"Jesse." I reached behind me to swat at the pressure at my back. "Jesse, get yer ass up, woman."

"Go away," I groaned. I rolled over onto my stomach and buried my face in Daryl's pillow. Daryl, whose chest was pressed hard against my side and whose arm was wrapped tight around my waist. Daryl, who was supposed to be hunting with my brother. I rolled quickly, noticing that Arlene wasn't in the bed and rose to my knees, frantically searching the room for her. Daryl noticed what I was doing and grabbed my hand, yanking me back to the mattress quickly.

"Woman, calm down. Lil Bit's with some a the other kids, out in the lil yard. Yer brother's helpin' unload the truck. Rick told me about yer screamin' match with the bitch so I told 'em to let ya sleep in a lil. What was ya hollerin' at her over this time?"

"Bitch tried to tell me I wasn't braiding Arlene's hair right."

"Ya got in a fight cause a hair?" He sounded so confused that I giggled and he glared down at me hard. I shut my mouth quickly and smiled at him. "End a the fuckin' world an yer out in the yard fightin' bout hair."

"Shut up, Dixon. I thought you said you were going to let me sleep in."

"Uh uh. Wanna talk to ya."

I stared at him, my mind simply wasn't processing what he was telling me. Daryl wanted to talk. Daryl Dixon wanted to talk. Mr.-Emotionally-Stunted-Don't-Look-At-My-Chest-Can 't-Say-I-Care-About-You wanted to talk. My heart started racing and my mouth went dry. When an emotionally stunted man wanted to talk, it usually had something to do with, "Ain't gonna work out no more." He noticed and Daryl said quickly, "Ain't leavin' ya, Jesse. Jus…..jus wanna…talk. I jus wanna talk to ya."

"Oh. About what? What's going on?"

"Nothin'. Nothins goin' on. I jus wanted to talk to ya. Learn some stuff bout ya or whatever. I don' know nothin' bout ya. Jus wanted to know somethin'."

"Like what?"

"I don' know. Jus stuff."

It was more awkward than the first time I had sex. But I knew it took a lot for Daryl to even try asking for information so I took a deep breath and questioned, "Like when I was in college or when I was in high school?"

"When ya were in college, ya had Lil Bit. Tell me bout high school." His bright blue eyes shifted to the side and I quirked my eyebrow up.

"Is there any reason you want to know about high school?"

"Cause I already know bout college."

"You sure it's not because Johnny let some things slip while you were out there?"

"Didn' tell me nothin' portant. Jus curious is all."

"You want to know how many guys I've slept with." It wasn't a question.

"I…ya don'….no…"

I frowned and looked away from him, at the back wall. He reached over and grasped my chin in his hands and yanked my face back to his to stare at him. He promised, "Ain't gonna change nothin'. Don' matter how many guys ya fucked, long as ya ain't fuckin' no one else now."

"So we're exclusive?"

"Damn straight."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. He said, "But ya know, ya kin tell me shit, right? Like not jus stuff bout Lil Bit, but stuff from whenever."

He wouldn't meet my eyes while he talked and I knew it was hard for him. I asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Ain't sayin' I want to know anythin'. Just sayin' if ya wanna talk bout it, I'll listen to ya."

"Eight, Daryl. Eight guys. I've had sex with eight guys," I sighed, tired of him beating around the bush.

"That all?" he asked with a laugh. "God damn, woman, ya an yer brother had me fuckin' scared ya'd done fucked half the god damn state a Georgia! Eight ain't nothin'! Half the girls in the fuckin' trailer park I lived in done fucked eight guys by the time they were sixteen. God damn, woman. Ya ain't got nothin' to be ashamed of."

I just stared at him while he grinned down at me. A full blown, Daryl Dixon, lopsided, scruffy grin. One so rare that I'd only seen it a few times when he was grinning at Arlene for doing something so heart wrenchingly adorable that neither of us could stand it. But right then, he looked down right excited that I wasn't sleeping around. I laughed and said, "Daryl, this is just one of those things I love about you."

