Here's the next chapter everyone, please, please, please let me know what to think about it – I've been nervous about posting this one and I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you for all the reviews I've had so far, I love knowing how everyone feels about the storyline and my portrayal of the characters.

Enjoy and please review!

Chapter Eleven

Lila couldn't sleep at all, she struggled her way through to about 6 am before she decided it was time for her to get out of the tent and make something of her day. Last night had been surprising – although she had never expected Daryl to be a nice, normal conversationalist, she'd at least expected him to be civil.

Lila dressed herself in her only pair of jeans and a baggy, slightly torn vest top. As she climbed out of the tent the first thing she noticed was the unrelenting heat, it hit her instantly and she ran her hands back through her hair.

"Took your time," A voice sounded behind her, causing Lila to turn around quickly to find Daryl stood, a bag slung over his shoulder as he bit impatiently at his nails.

"What?"

"Been waiting for you to get up for a couple hours, thought you'd never crawl outta your tent." Lila was confused, had he forgotten about last night? The fact that Lila had stormed out after her attempt at a normal conversation had turned into a battle.

"It's about 6 am, did you even sleep?" Lila scoffed, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"I got you somethin', I don't know if it'll work or even if you…I don't know, here," Daryl held out the bag that had been slung over his shoulder in front of Lila, she frowned, staring at it cautiously.

"Go on it ain't gunna bite ya," He thrust the bag closer to her and Lila took hold of it gruffly, she opened it up and looked inside with a sigh. Until her eyes actually met the contents, her mouth opened and her eyes lifted up to meet Daryl's.
"Is this what it looks like?" Lila asked quietly, taking a step closer to him.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "It is what it is, I'll help you set it up at Dale's RV, if you're gunna get signal it'll be there."

Lila's eyes welled up as she stared at the radio in the bag – it was definitely the same one from the warehouse she'd visited, the one that had been her last chance at contacting her family.

"You went back to get this for me?" Lila asked, a tear ran down her face and Daryl couldn't help but grow uncomfortable, he kicked some of the dirt beneath his foot as he spoke.

"Didn't have anythin' better to do I guess, things been so slow around here latel-" But before he had a chance to go on with his excuses, Lila had thrown her arms around his neck, her body pressed tightly against his. He stood as still as a statue, but soon found his arms relaxing against her, he folded his forearm lightly around her waist, to his surprise, Lila didn't pull away.

"Thank you, so much," She whispered, her voice so close to his ear it sent chills over him.

Daryl stepped back from the embrace first as he pushed his hair back from his face.

"It wasn't no trouble," He said gruffly.

"No, it was," Lila corrected, "You could've been killed, that place was swarming when I left. You've done me a favour that I won't ever forget, Daryl. Thank you." Her green eyes stayed locked on his for longer than necessary, to the point where Daryl was desperate to pull her back to him – to feel the warmth of her against him, but he stopped himself, looked away from her and off towards Dale's RV.

"I'll fix it up for you later," He mumbled, walking off towards his tent. Lila watched as he left her, a longing struck deep in her stomach, she hadn't thought about it properly before…she hadn't thought about how desperate she was to break the shell he'd built around himself. Something was inside him that no one else had seen…and she couldn't help but want to know what it was.

Lila walked through the field, her batons at either side of her hips, the soft blow of warm summers wind tickled past her ears. She took a deep breath in, revelling in the sincerity of the calm that had overcome her since this morning.

As her mind grew empty, her memories threatened to take over. Lila sat down on a large rock in the middle of the field, and looked off into the distance. Thanks to Daryl, she had a real chance of finding her family…but what did that even mean? Would her beloved sister Ada still be alive? Her other siblings? Her parents? Now that the prospect of finding out was staring her directly in the eyes, she couldn't decide if it was worth the misery. The reality of this new world was that expecting someone you haven't seen in months to be alive, is a dream…a fantasy and it wasn't just them being dead she had to fear, she also had to fear what would happen if she found them alive. She had abandoned her family the night before the evacuation, all for a stupid dream of happiness and freedom. If she found them alive, she'd have to admit that she was wrong to leave, that her reason for leaving had betrayed her.

