Better Days

Chapter 347

Author's Note: I'm hoping season 7 is easier to write. Well, I know it won't be in the terms of people dying, grr Negan, but what I mean is the way they freaking write the show. This black and white stuff is driving me bonkers. Trust me I don't have that far to go on that front. The conversation with Tara, well it just seems like something she would do if the situation had arisen in the show. Please review.

Quinn's POV:

Quinn walked into her mother's house and started to walk up the stairs when she met Emily, who was coming down. "Emily…I didn't expect to find you here this morning."

The red head looked surprised to be caught. "Oh, it got late, and I didn't think Spenser or your mother should be alone, so I spent the night."

Quinn gave a small smile. "Emily, you are old enough to admit that you spent the night with Spenser without making an excuse. I just don't want to see either one of you hurt if the two of you don't have the same expectations of a relationship."

"We didn't really, I mean, talk about that last night," Emily admitted.

Quinn nodded. "How is he?"

"Hungover," Emily answered.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Like that ever helped anything."

"I told him the same thing. I know Ronnie said that Beth and Carol dropped off breakfast downstairs, I was just heading down to get him some and take it back up," Emily told her.

"He can come down and get it himself," Quinn told her. "Go make sure it's warmed up, I'll make sure he comes down and gets it himself."

Emily looked at her. "How are you?"

"Numb, trying to make sense of what happened last night," Quinn answered. "Go on downstairs, I'll send Spense down," she said as she walked upstairs not bothering to knock on Spenser's door before going in. She walked over to the bed and pulled the covers off of him. "Get up."

Spenser opened his eyes and looked at her. "Quinn what the hell?"

Quinn threw a robe at him. "Get up and get dressed. Emily is downstairs reheating breakfast for you. I told her that you would go down and get it yourself."

"I had a rough night last night, Quinn. I thought I'd spend the day in bed, nursing a hangover," Spenser told her.

Quinn yanked on his arm and pulled him up. "Well, Spenser, you don't get that option. My night wasn't a bed of roses either. We both lost our father last night in a violent act, but you know what? Mom lost her husband of thirty eight years. For the first time in almost forty years, mom is in her bedroom alone. She is getting dressed without having dad to talk to, she's starting the day without them talking about plans for the day. So, I'm sorry that you drank yourself into obvilion last night, and that you want to just lay around wallowing in self pity, but you don't get to, because mom needs us. Bri was out last night, scrubbing dad's blood off the street so mom wouldn't have to see it. I didn't even know she was out, until Summer brought her home and told us what she was doing. I didn't even think of doing that, and neither did you, but she did. So if she could be out there for over three hours scrubbing blood up, coming home with blood covering her, then the least you and I can do, is be there for mom. Five minutes, Spenser. Get dressed, go downstairs, eat, and drink coffee and be ready for whatever mom needs today," she told him as she walked out the door and let it slam behind her. She took a breath as she knocked on Deanna's door. "Mom? It's Quinn, may I come in?" she asked softly. She pushed the door open when she didn't get a response, not surprised to see Deanna up and dressed as she stood by the window. "Beth and Carol brought breakfast, Emily is downstairs reheating it. I can bring you something up if you want," she told her as she put her hand on the shorter woman's shoulder.

"You are a lot like your father, you know?" Deanna questioned. "You get your stubborness from me, yes, but how you can push through and take care of everyone else before yourself, that is all your father."

"He always said it was you I took after," Quinn answered softly. "I'm not going to ask you how you are doing, because I know the answer. I hated when people told me after Cam's death they knew how I felt, because they didn't," she told her mother.

"But you do," Deanna said as she turned and looked up at her daughter.

"I do," Quinn told her. "About last night, before Pete…." she started to say.

Deanna held up her hand. "If you are going to apologize for standing against me, don't," she told her only daughter. "I would be disappointed if you did apologize just because of what happened. You and I both know that if your father was still alive, you wouldn't apologize and that you still believe that you did the right thing. You did exactly what I raised you to do, stand up for what you believed in. I'm proud of you for that, so was your father."

Quinn nodded. "I went about it the wrong way, I should have talked to you."

