Chapter 28: Awkward

Hey y'all,

Thank you to all those who have recently fanned/voted/commented/inboxed, you have no idea how much this means to me. Unlike the last authors note, I'm not here to just thank you, again.

Basically, I will (most likely) not be updating until the after the 23rd for numerous reasons.

Next week is the week of my birthday, so I will be preocupied with that. (15th March, incase you were wondering ;) )

Basically, I have a bunch of mocks the week after my birthday week which means I will be doing hard-core revising throughout my birthday week and the week of the actual mocks (or trying to, anyway)

So, I apologize and hope that you can understand that.

Also, I wanted to inform you that I recently got an Ask.fm, so if you want to ask me anything, have at it: http://ask.fm/miztashtastic

Thank you all.

Much love and appreciation,

Tasha xox

_____

Chapter Twenty Eight

Awkward

▬ Third Person- No one's P.O.V ▬

Electra Walsh was busily sketching away to the sweet soundtrack of silence which was occasionally interrupted by the off chirping of a bird. It was also majestically unreal, it had literally been the only calming silence she had had in a long while. To her it was almost....refreshing, quite like a shock of cool water to a heated face in the early morning or the sweaty humidity of midday.

Early and a beautiful morning it was, the sun had barely managed to make its way over the horizon. One every often, Electra took it upon herself to look up from her sketch book to admire her surroundings. Slowly, the weed-free grass swayed to the beat of the whistling wind. Bright bursts of blue were patched into the cloudless sky, truly looking like a painting.

"You are aware there are seats right here, aren't you?" Glenn questioned Electra whilst skilfully strumming away on the acoustic guitar. Like Electra, Dale had also given him something of interest that he had found whilst going through the boots of the cars in the great traffic snarl. Unlike Electra, Glenn wasn't so good on his gift. Sure, he did know a few songs but not many, his sister Lacey had been the one to teach him them.

"Oh, I know Glenn." Electra stated, turning to face him from her seat on the steps to the porch of the paint-chipped ranch house. "I just like the steps better." She mused, shrugging before turning back to smooth off a few hard lines in her drawing.

"Electra...." Glenn trailed off, deciding to abandon his seat and stand up straight. Exhaling, he rested the wooden acoustic guitar carefully against the seat on the porch before sinking down on the porch steps beside Electra who wasn't really paying much attention to him. "Can I tell you something?" he enquired, really wanting to get his secret off of his chest.

"Sure." Electra smiled at him before titling her head back to the sketch book and slamming it shut in order to focus her whole attention onto him. "What's up?" she quizzed him, tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear before catching the look of regret or caution in Glenn's eyes. Now she knew it was serious. "It's not like you to want to have a heart to heart, Glenn." She pointed out and it was true. Glenn was usually the light-hearted one in the group, it was unusual for her to see him so....tense.

"I know." Glenn agreed, much too quickly for his or her liking. "It's just......" he started before trailing off into silence, unsure of whether or not he should tell Electra. All he knew was that he needed to tell someone about it, he was no good at keeping anything to himself, especially when it made him feel like this. "I may or may not have had sex with someone..." Glenn whispered cautious of prying ears.

"You what?" Electra questioned, wondering whether her ears had deceived her. There was something in her tone. It wasn't jealousy or anger or judgement like Glenn had been expecting: it was shock. Glenn was no idiot, he himself knew that he had been completely out of character. "I mean...." Electra coughed, attempting to hide the surprise in her voice. "Who?" she interrogated him curiously, that was the more important question.

Glenn's words didn't need to give him away, it was all in his eyes as Maggie just so happened to walk by them in order to get outside her house. Not to mention the immediate hush caused a paining curiosity within Maggie herself as Electra simply nodded to her whilst she opened to door. With a suspicious look, she turned to them before closing the door behind her.

"Oh my God!" Electra exclaimed, slowly raising her hand to her mouth, her fingers fidgeting with the corner of her lip...a nervous habit. "Oh my God." Electra mumbled under her breath to herself before removing her hand from her lips and twiddled her thumbs instead.

"Electra?"

"Sorry." Electra apologized, coughing once more before looking Glenn right in the eye. This proved amazingly hard. 'Damn you Glenn.' She thought to herself privately. She wasn't jealous or angry in the slightest, their relationship was completely platonic on both parts though Carl would like to tease them otherwise, she was ashamed. Glenn had gone out on a complete limb by telling her this but she couldn't bring herself to do the same in return, that was why she felt ashamed.

"What do you think I should do?" Glenn quizzed her, asking the question with caution. Unlike most people, he only asked questions when he really wanted them to be answered. Others would ask questions, ask for advice and just do the opposite. Glenn liked to think he was different.

"Wow....Glenn." Electra breathed shaking her head. "I don't know, do you like her?" she quizzed him causing him to nod, she was hot and seemed like fun to him. "Does she like you?" This question caused Glenn to shrug. "Erm....will it happen again?"

"I don't know."

"Well......if it does happen again, I'd advise you to keep it very very quiet." Electra told him before realising the double meaning that could be placed on her words. "I mean, don't tell anyone or let anyone know and I mean it Glenn." She corrected herself, ending the sentence sternly. "She's Hershel's daughter, there's a line that we don't want to cross. We barely know him, he's given us a place to stay and we don't want to get chucked out." She advised him causing Glenn to nod his head.

"Thanks, El." Glenn thanked her gratefully after having fully contemplating on her advice. He could accept that, it made perfect sense. "I really appreciate it." He told her honestly causing Electra to grin at him. "I'm just gonna get some breakfast, wanna come?" Electra shook her head.

And with that, Glenn was gone, walking in the direction of the place where they had set up their camp roughly in the middle of the space between the barn and the ranch house or at least what was left of their first camp back at quarry. Before Electra could open her sketch book, blue filled her vision.

"Hey Ellie." Shane greeted her, adjusting the police cap that he had placed on his head in order to protect himself from the harsh Georgia heat. In a response, Electra beamed up at him silently. He couldn't help but grin back at her, sure, he was on a mission but he couldn't pretend that the sight of his sister didn't make him smile. Sighing, he sunk down on the step next to her.

"Hey twinkle toes." Electra retorted with a mischievous glint in her mismatched eyes. Now that her hair had been cut short, her lilac eye was proudly on show whereas before it had hidden behind the curtain. Shane hid the tingle that went down his spine as he looked into it. He had inherited his mother's kind, gentle eyes, Electra had too but she had also wound up with an eye from her father. Luckily, unlike their father's eyes, Electra's eye was bright and alive....her fathers eyes had been dead.

