Mercy on Me

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HotRanger69; I missed you too!! Hopefully if you're having another shitty day, this update will make it better too. Is your boyfriend back yet? Let's hope you didn't get into too much trouble in a new town! That always creeps me out too, being in a place I've never been to alone.. I mean come on, anything can happen when your mind wanders to all of the scary possibilities! Ugh, a dead bird? Thank goodness my dog doesn't do anything like that, it would gross me out! My latest obsession has been Oreo McFlurries from McDonalds.. And I JUST FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE THEM. <--- This girl is quite excited. I think our talk of tanning and burning jinxed me, because I went to the beach last Friday and got beyond burnt.. It's quite disgusting and borderline sun poisoning, yet again.. -_- Leave it to Shane, right? Only cares about himself! Woohoo, I'm glad Ch. 16 was your favorite so far! Whenever I post a chapter, I'm never too sure how I feel about it, but comments like yours always make me feel better! I hope you enjoy this update just as much!(: ♥

xXSad_GurlXx; Right?! If my sister left me like that, I would be PISSED. Don't worry--we've got a lot of Shane/Dixon scenes coming up! Maybe not this chapter, but deeeefinitely soon! I'm glad my story helps. Comments like yours always inspire me to keep writing; knowing that somewhere out in the world there are people who look forward to reading my story always makes me beyond happy! Enjoy this update.♥

Drifting Carnies; Thank goodness! The best part about watching Chupacabra so many times was that I watched it again this weekend during the 4th of July marathon and was sitting there thinking "Harper should be there right about.. Now". Writer's block SUCKS. I feel like it's a pain that never goes away and you just have to keep writing through it! Glad to ehar that it doesn't really show. I must say, watching S1 of the show really made me miss the old 'non-crazy train' Shane.!): But don't worry.. Shane will definitely be confronted by not only one Dixon, but two(: And thanks for the good luck on finals! It must've worked because I passed them all with flying colors!♥

Just.Breathe.; *Bows gratefully* Thank you, thank you! Hearing that my story is perfection literally makes me speechless. I'm really considering making my major for college writing.. I just love writing so much! Thanks for the great adjectives for my story!♥

C.K.Dexter-Haven; Writer's block is the absolute WORST. In my opinion, the best way to get past it is to just keep writing through it. That's what I did for this chapter, and I ended up re-writing this update at LEAST three or four times, but I think it's good now!(: Between finals and work, I've been super busy too, and all I've wanted to do is continue writing this story! It's a shame, because whenever I sit down to write, I'm just too tired to come up with something good! Despite my love for descriptions in stories, I feel my story is based heavily on dialogue, which I can't write when I'm tired. =/ The good thing about Shane leaving Harper and Daryl for dead is that Harper is finally starting to understand that her brother is losing it.. Despite the fact that she doesn't want to admit it, she has to now. For some reason, whenever Andrea or Lori showed up on screen, I got pissed off. I just couldn't stand either of them. I'm with you on not being too upset about Andrea getting bit! *tehe*. During this chapter, we skip ahead a bit, so don't worry! Daryl and Harper will have some scenes! And no, I haven't forgotten about the contest;) ♥

TheCrimsonRose; You commented at the perfect time! I was finishing up writing this update when you commented on my story *snaps for you**.(: Glad to hear you love the story so much! Hope you enjoy the next update just as much!♥

***You are all wonderful, thank you so much!!***
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"Stop lying,".

"Harper, dear, I'm sorry,".

"No, that isn't good enough! You told me he would be okay!" I screeched, tears flowing freely from my eyes.

Hershel looked down towards the carpeted floor and sighed, shaking his head.

"I was so sure, Harper..".

"That's not good enough.." I sniffed, falling to the floor.

Hershel was lying—he had to be.

"He wouldn't leave me, not like this,".

I heard the floor beneath me creak as Hershel bent down to my level.

"All we can do now is pray that God is taking care of him,".

"If your so-called God wanted to take care of him, Daryl would be alive right now!" my voice screamed.

I threw myself off of the ground and charged into Daryl's room, sobbing. Slamming the door behind me, I sat on my knees next to the bed, listening for any sign of breathing, but it never came.

"Please don't leave me..." I whimpered, wrapping my shaking fingers around his heavy hand.

I almost shivered at how cold his body was despite the sweltering Georgian heat surrounding us.

"I know I broke my promise, but you didn't. You said you would never leave, never. And not just me, you left Merle! Your brother!".

I half expected Daryl's eyes to flutter open, his mouth to twist into that Dixon smirk..

They never did.

"This is all my fault.. I'm so sorry Daryl, I'm so sorry,".

If I had just stuck to my word and stayed at the farm, Daryl never would've came looking for me, he never would've gotten shot. Daryl never would've had internal bleeding to the brain, no, he would be fine. We would be arguing in the truck bed of his truck, only to laugh and kiss it out in the end.

"This isn't the way it's supposed to end," my muffled voice said into his shirt, which was cold as well.

The room was already void of Daryl's scent. His woodsy male scent that once gave me chills was nowhere to be found, replaced by the smell of quickly decomposing flesh.

"Harper..".

My head shot up at his voice.

"Daryl?".

"Harper!" Daryl's eyes were shut, but his lips were moving, for his tone had gone from just above a whisper to a scream.

"Harper! Harper!". Daryl's steel-armed grip was shaking my shoulders, forcing me to open my eyes, which had been squeezed shut. "Wake the fuck up!".

"Wait, what?".

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My body was jolted awake by a large pair of hands gripping on to my shoulders.

"What the fuck?" I shouted, glancing around the room haphazardly.

It had been a couple of days since Daryl and I reached the farm, as well as Daryl getting shot, and I was sleeping in my old tent (I had been cursed out numerous times by Daryl, so I doubted he wanted me rummaging through his things.

"You were havin' a nightmare,".

I knew it was Shane just by the way he was gripping my shoulders.

"Thought I told you to stop trying," I sneered, throwing my am out of his grasp.

"Dammit, Harper, I've told you before, I need you on my side!" Shane sighed as he stepped closer.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes—why was he acting so pathetic.

"Last time I checked, you left me out in the woods to save Daryl's life. And let's be brutally fucking honest, brother, we both knew you did it so I would die,".

The look Shane gave me was pure shock, as if he hadn't expected me to ever say something like that.

"Harper, you're my sister! Family! I would never, ever, leave you for dead,".

My hand rose to Shane's face and I couldn't help but hide my surprise when I saw him flinch.

"Just stop. If you were the same brother that I grew up with, you wouldn't have had an affair with Lori, you wouldn't have tried to kill Otis, and you sure as hell wouldn't have left Daryl and me for dead. Now please, let me be," Although I hadn't slapped Shane, he looked like he had been.

It was obvious that he knew he deserved the treatment he was getting.. Who the hell does he think he is? Leaving me with an injured man to go tell our old group that we died?

That is something that no one should do, especially not a family member.

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Daryl had been up and walking for a day or two despite Hershel's orders to stay in bed. Daryl, being a Dixon, couldn't just sit around while everyone one else worked.

Daryl's used to being a provider, not someone who has to be waited on. I've tried talking to him numerous times, but he just didn't want to hear it.

"Boy's still pissed with ya for leavin'.. He'll get over it, Princess, don't worry 'bout 'im," Merle would tell me, although I wasn't too sure.

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I was laying in my tent after my confrontation with my brother when I heard a loud crash at me feet. Flinging myself out of bed, I saw a large sack filled to the brim with items I couldn't make out.

"What the hell?" I asked out loud, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Those are yers," a voice spat from outside of the tent before stomping away.

Crawling over, I picked through the giant bag to see it was all of the stuff I had left behind in Daryl's tent.

"Seriously?" I said quietly, shaking my head.

When I hit the bottom of the bag, I knew there was something important missing. I scanned over my tent quickly enough to realize that it was in fact missing, and if he was going to throw everything in my face, I wanted it back. Standing up quickly and brushing the ends of my t-shirt down, I shoved the tent flaps aside and took a deep breath, bracing myself for the fight that was sure to come.

"Hey!" I called over to Daryl's retreating form.

My mouth turned down into a frown when he kept walking, clearly hearing me but choosing to ignore me.

"Hey!" I shouted once more, jumping on my toes a little.

Nothing.

Letting out a huff of air, I crossed my arms across my chest. Why was he being such a hardass? Narrowing my eyes, I noticed that his tent, as well as Merle's, had been moved farther away..

Now was that necessary?

"Hi Harper!" a tiny voice called from my right.

Glancing over, I saw Sophia running towards me, a box of cards in her hand. I waved, but nodded in thanks towards Glenn who reached around her stomach with his arm to lead her back to the RV. He knew something was up.

Turning back to look at Daryl's retreating figure, I knew I had to act fast. Merle was on my side until I tried to talk to Daryl—it was like his 'big-brother' mode clicked on, not letting me talk to him.

Snapping out of my thoughts and snapping back into action, I bent down and scooped up a decent-sized rock, took aim, and flung the rock towards Daryl's strong back. For a split second, I worried that it would hurt him; after all, he had just got shot..

Shane's pre-apocalypse (failed) attempts at teaching me how to throw a baseball weren't such a failure after all, since my questions were answered when the rock whizzed through the air and whacked Daryl square in the back of the head. Daryl stopped in his tracks, bending over at the waist.

His large hand wrapped around to grip the back of his head, while his mouth spewed a string of curses that were loud enough to make Glenn usher the kids into the RV.

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"T'fucks yer problem!?" Daryl roared through the air when he finally turned to face me.

"Maybe you should've just answered me the first two times!" I shouted back, the harsh wind between us almost blocking out my words.

"So I don' answer the whiny littl' bitch and she throws a fuckin' bitch fit?" He spat from his spot.

"All I'm trying to do is talk to you, Daryl! You won't listen!" I threw back, talking vividly with my hands.

"Just like how you won't listen to Shane?" Daryl growled, shooting me a sneer.

"That's not the same, Daryl, and you know it,".

When Daryl started making his way over to me, I didn't know what to think. Yes, he was obviously upset with me, but comparing our situation to mine with Shane wasn't right.

"You think it ain't th' same?" Daryl spat, who was no nose-to-nose with me.

"I know it's not," my voice replied with a steady, calm tone.

"How ain't it the same?" Daryl replied, his tone angry.

Both of his hands flew to my shoulders and begun to shake my lightly.

"Because it's not!" I told him, but my voice was beginning to shake.

Where was this weakness for fighting with Daryl coming from?

"Oh, so you two didn't promise each other that ya would never leave? Shane left, didn't he?".

"Daryl.."

"No, you listen ta me. He promised, he left. Did you not promise me that ya wouldn't leave? M'sorry, but when I wake up to find out that ya left without even saying a word.." Daryl continued, but couldn't finish.

"What?" I whispered, ignoring the fact that he was still shaking my shoulders.

"What do ya mean, what?" he sneered, squinting his eyes at me.

I was about to respond when I felt something wet land on my head. We both looked up in surprise, neither of us noticing the clouds that had quickly rushed in, bringing a rain storm with them.

"What did you feel when you woke up and realized I was gone?".

Daryl looked away in a hurry, clearly struggling with what to say. Reaching up, I brushed stray strands of hair out of his face, plastered there from the sudden onslaught of rain.

"Stop that!" Daryl growled, shoving me away from him.

My eyebrows shot up in shock—had Daryl just pushed me?

"Stop pushing me away and talk to me! Just talk to me, for once!" I pleaded with him, the rain falling harshly now.

"I did! I did when you promised not to leave, and you broke that trust! Move on!".

"Daryl.. You had to of known that I couldn't let Shane leave..".

In the distance I could see Merle making his way over to us, clearly catching parts of our argument. His steps were hurried, but not in an all-out sprint.

"Then you should have fuckin' said so! Not just lie straight to ma damn face 'bout it!" Daryl growled.

