PRESENT DAY

winter - six and a half years later

It certainly wasn't sunny outside, however the reflection of light on the snow, made everything brighter. The sky remained cloudy but fairly calm, it seemed that they might have a normal patrol day ahead of them.

Light from the outside poured in through the window as Lacy sat up in the bed that was not her own. She stretched her arms over her head, stifling a yawn. Jesse was still sound asleep next to her, so she nudged his shoulder. He turned away from her, eyes remaining closed.

When Lacy first showed up to Jackson six and a half years ago, Jesse was the first friend that she made.

At the time she was a fifteen-year-old who was just happy to have found her father again...but was still mourning the loss of her mother. Jesse was the first person to seemingly offer her an olive branch.

A couple of years later, Joel and Ellie showed up, and soon after that, their iconic duo became a trio. Jesse, Ellie, and Lacy could be quite the troublemakers at that time.

"You have to get up, we've got things to do," she noted, tying her hair back.

"I know," he sighed, "but can't we just stay in bed for like five more minutes?"

Lacy shook her head with a quiet laugh, moving to her feet. She picked up her jeans from the floor, tugging them back on.

"You can stay in bed for five more minutes, but I have to sneak back into the house and get ready," she noted, pulling her jacket on and zipping it up.

Jesse sighed, "Good luck."

"Just so we're completely clear," Lacy tugged her boots on, now standing closer to the doorway, "This was a one-time thing."

If Lacy was being totally honest, she hadn't even meant for it to happen and really hoped that it wouldn't piss Dina off. It wasn't like they were together, but they had been on-again, off-again for years at this point.

Jesse stuck his thumb up half-hazardly, "Crystal clear."

"Good," Lacy noted, "I'll see you later."

Snow crunched under Lacy's feet as she approached her house for the first time since the previous day. She did her best to remain quiet as she entered through the front door. Lacy was sure that Tommy was already patrolling, but she didn't know if Maria was still asleep or not. She tugged off her boots, in an effort to not track snow through the house.

"Where have you been?" Maria arched an eyebrow at the blonde.

Lacy's eyes widened slightly like she was a teenager who got caught sneaking back in through a window.

Seconds later Maria let out a quiet chuckle, "I don't care, you're a grown-ass woman. It's your father who would throw a fit."

A small smile pulled at Lacy's lips, "Funny."

"Out of curiosity though," Maria leaned against the wall a glass of water in hand, "Where were you?"

"Well..." Lacy began, thinking about how she should reply, "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Maria smiled softly, as Lacy held up her pinky finger. The older woman stepped forward hooking her own pinky around Lacy's, "Promise."

"I was with Jesse."

"Okay?" Maria replied, her eyebrows pulled together.

"No, like with with Jesse."

"Oh," Maria teased, "I see, good for you."

Lacy pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes falling to the floor, "Am I a horrible person?"

"Lac, he and Dina are broken up. Plus, they never last." Maria noted, "You're a good person, I promise."

"Okay," she sighed.

Lacy could never be entirely convinced of that sentence, she had done so many awful things, so how could she be a good person?

"Hey, when you see Ellie, can you send her to come find me?"

She forced a small smile, "Sure thing."

"Morning, guys," Lacy greeted, jogging up behind Jesse and Ellie.

"Hey," Ellie turned to face her, "You disappeared last night, everything all good?"

"Yeah, all good," she shrugged, trying to ignore the feeling of Jesse's eyes on her. Lacy just knew he had that damn knowing smile plastered on his face.

"Oh, I was supposed to tell you to go find Maria, she wants to talk to you." she added on as an afterthought.

"Where is she?"

"Diner." both Lacy and Jesse answered.

"Ugh, is this about Seth?"

Jesse shrugged, "No clue."

"I heard about that," Lacy noted, "Why'd you get so pissed at Joel, I would've punched that fucker too."

Ellie shook her head, "All Joel did was push him. Just tell Maria, you never saw me."

"And now I really don't understand why you're pissed at him." Lacy noted, "And that's not happening by the way, neither of us want to be on Ria's bad side."

"Where's your fucking loyalty?"

Jesse scoffed, pushing the gate open, "Excuse me?"

