Author's Note: Thank you bigtimerushlover, transf0rmer, and Angel for the reviews of chapter seventeen.
*Throws you valentine's candy* :D
Thank you to the new favorites and subscribes, you are awesome too(:
To answer a question, Rick will be getting some love in the near future! There will be a new OC (and maybeee a character from the show ;D) that will keep Rick from being lonesome. I can't leave him out of all the fun!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
HEARTLESS.

"You can have the basement..." Hershel opened the door slowly and walked down half the steps. Taylor followed and by passed him until she made it to the bottom of the staircase.

"Aren't you coming down?" She peered up at him, confused.

"No... this used to be Nichole's room..." he trailed off and looked sadly away, it seemed as if he couldn't even bare to look at the depressing reminder of his daughter.

Nichole was Hershel's eldest daughter that had been away at her senior year of college when the outbreak initially started. He tried to get a hold of her every single day, calling and calling until his fingers hurt to dial anymore. Eventually he decided that she was traveling here, of course, that was way she wasn't picking up the phone. Once Taylor showed up and told the story of her rescue and her group, he had that much more hope that Nichole would have the same fate and wind up back here, with time.

"Oh..." she nodded in understanding, looking around at the beautifully carpeted and obviously repainted walls. The room appeared to be like any other bedroom, minus the fact that it was twice the size of the rest of the bedrooms in the farmhouse. "Why are you letting me stay here?"

"You and the child can stay down here, it's safer in the house," he sighed and turned to leave but stopped near the top of the steps. "There's another generator down here but I'd appreciate if you used it sparingly. Also the bathroom down here gets the hot water first, but also please-"

"Use it sparingly, got it." Her satisfied grin melted into a sympathetic frown, she knew it was probably killing him inside not knowing what happened to her. Maggie had brought her up to speed on the cousin that Taylor barely knew- while they were younger and she was visiting Nichole always seemed to be off with her own friends. "I'm sorry Uncle Hershel," she ran her finger along the pool table that was placed neatly in the middle of the room. "And thank you, really."

"It's no problem dear," he finally said at the very top of the steps. He spun around and called down to her one last time. "Nichole had an acoustic in the back room, you're welcome to use it. I know your grandparents used to send you to those music lessons."

"Voice lessons," she called up and chuckled that he even remembered. "But I'll probably check it out, thanks again." He nodded and took his leave, letting her explore her new room. She walked all along the room, noticing the bookshelf stacked with book after book. The pool table gleamed in the middle of the room, commanding all the attention and most of the space. She didn't mind though, honing her pool skills seemed insignificant, but besides doing chores for the farm, and taking her turn on walker duty, she didn't really have much else to do. She had a feeling they were all going to go a little stir-crazy if they didn't find things to fill their free time with.

"Whoa," Taylor opened the bathroom door and smirked, it was newly renovated, maybe only a few years old, and the entire room sparkled in white marble. The shower was massive, a lot larger than necessary, she thought, but wasn't going to complain about that.

She moved along to the last room, tucked away in the corner, and opened the door quickly. There it was, as promised, a beautiful golden brown acoustic guitar that evidently had not been touched since Nichole's return to college. She smiled and bent down to pick it up when she noticed a few cardboard boxes next to it. She sat Indian style and rifled through them when she finally realized what they were. Nichole had apparently printed out the sheet music for hundreds of songs that she must of liked, why else would she have wanted to learn them? Many were modern songs that Taylor also liked, when she passed certain songs she grinned, putting them in a side pile that she planned on learning in the future. She stood up with the papers moved to their own pile and smiled triumphantly. Okay, now I just need to learn how to play.

"Here ya go," Maggie smiled mischievously as she stopped in front of the ladder that lead up to the loft of the barn. They had been walking back to the barn in silence and Glenn was just happy to finally be there, to finally find out what it was that she wanted so damn bad in the first place.

