A/N: As promised I am back for an update! Now this chapter is a bit of a long one but I'm very proud of it and I loved writing Aaron into it! I'm exciting for you guys to read it.
Thanks for the faves and follows: iamemma1, rightinthehead, nmusso, Lilween. Also my one reviewer!
Gracie Miserables: HI FRIEND! I cannot believe you are still reading this story it makes me so happy! I was also waiting to get to this bit so I'm very excited for this season and the events of season 6, time to bring on the Jessie drama... meanwhile enjoy this one.
I crept over to Rick's sleeping form just coming to a stop before Judith. She glanced up at me with her blue eyes, thrusting her fist in her mouth. I hadn't seen her smile in a long term and for a baby her age I was worried.
I looked over at the man cradling his daughter proactively, he looked so peaceful and I know he fell asleep after everyone last night. I leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, brushing his hair back in the process.
"I love you Rick Grimes. You're my everything." I whispered, pressing another kiss to his cheek. I leaned back and watched as Judith continued looking at me questioning.
"Come on Judy, I'm gonna make you smile." I lifted Rick's arm up and scooped her up into my own. She dabbled playfully and began grabbing fists of my hair. I walked over to where Daryl was sitting against the wall of the barn and sat down next to him.
"What are you doin'?" Daryl asked gruffly.
"We're just sitting here, aren't we Judith?" I played with her hands.
"Ooh yes we are, yes we are," I brought my forehead to hers.
"Oh you're so cute, yes you are, ooh yes you are!" I blew raspberries on her cheek but no smiles.
"Yeesh tough crowd." I narrowed my eyes at the baby.
"Yeah I wouldn't be laughin' either if you were makin' faces at me Pol." Daryl scoffed.
"I think Uncle Daryl's trying to be funny, isn't he Judith?" I spoke to her.
"I'm trying to make her smile if you must know Dixon, I want her to have a good childhood. Better than mine." I frowned, remembering how down I felt yesterday.
"Better than mine too." Daryl agreed. I looked up at him.
"Merle must've been a handful with Merle as a sibling. I heard about your dad." I looked at Daryl sideways as he said nothing.
"Heard about yours. Are you okay?" He asked as I nodded.
"Some things yesterday just brought up some awful memories. Made me feel something I hadn't in years. Small." I explained softly, pressing a kiss to Judith's forehead.
"I get it." Daryl said. He was probably the only one who did.
"The belt was his favourite. Hot iron when he was in a mood." I pulled down the back of my shirt to show Daryl the scars.
Daryl lifted up the bottom of his jacket and there I saw whip marks and old bruises.
"Belt was my old man's favourite too." Daryl said.
"She won't. Have a childhood like ours. She has Rick, an' Carl. And you." Daryl said, pulling his shirt back down. as I felt my heart strings tug.
"And you." I emphasised holding Judith out to him. The baby in question looked up at him and give him a toothy smile, babbling at him.
"Well how about that." I grinned as she held out her arms for Daryl. It only dawned on me now how big she was growing. I knew Daryl wouldn't be able to resist her.
He took her in his arms and balanced her against his knees.
"Hey lil asskicker." He tapped her cheek lightly, holding her.
"We'll find a place. I know we will. A home." I stated as the rest of the group began to stir from their slumber.
"How do ya know?"
"Because she deserves more. Carl deserves more." I said.
"We may not, we may be stuck like this for a while." Daryl countered, pressing a kiss to Judith's forehead.
"We might, but I have a good feeling Dixon." I patted him on the back watching Rick sit up and look for Judith in a slight panic.
"Grimes," I whisper shouted and he looked at us relieved.
I brushed Daryl's hair back before jumping up and walking across the barn to where Rick was standing.
I reached Rick who's arms snaked around my lower back, pulling me flush against him. His eyes were dark, still heavy from sleep. His T shirt clung to him. I traced his forearms and shoulders with my fingers.
"Hi," I said shyly at our proximity.
