Chapter 23

Daryl had been out in the woods looking for Sophia for about three hours, before he went back towards the farm. It had been a dangerous thing to do, go into the woods while he was as distracted as he was, but he was good at multi-tasking and thankfully there had only been less than a handful of walkers around. Before he left the woods behind for the day, he climbed up on a tree just at the edge of the treeline. He sat down on a sturdy branch and looked out at the farm that was located across the field. He replayed his shouting match with Bay inside his mind, but not without still shaking his head in disbelief. She was alive. And she was furious with him. He used to love her getting all mad and frustrated, seeing the fire blaze up in her eyes... Today it had just stung. He'd wanted to hold her and he'd wanted to kiss her... That had been one of his first instincts. Wrap his arms around her and never let her go again. But she had shoved him away, and not even for the reason he thought she would. Someone stole her money? His heart ached even more at that. She had worked hard to earn and save every penny. To have that taken away... And she thought it had been him? Suddenly Daryl sat up straight. Awww hell no! Merle had picked him up straight from work... And all of Daryl's things had been in the truck. Merle, you fucking bastard! If I ever see you again, you better run! He couldn't believe Merle had done that. Well, actually he could. But then again, he couldn't. They had left town to protect her and Merle had taken payment for it. Her hard-earned cash. I'm so fuckin' stupid. Where did I think he'd gotten all the money for his drugs from? For the fancy apartment? Shit man... shit..."

He was ashamed to admit it, but Daryl hadn't questioned anything back then. He'd been too distraught over leaving the love of his life behind, so he'd started every day getting lit before noon. That was, if he even woke up before noon. Being drunk had been his therapy. Even before she had "died" it had been the only way for him to see her and talk to her and he'd needed that like he needed air to breathe. Yeah, he had spent the past decade being angry at her for apparently taking the easy way out, for not being strong enough, for not believing in him enough... but most of all he'd simply missed her. Not a day had gone by when she hadn't popped up inside his head. He still loved her, plain and simple. He'd buried those feelings in the past ten years, stuffed them down until they were only a dull ache instead of horribly strong stabbing pains inside is heart. Even though they hadn't started off on the right foot a couple of hours ago, seeing her alive, hearing her voice, feeling her skin... he might have loved her more in that moment than he'd ever loved her before, which was why he'd wanted to go back to kissing her right away. Pick up right where they had left off, like there hadn't been eleven years of not seeing each other, him believing she was dead and her believing he had just wanted her money.

Which brought him back to the problem at hand. Merle and his stupid actions. Always ruining shit for them. Now Daryl seriously had to wonder, if there had ever been any Mexicans after Merle. Maybe he'd made all that up? Chopped off his own finger in a meth rage or something like that. He had always wanted Daryl to follow him around like a puppy. He hadn't liked how Bay had changed his little brother, and he had kept telling Daryl, that Bay didn't really love him. And Daryl had partially believed him for the longest time, letting Merle plant doubts in his head, letting Merle make him doubt his girl. Never again you stupid son of a bitch. Guess you're finally paying for yer damn sins now. You fucking asshole made it look like I took her cash. You made her hate me even more. Daryl was sure that he had never felt hatred that pure toward anyone like he was feeling toward Merle in this moment. Not even his abusive daddy had made him feel this kind of unadulterated hate.

He had to make things right. Now that Bay was here, he never wanted to leave. Even if it meant camping out in these woods for the rest of his life, he would gladly do it if it meant he'd truly be able to protect her this time. Someone up there was still there, still cared, and was giving him a second chance. He knew that he probably owed it to her to respect her wishes and leave her alone, but seriously, how could he? His girl was miraculously alive, he'd found her after a fucking decade, there was no way in hell he'd let her out of his sight again. No, he couldn't leave her alone, he had to tell her that it hadn't been him, who'd stolen her money, that he had wanted to take her with them, that he'd gone back for her. She needed to hear him out, to let him explain, and he needed to know why her things had been found on that bridge with that blood and how she had gotten to live here. Determined he climbed off the tree and strode back to the camp. Today he'd leave her alone, but tomorrow, they would talk.

