Heterochromia Iridum

This one's a long one, enjoy guys! That's what happens when I can't sleep, I finish chapters on time haha.

Thank you to HPGunshot, Bactrian Camel, I'm a Nerd and Proud, LeAnn388, Daydreamer003, Kaiya's Watergarden, addicted2memories, bakaneko7, Faelyght, Guest, Jean, caper6six6, and JenTen for reviewing. Thanks to everyone new that's added this to their alerts or their favourites, we're at over 200 alerts now which is nuts.

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 16: Disoriented

Disoriented.

That's what described her state perfectly. Waking up in an unfamiliar bed, in a room that smelt like hospital supplies and cleaner. Her nose wrinkled as the smell burned slightly. It was quiet for the most part, but in the back of Katty's mind she could hear two voices speaking softly to each other.

Katty groaned as her eyes finally cooperated and opened. The room was light in color and had way too much natural sunlight for her to enjoy in that moment.

"Morning, sunshine," someone greeted. Katty frowned as she didn't recognize the female voice right away and turned her head towards where it came from.

"Tara!" she exclaimed happily. A pretty face with dark eyebrows smiled at her in response.

"You know," Rosita commented from her spot in between them, a book in her hands. "I half considered leaning over you with that face you were staring at Tara with the other day," she joked. "Teach you a lesson,"

Katty smiled in response, and then winced. The front of her head had started to pound, throb in pain.

"Yeah, take it easy for a while. You've had a rough few days, Katty," Rosita chided, before getting up to help Katty reposition herself in bed to sit up. "What happened last night? You really scared everyone," She looked her over, concerned.

"Went to drop something off for Carol and caught Pete in the middle of taking Michonne's sword. Tried to stop him and he smacked my head into the mantle piece," she explained, gingerly reaching up to trace her fingers along where she had been hurt. Katty was somewhat surprised to feel the rough bumps of stitches in her hairline. She winced and removed her hand.

The look on Rosita's face was less than pleased, "Katty, he could have killed you – "

"I know," Katty interrupted rudely, very aware that she was about to get a lecture. "He was drunk and I thought I could distract him long enough," She felt her eyes burn, thinking about Reg. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt." Katty added quietly.

This was your fault, her conscious whispered at her. You should have been able to stop him.

She heard Rosita let out a sigh and then left shortly, returning with her breakfast. It consisted of oat porridge, along with a glass of water and two white pills. Katty was about to protest that she wasn't about to use up any of Alexandria's pharmaceutical supply, but Rosita raised a hand to stop her.

"It's two pills, just take it," she interrupted her. "I'm not letting you leave until you do."

"Take 'em, and then we can walk arm in arm out of this bitch," Tara instructed at her through mouthfuls of her own oat porridge. She gulped down what was in her mouth before she continued.

"You had visitors last night but Rosita wouldn't let anyone in. Just Maggie to help," Tara tattled on her friend, sending a grin to Katty.

Rosita looked offended. "Katty is a light sleeper and she needed her rest. She can see everyone later," she chided like a mother explaining the rules to a child. "Besides, I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing a certain someone since they got back last night," Rosita teased, a mocking grin gracing her features.

Katty felt her face heat up and she immediately starting pushing her breakfast around, practically playing with it.

"Yeah, you're right, I haven't seen Aaron in a while," she deflected and winced when she heard how her voice took on an awkwardly loud, avoidant volume. Rosita and Tara laughed loudly in response.

The mention of Daryl and Aaron made Katty reflect on what had happened last night. Trying to stop Pete from stealing Michonne's sword, getting knocked out, chasing after him, watching Reg get killed, Rick shooting Pete, and end it all with her fainting. Kat felt her body sag slightly with the realization. It had been a horrible night.

Rosita seemed to sense the change in mood, and backed off from teasing her for the time being. "I changed the dressings on your back, it's healing well," she noted. "Bruising on your face is going down. The one at the back of your head is healing, and the laceration by your hairline only needed a couple of stitches," Rosita listed off. "I left the one on your arm alone because I remembered you just changed it day before yesterday."

"Holy shit, Katty," Tara gaped at her. "You put my head injury to shame."

"Lucky me, what's my prize?" Katty drawled sarcastically.

Rosita's hands went to her hips. "You need to take it easy. Maggie helped me with you last night, so you can prepare yourself for her to be upset with you as well. Not to mention Daryl," a smirk slid onto her mouth at the mention of the redneck again. "He freaked out when you fainted."

Katty cringed. "Great, just what I wanted to deal with."

Tara laughed again, "Wah, poor me, people care about me," she mocked as she pushed the covers back off of her legs and stacked the dishes beside her. Katty copied her and then quickly took a swig of water and swallowed the two pills Rosita had brought her. Her muscles sounded in protest as she started to move around.

"Okay, you guys can go. I'll hunt you down when I want to check on you." Rosita waved them away and towards the door.

"What're we going to do about not having a doctor now?" Katty asked, the problem looming over their heads. They weren't exactly short of people getting hurt lately.

Rosita sighed. "There's another doctor here, actually. I have to go talk to her about it this morning."

Katty's brow furrowed. "Really? Where's she been this entire time then?" This entire time, Pete's abuse of his family had been ignored since he was Alexandria's only doctor. She could easily say she was pissed that that had not been the case.

"Deanna said she's not exactly a medical doctor and that she usually keeps to herself," Rosita explained. "I'm just hoping she'll give it a shot."

