Chapter 1

"Have you talked to her yet?" Glenn leaned up against the railing of the guard tower that overlooked the field, glancing at Daryl before going back to watching the perimeter for any signs of danger, besides the normal rotting bodies wandering the fence line.

"What're you gettin' at?" Daryl asked, his voice gruff and cutting straight to the point.

"I mean you've been watching her since she got here, but I haven't seen y'all talk once since that first day." Glenn turned his attention to the woman he was referring to, Juliet Michaels. The two of them had run into her on a hunting trip days ago and she'd ended up coming back to the prison with them.

"Got nothin' to talk about." Daryl said, his tone indicating that he wanted to end the conversation. Glenn had known him long enough now, though, that he didn't give up that easily. Daryl wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but Glenn, along with the rest of the group, agreed that they'd never seen him react to someone like he had with Juliet; constantly watching her, but refusing to actually acknowledge her presence. He generally didn't pay much attention to the other people they had taken in, but he was friendly enough.

"I figured you'd want to know how she kicked your ass in the meadow that day." Glenn said, shrugging his shoulders when Daryl glared at him. "I'm just saying no one's ever gotten the drop on you like that before."

"Won't happen again."

"That why you keep watching her 24/7? Afraid she's gonna come at you from behind and steal your crossbow?" Now Glenn was just goading him and they both knew it. Daryl ignored him and turned his attention back to the slender brunette attending to her horse.

"Does she ever leave that fuckin' thing alone? It ain't goin' nowhere." Daryl muttered, more to himself than Glenn.

"I don't know, why don't you ask her." Glenn answered anyways. "Oh yeah, that would require speaking to her. Never mind."

"Why don't you go fuck yourself?" Daryl finally snapped, only to have Glenn chuckle at his little outburst.

"Careful, she might hear you." Glenn laughed, but walked off leaving Daryl alone nonetheless.

Juliet looked up at Daryl from her position beside her horse and for a brief moment their eyes met. Daryl was grateful for the distance that separated them. At least from here he couldn't see the way the sun made her eyes sparkle an unnatural shade of blue.

-One Week Earlier-

"I thought you said it wasn't far." Glenn wiped his brow, careful to keep his voice low in order to not attract any walkers or scare any potential game away. The oppressive Georgia heat had yet to let up and the hot, humid air made doing anything outside miserable. Why had he volunteered to go on this hunting trip again?

"Be there quicker if you'd stop complainin'." Daryl's answer wasn't what Glenn had hoped to hear, but he knew better than to press any further. Daryl had been in a bad mood recently thanks to the lack of luck they'd been having on their hunting trips and Glenn wasn't dumb enough to piss him off any further. A few minutes passed in silence before the pair finally made it to the edge of a clearing, a decent sized pond taking up most of the meadow. Daryl figured if they could set up along the tree line they might get lucky and have something come to drink before they lost light. The area was pretty grown up with grass and saplings, but they should be able to see well enough to get a shot off. Daryl held his hand up to stop Glenn's progression as he eyed the surroundings for any sign of danger.

Glenn moved up to stand beside Daryl, glancing around as well just in time to see the gleam of an animal's coat move through the tall grass to the water's edge. "Is that a horse?" The younger man's voice rose a little in surprise at the sight.

"No, it's a fuckin' unicorn." Daryl's tone dripped with sarcasm, but his eyes were laser focused on the large animal. What was a horse doing out in the middle of the woods? Sure, they'd seen a few, but they had all been left in pastures after their owner's abandoned them. It looked well cared for, muscles rippling with its movements and no sign of malnutrition. He was golden brown, the color of wheat when the sun shone on it, but had black legs and a black mane and tail. Daryl raised his crossbow, taking aim, but Glenn shot his arm out in front of him.

"Don't shoot it!"

"You plan on ridin' the thing?" Daryl asked, frustrated. They needed the food.

"Having a horse could come in handy." Glenn tried to argue.

"Okay Hopalong Cassidy, why don't you go whisper in its ear and you two can ride off into the sunset. I'ma stay here so I can shoot it when it runs from you."

Glenn rolled his eyes, but stepped out into the clearing nonetheless and began cautiously approaching the horse. The horse immediately raised its head and looked at Glenn, but made no move to flee. "Hey buddy, what are you doing way out here?" Glenn held his hands out in front of him in a placating gesture. The horse merely went back to eating grass. When he got within a few feet he glanced back at Daryl, ready to tell him 'I told you so' only to come face to face with the barrel of a gun.

"Touch that horse and I'm gonna have to kill you." A slender brunette seemingly appeared out of no where aiming a nickel plated pistol directly at Glenn's face.

"You don't drop that gun I'm gonna have to kill you." Daryl's voice came from behind her. "Come on, drop it and turn around, nice and slow."