"What do you need up there?" Glenn gave her a perplexed glance. What could she possibly want to go up to the loft for? He sighed and started to climb the stairs without much protest, he supposed he would just have to trust her. She followed him up quickly and smirked at him once she was on the loft with him.

"So... do you like the view?" Maggie asked causally.

"It's just a barn," Glenn commented before turning around, but the second he was fully facing her his answer changed. His mouth hung agape and he blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. After a prompt rub of the eyes he had decided that he was not, in fact, seeing things. "Uh... it's ... great." His mouth couldn't seem to form words while she was giggling at his surprise. She stood with her top off and a devilish smirk on her lips.

"So," she took deliberate slow steps towards him, giving him time to back out, though she had a very strong suspicion that he wouldn't be doing that. "What do you say?"

"I, uh... I... say..." she grinned that she apparently left him speechless. He attempted to speak but his throat was so dry and his mind was racing a million miles an hour. The combination didn't work very well for forming entire sentences.

Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tip toes to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. Soon enough Glenn had fell back down to earth and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Their kissing intensified as soon as he realized that it wasn't a dream, Maggie was in fact making the first move, she was topless and kissing him.

"Okay," she unwrapped herself from him and slid her shirt back up over her head, grinning wildly at him.

"But... but!" He protested, noticing that she was starting to go back down the ladder. "Hey! What gives?" He called over the ledge down to her. Maggie shielded her eyes from the sun and looked up a him, shrugging nonchalantly.

"I'm done."

"But we just started!" He whined, unable to contain his frustration.

"Yeah... I guess you'll just have to wait til we can be somewhere even more private," her lips never left their smirking position which only made Glenn feel double exasperation. Were all girls like this? Or just the one that he happened to like. Go figure, he thought bitterly to himself. He quickly followed her down the ladder and chased after her as she made her way back to the farmhouse.

"Are you serious?" Glenn took a few ragged breaths after his sprinting.

"As a heart attack." She chimed with what seemed to be no care in the world.

"Well, but, when will we have more privacy?" He was desperately trying to sound detached but Maggie knew that he could not get the image of her chest out of his head, the thought made her giggle again.

"Well Taylor told me that you guys used to go on town-"

"Runs. Yeah?" He cut her off mid sentence finding himself transparently impatient.

"Well... the next time you go on one, count me in."

"Taylor," Lori approached her with Carl in tow, both smiling brightly. "I was wondering if you wanted me to take Jackson back to the stable. Hershel said that the boys can go back and pet the horses," she added with a grin.

"Oh, okay," Taylor turned around and called Jackson over. He came running as quickly as his little legs were able to go, Bailey matching his speed as they ran. They both came to a dead stop and stared up at her expectantly. "Do you want to go with Miss Lori and Carl back to pet the horses?"

"Horsies?!" He shouted excitedly, jumping up and down in the process.

"Okay, okay," she smiled, still amazed that he was always so thrilled by the smallest things. "Go ahead," she patted him on the head and turned around to watch the three go, the dog never leaving Jackson's side. As she watched the two happy boys skip along to the stable she heard the familiar rumble of gravel and whipped around on a dime. Who the hell could be coming up the driveway? As far as she knew no one from the group left. Just as swiftly as the thought crossed her mind, the answer came flying up the road. A dark blue pick up truck came to a screeching halt at the gate. A tall brunette, that seemed vaguely familiar to her, came out and opened the gate, the woman in the truck sliding over to drive it in the rest of the way. He punctually shut the gate the second the truck passed through, tilting his tan cowboy hat up to see better. He slapped the side of the truck a few times and jogged over to get a better look at the new group. It only took him mere seconds to pick Taylor out.

"Get the hell outta here!" He switched his direction and made a bee line straight for her. As soon as he was close enough for her to get a good look at him she groaned in disgust. God must really hate her. "PARKER!"

"Ughhh," she turned to go anywhere but there until he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn back around. She tried her best to compose a believable smile, unfortunately nothing but a grimace appeared.

"Awh, what's wrong Parker? I haven't seen you in ages!" He went in for a hug and she quickly backed up, putting her hands in between them.

