When Derek and Charlotte visited for the second time, they parked two cars right outside of the gate. Charlotte grinned wide at me and gestured with her thumb over her shoulder towards the trunk.

"We brought some goodies for ya."

I was still being wary and asked to look and see what they were bringing in. Derek was already opening the back hatch of the other car, but he took a step back so I could check it out.

I stared into the open trunk in amazement; they had brought us a whole bunch of different things. Some boxes had brand new clothes that were neatly folded and packed for us. There were enough shirts and pants to give everyone at Doveport an entire wardrobe. A few boxes had baby supplies, including clothes, toys, diapers, wipes, and even a pack-and-play. Charlotte wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I could tell she was eager to see Amy's reaction to all of it.

"And this," Derek said, pulling out a box from the backseat of one of the cars and holding it out to me. "Is for Vivienne."

I took the box from him and opened the cardboard flaps. Inside was an assortment of gardening tools: a few pairs of gloves, some little shovels and a digging fork. I could tell they had never been used before and I closed the box and smiled up at Derek.

"She's going to love them." I hoisted the box onto my hip and gestured towards the open gate, giving them permission to go in.

"We also brought some food and some soap for you guys. Not that you smell bad or anything." Charlotte quipped as she followed me through the gate while carrying a box.

"Charlotte!" Amy hurried over to greet our visitors, and Charlotte beamed at her.

"Hello, Amy. I brought you some things. Can I bring this inside?" Charlotte held out the box that had a ton of baby clothes inside of it.

"Oh wow, thank you! We can put it in my room. Eric can help carry some stuff." Eric had walked over to his wife and smiled at Derek who was walking through the gate with another box of supplies. Eric took the box away from Derek and then followed Charlotte and Amy inside the school leaving me with Derek.

"We seriously can't thank you guys enough." I followed him back to his car to fetch more boxes.

"Don't mention it. It's the least we can do." Derek gave me a friendly smile while handing me the pack-and-play.

"Vivienne's working on lunch. You guys are more than welcome to stay and eat with us again," I offered while transporting the large box through the gate and setting it down against the wall. Derek carried a few more, and then let out a heavy sigh.

"I appreciate the offer Elle, but we have to get back soon. Negan's supposed to show up this evening and we need to be ready for him."

I became both nervous and excited at the mention of Negan. It was strange hearing about him visiting Greenbrier, but it was the only way I knew what he was up to. I was frowning while thinking about his avoidance of Doveport and Derek noticed.

"Don't worry. We have plenty of supplies to give him. I'm sure it'll be enough to keep him happy this week." Derek turned to head back out the gate to get more boxes. We continued to talk as we transported them from the trunk.

"We'll send some gas with you. Next time you come here we should have some vegetables too." I wanted to help them, especially after they were being so generous in giving us so many supplies. Plus I knew Negan could always use gasoline.

"Thanks." He seemed worried, and I tilted my head.

"Derek, are you sure it's okay?" I studied his face as we both stood next to the trunk of his car and he froze from picking up a box. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then looked right at me.

"No. It's not okay. Negan said he would come to the mall once a week, but he showed up two days ago demanding more stuff. It pissed me off so bad I blew up at him, and he almost killed one of my men. He said he'd be back tonight to get more shit, so we wanted to bring you guys the clothes and food before he takes everything. He's gonna make our lives hell."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, shaking my head. Negan was bullying Greenbrier, and it made me feel disgusted and disappointed. I may not have known Derek and Charlotte well, but they had been good to us and they didn't deserve to be treated this way.

"We'll be alright," Derek assured me while bringing a box through the gate. I followed him just in time to see Charlotte coming back over to us. She smiled at me and then glanced down at her wrist where a black, digital watch was.

"Derek, we better head back." She appeared to be almost worried, and I immediately felt for them. I knew what it was like to try and keep Negan happy and to be scared that everything they had to give wasn't going to be enough—that one slip up would result in someone's death.

"Yeah, I know. Elle and I got the rest of the boxes, so we're good to go," Derek said.

"Thank you guys so much," I said gratefully and they both smiled.

"See you later, Elle," Charlotte replied, and headed out the gate towards the car. I watched her go, but Derek hesitated. He was watching his sister too, and then turned back to me.

"Is it okay if we come back in three days?" he asked me.

"Sure. That works for us. Not like we're going anywhere." I smirked at him and he let out a soft chuckle. He had started to head over to the car when I took a few steps out beyond the gate.