"Hey." His hands rubbed up and down my back, sending shivers down my spine.
"Was that you whispering sweet nothings into my ear earlier?" His voice spoke huskily.
"Oh you heard that." I chuckled tucking hair behind my ears.
"Every word." His eyes were bright and full of meaning. All the words left unsaid.
"Are you okay?" He pulled me closer to him, head dipping down until we were inches apart.
"Yeah." I nodded, remembering my breakdown from the day before.
"It still bothers me, I-" struggling to find the words.
"You don't have to explain." Rick said softly.
"I love you too." He dipped his head down further and pressed his lips against mine. It was a soft, sweet kiss.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, to pull him closer, gently tugging on the hairs of his neck.
Rick pulled away from me, but his eyes wanted to throw me against the wall of the barn.
"Don't." His voice growled.
"Don't what?" I shrugged innocently, a smirk playing on my lips.
"You keep pullin' my hair and I don't think I'd be able to stop." He said lowly, as I felt the goosebumps developing on my arms.
I pulled apart from him slightly, my cheeks red from blushing not knowing what to say.
"The others will be waking up soon." I stuttered.
He loosened his grip on my waist and bent down to press a swift kiss to my cheek. When he pulled away there was a faint smirk on his face.
"Please do that more. It suits you." I commented on the smile and gave him one of my own.
"I miss it." I placed my hand on his cheek and rubbed the scruffy beard.
"You too. Beautiful." His words made my heart soar.
He looked at me before walking over to where Daryl was playing with Judith.
...
The rest of the group were awake now. Carol and Abe were fixing and checking the weapons. Glenn and Michonne were sitting against one side of the barn wall.
I watched Carl make himself useful, bringing planks towards the door in case we stayed another night.
Daryl, Rosita and Tara were standing around waiting to leave I could only assume.
Rick was sitting against a wooden support, staring into space. The general mood of our group was still depressing after last night, and his eyes rarely lit up anymore.
I was sat cross legged in front of him, Judith playing with the straws between us.
"No Judy don't put that in your mouth." I gently took the straws from her hands as she looked up at me disdainfully, making me laugh.
"You've definitely got Daddy's scowl down." I glanced at Rick who shot me a look.
The barn door opened and I looked up as Maggie came into view.
"Everyone." She called out and was followed by a man I'd never seen before. Sasha was close behind, her rifle in her hands.
I jumped up and my hand was by my gun holster, walking towards Maggie.
"This is Aaron." Daryl rushed over and patted him down roughly.
"We met him outside and he's on own. We took his weapons and we took his gear." I relaxed and dropped my hand to my side.
Rick watched Aaron apprehensively, Judith protectively in his arms.
In all honestly Aaron looked harmless, but looks were deceiving as we all knew.
"Hi." He spoke looking a little out of his depth. As if on queue Judith started crying, Rick handed her to Carl as Michonne came up beside me.
"It's nice to meet you." Aaron stumbled forwards slightly as his voice faltered.
"You said he had a weapon?" Maggie brought the small gun over to Rick who inspected it in his hands and placed it in his trousers.
"There something you need?" Rick asked.
"He has a camp nearby. He wants us to audition for membership." Sasha scoffed.
"Audition?" I asked incredulously as Aaron's glance focused on me and then my hand which was grasped in Rick's.
"I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're in a dance troupe. That's only Friday nights." Aaron joked, but the tension was palpable.
I fought a smile which was making its way onto my face.
"Um it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions." Aaron emphasised.
"But it's not my call. My job is to convince you all to follow me back home." Hell if that didn't sound like Terminus round 2.
"I know, if I were you I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into." Aaron gestured.
"Rick," I whispered turning him around to face me. I knew what he was thinking, tell Aaron to piss off and send him on his way.
"I'm not saying we should trust him. A community could be like Woodbury with the governer." I said softly.
"But it might not. Let's hear what he has to say." I finished as Rick gave me a barely perceptible nod.
