Chapter 21

Daryl spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the mess he had created these last few weeks. Currently, his apartment was everything he hated about living with his brother. It was cluttered, dirty and disgusting. He was annoyed at himself for letting it get that way. It took a lot of time and energy to get it back to the way he liked it. He used this time to think. He had it bad for Gabrielle and he didn't want that to cloud his judgment.

Was he assuming incorrectly that she wouldn't be able to handle living like he did? Then again would they have to? There was no way he was moving to Atlanta, that was non-negotiable, but could they compromise and find a place in between? Sure it was embarrassing as hell that she made so much more money than he did, but with her contributing to their expenses they wouldn't have to live in a dive like he did now, but he refused to live in a fancy place either. He did have his pride. That would be another compromise. Could they? Could he?

Gabrielle wasn't the same stuck up bitch as when he met her, she had mellowed and loosened up. He enjoyed her now and appreciated the spunk that she had, but they still had far to go in getting to know each other. Maybe he had jumped the gun. He just was not sure.

Daryl hated to admit it, but he was scared. He was scared that she could hurt him more than anyone ever could. His old man was the only other person that had done that to him. He abused him mentally and physically as a kid and it had scarred him for life. His head and back were never the same. Gabrielle had the potential to break his heart into a million pieces and that was what Daryl was afraid of. He might not survive that.

He wasn't used to feeling this way. Typically there was nothing that he was ever afraid of. He had been in fights with men much bigger than he was and there had not ever been a situation he couldn't handle, except when it came to Gabrielle. His feelings for her scared him to death and that shocked him. He had never been involved with a woman like this before and he was clueless on what to do. However, he had the feeling he was fucking this up royally.

It took him a couple of hours to get his place back to normal, but at least it was clean again. Daryl still hadn't made up his mind on what he should do with Gabrielle. It wasn't as easy as walking away from a one night stand, they were married.

There was another thing that he had been wondering about. She never asked him about his back. A few women had and he hated the pity he saw in their eyes. Gabrielle had to have seen it that weekend they spent together as they were naked most of the time. In fact, Daryl had forgotten about the scars as he was too wrapped up in her. That had never happened before. When his shirt was off, he was always keenly aware of how they looked.

Daryl dropped down on his worn sofa and turned in the TV. Married…him? He never would that thought that he would ever have gotten married, hell he didn't think there was anyone out there that would want him, but apparently Gabrielle did...at least for now. How he…Daryl Dixon…ended up with a woman as stunning as she was still unimaginable. That was part of what had him mixed up, not even considering their finances or his lack of, she was drop dead gorgeous and he was… well average. Women were never dropping at his feet.

He fell asleep watching a rerun of some comedy show he occasionally watched. He still hadn't been able to come to any decision on his life. What was the rush?

Gabrielle spent all afternoon making plans. She came up with a budget she wanted not to go beyond, did some research on what condo's in her building were going for and even checked out towns that may work for her and Daryl to eventually live in. Atlanta no longer held any appeal.

It was almost dinner time and she couldn't sit still. Her mind was made up and she was happy with the decisions she had come up with, the only problem was Daryl. They still needed to talk and straighten everything out. Gabrielle knew Michonne had told her to give him time, but in her mind he already had a couple weeks. What was taking him so damn long?

Gabrielle realized that she really had only one option. She changed into clean jeans and a short white casual top that almost showed a little bit of her flat tummy. Her makeup was refreshed, but that was all she was going to do. Daryl did not expect her dressed up with full war paint. Gabby looked at herself in the mirror and realized that she had missed the person that was looking back at her. With a big smile, she grabbed her car keys and headed to Parkvale. She had a husband to find.

Daryl was woken up again by someone knocking on his door. He sat up and stretched, "Twice in one day? Really?" It had to be Michonne or Rick, but he was betting on Michonne. She probably thought of more shit to lecture him about. At least the apartment was clean this time.

The person knocked again and he called out, "I'm comin'. Keep your fuckin' pants..."he started to say thinking it was Michonne on the other side of the door. When he flung it open he was shocked to see Gabrielle. "…on."

"Whether they stay on or off is completely up to you, but we need to talk first. Can I come in?" Gabrielle was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. She couldn't believe she had just said that to him.

Daryl did not say a word, he just stepped back and let her in. "What the hell was she doing here?" he said to himself. "Thank God I fuckin' cleaned, cause it's bad enough it's a crappy apartment, but at least it looks a helluva lot better than before."

He hadn't seen her in weeks and she could still rock a pair of jeans. Daryl doubted that she knew what she did to him wearing those tight pants and white top that hugged her breasts. She still was the hottest woman he had ever seen.

The door closed and Daryl turned to his wife. "What do you want Princess?" he asked in his slow drawl. He would bet his new bike that Michonne had spoken to her and told Gabrielle about his screwed up head. That also was the only way she would have known where he lived.

"We need to talk and since you won't return any of my calls, I had to come here in person. Can we sit down?" she asked. It was so good to see him again. His hair was still too long and he looked tired, but he always made her heart race. He had on ratty jeans that had holes both knees. The button down plaid shirt long ago had the sleeves cut off with the frayed edges accentuating his broad shoulders.

Daryl nodded and led the way to the sofa. He let her sit down first and made sure he sat on the other end of the couch. She was too tempting. Dressed as simply as she was, she looked incredible to him. Even when she dressed down like this, she was still too hot for a guy like him.

