Author's Note: As always I want to start off by going over some things. Rick is *not* going to be the bad guy, like, ever. He's one of my favorites and I couldn't even really see him as a realistic villain. So no worries, he's just a guy and thought with one head and not the other ;) Bazingaaaa.
Thanks so so much to those who reviewed: erika001, taylyons, mrskaz453, and bigtimerushlover101. You guys are awesome sauce.(:
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Enjoy lovies!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
IT ENDS TONIGHT.

Hershel had just came out on the porch with his first aid kit when Taylor came bursting past him. She surveyed both of the damages that were already done and glanced over at her uncle who had just popped the kit open. After looking between the two for what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few minor seconds, she had decided who she was going to help. She immediately grabbed a set of butterfly stitches, gauze, and a few alcohol cleansing pads.

Taylor slowly came down the steps not wanting to startle either of them, they seemed too entranced to notice anyone, but he had seen her. Once he saw her approaching he stepped back and decided it was not worth it, she was there, the kids had gathered on the porch, he wasn't going to fight in front of all of them. He wasn't going to waste his energy on Rick.

"Stay with Maggie, Jack." Taylor called over her shoulder, the child nodded obediently and grabbed onto her leg quickly. The yelling and blood had scared him, his face white as a ghost and his little lips trembling. Maggie soothed his hair down and led him back inside to avoid whatever could possibly be coming.

"Stay out of this," Rick growled to Daryl as he began to back away.

He continued to take, slow, deliberate steps backwards knowing she was coming for him. He didn't want her anywhere near him at that moment, he might just slip and tell her what their fight was about, and frankly he didn't want to be the one to drop that bombshell. He wouldn't be.

Taylor watched Cassidy fuss over Rick's hand and gave a sideways glance, confused by the scene. Since when did she care about him? She brushed the thought away as Hershel swept by her to look at his mangled hand. Daryl took the momentary distraction and stalked off towards the woods. Soon enough he was past his own camp and just along the line of the thickly forested woods. He picked up his pace when he heard footsteps falling closely behind him. So close that they might as well have been walking in tandem.

"Go back to the camp," he grumbled loudly enough that he knew she would hear. She ignored his words and advanced forward, closely on his trail. Once he knew she was mere steps behind him he turned around on his heels and dead locked his eyes with her. "Leave me be."

"No," she protested, but held up the medicinal items as an offer. "I'll let you be if you let me fix it." She nodded towards his eyebrow where it had been split. He wiped some of the blood where it began to pool and grunted in agreement. He knew there was no point of arguing with her, if there was anyone as stubborn as him, it was her.

"Sit down," she directed him over towards a fallen log a few feet ahead of them.

"Fine," he sat down submissively and watched her carefully as she bent down, kneeling directly in front of him. She smiled sympathetically once she saw how bad it really was, his eye was already starting to bruise and the cut was still oozing a steady flow of blood.

"What happened?" She took one of the gauze pads and leaned forward closely to splotch some of the blood away.

"Your boyfriend punched me in the fuckin' face," he was speaking through gritted teeth, his mouth clamping shut after.

"Don't call him that," she grimaced as she ripped open one of the alcohol wipes, she gingerly slid it across the cut and shot back when he flinched. "Sorry," she continued to disinfect it as quickly as possible.

"Call 'em what?" Daryl decided to let his anger lapse and actually have a conversation. He needed something to focus on besides her face being inches from his. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to get one of the packets of the Steristrips open.

"My boyfriend," she fumbled with it for a few more seconds before finally achieving her goal. She carefully used two fingers to gently push the two ends of the wound together before maneuvering her other hand to apply one of the strips. Daryl noticed that she seemed to be completely in her element, lining up the butterfly stitches on top of each other with deep concentration. "It sounds stupid."

He hadn't even noticed that she'd answered him at first, he was too busy watching her work with raw admiration. "It's stupid callin' someone a boyfriend, or callin' him a boyfriend?"

"Both," she chuckled and cleaned around the area one last time before leaning back on her heels. "You didn't answer my question."

"I told ya, he sucker punched me," he stated in a tone that suggested he thought he had already made himself clear.

"I know that," she used her own 'duh' tone and placed her hands on her thighs, rubbing some of the blood and dirt off. "Why did he hit you?"

"Cause he's an asshole," he mumbled to himself, when he noticed that she looked perplexed, almost bewildered, he continued. "He should tell ya why."

