Theme Song: "Here's To Us" - Halestorm

I watched as everyone lounged around downstairs and got comfy. Rick tapped Carl's Sheriff hat and he looked up to his dad and smiled at him. I looked towards Tyrese, Victoria, Sasha and Lizzie as they huddled together while T-Dog and Carol hung out together across from me. Michonne chose to sit next to me, while Maggie, Glenn and Hershel took spots near Rick and Carl. I noticed Daryl was in the corner, slightly away from the group, but still with everyone at the same time. He looked to me for a moment and then dragged his eyes away to inspect his hands absentmindedly.

Glenn cleared his throat, breaking the ice between everyone that now talked amongst themselves, "Your brother or your dad?" He furrowed his brows in concern and I looked to Glenn sadly shaking my head. "Just gone, I don't know. Henry, my brother, was a surgeon in Virginia. He warned me to get out of the city, so I just packed up and left. I hadn't talked with dad in awhile before all of this. You know how he was, Glenn."

Glenn looked sad, nodding in understanding about her father, before Maggie stepped in and offered, "How'd you get into that stuff that you do? That seems pretty wild." Her accent caught on the word wild and I couldn't help but smile at it. I noticed everyone was looking to me now, eating and passing around the bottle of whiskey. Rick, Michonne, Carol and Hershel refrained from drinking anything.

"My mother had apparently been in love with the circus since she was a little girl. It came one day in our town and she took me. I fell in love with the flying ladies as I called them. It was so bad they bought me a jungle gym with the gymnastics rings and everything." I stopped for a moment and smiled at the memory. Glenn knew this story, but he stayed silent, smiling all the while.

"Then my mom got sick. And when she didn't get better I think I knew something was wrong. The cancer took her when I was twelve. I just hung it all up and stopped practicing. Life just stopped for a while, really." When Michonne passed me the bottle I took a long swig and passed it back to Michonne who got up and passed it to Daryl.

"A few years later my brother found some classes an hour away. He talked me into taking them. He drove me multiple times a week to my classes until I was able to drive. College time came before I knew it and, well..I got a couple scholarships and two full rides offered to me."

I stopped suddenly remembering how angry my father had been when I had declined them all. Michonne quirked a brow and seemed to understand before I even said it. "You didn't accept any of them, did you?"

I shook my head no vehemently and answered, "Nope, I ditched college because I knew what I wanted to do. And my mother would've been so proud of me. My father though was a different story. We'd need a liquor store for that one…" I smiled ruefully.

"I met up with a couple of the girls who I'd been training with and we formed a little trio that did contract work for hire. We made a decent enough living and we got to travel all over the place." My voice hitched and I looked away now at the memory that seemed like it was just yesterday.

I looked back towards Glenn and Maggie, "And then I ended up landing a permanent residency right outside of Atlanta a year or so before the outbreak. The other girls hadn't wanted to settle down, but I thought the residency was a good idea. I was tired of drifting at that point and I kind of just wanted to have normal again. And that is where I met Glenn!" There were chuckles now and Rick looked over to Glenn with a smile who returned it. I noticed Daryl had looked up at the mention of me drifting around the country.

Tyrese got up with his girlfriend, Victoria, to go take a watch and waved at me kindly, excusing themselves as they retreated outside to take a shift. Lizzie wanted to go play with Carl so they took off. The feeling in the room got more comfortable and everyone seemed to start talking now. I listened at times and other times I was telling stories. I told the story about throwing the knife at the apple on Glenn's head after one of my shows. The room was filled with laugher and even Daryl had pointed towards Glenn with a smirk, "Bet ya' pissed yer pants!" Glenn turned red and shook his head laughing.

Maggie shared some stories from her life on the farm and Hershel chimed in a little bit every now and then. She even shared some of Glenn's heroic stories and Rick shared the story on how he met Glenn in a tank in Atlanta. It was only when Hershel had mentioned Beth and how she would have liked what I was doing in the circus did the room take on a somber feeling. Carol looked up and said through stricken eyes, "So would Sophia. She would've loved to have seen that." I frowned now at the mention of these two girls in the past tense. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out they were gone and I felt my heart ache despite not knowing them.

Daryl had taken a swig of whiskey and looked away, gnawing on the inside of his cheek and looking extremely tense. For a moment I thought he was going to walk away, but he didn't. When Rick spoke up and changed the conversation, I was relieved. After a little while people started to clear away. Glenn hugged me again before heading out with Maggie back to their cell to get some rest. Carol retreated to go check on a sleeping Judith.

It was only when Sasha spoke up after most everyone had cleared out and asked, "You sure those men didn't follow you or know about this place?" The question sounded slightly accusing and it made me freeze. My mind projected images of Daniel, someone I was trying to forget.

Rick looked to Sasha and Michonne spoke up before Rick could interject. "She ain't one of them, if that's what you're thinking. And they have no idea we're here." Michonne's voice was firm and Sasha got up and handed the bottle of whiskey to Daryl a bit roughly before storming past them and muttering, "Better hope you're right."

I could only see Daniel and the images in my head flashed violently in front of my eyes. I stood abruptly and caught Rick's eye as he looked like he was about to say something, but I shook my head and assured, "I just need some air."

I had found solace being outside for a moment, catching my breath as my heart beat had started to increase at the mention of Daniel. I sat down on the concrete, head between my knees for a moment, breathing in and out slowly. My heart started to slow down, but not enough for my comfort. I lifted my head up to look out at the wide expanse past the prison gates.

Some walkers lingered now up against the gates. Tyrese and Victoria could be seen in the watch tower to my left and Tyrese offered up a wave in my direction. I waved back before returning my gaze to the walkers. I blinked a few times and heard the door open behind me and I turned to look halfway over my shoulder. I was anticipating it to be Rick or Michonne, so I started to say, "Honestly, I'm fine-," However, I didn't get to finish because to my surprise it was Daryl.

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed. It was a short filler chapter, but the next one makes up for it. A little Daryl x Vicki interaction is next! :D Stay tuned and as always, vote & comment!