Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you guys liked the reunion. Consequently, I have thought of some great scenes with Katie already back with the group. I may still post the other reunion, I literally had in my head since I started writing this story, but it won't be for a bit. Anyway onwards and upwards. And hey haven't said it in awhile but I still don't own walking dead. You know in case you were wondering.

Chapter 21
Katie's pov
"I promised him. I'd go with him. He needs to know if his family is still ok. You didn't rest till all of us were together," Beth says to Rick. Rick looks at her and gives her a half smile.

"Calm down. We'll check it out. Noah where is it," Rick turns to him and Noah steps forward.

"Richmond. Virginia," he says. Daryl lets out a low whistle. "I know its far, but it has walls or had. It was secure."

Rick gathers everyone around to get their thoughts. Its night and we are all gathered by the cars we found. Daryl is leaning on the hood of one and I'm standing by him. Gracie is asleep in the back of an SUV we found. We're all in a circle of sorts.

"If it was any of us, we'd already be gone. Its a long way and we don't know if its still standing, but I think we owe it to not only Noah but ourselves to see. If its still there its secure, it has walls. I think it's best only to take a few people to check it out. Carol and Katie aren't in a state to run if we have to," Rick says.

"If Katie's staying I'ma stay too," Daryl says. I lean into him and he puts is hand on the hood of the car directly behind me. His fingers twisting in the shirt we found in a suit case for me. I wanted to get out of those blue scrubs as soon as possible. Rick nods.

"That's fine. I figured as much," Rick looks at Glenn. Of course if he can't have his right hand man he needs his left. Glenn nods.

"I'll stay here so I can be here if Carol or Katie need something," Maggie says. She looks at Glenn and he smiles at her. "Beth you should stay too. I want to talk to ya."

"I promised Noah I'd go," Beth says unsure.

"Hey you're getting me there. That's as good as going. If my brothers were here I would stay with them," Noah says. Beth looks at him.

"Alright, I'll stay, but just this once. I don't want to be like I was at the prison. I want to help on runs too," she says confidently. Maggie looks worried as does Glenn. I'm proud of her though and I catch Daryl hiding a smirk.

Rick doesn't trust Abraham in his mental state. After losing Washington he's been acting careless, at least that's what Maggie said. Eugene is useless and Rosita won't go without Abraham. Father Gabriel can't be trusted either. He almost got Michonne, Carl and Judith killed. Sasha is in no state after losing Bob. Tara decides to stay back. So that leaves Ty, Noah, Rick, Glenn and Michonne to go.

They plan on leaving in the morning. Everyone goes to bed to rest up. Daryl and I are sleeping in an SUV. We folded the seats down and that's where Gracie was asleep.
We crawl in through the back hatch Daryl shuts us in. I lay down and wait for Daryl to take his crossbow off his back. He lays down putting his crossbow in arms reach. We both lay there, still, for a moment, not touching and barely breathing.

"You hate me for killing Dawn in cold blood," he grunts. I turn my head to look at him.
"No. You hate me for killing those two people in Terminus," I whisper.

"No. I only hate I wasn't there to see you put the bastards in their place," he says. I chuckle or try to, but I start crying instead.

"Shhh, come here," he says pulling me in.

"I killed them. I know they would have killed me, but I'm the one who did that. I don't even know if I would pass Rick's questions anymore," I say.

"Shhh," Daryl says running his hand down my back. "Its ok. It was you or them. They weren't good people. Don't waste another second on them."

"Merle," I sob out. "Daryl I'm sorry. He got bit saving me at the prison. I tried to run back to find Gracie. I'm so sorry."

I can't stop. It's like I'm trying to find reasons to be upset. I bury my face in Daryl's chest so I won't wake Gracie up. He holds me. One hand behind my head his arms wrapped around me. I slowly calm down. Taking in lungful's of air.

When I calm down enough Daryl pulls away so he can look at me. The moonlight shining through the windows giving us just enough light to see each other.

"Maggie told me about Merle. They found him. He was an asshole and liked to make everyone's life miserable, but when it came down to it he always looked out for me. I may sound like an asshole, but if he was here I would hate him, cause it would mean he let you die. The only thing my brother did that made me proud of him, made me know he cared about me, got him killed. Merle went down the way he wanted. No one can hate him now and we all owe him. He would've wanted to go leaving me in his debt. I'm sure the sonva bitch is laughing now," Daryl says.

"I'm sorry I didn't give him a chance and I made it difficult for you to spend time with him," I say. He shakes his head.

