I started going out to that spot everyday just to get out of the house. I would just sit for a while, it was nice not having anyone else around. Or so I thought…

One day, I was walking to the spot and heard a twig snap just as I arrived. I stopped, feeling annoyed and let my bag slide off my shoulder onto the ground. "Daryl." I said. "I know you're there. Come out." I turned around. I heard some rustling, then he came out from the bushes. "Stop following me, Daryl." I said. "I don't need you looking after me."

"I'm worried about you." He said and came closer.

"I'm fine." I snapped.

"You ain't fine." He said. "You ain't been fine fer a long time."

I scoffed. "And who's fault is that?" I gave him a stupid look and shook my head.

Daryl paused and just stared at me. "When you gonna get over it?"

My eyes widened. Did he really just say that? "Get over it?" I repeated. "You killed my fiancé!"

"I know." He stepped in front of me. "I did. And I'm sorry." He looked at me. "I'm sorry I killed yer fiancé." We stared at each other. "You ever gonna forgive me?"

My anger took over again. He's not sorry, he just wants me to forgive him. I shook my head and walked over to the tree. "Just go, Daryl!" I yelled. "Go home! I don't want you here." I looked down. Out of the side of my eye, I could see him walking away. Tears sprung to my eyes, and I let myself cry for a minute.

Just then, I heard footsteps to my right. Annoyance set in and I turned my head to yell at him. "I told you to go back!"

But it wasn't Daryl, it was a walker. It snarled, I gasped and stood up just as it grabbed onto me. I screamed as we fell back into the mud.

Narrator's POV

Daryl Dixon was walking back towards home like Abby told him to, the girl made it perfectly clear that she didn't want him around here. However, the man heard the girl scream shortly after, he immediately turned back and started running to help.

Abby's POV

I got stuck in the mud and could barely move. The walker was on top of me and got a mouthful of my shirt in its mouth. My eyes widened. No! Did it get me? I screamed and tried to push it off me but being in the mud, all it did was push me farther into it. I'm fucked.

Suddenly, the walker was being hauled off me and I saw Daryl kill it and throw it aside. He immediately helped me up and out of the mud. "You okay?" He looked over my arms. I was still in shock and couldn't speak. "Hey, catch yer breath." He said to me.

I breathed heavily and lifted my shirt a little to see if I got bit. There weren't any teeth marks on my flesh. I closed my eyes and breathed out in relief. I put my hands on my knees and bent over a little. I almost died the same way Carl did.

"Hey." Daryl said softly. "You okay?"

I nodded and slowly stood up straight. "I just really thought that walker bit me." I breathed.

"…it didn't. Yer fine." He reassured me.

I breathed out one last time and calmed down. My clothes were caked with mud so I stepped into the water and washed some of it off. Good enough. I thought while looking down at myself.

"Come on." Daryl said. "Lemme take you home." He put his arm around me and we started back.

I took a shower as soon as I got home. My mind started thinking of Daryl. I was still mad at him for killing Leon and it'll be a long time before I forgive him but…at least he's being nice to me. No one else is. I guess I could be a little nicer to him.

I put clean clothes on, then took my muddy clothes to the sink and washed most of the mud off. While I was doing that, Daryl came down. "Hey." He said. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I replied. "Thanks for…saving me." I put my head down.

He came closer to me. "You know I got yer back." He said. "Yer still my girl…even if ya don't wanna be."

I had to smile. "Whatever." I rolled my eyes.

Daryl let out a laugh. "Hey, what's with the bloody shirt on the bed?"

"Oh." I looked back. "It's Leon's." I told him. "Before we…left…we were cutting up apples the one day and he sliced his finger. He was clumsy." I let out a laugh. "I should wash it but…I can't bring myself to do it."

"I get it." He nodded and reassured me. We stared at each other, I gave him a small smile. "Hey, I was gonna wash my clothes. Why don't you gimme yers and I'll throw 'em in with mine. You go get somethin' to eat."

"Really?" I asked. He nodded. "Okay. Thanks, Daryl." I gave him my wet clothes, then I went upstairs to the kitchen to make myself some food.

I made myself some soup and ate it, then took a little walk around the community. I didn't care if people stared at me, that's their problem if they don't like me. I saw Max talking to some other kids. Only they weren't kids anymore. They were when I left but they're not now. Max should be seventeen maybe eighteen now. That's crazy.

I took a long walk around a few times and stayed out for a couple of hours. After that, I figured that I had enough sun for the day so I went back home.

