I was up in my room for a long time. I wasn't crying anymore, but I had the occasional sniffle and I was still laying on my bed sadly. There was a knock at my door. "Abby?" It was Carol. I didn't say anything. She opened the door. "Abby, I brought you some snacks." I heard her sit the tray down.

"Thanks." I said lowly.

"Are you okay?"

I didn't know what to say to that. My lip quivered and tears sprung to my eyes again so I just shrugged.

"I'm sorry, honey." She came over to me and put a hand on my arm. "I talked to Daryl, we had some words, and I told him that he couldn't do that to you."

"He already did it." I sniffled.

"I know and I'm sorry."

"For what? You're not the one who hit me."

"I know but I meant for letting him. I should have followed him up here, but I didn't know he was going to do...that."

"Me either." I laid my head down. "It hurts."

"I know, honey." She rubbed my back a little. "You can come downstairs."

"No." I said quickly. "I don't wanna go down there with him." I started crying again.

"Okay." She rubbed my back some more. "Make sure you eat something." She slowly left the room, gently closing the door.

I haven't left this bed since I was put in here. I was sad, depressed, confused and I missed my dad. I know it's only been one day, but I'm worried about him. And I certainly don't want to be here with Daryl. I should runaway.

Then, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head and I perked up. That's exactly what I'm going to do! I'm going to runaway! I'm going to go out and look for my dad. I just have to grab my gun and knife.

Narrator's POV

Carol made her way back down the stairs with a hand to her mouth, she was worried about the young girl. When she looked up, Daryl was standing there. "How is she?" He asked.

The older woman shrugged. "She's crying."

Daryl looked down and thought for a few seconds. "Well, she shouldn't've been a brat." He sat down on the chair in the hall with his head down. The man felt bad for what he did but he didn't want to show it.

"Daryl." Carol said and touched his shoulder. "I told her she could come down but she didn't want to." There was a brief pause. "You're going to have to talk to her."

He nodded with his head down. "I will. In a few minutes."

"Hey." Carl said walking into the room. "What's going on?"

"It's okay." Carol informed the young boy. "Daryl just feels bad about something."

"Why?" The boy asked again.

Carol wasn't sure what to say, she wasn't sure if the boy should know but Daryl told him anyway. "I spanked yer sister." Daryl admitted.

"Really?" Carl's eyes grew wide. "My parents never hit us."

Daryl looked up at Carol, she gave him a sympathetic look. "Great." Daryl said sarcastically with a nod. "Great."

A thud was heard from upstairs and they all looked up. Then, Daryl gave Carol a look and jumped up and headed up the stairs. Carol looked down at Carl and put her hands on the boy's shoulders.

Daryl made his way up the stairs and to Abby's room. "Abby?" He knocked on the door. When the girl didn't answer, he opened it only to see an empty room. However, the window was opened. It didn't take the man long to figure out what happened. "Damnit!" He said and spun around.

"What happened?" Carol asked when she saw the man running down the stairs.

"She's gone." Daryl stated.

"What?"

"She went out the winda." He said while putting on his crossbow. "I swear this girl…" He trailed off shaking his head, then went out the door before anyone said anything else.

The man ran down the road. He figured if he was quick enough, he could catch her since she went the back way. Once he reached the point, he peeked around a house. He was right. He saw the girl on her way down with no clue that he was there.

Abby's POV

I left the backyard and walked down the street, there was nothing ahead of me so I kept my head down. I couldn't stop thinking about what just happened. I was never going to be treated like that again. He doesn't have the right to do that to me. My own dad never even hit me, so he has no business doing that to me.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realize that I was almost at the end of the street. Just then, I heard a noise like someone cleared their throat. I looked up alarmed and held my gun up. It was Daryl. He was glaring at me.

Shit. I lowered my gun but stayed right there. It felt like time itself stopped for a moment. Then, I turned and started bolting back down the road.

"Hey!" He yelled. "Get back here right now!" I heard him running after me.

