Heterochromia Iridum

Hello, you! Couldn't help it, today was my day off so I wrote another one super quick. This is shorter and lighter, and essentially filler. But it was fun. Hope you enjoy!

I didn't really give a lot of time in between for people to review, but thanks to TheHungryRainbow, addicted2memories, JenTen, Bactrian Camel, Guest34, and Javi for reviewing! And thanks to everyone who added this story to their favourites or alert list!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.

Chapter 5: Cigarettes

When Katty left the bathroom, Maggie and Glenn were huddled together, talking in excited, hushed voices. She cleared her throat and they jumped. Glenn quickly shoved something behind his back, and they both topped it off with matching innocent smiles. Not suspicious at all.

Katty rolled her eyes, "Whatcha chaps got there?"

Maggie waved her hand at her dismissively, "Nothin', really. It's actually pretty boring, right Glenn?" she nudged him.

Glenn had been looking at Katty strangely, and stuttered out a, "Yeah, boring," when his wife elbowed him again.

Katty shrugged, and chalked Glenn's odd look at because 15 minutes' prior, Maggie and Katty had come to the door covered in grass, dirt, faces stained with tears, and bearing linked arms. It took a while to convince Glenn that nothing major had happened, but his worried looks had finally dulled.

Especially when Katty had supplied the faithful answer, 'PMS', for some read he decided to drop the subject.

So Katty ignored their secretive behavior, because now she had butterflies about having dinner with the majority of their group.

"Who's going to be there again?" she asked nervously as she fiddled with her hair. It had always kinked weirdly on the right side and Katty noticed blandly that not even the world ending had changed that.

"Us, Rick, Carl, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Abraham, Rosita, Tara," Glenn counted off on his fingers for her.

Katty groaned, "Glenn, that's like your entire group. You guys said it wasn't huge."

"No it's not," he protested, "Noah is working with Reg for the evening, Eugene said he was going to go over some blueprints or whatever he does here, Sasha is on watch and Gabriel usually keeps to himself these days."

"So it's twelve of us when you count Judith. How do you think that isn't huge?"

"Shut up, Katty, you've met everyone except for Carl that's goin' to be there. It won't be weird," Maggie chastised and handed her a jacket. "Let's go over now. Glenn, bring that thing."

Katty tried to turn to look at what Maggie was referring to, but Maggie put a hand to her shoulder and guided her out the door before she could.

"Guys, they don't even know I'm coming, It's going to be weird and I'm going to be a burden, how about I go home and if there's enough food and if they all say sure you can give me a signal like turn a flashlight on and off at my window and I'll –"

Glenn and Maggie were apparently very effective in ignoring Katty, and knocked on the door loudly. Katty wished that the two houses hadn't been next door to each other so that she would have had more time to figure out a way to bail, as bad as that sounded.

Carol swung open the door with a smile directed at them all.

"Hi Carol, Katty is coming to dinner," Katty scowled at Glenn as he and Maggie walked by and into the house. He was supposed to ask, not tell.

"Oh, sure, there's lots. Come on in, Katty," Katty realized that she was standing dumbly on the veranda, and scuttled in at Carol's hand that beckoned her inside.

The group was in various sorts around the house, which Katty appreciated. She had figured that everyone was going to be sitting around the table like in The Godfather, so this was less intimidating. Maggie and Glenn immediately had situated themselves in the kitchen, where Carol had subsequently joined to finish up cooking.

Rosita, Tara and Abraham were on the couch in the living area, and seemed to be catching up, talking about their days. The three of them greeted Katty, with Tara sending her a wink that made her crack up. Michonne and who she assumed was Carl were standing off to the side, talking animatedly and flicking a ball back and forth between them on the table. At the other end of the table was Rick and Daryl, and Katty felt her stomach and her jaw drop.

Daryl was holding Judith and was bouncing her slightly on his knee. He was alternating between talking with Rick and cooing and talking quietly to Judith, who kept emitting happy giggles.

Katty attempted to pick her jaw off the hardwood floor as she danced her eyes around the room quickly. No one even seemed to notice that Daryl was playing with a baby. Was that not out of character for the grouchy redneck?