Just by making out his body language, you would know that Daryl was very done with this conversation. We were both soaked to the bone and angry, two components that just don't mix.

"Look. I know we agreed on being 'assholes later' and shit, but we're both here and somewhat healthy. You know I feel terrible about leaving you; all I wanted to do was come back, come back to you!".

"Like hell you did! I mean, where were all of these lovey dovey confessions 'fore ya left, huh? Yer just tryin' ta pick up the pieces since you didn't think you'd be comin' back.. Why the hell ya'll still here, anyway? Didn't they vote Shane's ass outta here? Ya always follow him 'round like some lost puppy dog anyway," Daryl practically laughed, turning to walk away.

At a loss for words, I kind of just stood there and watched him leave.

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"Wait, Daryl! Wait!" I called out when something hit me.

He still had it!

I almost forgot. I pushed off my heels into a sprint to catch up with him, raising my hand in an attempt to keep the heavy rain out of my eyes.

"We're done talkin'! Just get outta ma face!" Daryl growled, but kept walking.

I all but plowed into him, not being able to stop myself. We didn't fall over, but I could tell that I had hurt Daryl.

"Fuckin' bitch.." Daryl sneered, shaking his head.

"If you want me to leave you alone, then fine. But I want it back,".

Something flashed across Daryl's eyes, something of recognition, but it disappeared quickly.

"Don' know what yer talkin' about," he muttered because stepping away.

"My phone. I want my phone,".

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"Why? So you can mock me with the times you tried getting' into ma head? Fuck no, you ain't getting' it back!" Daryl scoffed before heading into his tent. I hadn't realized how far we had walked.

"It's my phone, Daryl, I paid for it and I want it back," I tried to explain, but that only made Daryl laugh.

"Like that matters anymore, Harper! Jus' get over it,".

Those were Daryl's final words before he pushed into his tent, zipping it halfway closed in my face. Just as I started to follow him in, I felt a strong hand grip my arm.

"Leave him be, Harper,".

Merle.

Yanking my arm away, I turned to face the one-handed man.

"I know I should let him be, but if he has the nerve to throw my things into my tent, then I want all of it. He won't give it all back, I'm going it take it back," I told him, crossing my arms in defiance.

Merle watched me for a long time, conflict in his eyes. It was clear Merle didn't know who to side with. After a while, Merle waved his hand toward Daryl's tent, giving me permission to enter.

"Thanks," I told him, even though I would've gone in anyway.

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"Where is it?" I asked Daryl, who was lying on the ground, face pressed into his pillow.

When he didn't answer me yet again, I sat down cross-legged next to him.

"Daryl, if I choose to stay here, we can't be fighting all the time. It's not us,".

"Not us? What were we? There never was anything, Harper. Now I'm askin' nicely for you to please leave. You did it once before, shouldn't be that hard,".

Rolling my eyes and shaking my head was all I could do. Why wouldn't he just listen to me?

"Where's my phone?" I said in a firm tone, showing Daryl that I wasn't going anywhere until I had it.

Sure, it was just a piece of the old world that I wanted to hang on to, but it even held memories from the present. Before I could say another word, I was being lifted over Daryl's shoulder back into the rain.

"Let me go!" I screeched, pounding my fists into his back.

Despite the rain, the whole farm must've heard us by now; it was clear, however, that they wanted us to solve the problem ourselves. Everyone else had enough to deal with, anyway..

Well, except for Merle, who was trying to pull me off of Daryl's shoulder. Merle failed, though, when my ass hit the ground hard in result of Daryl throwing me off of his shoulder. I could see the pain in his face, but he didn't mewl on about it.

"Stop it! I'm sick of y'alls fightin'! We've got Princess over here who wants her damn phone, and Darylena who doesn't give two shits. Well, sadly for me, I give a shit 'bout both of ya. So baby brother, go get her phone before I smash yer fuckin' teeth in," Merle ordered, shoving Daryl towards his tent.

Daryl didn't say anything, just headed into his tent. Merle was satisfied when he heard Daryl shuffling around the tent, so he headed off to his respective tent for the night.

