Childlike Eyes ~A Monkees Fanfiction~

Chapter 9 (The End)

TIME SKIP: 2 YEARS LATER>>>

Clementine's tear streaked cheeks broke her lover's heart. He hated seeing her like this. And there was nothing he could do. All there was to do was to love her until she got better. But loving her, as much as it pained him to say, was getting harder by the day. She shut him out. As much as she needed and wanted loving, something inside her switched off.

It all happened the day that Cliff died.

It had been a car accident, but it was the worst that their city had seen in a long time. The funeral had to be closed casket, and that made Clementine all the more upset. Hell, upset wasn't the word for it. She was devastated, and so was everyone who had known him.

Especially Charlie. Charlie gave up on living and sold the diner. Without his best friend, his brother, he couldn't be happy anymore. He had nobody else. Sure he had friends, but not many. And definitely not best friends. Nobody like Cliff.

Two months after the incident, Clementine and Mike got the call.

The phone rang annoyingly, snapping Clementine out of her deep thought. She sighed and reached over to grasp it, holding it up to her ear. Her sweater sleeve rolled down her arm as she lifted it, revealing pale skin. After she lost her brother, she didn't go out much.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Clementine Nesmith?" A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the mention of her last name. Despite everything else, Mike gave her light in her life, and being married to him was the best thing to ever happen to her.

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who is calling?" The voice on the other side- a man's voice- faltered a bit, as if he was going to say something that he didn't want to say or maybe Clementine didn't want to hear.

"This is Somyn Rains, an officer at the L.A. County Police Station. Are you acquainted with Charles Tracey?" Clementine's heart skipped a beat, fearing that something may be wrong with Charlie.

"Yes, I am."

"M'am, I'm sorry to inform you that Mr. Tracey killed himself at 1:47 this morning.

The door of Clementine and Mike's oceanfront home slammed shut, startling Clementine, who was sitting at the granite island in their kitchen.

"Mike?"

"Hey Clem." Mike walked in, looking frazzled, and gave her an absentminded kiss on the cheek.

"Mike, what's wrong?" Mike opened the fridge and removed a beer before sitting across from her.

"I have to go on tour, for six months." He grumbled.

"Six months?!" Clementine stood from her chair. "Mike, you were just gone for five!" His eyebrows were arched in anger.

"Really, Clementine?" He spat. "I'm surprised you noticed I was gone!" Clementine crossed her arms and glared at him. Through her angry expression, Mike also read hurt.

"And what is that suppossed to mean?" She challenged him, working towards histeric.

"For months you've been acting like we aren't even married!" He shouted. "Your god damn houseplants get more attention than I do!" Mike gritted his teeth, and tears began to form in Clementine's eyes.

"Well my plants aren't off playing music in other states for 9 months out of a year!" She retorted. "The past few months have been hard, Mike-"

"I miss Charlie too, okay?! And I get that your brother's dead, but this is ridiculous as hell!" Clementine couldn't respond, she was shocked that he would be so heartless as to bring that up.

"I can't believe you, Mike!" She screamed, tears running down her face.

"Ditto!" He returned, and Clementine was struck by the Texan twang that used to speak to her so lovingly, and now was causing her more emotional pain than she had felt sincr Charlie and Cliff's deaths. "I can't do it anymore- I won't! Clementine, we are done."

"Y-you don't mean that?" She stuttered, barely able to comprehend what he had just said. Mike nodded. "Fine! Yo're done? So am I!" She grabbed her purse and ran out the back door, down the beach.

Hours later, she still hadn't come home.

Mike went down to the beach, and walked across it. He couldn't see Clementine anywhere. He was about to go back and call the police, until something glimmering in the moonlight caught his eye.

Her purse.

He ran to the spot and found Clementine laying there, slightly awake but motionless.

"Clementine!" He knelt down by her side and grasped her hand, only to find something already in it. "Clementine...you took these?" He held up the bottle.

"You said we were done," she whispered. "I love you. I couldn't live without you. But it's not your fault."

"Babe..."

Clementine blinked away tears with what little strength she had. "I couldn't live without you, and Cliff and Charlie. Mike, tell them I love them, tell everybody."

"Clementine...I love you,"

-+...+-

Mike came back to the house the next day, with a tear stained face. He went upstairs and opened the door that he was dreading most of all.

"Daddy!" The two little girls leapt out of their beds, happy to see him. Mike tried to smile.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" One asked. He sat down on the bed and hugged them both.

"Where's mommy?" Mike nearly began to cry again.

"She loves you girls. But mommy went away. She won't be back for a while."

The End