So many of their conversations are held like this, with them sprawled across or holding each other. Maybe someday, one or the both of them would be less touch-starved, but Will suspected they still had years to catch up on.

"Sweeney has been trying to do better with you for months," Will concedes. "Because of me. And he recently got news that undid at least one of the knots in his stomach. He got some grass and some people at the station. He was already in a better space to accept you. Although I'm sure you getting turned helped him realize he could connect with you, so there was definitely some influence."

He's not going to argue how Malcolm felt about it, but he does want him to have full context. "Maggie...I talked to her, too. I understand that less. Probably because she has a whole pack of people already. But she hasn't decided for sure yet, either. There's a lot of apocalypse habits she'd have to get past."

He shakes his head. "Ultimately, I don't think that matters. You just need to know what you want out of this change, and we can work on it together. You don't have to be 'good' to anyone else's standard but your own. I do think Lark's pack has less...structure than you might've assumed, but there's nothing saying we can't add to it some ourselves."