Daryl stood carefully beside Presley, eying this man with curiosity. Either he was telling the truth, or his dedication to luring them in was better than anything he’d ever seen. However, after hearing Rick’s horrible stories about how the people of Terminus ate other people, he couldn’t imagine that it got much worse.

Still, he wasn’t about to let anybody just walk anywhere where he wasn’t 100% sure that was safe. Their safety was worth more than some safe haven. He never thought about it hard, but as he glanced at Presley, he realized that there was nothing else he wanted more than to be able to rest without worrying about her too much. That was the only reason why he still hadn’t blown a bolt into the head of this man.

Presley began walking forward, but he grabbed her by the elbow to stop her. She stopped without complaint, much to his surprise. She turned her head without rotating her torso, eying him cautiously. He could see in her eyes that she expected him to blow up and explode on her. He’d wanted to so bad, to tell her how stupid she was, to grab her by the shoulders and yell until she had some sense in that stubborn brain of hers.

“Was yer trip ok?”

“It was fine.” She said softly, giving a small shrug. “No big complications.”

“That’s good.” He said, swallowing hard. “I uh… I noticed you were gone.”

She cracked a small smile, “Are you saying you missed me, Daryl?” A glint reflected in her eyes, one that he couldn’t help but to smile a bit at. After seeing how broken she’d been, and how distance she’d acted, it was a miracle seeing her crack a smile.

“No.” He scoffed, “Well… Kinda.” He scratched the back of his neck, dropping his hand. He was pleased to see that she remained standing there. She looked lovely in this light. Her porcelain skin was smothered in dirt and grime, but that was how he knew that she was a survivor. Her hair was tied up and dirtied with a few spots of blood and random foliage that had randomly found its way onto her waves, intertwining themselves with her locks.

“I knew you did.” She smiled again, turning her head away from him. “I saw a deer just a ways north of here. Large buck.” She glanced at him again. “Think we should fight over it again?”

He snickered. “I had it first, sweet thang. How were you gonna carry it, anyways?”

“My arrow hit it first!” She scoffed. “I would have found a way. I’m strong than I look, you know.”

“Oh I know.” He ruffled her hair with his rough hand. “But not even them little arms could handle a hundred pound deer.”

“Whatever, Dixon.”

“Whatever, Scott.” He retorted. She glanced at him and smiled.

“See you around.” With that, she was walking away.

. . .

Maggie sat cross-legged on her bed with a new jar of peanut butter on her lap. A broken plastic fork was smothered with the light brown substance. Her blue eyes were tired, but she seemed a bit happy. Presley sat on the other side of the room with a bag of stale crackers and crunchy peanut.

“Has Glenn come around yet?”

“No.” Maggie admitted with a shrug. “I try not to think about it, though. Right now I’m just excited that Beth might be alive.” She smiled down at her lap. “She’ll be nice to have around. She’s good with babies.” She placed a loving hand on her stomach. “I’ve been telling myself that she’s been dead this whole time. Now that I know she’s alive…” She smiled.

“She’s a good kid.” Presley agreed.

“You saved her life before, didn’t you?”

She shrugged. She didn’t like the idea of saving people’s lives. Rather, she liked to think that she’d kept them from going to a world of peace, a world where they wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

“I hope we go soon.” Maggie sighed thoughtfully. “I’ve missed her.”

A rapid knocking on the door caused Presley to rise to her feet. She didn’t say anything as she left the room, stuffing the last two crackers into her mouth before she pulled the door open with a fluid motion. She was met with the kind expression of Stefan. His eyes were frantic.

There was something off. His eyes were too wild and the way he kept clenching and unclenching his fists was beginning to worry her. He grasped her arm, staring down at her with a hard expression.

“You have to come with me.” He said urgently.

“What, why?”

“Don’t ask questions. We have to go now.” He said quickly, trying to drag her along. She only had enough time to whistle and snatch her bow and quiver before she was being dragged after him. His usually gentle touch had been replaced with a grip that would definitely leave bruises.

“Stef, slow down.” She pleaded. There came no response, and he didn’t slow down. “You’re hurting me.”

He dragged her to the front gates of the entrance, urging her through the few inches before following through himself. Nobody was keeping watch. It was Stefan’s turn to keep watch. “Come on!” He said, breaking into a jog and urging her to follow him. Zeva followed at a trot.

