There are two things Rick knows for sure in his current thoughts. First, when you live with a group of people in close quarters for a long time you end up knowing things about people that they would rather you not know. Secondly, he was a police officer before the world ended, and even though the new world order is fucked up he is still a police officer.

Rick was fimiliar with victims of abuse in his line of work. He had been to a handful of domestic abuse calls and had seen those wives afterwards. Worst of all though he saw the kids from the calls. Those were always the worst cases. Looking at a kid that's been beat to hell and back hits a nerve. He's seen it all from a few bruises, to open wounds, to even losing a kid on the way to a hospital. It was horrible to see, but it had to be worse to endure.

Rick had always hated parents that abused their kids. They were supposed to care for and love their child, protect them, not put them into harms way. He never understood those kinds of people.

Worse yet, he never understood the kids that were getting hurt. More often then not the kids had been enduring the pain and beatings for a good amount of time and by the time they got on the radar of the police and CPS they were barley kids anymore. They didn't laugh the same as other kids, if they laughed at all. They didn't like being touched, or held. They didn't like adults much in general, even the police.

Although all kids were different and maybe reacted differently, there were always baselines. Such as evasion, or not wanting to talk about it. Bring a kid in to question, whether you're a police officer or a principal at school, they always clammed up or evaded the question. Maybe you would be able to get the information out of them, but it took a lot of prying and a shook up kid was left in the wake.

Rick didn't know a lot about Daryl, he didn't like to talk about himself that much. He seemed to live more in the present then others. He didn't like to bring up the past, but Rick has been to enough domestic calls and seen enough battered wives and children to recognize that Daryl fits in that category. He has a lot of the signs, and Rick's not even sure Daryl realizes he does some of them.

Daryl flinches. A lot.

He flinches when people grab him without warning, or when they accidentally brush against him and he's not expecting it. Hell, even if he's expecting the touch Rick can see the way his body tenses and how he draws back just the slightest from the person. He flinches at loud noises too. Yelling.
He's always gaurded, whenever someone asks him something a little to personal. His eyes will bore into you like they're searching for the ulterior motive behind your words.

He doesn't talk to anyone about his life growing up. Everyone has their stories to tell, but Daryl rarely does. Rick heard from Carl that Daryls mom died in a fire. He'll tell some stories about Merle, not often though, because most of the people who remember Merle didn't really care for him.

He has scars too. Rick saw them once. At Hershel's, when he had been getting stitched up. There were a few on his back that he could make out. He didn't doubt that there were more that he couldn't see under all the dirt and grime that had been covering him at the time.

If Rick was being honest, he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to confront Daryl about where he had been anymore. He wasn't blind, he knew Daryl was agitated being in Alexandria. He wanted to be out in the woods being useful or by himself.

Daryl didn't like to be holed up in a place to long, but for some reason he didn't want to leave the house and check out Alexandria like everyone else had. Rick was cocksure he was getting antsy to go out because there wasn't anywhere he could retreat from the family when he needed to be alone.

He liked being alone, everyone did every once in a while, but Daryl more then others. It was easier on the road when he could go off on his own business scouting or hunting, finding water. No one ever stopped him, but now Rick was stopping him.

Rick felt the family was safe here, at least safer then they had been on the road. The people weren't his main concern they were kind of pathetic and Rick doubted they could hurt any of his family, who have had plenty of practice fighting and surviving. He wasn't sure what the tie to keep everyone together was coming from anymore.

He shouldn't have pushed Daryl so much when he got home late tonight. But no one had known where he was and they had agreed that he probably hopped the fence. It was stupid but everyone had brushed it off as Daryl being Daryl, until he didn't come home at dinner or sundown. Eugene had voiced his thoughts that maybe he wouldn't come back, after all it was obvious the last few days he didn't really seem to like being here. Maggie had hit him for that remark.

Rick volunteered to stay up and wait for him. He hadn't meant to upset Daryl, really he hadn't. There was probably a way that he could have handled it better then he did, but he had been worried that Eugene was right. As implausible as it sounded to everyone he knew that that thought grabbed on in the back of their minds and wouldn't let go.

