I did speak to them again. After a week or two the rubber-eraser awkwardness stopped, but not before someone—I think Rick—told Daryl and he spent a little while making fun of me for it. He couldn't say a lot because there were only so many times that haha, you don't know what rubber meant was funny for him.
Apparently, Daryl knew about it already, though. "Ya said it once in the garage when ya were lil'," he said. "Yer dad told us that it weren't the same thing in Britain before the guys lost their shit."
That was really the last I heard about it. I was able to give Isaac the supplies I found with only a little awkwardness because what I said when I was going to give them to him still echoed in my head. He already had those supplies, which left me a little embarrassed, but he accepted them nonetheless.
Almost a week later, I was sitting in Beth's cell with Maggie doing up my hair so it stopped getting sweaty in the middle of the night. The heat always affected me more than the others, and it was starting to get warmer and warmer, making it harder for me to sleep or work. I pushed through, but Maggie recommended doing my hair before bed so it didn't feel bad against my skin when I woke up.
"Dutch braids will keep it tight," she explained, brushing her fingers through my hair to get the tangled out. "Your hair is getting long. We might want to think about cutting it short for when it gets warmer."
"Maybe." I had nothing really against cutting my hair short because it had been that way before. It was better in the hot weather, from what I remember. It grew out over the Winter before the world ended and I never got the chance for a haircut when Summer came around. "It'd probably be better."
"Though now we found this place, you might have less problems with the heat," Maggie suggested.
"I don't know," I mumbled. "It's a prison, it'll probably still get hot."
"Well, there'll be more shade here than on a farm," Beth said.
"We'll have to wait and see," Maggie said. "But we will have to find some better options for you if you're struggling."
I nodded.
The last time I struggled with the heat was back in Atlanta, and maybe sometimes on the farm. I think the farm would've been a bigger issue if it hadn't turned fall and started getting colder. Winter on the road was probably the best environment for me, just because of the cold temperature. Otherwise, Winter sucked.
"Come to me in the morning," Maggie said. "I'll do your hair like this again, neaten it up. It'll keep it out of your face when you're working."
"I wish I could do it myself," I mumbled.
"It's harder without a mirror," Maggie said. "I don't mind doing it for you, anyway."
I had originally attempted to do something with my hair before bed when Maggie found me. I tried plaiting it because sleeping with a bun or ponytail was the worst, but Maggie said that she could do something better and invited me to Beth's room so she could braid my hair while they hung out. They did that a lot, this was the first time I'd been asked to join them.
I could feel the grip change when she did so much on one side, and the hair tightened against my head, pulling it back out of my eyes. It hurt at first, and I winced, but let her continue what she was doing. I assumed the braid was meant to be tight.
"What's going on with you and Zach?" I assumed that Maggie was not talking to me this time, and I moved my head backwards to see her looking at Beth. She just pushed my head straight forward with her hand and continued braiding.
"I dunno," Beth shrugged. "He's nice. We've just been talkin'."
"You see it going any further?" Maggie asked.
Beth was quiet for a second, shrugging with a smile on her face. "I dunno, maybe."
"Well," Maggie started, "he likes you. And as much as I hate to admit it, he isn't a bad choice. I always see him working or trying to help someone around here."
Beth gave her a look, not angry, but still more serious. "I don't need your approval."
"You do," Maggie said, and I could hear the grin on her face. "But I'll give you this one."
I had seen Beth and Zach together a lot, too. And it made me think about them dating because they did seem to be heading in that direction. I wasn't too sure what that meant in the middle of the apocalypse. It was just strange, I never thought we'd meet people our age ever, so dating and teen romance never really crossed my mind until Beth and Zach.
It made me wonder whether something like that could happen to me and whether I should be looking for that. A boyfriend, or something. I heavily doubted it, and any time it crossed my mind it gave me a little sadness and anxiety at how unlikely that was to happen. I pushed those feelings down because I didn't need that. I had my family here, and that was all.
"It'd be nice to see you with someone else after what happened to Jimmy—"
"Don't."
Beth's interruption was so sudden that I found myself turning my eyes to look at her, but then turned my gaze ahead of me as a way of butting out. Part of me had forgotten about Jimmy because no one ever brought him up anymore. It was like that for a lot of the people we lost.
"You're right," Maggie said quietly. "I'm sorry."
"I just don't like bringing him up," Beth said after a beat.
I kind of understood.
