You will never forget me.

There were many things Theo did that Theo himself could never explain. Hows and whys and other such nonsense. Details, really. Things he’d normally pay attention to in others but rarely even considered in himself. He thought that his actions, like nearly every other thing he decided upon, were things done with selfishness at the root. And, honestly, that was probably true. Theodore Langley didn’t do things for others; he did things for himself, solely for himself. Sure, there’d been exceptions, but in the long run those had been for his own benefit, too. 

This instance, then, was also one done out of pure selfish behavior. He did not run beside her because he wanted to make sure she made it out of the oncoming danger safe. He did not bust open a backdoor that left his shoulder aching and let her in because he wanted to protect her. Truth was, Theo didn’t care about the girl – then again, he didn’t care about anyone. The fact that he let her in had less to do with helping and more to do with taking. Sure, one could’ve argued that her warning had saved his life and thus, by saving her he was paying his debt; but one could also take into consideration the fact that she’d nearly knocked him over and, in Theo’s eyes, her little warning only paid off her intrusion. As for what more he could take from a tiny blonde, he’d yet to decided, but he would, eventually, when the immediate danger had passed. 

He didn’t bother speaking until after they were inside, door shut. And even then when he chose to speak it was a hushed whispers – muffled by a sugarcoating of gratitude, and kindness that he hardly felt. As he listened against the metal door, his words rang out; a near nonexistent sound against the outside’s groans. “I think you were right about the twenty,” he muttered, “smart girl.”

Kira kept pace with the taller male, followed him without question as they headed further down the street and into alley, she glanced back, groaning as the walkers seemed to have radar, as more soon joined in on pursuing the two. She glanced around, starting for a door when Theo moved to bust down a back door with his shoulder, that clearly had to hurt. She stumbled in after him, crouching at the door as it was pushed shut. She looked up and noticed only the door handle had been busted but there was a deadbolt still in place. She reached up quickly and locked the door before ducking back down and slowly catching her breathe as the small herd of walkers made their way down the alley, closer to where they were. Her eyes darted around the room, looking to see if they had any undead company they might have to deal with before glancing back at him. She remained silent as the moans and groans moved on slowly, to which she slowly set her bag down. She smiled and nodded. “Thanks.” She whispered back before running a hand through her hair as she looked around, doing a quick check of the room, making sure there weren’t any hidden surprises. “It looks all clear.” She said moving back to her bag. “Hows your shoulder? Does it hurt?” She asked with a small nod toward his arm.

“Aww… Fine.” Micah pretended to pout momentarily before laughing, tucking a piece of hair back. “You gotta admit though, it’d be pretty badass to wield a real lightsaber.” He let out a quiet sigh, not having felt so relaxed in so long. Playing with Kira’s hair was almost like a default switch. It was something he had started doing when her grandpa passed away. Something that always seemed to bring her back down, something that calmed both of them. 

“Things might eventually go back to the way they were. I mean, there’s always room for improvement, right?” No matter what though, it didn’t bring those who had lost their lives back. It didn’t erase the scars and memories of loved ones being ripped apart. “We’ll be okay. We have each other now. No matter what.” Micah put on a smile. “I think he only caved because he knew I would still sneak in, with or without permission,” he teased. “I remember him not being too fond of me at first. He warmed up pretty quick though. It’s all in the charming personality.” Micah rubbed Kira’s arm, a little lost in thought. “I miss him everyday.” 

The change of subject concerning this special house took Micah by surprise. “Wait, weed? All of our problems are solved. Weed and fresh vegetables.” He joked. The fresh veggies sounded amazing though. Most of that stuff was hard to come by unless someone was still tending to a garden somewhere.   

Micah could already tell Lacey wasn’t a great starter. He bit the inside of his lip, his smile fading. “Nobody’s perfect, and she didn’t hate you. She was jealous of you.” Fidgeting slightly, Micah rubbed the back of his neck. “Lacey never cheated on me. She broke up with me because of you. She was jealous. And she thought I was cheating on her. With you.” Micah took a deep breath, averting his stare to the wall or the floor. Anywhere but back at Kira, too nervous to meet her eyes as he rattled on. “She argued that I was in love with you. And… I don’t think she was wrong.” 

