Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize. Although I would love to have my own personal Daryl Dixon. Short and sweet.

AN: Sorry for the mix up guys.

Chapter 14

Adrian knew she was weak from all the donated blood, but by the time she reached the front door it was all she could do just to stand up straight with her legs shaking. 'Like a child shaking jello.' she mocked herself as she looked down at her almost useless legs.

Adrian pushed open the screen door to see everyone outside, minus Carl. She heard Rick and Lori telling the other members of the group about Carl's condition and seen Kale making his way towards her. She knew she probably shouldn't attempt to try something so stupid as to climb down stairs in her condition but she wasn't known for always making wise decisions.

She slowly walked past the others on the porch and slowly made her way down the steps while holding onto the rail. Her legs were getting worse by the minute and just prayed that she got to Kale, or that he got to her, before her legs gave out.

Kale was making his way towards Adrian and took notice of her appearance. She looked terrible. She looked more like death than he had ever seen her before. Her braid wasn't as tight as it had been yesterday and there were stray locks of red hair that were now framing her pale, tired looking face.

Her normally pale skin looked even paler than usual. Her normally ivory colored skin was so white that the bright blue color of her veins was noticeable even from where he was standing. She looked more tired and worn out than he had seen her in a long time.

She had streaks of dirt on her face and arms and even some mud stains on her jeans. He also noticed that she didn't look very steady. He may not have known her for a very long time now, but she had taught him quickly that in this world you take notice of your surroundings and the little things quickly. Her words had proven themselves more than once since they had been together.

Kale was only a few steps from her when her legs finally gave out. He had seen her start to fall and sprang forward to catch her. Luckily he was able to wrap his arms around her waist before she fell too far. She was breathing a little hard and wrapped a limp arm around his shoulder and he gently helped her to settle on the ground to rest.

Adrian's fall seemed to have caused quite a stir with the other members. Probably because she seemed to carry that air of invincibility around her all the time that it was shocking to see her so weak. Adrian caught sight of Daryl standing off to the side by his bike and locked eyes with him. Daryl looked back at her over the young boys' shoulder and seen her give him a small nod before she turned her attention back to the boy.

"She shouldn't be out here. She gave too much blood to the boy last night. Realistically it's a miracle that her body hasn't attempted to shut down on her." they heard Hershal say. "Well, I haven't always been known for my smart decisions." she laughed weakly.

After her breathing slowed down some Adrian took a deep breath and spoke. "Alright Kale. Help me get my weak ass off the ground and inside so the Doc can check me over." she told the boy. Kale got on his feet and pulled her limp arm tighter across his shoulders while he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. He slowly stood up with her and helped her up the stairs and into the house.

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The sun had set hours ago and it was now well past dark. Hershal had told Rick that the group could set up shop a few hundred yards from the house. While Hershal had been checking Adrian over, who almost had to be force fed a sandwich and another glass of orange juice, Kale had been ordered to go outside and set up their tents.

It seemed that he was almost happy to be given orders to follow from Adrian. Hershal had been adamant about her staying in the house at least another night but Adrian had firmly refused saying that there was nothing wrong with her that a little food and rest wouldn't cure. And, as usual, Adrian did what she wanted against the wishes of others.

When it came time for dinner Kale had ordered Adrian to stay on her cot in her tent and let him bring her something. She knew that her weak condition worried him so she humored him by following his order. Honestly she had been a little choked that he had pulled enough courage together to order her to do anything.

She was pretty sure he still felt the bruising in his boney ass from the first few times he had tried to order her to do anything. But he was a good kid, so she decided to humor him until she was feeling better.

While she ate her "dinner", which consisted of a pack of turkey sausage and a warm bottle of powerade, Kale told her about how he would have been to the farm sooner but Daryl had told him that he would shoot his ass if he tried to leave for the farm. Especially since he didn't really know how to drive the motorcycle in the first place and how later Daryl had went out with Andria to look for Sophia while he had helped Dale keep watch.

