I left Daryl at the RV so he could give Carol her hope. I went in search of Dad or Lori. Lori was jumpy and weird, so I looked for Dad. Luckily him and Carl were together in the sickroom. I watched while they did hat related things. Fun.

Knocking on the open door, I grinned as they looked up at me. "Is this a 'been shot, got the hat' members only meeting? Or is there room for me, too?"

"Course there's room for you, baby girl." Dad said, patting the bed for me to come sit. Carl was grinning and looking more like himself.

I sat and smiled at my baby brother. "You look so much better, Carl." I reached over and tipped his new hat down. "And so do you, Daddy." He did, his color was back and so was mine.

"Did y'all find anything?" So he knew Daryl and I went out alone. I sighed, knowing that Carl was getting to learn the truth now that he was out of the woods.

"We found a house." I answered, laying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. "It looked like she'd been there. It had a bed laid out in a closet, she'd fit, but just. Some recently eaten food." I shrugged. "Looks good." I said, with only slight hesitancy.

"That's great, Jessi." Carl said, smiling as big as the sun. "She could be close, right?"

I smiled up at him, and knew my dad could see that I didn't share his and Daryl's optimism. "It's a good sign, baby brother." I sighed. Laying in the room with Dad and Carl chatting around me, I could close my eyes and almost pretend my life was back to normal.

We chatted for a while, until I felt the urge to get out of the house. Dad called for me to wait up, and I stood on the porch and waited for him. We stood looking out over the farm and I wondered what this kind of life would have been like. The quiet country life, with fields and animals. Dad was squinting against the sunlight, and I heard him sigh.

"Jessi," his voice was low, and I wondered why he was being so careful. "Are you and Daryl-"

"Together?" I finished for him. "We're trying to be." I looked up at him. I could see his worry, and his fear about Daryl. "Dad, you don't know him."

He groaned and gripped the banister in both hands. "Honey, I'm a cop. I know people like him all too well."

I glared at my dad, feeling like he was being completely unfair and blinded. "You don't know HIM." I snapped, and turned away. "You're not using your cop skills, Dad, you're using your dad of a daughter skills." I ran my hands over my face in irritation. "You've done this every single time I dated anyone."

I heard him chuckled. "And I was right, each and every time, Jessi." He touched my shoulder. "I'm right now, too. You'll see, but I'd rather you not have to go through all that again."

I rolled my eyes. "Daryl isn't like those other guys." I knew it, I could feel it. "Look at him, Dad, look at the fact that every single other person in our group has given up on Sofia. He's the one out there beating the damn bush every fucking day!" I turned and poked him in the chest with a finger. "Not Shane, oh no, Mr. Hero of the Year doesn't even think we should!"

"Jessi." He was trying to calm me, but I was done. "Sweetheart, you've got to listen to me."

Shaking my head and stomping down the steps, I shot back at him. "No, Dad, actually I don't."

GREENE FARM~ LATER THAT EVENING

I'd found Daryl, looking as sad as I felt and pulled him to where he'd set up our tent. Sitting on a stump, surrounded by his early warning system, I held his hand while I calmed down. He knew me well enough to let me have a breather. As soon as he could tell I was ready, we talked.

"Ya gonna tell me what had ya stompin' all over lookin' like ya wanted to murder someone?" He asked, pulling me into his arms.

I sighed, feeling much better wrapped in his arms and feeling his heart beating against me. "Where do you want me to start?" I asked, wondering if now was the time to unburden ourselves completely.

"How 'bout the beginning?" He offered, and I felt his fingers gently tracing across my skin.

I nodded. "The beginning. OK. You know I'm not Lori's daughter, not biologically?" I felt him agree. "My mom ran away after I was born. Literally, she got as far away as possible, and her parents didn't want me in their lives anymore than she wanted me. Dad, he was sixteen when I was born, but he stepped up. I mean, really stepped up. Him and my grandparents were the reason I wasn't scooped out and dumped as a fetus." His arms tightened against me. "This might not seem important, but you wanted to know everything, so here it is. Dad met Lori in college, they got married, and then Carl came along. Our family has always been very close. I'm talking front row center for everything that me and Carl have ever been involved in." He needed to know how weird my parents were about not being in my loop. "Dad and Lori started having problems the last few years I was in high school. They married young, so hiccups are going to happen." And here came the real issue from our closeness. "The only person as close to my Dad as his family is Shane. They've been friends since they were children." I grabbed one of his hands in mine to hold. "When I graduated, my family insisted on throwing a huge party at our house. Food, cake, presents, and a hell of a lot of bragging from my family." I chuckled at how great it was at first. "I started to feel overwhelmed, I guess, at the party. Fear of the unknown, you know?" He squeezed my hand. "Shane found me, I swear he can SMELL fear and uncertainty. Vulnerable, he thought I was easy pickings, he tried to-" I stopped and shivered. "He only kissed me, but that was more than enough. I tried to fight him off by pushing him away, but he liked that." I felt Daryl tense up. "I ended up punching him in the nuts." That got a gruff chuckle. "It's why, while Lori and Carl worship at his altar, or did anyway, I can't. I won't. But I didn't tell Dad." I closed my eyes and wondered at my inability to confess to Dad the way I did to Daryl.

"Why not?" He asked, his breath rippling my hair.

"I don't know." I whispered. "They were partners in the sheriff's department. They've been best friends forever. I could give you a million excuses, but none of them make sense to me." I sighed. "That's not all. Dad doesn't approve of THIS, just like you expected." His chuckle this time sounded more real.

"Course he don't." Daryl said, pulling me tight against him. "Does it matter?"

I shook my head. "No." I turned to face him, pulling out of his embrace and staring up at his blue eyes, such a different shade from my Dad and brother's. Cupping his cheek, I brought our lips together. A short, loving kiss, drawing back and putting our foreheads together, I asked for one thing. "No more hiding, Daryl. I want everyone to know I love you."

He smiled down at me and rubbed his nose against mine. "Deal."

We sat together for what seemed like hours, leaving only long enough to grab some food and come back to our tent. I watched the moon rise, and saw that it was almost full. "Daryl?" I asked, drawing his attention from doing crossbow maintenance. "Think the moon is bright enough now?"

His eyes moved from mine to the bright ball of light glowing in the dark. He tossed the crossbow aside and smiled. Biting his lip, he held up one finger to tell me to wait for him. I watched while he unzipped our tent and drug out both of our sleeping bags. He grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him, toward a spot far away from the area that Hershel gave our people use of, away from the house, and away from our spotters. Finding a suitable spot, he arranged the bags to use beneath us and then, in the light of the moon, he turned to face me.