It was morning of the next day and there was a meeting to decide what to do about Aaron and Alexandria. Everyone had to attend. Raelynn made her way to the house where Aaron was being held, tied up for their safety, tied up just as she was when they first met. She entered the house and the majority of the group was already there and eyed her as she made her entrance. They were seated in the living room, or what it used to be in the normal world. Blankets were scattered around the room, recently used for sleep and warmth. The couches were already taken by Carl, Abraham and Eugene. The others of the group, stood around the room, their arms across their chest or by their sides. In the middle of the room, surveying the people around him, Rick waited for them to get settled. Raelynn stood near the hallway as she leaned against the wall and stared down, fixated on the floor.
"Where is he?" asked Carl to his father, "The guy that talked to you earlier." Raelynn thought the same thing, but didn't bother to ask. She wasn't in the position to ask anything because there was no trust - or maybe not enough - on either end.
"He's in the next house with Michonne. I don't want him listenin' to what we're gonna discuss," Rick explained. Carl nodded.
"Shouldn't she be here?" Abraham asked, "Hell, it's her idea for all this." Rick thought for a moment, running his hand over his very large and bushy beard, then he nodded and looked to the person closest to the door.
"You're right," he said in his deep authoritative voice, the voice of a leader, "Raelynn, get Michonne. Tell her to come over, you can take over the watchin' 'im. Alright?" Without a word, Raelynn sluggishly nodded and headed out but not without feeling the stares in the back of her head. After she closed the door behind her, she made her way to the neighboring house with slow steps. It was only fair. It was obvious that she would be the one to go and watch the prisoner as the others decided his face and, at the same time, decided their own fate as well. It wasn't just the fact that she was closest to the door to get Michonne. She shouldn't be a part of the discussion because what did her opinion do? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Even though she did start to get close to a few members of the group, Raelynn didn't feel welcome. And, she wasn't sure if she wasn't to be welcome. Then again, she hasn't felt much else except anger in the past few days. Well, no. That was a lie, she felt something else. She was a lying pile of confusion.
Raelynn opened the door to the house next door and checked around, room by room on the first floor, to see where Michonne and Aaron were. She had a feeling - call it hunch - that they were in the upper level and so Raelynn made her way up the wooden and creaky stairs. She went to the first door on the left and found Aaron sitting on the floor, his hands bound behind his back, and his head laid against the wall and his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful, not for much longer. Michonne was seated on a chair across from him, watching the intruder. At the new sign of movement, the dark skinned samurai looked up and met the eyes of the newcomer.
"Rick wants you," Raelynn said flatly and gestured with a flick of her head toward the prisoner, "I'll watch him." Michonne eyed Raelynn for a few seconds.
"Look," Raelynn said again when Michonne didn't get up, "I know you don't trust me. You don't exactly make it much of a secret. But I'm just following what Rick said to do. You should do the same." Michonne didn't say anything and the two stared at each other, wondering who would cave in first. It turned out to be Michonne. She nodded and stood up, swinging her katana over her shoulder in its holster. Without a word, Michonne made her way past Raelynn.
"Don't worry," Raelynn said just as Michonne was by the doorway, "I won't kill him." Michonne didn't say a word and continued on her way, out of the door and down the stairs until the front door closed. Raelynn sat down on the chair where the other survivor once sat, and probably the others that once lived in that house as well. But odds are the people who once lived in the house were dead, long gone. they were either dead or undead and she didn't know which was a worse fate. She even thought that living in this world was a fate worse than death sometimes. But in that moment, she didn't think that at all, She looked over at Aaron, still with his eyes closed as if he was dreaming peacefully. She was happy to be alive in that moment because there was Aaron, the person she had thought of for so long in her last few weeks in Bruce's camp after his visit. The person she thought of killing just a few weeks ago. And, as if he could hear her inner thoughts, he began to stir and rub at his eyes with his fists. He opened one eye, adjusting to the light and pressed a hand to his temple. He groaned and opened his other slightly swollen eye, adjusting that one to the light as well and his new surroundings. His eyes finally made his environment clear and noticed the new person that guarded him, the very familiar face. Those brown eyes widened. Raelynn heard his breathing get caught in his throat as she eyed him and crossed one leg over the other while she sat across from him.
