Thank you so so much to all of my reviews, favoriters and followers whose support helped me to finish this. Thank you! I started this fic two years ago next week and I never thought that I would finish it. I hope you enjoyed reading this!

It had been three months, people steadily streaming in through the open gates of Covington. All were welcome but the thought made Natalie uneasy, especially after what had occurred outside of Atlanta.

The houses were filling quickly, there would be no room soon. Bob's old room had been transformed into a pantry filled with food from Herschel's crops and treated meats for the upcoming winter. Groups had been out scouting for warmer clothes, these groups organized by Natalie, Maggie and Glenn, who were in charge of scouting missions. They never ventured into Atlanta. No one ever went into Hotlanta that wanted to return alive.

Natalie groaned when she came to the realization that it was morning and she would have to get out of bed. She turned over slowly, her arm reaching out to grab onto Daryl but was met with nothing. She blinked a few times before looking around the room. Daryl was attempting to exit the bedroom but Natalie laughed at the guilty look on his face when he realized she was awake.

"Where do ya think yer goin'?" She asked, pulling herself up so that she was sitting up.

"Huntin'." He opened the door and Natalie yawned before climbing out of bed. The cold instantly reached her naked body making her shiver and Daryl threw a pair of jeans at her. "Bob's lookin' fer ya."

Shivering, Natalie grabbed a pair of underwear from the floor and put them on as Daryl sat on the bed to yank his boots on.

Natalie slowly tugged on the jeans and rolled her eyes at how worried Bob was about leaving with his girlfriend Sasha for two days. They weren't going far, to a perimeter sweep to the farms a quarter of a mile away. It wasn't a dangerous task, especially since the group had put up fences around Covington for about a half mile. There hadn't been a walkers within the perimeter in over a month but Bob was still nervous about it.

Pulling on an Atlanta Braves sweatshirt, Natalie turned to Daryl. "Where ya gonna go?"

"Not far, Ah'll be back in time for dinner. Definitely be back fer tha party. " He told her and she smiled at him.

"Good, Ah miss you. Plus it's freezing at night 'n yer always strangely warm." Daryl snorted and rolled his eyes at that but he kissed her anyways.

"Ah knew there was a reason ya stayed with me."

"Well there ya go." She teased, sitting down on their bed to yank her boots on. She followed Daryl out of the room once she managed to put her combat boots on. "Ya better be here by midnight er else you'll be sleepin' on the couch."

"Ah'll be back Natalie, ah promise ya."

"Ya betta," Daryl snorted at her and chased her down the stairs, the brunette laughing the whole way down. Merle and John were already in the kitchen, the latter brewing a large pot of coffee and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"How was your night last night?" John asked with a knowing smirk.

"A hell of a lot betta than yers and Beth's." Daryl retorted and Natalie snorted as she got a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, what kinda weird shit are tha two of ya into? Ah wear all ah heard was moanin' from yer room 'n a hell of a lot of bed squeakin'." Merle asked John and Natalie rolled her eyes as her half brother turned bright red.

"Yer just jealous ya ain't gettin' any." Daryl replied gruffly, pulling on his worn jacket.

"Ain't any good pussy 'ere that ain't taken." Merle huffed.

"That ain't stopped ya before." Merle laughed at his brother's statement and Natalie shook her head.

"Sorry, ah ain't interested Merle." Natalie joked and the older man sighed dramatically.

"Damn shame Adkins, damn shame."

"Ah've got a meetin' with Rick, see ya at dinner Daryl." She stated pointedly and Merle raised his eyebrows at his little brother.

"Yer whipped little brother." Merle shook his head and the younger man glared at him.

"Shuddup." He muttered, putting his crossbow on his back.

"Morning." The three men turned to see Beth coming down the stairs. Daryl nodded gruffly at her, Merle leered at her and John beamed.

"Hey Bethy." John stood up and pulled a chair out for the girl who giggled before sitting down.

"So 'Bethy'," Merle began and Daryl quickly put down his coffee mug.

