𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒
︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶

Claire huffed as she sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as a yawn escaped her lips. She was careful not to wake the sleeping boy in the bunk above her as she slipped on a pair of jeans and pulled a clean tank top over her head.

Slipping her feet into her boots, she slid her knife into its holster at her hip before carefully peeling the thick privacy blanket back and sneaking out of their room.

Despite it being pretty early in the morning, Claire guessed maybe 6 or 7 a.m., the prison was bustling with early morning life. Carol was serving breakfast, the tables under the makeshift coverings crowded with people eating and getting ready for the day. "Morning." Claire smiled at Carol as she approached the table, accepting the plate of food Carol handed her. Deer, yum.

Before the outbreak, the idea of eating deer would've made Claire sick to her stomach, but now? God, that charred slab of meat on the counter made her mouth water.

"You slept in today." Carol joked, winking at the girl. Claire rolled her eyes at the teasing, shoveling the deer into her mouth in one swipe. "Morning, Carol."

Claire paused her chewing at the voice, turning to Roman with a smile, swallowing the deer as quickly as she could. "Ready for fence duty?" Roman quirked a teasing eyebrow at her, watching as she cleared her throat before speaking, "Mhm, so ready." Roman nodded with a smile, "See ya' down there."

Claire waved, eyes widening as he turned his back. A cough traveled up her throat, and Claire quickly reached for Carol's flask of water. The older woman chuckled as Claire took a sip, "You should probably take smaller bites—" Claire shook her head as she wiped her mouth and passed Carol the water, "I'll throw myself off the watch tower." Claire began walking down to the fence, ignoring Carol's boisterous laughter.

The fences had built up overnight, the girl groaning in frustration as the moans of dozens of walkers came into earshot. Last night they had spent over an hour killing the walkers that had built up over the evening, and now the morning herd was twice the size it was last night.

Walking over the the watch tower, she grabbed an apron from the nail in the wall and grabbed a spear—basically a sharp knife duck taped to a broken shovel handle.

"Morning, Claire." Claire smiled at Karen as she pulled the apron over her head and tied it behind her, "Morning, Karen."

Karen was an older woman, quite beautiful with long dark curls and defined features, who had come to the prison with the initial group of Woodbury survivors. She and Tyreese, the man who had come in through the back of the prison all those months ago with his sister, had been going out for a while.  She liked Tyreese, but she loved Karen. The woman was warm and kind yet so incredibly badass. Karen smiled as she pulled her spear from a walker's head, its body slumping to the floor into the pile of other dead walkers, "Late morning?" Claire rolled her eyes as she took her position a few feet down from the woman, "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because you're usually the first one out here."

Claire turned to make eye contact with James, a smile forming on her lips.

6 months ago, when Rick brought that school bus of survivors, Claire didn't think much of the boy with the crutches. But after a while of avoiding anyone from Woodbury, she came across him, standing in the empty common area and leaning against the stairs as he attempted to climb them with an injured leg. She had rushed to help him, assisting him up the steps and outside into the summer heat.

Claire pressed her lips together and tilted her head, nodding at him, "Had a late night, I guess." James smiled down at her, leaning towards her teasingly, "And who's fault is that?"

Claire's jaw went slack in surprise, scoffing as he laughed and went back to stabbing walkers in the head with his spear. She tried to contain the blush rising to her cheeks with a roll of her eyes, turning towards the fence and facing an ugly, decaying walker. "God, they get uglier and uglier every damn time." She muttered, reaching up and pushing the spear into the walker's head.

She took a glance to her right, watching as James pulled his spear back through the fence, sending a walker down to the floor on the other side of the fence. Before she could look away, James looked over at her, sending her a smile before going back to killing the walkers.

Claire cleared her throat, turning back to the piling walkers in front of her and pushing her spear through them.

"Yo, Roman!"

Claire looked back as Tyreese approached the man a little further down the fence, watching as Roman looked over at Tyreese and swiped the sweat from his forehead, "We got an extra spot on the run today. You down?"

