"No fucking way in hell," Lorelei said as she stared down her own reflection in the full-length mirror.

"Come on, why not?" Aaron asked?

"Look at me." She exclaimed as if what she wore was preposterous, she gestured down to her body, she was wearing a knee-high navy blue dress, a shade slightly darker than her leather jacket. The dress fit her well, it was slightly loose but looked fine, it showed off the curves in her body and her long legs, she felt out of place.

"You look good." Aaron countered. He had come over to her house when she was in the middle of getting ready for Deanna's party that Aaron had encouraged her to at least stop by. After their outing with Daryl, their moods were slightly diminished, the horse whom they had been trying so hard to bring home unfortunately died. They had both made it home in one piece and went their separate ways. Lorelei was wearing a pair of her best jeans, a nice shirt, and her jacket when Aaron came by.

He had come over to ask her thoughts about Daryl, after a long conversation about the man they had both come to the conclusion he should replace Eric as Alexandria's newest recruiter. Anyway, Aaron was not into fashion by any means but when he saw her outfit he thought she could do better, and this definitely proved it.

"You're lucky I put on mascara," Lorelei told the man.

"Do you like it?" He questioned.

"Of course I like it," Lorelei answered with a sigh, "But it's stupid, when was the last time I even wore a dress, must have been years ago." She finished and ran a hand through her hair. "You didn't try to force me into wearing a dress to the last party," she said looking at him skeptically.

"Well there was no man good enough to fit your apocalypse standards at the last party," he said giving her a knowing look, before he smiled at her, "Now there is, and you already kissed him so I doubt he won't be checking you out."

Immediately after he finished his statement she slapped his arm, "I told you about the kiss with Rick in confidence."

Aaron shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm just using it against you, in confidence." she glared at the man and he handed her the jacket she had thrown on the bed, "Just try."

She stared at him, turning to look at herself once more in the mirror before sighing in defeat, "Fine."

Aaron gave her a victorious smile and then started heading out the front door, "Don't forget to come over later so we can go talk to Daryl."

"Yeah, I got it." He paused at the door frame turning to her with a more serious look on his face.

"You sure about the bike?"

"Yeah, he should have it," Aaron had a bike in his garage that didn't run, but could with a little work, and he had plenty of parts for it. When Lorelei had first gotten to Alexandria and he learned about her love for bikes he offered it to her, but when she tried to work on her mind always went somewhere else. Bikes were what she bonded over with her brother, it was something they did together, always talking a joking around when they did.

When she was in the garage, working on it, the dead silence didn't sit right with her, it felt wrong. So she stopped, the bike wasn't a necessity to the community, and no one else knew anything about them so it just sat in Aaron's garage. When Daryl had shown his interest in motorcycles Aaron thought maybe he could use it, when he ran the idea past Lorelei she agreed. Just because she couldn't do it doesn't mean she couldn't let someone else get some joy out of it. "I don't think I can bring myself to use it, giving it to Daryl is the best idea."

Aaron nodded and flashed her a smile before walking himself out. She walked over to her dresser grabbing the thigh holster with her throwing knives in them and slide them under her dress, "At least he doesn't know about these." she said to herself.

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Lorelei arrived at the party and saw Glenn, Maggie, and Noah huddled in the corner. She walked over to them and greeted them with a hello, "You guys doing okay?" she asked, "I know It's kind of suffocating."

"Yeah, I think we're doing good all things considered," Maggie answered.

"I think we just need more time to adjust, we'll get there," Glenn added standing at his wife's side.

"Understandable," Lorelei nodded, "I've been here for months, still feel out of place at things like this," she said shrugging.

"Can't remember the last time I went to a party," Noah said thinking out loud.

"Me either." Lorelei agreed, "Alright, I'll leave you guys to it," They all gave her their best smiles and she walked away towards the table filled with alcohol, that's at least one thing she could get behind. She grabbed herself a beer, all her year's bartending and she still found herself always being the most comfortable with a simple beer in her hand.

