Monday Morning

Daryl sat at the security monitors, hunched over the desk with his chin resting on his folded arms like a deflated balloon. He knew what time it was. He knew Kate would be arriving soon. Then there she was, stepping out of her car and making his stomach tighten at the mere sight of her. Luckily for him this week was his turn at working the night shift, Sunday to Thursday, which meant he could avoid her just like she requested.

Daryl stood up and turned his back to the security monitors. He wasn't going to drive himself crazy watching her like he had before. He needed to forget about his stupid crush. He wasn't a thirteen year old girl, he needed to grow some balls and forget she existed. She didn't exist for him anymore. He walked into the security office and started to prepare himself for Shane and Rick's arrival. He wanted to be able to get away from the museum and home to bed as quickly as possible.

/

Kate saw Daryl's blue truck in the car park and knew that he must be on night shifts. It would just be the two of them in the museum for the next 20 minutes. She wondered if she would find him in the breakroom or see him in the hall, then she wondered if he would say something to her or if she would say something to him.

Yesterday she had enjoyed a lazy stroll around Atlanta, browsing shops and stopping for lunch at a tiny café where she sat outside with an ice cold glass of watermelon lemonade. It had been nice but it had been like it always was. Lonely. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy her own company. There was a time when she would have given her right arm for a day on her own but now she had the opposite problem.

Kate had watched the world go by and wondered if she should have been more accepting of Daryl's apology. She was in no way a perfect person. She had done many foolish things when drunk. What bothered her the most was her slight tendency towards biting people's heads off that she'd never had before. And what was it they said about forgiveness? To err is human to forgive, divine. She was in no way divine and admitting any level of fault or changing her stance on a matter was not something she could easily do.

Kate dropped her bag in her office but instead of heading out to make her cup of tea she stepped inside and closed the door where she convinced herself she wasn't hiding. This was a break from her normal routine to be certain but in no way was she trying to avoid Daryl Dixon. She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled a book from her handbag. It was pride and prejudice and she'd started slowly rereading her much loved book last Tuesday. She took a seat in the leather chair and sat with the paperback on her knee unopened.

Kate looked at her watch. She was hiding. She wanted a nice comforting morning cup of tea. A boost of caffeine to make her feel slightly more human. She put the book back in her handbag and stepped out of the office to make her tea and do what she always did. She wasn't going to hide from anyone or anything.

While the kettle boiled she remembered that there was a school group arriving this morning so she needed to make sure the school room was prepared for her lecture and read through the relevant notes to refresh her memory. This was the last week of school tours, they would all be breaking up for their summer holidays.

Kate grabbed her mug of red hot tea, grabbed her file of notes and made her way to the school room. On the way she heard the sound of footsteps echoing down the narrow hall and lifted her head from her reading to see Daryl with his shirt buttoned down and a jacket flung over his shoulder as he patted his pockets for his cigarettes.

Bollocks, if she turned around now it would look like she was running away since that was exactly what she would be doing. She had no choice but to continue along the hallway that was barely wide enough for two and then they would have no choice but to pass each other. She tried to keep an even pace, though her feet felt like jelly and she wondered idly if she might trip over and fall to the floor.

Kate tried to look past him and act nonchalant but she was not great at subtlety and the incessant need to know if he was looking at her was filling her head louder and louder until it won out. Her eyes flicked to Daryl's face where they locked with his piercing blue ones and made her footsteps falter.

Why did I look? Stupid. She tore her eyes from his and went back to looking behind him where she focused on a little red fire alarm that sat in the middle of the wall at the end of the walkway.

The gap between them closed to the point where one of them might have said something if there was something to be said. But she swallowed any words that might have escaped and let the moment pass as quickly as it had arrived because now they weren't walking towards each other, they were walking away.

Kate had the distinct feeling that if Daryl had said something just now then she would have caved. In fact, she would have caved quite happily. She might have told him that despite what happened at the end of Saturday, the middle had been fun. She'd enjoyed riding a horse for the first time and she'd enjoyed climbing a tree. In fact, it had been the most fun she'd had in a long time. Suddenly she was annoyed at him again for ruining it all.

