WHY WONT YOU LOVE ME ⇒ JAEDEN LIEBERHER

waiting game

✧･ﾟ: *✧

the sound of broken glass being crushed rang throughout the small convenience store. everyone had some sort of weapon out in case of a surprise attack from a survivor or a walker. despite julius' healing leg, gianna still wanted him to stay in the car so he's not stressing his leg too much; the same exact thing with russo as well.

they looked around but no teddy was in sight. y/n was right, this was a waste of time.

the girl put her glock back into its holster, her hands immediately placed on her forehead as she let out a frustrated sigh. "see chosen, we just wasted our time." she exclaimed, shaking her head.

"oh they're going to fight again..." ivan quietly spoke, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck as he looked at the two back and forth.

however, instead of a sly remark from chosen, he fell to the floor to sit down. his legs were brought close to his chest and his hands were resting on his temple. "i failed her...her blood is on my hands, huh?" he questioned, his brown eyes frantically looked at the floor like he's looking for a secret message. "no, this can't
be it."

"chosen, her blood isn't on your hands at all. don't even think like that, man." finn replied, bending his knees so he was in a squatting position. his hands rested on his friend's shoulder in a way to comfort him. just like y/n, he wasn't the best at comforting people.

"i don't know man, i just feel like it's partially my fault. maybe if i was better at helping her or something, she would be standing right here with us. i guess i just can't help feeling like i'm the one to blame." chosen expressed his thoughts and feelings.

that was probably what y/n was most jealous of, just opening up like that the way he does. he had a better way of coping than she ever would, and she just can't help but feel jealous.

"don't ever blame yourself, it was completely out of your control. you shouldn't let your mind think of the 'what if' situations." jaeden spoke up, "now come on man. let's just go to russo and julius."

chosen nodded before his two best friends helped him up. he dusted off the small specks of glass and dirt off on his pants. his left hand wiping away the tears that were starting to form, he was the first to walk out of the store with y/n following quickly after.

"uh chosen," she paused, once she caught his attention, she continued on. "i just wanted to say sorry. i'm just being insensitive, and that's wrong of me. so yeah, sorry." she awkward let out, after her statement nodding in a stiffly.

"it's fine, just please think about what you're going to say. it just hurt when you said all of that stuff in the van and i'm not one to get emotional too easily." he accepted her apology before walking off.

he didn't apologize or nothing for what he said, but y/n understood that he wasn't wrong. he shouldn't be apologizing for saying the truth, even if it was super blunt.

the five of them walked over to the cars in silence. only the sound of their boots and sneakers hitting the concrete was ringing. once they reached the black car, chosen opened the door. "uh julius, she's not there." he simply said, not bothering with making eye contact.

y/n could see the sadness and disappointment in julius' eyes. he slowly looked down at his lap, "okay, i uh guess we should find another place to stay at."

"wait, jules lets just stay for a few more hours. maybe she's walking here right now, we can wait until we see her," she suggested. her brother looked up at her with a small smile plastered on his lips. "okay, sounds like a plan. you guys can loot or whatnot. i'll keep a lookout."

despite her not thinking teddy is alive, she couldn't bear seeing her brother in such a terrible state. he's already holding his feelings in about trenton's death, she hasn't seen him cry or talk about it to anyone. if she can give her brother a tiny amount of hope, well then so be it.

the girl turned on her heel to walk back to the seven-eleven. though, a gingerly touch on her forearm stopped her, "i know how you feel about this, but thank you." chosen smiled before walking off.

—

the three of them walked on the empty road; oliver was in the middle while teddy and trenton were on the side to support him. since they all ran into the woods at random and were making unexpected turns and twist, they hope that this rode helps lead them to downtown. "teddy, i'm proud of you. you went into the woods by yourself in order to save everyone else, you came a long way." trenton spoke up.

"yeah, my girlfriend is cool." oliver blurted out randomly, causing the other teens to laugh. tre jokingly slapped his brother's shoulder in an area without a bruise. "bruh, shut up." he playfully remarked.

"i just wanted to make sure everyone stayed alive is all, i knew i'll be fine so i didn't care." she paused, clearing her throat awkwardly. "well, two people that attacked are actually apart of the group now. they um, left with them. i just wanted to warn you in case, so it doesn't bring back unwanted memories from your stay." she finished.

the boys came to a halt causing the girl to stumble back a little unexpectedly. "um, what?" oliver asked, it looked like all of the life in his face went away. it was pale and was beaming with sweat. he felt his heartbeat quicken.

"oli, babe, i'm sure they have it under control. y/n shot one of the guys in his foot, i don't think they'll try anything unless they want to die. it's okay," she reassured, patting his chest lightly. "c'mon we should hurry."

the two boys nodded and continued walking down the road. probably forty-five minutes passed and they thought oliver should take a break and gather his thoughts and breathe. "tre, just between us, can you tell me what happened?" she asked him quietly.

he looked over at his brother who is laying on the road, his eyes looking up at the sky as he was breathing heavily. he then looked over at teddy, "well, we went over to the sanctuary like normal; they greeted us, took us to the cafeteria to get some food, we traded, and they led us to our room. normal, right? well, no. late at night, i heard talking outside our door, and then suddenly the door opened. it was so quick, and the messed up thing was, they went after him instead of me..." he paused, shaking his head softly. his eyes were closed, he wanted to forget the memory of his brother screaming and crying out of agony.

"they...they punched him repeatedly, stabbed his leg, it was just awful. and what did they do to me? absolutely nothing, they held me down so i can watch my brother suffer. it was absolute torture. when i did get out of their grasp, they hit me in the head with a shotgun. i was out cold and i don't know what happened next. he won't tell me anything about that night either, but i know it's immoral if my own brother can't open up to me. after that, they locked us up in this dark, cold room. they didn't give us food, water, they were really trying to make sure we died slowly. but the night that they left to attack erickson, someone secretly let us out and i looted the shit out of their armory." he finished off, holding onto the AK in his hand. "i'll make sure those fuckers pay."

he didn't realize tears were forming in his blue eyes until he felt teardrops landing on his pale dirty hands. quickly, he wiped his eyes with his messed up shirt. he's going to get justice for his brother, and that's a fact. "let's go walk now," he firmly said before getting up. trenton walked over to oliver and pulled him up, leaving teddy to process everything they said to her alone.

"how can someone be so fucked in the head?" she silently asked herself before shaking her head. she'll definitely fight alongside trenton and make sure those people get what they deserve. pure and utter torture.