Lovely Bones

stranded

Daryl was out of his seat, hand wrapped around the base of his crossbow but it stayed at his side. Beth was turned in her seat and Teddy was still placed in hers. A rather irritated expression was shown on her youthful face as she looked up at the man in impatience. She had already adapted to the hollow floorboards to the house, assuming it was her sister before Prim even stepped foot into the door.

Prim cleared her throat in awkwardness.

"Uh . . ." she gulped. Instead of words she stepped towards Daryl and held out the handful of arrows in her hands out towards him. They were the ones he had used to take down the dead ones earlier. He wasn't able to go back and get them when the excitement went down. Daryl hesitantly accepted them and he only nodded once, the closest thing she figured she would get to a thank you.

Beth stood. "What he means is, thank you Prim." A soft smile grazed her lips and the sight rested Prim's nerves nearly immediately. "For all of this. You have no idea how long we've been searching for a place to rest, to feel safe. It means a lot." Her southern accent was soft, causing Prim to blush under the genuine glint in her eyes.

She shook her head weakly. "It's nothing, really —"

Teddy interrupted her this time, standing up on the chair obnoxiously. "What she means is, you're welcome," she smiled widely. Prim nodded in agreement at that statement.

"Have you eaten?" The brunette questioned Teddy and the blonde shook her head quickly.

"I wanted to wait for you," she jumped off the chair with a loud groan. "And finally you're here. I'm starving," she drew her dramatics out, causing an eye roll from Prim. Teddy's hand grabbed her sister's and she began to pull her towards the kitchen.

Prim's other hand ruffled her blonde hair in disapproval. "I told you not to use that word." Teddy dropped her head in the slightest bit of shame.

"Sorry Rosie."

They made it into the kitchen first, the nine year old jumping up on the counter. She pulled the cabinet doors open to reveal their stash, small hands grabbing at different items and setting them on the countertop. Prim moved to the small table, pulling two chairs out for she and Teddy. The kitchen door flew open and she looked up quickly to see Daryl carrying in a giggling Beth, bridal style. Seeing this, she laughed slightly and pulled out another set of chairs for their mutuals.

Teddy jumped from the counter just as everyone sat. Her hands and arms were full of different foods and she dropped them all on the table. Cans rolled each way, hands flew to catch them.

"Eat up!" She cheered with her arms out in excitement and she sat down, watching as they did as told. Each person grabbed a different item and eventually they had a small feast, hands grabbing at whatever they had access to. They were careful though, to keep it at a minimum as they weren't sure when they would have access to food in the future. Boxes and jars were passed back and forth and at the moment, negative thoughts were forgotten as they sat there and filled their stomachs.

Prim suddenly remembered something. A gasp left her lips, catching everyones attention unintentionally. But her blue were set on Teddy, a soft smile only directed towards her. "Guess who I saw today," she sing songed with a hum. Teddy's eyebrows furrowed. "Oatmeal was roaming around again," The blonde's eyes lit up. ". . . But he ran off." Her excitement dropped to a tiny frown.

"Oatmeal?" Daryl questioned, unamused and the two girls looked at him nonchalantly.

"Oh uh —"

"— Oatmeal is our dog!" Teddy exclaimed, voice happy then somber. "Rosie named him but he's not really ours. He just lives around here but doesn't trust us enough to let us touch him."