Alexandria

Three months later

All the leaders, Michonne, Carol, Daryl, Gabriel, Aaron, Jesus, Siddiq, Rosita, and Eugene were gathered in the hall, talking through every issue. They were about to wrap up today's meeting when Carol stepped forward.

"Michonne," called Carol and glanced at Daryl and Jesus. The others stopped from leaving the hall and turned around curiously. Carol continued. "Now that we haven't seen the skins for months and we survived the winter… we discussed everything… I would like to ask you, and the council, of course, to vote about Quinn's banishment."

Michonne frowned her eyebrows. The others came back and listened closely, especially Eugene. Michonne glanced around, deep in thoughts.

"Alright, let's discuss it," she said and sat back into her chair. "I banished her, without your votes, because I didn't want Negan to be happy. And she made him happy. Negan is not on holiday here. I know he is showing the signs of changing, but… Those who were there that night… You know exactly what I see inside my head when I think about Negan."

Daryl, Eugene, Rosita, and Aaron nodded in agreement. Carol glanced around.

"I know, we all know what he did, but Quinn is convinced that he is a good person, he just tried to survive. Like we did," she continued.

"Judith also likes him," added Gabriel. "I hate to admit it… but I do think that he has changed. He confessed several times that he regrets what he did."

"Is that enough for you?" asked Rosita. "I mean… just think about how Maggie would feel about this. His regret won't bring back anyone that he killed."

Jesus nodded.

"Maggie wanted him dead all along," he said.

"Maggie is not here. And we don't know if we ever see her again," said Siddiq.

"I hate that bastard, just as much as you do…" said Daryl. "But Quinn is still talking about him… We shouldn't punish her like this."

"It's you who says that, really?" snapped Michonne. "It was you, who got her banished."

Daryl looked at his shoes for a moment, embarrassed, then he nodded.

"True… but Quinn hasn't stopped loving him and I don't want her to be in pain anymore."

"I agree," said Jesus. "Quinn did nothing wrong, yet she suffers the most."

"Okay but…" Michonne raised her hands and continued in a suppressed voice. "Negan doesn't even know that Quinn is alive… Remember, Daryl told him that she is dead. He mourned her, he got over her. What would happen if we suddenly snap it into his face?"

"He would go crazy…" said Jesus, thinking. "He would want to break Daryl's nose, at least…"

Carol glanced at Daryl, then turned her eyes back to Michonne and continued.

"Yes, but this way Quinn is suffering. We are all here and she wanted to come with us so badly. Not just for Negan, but because of us. She is stuck at Hilltop with only Ezekiel she knows. And it's already been three months. She is waiting for our answer."

Michonne shook her head.

"My answer is still no. It is too risky. The skins can show up again at any time. We have to prepare for them. And Negan is in a good mood nowadays, we can handle him, he is cooperating with us. We cannot risk telling him the truth now. We don't know how he would react. It's dangerous."

Carol shook her head. Michonne glanced around the others.

"Let's vote. Who agrees to let Quinn back?" she asked.

Everyone changed glances with each other. No one raised their hands except for Carol.

"Really? What's wrong with you?" she called the others, lowering her hand.

"Michonne has a point… I hate to admit it…" said Jesus. "But she is right, about not knowing how Negan would react. He would turn against us if he realized we were lying to him for years…"

Eugene was speechless, shaking his head.

"What if we gave him the shock piece by piece slowly?" asked Carol, not wanting to give up. "What if Judith would tell him, so he wouldn't get that mad?"

"No. He would be disappointed in Judith," said Jesus.

"He loves Judith, he would forgive her," said Aaron.

"But he would realize, eventually, that Daryl was the one who lied to him, so he would want to beat him for sure and would go crazy anyway," said Rosita.

"Not afraid of him…" growled Daryl, who was in a much better physique than Negan at that moment.

"We should avoid unnecessary aggression," said Gabriel. Eugene wiped his forehead.

"I promised her that I would bring her here to meet Negan, even if I had to go against you," said Eugene to Michonne. "She desperately wants to be with him. You didn't see her cry like I did. We are punishing Quinn with this. Negan doesn't even know she is alive, so he might not be thinking about her anymore… but Quinn is thinking about him and she is in pain."

"My answer is still no. Negan is unpredictable," stated Michonne. "We have to prepare to go to Oceanside. Let's push this topic for later."

"Later… it takes forever for Quinn," said Carol, disappointed.

"What if we got them to talk through the radio?" asked Jesus.