"You know I hate being called by my last name." She corrected him, the resentment painfully obvious in her tone. He frowned before speaking again.

"Okay Taylor-"

"Actually I hate that too, just don't call me anything," she tried to make another getaway but he was quick to stop her.

"What's wrong?"

"You are ten gallons of crazy in a five gallon bucket and I don't have time for that mess," she answered simply, thinking that he would take the hint. She happened to be giving him too much credit.

"You don't want to catch up with your old buddy Rob?" He asked, his sinister smile now making its appearance, it was exactly how she remembered it. She tried to slink away from him, but he was persistent, cutting her off again.

"I would rather eat my own vomit."

"Ahh, you're still holding that ancient shit against me?" He chuckled and as far as she was concerned it was the laugh of pure evil. He put his hand out to touch her shoulder but she ducked away, her reflexes in full swing around him- just like they used to be.

"It's not ancient to me," she said through gritted teeth, "and it wasn't shit. You ruined my entire life."

'Awh, shit. You're still acting like that? Acting like I rape-"

"I didn't say that," she quickly corrected him before he could throw that word in her face. "I didn't say that..."

"But you act like it. Hey it was consensual, you never said no."

"I was fifteen years old and you manipulated me!" Her voice rising with anger was not what she expected. When he had been sent to the Juvenile Detention Center for shop lifting at the end of the summer when their 'incident' happened, she thought she would never have to deal with him again. She figured if she did ever have to see him again she would be older and mature enough to let things go; apparently that was not going to happen. "You destroyed my trust, I can't trust any guy anymore because I'm afraid they'll be exactly like you."

"They wish," he snorted with an arrogant grin.

"You are a conceited son of a bitch, anyone ever tell you that?" The malice in her tone was deep and intentionally obvious, but he didn't seem to take notice. He typically ignored anything that counteracted how amazing he considered himself.

"No one's gotta tell me that, sweetheart." He took a moment's pause, clearly mulling something over in his head, before he spoke again. "You know, Beth looks a lot like you did-"

"Stay the hell away from her Rob." She sneered, suddenly worrying if he had already done anything to innocent little Beth. "If you even lay a finger on her I will kill you."

"Oh please," his smug attitude made her want to stab him, at that moment she wished nothing more than for him to be a walker so she could take an axe to his head. The fantasy of it all made her smile. "See! Now you're smiling! Our time together was obviously great."

"No, Rob, I was smiling because I pictured you with a bullet in your head. And you know what? This conversation is over, fuck off and go to hell."

"Ouch," he let a bemused chuckle escape, "and what if I don't?" He smirked and glanced over her shoulder, something she had noticed him doing the whole time they were talking. "Are you gonna sic your guard dog on me?"

"What?" She turned her head over her shoulder, thinking that he was referring to Bailey, but that was not the guard dog he was talking about. Daryl sat on the porch steps, whittling the end of a stick to a ridiculously sharp point. He hadn't even noticed her looking at him, he was too busy staring down Rob. "Yeah," she turned her focus back to the arrogant man before her, folding her arms across her chest. The ridicule in her voice had become more apparent, "maybe you should try to hug me again. Then my guard dog can rip every one your limbs off-"

"Hey y'all!" Cassidy's chipper voice broke the threat into a million pieces, both of their eyes turning to her. "Taylor," she cooed with her eyes locking on Rob, "whose your handsome friend?"

"Uh..." she tried to choke back the bile that arose in her throat of him being considered her friend. She was successful, and then a brilliant idea popped into her head. "This is Rob. Maybe he could give you a tour of the farm?" Before he could protest Cassidy cheered and instantly clung to his arm. "Okay bye!" She took a few backwards steps making sure that Cassidy was going to preoccupy him, once she felt satisfied she spun back around to make her way to the steps. She plopped down next to Daryl who went back to sharpening the stick once he was appeased that she was no longer around the 'bad vibe' cowboy.

