Alright, so I've had this idea for a TWD story kicking around in my brain for a while, and I've decided I just have to write it. Maybe I'll go back and build on it, but for now it's just a two shot, unless I give myself the bug with this story. Let me know in the reviews if you'd like more and if there's enough interest maybe I will write some :) Enjoy!

Lily

Alexandria was everything that they had hoped for and more. They were finally safe, something they hadn't been able to say for a long long time. I stretched out my back, the muscles still sore from my time at Terminus. I thanked God for small favours,
mostly that we weren't eaten, but that didn't mean some of us weren't hurt...I sighed. Time to get up for the day and do your part for the community! If there was one nice thing about the end of the world, it was not having to make nice with
your neighbours. Unfortunately that was the exact price of our current arrangement. I'd pulled kitchen duty with Carol today so at least I could be happy with that. The short haired older woman had been a close friend since Atlanta, and when she finally
rejoined the group after the attack on Terminus, I'd bawled like a child.

I made my way downstairs from my bedroom in one of the houses that had been assigned to us. We had just split up a few weeks ago, and it still felt strange to be apart from everyone. I was glad that Sasha shared my bed every night, we had an unspoken
agreement that we would stay that way for the time being. I knew she got just as much out of it as I did, just the feeling of someone else sleeping next to me was more comforting than I was willing to admit. Glenn and Maggie were in the kitchen when
I got downstairs, drinking coffee and having breakfast.

"Hey Lily, how'd you sleep?" Maggie got up to pour me a coffee as she asked. It was so strange to see them like this. Almost as if they were a normal couple. Having coffee in the morning in this beautiful, huge house.

"It was OK. Better now that Sasha stays here. Those first couple of nights were rough but I think I'm getting used to it." Maggie nodded as she set the steaming mug down in front of me.

"I know what you mean. Even though Glenn is always there it feels weird to wake up not surrounded by the group. Lonely almost."

"Gee thanks Maggie." Glenn teased, mock rolling his eyes. She slapped his hand and kissed his cheek.

"You know what I mean." I smiled and drained my delicious brew. I didn't eat breakfast. My body so accustomed to eating almost nothing that the extra food would only make me feel sick. Besides I was working in the kitchen so I could snack all day if I
had to.

The air was crisp outside and I was glad of the long sweater I had brought. Whoever had stacked the closet before me had good taste. And thanks to a delightful combination of malnutrition and the overly athletic lifestyle I had been forced to adopt over
the last few years, I fit the tiny clothes that my closet provided. Hopefully now I'll put a couple pounds back on. I thought to myself. It wasn't that I was horribly skinny, but I missed some of the softness of my body pre-apocalypse. It was
hard to feel feminine when all I ever wore were baggy tanks, buck knives and combat boots.

"Hey sweetie. Sleep well?" Carol greeted me as I walked into the back door of the pantry. I mmhmmed my assent and hugged her hello. I was still so relieved to see her every day that I felt almost self conscious. First we got her back at Terminus, and
then I almost lost her again at the hospital. Seeing her was like coming home, and I never wanted to lose that feeling again. I could tell in the way that she hugged me back that her own feelings weren't far from my own.

"How about I check your back before we get started? We're working outside in the garden today and I don't want to push it before you're all healed up."

"It feels fine, just a little stiff. I think it'sall closed up to be honest." Without noticing,I had wrapped my arms around my small torso. There was more than one reason I hadn't been eating as much as I should...

"Hun, just let me check OK?" Carol's soothing tone and her gentle hands pried my arms away and lifted my shirt. Although it felt a little strange to be standing in the kitchen in just my bra, it was oddly only something I had very recently become self
conscious of. I had been an underwear model in my time before all this. I had been about as body confident as I could be. And then Terminus happened. I had left there with more than just the scars on my body. Although, I told myself, It could have been so much worse.

"They look good,"I felt her cool fingers trace the red lines I knew were there, checking for swelling or bumps, "They're healing really well Lily. Maggie did a good job stitching you up."

"Considering all she had were some random threads and a blunt needle I'd say she did masterfully." I heard Carol laugh slightly behind me as she helped me pull my shirt back on.

"You're one tough girl. That's all I can say. They may have beat you, but they sure as hell didn't break you." I smiled in spite of myself and part of me glowed with pride at her words. We worked in the garden until about the late afternoon when we decided
to take a well deserved break. Sitting on the stoop of the pantry house we were sipping lemonade when Aiden Monroe, son of the leader of the town came walking up to us.

"Hey girls. Taking a gossip break? Anything juicy?" I bristled slightly at his tone, but put on my best pretty girl smile,

"Oh don't you wish you knew what we were talking about." I smirked at him in the way I knew would make him think I was flirting. The grin on his face widened and he had an almost mischievous look to him when he replied.

