Everything was deserted and dead bodies littered the ground. There was a gun in the holster at my belt but that was all that accompanied me. I made my way through the maze of bodies, their rotting smell filling my nose. I almost gagged but bit it back. Suddenly, I saw a small gas station ahead of me. Careful to be quiet so as not to alert any walkers that may be roaming nearby, I picked my way over to the tiny building.
It was run-down and abandoned just like all the others but something about it was so familiar somehow. I started to go inside but nearly tripped over something. Glancing down, I saw a walker. A bullet hole had pierced its skull and it now lay cross-ways in front of the doorway. It looked to be a former employee that had worked her and wore a name-tag that read 'Ed'.
"Excuse me, Ed." I said to him as I stepped over the body.
The inside of the store was dim and most of the shelves had been picked bare. Cans littered the floor and I thought I saw a mouse scamper by. But the dirtiness of the place isn't what caught my eye. It was the man standing in the middle. His dark hair was long and tangled and a large 'W' was carved on his forehead. He wore jeans that were faded, a black t-shirt, and a dark green jacket paired with combat boots and a shark-tooth necklace at the base of his neck. Cocoa-brown eyes found mine in the darkness and I let out a strangled cry.
"O-Owen?" I stuttered out, unsure.
He smiled then and I ran towards him, falling into his strong arms. They wrapped around me tightly and I breathed in that old familiar scent of pine trees mixed with vanilla.
"There's my Little Dixon," he murmured into my hair as I cried into his chest.
"I miss you s-so much," I sobbed out as he held me.
He sighed softly, "I know, Angel...I miss you, too..."
He held me like that for a few minutes before I finally spoke up again, pushing back slightly to look into those eyes I had been missing desperately. But..but how could he be here? Unless...
"This isn't real, is it?" I asked, my voice suddenly becoming tinged with sadness, "It's just a dream..."
He hummed in response, pushing a strand of brown hair behind my ears. I shivered where he touched my skin.
"Owen...there's something I need to tell you-" I started to say but he cut me off.
"I know, Angel..." he said, smiling.
I cocked my head to the side in confusion.
"You're pregnant," he grinned.
A bright smile lit up my face and I nodded.
"Yeah...yeah, I am," I admitted.
His hands cupped my face then and his fingers skimmed across my skin in a sweet caress.
"You're going to be such a great mom," he told me softly.
Tears brimmed in my eyes then, but I blinked them back.
"I don't want to do this without you," I said, my voice hoarse as I tried to keep the tears in.
He shook his head, that smile still in place.
"I know, baby, I know... But it was meant to be this way... " he said gently before sighing, "Be happy, Angel..."
I nodded, taking in his words. He leaned closer then and his sweet lips met mine. He was soft and gentle as he'd been in life when kissing me. I felt butterflies just like I used to as I glided my own lips over his.
I gasped awake, bolting upright in bed. From downstairs, I could hear the lyrics of a song drifting up to fill my ears.
"Why am I so terrified of waking? He's gone and I feel I've been forsaken... In sleep is the only place I get to see him, get to love him..." Lissie sang out and I fell back with a sigh onto my pillows.
My fingers reached up to touch Owen's necklace at my neck as his words came back to me.
"Be happy..."
I turned over then and suddenly, something on my nightstand caught my eye. Resting atop a comic book that Michonne had given me was a lone arrow. I bit my lip, understanding the meaning completely. Daryl wanted to talk.
Note: So this is like a final goodbye for Owen and Angel and the last time I'll write about him in dream form. He'll still be mentioned though :)