CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT » MOMENTS
"I love you. More than anything."

♔

Stepping out of the cell blocks the next morning, I noticed an upset looking Carl sat at the table, playing with his gun. Sighing, I made my way over to him, feeling obligated to try and cheer him up now that I'd seen him.

Rick had made a deal with the prisoners last night, giving us access to the pantry and half of the prison food, as well as us being able to stay in the cells. Sometime between then and when I woke up the next day, Carl had gone out seeking medical supplies and had come back with them, only to get reprimanded, understandably, by a concerned Lori.

I pulled out a chair, sitting down silently when he didn't look up to acknowledge my presence. "Carl," I started with the most calming voice I could muster. "What you did, getting those supplies, was really brave. Everybody is incredibly thankful that you did it, but it was really dangerous to go out there on your own. I don't doubt for a second that you can't handle yourself, but next time I'm begging you to let one of us go with you. Even I wouldn't be willing to risk my life by going out there alone, I'd always go with someone else, so there's no harm in you asking one of us either, okay?"

Carl was quiet for a moment, eventually looking up. "You think I'm brave?"

"I think you're braver than me," I replied, noticing a small smile on his face as he lifted his head up. "We all care about you kiddo, and we don't wanna see you hurt."

"Blaire-" I turned around, spotting Olivia by the stairs.

"Hey," I smiled, looking back to Carl again and giving him a small nod. I stood up, patting him on the shoulder before making my way over to the stairs. "What's up?"

"Are you busy?" She asked as the two of us began to head up to the top of the stairs.

I shook my head, beginning to become concerned by the look on Olivia's face. "Are you okay?"

I took a seat on the top step beside her, watching as her eyes darted around, avoiding my gaze. She let out a heavy sigh, finally turning to face me. "I figured out that it's been about a year since Jade and I got together," she said, and I felt my chest tighten with emotions. I didn't know exactly how she felt, but I could see the broken look on her face. I couldn't imagine what she was going through. "And I-" she cut off, a sob catching in her throat. "I just-" I reached for her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "I miss her so much."

"I know," I said gently. "I'm so sorry."

"I still have this feeling, you know, that she's still out there. She's still fighting," she stared out into the distance, her eyes filling with tears. "I know she is."

The two of us sat in silence for a moment, and my mind began to wonder to my parents. I always thought not knowing what happened to them was better, but recently I'd wanted them more than ever. I wanted them to tell me they loved me one more time, I wanted to tell them that I loved them one more time. I wanted them to see what kind of person I'd become, I wanted them to meet Glenn, Liv, Rick, the whole group. I wanted them here with me, safe.

"Do you ever wonder what happened to your family?" She questioned, as if knowing exactly what was playing on my mind.

"Yeah," I replied defeatedly, turning my head to the side. "All the time."

"My mom, we used to fight all the time-" she chuckled nostalgically. "But God, she was my best friend. I loved her to death."

"What happened?" I asked, looking back her way again.

Olivia shook her head, her brown eyes flickering to the floor. "It was the early stages when nobody really knew what was going on. Dad had gotten scratched by one of them but obviously we didn't really know what was going to happen. Mom was looking after him, thought she was nursing him back to health," she glanced up at me, silent tears falling down her cheeks. "She stayed by his bed every night, but one night he- he turned. My brother, Jacob, and I woke up, heard her screaming and walked in on the scene. Jake, he- he had to kill them both."

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, squeezing her hand comfortingly again. "That must have been awful."

"At least I know what happened to them," she replied. "It would kill me not knowing if my whole family were alive or not. I can barely cope not knowing about Jade."

I nodded in agreement, swallowing thickly. "Yeah, it kills me not knowing what happened to my parents."

"I mean, there's still a chance that they're out there, you know?"

I shook my head, closing my eyes momentarily. "Even if they are, there's a small chance I'd ever find them."

"Hey, remember what you told me?" She asked, shifting so she was facing me. "There's always hope, Blaire." She gave me a small smile that I weakly returned.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Silence lapsed between us again until Olivia let go of my hand, making me glance over.

"Blaire, I need to tell you something and you're not gonna like it-" she paused, taking a deep breath. My mind raced with a million thoughts as I felt panic building in the pit of my stomach. "You know when I found you guys and said that I'd gone out on a supply run, I wasn't exactly telling the truth."

My heart fell to the pit of my stomach as I prepared for the absolute worst.

"I didn't have a group. I mean, well I did at one point but Jade and I got separated from them months before I found you guys. Jade and I, we'd be moving from place to place but every time we began to settle something would always make us have to move again. She spotted the farm on the supply run and we planned to try and approach you all. But then she got injured and, well, our needs became desperate."

I stayed silent for a minute, processing everything. My tone of voice was slightly colder than I'd meant it to be. "Why did you lie?"

"I thought that if I told you I had a group and that we could offer our help, you'd be more willing to take us in. We'd met some horrible people out there and tried to join groups but they just wouldn't have us, we were too much of a liability. So we made the plan that when I brought you to our group, Jade would say they got attacked and she lost the others. But then, obviously, something really did happen and now-" she cut off, taking a deep breath. "Now she's gone."