Roman nodded eagerly, "Hell, yeah."

Claire watched him as he removed his apron, sending him a look as he passed. Roman noticed this, stopping behind the blonde as Tyreese walked ahead, "Be safe, please."

Roman nodded, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder, "Always am, Smith." Claire chuckled, "That's a damn lie, and you know it." Claire shrugged his hand off her shoulder begrudgingly, all too knowing of the glare James was sending Roman from just a few feet away.

Roman shrugged, "I'll be fine. Have fun cleaning walker guts out from under your nails." He began walking away, Claire rolling her eyes at his back, "Just be safe, asshole."

He waved his hand to her, keeping forward as he walked, "Yeah, yeah."

She huffed, turning back towards the fence and continuing her morning task with nothing but being relieved of her shift and eating lunch on her mind.

"Claire! Michonne's back!"

Claire smiled at the sound of her brother, abandoning her spot and rushing out of the guard fence towards the main gate. As she approached, she watched as Michonne smiled and handed Eli and Carl a stack of new comics, both boys smiling as they showed each other their piles.

"Michonne!" Claire panted as she came to a stop in front of the woman, smiling widely at her. "Did you find it?" Michonne frowned for a moment, Claire's shoulders slumping in defeat at the realization.

"I found it." Claire beamed at her as Michonne grinned, reaching into the saddle bag on the side of her horse and pulling out the book. Claire gasped as she grabbed it from her, admiring the dirty blue hardcover with gold embellishments, Pride and Prejudice engraved neatly on the front. "Thank you!" Claire held back her excitement. Michonne had been on the hunt for the book for Claire for months, it felt like Christmas in August. "I'd hug you if I weren't covered in walker blood." Michonne nodded and smiled at the girl's enthusiasm, Rick chuckling as he gestured to Claire. "Go put it away so you don't get it dirty." He reached out and placed a hand on the back of Claire's head, the girl smiling up at the man before looking back at Michonne.

"Are you staying?"

She nodded, "For a little while." Claire sucked in an animated breath, "I'll take it. Thank you again. Save me a spot at dinner, I want to hear about what you saw!" She exclaimed to Michonne, turning around as Daryl and the truck approached. The blonde waved at Roman in the passenger seat as she rushed back up towards the prison, eager to put the book away to read during lunch.

★

The sun was high above them, some clouds in the sky with a nice warmth. Perfect day to set out a blanket in the grass, munch on a sandwich, and read her new book. She had read the Jane Austen novel a few times—in fact, she'd read many of her novels before the outbreak—but Pride and Prejudice was by far her favorite. The perfect period piece with a clash of angst, pining, and romance.

30 minutes, a finished sandwich, and 4 chapters later, Claire was beginning to feel the effects of the late summer sun.

"So, she found the book?"

Claire looked up at James, smiling as his silhouette blocked the sun, blanketing her in a nice, cool shade. "She indeed found the book. I was beginning to lose hope, too." James chuckled, sitting down on the blanket in front of her and leaning back, placing his head in her lap. Claire watched with an unamused smile as he clasped his hands together on his stomach and closed his eyes as he got comfortable, "Read to me?"

She smiled, staring down at his features for a moment.

Their...relationship, was a relatively new development. It began maybe...2 months ago, she guessed. It wasn't on purpose and it was definitely not expected.

It was a late night, and James had almost completely healed from his knee injury, minus the small permanent limp he would have, and he was on watch in tower 3. Claire couldn't sleep, not with Eli's snoring and her restless legs. She figured a nice walk through the field in the chilly night air would soothe her enough to reach some level of tiredness. She saw him at the top and decided maybe a nice conversation with a friend would lull her to sleep.

Almost an hour later, just a few minutes before Glenn would come up to relieve James of his watch, he kissed her. She kissed back. End of story. They hadn't labeled anything, they didn't need to. It's the end of the fucking world, who cares?