"Maybe I'll find out at the party. You ladies are coming tonight right? It's the social event of the year." I laughed, his mother's barbecue to mark the month anniversary of the new people joining their group was hardly an evening I was looking forward
to, and he clearly thought as much of it as I did. Ever the actress, Carol took the opportunity to solidify her new character.

"I think it'll be great, just like how the world used to be. Tea and barbecues with the neighbours. Gosh I know I miss all those things." I rolled my eyes a little at Aiden, making him think we were in on a joke together. Us against this desperate housewife.
Bait that he immediately took by the look on his face. I bit my lip a little rose to my feet.

"It's a good thing we have guys like you going on runs for us Aiden. Otherwise it'd be a pretty dull party," his back straightened at my words. Damn these preppy boys make this so easy, "Well we really should get back to work. See you at the party
Aiden." I flashed him another smile as we headed in, bursting into silent giggles as soon as we shut the door.

"My god his face!" Carol wheezed, "I'd have thought he was going to propose any second."

I laughed loudly, feeling the full force in my throat.

"Guys like him are so easy. A little flattery and a quick smile and they're putty in your hands." From a young age I'd known how to use my looks to get what I wanted, and since the end of the world had started I had needed to use them less and less. Focusing
instead on my survival skills and my speed with a knife. Still though, they did come in handy for throwing off suspicion as to my real talents. My father had me in martial arts since I was 7 years old, and I had taken to it like a fish to water. Knife
play had been something I had picked up only after the dead started walking and the living became almost as bad. And I had gotten good. Very good.

Carol had had the smart idea to play herself off as the doting wife and den mother. And I had managed to take a leaf out of her book. Still badly injured I hadn't exactly been an intimidating sight when we rolled up to the gates of the small community.
Since then I had done a pretty good job of making everyone believe that I was a 10 in the looks department, but not much of anything else. Not the most flattering role to play, but like Rick had said, we needed a few hidden aces.

Just in case.

"Speaking of men that are putty in your hands, have you seen Daryl around lately?" She asked cautiously. I felt the familiar butterflies at the sound of his name and shook my head,

"First of all, Daryl Dixon is no woman's putty. And secondly no, I haven't. He's been fixing up that bike at Aaron's place 24/7, and I think he's been avoiding me...he hasn't said anything to you has he?" The older woman looked at me levelly. I could
tell she knew something. But she was just as close with the younger Dixon brother as she was with me, and if he had said anything to her I doubted very much she was going to tell me.

"Just give him time hun. He'll come around, he's just working some things out. But I did think he was going to try to make an appearance the last few days. I guess not. I doubt he'll be at the party in any case." I laughed a little.

Daryl Dixon at a community barbecue, that'll be the day.

"Probably not." As much as people liked to joke, Daryl had never seemed any more interested in me than in any other female member of the group. We were closer than he was with most of them, that was for sure, but not in the way they all thought. I knew
how men looked at me when they wanted something more, and Daryl had never looked at me like that. We had been growing closer before the prison fell...but a lot had changed since then. Part of me was glad to finally have a friend who didn't just want
to get in my pants. But another, larger, part of me just wanted him to see me as a woman and not just his hunting partner. Words I never thought I'd say. Having spent most of my life wishing people would see more to me than just my looks, it
was ironic that I had spent the last two years pining after one of the only men who did.

We finished up in the garden and I made my way back to the house to wash all the dirt off myself before the party. Not too long ago I hadn't even noticed how filthy I was, and now, any grime seemed impossible, and rude. Back to the suburbia I guess.
Sasha had calmed somewhat since the last party the Monroes had. I found her in our bedroom, combing out a few knots in her dark hair.

"Hey pretty lady. Where were you this morning? You were gone when I woke up."

"Early shift in the watchtower. How was kitchen time?" I told her about Aiden and she laughed slightly, still sore from the loss of Bob, even innocent flirtation seemed to hurt her. I kissed her forehead and headed into the shower to wash off the day.

The party was in full swing by the time Sasha, Maggie, Glenn and I arrived. Noah had been stuck in a conversation with one of the locals and looked immensely happy at our timing. Wanting to talk to Rick and see if he had any insight about our brooding
friend I broke off to go find him. And find him I did. Locked in an intense looking conversation with Jessie - the real housewife of Alexandria. Wanting to stop him before he did anything stupid I walked up and touched his arm. The slight flinch against
my hand told me he was on edge, but he covered it quickly, and kissed my head in greeting, putting his arm around my shoulder in that protective way he had.

"Lily, you've met Jessie right?" I nodded, that smile plastered on my face again. Although I did genuinely like the woman, something about the hold she had on Rick seemed wrong to me, and it put me on my guard.

