Chapter Eleven, my peeps, and ya'll get a lil' action. Woot! Woot! Anyway, thank you all so much again for the support of this story; it means so, so much to me. Thank you. I hope you enjoy this segment and leave some feedback. Lots of love.

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

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

Chapter: Eleven

Fourth of July was, in a way, a big deal on the Sherwood family farm. It was a great spot to view the town's fireworks. A bunch of people would come for the showing and for a BBQ. Workers would bring their families and Keith and Katherine would invite other friends from outside of the farm. Fourth of July was filled with music, food, fireworks, and happy people. However, her family's Fourth of July party was not a party to Katherine, much to people's dismay, especially to Keith's, without the Dixon brothers, particularly Daryl.

So when the siblings arrived, Merle making a grand—loud—entrance, Katherine's night instantly brightened. The atmosphere immediately changed once the Dixons arrived, maybe not in a good way, but the blonde woman took full advantage of that.

Merle was creating a ruckus, flirting with any of the pretty girls and women, clearly inebriated from how heavily he swayed, so—disgruntled—attention was on him. That being, Katherine dragged Daryl away, saving him some embarrassment to head to their usual special spot to watch the fireworks.

The roof of her house.

The two friends scrambled up to the high place through the sunroof of her bedroom, placing a blanket down on the shingles while, of course, bringing a small cooler of beer and a couple cartons of cigarettes. The feeling on the roof with just the two of them was a dramatic different than the one down below on the lawn where the crowd was. Both people were calm and at ease, idly chatting, enjoy each other's presence and enjoying the fireworks that burst vibrantly when they did begin.

"Looks like yer boyfriend is lookin' fer ya," Daryl pointed out as nonchalantly as possible. He was indicating to the man below, who was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome, roaming about the partygoers as if searching for something or someone.

Katherine, after seeing whom the brunet was talking about, rolled her eyes. "Gavin is not my boyfriend, Daryl," she rebuked, knocking back her beer. "We went out like, three times. He was kinda borin'. Not to mention, dumb as a fuckin' rock."

"Then, why d'ya go out wit' 'im three times?"

"'Cuz I was bored. And he was a decent enough of a kisser."

Daryl deadpanned, ignoring the pang in his chest, though small, that he always got when they discussed the men she had been with. "Real classy. Sure Keith would be proud."

"Oh, fuck you and fuck Keith. Despite what he thinks, he has no say on who I date. I do."

"'Nd God knows ya certainly havva say. Gavin is numba…what outta how many guys ya have gun out wit' this year?"

"Shut up!" Katherine lightly pushed him by his shoulder. "I'm thirty-years-old. I'm allowed to date as guys as I like. Besides," She took a long drag of her cigarette. "At least I go on dates."

"I go on dates." Sort of. More like one night stands, really, but he did pay for a drink or two. "I went ta Joey's bar wit' Carrie cuppa weeks 'go."

She scoffed. "Yeah, 'cuz she's a real catch."

"Wassit ta ya?" Daryl retorted, shooting her a look. "'Nd Merle set it up."

"Oh, no wonder! I was gonna say, I thought ya had better taste than that. Then again, ya have your brother findin' your dates." the woman taunted, smirking.

"Shuddap. Ya talk as if da guys ya bang are any betta."

"Never said they were."

"Then, why do ya go out wit' 'em?"

"What's it to ya?" Katherine mimicked, turning to him. "Why do ya go out with the girls that you do?"

Daryl repeated, mirroring her tone, "Wassit ta ya?"

Neither had an answer or perhaps neither wanted to say.

Silence fell, the only noise being the fireworks exploding in the skies. Then, softly, hesitantly, Katherine spoke, eyes focused on the bright colors that lit up above, "Dare-Bear?"

Daryl grumbled under his breath; Katherine knew what he was saying. He replied either way, "Yeah, wha', Kit-Kat?"

"Have ya ever thought that maybe the reason why no one interests us long enough is…" She paused, biting her lip. "'Cuz of each other?" She felt too embarrassed and wary to meet his eye, trying to keep a calm enough composure.