In all seriousness, she did believe there was something between her and Roman for a little while. But after almost two years of knowing each other and having every opportunity for a move to be made—nothing. She wasn't necessarily subtle with him, either. And then she saw how close he was with one of the new girls from Woodbury, Veronica. She was a very pretty girl, and one Claire got along with very well. She was sick when she got to the prison; Hershel's best guess was a pretty serious case of Bronchitis, which went away not long after their arrival.

She always noticed the two of them together, side-by-side at all chances throughout the day. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to be envious of Veronica—not with how much she enjoyed her presence and friendship. Claire accepted her fate and attempted to let go of her silly little schoolgirl crush on the man. Still, even with how much she liked James, she hadn't let go of it. Yet.

"Claire?"

"Hm?" She snapped herself from her thoughts, looking away from James' hair to his eyes, which were locked on hers. "You okay? Lost in your thoughts?" Claire nodded, blinking quickly to snap her from her daze with a small smile, "Just a bit. Want me to start from the beginning?"

James shook his head, "No, it's alright. You can continue from where you left off. I'll probably fall asleep anyway." Claire chuckled with a gasp, reaching out to pinch his bicep with her free hand, "Rude." He smiled with a sly shrug, closing his eyes again and readjusting for comfort, "What can I say? You soothe me." She scoffed at his teasing, opening the book once more and reading the page aloud to him.

︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶

Veronica was worried, visibly. As was Claire, but she was a bit calmer about it as to not freak Veronica out even more. Kira, however, wasn't worried in the slightest. She knew her brother wouldn't leave her or Maggie alone in this world. Veronica was also a bit new to the group dynamic; Roman, Glenn, and all the others were well capable of handling themselves.

"They should be back by now, Claire." Veronica mumbled, halting her pacing in Claire's cell to stare at her and Kira, who sat next to each other on Claire's bunk. "Ronnie, I'm sure they're fine. It's only been a few hours-" "It never takes more than two unless they're going far, and they were only going to the town over."

Claire sighed, dropping her chin into her neck in defeat. And Claire thought her anxiety was bad.

James appeared in the doorway of Claire's open cell door, nodding at the three girls before directing his attention to Kira, "They're back."

Veronica rushed from the room in a blink, Kira chuckling as she followed their friend out to greet her brother. Claire stood from her bunk, approaching James with a small smile and reaching her hands out to grasp his waist. Before she could reach him, he grabbed her wrists gently and shook his head, pressing his lips together, "It's not good."

Claire frowned at that. What's not good? Did someone get hurt? Bitten? Killed? Was it Roman? Or Glenn? Daryl?

She furrowed her brows, stepping away from James and rushing from her cell and down the stairs into the common area, where Roman stood whispering to Rick and Glenn was hugging Maggie and Kira. Daryl was talking to Carol and Marcus. Bob was there, Sasha, Tyreese, Michonne. But Zach was nowhere to be seen. Oh, poor Beth.

Claire released a breath, feeling selfish for being relieved it wasn't someone she loved, but also heartbroken for Beth. The poor girl had lost too damn much and was still so young.

Veronica approached Roman with slumped shoulders, and Claire watched closely as Roman mumbled something to Veronica, the shorter girl pressing her fingers to her mouth before embracing Roman.

Claire remembered how it used to be her that Roman told everything to first. She swallowed the envy and approached Glenn, Maggie, and Kira. "Glad you're okay." She mumbled, squeezing the man's arm. Glenn smiled meekly at her, "How'd he die?" She questioned in a whisper, watching how Glenn's face fell and he tightened his embrace on Maggie's waist, "Too many walkers on the roof, it caved in. Roman was stuck under a shelf, Zach was just unlucky. It was a shit show."

Claire nodded as James placed a hand on her lower back, the blonde holding in her worry at the prospect of Roman stuck under that shelf. "Has anyone told Beth? Did you get anything?" James worried, looking around the room at the lack of Beth.