"So...." Shane trailed off awkwardly in the silence with a sigh. Either intentionally or unintentionally, this had gained Electra's attention and had forced her to turn her head ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of him in the corner of her eye. "Is there something going on between Daryl and you?" he questioned, elevating one of his dark, full eyebrows at her whilst she opened the sketch book once more.

"Naw." Electra denied, battling the urge to scoff as she continued to sketch in the sketching book. Sure, she knew that she was no artist but she thought that she might as well put it to good use. A calming activity might just keep her sane whenever she had spare time, she barely found herself able to stay still in this day and age. "Why?" she questioned him, concentrating on the picture.

"I don't know." Shane gave a shrug of his broad shoulders. "I just had to ask, you know?" Electra certainly did not know. "It's my duty as a big brother." he mused causing Electra to roll her eyes at him, being reminded of the old days where Shane would scare any boys off of her in fear that they would hurt her. "It's just..." Shane started before sighing. "You two have gotten really close all of a sudden," he commented. 'We had?' Electra thought. "And having private conversations..." he said. 'Dammit, I was an idiot for thinking that he would just pass that event.' "It just....it seems like-" Shane started, inferring something that Electra knew she wasn't going to like.

"Don't say it, Shane." Electra sung in warning, sketching away. "Or I will have to hit you over the back of the head with this sketch book." she cautioned him. "And I must add, it's very, very, very hard." She added on to her little threat in order to make it seem more intimidating.

"Just friends, yeah?"

"No," Electra denied with a shake of her head. "I have an undying love for Daryl Dixon, Shane." She said with her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Gosh Shane, keep up with the program." She elbowed him in the chest identifying well with a teenage bimbo (which was her intention) causing Shane to chuckle lightly. "I am glad to inform you that me and Daryl are just friends." She placed a hand on her chest. "So you can go ahead...." She told him causing him to squint at her. "If you want to confess your undying love for Daryl, I'm all ears." She stuck her tongue out at him cheekily, resulting in him to be the one responding with a roll of his eyes.

"I think I'm good," Shane played along for a second before chuckling once more and pecking her lightly on the cheek. "I'll see you later baby sis." Shane promised her as he shot up to his feet which she responded to with a casual murmur. Next thing she knew, Shane was ruffling her hair which resulted her to gaze up at him with a scowl. "Awe, it's okay, pouty. Shane will be back for you soon." He vowed before darting off in the distance.

"Not if he calls me pouty he won't!" Electra yelled after him with a glare, her hair in disarray causing him to snigger very loudly before being blocked from her vision by vest material. "Hey Daryl." She greeted him coolly with a small smile before he sat down on the steps beside her. "Did you want something or...." She questioned him before her glance returned back to her sketch pad.

"What's yer brother done now?"

"Demand for me to announce my undying love for you," Electra explained to him with a small shrug before she brought her pencil back down to the rough page once again to continue shading and perfecting the project of half an hours dedication.

"Oh, really?"

"Yup."

"What the hell is that?" Daryl enquired causing Electra's eyes to shoot up back to his own which were now focused downwards on her sketchpad. Immediately, she stopped shading and held her pencil up off of one of the rough A4 -sized page.

"It's a Cherokee erm....thingy....."

"A Cherokee rose?"

"Yeah," Electra nodded at Daryl's suggestion just as she was about to correct herself. "That's what I said." She asserted causing Daryl to cock an eyebrow at her. "A Cherokee Rose, like the one you gave Carol," Mentally, she compared the mental image of the real Cherokee Rose with her own sketch of it. "With that cute little story about the mothers and the lost children." She elaborated. "How did you even know that story?" she quizzed him, looking up once more but he was squinting at the sketch not looking convinced. "It's not that bad."

"Yes it is." Daryl shot back at her almost instantly. With a sound of disbelief, she picked up the sketch book and hit Daryl around the back of the head with it and frowned. "Oh lighten up, Mismatch, I was only kidding." Daryl grinned at her causing her to sigh and shake her head a little. "Or was I....pouty?" he questioned causing her to raise her sketch book once more. "Do." Whack. "Not." Whack. "Call." Whack. "Me." Whack. "Pouty!" she finished, whacking him four times over the head lightly causing him to swat her away.

"Mornin' guys!" Rick acknowledged as he was about to pass Electra and Daryl. "Let's get going," He ordered causing Electra to shoot up to her feet as Daryl slowly did the same. "We've got a lot of ground to cover." He stated causing the others to surround the 2010 Hyundai Tucson of on which Rick spread the map out on its bonnet. "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today." He told Andrea, Electra, Daryl, Dale, Shane and T-Dog. "If she made it as far as the farmhouse Ellie and Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far." He stated as Shane opened the door of the car.

"I'd like to help." Electra's head to turned to see that it was Jimmy who was coming within reach of them all as he said the words. Daryl gave him a side glance as he shrugged on a worn, flannel long-sleeved shirt. "I know the area pretty well and stuff." He illuminated everyone. "Jared wants in too, he's just getting himself ready." Jimmy explained, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Hershel's okay with this?"

"Yeah," Jimmy nodded, letting his hand fall down to his side. "Yeah." He added on the end, not sounding all that convincing to T-Dog nor Shane but they let it pass. "He said I should ask you." Jimmy stated whilst sticking his hands into his pockets.

"All right then: Thanks."

"Nothing about what Ellie and Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane self-confessed whilst crouching down out of sight of Electra's judgmental eyes as she crossed her arms. "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse." He pointed out.

"Anybody includes her," Electra pointed out, making it clear that she didn't agree with her brother as she stared holes in the space where he had been in before he had ducked down from her sight. "....right?" she added on, making it a pointed question.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than......" Daryl started, looking at Electra for confirmation or an idea that he was on the right page causing her to demonstrate how tall she thought. "No bigger than yay high." He gestured it himself.

"Good lead." Andrea nodded at both of them selectively, smiling a little at Electra, considering her to be her closest friend out of the Atlanta survivors. "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." She said optimistically with a nod at Rick causing him to nod in agreement.

"No maybe about it." Daryl snapped. "I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a birds-eye view of the whole grid." He pointed it out of the map. "If she's up there, I'll spot her." He stated causing Andrea to stare at him out of amazement.

"I think....." Rick started before trailing off and looking back down at the map. "I think you outta take someone along with you." He proposed. "I know you'd be fine by yourself but just in case......." His eyes slowly drifted to Electra. "Ellie?" he questioned.

"Sure thing." Electra shrugged casually, looping her arm in the bow. It' was not like it was a whole new concept to her. They were hunting partners after all, hunting partners were hard to come by. Thankfully, she was able ride a horse otherwise she would have been deemed useless.