As her memories of him flooded back to her, she couldn't help but think of Daryl. The way he held her earlier had been so different to the first time Erik had held her. Erik. The first time she'd seen him, she'd fallen madly in love with him – the darkness of his eyes and the rough outline of his jaw, the way his raven hair fell in tangles down his neck. He'd been the ultimate sin and he'd turned into the ultimate nightmare.

Lila's stomach ached with the thought of him, the pain in her chest was enough to cripple her…it was the feeling of betrayal, of promises being broken and hopes for the future being burned down to the ground.

She stood up and walked back to the farm, her pleasant walk had turned quickly into a time of mourning and she wasn't in the mood to dwell any longer. Lila rushed over the fence and past some of the other residents, she walked past Dale's RV and heard a voice call out to her.

"Lila!" It shouted, "Hey LB," Followed soon after. The sound of Daryl's feet hitting the ground after her caused her to turn around. He was startled to find her crying.

"I fixed up your radio, should be up and runnin' soon enough. It needs to run off of the battery in the RV, but we can keep it goin' an hour a day if we're careful."
"Why did you really get me that radio Daryl?" Lila asked.

"What?" He scowled at her.

"You don't ever feel bad for anyone, you don't go running around after everyone else, so why me? Why do you feel so sorry for me?" Lila asked and for a second, Daryl just stood staring at her.

"I don't feel sorry for you," He replied and Lila laughed, turning around and walking away. Daryl followed as she walked further away from camp.

"You do, everyone does. All I get from people here is 'how are you feeling' and 'can I do anything to help you'…what about me gives off the impression that I need help? Does it ever occur to anyone that I'm just as fucked as everyone else in the this camp?" Lila yelled, Daryl ran up to her, catching her arm in his hand and pulling her back towards him. He studied her as she stood looking shocked, her green eyes wide and her face flushed with anger.

"My family is probably dead, just like everyone else's."

"I know," Daryl replied.

"Just because they were evacuated doesn't mean shit," Lila continued.

"I know," Daryl repeated, his hand was still holding tightly around Lila's forearm, she was almost certain it would leave a mark – but the gentle circles his thumb was making on the skin soothed her and she couldn't bring herself to turn away, because she was too frightened she'd never see that look in his eyes again.

There was no anger in his expression, no pity, no sadness…for once, Daryl was just looking at her.

Before she had a chance to settle the sudden nervousness in her stomach and slow the ragged breathing that rattled her chest, Daryl was pressing his fingertips to her lips, making sure she couldn't speak.
"You don't have anything to say, so don't bother," Daryl said, "Keep your mouth shut for once."

"But why did you-" Lila begun, but again, Daryl's finger was pressed to her lips.

"Shut up," He stated, "I got you the damn radio cos I wanted to, I was a dick to you and you don't deserve that," Daryl paused, pulling his fingers away from her lips, and removing his hand from her forearm. He was shocked when her small, delicate hand came down on his, gripping it and holding it against her arm.

"Don't," Lila stepped closer to Daryl as she tried to hold in the weakness that was threatening to spill into her voice.

"I'm not lookin' for nothin' from you, I got that radio because it was the right thing to do for you."

"I know," Lila said, repeating Daryl's own tone back to him.
"There's something about you I can't fault, no matter how much of a dick you are to me," Lila added, moving Daryl's hand from her forearm, to her waist. She shivered when he pulled her closer to him. He towered over her, his muscular chest pressed firmly into hers, restricting her breathing.

"You're a good man, I can feel it, whenever I'm near you, I feel safe." Lila's voice was low and shaky.

"I ain't good enough for you Lila," Daryl stated and Lila suddenly felt as if that wall he had built up was crashing down around them – building them their own shelter from the outside world.

"You're right," Lila stated, causing hurt to radiate in Daryl's eyes, "You're better," She added.

Before she had a chance to steady herself, Daryl's lips had crashed against hers, intoxicating her – he held her in place against him, his hands were around the back of her neck and in her hair and she held tightly onto him, fearing that he'd let go a moment too soon. Whatever sanity she'd had before, whatever worries, whatever hurt…it was gone now, he'd let down his guard for just a moment and she couldn't help but want to scream just how worth the wait it really was.