/

Daryl tried not to watch Kate walk away but he did. She had barely even acknowledged his existence. There was definitely no shy smile, no laugh, no jokes, no talking. He was back to being invisible while she fluttered around like a butterfly in one of her figure hugging dresses. But it wasn't like when she was fluttering around before, because now he knew how firm and perfect the curve of her ass felt in his hands. How sweet and heavy the scent of her perfume was when they were close enough to kiss. Most of all he knew how much he enjoyed talking to her and having her listen and laugh at the things he said.

Daryl's mind crept to Sunday. Thanks to Kate's morning run he knew exactly what she looked like when she was hot, sticky and exhausted with the flush of red that started at her cheeks and crept all the way down her neck and beyond. The way the tops of her breast glistened with perspiration as her chest heaved to catch her breath. He wondered if he could make her that hot and breathless if he had her for the night and knew that he would quite happily do whatever it took.

Daryl's throat was dry and his heart was racing.

"Morning Son," the sound of Lou's voice was like a kick in the balls. Daryl swallowed down hard and tried to act relaxed as he wondered just how long he had been staring at the empty hallways while his mind filled with Kate.

"Katy said you took her to Irma's house."

"She did?" Daryl wondered when they had spoken about it. Probably last night. He knew that Lou liked to call Kate most evenings to 'check on her', although he wasn't exactly sure why. He just assumed it was because Lou was a little old fashioned like that. Like it was his responsibility to keep Kate safe.

"Yes, it's no big secret I don't think…" Lou winked.

"What else she say?"

"She rode a horse…" Lou bashed his cane down on the wooden floor. "I can't believe you got the girl on a horse, she hates the creatures."

There were obviously things she hated more. Like being helpless or showing any kind of failing. Daryl half laughed and looked over his shoulder to where she had disappeared down the hall. Maybe he should have just said something to her?

Daryl rubbed his sleepy eyes, "I gotta head home."

"Oh? That's a shame."

Daryl still wasn't quite sure why Lou liked him so much but the man seemed genuinely disappointed that he wouldn't be there to talk to him today. Maybe it was just because he actually enjoyed listening to the old man's history lessons. Lou was a great story teller and he had a wealth of different ones since England had a long and bloody history.

Friday Afternoon

For the rest of the week Daryl had done better at avoiding Kate despite every fibre in his body telling him not to. Only on Wednesday morning did he find himself watching the monitors, and hating himself for it. If she were a drug she would be illegal. Jesus Christ, the woman was addictive and no matter how much he knew he should stop he couldn't help himself.

Now his run of nights was over. Daryl dragged himself out of bed at 13.01. He made a cup of coffee and a cheese sandwich. He felt rough. Sleeping during the day was restless no matter how tired he was. Today he wanted to get up early so he could sleep in the night even though he knew he would struggle after so many nights forcing himself awake.

He lay on the sofa and flicked on the TV, vegging in front of it until Charlene and Jim arrived home. His friend always picked his girl up from her job at the supermarket where she was the manager. He never let her down.

"Hey hun," Char kicked off her shoes and nudged Daryl's feet off the sofa to make space for her to sit while Jim grabbed everyone a coffee. "I arranged for you to take Cassie out tomorrow."

Daryl sat bolt upright "why the hell did ya do that?"

"Because you're both off work and you need a little sugar in your life," she winked shamelessly.

"No."

"It's a cup of coffee… it won't kill you."

Daryl fell back down and covered his face with one of the million scatter cushions that Charlene obsessively covered every soft surface of the house with. He didn't want to spend time with some strange girl. He didn't want to go on a date. Then he thought about Kate and reconsidered. There was no better way to forget about someone than by fucking someone else. That was always Merles best policy and he would adopt it.

Saturday Morning

Daryl pulled up outside of Cassie's house. It was single story, white washed and had a million orange and yellow flowers planted outside. He stared at the house for five minutes before finally getting out of his truck. He was sure that Charlene's friend would be a nice girl just like she had promised and he should have felt better about meeting her, but he felt awful. He wanted nothing more than to get back into his truck and do anything except ring the doorbell but Char would probably kill him for letting her co-worker down and embarrassing her by not turning up. He'd upset enough women for one week so he took a deep breath and approached the door.

Daryl pressed the bell and could hear the yappy barking of a dog while he waited for Cassie to answer.

