Now that she was cleaned up, Marie felt ten times better. She didn't mind being dirty, but she still had standards when it came to her hygiene. It just made her feel more like a real woman, like things weren't all that different from before. She dressed in some comfortable clothes than headed outside.

She could see everyone milling about, doing whatever duty was required of them. She didn't know what duty Rick was going to assign her, he had yet to tell her. He had told her to get cleaned up first before doing anything else. And now that she was cleaned up, the bandage on her arm fresh and clean, she headed off to find Rick.

When Daryl had finally returned to where he had left her, he had a couple more people with him. Daryl had invited them back with them, but the two freaked and the guy pulled his guy on them, taking Marie hostage and holding the gun to her head until Daryl gave up his crossbow. When he let go of her, he handed his handgun to the girl with him and took Marie's rifle. They got away on Daryl's bike, trying to say they were sorry and Daryl told them they would be.

Daryl and Marie found a gas truck and after getting Abraham and Sasha, they headed home. They ran into a group of bikers on the way who tried to take their stuff but Daryl blew them up with the rocket launcher that Abraham had found.

Once they had finally made it home, they found the tower had fallen, taken a portion of the wall with it and the town was filled with Walkers. Sasha and Abraham had saved Glenn after seeing Maggie and Enid on the wall. Once inside, Daryl filled the lake with gas than lit it with the rocket launcher, drawing the Walkers toward it. They all fought off any stragglers and succeeded in taking back Alexandria, but now the streets were littered with bodies.

"Hey Marie, hold up a second!" yelled a voice behind her.

Marie turned around, only to see Kyle jogging toward her. She rolled her eyes and kept on walking. She had nothing to say to him.

"Hey, I said hold up. What the hell's so urgent?" asked Kyle.

"None of your business Kyle. The hell you want anyway?" demanded Marie, venom in her voice.

"Just wanted to talk. I saw after you came back you had a little trouble moving your arm. You get hurt or something?" asked Kyle.

"What do you care? I don't need your sympathy. Things happen, people get hurt. I'm fine. Now go away." said Marie.

"No, I'm trying to show you that I do give a damn about you. That Dixon is only going to get you killed, like I've tried to tell you for years." said Kyle.

"Okay, now you need to be careful what else comes out of your mouth and you need to step the hell back! You have no idea what happened out there! What we had to deal with out there!" yelled Marie as she stopped and turned on Kyle, drawing attention to them.

"I'm just trying to tell you the truth! I don't want to see anything bad happen to you. And what would Cassie do without you? Who would take care of her?" demanded Kyle.

"Leave her out of this!" shouted Marie.

"There a problem?" asked Spencer as he, Daryl and Michonne walked over toward the ruckus.

"Damn right! He's the problem!" yelled Kyle, pointing at Daryl.

"Just say what you gotta say man. Leave Marie out of whatever shit you have against me." said Daryl, trying to remain calm.

"You don't deserve her! You are nothing but white, trailer trash shit! You always have been and always will! You've never mattered to anyone! She deserves better than you!" Yelled Kyle.

"Like you deserve her any better than I do you sonofabitch! You almost got her killed because you pussied out and lied to her old man to save your own ass!" Bellowed Daryl.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Kyle charged at Daryl and tackled him to the ground. Daryl of course fought back, defending himself from Kyle's attacks.

Rick, Glenn and Abraham ran forward as the fight broke out but didn't try to pull them apart yet, standing back to wait for an opening to slip in and pull the men apart. No one wanted to get between the anger-filled men, except Marie. She ran forward and grabbed hold of Kyle, trying to pull him off.

"Stop it! Kyle, get off him!" She yelled at him.

Kyle's next move threw everyone for a loop as his fist swung around, but instead of hitting Daryl his fist collided with the side of her head, knocking her off him and to the ground. Daryl saw this and horror filled his eyes as he watched her fall with blood dripping down the side of her face.

Watching his best friend being hit by her ex, hurt and bleeding, only heightened his rage. He pushed Kyle off of him and let his fists fly without caring how far he went.

