➳ TARA ROSE and I spent time with Aunt Tara while Mollie wandered off with Henry. Accidentally or not, it seemed to me that she wanted to spend more time with Henry than with her Aunt Tara.

Nevertheless, I didn't complain when she did, and Tara volunteered to look after Little T while I made my rounds around Hilltop and reunited with some old flames and friends.

First, I saw Alden standing and talking with Enid right in front of my face. I held back until he glanced up, noticing me standing there, and opened his mouth to speak to me. I shook my head and ran straight away from him. I did not want to speak to him, especially right now.

"Hey," I heard him call out for me, but I didn't stop or turn back. "Hey, Tess. C'mon, wait up." Then, he was suddenly there in front of me and holding me back from running away again, even though I did try to run out of his grasp. "Let's talk. Can we talk?"

I stepped away and barked back, "I have nothing to say to you."

"Okay," he sighed out, shaking his head. "Then, can I talk?" I didn't want to hear his excuses or anything else anymore. He has tried every time that I have ever come up here to visit. "Look... Okay. Enid and I are together now."

"I don't care," I hissed back, looking straight into his darkish eyes now. "If this is your way of trying to explain, then I don't wanna—"

"This is me trying to explain myself," he tried convincing me, but I just looked away. "I just want—"

"Dammit, Alden," I cursed, now cutting him off. "What do you want from me?!"

It was an intense moment when, almost like the next few seconds played out in slow motion, when he glared down into my eyes — my soul — and he yelled back, "I just want my friend back!"

I swallowed my next breath and stood back, trying to study his face as if it matched his heart. I couldn't tell if he was being real or not at first; but, then, it started to come together when he was being honest-to-God sincere.

"Y'know," he breathed out after realizing that I wasn't going to speak. "Before we were together, we were friends. Real friends. We simply... just fell out of love."

Although he was right about that, we did fall out of love. Truly, I believe he did. I was still it for the long-haul. He broke Tara Rose's little heart when we broke up, and he stayed here in Hilltop. Most days, it was too hard to even remain here and see him every day, so i packed up the kids and went back to Alexandria.

He is like a distant uncle now, but before, he was just like her father. He was there when she took her first steps and said her first words. He was there for all of the first moments in her life. Now, he barely has seen her in years. It's sad, really.

I didn't want to accept the apology he was working up to or hear any of his explanations, either, so I just sniffled and tried to suck the tears back inside. I will not cry over him anymore. I refuse to.

"You know what, Al? You should've thought about that before you broke my heart."

Then, with that said, I shook my head and walked right past him, and he let me.

After breaking away from Alden, I noticed Luke nearby; as if he wanted to talk. I was going to get to him after I talked to Tammy Rose, though.

"Hey," I spoke up to her with her back turned to me. She heard me and spun around, almost not recognizing me. "How are you?"

"Oh, honey," she whispered out, sticking her arms for me. She wrapped them around my neck, and I sunk into her shoulder, closing my eyes and enjoying her embrace around me. "I am so glad to see you."

Over the course of the last few years, Tammy Rose had sort of became a mother-figure to me. After Rick, the kids and I spent a long time here than in Alexandria. She was there for me every single day, trying to cheer me up and get me out of the mansion for a little while. Nearly every single day, she held me together and took me out on walks, just for us to do something and chat with one another.

We separated, but she held onto me and squeezed my arms. "How are you doing, baby?"

I slowly nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm alright. The girls and I are all doing pretty well. We came to see Tara, Paul, and just about everyone else, too."

She nodded and asked, "Where are those sweet girls at? I have sure missed them, too."

I smirked and claimed, "Oh, y'know, they're all around here and there. Little T is with Tara inside, and I believe Mollie is running around with Henry somewhere. I'll get them to come see you soon."

She smiled and patted my arm before taking hers back. "Good, and I'm glad y'all came back to see us here."

She started to turn back around when I suddenly blurted out, "Yeah, I told Tara when we arrived that I was thinking of staying for a while."

