THE REASON

chapter twenty ; welcome party
[ season five – episode thirteen ]

   ANOTHER DAY HAD passed. After the incident with Aiden, Nicholas, and Madolyn, Kloe had felt like going to sleep and not waking up for a solid twelve hours. She managed to hold herself back and decided to distract herself by playing multiple rounds of Uno with Reina, Isabelle, and Carl.

She began getting used to the fact that they were all safe for the time being and that there was no need to worry. The whole ordeal with Aiden was just asshole-ism which could easily be dealt with.

Maggie had spoken with Kloe the night before, explaining how she had gotten the job of being Deanna's assistant. She added that the Monroe woman told her what happened with the three supply runners that had a stern talking to about what had gone down after they returned from the 'dry run'.

Kloe stared outside the window, watching how the residents of the Safe-Zone walked past on the pavement. It was as if there wasn't something fatal behind the very walls that she laid her eyes upon. It felt unreal. The last time it felt normal was definitely the day before shit went down at her dorm in Georgia.

She thought about all of the people that were a part of her group before they joined Alexandria — the ones that were no longer with them. How they all died for them to get to the place. They all were hopeful that something this nice would come one day, and they were right. They just weren't expecting to not be there to experience it for themselves.

Her mind traveled back to the two young siblings in the prison that had died. Nicole and Jack. Kloe's eyes unfocused and stared into the air — at nothing — as her ears began to ring loudly. She never forgot about the two children, and it was like a knife had been driven into her heart every time she thought about them.

She felt her hands shake from the thought. The moment when she stood in the doorway and froze as she casted her eyes down at the young boy, who was chewing on his own sister's organs. The thought made her want to throw up, but she held back.

Then she thought about Sophia Peletier. About how much that twelve-year-old girl wanted to go back to normal life. Kloe remembered when she would always help Sophia with her school work. If she could go back in time, she would persuade the mothers of the children that the school work was unnecessary, but she couldn't lie, she missed it.

She missed helping the kids with their work, despite the fact she hated re-learning the shit she was grateful she didn't have to do anymore. The blood drained from Kloe's face, and her eyes remained blank. Her eyes were dry from not blinking.

She had been so out of it that she hadn't realized someone had knocked in the door, called her name, walked in, and tapped her on the shoulder. Her survival instincts kicked in right away, her hand whipping out the knife in her sheath and spun around. She clasped onto the person's shoulder and pushed her knife against their throat.

The person's breath hitched in their throat, and the moment Kloe's eyes adjusted and focused on the being in front of her, they widened. "Oh my God," Kloe gasped, stepping back instantly and throwing her knife onto the floor. "Isabelle, I am so sorry."

The Marshel woman swallowed thickly, taken aback with what had just happened. She took deep breaths as she watched the Rhee woman in front of her step back until she reached the wall. She repeatedly apologized. "It's okay, it's okay," Isabelle assured, but Kloe only ignored and continued to apologize. "Kloe, hey, it's okay."

Kloe stopped, glancing up at Isabelle. "No, no, it's not okay. Oh my God, oh my God. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm—"

Kloe's eyes snapped open, and shot up from where she was. She was on the fabric couch that was downstairs in the house they had all stayed in together. She exhaled out of her mouth heavily, puffing her cheeks as she did so. She looked across at the clock above the fireplace.

Her brows furrowed. She had only been napping for fifteen minutes and she managed to have a nightmare. She shook her head absentmindedly as she threw her legs over and stood up. She ran her fingers through her short hair, forgetting that she didn't have long hair anymore.

She rubbed the back of her neck as she stumbled over to the front door. She was in the house alone — everyone else had gone to do stuff while Kloe opted to take a short nap.

She always had nightmares like those. Where she would unintentionally try to hurt her friends. She hated them to say the least and would've done anything to be rid of them. They felt so real to her, and it scared her every time she woke up. She couldn't look at her friends the same without picturing what she had done to them in her mind.

Isabelle wasn't the only one she had dreamt about. There were many people, even before the apocalypse.

Speaking of, as Kloe went to pull open the front door, she was met with a happy eighteen year old. "So, I met Mr. Anderson and he is super friendly with me. He showed me around the infirmary and stuff," Isabelle rambled as Kloe stared down at her with a worrisome look. She frowned. "Everything okay, Klo?"

