A/N: My god, this one is short! I am so, so, so, so sorry! I keep trying to make them longer, but it never works out..."sigh". But thank you to everyone who has left a review, it means a lot! Also, thank you for reading. Enjoy!
A few days had passed since Kaitlyn had let out all of her retained heartaches out in Daryl's arms. He had since been moved from the house into their tent out on the lawn. He had made a speedy recovery, though Hershel had advised him to lay off the hard work for a couple of days. Kaitlyn was also beginning to get better, she was still weak, and she still had trouble keeping her food down, but she was better. She and Daryl were together in the tent talking. Daryl was lying down; playing idly with an arrow and Kaitlyn was sitting next to him, her legs crossed. Daryl took the arrow and started to poke little holes in the mesh window of the tent. "Hey, don't do that." She said, smacking the back of his hand.
"What if I don't wanna stop?" He asked.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to stop, I told you too, I swear Daryl you're like a little kid, I always tell…I mean, always told Emily that." She corrected herself, looking down at her hands.
"You gonna be okay?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah," Kaitlyn replied, looking back up and shaking her head. She looked straight ahead though not looking at anything in particular. Suddenly something jabbed her in the side and she turned just in time to see Daryl pulling his hand away. "Ow! What was that for?" She asked.
"I dunno, I just thought everyone was ticklish there." He answered.
"What?" Kaitlyn asked, laughing a bit. "Wait, why did you think that? Are you ticklish there?"
"Me? No, I ain't ticklish nowhere." He replied quickly.
"You are!" She said, smiling mischievously.
"Don't you dare!" Daryl warned, but Kaitlyn was already crawling across the tent. He tried to sit up and back away but it was too late. Kaitlyn tickled his side, being careful not to get near where his stiches were on his other side. He tried to fight it but eventually caved. "Stop, stop!" he wheezed. Kaitlyn laughed and stopped. Daryl looked at her, his expression agitated. "You happy now?"
"Yes, actually, thanks." She smiled at him.
"Hey." A voice came from the front of the tent. Kaitlyn looked up to see Andrea climbing through the tent flap. Kaitlyn rose and grabbed her bow. "I'm going to go for a walk." She announced and went to leave the tent, not even looking at Andrea.
It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the light but when they did she headed off. She walked towards one of the large pastures and then towards the woods. "Hey, wait for me!" A voice called. Kaitlyn stopped and turned to see Ashley running across the field. "You shouldn't be alone, you could pass out again." She said breathlessly as she joined Kaitlyn.
"Okay." Kaitlyn said as she started to walk again. They walked in silence for a moment.
"So," Ashley started "how's Daryl doin'?"
"He's doing pretty good considering." Kaitlyn replied.
Ashley remained silent for a moment or so. "He's kinda cute, isn't he?"
"Who Daryl?" Kaitlyn asked. "I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it."
"And now that you are thinking about it?" Ashley looked at her.
"I guess. But, he's been with me through this whole thing; it's just weird for me to think about him like that." Kaitlyn told her.
"Oh, okay." Ashley said and Kaitlyn saw her smile impishly.
Kaitlyn stopped and turned to her. "Is there a point to all this?" She asked.
"Oh, it's nothing; I was just making sure that you two weren't a thing first." Ashley told her.
"First?"
"Yeah, before I try and make a move, silly." She said acidly sweet and walked away.
"Hey, I thought you said I couldn't be alone out here." Kaitlyn called after her.
"I lied." Ashley replied.
Kaitlyn scoffed and walked on for a few moments longer before finding a fallen tree and sitting down. She tried to process what had just happened. Was that a threat? But, if she and Daryl weren't together, why was it even any of her business. Because they were friends. Could they be more than friends? Kaitlyn wasn't sure. She didn't really know how she felt about Daryl, or how he felt about her. He obviously cared for her, but in a more friend way than anything else, right? She was snapped out of her thoughts by someone calling her name. She jogged back towards the pasture that she had entered from. There waiting for her were Brittany and Sparky. "Rick and Shane are taking a group out for gun training, you in?" Brittany asked.
Kaitlyn thought about it for a moment. She already knew how to shoot, and she still wasn't feeling quite right. "No, I think I'll stay here, watch things, keep Daryl company." She replied. "Besides, I'm not feeling quite up to it."
"Alright, well, don't work yourself too hard while we're gone." Sparky told her. They walked back to camp together. Everyone but Kaitlyn, Daryl, Dale, Glenn, and Hershel went to the target practice. Kaitlyn, however, did not go to keep Daryl company. Instead she wandered into the house. She planned on asking Hershel if he ever found his horse that had bucked Daryl, but he was nowhere to be found. The house seemed to be empty. She stepped into the living room and noticed an old grand piano sitting in the corner. She approached it slowly and ran her hand across its dusty surface. She sat down and the piano bench. She placed her fingers delicately on the keys and began to play. She missed the first few notes, but soon enough she had herself lined up. Für Elise flowed melodically from the piano.
Kaitlyn smiled as she finished but clapping from behind her caused her to jump. "I didn't know you played." Daryl said as she whipped around to face him.
"Well, there are a lot of things you don't know about me." Kaitlyn replied.
"Like what?" Daryl asked.
"Like…I don't know, I'll think of something later." Kaitlyn said. "Why are you up? You need to be resting, not running around all over the place." Kaitlyn told him.
"Yeah, well I got bored with that." Daryl said as he walked over and sat next to Kaitlyn on the bench. "Play again?" He asked quietly.
"Sure." Kaitlyn said. She put her fingers to the keys and started to play Moonlight Sonata. She played a couple more songs and even taught Daryl, with a lot of hard work, to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She had just started teaching him Mary Had a Little Lamb when the front door busted open and Ashley came in.
"There you are, Daryl!" She said.
"Aw, dammit." He whispered and turned as if thinking he could really hide from her.
"What's going on?" Kaitlyn whispered.
"She wouldn't leave the tent, I only left to get away from her." Daryl hissed back.
Kaitlyn snickered and turned back to the piano. "Daryl, you need to go lay down right now." Ashley instructed.
"No, I'm good, thanks." He replied.
"But, you'll never get better if you run around the farm all day!" She exclaimed.
"Fine," Daryl exasperated. "Come with me please." He said to Kaitlyn.
"Okay." She replied smiling. They both rose and Daryl started to limp towards the door. "You gonna make it?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Daryl said through gritted teeth.
"Here, let me help you stubborn ass." She said sliding his arm over her shoulder and helping him walk.
"Thanks." He said. Kaitlyn smiled in return. She could feel Ashley's gaze boring into her back as they walked.
She helped Daryl limp back to the tent but by the time they got there the effort had left both of them exhausted. They both fell down onto the tent floor and lay next to one another on their backs.
"So, what exactly happened out there?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Well, I fell of that damn horse, rolled down a hill, and got an arrow stabbed through my side. Then, when I was tryin' to climb back up the hill I fell again. Then I think I hit my head 'cause I was havin' hallucinations and what not. But I climbed that hill and dragged my ass back to camp." He said.
"Wow, you certainly don't spare any details." Kaitlyn said, smiling. Daryl just rolled his eyes.
Kaitlyn rubbed her eyes' tiredly and yawned. Daryl yawned as well and soon enough they had both fallen asleep, the sun still shining through the holes that Daryl had poked in the tent with his arrow.