Riley laid in her spot for what felt like hours, listening to the hushed conversations between the group and the two idiots. Feeling her frustration only becoming stronger, she got up quickly and went to the back room, shutting the door quietly behind her. She moved to the far side of the room and sat down in the corner.

Riley sighed as she replayed the conversation in her head. Almost everything she thought she knew was a lie. Everything she went through, all the pain and loneliness, and that fucking idiot Dimitrij had the nerve to say he was protecting her?

Riley felt tears well in her eyes, pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her face in her knees and cried quietly. For the first time in a very long time she let herself cry for herself. She had decided when she was young that she wouldn't feel bad for herself and she wouldn't cry over her situation, but now after all this time, her walls were crumbling. She couldn't hold back the emotions anymore. She curled into herself more, sobbing quietly, all alone in the dark stock room of the abandoned convenience store.

Riley nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone rubbing her back gently. She snapped her head up quickly, her green eyes meeting the familiar piercing blue ones.
"Daryl," she said in a shaky voice. "I didn't hear you come in," she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks quickly. She knew he saw her crying, but for some reason she felt like it was stupid for her to be sitting in the dark feeling sorry for herself.
Daryl didn't say anything, just watched her carefully as she tried to hide the evidence of her breakdown. Riley looked up at him expectantly, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"Come here," he mumbled. Riley obediently scooted closer to him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
"I bet you think this is all really stupid, huh?" she asked quietly.
"Kinda," he mumbled.
"You don't know what that man put me through," she whispered harshly. "I was just a kid, and he forced me to..." she stopped to release a shaky breath as she tried to hold back the tears. "I never asked for any of this," Riley said burying her face in her hands, Daryl tightened his hold on her slightly.

"Maybe it would have been better if Daniel had just let me die like my mom," she mumbled quietly.
"Hey!" Daryl said angrily, grabbing Riley's shoulder and turning her to look at him.
"The hell are you saying?" he asked angrily. "Just cause things ain't what you thought, now yer just ready to quit?" Riley looked into his eyes, surprised by his sudden angry outburst. He was a hot head, she knew that, but he had seemed to mellow out in the last few months. It had been a while since she had seen him so angry.
"Ya can't just quit when things don't go yer way! You've kept it together through everything so far, and now yer gonna let sumthin stupid like this break ya? What's it even matter anyway?" he asked her roughly. "That life is over! That world is gone!"

Riley couldn't help but feel like an idiot for saying what she had said. Daryl was right, she couldn't just give up now, not because of those two idiots out there. They'd controlled and ruined her life enough, she wouldn't let that happen anymore. Never again.
"This is our life now, not what it used to be," Daryl growled angrily.
"You're right," she sighed. "I'm sorry. It was just a lot to take in all at once, I guess," she said softly.
"Stop apologizing," he huffed, wrapping his arm back around her and pulling her back against him. "Just, don't go givin up," he mumbled. "Its gettin harder out there, everyone losin hope, can't have you breakin down on me too," he said quietly.
"I know," she sighed. "I've seen it too, everyone is completely exhausted running around all the time. Lori is barely on her feet anymore, she needs to rest," Riley said.
"Thought y'all wasn't buddy, buddy no more?" he asked.
"I don't agree with her decisions, but that don't mean I want her to fall out on us because we're running her ragged," she said. "We need to find a safe place, somewhere we can be for a while."
"This place ain't permanent, but you were right, its got enough for now," Daryl said. "I'll talk ta Rick bout stayin here a few more days, restin up before we move again."
"Ok," she said quietly, watching as he stood up and dusted off his pants.
"You coming?" he asked, looking down at her expectantly.
"Yea," she said smiling up at him. She stood and dusted off her pants as well.
"Wait," Daryl said stopping her as she started to walk out of the dark room. She watched him curiously as he pulled her hatchet from his belt and handed it to her. "Keep it on ya," he said sternly.
"Right," she said taking the hatchet and slipping into its place in her belt.
"Come on," he said, leading her out of the back room.

