I didn't see Daryl for most of the next day, as he'd gone out hunting and didn't get back until dinnertime. I tried to sit near him but he was already at a full table, so I dropped down next to Carol and groaned internally when Ben took the seat across from me again.

I ate as quickly as possible, but Ben had another barrage of questions about TV shows, of all things, and podcasts that he had loved. I hated to be rude, but I just could not care less about Season 1 of Serial at this point, relevant as it may have been in my previous life. At the same time, I knew he was just trying to talk to me about things that I used to be passionate about, and I couldn't bring myself to totally shut him down.

Daryl disappeared after dinner and I took over on Judith duty so Beth could get a break. I saw him headed up to the guard tower as the sun went down and realized he must have traded shifts with Michonne so that he could have last night off. I tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep until I heard his boots slowly ascending the stairs.

A few minutes passed before I realized he wasn't going to come to bed and I debated going to find him. It felt ridiculous to admit that I couldn't sleep just fine on my own, but his sudden absence was concerning. We hadn't had any disagreement, as far as I knew, and Daryl wasn't the passive-aggressive type. If he'd been mad about something he would have let me (and anyone else around) know about it. The most likely possibility was that he'd been scared off by what happened the other night and I needed to show him that things didn't need to change if he didn't want them to.

After running through all the possibilities in my head, I decided to talk to him, so I slipped on my shoes and stepped onto the catwalk. Daryl was crashed on the landing at the top of the stairs again, and it looked like he was sound asleep. I couldn't bring myself to wake him, so I headed outside and told Carol I couldn't sleep and I'd take over her shift with Rick.

Rick and I kept watch in relative silence for a couple of hours, one of us leaving at each hour mark to walk the perimeter and look for anything out of the ordinary. After his second round, I decided to broach the subject of Daryl with him. Rick and I didn't usually talk about personal issues, but he spent more time with Daryl than anyone besides me and was often a good sounding board.

"Have you noticed anything bothering Daryl lately?" I asked. "He's acting a little . . . off . . . for lack of a better word, and I haven't had an opportunity to talk to him about it."

Rick smiled, "I was going to ask you the same thing. He's grouchier than usual, but I don't know why and I thought maybe something had happened with you."

"Not that I know of," I admitted. "I honestly haven't seen him for more than a couple of minutes in the past two days though, and he's . . . sleeping on the landing again and I'm worried I said something the other night that freaked him out." I'd never talked about our sleeping arrangement with Rick, and I felt my cheeks redden. Lori's betrayal had affected him a lot, and I hoped he didn't see this as the same thing. The pale strip of skin where my wedding ring had sat felt like it glowed in the dark, but Rick changed the subject.

"What do you think of this Ben guy?" he asked. I wasn't sure where this was headed but answered honestly. "Um, I'm not sure. He seems nice enough, I guess, but a little naive. Keeps talking about stuff that doesn't matter anymore but maybe it's just his way of coping. He's kept his kids alive at least, though I think that's only because they came across Woodbury pretty quickly."

Rick nodded. "He seems to like you a lot. Any chance that's what's bothering Daryl?" I jerked my head toward him but he didn't look at me. "Why would it bother him? I'm pretty sure the guy's harmless and I haven't done anything to indicate I'm interested."

Rick sighed and finally turned to meet my eyes. "I don't know the details of your relationship with Daryl, but I've seen enough to know that he cares about you deeply and that it scares him. I think he'll get over the fact that you're still married, but I'm not sure he knows what to do about being jealous of someone who's right here and clearly interested in you."

"Maybe you're right," I said after a moment. "But I don't think I've ever acted like I was interested in Ben, or that Daryl's even been around much when we were talking. I try to get out of our conversations as quickly as possible, but he tends to corner me at meals. I think it's more likely that I did something Daryl's uncomfortable with, but I'll try to talk to him about it I guess."

Rick laughed. "Good luck with that" he teased, and I rolled my eyes. "Thanks. I'll need it."