A/N: Thank you so much for the new reviews and followers and favorites! It feels great! This chapter I kind of don't know where I'm going with it. It just sort of popped up in my head, so I'm taking this slow lol
Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light
To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
No, no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up
-Never Grow Up (Taylor Swift)
Annie glances around Aasim the next day while watching Hallie and Kelly go off with the other kids. She knew they wanted time to play with the others considering they hadn't seen any other kids their age in who knows how long. Everyone was out and doing their jobs. She noticed some people from Daryl's group doing what they had to do, where they had to be.
Looking back to where she was last night, she realizes that she could be helping out some people instead of just standing around. About to walk over, she looks at Jill and smiles. She was playing with a little girl in a white sundress. She had blonde hair that was up in a high ponytail and her skin was light, not like Jill's tan skin that she had.
She waves the little girl to go off and play with the other kids on the playground and she nods, running to the slide where Hallie was. Jill smiles off at her and stands up, watching her go. Annie raises an eyebrow, walking over to her. She stands next to her while she looks off at the little girl. She clears her throat and Jill looks over at her surprised.
"Have a little girl, huh?" she asks slyly. Jill laughs, shaking her head.
"No, she's not mine…well, not biologically and uh-" Annie rolls her eyes at her.
"It's ok to admit she's yours, Jill," she says to her. Jill looks down and sighs.
"She's an orphan," she says quietly. Annie's eyes widen.
"She is?" Jill nods sadly.
"Yeah. I've been with her since the beginning. I found her in a baby's carriage in the middle of the woods with two dead bodies near it. There was a note that said 'Please take care of her. We couldn't.' And I've been doing that." Annie nods, a sad look on her face.
"Jeez. That's tough. How old is she?" she asks. Jill shrugs.
"When I found her she looked like she was barely a year old. So I'm guessing she's about three now. She looks it." Annie nods, looking at the little girl.
"Yeah, she does. What's her name?" Jill smiles.
"Ariel," she replies. Annie chuckles. She thought back to the orphanage and how she and Jill used to watch 'The Little Mermaid' almost every night when they were younger.
"So, like the little mermaid?" she asks. Jill laughs.
"Basically. I showed her a picture of it and she smiled at it when she was younger. So I named her Ariel. I thought it suited her." Annie snorts.
"She looks nothing like the girl but whatever you say," she chuckles, looking over at all the kids playing. She sees Kelly and Hallie talking to Ariel, and then Hallie leading Ariel up the ladder so they could go down the slide. Kelly runs off to the other side and begins to talk to a girl that looked like her age, with short black hair and green eyes. She sort of looked like a mini female version of Harry Potter. God, she missed reading those books. A sudden thought crosses over her mind. "Hey, has Blake been taking care of her as well?" she asks. Jill shrugs her shoulders.
"I guess. He feeds them and protects them. Isn't that all they have to do?" she asks. Annie raises bot her eyebrows this time and just stares at her.
"No…that's not what they only do," she practically yells, but lowers her voice to not attract attention. "Fathers are there for kids when they need them. When they need a shoulder to cry on. When they need help to know what to say or just need someone to sleep on. They are there to love them. Not just to give them food. Not just to protect them." Jill glares at her.
"You've never even had a father! How would you know?! At least I HAD a FAMILY!" she whispers fiercely at her. Annie's eyes widen slightly at this, feeling tears prickle slightly at the corner of her eyes, but shakes her head.
"I may not have been adopted, but I did get out. And I've seen real fathers. The one you had must not have been good enough. And I have a family, thank you." Jill snorts.
"What? That redneck and two kids that aren't even yours?" Annie feels anger start to travel through her body, but holds back the punch she wanted the throw at Jill. She was being irrational and stupid.
"Yes, they are," she grinds through her teeth. "More of a family I have ever had in my life. I love them with all my life." She places a hand on Jill's shoulder. "Jill, you're my family too. You were my first friend. My first person I ever felt good about. Not to mention you were sort of my first love," she chuckles. Jill snickers and looks down at the ground. Annie's eyes narrowed. That always got Jill. Something was wrong. "Jill, you always laugh at that. What's wrong?" Jill looks away. "Jill you can always tell me."
"I can't," she whispers, looking back up. Annie sees that she had a few tears streaming down her face. Annie gives her a stern glare and places both of her hands on her shoulders.
"Jill, you're terrible at lying. We both know that. Now TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON," she whispers fiercely.
"It's…It's Blake," she says finally. Annie looks closer.
