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࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ ✩◿𝓘𝓓𝓐◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER SIXTY ONE—
we have a ladies man on our hands, ladies and gentlemen.

Austin didn't wait for Rositas answer before he opened the door.

"Jesus." she gave him a look of disbelief. "You could have waited."

"Sorry." he reddened in the face and nodded. "I was just going to the Hilltop. To check on Maggie. With Negan not coming back or a week, I don't think it'd be too suspicious now."

"Okay?" Rosita crossed her arms, standing in her bare house as did everyone else after the saviors raid. "What? Need me to do your shift?"

"No." he got defensive, but not in a negative way, more so just shocked she'd think he'd ask that. "I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me? To see Abrahams grave?"

"No, I don't." she snapped with her head down.

"Okay." Austin didn't want to give her even more of a reason to lash out, especially not at him. "Rosita?"

"What?" he didn't mind her snapping at him, it's how she was even before. Austin and Rosita didn't talk much, but he could remember the time he wondered away during Beth's dead and she grabbed him by the ear to pull him back. It was the first real aggression and straight forward he'd gotten, the first person that didn't treat him like he was glass. At the time, it probably made a really big difference considering he spoke for the first time that night to Glenn.

Austin shut the door and gave her a look. "It's not the same, because you guys were together longer. But, I do get what you are feeling. After Beth... it was a lot. And I was sad, and then I was angry. And now with Glenn, it's like that all over again."

Apart of her wanted to smack him, the other wanted to confide. "You aren't wondering around like a headless chicken this time, that's for sure."

"True." he had to crack a grin, he saw one barley start to form on her face. "I know how to handle it better this time. Plus, the kids."

"You taking them with you?" Rosita nodded, he did it back. "Well, I don't wanna go. But, thanks for offering."

"Mhm." he glanced out the window. "If you wanna talk-"

"Yeah." she cut him off, nodding. "I will."

Austin left after that, getting into the car near the fence where the kids waited. Levi sat in the front with him while Natalie and Luke were strapped in the back. "We ready?"

"Will you teach me how to drive?" Natalie asked as Spencer opened up the fence for him, getting a forced nod.

"Can you even reach the petals?" he rose his eyebrows and took a turn.

"Is it true a bunch of babies are at The Hiltop?" Luke looked out the window and tried to count every tree they passed, he gave up after six. "Did the Storks bring them? I haven't even seen a Stork this whole time."

"A bunch of babies?" Austin wasn't entirely sure were he'd gotten that information from, possibly just assuming so after saying they were going to check on a pregnant lady. "I don't know. Guess we'll have to go see."

"I bet that's where all the storks are hiding at, that's why there's so many babies." Luke shrunk in the seat a little more as they passed a walker. "One. Levi, keep count."

Austin glanced toward Levi. He worried for all three of the kids, but he probably worried about Levi the most. He was such a quiet kid, and he was scared of basically his own shadow. Natalie was too strong and too noble to let the apocalypse get to her, and Luke was young enough to get distracted by anything else around him. But Levi hadn't played a big role in things yet, he was just there, existing in his own head where thoughts roamed free. "What about you, Levi? Do you think that's where all the storkes are?"

He glanced over and rose his eyebrow a little bit. "My feet are getting too big."

Well, there was an answer.

"Your feet are getting too big?" Austin repeated him with a odd look.

"Yes." he said back, pulling his feet up. on the dash. Shockingly, he had two shoes on rather then one. His feet were oddly large for a thirteen year old boy, his shoes were barley fitting the back of his ankles. "My feet are getting too big."

"Okay." Austin nodded quickly. "We'll find bigger shoes."

Levi hesitated. "And stuff for my hair?"

"And stuff for your hair." he nodded in agreement.

"Such a drama queen." Natalie rolled her eyes from the back as Levi flashed her a glare over the seats. "What? You are!"

He pointed at his head dramatically but didn't have any sense of expression on his face. "My curls are gone, Natalie."

"It doesn't look bad in waves!" she defended the matter as he rolled his eyes and turned back around. "Austin, what's that?"

He glanced back and saw her pointed at the wish bone necklace hanging around the rear view mirror. "Oh, that's a wishbone."

"Where from?" Luke kicked his legs, barely reaching the ground.

"I think it was a owl. It was my girlfriends." Austin said in return, running the stop sign.

"You've got a girlfriend?" Levi looked over, never seeing Austin be rather affectionate with any woman aside Maggie. And he knew she'd been with Glenn until a week ago.

"I did." he corrected, a sinking feeling in his chest when he had to say so. He'd healed from the pain of Beth, but that didn't mean that her death didn't still feel like acid was eating him from the inside out. He missed her, he loved her. He'd kill just to see her one more time. "She died a while ago."

"Oh." Natalie frowned. "How'd she die?"

"Someone killed her a couple states away." he couldn't quite remember much, it was all a blur after he shot everyone at the hospital. He only remember bits and pieces of burying her. "She'd have liked you guys so much."

Levi looked over. "Sorry about your girlfriend, Austin."

"It's okay." he promised him.

"Levi use to have a lot of girlfriends." Luke spoke up from the back.

"What!" Austin laughed.

"Luke." Levi scolded him in a whisper.

"It's true, he had a new girlfriend every week." Natalie laughed, forgetting about that until now. "He was the only eight year old with a girlfriend at our school."

"Stop." Levi begged her.

"Woah." Austin didn't see that one coming, rubbing Levi on the top of the head. "We have a ladies man on our hands, ladies and gentleman."

Austin was lead by Jesus to Maggie and Sasha, he promised Austin he'd take care of the three of them and stay close. He said to stay outside of the infirmary so he could see them out of the window. Sasha looked back when the doors opened, sighing in relief as she stood up. "I've been worrying about you."

"Me? I've been worrying about you." he hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Sasha."

"It'll be okay." she held onto him a little tighter. Like Rosita, she knew he knew what it felt like to loose the person you loved. "Someone's been worrying about you a little more then me."

Maggie looked a lot more heathy then a week ago, Austin felt a weight taken off his chest at the sight of her. He'd been panicking all week long, but was glad he'd been with her now. She smiled at him. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." he sat next to her and put his hand on the back of her head when they hugged. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." she promised him, putting a hand on her stomach. "Baby is okay too."

"Of course he is." Austin smiled, his eyes watered though. "I'm glad both of you are okay."

Maggie saw the sadness in his eyes, how hard this was to be in the presence of her, her child, but not her husband. Austin felt sick, not whole. He hadn't forgotten when Maggie and Glenn sat in the infirmary for the first time and he listened to the heartbeat in her stomach. That's how it should have been this time around, but it wasn't. He was glad the two of them were okay, but the third wasn't.

"Do you wanna go see him?" Maggie gave him a sad smile as she nodded her head, encouraging him to say yes.

•

kylie speaks

my toxic trait is shipping
austin with everyone he
talks to.