The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 85

Meredith

"He's come a long way." I pick up my head and find Lori standing behind the berry bush, smiling down at me. I swallow hard, slowly standing up to my height.

"Yeah, he has." I nod. Her smile grows bigger. "Uh...s-so you know about him and Michonne?" I ask her. She nods.

"I do." She answers.

"And..."

"I will admit, I am jealous that she gets him." She nods, looking down. "Jealous that she gets his smile, his laugh, his heart. She's doing things that I couldn't at the end of our marriage." She nods.

"He, uh, he was pretty devastated over you, Lori." I nod. "I mean, it was hard for all of us, but Rick most of all. He...He lost himself for a while." She nods her head.

"I know." She answers. "I miss him. But I'm happy to see him happy. Happy to see him...doing good. Working for what he's wanted." I show her a small smile, nodding my head. Her smile fades and she holds onto her hands. "Meredith, we've gotta talk." She begins.

"Talk?" I ask her. She nods.

"There's a calling for you." She begins.

"A calling?" I frown. "What's a-a calling?"

"A calling. For you." She nods. "Do you know why we're here? Harley, me? We're waiting for you."

"It's better over here, Mom." Harley appears next to Lori. I tilt my head to the side.

"I don't understand." I shake my head.

"Meredith." Lori calls. "We're here for you. Why do you think we're here?" She asks.

"You tell me." I frown.

"Meredith." I turn my head and see Arat approaching me. Anger fills my chest as she approaches me. "Look, I-I know we've got history and all, but I just wanna put this past us." She says.

"Go." I growl.

"Look, if we're gonna be working together...then we need to work together." She frowns. "I'm willing to put this behind, why aren't you?"

"Do I need to remind you?" I frown. She shakes her head.

"I figured if I got you alone, maybe we could work this out." She shrugs. "Just two women, settling their differences. That's all." I slowly approach Arat, stopping just inches from her face.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear. I don't wanna see you. I don't wanna think about you. I don't wanna hear you or smell you. You tied me down, beat me half to death. There is no putting this shit behind us, got it? Stay the hell away from me. Then maybe your chances of me tying you down and beating you to death will slim down some." I push past Arat and walk off back to camp.

I walked up and down the bridge, giving the workers a chance to cool off a little in the heat. Next up was Justin. I approach behind him and he turns to me, grabbing the cup.

"Thanks, Meredith." He nods. He pushes down on the button and pours himself some water. He takes a quick sip and smiles down at me. "You know, I can sneak away and we can do a little bit of cutting the tension in the air." He nods.

"Tension?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me I'm the only one feeling the sexual tension between us." He shrugs, finishing his drink.

"Even if you were the last woman on earth, I would never have sex with you." I shake my head. I reach for the cup, but he doesn't hand it over.

"Easy there, Mer, I'm still thirsty." He nods.