Chapter 1: Heaven

"Shay! Get your ass out here, we gotta head out!" Daryl hollered as he banged on Shay's bedroom door. Shay groaned as she heard all the ruckus and rolled over in bed and threw her pillow over her head. "In a minute, the walkers ain't going anywhere they'll still be wanderin' out there waitin' for your damn arrows to launch into their rotted heads!" Shay yelled back at him as she grabbed the covers and slowly slid out of the warmth of her comfy queen size bed. Her comforter was a bright yellow along with some black Egyptian Cotton sheets she was lucky enough to find during the run she went on last week when Daryl and her found a relatively secured Bed, Bath & Beyond. She stocked up on sheets, pillows and blankets along with all the decor she managed to completely fill up the car they brought out that day.

Shay ran her hands through her shoulder length brown hair and rubbed her face while mentally gearing up for the long day she would have. Groaning and stretching she reached for the worn pair of jeans she tossed on the floor last night and threw on an old Aerosmith band t-shirt she treasured, and reached for her knife on the bedside table strapping it to her thigh and grabbed the gun that was right beside it, making sure it was fully loaded. Shay managed to take a quick look into the mirror that stood in the corner by her big window. She thought she looked pretty average looking, with her big blue eyes and full lips. Standing around 5"6, she was a little on the curvier side and was still hoping that being more active and going on these runs would help her slim out a bit but it hadn't happened yet.

Shay shrugged as she went to turn away from the mirror, something caught her eye and she leaned over to peak out her window to see what was moving around. Shay bit back a laugh as she saw Daryl pacing back and forth on the street below while chewing his thumb and kept glancing at the front door, waiting for her to emerge.

"God, what's he in such a hurry for?" Shay muttered as she turned and exited her room, bouncing down the stairs of the house she shared with Maggie and Glenn, and reached for her water bottle and backpack. Gathering her hair and throwing it into a quick bun, she was finally ready and left the house, jumping down the 3 stairs from the porch onto the sidewalk and starting skipping along towards where Daryl was waiting for her.

"'Bout time, wha' the hell took you so long, Sleeping Beauty?" Daryl cocked his head and had his hands on his waist looking Shay up and down.

"Sleeping Beauty? Oh, Daryl I reckon that's the best nickname I've ever gotten. I'm friggin' tired okay, Maggie and Glenn kept me up half the night seeing as they're not exactly quiet in the bedroom" Shay rolled her eyes and laughed as Daryl made one of his signature smirks, and turned to walk towards where Shay had her Santa Fe parked. "Like a damn romance novel with those two" Daryl scoffed. "Hey Mister there's nothing wrong with some romance. Hell, I wish there was someone here that would treat me how Glenn treats Maggie. The end of the world happened, don't mean we all gotta be celibate!" Shay pointed out as she reached the car and hopped into the driver's seat and put her seatbelt on. Daryl laughed as he joined in beside her in the passenger seat, not bothering to reach for his seatbelt, not seeing a point in using them since the outbreak. He didn't mind going on runs with Shay, since she was able to prove herself as a skilled fighter amongst walkers and even trained with hand to hand combat in the cases when it's needed on the road. They had gotten close in the weeks since he found her out alone during his run with Aaron. She was driving her SVU down the sideroads when he came upon her on his motorcycle, asked the three signature questions and found her to be a good addition to the community, they brought her back and she immediately connected with Maggie which made it easy to set her up in the house with them.

Daryl had caught himself watching her and even laughing at some of the outlandish things that would come out of that beautiful mouth of hers when she gets caught up telling Carl stories of the shit she'd get herself into when she was younger, quoting her Disney movies and whenever she'd have her headphones in listening to that damn iPod she brought everywhere with her and singing obnoxiously loud and out of key.

That reminded Daryl of when he surprised her with the car charger that was compatible for her ipod he brought back with him during a run a while back. He had stumbled upon an old electronic store that was relatively full and instantly thought of Shay when he found it, shoving it into his bag and scolding himself for feeling a little jolt of excitement thinking how happy she will be when he shows her. When he had gotten back to Alexandria that night, he showed Rick the stuff he had collected and made his way towards his small house he was lucky enough to have alone. Just as he was passing the pond he noticed Shay was sitting on the park bench with her back to him staring at the water. He grabbed the package out of his bag and walked up the small hill towards the bench, sensing someone behind her Shay turned and smiled when she saw who was coming towards her and slid down the bench to give room for Daryl to sit with her.

"Hey Dixon, when did you get back? How'd it go?" Shay asked. Daryl shrugged as he sat down, "a'ight, found couple stores that weren't scavenged too badly. Came across this" He said as he nudged the box against her arm. Shay looked down and gasped when she saw what it was. "Daryl! You found this? Oh my gosh, I can't believe you got this now I can keep my iPod charged up. Thank you so much for bringing me this" Shay beamed as she leaned over and surprised Daryl with a quick kiss on his cheek. "Aint nothin', figured you could use it most since that things attached to your damn hip" Daryl muttered as his heart vibrated in his chest, wanting to feel her lips on his skin one more time. "Oh, so you noticed it hasn't been on me in a couple days huh?" Shay nudged her elbow into his side and laughed when she saw him smirk, "Nah, just haven't heard that strangled alley cats noise you call a voice in a few days" Daryl chimed in. "Daryl, Did you just compare my singing voice to screaming cats?!" Shay doubled over on the bench laughing and couldn't believe that she had gotten Dary to feel comfortable enough around her to joke and make fun of her. She loved how close they've gotten since he brought her here and felt as if he was meant to come across her that day.

