Chapter Text
Mitch was at the office, just resting his chin against his palm. He kept tapping his pencil against the notepad. He didn't normally stay out of focus at work, but lately it had become a problem.
To the point where he just sits and daydreams for half of his shift—it was always about Clem.
He stopped tapping the pencil and decided to write down his observations for the day. He placed the pencil down, and he leaned back on the chair.
Grabbing the notepad, bringing it up to his face, reading his writing before noticing what he had done at the edge of the paper.
“Shit.” Placing it down, he placed the eraser tip on the pad.
He had managed to write down her name, more than once, and of course, a small doodle to accompany it.
Mitch just exhaled. He was going to erase it, but he couldn’t.
Realizing that he couldn’t just erase her away, especially not that night in the rain.
Inside her car, both sharing warmth after being out in the cold, Clem leaning into his touch…the kissin–.
Mitch stood up suddenly, scratching at his hair, snapping out of that. He paced around before making his way to the coat rack.
“Where are you going, kid?” One of the coworkers stopped messing around with a calculator and looked over.
“Out. I’ll be back.” Mitch slipped his arm inside his jacket, his keys in hand.
Walking out of the junkyard and getting inside his truck.
The sight of his car made him remember how Clem was so focused on helping him out with the truck a week ago.
Shaking his head, Mitch finally got to the car, getting in, he pressed the radio before beginning to drive somewhere else. A place he didn’t have to think, and it was a perfect distraction.
The grocery store.
His hands were inside his jeans pockets, looking around the produce. Moving around, he felt his brain clearer now, walking automatically with no direction.
Because now he was at a standstill, he held a box of chocolates in his hands, inspecting it.
“She would like these…” He whispered, flipping around the box.
But then his brain fully registered once he read the red letters on the front as he flipped it once more.
Be Mine
Mitch was standing at the Valentine’s Day section. Lowering his hand, he just stared at the cutouts.
“I can’t believe it…” Mitch stepped back, realization kicking in.
It wasn’t that he hated the holiday, but more that he never noticed how she affected him. Standing at the register, he took out the cash from his worn-out wallet.
This was just the bare minimum, especially now that they were together. Walking out of the store with the chocolates in his hand, Mitch pulled out his phone.
Call connected
“I saw the poster of that one movie…let’s watch it this weekend?” He hugged the box closer to his chest.
“Yes—we should, where though?” Clem asked; she seemed to be rustling around in the background.
“Drive in?... It’ll be nice.” Mitch’s shoulder met with the phone as he opened his car door, getting inside.
“Okay, yeah. I’d like that.” She was definitely smiling.
Mitch sat there in his seat, smiling as he opened the glove compartment.
Expressing that he was also looking forward to it, with a final goodbye, the call ended. And the compartment was closed as well, the chocolate box safely placed inside with papers over it to hide it.
Mitch was setting up the back of his truck with the blankets and pillows they had both brought over; meanwhile, Clem was at the small store buying them snacks.
After that was done, he sat in the driver's seat, finding the station for the movie.
“Thought you weren’t into movies?” Behind him, Clem held drinks in her hands and a bucket of popcorn.
“Things change, anyway, you’ve been talking about this movie for a while." He finally found the station, and he looked back at her, closing the car door.
Mitch grabbed the two drinks from her. Shrugging his shoulder, he walked ahead of her, getting on the back, and he set the cups down.
Moving over to the edge again, she handed the bucket. Getting that out of the way, he watched as Clem stood there rubbing her arms before she was getting ready to get up.
But Mitch simply extended his hand out.
“You don’t have to.” Despite that, Clem still placed her hand over his.
“Come on…” Mitch rolled his eyes, helping her up.
Sitting there together, they began to get comfortable getting under the blankets, and soon, on the large screen, the movie began to play.
“Can you hold me…?” Clem held the blanket all the way to her chin, moving around as she inched closer to him.