"What about him?"
"He…He hasn't been treating me right," she mumbles, looking down. Annie squeezes her shoulders that causes her to look back up.
"What do you mean?" she hisses.
"He's been…touching me when I don't want him to. Been…hurting me…and he says if he didn't get to me he would get to Ariel next," she cries, clinging on Annie's shoulders. She felt Jill shake from the sobs that racked her body and Annie felt her arms tighten around Jill's waist, pulling her closer to her. Blake was beating her?
She looks over and sees him come out. He acted so…sweet…the other night. So active to protect someone, anyone. Now that she knew this. He looks over at her and waves good morning. She offers a forced smile at him and pulls back from Jill, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"He's out here right now. But of don't worry. This isn't the end of this. I'll talk to him." Jill's eyes widen and she shakes her head.
"No! Don't say anything to him or else he'll try for you next and-" Annie places a hand on her mouth, stopping her in her speech.
"Jill, I care about you just as much as I care about Daryl and the kids. You're my family. I love you. You're my sister." Jill looks up at this and smiles. "I don't need this for you. I'm going to stop this. You just wait. You and Ariel will be safe." Jill begins to speak when the devil himself comes over.
"Good morning, ladies," Blake says, coming next to Jill and placing am arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Jill practically looks like she was about to throw up and Annie offers her a smile to comfort her slightly. She was not going to let anymore of this happen. Not while she was still alive and standing.
"Good morning, Blake," she says to him. "Are any groups heading out today to go and get supplies? Perhaps maybe someone to help?" Blake shrugs.
"Anywhere that needs help you can help. I'm sure you can help anyone around here. Daryl told me you have a lot of skill." She nods.
"I do. I'm happy to offer them to anyone who needs them." Blake nods.
"As for people heading out today, we already have a team going to a mall near us to bring back some supplies for us. Any suggestions?" She shakes her head still keeping her façade up so he wouldn't see she would kill him in his sleep.
"No, but might I know who's heading out today?" she asks.
"Well, Nickson and Nicky are heading out, as well as Glenn, Ping, Michael, Rick, and Daryl." Her eyes widen at this. He hadn't told her he was leaving!
"He's going!?" she asks, now a bit scared at this. Blake chuckles and places a hand on her shoulder. She immediately stiffens under his touch and looks at him.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's tough." She looks at him and notices something pass through his eyes that she really did not like, but she dismissed it for that moment. "I'm pretty sure they haven't left yet. They're right by the town hall." She needed to see him.
"Thanks for telling me!" she replies quickly. "I'll see you later Jill," she says to her, and offers her one last smile. Jill forces one on her face and Annie takes off. Before she could run through town hall to get to them, she offers one last glance back at them and sees they were talking, and Jill had a look of pure discomfort on her face. Annie would not let anymore of this happen.
When Annie makes it to the other side, she sees the group that was heading out to wherever they were going getting ready to leave. She walks over and sees that Daryl was talking to Rick about something, but she immediately comes up next to him and pulls him back, surprising him. He glances back at her and sees that she was up. He didn't think she would be up this early.
"I'm sorry, Rick. But I have to have a little bit of talk with Daryl right now." Rick sees the small look of panic come over Daryl's features but chuckles and steps away.
"Talk all you want, Annie," he says, walking to the other side of the truck to converse with the others. Daryl glares at him for a moment before turning to Annie.
"Morning," he says cheekily. She glares at him.
"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving with the group to go out today?" she whispers fiercely at him. "I wake up and find you're not there. You can at least tell me this stuff, Dixon!" He rolls his eyes and takes her off to the side where they wouldn't be heard.
"The only reason why I did was because I didn't need ya worrying about me," he states to her, and she places her hands on her hips.
"I always worry!" she says to him. "I'm your girlfriend. Of course I'm going to worry. What about Kelly and Hallie? What if you didn't come back?" she says, feeling her voice crack a bit. "What would I tell them?" she ends in a whisper.
"Ya don't have to tell them anything because I'm comin' back, whether ya like it or not," he says, taking her chin in his hand in tilting her head upward. "So ya don't need to worry about nothin'." She looks up at him and sighs, shaking her head.
"I'm coming with you," she says suddenly, trying to get to the truck, but he holds out a hand to stop her from going anywhere.
"No you're not," he says, pushing her back. She glares at him.
"Why? I could help and-"
"Ya just can't, Annie," he states, taking her back from the truck. She looks at him and sees he really didn't want her to go. For what reason, she had no clue, but she reluctantly nods.
