Hey, guys! So here is Chapter Two~ Thank you to NanamiYatsumaki for being the first and oly person to review. Also, thank you to the five people who follow this story and to the two people who are favoured it. Thank you all so much; I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this next part. :)

Disclaimer:I do NOT own The Walking Dead, comic or television series, nor its characters. All I own is my OC, some other OCs, and some plot points.

Warnings: Daryl and OC romance, crude humor, swearing, sexual content, gore, mentions types of abuse, and alcohol and drug references.

Chapter: Two

To say that Daryl and Rick's companions were surprised to see a third face, and not the one they were expecting, would be a complete understatement. The first to ask about the newcomer was a man that held himself in the same fashion as Rick, but there was something darker in his eyes and that wasn't because of the coloring to match his thick hair and tanned complexion.

"Who's this?"

"A friend," Rick piped up, holding up a hand. He must've seen the aggressive caution in his chocolate hues. "She's a friend, Shane. Knows Daryl. Helped us look for Sophia."

A awkwardly from the stares, Katherine waved a hand. "Uh, Katherine Sherwood. Kat is fine, though."

Introductions were made, but it was stiff and short-lived among the ten people as Carol urgently stepped towards the trip with fresh tears welling in her light-hued and anguished eyes. "Where's Sophia? Where's my daughter?" the short-haired mother choked out.

"We…lost track of the trail." spoke Rick with a great deal of hesitance, a forlorn expression on his face.

Carol clasped a hand over her mouth, swallowing back a sob. "B-But she's only twelve…she can't be out th-there alone."

"It's getting' dark," Daryl pointed out gently. "There's not much we can do fer her if we can't see."

Those tears fell and Carol almost crumbled to the pavement, grabbing the guard railing of the car-cluttered highway. Lori, Rick's scrawny dark-haired wife, rushed to her to wrap her up with comforting arms, rubbing her back. No one spoke, heartstrings being yanked painfully in sympathy for the crying mother, including Katherine. No child deserved to be left alone in the world, especially these days.

"How…how could y-you leave…leave her out there? How?" Carol cried out, looking to Rick accusingly and he couldn't handle it. Face contorting, he turned away, disappearing into the abandoned cars. All watched him go. Katherine had never seen a man's shoulders look so heavy with shame and guilt.

"Kat," called Daryl from beside her, snapping the blonde from her thoughts. He jerked his head towards the parked RV. "Get yerself sumthin' in yer stomach." Before she could argue, thinking now was not the most appropriate of times, the brunet called out to the owner of the vehicle, a bearded elderly man with a fisherman's hate named Dale, "'ey, grandpa. Fix Kat up wit' sum food 'nd water?"

"Daryl," Shane began sternly, hands on his waist. "We can't spare supplies for your friend. She's a stranger."

"Back off, Walsh. We got plenty from da cars 'round here." Daryl retorted. "Woman's gonna keel ova. Been in da woods fer days."

"Daryl," Shane and Katherine chided, for different reasons, but he ignored them both as he nudged Katherine, who didn't have the energy to fight really, towards the RV.

"Food," Daryl repeated to Dale.

"Of course, of course," the older man nodded, motioning Katherine to come inside his car. "Come on, dear. We have enough to spare."

That last part, Katherine felt, was directed at Shane, who probably looked quite miffed. The others, on the other hand, either was too upset by the missing child in their group or didn't seem to mind too much, just cautious. Not that Katherine blamed them; she was a stranger, after all.

Either way, Daryl wasn't taking no as an answer from anyone and Katherine, because of him, wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides this Dale man seemed just as stubborn as Daryl to help Katherine regain some of her strength back.

The sun had finally gone down and the moon replaced it, the sounds of owls and crickets arising. The group had turned in for the night once Rick had returned, loading into the trio of vehicles they had travelled in or managed to fix up, minus Daryl's motorcycle, to sleep. Dale; Glenn, a young, soft-spoken Korean man; Andrea, a quiet, but strong-willed blonde woman; T-Dog, a big African-America gentleman with no hair and a serious cut on his forearm; Daryl, and Carol slept in the RV. Lori, Rick, and their son, Carl was in another car and Shane shacked up alone in a little sporty silver car.

