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“Okay, everyone understands the plan, correct? Do I have to go over it again?”
“Yes, Louis,” Violet groaned from her seat. Her eyes were glossed with boredom. She wasn’t the only one though, some of the other crew members were clearly losing interest with the meeting they were currently having. Brody was busy messing with the hem of her shirt, Aasim found the corner of the table far more interesting than the conversation at hand, even Marlon looked as if he were about to fall asleep. “This is the twentieth time you’ve asked.”
Louis’ eyebrows rose at the number. “You’ve been counting?”
“Of course I’ve been counting. That’s all I’ve been doing this entire time.”
Louis frowns. Prisha just so happens to laugh under her breath. Hearing her laugh seemed to get Violet flustered, a faint blush creeping up on her cheeks as she focused her attention elsewhere to avoid embarrassment.
“Don’t worry Lou, I’ve been listening,” Clementine speaks up, a soft smile tugging at her face. “We get in the mansion, lay low for long enough, then I’ll give the signal so that Mitch and Aasim can sneak into the study room and get the scroll.”
“Clementine, dear Clementine, how much I love you!” Louis leaned to the side where the brunette sat and planted a long, strong kiss upon her cheek. When he drew away, he made sure to draw out a loud “mwah” sound.
Violet fake gags to the noise. “God, get a room, you two!”
“You’re just jealous I’m not giving you a kiss!”
“Don’t even think about it!”
“Alright alright,” Aasim tore his attention away from the table and broke the tension right before it could grow out of control. “When does this party begin again? I would hope we have enough time to get ourselves ready,”
“I believe it starts in around three hours,” Louis answers. “Plenty of time to get all dressed up in our fancy vests and gowns!”
Hearing the word gown seemed to get Ruby and Brody excited, since a certain twinkle of happiness spreads across their eyes. Brody begins to bounce up and down in her seat. “Gowns? Oh, that sure will be fun! We get to act like pure royalty!”
“We already are royalty, sug,” Ruby shakes her head with a grin. “Lou, you take care of the gentlemen and their outfits. We’ll handle the girls!”
“Woah woah woah, wait just a minute,” Clementine butts in. “I’m not wearing a gown.”
“Um, yeah, you are,” Violet is the one to speak of the brunette’s stubbornness. “If I’m wearing one you’re wearing one.”
“No way! They get all itchy and are way too fancy for me!”
“But Clem,” Louis pouted. “We need the gown so we can hide your… you know…”
“My what?”
“Your… leg leg.”
Clementine gaped at him. “My- oh for crying out loud! You all are insane!”
“Come on, darling! Just this once! Please!”
“Nope! I refuse!” The brunette turned her head away with a huff. The crew frowned at her sudden stubbornness. They knew it was bad, but not this bad.
“Oh come on, you stubborn crab,” Ruby tugged Clementine out of her seat. “We’ll make sure you look divine!”
“No! I don’t want to look divine! Lou!”
“Sorry babe! Love you!” Louis blew his girlfriend a kiss as she was dragged out of the room by the redhead. Everything was planned, and everyone was prepared. Louis just hoped luck was on their side today.
~~~
“I hate this.” Clementine mumbled under her breath. The fabric of the periwinkle gown she, to her very much disappointment, wore itched uncomfortably against her skin. Once everyone had finished getting ready the crew snuck themselves easily into the home of Von Cheetzahe II and thankfully weren’t seen as suspicious at the door.
“Relax darling! You look stunning!” Louis came beside his love with his forest green vest tucked neatly over him. “Besides, if everything goes according to plan you won’t have to wear it for much longer,”
A frown stayed amongst Clem’s face, but she didn’t argue there. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
“We have to be careful,” Aasim reminded the group. He wore a vest similar to what Louis wore, except his was a burnt orange color. “I hear guards are patrolling all around the home.” Ruby appeared beside him in an elegant blue gown with lace ruffles hugging at the ends of her sleeves and grasped onto one of his hands. The ends of Aasim’s lips curved up as he lifted their intertwined hands up and planted a kiss on the back of the redhead’s hand. “You look beautiful, my dear,”
“Aw, thank you sug!” Ruby beamed. “You look ravishing yourself.”
Aasim blushed at the compliment but kept his cool. “Alright, we should probably get everyone in their places.”
