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Violet gazed across the courtyard, watching everyone go about their activities. She could see Louis practicing with his bow and arrow in the corner, his aim steadily getting better, and Aasim next to Ruby, both of them engrossed in their individual books. Even Omid seemed content, his leg elevated on a bench as he tweaked with some object Violet couldn’t make out from her perch.
As she continued to look around, she felt a pang of alarm shoot through her when she realized she couldn’t see AJ. The wayward child was always getting up to some kind of trouble, especially when Clementine was away.
Violet exhaled with relief when she heard a small grunt behind her. The blonde turned around and saw the small kid climbing up the bell tower, a recent addition to his list of skills, scrambling up the last step. Violet didn’t help him, he didn’t like to be helped.
AJ stood up and dusted off his clothes. “Why did Clem have to leave?”
Violet turned back to her viewing, glancing down at AJ who came to stand next to her. “She had to go with Dakota to trade.”
Dakota was a recent addition to their group. Well, kinda. He didn’t stay the night and he was only around a couple days a week, but he had proved himself to be more than useful. When he had offhandedly mentioned an outpost full of friendly people willing to trade, Clementine had jumped at the idea.
Their home, formerly Ericson’s Boarding School, was well stocked in a lot of ways, but they needed more materials. Materials that you couldn’t just find . AJ needed more clothes, as he seemed to be growing an inch every day, and winter supplies were in short supply.
Violet had offered instantly to join her girlfriend on the journey but Clementine, her lovely stubborn other half, had denied just as quickly.
“Someone has to stay here and be in charge.”
Her lover, along with Dakota and Willy (Clementine said that the boy knew more about metal and wood and various tools than anyone she knew), had left three days prior.
Dakota said the trip would take about ten days in total.
“You know why Clem left,” Violet said softly to the young boy.
“But why did she leave us ?” AJ whined. When Violet looked back at him, she saw his signature frown on his face, his arms crossed over his chest.
“She needs us here,” Violet pushed off of the wall and walked away a few paces, sitting down on a large piece of rubble to face the boy. “This place would fall apart without us.” She winked at AJ.
AJ seemed to be mulling over the words and walked closer to Violet, dropping his arms to his side. “I miss her,” he whispered.
Violet knew better than anyone how codependent AJ and Clementine were on each other. Clementine had raised the boy since his birth, and Violet had overheard AJ call her ‘mom’ on more than one occasion (although never to her face). And Violet was becoming closer to AJ over time. He reminded her of herself in a lot of ways.
He was sheltered and guarded and definitely didn’t trust easily. The exact same as Violet. But, when Violet and Clementine had started dating, over six months ago, AJ had warmed to the blonde almost instantly. If Clementine trusted her, then she knew AJ would as well.
Violet had never been the best with children. Tenn had been an exception, a small chip in her armor. Even Willy was another exception. Maybe it was because both of those kids had been sent to a school made for ‘troubled’ kids. Maybe Violet only got along with ‘troubled’ children.
But AJ wasn’t troubled.
No more than anyone else at the end of the world.
Violet could see right through his tough facade. AJ was scared nearly every second of the day, jumpy and skittish. He kept his gun on at him always, even sleeping with it under his pillow. He hated being alone, save for small moments when Violet knew he was processing something that even adults would have trouble with.
Clementine was his lifeline. His raft. His savior.
Violet missed her too. “Me too kid,” the blonde murmured.
“When will she be home?”
“Not for a while,” she answered honestly. She never found any reason to lie to AJ. Clementine never bothered to. “But hopefully her trip will be over soon.”
AJ scowled and folded his arms again. His eyes seemed to be scanning every inch of the young adult. “Clementine really loves you.”
That was Violet’s favorite thing about AJ. He never filtered anything . The blonde smiled brightly, laughing, “I really love her.” The words had felt scary the first time she had said them to her girlfriend, but now they felt as pure and light as ‘good morning’. Clementine was her other half, completing Violet in a way that Minnie never had, and never would’ve been able to.
The blonde bit her lip as her mind raced with thoughts of her lover. She often dreamt of Clementine, of those bright amber eyes and strong arms. Of the way she never backed down from any fight. With Marlon, with Lily, and even with learning how to walk on her new prosthetic leg.
“You better,” AJ said suddenly. Violet snapped back to reality and raised a brow at him, silently encouraging him to continue. “If you break her heart,” his small hands clenched into fists, “I don’t know what I’ll do...but it won’t be pretty.”
He needs to work on his threats. Violet thought. She decided to humor him though, “Well I wouldn’t want that.” She shook her head. “I promise you, I would never hurt Clem.”
