"Shhhhh, it's alright. It's alright, sweetheart. Love ya. So damn happy you're awake..." Daryl cooed against her hair. "It's gonna be okay, hm? Gonna take care of ya." he mumbled soothingly, and gently put his index finger under her chin to tilt her face up. He lowered his head and pressed the most loving of kisses against Bay's slightly dry lips, releasing a small moan at the contact.

Bay wept bitterly against his mouth. A sense of coming home washed over her with the feel of Daryl's wonderfully luscious, soft lips against her own. "This is real, this is real, this is real." she whispered repeatedly against his lips, trying to convince herself that it was true. Deep down she knew it was true, because even though kissing the dream-version of Daryl hadn't exactly felt wrong, something had always been kind of amiss. But not so right now. This was real. This was right. This felt whole.

"This is real, baby girl." Daryl promised in a fierce whisper. "What happened? Did ya have nightmares?"

"Shhhh, please... I don't wanna go back there. I don't wanna remember... I need you." she murmured before she pressed her lips against his again, long, hard and desperate. She clung to him, trying to press herself as close against his body as possible. She wasn't actually just clinging to him... she was clawing at him. Her fingertips dug painfully into his chest, his shoulders and his back, wherever she was able to reach, out of fear that she might get ripped away from him again. Daryl didn't complain. He didn't even wince. He figured she must have had pretty bad nightmares, if she was so scared "to go back there". He didn't care about a little pain, all he cared about was comforting her, and giving her a sense of being safe again.

They kissed for long, long minutes. Daryl tried to hug her and hold her in his arms, but it wasn't an easy feat with the ten thousand IV's and wires attached to her. He couldn't wait to take her home and care for her there. "How do ya feel? Do you need anythin'? Anythin' at all?" Daryl asked after pulling away from her lips, in order to suck some much needed oxygen into his lugs.

"I only need you. To be home with you." Bay sniffled and wiped at her tears with the heel of her right hand. "But my head hurts..."

Daryl frowned at that. "Thought there was painkillers in one of 'em damn bags." he murmured, almost to himself, while he looked up at the IV bags.

"It's been hurting in my dream, too."

"Gonna buzz the nurse, alright?"

"No, not yet, please. It's okay for now. I wanna be alone some more... with you, I mean." Bay quickly begged. She didn't want to hear Carol's voice right now. Or Rick's for that matter. She didn't want to go back to that horrible nightmare just yet.

"What happened in that dream?" Daryl asked again, not quite able to let it go, but only because he wanted to help her, because she seemed so scared by that dream.

"It was a nightmare. One long nightmare. We were all in there. You, me, Pat, Erin... It was the apocalypse. The dead came back to life as zombies. They tore people apart and ate them alive... It was so real. We were all older... like, 30 years old... The dream started when I was 19 and when I woke up just now, I was 30... I went through 11 years... I don't know... I... please, Daryl. I can't... I don't wanna talk about it. Not yet. I wanna forget for now. I need to make myself believe that this is real." she was starting to cry harder again, when some horrible images came back to her.

Daryl quickly lowered his head and kissed her. "It's alright. Don't have to talk about it. I promise." he saw how much it hurt her to even think about it, so he decided to back off. At the same time he tried to process the little it of information she had given him. He had dreamed about zombies a couple of times in his life. It happened, most people shook it off. He was sure after a couple of days, she would be able to do that, as well. He didn't understand what to make of her statement about how she had gone through 11 years... 's only been 7 days... Daryl didn't know it in this moment, but he would never be able to understand what Bay had gone through. And he wouldn't be the only one. Nobody, who hadn't had a similar experience, was able to understand what that dream had felt like to Bay. That she literally felt like she had lived 11 years into the future.

She tried to focus on something else, but one last thing popped into her head, making her heart stop beating for a second, as she looked at him with wide eyes. "Daryl... the doctor... before the accident... or shooting... he wasn't sure, but he said, there was a chance I might be pregnant. A-am I?"

