Tomorrow Will Come

Twenty four

"You good?" Jennie asked Mary softly, and Mary nodded up to her.
"Yeah. No, I'm okay. I just panicked." Mary explained, Jennie worried about the girl after hearing about her panic earlier.
"I know. I know."
"I'm so scared. That they'll hurt you."
"C'mon. You know I'm too badass. I'd kill them before they could. And I'd die before they hurt you again."
Mary blushed softly, then turned away as she saw Henry limp over. "How's the leg?"
"A little better," Henry nodded, then he turned to Jennie, "hi, I'm Henry."
"So you're the famous Henry. I'm Jennie."
"Famous?" Henry teased, an arched eyebrow thrown Mary's way.
"Oh yeah, heard all about Mary proposing to you when she was six. And how your mom's low-key we're hoping one day you'd get, like, married or some shit." Jennie teased, and Mary jostled her.
"Yeah, don't think they've realised we're both interested in different people."
"Both?" Jennie asked with raised eyebrows, as panic covered Mary's face.
"I mean, she's not said anything to me. But I know Mary well. I know when she has feelings for someone." Henry teased, winking at Mary, before walking away.
"Gonna dish? Who it is?" Jennie asked with a half smile, and Mary exhaled shakily, butterflies swarming her stomach.
"I think you know." Mary breathed back, and Jennie gave a small, shy laugh, watching Mary as she walked away.

"Hey, Uncle Dar?"
"Yeah, kiddo?" Daryl asked gently, as he prepared to leave.
"When you come back, when you come back next time, can you meet someone?"
"Who?"
"I..."
"Yer boyfriend?" Daryl asked in shock, and Mary bit her lip.
"Not really. But kinda along those lines."
"Can't I meet them now?"
"Nah. Not yet. I don't... Don't know if... What we are. I don't know. I think I'm jumping to conclusions." Mary explained anxiously.
"Kid. Tell them. Tell then how you feel. That'll clear things up. Before I have to go and do the scary uncle thing where I scare them half to death and let him know imma break him if he breaks your heart."
"Dad would be going crazy. Do the whole "my little girl isn't getting in a relationship"."
"He'd probably have a gun at 'em. Gonna have to be the scary dad, you know, for yer dad. He'd want me to." Daryl half joked, half reminisced.
"You're keeping your promise to him well, Dar. You're doing good by me, by Jude and RJ. He'd be so proud of you. Of how you're taking care of us all."
"Sweetheart, if he could see you now? He'd be so proud he'd have no words." Daryl whispered, and Mary nodded, holding tears back.
"I'll see you at the fair, yeah? Imma come, and try and get mom to come too."
"Yeah. You do that. Okay, I gotta get off, say bye to your mom."
"Bye." Mary nodded, hugging Daryl, then walking over and hugging Henry tightly.
"I know you like her," Henry breathed into Mary's ear, "and she likes you too. I can read you like a book, Mer. She's cute. Go for it, girl."
"Not upset we're not gonna get married?" Mary teased, and Henry chuckled.
"Strangely I think we both have different plans. See you at the fair?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Mary grinned, then, after saying goodbye to Connie and then Lydia. When she got home, she made dinner while Michonne and Judith said goodbye to Daryl.
"You helping? Mary asked RJ as he ran over, and the boy nodded. "Alright. You gonna wash these? The tomatoes?"
"Yeah. They're my favourite." RJ grinned, Mary lifting him onto the kitchen counter.
"You're my favourite."
"Favourite what?"
"Little brother." Mary smiled, and RJ giggled.
"I'm your only little brother!"
"And you'd still be my favourite if I had ten million others."
"I was really scared when you was missing."
"I know, baby. And I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Mary cried softly. RJ's face creased up as soon as he saw her tears, and he nuzzled into her arms.
"I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I thought you was dead."
"Jay. It's okay. I'm not mad. You're okay to think that." Mary soothed, kissing his curls.
"Promise me you won't die?" RJ mumbled, and Mary's heart skipped a beat, thinking about how she'd ask Carl the same question.
"I can't. I can't promise you that, but I promise I'll fight my hardest, yeah?"
"I'll try my hardest too."