Katty and Tara both nodded in understanding. "Well we definitely need her now. Good luck, Rosita," Tara called as she and Katty left the infirmary.

"What's your plan for the rest of the day?" Tara asked her conversationally as they walked slowly.

Katty sighed, "I think I'll go change my clothes and then go check in with a few people," she mused aloud, unsure of if she was going to try to avoid anyone or not. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Daryl or Aaron, but Katty wasn't in the mood to answer a million questions about what happened.

Tara nodded in understanding, "I'm pretty much doing the same thing," she echoed back, and her voice sounded distant. Katty wondered if Tara knew about Noah yet.

She bit her lip before voicing her question, wondering if this was about to bite her in the arse. Did she really want to be the one to tell her? Katty hesitated, and decided that the girl had a right to know. "Tara," she started, and the other girl turned to her curiously. "Did Rosita tell you about Noah?" she asked softly.

Tara nodded quickly and blinked hard a few times, "She did." Katty's heart panged for Tara, and she hesitated. This was another moment that she wished she was better at comforting people, wished that she knew what to say or not say. But she didn't. So Katty remained silent and just stared at her worn out boots.

"I know there's a lot to say, I just don't know how to start," Tara mumbled at her. Katty looked up, confused. "I'm just grateful that you guys were able to bring him back, you know?" she reached a shaky hand out to Katty's. "Maggie said that the group wants to get together tonight, maybe have another dinner or something. Talk a lot and drink, I think," she explained quickly. "You'll be there, right?"

Katty bobbed her head up and down, "Yeah, definitely, love," she cooed at her friend, who smiled weakly back at her.

"Okay," Tara gestured towards the house Katty was staying in, "let's not talk about this for right now. I'll see you later, okay?"

Katty nodded and squeezed her hand once before she let go and made her way to the home that housed her belongings. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement down the street and inclined her head towards it.

Someone was perched on the railing of the porch connected to Rick's house, and Katty could barely see tendrils of smoke drifting away from the person.

Daryl.

Her heart sped up as she watched him, and Katty could feel that, even from this distance, he was staring right back at her. Half of her wanted to just go up and talk to him, but she hesitated. Katty knew that she probably looked and smelt like shit. She knew that she definitely needed a shower and to try to wash away some of the caked blood in her hair that had started to itch. Spending the night in the infirmary meant that she had slept in her trousers, and Katty's skin crawled at the fact that she smelled a combination of grime and medical supplies.

Daryl would have to wait, she decided. So would Maggie and anyone else that wanted to scold her.

She spared one last glance over her shoulder at the man before she retreated into the house, excited to shower and change her clothing.

Katty walked upstairs, and found that she was compelled to stop in front of a bedroom that wasn't hers. It was the grey one, that she had left the pile of clothes in for whenever the team came back. Everything was just as she left it, and Katty stopped in the doorway to look over the room once more. When were those people coming back, she wondered. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as she stood there, remembering what her last thoughts had been when she viewed this area before. She had uselessly mused to herself whether Calum would have liked the room, if this was how he would have chosen to decorate before the apocalypse.

Katty tugged her full bottom lip into her mouth as she felt the pang of sadness once again. She missed her friend.

Backing out of the room, she shut the door quietly. Rolling her eyes to herself, Katty retreated to her bedroom to grab a towel and a change of clothes. It didn't really do her any good to feel sad about a bedroom, she scolded.

"Get over yourself, Katty," she murmured aloud as she reached her destination.

She turned the water on, stripped off her clothes, and then paused to look in the mirror. She wasn't sure why, other than out of habit. It was somewhat self deprecating, considering how rough Katty knew she looked.

Katty cringed at what she saw. She honestly hadn't seen her own face in a few days, she knew that the bruise was definitely ugly and that it had swollen part of her eye up. So, due to that, she avoided mirrors. Looking at herself now, she was at least glad to see some improvement. The swelling had gone down, and there was minimal bruising left from when Aiden had hit her. The slice along her throat had healed for the most part, just a few parts were still scabbed over. The few, dark stitches were luckily mostly hidden in her hairline. Considering how beat up and fatigued she felt, Katty figured she looked alright.

She glanced down at her arm and decided to remove the gauze around it. It definitely looked better. Katty was thankful that she was a quick healer, she always had been. It still took longer to heal than the other marks and lacerations on her body, but the scratch was well on it's way. The butterfly closures were still intact, so Katty decided to leave them on for her shower. Maybe afterwards, she'd leave the scratch uncovered. It didn't look angry or infected, so people were less likely to ask questions about it.

Turning around, she looked over her back. Maggie and Rosita had apparently packed a great deal more bandages on her, probably so she could sleep through the night on her back. Katty winced and pulled at the dressings, they would be useless in the shower. For the most part, her back was healing nicely. There wouldn't be a million scars and gouges on her back like she had figured, so Katty couldn't complain. She left the few smaller plaster bandages on and then turned back around in the mirror.

Katty quickly checked out her arse, because she was female, after all.

"At least I look like I'm gaining some weight back," she muttered before she stepped into the shower. The hot water made her wince, and she turned the temperature down some. She just stood there in the stream from the main shower head, not thinking and not moving. After a while, her muscles lost the tension that they had been carrying for the past few days. Her shoulders relaxed and Katty sighed at the difference.

