Something ran through the grass, hitting a trashcan on the side of the road. We raised our weapons up at the unidentified object, Daryl shooting his crossbow at it. He snatched it up as the gate rolled open. It was a possum.

"We brought dinner," Daryl said to the guy standing at the gate. I smirked, Aaron chuckling a little bit.

"Come on in." He motioned for us to follow him as Daryl held the possum out to me. I shoved my sword back in its sheath and took it. Daryl then grabbed my free hand and held it in his, his grip tight.

"Before this goes any further, I need you to turn over your weapons," the nervous man that stood at the gate informed us. "If you stay, that's the rule."

"We don't even know if we wanna stay." Rick glanced over the man with suspicion.

"It's fine, Nicholas," Aaron whispered. "Let them talk to Deanna first."

"Who's Deanna," Abraham questioned from the back of the clump.

"Our leader. She knows everything you'd want to know about this place. Rick, why don't you start," Aaron offered, a biter snarling from outside the gate.

"Sasha," Rick queued her. Sasha swiveled around and shot the biter. "It's a good thing we're here," Rick mumbled, smirking.

"If you follow me, I'll show you the houses you'll be staying in," Aaron smiled as Rick disappeared. We followed him down the street, the people who were outside staring at us in a state of slight disgust. "Here we are. You guys can choose any house you want on this block." My heart skipped a beat, a grin spreading across my face.

"We can have a house all by ourselves," I whispered to Daryl. "Which one looks the best to you?"

"Dunno." Daryl shrugged his shoulders. "Let's just stay with Rick for now. It'll be a safe call," he suggested. I sighed in disappointment yet nodded with understanding. Aaron instructed for us to follow him to a gathering area after we finished gawking at the houses. A lady with a cart rolled up to us.

"We need you to put your weapons here." Aaron motioned to the cart. "They'll be put in the armory for safe keeping," he promised. I felt a sense of anxiety punch me in the stomach. I didn't wanna give up my sword. The group stepped up to the cart one by one, practically throwing away our weapons. When I walked up, the lady in charge of the cart eyed my possum with a disgusted look on her face. I ignored it, too busy departing with my sword to give a shit. My hands began to sweat at the absence of the handle against my palms. Carol smiled sweetly as she carefully brushed past me. She took weapon after weapon off of her. It was kind of comedic if you asked me.

"Should've brought two carts," the lady remarked before wheeling away.

"Deanna wants to see you," Rick muttered to Daryl. Daryl peered down at me and I nodded. He squeezed my hand, quickly kissing it before heading towards Deanna's house.

"Alright guys, you can head back to your new homes. Deanna wants to see each and every one of you before the end of the day so keep in mind that you'll be needed later," Aaron reminded us. "Thank you guys for coming to Alexandria," he beamed. I smiled back at him as Tara approached my side. I turned to her, the both of us taking our sweet time getting back to our block as we rambled on and on about things.

"I can't believe he gave you that." Tara eyed my possum, holding back a laugh.

"It's fine, no big deal."

"You'd do anything for him, wouldn't you?" The question caught me off guard. My mind swirled through answers and scenarios.

"Yeah," I responded. "Depends on what it is though." She thought for a moment.

"Would you die for him," she asked quietly. I was quiet in return, thoughts rushing through my head again.

"Yeah," I muttered. "I-I think I would." Tara half-smiled, pausing.

"Was he always so chill around you? I mean, you're basically the only person who can touch him without getting glared at," she joked.

"Fuck no," I laughed, leaning against the stairs of Rick's newly chosen house. "It took a while before we got to that point." We continued our conversation until Tara spotted Daryl sauntering over to us.

"Look, here he comes!" She nudged me, a wide grin on her face. I stifled my laugh, biting my lip as I blushed.

"Have fun," Daryl said to me as I handed his possum back to him.

"I'll try to," I smirked. Daryl brushed his fingers against my hand lovingly before I made my way over to the most lavish house in the whole settlement. I cautiously opened the door, stepping inside. A lady sat on a sofa. She gazed up from the notebook she had in her lap.

"Hello," she smiled as I entered the living room. "I'm Deanna Monroe."

"Aften Blake," I muttered, looking around at the house's interior: beautiful and clean.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Blake. If you don't mind, I'll be filming our talk today for safety reasons."