"Fine, I'll stay," she mumbles. "But you better get your ass back here safe," she mumbles. He chuckles and takes her face in his hands and kisses her on the lips, to which she replies happily. The thought of Jill crosses her mind again and she pulls back.
"What's wrong?" he asks seeing her pained face.
"Daryl-"
"Daryl, we have to go!" Nickson yells at him. Nicky knocks him in the side.
"Can't you see they're having an intense conversation?" she says to him. 'Thanks Barbie,' Annie thinks internally. Nickson rolls his eyes.
"Intense conversations won't keep dinner on the table or keep people un-sick." Asshole.
"Tell me later, darlin'," he says to her, kissing her one last time. She sighs into it and when he pulls back she finds herself already missing him. He starts to walk to the truck before she stops him with her voice.
"Hey!" she says to him. He turns around and meets her gaze. "I love you," she says quietly. To what she knew, that was the first time she said it in front of people. He looks down at the ground for a second before looking back up and meeting her gaze again.
"I love ya too," he replies, and walks back over to the truck, going into the passenger seat of the car. Rick smirks at him, having heard they're little conversation. Daryl glares at him and punches his shoulder. "Shut the hell up, man," he mutters. Rick laughs and starts up the car.
"Ready to get this done?" he asks. Daryl nods, placing his feet up on the dashboard.
"Ready," he replies. The truck begins to go off and Annie stares at the dirt it leaves behind. She watches it until it's out of the gates and into the unknown world. She wouldn't stop worrying for a second. Not for Daryl or for Jill.
The sun had begun to set later in the day, Annie in the infirmary with Rachel and Beth. Annie had noticed that Beth seemed to be on the younger side of things. She looked like she was around nineteen or twenty, maybe twenty one. And she looked like she was taking care of Judith like she was her own. But Annie knew that Judith was Ricks kid.
Annie hears Rachel groan as she gets up from her spot on the floor. She had been looking for the right medicine for this kid the whole day. Annie smirks.
"Been a rough day, huh?" she asks. Rachel shakes her head.
"The roughest," she states. "I think we've had more kids in here today then we have in the past week!" She shakes her head and goes over to one of the cots where some of her supplies lay. "I literally need a day. So much work."
"Yeah, how long have you been in this place?" Annie asks. Rachel shrugs.
"Since the beginning. I was with Blake before all of this, in his group. And then we found Jill and the rest of hers, and then it kind of just developed from there. I've been head nurse in this group from the start." Annie nods and looks back to where she was filling up the bottles.
"Must be hard," she comments. Rachel snorts.
"With all the kids getting injured around here? Oh yeah. Hey, I heard you have a horse. Crackers, his name is?" Beth looks up from feeding Judith.
"You have a horse?" she asks. Annie chuckles and shrugs her shoulders.
"Well, he wasn't mine before all of this. But Daryl and I found him all alone in this old barn or shelter or whatever it was. He's been with me for a couple of months now."
"How'd you name him Crackers?" Rachel asks, chuckling at the name.
"I literally was pulling out a bag of Crackers and I thought it would be a good name for a horse," she laughs. "And it stuck. I guess for the horse as well." Both laugh.
"What does he look like?" Beth asks. Annie shrugs.
"Kind of looks like a horse a knight in shining armor would ride up on. All white and shit." Rachel burst out laughing and lays her head against the cot to catch her breath. Annie looks over with a furrowed brow but an amused smile. "What? What's so funny?" she asks, chuckling slightly. Rachel shakes her head.
"No, no. Just your knight in shining armor doesn't seem to be all that knightly," she chuckles, referring to Daryl. Annie lets a small smirk cross her face at that remark.
"Well…he's my knight. Saved me plenty of times." Beth nods.
"Daryl had a tendency to do that. How did you two even get together in the first place? He doesn't seem like the type to just fall in love. Always so…rough around the edges." Annie snorts at her comment.
"Everyone's able to fall in love. I mean, it wasn't at first sight. I know that. In fact, at first he sort of annoyed me. Underestimated me. But I proved him wrong. Boy did I," she chuckles. Rachel cocks her head a bit.
"Now did you find him or did he find you?" she asks.
"He found me. I was being held by this man because I messed around a bit and he saved me. After that we were together. We didn't actually kiss until like a month later after a lot of stuff happened. But that month was fun. And it's been like that since."
