AN: I already explained this on tumblr a couple of times, but since not all of you are following me, I will explain again how I want to do this. So now, we are in the ZA. I will roughly follow the shows storyline, but I wanna try to do my own thing. Some chapters will have more of the show than others, but dialogue will be different for the most part. (Again, some dialogue will be from the show.) I don't have time to go back and watch every season, nor do I want to, so events probably won't be in the same chronological order, some won't happen at all. I just wanna try to play around with things and have fun, so it doesn't get too repetitive. I will keep the focus on Bay and Daryl, i.e. I probably won't write too much scenes without either one of them in it. For example Rick and Lori's problems, I won't spend too much time detailing it about how they have it out, but write how Daryl and Bay hear about it and perceive it. That's the best explanation I can give you guys. Like I said on tumblr, I haven't written ZA in a long time and it might take a couple of chapters until I'm fully in there and comfortable again. Please bear with me;-) Now have fun (I hope).

PS: Your questions will be answered, but not all at once and right away;-) Patience! xoxo

Chapter 22

11 years later

Bayanne stood in the kitchen and rubbed down a pork roast with fresh herbs from the garden, when she heard heavy footsteps coming closer. After over ten years of living with the man, she knew the sound of his walk by heart. "Mother and child doing alright?" she asked, looking over her shoulder for a second and sending the man a smile.

"Yes. Mother Bessie and daughter Lily are doing just fine." the man gave a tired smile in return and got himself a glass from one of the cabinets before he filled it up with cold sweet tea from the fridge.

"Lily? Interesting choice for a calf." Bay laughed lightly as she wrapped some close-to-expiring puff pastry around the meat.

"Not my choice obviously. You know I haven't gotten any say in the matter for a very long time."

"I know, Hershel. There's no arguing with Beth. She's a stubborn one, that girl." Bay smiled affectionately to herself when she thought of the girl who had become a sister to her over the past eleven years. She had seen that girl grow from a 5-year old adorable pre-schooler into a beautiful young teenage girl.

"She is. Just like her mother." Hershel agreed with a little chuckle.

"But she's stubborn in a good way. She has a good head on her shoulders." Bay said and used a pastry brush to brush a whisked egg on the puff pastry before she put the roast in the oven.

"If only that would stop her from making stupid decisions." Hershel muttered, making Bay laugh and squeeze his shoulders gently in passing.

"She is not making stupid decisions, Hershel. Trust me, there are much worse teenage boys out there than Jimmy Henderson."

"Oh I know, Bayanne. I remember that one boy you came home with once..."

"And again... it wasn't like that. He really only gave me a ride. That was all that happened. I swear to the heavens and back. And also, he wasn't nearly as bad as his reputation. He was very polite."

"No young man is polite without motive." Hershel noted and watched her stiffen and her smile vanish from her face.

"I know." she said quietly. I know that better than anyone.

Hershel watched her with a sad smile on his face as she focused her attention on some potatoes she had washed before he had entered the kitchen. He had long ago given up on getting her to tell him what had happened all those years ago, before she had come to live with them. He knew some of it, but he was sure he was very far from knowing the whole truth. He knew that a young man had broken her heart, and that it had been such a bad experience that she had left her hometown. She had told him about her life back in Dalton, but the details surrounding the young man she had been with, those she had kept to herself to this day. They only knew that she had been in love and that he had hurt her badly, by taking all she had. Hershel thought that she still might not be over it, even after over a decade. Pain was etched into her features every time something from her past came up during a conversation. He wished she would talk to him or to Maggie or Beth. He had always wished she would maybe confide in his late wife Annette, and he had hoped that talking and opening up about it would help her to move past it, but she never had and she probably never will. He had accepted that a couple of years ago.

"DAAAAAD!" Maggie's loud yell made them both startle and Hershel quickly got up from his chair and went outside to the porch with Bay in tow. They watched a strange man run up to the house. He looked to be wearing a sheriff's uniform and he was holding a child in his arms. Further behind them was their farm hand Otis and another strange man, who was egging the overweight man on to keep running.

"Hershel! Are you Hershel?" The man that was carrying the boy shouted frantically when he got out of the field.

