Better Days

Chapter 305

Author's Note: I want to do the whole Aiden getting killed thing in one or two chapters. That feels like something that should be together. You know how this works, read and review. Thanks!

Mar, Beth and Mitch's POV:

Mar watched as Mitch and Mika went inside the garage and waited to see if Mitch actually stayed.

"Finally got Mitch to try out school, huh?" Phoebe questioned as she stopped by her.

"Daryl ordered him to school, but he didn't order him to stay," Mar answered.

"You're afraid of a breakout huh?" Phoebe asked. "There's a side window in the bathroom that is a good sneak out point. Caught Liam doing it a couple weeks after we got here. Come on, I'll show you," she told her.

"I forget you were out there for a while," Mar told her.

"I was," Phoebe answered. "Still getting the feeling that this is to real to be true huh?" she asked as she sat down on a bench. "It takes a while. I remember when Enid first came in, she wouldn't talk to anyone for weeks. Everyone tried to take her in, tried to baby her. I caught her going outside the walls, I followed her. I caught up with her, but she still didn't talk. I told her that I understood, that I had been out there. She could come stay with Liam and me, didn't have to say a word. I wouldn't push her, all she had to do was agree not to go outside the walls without letting me go. I understood how it felt to be out there, to be free. Being behind walls, it doesn't feel right after being out there so long."

"Did the feeling ever leave?" Mar asked.

"It's still there, hanging in the back of my mind," Phoebe answered. "Daryl is going to be fine out there, with Aaron."

"I know. Daryl can handle himself and he's loyal," Mar said as she sat down.

"How did you get with the group. You obviously aren't from Atlanta," Phoebe told her.

"Boston, came to Atlanta after a bad divorce with my son Peter. Worked with Jewel at a clinic, knew Summer and Daryl," Mar told her.

"Your son? Did he get bit?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know, I had sent him to Boston a couple weeks before to visit his father. I met up with Jewel and the group about a year and half ago, I guess. It had a lot less people and different faces. Lori was pregnant with Judith, we hadn't found the prison yet. Mitch was adopted by the group by the time I got in. I just fell naturally into the roll of his mother. Daryl and I just kind of happened," she said.

Beth came around the corner. "Noel said that this was the window that the kids liked to sneak out of. Mitch went to the bathroom and hasn't returned."

Phoebe gave a small smile as she nodded at the window. "And here comes the outlaw now."

Mar saw Mitch's feet come out the window and shook her head as she walked over and grabbed them as she pulled him out. "Hmm, I wonder what the penalty is for breaking out of a classroom."

Mitch turned around and gave a weak smile. "Um, would you believe that I totally knew everything and was totally bored?"

"I'd believe that you were totally bored," Mar told him. "And how would you know if you knew everything? You were in there for twelve minutes."

"Beth, tell her it was total bull, that this is total bull," Mitch pleaded.

"We all have jobs to do, whether or not we like them. Liam and Mika are both in there right now, they both know what you are going through. Do you really think it's fair to Mika that you let her go through this alone? Liam understands what it's like out there, but Mika, she's family. She doesn't want to be here anymore then you do, but she's trying. It's just like out on the road, we stick together, we protect each other. I'm sure Daryl wouldn't like the fact that you are leaving Mika alone. Do you?" Beth asked.

"No, he'd be ashamed," Mitch told her.

"You come back inside, the three of us make it through the three hours, together, and then we walk outside, together. Just like we walked into those gates alone. Deal?" Beth asked. "You also owe your momma an apologize for trying to be Houdini and do a great escape act."

"Sorry mom," Mitch said. "Alright, I'll go back in and stay," Mitch told them as he passed them.

"He'll stay," Beth told them.

"Thank you," Mar told Beth as she gave her a hug.

Beth smiled. "That's what family does. Don't you have book club or something with Carol?"

"In a couple hours. You better get back in there," Mar told her as Beth turned back around to go back in the garage.

"He'll stay," Phoebe told her. "It's pretty amazing how you all interact, how you all seem to know how to read each other."

