Daryl heard Connie's steady breathing next to him and he knew she was sleeping. He was lying awake, however, still thinking about his talk with Carol. Especially the part when she asked him, if he would ask Connie to marry him.

Daryl knew Connie was the one and only woman for him and it would be like that till the end of his days. But did they have to marry? Was that important? Would Connie want that? Should he propose to her and how? All of this marriage stuff was something he never thought about much until now and all of it sounded so cheesy to him.

And Connie was right, she didn't know much about him, except that he was abused as a kid and that he spent most of his life with his brother. But what she didn't know, was that there wasn't much to know besides it. He never had a successful job, like she did. She told him once that she was a passionate journalist before the outbreak and he was sure, if she would have met him back then, before the world changed, she wouldn't even have looked in his direction. And he wouldn't have looked at her either, since his brother would have probably mocked him for the rest of his life, if she showed interest for a woman like her. By no means they would have have been together back then.

But they were now and still he thought she was too good for him. He started to think in panic that maybe some day she would realize that. And then what? Should they really tighten their bond with a marriage, so she would probably feel obliged to stay with him even if she didn't want to anymore?

But what if she wanted to marry him and he never asked her? What if he would lose her because of that? Daryl lay a long time awake, thinking about all that, before he finally fell asleep.

On the next day they said goodbye to Lydia and thanked Vicky's mom for taking care of her in their absence. Henry begged to be allowed to stay too, but Carol reminded him of his obligations at the Kingdom, promising him they would come to Oceanside again, when things improved.

When they were on their way to the Kingdom, Daryl and Connie sat under a blanket together in the back of the carriage. There was still a lot of snow lying around and it was snowing slightly.

Their carriage was followed by another one with people from Oceanside. Connie was holding Daryl's arm, smiling at him and giving him loving looks now and then, and Daryl asked himself, why he was worried so much last night. She loved him, he could see that. He was also happy to see her being joyful again after she was so concerned the day before. She seemed to enjoy the snow and as she was admiring the winter landscape, Daryl was looking at her with love.

Carol glanced back to the two of them and smiled faintly.

"They look happy," Henry said.

"I think they are," Carol told him.

"I wished I could be with Lydia now," he sighed.

"You will see her again, don't worry." Carol smiled at him and Henry smiled back.

Connie signed "I like it," to Daryl pointing at the snow. Daryl looked around, narrowing his eyes.

He wanted to say, he didn't like it much, but decided not to. Connie wrote:

It's Christmas soon, can't remember when we had snow on Christmas the last time.

"I don't like Christmas much," Daryl said and shrugged as he saw Connie rolling her eyes with a smile.

Don't let Santa hear that, she wrote trying to make him laugh.

Daryl made a scoffing sound.

"Don't like him either. Asshole was always ignoring our house."

He laughed, meaning it as a joke, but then he saw that Connie's smile disappeared. He pulled her closer.

"Who knows, maybe he was holding back all the time, so that he can give me the best present one day." He paused and with a shy look in his eyes he added: "And that was you."

Connie looked at him, deeply moved and they kissed tenderly. She wanted to write something, but suddenly the snow intensified, making her notepad going wet. The wind blew strongly and it became a real snow storm. The snow was getting in their faces so they barely could see something.

"Hey!" Daryl shouted to Carol.

"Maybe we should seek some shelter till it's over?"

They changed their direction and drove towards a small town. They saw several walkers, but thanks to the cold weather and the snow the walkers were moving very slowly and some of them didn't move at all. The group didn't have any problems to fight them. They searched a couple of houses until they found a house with a fireplace. Daryl made a fire and the group sat in front of it to warm themselves. Connie and Daryl were holding each other close to get warm.

"Guess now you hate snow too, huh?" Daryl said to Connie who only laughed and shook her head.

They sat there for a while until Daryl had to answer the call of nature.

"I'll be right back," he said, leaving the room.

When he was finished, he went back through the hallway and noticed some pictures, hanging on the wall. They were all covered in dirt and dust. Daryl spit in his hand and wiped away the dirt off one of the picture frames, revealing a pretty photograph of a couple that was just married. The woman looked so happy and Daryl asked himself if Connie would look so happy as well, if she would marry him.

Suddenly he heard a rumbling sound and went in its direction. It was coming out of the bedroom and he could see that a window was open. The wind made it fly open and close with a clashing sound. Daryl went to it. On the way to the window he stumbled over something on the floor. After he closed the window, he looked down to see what it was, he stumbled over and he saw a small box with its content spread on the floor. It was a jewelry box and Daryl caught sight of a beautiful ring in the middle of other jewelry. He took the ring in his hand, examining it closely.

Was that a sign? After thinking for a short moment, he put it into his pocket and returned to the group.

They arrived at the Kingdom and there was a big mess. People were freezing, some were sick. There wasn't enough firewood and food. To gather some water people had to collect the snow to melt and boil it. The group separated to help the people at the Kingdom.

Daryl was helping Luke to gather some wood and cut it into firewood. They were mostly working in silence, until Luke finally said:

"So you and Connie, huh?"

Daryl nodded at it.

I'm happy for you guys," Luke told him.

"Thanks."

"Last time I saw her, she was so heartbroken over her sister. And now I can see her smiling again."

"You know her well, don't ya?" Daryl asked him after a long pause.

"Yes, I would say that's true."

"You think she's someone who... um… believes in marriage?" Daryl asked, while his face was turning red.

Luke looked at him closely.

"You're thinking about asking her the big question?" He said with surprise in his voice.

"I dunno yet," Daryl said scarcely audible. "I was thinking about it."

"Wow, that's awesome!" Luke clapped him on the shoulder.

"Well, I think she believes in marriage. I know she was engaged once, even if didn't work out." Luke saw the anxiety in Daryl's eyes and continued hastily: "Doesn't mean it won't work out for you guys. As far as I can tell, she really likes you."

"Guess I should learn how to ask her in ASL," Daryl said with a timid smile. "Just in case."

Luke nodded and thought for a while.

"I know the sign for 'married' is this." He showed it to Daryl.

"But I could ask Yumiko, she knows ASL better than me."

Daryl thanked him.

All people worked together several days, trying to make things better at the Kingdom, but they saw that it had no use, things were only getting worse, so one evening they finally decided to leave the Kingdom on the next day and to bring the people to Hilltop.

Daryl was lying awake again, after he had spent some joyful moments with Connie.

Luke taught him the sign for "Will you marry me?" in the afternoon and Daryl hoped he would find the courage to finally ask her.