Once the world stopped swimming and her eyes refocused, Marie looked over to see Daryl now had Kyle pinned beneath him, pounding his face and any other part he could find. She knew if someone didn't stop him, he would end up killing him.

"Daryl, stop! Please!" She cried out, hoping he'd hear, but he didn't. It wasn't that she cared what happened to Kyle, it was the fact she didn't want his blood on Daryl's hands, literally and figuratively speaking.

Marie knew that Daryl's rage was blinding him and her cries for him to stop fell on deaf ears. She knew of only one way to get his attention, one way that had worked in the past.

"Sir Lancelot, don't!"

At Marie's nickname for him, Daryl froze. He slowly turned to look at her. He saw her still sitting on the ground where Kyle had knocked her, her eyes frozen on him. He saw the pleading look in her eyes than he realized where his hand was. He had been reaching for his knife when she called out to him.

Daryl removed his hand from his knife and took a few steps back away from Kyle before he did something he may regret. Then he walked over and helped Marie slowly and steadily get to her feet.

That's when they all heard a laugh. They turned to see it was Kyle.

"Man, she has you so whipped. Wrapped around her little finger. You'd do anything she told you without question, like a little lap dog. You're pathetic." Said Kyle.

"You best shut the hell up!" Growled Daryl in warning. He was tired of this guy and all the bull that came out of his mouth.

"Or what? What exactly are you gonna do Dixon? 'Cause I guarantee you aren't gonna do anything she doesn't allow you to. She ain't gonna let you off your leash." Said Kyle.

"Kyle, if you don't shut your mouth, I'll be the one to shut it for you. And then when I'm done, I'll let him have at you. All you've done since you've been here is cause problems for everyone. So as far as I can tell, you're the one who is pathetic, who's the little lap dog because you've followed me around from day one and harassed me 'cause you don't grasp that there's no us, there never was.

"You obviously don't get the kind of relationship Daryl and I have. Unlike you, he's always had my back just like I've always had his. He's been there for me and I've been there for him. I know things about him no one does and he knows things about me, things you never bothered to learn. But someone like you will never get it.

"And if you don't back off of Daryl, I swear I'll make you regret it for rest of your short, pathetic little existence. Do I make myself clear?!" Said Marie angrily, her eyes burning with rage.

Kyle remained silent when Marie was through with her rant, no longer able to find any words.

Before her anger got the better of her, Marie decided it best to go back to the home she shared with her sister and best friend. As she turned to walk away, she felt Daryl place his hand gently on the small of her back and guide her toward home. She didn't have to look to know he also cast one last glare at Kyle before they began walking away.

Daryl took care of the gash on her face that Kyle had made when he hit her, cleaning it and placing a small bandage over it.

"Thank you." Said Marie.

Daryl gave a grunt of a reply. He never did take compliments or gratitude very well.

Marie took the first aid kit and began tending to his face.

Daryl never had minded when she'd play nurse whenever he got hurt from a fight or what not. She was always so gentle, never said anything as she did what was needed, and never made eye contact either knowing how uncomfortable it would make him.

"Did you mean what you said to Kyle?" Asked Marie as she finished.

"What?" Asked Daryl, slightly confused by her question.

"That Kyle deserves me less than you do, that you deserve me more." As soon as those words left her mouth, Marie grew very nervous as she waited for his answer, hoping that she hadn't crossed a line.

Daryl watched Marie for a minute, watching the nervousness creep into her eyes.

"Of course I did. I'd never do anything to risk your life or your safety and in one go he almost cost you your life because he was too chicken shit to handle his own ignorance." He said.

Marie felt her heart race at Daryl's honest answer. It told her all she needed to know, all she'd been hoping to hear one day.

Daryl started to get up, but Marie's hand grabbing his stopped him. He stared at her, baffled by her action.

With her heart still pounding in her chest, threatening to burst out, Marie slowly leaned forward towards Daryl until her lips touched his. She felt him freeze up and felt panic rise in her, thinking she made a mistake.

When Marie's lips touched his, Daryl couldn't help but freeze, mostly out of shock because he never expected it but also because he never imagined another woman kissing him, especially that woman being Marie who had been his best friend for so long and was someone who truly cared about him.

