"And I tried out for football, but I didn't like it." Carl said while eating. "I'm not like my sister that can play any sport."

Carol smiled. "Are you athletic, Abby?" She asked me. I kept my head down and didn't answer, there was a bowl of ravioli in front of me that I haven't touched.

"Yup, she is." Carl answered for me. "She used to play volleyball, softball, soccer, basketball. Oh, and you used to swim!"

"Wow." Carol said sounding impressed.

"How did yer short ass play basketball?" Daryl teased me. I didn't answer, I couldn't. I wasn't feeling like myself.

"Well, she did. And she was good at it, too!" Said my brother again. "But her best sport was softball."

"I wish I could play softball." Carol said.

There was a brief pause. I could feel their eyes on me but didn't say anything or even look up. I just stared into my bowl. "Hey." Daryl said softly. I figured he was talking to me. "You gotta eat, shorty." I did not reply.

"If she doesn't want it, I'll eat it." Carl said. I didn't say anything and slid my bowl over to him. "Cool." He started eating. "What are we gonna do after we eat?"

"Whatever you wanna do." Carol told him. "We could watch a movie, play games…"

"We should watch Fast and the Furious." He said.

"Okay." Carol smiled.

"You two can do that." Daryl said. "I'm gonna take Abby fer a walk." I finally looked up at him, we locked eyes, then he nodded at me.


I watched Daryl's arrow go through the walker's head, then he collected it. "They're gettin' closer to the house." He said. I did not reply. "C'mon." He put a hand on my back and moved me along. "I talked to yer dad this mornin'. He should be home soon." He nodded. I still did not speak. Daryl sighed. "Abby, listen…I know that yer upset about what happened and—

"No, you don't know!" I snapped suddenly angry. "You're a guy so you'll never understand what that was like for me."

He stared down at me. "Okay, yer right. But," he sat down on a half wall so that he was more level with me, "I know what it's like to be powerless." He put a hand on the side of my head.

I just stared at him curiously for a moment. "How?"

Daryl paused. "My dad." He finally answered. My eyes widened a little. "He was a drunk." He nodded. "Used to beat up on me and my brother whenever he felt like it."

I looked down and swallowed. "I didn't know that."

"Ain't somethin' no one likes to talk about." He shook his head. We started walking again. "I know you understand that, but I wish you didn't have to."

I looked down and thought. He talked a little about what happened to him, maybe I can talk about what happened to me. I swallowed hard. "He woke me up." I started. "He had a gun and he told me if I woke you guys up, he'd kill you." Daryl stopped walking and listened to me. "He put his hand down my pants and…touched me." I shivered. "He tried to rip my shirt off…I knocked the gun out of his hand, then I yelled for you." I looked down.

"Hey." He made me look up at him. "That was good thankin'. Yer a smart kid." He rubbed my back. "I'm just sorry that happened to you."

I just remembered something and looked up. "He was hiding in my closet earlier that same day."

"What?" Daryl stopped.

"After I got washed."

"…why didn't you tell me?"

"…he promised that it was an accident. Said he was looking for something. He seemed legit…but now…I was stupid to believe him."

"…that weren't yer fault." He shook his head at me. "Pedophiles are smart." There was a brief pause. "But," he lifted my chin, "if somethin' like that ever happens again…you tell me, okay?"

"Yeah." I said. He rubbed my back and we moved on. I was feeling a little better after our talk. "Hey, Daryl? How come…you've been being so nice to me?"

He stopped again and looked down at me. "Cuz yer my girl." He smirked. I smiled at him. He looked on ahead after that. "I'mma check this building out right here. Stay back, okay?"

"Okay." I said. He looked in the window, then went inside. He's been in there for about five minutes. "Daryl?" I said. He didn't answer me.

Just then, I heard a strange noise at the back of the building. So, I quietly went around back with my gun up. I saw movement, something went behind the dumpster. Taking a deep breath, I moved quickly but quietly, then saw what it was. It was a turkey! I quickly shot it right between the eyes, it went down. "No way." I smiled.

"What was that?" Daryl was there immediately. "You okay?"

"I got a turkey." I smiled at him.

He looked around me and saw it laying there. He seemed to relax a little. "Nice." He patted my shoulder. "Let's get this home and have a turkey dinner." He let out a small laugh, then quickly squeezed my face with one hand causing my lips to pucker. I smiled after he let go.


"Mm." Carl said eating. "I love turkey." I swear this kid just loves food in general.

"You should try some dark meat." Daryl said.

"Ew." He scrunched his nose up. "I don't like dark meat. It's too...wet. White meat is the best!"

