"Hey," Daryl grumbles as he approaches Nell, who is sitting a good distance from the group around the fire.

Nell whips her head around to look at him, slightly startled by his sudden entrance. She raises her eyebrows at him, asking him, what's wrong?

She thinks that maybe she did something wrong. Maybe he is going to scold her about kicking Carl this morning. That's usually the only time anyone talks to her anyway.

The cool breeze speeds up and whips Nell's hair around and into her face. Frustrated, she swipes across her face with two hands to fix her hair back in place. Her hair has grown a bit these past months. It hasn't been cut since she left her home.

Her neighbors, the Smiths, used to cut her hair all the time. Nell liked having her hair right above her shoulders— just long enough to be able to put into pigtails, but short enough that her father couldn't use it to his advantage. It was harder for her father to grab when it barely reached her collarbones.

Even though her hair isn't exactly long, barely below her shoulders, it still bothers her when the wind picks up.

"Ya hair grew," Daryl says as he sits down on the grass next to her. Nell raises her eyebrows again. Is this really what he came over to talk to me about? My hair?

"Mhm," Nell mumbles in a monotone and then glances up to the top of Daryl's head. "Yer's did too." Just like Nell, his hair hasn't grown a whole lot, it's a small difference, but Nell always notices the little things.

Daryl wasn't expecting her to actually speak, so he gets right to the point. "Are ya scared of the group?" Daryl asks. "We ain't gonna hurt ya, ya know that, right?"

Nell looks up at him, but she doesn't say a word. There isn't fear in her eyes, Daryl notices, but something about her gaze is uncertain, maybe even sad, like a puppy when you leave for work.

"I can only help ya if ya speak to me," Daryl starts. "What's wrong with ya?" He doesn't say it in a mean tone, more like a question.

Nell's eyes start tearing up, but she quickly shuts them when she remembers she will never cry in front of anyone again.

She can't trust Daryl. Trusting someone is against the rules. She can't tell him about Ollie, or her mom, or her dad and his stupid rules, or Sophia, or her panic attacks, or anything else about her that he could use against her.

But would Daryl really try to hurt her? Nell doesn't think he would ever want to do such a thing. She's supposed to trust no one, but the thing is, the only person she does trust is Daryl.

Too many thoughts take over her mind, which has been happening an awful lot recently. She doesn't know what to do. She is torn between listening to her father's survival rules or listening to herself and what she needs in this moment.

She never liked her father's rules, but she was told that they would keep her alive, and staying alive was more important than anything else.

But the more time she spends with the group, the more she realizes, maybe there is something more important than staying alive. Maybe living a life worth living is more important than living a life to just survive.

Her father is dead, and as much as Nell wants to deny it, deep down, she knows it too. He's not here to make sure she follows his stupid rules. He's not here anymore to punish her for not doing what he says. Even though she's terrified that someone will punish her like her father, she truly doesn't believe that person will be Daryl. The only way to find out is to trust him.

"Can't be friends with nobody," she says through sniffles. "Then— then it won't hurt no more." Nell immediately shuts her eyes after speaking. She doesn't want to see his reaction. She doesn't even know if she wants him to say anything at all. She's not used to telling people her feelings.

Daryl doesn't exactly know what to say to this. In truth, he wasn't expecting her to open up at all and expected it would be just wasted time on his part. He isn't good at this. He isn't good at comforting people.

"Can't trust nobody either," Nell adds with more strength in her voice. The wind has already dried up her tears.

Daryl searches for words to say that might help her, or better yet make her tell him more. He's a man of few words, and every word he says always seems to make someone else angry or upset. He eventually learned to just stop talking so much and walk away from the group to where it was quiet.

Maybe he is more like Nell than he originally thought. Maybe that's why he seems so gravitated towards her and her well-being for some reason.

He sees himself in her.

"Is that why yer mute? 'Cause ya don't wanna be friends with nobody?" Daryl questions her. He doesn't really understand how not wanting to make friends has anything to do with her past, which is why Beth wanted him to talk to her in the first place.

"No," Nell says softly. Daryl focuses on the girl, eyes narrowed in curiosity. He isn't used to her sudden spurt of confidence. "I wanna make friends, but— but I don't wanna miss anyone no more."

"Miss anyone?" Daryl asks but soon regrets it because Nell's eyes start tearing up again. She shuts her eyes, which has now become a helpful habit to make herself stop crying.

She opens her eyes after a while and looks past the prison gate, at the silhouette of trees. She hasn't fully accepted the deaths of her little brother and her parents, let alone said it out loud. Saying it out loud makes it a reality, it sets it in stone. They're dead.

But she doesn't want them to be. She doesn't want to believe it.

"I miss someone too," Daryl says when he notices her discomfort. Nell glances away from the trees and looks at Daryl with teary eyes.

"I miss my big brother," he says, his voice breaking at the last word. "He— he left us."

Nell stares at him with empathy. She feels bad for Daryl, knowing how hard it is to lose a sibling. Once again, she debates telling him about Ollie and her parents. If he understands her, why would he try to hurt her?

"I miss my brother too," she finally chokes out. The watery eyes turn into gushing tears when she says it aloud. Dead. He's dead. And he ain't ever comin' back.

She shuts her eyes and tries to fight back the tears, but she can't. Every bone in her body is filled with an emotion she's never felt before. She's in denial, but at the same time, she also feels confused. She's guilty for not being able to save him. She was the only one who ever looked out for him. And she failed.

She wants to feel sad, but feeling sad will make it real. It will make everything real. And she doesn't want it to feel real. She doesn't want to accept it. She just wants to go back home, kiss her baby brother goodnight, and then go to sleep like nothing had ever happened.

"If I'm not friends with no one," Nell starts, changing the topic so she doesn't have to think about Ollie any longer. "Then— then I won't miss no one."

Daryl doesn't quite know what to say to this. He wants to help her and he wants to bring her out of her silence, but he doesn't know how. Nell is smart, and Daryl knows that she is right. Deaths are a whole lot easier to face when you aren't friends with the person. But that isn't what Nell needs to hear right now.

"No one's gonna be dyin' no more. We're safe now. Ya don't gotta be missin' nobody no more." Daryl doesn't believe himself, but he isn't trying to be truthful; it only matters if Nell believes him.

How can he be sure? Nell wonders. He's not in control of things like death, so how can he be certain that she won't have to miss anyone ever again?

"I can't trust no one either. So I don't believe you," Nell says, still teary at the thought of losing someone else.

"Can't trust no one?" Daryl isn't that confused anymore. He understands why she can't trust anyone, even without her explaining it. He has a hard time trusting people too. The more he talks to her, the more he feels sorry for her.

"Yeah. Trust gets ya killed. That's what my Daddy always said."

"Do ya believe him?" Daryl asks, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah. I gotta," Nell says as if it were obvious.

"Why?" Daryl asks, his stomach dropping like an anchor drops off a ship. He never thought he'd ever have to talk about this topic again, especially after Merle left.

"'Cause I don't wanna be punished," Nell says. It's obvious that she doesn't know that "punishing" is wrong, and it pains Daryl to hear her talk about it so casually.

"Who... punished you?" Daryl chokes out. His throat begins to burn and his eyes suddenly become blurry. He doesn't cry, but he doesn't know why he's upset. He feels sorry for the girl, but that's not why he's feeling this way.  He hasn't thought about his own father in a long time, and talking to Nell about it makes the trauma flood right back. There are so many things left unsaid about his past. All he wanted was to start over and move past it with his big brother, but now he can't even do that.

"Daddy punished me," Nell says. "But only when he got mad." But she knows that he got mad very often. So often, in fact, that she had to tell her teachers from school that she loved climbing trees because she would always show up with fresh cuts and bruises. She didn't understand why her dad made her make up lies about her injuries. She thought that everyone got punished.

"Ya know yer daddy ain't supposed to do that...right?" He asks softly.

"What?" Nell doesn't understand. Of course her father was supposed to punish her, otherwise, how else would she have learned right from wrong?

"Yer daddy was wrong to beat ya. That ain't normal." Daryl feels his stomach twist and turn as he tries to explain why abuse is wrong to a twelve-year-old.

Nell doesn't speak. She slowly switches her gaze back to the trees, still processing everything Daryl just said.

Her heart is torn in half, not knowing what to think or who to believe. She just met Daryl a year ago, why should she trust him over her father, who she has known her whole life?

She never liked it when her father punished her. Something inside of her agrees with Daryl, that her father was wrong to hurt her. But she physically can't believe that her father would purposely hurt her if it weren't for a good reason. Why would her father ever do that? She loved her dad, and she thought that he loved her too.

"But hey," Daryl says. "Nobody's ever gonna do that to you no more. And you don't gotta worry about missin' no one either, 'cause we're safe now."

Talking to Daryl is different than talking to her father. When she talks to Daryl, she isn't scared to say the wrong thing or make him angry. It's like she's been let out of a cage that her father kept her trapped in.

"Ya promise?" Nell asks. She wants to start trusting Daryl, but the only way to make sure that he will keep his word is with a promise. Promises are the only thing left of value in this world.

"Promise," he hesitantly responds. Deep down, Daryl hopes that his promise won't be broken, even though it's out of his control.

"What do I do now?" Nell asks. She doesn't know what comes next. Her father was abusive, but there's nothing she can do about it.

"Ya just gotta learn how to live with it," Daryl says.

"Learn how to live with it?"

"It'll be hard at first, but as time goes on, it'll get a bit easier. And then, you'll barely ever think of yer daddy anymore."

"How do ya know?" Nell asks, not believing that she can go a day without thinking of her father.

"I just do," He says before switching the topic. "Now, ya can start by making friends with the group, and not listenin' to yer daddy's mottos no more."

"Mmm," Nell mumbles. It's easier said than done. She's been following her father's rules for her entire life, and now she is just supposed to stop?

"Can ya at least try to not be mute no more?"

"Yeah. I can do that," she agrees. Daryl's lips crack into a small smile, something that doesn't happen very often. Then, he stands up, arm extended, waiting for Nell to help herself up.

Then together, they walk towards the group by the fire.