With the morning sun, Amity rose.

It was definitely not something that she enjoyed doing, but so much time spent on the road had given her a sleep schedule that coincided with the sun. Her main hope with Alexandria was that that would change.

Okay, maybe not her main hope, but it was definitely up there.

Amity was not the least bit surprised when she woke up to a half-empty bed, a bed that she now was supposed to share with Daryl. Her pale fingers ghosted over the sheets and she was no more surprised when she found that they were cool to the touch.

Alexandria wasn't having the best effect on Daryl.

While it seemed to soothe a majority of their group, it put nearly as many of them on edge. Daryl being the worst.

She wondered if he had even slept more than an hour with her last night.

It was doubtful.

Stretching before climbing out of bed, the woman made quick work of getting dressed and heading down the stairs.

As she came down, she spotted Carol in the kitchen and her brother about to walk out the front door.

"Will you ever sleep in, Michael Boone?" She called out, causing the man to look over his shoulder with a smile.

"Not in this lifetime, Bug." He replied simply, then called out goodbyes and declarations of love to both of the women now downstairs before he left with the door shutting behind him.

"At least I got some breakfast in him this morning," Carol told Amity as the redhead entered the kitchen, digging through the pantry and pulling out a granola bar that she was certain would be stale.

"You're a saint," Amity replied before turning and hopping up to sit on one of the countertops.

"Got a busy day of playing housewife?" She asked Carol who scoffed lightly.

"Something like that. Daryl and Rick are supposed to take me shooting later." Carol said as she scrubbed a dish in the sink. "I really need the practice, you know?"

Now it was Amity's turn to scoff.

"Oh, I'm sure you do." She drawled out, her sarcastic tone being well paired with her eye roll.

"What are your plans for the day?" Carol asked in return.

Amity fell silent for a moment, munching on the stale granola as she considered the question.

She knew what she was supposed to do that day. What she should do.

She really needed to tell Pete about her bite. She needed to get the check-up that she had promised to get done completed before word got around the community about her immunity.

On the other hand, she already wanted to avoid the clinic.

She knew that it wouldn't be long before members of Alexandria started popping in to spill their burdens to a supposedly compassionate and trained listening ear.

Amity was indeed trained and she liked to think that she was compassionate, but she wasn't sure how much help she'd be to anyone anymore.

She didn't think that she was handling things any better than the rest. Therefore, giving out advice and interventions felt hypocritical at best.

"Maybe I'll tag along with y'all. I need out of these walls." Amity finally answered.

Now it was Carol who stayed silent for a beat too long.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the clinic today? We don't need to draw any more attention to us, Amity. After what happened between Glenn and Deanna's son..." The older woman trailed off and Amity bit back a sigh.

Carol had a point.

That didn't mean Amity liked it.

"You're right. I need to get myself settled in there before I really get into the thick of it." She conceded and Carol nodded, humming softly to herself.

Finishing off the granola bar, Amity hopped off the counter and called a good-bye to Carol as she headed out the front door.

Alexandria was tranquil under the morning sun, but everyone's front porches were too full for her liking.

As she walked, she felt the eyes of the neighbors follow her.

She plastered a friendly smile on her lips and waved at anyone whose eyes met her's. If they were going to stare then she would at least embrace the opportunity to build bridges rather than burn them.

Too soon, she was walking up the clinic's steps.

"Knock, knock." She called out as she entered the building, casting blue eyes around the place to find that the main room was empty.

"Okay..." Amity said softly to herself before shrugging slender shoulders.

She was told to make herself at home, so that's what she'd do.

Heading towards a room that looked like it functioned as an office, Amity pushed open the door and smiled softly when she noticed that there were two desks in the space, one empty and waiting to be used. Assumedly, by her.

She ran fingertips lightly over the wood of it before sparing a glance towards Pete's desk, pausing when she spotted that one of his drawers were open. Something in the drawer caught the sunlight from the window and after she made her way towards it, Amity's brows shot towards her hairline upon finding the drawer full of empty or half-empty liquor bottles.

Leaning down to grab one, her nose was assaulted by the once familiar smell of booze.

"Jesus Christ," she muttered as she lifted a mostly empty bottle of Jack.

No wonder Pete had given off a vibe. She would bet her bow that he was at least tipsy when she had met him.

She couldn't imagine letting the man touch one of her injured friends.

Staring at the bottle in her hands, Amity pressed her lips tightly together as she considered the situation more carefully.

Perhaps, she was jumping the gun.

After all, the bottles could be used for sterilization purposes, though Amity's gut argued against her logical reasoning.

Carefully, she set the bottle back in the drawer and slid it closed, crossing the room back towards the empty desk just as the front door in the main room opened.

