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ARIA DRAWS CIRCLES on the back of Daryl's hand, boredom overcoming her. The group had left the barn to go see the community Aaron was talking about and now, Daryl and Aria are sitting against a wall, wide awake. Neither of them can fall asleep, so the only logical thing to do is keep watch.
"I really hope this—community, is good." Aria speaks up, a small frown appearing on her face as she thinks about it not being good. She wants her group to have a place where they can feel safe and maybe even relax. "You're too trusting." Daryl mutters under his breath, causing Aria to look up, her eyebrows flying up. She knows she too trusting, but she likes to give people a chance not immediately kill them before they can even get a word out. "Not everyone is dangerous." She points out, biting the inside of her cheek. "Being too trusting can get you killed, Aria."
Aria huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. She just likes to see the good in people, is that so bad? She doesn't want to kill and resent every person they've come across because her group is scared, that's not what she's going to do. "You let your guard down a lot and someone can easily kill you when you do that." Daryl continues and Aria lowers her eyes towards the grown, her lip in between her teeth. She's been hurt before because she has been too trusting and it's a mistake she makes over and over again. But no matter what happens, she continues to trust people because there are some good people left in the world.
"I'm only telling you this because I don't want you ending up dead." Daryl growls and Aria makes eye contact with him, her eyes softening. Deep down, she knows she puts her trust in others and that can be dangerous. Her mind is at war with her heart right now and she wants to do the humanly thing, but her survival instincts are shining over it. Leaning forward, Aria presses a light kiss on Daryl's cheek, her head leaning onto his shoulder. "You're right."
♚ ♛
Aria glances around the property nervously, her heart beating quickly. A can rattles loudly beside the group and Aria aims her pistol towards the can, her eyes narrowing just as an arrow pierces through the creature. Daryl leans down and picks up the animal, looking towards the stranger. "We brought dinner." He utters and Aria purses her lips, turning her head towards Noah. "You okay?" She whispers and the young adult looks over towards her, briefly nodding his head. "Yeah—just nervous."
Aria sends him a nod of assurance before turning back towards the front, her eyes trailing over towards the stranger and Aaron. "Its okay. Come on in, guys." Aaron says, motioning for the group to come in. Daryl and Aria share a subtle look before walking in, the couple staying near each other just in case anything happens. "Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons." The stranger says from the front and Aria glances down at her gun before looking back up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Stay, you hand them over."
"We don't know if we want to stay." Rick tells him, narrowing his eyes at the unknown guy. "It's fine, Nicholas." Aaron assures before turning towards the group of outsiders. "If we were gonna use them, we would have started already." That's the truth. The group wouldn't have waited, they would already be attacking if they wanted to. "Let them talk to Deanna first."
"Who's Deanna?" Abraham asks, his voice booming loudly as he stares over at Aaron. "She knows everything you'd want to know about this place." Aaron answers, looking over the group nervously. "Rick—why don't you start?" Confusion covers Aria's face as her tongue runs over her chapped lips. A walker snarls in the distance, causing Aria to turn her head and look through the red bars, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Sasha." Rick utters and Sasha turns around, raising her gun and shooting down the walker.
♚ ♛
Aria lowers her eyes shyly to the ground as the lady, named Deanna, stares intensely at her from across the coffee table. She feels extremely uncomfortable. Her group is outside of this house and she's left alone with this woman. Tugging her bangs behind her ears, Aria raises her eyes, noticing the red dot of the camera blink; signaling that she is being taped. "Aria—right?" Deanna finally speaks up, Aria responding to her with a nod as her eyes dart around the room, looking for an escape if she needs one.
She had thought long and hard about what Daryl said and now she's being extremely cautious for him. "Well, Aria. What were you before all of this?" Furrowing her eyebrows, Aria's eyes trail over to the woman, her tongue running across her teeth. Flashbacks of her past race through her mind quickly and she gulps, pulling at the hem of her shirt. "You can talk, I won't bite." But you can shoot and stab, hell—you could kill me with your bare hands. Aria thinks, her jaw clenched tightly as she draws in a breath through her nose.
Deanna waits patiently as she studies Aria's tense figure and fiddling hands. "I—I worked in a car shop and occasionally I would help out at a daycare or babysit. I also love to hunt and be free." Aria answers quietly, her eyes lowering back down to the ground as she taps her foot gently against the ground. "So you love kids?" Aria nods slightly before pressing her lips in a tight line, her heart beating quickly. "What was your life like before this?" Aria huffs before standing to her feet, her cheeks turning red. "I'm sorry—i'm going to head out."
Aria doesn't feel like telling this lady her whole life story, she's not comfortable doing that. The only two people that know about her past is Daryl and Michonne—that's it. Aria wants to forget about all the things she has been called not go around telling everyone that she has been bullied and was depressed.