Bringing up my mum and dad made me a little upset, but that didn't stop me from doing just that. I thought that maybe I'd forget them if I didn't keep thinking about them, so they were always in the back of my mind, still with me. Whether my dad was alive or not, it was still the same.
Bringing up Jimmy again just reminded me that Beth had another boyfriend before, which made me continue wondering if that would ever happen to me someday. I doubted it for a few reasons.
"What about you?" Maggie pulled back on my head a little, getting my attention and telling me that she was addressing me this time.
"What?"
"Do you have anything you want to talk about?" Maggie asked.
I jutted my lips out and shook my head. "No, I don't think so."
"Not even Isaac?" Beth asked.
I felt my eyebrows squish together and I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. "Why would I want to talk about Isaac?"
"The two of you seem close is all," Maggie stepped in this time, which made me think that maybe there was something that everyone else was seeing that I didn't. I thought Maggie was just asking me to suggest a topic, but I didn't realise she was just leading me this way.
"We're friends." I think.
We talk would've been a more appropriate answer, because I didn't know if Isaac considered me a friend. He appreciated his alone time, which I often invaded, and we didn't see each other that much. I thought he was a friend, but whether he thought of me that way was yet to be determined.
Part of me doubted it because I was a part of the people that left his mother stranded in the house, which led to her death. I wondered why he even talked to me at all after that, and I never questioned it when he did in case he stopped.
"I thought maybe you liked him," Beth said.
"Of course I like him," I frowned.
"No, Ace," Maggie stepped in. "She means like-like him. Like maybe you had a crush."
A crush? "Oh."
That was a weird feeling that followed her explanation. I couldn't tell whether it was because maybe I did feel something else, or because they had just brought it up. It was in my mind now, but I hadn't thought about Isaac anymore than what I thought was normal. But normal for what?
"So?" Beth pushed.
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I had a lot of friends. But I never liked anyone before or had a crush or anything. I don't even really know what that means."
"I guess you were just reaching that age," Maggie said.
"Do you think about him a lot?" Beth asked. "Do you want to be around him more?"
Did I?
I liked it when we talked because I found that it was nice to have people around closer in age to me. We understood the other person and related to their issues. And he was nice and didn't act like I was a complete idiot even when I made no sense.
But I could relate a lot to Beth too, just by being so similar in age. Apparently, we had more of the same things going on than I noticed before. Either way, most of my time was spent with Rick and Daryl building the farm and other things around the prison. Hershel because he was instructing me on how the fences and makeshift stable should be for a horse. I hardly ever spent any time with Isaac Beth or Zach because I was busy with other things.
"I don't know," I said.
"He was the first one you wanted to see when we got back from the run the other day," Maggie pointed out.
"Because I found him the pencils and stuff." I internally cringed remembering the eraser situation but had a logical answer to why I wanted to see Isaac the other day. "He draws."
"And you got him those gloves," Beth said.
"He has OCD and doesn't like getting messy," I told them my logical reasons for doing what I did. "He was going to leave the prison and I wanted him to be able to kill walkers on the road."
"Just even considering what he wants on a run could mean something," Maggie said.
Maybe. I didn't think so, I just thought I was being considerate because he wanted to leave the prison. The pencils were after, but I found out what drawing meant to him when we were talking at night. He drew to manage his OCD and he liked doing it.
"He's nice, too," Beth said, but it seemed like they had moved on from trying to convince me. Instead, she was just making conversation. "We talk sometimes when I'm taking care of Judith."
"I'm just happy he's okay after what happened," Maggie said.
Yeah, me too.
Daryl said he wanted to work on something after breakfast, which made me get up and ready sooner than I planned to get food. I got dressed in jeans and a top and headed out to grab myself some breakfast.
Isaac was there when I got there, standing in the cue behind a few people in line to dish out their food, maybe porridge. I joined him at the back of the line.
"Hey. You, uh . . . getting food?"
What was my problem? I always had something to say, always rambled whenever I had one, singular thought in my head. But here I had nothing, couldn't bullshit my way through a conversation and that was what I came out with.
And he answered me. "Yeah."
Great.
I could've died right there.
Isaac just sent me a look and then ignored whatever expression I was trying to keep off of my face. Instead, we just waited in line to get our food, accidentally listening to the three women ahead of us. I didn't know them, Daryl brought them back at some point and that was it.
"I just wish there were more around here."
"I dunno, there's plenty of guys here."
"Oh yeah? Like who?"
