So I got a request for thing fic a while back. Finally got around to writing again and decided to post it.

It'll probably only be a two-shot, so I should hopefully get the next chapter out soon.

When Clementine had first met Sarah, the girl appeared to be sweet and innocent. The teen had basically pleaded for Clementine to be her friend.

Clementine was worried how a friendship would turn out. She had lost so many people and after just recently losing Christa the eleven-year old was worried about becoming close to anyone. So, the child turned down the offer.

That was a mistake.

Sarah was obviously disappointed the Clementine had turned refused her offer to be friends, however Clementine didn't think that it would be a big deal. She felt bad for hurting the teen's feelings, but Sarah would get over it. Right?

Wrong.

For the first two days Sarah continuously tried to convince Clementine to reconsider her offer of friendship.

Clementine refused it over and over again.

Sarah didn't understand. She had figured the younger girl was trying to be mean.

"Is it because you don't like me?" Sarah had asked.

"No… That's not it at all." Clementine said.

"Then why won't you be my friend?" Sarah asked looking confused.

"I just can't, okay!" Clementine exclaimed, causing the teen to flinch. She immediately regretted it as she noticed tears well up in Sarah's eyes. "Sarah… I didn't mean it."

"Yes, you did! I… I just wanted to be your friend!" Sarah sniffled, turning on her heels and rushing from the room. "You're so mean!"

Clementine called out for her, but her calls went unheard. The girl sighed, she wished Sarah could understand why she couldn't be her friend. She had nothing against the girl, she just didn't want anyone getting pass her walls.

Clementine wasn't surprised when Carlos approached her a while later, accusing her of being mean to his daughter.

Clementine shook her head and said, "I wasn't being mean. I just-"

"We've taken you in, and I'm not going to tolerate you bullying my child!" Carlos said.

Clementine's eye widened at that. She wasn't a bully. She had never bullied anyone and she wasn't about to start. "I… I didn't-"

"You're a liar." Carlos said coldly. "I don't believe a word you say. You're not to be trusted."

Clementine frowned, the doctor clearly didn't plan on hearing her out.

"Stay away from my daughter." Carlos ordered, much like he had the first day they met.

If that's what he wanted, fine by her. Clementine would do her best to steer clear of trouble while she was at the cabin. She didn't plan on staying long anyway. She needed to look for Christa, and she was clearly unwanted here.

Clementine quickly got bored in the cabin. Not having much to do, she remembered the books Sarah had on her shelf. When she saw the teen she had asked her, with a bit of hesitation, if she could borrow a book.

Sarah giggled at her request and Clementine was confused.

"We're not friends, remember?" Sarah said.

"But… But it's just a book." Clementine replied.

"My book." Sarah said.

"Can't I just borrow it?" Clementine asked. "I'll give it right back."

Sarah shook her head. "We're not friends. I don't have to share with you."

Clementine frowned. "I'm just bored…"

"Maybe if we were friends we could play together." Sarah shrugged, "But we're not."

Clementine couldn't get another word in before Sarah turned to walk off.

The girl sighed, she hoped that she could find a way to ease the tension between her and Sarah before it worsened.

It was hard to steer clear of trouble, when it just seemed to have a way of finding her. Or following her around.

Things started small, each time Clementine would ask to borrow something, Sarah would refuse to share.

Clementine eventually just stopped asking, if Sarah wanted to be selfish with her books, that was fine by her.

Clementine would find something else to do. The girl decided at ask Luke for some paper and a pencil. When Luke offered to ask Sarah for her, Clementine's face fell.

"I'm sure she won't mind." Luke said.

"She doesn't want to share with me. She doesn't like me…" Clementine muttered.

"Oh, come on. Sarah's a nice kid. She won't mind giving up some paper." Luke said.

"She sure minds when it comes to her books." Clementine replied.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"Every time I ask to borrow a book she says no." Clementine explained.

"Maybe she was reading the book you wanted to borrow." Luke said.

"I asked to borrow any book. I was just bored." Clementine said.

"Maybe I can ask for you. I'm sure she'll lend you one." Luke offered.

"But-"

Luke stopped her protest. "Sit tight, kiddo."

Clementine sighed as Luke walked off. The girl sat in silence for a few moments but was surprised when Luke came downstairs, a book in hand along with some paper and a pencil. "Here you go, Clem."

"How'd you get it?" Clementine asked.

"What do you mean? I just asked." Luke said.

"So… she's not mad at me?" The child questioned.

"Of course not, kid." Luke replied.

"That's good…" Clementine sighed in relief.

"Why would she be mad at you though, Clem?"

"Well… Because I told her we can't be friends..."

"Why not? It's good to have friends."

Clementine shook her head. "Bad things happen… And when you get attached to someone, it hurts more…"

"Nothing bad's gonna happen, Clementine." Luke said.

"You don't know that…"

"Just trust me, kiddo." Luke said. "Why don't you and Sarah try to play a board game or something? It's good for you guys to have someone close in age to play with."

"Maybe you're right… But Carlos wants me to stay away from her." Clementine said.

"Carlos is just overprotective. Don't mind him." Luke said. "A board game doesn't hurt anyone…"

"Okay…" Clementine said.

