Quinn and Carol, Alexandria
It took an hour or two for the food to be ready, so I told Carol everything from leaving Alexandria till we got back today. Then she told me everything that happened here while we were away. How they struggled with the wall, how they struggled with food, the huge storm, the walkers got inside, bringing Connie back. She listened to me without interrupting, then I listened to her without interrupting. I felt a little bit better now that I got it off my chest. But before we could reflect on each other's story, Henry interrupted us.
"Everyone's at the hall. Food!" he said.
"My dear son, manners?" asked Carol scoldingly. We cooked food in three huge cauldrons. She handed one to Henry, then Carol and I grabbed another one each and followed him to the hall.
"We'll continue after dinner," said Carol quietly. I nodded. As we entered the hall I got startled by people clapping at us and applauding. Everyone was ready to finally eat. We were starving. And not just in a figure of speech, we literally did not eat for days. Carol enjoyed this little attention and slightly bowed. As people started lining up, I quickly grabbed a bowl, spooned myself food, and left in a hurry. I wanted to hide or run away or anything, just be invisible for a second. Aaron and Gabriel stepped to the cauldrons and they started handing out food with Carol, while the others lined up in front of them, letting children ahead. I hid in a corner and ate in silence. I saw Negan in the line, waiting for his turn. I avoided his eyes.
Everyone was buzzing and when they all got food, they had conversations in little groups. Everyone seemed happy. After I finished my meal, I placed the bowl next to the dirty dishes. My eyes met with Carol's, she finished eating quickly too and nodded towards the door. I nodded yes and followed her. The sun was going down as I stepped outside.
"I thought about everything you said," started Carol. "And I think Negan got scared of your feelings. Gosh, I never thought I'll have to analyze Negan's feelings... Anyway, maybe he's not ready yet. But it's really hard to tell. He did seem a bit strange."
"You don't have to do this Carol. I'll get over it. You should talk to Daryl."
"It's enough for me to see he's okay," she said smiling. "He'll come to me if he wants to talk."
I nodded understandingly.
"Don't be too strict. He didn't do anything. Leah was nothing. And Connie being back... he's with you now. He told Maggie."
"What? You missed that part out!" Carol snapped at me.
"Yes, when I questioned him about Leah, he said you're together and Maggie and Elijah heard it."
"Wow. That's something," said Carol surprised. She seemed to be easing up. "I don't judge. I'll listen to his version of the story and then we'll see."
"I'm sure he didn't cheat and he never will. Also, if he still had feelings for Leah, he would be out there, searching for her. But he isn't. He is here."
Carol nodded, then a couple of minutes later she continued, examining me with her eyes.
"It must have been hard with Maggie around, but you're home now. You don't have to see her every day. You can rest," she tried to comfort me, even hugged me at the end.
"I'm so tired... and I'm still scared," I said quietly as tears were suffocating me once again.
"I know, honey, but it's over," she said as she backed away and caressed my cheek. "Go home and rest. Get a long night of sleep and you'll feel much better in the morning, you'll see."
I nodded in agreement. She patted my shoulder and went back to join the others. I headed towards my house. As I was tinkering with the lock I heard steps behind me. I glanced back above my shoulder.
"Hi," I said to Negan.
"Hey," he said, frowning his eyebrows. "Are you avoiding me?" he asked out of the blue. I got the door open and stepped inside, he followed me.
"I'm not avoiding you," I said simply. I was avoiding him. And he was avoiding me. Why would he even ask that when he is avoiding me already? I locked the door behind us.
"I already took a shower, so I'll just go to sleep," I said. He nodded and headed towards the bathroom. I went upstairs, changed into pajamas, and got comfortable in bed. It felt so good after not sleeping at all and then sleeping in a sitting position. Gosh, this bed was so comfortable. As I was drifting off to sleep I heard Negan coming to the bed and lying down too. I fell asleep very soon.
...
After a group washed all the dirty dishes, everyone went home. The dinner went in an excellent mood, except for Quinn and Negan. It was already late at night when Carol and Daryl sat on the porch steps next to each other, both of them smoking cigarettes. Daryl told Carol everything, he talked so much more than he usually does. Carol was surprised but listened to his story carefully. By the time he finished, Carol was sure that Daryl didn't have any feelings for Leah anymore. He probably got confused a bit and hurt him to see her again, but there wasn't anything anymore. She was more concerned about Daryl being tortured and forced to do things. Also, the whole undercover thing. They both finished their cigarettes by the end of the story. Carol didn't say anything after Daryl finished, she was just looking at him, smiling slightly. She gently brushed his hair out of his face.
"What?" asked Daryl now smiling too.
"I'm just happy you're back," said Carol and leaned her head on his shoulder. Daryl was smiling to himself, with slightly red cheeks. Then Carol held her head up and looked at him once again.
"Are you okay?" asked Carol still concerned, while she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I'm fine," said Daryl getting lost in Carol's eyes. He turned a bit more towards her and leaned in very slowly and kissed her. Carol was hugging him even stronger. Daryl put one of his hands gently on her cheek and on the side of her neck. They were kissing softly, sweetly for a long time. After they backed away a bit, Daryl looked Carol in the eyes once again, then he put his forehead on her shoulder. Carol was softly caressing the back of his neck.
"You're home now," said Carol quietly, gently. "We'll get over this."
