"Let me come with you," Mason begged. "You can't be out in the woods by yourself with Merle."

"No, you need to go back to where it's safe with Olivia. She is the most important thing in your life," Lily told him sternly.

"I don't want you to be alone and unprotected."

"I won't be alone or unprotected. I have Daryl and Emily."

"Okay," Mason sighed, knowing that he couldn't win. Lily was more stubborn than a mule. "But, take care of them. Dixon's a good man."

"I know he is," Lily smiled softly as she turned to look at Daryl who was sitting with Emily on the ground.

"I love you," Mason kissed his baby sister's forehead.

"And I love you, big brother," she embraced him quickly, as she did, she whispered the super secret location of her half of the map to Shaw island. For going to that island, there was only one map. Lily had half and Mason had the other half.

Merle was now awake and standing in the woods waiting for his brother. It would just be the two of them again, as it always had been. That was the only way things could begin to go back to normal. But all of that came burning to the ground when he saw the blonde bitch walk up with Daryl, while a raven haired child walked by them both.

"Ah, no," Merle said. "You ain't commin' wit' us."

"Want to bet?" Lily challenged.

"I'll knock yew on yer ass girl."

"Try me."

"Don' lay a hand on 'er Merle," Daryl told him through gritted teeth.

"Er what?"

"Yew'll regret it." Merle turned away angry. Lily was surprised that he'd stopped arguing at all.

Some how, they'd all fallen into an awkward as they walked though the woods. Daryl or Lily would shoot the occasional squirrel, but for the most part, Merle's loud foot falls scared off everything. Even Emily was ten times quieter. Lily glared at him most of the time.

"We're gonna need to stop off and rest," Lily told Daryl quietly. "I can tell Emily is getting tired."

"Okay, I'll find a place, don' worry," Daryl replied.

"Fine, whisper and leave ol' Merle outa it," Merle said.

"If you must know, we're looking for a place to stay tonight," Lily told him.

"Why? Sleep outside."

Lily just shook her head and continued to walk. Sleeping outside would be an option if she wasn't worried about Emily. That kid could sleep like a rock, which made her easy bait.

"Whu' 'bout that up 'ere," Daryl pointed to a wooden cabin in the distance.

"We'll have to make sure it's cleaned out first."

"Duh," Daryl smirked. They made their way up the slight incline and found that someone had boarded up the windows and doors, they weren't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Lily tried to pull open the door but it was locked. She heard foot steps moving about in the house, then a shushing sound.

"Let's jus' mo-"

"Shut up Merle," Lily commanded. "Please open the door," she pleaded. "We have a child, and are just looking for a place to sleep."

Daryl kept his cross bow ready, but not pointed directly at the door. Lily had completely dropped guard and was waiting for someone, whoever they may be to open the door. To everyone's surprise, it actually opened a moment later. Lily stood wide eyed at the face that stared back at her. The deep brown eyes that met her, matched the ones that haunted her nightmares on occasion. She let out an unintentional gasp.

"Lil!" arms wrapped around Lily's neck and hugged her tightly. Daryl looked at them questionably.

"Um, this is Layla," Lily explained. She wasn't sure what to call her. "Layla, this is Daryl, Merle, and Emily."

"Please come in," Layla said, as she held the door open. Everyone made their way into the house, Layla locked the door behind them. "Where's my brother?" she asked.

Lily clenched her jaw. She didn't want to tell Layla she killed her brother.

"Why don' we git set up firs'?" Daryl asked, noticing Lily's hesitation.

"Yeah. Good idea."

OoO

That night, everyone was spread throughout the house. Daryl, Lily, and Emily took the living room, with Emily on the couch and the couple on the floor. Layla and Merle each took a bedroom. Daryl held Lily tightly, he laid on his back while her head rested on his chest; he wasn't big on cuddling, but it was their first night back together. She mindlessly let her fingers dance across his chest, she loved to just be near him again. Daryl's scent was the same as it ever was: the woods mixed with sweat. Lily should've thought it stunk, but it was so familiar she loved it.

"Been meanin' ta ask yew," Daryl started. "Whu's the cute lil' tattoo on yer left ass cheek mean?" she grinned at him, slightly wondering when he saw it.

"It's a double infinity. It was my parent's thing. They had it on everything! Even had it on all of our towels," she chuckled slightly thinking about much she saw that symbol everyday. "So, after they passed, Mason and I went and got tattoos."

As Daryl layed there with the woman he loved, he thought back to a dream he'd had a couple of months ago. A question began to nag at him. "Have yew ever wanted kids...lik' of yer own?"

"Yes, of course..." she wanted to tell him about the issue with that, but she didn't want to ruin it yet. "What about you?"

He took her hand, the one that way resting across his stomach, in his, before kissing each finger affectionately. "No," he paused for a moment. "Not 'til recently anyway...Great timin' huh?"

She smiled, but it quickly faded when she realized he only wanted to have kids if it was with her. "Daryl...there's something I need to tell you..." she had to do it now, or it'd never happen and he'd hate her when he eventually did find out.

"Whut is it?"

"I can't have children of my own..." she bit her lip, hoping he wouldn't react the same way Phil did.

"We've still got Em," He said with a slight shrug. She grabbed his face with her hands and pressed a hard kiss on his lips.

"You have no idea how great that is to hear!" she kissed him again, and again.

AN: What do y'all think of Layla? Is she going to cause trouble? Or is it good that they found her? Let me know your thought/feelings/ideas towards this story. By the way for anyone who hasn't already read it, I have a new story out, "Death, Death, Everywhere". And thanks everyone who has read that already. I'm not sure when I'll update that one, I'd like to finish this one first but working on that one helps me with this one, so thanks again! Bye!