"Sasha can you hand Rick my pack? Front pocket, there's an envelope." He instructed as she brought the rucksack forwards.
Rick began rifling through it.
"There's no way I could convince you by just talking about our community. I apologise in advance for the picture quality we just found an old camera store last-"
"Nobody gives a shit." Daryl interrupted.
"Yes you're 100% right." Aaron nodded turning back to Daryl.
Inside the envelope were pictures and the first showed a large metal wall reinforced by steel poles.
"None of the pictures I show you will matter unless you know you're safe." Aaron said. He explained how the walls were reinforced and I saw glimmers of hope pass between members of the group.
"There's one resource more critical to our community's survival." Aaron continued.
Guns? Weapons?
"The people." I looked at hope as we said the words.
"Together we're strong. You can make us even stronger." He said passionately.
"The next picture-" Rick walked over to him, a stormy look in his eyes and gave him a hard right cross across the face, knocking him out completely.
"Rick!" I shouted walking over to Aaron who was now lying on the floor.
I reached Aaron and checked his pulse, he was breathing evenly and there was no bruise or broken bones in the face.
"What the hell? I thought we were hearing him out." I looked up at the man in question who said nothing. His jaw clenched as he looked at me in surprise.
"Oh no. Do not do this silent angry thing with me." I stood up and glared at him.
"I've heard enough of his bullshit. He could by lyin'." He said and I could tell I struck a nerve.
"Yeah and he might not have been and you may have just ruined our chance to find a place to live." I spat angrily.
"Are you that naive?" Rick asked incredulously.
"Are you kidding me?" I glared.
"You're acting like it Pol, don't be stupid you're smarter than to trust him." He growled.
"Who said anything about trust?" I walked up to Rick, as we continued our screaming match.
"After Woodbury. After Terminus. After everythin' shitty we've been through, you wanna take this chance?" He was losing his temper shouting in my face.
"If I didn't take a chance, I never would've met you or Glenn. If you didnt take a chance, Hershel wouldn't have saved Carl. If you didn't take a chance we wouldn't have Tara, Abe, Rosita and Noah right now Rick." I grounded out.
"This could be a home for all of us. Don't you want Judith to grow up somewhere safe? And Carl to not have to just survive? It's what Lori would've wanted for her kids."
I finished quietly as Rick's face was steaming from anger, he stayed quiet the veins in his forehead bulging. I knew I had taken it a step far with Lori, but I was too pissed to care.
"I'm not the only one who thinks we should hear him out at least." I looked at the rest of the group who were watching us.
"It's not worth the risk." Rick said.
"Not worth the- You know what screw you Grimes." I spat before leaving and slamming the barn door on my way out.
...
It took me about 10 minutes of wacking the tree bark with the machete and cursing Rick to calm down.
His fears weren't unfounded and came from a place with caution and care for us, his family. But Aaron seemed okay, and we owed it to ourselves to check out what he was talking about.
Swallowing my pride and summoning my courage I walked back into the Barn where Aaron's eyes were opening.
Daryl was at the door and looked at me.
"You good?" He asked as I nodded.
The atmosphere in the group was a little tense, but I knew some of them agreed with me.
Rick attempted to make eye contact with me as I purposely avoided his gaze and walked straight past him, to stand by Michonne and Maggie who were leaning over Aaron.
"That was a hell of a right cross Rick." Aaron chuckled then winced in pain.
"Sit him up." Rick instructed as Aaron groaned and Michonne sat him up.
"Before you interrogate him, am I allowed to check the patient over?" I said sarcastically and looked at Rick.
He nodded stiffly. I bent down to Aaron's level who was looking between me and Rick before his gaze landed on me.
I checked his face for any scars and there was a slight bruise from where Rick had clocked him. His pupils weren't dilated and he didn't appear to have a concussion.
"You'll be fine, just a bruise on your cheek. I'd tell you to ice it." I said shortly as Aaron chuckled.
