❪ 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟'𝗦 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗘 ❫

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
the big three. ╱ season four, episode eleven.

FOR JUST A MOMENT Frankie had forgotten where she was, only focusing on the comfort and warmth of the blanket that engulfed her body. She relished in the relaxation her sleepy haze was giving her. She could vaguely hear the birds chirping as she floated in and out of consciousness. Even after the hours she had slept, exhaustion still hung at her eyes and made it almost impossible to open them. She could feel the morning sun drift through the window, hitting her face with annoying accuracy. Due to the blinding light, she was slowly getting dragged out of her sleepy haze.

It wasn't long before reality crept in. Her current state of comfort was long gone as she peeled her eyes open to an empty room. She was quick to remember where she was and turned to face the door. Looking out the hallway, she noticed that it was also vacant as well. She guessed Charlie finally got the hint.

Sliding out of the warm confinements, Frankie padded toward the bathroom, hoping to find some type of hairbrush she could use. There were times when she slightly cared about her appearance and today was that day. She knew when she walked downstairs she would be meeting Rick officially and she didn't want to meet with a large snarl on the back of her head.

It wasn't long before she located a hairbrush and brushed her greasy hair down enough that the snarl was long gone. When she was placing the hairbrush back on the counter she noticed a few lonely jars of nail polish. She smiled lightly to herself, picking up the pale pink one and examining the bottle. Upon opening it, she realized that it was still good, and she thought it wouldn't hurt to brighten up her nails. She knew it was unnecessary and dumb, but it brought her some type of normalcy that she craved.

Just as she was about to brush the pink liquid on her nails when she heard voices arise from the floors below. She remembered the people beneath her feet and quickly closed up the bottle. Looking in the mirror, she took a deep breath, attempting to shake away the building nerves that flowed through her veins. The impending awkward interaction itched at the back of her brain. She just knew it wouldn't be anything she could prepare herself for. She was intimidated, even with the man being unconscious the entire time she had seen him so far, she could just tell he was someone not to mess with.

And she didn't know if he truly would like her, or hell, even accept her. Charlie's words of doubt washed over her. He's known the man much longer than her, so he must know what he will be like. And if the boy was already expecting a bad reaction, she knew he had to be right. Deep down she was questioning it, he could've easily just said it to mess with her, but her anxiety and fear were overpowering her ability to think rationally.

But instead of avoiding the inevitable, she stared at herself in the mirror, taking a deep breath as she psyched herself up. She wished the anxiety twisting in her stomach didn't exist, she wished that she wasn't waiting for the impending negative answer. She wished meeting someone new didn't mean possible banishment. She wanted to be there for Carl, she knew her attachment to the kid wasn't the greatest, but she knew he wasn't what he seemed. She wanted to break through his icy walls and find who he really was. She knows he's not as he seems, she knows he's not full of anger. There is a kid behind those cold eyes, and she'd be damned if she didn't find it.

Trepidation filled her lungs as she held her breath as she trudged down the stairs, wincing every time the aged wooden stairs creaked under her weight. The voice became more and more prominent as she furthered in her descent. She recognized the familiar voice of Sydney as she was talking to someone. But the gruff voice that answered her back left goosebumps to travel every inch of Frankie's skin. She knew it was the man that she was absolutely terrified to meet. The only good thing about she found upon hearing his voice, was hearing how calm it was, there was no malice, no fear of danger. Which meant maybe Sydney possibly charmed him or something of the sort.

As she reached the last step, the voice began to fizzle out, noticing her arrival. She could feel their eyes scanning for her figure even before she came into their eyesight. Coming out of the shadows, she instantly found Sydney's eyes, refusing to meet the unfamiliar blues of Carl's father. But it wasn't long until she noticed a new woman sitting adjacent to Sydney, someone who wasn't here before. She could also feel Charlie and Carl's looming gaze following her movements in the living room, but she ignored them for now, focusing on more pressing matters. While she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, the sound of wood scraping against the floor caught her attention. Snapping her eyes toward the sound, she watched the injured man stand up and make her way toward her.

"You must be Frankie," Rick started, slightly raising his hand as a greeting gesture, "Heard you helped out Carl yesterday, thanks for that,"

The girl in question froze at his words, not being able to get out a hint of a word, let alone even a sound. The man in front of her quickly dropped his hand, knowing she wasn't going to shake it. She opened her mouth and quickly closed it, she glanced toward Sydney, the girl's eyes pleading for some help. The woman straightened up in her chair, "I was just telling him about how you graciously offered to help them find their people,"

"Oh yeah, I did say that," Frankie said awkwardly as she glanced from Sydney and back to Rick. The man's eyes were directly on hers, examining her every move, just waiting for any sign of malice to seep onto her face. "If it's okay with you, I'd still like to,"

Her words and confidence behind them surprised him, but he just gestured to the dining table behind him. "Why don't you sit, let's talk,"

Frankie nodded, finding a spot right next to Sydney. The unfamiliar stranger sent the redhead a calculated gaze, but Frankie just sent her a nervous tight-lipped smile in response. Frankie knew the woman had to be a part of Rick's group. She didn't know when she arrived, but it's best that she gave her an introduction later.

"Listen Frankie, you can understand our hesitance toward this situation," Rick started, leaning back into his chair, putting a hand on his stomach, most likely trying to ease the throbbing pain due to his broken ribs. "We don't exactly take well to strangers,"

"I know, it's hard to trust people today. I get it. But Carl told me what happened, I'm sorry for what you've gone through, no one should have to feel loss the way you have. I just saw how much he's hurting, and it made me wanna help him. He's just a kid, he shouldn't have to go through that, and I thought he needed help finding the rest of your people, so I offered to help." Frankie explained, her eyes traveling between the unfamiliar women and Rick the entire time she spoke, trying to gauge their reactions as she spoke. She could tell she was getting to the woman, as she watched the glare on her face soften.

