After they found fresh clothes for Lydia and she went to the shower, Connie and Kelly were waiting for her.

"And you found her out there in the woods?" Kelly asked.

"Yes, she was all alone, so we decided to take her with us," Connie signed.

"Was she abandoned?" Connie could see the sad expression on Kelly's face and she instantly knew, Kelly must have been thinking about their parents, who abandoned them when they were young.

"I think maybe she has lost her parents."

"She looks lonely. And she's kinda cute. I'll look after her." Connie raised her eyebrow and Kelly shrugged. Lydia came out with new clothes on her, clutching the bottom of her shirt and looking around with insecurity.

She shortly looked at Connie and Kelly.

"They are nice," she said about the new clothes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You wanna take a look around? The fair is awesome!" Kelly told her and Lydia nodded shyly.

They found Daryl, who was still eyeing the girl suspiciously when he saw her and Connie gave him an encouraging nudge. She wanted him to enjoy the day and the fair. But no matter how hard she tried, he still had that concerned look on his face. Having Lydia around must have been worrying him a lot and Connie felt bad for persuading him to bring her in. But on the other hand she couldn't just have left the girl out there to die.

Kelly and Lydia played some carnival games while Connie and Daryl were watching them. Lydia seemed to get a bit more comfortable and Connie even saw a little smile on her face.

When it became evening, they went to the big building where the movies were shown. Connie and Daryl sat down next to each other. Connie wasn't able to focus on the funny cartoons, even though she was looking forward all day to see them. She looked at Lydia and Kelly who, unlike her, seemed to have fun. The cartoon they were watching now, was about a wolf who was trying to impress a female wolf. In one scene the wolf girl kissed him and in that moment Connie looked in Daryl's direction. She noticed that he moved his head to look at her too and she was wondering if he was thinking about kissing her. She got butterflies in her stomach by this thought. But then his eyes went back to the screen. Connie was still looking at him, he didn't seem to focus on the cartoons either, since he wasn't even smiling. Connie looked at his hand on the armrest. She hesitated for a moment and then she lay her hand above his. He looked at her in surprise and then at his hand. Then he twisted his hand slowly and their fingers intertwined. Connie wasn't sure but she thought she saw the corner of his mouth moving up a bit and he seemed to be more at ease. They were holding hands the whole time till the cartoons were over and Connie couldn't stop smiling. When the last cartoon ended, people were clapping and Daryl and Connie released their hands and clapped too.
Connie could see Daryl looking at her out of the corner of his eye while they were walking to their sleeping place. She was a little bit disappointed since Kelly lay down next to her and Lydia next to Kelly. Daryl sat down on the floor next to Lydia. An hour passed and Connie couldn't sleep. She looked in Daryl's direction who was still sitting on the floor with his arms around his knees. Then he stood up and went outside. After a while she followed him.

Connie saw him sitting on a table, smoking. She sat down next to him and he looked at her briefly. He took out a cigarette box and held it in front of her, offering her to take one. Connie hated cigarettes, her parents smoked a lot in the house when she and Kelly were little and still lived with them. Cigarette smoke always reminded her of those times and she hated the smell of it. She waved with her hand, telling him "no" and the disgusted expression on her face must have told him that she didn't like it much, so he put his cigarette out. She still could see the grave look on his face, so she wrote:

What is it? Are you still worried about Lydia?

Daryl looked at the note, then at her and nodded.

But why? She's only a girl who's lost.

Daryl sighed and looked her in the eyes. Connie could see that something was bothering him a lot.

"A good friend of mine," he began and Connie stared at his lips to be able to read them.

"She had that friend she knew… from, you know, before." He looked at Connie with an unsure look in his eyes, probably wondering if she understood him and she nodded.

"That woman came to our community, she had some kids with her and my friend let her in. Turns out that woman's crazy and she trained the kids to hurt people. She disappeared one day, took my friend's daughter with her."

Connie was shocked to read that on his lips. Daryl continued:

"We went out to find her and when we did the kids attacked us. My friend was pregnant, but they didn't care. They tried to kill us, to kill her little girl too."

