Better Days

Chapter 264

Author's Note: We're close, real close, so close my fingers can taste it! So Jes is always thinking one step ahead, she's trained that way. As always, review please. It motivates!

Phoebe, Aaron and Eric's POV:

Phoebe walked past the others in the supply room as she led Aaron into the other room. "Eric, someone's here to see you," she said with a grin.

Aaron walked in and stopped.

"He's going to freak out, this is most definitely his I'm going to freak out face," Phoebe told him. "He's fine, Aaron. Eric tell him you're fine," she told the other man.

"I'm okay. It's like a volleyball injury, it's a broken ankle. At least that's what Maggie said. I like her. Ronnie wrapped it and made sure it's propped up. Do you know she's a DR? Another DR. in Alexandria, that's going to be wonderful," Eric told them.

"It'll piss Pete off, but maybe he won't be as important as he is now," Phoebe said as she stood back. "Aaron, he's alright," she told him. "Do you two want me to leave, give you some alone time?"

"No stay," Eric told her. "It's not a big deal," he reassured Aaron.

"Oh my God," Aaron said as he went over and looked at the ankle."

"I'll just go to the infirmary when we get back," Eric told them.

Aaron reached up and kissed him, as Phoebe smiled as she watched them.

"Oh... When I saw that flare go up, I... I thought.." Aaron tried to explain.

"He was worried. It's cute how the two of you are. You do realize I am going to have to tell Em how this happened right? There's no making out big heroic stories for this one," Phoebe said with a grin.

"I was worried, about both of you," Aaron told them.

Eric looked at Aaron. "This is your fault you know," he told him.

Phoebe kept her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

"Is that so?" Aaron asked.

"Because I love you. And because when I'm worried, I do stupid things. And when I do stupid things, I wind up underneath a rust bucket surrounded by roamers who roll a rear passenger tire onto my left ankle," Eric told him. "Now come over here Phoebe. How did our girl do?"

Phoebe shook her head as she came over. "This is not something I want to do on a regular basis."

"She stood her ground against Jes and Rick. She talked a lot," Aaron teased.

"Nervous, huh?" Eric asked. "Of course she did good, she was taught by the best," he teased. "Hey, something good came out of today. While I was waiting for you, I searched through the neighborhood. I found that," he said as he handed Aaron his back pack.

Aaron took out the license plate and looked at it and then glanced back at Phoebe.

"You lost the license plates," Eric stated.

"You know it really freaks me out when you do that, Eric," Phoebe told him. "Cute but freaky."

Aaron gave a small laugh. "I lost the car."

"Lost isn't the exact word I'd use, Aaron. The car ended a tragic but heroic death by taking out a ton of roamers'," Phoebe corrected him.

Eric laughed. "Maybe it's for the best. That monstrosity out front can run. It's so ugly, it'll scare the roamers away," he said as they laughed. Eric raised his head up slightly as Rick and Jewel came into sight. "Hi, I'm Eric."

"Rick," Rick answered.

"Jewel," Jewel introduced her self. "Aaron, Phoebe, we need to see you out here," she told them.

"It's alright," Aaron told Eric as he and Phoebe got up.

Rick stared at Eric as Phoebe and Aaron passed them. "Rick, stop trying to intimidate the man with the broken ankle," Jewel told him as they walked out.

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Everyone. Thank you. You saved Eric. I owe you, all of you. We owe you," Aaron said as he indicated to Phoebe. "And we will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria," Aaron told them.

"You have three allies on your side, weather you want them or not," Phoebe told them. "You'll be suspicious and overwhelmed when you get to the gates. You won't trust anyone, or sleep because you won't believe it's real, or that we aren't bad people. And, some of the people in Alexandria, they won't understand, they won't get it. But, I do. And my door is always going to be open to any of you, any time of day or night. It takes a special type of person to live out there and still have good in them, and I'm looking at a lot of special people," Phoebe told them with a smile.

"You're being awful willing to tell us where your community is now. You're welcoming us and we haven't passed this audition you were talking about," Beth told them.

"Really Aaron? We need to find a dictionary with a better word. You are good people, and I'd take any of you over some of the people in Alexandria. Not that they aren't good people, but….well they're naïve," Phoebe told them.

"Phoebe," Aaron scolded her.

"What? They are. It's all about transparency isn't it?" Phoebe questioned.

Aaron nodded slightly. "Yes it is. Well now, I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not do any more driving tonight. Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning," he told them.

Everyone smiled or gave a tired laugh at Aaron's statement. "That sounds fine. But if we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there," he told him as he pointed. "You'll sleep over there," he said to Phoebe as he pointed to the other side of the room.

"Rick," Jewel warned.

"Do you really think we got to do that?" Maggie questioned him.

"It's the safe play, we don't know you," Rick simply answered.

"I'll stay out here, Aaron needs to be with Eric," Phoebe answered.

"The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me," Aaron told him as he took a step forward.

Glenn put his hand out. "Rick, he told us where the camp is. And he really was only traveling with two other people. All of them are unarmed and one of them's got a broken ankle. I want us to be safe too," he told him.

"Rick, when we were separated, we did everything to get back to each other. We killed to get back to each other. We would have killed anyone who tried to separate us. Eric and Aaron are no different then us. They are in love, they need to be with each other right now. We separate them, then we are giving up another small part of us that we can never get back," Jewel told him. "The three of them would be stupid to try anything, they'd be dead before they could do anything, and we know where there camp is."

Rick nodded as he kissed her softly. "Alright," he responded.

Aaron nodded appreciatively. He started to go in the other room. "Phoebe?"

"I'm alright, I told them I'd stay out here, and I will. Trust works both ways, Aaron," Phoebe told him.

