AN: Hello again! Thank you to Axarell, VampWolf92, hayleyjune13, Amber, Guest2, SexySelena666 and PLLML for their reviews. They were really kind. Guest1 made me kind of unhappy because she wished for me to take Carol's name of the tags "so this story of yours doesn't come up in the search when people are looking for an ACTUAL Carol/Daryl pairing story". I'm sorry that it offends you. I'm not going to take her name off because I'm going to make Carol a bigger role so it's needed. It also says DARYL/OC on the info or the story so don't read it I guess? I don't get annoyed when I'm looking for a Daryl/OC story and I have all of these Carol and Daryl parings.

Sorry for my rant. She/he sort of upset with that :( Hope i wasn't out of line xD

ANYWAY. I'm sorry for the long wait. College got completely hectic and I've just had so little effort to do much with everything going on in my personal life. I hope to get another chapter out this week. Anything you guys wanna see? I'll see what I can do. it can be characters of your own, certain plot things, anything. Thank you to everyone else that favorited or followed. YOu guys are seriously awesome for reading this.

I own nothing but Eliza, Josie and whatever characters you don't know. I would love to have Daryl all to myself though...

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Daryl entered the farm house for the first time, the same day he had met little Josie. It was an older house but far better than the home he grown up in and around. He felt off being in the house. It was too nice, gave off to much of a loving feel. He felt like stood out like a sore thumb. But had to go inside. The little girl had come back out with a plate of two fresh biscuits, still hot out of the oven covered with sticky jam and butter. Daryl had stared at her for a few moments before grabbing the outstretched plate. Josie was a bloody angel bringing him the plate of food. Never again did he think he would be eating bread or butter or anything that would actually tasted so good.

"This for me?" he asked her as he took the plate.

"Yes," she agreed happily, her blue shining brightly up at him. "Momma gave it to me to say thanks."

"For what?" he asked, though he at a feeling it was for keeping an eye on her, something he hadn't meant to do in the first place.

The girl shrugged at him. "I dunno."

Before he had chance to thank her, Josie flashed him a huge smile and ran back up to the porch where Eliza was standing. She leaned heavily against the column of the porch, watching over her daughter with vigilance. She gave him a slight nod; a small wavering smile appeared on her face, before they both disappeared inside.

He wanted to return the plate. He wasn't some uncivilized grunt. Well, he was somewhat of an uncivilized grunt, but he felt like he needed to better himself in front of the red head and her daughter. What would she think if he never return the plate? Would she even notice? Or even care? He debated for a while in his tent over what he should do. Why did he even care what she thought? She was nothing to him, neither was Josie. But yet, they still wormed their way into his head.

Daryl was surprised to find Lori and Carol siting in the kitchen with the red head and the older woman. They were all chatting lightly as if they had been friends of months. Josie and Sofia sat at the table coloring while the four adults made dinner. Patricia had offered to have a welcoming dinner for the new group, somehow getting Hershel to agree to share their food along with the land.

Everyone turned to look at him as he entered. He shifted uncomfortably under all of their stares. Carol and Lori smiled at him while the other two only glanced up before continuing with their work. His eyes strayed to the red head, resting there watching her cut up some vegetables. He didn't mean to stare at her, but he seemed unable to look away from the young mother.

Carol cleared her throat, bringing his attention back to her. "Whatcha need, Daryl?"

"Just wanted to give this back," he was able to grunt out, motioning to the plate.

"Where did you get that?" Lori questioned him.

"The little sunflower over there brought it out to me," he said gesturing to Josie. Josie looked up and smiled at him. He gave her a small smile back as he placed the plate on the table and turned to leave.

"Dayrl," Lori called to him before he left. He turned back around slightly. "This is Patricia and Eliza. Eliza is Josephine's mother."

"I know," he grunted, casting his eyes back over to Eliza.

His eyes always seemed to get stuck on her. Daryl knew it was stupid to start thinking some chick was hot. Attractions and relationships were always trouble. He couldn't afford to think that way. He had to worry about surviving in this damn apocalypse. But he stared at her through his blue eyes, almost studying her unintentionally. Her red hair was almost as unkempt as his own unruly hair. He was able to see her face much more closely now. She was quiet pale with a lot of freckles that splattered all across her face. Her green eyes glanced up at him and he noticed the fading bruise around it. It didn't stand out against skin, others probably wouldn't have even noticed it but Daryl did. He knew every phase of a bruise.

She blushed heavily before turning away from him, gingerly turning in her seat. That caught Daryl attention. He tensed. His anger flaring up quickly, his hands curling into fist at his sides. He knew she was hurting far more than she let on. Her limp from earlier and bruised eye were the only things that showed but Daryl would bet his life that she hid a lot of injuries under her clothing. And it angered him. It made him so angry that she, the stranger, was hurting so badly.

Daryl stormed out of house, leaving a room full of women confused. He tried to convince himself that she had just fallen but he knew you couldn't just fall and bruise your own eye like that. She could have gotten injured on her way to the farm. But deep down, he knew that wasn't true. He knew the signs. He experienced them himself. Maybe it was because he knew what abuse felt like; to be hit, punched, kicked. He knew all the pain that went with it, physically and mentally. He knew the aftermath of it all. He lived it each and every day.

As his anger brewed stronger inside of him, Daryl went on a mission to find Rick. There was no other person on the farm that was capable of hitting these people except for one. It could have been the man who died but Daryl figured that she wouldn't be so comfortable with his wife it had been him. He knew then that either he was leaving or killing the bastard that hurt Eliza that day. There was no way he was sticking around a place where the owner was just like his old man.