"You okay?" He grunted, stripping off a particularly stubborn piece of bark.

"Yeah," she sighed, knowing what the pending conversation would be. She didn't have the energy to explain her and Rob's horrible past to him. Not to mention Hershel just got done reaming her out for the group fighting, delving into that ordeal would leave Rob with his own black eye and the group out on their asses.

"Who is he?"

"That is the devil reincarnated," she rolled her eyes, looking away when Rob's eyes found themselves on her.

"Want me to kick his ass?" He was still concentrating on the knife-stick combo, making her wonder if he was serious. He didn't seem to be smiling, making her smile, it was such a typical Daryl way to show affection. When Rick had threatened it she knew he wasn't honestly considering it; the same couldn't be said for her current counterpart.

"Yes- no," she snickered at picturing Rob getting what was coming to him. As much as she would enjoy it, she also enjoyed living at the farmhouse.

"You wanna talk 'bout it?" It was a simple enough question, but Taylor sat silently for a few moments pondering if she really did want to get it off her chest. She had, after all, never told anyone else about it.

"No," she finally let out with an audible sigh. He looked up now, seemingly done with his little project and noticed how devastated she actually looked. He frowned and stood up, offering his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up with ease.

"Wanna get outta here?" He nodded his head behind them, apparently indicating to the woods. She furrowed her eyebrows causing a curious expression to appear on her face, undoubtedly confused by his request.

"And go where, exactly?"

"I was gonna go try this out," he twirled the make-shift spear in his hand, "fish down at the creek."

"Yeah," the corner of her lips twitched up into a small smile at the idea of being away from everybody, even for a short amount of time. "I'd like that." He nodded silently at her response and took off in the general direction that he had initially offered. Taylor took a few sprinting steps to catch up until they were walking side by side. She glanced over her shoulder in time to watch Cassidy yank Rob in the direction of the barn.

The thought that Cassidy would distract Rob from herself was a good enough idea, but she knew that it wouldn't last long. Cassidy was an easy target, both Daryl and Rick (possibly others that hadn't fessed up to it yet) could testify to that, and that wasn't what Rob was all about. He was always looking for a challenge, anyone that could be labeled accessible was not to his interest. Unfortunately a young Taylor, and many other girls in the small town, had become a victim of his cat and mouse game. As they walked along, deeper into the woods, Taylor briefly remembered his mention of Beth. Was he really planning on doing anything to her? Had he already done anything and ruined Beth the way he'd ruined her? She couldn't push the sickening thoughts away, the terrifying memories of her own time with him flooding back into her mind. A dull noise pulled her out of the nightmare that had entrapped her. She noticed Daryl's lips moving but could only hear mumbles.

"What?" She shook her head, the images flying away, her hearing slowly returning.

"I said we're almost there." He waved his hand in front of her face, noticing the far away look deep in her eyes. "Ya okay?"

"Of course," she forced a smile on and went to step forward until a small voice stopped her. She whipped around at the familiar call of her name.

"Tawor!" Jackson's excited footsteps ruffled the leaves as he raced towards them. "Darrol!" His little legs gave out as he tripped over an unearthed root and fell face first onto the ground.

"Jackson!" Taylor backtracked and ran to him, picking him up off the ground and dusting his legs off. "Are you okay?"

"Mhmm," he nodded slowly, peeking down at his scraped knees with a scowl. "Dat twee twipped me!" Taylor laughed and kissed the top of his head finding his evaluation of the injury hysterical. Once the humorous moment had passed she grew serious, giving him a stern look.

"How did you get out here?"

"I walked," he shrugged his little shoulders innocently.

"No, I mean, where's Lori and Carl?"

"At da barn. I sawed you guys and wanted to come," he stated matter-of-factly, certainly not seeing any problem in his logic. Jackson wondered why both of them looked upset with him, all he wanted to do was join them on a walk. Where was the harm in that?

