Carl drops down in front of me looking pale. I grab him and pull him to me. The same thing nearly happened to him. Oh God! I hold him tightly.

"Oh, kid, I'm sorry" I cry into his hair.

I feel him shake his head against my chest. "No" He says

I had the sudden desire to start stabbing corpses. Daryl's hand strokes my hair gently and kisses my ear affectionately. I cry harder. I can't even reunite with my husband properly because of these pricks!

Michonne comes over and touches my shoulder "Carl, come with me and we'll clean that cut."

Carl holds onto me tighter. I stroke his hair.

Michonne tries again "Carl, please, Gwen needs… She also…I don't…" She can't figure out what to say but whatever she was trying to get across to Carl, it worked.

He looks at me seriously "I'm sorry this happened to you" He says and kisses my cheek

I grab his wrist "Don't let them win!" I tell him. He looks surprised and I continue gently "You let them into your head they win, dead or alive. Cry over it, be pissed about it but don't let it define you!"

Carl looks shocked then a little relieved then he nods and allows Michonne to lead him away. I look over at Rick who is leaning against the car then turn to Daryl.

"Daryl" I sob and touch his bruising face "I thought you were dead! I thought I would never see you again!"

He shushes me again and kisses me, both of us pull away with a hiss of pain. Daryl frowns and inspects my face closely. "That bastard" He growls

I nod "I antagonized him so he would beat me instead of rape me. Lesser of two evils"

He holds my face to his chest. "You're still beautiful"

"He punched like a girl, I doubt I will even get a black eye, just a pretty bruise on my cheek" I tell him.

He nods "I think so too, it's your stomach I'm worried about. He hit your body more than your face."

I nod "My stomach hurts a lot"

"Let me see" He says.

I nod and shift my body and lie on the ground. Daryl shifts to his knees and picks up his flashlight and turns it on. He lifts my shirt to just under my chest and shines the light over it.

"Rick, come see this" Daryl calls.

There is a rush of movement out of the corner of my eye and Rick bloodied-self drops to my other side. "Oh God" He mutters.

I try to look but the glare of the flashlight dims my vision "What is it?"

"There is not an inch of skin that is not bruised" Rick says and I feel his hands ghost my stomach.

Daryl flashes his flashlight in my face "A busted lip and a bruised cheek. He didn't hit your face as much"

"Yeah still beautiful" Rick says and reaches for my face but stops himself. Daryl looks at him in shock.

Daryl sighs and pushes my shirt back down. I sit up slowly, my stomach screaming with every inch. I look at Rick as the sun begins to rise. "You look like shit" I tell him

Rick smirks "Thanks Gwen"

"You need to sleep" Daryl grunts.

I shake my head and hold his face in my hands "No, I just want to look at you. I'm still trying to convince myself you're here. You're alive."

His hands come up to my face. His finger traces my lips gently, avoiding the cut. "I thought you were dead. I saw you get hit by the bullet and go down, I didn't see you get back up." Then he looks suddenly pissed "I told you to stay by my side!"

"I'm so sorry." I tell him with tears in my eyes.

He smiles and reaches into his pocket and pulls out my lost necklace with the Celtic border surrounding a trinity knot. Very distinct, obviously mine "I found this in the courtyard covered in blood."

He moves my hair off my neck and rubs the area the necklace used to sit "It's not right seeing you without it"

He unclips the chain and leans forward. I grip his arm and take it off him. I turn it and clip it on him instead "I know it's hardly your style but I'd like you to wear it, keep me with you forever"

Daryl smiles and touches the necklace "I'll wear it, for you." He wraps me in his arm, my cheek against the cold of the pendant "I was scared without you" He admits

"Me too, I was fucking terrified! Never again, never! I will never lose you again. You and I, we are glue from now on!" I tell firmly.

Daryl kisses me. I mean he kisses me like, well, exactly how you would kiss someone you love when they come back from the dead. The only thing that prevented us getting naked was Rick's presence. I pull away first, really needing to breath.

An hour or so later, the sun has risen and I'm leaning with my head on Rick's shoulder as Daryl goes to find water. I wanted to go with him but I can barely stand. I'm starting to feel a little better though. Rick had found asprin in the car when we searched it earlier, it's starting to kick in.

"Happy fucking new year" I mutter.

Rick scoffs "Yeah"

Daryl comes back with a water bottle full of water and I lift my head off of Rick's shoulder slowly. Daryl pulls out his red rag and pours water on it.

"We should save it to drink." Rick says

"You can't see yourself, he can. I didn't know what they were." Daryl says handing Rick the cloth and sitting next to me on the ground. I shuffle myself and place my head on Daryl's shoulder instead. His arm goes around my shoulders and holds me to him tightly.

"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asks

"I was with Beth." Daryl says, my head snaps up and I stare at Daryl in shock "We got out together. I was with her for a while."

"Is she dead?" Rick asks

I bite my lip in anticipation of the answer "She's just gone. After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid, but it was something. It was enough."

"And you were alone." Rick says

"They said they were looking for some guy. Last night they said they spotted him. I was hanging back. I was gonna leave. But I stayed. That's when I saw it was you four. Right when you saw me. I didn't know what they could do." Daryl says. He strokes my hair gently.

"It's not on you, Daryl. Hey. It's not on you. You being back with us here, now, that's everything. You're my brother." Rick says.

I look between them and smile, remaining quiet, letting them have their bromance moment.

"Hey, what you did last night... anybody would have done that." Daryl says after a small silence

"No, not that." Rick says

"Something happened. That ain't you." Daryl says

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl and Gwen are. I want to keep them safe. That's all that matters." Rick says

I look over at him, feeling a cross between surprised and not. "Rick, you did what you did. No one is judging. As a matter of fact I'm grateful." I shudder violently "I don't even want to contemplate what would've happened otherwise"

"Angel, don't" Daryl says holding me tighter.

"Sorry, It's kind of hard not to think about." I feel tears well up in my eyes. I stand quickly and shake my arms and jump a little "I'm British, I don't get emotional. What the hell are you Americans doing to me? I'm going soft"

Daryl stands "You're far from soft, Angel."

Rick stands and taps on the car window as Daryl pulls me into his arms "I almost forgot how great you feel in my arms" He whispers in my ear

"Really? I never. I could only sleep remembering your strong arms around me at night with your smell around me, your voice in my ear, making me feel safe. It kept me going" I tell him quietly

He stares at me intently, his jaw loose. I laugh a little "Listen to me, it's you that made me soft. Damn you Dixon, you're my weakness"

Daryl kisses me slowly and gently. Lovingly. He pulls away and puts his forehead against mine "You've always been my weakness, Mrs Dixon"

I sniff back tears "You're gonna make me cry again"

Daryl chuckles at me. "Right, come on you two"

I look over at Rick and nod "Right, yeah."