"Why can't you?" Taylor was not interested in playing telephone, she just wanted to know why she came out to what could have been a full-out brawl, if Daryl had not backed down for a reason that was unbeknownst to her.

"I shouldn't hafta." He sighed in defeat, the dejected and somewhat pouty look always made him cave. This was worse though, he couldn't tell her, no- "I don't wanna."

"You sound like Jackson," she smiled brightly and stood up, wiping the rear of her jeans off. He grinned in return, though it quickly faded when she stared down at him with her heavyhearted stare. She was desperate to know, she knew they were both hiding something and it crushed her that he wouldn't confess.

Her eyes always haunted him when they were filled with hurt, ever since the first day they met, they always made his heart lurch.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered attempting to get closer. She scurried backwards until her back was pressed against the wall. Once the gun wasn't at her head all he could focus on were her shocking blue eyes that seemed to bore into him. The look in them was just begging to be saved from everything she had been through, something deep within him made sure he was going to do just that.

"Ya shouldn't be with him," he stood up now, they were less than a foot apart and he felt a tension that he never noticed before, but she always had.

"What?" She was taken aback by his sudden, almost forceful, comment.

"He ain't right for you," he ran a hand through his hair, looking down at the ground now, unable to keep her stare. "Ain't it obvious?"

"Isn't what obvious?" For a brief moment he thought she was playing dumb, that she just didn't want to come to terms with the fact that Rick was not what she thought he was... and that maybe he was wrong about not wanting to be together. She stared blankly at him, blinking a few times, feeling like an idiot. What the hell is he talking about?

"Ya really don't know?" It was then that he realized that she truly didn't see it, she didn't see that Rick was so wrong for her. She definitely didn't see that he was trying to admit that he was wrong before, without really saying it of course. He wasn't sure he could do that, too much pride was constantly coursing through his veins to openly admit defeat.

"What the hell are you talking about Daryl? What don't I know?" She folded her arms across her chest indignantly, why wouldn't he just tell her already? "I shouldn't be with Rick... why?" She stared hard at him when a revelation dawned on her. "Are you jealous?"

"No! That ain't what I'm trynna to say." He was a little miffed with the smirk that was crossing her lips. His new-found jealousy had nothing to do with his outright hatred of Rick, not to mention he wasn't jealous.

"You are..." She let her arms fall away from the defensive position and tucked them into the back pockets of the jeans. "Why don't you want me to be happy?"

"What?" He balked at the sheer ignorance of her comment. Was she being serious? He could not wrap his mind around the fact that he was trying to warn her of him, to prevent her from getting hurt, and she thought he didn't want her to be happy. He saw red at that moment, a blinding rage that he'd only experienced a few times in his life- catching Rick and Cassidy being one of them.

"He's fuckin' Cassidy!" His voice bellowed out louder than he had anticipated. He threw his hand up to run it through his hair in complete exhaustion. It was all becoming unbearable.

"What..." Her face fell and tears prickled her eyes in disbelief. "You're lying..."

"God Taylor, he's cheatin' on ya, face it!" He continued to yell despite himself, he was already regretting the decision. He did not want to be the one who had to tell her, it wasn't his responsibility. It wasn't fair that he had to be the bad guy and watch her fall apart. His voice became calmer once he noticed a steady stream of tears begin to flow, "don't tell me that I don't want ya to be happy." He felt his nerves settle, the fury subsiding and sympathy taking its place.

"But... I thought..." he heard her sobbing begin, her hands covering her face to hide the tears that she knew always made him feel awkward. For the first in years he did not back down from the emotion. All he wanted to do was console her, he felt it was his fault she was in the state anyway; maybe not directly through his actions, but by becoming manic enough to shove the awful truth in her face in such a hideous way.

"I'm sorry Taylor." He filled the gap between them and pulled her to him, hugging her. He let her pour her lung rattling, gut wrenching sobs out. No sooner had her tears started to stain his shirt, they stopped. She backed away from him; her heart wrenching a little at the lost contact, and looked up into his eyes.

"I'm..." she took a shaky breath to steady her breathing, "I'm fine. I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Don't." He wiped the remaining tears away, brushing his thumb against her jaw line. She wanted nothing more than to lean into his hand and stay there with him. She didn't want to leave but she knew he wasn't going to ask her to stay. He didn't want her to make up with Rick, but he didn't want to be with her either. It was a bit frazzling for her to contemplate. "Don't try to fix it."

