Theme Song: "Never Say Never" - The Fray

The next morning I awoke to a pounding in my head. I rolled over on my cot and buried my face into the pillow. I groaned loudly and realized I just could not handle my liquor like I could when I was younger. I swallowed thickly and rolled over, facing the ceiling of the cell as the nights events came back over me in a flash. I touched my fingertips to my lips hesitantly and let out another groan.

I kissed Daryl.

I was kind of foolish in doing so, but he never pushed me away. It wasn't exactly the passionate embrace of hopeless romantics..I kind of felt like I forced it upon him. I remembered how he grabbed my wrist as a warning, a silent plea to not go there, but I had. I felt a small bit guilty, almost as if I had taken advantage of him, but that quickly disappeared. He had kissed me back and there was no denying that.

I swung my legs over the cot and rubbed my temples before gathering my things and sneaking off to the showers. I let the warm water run over my body before deciding that I had been in there long enough. I always felt vulnerable in the showers and it was an odd feeling. I rushed through them as if something could happen at any moment Maybe the attack on prison made me uneasy.

Whatever it was, it made me paranoid and I rushed out with my belongings, my long wet hair dripping down my arms and bare shoulders. I changed quickly into a white cotton camisole and my usual pair of blue jean shorts with my sickles attached.

I needed food and to get up and moving around. It always helped my hangovers.

The moment I walked out of the cell I looked down at my boots, noticing one wasn't laced and ran smack into a certain someone.

Daryl.

He grunted and I let out a small oomph as we collided. I backed away from him quickly, or attempted to, but his rough hands had caught my shoulders. He held them for a moment too long before returning them to his sides quickly. He averted his gaze from mine and I did the same. I cleared my throat and he gave me a curt little nod before breezing past me and starting towards the stairs.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but words failed me. He didn't turn around as he descended the stairs, two at a time as if he couldn't get away from me fast enough.

For the rest of the day I made myself busy by helping Carol with chores. Anytime Daryl walked in our area and saw me, he would quickly change course and go elsewhere. Carol would give me a look, but I ignored it and decided not to say anything to anyone about what happened. I was not a kiss and tell type of person and neither was Daryl. I wanted to keep it that way.

That day was the longest in the history of all the days I had spent in that prison. Daryl avoided me like the plague and I found myself wishing I could take the kiss back as his silence made me rethink what had happened between us.

The next couple of days passed by in a blur. The routine was the same and Daryl still hadn't said more than a greeting to me. I didn't know where his mind was at, but clearly he didn't know how to act around me and I didn't want to push the subject.

After three days of silence from my socially awkward friend, I was taken by complete surprise as Daryl came up to me while I laid out on the picnic table, basking in the Georgia heat.

"Wanna blow off some steam?" His words were low and rough. I looked up at him, or rather squinted, as I sat up on my elbows, staring at him. I had to keep from smirking because he looked rather bashful and was chewing on his thumbnail.

"You're speaking to me again?" I asked while sitting up fully on the table. Daryl averted my eyes and looked down before looking back up at me again. He shrugged his shoulders and got a little agitated, "Don't wanna' come, ya' don't haveta."

I hopped off the picnic table and wiped my butt clear of any debris before tilting my head to the side, "I most certainly can't pass up the opportunity to shoot some walkers." He grunted in response before walking over to the fence line where six of those ugly bastards were mashing their teeth.

"Did they always look like this?" I asked staring at one of the women walkers who looked to be every so slightly decomposing.  I knew Rick's group had seen more walkers than I had during their travels, so I knew they would have noticed.

"Nah, not in the beginnin'. Helluva' lot faster too. Think time is catchin' up to their asses." Daryl's response made me stare at the walkers as they looked more decrepit. "Still catch ya' unawares though. One wrong move and yer' dead."