Maggie Greene had a hard time focusing on the words her father was speaking during the service for Otis. She felt bad about being distracted while they honored their late friend, but she wasn't able to ignore this weird tension between Bay and that Daryl guy. Something was going on there, and she would find out what it was. Even now Daryl was staring at her with narrowed eyes, seemingly studying even the tiniest one of her features, while it was obvious how hard Bay fought not to look at him, too. She knew it had to have something to do with that pill bottle. Ever since Bay had laid eyes on the label, she had been out of sorts. One thing she was sure of was, that Bay had lied about not knowing the guy who the antibiotics had belonged to, and she was sure that if Bay knew that guy, she also knew his brother, who would be Daryl, which would explain the feeling of familiarity between the two, which Maggie had picked up on. She just needed a little more info to connect the rest of the dots.

Bay, meanwhile, kept her eyes firmly trained on Shane, who was stuttering and stammering his way through his brief story of Otis' last moments. He kept shifting his weight and wringing his hands nervously and it had Bay tilting her head to the side as she looked at him suspiciously with narrowed eyes. She was sure that the man was lying through his teeth, something definitely wasn't right with that story of his. She had no idea why the rest of the group wasn't picking up on his high-strung demeanor,... at least it seemed like nobody else was suspicious of him. Nobody except for one other person.

Daryl watched Bay watching Shane. He knew she wasn't buying what Walsh was selling, he could see it clearly in her expression. She could ignore him all she wanted, but she was still an open book to read to Daryl. He knew all of her expressions, and intimately so. She might have aged and matured, her features sharper now that her baby-fat was completely gone, her voice might have changed a little, her speech slower and calmer, and her movements might have turned more fluid and more graceful than when she had been 18 years old, but her eyes were as expressive as ever. They told him clearly that she knew the same thing he did, that Shane was lying. Pride filled him up with warmth and he had to fight a smirk. That's my smart girl. The moment the thought had popped up he was also filled with disappointment, because "his smart girl" didn't want anything to do with him right now. He understood why, but that didn't mean that it didn't sting.

He wasn't able to take his eyes off of her. She had always been cute, to him she had always been beautiful, but now she was damn stunning. She had turned even more beautiful while he had just gotten fatter from too much junk food and drinking. Prolly serves me right. He'd always thought that look-wise she had been out of his league, even though he thought he hadn't looked too bad when they had been together, but now their difference in appearance was glaringly obvious. He was a dirty, old, ugly redneck with a little bit of a beer gut left, while she was a damn goddess. She had filled out, too, but in all the goddamn right places. His hands were itching to feel and explore her anew, but he was aware of the fact that he might never get to do it. He knew she wasn't superficial, her reasons for never letting him near her again wouldn't be tied to his looks, but to what she thought he had done to her and the thing he really had done to her. Yeah, he really had to make things right. Badly. And then he needed to find out if there was even the tiniest chance of her forgiving him and giving him another chance.

She was the last one to place a stone on the big pile, before the group dispersed. There were too many people around, so he didn't call out for her, although he felt tempted to. Instead he retreated back to the campsite with his group and sat around the fire. He was more than a little surprised, when Bay and Maggie came over later, bringing them some things Carol could use to prepare dinner. Bay also used the opportunity to properly introduce herself to the others, apologizing for not doing it sooner, but that she had been busy with the horses. That's when Daryl realized that she had been the one watching him. That's why she hadn't been more surprised to see him when he had run into her, she had already known about him being here, and she had chosen to hide out instead of coming to see him. He knew he had no right to be, but he was miffed about it. On the other hand it had probably been better to meet for the first time without anybody else around. Maggie had been enough. The girl kept looking at him with interest. Probably asking herself why a girl like Bay ever hooked up with the likes of me. He sent Maggie a scowl before he looked back into the fire, poking around in it with a long stick. When he wasn't looking, Bay looked over at him as inconspicuously as possible.