Rick glanced over his shoulder at her and smiled, "Katty, come over here."

The group seemed to be directing her around a lot, and Katty tried not to let it bother her. Rick seemed much more welcoming that the last interaction she had with him, and she didn't want to fuck it up. She walked over and tried not to stare at Daryl, who seemed to be immersed in making Judith fly randomly off his lap.

Fuck me, she thought. He's good with kids. Katty could feel her ovaries screaming at her. What was it about guys that were good with children that turned her on so much? It was probably some cave-woman thing, right?

Rick was staring at her with an amused look on his lightly scruffed face, and Katty finally realized he had said something.

"Wot?" she squawked as she tore her eyes away from Daryl. She heard a snicker that could only belong to Michonne behind her and she glanced over at her. Michonne and Carl were staring at her too. Oh great.

Katty felt her cheeks burn as Rick let out a short laugh. "I asked you how it's been here so far."

"I haven't really talked to that many people other than this group, really," Katty admitted. "It's been okay so far; I just feel kinda useless." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear sheepishly.

"She's bein' modest," Maggie called from her seat at the kitchen island. "She's been really useful with the plans for growin' our own food."

"I'd like to be added to the watch rotation," Katty said, addressing Rick. He raised his eyebrows at her. "And I wanted to talk to you about going out on a run with Tara and Glenn. Just to mark down in the surrounding area where useful foliage is."

"We're all going out tomorrow," Tara piped in. "To look for any Walkers in the area, so it'd make sense to have her come."

Rick eyed Katty for a while, and she felt the need to meet his eye contact levelly. He had a stare about him that made it seem as though he could read your character instantly. "I don't see a problem with it," Rick said eventually, and Katty let out a relieved breath. He glanced between Glenn and Tara. "Neither of you think that Aiden would care about having another person there?"

Glenn snorted and shook his head, "I heard him telling Nicholas the other day how hot he finds Katty. So I doubt he'll mind,"

Katty pulled a displeased face, and she heard a loud laugh. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Daryl scowl towards the floor, but she decided to ignore it for the time being.

Abraham had been the one to laugh. "Not a fan?"

Katty nodded at Rosita and Tara, "Not from what these two lovelies have said about him." The two girls smiled at Katty in return.

Abraham grinned, "Well, if the dickhead gives you any trouble, let me know."

Katty saluted him, "Aye aye, captain." He looked amused at her odd, mixed up gesture. Shortly after, Carol started to corral them towards the dining room table. Carl and Glenn sat on either side of her, with Daryl across the table from Katty.

Quickly, she turned to Carl, who smiled politely at her. "Sorry, I meant to introduce myself earlier, but I forgot. I'm Katty, you're Carl right?"

He looked somewhat surprised that Katty knew who he was already, but stuck out his hand to her anyways. "Yeah, I am. Nice to meet you."

She thought that though he was obviously young, barely a teenage, he had far more life experience than any of the residents she had met so far. It was odd, and sad, to see an example of a childhood ripped away far too early. Katty smiled at him anyways, before turning towards her plate.

Carol had made an assortment of rice, canned or frozen vegetables, and canned meat that Katty wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it tasted good. The conversation flowed easily, and Katty was glad that she had been wrong about her presence being unwelcome. Rick's group was anything but unwelcoming, now that she had hopefully demonstrated that she wasn't a threat.

"So, Katty," Carol started and she glanced up. The group hadn't asked her that many questions, and she had been waiting for the onslaught. "How did you end up in Virginia?"

They all looked towards her, and she blushed at the unwanted attention. "I moved to the states with my parents when I was younger. We actually moved around a lot, but when my parents got divorced me and my dad stayed in California for a while, which is where I lived before all this."

Rosita looked confused, "How did you end up over here then?"

Katty cleared her throat before she continued, "My dad moved out to Florida when I got older, so I was on a plane with my boyfriend to go see him. We were flying when everything started, and the plane got delayed to Atlanta. Met some people, and what, two years later, here I am," she shrugged at the conclusion of her boring story.