I laughed again but he froze, his body tight against mine as he stared down at me, the smile fading fast off his face. I realized why he was freaking out and I said quickly, "Daryl, I didn't say that I love you. I said there are things that I love about you."

"Course," he said gruffly. "Course ya did. Course ya did cause not like we known each other that long or nothin'. Can' be sayin' love ya an stuff. Ya know."

"Daryl, calm down. I know that…."

"I'ma jus go help Johnny. But ya oughta relax. Get some rest an stuff. I'ma jus go get Lil Bit's bed an stuff."

"Daryl, will you…"

He leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. He was up off the bed and out the door in seconds. I rolled my eyes and sighed before climbing out of bed and beginning to dress. Even with Daryl's order to stay in bed, I had things to do. I had to make my way down to the power room and see if there was any way to get the generators up and running full time without using mass amounts of energy. The solar panels were great on the roof but they wouldn't work for mass amounts. The technology hadn't existed when the world went to shit. To run more rooms of the prison, I'd need more solar panels, which were easy to get ahold of thankfully. Walkers had no need for solar energy. I could also construct a wind turbine, if Rick would let me take Daryl and Johnny to gather the supplies.

I made my way into the main area and wondered in amazement at all the things that were brought in. Daryl and Johnny had done well. Arlene was with Carol, exclaiming in amazement over the new coloring books Daryl had brought in and Carol was informing her that she would have to share with the other kids. I greeted everybody and kissed Arlene on top of the head. I made my way over to Rick, who was overseeing the separation of supplies with Tyreese.

"Good morning, Jesse. Daryl said you'd be spending a few hours in bed. We didn't expect you up."

"Well, I still have to make my way down to the generator room today. I want to see what materials we would need to get everything set up. I think it would take me a few months to get everything set up but it just depends on how soon I can get hold of everything and what the set up looks like downstairs."

"Good. Take somebody with you. We need Johnny and Daryl. Carl, Maggie, and Glenn are on duty. Hershel won't make it down in the tombs and Beth and Carol are busy. Michonne is scouting today. Looking for signs of movement outside the walls. I think Tyreese probably has somebody available. Karen, Sasha, Kyra, or Eric."

"I'd be better off with a walker at my back than with Kyra down there."

"Sasha and Karen are with the kids. The only person I have free is Eric," Tyreese said with a shrug.

"No."

"Jesse, be reasonable," Rick plead. "I know you'd rather have Daryl or Johnny at your back but Eric isn't going to do anything that will endanger you."

"You don't know that."

"If you don't come back, he knows Daryl will kill him."

"Fine. Go get him. I'm going to go talk to Johnny and Daryl."

Tyreese nodded and I made my way outside and over to Johnny and Daryl, who were unloading things from the back of the truck. Johnny was limping slightly, keeping the majority of the weight off his leg but it was healed enough for him to move around on it, a fact that made me happy. Johnny stopped to hug me and Daryl kept his eyes from meeting mine.

"Thought ya were gonna be in bed fer a while," Johnny said happily. "Ya need yer rest an there ain't nothin' fer ya to be doin' out here anyway. Go on back to the room."

"I can't. I'm working in the generator room today. I have to go down and see if I could use renewable energy to rewire the prison."

"Ya oughta take someone wit ya," Daryl spoke for the first time.

"Apparently, I am," I replied.

"Ain't takin' that truck bitch are ya? Seems useless," he growled.

"No. Not Karen."

"Tyreese's sister, then? Got a bad fuckin' attitude on her. Ain't gonna be much use if ya gotta give her orders."

"Not Sasha either."

"I know ya ain't takin' the bitch."

"No. I'm not taking Kyra."

Daryl glared at me for a second as he realized what I was saying. He snapped, "Ya ain't takin' that stupid fucker down there with ya. Ya can't trust him an I don't want ya goin' fuckin' no where with him."

