Future Ghosts • TWD

133. Live With It.

"How long do think we can hide here before they find us?" Henry asked, sitting down on the beanbag chair in the abandoned cabin that Rodney, Gage, and Addy had shown them. Rosie didn't like being there. It made her feel bad about what she had done, even if it was all over and done with now. And Rosie wasn't sure why Henry was asking her. She didn't know. It depended on how well Dog could pick up their scent, if that's what they were even doing. So she just shrugged. "How mad do you think Daryl's gonna be?" Henry asked warily.

"Really fuckin' pissed. How 'bout you stop talking about it?" Rosie said, turning away from the window to glare at Henry. She was already having to try really hard not to think about how mad Daryl would be. She didn't need Henry reminding her.

"This feels weird," Lydia said quietly, walking out from behind some panels. Henry had gotten her some clean clothes and brought them with them. Lydia had gone behind a few panels to change and clean herself off a bit. Rosie was glad that Lydia was able to change, especially after having forgotten about the clothes she promised Lydia completely, upon Alpha's arrival. She stepped out wearing a pink shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

"But good weird, right?" Henry asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Good weird," Lydia said, nodding her head with a small smile.

There was that weird feeling in Rosie's stomach again. The one that wasn't necessarily good, but wasn't necessarily bad, either. The confusing one that she didn't understand the meaning behind. Rosie tried to ignore it. "You look good," she said. She wasn't sure if that was a normal thing to say. Maybe she should have just kept her mouth shut. Everything was making her nervous for no apparent reason.

"Thanks," Lydia said with a small chuckle as she tucked her hair behind her.

Rosie turned and looked out the window again, because the feeling was getting more prominent. It was like a stomachache, but it felt good, in a way. A good stomachache. Like what Fraser was talking about when he liked that girl. He called it butterflies. Was that what this was? No, it couldn't be. That didn't make sense. Lydia was practically a stranger. She had pretty eyes, sure, but she was a few conversations off from being a complete and total stranger. Plus, Lydia was a girl. Rosie knew that girls could love girls and boys could love boys, of course, because Tara loved Denise and Aaron loved Eric, but how was she even supposed to know whether or not she was right, and she really did like Lydia like that? How was she supposed to know that it wasn't just the anxiety of doing something she wasn't supposed to? Or the excitement of meeting another girl her own age? How was she supposed to know? How could Ian know that he liked Rosie? How could Henry know that he liked Enid? It was all too confusing and Rosie didn't understand how everyone except for her could tell the difference between these things.

"Yeah, a woman at Hilltop makes those," Rosie could hear Henry saying. He was probably talking about those little wooden coins with the H on them. Rosie had found one of them on the ground once. She wasn't sure what they were for, but she thought it looked cool. "They kinda look like coins, but they're not worth anything."

"She wasn't supposed to come," Lydia stopped him, changing the subject to what someone would call the elephant in the room. Rosie really felt bad for Lydia. She was trying to figure out something they could do. Some way they could save Lydia and save Luke and Alden. But she wasn't sure. "She broke her own rules. Maybe she misses me," Lydia said. Rosie turned away from the window to look at Lydia again, her eyebrows furrowed. Lydia had a brighter look on her face- a hopeful look that made Rosie's stomach hurt, in the bad way. Because Alpha didn't deserve to miss Lydia. "Maybe she's sorry," Lydia said.

"No. She's not," Henry said quietly, shaking his head.

"She's not sorry. She's a piece a' shit," Rosie said, her jaw tight. She wasn't trying to come off as angry or rude, but it was pretty hard not to when she was talking about someone like Alpha. Someone who hurt their own child. Someone who hurt their child but confused them enough for their child to think that they still love them. To trick their child into thinking they were good.