like real people do | c.g [#wattys2019]

G O N E R

AROUND FOUR IN THE MORNING, Glenn and I pass out and thankfully no one wakes us up, deeming us healthy enough to sleep. I wake up thinking I'm alone, since Glenn, Maggie, and Bob aren't in the room. But I hear some shuffling.

"Good morning." Hershel greets me. I mutter a small 'morning' back. I close my eyes again, exhausted, when Hershel keeps talking. "Glenn went to get some air, wanna go outside for a while?" That's enough to get me out of bed.

I shoot up, thankfully the meds are working so I don't fall on my face, and I rush to the bathroom to see if I still look like a ghost. My cheeks have some color again, my eyes aren't red, and I honestly just look tired. Can't even tell I died not even a day ago. I finger comb my hair and splash some water on my face before walking out.

Hershel smiles and leads me to the door. He opens the big gate and out of the corner of my eye I see people turning around. Maggie, Glenn, Rick, Daryl, but not Carl. I don't even have time to wonder where he is, though, because from the moment I step out, arms wrap themselves around me. I have no idea how he spotted me and hugged me so quickly, but I don't even care as I hug him tighter than I ever have, both of us stumbling back slightly.

"You actually died. You died, Case." He mutters, burying his face in my hair. His hands run through my hair as I sigh blissfully, letting my own hands drop down his front.

"I know, I was there." I chuckle humorlessly, my hands grabbing onto his shirt.

He pulls away to look at me. "It's not funny. I lost you." He looks deadly serious and slightly hurt. I frown as his hands cup my face.

"I'm still here. You didn't lose anything." I say, before I pull him by his shirt, kissing him. I'm fully aware of all the people behind us, but I can barely hear anything besides my own heartbeat as his hands fall, wrapping themselves around my waist. My arms wrap around his neck as I smile. From the second we pull away, he hugs me again and lifts me off my feet, making me giggle. I bury my face in his neck, feeling him squeeze my waist tightly. I sigh again, and we just stay there for a few minutes.

The adults don't say anything or try to stop us as we just hold each other silently, but I know they're watching us intently. I don't care. I close my eyes as he kisses the top of my head. "I missed you so much, Casey. Don't ever leave me again." He mutters.

"I told you I'd never leave you, remember?" He chuckles, as I remember the talk we had after he woke up in Hershel's farm.

I was trying to get to know him, and we ended up spending the afternoon together, talking about everything and anything. He asked me if I'd ever disappear like Sophia had, and I told him I'd never leave him. I remember both of us turning red, but then changing the subject quickly. I had no idea why that had slipped out, but it had. I didn't realize a year and a half later I'd still mean it with everything in me.

A year... Seems like so much longer. Getting to the farm, Carl bleeding out in his father's arms, me holding everything in as I bit my lucky necklace, meeting the Greene's, everything was ages ago. It seems like it's been centuries.