Slowly, the biggest grin appeared on Daryl's face. "Yeah..." he pulled her hand up to his face and kissed the back of it. "Gon' have ourselves a baby, sweetheart." When the doctor had told him that the pregnancy was still intact, Daryl hadn't even batted an eyelash. After she had told him that her belly felt weird, the morning of the shooting, he'd had a feeling she might be pregnant. He wasn't able to explain it, but deep down, he'd felt it, which was why he hadn't been surprised at all, when the doctor had dropped that bombshell. Even though they had agreed that they would wait a couple of years, because it was way too soon to have one right now, Daryl was ecstatic.

"I am?" her eyes grew large and she looked at him with a hope-filled expression. "And it's alright? The shooting and everything..."

"The docs said, that as far as they can tell, everything looks normal. Are ya happy?"

"Yes." Bay nodded vigorously, then quickly stopped when her neck started smarting.

"Careful." Daryl let his hand hover over the large bandage on the left side of her neck.

"I know it's not what we wanted, but... I'm not getting rid of it. I want it." Bay stated decisively, making Daryl look at her a little appalled for a second.

"Get rid of it? Are ya crazy?"

"So,... you want it, too?"

"Yeah." that adorable grin was back. "I know we didn't plan it, but shit,... I'm damn ready for it. I know that we can do it, ya know?"

"Yeah." Bay agreed with a wistful smile. She remembered their talks about the baby from her dream, how they had kept saying that they would have been able to make it work. Now they would get to do it, and just like Daryl, she knew they would be able to.

"You okay, baby girl?"

"I am. I just need some time to process everything."

"Yeah." Daryl nodded and gently kissed the tip of her nose. "You're gon' be fine. Imma pamper the shit outta you."

"Thank you. I love you. I love you so much, Daryl. I never said it enough. That will change..."

Daryl smiled widely when he heard her say that. "Ain't gonna complain about that. Love it when ya say it." he sighed and kissed her again, before he looked at her happily. "Man, can't believe you're awake. Been the longest week ever. "

"Do I still have my jobs?"

"Course you do. Willy got another girl to help out, while ya can't work, but she's just a temp. Job is yours again, as soon as you're ready."

"And Shoney's?"

"Same. Pat's ex, Jessa, she stepped in for ya."

"Really?" Bay looked at him in surprise. Jessa and her hadn't really been on the best of terms in the past couple of months, she never would have expected her to step in and help her out.

"Yeah. Everyone was real shocked. 'Bout what happened, I mean. Everybody wanted to pitch in and help out. And ya know what? The whole thing's got Pat and Jessa talking again. Might get back together. He really wants to." Daryl reported with that tiny smile of his.

"That would be nice. He really loves her."

"Yeah. I still don't like her much, though. That bad?"

"I don't think so. Can't like everybody." Bay sighed and finally laid back to rest a little more. She was tired, but she didn't want to sleep. She was too scared of dreaming again. "When can I go home? Did they say?"

"Yeah. They said, if everything looks good, you can leave a couple of days after waking up. Like, 4 days or so."

"Good. I just want to go home and get my life back." Bay mustered a little smile.

"Imma go huntin' with my uncle before ya get back. Fill up the fridge and the pantry."

"Nice." Bay's smile grew a bit larger. "I can't wait to cook for you. Do normal things."

Daryl's features were marred by a slight frown. "Normal things? When did ya do not normal things?"

Bay lightly shook her head and sighed again. "Sorry... the dream was so damn vivid. Feels like ages since I've been home and cooked for you."

The doctor came in and interrupted them. Bay was barely able to follow the conversation. The fact that he sounded like dream-Rick, but didn't look like dream-Rick, was really irking her and fucking with her mind. He explained her injuries to her, and told her and Daryl that she could and should start walking and moving around frequently, because it would be good for her and help her get back on her feet quicker, and that she would be discharged in a few days, if nothing major happened until then. The doctor also told her that she was about 7-8 weeks along by now.

"But I took pregnancy tests about 5 or 6 weeks ago and they were all negative. And the doctor wasn't sure either just from the urine test."