The brunette slowly raised her hands to the side, dropping the weapon softly onto the ground before turning to face him. Once she was looking at him, his aim nearly wavered. She was stunning. And not by end of the world, very few women left standards either. No, she would have made models and actresses jealous if there still were any. She was average height, maybe 5'6" and thin, with tan skin and long brown hair that she'd twisted into some kind of complicated looking braid. Her face was delicate with a perfectly shaped nose and full pink lips, but it was her eyes that had to be her most striking feature. He had never seen anyone with eyes like that. They looked like the ocean after a storm, bright blues mixing with shades of green around the pupils. Her voice brought him back to the present like she had snapped her fingers, freeing him from her spell.

"A crossbow? Really?" She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at his preferred choice of weapon.

"Ya got anything else on ya?" Daryl ignored her, instead asking her a question of his own.

"I look like I got anything else on me?" She shot back, glancing down at herself. She wore a dark red cotton tank top that had ridden up past her hips baring her stomach between it and her tight fitting jeans. There was an empty holster on her belt and the lace up knee high boots she wore didn't look like they left enough room to conceal anything.

"I'll check her." Glenn came up behind her, recovering from the surprise of coming across another person.

"That'd be a mistake." The brunette glanced over her shoulder at Glenn. "I don't like strange men touching me."

Glenn looked to Daryl for direction, stopping short at her implied threat. "Get her gun." Daryl nodded to the Colt .45 laying on the ground next to her. Glenn did as he was told, aiming the gun at her once he had it. "You got a name?"

"Sure." She replied.

"Care to share it?" Glenn asked.

"Not really."

"Alright, I'm gonna check you for weapons and you're not gonna try anything stupid." Daryl said, a clear warning in his voice as he lowered his crossbow and stepped towards her. She kept her hands raised and eyes locked with his as he approached her, but as soon as the crossbow was no longer aimed at her chest she struck, spinning and knocking the gun from Glenn's unsuspecting hand. He recovered quickly, swinging at her with a closed fist, but she was faster, blocking it with her forearm and kicking him below the belt. Daryl was coming at her back and she used the same leg to sweep behind her and land a vicious kick to his midsection, halting his progress long enough for her to bring Glenn's face to her knee and knock him out with a right hook. Turning back to Daryl she barely dodged his fist, his knuckles just grazing her cheek. His next swings came just as quickly, but again she blocked them with her raised forearms. Recognizing the opening, Daryl used his free hand to land a swift punch to the gut instead of going for her face like she'd been expecting. Doubling over for just a second she used her momentum as she stood back up to shove the palm of her hand into his face, nearly breaking his nose with the force. Grabbing his wrist again she pulled his arm out to the side in an arm bar and used her other hand to push him to the ground by his shoulder.

"You fight pretty good for a girl." Daryl grunted from his position with his face in the dirt.

"Funny, I was gonna say the same thing about you."

Daryl used all his strength to shove her off him, rolling to where he had dropped his crossbow and coming to his feet all in one fluid movement. Unfortunately, she had done the same thing, only she had retrieved her gun. They were both breathing heavily as they faced one another while Glenn still laid unmoving in the grass.

"So, do you feel like finding out if a bullet moves faster than an arrow or should we both just go our separate ways?" The woman was already backing up towards her horse, stepping over Glenn's unconscious body. "Sorry about your friend. Nothing personal."

"Where'd you learn to fight like that?" Daryl couldn't help but ask. It was the last thing he'd been expecting when he saw her.

"A girl's gotta have her secrets."

"You all alone out here?"

The woman walked around to the side of her horse, careful to keep her gun trained on Daryl. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"We've got a camp, couple miles back at an old prison. We could use someone with your skills." Daryl wasn't sure why he was telling her about their camp. As a general rule, you didn't tell anyone about the prison especially since the Governor was still MIA. But, the thought of leaving her out here alone, regardless of her ability to defend herself, made him feel uneasy.

"That place is overrun with walkers."

"Not anymore."

"You must be better with that crossbow of yours than you are with your fist, then." She mused, smirking.

"You got lucky." Daryl's voice was defensive.

"Luck had nothing to do with that." The brunette shot back. It had been a long time since she had talked with another person and she found herself enjoying their banter. "But, it would be nice to have a roof over my head again..."

"Before you come with us, you're gonna have to answer a few questions."

"Let's hear them." She said, lowering her gun a few inches so that it was no longer aimed at Daryl's head.

"How many walkers you killed?"

"I stopped keeping track after 50."

"How many people you killed?" Daryl's voice held a seriousness that made her pause.

"Two." She finally answered.

"Why?"

"Because they deserved it."

Normally the answer would have been cause for more questions, but there was something in her eyes when she said those four words that had Daryl nodding instead. "Alright."

"So, can we stop pointing our weapons at each other?" She asked, motioning to the crossbow still carefully aimed at her.

"You aren't gonna try and break my nose again, are you?"

"I can't make any promises." The woman laughed, but holstered her gun.