She gingerly washed her hair, careful to avoid her stitches and the scab at the back of her head. At one point, Katty laughed out loud at her condition. Four or five days ago, she had been completely fine. Now look at her.

Her back and arm stung lightly from the water, but Katty didn't really care. She probably stood there for another ten minutes after she finished rinsing her hair, unwilling to leave right away.

When she turned the water off and got out, Katty couldn't make herself put on actual trousers or her jeans. She couldn't keep the stupid grin off her face as she put on the awful, sequin shorts again and tossed a vest top on over it, ignoring her bra completely. Her back deserved a break, she thought. Her old Timberland boots were shoved back onto her feet, and then Katty headed for the door.

Opening it, she froze. Daryl was standing on the covered porch, a few feet away. Her eyebrows lifted in confusion when she noticed, from his posture and positioning, that he had been pacing back and forth.

They both stood there, not saying anything, just staring at the other. Daryl was wearing his dark jacket with his leather vest over top, and looked tired, like he hadn't really slept since he'd been gone. He also looked like he needed to shower and change his clothes as well; his pants were caked in dirt and grime, and his hair wasn't much better.

Katty couldn't keep the stupid smile off her face; Daryl Dixon was a sight for sore eyes.

"Why d'ya keep wearin' those things?" he asked gruffly, staring at her choice of shorts with a disgruntled look on his face, as if the fabric personally offended him.

Katty let out a loud, unattractive laugh, and she saw him jump slightly at the sudden noise.

"Because I can see how jealous you are of them. Back off, Daryl, they're mine," she whispered in his ear as she passed him, making sure to brush against his side at the same time. It had been too long since she had gotten the chance to tease him, she could feel herself becoming giddy at the chance.

Daryl effectively stiffened and took a solid step away from her, before following Katty down the steps of the house.

"Hold up," he grouched at her, and she paused her step briefly to look over at him. He, somewhat roughly, grabbed her good arm and turned her to look at her back.

His face was creased, brow furrowed as his eyes raked over her. "Th'fuck happened ta ya last night?" Daryl asked coarsely, and Katty frowned. He sounded irritated.

Self-consciously, she reached a hand behind her to her exposed shoulder blade, what she assumed had caught his eye first. "I'm alright, Daryl," she said calmly, not knowing what he knew or what he expected her to explain.

"Yer back looks like it went through a damn cheese grater," he hissed at her, his eyes narrowed. She watched as he scanned her face as well, "An' the hell happened to yer face?" his hand went up and grabbed her chin to turn her head so he could study the bruising and the stitches better.

If Katty had hackles, they would have been raised. She batted his hand away from her face, and angry look on her own. She hadn't thought her back had looked that awful. "Sorry I don't look up to your standards," she snapped at him sarcastically, and ripped her arm out of his grip.

Like hell she was going to explain anything to him now.

She stalked off, only taking a few steps before she heard Daryl let out an annoyed puff of air before his footsteps followed closely behind hers. Katty wasn't sure where she was walking to, but apparently she was headed towards the two houses that Rick's group occupied.

"Ain't done talkin' to ya," Daryl called at her, and she sped up her pace, thoroughly annoyed at him. Daryl caught up to her easily, and she felt him grab her arm once more. Damn Daryl and his stupid long legs, Katty scowled at him.

His eyes caught the scratch on her throat and then the bigger one on her other arm, and she saw him grit his teeth. "Leave for four damn days 'nd come back ta find ya beat ta shit," he snapped at her. "Should lock ya in the closet next time I leave, make sure ya don't get hurt."

Katty heard a couple doors open and footsteps approach and stop, waiting on the adjacent verandas. Neither of them glanced over to see who it was, both too concerned with scowling at each other. Katty could feel her blood boil at the implications of his words. He doesn't think I can take care of myself, she realized, irritated.

"I don't need you to protect me, Daryl. I'm fine," she seethed at him, leaning in closer to his face so that she could enunciate her words clearly for him.

"Yeah, I can see that worked out great for ya," he scoffed disbelievingly.

Asshole.

Katty wanted to breathe fire. If this was his way of showing that he was upset that she got hurt, she was sick of it already. Instead of replying to his sarcasm, she decided to take the conversation in a different direction.

"Hey, Daryl, missed you too. Glad to see you're okay. I'm alright, had a bloody awful time getting assaulted, watching people die, getting blasted to shit, almost getting killed by Biters, and trying to stop Pete from murdering Rick with a goddamn sword, but all in all, can't complain. How was your week, love?" she sneered sarcastically at him.

Daryl's grip slackened on her arm, and his mouth opened and closed a few times, no sound coming out. He finally stopped impersonating a fish, and started worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Daryl eyes scanned over her face a few times, and his anger turned into a nervous energy.

Katty could feel her own anger diminish, and she let out a sigh as her shoulders sagged. Half of her wanted to slap him, the other, larger part of her wanted to hug him. She doubted that either of those actions would go over well with Daryl, though, so Katty just stood there, looking back at him.

"That's rough man," They both jumped as they remembered that they had an apparent audience. Glenn and Maggie were leaned against the railing of the veranda. Glenn had been the one to speak, and he was giving Daryl a sympathetic look.

Behind them, Tara and Abraham were standing, both of which looked amused. Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Carol, who was holding Judith, were on the other porch. There was a mixture of amused and shocked faces, and Katty felt her own heat up in response.

