Winter had truly begun and while the group registered this through time – it was late December – and through the amount of daylight they got, more than anything they registered that winter had begun because Kit was finally beginning to wear a jacket, though she had been wearing a beanie fairly regularly since she and Daryl had returned from their 'vacation'. (They could also have their position in northwestern Georgia to thank for the colder weather.) The passage of time did nothing to make things easier for the group but only served to make their lives harder. Now, more than ever, they were beginning to realize that they would probably not be able to stay in one place for more than a couple of days at a time.

On this particular day they were staying in a barn that wasn't dissimilar to the one Kit and Daryl had shared alone weeks ago. This time, though, it was colder, they had more people to feed and their numbers meant they were more likely to be found by walkers. At least by now Bernie had learned that he should never leave the sight of the group. He had become more Beth's pet than Kit's ever since the farm which was fair given how ill-equipped Kit was to look after him. She and Daryl made runs or went on hunting trips almost constantly which – when paired with everything else they had to do – left very little time for Bernie. Kit could accept this, simply content with the fact that he was alive.

Rick now approached the pair with an assignment they wouldn't like. "I need to two to split up today. Kit, you're the best at makin' fires so I need you to get wood and whatever else you'll need in the woods while Daryl – "

"Bullshit," Daryl barked. "I ain't goin' nowhere without her ta back me up. We always go together. 'Sides, it's 'bout the only privacy we get anymore."

Kit wasn't quite as blunt. "If you need two trips to be made then Daryl and I can do them both," she suggested, trying to appease the two hotheads.

"No," Rick insisted. "We need a fire as soon as possible and we need someone ta go on a run before it gets dark. Like I said, Kit's the best at makin' fires so she needs to gather what she needs in the woods. But, since you two are the best at runs, I would feel better knowin' one of you was headin' into town. You can both pick whoever you want to go with you but you gotta be split this once."

Neither Kit nor Daryl was particularly happy about the arrangement, but they accepted it. "Take Carol with you," Kit told him. "She isn't helpless anymore, she knows pretty well what we need from town and most importantly, I know she isn't going to piss you off."

"Ya should take Glenn. He saved ma ass in the woods once, so he won't fall down on the job. Plus, I know he ain't gonna piss you off since he's yer friend. Though, of your options ta take with ya, I guess none of them would piss ya off much anyway."

"I like Maggie and T-Dog, too. The only person who might want to go who I wouldn't want would maybe be Carl or Rick. Anyway, take care of yourself. I'll double-check Carol's list to see if there's anything she's missed." She kissed him before heading in the direction of the older woman.

"Hey Carol," she greeted her with a genuine smile. Carol had always been good to Kit and Daryl – especially since she had lost Sophia. "Would you mind going on a run with Daryl? Rick's splitting us up," she sighed irritably. Rick's leadership had been getting better in the past few months – she had to give him that – but that didn't mean he made the occasional irksome call.

"Of course. I'm guessin' I'll be the one shoppin' while he's totin' that crossbow around."

"Yep. He'll take care of you; just make sure you find anything useful. You got an idea of what we need?"

"Anythin' to help us smell like human beings, anythin' edible, and anythin' else that will help us survive. Did I miss anythin'?" By now, everybody in the group knew which essentials they were missing which was usually quite a few.

"Well," Kit admitted. "Contraceptives would be nice. We're out of birth control and more condoms wouldn't go amiss, either. Whatever you can find." Before the world had ended, Kit would not have felt comfortable having this discussion with someone, but the apocalypse and the tightness of the group changed things. The men had overcome their aversion to feminine hygiene products, everyone knew who was sleeping together and how often – all privacy and embarrassment completely eliminated.

"No problem, dear," Carol replied, without batting a lash.

Daryl and Carol were wandering the empty streets of the town back towards his bike, having finished the run without incident, when it began snowing. "Kit'll throw herself a party," Daryl said. "She's been missin' snow." (Apparently, in Montana, she had been accustomed to receiving snow by late October, or by Thanksgiving at the latest.)

Carol couldn't help but smile at the fact that the snow immediately made Daryl think of Kit. As she thought this, they passed a jewelry store and she noticed some rings in the display which roused her curiosity. "You sure are sweet on her Daryl," she noted with amusement, a plan already forming itself in her head.

"You bet your ass." Why wouldn't he be? As far as he was concerned he had landed the catch of the group in every manifestation it had seen from the quarry until now.

"So I guess you two ain't plannin' on splittin', then?"

"Hell no! 'Less she wants ta…" He started to get a terrified look on his face. "She didn't say nothin' did she? When you two was talkin' earlier?"