“Right!” The captain exclaimed. “Speaking of which… where is everyone else?”
“Prisha and Violet went off to distract some of the guests,” Clementine mentioned. “Omar and Marlon are too busy at the food tables, Brody is-”
“Right here!” The auburn suddenly popped in. She currently wore a pastel yellow gown with lace ruffles at her sleeves similar to Ruby, only difference being they were longer. “I had to help Mitch adjust his vest.”
“This thing is so fucking annoying,” Said boy came walking up to the group with an annoyed expression. His vest was a bit fancier than Louis and Aasim’s, and was shaded in an elegant sea green color. “So me and Aasim are bustin’ in and grabbing this scroll or what?”
“When I give the signal,” Clem tells him. “Right now doesn’t seem like the best time though. Too many people.”
“My lady is right! Let’s spread out and make sure the area is clear before proceeding with anything else,”
Everyone seemed to agree with Louis’ words. Brody and Ruby filed their way through the crowd and made it look like they were fetching themselves some drinks. Mitch and Aasim stayed close and circled around the area they knew they had to sprint to in order to play out the rest of their plan. Louis and Clementine stuck close and danced with one another to make themselves not look suspicious.
“Having fun, Clem?” Louis asked an hour into the party. “I see you haven’t given Mitch and Aasim the signal yet.”
“I can’t seem to find the right time,” The brunette’s eyes scanned the ballroom and locked onto party guests left and right. “There’s too many people…”
“Relax, my love, I’m sure it’ll die down soon.”
“You said that twenty minutes ago.”
Louis paused to that. “Yeah, I suppose so… but never fear! The more time for us to dance.”
Clementine rolled her eyes, but played along as the couple continued on with their dancing. Clem was surprised no one had come up to her and asked why whenever she walked it sounded like she had wood blocks for shoes. Well… she technically did have a block of wood as a shoe, a whole leg to be exact, but no one seemed to care about it. Best assumed it was her heels making such noise.
“My word, is that who I think it is?” A voice suddenly appeared beside the couple. They turned their heads and saw a young woman with short, curly blonde hair and a peachy orange dress with lace around the bottom hems gaping at the pair. “Louis! I cannot believe it!”
One of Clementine’s brows arched up. “What?”
“Oh no…” Louis muttered under his breath. He could feel his hands start to sweat as he forced a smile. “Amanda! How lovely to see you…”
Now it was Clem’s turn to have her mouth hang open. Louis knew this woman??
“Louis, it’s been so long!” The girl ran up and gave the freckled boy a random tight hug. “I haven’t seen you since that one party your father held!”
“Heh, yeah I um…” Louis scratched the back of his neck as sweat began to trickle down his forehead. “It’s been some time.” It was clear he didn’t know what to say.
Amanda spotted Clementine and gave her a stinky eye. “And who is this, Lou?”
Lou? She had nickname privileges?? “Um, Clementine, and I’m-”
“A very dear friend of mine!” Louis finished the brunette’s sentence with a nervous laugh. Clementine stared at him in disbelief. A very dear friend. That’s what he just said about her, didn’t he? Not his love, not his girlfriend, not any of that. A very dear friend of his.
“I- I have to go,” Clementine barely managed to let the sentence slip out of her mouth.
“Clem?” Louis reached out to the brunette. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” Clem snapped, making Louis draw back his arm. “Just… why don’t you two catch up? I won’t be far,” And with that Clementine bolted away from the pair, doing her best to hold back tears as her dress trailed behind her. She could feel her heart thumping into her ears. Her breath was shaky too. Only one thought ran through her mind as she ran out of the ballroom and into a different part of the house. Did Louis truly love her?
~~~
Mitch picked at the skin around his nails as he and Aasim waited for Clementine to hand over the signal. It’d been at least an hour and the brunette hadn’t done just that. Mitch couldn’t help but be worried, but didn’t let that show. Instead his annoyance was clearly present.
“This wait is killing me,” Mitch spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper as to not draw attention.
“I know, but if we wish to have everything go according to plan we must wait for Clementine’s signal.” Aasim leaned against the wall beside him and watched as guests on the floor below them chatted away and danced all across the ballroom floors. Aasim could make out Ruby and Brody making conversation with another pair of ladies, Marlon and Omar still entertaining themselves at the food tables, and Prisha and Violet were nowhere to be found. Scratch that. Aasim spotted them in the corner squeezing each other’s hands while lovingly staring into the other’s eyes.