"Derek?" I asked, stopping him in his tracks. "Please be careful."

He opened the car door and grinned through the window at me.

"Always."

Our friendship with Greenbrier blossomed quickly, and every few days Derek and Charlotte would visit us at the school. Not only did we build trust, but we also formed a mutual respect for one another.

In the short time, Amy and Charlotte became good friends, and I was happy for them. I didn't really feel like I was bonding with anyone from Greenbrier, and I wondered if that was because of the trauma I'd been through. I was less willing to open up to others, and my social skills were suddenly non-existent. But Derek and the others didn't seem to mind. In fact, Derek almost appeared to have that in common with me.

He would stand off to the side and watch as our communities intermingled. I was shocked one day to see Eric approach him and ask for Derek's help working on our car. Derek agreed, and they spent the day fixing the engine. Some of the others from Greenbrier showed an interest in Vivienne's garden, and they would gather by the mesh fence and watch her in fascination. Soon she was giving tips and teaching them her gardening skills. It made me think back to how she taught some of the people from the Sanctuary.

But this time was different.

This time we were home.

Our deal continued, and every evening Eric and I would go out to search for gas to give to Greenbrier, and Vivienne worked in the garden to give them fresh food. In exchange, they brought us clean clothes from the mall. We never argued about what was fair or not, and each trade seemed to end with both communities happy about the outcome.

One day, Charlotte brought Amy a pink Prada bag that was from one of the outlet stores in the mall. Amy broke down into tears and thanked her profusely as she took the bag into her arms and stared down at it like a kid on Christmas.

For the first time in a really long time, things felt good.

I was leaning against the stone wall watching Charlotte and Amy put together a stroller one afternoon while Greenbrier was visiting. It was a nice feeling to see everyone getting alone so well, and I smiled as I watched them laugh as they worked on putting the wheels in place. I hadn't even noticed Derek had joined me until he let out a long sigh.

"She used to be a mom," he said plainly.

He took me off guard, and my head snapped to the side to look at him confused. It took me a few seconds until I realized he was referring to Charlotte. I glanced over to her and then back to him.

Used to be?

I didn't ask out loud and instead waited for Derek to explain. He took a few moments before continuing.

"She doesn't like to talk about it. My sister tries to block it out. She had two little girls—my nieces—Chelsea and Harley…"

I could tell by the way he spoke about them that they were dead. Derek's face was stoic, but there was a hint of pain in his eyes as he continued.

"She had a husband—Sam. He was my best friend, and we worked together to build Greenbrier. He's the one who built the elevator I told you about. He was smart like that. Hell of a guy…" Derek smiled as if talking about his friend brought him joy, and then his expression turned grim.

"We went to go visit another community. There was this group of people that lived inside this big apartment complex called 'Riverside'. They had children there, and I wanted my nieces to be around other kids. I didn't want them to live every single day in fear. I needed them to know that there were good people out there, and not just the monsters."

Derek swallowed hard and then stared down at the ground.

"Charlotte didn't want to go, but I convinced her we needed to—for her girls. She was scared it wasn't going to be safe, but Sam assured her that everything would be fine. We got everything ready and drove to the apartments the next day. It happened to fast, and there were only a couple of survivors who are with us now. We'd have never known what happened if they hadn't told us. One of their scavengers got bit and didn't tell the others."

Derek took a deep breath before he went on.

"We were already inside when we thought something might be wrong. Sam and I went to go check it out, and Charlotte stayed on the first floor with the girls. Once we realized the place had become overrun, Sam wanted to try and help get the survivors out of there. They were trapped upstairs, so we went to go help them. We had no idea how bad it was…" Derek finally looked up at me and his eyes were watering. "We didn't know we were leaving Charlotte on the first floor with an entire group of the dead."

I closed my eyes, knowing what that meant. I couldn't even imagine, but Derek still spoke.

"She tried to protect them. She tried to get out of there, but her girls were too little and too scared. Sam and I were on the third floor, and we were trying to help the survivors evacuate when he got bit. A biter snuck up on him. There were so many of them, and we were too overwhelmed. Sam sacrificed himself; he let the biters into an apartment room and gave his life so we could escape. He didn't even know that his girls were already gone."

I felt sick to my stomach as I listened to Derek's story. Sure I had lost people too, but nothing quite so horrific. Charlotte had lost her entire family in a matter of seconds. I couldn't even imagine. She had watched her daughters get killed. I looked over to where she was helping Amy with the stroller and shook my head in disbelief.

