I feel sorry for Daryl... Grrr Merle is such an ass. But I am very much enjoying writing this. Gonna put lots of twists and turns in it... Hopefully it will all work out the way I am writing it in my head. Thanks so much for all the readers and reviews ! Means a lot !

~Kaila G.


Daryl gaped at him. Took in the sight of him. Still had that skint head, and that tough look. Daryl allowed himself to glance at his hand to see it gone, replaced by some sort of thing with a knife on it. He didn't know what to do, so he just started grinning. The grin turned into laughing, as his brother stared at him.

"Darylena." He stated cautiously, and Daryl became uncomfortable. He had a lot of explaining to do.

"You two know each other or what?" Melissia was becoming impatient. Her hands were on her hips, and Daryl saw Raina. His smile went soft.

"See somethin' ya like, boy?" Merle grunted at him.

"Huh? Naw. Jus' acts lot like her sister." Daryl sneered slightly.

"Hm." Merle didn't seem convinced. Melissia began tapping her foot.

"Can we go now? I wanna see my baby sister!" Melissia snapped.

"Wait... her sister's with your group?" Merle's eyes lit up mischievously. "You been gettin' that ass?" Daryl wanted to crawl under the fallen leaves. Or punch him in the mouth. Melissia stared at Merle, wide eyed. Anger came over her face. She lunged at him.

"Hey!" Daryl went to pull her away.

"Do not touch me." She snarled at Daryl before he even could. She turned back to Merle. "As if she'd have anything to do with either of you disrespectful shits. Now can we go?" She turned back toward Daryl. "Before I murder him." Daryl didn't say a word. He just turned around and began walking the way he came. Melissia's words were twisting around in his head. Maybe when they reached the camp, Raina wouldn't want him after all. At least not if she talked to Melissia.

"So what happened to you?" Merle asked, bitterness in his voice.

"You a stupid son of a bitch, ya know that? We came lookin' for your ass. Cut ya damn hand off. And I came to get you." Daryl was frustrated.

"Them geeks was comin' through that door! They was gonna rip me apart!" Merle snapped.

"The hell they were! T-Dog chained that door tight, and you woulda' been fine. Damn stubborn, and I came back for your ass." Daryl sneered once again.

"That stupid ni-"

"Shuttup Merle!" Daryl hissed. Merle stared at him strangely.

"You stickin' up for them fools?" Merle's voice was cold. "Over your own blood?"

"No! No... Jus' been with 'em a while and they ain't even bad people. They don't act no better than me 'cause they ain't." Daryl tried to explain.

"But we are. Bad. And they do think they're better than you. Don't ya see it baby bro? They only been usin' you to survive." Merle growled. Daryl just stayed quiet for a while.

"Well I did come back for you, Merle." Daryl said quietly.

"Didn't help me none." Merle sneered. Daryl rolled his eyes and gave up.

"You two are jus' lovely to be around. How does my sister put up with you?" Melissia asked, looking at Daryl. He noticed Merle staring at him for an answer.

"She don't." Was all Daryl could manage to say.

"Hm." Melissia smiled. "I can't wait to see her. Bet she didn't think I'd make it this long."

"You wouldn've if I hadn't ran into you." Merle shot at her.

"Ha! I woulda been fine without you!" Melissia shot back, face growing angry. Daryl chuckled. "What?" Melissia growled at him.

"You look jus' like Raina." He commented, trying to make his voice sound as cold as possible.

"Sounds like you been watchin' her enough to know." Merle said, his tone full of accusation. Melissia caught on, and stared at Daryl for reassurance.

"No." Daryl said. "Merle, get off my back, man!" His voice was getting colder. Melissia didn't know Daryl, but she thought he was acting strange. She didn't like this, and hoped wherever her sister was, she was safe.


Raina was pacing outside. The sky was darkening, and it was the fifth day that Daryl had been gone. That fifth day was coming close to an end. Raina was debating whether or not to go into the woods after him. As much as she wanted to, she didn't even know where to start looking for him. She sighed, and kept pacing.

If he didn't come back by tomorrow, Rick said they would scout the woods to ease her mind. But she knew scouting the woods wouldn't find him. The way Rick and the others talked about him, when he went tracking, he went far into the woods. Really far. And no one ever went looking for him, because he always came back. What if he didn't this time?

Hands on her hips, she paced. She brought one hand up to her forehead, trying to think straight. Trying to convince herself that he was fine. That he would be okay, no matter what. But all of it disappeared and all she could see was a walker ripping him up, tearing him apart. And there's no one there to help him... She jumped when she heard a rustling sound at the edge of the woods. Then a figure appeared, and her heart nearly stopped. It was him.

"Daryl!" She ran to him. "Oh, God.. Daryl.." She was close to him, when he stepped back, and another figure appeared. Raina stopped in her tracks and stared at her. Her hands flew to her mouth, covering up the sob that was trying to escape. She jerked forward, and grabbed her.

"I thought you were dead!" Melissia said, hugging her little sister tight. Raina couldn't speak, she only cried. She jerked back from her sister and stared at her, looking her over. Trying to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"I didn't...mean to leave... you. I couldn't... reach you." Raina cried. She turned to Daryl, and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She whispered over and over against his chest. He didn't give a shit about what Merle had to say. He wrapped his arms around her in return, and let what he had been missing, soak in.

As soon as Merle chuckled coldly, Daryl let her go. Melissia was staring at the two of them strangely. Raina looked at Daryl questioningly, then looked at the third person that she didn't notice before. Melissia noticed the questioning look in Raina's eyes. She rolled her own eyes and stared at Merle.

"He's Daryl's brother." Melissia made a face.

"That's your brother?" Raina grinned.

"Hmph. Guess you been talkin' bout me, huh?" Merle grinned mischievously.

"Knock it off." Daryl growled. He looked at Raina, and rolled his eyes slightly.

"Come on, Melissia! You gotta meet the rest of the group!" Raina grinned, grabbing her sister's hand. The two girls began talking quickly of their time apart, while Daryl and Merle walked quietly behind them toward the hotel. Daryl worried about what the group would think of Merle being back. He was really back.

But more than that, Daryl worried about what would happen with Raina. Now that she had her sister, what would happen? She didn't need him anymore. She had her family, what was left of it. Merle was going to give him hell if he found out about this thing with Raina. Daryl didn't want to think about what was to come. But if Merle and Melissia had anything to do with it, Raina and Daryl were going to have a lot of trouble.