He looked good. Dirty,... almost filthy, but underneath all the dirt, he looked good. His face was no longer angelic. The softness he used to have had been replaced by angular features and razor-sharp cheekbones. The facial hair was new, too... His hair was darker, which was weird, because he used to be really blond, but maybe it was due to the dirt. It was also short... so short that it almost hurt her. She had used to love his long shaggy hair. Gone was the lanky 20 year old Daryl. He had buffed up, gained weight and muscles. His arms looked like deadly weapons. Muscles bulging and nicely defined. Strong and manly. Those shoulders... He'd always had a good pair of shoulders, but they were even more pronounced now, because his upper body was beefier, while his hips and legs had stayed thin and lean. Yeah, he definitely looked good to her, and when he caught her looking at him and they stared into each others eyes for a prolonged moment, she felt a tug on her heartstrings.

What am I doing? She quickly looked away and focused her attention back on the fella named Dale. She wasn't able to really listen to him though, her mind was racing too much for her to pay much attention to the older man. Why does he still have this power over me? It's not supposed to be this way. He hurt me so much. Why can't I just hate him, and onlyhate him? Because I still can't fully accept that it was all a big lie, that's why. She hosted a 1-woman-debate-club inside her head, while Dale talked to the girls about the journey the group had taken so far. She felt Daryl's eyes burning holes into her, but she kept herself from looking over there again. She couldn't risk it. It was obvious that she couldn't really trust herself around him, because it seemed like there were still some residual feelings inside of her where Daryl was concerned. "Excuse me,..." she smiled politely at Dale. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I really need to get back inside... Bathroom..."

"Oh of course, don't let me keep you. Plenty of opportunity to talk tomorrow." he smiled genuinely and stepped out of the way a little so Bay would be able to walk past him.

"Are you coming, too?" she asked Maggie, who nodded in reply.

"Just holler if you need anything." Maggie told everyone in earshot, before the girls left the camp site.

Bay tried, but her eyes had a mind of their own and they caught Daryl's gaze again for a brief moment. Damnit. She cursed herself as she felt just like she had back then, in the beginning of that thing they'd had. She really couldn't believe that after everything he had done, that he was still able to evoke these reactions and feelings inside of her. Was she really that much of a sucker for punishment and emotional torture? Looks that way.

Maggie had seen the looks they had given each other, and she had a theory, but she wouldn't say anything about it to Bay, yet. She wanted to observe the two of them some more before she would confront her older "sister". Little did she know, that she would soon have her hands full with another guy from the group, who would distract her from her mission a little.

Daryl was nervous when he trudged back towards the farm in the late afternoon the next day. He'd spent all day looking for Sophia, but unfortunately, he'd come up empty. Now that the most important part was done for the day, it was time for him to seek out Bay and make her listen to him. She just had to know the truth. If she still hated him after that, fine, so be it, but then at least she would be hating him for the right reasons and not for something Merle had done all by himself. However, he had no way of getting her attention. As soon as he was back from his search, she hid out inside the house, and there was no way for him to go barging in there and demanding to see her.

Two more days would go by without him seeing her. It was ridiculous. They were living on the same farm right now, and yet he never saw her. Anger and frustration were beginning to build. He hadn't found her just to stare at that damn farm house with longing in his eyes, wishing she would come out and come looking for him. This was his second chance dammit, she had to give it to him.

When he went to head back out in the early morning of the third day, he got his opportunity when he saw her walking into the chicken coop to feed the animals. He followed her and closed the door behind him silently when he had entered. "Finally done hidin' out from me?"

Bay jumped and whirled around angrily. "What in the world is it with you people and trying to give me damn heart attacks?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"I don't have to answer any of your questions, Daryl." Bay mumbled stubbornly as she turned back around and started to feed the chicken. "I told you to leave me alone and I expect you to at least show me the courtesy of respecting my wishes, after what you did. You owe me that much."

"That's just the thing, Bay. I didn't do what ya think I did. At least hear me out. This is the last time we'll ever see each other. I came back for ya back then, I wanted to explain why I left with Merle. I never got the chance, because they told me you was dead. If I had known you weren't, I would'a searched the whole fucking state for you."