I nodded in response. Surprisingly, the morning went pretty well. Considering we didn't say a word about what happened and as usual, we picked up where we left off. It was a little awkard at times because though Daryl was a polite and shy guy, there were moments I could feel the heat of his gaze watching me from behind as I pointed his bow towards the walkers.

I wish I could have eyes in the back of my head during those moments. A part of me, the bad part, craved to see the way his blue eyes stared at me with want. The other part of me didn't want to see that because then it would just make me more frustrated. I told him I would give him time and when he was ready, I'd still be there. But, he made it hard when I could feel his stares.

After taking out the six against the fence, we hovered on the quad, his bow hanging lazily against his side as he nodded towards the walkers, "Gotten better with the bow."

I smiled proudly before shrugging my shoulders, "Guess I've had an exceptional teacher." I was fully aware this was exactly the same activity we did together when I first had come to the prison.

We started to walk back, but I touched his arm and he pulled away quickly as if I had burned him. I frowned and he averted his eyes from me.

The worlds tumbled out of my mouth before I could even stop them, "So, we're not going to talk about it?"

He shifted awkwardly and looked back up at me with his squinty gaze, gnawing on his cheek, "Nuttin to talk 'bout." He shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal and I widened my eyes at him for brief second, "Really? You spent the last three days ignoring me. If it was nothing, then you wouldn't have ignored me."

I didn't care that I called him out on the matter and he sniffed before looking away and then glaring back at me.

"I ain't got time to baby sit no one. Ain't got time for this neither." He tried his best to glare at me, but it was failing.

"You mean you don't have time to care?" I countered, arching a brow and crossing my arms across my black tank top.

"See your 'ole boy Glenn laid out in there?" He pointed a finger towards the prison before following up quickly, "That's why I ain't got time." I realized what he was saying and I knew he was scared. He hated losing people.

"We're all going to die someday, Daryl. As for Glenn, he's a fighter. I know he's going to pull through. But, this life.." I paused and looked down before looking back up and sighing, "This life we live in now, it's completely unpredictable. Anything can happen at any time. You can't push people away because you're afraid of getting hurt. We all are going to get hurt at some point or another, Daryl."

I could tell he was taking in my words and he paused dramatically, looking away and then back up at me as if he couldn't really figure out a counter argument to what I had said. Because it was true. And he knew it.

I was about to just walk away, but his next words took me by surprise, "Jus' can't afford to lose nobody else." He pointedly looked up to me, dragging his eyes from the concrete up to mine.

I could hear the vulnerability in his tone as he admitted this secret to me. We were alone on the quad, save for Carol who was under the tent hanging up a few pieces of laundry.

"I'm still here, Daryl." I say earnestly.

He sighed heavily, looking away and then nodding towards the picnic table I had originally been sitting at. We both walked over to it. He sat on one end and I sat on the other, our boots resting on the bench part.

"Just ain't any good at this...stuff." His words are so low, I almost don't hear them. I look down at my hands and sigh through my nose, "Me neither." Daryl gives me a very quick once over before snorting lightly as if I were ridiculous, "Find tha' hard to believe, Red." I found the use of my nickname from his lips endearing and I liked that he was calling me that again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, pulling away so I can get a good look at him. I was a little offended, though I hadn't exactly put my finger on what he meant or how it offended me.

"Look at ya', Red....an' look at me." He completely averted his gaze from me and looked to his dirty hands and I smiled, despite them being dirty.

I was dumbfounded at what he was hinting at. The insecurity in that one statement could fill the entire quad. There was no reason to be insecure, but I guess if I put myself in his shoes and took into account his upbringing, which I did for a moment, I could see why he felt that way.

"What do you want me to say? That you're a dirty redneck with a bad attitude?" He quickly looked at me and arched a brow, but I could tell he was trying to hide a small smirk. I laughed lightly and shook my head before he shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

I nudged him playfully and he looked down at the contact, not frowning, but not smiling either. I offered him another smile before adding, "You know when I first got here and I came out to get some air that one night..you offered to help me blow off some steam. Ya' know..to get Daniel off my mind. I didn't really know you, but you showed me a kindness that night and you didn't have to."

