A/N: Hey everyone! I just want to take a moment to think all of you for all of your support of this story, it would not be possible without all of you! I love reading your reviews and getting favorites, it definitely makes my day. Please keep it up and enjoy!
Nightmares tormented me all night. The torture morphed from one instrument to another and I couldn't get free. It started with a scene from my teenage years, the night Shane and I found out that our parents were dead.
Shane was in college but was home for the summer. The two of us instantly went back to our close relationship, catching up on every minute of missed time. I was fourteen so there was a lot of non-sense and drama involved, but he endured it and gave advice when he could. My parents were out getting dinner for us, I'd complained enough so they were going to get Chinese from across town, much to Shane's displeasure. We were watching TV when it started pouring rain, not uncommon for Georgia in the summer.
We didn't really think about why it was taking our parents so long to get back, we were too engrossed in our own bubbles to notice. Then the phone rang.
"I've got it," Shane said and picked it up. He started talking to the person and I could instantly tell something was wrong. I made my way closer to him, pressing my ear to the other side of the receiver to try and hear what was being said.
"I'm sorry, there was nothing we could do. They both died at the scene," the strange voice said without inflection. I looked up to Shane, pleading with my eyes to tell me that they had the wrong number or something. Then I saw the tears in his eyes and the look he gave me, like he was about to approach a feral animal.
"Addie," he said gently, the phone falling from his hands. I slowly started scooting away from him; running would make this not be true. "Adeline, I'm sorry," he said and I shot up and bolted for the door. "Adeline!" I heard him call after me but I kept running. I jumped off the porch into the pouring rain, not caring.
I'd always been a good runner so I put it to work, pumping my legs as hard as I possibly could. I had no destination in mind, but somehow I ended up at the scene of the accident, two cars twisted around each other, flames lapping at them as firemen and police officers were trying to clear the area. I was breathing heavy, the wreck was at least three miles from my house and I'd sprinted the entire way but now I felt numb and weak as I stared at the flames floating up to the sky.
That image shifted into another, a fire burning in the hearth at my grandparents' house a week later.
"I'm sorry Addie. I have to go back. You'll be fine here, they will take good care of you," Shane was telling me as we sat in the chairs facing the hearth. I was wearing shorts and a tank top, my hair soaked from the recent shower but Shane was clean and ready to leave. He was going back to school; his vacation had drawn to a close.
"Don't leave me. Please. I can't loose you too," I whispered, looking him square in the eye. He had brought me here, thinking this would be the best place for me while he was away.
"You're not loosing me. I'll come visit every other weekend, and I'll call everyday. I promise," he said and put his hand on my knee but I pulled away.
"Please," I breathed, biting my lip to try and fight the tears.
"Everyday. Promise," he said and stood up, grabbing his suitcase. He bent and kissed my head but I shoved him away. He recoiled, hurt obvious in his eyes but I didn't relent.
"Okay then, I'll call when I get there," he said and started walking away. He reached the door and opened it before I broke.
"Big brother! Please don't leave me! Please!" I screamed and ran to him, flinging my arms around his waist. He knelt so he could be on the same level as me and I felt a tear hit my shirt and realized he was crying too. "Please."
"Adeline, don't make this harder than it already is. I'll be back, I promise. This is my last year, so I'm all yours after this. You'll get so busy with school and friends; you'll stop answering my calls. Grandmother is taking care of all of the arrangements, you're going to have a great year," he said and got up again. He pulled me off of him and all of my anger rushed out.
"I hate you! This is all your fault! It's your fault mom and dad are dead! And now you are leaving me! You promised you wouldn't!" I was hitting him in the chest with each insult, adding verbal and physical abuse together.
"I love you lil' sister," he said and walked out of the door. I kept screaming and hitting the door, until my anger turned to grief and I slumped against it, crying.
"Adeline Walsh. What on earth are you carrying on about?" My grandmother, Emily Grayson, asked as she walked in the room. "Why are you on the floor? Get up, you look like common trash, sprawled on the ground like that. Come on now, I'll show you your room," she said in a cold monotone.
My grandmother was a stereotype straight off of a bad television sitcom. She and grandfather were wealthy and lived like it. They had maids and chefs and a gardener, everything. Their house was enormous, even though it was just them and my mother had been an only child. I didn't really know them that well, they and my mother hadn't gotten along that well after she left home and they despised my father so we never visited them much.
Now she was glaring at me with eyes that looked like they were peering into my soul and seeing every wrong thing I'd ever done. She put her hands on her bony hips, making her even more intimidating. I wiped at my eyes with my hand, getting tears and snot all over me. I saw her nose wrinkle in disgust as I stood up.
"You are so skinny, we are going to have to fix that. Come on now," she said and started walking away, heels clinking on the hard floor. I was hyperaware of how out of place I looked in my cut-off, tank, and converses. "This is your room. You have your own bathroom. Shane put your suitcases up here earlier so I'll send someone up to unpack them. Dinner will be in an hour, don't be late," she said and opened the door to a room that was bigger than mine and Shane's rooms combined.
There was a huge canopy bed in the middle of the room, a desk with a computer and lamp on it in the corner, a dresser and vanity along one wall. But what I fell in love with was the window seat and the balcony. There was plush carpet wall to wall and I was so ready to let my feet sink into it.
