I woke up and rolled over the next morning and saw my dad sitting on his bed looking at me. "…what?"

"Nothin'." He shook his head.

I sat up yawning and stretched. "Where's Daryl and Michonne?"

"They went to find gas or a new car." My dad stated. "So, it's just you and me, kid." He smiled a little.

They're out looking for a new car so that we can move on, which reminded about that. I looked down and thought. "Daddy…is this how it's always gonna be? Us just moving from place to place and never staying anywhere? Never finding a safe place where we can live?" I looked back up at him, he looked a little upset. I didn't want that but it was the truth.

My dad swallowed and shook his head before answering me. "I don't know, baby. I really don't know."

I looked down. "I know." I didn't expect him to answer that, no one knows what's going to happen. I got up and went to the sink to brush my teeth. Once I was done, I absentmindedly looked at my reflection and my face became more serious. I didn't like what I saw. It was a strange feeling. I thought maybe it was because I just woke up and my hair was a little messy, so I washed my face and fixed my hair…but that didn't really do anything. I don't know what it was. I mean…I never really thought of myself as pretty because I was always a tomboy anyway, but right now I didn't like myself at all.

I decided that I didn't want to look at myself anymore and started back into the main room. "Did anyone eat anything?" I asked. "I didn't even hear anyone get up or leave."

"You must've been tired." My dad said suddenly behind me. "Mm." He hugged me from behind and lifted me off the ground a little. "I love you so much." He planted a few kisses on my cheek. "Come sit on my lap."

"Dad." I complained but still smiled. It's not like I had a choice, he didn't put me down and sat down on the chair with me on his lap. "I'm too old to sit on your lap."

"You sit on Daryl's lap." He pointed out.

I turned my head and gave him a look. "What? You're gonna be jealous now?"

"You're my baby." He laughed.

"Yeah, I am so stop being jealous. You're still my favorite person so don't worry." I rolled my eyes but still smiled. There was a slight pause then my dad started kissing my cheek a bunch of times. "No! Stop." I laughed and tried to push him away.

He finally stopped and laughed. "I can't help it, you're such a little cutie." He pinched my cheek.

My smile faded and I was reminded of my thoughts when I looked in the mirror this morning. "No, I'm not." I said suddenly annoyed.

"Hey." He said in a different tone. "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not." I widened my eyes. "And you're my dad, you have to say that."

He let out a laugh. "Baby, that's not true."

I thought for a minute. "If I'm so cute, then how come I didn't have more boys in school asking me out?" I wanted to see how he would answer that one.

"Because they knew I was your dad and I'd kill 'em. So, I scared them all away."

I couldn't hide the smile that broke out and turned my head away. "Dad, I'm tying to be serious. Quit making me laugh."

"Well, I don't want to ever hear you talking badly about yourself." He said being more serious. I looked down. "Why would you say that anyway?"

I didn't want to talk about it with him so I shook my head. "It's nothing. Just forget this ever happened."

My dad gave me a kiss on my forehead. "You hungry? You should eat."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. We knew it was Daryl and Michonne because they knocked in a certain pattern. "You're good." My dad said. They walked in. "Hey, any luck?"

Daryl shook his head. "Didn't find any." Michonne was the one to say. She walked over and her and my dad kissed.

"That's alright." My dad said. "We'll stay another night and rest up, then leave in the morning."

"On foot?" I asked him.

"Yeah, on foot." He looked at me with raised eyebrows. He still had me on his lap.

"I don't like that." I said.

"Well, we don't got no other choice, shorty." Daryl said and walked closer to us. "You and I are gonna go take a little walk." He grabbed my head briefly.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

He shrugged and opened a can of soda. "Why not?" He started chugging his drink.

"I want 'er to eat somethin' first." My dad said.

"Alright. Well, eat somethin' then we'll go, alright?" Daryl nodded at me.

I didn't know what was going on, but I just agreed. "Okay." I shrugged.

When Daryl and I were leaving, I accidentally saw my reflection in one of the windows and I was brought back to this morning, which made me feel badly about myself. I was being quiet. Daryl talked occasionally, but I didn't say much at all.

"Looks like it's gonna rain." He said. I didn't reply. He was a little ahead of me, I just walked behind him with my head down. "Hey." He looked back at me. "Everythang okay?" I just nodded. "Yer bein' quiet."

