I gotta say I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Much more to come! Please please please read and review! Thanks again and enjoy!
"You're alive. You're alive." Eve said as she clutched Whitney's face in her hands, "What are you doing here?" Eve said laughing as the tears streamed down her face. She couldn't even begin to describe how happy she was. Whitney laughed as tears came down like rivers, "I never thought I would see you again…" Whitney said breathlessly. Eve took her into her arms again and Whitney held on even tighter. Abraham cleared his throat, "Would ya like to enlighten us Eve?"
"This is my cousin…my cousin Whitney." Eve said smiling wildly. Michonne put her katana down, she was flabbergasted; this was not something you see every day in this world. Most people's families were obliterated and never to be reunited again. Daryl smiled slightly, "Well hell, no wonder I liked you." He said pushing Whitney playfully, "C'mere Badass." Eve smiled wider and hugged Daryl with all her might. She had missed him so much. She looked at the four of them, "How did you find my cousin?"
"She kinda found us." Daryl said looking at Whitney. She smiled at him and hugged Eve again, "I can't believe it's you!" Eve laughed and held onto her tighter. Just then Rick walked up to see the others back and Eve holding onto a young woman and crying. He looked at all of them with confused eyes and Daryl cleared his throat as if to get Eve's attention. It didn't seem to faze her and she continued to hold onto Whitney and cry. Rick went over to them gently and touched Eve's shoulder, "Who is this?" Eve looked and saw it was Rick. He saw her green eyes, wet and big with tears, "My cousin. My cousin Whitney."
A few hours later, Whitney, Daryl, Rick, Michonne and Eve were sitting in Rick and Eve's living room. Rick wanted to know about what had happened and Daryl needed to tell him. Judy was in bed and Carl had met Whitney and then went his own way. Eve sat next to Whitney with Michonne and Daryl and Rick were seeming to have their own conversation on the other side of the room. Eve didn't care, she just wanted to be with her cousin. "Where have you been? What happened to your parents? To the rest of our family?" Eve tried to say as gently as possible. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Whitney. Whitney took a deep breath and then looked at Eve, "You know what happened. Probably the same thing that happened to your parents." Eve looked down and Michonne reached over and squeezed her hand gently. "We stayed together as long as possible in Birmingham…until we got ambushed…at our house. I tried to get them to leave so many times, but they wouldn't do it. My dad just kept saying, if I'm going to die I'll die in my own home." Whitney wiped a tear, she hadn't thought about all of that for a while but being with Eve again was bringing things up. "After that, I went out on my own, I didn't have a choice." Eve nodded, the exact same thing had happened to her. "I was trying to get to Atlanta because everyone was saying that there was help there…and I knew you were there too." Whitney said. Eve nodded and Whitney continued, "After a while and a few people along the way, I found a group…a group that I thought would protect me…" Eve could see the look in Whitney's eyes and knew this was hard to talk about. Rick and Daryl walked over and sat down in front of them. Rick looked at Whitney, "Daryl told me there are people after you? The people on the bikes?" Eve looked at him and then at Daryl, "People on bikes?"
"It's ok Badass, I blew 'em up." Daryl said casually. Eve narrowed her eyes and Daryl responded, "Long story." Eve just nodded back and said, "People are after you?" Whitney took a deep breath and blew it out. Daryl then said, "She was hiding from them when I found her…they seemed to really want you back. Enough to send others after you." Daryl tried to say as gently as possible. He could tell Whitney's breathing had changed and she did not want to discuss this. "We have to know who they are. If they've come after you twice, they'll come after you again and now they are after us." Rick said too as calmly as possible. Whitney quietly said, "I'm sorry. I never meant to involve anyone else…"
"Whitney, you're family." Eve said as she grabbed her hand, "But we do need to know about these people. Rick's right they will be after us."
"Oh I know they will." Whitney said still looking at the ground. "Who is Negan?" Rick said deliberately. Eve didn't know what he was talking about, but figured it was something he and Daryl had spoken about earlier. Whitney shook her head, and Eve grabbed her hand, "It's ok."
"Negan is the leader of the Saviors." Whitney said as she looked at Rick and Daryl. "The Saviors." Michonne repeated under her breath, this was all sounding far too familiar. "The Saviors are the group that were after me, they're the group I ran away from…Negan…he's our…their leader." They all looked at her to go on, Eve giving an extra squeeze of encouragement. "Negan…he intimidates other groups…"
"Intimidates?" Rick said narrowing his eyes. Daryl replied, "We saw a bit of that on the road. The guy with the bike…he told us everything we had belonged to Negan. He wanted to come back to Alexandria…see what we have here."
"That's what they do. They force other groups to pledge allegiance…allegiance to Negan. Take their supplies, people…whatever they want. He takes over and in return he protects them." Whitney said flatly.
"Sounds like a real asshole." Daryl said. Whitney smiled at him, she needed that. He smiled back slightly and Eve immediately noticed and looked at both of them. Whitney took another breath, "But the groups…the groups he 'protects', he's not really protecting he's just taking. I've seen him take wives from husbands…" Eve replied, "What?"
