Well people, this is it. I have one MAYBE two chapters for this. It's done. I've already started writing another story and this one just feels complete to me. I want to thank everyone who's stuck around with me for this. I know this seems abrupt but...when its time its just time. I adore everyone for the fav/follows reads/review. You guys are amazing and have pushed me to keep working on this story even after I wanted to just wrap it up so many chapters ago. I hope you all come around for the next story!

Sophia didn't stray far even though it'd been months since the walls were breached. Every time she'd find herself getting too far away from the people she considered her family she would just turn and go home. It wasn't that she was afraid. She knew she had the skills to survive. Knew that her family would always come for her. They were all each other had anymore.

Even Xena would linger close to her because they were family. It meant something to be a Dixon and you didn't turn your back on your family. Not that her dad or mom let her get far from them really. She knew that something was on the horizon because she felt it in her bones. She knew her dad well enough to see it in his eyes. He was restless.

Maybe it'd been the clean up they'd had after getting home. It felt like longer than the months it'd been but it still felt different. It felt final. Like this was theirs even more. Not just a town they'd fortified like before. Before when they were here she was looking for her mom. They were all looking for something and they all found it really. Her mom made it back to her and for once in her life she had a family that wasn't all busted lips and bruised hearts.

"You going to hide all day?"

Sophia looked down from the tree she was lounging in and smiled. Brian was looking up at her a eyebrow arched perfectly, despite the fact that he now had a scar that ran down through it and over his eye. It ended partially down his cheek. They were lucky that it hadn't damaged his eye and left his vision intact. It healed well but it still held a darker shade to it, it always would. At first she'd felt terrible over his wounds when she really got a look at them in the cave. Now seeing them though they made her smile, she should feel bad for that but then she just didn't. He'd got them saving her and it would always be a reminder that Brian would fight just as hard for her as she would him.

"Thought about it." Sophia leaned back again.

The creak of the limb as he hoisted himself up and his grunt told her he was making his way to her. She shifted giving him room in her makeshift nest. It only took slight prodding to Merle for him to build her a lounge in the tree so she could spy on people without being seen. Of course he told her if she seen anything that was good gossip he wanted to know before everyone. And she did, she told him when she seen Mac get backhanded. Because who didn't want to see that. Andrea's hand had bruised but it'd been a good show.

"You know they'll hunt you down." Brian kicked back.

Sophia watched as he kicked one of his legs over the bent one and his boot moved to a beat only he heard. He could never be completely still. He was so much like his dad and uncle at times that she was startled.

"I know." Sophia smiled.

Part of her was hiding to see how long it'd take Daryl to find her. Merle never told him where he built the nest but she knew that Daryl was just as sly. He was more than they thought. She knew that she'd never get to trick him. She'd been trying for hell and ever and still it hadn't worked.

"He's already looking for you."

Sophia smiled again and blinked as the sun blistered across her skin in a hellish attempt to scald her in summer heat. The clouds were moving slowly through the sky and she just let her eyes trail them.

"You lead him to me then." Sophia deadpanned.

Brian scoffed at her, "Hardly, I can lose a tail if I need to."

Sophia looked at him out of the corner of her eye. His head was leaned back with the sun shining down on the scar over his throat. His eyes were closed and his messy hair was sweaty and clinging to his skin. He was a mess most of the time but she could tell that her mom and Andrea forced him to get cleaned up. She could smell the distinct scent of his sweat mixing with soap and deodorant. How they even got him to put on a shirt that wasn't torn and threadbare she wasn't sure.

"I'm sure." Her voice was crisp and condescending.

"You're being a bitch again."

Sophia grinned and elbowed him almost sending him out of the tree. He threw his hands out to catch himself. His hand was locked around her thigh and a flimsy branch. It almost sent her to the ground with him.

"Jerk." She hissed but her breath was coming faster.

He righted himself and scowled at her. He set up suddenly and chuckled before looking over his shoulder. He looked back at her and then lowered himself intentionally slow.

"You think you can outrun Daryl?"

Sophia set up quickly and seen him coming right for the tree.

"Your mom has been on his ass all week." Brian looked smug, "If I was forced to clean up then your ass is getting down."

That's how Sophia found herself on the ground walking towards Daryl. He looked more amused than anything. Xena was walking right against her leg and Sophia smiled at the sentiment.

"He's a nark." Sophia quipped.

Daryl didn't stop when she did and she braced herself. Was he mad? Was she about to get in trouble? She knew that her mother wanted to celebrate but she wanted a moment to herself. It was the first time she'd get do so without Ed breathing down her neck.

Daryl swooped in then and she was up over his shoulder before he said anything. Sophia smiled and shifted forcing his hold to break. It didn't last long before he had her on his back. It was a serious piggyback ride. Brian was lounging close by watching them lazily and he flipped her off as she went by. She was tempted to tell Daryl he'd done something just to watch fear get struck into him but she was reminded of how he'd reacted at the thought of Brian and her even alone most of the time.