"Ah'll be back." He stated and hurried from the grand house. It was freezing outside and small snowflakes fell from the dull grey clouds.

"Oh Darylina c'mon!" Merle yelled after him but Daryl closed the door tightly behind him, not answering. He did not want to know what Merle was going to talk to the younger couple about.

Despite the sun having risen only a short while before, people were already milling about outside. Two of the young kids, Max and Milo were bundled up and playing in the small amount of snow that had accumulated on the ground.

"Hiya Daryl!" The younger of the two, Milo called and Daryl nodded at them as he passed. A very pregnant Lori waddled passed him, a steaming cup of something in her hands.

"Good morning Daryl." She paused, stopping in front of him. "Has Natalie left yet? Rick was waitin' for her."

"Yeah, she left just before me."

"Alright good, Rick's got too many ideas in that head of his. If it wasn't for Natalie, I bet we'd have half a dozen projects set up all around." Daryl nodded and Lori smiled at him. "Have a good hunt Daryl."

Daryl continued on only to be stopped by Carol, Bob and Hershel. He longed for the days when he could leave Covington without anyone noticing, it took him just as long to hunt as it did to get in and out of the place.

Finally, he managed to walk out of the gates and into the woods.

Back inside of Covington, Natalie sipped her coffee and stared at the two large maps that was on the wall of Rick's formal dining room. Both had been taken from the town hall, one was of the city and the other of the country. The one of the town was heavily marked with different colors and pieces of string. The other had a large circle, Covington at the center.

"Ah don't think it'll fix tha problem with tha stray walkers but it'll fix tha hoard problem fer tha most part." She stated, squinting at the maps and running a hand through her tangled hair.

The day went fast, Natalie and Rick attempting to figure out a good and practical way to fence the surrounding area. Frustrated and exhausted, the pair took a break to eat some of Carol's delicious stew that she had delivered to them for dinner.

"How're things with Lori?" Natalie asked, wiping sleep from her eyes roughly.

"She's been alright, Bob and Herschel say she'll probably have to have a c-section again." Rick replied and Natalie nodded. "What're you and Daryl doing tonight?"

"Nothin', we're gonna get blackout drunk so don't come over tomorrow." Rick grinned at her and the brunette smiled back at him. "No but really don't come over er Merle'll have yer head. He's been plannin' this ever since Monica and Jerry got here. Plus, when 'e gets drunk 'e likes to take off his clothes so unless ya fancy some dick that early in the morn, leave us be."

"Oh my god Natalie, don't put images like that in my head!" Rick cried, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Too late." She teased him, suppressing a yawn.

"That aside, does Bob know about all the drinking?" Rick asked with concern.

"Him 'n Sasha are goin' out ta check up on the farms. 'e says 'e'll be stayin' out there fer tha night to avoid all tha drinkin'." She explained with a small frown. "'e's doin' right fer 'imself. Sasha's helpin', seein' as she supports 'im 100%."

"Yes he is." Rick nodded thoughtfully. "Is he still nervous about going out there?"

"Yeah, ah had a talk with 'im earlier, ah don't think 'e'll eva feel safe leavin' tha gates since tha incident last month."

"That was a mistake, I never should have let Allen have an actual job."

"Got that fuckin' right." She rolled her eyes at the thought and sighed. A silence fell upon them and they both sat back in their chairs, sipping on the warm water that Lori had boiled for them. "What's the Grimes family up to on this fine New Year's Eve?"

"Carl's been begging to play Monopoly with us, so Lori and I gave in." Rick explained and Natalie snorted. "He wants to play Risk with you again by the way."

Natalie grinned with a chuckle. "He's just mad that someone finally beat 'im at it."

"I still think that you cheated." Natalie turned her head at the boy's voice and rolled her eyes.

"Ah'll happily play ya again, Monday night good fer ya?" She asked him and Carl nodded eagerly.

"Teams?" He asked, crossing the room and sitting down in the chair beside his father.