Carol shook her head. "Kit is every bit as sweet on you as you are on her," she told him with certainty. It was clear to everyone in the group how happy they were together. At least, as happy as anyone could be in the circumstances that the apocalypse created.

"Then what're ya goin' on 'bout?"

"I guess I was jus' wonderin' if ya wanted ta make it more official?"

"More official? How do ya get more official than lovin' the hell outta each other an' never wantin' ta leave her?" Carol nodded her head towards the jewelry store. "Ya can't be serious."

"You haven't even thought about it?"

"Hell no. Ain't no point in doin' it. Ain't no government gonna need ta know our marital status or nothin'. 'Sides, I don't think it's our style."

"I don't agree with you," Carol persisted. "There's a point in havin' some sort of ceremony. It shows commitment even if it ain't legally bindin' anymore. And I wouldn't be too sure that Kit would not be interested."

"Yer crazy," he scoffed. "We've only know each other what? Six months? An' we've only been together fer four or so. 'Sides, she's only twenty-one," he mumbled, hating to acknowledge their age difference.

"Now who's thinkin' 'bout the way things used to be? The world's changed. The six months you've spent together is more like years the way things are anymore; you've been through more together than most married couples ever experienced before all this. It ain't like you can keep any secrets from each other, either. It also don't matter whether someone's twenty-one or seventy years old anymore: we're all ancient. So stop tryin' ta think of excuses. If you love her an' you don't think you're ever going to stop, then show her now. You don't know what could happen tomorrow but you and I both know that loved ones can all too easily be taken from you."

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the trip but what she had said kept bouncing around in his head while Kit was curled up against him that night. Marry Kit? What had at first sounded crazy was beginning to make more and more sense. He knew her better than he had ever known anyone and he had certainly never lived with any woman for as long as he had with Kit – no competition. Hell, Kit probably knew him better than his own brother. Even Merlehadn't seen the scars that adorned his back. Most importantly, he was confident – beyond any shadow of a doubt – his feelings for her wouldn't change anytime soon.

They loved each other, so why not put on a ring to show it? Marriage didn't have to be the way it used to be, either. All they would do is put the rings on and go about their day normally because the rings were just a symbol that they had claimed each other and everyone should back the fuck off. That was all. So why was he sweating just thinking about it? Maybe because he was almost sure that Kit would say no.

The older woman gave him a knowing look the next morning. "I figured you would change your mind once you thought about it."

"Ya don't gotta look so damn smug 'bout it. I dunno what the hell I'm doin' with this shit an' I'll probably fuck it up."

"I'll help you," she told him good-naturedly. "We just need another excuse to go into town without Kit."

"That ain't gonna be easy. We don't like goin' nowhere without each other."

"Which is exactly the reason we're making this run in the first place," she reminded him with a smirk. "I think Maggie and I can arrange a distraction."

Daryl watched in awe and horror at how quickly the two women orchestrated their plan. Within minutes, Maggie had said something that left Glenn reeling and running to Kit for advice. Once Carol returned he couldn't help but say "Women scare me sometimes." At least Glenn had been manipulated for a good cause?

"Tell Rick we need to make another run into town and you'll be takin' me again because Kit's busy. And I think Maggie's more excited about this than I am," she added gleefully.

"So much for privacy," he grumbled.

Carol shrugged. "Apocalypse or no apocalypse – you would need help with this." Daryl hated admitting she was right, but she was. He didn't know shit when it came to this stuff. "You're lucky, though. I don't think Kit was the type to get worked up about this kind of thing even before the apocalypse. She ain't gonna want to make a fuss."

"I sure as hell hope not."

The abandoned jewelry store had been left more or less intact due to the simple fact that its contents served no purpose for survival. This did nothing to diminish how overwhelmed Daryl felt when he stepped inside. How the fuck could anyone navigate a place like this? Which type of ring was what? Carol, on the other hand, immediately found what they were looking for and pulled him in that direction. "Do you wanna pick or should I?"

He stared blankly at the rings. "Kit ain't gonna want nothin' flashy. Nothin' that's gonna get worn down real easy."

Knowing this, Carol picked out a pair of rings per his specifications. "This one should fit her about right. I'm guessin' on the size but she has pretty small fingers."

He looked the silver bands over, trying to decipher whether or not Kit would like them. "What're these made of anyway?"

"It said titanium," Carol told him. "You're not exactly going to be able to take care of them so I picked out something tough. She'll like them."

Daryl couldn't help but agree when he looked at them. They were a simple, dark grey and looked as if they could take a beating – a good thing when they would see a lot of wear and tear. "Dunno how exactly I'm gonna do this."

