A/N: Thanks for reading, guys! This is a very quick one-shot for Daryl and Aaron. Yes, it is m/m and quite graphic so please don't read if that isn't your thing. If it IS your thing, check out the new Daryl/Aaron community here on FF. We'll be adding more stories to it as they come 'round. Don't worry, eReedus and I are both still working on some nice fluffy Bethyl stories, both separately and under our joint account. Stay tuned for those.

An Immutable Passion

If there was a picture for the definition of surly, Daryl's face would have been it. Aaron, Rick, Morgan, and Glenn watched with mild trepidation as the archer ran ahead of them and took down four walkers on his own in rapid succession, the last of which he dispatched with his bare hands instead of his crossbow or knife. Even Rick winced at the gruesome display as Daryl repeatedly crushed the head of what probably used to be a pretty black-haired beauty, obliterating her against the rough bark of a Georgia pine. Daryl, however, almost seemed as if he relished the violence.

Aaron wondered for the millionth time this week what was bothering Daryl. He'd been distant and moody…more so than usual. Every time Aaron had started to quiz him about it, he'd been shut down. Shut out and pushed away. Anyone with less than Aaron's saintly patience would have been furious, but Aaron went along. He gave Daryl the space and understanding Aaron thought he needed, knowing or at least hoping, that Daryl would talk about it when he was ready.

Aaron didn't get it, though. Things were going well. He was certain their relationship was solid. Everyone was settling well in the new encampment they'd established after Alexandria, too. Aaron had lost his way for a while because of Eric's loss. But Daryl was vigilant after it happened, always watching him and pushing him forward with quiet encouragement. Eventually Aaron had come back around and Daryl was there waiting when he did. He wasn't sure when it had happened, exactly, but the two of them had suddenly been more than friends. They had become companions, partners. Physical intimacy had taken longer, but eventually that had happened, too.

Now, months later, Daryl and Aaron had become comfortable with their relationship. With each other and with others knowing they were together. Not that they had broadcast it, however. Their relationship was nothing if not low-key. In public, neither of them were into PDA. And behind closed doors… Well, the army barracks they had found to live in had separate rooms, but the walls were thin. Sex was a timid and quiet affair. Loving, but gentle and careful. Quiet.

Not that there had been any of that sort of thing going on the last few weeks, though. Daryl had been in this black mood. When it first started it was just a huffiness, mostly directed at Rick...who, bless his heart, seemed to be at a loss for the cause or fix for Daryl's cold shoulder. But then Daryl's haughtiness had grown into outright hostility and it had broadened its focus to include everyone, it seemed, except maybe for little Judy.

At first, things were still ok within the confines of Daryl and Aaron's private space but then a distance had grown there, as well. No touching, no comforting smiles, no gentle brush of fingertips on delicate skin. And most notably no sighs of contentment. Those were Aaron's favorite thing. His lover wasn't much for words and he was so timid, even now, with his touches and advances. But it was Daryl's sighs of contentment as he allowed Aaron to hold him after a long day that told volumes about how much Daryl appreciated and loved him. Daryl's sweet exhalations of sated relief were one of the only things that comforted Aaron's tender heart in this bedraggled world.

But lately Daryl had brushed off any touch from him at all. The past three days Daryl hadn't even come to their room at night.

Last night Aaron had gotten fed up with the emptiness of their bed and had gone in search of his archer. He had found him sleeping on the cold hard floor of a broom closet off the dining room. Actually, he hadn't been sleeping but staring blankly at the opposite wall.

When Aaron had opened the door and found him there, Daryl hadn't even protested. He'd just looked back at him with what Aaron took to be a warning look that screamed "back away and leave me alone". So he had. Aaron had returned to their empty room and wept for Daryl's discontent. Aaron didn't understand what his lover was feeling and it crushed him that he couldn't give him whatever he was needing.

Aaron had fallen asleep in the corner on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest. That's where Daryl had found him the next morning. The curly-haired man had been rudely yanked to his feet before sleep had fallen away. As he stood attempting to get his bearings, Daryl had thrown clothes at him with two words. "Get dressed."

Daryl had practically dragged him from the barracks before daylight had started to lighten the sky. Aaron had asked where they were headed but there had been no answer. When he had wondered if Rick knew they were leaving, Daryl had only huffed in disdain.

Rick and the others had met them out front and they had all tried to keep up with Daryl's pace as they trudged along. Rick had given Aaron a questioning look when he had needed to ask about today's plan, but the only way Aaron could respond was with a shrug. Daryl should have told him they were going on a supply run, but he hadn't. Rick's brow creased in concern as he tilted his head in thought. It seemed they were all worried about the archer's enmity. And now Aaron was standing in the middle of some now-nameless road watching and becoming ever more troubled as Daryl annihilated a group of lifeless roamers.