Kira relaxed once more, laying her head on his lap as he played with her hair idly. She nodded her head weakly. “It would be awesome to have a lightsaber, would be so much easier to kill the walkers with, and less mess. Mine would be teal because I’m awesome like that.” She giggled softly. “And to have the force, nothing would ever get close enough to hurt you.” She looked up at him and smiled softly, reaching up to tap his nose. “Jedi Master Micah, that has a nice ring to it.” She teased. Her eyes scanned his face and she nodded weakly. “I guess, but there was seven billion people in the world before this all happened. And most of them are walkers now, killed by them and turned into them. We can’t fight against that. Unless we get a boat and find an island and live there, hoping the walkers can’t swim.”

She smiled up at him and nodded as her eyes started to water. “Yeah we do, though I think it is a dream, and I don’t want to wake up and you aren’t there for real.” She wiped her eyes and smiled. “I have his picture, there in my bug out bag, I never leave without that or my pillow.” She said to the worn out lumpy pillow at the end of her make shift bed. “That’s all I got left of him, I miss him, but I am glad he didn’t have to experience any of this, that would have killed me.“ She whispered as more tears came to her eyes. “He loved to give you grief, so he did until it didn’t bother you anymore, hence the open door rule.” She chuckled lightly. “I miss him too.” She said quietly before looking back up at him and nodded. “Don’t tease me, it helps me get to sleep, I can’t sleep because I was alone and the groaning and moaning of those things, they stink.” She frowned before getting up and moving to grab a bowl with half a tomato in it. “Here, try it, I picked it two days ago.”

Heat rose to Micah’s face as he could feel the blush creep across once Kira pressed a kiss along his jaw. A feeling he almost didn’t think he’d ever have again; warmth and comfort. Love. “Of course I miss your cooking. You, your cooking, everything.” Micah smiled, watching her move about like she was actually in a kitchen, the mannerisms still evident from the culinary classes. At least to him, anyway.

Micah pushed the food around on the plate momentarily, savoring the smell just as much as the heat radiating off the plate, oddly enough, warming up his hand. “Maybe a little bit of a trim… But I’ve come to like it. The longer, the warmer too. Man bun or not.” He laughed. He’d started growing his hair out a bit longer than usual probably around the age of seventeen, but this was the longest he’d ever had it. “So good.” Micah hummed, finally taking a bite of the stew. “You know, I might be able to pull off Leia’s cinna-buns now.” He set the plate on his lap and illustrated with his hands, each hovering over the side of his head. “Next step: become a Jedi.”

Once they had both finished eating, Micah situated himself on the pile of mattresses as Kira curled up with him and a blanket. The mention of a special house had him curious and he couldn’t stop the smile from crossing his face. He couldn’t really stop the smile regardless; not since being reunited. “It almost feels like old times again. Like nothing ever happened, and we’re just sitting together in your room. Contemplating what to do. Gossiping.” Micah let out a small laugh, subconsciously running his hand through Kira’s hair and brushing it back behind her ear.

“You remember Lacey?” Micah blurted the words before he had a chance to think them through, his brain five steps ahead of him and where he wanted the conversation to be. “It’s not about—it’s just…” He stumbled over his words, trying to form a coherent sentence. “There’s something that I never told you about her. Why we broke up.” And as soon as he had said it, he started to feel regret—he should have waited to say something tomorrow, or at some point days away. After all, they had just found one another again. “…never mind.” Micah shook his head, clearing his throat. But maybe there wouldn’t always be a tomorrow.

Kira rolled her eyes and shook her head at his idea of having Leia hair. “Please don’t do that.” She said before nodding. I can give you a trim if you want, I have scissors. Sharp ones.” She said shifting “You can be a Jedi without the hair.” She giggled and curled up to him more, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m glad you like the food I make, I love cooking and I miss cooking in a kitchen.” She murmured as she moved to rest her head on his lap. “I like when you play with my hair, it reminds of back when my Pappa was still around.”

She smiled up at him and nodded. “I wish we could go back and not have to worry about anything. No walkers, no death, no being scared every day.” She frowned. “You know you were the only guy my Pappa ever let in my room with the door shut, and the only one he let sleep over? He loved you. That’s why he let you move in. He trusted you.” She smiled with a nod. “Yes a special house with a room where someone was growing weed, and I saved a few plats and I have a few vegetables growing there. Fresh veggies Micah.”

