˖ ࣪ AGAIN, AGAIN, 𖥔 ࣪ ᥫ᭡
AGAIN. . . !

━━━━━ ( 017. real life )
✶ ・・❛ JUST SOME PAINT. ❜

( ☼ )

CLEMENTINE IGNORES THE way tiana is looking at her like she's an insane person who just got back from the psych ward. she walks right past her and out of the living room.

chris, from where he stands in front of the door with matt and nick, blankly stares at her exiting figure. she disappears around the hallway corner and he gulps, looking at tiana who is staring at him and his brothers with her jaw dropped. she's sitting on the loveseat and her father is sitting on the recliner. her dad seems less in shock, just eyeing them skeptically.

chris awkwardly messes with the hem of his still soaked hoodie and glances back at his brothers, trying to internally tell them that he's planning his escape. nicks eyes narrow and matt shakes his head to silently tell him not to leave them behind and he does not listen.

chris coughs. "okay, i'm just gonna.." he speaks up, instantly bringing tiana and clints attention back on him. he fidgets under their stare and brings the painting supplies that he's still holding closer to his chest. "okay, yeah, um.." he rambles with no real purpose, realizing how idiotic he sounds and just stepping away. he walks out of the living room and turns the same corner clementine did with nothing other than a short, "bye."

he lets out a sigh of relief once he's by himself and chuckles at the sound of matt and nick awkwardly saying hi in the other room.

since he's alone in the hallway, he takes a quick moment to collect himself and process that he's actually in clementines house. with every step he takes closer to where he knows her room is, it seems the louder the creaking of the floorboard becomes. it's not actually growing louder, chris is just suddenly painfully aware of how bittersweet the sound is to hear again. it used to be a complete pain in his ass from when they'd sneak around her place in the middle of the night, and now it just reminds him of their past and how long it's been since he heard the noise.

he takes a long look at one of the family pictures hung on the wall before taking in a deep breath and stepping in front of her bedroom door. he can hear her rustling around on the other side and wonders if he should knock or if that would be weird.

he knocks.

surprisingly, it only takes five seconds for the door to suddenly open. chris' eyes widen at the door flinging open and after his vision has readjusted, he sets his eyes on clementine in front of him.

she's changed out of her clothes ruined by the rain and is now wearing a hoodie and shorts. he hasn't seen her wearing such cozy clothes in a while and honestly, it's comforting to see her relaxed in her own home. it makes him feel like some of her walls are down, and that's a very rare occasion now. his eyes soften as hers do the opposite. "hey."

she ignores that he said anything and instead grabs the wet painting supplies that he's still holding from his hands. he raises his eyebrows as she walks away inside her room. she disappears from beyond his current line of vision but he doesn't peek his head around the other side of the door because he doesn't know what she could be doing.

after hearing a bit of rustling, clementine appears in front of him again, this time with clothes in her hands. he glances over them and how familiar they look before realizing they're his. he can't help himself when a smirk grows on his face, looking back to her face just as she grimaces at his expression. "i knew you kept some of my clothes," he speaks smoothly.

"ugh, shut up," she groans, shoving the clothes into his chest which he takes from her gratefully. "you know where the bathroom is," she tells him, referring to how he needs to change.

she shuts the door in his face after that but still, he smiles at the door. she still has some of his clothes and she cares enough to give them to him so he won't be cold and wet.

chris begins making his way to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. seriously, it makes his heart extra warm to see her still care for him. it reassures him that this whole mission to get her back isn't a lost cause.

after chris has changed and knocks on clementines door again, this time with the wet clothes he was previously wearing in his hands, she opens the door enough for him to come inside.

he takes a step inside and she closes the door behind him, mindlessly going over to her bed and sitting down without a care while chris is busy with the revolution that is being in her room again. he feels weird and out of place—which makes him feel even weirder because it's just clementines room, he's been in here millions of times before.

it's different now though. his eyes wander to her desk where a fresh bouquet of flowers sets, the picture wall that used to be full of him that's now full of everyone in her new life without him, the squishmallow collection at the end of her bed that has somehow shrunk to only three, and the polaroids on the wall her headboard rests against. jax is everywhere he used to be and it makes him want to die right then and there.

he clears his throat and glances at clementine who isn't even paying attention to him and his internal crisis, too busy with pulling her sketchbook out and getting comfortable at the top of her bed.

chris awkwardly sets his wet clothes on the floor, pausing when doing so causes him to see the cat resting underneath clementines desk. his jaw drops. socks.

