Chapter 21: Together

"How much further do you think it's going to be?"

"Doesn't matter. We just keep going till we get there."

"I know, it's just...well I don't think that Tiff is doing so well." Riley glanced back, noticing her friend lagging a good way behind the whole group. Given that her foot was crushed and the only thing she had to lean on was an old stick.

The black-haired boy besides her gave a stiff nod and looked down at his feet. "She needs medical attention. Without it...I don't know if she's going to make it."

Those were the words she didn't want to hear. Dylan and Tiffany were her only friends in this world now. All the others had died and her parents...

She lifted her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose; the wounds were still too fresh. And Cookie, too. She missed all of them, so much. The number of people that she cared about and trusted was dwindling. And if Tiffany didn't make it...

No. She couldn't afford to think like that. With the way things were, she needed to try and think more positively. It was just so hard when things were getting darker and more bleak. The group was down to minimal numbers and several had died along the way. She and Tiffany were the only girls left and the children they had with them had died in the attack. This was their survival now.

Up ahead, she noticed what appeared to be a chain-link fence at the end of the road. She could see that some of it was protected with spikes and barbed wire, which sent an immediate red flag.

"I don't think we should go any further. Looks like there's a group up ahead," she mentioned, stopping abruptly in the middle of the road. Tiffany caught up and Riley let her use her body as something to lean on.

Evan, the unofficial leader of the small group, stopped to take a peak up ahead. As they waited, she gave Tiffany's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and received a weak smile in return.

"We should still take a look. If there are others there, they may be able to help us. Give us something to eat, maybe," Evan concluded.

"Guess it's worth a shot," she agreed, keeping in mind that they hadn't eaten for four days now.

At a slow and cautious pace, they approached the camp. A closer look revealed it to be a small mobile home fenced in with make-shift tents filling up the rest of the yard. She was getting a bad vibe, so she instinctively reached out to grab onto Dylan's arm as they stopped in front of the gate.

"Hands up, now!"

Guns cocked from every angle and her body went rigid as she saw each barrel poke out from a different place. A ratty looking man stepped off of the porch from the shadows with a rifle in hand and neared the gate. His gray hair was combed back, but his white t-shirt and jeans were ripped and stained with blood here and there.

"I said, hands up!"

She lifted her hands up, sharing a nervous look with Dylan and Tiffany. Evan reluctantly put his gun away and raised his hands as well, slowly nearing.

"We're not here to hurt anyone," Evan assured. "We're just...lookin' for a place. Or even a bit of food if you can spare. We'll be willin' to trade."

"Lookin' for a place, eh?" the man snorted. "Y'all better move along before I shoot your heads off."

"No wait! We can contribute! Help make your camp safer! Billy was an architect. He can come up with something... Zach was in the army...he's got the skills to make a good protector. Please. You have to give us a chance, we need a place. There's no other places for miles...we need this!"

A long silence hung in the air. Her stomach twisted as they waited for the man to say something - anything. What happened next, left her bewildered.

He laughed. A deep, crunchy laugh that suggested years of smoking.

"I like me a man who grovels and begs. You follow our rules n' you got yourself a deal," the man snickered.

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" Evan gasped, his shoulders slouching in relief.

"The girls gotta go."

What?

The split second of relief seemed to disappear. Evan stared at the man and she pressed her lips together, holding her breath.

"Girl's 'n kids ain't allowed. Injured neither. They're dead weight. Ain't havin' that in my camp. Not enough food to go 'round," the man said, almost as if she and Tiffany weren't standing there.

Dylan started to protest. "We can't just-"

"-quiet!" Zach interrupted, elbowing him.

"What's the decision gonna be, boy?" the man questioned.

Evan looked between all of them, seemingly lost and frustrated at the same time. After a moment, he locked eyes with her. "Riley..."

"Don't tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking," she hissed. "I've pulled my weight! And you can't just leave Tiffany like this without any medical attention!"

"I'm sorry. We need this."

"Dammit, Evan. Dylan, you can't agree to this!"

The one time she thought he would speak, she was met with only silence. Her eyes widened. Was he...was he going with them? Her stomach churned and she felt like vomiting and screaming at him at the same time. How could he betray her like this? They had to stick together, and he was making his decision to leave?

"Riley, I... Let me talk to you alone..."

"There's no excuse for this!" she shouted, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't care how hungry you are. I don't care how tired you are. There's no excuse for this. None."

