Okay, I've made the decision that since the second half of this season won't resume until February, that I will update once every week or every OTHER week. It sucks, I know, but I don't really wanna make any huge plot changes until February rolls around and I know for sure what AMC has planned. So until then, what I'm mainly gonna do is finish up on the episodes I have left (which aren't a lot) and then focus on more of Tessa's past that have left yet unexplained. I already have a couple of kickass ideas for flashback chapters that I think you guys are gonna love, but if you guys have any ideas or have anything you guys want me to write about and make more clear about their pasts, then please, let me know - just trying to extend things until February without taking a dreaded hiatus :(
wickedclownsmile: Oh yeah, Daryl would be haulin' ass to get back to that prison!
NanamiYatsumaki: Naw, it wasn't too bad - thanks for the kind words, though :). And I wasn't exactly wanting the singing to be amusing, per say, more like he was extremely deep in thought and just wasn't paying attention to what he was doing.
HaloHunter89: It was always a flashback chapter I wanted to do, I just never got a chance to do it. That's what a lot of these chapters are, really - shit I've wanted to write about for the longest time but for some reason or another, just haven't gotten the time. And believe me, he's probably still smarting ;)
Pretty happy with this chapter overall. Conversation between Beth and Wren didn't come out exactly like I had planned but I like it a little bit better. Calmly talking it out seems to fit their personalities better than pounding it out with fists like Daryl. Also, I know I kinda left it on a cliffhanger, especially for those of you who are anxiously waiting for Daryl to Tessa to be reunited so that there will be more hopeless amounts of Dessa fluff, but the next chapter is gonna be a pretty . . . angsty chapter, so I figured I shouldn't load you guys down beforehand :)
Enjoy!
- Nagiana
"Here's your water, Ms. Jenkins. Are you comfortable?"
Old little Ms. Jenkins smiled thankfully at Wren as the much, much younger girl handed her the chipped glass of water and she took a shaky sip. When she was done, she gave a nod as her hands moved to rest in her lap, glass of water and all. "Oh yes, dear, I'm quite comfortable. Thank you for the water – you're an Angel!" She told her with an affectionate smile, and Wren couldn't help but return the smile as she leaned down and gave her a short hug.
"You're quite welcome. I'm just filling in for Tess - me and Beth both are, in fact. So we're trying to do all we can until she's back on her feet." She told her and Ms. Jenkins adopted a slightly worried look on her face then.
"What happened to her? Is Tess alright?" She asked and Wren bit down on her bottom lip for a moment before nodding. It never surprised her how much Tessa was liked in the prison. She still served as her Den Mother role, but also as someone people could talk to whenever they had worries to express of just needed someone to talk to, and she seemed to have enough concern for everyone . . . Wren hoped to be like her, some day - someone that everyone liked or at least respected in some shape, form or fashion.
"She, uh . . . she suffered a fainting spell in the showers earlier but we managed to carry her to her cot and she's resting now. She says she should be fine as long as she gets some rest and relaxation for a few." She told her and Mrs. Jenkins nodded as the door behind Wren opened, only for Beth to slip inside moments later. She shot them both a small smile, one that Wren returned as she moved to open one of the bags at the doorway to retrieve another chipped glass. Mrs. Jenkins continued speaking all the while, requiring Wren to return her attention to her.
"Your Ethan's girlfriend, aren't you?" She asked in curiosity, and out of the corner of her eye, Wren saw Beth freeze for a moment. However, when Wren answered her, she slowly and gradually returned to what she had been doing.
"Yes, I am. We've been together now for the past eight to nine months, I think." She told her and Ms. Jenkins gave her another small, affectionate smile.
"The two of you are very cute together, I must say; you look like a younger Daryl and Tessa!" She spoke and Wren grinned and thanked her as a light trail of blush burned across her cheeks. And likewise, she never failed to blush whenever someone would tell her how cute her and Ethan looked together.