I was just trying to get away so bad that I didn't notice the walker that came out of literally nowhere. It grabbed onto me. "Ah!" I screamed. I struggled with it because it was kind of tall. Accidentally bumping into a fence, I cut my arm a little. "Ow!" I said. I finally was able to stab the walker. Daryl was right there too now with his knife. I backed away.

Suddenly, Daryl grabbed my arm and kept me from running again. "What the hell do ya thank yer doin'?" He snapped. I whimpered and tried to get away but he kept me there. "Ya know, I was sorry I hit ya but I ain't now! Maybe ya still ain't learned yer lesson." He started unbuckling his belt with one hand. My eyes grew wide and I tried to escape again but he was too strong. He had his belt doubled and was ready to swing. "You want this?" He yelled at me. "You want the belt?"

"No!" I yelled. "Please don't hit me with that thing!"

"C'mere!" He was trying to turn me around. "Turn yer ass around. Turn yer ass around!" He still hadn't actually swung the belt yet though.

"No!" I cried. "No. Please! I'm sorry."

He stopped trying to turn me around but still had my wrist and was glaring at me. I was still struggling to get away and was giving him a pleading look. "You better not run." He looked at me in the face. He finally let me go. I just stood there. "Get back to the house!" He pointed. I sniffled and wiped at my tears before turning and walking back towards the house.

I looked back and saw him putting his belt back on, then he followed me. He caught up with me and put his hand on the back of my neck escorting me back to the house.

We went in through the back door. Carol and my brother were there as soon as we walked in. "Abby." Carol gave me a small hug.

"Are you okay, Abby?" My brother asked me. I just nodded and sniffled.

"Now," Daryl grabbed my arm, "yer gonna apologize to everyone here includin' me, then yer gonna take yer ass upstairs and stay there fer the rest 'a the day."

I whimpered. "Sorry, Carol." I said with my head down.

"Look up!" Daryl snapped and lifted my chin.

"Sorry, Carol." I said again. I couldn't stop the tears that were spilling from my eyes. I saw Daryl nod once. "Sorry, Carl." I said to my brother next. Then, I stopped.

"What about me, girl?" Daryl snapped and shook my arm.

My eyes glazed over to him, he was glaring at me pretty angrily. "Sorry." I finally said. He let me go. I just stood there and sniffled once.

"Alright." Daryl said. "Now get upstairs." He pointed.

I looked back, it was beginning to get dark and I didn't want to stay in my room. It gets hotter up there than down here, plus, I was already in there pretty much the whole day. I looked back up at Daryl, his eyebrows were raised as he looked down at me. "Can I stay down here?" My voice sounded small.

"Did I say you could stay down here?" He snapped again.

"Daryl." Carol told him.

"I don't wanna go upstairs." I complained. "Carol said I could come down."

"That was before ya ran away!" He yelled in my face. I looked away, he stood up straight. "Or I should say tried to runaway." He snorted. "With how you handled that walker, you wouldn't 'a made it very far on yer own."

I put my head down at his insult, then I looked at the cut on my arm remembering about the walker.

"Abby." Daryl said bringing me back. "Go upSTAIRS!"

"No." I took a step back. "I don't want to."

He exhaled sharply and angrily through his nose, then he grabbed me and lifted me under one arm just like a bad, little kid. He started towards the stairs. "Daryl." Carol said. "Please don't hurt her."

"I ain't gonna hurt 'er." He turned to her while still holding me. "She needs to go to 'er room." He turned us around again and carried me up the stairs. I didn't struggle or try to get away. However, his arm was digging into my stomach and it was starting to hurt so I let out a gasp.

We reached my room. "Now stay in 'nere!" He opened the door and literally threw me inside.

I wasn't expecting him to do that and hit the ground hard. A crack was heard and I immediately felt pain going through my arm. My eyes widened. "Ah!" I screamed loudly. Daryl was already leaving as soon as he threw me but came back. "Ow!" I stretched the word out and cried.