"Good idea." T-Dog nodded along as he passed Electra her quiver which she quickly slung over her shoulder with a grin. . "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there, too." T-Dog proposed with a slight smirk causing Electra to bite her lip to hold her own little smirk.

"Chupacabra?" Rick questioned.

"Chupacabra." Electra confirmed.

"What, you never heard this?" Dale put the enquiry to Rick who just raised an eyebrow at him and Electra. "Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." Dale retells as he handed Rick his shotgun as Jimmy sniggered.

"What you braying at, jackass?"

"Do you believe in a blood-sucking dog?"

"Do you believe in dead people walking around?" Daryl retorted defensively, knowing that he had seen what he had seen. No one believed him, but that wasn't the point, why would he care? They were all idiots to him anyway. Slowly, Jimmy made a grab for the shotgun that had been lying on the bonnet of the car.

"Hey, hey." Rick objected as he pulled the shotgun out of his reach and slapped his hand back. "You or Jared ever handle one before?" he interrogated him cautiously and wisely so. Nobody wanted inexperienced guys handling our guns, especially those who had no walker experience.

"Well," Jimmy brushed a little bit of dirt off of his faded jeans as he straightened up proudly. "If I'm going out, I want one, Jared would too." He said stubbornly, trying to act mature and tough but everyone around could see through his poor act.

"Yeah," Daryl didn't hold back his own scoff while the others did. "....and people in hell want slurpees." He commented, hauling his crossbow over one shoulder.

"Why don't you come train tomorrow?" Shane suggested as he shot up into clear sight of everyone once more. "If you're serious.....I'm a certified instructor." He informed him. This was new news to Electra, she hadn't seen why Shane didn't disclose this mighty useful information to her.

"For now he can come with us." Andrea stated.

"He's yours to babysit then." Shane shrugged.

"All right," Rick stole everyone's attention away from Shane and back to the actual task. "Andrea can take Jimmy, T-Dog can take Jared." He sorted everyone into pairs. "Now," he coughed, looking directly at Andrea and T-Dog's eyes. "I want you guys to...."

►►►

It was just an ordinary Georgia summers day, hot and promising to be much hotter, with the scent of pollen blowing off of the plant life that lay in the woodland surrounding them. Upon a horse, Electra was reminded of her youth. Her mother had taken her to horse riding lessons every Sunday morning, up until the day she died. Much to Electra's disappointment, her horse riding lessons seemed to die along with her mother.

Daryl had chosen to bring her a silvery-haired Arabian with dark shadows on its powerful legs and shoulders, it was a defiantly a riding horse though she was doubtful that Daryl knew that nor anything about horses. However, he knew enough from what she could see; he seemed to ride pretty comfortably and well. His horse, a shiny, silky mud-haired Friesian.

Resisting the urge to thunder through the forest proved extremely hard for Electra, she had wanted to race so badly but she couldn't and wouldn't. There was no absolutely no way in hell she was going to risk missing a lead just to have a little fun and reminisce on the times she had 'raced' Shane on horseback and win. To be honest, she was rusty at first but now she was comfortable she felt like she could take on anything.

But instead, she rode on upwards along with Daryl, their horses pushing chest-height through the unruly bracken, white flies buzzed around their heads and kept their horses ears twitching in irritation. Electra couldn't blame them, she too was getting annoyed by the stupid flies that would occasionally decide to explore her head before going back down to the horses.

It wasn't soon however before they broke free of the green sea and could gallop forth, lengthening each stride snorting ferociously. Much to Electra's joy, she was not riding bare-back like she and Daryl had joked before....though in reality she would have been able to. Nevertheless, riding with a saddle was no doubt the safer, better and the more comfortable option of the two.

Both experienced riders didn't take too long to travel up to the ridge that Daryl had previously pointed out on the county survey map back on Hershel's farm. They cantered easily at the crest of the woodland, both glancing downwards to see the whole wide landscape. To her estimation, their view of the landscape much have covered around about half of the grid.

"Wow." Electra couldn't help but gasp as she took in the beauty of her environment around her and the views she was encountering. Glancing downwards, she could see the few miniature building's that she had already visited- The Laswell household, the small Baptist church and Hershel's farm- all of which were nestled in the patchwork fields and woodlands below her.

Directly below the ridge that Electra and Daryl continued to ride along, there was another little creek (very different to the one where Sophia had been left) or some sort of spot of water. Within the glistening water lay something out of place that both Electra and Daryl managed to pick up on.

"You see that?"

"Yeah." Daryl answered Electra's enquiry before drawing his horse to a sharp halt, just beside Electra's horse which caused him to jolt slightly. "You stay up here, look after the horses." Daryl instructed as he hopped off of his horse whilst Electra stayed on horse-back, not following his instructions but waiting to hear the rest. "I'll go down." He stated strongly with a short nod.

"Are you sure?" Electra questioned him. "You sure you'll be alright?" she asked him cautiously whilst Daryl passed her the reins of his horse. "I mean, it is a pretty steep climb do-" she pointed out, objecting to the idea of him going down to the spot of water by himself as she grabbed onto the greasy reins of Daryl's horse along with her own to keep them from wildly charging off.

"Enough, woman." Daryl cut her off, swatting her objections away as if they were stupid, which to him they were. "You have no business worryin' 'bout me, no need either." He dismissed her, readjusting his quiver. "After all, someone's gotta look after these good for nothing horses." He pointed out sharply with a smirk. "It's a pretty steep climb for the inexperienced, Mismatch." He teased her, disappearing from within her sight before she could retort.

'Pfft, Mismatch had no business worrying about me. I have a much better chance getting down this ridge than she does.....' Daryl thought to himself before he successfully climbed down the ridge without earning a gash or even a scratch. Immediately, he made his way towards the unknown object in the water, finding it to be what he recognised as one of Sophia's dolls, tattered and wet against a stray log.

"SOPHIA?!" His loud call had echoed around the woods so loudly that Electra could hear it up from the ridge, the call sent a chill down her spine as she griped the reins tightly, ignoring the grease on Daryl's. However, Daryl's call had been to no avail. Growling, he tucked the doll into his belt deciding to take it with him to make sure whether it was a lead or not before making his way back up again.

"What is it, what did you find?" Electra interrogated him as soon as she heard his subdued groans, the groans making it obvious that he was closer to the top and within hearing distance. With another groan, Daryl pushed himself back up and stood up straight. Without words, he un-tucked Sophia's doll from within his belt and held it out to Electra for confirmation. "That's definitely Sophia." Electra confirmed. "That means she must have been here at some point." She took the doll from him and tucked it into her own belt.

