Rosie hadn't heard this many people shouting since she was at the fighting ring in Woodbury. Except these people were all shouting at each other rather than cheering. Either way, both instances were extremely stressful and messed up. Rosie wanted out of this crowd, but she seemed to be stuck in the middle of it. She began pushing her way through the people, her stomach aching with anxiety. She felt like she was going to be trampled or crushed or something. In addition to that, it was far too loud than Rosie was comfortable with.

As Rosie was making her way through the crowd, one of the ex-Saviors sort of shoved her, and she fell to the ground. Whether it was on purpose or on accident, it pissed Rosie the hell off. She looked up at the ex-Savior who had seemingly pushed her and he was snickering to himself, along with a woman beside him. He had long, light brown hair and a graying beard, and he looked strong. Rosie glared up at him. "Fuck off," she spat, trying to seem tougher than she actually was.

"Or what? Your daddy's gonna shoot me in the chest, like he did Justin?" the ex-Savior taunted- Rosie was pretty sure his name was DJ. Justin was dead. He had been found stumbling through the woods as a walker. He was shot in the chest, and now his dead body was in the truck bed, for everyone to see. Rosie didn't mind seeing it, and even if Daryl had killed Justin, she wouldn't mind at all. Justin was a piece of shit. Rosie was sure that Daryl didn't kill Justin, but even if he did, he had every right to. She could see why the Saviors thought it was Daryl. He'd threatened Justin's life on numerous occasions. But it wasn't Daryl who had done it. He was in the medical tent with Aaron and Enid most of the night, then he returned to his and Rosie's tent. He couldn't have killed Justin.

Either way, though, Rosie wasn't going to let herself be pushed around by these assholes anymore. She stood up and pulled her gun out of its holster, pointing right at DJ's sternum. "If ya don't fuck off and get outta my way, I'll shoot ya in the chest," she threatened, flicking the safety off. This only erupted a whole new chorus of shouts and egged on the fight. The chaos only escalated.

"Hey! Hey! Stop this shit! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" came a whole new screaming voice. It was Alden, one of the Saviors who had been held captive at Hilltop. Maggie seemed to like Alden better than she liked the other Saviors, so Rosie figured Alden must've been a bit more trustworthy than the rest. Plus, he had helped her when Henry broke into the pen and the long-haired Savior tried to take her. And, he was helping her now. He grabbed onto Rosie's arm, pulling her behind him and putting himself in between her and the ex-Saviors. "We're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna make sure it never happens to us again, alright?" Alden spoke quickly as Rosie was pulled away from the crowd by Carol.

"Us? You're not one of us anymore," Rosie could hear another ex-Savior, Jed, say to Alden.

"Us means all of us," Alden said, gesturing around to each and every person at the camp. Rosie watched, away from the crowd, as Jed threw a punch to Alden's face.

"Go shovel that horse shit to whoever killed Justin!" Jed shouted. Before he could throw a second punch, Carol got in his way, putting her hand on his shoulder and making him freeze in his spot. Carol had been leading the Saviors ever since Daryl left. They seemed to like her better than Daryl, anyway. This time, though, Carol had her hand on her gun, which Jed didn't fail to notice. "I thought you were supposed to be our leader," he said.

"Enough," Carol said, releasing his shoulder. She turned to the rest of the Saviors. "Turn around, all of you," she ordered.

"No can do, C. Why don't you go ahead and yank that roscoe, pop me right here? It's better than worrying about getting it in the back," Jed said, tilting his head to the side. Rosie already had her gun in her hand, but now so did Carol, and then every other person on their side.

"We don't want this," Laura- the blonde ex-Savior who had fed Rosie when she was in the cell- said, stepping forward with her arms out to her sides. Jed didn't seem to like that. It was clear that there were two separate groups of Saviors; the ones that could be good, and the ones that couldn't. "Hey, we just need to protect ourselves," she said.

Rosie spun around when she heard Daryl's voice shout, "No guns!" from a little ways behind her. He was backed up, away from the crowd, with his crossbow ready in his hands.

"That 'cause you're the one who took out Justin?" DJ asked.