She could feel Tiffany shaking beside her and her grip on Dylan's arm released. All of the anger was building up inside of her and the hurt and pain from losing her parents just weeks before couldn't be held in any longer.

"Go ahead and laugh you filthy pile of shit," she snapped at the man, whose demeanor changed at the insult. "I hope your camp gets overrun and you rot."

"You better get the hell away from my property, you whore," he growled, raising his gun to her.

"Riley, please!" Tiffany begged, weakly pulling on her arm.

She ignored her friend, eyebrows knitting together. "I dare you! Shoot me!"

It's not like she had anything left to live for. Dylan had been the one she was hanging on for and he was leaving her. Just like everyone else. How could he?

He snarled and fired a shot near her feet. A warning shot. It startled Tiffany enough to make her start crying and the tears of her friend snapped her out of her angry haze. Dylan stood in shock opposite her, but she didn't care. He proved where his loyalty lay.

With a shaky breath, she pulled Tiffany away, unable to keep the tears from streaming down her cheeks. With one look over her shoulder, she locked her hard gaze with Dylan's.

"I hate you."

Riley woke with a start. She became increasingly aware of the bustling around her and the warmth in her hand. Slowly, she shifted her gaze down to find that she was laying next to Carl with her hand loosely in his. Pressing her lips together and forcing back a blush, she pulled away and sat up, noticing a few others just getting up as well. They had all slept on the floor again, just for safety's sake. Carol, Michonne, and Rosita were in the kitchen, preparing some sort of food that smelled delicious.

Deciding to leave Carl to sleep some more, she got to her feet and stretched, smiling a tad at Glenn, Maggie, and Eugene across the room. Her feet carried her to the kitchen to see what was being made. She noticed that Michonne was already dressed up in her constable outfit that Deanna provided. Rick was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

"Hi Riley. You hungry? We have eggs and beans cooking," Carol said, stirring some of the beans in a pot.

"Yeah, I'm starved," she murmured, yawning a bit, her mind briefly going back to her dream before she shook it away.

"Tell you what, you help out and I'll give you the first helping."

"Deal. What do you need me to do?"

She spent the next fifteen minutes stirring beans, cracking eggs, and cutting up slices of apple. It felt weird to be so domestic. Instead of hunting and skinning a rabbit, she was cracking eggs, adding in pepper and salt, and using a knife to cut a fruit that she would usually eat whole. She still didn't feel completely safe here, but it was still nice to have things that would normally be scarce on the outside.

When they were done, she pulled up a plate and sat at the counter on a bar stool. As she was halfway through, Carl poked his head into the kitchen. His hair was slightly messy from sleeping and she couldn't help the flips her stomach did automatically. She could see Michonne smirking at her from across the kitchen, but she tried to ignore it and focus on her meal.

Not even a second later, Rick came slowly down the stairs. He was all decked out in his own suit and she raised an eyebrow, wondering if this is exactly what he looked like when he was actually a sheriff.

He didn't stay very long and neither did Michonne. They each grabbed a quick plate of food and then headed out to do their jobs. Some of them still didn't have jobs while others had already been assigned. She and Carl were supposed to be attending school within the next few days, which she just found odd.

"I saw you go outside the wall with Enid yesterday," Carl whispered suddenly, putting his fork down.

"Oh? Uh yeah...she invited me. I needed some air and it was just...a good opportunity. She's...a lot like us," she explained, taking her last bite of beans.

"Yeah she seems different than Ron and Mikey... Just...be careful okay? We still don't really know the area well or the people. I don't want you to get hurt," he rambled, voice soft.

Her stomach fluttered and she looked down at her place, too embarrassed to look up at him. "Yeah I will."

The rest of the meal went by in silence. Some of the others came and went when they had to while the rest stayed put or explored the community. At one point, she wandered around the fence to make sure it was secure and even sneaked around the armory to see how secure it was. She took note that it usually seemed to have one person around at all times and only had one window leading directly to the room with the weapons.

From the window, she could see her gun and wanted badly to go in and get it, but the rules were clear and she knew she would be watched heavily if she screwed up. They were watching Daryl enough as is.

When she returned back to the house, she noticed that everyone was in a group around Rick.

"I really think we should attend. The more they trust, the better it is for us," Rick said.

"Attend what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

A few heads turned and the group widened a bit to allow her in the circle.

"Deanna arranged a welcome party for us in an hour. We're attending tonight," he explained.

A party? These people were seriously hosting a party for them? She stared, bewildered for a moment.

