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Rose stood outside of the watch tower, chewing on her bottom lip as she leaned her head against the cool stone bricks of the wall, sighing to herself as she glances around the field, squinting from the bright sun shining in her eyes. It had been just two days since she discovered Ryder was still alive, and today was the day she was being forced to choose his fate… Let him stay, or make him go. It would have been an easy choice, if she didn't have Jamie to worry about that is… But she did, and she couldn't do that to her daughter… the little girl who has been dying to meet her real father since the day she realized she had one.

Rick had let Ryder out of the tower for a few hours, and Rose was keeping an eye on him, he was across the field from her, staring at the fenced off area where Jamie was playing with Carl… She knew Ryder well enough to know when he was lying, he wanted to be with his daughter, she was all he had… But Rose just couldn't trust it. Ryder had a knack for making a commitment then bailing on it, it was who he was, who he had always been. But things were different now, they knew eventually they would all die, and Rose knew that Ryder wanted to make it last with Jamie.

"Rosie," Daryl walked up towards Rose, making her look away from Ryder to the man in front of her, and she gave him a small smile pushing off of the wall so she stood up straighter in front of him.

"Brought you some breakfast," Daryl said handing her a granola bar, and a bottle of water, "It's not much." He spoke quietly, glancing over at Ryder who had his eyes on them now, his expression unreadable from such a distance away.

Rose took the food from him, smiling again as she moved to sit on the ground, leaning back against the wall, patting the hard dirt beside her for Daryl to take his place at her side while she ate her food. "How are your little minions?" She teased before taking a bite from the granola bar, looking over at Daryl as he rolled his eyes.

"Rick's got Logan checking out the doc's leg, and Johanna's been watching over Carl and Jambo." Daryl said, and Rose nods slowly, "They seem to be getting along here well… They're just kids so I don't see anything turning out so bad."

"I like them," Rose admits once she was done chewing, "Jo is a sweetheart, and Logan's a med student, so I love him." Rose gave a small shrug, making Daryl chuckle some as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"Rose, I… I don't mean to be sticking my nose in your business," Daryl started chewing on the inside of his cheek as he glanced over at her, "But what exactly do you plan on doing with the pretty boy?"

Rose sighed, giving a small shrug as she swallowed down some of her water, "It is your business Daryl, you're with me now… and Ryder is imposing." She mumbled to herself, glancing over at him as he raised an eyebrow, "He's the jealous type, and if I let him stay… things are going to be difficult between the two of you… and me." She shook her head as she set the bottle down, pressing her hand against her forehead as she fought back a headache. "But if I make him leave… Jamie will hate me."

Daryl nods slowly, he was biased on the situation, but he didn't think Ryder should stay, and not just because he was afraid of the jackass somehow weaseling his way back into Rose's heart, no, he knew that if he were to stay he'd just make things worse on the group as a whole… and if Jamie got close to him, and the bastard got himself killed, it kill the girl… "You should talk to him...Make him see things your way," Rose nods again, her hand going to Daryl's and he pulled her hand up, pressing his lips to the back of it, "You need to talk to Jamie too." He murmured against her skin, letting her lean against her shoulder when she sighed.

"I've tried; she refuses to even look at me." Rose sighed, closing her eyes as Daryl nods a bit, before standing up, pulling Rose up with him.

"Here," He murmured and pulled a pack of Marlboro Reds from his back pocket, seeing her smile a bit as he placed them in her hand, "You relax, and I'll go talk to Jambo." He said brushing her bangs from her face before pulling her lips to his, kissing her slowly.

"Mm," Rose hummed against his lips, smiling a bit before pulling back, "I love you Daryl Dixon." She said, running her fingers along his jaw as he gave her that small smile, before walking off towards where the others were, leaving Rose alone with her cigarettes.

Rose pulled out one of the cigarettes from the pack, setting them to the side before lighting up, inhaling deeply, not minding the fact they were stale, but relishing in the small, relaxing high they gave her before exhaling. Rose bit her lip as she stood up, glancing towards Daryl's figure going towards the fenced off court yard, then to Ryder who was down the field, staring up at the sky.

"God damn it," She muttered to herself before standing up quickly and slung her rifle over her back before trotting over to the side of the field where Ryder was, seeing him turn at the sound of her footsteps. "We need to talk."

"Yeah," Ryder crossed his arms over his chest, staring at her intently as he looked her over from head to toe, stopping to meet her eyes, "we do."

"Why'd you attack Daryl?" She asked first, placing the cigarette back between her lips as he rolled his eyes.

"Heard your men asking him about you, ya'll two sneaking off together, got jealous."

"You haven't seen me in years," She spat out, flicking the ash from her cigarette as she shook her head, "You could have killed him."

