When Shane and Rick returned from taking the boy away from the farm, the group was surprised when he was still in their care. They locked him in the barn, which Daryl spent most of the night 'watching.' Morning came, and everyone was gathered around the fire as they waited to hear Rick's plan. Lori, pouring herself a cup of tea, looked at Rick. 

"So what you gonna do? We'd all feel better if we knew the plan."

"Is there a plan?" Andrea asked.

"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn added to the list of questions.

"We'll know soon enough," Rick responded, nodding toward Daryl, who was walking toward them.

"The boy there's got a gang, thirty men," Daryl said. "They got heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, the boys are dead. And our women," He looked at Parker, concern shining in his eyes for a fraction of a second. "... they're gonna.. they're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Parker asked, noticing Daryl's bloody knuckles.

"Had a little chat," Daryl answered bluntly.

"A little chat?" Parker asked incredulously. "Let me guess, you asked the questions and when you didn't like what you got, you beat him?"

"No one goes near this guy," Rick announced.

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Parker asked. "You can't keep him locked up. Not forever. It's not fair."

"We have no choice," Rick responded. "He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just going to kill him?" Dale asked.

"It's settled" Rick looked at his sister knowing she'd have something to say about it. "We'll do it today."

"What? Did i miss the vote? When the hell did that get decided?" Parker asked, looking around as Rick walked away. "So everyone's just going to sit back and wait for Rick to kill an innocent boy?"

"No," Dale told her, shaking his head. "No, we won't." Parker found Daryl later that day at his small campsite. He was busy with his crossbow when Parker approached with Dale, they were talking, and they agreed that they couldn't let this boy die. He was just a kid. He couldn't have been more than twenty, Maggie's age. Nobody deserved to die like this. When he saw her coming he whispered nonsense under his breath.

"The whole point of me coming up here is to get away from you people."

"Sounds like a problem for another time. Besides it's gonna take more than a five-minute hike to keep me away. Gosh, it's like you don't know me at all." Parker winked.

"You worried about me? Carol send you?" Daryl asked.

"They're not the only ones concerned about you," Dale answered. "And your new role in the group."

"Oh man, I don't need my head shrunk. This group's broken," Daryl said, stuffing hand-crafted arrows into his bag. "I'm better off fending for myself.".

"You act like you don't care." Dale pointed out.

"Yeah," Daryl agreed. "It's cause I don't."

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?" Parker asked.

"Nope."

"Then why not stand with us? Help try to save a kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other."

"Didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch," Daryl said before nodding to Parker. "You neither."

"It's not being desperate," Parker scoffed, looking off into the distance. "It's human. Something the rest of us seem to have forgotten."

"Your opinion makes a difference," Dale told him.

"Man, ain't nobody looking at me for nothing," Daryl responded.

"Carol is. Parker is." Dale answered, and Parker gritted her teeth for a moment as she felt her cheeks heat up. "A- and I am. Right now. And you obviously... you have Rick's ear."

"Not around your neck though, thankfully."

"Rick just looks to Shane," Daryl retorted. "Let him."

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Parker asked him, stepping forward. "Have you seen what he is like? Have you seen how he's been acting lately? Shane was one of my best friends, but I don't know who he is now. He's dangerous. Do you really want someone like that leading this group?"

"You cared about what happened to Sophia," Dale called out as Daryl tried to walk away.. "You cared what it meant to the group." Daryl slowly spun around. "Torturing people? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane... he's different."

"Why is that?" Daryl asked. "Cause he killed Otis?"

"He tell you that?" Dale asked, suddenly worried. Parker looked between them.

"Wait, I thought Otis sacrificed himself."

"He told some story. How Otis covered him, saved his ass," Daryl explained. "He showed up with a dead guy's gun. Rick aint stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's because he didn't wanna. It's like I said. Groups broken." Daryl walked away and Parker looked at Dale.

"What's his problem?"

"I don't know," Dale replied. As they crossed the fields again, Parker sighed.

"Dale, can I talk to you about something? Confidentially?"

"Of course," Dale nodded, not hesitating to answer. "What's going on?"

"It's about Daryl," Parker spoke slowly, not knowing where to start. "We... had a moment? I guess you could call it that. A few days ago. He was about to go out to find Sophia, but I told him he'd only get himself hurt and I... kissed him." Dale nodded as Parker continued speaking. "And then he took me to the lake, showed me some flowers, and kissed me."

"Then what happened?" Dale asked.

"Well, I was with him for a while before we realized Lori was gone, and we were talking about how we work well as a team," Parker continued. "But then when I asked him for help finding Lori, it was like he hated me."

"Well, I'm sure he doesn't hate you," Dale assured her. "In fact, I know he doesn't hate you. I saw the way he acted when Shane pushed you and you hit your head, and the way he reacted when he realized you were hurt. I don't think I've ever seen Daryl care so much about someone, and you can't fake that kind of emotion."

"Then why is he ignoring me?" Parker asked, fighting back tears as she spoke. "Why is he acting like he hates me?"

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"Yeah." She laughed sadly. "That's why I asked."

"I think he's just scared," Dale told her. "I think he's afraid of how he feels about you. Daryl isn't used to feeling that way about someone else. I think he cares about you enough to scare himself into thinking that walking away is the best option."

"Daryl isn't afraid of anything," Parker said quietly.

"Every man is afraid of something," Dale replied. "And I think we found what Daryl is afraid of."

"Me?"

"How he feels about you, yes," Dale corrected. "If you care about him-"

"I do."

"Then you have to fight your way through those defenses he has built and let him know that you are not going anywhere," Dale concluded. "You have to let him know that you are here, that you care about him, and that you aren't afraid."

"But I am afraid," Parker stated, looking at Dale. "I've never been very good at loving anyone, and I've never had anyone love me."

"Well, there's time to learn," Dale said. "And nowadays, if you find someone who loves you that much, then you're one of the lucky ones." Parker smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Thank you, Dale." Dale spread his arms.

"Come here." He hugged Parker. "You're going to be okay. You and Daryl are like two peas in a pod. I know you two are going to make great things happen."

"Can you see the future all of a sudden?" Parker asked jokingly.

"I see a hopeful one," Dale responded, wiping the tears from Parker's cheeks. "And in it, you're going to be just fine."