Carol laughed. "I like white meat too."

"I like both but dark meat is my favorite." I chimed in.

"That's my girl." Said Daryl. I smiled. "That's why I always take a leg, it's all dark meat."

I realized that I never had a turkey leg before. "Can I have a leg?" I asked.

He looked at me. "Yeah, as long as yer gonna eat it."

"I'll try my best." I said. He cut it off for me and put it on my plate. "It does look good. Look at all that skin."

"It is good." Said Daryl.

I ripped my leg apart with my hands instead of eating it like Daryl. It was very good and a part of me was mad at myself that I never ate one during Thanksgiving. "I like it a lot." I said. I kept eating.

"So, Abby can fish and now she can hunt." Carol said. "She's one uping you." She teased Daryl and laughed.

"Yup. Maybe I should start lettin' 'er take over. I can just kick back." He said. I laughed.

"I'm gonna sleep real good tonight after this meal." My brother said.

I looked at him. "You're cleaning all this mess up." I said to him.

"What? No, I'm not."

"Yeah. It's only fair." I nodded. "I got the turkey, Daryl prepared it, Carol cooked it. What'd you do?" I questioned him. He kind of froze. "So, that means you have to do dishes."

"I don't wanna do dishes." He pouted. Carol and Daryl laughed.

I was still working on that turkey leg. "There's a lot more meat on this thing than it looks."

"I told ya." Daryl said. "If ya cain't finish it, don't throw it away."

"I'm not done yet." I gave him a look and pulled my plate closer to me.


My brother was in the living room now and Daryl and Carol were in the kitchen. I sat at the table until that whole turkey leg was gone. And I did eat the whole thing. "I'm disgusted with myself." I said when I took my plate into the kitchen.

"Why?" Carol said.

"I ate that whole thing…I don't think I've ever felt this full before."

She laughed. "Well, that's good. You never eat much."

"Yeah." Daryl said wrapping his arms around me from behind. "I bet I cain't even lift ya now." He lifted me up and swung me back and forth a little. "Wow, yer so much heavier from that turkey leg."

We all laughed. Daryl set me back on my feet. "That boy seriously didn't offer to at least help clean up?" I put my hands on my hips.

"It's alright." Carol said with a smile. "He's just a kid."

I shook my head. "I'll help you."

"No, I got it." Daryl said.

I looked at him. "Are you sure?" He really shouldn't have to. Even though I was the one who got the turkey, he did more work on it than I did.

"Yeah. You just take yer little ass in the living room and sit down." He pointed.

"Well…okay." I smiled and shrugged, then joined my little bother in the living room.


Narrator's POV

Daryl and Carol stood in the kitchen and cleaned up the mess from dinner. Carol thought while wiping off a plate. There was something that she wanted to run by her friend and now was probably the best time to do it. "Hey, Daryl." She started. "I was thinking that maybe we should leave this place and go somewhere else. Another house, I mean."

Daryl Dixon turned to the woman giving her a questioning look. "What's wrong with this one?"

"There's blood on the floor in Abby's room from that guy."

"So, I'll clean it up."

She gave him a look, he didn't understand what she was meaning. "That's not it, Daryl. Something bad happened to Abby in there. We don't know how she feels about being in there yet. She might feel—

"I get it." He nodded. "Yer right. We'll spend the night here, Abby can stay in my room tonight. We'll tell the kids, then I'll tell Rick over the walkie, then we move on." He agreed. "It's good idea anyway, the walkers are gettin' closer."


Abby's POV

Nothing really went on for the rest of that day, it was getting late so I wandered upstairs to get ready for bed. "Abby." Daryl called me stopping me right before I got to my room. "Yer gonna sleep in my room tonight again, okay?"

I blinked at him. "But where will you sleep?"

"I'll sleep in yer room…or on the couch downstairs."

I smiled because I had a thought. "You can sleep with me like last night."

He smirked. "That was a one time thang, baby girl."

"But…what if I get scared in there? Yer room creeps me out for some reason."

"Well, then how 'bout you sleep on the couch?"

I squinted my eyes a little and nodded. "I wanna sleep in a bed."

He stared at me. "Then I'll get Carol to stay with ya."

"No, I want you." I hugged his arm. "Please, Daryl?" I gave him puppy dog eyes. I knew he wouldn't say no.

Daryl sighed. "Fine. But this is just for tonight, got it?" He gave me a serious look. I smiled and nodded. "Alright. Go do whatever ya do before bed." He gave me a playful swat when I walked passed him into the bathroom.

