- WHEN ZOE WAS A little girl, having a big, fancy and expensive wedding was something that she was excited about, something that she had only watched on the TV, and seen pictures of, from her mom and dad's own wedding. She used to love the idea of wearing a beautiful white gown and walking down the isle for everyone to see, whilst holding her dads arm. The girl imagined meeting the love of her life and having a wedding at the age of 25, when she had a job and a house of their own; now, whilst she had found the person she knew she was destined to be with, she didn't have the same wishes as she did when she was a child. Now, all she could ever wish for, in this horrid new world, was for her family to be safe. Nothing else mattered to her near enough to that.

When Nate was younger, he hadn't even thought about marriage, he had never experienced a healthy and loving relationship from either one of his parents, not like Zoe did - hell, his mom abandoned him before he could even form his first word. Growing up, he witnessed his dad beat, berate and use woman like they meant nothing, every single day of his life, and his biggest fear was becoming even remotely similar to the evil bastard who called himself his father. He was secluded as a child, he didn't have any friends growing up, he never had a girlfriend of his own, and he never even wanted an of those things. Marriage had never even occurred to him before, not before he first locked eyes with Zoe Grimes.

Zoe and Nate had two completely childhoods, they were two completely different people, yet the fit together like a glove. Anyone who knew the two of them, knew that they were made for another, the of the world had given them both one thing, and that was one another. In a normal world, where the dead weren't walking and trying to eat them, Zoe and Bate probably wouldn't have even looked at one another, they would have never even met — the end of the world brought them together, and they both couldn't be more grateful for finding one another. When Zoe first sa Nate in the traffic pile up at the beginning of this whole mess, she never thought that in the future, she wouldn't be able to live without him.

When Zoe first realised that she was in love with Nate, marriage never crossed her mind, and tying the knot was not something she thought would ever happen. Sure, she'd live to be legally bonded to Nate, but now that civilisation had changed, she knew that it could never happen — but that didn't exactly matter to her, because in her eyes, Nate was her man, and she was his girl..

When the dead started to rise, and when Nate first met Zoe, her hair was short, and pink, but over time, it had grown out, he had almost forgotten what it looked like when it cupped her face slightly, and he loved it, especially since you could see her face more clearly. Seeing her face in the sunlight, her beauty illuminating, he found her intoxicating, like his heart gives way everything he looks at her of even thinks about her. He had never felt this way about anyone before, he had never even liked many people before, he was like Daryl in that sense, he was a complete loner, but being in this group, this family, it changed him and his brother for the best.

As Zoe stopped walking in front of a small grassy area, with a small amount of flowers and plants, the girl had a relieved smile on her face, having not seen many nice plants like these for a while, at least, not since the farm, where Hershel kept his late wife's garden patch. Since this sanctuary was still looking just as new as it did before the world ended, the flowers were looking fresh, and the houses all looked incredibly clean, not like the houses outside these walls, but where they had all started to rot away without being kept all of this time. Nobody in their own group knew how they had kept this place looking so clean and new, even in the prison, when they had a lot of members to keep the place safe, it never looked nearly as good as this place, it was like a dream..

"How have they kept this place so, clean?" Zoe spoke her thoughts out loud, glancing around the garden in front of them in amazement. She was never that much into flowers or plants, even before the world ended, but when you're deprived of the beauty for such a long time, you can't help but appreciate the little things in life.
Even with the beauty of the garden, Nate couldn't help but keep his eyes locked onto the side of Zoe's face, knowing that nothing else could ever beat the sight; he could look at his girl all day, and never get bored of doing it. Her new hair cut suited her perfectly, and she couldn't look any better than she did in this moment. "It's like this place has never seen the outside world, you know?" Zoe continued, not noticing that Nate was getting more nervous by the second - he knew that he wanted to ask her the question, the ring he had found her was burning a hole in his pocket, and he felt like it was on fire.

Nate just knew he needed to rip of the bandaid, he knew what answer the girl was going to give him, he knew she would say yes's but actually asking her the question was making him break a sweat. Zoe slowly turned around to look up at Nate, her smile growing the second she looked into his eyes and felt locked onto them, feeling the spark light in between them again. "I love you." Nate mumbled, pulling Zoe close to him and pressing his lips against hers and tightening his hold on her.