"I don't wanna hear it, Daryl."

"Too fucking bad, 'cause you're gonna hear it anyway. We won't leave this damn chicken coop until ya listened to what I have to say." Daryl said and leaned against the door.

"Oh, so first you steal from me, break my heart, leave me helpless and now you're gonna keep me in here against my will?"

"Would ya stop tryin' ta turn me into some kind of monster? It wasn't like that. Just lemme fucking talk." Daryl was upset and every time he was, his voice sounded just like when he'd been younger. It brought tears to Bay's eyes, but she quickly blinked them away before she turned around to face him.

"Fine. You're right. This is goodbye. Let's get some closure." Bay would be lying if she would say she wasn't curious about what lies he had come up with now. At least one half of her. The other half wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe in him, she wanted there to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for him leaving, but she just couldn't imagine that that kind of explanation existed. It didn't make any sense. She was sparring with herself. She just couldn't have been this mistaken about the love of her life. This one half of her refused to believe that. That half believed that Daryl was good. He'd done so much for her when they'd been together. It just contradicted with what he had done at the end and it had both sides of her at war with each other. It's been like that the whole time since he'd left and every time she thought about it, it tore her up and had her in emotional pain all over again. "Talk. Tell me what was so important that you left without so much as a peep. Everything was normal. What happened between you dropping me off at work and me coming home from the damn doctor?"

The doctor! Right! He had wondered for weeks if she was gonna be okay. "What did the doc say? Were ya alright?"

Bay looked at him like he had lost his mind. "DOES IT FREAKING MATTER?" she yelled at him as she lost her cool for a moment. No, I wasn't alright, Daryl. And I needed you, and you were gone. Everything was even less alright after that. She took a deep breath to calm herself, before she continued. "I'm still here, right? So stop stalling and just say what you have to say."

"It was Merle."

"Of course it was."

"I was at work, when he showed up, missing a damn finger. It was like ya said all those times before, he pissed off dangerous people. He owed the Mexicans money, that's what he called 'em. They gave him 48 hours and as 'motivation' they cut off his finger. And they said if he wasn't gonna deliver, they were gonna get me and do even worse to me. If they would have found out about you, they might have hurt ya, too. At least that's what Merle said. He said if I care about ya, I had to leave to keep you safe. That it was the only way. I didn't know he took your money. I never thought about it until day before yesterday... he had all my stuff in the truck when he came to get me... He took your cash... I didn't know. You really think I would take your money away? And your chance of going to college?" he asked her almost incredulously.

She just stared at him while half of her did think he would steal from her, and her other half thought that there would be no way in hell that he would steal from her. She really didn't know what to believe anymore. She thought about his explanation and suddenly she let out a laugh. "If what you say is really true, then Merle fooled you twice in one go, you realize that right?"

"What?" Daryl looked at her with his brows knit in confusion, not knowing what she was getting at.

"Apart from his story probably being bullshit anyway... if it was really him who took my cash, and not you..."

"It wasn't me!"

"... then I am pretty sure, that he used my money to pay off those people he pissed off. Then he decided to skip town so he wouldn't have to see me again, and since he is more comfortable with having you around to follow his orders blindly and bail him out of the trouble he got himself into, he convinced you to go with him, with success apparently. Don't you get it, Daryl? If he took my money, then I'm sure he used it to pay his debt to the people who cut off his finger, before he fled town like a bat out of hell." Bay was still huffing out sarcastic laughs. Somehow this did start to make sense to her. As outrageous as it might sound to other people, but this was exactly what Merle Dixon had wanted. To get Daryl out of that relationship and back with him, because he had been sure that Bay would hurt Daryl and dump his ass later anyway. He had been scared of losing his grasp on Daryl, so he had ensured that wouldn't happen.

"That means..." Daryl trailed off as the realization became clearer and clearer.