"You don't say." Daryl drawled, rolling his eyes at Electra pointing out the obvious as he climbed back onto his horse. When he was up, Electra passed the reins back to him. "Come on." He ushered her, starting the horse up again. With a roll of her own eyes, Electra copied his action, galloping alongside him. Within the few minutes she had been riding, all of a sudden she felt an intense stabbing pain shooting up her leg causing her to grip the reins of her horse tightly and pull back on them causing the horse to stop. "What's wrong with yer?" Daryl questioned as he drew his horse to a stop just in front of hers.

"It's a Charlie horse." Electra stated, readjusting herself on top of the horse. "I think it's probably best for me to get down or try to walk it off." She said wisely, grimacing through the pain before she limply slid off of her horse, successfully managing to fall hard on her arse. "Dammit." She cursed under her breath.

"I thought you said you were gonn' walk it off, Mismatch." Daryl remarked smugly. "Not...." He gestured to Electra on the ground causing her to glare at him. With a smirk plastered on his face, he slid off of his horse to land elegantly on his feet.

"Haha," Electra rolled her eyes whilst scrapping herself off of the forest floor. "Very funny, Daryl." She stuck her tongue out at Daryl whilst she dusted the dirt off of her torn jeans. Still feeling the pain, she decided to pace back and forth waiting for her leg to regain feeling.

"Sophia?!" Daryl called out into the forest surrounding them at the top of his lungs as Electra was bent over. "Sophia!?" Electra waited anxiously for a response but none was given. "We should move further in whenever you're ready, it's a big forest she might not be able to hear us," Daryl told her.

"Okay," Electra breathed, the pain travelling down her leg to her toes leaving her body via her toes as she faced him squarely.

"What?"

"I was just thinkin'"

"That's new." Daryl commented, glancing at Electra who simply folded her arms across her chest to make sure he knew she was being serious. "Fine...." He sighed, placing a hand on one of his shoulders emphasising his superhero-figurine arm muscles perfectly. "Go ahead, woman." He gestured towards her using his other hand. "What were you thinkin', Mismatch?" he enquired.

"I don't know, I-" Electra started off before cutting herself right off causing Daryl to pivot around so that he was looking out into the forest rather than at her. "I-" she coughed before deciding to rephrase what she was thinking previously. "You know, you're a good guy, Daryl." She pointed out.

"Oh really?" Daryl scoffed, clearly not believing what Electra had just said. "I'm a good guy?" he sneered, taking a few steps forwards. "Well, how the hell did you come to that assumption, Mismatch?" Daryl questioned her, interested in her answer.

"Look, I know that you had to deal-"

Daryl's panic-alarm hit flashpoint, not even panic-alarm more like his boiling point reached the optimum. "You don't know anything about what I had to deal with." He whirled around so that he could confront her face to face. "You don't know anything about me. You don't know anything about anything." He snarled, closing the space in between them. "I don't know what gave you the idea that you did." He snapped at her, his face at a dangerous proximity to her own which would have caused her to flinch but she kept it under control.

"I know a hell of a lot more than you give me credit for." Electra challenged him, staying completely motionless as she showed no fear. "Bad childhood, anyone can see that." She summarised. "Must have been hard living under Merle's thumb and being beaten over and over again by yer dad." She commented, fully aware that she was reaching dangerous territory. "You are a good man Daryl but you can't believe that because of your past. Kids are like dogs, you kick them around enough and you'll have them think that they are deserving of it." She compared, she could feel Daryl's breaths getting louder and deeper as if he were attempting to keep his anger out of control, which he was.

"What would you know, Mismatch?!" Daryl yelled at her with a growl in his throat, looking at her with a fierce glare. "Don't make assumptions, Mismatch, you're too thick to." He offended her. "Too damn ignorant to." This one really stung, that was the one thing Electra hated being called because she knew that she wasn't the slightest bit ignorant. "You, growing up in your whole little fairy tale house of yours, lost count of how many times Shane went on about your dream house." He spat. "You were all like this whole ridiculous family. Happy daddy, happy son and happy daughter." His tongue was sharp and his words stung her because of their untruthfulness. "You wouldn't know a damn thing 'cause you grew up in a world sheltered from the cruel reality of life."

"And what would you know, Daryl?!" Electra snapped at him in a holler, her southern drawl really coming through in her words. "Happy daddy, happy son and happy daughter." Electra laughed, a horrible bitter off-tune laugh. "More like, dead mommy, devastated daddy, devastated son and devastated daughter." She said, keeping her words blunt, harsh and forward.

Daryl opened his mouth.

"Devastated daddy soon became drunk daddy the town joke, drunk daddy began to beat eight year old daughter and slightly older son. Beat them because drunk daddy believed that devastated daughter was to blame for angel mommy's death and soon had devastated daughter who became broken daughter believing that too." She snapped, not allowing Daryl to speak. "Broken daughter was the one who would get beaten regularly until superhero son joined the party." She stated. "Every time drunk daddy would go for broken daughter, superhero son would do something worse to distract drunk daddy and get him to beat him instead and they lived happily ever after in that environment and as the town charity cases. The end."

Electra found herself slowly moving back towards her Arabian horse whilst she was speaking/ ranting. It was true what people said. When she lost her temper, she gained that thick southern drawl without meaning to. Though unintentionally, the southern drawl made her words sound far more aggressive, almost savagely. Furiously, she mounted the horse and gripped the reins tightly as Daryl watched on, taking in her words.

"Don't make assumptions, Daryl."

You're too thick too. Too damn ignorant.

She repeated his words with a lot less anger than he had done so, but they were dripping with venom meant to sting and strike him harshly....and they did. He could have apologized in that moment, but that wasn't him, he didn't apologize to anybody. Why would he? Nobody ever apologized to him, not genuinely.

"I'm sorry......about Merle," Electra murmured, still staring out through the gate causing Daryl to turn his head to the side to look at her.

Electra had.

"No. I meant I'm sorry he got left behind. That.....that shouldn't have happened I-" Electra cut herself off turning her head to look at him looking in front of him. "I shouldn't have let that happen....But I did and I'm sorry," she continued causing Daryl to turn his head to look her in the eye.

Genuinely.

"You genuinely mean that....don't ya?" Daryl enquired causing Electra to nod before a noise came from down the alleyway.

But he couldn't do the same. He wasn't Electra, he was Daryl, he wasn't good. So instead of apologizing, he watched after her as she thundered off into the forest without a word, at such a speed that Sophia's doll flew aimlessly and landed at Daryl's feet.

