Hi! I hope you all didn't mind the wait too much. This took a little longer than I wanted it to, but it was a while before I was able to look at a Word document again. Papers are evil. Bad, bad papers. But now I'm pretty much all done with finals, so the waits shouldn't be as long! …. For now. Next semester is a whole other basket of something. But we'll see. I'll shut up so you can read. Enjoy!

-0-

Addison didn't sleep that night, but that didn't surprise her. She hadn't expected to. Not that it mattered anyway; she didn't have to be sleeping to be plagued by the nightmarish images brought forth from the fight. Addison was relieved when the first light of dawn began to illuminate her room. She threw back the top layer of her sleeping bag and swung her legs over the side of the bed, stretching her arms up over her head. Then she stood, lightly dancing in place as her bare feet became accustomed to the chill wood floor. She quietly padded out to the hall and down the stairs. Someone, probably Carol, had swept up the worst of the debris. Turning to the left, Addison found the kitchen. On the black stone counter, a rather impressive heap of canned food had been stacked, sorted into small piles depending on the contents. She picked up a can of peach slices, opened the pull tab, and took it with her as she explored the rest of the house.

On the right, attached to the kitchen via a large open doorway, was the dining room. An expensive-looking mahogany table stood in the middle, swept clean of the dust that covered most of the rest of the furnishings in the room, like the china cabinet and shelving. The group had obviously eaten here last night. Going right again, Addison pushed open one side of a pair of glass doors. This room was already beginning to be lit with the first rays of sunlight streaming in through the wall-sized window set into the wall of the back of the building. There was an overstuffed couch against the wall opposite the window, between two cushioned lounge chairs. A black iron-wrought, glass-top coffee table sat a few feet in front of the couch. This room hadn't been touched, other than by the initial scouting group, whose footprints scuffed through the thick layer of dust that coated everything. As Addison explored the last two rooms, the library and the office, it was clear that the group hadn't made it past the kitchen and dining room last night. Addison exited the office and found that she had circled back to the foyer. She fished another peach out of the can with her fingers and slurped it up, licking the sweet juice off her chapped lips before it could drip down her chin and create a mess.

A bedroom door opened somewhere upstairs. Addison wasn't sure if she as ready to face someone already, but it was too late to retreat back into the office. She let out a quite sigh of relief when she saw Daryl come down the stairs. He nodded to her when he reached the bottom.

"Saw you were up. Was gonna tell you to get something to eat if you thought you could handle it."

Addison gave him a small smile. "It's going well so far."

Daryl nodded again, and after a moment of awkward silence, he went into the kitchen. Addison retraced her steps and went back into the sunroom. Lightly kicking a couch cushion, she wrinkled her nose at all the dust that flew up into the air. Addison set her can of peaches down on the coffee table and then flipped the cushion over. She sat down carefully, not wanting to send another plume into the air. Addison pulled her knees up to her chest and watched the leaves of the trees outside the window dance in the morning breeze. She heard Daryl picking up and setting down cans as he decided what he wanted for breakfast. His footsteps came through the dining room and he entered the sunroom, an open can of pears in his hand.

"I'd flip the cushion if I were you," Addison warned as he approached the lounge chair to her right. Daryl heeded the warning and flipped the cushion before settling back into the chair. Addison rested her chin on her knees. They sat in the comfortable, early morning silence.

The next thing Addison was aware of were the thumps of people waking up and walking around upstairs. She rubbed her eyes and then glanced at Daryl, embarrassed that she had fallen asleep. Addison bit her lip to keep from laughing when she saw that he had fallen asleep too. She picked up her empty can from the coffee table and Daryl's from the floor next to the lounge chair and brought them out to the kitchen, putting them on the counter with the rest of the garbage from the previous night's dinner.

The first person down the stairs was Rick. He came into the kitchen and smiled when he saw Addison. "Good to see you up and about," he greeted her.

Addison smiled back. "Yeah. Yesterday was a bit rough."

Rick came over and squeezed her shoulder. "I heard," he said softly, "Daryl told me."

Addison looked down at her bare feet. She wasn't mad at Daryl. Out of everyone, it made sense to tell Rick, if only to explain why she had kept to herself all day. As the leader, he should be aware of what the other members of the group had going on, for the safety of the whole group. "Does anyone else know?" she asked, looking back up at him.

Rick shook his head. "Didn't think anyone else needed to know."

Addison nodded, relieved. She didn't think she could handle the looks of pity that she knew would be sent her way if the whole group knew that she had had to kill her brother-turned-Walker.

"Also –" Rick stopped as Carol came into the kitchen, murmuring a greeting to the two of them. He motioned for Addison to follow him out of the kitchen and out to the foyer. "Let's take a little walk." Addison ran up to her room to throw on her boots and then ran down again and followed him out the doors. They walked in silence for a few minutes, putting a bit of distance between them and the house. Rick kept a hand close to his gun as they went. They came upon a clearing that opened out over a valley full of trees. Rick and Addison spent a few moments taking in the sight as the sun slowly rose higher. "I hope we get to stay here for a while," Rick finally said.