I narrowed my eyes at her, noticing how her hands had began to shake. "How do I know you're not lying about anything else?"

"Blaire, I promise you," she rushed out. "Everything else I've told you is the truth. I'm so sorry-"

"I get it," I replied slowly, trying to sort out the thoughts in my head. Of course I understood what she did, she was desperate. I just couldn't help but feel hurt that she kept it for so long. It's not that I couldn't trust her, we'd known each other for months now and we were close friends. Things just couldn't go back to being the same all of a sudden though. It didn't work like that for me.

"I totally understand if you hate me-"

"I don't hate you," I stated, meeting her eyes and holding my stare. I noticed that her eyes flickered away and I shook my head disappointedly, standing up. "I'm just feeling a little betrayed right now."

I began to head back down the stairs, my mind working in overdrive to process everything. So much had happened in the past few days, there was so much going on, so many feelings and emotions. I wasn't quite sure how to deal with it all.

"Hey, Blaire," I heard T-Dog say and looked over the railings, seeing him smiling up at me. His smile then fell slightly and I looked down, watching so I didn't trip up a step. "You good?"

I let out an exasperated sigh, stopping in front of him. "Not really, T."

"I, um, I heard you and Olivia talking."

"Did you hear everything?" I asked, brushing back some hair from my eyes.

"Most of it," he shrugged, his eyes flickering past me for a brief moment. "It's difficult, I get it. If you wanna talk, I'm here."

"Thanks, T," I nodded, my heart being warmed by his kindness. "It means a lot. You're a good friend."

A few silent moments passed. "So, I was thinking about going to cheer Carl up, and I know you two are close so I thought maybe you'd wanna help?"

I nodded slowly, swallowing thickly. "I'm pretty sure Carl is sick of the sight of me right now. But maybe I'll join you guys later?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Yeah sure." I started to move past to head to my cell but he spoke up again. "Oh, and Blaire-"

I turned my head, raising my eyebrows questioningly as I faced him. "Yeah?"

"Don't be too hard on yourself."

~

"Hey," I smiled softly, stepping up into the guard tower. Night had fallen, stars illuminating the pitch black sky. Some were duller than others, flickering occasionally; some brighter and shimmering. It was a peaceful night in our hostile new world.

Glenn turned around to face me, his lips immediately moving into a warm grin. "Hey, I didn't think you were coming," he said, moving closer to me, a concerned look drawing on his face. "T-Dog told me what happened but I thought it was best to leave you for a while. You okay?"

I nodded, watching as he placed his hand on my cheek, his thumb softly rubbing small circles over my skin. His eyes stared into mine as his fingers gently brushed a few strands of hair away from my face, the two of us beginning to draw closer. Our noses brushed and I paused momentarily, tilting my head to the side. Glenn leaned in closer, our lips connecting passionately until I pulled away, breathless.

My hands held the ends of my shirt, beginning to pull it over my head. Glenn's lips parted in shock, and I tried to ignore the blush rising on my neck as his eyes flickered over to me. I let my shirt fall to the ground and took a step closer to him again, leaning my head upwards and pressing my lips softly to his, before pulling away again.

He stood confused for a moment, before realising and pulling at his shirt collar, removing it and discarding it to the pile on the floor. My heart pounded so heavily in my chest I was worried he would be able to hear. Nerves, mixed with excitement, tightened in my stomach as our eyes met again. "You sure?"

Glenn and I, whilst having been together for a few months now, had never found an appropriate moment until now to take our relationship any further. I knew it had been on his mind for a while, as it had been on mine too. And it seemed we had our moment.

Nodding slowly, I reached behind my back, unclipping my bra, sliding it down my arms and letting it fall to the pile on the floor. Glenn's eyes appeared to widen slightly, and I smiled softly, my hands unconsciously squeezing the anchor necklace around my neck.

I moved again, wrapping my arms around him and closing my eyes blissfully, our lips meeting fervently. My arms tightened around him more, feeling my skin brushing against his. I reached for the button on my jeans, shuffling out of them quickly and throwing them on the pile, followed by his. Glenn pulled me closer, the two of us falling down onto the makeshift bed he'd made up on the floor.

My legs either side of his, I moved my lips from his, trailing hot lines of kisses up his neck, to his collarbone. I felt his gentle hands brushing against my sides, earning soft moans from both of us. My lips left his skin for the briefest moment, and Glenn moved, changing positions so that he was hovering above me, our lips barely touching. I was okay with it though, I was okay because Glenn made me feel comfortable, safe.

He began to kiss me heavily, as my hands slid down his back. His own hands trailed down my sides, stopping at my waist.

"Blaire," he breathed out heavily between kisses. "I love you."

"I love you too, Glenn," I mumbled against his lips, pulling away for a moment. "More than anything."

❃

Words: 2165
Published: 5th December 2016

It happened.