I shrugged and said, "how come you wanted to go for a walk with me?" I just wanted to change the subject.

He shrugged. "Why not? Give us somethin' to do, to get outta the room. Some fresh air." He shook my shoulder. "And it would give yer dad and Michonne some time to themselves."

The way he said the last part made me look at him. He said it quicker than the other things, almost like he didn't want me to hear it. It gave me an idea. "Oh, I get it."

"Get what?" He asked without looking at me.

"You wanted to get me out of the room to give my dad and Michonne some alone time." I smirked.

"No, that ain't why." He waved.

"Daryl. You don't have to censor anything for me. I'm not a little kid. I get it."

He stared down at me for a moment, then eventually let out a laugh. "Alright." He smirked and nodded. "So, you gonna tell me what's wrong?" He put a hand on my back and moved me along.

"Nothin'." I shrugged.

"Don't gimme that. You ain't been this quiet since…Carl." He looked down at me. "And you don't have yer usual smile on yer face neither." He tapped my lip with one finger, I had to smile a little. "So…what's goin' on?" He looked at me seriously again. I looked down and didn't answer right away. "I'm gonna get it outta you eventually so ya might as well just tell me."

I thought for a moment. I didn't want to talk about this with my dad, but Daryl is different. I didn't necessarily want to tell him, but I felt like I could. "I'm not pretty." I said and looked down.

Daryl snorted. "What?"

"I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and I didn't like what I looked like." I shrugged.

"…that's what's botherin' ya?"

I gave him an annoyed look. "This isn't a joke. I'm being serious. You asked me and I'm telling you. I hated my appearance, I never wanna look at myself again. I don't even know how you guys like me." I looked down.

"Abby, yer bein' stupid." Daryl said. "The way ya look has nothin' to do with…people likin' you."

"Yes, it does." I said sadly without looking at him.

He was quiet for a moment. "Well, why do you like me then? I know you ain't hangin' around me cuz 'a my looks, cuz fer one thang I don't got any."

I looked up at him and smiled. "That's not true. I actually find you quite attractive."

He cleared his throat and looked a little awkward, which made me laugh. "Never mind that." He shook his head. "What brought this on all of a sudden? You never seemed to care about that shit before."

I sighed and looked away again. "I'm just not pretty like Michonne or Maggie…or…my mom."

"Why do you thank yer not pretty?"

I thought about his question and shrugged. "My eyes are too big, I look like a bug. I don't like the shape of my nose either. And my hair never looks how I want it to. Everyday I get closer and closer to just shaving it off. But…I know that that wouldn't make me look better either." I looked down again.

Daryl was quiet for a moment. Finally, he sighed. "I'on know what to tell ya, kid."

"There's nothing to say. I'm just ugly and that's all there is to it."

"Now…I don't wanna hear that." He kind of scolded me. "You ain't ugly. And don't say it again. I thank yer a cutie."

I took in what he said, then shook my head. "No. You're just saying that to try and make me feel better."

He snorted. "Have I ever lied to ya before?" I thought about it, he hasn't. "You ain't ugly. Yer eyes are perfect, yer nose is perfect and so is yer hair. Yer perfect."

I actually took what he said into consideration. "You really think I'm cute?"

"Yer adorable." He tapped my nose. "Now stop that bad talk about yerself." I looked up at him and smiled. He stared down at me. "See, you gotta pretty smile."

I felt my face flush a little and looked away shyly. "How come you're so nice to me, Daryl?"

"I told ya before, yer my girl." He put his arm around me.

I smiled. "I wish every guy was like you." I looked down remembering something. "I had a lot of guy friends in school but they used to tease me and call me a boy."

"Well, if anyone ever teases ya again, then they have to deal with me." He said and tightened his hold on me. I looked up at him and let out a laugh. He smirked. "C'mon, shorty."

Daryl and I played and messed around throughout the motel. I was feeling a lot better after our conversation and was even having some good laughs. At one point, it started raining pretty hard so Daryl and I stopped on the bridge so that I could watch the rain. The bridge was pretty much all windows so it had a good view of everything.

"What's so fantastic about the rain?" Daryl asked me.

"I love when it rains." I said not looking at him. "It's nice and calming. And I love the smell of rain." I looked back out the window and smiled.

