When she woke up Joel wasn't in the bed nor in the house.
She got up, blushing a little when she thought about last night and went to put some clothes on.
As she was putting on the last piece of her clothing she heard a knock on the door from downstairs.
She frowned and went to get the door and when she opened them she was met by two unfamiliar faces.
"Hey you! I'm Dina and this is Jesse." The short girl smiled friendly as she waved at Makayla.
"Hey." Makayla smiled back before she shook hands with them both.
"Maria asked us to show you around. Can we go now?" Dina asked and Makayla agreed before she closed the door of the house behind her.
Jackson was even more alive in the morning than evening. Dina and Jesse showed Makayla all around.
All the pubs, markets, welding shops, barbecues and also the pharmacy.
It was different from the outside world. Too different and she liked it.
Jackson was heavily protected with his walls and armed people.
She caught many people looking at her like at the stranger she was but Dina and Jesse always assured her it's fine and that they'll get used to seeing a new face in no time.
Makayla also realized Dina and Jesse were pretty fucking cool and easy to talk to and she was glad about that.
They got to the square. Seeing a bigger group of people and also Tommy, Joel and some guy talking in the doorway of a pub not so far away from the three.
Dina and Jesse noticed her gaze and Jesse spoke, "You came with Tommy's brother? Joe?"
"Yeah why?"
Jesse snorted,
"I gotta say Joel's one big scary motherfucker. We were on a patrol this morning so Tommy could show him around a bit and he was killing infected like a pro. We didn't have to do much."
Makayla snorted, "Yeah that's him."
Her eyes dropped though when she saw a familiar someone approaching Joel and the others.
Tina. The woman from before.
Makayla sped up a little, walking towards them while Jesse and Dina were right on her heels.
"Here she is, I thought you'd sleep until dawn." Tommy nagged with a warm smile on his face and the woman's eyes immediately landed on Makayla's just as Joel's did.
"That's Seth by the way." Tommy pointed at the man and Seth Makayla both nodded at each other, seeing from the corner of her eye Tina leaning closer to Joel.
"I'm Makayla." Makayla leaned forward from behind Joel, blocking him from Tina and Tina looked confused but she extended her arm as well,
They shook hands and Makayla gave her a fake smile before her eyes pierced through Tina, unintentionally.
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"Oh- I assume you're- Joel's-" Tina started, the words daughter and niece playing on her tongue and Makayla was taken a back not knowing what to answer, "I'm-"
"She's a niece of an acquaintance. Promised to to take care of her after her death." Joel answered casually with a low voice and Makayla could feel Tommy's gaze on her. He seemed like he himself wasn't expecting Joel's answer.
"Yeah.." Makayla said as her heart sunk.
"Alright well I have a few more things to show you Joel, c'mon." Tommy decided to end the awkward situation and Tommy and Joel left along with the man that was there with them.
Makayla exhaled heavily.
"Okay. What was that about?" Dina asked, dumbfounded. It was obvious something wasn't right, "Do you and Tina like, hate each other?"
Makayla just shook her head, "Just let it go."
"Come with us." Dina grabbed her hand and dragged her into a small valley where a small house stood. They walked inside and sat down in the living room.
"I obviously can see something's bothering you." Dina grinned and Jesse nodded his head, agreeing.
Makayla sunk into the couch with a heavy sigh, "I feel like I shouldn't even tell you this."
"It's your choice." Jesse lift his hands up in the air making Makayla smirk before she snapped back into being serious.
"Tina seems fond of Joel." She muttered and both Dina and Jesse exchanged a gaze.
"Listen- I'm no fucking niece of some Joel's acquaintance-. He was supposed to smuggle me somewhere which didn't work out and we got closer during the travel..."
"Holy shit. You and Joel are fucking." Jesse let out a laugh and Dina hit him in the ribs.
"Don't you dare tell someone! Only Tommy and Maria knows." Makayla hissed, leaning forward a little to make herself clear and Jesse lift his hands into the air again, with a smug smile on his face.
"So I assume Tina's after Joel but Joel's clearly more than close to you and he lies about you two and that's what bothers you." She motioned and Makayla rolled her eyes,
"I shouldn't even be angry. He's 46. I'm 19. What he even supposed to say? What would people think huh?" She shrugged.
"Fuck what people think." Dina answered firmly.
Makayla looked away.
She wasn't going to be angry or sad. Joel doesn't wanna admit there's between them, sure. But on the other side, why would he admit he's fucking a 19 year olf girl?
"Shoot I almost forgot. We're supposed to meet them at the meeting about upcoming patrols. We should go."
Jesse stood up and Dina and Makayla automatically did the same.
Makayla took a deep breath, throwing her emotions behind her and followed them outside.