"That's because your HCG levels were too low to be detected by those tests. Usually this points towards an eventual miscarriage..."

Bay gasped at that word as terror filled her. Please not again!

"... but your levels really went up in the past week. Guess the baby decided to make itself comfortable." Dr. Grimes smiled. "All looks good right now."

Bay exhaled in a rush and squeezed Daryl's hand while she felt almost dizzy from the relief that flooded her system.

Later that day, her friends Erin, Sam, Pat and Jessa stopped by. Daryl and Bay had decided to keep the happy baby news to themselves. Bay was superstitious and she wanted to stick to the "rule" to wait with telling people, until she had completed her first trimester. She was happy to see them and there were lots of heartfelt hugs and words of gratitude, but Bay felt slightly detached. The day had worn her out, and her mind was still racing a mile a minute. She wasn't able to get into all the conversations and the excited chatter of the girls. She only wanted to be with Daryl right now. Thankfully, she had the best boyfriend in the world. He sensed that it was too much for her, so he kicked them all out. Nobody was offended, though. They understood that Bay needed some more rest. She felt a bit bad, because they had all been wonderful to her, even when she had been in her induced coma, but she needed peace and quiet. Seeing Sam and Jessa alive, and not seeing adult Erin and Pat kiss, was still a weird experience, only a few hours after leaving that other world.

"I gotta go, too, sweetheart." Daryl tried to break the news as gently as possible, but he felt Bay tense up immediately.

"No! Please. Don't leave me here. Please!" Her panic was showing and it made his heart seize up painfully.

"I'm sorry, but I ain't allowed to stay the night. If I could, I would, I promise."

Bay bit her tongue as she tried to keep in the sobs. She knew it would be unfair to beg him to stay, because there was no way for him to be in that room without anyone noticing. She didn't want him to feel bad about having to leave her behind, so she forced herself not to plead with him any more. "Okay." It came out squeaky, and she immediately pressed her lips back into a hard line in an effort to not sob hysterically.

Fuck, she's so scared... Oh baby, if there'd be a damn way... Daryl was hurting. He actually had to fight his own tears, but there was no way around it. He embraced her, softly kissing the top of her head, and tried to calm her down. "I'll be back first thing in the morning. I promise. I'll bring ya something nice. I love ya..." Then, he had an idea. "Hold on." he smiled as he pulled away from her, only to take off his navy blue sweater. "I know it ain't the same, but in a way, if ya keep this with ya, I'll be here all night."

Bay nodded bravely as silent tears ran down her pale cheeks. She hugged the sweater to her as he kissed her one last time, with the nurse already standing in the doorway and clearing her throat, telling him to leave.

Once he was out of the room, Bay broke down and sobbed into his sweater. The nurse told her everything would be alright and that she should just sleep, but Bay wanted to avoid sleep under any circumstance. What if I don't wake up? What if I wake up there? However, her body had different ideas and eventually, her eyelids grew so heavy, that she lost the fight. As expected, she had nightmares and woke up crying and screaming. She was barely able to calm down. The night nurse was great, but she wasn't Daryl. She felt incredibly scared and alone, and all the crying drained her emotionally, as well as physically, which was why she fell asleep again eventually, only to have nightmares again, until the nurse was allowed to give her something that would help her calm down. It was hell, and from the next morning on, she took the doctor's advice and started getting up and moving around, so she wouldn't have to spend even a minute longer in the hospital than she had to.

It had taken 3 days longer than she had hoped for, but after a total of two whole weeks in the hospital, Daryl was finally able to take Bay home. The doctors had decided to keep her there until it was time to remove her stitches, mostly for her own safety. Once she had woken up, the physicians had quickly learned that Bay was a very strong-willed young woman, who worked hard at achieving anything she set her mind to, sometimes forgetting her own limits in the process. She was recovering remarkably well, though. Her young age, being healthy in general, and her strong motivation and willpower surely contributed to that. However, before she had left, the doctors had advised her to take it easy for another month, hoping she would follow their recommendations, so she would give her body a chance to heal some more. Right now, though, she didn't want to think about doctors and their well-meaning suggestions. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy... and that she did.

