Glenn was the first one to leave and storm back to the car. I was soon to follow him to stop myself from swinging for Tyler as he just stood smiling at me. All I did was snarl back at him. No doubt he was going to try and act as if everything was alright but he knew damn well it wasn't. Just because he knocked Merle on his ass, doesn't mean mean he's made up for all the shit he's done.
It wasn't long before the others came over to join us, leaving Tyler and Merle over by the trees. Rick then took Daryl, Glenn, Maggie and I up the road a ways to talk, leaving Michonne by the car. I didn't think it'd be too long before we were having this conversation.
"It won't work bringing them both back." Rick started.
"It's gotta. Merle at least." Daryl argued.
"It'll stir things up." Rick disagreed calmly.
"Look, the Governor is probably on his way to the prison right now. Merle for one knows how he thinks and we could use the extra muscle."
"I'm not having them at the prison." Maggie spoke up ignoring Daryl's reasoning.
Glenn also shook his head. "Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol, Beth or Lily?"
Daryl turned his nose up and looked at me. "He ain't a rapist."
"Well his buddy is." Glenn snarled. Maggie snapped her head towards him and the look on her face told him to shut up. Something happened back there to make Glenn act this way. It's up to them if they choose to tell us or not.
As Daryl turned his back to the others I saw a large cut on his cheek from where he was beaten by Merle. It mirrored the same one I had but I realised I was trying to avoid making an opinion. "They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night."
"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each others throats. That goes for Tyler to." Rick looked at me.
I rolled my eyes. What happened between me and that prick is in the past. I've moved on. "So your gonna cut 'em both loose and bring the samurai home wih us?" Daryl spat again.
"She's not coming back." Rick reassured.
"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie stuck up for her.
We all looked at her leaning up the car for support. "She did lead you guys to us." Glenn also supported her.
Rick turned his nose up to her. "Then ditched us."
"She didn't ditch us." I interrupted before I even realised I was talking. "She told me she was going after the Governor. I offered to go with her. Obviously things went bad. She helped you get me and Daryl back. We can't just leave her like that." I wasn't backing down without a fight.
"At least let my dad stitch her up." Maggie nodded at me.
Rick shook his head. "She's too unpredictable."
"That's right. We don't know who she is." We stopped and all looked at her again. She was staring right back at us. She looked as if she knew what we were talking about. "Merle. Merle's blood."
"No, Merle is your blood. My blood. My family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison." Glenn spat. This was true.
"And your part of this family." Rick spoke immediately after Glenn had finished. "He's not."
"Man, y'all don't know." Daryl grumbled. No one said a word. I felt so guilty for not telling him that his brother was still alive and in that town. Time to come clean.
"I knew Merle was alive when I went to that town the night the farm got overrun. I'm sorry. I didn't know Tyler was there though. I knew the Governor was a psycho. He had fish tanks filled with human and walker heads. He had a walker trapped in a cage, for god sake. I should've told you and I realise that now. Maybe if I'd said something, we wouldn't be here having this conversation. It's like I said before, I figured if you didn't know about them, they wouldn't be a problem." I stopped and saw all eyes looking at me. "Even if Merle and Tyler were to come with us. We only have one car and there are eight people. It's not gonna work."
Everyone had a look of disappointment plasterd over their faces. Daryl more than anyone. But inside, they knew that we weren't all going to fit in this one car. "So we leave Merle and Tyler." Glenn nodded.
"That's not what I-" I started and was cut of by Daryl.
"Fine, we'll fend for ourselves."
"That's not what I was saying." I apologised, finishing my sentence.
Daryl shook his head. "No him, no me."
"Daryl no!" I snapped. A single tear slipped down my cheek.
"It was always Merle and I before this. If Tyler wants to tag along he can."
Maggie shook her head. "Don't."
"Are you serious? You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn said. His voice shook.
Daryl looked at me. "You'd do the same thing. You always talked about it. Going out and finding Tyler. Going and finding your family back on the farm. Well you found 'em."