I saw my clothes on my bed. Wow. Daryl even folded them for me. I smiled as I picked them up one by one and put them away. When I got to the last piece of clothing under the stack, it felt like I was punched in the stomach. It was Leon's shirt.

"No!" I said. With wide-eyes, I held it up to the light and looked it over. The bloodstains were gone and it smelled freshly washed. "No!" Tears came to my eyes. I gritted my teeth angrily. Daryl!

I ran up the stairs still holding Leon's shirt. "Daryl!" I called. My dad and Michonne were in the living room and looked at me as I walked in. "Where's Daryl?" I said. I heard a noise in the kitchen and looked over, it was him. "Daryl, how could you?" I yelled. "You washed Leon's shirt!"

He stared at me. "Y-you said…"

"I never wanted it washed!" I yelled with tears in my eyes. "My fiancé's blood." I looked down at the shirt and cried.

"Abby, I'm sorry." Daryl said. "I just thought—

"Why are you doing this to me?" I cut him off and cried. "Just leave me alone!" I yelled and ran for the stairs. "Leave me alone, Daryl!" I ran downstairs to my room.

Narrator's POV

Daryl Dixon looked at Rick and Michonne once Abby ran out of the room, they all shared a look. The man felt bad and put his head down. Earlier, she seemed like she was coming around a little. Now...he felt as if he ruined it.

Abby's POV

I cried on the bed that used to be Daryl's while holding Leon's shirt close to me. I let myself be upset for a little, then I pulled myself together and stopped crying. It was just the fact that I still had something of his even though he's gone. Now he felt totally gone.

However, it's just a shirt. It's not him.

I sat at the dinner table with everyone else eating slowly and being quiet. No one was really talking. It was kind of awkward but I didn't care. I was feeling embarrassed about my outburst earlier, which was making me feel emotionally drained.

"I found some new movies while I was out." Michonne said. "Why don't we all watch a movie tonight?"

"Okay." Judith said happily. "And play games too!"

"A movie night and game night?" My dad questioned her. She giggled. "Abby? You up for that?" He asked me.

"…sure." I said apathetically without looking up.

There was a brief pause. "I'm sorry 'bout the shirt." Daryl said. I looked up but not at him. "When you said you should wash it but ya couldn't brang yerself to do it…I thought ya meant ya wanted to."

"It's fine." I said. "It's just a shirt." I kept my head down when I said it and just continued eating. I appreciate Daryl's apology and I'm over the incident, but I'm still mad and upset about everything. I'm mad and upset in general. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive Daryl for killing Leon, but if I do, there is one thing I do know. Things will never be the same between us.

I was sitting on the porch by myself that evening. Being alone is something that I've gotten used to. I never liked being alone, I enjoy the company of others. I mean…there's times when I need some space, but…I like being surrounded by people for the most part. But I've been alone a lot recently.

Just then, the door opened and my dad came out. "Hey." He said. "Everything okay?"

He hasn't shown me any concern since I got back, this is the first time. "Yeah." Was all I said. I wasn't but I didn't know if I wanted to talk to him about it. My dad and I used to be super close, I could talk to him about anything. But things haven't been the same. Not for a long time. Leon coming into my life changed a lot of things.

My dad sat down next to me. "I know you're not. You don't have to lie." He rubbed my shoulder a little.

His affection felt nice, it made me a bit emotional. "I'm sorry I…stayed at The Sanctuary for so long." My voice sounded a little shaky. "I just…needed to be away."

"I know." He said. "It's okay. I'm not mad anymore."

I looked at him. "That's not it though." I paused. "Negan was the one who made me come home. The truth is…I liked it. I'd still be there if it was my choice." We stared at each other. "I hope that doesn't make me a bad person." I said again. "Here…everyone was acting like Leon was nothing. Almost like it wasn't even real. I was in pain and nobody cared." I looked down. "But there…they knew him. He was a real person. And it helped." I explained to my dad. "But I didn't mean to hurt anyone, especially you." My lip quivered and my eyes welled up with tears. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He moved closer to me and put his arm around me, I leaned into him and cried. "It's okay, baby. I get it, I really do." He rubbed my arm. "You were hurting and needed some time away. It's okay." He kissed my temple. "I'm sorry I've been so hard on you."

I sniffled and made myself calm down. I gave him a nod, then moved closer. We just sat there together for a while. It felt nice and I'm glad and relieved that we made up and had that conversation.

