The Obliged

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"He had no right

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"He had no right." Daryl groaned, breathing heavily as he watched one of the people he cared most for crumble before him.

"The whole time... I was there. I was so close." Bella became numb to her own words. She couldn't believe the man she loved more than life itself, had betrayed her in a way that threatened everything she had clung onto so dearly. "When I realised... it felt like I couldn't breathe, Daryl. I- I couldn't- I couldn't—"

"Hey, I got you. Come 'ere." He said softly, placing himself beside her and holding her gently.

A family... torn in two.

Rick had stayed up all through the night, memorising her face as she broke apart right before him. What was worse is that he was the reason for it. The one person meant to protect her from the worlds poison, had been the cause of her downfall.

"Belle', please don't go. Don't leave. Jus' hear me out." He begged as he ran after her.

"The time for talking was a year and a half ago up on that hill!" She beckoned down at him, mounting her horse by the front gate. "Before you made a decision that cost everyone else's chance to move forwards and heal. That was the time to talk."

"Nobody would've listened—"

"I would have!" She tried to yell, only for her voice to break. "You- you didn't even tell me what he wrote. You didn't ask what he wrote to me. If you had, you could have known that Carl knew Negan's death may have been what was needed for the future. If only you had talked instead of making a decision that was never yours to make."

"I did it for Carl- for the future." His heart tore deeper, forever feeling the loss of his beloved son.

"You let Negan live for Carl's dream." She reiterated, believing it and understanding it, for Carl was her son too and there was nothing she wouldn't have done for him. "But you lied to me for yourself."

Bella tugged at the reins as the entrance gate began to open, and she left.

The journey back to the Sanctuary was too long to make in the dark, so Bella had resided at the Hilltop where she informed Maggie and Glenn of everything that had happened. At some point during the night, Daryl had arrived at the Hilltop having been updated by Glenn. He sat with Bella while she wept and he never left her side. By sunrise, Ezra and Elijah had arrived too.

They all sat in the study, going over what had happened and what had to be done about it.

"You want my opinion?" Ezra checked with Glenn.

"Yeah, we all do." He replied to his friend from behind the desk.

"Well, it's a bit more cutting edge to put it bluntly." Ezra prepared everyone, although cutting edge honesty was something they all felt they could benefit from. "We take him out, once and for all. Keeping Negan alive, it was for the sake of a dream that can still be achieved anyway. The way I see it- the way I've seen it since the beginning, Bella is the reason the communities united. She is the reason we came as far as we did. It's not gonna matter about Negan being alive for the future, but him being alive does mean some of us will never have the chance to move on."

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