Daryl stood up and walked away a couple of steps. He was standing with his back to Connie and she wasn't sure if he was still talking and thought that he probably had forgotten she couldn't hear him. She stood up too, went to him and softly touched his arm, making him turn around. Connie could see he had a hard time to hold the tears back.

"We had to…" he whispered and stopped. "I..." He didn't have to say more, Connie figured out what happened then. She lay a finger on his lips, so he would know he didn't have to continue.

They were standing close to each other, looking each other in the eyes. Seeing tears in his eyes made Connie's heart hurt and she wanted to comfort him. She wrapped her arms around him. She felt how his body tensed under her touch, but after a couple of moments he returned the hug. They were standing like that for a while, before they parted and sat down again.

"What a fucked up story, ain't it?" He said then.

Life is like this, these days, Connie wrote. I get now why you're concerned about Lydia. But I don't think she's a threat.

"I hope you're right," Daryl told her. Then he narrowed his eyes and stared into space.

Is that why you were living in the woods? Connie asked him after some time.

"Nah. I was looking for a friend." He looked Connie in the eyes again and she could see a lot of pain in them.

"He probably died and I wanted to bring him back. But I've never found him. Guess I was chasing a ghost all those years."

I'm sorry. Connie wrote and looked at him in compassion.

"Yeah, it's okay."

I hope you find him one day. Or whatever you are looking for.

Their eyes met after Daryl finished reading her note and his look moved from her eyes to her lips. She was hoping he would kiss her. She moved a bit closer to him, her heart was beating fast. But then Daryl looked away and cleared his throat.

"Maybe we should go back. Get some sleep," he told her then. She nodded, trying to smile and not to show her disappointment, before they walked back to the sleeping room.

On the next day, the fair was still going on, but some people were already preparing to go home. Daryl, Connie, Lydia and Kelly were sitting at the table and eating. Connie could see that Daryl looked tired, but when their eyes met he gave her a faint smile. Tara and most people from Hilltop wanted to go back in the early afternoon and Kelly asked Connie if they should go too. Connie looked at Daryl again. She wanted him to go with them. She would have stayed at the Kingdom or wherever he wanted to live, but she knew Hilltop was Kelly's new home and their friends were waiting there for them to return.

So she nodded slightly at Kelly and told her "yes".

"Is Lydia coming with us?" Kelly asked her. The two of them had became friends already and Connie even suspected that Kelly had a little crush on Lydia.

I would like to take Lydia with us to the Hilltop, she began to write. She could feel how Daryl was staring at her note over her shoulder and her heart was beating fast as she added:

Are you coming with us?

Daryl, who already must had read her note as soon as she finished writing it, looked around and said nothing.

Then he cautiously took the pen out of her hand and wrote:

Somebody should keep an eye on the girl, right?

She read the note and when she looked up she could see a little smile on his lips.

Before they went to the horse wagon, Kelly and Lydia ran quickly to the person who was offering some music instruments and exchanged some of the prices they won at the fair for an old ukulele. Kelly was happy and told Lydia she wanted to give it to a friend who was hurt and couldn't come to the fair.

On their way back Connie was sitting in a horse wagon opposite to Kelly and Lydia. Kelly was teaching Lydia some ASL signs and Lydia was focused on what she was showing her. Connie felt happy. She couldn't believe that Daryl was coming with them and probably even staying. He was sitting next to her and petting Dog's head who was sitting beside his feet. The happiness made Connie confident and she wrote:

Remember I wanted to ask you something, before we went out and found Lydia?

Daryl saw the note and nodded.

So, how about a date?

She had to smile when she saw that slight panic in Daryl's eyes. But there was no going back, she had to know it now.
Daryl wanted to say something but then he must have realized that Kelly and Lydia would hear it so he wrote:

You want a date with me?

Connie chuckled.

I did ask YOU, didn't I?

She could see how nervous Daryl was, when she gave him the notepad. He was tapping the pen on the paper leaving little dots on it. Connie started to think that he was thinking of a polite excuse. Then he finally wrote:

When?

Connie was relieved that he didn't rejected her offer.

Tomorrow evening? She wrote, feeling how joy was filling her heart. She looked at him in anticipation and it felt like an eternity to her before she got a reaction from him. He was staring at her note like in disbelief, before he looked her in the eyes and finally nodded.