"Gotta say, I was picturin' a sexier reunion," she heard Abraham mutter to Tara, who laughed. Katty felt her jaw drop.

"Nosey buggers," she spluttered, thoroughly embarrassed. "All of you."

She could feel Daryl shuffle uncomfortably beside her; Katty knew it was just a matter of time before he stalked off and didn't talk to her for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, Eugene appeared, walking towards them at a fast pace and an important look on his typically calm face.

"Rick, people," he called out, somewhat winded. Katty frowned, confused as to what exactly that meant.

"What people?" Rick asked gruffly as he made his way down the steps and towards Eugene, Michonne and Carl trailing behind him.

"Identified himself as Heath, and that his team has been on a run the last couple weeks. Came in a truck with two other men and a woman," Eugene explained quickly. "They don't appear to pose a threat," he added, "Though Heath threatened to 'beat my ass' if I didn't open the gate for them," Eugene added as an afterthought, a frown appearing on his face.

Rick nodded and then looked glanced towards Maggie, "You goin' up to see Deanna?" he asked the younger woman.

She nodded, understanding what he was about to say, "I'll let her know," she replied shortly, squeezed Glenn's hand once before turning and departing.

"Carl, stay back here with Judith," Rick instructed to his son, who just shrugged and nodded in response. He then turned to the remaining lot of them. "Suppose some of us should introduce ourselves," he commented, though Katty thought his tone didn't sound entirely genial.

Michonne and Glenn fell into step beside Rick immediately. Katty, interested in who the residents were who just returned, started to walk over to join them. Considering that at least a couple of them were living in the house with her, Katty felt she had a vested interest in them.

A hand lightly reached out and touched her arm hesitantly. She looked over at who it was.

Daryl traced his eyes over her face briefly to help him gauge her reaction. She was probably going to yell at him again, he realized dully. That had been great.

"Stay back a bit, alright?" He asked her quietly, deciding that if he phrased it in a question, she might not bite his head off.

Kat looked at him for a minute with a frown, before she nodded slowly.

"Yeah, alright," she said back to him, and Daryl nodded once before he dropped his hand from her arm. When he went to turn away, Kat made him stop.

"Um," Daryl squinted a bit. Why did she look nervous now? "We'll talk later, yeah?"

Daryl wanted to say no. In all honesty, after arguing and then getting caught and teased by the rest of the group, the last thing he wanted to do was talk to Kat some more. They had spoken for all of five minutes and almost ended up shouting at each other.

He considered that he could say yes and then just avoid her. Fucking pussy, he scolded himself. It's just Kat.

"Yeah," he grunted shortly at her, not sure if it was a lie or not. Either way, Daryl didn't meet her eyes. He turned away and started walking in the direction that Rick, Michonne and Glenn had left in.

When Kat fainted last night, he had responded in the only way he could process at the time. By getting irrevocably angry and panicking. After being gone for four days, to walk in to Kat looking half dead and suddenly becoming unconscious, he didn't know how to react properly. Luckily Michonne had been nearby and partially grabbed Kat before she hit the ground, but when he had been kicked out of the infirmary after bringing her there, Daryl had thrown a few choice words at Rosita that he now wanted to take back.

He still had no idea what had happened to her last night; Carol had informed him about the extent of her injuries from the warehouse run along with what happened to Noah and Aiden. Rick and Carol had guessed it had something to do with Pete. They had heard her yell for him to stop shortly before she appeared after Pete. If that was true, it pissed Daryl off. Fuckin' girl probably barely weighed a buck ten soaking wet, and for her to go after a drunk, abusive asshole that was twice her size was fuckin' stupid.

He had been about to tell her so, before she went on a sarcastic tirade and verbally put him in his place. Kat had condescendingly referred to him as 'love' again, which really shut him up. She was pissed.

Snapping out of his self pity party, he looked up to see an old truck and four people in the distance, unloading belongings and supplies from it. Rick had said something to the three of them which Daryl had evidently missed.

Out of the four people, one was female, like Eugene had said. The girl was short and small with dark hair pulled into a scraggly braid. Two of the other men had deeper skin, one with a shaved head and a beard and the other with pulled back hair and thick rimmed glasses. Daryl found himself staring at the last guy, already distrusting of the new people. The last guy was tall and lanky, with dark, pretty boy hair and a stupid grin on his face. He was in the middle of throwing a box of something at the bald guy, and laughed when he didn't catch it.

Idiot, Daryl thought to himself.

As they advanced, the group of people looked up and towards them.

"You all must be part of Eugene's group, right?" The guy with glasses called out to them.

The pretty boy made a 'tsk' noise, "Some welcoming committee," he scoffed, but his tone lacked any bite. "At least give us a smile, big boy," he directed that last comment at Rick with a wink. Daryl resisted scoffing out loud.

Glasses, however, didn't hold back in rolling his eyes. "Shut up, dude."

Rick ignored the comment. "I'm Rick, this is Glenn, Michonne and Daryl," he said evenly, gesturing at each of them in turn.

Glasses nodded. "I'm Heath and this is my team. Annie, Scott, and – "

An odd, choking gasp sounded behind them, and Daryl turned. Kat was standing behind them, about 30 feet, trembling. Her eyes were wide as saucers and locked on something, past Daryl.

