𝐍𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂 | 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

𝑵𝑬𝑼𝑹𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑪

𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘞𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘠-𝘛𝘏𝘙𝘌𝘌

☼

"Remind me again, why we're out here."

Delaney was grumpy, sitting in the passenger seat of a busted up car, staring at the side of Rick Grimes' head as he drove them somewhere outside of the town. He'd gotten some kind of trip cleared with Deanna, not that he'd told her what the hell it involved, only that he needed her help. Delaney, with nothing better to do, had accepted the invitation with minimal questions.

Rick side eyed her, "Hopefully to improve your mood."

"Funny." She deadpanned with a scowl. She shook her head, grumbling beneath her breath whilst she messed around with her hair. The claw-clip she was wearing was digging into the back of her head and she had half the mind to toss the thing out of the window in frustration. Yet the heat of the day was sweltering and if she wanted to live, she needed her hair off her neck. She kept shifting around in the seat, tugging her top, messing around with her hair, thumbing the necklace around her throat, "Can't ya tell me where we 're goin' at least."

He ignored her, focusing on the road. The action prompted Delaney to reach over and flick him right in the ear, "Hey!" He batted at her hand, "Quit it - you're as bad as your brother."

Delaney sunk into her seat, scoffing.

"Eleanor came by this mornin'." Rick filled the silence with his sudden word vomit, head turning toward Delaney as if apologetically. "She was askin' for you."

"She can ask all she wants. Aint gonna change nothin'," Delaney turned to look out of her window, not wanting to see the same sort of pity in Rick's gaze as she saw in everyone else's. She didn't need pity. She was okay with Eleanor making her choice - it meant Delaney didn't have to. Being cheated on sucked. Pretending to be totally in love with Eleanor was getting old, and this sudden turn had been the kick in the ass Del needed to just accept it wasn't working for her anymore.

As much as Del wasn't mad at Eleanor, she didn't want to talk to her either.

"Maybe you should talk to her? Might give you some closure." Rick suggested softly, trying to be helpful. Delaney pursed her lips, "Might make you feel better?"

"I feel fine." Delaney griped, "Everyone's gotta stop assumin' I'm sad." She turned to face Rick then, shuffling on her seat until she was directly looking at him. "She made her choice. I made mine. I aint sad. I aint mad. I accept she aint tha same person I knew before, an' I definitely aint the same person she knew." Her eyes briefly searched Rick's as he looked at her, brows knitted. "She's a bitch 'fer cheatin', but that's it. If she dint, I would 'a still been tryin' ta make it work."

"It wasn't workin'?"

"Damn, ya as nosey as ya son." Her lips barely lifted into a smile, but it dropped far too soon. "I tried ta make it work, but I wasn't sleepin'. I wasn't talkin' ta her. I wasn't doin' what I should 'a been..." Her tongue came out to sweep across her healing lip, "We're different people, aint nothin' more to it than tha'..."

Rick accepted that, allowing silence to follow her words.

When they finally arrived at some small town, south of Alexandria, Delaney curiously turned to her window to observe the run-down, beaten high street. It was no different to anywhere else these days. Shit littering the streets, the dead meandering around like fools. Smashed glass and useless vehicles.