"What? Why?"

"I dunno," he sighed, wishing that she wasn't so oblivious, that she wasn't sometimes the cliché of her hair color. How could she not see what he didn't want to say aloud? He braced himself to say the inevitable. In the midst of steeling himself to speak Maggie had spotted them through the thick trees. "I think I'm in-"

"Hey! I've been looking for you!" Maggie cheerfully bonded up to the two, her happiness stemming from the thought that the two of them alone would produce something good. Once she saw Taylor's glossy eyes she knew that it had not gone well, she frowned in response.

"Sorry..." Taylor had turned herself fully around to pay attention, but her hands were clasped together behind her back. She looked like a broken child and Maggie knew something was wrong.

"Uh," she pointed over her shoulder back to the camp, "daddy wants to talk to you." She rose a single eyebrow, watching her cousin carefully to gauge her reaction. She simply nodded in response and started to walk off towards the farmhouse.

"What was the fight about?" Maggie had waited until Daryl was following Taylor back to speak up. The two were far enough back that she knew her cousin could no longer hear their conversation.

"Nothin'," Maggie chuckled at his response, of course he wasn't going to tell her, he didn't even know her.

"Taylor seems pretty upset. Did it have anything to do with her?" She asked, knowing already that he was going to brush the question off, but hoping that he would just tell her. She had a feeling that Taylor would tell her eventually, but she would rather know ahead of time.

"Maybe," he grunted still a little irked with her poor timing.

"You're not a man of many words, are you?"Maggie was quickly picking up on his personality, he was a closed book. She knew that was probably one of the reasons Taylor was drawn to him, she was always trying to fix things; people mostly. She also had a faint idea that there was another reason, maybe one she could pull out of her at some point.

"I can tell y'all are related," he began to veer off towards his own little camp. She followed along, stopping off slightly on the skirts of where she thought his 'boundary' might be.

"How's that?" Her curiosity was peaked now, she didn't remember telling him that they were cousins and wasn't sure if Taylor had or not. Then again, he had talked to her father after Taylor's fainting incident.

"With the twenty fuckin' questions." He zipped the tent open and got inside, re-zipping it as a not so polite indicator that he was done. Maggie rolled her eyes and made it back to the house in time to hear the conversation that was in progress in the kitchen.

"That's not fair Uncle Hershel!" Taylor stomped her foot like a small pouting child.

"I'm sorry Taylor. I think maybe my initial invitation for them to stay was with good intentions, but very wrong. They've only been here for a few hours and they're already fighting and causing problems." He sighed and sat down at the far end of the table. "I can't have these kind of shenanigans going on, Beth is here, she's impressionable, she can't see these things and think they're okay."

"That should be the least of your worries for Beth!" Taylor folded her arms across her chest unable to comprehend his request. She was not going to tell the group they had to leave.

"What do you mean?"

"It's bad out there Uncle Hershel, you haven't been touched by it here. But I think in time it will happen, and then you'll see why I think that it's better if they stay. For them, and for your moral conscience. It's a nightmare out there, every single day is a fight for survival. If you send us away-"

"You? No darling, you and the child could stay of course. It's the rest that I don't think I want here." He had the sincerest tone in his voice, but the message behind it was clear. She could stay and they could not.

"Well I'm not staying if they have to go," she countered bluntly, every word spoken with honesty. She couldn't even let herself imagine turning her back on them. Some more than others, but that was not the issue at the moment.

"Why would you say that?"

"They're my family!" She shouted, louder than she had intended. She hadn't meant for the conversation to go astray in such a manner, but he was talking about a big decision like it was something as simple as what to make for dinner.

"We're your family Taylor." Hershel felt like he was arguing with a politician, she was stubborn and not considering all the facts.

"Yes, but blood isn't the only way to call someone your family." She thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain it to him in the simplest terms- to find a way to tell him where it would truly connect with his spirituality. "When everything goes straight to hell, the people who stand by you without a second thought, they are your family."

"Taylor, I have to do what's best-"

"One of them saved my life, literally," she took an unusually long pause that helped Hershel know that she was confessing something that was painful for her to talk about, "from something that Alexander did."

"I always knew that boy was trouble," he pinched the bridge of his nose, avoiding eye contact with his pleading niece.

"The point is, if you make them go, then I'm going too."

