The Black Rose

Chapter Twenty-Two

Carol and Carl stood outside, chatting about his mother's death when they heard the rumble of a car approaching them. Relief ran through them and Carl hurried to open the gates, hoping to see his father alive and well. The silver car stopped and revealed Rick who had immediately hopped out to embrace his son. Carol hurried to catch up to Rick and Carl. He was afraid to tell her that Daryl was gone. Rick knew that Carol and Daryl were good friends. Carol peeked into the car, looking for the redneck as Rick approached her. "Where's Daryl?"

"It's all right. He's alive," Rick assured Carol quickly but saw the confusion ran through Carol's face. "We ran into his brother. They went off."

"He left? Daryl left? He's gone? Is he coming back," Carol swallowed uneasily as they decided to make their path back to the prison. Off in the distance, Carol eyed the redhead female hop out of the car, getting ready to unpack. "Gone? What about Rose? How did she take to that?"

Rick sighed uneasily, watching Rose embracing his daughter as the rest of the group filed out to catch up. "Merle did that to Glenn and Maggie. I mean... Michonne told us about him before we arrived. But none of us expected that Merle would ever do that to them. So he went off."

"And Rose? You know Daryl and Rose had a thing." Carol questioned. The whole group knew that Daryl was hot for Rose. The only thing they weren't sure about was Rose. She never really gave any impression that she liked him other than holding his hands after Lori's death.

"Rose haven't said anything about it... as usual." Rick lowered his voice when they approached the group. Beth smiled, embracing Rick and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a silent thank you for bringing her sister back. Then she hurried back inside with Maggie. Rose and Hershel were the last ones outside with Rick as they gathered around. Hershel smiled, "You came through. Like always."

"Yeah." Rick trailed off with a heavy sigh. Rose nodded, silently accepting Hershel's thank-you.

Hershel sighed, "You got a good look at him?"

Both Rose and Rick knew who Hershel was referring to. The governor. Rick shook his head, "He had Daryl and Merle pitted against each other. A crowd cheering for them to fight to the death. What kind of a sick mind does that?"

"The kind that this world makes," Hershel sighed heavily with a sad look on his face.

"They've always been around. You just haven't been around them," Rose scoffed. She saw how Hershel hung his head on his chest as if he had something on his chest. As if he needed to say something. "What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

"No, the baby. She's healthy. Eats like a horse, sleeps like a rock," Hershel assured both Rick and Rose with a gentle smile.

Rick raised his eyebrow, making a quick eye contact with Rose as his stomach sunk. He wasn't sure what Hershel was going to say. "So what is it?"

There was newcomers. Unwelcome newcomers. They could barely feed themselves. Rick can't even imagine trying to stretch out his prison food rations for more people. Especially strangers. The humans they've just encountered few hours ago were evil. How could he know if the newcomers meant harm or good? Rose and Rick entered the prison without any second glance towards the newcomers.

The burly African American male was taken aback by Rose's appearance. She moved like a nymph, so quiet, graceful yet proud. Carl, who was guarding the newcomers, had locked the main cells to meet with Rick and Rose, leaving the newcomers alone. "Not exactly chatterboxes, aren't they? When they're ready, let me do the talking."

Rick entered, seeing Judith in Beth's arms and went over to finally take a good look at his daughter. Rose kneeled down in front of Carl, "Are you alright?"

Carl nodded with a small smile, reaching over to hug Rose. He was glad that his father and Rose were alright. That's all what matters. Rose awkwardly patted Carl's back with absurd smile as if she didn't know how to smile. She just wanted to be left alone. Rose headed up the stairs, seeing all the clothes hanging over the railing to be dried. Carol were upstairs folding.

"Hey Rose," Carol smiled. A stack of neatly folded clothes was placed in Rose's arms. "I took the liberty of mending and washing your clothes. I also added long pants. The weather is getting colder."

"Thank you." Rose's voice was barely audible as she met Carol's light blue eyes. Carol was a pretty girl. She wasn't the kind that caught your eyes immediately. But she was the kind that grew on you. Rose figure that it was her personality that made her beautiful. She was one of the gentlest souls that was finally finding its place in this harsh world.

There was something flickering in Rose's eyes that Carol couldn't quite put her fingers on. Once Carol got over the shock factor of Rose's eyes being multi-colored, she noticed that Rose's eyes were usually vacant and dead. But today... there was a sense of sadness. Deep sadness that her irises struggled to hide. "Are you alright Rosie?"

Rose tried not to flinch at the nickname, beginning to avoid Carol's eyes. She wasn't used to this strange feeling. As if the weight of her body was too much for her to handle. Her knees were weak and her throat was tight. It was hard to remember how to breathe, how to speak and her stomach were churning wildly. And the yank of her heart made her want to vomit. "I don't know."

Carol led the redhead back to her cell at the end of the hallway, sensing that she needed privacy from everybody else. The room was sparse but that wasn't surprising. Rose was never in there. Carol sat down on Rose's bed, patting the spot next to her. "It's okay Rose. You can talk to me."

"I... don't know. I'm not good with this," Rose whispered, following Carol's instructions to sit down next to her after she put away her clothes. She spent a few moments silent with her eyes downcast to the ground as Carol waited for something. Carol wouldn't dare to interrupt Rose. She knew that Rose was literally on the verge of breaking through that wall she's been building up for years. But she didn't expect Rose's big eyes to be brimming with tears when she looked up, "My heart hurts and I don't know why."

Rose clenched her chest, taking a deep breath as she blinked back the unfamiliar salty water in her eyes. Carol squeezed Rose's hands with a gentle smile. She remembered how it felt when she first experienced it. "Oh sweetie. That's called heartbreak."

"Heartbreak?" Rose whispered, almost feeling silly now. She never thought that heartbreak would hurt this badly.

"If you don't mind me prying... Is it Daryl?" Carol whispered, unsure if she'd get the answer.

Rose bit her lips as she looked upwards to the dark bland ceiling. There was never a time or place for love. But the thing was... it happened accidentally. In a heartbeat. In a single flashing, throbbing moment. She loves him without knowing how, or when, or from where. He made her lose her train of thoughts each time his eyes linger a second too long on her. The way her eyes always seem to search for him each time she enters a room. The way her stomach sinks when he wasn't around.

"Yes..." Rose began to open her mouth. Carol perked up, sitting up straighter to see the exquisite creature in front of her struggle with her words. "I think... No. I know I'm in love with Daryl Dixon."