Hey ya'll, sorry I tortured you guys with the last chapter, I hope this one makes up for it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or any of the characters. Only my Oc's.

By the morning, everyone knew what had happened between me and Daryl. I didn't say anything, but I could feel their eyes on me as I sat in camp in my pajamas. Glenn had let me sleep in his tent with him, which I took him up on. It was nothing romantic, with Glenn, it was strictly platonic. He felt like the younger brother I never had. When Cal heard about what happened he plopped down next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders while holding a cup of coffee in the other hand. He handed it to me and I sipped it, it was spiked. Heavily. I leaned into Cal's side and he squeezed my shoulders gently.

"Love 'em?" he asked and I sighed. "Want me to kick his ass?"

"Think I'm a little too old to have anyone else do my dirty work for me." I told Cal who chuckled.

"Hey," Maggie walked over to the two of us. "I heard."

"How the hell is everyone hearin' about this?" I asked.

"Do you want me to go talk shit to him? I can be a bitch." She nodded and Glenn who was standing behind her nodded as well, she looked back and he quit nodding, and sort of cracked his neck, pretending to be distracted.

"God, you guys, I can handle it." I told them and she sighed, pursing her lips. "Maggie, its fine." I told her and she nodded. I got up and brushed myself off before I started to walk back to my- To Daryl's camp.

"Hey," Hunter ran over to me and I looked at him.

"What's up?" I asked as we continued to walk.

"Nothing, can't I see how my future wife is doing?"

"Kid, we're not getting married."

"Well, now that I don't have to worry about Daryl, do I have a shot?"

"It'll be a cold day in Hell." I told him and he stopped walking.

"What do you think this is?" he asked and I turned to look at him. "It's the zombie apocalypse, it's not like it can get much colder down there." He told me. I sighed before I walked over to Him and stared down at him.

"You sure you're twelve?" I asked.

"I'm thirteen next month. I've been keeping track."

"Oh, well, in that case." I rolled my eyes and he nodded.

"Okay… You win this round!" he told me as I walked to camp. Daryl wasn't there when I got there, and for that I was thankful. I didn't even bother changing there; I just grabbed some clothes and walked back to the main camp.

"So what's your plan?" Maggie asked as I changed in the bathroom in her house. "You know I could convince my daddy to let you stay here."

"No, I've got a tent." I told her. "I'll just pitch it with the rest of the group."

"Yeah, not to mention how jealous Daryl's gonna be when Parker hears about ya'll."

"Look, Maggie, I ain't tryin' ta make Daryl jealous."

"Well why not? That's half the fun of a break up!"

"You sould like Janis." I scoffed lightly.

"Who?"

"Janis, my first best friend." I told her and then opened the door; I pulled the side of my jeans down past my hip and lifted my shirt a little. "Reason I got this."

"That's that native symbol for friends in different tribes, right?" she asked and I nodded. "I knew a guy who was an Indian, had that same logo painted on his jacket."

"It's a special one." I nodded.

"So you an' Daryl are really split huh?" she asked as I pulled my hair into a ponytail.

"I dunno what we are." I told her. "All I know's we had a fight."

"What about?"

"It ain't important." I told her.

"Of course it's important." She insisted and I shook my head.

"Okay, fine, let me try this. I don't wanna talk about it." I smiled and Maggie sighed.

"Fine, but you've got to talk about it eventually."

"And when I do, Glenn will be the first to know." I told her jokingly and she scoffed.

"Glenn?"

"Glenn's been there for me since before me an' Daryl were together."

"Wait, how long have you known Glenn?"

"Since the night Atlanta was bombed, when things just got serious."

"You mean you and Daryl weren't together before then?"

"No." I chuckled as I washed my face. "Me an' Daryl… We only started sleeping together after I got back with the kids."

"God, I always thought you two had been together way longer than that."

