Quinn, Negan, Daryl, Gabriel, Elijah, Jesus, and Maggie, approaching Alexandria

I was sure everyone's thoughts were racing, thinking about their loved ones as the gates of Alexandria came closer by every step. As soon as we turned in the corner I saw Daryl start walking faster, taking longer steps. And I looked above the gates and saw Jerry and Carol waiting for us at the post. I started smiling unconsciously. As we approached the gate, Jerry and Carol quickly got it open for us. I saw Daryl staring at Carol so obviously, and their eyes met as we went inside, but they did not say or do anything besides stare. Jerry and Carol shut the gates closed behind us. We drove the carriages to the square, where the crops used to grow. My smile faded away. There were still no crops, but this time, the square was full of walkers, previously taken down. My eyebrows frowned with concern. As the carriage stopped I got down quickly. There was a pile of burning walkers, the smell was terrible. Daryl stopped and stared at the pile, while Jesus and Maggie were looking around really concerned. Carol suddenly vanished after closing the gate. I was looking around searching for familiar faces. Carol was probably alerting everyone to come and see us. And soon enough I heard Judith and RJ yelling Daryl's name. They were running towards us happily and jumped on Daryl. They were so cute. And for the first time in a long while I saw Daryl really smile. I couldn't stop smiling, seeing them this happy. Hershel came running to Maggie as well. She started smiling too. Maggie's friends were helping Elijah down the carriage, hugging him. When the kids finally let Daryl go, he saw Carol standing a little bit away, waiting for her turn. Daryl didn't think twice, this time he hurried toward her and embraced her tightly. I couldn't stop smiling, seeing all these happy reunions. Negan climbed down of the carriage as well. He knew no one there was happy to see him, still alive. Or at least he thought. Suddenly Lydia and Henry stepped to us.

"Hi, Quinn!" Henry greeted me with a hug. I got taken by surprise but hugged him back.

"Hey, kid!" I said. "What the hell happened here?" I asked as I let him go and I glanced around again.

"There was a huge storm and a piece of the wall broke. So walkers got in. Everyone's alright, but it was a rough night. We're still cleaning up this mess," he explained.

In the meantime, Lydia stepped to Negan, hesitating. I started watching them while Henry was looking around at all the others, he got distracted quickly by all the food we brought.

"Hi," said Lydia.

"What's up, kid?" asked Negan with a half-smile.

"Is that all food?" she asked.

"Yep. Fine and fresh," said Negan glancing at the carriage. Lydia nodded. Negan realized she was hesitating, so he took a step closer and embraced her with one arm. "I had no idea that someone here would miss me," he said still smiling.

"Who said I missed you?" asked Lydia, frowning her eyebrows, not smiling at all.

"Ouch, that hurts," said Negan, putting his hand on his heart. There was a moment of silence, then Lydia started smiling slightly.

"Maybe I missed you. Just a little bit," she said, glancing at Negan. He smiled at the girl and hugged her. Then Judith appeared next to Negan as well.

"Hey, other kiddo," greeted Negan the little girl.

"Hey," said Judith with a tiny smile.

"You missed me too?" asked Negan smiling.

"Not really," said Judith, then smiled at him, making her words not truthful at all.

"Aww, I knew you did," said Negan. Judith then held her hand out and Negan took it, shaking hands. "Quite a formal way to greet your old friend, but I'll take it for now," said Negan smiling.

"What happened to your leg?" asked Judith as she was examining Negan with her eyes. Lydia glanced at his injury too.

"Got shot by an arrow," said Negan, but when both of the girls glanced at Daryl and Maggie, he added quickly: "It was the other group. Not Dixon and not Maggie."

The girls turned back to him and kept noticing his injuries.

"And what about your face?" asked Lydia.

"Shrapnel. A mine blew up right next to me," said Negan.

"You really had to work for this food," said Lydia thinking out loud.

"Yeah, we had to," nodded Negan. Judith listened to the conversation, then got distracted and ran away again to greet Gabriel and Jesus too. "She greeted me before she greeted them. Priorities," said Negan proudly smiling at Lydia.

"Tsk," said Lydia smiling, and left to help the others take all the food inside the stock.

"I'll help them too," said Henry and followed Lydia. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the food. Negan stepped next to me in a much better mood.