I brushed my teeth and used the bathroom like I always do before going to bed, then I went into Daryl's room where he was waiting for me. His vest and shoes were off but he was fully clothed besides that. I stared at him for a moment. "C'mon, in to bed." He pointed at his huge bed.

I got in on the other side, Daryl was on the side by the door. He was laying on top of the covers. "Don't you want some blankets?" I asked him.

"Nah."

"Won't you get cold?"

"No, I'm good."

There was a brief pause. "Do you always sleep in your clothes?"

He didn't answer right away. "No." He looked over at me with raised eyebrows. "But there's a little girl in the room."

"I'm not that young, ya know." I gave him an annoyed look.

"No, but ya are a wee lil thang." He said. "Look at ya." He pinched my cheek. I cringed but still smiled. "So, yer still a little girl. One who asks a lot 'a questions."

I let out a small laugh. "Sorry. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable. It's not fair if you're tired. You do more than anyone else."

He didn't speak again right away. "You do a lot too."

I shrugged. "Maybe…when I'm allowed." I let out a laugh. That was directed towards him.

"Yeah, yeah." He said. I giggled again.

It was quiet for a minute. "Hey, Daryl? Do you think we'll ever see Glenn and Maggie again?"

"Sure." He shrugged and nodded.

I squinted at him. Daryl was honest all the time so it was obvious when he was lying. "Do you really believe that?"

He looked like he was thinking. "No. No, I don't." He looked away.

"So, you don't think we'll see them again?"

"No."

"Really?" I widened my eyes. "Why?"

He seemed to hesitate. "…cuz I cain't lie to you." He said pretty much avoiding my question.

I looked down and thought. "So…what's gonna happen when my dad gets back?"

"What do ya mean?"

"Are you still gonna tuck me in at night?"

He looked at me. "Won't you want yer dad to do that?"

"…maybe you can take turns."

"Yeah, sure." He said.

"I hope you still will." I smiled.

He stared at me with the tiniest smile for a while. "Get some sleep now, shorty."

I smiled at him one more time, then rolled over to try and fall asleep.


I woke up at some point in the night and felt something heavy on me. I realized shortly after that it was Daryl's arm, he was turned on his side and cuddling me. I smiled and went back to sleep.


I woke up early the next morning and Daryl was gone. After making my way down the stairs, I saw that he was in the living room by himself drinking coffee. "Hey." I said.

"Hey, yer up early. Couldn't ya sleep?"

"No, I slept good. Thanks to you." I smiled. He smirked and shook his head. "Can I have some 'a yer coffee?"

"It ain't mine. I made it for whoever." He said with a smirk repeating what I said some time ago.

I just smiled and went to get some. I put some of the powered creamer in, then a bunch of sugar and tasted it. It had a strong coffee taste, just how I like it. I joined Daryl back in the living room. It was quiet for a while.

"Are we still leaving today?" I said breaking the silence.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Where are we gonna go?"

"Hopefully somewhere not too far."

I thought for a minute. "What if my dad can't find us?"

"That won't happen. I'll give him specific directions. So, don't you worry about that."

We stared at each other for a few seconds, then I looked down at my coffee and took a sip. "Coffee makes me jittery." I said just to be saying something.

"Maybe you shouldn't drank it then."

"But I like it. I don't just drink it for the caffeine, I like the taste."

"When, then, I'm gonna get ya decaf."

"Ew." I made a disgusted face.

"What do ya mean ew? It don't taste no different. And it won't make ya jittery."

"I won't drink decaf." I put my head up.

"You will if I tell ya to." He raised his eyebrows at me. "You ain't old enough to drank coffee yet anyway." He waved a hand at me.

I stared at him. "Since when did you like become my mom?"

He gave me an annoyed look. "When ya asked me to tuck yer little ass in at night."

I giggled.


"Now you kids go on up to yer rooms and pack whatever yer takin'." Daryl instructed us. "We gotta get a move on."

"Okay." We said. I went up the stairs and entered my bedroom. My eyes landed directly on the spot of blood and I got a bad feeling. Taking a deep breath, I stepped over it and grabbed my bag, then started packing my clothes and stuff. I stared at my big, fuzzy pillow that Daryl got me. That will definitely be coming.

I was all packed and ready to go now. My eyes landed on the blood stain again, I just kept staring at it. It gave me flashbacks, bad flashbacks.

"Abby?" Daryl was suddenly there. I looked up at him. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah…uh, sure." I looked down.

He looked down at the stain, then back at me and shook his head. "He's gone. He cain't hurt ya no more."