He stormed back to their encampment where he found the cop talking to Dale outside in front of the RV. Daryl was furious—and Rick saw the fury on his face the moment Daryl came into view. He excused himself from Dale before slowly walking toward the mad man.

"Daryl…?"

"I ain't stayin' here. I don't care—," Daryl started.

"Daryl—"

"I DON'T CARE. I don't care if none of ya'll come with me, I ain't stayin' here," he told Rick, straining to keep himself from yelling at the man.

Rick was beyond confused. This was a safe place to be and Daryl had seemed fine when he had arrived early today, happy even because they had found Sofia. They could relax for a bit here while Carl recovered. They did not have to constantly look over their shoulders for walkers. What had happened to piss off the hunter? "Why? Give me your reasoning."

"He's beatin' his people!" Daryl seethed, unable to fathom the thought.

"Who? Did you see?" Rick was concerned. Sure, Hershel seemed like a good enough man. He saved his son and mended up T-Dog. He wasn't sure of Eliza's story but Hershel had taken her and her daughter in which was very kind of him. Rick couldn't see the old man hurting anyone.

"Eliza," he turned his face away from Rick. "I know what da aftermath of a beatin' looks like, Rick."

"You don't know that for sure…" Rick tried to reason.

"I won't stay to watch Sofia, Carol, Andrea or even Lori get beaten up by an old man," he said, glaring harshly.

"Why don't we go talk to him?" Rick suggested. "If he isn't who he seems to be, we will pack everything up and go, alright?"

Daryl stared at him for a moment before agreeing to his term. He nodded stiffly before the pair walked to the farm in search of its owner. They had found the old man in the stables grooming one of the horses. When Daryl saw him, his anger flared up again and he charged toward the man but Rick grabbed him before he could actually get near the man.

Hershel looked up when he hear their foot steeps approaching. His eyes narrowed at Daryl's hatred filled face. "Can I help you boys?"

"Yeah, ya can you sick motherfucker!" Daryl seethed pulling away from Rick.

"Daryl!" Rick yelled, pulling the man back again. "Calm the hell down!

"Can I inquire about why you are so angered son?" Hershel asked, his tone very clipped.

"You beatin' ya own people!" Daryl yelled, pacing back and forth in front of Hershel and Rick, unable to stand still.

Hershel's face faltered before becoming very confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Daryl believes that you have been beating your people," Rick explained calmly watching Daryl for any sudden movements. "He believes you are beating Eliza."

Hershel sighed heavily. He looked up at both of them sadly. "You're man is right. She was beaten." Daryl charged forward, anger seething out of him. Rick looked stunned, not even trying to keep Daryl away from Hershel. "But it wasn't me."

Daryl froze in his tracks while Rick looked a bit relived at the information. They could stay. They didn't need to flee from the safety of the farm. It was Daryl who spoke. "What do you mean?"

"She came to me like that. I'm trying to heal her up the best I can," Hershel told them. He signed remembering the horrible shape Eliza had been in when she arrived. "She had tripped and fallen out in the woods. She's got a gash deep in her thigh and she won't sit still long enough for it to heal. She also cut up her side pretty well."

"What about the bruise around her eye?" Daryl offered, his voice low, deadly still.

"She told Patricia her husband used to abuse her."

Daryl sucked in a breath and relaxed a tiny bit. Looking back at the man he asked, "He's not here is he?"

"No," Hershel answered, thanking the gods that man was not here. "Probably would have never taken them in for more than a night if he had been with them."

Daryl nodded, agreeing with the man. His blue eyes quickly shifted from both of the men before walking out of the stable. It felt almost embarrassed assuming such a thing of Hershel. He was good enough to let them stay, eat his food for a night, treat Carl and T-Dog.

But the anger that had risen up embarrassed him too, over some girl. He was never one to have feeling for anyone, let alone some girl he just met that morning. It bothered him how much he had cared that she was being beaten, that she was hurt. Thinking of her being beat created so much anger in him. He wanted to protect her, beat the living hell of whoever had touched her. It bothered him that he wanted to protect her, make sure that she was safe from any threats. Maybe it wasn't that he wanted to protect her as much he wanted to protect his group from someone that could have hurt them. He had come to caring about them in some sort of way as they traveled, taking up a role as a protector for them.

But, that did not sit right with him.

Deep down, it was because of her. The red head with the green eyes and blonde haired daughter. The person he had never seen before in his life before this morning, standing up on the porch looking nervous as hell with all the people around her. It was her, the skittish, shy woman that was not made for this world. Which should have been a put off for him. But it didn't. It was not enough to shake his attraction and interest in her.

If Merle had been there to see that… Daryl could already hear the things he would of have said.

Back in the barn, Rick and Hershel watched him go.

Rick turned to Hershel with an appognic look on his face. "Look, I am sorry about him."

"I want no trouble with your people while you're here. Please be sure to control your men in the future," Hershel responded, unhappy that after the kindness he had shone he was almost attacked by one of Rick's men.

"He isn't normally like that. I don't know why it got to him so badly that Eliza was hurt…" Rick continued to explain, hoping they weren't going to be kicked off the farm.

"Her girl, Josephine, has a way of working her way into your heart. You'll see in your short stay here. I suspect she gets it from her mother," Hershel explained, thinking of how quickly everyone took to the Harlow girls. He turned and looked at Rick steadily. "Just be sure he stays away from her. All of your men. Shane already gave her a panic attack. I don't need her having any more."

Rick gave a confused look. "My men are good men-."

"I'm not saying they aren't," Hershel cut him off. "She's only been comfortable around me. Won't go need Jimmy and was still very wary of Otis when he was with us. Just please, watch your men around our Eliza."