Marie started to pull away, ready to apologize, but then she felt Daryl push his own lips against hers, returning her kiss.

Daryl placed a hand on her hip while Marie wrapped her arms around his neck as a make out session began, slow and easy. Neither wanted things to progress too fast, enjoying their new connection without rush despite the fact that Daryl had whimpered a little at first until he slowly relaxed and let himself give in.

Daryl never imagined that he would find what he was finding with Marie with anyone. He never believed that he would find affection or love with anyone. He never thought that he was worthy of such things. He always felt worthless, that he didn't deserve such things from anyone. Yet here he was, feeling nothing but affection from the last woman he'd thought he would ever be with.

Wanting to be somewhere where they was less risk of someone seeing them, Daryl broke away long enough to grab Marie by the hand and lead her upstairs to the room they already shared. And Marie followed without question, she already knew.

It wasn't that Daryl didn't want anyone to know or that he was ashamed, it was just that this was a new thing for him and he liked his privacy, didn't like people to be in his business or theirs.

Once they were in the bedroom and the door was shut for additional privacy, lips were reclaimed. The rest of the world was forgotten as they returned to their make out session. They still took their time though, preferring to enjoy every moment.

When Marie started to unbutton his shirt, Daryl grabbed her wrists and stopped her, breaking their kiss.

"I'm sorry." Marie quickly apologized.

"It's okay, it's just...I'm just not ready yet." Said Daryl.

"I understand, it's alright." Said Marie.

"Sorry." Daryl apologized.

"Hey, don't apologize. It's not a big deal Dar, we don't have to do anything you don't feel comfortable with yet." Marie told him, touching the side of his face to calm him. "We can move at whatever pace you choose, no need to rush anything."

Daryl nodded his thanks. He knew that she would get it, that she would understand but he also didn't want to make her wait on him. She deserved to have a proper relationship with a real man, not one like him who actually wanted to take things slow because he was uncomfortable with contact with a other person.

"Besides, probably better for both of us anyway." Said Marie, knowing well along the lines what he was thinking. At his confused look, she added, "I haven't been with anyone since Kyle. Never trusted another man again, especially the way I trust you."

Daryl wanted to go back out and rip Kyle's head off. Marie deserved to be treated way better, like a queen. She was precious but it seemed he was the only one who knew it.

"He ever hurts you again, I'll kill him." He told her.

"Yes sir, my Lancelot." Said Marie with a smile.

"Stop." Said Daryl even though it didn't bother him.

Just then, they heard the front door open and close again.

"Marie?!" Called Cassie.

"Why do little sisters always have such bad timing?" Asked Marie rhetorically with a smile.

Daryl just smiled at her but didn't say anything.

Marie gave him one more last kiss.

"Finish this conversation later?" She asked him.

Daryl remained silent with just a small smirk on his face. He turned and started heading back downstairs.

"I'll be right down, gonna change out of this bloody shirt." Said Marie.

After she had changed her shirt and went downstairs, she saw it wasn't just her sister down there. Rick, Carl, Carol, Glenn, and Maggie were too. The others were probably off on guard duty or one of their other activities.

"My God Marie, your head." Said Cassie upon seeing her sister, reaching out to touch it.

"I'm fine, it looks worse than it is I'm sure." Said Marie, swatting her sister's hand away.

"It looks like shit." Said Rick.

"Thanks Rick." Said Marie with a sarcastic grin.

Rick smirked right back.

"So what'd you do with Kyle?" Asked Marie, curious but not really caring as she walked over and sat on the couch, Daryl sitting on the arm next to her.

"He's locked up right now, Abraham's guarding him just to be on the safe side." Said Rick.

"We were gonna talk to you first before we made a decision." Said Glenn.

"Frankly, at this point I don't care what you do. He attacked Daryl, attacked me. Who's to say he won't attack someone else? And it could be worse next time." Said Marie.

"She's right, he had his chance." Said Rick, siding with Marie.

"So what do we do with him? He can't stay here and we can't exactly cut him lose and risk him coming back to do God knows what." Said Carol.

"Let's not decide anything right now, we're all a little on edge. Let's cool off than we'll figure it out." Said Rick when he saw the look on Marie's face, one that said she knew what had to be done but didn't want to do it.