"Where's the boyfriend now?" Carol asked interestedly, and she could feel Daryl staring at her again.

She looked down at her plate and pushed some rice around. "Dead. Some of us got bit a week or two into it."

A few of them stated their condolences and she shrugged, trying not to remember his face when he had begged her to shoot him. "People die, it's what happens." Or that's what she kept telling herself. Katty was unsure if she, even now, could get that fact through her head.

Katty glanced up and met Daryl's blue eyes for a few seconds, before he looked away. What was with him tonight? Doesn't say a word to her, but he certainly had no problems watching her.

"I lost my girlfriend a while ago, too," Tara offered empathically, and Katty nodded at her.

Katty felt that the tone of their conversation was entirely too morbid, and it was making her uncomfortable. So what did Katty do when she felt uncomfortable? She said or did socially unacceptable things.

"So, Tara," She drawled out, and raised her glass of water to her lips to take a sip. Tara looked up at her, so she paused. "Do you think women can tell when you hit on them?"

Abraham snorted into his food, and Tara threw her a grin. Maggie gave her a look that said 'Really', so Katty quickly started to drink from her glass to avoid the brunette's expression.

"That depends; can you tell when I hit on you?"

Katty's response was instantaneous, and she inhaled her water as she tried to laugh, and immediately choked on it. She pushed her chair out a couple feet while she sprayed it all over herself and Glenn, who didn't look as amused as the rest of the group.

Everyone else erupted into laughter as Katty threw herself away from the table, hacking and coughing. She quickly shuffled around the island to the sink and started coughing into it. Maggie was beside her a few seconds later, who apparently was her only friend.

"You got my jacket all wet," Maggie scolded in between laughter, and Katty looked up and scowled at her. Nevermind. She had no friends.

"There's so much water in my lungs," she groaned in between coughs. She heard Tara crack up again and she looked over at her, "Yeah, keep laughing. Just wait 'til I get aspiration pneumonia or something."

Beside Tara, Daryl was smirking at Katty and she immediately felt her cheeks heat up.

"You deserved that," Rick said with a laugh.

Katty went back to sit down, though everyone was mostly done eating, and felt something thump against her head. Maggie had roughly chucked a dishtowel at her, and she frowned at her briefly before turning to Glenn.

"Does she hurt you too, Glenn?" Katty asked while she attempted to keep a straight face.

He cracked a smile at her, before he saw Maggie's unamused face and cleared his throat. "Nope, she's lovely, would never hurt me."

Katty bit the inside of her cheek as she continued, "Glenn, this is a safe place, you can be honest here." Glenn and a few other people laughed as Maggie chucked her spoon at Katty.

"Oi," she grouched at her, and turned to place a hand on Carl's shoulder. "You're setting a bad example, right Rick?"

Rick shook his head with a grin, "I'm not worried that he'll start throwing cutlery at people, don't worry, Katty."

Michonne snorted, "Speak for yourself, Rick." Carl grinned at her, and Katty thought their relationship was needed in the boy's life. Michonne seemed to be able to make Carl laugh without trying.

"So, Katty," Maggie started, and Katty somehow knew that this wouldn't be good. "Earlier this mornin', me and Glenn found somethin' interestin'."

Katty cut her off. "That would be called a penis, Maggie," she drawled at her with her chin resting in her palm.

She was pretty sure even Daryl snorted a laugh at that as Maggie and Glenn blushed.

"Hey," Rick mock frowned at her over his glass of wine, "Now who's being a bad influence."

Katty picked up her wine glass as well, which had suddenly appeared after her coughing fit at the sink. "Really, Rick," she quirked an eyebrow at him and turned to Carl. "Carl, did you know the word penis before I said it just now?"

She watched as Carl turned red, and it was probably from a combination of laughing and embarrassment. "Yes," he finally said between laughs.

She tipped her wine glass at Rick and he laughed and shook his head again. Judith started to fuss, so he looked to Carl again, "Wanna go put Judith to bed, Carl? The monitor is on the counter over there."

