CHAPTER NINETEEN

It's after dark as Andie walks back into C block, listening to the chatter of people who haven't gone to bed just yet. It's been six months since the fight with Woodbury, and she still isn't quite used to there being more than just those she ended up with after the fire on the farm.

They've taken in a lot of new people, given them refuge, and their once dwindling group has now grown immensely. There are a lot of new faces, and she's even managed to make a few friends, but she refuses to get too close to too many people. It all feels like it can get ripped away at any moment.

The brunette stops on the perch as Daryl comes out of his cell, still the one right next to hers. His footsteps halt when he sees her, and she offers him a small smile.

"You're up late." She says, and he nods.

"I wait until everyone's in bed to go out to the showers." He tells her, and she nods.

"Yeah, that's a sound plan." The brunette holds up her towel; she always does the same thing. "It was empty when I left."

"Good." He starts past her, and she sighs as she steps out of his way.

Despite her being there for him after Andrea died, things between them never really got resolved. Neither's good at expressing the way they feel, so the proper apologies didn't happen when they should've. Eventually, so much time passed that it was too much time.

"Goodnight, Daryl." Andie mumbles as she walks into her cell, closing the curtain behind her, and he stops halfway down the stairs.

There's a part of him that wants to go back up, ask to talk to her. He wants to explain all the things he should've said the day that she told him why she was so upset. But he can't bring himself to do it. So, things carry on as normal — their normal now.

Andie's up early the next morning, as per usual, and she jumps when she walks out of her cell to find someone coming up to her. He smiles awkwardly as he takes a step back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Carter says, and she shakes her head.

"You're good." She tells him.

There's this small part of her that's annoyed with herself because he was even able to startle her, but she made a choice a long time ago to try and push back her werewolf abilities as much as possible. She hadn't needed them to survive before that day with the Governor, and she doesn't want to rely on them now. So, she tries not to use her heightened sense of hearing if they're not on a run, and she had Theo teach her what Brett taught him in order to hide her scent from others like them that they may come across.

"I have a question I want to ask you." Carter says, and she takes a deep breath, assuming she knows what it is.

"Ask away."

"I was thinking we could do something tonight — just the two of us." He tells her. "Maybe... I don't know, sit outside and talk, under the stars. It could be kind of...romantic."

"We've already had this conversation, Carter." She shakes her head. "And now I have to go help with breakfast."

"You never really explained." He argues. "Not really."

"And I don't have time right now." The brunette tells him as she goes down the back set of stairs.

Andie turns to walk toward the common area, but her footsteps falter when she sees him drop from the perch in front of her. Carter looks down at her, hanging onto the landing as his body dangles by the steps.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm...being romantic."

"What?"

"Grand gesture."

The brunette's standing there looking up at him with a furrowed brow when Daryl walks in from the common area and sees what's going on with the younger two. He stops to watch them as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"How exactly is this supposed to be a grand gesture?" Andie asks, and her new friend Zoe chuckles from where she's leaning against the wall just outside her own cell.

"Aw, it's The Notebook."

"The what?"

"Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams." Zoe explains. "The Ferris Wheel scene."

"I... I don't think I ever watched a Ryan Gosling movie."

"You what?"

"I'm not dropping from the perch until you agree to go on a date with me." Carter says, and they both look up at him again.

"Is this supposed to be cute?" Andie questions.

"It worked for him."

"Scripted? In a chick-flick?" She shakes her head. "Get down, Carter."

"Not until you agree." He groans, adjusting his hands as best he can.

"I fail to see how this is cute or charming...or whatever you're going for." Andie tells him. "It's extortion...and mildly embarrassing." She looks around at all of the people coming out of their cells, then her dark eyes land on Daryl.

"She pulled his pants down in the movie." Zoe tells her.

"What?"

"They were on a Ferris Wheel." Beth explains. "Noah was hanging from high up, and he was threatening to let go unless she said yes."

"That's not romantic, that's stupid." Andie shakes her head. "And I'm not stuck on a carnival ride." She walks past him, leaving the cell block as she refuses to look at Daryl again.

Carter drops to his feet, and everyone starts to go about their business. Daryl heads back up to his cell like he was intending when he walked in a minute ago.

"On a scale of one to ten, how stupid was that?" The brunette boy asks as he looks at the two girls.

"Eleven." Zoe tells him.

"Twenty." Beth refutes. "Even if Andie understood what you were going for — and I don't know why you would think she's seen The Notebook — she keeps her business to herself. Nothing sounds less like Andie than a grand, public gesture."

—

There are quite a few people greeting Daryl as he makes his way to the cook line where Carol and Andie are making breakfast for everyone. They have help from one of the newcomers — a kid who's eager to learn...and has a bit of a crush on Andie.

"Smells good." He tells the girls, trying to ignore the people around them.

"Just so you know, she liked you first." Carol motions to Andie as the younger girl shouts to Zoe, telling her to come over.

"Stop." Daryl mutters, trying not to look at the brunette who's totally oblivions to both the comment and his presence. "You know, Rick and Andie brought in a lot of them too."

"And plenty like her." She glances over her shoulder as Carter makes his way toward the girls.

"I noticed."

"Give the stranger sanctuary, keeping people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love." Carol says as Andie walks away from her friends, heading past Patrick to give Noah some food.

"Right." He begrudgingly agrees.

"I need you to see something." She tells him. "Patrick, you wanna take over?"

"Yes, ma'am." The teenage boy agrees, eager to help. "Uh, Mr. Dixon, I just wanted to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday. It was a real treat, sir. And I'd be honored to shake your hand." He says, and Daryl licks the food off of his fingers before doing just that.

"Andie!" Carol calls, and the younger girl turns.

"Yeah, Mama?"

"Come with us, bring your friends."

Andie looks over at Zoe and Carter as she whistles. "Come on!" She says, and Daryl grinds his teeth when he sees Carter walking their way. "What's going on?"

"It's about today." Carol says as they start walking across the courtyard. "I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run."

"That place is good to go. We're gonna move on it." Daryl tells her.

"Yeah... The thing is, we had a pretty big build-up overnight."

"Holy shit." Carter mutters as he looks at the walkers lining the fence. They have people out there stabbing them in the head through the chain-link.

"Dozens more toward tower three. It's getting as bad as last month."

"Doesn't look like they spread out the way they used to." Andie says, and she shakes her head.

"With more of us in here, we're drawing more of them out." Daryl says. "You get enough of those damn fence-clingers, they start to herd up."

"Pushing against the fences again." Carol nods. "It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long."

"Well, Carter was just about to head out there and help his mom, weren't you?" Andie reaches up and pats his bicep.

"Oh, uh... Yeah, I can do that." He nods as he looks down at her. "I thought you wanted me to come on the run with you guys."

"Naw, that's alright. I'll drag Theo out of Angela's cell." She tells him. "Better hurry. Don't wanna keep Mama Hart waitin' too long."

"Right."

Zoe chuckles as he walks away from them. "Can you say love-sick idiot?"

"Can you say get a clue?" Andie shakes her head. "Come on, let's get ready to head out. And I have to actually drag Theo out of that poor girl's cell."

"Can you explain the whole Carter-thing to me again?" She asks as they start to walk away from the other two. "I know you like him. Or, there is something with you two."

"Sorry, Pookie." Carol says as she looks up at Daryl, and his gaze drops to the ground.

"Kid's her age." He shrugs. "She should spend her time around more people like that."

"Or, you know, you could stop avoiding her." She tells him, and he glances at her before turning around and walking away.