Chapter 5: Dad

A few hours later, Tara woke up. She checked her watch. It was 7:45 AM. She checked her surroundings. Maggie was still sleeping and could still hear snoring from the living room. She got out of bed slowly and walked out to the living room. Everyone from Maggie's group was still out cold. Tara figured they'd been on the road a while. Tara wasn't sure where Lily was, so she walked across the hall to where Brian had been. She peaked into his bedroom where she found Lily. Lily was laying in his bed with her arms around him.

Tara chuckled silently. "Hah, who woulda known?" Tara said to herself.

Tara went back to her room and checked on Meghan and her dad. Meghan was sleeping on the floor next to her grandpa. This was usually the time that her dad woke up to take his pills, but he wasn't moving at all. Tara scrambled over to the bed and put her hands on his shoulders and shook him a little bit.

"Dad...Dad wake up." Tara whispered trying not to wake anyone up. No response from her father.

"Hey Dad, you need to get up!" Tara whispered louder this time. Still no response. Tara started to worry. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized what had happened.

Tara slowly walked out of the room crying. Everyone had pretty much woken up and watched Tara walk out with her hands cupped over her eyes.

"What's the matter? What happened?" asked Rick as he walked up to Tara.

"It's...it's my dad... I think he's dead... He has lung cancer, and we knew it was gunna happen... but I think it finally happened..."

"I'll go check on him... You stay here."

Rick walked into the bedroom. Shortly after, Meghan came out of the room crying, and hugged Tara. Brian and Lily came into her apartment too after hearing all the talking. She noticed Tara and Meghan crying.

"What's going on? What happened?" asked Lily.

"It's dad, I think he's dead..." said Tara.

Lily ran into his bedroom, where she saw Rick who had just stabbed her father in the temple with his knife.

"I'm sorry... he was gone... he was gunna turn..." said Rick.

Lily fell to her knees and cried. Rick walked out and asked Brian to help him bring the body out. When Tara saw Rick and Brian carrying her dad's lifeless body out of the house, she cried harder than she already was. She, Lily, and Meghan walked to the couch and sat down together. They just hugged and cried for a while.

Maggie walked out into the living room and saw them crying. She quickly walked over to Tara and knelt down.

"What did I miss? Is everyone OK?" asked Maggie.

"My dad passed away last night. I guess it's a good thing I found him before he turned and killed all of us." said Tara.

"Oh my God, Tara. I'm so sorry..." Maggie reached up and hugged Tara. All Tara could think about was last night. It took all of her strength to turn down Maggie last night. Tara wanted nothing more but to touch Maggie.

Tara couldn't resist. She couldn't fight her urges. As much as she wanted what she did to mean something, she wanted the comfort. Tara knew she was being a hypocrite, but she couldn't stop her actions.

Tara put her arms around Maggie for a little bit. Then she grabbed her hand. Tara whispered in Maggie's ear.

"I wanna show you something."

She tugged on Maggie's hand and got up. They walked back to Tara's bedroom.

Tara pushed Maggie up against the wall in her room and started kissing Maggie. Maggie put her hands on Tara's cheeks and tugged on her hair. Maggie was kissing back, and clearly didn't want it to stop, but she felt obligated not to do it. She stopped and pushed Tara back a little.

"What?" asked Tara.

"I don't know if I can do this. I still love Glenn, and I thought you didn't wanna do it unless it meant somethin'. Are you just doing this to take your mind off your dad?"

Tara sighed.

"I guess you're right. But I think I'm falling in love with you Maggie.

Maggie wasn't quiet sure how to respond. She knew she likes Tara, but she wasn't sure if it was love. Maggie never had feelings for a girl, and always assumed she was straight.

Maggie looked Tara in the eyes and let Tara's words sink in. After about 20 seconds of intimate eye contact, Maggie leaned in and kissed Tara.

"I'm not sure yet," said Maggie, "but I think I'm falling in love with you too."

Tara grinned from ear to ear, blushing from the conversation.

"I'm happy we found each other, Maggie." said Tara.

A\N:|| Thank you to everyone that has followed and favorited! It means A LOT! :) Please don't hesitate to drop a review, it really helps me out! More to come, and I thank everyone you has stayed and who stays! 3