It's been a few days now and my dad and Michonne still hadn't come home. I wasn't as worried as I was before though. Daryl helped fill that void, and I was happy that we were getting along now. I even pushed those mean things he said about me out of my head. If I can forgive him for breaking my arm, then I think I can forgive him for saying something about me. It seems kind of stupid now.

Hmm. Imagine that. I thought. If only I felt like this days before.

On this particular day, I asked Daryl if we could go fishing. I thought it would be a nice change since I haven't gone in a while. He was wary about letting me go because of my arm, but I convinced him that I would be fine if he was there. So, he agreed.

"Whoa! That's a big one!" I said once I reeled in my third fish, with the help of Daryl, of course.

"Look at that." Daryl said. He helped me take it off the line. "Yer pretty good at this." He ruffled my hair.

I smiled to myself. "I hope we get at least six. I want eight but I don't think that'll happen."

"Mm. Ya never know." He said. I scooted up and sat closer to the edge of the dock. "Be careful. Don't fall in, baby." He put a hand on my shoulder. "If that cast gets wet, yer done."

"I know." I said. I was in a pretty good mood at the moment, and I was feeling pretty happy. "Hey, Daryl? Thanks for taking me out." I smiled. "I'm having a pretty good time with you."

He gave me a small smile. "Good. I'm glad. I'm havin' a good time with you too." He rubbed my back. "And I'm glad to see you smile and have fun again." He tapped my mouth.

I cringed a little but still smiled. "Yeah, me too."

There was a brief pause. "Hey, Abby?" Daryl said. "What was you so sad about before? Why was ya so…down and distant?"

My smile faded and I looked down. He wants to know. Should I tell him? Maybe it'll cause problems again. I looked back up at him, he was looking at me waiting for an answer. I started shaking my head. "It's really stupid." I let out a small laugh. "You're gonna laugh at me."

"I won't laugh." He moved my hair away from my face for me.

I looked down and licked my lips before looking back up at him. "Are you sure you wanna know? I mean…it involves you."

"Me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." I shook my head. "I don't wanna cause any problems."

"It's alright. Ya won't. I wanna know." He put a hand on my shoulder and gently shook it. "Really."

I stared at him for a few seconds, then I looked back down. "Well," I swallowed, "this one night…you were like mad at me or something…or maybe just mad…" I trailed off and shook my head. Not important! Just get to the point! I cleared my throat. "Anyway, I kinda…overheard you tell Carol that I was stupid and annoying and that you couldn't stand me." I still had my head down and didn't look at him. Well, that's it. It's out. I finally said it.

There was like a thirty second pause and he still hadn't said anything, so I looked up at him. He was staring at me with an expression that I couldn't read.

"Oh." He finally said. "Ya heard that, huh?"

I nodded. "…I told you it was stupid."

"No." He said quickly making me look back at him, he was shaking his head. "I saw how upset ya were. We all did. And if you was really that upset from that, then it must 'a really hurt ya."

My eyes casted down because I was beginning to feel emotional. This talk was bringing back so feelings. "It did." I admitted.

Daryl was sort of looking down, he almost looked like he was upset. Then, he came over and sat down next to me on the dock, slinging his arm across my shoulders and pulling me close. "Hey." He said making me look at him. "I'm sorry." He nodded. "I'm real sorry, kiddo." He rubbed my arm. I had tears in my eyes, but didn't want to cry. Eventually, I gave in and just let myself. Daryl just gently pushed my head down onto his shoulder and kind of held me. "I didn't mean any 'a that. I was just mad."

I sniffled. I felt a burst of anger just then. "That's bullshit." I lifted my head off of him and looked at him. He gave me a surprised look. "Anger didn't make you say those things." I shook my head. "I've come to learn that anger makes things slip. But you must've meant it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have said it."

We stared at each other. "Okay." He finally said and nodded. "Ya got me there. Yer right. But," he looked away and licked his lips, "I don't thank yer stupid or annoyin'. And I definitely like havin' ya around." He squeezed me with one arm and rubbed my arm. "I promise. And I'm real sorry I hurt yer feelin's like that." He said. It sounded genuine. I nodded. "I only wish ya would 'a told me sooner so ya wouldn't 'a been so sad and stayin' away from everyone."

"Yeah, I know."

"No, fer real." He said again. "Ya shouldn't 'a had to do that cuz 'a me."

I looked down and thought. "I only stayed away because I was afraid that I would do or say something stupid and you would think I was annoying." I came clean. "Then…I even started to think the others felt the same way about me."

"Well, it ain't true so ya don't gotta feel that way no more." He shook his head at me. "It'd be borin' without ya." He let out a small laugh. "Hell, it was borin' without ya. It was too…quiet…and no one knew what to talk about."