"Thank you, Pol." My eyes shot up to his face in surprise as he said my name.
I moved away and stood by Maggie.
"You're being cautious. I completely understand." Aaron reasoned.
"How many of your people are out there? You have a flare gun. How many are there?" Rick asked.
"Does it matter? Does it matter how many people I tell you are out there? I'm pretty sure now matter what number I say; eight, thirty two, four hundred and forty four, zero. You're not going to trust me." Aaron shook his head despondently.
"Well its hard to trust anyone who smiled after getting punched in the face." Rick mused as I shot him an annoyed look.
"How about a guy who leaves bottles or water for you on the road?" I looked at Aaron in shock. So it was him and he had been following us.
"How long you been followin' us?" Daryl asked lowly.
"Long enough to know you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see despite a lack of food or water, you never turned on each other. You're survivors and you're people. Like I said and I hope you won't punch me for saying it again, that is the most important resource in the world." Aaron finsihed passionately.
I watched Michonne look at Rick thoughtfully. He walked slowly over to Aaron.
"How many others out there?" He asked again.
"One." Aaron answered immediately but Rick looked at apprehensively.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me." He said desperately.
"If words or pictures won't work, what would it take to convince you that this is for real?" Aaron looked at all of us, his gaze settled on me questioningly.
"What if I drove you to the community? All of you, we leave now and we'll get there by lunch." He suggested.
That could work. It would give us a sense of whether he was lying or not. And if anything went badly, we would survive as always but I believe it was a chance we had to take.
"How are all 15 of us going to fit in your car?" Rick asked, as I perked up. so he was considering it
"Me and a friend drove separately so we could bring back a whole group." Aaron defended.
"And you're parked a couple miles away right?" Carol asked.
"East on Ridge Road after you hit Route 16. We wanted to get them closer, but then the storm came, blocked the road. Couldn't clear it." Aaron said.
Everything he was saying made sense.
"Yeah you've really thought this through." Rick drawled.
"Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I'd do it here. You know light the barn on fire as you slept, pick you off as you ran out the only exit. You can trust me." He implored him.
He had a good point.
"I'll check out the cars." Michonne broke the silence and moved closer to Rick.
"There aren't any cars." He grounded out.
"You don't know that." I said lowly moving next to Michonne.
"There's only one way to find out. I'll come with you." I said to Michonne who nodded.
"We don't need to find out." Rick said gruffly.
"We do." I glared at Rick moving closer to him before Michonne placed a hand out to stop me, calming me down.
"You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not. We're not." She gestured for both of us.
"Me neither." Maggie spoke up.
Rick shook his head and looked down before back up at us.
"Your way's dangerous. Mine ain't." He said.
"Pol said it before, but passing up someplace where we can live? Where Judith can live? That's pretty dangerous." Michonne narrowed her eyes at them.
"We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves. So that's what we're gonna do." She said with an air of finality to Rick.
"Then I will too, I'll go." Glenn said.
We looked expectantly at Rick, whether he liked it or not we were gonna find out what this was. We owed it to ourselves.
"Abraham, Rosita." Rick called to them.
"Yeah I'll walk with them." Abe agreed as Rosita followed.
"We'll be outside." Michonne said as I nodded.
"If there's trouble, you got enough firepower?" Rick asked me and Glenn.
"We got what we got." Glenn said, Rick pulle doit and handed him another gun.
"The walkies are out of juice. You're not back in 60 minutes and we'll come. Which might be just what they want." Rick said.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance and nodded. As I began walking away I felt Rick's fingers tracing my wrist. I turned to look at him, the look in his eyes were soft.
"Pol I-" I moved my wrist away from his touch, still annoyed he didn't trust anyone elses words. A look of hurt passed on his face which was quickly replaced by anger.
"Be careful." He said as I nodded stiffly and followed the others outside.
We rejoined the road and walked in silence with the small hope of these community.
"Eyes open everyone. Weapons up. You see someone coming at us, you fire." Glenn instructed.