The edges of Kloe's lips twitched as she blinked religiously. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She pushed forward and stepped outside, closing the door behind her carefully, leaving the house empty. "Just took a short nap. Those three weeks of exhaustion are really catching up with me." Kloe shivered as a cool breeze of spring air brushed against her bare arms.

"Wish I could take a nap right now," Isabelle breathed out a laugh as she folded her gray knitted cardigan that reached down to her thighs across her front. "I woke up at seven this morning and walked around with Carl and Judith. Then at nine I had training with Mr. Anderson. Basically all he showed me was where the equipment is, how to clean them after use, and then began teaching me the 'what to dos and don't dos'," Isabelle explained as the duo walked down the steps. "I'm tempted to ask Maggie if she could ask Deanna if I can just skip training... Hershel already taught me the stuff Mr. Anderson is teaching me."

Grief immediately began to pump through Kloe's veins as her eyes flickered down to the concrete beneath her boots. "Hershel would've loved it here," she muttered, digging her teeth deep into the flesh of her bottom lip until she tasted iron. "Just, I don't know, tell him you already know that stuff? I can tell the people here don't like to skip training with the newcomers and start at rock bottom, even though we're near the tippy top."

Isabelle groaned and agreed, "I know, right? It's getting annoying that they're all treating us like we know nothing, when really, it's actually the other way around. Like the way Deanna's son acted with you and the others yesterday. What was that?"

"Douches being douches, I say," the voice that belonged to Reina Salazar chimed in, a plate with four slices of sandwiches filled with lettuce and tomatoes in her hands. "Where're you guys headed? Carol just made these awesome sandwiches."

"They look great," Kloe said, her mouth watering at the food. "Oh, and uh, we're headed to..." she turned to Isabelle, expecting her to answer. All she did was shrug. Kloe faced Reina. "Nowhere. We're just taking a walk. What about you? Where're you going?"

Reina shot an incredulous look toward the Rhee woman and squinted her eyes. "Going to Mr. and Mrs. McMiller's house. This is their lunch," she lifted the plate, gesturing down to the sandwiches. "They're a really sweet couple, by the way. You should stop by one day. I'll be there from twelve 'to three on lunch duty. Turns out there's two other caregivers too."

Kloe couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm still surprised that you asked for that job. Definitely something I wasn't expecting." Isabelle nodded in agreement. No one in the group expected Reina to care for the elderly people in the town — so when everyone was sitting around the first night and told their jobs, everyone was caught off guard when Reina announced she was a caregiver.

"Well, in the group I was in before with my sister-in-law and my niece, there were two elderly couples and I always helped them before I began going on supply runs," Reina explained as the three tread down the street. "And old people are sweet. Unless they're whole life is about complaining about the youth, they're great. Also, did you hear about the party?"

Kloe's brows connected, puzzled. "Party?"

"You didn't hear?" Isabelle wondered, making Kloe shake her head cluelessly. "Deanna's hosting a welcome party for us. I'm only going because I'm pretty sure everyone else is... maybe except Daryl. He hasn't really spoken to anyone since we got here."

"Well, I'll go to this party," Kloe stated, faintly nodding her head. "And about Daryl, he just needs time. It's understandable why it's taking him longer to adjust to being in a place like this unlike the rest of us. I mean, after what happened yesterday, it makes complete sense."

"Yeah, I just wish he could tell us what's wrong and if there's anything we can do," Reina told them.

"That's the thing," Isabelle began. "He doesn't tell us anything. He's not like that."

...

"Your hair is really nice, Klo. It definitely suits you when it's short," Rosita Espinosa smiled softly. Kloe stood in front of a mirror in one of the bedrooms in one of the two houses, and she watched Rosita style her newly cut hair in the reflection. "Having curled hair and having the front strands pinned back suits you, too." Rosita slid an additional hair pin into Kloe's raven brown hair, holding it in place so no loose strands were to fall out while they were at the 'welcome party' Deanna was hosting.

"Thanks, Rosita," Kloe sent the shorter woman a small smile, which she simply returned. Kloe exhaled heavily through her nose as she looked at herself up and down in the mirror. Her, Rosita, Maggie, Tara, and Reina were all getting ready for the party together, and they had found a closet filled with clothes that were great for a party.

She had tried on three outfits, the second one being the charm that suited her the most. It was a black, sleeveless romper with a pair of sandals that matched her outfit. She found jewelry in one of the drawers in a bedroom, so she had put on a silver bracelet around her wrist and stud earrings.

