Falling

nostalgia

___

Robyn approached her old home cautiously. She didn't know what to expect. She didn't know what she wanted to expect. Was the house going to be wrecked and already scavenged through?  Maybe it would be perfectly fine and untouched. She thought that would be the worst of the two options. A false hope of sorts.

She placed her hand on the doorknob, stopping to look at her father for a nod reassurance. The young teenager pushed the door open. Why did they come here? Maybe that's what the two needed. A blast from the past, a 'good ole trip down memory lane.'

She wasn't sure she even wanted one now. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't avoid the house forever. The house where she grew up with two loving parents, where everything was perfectly fine and almost normal. The house looked the same for the most part. It was only slightly scavenged through. She hoped most of her stuff was untouched.

"Be careful." Negan told her once he noticed her going upstairs. She gave a silent nod and walked up the stairs in the direction of her old room. The stairs creaked more than usual and she could only imagine it was because of minimum usage over the years.

She smiled at the family photos hanging on the walls. There was one from each birthday, Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, just name the holiday and there was a photo from that day. She'd grab them all later though, right now she wanted to see her room.

The light purple walls were nostalgic to look at. She remembered they were getting ready to redecorate right before her mom was diagnosed. Too late for that now she supposed. Her room was untouched, almost like the apocalypse and never happened. Maybe if she laid her head down on her gray pillow, she'd wake up and she'd be getting ready for school. One could only dream of the days that the next big test was their biggest problem.

She reached for the blanket she'd had for years and brought it to her nose. It smelled mostly the same, but the stench of must was also there, she shoved it in her bag anyways. Next she walked over to her closet. None of the things inside would fit anymore, but why not have them for nostalgic purposes?

Opening the door, her bright red spikes (curtesy of her schools colors) hung on a hanger with her  track singlet. The box of medals were on the top shelf of her closet. She grabbed those too, figuring that she could decorate her room now with them.

She closed her closet door and exited the room, wandering down the hallway to her parents. She took notice of Negan in his old office scavenging through old papers and documents. Opening the bedroom door, the first thing she noticed was how clean it was. It always needed to be, keeping Lucille healthy was important after she had been diagnosed.

Robyn gently touched the dresser before opening the jewelry box Negan had got Lucille before Robyn was born. Jewelry wasn't really needed in the world now, but anything to remember her mother was always nice so she gently picked up the box and held it in her hands. Her eyes began to water but after taking a couple deep breaths and counting to 10, she was somewhat fine.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."