Chapter 10 -

"Tonight, I don't have any doubts. For the first time in my life, I'm choosing steps that are completely my choice. For the first time I'm striving for something I believe in. I don't know how things are going to turn out and maybe that's the purpose of life. I don't want to be handed the answers. I want to learn the answers for myself; because that's the only way I'll believe them." Ariel sighed, folding the page of her book and setting it down. She was up on one elbow, looking down at it, caressing the cover. "Isn't that nice?"

"Sounds dumb." Daryl muttered behind her, she heard him getting dressed. He had forced her to turn around so she wouldn't look.

Ariel rolled her eyes. "It's not dumb." she laid her head on the tent ground. "It's an amazing book. It's called Middle Ground, by Kate Kacvinsky. Do you have any favorite books?"

"Never read too much." he muttered.

"That's too bad." she whispered.

"Why?" he leaned over her to grab his vest that was on her side. She turned over, under him and grabbed his face in her hands. "What?"

She grinned and brought his face to hers, kissing him thoroughly, and hands in the hair and tongues mixing together. They fit so well together, just with their lips, Ariel was itching to find out how it would be when they would make love to each other. She loved kissing him, she loved the way he lost himself, forgot what he was doing and just went all instinct on her. He was all hands grabbing and moaning into her mouth. It drove her wild.

"Books are important." she whispered against his lips.

"Not anymore." he kissed her once more, leaning back and putting on his vest. His hair was a mess.

She got up on her knees and started to place his hair. "It helps keep me alive."

"How?"

"Well," she pushed away his strands. "They take me away; they remind me of what it feels like to come out on top of a shitty situation."

"Guess they're important then." he kissed her lips again, his hand coming around her neck.

"Kissing you is important too." she grinned, pulling back. "Seriously though, you really don't like to read?"

"Is that something about you?" he asked, irritated that she had taken her lips away from him. "One of the things you miss? You never told me your three, not really. I told you mine."

Ariel let her mouth drop and she hit his chest playfully. "You never told me that's what you missed, just that it's what you liked!" she crossed her arms and tapped her chin. "Gee, how am I supposed to compete with coffee, cats and cigarettes?"

"You can't." Ariel was happy to see that he was in a teasing mood, despite their roller coaster of a conversation.

"Alright," she held out her hand, counting on her fingers. "I miss writing on my laptop."

"You were a writer?"

"If you're going to interrupt me..."

"Sorry, go on."

"I miss writing on my laptop," she went on to touch her middle finger. "I miss my shower, and I miss my books."

Daryl looked at her for a long moment before he gave her one of his signature tiny smiles. "I like when you read to me."

"I thought you said it's dumb."

"Sounds dumb." he held his ground. "But you make it sound okay. You should write too."

"I don't have anything to write with." she said sadly.

"Write in the grass with a stick," he shrugged. "If you find a pen, you can even write on me if you want."

Ariel smiled lightly, feeling herself fall deeper in love with this weird, interesting man. The man she had met at the campsite would have never said these words to her. How quickly he was changing, and for the better. This world, it either changed you like it did to Shane, or if you were lucky, you got to change in the way that Daryl had.

"Know what else is important though?" he murmured. "Finding Rick."

Ariel sighed and pushed him back with her hands, gently. "And just like that, we're back in reality." she looked at him sadly. She didn't like the way he had said it, as if he was tired of looking for people. He probably was though, she thought. You sent him on a wild goose chase.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"It's just...Sophia wasn't mine...wasn't ours."

He tensed, his eyes narrowed. "So?" he was getting defensive now, so she had to put her hand on neck, to bring him back to her. To relax him and make him understand that she was not going to put him down or make him feel bad, that this was something people who were in their situation did; they talked about things.

"It's just, I sent you looking for her."

"I offered." he mumbled.

"I wanted you to never stop, I sent you looking after a dead girl."

He bit his lip for a moment before giving a long, slow nod. "I was mad, a little." he admitted. "When she came out. All we had to do was keep an eye on her."

"I'm sorry." she whispered, her forehead falling to his chest.

"Ain't a thing we can do to change it." he picked up her face. "Couldn't keep an eye on my brother and you couldn't keep an eye on her. We're even."

"That's not the way I want things to be."

"That's the way they are." he told her. "Now we got to find Rick."

"I'm tired." she pouted.

"Sorry." he gave her a quick peck and crawled out of the tent, holding the opening for her.

As she got out she saw that the sun had barely had time to come up yet. "It's early." she told him, watching him pick up his crossbow.

"Yeah, well, we got something else to do before we go look for Rick." he tilted his head. "Come on, told you I would teach you." he took his knife and made a circle in the tree nearby and then another, smaller one inside. "We don't have too much time, but until they call us over we can practice."

"We can practice some other stuff." she winked at him.