"I know it seems trivial, but we need them to trust us. We'll be getting ready and leaving in groups, whenever you're ready."

What happened to trusting them? She still didn't trust most of the people here. It was only their second day. Rick seemed so much more eager to jump into the group now and she wasn't quite sure why.

Everyone disbanded, with a few leaving to go to the other house and prepare there. She took a seat down on the couch and pulled her knees to her chest, letting out a sigh and staring at the wall as she tried to figure out what to do to pass the time for the next hour.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

She looked up to see Maggie rounding the other side of the sofa.

"Passing time. Waiting. I dunno." She shrugged.

"You're not going to go to the party?" Maggie asked.

"I guess I am, why?"

"You need to get ready, you know. You can't just go in what you're wearing." She smiled a little.

"Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Riley looked at the woman in bewilderment. What was she supposed to wear? Nothing?

Maggie chuckled. "Come on. Get in the shower and I'll pick out something for you."

She sighed, pushing herself to her feet and heading to the shower as instructed. Stripping down, she turned the shower on hot and waited for it to heat up before stepping in. She took a little bit longer than usual, mainly because she was slightly dreading the party and what she was going to be forced to wear. It was only when Maggie started banging on the door and asking if she was done that she stepped out. Wrapping a towel around herself, she opened the door a crack.

"Here. Got everything you need. Some of the others already left so you might want to hurry," Maggie said, smiling slightly and handing her a pile of clothes.

"Thanks," she replied, offering a small smile before closing the door.

Placing down everything on the sink counter, she dried herself off and took a look at what was picked out for her. The main item of clothing was a simple, black dress. It wasn't fancy by any means, just a really simple, flowy piece of clothing. The last thing she wanted to wear was a dress. The last time she wore one was when she was young for a wedding. Dresses just seemed so trivial now. Yeah, it was a party, but why did she have to dress up in something like this?

She knew it would be better to wear it than argue with Maggie, so she dressed as quickly as possible and took a look at herself in the mirror. It had three-quarter sleeves and fit her body snugly, but became flowy and loose as the skirt, that ended a little bit above her knees. It felt so...weird.

After looking at herself for a few minutes, she pulled on her boots and opened up the door. Maggie was waiting in the hallway, all dressed up herself in a nice gray dress.

"Wow. You look beautiful, Riley." She smiled, looking her up and down. "I'll help you dry your hair and we can head out. Glenn's just finishing up."

She wasn't even quite sure how to feel about the compliment. Usually, things like it didn't matter. But was she actually...well...beautiful? This was something that she pondered as she sat down on the toilet and let Maggie pull out the hair dryer. How could she be beautiful in this world? Everyone was always covered in sweat and blood.

"I reckon you've never been told that since you're thinkin' so hard," Maggie mused, pulling her hair up in different directions with a brush and fanning it with the dryer. "You are a beautiful young lady. Don't think because we're in a world like this that you can't be."

"I guess I'm just...well..." She struggled to find the right words to figure out what she was trying to say.

"Don't worry. If Carl thinks you're beautiful with all the mud and dirt, you're definitely beautiful without it."

Her cheeks heated up and she raised a hand to cover her face. Why was everyone so insistent on embarrassing her about Carl?

"You're probably gonna be bugged about it until everyone's used to it. It's still pretty new," Maggie clarified, turning off the dryer and standing back. "There you go. We should go and get Glenn. We're probably already running late."

Riley took a deep breath and stood, briefly looking at her straight, dried hair in the mirror before following. Glenn was waiting outside the hallway in a nice button-up and some slacks. He cleaned up really nice.

"You look great, kid," he said with a small smile, reaching over to take Maggie's hand. "Come on. Everyone else already left."

With that, they were off to the party being held at Deanna's home. It wasn't too dark outside, but the sun was visibly setting and casting an orange glow over the streets. By now, she had already memorized the layout of the place, but since Glenn and Maggie were leading, she followed absently and kept swiveling her gaze to her surroundings. Everything but the house up ahead was so silent.

When they got to the door, she suddenly felt extremely self-conscious and nervous. She could hear all the people inside and the laughter boomed loudly through the windows. How many people were here? Just about the whole town, probably.

Glenn was the first to step inside and she followed after, her chest constricting slightly as she counted all the faces. Rick was standing off to the side with Deanna and an older man, sipping an alcoholic beverage. Deanna saw them and immediately waved them over with a bright smile on her face.

"Look who finally arrived. You all look lovely. This is my husband, Reg," she introduced.

