"He's gone then," The wood creaking at his weight as he sat down on the porch beside me. My voice was not allowing me to bring it any louder. There was a slight pain in my chest right where the ability came from.

He glanced off into the distance. "Yes."

"And you shot him?" I asked turning to look at him.

"Yes." Daryl nodded averting my eyes.

I sighed. "I'm going to miss him. He was the only one that accepted me when I first joined." I squeezed my eyes fighting back the waterworks. It was becoming easier to not cry around Daryl, and not cry in general. I felt myself becoming adapt to this world; I felt myself becoming stronger.

We were both afraid to break the unnerving silence that had slithered up between us. We both knew what was on our minds, but neither of us could gather the courage to talk about it. "You never told me your brother's name was Keegan." His voice was quiet, but his words were loud.

I winced. "You never asked." My reply was far too quiet to try and be brave.

"I didn't want to bring it up." He told me moving over to be nearer to me. "I wish you would have opened up more about him. You put up such a high wall when it came to him I was scared to try and break it."

"Don't tell me I put up too high of walls," I shook my head smiling sarcastically. "I didn't want you to baby me more than you already did. I didn't want you to pity me. I didn't want you to feel sorry for me."

He reached his hand out to grab my hand but I recoiled it. "You could have come to me for comfort."

"What and cry on your shoulder like a child!" I spat at him moving away from him.

"Don't push me away Rose," his eyes quivered.

I laughed. "Are you kidding me? All you did when I first met you was push me away and push me away until I was ready to just not even bother, but then you'd reel me back in."

"I only did that because I was scared." He pinched the bridge of his nose looking at the ground. "You made me weak."

"What…" I was caught off guard by the sudden turn of events.

Daryl looked up at me. "I was fine before you came along. I was in survival mode. I was good on my own with no one to care about. Until I found you; lost and alone in that car trembling in my arms. You would look at me for protection, and that made me feel good about myself like someone actually needed me. You needed me to look out for you and for once in my life I felt important." He sighed. "Slowly the feelings began to flood in. I started noticing how pretty you are, how I get this feeling in my stomach when you laughed, how completely stupid you are when it comes to surviving, how dumb your jokes are, how you love my stories, how you can just bloke out the end of the world…You were growing on me and that scared me because instead of survival mode I had gone into defense mode making sure you were always safe. I would save you rather than myself. I would die before I let you die. That scared me." I opened my mouth but he held up his hand to silence me. "I realized later how I didn't need to be scared because love is all about sacrifices and I would sacrifice myself to keep you safe if I had to. I have to protect the thing I love. Rose, I love you."

My words caught in my throat as he oozed out his feelings to me. "I lo-!"

"Daryl! Daryl!" Shane was shouting running at us blood dripping from his nose. "Randal's escaped. He attacked me!"

Daryl grabbed me by the wrist yanking me off the steps. "Go inside. Stay with Andrea and Lori. Do not come outside until I come back." Before I could respond he gave me a light push up the steps and he was off.

I never got the chance to say it back.

"I'm not leaving without my boy," Lori frantically paced along the porch.

Carol wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay we'll find him."

Daryl pushed open the door of the house watching it bang off the back wall and slam shut once more. "Where's Rose?" he turned to T-Dog. "Where is she? I didn't see her in that house at all. I haven't seen her anywhere. Where is she?"

T-Dog gaped at the redneck racking his brain for something of the girl but he can't picture her being in the house. "I-I don't know. She came in the house for a bit then disappeared."

"She left." The youngest daughter, Beth, stepped forward her mother clinging to her arm. "Said she couldn't be in the house."

Daryl stepped closer to her. "Did she tell you where she went?"

Beth shook her head. "She kept mumbling something about you but that's it."

"God damnit!" Daryl exclaimed kicking the white fence around the porch snapping the wood in half.