"Was he bit?" Hershel asked and shudders ran through Bay at the thought of the little boy having been bitten by one of those sick people running around. She knew full well what is fate might be.

"Shot! By your man Otis!" The man, who would later introduce himself as Rick Grimes, replied. Hershel immediately started barking commands, like he always did when they had to do an emergency procedure on one of the animals. It helped Bay slip into her professional mode and a calm settled over her in the panicked atmosphere of the room. She prepped everything that needed prepping and helped Hershel while he tried to save the boy's life. She was clueless to the fact, that with the arrival of Rick Grimes, fate had struck once again, and that it would bring someone very familiar back into her life.

The next two days went by in a blur. Bay had volunteered to go and get Rick's wife Lori from the highway to be with her son and husband, but Hershel had declined her offer and had let Maggie go instead. He needed Bay around to help him out with the medical stuff, and they still had animals that needed tending to. Shane Walsh, apparently Rick's best friend and former deputy, had gone off to find a respirator with Otis, and had returned with the respirator, but without Otis. Bay had had a weird feeling after the surgery. Shane had given off an overly nervous vibe every time Otis' name had come up and it made the hairs on her arms stand up. Something about the guy was fishy. She couldn't wait for them to leave again. She liked Rick and Lori alright, but this Shane character made her feel uneasy.

Still, she fixed him a plate and put it on the dining room table with a glass of sweet tea, before she filled two plates for Rick and Lori and put them on a tray to carry over into the guest room with their cold beverages.

"Thank you, Bay." Lori gave her a grateful smile while her tears still streamed down her cheeks continuously.

"You're very welcome. You both need to keep your strength up. You especially." She smiled gently at a pale Rick. "Um,... I'm sorry if it offends you, but I cut your food into bite-sized pieces, so you can eat only using the fork. You need to keep your arm still while you give blood..." Bay suddenly felt silly. She probably should have asked first before doing that, but Rick shot her a small smile and thanked her for her thoughtfulness, while Lori let out a little laugh. Bay chuckled a little herself. At least she had succeeded in amusing the couple for a short moment. "Holler if you need anything." she put her hand on Lori's shoulder for a second in a comforting gesture, before she left the room again and let herself plop down on the sofa in the living room, next to Beth, and leaned her head against the young girl's shoulder. Beth smiled and tilted her head to the side to rest it against Bay's for a moment.

"Things are changing." Beth said quietly.

"It's only temporary. Once Carl has healed enough, they will be on their way and things will go back to normal." Bay yawned and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Do you really think they will leave? After being out there in the open for so long? I don't see them going back to that. Not willingly." Beth's words made Bay freeze.

"You think they would try to take the farm?"

"No... Maybe... I don't know. Maybe it would be good for them to stay. We'd have more help around here. They have weapons and they know how to shoot and protect. They have experience with those sick people." Beth explained her train of thought.

"They do, but we don't need their experience. It has been over six months since the outbreak and we barely felt any of it out here so far. It would be better if things would just return to normal. If we'd just return to our boring lives and our boring routines. Boring is good. Boring is predictable. I like that." Bay muttered quietly.

"A little excitement doesn't hurt." Beth giggled.

"You and your need to experience and do something all the time. You're gonna give your father a heart attack one of these days." Bay laughed.

"I'm not that bad, and he knows it."

"He does." Bay agreed and sat back up to stretch out her tired limbs.

"I'm gonna go to bed. You coming up, too?" Beth asked as she got up.

"Soon. I think I'm gonna join Maggie on the porch for a couple of minutes. Get some fresh air."

"Alright. Sleep tight. Love you."

"Love you, too, Beth. Have a good night."

Beth went upstairs and Bay went back into the kitchen to fill up two more glasses with sweet tea, emptying the pitcher and putting it in the sink, before she went outside and sat down on the bench next to the other Greene girl. "How you doing, Maggie?"

"I'm alright." Maggie shrugged with a smile, making Bay grin. She admired the younger woman. Maggie was always the epitome of cool. She kept a clear head and took things in stride. There wasn't much that ever bothered the eldest Greene sister.

"I knew you would be."

"How about you? I know how much you hate change." Maggie gently poked her elbow into Bay's ribs in a teasing gesture.