"Holy shit," a disbelieving voice whispered. Daryl swiveled his head to see the pretty boy staring back at Kat with a similar, stunned expression. Everything that he was holding in his arms fell and hit the floor, and he jerked forward into a full sprint. Daryl immediately positioned himself to stop the idiot from getting to Kat, but he froze with their next words.

"Calum!"

"Katty!"

Calum had run around them to get to Kat, who also had started to sprint at the lanky male. They met at an awkward place, in front of the section of water in Alexandria. Both running at each other, they had difficulty stopping and Kat ended up launching herself at Calum, wrapping her legs around him and sending them both into the water.

They were both blubbering at each other, Kat might have been crying; it was difficult to tell since now they were soaking wet.

The shock had worn off, and Daryl felt a twinge of jealousy at Calum. He pulled Kat out of the water and picked her up briefly to hug her. His eyes snapped down at her newly exposed skin on her upper leg. The large, oddly shaped scar, white and pink against her skin, stuck out to him immediately, and Daryl frowned.

What the hell did that?

He only caught a brief glimpse of it before Kat swatted at Calum and laughed, telling him to put her down, and fixed her clothes.

They were talking much too fast for anyone to keep up or understand, rapid fire blathering. Daryl wasn't sure either of them understood what the other was saying, considering that they were talking over each other.

Kat suddenly paused, and seemed to think something over. Calum stopped as well.

"What?"

Her eyes narrowed at him, "You've been here this entire time?"

"Yeah, but – "

Kat reached out and shoved Calum, who toppled over back into the water. Daryl could hear Glenn and Michonne snigger beside him.

"I've been looking for you for months!" she snapped, irritated.

"I never stopped looking for you either!" he protested, scrambling out of the water once more.

"It's true, he's quite whiney about you actually," the man named Scott chimed in while he pulled more boxes from the truck.

"See?" Calum cocked an eyebrow at her as he wrung out his shirt and ran a hand over his hair to push it back. "How did you get here anyways? Rick's group find ya?"

Kat shook her head. "Aaron and Eric, just over two months ago. Only decided to come back with them recently though."

Calum's jaw dropped. "You're fucking kidding me. You're who Aaron was talking about?" Kat nodded in response.

"I hate to break up this reunion," Annie commented, though the look on her face as she eyed Kat said differently. Daryl felt himself bristling at her expression. "But we have to unpack everything and report to Deanna."

"Right, sorry, Annie," Calum waved her off. "We've been gone for – what – two weeks?" he looked over to Heath, who nodded. "Anyone know the date?"

Daryl frowned, not understanding why anyone would care what the date was anymore.

"July 30th," Michonne answered. "Deanna likes to keep track," she offered at the confused looks she received in return.

Calum let out a whoop of laughter. "What a coincidence, huh Katty?" she looked confused at the question, so Calum laughed again. "Happy birthday, Kitty Cat." Daryl frowned at the nickname. She mentioned that Merle had called her that, too, but from Calum, it ignited a spark of jealousy.

Kat still looked somewhat confused. Daryl understood why; birthdays weren't an occasion that anyone celebrated anymore. Not that he had ever celebrated his, but Daryl knew that most other people did before the end of the world.

"Oh," she blinked.

"Looks like we'll have something to celebrate tonight," Glenn commented with a grin. Kat immediately shook her head.

"No way, I don't want anyone making a big deal about it," she protested, waving her hands in front of herself slightly.

Calum placed a hand on Kat's lower back and Daryl felt his jaw clench and his muscles tense. "I'm going to unload everything, so we'll catch up tonight, hopefully, okay?" he asked, raking his eyes over her like she'd disappear. "I can't believe you're here," he added with another flash of white teeth.

She nodded immediately, "Yeah, of course," she grunted as he hugged her tightly again before turning back to the team. Daryl didn't like Calum.

"Thanks for coming by and introducing yourselves," Heath commented, directing his attention to Rick. "I'm sure we'll talk again soon."

Daryl wondered if he'd be so keen if he knew what had transpired in the time that they had been away. He'd certainly know after talking with Deanna, though.

He watched as Glenn and Michonne started to excitably talk to Kat about Calum and her birthday.

Daryl really didn't like Calum.

And when he didn't like something, Daryl avoided it. He saw Rick watching him, and he avoided eye contact immediately. Walking away quickly, Daryl tried to appear as if he wasn't running away with his tail between his legs. Fucking pussy, he scolded himself.

Looks like Daryl agreeing to talk to Kat later was a lie after all.

Daryl was drunk and miserable.

He normally avoided drinking with people, because when he did he was often an asshole, but tonight he had decided, fuck it. Carol had practically coerced him into attending, spouting off shit about how the family needed to be together tonight, and guilt tripping him because he hadn't been around for the past few days.

So they were all sitting, squished around the table, with Kat at the end because she was declared 'the birthday guest'. No one exactly had time or resources for presents or birthday cake, so she got the least squished spot at the end.

He avoided her at all costs, and only sat down for dinner after everyone else had already been seated. As soon as the conversation had turned to the new arrivals of the day, which was quite quickly, Daryl had started to drink.

Mostly everyone else was drinking wine, but Daryl had quickly zeroed in on a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"That's amazing that you two found each other again," Carol commented, smiling at Kat. Daryl winced. Yeah, a real fucking beautiful romance story, he thought sarcastically as he gulped down the rest of his glass.

"Yeah," Kat laughed, "couldn't believe it when I saw that stupid grin." Daryl didn't like the smile or tone she had when she said that.

