Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Locked Out of Heaven - 092

I don't have enough money for y'all's therapy, so just remember it's fanfic and everything will be okay... Eventually xxx

Brooks was sat there, beneath her favourite tree in Alexandria. The sun was hot on her skin, and there was a book in her hands. She knew it was a dream though, because her glasses were nowhere in sight, yet she could see the words perfectly. Too good to be true. In the distance she could see Maggie and Glenn playing with a young Asian boy, perhaps four or five. Sophia, Beth and Enid were feeding the ducks in the lake, Carl and Rick were helping a young girl with brunette hair learn to ride her bicycle. Daryl was teaching Michonne how to care for a motorbike, Brooks knew Michonne didn't care, but she was there to make Daryl happy.

"Can't I just stay here?"

Cam and Merle were talking and laughing, hitting each other's shoulders as men do when they laugh too hard. Both had wide smiles on their faces as they joked and spoke, just enjoying the sunny afternoon. Rosita and Carol were nearby, watching the two men, and smiling themselves while entertaining meaningless conversation. Abraham and Sasha walked by, hand in hand, smiling themselves. Tara and Denise were eating lunch on a bench, enjoying each other's company and the sun. Everyone was happy, everything was perfect.

"Spend the rest of my days here?"

Suddenly, though, there was somebody sitting next to Brooks. Even in her fantasy, Brooks had been all by herself, until this person arrived. The teenager turned her head, and a warm smile pulled at her lips. Marliya Hawthorne sat there, smiling softly. Her eyes, her hair, her smile, everything was the same. The way she made Brooks feel safer, like everything would be okay. It was all there, it was all the same. Like nothing had changed. "Ma?"

"Cause you make me feel like."

Marliya nodded, a small sigh leaving her lips as she looked out to the sight that Brooks had been looking at herself. "You know you have to wake up, Brooks. You can't stay in here forever." Marliya told her, jumping straight to it. Marliya had never been one to beat around the bush, always going straight to her point. Brooks respected that about her mother, and enjoyed the fact she held the same quality.

"I've been locked out of Heaven."

Brooks bit down on her bottom lip and looked back over to Merle and Cam. "But... As soon as I do..." The words escaped her. She didn't want to utter them, she didn't want to admit the truth. As soon as Brooks said the words, they would become real, and she couldn't have that be the case... But, she needed to say them. Brooks had to admit them. She couldn't hide in her own head. "He dies."

"For too long."

"Yes." Marliya agreed. "But, you've survived grief before, Brooks. You're strong enough to do it again. You lost me, you lost Sebastian and Hershel... But, you're still here, Brooks. It's because you're stronger than you know. So, yes, he will die, but you won't. And, you can't, not for a very long time... Because I know that this thing will not end without you." Marliya answered, speaking in her cryptic dead person tone. So much for not beating around the bush.

"For too long."

Her head shook as her eyes kept on where Merle and Cam were smiling, laughing still. Overcome with happiness, the both of them, like they deserved to be. "What does that even mean, ma?"

"Yea, you make me feel like."

Marliya scoffed a laugh, shaking her head slightly. "Honey, you know I can't tell you that. Just open your eyes, my darling. You need to be out there. You can't hide, you're too strong to hide."