Next day. Morning. At my place.

There was a knock on the door.

I opened the door "what?"

Gabriel "He's gone "

--

Negan got out. Great.

Gabriel "The guards say the keys are missing. Whoever stole them must've let him out. "

Aaron who was on watch last night?"

Gabriel " Laura was, but she said she didn't do it, and I believe her. "

Lydia walked past us and straight to the cells " I did it. I let Negan out. "--I opened the cell "Come on. You didn't do this. "

Lydia nodded "Yeah, I did."

Daryl " I kept watch last night. You never left the house. "

Lydia "Does it matter? This is where they want me. "

Daryl shook his head "Doesn't matter what they want. "

Lydia "You know, for a long time, I blamed myself for what happened last year. Kept thinking, what if I just stayed in that cell at Hilltop? If I never let myself be taken alive by you people in the first place? Never went off with Henry? Never said what I said to my mother? "

Daryl "You're not to blame for her."

Lydia " My mother was right. She said you people put on these polite faces, but it's just a mask 'cause when things get bad... when you get scared... you pick a target, aim, and shoot. Me, Negan, anything but you. "

Daryl "Negan's different. You didn't know him."

Lydia „The Negan I know stood up for me when he didn't have to. I tried fitting in. I wanted to be like you. "

Daryl " You don't belong in a cage. "

Lydia "I'm better here. I feel safe. "

--

I watched Daryl scrubbing off the pain of the house.

I walked out of the house and saw Daryl sitting there with Dog smoking a cigarette.

He didn't even look at me .I know he knew i was there though.

Dog walked over to me and poked my leg with his nose.

I smiled and bent down to him to give him a kiss on the head "hey, big guy"

Then i looked at Daryl who just starred at the railing.

I sighed and walked down the steps of the front porch.

Daryl "Where you goin'?"

Me "gonna look for Negan"

Daryl "so you can fuck him again?"

I stopped walking before scoffing.

Then i walked to the fence.

In the woods.

I was at a little clearing and looked over to the other side.

Me "i know you are there"

he stepped up next to me.

Me "wanna watch me fuck Negan?"

He cleared his throat.

Me "what? Or am i wrong?"

Daryl changed the subject "Think Negan crossed the border?"

Me " He'd know we couldn't follow him over there."

Daryl " I can't see him puttin' on a mask. "

Me "Or staying quiet for long. Still, stranger things have happened. "

Then i put my bag down.

Daryl "We takin' a break? "

I shook my head "Nope. This is my spot today. Gonna stay here... see what i see."

Daryl "He ain't gonna wander around, waitin' to get spotted. He ain't that dumb. Neither are you. "

I nodded.

Daryl "You wanna tell me what we're doin' out here? "

Me "Lookin' for Negan. "

Daryl "Right. You gonna tell me what we're really lookin' for?"

Me " Alpha's horde. We're gonna find it, and we're gonna destroy it."

--

I looked at the map in my hands.

Daryl "wanna tell me what you know?"

I looked at him surprised "so we're talking again?"

Daryl "you know i didn't have to come here"

I shook my head "i didn't ask you to join me, Daryl. "

Daryl "well, then i can go"

I nodded "don't let me stop you"

Daryl looked at me, nodding.

I nodded.

Daryl didn't move.

Me "you're not moving because even though you may be pissed at me you know i am in the right. And we both know you love me too much to just let me walk out here alone without you to protect me"

Daryl just looked at the map "Let's leave it in Alexandria"

Me "you sure-"

Daryl clenched his jaw "i wasn't asking"

I took a deep breath " Alpha's been sending waves of walkers to screw with us, right? Well, I've been tracking walker movement along the border. Small groups. Some of them might have Whisperers in them. But they all connect right back to this general area, so I figure we stake out this spot. "

Daryl "See where the Whisperers go. Might lead us back to the horde. That's smart. "

I nodded "I thought so. "

Daryl "She's gonna need a place, though, like the canyon they used to be in. Only spots I know are on Whisperer territory, though. Not gonna be able to sneak in there without startin' up some kind of shit. "

Me "We only need to figure out where they are, and then we'll tell the council. I swear. "

Daryl "Why weren't you straight with me before? "

Me "i thought you hated me"

Daryl "i wanna strangle you but i don't hate you. "

--

Daryl and i were throwing rocks at a bin that was standing a feet away from us.