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, the way you two are around each other, I don't know I guess I just sort of assumed." She shrugged. "Wow. Even me and Glenn have been sleeping together longer than that."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that." Patricia said as she walked past Maggie down the hall. I chuckled and Maggie bit her lip before laughing.

"Daryl and Merle, they saved my life out there. That night, my car broke down, they picked me up." I explained. "Been with them since."

"Wow." She smiled. "And ya'll lost Merle?"

"Merle…" I sighed. "Let's just go with lost." I nodded.

"Come on, you want some breakfast?" she asked.

"Maggie I don't want no special treatment just because I'm goin' through a little rough patch with my whatever the fuck Daryl is."

"Language in the house." Patricia reminded me as she walked by with a glass and some pills for Beth.

"Sorry Patricia." I told her and Maggie snorted.

"It's payback for teachin' me how to make Bannock break." She told me as she led me downstairs.

"Good morning Lizzie," Hershel said to me as he poured a cup of coffee. "Are you going to be having breakfast with us?"

"If that's okay with you." I nodded.

"Lizzie had a rough night. Her an' Daryl split." Maggie told her father and he looked at me.

"How are you doing?" he asked and I sighed.

"I don't know if we split." I shook my head. "We just- it was a fight, we both gotta temper to us."

"Are you holding up okay?" he looked worried and I nodded.

"There's no repeat of yesterday in the imminent future." I told him. "And if you have to stitch up my slashed wrists, you've best look at Heather or Andrea for it, because neither of them like me too much these days." I joked and he chuckled lightly.

"Well I'm glad to hear I won't have any more suicides on my farm." He affirmed. After a quiet breakfast with the Greenes Maggie and I went back outside, she had some work she needed to do in the stable, and I flat out refused to go near another horse after what happened last time so I went back to camp. I found Carol and Sophia and sat with them for awhile, talking and trying to learn to sew again before Rick walked over to me.

"Lizzie," he gestured for me to follow him so I got up and followed him. "Daryl's going to go in there and talk to Randall, I want you to make sure nothing goes south."

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"You're one of the only people in camp Daryl actually listens to."

"Okay, obviously you didn't hear about what happened last night…"

"I heard about it, but I mean, think about it Lizzie… It's you and Daryl. I think it's pretty obvious it's just a fight. Lori and I used to have them all the time. Hershel and his wife used to have them, I'm sure if you ask Dale, he and his wife would fight, I know your brother and Heather argue, that's never pretty," he shook his head. "Couples fight Lizzie, it's something that happens. You don't just stop loving someone because you disagree about something."

"Who ever said anything about Love?" I asked and Rick chuckled lightly.

"You don't need to say it. I can see it when the two of you look at each other. Even this past week. He's been worried about you, he loves you so much, he worries."

"Think back about a year ago Rick. Y'ever think you an' me'd be havin' this conversation?"

"I can't remember a time when you didn't call me "Officer Asshole" before all this." He told me and I smiled.

"You kiiinda were." I nodded and he chuckled.

"You gave me a concussion."

"And thank you for not bringing that up all the time." I pointed at him. He laughed lightly and I nodded. "Yeah okay, I'll do it." I nodded.

"Great, he's going over there in a little bit, why don't you meet him there?" I nodded and he walked away, leaving me to walk over to the shed where we were keeping Randall.

"Hey Daryl," Glenn called when he saw Daryl walking through camp, he stood up and followed Daryl, speaking to him as he tried to catch up. "I need to talk to you for a second."

"Got more important things to do right now."

"Yeah well it wasn't a question." Daryl paused and turned around allowing Glenn to get closer, but not too close… Just in case. Glenn cleared his throat before looking Daryl in the eye. "I think you need to talk to Lizzie."

"Ain't none of your business."

"Well when my friend comes crying to me, I make it my business." Glenn told him sternly and Daryl looked down.

"Made her cry?" he asked lowly.

