The campfire that burned in front of us crackled, a low almost inaudible chatter among the group. I had my eyes fixed on the flame, no one bothering to start up a conversation with me. Daryl suddenly nudged me with his elbow. I turned my head towards him.

"What," I asked in a hushed voice, staring at his blank face. He leaned in close to my ear.

"I wanna show ya somethin'," he whispered, his fingers lightly brushing my hand.

"What is it?" My brows knitted together in confusion as I followed his lead, standing up and beginning to shuffle away from the fire. No one even seemed to notice we were leaving, too busy in their conversations to even look up.

"Ye'll see," he said back to me, entering an opening in the trees. I turned around to look back at the group, the fire and everyone still visible as I was led away. I slammed into the back of Daryl, stumbling. I hadn't noticed we'd stopped.

"Christ," I muttered in surprise. I could barely see him, the moonlight only providing a sleek outline of the top of his head. "What're we doing," I questioned him, slightly annoyed from our seemingly pointless trek out here.

"Just gotta get away for a little bit," he answered, reaching out his hand and grabbing mine to hold it in his. He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against mine. I could feel my face begin to flush, as I was taken back by the sudden action. I kissed him back, softly moving my lips against his. I could feel his hand leave mine, only to feel his arm wrap around my waist and pull my hips closer to his. His lips traveled over to my neck. They were warm against my cold skin. I smiled, tilting my head to the side while my hands began to roam below his belt. Daryl softly groaned as I brushed over him, taking my time. He nipped at my neck, his other hand on the zipper of his pants. I placed my hand on top of his.

A twig cracked in the darkness not too far away from us. My breath hitched in my throat and we quickly pulled away from each other. Daryl rapidly whipped out his knife.

"Let's go back," he muttered, sounding embarrassed. He gently grabbed my hand and swiftly led me back to the campfire.

△

Carol and I strolled along next to each other, the group soaking in the mid-afternoon light. Sticks cracked in the trees near us, everyone lifting their weapons. Daryl trotted up the ditch with a chain of squirrels hanging across his back. He stared at us in annoyance.

"We surrender, damn," he grumbled, muttering something under his breath as he made his way over to Rick who happened to be walking in front of Carol and I. "No tracks, no nothin'," Daryl told him.

"So whatever you heard last night..." Rick began.

"It's more what I felt," he explained. "Someone was watchin' us." Rick seemed puzzled by the declaration.

"What were you guys doing out there, anyway," he wondered, glancing back at me then back at Daryl. I quickly stared at the ground as I blushed deeply. "You really think we didn't see you guys leave, do you?" Daryl's face was just as red as mine, if not redder. Rick chuckled, cries of help ripping through the air. He stopped, motioning for us to follow his lead. We bolted towards the hollering, soon discovering a man perched upon a boulder. Four biters surrounded him, one with a good grip on his foot. We easily took them down, allowing him to come to the ground. His sickly looking demeanor caught Rick off guard. "You okay?" The man held up a finger and turned to the side, vomiting. I turned away, squeezing my eyes shut in disgust.

"My apologies," he sputtered. "I'm Gabriel."

"You have any weapons on you," Rick didn't hesitate to ask, staring him dead in the eyes. Gabriel was confused.

"Do I look like I'd have any weapons," he nervously smiled as he held out his hands. He wore a pastor's uniform, collar and all; I hadn't seen one of those since I was a little girl. "I have no weapons of any kind; the word of God is the only protection I need."

"Sure didn't look like it," Daryl retorted. I smirked to myself, slightly holding my breath to keep from laughing. Gabriel ignored him, trying to stay positive.

"Well, I called for help and help came," he beamed, wiping away the sweat plastering his forehead. "Do you have a camp?"

"No," Rick hissed. "Do you?"

"I have a church."

"Hold your hands above your head," Rick demanded, completely annoyed with his squeaky-clean appearance and calm composure. He roughly patted Gabriel down. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Not any, actually," he muttered.

"How many people did you kill?"

"None."

"Why?"

"Because the Lord abhors violence."

"What have you done?" Rick stepped closer to him, his voice lowering. "We've all done something."

"I'm a sinner. I sin almost every day but those sins I confess them to God, not strangers."

"You said you had a church?" Michonne diverted the conversation. Gabriel eagerly nodded as he began to take us there.

"Earlier," Rick began, suspicious. "Were you watching us?"

"I keep to myself. Nowadays people are just as dangerous as the dead, don't you think," Gabriel responded. "I wasn't watching you. I don't get out much."

A church sat in front of us in the middle of a clearing. The sign next to it read: 'St. Sarah's Church'.

"Can we take a look around first?" Rick held his hand out, wanting the keys. "Just wanna make sure you're telling the truth." Gabriel reluctantly handed them over. The doors to the church squeaked, a few of us cautiously entering with our weapons drawn. The floorboards creaked with every step we took. I observed the tower of canned food sitting at the front of the church. My eyes widened in surprise; Gabriel was sitting on a gold mine. I hustled over to the pile, sifting through everything; corn, beans, tomatoes, every vegetable you could think of. Daryl snuck up behind me.

