𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XXII - 《polaris & co》

oOo

Diana had done it! She'd worn her parents down enough to make them grudgingly agree to let her go on a supply run.

It was the first one ever to be done with a group. Glenn had always gone alone before. That was until he had somewhat of a close call with one particular blocked alleyway and a sizable group of geeks. Despite his dismissal that everything was fine, Shane decided it was time others joined him, so they could have each other's backs.

Diana never thought she'd agree so willingly to anything that man had to say.

She'd been the first to volunteer. Literally, she'd raised her hand so fast that it felt like she pulled a muscle. It hadn't been out of eagerness to walk into that trap, but rather because she'd do anything to keep Glenn out of harm's way.

And because the feeling was mutual, he'd gone straight to her parents to tell on her.

Really... Such a kindergartner move.

But Diana was an amazing opportunist. She used that to confront her parents and brought all her best arguments to the table on that matter.

She had a newly learned skill that she wanted to test out and that could prove to be of value on both offense and defense while out there. Also, her superior knowledge of useful drugs and medical supplies could save them precious time while scavenging. Not to mention the honest truth that a larger group might mean a larger chance of someone getting hurt. Who better to go with them than her?

Internally, she added to the list her need for validation. She needed to feel useful and, well, needed. It was selfish, but then again she'd never denied that fact.

She didn't actually know which of her points had weakened their resolve. It had probably been when she resorted to puppy eyes and literally begging at their feet.

There had been no pride involved.

oOo

Like it had become custom with Glenn and Diana before his runs, they'd gone stargazing that evening.

Their topics of conversation had flowed from the run the next morning to talk about relationships, somehow. It'd been a sharing type of moment.

Diana was very glad that she no longer felt enormous irrational paranoia and instant regret whenever she told Glenn anything about herself.

They had talked about previous romantic relationships, however lacking the subject had been. According to Glenn, he'd had one semi-serious girlfriend, and that had been back in middle school.

It had had quite a weird end to it. Glenn had seen her kiss another guy and when confronted about it, she'd just told him that she'd broken up with him the week before. Turns out she'd confused another guy for Glenn and had had the breakup speech with him.

Not really fun for him.

When the subject moved on to friendships, Diana felt herself close up. Glenn already knew about Mariana, but there was so much more regarding old friends that had scarred her. They'd really fucked her up in the long run. A cautionary tale, really. Don't open up to people, they'll only use it against you.

She'd come a long way in healing, but there was still an even longer way to go.

They talked for long until an enraged Alice came to call Glenn on behalf of Grinch Shane. He had some "final details" or some bullshit that he wanted to discuss that apparently couldn't wait until the morning.