"Well she'll deny it, but yeah." Glenn stepped forward slightly. "Now, look, I don't know what happened with you two-"

"Like she didn't tell you everythin'."

"Actually, she didn't." Glenn informed him. "I didn't ask, she didn't tell, it's between you guys what happened, but I do know one thing. You two are crazy about each other. Is whatever happened between you two really going to make you give that up?" Daryl sighed and looked to the side, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation, Glenn nodded. "Make it right Daryl." He finished before turning and walking back to the camp, while Daryl stood there momentarily, his eyebrows knitted together in frustration as he thought about what the young Korean had said. He finally turned around and walked towards the shed, only to pause half step seeing me leaning against the wall of the shed, obviously waiting for him.

"Hey." I nodded to him and he cleared his throat.

"You uh… You hear ta talk or somethin'?" he asked awkwardly as he looked at the ground.

"No." I told him and he looked up at me in surprise. "I mean, not now… Uh, Rick asked me to come, ta sit in." I explained and nodded to the shed.

"Oh. Right. Yeah." He nodded. I nodded, and stood there for a moment before I turned and opened the door to the shed, and walked inside. Randall was sitting on a wooden chair with his hands behind him, handcuffed behind him, but at least he wasn't still attached to the pipe.

"Lizzie-" he stopped speaking when Daryl walked in and looked down at him. He took off his crossbow and handed it to me, before he turned around at shut the door.

"Here's what's gonna happen." Daryl told Randall. "I'm gonna ask you some questions about your little group. You're gonna give me answers. If you don't tell me the truth, you're gonna be in a world of hurt." He squinted his eyes at Randall who stared up at him nervously. His eyes flickered to me and Daryl grabbed his face and turned it towards him. "Don't you look at her. She ain't here to help you. You ain't gonna get no sympathy from her. Now, where's your group at?"

About ten minutes later the kid still wasn't talking, he just tried to convince us he didn't know anything.

"I- I told you-"

"You told me shit." Daryl snapped before he lifted Randal up and propped him up against the wall.

"I barely knew those guys." Randall told him. "I met 'em on the road."

"How many in your group?" Daryl asked. Randall shook his head and Daryl pulled his knife.

"Uh, no no no no no no no no no. Come on, man." He pleaded before Daryl slammed his knife into the floor right next to Randall's leg, making him yelp.

"How many!?" Daryl bellowed.

"Uh, thirty. Thirty. Thirty guys." Randall finally gave up a straight answer.

"Where?" Daryl grunted, his voice rough from yelling at the kid so much.

"Uh…" Daryl grabbed the bandage on the kid's leg and ripped it off making Randall shriek in pain. "I don't know. I swear! We were never anyplace more than a night!" he shrieked. I found myself actually feeling a little bad for Randall, I mean the people had left him to die, to draw the walkers off of them while they escaped…

"What do you think Liz?" Daryl looked back at me as he pressed the tip of the knife to his wound.

"Group that size, they could take the whole town." I pointed out.

"You guys scoutin' Plannin' on stayin' local?" Daryl demanded as he pressed the knife into the would a little.

"I- I don't know!" Randall snapped. "They- They left me behind!"

"Did you ever pick off a scab?" Daryl asked darkly and I winced, thinking about the times I'd get all fucked up as a kid and would pick off scabs.

"Come on, man!" Randall pleaded. "I'm- I'm tryin' to cooperate!"

"Start real slow at first." He looked ar Randall who looked in horror at Daryl's knife.

"No." he grunted.

"Sooner or later you've just got to rip it off." He growled and I winced again, thinking there was no way Randall'd talk at this point.

"Okay. Okay." Randall relented, stammering as he spoke. "They have weapons- Heavy stuff, automatics. Bu- But I didn't do anything."

"Your boys shot at my boys, Tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride? You're trying to tell us you're innocent?"

