* Please Review!

Favorite lines: You need to figure your shit out

Really, Officer Grimes! You really locked your fucking door!

Why don't you tell the hunter to decide what he wants! *

When Ava woke from her spot on the floor, she looked to her right and was surprised to see T-Dog sleeping. She sat up quickly and looked over to where Maggie and Glenn had went to sleep. Glenn was gone. She frowned and pushed off the sheet she had been using to cover herself. She stood up and checked the couch, sure enough, Hershel was missing.

" What the hell?" She asked. She was supposed to be on watch with them. Why didn't anyone wake her up? A door to one of the bedrooms opened off to her left. She looked over to see Rick come out. "Why didn't you wake me up for watch?" Rick rubbed his left hand over his face and shook his head.

" Daryl said you needed to sleep. He took your watch." He said, making her frown.

" Why would he do that?" She snapped. Rick came forward and took a gentle hold of her arm to lead her away from the sleeping group so she wouldn't wake anyone.

" He said you needed to heal more. He wanted you to rest." He said gently. Ava pulled away from him and stormed out of the room.

" Who the fuck is he?!" She snapped as she hurried through the prison. Who was he to decide what she needed and didn't need? He didn't even want her around. She frowned hard while she picked up her pace until she was running.

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl was rubbing his eyes with the fingers on his left hand as the sun was starting to rise. He shook his head to clear the sleep away. He was dead tired but figured after Hershel got the generator running, he could take a long, hopefully hot, shower, get something to eat, then pick a cell to collapse in. He'd sleep for a few hours then be ready for the day.

" What the fuck is your problem!" Ava yelled as she bust into the watch tower office.

Daryl dropped his hand and turned around to face her with a frown. For being first thing in the morning, and angry, she looked amazing. Her hair was down and wild from sleep. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were on fire. His body stirred at the sight of her rushing towards him. Things inside shifted and became fully alert.

" What?" He asked.

" Who are you to decide what I need!" She yelled.

" You need rest. You ain't gonna heal right if you don't rest." Daryl snapped. " And stop fuckin yellin at me."

" You need to figure your shit out! You came to clinic and stopped your brother from hurting me! You were so...almost gentle when you found Angel! You defended me against Merle, let me take care of Angel myself, and freaked when I wanted to pee then last night you tell me to leave you! You want me, then you act like you can't stand me, then you change it, again, and act like you care about my welfare by not letting me take my watch! I'm done, Daryl! I'm really fucking done! I'm leaving!" With that, she spun and took off for the door to leave the watch tower.

" The fuck you are!" Daryl roared as he stormed after her. " You ain't goin nowhere!"

He chased after her, with both of them running down the stairs that lead to ground. He was calling out to her while she was yelling for him to leave her alone. He ordered her to stop, she told him to fuck off. She burst out of the door to the outside and sprinted for Rick's car because her book back was in it. Daryl reached the ground as she reached the car. The door to the prison opened with Rick and Hershel coming outside.

" What the fuck!" Ava yelled as she tugged on the door handle. " Really, Officer Grimes! You really locked your fucking door!"

" Ava, knock it the fuck off!" Daryl yelled. Ava turned and headed towards Rick with tears streaming down her cheeks.

" What's going on?" Rick asked, seeing the hunter following the girl.

" I need in your car." Ava said.

" Are you alright?" Hershel asked.

" Please, Rick. I need to leave." Ava said with her voice cracking.

" Let's talk about this." Rick said as he reached out for her.

" No! I don't want to talk! I want to leave! I need my stuff! Please!" She begged as her voice completely gave over to the tears. " Please!"

" What's going on?" Rick said gently. " You don't have to leave."

" Yes I do! I'm not staying with this asshole!" Ava said as she turned to the side and pointed to Daryl with her left hand. Daryl stopped walking a few paces from her with his hands on his hips. " I can't! I won't!"

" Why not?" Rick asked. He was trying to handle her as if she was standing on a ledge, ready to jump.

" He hates me!" Ava cried. " And none of you know what I went through for you! None of you! I protected you, all of you, from Merle! I took his beatings and kept you hidden! I could have told him where you guys were, but I didn't! I saved Daryl from two walkers who would have torn into him if I hadn't stepped in! And now, you all hate me!" She was losing it and knew it. She was beyond cracking, she was split wide open and there was no stopping her from falling apart.

