Clementine

XXXXII

After the previous day's revelations, the only sound in the house was of the final adjustments being made to the walls and flooring. It was clear that everyone was in their own head and Clementine had put distance between them.

She was hurting, she didn't expect to feel the pain in her chest at the thought of them leaving yet it still ached from the night before.

She knew she couldn't carry on in this state so with a forced gust of energy she moved her body lively down the steps calling for Wren. He was undoubtedly the man best suited for their next job.

Wren was at the bottom of the stairs in a second, keen to have a break to the silence that made him think.

"You called?" He questioned, bowing like a gentleman from another era.

"Why yes sir! I do wonder whether you'd care to join me on an errand?" She replied, playing into his games.

"Let's go!" He said breaking out of character and racing for the front door.

"Me and Wren are heading out, anyone need anything?" Clementine shouted her voice alive with the small joy Wren had ignited in her.

She was met with the reply she hoped she'd receive, 'no' making her job so much easier for her. With that she picked up her keys off the side of the record player and headed out to find Wren leaning against the car drawing on the dust and dirt.

"You better not have written any rude words for me to drive around with" She said gaining his attention only for Wren to let out a dramatic gasp and clutch his chest "I would never!". His boyish grin beamed in the sun as she opened her car, and they slipped inside.

"Where are we heading?" He asked as they approached the gates and he prepared himself to jump out and open them.

"It's a surprise"

"Oh my gawd! You knew it was my birthday!" He said excitedly as he stepped out the car and ran for the gates leaving a horrified Clementine at the wheel.

As she slowly drove through the gates he almost died at the look on her face,

"I'm just messing with you" he laughed climbing into the car.

He gained a slap to the arm as they drove off down the winding road in the direction of the prison.

As they passed Wren looked at it his eyebrows scrunching together.

"I never meant to get in trouble you know," He sighed,

"It was never meant to happen, I guess we are lucky that the judge understood that and sent us there after six months in state."

"Was it rough?" She questioned quietly, surprised at his openness.

"You've no idea, we were all sent to different prisons before we were reunited here. Jamie was in before us though, got to the open after us too."

"I didn't know that." She replied.

There was silence for a while before Wren picked up the conversation.

"What did you know?" He questioned his voice a little lighter.

"Not very much to be honest with you. I knew nothing about you, I knew that you were coming from the open prison though and that meant you were trusted more. I've grown up here from a young age, I even worked at the hotel where prisoners would stay and work in their final days of release. Never once was there ever a problem, I guess that's why I agreed. I know that if I didn't agree the program could be under threat."

"I also needed the help" She laughed,

"That was all it took? Weren't you scared?" The intrigue practically dripping off him.

"Oh yeah, I was slightly terrified, but I knew that you wouldn't be at this stage if you weren't ready. Plus, I can defend myself if I need to, Gran put me in defence classes from a young age."

As she finished her sentence, they entered the car park with a large number of shops surrounding them.

"Time to go furniture shopping!" She smiled as Wren made a grumbling noise.

Despite his audible disregard the smile never let his face.

The pair went from charity shop to charity shop picking out everything from bed frames and dressers to lampshades and glasses. Wren couldn't deny he was enjoying himself. As they scoured the shop looking for anything to fit the style and in good enough condition, Wren came across a small bronze statue of a dog. With a smile on his face he placed his sunglasses on the statues face and went off in search for Clementine to show her his most recent find.

"Clemmie, look what I found! You're going to love it!" He announced, his smile wide.

She turned around only to stare in amazement at what was in front of her. The statue was undoubtedly ugly, but Wren's utter delight had her smiling.

"Please can we get this? I'll even let it keep my sunglasses!"

She knew there was no point in arguing and added it to her basket.

This was definitely going to be her strangest purchase of the day.

Wren's excitement never wore off, even as they were leaving, he talked about how amazing it was going to look. As they passed the designer shops on the way back to the car a large gold mirror caught Clementine's eye.

It was perfect and she knew exactly where she would put it. As she walked into the shop to inspect it, she wondered whether it was possible to fall in love with an inanimate object. If so, this was her true love. Or at least it was until she saw the price.

"Well, that's not going to happen" she whispered under her breath reading the almost six figure price tag.

"I guess that's why we've been sticking to charity shops huh." Wren replied, his eyes wide at the number.

Clementine only nodded in reply walking out the shop and to the car. At least she had managed to find a number of beautiful old furniture pieces to distract her.

They made one last stop at the Grasshopper to grab a few cakes and other treats before heading back home to the boys who patiently awaited their arrival.