Rhiannon reached out for Daryl the second she woke up that morning. She felt a pleasurable ache between her thighs as she propped herself up on her elbow as her tired eyes opened slowly.

She frowned softly as she noticed the empty spot beside her in bed.

After the mindblowing night they'd had, she was surprised to see he wasn't there with her. She knew tensions had been running high after the shit Alex had tried to pull, but she figured they had moved past it, that it had been the last thing on both their minds when they had finally settled into bed for the night.

Suddenly raised voices were heard from downstairs and she perked up again, her brows furrowing as she strained her ears to try to make out what was being said from downstairs.

She slowly got out of bed, grabbing the nearest shirt, which happened to be Daryl's, and she made her way towards the door, leaning her ear against it in an attempt to hear what was being said and especially, who was yelling.

She opened the door slowly, beginning to make her way down the stairs as quietly as she could so she could eavesdrop without the other party knowing.

"That's bullshit, Rick. We can't let him get away with this. He's been botherin' her since we got here. He ain't listenin'." She heard Daryl yelling.

A heavy weight felt as though it had settled on her chest. She knew they were talking about Alex.

"Daryl, I don't know what else to do. We've had Deanna talk to him, I've talked to him. I keep telling him to stay away, I've threatened him, I've scared him and I don't know what it's going to take to keep him away from Rhiannon."

Rhiannon winced at the mention of their fallen leader, a flash of sorrow striking her deeply. Deanna's death during the ambush of Alexandria when walkers had invaded their fallen wall had hit her hard.

She knew the woman was fierce and had a lot more to offer their community and it had hurt her to hear of her gruesome death.

"We kill the guy!" Daryl yelled exasperatedly, bringing her back into the present conversation. "We kick him out, we do somethin' to get it into his thick head that he can't keep fuckin' harrasin' her!"

"We can't just kill him."

"Why the hell not?!" Daryl yelled again. "He's done enough damage at this point, he's broken the rules enough to know that we can't trust this guy."

"Deanna trusted him. He helped build this place, he rebuilt the wall. He's muscle and we can't afford to lose that now. It's worth more than anything nowadays."

"That's bullshit!"

Rhiannon winced at the sound of the anger in Daryl's voice and she quickly made her way down the stairs, making her way into the kitchen, though the two men had yet to notice her yet.

"Daryl, we can't just kill a man."

"He's not a man, he's an abuser."

Rick sighed heavily, raking a hand through his hair. "Daryl, we can't make this decision alone. That's not how it can work here. I don't know what to do."

"Well, maybe you could ask the one person this actually concerns." Rhiannon finally spoke up, making both men snap their heads towards her, their faces full of surprise and guilt laden in their gazes. Rhiannon scoffed as they lowered their heads in bashfulness at her arrival, which they were clearly not expecting.

They knew it was wrong to have this conversation without her, but Daryl didn't want to burden her, he thought it was better to approach Rick alone, but he'd obviously been wrong given the exasperated look on her face as she stared them both down.

"Sorry, did we wake you?" Rick asked nervously.

"No, but you should have." Rhiannon shrugged and she moved past the men to grab herself a cup of coffee. "So I'm guessing you heard what happened last night."

"I got the gist of it."

"And?"

"I'll have another talk with him, let him know he can't get away with this." Rick said and Daryl scoffed, shaking his head in annoyance.

"He ain't gonna listen. He hasn't before, what makes you think he'll change now?"

"Deanna's not here anymore. She wasn't comfortable with using excessive force… but now, we can be a little more persuasive."

"That ain't enough Rick. You didn't see what he was doin'. He had her up against the wall, his hands all over her. It won't be enough until he's six feet under."

"Daryl we can't just commit a murder in cold blood."

"It's not cold blood! The asshole's done enough to deserve this."

"Daryl, relax." Rhiannon finally chimed in. "Rick's right. We'll just scare everyone in the neighbourhood if we gun him down like we're mobsters."

"I don't care what the neighbours think, that dickhead's had enough chances!"