"Nah. My money's on garbage lady," a skinnier ex-Savior said, turning and glaring at the woman who was once the leader of the Scavengers. Rosie wasn't sure what his name was. She didn't talk to most of the Saviors, as a lot of them didn't like her. Maybe it was because of Daryl, or maybe they resented her because of her importance to Negan. She didn't know. They just didn't like her. Anyway, the garbage lady used to be called Jadis, but now she was called Anne. Rosie didn't know her very well, but she knew that she was the last of her people. Simon had killed all the rest of the garbage people.

"Revenge for Simon's play, sure," a woman with short hair said, a snarky smile on her face. Rosie rolled her eyes. The ex-Saviors didn't even know who they were against. They were just angry. Maybe if they had better control over themselves and weren't so prone to violence, they wouldn't have these issues.

"No. It's him," DJ said, nodding his head to Daryl. Plenty of the ex-Saviors had it out for Daryl, but that was ok because Daryl had it out for plenty of the ex-Saviors, too. "Finishing what he started," DJ said. He began marching towards a tree, and Rosie wasn't sure what for until he picked up an axe. The skinnier Savior did the same.

Arat ran up to DJ and put her hand on his chest, trying to hold him back. "Hey, hey, stop. It's gonna go too far," she said quickly and quietly, but loud enough for Rosie to hear it.

"Nah. It won't," Daryl taunted. He lifted his crossbow and pointed it right at DJ's head. Rosie would have liked for him to pull the trigger, but she scolded herself inside her head for thinking that. It was bad to think things like that. Just because he pushed you, you want Daryl to kill him? It was wrong, but, yes, she wanted Daryl to pull that trigger.

"Maybe it's both of them," DJ said, gesturing between Daryl and Anne. He pushed past Arat. "Come on," he said to the other ex-Saviors. They began making their way closer to the others, ready to fight- maybe even to the death.

But just as the fight was about to begin, a horse came galloping into the crowd, splitting it down the middle. Rick was on top of the horse, his gun in his hand. "Everyone, back off!" he shouted, flashing his gun to make sure everyone saw it, as if the horse wasn't enough. Rosie backed off even more than she already was, because if the big brawl did start, she didn't want to be in the way of it. "Right now!" Rick commanded. Everyone backed off a bit, onto their respective sides. Laura and Arat took the weapons from DJ and Jed, telling them to let it go.

"I'll talk to Rick. I'll try and find a way to make everybody feel safe, alright?" Alden said to the ex-Saviors.

"Start the redirect. Pair off to work the grid," Rick said to everyone before hopping off his horse.

As everyone began to scatter, Rosie went over to Daryl. He was looking at Rick, thinking about something, but Rosie wasn't sure what. Daryl put his hand on Rosie's shoulder for a second, squeezing it lightly. "Go to the tent," he said.

"Why?" Rosie asked, looking up at him.

"Because I told you to. Now, go," Daryl said. Both his voice and jaw were tense, which Rosie took as a sign that he was irritated.

She knew it would be better if she just did as she was told and went to the tent right away, but she couldn't help but voice her thoughts. "Rick gonna think you did it," she murmured, watching as Rick and Maggie looked at the body.

"I know," Daryl grumbled.

"But you didn't do it," Rosie said, making sure that he knew she believed that he didn't do it.

"I know," Daryl said again. He gently pushed Rosie in the direction of their tent as Rick began walking over to him. "Go to the tent," he said. This time, Rosie did.

•

The sun rose and fell like it always did, and Daryl didn't return to the tent at all that night. Rosie was just bored. She'd been reading and drawing to pass the time, and eventually, she was able to fall asleep, but it wasn't for long.

Now, though, Rosie was sitting outside of their tent, eating vegetables. It was torture. She wasn't sure what she had done to receive this punishment, but Daryl said it wasn't a punishment and that it was good for her. Either way, it felt like a punishment.

"I'd rather eat nothin'," Rosie said, staring down at her uneaten pieces of broccoli, which Maggie had brought with her from the Hilltop the day before.

"Too bad," Daryl said. He cut a slice of cheese with his knife, then ate the cheese right off the knife.

"How come you get cheese and I get broccoli and carrots?" Rosie complained, poking around at her vegetables.

