The next day, Rick took Carl and Michonne on a run to find more weapons and left Daryl in charge back at the prison. Kayla was still limping, but she helped Beth and Maggie with chores for most of the morning which included laundry, cleaning up the cells that still had walker gore in them, and making sure all the supplies were intact. They had a few bags packed in case they had packed and ready to go if they had to quick get up and leave and Kayla organized and reorganized them to keep herself busy. When she finished that she went to check on Judith, but Beth had her already. Kayla groaned and tried to find something to keep her occupied. She didn't want to be anywhere near Daryl nor Merle for that matter so she was basically running around like an idiot.

It was only around noon when Kayla decided to clean and organize her cell. She folded her clothes into her bag put it on the top bunk before making her bed. She hung up a blanket in front of her bed for extra privacy and took a couple of extra pillows from another cell. When her cell was all neat and tidy she was officially out of idea until she looked down at herself. She was a mess. As in lots of dirt l caked her skin as well as dried blood. She grabbed a towel from her bag and got it wet with the water from the sink in her cell. She cleaned her arms, neck, and face before brushing her hair out and getting in wet. She didn't have any shampoo or soap, but rinsing it out was enough. She towel dried it to the best of her abilities and brushed out the rest of the tangles when Alex came into her sights.

"Could you come with me?" he asked.

"Where?" Kayla asked.

"My cell is in the other cell block you guys cleared. I just wanted to get a few things from it."

"Yeah sure."

Kayla stood up and followed Alex out of the cell and out to the eating area where they walked up the stairs to the catwalk. They walked across the catwalk into the other cell block where there were still a few dead walker bodies on the floor. Kayla followed Alex to the top row of cells and stood in the doorway of his cell. He pulled two small boxes out from under his bed. "What's in them?" Kayla asked.

"Let's get back to the others so they know we're alright." Alex told her as they walked out. "I'll show you in the cell block."

Alex and Kayla walked back to the cell block and sat down at the one table. Alex opened the first box and it revealed many photos. Kayla pulled one of them out and recognized the woman as her mother. She had the same long brown hair as her as well as the same big brown eyes. "When I first saw you I thought I was seeing the ghost of your mother." Alex told Kayla. "You look so much like her."

Kayla smiled and put the photo back as Alex sorted through the others. He pulled another one of Kayla's mother out and handed it to Kayla. "Keep this one. Oh and this one." Alex handed her a photo of an elderly couple. "They were your grandparents on your mother's side. My parents died when I was in middle school so I don't have any photos of them, but you keep that one."

"Thanks Dad." Kayla replied.

The first box contained only photos of Alex, Kayla's mother, and a few of her other family members, but the second one contained more personal objects. There was the newspaper article about Kayla saving the girl from drowning, a class ring, a watch, a few books, some shirts, and several pill bottles. Alex pulled the one container of pills put and looked at the label. "This was the medication I was put on after I was diagnosed." He explained. "Haven't had it for almost a year." He put the bottle back and pulled out something from under his shirts. It was a small black box. He opened it and revealed an engagement ring. "It was your mother's…" he told Kayla. Kayla looked at it in amazement. It had a silver band and a diamond in the center held in place by a silver holder. It was absolutely beautiful.

"I gave it to her on our anniversary one year since I couldn't afford a real ring when we first got engaged. When she died I have always kept it close by. It's one of those things you don't want to let go of." Alex explained. He closed the box and put it back under the shirt. He pulled out the few books which were In the Company of Soldiers, Frozen Franklin, and Great Expectations. He handed them to Kayla. "I've read these about thirty times each. Take them." Kayla smiled and accepted the books. "Thanks." She said. Alex closed up the boxes and picked them up. "Just come up to my cell if you want to talk about anything, babygirl." He told her before heading back up to his cell.

OOOOO

Outside, Daryl was taking watch with Merle on the other side. He was thinking about Kayla and if there was a way he could get her to forgive him. He knew what he did was wrong and inconsiderate, but he had his reasons. Merle was his family and he spent the longest time thing he was dead. But Kayla was right. This group has become his family…which included Kayla. And he walked away and left them when they needed him the most. Daryl loved Kayla. He loved her so much it hurt and he wanted to make things right. There had to be a way to show her how much she meant to him. How much he really loved her because she thought he never did.

As Daryl thought about it, he remembered something Merle said in the woods. Close as in friends or as in I could have a sister-in-law? That's when it hit Daryl. He could do something he never wanted to do in his life because he thought he would never meet a girl who would want to be with him the way Kayla did. He could give her a ring. It wasn't like they could have an actual wedding or ceremony, but a ring may be enough to prove something. And if Kayla declined, and she told him once again she didn't want to be with him, then Daryl would do the hardest thing he would probably ever do. He would let her go.