Rhiannon sighed heavily and looked to Rick impatiently.

"Can you give us a second?" She asked him and he nodded, a sheepish look crossing his features and, with a final weak smile to both of them, he stepped past her and left their house.

Rhiannon turned to face Daryl who was pacing the kitchen like a caged tiger. He was angry and Rhiannon didn't know how to calm him down.

"What's going on in your head?" She asked and he shrugged non-committedly, like he didn't have a thousand ways to murder Alex running through his mind. Rhiannon knew him a lot better than just his expressions, she knew a war was waging in his mind.

"Daryl," She urged and he sighed heavily, his jaw clenching tightly with anger.

"I wanna kill that son of a bitch."

"I know you do, but you understand why we can't, right?"

"Yeah and that's what's pissin' me off."

Rhiannon let out a long breath and stepped towards him, slowly winding her arms around his waist, making his rigid body relax, his tense muscles finally releasing at her touch.

"Alex isn't a killer. He got drunk, which made him a little more brave, but he wasn't going to hurt me. He just likes to talk shit and I can handle him talking shit."

"What if I can't?"

Rhiannon bit her lip in contemplation. It was unfair to ask Daryl to be ok with Alex and all the awful comments he had already made and would still probably make in the future. She reached up, her hand resting on his cheek and he closed his eyes in contentment.

"Look, Alex doesn't matter. Nothing about that situation matters anymore. We can't let him get to us." She told him softly.

"He just pisses me off." He muttered, his jaw still clenched tightly.

"I know. He pisses me off too, but there's nothing we can do about it. We can just be the bigger person and let him be the asshole. His girlfriend's already jumped ship, his friends have abandoned him, he's already got his."

"He shouldn't be talkin' to you like that."

"I know he shouldn't. But I can't do anything about that." Rhiannon argued back, touched by her husband's concern for her, for the anger he felt by her ex's immature behaviour. His protective nature was always something she would love about him. "The only thing we can do is focus on us and our future. That's all that matters."

"Yeah." He agreed, a small, wistful smile coming to his face. He just wanted to move on, that's what the both of them needed. "So, you never told me about your appointment yesterday."

Rhiannon smiled widely, feeling a blush forming on her cheeks. The change of subject was well needed and it made her stomach flutter with excited butterflies. They'd never gotten the chance to talk about the enormous decision that had been made yesterday. Alex had taken over every part of last night for them and they had been unable to think of anything else that night.

"It went well. Denise said it could take awhile for the hormones to leave my system, but she said we should start trying right away."

Daryl nodded, trying not to cringe at the thought of someone, especially timid Denise, talking about their sex life.

"It's kinda on brand for us isn't it?" Rhiannon mused with a smile and Daryl looked at her questioningly. "Usually, when couples decide to try for a baby, they plan it out - light some candles, make it romantic - and we ended up having a dirty romp in the bathroom from behind."

Daryl chuckled and shook his head. He couldn't deny that it wasn't exactly the conventional start to their new chapter, but she was right, it wouldn't be them if it was conventional or normal. That just wasn't their style.

"You regret it?"

"Hell no. I'm counting down the days until you take me against that bathroom mirror again." She joked, her smile growing wider when she noticed the blush flash across Daryl's cheeks.

She shook her head, he'd been the one fucking the life out of her last night, yet, he blushed like a virginal young boy whenever she mentioned their dirty trysts together.

"So…" She started slowly, "You're still willing to go through with this."

Daryl rolled his eyes slightly, staring down at her plainly. "I ain't changin' my mind. Yeah, it scares the shit outta me, but I know this is what I want. I want a kid with you and I don't care how much I'm gonna panic about it, I know this is what's gonna make me happy."

Rhiannon smiled, taking his hands in hers and holding tightly.

"I can't wait." She whispered, heavy emotion laced in her voice.

"I can't either." Daryl smiled at her lovingly.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his body, needing to have hardly any space between them. It was the only way he could truly calm down.

