No Tomorrow

.

"I said the same thing, but Rick wants to give some of them a fighting chance, he said if we turn them out right now that we might as well kill them ourselves."

He noticed the hand that I was holding to my chest and held that wrist before he uncurled my fingers, making a face at the angry pink line that ran across the palm from my pinky finger to the base of my thumb.

"What did you do to yourself?"

"I gave Hershel some of my blood to help his stump- I didn't want him to get an infection."

He kissed the scar and I winced when it made the thing sting, it was a different perspective when you were on the other side of the healing.

"...you shouldn't have...I'm sure he would have been just fine. Does it hurt? It looks pretty deep."

"Not so much anymore..please let me help you clear out this block. I'm going insane not being able to help you guys out."

He held my hand in his but just shook his head sadly side to side and just pushed our foreheads together before he exhaled and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"With them? Ain't no way in hell- I don't want you going near them Belle. I don't like the idea of you getting close to any of them, they might do something...can you do something for me though?"

"That depends..."

"Wherever Jay is, go to him for now, please. Go to him and stay there until dark or something-"

"....on one condition. I want you to take this with you."

I worked my wrist free and slipped the ring off my knuckle before I pulled it through the chain I always put it on when I transformed and put it around his own neck, my fingers lingered by a major vein in his neck and he shivered when I pulled away and I chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm still marrying you but I just want you to have this while I'm out. Ok?"

He touched the ring to his lips before he kissed me and nodded.

"Ok, I love you."

I stroked his face with the tips of my fingers and took a few steps back so that all the prisoners were in my full view, a shorter black guy was next to the one with a greasy pony tail and it made the hairs on my arms stand when I looked at them. Whatever they did, the two smaller ones seemed to be the worst out of the bunch.

*

"Christ Jay, don't you ever rest? Or are you planning on rebuilding the whole house before nightfall?"

He had most of the porch dismantled and replaced it with a mixture of large boulders and bits of tree trunk stumps, he kept bouncing on it from corner to corner to make sure it was done so evenly. I had to admit that it looked pretty good but I was only gone for maybe an hour, two hours at the most.

"Maybe, it gives me something to do...what are you doing back here anyway, did something happen with the group?"

"I guess you could say that...Hershel lost his right leg and they found inmates who were still alive. I think some of them were in for some pretty bad shit though because Daryl sent me away when they wouldn't stop looking at me."

I shivered, and Jay slammed one more log piece into the ground before he flexed his upper biceps and wiped some of the sweat off his forehead; he leaned against a make shift rail and frowned.

"Hm...you look shaken up, they frightened you that much huh?"

I looked down at my arms and stayed silent until I was sure I knew how to tell him what was on my mind, ever since we'd been reunited with one another I kept what happened to me buried so deep in the back of my mind I barely thought of it; I knew the man who escaped Daryl years ago must be dead by now but I didn't want Jay getting overtly pissed...

"Er, no, but it reminded me of something...does that have any furniture in it?"

"Yeah, but it's one of those old models, just one big room with everything rammed into it...why?"

I could feel the knot trying to form in my throat and I swallowed noisily and pointed at the door with a shaking finger.

"I think it's time that I told you what happened to me when we got seperated."

*Three Hours Later*

Sitting on a tiny couch in the furthest corner of the house, suddenly the word pissed wasn't good enough, ever since I finished my story Jay sat still as a stone on the edge of the green couch and said nothing while his body trembled. His brown hands turned into claws and his muscles were rippling like tiny waves all up and down the length of his arms and he was clentching his muscles so hard I thought he'd break his fingers at the joints.

"Did any of them touch you?''

"....no, but it came really close to it."

He inhaled a few times before he touched his fingers to his face and finally sat back, leaning over to rest his head on my shoulder, I did love him...but imprinting made it so complicated...I could see the path that our lives could have taken, even now..making love to him every night if I wanted to...and even black haired little children running around our legs and squealing. It was so easy to imagine it that it sent a flash fire through my chest but there was one tic in my brain that just wouldn't budge.

"So how close is close?"

I reached a hand up to touch his face but he nabbed my wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Do you really need to know? It was so long ago-"

Another squeeze, this time his hand shook mine but not out of anger.

"Belle, please. I need to know for me."