Deanna sighed. "You did, several times, and I didn't listen. I didn't listen to you that Nicholas and Aiden shouldn't have been in charge of the supply runs, now Aiden and Noah are dead. I didn't listen to Rick and Jewel that Pete needed to die, and now your father is dead. I thought I was doing what was right by this community, by all of you, and I just made a mess of everything."

Quinn knew her mother would call her out if she told her it wasn't her fault. "You can make it right, it's not to late. You and Rick, can make this community work well. Jewel and I can be advisors."

"Maybe I'm not the Monroe that this town needs, maybe it's not a Monroe that it needs, maybe it's a Bledsoe," Deanna told her.

Quinn looked at her. "This town needs you, these people need you, all of these people. But, they also need Jewel and Rick. I'm not going to allow you to give up, that's not you."

Deanna gave a small smile. "I guess we should go down to breakfast and then I should go say goodbye to your father."

"I'll go with you, I know Tobin and Gus were on there way to dig his grave," Deanna said as she kissed Deanna's cheek.

Tara and Summer's POV:

Summer grinned as she saw Tara approaching the gate. "You've been sprung huh?" Summer asked as she hugged the other woman. "I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you up and about. But shouldn't you be resting? I mean, you did just have a near death experience."

"I promised Ronnie that I wouldn't over exert myself. Talking to a friend isn't over exerting myself," Tara told her.

"Walking from the infirmary over here, when the house is closer, could be over exerting. Not that I don't want to talk to you, but you almost died. We lost Noah, and you almost died. I'm tired of losing people, and if you need to wait until I'm off gate duty to talk, then that's what needs to happen," Summer told her.

"You do realize that it's further to walk to the house now then it was? It would be easier if I just stayed here with you, hung out, and talked, then walked back with you," Tara told her. "Or are you trying to avoid talking to me about how you spent the night with Joey?"

Summer laughed. "You came down here to talk about that?"

"As you pointed out, several times, I almost died. I wake up to find out that Noah's dead and that you and Joey finally sealed the deal. I was holding out a little hope that you played for my team," Tara teased as she playfully hit her shoulder with her own.

"I missed your odd sense of humor," Summer replied. "Yeah, I spent the night with Joey, and yes we had sex," she responded to the unanswered question.

"Rick and Daryl hasn't killed him, so that's a good thing," Tara responded with a smirk. "I'm going to have to go give him a shovel talk about what happens if he hurts my little sister."

"Oh please God, no Tara, don't," Summer begged. "Joey's one of us, he wouldn't hurt me," she told him. "I thought I had to worry about dad and Uncle Daryl, now I have to worry about you? Please Tara, I beg of you, don't, just don't."

Tara laughed at the look on her friends face and swung her arm around her. "Relax, I was kidding. Mostly," she told her.

"Tara," Summer warned.

"Look, we all love and care about you. I would do the same thing if this was the before and you had lost your virginity to him. I would have marched right over to his place and give him a lecture on how lucky he is, and how special you are, and if he even makes you cry, I'll punch his eyes out," Tara told her.

Summer shook her head and hugged her. "Tara, that is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard, but that doesn't mean you can do it," she told her.

"You think you can stop Glenn?" Tara questioned.

Summer looked at her. "Glenn? What do you mean stop Glenn? No, Glenn hasn't left Alexandria, Maggie wouldn't let him with him being injured. Plus he'd have to go through me, and he hasn't, and Joey's on the guard tower," she said.

"You are so easy to mess with," Tara told her with a grin.

Summer gently pushed her. "You are horrible," she told her.

"But you love me," Tara informed her.

Summer nodded. "Yeah, you're right, I do," she said as she hugged her again. "I wish I had been out there with you guys, maybe I could have saved Noah."

"Or maybe you could have died too," Tara told her.

"I know how to handle myself, Tara, and you know it," Summer reminded her.

"So did Noah, and so did I," Tara informed her. "It had nothing to do with us knowing how to handle ourselves and you know it. You feel guilty because Noah died, so do I, so does Glenn, and even Eugene. But we couldn't change it, just like we haven't been able to change other deaths," she told her. "But, I'm glad you weren't out there, because that was one less person I had to worry about. That's how it works, right?" she questioned as she raised her hand for a fist bump.

"Yeah that's how it works," Summer answered returning it.