Author's Note: ALL my stories have been updated. Enjoy!

Theme Song: "Tennessee Whiskey" - Chris Stapleton

I pulled my knees to my chest as the stars sparkled over my head. I'd been out here for a half hour, awaiting a certain someone's arrival. If he even showed up.

The watch tower was one of the places I would go just to get away sometimes. And tonight, Sasha had taken the other watch tower across the way, so I was free to use this one. It was a place I had used for solace and sometimes Glenn would find me up here and we would talk for countless hours about the old times.

There was a creaking sound down down below and I heard the telltale sign of footsteps coming up the ladder Instead of looking, I stayed put and smiled to myself. Daryl climbed up and over with his hands full. I furrowed my brow as he settled in beside me on the watch tower. My stomach did a small little somersault, but I pushed it away as I smiled at him politely.

I hadn't known for certain what Daryl thought of me, as far as friends went, but my instincts told me he was thinking of me as more. But, he was terrified to admit it to me and especially to himself. It was a road he definitely did not seem to like to go down.

Daryl smirked lightly and arched a brow, "Took ya' up on that invitation. Ain't gonna' pass up a chance to drink some whiskey."

I smiled at him as he settled in beside me and it didn't go unnoticed that his shoulder was barely touching mine as we sat side by side.

Daryl wouldn't have dared get this close to me when we first met, but things were different now. We were more comfortable with each other.

"Brought somethin'." He muttered as he placed a couple of unwrapped Ding Dongs between us. I laughed and I noticed how his smile graced his features at my laugh. It was one of the things that I could always do to make him smile.

"I like your thinkin' Dixon." I handed him the bottle of whiskey I had snuck up with me. He took a small swig before setting it back down in front of us. He had already unwrapped his tasty treat and ate half.

I unwrapped my own and chewed quietly. We ate in silence for a moment before he broke it, "Ya' alright?" I mulled this over for a moment and I looked to him and shrugged my shoulders. "I will be, I just.." I stopped short, pushing some strands of hair out of her face.

"That day I came back Daryl, it just really hit home how everyone is like family to me." I paused and looked to him. He was finishing chewing and I watched him swallow, his adams apple bopping in a rather masculine way. He noticed me staring and looked away.

When he looked at me again his brows were crinkled in thought, his thin lips pursed as he seemed to think about what I had just said. He looked up to me with those blue pools of curiosity, "And me?"

It was a startling question and I had to recover quickly as the first thing that I could think of came to my mind, "I'm still tryin' to figure that out." My lips quirked up into a smirk and he scoffed lightly, but not unkindly, "Good luck with that, girl."

There was silence for a beat longer and I watched as he took a swig of the whiskey and then my green eyes drifted back towards the sky. I gasped aloud and he whipped his head to me, "What?" I pointed to the sky and he looked up to follow my finger, "Sagittarius, the archer! It's you!"

He looked to me with a blank expression, blinking a few times and I couldn't help but chuckle at him.

"Ain't got a clue what yer' talkin 'bout." He sounded slightly annoyed and I knew it was because he was at a loss of what I meant. "The stars, silly. Look." I pointed back up to the stars and started to trace the shape with my pointer finger. "You see that one..right there?" I scooted in closer to Daryl and before I knew it our cheeks were extremely close.

Close enough to where I could smell his woodsy scent mixed with a bit of whiskey. I pushed the impure thoughts that started to form out of my mind before getting back to the task at hand, which was showing Daryl the constellation. He would grunt as an answer as I traced the outline a few times. I saw his eyes narrowing as he squinted towards the sky to take in what I was showing him.

"You see it now?" He nodded silently, before answering lowly, "Think so." I pulled away from him quickly, sitting back the way we had been when he first climbed up here. "How ya' learn about that?" He asked, still looking at the constellation that displayed itself for us.

I looked from him to the sky and I smiled ruefully, "My mom. She was really into the constellations and all the mythology behind them." When I looked back to Daryl he was looking at me intently and I found my voice again after stumbling a bit, "Didn't you ever look at the stars when you were kid?"

He shrugged lightly and looked down to his hands, clearly still feeling a bit insecure about his past. I frowned lightly, "I didn't mean it like that, Daryl." He looked up quickly at me, "I know."

Daryl sat there silently and after a few beats I watched as his eyes drifted back towards the skyline. I watched as he took in the beauty before him with the wonder of a child. It was as if he was seeing it all for the first time.

"Did you and your mom do anything together, like just the two of you?" I ventured this quietly and Daryl looked to me for a long moment, before swallowing thickly.

