the great war (r.g)

eight

"everything's going to be just as it was before the turn," deanna was saying. some of cora's group was huddled in deanna's office while she explained what her vision was for alexandria.

once the talk was over, everyone was dismissed except for michonne and rick. cora walked out of the room with daryl, talking about how he wasn't convinced deanna could rebuild life. "i dont know, i want to believe she can rebuild it so that we can all live peacefully but..." cora trailed off as they got the the bottom step off the porch.

"i just don't think she has the power to do it," daryl said. the two stopped at the bottom step and looked back up to the house where deanna's office would be.

"well i'm going to wait here for rick to be done in there," cora told daryl as she took a seat on the chair.

"why?" he asked, subtly raising an eyebrow.

"i-" cora was mildly caught off guard with the question. "there's something i need to talk to him about." it wasn't a lie but somewhere deep down cora felt like it was.

daryl squinted at her for a few seconds before cracking a rare, barely there smirk. "okay." he turned and walked off in the direction of their houses.

the whole time cora sat on those steps, she thought about what daryl had said. he hadn't said much, just the word "why", but it sent a wave across cora's body. she didn't exactly know what kind of wave. a shockwave most likely. she was confused as to why the question had such an affect on her.

cora was waiting for rick because she wanted to. because they were friends. right? friends. yeah. friends wait for each other. like when one person is tying their shoe so their friend waits for them. its a friendly thing to do.

but when did their friendship go from subtle glances and figuring out what was best for their group as the only form of conversation to waiting for one another after a meeting and talking about their lives. losing track of time on their walks and suddenly they missed dinner. the saying "time flies when your having fun" refers to friendships. nothing else. yes that's right. cora decided to leave it at that just in time for rick to walk out of the house. "hey," he said to her once they met at the bottom.

"hi," she said. something had changed, cora could feel it. somehow, daryl got into her head with a simple, three letter word. belatedly, cora realized she was staring at him for a second too long. "uhm, wanna..." cora trailed off as she lightly jerked her head in the way of their house. there was a hint of awkwardness in the brief silence of their walk. that was odd. cora didn't know if it was in her head or is rick felt it too.

"so," the two said at the same time.

rick lightheartedly laughed before saying "you go first."

"what was your little meeting about?" she asked.

"deanna just went into more detail about what our jobs here will look like," rick told her. cora wanted to know more but before she could ask, rick seemed to read her expression. "basically we just need to secure the area. she explained that she doesn't want everyone walking around with guns on their hips, which i understand to an extent..." rick kept talking but cora wasn't listening. she was more focused on him. his demeanor, his authentic southern accent, the way he- "don't you think so?"

cora inwardly cursed herself for not listening more intently. "yeah, of course. now what were you going to say?" she asked before rick asked her to elaborate on her reasoning for whatever she agreed with.

"are you ready for deanna's party later on?" rick asked.

"party?" cora didn't know about any party. "i didn't...what?"

"its some sort of welcoming party i think," rick explained.

"i cannot go to a party. with the clothes i have? there's no way," cora said to him. rick laughed again, the same way he had laughed earlier.

"well it's a good thing we are where we are." rick nodded to a house and, somewhat to cora's relief, it was jessie's place.

"i should probably..."

"i mean if it's a crisis then... i'll see you later," rick nodded, basically shooing her away.

"yeah, i'll see you later," cora turned around and walked up the steps to jessie's front porch. she stood in front of the door, almost second guessing herself for some reason, before knocking.

jessie opened the door with a smile. "cora, hi! whats up?"

"i need help." jessie looked worried then ushered cora into her home.

"of course, anything. what's wrong?" jessie practically ran over to grab a chair for cora to sit it.

"oh, no. i might've been over dramatic," cora told jessie. her shoulders dropped from either relief or confusion. "i just heard of deanna's party and i only have dirty flannels or ratty tank tops."

"i would be more than happy to share some clothes with you," jessie smiled kindly at cora. she turned and walked down the hall, motioning for cora to follow. "i think i have just the outfit.