I blinked a few times. "Are you sure it wasn't nice and peaceful?"

"No." He said. "And even if it was…we wouldn't be the same without ya."

My eyes widened a little at what he just said. It was really nice, probably one of the nicest things that anyone ever said to me. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yup."

I smiled a little. "Thanks, Daryl."

He nodded again. "Now, I'm glad we had this talk…but you know what that means, right?"

I gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"It means no more 'a this stayin' away from everyone shit." He waved a finger at me. "AND no more holdin' thangs in. If yer feelin' bad about somethn', you tell someone about it. Got it?"

I stared at him for a few seconds before answering. "O-kay."

Daryl gave me a small smile, then nodded. Just then, the wind blew a little and my hair moved in front of my face. I was still looking at him. He gently moved my hair out of my face for me on both sides. I felt an odd feeling. Why is he all of a sudden being so nice to me? I thought.

I didn't have long to think though, because something was pulling on my line. I looked at the water, then back at Daryl for a second then struggled to reel in my line. Daryl had to help me. "Yeah." He said pulling our fourth fish out of the water. I smiled.

We stayed there and caught some more fish. We had six but Daryl said we could stay longer because he knew I wanted to get eight. So, once we caught our magic number, he said it was time to go. "How 'bout headin' back to the house now, little one?"

"Okay." I agreed. I was getting kind of tired and hungry anyway and sick of sitting in the sun. It was hot today.

Daryl started to pack up our stuff. "Don't move. I'll help ya up." He told me. After he put down the fishing rod, he came over to me and lifted me up by my underarms helping me stand up.

"I'll carry the fish." I said.

"Alright." He grabbed the rod. "C'mon." He gave me a few playful swats. We started back home.

I wasn't looking forward to walking up that big hill to get back to the house. I wasn't feeling too great to be honest. I was in the sun for a long time and I was feeling kind of weak. I was already pretty exhausted by the time we got to the hill.

Daryl was in front of me, I watched him slowly get farther ahead. At one point, he turned around and did a double take probably because I was so far behind. He stopped and waited for me to catch up. "Feelin' okay?" He asked me when I was close enough.

"Yeah. Just a little tired." I told him. We started walking again. I was in front this time, but it wasn't long before I was behind again. The same thing happened where he stopped and waited for me.

"Do I gotta carry ya?" He asked me. I didn't know if he was being serious or not.

"No." I said.

"We're almost there." He told me and put a hand on my shoulder.

I was almost completely wiped out by the time we got back to the house. We took our stuff to the kitchen. Carol was in there. "Hi." I said.

"Hi." She said back and smiled. "Catch anything?"

"Yeah. We got eight." I smiled and showed her.

My brother walked in just then. "Whoa!" He said when he saw all the fish.

"That's great!" She said. "You guys did good."

"That was all Abby." Said Daryl. "She's a little fisherman."

"Fisherwoman." Carol corrected him.

"Yeah, Daryl." I turned to him. "Do I look like a guy to you?"

"Sorry." He put his hands up.

"That's why I'm good at it. Cuz girls are smarter." I smirked and crossed my arms. Carol smiled and let out a laugh, Daryl just smirked.

"I'm gonna start making the fish." Carol said. "We can have dinner early since we had to have a small breakfast."

"I'll help." I offered.

"Oh, you don't have to, honey." Carol told me. "You already did your part."

"How ya gonna help with one arm?" Daryl said to me. "Huh?"

"I went fishing, didn't I?"

"Yeah." He pinched my bottom making me giggle. He wrapped his arm around my middle so that I couldn't escape and he did it a few more times making me laugh.

After that, I took the fish off of the line so that Carol could prepare them. But then, I started feeling weak and kind of sick again. I tried to just ignore it and I helped with the fish as much as I could.

"Are you okay, Abby?" Carol said to me after the first batch was done. "You look kind of pale." Daryl was in the kitchen also and turned to look at me when she said that.

Damn! I hoped that no one had noticed. "Yeah." I said lowly and cleared my throat. "I probably just need to eat."

"Go eat then." Carol said.

"Go eat right now." Daryl told me. "Go sit down." He put a piece of fish on a plate and took it in the dining room sitting it in front of where I usually sit. I did what he said and sat down. I took a few small bites, then realized that I was really thirsty so I got up to get some water. "Abby, I told ya to sit down and eat." Daryl scolded me.

"I need water."

"I'll get you some water." He said. "Go sit back down." He pointed. So, I listened.

He brought me in a bottle. I immediately started drinking it. "Thank you." I said.

He nodded. "Keep eatin'."