"My ma' always liked flowers. Ain't never been a man for flowers, but she loved 'em. When I was a kid and my dad was passed out, we'd go out and pick wild flowers. She'd put 'em out on the windowsill and that son bitch ain't even say nuttin' about 'em. Too busy drinkin' to notice 'em, I guess."

I smiled, picturing a dirty little Daryl running around picking flowers with his mom, but it faded at the mention of his father. I imagined the flowers were like the beauty in a room full of darkness.

"On my birthday, when she did 'member it, she'd make cookies. Can still smell 'em too." I offered Daryl a small smile as he talked about his past with me a bit more. "Other than that, tha' only thing she would ask for were her cigarettes."

He handed me the bottle and I took a swig before setting it back down. He abruptly changed the subject, "Rick told me 'bout the other places." I furrowed my brows at him, trying to figure out what he meant until it clicked. "Oh, you mean the train tracks and the possible safe place that Michonne came across?"

He grunted in response and my voice had gotten an octave higher as the possibility made me excited. And very much hopeful. However, Daryl fidgeted and he seemed to not feel the same. I could it see it in the way his leery gaze looked up to me.

"Ya' really believe somethin' like that is out there?" His voice wasn't rude, but it was doubtful. I could tell the way he looked to me as if I was just getting my hopes up. Like I was naive.

"I have to have hope, Daryl. I have to hope that one day Carl and Judith will live somewhat decent lives. I have to hope that Hershel will get to see a grandchild. And that maybe, just maybe we all could have something of a decent life. Even if it's not living like we all used to before this, it's something. It's walls, shelter, a community, something."

My words were earnest and I spoke from the heart. He shook his head slightly, messing with the wrapper from the Ding Dong absentmindedly before dropping it.

"And if there ain't nuttin' like that out there, huh? What then?" He challenged me roughly, chewing on the inside of his cheek and squinting up at me in his usual Daryl-like demeanor.

"Then we keep going. Together. As a family. We keep going until we find something." He looked away now at the mention of family, but I held fast to him, never letting my eyes waiver. "Don't you have hope, Daryl?" I asked this quietly and he looked back to me with a shrug of his shoulder.

"Not a single shred of hope?" I pressed and he looked to his hands, not meeting my eyes.

"Ain't been one to hope for nothin'. Always knew it was pointless." He muttered defensively. I shook my head, disappointed, "How can you say that?"

When Daryl looked back up to me I saw his blue eyes go slightly flat. I was taken aback, pulling away slightly as he looked to me with a tilt of his head, "Before all this I ain't had nuttin, I just drifted. Ya' know that, Red. I ain't had a single thing to hope for. I was alone then and ain't shit changed since then. Things are the same as they were before. Jus' now we got walkers."

I stared at him now as he spoke, taking in his tone of voice and the way he spoke. Then I got upset at his words, but spoke softly as not to come off upset, "You're wrong, you know."

He looked to me as if I was crazy as I spoke, "Things are different now. You know why? Because you're not alone anymore." My voice cracked slightly and I looked away, upset he felt that way. I looked back and my breath caught in my throat.

There was a profound moment where Daryl stared at me as if he was just seeing me for the very first time with clear eyes. I stared back intently as we sat together, shoulders touching. I had to look away again as his gaze burned me like fire and my stomach did a few more flip flops.

My breath quickened and I found the stars to look to as a momentary distraction. Until I found my eyes drifting to the graves across the way and my eyes held fast to them. When I was up here before Daryl came, I had not allowed myself to look at them, but here I was staring at the graves intently.

His voice was low, but he tried to catch my gaze now, "Hey, ya' alright?" I had been staring at the graves for longer than I realized and Daryl seemed to have gotten concerned. My bottom lip trembled at the thought of Lizzie and T-Dog, but I quickly pushed back those emotions. When I didn't answer, a calloused hand on my shoulder pulled me from my clouded thoughts.

I looked to his hand before looking back up at him as he spoke, "Ya' ain't gotta be okay. Not with me. Ain't gotta' lie about it either." His voice was so low, but his rough country twang bit out and I couldn't help but smile lightly.

I remembered what Maggie had said about Daryl being the first one to want to come look for me. However, when he came to find me he acted as if he was out there because everyone else wanted me back.

"How about you don't lie to me anymore?" I asked this quietly and he slipped his hand from shoulder, looking at me in an aggitated way, "What tha' hell ya talkin' 'bout?"

I fumbled for a moment before continuing, "You told me the only reason you were out there looking for me was because they all wanted me back. You were lying to me. Maggie told me you were the first one to want to come get me. You didn't even hesitate."

The silence was deafening and Daryl looked away from me as I held my breath, awaiting his answer.

Author's Note: Part II follows this and it is posted! ^^