"You don't mean that," Glenn said with a bounce of his eyebrows. "He's pretty good looking."

Kat snorted, "Glenn, Maggie is sitting right next to you, have some decency."

Daryl couldn't help but snort as well when everyone else started laughing at Glenn's expense. He had been avoiding looking at Kat or even listening to anything she said, but he couldn't help it at that. When she had walked in, he almost cursed out loud at how good she looked. She was practically glowing, and it pissed him off that it wasn't because of him.

He wondered bitterly if Kat would even bother to talk to him anymore, now that she had Calum back. Daryl supposed not; maybe he had just been a replacement for her friend that she had obviously been missing.

God, he sounded like a damn girl. Time for another drink.

"How old are you now, Katty?" Rick asked, a tipsy grin on his face. Daryl's ears perked up at the question. He ventured a glance towards the girl, who immediately caught his eye before addressing Rick with a sheepish smile.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest," Kat admitted with a laugh. "I was trying to figure it out earlier, actually."

"Yeah, you have one of those faces that could either be like eighteen or thirty-five, it's hard to tell," Glenn said between sips of wine. His face was red, Daryl realized with a smirk.

Kat placed her pointer finger and thumb in front of her mouth in a thinking pose as she stared at Glenn contemplatively.

"I'm not sure if I should tell you to fuck off or not."

Snorts of laughter from the group covered Glenn's frantic protests and declarations that it was a compliment.

"I'm somewhere in my twenties," Kat confirmed with a laugh. Daryl cringed while he sipped his drink. He definitely wasn't in his twenties.

"What's something you did on your last birthday?" Maggie asked with a smile.

Kat cringed. "Can't remember much past shots, really," she admitted.

"That, we can do!" Tara called as she shoved her chair away from the table.

"Oh no," she groaned in response. "You're going to kill me." Kat complained as she got up from the table as well to stand by the island. Tara was pulling out a few more cups.

"Who else is doing a shot?" the brunette goaded. "Glenn, get your ass up here."

Everyone else that was sensible declined, but Glenn was easily peer pressured and got up to join them.

Daryl refilled his own cup and glanced up when he heard Kat gasp.

"That's not a shot, Tara, that's a fucking glass," she whined.

"Shhh, it's going to be okay, Katty," Tara disregarded her with a laugh. Glenn and Kat exchanged worried glances.

"Okay, cheers, everyone," Tara called as she pushed the two other 'shots' towards Glenn and Kat. "And happy birthday to Katty!"

The rest of the room, other than Daryl, echoed the words back, and Kat grinned at everyone before she clinked glasses with the other two standing at the island. Daryl watched as she tapped the glass on the table lightly before throwing back the glass quickly and placing it back on the table.

Tara and Glenn coughed as they swallowed whatever it was down.

"Katty, you're a pro!" Abraham laughed.

"Thanks, it runs in the family, on my mom's side," Kat replied sarcastically.

Rosita's eyebrows raised. "What did she do for a living?"

"Vicodin and Cocaine, mostly, but she dabbled in alcohol," she replied dully. Daryl snorted. At least they had one thing in common. He looked away quickly when he saw Kat looking at him, and decided it was time to go outside for a smoke.

Get away from those damn eyes.

Daryl tried not to stumble as he went out front to the porch and shut the door behind him as quietly as he could, which ended up not being that silent. As soon as he got up, he felt the effects of alcohol tenfold more, so the fresh air was probably for the best. If he had stayed, his inhibitions and self control probably would have disappeared and Daryl would have said something to Kat that he didn't want to come out.

Not feeling entirely capable to stand for a long period of time, Daryl plopped down unceremoniously on the bench underneath a window in the back corner of the porch. He sighed and stretched out his feet as he pulled a cigarette and his lighter out.

Guess that cigarette in the car was the last one he was going to share with Kat, he realized morosely.

He saw light from the door opening and light footsteps sounded across the wooden porch.

Speak of the fuckin' devil.

She felt like Daryl had been avoiding her all night, avoiding everyone really, and she was just drunk enough to passively confront him about it. In her hand, she wielded a bottle of wine that was three quarters full. Think of it as a peace offering, she had told herself when she grabbed it off the counter.

She hadn't been able to talk to Calum since their short reunion. It took a long time to unpack and organize everything and then the group spoke with Deanna for a while; he hadn't been over to find her before she left for the group dinner. So Katty had been looking forward to see Daryl, but it hadn't exactly gone to plan.

He had definitely been avoiding her. As soon as Calum appeared, he seemed to disappear. She was hoping to talk to Daryl earlier. She wanted to know about the scouting expedition, know about how he was, know anything.

But, like always, the man was a fucking enigma, a mystery, and refused to meet her eye all night or even acknowledge her. She knew it was obvious that she was staring, and that everyone else had definitely noticed the hopeless looks, but Daryl remained purposefully oblivious.

Walking in tonight, she had been happy that she was going to be spending the evening with family, and ecstatic that Daryl was going to be there. She missed their talks, even though they were often one sided, missed staring at him when she thought he wasn't looking, missed his entire presence, really, since he had been gone. It had been a rough few days and she hopelessly thought that Daryl would instantly make it better.

Maybe when he left, he realized that he didn't want anything to do with her, she nervously thought with a bite of her lip. She wasn't sure to begin with where they stood or what he thought, but she was just drunk enough to try to find out tonight.