Weeks went by and the other residents started to get over themselves and talk to me again. I knew they couldn't stay mad at me, I'm just that contagious. I've never met a person who didn't like me. And that's not me being conceited, it's just the truth. Also, it helped a great deal that my dad forgave me and we were close again. Once everyone saw that, they forgave me too.

Judith started following me around and tried to be with me as much as possible. It's real cute and all that she looks up to me and everything, but it was starting to get on my nerves. So, I went out on more runs again because I knew she couldn't come with me.

One day, I was about to head out and my little sister was sitting on the steps. "You goin' on a run?" She asked me.

"Yup." I said.

"Can I come?" She jumped up.

"No, sorry, Jude." I immediately turned her down. "You're too little." I knew that would make her mad. I saw her scowl out of the side of my eye and couldn't hide my smirk.

As I was walking down the street, Max and his friends stopped me. "Hey, Abby." He said. "What's up?"

"About to go on a run." I shrugged.

"Cool." Said Max. He introduced me to his friends. I knew who they were but I never hung around with them.

"You know how to skateboard, right?"

"I do." I said. "But it's been a while, so I don't know how good I'd be." I was being honest.

"I can do an ollie." Nate said. He skated down the sidewalk, did his little trick then came back.

I gave him a smug look feeling unimpressed. "That was cool and all, but that's the easiest trick."

"I'd like to see you do better." He challenged me and handed me his board.

I took it without even a second thought. I'm not gonna let some kid tell me. I skated down the sidewalk, did an ollie way better than him, then I did a hard flip off the sidewalk.

"Whoa." Max said. "She showed you." He teased Nate. They all laughed at him.

"That's not all I can do." I bragged. I decided to be a showoff and showed them some more tricks. I could tell they were impressed by me. It felt good.

Narrator's POV

Judith Grimes sat on her porch and watched as her older sister skated with the older kids. They oohed and awed over her. It made the young girl jealous.

Just then, Daryl Dixon walked out onto the porch. He was about to light a cigarette when he took notice to the little girl's state. "Everythang alright, Little Asskicker?"

"Abby's so cool." Judith said with envy. "Everyone likes her."

Daryl looked where she was looking and saw Abby skateboarding with some younger guys. "She's pretty good." He said.

"She's good at everything." Judith complained.

Daryl was watching Abby and not really letting what the young girl said sink in. "Yeah, she is cool, isn't she?"

Judith huffed and looked up at her Uncle Daryl angrily. He wasn't even listening to what she was saying.

Daryl looked down at the girl and realized. "Yer cool too." He said.

Even though Judith was only five, she was old enough to know that he was just saying that to try to make her feel better. She angrily walked inside. The man had to let out a laugh.

Judith walked inside and paced the floor angrily. Everyone liked her older sister, not just liked her but practically praised her. Abby was super talented and cool and she was pretty. The young girl wanted to be more like her sister.

She walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. If she wanted to be more like Abby, then she needed to look more like Abby. The young girl guessed she could start with her hair. She held it out in her hands and looked at it. Then she picked up a pair of scissors.

Abby's POV

"Well, I should probably go." I said to my new friends. "It was cool hangin' with you guys though."

"Yeah, you should come hang with us more often." Caden said. I gave him a nod.

"Abby." My dad stopped me on my way out. "Were you gonna go on a run?"

"Yeah." I said and turned to him. "Did you want me to look for something?"

He sighed. "Well, no but," he looked behind him at Michonne getting in a car, "Michonne and I were gonna go out."

"Oh." I said. They probably wanted some alone time. "You guys go ahead then. I'll stay with Judith." I reassured him.

"I appreciate that." He gave me a look. "Thank you."

We said goodbye, then I headed back to the house. I went downstairs to my kitchen and made myself a drink, then sat down on the couch. "Ahh." I said after taking a sip. It was nice to just relax.

After finishing my drink, I figured I better go check on my sister. I haven't seen her since this morning. I went up the stairs and into the kitchen. "Judith!" I called. "What do you want for lunch?"

I heard a door open and little footsteps but didn't turn around until I heard, "Abby."

I turned her way, then did a double take and gasped. "Judith." I went to her. "What did you do?" I looked her over, she cut her hair off. It looked terrible!

She immediately started crying. "I wanted to cut my hair like yours, but I messed it all up!" She wailed.