It was easy to forget about Alex and the shit he was putting them through with Rhiannon's arms around him tightly, with her forehead against his, her smile against his as he kissed her lightly.

She was his safe place and nothing would change that, not even Alex.

Rhiannon greeted the others delightfully as she entered the house she once lived in. It still felt strange to know she now had her own place with her husband. It still felt too good to be true.

"Morning!" Michonne called out to the couple with a smile.

Rhiannon waved to her and bent down, placing a kiss to Maggie's forehead who was sitting on the couch as Daryl sent her a nod and passed the sisters to make his way to the kitchen, all too excited to steal whatever cooking Carol had done that morning.

"How are you feeling today, Mama?"

"Morning sickness is a bitch, but I'm getting through it."

Rhiannon smiled, brushing her hand through her bangs comfortingly and Maggie smiled, letting her eyes fall closed. She could picture her mother doing this for her any time she felt sick as a kid. She loved that her older sister had taken to this mothering role so easily.

Maggie couldn't wait to see her sister as a mother, like she truly wanted to be.

"I heard what happened last night. Are you ok?" Maggie asked, her face turning serious.

Rhiannon sighed heavily, silently cursing Rick for telling everyone about what Daryl had so forcefully yelled at him that morning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing new, unfortunately, but I think Daryl scared him off."

"Good. Hope he stays away."

"You and me both." Rhiannon muttered.

She didn't know what it would take to get her ex off her back. Going down Daryl's preferred route, which was blatant murder, wasn't something she thought she could get on board with. Sure, she hated Alex, he was the worst person she thought she'd ever met. He was, by far, the darkest thing in her life at the moment, zombies included.

But he was still someone she once knew and cared about and killing him, having his blood on her hands was something she knew would shake her.

His death wasn't something she wanted to be responsible for.

She carried enough guilt for the lives she'd taken and she certainly didn't need his face to be a part of those she saw in her nightmares. He was already a part of them, those dreams she had of the night she got her scars were enough for her.

She didn't need any more nights with his face posing as the villain.

The rest of the day passed without incident.

She didn't see any sign of Alex, neither did any of her family, which she was thankful for. Alex seemingly hiding out was a good sign for all of them.

"Hey, we're plannin' a run tomorrow, you two in?" Rick asked the newlyweds before they left the house.

Daryl and Rhiannon spared a quick look at each other, the both of them agreeing silently, before turning back to Rick and nodding.

"Good. We'll leave at dawn."

There wasn't much else to plan, they trusted Rick to know what he was doing and where they were going, and soon it was time to leave. Rhiannon made sure to hug each and every one of her family members tightly.

She may have only moved to a different street, but sometimes it felt like miles. After spending so much time in such close quarters with all of them, it was sometimes difficult to be separated from all of them.

"Have a good night." She said to Michonne as she hugged her goodbye tightly.

"Have fun making a baby."

Rhiannon pulled away, her face drawn into a bored expression, one that let her friend know she was tired of her comments about her and Daryl's next step for their future.

"You're not funny."

"Hey, don't get sassy. You're lucky you're even getting laid. A lot of people haven't been as lucky as you to find the love of their life in the end of the world." Michonne said with a nudge to her side and Rhiannon rolled her eyes, her gaze shifting over to Rick who was across the room, saying his goodbyes to Daryl.

A small smile formed as she noticed their leader steal a look over at Michonne, which he probably thought was a stealthy gaze, but she noticed.

"Right. I guess it only happens to some of us." She said with a sarcastic smile, internally screaming as Michonne didn't pick up on her attitude and the inference she was trying so hard to make.

Daryl soon made his way towards them, cutting off their conversation, which was probably a good thing for the sake of a romantically blind Michonne.

"You ready?"

Rhiannon nodded and took Daryl's outstretched hand in hers and he walked her out of the house. His rare display of affection in front of the others was refreshing and made her swoon.

It wasn't long before she found herself in her usual position in bed, her head rested on his chest as his hand mindlessly traced patterns and shapes against the bare skin of her back.