"Hmm . . . Daryl," the woman answered out of nowhere. "He's hot."
The others laughed, agreeing with her.
Me? I almost died, almost choking on my saliva. My hand clasped over my mouth to stop myself from making any audible sound that would indicate I'd heard them. Isaac pressed his lips into a thin line and sent a quick wave at one of the women who I was guessing looked around.
When they walked away with their food, I let out a slow breath.
"Wow," Isaac said after a moment.
"Yeah, I . . ." I tried thinking of an explanation. "I wasn't expecting that one."
"Must be rough."
"It's not great," I agreed.
"I'm a little peeved that everyone likes him so much," Isaac said. "You know, seeing as he broke my arm and all."
I frowned. "It's sprained."
"It hurt like shit, Ace."
I laughed, which was luckily the reaction he was going for. It was nice that Isaac was joking about it. It almost made me forget about what the women had said about Daryl, and then I reminded myself of it and cringed all over again. He moved forward to dish out some food.
Isaac turned with two bowls in his hand, so I grinned and asked, "Hungry?"
"One of them's for you, genius." He held out a bowl towards me.
"Oh, uh . . ." Kill me, kill me, kill me.
The insult genius was still too smart of a term for me.
"Yeah."
"Uh, thanks," I said, taking the bowl.
I followed him to one of the tables.
It stuck with me, reminding me of what Beth said the other day because something about him giving me the food shot a warmth through my chest. As much as I hated how stupid I was, and sounded, it was still nice.
"Hey," Zach said, interrupting my thoughts. He and Beth sat down opposite us with their food. "Hey, what's been happening with you guys?"
I shrugged, and Isaac didn't have an answer either.
"Nothing, really," I shrugged finally.
"Apart from the women crushing on Daryl," Isaac chuckled, eating his food. Zach and Beth laughed, and I groaned and put my head down on the table.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and shot up to see Isaac jokingly comforting me from the awkward situation with the women. He took his hand back and went back to eating like nothing had just happened.
"We went for a walk outside earlier, and it was quiet out there," Zach said. "Cull crew's been doing a good job."
"Yeah, it's been pretty nonstop lately," I mumbled.
Jobs were shuffled around depending on the state of the fences, and me or Daryl often got called from whatever we were doing to help out on the fences. There were the more common people there, Tyreese and Karen for the most part, and the group they worked with, but so many more people had to be redirected to kill all the walkers.
And not long after we had to burn them somewhere else, which was just a bigger problem than the walkers themselves. We had to try and gather the bodies with the incoming threat of walkers because they never seemed to stop anymore.
"—so, what do you think?" Zach finished, and it was only at that point that I realised he was talking.
"What?" I asked, covering my mouth as I finished the food.
"Just thinking about hanging out in the field with some of the other kids one night," Beth explained.
There were a couple more teens at the prison that I didn't see a lot. They stayed in different cell blocks with their families and didn't do much, if any, work around the prison. Our paths rarely ever crossed, and I didn't know them all that well. I would've been the same with Zach if he wasn't always bringing himself around to see Beth.
"Oh, I don't know," I shrugged. "Depends on work, I guess. I got some nights on watch coming up."
"Sure, yeah," Zach nodded, completely understanding. Instead, he turned to Isaac. "What about you, buddy?"
"I'm not going to lie, sitting outside on the dirt is not my thing," Isaac said, reminding them of the OCD.
"Oh shit, sorry man," Zach cursed, shaking his head. "We can move it inside somewhere. Library, maybe?"
Isaac nodded. "Yeah, then. Sure."
And you'll probably be working, my brain taunted. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at myself. Part of me didn't believe that my disappointment stemmed from being left out of something I wasn't too bothered about.
Just as Zach opened his mouth to say something else, I felt a hand clap down on my shoulder. "C'mon," Daryl interrupted him, getting my attention. "Ya finished? We got some work to do."
"Yeah, coming," I called after him. When I stood up, I remembered Isaac, Zach and Beth, people who I was now just ditching because I had work that needed to get done. "I, uh. I'll see you all later."
"Yeah, see you later, Ace," Zach answered with a wave and a smile before anyone else could open their mouths.
Isaac just nodded, looking over his shoulder.
I suppressed standing there and smiling and chased after Daryl.
"What are we doing?" I asked, following Daryl outside past the small planters and rain catchers.
"People wanted somewhere to eat outside," Daryl said.