I gave her a sympathetic look and took her into the bathroom. I tried fixing her hair the best I could. It looked better, but it was super short now. Shorter than mine. "That's the best I can do." I sighed.

"It makes me look like a boy!" She cried.

"No, it doesn't." I said gently, even though it kind of did. "I think it looks pretty cool." I lied.

"Really?" She looked up at me through her tears.

"Yeah." I nodded. "I mean…Michonne's gonna be pissed but…it's not bad."

She still looked upset so I made her something to eat, then played a game with her. She seemed to get over it by the end of the day. Luckily, it was time for Judith to go to bed before my dad and Michonne got home so I was able to tell them about it before they saw her. I told them to go easy on her.

The next day, she wasn't even in trouble. I'm partly glad, but it also made me a little annoyed. If I would've done something like that when I was little, I would be grounded for like two weeks.

I stood out on the porch smoking my vape and thinking about it. Kids nowadays are spoiled. I shook my head. Parents don't have the energy after the first kid, they're too tired to discipline them. I guess it's up to me to handle her.

A few days later, I was sitting on the couch holding my snake and drinking some alcohol. I had been drinking a lot lately. I just didn't care about anything. What else was there for me to do? I'm a single chick without even any friends my age. I finished my drink and poured another.

"Maybe you should slow down." Michonne suggested.

I waved her off. "I'll slow down when I've had enough."

"And how do you know when you've had enough?" She raised her eyebrows at me.

I smirked before answering her question. "When I run out." I laughed. She couldn't hold it in and laughed too along with Daryl.

Just then, Judith came running in the house yelling about something and crying. We were all immediately alarmed. At first, I thought she got hurt, then I thought something happened to my dad because he was outside with her and hadn't come back in yet.

"He's gone! He's dead!" She yelled.

"Who is?" Michonne asked with wide-eyes. "What happened?"

"Hughy!" She yelled.

"Your mouse?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! He's gone!" She cried. My dad walked in now.

"O-oh." I relaxed instantly and sat back down. Everyone else seemed to calm down too.

My dad tried comforting her. "We let him run around a little outside and a hawk got him." He told us. "That damn thing swooped right down and took him."

I busted out laughing and covered my mouth. Judith looked up at me. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!" She screamed at me with tears running down her face. She ran up to her room.

I looked at my dad, then we both started laughing. Something like this happened with Carl when we were little so I knew he was thinking of that memory. Daryl was laughing a little too. "You guys are mean." Said Michonne. But she even had a smirk on her face.

"Sorry." I said but didn't mean it. "I couldn't help it. Just the thought of it sounded funny." I said. "That's like…before I started driving, I was like, if he I ever hit an animal, I'm gonna be so upset and maybe even cry." I put my hand out. "I ran over a baby groundhog. It wasn't as sad as you'd think."

"Nah." Daryl said. I knew he'd agree with me. He's been hunting his whole life so he knows.

Days went by where nothing really went on, it was just the same thing. Then all of a sudden, something out of the ordinary happened one day. There was a commotion outside, we all went to see what was going on. Apparently, there were two saviors outside the gates. I identified them as Laura and DJ.

They told us that The Sanctuary was gone. My eyes widened as they told us the whole story. What happened was, a lot of saviors died on a run. After losing a lot of their their fighters, The Sanctuary wasn't getting good food and supplies anymore. Slowly, they ran out of food. Once things got really bad, Negan and some others fled and abandoned everyone else. The place eventually got overrun. Laura and DJ were two of the people who stayed until the end. Now they were asking if they could stay with us.

We all shared looks. "How do we know we can trust them?" Daryl said roughly.

"Their story seems pretty legit." Said Michonne. "Not that that matters."

My dad looked to me. "Abby, you know these people." It sounded more like a statement than a question. "What do you think?"

I thought about it. Laura and DJ were pretty good people. They didn't seem the type to stir something up. Finally, I nodded. "It's okay. They're cool."

With some more convincing, my dad let them in and let them stay with us. They had to earn their keep, of course.

I hugged both of them when they came inside. "I missed you guys." I said.

"We missed you too." Said Laura. "It was boring without you."

I smiled at her compliment but then became serious. "So…was it really bad?"

"Yeah." DJ said. "It got bad right around the time that you left." He nodded. "After we lost people, things just got worse and worse."

I gave them a sad look. "Well, I'm glad you guys are here." I waved. "Come on, I'll show you around."

Thank you all for the reviews! :D What did you think of chapter 14?