Zoe smiled into the kiss, looping her arms around his neck and using her fingers to brush through his newly washed and brushed hair, which felt amazing against her skin. She loved it when he looked rough, but the way he was freshly shaven, made her want to look at him all day long. She couldn't remember the last time he looked so clean, and it felt like they were living normally, just like before.

"Your hair looks beautiful. It reminds menig when we first met, at the lake, you were trying to fish for frogs with little Carl." Nate said, when the two of them pulled away from their kiss, "Back then, I never thought that I'd feel this way for someone, ever, but you pushed your way into my life, end now I couldn't imagine my life without you in it." He carried on, as Zoe didn't know what had gotten into him, and why he was so poetical all of a sudden. Maybe it was being in this new place, where the walls around them felt completely safe, where it felt like they could finally settle down after a terrible time on the road, and where they finally didn't have to worry about the walking dead outside of this place.

"I don't know how to do this., I never thought I would feel like this for anyone, but here we are.." Nate continued, as Zoe watched him reach into his pocket and grab something from inside of it, "When I first saw this, I instantly thought of you.. Instead of saying anything, I'm just going to show you." He stuttered, as Zoe furrowed her brows in confusion, having never seen this man stutter on his words before today. With the hand that wasn't in his pocket, he reached out for his girls left hand, the girls eyes widening slightly as she started to realise just what he was planning to do.

It felt like things were going in slow motion, as Zoe watched as Nate pulled out a small diamond ring, looking as sparkly as it should have when it was first made. It was gorgeous, clean and the girl couldn't be any more amazed with the sight of it — she couldn't believe he had found her such a beautiful ring, and he had kept it as a surprise for god knows how long; she loved it. "Nate..." Zoe gleamed, looking down as he gently pushed the ring over her finger, the piece of jewellery fitting perfectly, like it was made just for her. Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at it, holding her hand out where the sun hit it at a perfect angle, the diamond shining.. It felt like her dreams were coming true: when she was a little girl, she could only imagine being proposed to by the man she loved, and this moment was perfect. It was their moment. "It's perfect." She continued, holding his hand where he just pushed the ring onto - brushing her thumb over his skin.

"Will you be my wife?" Nate finally asked, saying the words that he had been trying to get out since he first felt the ring burn a hole in his pocket when Beth first handed him the ring. He had been waiting for the right moment, to ask the question, afraid that she would say no because it wasn't a perfect picture moment from the movies, he didn't get down on one knee like you were supposed to, but he did it in his own way, and by the look on her face, he knew that she loved it, and loved him. He couldn't be more happy with how the moment went, he did it in his own way, and he felt like it was perfect.

Zoe looked up at him, her eyes welling up in tears and her lashes getting wet as she did so, "Yes. Yes I will!" She said, a huge smile breaking out on her face when she saw Nate's own smile matching her own. She couldn't remember the last time of being this happy.

At her words, Nate wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting the girl off of the ground and pressing his lips firmly against hers, the girl squealing in happiness as she wrapped her legs around his own waist and drooping her arms around his neck, gripping his hair as their kisses deepened. In the moment, Zoe didn't care if any of the other residents in the sanctuary could see them - Nate had proposed, and that was all that mattered to her in the moment. She never wanted to let go of him, she just wanted to keep hold of him for the rest of their days, and never care about anything else again.
She wanted life to become normal again, so she and Nate only had to care about a wedding, and who was invited, and not about who was going to die next — sure, they could have a wedding, now they had a priest in the group, but it didn't matter to the two of them, they could be husband and wife, and they didn't need it written on a piece of paper, not when they knew what they had.

The ring on Zoe's finger felt like it should have been there a long, long time ago, it feels like if was made exactly for her, like Nate had personally made her the ring himself — she didn't know where he had found the ring and how, but she didn't care. "I love you so much." Zoe said, pulling back and cupping his face in between her hands, as Nate's hands were still under her legs, keeping het held up as they kissed. She could see the ring on her finger from the corner of her eyes, and she gleamed at the sight.

"You are my world. You know that, right?" Nate asked, pecking both of her cheeks before pulling her in for another kiss. They felt like the only two people in the world, and they both wanted to stay in the moment forever.