Bay's hand reverently slid along the wooden banister as they ascended the stairs inside the building they lived in. Daryl let out a quiet laugh when Bay stopped and pressed her forehead and her nose against the wall, inhaling the old scent, which was a mix between musky and stale, like it was the most divine thing ever. It was cute to him, how insanely excited she was to be home and how she took everything in with wide-eyed wonder: the cars driving in the streets, the people bustling around on the sidewalk, people coming out of stores with their shopping bags, the radio playing... Daryl thought she acted, like she was seeing it all for the first time ever. He didn't understand, that in a way, she was.

"Come on." a gentle hand, placed on her side, urged her to keep going. She looked at him with a close-lipped smile before she leaned in for a quick kiss, then she kept going up the stairs and along the corridor, until they stood in front of their apartment door.

"My God..." Bay breathed with an incredulous shake of her head. It really feels like I've last been here years ago, not 2 weeks ago...

Daryl unlocked the door and opened it, then he wrapped his arms around her from behind and walked her inside, kicking the door shut with his foot. "Welcome home, baby girl." he grinned after pressing a kiss to her temple.

"I can't believe it." Tears stung her eyes, but a happy giggle bubbled up and out of her, as she held on to Daryl's arm with both hands. She was doing much better. In the past seven days, her psyche had recovered at least a little bit, and she was able to let herself smile, laugh and enjoy life. It would take a while until she had worked through everything, she knew she would have to seek professional help for that, but at least she felt more like herself again; like the "young" Bay. Finally being out of the hospital and no longer being confronted with the voices of Rick, Carol, Lori, Hershel and Beth, etc. should help her to put things behind her even more. As it had turned out, most of the women from her dream had been her nurses. Hershel and his daughter Beth had been volunteers from church. That's how everybody had found their way into Bay's nightmarish dream world. She had heard their voices and snippets of conversation and her brain had worked it all into her dream ."Oh my God! The apples are still there!" she pointed towards the fruit bowl on the breakfast bar, which were rotten by now. Daryl had spent so much time at the hospital, that all cleaning had been neglected. "I remember that I wanted to make a pie out of them before they'd start to rot."

"Got ya new ones." Daryl nodded over to the brown paper bags and wooden crates, which were sitting on the kitchen counter. As promised, he'd gone hunting and trading before he'd picked up Bay from the hospital, and he hadn't gotten around to unpacking everything yet. He'd only put away the foods that belonged into the fridge and the freezer. "Even traded some meat for other meat. We got chicken, turkey and beef in addition to venison this time. Uncle Jess shot himself some game, too, but his freezer's still pretty full, so he gave me some more meat to trade. He says hi and get well."

"That's sweet... I've never even met hi-" she cut herself off when her gaze traveled into the other direction. "Oooh! Our bed!" she walked out of Daryl's embrace and knelt on the bed, before she dropped her whole body down on it with a blissful sigh. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm... so good." she moaned as she buried her nose in her pillow. Daryl grinned and shed his jacket on his way to join her.

He crawled up her body, hovering over her as he kissed her with a little more spice, than he'd had during her hospital stay. Bay slid her hands up to his chest and made a happy, little noise at the back of her throat. "Feel good?" Daryl asked in a low voice, not quite sure himself if he meant being back in her own bed or him kissing her.

"Really good. You have no idea."

Speaking of ideas... Daryl thought he had a good one. "Hey, how 'bout we take a bath? Right now."

Bay's eyes widened with a gasp. A bath! She had forgotten that she had that luxury again. "Oh God, yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, YES!"

Daryl had to laugh at her excitement. "Alright, I figured you'd look forward to it, but I didn't think you'd be this happy."

"Are you kidding? We went six months without warm water." she giggled, not realizing what she was saying.

Daryl sobered up a little and cleared his throat. "Not quite, sweetheart."

"Oh... shit... yeah." Those dream-related things kept slipping out here and there, but it got a little less every day. It bothered her a little, but in this moment, it wasn't enough to ruin her good mood. "But hey, two weeks without a decent bath is long enough, too. I need to wash the hospital smell off of me."