Despite Luke's word, Clementine was hesitant to go play with Sarah. The girl instead kept to herself drawing.

She spent hours making picture after picture. Drawing helped her ignore what was going on around her. She didn't have to think about the cruel remarks made by the group members, she was lost in her own little world.

When she heard someone making their way downstairs, she quickly covered her book with a blanket as if expecting it to be taken from her.

She was glad she did when she heard Sarah's voice ask, "What are you doing?"

"D-Drawing…" Clementine said.

"Let me see." Sarah told.

Clementine was hesitant but slowly allowed the teen to pick up the pile of pictures she had sketched. Sarah looked through the pictures than looked back to Clementine. "You made all these?"

"Y-Yes…" Clementine said. "They're not that good."

"Yeah. You're right." Sarah slowly began to crumble the paper. "You should start over."

Clementine was surprised to see the teen do such a thing. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing's wrong…" Sarah shrugged.

"Why would you do that?!" Clementine inquired.

"What's going on here?" Rebecca entered the room, with a raised brow.

"She… She crumbled up my picture." Clementine said.

"Because she was writing rude things about me!" Sarah claimed.

The younger girl was shocked by that. "W-What?"

"It's the truth. Just because you don't want to be my friend, doesn't mean you have to be so mean to me." Sarah whimpered.

Seeing the teen's fake tears and hearing her blatant lie annoyed Clementine. "I did nothing to you!"

"Clementine, that's enough!" Rebecca said.

"But-"

"You have no right to pick on her!" Rebecca scolded.

"I wasn't!" Clementine argued.

"You're a liar! The sooner you leave, the better." Rebecca hissed.

Clementine felt hurt by the woman's words.

"Come on, Sarah. Let's go find your dad." Rebecca wrapped an arm around Sarah shoulders and led her from the room.

Clementine frowned, lowering her head. She wasn't sure what she had done wrong…

By nightfall, Clementine turned her attention to the book. She did her best to read some of the difficult words. As she continued to struggle reading, Clementine took the book upstairs, hoping to ask Sarah for an easier one to read.

She gave a small knock at Sarah's door.

"Come in." Sarah called.

Clementine opened the door. "H-Hi, Sarah…"

"Oh, it's you." Sarah sighed. "What do you want?"

"I… I was wondering if I could borrow a different book." Clementine said.

"You're not supposed to have that anyway. We're not friends." Sarah replied.

"Sarah, I don't want to argue with you… I just wanted something to read because I was bored… I won't be here long, I promise… I don't want to bother anyone." Clementine said.

"Why can't you read that book?" Sarah asked.

"…It's hard…" The child admitted.

"What is?" Sarah asked.

"The words…." Clementine said.

"Hold on… You can't read?" Sarah asked.

"I can read… Just… some of those words are too big." Clementine replied.

Sarah gave a small giggle at that.

Clementine crossed her arms and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Well…. You just… You act older than you are." Sarah said. "But you can't even read."

"I said I can read… I just can't read the big words…" Clementine said with a slight pout.

"Well… maybe I do have a book for you." Sarah said.

Clementine was surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah." Sarah stood up and headed to the bookshelf. She pulled a large book from the shelf and walked over to Clementine. "Here you go."

"It's…. a dictionary?" Clementine raised a brow.

"No." Sarah said.

"Then what is it?" Clementine asked.

"It's an encyclopedia." Sarah said.

"Encyclopedia?" Clementine asked.

"I'm sure you'll like it." Sarah said.

"T-Thanks…"

"Of course." Sarah giggled.

For an hour Clementine was sat in the living room looking through the encyclopedia. She tried to keep to herself. Most of the group members didn't seem to like her very much with Pete and Luke being the exception.

"What you got there, kiddo?" Pete asked as he stepped into the house from watch.

"A… En-Encyclopedia." Clementine said.

Pete raised a brow, "Encyclopedia? Why are you reading that?"

"Sarah gave it to me…" Clementine said. "And I had nothing else to do…"

"Well… How about you tag along on a trip with me. Tomorrow morning." Pete suggested.

"Really? You won't mind?" Clementine asked.

"Of course not." Pete said. "Sure, I could use a hand. Plus it's better for me if I don't have to try to force Nick out of bed in the morning. Waking that boy is like waking a bear."

Clementine giggled at that. "I'd love to come."

"Alright. Get some rest, kid. I'll see you in the morning." Pete said.

Clementine nodded. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Pete said.

The girl spent the night resting on the couch. When morning came the girl headed out to the river with Pete. It was nice to get some fresh air for once, but she kept wondering about Christa. Was she okay…? Where was she?

Pete could tell the girl was lost in her thoughts. "Everything okay, Clem?"

"I… guess." Clementine muttered.

"What are you thinking about?" Pete asked.

"…Christa…. I need to find her." Clementine said.

"If your friend is out there, she's probably looking for you. You shouldn't go off on your own, Clem." Pete said.

The child frowned, "But most of the people in the cabin hate me."

"No one hates you. They're just on edge." Pete said.

"Why's that?" Clementine asked.

"A lot of reason." Pete shrugged. "Things are just tough right now."

"I guess you're right…" Clementine said. At least she hoped he was…