Daryl retrieved Sophia's doll and tucked it back into his belt before he too mounted his horse. Daryl spent a split second contemplating on whether to go after Electra or to keep looking for Sophia. Dismissing the thought instantly, he directed his horse in the opposite direction that Electra had taken off in. 'She had started it.' He thought to himself, knowing that he didn't have to be an ass whilst his horse started to gallop.

Hiss.

NEIGH!

"Woah! Woah! Woah!"

Daryl attempted to gain back control of the spooked horse but failed as the horse had other ideas. Ideas like throwing Daryl off of it before it ran off aimlessly into the forest. Out of control, he tumbled down the tree covered ridge, landing hard in the shallow, rocky water.

▬ First Person- Electra's P.O.V ▬

By the time I reached the lodge gates, I was still seething. Throughout the duration of the journey returning to the Greene family farm, I had kept at the same speed since the I had abandoned Daryl back at the tree-laced ridge. Fucking Daryl, claiming to know me after rebuking me for claiming to know him when in reality....he knew absolutely nothing. But unlike him, I decided to simply state that rather than insulting him. That hypocritical son of a bitch.

Coming within sight of the stables, I recognised Rick and Hershel who had turn their glances on me, and I didn't blame them. I was dirty; I could feel wet mud caking in patches all over my face. My hair was a tangle of greasy, windblown, chocolate waves.

The Arabian horse who I knew not its name was shuddering with panting breaths beneath me, surely relieved when I drew it to a halt right beside where Hershel and Rick were situated. Sweat had settled on the surface of my skin, my face sure to be scarlet with heat. Readjusting my gaze, I saw that now both Rick and Hershel were looking up at me in need of an explanation.

"Daryl's back at the ridge."

"So, nothing happened?" Rick enquired. I couldn't tell whether it was hope or concern sparkling in Rick's icy blue eyes which were currently taking my image in. Breathlessly, I shook my head- I had barely been able to get my previous words out beforehand. With that shake of my head, the hope or concern in Rick's eyes glazed over and was replaced with no emotion. "Then why aren't you with him?" he questioned me, I spotted that Hershel also wanted to interrogate me but Rick didn't seem to care. "You rode like a demon through the lodge gates." Rick commented, reaching up to lift me back down to the floor.

"I need to have words with you and your friend Daryl." Hershel told me, his voice both demanding and full of authority. Unable to scoff at his words about Daryl being my friend, I purely concentrated on my breathing instead. "About how things run in my farm and my stable," he continued on, putting emphasis on 'my' defensively as I slid into Rick's arms. "Clearly, Rick has failed to do so." He added on, resulting in Rick turning his head to look at Hershel. I felt my face crimson , fuelled by Rick's arms still enveloped around me and lack of breath.

"Hey! Electra! Electra! Electra?! Electra! Hey Electra!" I heard Stacie's scream laced with pure glee and delight in the distance but I found myself redeemed speechless, still breathless and feeling the effects of the exhaustion I had placed upon myself.

"Did you find her?" There was Carol. During the duration of her question her words had grown in volume, indicating that she too was running towards Rick, Hershel and myself with the immense power of a mother. "Did you find my little girl?" she cried, almost pleading me from her spot directly behind me.

'The doll.' I thought to myself, finding myself losing concentration as everyone was speaking to me at once. 'Tell them about Sophia's doll.' I disciplined myself. Slowly, my vision became a kaleidoscope of colours with a huge lag as I glanced around at the familiar faces. My head hurt. The voiced were all merging together and becoming white noise that I was unable to identify. I could feel myself gravitating towards the ground, my knees slowly giving way under me.

"ELLIE" I could feel myself gravitating towards the ground, my knees slowly giving way under me and that was the last thing I could decipher before the current kaleidoscope of icy blue plunged straight into darkness.

▬ Third Person- No one's P.O.V ▬

"Jared's room, you can lay her down in there."

"Which one?"

"First room on the left."

Carrying Electra's fragile body in his arms (bridal style) Rick carelessly kicked the door wide open and laid Electra flat on the double bed. Back on the grounds, she would have landed in a heap on the ground if he hadn't caught her in his arms and carried her bridal style into the house as Hershel barked instructions to him.

"What's wrong with her?" Rick enquired turning away from his best friend for a second too look to Hershel who was taking something out of some packaging. Glancing around, he saw that everyone around camp but Shane, Carl, Andrea, Jared and T-Dog had gathered around the room. "Where's Shane?" he questioned them but everyone came up with shrugs and shakes of head. "Glenn, get Shane, now." Rick demanded and with that Glenn zoomed out of the room.

"Heat exhaustion, maybe even heatstroke." Hershel hypothesized as he peeled away the forehead thermometer from her forehead, it was the only conclusion he could come to. "Rick- make sure all the windows are open, Thea- fetch that fan over there. Patricia- dampen a sheet and bring it here. Beth- fetch some water." He ordered them all about and they complied without so much as a thought nor a word.

"Will my mommy be okay?" Stacie questioned softly, but loud enough to catch Hershel's attention and cause him to pivot away from his patient and towards Stacie who was by his daughter's side. Maggie had taken it upon herself to sling an arm around her shoulder and stroke her arm.

"She'll be just fine." Hershel assured the girl whose eyes were brimming with tears. Stacie couldn't afford to lose anyone else, as far as she was concerned she had lost her parents, her babysitter. She had been given a second mom with Electra, she couldn't lose her, so it was no surprise it felt as if a weight had been taken away from her little chest at Hershel's words. "She just needs some space, honey." He nodded at her as his eyes bored into hers. "And that goes for all of y'all, she'll be fine, just continue with whatever it was you were doing." He ordered causing everyone to do so and leave the room besides Rick and Hershel.

►►►

When Electra came too, she was in an extremely groggy state. She had been stripped out of her muddy clothes down to a thin vest and a thin pair of pyjama shorts that Shane had managed to dress her in. She was clean, they had not intended to clean her but wiping her with damp towels to cool her down had done wonders. Currently Shane was stationed by her bedside, holding onto her right hand with both of his. Electra blinked open her eyes and gazed up into those amber eyes, her brothers eyes.

"Ellie." He breathed his voice full of relief as a genuine smile spread out onto his face. Electra lifted a languorous hand and cupper her brother's cheek, softly. "You gave me one hell of a scare there," he pointed out, reaching his hand to stroke her arm that still had head radiating off of it. "You gave us all one hell of a scare, Ellie." He informed her causing her to grin up at him.