Standing up, I waited patiently despite the heavy rainfall for Daryl to emerge. When he did, I smiled at seeing my shiny phone in his balled up hand. Stepping forward to take the phone, Daryl raised his arm above his head and threw the phone at me.

Shielding my face, the phone bounced off of my hip before hitting the ground with a crack, its pieces shattering. My mouth dropped open in shock as I stared at the broken phone, sparks shooting up when the rain hit the electronics.

"No.." I whimpered, falling back to the ground in an attempt to put the pieces back together.

It was no use, for the pieces were too small and mixed with the rain, nothing would work.

Wiping tears mixed with rain away from my cheeks, I took the pieces in my hand and threw them back at Daryl, who stepped back out of the way.

"You wanted it so bad, now you got it," Daryl said through squinted eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you? That had pictures and videos of my family!" I cried, running my hands through my hair.

"'Least you got yer brother now, right?" Daryl told me, but it was hard to miss the mocking tone that held the question.

"I hate you, Dixon, I hate you!" I breathed, lunging at him to throw punches at his chest.

Daryl's hands snapped down to take hold of my wrists, but I kept throwing punches. My winces grew as his hold on me tightened, but I didn't stop hitting him.

I couldn't.

How could he destroy all I had left of my family?

"Stop," I heard Daryl mutter, but I couldn't.

I wasn't just hitting him over the phone, I was releasing all of my anger about him, Merle, Shane, life in general.

"Come on now, stop,".

The tone of Daryl's voice did calm me down a little; something had switched inside of him, as if he felt bad for smashing my phone. My hits to his hard chest slowed and eventually stopped, pressing against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, which shocked me all together.

Daryl, apologizing?

No way.

"No you're not," I whispered back.

Pulling away from his inviting body, I let out a sniffle and ran a hand through my wet hair, moving away to my tent.

"Hey," Daryl's voice called out softly through the harsh weather.

I chose not to stop walking, because if I did, I would have to listen to Daryl's apologetic tone, something I didn't want to hear.

His quiet footsteps snuck up on me in time to spin me around by the shoulders, knocking me off balance. I flinched slightly when Daryl's fingers rose up to brush a wet strand of hair out of my face, and unlike him before, I didn't pull away.

"Daryl..".

"Dammit, Harper, just shut up," Daryl dismissed me as he leaned in and planted his lips against mine.

For a second my body was in shock, unable to move against his. Just minutes ago, he was yelling at me, throwing things. Now he was kissing me? Using my hands to pull away from him, I shook my head almost violently.

"What?" he asked me, taking my hands in his.

"We can't keep doing this, Daryl! One minute we're fighting, next minute we're trying to take each other's clothes off? It's not healthy Daryl, and you know it," my words left my mouth before I even knew what I was saying, even though the words were true.

We can't keep doing this.

"I don't want you leavin' again and I know you don't want ta either. We can move past this, we—," Daryl tried to tell me, but the look of uncertainty I gave him was enough to stop him.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet when it comes to Shane, but if I do stay, we are not rushing into anything, hear me Dixon?".

At my question, Daryl rolled his eyes obnoxiously and began rolling his wrists, as if to say "Can we hurry this up?".

"We have to talk this out, I know you really haven't forgiven me, but I just really want to get out of the rain right now, so—," I continued to speak, but Daryl soon cut me off, kissing me again lightly.

His hands skimmed my sides until they stopped to rest at my shoulders, gripping me tightly.

"Daryl," I said between kisses, but his persistent pecks against my lips only made me giggle.

By this point, I had forgotten about the torrential downpour that was looming over our heads, but Daryl helped me remember when he finally pulled away to look up at the sky.

"C'mon, yer gonna get sick," he told me in a low, rough tone.

When I figured out that he was leading me to his tent, I pulled back.

"Nope!" I said, smiling cheerfully.

Daryl pulled me into his body by my waist and groaned.

"Why the hell not, Barbie? We've got a Debby Fuckin' Downer over here!" Daryl yelled into the rain, making me laugh even more.

