Please forgive me. I've been run off my feet with my sick daughter and work and university and motherhood so I apologize profusely. Please enjoy. It's a short one, but I think it's got some guts ;)

She watched them.

Days turned to weeks, which soon progressed to months. Months of living in safety. Months of having adequate food, water, clothing and shelter. Months of happiness. Laughter filled the house, and a feeling of security settled over them like a warm blanket in the cold night. They were secluded out here, and walkers were few and far between.

It wasn't as though there were endless jobs and tasks to fill the day. After completing the rounds of checking the traps for food, securing the Walker alarms and taking inventory of their supplies, days were generally spent wasting away the hours. Beth would sit by the fire, reading to tiny Sophia. Maggie would take inventory, collect firewood, cook meals and do laundry. Glenn would follow Maggie around like a loyal puppy, or accompany Daryl into the woods where they would hunt. Deer, rabbit, squirrels. Grace was eternally grateful for the safe haven that this home provided. But the days did become lonesome. When the sun was setting, and the house was quiet, and there was no longer enough sunlight to read books, there was nothing much to do to entertain herself.

And so she watched them.

She observed their daily lives. Their habits. Their preferences. She knew what formula Sophia disliked, and was soon able to distinguish between her "I'm hungry" and her "change my nappy" cries. She learned that Glenn was funny, always able to crack a joke to ease the tension in any situation. The admired Maggie for her strength and her resilience, she could tell that life used to be easy for that farmer's daughter but she had adjusted to the turn of the world with such ease it made Grace feel jealous. Maggie was so alike, yet so different from Glenn. It was easy to see how they had fallen together at the end of the world. They complimented each other perfectly.

She liked to watch Glenn and Maggie. But she loved to watch Daryl.

Daryl.

He was still a complete and utter mystery to her, despite having lived under the same roof for months now. He was the strong and silent type, like her own late husband. She'd only ever seen him laugh or smile in the presence of Beth. He was rough around the edges, but wasn't everybody by this point?

Every morning, Grace would watch from the front window as Daryl checked the traps. She watched the lines of muscle that ran the length of his arms as he lifted his crossbow over his shoulder. She watched the small expanse of skin above the waistline of his jeans whenever his shirt lifted. She traced the tattoos that covered his upper arm, and pondered their meaning or significance. Did they tell a story, or were they a result of stumbling into a tattoo parlor at 2am, drunk and disorderly?

He was their leader. Nobody ever referred to him by that title, but it was obvious enough in the way he acted. He put the others first, offering protection for what was now his family.

And God, did that man love his daughter.

Grace lived for the stolen moments that she would see Daryl playing with Sophia, tickling at her sides and peppering her with light, sweet kisses. The type of kisses that conveyed so much love and adoration.

Andrew used to kiss Isabella like that, when she was small and pink and full of joy and curiosity. If she closed her eyes and tried real hard, she could play her own memories like old movies in her head. Of Andrew appearing at the hospital with a bouquet of flowers when Isabella was born. Holding her for the first time, terrified of breaking this fragile human. The expression on his face when she said "Dada". Her squeals of glee as she learnt to ride a bike, to rollerblade in the park, to throw the basketball through the hoop on the court. Her eyes would always water and her heart would ache when she remembered the man she had loved, had made children with, had lost so violently and so suddenly.

But Andrew wasn't here any longer. Reminiscing about the days when he was with her would do nothing to bring him back. Isabella wasn't here either. Or her infant daughter that never even had the chance to be a person.

But Daryl was here. Daryl and Sophia.

And, of course, there was Beth.