Happy Accidents

Chapter 27

//Tess's POV

I laughed at the text that my best friend, Jamie, sent me.

Jamie: What do you call a belt made out of watches? A waist of time!

Jamie knew how much I loved puns.

Tess: 😂😂☠⚰

Suddenly, I heard a scream from the kitchen followed by growling.

I curled my legs up to my chest in fear. I wanted to go out and see what it was but I couldn't move.

There was banging on my door, the growls much louder.

Staring to cry, I grabbed my math textbook. It might not kill the thing, but it would sure make it recoil.

Finally, the thing burst through the door.

It was a roamer, no doubt, but it wasn't my dad like it should've been.

This roamer had shoulder length dark hair, a bandage covering its right eye, a sheriff hat on his head, and a blue and white flannel draped over his shoulders.

I knew him from somewhere, causing me to cry more.

Raising the book, I swung it at his head.

I shot up in my bed with a scream.

My sister came running in a moment later.

"Tess!" she yelled. "Are you okay?"

I exhaled deeply. "Yeah," I said, as if it were obvious. "I'm fine."

She nodded before slowly sitting on my bed.

"Where were you yesterday?" she asked.

I sighed and waited a moment before pushing myself into a sitting position.

"Promise you won't tell mom?" I asked, finding slight desperation in my voice.

Lydia nodded.

"I was hanging out with Carl," I told her, getting out of bed.

Her eyes followed me as I went to my mirror, her eyes wide.

"Again?" she asked.

I turned toward her slightly. "It's not a big deal." Turning back to the mirror, I started combing my hair.

"Do you know how pissed mom is gonna be?" she asked, her voice reprimanding.

"I don't even know why she cares," I claimed. "She doesn't care about me any other time."

"Tess," she emphasized, causing me to turn back to her.

As soon as I turned back, she caught my arm, pulling up my sleeve, revealing the cuts.

I quickly tried to pull away but Lydia simply held tighter.

"I know why," she said, meeting my eyes.

I relaxed my arm slightly.

"You blame yourself for dad dying," she claimed.

I was about to protest, but I couldn't find the words.

Walking slowly over to the bed, I shakily sat down before looking up at my sister.

She sighed and sat down next to me, causing me to look down.

"I killed him, Lydia," I mumbled.

"That's bullshit," she claimed.

"I could've saved him," I told her, my voice returning to normal as I turned to look at her.

"Really?" she asked forcefully. "How? He was bit in the shoulder. Unless you lied to me."

"I could've put him out of his misery," I reminded her before snapping. "I could've done something!!!"

Taking a deep breath, I quickly stood up, placing my hands on my hips to calm down.

Lydia simply sat there in shock for a moment before timidly standing up.

"I know," she said, her voice quiet. "I know you miss dad. I miss him, too."

She put her hand on my shoulder. It seemed weird that my little sister was comforting me. Wasn't it supposed to be that the big sister always comforted the little sister?

I found myself forgetting everything and wrapping my arms around her, burying my face in her neck as a few tears slid down my face.

I did miss my dad. A lot. I would always think about how life would be different if he were still here. How I would be different. How my mom would be different.

As we let go, Lydia put her hands on my shoulders.

"Mom and I are still here," she reminded me. "I still love you. Mom does, too, she just has a funny way of showing it."

I scoffed. "Yeah," I agreed. "I would say slapping me is definitely a funny way of telling me she loves me."

Breaking away from my sister, I went over to my bed and grabbed my holster, wrapping it around my waist and putting my 9mm in it.

"You're going out?" she asked. "Where?"

"Meeting Carl," I told her. "Can you ask Beta to cover for me again?"

I turned to her as she sighed. "Tess-" she started.

I cut her off. "Please?" I asked.

She stared at me for a second. "Fine," she said exasperatedly.

Smiling, I thanked her before walking out.

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Author's Note: I know this chapter wasn't very interesting but I liked showing the relationship between Tess and Lydia.

Also, I know that a lot of you are probably mad that this Lydia isn't anything like her comic book counterpart. The reason for that is because her personality wouldn't really fit in this story, so I had to alter a few things. And I don't like Lydia in the comics anyway lmao.