Chapter is just a bit later this week, work has been crazy and with Christmas coming up and parties every week, I can't wait for December to be over with!

New followers: Disneylover18 and Skylar97, thanks for the follow!

Reviews:

Frankie: Omg, I so adore protective Daryl as well! Well, the situation between Daryl and Ana has been sorted out to a certain point but you are absolutely right, they will find a way to fuck it up sooner or later, no doubt! As always, thanks for the review!

Bri47: Hahah I don't think Daryl will ever be over the Rick thing, to be honest. That man is a pool of uncertainty so if it isn't Rick, it'll be another dude for sure. But you are right, Daryl is yanking Ana all over the place. He begins to believe that he truly has feelings for her that are more than he is known for, then the ghosts in the back of his head always rear their ugly mugs and tell him shit like she doesn't like him, or something along those lines. Poor man has been talked down on for far too long that he unconsciously does it to himself now. But we'll see where it goes with this chapter, a little Daryl POV in this chapter so you'll be able to see briefly what he is thinking and mentally going through.

KyraNoelle: Awwww so glad that you liked it, thanks babe!

Dark Rose Charm: Omg, I should write more kissy chapters lol the most reviews I've gotten over a kiss haha

mtngirlforever: Nope, Daryl's not gonna drop this one.

Lavendor Queen: I mean, Ana couldn't make it any clearer than she has already lol it could slap that man in the face and still he'd be assumin' shit but unfortunately, that man's self-esteem is in crumbles so when it comes to a girl showin' any interest in him, gotta understand that uncertainty and those poisonous thoughts in the back of his mind is gonna take the front seat. But, hopefully (fingers crossed) he'll at least stop assuming stuff and get on it! lol

UmiNight Angel Neko: Raging Daryl everyday ,alllllll day lol

Thanks to everyone who sent in your reviews, honestly it's you that keeps this story going!

Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the AMC's The Walking Dead or its characters, just Ana!

Daryl's POV...

I had fled, like the pussy I am. After hearing those words come pouring out of that woman's mouth, I hadn't moved from my seat for minutes, maybe hours. I wasn't keeping track, all I knew was what I finally had fuckin' moved, it was closing in on dusk. My mind didn't know what to do. Words that I remember my good for nothing brother spouting at me whenever I brought up a girl I had run across on the street or in a bar, coming back to haunt me.

"Women only want one thing, little brother. Ya know what that is right? That fuckin' piece of flesh hangin' between yer legs, if ya still got it."

"Don't fall for their shit cause there isn't one female on this fuckin' planet that would want anythin' to do with an ugly fucker like ya."

"She'll fuck ya and leave ya, especially since I'm fuckin' sure ya ain't got the balls to please a woman the right way. You a faggot, little brother?"

I would never escape my brother's poisonous words, I fuckin' knew that man would haunt me till the day I died. Not waiting another second and not caring that 'that woman' was still in the shed, I picked up my crossbow and began heading in the only direction I knew, the forest.

"Yo, Daryl! Where ya heading off to?" A voice caught me causing me to groan in annoyance, glaring over my shoulder at the black man eyeing me in hesitation.

"Am I supposed to fuckin' report to ya whenever I go off?" I barked back defensively, annoyed that the man didn't seemed put off by my words.

Fuckin' idiot.

"No, but I'm sure a little miss is gonna be pissed as hell once she comes out and finds ya gone. Just asking for her incase she asks." He explained as my jaw ticked at his words, realizing he was referring to 'that woman' once more. I scoffed, annoyed that she was once again finding her way to the forefront of my mind and spun to face away from him.

"Tell her whatever the fuck ya want. She doesn't need ta know shit about me." I snapped, pushing through the brush and heading straight to the forest, ignoring the bastard still yelling my name from over my shoulder.

She wasn't my fuckin' keeper. I didn't need to inform her whenever I fuckin' went off. If I wanted ta leave, I was going to and she wasn't gonna do shit about it.