"Can I have more tomatoes please?"
"Of course you can baby. There you go. Judith. Eat, don't poke." Michonne sighed, looking over at Judith as she picked at her food.
"Sorry mom. I'm not that hungry. I had a snack before, so..."
"How are you not hungry," Mary laughed softly, "I'm always hungry."
"I'm just not." Judith shrugged, as Mary pinched the salad from her plate. "Is it okay if I go to my room?"
"Sure. Just... Wrap your food and put it away first, okay?"
"I will. Thanks mom." Judith nodded, before leaving.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's mad at me. Doesn't understand about how we want to keep Alexandria to ourselves." Michonne explained, and Mary nodded, guilt filling her stomach; she'd gone against all the rules with Jennie's group.
"I like it when we get a visitor. When Uncle Jesus comes." RJ piped up, and Michonne nodded.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can go visit them sometime soon, right, mom?" Mary suggested.
"Maybe. Maybe, baby."
"I wanna go to Oceanside! I wanna see the sea!" RJ grinned excitedly.
"One day, buddy. Maybe when you're a little older. It's a long trip for you, yeah?"
"I'm gonna go to the fair tomorrow," Mary explained, "maybe he can come?"
"No. Not yet. Not yet, love."
"You never let me do fun stuff," RJ pouted, "when Mary was my age, she got to do loads of stuff! She got guns and knives and..."
"And you don't need them." Michonne said firmly, and RJ sighed, his bottom lip purposefully stuck out, showing his discontent.
"I'm gonna go. Jennie's got some school work for me," Mary explained, finishing the last bite of her food, "since I'm missing tomorrow and they say after too. I'll not be too long."
"Alright. Stay safe." Michonne nodded, and Mary nodded back, a hand on her chest as she got up, in pain. Ignoring it, she went she went straight up to her roof, and climbed over to where Jennie's room was. She rapped on the window, and immediately Toby opened it, letting Mary slide in, seeing Jennie studying at the desk.
"Hey." Mary smiled to them both, and Jennie beamed back at her.
"Tobs..."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going for a shower." The boy laughed, rolling his eyes and leaving the room the two twins shared.
"Hi." Jennie smiled, watching Toby shut the door firmly.
"Hey. How was school?"
"Boring. So boring." Jennie laughed softly.
"Henry likes you." Mary smiled, and Jennie laughed again.
"Good. Good, I'm glad he does. He seems really nice."
"Yeah, he is."
"Wanna go to the roof?" Jennie asked, and Mary nodded, Jennie going first and giving Mary a hand, aware of her still being weak and in pain. "Stars are out."
"All under the same stars," Mary repeated, a gentle smile on her face, "we're all under the same stars."
"How do you make sure they stay close to you?" Jennie asked suddenly, and Mary bit her lip.
"My... Someone I love... Loved...So very much, he said to me once that as long as you're still here, so are the people you had. The people that made you who you are. They're still here as long as you are." Mary said softly, and Jennie smiled.
"I like that."
"Yeah. Me too."
"Who's them for you?"
"My... My daddy. Carl, my brother. And Glenn. My Glenny. God. He was just another kind. He was... Everything. And a baby boy that I never got to meet, called André Anthony. A little boy called Tommy that I was best friends with."
"It's my dad. My dad, and Sophie, and little Sammy. My best friend, Alexa. A man in my group called Jacob."
"What happened to them? To Alexa and Jacob."
"What always happens. They were our group, our family. And they got bit, and died. What... What happened to Tommy? And who was André?"
"We used to live in a prison, for about a year, near the start. Tommy lived there. We were best friends, and I promised him I'd save him if the prison ever fell. When it did fall, I couldn't save him. He died. In front of me. And André... Andre was my mother's first son. Michonne's first son. She's, she's my stepmother really, so he was my stepbrother, I guess. He died in the refugee camps towards the beginning. I never met him, but... He's in my heart. I like to think that he's with Carl. And my dad... If my dad is really dead, he's looking after them. Him and Carl's mom, Lori."
Jennie nodded slowly, understanding. "We had a stepsister. Sort of. My mom, she had this boyfriend, about a year or so after my dad. He had a daughter, she was older than us, about twenty. She was great. Fearless. When her dad died, she lost herself. Just left one day. Never heard from her again. That's why you going missing hit me so hard, I guess. She was here one day, and just missing the next. I was scared that had happened to you.
"I was kidnapped before, you know," Mary said calmly, "by Negan. The guy in the cell. He liked me. He wanted me to... To look up to him. For me to be one of them. He tried to brainwash me. And it kinda worked. When I got back, I was so scared of my dad. Scared that my dad was a bad guy, like Negan told me."
"I'm sorry that happened to you."
"Me too," Mary nodded, "and I'm sorry for you too. For your dad and Sophie and Samuel. And your arm."
"Honestly, I think meeting Aaron is one of the best things that happened. I've never really met anyone like me in that way. And he's gonna make me a prosthetic, just like his."
"Changeable hand? An actual hand, and then a spare battle one, with a spike?"
"Of course."
"Badass." Mary nodded, impressed, and Jennie smiled back. They went quiet for a moment, then Mary finally spoke up again.
"Hey, Jennie. So... Listen, I... I might be really off base here," Mary babbled, "and I might ruin our friendship, and you might hate me, and this is probably gonna end so bad, and you know, our parents are gonna hate us, 'cos I don't even think your mom likes me, and basically this is gonna fuck everything up and..."
"Mary. You're spinning," Jennie whispered, "what? What is it?"
Mary looked over to her, noticing how close Jennie's face was to her own, how she could kiss the girl so easily if she just moved an inch closer.
"I think... I know... I..." Mary began shakily, but was just off by Jennie's lips landing on her own, and her stomach was plagued with butterflies. Her mouth tasted of the cherry lip balm Rosita made, and of chewy mints, and of apple, and Mary couldn't tell if she was more anxious or not from kissing her.
"Does that clear things up?" Jennie breathed when she pulled away, and Mary gave her a crooked smile.
"Kinda. It also kinda just made it all a lot more real and confusing." Mary laughed nervously, and Jennie let out a small laugh, before Mary softly kissed her again.