"Copy that." Abraham replied.
"So if we see someone we just shoot them? What if they're someone like us? What if they're like Aaron? What if they have nothing to do with this?" Michonne fired off questions at Glenn.
"We're five people walking with guns, no one's coming up to say hello." Glenn said.
"That's because we knock out whoever comes to say hello to us." I said sarcastically.
"But that's exactly what happened." Michonne argued.
"He said he was watching us right, so why would he save people like us?" Glenn asked.
I kicked rocks down the road in front of us.
"People like us saved a priest. Saved a girl who rolled up to the prison with a Governor
Saved a crazy lady with a sword." Michonne said as I chuckled looking at her.
"Saved a girl wandering round a city and an idiot in a tank." I nudged Glenn who gave me a hint of a smile.
"And Aaron saw that." I stated.
We continued walking along the small footpath. There were knocked over trees and branches as we came out of the woods and into the road.
There was a single car and a large Caravan - just like Dale's and the thought made me smile. It was meant to be.
"He was right." I smiled looking fondly at the caravan.
"He was telling the truth." Michonne said.
We began walking over the van when we heard rustling and the crunching of branches coming from the woods.
Immediately our rifles were up in the air and knives out.
"Not one step closer asshole." Glenn said as we were ready to attack.
Two walkers stumbled out of the trees as I sighed.
"Think we're being a bit paranoid. I got them." I pulled out my machete and made quick work of the walkers.
We watched the caravan and looked around the windows for any sign of movement. I checked under the tires and underside for any explosive devices.
Abraham and Rosita opened the doors and walked in as we kept guard outside.
"I think that's the first time I've seen you fight with Rick." Michonne said, as I crossed my arms and leaned against the caravan.
"He's right on most occasions. But no way am I missing a chance for us to find a place to live." I scoffed as Maggie nodded.
"He's trying to be cautious." Glenn said.
"I know that. But we have to take a chance, don't you hope that we still have a place to live?" I asked Glenn.
"There is no hope." Glenn said glumly as I looked at him sadly.
"Rick's wrong on this. Trust me. He's wrong. And if he loves me he has to be able to entertain my opinions." I said firmly.
"Guys, look what we found!"
...
The amount of food in that caravan was unbelievable. The last time I saw a store like that was back at the prison, it was the kind of food to last us for weeks and months if we could stretch it.
I voted we keep it in the caravan but Rick would want proof. So we brought it all back to the barn.
"This, is ours now." Rick gestured to the food as Aaron remained tied up to the wooden post.
"There's more than enough." He said.
"It's ours, whether or not we go to your camp." Rick stated.
"Rick," I said warningly, feeling my anger come up again.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Carl asked.
"If he were lying or if he wwnte to hurt us, but he isn't and he doesn't. We need this." Michonne said.
"We're going." I spoke causing Rick to look at me.
"All of us. Somebody say something if they feel differently." I looked at the rest of the group.
"I don't know man. This barn smells of horseshit." Daryl said causing me to laugh.
I fixed my gaze at Rick, pleading and imploring with him.
"Yeah, we're going." He conceded as I broke out into a relieved smile and nodded at him.
"So where are we going? Where's your camp?" Rick asked Aaron.
"I believe you're good people. But I'm not willing to bet my friends life on it." Aaron said as Rick turned around to inspect the map.
"You're not driving. So if you want to get home, you have to tell us how." Michonne spoke.
"Go north on Route 16." Aaron started.
"Then?" I prompted.
"I'll tell you when we get there." He finished as I narrowed my eyes at home.
"We'll take Route 23 north. You'll give us directions from there." Rick said.
"That's a bad idea. We've cleared 16 it'll be faster." Aaron looked at us incredulously.
"We'll take 23. We leave at sundown." Rick said, looking at me to agree with him. Finally something I agreed with.
"Yeah, that's the deal." I said.
"We're doing this at night?" Sasha asked.