"It's not really about hating change... I'm just not a big fan of surprises. Not anymore." Bay explained before she took a sip from her glass.

"Well, then you probably won't be a fan of that..." Maggie sat up straighter as headlights approached.

"Good God, what now?" Bay muttered and squinted her tired eyes. "Think it's people from their group?"

"I'm sure it is." The car came closer and Maggie spotted the young Asian guy, who she had previously seen in the woods when she had fetched Lori. "Yeah... I recognize him. It's some of their group members."

Maggie and Bay sat and watched as two men got out of the car and walked up to the house,... straight past them. "That's not very polite!" Maggie spoke up, startling the men and making Bay smirk in response.

"Oh, I'm sorry... we... oh... we didn't see you there." The man took of his baseball hat and smiled nervously. "I'm Glenn... this is T-Dog." he pointed to the African-American men next to him, who seemed to be in not very good shape.

"Are you okay? You aren't bit, are you?" Bay frowned as she got up and carefully walked closer.

"No. Tore my arm up good on a car back on the highway." the man answered in a weak voice.

"Let's get you inside. I'll take a look at it. Hershel is busy with Carl." Bay led the way inside and made T-Dog sit down at the dining table. She brought over a lamp from the living room to have better light, and looked at the long cut on T-Dog's arm. "Oh wow,... yeah, you definitely need stitches. And most definitely a couple rounds of antibiotics. I don't know if we have enough left, to be honest."

"That's okay, we have some." Glenn said and rummaged through his back pack. He tossed a small pill bottle at Bay, who caught it with ease.

"Doxicyclin. Not ba-" she stopped talking mid-word, her eyes widening when she read the patient's name on the label. Merle Dixon. No... come on! She started shaking as anger, confusion and panic rolled over her like a big tidal wave. She thought she might throw up. Merle Dixon was in their group? "Merle Dixon? He give you this?" she tried to kept her voice even and neutral when she asked the men, while Maggie looked at her with a frown, noticing the subtle change in Bay's demeanor.

"No, Ma'am. Merle is no longer with us." Glenn replied.

"He died?"

"Um... we don't know... he kind of got lost." Glenn explained, making Bay scoff internally. She knew how good Merle was at getting lost. He probably took from them what he needed and took off. That's what Dixons did. "His brother gave them to us." Glenn continued and Bay felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her. She actually physically recoiled and took a step back. She should have known. She shouldn't be surprised. If Merle was with them, or had been with them, then Daryl wouldn't be far.

No! No, no, no, no, no, no... No. Just no. He is not here. No. He is not currently within two miles of this farm... No. He is NOT coming here. This is not happening! Carl will heal, the group will wait on the highway. He is not going to come here. The panic inside of her increased tenfold. Angry tears stung her eyes and she quickly turned around so the others wouldn't see.

"Bay? What's wrong, are you alright?" a concerned Maggie took a step closer, but Bay slammed the pill bottle on the table and damn near fled the room. "I need to wash my hands." she mumbled and raced to the bathroom to lock herself in, not even thinking about the injured man who needed her help. She needed a moment to calm down. This just couldn't be happening. Eleven years... She had spent every single day of those eleven years thinking about him. She had never been able to let go of it. The answers she was missing didn't let her rest. Eleven freaking years and he still haunted her and now he was about to be back in her life, in the flesh. Briefly, with any luck not at all, but the chances weren't good. She felt all those feelings from the past with renewed vigor. The betrayal, the anger, the hurt, the heartache. Well, she wanted answers, this might be her chance, in case he didn't just turn around and would run for the hills again. Or for the highway. It was in that moment that she realized, that she might not be ready to hear any answers he might have for her. She wasn't ready to face him. She wasn't ready to see his damn face, those beautiful blue eyes, see his sinful lips move... No, she wasn't ready. She might launch herself at him like a screaming banshee and slap him silly before she broke down crying. She would make a fool of herself. No, she couldn't face him. Maybe he wouldn't recognize her. He sure had forgotten about her a long time ago. She wasn't even sure if the tattoo had been real. She had never spent much time inspecting it. Maybe it had been temporary... She looked a little different. Older of course, more mature. Her hair was just a tad bit lighter, a rich shade of brown instead of almost black. Maybe he wouldn't recognize her and she would get away with just ignoring him. Maybe she should stay in the stables with the horses until the group left. Stay out of sight.

