Quinn, Alexandria

As I was following Carol to Michonne's house in the dusk, I lost my bottle of wine somewhere. I stumbled after Carol, she was marching so confidently, I had no idea how she was able to walk straight. She stopped, I stopped. We saw Daryl smoking a cigarette on the porch. He exhaled smoke and looked at us curiously.

"Where have you been?" he asked. I didn't even realize how many hours passed since I talked to him.

"By the pond," I said. Daryl frowned his eyebrows, he stood up and examined us.

"Are ya drunk?" he asked.

"Ya bet we're," I said, I felt dizzy, so I sat down on the ground.

"Are you out of your minds?" he asked, scolding us. Carol was remarkably silent, staring at Daryl.

"We needed to relax…" I said.

"This is not relaxing. This is dangerous," said Daryl, but finally, Carol spoke up.

"I have a question for you, Daryl Dixon," she started. I had a bad feeling.

"Maybe you shouldn'…" I said.

"No, I want to know," Carol interrupted me. Daryl exhaled smoke again.

"What?" he asked. He glanced at the neighbor's porch, but at that time I didn't realize Negan was sitting there, smoking a cigarette he got from Daryl earlier and was watching the entire scene from the shadows. Carol's cheeks were completely red, both because of the wine and because of the topic.

"I want to know…" she started.

"No, ya don't," I said.

"Shhh!" Carol shushed me, then turned back to Daryl. She was standing about two meters from the porch. Daryl put his elbows on the fence of the porch and looked down at us. He took another sip of the cigarette. Carol continued. "I want to know…"

"Carol…" I said again. I was drunk, but even at that time, I knew it was a painful memory for Daryl to talk about Leah.

"Don't interrupt, Quinn! I'm not askin' what you think I'm askin'," she said. Daryl was quite entertained by the scene. He exhaled smoke, then threw the cigarette stub away.

"Come then. Ask," he said as he straightened his back. Carol's face went even more red.

"Maybe ya should talk in private," I said while trying not to burp. I managed to keep it inside. I gathered myself up and headed to my porch. That's when I saw Negan, sitting there, smoking, smiling at the scene. I looked at him grumpily.

"What's the matter?" he asked, smiling at the drunken sight of me. Of course, I tripped on the stair, even though it should have been only three steps. He grabbed my elbow and saved me from falling. I straightened my back, glanced at him without saying thanks, then I headed inside. I heard him chuckle. He followed me.

…

Daryl watched Quinn stumble upon the stairs, into her house. Negan glanced at Daryl, then followed Quinn. When they were left alone, Daryl turned his eyes back at Carol.

"What do ya wanna ask?" he asked. Carol walked up to the porch to face him, she didn't stumble on the stairs like Quinn, then looked him in the eye confidently.

"Why are we not getting together?" she asked straightaway. Daryl was taken by surprise, an alarm went off inside his head. He got shocked and tried to avoid answering.

"You're drunk. Talkin' bullshit," he growled.

"Answer the question," said Carol, she was not easily fooled, despite being drunk.

"It's not the right time for that," said Daryl avoiding her eyes.

"You had no trouble getting together with Leah. You wanted to run away with her," Carol didn't give up. Daryl looked her in the eye when she mentioned Leah's name.

"You…" he growled angrily. "You were married," he said in a suppressed voice.

"But I'm not anymore," said Carol. Daryl shook his head disbelievingly.

"We shouldn' talk about this now. Maybe after you sober up."

"I'm tired of waiting," said Carol. "You're still mad at me for Connie…"

Carol concluded. Daryl was so pissed off, he didn't even know what to say. He shook his head disbelievingly and left Carol alone on the porch. Carol sat down and a tear rolled down on her cheek.

…

By the time Negan closed the front door behind him, Quinn was already lying on the couch.

"Are you really drunk?" he asked, smiling, he was so entertained by the previous scene.

"What if I'm drunk?" I snapped. He held up his hands defensively.

"Nothing wrong with that," he said, still smiling sat down in the armchair.

"Don't smile like that, you're so fuckin' handsome…" I said. I became too brave because of the wine. Negan chuckled and I saw a little redness on his cheek.

"Alright, you should go to sleep," he said. "We're leaving Alexandria tomorrow morning."

He looked me in the eye, I didn't move, didn't say anything, just stare at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You're so handsome…" I said again. He chuckled again.

"Yeah, you already said that. I know I'm fuckin' handsome, now go to sleep," he said, pointing upstairs, to go to the bedroom.

"I'm so fuckin' jealous!" I said.

"Here we go…" he said, let out a sigh, and stood up, he grabbed my wrists and pulled me up from the couch. We were standing face to face, he looked me in the eye.

"As I said, it wasn't intentional. I didn't want to cheat… does it even count as cheating?"