"It's safer. If it isn't safe we need to get gone before they know we're there." Rick explained.
"No one's going to hurt you. You're trying to protect the group but you're putting them in danger." Aaron pleaded.
"Tell me where the camp is and we'll leave right now." Rick countered but Aaron remained silent. Come on Aaron, I silently begged him to tell.
"Well it's gonna be a long night. Eat, get some rest if you can." Rick conceded.
I sighed heavily and stalked over to the other side of the barn falling onto the floor. Had to compromise with him at some point.
...
As soon as the sun had gone down we left. Rick, Michonne, me and Aaron were in the car whilst the others were driving the caravan behind us.
I elected to drive us, whilst Rick sat in the passenger seat beside me. Michonne and Aaron were making quiet conversation behind us.
"You're still annoyed." Rick said as I glanced at him. I kept my eyes on the road and gave him a tight lipped nod.
"You have a right to be." He said.
"I'm just trying to keep us safe."
"I know. I know you are Rick. And we've been through a lot, but at some point we need to start trusting people again." I sighed rubbing my eyes.
"I trust you. All of you, in't that enough?" Rick asked.
"It can only get us so far, we can't survive on the road forever." I looked at him as he looked out the window.
"Rick, you didn't ask him the questions." Michonne said suddenly.
"No, I didn't."
"How many walkers have you killed?" Michonne turned to him.
"I don't know a lot." Aaron replied confused.
"How many people?"
"Two."
"Why?" Michonne asked.
"They tried to kill me." He answered.
"What is that?" I asked Rick who was holding a dome shaped device on his hand. Oh my god.
"You were listening to us?" I asked in shock.
"I told you I was watching you, I listened too." Aaron replied confused.
"I was just started to like you Aaron." I groaned looking at the back.
"It means his people could've had one day they could've heard our plan. This isn't safe!" Rick shouted.
When I looked back on the road the walkers came out of nowhere and hit the car straight one, causing blood to splatter over the windows.
"Pol!" He shouted trying to look back.
"They were right behind us!" I said as more walkers hit the car. I slammed on the breaks as we cleared the herd and the car came to a stop.
We jumped out of the car looking around for the caravan and sighed in relief.
"They got away." I sighed hoping they were away from the herd.
"Alright we circle back and look for them." Rick said as we cleared the window and jumped back in the car. Rick looked at the map trying to find a new route.
I tried to start the car but it wouldn't work. Walkers started approaching behind us.
"Pol!" Rick said as the engine spluttered.
"I'm trying!"
An orange light filled the windscreen as a flare shot up in the air.
"I need to leave this is over!" Aaron shouted jumping out of the car to make a run for it.
"They could've shot that flare, let's go! We need to follow!" I took off after Michonne who followed Aaron into the forest as we pulled our weapons out.
Walker snarls and growls started filling the air around us. We were surrounded. I held the rifle and began shooting at all the walkers I could find, Aaron was nowhere to be see.
Rick pulled out the flare gun and shot it into a walker. Michonne pulled the katana out and began slicing the walkers down.
I shot them up with a rifle as Aaron reappeared and finsihed them off. I looked at him in surprise that he came back.
"If you wanna tie me up do it quickly." Aaron said holding his hands up.
"There isn't time." Rick said as we ran through the forest back to the highway.
We followed the direcrion of the flare towards the water tower. There were a few buildings.
Rick whistled and the sound was heard somewhere else. I sighed in relief hearing Daryl's whistle. Dropping the rifle to the side I ran to Carl who hugged me tight.
"Hey kid. I'm okay." I brushed his hair as he let go and ran to Rick. Daryl led us inside where we greeted the rest of the group.
"Eric! Eric!" Aaron shouted and we saw a man lying on the chair with his ankle up.
I finished hugging Carol, Maggie and Glenn when I saw Aaron approaching the new man.
"It's not so bad. It's like a volleyball injury, at least that's what Maggie said. I like her." Eric finished with a pained smile.
