A/N: I have to apologize for my Daryl muse as he can be a bit of as asshole. Also, I wanted to make this chapter longer but at the same time I want to build something for later. Other than that, I'll just say thanks for reading!

The Butterfly Effect

Rosita has been submerged into a deep slumber when the sound startled her. It was a loud clinging noise that oddly resembled two tin cans banging together and because her brain hadn't gone through the process of waking up yet, the surprise of it made her jump involuntarily. That was how before she could even open her eyes her hand darted forward automatically, reaching for a gun in a night table that wasn't even there.

"Wake the hell up, we leaving."

Recognizing the voice and remembering where she was, she immediately knew that she wasn't in any danger of an attack, not from the living or the dead so she sighed in relief. By then she had already blinked her eyes open so that she could scan her surroundings, the warm chocolate orbs that were her eyes trying to focus in the poor lighted room she was in. Her vision was blurry and fuzzy and as she stared through heavy eyelids at the silhouette of the man who just woke her walking out, the notion came to her that her head was throbbing.

Yes, she had one hell of a headache, or more like a feeling that there was someone playing a slow but steady drum melody inside her head. At the moment it felt bad, but having been in that situation a few times before she knew that it was nothing that some aspirin and a huge mug of coffee couldn't handle.

Now, if she only had some aspirin or coffee, everything would be fine…

Laying her head back down and mumbling a few incoherencies in Spanish, she closed her eyes and dragged the thin blanket she has been using for cover over her head, drowning out of her sight everything but pure darkness. It felt better that way, underneath the old fabric she found some kind of comfort and because of that she decided that she didn't want to get out of the old mattress sprawled on the floor she has used as a bed; no, if it was up to her she would just lay there all day to suffer not only from her hangover, but also from the repercussions of her actions the previous night.

It was like this, even after a full night's rest, the memory of the way she kissed Daryl out of the blue and his reaction to it was so bad that she had to groan.

"You're so, so stupid." She hissed, her eyes still closed and the notion that she went to sleep with her boots on kind of bothering her. Actually she has gone to sleep the same way she woke up, face down, jacket on, pants on and a deep sense of shame eating her entrails.

Not that she should feel that way. What she did has been nothing but a drunk stupid mistake, not the first one she ever did and probably nor will it be the last; besides in the almost three decades of her life she has done way worse than the little chaste kiss she gave Daryl and somehow she knew she hadn't done the worse she could do yet. So yes, regrets she had many, but maybe what was bothering her was that never before had she felt such embarrassment… but that was a tale for another moment, her head hurt too bad to start wondering why was that.

As for now yeah, she kissed him and so what? It happened, he made it clear that it wasn't something he wanted and well, she wasn't even sure if she has wanted it but either way now that it was out of the way it was time to move on; and in case the subject was ever approached she was just going to remind him that she has been drunk and in her book, that gave her full absolution.

It was on him if he was going to let it be a problem, all she knew was that least she wasn't going to drown in a glass of water.

With that in mind she forced herself up to her feet and wanting to walk out the stiffness of her whole body, she headed the same way Daryl went out. She caught up to him downstairs by a huge kitchen table, sorting out the things she found in the attic. He seemed way to engrossed with that and even when she cleared her throat he didn't look her way.

Rubbing her eyes, she took a look around and noticed that a few rays of lights were coming throw the windows so she was going to assume that a new day had approached. That right there made her realize that she wasn't supposed to sleep that long and that she did made her feel guilty.

"You didn't wake me up to take over your watch." She said, her voice hoarse and her mouth dry. It felt like a whole bucket of sand went down her throat and now it was a drag to swallow. She had to clear her throat again and taking the remaining steps to approach the table she grabbed a bottle of water from one of the boxes he was inspecting.

Drinking from it, she noticed his lack of response and immediately knew that he was ignoring her, thing that almost made her snort. She also noticed that he looked freshen up, even his hair looked damp and clean and her eyes moved around, looking for the bathroom. "Is there running water here?"

"Mm-hmm"

"Okay." Not wanting to let his cold demeanor bother her, she swirled on her heels and started to look for the bathroom. She found it near the stairs so grabbing for her things she went in and hoped that a quick shower would help her ease her discomforts. It did, the cold water did wonders and once she was done she felt somehow better.

The throb in her head was still there and the light in her eyes was annoying, but those discomforts were bound to leave sooner rather than later so she sucked it up and got ready for a day she knew wasn't going to be easy.

Once she was done, she found Daryl outside, putting the boxes in the car. He put them conveniently right in the middle of the seat and she wondered if he did it to mark a separation between them. It would be ridiculous if he did it because of that, as if she was going to jump him or something.

And to think that not even a full day has gone by since they were drinking and even engaging into a somewhat amicable conversation.

Rolling her eyes and then blowing out a breath, she put her things into the cabin and climbed in. No word was exchanged during the whole thing and when he was finally done putting everything inside and started to drive away, she occupied herself by opening one of the MRE's and eating the warm food.

She put all her attention on doing that so it wasn't until she finished that she noticed that they were heading back, backtracking the road they had taken to get there. "Where are we going?"