Carl nodded at his dad and then slipped from the table to grab Judith. Katty waved sadly at the baby at the two siblings departed up the stairs. She could feel Maggie burning holes into her head, so she turned back to her with an innocent look. "You were saying, Mags?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "I was going to save this for later, but embarrassing you now sounds good," she nodded her head in the affirmative, and Katty raised her eyebrows and took another drink of wine.

Rosé wine had been her favourite before the end of the word, but she didn't seem so picky anymore as she sipped the sweet white wine. She also noticed that her alcohol tolerance had gone done, as she was feeling a tad buzzy.

"Me and Glenn were going through the closet this mornin', and found a pretty interesting catalogue. You know those ones that comes with your purchase when you order online?" Maggie asked innocently, and Katty felt the colour drain from her face. Maggie had paused to stare pointedly at her and Katty quickly downed the rest of her wine.

"Maggie, Glenn, have I ever told you how beautiful and kind you both are and how much I cherish your friendship?" she asked as Carol reached over to refill her glass. Katty smiled at her briefly in thanks.

Glenn snorted, "No, somehow you forgot to mention that," he mumbled as he got up to go to his jacket that was hung up.

Katty took another quick sip – it was more a chug – of wine and then stood up. "It's getting late; I should probably rest up for –"

Maggie grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back into her chair with a grin, "Sorry, Katty, this is too good to pass up," she laughed.

She cringed as Glenn dropped a thin stack of bound paper in front of her. She knew exactly what it was, and put a hand over her face in embarrassment as the group figured out who the front cover was of.

It was the printout that Victoria's Secret sent out with all online swimwear purchases, introducing her as their newest model. She was in a simple, black, string bikini and the string that went around the ribcage to her back was undone. Katty had her wavy hair half in her face as she held the untied ends of the bikini so her breasts were still fully covered. 'Meet Katty Harvey' was in cursive under the bolded title of the company. She had seen in many times, and a few of her friends in California had framed it as a joke, since she wasn't thrilled about it.

Most of the group remained silent in shock, before Michonne snatched the paper in front of Katty and Tara guffawed loudly.

"Katty, you're a babe!"

"Maggie, Glenn, I hate you," she groaned and kept drinking her glass of wine, like it would save her from this moment. She was sure her face was entirely pink, from a combination of alcohol and embarrassment, and focussed on her wine as the group passed the cover around.

She knew it was all in jest, so Katty wasn't entirely upset. It wasn't that surprising either that it had surfaced in Alexandria; the people that lived here obviously had money and Victoria's Secret swimwear was pretty popular.

Everyone poked at her for a while, and Katty tried to avoid Daryl's burning gaze over his own glass of whatever kind of alcohol he had. She felt herself squirming under his intense stare, and clenched her legs together. Two glasses of wine had not been a good idea, apparently.

Katty helped Carol clear the table as everyone either dispersed or went into other conversations, and Carol asked her why she hadn't mentioned the modelling to anyone before.

She snorted, "Oh please. College drop out, waitress and swimsuit model? I didn't want you lot to think I was completely incompetent."

Carol shook her head with a smile. "No one thinks that, don't worry." Katty wondered if Daryl thought that and that's why he was staring at her. Damnit.

She finished helping Carol wash and dry the dishes, and then glanced at the table as she passed. The photo was gone. She shrugged, unconcerned in her tipsy state as to where it went.

"I'm going to nip out for some air," she called over her shoulder as she made her way to the covered porch outside.

She tripped out the door, and Daryl glanced over to her from his standing spot against the railing. He looked amused, so Katty made her way to stand next to him. They were silent for a while as Daryl smoked, and Katty watched, interested, as the tendrils of smoke twisted up into the air.

"Thanks for earlier," she murmured and knocked her shoulder gently into his. He stiffened at the contact before he looked sideways at her.

"What happened?" his low voice asked curiously, and it sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine in her intoxicated state. God, he was sexy.

"Just some bad memories that got brought up accidently, and I freaked out like an idiot," she said nonchalantly with a wave of her hand.

