Better Days
Chapter 308
Author's Note: I'm glad most everybody likes the extra characters. I love the show (well maybe not the whole season 6 cliffhanger-but more of that at a different time,) but fan fiction lets you do things differently and change things while keeping to the story line. Please review.
Summer, Jewel, and Carol's POV:
Jewel walked inside of the house and took a breath. "Let me see that arm," she told her oldest daughter.
"It's fine, mom, really," Summer insisted.
"Did that sound like a request Summer Grace? If it did, then let me rephrase it. Sit down, roll up your sleeve, and let me see that arm," Jewel demanded as she waited.
Summer glanced at Carol as she sat down. "Pete's going to go to Deanna. You threw a knife at him, it hit his hand," she told her mother.
"Not to mention that you hit him," Carol said.
Jewel inspected Summer's arm. "He grabbed it hard enough to bruise it," she said as she pressed down on it.
"Ow," Summer said as she tried to move her arm away.
"And it's tender," Jewel told them. "This is why I threw a knife at him and punched him, as well as kicked him in the balls. He's lucky he's still alive. You both know how easily I could have thrown that knife at his head and killed him instantly. It took all the self restraint I had not to kill him. So he goes to Deanna, so what?" she hissed.
"She can try to kick us out," Carol told her.
Jewel glanced at her. "She can try," she simply answered. "She knows, she can't have lived in this little society with less than fifty people and not know what Pete does to his family," she stated.
"She turned a blind eye. You and I both know how that goes," Carol told her.
"Yeah we do, that's why I'm not going to turn a blind eye. She can do something, or I kill Pete," Jewel responded.
"Mom, I thought you wanted to do this the non violent way," Summer responded.
Jewel nodded. "I did, until he put his hands on you. I'm not going to turn a blind eye to this. I won't and I can't. Now if this was before, he'd be in jail, if he was that lucky. You know if Merle was alive or Daryl was here, he wouldn't be standing. His body would never be found. He would have just gotten drunk and wondered outside the gates, right into a small herd. It would have been such a shame, but no one would have missed him. We're all trying to do the right thing here, for you, for Carl, for Hope, Judy, Mitch, Lexi and Mika. But, someone who is a danger to one of us, is a danger to all of us."
"How are we going to stop him from hurting Sam?" Summer asked. "I saw the fear in Sam's eyes when he saw his father. He's hurting him."
"He asked for a gun, that's why she was out on the porch with him. Summer was talking to him, trying to get out of him why he was hurting Sam," Carol told her.
"I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was doing what dad and you asked, I was watching the younger ones here. Like I always have because it's my job. I thought I could stop when we got here, at least not with the kids here, but I couldn't, not when I know that something is going on in that house. You always taught me to fight for what's right, to do the right thing. You always said I was going to be the Dixon who made a difference, who left a mark on the world. Well the world is a lot smaller now, but the right thing is still do the right thing. And, I was trying to do the right thing," Summer insisted.
Jewel gave a small smile and touched her face. "I know baby. But that doesn't mean that anyone has a right to put there hands on you."
"She should talk to Deanna, by herself. Tell her what happened, pretend to be scared he was going to do more," Carol told them.
"It wouldn't be a lie, I was scared," Summer answered.
"But you aren't going alone," Jewel answered.
"You can't suggest you go," Carol told Jewel. "Pete's going to go there and tell her what happened, his side. It would be better if you just stayed inside and wait for her to come to you."
"When have I ever hidden from danger Carol? He grabbed my daughter, hard enough to make her arm tender. I have every right to go with her," Jewel told her.
"I'll take Michonne or dad, they are the constables. Carol, you and Mar go to your book club thing, act normal," Summer told them.
"I think you're wrong about Pete going to Deanna, Carol," Jewel told her.
Carol looked at her. "What do you mean? He'll want to explain himself to her."
Jewel shook her head. "Both of us knew men like Pete. They had no respect for anyone but especially women. I'd bet it drives him insane that a woman's in charge. Men like Pete always have one thing in common, they want to scare the weaker sex. Well, the jokes on him, because he just messed with the wrong woman."
"I'm going to go upstairs, take a shower, I'll be back down," Summer said as she walked upstairs.
Jewel and Rick's POV:
Jewel walked upstairs and checked on Judith and went into her room and kissed the top of Hope's head before she bent down and got the gun from under the bed. She got up and sat on the bed and checked the weapon.
Rick came in and shut the door. He sat down and kissed her. "Carol told me what happened, Michonne is going to take Summer over to Deanna. It took all I had not to go over and kill him myself," he said as he kissed her again. "But Carol said I needed to come up here and check on you."
"I should have killed him, put the knife right in his brain. All I could see….all I could think of was what else could he do….and I did want to kill him, I should have killed him. He deserves to die, he'll keep hurting Jessie and the boys," Jewel told him.
"Hey, look at me," Rick instructed her as he put a finger on her chin and raised it up so they could be looking eye to eye. "You're still trying to be a good person, keep part of yourself from before, trying to keep me from doing the wrong thing. There is nothing wrong with what you did."
"Deanna's not going to do anything, she's going to turn a blind eye," Jewel stated.
Rick kissed her. "Then that's when we take care of it. I'll talk to Jessie, she needs to get him out of the house."
"No, I will. No offense Rick, but you've never been the on the one who has been abused. I'll talk to her mother to mother," Jewel told him.
"I don't like the idea of you being over there by yourself," Rick informed her.
"I can take care of myself, you know that," Jewel assured him.