I could hear them. There sloppily, torn apart hands banging on the wooden doors. I could hear the wood snapping in some parts of the barn door as numbers were increasing. I knew a few could not break it down, but get an enormous horde and I was done for. I wonder if they could smell me in here; somewhere I was not even suppose to be. I wonder if they personally hunted me down or it was just stupidity of a dead brain that brought them here. I knew if I did not get out of here quick I was most surely dead. They growled just behind the entrance their hands falling into the same beat. What was there to do? That's when I heard the long board being bolted for defense against the door. It was Rick and Carl. "Rick?" I spoke softly . "What's going on?"

Rick put a finger to his lips ushering me to come to him. "We're under attack, stay close to me."

Unconditionally tears welled up in my eyes. "We're going to die aren't we?"

"No." Rick grabbed me by the shoulders. "We're going to leave her together and alive. Okay Rose now I need to be strong and help up."

I took a breath trying to regain a neutral composer. "What can I do?" Rick handed me a gas can in response. He threw out an idea of leading the walkers inside the barn just to set it ablaze. I listened and did what he told me to do littering the stacks of hay and different assortments of wood with gasoline. All the while I kept falling back to my consciousness remembering I had never shared my words of affection to Daryl just as he did to me. I had left him without reassurance of my heart. I hoped he knew it was with him; one hundred percent with him.

Rick flung the gas can down and grabbed Carl pushing him towards the ladder. "Rose, go with Carl." He instructed guiding me to it quickly. Once we were both up in safety Rick began to bang on the barn door attracting more walkers before opening the door and leading them into their doom. Rick climbed the ladder instructing Carl to drop the lighter igniting the myriad of dead. We stood on the side of the barn desperately trying to call on of the cars over. Rick shouts filled the air as he flagged down Jimmy who was driving the R.V. hoping he'd come to help us. Off in the distance I could hear Daryl motorcycle revving and my chest pumped my yearn just to be with him out of this mess increased. Rick's fingers slid into mine as he helped me onto the R.V. "Come on!" he whispered leading us away from the R.V. Jimmy's screams echoing off of it as they tore him apart.

I dug my feet into the ground. "I have to find Daryl." Rick was still pulling me along despite my protest. "I have to find him. We can't leave him here!"

Rick's hand was still grasping my forearm. "I know, but we need to get out of here in one piece."

We made it back up to the farm safely even though my feet refused to move until he agreed to find Daryl; he never did. He was trying to get us away from the farm the most efficient way possible. Which, of course, was by car. That is when we found Hershel firing off round with his shotgun. He was refusing to leave his farm saying he would die with it.

"Hershel! Come on!" Rick shouted trying to get the old man in the car who reluctantly, after realizing his loss, climbed into the truck.

"I didn't see him Rick. Where was he? Rick!" I exclaimed clawing at the window as he plowed over zombies trying to make an exit. "You said one piece we're all scattered! Where is he?!" I pounded on the window looking around the farm seeing no motorcycle. "He was here! What if he got taken down? What if no one was there to save him! He spends all his time saving other people, all his time saving me! What if I wasn't there to save him?"

Hershel was silent along with Carl. Both were extremely calm in scene of our crisis. Here I was blubbering to Rick about my issue. "It's going to be okay Rose. You just need to calm down. We'll head back to the highway and make a plan from there." Suddenly I felt myself bring my head back and slam it forward into the window of the car. My head was ringing, my ears were pounding, my vision was stirring. "He's going to be okay Rose! He's going to be fine! Listen, don't jump to conclusions!" Someone was shouting at me, but I couldn't make out the voice. Was that Rick? Or Hershel? I brought my head back again and slammed it into the window once more, twice more, thrice more until the side of my face was sticky, and drenched in my own blood. "Rose!" I heard a distant voice yelling at me but all I could make out was the trees flying by but they began to splotch. Something was shaking me which made me slam my head one last time. I heard the sweet cracking of glass. I was yanked sideways into something. My head was spinning as black dots filled my eyes while my head was lolling on my shoulders. This was the end. It was peaceful. Death must be far more peaceful than this hell.

My mouth tasted of iron as blood seeped into as I tried to smile. "I love you." Somehow, I hoped, he could hear me finally say it back.

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Lots of Love xoxo- Kate