Wow, really had a burst of follows and favs yesterday so thankyou! Yaaay! Cheers for the reviews annnd:

StoryReader1996 it's interesting you say that he reminds you of a kid and I think you'll see when we move along how childlike I've kind of made him. Norman always says how Daryl is socially undeveloped so I've tried my best to make him like that, very awkward and unsure.

FanFicGirl10 Yess, I think we can all imagine how that's gonna go down.

Amanda thankyou! Yeah I've read so many Daryl/OC fanfics and (not to be a dick) but I found it to become really repetitive with that scene so I knew where I wanted to start so I didn't have to write about it a lot aha.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Daryl was woken in the middle of the night to the sound of panicked gasps from the tent next to his. He sat up as quickly as he could without hurting himself, concerned with what was happening before he heard Eleanor leave her tent and join whoever was on night watch on the RV.

Eleanor had been scared awake by another nightmare and sat up in her cot with her legs off the side to try and calm herself. It'd been one of the few recurring nightmares that she'd been having, reliving what happened in the house. That man's rough grip around her thighs, the sick grin on his face as she struggled to free herself, screaming helplessly. Eleanor put on her jacket, zipping it up before leaving her tent. She had begun to feel slightly claustrophobic cooped up inside it.

She scanned around the campsite, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness but she could still hardly make out her surroundings and turned her gaze to the top of the RV where there was a small glow coming from a gas lamp, Rick was keeping watch tonight.

Eleanor slowly climbed the ladder, each rung being deathly cold against her hands which were still hot and clammy from her intense nightmare. She poked her head over the top of the RV to see Rick glancing over his shoulder at her with a warm smile. She pulled herself onto the RV and sat down next to Rick on the roof of the RV, tucking her legs close to her.

"Couldn't sleep?" Rick spoke softly, his eyes scanning the landscape.

"Yeah, nightmares… I just need to clear my mind for a bit" Eleanor whispered, rubbing her hands over her face.

"Anything you want to talk about?" He glanced over at her with a concerned expression.

"No… but thanks anyways. I just want to try and think about other things, distract myself you know?" She stretched her legs out in front her, allowing them to dangle over the side of the RV, directing her view down to her feet that were covered in just a plain pair of white socks and she wiggled her toes. "What's the plan for tomorrow?" She questioned sheepishly.

"Well in the morning we're gonna go check the highway for Sophia, where we left her a message to stay if she got back to it. We can't send people out into the woods for her because Daryl's the only one who can track so we'll have to wait until he's better. After me and Shane were then planning on taking a few of the group a couple miles away, practice their shooting." Rick looked down towards Eleanor who felt his gaze and lifted her head to face him. "You're welcomed to come"

"…I've never shot a gun." She said faintly.

"Don't worry, Shane will show you, he's great teacher." Rick smiled at Eleanor trying to reassure her as he felt the unease in her voice. Eleanor nodded, agreeing that she'd at least give it a go. She was an advent worrier and with the world as it was she felt anxious most of the time but if it meant improving her ability to protect herself then she'd try.

Silence fell between them for a few minutes, both staring towards the land for any sign of movement as Rick began to speak. "Did you talk to Daryl? He didn't seem too pleased about what happened." Rick kept his sight forward, still scanning over the fields.

"Yeah I did and no, he wasn't happy but I got in what I wanted to say…well as best I could." Eleanor thought back to when she spoke to Daryl in the bedroom, how she went in all guns blazing but as soon as she looked at him to speak anxiety took over. She stopped herself from smiling at how useless she was in those kinds of situations.

"Yeah, he's not the easiest person to talk to… What did he say?" Rick asked cautiously while readjusting himself in the chair, getting in a more comfortable position.

"Told me he didn't care, that it wasn't his problem" Eleanor's gaze had returned to her feet, her hands flat on the RV and shoulders hunched forward to peer over the front of the RV.

"He'll come around. Daryl isn't stupid, I'm sure that he understood your motives."

"I'm sure he does. But I - I think it has more to do with what I actually said. The story I told him, you know?" Rick nodded in agreement as Eleanor continued. "But as far as I'm concerned Daryl saved my life bringing me here. I didn't know what the hell I was doing out there; it's a wonder why I'm still alive. He brought me to safety so I'm thankful and I just don't want any kind of hostility between us."

"Like I said, I'm sure he'll come around." With Rick's last comment Eleanor told him that she was going to try and get some more sleep and said goodnight, leaving the roof of the RV and walking back to her tent. She zipped the entrance up and lay in her cot; pulling the covers up around her and snuggling in before falling back to sleep.

Daryl was still awake in his cot having listened to the conversation between Eleanor and Rick. It'd made him feel uneasy to hear that Eleanor believed that he'd saved her life taking her back to the farm. He understood now why she'd bothered to come back to talk to him a second time as well as being concerned when she saw him outside with the rest of the group. She felt like she owed him for having lied to him initially as well bringing her to the safety of the farm. Daryl frowned; he didn't want to have to put up with her tagging along after him trying to make up for it. Daryl was much more of a loner, especially since Merle was gone and he'd kept away from everyone else and was content on doing what he wanted by himself.

She's just a kid, he thought to himself. Even though she'd lied about being a guy she was still young and by herself, she had still wandered around the woods alone and she still stopped to help him even before she knew that he was with a group. Was he making a big deal out of nothing? No, he thought, she lied to make ya feel bad and help her. It wasn't even about her not being a boy, why would he care? It was about how she played it all. Who could turn away a kid with a sob story?

Daryl's mind struggled, trying to resolve the mental conflict he was having about her. He thought back to what she told him in the bedroom as to why she lied in the first place, she didn't go into detail but it was obvious that some guy had tried to attack her causing her to mask who she was to protect herself. Daryl agreed that it was a clever thing to do; the lack of rules in this new world had changed a lot of people causing them to be almost as dangerous as the walkers trying to rip them to pieces. Daryl sighed heavily, not being able to come to some sort of decision and turned over in his cot to try and get back to sleep.

So which side of Daryl's mental dilemma would you guys be on? Keeping in mind that Eleanor did in fact know that Daryl was with a group. Do you think she was justified?

As always please feel free to review and let me know, always interested to see your opinions. (: