Disclaimer- I do not own The Walking Dead

This is deliberately a very short chapter so sorry about that. I just didn't want this chapter to be about anything else.

Thank you to KEZZ1 for the review. I appreciate it and you very much.

Enjoy and please review.

Danny's POV

"No!"

"No? Seriously!" I fold my arms across my chest as I glare up at Daryl. He won't look me in the eye, hasn't since our argument over a day ago. Merle and Daryl are going out and Merle invited me to come but Daryl doesn't want me to. It has absolutely nothing to do with what's wrong with me because I have yet to tell him anything, much to Carol's dismay. It has everything to do with the fact that he doesn't want to me to come with him because he doesn't want to be anywhere near me. I can barely get him to stay in the same room as me, and that only lasts the length of the meal and then he's up and out.

"I'm not in the mood to 'ave to babysit ya".

I let out a whoosh of air and a fake chuckle. "Wow. We still on that? Boy do you hold a grudge". Pushing him isn't making our situation any better but I hate it when he acts like looking after me is like looking after a child. "You have absolutely no authority when it comes to telling me what to do. If you don't want to babysit me then don't go. I'll go with Merle who still seems to have faith in me, still trusts me... We don't need you". I regret those four words as soon as I say them but I don't back down and take them back.

His eyes instantly lock onto mine. He's beyond livid. "Fine". That's it, that's all he says before he climbs onto his bike. Merle nods his head towards the truck, silently telling me to hurry up and get in. This is the only part of the outing that I'm worried about. The car journey because if it's anything like the last one then I'm screwed.

Window open all the way which clearly annoys Merle but he doesn't out rightly tell me to close it. I have my head tilted back against the seat with my eyes closed. I have my earbuds in and I'm listening to my music. My stomach is unsettled but so far so good.

Carol told me not to go to, less forcefully. She said she's go instead but I promised her I'd be fine. The towns empty and I need to get out of that house, clear my head properly. I think she only relented because she knew that the only way to get me to stay was to reveal my secret but she'd never do that.

Today we aren't going into town fully. We're circling the outskirts, we need to find some gas and then just see what else we can find. Even though we know it'll probably be drained dry our first stop is the gas station on the other side of town. Maybe we'll get lucky.

I manage to make the journey with the contents of my stomach still inside of me, any longer though and I'd have failed. It was close.

"You okay?" I lift my head up and give Merle a tight lipped smile.

"Yep, just peachy". He frowns, it takes him a few seconds as he thinks my answer over before finally willing to accept it with a nod.

"Then let's go Squirt". I climb out a little slower than him so by the time I've walked round the front of the truck the two of them are already over checking pumps. From the looks of their faces the pumps are empty. Not really a surprise. They were probably one of the first things to go. Siphoning cars is the way we'll have to go.

I just stand watch, no point walking off because it'll just anger Daryl more and believe it or not it isn't my intention to anger him. What I actually came for is inside the gas station shop, I just need to hang tight.

Checking the pumps doesn't take them too long so when they're done I follow them over to the entrance. Merle wipes his hand across the glass and tries to peer inside but he steps back with a shrug. Way too dark inside to see anything. Daryl bangs his fist against the door. Way harder than he really needed to, the glass shudders in it's frame.

All three of us clearly hear the multiple groans from inside, takes time for the body's to catch up. When they do they slam their hands up against the glass causing me to jump a little in surprise. Merles hand lands on his holster and Daryl's arm goes out sideways. I'm stood a good few steps behind him, and even though he instantly lowers it after realising what he did it's not hard to work out that he was putting his arm up to protect me. Before entering a building I'm usually always stood by his side, it's formation but today I didn't want to crowd him especially now he thinks he has to look after me.

"Merle, you get the door. Let 'em out one at a time". Daryl put his crossbow up against the building and pulls out his knife. He's doing this without me but I still tighten my grip on my bat just in case. Something can always go wrong.

And it does pretty damn quickly. The door opens inwards, not outwards. Plan A down the drain.

Time for plan B, "We coul..."

"You push on the door", I guess I'm not worth listening to. "While I pull on it to stop them from forcin' it open."

I don't like this plan. I feel like he keeps forgetting that Merle only has one hand. If a Walker doesn't co-operate Merle doesn't have the other hand to hold it back. He does okay in open spaces but that's cramped and too close for comfort.

"Daryl I..."

"Ready". Daryl stares at Merle expectantly.

"No I fuckin' ain't. This is fuckin' bullshit and has gone on long enough. It ain't her puttin' us at risk it's you." Merle full on points in Daryl's face.

Daryl shoves Merle's hand away from his face and practically growls low in his throat. "You don't know what the fuck ya talkin' 'bout".

"No, I do. Unlike you I fuckin' trust Danny, if she says she was fine then she was fuckin' fine. Gettin' car sick ain't the end of the world and you were way outta line".

"Merle". He ignores me.

"I won't abandon her over one little error so if that's what ya doin' then ya might as well fuck off now, 'cause she's right. We don't need ya, not while ya actin' like a little bitch".

"Merle!" He should have stopped talking.

"Fuck this". Daryl scoops up his crossbow and shoves past his brother, and Merle just lets him go. This isn't a stalk off to calm down, he's heading straight for his bike, he's leaving us. He's leaving me.

"Daryl!" He doesn't even falter. He yanks his bag out the back of the truck and swings it onto his back. No. I look at Merle but he doesn't care, he's walking in the other direction. "Daryl, wait please." I run after him, dropping my bat on the ground as I go. I grab his arm just as he's swinging his leg over. He sits down but he doesn't put his hands on the handles, he's waiting but he isn't gonna look at me.

"Please, please don't go. Okay yes I should have told you when I woke up that I wasn't feeling great. Doesn't matter that I honestly felt better because I withheld the truth from you. I told myself I wasn't lying but I was, okay I'm sorry". My other hand comes up to grip his arm as well. "You can hate me all you want but please just don't go".

He slowly looks at me. "I don't hate ya." He pry's my fingers off of his jacket as a couple of tears slide down my cheeks. "But ya don't need me". That's it. That's all he's gonna say. He starts up his bike and kicks the stand back, he's actually leaving.

A sob makes it way out of me as the tears fall harder. He revs the engine and then the bikes moving forward. No, please, please. I can't...

"I'm pregnant".