When we got outside, I realised that the outline on the ground and the beams that would hold the top up were already built, something Daryl must've started the day before. This wasn't the first I heard about the outside eating area, but I never really thought we'd get around to it.
"We should get it done, today," Daryl said. "I don' really know why they wanna cook shit outside, but if they want it then they want it."
"I guess it's just like a barbeque," I suggested. "Hanging out, but outside. Just seems a little weird with the number of walkers that build up sometimes."
"Ah hell," Daryl sighed. "Less we keep bitching 'bout it, less time we spend building it."
Daryl started on the foundation, and I continued what he was doing the day before. There were some parts already held together, and I think Daryl set it up as a way of getting the structure measurements set before we did any of the rest of the build.
I moved onto the top roof. The struts were up and would be enough without Daryl's foundation to hold up the top, so I got to work.
We worked in silence for almost an hour before I realised someone else was there/ Zach just stood there awkwardly for a while, which was the thing that got mine and Daryl's attention. He looked at me, raised an eyebrow, and then turned to Zach, staring up at him from the ground. "Can I help?" He asked.
"Ya don' got yer own work ya can be doin'?" Daryl asked.
"Nah, Hershel keeps cycling me out to find out where I'm best," Zach said. "Hasn't gotten to me yet today, so I'm free."
He looked at me again, and I shrugged the best I could holding a plank up over my head.
"Whatever," Daryl muttered.
Zach came over to help me, choosing to lift the plank while I reached up to hammer it into place. I almost gave him a look, but I was struggling and aching from all the building work I'd been doing for the past few months and getting a little help was nice.
Daryl just went to get the whole thing supported, and we left him to it to get the structure built. It would hold up, but Daryl's foundation would be more important if a storm came around and brought it down.
"I haven't taken my guess today either," said Zach after a long moment of silence while we worked. He moved his arm when I had screwed the plank into place, and I saw that he was staring at Daryl. Daryl just scoffed and went back to hammering nails into the foundation.
I raised a brow. "Guess?"
"He's been trying to guess what I did before," was the simplistic reply.
"Oh." He was a mechanic, at least for a little while. Something I knew because he told me that my dad gave him a job before he left to travel with Merle. I suppose that meant that the answer was either mechanic or unemployed. Hunter? Maybe I didn't know. Still, I shrugged. "I know, then."
"You do?" asked Zach.
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Don't tell me," he shook his head, raising a hand. "I'm gonna get it."
"He's been guessing since he got here," Daryl said.
I had seen the two of them around, which is what made this stranger. Daryl spending time and having an inside joke with a college-age person was really weird to me. It was like he'd been through this transformation since we took in more people, and he had become a more public and liked figure.
And then I thought about Isaac, and how he didn't like Daryl. It made me a little conflicted for reasons that I couldn't put my finger on. I wanted everyone to like each other, or at the very least tolerate being around each other, because I hated it when things felt too separate in the group.
I enjoyed being around Isaac, but Daryl was my family and I didn't want to have to choose who I wanted to spend more time with. I couldn't force them to like each other and I couldn't make Isaac spend more time with my people.
I shook my head, trying to get my mind to think about anything else (because this couldn't be happening, this wasn't happening). I needed to speak to Maggie.
"So, you spent a lot of time building this place up and you work with Ace a lot, which makes me think you two have a somewhat similar background." Oh, if only you knew. Zach glanced at me for a hint, but I just shrugged. "So, I'm going obvious for this one. Mechanic."
"There's many kinds," I reminded him, almost as a way to throw him off.
"Auto repair," Zach confirmed.
Daryl was quiet for a moment, contemplating the decision. There wasn't much he could say, because he was a mechanic before the turn. He worked in my dad's garage just as I did, so all he had to say was that Zach was right just to end the game.
Daryl shook his head. "Nah."
"But—" I stopped myself when Daryl sent a look my way.
"No?" Zach pushed. "But, you can fix cars and you're always working on your bike. I would've thought that you taught Ace or something."
"Hey!" I snapped, a frown now on my face.
"She knows more than me," Daryl agreed.
"Oh." Zach met my eyes for a second, rubbing the back of his neck as he gave a small smile. "Sorry."
"How 'bout ya make yourself useful and grab the toolbox from near the cars, would ya?" Daryl asked, waving him off.
"Yeah, sure," he nodded and went off to grab the box Daryl asked for.
Daryl just went back to work without another word, but now I needed answers. "Why did you lie to him?" I asked. "You were a mechanic."