"Thank you; we're very happy together." She told her and after a moment of nothing screaming out in protest inside her, she realized that the statement was very much true. She was happy with Ethan and as far as she knew, so was he with her. They were both each other's lights at the end of the tunnel and while she never before would have expected to fall in love so soon in her life (or fall so much in love, for that matter), she knew that she had with Ethan. Earlier in their relationship, she had rationalized falling for Daryl Dixon's son because she had an unrecognized crush on the older man. However, once she started seeing him, she realized that she had fallen for Ethan, not because he looked like his father and his personality was the spitting image of Daryl's, but because in his own way, he was also completely different from his father. There was another side to him, too – the cool confidence and joking, good-natured cockiness that Daryl didn't seem to have thanks to his childhood and she supposed that was the reason she loved him so much: because even though he was very much like his father, Ethan was still very much his own person – a complete and total separate entity from Daryl Dixon.
Beth had gotten to her feet by the time Ethan was brought up, and wasted no time in leaving the room, the bag in her hand. Wren watched her go for a moment before returning her attention onto the little old lady sitting in front of her. "I'm sorry for leaving so soon, Ms. Jenkins, but I gotta go. There are still a few more people to see and we wanna check back in with Tess before we go see if Maggie needs anything. You know - to make sure she's still doing okay." She apologized with a small smile filled with the same emotion, and Ms. Jenkins nodded in understanding as she tugged Wren down to her. She pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and told her goodbye and not to worry, that Ms. Leigh was coming to visit with her in a few and that when she did, she would have some company and be perfectly fine. She told Wren to send Tessa both her regards and her prayers, and Wren nodded and said she would before telling her goodbye. She then turned around and left the office that had temporarily become Ms. Jenkins's room.
"You ready to go back to Tess?" Beth asked and Wren furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion as she bent down and picked up the other bag. It was significantly lighter than what it had been when they first came up, and Beth answered her with a small smile. "I hurried and finished the others before you were with done with Ms. Jenkins. She's a sweet old lady but she loves to talk, doesn't she?" She asked with a little laugh and Wren nodded and gave a little laugh in agreement as they began walking down the empty corridor towards their rooms – the heavy bootfalls of their steps echoing off the walls.
"Yeah, she's adorable." Wren quietly agreed and they fell into a slightly awkward silence then as they continued on. Wren had always gravitated more towards Sasha whenever she needed a friend, and Tessa when she needed someone to talk to, instead of Beth. She always attributed the awkwardness between them to Beth being something of Ethan's so-called 'ex' but there was something else to it as well that had never caused Wren to grow as close to the youngest Greene as she had to the more hot-tempered Sasha:
Ethan wasn't exactly a bad looking guy for his age. In fact, he could probably be said to have something close to smoldering good looks thanks to the combination of coloring he got from his parents. That or people constantly commented that he was a darker spitting image of his father and give her someone living right then and there who wouldn't call Daryl Dixon a good-looking man! Maybe . . . maybe she had always sensed that Beth was regretful that she had let him go earlier right around the time that she and her brother had joined the group, but then again, maybe . . .
Maybe a lot of things . . .
Wren glanced at her. "So, uh . . . how have you been lately?" She asked the other young woman, purely out of niceties, and Beth glanced at her before nodding.
"Good – I've been good, all things considered. Judith is starting to teethe a little so she's a little grumpy and it keeps me up some at night . . ." She told her and Wren nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, the twins are too. Danny, a little bit more than Aayla but thank God for Tess. She knows how to combat practically anything having to do with babies!"
"Knock on wood, right?" Beth added with a wry smile and Wren returned it with a slight laugh and a nod.
"Yeah . . . yeah, knock on wood . . ."
They fell back into an awkward silence then that was eventually broken by Beth. "You know that . . . I could have had Ethan back when we were run off the farm, right?" She told her and Wren tensed slightly, not really liking where this conversation had the potential to go.
"Y-Yeah, him and Tess have mentioned that a couple of times . . ." She replied and Beth nodded. She stayed silent for a moment before giving a shrug.
"He was . . . he was good to me then, you know? He made sure I got off of the farm – he protected me when Patricia almost bit me . . . I could have so had him when we left!"
"Why didn't you?" Wren asked before she could stop herself, and mainly out of curiosity. Beth gazed at her for a moment before giving a shrug.
"The age difference originally, I guess. It's kinda stupid now, whenever I think about it, though." She gave a roll of her eyes and a laugh. "I mean, come on, it was only four years! But . . ." She gave a shrug and shook her head. "I also thought that by looking at Daryl, he would amount to nothing more than what his father was and at the time I didn't know Daryl that much, so I didn't know how good of a man he was – how much he loved his family . . ." She gave another shrug. "And now I see him with you – how loving and affectionate he is – exactly how Daryl is with Tess and I . . . I can't help but kick myself for my stupidity!"