"Like I said Merle liked to make everything miserable. Not your fault," he says kissing the top of my head. I release a big sigh. I feel Daryl smile slightly. "You were really worried?"

"You were really worried about me caring about Dawn," I asked. He grunts.

"That was different. She wasn't going to kill me. She pissed me off," he growls out.

"She also did this to my face and threatened to kill our baby," I say and suck in real quick. I hadn't told him I was pregnant yet.

"I know. Noah told us when he was trying to convince us to rescue 'Disney'. How come you didn't tell me," he says.

"I was scared and stupid. I found out the day you came back from the big spot run. The one with Zack," I say Daryl nods his head.

"When I came back Merle said you nearly fainted," he says.

"Yes. It didn't seem like an appropriate time to tell you. Then the flu happened," I say. He makes a noise in the back of his throat.

"You volunteering to go is even worse now. I was so pissed at you I wanted to strangle you. You could have easily lost the baby. Just be honest with me from now on. I have had too many close calls with you. Lets not make it more difficult on ourselves by not being truthful," he says in a tight voice. I kiss his throat and feel his pulse. He sighs and curls his arms tighter around me. "I can't lose you," he whispers harshly in my ear.

"You won't," I say trying to push my body closer to him.

"We lost Lori with Judith," he says the words like they are painful. I put my hand on the back of his neck.

"I'm not going to worry about that. There no point in stressing about things so far in advance," I say. He nods and kisses my neck. I bit my lip. "I have something to tell you, but I don't want to freak you out."

"Just say it," he says pulling away from my neck to look at me. I pause and then chicken out.

"You smell really bad," I say and smile. He grunts.

"Yeah, well deal with it. Cause I ain't sleeping outside," he says smiling. He rolls to his back pulling me on top of him. "Go to sleep. Maybe me smell will help knock you out."

"I didn't say I minded," I say. I put my hand over his heart a solid steady thump under my hand. The words are right at the tip of my tongue, but they get stuck. I feel the blood rush to my ears. 'Just be honest with me from now on.' I feel his breathing slowing down.

"Daryl," I whisper.

"Hmm," he says.

"I'm pregnant," I say.

"Yeah. We covered that. Go to sleep," he says.

"Daryl, I'm pregnant with twins," I blurt out. I feel him stiffen for a brief second and then he's shaking. I pull away from him and look down. I see he's silently laughing.

"Why are you laughing," I say smiling for reasons I don't know.

"Delirious, maybe. It's just something Merle used to say go big or go home. I can't help but think what he would say," he says rubbing his hand over his face becoming serious all of a sudden. "So, two huh."

"Merle, told me to name the baby after him. I told him if it was a girl he was out of luck," I say. Daryl snaps his head to look at me.

"He knew," he rasps out. I nod.

"He listened by Hershel's door. He also said that you would be a good dad. It would just take some convincing and asked me not to give up on you," I whisper.

"He said I would be a good dad," he sounds shocked.

"He was an asshole, but he loved you," I say. He nods his head and I lay back down on his chest, but I feel something dig in my cheek. I lean up again and see a chain. I pull it up and gasp when I see my parents rings. "How?"

"Carol found it. It was in storage room in Terminus. I thought," he clears his throat, "we all thought." He doesn't finish the sentence, but he doesn't need to. I nod.
He pulls it off his neck and holds it above us.

"Here you can have it back," he says. I wrap my hand around the rings. They feel warm from being so close to his skin. I steady the ring closely and then I decide.

"The thing is I've gotten used to not having them," I say. I unlatch the chain and pull the rings off. "Now I know traditionally the man asks, but this world isn't traditional," I pull his left hand up and slide my dad's ring on his finger. It's a little snug, but not a bad fit. "So, Dixon, you want to be married to me?"

Daryl stares at me awhile then without breaking eye contact he takes my mothers rings and grabs my hand. He looks down and slips the rings on my finger.

"You sure about this Thomas," he says imitating me calling him by his last name.

"I think you mean Dixon," I say. He smiles and I smile back.

"Go to sleep," he says smiling. I tuck my head under his chin and fall into a peaceful sleep.

Authors note: Ok I'm stopping this chapter there. My phone is starting to act up and its a good stopping point, but I'll try to get on more out tomorrow. No promises though. Hope you enjoy it. I'm kinda freaking out though because in the show Beth dying was a huge turning point for a lot of characters. I'm hoping I still do it justice. Thank you everyone again for the reviews! I can't thank you enough oh and its now in a community! Sorry its so short. Next chapter will be longer.