"Alexandria." He replied, plain and simple and she ventured to take a look at him.

He was as serious as ever, not a surprise there because she has seen him look like that many times before, but she took pride on catching on people's moods and there were little indications that screamed out loud that he wasn't as indifferent as he seemed at first glance. For starters, he was compulsively chewing on the inside of his lips and the way he impatiently and continuously tapped his fingers on the gear lever told her that something was bothering him, her. She was either making him uncomfortable or he was just pissed at her.

By the way his jaw was firmy set she would bet on anything that it was the later and that was why he was giving her the cold shoulder and why he woke her up so abruptly.

Lifting a hand so that she could run it through her now loose hair, she pushed the inside of her cheek with her tongue and tilted her head towards the window. For a while she closed her eyes and tried to rest but with the car's constants jerks she just couldn't. Besides the tension in the air was so heavy and thick that she was almost choking with it.

It was one of those rare occasions were silence was too damn loud and the way she saw it, the air needed to be cleared. It was obvious that they were no longer going to keep on with their little trip and true, what happened was something she didn't want to discuss right there but at the same time she felt it needed to be addressed. It was a long way to Alexandria and she didn't want to spend it like that, so why not grab the bull by it's horns and be done with it?

Besides how bad could it be? If she had to be completely honest she didn't even know how it felt to kiss him so part of her mind couldn't get why it was such a big issue. It all happened so quick that she didn't even got to savor it, she didn't even remember how his lips felt against hers or if he did something with his hands or if he even responded. She doubted it was different for him so there was no reason to make something so little get so big.

Maybe if she would have known that the kiss was going to cause such a mess she would have make more of it, like engrave it into her mind at last to decide if the damn thing was worth it or not.

"I was drunk last night, I didn't meant to…"

"Forget it." Cutting her off both with what he said and with a motion of his hand that indicated her to shut up, he hissed.

"I will." She said almost angrily, for some reason annoyed that he didn't even let her finish. Probably because of the hangover it made her angry that he was angry and yes, it also bothered her that because of a stupid little kiss she now had to head back to Alexandria. She didn't want to go back. "This is stupid."

"Coming here was stupid."

Arching an eyebrow and crossing her arms defensively to her chest, she eyed him. "Well I didn't force you." And she hadn't, sure the idea was hers but she didn't force him into going with her.

"You never mention your real intentions either."

"What the hell… what do you mean with my real intentions?"

"Just saying that if you want someone to hook up with you then you better start finding them back in Alexandria cuz it ain't gonna be me."

Gasping and actually letting her jaw hang loose, she turned fully to her side so that she could face him. She did it slowly, almost in slow motion. Did he seriously tell her that? "Trust me, I have no intentions with you. In fact I would have to be way more drunk than I was before wanting to hook up with you."

"That ain't what it look like last night, and just to make it clear I don't want to hook up with you even when drunk so forget whatever stupid idea you have."

Shaking her head in disbelief, she closed her hand into a fist and fought hard against the urge to punch him right in the face. But she didn't, she just took a deep breath and tried to be reasonable. If there was something she knew was that she had a short fuse and in her state she didn't want to make a drama out of something so ridiculous as a kiss.

"It was a mistake okay." A mistake that wouldn't have even happened if he hadn't gone ahead and grab her so close while looking at her with those stupid stunning eyes of his. Was that why he was so pissed, because he knew he has wanted it and knowing that angered him?

"You know you acting like that won't make him get back to you, it'll only make him glad he dumped you for Sasha."

Not really believing what he just said, she did a double take.

"What?" She asked in an eerie calmness she wasn't feeling; actually what she was feeling after the initial shock was anger rising up from within her and reaching all the way to the top of her head. The feeling was even tangible and for a second she was even blinded by it. Who the hell did he think he was? And that he wasn't responding to the chance to take it back was making her feel even more mad. "Stop the car."

Tensing his jaw hard enough so that she noticed the muscle moving and blinking a couple of times, he said nothing and did nothing other than drive.

"I said stop the car." Her voice came off louder than what she intended and for the first time probably that morning he had the decency of taking a look at her, and as his eyes met her furious ones it almost seemed as if he cringed.

She just wasn't sure if it was because he realized what he just said or because she looked about to burst. That right there angered her even more and unable to stop herself she grabbed the first thing she had at reach, which happened to be a bottle of water and hit his shoulder one and then two times as hard as she could. Then just for the sake of it she added another one.

He tried to block it but the impact still made the bottle open and spill the precious liquid all over him.

"Stop the fucking car!"

Pulling over and turning to her he watched as she grabbed all her things, her backpack, the rifle and machete, once she got it all she opened the door to get out.

"Come on don't be ridiculous, you won't make it walking back home."

As soon as her feet touched the ground she turned to him and yes, she flipped him. "Screw you." Then she slammed the door as hard as she could and started to walk into the woods by the side of the road.

It could be that she imagined it, but she was almost sure that she heard the way he started the truck and drove off and her only regret was that it didn't cross her mind to take a few meals from the provisions she found.

