"Evelyn, we have to talk."

She knew that voice. It was the one that had once upon a time appeared in her dreams. Now, it only stalked through her nighnames.

Immediately, she flinched away from the hand that had reached out and rested on her shoulder, her body jerking back in one, stumbling motion.

Daryl's eyes widened momentarily, hurt flashing through them as his hand was left lying limply in the air where it had previously been resting.

What else would she have done, though? Lean into his touch? Welcome it like an old friend?

Daniel's eyes widened as he was pulled back a bit by Evelyn's sudden movement, though he didn't remove his arm from her waist.

Dixon's eyes flitted down to the arm that Daniel had wrapped around Evelyn and a muscle in his jaw ticked, before looking back up at Evelyn, an unreadable look resting in those blue eyes of his.

Back when they were teenagers, the woman could read every emotion that played on Daryl's face simply by glancing over at him. Now though, she could barely see past the surface.

Words were lost upon her tongue once more, leaving Daniel to be the one of the two of them to speak once more.

"Don't touch her," His voice was low, a clear warning in it and his hard gaze was trained on the man before them.

Daryl didn't even acknowledge the man, "Evelyn," He begged instead, eyes frantically searching her face.

She flinched again. She didn't like the sound of her name on his lips, she decided. It was almost all she had heard from him since arriving at the prison. It sent an uncomfortable prickle down her spine every time she heard it.

"I have nothing to say to you,"

The words came out so soft, barely even a whisper. And it appeared that all three of the people standing there hadn't expected them to be said at all, because even Evelyn blinked in surprise after having said it.

This time, it was Daryl that flinched back, eyes squeezing shut in a way that reminded her all too well of the day of high school graduation.

That was it. Those were the first words Evelyn Wright had spoken to Daryl Dixon since she said goodbye to him all those years ago. Since she had walked away for what she thought had been the first and last time.

But now, she wanted nothing more than to get away from this conversation. Away from him.

"Wait, I-" Daryl genuinely looked lost, even slightly panicked, as the words tumbled out of his mouth.

"You heard her." Daniel was still speaking in that deadly calm tone of his, it unnerved Evelyn that just seconds ago the man had been happily chatting her ear off about the prison, "She doesn't want to talk to you."

The glare that Daryl sent Daniel would've sent lesser men to their knees.

"Mind yer own fucking business," He snapped, clearly having reached his breaking point when it came to Hayes.

The sense of elder sister type protectiveness Evelyn felt over Daniel kicked in all at once, and she detached herself from his hold to step in front of him.

"Don't you dare talk to him like that." She snarled, staring straight into Daryl's eyes with pure hatred and disgust.

He blinked down at her once, almost as if he couldn't recognize the woman standing in front of him.

Good.

The girl he used to know was foolishly and hopelessly in love with him, ready to follow him to the ends of the earth if he desired.

But not the woman that stood before him today. This woman would never again let herself fall for the trap of Daryl Dixon. She wouldn't let herself.

She stood there, staring into his eyes for a moment longer, unable to tear herself away, no matter how much she wanted to. He, in turn, stared unblinkingly down at her.

It wasn't until Daniel gently grabbed her elbow, a silent reminder that she and Daryl weren't alone, that she finally tore her gaze away.

Shaking her head once, Evelyn turned on her heel and let her friend guide her away, leaving Daryl to once again stare at the spot she had been standing in.

Even after the man was out of sight, she wasn't able to relax this time.

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙

For the entire tour, Evelyn had been tense, on edge.

Daniel seemingly figured it was better not to bring the situation up, which the woman was grateful for, and simply turned back into his cheery self to give her the promised tour of the prison.

Aside from a couple strange looks, nobody bothered the two of them, which Evelyn was surprised about, though she wouldn't be caught complaining.

She had to admit, this place was incredible. The way it was run, the safeness of it all. If she hadn't been standing in the middle of all of it, experiencing it for herself, she wouldn't believe it.

Evelyn hadn't thought there were any places like this left.

She was currently sitting at a wooden picnic table in one of the courtyards, waiting for Daniel to come back with lunch for the two of them.

She was tapping her fingers against the table, unable to shake her unease despite already having all the escape routes mapped out in her head. She would just have to be sure to share them with Danny as soon as he got back.

"You're the girl that fainted." A voice from behind the woman sounded.

Evelyn straightened and turned around on the bench to face the owner of the voice.

It was a boy- thirteen, maybe fourteen years old- wearing an old sheriffs hat, from the looks of it, on his head.

The boy's mouth dropped open slightly when she had fully turned to face him, clearly seeing her for the first time even though he knew who she was.

"Wow," He breathed out under his breath, something she no doubt wasn't supposed to hear.

"That's me." She confirmed.

"I-you're-" He stuttered out, stumbling over his words as he stared at her.

Evelyn's eyebrows quirked up momentarily in amusement, "Yes?" She promoted.

He cleared his throat at that, sticking a hand out straight to her, "I'm Carl." He introduced himself, gulping.

The woman smiled softly, shaking his hand in return, "I'm Evelyn," She offered.

"You're really pretty," He blurted out suddenly, cheeks turning bright red within seconds of the words slipping past his lips. He clearly hadn't meant to say that out loud.

Evelyn laughed lightly, "Thank you, Carl. I like your hat."

Carl stood up straighter at that, almost as if he was trying to puff his chest out, and reached up to fix the hat resting upon his head, "Thanks!" He beamed in pride.

"Hey, E," Daniel greeted happily, practically skipping back over to the table, two plates in his grasp. He placed the down and grinned at the boy, "Who's this?"

"This is Carl," Evelyn introduced with a smile, which both males gave each other.

That is, until Carl's eyes narrowed to slits, "You're not... together, are you?" He asked suspiciously.

Both adults' eyes flew wide open, "What? No!" Evelyn let out.

Carl visibly sagged in relief, "Oh, good."

Daniel's eyebrows flew up, "Good?"

"Oh, hey, I've got to go." He threw a smile at the woman, "See you later, Evelyn!" Before running off in the opposite direction.

"Cute kid." Evelyn said in amusement, already beginning to pick at her food.

Daniel rolled his eyes, "You're just saying that because he told you that you were pretty."

Clearly he had heard more of the conversation then Evelyn had initially thought.

"No... but it certainly helped." She remarked.

A/N: It's a pretty short chapter