What's up ya'll? Been a minute. If you haven't noticed I didn't update this story for a while because I wanted to wait until walking dead came back to keep it going, but I'm excited to put out these chapters again and look forward to what ya'll think! Thank you to:

DarylDixon'sLover

celia azul

A Panting

Your reviews were awesome to read and made me want to keep writing, and welcome to the new follows/favorites as well. Here we go!

When they got back to the safe zone, Daryl almost didn't want to wake up Isabelle. On the way back in this stranger's car, she had fallen asleep against him, something she had barely been able to do the night before due to the pain. But even so, his nerves were still on edge and pointing a weapon at the man's head.

He sighs and looks over at him. "Please, man. I was just tryin-"

"I don't care what ya were tryin' to do. Don't move. Drive up to the gate." The man sighs and does that. One of the guards looks down and Daryl pokes his head out, nodding at him.

They open the gate and the stranger drives inside. Daryl heads out first, gently shaking Isabelle. Her eyes flutter open and she sleepily looks at him. "Are we at Hogwarts yet?" she mumbles.

Daryl snorts. "Don't think so. C'mon." He lifts her up into his arms and looks over as Beth runs to him. Her brow furrowed in worry.

"What the hell happened to her?" she whispers in shock.

"She got tripped up, split her leg open. Had to take shelter. This guy stumbled on us, made him drive us back." Looking back at the stranger, he could see most of the people were aiming weapons at him. He wasn't moving a muscle. Daryl turns back to look at Beth, who had a sullen look on her face. "What's wrong?"

She sighs. "You've missed a lot, Daryl."

His brow furrows. "We ain't been gone long. What the hell happened?"

"Siddiq is dead. Dante killed him. He's a Whisperer."

"The fuck?" Daryl whispers in shock.

Beth sighs and looks over at the stranger. "We should have him taken in somewhere, keep him under lock and key while we look at Isabelle." Beth snaps. "Guards, watch after him. I'm going to look at Isabelle."

They nod and do not move, and the stranger stays put. Honestly, Daryl really should have asked for his name, but knowing who he almost killed wasn't the biggest thing on his brain at the time.

The two walk into the infirmary and Daryl gently lays Isabelle down. Beth gets a look at the cut and cringes before looking at Daryl. "Alright, the good news is that it doesn't look infected yet. The bad news is that now that Siddiq is gone and Dante is locked up…kinda hard to do surgery. But I'll try to fix her up as best I can."

Daryl's brow furrows. "Wait, tell me 'bout all this."

So she does. As Beth cleans out Isabelle's wound while she slept, she told them out Rosita had found Sidiqq as a walker, and had to kill him before he had killed Coco. Dante had tried to kill her in the process but she had stabbed him. Afterward, he revealed he was a Whisperer sent in by Alpha, completely unknown to Lydia and Isabelle – Alpha made sure of that. From there, he contaminated the water and got everyone sick. Even lured people in.

She tried to end them from the inside out for real. Literally.

"Fuck," Daryl whispers.

"Yeah," Beth mumbles as she finished wrapping up Isabelle's leg. "I just radioed Michonne and told her about it. She went to go Oceanside to help them with something. Even told Maggie about it at Hilltop. She's shocked too…I can't believe he slipped right under our fucking noses."

Daryl's brow raises. He was shocked to hear the blonde curse. Usually, she never did. That just shows how pissed she was.

"Ya know, he was my friend," Beth states, shaking her head as she plugged an IV into Isabelle's arm. "He was kind. Bit of a dick and conceited at times, but kind. And now to find out it was all just a ploy…and he killed someone else in the process…I feel fucking stupid."

"Hey, none of us saw it comin'," he says to her, squeezing her arm. "Now…we just got a whole shit ton of crap comin' our way. Gonna have to talk with 'im."

She sighs and nods, looking over at Isabelle. He looks at her as well.

"How is she? She gonna be okay?"

"You did a good job," Beth states, nodding. "She was in stable condition when you brought her, just very weak and dehydrated. She lost a good amount of blood, but because you closed the wound tight, she was able to survive. I'd say she stays here for a few days and rests up, let her leg heal a little while we pump some blood into her, and then she'll be good to go. She'll need to change bandages pretty regularly though. I'm sure you can help with that." Daryl nods quietly as Beth goes to head out. "I'm going to go tell her family you came back…they're all with the others trying to figure out what to do with Dante."

Daryl looks up at her. "They fitting in well?"

"Too well…almost like they were also supposed to be here," she chuckles, shaking her head. "Swear, they're always offering advice and willing to do shit. James especially. Always wants to help out."

Daryl raises an eyebrow at the blush that comes on her cheeks. "My fuckin' god, does Beth Greene have a crush?"

"Oh, you're one to talk," she snorts.

"The fuck does that mean?"

"You and Isabelle?"

He nearly jumps out of his seat. "I ain't got a fuckin' clue what yer talkin' 'bout. We're just friends. I care 'bout her, like I care 'bout the others."

Beth rolls her eyes. "Alright then, Dixon. I'll leave you two 'friends' alone." She squeezes his shoulder and heads out. Daryl shakes his head and sinks back into his chair, looking over at Isabelle's sleeping form.

He didn't have feelings. He was a Dixon. They didn't catch that shit. He knew better than to do that in this world. He had done so for ten years now, so he wasn't about to let that shit get to him.

He lets out a deep breath, and felt his head hit the back of his chair. Too much drama was happening, and all he wanted was to take a damn nap.

This was getting out of hand, but he needed to keep himself together, one way or another.