"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost," she said slyly, "You don't remember me, do you Aaron? That's a shame, because I remember you." Aaron seemed to shrink into his side of the wall.
"I-It's you, the girl from that other camp," he said in a mixture of confusion and curiosity, "How?"
"How what?" replied Raelynn, "How did I escape? Or how am I still alive after everything you saw at the camp? Because neither one of those answers involved your help like I thought they would." He looked down at the ground and sighed softly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't -"
"It's a little too late for sorry, Aaron," Raelynn interrupted sharply. All the anger from the last few nights all began to pile up against her vocal cords until it was all too much. She let it all out, "How does it feel to be tied up like I was, huh Aaron? Do you remember that? How does it feel to be treated like a prisoner. It's not fun, is it?" She bit her inner cheek to stop the tears from falling. She knew they would come back with a vengeance, and here they were. But Aaron couldn't see her cry, not before she got the chance to tell him everything she kept bottled up.
"Let me tell you something, Aaron. I tried finding you after I left," she explained in a soft, almost calm voice. "I tried to find you or Alexandria. Either one would work, but I wanted you most of all. I wanted to find you. I wanted to find you and hurt you, maybe even kill you," she growled as she ran a hand through her hair, pulling at it. Aaron looked up at her when their eyes met, she lost it, "I wanted you dead! I wanted to be the one that killed you, not the fucking walkers. I wanted to do it because of what you did!" Aaron looked away and avoided her eyes but he knew they were burning holes into him from her anger.
"You didn't just see a girl tied up and beat. You saw me, Aaron. You saw me! You saw me tied up with chains, like an animal." She could still feel the cold metal against her wrists and her ankles. She didn't know how Bruce got a hold of it but he decided to use chain because, no matter how much it burned and made her skin bleed, she would escape from her rope restraints to steal food or find a weakness in their pack system.
"You saw how they treated me, how they took turns beating me when Bruce told his men to, he didn't care. He thought it was a game and oh, how he loved to play. Do you know what was their favorite way to play? I'd say starvation but I could be wrong. I went two months without nothing to eat but leaves on the ground around me and water that Bruce made his men give me to keep me alive," Raelynn grew dangerously passive aggressive. She had a slight playfulness in her tone but inside, she was dying. She was dying from reliving the memories but she had to let it out. She had to tell Aaron all that she's been wanting to say to him, "Why not just kill me, right? Why keep me alive if all he did was beat me. He broke a bone more than once, but they had a nurse in the group so they didn't worry. He could've killed me any chance he got. But he didn't want to, do you know why Aaron? Because he needed me and I needed to stay alive. He knew that. I was their fucking slave, Aaron. I had to do every fucking thing they ordered me to do. If I didn't, he would've-"
"Stop! Please," Aaron pleaded, a tear falling down his swollen eye. Raelynn got up from her chair in a hard shove, up to her feet. She crouched down to his level and looked at him, glared at him.
"It hurts, doesn't it? Imagine the actual pain, Aaron. Imagine it. So, why didn't you help? Don't say you didn't know because you knew what was going on the second you saw me on my knees chained up. Why didn't you do what I asked!" she yelled, "I begged you goddammit. I know you heard me, I know you did even if I whispered it!" She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to her eyes so she would burn right through his.
"Why didn't you help them? Why didn't you take them with you? Why, Aaron?" Aaron lifted his head, his eyes glistening with new tears. They were so different, those two pairs of eyes. Hers were a dark brown - almost black in color - filled with rage and depression. His were a light brown filled with remorse and confusion. He was silent, completely distraught over what she had said but she didn't care. She continued to speak her mind.
"I didn't care about me or my life," Raelynn said, looking at Aaron, "I didn't care if I died. I knew Bruce was going to kill me eventually. I just needed them safe. I needed them away, so they couldn't see. They saw too much already, I didn't need them to see me dead. I needed them with you," she said desperately. She gripped his shirt so hard, shaking him roughly, she thought she was going to rip it right off, "I begged you, Aaron. I took a damn big risk talking to you. I was beat like hell for it. I asked you, I begged to you on my knees to take them away and you left, like a coward. That's what you are, a fucking coward." Raelynn released him and he fell in a slump, looking up at her. He was silent and she released a deep breath she forgot she was holding inside. She shook, her hands shook, her legs struggled to keep her up. She felt a tear run down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away and sat down on the chair across from him. There. She said it. She said it to his face, finally. What a relief it was, a bittersweet relief.
