Walking Dead

Daryl/OC

M (Probably- most likely due to language and gore/violence more than anything else.)

Romance/Horror (I think. I'm not fully decided here.)

Natalia knew one thing- life was a series of 'before' and 'after'. She was used to the After's in her life being negative. After Daryl Dixon- now that was an after that she didn't mind one bit, even if he was socially awkward, and more than a little rough around the edges.

Before And After

Prologue: The Before's and After's of Natalia Lear

Talia's life was a series of before and after.

Before she met her first love-

And after.

Before he decided that he'd outgrown her-

And after.

Before her daddy cheated-

And after.

Before her momma started dating again-

And after.

Before her father dropped off the face of the planet-

And after.

Before her mother married her step-dad-

And after.

Before he hit her for the first time-

And after.

Before she had to hide the marks-

And after.

Before she met Merle Dixon-

And after.

Before he found out about the marks-

And after.

Before he told her he couldn't be seen with a weakling-

And after.

Before she made him teach her how to fight-

And after.

Before she decided her step-dad had hit her for the last time-

And after.

Before she made that clear to him-

And after.

Before her mother kicked her out of the house-

And after.

Before she threatened to kill him if he ever hit her mother-

And after.

Before she moved away to college-

And after.

Before the sickness broke out-

And after.

Before the dead started walking-

And after.

Before she found herself locked in a gas station-

And after.

Before she was reunited with Merle-

And after.

Before Merle introduced his brother Daryl...

And after...

Before And After

Chapter 1: Redneck with a Motorbike

Natalia stared at the bike in disbelief, "You're shitting me. You do know that they respond to noise, right? I mean, I always knew you were a few crayons short of a full box, but still- I didn't think you were that stupid."

"What did ya jus' say?" It was a growl from the older man.

"I said you're a fucking moron to even contemplate riding that damn bee in a can- I don't care if you are good at killing them."

"Say tha' one more time- see wha' hap'ns."

Talia crossed her arms and took an aggressive stance. "I know what happens. You get pissy, threaten to smack me around a bit, and then I put you on your ass- simple as that."

"Oh, simple 's that, is it? Ya really sure ya wanna test tha' theory?"

"You bet your a-"

Daryl was silent as he observed the exchange between his brother and the young woman that he'd apparently met during his very brief stint in the military. It was a strange thing to watch- his brother getting on so well with… well, anyone really. He was amused and fascinated as he watched their interaction- Merle wasn't the sort to take shit from anyone, but here he was letting some girl talk to him like this.

Deryl loved his brother- he did. But that didn't mean he wasn't aware of the fact that his brother was a sexist, racist, violent, drug-addled asshole. The fact that he was even remotely civil to this girl, despite what she was saying to him, was frankly mind-blowing. That the girl was attractive and clearly at least part Mexican made it truly unbelievable.

He was still kind of weirded out by the fact that she'd greeted Merle with a hug

(And that's currently all I have written of this piece. Yay.)