"You can pick first since ya lost last time. Teams of...four?" Natalie asked and Rick groaned.

"I for one am not playing this time."

"Yes you are Dad!"

"Not after the way you treated me Carl, no Risk for Rick Grimes, too much pressure." Rick teased his son, winking at Natalie.

"Such a weakling." She responded and Carl put his head in his hands.

"Fine well if you don't play then I want Daryl on my team! I'll pick him first!" Carl threatened and Rick sighed.

"Alright Carl, I'll play." He gave in and Natalie groaned just as the front door opened.

"Natalie?" The brunette turned when she heard Daryl's heavy boots hit the ground and slurped up the last of the stew.

"In the War Room!" She called back, standing up. Daryl appeared at the door a moment later, leaning in the doorway. He nodded at the two Grimes men and looked to Natalie. "Risk at our place Monday night."

"Oh god, Merle gets too inta that." He moaned and Natalie grinned at him. "Ready?"

"Yeah, we'll work on this on Monday?" She asked Rick who nodded at her.

"Sounds good."

"Bye Natalie! Bye Daryl! Happy New Year!" Carl called as Natalie shrugged her jacket on.

"See ya Carl, happy New Year. Ah hope ya win at Monopoly tonight."

"No worries, I will!" He called as Natalie and Daryl turned to leave. They were out in the cold a moment later, relieved to see that there wasn't anyone else outside.

"How was the hunt?" Natalie asked as they turned up their driveway.

"Alright fer this time a year. Six squirrels 'n three rabbits. It'll do." The inside of the house was a great deal warmer than the outside and something smelled delicious.

"Ya eat dinner yet?" She asked as they took their heavy jackets off.

"Yeah, Carol gave me some stew when Ah dropped the squirrels off."

"There you are, we thought you'd skipped out on us!" Beth's chipper voice came from the living room and they walked in to find her and John cuddled up on the loveseat, Merle stretched out on the couch, beer can in hand.

Four hours later, four of them were on their way to being blackout drunk seeing as Beth didn't drink. They had been watching Merle's new favorite tv show, My Name is Earl for the past three hours on their tv and Natalie was surprised that they were all aware enough to understand what was happening.

"How much time?" John asked and Beth glanced down at her watch.

"One minute eleven seconds." She replied excitedly, her eyes twinkling. Natalie grabbed onto the bottle of rum, drinking straight from the bottle. She and Daryl were curled up together on one side of the couch, Merle had remained stretched out so his foot was in Natalie's lap. "One minute."

Natalie took the time to look around at her life. She was with the man she loved, surrounded by people that she loved and she was safe. It could only have been better if her father and brother were with them and she supposed if her mother was there too. Natalie knew John missed her terribly and while Natalie hadn't even liked her mother when she was alive, the woman found herself missing the country tang every once in a while.

"Ah knew who ya were." Natalie was broken from her thoughts when Daryl whispered in her ear and she turned to face him, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"The day ya got in yer accident. Ah already knew who ya were. Ya lived next to me fer nearly ten years 'n while ya didn't know who Ah was, Ah knew who ya were." He drawled, looking into her eyes guiltily. "Ah used to like ta imagine the two of us together."

"Ten seconds!" Beth called behind them but the couple didn't move.

"Really?" Natalie asked, her eyes searching Daryl's face.

"Yeah, Ah never thought it'd happen but Ah was content to think about bein' together." He blushed, clearly not having expected to tell her this. She smiled up at him as the rest of their group began to do the countdown. Merle was so drunk that he was counting forwards rather than backwards.

"Zero, Happy New Year!" Beth cried and Natalie kissed Daryl deeply. She wondered fleetingly if she had ever felt so happy in her life but she stopped thinking when she and Daryl stood up, making their way to their bedroom.

"Ah love ya." She murmured to him as they stumbled up the stairs, crashing into their bedroom. Daryl slammed their bedroom door before speaking softly.

"Ah love ya too."

The End