"The hairdresser right? I need to come see you soon, this is getting pretty hard to handle." I fingered my long strawberry blonde braid, and she gasped in what seemed like genuine disbelief.

"Your hair is so pretty! I can't believe you'd ever want to cut it."

"Pretty isn't so helpful when you're running around in the woods all year." I smirked but froze at the slight warning glance on Rick's face. "Good thing we don't have to do that any more!" I put my best bubbly foot forward for the rest of the conversation
before I finally got Rick on his own.

"Sorry boss. I forgot for a second I'm supposed to be all air up here." He smiled then, really smiled.

"Lily you couldn't pass for all air if you tried for 100 years. But you have managed to make half the camp fall in love with you so you must be something right. You always have had that mysterious thing going for you."

"Ah yes. All a girl has to do to make a man love her is turn off all shred of personality." I quipped and he nudged my shoulder in chide,

"Now that you couldn't do if you tried for 1000 years. I think you're just playing up your more...charming side." I raised my eyebrow at this. I hadn't thought of myself as charming before. But I supposed it fit. I had a knack for getting people, especially
men, to bend to my will fairly easily. And I supposed if that wasn't charm then I didn't know what was.

"If I didn't know you better Rick I'd think you were pimping me out." His expression slightly darkened at this and I laughed a little to let him know I was kidding.

"I would never ask you to do that. But if you can get information out of them without going quite that far, I wouldn't be upset about it." Smirking, I noticed Aiden on his way over to us,

"I guess I'd better get my game face on then." He squeezed my shoulder and left as Aiden got to us.

"Well hey there again. Fancy seeing you here." He grinned at me and I smiled the half smile I knew would get to him and quickly looked at nothing in particular over his shoulder.

"Where else would I be when all the fun is right here in this room?" He handed me the drink he had brought me and we made a show of clinking our cups.

"So Lily, what brings a girl like you into a group like that?" I looked up at him, keeping my eyes innocent but inside wondering if he was plying me for information as much as I was him.

"They protected me, I would have never gotten this far without them. Carol and I, they took us in and in turn, we helped them stay sane I guess."

"And what was your job I wonder," his expression had changed and I knew the alcohol had made him bolder than usual as he leaned into me, "Keeping up morale?" I flushed at the implication but hid it by bowing my head slightly. How dare he?! But
still, the son of the leader was still our best source...and I knew Glenn didn't trust him, which gave me even more reason to find out his real motives. Icky as it made me feel, it was my job to get Intel from this creep. I lifted my head and raised
onto my tiptoes, so that I was right by his ear with my hand on his chest.

"Maybe someday I'll show you just how much I meant to the group." My eye met his as I pulled back and they were dark as night. Biting my lip slightly, another signature move, I sauntered off to the safety of my family.

Daryl

Fixing the bike was harder than I had thought, especially since I kept having to go for runs to get more parts. A lot of what Aaron had brought back was perfect, but he just didn't know bikes well enough to get everything I needed. I snorted as I lay
there covered in grease. IfMerle could see me now. He was a blatant racist, and wasn't much better with the LGBT crowd. I myself had never had a problem with anyone's sexual preference, but I never would have guessed I'd be spending
all my days at the house occupied by two guys in love. Aaron had welcomed me with open arms before any of the Alexandrians. The night of the first party, when he had invited me in for supper, was the first time I really felt like I could be at home
here. And that was something I wasn't going to forget in a hurry.

"Knock knock." I looked around the wheel to see the new Sheriff standing there.

"Rick." I pulled myself up and wiped off my hands on a stray rag.

"How's the rebuild going? It's looking great." I nodded and a small ball of pride burned in my chest.

"It is. Aaron and Eric have been really nice. Letting me come over whenever I want." Rick nodded and came farther into the small garage, taking a seat against the tool bench.

"Your own people need you too Daryl," he said slowly, "That's what I want to talk about." I bristled. I knew where this was going and I didn't feel like discussing it. Why do you think I spend all my time holed up in this garage? I sat on the
bike and waited for him to go on,

"Anyone in particular? Though I think I can probably guess." A ghost of a smile hovered over Rick's lips.

"You've been avoiding her. And I'm not the only one that's noticed."

"I can't Rick. I just can't."

"She needs you. Sasha says she still cries out in her sleep. And it's not any of our names." My grip on the wrench in my hand tightened till the knuckles were white and suddenly I was angry. Not at Rick but yes at Rick. Why did he have to come in here and bring all this shit up?

"Fuck...don't you think I know that! I know who's name she was screaming when they were in there with her. Mine. Not yours, Not Carol's, not Glenn or Maggie or fucking Abraham, Mine! I have to live with that. You think I don'tthink about
it every damn day?"