"Daryl?"

"Yes ma'am."

Cassie was of a height with him, dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. Her face was round, soft and friendly looking. She had some of the biggest breasts he'd ever seen, even if they were covered in about four layers of clothing despite the Georgia heat. He knew she went to church and from the way she was dressed she was definitely conservative. She was homely, like the moms that brought their kids to the museum.

A tiny white ball of noisy fluff came barging out of the house and began weaving between his feet. He loved dogs but this rat sized creature was not exactly his style.

Cassie bent down to pick up the dog, "hush now Cookie." She placed the dog in the house and they got in his truck.

Shit, he had forgot to open the door for her. Never mind.

Charlene had told him exactly what coffee shop to take Cassie to and he followed her instructions. He'd never taken a girl for coffee before since he never went for coffee. At least not in any sort of fancy coffee shop. He wanted greasy diner food or maybe a slice of pie on the side of his coffee, not a hefty portion of overpriced bullshit.

"So, tell me about yourself…" Cassie suggested as they sat down with their coffees.

Fucking hell. This was like a fucking interview. Couldn't they just talk about stuff, random things?

Daryl fidgeted and stared into his cup of coffee. What was there to say about him? "I work in a Museum." That was safe, nothing weird or depressing.

"Charlene already told me, what else?"

What else? He took a sip of his coffee to buy some time but it was too hot and he burnt his tongue, "shit."

"Now you owe me a dollar for my swear jar."

"Swear jar?"

"You shouldn't cuss."

"Right," he began to clasp and unclasp his hands as his mind found its way to thinking about Kate and how easy it was to talk to her. "Ya like treehouses?"

Cassie scrunched her face up with a mixture of distaste and confusion as if he'd said he fucking hated yappy little dogs. "Charlene didn't tell me you had little ones."

Daryl cleared his throat, "I don't." He took another painful sip of coffee and looked anywhere but his dates face.

"Oh."

A long pause seemed to stretch between them. This was awkward. He was awkward. He couldn't think of one single thing to say.

"Tell me about your family…" Cassie almost demanded.

Jesus. "I have a brother, Merle." Probably best not to talk about his Mama and Daddy. It was probably best not to talk about Merle but he had to fucking say something.

"Merle," she tested the word before smiling brightly, "I come from a big family, there's six of us kids. All four of my brother's work for my Daddy, he runs a big dairy farm and my Mama is a homemaker just like my big sister Lynn."

"That's nice." Daryl wondered if Cassie was looking for a man to make her a homemaker just like her Mama and sister. Probably get him a job on the dairy farm where her Daddy could keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't fucking up his little girl. He pictured it and felt his face scrunch into a ball.

"On Sunday after church I was thinking of heading over to the fair that Charlene told me about…"

Daryl nodded his head. He fucking hated fairs.

"Maybe I'll see you there…"

"Erm…" Daryl leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin. Shit. "Maybe…"

The coffees were finished and he didn't know whether to offer her another one or offer to drive her home so he just waited to see what she did.

Cassie checked her phone and then grabbed her coat off the back of her chair. "Did Charlene give you my number?"

"Yeah." They walked back to the truck and he remembered to open the door for her this time. She might not have been as sexy as Kate but Miss Uppity was also a stone-cold bitch to make up for her big brown eyes and tight figure. Cassie was… in his truck, inviting him to fairs and he was hardly in any position to be picky.

Daryl walked her to her front door where she released the yappy fluff ball before turning to shake his hand. "It was nice meeting you. Maybe one night I can cook dinner for you. Let me know."

"Okay."

"Maybe I'll see you on Sunday."

"Yeah."

Cassie went into the house and Daryl twirled his keys around his finger. Maybe he should stop comparing Kate to Cassie, it was like comparing the sun to the moon. Both had their place. The moon controlled the tides and the sun controlled the grass growing. But there was something about the moon that he loved, even as a kid. Sometimes it hung so low and big in the sky it was like he could almost reach out and touch it.

Daryl glanced at his watch. He was supposed to be going into work this evening to staff the gala that Mr Blake was hosting at the Museum. That meant being in a room with Kate for an entire evening. So no matter how hard he had tried to avoid her all week, tonight he would be getting a full hit.