the cat is sleeping peacefully but from chris' apparently too loud of a gasp, his eyes flutter open. he spots him instantly and as chris makes eye contact with the cat, he realizes how much he's grown. his heart cracks a little in his chest. this guy practically used to be his son!

thankfully, socks recognizes him and gets up and walks over to him. chris can't help the smile that forms on his face as he reaches down to pick the cat up. if he didn't remember him, he's not sure he would've survived. it feels like he hasn't seen his son (socks) in years, even though it's only been months.

he pets socks and the animal nuzzles against his hand, making his heart content. chris sighs happily and looks over to where clementine sits, only to find her eyes already on him. she's looking at him with something familiar in her eyes and he swears to god, there's a slight upturn to her lips. as soon as the eye contact is made, any hint of her ghost of a smile is gone but he knows it was there. she was totally smiling at seeing him with socks.

she looks away from him and back to her sketchbook that she's now opening. his smile widens. today is such a great day for him.

he walks over to her bed and sets socks down, then glancing back over to her even though her eyes are still elsewhere. "so," he sighs. "where do you want me?"

she finally glances back at him to gesture at the end of her bed. "just sit there."

CLEMENTINE IS REALLY IN a rush with this project, chris has noticed. she finished a sketch of him very easily and is already moving on to paint. she had to grab the paint bottles she was using earlier that were still a little wet, but luckily the caps were closed.

chris is staring at her now as she paints. he's not sure if she's in a rush because the rain ruined the one she was working on before or if she just wants to get rid of his presence. honestly, he's hoping for the latter. it's amusing to know she doesn't want to be around him because of how much he still affects her.

clementine ended up playing music on her phone like five minutes in because of the awkward silence between them, so all he's heard for the past hour is that. it's nice to know her music taste hasn't changed at all though.

socks is currently asleep on his lap. he can only assume he's missed his dad. he wonders if split custody was ever an option.

nothing is being said between the two when all of a sudden, lana del rey's voice is cut off on her phone. instead, the ringing from a call starts to play. clementine pauses from where she was painting and chris glances down at the contact displayed on her phone before she's even put her paintbrush down.

although his stomach begins to turn, he manages an amused expression as he looks to clementine. she looks back at him instead of her ringing phone. "boyfriends calling," he murmurs, tilting his head down to where her phone is laid.

clementine face drops a very, very tiny amount. it's a microscopic change, but chris can spot it clear as day. it makes his heart swell knowing there's trouble in paradise.

clementine sighs and looks down to her painting as the phone rings. from what chris can see from where he sits across from her, she's working on the detail of his face—a very important part.

she eventually looks back to chris. she narrows her eyes at him and he raises his eyebrows. "don't say a single word, i swear to god," she warns him before he even knows what she's talking about.

he's confused until she accepts the call and puts it on speaker. his eyebrows only raise higher on his forehead and he tilts his head at her, the two of them both knowing how risky that is. she just shakes her head and returns back to her painting, making it clear that the only reason he's on speaker is so she can use her hands to paint instead of holding the phone to her ear. "hello?"

"hi, baby," jaxs nauseating voice comes through the phone and chris' eyes immediately go wide. he can't help it when the strong urge to laugh immediately comes over him. the pet name is just insane to him. he covers his mouth over his hand and clementine shoots him a deadly glare, warning him not to make a sound. "what are you doing?"

at jaxs question, chris smirks. he likes that him and clementine keep making eye contact while her boyfriend is trying to speak to her. 'what are you doing, clem?' he mouths to her with a tilt of his head.

hanging out with her ex is the clear answer here. chris loves it!

"nothing," she answers vaguely, narrowing her eyes at chris before returning her attention back to her painting. "just doing homework."

"okay well, jake from the football team is throwing a party tonight," his voice comes through the phone again, making chris' ears perk up. "i need you to come with me."

clementine pauses her painting and chris notices the way her body langauge changes. she's never been a party girl. he guesses that hasn't changed even though he always sees her going to parties now.

she's kind of living a lie and he hates that. she shouldn't have to live a lie just because she's with jax. parties have always given her anxiety, he remembers it as clear as day.

chris watches as clementine puts her paintbrush down next to the paint she laid out and picks up her phone. his eyebrows furrow until she suddenly takes it off speaker and raises it to her ear instead.

oh, so she doesn't want him to hear anymore. that's literally no fun, what the fuck?

clementine ends up talking to this dude on the phone for like three entire minutes. chris is just sitting there like what the fuck? he can't even tell what they're talking about because clementine is using a hushed voice and is only giving vague responses.

