She'd learned very quickly that while Daryl was a morning person, he wasn't anymore talkative. He was wide awake at four a.m. when he picked her up and she was praying for expresso the entire drive to the tower. After the second day of it she actually asked Becca to express mail her some so that once they were further out and she wasn't waking up in a hotel room every morning, because she was sure that he would be getting her up just as early then. Ren realized she might actually kill him if he did that.

He was gone for the day tracking his wolves and she was waiting for a patch update to finish. The satellite phone her work had sent her along with all of the supplies started to ring. She smiled seeing the number, "Hey dad."

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be out in the forest for over a month?!" He started.

She chuckled as she felt footsteps on the wooden floor, Daryl must be back for the day. "Because I knew you'd have this kind of reaction. Uncle Negan was cool about it. And Uncle Trent said it would be worth it."

Daryl walked in and put his bow down. He heard her talking and assumed she was on the phone. He'd learned she liked having it on speaker so she could use her hands to work on the computer. Not wanting to interrupt her call he didn't make too much noise.

"And your brother?"

"Doesn't care."

"Your fiancé?" Her fathers voice dropped in pitch because they both knew that Chris, did in fact not like it.

"He was fine with the money." She started and her father cut her off.

"But he wasn't fine with how long your going to be gone?"

"No, he's fine with that. He's more upset that I'm not out here alone…And that my guide is of the male biology." She leaned back in the chair her eyes on the screen.

"If he thinks that you're going to cheat on him, he definitely not as smart as you. Which is hard for most people to be." Her dad threw in there, "But I've never seen you cheat on anything, not even an art history test."

"God I hated that class. I can't believe I let Uncle Trent talk me into it." She muttered under her breath.

Daryl looked at the map, drawing lines of where he'd tracked the pack trying to figure out where they were going or where their den was, but he was distracted by their conversation. He now knew there was no chance of being with her, which again he was fine with, but it was hard to look at her and not want to reach out and touch her, and now that he was getting to know her it was even worse. She was of course smart, but she also wasn't as helpless as he thought she would be, she was able to carry heavy things, not that he let her, and she didn't complain about the heat and humidity or the bugs. The only time she made noise was when she was on the phone and that was mostly to do work, this was the first personal phone call she'd had in the four days since they'd been out there at the first tower, other than that she was focused on her work, the rest of the world being blocked out. She even forgot to eat one day, he had to remind her, and she'd given him that damn sweet smile as she thanked him for reminding her. He'd never met someone who was so nice to him right off the bat. Most people when they met him either turned away, were made uncomfortable by him, or tried to use him, but not Ren. And he couldn't understand it.

"By the way I just wanted you to know, I'm considering getting you a live-in nurse." Ren spoke quickly, this was something she'd been hesitant about talking to her father about and in a place where she could claim the signal dropped out would be best so she could end the call if he fought her too much.

"What? Why? I do just fine on my own!" Her dad retorted.

"You aren't on your own, Hammond lives there and now that him and Lena are getting serious, he might be moving out soon, much like he deserves to after putting up with us for so long. And then you'll need someone around to help you out and make sure you do your stretches and all that." Ren said, clicking the mouse around the screen the process having finished, "Either that or I'm going to have the house completely remodeled and have a nurse come by twice a day."

"Can you make it a pretty nurse at least if they live with me?" He groaned.

She laughed, "Yes, and I'll make sure she likes football and basketball too."

"You're the best, but you know my insurance should take care of that." He told her.

"They should, but what's the use in having a kid that works at a place like I do if I can't buy you all the things you need?"

"Having a kid that's happy." He said.

"I am happy dad." She hated how he still dadded her like she was eight, but she hated it in the best way. "I have to go though, I'm technically on company time."

"Alright, love you sweetheart, call when you can."

"I will, love you too." She said before hanging up the phone.

Daryl took the chance before she got distracted again, "You eat?"

She paused, then gasped, "Shit!"

"Here." He handed her one of the prepackaged meals for them while they were out there, it was bland and boring but it had the nutrition they needed, but it was going to be pretty much all they ate once they were deeper in the forest.

"Thanks." She smiled at him as she took it. Turning back to the desk she listened as he also opened one up. He must have been waiting until she was off the phone, so he didn't make to much noise, which was sweet of him.

The silence was awkward for a moment until he asked with his mouthful, "Your dad sick?"

"Paraplegic with some other under lying issues." She turned around as she told him. He gave her a look, one she was getting used to, it meant he didn't understand something, and she knew what it was. She smiled, "He can't use his legs. He's in a wheelchair."