"I'll just go to the infirmary when we get back." Eric reassured as Aaron leaned forwards and kissed him.
They spoke to each other as we gave them their privacy.
"Aaron's friend I'm assuming?"
Maggie nodded. "Found him with a tyre rolled over onto his foot."
"I've wrapped it so he should be fine now.
"Hi, I'm Eric." He looked at me and Rick as we came forwards.
"Hi," I smiled nodding at him.
"Excuse me everyone." Aaron got our attention.
"You saved Eric. I owe you, all of you. And I will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria." Aaron smiled.
"Now, I'm not sure about you but I'd rather not to any more driving tonight." He chuckled we we all sighed in relief.
"Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning."
"That sounds fine but you're sleeping over there." Rick pointed to the other side of the building.
"You're really gonna separate him from Eric?" I asked him pointedly.
"The only wha you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me." Aaron stood tall as we all watched Rick.
"Rick, he's told the truth so far. They're both unarmed. Don't stop him from being with who he loves." I whispered locking eyes with him. He stepped back, his eyes fixed on me.
"Alright." He said to Aaron and let him pass.
"Get some rest everyone. I'll take first watch." Rick moved past me to go stand outside.
I sighed, watching his retreating form. It wasn't his fault, not really. He did what he thought best. In this situation I didn't agree with that.
...
The next day we were on the road, I was in the caravan getting some needed distance from Rick who was driving the car.
It felt nice to be somewhere warm and secure. But the caravan itself was crowded, I passed Noah who handed aspirin and water to Aaron.
I reached the back of the caravan where Eric was lying on the bed sleeping and Aaron was sitting over him on the chair.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
"No it's okay." Aaron smiled.
"Come sit." I sat on the chair beside him, gaze fixed on Eric.
"I heard you taking about a surgeon in Alexandria?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, Pete." Aaron replied smiling.
"You interested in becoming a doctor?" He asked.
"what makes you think that?" I asked defensively as Aaron smiled.
"The way you inspected my wounds, I just figured you had an affinity for medicine. Pete would be a good teacher." He said.
"Yeah I am. That would be great. If it works out." I added not trying to pin all my hopes on Alexandria.
"You're a natural leader you know." Aaron said.
I scoffed and laughed.
"I'm not the leader, Rick is." I answered.
"No you are. You guys are like two sides of the same coin, you complement each other well." He said.
"Thank you." I replied frowning.
"He listens to you. We could use people like you in Alexandria." Aaron continued.
"Rarely listens to me." I scoffed as Aaron smiled.
"What?"
"You guys just fight like an old married couple." He laughed.
"We're not matried." I stated.
"But you wanna be."
I turned around in shock. "Who the fuck do you think you are making assumptions about me and my relationship?"
He pulled out my rucksack I thought I had left behind. He unzipped the pack and revealed the wedding dress I picked up. Back when we lost Tyreese.
"Where did you find that." My eyes were fixed on the material.
"You left it in the barn, I thought you might want it." He shrugged zipping up the pack.
I was at a loss for words and sat in silence with Aaron.
"We're here." He looked out of the window.
I gathered my weapons and pack from Aaron as he gave me a sly smile and stepped out of the caravan.
We looked at the large metal gate which was looking over us. I wanted to smile as Rick stepped out of the car, looking at the door apprehensively.
"Trust me." I leaned over and squeezed his arm.
I held my pinky finger out to him, our age old promise. The corners of his lips twitched upwards into half smile as he locked his finger with mine.
Bending down I pressed a kiss to Judith's forehead. The sun was shining down over us.
"Even though you were wrong and Pol was right. You're still right." Carol walked by us.
"Sometimes I don't know when to admit I've been wrong." Rick said lowly to me, gulping.
I nodded and tapped his arm, giving him a smile, the gates of Alexandria opened as we walked through.
To our new home.
A/N: eeeeeeeek! The next chapter of this story begins... hope you liked it!