"What happened?" He walked in. He still sounded angry but there was something different in his voice.

"My arm." I cried out holding it.

Daryl squatted down next to me on the floor. "Can ya move it?"

I tried. "No." I cried. He lifted it. "Ow! Ow!" I screamed.

"Shit." He said. "C'mon." He helped me up and took me back downstairs.

Daryl told Carol about what happened. She checked my arm and confirmed that it was broken. She popped it back into place, which hurt like hell. I could move my fingers and stuff now but it still really hurt. She wrapped it as best she could, then she made me a cast with the supplies that we had for that. She also took care of the cut on my arm from the fence. Daryl stood by the whole time but I wouldn't look at him.

"Take these." Carol handed me Aleve. "It'll help with the pain."

I took them with some water. "Thank you." I sniffled.

"She should be alright now."

Daryl helped me down off of the desk, we were in the hall. "Are you sure she'll be alright?"

"Yeah." She shrugged. "Her arm should heal in about six weeks."

"Six weeks?" He questioned. "Damn."

I don't know what he's so worried about? It's not his arm. They said some other things to each other. I wanted to go lay down so I started towards the stairs.

Daryl stopped me. "You don't gotta go up there, kiddo." He said. "Just stay down here." I didn't say anything to that or even look at him.

"I found some beans and rice." Carol said. "So, I guess we won't have to eat snacks for dinner tonight."

"Good, good." Daryl said.

I walked passed them and went into the living room. My arm was hurting pretty badly, but I was trying to keep it together.

We ate dinner after that. No one was talking. I wasn't really eating either. I was sad and in pain, so I just sat there and moved my beans around on my plate. "I hope I didn't make the rice too mushy." Carol said.

"No, it's good." Daryl responded quickly.

"I thought maybe I left it in too long."

Another pause.

"The beans are good too." Said Daryl. Carol just smiled at him.

Another pause. I stopped playing with my food and just sat there.

"Can have some more beans please?" Carl asked.

"Here, buddy." Daryl gave him some.

"Thanks." I saw my brother look over at me after that. I hadn't moved or said anything. "Do you want more, Abby?" He asked me. "I'll get you some."

I shook my head.

"I can get 'er some if she wants." Daryl said.

"No." I said without looking up. I think I saw Daryl and Carol look at each other.

Another pause.

"Abby, you barely touched your food." Said Carol. "I thought you liked beans and rice?"

"I'm not hungry." I said sadly.

"You should try to eat a little." She spoke softly.

I didn't say anything to that. "I wanna go lay down." I stood up and walked over to the couch and laid down. Those pills that Carol gave me didn't do shit, my arm was killing me. It wasn't long before I started crying. I tried to stay quiet because I didn't want them to know I was crying, but it was nearly impossible. I even tried covering my mouth at one point, but the sobs still came out.

"Are you okay, Abby?" Carol asked me.

"…my arm…hurts." I cried and sniffled. I just laid there and cried. I heard someone sigh at one point, it sounded like Daryl. Eventually, he walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I immediately rolled over and turned away from him.

There was a brief pause. "Abby, I'm sorry." He said. "I know yer mad at me but…I didn't mean to. I shouldn't 'a threw ya like that." He started rubbing my back, I just let him. "And fer the record, I wasn't actually gonna hit ya with my belt. I'd never hit ya with that. I was just trynna scare ya."

I sniffled. "Well, you did a good job."

"I'm sorry." He said and continued to rub my back. "Take another one 'a these pills. It might help." He touched my shoulder. "C'mon."

I sniffled again and rolled back over a little. Daryl helped me sit up, then I took the pill. "Thanks." I said without looking at him. He put his hand on the side of my head. "I wanna go upstairs and lay down now." I said. I weakly got up and went up to my room.

I ended up crying some more but I eventually fell asleep.