"They're probably worried sick looking for you." She set him down on the ground, setting her hands on her hips. Jackson had a knack for reading people and over the course of their time together he knew that her hands being there meant she was not happy. Just as he was about to apologize something much more interesting caught his four-year old eye.

"Budderfly!" Jackson raced past both her and Daryl on a mission to catch the bright blue butterfly that sat neatly on a flower- a flower that was dangling ominously off the side of a cliff. Jackson hadn't even noticed the steep ravine that loomed over the creek bed below. As he anxiously dove for his prize Daryl swooped in and pulled him back, handing him off to Taylor with a relieved smile. They exchanged a 'that was close' look when the fragile dirt began to separate below his feet. The weakened, barely there, section of dirt and rock crumbled beneath his feet, sending him plummeting down the jarring length of the rock face.

"Daryl!" Taylor set Jackson down, a good distance away from the cliff's edge, and raced over to where he had just been standing- a divot taking its place. She found a spot nearby that seemed to have sturdier earth to it and got down on her hands knees, peeking over the edge. At first she saw nothing but the water rushing through, and a rippling pond of deeper water straight below. "Jackson stay back," she warned over her shoulder, hearing his tiny footsteps approaching. After another inspection she spotted him crawling over to patch of rock that was only partially in the water. His half-conscious mind seemed to deem it a good place to lay and he collapsed, completely unaware of his surroundings. Once he had fallen on his back Taylor noticed the crude spear he had made, only it wasn't laying near him, it was in him. Directly through his lower abdominal it sat wedged in place, blood pooling around it and spilling into the creeks water.

"DARYL!" She tried again after hearing muffled groans. She couldn't be sure if he was responding to her calls or to the pain that must have been coursing through him. She assessed the area around her, there seemed to be nobody... not good. There also seemed to be no walkers... very good. "Jackson, listen to me." She crawled over to him and held tightly onto his shoulders. "Stay up here and don't move, okay?"

"Oh... okay." He begrudgingly agreed, still horrified after watching Daryl's fall. "Are you leaving me?" He whispered, tears beginning to form in his little blue eyes.

"No, no." Taylor tried her best to console him, knowing that nothing was really going to work. "I'm just going down to help, I'll be back up before you know it."

"Kay..." he shut his eyes for a few seconds, opening them again with no tears present. He was trying to put a brave face on for her.

"Don't try to come down, no matter what, you got that?" As much as she wanted to send him back for help she knew it would only make matters worse. She knew he only made it this far into the woods because he was following them, there would be no telling how lost he would get trying to get back to the farm by himself. She wasn't willing to risk that fiasco, she already had one life depending on her.

He bobbed his head again at her request, sitting in the spot where he stood. She looked over the edge again, taking a deep breath, she hadn't scaled a cliff since her and Maggie's heydays when they were just kids. That was years ago and she didn't have her child like bravery anymore. With a last look over at Jackson she grabbed onto a thick root that was poking out of the earths crust. It felt sturdy enough so she continued on, placing a foot on a rock that was bulging out enough for support. Her hands and feet worked together, trading off with roots, rocks, and branches one at a time. Although her mind was working steadily with her, her limbs were still easily preoccupied. The rock under her right foot slipped loose from its position, causing her to fumble and have her own fall. Luckily she hadn't fallen so far, her landing was much softer in a deep crevice of water.

"Shit!" She struggled to get to the top, the terror of falling making her forget how to swim momentarily. Once she broke the surface she choked out the cold water and gulped for air.

"You said a swearer," Jackson chided from the top of the cliff, a smile spread across his lips when he saw that Taylor was in fact okay.

"I'm allowed right now," she called up to him in between strangled breathes. She was wadding in the water, speaking up to Jackson when she heard it; the sound that had taken the situation from bad to worse. Once the guttural moan passed through her ears she turned her head towards Daryl's motionless body.

A lone walker sat gnawing on Daryl's boot; defeated, it stood up and made its way to the exposed flesh of his arm. Taylor knew she had seconds to react, and considering her position in the water, it didn't look promising.