Wren didn't know what to say. And eventually, when she did, her voice came out choked and slightly shocked. "What about Zach?" She asked and Beth gave another weak shrug.
"What about Jimmy? They both amounted to same thing: death by walkers. Hell, according to Daryl they even got bit in the same place!" She replied with a scoffing laugh before she shook her head. "Ethan is so much like Daryl, Wren. He's smart; he knows what to do in order to keep himself and those he loves safe – he knows how to keep his family fed! Zach and Jimmy were boys compared to Ethan, whereas Ethan is like Daryl - he's a man in a world that demands men! They were good-natured and I guess I loved them, but still . . . they were boys."
"Did you . . . did you sleep with them?" Wren asked, her tone a little hesitant, and Beth shot her an upturned brow.
"Do you sleep with Ethan?" She returned with no hesitation whatsoever, and Wren balked for a moment before eventually nodding.
"Yeah, every once in a while . . ."
Not nearly as much as Tess and Daryl, but enough to have a healthy relationship, I guess . . .
Beth nodded, her tone turning simple and to-the-point when she spoke. "Then I slept with Jimmy and Zach every once in a while, too."
"But how do you . . . how did you cope with their deaths once you slept with them?" She asked and Beth gave her a stern look.
"Wren, Ethan isn't going to die!" She told her, rather firmly, and Wren nodded.
"Oh, I know, I know, but . . . I'm just asking, you know . . . just in case . . ."
Beth stayed silent for a moment before giving a shrug. "It . . . it's hard, I admit. I mean, I felt something for Zach and I certainly felt something for Jimmy, I think. It's just . . . it's really easy to move on when you have no choice but to." She told her and Wren continued walking alongside her for a moment in silence before eventually nodding.
"Yeah . . . yeah, I never thought about it that way before . . ."
"Hey, Tess, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Tessa looked up from a laughing Aayla and Danny lying on the cot in front of her and in-between her parted legs, a bright grin on their faces, only to see Rick standing there in the doorway. She nodded and gestured him further inside, which he readily did, closing the door behind him as he did so.
"Hey Rick, your finally back!" She spoke all the while, and he nodded, his hands moving to his hips as he turned a look of concern onto her.
"While I was driving in, Maggie filled me in on what happened to you in the showers. How are you doing?"
Tessa's grin fell down to a smile and she nodded. "I'm . . . I'm still sore but I'm doing better after the very nice nap I just had. I was just sitting here playing with the twins - keeping my mind occupied."
"Do you think you kept it?" He asked and she gave a wearied shrug.
"I just . . . I don't know, Rick – I just don't know! It's like I told Maggie and the girls – without an ultrasound, I won't know for sure until I get further down the line."
"Do you hope you have?" He asked and she gazed at him for a moment before speaking and when she did, her voice had dropped down to a quiet tenor that he almost had to strain himself to hear.
"I don't know about that, either, Rick. But enough about me: what about you?" Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as her smile turned down to a frown of the very same emotion. "You look a little troubled . . ."
Rick nodded in wearied agreement as he took a seat at the end of her bed, casting a gentle smile at the two twins as he did so - a smile that the twins replied to with grins of their own. "Things . . ." He began but trailed off, shaking his head as he did so. "Let's just say that shit hit the fan out there, Tess!"
Tessa's eyes widened slightly and an icy cold finger of dread skated down her spine at his words. "Oh God . . . what happened?" She asked and he swallowed hard before glancing at her. Once, a long time ago, Rick had taken her counsel as seriously as he had her husband's, Hershel's and even Glenn's – probably more-so than Hershel or Glenn's. Since he cast down his mantle of leader, though, in favor of the Council, he hadn't really needed her advice anymore. So really, it felt weird being his confidante again. And likewise, it felt weird for Rick having to eventually ask her for advice again.
"It was her, Tess," He told her, his voice filled with emotion. "She killed Karen and David." Tessa's eyes grew wide in shock. There had been only one person who went out with him . . . and something told her she hadn't exactly came back.
"Carol?" She asked in slight disbelief, and Rick nodded.
"She was trying to stop it from spreading, or so she said."