Riley wasn't paying much attention to them though. The volume of conversation was too loud and overstimulating. She kept looking for familiar faces, hoping to find Carl in the mix so she could feel a little more at ease.

"Riley?"

Her eyes jumped up to Glenn and she realized that all of the attention was on her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah...I'm fine..," she murmured, forcing a smile and then looking over to Rick. "Do you know where Carl is...?"

"He's upstairs with Ron. Should be, at least," he answered.

"Thanks. If you'll excuse me..."

She practically bolted. When she reached the stairs, she climbed them two at a time and stopped at the top, taking a deep breath. There were still a decent amount of people up here as well, but less than downstairs and most of them appeared to be children running around and playing with each other.

Entering the first room to the right, she was pleased to find Carl and Ron throwing darts in what looked to be a game room. A few kids were playing in the corner, but otherwise it was just the two boys. They looked up when she entered and she took a deep breath, feeling a little bit better.

"Whoa, Riley...you um...," Carl started, gaze sweeping her form.

"Um, yeah?" she raised an eyebrow, wrapping her arms around herself.

Ron didn't even attempt to hide his staring and she suddenly made the connection. It was the stupid dress she was wearing.

"Oh um...Maggie picked it out... Just uh..." She pulled at the ends of the skirt and shrugged a little. "Not my style I guess..."

"No you...you look great," Carl assured, blinking slowly, still frozen in place.

An awkward silence hung in the air and she felt a little uncomfortable being gawked at. From Carl, it just made her feel a bit embarrassed and fluttery inside, but from Ron, it just made her feel uncomfortable.

"So um, you're playing darts?" she asked, gesturing awkwardly to the dart board.

"Yeah! Um...here let me show you how..." Carl moved to her side and she noticed how much he was fumbling.

He placed the dart in her hand, placing himself behind her and adjusting the dart in her grip. His proximity made her stomach flutter and she ducked her head, smiling a little and laughing softly.

"I know how to throw a dart, Carl," she murmured, biting her lip.

"Oh yeah! Um..." He quickly stepped back, giving her the room she needed.

Adjusting the dart in her hand, she focused on the center of the dart board and tossed. It went straight, nearly a bullseye, only a little off probably because of her nerves.

"Nice shot," Ron praised, moving over to take the dart out of the board.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she took a step back to watch as Ron tried to impress them by getting his dart better than hers, though he failed to do so. Carl took an easy shot as well, getting a bullseye with little trouble. They were just honed in on their survival skills that it took little effort to do something like that.

"You guys are too good at this. Hey how about we find Mikey and play some cards? Might even the playing field a little," Ron suggested.

"Sure. Riley?" Carl inquired.

She paused, not too keen on having another be added to their group. "I uh...I'm just gonna go outside for a little air first, if that's okay?"

She didn't wait for an answer before turning and heading out of the room. As she entered the crowd, everything seemed to close in on her once more and she quickly passed by everyone, heading straight for the closest door, which happened to be the front. When she got out into the fresh air, everything seemed to tumble off her shoulders and she let out a sigh of relief. It was just too overwhelming. They literally just got here a couple days ago and now they were at a party with the entire town. The transition wasn't even there.

The door opened and she jumped, looking over her shoulder to see Carl's silhouette. She relaxed slightly and took a step to the side onto the porch, leaning her hands against the railing. He came to take a spot beside her.

"You okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Just overwhelmed," she sighed, swallowing thickly. "This whole thing it's..."

"I...I get it. I'm trying to...adjust. It's..not easy," he admitted. "But we don't...we don't have to go through it alone..."

His warm hand covered hers and she looked down, breath hitching at the contact. Finally, after all the days of being so shy and embarrassed, she looked up to meet his gaze. His blue eyes were focused solely on her, bright and intense with his emotions swirling in each shade of blue.

"Riley...," he whispered inching slightly closer. "You...you've been there for me...Through all of this. It's only been like...a couple of months? But...we've been through everything. Together. If you need me, I'm there. You don't have to ask."

Her hand shifted slightly, lacing their fingers together as a blush rose to her cheeks. She looked down at their hands, repeating that single word over in her head. Together. From the moment they met, they were in this together. Maybe now, it was just going to be a little bit different. A different kind of together.

"Thank you," she murmured, sucking in a breath and peeking up at him. "I'm with you too."