But this time, she wasn't relaxed, she wasn't seconds from dozing as she usually was. This time, her mind was racing for all the wrong reasons.

"You were quiet today." She finally spoke aloud, voicing what had been on her mind for hours.

Daryl scoffed. "That really out of the ordinary for me?"

"Not with me." Rhiannon argued, propping herself up on her elbow and forcing herself away from Daryl's embrace. "You don't hold stuff back from me, not anymore."

Daryl stayed silent, his eyes flitting away from hers and that was enough of a sign that he had a lot on his mind, a lot he didn't have the instinct to tell her about.

But she wasn't going to let that slide. They were married now, ready to start a family together and his initial reactions to deal with problems himself were not going to slide anymore.

"Is it about Alex?"

Daryl stiffened beside her and the clenching of his body was enough of an answer for her.

"Why are you dwelling on this?"

"Why aren't you?" He argued back, his sudden anger surprising. "He had you up against the wall, his hands all over you. You were terrified last night, he got under your skin and you're actin' like nothin' happened."

"I'm not trying to pretend he didn't annoy me last night, I'm just trying to move on."

"And won't gettin' rid of him make you move on? Why don't you wanna do anythin' with him?"

Rhiannon eyed her husband carefully, her gaze searching every inch of his expression to the furrow of his brows to the gritting of his teeth. It all signalled his anger, but she could read the look in his eyes better than he probably even knew.

She could see the insecurity clear as day.

"You can't possibly think I want him alive because I care about him." She said plainly, her voice laced in disbelief.

When Daryl avoided her eyes, refusing to meet her gaze, she knew it was exactly what he was thinking, that his insecurity had gotten the best of him again. She moved instantly, throwing her leg over his body to straddle him, her hands reaching out to cradle his face, making him look up at her, her forehead leaning down to press against his.

"He means nothing to me. Even before I met you, I had nothing but hatred for him. And after we met, after I knew what it was like to finally be loved the way I deserved, the way you showed me it was what I deserved, I hated him even more."

Daryl swallowed thickly, his eyes meeting hers with such conviction, such emotion swirling within them, it made them both feel close to tears.

"Daryl, I need you to believe me when I say that he was such a miniscule moment in my history. You are everything to me. You will always be everything to me and he will never mean anything but hurt and sadness to me."

Daryl shifted beneath her, his hands tentatively reaching out to steady her atop of him, his hands gently holding to her thighs. She repressed a shiver as his fingertips lightly grazed over her skin, forcing herself to not act with what her instincts were telling her to.

She couldn't, not now at least.

"Then why were you so… apathetic this morning? Why not wanna punish him for the shit he's doin'?"

"Cause to me he's already paid. My friends know what he did to me and they hate him, his girlfriend knows what he did and she broke up with him. Our family knows what he did and they want him dead. He's being freezed out by everyone in this community and that's enough for me."

"What about the rest of them, the ones that don't know what he did, the ones who knew him from the start, the ones that like him?"

"They don't matter to me." She answered simply.

Daryl eyed her curiously, as if looking for any sign that her words were untrue, that she was just putting up a front in fear of causing trouble, but he found none. She truly believed it.

He sighed heavily, now beginning to feel slightly ashamed for feeling as insecure as he had been all day.

"'M sorry." He muttered and Rhiannon shook her head, leaning down to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"You don't need to apologize." She assured him. "The only thing we need to be worrying ourselves about is starting our family."

Daryl smiled softly, his usual lightness returning to his eyes, something she had missed seeing all day.

"Couldn't agree more." He said with a smirk and before she could get another word out, a yelp escaped her, followed by a loud laugh as Daryl turned them over swiftly, his body pinning hers to the bed.

He pressed his smiling lips to hers, muffling her giggles that echoed through their room.

Rhiannon was antsy to go on the run. She felt like she'd been stuck behind the walls of Alexandria for too long and she was practically itching to get going and feel that adrenaline rush she missed feeling, no matter how terrifying they could feel.

"Hey," She called out to Julia who was making her way towards the car, a slightly nervous expression etched on her face. "You ready to head out?"