"It's beautiful, peaceful," Addison agreed.

Rick turned to her. "So. After Daryl told me what happened, he pitched an idea to me. I think it's a great idea, but it's up to you." Addison began to chew on her thumbnail, waiting. "He pointed out to me that you haven't had much training with a gun. We think it'd be a good idea for someone to teach you."

Addison's brow furrowed. "Who?"

Rick ran a hand through his hair. "Well," he began, seeming unsure of answering for some reason. "Daryl's offered."

Addison understood Rick's hesitation now. The offer from Daryl was unusual, given his natural avoidant behavior – and even more so given the history between him and Addison. She had heard that some of the group learned to shoot through lessons from Rick, but Daryl was already a master marksman when he and his brother joined the group. He had never bothered to go to any of Rick's shooting lessons.

When Addison didn't respond, Rick continued, "But I understand if you don't want to take it. I would be happy to teach you myself if you'd prefer."

Addison looked out over the valley as she weighed her options. She knew she would feel more at ease with Rick, and the lessons would certainly be much less awkward. Logically, she knew she should accept his offer. But… Daryl's offer intrigued her. The fact that he offered at all, really. Somehow, it wasn't even a question. She looked back at Rick. "I think I'll take Daryl up on his offer. Should be interesting, at the very least."

Rick studied her for a moment and then nodded. "If it doesn't work out, just let me know and I'll teach you."

Addison smiled and they turned around and headed back to the house. As they got closer, a thought occurred to Addison. "Do you want to tell Daryl or should I?"

"Tell me what?" said a gruff voice in front of them.

"That you're gonna be teaching me to shoot," Addison answered without missing a beat. Daryl stared for just a second before looking over at Rick.

"Lori's lookin' for you," he told Rick, who sighed and nodded his thanks before leaving the other two.

Addison raised an eyebrow at Daryl. "So. When do we start?"

Daryl smirked. "What are you so gung-ho for?"

Addison shrugged. "No time like the present, right?" She hoped he wouldn't notice that her hands were shaking. Truth be told, she was scared – terrified, even. But maybe, just maybe, shooting lessons would help keep the nightmares at bay and she might get some sleep.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Better get the guns and some extra ammo. We'll take a car and go ten or so miles out." He led the way back to the house. Once inside, Daryl went to get the supplies from Rick while Addison packed them both some food and water, not knowing how long they'd be out.

…

Addison had the map out, looking for a good place to stop. "Here, what about this nature conservancy? It's a few miles off the main highway." She turned the map so Daryl could see it. He nodded his approval and Addison watched out the window for signs for their exit.

A little over ten minutes later, they pulled into an overgrown gravel parking lot next to a wooden sign with faded yellow paint reading 'AMICALOLA HIKING TRAIL'. Daryl got out first, scanning the area with a practiced eye. Determining the area safe, he motioned for Addison to get out and take one of the bags. The two followed the trail in silence, Daryl with his crossbow held up, ready should they need it. Addison kept her knife in hand, hoisting the food bag higher on her shoulder. They stopped at a small open field of grass that had a few trees growing up here and there. Daryl set down the supply bag and opened it, taking out the black handgun he had given her before. He checked the magazine before putting it back in. Addison frowned as he did all of this in silence. Daryl hadn't said a word to her for the past twenty minutes, at least. She was beginning to think that she should have taken Rick's offer when Daryl walked over to her with the gun. Addison's breathing quickened just slightly as he positioned himself right next to her, and she forced herself to pay attention to what he was saying, not to how close he was.

"Pull it back like this to cock it. Make sure the safety's off, though. That's this here," he explained, pointing to a little lever on the side. "Then point and shoot." He handed the gun to her.

Addison snorted. "That easy, is it?"

Daryl smirked and pointed at a fat tree trunk about fifteen feet away. "That's your first target. We'll start off easy."

Addison tried to ignore the feeling of his eyes on her as she brought the gun up to point at the tree. She took a deep breath in and pulled the trigger. A spray of dirt flew up well behind the tree. Addison bit her lip and glanced over at Daryl. He was staring at the place her shot had hit, his expression slightly incredulous. He ran a hand over his face and looked at her, raising an eyebrow. "You got a lot of learnin' to do."

-0-

Disclaimer: I know jack about guns. If I get something wrong, just let it slide. They aren't the point of the story. Also, the hiking trail exists. I've never been there, and Google Maps just shows a lot of trees, so I'm taking some creative liberties and making it look the way I want it. I hope you all enjoyed the return of A&A. Please let me know what you think! Love.