Daryl kept an eye on Ed at all times after he'd hit Carol down by the water. That was three days ago and in that time, Carol had borrowed an extra tent from Lori and kept herself and Sophia closer to the RV. It was a smart move, but Daryl knew men like Ed and knew he wouldn't give up his punching bag so easily.

Cleaning off his crossbow, he looked over to where Carol was cooking breakfast. He'd gotten a few rabbits for the group, everyone needing fresh meat rather than more canned goods. She gave him a smile and handed a plate to Sophia pointing towards him.

He cleared his throat a little and put the crossbow down next to the camping chair he was sitting in as the girl came over.

"Mornin' Mr. Dixon, my momma said to give this to you before it gets cold." Sophia said and handed him the plate and plastic fork.

"It's just Daryl kid, thanks." He said and was surprised when she didn't leave right away.

"I know Momma already said it, but thanks for helping her." Sophia said, looking down in the dirt, where she was moving her foot back and forth.

"It's no problem, just let me know if he comes near you or your momma, okay?" He said and she nodded, smiling at him and sitting in the chair next to him.

Daryl was frozen for a second by her willingness to sit with him before he smiled back, it feeling a little foreign to him. No one ever wanted to talk to him or really spend him with him so he was surprised when Carol came over as well with two plates for her and her daughter.

"Mind if we join you?" She asked as she got closer, letting him see that her lip had mostly healed.

"Don't matter to me." He said around a big bite of rabbit and Sophia giggled.

"Sophia be polite." Carol reminded her and Daryl shook his head.

"Nah, she's good. I was gettin' into a lot more trouble than that at her age," He paused and chuckled. "Me and Merle used to set fireworks off all around my neighbor when he was sleeping outside, poor guy would have a damn heart attack." He said and couldn't help but smile as they both laughed some.

Daryl didn't even know why he shared that with them. He never talked to anyone about himself, let alone his childhood.

There was something about this woman, even her kid, that made him feel comfortable.

Sophia ate her dinner quickly and set her plate on her lap, not saying anything but Daryl watched her look around to see if there was anymore rabbit left.

"Here kid." Daryl said, scraping the rest of his rabbit onto her plate. Carol started to protest and he shook his head. "Had something on my hunt, I'm good."

Sophia looked at her momma and Carol nodded. "Thanks Daryl." She said, smiling and taking a big bite from her newly filled plate.

"You didn't have to do that, thank you." Carol said softly, receiving just a nod from him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sophia started telling him about her life before the dead started walking, her friends and her school. He sat and listened, nodding his head now and again, actually interested in what she was saying. In his opinion, some kids were just annoying and needy, Sophia on the other hand, had started telling him that she wanted to learn how to hunt and survive now that her past life seemed to be gone.

"I could always take you hunting with me, go over tracking with you. That is, if it's okay with your momma." He said, looking at Carol who nodded.

"I'd like to learn too actually, I used to go hunting with my daddy but that was years ago." She said, feeling a little sad at remembering how nice her life had been before Ed. Carol loved Sophia with everything she had and never regretted having her, but she just wished it hadn't been with a man like Ed. He'd taken her away from her family once they were married and she only saw them twice during her marriage, before they'd died.

"I'm headin' out tomorrow mornin' if you two wanna come." Daryl said, realizing it may have been the first time he invited someone to come with him anywhere.

"We'd love to!" Sophia said and he and Carol both laughed a little.

Rick walked up to them and nodded his head towards the woods for Daryl to follow him. He set his plate down, nodding at the girls and walked over to Rick who had a serious look on his face.

"It's Ed." He spoke darkly, immediately putting Daryl on edge. "We can't find him, no ones seen him since last night and there's a gun missing."

Daryl shook his head and clenched his fists a little. "Fuckers gonna go after Carol." He said, looking over at her with Sophia.

Rick nodded and rubbed at the back of his neck, obviously stressed. "Why don't you stay by their tent tonight, I'm gonna stay on watch with T-Dog and Glenn." He said and Daryl nodded.

"Sounds good to me, he's gotta show up sometime. I'll tell Carol she's gotta be careful." He said and walked back to them. He was pissed that this asshole was even in camp. They should just blindfold him and drive him 20 miles away. Dumbass would never make his way back.

Carol looked up and could see worry lines on his face from the conversation. "What's wrong?"

"Lemme talk to ya over here a second…" He said, moving away from Sophia and leading her towards the side of the RV. "Look, no ones seen Ed all day and there's a gun missing." He said, watching Carols eyes widen.

Daryl surprised himself by reaching out and touching her arm lightly. His chest hurt a little at the thought of her being scared and not feeling safe. "I want you and Sophia's tent next to mine tonight. I'm gonna stand guard outside it." He said and she nodded, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry… I just, I never thought he'd be this bad. I just want to keep Sophia safe." She said, knowing now that Ed may hurt his own daughter.

"I want her safe too." He said, nodding and trying not to think about the fact that the tears in her eyes, were making him wish he could hold her.. "And you." He added, looking up at her and meeting her eyes.

"You're a good man Daryl, thank you for everything." Carol said, knowing compliments of any kind made him uncomfortable but she had to tell him.

He nodded and gave her a small smile before heading off towards his tent. Her arm ached to have his touch back and she sighed a little. Carol didn't know when it had happened, but she'd really started to care for the shy protective hunter.

The day went by quickly, everyone being busy with their own chores around the camp. The sun was starting to set and Carol was watching Carl and Sophia run around, him chasing her with a worm. It was actually kinda cute to see them teasing each other and Carol was happy that her daughter had someone her age to play with.

