Ok so I'm off on holiday for a week in a few days, so I'm having a bit of a fanfic binge. SO I hope you enjoy the next few chapters!
"Is Ben ok?" Georgie looked up at Adele as she re-entered the room. Adele pulled a face.
"He is going to feel really bad tomorrow." She sat down in front of the couch, between Daryl and Matthew. T-Dog and Miao were asleep or passed out by the TV, T-Dog propped up against the wall, Miao's head resting in his lap. Georgie had sprawled herself across the couch, and sounded close to sleep herself. "I put him in a bed, laid a towel down, hopefully he won't be sick again."
"Poor Ben. He did well though."
Adele laughed. "Yeap. That's my man, right there. God bless him." She lay back and closed her eyes, then immediately opened them again to stop the room spinning. "Urk, maybe I should have stopped after...I don't even know how many. This is going to be hell tomorrow."
"More like today." Georgie's voice was softer now. "I think it's early morning..." Adele turned her head and saw Georgie's eyes were shut. She sighed and looked at Matthew. He was huddled up, had a pile of mini bottles at his feet and did not look well. She looked at Daryl.
"How many did you give him?" Daryl shrugged.
"Dunno. Some of them were cola anyways." He stood up. "Imma take a leak, then get some sleep." He poked Georgie. "I ain't sleepin' on the floor, so move over." Georgie mumbled something, then rolled over. As Daryl left the room, Adele put a hand on Matthews shoulder and shook him gently.
"Hey, Matthew. You ok?" When he didn't respond, she shifted near him. "Matthew? You feeling ok? Not going to be sick too?" Matthew shook his head slowly, not looking up.
"You want some water? Or another coke?" Another shake of the head.
"Ok." Adele looked around. Georgie was still asleep and Ben was passed out in the other room. She wasn't good with kids at the best of times, and certainly not when she and the child in question were both intoxicated. She wasn't sure what to do.
"Well...I'm just going to leave you to it then ok?" She started to move away, when Matthew drew in a shuddering breath.
"He looks like my dad." Adele stopped.
"Who does? Who looks like your dad?" Matthew looked up at her, with red eyes. Adele could see something in his fist, all crumpled up. She cautiously moved back towards him.
"Rick. I thought he was my dad. But he's dead. They both are."
"You mean your mum and dad?" Adele wondered if she could wake Ben up, if he would be sober enough to interact with Matthew.
"No. I mean yes. I mean..." Matthew put his chin on his knees and seemed to think. "My mum died when we were really young. So I don't remember her. It was always me, Harry, Dad and Uncle Ed. When the illness struck, the four of us ran to the city. But it was already full of monsters. And then we got lost in the woods. And then those people...they killed my Dad and Uncle. I saw them do it." Matthew's voice was starting to tremble. Adele hoped he wasn't about to cry, she knew she wouldn't be able to cope.
"Who killed them Matthew." She tentatively put her arm around Matthew, trying to offer some comfort. But Matthew didn't answer, just wrapped his arms around his head and leaned into Adele. For a moment, Adele didn't quite know how to respond. After a moment, she put her other arm around him and hugged him gently. After a moment, Matthew pulled away and looked down at his hand. He opened it up, revealing a very old crumpled photo. He smoothed it out and showed it to Adele.
"That's us last year." Adele squinted down at the photo, picking up a torch to get a clearer view.
"Jesus!" Adele's eyes opened in shock. She leaned closer to the photo to check alcohol wasn't playing tricks on her. She felt like she recognised all four people in the photo, even though she had only met two. In the foreground, Harry and Matthew were stood. Even here, it was obvious how close they were, Matthew had his arm around Harry and both boys were beaming into the camera. But it was the two men behind him that Adele was focused on. One was blonde, with a stocky build. He had small eyes, which were light in colour, and his weather beaten face was tanned. He was holding a freshly caught fish at arm's length and was laughing. The other was slightly taller, slimmer and maybe younger. He had brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He seemed to be in the middle of saying something to the camera, but was smiling as he said it. But what made Adele stare the most, was the shocking resemblance to Daryl and Rick.
"No wonder you reacted the way you did..." she turned to Matthew. "God. I...I don't know what to say. Is that why Harry...?"
"Harry was always really close to Uncle Ed." Matthew said, looking straight ahead. "It makes sense that he would follow Daryl around. And Daryl's really good with him."
"I think he reminds him of his little brother." Adele jumped as Georgie spoke from behind her. She still looked sleepy, but she had obviously been listening. She reached for the photo and looked at it closely before handing it back. "Daryl came from a big family. I think he had something like five brothers and sisters? I don't know." Before Adele could ask her anything more, Daryl himself walked in.
"Move over woman." Amid protests from Georgie, Daryl threw himself on the couch.
"Daryl, you're too fat. Urk." Georgie turned towards the couch back as Daryl made himself comfortable. Adele laughed quietly and turned to Matthew. But he had already started to fall asleep. She put his photo back into his hand, and watched him involuntary grip onto it. She wiggled down onto the floor to get comfortable. Before she fell asleep, she thought she saw the door to the room open slightly. But before she could make anything of it, a mixture of alcohol and tiredness over took her and she fell asleep.