"I'm sorry you guys, this is my fault. I should've listened to you Dar, should've never brought him here to begin with." Said Marie guiltily.

"It's not your fault Marie, you didn't know what that jackass was capable of. No one could've known." Daryl told her.

"It's not on you, you were trying to do the right thing. None of us can blame you for that." Said Maggie.

"Still, I feel bad for what he did. I put everyone here in danger." Said Marie.

"Hey, don't go blaming yourself because he's an asshole. Like Daryl said, it's not your fault. People changed when the world changed, some more than others. You can't always predict or be prepared for the way they go." Said Rick.

Marie just nodded. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see it was Daryl. She smiled at him, placing her hand on top of his.

"So Marie, why did you call Daryl Sir Lancelot out there earlier?" Asked Rick, curious.

"That's a nickname I gave him a long time ago. My mom would tell me stories at night before bed when I was a kid and one of my favorites was about King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Daryl was always there when I was in a jam and I gave him that nickname because he's my knight in shining armor." Said Marie, smiling.

Everyone kind of grinned and giggled about that while Daryl seemed to gave an awkward grin and turned red.

"Oh, wait til you hear the nickname I gave Merle." Said Marie, hoping to make Daryl feel less uncomfortable.

"Really? What was it?" Asked Carl.

"Come on, his name was Merle." Said Marie, hoping that was hint enough.

Glenn busted up laughing.

"Merlin." He said in his amusement.

"And he absolutely hated it." Said Marie proudly.

"He always did think of you like a little sister." Said Daryl.

"I know, I could always tell by the way he acted with me. We didn't always get along, but I could never hate him." Said Marie.

"Why's that?" Asked Rick.

"He saved my ass once." Said Marie. At the looks of question she received from everyone including Daryl, she added, "I was walking home one day by myself, having just finished running an errand for my mom. I didn't usually walk alone, Daryl was normally with me but he couldn't be that day so I had to go alone. I cut down an alley. That's when these guys blocked, some of the boys from school who were always picking on and bullying Daryl." She swallowed the lump forming in her throat than looked over at Daryl, seeing the fire in his eyes.

Daryl could feel his hands tighten and curl into fists, his knuckles turning white. He didn't like where this was heading. He knew the guys that Marie were talking about, he remembered them quite well.

"There were four of them, two in front of me and two behind me, making sure I couldn't get away. They told me...they said they were gonna hurt me to hurt Daryl, said it was the best to hurt him to make sure that he would never fight back. Two of them grabbed me and pinned me to the wall.

"Before they could do anything, Merle and a group of his buddies showed up, beat the shit out of them. Merle told them that I was Daryl's girl and as long as I was, he and his friends would see to it that no one land a hand on me and if they touched me again, they wouldn't be so lucky next time. The guys took off." Marie finished.

Daryl could still feel the anger coursing through him, but also couldn't help feel a swell of pride at his brother defending and protecting Marie from those punks. He leaned forward with his knees, his hands running through his hair.

The entire room was silent, waiting to see if Daryl was going to blow or not. Everyone watched as he slowly stood up, walking into the kitchen. They watched as he placed his hands on the island and lean on it, his head down. Then they watched as Marie stood as well, following him.

Marie was cautious in approaching Daryl, knowing he was trying hard to control his anger. She slowly walked up behind, carefully reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. She watched him as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept that from you. Merle made me promise not to, we both knew what you'd do and I didn't wanna spend the rest of my life seeing you from behind glass." She told him.

Daryl was silent for a minute. It wasn't because he didn't know what to say, he did but he wanted to suppress his anger first. He didn't want to lash out at her, she didn't deserve it. She only did what she had to because she was right, he would've been spending his life behind bars with only a plate glass window when she was able to visit.

"Merle was right." He finally spoke once he knew he could contain his anger. He slowly turned to face his beat friend of years and the woman he was becoming intimate with. "He was right, you're my girl and if any man touches you, they won't live to see tomorrow."

Marie opened her mouth to speak, but was surprised when Daryl grabbed her and crushed his mouth to hers.