This story is about the childhood of both Alison and Daryl Dixon from the time they first meet, until the day that they meet again in my story 'an angel with a shot gun'. Please beware that this story will contain details about physical, sexual and mental abuse as well has have sexual content within. Feel free to tell me what you think! Also please don't steal my character's, plots or any other thing that does not belong to AMC.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the walking dead and I am am merely going off what wiki says about Daryl's past and adding my own little romantic twist to it.

TIME LINE : 9 years old, Daryl's lost in the woods and dawn on day 9

Song: believe by hollywood undead

Alison sat atop the older gray gelding, riding though the woods like she had been born there. She was slowly getting tired of being in the ring all of the time and had begged her uncle to let her at least explore a little bit. Her uncle owned a ranch that bred, showed and trained all types of horses right on the edge of the small mountain town. He liked to keep this local and it often kept people out of his business out there, but Alison didn't care much about that. Alison had a natural talent for horses and seemed to connect with them more than anybody else her uncle had seen. He had taken her in in earnest, hoping to use her in the future but for now he had other things on his mind. Alison was just in awe of being able to ride every day, so long as she got both her chores and homework done. Alison had been riding deeper and deeper into the woods every day, leaving at dawn and coming back at dusk at times.

Trotting though the forest, Alison spotted somebody laying on the ground in the distance. As she moved closer to the sleeping figure, she saw that it was a boy who was just about her age. But when she got about five feet away, he sat up in alarm and looked around in shock. "Who's there?" he called out, before he turned his head to lock eyes with her. "I'm Alison." Alison spoke as she looked at him. She pulled the gray gelding to a stop, slowly dismounting and moving to stand within a few feet of him. "Are you lost?" she asked as she looked at him. He looked dirty and a little bit grungy, like he had been playing in the dirt for the last week. He scoffed at her, almost putting his hands on his hips. "No i'm not lost, just out on an adventure." he retorted back. Alison tilted her head, narrowing her eyes to look at him even more. "You got a staring problem?" he asked, and Alison just shook her head.

Alison rubbed the gray geldings head, looking at her feet as she stood there. "You don't have to be so mean." she mumbled, fiddling with the reins on the bridle. "I was only trying to be your friend." she mumbled again, a small tear falling down her cheek. Daryl didn't quite know what to do with the girl who was crying before him. When he noticed that she was crying, he felt bad because he didn't mean to make her cry. "You got anything to drink?" he asked as he took a couple of steps closer to her. Alison looked up, doing her best to smile and she nodded her head. She turned to her saddle bags and retrieved a bottle of water. She extended it out to him, watching as he took it and drank it all at once. "So what's your name?" she asked as she looked at him, moving the leaves with her foot. This was all so new to her, after all she was home schooled before she moved here with her uncle. Her parents always moved around a lot, so this was her first chance to get a real friend. "Daryl, Daryl Dixon." he replied as he handed her back the empty bottle.

She gave him a smile and took the bottle, putting it back in the saddle back. "Never seen you around here before, are you new?" he asked, curious as to what a girl would be doing out in these woods. She nodded her head to his question. "My uncle owns the horse ranch right outside of town, I just moved there last week." she chimed. She didn't know why she wasn't with her parents anymore, but anything that let her be around horses was as good as gold in her book. She shifted her weight when she heard the sound of something breaking a twig near by, she almost jumped out of her shoes which startled the gelding. The gelding reared onto his hind hooves, which jerked the reins from her hand and caused her to land on her butt. She couldn't find the strength to call out the geldings name as he turned and ran for the hills. "Come back!" she screamed out as she scrambled to her feet and tried in vain to chase the gelding down. She stumbled once again and landed on her knees, Daryl coming up beside her. She was was sobbing by the time he got there, either from the pain of busting her knees or for fear of losing the horse. "Are you okay?" he asked, as he reached out to touch her shoulder. At first Daryl had laughed at the fact that she was startled by the rabbit, but then it turned into a rush when the gelding reared and took off.

Alison looked like she was about ready to cry a river and then some, but she didn't want to seem weak in front of her new friend. "My uncle is going to kill me!" she stated as she began to cry again, rubbing her face into her hands. Daryl rubbed her back and looked around, "Come on, let's go find him." he spoke. Alison looked up at him, and looked around the forest. "How? The forest goes on for miles and miles, how would we possible find him!" she spat, a bit of anger in her voice but Daryl just chuckled a little bit. Daryl gave off a smile that made her think that he knew a bit more about this forest than she though he did. "Okay." she replied and stood to her feet.

It seemed like they had been walking for hours, but by now the sun was high in the sky and she was sure they were not going to find him. But Daryl seemed to think otherwise and that was all of the hope that she needed. The sound of water filled the air, taking out almost every other sound around them. "Shhh... keep quite." Daryl whispered to her, motioning to her to keep down it down and crouch down. She watched him and they crept though the under growth until they they got to the edge near the creek. Standing in the creek was the horse that had gotten away from them. "You found him." Alison said with a bit of excitement, though she was quickly shushed by Daryl for the gelding was now looking around on full alert. Alison shrank down mentally and sat on the ground, "Stay here until I call for you." Daryl spoke and Alison simply nodded her head. Alison was lost in her thoughts and was almost startled with Daryl called her name. "Alison come on!"

Alison popped out from under the brush and looked at him, he had the gray geldings reins and was heading her way. She ran up to Daryl and gave him a quick hug, looking back to the gelding with a smile on her face. "I didn't think we'd find him, thank you! Thank you!" she spoke with a smile on her face. She then took the reins from him, hugging the gray gelding and pressing her face into his neck. "It's getting late." she spoke quietly as she turned to look at him. Daryl didn't say much, simply grunted in reply. "You want a ride home?" she asked as she moved towards the saddle. Daryl nodded his head and the pair quietly mounted the gelding together.

The ride out of the forest was rather quite and uneventful, though it was almost dark by the time the reached the outskirts of the town. "You can let me off now, i'll walk from here." he spoke. She turned her head to look at him, the gelding stopping quietly. "Are you sure?" she asked, but he didn't reply only slipped from the gray gelding. "See you later?" she asked, but he didn't reply. He simply raised his hand to her and she then turned the gelding towards the ranch. She knew her uncle would be mad, but at least she had made a friend.