I have not abandoned this story! I promise, I love it to much! I'm just having trouble getting past this one part. I have maybe two more chapters already written, I'm just not posting because I want to get a lot done before I do. I love the next one or two chapters though, we got some angst and Daryl and Charlie moments. Even some Carl and Charlie moments.

What character interactions do you guys want to see more of?

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"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away," Rocking Judith softly, Charlie slowly stops singing to the sleeping child.

Holding her for a moment longer, Charlie sighs before lowering her into her crib, careful not to wake her. She carefully places the blanket over her before turning around.

"Jeez," She definitely doesn't jump when she sees Daryl leaning against the door frame. "How long have you been standing there?" A shrug is all she receives in response. Charlie sighs and busies herself with putting a few of Judith's clothes away. She doesn't sing around people above the age of five for a reason, that's so rude of him to just listen in.

"Carl is out with Ron, Rick is...doing whatever he does," Charlie mumbles. "Told them I'd watch Judith. Do not wake her." She whisper shouts at him, raising a stern finger.

Holding his hands up, Daryl nods for her to follow him out of the room and she does, closing the door behind her. "Problem?" Shaking his head, Daryl holds his hand out to her. With a growing smile, Charlie reaches forward and takes the black book, and opens it to see clean, blank, white pages. "It's been a while," She mumbles, running the pads of her fingers over the paper. "Thank you."

"Carol's downstairs, said she'd watch Judith," Daryl finally speaks before gesturing her to follow him. But she doesn't.

"Did you just give me a gift to soften the bad news you're about to give me?" She accuses and Daryl doesn't answer immediately. Charlie crosses her arms over her chest. "Oh my goodness, you did. So not cool."

Rolling his eyes, Daryl gently pushes her towards the stairs, waiting until she starts down them to do the same. Carol waves to them as they walk out the door and Charlie nods back.

Taking a deep breath once she's on the front porch, Charlie sets the sketchbook on the swing and exhales slowly. "You're leaving," She says before Daryl can. "It's okay. We've talked about this, I understand," Charlie continues before Daryl can. She turns and looks him dead in the eye before saying. "But I swear on everything that is dead and living, if you don't come back-"

"I'm coming back," Daryl interrupts and Charlie raises her eyebrows.

"You better," She insists. "So, when?"

"Tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow," Charlie repeats, leaning her back against the railing. She looks off into Alexandria, her gaze landing on Buttons peacefully grazing in the field. "You know, you should take me with you." Scoffing, Daryl shakes his head and moves to stand by her side. "No, I'm serious," Charlie says in a less than serious tone. She turns her chin up and smiles at him. "It could be fun."

"Better than being stuck here, at least," She adds with a solemn sigh.

"You're not stuck," Daryl assures. "You're safe." He'd be lying if he said he hadn't considered it. Taking her with him. But no, he's not sure he'd ever forgive himself if he brought her out there willingly and something happened to her.

"Safer," Charlie corrects. "There's nowhere completely safe these days."

"I'll take safer," Daryl mumbles before bumping her shoulder with his own. Charlie deserves safe. She deserves a roof over her head and food. So do Carl and Judith. They all do.

"So do you trust Aaron to watch your back out there?"

"I can watch my own back," Daryl mutters with a shrug, turning his head when Charlie scoffs.

"Have you learned nothing?" She questions. "The point is, you don't have to." Maybe that's hypocritical coming from her, but she's never claimed not to be a hypocrite. "Wow," Charlie blows out a breath. "I just realized how much of a Rick thing that was to say."

Huffing a laugh, Daryl shakes his head. She's not wrong. With either of those things.

"What are you doing?" Without looking up at the speaker, Charlie continues to glide her pencil over the paper resting in her lap.

"Drawing," She mumbles in response. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to start a conversation," Noah smiles and takes the seat next to Charlie. The girl glances at him then, her eyes going to the book in his hands. "Oh, this? Reg gave it to me. He's going to teach me about architecture. Someone's got to keep these walls up, right?"

"Right," Charlie mumbles after a moment of thought.

"Can I see?" Noah questions with a nod towards her book but Charlie turns it away from him, shaking her head.

"It's not done,"

"Oh, come on, really?"

"Yeah, really," Charlie nods and closes the book. "Maybe I'll be done by the time you guys get back."

"So you'll let me see it then?"

"No," Charlie answers without hesitation, drawing a laugh from the older boy. She herself smiles before lowering her feet from their folded position in front of her.

"Daryl and Aaron left this morning?"

"Yeah," Charlie sighs slowly and runs a hand through her hair. "They'll be back."

"They will," Noah agrees with a nod, his eyes squinted against the sun.

"You guys better too," Charlie forces herself to say casually. She's never been one for showing affection so openly. It's still a little awkward. "All of you. Be safe."

"You've met Aidan and Nicholas, right?" Noah asks but he does so with a smile.

