by Vale, Silas
Shaun slowed down as they reached the line, and he eventually pulled her to a halt. He pressed his hands to her cheeks, brought her nose to his, and began to speak.
"You're right. He can't talk about her, and we're going to make him pay, okay? We're going to eat this hot food at a nice table where we can sit together, and we can talk about anything you want. His face is ugly, and messed up, but don't worry, because you're going to mess it up more. We're going to handle this together, okay?" His words were soft, and he held his thumb to her chin. He would be strong for her.
"And you don't have his eyes; he has a watered down, pale version of the stars that sparkle within you." His words were like poetry, and he spoke them with a slight lilt to his tone. "I could never compare his eyes to yours, because yours are so much more beautiful. I could gaze at yours for a thousand years, where looking at his for mere seconds made my blood boil."
His words were true, and his tone loving. Their bodies were close, and Shaun's face was inches from hers.
"You are nothing like him. And you will get revenge. I promise."
Her lips parted for a second, her eyes lifting to his face as the look of anger was slowly replaced with surprise. "O- Okay." She sniffled, closing her eyes for a second and squeezing out a couple more tears before she inhaled shakily, trying to let herself relax. "S- Sorry, I just… Never thought I'd ever have to look at him again."
She paused for a moment, taking hesitant, ragged breaths, while Shaun was content to let her take as much time as she needed.
"C- Can we talk, maybe?" Her voice still shook somewhat, but she seemed to be calming down. "After we get back to the motel?" She lifted her hands to lightly cup them around his face, holding his gaze with uncertainty even though her eyes were still glassy.
Shaun nodded his head resolutely. "We can talk about whatever you want."
It was then that someone behind them cleared their throat, and Shaun looked forward. The line had progressed, and it was time for them to get food. "Let's go." He said, bringing her towards the counter. He took the bowl of stew that was offered to him and waited for Aisling to get hers. He then made his way out into the open area of the cafeteria, where people parted way for him.
They didn't look on with hatred. More like appreciation.
"Let's sit here." He said, indicating an empty table for two. He pulled out her seat for her, and then sat down in the other, waiting for her to take it.
"Okay." She nodded and collapsed into the chair with a sigh, picking up her spoon and prodding at the stew in front of her. "I'm kind of glad you grabbed me." She laughed softly, looking down at the table. "Definitely would've killed him." She looked back up at him, finally scooping some stew onto her spoon to stuff it in her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and then sighed, resting her cheek against her palm.
"I need a spa day." She said after a moment. "Just sit and do nothing for a whole day. That would be nice." She shook her head with a faint smile. "You can come too. We'll get massages. It'll be great." She looked up at him, leaning back into her chair. Now that she was coming off of the adrenaline, she was exhausted. Not just from the previous encounter, but from the whole day.
Shaun laughed, nodding his head. "You know, I give a mean massage. I could give you your spa day, if you'd let me." That was complete and utter bullshit. Shaun had never given a single person a massage in his life. But he figured it couldn't be too hard, and would try his best if she ever asked it of him.
He had to ponder over her first statement for a little while. He didn’t particularly know how to respond, though he eventually settled with, "Yeah, I’m glad I did. But I'll let you at him later, I swear." His voice was serious, but still held a caring tone. He would have let her attack then and there, had the doctor not given him hope of living longer.
It was at that very moment that he considered, for the first time, telling her the truth.
He dismissed it almost immediately, knowing her day had been hard and it would only cause more pain, but he thought she should know. At least at some point.
He ate some stew himself, and though it didn't taste remarkable, it was warm and filled him up. He finished long before her, and simply looked around the room, taking in the sights. The people had quit staring at him by then, and were going about their tasks like nothing had happened.
That was, of course, until the door was thrown open.
Aisling practically inhaled the stew, and set the empty bowl down on the table when she was done. She could've gone for more, yes, but she was full enough and she could just come and eat a large breakfast in the morning. Her eyes flickered towards the door when it opened, and she furrowed her brows.
"What's going on here?" Kristen stepped through the door, eyes widening somewhat when she saw Marcus' unconscious body on the floor. "What-" She furrowed her brows. "What happened?"
"… There was a fight." The plump woman from before spoke up. "He instigated though. And in all honesty ma'am, he fully deserved what was comin' to him."
Ais hesitated and stayed quiet. There was no use speaking up if others had it covered.
"Who was the fight between?" Kristen pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
Shaun stood up, walking towards the lady from earlier with perfect intent to tell the truth.
"Me and him." He said, leaving Aisling's part out completely. He didn't need her in any trouble, and he had been injured. There was no way she would throw him out, not when the doctor had most likely alerted her of his cancer.
"I did not cause any permanent damage, and he will wake in a matter of hours." He said, standing his ground. There wasn't anything he could do but wait to see what her reaction would be.
She stared at Shaun incredulously and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Why on earth are you picking fights when you're in such awful condition?" She furrowed her brows and stepped closer to him. "I mean, God." She pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand. "We have very strict rules here, you must understand. Normally something like this is a tally against you. But…"
She sighed, and lolled her head to the side. "I'll take her word for it." She nodded her head towards the plump woman and pursed her lips. "I'll leave it at that. But if something like this happens again, you're in trouble." She pointed to Marcus. "Grab him."
