Daryl tried to feel relaxed as he descended the stairs. He had no clue what kind of reception he would get from Maggie, but he wanted to be prepared for anything. No matter what, he didn't want to look like last night had affected him in any way. He would feel slightly bad about his nonchalant appearance on the off-chance that Maggie actually greeted him warmly. But knowing her, he figured that she would most likely pretend nothing had happened. She'd remained emotionally removed from the rest of the group since Terminus, and he couldn't blame her. How could any of them approach her and speak with her honestly when the hurdle of Glenn's death was such an insurmountable, unspeakable hurdle? Daryl wasn't much of a talker, and he was fairly content to sit in silence with others, but even he felt awkward around her. The perpetual sadness in her eyes begged for words of comfort, but any words he might speak seemed trivial and incompetent compared to what she (what they all) had seen.

At the bottom of the stairs, he turned into the dining room, and thank God, there was Sasha. He was so relieved by her presence that he almost failed to notice Maggie right next to her at the sink. But when he did take the time to look at her, she appeared just as he had imagined, with the sunlight falling across her shoulders. She was wearing an old T-shirt with the neckline cut out, so that it hung off one shoulder and he could see her bra strap. He wanted to run a finger under that bra strap and over her smooth white skin. He felt like a lecherous ass for thinking it.

Sasha did a half-turn on the stool she was sitting on to face him, speaking with a broad smile on her face. "Ah! There he is. We were just talking about you, your ears must've been burning."

Maggie's neck whipped around, her large eyes even larger. She looked a little surprised, but not enough that Daryl suspected their discussion had been about his activities last night. He felt mostly relieved, but also a bit disappointed. Didn't girls talk about that stuff with each other? Probably not if they were feeling embarrassed and regretful…

He quickly dropped his eyes from Maggie's to the floor, reaching to scratch the back of his neck with one hand. "Hey. Sorry I slept in a little bit. Didn't mean to be passed out while you ladies were doing all the work down here."

Sasha replied lightly, "No problem. You pull more than your fair share of the weight around here, Daryl. None of us begrudge you a few extra hours of sleep. Right, Maggie?"

Maggie had already turned back to face the window over the sink. "Yeah, of course not," she said, shoulders shrugging.

Daryl couldn't help himself. And without her eyes on his face, he felt bolder. "What were y'all talking about?"

"Nothing really," Sasha said. "I just need to talk to you about something. I'm just gonna grab a plate of these eggs and I'll meet you out on the porch. I'll get a plate for you too, don't worry."

Her tone was jovial, but Daryl could tell his presence on the porch wasn't up for discussion. Slowly, he turned on his heels and went to the front door, opening it carefully (just in case, always just in case). It really was a beautiful morning. From the front porch, he could see all the way across the green valley that was situated to the east. Hard to believe that somewhere out there was Atlanta…and a whole mess of walkers. He scanned the horizon, but saw not a hint of movement beyond the normal flights of birds and waving of high, untended grass in the morning breeze.

Sasha walked through the door a few minutes later and handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and toast with a fork. He took his with a thanks, and they both sat in rocking chairs and ate in silence. Finally, Sasha finished and cleared her throat, placing her plate on a small table next to her chair. Folding her hands in her lap, she craned her neck to look directly into his unwilling eyes. "So? You still thinking about going?"

Daryl was taken aback. He'd actually forgotten their conversation from the night before. I mean, it wasn't that unexpected, considering his time with Maggie later on, but still, he had had a pretty significant talk with Sasha. He sighed deeply, trying to return to his frame of thought before last night. He'd felt an emptiness, but not like boredom or apathy. He'd been feeling that way since they had gotten the farmhouse back into sorts. It was more like he just wasn't distracted anymore. Memories had started to sift back into his brain, memories of Beth. Shame crept upon him every time he thought of her face or her name. He had never found her…none of them had found her. They had left Terminus and made their way back to the one place they could think of, this house. And no one had mentioned her name aloud since then. Maggie had asked him about her once in the train car after she had found out they had escaped the prison together. He had told her the truth, and she had nodded and looked to Glenn, and that had been the last time any of them had spoken of Beth Greene.

He knew the odds of finding her alive were next to none (and the odds of finding her dead weren't much better), but…they had never looked. They had all been playing house here, and Beth was somewhere out there. What if she was alive? And Lord knows what she could be going through? And they were all hanging out in rocking chairs eating scrambled eggs, and they weren't even talking about trying to find her? Daryl had just about made up his mind last night to go out on his own. He couldn't live with the guilt anymore. It had been his fault she was missing in the first place, and it was his duty to find her one way or another.

But now there was Maggie. And he wasn't fool enough to believe that one night changed anything, and a relationship with Maggie Greene was the furthest thing from his mind. Yet…he wanted to touch her one more time before he left. If he was being completely honest, he hadn't really expected to return from this venture. He wasn't feeling suicidal; he just knew he didn't want to come back to this farmhouse and this life until he found out Beth's fate. And there were a lot of things that could happen to a man in this world now. He thought of Maggie's smooth skin under his callused hands and the smell of her hair…and he knew he couldn't leave yet. Not anymore. Not if there was the smallest chance that he could have her again.

He looked into Sasha's searching eyes. "I don't think you have to worry about me leaving yet. A trip like that, it's gonna take some planning anyway."