Heavy footsteps entered the building and Amity moved towards the sound, leaning to look out into the main room and forcing a smile onto her lips as she spotted Pete.

"Hey, Pete! I was just looking over my desk. Thanks for clearing it for me if you did!" She chirped and was relieved when her extra sunny attitude seemed to placate the man who looked distinctly thrown off when he had first spotted her in the office.

"No problem. I wanted to make sure you had space to work." He said, his voice kind but his tone brisk before he nodded back towards the rooms that Amity had assumed were used for patient intake.

"Deanna set aside this room for you to use for your sessions. She mentioned that a couple of people have already voiced wanting to come to see you." Pete explained and Amity felt her stomach twist, but she forced the feeling away.

She could do her job. She had to remind herself of that.

She would pull her weight in the community just like the rest of her family was.

"Oh, you talked to Deanna?" Amity asked, trying to sound casual with her question.

Pete nodded his head, his eyes seeming to scan Amity's face, fixating a moment on her scarred cheek.

"I did. She was glad that you had talked to me about your scar. She said you had mentioned the pain during your interview and that it worried her. She really wants to make sure that you're all comfortable here." Pete said, throwing Amity completely.

It seemed that Deanna had gone back on her original wish for Amity to talk to Pete about her bite.

She wondered if that meant Deanna was going to listen to Rick and Daryl, both of whom had originally been against the idea of all of Alexandria knowing about Amity's immunity, or if she had something else in mind.

Amity was honestly against it herself.

It was a scary thing, trusting so many strangers with something that so many had reacted so strongly to.

"Oh, that's kind of her," Amity said quickly before her hesitation went on for too long.

"We're not monsters here, Amity. The walls are to keep those out." Pete said, his tone nearly patronizing and she forced herself not to flinch away when he reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

People were supposed to be okay with casual contact. That was something that she had to remind herself too.

People who hadn't experienced what it was like out there were still okay with that kind of thing.

"I know that," Amity said softly, not willing to voice her real thoughts to the doctor.

"Well, I'm going to head out now. See about getting some of the things I'll need here for my office and such. Put a face to the person that people will be coming to see as well." She excused with a forced grin, trying not to rush towards the door as she made her escape from the clinic and Pete.

She needed to talk to Deanna, or maybe Rick and Daryl.

She needed to calm the hell down, first off.

Amity was freaking out as if a walker was on her ass and it was ridiculous in her opinion.

These were just people, for fuck's sake.

Soft people. Squishy and ignorant to the world outside their walls.

But then again, that was what made them so dangerous.

They weren't people that you could trust to have your back if a horde broke through the gate.

Amity was unsure if they were people that she could trust in general.

She remembered how people were before the world went to the dead. People were power-hungry and conniving, but that was just the world.

She found herself sitting behind the house that she shared with Daryl, Merle, Carol, Michael, Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith. The grass was cool under her butt even through her jeans. She leaned her arms against her bent knees and sucked in a few deep breaths.

When the hell had she gotten so negative?

'Somewhere between Kipp and Beth,' her mind whispered.

Sure, people were bad and they had their faults, but she had loved working with them before. She closed her eyes and forced herself to remember the beauty of humanity.

The reasons why she had hope every day when she had unlocked her office's front door.

Slowly, images of her group started to appear instead of her reasons before the Outbreak.

Carl spinning Judith around in circles, the baby girl giggling as he did so.

Rick out in the garden at the prison, sweating as he laughed at her plucking weeds and complaining about a sore back.

Michonne and Michael spending hours with the horses they had caught outside the fences, her brother's patience and Michonne's determination paying off when the man was first able to mount one of them.

Carol laughing as she teased Daryl about something, the man's eyes hidden behind his hair as he muttered at her to stop.

Maggie and Glenn dancing together in the prison's cafeteria when they thought that no one was around to see them.

Her family was beautiful.

Alexandria could be full of beautiful people too.


When Amity finally went to find Deanna, she was surprised to discover Michonne and Rick with her and Maggie in her house.

Deanna had called for her to enter, to join the conversation that was apparently just beginning.

Without much fuss, Amity settled down into a chair next to Maggie.

"You protect and serve," Deanna said once she had, apparently answering a previous question with her focus now on Michonne and Rick. "You patrol, walk the wall, watch out for the kids. If there's a conflict, you solve it, and people will listen to you."

"Because we're wearing windbreakers?" Michonne asked, disbelieving, and Amity had to bite back a laugh.

"Because they believe in this." Deanna corrected. "Because I'm telling them to."

That was something that Amity bought as the real reason people would abide by the authority of the windbreaker.

Their leader told them too.

"A police officer used to live here, so we had these jackets and I wanted to make it official," Deanna explained. "So it's official."

It was that easy.

There was something disturbing about one person having that much say so, but Amity figured there needed to be a leader.