"How can someone move on from something so horrible?" I wondered out loud.

"She doesn't handle it well. She got rid of all the kids' stuff, and won't even speak their names. She blamed me, and that's why she was living in the treehouse. She never wanted to go to that apartment, and I convinced her to. She left the mall for months after it happened, and when she finally came back, I swore to myself I'd do everything I could to protect her. She's my sister, Elle. She's the only family I've got left. I will do anything to keep her and my people safe."

I faced him and once again saw that determined look on his face.

"I'm going to kill Negan."

My blood turned cold and I had to force myself not to gulp. I knew Derek wasn't joking around, and I waited for him to explain, but he seemed to be waiting for my reaction. I exhaled my breath and hoped I didn't look as disapproving as I felt about that idea.

"You need to think about this," I warned him, choosing my words carefully.

" I have Elle. I can't rest until that man is dead."

I looked back at everyone that was outside and suddenly realized what was happening.

We had aligned ourselves with Greenbrier.

He didn't need us to help give Negan supplies—he needed us to help fight the Saviors.

But Derek didn't know how close I was with Negan, or how close I used to be with him. Negan hadn't been around in over a month, and I was convinced he had given up on us. He didn't even know about Doveport's alliance with Greenbrier.

We were going to have to pick a side, and I didn't know what I was going to do. I couldn't help Derek kill Negan, but I also didn't want to see anything bad happen to Greenbrier. Derek wanted to start a war, and I wanted to remain neutral.

"Negan has a lot of men," I pointed out to him. "Charlotte said you need to focus on getting him supplies. I think you should listen to your sister's wisdom." I hoped bringing up Charlotte would help change Derek's mind, though it seemed fairly made up. I was surprised when Derek nodded slowly and looked over to where Charlotte and Amy were.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just so angry. He's an infuriating prick." Derek grumbled.

"I know what you mean," I responded, recalling my recent fight with Negan and how ugly things had turned. I didn't hate Negan as much as Derek did, and I certainly didn't want him dead, but I understood the frustration he was feeling having to deal with Negan.

"Thanks for listening," Derek said, giving me a warm smile. "Is it okay if we come visit tomorrow?"

I nodded. He always asked permission and it was sweet. "You guys are always welcome here, Derek."

He reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"Thank you, Elle."

I remained in my spot by the wall as Derek called for Charlotte and the others to get ready to leave. Charlotte held her arms out to Amy, and I watched as the two of them hugged each other goodbye. A few other Doveporters shook hands with some of the Greenbriers, and then our friends went home.

The next day I was outside helping Vivienne in her garden. We were collecting vegetables to give to Greenbrier and visiting about dinner ideas when I heard the sound of a vehicle approaching the gate. Ryan had been helping Eric with the car and started to head over to let our friends in when I hurried to my feet and called over to him.

"I got it!"

I was actually excited to see Derek and Charlotte. Their visits had become the highlight of my day, and we all looked forward to when they would come to the school. Vivienne had grown some huge carrots, and I was eager to give them to our new friends. Derek had specifically asked if we could grow some for him, and we were going to surprise him with them. Vivienne had already been growing the crop for weeks, and was very proud of how they turned out.

I placed my hand on the metal gate and unlocked it, a big smile forming on my face. We had stopped doing pat-downs, but I still asked them to keep their cars parked outside. Derek and Charlotte were more than happy to abide by our rules and make us comfortable, and it made that mutual trust between us even stronger.

I pulled the gate open part-ways and froze.

It wasn't Greenbrier's cars parked in front of our gate.

Instead, a familiar supply truck was pulled up and parked before me. My eyes went from it to the man standing directly in front of me and leaning on a barbed-wire baseball bat.

"Hello, Elle," Negan said with a shit eating grin spread on his face.

I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me as I clutched the metal gate and stared at him stunned.

Derek and Charlotte were supposed to be here. Not him.

And yet, here he was.

After a month of leaving us alone, he was back.

"Negan?" I asked, confused. My eyes were wide and my mouth was agape. He appeared to be amused at my reaction.

"We need to have a talk, Elle," he said, taking a step towards me. I held my ground and started up at him, trying to fight my nerves. He continued to smile deviously at me, and then leaned into my personal space.

"I think someone's been skipping school to go to the mall."