"Bay?" The knock on the door shocked her out of her thoughts and she instinctively clutched her chest when her heart beat faster. "Jesus Christ... I'll be right out." she shouted through the door before she really started to wash her hands. She splashed some cold water in her face as well, before she pulled herself together and went back to the people waiting for her, ignoring Maggie's concerned gaze.

"So... This Merle fella... what did he use those pills for?" she asked while she stitched up T-Dog.

"The clap." Glen answered straight up and Bay had to fight to keep in her laugh. Serves you right, you dirty bastard.

"Thank God for Merle Dixon's sexually promiscuous behavior. It might just save your life." Bay deadpanned.

"Hm... the irony." T-Dog mumbled and shared a look with Glenn. T-Dog was the one who dropped the key and left Merle on that roof, where he had cut off his own hand. And now Merle was indirectly saving T-Dogs life. Irony indeed.

"I'm about done here. Maggie, would you fix our guests a plate? I'm sure they want to say hi to the others and then eat something."

"On it." Maggie nodded and pushed past Glen, who started fidgeting and nervously shifting his weight when she brushed his front with her arm. Bay smirked slightly. Seemed like the young man hadn't been around women too much.

While Bay bandaged up T-Dog's arm she decided to ask what the plan was. "The rest of your group... Are they staying on the highway? Looking for that little girl until Carl is ready to travel again?"

"No, Ma'am." Glenn shook his head.

Ma'am? I'm not that old yet. "It's Bay." she told him, before she realized what he had said. "No? What do you mean no? Are they going to keep traveling and you will follow them later?" she asked in hopes that the answer to that question would be a yes.

"No, Ma'... Bay... They are gonna pull up stakes and join us here in the morning." Glenn explained.

"We are going to use this as our base during the search for Sophia." T-Dog added, and Bay's heart fell. It was happening. It really, really was happening. She would see Daryl again.

Sleeping in the stables has never sounded this good, she thought and gave the men a tight smile while she pulled off her latex gloves. "I see... We are done here. You can go see your people now. They are in the guest room. Second door on the right." she got up and cleaned up the table, before she retreated to her room without another word.

"She seems tightly wound." Glenn muttered and helped a weakened T-Dog up from his chair.

"You would be, too, if a bunch of strangers invaded your house and bled all over the place." T-Dog reminded him, causing the younger man to nod.

"Yeah... true."

Bay kept the lights off as she dropped on her back on the bed. Her feelings were in one hell of a turmoil. She was not able to wrap her head around the fact, that Daryl freaking Dixon, the man who had ruined her life, would come to this farm in a couple of hours. To her home. She was scared. She was overwhelmed, and she was most definitely still pissed.

Then again, she had to ask herself; had he really ruined her life? Sure, she hadn't been able to go to college, she hadn't been able to become a shrink, but she had found a wonderful and loving family, a peaceful and cozy home and a job that she loved. Hershel had trained her and she had been his veterinary assistant for years. Not a shrink, but still kind of a doctor. Not officially of course. She had taken a class here and there, but they hadn't been able to afford to send her to veterinary college. So, hadn't Daryl's betrayal actually led to her having a nice and quiet life with a whole family that loved her?

That thought infuriated her. Her anger grew when she thought about how she might actually have to thank him for lying to her, deceiving her and ultimately robbing and leaving her. She had once thanked the Lord in tears for sending her Daryl, saying that he had sent her the best of the best. Best liar maybe. She scoffed loudly. "Don't tell me I have to thank you again, because he ultimately gave me all of this." she said while she played with her 18-year-old cross necklace. "You can be one twisted son of a gun, you know that? You're not really sending him here so I can thank HIM, right? I won't. He's lucky if he leaves this farm in one piece. He taught me how to shoot after all, and he was a damn good teacher. I sure won't miss."

"Talking to the man upstairs?" Maggie startled her for the second time that night.