"You don't like this kind a' cheese," Daryl pointed out. Rosie huffed, because that was true. If Daryl was making her eat that cheese, she'd still be complaining. Probably even more than she was complaining now, because that cheese didn't just taste bad, but it made her stomach hurt. Macaroni and cheese tasted fine, but it also made her stomach hurt. She got a lot of stomach aches, she had begun to notice. Maybe it wasn't the cheese at all- maybe it was just anxiety. She couldn't really tell.

"What about bread?" Rosie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Ya can't just eat bread, Rosie," Daryl said, cutting another piece of cheese for himself. Rosie huffed again and stabbed a carrot with her fork. "You're too picky of an eater. You'll eat mac and cheese all day, but you'll act like you're dyin' if I try to give ya cheese on its own."

"Well, I didn't used to have to eat things I don't like. If I didn't like it, I just didn't eat 'til he made somethin' I liked. 'Less I was real hungry," Rosie said, eyeing her carrot warily before taking a bite and swallowing it with a sour look on her face.

"That ain't a good thing, Ro," Daryl murmured, rolling his eyes at her dramatics.

That was when Jerry came riding up to Rick's tent on his horse. "Got something for ya, jefe," he said. Rosie wasn't sure what jefe meant, but she was more interested in eavesdropping than she was in eating her vegetables, so that's what she did. "Maggie's running down to Alexandria. Jesus thought you should know pronto," Jerry said to Rick. At first, Rosie didn't understand the importance of that.

"When did she leave?" Rick asked, his voice becoming more tense.

"Don't know. Call just came in from the Hilltop relay," Jerry said, shrugging his shoulders a little.

Rick seemed very alarmed by this, and it took Rosie a moment of thinking to understand why. Alexandria was where Negan was being kept. Maggie wanted Negan dead. Rick was afraid Maggie was going to kill Negan. "Did he say anything else?" Rick asked.

"Just that you'd know what that means," Jerry murmured, unsure of what he was even telling Rick. "Sorry, man, that's all I got."

"No. No. Thanks, Jerry," Rick said. He reached to his belt and pulled out his walkie. "Alexandria Relay One, this is Rick Grimes. Come in, please." Rosie wanted to go over to him, to ask about what was happening, to ask if Negan was ok, but when she stood up, Daryl grabbed her arm and made her sit back down. "AR One, I need you to get an urgent message to Alexandria- if Maggie Rhee shows up, delay her at the gate and alert Michonne right away. Do not- repeat- do not let her in without an escort. Over," Rick said into his walkie.

"Lemme talk to Rick. I just wanna-" Rosie began to argue with Daryl, trying to get up again.

Daryl stood up and made Rosie sit back down again. "No. Eat your food," he said sternly. Rosie wanted to yell at him and argue, but she didn't.

He was very strict and set in his ways when it came to Negan. Even if Rosie just tried to mention Negan at all, he'd say something like We ain't talkin' about this right now. But they would never talk about it. Rosie wasn't even allowed in Alexandria anymore- not unless someone Daryl trusted was with her at all times, just to make sure she wouldn't go and talk to Negan. Rosie hated it. He just didn't understand. Rosie could understand Daryl's perspective, but Daryl didn't seem to understand hers, and that frustrated her endlessly.

"Hey," Daryl said as began making his way over to Rick. Rosie sat in her spot and strained her ears to try and listen. She wouldn't eat her vegetables, though. Just to spite Daryl. "What's goin' on?" Daryl asked, leaning against a nearby tree.

"Maggie's headed to Alexandria. She's about to do something she might regret," Rick said, his voice quiet, but stressed.

"Hop on. I'll take you," Daryl suddenly offered, gesturing towards his bike. What the hell? That completely countered everything Daryl had wanted ever since Negan was locked up. He wanted Negan dead just as much as Maggie did. Why was he offering to help Rick? And why now? Why did he have to keep leaving? It made Rosie nervous to be here on her own right now, with everyone so tense and angry.

"You sure? Got enough fuel?" Rick asked.

"Yeah. We'll get there quicker," Daryl said, patting Rick's shoulder blade.