They found Rick leaning against the front windows, peeking through the newspaper and keeping watch. Glenn and T-dog were leaned against the windows on the opposite side, discreetly keeping an eye on Dimitrij and Daniel who were huddled in a corner eating.
"Rick," Daryl said, catching Rick's attention.
"Everything ok?" Rick asked, glancing over at Riley who's eyes were still a little red from crying.
"Yea," she said softly. "We just wanted to talk to you about something."
"Is it about them?" he said glancing toward Dimitrij and Daniel.
"No, no it's about us," she said quickly.
"What about us?" he asked cautiously.
"Our people need a break," Daryl said. "They're slowin down. We need ta stop for a few days and rest," he stated.
"We can't stop," Rick said firmly.
"It's just for a few days, so we can rest and get our strength back up. This place is secure and has plenty of food for the time being," Riley pleaded. She hadn't said much about their constant roaming, but she had to admit, it was really wearing her down. She desperately wanted to wake up in the morning and not have to worry about where they would be going next or if they'd find some place stay for the night.
"Think about Lori," Riley said. "She needs to rest. Why not take advantage of it while we have the chance."
"Alright, two days," Rick said sternly. "After that, we pack up and move on."
"Thank you!" Riley sighed, throwing her arms around Rick happily.
"Get some rest," Rick said as Riley pulled away from him.
"You too," Daryl said looking at Rick seriously. "Cant have you fallin out on us."
"Yea, I know," Rick sighed. The exhaustion was clear on his face and Riley was happy he decided to finally stop and take a break.

Daryl and Riley headed back to their spot, setting their weapons aside and laying down. Riley pulled the blanket back over them and snuggled against him, sighing softly when he wrapped his arm around her and held her close. Daryl Dixon wasn't one to cuddle, so on the rare occasion he did, Riley soaked it up as much as she could.
"Get some rest, Dinky," he mumbled softly.
"Mhmm," she hummed, already feeling herself drifting off.

When Riley woke up she was completely wrapped in warmth and she could hear Daryl's steady breathing. She opened her eyes and realized that she was snuggled against his chest and his arm was wrapped tightly around her. She didn't need to look at him to know how tired he was, he had been running himself completely ragged lately. Daryl was the one who would usually go scout out new places for them, he would get up at dawn to go hunting so they could have something to eat for the day, and stay up after everyone else went to sleep to keep watch.

No one else seemed to notice how tired he was, but Riley could see it. He was wearing down and he needed the break more than anyone. She closed her eyes and snuggled against him, prepared to lay there as long as necessary to let him get some sleep.
Riley laid there quietly in Daryl's arms for two hours, listening to his steady breathing and the sounds of the group as they all slowly started waking up. She listened to the hushed conversations through the store and the sounds of food wrappers as they enjoyed having food readily available. Not long after, Daryl finally started to stir.
"Dinky," he said softly, his voice raspy from sleeping.
"Yea?" she asked, her voice nearly a whisper.
"How long you been up?" he asked, releasing his hold on her and stretching his arms.
"Couple hours," she replied looking up at him as he sat up.
"Shoulda woke me up," he said rubbing his shoulder.
"You needed the rest," she said sitting up also. "Your shoulder bothering you?"
"Just sore," he said dismissively, moving to grab his crossbow.
"Wait," she said softly scooting around to kneel behind him. She pulled the leather vest away from his shoulders and he slipped it the rest of the way off, laying it on the floor next to them. Riley trailed her hands across his back, slowly working her way up to his shoulders. She gently massaged his shoulders, feeling how tense his muscles were under her hands. When she felt his muscles begin to relax she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and kissed his cheek softly.
"Feel any better?" she asked quietly. He nodded silently and Riley released her hold on him. She stood and walked over the shelves, browsing the selection of junk food available. She grabbed a bag of chips, some cookies, a few candy bars and some water and headed back to her spot. Daryl was gone when she returned, which was normal. She looked up and saw him at the front of the store talking to Rick, Glenn and T-dog, probably making plans for something.

"He is a good man."
Riley turned around quickly at the sound of her father's voice.
"What?" she asked confused.
"That Dixon guy. Not what I would have preferred for my little girl, but he is a good man," he said.
"Whatever," she huffed, sitting down and tearing into her food.
"Riley," he sighed sitting down next to her. "I understand why you're upset with us, but I just want you to know, we really did have the best intentions for you. We may have made mistakes, but that doesn't mean we didn't care."
"It doesn't matter anymore," she sighed.
"Huh?" he looked surprised.
"Daryl talked some sense into me last night," she sighed tossing aside the stale cookies. "That life, that world is behind us now. Time to move on from it," she sighed.
"He sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders," he said.
"He does," she nodded.
"Intimidating as all hell though," he chuckled.
"Yea, he's like that," she smiled softly. "But he takes care of us. Always makes sure we're safe, have enough to eat, him and Rick are keeping us alive."
"Which one is Rick again?" he asked curiously.
"The tall guy talking to Daryl," she pointed out.
"Oh," he nodded.
"You'll learn everyone's names soon enough," she said.
"Am I to assume you don't want to throw us out as bait anymore?" he asked curiously.
"No, I'll save y'all as bait for later," she chuckled. "You two might be Idiots, but like it or not, y'all are the only family I've got left. We all have to stick together if we want any chance of survival."

"Thank you," he said softly before standing up and going back to where Dimitrij was sitting on the other side of the room.