One of the guards with her nodded, walked forwards, and heaved the man up and over his shoulder to carry him out of the establishment. Good riddance.
Shaun smiled and walked back to the table, content with his victory.
"You see? Master manipulator." He said with a laugh, sitting back down. He looked to Aisling, and noted that she was done as well. "Should we go back to the motel?" He asked, standing up once again and offering his arm. "Apparently we have some stuff to talk about."
He tried to sound light-hearted, but honestly, he was terrified. This was probably about what had occurred earlier.
And yet, if they went back, they would sleep earlier. And he had been looking forward to that.
"Ready when you are."
"Yeah, let's go." She took his arm and stood up, yawning and covering her mouth with one hand as she did so. It was obvious she was exhausted. She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked up at him. "And then after that we're gonna go to sleep, because I'm tired as shit." She rubbed her eyes, lightly tugging his arm to lead him towards the door and outside.
She shivered a little bit at the cold, but shrugged it off and kept walking back towards the motel. "… You know what's nice?" She asked softly. "Being able to walk anywhere we want to go without worrying about being attacked by something." She looked around at the town, taking in the sights. Activity had been slowing down for a while, and there weren't many people out and about anymore. "I’ve missed just going on walks and not having to worry about any other shit around me that wants to kill me."
Shaun nodded his head. It was true, he did miss going on walks. He wished, however, that it was just a little bit warmer outside. The snow wasn't agreeing with hi
s wound.
"I miss long walks on the beach in Georgia." He said. He was opening up about his past, which was rare for him. "I used to go with a few friends every few weeks, for about 8 months." He said. His voice held a reminiscent quality, which sounded a bit clumsy. But it was nice.
"The beaches would be crawling with walkers now, though. Most people probably tried to head toward the ocean." It was true. A good part of the population had tried going to the sea, because they assumed that the zombies couldn't swim.
Well, it worked until all the boats were gone.
They finally made it back to the motel room, and Shaun opened the door for them both. The heated air wafted out, and he sighed in relief as he closed it behind them.
"Yeah." She sighed, taking off her jacket as they made it inside. "Me and my mom used to take walks to the park by my house. We'd hang out there for the day and get ice cream on our way back." She grinned, walking over to the bed and collapsing onto it. "… I wish I knew what happened to her." She muttered.
"… After the breakout, I didn't hear from her. I don't know if she made it or not." She looked up at the ceiling. "I guess I'll probably never know. Not much I can do about it." She smiled sadly, and after a moment sat up to look over at Shaun. "But that's enough of my depressed bullshit, we were going to talk after all."
Shaun had lost more people than he could count, right after the world went to shit. It had been a long, long few weeks, looking for all of the people he loved. "Yeah. My parents died when I was younger, but at least I know what happened." He said. He didn't miss his parents that much, because he hadn't know them for that long.
It still left what felt like a hole in his soul, though.
"Anyway, yeah. You've been taunting me with promises of conversation; let's hear it."
"Right." She grabbed one of the pillows on the bed and hugged it to her chest, pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them. She bit the inside of her lip, her cheeks tinting somewhat as she looked away from him and to literally anywhere else she could focus her gaze. She took a deep breath, and hesitated for a moment as she contemplated what she was going to say.
"… What did you mean by that kiss earlier?"
She shifted a little bit, apparently a little bit nervous about this new topic she was approaching. "Because I think once I know that, it'll dictate where the rest of this conversation goes." She looked up at him shyly.
Shaun looked at her, a small sort of smile pulling at the edges of his lips. He had guessed that the conversation was going there, and he had sort of wanted it to. He had been thinking about what he would say since it happened, and he thought he had finally figured it out.
It was true, that Shaun did love Krystalynn. But Krystalynn was gone, and she would want him to be happy. And in this hell-hole of a place, Aisling had been the only thing that had kept him happy.
So he decided to tell her.
"Well, by that kiss… I guess I kind of meant I'm just falling in love with you."
Then They Were One
Her face reddened, and her lips parted somewhat in shock. Truthfully, she hadn't expected to get such a solid answer out of him. She stared at him for a second or two as she processed this information, and withdrew on herself a little more bashfully. "… Oh." She paused, and then lowered her eyes and pulled the pillow up to her lap.
"Well- I mean…" She stammered, somewhat flustered. "I like you." She managed to spit out, looking up at him. "And I'd like this to continue- because I- I like you."
Through the stutter, through the whispers of her speech, he found what he was looking for.
She said it back.
He put a hand to her cheek, hesitantly, and pulled her close to him. "I don't know how this is going to turn out. I don't know how this began, how it will end, but I know that right now, all I want is you." He then pressed his lips to hers, though this time… This wasn’t a kiss of thanks, or of hope.
This was a kiss of passion.
"Mm." She squeaked, tensing for a moment before she melted into the kiss. Her face reddened, but she couldn't find it in herself to care as she snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She leaned her head to the side so their noses wouldn't mush together, and leaned up on her knees so she could reach him a little easier.