"What happened to her wasn't your fault. And it wasn't hers either so you gotta stop treating her like it was." That hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. Was that what I was doing?

"It that what she thinks? That I blame her? Jesus Rick of course I don't. I just don't know how to look at her any more." Rick looked up at me, and I said softly, almost to myself,

"She was hurting and there was nothing we could do about it. Nothing I could do about it. How can I look her in the eye and tell her I'll protect her after that?" And although I could see the softness in his eyes, what he said was serious.

"She was hurt, Daryl. But she didn't let them make her a victim. Don't you go doing it to her instead." With that he left me, though he paused at the door to remind me of the party tonight. And that my presence would be felt just as much as my absence.
I went back to my room in the house to have a nap before the draining night. And as I dozed all I could think of was that day. How it felt to be bent over a trough meant to catch our blood. And her screams as Garrett taunted us.

The cloth in my mouth was damp with saliva, and the gagging feeling hadn't dissipated since they'd tied it more than half an hour ago. When the bag was lifted from my head I could see Glenn and Rick on either side of me. Both with the same expressions as we realized what kind of place we were in. It was a slaughter house. To our left I could see carcasses behind an almost opaque curtain. That was when I heard the snap of a belt that I'd known so much in my childhood. The sound of chains pulling on metal and a woman's scream. I knew who it was, her voice as unmistakable even mangled as it was through her pain.

"Are there more of you?!" a man's voice

"Go fuck yourself." I heard her spit, and for a second I was proud of her, until I heard another lash, followed by another scream. As my eyes grew more and more accustomed to the light I could just barely see her silhouette through the curtain. Glenn and Rick were struggling beside me when the guys behind us pushed us all forward.

Garrett came out from behind the curtain, his hands were covered in blood and I felt sickened at what that could mean. Pulling up a chair in front of us he started to talk. As he spoke to Rick I was barely paying attention, all my focus pin pointed on the girl behind the curtain. Every so often we would hear a thud or a grunt followed by her sharp yelps of pain that were making me feel sick to my stomach.

"We don't want to hurt her boys," at the mention of Lily he had my full attention, "But you have to tell us where your weapons are, and how many more of you are out there. You see, you're a big group. But you seem like a smart man Rick, and I have a feeling you left a few people out there. Just in case something went wrong." Unfortunately for us we were all locked in here with these cannibal nut cases. But Garrett didn't know that. And Rick had no intention of setting him straight.

"Again" Garrett called over his shoulder. Another lash. Another scream. I felt my friends tense and I knew this was killing them as much as it was killing me.

"Don't tell him anything!" Her voice was ragged, and she was quickly silenced with what looked like a punch to the gut but it was enough to steady our leader. Garrett however looked livid.

"How much more do you think she can stand before she begs us to kill her? Hmm?" With a flick of his wrist the men beside us, who I had only just noticed, had their throats opened into the trough. He sauntered back to the curtain and I strained on my binds, but the men behind us clearly weren't going to kill us. They wanted us to see.

"Now little girl, lets see how loud you can go." We heard the sound of fabric ripping and the implications made me see red.

"No! Stop no!" The lashes fell quick and hard, and I could see a few of the men in there hitting her, though I couldn't tell what else they were doing in the half light of the corner. She screamed in pain and rage and it was the next word that was my undoing.

"DARYL!" My stomach felt like lead and I almost threw up what little was in my stomach. Thankfully at just that moment explosions went off in the compound. Carol's timing could have not been more perfect. The momentary distraction was all we needed to overpower our two guards and run for the hidden girl. Without pause I yanked the curtain open, ready to face whoever was behind it but they had already fled, leaving Lily for us. She was hanging just off the ground by her chained hands on one of the large butcher's hooks. She was covered in blood and bruises, some at least a few days old I realized with a start. She's been in here for days. Her shirt hung off her small frame and her jeans were ripped at the hip. She was unconscious and for that much I was glad as Rick and I got her down. Her back was a mess, and I knew from experience that the way I was holding her was enough to make her pass out but we had to get out of there.

By the time we had escaped and freed our friends she had regained conciousness enough to hobble beside me as I held her up by her waist, being in too much pain for me to carry her any other way. When we found Carol in the woods the small sound she made was almost too much as she fell into the older woman's arms. As if they were the only thing in the world.

I knew I wasn't getting any rest today and so had a shower before I headed over to the Monroes. I would be a little late but at least I was showing up at all.

Thanks for reading everyone! The next chapter will be out tomorrow and then after that we'll see! I loved writing this little guy and hopefully you will all like it too :) Please R&R, feedback is my love xx