I started to feel better after eating my first piece of fish, but I made sure I drank a lot of water too. That was probably my main issue. "I like this seasoning." I said to Carol. Daryl spoke before she could say anything.

"You feelin' any better?" Daryl asked me. "Looks like yer startin' to get some color back."

"Yeah." I said and nodded. "I think I just needed some food and water."

"That's good." Daryl nodded. "Here." He put another piece of fish on my plate.

I blinked at few times at it. "I don't know if I can eat another one."

"Well, just try and eat as much as ya can and someone else can finish the rest."

I inhaled sharply. "Okay." I ate slowly but I ended up eating the whole thing. I felt pretty good afterwards too. Maybe I should eat more. "Thanks." I said. "I feel a lot better now." I smiled a little and nodded.

"That's good." Said Daryl still chewing, he swallowed his food. "But I want ya to go lay down on the couch for a little just to make sure."

I hesitated. "…but I'm okay now."

"I know. But just do it. Don't argue."

I sighed. "Okay." I got up and went into the other room and laid down on the couch like he told me to. I laid my head at the other end of the couch so that I didn't have to lay on my bad arm. And because I wanted to lay facing away from everyone else.

After a few minutes, I heard footsteps walking over. "Hey." Daryl said. I lifted my head and looked over at him. "Thanks fer listenin' to me." He gave me kind of a sideways smile. I just nodded. Then, he sat down on the edge of the couch next to me and started rubbing my back. It was very relaxing. What's he trying to do? Put me to sleep? That's exactly what eventually happened.

After my nap, I decided to go outside for some fresh air. I was sitting on the wall on the porch blowing bubbles. It's the first time I got to use them since I found them. I know I'm a little too old to be amused by bubbles, but they did look pretty blowing in the wind. Plus, there wasn't much to do these days anyway.

Daryl walked out onto the porch just then to smoke a cigarette. He stopped when he saw me. "Abby." He walked quickly over to me. "You better be careful up there. You could fall. What do ya wanna break yer other arm? Or maybe a leg." He put his hands around me, but didn't actually touch me.

"I know. I'm being careful." I said then blew more bubbles.

"Yeah, ya say that now but…" He trailed off. Then, he sat down on the wall next to me and lit his cigarette. I blew bubbles in his direction, then giggled. He snorted with a small laugh, then raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, real funny." He took a puff from his cancer stick, then blow the smoke over at me.

"Hey." I said. "That's secondhand smoke."

"Yer right. I'm sorry." He started waving it away.

I gave him a tiny smile, then I kind of just watched him smoking. He made smoking look cool, even though I know it's not. He finally noticed me staring at him. "You smoke good." I spoke my thoughts.

He snorted. "What?"

"Well, you do. You make it look cool."

Daryl kinda smirked at me. "Yeah, well…don't be gettin' any ideas. You don't need to start smokin'."

"I already tried 'em." I crossed my arms. "I used to do stuff with my friends."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Yeah, well, ya better never do it again. I'll tan yer hide."

There was a brief pause. "Can I have some of yours?"

He gave me a stupid look. "Hell no! What'd we just talk about?"

"Just one puff?"

"Ferget it."

"Mm." I got annoyed and looked down.

He took two more puffs, then handed it to me. "Here."

I looked at him a little surprised. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, take it before I change my mind. And DON'T tell yer dad."

I smiled and grabbed his cigarette. It was almost gone but I got a good few hits out of it. I coughed a little from the first puff because it's been a while since I smoked, but I was fine after that. "Done!" I said when it got too low, then I flicked it out into the street. I looked at Daryl, he kind of glared at me. "That was a good one."

"You should 'a put that out first."

I gave him a weird look because I didn't think he'd care about that. "It'll go out."

"Yeah, I know, but still…"

I thought for a minute. "I'll go put it out."

"Nah, I got it."

"No, I wanna do it." I complained. He gave me a weird look. "I'm the who did it. I should have to put it out."

"Mm." He kind of exhaled. "Whatever." He helped me down off the wall. "Put it out, then get yer little ass in here, got it? I don't want ya playin' around out here by yerself, especially with a broken arm."

"Okay." I told him. He went inside, then I walked down the stairs and out onto the street to put the cigarette out. I stepped on it twice just to make sure. I was still a little surprised that he let me smoke it.

Just then, I heard a noise that sounded like a growl and looked up. My eyes went wide because I didn't have a gun or even a knife on me. Then, I heard a bark and a dog ran from around the corner. It didn't looked friendly at all and was coming right at me. I screeched in fear.