Without one, there was chaos.

Rick had always thankfully held that power, that finality of decisions, but they all always had a voice.

At least after he got over his whole, 'this isn't a democracy,' phase.

"There's gonna be a government here one day." Deanna was saying. "That's why I want Maggie working with me. There's gonna be a police force. That's why I want you two to start it. There's going to be more people. That's why I want Amity and Pete here to keep them healthy. I see a vibrant community here with industry, commerce, civilization. Real lives. It might be horses and mills, but- what?"

It seemed that Deanna had picked up on the bit of incredulity in the room in response to her small rant.

"Does that sound like pie in the sky?" She asked.

"No," Maggie replied first, her voice holding gentle conviction.

"No." Michonne agreed.

Deanna's eyes then turned to Amity, the redhead pausing as she tried to sort through whether she really believed all that Deanna had said to be possible.

She thought back to her family, to the beauty and strength that they held.

They were all here now.

"No," Amity said firmly.

Deanna nodded then looked at Rick.

"No." The leader, the now constable, confirmed.

A beat of silence passed between them all until Amity interrupted it, leaning forward to better look at Deanna.

"Why didn't you tell Pete about my bite? You knew that I didn't tell him about it like we had agreed." Amity said, causing the other three in the room to look at her with surprise and confusion while Deanna gave her a small smile.

"I realized that you went with your intuition about it and that it was your business to tell. We don't have the resources here yet to do anything even if we could utilize the fact that you seem to be immune and we don't have the know-how either. I don't think that there is any reason to cause a situation over it if we don't need to. Rick and Daryl were right from the start. You all were." Deanna explained her reasons and left Amity silent and considering for a moment.

She felt a warmth in her chest and realized that it was a mix of gratitude and relief.

"Thank you." She said softly and Deanna's smile grew.

Another silent beat passed, but then it was Rick who interrupted this time.

"Can we talk security?" He asked and with that, Amity took her leave.

Maggie would fill her in later about anything that she needed to lend a hand with.

She paused on Deanna's porch as she considered heading back to the clinic, but quickly made the decision to just go back to the house when she spotted a familiar pair of faces heading towards where she stood.

Amity could live happily ever after without talking to Nicholas or Aiden, who were now making a beeline towards her, as she stepped out of the path they would have been on to get to the house she was leaving behind her.

"Hey, Amity!" Aiden called out. "Amity!"

She kept walking until the man was stepping in front of her, not rudely or aggressively as much as just trying to get her to pause.

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" He asked and Amity simply looked at him.

"I'm not deaf." She stated in lieu of an answer.

Aiden seemed taken aback only for a moment before he was grinning down at her, looking amused.

"You're a fiery one, aren't you?" He asked and Amity didn't even deem that something to be answered, instead moving to step around him but he stopped her by moving as well, hands out and placating.

"Wait, wait. I didn't mean anything by it. I know... I know you guys saw a lot out there. Did a lot. I really came in peace." Aiden soothed.

Amity narrowed her eyes but didn't move to leave again.

If she wanted to, she had no doubt that she could put him on his ass and continue on her way, but it seemed like he had something he wanted to say so she'd let him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were coming tonight- to my mom's party. I know she's looking forward to hosting all of your group and... I thought it would be cool to talk without all the aggression, you know?" He explained himself.

Amity couldn't fault him for his words, at least not at face value.

He wasn't intruding on her space, he wasn't insulting her family, and he was being nice, diplomatic even.

For that, she rewarded him with a nod and reigned in her glare.

"I'm coming. Hopefully, I'll convince more of my group to come too." Amity said, thinking of her dirty, grouchy hunter.

"Your mom... she's got ideas for this place. Ideas and hope. I think they need to hear more of it." She explained, and watched something more genuine slip into place behind Aiden's eyes.

"She's amazing, right?" He said, obvious fondness in his tone towards his mother.

"She's something," Amity replied, not knowing for herself quite what that something was yet.

Now, Amity decided to really take her leave.

She side-stepped Aiden and this time he didn't try to stop her.

"I'll see you tonight!" He called after her as she walked away and Amity simply flicked a hand in a wave of acknowledgment.


"So you're actually coming?" Amity asked Daryl, eyes wide as she watched him move about their room.

"Said I was, didn't I?" He grumbled in response.

It was no surprise to her that the man wasn't thrilled about attending, but she was more than shocked that he had already seemed to have made up his mind to go.

"That's great, Dare!" She chirped, smiling over at him as he ducked his head under the weight of her excitement and expectation.

"'m not guaranteeing I'll stay or nothin'." He warned, but Amity wasn't perturbed.

"That's fine. If it sucks we'll just blow that popsicle stand and get wine drunk here." She reasoned, her words pulling a soft snort of amusement from the man so she considered that a win.

"Now, you go take a shower while I get ready then I'll meet you downstairs." She directed, shooing him out of the room to the hall bathroom so that she could take over their en-suite that contained only a bathtub instead of a shower.

She got ready fairly quickly, only using the mascara out of the products that had been provided for her when they moved in to darken her lashes. It was weird, using any makeup, and Amity had no interest in doing anything beyond just that.

She left her hair down, her ginger curls wild as usual and searched through the closet of clothes she had been given.

There were a couple of dresses and she gravitated towards a navy blue number. It had a skater skirt and a fitted bodice with a modified halter neckline composed of semi-sheer shoulder straps that gave the illusion of it crossing in the front.

It was something Amity would have worn to a friend's dinner party once upon a time.

It was the right mix of refined and casual, and more importantly, it would hide the ugly bite scar marring her shoulder.

Sliding it on, Amity was pleased that it fit nearly perfect and she slipped on a pair of tan ballet flats that she pulled from the closet as well.

As expected, she beat Daryl downstairs.

The shower had just turned off when she passed the hall bathroom, so she took to wandering about the living room as she waited for her man to join her.

A few moments later, she was jumping as a hand touched her waist.

"Dammit, Dixon!" She snapped, swatting the man's chest as she worked to slow her heartbeat back down to a reasonable speed.

"Gettin' sloppy," Daryl told her and thankfully the words were teasing rather than reprimanding.

Rolling her eyes, Amity took a step back from the man so that she could take him in.

He was clean, that was something that she could nearly sing about, and he had put on clean clothes to top it off.

She eyed the dark jeans he wore, humming out her appreciation when her eyes moved to his chest and took in the dark t-shirt that clung to his arms and broad shoulders. As usual, his vest was being worn over it.

"So handsome." She told him, loving how he shifted shyly under the compliment.

"Look like a fuckin' slob next to you." He muttered, his eyes not being able to leave her which had a warmth pooling low in her belly.

"Was that a compliment?" She asked, teasing him before leaning in to gently kiss his lips, his stubble scraping her face pleasantly as she did so.

"Thanks, Dixon. Now come on and get moving. You took forever to get ready and are making us late." Amity taunted, laughing as she ran towards the door, dodging his attempt to swat her rear for her teasing.

Arriving at the party, Amity found herself hesitating on the porch as much as Daryl was at her side.

"We don't haveta go in," Daryl said softly.

Looking over to him, Amity realized that the only reason Daryl was hesitating now was due to the lack of her usual enthusiasm.

Laughter and light chatter filtered through the door and front windows to reach the couple's ears, only being overpowered by Amity's slightly labored breaths.

There was that panic again.

She didn't understand it and it frustrated her to no end.

Well, technically she understood it.

Anxiety, that is, being that it was something she had studied.

She could lay out the exact process in the central, sympathetic, and parasympathetic nervous systems, but facing it herself...

It was frustrating.

"Yes, we do." She replied simply, knowing that it was true.

She couldn't just run away and neither could he.

"Then we go in together. I got yer back." Daryl told her, causing a warmth to flood her chest that chased away a bit of the crushing anxiety.

She gave a shaky nod in return, tugging at the straps of her dress to make sure her bite was covered before reaching for the door that was pulled open seconds before her hand touched the metal of the doorknob.

"Y'all comin' in or ya just gonna keep standin' out here like a couple 'a pussies?" Merle asked, his broad figure taking up the entirety of the doorframe.

All at once, Amity's nerves were replaced with an annoyance that only Merle fucking Dixon could elict from her, and she rolled her eyes before pushing roughly past the eldest Dixon to enter Deanna's home for the second time that day.

All around were faces, some familiar and some not so much, and Amity reached back blindly until a calloused hand slid into her's, chasing away any of the fear that was beginning to ooze back into her.

"It's a regular ole shin-dig we got here." She muttered to Daryl, who either scoffed or laughed at her words- it was hard to discern.

"Amity!" Maggie's voice traveled across the living area, and once she spotted her best friend, Amity beelined towards her with Daryl in tow.

"Hey, guys!" Amity greeted, the bright smile on her face genuine as she returned Glenn's hug and nodded at Abraham.

She then focused her attention on Noah, noticing how uncomfortable he seemed.

She knew the feeling.

"Look, y'all! A clean Daryl!" Amity declared, tugging Daryl closer and her smile brightened when her words pulled a chuckle from Noah.

It was at the expense of Daryl, sure, but the hunter was just rolling his eyes at her.

He was more than used to her teasing, and he didn't mind it when it was just family hearing it.

Michael had come over just after Amity and Daryl had arrived, pausing to kiss his sister on the head before joining Abraham and Merle.

Bandit joined their small group a bit later, standing with Merle, Michael, and Abraham, recounting something about a construction meeting about beams that Amity had little interest in listening to.

The couple stood talking to their group for a while, more than aware of the fact they were somewhat boxing out the Alexandrians, but it didn't last for long.

"Amity! I want you to meet my wife!" A familiar male voice called over and Amity glanced back just as Daryl did to see who was calling out to her.

Pete.

"That's the doctor I'm working with," Amity told Daryl after nodding to Pete that she was coming.

"Come on." She urged, nearly pleading as she wasn't sure if Daryl would entertain meet and greets with her, but thankfully for her state of mind, he allowed himself to be tugged along.

"Amity, this is my wife, Jessie." Pete introduced once the two couples had met along the edges of the party.

"Jessie, the hair stylist," Amity said with a smile, reaching out to hug the woman like she would have long ago when meeting someone. "We've heard great things."

She noticed Pete's smile dropping slightly, but didn't dwell on it as she gestured to Daryl at her side.

"Pete, Jessie, this is my partner, Daryl." Amity introduced, trying to bite back a smile at the way Daryl gently shook Jessie's hand as if worried about breaking the woman.

With Pete, he was a bit more forward and this time, Amity definitely saw Pete's smile drop away.

He looked at Daryl like the man was something he found outside in the woods, something feral and to be feared- and while that may have been the case, and while that may have been the front that Daryl put on to keep people away, the fact that Pete seemed to assume as much of the man made her bristle.

"Daryl, you hunt, right? I heard someone say that you had brought in some meat with you when you all first got here." Jessie said once the men's hands had dropped back to their sides, obviously trying to keep the air light between them.

Daryl grunted a confirmation and Amity smiled, about to add something to embellish the story of Daryl's hunt and hunting capabilities, but Pete spoke first.

"He brought in an opossum from what I heard. Shot the roadkill right outside the gate."

How he said it didn't sound like a compliment.

Now, both Amity and Daryl were bristling.

"Daryl's an amazing hunter. We wouldn't have made it through the first winter without him, or any time after that. We would have died starving in the snow. Y'all will be thankful with him around to fill the freezers." Amity nearly snapped, her tone so carefully controlled that it was sharp and icy.

The look behind Jessie's eyes let her know that the woman was well aware of, and embarrassed by, her husband's candy-coated rudeness.

"I'm sure he's great. If you'll excuse us, Sam's running around again." Jessie said quickly, her hand closing on her husband's arm until the man yanked it roughly out of her grip, but excused himself along with her.

"Fuckin' jackass," Daryl mumbled and Amity couldn't help but agree, letting out a breath with a harsh woosh.

"Speakin' of jackasses." The hunter grumbled, his tone holding an edge that had Amity turning with interest only to see Aiden making his way towards them through the sea of people.

"He stopped me today to see if I was coming tonight," Amity informed Daryl, who didn't look one bit pleased by that tidbit of information.

"'Course he fuckin' was." Daryl grouched and Amity looked at him with confusion.

"He's interested in ya, girl. Ain't blind and I ain't yer only option anymore." He muttered, causing Amity's eyes to narrow at him.

"You listen to me, Dixon and you listen good, because I'm only going to say this once." Amity hissed, getting into Daryl's space in a way that might have seemed sweet and affectionate to anyone who happened to focus on them. "I chose you and you chose me. End of story. Alexandria does not change that. More people around does not change that. You're the only man I want until you don't want me anymore, got it?"

Daryl was looking at her with slightly widened eyes, whether out of fear or surprise, Amity wasn't sure, but a moment later his more bashful side made an appearance as he hid behind his hair.

"Ain't gonna want anyone but you neither." He mumbled, bringing a smile to Amity's lips.

"Glad to hear it, Chief. I was starting to like having you around." She teased, running a hand down his chest as if to smooth out his vest.

"Starting to, my ass," Daryl replied and Amity laughed before flinching away from a hand abruptly touching her shoulder.

She had forgotten about Aiden's approach.

"You made it," Aiden said slowly, looking down at the empty space his hand was now suspended, Daryl's hand still wrapped around his wrist from where he had forced the man's hand off of her.

The hunter stared the younger man down for a long moment before Amity reached out to gently brush his outstretched arm. Under her touch, he released Aiden's arm.

"I didn't mean to startle you." Aiden said, his eyes slowly leaving Daryl to fixate on Amity.

"Should just keep yer hands to yourself." Daryl grumbled, and Amity couldn't help but small softly, shaking her head a bit before addressing Aiden.

"It's alright." She reassured him before addressing what he had said first in greeting. "And I said that I was going to come. Your mom was kind enough to invite us all."

She then had to bite back a smirk as she gestured to the hunter at her side.