She nearly broke her neck to turn and look at me again, surprise written all over her face. "Really now?" I nodded with a smile, and she seemed very happy about that. "Oh, honey, I am so glad to hear that. I hope y'all do end up staying for a while. I swear, all I hear your brother say is how much he misses you and those girls. He's gonna be really happy to see y'all when he gets back."

I nodded and placed my hands on my hips now. "Yeah, we can not wait till we see him, too. All I ever hear my girls say is how much they miss him, too."

With that said, Tammy Rose smirked before she stepped back towards me and moved some of the stray hairs out of my face, leaned in, and pecked my cheek. "Stay. I could sure use your company again, Tess. I miss having my daughter-figure around. So does Earl, too."

I smiled and tried really hard not to get all red in the face since I really did miss her and Earl very much. Truthfully, they were just like parents to me — which is something I have not had in such a very long time, since mine and Paul's folks were alive. Earl and Tammy Rose were also like grandparents to my girls, too, and they treated them like their grandchildren in return.

At the end of the day, we all used to be just like family. We were blood, something that nobody could break. But, then, Rick went up in flames, and nothing was truly ever the same again. Everything fell apart.

Knots untie and locks get picked.

"I'll go see him soon," I promised her about Earl. I smirked and sighed, then shook my head. "I better go see what I can do before dinner is swerved."

She smiled and reassured, "I'll save you a seat."

I quickly thanked her before walking away, heading straight towards Luke, who was with the rest of his crew. However, when he saw that I was coming his way, he stepped away from them, so it would only be us two.

"Hey," he breathed out as I came up to him. He glanced back to make sure his friends weren't staring us down, placing his hands together. "Missed you."

"Seriously?" I practically laughed out, shaking my head. "I wasn't even gone that long. I'm just trying to reunite with everyone again."

He smiled, too, and I felt his hand reach out for mine and take it with his own. "Well, you're still very beautiful, too." We both grinned at one another while I tried to hide my rosy-red cheeks away from him. "I sort of heard what you told your friend, Tara, earlier. You and the girls are thinking of staying here a while?" I slowly nodded just as he quickly added, "And, it's your twin brother that runs things here now?"

Again, I nodded and replied, "Yeah, he's out right now. I hope that he'll be back home soon." I watched Luke's facial expression; as if he wanted to say something else to me. I tightened my hand with his, and he looked up into my eyes. "I'll put in a good word for you and your friends so y'all can stay with us."

He smiled and nodded. "Thank you. Seriously. We all appreciate it and you, Tess. Especially you."

I didn't know what I was going to say, so I found it to be a good thing when I heard someone loudly announce, "Dinner's ready!"

—

– MOLLIE ROVIA –

➳ I grabbed my plate of food and turned around, trying to find a spot to sit down. I could see Aunt Tara, Mom, and Little T sitting with Tammy Rose and Earl.

However, my eyes started to wander away from them until I saw Henry sitting off by himself at one of the picnic tables. I held pain in my heart for seeing him all alone, so I came around and smiled down at him.

"Need a friend?"

His face lit up as he breathed out, "Mollie, hey. Yes, come sit with me. Please."

I slid right in front of him. I cleared my throat while trying to flatten out my napkin, laying it down on my lap. Then, I looked up at him and saw how he was already smiling.

"I really and truly did miss you," he confessed, placing his hand on the table and snaking it across to meet mine. Our hands intertwined in the middle as we both grinned from ear to ear. "Now that you're back, how long are y'all gonna stay?"

I shrugged and sighed. "Hopefully, forever."

"Me, too," he agreed; but, then, glanced down at his plate. "Anyways, I'm done, so I'm gonna put my plate away. Talk later?"

I smiled and enthusiastically nodded. "Sure! I'll just go sit with my mom, anyway."

With that said, he stood up and walked around the picnic table; and, before walking away, he dipped down and kissed me once last time before leaving. I smiled before looking away to see if anyone else was staring us down. Nobody was, thankfully.

I decided to get up and head over to my mom's table so I wouldn't be all alone. On my way to the table, I looked back and saw Henry talking to the kids that lived here. Their names were Gage, Addy, and Rodney. They didn't like me very much, and I didn't care for them, either.

