In Your Eyes [TWD]

°•twenty six•°

The last time I'd hugged Alden was years ago. But, the one we currently shared was filled with so much sympathy, hurt, trust, gratitude, and relief that it was like the first.

"Thank you, so much," I breathe out.

"She knew she was supposed to be with Daryl or Ezekiel and got lost trying to find one of them. I was coming down from the wall when I saw her," he explains.

"You have no idea.." I sigh.

Leaving the girls at the fair was the first and really only time I'd properly been away from them. 

Last night was absolute torture.

It was only a few hours, I had no clue how Glenn and Maggie managed three years..

Or Carol at any point in time..

"She uh.." Alden begins as we pull away.

I look up to him, waiting his next words. But, he sighs and shakes his head.

"It's nothing," he assures, forcing a smile.

"Alden.." I voice, "What is it?"

He looks around, seeing everyone packing their things as we got ready for the next plan. I could see he was fighting to tell me or not.

"She's a good kid," he settles on.

"Alden, what happened?" I ask.

I knew she must've seen Mary die or something of the sorts. It was her first time ever seeing something like that- Carl was monitoring her and Sophia like crazy,

"She talked about Enid. She was looking for her because she forgot she was gone," he explains.

"Yeah, I know," I frown, "We talked about it."

Alden sighs again, fighting that voice in his head. Restlessly, he runs his hand through his hair.

"She heard you," he blurts out.

"Heard me?" I repeat.

"Out by Glenn's grave. You and Lydia. She knows Negan was the one that killed him."

Nausea filled me at the thought. We'd never told the girls that out of worry. If they knew the man that killed their grandpa was living a street away from them in a cell? I could hardly manage, I can't imagine how they might've felt.

"And she's afraid that people around her are bad. She was talking about how Negan was always there- Dante and the ones that took the people for the pikes. She's afraid of that," he explains further.

"God," I breathe, closing my eyes.

"She was asking me how to tell if someone is good or not. I probably didn't give a good answer but.. She told me, Kelly, and Mary that we were good. Then, we were out by Mary's body.. She said it's always the good ones that die."

I rest my hand on Alden's shoulder, "No, whatever you said helped. She looks up to you like crazy. She loves you, Al."

"I'm gonna try being around more. She helped me more than I probably tried to help her," he says, twisting his wedding band.

Emily and Alden's bond was something special. They clearly only grew closer now as they confided in each other over losing Enid.

With a small smile, I pull Alden back into a hug.

"Thank you, Alden," I repeat.

"Thank you for giving me a great niece."

--

"Can I take pictures?" Sophia asks, holding up a book.

"Everything will still be here, Soph. We just need to take what we need," Carl explains.