"Well...." She trailed off, breathlessly. "Now you know what it feels like." She stated with a small smirk causing Shane to roll his eyes and shake his head slowly as he exhaled shortly. "What happened, anyway?" she questioned, failing to remember how she got back to Jared's bedroom.

"Wasn't there," Shane told her, glancing downwards. "Rick said you came back here without Daryl looking like hell, red and sweaty. Everyone approached you to find what was up and you collapsed into his arms." He repeated what Rick had told him. "Heat exhaustion, Hershel reckons." He voiced, juggling a bottle of water in his now free hands. "You're gonna rest until morning, the Doc's orders." He stated. "Keep cool and drink plenty of this stuff." He informed her whilst unscrewing the cap. Sighing, he held it up to her lips and allowed her to drink most of it in one go.

"Now," Shane screwed the cap back on the bottle and abandoned it on the bedside cabinet. "Don't you ever do that again." He lectured her sternly, his eyes boring into her own.

"What?" Electra laughed slightly. "Fainting?" she arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't think I have much control of those things Shane." She stated, teasingly.

"Well, you have control of getting heat exhaustion, little missy." Shane retorted. "Aint been drinking much lately: that's changing." He told her with authority. "Shorts and vests to keep you cool, I don't care if you look like a slut." He said, causing Electra's eyebrows to shoot skyward. Shane was always the one to keep her honour and scorned her when she wore shorts, now he was instructing her too. "Shorter hours out in the sun," he listed. "And last of all this." He finished his list of demands before placing his police cap on her head. "Keep the sun from getting to yer head." He commented, tapping it so that it fell in front of her eyes.

"I'm not a baby, Shane." Electra stuck her tongue out at him whilst pushing the navy police cap up so that she could see again.

"You sure act like it." Shane pointed out, earning a smack on the arm off of Electra before he started to chuckle. The typical Walsh chuckling-after-being-worried-or-scared-at-all. "I'm serious, Ellie." He told her, stopping the chuckling. "I'm not prepared to lose you."

"Well.....you won't."

"That a promise, or a white lie?"

"That's the truth, Shane." She told him directly. "No promises, no white lies, just truth." She smiled at him a small sweet smile. "You're not going to lose me any time soon." She vowed. "Now, thank you, big brother, for taking care of me. It's real sweet of you." She grinned. "Now, if you wouldn't mind I'd like to sleep a little and you should go back to whatever you were meant to be handling and do it right." She admitted.

"Sure thing, little sister."

►►►

Rick cursed under his breath.

Andrea had spotted a lone walker emerging from within the words. Peering through a pair of binoculars, the sun's reflection beaming off of the glass she was sure that she could have reached it from there. She had even betted that she could 'nail it' from her spot on watch on top of the R.V. He had told her to put the gun down, whether she had listened or not was a different matter.

So there he was, running towards the lone walker along with Shane, Glenn and T-Dog despite the fact that Hershel had wanted to deal with any walkers that stumbled onto his land. They all had weapons in hand, Shane- a hatchet, T-Dog-a shovel, Glenn- a small knife along with Rick himself brandishing his colt python that he wasn't actually meant to have on hand.

When the men came upon the walker, Rick aimed his gun at its head as they stopped at a safe distance. Much to their shock, the walker stopped too at the sight of them. 'Never seen that before.' T-Dog thought to himself silently, with his shovel raised in case the walker did a sneak attack.

"Is that, Daryl?" Glenn questioned them, uncertainly. Still on guard, the men tilted their heads and took a good look at the walker. To be honest, the walker did look a lot like Daryl to all of them. He was just more filthy with dirt than usual, along with being caked in blood. What struck doubt into their hearts was the blood situated around Daryl's mouth. Was Daryl a walker?

"It's the third time you've pointed that damn thing at my head." Daryl grunted at him, a growl erupting from within the depths of his throat. Out of relief, Shane along with Glenn crouched over and attempted to catch the breath they had lost when running after Daryl. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?" Daryl challenged causing Rick to lower his gun and place it back into his holster.

All of a sudden, a shot rang out from within the grounds, a shot that hit Daryl is the head forcing him to fall back to the ground. From her post, Andrea smirked at her accuracy. 'Told you I could nail it from here.' She boasted, congratulating herself.

"NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOO!" Rick screamed out in horror, turning to where the shot had been fired from for a split second before turning back to Daryl. Immediately, Andrea's face fell as Lori, Carol along with Hershel and his family ran screaming from the farmhouse, demanding to know what was going on. To be honest, Dale didn't know himself despite witnessing it.

"I was kiddin'."

"Come on." Rick said to the others shortly after Daryl's mutter and before Daryl passed out. 'At least he's alive.' He thought to himself as he lifted Daryl's arm and slung it around his shoulder, Shane doing the same and they proceeded to drag him towards the farm house.

▬ First Person- Electra's P.O.V ▬

The familiar sound of a gunshot caused me to come too much faster than any slap to the face could have.

Immediately, I jolted forwards in Jared's bed, secretly hoping that I had been dreaming but deep down I knew that that wasn't the case. That would never be the case. 'Please no.' was all I could think. We couldn't have another Carl situation, we couldn't handle it. Rick and Lori still aren't over the fact that Carl got shot, let alone another one of us. We had lost so many, only to lose more.

Carelessly, I shot up out of the bed despite Shane's warning me not to leave the bed until morning. Doctor's orders, he has said. Luckily for me, these rules didn't apply anymore. My first move; the door. Upon reaching the door, I felt myself freeze at the sight of the scene playing out before me. Creaking followed Rick, Jared, Shane and Hershel's every step whilst they attempted to drag Daryl up the staircase. 's mud-caked and blood spattered body up the stair case.

"Oh my God." I gasped, barely managing to get even those few words out. I could practically feel their heads turning in my direction but my eye line was focused directly on Daryl. He was filthy, even for his standards, with his body completely caked in mud and dirt. Upon the dirt, patches of blood had settled. The source of the blood? A wound to his abdomen and a cut to this head.

"Take him." Shane demanded, allowing Jared to take his place underneath Daryl's arm. Horrified, I noticed that his arm was limp. 'Oh God.' I thought to myself, watching his body in horror. 'Was Daryl dead?' The question swum around my mind. Sure, I was pissed at the hypocritical son of a bitch but that didn't mean I wanted him dead. 'Oh God, what if he'd dead?'

"I-I-"

"Ellie, what the hell did I tell you?" Shane questioned me furiously, but my eyes were glued to Daryl until he was dragged out of my vision. "Ellie?!" Shane raised his voice, shaking me gently by my shoulders. Shane's raised voice wasn't one of anger or overprotection anymore, it was a voice of concern, a voice that was concerned that I was going to faint once more.