After a few minutes of wandering around, small amounts of alcohol buzzing in her system, and trying her best at small talk someone approached her and she found herself looking over at Rick.

"Hey" she greeted the man, he looked tense and uncomfortable in the party scene. However, Lorelei didn't fail to notice how well he cleaned up.

"Hey," they stood in awkward slice, Lorelei had to refrain from rolling her eyes, God, they were worse than teenagers.

Lorelei let out an awkward laugh, "One of us is gonna have to bring it up sooner or later, I usually don't just go around kissing people."

Before Rick could even open his mouth to respond to the girl, Jesse's voice cut through the air, "Hey Lorelei," she greeted with a friendly smile, " Hi Rick, this is my husband Pete."

"Hey, good to meet you." He said to Rick before he turned to Lorelei and offered her a smile, "Hi Lorelei." His eyes shamelessly traveled up and down her body, not paying mind to his wife who only stood inches away. Lorelei tense under his gaze and the action didn't go unnoticed by Rick.

Then he noticed why she seemed uncomfortable and clenched his jaw when he caught Pete's gaze still on her. When Pete finally tore his eyes away and looked at Rick he spoke, "I wanted to thank you for taking on being our constable. If we keep growing at this rate, we're gonna need even more."

"I hope so," Rick replied letting his mannerism for small talk work its way, he couldn't remember the last time anyone tried to engage him in small talk.

"You want to come by my office next week? I'll take a look at you." Pete offered earning a confused glance from Rick, "And I probably should have said I was a doctor first."

"That would have sounded more appropriate, yeah," Lorelei replied with zero amusement in her voice as she looked at the man taking a sip of her beer. With that Rick couldn't help but feel there was something off about Pete.

"I think it sounded nice either way," Jesse told her husband.

"I'm going to get us a refill," Pete offered to change the subject and taking Rick's almost empty glass from his hand.

"I'll help." Jessie offered following Pete and leaving Lorelei and Rick alone.

The two sat in a moment of silence as rick let his eyes drift over the girl while she glanced around the party, "You look beautiful." he complimented making her attention refocus and her cheeks flush, when was the last time anyone ever called her beautiful?

"Thanks," she smiled, "You clean up nice too." She noticed Rick looking around at the party going on around them. "it's weird seeing everything like it was, I don't think ill ever get used to it, not sure I want to."

"Being out there, it's hard, somehow this harder."

She nodded in agreement, "There's no switch, whatever instincts we picked up to protect ourselves, there always gonna be on high alert now, it's like being constantly-"

"Paranoid." Rick finished.

"Can't help but feel bad for them though," Lorelei said gesturing to the people around her, Rick gave her a look silently asking her to continue, "Things go down, these people won't know what to do, they won't be the ones left alive. I can't help but wonder if we're the lucky ones?"

"I don't think anyone lucky anymore," Rick answered solemnly.

Lorelei's gaze moved to something behind Rick and she saw Carl laughing with the other kids it brought a smile to her face. "He seems to be doing alright." she nodded in Carls direction making Rick turn around.

When he turned back to face her there was a wide smile on his face, "I have you to thank for that."

She shrugged off his words, "It was nothing."

"It was more than nothing." he objected.

"I'm glad things are going well for him."

Rick failed to notice how his gaze stuck on the woman in front of him when he spoke his next words, "Not just him."

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After making rounds through the party and conversing with as few people as humanly possible Lorelei decided to go out on the porch for a breath of fresh air. She now had 3 beers in her system, it didn't do much to affect her, she wasn't drunk just buzzed.

As she stared off into the darkness that was only aluminated by a few houses with their lights on she felt a stare on the back of her head. She turned to see Rick looking at her through the window, she let out a sigh and leaned back against the railing.