"Umm, I can unpack myself. There's no need to bother anyone with it," I whispered shyly. I couldn't meet her eyes and just stared at my feet instead.
"Suit yourself. Like I said, don't be late for dinner," she said and turned and walked away.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and walked into the room hesitantly. My bags were sitting on the bed so I walked over to them. I opened the first one and saw my clothes packed neatly inside. Aunt Macy must have packed them for me. That was daddy's sister, I'd wanted to go with her but Shane told me she had too much on her plate already. Seeing my stuff packed away so neatly and compactly broke down the walls I had managed to build over the past week. New tears started to fall and I climbed onto the too-big bed and curled into a small ball. I sat there like that, trying to control my emotions but I couldn't. Eventually, I fell asleep on the bed, and was late to dinner of course.
The next picture was one that I'd hoped I'd never see again. It was the following summer and Shane had just told me that he was going to the police academy, and naturally I was pissed. I ran out of my grandparents' house and jogged across town to Jamie's house. Jamie was my best friend, he and I had hit it off when I started my new school and had been inseparable ever since.
When I got to his house, I saw two police cars sitting outside and his mother crying on the porch. I froze. I stood in the middle of the street, unable to move at all. Then, his mother saw me.
"Adeline. Sweety, come here," she said and started walking towards me. "Honey, Jamie's...Jamie's gone," she choked out and hugged me. I still couldn't move, my brain wasn't functioning at all. Everything I'd tried to rebuild after loosing my parents and Shane leaving was gone, just like that.
Next came the morning in the hospital after I'd tried to kill myself. I woke up groggily, the sedative creating a fog in my brain. I looked around the small room, not really remembering anything. I looked down and saw my hands strapped to the bed and thick gauze wrapped around my aching wrists. I looked beside me and saw Shane asleep in a chair, looking at the ground.
"Addie?" He asked when he looked up. My throat was dry so I couldn't really answer him. "Oh thank God, you scared the shit outta me kiddo," he said and grabbed my hand gently. There were tears in his eyes and I had to turn away to stop myself from crying too.
"Why are you here?" I croaked.
"What do you mean? Why do you think I'm here? I'm here for you," he said, anger sparking in his eyes.
"Really? That's new," I said. I knew I was being a bitch but I couldn't help it. I was still pissed at him for leaving me.
"That's not fair Addie, and you know it," he responded harshly, dropping my hand.
"Miss Walsh. It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?" A chipper nurse asked as she walked in the room.
"Fine."
"Well that's good. Now, I'm just going to give you some more pain medicine. It'll make you sleepy, but that's okay because you need your rest," she continued and started fiddling with the IV beside my bed. She left and Shane and I sat in silence as I started drifting off.
I was woken up from my dreams by being lifted. I opened my eyes, instantly afraid and going into attack mode, but I saw it was Daryl and I relaxed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. You just didn't look very comfortable there," he said gruffly and I swear I saw him blush. He sat me back on my feet gently and I stretched. My neck and shoulders were stiff and sore from the awkward position I'd been in.
"It's okay. I'm a light sleeper," I said with a smile. It was pitch black outside and extremely cold. I briefly wondered how long I'd been asleep but then I remembered the scratches. I quickly started assessing how I felt and whether I was showing any symptoms. I felt fine. I touched a hand to my forehead, no fever.
"What is it?" Daryl asked with an arched brow. I realized I must look insane and instantly dropped my hands.
"Nothing. That's just it. I don't feel anything. Look, no fever," I said and picked up his hand and placed it on my forehead. I became a bit embarrassed about my boldness but Daryl didn't' say anything. I saw his eyes grow wide and then he dropped his hand.
"Damn. You're right. Nothing," he said a little bewildered. I felt my heart beating quickly but didn't dare get my hopes up.
"Maybe it just hasn't had time," I said and looked down.
"I don't think so. You would feel something by now. Lemme see," he said and grabbed my arm, gently rolling up the sleeve. They were still there but I could see small scabs beginning to form over them. "Well I'll be damned. Blondie was right," he said and I saw a smile spread across his face.
I let out a shaky breath. No way. There was no way I was that lucky, not with the world the way it is now. I felt a smile of my own form and in a moment of pure happiness and relief and flung my arms around Daryl and hugged him tightly. He stiffened at first but then I felt his arms slip around my waist. I heard the screen door open and pulled away in surprise. Shane was standing there giving me a befuddled look.
"What's all this?" He asked and walked closer to me.
"No fever," I said with a smile. It was amazing how light I felt. I saw Shane's eyes widen before he came closer. He inspected me closely before hugging me. He crushed me to his chest and I hugged him back, feeling closer to him than I had in days.
"Unbelievable," he said after pulling away.
"You really think I'm going to let something like a walker take me down. Please," I said, still trying to come off of my adrenaline high.
"I guess not," he said and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, you better get some sleep. We're going out to look for Rick, Glenn, and Hershel at first light," he said and started leading me towards my tent. I looked back at Daryl who was looking at me. I smiled at him before letting Shane lead me away.
A/N: Also, I forgot to mention, I'm going to be going back and doing some editing in the earlier chapters so you'll probably see e-mails talking about a new chapter, but that's what it will be. No plot changes or anything, just grammar and typos, things like that.