"What's gotten into you? Have you been drinking?" I asked him, knowing that he usually wasn't this open with alcohol.

"Girl, I haven't touched you in about two weeks, cut me some slack," he muttered, running his hands through my hair.

My eyes closed, taking in the warmth from his touch.

"Too bad for you, because I am not sleeping in these clothes," I stuck my tongue out and went to run away, but Daryl hooked his arm around my waist.

"Never said you had to," he whispered close enough that I could feel his breath on my cheek. That was when a hint of alcohol hit me.

"Dammit, Daryl! You said you hadn't been drinking! Hershel would have a field day with you if he found out you've been drinking after getting shot!".

He shrugged lightly before turning to head into his tent.

"Musta forgot,".

Knowing that he'd been drinking made me worry about his true feelings towards me; was he just drunk and wanted to get something out of me? Turning on my heel, I made my way for my tent for a change of clothes. Stripping my body of all my wet clothes, I was clad in just a bra and underwear when I felt Daryl's arms snake around my hips.

"You should be in bed," I told him, leaning my head back onto his strong shoulder.

"Let's go," Daryl shrugged, leading me toward my bed.

"No, no, no! I need more clothes on, Daryl!" I squealed, kicking my feet about.

"Fine.." Daryl sighed, releasing me to fall to the mattress.

By the time I pulled on a clean shirt and sweatpants, Daryl was out like a light, snoring loudly.

Falling in to bed beside him, I snuggled up close to his body, despite the fact that I knew he wouldn't be there in the morning.

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Waking up to see an empty bed wasn't surprising; after all, I've been sleeping alone for over two weeks now. For some reason, however, it hurt knowing that I had upset Daryl so much that my actions had forced him to drink.

But why would he go out and find me only to stay pissed off? I let out a sigh before running a hand through my hair. Men are just as confusing as women.

Standing up to get out of bed, I yanked the hair-tie out of my hair and shook out the messy ringlets until they fell straight around my head.

Glancing over at the bags of clothes that I've collected throughout the last few months, I ended up pulling a black racer-back tank that I remembered finding while on our search for Merle in Atlanta. I couldn't help but frown at the memory, since that way the day Merle had threatened to kill me, but tried to shrug it off as best as I could; our relationship was better now, much better than the one I currently have with Daryl.

Just from the air in the tent, I knew it would be yet another hot day in Georgia, so I slid on the first pair of clean shorts that I came across. Glancing in my tiny portable mirror, I deemed my appearance worthy (something I haven't bothered doing in a few weeks) and stepped out onto the land of the Greene farm.

My mind ended up wandering back in time to when I had first pulled out my portable mirror—Shane had given me such a hard time about bringing it with me.

"You always look pretty, no need to bring a damn mirror with you during the apocalypse!" he would tell me, always making me laugh.

"Never hurts to care about your appearance in your free time," I would come back with, always leaving Shane to just shake his head and walk away.

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The make-shift camp we had set up in Hershel's front lawn was quite amusing. Everyone's tents were set up in a semi-circle, allowing everyone to find each other quickly in case of emergency.

The Dixon's tents as well as mine were the only three that broke the formation. Privacy was something I, as well as the Dixons apparently, cherished.

"Morning," Andrea said from her chair, where she was still nibbling on the day's breakfast.

Making sure to ignore her, I gave Glenn a quick hug before taking a bowl of what looked to be oatmeal from Carol. Sliding down cross-legged into the closest lawn chair, I took note of who was around me.

My eyes quickly fell to Merle and Daryl, who were sitting close together. Merle winked at me while Daryl avoided my eyes.

Great.

"Where's Rick and my brother?" I asked a few minutes later after finishing my breakfast.

Nobody answered for a moment, until Glenn sighed and looked over at me.

"In with Hershel—they're trying to talk him into letting Shane stay,"

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I ended up having to ask around to find out where the three men were, but I eventually found out from Patricia that they were in Hershel's study. Knocking on the door lightly, I heard the conversation behind the door cease, which turned into the sound of heavy footsteps against the hard wood floor. The door opened to reveal Rick, who shot me a small smile.

