Hey guys, and welcome to the last and final chapter of 'That Was Then, This is Now' – the Epilogue. It's been a fabulous, amazing ride and I have learned so much throughout the entire thing and I am really, truly sorry that this has to end here. However, there is good news! The next installment of this series is currently up now (if not, check back in an hour or two, it might not be listed in the search engine yet)! Its titled 'Against the Wind' and it does take place in Tessa and Daryl's POV of view, almost directly after the end of this chapter. So yeah, once you're done with this chapter, why don't you guys go skedaddle your butts over to Against the Wind and give that a whirl.

I mean, come on. Basically you're going to be continuing to read the same story, just in a . . . new story, I guess, where the chapters start over from one. Not that difficult LOL.

Anyway, this story does have a pretty raunchy lemon (consider it a parting gift from me to you until you guys subscribe to Against the Wind) as well as pretty damn big monkey wrench, so I do hope that you guys will continue to follow Tessa and Daryl in the next story because I have tons and tons of awesome things planned :)

Smittendebs and HermioneandMarcus - Thanks so much for following me you guys - hope you continue to follow the next story :)

NanamiYatsumaki - Thanks for the kind words - now go check out the next story - the ride isn't over yet! :)

HaloHunter89 - Thanks SOOOO much hun, for being here for me these last chapters - your reviews have been much appreciated! Now enjoy this chapter and I can't wait to see you in the next story :)


"Look, he says that he knows Tess, so why don't we let him stay on for a while? You know . . . give him a trial run of sorts?"

"But we don't know him – that's the thing! We have children here now – what if he's a child molester or something along those lines?"

"That's whole point of giving him something of a trial run – we scope him out before actually letting him stay. And I don't know guys, but I don't exactly think there are a lot of people still out there who can claim to know Tess anymore."

"Then let's ask her!"

"Honey, her and Daryl's wedding was yesterday! Let them have today or at the very least, let them sleep in!"

"Yeah and normally, I would, but this is important! We have a guy here who says he knows her and asking to stay. We need her input! If she doesn't know this guy or if she says he's nothing more but a piece of shit that doesn't deserve the time of day, then we have our answer. But if she does know him and if she can vouch for him, then what's the problem of letting him stay? We have all these people now – what's one more anyway?"

Rick heaved a sigh as he turned his gaze from Maggie to Glenn and back again. He placed his hands on his hips then as he eyed the new guy sitting with Tyrese and Sasha in the common room over Maggie's shoulder. "Fine - Ethan, go get Tess. If he is someone she knows, then she'll probably want to see him anyway. And please let Daryl know that it's important and we're sorry we're disturbing their one-day honeymoon!" He shook his head. "I don't exactly want to deal with his wrath if you don't!"


Tessa's moans split through the air as her hands scrabbled uselessly for purchase against the cement wall in front of her. Daryl's hands grasped roughly at her hips, pulling her hard into each thrust he made on his knees behind her. His moans were subtle and quickly melded together with hers, although his breath came out harshly through his nose, letting her know just how much he was enjoying the whole thing. The air in the tiny little room also seemed ten times hotter than it actually was, making it was impossible to think - to feel anything but him inside of her or the feel of his hands on her waist and her hips - pulling her into him, lodging him deep inside of her . . . the pressure of it all almost unbearable.

One of his hands left her then so that his arm could wrap around her sternum, where he pulled her back up against his chest. Her head fell back against his shoulder and their lips connected in a heated kiss as the hand on her hip stayed where it was to further create that amazing friction between them as the fingers of the other moved to wrap around her breast. She let out a low moan when his hand left her hip a few seconds later and moved further down in-between her legs to rub at her small bundle of nerves, causing her hips to jerk ever-so-slightly against his. The murmured words that fell from his lips and which entered her ears were positively filthy – to the point where they left a burning trail of blush across her cheeks. However, they also made things so much headier between them.

Eventually, she felt her end start to come and minutes later, she bit down on her bottom lip as her eyes squeezed shut. Her mouth opened in an 'O' when she came, her head falling between her arms whose hands found themselves planting onto the wall again as wave after wave of torrential orgasm that flushed through her body caused Daryl to allow her to gently fall forward until she was supporting herself on the wall in front of her again. It set all her nerve endings on fire and when Daryl came not soon after she did, she heard him let out a hissed: "Fuck!" as he came inside of her. He collapsed afterwards, his forehead moving to press against the space in-between her shoulder blades as his eyes clenched shut. They kneeled there for a moment afterwards, both trying desperately to catch their breath.

"Good Lord, Daryl that was . . . that was . . ." Tessa managed to breathe out for a moment but trailed off, at a loss for what to say to him. She felt him grin against her before he let out a laugh, his stomach quaking against her and as he pressed his lips to the back of her neck.