He missed his rock.

I smiled a little " So close, Mr. Crossbow, I thought aiming was your thing."

Daryl snorted amused "It's definitely not your thing"

Me "Let me throw a knife at it and i will win"

Daryl scoffed and threw a rock into the bin. He chuckled.

Me "Sorry, it doesn't count. "

Daryl froze "'Course that counts. "

Me "No, you gotta knock the can over. - You can't just kiss it. "

Daryl eyed me " Oh, my God. You're such a sore loser."

Me " I'd have to lose in order to be a sore loser, so since that didn't count, I'm gonna take my turn. "

Then i grabbed my knife.

Daryl " Maybe it'll help your aim. "

Me "Very funny, asshole. How was Hilltop?"

Daryl " It was fine. Judi sends her best. "

I nodded "mhm, my little sis loves you"

Daryl "just like the older sis, - Well, that's what I thought "

I shot him a look "what happened on leaving it in Alexandria?"

Daryl "sorry"

Then he nudged me "hey"

He gestured to some walkers at the clearing "Hey, you see that? "

I took the binoculars and looked at the horde.

Then i handed it to Daryl"It's a Whisperer."---

Me " It's getting bigger. "

Daryl "Yeah, looks like they're gatherin' up all the strays."

Me " Well, once the sun goes down, it's gonna be tough to see where they go unless we can get closer. "

Daryl "What makes you think they're goin' anywhere?"

Me " If you and me were Whisperers, that's when we'd move 'em. You know I'm right. "

Daryl eyed me.

I asked confused "what?"

Daryl " You wanna cross the border, don't ya?"

I shook my head "No. but I wanna find the horde. If that's what it takes... "

Daryl " Sure this isn't you just tryin' to take a shot at Alpha? Succeeding what Carol failed to do?"

Me "The horde is our shot. You changin' your mind? "

Daryl shook his head "Nope. I didn't say that. "

I asked confused "Then what's the problem? "

Daryl nodded " Alright, we do this, we gotta be smart about it. None of this "runnin' off in the middle of the night, no backup, just us" stuff, alright?"

Me " Since when are we not enough? "

Daryl " You know, we mess this up, everyone else is gonna pay for it, right?"

Me "We've already paid. We keep paying no matter what side of the line we're on."

Then i stood up " I gotta pee. "

--

I walked back to Daryl "Did you find what you were lookin' for? "

He had been looking through my bag. Asshole.

Daryl " You bring a gun? "

I shook my head "No. Used up all the ammunition"

Daryl "There was still some ammo left in the storage room."

Me " I didn't bring a gun, Daryl. Wanna frisk me? Go ahead. "

Daryl "Okay. "

I sighed "Either we're enough, or we're not. "

Darryl nodded " Alright, let's do it. A plan this stupid, might as well be us. "

--

Daryl and i were walking through the high grass.

He sighed "You good with these rules? "

Me "Yeah. Don't be seen."

Daryl " No tracks, no killin' walkers neither. Find a bunch of bodies with holes in their heads, we might as well leave a note saying we were here. "

Me " Watch, learn, leave."

Daryl " Yeah, if things go sideways, we head back. "

I nodded.

Daryl "We get split up, you meet me right here, alright? "

I nodded "Yeah. And be safe. "

Daryl "We got luck on our side, alright? Come on. "

Night.

Daryl and i were a few feet apart.

A horde was in front of us.

Daryl signaled to walk away.

I stepped forward but stepped on a twig, breaking it.

Damn it.

Some walkers came my way.

I froze and hid behind a tree.

You could hear a man whisper "Not here. "

Woman "Keep looking. "

Damn it.

---

I had the Whisperer hands tied together. I was able to catch one.

Daryl walked to us. He had walker blood all over his face.