"Everything is his, see." Whitney responded with force. "People are his. Women are his. That's his favorite." Whitney shuddered and the rest of them had a feeling of what was to come, "That's why I left, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to get out, and I was willing to die before I went back. I'm never going back." Daryl responded before Eve could get out what she was going to say, "You're not going back." Eve saw the two of them look at each other and she was shocked. She never saw Daryl like this, it was very new. Rick nodded to himself and said, "Ok. We've all had a long night. Whitney if you don't mind, can we discuss more tomorrow? For now, I think we all need some rest." Rick looked at Eve and she knew what he meant. She nodded too and Whitney said, "Sure, I can tell you whatever you need to know." They all stood except for Whitney and Eve. Michonne looked at Whitney, "It was nice to meet you. Don't worry you're safe here." Whitney smiled and her and nodded. Michonne hugged Eve and headed out the door. Daryl looked at Whitney briefly as did she and said, "See ya tomorrow."
"Thank you Daryl." Whitney said as they locked eyes. He nodded and headed out of the door too. Rick sighed and then said, "Well, I'll leave you to it, I'm sure you both have a lot to talk about."
"Thank you Rick. Thanks for taking me in." Whitney said to him and quickly got up and hugged him. Eve smiled and Rick nodded as he hugged her back, "Of course." Eve looked at Rick and said, "I'll be up in a minute." Rick nodded and headed up the stairs.
Whitney and Eve had talked for hours; about their family, what had happened after the dead became alive. Eve told her all about the prison and how she met the others and then what had happened when the governor attacked the prison and her meeting Morgan, and finally getting reunited with Rick and the others. Whitney told her about the Saviors and how she came to be part of their group. She kept quiet about some things, Eve knew, but ever since they were small Whitney told what she wanted at her own timing. Eve knew she would come around. They had cried, and they had laughed. Eve teased Whitney about her weird little relationship with a certain Daryl Dixon, which Whitney only blushed and shoo shooed off. It was three in the morning when Eve finally left Whitney comfortable in the downstairs guest room and made her way to bed. She opened the door as quietly as possible and saw Rick's sleeping form in their bed. She went to bathroom quietly and washed her face, brushed her teeth and changed. She entered their room again tip toeing to not wake him. She knew he was asleep because he was lightly snoring which made Eve smile a little. She crept into bed, his back was to her. She had missed him so much that day, they hardly hadn't seen each other at all, which was not in the norm. She knew he was probably still upset with her. He had a right to be and she wanted to make it right. She didn't like this distance between them. He had also welcomed her cousin with open arms and at that thought she sweetly wrapped her arms around him from behind and snuggled into his neck. He felt him stir a little but not fully wake up. She then got closer and kissed his neck and whispered, "I'm sorry." She buried her face into his neck and heard him sigh. She felt his hands in hers and she brought him closer, "I am so sorry Rick." She whispered again against his neck. He rolled over to face her and brought her in. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck again, kissing it sweetly. He reached up and brought her face to his lips and kissed her passionately. She threw her hands in his hair and reciprocated with more vigor. Damnit she had missed him. His hands roamed farther south and she smiled against his lips, "I love you." She said. He kissed her again rolling her over to get on top of her gently. He said against her mouth, "I love you." They began kissing furiously and Eve felt Rick pull her panties down and off. She moaned and smiled as she moved his underwear down with her small feet. Rick chuckled a little at that maneuver and she felt his hand cup her spot. She moaned and pushed her head back and up into the pillow as he kissed her neck. Their lips met again as she felt him gently enter her, making her head swim. She moaned against his mouth and he moved gently inside of her making her cry out softly. She grabbed into his back, her fingers sinking into his skin and she brought him deeper inside her. Rick moaned against her neck and then looked at her. Their eyes met and Eve muttered again breathlessly as he moved inside her, her hips meeting his, "I'm sorry." Rick smiled and kissed her then held his finger to her lips briefly before kissing her again.
It was around four thirty in the morning now and Eve and Rick were still awake, talking to each other. Eve was snuggled in his chest and Rick laid his head on hers. "You and Whitney must have had a lot to talk about." Rick said as he kissed the top of her head. She nodded against his chest and said, "I still can't believe it…" Rick smiled against her hair and pulled her in closer. "There's something she's not telling me though…about this Negan guy."
"What do you think it is?" Rick said. Eve shook her head and said, "I don't know…but whatever it is its bad because she is terrified of him." Rick moved her face to look at him, "Whatever it is we'll deal with it, and we'll deal with him and his…group. What kind of name is the Saviors…?" Rick smiled a quirky smile, he was trying to make her laugh which was appreciated. Eve giggled and said, "Who the hell knows."
"Why not the Redeemers?" Rick said smiling and Eve laughed out loud and rolled on top of him. "The Guardians." Eve said in a silly upscale British accent. Rick laughed and said in a deep scary voice, "The Defenders." Eve laughed again and nuzzled into his chin, kissing along his jawline. Rick smiled and brought her to his mouth again. He moved her hair out of her face and tucked the dark strand behind her ear, "I missed you today." Eve kissed his hand and said, "Me too." Rick could tell she was about to apologize again and said, "Don't say it again." Eve laughed and kissed him and said, "I really didn't mean what I said…you know that right?"
"Yes." Rick said, "Its ok." Eve nodded and then said, "I love you so much." Rick smiled again and took her mouth and then said, "I know you do." Eve laughed against his mouth and said, "Oh really?" she picked one of her eyebrows up and he giggled and said, "I know I'm pretty irresistible." Eve pushed him playfully and he grabbed her and rolled her over again, making her playfully scream.