"I'm on it." he said as he started to crawl off the sofa-bed, only to be stopped by his girlfriend.

"No, I wanna do it!" She craved doing normal things, so she carefully scooted off the bed, being mindful of the big scar that ran right along the upper edge of her love handle on her left side. One bullet had hit her kidney, forcing the doctors to remove it. It was healing well, but was a little tender, still. She went into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, adjusting the hot and cold water until the temperature was just right, before she assembled her beloved candles and started lighting them.

Daryl walked up behind her. He pushed her hair aside to rest over her left shoulder and nuzzled the back of her neck, before he pressed a tender kiss against the warm skin. "Mmmm..." he moaned quietly, before she felt him grin against her skin. "But yeah, ya really smell like hospital."

Bay laughed and reached behind her to poke his ribs, making him jump and release an involuntary giggle. The sound was music to her ears. She turned around and impulsively wrapped her arms around his middle and kissed him passionately. Daryl groaned as her tongue curled around his own and made him weak in the knees. His hand slid up her back, lightly digging his fingertips into her shoulders, and pulling her flush against his solid form. "I missed you so much." Bay whispered against his lips. Her hands came back around to his front, pushing his t-shirt up. Daryl helped her along and took it off completely, burying his hands in her dark hair when she kissed along his collarbones.

"Ungh... damn, girl..." Daryl bit out when he felt Bay's thumbs circle his small nipples. Carefully, he grasped the hem of his sweater, she was wearing, and pulled it off her body. He grunted in frustration, when his view of her naked torso was blocked by yet another layer of cotton.

"Guess I'm not the only one who's a liiittle impatient, am I?" Bay giggled against his skin while she kissed a path down the middle of his chest.

"No... but didn't the doc tell ya to wait?"

"Yes. But that doesn't mean that we can't do anything at all." she dug her teeth into her bottom lip and grinned up at him.

"A loophole, huh? I like it."

"Take it off." she tugged at his belt with a smile. "Bath is ready."

Bay turned off the water, then she proceeded to undress herself. Looking down at herself and seeing her younger body was as weird as it was happiness-inducing. The big scar on her waist bothered her a little, but at least she was alive, and she knew, that Daryl would never judge her for her appearance. Daryl silently actually admired her battle scars. They just showed what an indestructible fighter she was, and what kind of things she was able to overcome.

And he truly couldn't wait to see her with a round belly. She's gon' be such a goddamn pretty momma..., he thought to himself as he, once again, stepped up behind Bay, this time putting his hands on her still flat abdomen. "Think it's a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know and I don't really care. I just want it to be alright."

"Yeah." Daryl agreed. He lowered his head and kissed her shoulder, then he stepped around her and climbed into the tub first. With his helping hand steadying her, Bay joined him, and laid between his legs on her right side. Daryl looked down at her and took in how enticing her nude body looked in the candlelight. He couldn't help himself. His wet, right hand slid up her belly and cupped and squeezed her left breast. Bay's eyes fluttered shut, and while her breathing deepened, she blindly sought out his mouth, to exchange toe-curling kisses. Her own hand slid up his wet chest and further up to his neck, holding him to her as his tongue skillfully and passionately massaged hers. She moaned into his mouth, when his thumb swiped across her nipple, making it harden instantly. He loved that feeling, and kept playing with the stiffened bud, knowing how much it got her going to have her sensitive breasts played with.

Daryl wasn't the only one who knew what his partner liked, though. "Awww fuck, baby girl..." he tore his mouth away from hers and groaned loudly when he felt her palming his balls. "Mmmmm, damn... fucking good."

"May I pleasure you?" Bay asked in that innocent way, she sometimes still had about her, almost making him blow his load on the spot.

"Sweetheart, you can do with me whatever the hell ya want, so, fuck yeah!" he pressed out. "But I wanna do ya, too." He let his hand glide from her breasts down between her legs, growling quietly when he cupped her in his strong hand.