His brows creased at his temple, bemused, insides squirming for reasons he did not understand. "Whaddya mean?"

Inwardly, she almost winced, grimacing. Outwardly, Katherine took a deep breath before pivoting her body slightly on the blanket to face him. "What I mean is this…"

Before she could lose her nerve, Katherine cupped Daryl's cheek with one hand to close her eyes and press her lips to his.

At first, the redneck stiffened, as Katherine expected he would, but very slowly, his shoulders eased and responded. The kiss was chaste, barely a brush of each other's mouths, but it made Katherine's heart pound happily, ignited in her veins and shot through her entire body.

Then, it ended as soon as it had begun…

With great reluctance, Daryl pulled away. "Kat, we…we can't." he breathed out.

It was like a splash of icy cold water to Katherine. Her eyes snapped open to stare at him skeptically and disappointed. "Can't? Whaddya mean we can't?" she stammered, voice thick with emotion.

Blue eyes avoided green ones. "…We jus' can't."

Hurt was replaced with anger. How many times had he rejected her? How many times had she rejected him? How many times had they rejected each other? So, so many times, but this time felt different for Daryl had verbally rejected her and that hurt far worse than all those other times.

Glaring, Katherine rose to her feet, putting out her cigarette. "Fine. Whatever. Fuck this. I'm goin' down to the party." 'Maybe even to see Gavin.', she added bitterly to herself as she climbed down the sunroof, not even sparing Daryl another glance.

Then again, he didn't go after her, let alone call out to her. Instead, biting down on his smoke, he cursed himself under his breath.

The so-called Walker turned out to actually be a very disheveled and injured Daryl, soaked in blood, which Andrea added to for she idiotically shot him, nicking the side of his head, as she was the one who had mistook him for the Walker originally. And at the sight of him unconscious being all but carried by Rick and Shane towards the house, Katherine didn't know whether to cry or vomit.

She had seen Daryl injured before, but this…it was different. He had been shot, which Katherine irrationally chewed Andrea out for, and his side had been impaled by one of his arrows for he had been thrown off his horse. Not to mention, Walkers had also attacked him and all because he had found Sophia's doll by the creek.

He could've died.

That made Katherine feel a million and one emotions. She was angry that he had been so careless. She feared for him imagining how scared or at least how nervous he had been. She felt close to tears at the thought that she had almost lost him today, especially without the chance of making up for the cruel words they had exchanged that they had not meant. She had almost lost her best friend, a man who meant the world to her and all for a stupid dwell.

And now, she also understood what Daryl had felt—or assumed how he had felt—when he had returned injured yesterday.

Only problem was, she could not face him. She held no courage to apologize for she didn't know if he'd want to talk to her and because she didn't know if she didn't know if she could handle seeing him bedridden, bandaged up, hurt and weak. It was an unsettling image.

Nonetheless, it was all Katherine could think about throughout dinner. The meal was incredibly and awkwardly quiet, the air thickly tense; Glenn had tried and failed to break it. Everyone seemed to be at odds with somebody, particularly Shane, Rick, and Hershel. So Katherine was left to her thoughts, which only became more focused on Daryl from the occasional looks Dale and Carol would give her, especially when Carol offered to bring the hunter dinner.

Eventually, Katherine couldn't stand it any longer; it was eating away at her.

Gathering her courage, the waitress made her way slowly towards the bedroom Daryl was in, the same room she had been in previously. In tow behind her, limping and wagging, already warm and affectionate to her and the others, was Scout.

She paused at his door before wrapping her knuckles against it to announce her cautious entry. "Daryl?" she called out, swallowing thickly.

The tension in his broad shoulders was obvious at her voice as he pulled the blankets over his bandaged torso. He was trying to hide his past scars even though Katherine had seen them by accident long ago; he was ashamed of them still despite that. "Whaddya want?"

His tone made Katherine inwardly flinch, but she pressed on, stepping further into the room. "I…I think we need to talk." she claimed before making a face when Scout jumped on the bed in front of Daryl to start licking his face. "No! Scout, baby, no!"

