I was on my stomach, the covers draped over my body. I rolled over to an empty other side of the bed. I groaned, standing up and pulling on my clothes. I walked downstairs to the kitchen to find my box of cereal. I pulled it out from where I put it last and dug into it. Rick and Michonne were in the middle of a conversation in the hallway. They both stopped to look at me.

"Morning," Michonne smiled.

"Morning," I smiled back. "Do you know where Daryl went?"

"Probably somewhere in the woods," Rick thought.

"Thanks." I stored the cereal box away and walked outside to the armory where I retrieved my sword from Olivia. I stood in front of the gate, Nicholas sliding it open for me. I curved into the woods, keeping my eye out for any sight of Daryl. I didn't know how to track anything one bit but I was determined to try. Through the trees, I was able to see him. I accidentally stepped on a twig, Daryl turning to my location and raising his crossbow.

"Come out," he hissed. "Now." I stepped out of the woods. He lowered his crossbow, his face softening a tad. "What're ya doin' out here?"

"Just wanted to know where you were," I admitted.

"Shoulda known I was out here," he said. "Really wouldn't be anywhere else." His voice trailed off as he walked away from me. I followed him.

"You never told me. Just wanted to make sure you were where Rick said you'd be."

"Why're you so worried?"

"I guess I haven't recovered yet from... I-I just don't wanna be alone especially since we're in a new place." My voice trailed off, thinking about how we were both ripped away from each other right out of that train car.

We came across a black horse in a clearing. A soft smile painted my lips. I could see Daryl staring at me out of the corner of my eye. He began searching for something to round up the horse, wandering a few paces away from me. He gathered up a tattered rope in his hands.

"Leave it be. It's happy by itself," I told him, gazing upon the horse. Its coat was glossy under the hot sun. Daryl ignored my demands, tip-toeing towards it.

"I ain't gonna hurt you," Daryl cooed, creeping closer to the horse. It remained calm. "Good boy, c'mon." A few biters emerged outta nowhere, stumbling towards him. The horse whinnied and bolted off, spooked. I pulled out my sword, running towards a biter and chopping its head off. Daryl stabbed the leftovers with his knife. We sprinted after the horse, soon slowing our pace to a walk once we realized he was probably too far gone. The sudden crunch of leaves startled us. "Get out here," Daryl hissed, his crossbow raised. Aaron shuffled outta the woods, his hands held up in surrender.

"You can tell the difference between walkers and humans just by sound," Aaron questioned Daryl. He dropped his crossbow, silent. "I came out here to hunt rabbits. Mind if I join?"

"Keep up and keep quiet," Daryl muttered, trudging forward. We trekked through the woods, continuing to search for the runaway horse.

"You guys should go to Deanna's party tonight," Aaron suggested.

"I don't go to parties." Daryl stopped, bitting his nail. "I ain't got nothin' to prove." Biter growls echoed in the distance. We hustled towards the noise, stumbling upon the horse once again.

"That's Buttons," Aaron explained happily. "I've been tracking him for months, never thought I'd run across him again." A biter's fingers suddenly latched themselves around my ankle. I quickly raised my sword and chopped off its hand. Daryl stomped on its head, brains flying in various directions. Buttons neighed in terror on his hind legs, biters swarming him and bringing him down. The horse let out pained cries, the biters tearing him apart. Buttons struggled, clinging to life after we slaughtered the biters that attacked him. Aaron raised his gun, a sad look on his face. He shot Buttons, putting him out of his misery.

"Hey, you were tryin' to help 'im," Daryl mumbled, wandering off. We made it back to Alexandria just as it was starting to get dark.

"We're gonna try and go to that party whether you like it or not," I stated as we both climbed the stairs to our bedroom. Daryl groaned. I opened up the closet where I had hung up all the clothes Jessie had given us. I pulled a black button up off one of the hangers for Daryl. "Put this on." Daryl grabbed it from me while I pulled out a black sundress. I stripped off my clothes, sliding on the dress and smoothing it out. I felt Daryl's hands on my waist as I grabbed his angel wing vest. His lips pressed against my neck. I blushed, turning around and kissing his cheek. I handed Daryl his vest and he slid it on.

"I'll be right back," he mumbled before walking downstairs.

"Don't be too long! I'd like to be on time," I called after him. Almost 10 minutes later, Daryl still hadn't returned. I stepped out onto the porch to see he wasn't even there. "Daryl," I called out into the darkness. There was no response. I walked down the road and spotted a figure behind a tree. I cautiously stepped towards it, squinting. "Daryl," I asked quietly when I got closer.

"Dunno 'bout this party shit," he grumbled, nodding at the window. Silhouettes shown through the thin yellow curtain. I understood where he was coming from.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," I said softly. He took his cigarette out of his mouth and stomped on it. Daryl slipped his hand into mine and began to walk back to our block. The door to one of the houses we passed by swung open suddenly.

"Daryl, Aften," Aaron greeted us, stepping out onto his porch.

"Thought you were at the party," Daryl said, confused.

"I wasn't gonna go because of Eric's ankle," Aaron admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I wanted you to see what it was like; it's the thought that counts type of thing. You should come have dinner with us! We're having some pretty great spaghetti." Aaron went back into the house. I pulled away from Daryl and walked up the stairs, stopping and turning around halfway.

"C'mon," I chided him gently, holding out my hand. Daryl came up the stairs, grabbing onto my hand. We were greeted by Eric who was sitting at the dinner table. I noticed two plates of spaghetti next to each other, glasses of wine by them. I grinned and sat down. Daryl immediately dug into his spaghetti, me going for my wine glass instead. I lifted it to my lips, taking a sip. My mouth began to tingle from the bitter yet sweet taste.

"Thank you for joining us," Aaron said, twirling his fork around in his noodles.

"We love to have people over for dinner," Eric grinned.

"Thanks for inviting us. I'm pretty sure this is way better than Deanna's party," I chuckled.

"They're not fun at all. All you do is stand around and talk to people who always have the same boring stories to tell." Eric took a sip of his wine while I ate some of my spaghetti.

"Wow, this is really good," I said, covering my mouth.

"Eric and I love to cook from time to time," Aaron confided. Daryl slurped up his spaghetti next to me noisily. My eyes flickered over to him in disbelief. Aaron, Eric, and I laughed to ourselves as he polished off his plate.

"Thanks," Daryl blurted out, his mouth full of food. He wiped his mouth on the napkin next to his plate. Aaron turned his head to Eric and nodded at him.

"You didn't ask him already," Eric whispered.

"Ask me what?" Daryl raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of wine.

"Follow me." Aaron stood up, leading Daryl to the garage. I finished my spaghetti and took some plates over to the sink.

"How do you do it," Eric wondered.

"Do what?" I flipped the water on and started cleaning; washing the dishes was a chore I was used to doing already and I kinda felt good to do it again, the normalcy soothing.

"You seem to keep him so... grounded. How do you do it?"

"Grounded, huh," I smirked. "I don't really do anything."

"I can tell he's madly in love with you. I'm good at seeing that kind of stuff," Eric chuckled. "And since you guys are basically inseparable, you should become a recruiter too. Aaron's telling Daryl the same thing right now. I really need someone to replace me. Aaron doesn't want me wandering around out there anymore after my injury."

"I'll wait to see what he says, but if he's in then I'm in," I smiled. "We're pretty much a package deal."