lowered his gaze and shook his head.“Look at them, my friends. This is us, when we are peaceful. Laughing, minding our own business, playing with the dog.” He smiled and looked at Aasim and Ruby again. “Falling in love, trying to be as happy as possible. We just live here, James. We are peaceful. And truth to be told, I don’t see us being worse than walkers. We don’t want any trouble, but we… we protect ourselves if needed. We didn’t want this fight with Delta, but there was only two options: we fight or we give up. Clem gave them a chance to leave but they refused.”James was silent. Louis didn’t know if it was a good sign or bad. Did he make the ex-whisperer listen and think about his words? He hoped he did.“Look at W@lly.” He pointed at 13-years old boy on the watchtower. “He was very little when he was sent to this school. There was a boy my age who always took care of him. His name was Mitch and he… let’s say he had a temper. But he was always kind to W@lly, taught him a lot about crafting and building. They were like brothers, always together. Until Lilly killed Mitch right in front of W@lly. Stabbed him in the throat.”Louis noted James closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists. But he still remained silent.“When Clem told AJ to shot Lilly it wasn’t because she wanted another death. It wasn’t because she loves killing. She hates it. That wasn’t even about revenge! She knew that if she allowed Lilly to walk she’d come back again with a same plan. She and AJ protected us. All of us.” Louis sighed. “We wouldn’t come back home if AJ lowered his gun.”“Have you ever killed somebody, Louis?” Suddenly James asked. That was first words he said in the last several minutes.“I wish I could say “no”, but that wouldn’t be a truth.” Louis admitted sadly. “I killed a woman once. One of the raiders. It was an accident. I held a crossbow in my arms, she scared me, I turned and… you know. I felt so sick. I always hoped that I would never take somebody’s life but that happened.”“Do you regret it?”“No. Because if I wouldn’t do it things would go very differently. Clem would die. May be me too. May be we all would die, because this woman wouldn’t let us go. I… I mourn her death, but I don’t regret it.” Louis sighed. “I hope I would never have to kill again, may be this woman would be my first and last kill. But if it means protecting my friends… I know I’d do it.”James nodded, clearly still thinking about something.“I’m not going to lie to you. We are not angels. But I don’t think you will ever find somebody who don’t try to protect themselves in this world. We all have to fight for our lives sometimes but we can’t give up. Not now when we have so much to lose.” Louis looked at Clementine again. “I know you are OK to be alone, but just know, we all are ready to welcome you here. If you want to leave, we won’t stop you. You are a free person. But don’t make quick decisions. Just… I guess all I’m trying to say is give us a chance. We are different from walkers but maybe it’s a good thing.”“I… maybe I can try.” James finally sighed. “I can’t promise you anything. But… we’ll see.”“That’s all I ask.”“Did Clem ask you to talk to me?”“Yeah, she did.” Louis nodded.“Well, you can tell her you did a good job.” James chuckled.“Oh, trust me, I will.” Young pianist smiled in return. “And by the way. If one day you will share a room with AJ, I have to warn you. He snores.”
  
  

    
      
        
        
          Another long chapter! More than 8k words! It's the middle of the night, I have to work my 12 hours long shift tomorrow and yet here I am, writing am chapter for you.'
User: Summarize the chapter based on the content provided, ensuring to follow the set format and emphasize key aspects within the specified length.
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