He gazed at her again, his brown eyes dark, not a hint of childhood innocence to be found. Then he looked down at his feet and kicked a small pebble. “You’re going to be with her forever?” His voice sounded small and he looked like he had shrunk to half his normal size.
Violet gave him a soft smile and extended her hand, smiling wider when he came closer. She lifted him and put him on her lap, like she had seen Clementine do so often before. “I will never leave Clementine,” she put her hand on his back, “Or you. Or Ericson’s. This place is my home and you two are my family.”
“Even me?” AJ asked, eyes owlish.
“What do you mean?” The blonde asked.
“I’m your family?”
Violet couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course you are.”
“How?” The boy seemed more confused than ever.
AJ was more curious than the whole of Ericson’s. “Well, you know Clementine and I are...dating?”
“That’s like all the kissing and stuff you guys do, right?” AJ nodded, seemingly proud of his answer.
Violet blushed. She tried to keep her PDA to a minimum around the young, easily influenced boy, but Clementine was very touchy. Not that the blonde would ever complain about that. She loved feeling Clementine pressed up against her, or her hand touching some part of her body. Hugging and kissing came naturally to them, much to the chagrin of the rest of the school.
Violet had started keeping a stack of the papers Louis threw at them when they kissed for a little too long.
“Well, there’s more to it than that, but yes,” Violet rubbed the back of her neck with her hand, “Since we’re dating, that means that Clementine is a big part of my life. And you’re the biggest thing in her life, making you an important part of mine as well.”
“What more is there to, uhm, dating?” AJ asked, tilting his head.
“Oh,” Violet could feel her blush creeping down her neck and chest. She wasn’t sure how to answer his question. She hesitated for several heartbeats, trying to phrase her answer carefully. “She’s mine and I’m hers.” It wasn’t the best answer, but it got across many of the points she wanted to make.
“Clementine doesn’t belong to anyone,” the boy scowled, “She’s not a toy.”
Violet scoffed and shook her head, “It’s not like that. It means like...I would do anything for Clem. I would go to the end of the world and back to keep her happy.” Her gaze fixed on something in the distance. “I would clear an entire herd of walkers to keep her safe, would kill anyone who threatened to hurt her. I would give her my plate of food if we were both starving, the jacket off my shoulders in the dead of winter.”
“I would do all of that too!” AJ added in. “But we don’t kiss,” he made a disgusted face, “That would be gross.” The blonde wondered if he knew the meaning of the words she had said, the true weight and the honesty behind them.
“Yes,” Violet chuckled, “That would be gross. But when I say I would do all of that for her, it has a different meaning than when you say you would do all of that for her.”
“I’m glad that Clementine has you in her life,” the boy said quietly, seemingly content with Violet’s answer.
“I’m glad that the two of you are here as well,” Violet smiled and kissed the top of AJ’s head. It was an oddly intimate gesture for the blonde to give to him, but it felt right. She felt warmth blooming in her chest. Deep down, Violet knew that she would die for the young boy just as quickly as Clementine would.
Anything to keep Clementine happy and alive.
“Do you think she’ll be okay out there?” AJ looked through a small gap in the broken clock tower, his eyes scanning the tops of the trees.
“AJ,” Violet’s hand rubbed in small circles along his back, “There is no threat in the world that would keep Clementine from coming back to you.”
He snapped his head back to look at the blonde.
“Plus, she had Willy and Dakota with her,” Violet added.
“I like Dakota,” AJ nodded. “He’s nice.”
Violet smiled. “He is very nice and very good with that machete of his,” she reminded him.
“Ma-chet-e?” AJ sounded out the word, fiddling with his fingers in his lap.
“That big knife he keeps on his back,” the blonde explained.
“Oh!” The boy squealed with excitement, “Yeah! I love that thing.”
“More than your gun?” Violet teased.
Much to her surprise, AJ nodded eagerly. “Yes. Dakota says that guns are unreliable because bullets can run out or the gun can...jam?” He seemed to be asking about that last piece. “But that a knife will never fail you as long as you keep it sharp.”
Violet blinked in surprise. Dakota seemed to share her own sentiment. Violet kept her weapon of choice as a cleaver simply because the large blade would always be a reliable way of killing walkers. She had to sharpen it at least once a week on a special rock that had been smoothed from seemingly decades in the river, but it was better than constantly having to scrounge for bullets.
But even Violet knew how effective and efficient guns could be. Especially in Clementine’s hands.
“Do you want your own knife?” Violet asked after a moment. She looked down at the small pocket knife she kept in her boot, in case of emergencies.
“I would,” AJ rubbed his arm, shuffling closer to Violet’s side, “But Clementine says I’m not ready for one.”