He had been soundly asleep, having a pleasant dream about something that he couldn’t remember when the noise of the the front door opening startled him awake. He didn’t move except to slid his hand underneath his pillow for the gun he kept there. If it was a robber Misty would have barked, but she was laying on the foot of his bed, ears perked but not doing anything. Then the voice called out and Misty was flying off the bed barking her low yips of excitement. It was Kira, not somebody coming to slit his throat while he laid in bed. He sat up quickly. “Oh one second, I’ll be right there!” The room to his office was open but the curtain he had hung across it blocked any prying eyes from the main room with the printing press. He slipped on a pair of jeans and a shirt,  the same ones he had been wearing yesterday. Maybe his next find should be a bin to wash clothes in or something. He yawned as he moved aside the curtain. “Hello Kira! And did I hear you right? You come bearing.. gifts?”

Kira listened and heard movement on the other side of a makeshift curtain wall. She assumed he had been sleeping, now with no real jobs people could sleep whenever they wanted so she didn’t judge, she smiled as Misty came out yipping and wagging her tail. “Why hello.” She said bending down and rubbing the dogs ears before slipping her bag off and pulling out the bone she had found in a pet store. “Here you go, and I brought you other goodies.” She said to the dog, giving her a hug before standing up as Austin came out from behind the curtain. “Why hello sleepy head.” She said crossing her arms and moving to lean against a counter with a nod. “Yes you did. I found an old pet store and got a few things for Misty, like that bone she is chewing on. Don’t worry. I washed it first.” She said moving to grab her bag and started to pull out everything in it. “Books, and snacks and cans of dog food for misty and a few cans of food for you.” She said setting it all on the counter with a few bottle of water. “I melted snow, so you have fresh water and freshly made tea.” She said moving to now sit on the counter. “I saw come doggy sweaters, but I didn’t know if they would fit.” She said said crossing her legs. “So can I ask you something?”

There was a slim part of him that wanted to defend the pinky promise, but for what? To try and argue that it works, because it did, and it only took a few months? Micah let out a shaky breath. “I’m sorry.” He put an arm around her and pulled her into him, resting his head against hers momentarily. “You mean the world to me, okay? I don’t want to see you hurt. Ever.” He didn’t even want to think about the day something could happen to her, no matter how minuscule. If he could prevent it, he’d do everything in his power to make sure of it.

A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. “A pile of mattresses with you? Sounds good to me. Keep warmer that way.” While it was true, Micah certainly had no complaints. The thought of sharing a bed had then led him onto the thought of how he’d tell her the truth. How he felt about her. Or if he could even tell her to begin with. But when she handed over the sweater, it snapped him out of it. “I’m starving. And I’d kill for some of your cooking. I don’t even care what it is. As long as it isn’t canned peaches.” Micah spoke as he put the sweater on over top of his shirt, pulling his hair out of its bun in the process. “Not that you couldn’t rock canned peaches. I’m sure you could.” He smiled, running a hand through his hair and pulling it back up again.

Micah knew he should never have expected anything less from Kira, wanting confirming she was going with him in the morning. Another internal war brewing within him. One thing he had to get, he’d have to venture out quite a ways just in hopes of finding it. He could wake up before her and just leave—that was an option. But he’d be the world’s biggest asshole if he did. That wasn’t something he could go through with. That item would just have to wait a little while longer. “Something to show me? What’s that?” He got up to get some food before returning to his spot, patting the space beside him. “I’m not going anywhere, Kira Martin. Now get over here.” He teased.          

Kira smiled and wrapped her arms around him for a moment. She pressed a kiss to his jaw and pulled away. “You better. I missed you more than the moon and the stars.” She said slowly moving to stand up as she rolled her eyes. “Perv.” She muttered as she moved to grab a few can and make them a meal. Beef stew with peas. Simple but filling. “You miss my cooking huh? Well if I can ever find a real kitchen and real food, hopefully I can cook a real meal for you one day.” She said stirring the food before turning off the small burner and moving to grab two plates, dishing out the food and handing him a plate and fork. She moved to sit down next him, her own plate in hand.

She watched him and slowly ate her hot food, savoring every bite as if it were her last. She reached out and touched his hair. “I think you need a trim, but I do like it longer and the you are rocking that man bun.” She teased in a playful manner. “I will keep peaches in mind I know how to make sauteed peaches, I just need sugar.” She said with a nod before slowly finishing her food and moving to wipe her plate and fork clean before she moved to place them in a bin.