"Did they-"
"Shut up," she cut him off in a cracked voice, "Don't tell anyone about what happened then, got it? It's none of their business. This stays between you and me," and then she added in a whisper, "Don't make me regret letting you live. Don't run away again when I ask you to do something for me. Do this one thing for them. Tell no one." Aaron hesitated but when they heard the front door open, signaling someone was coming, and she looked at him, waiting for an answer, he nodded.
The two heard the footsteps approach the door and waited for the person to reveal themselves. Raelynn watched as Daryl came into the room, his crossbow over his shoulder and a jacket over his angel wing vest. His gaze met hers and her once hard expression softened ever so slightly, she barely noticed it herself. But when she did, she looked away. He looked away as well and remained by the door as he turned his gaze to Aaron who closed his eyes once again.
"He okay?" she heard him say in his gruff southern accent that was very distinguishable as Daryl's. She cleared her throat and nodded.
"Yeah," she replied, standing up, hoping her legs were better to keep her steady, "We were just having a little chat."
"'Bout what?" She shrugged and when she didn't reply right away, Daryl looked at her, turning his body towards her as well. She kept her eyes to the ground, going in and out of thought as she walked towards the door, where Daryl stood.
"That place he came from. What's the name again?"
"Alexandria," Daryl muttered and Raelynn nodded as she leaned against the door frame.
"Right. Well, what did your group decide?" Daryl looked at the intruder, who continued to have his eyes closed but he squirmed on the door and his face was pained.
"Michonne and I are gonna check it out wit' him," Daryl explained with a jerk of his head toward Aaron, "If it checks out, we'll be back to bring everybody else by mornin'." There was a pause and silence except for the heaviness in the air from each other's presence. Daryl stole a glance at her, "If it's real, you gonna come wit' us?"
Raelynn smirked and nodded as she wiped at her eyes again absentmindedly. She hoped her eyes were red and swollen from the tears that escaped. She hoped he didn't notice if she let another escape, so she tried to wipe them away before they were visible.
"Yeah," she said, her voice breaking a little. She tried to smirk and look at him and hoped there was a playful glint in her eye and not deep depression.
"Someone's gotta keep saving your ass, redneck," she teased and pushed her way through the door. Daryl grunted (she figured out that they were indeed grunts of amusement), and Raelynn saw the expression from the night before, the soft eyes of gray and blue pools that stared back at her.
Then she remembered last night, the sudden way their lips touched. The way they both didn't move away, from either shock or fear. The way Raelynn felt her lips move against his ever so slightly and then his responded slowly and carefully, like two inexperienced teenagers. How they abruptly pulled away and became so quiet, how they didn't look at each other. How neither of them moved farther away from the other. How neither of them spoke for the remainder of their time on the roof until Daryl left to hunt. And as Raelynn looked at Daryl and he looked at her by the doorway, neither of them brought it up again. She nodded to him and left him to bring Aaron downstairs so they could leave before it got too dark. No apology, no jokes, no explanation. It was forgotten. It was just as if it never happened, just as it was supposed to be.
A/N: I scared myself writing this chapter. I get a bit too into Raelynn's character, I can practically feel her emotions running through my fingers when I write an emotional scene like this one. I really enjoy them.
Questions for my lovely readers: Would you like the chapters with less description? More dialogue? I try to stay in their character and how I believe their character would act, like Daryl being very quiet and their inner thoughts. But I would like to know your input, thank you!
What's your opinion on Raelynn?
Also, sorry if I talk a lot about eyes when it comes to Daryl and Raelynn. But, I like the idea that the eyes are the doorway to the soul and they're both trying to discover what's hidden underneath the other, trying to find out about the soul behind the body because they're both hiding so much from each other. Plus, I just love to describe Norman Reedus' eyes, they're so piercing and a gorgeous shade of blue.
