* BOY / HERO.

      𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 !        brother o’ brother …   was gone .      they had him , the saviors did , and at some point it was just expected that …     that he was dead , killed by their boss or even one of the lackies , and while henry had cried over it as a child , it had been years now .         years henry had thought ben was dead , or worse …       a walker he would find one day that the saviors didn’t even have the decency to put down .  it was all set in stone , in henry’s mind that is , when negan was captured .      when the world was starting to come together again , resembling even a bit what it used to be like , that was it .   it was then that his brother was really gone , for good , and was never coming back .          but ghosts , eventually they all snuck up on us all …    morgan had been proof enough of that .

                                                                            “ you’re not real . “

       how is he meant to EXPLAIN this ?? he shouldn’t be STANDING. not after everything the saviors had put him through. the work, the lack of food, the very little sleep he was allowed. the mental and emotional TORTURE he had been subjected to on a near daily basis. he shouldn’t have lived. and yet . . . he HAD and he was here and BREATHING and . . . god, just how long had it been ?? henry was nearly TALLER than him now. he had similar features to the boy he once knew and yet . . . he was an entirely different person. ben had missed TOO MUCH. where did he fit in this new world ?? after everything ??. 

                                                                 “ h-henry . . . ” 

it’s all he can manage at first; his voice breaking. he had longed for this day. he had ACHED to see his little brother again. so much of him had believed it would never happen. because it wasn’t supposed to. 

                                                                   “ i am real. ”