Clementine's P.O.V.
"Clem, you've gotta' see this! C'mon! Wake up!"
I stirred from my sleep when I felt a pair of arms shaking me, the voice sounding like almost a murmur in my dream-like state. I opened my eyes and blinked trying to steady my vision, everything in the room looking like smears and blurs. I could just faintly make out a figure hunched over my body, and I expected it to be A.J.'s, as he was the only one I knew who could wake up so happy and excited. I finally came to and propped myself up on the bed, rubbing my eyes so I can finally learn what my boy saw that I just had to see.
I was surprised to find it was Louis hovering over me instead.
"Good morning, my darlin'." He gave me his usual toothy grin. "Sorry I disturbed you."
"I thought you were A.J..." I grabbed my hat and put it in its rightful place. "But now I just realize it's my boyfriend sounding like he's just seen Santa Claus."
"Also sorry to disappoint. But I recommend you join me and take a look outside...you've just got to see this."
With no warning whatsoever, he grabbed my hand and literally pulled me out of my bed. I stumbled to my feet and gave him an aggravated look, which went unnoticed as him turned around and practically threw open the door for us. My heart was leaping and my body felt numb - wondering just what was worth dragging me out of my room to see. Because if it wasn't, I'd be sure to let Louis know that.
But as we were leaving the dorms, I saw through the few narrow cracks of the boarded-up windows we'd pass nothing but pure white. I pursed my lips as my boyfriend suddenly stopped, letting go of my wrist and taking a hold of the door's handle. He turned to me biting his lower lip - everything about the sight just reminded me of a little kid. His posture looked antsy as he opened his mouth to say something, but instead shut it and opened the door for me.
What greeted me outside made my eyes widen.
The whole school was covered in blankets of pearl-colored snow, from the roofs down to the whole courtyard. And as I stepped forward, hearing that familiar crunch just underneath my boots, I found that snowflakes were still falling from the sky. They were gentle and nothing like the storm that must've caused this. A breeze came by and carried the cold winter chill with it. I pulled down my sleeves and zipped up my jacket when I felt myself shiver.
"See? Totally worth it waking you up."
Louis joined my side, and I knew he did because I felt his hand come to my shoulder and pull me closer to him. I clenched my teeth and fought the urge to push him away, slightly embarrassed that he might've seen me react to the cold. This was when I noticed he actually had his trench coat buttoned up. I relished in his warmth for a few seconds before he pulled away from me and grabbed my hand again, warming it in his grip.
"Actually, this isn't what I wanted to show you."
I let him pull me with him this time as he circled us around the building. I was looking at the footprints already in the snow, noting that these ones were much smaller than ours. When I looked up, I found three figures huddled around something. I recognized A.J. right off the bat but had to squint through the snow to make out Willy and Tennessee.
"Clem!"
When my boy saw me and he started running in my direction, probably out of habit by this point. I let go of Louis to hold out my arms and hug him. I realized he was wearing a winter jacket just a little too big for him. When he pulled back, I could see the tips of his nose and cheeks start reddened from the cold. Willy and Tenn heard us and stood behind him, also in warmer clothes.
"We were building a snowma-man." Tenn motioned behind them. "What do you think?"
I stood to my full height to get a better look at their creation. This is definitely what what they were huddled around - a 4-foot snowman with rocks for eyes and twigs for arms. They had yet to add the nose and the smile. While his body wasn't completely spherical, it was obvious they put a lot of time into it. I gave them a proud smile and held up my thumb to show my approval.
"It looks great. Good job, you three."
"I made the head and Tennessee made the bottom. It's taking awhile but it's really fun!" The grin on A.J.'s face warmed me inside. "We wanted a carrot for his nose but Omar won't let us have anything..."
"Well, you could use something else. Like a stick or a berry."
"Hey, that's a good idea! I think I saw a bush that has really big ones." Willy pointed a gloved finger enthusiastically. "Let's go!"
The kids left me and Louis alone, who stepped forward and wrapped his arms around my neck. I felt my face turn red and wondered if it from either the cold or that my boyfriend was feeling way more comfortable now that it was cold. But then I realized how warm it was inside his arms and my body melted. I closed my eyes and turned to hold my face against his coat.
"A.J.'s been having a blast all morning. We were throwing snow balls at each other while you were asleep. When I saw him and the others making a snowman, I thought that'd be something you wanted to see."
"I'm surprised I slept in." I admitted, not looking up from the heat that was his chest. "Usually the cold will wake me up because I know I need to get warmer. But I don't remember freezing at all last night."