" We don't hate you." Rick said. Ava pointed at Daryl again without looking away from Rick.

" He does! He fucking hates me because I was too scared to tell him the truth! He hates me because I wanted to protect you all! I thought bring Daryl to Merle was the best choice! I thought Daryl could talk Merle into not attacking you all so I kept things from you, from him! And what do I get in return? Him mind fucking me every chance he gets! He wants me! He hates me! He wants me! He pushes me away! I can't do this shit anymore!" She yelled. Hershel came forward with his hands up.

" Young lady, take a deep breath." He said carefully. " No one blames you for what you did. We are grateful for you protecting us the way you did. I'm sorry you had to go through what you went through."

" I did for all of you! I saw the way you were with each other! You all care about each other! Is it so wrong that I want to be apart of that?! Is it so wrong that I didn't want to be alone! If I came to your group and told you about Angel from the get go, you all would have pushed me up and left! And you know it!" Ava screamed the last part. Her chest was heaving with her sobs. Her slender shoulders were trembling and she couldn't stop it.

" No, it's not wrong to want to be a part of a group." Hershel said.

" Well tell that to him!" Ava yelled as she pointed again.

" Look, Hershel is going to start the genny then everyone can shower and we can eat. The kitchen has a lot of dried food and other supplies. Why don't you take a breather, get that stuff done then you can decide what you want." Rick said.

" Why don't you tell the hunter to decide what he wants! And stop talking to me like I'm a child!" She yelled before she stormed past Rick and into the prison.

Daryl's hands dropped down as all three men watched the door swing shut behind her. Her words were ringing through his head. She had taken beatings to protect a group she wasn't apart of, to protect a group of people she didn't know. She thought he hated her. She thought he didn't want her at all. She said he needed to decide what he wanted but he had decided, hadn't he? He wanted her, he just didn't know how to have her. He didn't know how to take her outside of just fucking her.

" You want to tell me what that was about?" Rick asked as he and the older man looked at Daryl. Daryl sighed as his shoulders fell and he shook his head.

" Can I offer you some advice?" Hershel asked. " Go after her. She's been through a lot, at the hands of your own kin. If anyone knows what she is going through, it's you. If there is any two people that can relate to each other, it's you two." Wasn't that pretty much the same thing Carol said to him?

Daryl waited until Hershel and Rick had walked away before he started after her. His steps were quiet and slow. Hershel was right. Daryl did know what she was going through. He could understand why she did what she did, why she didn't tell him about Angel but it still pissed him off. After everything they had shared, all the talks they had had, all the things they had done together and to each other, he couldn't understand why she hadn't opened up to him about that part. Why she hadn't trusted him with it? Daryl sighed again. When she had opened herself up, he had thrown it back in her face. She had every right to be upset with him. He did what she said. He did pull her in then push her out again. He was mind fucking her. Merle beat her body while Daryl was beating her brain.

As he walked into the prison, it finally hit him. She wouldn't have opened up because he never would have and she was him. He learned not to trust people, she shared that lesson. He had never told anyone all that had happen to him as a child, she hadn't told him all that she was going through. She was him. Ava was Daryl and Daryl was Ava. She was the one person who could, and did, understand him and yet, he was pushing her away. He had only told her about his scars because he had too, she had to see them when they had sex. If he had been able to keep his clothes on, he wouldn't have told her about them. Angel had been her scars.

As he entered the cell block part of the prison, he looked up to the second level. He could hear the faint sounds of tears and knew he'd find her somewhere up there. With a deep breath, Daryl started up the stairs. He had no idea what he was going to say to her when he reached her but he needed to say something. He didn't want her to leave. He couldn't even stand the idea of her being out in the woods alone. The very idea of her leaving was making him feel...something. He wasn't sure what but he was feeling something. Something that was make it hard for him to breath and his pulse to kick up when he thought about her being alone. Something that made he want to rush her and demand for her to stay by his side.

Daryl was still frowning when he reached the second level. He followed her tears down the walk way until he reached one of the middle cells. Ava was sitting on the bottom bunk, leaning forward with her head in her hands. She was trembling all over as he filled the doorway, casting his shadow into the cell. What was he supposed to say now?