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Anyway, I won't bore you with a long introduction today. I really hope you enjoy!
As she looked into the girl's bright blue eyes, her heart sank. Alice didn't notice that the room had gone quiet again. The next thing she knew, the young woman had her arms around her holding onto her for dear life.
"Alice! I can't believe it's really you!" She returned the hug, more out of shock than anything else. That's when she saw the shock on everyone's faces, and knew the next question before Rick even stood up.
"You know Hope, too?" Alice manage to muster a small smile in response, lightly patting the blonde on the back.
"I've moved around a lot." She said with a nod, watching Hope as she pulled away, choosing to link arms with her instead. The group, however, looked like they required more of an explanation. The girls exchanged quick glances, as if trying to agree on what to say. Alice was the first to come up with something, of course. "We met at summer camp. This girl's a hell of a swimmer."
That was the second lie she told that night.
The rest of the evening was...a little strange. Everyone was marveling about how Alice met up with two people from her past. It seemed to make them optimistic. And, yes, she was happy to see them both. She hadn't thought about Daryl in some time, but Hope...she stayed with her. Alice knew the thing she went through after her mother's death. She knew a little too well, and she wondered if this new family of her's knew about it. The girl did seem comfortable with them, though, and they seemed to have accepted her as well. The young Asian boy was certainly looking at her with quite a bit of affection. A brief swell of big sister like happiness threatened to burst through her chest. That girl had always been a little awkward and shy when it came to the topic of boys. Alice knew she wasn't very experienced, but the way she would touch him every now and again...lightly on his shoulder, a brief, affectionate hand squeeze...it was sweet. So sweet, she thought she felt a cavity coming on. (And yes, maybe she was a little bit jealous.) Hope seemed happy enough, all things considered. A giant contrast from the last time she saw her.
After a sufficiently awkward discussion about how she and John were not husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, or even the tiniest bit romantically inclined - it was decided that she would share a room with the single ladies of the group. That included Andrea, Carol and Sophia. John would share the next room with...what seemed like all the other guys except Rick. Then again, if Hope wasn't in the room with her, she was probably bunking with the Asian guy, Glenn...Oh, she would have to interrogate her later. She said her "goodnights" to the ladies of the room and laid down on her mattress. It was a strange feeling, sleeping on a giant cushion rather than the cold ground, or maybe a dirty sleeping bag. She should feel comfort...but she just felt weird. And, if she let herself dwell on it, she felt a little lonely. Maybe homesick was a more accurate description? This wasn't her bed. Sure, over the past few months, she had the passing thought of her old mattress back in Miami, or the one she slept on when she visited her parents...but this was some stranger's bed. Some...probably dead stranger's bed. It felt macabre.
Alice closed her eyes for a moment, then she felt something prodding her shoulder. She opened her eyes, and in the dim light of the room, she saw Hope crouched next to her. The young woman held a finger to her mouth and motioned for her to follow. Inwardly groaning (and realizing she should have expected this), Alice crawled out of her bed and quietly walked behind the girl, following her out the door and down the hallway. They came to an empty room and stepped inside.
"You have a bad dream?" Alice asked quietly, only half joking. Hope gave her a look, then tried to think her response through.
"When Glenn's there, I don't." She crossed her arms, the emptiness of the room chilling her.
"So, what? You two makin' like bunnies?" The brunette smirked while the blonde's mouth fell open in embarrassment.
"What? No!" She said, her voice an enthusiastic whisper. "We haven't..." Alice's eyes grew a little wide.
"Shit, girl. You're tellin' me that the world has ended and you're still a virgin?" She was forced to choke back her laughter when Hope swatted her in the arm.
"Alice! That is not what I wanted to talk to you about!" The two stared at each other as the mood settled back into something more somber.
"How are you doing?" Her tone was so soft, it made Al's teeth hurt. She sighed loudly.
"Dammit, Hope." Quickly lowering her voice, she continued without pausing. "Tell me you did not get me outta bed for a Dr. Phil session!"