"Not for long," Daryl shook his head. "Tha's not really what I did."
"So, what did you do?" I questioned.
Daryl stared and grinned at me. Sure, he wasn't going to tell Zach, meaning he wasn't going to tell me. I scoffed, wondering if he was serious for a moment, but before I could push for an answer, Zach returned with the toolbox.
"Got it," huffed Zach as he placed the box on the ground.
I ignored the hurt that came from Daryl not telling me what he really thought he did before the apocalypse and went back to work.
Me and Daryl worked almost until night. He sent Zach away to get something to eat around dinner time and tried getting me to do the same thing, but I stayed out and helped him get the eating area finished. Some people stopped by to see how we were doing, complementing the build, but other than that it was just the two of us.
Carol did come by to bring us food as well and made me and Daryl take a break from the building so we could eat, which was one of the only chances we got to stop what we were doing and sit down
When the night started coming in, I made my way back in through the cell block and saw Isaac. He was heading to his cell to go into his cell but stopped when he saw me enter C Block. He gave a nod of his head, which I returned with a smile and a small, awkward wave as I carried on towards my cell. And then he was all I could think about.
My chest tightened when I realised what was happening, and I shook my head immediately, turning for the stairs when Isaac was out of sight. I need to see Maggie, I need to see Maggie, I need to see Maggie.
I kept the plan for a conversation in my head as I forced myself up the stairs to find Maggie's cell. It was getting late, which meant she was most likely turning in for the night and getting ready for bed, so I probably would've found her there.
There was only one problem.
Maggie wasn't the one in the cell, Glenn was. He was lying down on the double bed I put together for them when they found a furniture store. His arms were resting behind his head, and his feet were up on the mattress.
Seeing him here made my arms tingle and my chest tighten, and all confidence I had built to see Maggie had disappeared. I was internally cursing myself for not comprehending that this was Glenn's room too and that he was most likely going to be here before bed.
I turned to leave before he noticed me and wanted to talk—
"Ace?"
My feet halted to a stop, my back to the cell. Clutching my elbow, I played with the idea of running away, but I had been standing there for so long that it was now just getting awkward. I turned around, moving my hand to grip the hem of my shirt and moved back to the door.
Glenn pushed himself up, hastily. "Hey, did you need something?"
My mouth opened, but no words came out. I wanted to say yes to get it over with. Glenn had sisters before, and he told me that he thought of me as much, so he might've been a good person to talk to about this. But my mind went back to when I had asked Glenn for pads, or his reaction the other day when he thought I had found a condom, and thought that it may not have been the best option.
All the motivation I had to speak to anyone had gone, and I wanted nothing more than to hide in my cell and wait for this to all blow over. "I just wanted to speak to Maggie."
"She isn't here right now, but you can talk to me," he smiled. "Is something wrong?"
I shook my head so fast. "I really just wanted to speak to Maggie." I would've stopped there, but then I realised that Glenn would just tell Maggie that I came to see her, so I quickly added, "But it's fine now. I'm just going to go back to my room."
Glenn looked a little concerned. "You can always wait for her here. She won't be long."
"No," I answered quickly, "I'm good."
I turned quickly and started walking in the direction of my room before Glenn could say anything else.
"Knock knock."
Maggie poked her head around the doorway, leaning forward against the wall. Seeing her here made my chest tighten, and I internally cursed myself for telling Glenn anything (and I would never be speaking to him anymore ever again).
"Glenn said you wanted to talk," she said. "Do you still wanna talk?"
Yes. "No. I'm good."
Maggie entered the room anyway. "You sure? He said you seemed a little off."
Most of my day was spent building up the courage to talk to Maggie, but now I had the chance, the words had caught in my throat and I couldn't form a sentence that communicated that I needed the help. Not strange. I tried to make sense of what I was feeling and thinking, but I could not organise my thoughts.
"I'm good," I shook my head. "I'm a little busy right now, anyway."
Maggie hummed in acknowledgement but entered the room despite my answer. I glanced at her, watching as she sat down on the bed behind me. I turned back to my notebook, trying to make myself focus on my plan.
"This wouldn't happen to be about a boy, would it?"
I jerked back, my head snapping around to look at her. "How did you—?"
"I had a feeling," she smiled. "So, you still wanna talk?
