I like you. Why was that so difficult to say? A couple of days had passed since their meet-up with the Kingdomers and Daryl realized that his feelings for Connie grew stronger and stronger each day. He could barely eat or sleep, it was like in a damn romance movie. He wanted to tell her, how he felt about her, and he knew the easiest way would be just to write it down on a note, but that wasn't personal enough. And didn't a simple 'I like you' sound childish? He wasn't still in High-school eventually. Not that he ever had a girlfriend in High-school. And for sure he felt like a High-school teenager who was in love for the first time.
Every day he thought about how he would confess his feelings, imagining how he would do it and what he would say, even playing every detail through in his head. But he just couldn't come up with a better thing than 'I like you' and every time he saw Connie, his courage failed him.
Daryl knew he had more than enough time to confess his feelings, though.
They decided to stay together after all. They were still at the Sanctuary and the Highwaymen proved themselves as nice fellas, who helped them and with who Daryl could joke around sometimes. Maybe that was it, maybe that was how they would spend the rest of their lives. The thought that he and Connie would probably spend their whole life together gave Daryl butterflies.
But what if they just stayed friends? No, Daryl didn't want that. The first time in his life he was sure, this wouldn't be enough for him. He wanted more. He wanted something Glenn and Maggie had, Rick and Michonne, Carol and Ezekiel.. His heart almost ached at the thought of how much he wanted to have this with Connie. But what would Connie think, when she learned she was his first girlfriend? Wasn't that embarrassing? She was more experienced in that kind of matter for sure. And would she want it at all? She was attracted to him, he was almost certain, but what if he was wrong about that? No, he wasn't brave enough to tell her how he felt, not yet at least.

Connie was thinking about Daryl a lot too and every night when she went to sleep, she could see his his face before her inner eye. She was almost certain he liked her, not only felt attracted to her, but really liked her. His body language, the way he looked and smiled to her, the way he held her in his arms. Everything told her that. It was obvious. And the way how jealous he became, when they first met the Highwaymen, proved it even more. It was cute, childish, but still very cute. He would fight for her for sure.
She liked him too. Liked him a lot. She had several relationships before, but most of them didn't end well. After her last relationship she started to enjoy being single and not being bossed around all the time. But Daryl was so different to all the men she had been with in her life and that was good. He was loyal, protective, had a good heart and he was very attentive.
She found it a bit frustrating though, that he didn't open up about his feelings yet.
Connie knew there was something there, but she longed to see him telling it to her.
She was already teaching him some ASL and thought about teaching him the sign for 'I like you' Maybe she just should have done it during their last lesson, but somehow she was too embarrassed and this was something unusual for her too.

It was in the middle of the night and Connie tried to sleep, thinking that they had enough time for confessing their feelings to each other. So she fell asleep with Daryl as the last thought on her mind.

The next morning, when Daryl woke up he couldn't find Connie or Dog. He asked Lydia and Henry about them, but both of them said they didn't have seen them. He went outside, and asked the men who were guarding the gates, but they didn't have seen them either. Daryl was starting to worry. How could they both have disappeared, without anyone noticing that? He decided to leave the Sanctuary and search the surroundings.

"Let us go with you," Henry said to him, but Daryl shook his head.

"Nah, you stay here." He turned to the both men guarding the gates: "You too," he told them. "I'll be back soon."

It didn't take him long to find a trace. There were footsteps, clearly Connie's, because Dogs paw prints were right beside them. But then they changed. There were many of Dog's paw prints in a big circle and then they disappeared and Daryl could see another pair of footsteps, which were clearly much bigger than Connie's.

Did they encounter a walker? Daryl could also see blood on the ground and the blood in his own body turned cold. Something must have definitely happened to them. But why were they out here alone?

Soon he found the reason why. Under a bush he discovered a white peace of paper and as he took it in his hand, he read:

Meet me in the woods. Come alone.

- Daryl

What? This couldn't be. This wasn't even his handwriting. Somebody must have lured Connie out here. And somebody clearly wanted him to know that. Daryl's heart was racing and his hands began to shake. Something awful must have happened to Connie.

He moved quickly, following the footsteps. Soon he saw something.

Dog, his loyal friend, was lying on the ground. Blood wetting his fur. However, even if he didn't stand up, he was still breathing and he whined a little when he saw Daryl.

"Oh buddy, what happened?" Daryl asked softly, feeling tears forming in his eyes. And then there was a wave of anger. He was ready to kill, to slowly kill anyone whoever has done this to his beloved friend and who took Connie. With his crossbow up and with rage on his face he continued to follow the footsteps. And then finally...

It was like a nightmare and Daryl wished he could wake from it, but he couldn't. Beta was standing there, still alive, holding a knife to Connie's throat. Daryl was overwhelmed by fear and anger.

"Let her go," Daryl murmured between his teeth angrily.

"No," Beta said simply.

"You'll watch her die. You'll watch the others die too. I will kill you last."

Daryl felt helpless, the fear of losing Connie made his head spin. He knew he could try and shoot Beta but what if he hurt Connie?

"C'mon, it's me you want," Daryl said finally, trowing his crossbow to the side and putting his hands up in the air.

"No, it's me," Daryl heard Lydia's voice behind him. He could also see Henry sneaking up behind Beta and slightly shook his head but Henry didn't want to notice that. Connie wanted to shake her head also, to tell Lydia to go back, but the knife was tightly pressed to her throat.

"I will run away again, if you don't come and get me," Lydia continued. "And Alpha won't be pleased at all."

Daryl had a hard time to watch this and don't say anything. But he decided that Henry was his best chance and he couldn't stop him anyway. Maybe if Henry hit Beta from behind, he would surprise him and Daryl could safe Connie.

And then what?

Didn't matter, Daryl knew he would fight Beta even if this would be a battle of life and death. He had to save the others.

"Come and get me, asshole," Lydia still teased Beta who was noticeably losing his patience.

Beta threw Connie on the ground and she fell so hard that she lost her consciousness. Daryl made a move in her direction, but Beta pointed with his big knife towards Daryl. In this moment Henry was close enough and hit Beta's head with his stick. Beta was surprised, but he was still standing. He grabbed Henry's stick and while Henry was still holding on to it, Beta pushed it towards Henry's chin. The stick hit Henry so hard, that he fell on the ground and remained lying down, motionless. In that moment Daryl came running towards Beta, trying to tackle him down, but it didn't work this time. Beta was like a tower of strength. He punched Daryl in the face so hard, that Daryl fell backwards, blood splattering out of his nose. Daryl tried to get up, but Beta was over him already, chocking him.

"Alright, then you first," he told him with a grin. Daryl was hitting Beta's arms, but it didn't make Beta let go of him. His grip became even stronger and there was still a big grin on his face. Daryl started to feel dizzy and it became harder and harder for him to struggle against Beta's grip.

That's it, Daryl thought I'm gonna die.