“Who the fuck is Louis talking to?” Mitch’s voice came up. Aasim darted his eyes to where Mitch pointed out the dreadlocked boy and saw him standing near the drink table, a glass in hand as he made small conversation with an unfamiliar blonde woman. Clearly the woman wasn’t Clementine. Which meant they had no idea where she was. “He isn’t talking to Clem anymore,”
“I can see that,” Aasim hissed to Mitch as he began to scan the room in an attempt to find Clem. Nothing. “Shit. This isn’t good.”
“Why can’t we just go already? Maybe that’s the signal. If we no longer see Clementine then that means we go.”
Aasim eyed his friend with a raised eyebrow. “That sounds stupid, Mitch.”
Mitch gave out a huff. A few moments passed before the boy gave in and turned on his heel and trotted down the hallway towards the room with the treasure.
“Mitch! Fucking hell,” Aasim shook his head before speeding after him, his hands clentched into fists while keeping an observant eye of their surroundings. No one was around, so that was a good sign. Maybe Mitch was right, maybe that was the signal.
By the time Aasim had caught up with Mitch he was already in the room and searching around for the scroll. Aasim stepped inside and closed the door behind him before walking forward and helping his friend. Minutes dragged on with nothing, and hope started to feel lost. Up until Mitch yelled out in excitement.
“Fuckin’ A! Gold!” Mitch held up the scroll which had, ironically, a gold ribbon tied around the piece of paper. Aasim seemed pleased and moved forward.
“Great work Mitch! Now let’s get out of here before-”
“Halt right there!” An angry voice interrupted. The two paused as their heads turned to find two guards standing in front of their exit. Crap. “You two! Drop the ancient scroll now!”
“No way!” Mitch angrily retorted. “We worked hard for this!”
Aasim shared the same expression as his friend. This didn’t seem to please the guards. “You wish to make this difficult?” The guard on the left cracked their knuckles. “Then we’ll make it difficult.”
~~~
Clementine stared ahead as the waves below the balcony she stood upon crashed against the soggy sand and foamed the shore. Her breathing was rough and her fingers twitched slightly. Louis’ words repeated in her mind. Very dear friend. Just a friend? That’s all she was to him? What about all those nights where they’d cuddle up to each other in the hammocks, keeping each other warm as the ship rested in the calming waters? All those kisses they shared, all the times they intertwined hands and never wanted to let go? It didn’t make any sense. Did he even love her at all? Was it all some sick joke? A dare?
Her eyes found their ship docked along with others, it was blended in so well she didn’t spot it at first. The younger boys were assigned to watch it while the rest of the crew went ahead to get the scroll that was assumed to lead to a heap load of treasure. At least they didn’t have to see her like this, a mopped up mess. But her mind was still focused on Louis. God, Louis. She loved him, she really did. She hadn’t been treated the way he treated her since… well, ever. He was the first to treat Clementine like an actual human being. He treated her like she mattered in this hell of a world. But now she wasn’t so sure how Louis really felt. Was it all a lie? Just a distraction so he could find the perfect moment to crush her soul?
“Clem!” A desperate cry from behind drew Clementine back to reality. She turned her head to see Brody speeding over towards her, out of breath. Her dress was all stained from either punch or blood. Clem couldn’t tell. “Quick, everything’s gone all wrong!”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Mitch and Aasim have been caught! They’re trapped in that study with the scroll and we can’t get in and there’s- there’s-” Brody trailed off, her breaths increasing and growing all hitched.
“Brody, Brody listen to me,” Clem placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll save them, okay? We’ll get them back.”
Her words seemed to help calm the auburn down, her breathing slowly but surely going back to normal and her hands no longer shaking. “R-Right, you’re right… I’m sorry, I just worry,”
“It’s okay. What about the others? Are they okay?”
“Omar ran back to the ship to check on the boys, Ruby and Marlon went ahead to try and get into the room but they must’ve blocked off the door… Prisha and Violet are trying to clear out as many guards as they can, and I have no idea where Louis is…”
Clementine’s brows knitted together. Of course Louis would just run off like that. Stupid Louis. “You help Ruby and Marlon, I’ll meet up with Prisha and Violet and help them.”