He let his angry thoughts decide his approach and anger wasn't ever a way to approach Daryl. It was like his training had come flooding back to him, and he kicked himself over and over. Adults that had been abused in their childhood tended to either be more likely to be aggressive and violent, or they could tend to be shyer and avoident. They were always vigilant because their brain has changed to think that a threat can happen anytime. From anything or anyone.

Daryl tended to be on the shyer side of the scale, while he had his moments of outbursts he tended to have a good handle on himself. Some people would probably think that those outbursts put him in the aggressive category, but they never knew Merle. Merle had been a ticking time bomb. You never knew when he was going to explode on you, but it was usually the inevitable outcome.

While Rick had tried to stay calm and collected when he was trying to talk to Daryl it was apparent that following him to his room had not been the best of ideas and Daryl must have seen it as a threat of some kind. Rick couldn't think of any other reason that Daryl would've responded that way. He knew that Daryl would never intentionally hurt anyone in the family. He would die before he laid a hand on anyone.

Of course this was based on his own experiences and observation. None of this has ever been backed up by Daryl. Rick was sure he wasn't the only one to have noticed. Daryl and Carol were also very close, she must see something there too.

But that's the most he had to go on when it came to Daryl. How he did things and approached people, relationships. Even with all of that, he was still such an incredible person. He still saw good in people. He's overcome the shadow of his brother that he used to live in. He has grown so much as a person since Rick had first met him. He hadn't even realized until the prison, when he was losing his mind and Daryl was picking up the slack with not just the group but also his children. The only reason Judith was alive was because Daryl risked his life to get her some formula.

He called Daryl his brother, he had only ever called Shane that. Shane had been his best friend for decades, since they were kids, but somewhere along the way Daryl had snuck up and taken that possition. This new world shows people's true colours.

Rick ran through all of his possible options in his head and decided to confront Daryl again in the morning. Hopefully in a way that Daryl wouldn't see as threatening. Start over, get to the bottom of the problem. Which is where Rick's problems began. He wasn't sure if Daryl was having problems with the group, himself, this new place, or losing Beth and Tyresse. Daryl had been in a funk before they got here, maybe he hadn't gotten out of it like he had thought.

If that was the case then Rick really had no idea where to start. They have all lost people, some got to people harder then others and there was no way of knowing how to break them out of it. Sasha was starting to get better about losing her brother, and Maggie her sister.

He didn't think that was the problem though. Daryl may not have been 100 percent when they had arrived here, but he had been getting better. Now he was getting worse again, and he was acting different compared to before their arrival. He was acting more like when they had first met. He was being distant and ignoring the people around him.

Rick let out an exasperated sigh, it was 2:47 now. He really needed to get to sleep. There were plans for tomorrow and they weren't going to be easy to execute. If he doesn't scare Daryl off from confronting him he will with the subject matter.

Rick woke with relative ease when the sun was just starting to rise. So much for a good nights sleep. He crept quietly past his Carl's room where Judith was also sleeping for the night, as well as Michonne's. Downstairs he gave Daryl's room a wide berth and found Carol in the kitchen. She handed him a cup of tea and he nodded his thanks. He hadn't liked tea much before the turn but it was amazing how living off the land had changed his palette, as long as it was food it didn't matter anymore.

"So I'm guessing by Daryl's dirty clothes in the hamper he came back last night." Carol stated more then asked. She patted at the island countertop opposite her. Rick took his cue and sat.

"Yeah," Rick played with his mug, "it didn't go well."

"Why not" Carol didn't seem surprised. Maybe she should have stayed up to wait for him, they always got on well.

"I think I'm asking too much of him. I don't know if I should have made him stay back, or if I should just let him come and go as he always does." He took a sip and was grateful for the way the liquid warmed him up.

"It's a tough call. I don't think he blames you, and if he does he won't for long. He has always been a logical person," bless Carol. "Mostly" Rick chuckled at that.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm going to talk to him again this morning. Try to straighten this..." He tried to search for the right word, " thing," that would work, "out."

"Hmm" Carol was flipping through a cookbook left on the counter. "I'm sure it will all work out. You're worrying over little things. So he went out and didn't like being questioned, I don't think that's actually atypical behavior," she flipped a few pages, "I think some of you are over reacting if you ask me."

Rick gave her a long, hard stare. He could see her point.

"Still gotta' talk to him, we didn't leave off on the best of notes last night." Carol sighed and pulled a face that clearly said she didn't know why she even bothered with them sometimes.

"Well then hop to it" Carol grabbed his now empty mug and placed it in the sink. Rick forced a smile as he slid by her. She patted his arm as he passed.

Rick found himself outside Daryls door, he didn't get the chance to knock before the door opened and Daryl was standing in the doorway. Rick couldn't read his expression.

Daryl leaned in the doorway and bowed his head a little, biting the side of his thumb. A nervous habit Rick was all to familiar with seeing. Once the long silence got too long and Daryl started to shift under his gaze, Rick started to talk.

"I'm sorry about last night. " Daryl looked up and through his bangs to see Rick better, he looked like he was searching for something, he obviously wasn't expecting to get an apology. Rick ducked a little to meet Daryl's eyes. "I really am. I didn't mean to make you angry. Iwas, well, we were all worried when you didn't come back yesterday, we didn't know where you were." Daryl dropped his hand back to his side.

"Sorry. " he mumbled.

"You shouldn't be. You have a right to come and go as you want, its your house too. I shouldn't have asked you to stick around because I was nervous, this doesn't seem like a place we couldn't fight out of if we had too. " Rick smiled at Daryl, who snorted.

"No kiddin' " Daryl meet his eyes finally. "Still sorry, should have left a note or somethin'" he shifted his body a bit nervously. "Was at Aaron's"

"Oh," Rick wasn't sure he heard that right, "like Aaron and Eric, Aaron?" Daryls eyes narrowed at him and Rick could practically see his muscles tense up.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

"No, not at all," he raised his hands up defensively "I just didn't think they'd be people you'd hang out with. " Once the words left Rick's mouth he regreted them. But Daryl just huffed out a laugh.

"Cause they're gay? Who gives a shit. " Daryl crossed his arms. "I like 'em, they're good people. Offered me a job. " before Rick could say anything Daryl continued. "I said yes, and I'm not backing out now. I'm helping Aaron recruit, you don't get a say. " Rick nodded slowly.

"Alright," he let the thought roll around in his head, "getting out will be good for you. I get that you like it more out there then you do here. "

"I don't think ya do." Rick frowned, but before he could comment crying could be heard upstairs. "That's for you officer." Daryl brushed by him and made for the kitchen.

Daryls hope for escape into the kitchen was short lived when he saw Carol in the kitchen. She smiled at him sweetly and offered him a plate with apple slices on it. The only thing that could have given her away more would have been if there were flashing lights above her head that said caution. His narrowed eyes searched her face for some kind of give as he dragged the plate across the counter. She raised her eyebrows in question and chuckled.

"I missed you last night." She pouted a little and Daryl snorted. She couldn't hold it for long though and soon Carol was smiling wide and pointedly looking at him. He shifted under her eyes, nervous of what she might see. "The new clothes are nice, but I think you should have left the sleves on."

"Don't like sleeves." He shrugged and munched happily on his apple when he was certain Carol didn't see anything off about him. That was good he didn't want her to worry about him, he wasn't really worth the effort, but Carol seemed to think he was. She tended to be a bit of a mother hen to the group.

"That seems like an understatement" Rick chirped with Judith in tow. She wasn't crying now but her cheeks still glistened from freash tears. "Maggie will be sad that you tore up that shirt."

"Probably." Daryl mumbled. Carol tried to swipe some hair out of Daryl's face as he tried to swat them away and protect his apple from Rick who was swooping in. "Fuck you, you wonder why the hell I left." His audience chuckled.

"Well aren't you sounding perky today." The way Carol said it sounded more like it was meant as a question. "I'm glad you're getting out of this weird hole you've been in lately. I've missed you." He wanted to laugh. He hadn't gotten out of the hole, he just hit rock bottom, and was waiting for it to all cave in on him. Daryl hide behind his hair, he felt so very small right now.