Daryl just nodded slightly, and she guessed that he either understood what she meant or wasn't interested enough to press the subject. Questions didn't seem to really be his style.

She tingled enjoyably as she stood beside him, leant against the rail. He smelled like an unorthodox cocktail of cigarette smoke, something woodsy, and another unnameable musky smell that was entirely masculine. She squirmed a bit more and tried to focus on anything else.

The breath of smoke that escaped him caught her attention, and she stared at him some more.

"Can you do any smoke tricks?" Katty asked curiously.

He snorted and then took another puff of the cigarette, paused for a moment, and then breathed out a smoke ring. Katty did a shitty golf clap in return, which earned her another amused look. Alcohol made him lighten up a bit, she observed.

"I always wanted to smoke, growing up," she commented offhandedly as she watched him. "My dad always did his best to scare me off it."

"He was right to. Bad for ya," Daryl replied back, and Katty rolled her eyes.

"Thanks, Daddy," she sarcastically drawled at him, and he immediately stiffened up and shifted awkwardly on the spot. Katty bit back an uncomfortable, drunk laugh. I am such an idiot, she thought to herself. Poor Daryl.

She glanced his way and saw his half smoked smoke between his fingers as he looked at anything but her. Katty shrugged to herself, reached out and took it from his hand, and his eyes snapped back to her. Katty made sure he didn't look furious before she took the smallest drag possible off of the cigarette, so she didn't cough.

Daryl rolled his eyes at her, "Doesn't count," he stated.

Katty tried to hand it back to him. "Does too," she countered and ignored how immature she sounded.

He waved at her outreached hand, "Take another."

She frowned at him and raised it to her lips. Katty was going to take another tiny breath, just a bit bigger than the last, when she felt Daryl pinch her side. She immediately inhaled larger than she intended, and her eyes started to water at the intrusion to her normal breathing. Katty attempted to hold in her cough, but she lost the war and started to hack beside him.

She scowled at the satisfied smirk on his face and thrust the cigarette back towards Daryl. He took it gingerly from her and snorted when she called him an 'arsehole' under her breath.

Katty watched out of the corner of her eye for Daryl to take another drag, and her hand flashed out to poke him in the side. He seemed to expect it since Daryl didn't jump or react in a similar manner.

He merely turned towards her and leaned in slightly. Katty thought she stopped breathing, and her heart sped up, before he breathed out a cloud smoke into her face and leaned away. Katty made a displeased noise and waved the cloud away.

"You're not taking my cigarette virginity very gently, Daryl," she cheeked, and he spluttered for a moment around the next breath in. She laughed, satisfied in his response.

Daryl shook his head, astonished, "Ya had too much wine, Kat."

She bit her lip and watched him for a second. Katty wanted to comment on the fact that he gave her a nickname, but she didn't want to scare him off.

"Yup," she popped the 'P' sound in the word. "So you should probably walk me home so I don't get lost or something," the reason sounded lame, even to her tipsy mind, but she stared at him for his response anyways. Too much wine to be ashamed, luckily.

He hesitated for a moment, but then shrugged. "C'mon, then."

Katty grinned at him, and quickly hopped inside the house for a second. "I'm going, bye everyone. Glenn, Tara, I'll see you tomorrow," she waited for the majority of them to messily bid her goodnight, and then went back to the man that was waiting for her outside. Daryl was already at the bottom of the steps, and Katty hurried to catch up. However, her feet didn't cooperate fully and she stumbled down the last two. Thank god Daryl had quick reflexes, or she would have taken them both down.

He merely grunted as he caught her by her upper arms and righted her posture. "Clumsy," he scolded.

"Drunk," she reminded, and he scoffed in response.

The walk was entirely silent as they slowly made their way the short distance to their destination. She would also take all the credit for their pace, however. Katty was slow because she was focussed on putting one foot in front of the other, and Daryl was probably slow to make sure she didn't fall to her death again.

They eventually made it to her house, and Katty noticed Daryl walked behind her up the steps of the porch. She knew it was because he didn't trust her feet right now, but she could resist calling over her shoulder, "Stop staring at my arse, Daryl,". He didn't respond, but Katty didn't notice over her cackles.

