The Third Dixon [The walking dead OC x OC]

Chapter fourteen

For a few minutes after waking up, Measi didn't move.

She stayed exactly where she was, her head resting against Nathan's chest, listening to the steady rhythm beneath her ear. It was familiar in a way that almost felt strange now. So many mornings had started with noise, with alarms, with someone yelling that something had gone wrong.

This one was quiet.

The sunlight slipped through the gaps in the curtains, landing across the room in soft patches that made it feel like a place from another life. For a moment, Measi let herself pretend that was all it was. A normal morning. A safe place. No walkers outside the walls. No enemies waiting somewhere beyond them.

Then her mind caught up.

Denise.

The memory came back immediately, like it had been waiting for her to wake up.

Denise had been alive yesterday.

She had been annoying Eugene, patching people up, doing what she always did. The kind of person who kept trying even when the world gave her every reason not to.

And now she was gone.

Killed by the Saviors.

Killed by the same man who had taken Daryl's bike and crossbow.

Measi's jaw tightened slightly, and Nathan noticed the change before she even realized she had made one.

His hand moved slowly over her back, not asking what was wrong because he already knew.

They had all heard.

She stayed there a little longer anyway, refusing to let the thought take over the quiet moment completely. She had spent so much time waking up ready for something bad that she wanted just a few more seconds where she didn't have to be that person.

Eventually she shifted slightly, rubbing her eyes as the sunlight became too much.

She groaned softly and turned more toward him instead, wrapping an arm around his chest.

Nathan looked down at her with a small smile.

"Morning."

Her voice was still rough from sleep.

"Morning."

For a moment, neither of them said anything else.

Measi knew he was waiting.

Not pushing.

Just there.

That was what he did best.

"You know," she mumbled after a while, still not looking up at him, "if you tell anyone I'm capable of sleeping in, I'll deny it."

Nathan chuckled quietly.

"Sleeping in?"

She frowned slightly.

"Don't ruin this."

"You mean the fact that you woke up after the sun?"

"Exactly."

"Should I be worried?"

She finally looked at him.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because now you know I'm human."

Nathan smiled.

"I've known that."

The answer was too simple.