he huffs to himself and looks around her room. he spots a polaroid with jax on her wall. disgusting. he immediately looks elsewhere.

he glances over the new throw blanket on her comforter and wonders if her mattress still has a gigantic dr. pepper stain on it from when nick spilled an entire bottle in her bed.

he looks at what she's been painting, not really getting to see that much of it since it's upside down in his perspective. he can admire the detail already though. clementines always been his favorite artist. he might be biased but whatever.

his eyes then make their way back to clementine of course. her eyes are downcast, focused on her comforter as she picks at the hem of her clothes. chris is right in front of her and she isn't looking at him. instead, her attention is fully given to jax through the phone.

chris wants her attention back on him.

he sighs and looks around again, eyes suddenly zoning in on the paintbrush she set down. he doesn't know why his vision jumps to that but for some reason, it does.

since he knows he's probably clinically insane, he reaches forward and grabs the paintbrush without her noticing. he's gonna get her attention back on him, that's for sure.

"clem," chris whispers just quietly enough so that jax won't hear. clementines eyes instantly jump to his, assumedly so she can tell him to shut up.

before she can though, chris' impulsive thoughts win and he reaches forward to successfully swipe a line of paint on her face with the brush. her jaw immediately drops and chris returns to his previous spot, causing socks to scurry off his lap and lay beside him instead. he manages an innocent grin at her.

she slowly pulls her phone off of her face and quickly presses the mute button. "what. the. actual. fuck," she grits.

clementine does not look amused at all. chris is though. he's very glad to have her attention solely on him again and now he has to find a way to keep it. he decides teasing is the best way to go. he tilts his head at her, thinking back on what he heard earlier. "come on, baby," he emphasizes the last word, smirking at the way her face drops. he shrugs nonchalantly. "just some paint."

clementines lips press together before she brings her phone to her face and rushes out a quick goodbye to jax. chris' smirk only grows more smug once she hangs up on him. now he's got her full attention.

clementine sets her phone back down on the bed and shoots daggers at chris. "you're so unfunny. you're actually so annoying. what the actual fuck? paint? seriously? and don't even get me started on the ba-"

chris, asking for death, cuts her off by leaning forward and trying to land another swipe of paint on her face. he freezes though, when clementine stops him just in time by grabbing ahold of his wrist. his body goes rigid at her touch and her jaw drops at his audacity to try and get paint on her face again. her eyes pierce into his very soul. "you're dead."

chris glances to her hold on his wrist before looking back at her. "yeah, your boyfriend said the same thing to me once."

her eyes roll into the back of her head and from where she still has ahold of his hand, she pries the paintbrush out of his hands. he watches as she does so, only managing a raise of his eyebrows.

once she has the paintbrush in her hold, chris opens his mouth to—of course—speak.

the words instantly get stuck in his throat though, when clementine sits up and leans over to grab ahold of his chin. his mind goes blank—completely blank and just clementine, clementine, clementine. she is touching him. she has ahold of his jaw. she's leant over to him. she's clearly doing it to get back at him with something, but he can't even focus on that because oh my god, she is so close to him.

as clementine uses her hold on his chin to turn his face away from her, he doesn't have a clue what she's doing but he doesn't dare utter a word. he's so speechless from her touch that he almost doesn't comprehend the sudden wetness on his cheek—paint.

his eyebrows instantly raise and he realizes she could be painting literally anything on his face right now. he doesn't dare to push her away from him though. he honestly finds this endearing and the fact that she's willingly touching him right now, is enough to make him never want to pull away from her.

if he focuses enough, he can feel clementines breath against his skin as she paints. that's going to drive him crazy. "what are you painting on me, clem?" he manages a question.

"a dick."

a breathy chuckle leaves chris' lips. "should've known."

a silence spreads between them again and for once, chris feels like it isn't an uncomfortable one. yes, it's full of tension, but that's only because her hands are literally on his face. there's something lighthearted about this though. it reminds him of when everything was easy.

clementine tilts his head more when suddenly, the movement causes her to stumble because of how far she's leant over. before chris can realize what he's doing, he reaches a hand out to her waist to stable her.

her body goes completely tense under his touch and that makes his heart fall to his ass. he didn't even realize he made the movement until he felt her reaction from it.

clementine freezes and looks away from what she's painting on his cheek, landing on his eyes instead. he inhales sharply, not removing his touch and instead, trying to reassure her. "it's okay, i've got you," he tells her softly, not missing the way her eyes change just slightly from his words. her body relaxes a tad, but he can tell she's clearly still tense and about to pull away, so he finds a way to stop her from overthinking it. the way is by teasing her, of course. "go on," he encourages her with an amused quirk to his lips, "finish what you're painting, baby."