"I know. I'm fine."

He put his arm across my shoulders and kind of squeezed. "Ready to go?"

"...Yeah. Yup. Just need my hat." I put Glenn's hat on backwards, then slung my bag over my shoulder and picked up my pillow.

Daryl gave me a look. "Uh uh, shorty. Sorry but the pilla stays."

I blinked a few times looking at the pillow, then him. "But…I need it."

"You do not need that."

"I love it." I hugged it to me. "And it's important to me."

"What happens if we get attacked? Or if we cross a herd of walkers?"

"Then, I'll hide under my pillow." I held my head up and smiled.

He gave me a disapproving look. "I'm serious, kid. You'll have to drop it anyway. It'd be different if we had a car, but we're leavin' on foot. It's dangerous enough."

I had a thought. "But look," he gave me an annoyed look as I put the pillow on my back, then my bag so that it was between my back and my bag. "See. It works." I smiled.

He had a slight look of amusement on his face. "Ya look ridiculous."

"I'll do anything for my pillow." I held my head up again. I was being very persistent about this.

"Look, we can get ya another one sometime."

"But I don't want another one. I want this one." I said stubbornly. He was getting angry, I could tell. "Please, Daryl." I begged. "I promise I'll drop it if things get bad, but they might not." I gave him puppy dog eyes.

Daryl finally sighed and I knew he caved. "Ya really like that thang, don't ya?" I nodded with a smile. "Okay. C'mon." He put a hand on my shoulder and moved me along. "Ya sure ya got everythang?"

"I think so." I checked my pocket for my iPod. "Yup. I'm ready."


We headed east for a while, then we went north. It felt like we were walking for a long time but in reality we actually weren't that far from our now old house. We were walking on a straight road, then there was a stop sign and a pretty steep looking hill. "Y'all hold up." Daryl said. We all turned to look at him. "Let's go up here." I looked how steep the hill was and made a disgusted face. That is a lot more difficult in the heat with a giant fuzzy ass pillow strapped to your back.

"I still can't get over you with that pillow, Abby." Carol said with a laugh. "You look so funny with that big thing on your back."

I smiled a little. "I couldn't leave it behind."

"I bet yer regrettin' now." Daryl said to me.

"Nope." I turned my head away.

So, the four of us walked up that damn hill. I was already tired and thirsty and kind of hungry, but I wasn't going to be the one to complain. I'm sure Daryl is going to stop us soon for a break anyway.

We were about halfway up the hill when Daryl said, "let's check out this one." I looked at the house he was referring to. I didn't really understand why he was stopping so soon or why we at least didn't walk the rest of the way up, but I wasn't going to complain because I was ready to stop.

"You sure you want this one?" Carol said. "There's plenty of daylight left."

"This one's as good as any." Daryl shrugged. "And we shouldn't go too far. Rick and Michonne still have to find us."

There wasn't really a way for us to see inside the windows because they were too high up. "Alright. Me and Carol are gonna do this. You two stay out here." Daryl instructed us. "Bags down, guns up." He said. I nodded sitting my bag and pillow down, then pulled my gun out. Daryl gave us a nod before going inside the house along with Carol.

"I don't see why we had to leave the other house." Carl said a minute later. "I liked that house. This one looks smaller."

"I liked it too, but it's safer this way. The walkers were starting to get closer." I nodded.

It was quiet for a minute. "Did that guy rape you?" My brother asked me. I looked him. I didn't even know he knew what rape was. "You know? Charles?"

I didn't answer right away. "No. He didn't."

"What happened in there?"

"I don't wanna talk about it with you. And don't ask me again." I heard footsteps coming down the stairs so I held my gun up. Then, there was a whistle. I knew it was okay now. I put my gun down, then Daryl opened the door and let us in.

I got to the top of the stairs and saw that this house was definitely smaller than the other one, but there was something very homey about it. I kind of liked it. Carl and I went upstairs to pick our rooms. There were only three bedrooms, one was pretty big with a very soft bed and the other two are very small, especially the one and the bed was on the floor in that room. I bet a teenage boy lived in there. The other room had bunkbeds.

We made our way back downstairs. "This'll have to do until Rick gets back." Daryl said to Carol.

"There's only three bedrooms." I complained.

"I know you saw them bunkbeds in 'at one room." Daryl said to me.

"So?"

"So, you and Carl are sharin' a room." He told me.

I became annoyed. "I'm too old to share a room with my brother."

"Well, then you can sleep on the couch. How 'bout that?" He said roughly.

"Mm." I pouted.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope you liked this chapter!