Future Ghosts • TWD

129. Somethings.

When Rosie got back to Hilltop, she put her new books into her backpack and shrugged of her jacket, leaving it with her stuff, considering the fact that the sun was beating down on her and she felt like she was being cooked in an oven. Then she decided she'd get something to eat. But as she thought about eating, she thought about Ian, Henry, and the girl in the cells. Were they getting anything to eat? She didn't know about Ian and Henry, but she doubted that Daryl was giving the girl anything. So, just in case, Rosie grabbed two plates and stacked up as much food as she could fit on both of them. When she was sure that Daryl wasn't watching her, she went down into the cellar.

First, she went to Ian and Henry's cell. She set down one of the plates on the ground next to the bars, then sat down crisscrossed on the floor. "Hi," she said, avoiding eye contact with Ian. Henry sat on the other side of the bars while Ian stayed back, sitting on the cot in the corner. "I didn't know if Daryl brought you anythin'. He's kinda pissed," Rosie said, gesturing to the plate.

Henry began to take pieces of food off of the plate and eat it gradually, but he kept looking back at Ian, as if looking at him would send the message that he wanted him to eat, too. After a minute or two of awkward silence between the three of them, Henry cleared his throat. "You guys need to talk. I know you don't want to, but you have to. This is unbearable," he said, gesturing between the two. Still, neither of them would say anything. "Oh, my God," Henry murmured, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

Not wanting to talk about anything, Rosie decided that she was done sitting with the two boys. If she was going to talk to Ian about any of it, Henry sure as hell wasn't going to be sitting there listening to the whole thing. So she got up with the other plate of food and brought it over to the other cell. The girl's eyes were wide and she was backed into a corner. Rosie set the plate of food down outside of the cell, close enough so that the girl could reach it.

"I'm Rosie," Rosie said, fidgeting with her necklace. The girl seemed a little less afraid, seeing as it was Rosie who was outside of the cell rather than Daryl. "I doubt Daryl's lettin' you eat. So, here," Rosie said, pushing the plate forward. Hesitantly, the girl began to move towards the bars. She kept her eyes on Rosie, being careful, but trusting at the same time. She took a piece of the food and ate it. After that, she seemed a bit more calm.

"I'm Lydia," the girl said. Rosie gave her a small, barely noticeable smile. She didn't think she could trust this girl- Lydia- in the slightest, but she knew she wasn't dangerous when she was behind bars. And, either way, she was just a kid. "Henry said Daryl's your dad," Lydia said, her voice quiet and nervous. She had been talking to Henry? "Is he... is he always like that?" she asked.

"No. He's just mad at me," Rosie said, shaking her head. She took a piece of food off the plate, too, and ate it. Lydia did the same.

"What'd you do?" Lydia asked. She looked up at Rosie, meeting her eyes, and Rosie took a deep breath because she was starting to feel anxious again.

Rosie looked down at the plate and swallowed. "He thinks I'm lyin' to him," she said, fiddling with her shoelaces.

"Are you?" Lydia questioned.

It took Rosie a moment to answer. She chewed on her lip, feeling frustrated with herself. "Yeah," she eventually muttered out. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't know what else to do. But it felt nice to admit it, especially to someone who didn't even know her. The fact that Lydia didn't know anything about her was comforting, somehow. Like she couldn't judge her for all of the things she had ever done wrong. "He hates when I lie," Rosie murmured.

"So did my dad," Lydia whispered, looking at the ground with a distant sort of look in her eyes. Rosie wondered if Lydia's dad was like David, because the look in her eyes reminded Rosie of herself. After a moment, Lydia looked at Rosie again. "Why do you call him Daryl?" she asked.