Until the End

Chapter Nine: Brain candy.

During their mini wrestling match, Daryl spotted the bag of beef jerky sticking out of Kirby's pocket. At the feel of cool air hitting the loss in her pocket, Kirby gasped.

"Hey, where did you get this?" Daryl asked, too much in awe of the beefy snack to notice Kirby's pink cheeks.

"Mama got it from the store." Mallorie said from her spot on Daryl's shoulders.

"You went into a store for a packet of beef jerky knowing what might've been in there?" Daryl asked, a little angry at the thought of her and Mallorie going inside a store alone.

"Of course not. Mallorie was hungry, so I locked her in my car and went inside to get her some food. All they had was junk food." Kirby stated, not liking Daryl's attitude.

"What about the walkers? What if one of them bit you? Then what?" Daryl asked on the verge of shouting.

Stopping from saying something out of line, Kirby bit her tongue. She then noticed the look in Daryl's eyes and her face softened.

"I'm not saying that it wasn't dangerous, but when my three year old daughter is hungry I'm damn sure going to get her some food." Kirby told him.

Mallorie tightened her arms around Daryl's shoulders and pressed her cheek against his.

"Don't be mad at Mama." Mallorie said, her voice small.

Daryl sighed and pulled Mallorie around so that she sat in his lap.

"I'm not." Daryl said, but kept his eyes on Kirby. "Not really."

"If it makes you feel any better, there was only one walker inside and he's now locked in the bathroom." Kirby said, trying to easy the tension in the air.

"It doesn't." Daryl snapped, before he could stop himself.

Mallorie looked in between Kirby and Daryl. Seeing them frowning at each other confused her. She didn't understand what was going on, but she knew that they were upset about something. Tilting her head up, Mallorie poked Daryl's cheek. As he turned his attention down to her, she pressed her small mouth to his cheek. Kirby and Daryl went still at the obvious sign of affection.

"It's all better now. You don't have to be sad anymore." Mallorie stated, her big blue eyes shining with the innocent love only a child could have.

Daryl's mind seemed to have gone completely blank. How was he suppose to react to that? Not seeing any other way around it, Daryl buried his face in Mallorie's neck and tickled her. Kirby stayed quiet as she watch how fatherly Daryl was with Mallorie. It was as if the three of them were a family and the world never ended. But, it did end.

Daryl stopped tickling Mallorie when he noticed how quiet Kirby was being. He glanced up at her and saw the far away look in her eyes. Wanting to make that look go away, Daryl moved down to whisper in Mallorie's ear.

"I think you're mama needs a kiss too." Daryl whispered.

Mallorie nodded and happily went over to Kirby, before throwing herself at her. She placed a loud lip-smacking kiss on Kirby's cheek and had a laugh rise out of Kirby.

"Awe, I feel so much better." Kirby said, hugging Mallorie.

"Are ya okay?" Daryl asked.

Kirby's green eyes flashed with a look all to familiar to Daryl as she smiled at him.

"I'm fine."

"You keep saying that." Daryl pointed out as Mallorie began playing with the knots from earlier.

"Well it's true." Kirby said, frowning at him.

Daryl shook his head.

"No, it's what ya want others to believe. You've been alone ever since this all started. Ya didn't have anyone to help ya protect Mallorie or yourself. Kirby, ya don't have to hold back the tears anymore."

Daryl's words had Kirby's eyes go blurry. She looked away from him as the first tear fell.

"I didn't expect to find any survivors, let alone so soon. Despite everything, I'm glad we came to Atlanta." Kirby said, smiling at Daryl through her tears.

Daryl took Kirby's hand and pulled her towards him. She sat in between his legs as his arms came around her. He began to rub circles on her back as she finally gave into crying.

"Why is Mama crying?" Mallorie asked as Kirby's quiet sobs caught her attention.

"Because everyone needs a good cry once in a while." Daryl stated, letting Mallorie climb onto Kirby's lap.

Kirby held onto Mallorie as Daryl held onto them both. When Kirby finally stopped crying, she leaned back and looked at Daryl. Tossing reason out the window, Kirby leaned forward and pressed her mouth up against Daryl's in a gentle cress of lips. Heat slammed into the pit of her stomach when Daryl kissed back. His hand that was on her back went up and tangled with her hair.

Remembering Mallorie, Kirby pulled away, ending the kiss all too soon.

"Thank you for lending me a shoulder to cry on. Your a good man, Daryl Dixon." Kirby said in all honesty.

"No, I'm not." Daryl said, helping Kirby and Mallorie up.

"Yes you are. Don't ever sell yourself short." Kirby said, smiling at him, before taking Mallorie to get some lunch.

She glanced back at Daryl when he didn't follow her.

"You coming?" Kirby asked, Mallorie looking at him as well.

"Uh, yeah." Daryl said, dusting himself off before joining the two.

-

"Kirby, can Mallorie come play with me and Sophia?" Carl asked after lunch.

"Sophia and I." Lori said from her seat by the fire.

Carl rolled his eyes and earned a laugh from Kirby.

"Yes, but stay close to camp and please be careful." Kirby said, taking Mallorie's plate from her.

Mallorie stood up and kissed Kirby's cheek, before doing the same to Daryl's. She then took Carl's hand and let him lead her over to where Sophia stood in waiting.

"Awe, that's so cute." Amy said, referring to Mallorie and Carl.

Lori chuckled.

"That's not the only cute thing around here." Andrea whispered to them, motioning to Kirby and Daryl who were staring at each other with smiles.

Shane stood up in aggravation and put his plate in the bucket to be washed. He didn't like Kirby near Daryl. He wanted Kirby.

'She doesn't know what a real man is all about.' Shane thought, watching as Kirby and Daryl went about their business.

Shane didn't watch where Daryl went off to as he continued to watch Kirby talk amongst the women.

"Don't go there, Shane. She's obviously with Daryl." Rick said from beside him.

Shane huffed out a breath of hot air.

"Nothing last forever, Rick." Shane stated.

"What does that mean?" Rick demanded, but Shane was already walking away.