"Speaking of all, I'm assuming you remember Daryl, right?" She asked, turning to give the man in question a soft smile that she knew wouldn't be returned in their current company.

Aiden shifted, seeming a bit uncomfortable as he chuckled.

"Uh, yeah. I definitely remember Daryl, though Nicholas might remember him even better than me." He joked, apparently expecting them to chuckle along with him since his own laughter clumsily fell off once they didn't.

"Well, uh, I'm glad you both came. Mom's been looking forward to it." Aiden said, trying to recover from the awkward fumble.

"She seemed excited. She's a nice woman. Right, babe?" Amity said, turning to Daryl with another fond smile.

It was hard for her to suppress a chuckle at the way his eyes widened slightly at the term of endearment she used.

Though she kept her eyes on Daryl as he grunted out a noise of some sort of agreement, Amity saw the slight surprise on Aiden's face.

As much as the couple didn't try to hide their relationship status, they weren't exactly touchy-feely, and Amity figured Aiden had missed the memo.

She was more than happy to clear that up for him, and it seemed Daryl was as well- if the start of their interaction was any indication.

"We're going to keep mingling, Aiden. You have a good night." Amity chirped then, more than happy to end the conversation and tug Daryl along to an emptier space in the room.

Once they paused again, Amity leaned into the man and pushed herself up on the balls of her feet to murmur in his ear.

"Ready to go?" She asked and was not surprised at his immediate agreement.

Taking his hand, Amity worked the room with her old expertise on how to be invisible in such a setting. Sometimes it was best to stand out, but sometimes it was best to disappear.

With well-placed smiles, small greetings, and by taking a specific path through the room towards the kitchen and backdoor, Amity made their exit as low-key as possible with Daryl at her side. It was a bit difficult since he tended to draw eyes and attention from the people of Alexandria like nobody's business.

At the same time, she was ensuring that the partygoer's remembered seeing them, which meant they would have been recognized as showing up and participating.

It was a delicate line to walk.

Once they were outside, jogging through the backyard and around the side of the house to the front sidewalk, Amity couldn't hold back an elated laugh.

The sound drew Daryl's eyes as if the noise was a siren's song tuned just for him.

"Have fun?" He asked her and her laugh fell off but her smile remained as she looked at him.

"It could have been worse." She reasoned. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Ain't that big of a deal." Daryl muttered, never knowing what to do with any sort of gratitude.

Instead of calling him on it, Amity simply reached out for his hand and threaded her fingers through his.

Together, they began to walk down the sidewalk towards their home until the sound of one of the front doors opening cut through the still night air.

"Daryl!... Oh, and Amity!" Their names being called out wasn't what either of them had expected but once she turned and spotted Aaron standing on the porch of the house closest to them, Amity smiled.

"Hey, Aaron!" She greeted, giving Daryl's hand a soft squeeze to tell him to simply play nice and also in hopes that he wouldn't try to pull away from her, but to her surprise, the hunter actually made conversation and held fast.

"Thought you were going to that party over there," Daryl said.

"Oh, I was never going to go 'cause of Eric's ankle, thank God." Aaron dismissed with a chuckle.

"Why the hell did you tell me to go, then?" Daryl asked, incredulous as he bristled.

Amity wondered when this conversation had happened, but it at least explained a bit of Daryl's change of heart about the social event. She was glad that it seemed that Daryl's circle of trust was expanding at least a small bit.

She wondered what it was about Aaron that led to it. At the same time, she thought she understood though.

Aaron was one of those types that you just liked. That, and she had seen firsthand that he wasn't completely useless out there.

Maybe Daryl had witnessed the same.

"I said try." Aaron corrected before smiling and nodding back towards Deanna's house. "It seems that you did. It's a thought that counts thing."

Amity softly laughed at that, looking over at Daryl and meeting his eyes for a moment to read his slight confusion and hesitance.

"Alright." He grunted, and made to leave, tugging on Amity's hand a bit.

"Hey, come in." Aaron called out, stopping them in their tracks. "Have some dinner."

The couple hesitated, Amity looking to Daryl now.

He had gone with her to the party after all, now any more socializing that night was going to be his call.

It seemed Aaron recognized that too.

"Come on, man. It's some pretty serious spaghetti." Aaron persuaded.

"Free food." Amity sing-songed, smiling playfully at Daryl who looked at her then rolled his eyes before grunting out a noise of consent and leading the way to the porch.

Amity caught Aaron's eye and the man winked at her, recognizing the effectiveness of their joint efforts.

Once inside, Amity let go of Daryl's hand and headed to the kitchen where Eric was perched on the countertop, stirring a pot on the stove.

"Impressive." She called out, making the man jump, but once he recognized her, he beamed.

"Amity, hey! Did Aaron drag you in? Thank God! I've been dying cooped up in here! Better than over at that party though." He rambled, and surprisingly, Amity felt at ease immediately.