Brody seemed hesitant. “But what about Louis? Aren’t you concerned about him?”
Clem held back a twitch. “He can handle himself. Now come on, let’s go save our friends.”
The ends of Brody’s lips went down into a frown. It wasn’t like Clementine to talk about Louis in such a way. Did something happen in there between them? She didn’t question it out loud though. “Alright, be careful.”
“You too,” Clementine then was running into the home with a determined expression. Her eyes darted around the room before she spotted Prisha’s braid flinging around to the girl’s movement as she clashed a sword against a guard’s. It wasn’t long before Prisha took the opportunity to swift her leg forward and slam it behind the guard’s knee, causing them to fall forward and giving Prisha an opening to knock them right out. Once dealt with Prisha looked up and spotted Clementine.
“Clem,” She stepped over the guard’s unconscious body. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Clementine stared at the body for a moment before glancing back up at her friend. “Vi isn’t with you?”
“She went more towards the foyer to take care of the guards there.” Prisha stashed away her sword and adjusted the sleeves to her teal gown. Clem was surprised how clean Prisha had kept the fabric. “Louis isn’t with you?”
This time Clementine let a twitch slip out. “He’s… somewhere. I don’t know, we had a little fight and…”
“Wait, you had a fight?”
“Behind you!” A sudden voice cried out before a strong clash echoed throughout the room. The girls flipped their heads around just in time to see a guard crumble to the floor. Behind them stood Violet, grasping onto her own sword and visibly huffing. Her gown had specks of blood around the chest and skirt. “You two okay?”
“We are thanks to you,” Prisha leaned over and placed a soft peck on the blonde’s cheek. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I took care of the assholes at the front door. We’re all clear to go once we get Mitch and Aasim safely out of that room,” The trio all looked up at the hallway above them that eventually led down to the room where the pair of boys were trapped. From a distance they could hear soft grunts of struggle and faint crashes of fighting.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Violet commented.
“Yeah,” Prisha said with a hint of worry in her voice. “I don’t know what we can do though.”
“You guys try and find Louis, I’ll help them out,” Clementine told them simply. The couple stared at the brunette.
“Wait, Louis is missing?”
“It’s a long story, Vi. Come on.” Prisha took her girlfriend’s hand and together they left the room to search for their captain. Clementine watched them go out of view before making her way upstairs to the hall where the fighting was becoming clearer each step closer she took. Reaching the hall she caught Ruby desperately bonking her heel against the door, while Marlon was the one continuously yelling at the guards through the door.
“Open this door right now! Or else!”
He was met with nothing in response, just the sound of their fighting proceeding without any intention of stopping. Marlon grew angrier each time they ignored him.
“Open up! Now!!”
“You’re hitting it wrong,” Clementine revealed herself to the pair. She walked past Marlon and stood beside Ruby. “You have to hit it like this,” Clem then yanked her foot up and hit it square onto the door, causing it to go flying forward and revealing the scene happening in the room. There Mitch and Aasim were, alive but growing weak by every second. Only minor injuries were seen, Mitch having a small gash on his lip while Aasim had a black eye.
“Leave my beloved and my friend alone!” Ruby cried as she ran forward and tackled the guard closest to Aasim. Marlon sped forward as well and took care of the guard near Mitch. With them busy Clementine walked in and checked on the pair.
“Are you two okay? Can you walk?”
“Yeah, we’re fuckin’ alright. And can walk,” Mitch wiped at the blood that ran down his cheek. “Where the fuck did you go? We were looking for your signal,”
Clementine’s eyes went to the floor. “I… it’s complicated. Let’s just get you guys out of here,” Clem watched as Ruby and Marlon struggled to fend the guards. “Guys! Let’s go!” Clementine helped Mitch and Aasim out of the room and led them down the hallway, Ruby and Marlon following not far behind.
“Over here!” Prisha waved from the foyer. They all met up and took a second to catch their breaths.
“Oh sug! Your eye!” Ruby’s fingertips grazed along Aasim’s black eye.
“I’m fine, Ruby. You saved me though,” He leaned forward and captured the redhead’s lips in a tender kiss.
“Mitch!” Brody raced over and tightly held onto Mitch. “You’re okay!”
A dark blush came across Mitch’s face as he hesitantly hugged back. “Y-Yeah, nothing can defeat me.”
“Your lip…! It’s bleeding!”