I had been out in the forest for over 24 hours. I had no intention of returning back to camp anytime now. Caught me some coney's, skinned and gutted them before hanging the little pieces of shit on the belt of my pants. Sleeping on the ground once again, with no fuckin' bedding wasn't something I enjoyed but fuck it, beats going back to camp and having that damn woman mock me.

I don't know why that woman's words bothered me so fuckin' much. I figured being out in the woods, where I was meant to be from the get-go, I'd forget about her. But I couldn't. I found myself, more often than not, thinking about her, as annoying as it fuckin' sounded.

Especially about the way she held herself, though she looked quiet and kept to herself, she was anything but that. She was such a busy fuckin' body. Even when no one asks her to do something, she's always sticking her nose out and doin' shit for people that don't deserve it. Fuckin' infuriated me but shit, I knew it was somethin' she had always done by how often she does it. I had, more times than I'd like to admit, wanted ta tell her to look out for her fuckin' self over those other fuckers but who was I fuckin' kidding? That fuckin' beautiful woman would do anythin' for the people around her, no matter how much they fuck her over.

Fuckin' infuriating woman. Even when I was tryin' not ta think about her, she goes and slips into the front of my mind where she's been fuckin' housing herself since the day I met her.

"She's perfect for ya little brother." Merle's poisonous voice echoed through my ears as I scoffed, shaking my head at my delusions.

"Perfect ta fuck ya and leave ya. That's all ya'll ever be ta her." The voice cackled proudly sending me grinding my teeth as I pushed myself further into the forest.

"Come on, little brother. Have ya seen that piece of ass? If I was ya, I'd have jumped on that fuckin' ass weeks ago. Bet she fuckin' tastes as good as she looks." Merle grabbed at his crotch suggestively sending Daryl's blood roaring through his ears as he spun, letting an arrow loose with a yell. The arrow naturally spun through the ghost of Merle and embedded itself in the tree just behind him.

"Damn, little brother. Losin' yer shit over a girl? Fuck, how the mighty have fuckin' fallen." Merle mocked with a hearty laugh as I bypassed him to retrieve my bolt from the tree.

"Shut the fuck up and leave me alone." I hissed in my brother's face before spinning and heading off again.

"Little brother, let me ask ya somethin' hm? If I was still around, would ya share 'er with me? Bet that bitch would take our cocks so nice, especially up that tight ass of hers." I could feel my blood beginning to boil further that it was beginning to hurt. As soon as my brother's words had left his lips, something in me had snapped. Just the thought of my brother touching even a hair on Ana's head, sent a sickenin' feelin' soaring through my stomach up into my chest.

"Ya fuckin' touch her and I'll kill ya." I hissed, my grip on my bow growing tighter.

"Why's that, little brother? Ya don't like her like that, ain't ya said it yerself? So how about ya do ole Merle a favor here, let me have a turn with 'er?" My neck snapped in the direction of my brother, my breathing heavy as I stared directly at him.

"She's fuckin' mine and I ain't ever givin' her up, not even to ya."

Author's POV...

The ghost of Merle had disappeared long ago, leaving Daryl to his thoughts as he went over what the hell he had just said to his brother. May not have been his brother physically, but still, he had fuckin' laid claim on a woman he had just got done telling him that meant nothing to him.

"Fuckin' hell..." He muttered to himself, poking at the fire he had begun to brew to roast up one of his coney's.

Why had he said that shit? Because his brother had egged it out of him, why else? Fuckin' hell. If his brother had been physically here, would he have said that same shit to his face?

Daryl groaned in frustration, tossing the stick he had been using to poke at the fire, into the flames before burying his face into his hands.

He needed to get the hell away from this place.

Find himself once again because shit, this wasn't him.

Losing his shit over a girl, this wasn't him.

"DARYL!" Daryl's eyes shot open, his head snapping up, eyeing the forest line, knowing he had just heard a voice somewhere in the distance.

But, he had been hearing voices since the moment he had stepped into the trees, and they were nothing more than the poison always lingering in the back of his mind.

"Fuckin' hell, now I'm hearin' her damn voice." Daryl scoffed, standing up and quickly going about kicking dirt onto the fire to put it out.