"Me too." He said.

I just remembered something. "Aw, man. I wish I would've remembered to bring our paintings. This would've been the perfect opportunity to do that."

"Yeah. Well, we'll just have to do it before we leave tomorra."

I thought about leaving tomorrow on foot and my mood kind of soured. "Don't remind me about that."

The rain began to slow down. "Ya done?" Daryl asked me. "We should probably start headin' back. It's gettin' late."

"Okay." I took one last look out the bridge window. "Yeah, I'm getting hungry…and tired."

"Let's get back then. We been out long enough."

Daryl and I walked back to the room together. "Do you think my dad and Michonne will have a baby?" I asked with a laugh.

Daryl let out a laugh too. "I'on know."

"I hope not. I'm kind of starting to like being an only child." I laughed again.

"Yeah, so we can all spoil ya." He ruffled my hair.

I giggled and stared at the wings on his back. It gave me an idea. "Can I have a piggyback ride?" I laughed.

"Why do ya wanna do that?" He looked down at me by his side.

"Cuz it'll be funny." I grinned.

Daryl sighed. "Sure. Hop on." I giggled and jumped onto his back. He readjusted me and started walking again.

We got to our room, Daryl did the secret knock, then my dad let us in. "There you are." He said. "It's about time you two got back."

"Yeah, sorry." Daryl said and let me off of his back.

"You were gone for so long, I was startin' to worry."

"We just walked around the motel." I shrugged. "It was fun, but I got hungry so we came back."

The four of us ate dinner, my dad and Michonne sat at the table but Daryl and I ate on the beds. He was in our bed and I was on my dad's.

"We should probably turn in early tonight." My dad said. I looked at him. "So we can rest up for tomorrow."

"But we didn't get to have our paint rematch." I said.

"We'll have to do it another time, baby." My dad said. "We don't have enough light anyway."

I looked down feeling disappointed. "Hey." Daryl said to me. "Next time we find someplace to stay, we can look fer some more art supplies."

"When we find a place to stay?" I repeated. "Who knows when that'll be." I had my head down, but I still saw my dad and Daryl look at each other.

"Abigail, we talked about this." My dad said.

"No, we didn't. You couldn't answer my question."

"…okay, you're right." He said. "We didn't really talk about it…but it could happen."

"It will happen." Said Michonne. I looked at her. "One of these days, we will find a place to be."

"Yeah." Daryl said. I looked at him now. "But right now, you'll have to deal with us movin' around." He shrugged. "So quit yer bitchin'." He smirked.

I felt slightly annoyed but it gave me a good opportunity to fire back. "I'll quit my bitchin' when you quit yours." I crossed my arms over my chest. He put his bowl down and started to get up. Oh shit! I got up quickly and ran to the other side of the room, Daryl was coming after me. "Daddy, help!" I hid behind my dad and laughed.

"Hey, you leave my baby be." My dad said and put his arm around me. I smirked at Daryl.

He just shook his head. "You got lucky, kid." He smirked. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Oh, you just wait til tonight." He warned again. I giggled.

So we went to bed early that night, I just snuggled up with Daryl like I've been doing. Daryl makes me feel safe, he really is like an uncle to me. Or maybe even another dad. That thought made me laugh inside because my dad would be jealous if I ever said that out loud. Lucky for him, I don't think I ever will.

"You sure about this?" Daryl asked me as we put the last painting in one of the windows of the motel rooms.

"Yup. Now anyone who may come by can see 'em and appreciate our art."

"Alright." Daryl snorted. "Maybe appreciate yer art, ain't gonna be no damn art show fer mine."

I let out a laugh. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I kinda likes yours."

"Yeah, right." He raised his eyebrows.

"I'm serious. You just…needed to try a little harder." I shrugged.

"Alright. Well, if that's it then let's get back to yer dad and Michonne."

I nodded. "Okay. Yeah, my dad wants to leave soon."

We got back to the room. "Everyone have everythang they wanna take?" My dad asked.

"Yeah." Said Michonne.

"Yup." I said. Daryl just nodded.

"Alright." My dad nodded. "Let's head out then. Who knows how far a safe place to stop for the night is?" My dad opened the door and stepped out, then stood there until I got to him.