"There was no danger, Daryl. He just wanted you all to himself. And he succeeded." Bay finished his sentence for him. She watched his eyes water again, but this time it seemed to be pure fury, because she had never seen him look this angry before. He went red in the face and his fists were clenched so hard that his skin had turned white and he was gritting his teeth so hard that Bay was sure she heard them grating against one another.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Daryl started yelling and kicking against the wooden wall of the chicken coop, making the chicken go crazy for a moment.

"Hey! Keep it down!" Bay admonished him. Suddenly the door opened, startling them both.

"Young man, I have to ask you to watch your language and your tone of voice around my daughter." Hershel told Daryl in his no-nonsense fashion. Daryl, who was pacing back and forth in agitation, just gave Hershel the evil eye before he brushed past him and took off towards the stables. He would take a horse out today, better view and also better meaning of transportation for when he found Sophia. Hershel didn't bother watching him leave, he entered the coop instead and scrutinized Bay. "Are you okay, dear?"

"Yes. All good, Hershel." Bay quickly averted her gaze and resumed feeding the animals.

"What was that man doing in here with you? Did he make any advances?"

"No, he didn't. Was just looking for eggs..." Bay shrugged.

"And he was upset when he found none?" Hershel's voice held amusement. He didn't like being lied to, but Bay's explanation had him amused.

"I guess." Bay shrugged again. "What can I do for you, Hershel?"

"Nothing, dear. I just walked by when I heard that ruckus the young man was causing. If those people are causing trouble..."

"They aren't. It was nothing, I promise. Don't kick them off the farm. I think they are good people Hershel, and Carl needs to heal a lot more." Bay quickly told him, citing Carl as the main reason why the group had to stay for now. She denied the real reason to herself, because she didn't want it to be true. Despite her still being extremely pissed at him, it felt good to see Daryl and to talk to him. What were the chances of this happening? The world was changing, she guessed that you could call it some kind of apocalypse, and still fate had brought them together again. Maybe we're both gonna die soon and the Lord wanted us to clear the air before that happened? Oh Jesus Christ Bay, could you be more morbid? She frowned at herself and Hershel took note of her different behavior, just like his daughter Maggie had.

"Okay, if you say so, Bay. I will go check on the calf now. I will see you inside later." he stepped towards her before he left and kissed her cheek in a gesture of fatherly affection, causing Bay to give him a genuine smile.

"I'll see you later." she said nodding before she was left alone with her thoughts again. She had once told Daryl that he had to make up his mind about what he wanted. Whether he wanted to be hot or cold towards her. In a way, she had to make the same decision now. She knew she couldn't go back and forth the whole time anymore, she had to decide whether she believed his story or not, and stick to her decision and act accordingly.

When she got back to the house after feeding time, she saw Maggie gearing up for a trip to town.

"Be careful, alright?" Bay put her hand on Maggie's arm and squeezed gently.

"I always am. I won't be alone this time. Glenn is coming with me. He's their guy for getting supplies, I guess."

"That's good. I feel better knowing you have another pair of eyes with you."

"Can't hurt." Maggie smiled, and just like her father, she kissed Bay's cheek before she put on her cowboy hat and left the house. Feeding their animals always took some time, so it was already time to prepare lunch. She smiled when she entered the kitchen and found Beth bustling around in there already.

"Hey." Bay greeted the young girl with a smile.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted to make today, but I already peeled some potatoes. I figured they would go with anything..."

"That's great. I hate peeling potatoes. What do you think we should do with them? We haven't had roasted potatoes in a while."

"I know. Too bad you can't make that herb butter anymore. It was always so good." Beth lamented the loss of some of Bay's dishes which just weren't possible to make anymore.

"Yeah, too bad, but nothing we can do. Without good quality cream, some buttermilk cultures and so on and so forth, that dream is dead." Bay muttered while she gathered the things she needed for cooking.

"You know... it's a good thing that you never became a motivational speaker. What's up with you? You've been so sad these past couple of days. Is it really so bad that the others are here now?" Beth looked at Bay curiously and the older woman was cursing the Greene's and their perceptiveness. She had tried to hide what was going on inside of her, but obviously she was doing a very poor job.

"Bay?" Lori's voice sounded from behind them, before Bay was able to answer Beth.

Bay turned around and saw Lori and Carol standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Hi, everything okay? Do you need anything?" she asked the two women smilingly.

"No, we actually thought we might do something for you and your family for once." Lori explained.

"We would like to cook for you. Tonight." Carol added.

"If you would be open towards us invading your kitchen." Lori smiled. "We just want to try and give back a little."

"Sure, I'd love that." Bay nodded enthusiastically. "Just tell me what you will need and I will get you fresh veggies from the garden."

"You don't need to ask your father first?" Lori asked carefully, not sure if the old farmer would appreciate them all being in the house for dinner.

"It'll be fine." Beth said. "He's fine as long as good food is on the table."

"Well... great." Lori nodded with a relieved smile, before the women discussed what they would need from the garden. Bay was glad for the distraction and enjoyed planning with the women. It took her mind off of her dilemma. She would later wish that she had enjoyed it more, because she would find herself confronted with and by Daryl even more than before, just a couple of hours later.

"Wake up." Daryl felt himself getting shaken awake. "Come on. Wanna end up as walker fodder? Come on, ain't no time to play pussy."

Daryl blinked his heavy eyelids open with difficulty. His vision was blurry and he had to open and close his eyes several times until he was able to focus. He froze when he recognized the figure in front of him. "Pa?"

"Surprised to see me, son?"

"You're dead."

"Am I? You didn't have the balls to shoot me in the head, so ya can't be sure, now can ya?"

"Jess did it..."

"Did he? You don't know fer sure. You ran away like a little girl. Not able to handle it. That's your problem, Daryl. You don't have what it takes. You can't make the hard decisions. Always have to have me or your brother telling you what to do... or your bitch."

"You leave her out of it." Daryl groaned as he tried to sit up. Everything hurt and he was sure he was in some kind of hell.

"Awwww, always so quick to defend her, little brother." Merle suddenly appeared and stood next to their father.

"Merle?" Daryl frowned.

"If she means so much ta you, how come I was able to get you to come with me without you putting up much of a fight, huh?"

"You fucking lied to me!"

"I did. It's what I do. She would'a dumped ya anyway. This way I helped ya to keep your dignity at least a little."

"Don't care 'bout my fucking dignity. I cared about her!" Daryl shouted at his hallucinations, when in reality he was really only shouting into an empty forest.

"Sure ya did. It really showed." Will Dixon sneered. "Letting your brother leave her with nothing. That's on you Daryl. All ya had to do was say no to Merle."

"He's right." Merle chuckled. "Yeah, might have given ya a beating for it, but wouldn't that have been worth it? To be with the little Chickadee until she grew tired of you? You left her alone and helpless, baby brother. Wasn't me. Was all you. If you would've figured it out sooner... But no, ya had to wallow in self-pity. You could have stopped it all from happening and ya didn't."

"You were mad at her for taking the easy way out?" Will grinned evilly. "Funny, because it was you who took the easy way out."

"And now you'll pay the price for it. That girl ain't never gon' come near yer sorry ass again." Merle chuckled.

"Don't matter." Will looked over his shoulder. "He gone in a minute anyway."

Merle looked in the direction his father was looking, then both made way for the walker that was coming for Daryl.

Daryl's eyes widened and he fought his way up from the ground, that's when he noticed the arrow sticking out of him for the first time. He winced, then he began frantically looking around for his crossbow, while the laughs of his family taunted him.

"Think fast, baby brother."