Picking his crap up from the ground, he slung his bow over his shoulder before turning to head in the opposite direction of the farm. If he was beginning to hear her voice now, he knew, it was only getting worse the longer he stayed close. He needed to get far away from this place.

"DARYL!" The voice shouted again, now completely rooting himself before he could get 10 feet from his fire, a chill finding it's way up his spine.

What if that was really her calling out to him?

Why would she be out here?

And why would she be looking for him?

Maybe she's in trouble?

That thought alone sent Daryl spinning to face the direction the voice was coming from.

Was she okay?

Was she hurt?

Was Shane attempting to finish what he started?

Was it a walker?

"DARYL! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He didn't care if it was the voice in the back of his head, he just needed to see if she was alright.

He charged back towards the voice, keeping his eyes peeled for her as he dodged fallen trees and large boulders. After a while of running, the voice never seemed to return, feeding that nagging voice in the back of his head that continue to poke that it wasn't her, that it was just his imagination and that she'd never come looking for him. Just as he began to agree with himself, slowing his run to a simple jog, he heard it again.

"Daryl!" It was quieter this time, but it did nothing more than feed the fear that had been festering since I first heard her voice calling out to him.

"ANA!" Daryl yelled back this time, spinning to the right where he had heard her voice and kicked his running up a notch, praying she was alright.

"ANA! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He hollered, yanking his bow out in front of him as he plowed through the tall grass before he was met with a scream.

That was her.

She was hurt.

She was in trouble.

Daryl didn't think it was possible, but he found himself running even faster to get to her.

"ANA! ANSWER ME!" He screamed back, his heart now climbing his throat as he stumbled over a root, almost completely losing his footing.

"DARYL!" Her voice was a godsend as he narrowed in on her exact location just a few yards in front of him. Not seconds later, he came bursting through a line of tall grass to find her pinned on her back in the mud by a walker attempting to make her it's next meal. He wasted no time or effort as he swung at it with his bow, sending it sprawling off of her and onto it's back before pinning its head to the trunk of the tree with a bolt.

It sounded like he had just run a mile, which he might have actually done as he stood there, glaring down at the walker while heavily breathing. Slowly, he realized why he had just killed a walker and crained hisnxt to the left where she was clambering a way out of the mud to stand, her eyes scanning his form in worry.

Daryl wanted to yell at her, scream at her for being out here alone, wanting to point out the walker that had almost sunk it's teeth into her shoulder, but he had no opportunity as her much smaller frame was suddenly being launched at him, sending his bow to the ground as he stumbled back for some leverage.

She was hugging him?

Why the fuck was she hugging him?

He didn't know what to do, how to react as her soft body pressed itself tighter against him. His mind was telling him to push her away, tell her to get the fuck off of him, but honestly, he wanted to do much more than that. As he felt his hands begin to release their deadly grip and wrap around her, he heard a sniffle echo from the place she was buried in his neck.

Was she crying?

Wait, had he been too late? She had been bitten?

He didn't hesitate, he gripped her shoulders, pushing her at arm's length, his eyes immediately did a scan of the skin he could see, checking her for bite marks or any injuries. If she had been bitten, he'd never forgive himself.

"Why ya cryin'? Ya okay? What the fuck ya doin' out here?" He didn't know what he wanted to ask her, but it had all come out sounding like one non-stop question.

"Are ya hurt? Ya bit?" She naturally didn't answer him and took 2 large steps into his personal space before she began to rip at his clothes, lifting his shirt to eye his torso and stomach. He found himself floudering to say anything, tell her to fuck off and stop touching him, but he stood there, stalk still for seconds before he finally reacted, pushing her away.

"What the hell ya goin' on about?" He barked back, adjusting his clothes, or attempting to while trying to hide his body's reaction to her touch.

"I saw blood on the tree a bit back, thought it was yers. Ya alright?" Her words confused him for a split second before he realized what she had actually saw and scoffed.

