The Third Dixon [The walking dead]

Chapter two

The sun had started to dip behind the trees, scattering gold across the forest floor. The group had set up a small perimeter, keeping low in the underbrush, wary of any eyes or walkers wandering close to the cabin. Smoke from a small fire twisted up through the branches, carrying the faint smell of cooked roots and dried meat.

Measi sat on a fallen log, Nathan beside her. She hadn't let go of him since he caught her earlier, his hands steady, comforting. Her fingers traced over the scar on his cheek, the dirt smudged on his sleeve. She still couldn't quite believe he was alive.

Finally, almost instinctively, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft at first, tentative, like testing reality itself. When he responded, she rested her forehead against his, letting out a shaky breath.

"I don't... I don't understand," she whispered, voice trembling. "Glenn—Tara—they said..." Her words broke as tears welled in her eyes again. ''They found you, dead. Glenn even took your backpack with him.''

"I had to leave it behind when I got jumped, when I was escaping," Nathan said quietly. "Some guy attacked me, got the drop on me. I had no choice but to run. Whoever saw the backpack after that, they probably thought it was me... that it was over."

Measi shook her head, processing. "So... Glenn thought you were dead?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah. He and Tara must have came across a boy who looked like me—or, well, the guy looked like me. They didn't know. They saw the bag... I guess it matched. They thought the worst."

She squeezed his hands tightly, unable to stop the tears. "I... I can't believe it. I've... I've been -I... I almost—" She choked, shaking her head.

"You didn't know," he said softly, leaning close. "You couldn't have known. But I'm here now."

She leaned her head against his shoulder, letting herself breathe, really breathe, for the first time in what felt like forever. "I thought... I lost you," she murmured.

"You didn't," he replied, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'm not going anywhere."

For a while, they just sat there, the world around them muted except for the crackle of the fire. Birds chirped softly in the distance, and a faint breeze rustled the leaves. Measi finally let herself rest against him, letting all the tension, all the fear, and all the grief slide away just a little.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, almost to herself. "I... I didn't even know how to... how to... feel."

Nathan tightened his hold. "It's okay. You don't have to understand it all right now. You just... need to know I'm here. And we're okay."

Measi looked up at him, and a small, shaky smile broke through. "We're okay... for now."

And for the first time in a long time, the forest around them felt less like a trap and more like a refuge.