"Yes!" Randall replied. "These- These people took me in. Not just guys- a whole group of them. Men and women, kids too, just like you people." He stammered as Daryl stood up. He stepped to the side, watching Randall as he spoke. "Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know. But- we'd go out, scavenge, just the men." Daryl turned away as Randal was telling his story. "One night we- we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters- Teenagers, you know. Real young, real cute." My eyes snapped up at Randall, my hands tightened on Daryl's crossbow, my knuckles were turning white, but I didn't even register as I stared at Randall as he spoke. Daryl turned slowly, his eyes landing on me as Randall spoke. "Their daddy had to watch while these guys- they- and they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just- They just made him watch. As his daughters- They just- just- just left him there." Randall was looking at Daryl, before looking at me. "No, but- but- but I didn't touch those girls. No I swear, I didn't touch them-" I stood up and left the shed quickly, my heart was hammering against my ribs as I walked out of the shed, letting the door slam behind me. I could hear Randall crying out in pain, the sounds of which got softer as I walked away quickly.

"Hey Lizzie, you-" I walked past T-Dog and Dale quickly, ignoring them as they called out to me. I got to Daryl's camp and sat down with my back to the large stone fireplace, I dropped the crossbow next to me and wrapped my arms around my knees, registering what I had just heard.

When Daryl walked over I looked up at him. "What happened?" I asked noticing the blood all over his hands.

"Ain't all mine." He told me as he went to the bucket and washed his hands off.

"Daryl, what happened?" I repeated and he looked down at me. "What did you do?"

"What I did, I did for you!" he told me. "He can't get at you 'gain." He muttered and I frowned.

"He never…" I trailed off as I realized when everything with us started. "This is 'bout Eric, isn't it?" I asked and he turned away, rubbing at his knuckles, before dunking them into the bucket of water. I stood up and walked over to him. "This has all been 'bout Eric, hasn't it?"

"He got in my head." He admitted and I sighed.

"Why didn't you jus' tell me?" he didn't look at me, just continued rubbing the blood off of his knuckles, and gave me a small one shouldered shrug. "I didn't tell you to fuck with your head."

"Why did you?" he asked and it was my turn to shrug.

"I thought you deserved ta know." I told him softly. "Is- Is that why you've been pushin' me away?" I asked.

"I just been tryin' ta figure it out." He told me roughly.

"Figure what out?"

"What you want from me!" he looked at me quickly. "Why you picked me- why I need ta make sure you're okay, all the time! Why- when you told me- why I wanted ta stop that bastard's ass into the ground!" he rattled off. "An' why when that boy started talkin' 'bout them girls, why I couldn't stop thinkin' 'bout when I took you lookin' for that group, what woulda happened if we found them. What if- What if they did to you what they did to them girls. Why I'm scared of lovin' you so much, 'cause if somethin' were to happen to you, I couldn't live with m'self. Merle always said…." He trailed off slowly as his ears turned red and he started to realize what he had just said. "I- I don't mean- I just- not if you don't-" I stepped forward and pressed my lips to his quickly, effectively shutting him up.

"I love you too." I told him as I looked into his bright blue eyes swimming with surprise.

"Yeah?" his voice cracked and he swallowed as he stared down at me. "Yeah?" his voice wavered lightly, as if he was trying to tell if I was fucking with him or not.

"Yeah." I nodded.

We were sitting in camp about an hour later, him sitting with his back up against the fireplace, me sitting between his legs working on a new bolt while he occasionally ran his fingers through my hair, but for the most part was checking to make sure the bolts we were making were the right size and were straight.

"Whatcha thinkin' so hard 'bout?" he asked and I looked back at him.

"I ain't thinkin."

"Like you ever shut your brain off." He muttered and I laughed lightly.

"Fair enough. I'm rememberin' the time me an' Janis went and got tattoos." He ran his hand down my side before resting it right over the tattoo on my hip. "How she cried."

"Did you?"