Ellie just shook her head, following behind him otherwise quietly. Lacy gently grabbed the girl's shoulder, pulling her back slightly, "Hey, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

Lacy shrugged, "I don't know you just seem...off?"

"I'm okay," Ellie stated, trying to reassure her friend.

Things got quiet again until Ellie spoke up, this time to Jesse, "Hey so, we're ok, right?"

Jesse paused motioning between them, "You and me? Yeah of course. Dina and I are done."

"Wait," Lacy pulled a face, "Did something happen between you and Dina?"

A long drawn-out sigh came from the girl walking beside her, "She kissed me."

"She kissed you?" she repeated back, trying to catch Ellie's eyes.

Jesse turned around to face them, walking backward down the snowy road, "See it was a very eventful night after we left."

Ellie glanced between the two of them, "We? Did something happen between-"

Before the girl could even finish Lacy let out a loud scoff, "Get your head out of the gutter Williams. Jes just walked me back to my place. Right?"

The glare that Jesse received had him nodding along within seconds, "Yeah."

"Oh, would you look at that we're here!" Lacy noted, motioning towards the door, "After you."

The brunette girl sent her a glare but still begrudgingly entered the diner. Jesse followed behind them, "Wanna grab some breakfast?"

"No--where's Maria?"

"In the back." Jesse replied, and then looked at Lacy with a small smile, "What about you?"

She shook her head, "Nah, I'm not really hungry."

Jesse shrugged, "Ok, suit yourself."

Lacy murmured a few quiet hellos as she weaved through the crowd of people from the town. Despite only having been there for six and a half years, she felt like she had been there her whole life. She knew everyone from around the town, especially because Tommy was her father, which made Maria her sort of stepmother.

Before she got to Jackson, it was just her and her mom for a few years. Lacy understood now that her mother did not have the best views of the world and certainly wasn't the best type of person. That was difficult for her to come to terms with, but having Tommy and Maria made it easier.

They were her family, the ones who would always be there for her, no matter what.

"I appreciate that," Maria noted, as Lacy finally rounded the corner reaching them.

"What you got there?" Jesse asked, and Ellie pushed the wrapped sandwiches against his chest, "Biggot Sandwhiches."

Jesse held them up to his nose, "Mm, smells good."

Ellie shook her head, "They're yours."

"You sure?" Jesse arched an eyebrow at her.

"It's fine."

Maria walked around them, "Let me walk you out."

Snow crunched under their boots as they finally made it back outside. A slight shiver went up Lacy's spine and she crossed her arms in an attempt to be slightly warmer.

"Hey, when you go out I want you to trade off with Tommy and Joel. Those boys have been out for far too long." Maria noted.

"Sure," Lacy nodded.

"Where do we meet them?" Jesse asked, and Maria replied, "You go up to the North-West lookout, they're scheduled to arrive later today. Make sure to watch each other's backs, there's been too many sightings of infected recently."

"Of course," Jesse noted, sending a subtle wink in Lacy's direction. Which of course earned him an eye-roll.

"I was going to check out the creek trails. I'll need someone else to cover it." Jesse continued.

Maria turned to face the rest of the group, "Ellie, do you know the creek trails?"

"Not really," she shook her head.

"Dina's done it a bunch." Jesse noted, "I'll have the two of them take it."

Maria paused in front of the gate, "Ellie? Can I talk to you for a sec?"

The girl nodded, "Sure."

Lacy turned to Jesse not wanting to butt into their conversation, "You know, winking at me is very suspicious to outside parties." she noted in a hushed voice.

"Copy that." Jesse noted, "No more winking."

Jesse opened the gate and motioned for Lacy to step through, "Ladies first."

The Miller girl rolled her eyes but stepped through the gate, Jesse and Ellie following not too far behind. Maria leaned over the gate catching Lacy's attention.

"Hey, be safe out there, ok?"

Lacy smiled gently, "Yeah, I've got it...love you or whatever."

The older woman chuckled, "Love you too, kid."

"Yo, Dina!" Jesse called out, "Assignments!"

Dina tossed a snowball at one of the kids, clearly in the middle of a snowball fight, "Just give me a minute!"

Jesse turned to Ellie, "Will you get your girlfriend to the stables please?"

The girl scoffed, "Oh my god."

"Good luck," Lacy teased, squeezing her friend's shoulder, "See you there."