Daryl and Shay sat there watching the sunset and the reflection it made across the pond when Daryl finally sighed and rubbed his chin, thinking. "Alrigh' I'm heading in, see ya Shay" Daryl stood up to turn and felt her hand on his arm. "Daryl, wait" Shay whispered as she stood and tilted her chin a bit to meet his eye, being just a few inches shorter than him. She took a step closer to him, took a chance and threw her arms around him. Immediately Daryl froze with the contact, feeling her arms around his neck he stiffened before cursing himself, forcing himself to take a breath, and slowly raised his arms to put them around her. His heart racing, he felt her raise on her tiptoes as he felt her hot breath in his ear, Shay whispered "Thank you Daryl. Have a good night".

The hug only lasted a few seconds before Daryl awkwardly released his hands from her back, took a step back, shuffling his feet, nodded once and quickly turned and walked in the direction to his house.

"Daryl….Daryl!" Shay cackled as she turned her head from the road to look at him sitting in the passenger seat. Daryl gave his head a shake to rid himself of the memory and tried to focus on what she was saying.

"Wh-what?" He stuttered

"Well, now who's in Dreamland, Dixon? I was going on and on and see you over there with your eyes glazed over and not listening". Shay let go of the wheel to lean over and pretending to knock on Daryl's head in a 'Helloooo anyone home' motion.

"Easy to do since you never stop yammerin'" Daryl muttered as he swatted her hand away and reached for the bundle of mixed C.D's Shay kept in her console.

"What'll it be today DJ Dixon?" Shay said as she looked over to see him shuffling through the choices and finally settled on one titled 'Soundtracks'. "This ain't disney shit is it?" Daryl asked before sliding the C.D into the player. "Nope, you're safe for another day". Shay smiled as she settled back into her seat.

They had started this game a few runs back, when they first started scavenging together. Shay drove her car while Daryl rode shotgun and could pick any C.D of hers to listen to during the ride. It was an unspoken agreement, He would tolerate her singing and Shay would answer any questions he had about her while they drove. Recently, Daryl's been on a kick where all the questions are related to why she liked certain songs and what memories got brought back to her. He would quietly listen to her answers as she sang along while thinking of her answers, some songs he picked would just be ones that make her happy and dance, like anything Disney, and others would make her quiet and Daryl noticed how her face would change as she listened to the song.

Shay smiled as she heard the first couple notes flood through the car speakers, took a deep breath and sang along to the first song on the C.D.

Love's my religion but he was my faith

Something so sacred so hard to replace

Fallin' for him was like fallin' from grace

All wrapped in one he was so many sins

Would have done anything everything for him

And if you ask me I would do it again

No need to imagine

'Cause I know it's true

They say "all good boys go to heaven"

But bad boys bring heaven to you

It's automatic

It's just what they do

They say "all good boys go to heaven"

But bad boys bring heaven to you

Shay let out a small cough, and adjusted in her seat as she took a chance and peaked over at Daryl, who was just staring out his passenger window. Shay smiled listening to the lyrics and couldn't help but think of her and Daryl's blossoming….Friendship? She'd like to think he saw her as a friend at the very least but she knew her feelings towards him had been developing into something more substantial. Shay hadn't even felt the change occur until that day by the pond, when Daryl brought her that car charger for her iPod. She had never before had a man in her life that has given her a gift that was more perfectly made for her. Daryl was a man who listened to her sing, knowing how much of a release it gave her regardless of the lack of talent in the voice department, and had noticed she hadn't been carrying it around since the battery ran out a couple days prior to that. Shay felt her cheeks get rosy as she thought back to the moment she threw caution to the wind and placed her arms around Daryl, embracing him. She felt him stiffen initially but slowly relaxed and even put his arms around her as well.

"What soundtrack is this from?" Daryl asks finally turning towards Shay as he made a mental list of questions to ask.

"Now don't laugh - but it's from the Fifty Shades Soundtrack" Shay replied. "I watched all the movies in theatre when they came out with my girlfriends".

"Ah, you like them movies?" Daryl mused as he felt a jolt in pants. He never watched the movies but he knew the basics, and he instantly got visions of Shay in those compromising positions.

"Meh" Shay shrugged, "Some of it is a bit...extreme to me. But who doesn't like a good pair of handcuffs every now and then" Shay laughed and blushed when she realized what she said.

"You use them before, Disney?" Daryl murmured.

"Well, I mean, yeah couple times….just those cheap ones from the sex shops, why haven't you?" Shay answered and saw Daryl gnawing on his thumb and had his eyes focussed on the road ahead of them.

"Yah…" Daryl grumbled, anger and jealousy soaring through his chest thinking about Shay with any other man but himself, while simultaneously cursing the fact that he even asked the question.

The run went as uneventful as they usually do. Killed a few walkers, scavenged goods from a few stores that were fairly picked through already, grabbing whatever was left, and started to head back. Once Shay parked the car and turned off the ignition, she turned to Daryl to see him jumping up out of his seat and hopping out of the car before Shay could even get a word out.

"See ya" Daryl hollered over his shoulder as he walked towards Rick's house in long strides.

"Bye…." Shay whispered to herself knowing he couldn't hear her.

All right that's all folks! Let me know if you think I should continue, also any comments/criticism are welcome of course, just be nice to me pleaseeeee! I'm new to this, never written a story before so I'm sure there I have lots to improve upon.

Song is: Heaven by Julia Michaels from the Fifty Shades Freed Soundtrack - give'r a listen!

*Note* I know the 50 Shades movies have been released later in our timeline of the Walking Dead series, but for the sake of my story, I'm pretending they were released before the Apocalypse :)

Also, we know I don't own Walking Dead or anything - except my character Shay!

Also comment and let me know any songs you guys would like to see a chapter on, most will be based on songs I enjoy that are in my personal playlists but if you love a certain song I'll try my hardest to put it in.