"I didn't expect that, but not gonna lie, it felt good," he said still smiling. I smiled at him as we were watching now the others. Everyone was saying hi to each other. Daryl grabbed a crate full of apples and offered it to the kids, who were all happy to take one. I saw Gabriel and Rosita reunite too as well as Aaron and Jesus. Aaron pecked Jesus' lips, not caring about who sees them anymore. Gracie jumped into Jesus' arms as he lifted her up, into a hug. Then I got startled when Daryl dropped the crate of apples. I followed his gaze to see what was going on, and I got shocked. Connie was walking toward us, smiling. Daryl embraced her tightly, he was really happy to see her.

"What the heck?!" I asked surprised. I glanced at Carol immediately. She smiled seeing Daryl so happy, but then her smile turned into a concerned frowning, and turned her back on the scene, coming towards me. I hugged her tightly.

"Hey," I greeted her.

"I missed you," she said, not looking at Daryl and Connie at all.

"I missed you too," I smiled at her, stroking her back. I glanced at Connie again.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"We found her," said Carol simply.

"Drama," said Negan as he laid his back against the side of the carriage.

"Shut up," said Carol offended.

"Negan…" I said scoldingly, then I turned to face Carol again.

"Are you okay?" asked Carol, quickly examining me with her eyes.

"I headbutted a guy and got a bit dizzy, but other than that I'm fine. Negan though…" I wanted to list all his injuries but he interrupted me.

"I'm fine too," he stated. I glanced at Carol.

"He has a couple of minor injuries," I ended the thought. Carol nodded understandingly, glancing at Negan, then at me.

"If you need anything just tell me," she said comfortingly and hugged me once again.

"We'll talk about Connie later," I said quietly to her as we were still hugging each other. "I'm happy to see you."

"I'm happy you got back in one piece," she said as we backed away.

"Let's get all this food to the stock first," I suggested. Carol nodded, then she noticed Maggie and all her injuries on her face.

"Excuse me," she said and headed towards Maggie, to check on her wounds. Negan and I each grabbed a crate and headed away from the scene. We placed them on the shelves without saying a word to each other, then headed back to the carriages to take all the stuff. Aaron started talking loudly, so everyone could hear him:

"I would like to ask a group to help clean this mess up! Another one to check the walls again, and a third one who cooks dinner for all of us!"

"Cooking!" volunteered Carol without hesitation, smiling.

"Yep, me too," joined Maggie.

"First we fix your face," said Carol to her.

"Babysitting," said Nabila, glancing at Rosita who nodded to her in agreement.

People started to form three groups. Carol and Maggie disappeared in Michonne's house, probably fixing Maggie's injuries.

"So… Walls or corpses?" asked Negan as he turned towards me.

"I hate the smell, but I can smell it from anywhere, because of the fire, so… you decide," I said.

"Walls then," said Negan and we joined Aaron and Jesus' group. Daryl, Gabriel, and Henry went on burning the dead.

Negan and I grabbed gloves and tools and followed Aaron and Jesus. Negan was sleeping last night and I was sleeping on the way here so we weren't so tired, but still, we were. Negan because of his injuries and I because of the emotional stress. After tinkering with the wall for like 20 minutes Negan glanced at me.

"How come you didn't go cook with your bestie?" asked Negan.

"I don't want to leave you alone," I said simply.

"Maggie's not here," he said.

Suddenly, I understood what this was about. Negan didn't want me around. I frowned my eyebrows staring at the wall, while I took my gloves off and left without looking at Negan. I was so embarrassed I couldn't even look at him. I went overboard when I told him all my feelings in the forest. He didn't feel the same way. That is what this was all about.

"Quinn?" he called me as I was walking away, but I didn't stop and didn't look at him, just kept going. I headed to my house, I needed to clean up myself a bit before I could touch food material. I got my key out of my pocket and headed to the front door. I checked the electricity first by turning on the lights. It was working. I turned it off, then I stepped to the kitchen sink to check the water. It was working. I let out a relieved sigh. Carol must have fixed the electricity while I was away. I went upstairs to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked dirty and weary. I had dark circles under my eyes. Not surprised Negan was turned off. I got rid of my clothes and showered quickly, washing my hands carefully, then I got dressed, locked the door, and headed towards Michonne's house. I glanced in the direction of the wall and saw Negan still fixing it. I turned my eyes away and saw Daryl and Henry wearing masks, busy with burning walkers. I kept going. I stepped inside the house and found Carol and Maggie laughing about something, but Maggie kept quiet instantly when she saw me.

