The room that Andrea led us to was more like a large corridor. We passed a lot of cells that were clad with large metal doors as we approached the group. I hated being inside this place because I'd spent so much time in cells like these, and I never wanted to re-live those memories. When we walked up to the group, I noticed that Rick's group was kind of huddled together and Phil, Michonne and Tyreese were in their own little group. Rick, Shane and T-Dog were struggling to hold Daryl back as he tried to attack Phil. The two different huddles were yelling back and forth at each other, not even acknowledging that Andrea and I were standing there.

Daryl was that first to notice our presence. He jerked free of the men's' hold and ran to embrace me. When he leaned in to kiss me, I slapped him across the face. "The hell was that for?" He yelled.

"That, Daryl Dixon, was for not finding me for two days." Then, I grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips to mine. "And that, Daryl Dixon, is because I missed you."

I felt his fingers lightly run over my back through my clothes. A look of regret pooled in his eyes. "I shouldn't have left you alone. I'm sorry."

I smiled in an assuring way. "Daryl, I'm fine. It's not your fault." I noticed that everyone was still bickering in the backdrop of our conversation. "Hey!" I yelled. "How about everybody shuts the fuck up? Yelling and arguing isn't getting you anywhere."

They all turned to stare at me with wide eyes. Did they think that because Phil used a whip on me that I would never cross him again? Ha! I'm not that smart. Carl then ran up to me, hugging me around my waist. "Anna! I thought I'd never see you again. I missed you."

"I missed you too, little man. You stay out of trouble while I was gone?"

Before he could answer, Phil stepped up. "What you need to do, is take this reunion somewhere else while we handle more important matters." He looked at me, then at Daryl. "You two, and the child, go that way while we discuss if your group's stay here is appropriate." He then signaled Andrea to come with them.

Daryl, Carl and I walked briskly, but Phil didn't know that Daryl and I could still hear the conversation when we were out of sight. "Mr. Grimes, is that your son that's with her?"

"Yes. Why does that matter to you?"

"She's dangerous, you know."

"Yes, we know that." Carol's voice sounded. "But she's also protective."

It was silent for a moment, and then Phil spoke again. "Are she and that man, Daryl, together?"

"Yes." Rick said. "They have been for a while."

"It's disgusting." I heard Phil say. Daryl gave my hand a gentle squeeze, showing that he heard it too. "I won't allow it if you stay here. It's uncommon."

"But can't you see that they're in love?" Maybe I'd come to not hate Lori so much after all. "They can't help that."

"They can if they want a place to sleep at night." His voice was low, and it made me furious. "Those are my conditions for your stay. Is there anything else I should know?"

"No." T-Dog said almost a little too quickly.

"Actually, there's something you should know about Anna and Daryl." Damn it, Maggie, no!

"No, there isn't." Hershel's voice was stern.

"What do you mean?" Phil asked.

Glenn spoke up nervously. "They just have really bad tempers, to say the least, you know?"

"Are you kidding?" Maggie questioned. "You left out the part where they howl at the moon." You fucking cunt!

"Oh my." That was all that Phil said before I ran in the other direction with tears filling my eyes.

I'd been crying into Daryl's chest for two hours straight. The front of his shirt was soaked with tears. It wasn't the fact that Maggie let out our secret to an already dangerous man. It was that they had ordered Daryl and me to leave. It took a while, but Maggie had convinced Phil of what we were. He then locked Daryl and me in a cell together, and then gave us five hours to make our decision. Daryl and I could leave, or our entire group could leave. I was just reunited with the group, and now I was being forced to make a decision for them? Honestly, I wanted us all to leave together, but I had come to think of them as my family, so I had to think of their safety. I had to care more about them than I did myself now. They needed a place to stay more than I did. They deserved it. Maggie didn't, but Hershel did. Then there was Daryl to think about. What would he want to do?

"I think we should leave. Just you and me." He said, sucking me out of my own head.

"You were probing me, weren't you?"

He chuckled a little. "Well, I wasn't really tryin'. I could just hear your voice in my head; clear as day." He paused and kissed the top of my head. "You really want 'em to stay here?"

"They need a safe place, Daryl. I know that this is a safe haven; safest place around. I mean, my uncle died in here from being here for thirty-seven years, but other than that, it has steady walls, layers of fences and they probably have tons of canned food in the kitchen."

"How do you know so much about this place?"

"It's the Georgia Department of Corrections. It's the largest prison system in Georgia. Of course I know about it. Trust me, Daryl. I wasn't little miss innocent before all this happened. How do you think that I know Rick so well? I couldn't cope well with others, so they stuck me in here for a couple weeks at a time."

"Well, damn. I got me a bad girl."

"You're not helping, Daryl."

"Aw, come one. I'm just tryin' to lighten the mood a little." He put his finger under my chin. "Anna, look at me." I raised my head to stare into his eyes that I was so in love with. "We don't have to listen to that Phil guy. We can kill 'em, can't we? We're stronger than he is."

"Daryl, I understand where you're coming from, but it's not that simple. We have to be responsible about being what we are. I love you, but that's irrational."

"But… I don't know. I still think me and you should get out of here. Hide out somewhere, raise us some pups and live happily ever fuckin' after, whatever that may be these days."

I sighed. "If only it was that simple."

He kissed me softly. "It is. You just gotta think outside the box. C'mon, Anna. Let's leave this place, be ourselves without gettin' bitched at or thrown outta places. Let's be normal, or as normal as we can get. I love you, so I'll be happy anywhere we decide to stay at. Think about it. They don't need us anymore."

"You're right, Daryl. But what if they need us later on? What if we can't make it without them?"

"Then we can track 'em down later on. Trust me, Anna. We need to do this."

I hated to admit that Daryl was completely right.