Adrian could see that Kale was forming a friendship with the older man. Maybe because he reminded of someone from his family or something. Adrian had to admit that the old man had a certain charm about him that made him likeable. Adrian wished that her father had been more like him. But her grandfather had been alot like Dale so maybe that was part of the reason she encouraged Kale's growing friendship with him.

Kale had made sure that Adrian was all set for the night and didn't need anything before he retired for the night. Adrian had dressed in a pair of black basketball shorts and a black tank top for the night and decided that she had something to do, which was best done when everyone was sleeping so it wouldn't be weird for everyone.

Before she made her bare footed way, Adrian decided to peek in on Kale. Giving a small smile at seeing her chick in his nest so to speak, Adrian made her way over to Daryl's tent. She knew he wasn't asleep because she seen the low lantern light from inside his tent.

"Daryl?" she asked in a low voice so he would know that she was there. "Can I talk to you for a minute please?" she asked not wanting to barrel into his space. A few seconds later she heard the zipper of the tent and the flap fall open. Daryl was sitting on the floor of the tent sharpening his knife, still in his jeans and he must have put on another shirt because it wasn't the same one she had seen him in a few hours before.

Not wanting to make either one of them uncomfortable by taking a seat inside, Adrian took a seat by the chair by the tent opening. After she sat down she felt a sigh of relief push past her lips. "Should you be out by yourself? Much less walking?" Daryl finally asked after a few minutes of silence. "I'm weak, not dying of terminal cancer. Although with the way Kale is acting, you would think I was." Adrian said with a small laugh.

"It's only because he cares." Daryl said, which was a little weird hearing such a nice comment leave his mouth. Especially about somebody else. "I know. I wanted to say thank you. Kale told me about what happened after y'all got back to the highway. It was smart of you to keep him from driving away on that bike when he didn't really know how to drive it. It never occurred to me that he didn't know how to drive it." she said watching him as he kept sharpening his knife.

"Might've been a good thing to know before you demanded that kid to drive it to an unknown location. Especially with walkers everywhere. Kid coulda gotten bit and it woulda been your fault." he said discreetly looking up at her reaction. He expected a look of guilt. He didn't expect the withdrawn look she now had on. "Wouldn't be the first time I got someone killed." she whispered more to herself than to him.

Daryl decided to get a good look at this side of Adrian. The normal tough, kick ass woman was still there, but it seemed that somebody else had com out to play during this conversation. He could see her arms and the top of her chest and back earlier in the day and had taken close notice of all of the scars she carried. He looked at her calfs and feet and noticed that there were scars there as well. Not nearly as many as he had seen earlier, but he knew a scar when he seen one.

She seemed to have gotten lost in thought because her normally unreadable green eyes were unfocused and glassy. And full of emotion. Most of all pain. Damaged souls tended to recognize one another. He had noticed that she was still pale, not her normal pale, but she had gotten a little of her color back since they had shown up today. It had worried him a little bit to see her so weak that she collapsed after they had all arrived. Luckily she had had enough sense to have the kid drag her back inside for the Doc to check her out. And her hair was loose. That was a little unnerving.

Daryl had a certain image in his head about who and what Adrian Hunter was supposed to look and act like. And the woman sitting just outside of his tent was not her. She looked small, pale, guilty, and vulnerable. The Adrian he had come to know was a tough as nails woman who was strong enough to survive this new world they now lived in. She was smart, resourceful, kind when the occasion called for it, and gave out verbal ass kickings like free candy at a kids' party.

She was also loyal to those who earned it and made sure that the weaker members of the group that couldn't look after themselves properly, like the kids, were looked out for as best as possible.

"Anyway." Adrian said cutting into Daryl's thoughts. "I just wanted to come by and say thanks for watching out for Kale after giving him a poor order. Kale's all I've really got these days and I would take his loss really hard if anything were to happen to him. Especially if it was because of me." she said slowly getting up from the chair.

"Oh, and Daryl?" she said looking down at him. "If you ever shoot my partner, you'll get an ass kicking like this new world has never seen." she said with a small smile and carefully made her way back towards her tent for some much needed rest.