The Walking Dead: You're Beautiful - A Tara and Rosita Fanfiction

Chapter 2: The Empty Bed

A mere two days – a whopping 48 hours – had passed since I came home, and everything still hurts and feels hollow. Half of me wants to go out there and kill every last one of those shitheads, while the other half is telling me to just curl up and go to sleep in my bed – formerly our bed – formerly a bed, even. The Saviors took the damned mattress. All I had was a sleeping bag on the hard floor. The bed we slept together in...where we kissed...where we snuggled. Hell, it was even where we did it for the first time. It was all gone. It's been the place I've been bawling my eyes out for two days straight now.

I go downstairs to the kitchen, trying not to think about our empty bedroom, but I can't help but remember our time spent together in that bed. I remembered the first time we slept together – nothing frisky or anything, literally just sleeping together. Only a few days after she kissed me while sitting on those stairs, Denise had invited me over to stay the night, telling me how she was lonely and wanted someone to stay with her. I figured that her nerves and anxiety made it difficult for her to sleep comfortably, so I had a feeling that if I went over, she'd feel safe. I assumed I was just coming over as a friend...well, a friend she had kissed. When I set up camp on her couch, making myself comfortable with a blanket and a pillow, she shot me a confused look.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Uh, I'm getting ready to sleep? That's what you wanted, right? Me spending the night?"

"That's not what I meant," she said before grabbing my hand gently. "I want someone to sleep next to me."

I smiled softly and followed her to the bed. I felt so awkward. Like, that wasn't just a friendly kiss, was it? I mean, it was full on the lips...lasting, too. Denise made herself comfortable beneath the covers. I went under them with her, feeling strange sharing space with her. It had been a long, long time since I shared a bed with a girl...it felt so good.

"So, uh...what's this all about?" I asked.

"It's...uh... I was...I was, uh, wondering if maybe you'd...damn, this is hard...if you'd want to, maybe...I don't know...I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. What's up?"

"I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to," she gulped. "Be together..."

I looked her in the eye, a little surprised (I don't know why).

"Like, together-together? As in girlfriend and girlfriend together?"

She nodded, blushing.

"Denise, I'll gladly be your girlfriend."

Sure, she was a few years my senior, but in a time when you don't know how much longer you've got left, it kind of negates the whole age thing.

She smiled shyly. "You know, if it weren't for the end of the world, I never would've kissed you."

"Oh gee, thanks," I sarcastically laugh. "Not good enough?"

"I don't mean that how it sounded. I mean, I never exactly came out...I disregarded my feelings for women...never had a boyfriend or girlfriend. I just didn't think, you know...my parents would've approved. Then, the world as we knew it came to an end...my family was gone...and I found you. You gave me the confidence to kiss you."

I couldn't help but grin softly at her. I knew how she felt...the anxiety and apprehensions that come with coming out. I was an important piece of her puzzle. She spent the whole night huddled up next to me, her hands gently holding the arm I had wrapped around her torso, enjoying each others' body heat. I stayed up for almost an hour after she fell asleep. Denise just seemed so comforted knowing I was there to protect her. The sleep I did get felt like the best I had gotten since before shit went down. It was certainly not the last time we spent the wee hours together.