She heard a door creak open behind her and soon Rick was sitting next to her, only this time they were a baby babbling in his arms. She turned to focus her eyes back on the darkness. "Do you ever think about the life you had before the turn and get depressed knowing you'll never be able to have that again?" She asked him.

"I think we all do at one time or another." he answered adjusting the baby who squirmed in his arms.

Lorelei turned her head, "Could I hold her?" she asked. Rick simply nodded and handed Judith over. The girl comfortably sat in Lorelei's arms laying her head on the girl shoulder and closing her eyes. The act lifting Lorelei's lips into a small smile.

"I miss my family." Lorelei admitted. "Its not like I had kids or a husband or anything, it was just me, my sister and my brother in law but we were all close." she looked down at the little girl in her arms, "A few years before everything went to shit, I decided to foster a kid, I ended up with this little girl named Rose, she was three years old, I had her for 7 months until a family finally wanted to adopt her. Giving her up even though she wasn't mine, I think it was the hardest thing I ever had to do."

"She and Carl... they're why I'm still here," Rick said, "Alexandria, this place I don't know what to think of it." he admitted, "We have to be here that much I know, I guess it just worries me that most of the people here-"

"Don't have a clue." Lorelei finished with a humorous chuckle, "I think we've had this conversation before."

"Yeah I think so too, can I ask you something?"

"Go for it." the woman encouraged.

"You've been here longer than anybody else I could talk to about this, do you think this place could ever change?" He asked getting a confused look in return, "I mean do you think the people here could learn." he clarified.

Lorelei thought over the question, "Honestly, yeah." She sighed, "Although, where their heads are at right now, its gonna take one hell of a shove." Lorelei saw the uncertain look in Rick's face as he stared off and felt the need to comfort him. She paced a hand over one of his, "One day." she assured, "There gonna have to."

He returned her gester and held her hand then as he turned to look at her Lorelei could feel that same feeling in her stomcah that she had gotten before. She saw him lean forward and didn't even try to stop it when he kissed her. She kissed back.

The two got lost in the action only to brake out of it when they felt a small hand smack them on their cheeks. They pulled away and looked at Judith who giggled as she waved her arms around. The two glanced at each other before letting out loud laughs.

"So that's how she feels," Lorelei mused, "How do we feel about this?" she asked the man nervously as she referred their kiss.

"I think its the start of something."

<><><><><><>

"What are you doing here?" Lorelei asked when she stepped into Aaron's garage and saw Daryl. She had left Deannas party on a good note and went home to change before coming over.

"Dinner." he said answering in one word, "You?"

"I was coming to find Aaron to go talk to you." she explained, "Did he ask you?" Lorelei questioned. Daryl nodded, "The verdict?" she asked.

"Im in." he answer causing Lorelei to smile.

"Im glad," she told the man as her gaze shifted to a tool in his hand and then the bike in front of them, "I guessing he gave you the bike too?"

"Yeah," Daryl nodded fiddling with the rench in his hand before giving her a question look, "Why didn't he give it to you? I mean you ride bikes."

Lorelei nodded, "I do, it was more something my brother and I did together, Aaron tried to give it to me when I first got here but every time I tried to work on it the silence killed me. When I worked on bikes before, it was with my brother, always music playing and us joking around like idiots, or just sitting together. So when you came around I thought you having it would stop it from going to waste."

"Thanks I guess." Daryl said looking sincere Lorelei just hummed in response before nervously asking her next question.

"Think I could help you work on it?" she asked fiddling with the ring on her middle finger.

Daryl glanced at the girl and didn't know why his next words were what they were. He wasn't the friendly type, he wasn't the one to joke around and get all the attention. However seeing the woman in front of him right now, nervous and fiddling with her hands, it wasn't the same girl he had met before. He'd let a part of him indulge in the night with Aaron and Eric and build some sort of a foundation with them, and here he found himself doing the same, "Yeah, alright."

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VOTE & COMMEMT PLEASE

Sorry this chapter took so long these rewrites have been kicking my ass.