"Oh my God, Greene! I'm this close to putting a damn cow bell on you. That's the second time you sent me into cardiac arrest today."

"Sorry. Just wanted to see how you were doing. You seemed shaken up down there. Everything okay?"

"Right as rain."

"Are you sure?"

"It's just been a weird couple of days."

"Yeah, but you kept your cool. You were only weird when you read the name on that pill bottle. Did it sound familiar? Did you know him?" Maggie questioned her.

"No. It was nothing. It's just going to be weird having these strangers around. The ones that are here right now seem nice enough, but... I don't know. I just need some sleep." Bay didn't feel like explaining her history with the Dixons to her. She had never told any of them. If she wouldn't succeed in ignoring Daryl, then they all would find out the truth soon enough. Maybe I should tell them. They probably wouldn't allow him to come here. But she would never do that. She knew that, despite everything, she would feel guilty and bad, if Daryl would have to stay behind on the highway alone. If he died, that would be on her. No, she wouldn't be the one to blame for anything happening to him. Let him come,... she would deal somehow.

I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I'm not ready. That was the predominant state of mind for Bay all throughout the night and into the morning. She kept glancing outside nervously, and when she was outside, she would strain her ears every couple of minutes, thinking that she had heard a car pull up. When late morning rolled around she was inside the kitchen, fixing a fresh pitcher of sweet tea, when Maggie opened the screen door and shouted 'Incoming.'

Bay froze and looked around in a panic. "Um, I'm gonna go take care of the horses."

"Now? Why don't you meet the new people first?" Hershel questioned as he stopped in the doorway on his way out.

"I can meet them later." Bay replied and left through the back door in a hurry and ran over to the stables to hide out, as silly as it was. Of course she didn't just hide out. She looked out the opened gate of the stables and observed the rest of the group driving up to the house. She saw two women and an older man getting out of the RV and closing the doors, which meant that nobody else was in there, which meant that the guy on the motorcycle had to be Daryl.

No, that can't be... Bay squinted and looked at the guy a little more closely. He had his back turned to her, but it was obvious that he was filthy. He didn't look very familiar, but then again, so far Bay hadn't taken into account that Daryl had aged as well and might look different. The shoulders definitely matched the Daryl she had known, but she still wasn't convinced that it was truly him. She watched him and his defensive stance, while the other newcomers hugged Rick and Lori, him being the only one who didn't participate in the hug fest. Bay's gaze left the back of his head and traveled down his muscular arms which were covered in grime and dirt, just like his clothes. She had a strange feeling watching that man. He seemed familiar, but then again he didn't. She was so engrossed in watching him, that she didn't notice right away that he had turned around, but when her eyes flicked back up, she finally saw his face. She gasped audibly as her stomach dropped to the floor. Yeah, he looked different, but there was no doubt now, that this was truly Daryl. Same face, albeit dirty, older and hardened. He squinted and put his hand to his eyebrows to shield his eyes from the sun and Bay quickly disappeared back into the stables with her heart racing. She didn't know what she was feeling. She was feeling a lot of different things at the same time, but she wasn't really able to analyze all the different things swirling through her right now. Panic seemed to be on the forefront though. She had no idea how to face him, even though she hadn't been the one to leave him. What do you say to someone who ripped your heart out and took your dreams away eleven years ago?Hi? Not likely. She was glad that for now, she was able to hide out here, but it was only a temporary solution. There would be Otis' memorial in a couple of hours and she would have to come out of hiding for that.

"These are my daughters Maggie and Beth. This is Beth's friend Jimmy, and you'll meet my other daughter later. She's tending to the horses right now." Hershel told Carol, Dale, Andrea and Daryl as introductions were made. Hershel had been affectionately referring to Bay as his third daughter for years. He thought it would be the best to introduce her as his daughter to these strangers as well to show, that she was under his protection, just like Maggie and Beth. Nobody of the highway group knew that she wasn't his biological daughter and where he was concerned, nobody needed to know. Those people would leave again soon anyway.