"Daryl!" Rosie shouted to him, getting up and leaving behind her vegetables. She began marching over to where Daryl was strapping his crossbow onto his motorcycle. "Where're you goin'? You keep- you keep leavin'!" Rosie complained.

"I'll be right back, Rose," Daryl said.

"You don't even-" Rosie was about to argue, but she was interrupted.

"C'mere," Daryl said, leaving Rick's side to go over to Rosie and grab her arm. He pulled her a little ways away from Rick. Daryl was acting weird and it was making Rosie feel anxious. "Look, I'm sorry you don't like me leavin' so much, but I gotta do this, a'right?" he said.

"Why're you bein' so... so weird? You don't even like Negan, and ya know Rick's goin' to stop Maggie from killin' him. You're confusin' me and you were gone all night long and I-"

"'Cause there's lots a' shit goin' on, Rosie. I gotta deal with it. So you gotta stay here and do as you're told," Daryl said, squeezing her arm.

"No. You're actin'-"

"Rosie, I just told y-'

"Stop interruptin' me!" Rosie shouted, shoving his hand away from her arm. He was acting weird all of a sudden and it was stressing her out.

"Don't fuckin' do that," Daryl said sternly.

"Don't swear at me," Rosie bit back. She glared up at him, feeling very frustrated and angry. She almost never felt this way because of Daryl anymore. They had learned how to help each other, rather than arguing with each other, and now they were back to arguing again. Daryl was just acting so strangely and it was making Rosie nervous. "You were beatin' on Justin, and you were gone all night, ya won't even tell me what you were doin', and now you're tryin' to help Rick save Negan. It makes no sense," Rosie ranted.

"I was beatin' on Justin 'cause he was a piece a' shit. You know that," Daryl said, still very clearly frustrated, but not being stern or mean anymore.

"You're still not answerin' all my questions," Rosie said, furrowing her eyebrows at him.

"I was out last night doin' all sorts a' shit for Rick and for Maggie, and for everyone else. I'm helpin' Rick because he's leadin', he's makin' the choices. Everythin's fine. I'm fine, you're fine. It's ok. Ya don't gotta be worryin'," Daryl said, hoping that his words sounded sincere.

"You didn't even tell me you were leavin'. You always tell me if you're leavin'," Rosie said, frowning slightly.

"It was urgent and you could see us," Daryl reasoned.

"I don't care," Rosie said.

"I'm tellin' you now, ain't I?" Daryl asked, raising his eyebrows.

"But you didn't before," Rosie said, trying to get her point across.

"Ok. I'm sorry, a'right? I'm sorry," Daryl said, pulling Rosie towards him.

Rosie wrapped her arms around his abdomen, hugging him tight. "You gotta tell me, so I know where to look if ya don't come back," she murmured, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I'm gonna come back, Ro," Daryl said, rubbing up and down on her back. Now she was just making him feel bad.

"I don't know that. 'Specially when you're bein' all weird," Rosie said.

"You do know that. I'm comin' back, Rosie," Daryl said. It made him feel guilty, but he had to hurry this up. He had to keep Rick away from Alexandria.

"Ok," Rosie said. But she still felt a pain in her stomach, telling her that something was wrong. It was the anxiety. It had to be the anxiety. She took a deep breath, in and out, and squeezed Daryl just a little bit tighter. "I love you, Daryl," she said, just in case that pain in her stomach wasn't just anxiety. Just in case something was really going to go wrong.

And, God, that made Daryl feel so damn guilty. Guilty to the point where he almost changed his mind on what he was about to do. He squeezed her a bit tighter. "I love you, too, Rose," he said. After another moment or two, he kissed the top of her head and pulled away. "Stay here, eat your food," he said, going to his motorcycle and getting on.

"What about an apple instead?" Rosie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Eat what I gave you," Daryl told her. Rosie wasn't going to do that.

"Bye, Rick," Rosie said, waving to him.

"Bye, Rosie," Rick said, giving her a tight-lipped smile despite the stress he was under. Rosie couldn't get rid of the feeling in her stomach that told her something was very wrong.

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This chapter killed me to write I tried so hard to make it interesting 😭

Anyway look at this amazing art by Peoloaz

They are so adorable it makes me want to rip my eyeballs out of my head!!! ❤️