Glenn shook his head in defeat, "Not yet. And not much, just whatever we had already put in our bags. We'll have to regroup and go back out soon." James nodded at that, gesturing to Glenn, "Y'all should get some sleep, you've had a rough day."

Claire sucked in a breath, waving goodnight to Glenn and Maggie before another goodnight was said to Kira as she retired for the night as well. Claire sucked in a heavy breath and approached Daryl, giving the man a small squeeze of the arm and watching as he turned in his seat to face her. He huffed, patting her hand softly as she turned to Michonne, "Glad you guys are okay, get some rest."

The two nodded at her, and she turned towards Roman, the man taken in conversation with James and Veronica.

She frowned as she watched Roman, tall and strong, now bloody military uniform he found a few months ago loose around his arms and unzipped at the front, revealing a black shirt underneath. She couldn't get the vision of him stuck under a shelf, surrounded by walkers out of her head.

Sucking in a breath, she approached the three with a weary smile. "Hey, glad you're okay." She mumbled up to him, Roman pausing his sentence to look down at her. He inhaled deeply, "Me too."

"Can I talk to you?"

Roman nodded, bidding Veronica and James goodnight. He gently grasped Claire's bicep, guiding her over to a quiet spot in the common area.

Unable to hold back her emotions, Claire pressed her fingers to her lips, "Oh my God, Ro. It could've been you." She mumbled, peering up at him anxiously. She could feel the tightening in her chest begin to build the more she thought about it being him not returning instead of Zach. Her fingers were shaky, breathing uneven as she attempted to swallow the attack.

"Hey, breathe." He whispered, reaching out to squeeze her biceps reassuringly, "It wasn't me. I'm fine, a little bruised but fine." She nodded blinking away the anxious tears, "I know, I'm just over thinking it, I guess." She mumbled, wiping her eyes before stepping back from him. His hands dropped from her arms to rest at his sides, Claire awkwardly clearing her throat. "I'm glad you're okay, and you're not going on another run for a while." She teased, watching as Roman chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's not happening. Goodnight, Claire."

"Goodnight." Claire sucked in a breath, turning around to walk back into the cell block.

"Hey."

Claire paused just before the stairs, turning to watch as James approached her, "Goodnight." He whispered, reaching out to cup her neck and leaning in to place his lips against the top of her head, "I'll see you at breakfast." He whispered, pulling away from her to return to his room in Cell Block D with the others.

She waited until he disappeared from her cell block before releasing a large huff of air, before quickly bounding up the steps and down the hall towards her room.

When she pulled the blanket back, Eli was sitting up in his bed reading comics with a flashlight, "Bedtime." She smiled, reaching behind her to close the gate shut and dropping the blanket back down for privacy.

Eli groaned, watching his sister as she turned on the gas lamp.

Their little room had turned into quite a sight over the past few months. Walls covered in drawings from Marcus and posters that Michonne had brought back for Eli. A side table with a gas lamp and Claire's books lined up neatly at the bottom. As well as an open shelving unit they used as a dresser. It wasn't much, but it was home.

"I'm not tired."

"Too bad. Busy day tomorrow."

"Every day is a busy day."

Claire chuckled as she pulled out a pair of pajama pants to sleep in. They were a mens size large, an ugly shade of blue plaid, and long. But, Roman found them on a run at a store a few months ago and they changed her sleeping life. She slept longer, uninterupted and comfier. A win for her.

"Eyes closed." She mumbled, looking back to make sure Eli had his back turned to her and his eyes facing the wall. Once her jeans were off and the pants were on, she remained in her tanktop and leaned against the bunk bed, head peaking over the top bunk, "You can read more during breakfast. Gimme," Eli groaned, making Claire chuckle and hold out a hand as he passed her the flashlight and the comic book.

"I love you. Get some sleep." She quipped, patting his arm before placing the comic and flashlight on the side table and crawling into her bed.

She brought her flannel blanket up to her chin and reached over to turn the gas lamp off. She closed her eyes and tried her hardest to push away her thoughts and fall asleep.

︶꒦꒷★꒷꒦︶