Katherine was offered to sleep in any of the three cars, but the only one she felt even remotely comfortable in, though crowded, was in the RV; sleeping near Shane made her feel the least at ease. That was only because Daryl was there. Everyone else were strangers. She didn't exactly trust them, especially Shane, and she had a feeling that they didn't trust her, particularly Shane. It was only natural to be wary of others these days.

Yet, Katherine could not sleep.

Her body was exhausted but restless, mind plagued by numerous thoughts. And they mostly revolved around Daryl. He was alive and he actually seemed softer around the edges; a softness he rarely showed to people, especially in such a large group. She had missed him, she couldn't deny that. She even felt safe, more than she had felt in the longest time. Maybe she should've left with him those few months ago, maybe then things would've been different, maybe so many lives would've been spared. If not, at least she wouldn't have had to witness all that carnage. Perhaps that was selfish, but ignorance was bliss, right?

Besides, she was in a desperate need for a cigarette and now was probably the first time she could smoke after a very long time of not being able to do so; never had had the time considering she had never anything close to a break in the past few days.

Either way, when the area was silent and everyone was sound asleep, Katherine grabbed her mushed pack of cigarettes and quietly crept out of the RV to clear her mind in the somewhat cool night air. Just a stroll, not very far, through the cars and just one single; she was on her last pack.

Occasionally, as she smoked, the blonde peered into the cars to see what been left behind, getting a small look into the late owner's lives. Mostly, though, Katherine admired the stars. She was glad that that was the one thing that hadn't changed about the world. She was grateful that there would always be those precious, beautiful balls of gas that would illuminate the skies.

"Shouldn't ya be sleepin', Kit-Kat?"

Katherine paused. "I should be askin' ya the same thing, Dare-Bear,"

"Don' call me dat."

"Then don't call me 'Kit-Kat'." She faced him, offering a stick from her pack and light, which he graciously accepted—he was the primary source of her vice, after all. "I couldn't sleep." she admitted with a shrug of her shoulder.

"So ya go walkin' 'bout by yerself in da middle of da night?"

"Wasn't plannin' on leaving or anything. Besides, I've been wanderin' around by myself for a while now, anyway."

Daryl fell silent after that and looked away for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. Then, hesitantly, peered back to her to ask, "…Why were ya alone, Kat? Why aren't ya wit' Keith?"

"'Cuz he's dead." was her simple, dull response.

He stared. "Dead," he said, not knowing if he should be relieved or sympathetic; Katherine had always been hard to read at moments like this. She had…or had had an "interesting" relationship with her brother—and her father. Not that he was exactly a stranger to such things. "Wha' happened?"

Exhaling a puff of smoke as she sighed deeply, the female leaned back against the hood of a red Civic and raked a hand through her golden waves. "He and Papa were idiots. Plain and simple. Thought the farm was more important than our lives and than the lives of our workers. For a while after the roadblocks were put up, we were untouched, but eventually, they came. In the middle of the day, but we never saw them coming. One suddenly appeared then, thirty. We never stood a chance."

Daryl bit his thumbnail, frowning, before leaning against the same car beside her. "How many?" he asked softly, cigarette dangling between his lips, folding his bare arms over his chest.

"Pretty much everyone. They even got Cody. Cody, Daryl, my baby boy, my puppy. The only ones that made it out were Hannah, Larry, Keith, and I. That's it."

"Not even yer Dad?"

"No. Didn't have the strength. Not that he wanted to leave, anyway. Tried to get me to stay. Stubborn bastard."

Her father had been sick, dying more and more each day, so maybe his chances of survival would not have been very high and/or long, but at least he would've had the chance. He hadn't been a good man, but his life was worth more than his farm. He had been an outright fool and had died as one.

Daryl was quiet again, taking a long drag, letting it all process before continuing to pry, eyes gauging the emotions swirling in hers, "So then how'd ya lose Keith?"

"His arrogance was finally his downfall and again the downfall of others," Katherine confessed with a scoff. "We found a group, like yours, the four of us. Settled down for a bit in this lil' neighborhood until Keith decided that we had to go to Atlanta for supplies."

"But dat place is swarmed by freaks."

"Exactly," She shot him a look.

