IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG. You have no idea how crazy my life has been, but thank you for being patient for me. I really hope you enjoy this sweet chapter and I will talk to you a little more soon.

Much Love!

Daryl POV

"Dancing slowly in an empty room. Can the lonely take the place of you?"- The Lonely, Cristina Perri

God, why are women so stubborn, and confusing, and hard to read? I mean, I've never been much of a people person, so I may not be the best person to ask in these situations. But I'm pretty sure people are not supposed to be that complicated.

So why in the hell did I have to be friends with the single most complicated woman alive?

I turned from Nicole, leaving her standing there stunned and flustered, unsure of what to do. To be fair, I was just as flustered as she was. Did I just….kiss her? I kissed her? That was twice now. Twice. That was very much not me, so why did she have that affect on me? Why did she make me smile every time she sang? Why did she make me laugh whenever she made fun of Rick and Lori? Why did she make me want to stay closer to the group? Why did she make me sick with worry every time she did something reckless? Why had I felt that my heart was being ripped out when I had seen her limp body pinned under that walker? Was this just a normal friendship or was this….?

Aw hell.

I'm in love with her.

I met up with the others by the door to the cellblock. They were all looking at me intently, their eyes wide with curiosity and concern.

"How's Nikki?" Rick asked, his voice laced with worry for the girl he had come to think of as his sister.

"She's fine." Stubborn as hell, but fine none the less. "Just getting the rest of the blood out of her eyes." Rick nodded, seemingly satisfied with my nonchalant answer, which I was thankful for. I was not in the mood to elaborate on what had just happened to Rick of all people.

"Yes she is." I heard a voice pipe up from beside me. It seems Nicole had just appeared there as I had been thinking about Rick. I rolled my eyes a little at her response, as did Rick. "What?" She quirked an eyebrow. I just rolled my eyes again. "What?"

"Nothing." Rick shrugged, smirking a little at her confusion. "Anyway," he addressed the rest of the group, who had been quietly catching their breath, watching the exchange in silence. "We need to get in there and clear out that cell block. It seems pretty empty, but we'll run our routine like normal. Clear all the rooms, take out any you find, call clear once you're good. Everyone understand?"

We all murmured our agreement, readying ourselves once again. Rick took his place in front of the door. T took hold of the handle, ready to open it. I spared a glance at Cole beside me. She was staring at the ground, her brow furrowed in concentration, her lip curled as she thought hard about something. I had always loved that about her, her little quirks like that.

"Game's never over, is it?" She mumbled quietly. I wasn't sure if she was speaking to me or expecting me to answer, but she didn't press, so I merely shrugged, loading my bow.

"Open it up T." Rick nodded towards the dark skinned man. T did just that, ripping the door open. We ran in, weapons raised, senses on high alert. Rick took out the one right in front of us, before sprinting up the steps to the gaurd's perch. He exited a second later with a thick set of keys on a rusted ring. We stepped back and let him open up the gate to the cell area. There were no walkers in there….well, no live ones. Well, can walkers be alive? Or are they just moving and then not moving?

Wait.. why does that matter?

We cleared the room quickly, not running into any unwanted tenants. The cell block was two stories, with 8 cells on each level and windows on the wall across from them. There was a metal staircase with a guard's perch on the other side of the room, with a small metal table in the middle of the open area. It smelled rusty and rotten, but it was empty and safe, which was more than I could say for anywhere else we had been saying.

"Well, well." Rick spoke, placing his hands on his hips. "Let's go get the others." He turned to me, flashing me a toothy smile.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I'll take the perch." I announced, tossing my stuff in the corner at the top of the stairs. "No way in hell I'm sleeping in a cage." Glenn chuckled slightly in response while placing his stuff on a bunk down below. Maggie followed him in, placing her stuff down on the top bunk.

"Suit yourself." Maggie drawled, patting Glenn on the shoulder. "But I'm taking a bed while there's one available."

"Oh, it'll be so nice to be able to use a bed." Glenn sighed, a goofy smile creeping on to his face. "We haven't used a bed since-"

"Woah Glenn! Little ears here!" Nicole called loudly, rushing and covering Carl's ears with her hands. "We don't need to hear about that!"