"Of course it does!" I raised my voice a little, then I fell deep in thoughts. "Probably not… technically…"

I was staring at the ground, embarrassed.

"Alright. We'll talk about it in the morning," he said and took me in his arms. His face was so close to mine. He took me upstairs and stopped by my bed, but didn't put me down yet. I was staring at him again.

"What now?" he asked. His face was like an inch away. I kissed him. We were kissing for quite a long time, then he put me on the bed. My arms were around his neck, I didn't let him go, but he tried to back away.

"Quinn… Quinn, stop," he said quietly. "You don't want to do it this way."

I let him go, he straightened his back.

"You don't want me?" I asked disappointed.

"Jesus Christ…" he chuckled uncomfortably and fixed a stray hair on his forehead. "You don't want to be drunk for our first time. Postpone it, okay?"

I made a grumpy face, then I lay down in my bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

…

The next morning

I woke up with a nasty headache. I looked around, I didn't recall how I ended up in my bed. My last memory was Carol and Daryl talking by the porch. Carol! I hope she didn't mess up. I sat up in bed. I remembered that we were leaving Alexandria that morning. I stumbled to my wardrobe and put some clothes in my backpack, then I packed a blanket as well.

"Jeez…" I said quietly to myself. My head hurt. I stumbled downstairs to get some water. Negan was arranging his bag, his leather jacket was lying on the couch.

"Good morning," he said with a slight smile.

"Is it good?" I asked grumpily.

"Depends. How's your head?" he asked.

"Hurts," I said and grabbed a glass of water. "How did I get in bed?"

"I carried you upstairs," he said.

"Okay…" I said, thinking. I kind of remembered something.

"I learned that I'm "fuckin' handsome" and you wanted to… well you know," he said smiling.

"Oh, god… Can I be any more embarrassing?" I asked and turned my eyes away from him. I drank another glass of water. Then I realized what I just heard. "Did we…?"

"No. I didn't want to… take advantage of the situation," he said now seriously.

"Thanks," I said. I hurried back upstairs to get dressed and to escape Negan, I was so embarrassed. I put my knife in my belt, which was Carol's, but I forgot to give it back for quite a long time, so it's mine now. Negan waited for me patiently downstairs. I was embarrassed because of my behavior last night, so I wanted to avoid his eyes, but at the same time, I wanted to look at him. We were finally together and I didn't know what kind of danger we are going to face when we leave Alexandria. So I looked at him, I felt my face was red. He let out a sigh as he was standing my gaze.

"What now?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. For last night. I was a disaster," I said.

"You don't have to be sorry. Probably I shouldn't have told you," he said.

"I'm glad you were honest… I just wish it never happened."

"Believe me… I wish that too. It wasn't my intention."

"You keep saying this… Are you saying it was… that she raped you?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Kinda," he was frowning his eyebrows, thinking hard. "It wasn't rape, but I didn't really want it," he said with a painful expression. I felt sorry for him. I just realized he did it to save himself, to be able to save Alexandria. I stepped to him and hugged him. He buried his face in my neck, I stroked the back of his head.

"Can we just forget about it?" he asked quietly.

"I'll try," I said. He backed away and nodded, then he headed to the front door. I let out a sigh, my heart felt heavy. I needed to digest the fact and move on somehow. When we stepped outside, Gabriel reached Negan and asked him to follow him. I frowned my eyebrows, Negan glanced back at me as he followed Gabriel. I saw Daryl going in their direction as well. Carol stepped outside on their porch too.

"Where are they going?" I asked as I approached her.

"Just discussing our route. Don't worry, you'll get Negan back," she said grumpily. I saw her eyes were all red and puffy.

"Oh my god... What happened?" I asked. Her mouth winced like she was about to cry again.

"I asked him… and he avoided the whole thing. He didn't answer just walked away," she said quietly.

"He is not ready. He has to get over Leah and he is mourning Connie," I said while I started rubbing Carol's back.

"Why do I keep messing up?" she asked with teary eyes.

"Maybe the timing is wrong."

"That's always wrong."

"Let him be, for now. Give him time. Now he knows you're waiting for him. If he wants something, he'll come to you."

"I'm not sure about anything anymore. I'll never get drunk again," she said. I patted her shoulder.

"Yeah, me neither. I almost jumped on Negan. I feel so embarrassed."

"Hah!" Carol chuckled. "I don't think he objected much."

"He did. He wanted to wait."

"Wow. I wouldn't think he was a gentleman."

I shook my head disbelievingly, then I helped Carol pack. When Negan and Daryl came back, we set out for the tower.

…

Author's notes: Listen to "You belong with me" by Taylor Swift.

It's funny how accurate this song is about the Leah – Daryl – Carol love triangle. :D

Thank You for reading! ❤