"Call me your entertainment for the evening." She joked, looking back to where Aaron and Daryl stood in the entrance between the dining room and kitchen.

"Well, both Daryl and I, that is." She elaborated.

At the mention of the man, Eric careened his neck to spot the hunter and wave, flinging a bit of spaghetti sauce from the wooden spoon he had been using to stir with as he did so.

Amity bit back a laugh and moved to help the man.

Soon enough, dinner was complete and Aaron was helping Eric to the table before serving them all generous portions of the pasta.

Daryl dug in immediately, slurping up the food in the animalistic way of his that Amity didn't even think twice about now as she delicately spun her own meal around her fork.

She caught Eric smiling into his wine, trying to hide his amusement at Daryl's table manners, but there was no malice or disgust behind the action. Just friendly amusement and interest.

"Thanks," Daryl grunted out after a moment and Amity echoed the sentiment before taking a sip of her own wine.

"Mmm, when you're out there, if you happen to be in a store or something, Mrs. Neudermyer is really looking for a pasta maker." Eric began, chattering in the way that he did, but it was his words that confused Amity.

Her brow furrowed as the man continued to ramble.

"And we're all really trying to get her to shut up about it. I mean, we have crates of dried pasta in here, but she wants to make her own or something. I really think she just wants something to talk about, so if you see one out on your travels, it would go a long way to..." He trailed off after a moment, apparently finally catching the looks of confusion that Amity and Daryl were giving him and the pointed one that his partner was trying desperately to convey.

"...I thought it was done." Eric said, almost apologetically before turning to his partner specifically. "You didn't ask him already?"

"Ask me what?"

"Ask him what?"

Amity and Daryl spoke at once and Aaron looked between them before sighing and pushing himself up from the table.

"I guess... maybe it's best if I talk to both of you." He said and Eric nodded in agreement.

"It is." He said firmly, looking at Amity with something behind his eyes that was almost sympathy, but also maybe solidarity.

Amity was still confused, but she followed Aaron's gestures and trailed along behind him and Daryl as they stepped through a door that apparently led to the home's garage.

Daryl went through the threshold first, something within the space apparently catching his attention, and once Amity joined Aaron in the doorway, she bit back a smile.

Daryl was obviously a bit confused, but excitement and interest was on his face as plain as day.

"When I got the place, there was that frame and some parts and equipment," Aaron explained, "Whoever lived here built them."

"It's a lot of parts for one bike," Daryl replied, wandering around and looking at all of the pieces that were laid out across the garage.

"Whenever I came across any parts out there, I brought them back." Aaron informed, shrugging slightly as he exchanged a glance with Amity. "I didn't know what I'd need."

Amity offered a smile of understanding, she wouldn't know where to begin with the mechanical parts either, but she knew that Daryl definitely did.

As Aaron wandered further into the garage to join her hunter, however, she stayed put in the doorway.

"I always thought I'd learn how to do it, but I get the feeling you already know what to do with it." Aaron said, his expression more serious now as he hesitated before adding, "And the thing is... you're going to need a bike."

"Why?" Daryl asked, and Amity bit her tongue.

The woman already caught up to what was going to be said next.

She knew that what Aaron had in mind would be perfect for Daryl, but that didn't mean that it sat right in her stomach.

"I told Deanna not to give you a job because I think I have one for you." Aaron said, his attention fully on Daryl now.

"I'd like you to be Alexandria's other recruiter." He stated. "I don't want Eric risking his life anymore."

"You want me risking mine, right?" Daryl replied shortly, echoing the words in Amity's head.

The hunter's eyes flickered to her and she felt them, but she kept her gaze solidly on the covered bike frame rather than meet his.

She wasn't going to be the say-so in this. No matter how uneasy the whole idea made her feel.

Bad things happened when they were split up and now Daryl would be leaving the walls without her for who knew how long to approach complete strangers.

"Yeah, because you know what you're doing." Aaron defended. "You're good out there, but you don't belong out there. I know it's hard getting used to people getting used to you and I understand that right now you need to be out there sometimes. So do I."

As he spoke, Daryl moved to where the bike frame was that Amity was staring at and peeked under the cover. He was listening to Aaron, that was clear by how he kept looking up at the man before glancing at Amity, but his face betrayed nothing about what he was thinking of the offer.

"But the main reason why I want you to help me recruit is because you do know the difference between a good person and a bad person." Aaron said, looking back at Amity himself as Daryl shifted under the weight of his words.

They knew the difference between good and bad people because they had more than their fair share of experience with the latter.

"We would be the first line of defense out there, and then Amity, you'd be our second. You'll see whoever we bring in, but we need to be sure even before we bring them in. It just makes everything more certain." Aaron explained, now appealing to the redhead who had clammed up from the moment she had caught onto his line of thinking. "It'll make it less likely that someone will slip through the cracks."