"I'm gonna kill you." Daryl yelled while he looked around. He finally spied his weapon, up on the hill he'd tumbled down from. The walker was advancing, his growls becoming louder and louder the closer he got. He patted around his belt, when he remembered that he'd had a knife. Thankfully it was still there. He pulled it out of its sheath and imbedded it into the eye of the walker with a squelching sound just in time. Daryl sunk to his knees along with the walker and slowly pulled the blade out of the skull of the now truly dead man. "Yeah, you just run. Imma find you and then Lord may have fucking mercy on you!" Daryl shouted when he no longer saw his family around. He threw up a moment later as his world kept spinning and spinning around him. He must have hit his head. He only remembered vaguely that the horse had thrown him. He must have rolled down that hill, hit a couple of trees along the way and somehow one of his bolts had found its way through his body. He had to get back to the farm as quickly as possible. He carefully peeled off his shirt and cut and tore it into strips and wrapped it around his midriff to tie off his wound. He wasn't gonna pull that thing out out here. If he was gonna bleed out, he wanted to do it while looking at Bay. She was the person he wanted to see while he died. Not his fucked up family. They didn't know shit. With renewed purpose Daryl stood up on shaky legs and slowly worked his way up the hill.

"Walker! We got a walker coming towards the farm!" Dale shouted down to the group from the top of the RV where he was doing watch. Everybody perked up immediately and Shane and Glenn took off running out into the field with Rick close behind. Dale watched through his binoculars, while the women stood to the side of the RV looking back and forth between the RV and the men out in the field.

"What's going on?" Carol asked, when the men stopped and just stared.

"I don't know. Something isn't right." Dale mumbled as he watched the walker fall to his knees. Instead of shooting it, Rick and Glenn rushed to its side and helped it back up. "Okay, I guess it's not a walker." Dale corrected himself, while the men dragged a seemingly unconscious man with them. Only when they were halfway back, did Dale vaguely recognize the unconscious person. "It's Daryl."

The woman were able to see it now, too, and ran towards the small group of men. "Oh my God, Daryl! What happened? Is he dead?" Carol held her hand up to her mouth as she started crying at the sight of a bloodied, bruised and battered Daryl.

"He's unconscious, but we have to get him to Hershel." Rick said in a strained voice as he and Glenn struggled slightly to keep the dead weight between them upright.

"I'll warn them." Andrea said and took off running towards the farmhouse to tell Hershel that he's got another patient coming in. "Hershel? Hershel?"

"What's wrong?" he came out of the guest room Carl was in.

"It's Daryl. He's injured-" Andrea didn't get to finish her sentence.

"What?" Bay almost dropped the freshly washed and folded linens when she came in from the laundry room and heard Andrea's words. Her heart started slamming inside her chest as panic overcame her without her being able to stop it. "Injured how?"

"He's unconscious, I don't know..." Andrea explained while Hershel nodded and gently pushed her out of the way by her shoulders.

"We'll see. We have to take him to his tent, we don't have any room-"

"No." Bay interrupted him. "Take him to my room. I just changed the sheets and its clean. You can patch him up in there. It's okay."

"You are sure?" Hershel asked while they heard the men coming up the stairs of the porch.

"Yes. Do it." she assured him. Then she watched almost horrified, how the men dragged Daryl's lifeless and blood-stained form past her. Her horror intensified when she saw the arrow sticking out of his side. "Good God... please..." Tears stung her eyes as her heart clenched painfully at the sight of him being hurt. As much as she didn't want to, she couldn't help it. She still cared for him.

"Bayanne, you go and redress Carl's wound and check his vitals. Rick will help me with this one, I'm sure." Hershel tore Bay out of her haze. She was thankful for the order. She didn't know if she would be able to handle helping patch up Daryl, she was already in tears now and Hershel didn't need to notice that. So with one last look at the men, she disappeared into the guest room to check on Carl and Lori, who was with him.

Glenn had fetched Hershel's bag for him, and now the veterinarian was cutting the dirty wife beater off of Daryl's body carefully, so they could pull the bolt out. Rick knelt on the bed, leaning Daryl's body against his knees, and holding on to Daryl's side and hip with his hands, so his body wouldn't move while Hershel pulled on the bolt. As soon as Hershel had removed it with two quick, hard pulls, both men applied pressure to both wounds with a clean compress.

"Looks like he didn't hit anything important." Hershel mentioned when he observed the amount of blood that was coming out of the wound, which thankfully wasn't a lot. "I will stitch the back shut first, then we can carefully roll him on his back and then I'll do the front before I assess the rest of his injuries. "That head wound already stopped bleeding, that's good. He might have a concussion, though."