"What are you- oh." Glenn's eyes grew wide at the sound of his words, his face turning a bright shade of crimson. "Oh. That's, that's not wat I...I mean… I wasn't… I was not…. I was talking about sleeping!" He cried, tossing his hands up in the air. I barked out a laugh at his flustered appearance while Maggie giggled gleefully, her hands covering her mouth. I heard a hoarse chuckle and saw that Nicole was laughing as well, with Carl fighting back a smile. She looked up in the midst of her laughter, catching my gaze. I titled my head towards Glenn and rolled my eyes again, causing her to laugh more.

"Are we making fun of Glenn again?" Carol tossed out as she entered the room with a very relieved looking Lori following her.

"I feel attacked." Glenn claimed, clutching his chest dramatically.

"Oh, I think you'll live." Maggie chastised, elbowing him in the gut, earning a grunt from the young Korean.

"Who's gonna live?" Rick asked, closing the door behind him, as he was the last one to enter.

"Glenn." Nicole said casually, her smile still wide, her arm wrapped around Carl's shoulders.

Rick shit me a pointed look. "Was he ever in danger of actually dying?" Rick questioned, knowing I would give him a straight answer.

I stifled a laugh. "I don't think so, but I think his dignity made need time to recover."

"Hey!" Glenn whined, crossing his arms. I raised an eyebrow, daring him to make a comeback, but he just shook his head after a moment, sending a pouting look towards the ground.

"Well okay then….." Rick interrupted. "Good to know, I think? Everyone get yourselves set. We can rest for the rest of today, and tomorrow we get to work."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I laid out my sleeping bag at the top of the stairs, next to the window, where rain was gently hitting the glass. I could clearly see the entrance to the room, as well as the doorways to all the cells. From here, I could see almost everything, which put my mind slightlybat ease. Most people had taken cells on the first floor, except for T and Nicole, who had taken the closest two on the top level. T took it fue to lack of space. Nicole probably took it to get away from the rest of the sounded like something she would do.

I slowly shed my jacket and shoes, leaving them in a neat pile near my sleeping bag. I my weapons near my clothes, but within arm's reach, just in case anything happened. I laid down on top of the fabric, placing my head gingerly on the pillow, my back popping loudly. I closed my eyes and listened to the gentle sounds of the rain hitting the building.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I woke up to a bright light, bolting upright from my phone position of the floor. My hand instinctively went towards my loaded gun. I looked around wildly for the source of the noise, my eyes cloudy and my breathing heavy.

"It's okay." A quiet voice called. I spun on the floor towards the noise, but my breath caught in my throat at the sight in front of me. Nicole was huddeled in the corner, her temple resting against the window. Her blonde hair was loose and curly, hanging over her shoulders and cascading down the fron of her body. She had on her black nylon pants and a black tank top. Her small feet were bare and curled, tucked closely to her body. In the haze of the clouded moonlight, her tan skin glowed silvery, giving her the appearance of a ghost. Her blue eyes flicked towards me, offering a small smile. "It was just some lightning. It's been going on for the past hour or so."

I stared at her numbly, still awed by her angelic sappearance. I simply nodded slowly and mumbled "Oh."

She smiled again and her gaze returned to the window, the smile slipping from her face. She wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them close to her chest, making her appear very small, very weak. In fact, was she shaking? Why wasn't she in bed?

"Cole?" I called weakly, putting my gun down carefully.

"Hm?" She responded, not looking away from the window.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked, slowly pulling myself from my sleeping bag, scooping up my poncho as I made my way towards her. She didn't look at me, even as I wrapped the poncho around her and slid down beside her. I didn't notice how she cringed when I touched her and tended up as I settled in.

"Just thinking." She mumbled, pulling the poncho a little more tightly around her.

"About what?" I pressed, not wanting to intrude, but wanting to help. God, I couldn't just let her sit here when she was obviously upset.

She was so quiet that I almost thought I had imagined it when she said "Cell D18."