"That was different. That was when I thought I had no one. When you wanted to kick me out and I went through that bad patch during the winter. That's not the point." I sighed.
"What would you want us to tell the others?" Glenn shook his head.
Daryl had to think about it for a moment or two before he replied. "They'll understand." He nodded his head. I think he was trying to force himself to believe what he'd just said.
That was when I heard grunting coming from behind. Merle was stood up and he pushed Tyler away from him. I chuckled a bit at Tyler's face as Merle pushed him but turned back to the matter in hand. This wasn't the time to be getting distracted.
"Say goodbye to your pop for me." Daryl placed his hand on my shoulder and walked past.
"Are you serious! Daryl!" Glenn called after him.
Rick went to run after him but I put my arm out. "I'll go." I smiled and ran towards him.
"Hey! There's got to be another way." I called. Daryl stopped walking and turned to face me.
We stood silently for a second as I waited for Daryl's response. "Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once." He started walking again.
I ran and grabbed his arm. He pulled away so I walked by his side. "Look, I don't know what happened before I met you, but we started something last night. Not just us but the whole town." I gulped. "You realise that. Can't we just talk about this?"
"No him, no me. That's all I can say." He said again as we approached the back of the car. Michonne turned and started listening.
Daryl went to open the boot to the car and I shut it before he could open it and get his stuff. "I'm not asking you to leave him." I sniffed.
"Take care of yourself. Take care of lil' ass-kicker. Keep Carl out of trouble. He's one tough kid." Daryl went to open the boot again but I kept it firmly down.
I saw the rest of the group all watching and Michonne was still listening. "Daryl please."
"He's my brother." He shook his head and moved my arm from he boot.
"I'm not going anywhere without you." I sighed as he opened the boot and started packing supplies into a bag. He didn't say anything. "Are you even listening to me." I asked as another tear battled its way down my face.
Daryl looked up and stopped what he was doing. He placed his hand on my shoulder and his other hand on my face. He then wiped my tear with his dirty thumb and carefully touched the cut. I could hear Merle making rude noises. "What happened in Atlanta had nothing to do with you. I'm not leaving him again." He turned back to the supplies.
"I'll talk to Rick, try and figure something out." I begged.
"Like you said. The cars not big enough for all of us. It's just another excuse." He shook his head. "With me gone y'all fit."
I looked up and I saw Tyler looking at me with hope. "We'll work something out. We all need you...I need you." I sobbed.
Daryl looked at me sympathetically. "Come with me."
"I..I." I stuttered. He pulled his bag onto his back and put his crossbow over his shoulder. "W..what about my dad? Briana? Hershal? Everyone else? I can't just leave them. They're family. They're your family to." I shook. My hands were now shaking and Daryl noticed.
He took my hand in his and stopped them shaking. "You know how I felt then, leaving Merle back in Atlanta. I'm not making the same mistake again. Are you coming or not?" He asked bluntly. I looked at Rick and back at Daryl. Merle and Tyler distracted me as they were having another squabble behind Daryl. "Lily?" I snapped my head back in Daryl's direction. "Are you comin' or not?"
"You can't ask me to leave them. My whole family. Your family. We've just gotten everything back to normal between us. You can't leave. Please. I understand I was wrong to act the way I did. You said it yourself. You can't leave family." I sighed.
Daryl let go of my hands and nodded. "Take care of yourself." He mumbled and kissed my forehead. He then started to walk towards Merle. I'd lost him.
"Daryl!" Glenn shouted.
"Come on bro. You to." Daryl said to Merle and turned to Tyler. Merle then put his arm round Daryl and they walked away. He took one last look at me and nodded a goodbye.
"Daryl please. We can work something out. Don't go...I love you." I sobbed with my voice getting quieter as I spoke.
Daryl didn't turn around. I stood for a moment in shock. My emotions now getting the better of me. I'd left it too late to tell him how I really felt. Then I had an idea.