Ryder chuckled shaking his head, "Time don't stop love baby." He teases taking a step forward and she shakes her head, pulling away, "Rose… Rosie."

"Don't call me that," Rose said dropping her cigarette as she stared up at him, "Ryder, I do not love you, not anymore, and I… I need you to leave, you have to leave."

"I want to be with my daughter," Ryder snapped back stepping closer to Rose so they were face to face, "You kept her from me, you didn't visit, I wrote you letters Rose... I called you, I even begged your damn daddy to get you to come see me, and you never did. It's your fault she never got to meet me."

Rose barked out a laugh, shaking her head as she put her hands on her hips, "My fault? It's my fault you did too much crystal and landed yourself in jail? It's my fault you had to literally be locked up before you actually realized you have a family you could have loved? No, it's not my fault Ryder, it's your fault. You were never there!" Rose yelled, closing her eyes as she felt the tears coming, putting her hand over her mouth, turning her head away.

"Rose," Ryder stepped back shaking his head slowly, "I want to make it up to her… with the little time we all have left, I just want to know her, please, please just let me get to know my baby."

Rose took in a shaky breath, nodding slowly as she turned to look at him, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Okay."

Daryl pulled at the strap of his crossbow, nodding over at Logan who was leaning against one of the picnic benches, watching as Johanna chased Jamie around, Carl walking over to greet Daryl.

"Did Rose decide what she wants to do yet?" Carl asked curiously, looking up at Daryl as he shook his head, "I tried talking to Jamie, tried to convince her that her dad was a bad man, but she just got mad at me."

Daryl sighs nodding slowly as he tips the boy's hat down, "its okay, I'll talk to her."

Carl nods, fixing his hat before going over to sit by Logan while Daryl lets out a single toned whistle, getting the girl's attention, "Can I steal Jambo from you Jo?" Daryl asked, and Johanna smiled, nodding before pushing Jamie off in the direction of Daryl.

"Am I in trouble Mr. Daryl?" Jamie asked as she sluggishly walked to him, and he shakes his head before glancing back towards the fences, panicking a bit when he didn't see Rose where he left her, before spotting her beside Ryder.

"No you're not in trouble; I just want to talk to you." He said and heads off towards the field, making her follow in his wake.

"Talk about what?" Jamie pulled at the end of her braid, and Daryl stopped once they were far enough away from wandering eyes.

"About how you're treating your mother." He said and Jamie looked away, obviously feeling guilty. For a seven year old Daryl could never quite understand how she was so mature, though he was sure it was her mother's doing, "You know she's really upset you're not talking to her right?"

Jamie nods slowly wiping her runny nose with her sleeve, "I just… I just want to know my daddy." She says looking up at him, "I love momma, and I love you… But I just want him to stay."

Daryl nods slowly pulling Jamie to him when she started to cry, "Come on Jamie, let's go find your mom… and dad." The words felt strange to say, her dad, Jamie's dad, not him. He wasn't her dad, he knew that, he always did but he felt like her dad, and now Ryder was here.

Daryl lead Jamie over towards the towers, where Rose was now walking away from Ryder, and to Rick who waited by the gate leading out.

"So," Rose said, glancing down at Jamie who gave her a tiny smile before looking behind her at Ryder, who stood a few feet away, "I've decided what to do with Ryder." Rose says, and Rick nods, glancing over at Daryl as he glanced down at the ground.

"Ryder is willing to commit to being a capable member of this group," Rose said, noticing Jamie's face brighten, "He's agreed to not cause any trouble, and to contribute… in order to stay with Jamie."

Rick's jaw tightened a bit, glancing over at Daryl who nods, "He's steps one foot out of line, he's gone." Rick said and Rose nods.

"That's what I told him," She said quietly looking over at Daryl who meets her eyes, but there was something about the way he looked at her that worried her, "Jamie… Your daddy wants to talk to you." Rose says, looking over at Jamie who smiles before running over to Rose and jumped in her arms.

"I'm sorry I was mean to you mommy," She whispered while Rose wrapped her arms around her, pressing her lips to her cheek.

"It's okay baby," Rose murmured, looking over at Daryl who nods in her direction, then headed back towards the prison with Rick, leaving the family alone. "Come on, let's go talk to Ryder."

Rose set Jamie down, and watched as Jamie took off in the direction of her father, who had knelt down just in time for Jamie to tackle him to the ground, seeing him fall onto his butt while Jamie sobbed in her arms. Rose wasn't sure if what she was doing was right, to let Jamie fall in love with Ryder's charms. She knew the man well enough, she didn't trust him, but she just couldn't break her daughter's heart. She couldn't.

I actually kind of hate this chapter, because I hate Ryder. BUT it needed to be done for reasons you will witness in the future, so here's this short, filler chapter. And be warned, there will be angst lots of it, and sex, so there's a plus.