Reina insisted on Kloe putting on some makeup — as in mascara, blush, and colorless lip gloss. As she stared into the mirror and looked at herself, she saw the woman she knew before the apocalypse had begun. Minus the scar on her lip that went down to her chin — nothing about her had changed.

Being able to have frequent showers without a limit had made her hair go a lot lighter than she was used to it being. Her hair was usually a very dark brown color that in the dark made it look black. Now, it was almost an auburn color. Her natural color.

"You're really pretty, Rosita," Kloe told the Hispanic woman behind her, who was wearing a knee length, black, lace dress with straps around her shoulders, a lightweight gray cardigan on top. Her dark hair was tied back into a ponytail, complimenting her jawline that was occasionally touched by the silver hoops in her ears.

Rosita smiled. "Thank you." She finished Kloe's hair and set her hands on her shoulders, resting her chin on top of her hand as she looked through the mirror. "You look amazing, preciosa." A smile snaked up onto Kloe's lips, which immediately spreaded onto Rosita's lips.

The smile on Kloe's lips faltered. "If I'm being honest, I'd much prefer to microwave up some popcorn and watch a movie or something. I'd love to have a movie night."

Rosita sighed as she leaned off of Kloe's shoulder. "Me too. But we have to, just for this one night. Specifically for us. You can do this, we all can," she reassured, rubbing her hands against Kloe's shoulders for a moment before she took a step back.

The door to the bedroom the pair were in swung open, being met with a frantic red-headed man. Abraham stood in the doorway, his hand glued onto the doorknob. His brows raised into his forehead as he took in the appearances of the two women that spun around to face him from the sudden action.

The Ford man was clad in a clean, long sleeved, dark gray polo shirt, dark blue jeans with a black leather belt to the match. "Hot damn," he side-smiled. "I'd be damned. Hey, Glenn, get in here," he called down the stairs. Kloe's lips immediately pursed shut tight as she held back a grin, Rosita smirking across at her over her shoulder.

Since Reina and Maggie were already upstairs, they exited their room they used to get ready and stopped behind Abraham, peering inside the room. "Wow, you both look flawless," Reina winked. She had thrown on a textured white, see-through tank top with black skin-tight jeans. Underneath her tank top was a black crop top. Her dark hair was up in a high bun, loose hair fitting around her face.

"Got me speechless," Maggie agreed, her own smile plastering onto her lips. For her outfit, she had a stone blue dress that stopped just above her knees, a thin black belt around her waist that applied a good look to the dress. She had a gold necklace on, a few rings around her fingers. Her bright auburn hair, puffy, had just been brushed through and was tucked behind her ears.

They listened as a pair of feet hurried up the steps, which they all simultaneously knew was Glenn. Rosita grinned widely as she held a hand on Kloe's shoulder.

A familiar head peeked around the corner of the door, a subconscious smile entering Kloe's lips as she watched Glenn lay his eyes on her. Everyone watched as his eyes broadened slightly, his lips parting with shock. He himself had gotten dressed up for the occasion. He had put on a white and gray checkered, long sleeved, polo shirt that had been buttoned up to the top, the collar being tucked neatly. He had styled his own hair, slicking it back. He had similar pants to Abraham — dark denim jeans that suited his shirt.

"Woah," he said, barely above a whisper. His dark brown eyes were stuck onto his wife, truly amazed. "You— you look beautiful," he somewhat stuttered, standing straight beside his friends in the doorway.

"I don't know about you guys," Reina started, making everyone turn to face her, including the ones in the doorway — except from Glenn, who just couldn't take his eyes off Kloe, "but this doorway is exceptionally crowded and my, oh my, is it hot in here? Take a look at us all, we're only making it worse."

Everyone chuckled at Reina before Rosita left Kloe's side, stopping in front of Abraham. Both Maggie and Reina nodded to one another before scurrying down the stairs of the house. Kloe stepped over to Glenn, his hand sneaking up to the back of his neck, the other tucking into his jean's pocket.

"Who would've known we'd be stunned over how we look because we're going to a party," Kloe said, the happiness in her tone making a smile escape onto Glenn's lips. "You look handsome, by the way," she added, purposely looking the man up and down.

"Th— thank you," he smiled. "I can't even find the right words to say how beautiful you look. Beautiful is too low of a word..." Kloe's cheeks immediately flushed pink as she pursed her lips once again.