"Have you two done it yet?" Rachel asks. Annie's cheeks redden at the statement.
"Yeah," she mumbles.
"Is he good?" Beth asks. Annie groans and places her head in her hands.
"Yeah," she says a bit louder, and the two girls chuckle at her reaction.
"Just asking," Rachel says, going back to her pills. "And how did you find the kids? I'm sure they're not yours." Annie shakes her head.
"They're not mine. I found them locked up in a closet. Kelly was pointing a gun at me. Thinking I was going to hurt her sister. Those two have a rough past. I guess when Daryl and I came along we sort of fixed it for them." Beth cocks her head.
"What sort of past?" Annie was about to answer when the sound of a baby crying stopped her. Rachel sighs.
"That's Mia," she sighs, shaking her head. Beth gets up.
"I'll take care of her-" But Annie puts an arm out to stop her.
"You already have Judith. I'll get her back to sleep. I got this." Beth smiles at her and nods, and Annie heads off to the other room where they kept the small baby. Rachel had told her they had found her in an abandoned car by herself. The parents must have gotten bit. Or been killed. Either way they kept her alive and brought her here.
She walks inside and sees the baby going back and forth and walks forward, taking her from her crib. Hot tears ran down her eyes. Annie smiles soothingly at the little girl. "It's ok, Mia. Just a nightmare. Everything's fine," she whispers to her. The baby's cries turn into small, choked sobs slowly, and Annie smiles. "There you go. See? Nothing to fear. Want a song?" she says even softer. The little baby looks at her and for a moment a small grin spread across her face. "I'll take that as a yes," she giggles, thinking of something she could sing to the little girl. Hopefully this time Carol wouldn't intrude. At least she hoped.
'Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear, Yeah
Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right da da da da da da da
She sees Mia's eyes start to close slightly as she rocks her back and forth, nice and slow, while singing her song.
Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right da da da da da da da
It's all right da da da da da da da
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes'
She felt the baby slump in her arms as she falls asleep to the last notes of the song. She smiles and looks down at her. She had hair just like Annie's. Dark brown and wavy. She looked so adorable. Sometimes she wished she could have one of her own, but she knew that in this world that was nearly impossible. She looks out the window and sees the sun finally setting and sighs. Another day she had survived.
"Hey," she hears from the door. She turns around and sees Daryl was leaning against the doorframe. She smiles and walks over to him slightly.
"Hey yourself," she replies. "Did you get what you needed?" He nods and walks over to her.
"Yeah, got enough to keep the area going for the week," he says, then glances down at the small baby in her arms. "Who's she?" he asks. She smiles.
"Mia. One of the orphan kids around here. Still keep her going though. She's a fighter. And a screamer. I got her to get to sleep, though." He nods.
"Heard ya singing to her," he says, and she looks up surprised at this.
"You did?" she asks, and he nods, coming over to her a bit more. "Wow, didn't think you were there," she chuckles.
"I was," he replies, placing his hands in his pockets. She raises an eyebrow.
"You seem out of it. What's wrong?" He shrugs his shoulders nervously and looks at the ground, before looking back up at her. "Daryl, what's wrong?" she asks, placing Mia in her crib and walking over to him, then placing a hand on his shoulder. But he takes it off and places it at her side.
"Look," he says to her. "I ain't too good with this sort of…shit," he says, gesturing to him and Annie, and she furrows her brow. What the heck was he saying? "But I do know that I love ya," he continues. "I love ya so much. And I know I want ya to be mine." She smiles.
"I already am yours, Daryl," she says softly, but he shakes his head and grasps her hand in his.
"I wanted to make it all official and shit," he says softly, and she feels something slip on her finger. She looks down and nearly gasps when she sees a small golden band around it. That was why he didn't want her to go. That was why he didn't tell her. He was out getting this for her. "So-"
She interrupts him by standing up and wrapping her arms around his neck, connecting her lips to his in a passionate kiss, to which he replied by placing his hands on her waist and pulling her closer. "You don't even have to say it," she says against his mouth. "Yes. A thousand times yes." When she pulls back she smiles at him, and he gives her a crooked grin.
"Wait, what did ya want to talk to me about before I left?" he asks. She suddenly looks down and shakes her head.
"I don't want to worry about that now. I'll tell you in the morning. Let's just head back to the house," she says, taking his hand in hers and leading him out of the building. She cared about Jill, but for this moment, she would enjoy it. For as long as it lasted. Tomorrow she would face destiny. But for now, she would just be happy.
Review please? :)