want you back. [𝚍𝚓𝚜]

t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽r͓̽t͓̽y͓̽f͓̽o͓̽u͓̽r͓̽. b͓̽e͓̽f͓̽o͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ g͓̽o͓̽

a continuation from the last chapter, same warnings still apply!

"our every moment, i start to replace
cause now that theyre gone, all i hear are the words that i needed to say"
before you go - lewis capaldi
☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎ ☂︎

✯ march 26th, 2020 ✯

growing up, eleanor had never been close to her mother. the woman was barely home, too busy drowning herself in her work to avoid having to come home to the man who spent day after day with a beer bottle in hand and absolutely nothing else to offer.

for years, eleanor resented her. as a young girl, and even now, she could never understand how a parent could leave their children to fend for themselves - to protect themselves against the harsh actions of the man who was meant to be the one doing the protecting.

still, the youngest walker had an unconditional love for her mother and a hope that one day they'd reunite with one another and be able to start over.

to learn she would never be able to do that sparked a different kind of pain in her heart. a pain that eleanor had never had to experience before, and quite honestly, didn't think she'd have to experience for a long time. it was the pain that came with a child loosing her mother, even if she was never much of a mother to begin with.

eleanor stumbled back, loosing her footing after hearing her fathers words. she reached out, grasping at the wall to hold herself up.

isaac had a similar reaction, taking a step back from their dad and looking up at with him with a look of disbelief mixed with horror. there was no way.

"what?" the oldest sibling muttered

"s-shes dead?" eleanor repeated, clutching at her stomach as if uttering those words had made her physically sick to her stomach. which, honestly, they had.

the father nodded at his two children, a frown forming on his face. even he couldn't help but to be pained by not only the death of his ex-wife, but the reaction of his kids.

"what happened?" isaac asked, bringing his hand up to wipe away the tear that'd managed to make his way down his face.

"she had cancer-"

"cancer?!" ellie gasped, "and you didn't tell us?" she looked at their father in disbelief, running her hand through her hair out of stress

"she didn't want to worry the two of you"

"oh, so instead you show up one day out of the blue and tell us she's dead, cause that's so much better?" isaac questioned sarcastically. he pushed past their dad and made his way to his younger sister, swiftly pulling her into his side as a way of comforting her.

"i'm sorry you guys had to find out this way"

"you deprived us of our chance of saying goodbye! of being there for her!" eleanor cried, tightening her grip on the back of isaacs shirt. she turned her head away from their dad, burying it into her brothers shoulder - she couldn't bare to look at him.

"i really am sorry. i just thought you guys deserved to know..." the man awkwardly trailed off. he didn't know how to comfort the two of them, which honestly saddened him. he wasnt the best dad, he knew that, but he loved his kids. it was too late though, he didn't have the right to try and make amends, and he wasn't going to force that on them too. not after they'd just learned of the death of their mother.

"i- i think it's best you go now" isaac stuttered out, tightening his grip on the sobbing girl in his arms. he kept his head down, the floor suddenly becoming extremely interesting to him - he too, couldn't bare to make eye contact with the man stood in front of them.

their father did nothing except nod, knowing there was nothing he could do to make any of this easier. he headed to the front door and opened it, stopping to take one last look at the children behind him. he shook his head sadly, swallowing all the things he wanted to say.

instead, he walked out the front door, leaving behind two broken siblings.

❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿ ❀✿

eleanor all but collapsed into daniels arms when he opened the front door, letting out the sobs she'd held in throughout the entire car ride back to his house.

her boyfriend looked down at her in shock, this being the last thing he expected when she returned to his house.

"ellie, oh my god!" he gasped, hauling the crying girl off the floor and into his arms. instinctively, she wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. skillfully, he closed the door behind him and made his way to the couch, sitting the both of them down.

she didn't let go of him, instead burying her head into the crook of his neck and allowing herself to release all of the pain she'd been holding in.

"what's going on, baby?" he mumbled, rubbing his hand up and down her back comfortingly. he placed a few kisses on her forehead and the top of her head as he waited for an answer

she sputtered out an answer, although he couldn't really understand her through the amount of tears

"i can't understand you, baby.. think you can calm down for me? just wanna know what's going on"

she nodded, knowing that in order for him to comfort her he'd have to know what the issue was. she took a few minutes to gather herself, her sobbing turning into silent tears and sniffles

"m-my mom" she sniffed, lifting her head so she could lock eyes with daniel, "she passed away"

daniel felt his heart split in two.

quite honestly, he didn't know what to say. he was stunned into silence and all he could do was wrap his arms tighter around his girl.

"i didn't even get to say goodbye" eleanor sobbed, "we weren't close, but she was still my mom. i still loved her. i..i still needed her"

"im so sorry, baby" daniel muttered, his own voice cracking from all the emotion. he hated seeing the walker girl so torn up, and hated even more that there wasn't anything he could do to make it any better.

they sat like that for awhile. eleanor sat in daniels arms as she cried. cried over lost time, cried over cold memories, and cried over the loss of the one parent she wanted to reconcile with. the parent she'd now never get the chance to do so with.

he felt the girl relax in his arms and her breathing evened out, signaling that she'd fallen asleep. he lifted the both of them from the couch and made his way to his room, gently laying the girl down onto his bed.

he got in right beside her, pulling her close and wrapping his arm firmly around her waist. he placed a kiss on her forehead before nuzzling his head in her hair.

daniel held her extra close that night, wanting nothing more than to shield her away from the pain she was feeling