Daryl counted down the two hours of his shift minute by minute. Aaron slept the entire time, shifting uncomfortably against the tree and talking in his sleep unintelligibly. As soon as the clock struck midnight, he headed straight for Beth's tent, making sure to keep Aaron within sight at all times.

Outside the small, zippered door of her one person tent, Daryl debated the pros and cons of waking her. On the plus side, he'd get to see her, to talk to her and letting her take watch would help show her how valuable she was to everyone - how much he and everyone trusted her. Not just with Judith's life, but with everyone's lives. Maybe he'd even sit up with her for a while. So he pulled the tent's zipper up and peeked inside. She was curled up on her side softly snoring, her lips slightly parted. And she was just too damn peaceful to disturb. So instead, he went in search of someone awake, found Michonne sharpening her sword, and passed Aaron off to her.

Daryl returned to his own sleeping bag, moving it closer to the fire for additional warmth, and settled in for the night. The sky above was clear and he could make out several constellations among the stars. His fingers pushed through the stubble on his chin as he let his mind wander to earlier that day when Beth had shared with him what had happened to her. He thought about watching Rick rip Joe's throat out and knew that he'd have done the very same thing to save Beth. Maybe even worse, if there was a worse. And the thought startled him. Because he didn't know where these feelings for her had come from. But he knew things had started changing when they'd both gotten drunk on that moonshine. They way she'd called him on his bullshit. The way she hadn't backed down. They way she'd held him up as he'd broken down.

The Daryl that had left that burning shit shack was a different Daryl. One he barely even recognized. He'd spent the next several days and nights stealing glances at her, agreeing to anything she suggested within reason, and touching her more than he'd ever touched a single human being. And when he'd seen how happy that funeral home had made her, he'd just given in and bled his guts all over that kitchen table for her to see. Had lowered his guard and gotten flustered and revealed too much and fucked up. He'd gone soft and let those walkers overrun the place. He'd gone soft and let some man take Beth and do things to her that should never have been done. And he'd vowed to never let her down again if he found her. But now here he was, right back to flustered asshole - like he'd never touched a woman before in his goddamn life.

But Beth wasn't like those women. Wasn't like those bar groupies who clung to Merle for some reason Daryl could never figure out. And then when Merle dismissed all but the ones he liked, the castoffs found him and he would drunkenly push their skirts up and have them against the side of some dingy bar or his mud-caked pickup or on the very used sofa of some tweaker he didn't even know. The only time he slept with the same woman twice was when Merle found himself back in jail. Then Daryl would befriend some neighborhood girl to keep the lonely at bay until things got anything less than casual at which point he fled. If he's honest, he can't recall ever waking up beside a woman the next morning. Not since he was Beth's age, anyway.

Beth's age. That was a whole other thing, wasn't it? He was 19 years her senior. And beyond no good for her. He was dirty where she was clean. He was hard where she was soft. He was tortured where she was free. She was light where he was dark. But that didn't stop him from thinking about her, from wanting her. It just meant he couldn't act on any of those impulses, no matter how much he wanted to. No matter how much she wanted him to. He needed to erect new walls. To put distance between them. To push her from him because things were getting way out of hand.

Because at the end of the day, he didn't know what to do with girls. He'd never understood the idea of having a girlfriend or feelings or emotions or love. Jesus, love. He didn't know the first goddamn thing about love accept that it had never seemed a thing that belonged to him. Maybe he'd loved his mother once. And maybe he'd harbored some sick obedient love for his asshole of a father and for Merle. But look where all that had gotten him. All alone with nothing to keep him company but the nasty, twisted scars that lined his chest and back. Love hadn't done shit for him.

Some traitorous little voice in the back of his head suggested that love had also given him Rick and the people huddled all around him. Had given him a family even if they didn't share blood. Had given him Carol and Michonne and Hershel. Had given him Beth. He tried to push that voice down. To bury it somewhere deep. But he couldn't banish those truths, not really. Because he'd give his life up for almost any of the sleeping people surrounding him. He'd gladly lay down his life for them. Any day, any time, and for any reason.

So he loved them. He did. But did they love him? That was a harder pill to swallow. Rick had called him his brother. So maybe Rick loved him. Or at least respected him. And Carol might love him as well. As a friend, anyway. And if the others didn't love him exactly, he had to admit that they at least accepted him and wanted him around.

Which brought him back to Beth. Did Beth love him? Beth seemed to love everyone. Like Hershel. She loved everyone; saw the good in everyone; believed in everyone. That included him. He knew that. So what he was really asking was whether or not she could ever be in love with him. But he didn't even know how to begin that thought so he closed his eyes and slept.

The next morning the group packed their things, abandoned the jeep, and followed Aaron towards Alexandria. No one had come to save Aaron's life in the middle of the night so they were taking it on faith that he was being honest. But their guard was up. Everyone was fully armed with multiple weapons. They asked what route Aaron suggested and then took an alternative one - just to keep this new group guessing. To arrive without notice. Aaron applauded their caution and fell in line beside them. Abraham kept a gun on him at all times. No one was taking any chances. Not anymore.

Sometime after noon, they took a lunch break. Daryl began noticing Aaron acting a bit squirrely. His eyes kept darting around anxiously. Rick and Abraham noticed as well. The three men silently flanked the man - not wanting to frighten the others, but also not trusting Aaron any more than they had to. And before long, they heard the tell-tale pitter-patter of footfall through the winter foliage to their north.

"You lying sack of shit," Rick cursed, pulling Aaron to him and putting the gun to his head. "You've got less than a minute to tell us what's coming through those woods before I put a bullet through your brain."

