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"Almost done. You alright?" Maggie asked, looking over at her carefully.
She nodded before pulling her head back down on the kitchen table, gritting her teeth- she knew Maggie was going as fast as she could, not even using proper sutures since it'd hurt too much, but still- it fucking HURT.
She grit her teeth to keep from screaming as the needle slid beneath her skin again, more blood trickling down her arm, a tiny red river spilling onto the table, a strangled sound escaping her throat as it pierced flesh again, she felt the thread move beneath the skin as it bound the ripped flesh together.
"Done. Just lemme tie it-" Maggie spoke quickly, doing her best not to tug at the thread or pull anymore than she had to- but she still felt her flesh tug as she finished up.
"there- finished. Eugene, hand me that bandage-" she felt the freshly stitched flesh sting and throb in protest as Maggie quickly swabbed it with an alcohol wipe before she placed some gauze on it and began to wrap it in rags.
"How does it feel?"
"Fucking peachy." she muttered, not bothering to lift her head from the table. Tears stung at the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back- it was just pain, she'd had worse, she reminded herself. Slowly, she began to trust her expression as she lifted her head from the table.
Abraham wordlessly handed her his flask, and she gave him a smile that doubled as a grimace of thanks before putting it to her lips and taking a long pull- the throbbing ache of her recently stitched arm dulled a bit to a pestering buzz- it still hurt, but the edge was gone. She took another swallow, slowly, this time, enjoying the way it burned her mouth before swallowing, feeling the warmth trickle down her throat.
"Wasn't too deep- just long 'nd wide. Needed closing. Keep it clean-" Maggie couldn't help but crack a small smile at the playful look Jamie was giving her. "-as clean as you can. Or I'll make Carol clean it-"
Jamie's eyes widened, and she quickly nodded, and Rick laughed slightly- threatening to sic Carol on her was one way to keep her healthy.
"So- that woman- Dakota, is it- you trust her?" Rick asked Daryl, gaze suddenly serious.
Daryl shrugged. "Don' know what to make of her, t' be honest. She's smart- knows how to handle a gun, she lasted outside the walls. But if we had to fight other people, not walkers- I dunno where she'd stand."
Rick nodded. "She'll probably do whatever's best for her boy." he agreed, mentally marking Dakota down as an uncertain. She might help them take this place if they had to, and she might rat them out. He made a mental note to watch her during his constable duties, to see if he could get a read on where she'd stand.
He turned to Jamie, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "What do you think of her, Jamie?"
She looked up, surprised, from where she was still nursing Abraham's flask. She shrugged. "She ain't as dumb as she plays. She nearly shot Dad and Aaron- probably would've been the safe thing to do- most groups of men ain't good. Her boy- Avery- he's interesting, too. He's small- but I saw him load her shotgun when they thought I wasn't looking. He knows what he's doing. Should watch 'em." she took another swallow from Abraham's flask, and Daryl gently pried the metal from her hands.
She looked up at him dangerously for a moment.
"You can let her finish it- wasn't more than half full." Abraham said quietly, and Daryl nodded, handing it back to her. She finished off the last of it, blinking heavily and nodding to Abraham thankfully before resting her head on the table. Her arm had dulled to a simply throb, now, she was pleasantly warm, tired, almost...
Within ten minutes she was asleep.
"What was in there, anyways?" Daryl asked, looking over at Abraham curiously.
"Rum."
Daryl nodded.
"Was shitty, too- she'll be fine in the morning."
Daryl nodded, and the room was silent for a minute. Daryl and Rick exchanged glances- with Jamie out of the picture, they could talk freely about taking over Alexandria, if they had to, except for Carl-
"Carl- mind taking her upstairs for me?" Daryl asked.
Carl looked surprised, but nodded, gathering her into his arms gingerly and disappearing upstairs.
"They're still naive- but we'l manage. For now- we stay as we are. We only take the place if things get worse."
Carl set her on the bed quietly- she looked alright. Her face was dirty, hair in the way- he gently brushed it away from her face. She looked dos beautiful- so natural. The dirt and grime on her face, the dries blood crusted on her clothes- it was what made her Jamie- and while it broke his heart when she went outside the walls for so long, without him, he knew it was one of the few times she felt normal- happy, almost.
He quietly moved to the foot of her bed, fumbling to untie the laces of her boots and slide them off her feet, revealing the small feet and socks with holes near the toes.
"I'm glad you're home." he said quietly, even though he knew she didn't hear him.
He gently leaned forward and kissed her scarred cheek before he was ducking down the hall- he'd sleep a lot easier tonight knowing she was inside the walls.
She woke up with a tender arm and a slight headache throbbing in her temples.
"How's the arm?"
She blinked blearily, surprised, to see Daryl pulling on some boots beside the bed.
She shrugged, sitting up slowly and swinging her legs over the bed. "Sore." she managed, blinking against the harsh sunlight that streamed in through the window.
"You can stay in bed, if you want. We got the day off- I'm gonna go help Glenn with supplies..."
She nodded, eagerly flopping back in bed, wrapping herself in the covers. "Have fun with that." she muttered from beneath the blankets.
Daryl grinned slightly before ducking outside, heading out.
She dozed lightly for the next twenty minutes or so, before dragging her ass out of bed, wrestling her hair into a pony-tail, and tip-toeing down the hall, peering into the familiar bedroom a few doors down.
Carl was laying on his bed, reading a comic book, when he noticed her in the doorway and tossed the book aside, grinning. "How're you feeling?"
She shrugged. "I'm here, aren't it? What time does school start?"
