Reflections - TWD

114. Under attack.

Isabella and Freddie had been escorted back to Alexandria for the day. Apparently, they couldn't be trusted when there wasn't walls keeping them in place, that's what Daryl had said. They wanted to bring Harry, but Michonne refused until they figured out more about him.

Isabella was sat on a step watching Lydia practice with a stick like Henry used to have. She didn't know why she was watching Lydia, but it took her mind off things.

"Hey, kid," a familiar voice called out. Isabella turned around to see that Negan was looking at Lydia.

"Fine," Lydia replied. "Exactly the same as it was-" she paused for a moment, not having seen Isabella up until this point, "-20 minutes ago."

Then, she smiled at Isabella. And Isabella could've sworn that she felt butterflies in her stomach. "Hi," Lydia said softly.

"Hey," Isabella replied in the gentlest tone she had used in a while.

"What was the big meeting for?" Negan asked. It felt like he was interrupting something special. "And why are folks givin' you the side eye?"

Isabella whipped her head back around to Lydia whilst standing up and brushing off her knees. "People giving you trouble?"

"Same folks eyein' you," Lydia retorted, "and no. Not really. Just Gage," she turned back to Negan. "What have you done in the past however many years you've been here, huh?"

Negan just chuckled and then the person guarding him called out his name.

"Daryl wouldn't be happy if he found out either one of you were going near him."

Isabella just shrugged. "He can talk to us about that," she scoffed. Sometimes it felt like she was an inconvenience to Daryl, always in the way, or in the complete wrong place.

"They're on alert," Lydia whispered.

"Huh?" Isabella moved a little closer to the pair.

"Someone found a skin," Lydia replied solemnly. It made Isabella's mind race. Was it Theo's? Had they fucked everything up?

"By the way that people are looking at you," Negan nodded at Lydia, then he turned to Isabella, "and that guilty look on your face, you both better watch your backs."

Rosita, Siddiq, Eugene and a couple of others all walked out of the church. Isabella tried to give Negan a dirty look, but she couldn't. He was right. She was guilty.

•

That night, Isabella slept a straight 12 hours stuck in a nightmare. She couldn't wake up. Her body wouldn't let her, because every bone in her was convinced that she was the reason Henry, Enid, Tara and everyone else were all dead. She lay in bed the morning after, thinking about everything between John's death and talking to Negan yesterday.

She thought about how only four out of seven members of GREATIM were left. Even though it was a pretty stressful two days, it was probably the funnest one she had had in a while.

I ain't your dad; that crossed her mind too.

"They keep coming from the direction of the border," Aaron informed. "It's just wave after wave after wave."

Carol nodded. "This is her."

She couldn't look Isabella in the eye, and barely Freddie. Neither of the kids blamed her. It hurt Freddie more. But it reminded Isabella of when she was seven and Carol couldn't look at her because she resembled Sophia.