.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

Once again, they were stuck on the road. No supplies, no food or water. But they had found their way back to each other. Almost everyone was there. Despite everything.

It wasn't ideal to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, especially not with a baby but Stella was sure that they'd manage. Just like they had before. Levi wasn't doubting them either. They had been stuck on the road for months before they found the prison. Back then, they didn't have a baby in their arms but they had a pregnant woman. They still managed to survive. Back then, they were weaker and their group was smaller. Now, they had been through too much. They had grown and become stronger.
And for him, all that mattered was that he was reunited with his girl.

_____

They had put up camp in the forest. The group had been walking without stopping for hours upon hours trying to get as far away from Terminus as possible. It was dark when they settled down at the end of the small hill in the forest.

Ellie had found some medical supplies on the way which Stella now used to clean Levi's arrow wound. He lay leaning against the hill as Stella slowly lifted his shirt over his head. He groaned as the action of lifting his arm was enough to send a stab of pain into his wound.

Lifting his shirt didn't just reveal the arrow wound but also the many bruises and cuts that Levi had gotten from the night when the claimers attacked them. Stella's finger traced over every single one of them and her jaw tightened seeing the pain that those men had inflicted on him. Some would fade away over time but some of the cuts would scar, turn into a constant reminder of what occurred that night.

Stella moved all her hair to her right shoulder before leaning forward, placing a gentle kiss on the deepest wound on the boy's bare stomach.

As she sat back up he grabbed her hand, forcing her to look at him. He sent her a smile telling her that he was fine and she forced a quick one back.

She swallowed as she lifted the bandage that was poorly wrapped around his shoulder. The arrow had gone through his whole shoulder, hopefully not causing any serious internal injuries. Dried blood covered the skin around the wound and the sight didn't fail to make the hair on Stella's arms rise despite her having seen awful and grotesque things since the fall of the world.

Stella grimaced seeing the wound. She soaked the towel in rubbing alcohol and bit the inside of her lip as she moved it closer to the wound.

"This might sting." She warned Levi who only chuckled.

"Can't be worse than the actual arrow."

Stella held her breath as she pressed the towel against the wound. Levi hissed out in pain, throwing his head back as he squeezed his eyes shut. Stella tried to be as gentle as possible but every move caused a burning pain through the boy's entire arm.

"Sorry." She whispered under her breath. Levi placed his hand over her thigh to reassure her that it was okay.

She cleaned the skin around the wound and did her best to clean the inside of it. Despite the pain, Levi watched her with a smile on his lips. She was deeply focused on her task, having all her hair over her right shoulder and her tongue sticking out slightly on the side of her mouth as she focused dearly on the wound.

"Woah, I didn't know that was hiding under that shirt of yours, Levi," Ellie said jokingly, staring at the abs on Levi's stomach as she joined up behind the two. Stella chuckled as Levi looked up with his eyebrows raised before his head fell back again when Stella pressed the towel back on the wound.

"I've missed you too Ells," Levi grunted.

"Don't worry, I'm joking. Mine are better anyways." Ellie lifted her shirt, showing off the none existing abs making the pair in front of her laugh.

Ellie flashed them a smile before turning her attention to Stella and her horrible wound-cleaning skills.

"Are you trying to clean his wound or give his shoulder a high five?" Ellie questioned and Stella looked up at her in confusion. The blonde rolled her eyes before sinking down next to her, taking the equipment from her hands. Within a minute she had cleaned the wound and changed the bandage.

"If I'm ever on my last leg, don't ever let Stella clean my wound." Ellie brushed her hands against each other before walking off, grinning at the two.

Stella chuckled before turning her attention back to Levi, who stared at her with a smile.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" Stella snickered and adjusted her hair.

"No," Levi shook his head smiling. The two had separated from the group, sitting a few feet away, with trees covering their small area from the rest. The two stared at each other, thankful for some time away from everyone else.

Levi placed his hand over Stella's, rubbing circles on the top of it with his thumb. "I've missed this."

Stella smiled. She had missed him more than he could ever understand. "Me too."

Levi lifted his hand from hers, intertwining his fingers with hers instead, still drawing circles on her skin. His heart ached, knowing that if he had found her earlier maybe he could've protected her from what happened with the claimers. He knew that it had taken greater effect on her than she showed.