Katty finally clasped the door knob in her hand, and flicked the light on once she got inside. Daryl waited outside and remained silent. Katty thought his face looked slightly flushed in the light, and she wondered how much he had to drink.

She smiled at him, "Daryl, you look drunk. I should probably walk you home."

He looked at her like she had suddenly grown another head. Daryl just shook his head with a scoff, "'M not drunk. Go ta bed, Kat."

She grinned at his retreating figure down the steps of the porch and waited for him to get some distance away before Katty called out to him again.

"Daryl?"

Daryl turned halfway around, entirely bewildered with the intoxicated female. What did she want now? He didn't say anything, just shot her a look over his shoulder.

"Thanks again," Kat said in a softer voice. "For today. And stuff," she finished lamely. Daryl just nodded at her and she shut the door.

He sauntered back to the main house, slowly as he contemplated what he thought about Kat. She was socially awkward at times, obnoxious at others, inappropriate, and made him nervous. On the other hand, she had easily wormed her way into the hearts of his family, and he wondered if her spark of humour and hope was what they needed. He scowled as a smaller voice echoed back at him, what you need. Daryl also realized that it wasn't entirely unpleasant when she had shown him appreciation a few times that night. He chewed his thumb as he mulled it over.

She was young in some ways, he thought. Blonde hair briefly flashed in his vision as he recalled the last time a younger, hopeful girl had been in his presence. Daryl frowned at the comparison. It wasn't her, he reminded himself, and tried to distract his mind from the impending guilt.

Daryl inwardly cringed when he remembered the awkward comments Kat had made. First, calling him 'daddy', even if it was a joke, comments about virginity, and then she had unknowingly called him out for staring at her ass. It was definitely the alcohol talking, but all three scenarios had made his blood rush downwards.

He shoved his hands into the pocket of his vest, and remembered that he had pocketed the picture of her. Daryl chewed the inside of his cheek and scolded himself for being creepy.

Of course she was a fuckin' model, he thought with a roll of his eyes. Just another reason on the list of why she was out of his league. It pissed him off when he heard what the dickless younger son of Deanna thought about Kat. He could feel himself getting angry again as he practically stomped up the steps of the main house and opened the door roughly.

Daryl paused when he found Rick and Carol sitting at the island in the kitchen, staring at him with matching amused looks.

He frowned at them both, "What?"

"Katty get home alright?" Carol asked innocently. Too innocently. "She was pretty tipsy."

Daryl narrowed his eyes as Rick's grin got wider. "She's fine," he grumbled as he attempted to walk past them both and head to his bed.

"Nice of you to walk her home," Rick commented, and Daryl stopped walking to frown at him. Rick had his eyebrows raised and Daryl could tell that he was trying to keep a straight face, and he didn't like it.

He didn't dignify that with a response past a grunt as he tromped past them. Daryl's scowl deepened when he heard them both chuckling to each other. Drunk idiots, he thought.

Daryl flopped down on his bed, unceremoniously and ungracefully. He pulled the photo out of his pocket and glanced at it again before shoving it in the bottom drawer of his bedside table. He wasn't sure why he kept it, he just wanted to. It was a small memento, a token that depicted what she had been like before. She had been a healthier weight before, her hips wider and her breasts bigger. She looked more feminine, younger and less worn than she appeared to him now. It was a strange sight, so he felt inclined to keep the picture of her.

Daryl closed his eyes and then rubbed at them roughly. It didn't help that when he shut out the world, he could still picture the full lips and weird eyes staring at him like in that photo.

A/N: Hello, you! I couldn't help myself, this chapter was originally going to be the run with Aiden and everyone, but I got carried away. That will have to wait for the next chapter. I hope you didn't mind the filler, I like having the odd chapter that develops relationships.

Next chapter will be a bit more serious, and with her conversation with Maggie last chapter, I felt it was alright to break up the two.

Hope you enjoyed itttt. I'll try to get the next one up by this weekend sometime, but reviews might help me write faster. ;)

-Submechanophobia