Aaron raised his arms in surrender again. "It's just Eric, another member of my group. He's a scout like me, but stays back in case something goes wrong. That's all, I swear. He's just here to help us back to the compound."

"You lied," Rick accused, thrusting the python brutally against the man's head.

"A small one, yes, but not about anything important." And with those words, another man appeared. His arms were raised as well, but his left hand held a gun.

"Whoa, there," he said as he came forward. The others raised their weapons to him immediately. "My name's Eric. Aaron and I are the scouting team. We seriously don't mean anyone any harm. See?" He tossed the gun aside. "It's not even loaded."

Tyreese stepped forward and grabbed the gun. He signaled that the gun was, indeed, unloaded.

"Lying to us ain't never the best of ideas, asshole." Daryl moved around behind Eric and into the woods to make sure no one else was hiding out. He came back a few short minutes later. "Looks clear. I don't see signs of nobody else."

"How far to your people?" Rick spat the question to Aaron and Eric.

"Not far. About five miles out. We'll be there in time for supper, if you still want to come." Aaron answered Rick and managed to keep the tremble out of his voice, but Rick could feel the fear in the man's body.

No one moved. No one answered. Finally, Rick shoved the two men together. Beth and Tara help them at gunpoint while everyone tried to decide how to proceed.

"I still say we move forward. Of course that prick isn't out here on his own. That'd be suicide. I'm almost impressed, to be honest." Abraham holstered his weapon and shrugged his shoulders.

"Lying ain't a great way to start a relationship." Daryl chimed in and no one could really argue with the truth in his words.

"We've come this far. Might as well go the distance, now. One more man doesn't really change anything, does it?" Carol hugged her arms across her chest and looked at Rick for his final say-so.

"If we do this, we do this smart. I want a group of us to stay outside their walls in case the shit hits the fan. Tyreese, Abraham, Michonne, and I will go in first with Aaron. Daryl, you stay outside with everyone else, including Eric. Be ready to move in if you hear anything even slightly off. Everyone agreed?" Rick looked around the group for affirmation. They all nodded in agreement. Carl didn't look happy about being separated from his father, but he knew arguing was pointless.

They started moving again. And within the hour they could see a large, well-fortified fence in the distance. They broke into the two agreed upon groups and Rick's headed off with Aaron to breach the walls first. The others waited nervously. A few walkers ambled idly by. Sasha and Carl handled them.

"Ain't' seen many walkers. Y'all don't get much activity up here or what?" Daryl questioned Eric.

"It comes in waves, really. But the numbers are always lower during the colder months. Plus, we spend a lot of time in the surrounding areas scavenging and putting down as many as we can. We try not to let them get too close." Eric was nothing if not chatty.

"Seems smart," Beth chimed in. Eric smiled at her in a way that pissed Daryl off.

"Not sure I see a reason for a man with an arrow to his head to keep that grin on his face." Daryl stepped between Beth and Eric.

A few minutes later, Rick and the others rejoined them.

"So?" Glenn questioned.

"Seems legit, so far. They have a whole section of this housing development walled off and are constantly working on pushing the walls farther out. The subdivision was built for this kind of thing - for a crisis. It runs entirely on solar power. There are whole families inside - men, women, children. Young and old. Hell, some kids are playing capture the flag. I spoke with their leader, Douglas, briefly. He says we're welcome as long as we'll each have a little sit down with him." Rick looked at his family to gage their reaction to his words.

"Does your gut trust them?" Maggie asked.

Rick thought about her question for quite a while before answering. "Yeah, I guess it does."

"Then let's head inside." Beth started off ahead of the others. Daryl moved quickly to her side.

"Slow down, Greene. And take out your gun." Beth looked at him and shook her head.

"There are kids inside, Daryl, who I'm sure aren't used to having guns pointed at them." His eyebrows creased at her as she put her hand on his crossbow and forced him to lower his weapon as well. "Have a little faith."

The others caught up with them and they entered the gated neighborhood together. Rick hadn't been lying. Kids were running around, laughing and playing - completely carefree. Some stopped and gave them curious glances. Some waved or whispered. Men and women began leaving their houses and walking out to gawk at the new arrivals. They were clean and well-dressed and seemed so far removed from the blood and gore Rick and his group were accustomed to. One older gentleman stepped forward and smiled at them.

"Welcome. My name is Douglas. I trust that you'll come to feel at home here in no time. I have a crew readying your new homes as we speak. We only have three houses available, currently, but we're looking to expand the walls over an additional street this week so, hopefully, you'll all have your own place soon. While we wait, I hope to speak with you each and get to know you a little better. One at a time, if that's all right? And while you wait your turn, Joyce here will let you use her shower, give you some clean clothes, and some warm food to tide you over. She'll also take you on a tour of the neighborhood and answer any general questions you might have. Rick, I'd like to start with you." Douglas motioned towards the house across the street. Rick nodded at his people and headed off with Douglas. Joyce, an elderly woman, shuffled everyone else to her house a few mailboxes down. Daryl stood firmly rooted where he stood. Beth looked back at him in question.

"You go on ahead. I'll wait here for Rick." Daryl just couldn't let himself trust these people that easily.

"I'll wait, too." She rejoined him.

"I feel like I'm in an episode of The Twilight Zone." Daryl leaned his crossbow against Douglas's mailbox and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched as the kids ran about. Their gleeful shouts echoed off the houses and disappeared into the dusk.

Beth closed her eyes, leaned back her head, and took in a lungful of the crisp, cold air. "Smells like snow. And home." When she reopened her eyes, they were wet with tears. Happy tears. She smiled at him and laughed. "We're home, Darlyl Dixon. We're finally home."