He looked at the whisperer "What the hell is this? "

Me "He saw me. We can take him back, see what he knows. Maybe it's a good thing. "

Daryl "Did you plan this? "

I shook my head "No. "

Daryl looked at the zip ties "What's this? It wasn't in your bag. "

Me "Guess you missed it. Come on. We don't have time to argue. It's done. "

At Alexandria. At the cells.

Daryl walked in first to get Lydia out.

I brought in the guy. We, of course, had wrapped his eyes.

Then i brought him in the cell as Lydia walked out.

Daryl closed it.

Outside.

I walked to Lydia "You know him?"

Lydia nodded " He's one that watches the Guardians. I mean, the walkers. "

Me "So he knows where your mother's horde is? "

Lydia nodded "Probably. "

Gabriel walked to me "You've put us all at risk."

Me " We have to find that horde before it shows up at our gates. "

Gabriel "So you decide for all of us? Knowing what it could mean? "

Daryl "Doesn't matter anymore. We still gotta find them. "

Gabriel "I'm gonna be in there with you, and Siddiq is gonna treat his wounds first. "

Me "He bleeds until he answers."

Gabriel " That's not your call. None of this is. You did what you did, but I'm not gonna let it go from bad to worse, and I think the council would agree. Including Michonne. "

I growled.

At my place.

Lydia walked upstairs while Daryl walked downstairs.

I followed Daryl downstairs and watched him take his shirt off.

I looked down, crossing my arms over my chest " you were showing up less and less. the distances between your visits grew larger and then one day i realized you weren't gonna come back and that's when i decided to stop going to your camp in the woods. "

He looked down.

I looked at him "I started to drink. alcohol was the only thing i had. Michonne was taking care of Judith and RJ and i left her alone. I couldn't deal with you leaving me. I never thought i would find love after my relationship with Jason and then you came across and saved me back then when you found me in the woods. I disliked you at the beginning but then i we got shitfaced drunk at the CDC and slept together. And i started to fall in love with you. The toughest Son of a bitch ever. And i fell hard, not gonna lie about that. We were together for more than 5 years. we have been through so much shit together. and then you decided to leave for 5 years, Daryl. did you even care ? were you even still in love with me when you decided to leave? because you made it seem like it was the easiest thing ever"

Daryl " i promised i was always going to come back to you, Ken"

Me "you didn't say goodbye"

Daryl "you think i would have been able to go if i said goodbye"

I smiled a little "this reminds me of the conversation we had at the prison"

Daryl nodded "same. I made a promise to your father"

I looked at him confused.

Daryl "that i would always protect you- always love you"

Me "you left"

Daryl "i came back. I didn't expect for us to pick things up were we left them. I know what i did wasn't cool but what you did wasn't cool either"

I nodded "i know. I was single though"

Daryl nodded "i know. But out every single guy here you had to fuck Negan?"

I grimaced "not my brightest moment"

Daryl nodded "mhm"

Me "who told you? "

Daryl "Judith"

I sighed.

Daryl "Well, she didn't want you to hurt uncle Daryl so she told me truth."

I nodded "okay. why aren't you furious, though?"

Daryl looked at me confused.

Me "you found out i had sex with the most hated person on this planet and all you did was being mad ? "

Daryl "what did you expect me to do?"

I shrugged "I don't know. Maybe burn this place to the ground"

Daryl nodded "I was going to and, i am mad, trust me. But if i hadn't left you you wouldn't have slept with Negan. At the end of the day it was my fault because i left. "

I looked down, in tears.

Daryl "what's wrong?"

I shook my head "i don't deserve you"

Daryl walked over to me and put a hand on my cheek "hey, hey, look at me"

I looked at him in tears.

Daryl "i ain't leaving again, i promise"

Me "as long as you come back, i can live with that"

Daryl shook his head "you shouldn't have too, though"

I nodded a little.

Daryl "i love you, princess, don't ever think i wouldn't, you hear me"

I put my hand on his chest and nodded.

His hand that was around my face moved to the back of my neck.

I looked up to him.

Suddenly he kissed me harshly.

I kissed him back and put my arms around his neck.

He picked me up and put me down on the bed.

Dog jumped off the bed and rushed out of the room. Couldn't care less though.

Daryl ripped my shirt off and started kissing down my neck.

I giggled a little.