Mar gave a small smile. "We weren't just a group who was trying to survive, looking out for just ourselves, we were and are a family. Rick and Jewel did that. Rick didn't just do things to make sure he alone survived, he made sure we all survived. You've been out there, you know there are times you can't speak. We all learned to read each other," she stated. "You would have been one of us," she told her. "Thank you for your help today, I better go see if anyone needs anything," she said as she walked away.

Rosita and Lexi's POV:

Rosita passed Lexi's room in the house they shared and stopped at the door, hearing cries from inside. She knocked softly. "Lex? It's Rosita, can I come in?" she asked as she waited for a response. When she didn't get a response, she turned the door knob and went inside. "Lex?" she asked as she walked in. She saw the girl sitting on the floor next to her bed and joined her. "Want to talk about it?"

"Just want to be alone," Lexi answered as she wiped her eyes.

"Well, that isn't going to happen. You're hurting, we're family, and family doesn't abandon one another when we're hurting," Rosita told her.

"Tell Sasha that," Lexi told her.

"Sasha gone already?" Rosita asked as she put her arm around the younger girls' shoulder.

"She was gone before the sun came up," Lexi answered. "I miss Ty, just as much as she does. I lost Ty just like she did, but now I feel like I've lost Sasha too, even though she's alive. And I'm tired of people telling me that she'll come around. She isn't coming around, if anything she's getting worse. I'm tired of feeling like I'm the big sister and that I have to support Sasha, and can't break down. I know I'm being selfish and weak, but I'm hurting just as much as she is."

Rosita kissed the top of her head. "First of all, you are not being selfish, you are grieving. And weak? Please, girl, I have seen grown men break down and let walkers' take them down because they couldn't handle it. You have been nothing but strong and caring since the day we met in that train car. I was expecting you and Mitch to break down, but you didn't even blink You did what you had to do, and helped us get out of there. You protected Hope, Judith, Mitch and Mika as much as Carl and Summer did, as any of us did. You did what you had to do to support the group, more than Eugene or Gabriel. It's perfectly alright to feel what you're feeling, because that means you are human. I can't speak for Sasha, I can't tell you that she is being selfish, everyone handles grief differently. I know that's not a good answer, but it's the best I've got. But that doesn't mean you can't grieve, or talk about Tyreese. I may not be blood but we're family right?"

Lexi gave a small smile. "Of course your family," she told her.

Rosita looked around the room. "I have an idea."

"What?" Lexi questioned.

"How about we make this your room? I'm sure we can find stuff around here to personalize this room, make it Lexi's. And, while we do it, you can tell me about Tyreese. I didn't know him well, and I'd like to hear about him. He seemed like he was a good brother, and I know he was a good man," Rosita told her.

"He was the best. He just couldn't adapt to this world. It wasn't in him to be the kind of person you have to be in this world," Lexi told her.

"So how about it? We spend the day scavenging around, finding things you like, and totally get rid of these boring white walls. I saw paint in the areas with supplies, I'm sure we can get this to be a typical teen girls room," Rosita told her.

"Is there anything typical now a days?" Lexi questioned.

"Maybe typical is what we make it now a days. The world ended, and we had to change, but who says that we have to always stay that way? Right now, while we can take a breath, who says we can't have a little fun? I mean I know when I was your age, these white walls would have bored me out of my mind," Rosita informed her.

"They are kind of boring," Lexi admitted.

"See? I knew you weren't the boring type," Rosita told her as she kissed the top of her head.

"Do you really think we'll be here that long?" Lexi questioned. "The longest we've ever been anywhere is the prison. I thought we were safe, I thought we could live there forever, Judith and Hope could grow up safe," she told the older woman. "I don't know if it's even worth trying to pretend this can be home. They won't even let us have our guns," she reminded her.

"Do me a favor?" Rosita asked.

"What?" Lexi questioned back.

"That today, we're going to pretend it's just a normal day, before the end of the world. That I'm your friend helping you decorate your room in a new house. We have the right to forget what's it like out there, just for a day. You tell me about Ty, and I bet I can even find some junk food," Rosita told her. "Deal?"

"Deal," Lexi answered.