I'm All Ears

Disclaimer: The Walking Dead belongs to AMC, not me. I just own the story

Pairings: Rick/Daryl, mentions of Rick/Lori

Warnings: Hints of slash, het, AU (no walkers!)

~OoO~

Daryl wasn't really an expert at things like this. In fact, he'd never been married before, let alone being in a relationship with someone. Sometimes, when Merle wasn't high off from drugs or drunk, he would bring home two girls with him from god knows where. One was for him and the other was for his younger brother. He was trying to get Daryl up with a girl but the younger Dixon would always turn his offer down.

This didn't really bother Merle at all. More girls meant more fun for him, though Merle did wonder why his little brother didn't want to be with a lady He assumed that Daryl may have been gay and he either taunted him for it, calling him girly names or scolded him, depending on his mood.

Daryl didn't want to be involved with someone who would probably just end up playing around with him, ignore him and make things difficult for him. He had enough of that when he was a child and he especially got plenty of negligence from his Pa and Merle.

Daryl thought he was better off alone and did taught some things on his own when he was a kid. He also thought he was asexual. He didn't see a lot of people catching his eye. He had gotten a few compliments from a good amount of women before but he usually just let the words bounce right off him. He certainly didn't think he was gay, either. It would be...so weird and so wrong to be with someone who had the same gender as you.

So why was he so drawn the police officer's appearance? His blue eyes looked weary, as if he hadn't gotten much sleep in days, His tan colored shirt and dull brown pants looked wrinkled, as though it wasn't ironed properly with a few grease stains and grass stains on the shirt. His dark curly brown hair was combed back, though a few strands were laid on his forehead.

His appearance looked so worned out and lethargic looking...and yet the younger man couldn't help but find all of it oddly alluring.

"So...why are you still with her, even though she's been giving yer friend a few looks?" The young bartender asked, his folded arms on the smooth, wooden bar table. He watched as Rick rubbed a hand against his head, from his forehead and down to his chin, eliciting a sigh while he did so. Daryl noticed how glassy his eyes looked and it looked like he was trying his best to hold back his tears. For a man that was torned and broken on the inside, he was doing a fine job at trying to keep it all in.

"I don't know...I don't even know, but I want to leave Lori so badly. I don't even have...strong feelings for her anymore, like I used to before." A rush of nostalgia runs through the older man's body, making his shoulders slump a little from its impact. Faint memories of Lori in her beautiful white long dress and him wearing his dark gray tuxedo on their wedding day starts to roll in his mind...

Rick pinches the bridge of his nose, shaking his head a little to make the pictures go away. The mental images where almost enough to bring the man into tears but he held himself together, not wanting to make a fool out of himself in public place like this.

"But we have a kid together and I don't want to just leave him so suddenly." The policeman explained.

"So why not get full custody of him? Maybe you could...I don't know, file somethin' and-."

"It's not that easy, Daryl. She spends more time with him than I do, since I'm always so focused on my job. And besides, Carl needs his mother, too. He needs a motherly figure in his life, someone to keep him level-headed, keep him out of danger and I don't want him to not have that." Rick sighed again, only this sounded a bit agitated and he leaned back in his seat. He stared at the ceiling, as if it was going to give him answer to the predicament he was in.

Much to his disappointment, it never did. "I don't know what to do anymore. I just want to end it all right now, I can't live like this anymore."

"You thinkin' about killin' yerself?" Daryl's eyebrows raised up slightly and he'd be lying if he said his heart didn't skip a beat the moment he heard Rick say those words.

"I've been tempted to do it, one too many times before but I never do anything. Hell, I'm still here, ain't I?" Rick let out this chuckle, a bitter, humorless one and he shakes his head. "No, but...I just want to take a different path, one that's way better than this, one that's easier for me to handle. There's opportunities for me out there, but I jus' gotta find them first. Don't know how long that's gonna take, though."

The young bartender doesn't say anything, neither does the police officer and a somewhat awkward silence fell upon them for a minute or so. The only things that filled the atmosphere around them were the chatter of the people that were here and the soft music that was still playing the stereos.

Daryl glances at the floor, feeling a bit uneasy while Rick is still leaned back on his seat, but his eyes were closed and one of his eyebrows were narrowed a bit, seemingly deep in thought.

He wished there was something he could say to make the other man feel better, something he could do to ensure that things might get better and to get rid of this awkward tension between them but he wasn't good at these things. He wasn't good at making other feel better, he never was. He felt that making them mad was one of his expertise and that wasn't really a good thing to have, if all you're ever going to do is just piss them off.

Daryl finally broke the silence, clearing his throat and he looked at the other man. "Do ya wanna drink? It could help ya clear yer thoughts a bit." It was the only think he thought was logical. It was worth a shot.

Rick opened his eyes, his dark ocean blues meeting sky blue ones, before he smirked and he closed them again.

He nodded, "Yeah...vodka would be fine, if ya'll have any."

Daryl nodded, moving back to prepare the requested drink. When he was finished, he returned to the police officer and slid the small glass of vodka next to him.

"Uh-uh." He muttered when he saw Rick reaching into his pocket to get his wallet out. Rick stopped his movements, looking up to the young man with a slightly confused expression.

Daryl shook his head. "On th' house." He felt his heart skipping another beat when he saw the older man smiling softly at him. It's been doing that all night since Rick got here...

"Thank you." Rick said, before he slid his wallet back into his pocket. He took a sip of his drink.

The younger man nodded, the corners of his lips curling up into a smirk and he walked away, attending to the other people who were lined up on the bar. He couldn't help but glance a few times at Rick as he worked and every time the other man caught him, Daryl would give a little, faint smile before looking away.

END

A/N: I dunno, I like the thought of Daryl being a scruffy looking bartender and Rick coming over to the bar on some nights and Daryl's there to listen to his problems and such...I don't know, I thought it's kinda cute!