MAKNAE [twd] *editing*

【98】

"When they found Juyeon and I, we were hiding in a grocery store. Dad got bit trying to get the door barricaded and that left just him and I. Tyreese scared us half to death when he just barged in and knocked everything down," Taeyang reminisces.

In the cool night air, I shuffle closer to him as he tucks my head under his chin, his chest rattling under my ear as he speaks.

"Ty and Sasha did a look over the place and we thought they were walkers so hyung and I hid in the freezer. Ty found us and told us it was find to come out. When we did, we met all four of them. At first we were scared, but Ty helped us put our dad down and bury him. After that, it only felt right to stick together."

"When Juyeon died saving Donna, Ty was the one to hold me back and talk me down from the place I was in after. I don't know who I would be if he wasn't there. Having Tyreese around.. It felt like I had a dad again in a way. He trained me and kept me sane.. Both over the world and you and I," he chuckles at the end.

"I just wish I could tell him those things. We always used treat runs like they were the last time we'd see each other.. This, though.. This felt so sudden," he sighs.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, tracing my thumb over his wrist that laid in my lap.

"You didn't do anything.. We couldn't have stopped it, either."

"I lost my head for a second.. I wasn't thinking right," I frown.

I knew Taeyang and Tyreese were close and I should've been there like he was trying for me. It was only a day or so, but it was a day or so I was selfish and not thinking clearly.

"None of us are. I still don't know what to think, say, or do," he admits.

"I can't stop thinking about him," I breathe, "Negan."

"You were right about what you said the other day.. They're just another group that are trying to get to us. And they'll end up like the others."

I nod shortly as I hear Jae's words from hours ago in my head. They wouldn't get away with this. And Negan.. Negan was going to pay.

My entire body still ached and I felt hollow from the inside. I felt lesser than myself and weak. But, I still knew that the grief wasn't fully set in.

Angela and Glenn were both gone.. Dad, mom, Tina, and my grandparents- I would just never know what happened.

I had no siblings left, more than likely no parents.. I was the only person left of my family. The others were all gone. Just me. It was just me left.

Glenn and I were the only ones left of the Rhee name. Now, it's just me.

Except it wasn't.

After all, Glenn left a piece of himself behind in the shape of the life growing inside Maggie. The baby was all that was left of Glenn. The baby was my last family left.

And God, I never felt so overprotective in my life.

But, I wasn't left alone, either.

I was in the arms of someone I loved, wasn't I?

I raise my head up enough to be able to see Taeyang and am soon greeted by his eyes as he looks down to me. 

"What are you thinking now?" he question, rubbing my back.

I don't answer for a second, instead favoring the act of reaching up to place my hand on his cheek. His lips twitch in a second of a smile as he nuzzles into my palm and I find my thumb tracing over his features. As his eyes open again, I feel a bit of that ache subside.