Narrator's POV

Daryl Dixon went upstairs to check on his young friend, but he saw that she was asleep so he didn't bother her. He gently pushed her hair out of her face. He sure felt bad about breaking her arm. He didn't even know why he threw the girl like he did. He was mad, yeah, but there was no excuse. He's an adult and she's a kid. The man wandered if she would forgive him. He also wondered how he was going to explain this to the girl's father.

Abby's POV

I woke up and my arm didn't feel as bad as it did before. I mean…it still hurt but maybe those pills actually did do something. I sat up and just sadly sat there. Now I really wanted my dad. Tears fell down my cheeks and I started crying again. We didn't hear from him today, I wonder if he's okay. The thought scared me.

Just then, I heard footsteps coming but I didn't care. My door was opened so they would see me anyway. Daryl stopped at my doorway. "Abby?" He said. "What's 'a matter? Yer arm still hurt?" He walked in the room.

"No." I sobbed. "I just…miss my dad. I've missed him since he left."

"Oh." Daryl said. "Is 'at why you been actin' like this?" I didn't answer him, I just looked away. "Why didn't you just tell me that?" He sat down on the bed. I continued to cry. "C'mere." He helped me up, then pulled me onto his lap being careful of my arm. I was sitting on him sideways, he hugged me to him and gently started rocking. "It's okay, baby. He'll be back before ya know it." He spoke softly. He never called me 'baby' before.

"I know." I sniffled. "But he didn't call today." I was referring to the walkie.

"Yer dad's fine." He was rubbing my back in a circular motion, it felt nice. "He probably just went a little too far and the connection was bad. That's all." He continued comforting me. "And you got me and Carol and yer brother. You don't gotta be alone and keep that in. Next time, tell one of us."

I sniffled. I was beginning to relax and laid my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around his neck. It felt nice to be comforted. It was strange though. Just days ago, I was pissed at him. Now I was sitting on his lap being comforted by him. We stayed like that for a while.

Finally, I lifted my head off of him and we locked eyes for a moment. He wiped one of my tears away. "Hey, how 'bout…we all watch a movie tonight? Would you like that?"

I thought about it, then nodded. It might keep my mind off of my dad.

"Yeah?" He questioned. I nodded again. Then, he surprised me by giving me a quick, little kiss between my eyes. "C'mon." He helped me up and we went downstairs.

We set up the portable DVD player downstairs, it was on a little table and the four of us sat on the couch. Daryl and Carol were on each end and Carl and I were in the middle. I sat next to Daryl. He had his arm around me and occasionally would play with the ends of my hair. It felt good.

We had a pretty nice time. However, I wondered how long it would last. I didn't want us to be mad at each other again. I hoped that things would stay this way.

I started to feel pretty tired during the movie, and my head slowly leaned on Daryl. I only dozed off for a few minutes. When I picked my head up, I realized that I was laying on Daryl. I looked up at him and he was looking at me. My face flushed a little.

"What? Are ya gonna fall asleep on me?" He asked me.

"Sorry." I said feeling a bit embarrassed.

"That's alright. You can if you want to."

"This movie is weird." Carl said. We laughed.

"I don't think it's that bad." I said. "The person who came up with it has to be super creative. But…I could also never watch it again and be happy."

That made Daryl and Carol laugh, I looked at them and smiled a little. I wasn't even really trying to be funny, I was being serious.

I stayed awake and watched the rest of the movie, which wasn't that great but it also wasn't terrible. "What a dumb ending." Daryl said.

"I kinda liked it." Carol said.

Daryl snorted with a laugh. "Stop."

I let out a small laugh.

"I did." She said. "Like Abby said, the person who made it has a very creative mind."

"Alright." Daryl scoffed again.

I just realized that now that the movie is over, we'll be going to bed soon. I didn't want that, I wanted to keep enjoying this nice moment. "Can we watch another movie?" I asked.

"Another movie?" Daryl questioned me. "You was fallin' asleep durin' this one."

"Well…now I'm wide awake." I said.