The dimples in Kloe's cheeks formed as she tilted her head to the side, admiring her husband before her. "How about..." she playfully tapped her chin as if she was considering something, "we go to this gathering, have some beer, then we come back and chill out for a while. We deserve it."

The edges of Glenn's lips twitched up into a adoring smile. "Okay."

...

The first thing Kloe's eyes caught onto the moment her and Glenn stepped into Deanna Monroe's house — the place where the welcome party was hosted — was all the people. She could hear the classical music playing in the background, but it was filtered out by the chatters coming from people's conversations.

Kloe spotted her people scattered across the place. Rick was busy talking to the Andersons, shaking Pete Anderson's hand with Jessie Anderson by his side. Carl was showing his new friends the comics he had been scouting out and collecting. Maggie and Jayce were talking with Max O'Niell and his very nonverbal twin sister by his side as if she'd been forced to go to the party.

Abraham and Rosita were near the entrance, having only just entered not long before Glenn and Kloe had come. The couple were surrounding the alcohol, pouring a mixture into their green solo cups. Isabelle was with Brianna, the pair laughing at something like best friends normally did. And lastly, standing all by himself, was Noah.

Kloe didn't know where anybody else was. She figured they had decided not to come or they were in a different room, but she couldn't see any of them.

Someone emerged from another room, a beer bottle in his hand as he looked down at the married couple. "The best thing about this party is the beer, guys," Zayn waved. "If only there was more, I don't know, dancy music? I'd be dancing on the table right now."

"And that is one way to get us kicked out," Kloe teasingly elbowed her brother in the side, making his clutch onto his side as he let out a dramatic grunt. "Although I can't say I wouldn't do the same."

Zayn forced a laugh before elbowing his sister back on her upper-arm, making her groan. She narrowed her eyes up at him with a jesting look in her eyes, which made him raise his brows and shrug. "Can't elbow me for something you would do too."

With that, he looked over his shoulder and caught sight of the lonely teen, who seemed to not want to converse with anyone in the room. He deflated the air from his lungs as he turned back to his sister and brother-in-law, bringing the bottle of alcohol up to his lips and swallowing a mouthful.

He sighed after gulping the alcoholic contents and slumped his shoulders. "We should go see how Noah's doing. I've been here for, uh..." he looked across at a clock, his eyes widening, "two hours?! Jesus. Uh— anyway, he's been here for at least an hour and a half and hasn't spoken to anyone. I'm an observant person and I know he has a liking for you two, so he'll talk with you."

Glenn and Kloe both shared a glance, knowing that Zayn was right. Noah hadn't been himself since they left his community and since Tyreese had died. They knew he felt closest to the Williams man, since they could relate to multiple things. And right when they started a bond, a walker just had to bite into Tyreese, didn't it?

The only ones Noah would sometimes have a conversation with were Glenn and Kloe. She nodded at her brother, gesturing that she would do just that. She began to walk over to the teenager, Glenn hot on her heels.

Noah wore his casual clothing that he had been wearing during the day. Parties were not his thing, and she could tell. He had his usual cargo pants on with his usual orange shirt that was buttoned up.

"Hi, Noah," Kloe smiled as she stopped in front of the teen. He looked up at her, his eyes softening slightly when he realized it wasn't a stranger trying to talk to him and was actually someone he had known.

"Hey," he replied as Glenn stopped beside his wife, concern laced in his eyes. Leaning against the wall that was beside Kloe and Noah, Zayn continued to swallow mouthfuls of beer.

"Hey, you okay?" Glenn inquired, setting his hand on the younger boy's upper arm. He searched the boy's eyes for an answer, but there wasn't much he could see except he didn't want to be there.

Noah dubiously nodded, his eyes fluttering across the Rhees and Zayn. "Yeah," he answered, making Kloe squint her eyes skeptically. He shifted slightly and straightened his posture so he could sound more convincing. "Yeah. Just isn't really my thing." A small smile spread across their lips as Kloe nodded in agreement. "Think I'm gonna head out."

Glenn, Kloe, and Zayn all snapped their heads over to him in unison. Glenn was quick to reply. "No, no," he shook his head, resulting in Noah watching him with a certain look in his eyes. "You're not bailing. We're in this together, man."

"He's right," Kloe chimed in, setting a supportive hand on his shoulder. "You're here with us now. Don't ever feel like you're the odd one out, because you're not, okay?" She smiled at him, raising her brows.

"Yeah, you're a part of this whole thing, Noah," Zayn added, sending him a small, genuine smile. "You're a part of this family."