Every single alarm in her mind was going off at this moment. Her hot friend was kissing her. Again. And she was kissing him back.
Shaun allowed himself to kiss deeper, more passionately, until all he could think about was her. The scent of her, the sight of her, the feel of her lips against his own. There was nowhere in the world he would rather be.
Shaun had never been much of one for the simple things. He had never thought much of how the warmth of someone's skin could feel so nice, or how someone’s hair could feel so soft.
She was new. She was exciting. Aisling was all he could ever need.
"I want us to be all either of us ever want." He said, breaking the kiss for just a moment. "I want us to make our own forever and always. The world isn’t as terrifying when I’m around you."
With that, he pulled the blankets up over them, and the night was theirs.
The Morning After
In the morning, Aisling awoke to sunlight streaming into the room.
It was comforting, in a sense, as it poured over the bed, and she certainly didn't complain about the extra warmth. She was sprawled out beneath the blankets in their new motel room, thankful for a comfortable morning. The sun wasn’t the only source of her warmth, however, and Aisling opened her eyes to look up at Shaun. Her head was resting on the part of his chest that wasn't horrifically chemically burnt, and her arms were lightly wrapped around him to make sure she didn't accidentally hurt him by squeezing too tight.
She sighed contently, closing her eyes again and shifting a little closer even though there wasn't much room to spare. She was still tired after last night's 'activities' and honestly didn't mind being able to sleep in. It was a luxury lost in the apocalypse, and oh God how she missed it. She was in no rush, and thought it better to just wait until Shaun woke up to start their day.
Shaun's eyes fluttered open a few minutes later, and for a moment, he panicked.
He hadn't had a good night's sleep in months, and so waking up in an actual bed, with actual heat, and an actual girl next to him, felt… Odd.
Wait. An actual girl?
The night's events returned to him, wiping the morning fog from his eyes, and he smiled contentedly. It had certainly been a wonderful night, at least on his behalf. He hoped that she could say the same.
Shaun didn't know if she was awake yet, so he put an arm around her and pulled her closer. "Mmm… Good morning." He muttered, his eyes closed and his voice heavy with sleep.
"G'morning." She mumbled, cuddling up against his side and turning her head to press her face into the crook of his neck. "How'd you sleep?" She asked softly, clearing her throat, as it was a little raspy for various… Reasons.
"Because I slept like a fucking rock, no thanks to you." She giggled, tilting her head upwards to press her lips to his jaw.
She couldn't really help herself, honestly. It was so nice to finally be able to hold someone after so long. Of course, Aisling had been single for a while too, but the apocalypse certainly wasn't helping that fact.
Shaun laughed. They had an… Exciting, night, but he had slept well. He hadn't had that sort of… Exercise, for quite some time, and he had worked out some parts of his body that hadn't seen it in months.
He loved the feeling of having her with him; he loved everything about that morning.
"What are we going to do today?" He murmured, curling up so that their bodies were pressed against each other as closely as possible. "Because I, for one, am okay with staying like this all day." He chuckled, a deep, resonating laugh that passed through his entire body.
He was completely and utterly content.
"I am not moving as long as the sun is still on this bed." She shook her head and
reached up with one hand to pull her mess of orange hair away from her face so it wasn't tickling either of them. "I wonder if they have room service here, then we don't even have to leave the motel." She snickered and curled one of her legs around his.
"… And I don't really think I can walk well anyways, so…" She glanced up at him, obviously amused. "Now we're both crippled, look at what we've done to ourselves."
Shaun laughed, and nodded his head. "I agree, but I think that you're the one that would have the most trouble walking between the two of us." His sly wink and crooked smile was meant to drive her crazy, and he knew it would probably work.
"Anyway, how the hell would we contact room service?" He laughed, gesturing at the door. "If someone walks in through that door, neither of us have any clothes on. It would be pretty awk-"
And then the door flew open.
Kristen was in the doorway, and looked slightly taken aback at the scene in front of her. Aisling accordingly yelped and lifted the blankets up to cover her chest.
After a moment, Kristen's gaze hardened again, turning quickly into the stoic look of a leader. "A bomb went off this morning on the eastern portion of the wall. A decent sized chunk was blown out of it and we're working on repairs right now." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You were blown up by a chemical bomb. Evelyn says the same traces of that chemical were found on remnants of the bomb used on the wall." Her eyes narrowed further. "What the hell happened to you? This entire settlement is endangered and I need you to tell me everything."
"Uh." Ais stared at her for a moment or two, before looking back up at Shaun. "Fuck- okay." So much for sleeping in.
Shaun sighed. There went his perfect morning.
"Alright, fine. First, go outside please. I'd like to be clothed while we have this conversation." The leader obliged, closing the door, and Shaun got up to get dressed. He pulled new clothes from the drawer and donned the same white blazer as the day before. He looked to Aisling sympathetically, tossing her her own clothes and waiting as she dressed.
When they were both sufficiently covered, Shaun opened the door, allowing the leader back inside.