Enough waiting.

She paused once she was in front of him, and suddenly lost her words. She knew some of it was her drunk brain, but Daryl casually splayed on the bench with a cigarette and illuminated by moonlight, made her want to groan. He has no fucking clue how sexy he is.

"Hi," Katty called lamely, hating how her voice trailed off uncertainly at the end.

Daryl looked surprised to see her there, and Katty almost turned and ran when he didn't say anything back right away. Thank god that drinking gave her confidence, because she didn't. Katty just raised the wine bottle and shook it slightly in his direction.

Luckily, Daryl let out a breath of laughter and waved at her with his hand that held a cigarette. She knew Daryl had been drinking quite a bit, which is probably why he didn't send her away.

Katty grinned at him and then plopped down on the bench next to him, not bothering to create any sort of space between them. Her leg pressed against the side of his, and Katty was pleased when he didn't move away.

They were quiet for a minute, and Katty took a swig from the wine and placed it back in her lap. She could feel Daryl watching her, and it sent shocks down her body to her core.

I'm so fucked, Katty groaned to herself.

She had an urge to smoke, and leaned over him to grab it. He held it in his opposite hand, so Katty practically draped herself across him to grab it, her breasts grazing across his arm and chest. She felt Daryl stiffen beside her and then let out an irritated sigh.

"How's the boyfriend?" he asked bluntly. Katty choking on the drag that she took, and then laughed the rest of the smoke out on her exhale.

"You jealous of Calum, Daryl?" she replied before she could think about it.

He scoffed and roughly ran his hand through his hair as he looked away. Katty took that time to admire him again, and felt a smile slide onto her face again.

"Just seems like an idiot," Daryl commented offhandedly as he picked at his nails.

"He is," Katty agreed as she held the cigarette out to him, "but he's also saved my life countless times and has a good heart," she tried not to let her mind wander to when she almost shot herself. "But he's not my type."

Daryl glanced back at her, surprised, and then let out a snort. "Not into pretty boys?"

"Nah," Daryl hadn't taken the smoke back, so she took another drag.

He didn't ask her to elaborate, but Katty buzzed with excitement that he was so annoyed by Calum. That had to be a good sign, right?

"How'd the scouting expedition go?" she asked lightly, glad that some of the tension had dissipated between them. Maybe Daryl just didn't do well with new people.

Daryl clumsily reached for the cigarette, and more tiny, electric shocks shot up her arm when his hand fell over hers.

"Shit," Daryl answered shortly. He took a drag before he elaborated. "Followed some guy for a while, lost him. Ended up at a warehouse lookin' for supplies and it was a trap by some crazies, got boxed in by Walkers 'til Morgan came along."

Katty turned her body so that she was sitting sideways on the bench, facing Daryl. "Morgan's the one you brought back?"

Daryl nodded, studying the cigarette disinterestedly. "Yeah. Knows Rick from the beginnin'."

"What do you mean by 'crazies'?" Katty fired off the next question before she could help it. She pulled her feet up, one leg bent and resting on the bench, the other on the ground, stretched out over Daryl's feet. She wondered if he was too drunk to notice she was resting her feet on him.

"Some assholes that've been stringin' people up 'nd leavin' 'em. Carvin' W's into their foreheads," he replied, stretching his arms and then propping them behind himself on the bench. "Ain't suppose ta go out 'nd look for people 'til we sort 'em out."

Drunk brain Katty wanted to smile at how he pronounced the letter 'W', but the rest of the content unsettled her. People were scarier than the dead these days.

"Probably for the best," she mumbled back and took another drink of wine. "That's scary, though. I'm glad you two are okay."

Daryl shrugged, and her lips turned up at the noncommittal gesture.

"You say 'W' really cute, by the way," Katty let out a drunken giggle, well aware of how stupid that sounded.

The look Daryl sent her made her wonder if she had grown a second head. He looked pointedly towards the bottle of wine between her legs.

"I think ya had enough," he commented with a raise of his eyebrows, and leaned forward to grab it.

Like a child, Katty snatched it away and held it as far as she could, behind her head.

"No, it's good, I'm fine," she protested with a grin. The cool night air had made the alcohol rush to her brain, apparently.

"Hand it over," Daryl demanded, his lips twisted up in a smirk. It distracted her, and Katty immediately started chewing her lower lip as she watched him.

With her slow reflexes, she didn't try to stop him when he grabbed her. Daryl grabbed Katty by her hips and pulled her towards him brusquely. Katty let out an embarrassing squeal. From her sideways position on the bench, her legs practically ended up wrapped around his waist.

Daryl snatched the bottle out of her hands and she let out a noise of protest, but then stopped and watched him, fascinated as Daryl took a long swig.

"It's my birthday, you aren't supposed to take things from me," she tried to scold him but it sounded weak, even to her drunk brain.

Daryl snorted, "Consider it a present. Ya won't get alcohol poisonin'."

Katty pulled her legs back and switched so she was sitting with her legs folded under her. "That's a shit present, Daryl."

"Didn't know ta get ya anythin'," he muttered as he put the cigarette out in the ashtray beside him.

Katty grinned at him, "You know, there's still a few hours left of my birthday. You still have time to get me a present."

Daryl let out a bark of laughter and turned to peer at her. "'Nd what the hell am I supposed ta get ya, in the middle of the night?"