When Daryl was done with his little display of testosterone, Aaron was surprised to find him advancing in his direction with the same intensity. Before Aaron could respond or step out of the way, Daryl's mouth was on him, kissing him with bruising ferocity as their friends watched on in shocked discomfort. As Aaron fought to find some middle ground in the embrace without pulling away and risking offense, he felt Daryl's fingers groping at him hungrily, searching for contact as his obvious hardness pressed against Aaron's hip.

Before Aaron could formulate a plan to mitigate quite an embarrassing public display, he heard Glenn call out for help. Daryl growled as he pulled away with a harsh curse. A larger group of roamers had emerged from the roadside and it took all of them fighting to clear the way. When it was done Daryl turned and started loping away as if nothing, not even the group of dead, had happened.

None of the group commented on the archer's surprise display of lust, but the warning glance Rick gave him let Aaron know that he was more concerned than ever. It was clear that he expected Aaron to do something. Maybe that was how it needed to be. He was Daryl's partner now, closer than Rick. Closer to him than anyone. Aaron decided he would bring everything out in the open, no matter the consequence, as soon as they were safely back at camp. Aaron was terrified that he would inadvertently push Daryl away, but it couldn't go on like this.

The school they were targeting for supplies seemed to have been used as a make-shift shelter at the beginning of the apocalypse. They split up to clear and search the location room by room. The sounds of roamers snarling and banging around echoed in the hallways and rooms around them as they worked. Aaron mused that it was like some surreal smell-o-vision video game with targets popping out at you from odd places at various times.

On the top floor, Aaron and Daryl had come to a dead-end hallway with a random desk discarded diagonally, blocking the way. They hopped the desk and each of them took the room on either side of the hallway to clear. Aaron found a sealed pack of crackers and, disturbingly, a rather large knife butcher knife stashed away in the teacher's desk. He heard Daryl's crossbow whisk out a bolt in the other room, probably dispatching the poor individual who had attempted to block himself in for safety. Poor bastard.

Aaron was still lamenting the fate of those who had died here as he methodically searched through the desk. He was surprised when he felt Daryl pressed against his back. Aaron hadn't heard him coming. Daryl was good at stealth… and silence. It was the hunter in him, Aaron figured.

Daryl may not have made a sound as he approached, but he wasn't quiet now. As he pressed Aaron forward over the desk and ground his rock hard cock against the perky ass of his lover, he growled like a wildcat in heat. It was a sound unfamiliar to Aaron. It was a bit intimidating…and so very hot. The tenacity that he had experienced from Daryl on the road earlier was back with a vengeance.

Daryl's hands were all over him, rough fingers hastily seeking out pliant flesh to squeeze and grope. The feeling of the calloused rough hands on him was amazing, but the grunts and growls Daryl made as he ground into him from behind were what Aaron focused on. He'd never heard such heated sounds come from the reserved archer. They were both arousing and alarming at the same time. Alarming only because it was loud.

Daryl's smoky moans echoed against the block walls and dry erase boards of the classroom. Beneath those wanton sounds, though, Aaron could still hear the croaky hissing and strained airy whines of the dead as they cried out hungrily somewhere in the building.

"Daryl!" Aaron whispered urgently. "They'll…hear." Aaron could barely get words out as he endured the lusty assault of his lover. Daryl now had Aaron's torso laid flat against the desktop, his mouth working overtime to lap up the sweat from Aaron's neck as his hand's worked to free Aaron from his jeans. All the while Daryl continued to grind them both into the metal desk which was now squeaking obscenely with every thrust.

Daryl stopped, panting heavily, just long enough to catch his breath. Aaron took the opportunity to turn his head and glance at his lover's face. Surprisingly, the look he found there was one of happiness and defiance. Daryl ran his rough fingers through Aaron's hair gently before responding. Daryl stood up straight, directing his words toward the open door, shouting loud and clear. "Fuck 'em. Let 'em listen."

Aaron didn't know what to say or think. Daryl turned back to him and roughly finished pushing Aaron's jeans down over thin hips, exposing his ass to the open room. Daryl finally started talking as he used one hand to push Aaron's shoulders back down onto the desk and his other to pull his hip farther up into the air. "Tired of bein' quiet. Always gotta be silent and still. Ain't proper to disturb anybody, is it? Cain't even let ya hear how much I want ya, how much I enjoy…takin' ya. Cain't just…fuck you when I want ya so bad."

