|Missing Love|

Chapter 6

*Shelby's P.O.V*

"You're up early today." Magna said as she approached me. "What's going on?"

I tried hiding the smile on my face, but it didn't work. "I'm going on a run with Alden today. We talked a bit more yesterday and you were right, he does wanna talk to me."

Magna smiled. "That's nice to hear. I also wanna give you some more advice. Be patient with him. With everything that he's been through the past few months, he'll have a hard time talking about certain things so don't pressure him."

"Thanks for letting me know."

She patted my shoulder. "Plus, let me know how this run goes. I know that this is important."

"I'll be sure to tell you, I promise." I smiled.

She smiled back at me as she looked to the side and saw Alden walking towards us. He was wearing a grey collar shirt with black jeans. Even in a zombie apocalypse, he looks so handsome. The way that his hair looks so combed and the way his beard looks. It just looks sexy.

But I won't say anything out loud.

"Hey, Alden." Magna greeted him.

"Greetings, Magna." He smiled at her before turning to me. "You ready?"

"I'm ready." I smiled at him.

He made sure to grab his weapons before we walked past the gate of Hilltop. He has a spear and a knife. I have my knife and I have some arrows to go along with a bow. I've been practicing with it lately.

"How did you sleep last night?" He asked me as we walked along a trail.

"I slept pretty well. What about you?"

"Very well, thank you." He commented.

I have no idea what to say. What could we even talk about without it being awkward? I don't have a clue.

"Earl was able to give you the day off?" I questioned as I looked at him.

He nodded. "Yeah and then I'm back to working tomorrow. He figured that it'll be nice for me to do something else other than taking care of metal."

"Have you always wanted to be a blacksmith?"

"I used to build things." He started to say. "Especially before the apocalypse started. I have some experience with building things and when I first came to Hilltop, I knew how special the community was and I wanted to be a part of it."

There was a question that I wanted to ask him but I was scared of his answer. That's totally normal, right?

But then I thought, screw it. I might as well ask him the question.

"When you were at Hilltop, taken as a prisoner, did you ever notice me?"

I barely made eye contact with him because I was scared to look at him when asking him that. Is that weird?

"I noticed you, just like I noticed everyone else. But I thought I was gonna die by the hands of Maggie. I thought I wouldn't have a chance to show her that I wasn't like the rest of the saviors." He explained.

Then I looked at him. "I knew you were good. I never spoke a word to you but I knew you were somebody that could be trusted."

"I never was the bad guy."

"People who did view you as the villain obviously weren't thinking straight." I said.

Alden eyed me. "Villain is a strong word."

"And it's not in my vocabulary. You didn't seem like a villain to me back in those days." I admitted.

"Thank you, I appreciate it."