"Shit…"

"Yeah…forced everyone to go, even the kids. I thought the attack at the farm had been terrible, but Atlanta…it was like watchin' a damn horror movie. So much carnage. The screams, the blood," Katherine just shook her head, stomach churning at the mere thought. Her dreams were haunted by it.

"'Nd yer brother got caught up in it."

"…Yeah,"

More or less.

"Fuckin' dumbass." snorted Daryl, shaking his own head.

"He deserved it."

"Kat…"

Face becoming pained, Katherine adverted her gaze to the male next to her. She choked out, "I should've gone with you and Merle."

Daryl couldn't agree more; he hated leaving her behind and leaving her with idiots like her brother and father, who had just caused more pain than they already had. Nonetheless, "Nuttin' ya can do 'bout it now."

She sighed, looking away appearing dejected. "…true." she murmured.

He quirked a brow. Had that not been the response she had wanted? Did he say something wrong? Was he supposed to comfort her or something? He had never been particularly good at things like things. Not even with people he knew.

Katherine changed the subject, though, her expression transforming into one of quizzical concern, "What happened to Merle?"

The Dixon brothers, when the eldest, Merle, wasn't on jail or completely drunk or high, were completely attached at the hip. Something that Katherine hadn't always been happy.

"He's not…?" Katherine did not like Merle, but he was Daryl's brother and knew how much he meant to him. He had also been a fairly decent hard worker on the farm when he actually showed up for his shift. Daryl and Merle had an "interesting" relationship, too.

Daryl tried giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder, but Katherine knew better. "Don' know. Could be alive. Could be dead."

She gave him an odd look. "Ya don't know?"

"He was gone 'fore we got ta him. Rick handcuffed him ta a pipe on a roof in Atlanta wit' a buncha Walkers. Went back fer 'im 'nd he was gone; all dat was left was his hand dat he cut off."

Well, that was certainly a lot to take in and Katherine was quiet as she slowly did so. Then, very calmly, she said, "I'm not surprised."

"'ey,"

"Oh, c'mon, Daryl. No offense or nothing, I know he's your brother and all, but he can be a total ass. I mean, it's terrible he got left behind and had to lose a hand to survive, but the whole handcuffed part…? He probably deserved it, honestly."

He just huffed, silently smoking; he didn't disagree, though.

Daryl knew all too well how his brother could be and also knew that Katherine and Merle had never gotten along; they had either ignored one another or were at each other's throats. Yet somehow, Daryl and her had become quite friendly since he was a teenager, ever since he had began working on her family's farm. Nevertheless, it didn't matter. Merle was gone and Katherine was back.

Maybe…

No.

Katherine returning was one thing, but Merle was another. Two different people, who deserved many different things and that included living, even in this world. And that possibly meant only being allowed to have one of them in his life. That didn't bode well with Daryl, but if that was just reality, he just had to accept it.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Katherine let out a deep sigh, smoke emitting, and rested her head upon his shoulder. Automatically, the brunet stiffened before softening, slightly, when she repeated in a murmur, "I should've just gone with you."

Maybe…

Maybe that was the same case for Katherine. Maybe she had been dealt the same hand. Maybe she couldn't have both either, that she couldn't have her family and him. She had lost her brother and regained him. Her family had never liked him and Merle had never liked her. It had always been one or the other; they always had to choose and fate had finally chosen for them it seemed.

Pausing for a moment before doing so, Daryl placed an arm around her shoulder, patting it. "Yer here now. Dat's wha' matters."

And for the first time in what had felt like an eternity, Katherine smiled up at him. Daryl could not resist the small twitch of his lips upwards. Then, as quickly as it came, it dropped and he nudged her arm. "C'mon. Should head back. Ya need ta sleep." he urged.

"Okay, okay, okay," Katherine released an overly dramatic sigh, rolling her green eyes. "Calm your tits, Dad. I'm going, I'm going."

Snuffing out her Marlboro beneath her boot, she started back to the RV, yet stopped, smirking cheekily when Daryl called out, disgruntled, "Don' call me dat!"

"Whatever ya say, Dare-Bear~" She shot aforementioned smirk over her scrawny shoulder before continuing on her way, weaving her way through the cars.