After Daryl dragged his tent next to Carol and Sophia's, he stayed outside of it, sharpening the arrows to his crossbow until they were ready to turn in.

…

Carol was surprised that he was keeping his tent so close to theirs. The whole time they'd been at the quarry, he's stayed off to the side, alone and isolated. She figured he liked it that way so she hoped it wasn't hard for him to stay close to them. Carol knew that if Ed was out to get her, that someone in camp would help her out and keep watch near them, but she was happy that it was Daryl. She still couldn't figure it out but she felt safe around him. He was smart and he knew how to protect himself and others if it came down to it. He knew how to hunt and provide for the group. Carol thought about his shy demeanor, the way he avoided eye contact most of the time and the way he blushed a little when you gave him the slightest compliment. She thought about the way his sleeveless shirt hugged his strong chest and let her get a good look at his big mus-

"Mom!" Sophia said, breaking her train of thought and making her blush.

Carol cleared her throat a little and looked at her daughter who was staring at her. "Yes Sophia?"

"Are you okay? You've been staring out towards the woods for ten minutes… I called you three times." She said, making Carol blush.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking." Carol said and then went to sit next to her daughter by the small fire. "Honey I want to talk to you for a second about your father." She said and put her arm around Sophia's small shoulders.

"Was he mean again?" The girl asked, knowing her daddy wasn't a good man.

"Yes baby, he was." Carol said and looked down at her innocent daughter. "If you see daddy, I don't want you to go near him, okay?" She said and Sophia's eyes filled with tears.

"Is he mad again?" She asked and Carol nodded.

"He's not a good man Sophia and I'm so sorry for that." She said, her own eyes tearing up.

Sophia stood up and hugged her mother tightly. "It's okay Momma, I love you."

"I love you too baby girl." Carol replied, rubbing her daughters back.

…

Daryl watched as Carol walked towards him and hour or so later, carrying a sleeping Sophia. He stood up and unzipped the tent door for her.

"Thanks, she's had a long day." Carol said softly, stepping through and placing Sophia on her sleeping bag.

Daryl nodded and wished that things were different for the girl, that her daddy wasn't such an asshole and that she had a real man to look up to in her life.

"You two need anythin'? I threw an extra blanket in there, it looks like it's gonna storm tonight, might get a little chilly." He said, looking up at the dark clouds in the sky.

"Yeah, looks like it. And no, I think we're good." Carol replied, bending down and putting a blanket tight around Sophia.

"Well goodnight." He said, trying not go stare at the way her jeans hugged her backside.

She stood back up and smiled. "Goodnight Daryl."

Carol went to the tent door and zipped it back up then laid down next to Sophia, the rain just starting to come down.

…

Hours went by and Daryl was in his tent, unable to sleep, listening to every little sound and getting up to check around outside every half an hour or so. He had just closed his eyes again when he heard Sophia start to scream.

"No! Momma please! Stop him, Daryl!" Daryl was on his feet in a second, his crossbow ready and aimed as he burst into the tent, ready to kill Ed or any other threat that came to the two.

Instead, he looked around but only saw Carol, rocking a sobbing Sophia and rubbing her back. "Shh it was just a dream sweetheart, you're okay." Carol soothed, stroking the young girls hair. She looked up and saw Daryl, mouthing 'I'm sorry' to him.

"He's outside…I think I heard him outside." Sophia managed through her tears.

Daryl turned and walked around the property in the rain. It was hard to see but Daryl had dealt with conditions like this before. He held his crossbow up and looked down for tracks of any kind, seeing none. The tree line looked clear too and there was no way anyone had slipped by him to the main camp. He took one last look around before making his was back into the tent. "No ones out there kiddo, I promise you're safe." He said, seeing Sophia sitting up and looking at him wide eyed.

"See baby? Daryl wouldn't let anything happen to you." Carol said, looking at Sophia and then giving him a small smile as she held her daughter.

"Can he stay momma?" Sophia asked softly, her breathing finally calming down.

Carol looked up at him and he nodded, setting the crossbow down on the far side of the tent. "Sure baby, he can stay." She said, Sophia smiling a little.

Daryl laid down in the tent, his crossbow to his left and Sophia to his right, Carol on the other side of her.

"Thanks Daryl." Sophia said and surprised him by taking his hand, holding her mothers as well. She fell asleep pretty quickly after that and Carol looked over her daughters head at Daryl, trying to gauge his reaction to all this.

"You sleep, I'm gonna stay up a bit." He said and she nodded.

"Thank you Daryl…" Carol said, holding his gaze before she closed her eyes, the rain falling on the tent lulling her back to sleep.

He watched her awhile, realizing how beautiful she really was, before he drifted off too.

…

Just beyond the tree line, Ed watched and strained to listen as the redneck comforted his wife and daughter. As if they needed to be a burden to anyone else. They both already annoyed the shit out of him. He knew it was only a matter of him before his dumbass wife would fuck up and the redneck would realize how stupid she really was. She was gonna regret ever standing up to him though, and Daryl was going to regret hitting him in front of the camp. Carol didn't get to be strong, she didn't get to be independent. Her and that fuckin' kid belonged to him and he wasn't lettin' some hick take what was rightfully his. Ed stayed hidden that night, his knife by his side and the pistol he'd taken from Rick loaded in his hand. He smiled as they settled back in the tent, starting to let their guard down again. Now all he had to do was wait.