"Yeah, I guess." She smiled and it was obvious it didn't reach her eyes. Rhiannon didn't even have to know her too well to see it.

"Don't worry too much. You got good people to watch your back out there. You'll be fine."

Julia let out a long breath, a blush forming on her cheeks at Rhiannon's observation of her anxiety.

"That obvious, huh?"

Rhiannnon shrugged, not wanting to make her feel bad. "Nothing to be ashamed of. Honestly, when you start to get excited to be around those freaks out there, that's when you should get nervous about your stability."

Julia looked at her curiously, her nonchalant attitude answering the question she didn't know if she should ask or not. "Are you at that stage?"

"I never said I was stable." Rhiannon shrugged and she was satisfied with herself when she heard Julia's laughter, effectively breaking her tension.

"Hey," Daryl called out to them as he approached, his casual smile stiffening slightly as he turned it towards Julia, someone who he still felt a little tense around. "You good to go?" He asked them, but mostly to Rhiannon. She could see his usual protectiveness shining through, making her hold back a smile.

"Yeah, let's go."

Julia followed the couple towards the gates, her body stiffening again. She had acclimated well to Alexandria, she had made good friends, but now, going on a run with them for the first time, she felt like the new kid in class.

Rhiannon perched herself in the backseat and found herself crammed in between Michonne and Abraham. She rolled her eyes playfully as Daryl sent her a smug smile from his uncramped spot in the front seat. Thankfully, the drive was quick and she didn't have to be squished for too long.

They all looked around at the desolate small town they'd picked to scour. It didn't look like it offered much, but any little thing they found, weapons, medicine, clothing, was worth the trip.

"Alright, we'll take on the shops here and then make our way to the block over. Pack up anything you think is worth findin' and keep your guard up at all times." Rick gave his usual spiel, mostly for Julia's sake who currently looked terrified at the open road in front of her.

Rhiannon watched her with sympathetic eyes. The woman didn't flinch at the lone walker that made its way towards them, or when Michonne tore its head off with her sword. It was clear her fears laid with the other enemy of the new world, people. The young woman had been terrified by her encounter with the group she had told Daryl about. They had obviously scarred her internally, probably for years to come.

She straightened her shoulders, forcing her mind to move past the thought and the fact that she herself was in the same boat. She was still terrified by a lot of things and she knew she wasn't too far off from Julia.

Moving past the dark thoughts, she stepped into the small general store behind Daryl, their grips on their weapons tight, ready for anything that could come their way.

The group moved like trained fighters, and at this point, with as many runs as they'd been on, they practically were. They scanned the shelves for anything salvageable, moving quickly and quietly with an ease that had become old hat after so long.

"Hey, half pint, think this'll fit you?" Abraham called out in a whisper, catching her attention. She bit her lip to keep from smiling at the tiny onesie, that was clearly made for a toddler, he held up for her.

Despite the joke at her expense, she felt a rush of excitement through her, making her heart pound within her chest.

Not everyone knew her and Daryl were trying and the comment, made so casually, was enough to make her swoon. Almost everything about the topic of babies made her swoon nowadays.

Rhiannon snickered and picked up a tent from the shelf in front of her, holding it up for him. "You think this will fit you?"

"Low blow, darlin'." Abraham countered, though the amusement she saw in his eyes indicated he was anything but offended. He always loved to jest with her, she always gave it right back to him.

A few minutes later, Rhiannon found herself in the back room with Rick as they looked through the employee lockers. Her eyes moved over him subtly, noting the tenseness of his body, one that seemed to be permanent in the past couple of weeks.

"So, I'm guessing getting over Jessie is easier than you thought it would be." She started, not even bothering to beat around the bush about the conversation she wanted to have with him.

Rick paused in his movements, a bottle of water hovering over the open backpack in front of him, as he looked up at her, his face creased with confusion.

"I… well, it's… I'm ok, if that's what your wonderin'."

Rhiannon nodded. "That's good to hear." She said honestly. "I really don't think she was right for you anyways."