Quickly, the flaxen-haired female tried to scoop him up with her one good arm, sputtering apologies. However, with his usual frown, Daryl mumbled, "It's fine. Let 'im stay."

Katherine was shocked, but complied and kept the puppy on the bed. Thankfully, Scout had simmered down and laid down beside the injured man, nestled close. Daryl even scratched behind the German Shepherd's ears. His face was unreadable, but she could not help but admire. That was until he curtly spoke to her.

"Well? Ya said we gotta talk, so talk, woman."

She had to bite her tongue to repress a retort; she did not want to start another argument or they'd never get anywhere. As calmly as she could, sitting down in a chair at his bedside, she said, hands clenched tightly in her lap, "We owe each other apologies, but…I…I wanna be the first to apologize; I really owe it to ya. We both said some things today that was cruel and that we didn't mean. I know…I know if things were different for ya, you'd be searchin' day in and day out for Merle like ya are for Sophia, which is incredibly kind of ya." She had to take a deep breath, staring down at her anxiously shaking hands. "And I-I understand why ya got so mad at me 'cuz whatever ya felt, I felt, feel.

"I was terrified of losin' ya, but…now ys havta understand how I felt yesterday. I wanna see that lil' girl, a kid, who ain't even mine, home, safe with her mother. I would and will do anything to make that happen. Carol deserves to have that, all these people do. Findin' Scout was just an accident. I wouldn't take it back for a second, but I understand how ya feel, I do. I wanna protect ya, too. That's my job. I just…" She sighed, deflating; she felt like she wasn't making any sense at all.

"I'm sorry."

When silence fell, heavy, Katherine shifted uncomfortably in her seat. He needed to say something; her nerves were becoming erratic.

Then, softly, almost inaudible, Daryl grumbled, "…'M sorry, too."

Her head shot up and she looked to him, surprised. He was avoiding eye-contact and his weary face was neutral, but his eyes were completely sincere. That caused the woman to brighten.

"I know ya are and," She tried testing the waters and a playful jest, "I can see that ya actually adore lil' Scout."

"Don' push it, ya brat."

There was an upward twitch of his lips as he said this, though. That turned into a small chuckle when one escaped from Katherine, the air between them lightening.

Once she had calmed, though she had Dale's words ringing in her head, Katherine decided it was getting late and Daryl needed his rest. She rose. "I'm gonna let ya get some rest, so ya can haul your ass outta this bed like I know ya wanna."

He gave a small scoff in agreement, which became an embarrassed grumble when Katherine kissed his bandaged forehead, whispering "good night". With that, she turned to leave without Scout for he seemed more than content with sleeping with Daryl. Except just as she had reached the door, her friend called her back, remembering something.

"Hmmm?"

"My jeans. There's sumtin' in a pocket fer ya."

Katherine blinked, confused, but complied with a shrug.

The ruddy, washed out, and ripped jeans, along with his bloodstained shirt and wife-beater were laying over a chair at the room's desk. Katherine searched each pocket until her fingertips brushed across something that almost felt like velvet. Her eyebrows creased.

She was extremely careful taking out the object for it felt so very delicate. As it turned out, Daryl's gift was such: it had even become slightly crumpled from being stuffed in his jeans' pocket.

A small gasp left her lips.

A Cherokee Rose.

"Cherokee Rose," Daryl piped up, watching her back, gauging her reaction. "Ya remember da story, right?"

Of course she remembered. How could she forget the story of her favorite flower? Features softening into a warm, touched smile, she peered back over her slender shoulder through golden bangs. "I remember. Thank you, Dare-Bear."

"Don' call me dat, but…yer welcome, Kit-Kat."

Her smile grew, making his do so.

"Now, get yer ass outta here so I can fuckin' sleep."

Katherine released a guffaw and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm goin', I'm goin, ya ass."

And she did, but not without sparing Daryl another tender look. Then, out she went.

Once outside his bedroom door, Katherine couldn't keep the smile off her face as she gazed down at the beautiful white bloom cradled in her hand. She tucked the flower into her hair, behind her ear, and made her way out to tent to get some shuteye herself.