"Can I help?" I asked. Carol smiled at me nodding.

"Yeah, come on. You can prepare potatoes," she said as she handed me a bag of potatoes. Maggie glanced at me seriously, then turned her eyes back at the carrots. Carol was preparing meat. After some long minutes of awkward silence, Carol put the knife down and glanced at both of us.

"Come on, Maggie, don't be so grumpy," Carol told her. I didn't dare to look at her.

"I'm sorry, but I… I just can't. I can't even understand how you and Daryl are okay with this. That she's with HIM," said Maggie.

"A lot of things happened while you were away," said Carol gently.

"I can't imagine anything that would justify this," she kept saying this to the carrot in her hand.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, avoiding their eyes. I felt my heart was aching.

"I liked you back then Quinn, but… this… I just can't," said Maggie now looking at me. I felt tears suffocating me in my throat. Suddenly Rosita stepped into the kitchen with Lydia following her.

"What can I help you with?" she asked, glancing around at all the food.

"Prepare the mushroom," said Carol smiling at her gently. Maggie and I both were very focused on the vegetables in our hands, without looking at anyone. I gulped down my tears and tried to get over it, not to cry.

"Have you heard from Eugene?" I asked Rosita quietly as she stepped next to me.

"No… I'm worried about him too," she said looking at me concerned. I nodded understandingly. And that was all the conversation on my part. Carol tried to lighten up the mood and started chatting with Maggie and Rosita. Eventually, Maggie started chuckling again. I didn't really pay attention to what they were saying, I just did what Carol told me to do. A couple of hours passed as we prepared dinner. The smell was so good, that my stomach started rambling loudly. Carol giggled.

"You're surely not hungry, I think," she said smiling at me, pushing me playfully with her shoulder a bit. I smiled slightly to myself.

"I'm starving," I said.

"It'll be ready soon. I suggest you go and invite everyone to the main hall," she told Rosita, Lydia, and Maggie, and they left chatting in a good mood. I let out a huge sigh when they left. "Are you okay?" Carol asked.

"Not really, but I'm trying…" I said.

"I know it's hard with Maggie, but this was an unusual situation it won't happen every day."

"True, but some other situation will happen. I don't know how long I can take this."

"Is there something else bothering you?" she asked examining me with her eyes.

"Of course, but we barely got back…"

"You can tell me…" she said stroking my back gently.

"I know I can. But it's not the right time for that. And you have enough already on your plate…" I said.

"What do you mean?" she asked frowning her eyebrows.

"I saw the look on your face when Daryl and Connie reunited. And there's Leah too…" I said, without thinking.

"Leah? What about Leah?" she asked now becoming tense.

"Shit… I'm talking like an idiot, without thinking. I'm so sorry. You should talk to Daryl first," I said but when I saw her expression I quickly added: "We stumbled upon Leah, she was with this enemy group and Daryl met her again, but nothing happened. I swear to you, nothing happened between them," I said. She looked surprised and a little bit tense.

"Not just Connie is back but now Leah too? Where's she now?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maggie shot her on the shoulder and she ran away."

Carol fell deep in thoughts and I felt so bad for spilling it for her. I didn't mean to gossip or anything. I was so troubled I was talking nonsense.

"I'm sorry Carol, I didn't want to gossip or scare you or anything…" I started but she interrupted me.

"This can wait. Tell me what's bothering you," she said.

"Carol… you have your own problems, talk to Daryl first, I can wait," I said.

"No, you can't. I can see how much you're troubled. I want to help you. And anyway, Daryl can have fun with Connie in the meantime, I don't care. I want to help you because I see how troubled you are," she insisted. I let out a sigh and I started recounting to her our entire journey, starting from leaving Alexandria.

…

Author's notes: Listen to "Nobody's home" by Avril Lavigne.

This song represents what Carol thinks about Quinn. ❤

Thank You for reading! ❤

PS.: So, I'm not that busy anymore, that's why I decided to upload more frequently. I'll upload on random days, but I'll always upload on Thursdays, that one stays the same. The other days I'm not sure about them, so I'll just randomly upload. The chapters are written previously, (I already have like 4 chapters ready right now,) so they won't be rushed. I'm sticking to my usual quality, yet I'd like to get to the end of this story because I have other ideas I'd like to work on too. 😊 So, there will always be a chapter on Thursdays, but there will be chapters on other, random days too. Thank You for reading! ❤