He threw the crossbow at her and she barely caught it. "Pay attention." he turned her head towards the target. She hadn't realised how far it actually was until he was forcing her to stare at it. "Put your eye through there...good...alright, breathe."

But she couldn't. He was standing right behind her, his hands all over her arms, moving and touching her, and his breath was on the back of her neck.

"Go."

She released, missed completely, and her elbow shot back from the scare of the sudden, quick release and hit him in the chest.

"Ohmygod!" she screeched, dropping the crossbow.

"Hell, woman!" he bent over, clutching his chest. "Tryin' to kill me?"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," but she was laughing a little.

"No you ain't." he chuckled, grabbing her shoulder and then straightening herself. "Go on, try again."

"No, no, I think I'll stick with guns and knives."

"Giving up already?" he shook his head, taking his crossbow and slinging it over himself.

"You look better with it anyway." her hands were on his chest.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "You looked pretty good with it, should wear my shirt again, that was nice to look at."

"Oh?" she smiled and walked away from him. Feeling bold, Ariel stood about a meter away from him, slowly undoing her top, all eight buttons and let it drop to the floor, revealing her plain white bra. Daryl didn't seem to care what kind of underwear that she was wearing anyway. His eyes traveled to her chest, the most uncovered he had ever seen, but he did not move. His hand did grow white clutching the strap of his crossbow.

Slowly she walked over to the tree and took his shirt that was hanging from a branch, slipping it on, tying it in the back so it showed her stomach and buttoned it up. "Better?" she asked.

"Y-yeah..." he breathed.

She grinned and walked up to him, pressing her lips on his. "Daryl Dixon." she loved the way he sighed into her mouth, like him hearing her speak his name was enough for him. "Hold on to that crossbow tight."

"Why?" he asked.

Ariel smiled and continued kissing him, distracting him with her tongue. The taste of him was divine. His smell too, he smelled like the forest. Slowly, her hand traveled down, and for a moment he did not stop her, but once they got to his belt buckle, his eyes snapped open and he grabbed her wrists. "No." he muttered.

"Relax." she smiled. "Trust me."

It took a while, but he eventually let go of her wrists and watched her eyes as her hands undid the belt. She did not make him drop his pants; she only unzipped it and unbuttoned it. She slipped her hand down and...God, she thought, he's commando? As if Daryl Dixon wasn't attractive enough, his hard on without the limitation of underwear sent her spiraling upwards.

When her hand grasped him, he tensed; his eyes were as tight as the rest of him.

"Relax," she whispered on his lips, licking his bottom lip.

He didn't, but she figured her next actions would help. She began to stroke him, somehow this being much better than if he would have been naked. She liked that he was clothed, head to toe, and that they were standing; though Daryl looked like he was going to have trouble standing upright.

She started slow, going up and down, staring at his face the whole time. His face was an incredible turn on, it was completely ridiculous. He was staring at her, his blue eyes darkened with desire, biting on his lower lip. Seeing him like this...well...it only made her feel all the more bold.

Daryl felt stupid.

How inexperienced must he have looked, he thought, as she stroked him off. His legs were shaking and god, the friction, his hand, the jeans, just...he couldn't think, the feeling was too good. Her nails treaded lightly on it, no pain, so pleasurable, and her hold was just right, tight enough to make him want to release himself right then.

It was an effort not to.

Then she made it worse.

Worse, but in a good way.

She took his hand and before he could say anything, his hand and her free one went down her own pants. They both gasped together as she forced him to touch her wetness, and it was so warm that Daryl had to moan, her touching him and now they were both touching her, it was too much, he wanted to take her; he was in so much pain.

But he had scars on the inside and the out and wasn't ready to show them yet. Not in the cold, hard light of day.

His mind was too occupied to concentrate on pleasuring her properly, but Ariel didn't seem to mind giving him direction. She pushed his hand, finding his finger and aligning it with herself. He wondered if she was uncomfortable, both her hands being down someone's pants, but if she was, she wasn't giving it away.

When his finger entered her warmth, he was done.

His free hand grabbed her hair and he pulled back, shoving his face in her neck, moaning so loud he was sure he would have woken everyone had they been closer to camp. His hand shook, his body spased as he pushed himself into her, wanting every last touch before she would take away her now, very sticky hand.

She laughed softly while he breathed heavily, his cheeks heating up. "Sorry." he breathed.

But she didn't say anything. She just pushed down on his hand, sending him deeper so he would get the message. He understood and kissed her deeper, sticking another finger in, allowing her to remove both her hands and wrap them around his neck. Their foreheads were talking, his chest still heaving, and hers starting to rise in the same, exasperated effect. Their eyes never left each other, their mouths touched once and a while, but mostly they stared at each other.

"Daryl..." she moaned, and for God's sake he could feel himself getting hard again.

"Come on baby." he stuck another finger in and she gasped pulling back on his hair like he had done to him. The rough act turned him on so much; he kissed her all over her neck, plummeting his fingers in her over and over, faster each time, watching her eyes flutter close as she came all over his hand.

"Where have you guys been?" Shane asked as they walked up to the truck.

Daryl and Ariel both shrugged, Daryl muttering something while Ariel smiled lightly at Andrea. "We going out for Rick finally?" she asked, hoping she didn't look to flushed.

"Yeah, he's still not back with Hershel and Beth is only getting worse."

"Poor kid." Ariel muttered, but she was looking across the truck at Daryl who was fiddling with his crossbow. He looked so good in that stupid leather vest. She wanted to hit him.

"Yeah," Andrea said, and then looked up, "Hey guys look."

They turned where sure enough Rick was pulling up to the farm. Relief flooded Ariel when she watched him; Glenn and Hershel get out of the car. Once he hugged his son and Lori, Ariel could not help but run up to him too.

"You scared the shit out of us." she mumbled to him, hugging him.

"Glad to see you too." he chuckled, wrapping his strong arms around her tight. "Did Ii miss anything?"

"Nothing of importance." she said quickly.

"Hey Daryl." he nodded at the bowman who walked up to Ariel's side, nodding at Rick.

"Hey." Daryl said, pointing at the car. "You gonna tell us who the hell that is?" he pointed to a boy in the car, blindfolded and looked to be passed out. Ariel sighed, it was never a dull moment here.

"We couldn't just leave him behind." Rick explained to everyone in the kitchen. Ariel was sitting at one of the chairs, Daryl behind her, leaning against the wall. "He would have bled out, if he lived that long."

Glenn sighed. "It's gotten bad in town."

Andrea frowned. "What do we do with him?"

Hershel came in, looking tired and annoyed. "I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week."

Rick nodded. "When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, and send him on his way."

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asked.

"He'll have a fighting chance."

Shane of course, disagreed. "Just gonna let him go? He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat."

"Not a threat. How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?"

Ariel crinkled her nose. "Well if they left him for dead no one will be looking for him."

T-Dog was just as unsure as the rest of them. "We should still post a guard."

Shane laughed. "You know what? I'm gonna got get him some flowers and candy. Look at this folks, we back in fantast land."

Hershel had just about enough. "You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all...this is my farm. Now, I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut."

Shane sighed loudly and walked out.

Ariel got up. "'We don't need to deal with it today." she murmured. "We should all rest today I think we all need it."

"Ariel is right," Rick looked so grateful. "We all need to sleep, regroup and get our heads straight with it."

Everyone got up one by one to leave the kitchen, Daryl pushing himself off the wall and putting his hand on Ariel's shoulder.

"Give me a second," she whispered, kissing his jaw. "I just want to talk to Rick."

He nodded and waited for her outside.

Rick smiled at her, sitting down next to her. "I see you and Daryl have finally found your way to each other."

"Yeah," she laughed lightly. "It took some time."

"These things usually do." he looked down. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Actually I was going to ask if you needed to talk." she took his hand. "I know you have Lori, but Shane...Shane doesn't seem like he's someone you could talk to anymore. It looks like you could use a friend."

He laughed, but it was so sad. "Yeah, yeah I guess you're right."

Her heart was forever breaking for him. She hated thinking it, but she did anyway: so many people in this world deserved to be punished for things. A lot of people went to jail and deserved too. But men like Rick Grimes, they did not deserve this cruel world, or to be gone against in the way Shane did. Rick Grimes deserved every possible good thing in the world; he was just in the wrong place. She wished that she could fix these things for him, to make his life a little better. But if Ariel had learnt anything from her childhood it was that sometimes, all someone had to do was listen to someone go a little crazy.

"So tell me." she encouraged him.

"Do you think I'm crazy, for doing all this? For trying to understand Hershel, for dealing with Sophia the way I did, for bringing back this kid..."

"Rick, you're making hard choices, trying to be a good person in a bad world." she sighed. "You're doing what you can."

"I always do." he put his hand over his eyes. "I do just enough to get us by but I seem to be putting us in more and more danger."

"More? Rick you brought us to this farm−"

"Yeah, after my son got shot." he snapped, more to himself than to her. "I feel like I am failing this group."

"Hey," she put a hand on the side of his face. "You are doing more for us than Shane would ever do. You are doing things that humans do, not just survivors. You are trying to save people."

He smiled lightly and kissed her forehead. "You're good for him you know." he told her. "You make him better."

Ariel didn't have to ask who he was talking about. She left him at the table, kissing his head and walking outside, looking at Daryl who was passing a rock between his two boots. He looked up at her when she walked out, using his hands as a cap so he wouldn't have to squint too bad.

"What?" he frowned, looking at her smile at him stupidly?

She bounded down the stairs and looked at him. "Do I make you better?"

Daryl frowned further. "Shut up."

That was Dixon talk for yes.