Amity knew the man wasn't stupid, not like many of the Alexandrians. She knew that he could read the unease in her posture.

She let her gaze flicker up to the hunter's who stood across the garage from her for just a moment, and in that moment, she knew what he was going to say even before he said it.

"I got nothing else to do." Daryl said with a shrug, his eyes following Amity as she abruptly turned to go back into the house without a word to either of the men she was leaving behind.

She passed Eric as she beelined for the front door, ignoring him as he called her name and only feeling slightly bad about it.

Logically, Amity knew that she was being dramatic, but she couldn't shake the sense of dread that had settled into her chest the moment that she knew Daryl was going to accept his new job.

It wasn't that Amity didn't see how it suited him, or that she didn't think he could take care of himself, but there was an anxiety that came with being away from him ever since she had been kidnapped and locked up in Woodbury.

It was a pattern in their lives.

Amity was away from Daryl, she was kidnapped, shot, and assaulted. She went off with Merle without Daryl, she was shot. She went to the farm with Michael, without Daryl, and she was bit. The prison was attacked and she was seperated from Daryl and... She closed off her racing train of thoughts as she all but jumped down the steps of Aaron and Eric's porch.

Her shoes hit pavement and she half-jogged down the road, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Daryl would be following her.

She made it to their house quick enough, but she didn't stop there. Amity pushed past the familiar building until she was met with a wall at the complete opposite end of the community.

Staring up at the steel in the darkness, Amity forced herself to take deeper breaths.

There were walls now. She was safer now than she had been in a long time.

...But Daryl wouldn't be safe outside of them.

Out there, there were still people like Kipp and Gareth and Dawn and the Governor.

There were still walkers around every turn and who knew what else.

He would be out there and if anything went down, she could just never know what happened to him.

She felt her breathing quicken again and quickly moved to sit within the darker shadows that the walls provided thanks to the moon in the sky that night.

Amity pressed her forehead to her knees as she brought them to her chest, forcing another deep breath in and out.

"Amity." A gruff voice said from nearby, causing her to jump.

She looked up and spotted Daryl immediately and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You have to stop doing that." She told him, her voice tighter than she had intended for it to be.

The hunter said nothing in return, instead choosing to take a seat next to her, his back leaning against the giant steel walls.

They sat in silence, Amity naturally matching her breathing with his until she was left with nothing more than trembling fingers and a slight burning behind her eyes.

She leaned against his sturdy arm, her head falling to settle on his shoulder as they looked out into the dark streets of Alexandria together.

A ways away, she could hear the sounds from the party that was still going on. She recognized Abraham's booming laugh, but that was all she could decipher from how far away they were.

"I'm not scared." Amity stated firmly, her voice cutting through the silence that was between them as if Daryl had accused her of as much.

"You don't gotta be," Daryl replied, as if Amity had said the exact opposite.

Truthfully, maybe she had meant the exact opposite.

"We're supposed to have each other's backs." She reminded him, her voice quieter than it had been with her earlier declaration.

"I still got your back, girl," He retorted, but she shook her head, sitting up straight now so that she could look at him.

"But I won't be able to have yours. I'll have these walls, but you'll be out there..." She trailed off until a rough hand was grasping her chin, tilting her head back until her eyes met Daryl's.

Even in the moonlight his eyes were beautiful and in the moonlight, he was simply moreso.

"I can handle myself, woman," Daryl grumbled and instantly, Amity moved to shove his hand away, but the man didn't budge.

If anything, his grip tightened slightly to keep her attention.

"I can handle myself and you can handle your own too. You think I'd be leavin' you if I thought somethin' was gonna happen?" He asked her, his tone a bit indignant.

Truthfully, Amity knew he wouldn't. They didn't make them more protective than Daryl Dixon- that was a fact.

"You will always come back to me?" Amity said, meaning it as a statement, but it came out as more of a question.

A smirk pulled at one corner of Daryl's lips and he nodded his head.

"Ain't a damn thing in this world or the next that could keep me from you, Red," He told her, his words slowly melting away the anxiety that had been eating at her.

When a man like Daryl Dixon said something like that, you were hard pressed not to believe it.

"I'll hold you to that." Amity whispered, allowing herself to be pulled forward by the hand grasping her jaw until her lips met his. A familiar wave of heat and contentment swept over her and she pushed herself closer, her hands grasping broad shoulders as she rearranged to sit between his legs.

She allowed herself to get lost in him. To take solace in their moments of peace in the dark.

"Take me home." She requested, and within seconds, they were both on their feet, her being pulled up by capable arms and wrapped up in them seconds later.

"Yes m'am."