"You're putting me in a very tough position here Taylor," he sat silently for a few minutes, mentally weighing the pro's and con's and no doubt wrestling with the morals involved in the decision. "Okay," it came out in a defeated breath of air. She could tell he was not happy about it, but that didn't stop the grin that immediately cracked her face in half. "They have a week to change my mind. No more funny business, and they have to earn their keep."

"Fair enough, I'll let them all know." She got up from the chair and pushed it back into its place properly before starting for the front door. She only made it half way through the doorway when his voice stopped her in her tracks.

"And Taylor," she hovered mid-way through the door to the kitchen and the hallway, "whatever mess you've found yourself in with those two boys... please, for your soul and the Lord's sake, get yourself out of it." Coming from anyone else she would have been through the roof with rage at the audacity of demanding her to do anything- that especially. But he was like a father to her and seemed genuinely concerned, so she simply sighed.

"I'm working on it."

"I've been thinking," Lori twirled a strand of loose hair around her finger, aimlessly looking up at Shane with concerned eyes.

"Yeah?" He glanced down, frowning when he noticed the familiar look that clouded her eyes.

"Maybe," she began twisting it quicker, in a nervous fashion, her words becoming more careful, "maybe we should tell Rick. I mean, we're in a stable place now. I think it would be the best time."

"Are you sure?" He wasn't sure he was hearing correctly, she was actually admitting that she was ready to tell Rick the truth about Carl? "I know I said earlier that we should tell him but I think he might have a little too much on his plate at the moment."

"What do you mean?"

"He got in that fight earlier with Daryl, whatever the hell that was about," he scratched his head thinking back to the weird scuffle that he'd caught the tail end of. "And that strange shit going on with Cassidy... and I can only assume Taylor's gonna give him hell for giving Daryl that black eye."

"So you don't think I should?" Shane could tell that she didn't seem convinced with his explanation. He had an odd, foreboding feeling with her tone since the beginning.

"I think if you told him now, you would send him off the deep end." He shook his head lightly. "Don't kick him while he's down Lor."

"Okay," she half-smiled, a very lucrative idea flashing before her eyes. Shane became weary, he'd never seen that look before, and it didn't appear to be good.

"Glenn?!" Taylor burst into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth when she realized she'd shouted his name, instead of whispering it like she'd intended. Carl and Jackson looked up from where they were playing with Bailey in the yard. She lowered her voice once she noticed their inquisitive eyes on the gossiping girls. "Are you gonna make a move on him?"

"I don't know! I just met him Tay," Maggie chided from her seat on the rocking chair directly next to her cousins.

"Well I wouldn't judge you or anything. As if I have room to judge anyone. Plus, it's the apocalypse! You don't have many choices..." she sighed and scrunched her nose at the thought. "He's a really good guy."

"Are y'all friends?" Maggie seemed a bit more interested than a few moments ago.

"We talk a lot, he's given me a lot of advice- yeah, I guess so. I can tell he likes you, anyway." She grinned mischievously which made the brunette send her a questioning glare.

"How do you know that?" Maggie rose a skeptical eyebrow at the assertion.

"Because he hasn't stopped staring at you," they both looked over at Glenn who was making hardcore eye contact with Maggie's whole being. Once he noticed them staring he quickly busied himself by continuing to struggle with the tent. When it flipped to the floor in a deflated mess they both burst into a new wave of laughter.

"Sorry to interrupt," Rick's voice broke their temporary laughing spell. "Can we talk for a second?" He locked eyes with Taylor who nodded dumbly. She hadn't expected him to come to her.

"I'll just go see if anyone needs help," Maggie whispered to no one in particular. She winked at Taylor before making a bee line for Glenn and his disaster of a tent.

"I guess we need to talk," Rick now took up the absence of the seat that Maggie had abandoned. She nodded again, unable to find her voice. From the moment Daryl told her she thought she was going to be able to tell him how she felt, tell him off, tell him to go to hell; but none of those words came out. Just the small nod.

"He told you, didn't he?" Rick's voice was solemn, he obviously already knew the answer but wanted her confirmation.

"Yeah..." she let her voice trail off sadly, she could not bear to look at him.

"I'm sorry, I know it probably doesn't mean a whole lot- now anyway... but I really am." He paused, letting his apology sink in. The silence seemed to engulf the air around them. Neither were worried about the two boys in the yard in front of them, they were far too busy chasing Bailey around in repetitive circles. "I... I thought you and Carl were dead. I was out of my mind with grief and she," Taylor figured he meant Cassidy but didn't want to upset her further by using the proper name, "came to me and said she could help."