He laughed and nuzzled the top of my hat. "That's 'cause you weren't. It started snowing last night and the room was freezing, but you made yourself comfy in my coat. So I kept you warm all night."
My breath felt hot and left a mist in the cold air. "Thank you..."
"It kept A.J. warm, too. He really wanted to play outside when he woke up and Vi found some extra winter clothes in the closets upstairs. I found one for you - that's what you were wrapped in this morning."
I blinked in surprise, only now recalling what I thought was a blanket draped over me earlier. That means it must still be on the bed. I didn't say a word as I threw myself off from him and ran inside. His footsteps followed mine as I went down the corridor. When I came into our room, I found the coat still flat on the bed. I didn't hesitate to throw it on top of my jacket. The inside was fuzzy but wasn't nearly comfortable as Louis' trench coat.
"I expect a 'thank you' 'cause it was either that or an ugly Christmas sweater." His voice came from the doorway. "I thought you'd like the coat more."
My eyes rolled to the back of my skull as I stepped forward and hugged him. When his arms came around my back, I never felt warmer. He let go and I saw him reaching into one of his pockets, where he pulled out a pair of blue snow gloves. He handed them to me and I put them on. They were a little big for my hands but nothing I was going to complain about.
"Ruby found the gloves. I snagged these for you."
"Thanks for the gloves. And for the coat." My words failed to express just how thankful I was. "Has the school always been this prepared for winter?"
"You kidding? Sometimes Marlon and I skipped class just so we could throw snow at the windows." He closed his eyes. "We'd keep all our stuff in a closet until the next winter. We always forget where it is until we need it again."
We heard some ruckus outside and left the rooms. Just by taking one step out the door, I was nearly hit by a snowball. It missed my face by just a few inches and exploded on the wall beside me. When I looked to see who threw it, I found Mitch ducking behind one of the picnic tables and laughing. Then I see the other heads surface from the other tables, including Ruby and Violet's.
"You asshole!" Violet threw one at the table guarding him. "She isn't apart of the game!"
"You could've hurt her real bad, you know!" Ruby added, launching one of her own that flew right above his head. This only resulted in him cracking up even harder, obliging me to grab a pile of snow nearby and start forming it into a ball.
Louis saw what I was doing and made one of his own, following behind me as I advanced on the table he was hiding behind. Quietly, we made our way to him until we were only a few inches away. Then we both stood over his little base and threw our snowballs at him, which effectively hit his face and sent him into a swearing-frenzy. Everyone else, including myself, erupted into laughter.
"What the hell!?" He struggled to wipe the snow off his nose. "You couldn't have given me a fucking notice?"
"Then maybe you want to think twice before chucking a ball at my girlfriend, dude." Louis threw another one at him, which hit his arm when Mitch blocked. Then he grabbed my arm and ran us both behind another table, yelling in his direction. "-AND MAKE A BETTER BASE!"
"Fuck off, Louis!"
Even I couldn't help but giggle as we ducked and heard the snowballs hitting the wood. Lou brought some snow around and I helped him construct a fort. It was at least bigger than Mitch's, which we used to shield ourselves whenever some more snow was hurled in our direction. The smile ceased to wipe off my face the more snowballs I made and threw it at anyone whose head was tragically uncovered. I even managed a few in Aasim's direction, who was as far from as us as possible writing in his journal.
"Okay, this is actually pretty fun." I confessed, breathing hard as I struggled to form another ball. Louis grabbed it from my hands and tossed it in Violet's direction, which hit apart of her fort and caused it to tumble down.
"HOOOO! NAILED IT!" He exclaimed, fist bumping the air in victory. "Might want to make a new fort, Vi!"
"God damnit, Louis, I've remade it 4 times already!" When she hurled a snowball at him, it nailed him in the face, to which she sarcastically followed with, "Ohhh, so sorry you left yourself open..."
I could see the playful spite on my boyfriend's face as he wiped off the snow and made another ball. Except this time it wasn't small. He gathered as much snow as possible to make a gigantic one, borrowing a chunk from out fort and leaving it vulnerable. I watched with my jaw hung open as he left our table and ran, dumping it on Ruby's base. She wasn't pleased, to say at the least.
"Are you kidding me!? Louis, you better get your butt back over here-stop laughing!- you got snow ALL over me...!"
He came and slid behind our table again, laughing at what happened. I joined him. We all decided that was enough and left our forts. Only Violet was willing to exchange a 'good game' with me while Mitch and Ruby glared daggers in mine and Louis' direction. It was about that time the kids came back. A.J. ran to me and clutched at my sleeve, urging me forward.
"Clem, we finished our snowman! Wanna' see?"