The next morning Rick and Jewel's POV:

Jewel kissed Rick's shoulder as he stood at the car. "You ready for this?"

Rick looked back at the RV and the other car as everyone was loading up. "Still expecting a trap."

Jewel nodded. "You wouldn't be the Rick Grimes that I fell in love with if you didn't have your guard up. You've kept us alive for a long time, with those instincts." she told him.

"Didn't keep everyone alive," Rick told her. "How's the wrist, Mrs. Grimes?"

"It's not broke, just twisted. I didn't need Ronnie to tell me that," Jewel answered. "Remember our deal Mr. Grimes?"

"Which one?" Rick asked. "We've got a few going on."

Jewel smiled. "The one that we keep each other grounded. This is going to be a shock to our systems, to all of us. If it wasn't for Hope…for Judith…Mika, Carl, Summer and Lexi…I don't think I'd be agreeing to this. I know I wouldn't. Living inside with people that haven't seen the things we have? Haven't done what we've done to survive? The good thing, is that I'm used to having people stare at me, before all this. But, this….if it's for real, they are in for a shock, because we can't go back. We can't pretend we're something we're not."

Rick stood in front of her. "Look at me Mrs. Grimes," he told her. "Whatever we walk into, we are in it together. We do it the way we always have. You and I, we keep each other sane so we can keep them safe. I wouldn't have made it without you, I wouldn't have kept it together so many times if I hadn't known that at the end of the day, you'd be there. I'm here, I'll be here. Haven't you learned that you can't get rid of me that easily?" he asked with a soft smile.

Jewel laughed. "I'd like to get rid of that thing on your face," she said with a laugh. "I get to shave that thing if they have a razor. Even if we aren't going to stay, I'm taking a shower," she told him as she kissed him.

Rick laughed. "Deal Mrs. Grimes," he told her. "Let's go," he said as he raised his hand to get the groups attention.

Carl, Mika and Summer walked over with Judith and Hope. "Mind if I tag along in this car?" Summer asked.

Jewel looked at her oldest daughter. "What do we owe the pleasure? I mean you usually chose to ride with the others."

Summer shook her head. "If we're doing this, then we all should be in one car. We're a family, we're all your kids."

"For better or worse," Mika told them.

"Lexi is riding in the RV with Sasha, Mitch is in the other car with Mar and Daryl. Michonne's riding in that one too and Axel," Carl told them.

Jewel hugged Sumer. "Of course we don't mind," she told her as she bent down to get Hope from Mika. "You ready for an adventure baby girl?"

"Um Jewel she was born in Terminus, I think her life started out as an adventure," Mika told her as they got in the car.

Group POV:

Jewel leaned back on the lead car's hood as she looked over to the RV. "Everything alright?" she asked.

Abraham hit the front of the RV. "Can't win. Might as well paint it red, put a ladder on it."

Summer and Glenn glanced at each other. "All we need is another battery," Glenn said.

"Where in the hell are we gonna find another battery?" Abraham asked.

"Ah, we have our secrets," Summer said with a smirk.

"This one we'll share with you," Glenn said as he walked over to the other side of the RV and opened the compartment.

"How'd you know those were in there?" Abraham asked.

Summer and Glenn exchanged glances both remembering Dale. "It's important that we remember what people teach us, so that when they aren't here, when they don't finish whatever journey we're on, they can still help us," Summer said.

Abraham looked at her. "Weird things come out of your mouth."

"She reads a lot," Joey answered.

"Come on," Glenn told him.

Jewel kissed the side of Rick's face. "Dale," she said as Rick gave a small smile and nod.

"Fight's over," Michonne told them. "You've got to let it go. I know it's hard. After it's kept you... Warm and fed and... Alive. But the fight... It turns on you," she told them.

"Some of us have been fighting a whole lot longer then this shit's been going on Michonne. Trust doesn't come easy for some of us," Jes said.

"No one's asking you to hug everyone you see, Jes. We know it's not going to be easy, but we to at least try. No matter how hard it is," Jewel told her.

Rick squeezed her good hand. "You've got to let it go. That's what Bob was trying to tell us back at the church. What to risk. When it's safe, when to let someone in," he said as he sighed. "The rules keep changing."

"They did for me," Michonne said.

"If I didn't let the rules change, I wouldn't have you. I wouldn't have Hope," Jewel told Rick as she kissed his shoulder. She looked up as the RV started and everyone cheered.

"Before we get going, I got to... I got to take a moment," Rick told them.

Jes adjusted her rifle. "I'll go with you, no one goes alone," she said as she followed him. She remained quiet as they came up to an old building. "I knew you would do something like this. It's a safe play. Tell the others that I decided to walk the rest of the way. Check things out," she told him as she watched him bury the gun.

Rick looked at her. "What are you thinking?"

"Every place has weak spots. They are stupid to think that no one can get over the walls. Lucky for them we mean no harm," Jes told him.

"You think this is the right plan?" Rick asked.

"Do you Rick?" Jes asked. "You tell me no, I'm going to listen. You are the boss. You tell me you want to go in there, all of us, not surprising them when one of us doesn't use the front door, then I'll back off."

Rick shook his head. "I've learned that you know how to handle things like this. You've been thinking about this for a while, huh?"

"Since Phoebe was explaining things to me on the night of the storm," Jes answered. "Living in a plastic bubble ignoring what's right in front of you, that gets you killed. They need a bit of a wake up call. If they don't want to accept us because we are playing it smart, then they are the ones who are going to wind up dying, one way or another."

Rick nodded. "Be careful. We'll come after you if you don't get there."

"Oh, Rick, I'll be there before you. I've been doubletiming it before you were even Sherriff. See you on the other side," Jes told him as she started to take off.

Author's Note: You all know what's next. ALEXANDRIA! Review please