“C’mon y’all, let’s head back to the ship and patch these boys up,” Ruby said. Everyone agreed and went forward out of the home and made their way towards the docks. Clementine noticed Prisha and Violet managed to find Louis, though she avoided his gaze.
“Clem!” AJ’s voice was heard as the group approached the ship. He waited until everyone had boarded the ship and had set off until he ran over and slammed his body into Clem’s. “You’re okay!”
Clementine let a smile take over as she held onto the little boy. “Yeah, I’m okay kiddo. Are you all okay?”
“Yep!” Willy answered. “We had so much fun chasing the seagulls that flew onto the decks!”
Clem seemed pleased with that answer. She tussled AJ’s afro with a chuckle. “I’m glad,” She stood back up and looked over to see Louis was making his way towards her. Her body tensed.
“Well, that could’ve gone much better… but thankfully we all made it out alive,” Louis locked eyes with Clementine. “Clem, I-”
“No,” Clem harshly cut him off. “I don’t wanna hear it.”
“But Clem-!”
“No Louis! I heard what you told her about me! I’m suddenly a very dear friend?!”
“Clem, it’s not like that! I- how was I supposed to tell her that you’re my girlfriend?!”
“By telling her I’m your girlfriend!” Clementine huffed as she grasped onto the edge of the ship. She held back tears by biting down on her lip. “Louis you- if you want this relationship to be official you can’t be a coward about it.”
Louis glanced down at his feet with a guilty look. She was right… he was being a coward about it all. “Look Clem I… I’m sorry. Really I am, it’s just… my father arranged a marriage with me and her ever since I was little.”
That got Clementine to look back at him, her expression turning confused. “Wait, what?”
Louis took that as a sign to continue. “I haven’t seen her since the day I left… hell I didn’t think I’d ever see her again, but… I did. And I was a total asshole to you about it and-” Louis stopped and returned his gaze back up to Clem’s honey like eyes. “Clem, I’m…”
“No, you… don’t have to say it,” Clementine took a step back. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I didn’t read the situation clearly and thought you were dumping me to be with some childhood friend…”
“Dump you? Never, my darling!” Louis reached out and took Clem’s hand in his. “I’m never leaving your side, got that? I love you too much to do that,”
“You love me?” Clem’s question was said in a low whisper.
“I love you very much,” Louis gave her hand a squeeze. Clementine softly smiled at that.
“Oh, I should probably give you this,” Clementine reached out and held the scroll with the gold ribbon out to the captain.
“You got it! How did you-?”
“Snagged it while we were running away. Those guards are quite dumb, really.”
Louis allowed a grin to slip onto his face. “You know what Clem? You’re not my very dear friend, you’re my very dear girlfriend! The hottest one out there!”
“Now hold on!” Aasim’s call made the couple turn. Seems like that last sentence got him riled up. “Ruby here is the hottest girlfriend!”
Louis audibly gasped. “My dear Aasim! How dare you turn down the truth of Clementine being the hottest girlfriend!”
“Hey now!” Prisha suddenly joined the fight. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Violet is clearly the hottest girlfriend!”
Hearing those words got the blonde blushing. She hid herself underneath the fabric of her sky blue dress, muttering something at how Prisha instead is the hottest girlfriend. The arguing kept going with Louis, Aasim and Prisha all making good reasons as to why their girlfriends were the hottest. It felt like an eternity had passed before a new voice spoke.
“Theoretically,” Mitch began. “Brody here is the hottest.”
That got everyone riled up. Louis, Aasim and Prisha basically screamed that his words weren’t true, Clementine and Ruby were too busy giggling together, Violet was a blushing mess taking care of Brody who had it worse than her. They weren’t even dating and he called her hot.
“Theoretically is a big word for you Mitch!” Ruby yelled over to him with a grin.
“Oh shut up!”
Marlon watched the chaos from afar with Omar. The two shared a look before Omar dismissed himself, mentioning he was going to begin preparing dinner. Marlon stood alone before Rosie appeared at his heel. The blond smiled and leaned down to pet the dog.
“You wanna go away from all this chaos?” Marlon asked her, getting a pant in return. “Yeah, let’s go.” The two then walked away and towards the other end of the ship from the commotion the crew was making that filled the sea air. Marlon definitely knew though that this fight would last for a good long while.