A silence settled between the two as she peered up at him and he looked down at her. Their closeness was making her heart beat rapidly in her chest, but she couldn't look away. With careful, awkward movements, she pulled her hands out of his and raised them up to his shoulders and propping herself up on her toes. His breath fanned her face and he caught on quickly, ducking his head down to kiss her softly.

This kiss was different than their first, which had been more awkward and shy. This one was longer and more explorative. They still bumped noses and shuffled about awkwardly, but she remembered vividly what their last kiss was like and it made it easier to tilt her head properly and close her eyes at the right moment. His lips were warm and her stomach was twisting and every emotion that had been lingering in the air moments ago seemed to explode around them.

She finally pulled away, ducking her head and trying to hide her flushed face. Why could she be so confident any other time but this? It was always the tender moments that brought out the awkwardness and shyness in her. These were things she really wasn't used to, but so far, every kiss just sent the sparks flying and she couldn't get enough of that feeling.

He gingerly took her hands again, running his thumbs along the back of them. "We can go back inside...and if you feel uncomfortable, we can come back outside. I'll be with you, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed with a nod, drawing in a breath and looking in through the window at the crowd.

Together, they headed back inside to face the rest of the night. But that wouldn't be the only thing they had to get through together.

After the party was over, they all headed back to the house. Tonight would be the last night that they slept in the same room of the same house unless things were deemed unsafe. So as she got ready for bed, she noticed Rick and Carl watching her from the kitchen. She offered a small smile, but became confused at Carl's flustered expression. Rick gestured for her to come over and she pressed her lips together, taking a quick glance around before doing as she was asked.

"Is everything okay...?" she asked carefully, feeling a little uneasy.

"I just need to talk to you two privately," Rick explained, putting his hands on their shoulders and guiding them toward the hall.

She shot a glance over at Carl, eyes wide. He didn't look at her though and remained blushing and nervous as they entered one of the downstairs bedrooms. Rick shut the door behind them and then pulled up the chair from the desk, stepping on it with one foot and leaning his arms across the top.

"I've...noticed that you two have become close. And I'm fine with that. I'm actually...really happy that you can care for each other. I just need to lay down some ground rules," Rick started, his sharp gaze flickering between them.

Oh. So that's what this was? Her stomach sank and she felt like shrinking into the floor.

"Now, I can understand you wantin' to be affectionate. But the clothes need to stay on, you understand me?"

If Riley could sink into nothingness right now, she would. Was he really assuming? She was pretty sure her face was as red as Rick's machete handle and her stomach was twisting in embarrassment.

"You may not be thinkin' of it now, but you two are young 'n still growin'. Sometimes, your hormones can get the better of you. So I want y'all to know that it won't be allowed. You're far too young," he continued, leaning forward slightly.

She shifted uncomfortably, just wanting to curl up and pretend this whole conversation wasn't even happening. Of course they knew that people did this sort of stuff in relationships, but they were young and thinking about that just made her want to gag, especially the way he was presenting it.

"And if you two are still...together when you get a bit older...if you really must, you can use con-"

"Dad!" Carl blurted, running his hands over his burning red face. "Please...we...we know. We're not...we're not doing that sort of stuff okay?"

She was a little relieved that he interrupted where exactly that sentence was going. They didn't even really have a real relationship and Rick was already jumping to the worst conclusions. Gosh, she felt so hot and embarrassed that she couldn't even form the words to agree with Carl. All she could do was duck her head and hide her face with her hair and hope this nightmare ended soon.

"Alright. I'm just givin' you a fair warnin'. I know what it was like to be your age and I did a lot of things I shouldn't. I'm going to be keepin' an eye on you, you hear?" He straightened up, giving them one final stare before moving the chair back into it's place. She swore that she saw a smirk on his face.

Not even waiting another second, she scrambled to be free, not even saying a single word to Carl or Rick. She was too flustered. Hopefully in the morning, it would all be forgotten about...


A/N: Aww so the babies are finally getting a little bit closer! They're still awkward, but starting to get past that hurdle. And that awkward talk at the end... Rick knew exactly what he was doing ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks SOOO much for reading and reviewing! I always get a smile on my face when I see that you guys are liking it so far :) Also a side note, I do have a playlist for this story, but I can't rearrange chapters here on ffnet so I can't add a chapter to the beginning with all the songs. So, if you're interested in any of the songs, if you head over to my Wattpad, which is linked on my profile, you can easily access this story's playlist by going to Forever Wandering over there and looking for the "Playlist" chapter. With that said, thank you guys so much for reading and hopefully I can get the next chapter out on time next week! :)