"Your brother isn't." Said Carol. I looked over at Carl and he was asleep.

"Carl." Daryl shook his shoulder. He stirred in his sleep. "C'mon, go upstairs and get to bed." My brother mumbled something, then sleepily walked away.

"I should go tuck him in." Carol said. Daryl snorted. "What? He's still a kid."

"…yeah, yer right." Daryl said back like he had a change of mind.

"So, are we gonna watch another movie?" I asked again.

"You guys can." Carol said and stood up stretching. "I'm going to bed."

That meant it was up to Daryl, I looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. He kind of smirked. "Alright, but…yer little ass is goin' to bed right after, got it?"

"Uh huh." I nodded.

"And you better not fall asleep durin' this one neither."

I looked through the stack of movies that were in the house and I found True Grit. I got a little excited because I always wanted to see that. Well…I saw the remake but not the original. "I've wanted to see the original version of this." I said putting it on. I knew Daryl wouldn't care what movie I chose.

So, we were watching it and I realized that the one guy, Rooster Cogburn, reminded me of Daryl. "He kinda reminds me of you." I told him.

"Hm. Yeah, and she reminds me 'a you." He said referring to the girl in the movie and raised his eyebrows. I giggled a little.

At some point in the movie, this other guy spanked Maddie, the girl, and it made me remember what happened with Daryl today. "Maybe I'm more like him." Daryl said then pinched my cheek real hard. I cringed but still smiled.

"No, you're definitely more like Rooster." I said. "Hey, we can be them." I smiled.

"Alright. Maybe I'll start callin' ya baby sis." He said back.

I smiled to myself. "I like that. Or just baby like you said earlier."

He snorted with a laugh. "Alright."

We were quiet for a while, while we just watched the movie. At some point, something cool happened and I looked up at Daryl. "Whoa." I said. He just raised his eyebrows at me in an amused way, then I went back to the movie. I felt Daryl move my hair a little, then he kissed my temple. It was sweet.

The movie finally ended and I liked it a lot, I don't even know which version I like better. "That was a long movie." I said while taking the disc out and putting it back in its case.

"Yeah, it's late." Daryl said and stretched.

"I liked it though. I saw the remake too, I like both of them."

"Yeah." Was all Daryl said. There was a slight pause. "You should probably get to bed now, baby."

"Okay." I agreed. "But…you should tuck me in cuz I only got one arm."

He let out a small laugh. "I'll tuck ya in if ya want." He nodded towards the other room. "Go ahead up. I'll be there in a few minutes. That'll give ya sometime to do whatever ya gotta do before bed."

"Okay." I got up and headed for the stairs. Something made me look back and I saw that Daryl had this weird, little smile on his face. Maybe it was because I listened to him?

Anyway, I used the bathroom, changed into my shorts and got into my bed before Daryl came upstairs. I heard footsteps and looked up as he walked in. "Hey." He said. "You good?"

I just nodded.

"Alright." He walked more into the room, I laid down and he got the hint and pulled my blankets up for me. "How's that?"

"Good." I gave him a small smile.

He smiled back quickly. "How's yer arm?"

"It's okay." I shrugged. "Not really any different. It still kinda hurts but I can put up with it."

He nodded, then his mouth pressed into a thin line. "I'm sorry I did that to ya, shorty. I never meant fer ya to get hurt. I was mad and I know that ain't an excuse but…" He trailed off.

"It's okay. I forgive you."

He gave me kind of a sideways smile after that, then he tapped my nose. There was a brief pause. "I'll let ya get some sleep." He stood up. "Do you want this off?" He asked referring to my lantern light.

I nodded. When he leaned over to turn it off, I hugged him. "Thanks, Daryl." I said lowly.

He let out a little laugh and hugged me back and patted my head. "Get some sleep, baby."

I smiled at him before he left the room. It was a bad day at first, but then it became nice. I really do hope that things stay this way.

Happy Thanksgiving!