"A little." I admitted, before I turned my head and gently kissed his tattoo on his arm. "Did you?"

"Little." He nodded. "Couldn't much, Merle was there callin' me a pussy."

"How old were you?"

"Seventeen."

"That why Merle was there?" I asked and he nodded. "What are you thinkin' about?" His hand slid from my hip, to between my legs as he looked at me.

"Tryin' ta think uh why I ain't fucked ya against a tree."

"Oh yeah?" I asked and he smirked lightly.

"Yeah."

"Come up with any reasons?"

"No good ones." He shook his head; I turned slightly so I could brush my lips against his. After a few teasing, feather light kisses he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. "Why would you love me?" he asked softly and I smiled lightly as I touched his arm.

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked. His arms tightened slightly, and I leaned into him. "So about that tree…" I looked at him and he raised an eyebrow before letting go of me.

"I get to pick which tree?" he asked and I scoffed.

"Yeah right."

"Fine." He sighed, and then looked at me, almost shyly. "Still got that dress?" I laughed that time and he turned slightly red.

"I'll be right back." I got up and walked to the tent. I opened the side pocket of my suitcase, where I had discovered some of Janis' clothes I remembered her bitching about losing about a year ago. I pulled out a long purple wrap skirt, and took off my jeans and wrapped the shirt around me, I tied it closed and decided it with my black tank top was good enough, I slipped my feet back into my boots and looked around the tent. "Hey Dare?" I called.

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen the condoms- Oh-" I stopped talking as I noticed Dale standing there. "It's only awkward if we make it awkward." I told him as I stepped out of the tent. I zipped it clothes and looked at Daryl who was putting the bolts we had made onto his crossbow.

"Whole point of us comin' up here is to get away from you people." Daryl called to Dale.

"Gonna take more than that." Dale told him as I walked over to Daryl.

"Carol sent you ta talk some sense into us?" Daryl asked.

"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group."

"Oh man I don't need my head shrunk." Daryl told him. "This group's broken. I'm better off fending for me an' mine." He nodded to me as he spoke and then grabbed his jacket.

"You act like you don't care."

"Yeah it's cause I don't."

"What about you Lizzie? Your brother is in the group. Glenn, Sophia, Carol, Hunter, Carl, Rick, Andrea-"

"Andrea ain't been nothin' but a headache to me since she shot Daryl." I held my hand up. "As for my brother, he'd pick me over anyone else any day uh the week."

"Would you make him though?"

"Wouldn't have to." I told him.

"And everyone else?"

"It ain't like I'm turnin' my back on ya'll."

"So you'll stand with me?" he asked and I shook my head.

"I didn't say that neither." I told him. "Look, you weren't in that room, you didn't hear what he was sayin'. That group is dangerous."

"So because he was part of the group, he's dangerous regardless of what he may or may not have done?"

"There ain't no regardless." I told him as I put my hand on Daryl's arm. "That group is full of murderers, rapists and thieves, and to let him go willy nilly, that's just invitin' to the farm."

"So that's it then?"

"Fraid so."

"So live or die, neither of you care what happens to Randall?"

"I think you know where I stand." I told him.

"Daryl?"

"Nope." Daryl responded easily.

"Then why not stand with me, try to save the kids life if it really doesn't matter one way or the other."

"Didn't peg you for a desperate sonuvabitch." Daryl muttered as he slipped his jacket on, and then pulled down a flannel shirt of his that still had sleeves. He put his hand on my waist and pulled me over to him gently before wrapping the shirt around my shoulders.

"Your opinion makes a difference." Dale told him.

"Man, ain't nobody looking at me for nothin'… Except maybe Liz here."

"I am, right now." Dale spoke up as we started to walk away. "And you obviously, you have Rick's ear."

"Rick just looks to Shane. Let him."