Typical Clem. Gives him a gun and doesn’t trust him with a knife. The blonde bit back the snarky remark. “Well, knives can be very dangerous. Your gun has that safety switch, but knives are always sharp and dangerous. You can easily cut yourself with it, or even lose it a lot easier than your gun.”
“I would never lose a weapon!” AJ said defiantly.
“I know you wouldn’t,” Violet soothed. She looked at him, then back at her small knife, and back to the boy. She bent down, careful to keep AJ balanced on her knee, and grabbed the foldable knife from her boot. She held it out in her hand, rubbing her thumb over the etchings on the handle. “Here,” she handed it to him, “For you.”
“Really?” His brown eyes lit up. “But what about Clementine?”
“This will be our little secret,” Violet winked at the boy. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course I can!” He took the knife from her hand gently. “How do I...open it?”
Violet took the knife back for a moment and showed him how to release the blade from its sheath and put it back. She watched him do it a handful of times before nodding her approval. AJ slid the knife into the belt loop on his pants and nodded at Violet, a new look of admiration on his face.
“Remember that knives, especially ones that small,” she pointed to the closed knife, “Should only be used as a last resort. Don’t go running up to walks all willy-nilly trying to stab them.”
“Never,” AJ shook his head. “I stay away from walkers.”
“Smart boy,” Violet praised. “Leave them to the rest of us.”
“I’m not defenseless,” AJ pouted.
“I know you’re not,” Violet whispered now, her voice getting softer, “You saved Clem’s life and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you for that.”
“Why would you need to repay me for saving her?” The boy questioned.
“You kept her alive, brought her back home, brought her back to me,” Violet closed her eyes. “I don’t think I could handle it if she died that day.”
“Me neither,” AJ agreed. “That’s why I did what I did.”
“You were very brave,” Violet murmured. “A true hero.”
“I didn’t feel like a hero,” AJ said sadly. “I thought I had only made things worse, like I did with Marlon.”
Violet winced at the memory. “Marlon was unstable, who knows what he would’ve done if you hadn’t...done what you did,” she tried to comfort him.
“Would you have killed him?” AJ asked. “If you had the gun that day?”
The woman was surprised by his question, and even more surprised by finding herself wanting to say ‘yes’. If Marlon truly was going to kill Clementine, Violet wouldn’t have hesitated to shove her cleaver into his skull.
“Dakota says that with humans,” AJ continued down his train of thought, snapping Violet out of hers, “You should disarm them and keep them on the ground.”
“Dakota is smart,” Violet said, “You should listen to them.”
“But Marlon would’ve killed Clementine,” the young boy protested.
Violet felt her stomach drop. A world without Clementine was not a world she wanted to live in. “I know,” she whispered. She knew it was true. She had seen Marlon’s shaky fingers on the trigger, the crazed look in his eye, the way he inched closer and closer to the brunette. AJ had saved Clementine’s life that day too. “I probably would’ve done the same thing,” She finally answered. “But that can stay between us.” She gave the boy a sad smile.
AJ nodded in understanding and took a deep breath. He then rested his head on Violet’s shoulder and whispered, “I really, really miss her.”
“She’ll be home soon,” Violet promised. “And then you can hug her all you want.”
“I can’t wait to show her my new drawings!” AJ exclaimed.
“Oh yeah?” Violet shifted him on her lap. “What have you been drawing now?”
“I drew all of us at the school, I drew Rosie chewing on that bone she refuses to let Ruby throw away, and I drew me, you, and Clementine by the river!”
“Clementine, you, and me ?” Violet asked, surprised.
“Well, yeah,” AJ shrugged. “You’re always with her and me, or just with her, so it felt important to draw you with us.”
“Thank you AJ,” Violet smiled, “I’m sure she’ll love them.”
“What are you going to do when she gets back?”
Violet blushed again and ran a hand through her hair, “Probably hug her real tight.”
“And kiss her?” The boy asked, mischief sparkling in his eyes.
“Oh yeah,” Violet nodded and winked at AJ, “I’m going to kiss her a lot .”
“And cuddle her?”
Violet had been sleeping next to Clementine for the last few months, and the past two nights had been full of restless tossing and turning. She missed her human heater. “I can’t wait to sleep next to her,” she confirmed.
“And have sex with her?” AJ tilted her head.
“What?!” Violet looked at him, her face turning bright red and her body stiffening in embarrassment.
“Willy said that’s what the two of you do when you’re alone,” the boy shrugged again. “But he didn’t say what that was ,” he was frowning now, a puzzled look on his face. He looked up at a beet-red Violet, “Why? What is it? Is it something bad?”
“Uhhhh...” Violet froze. She couldn’t wait for Clementine to return.
She would let the brunette answer that question.
While she dealt with Willy’s big mouth.