"Go ahead."

"Please, make yourself comfortable." Deanna motioned to a comfy looking chair across from her. I sat down in it as she set a notebook down on the table. "How long have you been out there?"

"Since the beginning. My dad built a town." I stared down at my feet at the thought of him. "We had nice places to stay and everything. He was in charge so he built an army to keep us safe, bring back stuff we needed."

"You seem uncomfortable talking about your father." Deanna leaned forward. "Why?"

"Um, h-he and I didn't get along well," I muttered. My eyes flickered up to Deanna's face. Her look made me believe that she actually cared. I sighed and shifted my eyes to the camera then back to the ground. "He... he went off the deep end as soon as my little sister died."

"The scar on your cheek: is that from him, perhaps," she questioned. My hand flew up to my cheek, my fingertips brushing over it.

"Yeah."

"Is he still alive?"

"No."

"What about your mother? Is she still with us?"

"No. She's dead too."

"I'm very sorry for your losses, Aften." Deanna momentarily bowed her head in sadness. "Can you tell me how you came across Mr. Grimes' group in all this?"

"I ran away from my dad's town and found their place by chance, but I kinda already knew about them; two of their people were living in our town, told me stories about them. My dad was dead-set on getting me back. Rick and his people tried to keep me safe but quitting wasn't an option for him; he was gonna kill everyone to get what he wanted." I paused. "But I killed him. I had to do it to save them."

"I'm sorry you had to endure all that," Deanna frowned sympathetically, leaning back. She thought for a bit. "Mr. Dixon; what is he to you?" I felt my cheeks flush.

"We-we've kinda stuck together ever since we met." I held back a small grin. "We just know we belong to each other and that's that."

"Interesting," she smiled. "He said something similar." I gazed down at my feet, smirking to myself.

I loved him.

"Well, that'll be all for today. It was nice meeting you, Aften. You're a very lovely girl." She took my hand in hers and patted it. "Send someone of your choosing over when you get a chance, alright," she instructed. I nodded before walking out of the house. I found Carol the first chance I got and sent her back. I sauntered over to Daryl who was skinning the possum on the front porch. He glanced up at me, his eyes scanning my body.

"How'd it go," he asked.

"Fine," I sighed. "You know, you should really be doing that inside. The neighbors'll flip out if they see you," I scolded him.

"I'm fine right where I am."

"'Whatever makes you happy, I guess..." I leaned up against the railing. "I heard they have hot water here. You can come shower with me if you want," I suggested, my eyebrows raised suggestively.

"You can go," he stated. I immediately glared at him before heading inside. I walked into the bathroom and stripped off my clothes. I took a steaming hot shower, wrapping myself in a towel when I was done. I made my way over to the mirror and wiped away the steam. I noticed a toothbrush and toothpaste sitting on the sink. I used them immediately. I rinsed out my mouth before smiling wider than I have in a while, showing off my teeth. I felt like a new person. There was a knock on the door. I opened it and Daryl pushed past me.

"Some girl named Jessie came by and told me to give these to you," he said, setting a basket on the floor. I bent down and started sifting through the clothes, pulling out some to change into. I glanced at him, waiting for him to leave. "I've already seen you naked, it's no big deal." He shrugged nonchalantly. I chuckled, shoving him playfully.

△

Almost everyone was asleep, piled into the living room. Daryl sat on the windowsill, awake. He turned to look at me as I softly snored. He climbed down from his spot and knelt by my side, mesmerized at how peaceful I looked.

"Aften," he whispered in my ear. I stirred. "Aften."

"What," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"C'mon." He held out his hand as I slowly sat up. I grabbed onto it.

"What're you doing," I groaned sleepily. He pulled me off the floor. I lazily stepped over the people on the ground, Daryl leading me up the staircase. He opened the door to a bedroom and pulled me in. He quickly closed it, leaning down and kissing me. I kissed him back as he gripped my waist with his hands, hoisting me up. Daryl threw me down on the bed, my back hitting the soft sheets. "What the fuck are you doing?" I tried to hold back a laugh while Daryl nipped at my neck and collarbone.

"What do you think," he smirked mischievously. I finally laughed, emerging out of my sleepy state as he feverishly crashed his lips onto mine.