"Just a little." she reminded him. "Don't make me finish... Ooohh..." she gasped when two fingers penetrated her. Daryl pressed the heel of his hand against her mound, letting her grind down on his fingers and letting her grind against his hand a little, so she was in control and would stop when she felt she had to.

"Like that? That good?"

"Yeah, that's good." Bay breathed against his lips as she moved a little bit. "What about this?" she asked him when she moved her own hand up his shaft and rubbed her thumb across his tip, before she stroked her hand back down.

"Real good. Keep it up... just like that." he groaned with closed eyes. "Fuck yeah, just like that." He gave himself over to the pleasure her hands were inflicting. He stopped kissing her as his head fell back and his mouth fell open when his breathing turned into shallow panting. "Oh good God, yes... Fucking missed you... Missed yer hands... and yer mouth... and yer... pussy... Oh damn, baby... so good. Don't stop. Gon' make me cum real fast, baby girl... been too long." he breathed between panting for air.

Bay simply enjoyed the sight and the sounds and the sensations, soaking it all up like a sponge. She loved making him feel good. Seeing him so relaxed,... she had missed that like crazy. Dream Daryl had never truly been like this. While she worked her hand up and down his hard cock, she remembered the last time she had been with the older version of Daryl. The dream might have been messed up, but it had been good for some things... she was clear on what she wanted more than ever. It was making her prioritize differently. She looked up at him, watching his bliss-filled expression, and smiled. "Daryl?"

"Mh?"

"I wanna be with you forever... You know that?"

"Yeah... God yeah... forever, baby..." he groaned in his pleasure-filled haze.

"Will you marry me, then?"

Daryl's eyes snapped open in shock and he looked at her with them being as wide as saucers. He didn't know what had shocked him more, the fact that she had asked him to marry her or the fact that his orgasm was hitting him out of nowhere. So before he was able to give her an answer, he grunted and groaned out his pleasure, which made his dick contract in her grasp. She slowly kept stroking him through it, and giggled, when his incredulous gaze met hers. "Did ya jus'... holy fuck, girl... did you just ask...?" he asked under his breath, not knowing if he had truly heard her right.

"Yes. I asked if you'll marry me. And no, not just because of the baby."

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you?"

You did... "Who cares?"

"You're unbelievable." he laughed a little. "Where's that comin' from?"

"Maybe the dream made me realize what I truly want. The fact is, I don't wanna go to college anymore, Daryl."

"You don't?" Now he was even more shocked. College was her dream. It was what she had worked so hard for to achieve. "But... I don't get it... ya said goin' to college and being a shrink was your dream."

"Dreams can change." she told him what she had told Merle in her dream. "What we have is a dream. I'm happy. I don't feel like something is missing. I think I realized that even before the shooting, but I hadn't really taken the time to think about it before. All my grandmother wanted was for me to be happy. Before I met you, going to college would have made me happy. That's not the case anymore. I don't have a huge desire to go and do that anymore. I want what we have now. We have this apartment, we have steady jobs and the pay is decent enough for us to make a living together. We have a baby on the way now... College doesn't fit into all of that anymore, and that's completely okay with me. I want you and I want this baby, and I want us to be a real family, all of us with the same name... so... what do you say?"

"Hell yeah."

Thank you for reading!

Thoughts?

Man, I'm so surprised that most of you really loved it. I only lost one follower, lol. I thought it would be at least 10. Now, I wanna mention something. In previous stories, I always put a lot of focus on injuries and such, to make it more realistic, etc. This time, I'm kind of skipping over that a little bit, and I hope you don't mind too much. I mentioned Bay losing a kidney in the shooting, she also took a bit of damage to her carotid artery (which I haven't explicitly mentioned except for the bandage on her neck.) I'm not gonna extensively go into detail and describe side effects, recovery periods, etc. I am aware that usually people won't go around being able to do everything again after a short amount of time with those injuries. For once I'm taking a little bit of artistic liberty with the recovery period and I hope you can forgive me for that.

Special thank you to all those wonderful, wonderful people who left me a review:

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