"What?" I asked, looking at her.

"Cell D18." She looked down at her lap. "That was where he was. Just two buildings away, in cell D18. That's where.. that's where they kept him. The only reason I knew that was because my mother insisted on telling me. But I never went there. I couldn't go there. I mean, why should I have had to go there? I didn't want to see him."

I stared blankly for a moment, processing what she said. I spent a few moments trying to figure out what she was talking about when it hit me. "Marcus." I breathed, leaning back.

She nodded slightly, keeping her gaze down. "He was here, in this prison, in cell D18 for years. They moved him before the outbreak started but…. it's all I can think of. He was here. That monster, that bastard, that absolute pile of shit they called a person, was here." She chuckled dryly, but it was an unhappy sound, and painful, scratchy sound. "Funny how the universe works, isn't it?"

I scoffed, crossing my arms, "The universe is an asshole."

She chuckled, this time out of amusement. "Damn right."

"Is that why you came out here, to clear your head?" I questioned, titling my head slightly.

"Kind of." She sighed. Hesitantly, she looked up from her lap, her eyes slowly working their way up to my face. When our gazes connected, my heart broke at the pain in her gaze. Her body was trembling. "Do you remember what you said to me, right after you kissed me?"

I blushed slightly at the memory of my brashness, but nodded anyway.

"You told me that one of these days, my luck is gonna run out. And that when it does….. you told me that I don't think about people, about the consequences of my actions." she said timidly. My guilt grew exponentially in that moment as the harshness of my words hit me like a freight train.

"Nicole that was-" I started to apologize, but she cut me off, shaking her head.

"No. You were right." She sighed. I was slightly taken aback at her words, but stayed silent nonetheless. "I don't think about consequences. I don't think about the people I leave behind. I see and I do, there is no in between. But that's because, up until now. I haven't had anyone to think about. When the outbreak started, if I died, then the only person who would have noticed would be the walker that was feasting on me. That's it. My actions didn't matter. All that mattered was my survival. Mine and mine alone."

"What now?" I asked, placing a hand timidly on her knee. When she didn't back away, I let my hand relax.

"But now I have people. I have friends, I have family. I have a job and a purpose and a reason to be here. I have something to fight for. I have people to fight for. All of my actions lead back to you guys. What I do, affects you. And that… that terrifies me." She whispered, almost silent. Her hands were shaking in her lap, trembling pathetically.

"I can't screw this up." She sighed. "Not like I screwed up every other thing in my life. Not like the screw up I turned out to be. Marcus told me I was a screw up, and maybe he's right. Every good thing I have ever had falls apart. I'm a wrecking ball. I'm a walking disaster just waiting to happen. Maybe he was right about me. Maybe I should just-"

"Nicole." I whispered, my fingers running circles on her knee. "Nicole look at me." I sai a little more firmly. When she refused to look up, I reached out with my free hand and cupped her jaw, pulling it up. Her face was tear stained and pale, her eyes glazed and sad. "Listen to me. You are not a screw up. You are not a mistake. You are not worthless, or trash, or pathetic. You are amazing. You are talented. You are strong. You're the only person who makes me want to stop everything I'm doing for them. You are the only person who I could sit and talk to for hours. I don't care what some dumb-ass, useless, piece of shit of a man told you. You are so much more than all of that. And I will do as much as I can for as long as it takes to prove to you that you are worth so much more to us… to me."

She sniffled and looked at me, her bottom lip trembling.

"Are you sure about that?" She asked quietly, her tears landing on my hand. "God, I feel like such a pathetic mess." She laughed, the noise strained.

I smiled softly, placing my other hand on the other side of her face. "You're not pathetic. You're perfect."

"What?" Her voice was soft, almost as if she didn't believe my words.

"You are perfect." I said just as softly, before I closed the gap between us, my lips pressing against hers. Unlike our other kissed, this one wasn't passionate and fired up. It was soft, gentle, kind, comforting. Everything that we both wanted to say in this moment but couldn't. It was the perfect moment.

"What the fuck?" A startled voice behind us choked.

Okay, maybe not a perfect moment.