"I heard a gunshot." I stated, taking my time to glance back to his blank face. "I-I-" I stammered like an idiot, unable to control my words. "I, I wanted to find out what was going on." My second attempt was much improved from the first. "Is Daryl dead?" I asked sternly.

"No," Shane denied causing a sigh of relief to leave my system. "No, Daryl's not dead but he's pretty messed up by the looks of it." he stated as if I were blind. It was impossible not to tell that Daryl was extremely messed up. "So much so Andrea thought he was a walker and tried to shoot him in the head." He informed me, forcing me to sling my arm around his shoulders.

"Oh Christ."

"Thankfully, her aim wasn't up to scratch." Shane stated with a sigh as he helped me over to Jared's bed like I was an invalid. "Just skinned him and then he passed out." He chose to inform me as he assisted me in laying back down on the bed once more.

"Will he, uh, will he be alright?" I interrogated him, unable to lie down completely flat. My response was given to me in the form of a small shrug. "Oh wow....." I breathed, looking down at my hands. "What the hell happened to him beforehand?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Shane shrugged once more. "I'm guessing this all happened after you parted ways back in the woods?" Shane searched for my confirmation causing me to glance in his eyes in disbelief of what he was insinuating.

"Do you honestly think that I would abandon him in his condition?" I quizzed him, my eyes now narrowed at him. "Do you honestly believe I would abandon anyone if they were in that condition?" I enquired, not allowing him to answer my first question.

"Survival wise..."

"Oh God no," I said, cutting him off before he could say anything more. "No Shane, I'm not even going to think about how you were going to finish that sentence." I told him with my hand out to him as if to dismiss the sentence. "I don't want to....."

"Okay, I admit: that was a dumb statement." Shane said, holding his hands up in surrender as he backed away from me ever so slightly. "Electra." He said softly causing me to squint at him- he never called me Electra. "Electra means light...uh....Greek origin." He pointed out, trying to explain his thought line to me.

"I know that, Shane."

"No," Shane denied with a small smile before returning his eyes back to mine. "I know you know that Electra means light, Ellie." He told me, causing me to squint at him even more. If he knew that I know that Electra means light, why did he point it out in mid conversation? "You're still shining bright, despite all that's happened you're still shining bright like you always have. Electra Carlie Walsh: The light in darkness." He smiled softly, removing a straggly strand of hair from in front of my face.

"Thanks Shane."

"For what?"

What did he mean for what? For complimenting me like that, for saying those sweet things about me. My eyes returned to his which were now....different. There was something glistening in his eyes that I couldn't quite point out. But to be honest- it scared me.

"I, ur, I gotta go." Shane told me as his eyes slowly moved away from mine and towards the doorway where Lori was standing looking in at us. "I need to have a word with Lori, downstairs." He told me before pressing his lips to my forehead and travelling down the staircase with Lori at his side.

"Ellie?" Rick's voice softly wandered in through the door before he slowly appeared at the doorway. "Shane?" he questioned softly, causing me to signal that he was downstairs. "Look, I know this is a lot to ask but...." He treaded softly towards me. "Hershel says that Daryl needs blood, he's still out and no one needs to know his blood type...." He informed me. "Now, I know it's a lot to ask but-" he started off.

"I'm the only universal donor you know of and you need me to give him some of my blood. And obviously you know how unreasonable my brother can be when it comes to me, so you needed to ask me this privately." I finished off for him, getting the drift. Delicately, he nodded. "Least I can do."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Rick grinned at me, still speaking in a whisper. "Come on," he told me, placing his arm around my waist in order to help me upwards. God, why is everyone treating me like some sort of invalid? I'm fine. "Just a little further." He assured me, as he led me through the hallway.

"I know, Rick." I told him, finding it hard to contain my giggle. "I have entered this house before, just because I'm weaker than usual doesn't mean that I've lost my senses." I reminded him causing Rick to tighten his grip around my waist and laugh a little. I couldn't deny that I very much enjoyed the feeling of his arm around my waist, even though I knew that he didn't think anything of it.

"Sorry, Ellie." Rick apologized sheepishly, gently pushing the door open with his foot seeing as his hands were full. "Are you sure she's strong enough to do this?" he questioned Hershel as he plopped me down on the bed near Hershel who was preparing.

"She'll be fine." Hershel assured him. "Are you feeling better?" he asked me as he turned his head to look in my direction.

"Yeah." I told him truthfully. "Thanks for everything, Doctor. I know I've said that a lot, but trust me....I've said it when necessary." I thanked him sincerely as I offered him my arm. God, I hated blood being drawn. Breathing steadily, I turned my head to Rick and smiled softly at him. Biting my lip, I refrained a hiss once I felt the prick in my arm. "Rick, you don't have to be here, you know."

"I do." Rick said surely, glancing behind me.

Unintentionally, my eyes drifted towards the unconscious Daryl who was sprawled out on the right side of the double bed. Somehow someone had managed to strip him down to just his trousers and the sight of the blood-soaked bandage on his torso made me feel somewhat guilty. Without realising, my eyes drifted to the many scars that had been redeemed barely visible on his torso and my eyes lingered there.

"Any idea of what happened?" Hershel interrogated me causing me to immediately tear my eyes away from Daryl's torso and to the doctors hawk like eyes.

"No." I denied with a shake of my head. "Was asking myself the same question to be honest...." I admitted, glancing towards Rick. "I guess you'll just have to ask him whenever he wakes up." I told them whilst glancing back to Daryl who looked innocent as he slept.

"I need to talk to you about your brother and the whole Sophia situation." Rick told me causing me to nod my head, signalling for him to go on. "Earlier today, whilst we were looking for Sophia in our part of the grid Shane and I had a little talk."

"How unusual." I remarked with a grin. A grin which was not returned, resulting in me gripping the material of my shorts uneasily. No matter how serious the situation was, Rick and I were always able to joke around with the exception of the hurt or sick or dead. "Okay, Rick, you're kind of scaring me now, what were you two talking about?" I questioned him with an intake of breath.

"He-" Rick started off before hesitating ever so slightly. "He, uh, he...." He trailed off, gazing down at his hands. "You know what? Don't worry about it." He back peddled.

"Rick."

"He wants to call off the search." Rick told me. What?! "He said that Sophia only matters to the degree In which she doesn't drag the rest of us down." He informed me. What? Shane said this? What? Since when did Shane come out with things like that? "After 72 hours in the old world, we start looking for a body. He doesn't think we're going to find her alive." He told me truthfully.