"It still poses the danger of Negan going mad for learning the truth," said Siddiq.

They all felt bad, but they couldn't do anything.

"We already agreed on giving Negan a little freedom, because he saved Judith, so he can be useful," said Michonne. "I hate to do this to Quinn, I feel sorry for her… but we cannot risk it now. Wait a little longer. So voting ends with one vote for Quinn, the rest is against," stated Michonne and hurried outside of the building, feeling bad.

The rest of them changed glances, then left too.

"Thanks for helping," said Carol to Daryl and turned her back on him.

"What should I do?" asked Daryl.

"Help Quinn get back here because it was us, who made this mess!" she said facing him again, disappointed.

"It was you, who did this mess. You asked me to get Quinn out of here!" returned Daryl the aggression.

"But it was you, who lied to Negan about her death! I never asked you to do that!" said Carol through gritted teeth.

"Shhh, don't yell, Negan might hear," Jesus warned them because Negan's cell was just outside of the hall. They stayed silent and Carol marched out of the building. Daryl exhaled sharply and went in the opposite direction. Jesus stared at their backs, Aaron stepped next to him.

"Do you think they'll ever get together?" asked Aaron playfully.

"Carol and Daryl? I have no idea what they're doing," said Jesus grumpily. Aaron glanced at him.

"I'm sorry about Quinn. I know you wanted to help her," he said with a change of tone. Jesus looked him in the eye.

"You have no idea how much this means to her. She saved my life, I want to do something for her."

"I know," said Aaron and hugged Jesus. "We will help her, she just needs to wait a little longer."

"How long?" asked Jesus with his chin resting on Aaron's shoulder.

"I don't know… We haven't decided to banish Negan as well or keep feeding him… I have no idea what's going to happen. And we have these skins too. We have to prioritize."

Jesus backed away from Aaron's hug.

"Yeah, I guess so…" said Jesus and left Aaron alone.

…

A similar discussion happened between Rosita and Eugene.

"You really promised her to sneak her into Alexandria?" asked Rosita.

"Yes, I did. And I would still do it."

"I will be jealous if you talk about her like that," said Rosita mocking Eugene.

"Really?" Eugene jerked up his head.

"No. Silly," smiled Rosita and punched Eugene's shoulder playfully.

"It's not funny," said Eugene in a grumpy way and left Rosita alone.

…

All of them were preparing to leave for Oceanside.

…

Quinn, Hilltop

I was sitting on a bench, taking in the sunshine. It felt really good after that nasty, long winter. I haven't seen Ezekiel much, I think he was avoiding me. Maybe because I reminded him of Carol. To be honest, we haven't really talked during the winter. I didn't want to force my company on him when he was clearly running away every time I tried to get to him.

That's why I was really surprised when he approached me.

"Good morning, Quinn," he said politely and pointed at the seat next to me. "May I?"

"Sure," I nodded. He sat down on the bench and turned to me.

"I would like to ask you a favor," he started. I frowned my eyebrows.

"What kind of?"

"I would like to go to Oceanside with Jerry and a couple of fighters. Alexandrians will be there, training. Practicing against the skins. I would like to join."

My eyes widened.

"You really think that I have any clue how to lead a community? And we both know the reason why you want to go…"

I saw his face winced, I was right. He just wanted to see Carol.

"You're right… but I'd like to go anyway. I'll leave you a to-do list, so you don't have to worry about it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Alright… Have you talked to them on the radio?"

"I talked to Judith."

"Judith? Why was she on the radio?" I smiled.

"I don't know… she was bored. I told her we are doing good. She will tell Michonne."

We fell silent for a moment, then Ezekiel looked me in the eye again.

"Did Carol break up with me because of Daryl?" he asked suddenly, out of the blue. He still seemed really troubled and sad because of the break-up.

"Would it change anything if you knew?" I tried to dodge the question.

"So is that a yes?"

"Look, I don't know honestly what's going on inside Carol's head. Really. She knew Daryl for a very long time, she had a lot of chances, but then she met you and she chose you. I don't know what she is doing now, what she is thinking."

Ezekiel nodded. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear, but I'm not going to lie to anyone.

"Thank you for telling me. And thank you for taking my duties until I come back," he said and stood up.

"I'm happy to help," I told him. He said goodbye and left to prepare to leave for Oceanside.

I stayed on the bench sunbathing for a little while.

…

Author's notes: Listen to "right where you left me" by Taylor Swift.

Thank You for reading! ❤