her eyes are instantly narrowed and back to normal. "call me that one more time and i swear to fuck chris, i'm gonna stick this paintbrush into one of your eyeballs."

chris grins at her. "you're so romantic."

her eyes roll into the back of her head before she glances back down to his cheek. she only touches up one thing before pulling away. she looks over her work and grins, proud of it. chris is practically blown away. it's a genuine smile that might not be directed towards him, but it's directed towards a dick on his face, so that's got to count for something. he hasn't gotten a genuine smile from her since before they broke up. if he died right now, it would be peacefully, just because of her smile. he would legitimately die a happy man.

"a dick for a dick," clementines words snap him out of it. she pulls away, chris' hand smoothly falling off her waist as she leans back to her previous place, sitting down with a sigh. "it's perfect honestly."

chris shakes his head at her, not being able to fight the smile on his lips even though she's literally just painted a dick on his face and called him a dick himself. "i'm going to have to walk out of here with a dick on my face."

clementine just tilts her head at him, a smile still on her lips. it makes his heart ridiculously content—the way she's smiling at him right now.

the moment is interrupted though, by clementines door suddenly opening. they both instantly turn their heads in that direction to find nick and matt walking in. nick is already talking, "i can't believe you left us by oursel-" he cuts himself off when he takes a good look at chris. "why the fuck is there a dick on your face?"

matt's eyebrows shoot up to his forehead as he closes the door behind them. once he sets his eyes on chris' face, he's bursting into laughter. "what the fuck?"

chris sighs. "yeah, clementine drew a dick on my face," he explains, unamused by their laughter. "so funny, i know."

nick chuckles. "i thought i was going to come in here to clem strangling you, but this is actually so much better," he laughs, walking over to her bed as matt follows along. "wow."

"why is it so professional looking?" matt questions seriously, narrowing his eyes at the dick on chris' cheek, now able to get a closer look.

when everyone bursts into laughter from matt's words, chris isn't amused. he isn't amused until he hears clementines laughter. he recognizes the sound anywhere and when he looks over to her, she's covering her mouth with her hand. chris' eyes soften and suddenly, he's laughing with them.

for a split moment as everyone is laughing together, it feels just like how it used to be.

matt though, cuts in after the laughter has died down. "seriously though, you've gotta wash that off because we have to go pick stori up from her work."

chris sighs. why is his clementine time always ruined?

"'kay," he mumbles, standing up from the bed and immediately covering his cheek where the dick is painted. nick instantly laughs at the movement and chris glares at him. "i'm just gonna go to the bathroom then."

chris does exactly that. he goes to the bathroom without bumping into any of clementines family and then washes off the paint with a washcloth. he then makes his way back to her room and when he opens the door, matt and nick have disappeared.

clementine looks up at the sound of him entering the room and notices how his eyebrows are furrowed. "they already went out to the car," she answers for him, currently cleaning up all her art supplies.

"oh," chris frowns, walking over to her. "are we almost done with the project?"

"no," she murmurs, running a hand through her hair. "i actually still have a lot to do."

"so i'll have to come back then, right?" chris asks, an upturn to the side of his lips. he loves all these excuses for him coming to see her.

she doesn't even respond, she just sighs deeply.

that just makes chris more amused. he blows out a breath and begins to speak again, "yeah so..." he trails off for just a moment. "what's your new number?"

clementines eyes snap back to him. "what?"

"your number," he repeats, crossing his arms as he stands. "you changed it after we broke up."

clementines lips press together for just a second. "yeah," she confirms, her eyebrows scrunching together just a tad. "what? did you try and text me?" she questions, narrowing her eyes slightly.

chris' heart does a little thing as he thinks to when he first found out clementine and jax were dating. did he try and text her? that's a funny question. yes, he texted her so much that the new person who got her old number texted him back calling him a psychopath.

he just clicks his tongue. "yes."

her eyes do a thing and chris wants to get lost in them. eventually, she squints at him in challenge. "why do you need my number?"

"for the project," he answers easily, giving her a smug look. "duh."

she glances over his face and eventually sighs, shaking her head to herself. "whatever," she mumbles. "just hand me your phone."

chris grins. when she enters her number into his phone, he sets her contact as wifey 4L (🤞).

💌

this chapter is for the cuntinators b word convo

clem warming up to him okaaaaay 🔥🔥🔥🔥

<3
jaden