Daryl shook his head and walked over to Glenn who was just coming to. "Get up, we're heading back."

Glenn sat up and looked between Daryl and the woman. "With her?"

"Yep. Come on, get up. We're wastin' daylight."

The woman walked over to them and offered her hand to Glenn. "I'm Juliet, by the way."

He took her hand carefully and she helped pull him to his feet. "Glenn."

"Sorry about earlier, Glenn."

"Yeah, uh, don't worry about it." Glenn's voice sounded as confused as he looked.

Juliet's eyes moved to Daryl. "You never told me your name."

"Daryl."

Juliet smiled. "Nice to meet you Daryl."

Daryl looked away quickly. "Lets go." The three headed back to the tree line, the horse right on Juliet's heels.

It was nearly dark by the time Juliet made her way back inside the prison, dusting her hands off on her jeans as she entered. Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Michoone were gathered around a table talking about their next run while Maggie helped Beth with Judith and Carol finished making everyone dinner. She had been surprised by the welcome she'd gotten when they'd returned to the prison that first night. At first everyone was a little weary, but they'd all warmed up to her since then. Everyone but Daryl that is. He hadn't spoken to her since they'd gotten back and it was really starting to piss her off. It was like her mere presence upset him and she had done nothing to deserve it. He looked up from the table like he could feel her eyes on him. And what was that about? He couldn't talk to her, but he felt the need to watch her every move? She ripped her eyes away from his face, refusing to acknowledge her body's reaction to him and walked over to help Carol.

"So, how long should I expect the silent treatment from Daryl?" She asked the older woman once she was beside her.

Carol chuckled. "To be honest, I don't know. He's always been kind of quiet, but he's different around you."

"Different how?"

"It's like you put him on edge or something." Carol handed Juliet a plate.

"Aren't we all on edge?" Juliet questioned.

"I think this is a different kind of edge." Carol looked pointedly at the brunette and Juliet felt her cheeks heating.

"Well that's still no reason for him to ignore me." Juliet said, sounding indignant and praying Carol didn't notice her blush.

"Daryl pretty much wears his heart on his sleeve. He's a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy who for the most part will let a person know exactly how he feels about them. It's just that I don't think he knows how he feels about you yet. Or maybe he does and just doesn't know what to do about those feelings."

"So I should just wait?" Juliet leaned her hip against the make shift counter and looked over at the man in question, taking a second plate from Carol.

"I guess that depends."

"On what?" Juliet asked.

"On how you feel about him."

Rick went over the plan to make a supply run during dinner. Daryl and Glenn would be leaving in the morning to drive a few towns over to search for anything useable. Juliet listened politely to everyone's conversation, but made no move to contribute, her thoughts plagued by the blue eyed man sitting a few seats down from her. She helped clear the table while everyone moved off to their own space, Glenn going off with Maggie and Rick went to take watch. Beth stayed behind to help Carol clean up and Juliet held Judith who was fast asleep. Daryl was up in his perch getting his things ready for an early departure, but Juliet was well aware of the glances he kept shooting her way.

"I think she's out for the count." Juliet said, her voice hushed as she handed the baby to Carol once she'd finished cleaning.

"I'll go put her down." Carol smiled at the sleeping girl's peaceful expression.

Juliet waited until she and Beth had disappeared into their rooms before walking up the stairs to where Daryl was cleaning his crossbow. He looked up to where she came to a stop leaning against the railing. "I want to come with you tomorrow on the run."

Daryl shook his head. "No way."

"Let me rephrase that. I'm coming with you on that run tomorrow." Juliet straightened her back and looked down at him, a clear challenge in her eyes.

"No. You're not." Daryl stood to his full height so that he held the height advantage.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is with me, but I'm not just going to sit around on my ass while you go out there." Juliet flung her arm to the side, motioning past the prison walls.

"You ain't goin'. You'll just be a distraction." Daryl crossed his arms, his words sounding final.

"A distraction? It's not my fault you feel the need to watch my every move. And we both know damn well that I can take care of myself." Her voice rose in frustration. Daryl looked a little taken aback by her outburst and to be honest she was glad he did. "The silent lurking is getting old."

The man had the audacity to laugh. "Silent lurking?"

"Yes! I can feel your eyes on me all the fucking time, but you refuse to actually acknowledge me. If I hadn't seen you talking to the others I would have thought you'd lost the ability to speak." Now he was really laughing. "Oh okay, now I'm a comedian. You know what, forget it. Go on your little run, see if I care." She knew she was being childish, but she didn't care.

"Now just wait a damn second." Daryl grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. Her skin was warm and soft and he almost forgot what he was going to say. Juliet looked down at where his hand touched her and he dropped it immediately. "Ya don't have to get all worked up about it."

Juliet licked her suddenly dry lips. "So I'm coming, then?" It was meant to be a statement, but came out sounding like a question.

Daryl's eyes followed the movement of her tongue. "We leave at seven."

"I'll see you then."