He sat there and watched as the same flickering of emotions flew across Tessa's face that he had seen on Maggie's. However, they were for completely different reasons. Maggie had known Carol as a friend, Tessa knew her as a possible rival and a bonafide frenemy. Not-to-mention, Carol had been the one who had delivered the twins. Now, if the baby had survived the miscarriage . . . now all they had was Hershel, a man who had willingly put himself in quarantine to tend to the deathly sick.
Rick could completely understand why Tessa was uneasy.
Rick shook his head and moved to further explain himself. "Tyrese is gonna be back soon with the others, Tess. I didn't . . . I didn't think she should be here when he did." He shook his head. "Tess, I couldn't have her here, you know I couldn't! I sent her off with a car and supplies . . . she's a survivor – she'll figure it out."
"What are you going to do?" Tessa finally asked, her voice coming out small and noncommittal and Rick swallowed hard.
"I told Maggie I was going to tell Hershel but not to let anyone else know yet. I'm going to ask you to do the same." He replied and she immediately nodded.
"Of course. We don't need that kind of panic and derision – not now!" She agreed and Rick nodded in thankful agreement before he shot her a slightly uneasy look.
"Would you have brought her back?" He asked and Tessa swallowed hard and thought for a moment.
"She said she did it?"
He nodded. "Yeah . . ."
Tessa thought for a moment before resolutely nodding. "You were right to send her away, then. I . . . I don't know if I could have in my present state, but . . . but you were right to. You might have just saved a lot of people." She told him and Rick nodded as he reached forward and took her hand in his. Her eyes flickered up to his and what she found there was a resolute determination.
"You could have, Tessa – don't delude yourself. You've made much harder decisions in the past and when it would have come down to the wire, you would have done it to protect your children – to protect all the children here! So don't doubt yourself – we don't get to anymore!" He told her and she nodded as she gently withdrew her hand from his and instead, moved to throw the covers off her legs. Even though Michonne and Rick were together and for all intents and purposes, as happy as any other couple in the prison, she knew Rick still held feelings for her - feelings that would possibly never go away. They weren't nearly as bad as they had been earlier, but they were still there and she was careful about making sure he knew when he had stepped over the line.
Even though she wouldn't exactly have classified him taking her hand out of concern,as stepping over the line. Hell, she'd take stoic Rick over Sam's goo-goo-eyed looks any day of the week!
She stood, wincing as she did so before slowly leaning down to pick up Aayla. She moved to deposit the girl into her crib and Rick quickly got to his feet as well before he picked up and handed her Danny, where she did the same.
"How are things out there? I haven't been out since we've been put here and the only information I've been able to get is from Maggie and understandably, she's a little . . . distracted at the moment." She told him, changing the subject, and Rick heaved a sigh and shook his head.
"The walkers are grouping around the fence more than anything now. Me and Maggie spent some time reinforcing the fence and I gotta go back and help her again before long, but . . ." He trailed off and shook his head tiredly. "It's exhausting work, Tess! Killin' enough of them in order to relieve some of the pressure off of the fence long enough to reinforce it with logs that might not even hold . . ." Tessa nodded in agreement as she placed a hand on his arm.
"I bet it is – now help to the cot, will you?" He nodded and after taking a firm hold of her arm and shoulder, helped her slowly to bed. His eyebrows furrowed in concern at the slight winces that would cross her face along the way.
"Tess, are you sure you don't want me to go -"
Tessa's smile of amusement interrupted him as she finally descended onto the cot again, where she made herself comfortable on top of the thin army blankets. "You'll go do what, Rick - fetch Hershel?" She asked before giving a laugh and a shake of his head. "I'm fine, Rick, I promise that I am. All I need is more rest. And even if you did go get Hershel, what could he possibly do?"
Rick shook his head. "Tess, I promised Daryl that I would watch over you while he was gone!" He told her and she shook her head, her gaze softening.
"And I'm here to tell you that I'm fine, Rick! I just . . ." She gave a short laugh then. "I have to think of a way to tell Daryl that he might be a daddy again!" Rick gave her a small, slightly amused smile then.
"Yeah . . . yeah, good luck with that. And once you get done with that, I'm gonna have to tell him that there is only one person left who can deliver your baby!" He replied and Tessa gave him a weak, amused look.
"Yeah . . . yeah, good luck with that, too."