Mitch stopped mid-drink, glancing at her briefly before placing his drink down.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her closer to him. Clem’s head rested on his chest, and her arm was over his stomach.
“Is this better…?” He asked softly.
“Yeah, it is—.” She exhaled, her body relaxing against his.
He caught himself looking at her once he realized how her lashes curled nicely. And he knew he had to look away, take his eyes off of her for a second.
Looking at the screen, he sighed; his heart was beating fast, but he remained composed.
But seeing how attentive she was to the movie, he felt himself relax against her as well after a while.
“...Did you see that a new restaurant opened?” Clem’s eyes didn’t peel away from the screen.
“No, I haven’t—where?” Mitch was lightly tapping his hand on the truck before he stopped himself halfway.
“We literally passed it earlier…anyways thought we should—or I don’t know.” She lifted her body up, her hand pressing against him before her brows knitted.
Blinking his eyes at her reaction, he looked away as if in thought.
“Okay, yeah, let’s go.” He stated.
“What…really?” Clem seemed surprised, her eyes widening slightly. The movie was no longer in her view as she stared at him.
“Yeah, why not? It’s something new—so that’s good.” Mitch looked away, placing his hand over his mouth, covering a smile.
He watched as she closed her mouth, and her features seemed to soften before she lay back on his chest.
Not another word from them, they lay there comfortably, the sky dark and the moon out. The screen played the movie Clementine had wanted to watch for a while.
And Mitch stayed there holding her closer, letting her be in his space to take up his warmth as his head rested on hers.
Once the movie was over, he drove her back home. There was a comfortable silence to it all, right until she was about to get out of the car.
“Wait…I almost forgot to tell you.” He managed to grab hold of her hand before she completely got out of the car.
“What is it?” Turning back, she tilted her head, curious.
“Let’s do the restaurant—but in two weeks.” Mitch rubbed his thumb against her skin; it was soft. And there was this weird lump in his chest that ached.
“Why two weeks…?” Clem stayed there, studying him.
But he couldn’t say it. Instead, Mitch just looked away to the side, away from her. And he knew for a fact that his face gave away the answer.
“Oh—Valentine's day.” She had her mouth halfway open, seeing his reaction before connecting the dots altogether.
“Yeah, that day.” Mitch finally glanced back at her, his hand never leaving hers.
Clem seemed to still be processing before; she moved closer to him now.
“Goodnight...” With her free hand, she placed it on his cheek before pressing a kiss on his lips, her eyes closing.
“...Goodnight, Clem..” He whispered against her lips, as their eyes met.
Mitch didn’t want the moment to end, and he knew that she didn’t either because Clem’s hand on his cheek hesitated as she pulled away.
Moving away, their hands came apart, and he watched as she got out of the car, closing the door.
Once that was over, Clem went inside her house, disappearing from view. Mitch did the same as he drove off once more into the night.
Standing in front of his small mirror on his desk. Mitch picked it up, his hands already messing with his hair, as he pulled it closer to his face.
“—I hate this...stupid, stupid.” His hair wasn’t cooperating as he kept pressing down the two strands that stuck out.
But with a huff of acceptance, he placed it back down, walking around his room, he moved restlessly. They had arranged a time for when he was going to pick up Clem, but time felt so slow because Mitch was already ready.
He sat himself down at the edge of his bed, taking out his phone, and he was right there; there was still so much time left to spare. Mitch sat there tapping his hand against his thigh when he heard his car keys. If he had time to think, then he had time for something more.
Standing up once more, Mitch walked out of his house, getting into his truck with everything ready and a clear motivation.
Getting flowers.
But as he arrived at the nearest grocery store, there was a variety of flowers ready to be checked out. The feeling that they were basic filled his mind; some were already wilting.
So Mitch decided to leave the store, to find something else to do, finding a small business that he had never seen in his life before.
Walking around inside, there was more variety, and the smell of fresh flowers was something good. And he thanked the greenhouse club for teaching him how to find the best type of flowers through the dumbest method.