~%~

The next couple of days pass by without incident for them. Daryl was constantly talking with others about the water situation, and how they were changing it as quickly as they could. Aaron had mentioned going out there to try and talk with Gamma and get information, but after the Dante situation, most of the people were much less eager to trust strangers, especially a Whisperer.

Daryl included.

The stranger that had helped them had left. Daryl had basically tried to force him out, but Isabelle had implored him to give the man supplies, saying that "he could have killed us but he didn't. Give him at least a granola bar."

So Daryl did. The man had thanked him and revealed his name to be Maxwell, and thanked him for sparing his life. Daryl had just nodded at him and showed him out. But, in the end, Daryl had turned to him and said: "Thank ya."

The man nodded and left in his car. Daryl watched him go and wondered if he would come back. But for some reason, he had a feeling he wouldn't. He really as just trying to get home. Maybe he wasn't bad. And for once, Daryl made himself forget the bad thoughts and just move on. Not everyone was awful.

A couple days later, he found out Gabriel had killed Dante, and they had barely talked about it. But at the end of the day no one was really that upset about it. Daryl was more surprised that it had been the priest, of all people, who had done it, but he wasn't one to question the motives of people. Dante deserved to die, anyway.

Isabelle had ended up staying in the hospital for more than a couple days - just a week, but even then she still felt terrible for taking up space. Eventually, Daryl had brought her back to their house, helping her walk. Her leg still hurt like a bitch, but she could at least limp a bit now and was able to move it.

Lydia had been happy to see her again. The young teen had been visiting her in the infirmary every now and then when she had the time, but now that she was back in the house she was glad that she was okay. Daryl had helped Isabelle get upstairs to her room, and helped her sit down.

She groans in pain at the surge that shot through her leg before sighing. "I just had to be dumb, didn't I?" she mumbles.

Daryl shakes his head. "Stop it. Ya did what ya had to do. Shit happens." She sighs and glances over at the dresser, trying to hoist herself up, but the pain was too much in her leg. She groans in anger and flops down on the bed.

"Fuck, I can't even get dressed. I'm gonna die."

Even though she was joking – at least he thought she was – the idea still made him nervous. "Don't say that; yer gonna be fine." He looks over at her and then gently gestures towards the dresser. "Ya want a different shirt?"

"Please…just something comfy. Really big."

Daryl nods and grabs a shirt that was a little too big. Upon further inspection, he realized this was a shirt of his from a long time ago, but it was the only one that was big enough for her to be considering big, so he took it out.

He walks over and gives it to her, turning his eyes away while she changed into it. When she was done, he looks over at her and felt himself snort.

"What?!" she asks.

"The shirt's just huge on ya," he chuckles. She glares at him, and that only made him laugh more. She starts to laugh too as she lifts up the sleeves, revealing that they went past her arms. He shakes his head and stands, but then she reaches out and grabs his hand.

He turns to her and she's looking up at him with those big blue eyes, and her blonde hair falling into them. The shirt was practically laying on the bed, but fitting squarely over her shoulders - she looked so fucking innocent. How the hell had she survived for so long?

"Um…I was wondering if you could stay with me?" she asks softly.

His brow raises in shock. "Ya want me to stay?"

"I mean, like…not just on the floor, I mean, like – damn it, why is this so hard?" she grumbles to herself, running her hands through her hair. "I just feel…safer when I'm with you, despite all the shit that's happened lately…I want you to stay here, with me…I liked falling asleep like that a little while ago. It felt…nice. Maybe I'm just imagining shit, I don't know-"

"I liked it too," he adds in, causing her to quiet. She looks at him in surprise. "Don't know…felt nice," he mutters, glancing away, but even she could see the blush on his cheeks.

She smiles shyly. "Okay…then um…come join me," she states.

Daryl glances at the door that was open and then closes it gently, before getting into the bed. They don't go below the covers, but she snuggles in close to him and rests her forehead on his chest, her body going still within a couple of minutes. Her back rises with each breath she takes. Daryl takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, trying to push away thoughts.

But for some reason, they just wouldn't leave.

~%~

The next morning, Daryl wakes up before Isabelle. She was still sleeping soundly against his chest, barely have moved, but now was almost even closer. He feels his hand go against her back and gently rub, before feeling the bumps from her scars and cuts.

He felt himself grow angry, thinking of the fuckers who had done this to her, but then she sighs in her sleep and her mouth opens, letting out soft air. Her cheeks were that pale rosy pink he had grown accustomed to, and her hair had fallen into her eyes again.

He gently moves his hand to her face and brushes the hair behind her ear, before his thumb trailed on her cheek, gently stroking it. She leans into his hand in her sleep, her body close to his. And he felt himself smile genuinely for the first time in a long time.

And then that disappeared within seconds when he realized what was happening. He almost moves quickly, but then gently moves her away, trying not to wake her. Daryl then gets up and leaves the room, before going to the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

He leans against the door and closes his eyes, whispering "fuck" in the lowest way possible. And then repeated that over and over.

Beth was right. He had feelings for Isabelle. And there was nothing fucking else he could do about it.

Fuck.

boom. mic drop.

I'm glad to come back to this story with a big reveal and I look forward to hearing what ya'll think about it! On another note, if any of you are into Game of Thrones and feel personally victimized by D&D from the last season, check out a story I've been writing called 'The Darkness of Day.' It's a fix-it fit featuring our lovely dragon queen and king, and if that sounds interesting head on over and check it out!

Other than that one announcement, look for more chapters coming soon for this, and I look forward to writing more. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review and let me know what you think, as they always keep me going. Follow and favorite if you want to join us on our walker-killer adventure. And I hope ya'll have a great day! Love ya :)