Holy wow, you guys… Why am I having such trouble with these chapters lately? Ugghhh!

In other news….

You are all the sweetest people in the world! Your reviews are the biggest self-esteem boosts :) And everyone who pointed out the Boondock Saints connection with Conner's name made me smile… unfortunately our Conner will not be Conner MacManus. I think a crossover between TWD and BDS would be awesome, but I couldn't do it justice. FanFicGirl10 and I have decided that our Conner is a Michael Fassbender look-a-like. So, if you were wondering what he might look like, there you go! A Michael Fassbender with green eyes. All right, I think I've nattered on long enough, so enjoy!

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Maybe it was because she felt responsible. Maybe it was because he was a bright new ray of sunshine in this otherwise rather subdued group. Maybe it was just because he was new. Whatever the reason, Addison found herself sitting on Conner's bed at least once a day while he recovered, swapping stories of their most ridiculous walker kills and escapes, talking about the "good ol' days", or helping him regain his strength when, as per Hershel's orders, he walked slow laps around his room with her support. On good days, they even ventured out into the hallway and walked down to Addison's room and back.

Everyone except Daryl had visited the newcomer in his room, though Hershel and Addison were the only regulars. After about two weeks, Conner pointed out the hunter's absence. Addison shrugged. "He'll come around eventually. He hated me when I first joined."

Conner looked surprised. "Really? That's ridiculous – how could anyone hate you?"

Addison shook her head, her cheeks beginning to grow warm. "We got off on the wrong foot. I thought he was trying to steal my deer, he thought I was a rude ingrate. And then it sort of just spiraled from there."

"You know," Conner said thoughtfully, "you never told me how you got involved with this group."

Addison laughed. "That's because you've spent the better part of nearly two weeks sleeping. There was no time for long, ridiculous stories."

"Oh, my sincerest apologies, please forgive me!" Conner begged theatrically. "I'm not used to living in the lap of luxury. How on earth can you even pull yourself away from this?" He smoothed a hand over the bed sheets, looking at Addison with an expression of exaggerated disbelief.

Addison held her hands up, conceding the point. "All right, all right, I'll give you that." She grinned.

"So… ?" Conner prompted, settling back against his pillows. "Does the long, ridiculous story start with 'Once upon a time…'?"

Still smiling, Addison rolled her eyes. "Once upon a time, I was getting chased by walkers. Daryl swooped in and saved the day. But I guess I wasn't as thankful as I should have been, which pissed him off. We went our separate ways for a week, when, as fate would have it, we meet again. He tried to steal my deer. Well, another two weeks passed without incident, but I was running low on supplies. I stopped in a small town and was just about to leave when the entire group pulled up in their cars. Daryl was less than pleased to see me, because, well, I may have knocked him out the last time we met."

Conner's eyes grew wide. "You what?!"

"I told you," Addison sniffed, "he tried to steal my deer." Conner shook his head, impressed. "Rick, kind soul that he is, offered to let me join them," Addison continued. "I refused. I was better off on my own and I had no desire to spend any more time with Daryl. But some Higher Up couldn't leave well enough alone. I ran into Daryl for the fourth time, as I was being chased by this huge herd. Managed to save Carl's little arse but didn't stick around, which didn't win me any brownie points with Daryl. The final time I ran into their group, Rick found me. I was starving and had pretty much given up. He didn't ask so much as demand that I join them at least for a little while because I had kept Carl from getting killed." Addison shrugged. "But I never left and here we are." Conner applauded and Addison gave a mock bow.

"That's pretty insane," Conner laughed. "I'm sorry I never had the fortune of running into you," he added with a wistful sigh. "Could have saved me a whole lot of trouble."

Addison shook her head, suddenly finding the far corner of the ceiling very interesting as her cheeks grew warm once again. "Nah, trouble has a habit of finding me," she told him, recalling the conversation she had with Daryl in the bathroom after she had found Conner the first time. The memory didn't help alleviate the color she knew was spreading across her cheeks.