He nodded, now understanding, "Nice you take care of him."

"He's my dad. I'd do anything for him. I'm sure you understand." Ren smiled again then saw him pause and his eyes go cold for a moment. Turning back to her computer, she tried to completely divert the conversation, "Plus it was kind of my fault anyways."

WHAT THE FUCK! She thought. That's the direction she decided to go to take the awkwardness away? It was going to be a long few of weeks with him if this is how she handled social situations.

"What'd'ya mean?" He asked, he couldn't imagine her doing anything to purposely hurt someone, let alone her dad who she clearly loved, something he was slightly jealous of, but he'd understood what she'd said. He'd have done anything for his dad before he died despite all the shit he did.

"It was a car accident when I was twelve, he was driving in the rain and got t-boned and his car flipped a few times into a ditch…" She leaned down at her food, her voice low and the fork pushing around the stalk of broccoli, "I was having a scholarship competition and despite the fact that my brother, aunt, and two uncles were there, I wanted my dad there even though he had to work late. He was rushing to get there because I was being spoiled."

"Ain't spoiled to want him there." Daryl shrugged his shoulders, "Did he run the light?"

"No." Ren told him.

"Then it ain't your fault. It's the guy that hit hims." He told her. The conversation had shifted from one bad memory to another and he felt back that it was on hers. He got up from the chair and clunked down on the cot, putting his hands behind his head and crossing his legs, "You said you're gunna be done today?"

"Yeah, it's almost ready to connect to the offices." Ren pushed the thoughts of her dad's accident away.

"K, wake me up when you're done." He closed his eyes.

She was going to kill him. It was a sure thing now. He was going to die. He made her leave her hotel every morning at four a.m. and now he's gunna sit there and take a nap? She made sure she typed and clicked as loud as possible, so he didn't sleep easily at least.

"You have the satellite phone number, so what are you worried about?" She chuckled as she finished packing her stuff into the bag she was taking into the forest with her. They would be coming back every so often to restock on stuff, but she wasn't sure how long that would be.

"What I'm worried about it that guy going with you!" Chris' voice went up in pitch. "Tell me about him."

"What?" She turned to look at the computer screen where he was on. "Why?"

"Because I don't trust him. I mean…look at you. What sane guy would trust you alone with another man?" He said.

She moved to sit down in front of the screen crossing her arms, "What's that supposed to mean? You think I'd cheat on you?"

"What?" His eyes widened and his voice went up in pitch as he shook his head, "No. No! Of course not! I trust you not to do anything, it's him I don't trust."

"You don't even know him." She didn't uncross her arms.

"Which is why I asked you to tell me about him." He said again.

"Fine." She sighed, "His name is Daryl, he's got black hair, blue eyes, taller than you, kinda muscular-"

"Just going for the physical huh?" Chris' face was flat.

"He doesn't really talk much, so I don't know much about him personally…" She shrugged taking a sip from her bottle of water.

"So, he's a psycho." Chris surmised.

"What? No!" Ren defended immediately, "He's nice, his job is to make sure I stay safe out there."

"You trust people to easily, not everyone is as nice as you are Ren." Chris sighed, "This guy could hurt you out there-"

"You know I can take care of myself in that instance." She shut him down quickly, "And he's had plenty of chances to hurt me already and he hasn't, so my trust isn't misplaced. Daryls a decent guy and he hasn't tried anything with me. Plus, you were the one who wanted me to stay out here, take the job."

"Before I knew you were going to be out there with this random hick!" He said.

She could tell he was angry because he didn't like her not being on his side, but she didn't care. She liked Daryl despite how awkward things could be between them most of the time. Standing from the chair she moved back to her bags and kept packing, "He's not a hick, that's mean."

"It's not mean, it's the truth, everyone from that area are hicks!"

"What area?" She moved back to the computer screen, her eyebrow raised, "The south? The mountains? The east?"

"Ren, come on, don't get defensive." Chris laughed it off, "You know you don't qualify in any of that, sweetheart."

She sighed, some days he was an absolute dick, but Hammond said that most guys were. "Hey, I'm tired and I have to get up early tomorrow. Have a good night."

She closed the computer before he could say it back. It was always rough when they were apart, they fought more and things got tenser, it would probably be even worse with the wedding planning. But it was only a couple of weeks then they would be back together, and everything would be fine.

A/N: Be sure to let me know what you guys think! I'm still getting the hang of this AU thing haha