I wondered what they were saying to Henry, but I knew that — if anything — he would tell me what they said later.

"Mollie!" I heard someone call my name and looked up to see Tammy Rose with her arms up. "Come join us, honey!"

I did by sitting down next to them. I sat beside Little T at the end of the picnic table. Next to her was Mom and Aunt Tara. Across from us sat Tammy Rose and Earl. It was like having a small family reunion right here at the table.

"It's so good to see you finally, Mollie," Tammy Rose laughed, smiling from ear to ear. "Your mother was telling us how you've been glued to Henry's side since you got here earlier."

My eyes widened, hoping none of them saw Henry and I together just now. They noticed my sudden weirdness and shook it off until I heard Tara Rose suddenly say, "Mollie has a boyfriend!"

"No, I don't! Shut up!"

"You do, too! Henry is your boyfriend!"

"Shut your trap, Little T!"

"Shut it, you two," Mom demanded, stomping her foot down. Her hard glare she sent to us both was not to be taken lightly. "Anyways... Mollie, Earl was telling us how Henry is going to train to be a blacksmith here at Hilltop. He said if we end up staying for a while, you could even learn, too."

"Me?"

It never really occurred to me before of what I would do once I grew up. I mean, before the world went straight to shit, I was just a little girl and hadn't had the pleasure of exploring possible career options. Even after all this time, I never thought of what I could do to even help out around the communities. I was just going to take guard and watch over things, but if Earl was willing to teach me alongside Henry, then I would jump at the opportunity.

"I truly think you would be really good at it," Earl was saying, just as I was drawing myself out of my deep thoughts. "The next generation has to be smarter and stronger than the last if you're gonna help lead it."

He was completely right, and since he was, I decided to nod frantically and smile. "I agree, and I think it's a really good idea."

"Really?" Mom's face fell with her eyebrows together in question. "I'm a little surprised, that's all. If you end up doing it and getting trained by Earl, then we can stay for a while longer. Maybe... forever."

I smirked and nodded, agreeing with her. "Y'know," I said, picking up my fork and ready to eat. "Forever sounds like a pretty good idea."

—

– TESS ROVIA –

➳ "TESS!"

Michonne and others started running towards me, as I was cleaning up after dinner. "What's wrong?"

She had to take a moment to catch her breath as they yielded to a sudden stop in front of me. "Rosita just woke up." And? "We gotta go. Now."

She grabbed ahold of my arm and started to drag me with her, but I didn't move whatsoever. "I don't understand! What's going on?"

She stopped, gulped, and looked down into my soul — not just my eyes. "Someone was after Rosita and Eugene in the woods," she wanted, trying to explain piece by piece. "They could be after Daryl, Aaron... and your brother, too. We have to go. Now!"

My heart stopped, as I tried to find my breath again, but hearing Daryl, Aaron, and Paul — along with Eugene — were in possible danger, it frightened me in ways I haven't felt in a very long time. I had to get to them and save them before it's too late.

"Mom!" I heard Mollie call out, now running up to me. "What's wrong?"

I didn't know what to say as I started to run after Michonne, Magna, and Yumiko. I wasn't going to hold Mollie back if she decided to come with us. And, when she ran after me, I knew that I was going to regret it.

—

➳ I don't know how, but we found them in the middle of the chaos. It was foggy, and they were practically locked inside of a cemetery.

"Eugene," Michonne called out to him on the other side of the gate, trying to get it opened. "Eugene!"

"Michonne, honest to God, am I happy to see you," Eugene said back to her, as we all came up and tried to get this damn thing opened, somehow. "The gate's obstructed by topsoil erosion. We can't get out."

"I need you to push," Michonne called back, but seeing my brother straight ahead in the middle of all this, I couldn't bear to see him all by himself.

"Fuck this," I cursed, now climbing up the walls and gate. I was like a spider climbing all over it.

"What?" Michonne breathed back, shaking her head and looking up at me. "What are you doing?"

I glared down at her and stated, "After all I've done, I can't be the hero in all this. So, I'm going to do everything that I possibly can to save my brother here tonight."