Rick stood up straighter, his gaze on her narrowing curiously.

"What are you gettin' at?"

"Nothi-"

"Don't bullshit me, Dixon."

Rhiannon broke out into a wide smile at the sound of her new last name, unable to not feel giddy being called by it. Rick chuckled at her reaction and shook his head, a look of apprehension quickly taking over his amusement.

"What are you plannin'?"

"I'm not planning anything, don't be so suspicious." She said with a laugh. "I'm just wondering if the right person for you has been in front of you for a long time."

Rick's expression became even more confused before his eyes suddenly widened and he looked at her in shock.

"Not me, you idiot." Rhiannon interjected quickly, realizing where his train of thought had led him.

Rick sighed, seeming relieved that she wasn't trying to start some illicit affair that would, frankly, scare the living hell out of him.

He then began to realize exactly who she was insinuating and he exhaled deeply, quickly sparing a look at the open door to make sure the woman in question wasn't anywhere near.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, matchmaker, but there's nothin goin' on with me and Michonne."

Rhiannon grinned like a cheshire cat and Rick blanched, not expecting that to be her reaction.

"Who said I was talking about Michonne?"

Rick's eyes widened and he realized he was caught, that the fierce woman had been the one on his mind with the insinuation of a crush.

"That- you just- I didn't-" He stammered, unable to think of a coherent response that would be good enough to get the delighted woman off his back. "Shut up." He muttered, clearly having no rational thing to say back.

Rhiannon laughed and clapped her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

"So you won't tell Daryl?"

"Oh no, I'm definitely telling Daryl."

"Rhiannon!"

The group moved quickly through the main street of the town, filling up their packs with whatever they could find, no matter how miniscule.

They were collectively making their way to the next street over and the others all had soft smiles on their faces as they saw the newly married couple walking together, their hands brushing against each other's with every step, soft looks thrown between them as they held a meaningless conversation.

"Man, if Daryl ever knew how sickening they were, he would be mortified." Michonne muttered to Rick who snickered but then quickly schooled his expression as Daryl looked over his shoulder questioningly at the sound.

"What are you children giggling at?" Rhiannon turned on her heel to ask them.

"That would be you and your man giving googly eyes at each other." Abraham answered loudly, letting out a bellowing laugh at the blushes that immediately bloomed on the couple's faces.

"Do you guys always have this much… fun on runs?" Julia asked, a tentative smile on her face as she looked around at the others who were so comfortable with each other, who were all clearly a family.

"With the Dixons, always." Michonne jested.

"Oh if you wanna go there, we can go there. I have a lot of stories about-"

"What in the flaming hell?" Abraham's exclamation interrupted, making them all jump back into the serious head space of the run.

They all followed the man's gaze as he stared down the street they had just turned onto and the sick feeling that grew within all of them was simultaneous.

Rhiannon placed a hand over her mouth in shock at the sight of the bodies that were strung over the balconies of the buildings that lined the street. She felt Daryl tense beside her and he took a small step in front of her, as if the threat was still present and he needed to immediately protect her.

"Oh god." Julia choked out, tears quickly forming in her eyes and she quickly averted her gaze from the horrific sight.

"What the hell is this?" Rick questioned, taking a step forward, his wide, horror filled eyes taking in every inch of the gruesome sight.

"It's them." Julia cried, her breathing becoming heavier as she began to panic.

Rhiannon had heard Daryl's recollection of what he had seen that day they dealt with the quarry. She had heard Julia's story about her cousin, about what those psychopaths had done to both of them.

It turned her stomach just to hear it, but to see it, to see the result of those psychopath's game, was downright sickening.

"Where did you see this the last time?" Rick asked Daryl tersely, his gaze never wavering from the bodies that swung in the breeze.

"Highway 642."

Rick's jaw clenched, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"They're gettin' closer to Alexandria."

So that took forever, but I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope you're excited for the new villains I'm introducing.

As always, an enormous thank you to everyone that's reading and reviewing! It means the world xx