Waking (The Walking Dead)

9| Morning

9| Morning

In the morning, Claire wakes up with Xavier's arm draped over her waist, locking her in and keeping her from getting out of bed without causing him to stir. As soon as her eyes open, she smiles and digs her face harder into the cashmere pillow under her head. Unfortunately, it smelled like someone else and that kept turning her off.

She hasn't slept so well in such a long time. The whole night felt too good to be real, although it also felt a bit wrong to be in someone else's bed. But what topped everything off was Xavier's cuddles all night. They didn't kiss again after the first time, but Claire didn't mind. She just loved his company, and didn't want to rush anything. Besides, there was plenty more other times to kiss him.

Claire didn't want to get out of bed, but she remembers that she told Tammy they would bake. Claire still didn't know how well she was going to be able to keep her word. If there were no ingredients in the house, then there possibly wouldn't be an opportunity to make that happen.

Claire rolls onto her back, Xavier's arm moving with her. She looks down at his forearm across her lower chest, and gently peels it off.

Xavier sighs in his sleep before turning onto his other side so that his back is facing her. She takes the opportunity to get out of bed before waking him up.

Before leaving the room, Claire stops at the full length mirror hanging on the door. She notices that she hasn't looked so clean in a long time, minus the messy bed hair she was still wearing.

Claire slips on a black cardigan that she finds in the closet, making sure to cover up her entire body.

As she makes her way downstairs, she notices the quietness in the house. She knows that she's the only one up, and it's definitely a first.

Claire makes her way into the kitchen, reaching up to pull the curtains open above the sink. The sun rays hit her face, causing her to squint at first but eventually she gets used to it and her expression relaxes.

When Claire turns around, she nearly screams in fright. Instead, she jumps back and hits her lower back into the counter, sending pain through her body.

Claire stares at Lila, sitting at the dining table, just watching her with a hatred in her eyes. Lila's hair resembles an afro, and she still has the same blanket draped over her shoulders from yesterday.

"Lila?" Claire starts cautiously, stepping towards the girl.

Before Claire can completely approach her, Lila suddenly bolts up from her seat and chases the stairs. Claire watches, completely shocked and confused. Lila was acting like a total animal, and it was really starting to concern Claire to the extent.

"Lila?!" Claire calls out one last time, hoping she would come back down or at least respond. Of course, she doesn't.

Claire sighs and turns back around, heading towards the cupboards. The amount of food she sees is enough to cheer her up just a little bit, most of her mind still on Lila.

Claire gathers the ingredients to make brownies, placing them neatly along the counter. To her relief, they had enough ingredients, although there wasn't going to be a lot. But Claire didn't necessarily care if there wasn't enough, she just wanted Tammy to enjoy making them and hopefully find it therapeutic. By now, Claire would be happy to eat some mashed potatoes for breakfast.