He stared at me now and shrugged, "It was nuthin'.." He tried to trail off and attempted to make like it wasn't anything.

"It wasn't nothing to me." I stated simply and he stared at me now for a long moment. I could tell he was thinking of something to say, but he wasn't a man of many words. I continued carefully, looking right at him and not letting my gaze waiver.

"I am looking at you Daryl. And I see someone that is a hell of a lot more than just a dirty redneck with a bad attitude."

And there it was. Another moment between us that silenced all the negativity in his head and all the doubt that clouded his brain. I could see the way he calculated every word I said, his blue eyes seeking out my green ones. We stared at one another and before things got more intense, I broke my gaze and felt the heat rising to my cheeks.

"That stunt ya' pull the other night on that bucket list of yours?" He asked to change the subject. This time he was smirking and his brow was arched in genuine curiosity. 

"Honestly, no. It just kind of..happened. And not necessarily because of the whiskey." I chuckled lightly, shaking my head and pushing strands back behind my ears as they fell in front of my face.

I got a devilish smile on my face as I looked back over to him, wiggling my brows, "Wanna' try it again? Because, I mean, we can always have a re-do.." I trailed off, my grin widening now as I watched him turn away with a shade of red touching his cheeks.

Daryl snorted, rolling his eyes as he always did. I smiled coyly at him and pressed on, feeling a bit brave, "So, tell me...was it good?"

He paused for a long moment, and I sat there grinning at him with my smile growing wider by the second. My eyes were sparkling with that feisty spirit I knew he liked

He nods silently and subtly, not wanting to say the words aloud. When he turns back to face the prison, I see him still smiling shyly.

Internally, I scream with joy, but on the outside, I just bite my lower lip, smile and shake my head.

We decide to go head over to the tent where Carol was at. Upon seeing us, her smile widened, "Oh, hey lovebirds."

Her remark was casual and she turned away as she hung out a few of Rick's shirts on the line. I couldn't help but groan and Carol turned back around quickly with a smile as if she knew what had happened between us, but that was impossible. Carol was just very perceptive.

I snuck a glance at Daryl and he was already hopping in his hammock and ignoring her comment.

He picked up a book that was laying on the table, "Hate it when they ain't got no pictures."

Carol and I both chuckled and he looked to us both with an innocent face, "Wha'?"

After helping with the rest of the clothes, Carol left and I walked around to Daryl in his hammock. I pulled up a chair, plucking the book from his fingers as he flipped aimlessly through the pages. "What are ya' doin?" He asked hesitantly. There was no agitation in his voice this time, only a curiosity.

"Reading, of course." I flipped a bright smile to him before getting a good look at the front cover and I stared down at the book. This was one of my favorite books of all time. "Interview with a Vampire.." I murmured quietly, flipping through it. He arched a brow, "Ya' read it before?" I nodded silently.

This book had a special place in my heart. Henry had read it and then he gave it to me when I was probably too young to read something such as this.

But, I had read it anyways. And I had fallen in love with Louis, the broken souled vampire.

"I read this book a dozen times in my life and every time I read it I have a different understanding of it. I guess your perception changes with age.." I drifted off in my thoughts as I stared at the book.

He stared at me, watching as I looked at the book. "Wanna' read it again? I, uh, I ain't never heard of it." I looked up to him incredulously, my eyes widened. Was he serious? He offered a small half smile and I took that as a yes.

And there we sat for the better part of the day, me reading and Daryl listening. Every once in awhile I'd stop and explain some things to him, but for the most part he listened in silence.

I didn't know if he followed along, or if he simply just liked hearing me read. Either way, I continued reading and Daryl continued to listen.

I was relieved that Daryl and I were talking again. Everything was going to be okay. Glenn and Victoria would get better and we'd call this prison home for as long as we could.

Little did I know, this would be our last good day.