"There's a bathroom over there," he whispered, nodding his head in the direction of it. I set down a can of tomatoes before it slipped out of my hand. I looked at him with concerned eyes.

"What're you saying, Dixon?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I dunno," he mumbled. "Last night we never finished..." My eyes almost bulged out of my head.

"We're in a church," I almost shouted.

"No one has to know," he smirked. I held back a gasp, almost breaking out into laughter. I glanced around the church frantically before grabbing his hand and quickly dragging him to the bathroom. We shut ourselves inside, the only light coming from the slit in the bottom of the door.

"I'm so going to Hell," I muttered before pressing my lips against Daryl's. He grabbed my waist, shoving me up against the sink; my back ached from the bruises that scattered it. I leaned back, Daryl roughly nipping at my neck. He grabbed my leg and lifted it up, shimmying his body in-between my legs. I could feel his fingers in my hair when his lips reconnected with mine, urgently moving against them. My hand ran down below his belt, undoing it and tugging down his pants. Daryl planted kisses all over my chest, softly biting down on the flesh. I let out a soft sigh at the feeling even though it slightly hurt. He pulled away to catch his breath and I sank to my knees. My heart pounded in my ears as I lightly ran my fingertips up and down him. He let out a shuddery breath. I leaned forward, softly dragging my tongue over his skin. He flinched at the pleasing contact.

I could hear him beginning to pant without anything even occurring just yet. I leaned forward again, slowly taking him into my mouth. He gasped. I slid forward and backward so agonizingly slow, Daryl shuddered. His fingers started to snake their way into my hair, gathering it up in his hands and gripping onto it for dear life. I did the same thing again, this time him throwing his head back. I could tell his mouth was open by the way he continued to breathe. I made sure to go faster then slow down and speed up again. I thought it was funny to listen to how he reacted.

Low moans rose from his throat, the sound forming a low choppy hum. Daryl cussed me out under his breath, clearly stating his satisfaction. I could hear his breath hitch, his body tensing. He growled, pulling my hair as he brought his hips forward. I took all of him as he shuddered, moaning lowly. I ran my tongue over him one last time before pulling away, breathing heavily. He could barely move, astonished by what just happened. I pulled up his pants for him, buckling and zipping them while I planted soft kisses on his neck.

"Wipe the sweat off your forehead before you go out there, just in case," I whispered in his ear before swinging the door open. I stepped back out into the pews with a small smirk like I was about to laugh, Daryl soon brushing past me.

"Uh, we're gonna go find some water," Daryl mumbled to Rick as he made a beeline over to the corner to pick up a few empty jugs. Rick stared at my knees which were slathered with dust, puzzled.

"What happened there," he asked, nodding towards them. My heart began to race again and I rushed past him, picking up the two last jugs in the corner before rushing out of the church.

Once we returned, we held a celebration in honor of our successful day. Candles illuminated the room as we drank wine and joked around with each other. I was busy eating food, my knee touching Daryl's while we sat together.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Abraham declared, silencing the room. "I look around this room and I see survivors; each and every one of you has earned that title. To the survivors!"

"Survivors," everyone cheered, lifting their glasses.

"But is that all you wanna be," Abraham continued unexpectedly after everyone has finished taking a drink. "Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forge for food, go to sleep with two eyes open, rinse, and repeat? I mean you've got the strength, the skill... thing is for you people, what you can do is surrender. We'll get Eugene to Washington and he'll make the dead die and the living will have this world again! Eugene," everyone shifted their eyes over to him. He looked startled by all the attention shifting to him. "What's in D.C.?" Eugene went on to blurt out a bunch of big words, leaving the group to exchange confused glances with each other.

"That means food, fuel, refuge, new start," he elaborated. We all nodded, finally understanding.

"However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. You can be safer than you've been since this whole thing started. Come with us. Save the world for that little one," Abraham nodded toward Judith. "Save it for yourselves." Judith suddenly babbled.

"What was that," Rick asked her in a baby voice. We laughed at the sweet moment. "I think she knows what I'm about to say; if she's in, I'm in." A few people began to clap. Daryl glanced over at me and tucked my hair behind my ear, reaching down to grab my hand. He kissed it, staring into my eyes.

"You know what that means," I grinned with excitement. "We could live in a cute little house together; just you and I kicking people's asses." Daryl let out a short, airy laugh. "We'd have to find another dog, though, which could take a while, but..."

"But what?" Daryl's eyes flickered over my happy features, enamored and intrigued.

"We could start a family while we were looking," I somewhat joked, staring at the ground. "If you wanted to and everything." I shrugged. I didn't think Daryl would really wanna be a family man, but it didn't hurt to suggest it; I'd spend the rest of my life with him. I honestly really wanted to; that's how I felt. I didn't look up in time to see the smile that had tugged at Daryl's lips after what I said.