With that said, I jumped across onto the other side. "Mom," Mollie called out and tried to reach out for me. As long as she was with Michonne, she was going to be alright.

Almost like everything was in slow motion for the next couple of seconds, I spun around and immediately was faced by a Walker, who I took down with just a kick to the chest before spinning my machete out and driving it down into its head. Then, I took down yet another one.

Through the fog, I saw my brother and started sprinting towards him. "Paul!"

He spun around with his sword in hand and stopped himself before he could take my head right off with it. "Tess?" I ran up to him, and he embraced me, as I felt his warmth run through my body and his exhausted breath on my shoulder, tickling my ear. "My God. You're here."

He seemed so surprised that I was truly here, like I was one of the ghosts from these graves surrounding us. I was real and here, ready to fight alongside him.

Grunts and groans from the dead started to get closer, so we quickly separated, and I nodded towards him.

"Just like old times, remember?"

He nodded with a huge grin, which I returned. This is when we pounced into action, turning our backs on one another but sticking them to each other with our weapons up. The Walkers made their way up to us as we took down each and every one of them with our boots and weapons. We kept our formation, having the same thoughts running through our identical minds.

"Jesus! Tess!" I suddenly heard someone call out to us. It was Aaron on the other side of the gate with everyone else. Mollie's eyes pleaded with me to come over. "Come on!"

I turned to glance back at my brother, and he nodded, so we started to walk towards the gate to go back home. We only had a few more to take out, so he stuck to the left side while I took care of the right. I smacked it down with my machete, slicing its head right off.

Then, I spun around to take care of the one who was creeping towards Paul. I went to slice its head off when it suddenly duck, avoiding my machete, and snuck up behind me. I felt pain in my lower half, like a needle sliding in, until I heard Paul yell out, "Tess! No!"

Was I being bitten or stabbed? I had no idea, but there was pain. Mollie was screaming and crying for me as I held my breath, and the Walker was taken down off of my back all of the sudden.

However, just as I spun around, the same Walker who had me was now behind Paul. His face said it all, shocked and hurt. Pain. I heard the stab go completely through him with his eyes wide open.

I heard the Walker whisper to him, "You are where you do not belong."

Paul's body suddenly fell forward, but the Walker remained there with the thin sword in hand. He was eeriely standing there.

I couldn't breathe, but I felt my body shaking with sadness and anger. Before I knew it, I was screaming so loud that my body started vibrating. The tears were immediate.

"NO!!!"

Without thinking, I charged forward and swung my machete back out, ignoring the pain in my heart and lower back for the moment. The Walker tried to get away, but I quickly grabbed it by the back of the hair and swung it back to me. It fell to the ground, and I was quickly on top of it, deciding to use my fists rather than my machete to end his life.

I started to hit him over and over again on repeat, groaning and crying aloud. Commotion was going on behind me, but I didn't care. This... thing hurt my brother. My twin brother.

"Mom?!" I heard Mollie call out before she placed her hands on my shoulders, trying to drag me off of the Walker. Someone surely did, but I didn't know who it was. It couldn't have been her, though. "Mommy... Uncle Paul is..."

I smacked everyone off of me as I crawled over to Paul, his eyes somewhat open and his mouth ajar. "Paul?" I cried out, grabbing ahold of his hand. "Paul, I'm here. Don't leave me. Please don't."

"Tess," he whispered out, but barely. "I..."

"Why did you have to save me?" I cried out, wanting to blame him. "You should've just..."

"I love you... so much," he breathed out, but I was bawling at this point. He is not leaving me. I will not accept it.

"Don't say it like it's the last thing you're gonna say to me," I cried out, squeezing his hand a little more. He kept looking at me as if he was looking up at the sky or a passing bird. "Paul? Paul, I love you more. Paul?"

Then, as if he was waiting on me to say it, he took his very last breath, and his head fell over to the side. "Paul?" I whisperer at first. Then, upon realizing he wasn't responding, I started to become frantic. I began shaking him just as he stopped squeezing my hand back. "Paul? Paul, no... Paul! PAUL!"