"I feel like I caused everythin'..." murmured Daryl, barely audible, but Carol could hear him perfectly as he was so close to her.
"Of course you did not! Leah wasn't with this group back then... and you are not responsible for her actions at all!"
"I know... but I feel like this," said Daryl, his forehead still resting on Carol's shoulder, he was getting comfortable and he could avoid eye contact this way. Carol let out a gentle sigh.
"It will go away. Just don't think so much about it. It's over. You're here. You brought a lot of food, you made all the kids happy. Even the grown-ups. We would be starving, but you made sure we don't. Think about that," said Carol gently. Daryl slowly held up his head and looked Carol in the eye.
"That's one thing... but... you bought back Connie. You're a miracle," he murmured. Carol chuckled sarcastically.
"After I murdered her it doesn't feel that good," she said. Daryl took her hand gently.
"About that... I'm so sorry about what I said to you..." he said honestly.
"You mean when you told me at your ex-girlfriend's house that I'm responsible for Connie's death?" said Carol teasingly.
"Carol... I'm sorry," that was all he could say. Carol smiled at him.
"It's okay. Everything's okay," said Carol as she smiled at him gently. This time Daryl put his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry..." he repeated.
"You say that again... and I don't even know what I'd do with you," said Carol trying to come up with a threat, but she couldn't think of anything as she was so happy he was finally back. Daryl giggled.
"That sounded very threatening," he said as he backed away a bit to look Carol in the eyes.
"Shut up, Pookie," said Carol like she was offended, but she wasn't and Daryl knew that, so he started smiling even more. "Let's get some sleep," said Carol as she stood up. "But first, you're going to shower," she stated as Daryl stood up too.
"What?" asked Daryl.
"You heard me, you're not coming anywhere near the bed until you shower."
"Fine, I'll sleep on the couch..." he growled.
"Daryl!" said Carol scoldingly.
"Kiddin'," he said smiling and headed to the bathroom. Carol rolled her eyes as she chuckled at his childish behavior, then she went to her room to get dressed into pajamas. After a couple of minutes, Daryl appeared at the open door shirtless, wearing pajama bottoms only. Carol glanced at him as she was sitting on the bed.
"What?" asked Carol.
"Should I...?" asked Daryl unsurely. He was always sleeping in the basement.
"I thought you'd never ask," said Carol smiling as she patted the bed next to her. Daryl lay down and they turned to face each other. Daryl let out a soft sigh, while Carol smiled at him.
"This feels strangely familiar, yet so new," she said. They already slept next to each other a couple of times, but they never confessed their feelings before. Now they knew everything, they were a couple.
"What are ya talkin' 'bout?" asked Daryl smiling. He knew exactly, he was just teasing her. Carol smiled, then closed her eyes to sleep. Daryl was watching her for a couple of minutes then took her hand. His finger accidentally touched something on Carol's wrist, he glanced at it. She was still wearing the bracelet he made for her. His heart skipped a beat as this thought ran through his mind. Then he slowly exhaled as their fingers intertwined. His breathing became calmer while he was watching Carol for a couple more seconds, then he fell asleep. Carol opened one of her eyes to glance at Daryl. She saw he was sleeping and she smiled to herself happily, closing her eye once again.
...
I was running in the forest late at night, I barely saw anything and that Reaper guy who beat us all up was chasing me. Soon enough he caught up with me, jumped on me, and brought me down to the ground. He grabbed my arms and tied me with a rope.
"Good job," said Leah as she approached us.
"Now, beat her to death," said Maggie emerging from the trees.
"Negan!" I yelled in my dream, then I woke up suddenly, startled. My heart was pounding crazily. I sat up, I was in my bed, in my house, in Alexandria. I glanced at the window it was still dark outside. I gasped for air. I glanced at Negan, he was sleeping deeply with his back towards me. There was a time when I would have given anything and everything just to be in one room with Negan, but now... it felt so different. I felt hurt and ashamed. I let out a sigh and lay back in bed. I got comfortable again and tried to fall back asleep. I turned my back on Negan too and stared out the window, at the night sky. I took a deep breath, then closed my eyes, trying to sleep again. Eventually, I managed.
...
The next time I woke up was already morning. I couldn't tell the time, but probably around 9-10 am. I glanced around and saw the bed was empty. I went to relieve myself, then I headed to the kitchen. Negan was nowhere to be found. And he asked if I was avoiding him... so much for that. I drank a glass of water, then headed back upstairs to get dressed, then I headed to the porch to sunbathe a little like I used to do.
I knew something was really wrong with Negan since the forest but did I really scare him away? Seemed like he wanted confirmation of my feelings and I did exactly that, and now he was avoiding me. Who the hell understand that? Honestly, I just wanted to cry.
...
Author's notes: Listen to "Million miles away" by Rihanna.
It portrays Quinn's feelings so well. ❤
(And if you'd like to listen to something for Carol and Daryl, my recommendation for their scene: is "Small Town Boy" by Dustin Lynch. My dear friend, Betty, created a video for them with this song, I highly recommend you watch it, I love it! You can find the video on YT with this title: "Daryl Dixon: Smalltown Boy". The channel is: Betty Haddock. That song and her video inspired me so much in writing Carol x Daryl scenes in this fanfiction. ❤ Thank You Betty! :D ❤ )
Thank You for reading! ❤