"Primal?" He suggested, somewhat breathlessly, and Tessa nodded and laughed.

"Good word choice. You seemed to handle it well, though." She replied, and Daryl laughed again and nodded as he pulled out of her and fell back on the bunk. His chest still heaved as he slowly caught his breath and she sat back on her haunches, her eyes running over him - at his sated and slightly smug expression, to his gently heaving chest patterned with scars and the one tattoo, to the rest of him stretched languidly and unabashedly out alongside her. After a while she moved to lie beside him and he nodded.

"Yeah, I think I did pretty well." He finally answered her, and they laughed again as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him, where he kissed her, passionately and languidly, and it was then that Daryl's other arm moved to wrap around her to pull her into a tight embrace. Tessa reluctantly broke apart after a moment and buried her face in his neck, sighing in contentment as she did so.

"What brought out the animal, Daryl?" She asked him after a while, curiosity lacing her words, and Daryl grinned.

"Depends . . . why do you wanna know?"

He could feel Tessa grinning into his neck as her lips pressed against the soft skin located there. "I want to know so I know what to do get you to do it again later!" She told him and Daryl laughed and raised himself on his elbow above her, where their eyes locked.

"Truthfully, I don' know. I think it was . . ." He trailed off and gave a slight shrug as his hand moved to entwine with hers for a moment, his eyes focusing on the tiny little diamond ring left over from the small ceremony they had, had the previous day and which he knew she would now wear rather religiously. "We got all these people here now and . . . I don' know, everyone admires you and a lot of the guys clearly try to flirt with ya and get ya attention whenever they have a chance to talk to ya – lookin' at ya whenever ya ain' lookin', so I don't know. I guess . . . I guess it turned me on knowin' that no matter how much they wanted you, they couldn' get ya 'cause ya mine!" He told her before he gave another shrug then. "Ya jus' . . . ya so beautiful and so exotic . . ." Tessa grinned as she gazed at him, distinctly aware of when he pulled his fingers away from hers so that he could trail one down her collarbone and over one of her breasts so that the tip of one could encircle one of her nipples.

"Really now - is that so?" She asked and Daryl grinned and nodded.

"Yeah . . . ya and ya . . . beautiful curves . . ." His fingers made a trail of fire down her chest before he took over with his lips, even when he moved over her breasts and briefly moved to encircle a nipple with his tongue before he continued on. He moved down the plain of her stomach but before he could go any lower, she teased him by cocking a leg up on the mattress. Daryl turned a gaze of playful impatience onto her and Tessa grinned and laughed. However, it was an emotion that quickly disappeared when there was a slightly cautious knock on the door.

"Momma, are you in there? Rick wants to see ya."

"We'll be there in a minute!" Daryl called over his shoulder and Ethan called back an 'okay' before they heard his quick footsteps moving back down the metal stairs to the walkway. He turned back her and pressed his lips to the skin of her knee before pressing another kiss to the inside of her thigh that was still cocked up on the mattress. She bit her bottom lip, unsure if she should allow him to continue.

"Don' worry – we'll go down in a minute, I promise . . ." He vowed as he moved her leg upwards to hook on his shoulder, kissing up the inside as he did so, and growing closer and closer to her core the entire time. Her breathing quickened as he did so but she still ended up shaking her head. God, why did he have to make it so hard to get out of bed with him?

"Daryl, I . . . I think we really need . . . to go down and see what Rick needs. It could be important . . ." She spoke before closing her eyes in bliss as he ignored her and proceeded to bury his head in-between her legs. He licked her swiftly, and she let out a moan before she steeled herself, put her hand on his shoulder and then pushed him away. A startled look appeared on his face then as he gazed up at her and she shook her head, a look of amusement appearing in her eyes as she gazed down at him.

"Daryl, we really need to go down and see what Rick needs. Like I said, it could be important, especially if he's asking for me instead of you this time." She told him and Daryl rolled his eyes and moved up her body, where he folded his hands on her stomach and gazed up at her. She moved her leg off his shoulder to lie on the bed beside him, and he smiled gently.

"Fine, but I jus' want ya to know tha' I will continue this later tonight; ya ain' gettin' offa tha hook tha' easily!" He told her and Tessa grinned as she rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Of course – like I was expecting anything different with you!"


"So where are you from, exactly?" Maggie asked as she took a seat at the table with Rick, Glenn and strange man they had so recently let through their doors and he turned his eyes onto her.

"Originally, you mean?" She nodded. "Well, my hometown is a small city in Vermont but I've lived in upstate Georgia since my college days. It took me a while to get here, 'cause I had to go through Atlanta and let me tell ya - it was one Hell of a trip!"

"How did you find us?" Glenn asked, his eyebrows furrowing in gentle confusion and he gave him a weak smile.

