A/N: I put this on AO3 back in December and will be bringing those chapters over here.
She had met him when her car had broken down and had it towed to the shop he was picking hours up at until his brother said it was time to move on. Not that she saw him at first, jumping out of the tow truck looking pissed off. Pissed off and beautiful. Long blonde hair, big baby blues, and legs that went on for days. He stood there, amused, while she was kicking the tires of her car as they brought it off the truck. She was going on, huffing about her "stupid, useless, piece of junk" car while determinedly stabbing a text into her phone. He let out a small laugh at some point in his observation of her and her head finally snapped up, eyes meeting his. She looked slightly embarrassed, turned a pretty shade of pink while giving him a small smile. He knew in that moment he was in trouble.
He had fixed her car for her and she talked to him while accepting his grunts as actual answers, just going on about this being her first year in college, how she missed her family and the family farm. Missed her horses, which are more reliable than cars she would have him know. His lack of reciprocating the conversation didn't seem to concern her, she was just happy he was listening. And he was. Intently listening to the sweet melodic sound of her voice, occasionally looking over at her letting her know he was still paying attention.
By the time he was done fixing her car, she had invited him to watch her sing, something to do with a class she had since she was studying to become a music teacher. He hadn't said yes or no, but she had given him a time and place anyway and told him she hoped to see him there. He wasn't going to go. He knew it would cause more trouble if he did, especially for himself, but he found himself there anyhow. All rational thought of getting up and leaving left him though, when she opened her pretty mouth and her sunshine voice poured out. He sat there entranced while she sang a song he didn't recognize, just staring. She had looked over and caught his eye, seeing he came and her eyes lit up, happy he had showed.
It would be a lie to say they were inseparable after that. She was younger but more mature, he was older and a pain in the ass. It shouldn't have worked, but it did, it worked in a beautifully imperfect way. Even his brother loved her, respected her even. She made him happy and even though his brother gave him shit for it on a consistent basis, he had made sure they stayed in the city and he knew it was for her. He met her sister first on a visit to Atlanta to see her baby sister. To say he was intimidated was an understatement. He was scared shitless and he was pretty sure that her big sister could smell fear. His insecurity almost got the best of him, but they came out stronger in the end with a hug and a blessing and a threat to bring him to the farm or her daddy would have a fit.
So that's what she did, she brought him home for the holidays and while he was a nervous wreck, it went better than expected. Not to say her daddy didn't threaten him, he did, but he came out in one piece, so he was calling it a success. And they were happy. It wasn't always easy and it took her stubbornness to outweigh his pride on more than a few occasions, but at the end of the day, they loved each other. Not that he had said that yet. He was planning to. He really was, he just wanted to wait for the perfect moment. And he would have found it too had the dead not started walking the Earth.