"He looks like he's been through hell. Shouldn't have let him go alone." Rick muttered.

"I don't think there is anything you could have done, Rick. He doesn't look like the type of man who would have you stick a partner on him." Hershel shared his perception of Daryl so far.

"You might be right about that. He says he's better on his own."

"I doubt that. In these times I don't think 'going it alone' is a good option anymore. No matter how skilled you are." Hershel said, and the men quietly talked a bit, while he worked on Daryl.

After Hershel had finished suturing up both, the entry and the exit wound, he straightened and looked down at his patient, letting his gaze roam over the man's torso, seeing if he was able to detect something out of the ordinary.

He did. Hershel stopped short, when his gaze landed on Daryl's chest. He blinked once, thinking that maybe his eyes were deceiving him, but no, it was still there. Bayanne. Hershel remembered how Bay had changed since Daryl had arrived, and he remembered the incident from the chicken coop this morning. Now, how many Bayanne's would there be in the state of Georgia, or even within a hundred mile radius? The name wasn't too common. It was clear now, that Bay knew this man, and judging from the tattoo on his chest, she knew him very very well.

"Hershel?" Rick looked at the gray-haired man questioningly, after he had stopped moving. Rick looked down at what Hershel was looking at, and his brows knit in confusion. "Bayanne?" Rick quickly put two and two together. "You know Daryl?"

"No... I don't..." Hershel said slowly.

"But... The name... This Bayanne," he pointed at Daryl's tattoo, "it's your daughter, isn't it? It's written all over your face. And if she knows him..."

Hershel sighed, knowing he would have to tell Rick the truth. "Bay isn't my biological daughter. She came to live with us over ten years ago... I didn't know who this man was... but I think I know now."

"Who is he? Were they together before she came here?" Rick's professional curiosity took over, but Hershel waved him off.

"I think that is for me and my daughter to discuss, Rick, and right now it's none of your business." And with that, Hershel shut down all talk between him and Rick while he went back to checking Daryl for other injuries. When he was done he washed up and slowly descended down the stairs. He walked into the kitchen, where Beth, Maggie and Bay were waiting for news on Daryl's condition. Bay was leaning against the kitchen counter, chewing her thumb nervously, much like Daryl had used to do back in the day. She looked at Hershel rather anxiously, even though she tried to be cool, but it simply didn't work.

"Is he gonna be okay, Daddy?" Beth asked her father, who was staring back at Bay.

"Yes, he is gonna be alright. He needs rest in order to heal. In a couple of days he should be up and running again. Bayanne. A word in my office, please."

Bay's heart fell. In that moment she knew that Hershel knew. She gave a curt nod and followed him, when he walked out of the kitchen and into his office.

"Close the door." he told her as he stopped in front of the window with his hands clasped behind his back. "Sit down."

Bay did as she was told. She didn't know what to expect, except for that she might have to tell him the whole story now, which she dreaded. Hershel was like a father to her, and she never wanted to disappoint him. And disappointed he would be, when he would learn how she had once been a fool for love, and that despite him leaving her, her heart was still beating for that man.

"So Bayanne..." Hershel spoke up again. "Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

Thank you for reading!

Uh-oh, what will Hershel's reaction to Daryl be once he knows the truth? He sees Bay as his daughter, might get awkward for our favorite redneck.

I'm sorry I didn't respond to reviews again this time around, but you know surgery and a lot of organisational stuff is coming up and I spent all my free time writing this chapter for you, so I'd have another update before the premiere. I hope you enjoyed it.

I do wanna thank everyone who reviewed, as well as read, followed and favorited. Each and every one of you motivates me. Your awesome reviews and beautiful kind words make me speed-write even through my crazy busy days, as you can see. I love reading from you and hearing your opinions and predictions, so please don't ever stop. Thank you so so much. All of you have supported me through some quite difficult times in the past two months. So again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you can forgive me for not responding. I will definitely try again with this chapter.

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