"Is she mad?"

Daryl snorted and hoisted her higher. "You know better."

"She don't like when I go off alone."

Daryl nodded and they neared the house. "What makes you think you were really alone?"

Sophia smiled and rested her chin on his shoulder as he marched up the porch steps. Her grip tightened around his neck as he walked into the house.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Her mom, Mac, Merle, Martinez, Andrea, and Michonne all yelled.

Sophia's face blossomed in a deep shade of red. Daryl swung her around putting her on the ground but her grip tightened on his arm. Even though there was no reason for anxiety it always calmed her if he was near. He pushed her forward but she turned and met his eyes.

"Aren't you coming?"

Daryl arched a brow, "I have another wayward kid to wrangle."

"Brian's a dickwad." Sophia hissed, "He lead you to me as a distraction."

"He did." Daryl snorted.

Sophia was pulled towards everyone and she watched Daryl slip away. She didn't like when him and Brian were both gone. Call her childish but they'd always saved her before. After see the destruction and what was really left of the town it only cemented her feelings. Daryl saved her more than once and she knew he'd continue to do it. He'd always come for her. He'd promised her that from the start but Brian stood next to him now. He'd killed for and was almost killed over her. Without question she knew that if the roles were reversed she'd picked this place apart in effort to keep him safe. You do that for the people you love. You never stop fighting.

Sophia beamed at her mom and she smiled back. It wasn't the broken smiles of the past or the ones from not so long ago. These were as real the sun's warmth on her skin and she relished it. Andrea and Mac were laughing and Sophia's eyes kept lingering on the way that Andrea would blush or smile. It was something in her expression that had her watching closer. It wasn't just her though Mac was looking at her just as hard.

Like he could sense her eyes on him he turned looking at her and Sophia got up and walked right to him. She set heavily on his lap and he laughed. She forced him to hug her and he raised a brow.

"Why are you buttering me up?" Mac questioned.

Sophia shrugged, "Why did she slap you?"

"Because I'm a dick." He smiled, it was charming and she huffed.

"What did you do?"

Mac's face was slightly paler lately and Sophia was just as curious as her dad. Daryl was watching his brother lately like he was waiting on something.

"I didn't do shit." He retorted.

"So what did you not do that made her mad." Sophia weedled.

"You're just fucking like Daryl." Mac growled his arms tightening around her.

He started to stand and Andrea shot him a withering look. He didn't move after that. Sophia gave him a triumphant look. She knew that something was going on. Mac looked flustered like he wanted out and that was usually because he didn't have control of the situation. HE was like Brian in that way.

"Where's Brian?"

Sophia shrugged, "No clue."

"That's a lie and we both know it." Mac grinned, "You're both so far up the others ass you're tasting what each other eats before it's even swallowed."

"You're a disgusting creature." Sophia laughed.

He eyed her and then prodded her, "You two fighting?"

"No."

"So why ain't he with you?"

"I'm not his keeper."

"That's a lie." Mac chuckled. "He's been yours since that first day you punched him the throat."

Sophia smiled and it was dreamy. "That was a good day."

It wasn't long before Daryl and Brian were walking in. Like clockwork both searched her out. Everyone else had calmed down since the attack but those two. The town was cleaned and the realization of just how many people were lost was a harsh reality. It was even clearer that had Brian not got them out that'd they'd likely got killed. Over half the towns people were dead. Rick and Carl both perished, leaving behind Rick's daughter. Maggie and Glenn took over care of the small child and Sophia knew that it was for the best. She was sad that so many had died but then she thought of Karen and grimaced. She'd hated that woman but still...her mom always said don't speak ill of the dead. Then she'd hear her mom mutter that Ed was a bastard- so double standards.

Since the attack her and her mother had gotten closer. She'd told her mom all about it and they'd cried. It was disgusting what some people let themselves become but it was sobering. When it was made clear exactly what Brian done for her- her mom heart grew even more for him. She'd loved Brian before but now when she'd seen Daryl getting ready to bite his head off her mom was there to intervene. Everyone was so scared she'd been raped. Of course she wasn't. It was close and she'd nightmares at first. Sometimes they'd still crop up but that was no different now than the nightmares she'd still have of Ed. Brian, Daryl, and her mother were always there. She knew it grated Daryl's nerves when he found her knocked out with Brian but she knew better than to crawl into his bed. SO she'd force him to get up and go to the living room. Besides she couldn't keep climbing into the bed with her mom and dad, she was fifteen now. By today's standards she was practically an adult.

Sophia settled in and watched her family while slowly eating the cookies her mother made her. They'd be okay. Had to be. Nothing killed a Dixon but a Dixon- besides they were all that they got in this world and you held on to that.