It was a rhetorical question but I answered anyway. "Hopefully, not too far." I raised my eyebrows. My dad wrapped his arm around my middle. He hasn't done that for a long time. We walked out together.

We were walking for about two hours and I was already tired and extremely hot. I can't believe I'm even thinking this, but I really wish the weather would cool down right about now. Or at least someone would say let's take a break. I wasn't going to be the one to say it though. We moved on.

I was starting to feel weak and thirsty, but I still didn't want to be the one to say something. I just had Glenn's hat on to shield my face from the sun a little and hung my head. I was feeling weaker and sicker. It wasn't a good feeling knowing that I was the weakest link so I wasn't going to add to that by asking to take a break.

My dad was in the lead and finally turned around. "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah." Daryl and Michonne said.

"Abby?" He asked me. I just nodded. "Ya sure? Ya don't look too good."

"I'm fine." I said quietly. We moved on.

We've been walking for almost five hours now and still have not taken a break! Where are we even going? I thought. I was getting to my breaking point. Just then, I looked up and saw some black dots and it felt like all of the blood drained from my face. Then, there was a ringing sound in my ears. I knew I was going to pass out but I didn't want to fall onto the concrete so I dropped my bag and got down on my knees. That was the last thing I remember.

Narrator's POV

Daryl looked back to check on his young friend when he heard a strange noise. He saw the girl laying on the ground with her face in her bag. "Rick!" He called. "We lost someone." Rick turned giving Daryl a weird look. "Abby's down." Daryl said and knelt down next to the girl.

Rick, immediately concerned, ran to his daughter and knelt by her side. "Abby? Hey." He shook her.

Abby's POV

"Abby, c'mon, little girl." My dad said. I opened my eyes and saw my dad looking down at me. I was laying in his lap. "Hey, you okay?" He pushed my hair back.

"She's back." Daryl said. He had my hat and was using it to fan me.

It took me a minute to speak because I was still feeling a little out of it. "Uh…what happened?" I looked around.

"You passed out." My dad told me. "Don't you remember?"

"Here, have some gatorade." Michonne said.

My dad grabbed it and opened it, then held it to my lips. I tried to take it but he wouldn't let me. "Just let me." He said. I couldn't really do anything so I just let him feed me the gatorade like a baby. It was nice to have a drink, I just closed my eyes and took it in. My dad let out a laugh, which made me look at him. "This reminds me of giving you your bottle when you were a baby." He smiled.

I suddenly snapped out of it feeling embarrassed and a little annoyed and pulled away. "I'm back." I said and sat up, then I sighed.

"Do you remember feeling like you were going to pass out?" Michonne asked me.

I thought for a moment. "Yeah, I started to feel weak and knew it was going to happen so I dropped my bag and got down on the ground."

"That was good thankin' using yer bag so you didn't hit yer face on the pavement." Daryl said. "But next time, say somethin' when ya need to take a break."

"Yeah, Abigail. Why didn't you say anything?" My dad scolded me.

"I didn't want to be the one to make us stop." I admitted.

"Yeah, well, look what happened." My dad said.

"We're stopped anyway." Daryl shook his head. "And this is worse cuz now yer sick."

"Now you made it worse on yourself." Michonne chimed in.

I put my head down feeling like a stupid, little kid while they lectured me. I guess I'm wrong no matter what I do. "I'm sorry." I said sadly and weakly.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't feel bad about that." My dad said. "It's not your fault, you couldn't help it." Then why did you guys make me feel that way by your words? I thought. "C'mon, get up." My dad helped me up.

"We ain't mad at ya." Daryl said to me. "Just don't do that again." He rubbed my back roughly, then put my hat back on for me. "Ya want me to carry ya on my back fer a while?"

"No, I think I'm okay." I said. I didn't want Daryl to have to carry me in this heat.

"I thank that's a good idea." My dad said and grabbed my bag. "If you don't then I'm going to."

My face flushed a little. I guess I don't have a choice. "I got 'er." Daryl said. "C'mon, hop on." He bent down a little so I could get onto his back, I jumped up. He readjusted me, then we moved on.

"Thank you, Daryl." I said quietly.

"Aw." Michonne said and laughed.

"Course. Anythang fer my girl." Daryl said.

"You two look so cute." Michonne said again. "I wish I could take a picture." Her and my dad laughed.