"You cared about what happened to Hunter and Sophia. You cared when Lizzie went missing, you cared about what it meant not only to yourself, but what it meant to the group. Torturing people," Daryl let go of my waist and stepped towards Dale. "That isn't you. You're a decent man- So is Rick. Shane-" Dale held up his hand. "Shane is different." I stepped forward slightly with a small frown.

"Why's that? Cause he killed Otis?" Daryl asked and Dale looked at him with surprise.

"Did he tell you that?" Dale stepped forward.

"Told some story- How Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's 'cause he didn't wanna. Like I said- group's broken."

"I don't agree with everythin' that's been said right now," I told Dale. "But I agree that Shane is bad news, an' I think he's pullin' Andrea down with him." I nodded and Dale sighed.

"So why stand by the option you know Shane came up with?"

"I ain't standin' behind it 'cause it's Shane that said it, I'm standin' behind it 'cause I don't think he's the innocent kid he wants us to think he is." I told Dale whose face fell. "I'm sorry Dale, any other time, I'd agree, but, it's hard to believe he'd just stand back, and let bad things happen around him, 'stead'a' joinin' in the fun himself." I shrugged and then turned away, walking with Daryl.

"So I really don't get ta pick the tree?" Daryl asked as he threw his arm around my shoulders.

"If it's gonna be my back up against the tree, I'm pickin' it." I told him. He snorted lightly as we walked towards the trees. "This one." I told him close to fifteen minutes later.

"God about time." He groaned and I swatted his arm. It was a pepper tree that had low branches that if I were to sit on, would be the perfect height. I turned around and looked at him as he put the crossbow down a few feet away from us. I slipped off his flannel shirt and unclipped my bra and slipped it off quickly before putting the shirt back on, that way the tree couldn't fuck up my back. Daryl turned to me and caught my lips with his; he cupped my face with his rough hand, and put his other hand on my waist, drawing me in.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he slid both hands to my waist and lifted me up onto the side of the low branch. I continued to kiss him deeply, while he kept one hand on my waist to keep me steady, and the other to slide down my chest.

"Quit teasin' me." I nipped his jaw lightly and he groaned.

"You don't want no romancin'?" he teased and I pulled back.

"We're in the middle of a forest, I'm pushed up on a tree. What about this screams romance?" I asked with a smirk.

"Finally got ya in a skirt." He shrugged and I chuckled.

"Don't get used to it." I told him as I grabbed his belt.

"So's this count as make up sex?" he asked and I snorted.

"Only counts if we actually have sex." I told him. I lifted myself up slightly while he pushed my skirt up around my thighs and then pulled my panties down. He moved in close to me, kissing me, while he rubbed his finger over my clit lightly. I squirmed at the simulation and he smirked into the kiss before sliding two of his fingers in and out of me. I let out a low moan and he started to move closer before he stopped himself. "What?" I asked as he fumbled around with his jacket for a moment, before pulling a condom out of his pocket. He tore the package apart with his teeth and I smiled at him as he wordlessly put it on, before looking at me again.

"Where were we?" he asked, before grabbing my legs and wrapping them around his waist. I pulled him close and smiled before he eased himself into me.

"Oh- Daryl-" I moaned softly.

As we had sex in the forest, Dale was trying to get more people on his side in a situation neither Daryl or I wanted to think about- least of all right then- but that we had no idea would set in motion events that would change everything for the group.

Okay, they made up, they used the "L" word- what do you think of that? You notice how miserable they are without each other? I think they're great together. They're stupid without each other, and hey, now we get why Daryl's been acting so weird since he found out about Lizzie's abuse. They say often times if the spouse finds out about abuse or something bad that's happened to their significant other, the spouse is very strongly affected by it as well as being the more likely one to exact revenge. Do you think that's why Daryl kicked the shit out of Randall? Because he saw him not as Randall, but as Eric? I hope that's what you saw, that's how I tried to write it. Oh, and what about Glenn telling off Daryl? I loved writing that.

Aaaaanyhoo, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please don't forget to review!