"Can this wait, Harper?" he asked politely, even though the question came out rude anyway.

"I want to talk to Hershel about letting Shane stay," my voice came out a rush but also in a whisper.

I didn't want Shane overhearing us. Rick's lips formed a tight line as he thought it over.

"Harper, I would let you, but I don't think letting Shane's sister in to convince him to stay would be such a good idea,".

"Rick, please, I can help! We can issue him standards and rules, it'll work!" I pleaded with him, but it was no use.

The look on Rick's face was a definite 'no'.

"Look, Harper, you know I love you, but I'm sorry. You can't come in,".

"Rick, please—,".

"C'mon, Harper, let it go," a southern drawl said from behind me.

"Daryl, now is not the time," I insisted, but I stopped talking when I felt him jerk me back by the hand.

"Now is the time, Harper. Now let's go,".

My eyes ended up shooting daggers at Daryl, but he was doing it for my own good.

"Sorry, Rick," I apologized, shooting him a sad smile.

"Not a problem, Harper," Rick replied with a smile back before shooting Daryl a look of thanks.

He waited until Daryl and I were a few steps away to shut the door, but once he did, I let Daryl lead me out of the house.

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"You shouldn't have done that, you know," I told him angrily, walking away in a hurry.

Daryl yanked me back in a hurry, pulling me against him.

"We ain't done talking about last night, yet, so we're gonna do it now.. Might as well keep ya occupied,".

"There's nothing to talk about, Daryl. You were drunk last night and didn't mean what you said about being sorry, I get it," my voice rambled off in one long breath.

Daryl's mouth twisted this way and that, as if he couldn't figure out what to say. His eyes were squinted down at mine, fingers squeezing the loose threads at the bottom of his shirt roughly.

"Look, I.. Harper.." Daryl stuttered.

"No, Daryl, you don't have to come up with lies about what could have been a drunken one-night stand. I'm telling you that I understand,".

When Daryl didn't answer, I grew frustrated. Why couldn't he just spit it out?

"Whatever," I huffed, turning to walk away.

"No, wait," Daryl called out, jogging over to catch up with me.

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be, Daryl. We are done, over; whatever we had was stupid and childish and that's what you've wanted to say for a while now,".

"No, dammit! M'sorry.. For being fucked up last night, but I meant what I said. M'sorry," Daryl hissed, his squinting eyes boring into mine.

"No you're not. I screwed you over, I should be the one that's sorry," I mumbled, slapping my hands against my sides.

"I went out lookin' for ya for a reason, Harper; I.. I wanted ya back, okay? When I realized you had just left, I was a fucking mess, even Merle wouldn't talk to me!" Daryl explained, looking around awkwardly.

He clearly didn't apologize often. We sat for a few moments in a comfortable silence like we used to—we don't need to talk. As long as we have each other's company.

"Look, let's just.. Try and put this all behind us?" I suggested, raising my shoulders at the suggestion.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that. It won't be easy, girl, I ain't lettin' ya off the hook that easy," Daryl replied sheepishly, scratching at the back of his neck.

Knowing that that was the best I was going to get out of him, I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly and held us there until he wrapped his arms around my waist in a tight hug.

"Thanks for understanding, Ken,".

"Shut up, Barbie,".

We stayed like that for a few seconds until we heard footsteps approaching.

Daryl didn't push me away like normal, as if he was embarrassed, but this time he gently released me. My lips curved up into a smile when I saw the glare Daryl was shooting Glenn, who was quickly approaching us.

"What?" Daryl spat, clearly annoyed with Glenn's interruption.

"Guys, we have a problem," Glenn told us quietly as he looked around for eavesdroppers.

Daryl and I exchanged glances before looking back at Glenn.

"What kind of problems?" I asked him, a worried tone taking over my voice.

"There's umm.. There's..".

"Spit it out, China Man!" Daryl growled, his voice threatening.

"There's walkers in the barn,".