I wanted to get the attention off of me so I said, "how far until we can stop for the night?"

My dad snorted. "Do ya see any houses or anything around?" He said with a laugh.

"Mm." I complained and laid my head on Daryl's shoulder.

"Aw shut up." Daryl said. "You ain't even walkin' right now."

I gave him a dirty look even though he couldn't see it. "That's your problem, you're the one who offered."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'on know why I do anythang fer yer smartass."

"Because you love me." I said sweetly and hugged his head.

My dad and Michonne laughed. "Yeah, I do." Daryl said. I could tell he was smirking.

We finally came across a small neighborhood and decided to stop and find a house for the night. We actually had a few hours of daylight left, but it was good to stop now because we didn't know when we would find another place.

We picked this one house that had a nice porch. It would have been a cute, little house before the turn. There were three bedrooms upstairs so we each could have our own room.

We all rested up in the living room and then ate something all while it was still light out. We found one of those bags filled with smaller bags of chips in that house. I opened a bag of Funyuns and starting eating them.

"Ugh." Michonne put her hand over her face. "I can't stand the smell of those."

"Me either. I don't know how she eats them." My dad said.

"I like 'em." I said eating.

"I thank they're good too." Daryl stuck up for me. He got himself a bag and opened it close by my dad and Michonne on purpose. I laughed. Daryl quickly finished his chips, then tilted the bag back and dumped the crumbs into his mouth. I laughed and copied him.

"Uh oh. She's hangin' out too much with Daryl." Michonne said with a laugh.

"Yup." Daryl said with a smirk. "She's my kid now." He ruffled my hair, then walked into a different room.

They all started talking about something else after that. I was beginning to feel tired and kind of left out so I didn't get involved in their conversations. Instead, I decided to have a look around myself. I went into the kitchen, then out through the back door. It was a pretty nice yard, wide and good for activities. I would have liked this place before.

I walked down the back porch steps and more into the yard. There was like a garden on the other side so I walked over to it. The flowers must have sprung up by themselves, they looked pretty nice. I sniffed one, it was a nice scent. One thing I always liked about flowers is how soft and smooth they are. I rubbed one with my thumb and smiled. I plucked it and gently traced it up my neck to my face. It felt really nice and comforting and made me smile.

Narrator's POV

"Where'd the kid go?" Daryl said looking around once he walked back into the room.

Rick looked around. "I don't know. She was just right here. Maybe she went downstairs."

"Speaking of that, there's some boxes of canned goods down there that we need to bring up." Said Michonne.

"Alright, we can do that later." Said Rick. "Right now, let's just relax."

Daryl walked away because the two didn't seem to worry about where the young girl was. He made his way into the kitchen and looked out the window. That's where he found her. He watched her looking at the flowers and touching them to her skin.

Abby's POV

However, I got a bad whiff of a foul smell that ruined my moment. Turning my head, I saw something strange sort of on the side of the house that I wasn't able to notice before. It looked like a dead deer or something.

When I got closer, I realized that it was a dog. "Uh." I put my hand to my nose. It smelled awful but also made me feel bad. Poor little doggo. I stared at it sadly. I would love to have a dog.

"Don't look at it." Daryl said suddenly behind me. I gasped and spun around. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare ya."

I immediately relaxed and looked back at the dog. "It's just so sad."

"I know."

"I want a dog."

"I know ya do." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Maybe one day—

Daryl was cut off by the sound of a car. He immediately grabbed me and pulled me back hiding both of us behind the house. Once the car passed, he ran out and tried to get a good look at it. I followed him.

My dad was out on the porch a moment later. "Did you get a look at it?"

"Yeah, there were at least two people in the car, maybe three." He answered.

"Alright, everyone inside." My dad said again.

"C'mon." Daryl gestured to me. We all ran inside.

"We can't stay here. It's not safe." Said my dad.

"Neither is out there right now." Michonne said.

"It's even worse that we're travelin' on foot." Daryl said.

My dad looked like he was thinking. "Alright." He finally said. "We stay the night here, but someone has to keep watch. I'll go first."

"Nah, I got it." Daryl said. "I'll keep watch." He nodded.

My dad returned his nod. "We leave at first light." He announced. I put my head down. So much for relaxing. I thought and sighed.

Happy Mother's Day!