My eyes landed on a stick so I hurriedly picked it up and held it in front of me for protection. "Mm. Daryl." I called. The dog was still trying to get at me. "Daryl!" I yelled louder. I ran and jumped up on a car, scraping my ankle on the curb in the process. I scooted up as far as I could go, it was still jumping up trying to get me. "DARYL!" I screamed as loud as I could. He was already on his way out before I yelled for him.

"Stay there!" He said to me, then he quickly shot it with his crossbow. There was a whimper, then it went down. I was about to climb down. "Don't move!" Daryl told me. He came over and checked to make sure the dog was dead. "It was rabid." He informed me, then helped me down. "Did you get bit or scratched?" He briefly checked me over.

"No." I shook my head rapidly.

"Are you okay?" He put both hands on my face and looked at me in full concern. I nodded, then looked down at my ankle, it was bleeding a little. He gave me a look. "You ain't okay."

"It's just a scrape."

"It still needs taken care of." He said. "See, that's why ya shouldn't be out here. That can happen." He looked down at the dog. "I'm gonna get gloves and come back and take care 'a this." He gestured towards the dog. "And stay away from that dog!" He put a hand on my back and moved me along.

Carol and my brother were there when we walked in. "Is everyone okay?" She asked. She had her hands on Carl's shoulders and pulled him back a little.

"Yeah, there was a rabid dog trynna get at Abby, here." Daryl said.

"Can I see?" Carl asked excitedly.

"No." Daryl snapped. "No one go near it. I'm goin' to take care of it now. And, Abby…go upstairs and wait fer me."

I nodded and headed up to the bathroom to wait for him. I figured he was just referring to my scrape. Normally, I would have just taken care of it myself but it would be a little difficult with one arm so I waited for Daryl like he said.

It took him about twenty minutes. He walked into my room first. "Abby?"

"In here." I called.

He walked into the bathroom. "You okay? Did ya take care 'a yer scrape?" I just shook my head. "I gotcha." He lifted me onto the sink counter, then got out some disinfectant and a bandage. He gently cleaned my scrape, then placed a bandage on it.

"Thanks, Daryl." I said.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Now," he leaned a little closer, "what am I about to say?"

I blinked at him in confusion. "…uh…what?"

"You don't know?" He was giving me a stern look.

I hesitated still not understanding what he meant. "Uh…I mean…no." I shrugged.

Daryl was staring at me with kind of an angry look, he exhaled sharply through his nose. "Why didn't ya just shoot that dog?"

"Because I didn't have my—" I stopped myself because I realized where he was going with that. "Oh." I put my head down a little but still looked at him nervously. "Now I know."

"Mm hm." He nodded and was still looking at me the same way. "Why would you do that?"

"I didn't even…I forgot."

"Well, ya better never ferget again." He snapped. I looked down. "Abigail." He lifted my chin and made me look at him. "This is serious. That's yer life. Don't you EVER go outside without a weapon again. You hear me?" He shouted.

"Yes." I said.

He stared at me for a moment, then finally nodded. He helped me down. "Now I want ya to go to yer room fer while."

What? "Er…are you giving me a timeout?" I said with a laugh.

"…yeah, I guess I am." He put his hand on my back and kind of pushed me along into my room. I turned around to face him. "I'll come get ya in a while." He nodded then closed my door. I just stared at it for a minute. He really just put me in timeout.

About an hour later, Carl opened my door without knocking. I gave him a dirty look. "Abby." He said. "Daryl told me to come get you. You can come down now. And Carol made some kind of cake." He smiled and turned to leave. "Oh." He turned back to me. "Daryl wants to talk to you first. He said he'll see you in the hall."

My eyes widened a little. I wonder if…no. I shook that thought. "Okay." I said. I followed my brother down the stairs. Daryl was sitting in the chair by the door looking right at me.

"Abigail." He said my name like I was in trouble, which I guess I kind of was. "C'mere." He beckoned me over with his finger. Carl walked passed me into the kitchen, and I went to Daryl. I stopped in front of him. "Hey." He grabbed my wrist. "You better never do that again, girl." He raised his eyebrows at me. "I mean it." He nodded. "It's a dangerous world. And you gotta disadvantage right now with yer arm, so ya gotta be extra careful."

"I know, I'm sorry." I put my head down.

He nodded at me again. "It ain't about gettin' in trouble. It's about watchin' out fer yerself, and I want ya here." We just stared at each other for a few seconds. "Understand?"

"Yes." I nodded once.

"Good." He stood up and put both hands on both sides of my head, then planted a kiss on the top of my head. "You do that again, yer gettin' a spankin'." He put his hand on my back. I laughed a little. "I ain't kiddin'." He said seriously. "I mean it."

I became serious and my face flushed.

Thanks everyone for your support for this story! I hope you like it so far! Please leave a review and let me know what ya think! ;)