It was late in the evening when the leaders of the communities decided to get together to talk about the future and Lydia's fate. Daryl wanted to join the meeting, he felt responsible, because he brought Lydia along. When he and Connie were dressed again, he told Connie about the meeting. She wanted to go with him.

"Nah, I got this. You should get some rest. It was a tough day."

He took her face in his hands and kissed her on the forehead.

She looked him deep in the eyes and told him in sign language: "Thank you for everything."

A little smile touched the corner of his mouth.

"This means 'thank you', right?" He asked.

Connie nodded. She wrote

You're learning fast

He grinned.

"I've a good teacher."

She kissed him tenderly and then he walked off.

Connie was standing outside, watching Daryl walking towards the big building where the meeting was held. It was cold and she wrapped her arms around herself. He was right, she was very tired and so much happened this day, but still she didn't want to go to bed. She was too much afraid to be alone with her thoughts, lying there in the dark and not being able to push them down. She glanced at the building where Daryl disappeared a couple of moments ago and thought about joining him. Lydia was her responsibility too. However, she didn't want to interfere, she knew, she was still mostly a stranger to these people. And she was certain Daryl would speak for Lydia, he was protecting her just as much as Connie was.

Connie went through the streets of the Kingdom, without destination and lost in her thoughts, when she saw a little graveyard. There were several fresh graves and when she came closer, she saw there were name tags on each of them. Seeing the graves made Connie's heart hurt again, but she was also thankful that people took care of the victims so quickly. She went to Kelly's grave and sat down on the ground with tears in her eyes. She touched the fresh soil and started to talk to her sister in her mind. Connie told her, how sorry she was, for leaving her behind. That she did that because she wanted to protect her and now she knew, that she had failed her.
Even if it was painful, Connie was thankful she had the opportunity to say goodbye like that. She knew, if her sister would still be out there, dead or undead, she would never have been able to find peace again. Daryl must have known that and that's why he went out there for her. Connie was amazed how well Daryl understood her sometimes, despite the fact that he knew her only for a short period of time. She knew the connection they had was special and she considered herself lucky, because she never had such a connection with any of her partners before she met Daryl. Nevertheless she realized that she knew very little about him. Seeing the scars on his chest and his back was a shocking moment for her. She didn't know what he has been trough and he also didn't know what she has been through in her life. However, she felt very certain about one thing: They both needed each other and Lydia needed them. While sitting next to her sister's grave, Connie gave a promise to herself. She would never fail her new family and wherever they would go, she would go with them. Life went on. There was still something to hope for and to live for.

While Connie was lost in her thoughts, Lydia approached her and Connie looked up. Lydia was standing there with a shy look on her face, not knowing what to say.

"I'm… I'm … so sorry. This is all my fault." Suddenly she fell on her knees and started to cry. Connie shook her head. Then she opened her arms and when she saw that Lydia was still hesitant, she came closer and hugged her.

They sat like that for a while, both crying. Connie didn't want Lydia to feel guilty she already felt guilty enough for both of them. She wanted to comfort Lydia, so she took out her notepad and wrote:

Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. Kids are not responsible for the actions of their parents.

"My mother, she's..." But Connie put a hand on Lydia's shoulder and wrote then:

I know. Don't think about her anymore. We're your family now.

They hugged again and this time it was Lydia who initiated the hug. Connie couldn't hear it, but Lydia was telling her "Thank you" over and over again.

Connie saw Daryl in the distance, who came out of the big building, where the leaders were deciding about Lydia's fate. He had a serious look on his face when he slowly walked towards them. Lydia looked up too. When Daryl approached them he could see they both have been crying.

"Is everything…" He didn't finish the question because Connie was nodding already. She wiped away the tears and Daryl helped her and Lydia to get on their feet.

"What did they say?" Lydia asked. She knew what was going on and Connie wanted to know too. She was concerned when she saw the look on Daryl's face. He sighed.

"Thing is, everyone's worried. And no matter where we go, Alexandria or Hilltop or if we stay at the Kingdom, people will always be worried and they might blame you for what happened."

Lydia looked down on the ground "I know they already do and they're probably right."

Daryl and Connie exchanged a look and Connie patted Lydia's shoulder while Daryl said to her:

"It ain't your fault. Look, no matter what people think or say, it ain't your fault, okay?" He tried to make eye contact with Lydia and Connie hoped Lydia would listen to him.

"We took you along because it was the right thing to do. You 're a good kid."

Lydia looked at Daryl with tears in her eyes and Connie felt tears were rising in her eyes too.

"It ain't your fault that your mother's a piece of shit, don't blame yourself for that."

Lydia nodded. Connie was glad to see her understanding it and also that Daryl spoke to her. The way he talked about Lydia's mother made Connie think that he was abused by his parents too. Maybe that was the reason why he understood Lydia so well and why she believed him.

Lydia sniffed and wiped away some tears.

"What are we going to do now?" She asked.

Daryl looked at Connie again and Connie was hoping he had a plan.

"There's maybe one community where we still could go. Oceanside. They said, they would take you in… Take us in. The didn't lose any people, so they won't be blaming you for anything. That's that. But it's a long journey and it's dangerous too."

"But wouldn't they be in danger because of me?"

Daryl shook his head.

"Not really. They have a good security system. No one's coming in without them noticing it. No walker, no human."

"And they would really take me in?"

"Yep, that's what they said."

"Are you coming along?" She asked and Daryl looked again at Connie who nodded slightly. They were family, they couldn't leave Lydia alone. Daryl started to nod too.

"We're coming too. Both of us."

Connie's face lit up and Daryl was more than happy to see that.

"And Henry?" Lydia asked.

Lydia was missing Henry already. He was with his parents and she felt lost without him.

"I don't think his parents will let him go. Not this time," Daryl said. "Sorry."

"I understand." Lydia tried to sound understanding but both Daryl and Connie could see how heartbroken she was.

"Hey. He can't come with us. But maybe he can come visit sometime? You know, once when things calmed down a bit?" Daryl tried to cheer her up and Lydia smiled through her tears and nodded.

"Let's go to sleep then. We roll out early in the morning, so we should get some rest."

"I tell Henry goodnight and that we're leaving tomorrow," Lydia said and ran away.

Suddenly Daryl and Connie were alone again and Connie was wishing she could spend the night with him. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and to comfort her until she fell asleep. She took his hand. Once again he must have known what she was thinking. He wasn't looking at her, but his lips moved and he said:

"Maybe you shouldn't be alone tonight?"

She squeezed his hand and when he looked at her he could see that she was more than happy about that offer.