Leah Grimes

Chapter 28

Maggie had just done some light makeup, and I smiled in awe when I saw how far my eyelashes popped out. "You look stunning. Drop dead." I couldn't take my eyes away from the mirror, "is this really me?" Maggie laughed, "Thank you for hanging out with me Leah." I smiled, "thanks for letting me."

I only had a few minutes to get home before the party started. I opened the door and saw Carl holding Judith on the couch. She had been put in a little dress with a small bow in her hair. "How does it look?" I asked Carl. He smiled, "Hard to believe it's you... I'm just kidding, you look good." I sat down, "where's dad?" Carl nodded toward the stairs, "changing." Judith clapped her hands together making me laugh a little. "I think someone's excited." Carl agreed, "How's my outfit?" He had a dress shirt on, with denim jeans. "Like you should be on a runway right now."

"Leah." Dad called walking down the stairs. I sighed whispering to Carl, "this is where I get in trouble for walking out this morning." Carl smiled not saying anything back because Dad was too close now. "Carl go wait on the porch, Carol's there with cookies."

As Carl left Dad nodded, "you look nice." I just stared up at him. "Look I understand a lot happened before we got here. You grew up more than you should have had to. You lost a lot of people, Mom and Beth. Then you shot the officer that killed Beth, you shot Sophia. I don't want that to be your life. I want you to try this place, actually put in effort. This place isn't a discussion, we're staying." I just nodded, "understood." He sighed, "that means no taking off whenever you want. We're all here together, and for each other. You can talk to me about anything, you used to, what's going on? You're so angry, I'm your dad, not your enemy, are we clear?" I stood up, "yes." Dad wrapped me in a hug which I held on tightly to. "I love you Leah, more than you could ever know." I closed my eyes, "I love you too."

"Let's try this party out kid." I sighed letting Dad put his arm around me leading us outside. When we got to Deannas she immediately ran over to us. "You kids look great." I gave her a small smile taking in the large crowd of people here. Carl and I walked around saying hello to everyone we knew. "There's Michonne, let's talk to her." I hesitantly followed Carl over, the two of them had become close after the prison, and spending all that time together.

I said a quick hello, and then listened as Carl and her talked about their comic book, and chocolate deal. "Haven't seen you around too often, hanging out with that boy too much." I turned to see Abraham standing beside us. I smiled and Michonne hit him, "I think you've had to much to drink. Leah is more than capable of choosing who to spend her time with." Abraham laughed, "I've heard you two kids are quite the pair." Carl smiled at me, "is that so?"

I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Ron standing behind me. "Hey," he smiled standing beside me. I looked around not a huge fan of this party, "do you want to leave now, Carl and Enid can come when they're done here." Ron grabbed my hand and pulled us over towards his house. "Look what I found." He showed me a bottle of whiskey, and was grinning from ear to ear. "Let's just drink it straight, you go first chug it Leah." I hesitantly took the bottle pushing it to my lips. After I had had three big gulps I slammed it down. We took turns doing this until almost half the bottle was gone. "I know a game we can play," he suggested. I shrugged, "alright I'll have a couple more drinks." Ron nodded. "okay, I'm going to say a scenario and if it applies to you drink." I bit my lip this was the exact game Beth and Daryl had played. I started to protest but he shook his head, "you're not quitting now. You're supposed to be strong brave almighty Leah. Have another drink."

"I'll go first." He suggested. "I've never slept outside the walls." I took a small sip setting the bottle down. "I've never had to go to school since the end of the world." Ron drank, "I've never shot a gun." I drank a larger sip this time, "I've never not had to watch someone die." Ron awkwardly stared at me while taking a sip, "I've never killed a walker." I threw my head back taking another sip, "I've never been sheltered since the beginning of all this." Ron took a sip, "I've never used a gun to kill someone." I drank desperately trying to drown my hatred for this game. "I've never been clueless about everything that happened outside these walls." Ron coughed while taking a sip, "I've never used a gun to kill someone I loved." I snatched the bottle from him holding it up to my mouth longer than I should've. "I've never been an asshole." Ron smirked taking a sip, "I've never been afraid for my life." I was fighting back tears as I took this sip. "I'm done with this game," I whispered. He began to protest, but all the alcohol in my system made my blood boil. "IM DONE. HOW CAN THIS BE FUN FOR YOU? YOU'RE REMINDING ME OF EVERYTHING THAT HAD ALMOST KILLED ME. SHOOTING SOMEONE I LOVED? I HAD NO CHOICE YOU ASSHOLE." I grabbed the bottle slamming it against his wall, then tried to stand up immediately falling back down. He started to walk over to me, his face bright red, I watched him raise his hand but the door was pushed open.