Dinner that night was somber, what with Shane's earlier outburst. It was apparent from her controlled facial expression that Carol would have preferred to throw that evening's helping of squirrel stew into Shane's face rather than scoop it politely onto his plate, but that was Carol. You couldn't undo years of silent compliance. Dale and Glenn seemed to exchange furtive glances as well, but Allison had no idea what that was all about. Other than Carol's grim behavior she mainly noticed that Daryl and T-Dog were unusually quiet during the meal. Well, T-Dog at least. Daryl was never a conversationalist, but as a rule he didn't usually eat with his eyes strictly focused on his plate as he did this evening. T-Dog, however, was always one to engage the others in idle chit-chat during a meal, with which Allison was always the first to join in, bringing up silly, irrelevant topics to keep the dinner atmosphere as light-hearted as possible. Happy, non-controversial conversation aided in digestion, she'd always been taught. Allison had a feeling that not only were the two men feeling guilty about not finding Sophia during their search mission that afternoon but that they were also remembering her stupid outburst about what Ed might have done to the girl, and her thoughtless remark about how Carol hadn't protected her…. Oh, when would she ever learn to control her tongue, she thought to herself.

Allison helped Carol and Lori collect the plates and utensils after the evening meal was finished. Andrea excused herself to take watch duty, and Dale retreated to the RV, hopefully to get some sleep for a change, Allison thought. That man never seemed to rest. Lori was very abrupt when Allison carried the used plates to the communal wash tub – "Thanks for your help, but Carol and I can handle it from here." She sighed and felt like a pariah. That was the last thing she wanted in such a small community; so far she'd strived to try and get along with everyone. She returned to her tent and plucked her toothbrush and toothpaste from her bag. She walked over to the communal pump and brushed her teeth and then returned to her tent, still feeling like an outcast.

"Knock knock," a familiar voice called quietly outside her tent while she was preparing for bed.

"Come on in," she said and Daryl entered, still looking unusually contemplative.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied. "Have a seat."

He sat down on the chaise in her tent and studied her for several minutes before speaking. "You OK?" she finally asked him.

"I feel kinda bad," he replied.

"Why?"

"Comin' over to see ya without…well, without a proper gift or without takin' you out somewhere. Sometimes it just doesn't feel right." He raised his eyes to meet hers.

"The world has changed in the last few months," Allison replied. "I'm thinking that the old rules of dating don't apply anymore simply because of circumstance." She shyly walked over to the chaise and sat beside him. "I know that had we met and started dating in 'the other world' you'd be taking me out for dinner or coffee or a drink and sometimes I'd make you dinner at my tiny little apartment…"

Daryl restlessly ran his hand across his face and through his hair. "I just don't want you to ever think that I just come over because I want…you know…" He hung his head in embarrassment.

Allison gently picked up Daryl's hand and entwined her fingers in his. "I hope that you know that I wouldn't…you know….with you unless I felt a special, emotional connection…I've had several guys make passes at me at college and at the hospital and such, but what I feel when I'm with you is not just a 'pass' – I've never felt as comfortable with a man or gone as far as I have with you." She pulled his hand to her lips and kissed his palm. "I just sometimes worry that I'm pressuring you into a serious relationship when you're not ready for something like that…."

Daryl released his hand from her grasp and used it to push her hair back from her face and pull her closer to him. As he grasped the back of her head and pulled her forward he murmured "You should know by now that I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to…" He pressed his lips against hers and she responded eagerly. Their tongues danced together for several moments before Allison paused to take a breath.

"I guess I 'know' that, but sometimes I doubt myself…I'm sorry to be so wishy-washy but I just often worry about being worthy of someone like you…"

Daryl almost growled as he pressed his face into her neck just below her jaw. As he nibbled gently he mumbled "Angel, I'm the one who is not worthy…"

Allison grabbed the back of his head and pressed it into her neck. She shivered with pleasure at the ministrations of his tongue and teeth. Daryl sighed heavily when Allison gently stroked the top of his head, a gesture that always made him tingle. His hands found their way under her bedtime tank top and clasped her breasts. Her moans increased as his fingers expertly massaged her nipples. He tucked his head under her top and replaced one hand with his mouth, which caused Allison to involuntarily wrap one leg around his waist and pull him close as best she could on the chaise. Moments later she stripped her top off and tossed it aside. Daryl gently pushed her down onto the chaise and lay on top of her, still teasing her nipple with his tongue.

She used one hand to push Daryl's head further down on her breast, encouraging him to take all of it into his mouth. She used her other hand to bite her moans of pleasure into, lest the rest of the camp hear her. She'd never known that one could feel such ecstatic, ethereal pleasure just from….from what Daryl was doing to her breast. As she lay panting after reaching a peak, Daryl slowly raised up and kissed her lips, an unusual look of – what was it? Satisfaction? – in his eyes. Allison tried to catch her breath as she pushed him back slightly to unbutton his shirt. He kissed her quickly before sitting up and undoing the rest of the buttons himself. He set his shirt on the floor and pulled Allison up to a sitting position against him. He closed his eyes and kissed her deeply. When he opened his eyes she was smirking and gesturing with her eyes to the makeshift bed on the floor that she hadn't made up since they'd last enjoyed one another on it.

