Future Ghosts • TWD

123. I Did It, Rosie.

"Rose," Daryl said, gently shaking Rosie's back.

It had only been a few months since Rosie began staying in the woods with Daryl. Originally, when Daryl left to look for Rick, Rosie was left to stay at Hilltop with Maggie and Ian. Rosie hated it. She loved Maggie and she loved Ian, but she missed Daryl. She didn't want to be there without him. In fact, she had missed him so much that one day, she went out to find him. She knew she wasn't supposed to go out on her own, but she thought that, maybe, if she did it anyway, Daryl would see that she really, really didn't want to be left there without him anymore. When she found Daryl, he was beyond angry that she'd gone out on her own, but he understood. He had left her alone there and it'd been three weeks since they last saw each other. After that incident, Daryl came to Hilltop to take Rosie out hunting every once in a while.

But, not long after, Maggie left with Hershel, while Ian went to the Kingdom to stay with Carol and Henry. Rosie didn't want to be at Hilltop in the first place, but without Maggie there, she especially didn't want to be at Hilltop anymore. She couldn't stay at Alexandria, either, because that's where Negan was locked up. And Daryl didn't want to dump a third kid on Carol to take care of, so when Maggie left, he finally gave in and allowed Rosie to come to stay with him out in the woods.

"Hey. Ya gotta get up, darlin'," Daryl said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

The practical reasons weren't the only reasons Daryl had finally given in and let Rosie stay with him out there. He didn't want to admit it, but he had missed her just as much as she had missed him. He'd be out hunting or looking for Rick and he'd catch himself glancing back every once in a while, as if to check if Rosie was still following behind him. But she never was, because he had left her, and the guilt from that was beginning to eat him up on the inside. Even before he knew Maggie was leaving, he had started to consider letting Rosie live out there with him, but Maggie leaving was the final push he needed.

Sometimes, when he was out there without Rosie, he couldn't help but feel like he'd left her just like he left her after Woodbury. Rosie didn't seem to view it that way, though. Maybe she had just matured since the prison, or maybe she simply understood the circumstances this time, but Rosie wasn't angry at Daryl for leaving. Daryl was more angry at himself than Rosie was angry at him. That guilt faded away once Rosie was there, though. She was easily able to distract him from those kinds of thoughts.

"Rosie," Daryl said. She just hummed half-heartedly and kept her face buried in her pillow. Daryl put his hands under her arms and lifted her up and out of the sleeping bag. He held her for a moment, looking at her closed eyes and saying, "You hear me or ya still sleepin'?" Rosie didn't give a response. She just hid her face in his shoulder. She was awake- halfway, at least- but she didn't want to be.

Daryl couldn't understand how Rosie never got bored. He thought she might want to be with kids her own age, to play or hang out or do whatever twelve-ish-year-olds did. But Rosie was more content in the woods than she was at Hilltop or the Kingdom. She'd go spend a couple of days at the Kingdom to spend some time with Henry and Ian every once in a while, but she always seemed eager to go back out to the forest. She liked it out there because there were tons of bugs and plants and animals to draw. She also just liked the quiet. She liked not having to worry about who was there, who was watching her, who was judging her, who was going to laugh about her behind her back later on. Sometimes, she'd just get tired of talking. And Daryl seemed to understand that. She didn't have to push herself to talk to anyone out there. If she didn't feel like talking, she could just tell Daryl that and he wouldn't bother her. It was simpler. It was an escape.

"C'mon, girl," Daryl murmured, placing Rosie down in front of him. She wobbled on her feet for a moment, before leaning against him. She was extremely overtired. She had been having a hard time sleeping the past few nights and she was finally getting some much-needed rest, but, of course, Daryl was suddenly waking her up for no apparent reason when the sun wasn't even up yet. "I know you're tired, baby, but we gotta go," Daryl said, grabbing her backpack from the floor of their tent.