Shane stood there staring as Dr. Bennett set fire to the funeral pyre. It was one way to make sure that the walkers never came back to life. Along the wall, and safely covered from the weather, were pictures of everyone who had been lost or presumed dead. Her picture had already been added.

Sara wrapped her arms around her grandfather's waist as she cried. Lucy leaned against Daryl and wiped her face as she looked away. Shane couldn't help but wish Lilli could lean against him.

A hand wrapped around Shane's and a head was pressed lightly against it. "When she looked at me, I knew," the ever familiar voice said softly. "She knew something was wrong with her and she didn't want to live like that."

Shane crouched so that he was leveled with Lilli. He kissed her before she wiped her tears away.

They had made it on time. Alex wasn't kidding when he said that all they needed was Eve's blood. Not even a day passed before Lilli was conscious. But, the cure didn't mean that her body healed instantly. She sat in a wheelchair. Her body was still too weak to allow her to walk and stand for a long period of time.

Her father had said it would take time for her to heal. It was clear that she didn't like that. She was already out of bed, despite the protests from everyone. Shane loved and hated her stubbornness. It just meant that it would take longer for her to heal. Which meant that it would take longer for her to be able to be completely in his arms.

Shane bit his lip when he thought of what he would do to her once her injures healed. "Ouch," he hissed as he lightly rubbed his shoulder. She had punched him.

"It's my sister's funeral you're thinking dirty!" she whispered rapidly. Although she looked angry, her eyes danced with mischief.

"Grandpa said you are supposed to be in bed, Aunt Lilli!" Sara placed herself in front of the two and put her hands on her hips.

Lilli laughed then frowned in pain. "Don't make me laugh," she muttered as she shook her head.

"I'm glad we made it on time," Rick said as he put his hand on Lilli's shoulder.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I haven't been able to thank you or Daryl. You guys didn't have too. You risked your lives. Thank you," she said.

Daryl shrugged as he grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her away with him. He wasn't used to people thanking him, and he didn't care for the attention.

Lucy smiled at her friend before she let Daryl drag her away. There would be plenty of time to talk later.

"Well, it's a good thing that they went. Now we have a cure for when we get bit," Lori said, trying to sound comforting.

"We've started working on a way to make it permanent," Alex said as he walked over to them.

The "cure" was a temporary thing. It fought and killed the virus that was in the host, but didn't last long. Alex was confident that he and his team would find way to make it a permanent cure so that no one would have to worry about being bit. But, at least they had something.

"What did I do to deserve such brave people in my life?" Lilli asked as she looked at Shane then at Rick.

Rick chuckled. "I think we should ask that question," he replied. "If it weren't for you then we wouldn't have found this Haven. That not only keeps us safe from the walkers, but also has a cure."

"Let's go, baby," Lori whispered as she tugged at her husband. He nodded his head and waved to the others before following his wife.

"I'm going to take her back to her room," Shane told Alex. He felt a little intimidated around the man. It was quite clear that Alex was the leader of Haven. As soon as the team returned from capturing Eve, they immediately followed all of Alex's orders. And it didn't help that Alex was Lilli's father. He felt that he had to give the man a good impression.

Alex gave Shane a nod and grabbed Sara's hand as she tried to follow. Shane was grateful. Neither he nor Lilli had had much time to be able to talk. There was so much to say, and at the same time there was a lot of time to be able to say it. But Shane didn't want to risk anything. Life was short, and this new world was quick to show it.

"Shane?" Lilli asked as he wheeled her back to the makeshift hospital.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Thank you for everything," she said. "You didn't have to go out there and find Eve. You could have left me to my fate when Michael bit me. But you didn't."

Shane stopped pushing the wheelchair and crouched so that he was eye to eye with her. "I didn't have too," he said with a nod of his head. "But… I've lost enough. Family, friends… lovers. I can't… I can't see myself with anyone else. You keep me from going down that dark path. You balance me, Lilli Bennett. So we're even." Ever so gently, he kissed her on the lips. He hated to see the bruises from her fight with Eve and Michael. But they would heal.

Shane stood up and started to push her again.

"Well," she said after a brief moment of silence. "I hope you don't think I'm going to stay safe behind these walls. There are still plenty of adventures to be had out there. And plenty of people to rescue. Eve is gone, but there have to be more of her other 'children' out there. They are more dangerous than the walkers."

Shane let out a loud sigh as he shook his head. "You ain't even healed yet and you're thinking about going out there and kicking ass?" It was a rhetorical question. "Fine," he said. "But I ain't going to let you go out there alone. We'll be together and work as a team."

She didn't answer as he wheeled her into her room that was on the first floor. They had moved her, since she was no longer a threat. Gently, Shane picked Lilli up and placed her on her bed. Only a few more days and she would be allowed to sleep in her own bed.

Lilli reached her good arm back and grabbed his hand. "I'll let you come with me," she said with a nod of her head. "You aren't too bad."

"Too bad?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "If you weren't injured I'd show you how bad I can be." His free hand lightly ran up her leg then went under her shirt. She let out a chuckle as she pushed his hand away. Ever so gently, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "But this will have to do for now," he said in a soft voice.

"For now," she teased.

"Just one thing, Lilli," he said seriously. She seemed surprised by his sudden change of mood. "No more lies to me."

Lilli blinked twice before she nodded. "But that goes to you, too," she said.

He nodded and lightly kissed her lips. "Will you marry me, Lilli Bennett?" he whispered in her ear.

She looked at him, surprised by his question then shook her head. "Is that any way to propose?" she asked. Her voice was pitched higher by her surprise. "No ring? No surprise? Just all of a sudden will you marry me?"

He didn't react as he waited for her response. "Well?" he asked.

She waited for a minute then shook her head. "Nope," she said.

"And why not? Sounds like it's something we should…"

"Shane, I may be a girl who likes to be spontaneous. And, yes, I did nearly die and all, but… You'll have to be very very good and propose to me in a decent way." Her eyes sparkled with mischief, but her face was serious.

"And what if I was very very bad?" he lowered his voice seductively.

"You're mean," she cooed then frowned. "I really can't wait to get better now."

Shane laughed as he kissed her lips again. He knew that there would be trials and tribulations. He would find himself fighting with her. She had a free spirit. But they would make up in the end. The world was new, and it was theirs. He was no longer afraid of the walkers. The one thing that they had was now no longer something he needed to fear. But most importantly, Lilli was alive, safe, and all his.

A/N: The ending snuck up on me. I didn't realize I was so close to finishing this story until the previous chapter. I finished writing and then was like "Huh… that's it". Hope you guys have enjoyed. I'm planning on writing another WD story. It's actually in the works, but I wanted to finish this story before I started posting that one. I should have it up by the end of this week. Hope you enjoyed this story and thanks for sticking with me.