"Well, that's commendable, but it makes me think you have an angle," Rick concluded, sending her a small shrug.

To which Frankie rolled her eyes, she couldn't help the reaction, sick of people accusing her of having ulterior motives. "What's with you and your group assuming I'm doing it to get something out of it?"

"Maybe protection," Rick posed ignoring her sarcastic comment, the words made the color drain from Frankie's face instantly. "Maybe you want some more muscle to help get rid of the perdiciment you got yourself in,"

"How did you-" Frankie questioned, eyes flashing toward Sydney in a panic, and instantly knew how he found out. She had told him.

"I didn't want to lie about our situation Franks, I know you want to help Carl, but they need to know people are coming after us," Sydney spoke, her words provoked by Frankie's sudden glare. "They need to know what kind of situation they are getting themselves into."

She could feel the sharp glare from a certain boy who wasn't very fond of her and the sudden interrogation, made her heart begin to pound roughly in her chest. Frankie's eyes wavered back to the sudden cold ones of Rick. She shut her eyes in an act of frustration, feeling her fists begin to curl up. "Listen, I did something stupid, I told off the wrong people. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. They were going to hurt us, and I would be damned if I let them get away with it. So I broke a guy's wrist and mostly definitely broke most of his fingers. He tried to hurt me, he wasn't going to get away with it. If you were in my position, I know you would've done the same. Maybe having some extra people to help take them down would be nice, but those weren't my intentions. I just wanted to help, you have to believe that,"

There was a beat of silence that followed her small rant, as Rick took in her words. Frankie sat constantly fidgeting in her spot, but the man only straightened in his chair. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Uh, what?" The man's sudden question made her freeze as confusion wafted onto her face. She could see in the corner of her eye Charlie's figure tense up as he sent a look of amazement to Rick. That question meant something to their group.

"How many walkers have you killed?" The man repeated, his tone becoming more demanding than the first time.

"A lot, why?" Frankie answered, her attention still focused on the negative and slightly panicked reaction from the boy to her left. She tried to pick apart the question trying to figure out why it meant something.

Rick didn't answer her question, pushing her further, "How many people have you killed?"

All her attempts at getting to the route of the question stopped immediately. Frankie's throat dried at the words, her stomach dropped violently as she stared at the man across from her. She knew if she fought him on this question, he would only restate until he got his answer. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Sydney's attention lower toward her hands, knowing what was coming. So Frankie swallowed her guilt, pushing away the sour bile that was rising in her throat. "Three,"

Rick paused for a moment, examining her suddenly guilt-ridden features, tilting his head in an intimidating manner that made Frankie gulp. "Why?"

Frankie closed her eyes as a large sigh of regret filled her lungs, the memories beginning to rush toward her like a freight train. "My father made me,"

"How did he make you?" Rick interrogated, his curiosity making Frankie want to scream. She wanted to snap at him, tell him it was none of his business, but what good would that do for her? It would only cause more problems in the end.

"He was gone far too early, he has done things to people, to their group that I never wanted to be a part of, you have to understand that." Frankie began, her words shakey as she gave some context. She wrung her wrist subconsciously, the pain from the taut skin not phasing her whatsoever. Frankie needed Rick to understand that she wasn't an evil person, she just did things because she had no choice. She didn't notice it, but the people around her began to hang on her every word. Her vague statement getting their full attention hook, line, and sinker. "There's a reason why I'm no longer with him. He made me do things that I never wanted to do, but I didn't have a choice. He told me if I didn't kill those people, he would kill the rest of their group, and that blood would be on my hands. That I would be responsible, all because I didn't make a choice. It was some fucked up way to have me be a part of his world, and I just couldn't do that anymore."

The man took in her words, as an uncomfortable silence followed her small speech. Frankie didn't hesitate to wipe away the tears that fell before the people around her had the chance to see them. "I'm sorry, you had to do that. No father should make his child kill for him," Rick finally uttered, making the girl's eyes jump up from her intertwined hands.

"Don't apologize....there are some things that are out of our control, that happen whether we like it or not." Frankie murmured down at her hands, her stomach churns violently as the dead bodies on her hands flash through her mind. "I'm just glad I'm not apart of something so cruel anymore,"

"Do you know how far away those men are?" Rick questioned, his attention now turned toward Sydney.

The woman straightened up in her chair, taking a moment to think about the question, "I'm assuming a day or two, but in the end, the days we've been running have pretty much fuzed together,"

"Good, you better be right," Rick concluded, standing up from his chair but keeping his eyes on the people in front of them. "But it doesn't matter, we'll be long gone before the sun goes down,"

With those words the broken man limps slightly into the kitchen, Charlie talking discreetly as he followed behind him. Frankie rolled her eyes, there was no doubt in her mind that Charlie was trying to convince the older man out of his plan. While it stung slightly, she got his side. Even after their little moment last night, she was still a stranger in the end. A stranger he didn't trust, which was more dangerous. But she just decided she was just going further into her plan, she was going to worm her way into his mind no matter if he liked it or not.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘:

WE GOT THE BIG THREE 🚨🚨🚨
FRANKIE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED IN!!

Charlie doesn't like her buttttt, things will
change in the upcoming chapters 😏

Next chapters gonna be wild as
fuck so I apologize for this filler 😘

There's so much stuff coming up in
the following chapter so I hope y'all
are ready to rumble

ALSO‼️‼️‼️‼️
Check out my TikTok I've got
Some fab Charlie and Frankie edits up
and I love them sm

TikTok: @gardensongsswp

hope you guys enjoyed!!!