"How are you?" Levi asked.

Stella looked down at the medical supplies that she was packing back down into Ellie's bag. She bit the inside of her lip as she pondered on what to say.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"Yes you do. I know you do." Levi said. No one could read Stella as good as Levi did. The distant look in her eyes, the way she'd occasionally flinch at the touch of others, even Levi. He had even noticed the redness around her fingers, which she had developed from anxiously twisting her ring around them. "
Hey, you can talk to me."

Stella refused to look at him as she spoke. She knew exactly what was constantly on her mind and she knew exactly that Levi had noticed and wouldn't let her go without telling him. Sometimes she hated how he would always be able to read her like that and the way he would always care too much. Enough to forget about himself.

Stella had felt something the night with the claimers and it had scared her more than anything ever had in her whole life.

She sucked in a deep breath, keeping her eyes on her hands as she struggled to find a way to start. "I... I just... I feel like I'm turning into something I'm not." She said, her voice croaky with tears. She didn't want to cry. She had done nothing but cry these last days and it made her feel weak.

Levi grunted slightly as he sat up. "What do you mean?"

"When Mom died, she made me promise to not let this world change me. And now it's like I don't even recognize myself." Stella's head hung low, hiding the tear that rolled down her cheek. "I just don't want to turn into a monster."

"You're not." Levi leaned forward to force Stella to look at him.

Stella sniffled and as Levi wiped the tear off her face. "Before you found me, I killed one of the claimers by snapping his neck with my legs." Stella continued. "And what I did to that man.." her mind trailed back to the moment when she was slicing the man's stomach open with her machete. She felt something in that moment. It was dangerous and scary. But she felt powerful, almost like she enjoyed it.

"Hey, look at me," Levi said. "He deserved it. Both of them did. You did what you had to do."

Stella stared at him for a moment before nodding. "I just feel like I don't recognize myself anymore."

"Listen. If you hadn't done what you did, God knows what would've happened. I don't know what I would've done with myself if I hadn't found you. I have no reason to live if it isn't with you. I just wish I could've found you earlier. They deserved it." Levi said. "You're safe now. I've got you and I'll never let anything like that happen to you ever again. I'll never let anyone lay their hands on you."

Stella blinked away the tears but they were soon replaced with tears of happiness and relief. She was forever grateful to have found Levi. Not just after the fall of the prison but in general. She was extremely lucky to have found someone like him. He meant the world to her and being without him for so long, not knowing if he was alive or not had been pure torture. Now that she had finally found him, she wasn't  planning on ever leaving him again.

Levi placed a gentle kiss on the scar on her cheek. It had become his signature move to place a kiss over it, a way to remind her that every part of her body, despite the scars was beautiful.

He placed kisses down her neck and she closed her eyes, wishing that the moment would never end.

"I love you," Levi whispered, in between the kisses.

She cupped his face and brought it up to hers, pressing her lips against his. His hand traveled to the back of her neck as the other held her thigh.

She pulled away, leaning her forehead against his. "I love you too."

Levi laid back down, allowing Stella to rest against him. She stayed in the security of his arms the whole night while his fingers drew lines over her bare arms.

______

The sun was shining, forcing Stella to open her eyes even though she wanted nothing more than to stay in Levi's arms. She opened her eyes and blinked until she had adjusted to the sudden light before looking up at Levi. The boy stared at her with a warm smile making one appear on Stella's face as well.

"Good morning, beautiful."

"Morning." She smiled as she rubbed her eyes. She had gotten a surprising amount of sleep for sleeping in the forest with sticks and rocks to poke her back through the night. Her back was aching and her neck was shooting out pain at any slight movement but she couldn't complain. At least they were out of terminus, safe and sound.

"I found you some breakfast." Levi reached out of the can of canned peaches. "Consider it breakfast in bed."

Stella smiled appreciatively. "If you consider leaves and sticks up your ass a bed then yeah." She joked as she opened the can. "Thank you."

He placed a kiss on her lips before the two leaned back to share the peaches.

