Hey all. Norman Reedus crush strikes again. Small thing about Daryl and an OC. Let me know if I should continue. give opinions. Review please

Disclaimer: i own nothing associated with the walking dead

"It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

She was long past the phase when she willed herself to believe everything surrounding her was just a nightmare. No. This wasn't a nightmare; it was hell on full impact. She had decided that on the very moment she was brought to camp by an unwilling Darryl. So unwilling he had been that she had willed herself on the spot that his blue eyes had absolutely no effect on her. Promises, promises.

Lord only knew where she had her head.

Lauren passed a hand through her hair, grimacing at the slight oily feeling that stuck to her dark strands. Getting up, she snatched the hunting knife that lay at her side and headed for the river, grabbing a bar of hardened soap in her way. A woman could only endure so much on her hair without washing it, she decided, and it was indeed a long time since she had the time to take a proper bath. Or as proper as the circumstances allowed. Decency was of the last things on her mind when she stripped to stand only in her worn bra and panties and slowly edged into the cold water. A slight vibration in the water alerted her and she immediately turned around, prepared to sprint if she had too. She saw nothing, but a strange sensation left the fine hairs in her neck standing out. A hand gripped her shoulder and she desperately searched for her knife, ready to scream bloody murder. Or accept her prominent death.

-Stand still woman. Ain't a walker, not planning 'ta be either.

Laurel's eyebrows almost shot into her hairline when she heard his drawl. She could feel every inch of his body behind hers and she was not quite sure she was ready for it. She turned to face him, trying to hide the blush that, she could bet, was already spreading to her neck.

-I thought I was going have an early demise. Can't you announce yourself? A simple holler would do.

She tried, honestly, she tried her hardest not to look at his exposed body and for a brief and glorious moment she succeeded. But one can only wish so much and have it answered.

-'Ya should be more alert. I told 'ya never to leave yer knife. – a pointed look at the knife in the riverside made Laurel feel slightly ashamed. He had told her that. He himself had pushed the knife into her direction the moment they had met. And what and interesting interaction that was. She spent part of the journey to the camp thinking he only communicated by grunts only to discover that part of him attracted her. What was it with women and manly guys? Part of human instinct, she guessed.

- You can release me now, you know?

Like a lightning he grabbed her arms and pushed her flush against his body. Despite her halfhearted protests, he didn't let her go. He stood very close, so close she could feel the blood pulse through his body and the intense heat that emanated from his tanned skin. He smelled good, much better than she had expected considering that he spent most of his time in the forest, hunting and running around. He smelled like sweat and earth. A slight lingering scent of smoke too and as hard as she tried, she could not help but to gaze into his electrifying blue eyes in a daze. Every hair in her body stood high in attention.

-'Ya cold?

Shit. She swallowed the tick mass of webs that were filling her throat at the sound of his voice. Deep, masculine and rich. A profound accent that was suddenly extremely erotic. If someone could ask her later, she would tell this was the moment she knew she was lost.

-Ya've been teasing me for weeks woman.

She did a double take. What? Teasing?

-How can I possibly be teasing you in this state? – she pointed to her still dirty and long hair that clang to her shoulders in disheveled waves and the skin that certainly needed a good scrub and, she hated to admit, the lack of shaving that until now hadn't really been a top priority.

-'M not talking about that. The way 'ya look at me like 'm the last drop of water in the desert and that smile of yours.

Well, damn, she really did not realize she had been looking at him like that.

-I don't do it on purpose, you know.

-What do 'ya see in me? All women here look at me like 'm the fuckin' plague.

Lauren tried not to wince at the last hissed words that she knew were true. But then, what did she see in him? The man who protected them, fed them, and yet was treated like redneck garbage.

-I see you like you are. Believe me, I don't put you in some sort of crazy pedestal, oh no. You're rude, snarky and sometimes violent and dirty. – she suppressed a smile at the sneer that appeared in his features, curling his lip and making him look all the more savage. – But you are loyal, you protect us even if we don't acknowledge it. And you saved me.

She could not tear her gaze away from his, fell into his light eyes. 'This is ridiculous,' she thought when the sneer stayed in place. She tried to disentangle her body from his hug but found herself, yet again, trapped in his arms.

-If all you can do is glare at me – she murmured, defeated – then let me take my bath alone. Please.

His hands fell off her arms in an instant. He shook his head, the mop of hair swing gently from side to side. Lauren just stood there. Her heart thundered. She lifted a hand to touch his cheek and saw him flinch. Taking a shuddering breath, she picked the abandoned bar of soap that floated at her side and started to wander deeper into the water, feeling rejected.

-I can't give 'a what you want.

-And what do I want? – Lauren's voice hit him like cold ice and Daryl flexed the hand that was suddenly itching to touch her skin. The woman tempted him like a she devil, even when he knew for certain she didn't try to seduce him. He had had a fair share of women trying to seduce him and Lauren wasn't the type. That was the problem. She was no whore. She was no bitch trying to fuck him. And he didn't know how to handle that.

She inched to his side again. They stood very close and he could see the green specks in her light brown eyes that were gazing deep into his own.

-You're freezing me.- she said it softly, her lips only an inch from his. For a moment he let her warmth embrace him. Then he kissed her.

Lauren felt faint. His lips were warm, the touch surprisingly soft, but only for a minute.

And he wanted her, he realized. Quite desperately he wanted her. But she was something he could not have.

She was never going to want him.

She was no whore.

Only whores wanted him. Merle always said it. He knew it was true.

And that was how Lauren was left, waist deep in frigid water. A hand over her lips as she saw his retreating body go back into the camp.