"I'm sure she did," she whispered bitterly at the thought. She couldn't get past that the fact that every single guy that she was interested in suddenly became Cassidy's new target; if Rick didn't continue to talk she would have pondered why that was.

"I guess I know how Lori feels," he stated plainly.

"How's that?"

"She thought I was dead. She thought that being with Shane couldn't possibly hurt me in any way because, well, I would never know. It would never affect a dead person." As much as she didn't want to swallow the knowledge pill that he was handing out, she had to admit it made sense. She just didn't have it in her to hate him. Cassidy, yes, but not him. Not the remorseful man beside her.

"I'm not mad," she clasped her hands in her lap.

"You're not?" She could hear the shock in his voice, she didn't even need to see his face to know her answer was not what he was expecting.

"No..." she sighed and finally looked into his bright, yet deeply sad, blue eyes.

"Why's that?"

"Because I feel like I'd be a hypocrite." She begrudgingly admitted, not wanting the rest of the conversation to happen, but knowing that it had to. She had to have a clear conscience, he was being honest with her, she only owed him the same.

"You and Dar-"

"Yeah. We kissed, twice." She quickly cut him off before his mind could concoct any crazy situations that didn't happen. The last thing that she needed was for him to assume something and have another fight, then her uncle would really give them the boot. They had to make this as quick and painless as possible, just rip the band-aid off Taylor!

"When?" He didn't seem angry like she expected, just curious.

"The first time was before you came to get me, at the CDC, when you were drinking..." Her chest tightened in pain as the confession tumbled out.

"I drank a few nights there," he furrowed his eyebrows trying to pin point the night in particular that she was referring to.

"The night that we did stuff," she sighed and tried in vain to not let any images of the night, both with Daryl and Rick, flash through her mind. She didn't think she could have those thoughts in her head and keep it together. She was not going to cry this time. "And then again, before you and I talked about being exclusive."

"So you didn't cheat then." He gruffed, wondering why she was comparing the situations. Yes, he was upset that it happened and she hadn't told him sooner. But to him it wasn't the same, he felt like scum and her confession just did not compare in his mind. "I feel like an asshole, I just want to let you know that we're done... me and her."

"It doesn't matter." Her tone was steady and clipped.

"It doesn't?"

"Nope." Her answers grew shorter.

"So you don't hate me?" He asked, hopefully.

"Nope."

"We're gonna stay together?"

"Nope."

"I figured as much," he sighed and rubbed his chin, the stubble itching his palm slightly. "For what it's worth... I really am sorry." She felt the hot tears burning behind her eyes, his heartfelt apology making a lump grow in her throat; but she had promised herself she wouldn't cry again, he would only try to comfort her and she couldn't have that.

"It's okay, I'll get over it. Just... please go away Rick." She bit her lip, trying to keep the strain out of her voice from holding the bitter tears back.

"Right, I'll go..." the end of the sentence seemed to hang in the mid-air, perhaps he was hoping that she'd tell him never mind, but it didn't happen.

Her heart felt like it shrunk three sizes, watching him walk away dejectedly. Something in the back of her mind tried to ease her by whispering, maybe it was for the best. Sure, she could look at it in a positive manner like her mind wanted her to, but it was really just another disappointment, another heartbreak.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Maggie and Glenn casually chatting, laughing- and a little bit of flirting on her cousins behalf. A smile spread across her lips at the dumbfounded look on Glenn's face, of course he couldn't believe a grade A hottie like Maggie was macking on him.

Her eyes lazily moved across the yard where her smile grew, she caught Jackson running excitedly up to Daryl. She watched carefully as he bent down on one knee, and spoke to the ecstatic child. He ruffled the tiny blondes hair and stood up, catching her staring immediately. His "I caught you" grin made a bright blush burn onto her cheeks, making her turn away quickly. Before she knew it each step was creaking in time with every footfall , his voice gravitating her to look towards him. Her eyes latched onto the now-bruised black eye and bandaged cut. He smiled awkwardly when he noticed where she was looking.

"Thanks for, uh, fixin' me up." Her grin evolved into a somewhat shy version of itself, her stomach dancing with butterflies when he sat next to her. No, that wasn't right, an entire zoo erupted with his close proximity and that damn smirk. The nagging, annoyingly optimistic side of her brain smiled smugly, repeating the mantra.

Maybe it was for the best.