"Fuckin' fine. Blood was coney's. Killed it back there, cleaned it out too." He grumbled, showing off the coney's who had miraculously not fallen during his mad dash across the forest.

"What 'bout ya? Yer alright?" Daryl's eyes did a once over on her again, worried that she had been hurt or worse, bitten. But he couldn't see much through the layers of mud that were now coating her visible skin. Wha the hell had happened to her out here?

"M fine." He answered embarrassed as Daryl's eyes gazed at her in mild amusement. Even covered in mud, she was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life.

Why a woman would like her would ever be interested in a man like him, he'd never know but now that she was once again standing in front of him, their conversation from the day before yesterday, came rushing into the forefront of his mind. His eyes narrowed in on her form, wondering if she maybe came out here to apologize for saying things she didn't mean. She couldn't have meant it, couldn't have. There was no way a woman like her would like a man like him? What did she even see in him? He had nothing to offer her like those other men could.

She was the complete opposite of him. She could have anyone else, even in this shit world, yet she had confessed to him of all people.

Why?

Well because, she didn't mean it, it was that simple. He was rallying into her about her liking Rick and she had said the first thing on her mind to get him off her back. Smart move but it hurt no less to know that she had lied to him just to get him to stop asking her about her relationship with the Sheriff.

Daryl scoffed under his breath, feeling his blood beginning to boil beneath his skin once more as he shut his eyes, trying to stop himself from saying anything further. Why the fuck was he reacting this way? And because of a simple woman? He hadn't even known her for that long and yet, she had her claws so deep in his chest that at the drop of a dime, he'd be there for her. Just like he had just done. All she had to do was scream for him and he'd come running, no matter how far he was, he'd always come running.

Fuck. He liked her. He liked her and it was doing nothing but hurting him. He hovered over her, watched over her and did things for her not realizing that those actions alone were sealing his fate like some sick joke.

He needed to get the fuck away from her.

"M sorry if what I said the other day pissed ya off." He hadn't been expecting her to speak but now that they were on the subject, he wasn't about to back down.

"I ain't fuckin' mad. Whatcha take me for?" Daryl scoffed out a lie, watching her conspicuously as she attempted to wipe herself clean of the mud.

"Ya looked fuckin' mad so I just assumed..." She innocently answered as he rolled his eyes, bending down to rip his bow from the ground.

"Stop assumin' shit." Daryl could pinpoint the moment his words seemed to hit a nerve in her as her eyes darkened ever so slightly in his direction.

"That's grand comin' from ya, el Presidente of the assumin' shit club!" She snapped back at him causing his hackles to rise on the back of his neck, if she wanted to argue, he'd give her the pleasure of it this one time.

"I ain't assumin' shit!" He barked back defensively, realizing if he argued further with her, nothing good would come out of it. Scoffing as he took one look at her before turning and heading in the direction he had come running from.

"Ya don't assume shit?! Don't me fuckin' laugh! Just the other day, ya assumed I was shackin' it up with Glenn and then after that was Rick! It's fuckin' called assumin' shit if ya ain't got the balls to ask me yerself, ya piece of shit!" She had never yelled at him like this before and being able to sense the pure rage behind her words stopped him in his tracks before spinning to glare at her.

"I came out 'ere to fuckin' apologize for pissin' ya off or whatever what I said did ta ya. Ya fuckin' disappeared after I sai it so I fuckin' assumed yer mad or disgusted by what I fuckin' said. I came across the fucki'n coney blood and instantly thought yer were...fuck...I thought ya were hurt so I ran out here lookin' for ya. Thanks for helping' me with that nasty sack of shit but I ain't got the patience to stand here and fuckin' listen to ya dodge my apology." Wait, she came all the way the fuck out here to apologize to me? Why the hell would anyone do that? She thought I was mad or disgusted by what she had said, well kay, if it was all a fuckin' joke, then yeah, I was. But why would she come all the way out here to apologize? Any sane person would just wait, right?

She fuckin' likes you, ya dipshit.

"Did ya mean it?" A part of him wanted to know if she meant what she had said to him. But a deeper, darker part of him was cowering in fear, not wanting to hear her answer, afraid that it was all a joke, that she had truly said what she had said just to get him off of her back.