The look Carol gave him was one of an almost mocking nature. "You'll be fine."

Of that he was dubious but whether he would be fine or not he supposed there was no going back now.

Kit looked at Daryl and Carol curiously as they returned to the barn that night. "Two runs in two days? Didn't you get everything we needed yesterday?"

Carol immediately had a solution. "Well, we couldn't find the birth control pills, just the condoms, so I thought I would try again, but no luck," she fake-sighed.

"Oh, thanks." She was still giving them an odd look but appeared to buy the story. "I guess we'll have to make due." In truth, her odd look was probably warranted given how fidgety Daryl was whenever she looked at him.

Dinner passed as it usually did, the group making its normal chit-chat, becoming closer by the day. Afterwards, Kit looked as if she was going to settle in for the night but Daryl took her hand and pulled her out of the barn. "I think it'll snow again, tonight," he told her. "Thought ya might like ta see it."

Her face lit up at the suggestion of snow. "You know me too well, Mr. Dixon." She didn't act suspicious as they wandered through the dark trees, enjoying the cold night air, breath trailing behind her. "Besides, we haven't been seeing nearly enough of each other lately, Griz." She glanced up at one of the trees above them. "Feeling nostalgic?" she asked.

Kit had always had a thing for trees, Daryl thought to himself as the two of them climbed, completely immune to the cold. In her case it was due to her almost superhuman love for the cold while his immunity was due to the fact that his body was growing hot with nervousness. "The quarry seems like a lifetime ago," she commented sadly. "There were a lot of things about it that I hated, but I miss a lot of the people. Andrea, Dale, Amy, even Merle!"

"Ya can't actually miss ma brother."

"He was pretty funny," she said in Merle's defense. "I didn't hate talking to him, either. At least, I hated talking to him less than other people."

"I almost forgot that ya didn't say a word for more'n a week – didn't talk ta no one."

"Yeah…I'm glad that you and I talked, though."

"Me, too," he replied awkwardly. "I – uh – ya see – well." He eventually gave up trying to say anything before handing her the ring that he and Carol had picked out for her.

He saw her eyes narrow, trying to decipher exactly what it was he had given her before they grew wide with disbelief. "Is this a wedding ring?"

"Yeah…ya don't gotta say yes 'less ya want to or nothin'. I ain't expectin' anythin' I jus' thought…"

It took her a few moments to process what exactly was happening before slipping the ring onto her left hand. "I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess it makes sense." A look of surprise lit Daryl's face at her answer, which was a very sure yes. "Besides, I don't want any woman with wandering eyes to make the mistake of thinking that you are in any way available." Then, she added, seriously "I love you, Griz."

"Me too, Dex." He clumsily slipped his ring on, too, before Kit kissed him long and hard.

"This is perfect."

When they eventually wandered back to the barn, they drew attention, given how long they had been gone and the enormous, mirror grins on their faces. It didn't take the group long to gather what had occurred out in the woods, especially when they noticed the rings. This met Kit and Daryl with 'congratulations' from the rest of the group, as if their marriage had indeed been legally binding.

Herschel held up his bible. "Do you mind?" Neither Kit nor Daryl could be considered particularly religious but they nodded. "'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.'" He smiled at them earnestly. "I hope that your love drives away some of the fear that has become ubiquitous in our lives."

"Thank you," Kit whispered, happy for the support she and Daryl received from the rest of the group.

That night, the pair retreated to the more private area of the barn they had claimed as their own a few days ago. Though, 'private' was loose term, given only a half-wall stood between them and the rest of the group. But, it was enough for the night.

"Not much of a honeymoon," Daryl said apologetically afterwards.

"We'll make up for it later when we get a room to ourselves," she replied with a smile. "Then we can be as loud as we want, not hold back. Still, I think we manage pretty well given our limiting circumstances."

"You ain't gonna regret the whole marriage thing in the mornin'?"

"Hardly," she snorted. "Besides, Herschel's quotation wasn't very far from the truth. I'm less afraid when I know you're with me. I trust you more than anyone else if I'm on a run and I sleep easier when you're next to me."

Daryl flinched at the accuracy of her statement. They didn't just like to take each other on runs because they liked each other's company or because they were both good shots. It was because they knew with absolute certainty that the other had their back. "I feel invincible with ya next ta me," he murmured.

Neither of them would trade the other for the world; maybe love hadn't changed as much as the rest of the world had.

A/N: Okay, I'm really nervous posting this chapter so please let me know what you think! Too cheesy? Too weird? Part of the reason it took me so long to update was because I agonized over whether or not to include this chapter so, again, let me know whether or not you think it has a place in the story.