Just watching her go, savoring his last moments with his cigarette, Daryl shook his head. He couldn't help feeling amused, along with slightly relieved, though; he had seen a tiny glimpse of the old Katherine, the Katherine he knew and not the cold one he had met in the forest. Eventually, the put out his own smoke and trailed after her.

Katherine and Daryl had a good six years between them, so she had been nine and he, fifteen when they had first met.

Merle, being the older Dixon, had already been working on the Sherwood farm for a while, so he had managed to work up enough of a repute with the family or at least enough so to convince old man Nathan Sherwood to hire his baby brother, Daryl. Then again, Merle might've caught him on a day when he was feeling particularly ill—early days of his brain tumor. Either way, Keith wasn't happy and Katherine could easily see that.

However, maybe it was childish naivety, but the little girl felt that Daryl wasn't exactly cut from the same cloth as Merle. There was just something about the way the adolescent held himself, something in those blue peepers of his. Or maybe it was from the small fact that Daryl was quiet and focused—and slightly fidgety—while Merle was boisterous and all over the place.

He kept to himself mostly, barely speaking unless spoken to while he worked, just silently and efficiently doing his shift—or Merle's when he was too "busy" or "sick"—and then, went home. Keith claimed that Daryl's detachment was because he was smug and thought he was better than everyone else despite the fact that he was a redneck lowlife, just like his brother. Katherine just thought he was lonely. And she knew how that felt.

That being, the blonde child, one day, decided to become his friend, so she sought him out during one of his shifts.

She found him in the stables, tending to the horses, mucking out the stalls. The tiny child, who would grow into a tall woman, scrambled onto a haystack and peered up at him, kicking her feet. "Hi," she greeted sweetly.

He paused in his work and blinked, turning to her. Then, slowly, "…'ey,"

He went back to work.

"Do ya remember my name?"

Daryl stopped again to stare at her steadily. He nodded slowly. "Katherine."

"Kat." she almost ordered with a deep-set frown, but it appearing more like a pout.

"…Kat."

And back to work he went.

"And you're Daryl."

"…Yeah,"

Silence fell and Daryl did not mind all that much, except for the fact that the youngest Sherwood kid kept staring at him, watching intently. It was beginning to unnerve; he felt like she was staring into his soul even though he knew that wasn't possible.

Why was she there? Why was she speaking to him? Why was she just staring? Why was she even alone? Usually, her brother, Keith kept her close by, never allowing to get even within five feet of him or his brother and he, though younger than Daryl, warned him to stay away or he'd fire both Dixon brothers; he couldn't risk that. But Daryl couldn't just snap at her and tell her to get lost. She was the boss' kid, after all, and kids tended to run their little traps.

Thus, as gently as possible, he spoke, looking to her, "Where's yer ol' man or brother? Shouldn't ya be wit' 'em or sumthin'?"

Shrugging, Katherine's gaze adverted downward at her once swinging legs, her whole demeanor changing. That caused Daryl to quirk an eyebrow. "…They don't like me much. Papa doesn't talk to me and Keith can be a meanie."

Well, that had certainly caught the young man off guard. Yet, if those words hadn't, Katherine's next ones certainly did as she looked up at him with big doe-like eyes, "Is that why you're so quiet? 'Cuz your family is mean to you, too?"

His breath caught in his throat as he stared at her.

Who was this kid? How was she able to tell something like that? She had always seemed so innocent and airy. Merle had said so and Daryl had found himself not being able to argue as the little girl would always be daydreaming, doodling, singing, and falling over those stumpy little legs of hers.

But now…

"Will you be nice to me? I'll be nice to you. Be your friend. And you be mine?"

How could he say 'no' to a sweet face like that?

Swallowing thickly, Daryl gave a jerky nod of his head. "Sure…"

And suddenly, the whole stable lit up when Katherine smiled. He was almost tempted to do the same.

With that, she hopped off the hay, nearly tripping, and started for the exit, waving her hand, "Bye, bye, Dare-Bear! See ya later!"

Daryl watched her, ponytail bobbing, waving meagerly in return only to falter when his mind registered what she had just called him.

He blinked slowly, making a face. "…Dare-Bear?"

From then on, Katherine had followed Daryl like a baby duckling. Daryl hardly minded because he couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone. Neither wanted the other to ever feel lonely ever again.