From Now On (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

The Barn

Daryl rushes to get his clothes on and storms out of the tent getting in Glenn's face who is absolutely terrified, " Listen good little Asian boy! Ya ever stare at my girl again-"

I quickly got dressed so I could stop Daryl from possibly hurting Glenn, " Daryl it's okay. Glenn didn't mean to walk in on us. He was just being kind wanting to offer me peaches because they are my favorite," I said walking up to Daryl and wrapping my arms around his waist trying to calm him down. The rest of the group made their way over to wondering what all the commotion was about.

"Your girl?" Rick questioned with a smile on his face. "Ya, she's my girl, you got a problem with that?" Daryl pushes back still fired up about Glenn seeing me half naked. "No, no I'm happy for the both of you. You guys seem much happier together," Rick tried to ease the tension. Daryl relaxed at Rick's kind words and nodded to him. I kept my arms wrapped around Daryl and hid my face in his back trying to conceal my rosy cheeks. Daryl calling me 'his girl' made me blush so hard.

One person was missing from the group. Shane. Honestly, I'm glad Shane wasn't around, because he would have blown up on Daryl. I don't know why but Shane has been acting really strange the past few days. He's angrier than normal. Thinks he knows what is best for everyone. If you disagree with him then you are the enemy.

Everyone sat around the tents eating some food that T-Dog had made. Shane and Andrea returned from searching for Sophia, but they still had no luck. I walked over to the picnic table where Carl and Lori were eating some food when I saw Glenn who had a worried look on his face staring at the barn.

"Glenn... everything okay?" I said which caused him to snap out of the trance he was in. " There's walkers in the barn," he sighed in relief that he didn't have to keep the secret anymore.

"What?" I yelled not realizing how loud I said that. That caused everyone to turn their attention towards us. Glenn looks at everyone and nervously tells them, " Um the barn is full of walkers" he choked out scared of everyone's reaction. Shane looked like he was about to explode. He storms over to the barn everyone following behind curious to see if it was true. Shane gets close to the barn doors and pushes on them. The doors violently shake and you hear the groans of the walkers trying to escape.

"You cannot tell me you are alright with this?" Shane walks angrily back over to Rick after looking through the slots in the barn doors.

"No, I'm not. But we are guests here. This isn't our land," Rick fights back staring at the barn.

"God! This is our lives, man!" Shane says frustrated while walking in circles trying to figure out what to do about the situation Hershel put us in.

"We got to go in there and make things right or we got to go. We have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time-"

"We can't go!" Rick laid down the law, but Shane got in Rick's face, "And why not?"

"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol whispered saddened that her daughter was still missing. Shane laughed a little and looked like he was about to break down," You got to admit we might have to consider the other possibility now-"

"We are not leaving Sophia behind," Rick firmly states hoping it will get through Shane's thick head that Sophia is still out there.

"We are close to finding this girl, I just found her damn doll a few days ago," Daryl pipes up tag teaming with Rick on why we need to stay. Daryl might be a tough guy on the outside, but he is a big teddy bear on the inside especially when kids are involved.

I love that he stands up for Carol and puts real effort into looking for Sophia. Every day it seems like Shane could care less. It's just another thing that makes me dislike Shane. He used to be the fun annoying older brother. Recently his behaviors and attitude are making me keep a tally of all the things I dislike about him. I feel like I don't recognize him anymore. He has changed so much.

"You know that's all you did Daryl, you found a doll," Shane argues but that pissed off Daryl even more, " You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"I'm just saying what needs to be said."

"Shane stop," I yelled glaring at him. Hoping he would listen to me, but what he said next made me want to rip his head off.

"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction," Shane laughed, but that stirred everyone up, shouting at him because he crossed the line.

"Shane! Back off! That was way over the line!"I screamed getting in his face," You know, why don't you just do everyone a favor and leave!" I pushed him enough to make him stumble. Nobody talks to my man like that.

"Why are you protecting him? Do you really think he can protect you if I leave? Don't forget Lauryn who was always there for you. I was there for you when you had nothing!!"

"I'm protecting him because I love him, Shane! And I don't need you anymore because you have changed into someone I don't even recognize! You aren't the fun, caring, older brother anymore because he is just a memory now. Just go!" I cried pushing Shane again. My emotions were too much to handle at the moment. I was frustrated, furious, and sad all at the same time.

"Keep your hands off of me!" He yelled storming off in the other direction. I fell to the ground in defeat. I lost someone who was like my brother. That same man hates my boyfriend and can't even be happy for me. I was overstimulated and I could feel an anxiety attack on the rise.

"Let me figure it out. I'll talk to Hershel," Rick says walking back over to the tents to be alone to think about what to do.

Daryl kneeled next to me wrapping his arms around me. He didn't know what to do or how to make me feel better. Holding me was enough to stop the anxiety attack. He was still angry at what just happened with Shane but was able to put it away to comfort me. After holding me for a couple of minutes I was okay to get up and do some work. Keeping busy helped me distract myself from the anxiety that was brewing and anything I could do to help out the Greene family, I did it. They let us stay here while searching for Sophia.

Rick went to talk to Hershel about the walkers and tried to form some type of deal so that we could stay and be safe too. Rick stormed out of the farmhouse a few minutes later so I can safely assume it did not go well.

Later that afternoon, Rick went out with Hershel and Jimmy into the woods. Who knows what they are doing out there. Daryl and I decided to go for a walk around the property when he spotted a white flower. He told me the story about the Cherokee rose and how he saw one and gave it to Carol trying to lift her spirits. It's a beautiful story that almost made me tear up.

"I think this is a sign that we will find her," Daryl whispered and smiled at me. We are probably the only ones that believe Sophia is still out there. Everyone else seems to have lost hope. We stood there for a couple of minutes admiring the flowers. It's rare to see flowers so beautiful and untouched.

"Ya know, these flowers don't even compare to your beauty," Daryl looks down at me with loving eyes. I couldn't help but blush and stand on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. As I pulled away he moved to kiss me on the lips.

" I hate that the world had to turn to shit for me to meet you, but I'm so glad it did. I just wish I could have met ya before so that we could have had a normal life together," Daryl confessed resting his chin on top of my head as we held each other.

" I do too, but you know we can make this life the new normal," I said pulling away to look up at him giving him another strong yet soft kiss.