"I followed the walkers. They're starting to flock around this place like crazy – probably because you guys are starting to gather so many people here. The tricky part was blending in long enough to get through them to the gates."

Rick nodded, his eyebrows rising slightly. "I imagine. But how do you know Tess again?" Rick asked and the man shrugged his shoulders, giving him an uneasy look at he did so and as he gingerly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Me and Tess, we, uh . . . we go way back. Where is she, by the way . . .?"

Maggie opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the metal door to the Guard Office banging open, where a grinning Tessa and Daryl exited from their temporary voluntary confinement. Daryl was pulling on one of his flannel overshirts as he remained hot on Tessa's heels going down the stairs and they could tell that the both of them were in extremely good moods due to the seemingly perpetual grins that were on their faces, as well as the laughter that spilled forth from their lips. Tessa was already dressed, this time in a shirt that was her own and not Daryl's. Her thick black hair was pulled up in its customary clip behind her head and her eyes shone with mirth and good-humor. In fact, they had never seen her look better.

But of course, everyone looked better. With the Governor gone until further notice, it was like a huge breath of relaxation had descended onto everyone. Patrols still went on as usual, as did the everyday tally of everything but other than that, it was like people could actually focus on other things: like helping to clear the walkers from the prison yard, planting the crops that they would need to survive, and helping to make the rest of the prison habitable too. They were big jobs but for once, the future looked bright instead of bleak and colorless.

"Oh my God, is that her?" The man asked them, his voice full of slight awe as he rose up slightly to see her and they nodded but saw the man's expression fall when he saw Daryl quickly come up beside her. They continued to watch as Daryl said something to her that immediately caused her to reply with a grin and a glance over her shoulder at him. It was a grin that he couldn't help but reply with one of his own as he playfully gritted his teeth and wrapped his arms around her waist, where he brought her against him. She let out a bark of a laugh as he turned her around and she remained grinning as her hands framed his face and she kissed him, slowly and deeply. "Who's he?" The man asked them then, a peculiar tone to his voice that not one of them particularly liked but they opted to stay silent.

Tessa and Daryl split apart after a moment and Tessa pushed him away in the direction of the cell that contained the twins and Judith, before continuing on to the common room. They smiled when they saw her and she smiled too as she reached the table.

"Hey, how's your 'honeymoon' been going?" Maggie asked and Tessa gave a half-shrug.

"It's been pretty good so far. I feel kinda bad that I'm not doing anything or helping with anything, but everyone's been screeching at me that it's my honeymoon – even if it's just for a day – and that I should enjoy it."

"And what about your new hubby; is he enjoying his honeymoon too?" Maggie asked, a grin still playing out on her face, and Tessa let out a bark of a laugh. Her eyes flashed mysteriously in the light.

"Oh yeah, he's enjoying it, Maggie – you bet he is! I've never seen him this happy, actually – not in a long time!"

Rick smiled along with the others as he stood and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Tess, this man appeared on our doorstep this morning and he says he knows you." He told her and Tessa's eyebrows furrowed in slight interest and confusion as she turned her eyes onto the man standing before her, a slightly sheepish smile on his face as he moved to bury his hands deep within the front pockets of his jeans. He had short, dirty blonde hair and slight scuff on his face that, believe it or not, went well with his blue eyes and decently handsome features. He was clad in a blue and white flannel button-up shirt, well-fitted Levi's and brown boots. He looked vaguely familiar . . .

"I-I'm sorry but . . . do I know you?" She asked as she reached out and shook his head and he gave her a look of slight confusion.

"You don't remember me at all Tess?" He asked and she stood there for a moment, thinking and observing him before her eyes grew wide with both horror and shock. She immediately backed up then, almost tripping over her own two feet in her haste to get away from him and immediately, Maggie, Glenn and Rick hopped up from their places at the table and moved to surround him, Maggie shouting for Daryl. The man came skidding into the common room in record time and had Tessa clinging to him in a matter of seconds.

"What's goin' on?" He demanded, looking from Tessa, to the group of their friends and the man and back again. "Tess, what in the Hell -!"

"No, you can't be here – you're dead!" Tessa interrupted Daryl by screaming the words at the man and he gave her a slightly confused look before one of dawning recognition replaced it.

"Tess, let me explain -!"

"No, your dead – I saw you die!"

"Tess, what the Hell is goin' on?" Daryl demanded and Tessa gave a sarcastic laugh then and gestured to the man.

"I asked you a couple of days ago if my life could get any shittier? Well, turns out that it fucking can! Daryl, honey, it's apparently time for you to meet my second husband or as you know him, the Yankee that raised Ethan – Sam. Sam, this is the man you have never been able to compare to and Ethan's biological father – the infamous Daryl Dixon." She smiled a tight, sarcastic smile then. "Let the shit rain down!"