Kloe smiled widely at her brother's words, to which he just winked at her and clicked his tongue before pushing himself off the wall. "Now, if you don't mind me, I shall be going to get some more beer—" The man cut himself off when he tripped over his own foot, stumbling forward and crashing into another man.

The man, who had the familiar mop of red hair on top of his head, slowly turned around with a single raised brow and stared at Zayn. Abraham looked the man up and down before staring deeper into his eyes. Zayn sent the man a tight lipped smile, not sure on what eye to look at. "I don't know about you, Schmidt," Abraham begun, barely above a whisper but was loud enough for Zayn and the other three behind him to hear, "but I really feel like I needed that hit in the back." Abraham grinned and patted Zayn on the shoulder. "Thanks, kid."

Zayn had to fight back the confusion rocketing through his brain at that moment. "Uh, you're welcome?" he said joyfully with a tint of perplexion in his voice before spinning on his heel and going into the other direction instead — away from the beers. He puffed out some air as he looked down at Glenn and Kloe ahead of him, who were both struggling to hold back their laughter. "Toilet break is needed."

He hurried off to the bathroom, which was when Glenn, Kloe, and Noah all took a single glance at each other and broke out into laughter.

...

Kloe rested her back on the wall beside one of the windows with a green solo cup in her right hand, oftenly taking small sips. She was only on her second cup, halfway done with the cup. She definitely didn't reach the 'drunk' status yet, but she was definitely a little tipsy to say the least.

Beside her was Abraham, his own beer bottle in hand as he took mouthfuls just like her brother had done thirty minutes before. She couldn't wait for the party to be over — just wanting to head back to their house and rest.

Zayn had enough of drinking his beer and decided to pour it out the window. He had headed over to the small group that was gathered around the small buffet of food, there being Kloe, Abraham, Rosita, Maggie, Jayce, Glenn, and Noah.

Zayn had slurred his words while telling them that he wanted to play a game. They were all confused and laughed as he picked up a grape, handed it to Glenn and told him to try and get it in his mouth.

Kloe just shook her head and chuckled as the two men she cared most about in this world messed around, both laughing as Zayn missed the grapes and fell back onto the floor when he tried to catch them.

Footsteps sounded from the other side of her, making her head whip over to the direction she heard them from. She pushed herself off of the wall and adjusted herself as Max O'Niell approached her, leaving his sister's side while she spoke with some of the people she had known for the past year or so.

"Hey," Max said, which Kloe forced a smile in return. "Look, I just wanted to apologize for what Madolyn did yesterday. It wasn't cool of her, and at times, she can be scary. Especially when she's mad. My sister has always been the scary type, but I've learnt to keep my anger at bay."

"Your sister doesn't scare me, Max," Kloe shook her head. "It's like you're complete opposites. She's scary, you're calm."

Max chuckled, "yeah, that's how it usually goes with us two. It's always been like that since, like, middle school or something." Kloe sent him a tight-lipped smile as she brought up the green solo cup to her mouth. "Trust me, once you get to know Madolyn, she's as sweet as ever."

Kloe snorted, having to bring the cup away from her mouth and wipe away some of the beer that splashed up onto her nose. "I highly doubt that. She seriously looked like she could've beaten me to death yesterday."

"That was because her boyfriend got hurt," Max sighed, except he couldn't help but agree with Kloe. "She cares about him a lot. I don't know why, but she has done since we first got here. When we got here, he was the one that showed us around. I could tell Madolyn had a thing for him the moment she laid her eyes on him. I don't get what she sees in him though. One, he's a dick. Two, he's not even attractive."

"Well, sometimes it's not about attractiveness," Kloe shrugged, to which Max dutifully shook his head without hesitation. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," he breathed out a small laugh. "It's just, you reminded me of this one thing a guy said to me in high school. There, uh, there was this one guy that I... liked, and he always said to me that love isn't about looks, and that it's about personality."

Kloe's brows immediately raised when she felt a pair of eyes land on her and Max, causing her to glance over to the side and spot her brother. She had to fight back the smirk that wanted to escape onto her lips and solely bite down onto flesh of her bottom lip. She looked back ahead at Max.

She knew Zayn had heard what he said, and she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

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words: 4591
14th august 2023
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I ADORE THIS CHAPTER OMG
i am also extremely excited for the next chapter MUAAHHAHA (you all will love it too TRUST me)