An electric shock went through Aaron as Daryl suddenly spread him open and buried his face between the cheeks of his ass. All Aaron could think to do was grope onto the edge of the desk as Daryl's tongue pressed wetly but firmly against his opening. The archer's lips massaged his most private and delicate parts. They'd never done this. Aaron had fantasized, but he'd never been sure it was an idea his lover would even entertain, but it was definitely happening now. It was the… Aaron's thoughts were cut short as a light slap against his ass cheek reminded him that he should probably stop thinking so hard and remember to breath. "Come on. Wanna hear ya. I know yer needin' it as much as I am, Aaron. Ain't ya tired of buryin' yer face in the pilla when ya come? It ain't fair we gotta hide."

Daryl was inside him before Aaron realized what was happening. It was easy and divine. Daryl had prepared him just enough so there was a burning friction, but not painful, as Daryl fucked him hard against the desk. Aaron's mind was still racing excitedly at what was happening. The sounds Daryl was making now were unbelievably arousing…long loud moans and rough grunts and exquisite exhalations of pure lusty pleasure. Aaron's cock wept as he joined Daryl's chorus, no longer caring about roamers, their family, or God himself hearing their sinful tryst play out.

It was over too quickly as Aaron felt Daryl jerk his hips upward sharply. The spill of warmth deep inside him wasn't the only sign that Daryl had sated himself. As he began to come, Daryl whined and dug the nails of both hands into Aaron's hips hard enough to draw blood. Daryl's hot heavy orgasm flowed deep inside his lover as he threw his head back and cried out loudly. "Fuuuuuck!"

Daryl's knees gave way and he sank to the floor of the classroom as Aaron hyperventilated against the desk, unable to move. Aaron had never been taken like that in his life and it was thrilling and terrifyingly satisfying in a way he couldn't explain.

It took a few moments for either man to recover. Aaron still had his nose pressed to the cold metal, contemplating the meaning of all this when he felt Daryl's warm hand caressing his hip gently. Aaron raised himself off the desk and turned around carefully, still needing the support of the desk as his legs seemed to have turned to jelly. Daryl was on his knees on the floor grinning but checking the marks he'd left on Aaron with gentle concern.

"Sorry." Daryl looked up into Aaron's eyes with happy mischief.

Aaron could only return the smirk with one of his own as Daryl leaned forward and pressed his lips softly to the dip of Aaron's hip. When Daryl grasped his hard cock with a firm steady hand, Aaron realized maybe it wasn't the nail marks Daryl had been apologizing for. Daryl didn't waste time getting Aaron's hard member in his mouth. His lover was quickly working him over happily with feverish oral pleasure. Daryl rolled his balls in one hand as he wrapped his lips down over the hard shaft. Hard suction and a lithe tongue pressed all the right buttons as Aaron lost himself in the moment.

Aaron let himself cry out with every spike of nearly-painful pleasure. He was certain he was yelling obscenities or maybe just screaming incoherently, he wasn't sure which. The head of his cock rammed against the growling vibrations at the back of Daryl's throat over and over until he could take no more. Aaron reached down and grasped a handful of Daryl's chestnut hair, angling his head just a bit and holding the archer in just the right spot. As Aaron came hard at the back of Daryl's throat he groaned out his lover's name one more time, loud enough for the rest of the inhabitants on earth to hear him.

When it was finally finished, Aaron also lowered himself to the floor. He reached for Daryl and found him urgently willing to be embraced. Daryl allowed Aaron to hold him the way they had become accustomed. Aaron didn't need an explanation because he already understood now, but Daryl spoke quietly to him anyway, "Just needed to not hide anymore." Daryl's truth was that simple. Aaron grinned into his hair as he kissed Daryl on the forehead.

The brunette buried his nose in Aaron's neck and sighed contentedly, making Aaron's heart flame up with a pleasure far greater than the physical satisfaction they had just experienced together.

They took their time recovering. No more roamers emerged to surprise them and no one came looking for them. When Daryl and Aaron emerged from the building, they found their three companions waiting by the fence far from the building…obviously having decided to give the couple as much space as they could possibly get.

Daryl expected comments and he wasn't surprised when Glenn threw his hands out in greeting and smirked, "Y'all comin'?!" The little shit was lucky he was a fast runner, Daryl thought with mild embarrassment, but he guessed turn-about was fair play. Morgan didn't say anything, just smiled contentedly. Rick's response, however, surprised both Daryl and Aaron. More than anything, he looked relieved as he clapped Aaron on the shoulder.

Aaron had the feeling he and Daryl would be sent out on their own more often now and he certainly didn't have any objections to that. Daryl took the lead back toward camp. This time he whistled as they went along, eliciting an amused grin even from Morgan.