"Stupid asshole."

So yes, she walked away, she did it without thinking, with no sense of direction whatsoever and knowing full well that she was being careless and unreasonable. Regardless of that she put her bag to her back and grabbed her machete hard, ready in case she found a walker on her way. And that she did, in the first twenty minutes of walking aimlessly she encountered a few scattered around and wanting to take out the anger in her, she slashed them hard.

After that more kept coming and instead of finding them in ones and pairs, now small groups started to come after her. Some she dodged but most she dealt with them, and when her arms started to ache from swinging the machete she switched for a hunting knife which was easier to handle. She did that for some quite some, enough to make her break a sweat and get a little short of breath.

At least in her furor her headache was the last of her problems.

Snorting bitterly at that thought, she kept moving around and after a little more wandering she found a safe spot that she quickly cleared of walkers. Once secure she crouched down, taking her backpack off and putting it in front of her so that she could grab a bottle of water she knew she had in there. She only drank a little as she took a look around and that was when she started to think that maybe, just maybe she made another dumb mistake by getting off the car.

So yes she was pissed and didn't want to deal with Daryl but she had to face it, because of her little outburst she was now on her own, far from home and with just one bottle of water to help her through.

Maybe that little thing her mother used to tell her was true and she was indeed her own worse enemy. Shrugging because there was nothing to do about it now, she took a moment to collect herself, and as she did that she tried to think quick. If she walked by the road instead of the woods she could find a car and hot-wire it.

With a car she could make it to Alexandria before nightfall and..

Before she could finish that thought, she heard a noise from behind and grabbing her machete she jumped to her feet. The were a couple of walkers making their way to her so licking her lips she went to them.

The first one she got with no problem, but when she was about to strike the other one she felt something grabbing her leg and pulling at it and so she lost her balance. Then before she knew it she was face down on the dirt.

Kicking at her leg and listening to the growls behind her, she realized that there has been a third walker, or to phrase that better, half a walker crawling in the dirt and she gasped and kicked again. Then in a swift movement she rolled to her back, sat down and put the machete through its skull.

The whole thing happened ridiculously quick, she was still down when she was about to get to her feet and deal with the one she now had behind her, but before she could do anything about that one it fell down in a heap, a knife sticking through it's temple.

Breathing hard through her mouth and leaning backwards until the only thing that prevented her from laying flat on her back were her elbows supporting her weight, her eyes searched the direction from where the small knife came from and that's when she saw Daryl walking to her. He did it as if it was the most natural thing in the world and she just stared at him.

When he approached the walker he took the knife he effectively threw at him and retrieved it, then when he was by her side he extended a hand and offered it so she could get back to her feet.

"You done with your hissy fit?"

Lifting a hand to his but slapping it away instead of grabbing it, she snarled her lips. She didn't say anything though. She just clasped her mouth shut and focused on the way he looked imposing standing almost over her.

"Come on." He said, placing the hand she just pushed away to his waist and resting the weight of his body to his left foot. The look on his face was telling her that he was bored out of his mind while she was winded, sweating, dirty and knocked to ground. That once again pissed her off.

"Go back to Alexandria and leave me alone."

"If I leave you alone you gonna die out here. You almost became dinner to this one right now so stop being a little brat and let's go."

Yes, that man just had a way with words… no wonder people considered him a total jerk.

"I had it handled, I didn't need you to come here and play hero."

"Sure."

Lifting her head so she could look at him, she blinked. He returned the stare and extended his hand to hers once again.

"You are an asshole."

"I know."

"And you don't know me, so just don't think you do just because I made a stupid drunk mistake. You don't know shit… I'm my own person, I'm not just Abraham's bitter ex and I don't do the things I do because of him or anyone else so don't undermine me, I hate that."

"Ok."

"Don't just okay me."

"And what the fuck you want me to say? Fine, I was an asshole, I told you I was a drunk asshole and that includes after. Also I ain't got to shut my eyes taking over your watch while you slept good as a baby so really, I ain't got no time for this now.'

Twisting her lips, she shook her head. "You suck at apologies." But even though she said that, she lifted her hand to his and allowed him to grab it.

He did, his much larger hand took over hers and once firmly in his hold, he pulled so she could get up. It was kind of weird but as that happened she couldn't help but to think that their hands linked together was the longest skin to skin they had shared. It made her feel glad that she wasn't wearing gloves so she could fully grasp the feeling.

Yes, because the only other skin to skin or flesh to flesh they had shared has been the kiss and that didn't last long, meaning that she didn't get to really appreciate it.

"I don't need to apologize, I just saved you."

Already on her own two feet but still with her hand on his, she hummed. She just didn't know what to say, the glint in his eyes as their hands remained linked was somehow making her question what the hell was going on and well, since last time he looked at her like that she ended up doing something stupid she decided that it was safer to say and do nothing.

But then as if snapping back to reality he broke the contact and motioned her to follow him.

"Let's move.'

Sighing, she grabbed her things and unaware that they were heading to some danger, she followed him…

TBC