If that were true, he'd leave. He'd leave and never turn back.

Daryl waited, watching her intently as he waited for her to answer him. She blinked at him a few times, her eyes scanning him as she seemed to get lost in her thoughts before he had enough. He had gotten his answer. Her silence was all the answer he needed to know that she hadn't meant shit behind her words.

"Am I just supposed to fuckin' assume what yer referrin' to?" She was going to play the innocent card, alright.

That was the last straw as Daryl snorted in disappointment before turning to leave her.

"Daryl!" She yelled as he found his legs slowly at their own will, waiting for her next words.

"Everythin' I said was true. Now and back at camp. I had planned ta fuckin' keep that shit to myself, but it came out without me realizin' it till it was too later. It's alright if ya don't feel the same way, I don't expect ya too, but I just...I don't want ta lose..." Ana's next words hit Daryl deep as his wavering eyes shot over his shoulder as she stopped herself from continuing.

"Lose what?"

"Lose ya. Aside from Glenn and T, yer the only one here that I can count on for anythin'. So when I saw the blood, worse came ta mind and I came runnin'. But I wanted to keep everythin' to myself because I didn't want ta lose ya, scare ya away from me. So, I'm sorry, if what I said pissed ya off or put ya out, just please don't..." Daryl could feel his heart slowly breaking at the heart wrecking look on Ana's face as her hand made an unconscious grab out for him.

He hadn't made a move to approach her as he watched the way her eyes slowly began to gloss over sending a loud crack down his heart. Daryl couldn't stop himself, even if he wanted to. At the sight of tears beginning to build on the lids of her eyes, he wanted nothing more than to run over and pull her safely into his arms, curse the world for putting such a woman into such a situation that it would bring her to tears.

He knew he had mentioned it before, maybe only to himself, but he hated seeing her in tears. She was more than that, far from being weak and seeing her crumble into such a vulnerable state, Daryl was finding it impossible to fight against his instincts screaming at him to embrace her now. But he didn't, he didn't know what to do or what to say as his body betrayed him. He wasn't like this, a sappy romantic. That wasn't him.

Clenching his free hand into a tight fist, he did the unthinkable and turned away from her, unable to stand the look on her face any further. He knew, she would reduce him into a crumbling mess if he had stared at her any longer and that thought alone, scared the living shit out of him. He shouldn't feel this way about a girl, but he did.

"Daryl...please..." And just like that, the resolve he was working so hard to collect completely slipped out from under him.

His heartstrings snapped within his chest as his eyes snapped back over to her only to see those same tears now spilling over and down her cheeks. He had done this to her. He had hurt her. She was crying because of him.

His body had kicked into gear without him even realizing it as his bow met the ground once more before he was all but charging over to her, ignoring the startled and hesitant look on her face. His hands made a grab at her face when he was close enough to reach her, pulling her completely flush against him, his lips pressed desperately against her own.

Daryl could still vividly remember the first time he had felt her lips on his. They had been separated on the highway due to a huge horde, one that he did not want her to get tangled with, no matter how tough she thought she was. But she had taken the first step, surprising him to hell when she had suddenly pushed her lips to his desperately. He didn't know at the time, why she had done it, if she had done it because it was a spur of the moment, but he could not get the feel of her lips out of his head since then.

As soon as he felt her arms wrap tightly around his neck, Daryl stepped even closer to her, pinning her back to the nearest tree to keep her there. He had felt her attempt to pull away, but no fuckin' way was he going to let go of her now. No, she had admitted she meant everything she had said to him and for once, Daryl found himself not 'assuming shit' and believing her like he should have done long ago.

She was his and he wasn't going to let her go.

A bit on the shorter side for this chapter, but I had to literally write this up on my work computer lol

Hope ya'll enjoyed a bit of Daryl's POV and can understand him a bit more

P.S. if next week's update is a few days late/early, I apologize, next week is going to be hectic for me! Pray for me!

Until next week~