I nodded, letting myself get dragged around for the third time today as A.J. brought me to their snowman. It looked complete now, with a crooked smile and a slightly-misaligned nose they constructed using a couple of berries. I made sure he was proud of it and Louis helped in that aspect, even coming up with a name for it. They agreed on 'Brody on the Snowman' and Tennessee promised to draw it when he had the chance.
We made snow angels after that, A.J.'s being between mine and Louis'. Then we did other typical snow day stuff after that, like using a makeshift sled Mitch made and carving messages into the snow(A.J. made me a heart while Louis made a bigger one around it). And during all that time I never once thought about walkers. Or what could be happening outside the gates. Or how, for the longest time, A.J. and I haven't had a snow day like this.
But it all came tumbling down on me when I was watching them slide on the ice, sitting on one of the benches that wasn't used in the snow fight. My mind drifts as it usually does whenever I think too much. I started remembering all the times I've been in snow, appreciating how different it was now, but only ended up resurfacing memories I'd have rather not thought about.
I didn't realize I was staring at the floor until I saw a pair of boots stop in front of me. When I glanced up, I saw Louis looking at me in concern. I probably let my frown slip onto my face while I was thinking. Without saying anything, he sits beside me, close enough that our knees touch and I can feel his body against mine. Then I start to think some more, and before I know it, my head found its way onto Louis' shoulder.
He takes this chance to talk to me. "Are you, uh, okay?"
"Yes and no." I furrowed my eyebrows, staring at the snow on the ground. "I'm having a great time, but..."
"....But?"
"I can't help but just remember something. Something bad." I clarified.
"If you want to talk to me about it, you know I'm here for you."
I smiled, but it dissipated quickly. My hand comes into Louis' without even thinking, but when I feel him clutch at it back, it relaxes me. I glanced up just to make sure that no one was within earshot. Then I sighed and let myself lay against him. I found that talking about these things to him made me feel better, in a slight way. I wasn't holding them back or burying them further in my head like I'd been used to doing. Sharing them was...nice. It was okay.
"When A.J. was born...it was during a snowstorm. When his mother was dying. From hypothermia and...and giving birth to him made her bleed. So she was losing a lot of blood, too." My eyes came to his figure from afar, causing me to take sharp intake of breath. "She turned while he was in her lap and I...I had to shoot her to save him. And this girl, Jane, she did something horrible just to prove a point. She lied to us that A.J. was dead but she left him in a car in the middle of the snow. He could've frozen to death."
I noticed my lips were quivering and gulped. "I just can't help but get worried every time it's snowing. Before we came here, I always had to stay awake and make sure A.J. was warm at night and that nothing bad could happen to him. Because of what's happened in the past."
I got emotional and hid my face in side of his coat, mentally swearing at myself for doing this again. Only a couple of tears left my eyes and I stopped crying by the time I warmed up in Louis' shoulder. I looked up at him and noticed he was clenching his teeth, looking at the floor and shaking his head. I could feel his hand trembling on my back.
"Shit..." He whispers. "I can see why you'd do that."
I didn't want him to get emotional either so I quickly added, "-But that's why I'm really thankful you guys made sure A.J. had a coat and everything. I can't thank you enough for keeping us warm last night."
"Clementine, I promise you guys won't have to worry about something like that again. Ever." He looked me in the eye. "And if it came down to it, fuck, I'd let you guys take my coat so I could freeze."
"Hopefully you won't have to. It's just senseless to be thinking of that right now, but I keep remembering these things and it gets to me. It's like I can never forget them. Every time A.J. tells me he's cold, all I can see is him in that car again..."
"You know what I think you should be seeing? Him right now. Over there, falling in the snow and getting back up and laughing." He pointed and I followed, smiling when I saw A.J. hold onto Willy's side. "He's not freezing or locked anywhere. You took care of him so we could, too.
"Louis..." I buried my face into his arm, squeezing his hand tightly. "-Thank you."
"You're welcome." He patted my back and slowly got up from the bench. "We should join him, actually. So we can see who can stay on the ice longer without falling. My bet's on you."
I wiped the end of my eye with my sleeve, letting him help me to my feet. "Yeah, that sounds fun."
I held onto his arm with both of my hands as we joined A.J., swerving ourselves on the ice and being cautious not to fall. Anytime I felt myself slip, I'd hold onto Louis and he'd hold onto me. We felt A.J. holding onto us, too, so he couldn't fall, either. Eventually all three of us slipped and we fell on top of each other, our laughs mixing with Violet's, Ruby's, Aasim's, Mitch's, Willy's, Tennessee's...but I remember my laugh being the loudest.