Daryl had caught glimpse of the third daughter, when he had turned around after he'd felt like someone was watching him. He hadn't been able to see much, the sun had blinded him, but that was okay. He didn't care about these people anyway. Right now he only cared about finding little Sophia, and alive hopefully. He grabbed his gear from his bike and out of the RV after Hershel had shown them where they were allowed to set up camp. Years of training and experience had him pitching his tent within minutes. He helped Carol, who was struggling a little, with hers, then he helped build a fire pit, before he grabbed his crossbow and left the camp area. Daryl liked knowing what he was dealing with. He liked exploring and getting to know his environment, in case he had to make a quick exit, so he decided to walk around some and get the lay of the land. Well, except for the barn. For whatever reason the farmer wanted them to steer clear of it. Daryl would stick to that for now, not wanting to be the reason for getting the injured boy kicked out of the house sooner than what was good for him.

Daryl wandered off towards the pastures, watching the cows and the horses grazing. He would never admit it out loud, but he enjoyed the view immensely. It was a miracle that this farm had been completely untouched by the destruction and death the outbreak had brought upon the country. At least in their parts of it. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to stick around here, he thought as he kept walking. He checked out the small orchard and snagged himself a ripe peach that he was able to reach. He hadn't had fresh fruit in months and he savored every bite of the sweet treat while he walked towards the stables. He didn't enter, the horses weren't in there anyway, so he was sure there was not much to see. He tossed the peach pit aside and sucked the fruit juices off his fingers as he walked to the back of the stables, his ears having picked up some noisy cluttering coming from back there. Might just be the other daughter, but after having dealt with walkers for too long already, he thought he better check it out just in case. He lifted his crossbow off his back and slowly sneaked around the corner on silent feet, not wanting to alert a possible threat to his presence. He relaxed and lowered the bow again, when he noticed that it really only was the other farmer's daughter, who was fumbling around with some metal buckets.

Bay was cleaning out the feed buckets, so they wouldn't turn into new homes for a variety of maggots, when she felt a presence behind her. "Did you bring the new sponges?" Bay asked and turned around, thinking it was Maggie who had promised to help her. Bay got the shock of her life, when, instead of Maggie, she looked directly into the eyes of her former boyfriend. Her eyes went wide and she stopped breathing. She was literally paralyzed in shock as she stared at Daryl, whose brows were knit in confusion as he quickly scanned her face with his eyes. He looked absolutely puzzled, he blinked his eyes a couple of times and lightly shook his head before he looked at her again.

That voice... He knew that voice. He'd heard it inside his head every day for the past eleven years, but it sounded different this time. Lower... but still the same. Daryl didn't know what he was seeing. Was he dehydrated and hallucinating? Had he gotten drunk at some point or had he accidentally popped one of Merle's exstasy pills instead of pain killers? He usually only saw and heard her this vividly when he was out of his mind drunk or stoned. He hadn't been stoned in ages, but drunk had only been a couple of days ago. He'd seen her again then, like he was seeing her again now, but only, this time it was different. He'd never ever imagined her like this. He'd always seen her the way she used to look before she died, but this time his mind had conjured up a more grown up version. What was going on? Was he dying? And why was she looking at him like that. Like she was terrified of him? Was he a damn walker? Something definitely wasn't right. This wasn't like his usual visions of her.

"Hey." Maggie walked up behind Daryl and smiled at Bay. "Here are the sponges."

Bay took them from Maggie with shaky hand, while Daryl stared at Maggie like the girl had lost her mind. You see her, too? he was tempted to ask, but he was still too confused to make words come out of his mouth. Maggie looked back and forth between those two and she realized, that they hadn't been introduced. "Oh that's right. You haven't met yet. Bay, this is Daryl. Daryl, this is Bay."

Wait a minute... THIS IS REAL? The voice inside his head yelled at him. No. Ain't no way. She died... This ain't her... I'm just losin' it.

Maggie frowned as she picked up on the weird mood. "Umm, everything okay?"

"Yeah. You know what, you can go back to the house. Daryl here was nice enough to offer to help me." Bay tried to put a genuine smile on her face, not sure if she had succeeded or not.

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Go on." Bay gently pushed Maggie in the direction of the house, right past an extremely confused Daryl.

