AN: little fluffy one shot for you. Let me know what you think :)
I do not own or profit from The Walking Dead
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This apartment had a lot of drawbacks. The upstairs neighbours sounded like a herd of elephants stampeding from a herd of wild buffalo, stampeding from hyenas. Well Daryl assumed it would sound pretty damn similar.
The pipes leaked and the central air was temperamental at best. The apartment got muggy as fuck in the summer cold as a witch's tit in the winter.
The landlord was an asshole, bit of a perv too. Daryl had seen him leering at more women then he could count. Some pretty young too.
When he'd first had to make it, on his own, when Merle had gone to jail, it had been all he could afford, and the neighbourhood wasn't terrible. At least he'd only had his truck broken in to twice. He'd never been mugged which was saying something.
He'd worked his way through school, gotten his mechanic license, got hired on at a high end dealership that payed real well. He made good money now, he could afford better, but he stayed.
It wasn't to save money. He had nothing he needed. He was thirty two, Merle had been sent to jail for 8 years, with possible parole after 6. He wasn't trying anymore to take care of Merle, he didn't really need the nice padding his bank account was getting living under his means either. It wasn't that he was close to work. His commute was ten minutes, tops. It wasn't even the proximity to the woods.
It was her, in the other building.
The apartment building was part of a complex, several building strategically placed around parking lots. Most of the buildings were facing one another building, with small alleyways in between them. Just like his. It was facing her building.
He had a small shitty balcony. Enough for a grill, and that's about it. But he'd taken a shine to grilling, especially since she moved in.
In the apartment directly facing his, separated by the alley, was the woman he'd stayed in the apartment for the past year.
She had moved in a year ago, and she loved her little balcony too. The buildings were close enough that he could see her features and get a good look at how beautiful she was. He could see the inside of her apartment too. Not that he ever tried to, he wasn't a perv. The buildings were far enough away that he could not speak to her, not that he ever would. His crippling shyness with women would prevent that.
She had a kid, maybe two or three years old, and definitely no husband. When she had first moved in, she'd seemed so sad, she'd be out on the balcony in the evening, starring up at the sky, one night he'd watched as she wiped tears away from her face.
Gradually over the year, things seemed to get better. Now when she was out on her deck in the evening, she normally had a sketch pad and a dreamy contented smile on her.
Daryl was pretty sure there was no new guy in her life, she seemed to be home on her own every night. Lord he was pathetic, but there was something about this woman that made him care. It was the way she held herself. She seemed strong. She was graceful.
He'd caught her watching him to, and seen her blush furiously as he looked over, her head bowing back over her sketch pad as she bit her lip a spark twinkling in her eye.
Tonight he was grilling, watching her out of the corner of his eye, as she settled out on her lounger, her sketch book in hand.
She wore a pretty blouse that dipped low and accentuated her cleavage and her beautiful neck. Her hair was cut in a pixie cut and he thought it was adorable as fuck.
The phone drug him out of his thoughts. Fucking Merle, calling from jail, complaining as usual, wanting more money put in his commissary account.
Daryl turned away from the grill as he sighed, arguing with Merle about the amount. The amount wasn't the problem, it was the fact Merle was probably using it to obtain illegal drugs in prison.
She was waving at him, that's what caught his attention, jumping up and down holding her sketch book, he turned in curiosity at her and she flipped her sketch book so he could see the page. In big bold letters she'd written : CHECK YOUR GRILL.
He turned letting out a string of expletives as he saw the grill had caught fire, flames shooting up at 3feet.
Hanging up on Merle. He quickly smothered the flames with the lid and turned off the gas source. Blushing as he nodded at her, then taking the ruined meat back inside.
A thought struck him and he grabbed a large pad of paper he kept for notes and a sharpie. Heading back outside and kicking himself for what he was about to do.
She looked up as he came out, a sweet smile gracing her lips as she saw him start to write. Flipping it over he showed her what he had written.
THANK YOU- I'M DARYL
Her smile blew him away, and she opened a fresh page on her sketch book and wrote out a message.
YOU'RE WELCOME- I'M CAROL