Once he had them picked and wrapped, Mitch was back inside his car, placing them in the passenger seat. There were still around less than twenty minutes to spare, but he couldn’t go back home anymore.
So he drove to Clementine’s house, parking outside, he reached for the flowers, bringing them to his face, carefully smelling them, seeing the difference.
But just as he was doing that, the passenger door opened, and Clem’s head was peeking, and out of instinct, Mitch quickly placed the bouquet behind his back at his best effort.
“You’re like twenty minutes early.” She stepped inside fully, sitting there and closing the door.
Mitch stared at her dumbfound. She looked nice, but he couldn’t believe she was sitting here already.
“You too…how’d you know I was out here?” He looked around, tightening his grip on the gift, which caused a rustling noise.
“I was staring out the window…also, what are you hiding?” Clem noticed her brows doing that familiar thing she always did when she suspected something.
With an exhale, he moved his hands, revealing the flowers, and he handed them to her. Clem had a surprised look on her face.
“They’re for you—and I also this.” But before she could say anything, Mitch moved himself forward, opening the glove compartment and rustling around the papers, and he finally was able to pull out the box of chocolates.
Their eyes met for a second; they were super close in the face, but he moved slowly, placing the box on her lap before he settled himself back in the seat.
“They’re pretty…and I like these. How?” She observed the gifts, her hand brushed over the box of chocolates, and her face beamed.
“I—just know you, is all.” He shrugged his shoulders, watching her reaction as she pulled the flowers closer to her face, before she placed them on her lap, moving closer to him now.
“I bet your notepad has a bunch of random facts about me—am I right?” Clem wrapped her arms around his neck, their faces just inches apart.
“You checked it last time…it doesn’t.” He looked at her briefly before looking away, nerves all over his body reacting to the closeness.
“I did see a fruit there…you know which. So I’m not all wrong…” Looking elsewhere, she said it low.
“You saw that?... I do—yeah..” Mitch lay his head on the crook of her neck, his arms wrapping comfortably around her waist, resting there.
“I was messing with you…come on, it’s fine.” She chuckled, her hands moving his hair as she ran her fingers through it, before her hands found his face, pulling him up.
“You look pretty…” His words were muffled as Clem pulled at his cheeks, forcing a smile from him.
“And you’re a dork,” Clem stated, before leaning in, placing a peck on his lips.
“Come on…I made reservations; we can’t be late.” Mitch felt himself smiling into the kiss as she kept placing it on his jawline.
“Reservations?” She whispered against his skin, finally pulling away.
“Yeah…I did them a while back.” His hands went to the steering wheel, the keys already turned.
“Secretive.” Buckling herself, Clementine sat properly, her hands wrapping around the bouquet, holding them.
Mitch just rolled his eyes at her comment, shaking his head. And he drove them towards the new restaurant. It was full, but with the reservations done beforehand, they were able to be seated quickly.
Sitting there Mitch noticed how her eyes kept scanning the restaurant, it was clear that it was more fuller than the Diner ever was. The sound of clamor and conversations blending into one another, and clinking of utensils with the plates.
“This is way different than the Diner…it’s a lot.” Clem stared down at the menu in her hands. It wasn’t like the menu she was so used to.
“Just means we’ll eat well.” He peered at his own menu, and she was right, there were so many options.
“Are you saying you don't at the Diner?” She closed it halfway before leaning in, a grin on her face as she provoked a reaction from him.
“I always eat well—when we’re together,” Mitch responded before lifting the menu higher to hide his expression.
But she didn’t say anything back to him, instead Mitch was met with silence, and it made him curious to see.
Peeking over carefully, he watched as Clem was smiling, a hand trying to hide it, but he saw it. But that didn’t matter anymore to him; his embarrassment was gone as he noticed how she looked so bright under the dim lights of the restaurant.
Her features were— pretty. She… was pretty.
He exhaled subconsciously, before moving the menu back down, he was ready to be in the moment with her.