______

They were back to walking.
Stella and Levi traveled hand in hand between the trees, a few feet behind everyone else. Stella had been handed a machete from her father after Garett took hers back in Terminus. She was now clutching onto it tightly. Carol and Daryl, who had been on guard last night had sworn that they had heard and seen movement in the forest making Stella move with extra caution.

"You need a haircut," Stella said as she ran her hand through Levi's overgrown brown hair. Levi grinned as he stared at her. "Don't worry." She said. "I'll cut it, once we find a place."

Raising one eyebrow he looked at her slightly stunned. "You can cut hair?"

"I mean, mom always cut ours but how hard can it be." She shrugged before her hand traveled to his chin. "And you need to shave." She giggled, dragging her fingers over the short hairs that covered his chin.

Levi chuckled and opened his mouth like he was gonna say something but he was cut off by a scream coming from deeper into the forest. Instantly letting go of Levi's hand the two stood shoulder to shoulder with their weapons in hand as their eyes scanned their surroundings.

"Dad, come on!" Carl pleaded for her father who remained still. Another scream erupted from within the forest and Carl stepped forward. "Come on!" He glanced back at his father. Rick hesitated before sending the group a nod followed by all of them heading away towards the sound.

They arrived at the scene of a man on top of a rock as walkers crowded around him. The man looked like a priest and he was unarmed leaving him to cry and plead for help as he desperately kicked off the walkers from his feet.

Stella hurried forward, bringing her machete into the skull of two walkers as the rest of the group took out the remaining walkers.

"We're clear," Rick stated once every walker was on the ground. "Keep watch."

Stella rounded the rock, staring at the trembling man on top of it. The old Stella would have felt bad for him and taken him in immediately as it was clear that he was no big threat. But she wasn't naive to the danger in the world anymore.

"Come on down," Rick ordered and the priest shakily climbed down from the rock. He looked pale and lightheaded as he stood in front of everyone, staring at them in shock. He stumbled backward, still shaking from the previous event.

"You okay?" Rick asked and the man lifted his finger in the air before hunching over and throwing up over the ground making the group around him groan in disgust.

"Gross." Stella scrunched up her nose.

The man spat before standing back up. "Sorry." He apologized as he tried to gather himself again. "Yes, thank you." He said under his breath. He fixated his shirt and jacket, which both looked awfully warm in the summer heat. "I'm Gabriel."

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asked making the man chuckle but his grin was soon wiped off his face as he looked around seeing that no one else seemed to have found any amusement in the question.

"Do I look like I have any weapons?" He put his arms in the air.

"We don't give two short and curries what it looks like," Abraham spoke up.

"I have no weapons of any kind," Gabriel said, staring frightened at the muscular red-haired man next to his daughter who both shared a piercing glare. "The word of God is the only protection I need," Gabriel explained further, confirming that he in fact was a priest.

"Sure didn't look like it," Levi muttered.

"I called for help. Help came." Gabrel smiled brightly at the boy. He looked around at the many new faces, not earning as much as a brief smile. Gabriel looked down at his feet before gazing back up at the sound of Judith cooing in Tyrese's arms.

"That's a beautiful child." He said.

Levi took a step away from Stella, blocking Gabriel's sight of Judith, and stared down his nose at him. "Sure is." He said. He had no idea what the man's intentions were and it didn't matter if he was a priest or not. What they were beforehand had no meaning now.

Rick interrogated Gabriel and found out that the man was holding up in a church. He also found out that Gabriel seemed like he had no survival skills whatsoever. He had killed no walkers or humans since this whole thing started. In Stella's eyes, he seemed useless, like a weakness and they couldn't afford that in their group. But they couldn't afford to lose themselves either. Leaving him would be wrong. It would be inhumane and it would go against everything that they lived for. So instead, they decided to follow him to this church.

No on took their eyes off the man as they walked. With their fingers resisting on their triggers, they followed the man who was supposed to lead them to his fort.

Stella's narrowed eyes followed the man who walked in front next to her father.

"What do you think?" Levi crouched down slightly to whisper in her ear.

"I want to think that he's telling the truth. I just don't. Not for one bit."

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟐𝟕𝟓𝟗 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍

MY CUTIES ARE SOOOO BACKKK.

I love them more than life I'm so serious.