"I guess you hoped you'd never see me again, huh?" Bay asked quietly when Maggie was out of earshot. She watched Daryl's jaw go slack and his eyes widen as he realized, that this indeed was reality and no hallucination. The tip of his crossbow hit the ground as he lost his grip in shock.

"Bay...?" his voice was a mere whisper as he tentatively took a step forward. "How's this... no... this can't be..."

Bay frowned when she saw Daryl's eyes start to water. Why in the world is he about to cry? She was so distracted by it, that she didn't notice him reaching out his hand to touch her. A shock went through her when his hand touched her bare arm and she quickly took a step back. Daryl followed and let out a little sob when he felt her warm skin against his palm. The feeling was so achingly familiar, it felt like it had been just yesterday that he had last touched her. This was real. She was really here. "Bay." her name came out with another sob as he tried to close the distance between them, but Bay tore her arm out of his grasp. "Don't you dare touch me, Daryl Dixon!" she hissed, finally finding her anger towards him again. She didn't like the feeling of him sparking electricity inside of her with a single touch. It wasn't supposed to be like that anymore.

Daryl was still too dumbfounded to acknowledge her reaction. "It's really you. How is this possible? You died... What the fuck...?" Suddenly his confusion turned into anger and his eyes narrowed as he stared at her, angrily wiping a tear off his cheek, that had escaped. "Yer alive and ya can't even fucking tell anyone? We thought you were dead!" he shouted at her.

"What are you stammering on about? Does it look like I'm dead? I just left town, but I bet you wish I was dead right about now!"

"You died. They told me you died. When I came back for you, Pat told me you jumped off Murray Bridge." Daryl yelled, still not able to believe what he was seeing right in front of him. It was impossible.

"Oh, you came back for me?" Bay laughed sarcastically. "Why? Ran out of money? Wanted to come check if I had earned some more for you to steal?" I died... right... he is still every bit as good of an actor as ever. Really good at improv. He should have made a career out of that.

"What are you talking about?" Daryl was confused by her words. Sure he expected some anger for him skipping town, but what was that about stealing money?

"Tell me, Daryl... How much fun was it for you? Did you get your rocks off lying to me and deceiving me? Did you get off on making me fall in love with you and then take everything I had and leave out of the damn blue? Did you have a good laugh at pathetic, gullible little Bay?" she shouted at him as she got right in his face.

"I left to protect you! So you'd be safe! Merle fucked up, they took his damn finger... we had to leave before they found out about you! I came back for you a couple months later!" Daryl shouted back, waving his free hand around in the air in desperation.

"Yeah right! So keeping me safe meant leaving me with nothing? I needed you Daryl! I needed that money! You didn't even leave a lousy one dollar bill behind, Daryl! Is that your idea of keeping me safe?"

"The fuck are you talking about? I didn't take no money from you!" he defended himself against her accusations. He had no idea why she would think he had stolen her money.

"Oh good God, save it. I don't wanna hear it. You know what? For eleven years I wanted answers. I wondered every day what those answers might be... Now I realize that I couldn't care less about them. You're a liar, Daryl. Everything that comes out of your mouth is a fucking lie. Everything. I won't ever be lied to by you again. Stay away from me. In a week tops, you'll be out of my life again and I couldn't be happier about that. Don't talk to me, don't come near me, I don't want you around me." Bay told him decisively, giving him an evil glare while she went past him and back into the stables, leaving an utterly confused Daryl behind.

His head was a mess. Bay was alive. Eleven years of thinking she was dead, because of what he'd done, eleven years of being angry at her for opting out... and now the confusion, but also happiness at seeing her alive and well. And then even more confusion and anger at her accusing him of stealing from her. That didn't make any sense. he needed to clear his head. Now. He quickly strapped his bow back to his back and strode off towards the woods to think and hopefully find some trace of Sophia.

Thank you for reading!

Reunited, and it feels so... well, not quite THAT good yet, lol. Seems like they have a lot to talk about once they get their thoughts in order.

Can I say WOW? You guys rock. The amount of reviews was insane. Someone called it a little mid-season finale and I guess it was kind of fitting. Thank you so much, I cannot thank you enough, your response was a great motivator. Thank you to all the guest reviewers, too. You guys are so inspiring, I love that you are all taking this journey with me.