"Yes, I've had the pleasure," Charlie nods sarcastically. "But I have faith in you guys, I'm sure you can handle two idiots." She hopes they can.

"Two? Eugene is also coming."

"Technically, I'm pretty sure he's a genius," Charlie gives a thoughtful look and Noah hums, his head turning to the side.

"With books, maybe,"

"Yeah, with books," Charlie mumbles. "No street smarts, though."

Laughing aloud, Noah nods in agreement. "No street smarts," He repeats.

"Noah!" A raised voice shouts across the road, gaining his and Charlie's attention. Tara stands by one of the houses, looking over at them. She waves when they turn to her, motioning for Noah to come over.

"Guess it's time to go," Charlie mumbles, trying her best to ignore the pit in her stomach. "Come on, I'll walk with you." Climbing to her feet, Charlie waits for Noah to do the same. They cross the street together and meet the others by the garage. As every one loads into the van, Charlie waves to them from her place at Maggie's side.

After a few shared words with the woman, Charlie wanders off. It's odd, not having much to do. Deanna didn't give her a job like the others, Charlie isn't sure why. Because she's young? Because she couldn't come up with anything? Charlie doesn't know where she'd like to help either. Some of the younger children have been hanging around her, excited to see Buttons. She doesn't mind watching them. And if Pete didn't give her the chills, she'd like to help with the medical side of things. She has some knowledge in that area already.

Squinting her eyes, Charlie lifts her head as high as she can to see over the grassy heel. She doesn't see Buttons for a minute but soon her eyes spot the small black spot hidden in the tall grass. The teenager smiles to herself and continues towards the horse. Said horse lies on the ground, lazily nibbling on the grass in front of him.

"Enjoying yourself?" She asks the animal while approaching. He barely lifts his head in acknowledgment. "I'll take that as a yes." With a loud sigh, Charlie lowers herself onto the ground next to him. He's grown much more comfortable over the past week. Charlie spends hours a day with him, almost all of her free time. Which she has a lot of lately. He loves the kids and she'd like to think that's because he's just naturally friendly, but they always have some kind of a treat for him.

Carefully leaning back, Charlie relaxes against the horse. He blows out a loud breath but otherwise makes no indication that he minds. The teenager closes her eyes and thinks she dozes off. The next thing she knows is Buttons' nose ruffling her hair.

"Yes, fine, your hair is prettier than mine, jeez," Pushing his face away, Charlie runs her fingers through her messy hair. She ties the top half of it back and out of her face before standing. Now that she's out of the way, Buttons lifts himself to his feet beside her and shakes off.

A little while later, footsteps approach from behind Charlie. She glances over her shoulder to see Ron. The boy's younger brother had come to see Buttons before, but never him. Is it rude to say there's something weird about him? Maybe it's just teenage stuff, Charlie's sure she came across as strange when she was his age.

"Charlie, right?" He asks when close enough and Charlie nods. "You're Carl's sister."

"Something like that," She mumbles. "Did you need something?"

"Have you seen him today?" Ron jumps to the chase, nearly cutting her off. "It's just, I haven't seen him. Or Edith."

With a long pause, Charlie chews her lips while observing the boy. "No," She decides to answer truthfully. "I haven't seen him since this morning." Charlie's pretty sure Carl has a crush on Edith. She's not sure and has refrained herself from teasing him just yet. Mostly because she's also pretty sure Edith and Ron are dating...teenage romance is just too complicated.

"I wouldn't worry, they can both take care of themselves," Charlie knows that's not what he's worried about. Nothing about his expression says he's worried. His entire body language screams annoyance and jealousy. She'll have to keep an eye on him and Carl.

"Right," Ron mutters and walks away. Charlie watches him with narrowed eyes for a moment before turning back to Buttons. Horses are so much more simple than humans.

Charlie continues her drawing from earlier than morning. She sits under the big tree, her back leaning against it while Buttons grazes. Footsteps interrupt her once again. Charlie looks up to see Sam rushing down the street. Her eyebrows furrow and she calls out to the boy but he ignores her. She thinks about going after him, even climbs to her feet to do so, but before she can, the sound of squealing tires and a voice shouting has her attention turned elsewhere.

"Help! I need help!" The unmistakable sound of Glenn's raised voice reaches Charlie's ears. All thoughts of Sam escape the teenager's mind as her heart plummets. Before she can register the movement, her feet are pounding against the ground in her rush to get to the other members of her group.

That morning, she'd woken up to a peaceful day. And despite that slight churning in the bottom of her gut, she'd looked to the sun and hoped for a good day. She should've known better. Hope makes you blind.

Ah, we all know what happened there...I'll try to update faster, my schedule is busy and I have so many other WIP's it's ridiculous. I have scenes for this story in my head, I can't wait to write them! If I can just get past this block.

Thanks for reading and sticking with my horrible updating schedule! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Reviews always help motivate me!

Until next time, friends!

'-'