"I know you can, part of what makes you so damn attractive. But, I also know, you see your father in him, and I want to protect you from that," Rick told her as he kissed her again.
"Mr. Grimes, I love you, I really do. But that was another lifetime ago. A man who hit's a woman, hit's a child, isn't a man. When that man has the audacity to put his hands on my child, I'm real tempted to make sure he's not a man. We have every right to be mad, because he hurt our child, and it could've been worse. I won't go over yet, I'll give him time to cool down. Carol's going to try to talk to Sam," she said.
"I'll talk to Deanna, let her know he needs to die, that he can't be left alive to hurt anyone else. It'll be alright, Mrs. Grimes," he assured her.
"You're right, we may need to take this place," Jewel told him. "I'm with you," she said as she kissed him.
Michonne and Summer's POV:
Michonne knocked on Summer's door. "Summer it's Michonne. Unless you want your father to come up here hell bent on killing Pete, let me in," she told her.
Summer opened the door, hair still being wet from the shower. "How mad is he?"
"Do you even have to ask? You know your father. Let me see your arm," Michonne instructed.
"Mom's already checked it," Summer told her.
"See this ugly green windbreaker I'm wearing? I'm not wearing it for show. It actually means I'm supposed to be doing a job, trying to keep the peace," Michonne told her. "Let me see the arm, Summer."
Summer sighed as she rolled up her sleeve. "Do you really think you and dad wearing those things are actually going to make a difference?"
Michonne took Summer's arm and took a breath to calm herself down. "I would hope so," she told her. "This shouldn't have happened."
"A lot of things shouldn't happen that does, even before the world ended," Summer simply answered.
"Summer, I need you to answer me truthfully. If your mom hadn't came around, do you think that Pete would have tried anything?" Michonne asked.
"Not then, no. I don't know, I mean…." Summer answered. "I know mom was thinking it, not that I don't blame her. I didn't like the way he grabbed me. I think I understood for the first time how mom felt…the fear of not being in control of the situation."
Michonne pulled Summer in a hug. "Nothing's gonna happen, alright? None of us is going to let it happen. He had no right to put his hands on you, and it wasn't anything you did. You understand that?" Michonne asked.
"Yeah, I understand," Summer answered.
"Come on, let's go talk to Deanna," Michonne informed her. "All you have to tell her is the truth. I'm not going to leave the room, even if she asks."
Summer nodded as she pulled down her sleeve. "Do you think mom's going to be in trouble?"
"I don't want you to worry about that," Michonne answered as they walked down the stairs. "She did what she did to protect you, what any mother would do."
"She could have killed him," Summer answered.
"But she didn't, did she? She restrained herself, and we're going about this the right way. I know you're not going to like what I say next," Michonne told her.
"You don't want me to go anywhere by myself until Pete is taken care of," Summer guessed.
"I know a young man who wouldn't mind being a personal body guard," Michonne teased as they passed Pete walking down the street with bears.
"He's going toward the house," Summer said as she started to turn around.
"Hey, we have a job to do, we need to get to Deanna's. Let your dad handle whatever that is," Michonne instructed.
Summer nodded as she continued walking with her.
Rick's POV:
Rick left Jewel upstairs nursing Hope as there was a knock on the door. He went over and opened the door. He should have been surprised to see Pete there, after what happened, but he wasn't. "What are you doing here?" Rick asked calmly.
"I was just having a beer, thought I'd bring you one for helping my wife today," Pete said as he walked inside.
"You aren't welcome here Pete," Rick answered.
Pete glanced down at his hand with a bandage on it. "Your wife has a temper. I haven't gone to Deanna, thought we could handle this man to man. I wanted to explain my side to you. Come on have that beer," he said as he held up the bottle.
"I can't, but thanks," Rick responded as he looked at him.
"Don't tell me you're still on duty," Pete told Rick.
"I always kind of am," Rick said. "So you're calling putting your hands on my daughter a misunderstanding? You left fingerprints on her arm, Pete."
Pete ignored him. "You weren't on duty at Deanna's party, I saw you letting lose. You should get your wife to drink, it might loosen her up, you know?"
Rick took a breath and looked at him. "I wish I could have been more help with the owl, I asked around but no one heard or saw anything."
"Well in the grand scheme of things, it was just an owl. I think we'll live," Pete told Rick.
Rick stepped closer to him. "So I'm still waiting, Pete, for your explanation about how you putting your hands on my daughter was a misunderstanding."
"She isn't yours though, she's Jewel's. Jewel isn't Carl's mother either, I heard you lost your wife out there. I'm sorry," Pete said.
"My wife is upstairs, feeding our daughter. My ex wife died out there yes. And it doesn't matter if Summer isn't mine by blood, she is mine. I know exactly what you're trying to do Pete. You're trying to make this about anyone but yourself. Do you realize how lucky you are to be alive right now?" Rick questioned.
"What? Your wife had horrible aim," Pete told him.
"My wife has perfect aim, she aimed for your hand instead of your head, which took all the self restraint she had not to kill you. You put your hands on Summer, then you think you can come in here and sweet talk your way out of it?" Rick questioned. "If I saw you put your hands on my daughter, I would have killed you. Jewel gave you a chance, but it won't happen again. She'll kill you and I'll help her dispose of the body and no one will even miss you."
"Do you think Deanna will believe her over me? I could go to her right now, tell her my side of the story, get her thrown out," Pete simply said.
"Your fingerprints on my daughters' arm is proof enough. Get out of my house Pete. If I ever see you anywhere near my children, any of my children, it'll be the last thing you ever do. Get out and take your beer with you," Rick hissed at the man as he watched him leave.