"What-" I breathed deeply and glanced down to my own hands. "What do you think? D-do you think we're going to find her alive? D-do you think we should leave her out there by herself? D-do you think that we're going to fine her body?" I interrogated him.

"I don't know, Ellie." Rick shook his head ever so slightly. "I need to continue the search. I looked her in the eyes and she trusted me. I failed her-" I opened my mouth. "No matter however much you deny that, I'm always going to feel like I failed her." He told me. "But then I think, maybe I'm holding on to a way of thinking that doesn't make sense anymore." He told me. "I came to you because I don't know who else to go to, I already know Shane's opinion....and because you're the one person who has always made sense to me."

"Rick-"

"Speak your mind, Ellie."

"If you're stuck in a way of thinking that doesn't make sense anymore, I am too." I spoke freely. "I'm not ashamed of that and there is no reason why you should be either." I stated. "That's who I am, that's who I've always been and I'm not going to let anything take that away from me....ever, Rick." I remarked. "Survivin' and keeping true to ourselves? Call me a fool but I think we can make that happen." I assured him. "As for Sophia? Shane's wrong, he has a certain truth to what he says but we have to find her, for Carol." I said. "Shane knows that deep down, he would never stop looking if it were Carl or Stacie or me, he's just...I don't know what's goin' on with him."

"I think he's just trying to figure out what survival is."

"Yeah."

"You're done." Hershel confirmed, placing a bandage over the sensitive spot to catch any blood that would surely ooze out of it throughout the duration of the day.

▬ Third Person- No one's P.O.V ▬

Despite the fact that those who were dining downstairs tried to contain their chatter and laughter to the bare minimum, Electra was still able to hear them from within Jared's room. As much as she wanted to be down there with them to endure in the talk, the smell of the food was torture. Sure, Shane had brought me up a plate of food and plenty of water, but it didn't do justice to the smell of the wide range of foods that had been no doubt served downstairs but not to her.

She couldn't join them, she'd just be marched straight back up to bed again with another ear bashing from Shane, Rick and Hershel too. From what I heard earlier, Daryl was conscious again and was in good condition, but other than that, she had heard nothing about how he had gotten into that awful condition in the first place.

So, what was she doing cooped up in this bedroom by herself when she could easily just pop to the next door down and have dinner with Daryl and be informed of what happened? That would have killed two birds with one stone surely. She would have company and knowledge.

The reason why she wasn't in there with him because he was being a dick to her.

No surprise there, or it shouldn't have been. But to Electra it had been a surprise. 'God, I am stupid' She was thinking to herself having just made a complete fool of herself. There was no way in hell she was going to do that again or even attempt to that day.

◄◄◄

▬ First Person- Daryl's P.O.V ▬

"I take it they brought you up dinner too, right?"

At the sound of Mismatch's voice I pulled up the sheets up higher in order to cover my body. I wasn't ashamed of my body but that didn't mean I wanted the whole world to see it, let alone her. Slowly, I turned my head to see her looming awkwardly in the doorway with a plate of food resting in one hand. Slowly, I nodded at her causing her to take a small step inside the room.

"Thought so, would have been a little awkward if they hadn't." Mismatch edged a little further towards the bed. 'Awkward.' Was the exact word I would have used to describe the situation we were in right now. "How are you doin'?" Mismatch questioned me softly, slowly sinking down into the small wooden chair that had been position at the foot of the bed.

"As good as I look." I informed her, tugging the sheets so they resided further up my torso, completely covering my back from her watchful gaze. "Uh, you?" I put an enquiry back to her. "Heard you got heat exhaustion or something." I told her casually with a shrug.

"You, uh, you heard right." Mismatch told me with a nod. "I'm alright, of course everyone's making a mountain out of a molehill." She stated.

"When don't they?"

"Yeah." Mismatch let out a deep breath with a small smile before it was wiped off her face once more. "Shane especially, you know how he is, dwells on things that don't matter all that much." She told me, hinting at the conversation we had had before in the forest. "What happened, Daryl?" she asked me. "What the hell happened to you?" she enquired, glancing at the bandage on my head.

"The horse almost killed me, threw me off of the ridge." I explained to her. "Stupid son of a bitch," I murmured under my breath. "If it's smart, it left the country."

"You gave us all a scare there, Daryl." Mismatch informed me. Normally, I would have rebuked her but I just held her gaze wondering if she really thought that that was true or whether she was just trying to make me feel better. "Seriously." She pushed herself up off of the chair and leaned in. Taken off guard, I moved away but she still managed to press her lips to my cheek.

"Watch out, I got stitches." I told her, rebuffing her and turning away from her to face the window. Instead of being hurt or pissed like I intended her to be, she laughed. She actually laughed. Curiously, I maneuvered myself ever so slightly so I could look at her out of the corner of my eye for a second. Yup, she laughed, she was still wearing her dimpled grin as evidence of that.

"Whatever." Mismatch dismissed with a shake of her head and a small shrug. However, I turned away from her before she could catch my eyes. "I guess what I'm trying to say is....." she trailed off with a sigh. "Sure, you really pissed me off up there but I shouldn't have g-" She said.

"Is that your attempt of an apology?"

"Yes, actually." She said sternly, catching me off guard. "I pissed you off, you retaliated in a way that pissed me off a lot more, I didn't like it, I ran off, I shouldn't have, I'm sorry." She apologized and I said nothing. "Still a little guilty, seeing as this happened when you were out searching for Sophia." She insisted.

You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, n****** and democrats.

"You're every bit as good as the rest of us, everyone seems to know that but you, we're all equals here. No one's a freak, no one's an idiot, no one's a redneck, no one's trash."

You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? Even your precious Mismatch. I got a little news for you, son. One of these days, they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit.

"What I am trying to say." Mismatch breathed in. "Very badly, very very very badly. God, I'm a zoologist not a speech writer or anything." She told herself. "We care about you Daryl, we really do and I was not joking when I said that you gave us all one hell of a scare....me included."

Now you listen to me.

Aint nobody ever gonna care about you except me, little brother.

Aint nobody ever will.

"Don't you ever stop talking!" I snapped at her, turning towards her expecting to see hurt in her eyes but instead, I saw nothing. "Stop trying to bullshit me, Electra. That way I won't have to bullshit you in return." I hissed at her. "Just stop 'worrying' 'bout me."

"I'll stop worrying about you when you start worrying about yourself," Electra shot back at me with a roll of her eyes about to walk away but she turned back to have a go at me, no doubt. "And since when did you start calling me Electra?" she demanded much to my surprise. "I thought I was either Mismatch or Woman to you."