Mollie dropped down to her knees beside me and cried out, just as I heard everyone start to whimper. "Uncle Paul, no..." Her head fell down to his knees, her back shaking with each sob.

N-No... This isn't possible. He didn't just die. He didn't... He didn't just take his very last breath. No. No. No. Paul...

"Paul!" I screamed out, trying to pick his body up to get moving again. "Paul! No! No! No!"

"He's... He's gone, Tess," I heard Aaron say above me, crying as well. "I am so sorry."

I screamed out again, feeling the hot tears run down my face. I hadn't cried in so long that it didn't feel possible for me to cry now, but I was. I was mourning the loss of my twin brother.

"No! No... Paul. Paul, wake up!" I cried out, shaking his body again. "Paul?! Paul, please wake up!"

"Tess," I heard a new voice call out to me, nearly whispered my name out. It was Daryl. No matter how long we've been apart, I have never forgotten the sound of his voice. "Tess, come on. Walk away."

I felt pain in my heart, something that I hadn't felt in a long time. However, this pain was much different than any that I have felt before. This pain cut deeper, as if the sword had gone straight through me, too. I felt what he had just went through because we were twins. We would always be twins, no matter what.

"I should've been there more. I should've stayed with you more. I shouldn't have ever left you," I sobbed out, laying across of his body. My back was heaving as I held onto him. "I should've stayed with you. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

Everyone tried to pull me back to reality, trying to get me to walk away before he will turn. Honestly, for the first time in my life, I was starting not to care. I wanted to die with him right here tonight.

I snapped back and tried shaking him again. "You can't leave me, Paul. Please... Please don't leave me!"

"Tess, c'mon," I heard Aaron say again, taking ahold of my shoulder and trying to drag me off of my brother. "I... I have to take care of him before he..."

"No!" I yelled back, pushing him off of me. I turned and looked up at him with tears clouding my vision, along with the fog already here. "He's my brother!"

"You don't have to," Aaron argued, stepping up. "Let me."

I didn't have time to argue when I turned my head back around, fiddling with my side until I found my small knife and took it out. I held it in my left hand rather than my right, studying my brother's precious face. Once I do this, he can't ever come back.

"Tess? Tess, I'm leaving now. Aren't you gonna say goodbye?"

"Where are you going, Paul?"

"Home."

"To Hilltop?"

"Nah. I'm going back home to Mom and Dad. Back to everyone we have lost."

"Won't you miss me and the girls, and everyone else?"

"Of course, but I'm not actually going anywhere, y'know. I'll always be close and watching after you all."

"I love you, Paul."

"I love you more, Tess. More than you will ever know."

Holding his hand with my right, I used my left to quickly stab him through the back of his head so he wouldn't have to come back as a Walker. I had my eyes closed when I did it while the tears continued to leave trails down my face and neck.

Then, once it was over, I threw my body over his – as if I was still protecting it – and silently cried. I could not honestly believe this was it for him. He didn't get to do all the things we ever talked about doing.

Paul never got to grow old and teach many different things to my girls. He wouldn't be there anymore when I need him.

"It's my time to go, Tess. I hope you understand."

"I never will, Paul. I don't want to live in a world where you're not in it. Let me come with you."

"You have to stay, Tess. Okay? Just stay there with your girls and the others. They'll only make you stronger."

"I... I can't do this again. I can't lose anyone else. I just wanna be with you, Paul, forever and always."

"I'm never too far away."

I started to hit his body and cried out more and more. He can't leave me. "Why did you save me?! Why, why, why..."

Someone came up behind me and threw their arm around me, yanking me away from my brother. I tried to fight their grip, but to no avail. I just accepted it and allowed them to hold me back, screaming and crying out for my brother to come back to me.

I practically melted in their grip and drowned in my tears. All I kept saying was, "I want my brother back!"

I wanted him back, even if I die in return. I just want him back. I was supposed to die, not him. That knife was for me, not him. He should still be here, not me.

Why did he have to save me for? I just want my brother back! Why, why, why...