Carl's brow creased. "You're gonna come?"
"No. We're ditching." she offered him that grin she reserved for when they were going to have an adventure.
Carl looked hesitant. "What if my Dad found out..."
"C'mon. It ain't like there's any cops around here- no LAW 'bout going to school. Besides- don't you wanna spend the day with me? I dunno how long I'll be here for..." she bit her lip, looking at him pleadingly.
He sighed, standing up. "What do you wanna do?"
"This is dangerous." Carl pointed out, looking around warily.
"No shit, Sherlock. You really think we could stay in that stink ass town and not get caught?"
Carl sighed. "I figured you'd wanna ditch school... not almost get me killed."
"You agreed to come, didn't you?"
Carl had nothing to say to that- he DID agree to come, though he had no idea why, in hindsight-
"Because you love me, right?" she drew out the L-word, laughing playfully at his expression before turning back to the woods. Carl still had the backpack in hand.
"How much farther?"
"Almost there- promise. It's just over the hill-" they crunched through the dead leaves of the woods carefully, until they breached the dilapidated, half-fallen in barn, with wild grape vines exploding out the holes in the roof and moss creeping up the rotting sides.
"There it is." Jamie grinned, looking at the barn happily. Carl shifted the backpack he was carrying to the other shoulder, looking around warily. "You're sure this place is clear?"
She nodded. "Dad and I been here before- we'll check it through one last time before we settle in, though-"
They both checked the musty ground floor of the barn, finding it devoid of walkers except for a few carcasses. Jamie wordlessly nodded to Carl, grabbing a hold of the rusty metal ladder and starting to climb to the loft. Carl couldn't help but smile at her attitude before he was following behind, and they were up in the loft.
A large section of boards along the wall had rotted and sloughed off the frame, leaving a large window-like opening, and Jamie strode over to it, hanging her legs over the edge.
"Nice, ain't it?"
Carl nodded, grinning despite himself. "Yeah. It's pretty cool." he admitted grudgingly, pulling the backpack off and opening it, pulling out their lunch of rather squished sandwiches and some gatorades he'd nabbed from the storage room.
"So- what was it like. Outside, I mean." Carl asked between bites of his sandwich.
Jamie shrugged. "A lot like it is now- quiet. Peaceful. Sure, there were moments where you had to fight- I killed a dog, and we hid from a herd- but it's all old hat to us, now. Used to it."
"You liked it- didn't you?"
Jamie looked over at him cautiously from beneath her chestnut bangs, chewing hesitantly. "You wouldn't blame me if I did, would you?"
"No."
She let out the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, glad he agreed with her.
"It's not you. I wish you could come with us- I just- these people, they're so fake, they don;t know shit, and they look at me like I'm insane, you know? I don't trust any of 'em, I carry knives all the time- they're probably afraid I'll shoot the place up. I ain't crazy- outside the walls, I'm smart. Inside them- I'm a freak. I like being outside them- 'cause, even though it's more dangerous, outside the walls I'm... normal. I can function."
"Normal, huh? That's debatable." Carl joked lightly, and she smiled despite herself- Carl always knew how to lighten her mood.
"Shut up and kiss me, Grimes."
"If you insist, m'lady."
His lips met hers, and she smiled- it'd been too long since he'd kissed her like this. His lips tasted like peanut butter, but she wasn't complaining- she could still taste Carl, even beneath it.
He pulled back, killing the mood when he took another bite of his sandwich. "You know-" he pointed at her with his sandwich, speaking mid-chew- "I don't get along with most of them, either. Ron and Sam- they're nice, but they're clueless. I can only listen to so much talk about video games when they're dead people banging on the walls outside, you know?"
"Yeah- the adults are like that, too,. Aaron's nice- he seems to know what he's doing. He's willing to learn, anyways. Most of them- they're clueless."
"Enid's not."
"Who's she?"
"The other girl- she doesn;t say much, she flies under the radar most of the time. She came in from outside, though-"
Carl noticed her staring, almost scowling at him, as he looked up from another bite of his sandwich, not even bothering to chew when he saw her look.
"What?"
"You're mine. Not hers."
Carl grinned, swallowing the bite of food whole. "Jealous, are we?"
"Shut up and promise- I don't care if she's got nice tits, you're MY boyfriend. Got it?"
Carl laughed. "Alright, alright. Jeez- you really think I'd trade you in so easily- after all we've been through?" he waggled his eyebrows disapprovingly.
"I ain't a car, Grimes! You can't just 'trade me in'-"
Carl put his hands up defensively. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding- gosh, you're territorial."
"I'm a hunter. It's what I do." she growled.
"You're still mad, aren't you?"
She glowered at him, and he couldn't help but smile as he leaned in, kissing her gently. He still tasted like peanut butter.
"Forgiven?" he asked, blue eyes hopeful as he pulled back.
She pretended to look pensive as her heart fluttered for a moment. "One more, I'd say-"
He cut her off mid-sentence, soft pink lips crashing into hers. His fingers wove their way through her chestnut hair, her tongue swept across his bottom lip teasingly before his did the same, sending a lightening bolt through her- her fingernails dug into his back as she tried to press herself closer to him, though they were already practically on top of each other.
It lasted until they ran out of breath and had to pull back, breathless- and even then, it wasn't long enough. She was gasping for breath, nearly on her back, propped up on one elbow, Carl leaning over her, panting and grinning. "Forgiven?" he asked, voice raspy.
"Yeah." she got out breathlessly, and Carl grinned- god, he'd missed her.
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