Hey guys, sorry it's been a few days! I have been busy with work and volunteering with my church. I hope you all enjoy! Comments/reviews/likes are always appreciated! Much love!

Lena woke up slowly, her body aching, and looked across the fire to where Daryl was lying on the dirt asleep. She watched him sleep and wondered what happened to him to make him so closed off and gruff.

With a sigh, Lena raised herself up and moved quietly over to the coals. Taking stock, Lena noticed that they had little water left after their dinner. She gathered up their respective water containers and decided to go out and get more water, and try to scavenge some food.

Moving quietly, Lena took care not to wake Daryl. She headed out of the mouth of the cave, turning left, moving with caution. She glanced up at the sky and though it was slightly cloudy, she could see it was maybe only mid morning. They had both slept a lot, but then they were both run down and exhausted, so why not take a break, get to know each other, and get some energy back.

She encountered only one walker, and swiftly took it down. After a short walk she heard the running water of a creek and let out a soft exclamation of joy as it came into sight.

After taking off her boots and socks, Lena waded into the water. Lena winced as the cold water bit into her skin through her pants, but grinned as her body quickly adjusted. She decided a quick wash of her face and hair was in order, bending down to splash her face and hair, wringing it out a few times until it felt better. She quickly wound it back up in a bun to avoid any disasters with walkers.

Lena felt a tickling sensation and noticed that there were small crayfish darting around her toes. She decided to use the water container to catch a few and take them back. After catching a dozen crayfish, she climbed out of the creek and pulled on her socks and boots and began her walk back.

Lena walked back into the cave and saw that Daryl was still asleep. "Huh heavy sleeper" she muttered. Lena had gathered some sticks of varying size to stoke the fire with, and also to create skewers for the crayfish.

She took out her small pocketknife and cleaned the crayfish, skewered them and set them to roasting over the fire. She sat watching them for a moment until she heard Daryl's rough voice, "Where the fuck you been?"

Lena sighed-oh good they were going to argue-, "I just went to get some water to replace what we drank Daryl. I also caught some crayfish."

Daryl looked at her with a look of anger, "You shouldn't be goin out on your own. Aint safe."

Daryl was pissed. He had woken up a good while earlier, as soon as he had heard Lena's footsteps leaving the cave. He had considered going after her, but decided if the little girl was stupid enough to go off on her own then she deserved whatever came her way. He had waited for nearly an hour, and despite himself, had started to worry.

When he heard footsteps at the entrance of the cave, he had tensed, waiting to hear if it was a walker. When he realized it was Lena, he closed his eyes and waited for her to come back in. His annoyance grew when he heard her cooking something; was she even going to try to wake him up? Eventually his empty stomach and annoyance got the better of him and he spoke up. Now they were staring at each other in anger.

"I can take care of myself Daryl" Lena said, speaking calmly to him, though there was a bite to her words.

Daryl grunted out a laugh, "Right, cuz you were doin so great when I found you."

"Dammit Daryl! I was running for almost two and a half days! What the fuck is your problem?" Lena glared at him.

Daryl sat in silence. He didn't want to tell her the truth. It had been months since he had been with anyone, and now he was ruining it.

Daryl wiped a hand over his face and looked away, "Shit."

"It's been awhile since I had company. My last group was broken up. The girl I was with, she got taken…and I don know where she went or if she's still alive. I finally met up with two others, Maggie and Glen, and we were overrun by walkers…they…they didn't make it." Daryl went quiet.

Lena sat in shocked silence. She felt her heart break at his simple words. She looked at the fire, knowing that if she looked at Daryl she would tear up.

His grief was apparent in his gruff simple words, and it touched something deep inside Lena, something she had thought long dead. Affection.

She had not cared about anyone since the before the apocalypse began. Too many shitheads in life had taken care of that. How was it possible that this rough speaking, quiet man who she had just met was stirring emotion inside her?

Daryl sat looking at Lena, his eyes flicking back and forth from her to the fire. His hands were clenched in his lap. He was worried that after what he had told Lena she wouldn't want to stay. His track record with people surviving or staying was terrible. He was scared, but didn't know what to do about it.

Finally Lena moved and pulled the crayfish off the fire. "Lunch is ready… If you're hungry." Daryl grunted his assent and took a skewer.

They sat in silence, eating all the skewers. Finally, Lena looked at him, capturing his gaze with her intense one and said, "Daryl, I'm glad you told me what you did about your group. I'm sorry I went out without saying anything or taking you with me. I understand that I probably scared you. It won't happen again."

Daryl sat in silence for a moment and then nodded.

Lena sat across the fire from Daryl and took off her shoes and jacket. She slowly unpinned her hair, deciding to let it air dry after having washed it at the creek.

She let out a soft groan of pleasure as her long hair fell free. running her fingers through it to work out any knots.

Daryl watched surreptitiously from across the cave as Lena worked her slim fingers through her hair, a look of bliss on her face, "What's she doin now? Getting comfy?"

Lena looked across at Daryl, smirking when he glanced away, a blush spreading across his cheekbones, and told him, "We should gather more food today and rest. That way we can be fully rested tomorrow. Sound like a plan?"

Daryl thought for a moment, "Sure, I'll go out now and hunt. You rest." He stood up and grabbed his crossbow, heading out.

Lena watched his retreating figure, thinking, "He's such a different man. I don't understand him like ¾ of the time."

She waited till he was gone from the cave and then shed her coat, laying it out on the floor. She stretched her fingers toward the ceiling, arching her back, groaning as her muscles stretched and her back popped.

She slowly moved through a sun salutation, and grinned, knowing that if Daryl walked in right now, he would probably mock her. But in the two years since the world had ended, she had continued doing yoga and practicing her self defense, and in her opinion, it was what had helped keep her alive.

A good twenty minutes later, Lena lay in corpse pose, letting all the tension drain from her body,and began to fall asleep slowly,drifting gently into dreams of strong arms wrapped around her and a soft southern accent whispering in her ear.