The opportunity had arisen without my help, shockingly. I would've been an idiot not to take the chance. This is what I wanted—well, it was what I wanted before I realised how awkward a conversation like this would be. Sure, my dad had given me the period and sex talks, which was bad, but somehow this was worse. Maybe because in reality, we weren't family. Still, I needed her help.
"Yes . . ." I mumbled after a beat.
"Okay," Maggie nodded, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. I turned on my seat, clutching the back of my chair. "Is it safe to say that we're talking about Isaac?"
And immediately I regretted my answer. "What? No . . . of course not . . ."
"Right . . ." Maggie said, not believing me one bit. She didn't have another option, because there were very few people here my age, especially some that I spoke to. "Well, whoever this is about. You like him?"
It was strange because it was all so new to me. I sure thought I did now, and the giddy happiness that came to me when I thought about something happening between us at least meant something. And he was nice and I liked how he looked and—
I swallowed, nodding. "I might."
"Does he like you?" She asked.
"I don't know, Maggie. I'm not a mind-reader," I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes at the ridiculous question. "I'd like him to, but . . . that's not up to me."
Silence followed.
I wasn't sure if I was being a little harsh, but my tone was completely unintentional. Maggie didn't snap back or give me a look or anything, which made me feel a little better, because it meant that she understood that I didn't mean it.
"I think he does," I looked at her, but Maggie just kept going. "I know these things can be scary, rejection is the scariest part, but I don't see that being a problem for you."
"How can you know?"
"Because I know you," she said. "Now, I may not know him, but he'd be stupid to miss out on a girl like you."
Yes. The person with OCD would be stupid to miss out on me, the mechanic is always covered in grease. I'm sure he's just dreaming about being with me right now. Those were all things that I didn't say out loud because maybe I was right.
Maybe I was just stupid to think he'd like me because I was the epitome of everything he hated. I wanted to be someone he wanted to be around, not someone he put up with and managed because I set off his symptoms.
I sighed. "I just don't know what to do."
"You could talk to him," Maggie suggested.
"I was talking to him, it used to be a lot easier before you and Beth stepped in," I said, not meaning to sound so harsh.
I assume it was just because I didn't know what I wanted. Sure, if he liked me back then something could happen, but what would that even mean? I hated not knowing things, being kept in the dark, and this was just that but with my feelings.
"So it is Isaac?" She joked.
"Funny."
There was a moment of silence where I assumed Maggie was thinking of something to ask me that would make it clearer what I wanted from her because I imagine that this was frustrating for her too. I wished I could help her, wished I knew what I wanted the advice on, but if I knew that then I doubted I would need her help here.
"Where—?" she stopped herself, thinking of a way to word the question. "Do you want this to go anywhere?"
"Away."
Partly true. If the crush had gone away when I wouldn't have these problems, wouldn't have been annoyed at my feelings. That would be the easy way out, and I could just go back to doing what I was good at, working on this place, making it better. Not worrying about what someone thought of me, whether they liked me.
She smiled. "I know it may not seem like it now, but this is a good thing, whether it goes anywhere or not."
Sure.
"You don't get a lot of time to do kid stuff. I hate that you missed out on everything, High School, College. I know you do a lot of important work here, but you missed out on a lot of your childhood. I'm glad that you're going through something that kids go through."
"Oh yeah, it's so great," I muttered.
"You'll see."
I just huffed and turned to look back in front of me.
"Well, if you don't want to do anything then you could just wait," Maggie finished, "see what happens. But there's no guarantee that something will happen that way."
A good option, because it meant that I didn't have to do anything. If nothing happened, then nothing happened. I'd have to swallow the crush down and talk to him again because we did talk sometimes, but I was sure that was something I could do.
"Are you good?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I think."
"Was there anything more specific?" Maggie raised a brow.
I shook my head, not wanting her to think I was keeping anything from her or had another idea of when I wanted to talk to her. "No, I just know Beth talks to you about this stuff. I don't have anyone to do that with."
Maggie's expression changed, almost sadder, which was when I realised what that meant. I'd lost anyone I could've gone to, which was something I'd made peace with at this point, but only now I realised what that sounded like.
"Not that I'm sad about it or, uh, I didn't have anyone to talk to about this before. I mean—"
"You can always come to me, Ace."
Chapters may start slowing down a little. I'm struggling with the next one I have to write and my coursework is all piled together this year of uni. I have some bigger priorities. Anyway, I'll see what I can do about the upcoming chapters but they might just take some more time is all.
Hope you enjoyed :)