There was a knock on the door and Maggie popped her head in. "Dinner's ready. Dad wants you to try stairs, so come on down when you're ready," she told Conner with a kind smile.

"Thanks," Conner nodded as she left. "Looks like I'm moving up in the rehab world!" He gave a celebratory fist pump, at which Addison couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on, I'm starving," she chuckled, hopping off the bed and offering a hand to help Conner off the bed. He good-naturedly waved her off, sliding carefully off the edge of the bed to his feet. Taking cautious steps, Conner walked out of his room and to the top of the stairs while Addison stuck by his side, holding an arm out just in case he needed the support. They grinned at each other before beginning the decent. By the time they made it to the foyer, Conner had a sheen of sweat across his forehead, and Addison's shoulder was sore from the vice-like grip Conner had used. Conner laughed a little breathlessly at his accomplishment as Addison patted his back. After getting Conner settled next to Hershel at the dining room table, Addison went back to the kitchen to grab a plate of food for both herself and Conner. She sniffed appreciatively at the two roasted ducks on the counter. Dinner was quiet as everyone dug into Daryl's tastiest hunting haul in months. Mumbled "mmm"s and "delicious" comments went around the sunroom and dining room every so often.

…

Addison pulled the plug in the sink, handing the last plate to Maggie to dry.

"So," Maggie said slowly, glancing sideways at Addison. "You and Conner seem to be pretty good friends."

Addison shrugged, wiping her hands dry on her jeans. "I feel responsible for him, I guess. I pushed the hardest to go help him in the first place. Besides," she added, "no one else seems to really want to get to know him. He's a good guy."

"I never said he's not," Maggie said quickly. "We're giving him a bit of space so he can get better."

Addison fought the urge to roll her eyes at her friend's feeble excuse. "Look, it's fine if you guys aren't comfortable with him around just yet. I just don't want people judging me because I'm trying to make this guy feel welcome."

"What about Daryl?"

Addison stared slack-jawed at the back of Maggie's head as the brunette put the last of the plates away in the cupboard. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked after the shock subsided.

Maggie turned back, looking confused. "Isn't you being with Conner so much making things a little difficult?" she asked slowly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Addison blinked. "First of all, what 'things'? And secondly, since when does Daryl have a say – or even care – who I spend my time with?"

Maggie had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "W-well, I just thought that maybe you guys had something going. I mean, you seemed to be getting pretty close…" She trailed off, clearly unsure of what to say anymore.

Addison sighed, forcing down her frustration. She knew Maggie didn't mean any harm by her comments. "We're just friends. And Conner and I are just friends. That's all." She gave her friend a light squeeze on the arm to let Maggie know that she wasn't upset. Then Addison grabbed the wash basin and maneuvered her way outside to dump out the dirty water.

Balancing the tub against a tree trunk to drain, Addison closed her eyes and let the breeze of the Georgia night cool her skin. The reason her conversation with Maggie had irked her so much was because the brunette had unknowingly stumbled her way onto a topic that had been praying on Addison's mind. She was growing more concerned as she noticed that Daryl seemed to be pulling away from everyone ever since they had gotten back from rescuing Conner. If she was being completely honest, she didn't entirely care about his withdrawal from the rest of the group. What bothered her was the tension between herself and the hunter. They hadn't talked since Conner joined the group, not properly anyway. He would nod a short greeting to her if they passed on the stairs, or she would ask where someone was and he would tell her. And that would be that. And she wasn't okay with it. So to cope, she'd begun to spend more time with Conner. Which (and now she had to admit that Maggie was probably on to something there) was probably not helping the situation.

Addison let out a slow breath, resolving to bridge the growing gap between Daryl and herself tomorrow.

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Well. That took way more effort to write than it probably should have. How annoying. I hope it was all right. Please let me know what you thought! Love.