"I have to go down there, Daryl. I have to take somebody with me and you and Johnny are busy. Eric won't have a gun on him. You know the only ones in the Woodbury group who are allowed to carry guns are Tyreese and Sasha. He'll have a bat or something and I'll have my machete, my knives, and my Beretta. He won't have a chance if he tried anything on me."

"Jesse, ain't gonna happen."

"Daryl, it's fine. I will be safe down there."

"I'm gonna go with ya."

"You're needed here and we both know it. I just wanted to tell you."

A snarl ripped from his throat and he stalked over to me. His body towered over mine and Johnny took a step forward to push Daryl back. Daryl raised his hand and pointed a finger warningly in Johnny's direction without taking his eyes off of me. He growled, "Ya fuckin' stay over there, Johnny. Me an yer sister ain't done talkin' 'bout this."

"Dixon, don't ya fuckin' touch her."

"Ain't gonna hurt yer sister," he snapped. "Gonna take her back to the room an tie her to the bed an not let her leave."

"What ya do in yer spare time is yer own damn business," Johnny laughed. "I'm just makin' sure ya keep yer hands where they're respectable."

"Fuck off."

"Johnny, Daryl's not going to hurt me."

"Damn straight."

"Fuck off, Johnny. Talkin' to yer sister."

"Jesse, holler if ya need me." I looked over at my brother and nodded. The crease between his eyebrows faded a little and he grabbed a tote out of the truck and hobbled off.

"Ya ain't goin' down there with him." Daryl's voice was low and threatening.

"I have to go down there, Daryl. I don't have a choice. With the added people and the added kids, we need electricity. We need to be able to see at night without the damn torches or the flashlights. Sure there are plenty of batteries now, but what about later? And with the Governor still out there and the back wall not fixed yet, we need to be able to see. We need to be prepared in case of an attack. For all we know he could be out there now, preparing an army."

"That means ya gotta go down in the fuckin' tombs wit yer dumbass ex fiancé? That fucker couldn' protect his own ass, he ain't gonna have yers an I ain't gonna have ya gettin' killed or hurt."

That softened me up a little. He so rarely expressed concern and it was in his eyes that he was worried about me. So, instead, I promised, "Rick said that if he comes back without me, you're allowed to shoot him."

"Rather have ya back than be allowed to shoot him."

I grinned up at him and stepped a little closer. I tilted my head back and he glared down at me. He murmured, "Ain't gonna be kissin' on ya, woman. All kinds of fuckin' people an shit around an ain't decent."

I rolled my eyes and informed him stubbornly, "I'm going down to the tombs, Daryl, so you might as well kiss me now."

He glared again and grabbed my arm. He ordered, "'mon. Gotta talk to someone 'fore ya go."

He dragged me over to where Eric was standing with Kyra and snapped his fingers irritably to get their attention. Kyra asked, "What do you want?"

"Ain't wantin' to talk to ya, bitch. Needa talk to yer dumb fucker here."

"Listen, Daryl, I understand your irritation towards Kyra and I, but you really should learn my…"

"Shut up," Daryl interrupted Eric's rant and earned a glare from both of them. "Ain't 'bout Lil Bit. Ya followin' Jesse down in the tombs today?"

"Yeah."

"Ya gonna take care a her jus fine."

"Of course," Eric assured him. "I'll be watching her back. Keeping the walkers away."

"Bout as fuckin' useful as a trapdoor on a canoe."

"Look, I can take care of Jesse down there."

"Ya fuckin' better. Cause if ya come back, but she don', I'll fuckin' shoot ya. Ya come back, an she's hurt, I'll fuckin' shoot ya. Ya come back, an she's upset, I"ll fuckin' shoot ya. Got it?"

"Basically, Jesse comes back fine or I get shot. I can respect that."

"Ain't about respectin' it, fucker. Know it. She don' come back, ya fuckin' die."