Daryl stood up and was about to undo his cargo pants when Allison pushed his hands away and gently unbuttoned and unzipped them. She slowly pushed his pants and boxer shorts to his ankles and then gently took his erect manhood into her hands. She leaned forward and kissed the tip and then hesitantly snaked her tongue out to tease it. Daryl moaned. She had only done this briefly, somewhat, once before with him but remembering how much it had pleasured him she proceeded more boldly. She slowly, in measured strokes, took more and more of him into her mouth, stroking the underside with her tongue as she sucked with her mouth and massaged with her hand. Daryl groaned and wavered uncertainly on his feet, as if he was getting dizzy. He gently placed one hand on top of her head and grunted "Oh yeeaah…" repeatedly. Allison increased her rhythm and Daryl's grunting utterances became more animal until he finally placed his hands on both sides of her face to stop her. "I can't take much more of that," he rasped.

"I don't mind," Allison started to say, meaning that she was willing to accept his "money shot" in her mouth, but Daryl had other ideas.

"Sshh," he silenced her as he first squirmed out of the garments around his ankles and then pulled her up from the chaise and pulled her sweat pants and underpants down. As he kissed her gently she stepped out of her clothing and allowed Daryl to lay her down onto the bedding. He lay upon her at first, kissing her lips, then her neck, then her right breast, then he reared back onto his haunches. He gently grasped her lower legs and pushed them up toward her backside. She felt uncomfortably exposed with her most intimate area thus splayed, but he shushed her minor protests and bent down to gently kiss her inner thigh. His kisses moved progressively toward the place between her legs and when his tongue began teasing that area she was no longer embarrassed but instead encompassed with waves of pleasure. Her lower back arched involuntarily as she met his probing tongue. She no longer cared if the rest of the camp could hear her cries because she felt So Darned Good.

She'd lost track of how many times she'd peaked when Daryl came up for air and kissed her and then guided his manhood inside of her. She was dripping wet so he glided easily into her and it didn't take long for him to begin pumping and grinding like the beast she called him as he continued. Only a few moments later he started vocalizing a series of audible grunts which culminated in a major "Arghhohuggh" as he released inside of her. He collapsed on top of her and quickly kissed her several times as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Oh my God," he finally spoke, as he slowly rolled off of her. "That was…amazing."

Allison leaned over to kiss him as he lay exhausted, flat on his back. "Extremely amazing. I've never felt anything like that in my life before." She lay on her side, snuggled against him until they both fell into a contented sleep.

She didn't know how many hours had passed when she sensed that Daryl was awake beside her. Her first thought was that they hadn't used a condom and that that was what was bothering him. Surprisingly though, when he spoke, it was something completely different on his mind.

"You awake?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"I was just thinkin'…about what you said about Sophia…"

"Yeah?"

"You really think that her ol' man…well, that he…that she was abused?"

Allison wasn't all that experienced in the art of lovemaking, but it did occur to her that this wasn't typical post-coital conversation. On the other hand, Daryl Dixon wasn't your typical man.

"It was just an educated guess, but for the little time that I spent with her, she did show the textbook symptoms."

"And Carol never did anything about it…" He seemed to be thinking out loud.

"If, and that's a big 'if', I'm right, well, maybe Carol didn't know about it, or she was too afraid to do anything about it…" but Allison realized that she couldn't make a convincing argument speaking out loud. Whether she was right or wrong, her gut feeling still made its presence known.

"A mother is s'posed to protect her child," Daryl muttered.

Allison wondered if Daryl was thinking back to his own childhood, of which she knew little. She'd seen his scars, but had presumed just from the very few remarks he'd made to her that his mother had not been present when either his father or brother had inflicted them. He was very close-mouthed when it came to his upbringing, but Allison had gotten the feeling that Daryl idealized the concept of motherhood and put Mom up on some sort of pedestal.

"I agree," she replied softly, reaching up a hand to stroke his hair which she knew soothed him. He reached an arm around her to pull her closer and a few minutes later his steady breathing told Allison that he'd fallen asleep.

Allison awoke when Daryl stirred at first morning's light. "You go back to sleep, Angel," he whispered.

"No, my name is already mud around here, I'd best get up and help start breakfast," she replied.

They got dressed and Allison headed toward the communal campfire to help prepare breakfast. She and Carol and Lori silently scrambled eggs and fried the last of the Spam and doled it out to the members of their group. Everyone ate in silence, and then Glenn stood up and sort of cleared his throat for attention.

"Um, guys?"

All eyes turned to him expectantly.

He looked uncomfortable being the center of attention, but Dale nodded to him so he continued: "The barn's full of walkers."