"I'm worried about you, Alice!" Hope whispered, her expression so concerned, it ruined any annoyance the older woman felt about the situation. When the girl still looked unconvinced, the brunette went in for another hug. They stayed that way for a moment, Alice actually taking time to appreciate finding her young friend. It had been a while since they'd seen each other, or since she even sent her a text. She truly cared for the girl...but her arrival kind of threw a wrench in her plans with this new group. Potentially, at least. Finally, they pulled away.
"I'm fine, Hope." She offered a small smile. Hope remained unconvinced.
"You've always been good at saying that."
Just then, they heard someone at the door. Both of them jumped before realizing that Carol was standing out in the hallway, peering in warily at them. When she noticed that she scared them, she smiled a little, in an attempt to be friendly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I just woke up and noticed you weren't in bed...wanted to make sure everything was alright." Alice smiled at her, putting a hand on Hope's shoulder.
"Fine, I'm sorry. We were just...catching up." Carol smiled again and nodded slightly.
"Right, guess there's a lot to catch up on.." Alice still noticed the older woman looked wary. She must have at least caught the last bit of their conversation. "I'll let you two get back to it, then."
"No need." Alice spoke quickly, then gave Hope a short smile. "The rest can wait 'til tomorrow, right?"
"...Right." Hope nodded, her tone reluctant. The pair followed Carol out of the room, only to be almost immediately met by Glenn, who seemed unusually relieved to see the object of his affection. Alice would have to interrogate her little Hope about that later. Then, just as they were about to reach the door to the ladies' bedroom, they saw Daryl standing in the hall a few feet away, watching her.
"I'll be right in, Carol." She said, inwardly cursing. Carol didn't linger, which means that Al was left staring at Daryl like a nervous schoolgirl until he raised his hand, motioning for her to come closer. Immediately, she followed. (And chastised herself once more for her silly behavior) He led her upstairs, then guided her into an empty bathroom.
"Wait 'til you hear footsteps pass," He was leaning in so close, she could feel his breath on her neck. "Then walk through that door." With that, he shut the door, and she waited.
Alice resisted the urge to pace in that moment. One would hope that time would chase a silly little crush away...but one would be wrong. Clearly. Her less pessimistic side was telling her that this was a good thing. It was a blessing. A gift from God. But she didn't want to "catch up" like old friends do. The truth was, after she moved away from Daryl, her life turned to absolute shit. But her Dad wanted to move back to Louisiana, closer to her grandparents. And she was only sixteen, what was she supposed to do? Sure, back then she wanted to proclaim her love for Daryl Dixon on every rooftop in that little hillbilly town...but what could she have done? Marry him? Even in her old world town, that would've been weird for everyone to handle. Besides, she used to have big dreams...she wanted to be a dancer. Ballet, specifically. But, really when she thought about it, Daryl couldn't even have had feelings for her back then. He used to do odd jobs for her dad, he knew her since she was a toddler and he was just a neighborhood boy. Sure, her crush had been alive and well ever since she could remember, but it would've been super creepy if he felt the same back then, right?
Okay, so there was the whole "first kiss" thing. But it was because she was moving the next day. He took pity on her.
And after rationalizing her entire history with Daryl, she finally heard heavy footsteps passing her door. Instinctively, she held her breath and froze. While she knew that the person walking down the hall meant her no harm – Really, it was probably the old man – it still made her stomach churn. Alice tried to calm herself down, but her breaths kept coming, shorter and shorter until finally her panic set in and she flung the door open. The air in the hallway was still and quiet as she regained her ability to breathe normally. Carefully, she opened the door to the roof, and stepped outside.
Sorry this chapter's a little short! :/ But if I included anymore, I was afraid it would be too long, so. Anyway, we got a little more back story here, hope I didn't bore you too much! Let me know what you might wanna see more of or...what you're hating? Haha, just don't be too cruel T.T
Thanks for reading!