Happy Accidents

Chapter 23

//Carl's POV

Tess's eyes seemed to glaze over slightly, her expression shocked.

Soon, shock turned to confusion. "No," she answered before chuckling slightly. "Why?"

"I don't know," I said quietly, shaking my head and glancing at my feet. "It's just something my dad mentioned."

I looked back at her as she continued to speak. "Well, I'm not a Savior," she emphasized. She took a pause before glancing down and mumbling, "But I can tell Negan wants me to be one."

Furrowing my eyebrows together in confusion, I adjusted my body so I was facing her, grabbing the metal chain that held the swing.

She looked up at the sky, knowing that I wanted her to explain.

"Negan was the first person to take my group in," she started. "We had lived with him for a little while. But something happened. My mom and him had a fight. That's when we moved out. My group and his group hated each other for so long. I don't really know what happened, but they somewhat made up for some reason."

"Somewhat?" I asked.

"Like," she explained. "We didn't go back and live with him again. We weren't exactly in an alliance with him either. We worked together occasionally. But my mom didn't want me interacting with him. Said he was dangerous."

"He is dangerous," I pointed out.

Ignoring my comment, she continued. "In rebellion against my mother, I snuck off to see him. I saw that there was still good in him, no matter how deep it was buried. I found out we worked well together. I didn't want to become a Savior because I don't agree with a lot of the things he does. Now I feel like I need to be loyal to him, you guys, and my mom."

I sighed, feeling empathy.

"Sometimes," she mumbled. "It feels like I'm...I don't know, being attacked from all directions."

When I didn't respond, she scrunched her face together and looked at me. "Does that make any sense?

I nodded. "Yeah," I breathed, feeling like I was in a trance. For the first time since I met her, I actually related to her. At first, she seemed like this invincible badass that couldn't be touched by anything. While that was a quality that I greatly admired and found really attractive, I couldn't relate. Now that that facade had been stripped away, I saw this vulnerable girl trying her best to push everything away and be strong.

Before I knew what I was doing, I reached over and took her hand.

She tended up slightly but didn't pull away, just continued to stare at her feet.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and looked at me.

"Why would your dad talk to you about me being a Savior?" she asked, confusion filling her voice to the brim. "How would he know about that kind of thing?"

"Uhm," I breathed, trying to remember. "Do you know Paul from Hilltop? Goes by Jesus?"

As soon as she heard the name Jesus, she sharply turned away from me, frustration taking over her face.

"Yeah, I know him," she murmured.

"Well," I continued, stuttering a little from my nerves. "My dad told me that Jesus told him that he's seen you with Negan quite a bit."

Tess sighed heavily. "That guys does not like me. No matter what I do, he hates me."

I shyly let go of her hand. As soon as I did, she locked her hands together and started wringing them.

Finally, she exhaled softly and looked at me, a frustrated smile on her face. "Well," she said through clenched teeth, I'm not a Savior."

And with that, she got up and started walking over to the woods.

"Where are you going?" I called.

"We gotta head back," she replied, not stopping.

Knowing I had totally ruined everything with her, I got up and jogged to catch up with her.