Gabrielle's sharp eyes took in his apartment in a quick glance. It was small and older, but clean. It was nothing to be embarrassed about. Once upon a time she had lived in worse. "When you left my place, you were going to call me and I'm still waiting on that call. Plus, you didn't return any of mine, so what happened, Daryl?"

"You get right to it, dontcha Princess?" He respected her for being able to deal with this head on. He wasn't as sure about himself.

"I know there's a chance that you could have changed your mind about me, but I don't believe it, not after that weekend we shared. We had too good a time together for me to even consider that could be true. But, before I allow you to call it quits, I need a good reason why we don't belong together, because I frankly can't think of a single damn one." Gabrielle laid it all out on the table for him. This was his to destroy if he wanted to.

She never took her eyes off him. She had missed that handsome face with the angular cheekbones, the intense blue eyes and that unshaven look that he carried off better than anyone she knew. She loved the goatee and secretly always had liked them. Most of the men she had dated where clean shaven as that was common in the business world. He also had this adorable scruff on his cheeks, that should have looked lazy and sloppy, but it didn't. Not at all.

Daryl couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. She sure was a piece of work. It was going to be hard to face up to his feelings, but he was going to try.

"Princess, this ain't easy for me, just like walking away was the hardest thing I ever did. Yeah, we have some sort of fuckin' crazy chemistry, but that can't be all. You live in Atlanta and I live out here and there ain't no way I'm moving to the city. I'd suffocate there." Daryl looked up from the floor. He hadn't been able to meet her eyes yet. When he did, it took everything he had not to say 'fuck it' to everything he was worried about and carry her off the bedroom. He saw them filled with hope and love and he hated himself for having to hurt her.

"Daryl, that's such an easy fix. I've already decided to sell my condo. I don't have to live in Atlanta, that's just where I work."

"That's just plain stupid that you wanna sell your condo. Don't do that for me," he told her gruffly.

"Daryl, I'm doing it for me, not you. I never should have bought that place. I can barely afford it and there's no reason for me to live that way. It was a stupid rash decision. I already have an appointment with the real estate agent on Monday. Whether or not we work out, I'm still selling it for a smaller place," she explained.

"Small like this?" he asked. His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I could if I wanted to. I've lived in worse. I have no problem with downsizing, in fact I need to."

"So you would have no problem moving in here in this dump with me?"

Gabrielle knew what Daryl was trying to get her to say, but he wasn't falling for it. "Yes, I would have a problem moving in here, but not for the reasons you think. We've gone about this relationship ass backwards. We got married before we even knew each other, so that's what we need to do next. If we move right in together, we're going to skip the most important step of learning what makes the other one tick. Does that make sense?"

He had to see that what she was proposing was their best option. Gabrielle knew she loved him, but they needed to do this right in order for it to work and she definitely wanted this to work.

"You saying we need to date?" he asked her. It made sense, but was that going to be a waste of time?

Gabrielle smiled at him, "Yes, we do. We rushed this once, let's not do it again."

Daryl's thoughts jump ahead of the conversation. "Okay, so we date a while and…that does include sex, right?"

This was the first time Gabrielle had laughed in weeks. "Maybe," she told him her voice softer and sexier.

"Damn…okay, …fuck I lost what was I gonna say," he sighed. He was too busy realizing that he couldn't think about her and sex without getting an instant hard on. His erection was already straining against his jeans.

Gabrielle saw the large bulge in his pants and was ecstatic. She was not going to stoop to using sex to convince him stay with her, but that he still so easily desired her was fantastic. "You were saying something about after we dated a while."

"Yeah, that right. So if dating did work out, then what? Seems like you got this all figured out Princess, what's next."

"You think I wasn't going to come here without a solid game plan? This…us is too important to me." Gabrielle took a breath before continuing. "Next is a place that we both can afford in a central location for us. There are a few nice towns halfway between Parkvale and Atlanta that would work."

This was a lot for Daryl to deal with. He was trying to run away from her, and she was not letting him. He honestly did not expect her to be this logical about it. It made sense, it really did, but was he ready for it? He had spent the last few hours thinking about her without coming to a conclusion, her words helped, but was that enough? He wasn't sure.

He looked away from her as he tried to process everything. His nervous habit of biting his thumbnail was in full swing. When he realized he was doing it, he quickly moved his hand to the back of the sofa. "You really want to try this? You and your big fancy corporate lifestyle and me a mechanic, with grease permanently under my nails? You think this will work? You didn't so that morning in the restaurant," he reminded her.

Why was he being so dense? "Not only was I incredibly hungover that morning, I was in shock on what we had just figured out. I know I said some really stupid and insensitive things to you and I apologized for that. I was just being a complete bitch that morning. Daryl, I don't know if we will work, but don't we have to try? I want to give it a chance. Don't you?" Gabrielle had given him everything she had. She couldn't tell what he was thinking. Daryl's face was completely expressionless. "Please take a chance on us?"

Thank you for all of the reviews/comments! Enjoi88 - You are right they both need to compromise for this to work. WalkingAddiction - you wrote "It's not the man you can live with, it's the man you can't live without." That is incredibly true and beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Miss October 13 and jeanf- Michonne does butt in, but it's their fault and she had a level head to help them. Thanks again!