Lilly Watkins has always been the strong one compared to her twin. That doesn't change when the dead start walking. Taking care of her family during the apocalypse, she never relied on anyone else. When she meets Daryl Dixon, a more temperamental pe...
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It's daybreak by the time we get back to the car. Glenn and the ebony woman come over to us as we approach.
"I need you to stay back," Rick says to Glenn in anticipation of him seeing Merle.
"What the hell is he doing here?!"
The woman pulls her katana out, taking a run at him herself. Rick gets between them and Merle. "Hey, hey, hey!" He pulls out his gun.
"He tried to kill me!" she screams in pure agony.
"Rick, put the gun down," I mutter. "He's a bad guy."
"Lilly!" Daryl shouts, grabbing me roughly by the shoulder and spinning me around to face him. I stumble, falling onto my hands from dizziness.
"He helped us escape!" he shouts at me, no attempt at helping me up.
I refuse to look at him. "Yeah, after he beat the shit after you. He beat the shit out of me. I could've miscarried, Daryl."
"I don't know what ya want me to say, Lil!"
"You've gone native, brother," Merle chuckles and I glare at him. Rick helps me stand, keeping a firm grip on me so I don't fall over again.
"Not anymore than you hanging out with that psycho!" Daryl retorts back.
"Oh yeah, man, he is a charmer, gotta tell ya that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea," he says the last part to the new woman.
"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn questions in disbelief.
"Right next to the governor."
"She always made the wrong decisions," I mutter, swaying slightly on my feet. "Can we wrap this up? I think I'm going to pass out."
"You're all a bunch of pussies—" Rick uses the handle of his gun, knocking Merle out.
"Asshole," Glenn mutters, walking off. I'm left alone with Daryl and somehow, I can feel it's the end of us.
"He can't come back to the prison with us, you know that."
"Wait, I haven't even talked to Rick—"
"He's not coming back with us. Not to the baby, not with me expecting, not to Ashley." I cross my arms, glaring at him. "Rick left him behind for a reason. I learned that reason when he gave me this." I point to my black eye.
"He'll be our baby's uncle. Doesn't that mean something?"
"It means that blood isn't thicker than water. Do you want to be in its life or not, Daryl? Because it sounds like your choosing him over us."
He looks away, not meeting my eyes.
"I guess so. Goodbye, Daryl Dixon." I go back to the car, sitting down in the passenger seat so the world will stop spinning. I hear low argumentative voices as Daryl pleads Merle's case but Rick sticks to the same conclusion as I. My eyes follow Daryl into the woods until his body is out of sight.
"He's gone, Lilly," Rick says, getting into the driver's seat. "I'm sorry."
"He made his choice."
Carl meets us at the gate. Rick gets out of the car to hug him and there's a pang in my chest as Glenn gets into the driver's seat, continuing up the drive.
Ashley runs to hug me as soon as I'm out of the car. I sway, holding onto her to steady myself. I look up to see Milly standing stoically, her eyes meeting mine. Walking over to her, I pull her into a hug. A wisp of blonde catches my eye behind her. Brushing her body aside, my heart shatters.
"Tiff? Tiffany?" I cry out, my hand going to my mouth in disbelief.
"Mom," she replies, tears running down her face. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
I pull her into my arms, running my fingers through her ponytail. Her hand clenches into my shirt as we both sob, holding each other. "I missed you so much, baby girl."
"I missed you, too."
Hershel taps me on the shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt, but I think you need to rest. You look unsteady on your feet."
I nod. "You're right. C'mon, let's go inside," I tell her. I pass a new group of people just outside the cell block, ignoring them as I go to my bed. Ashley has followed us, too, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "You two don't have to nap with me. You both can keep each other company until I get up." They nod, smiling at each other.
Later that night, I wake up when it's dark. My stomach grumbles and I go out, finding a can of beans to eat, trying to be as quiet as possible.
"How are you handling it? Daryl being gone?" Carol asks, startling me.
I swallow my bite of food before answering. "I'll get through it."
"You miss him, though, don't you?"
I nod. "Yeah, I do. He chose Merle over his own child and I."
"You're pregnant?" she asks, looking down at my stomach. Nodding, I hold back tears, swallowing. I will be strong.
"I'm here for you, Lilly," Carol says, taking my hands into hers.