There was no suggestive inflection or tone in his words, but something about what he said sent another pulse straight to her centre. The air around them became thick, and Katty wiggled where she sat, suddenly uncomfortable. Time seemed to slow down as she stared at him, and her foggy mind cleared enough to remember how Daryl felt against her, pressed into a tree.

Fuck it.

Katty had no clue how it happened or who moved first, but Daryl's lips roughly crashed into hers. It was demanding and hungry, and she was instantly addicted. Her hand reached up and fisted into the fabric of his shirt, and she attempted to pull him closer. He tasted like wine and cigarette smoke and Katty was sure she held a similar note. She felt herself becoming annoyed that they weren't close enough, and Katty leant forward, crushing her mouth into Daryl's more.

He seemed to have a similar thought, and she felt his hands on her hips for the second time that night. Daryl pulled at her hips and belt loops, and Katty felt excitement reverberate through her as she processed what he wanted. He ripped his lips off hers briefly and pressed their foreheads together. His eyes were dark and full of desire.

"Move, girl," he rasped at her, impatiently.

Obliging his demand, Katty quickly sung a leg over him and settled on his lap. Daryl wound a hair into her hair and pulled her face to his again. She felt Daryl's tongue push into her mouth, and Katty eagerly let him take control. Opening her mouth, she encouraged him further and ran her tongue along his. He responded in full, pulling Katty closer and tracing the outline of her mouth with his tongue, his grip never slackening from her hair. Katty switched her grasp and slung her arms loosely around Daryl's neck, her fingers tugging at the ends of his hair.

She could feel Daryl becoming less domineering and demanding than he had initially, and Katty wanted to change that. She wanted rough right now. Katty pulled away slightly from the kiss, just to clash her mouth against his once more, closing her teeth around his bottom lip and tugging it roughly as she pulled away. Daryl made a noise in the back of his throat and hungrily pushed their lips back together briefly before he trailed away from her mouth. Katty had little time to think before his grip tightened in her hair and he jerked her head back, exposing her throat.

Immediately, his mouth travelled down the column of her throat, the rough texture of his scruff making her squirm. Katty let out a whimper as Daryl bit down at the corner of her jaw, under her ear, and Katty felt her hips jerk involuntarily against his. She felt him smirk against her skin, and he repeated the process. Rough lips slid along her neck once more before he clamped down on the same spot under her ear. The moan she let out was louder this time, and Daryl let out a breath of laughter before his hands retreated from her hair. He reattached his lips hungrily to hers, and forced his tongue back into Katty's mouth, sliding his tongue against hers demandingly. Daryl grabbed at Katty's hips this time, and pushed down on her, making her grind against him. She let out another embarrassing whimper into his mouth at the feel of his hardness pressed against her core, feeling needy and wound entirely too tight.

"Daryl," she whined, and his grip tightened on her hips, moving her against him again as their mouth clashed drunkenly and repeatedly.

"Hey, Katty, are you out here?" they both froze at the sound of Maggie's voice. "I'm going home; do you want to walk with me?"

Daryl practically shoved her off of him and back beside him on the bench before she had time to think. She sat there, stunned as Maggie's head appeared around the corner.

"Katty? You hear me?"

Katty's mouth opened and closed a couple times, her foggy, horny mind not having caught up yet to the present scenario.

"Uh – sure, yeah," she replied, wincing when her voice was higher pitched than normal. Katty wondered if her legs were going to work when she got up.

When she didn't move, Maggie arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you going to get up?" she asked slowly, an amused smile appearing on her lips.

"Yeah," Katty quipped back quickly, and shot up from her seat. She immediately stumbled a pace forward, her legs feeling like jelly. Daryl laughed lightly behind her and Katty's face started to burn, but she refused to look back at him.

Maggie laughed as well, "Easy. Let's go." She hooked arms with her and led her down the stairs to the porch, Maggie's legs a lot steadier than Katty's.

Katty was trying not to focus on the uncomfortable feeling between her legs, and missed when Maggie said something to her as they walked to Katty's house.

"What?" she asked blankly.

"I said happy birthday again," Maggie said with a laugh. "You're sure out of it."

"Yeah, sorry. Lots of thinking," Katty replied lamely.

Maggie snorted. "Daryl that good?"

Katty tripped over her feet again, and was thankful that Maggie had a solid grip on her arm. "Wot?" she squawked. Maggie sent her an amused look.

"Oh please, I heard you moan when I opened the door."

"Fuck my life."

A/N: Hey, you! This was fun to write; I love awkward Katty. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to finish this one up for you.

edit: So this doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be smooth sailing for them now. Especially considering that neither Daryl or Katty are very good with people or talking about emotions, and the fact that they were both drunk here, it might be rocky tomorrow. Haha, I'm just hoping you guys keep an open mind because they might not 'get together' in the conventional sense, because I can't imagine either of them doing that really. Their relationship definitely will escalate, and I can promise that you won't have to wait another 16 chapters for anything more than a kiss. Hopefully I can surprise you in that way ;)

Now that Calum's here, we'll go more into Katty's past as well, and unravel what happened at Woodbury. More flashbacks, more Merle, and I'm going to take this in a bit of a different direction from the show and have the Wolves more involved. I've planned to end this story around the Season 6 midfinale, and then possibly a sequel in the works for all things Negan. :)

Feed a writer and leave a review!

-Submechanophobia

Next time: "You want to know about Project Wildfire? What does it matter anymore?"