He ran hard through the trees, pulling a tired Presley after him. She stumbled and struggled to keep up, mumbling and begging for him to slow down. “Stop!” She finally exclaimed, digging her heels into the ground and coming to a fast stop. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

He faced her. “We’re leaving. I can’t stay there any longer, and I know you don’t want to, either.”

“Stef we’ll be going to Alexandria in just a few days. If I can handle it, so can you.” She said, rubbing her hurt arm.

“I can’t spend another damn moment in that blasted place.” He raked his hands nervously through his hair. “I can’t stay away from you anymore, Presley. I tried respecting Daryl’s threat to stay away from you but I can’t.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I love you!” He screamed. She shuddered and took a few steps back. “Why are you so damn blind?”

“Stefan-.”

“No. Don’t ‘Stefan’ me.” He growled. “Daryl isn’t good for you and you fucking know it. I was hoping that you would realize that the more time you spent with him, but you just won’t, will you?”

He took a step towards her and she took three frantic steps back. Her eyes were cautious and almost scared of the way he glowered at her. “I could be everything for you!” He hissed. “I could take care of you without holding you back!”

She flinched as he yelled, flinching when she was backed up against a tree. He continued advancing towards her, roughly grabbing her arm and jostling her. He wanted her to understand how much he loved her. Stefan, much like Daryl, was willing to take a bullet for her. Presley didn’t even have to try and he found himself a heap of mush in front of her feet. He’d been patiently waiting for Daryl to break her heart, but it never happened. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to take her away from here.

She couldn’t resist him any longer.

Presley sucked in a breath and tried to tear herself from him, eyes shining with tears. My friend has gone mad! She shook her head. “Let go of me, Stefan.” She pleaded.

“You have to come with me, Presley.” He urged.

“Let go of her.” A dark voice spat. Presley could only recognize it as Daryl. She worked to pry Stefan’s fingers from her arm, crying out when he tugged her closer to him. Her cheeks were stained with tears. The only thing she could think of was betrayal, and the Governor’s hands caressing her body. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Zeva lunged forward, snarling and growling with her ivory teeth bared. Stefan kicked at the mutt, his foot landing square on her shoulders. She yelped and fell off to the side.

“Of course you would come. You’re the knight in bloody shining armor, aren’t you?” Stefan scoffed. “I’m so sick of you saving her and taking the credit for everything! If it weren’t for me, she would still be in the hands of the Governor!”

“Stefan, let go of her.” Daryl spat again.

“No, damnit!” Stefan hissed. “She’s mine.” He shoved Presley away, leaving her stumbling onto the ground into a shaking pile. She trembled, raking her hands through her hair to try and erase the treacherous memories. “You were supposed to break her heart!”

“I’m not going to hurt her.” Daryl took a step forward, and that was when Stefan lunged forward. He yanked a knife from his belt and directed it right at his forehead. He cocked the gun and gave a ruthless smile.

“You’re right- you won’t hurt her.”

By this time Presley had lurched to her feet and now ran at Stefan. Just as he pulled the trigger she threw herself at him, tackling him to the ground and sending the gun flying against the tree. Her effort didn’t matter. Daryl dropped to the ground. “No!” She screamed, crawling over to him. “Daryl!” She sobbed, but she couldn’t get to him. Stefan wrapped a hand around her ankle and yanked her towards him.

“We have to leave, Presley. They’ll be coming now.” He grabbed her arm and tried to drag her to her feet. She shouted angrily, whirling around to face him. She didn’t mean to, it’d all been an accident. She didn’t have control over her own body. The knife at her belt was yanked from the sheath.

Stefan stared at her. He didn’t seem angry but rather, confused. He swallowed and looked down. The handle of a knife stuck out from his gut. He blinked rapidly, shocked by the appearance of the weapon. Presley covered her mouth, eyes widening. She hadn’t meant to stab him. Stefan yanked the knife free and allowed to drop from his hands. He dropped to his knees and from there, he fell off to the side.

She just shook her head and turned to Daryl. The tears were falling down her cheeks as she pressed herself to Daryl’s chest. She gripped his leather vest with tight, shaking fingers. “I’m so sorry.” She sobbed, pressing her face against his neck.

A hand pressed against the back of her neck, just as shaky as she was. She lifted her head, sucking in a breath at the sight. Daryl’s large, intelligent Georgia blue eyes now stared right back at her. A place where the bullet had just barely grazed his head bled horribly, but it’d missed his skull by a hair. “Oh, Daryl.” She whispered, pressing a hand to his cheek. He brushed away her tears before resting his head back down onto the ground.

There is one more short Epilogue after this chapter. C: