Unexpected crazy busy hectic blah blah lately. It's a bit short, but them's the breaks.

Thank you to everyone who followed/favorited and thanks to jesbakescookies, jeanf, An Amber Pen, Rasha007, Akari, Wolf. Princess, Leah Pensotti and zaii for your reviews. They always put a smile on my face :)

As always, I don't own Daryl or Merle, and everything else is make believe.

Thank you for reading!

The first rays of light were just starting to filter into the bedroom when Daryl woke, alone in Aisling's bed. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and looked around for a sign of the woman who, unbelievably, he could still call 'his girl' today, after his atrocious behavior yesterday. On the nightstand sat a folded piece of white paper, with his name written in neat slanted script across the front. He stretched out his arm and grabbed it, hoping it didn't say something like 'I changed my mind, asshole'.

"Morning! I have an early call time. You looked peaceful, didn't want to wake you. Come round when you finish work – I'll cook. Bring your toothbrush. Love A x"

He smiled to himself as he folded the note and lay back with his hands behind his head.

...Love A x

He'd never told anyone he loved them before. Hell, he had never felt anything approaching love for anyone before. Then in walked this girl who turned his life upside down, and he loved the very bones of her. And, miraculously, she loved him too.

*.*

Chuck wiped his hands on a rag and nudged Shaun with his elbow as he nodded his head over towards Daryl. The two men watched their friend clip the cover back on a Honda's air filter and toss his wrench lightly in his hand with a smile on his face. As he closed the hood he whistled a vague, indistinguishable tune, then ran a rag quickly across the metal before he tossed the wrench in his hand again and looked around for his next job.

"What?" he grunted, noticing his friends smirking at him.

"Someone's happy," Shaun smiled and turned to Chuck "You ever hear Dixon whistlin' before?"

"Can't say as I have, Shaun, no. Now what do you suppose has him so downright perky today?"

Daryl snorted, the corner of his lips twitching up in a half smile, and shook his head "Shut up."

"Things goin' well in Daryl 'n' Aisling Land, I take it?" Shaun asked, flicking through a clipboard of job sheets.

"Yup." Daryl nodded, and walked over to see what jobs on the clipboard he could get done before he left for the day.

Shaun held it behind his back and shook his head "I'm gonna have Cori on my ass lookin' for a lot more information than that."

Daryl chewed at the skin by his thumbnail and debated whether or not to tell his friends what had happened last night. He wasn't used to sharing details of his life, but this was big news, to him anyway, and it wasn't a secret, so he guessed there was no harm in sharing, this once.

"Aisling's stayin'."

"That's great man!" Chuck smiled and high-fived Daryl, who hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. Shaun slapped Daryl on the back and grinned "Ya' asked her to stay?" Daryl just nodded and went over to the Honda and started putting tools away, embarrassed by the attention.

"Aw, hell," Shaun sighed "I hope Cori doesn't start plannin' a load of damn dinner parties now."

*.*

Aisling carried her bags of shopping from the car into the house, singing the Stevie Nicks song that had just been playing on the car radio.

"But the moment..." she sang, and bumped her hip against the door to push it open further to allow her in with the bags.

"That I first laid..." she wiggled her hips as she went into the kitchen

"Eyes… on… him."

Even though Daryl was far, far away from being anywhere near the edge of seventeen, the song reminded her of him. He was indisputably all man, but there was a childlike quality to him that she could sometimes catch a glimpse of through cracks in his gruff exterior, and last night he had allowed her to see it in all it's vulnerable beauty when he'd pleaded with her to stay with him.

"Oooh, baby, oooh, said oooh" Aisling thrust her hips lightly as she sang, and smiled to herself as an image of Daryl's face, glistening with sweat as he pushed himself into her body came into her mind. She bit her bottom lip a moment and enjoyed the image, before she shook her head slightly and finished up packing the groceries away, singing softly as she went.

Today had been a good day.

Despite the lecture on trust she'd received from Ian, the tiny hangover she'd woken up with after all she had drunk the night before, the paparazzo who had snuck in via the back fence and was wrangled off set by security, Andy skulking around with a face like a smacked arse, and the bruises she'd got while she was dragged out of the farmhouse by soldiers on her way to prison, she was happy.

The scene she'd been dreading was over and done with, Daryl had told her that he loved her, and she had told him that she was going to come back to him.

Nothing was going to bring her down today.

She had told Jamie, Stuart, Heather, and Sarah her change of plans over lunch. Heather had held her close in a hug and told her that it was the best decision she'd ever made. Stuart gave a fatherly nod of approval, before grabbing her into another hug that threatened to squeeze all the air from her lungs. Sarah had squealed, and Jamie had smiled, trying to put his prejudiced opinion of Daryl as a no-good redneck out of his mind.

As she'd sat in makeup she had drawn up a list of things she needed to do: sort out somewhere to stay, book flights, tell her friends, extend the rental lease on her properties, inform her agent, call her bank… the list grew until she had filled almost two sides of the page with her small, neat handwriting. As she drove home she remembered 'family', and laughed to herself. Her Mum and Dad wouldn't give a shit, but her brothers might… she mentally added them to the list.

*.*

Daryl had just turned around from closing the door of his truck outside Aisling's house when the little brunette barrelled at him, running out from the side of the house, wrapping her arms around his neck and assaulting his lips with a bruising kiss.

"Woah..." he mumbled against her mouth as he got his balance, before he settled in to enjoy the sensation of her tongue sliding alongside his. The kiss softened, and she sucked lightly on his lower lip. "I missed you" she whispered against his mouth, and his stomach twisted with pleasure.

Scooping his hands underneath her beautiful ass, he lifted her up so that she could wrap her legs around his waist and carried her back into the yard, placing her gently on the table so that they could continue kissing.

The sensation of her full lips moving against his never failed to make him as dizzy as they had that first time, when she'd cupped his chin in her hand and kissed him at the plantation. His hands went to the back of Aisling's head, curling his fingers in the long dark strands of her hair as he pulled her face closer, kissing her hungrily.

"Missed you too" he murmured, and took her earlobe between his lips and pulled softly.

"Still want me to stay?" her voice was quiet, sultry, as his tongue slid down her soft skin to the crook of her neck.

"Yeah," he managed to groan, his voice low and filled with desire "Don't ever want ya to leave. Love ya."

"Good, because I'm very happy," she whispered "right…." her hands slipped down from his neck, down his back to his butt, which she squeezed, pulling him closer "….here."

They made out like teenagers, mouths wet and searching, breath heavy. Daryl's large, rough hands slid up her soft thighs under her white sun dress, moving over her bra, but she gently pushed his hands back down again. "Later," she whispered "let's eat first."

Fuck, don't ever wanna stop this.

Daryl growled in frustration against her throat, but released his hold on her and helped her down from the table. She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips in thanks, and smiled "You know me and food, Daryl. It's not wise to get between us."

It wasn't that Aisling wanted to stop what was happening. She loved the feel of his lips on hers, his hands on her skin, but she wanted to talk and she knew that if she let their passion take hold she wouldn't be in the right frame of mind for an honest conversation with him.

She led him into the house by the hand. "Here," she spun a package of grape tomatoes across the counter towards him "would you halve the tomatoes for me?"

He popped one into his mouth, and as he looked in the drawer for a sharp knife his mouth felt out the word she had just said "Tuh...mah… toe" he said slowly, trying it out. Aisling looked at him curiously "Are you making fun of my accent, Daryl Dixon?"

"I like your accent," he smiled, glancing over at her from underneath the bangs that had fallen in his eyes "S' sexy. 'Sides, you're always doin' my accent. I'm just tryin' out yours."

Aisling laughed as she chopped up the ingredients for the vinaigrette "Go on then. Try some more. How about..." she thought for a moment "...water. Go on, say water."

Daryl indulged Aisling as she called out words for him to attempt in a, truly awful, Irish accent, but drew the line when she tried to get him to speak actual Irish words. "I don't make you fix cars, do I?" he grumbled "You're the actor."

"About that," she said, and glanced across at him "I'm going to have to travel quite a bit for work, you know? Goat Rock doesn't exactly have a thriving movie or television industry, so I'll be away a lot."

Daryl nodded, and watched Aisling nervously bite her top lip as she waited for his reaction. He knew that she would have to travel for work, but knowing that she would return again was something he hoped would anchor him during those times apart.

"I know. So long as ya always come back to me, that's all that matters."

"Really? You're okay with it? I'll be here lots, but there'll be times when you won't see me for weeks, or months." Aisling wasn't trying to put Daryl off, but she wanted him to be clear about what being with her meant. She loved her work, and counted her blessings that it was plentiful at the moment, but it wasn't a regular 9-5 job and she knew that relationships with people outside the industry could be… difficult. What she had with Daryl was so special, and so important to her, she didn't want him to enter into it with his eyes closed, and have it all fall apart when he realized what her life was like.

"Tryin' to get me to change my mind?" he squinted over at her as he passed the bowl of tomatoes across the counter and leaned on his elbow, facing her. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

She havin' second thoughts on all this? Why's she tellin' me about the bad shit? Why ain't she concentratin' on the good stuff?

"Shit, no!" her head jerked up to look at him, and she wiped her hands on a towel before she stepped towards him and held his face in her hands to look into those beautiful blue eyes.

"I want this so much, Daryl, you have no idea. I'm moving halfway across the world to be closer to you. I just want you to know what it is you're getting into."

"Ain't stupid, Ash," he reached up and held her hands in his, smoothing his rough fingers across her knuckles "I know you ain't gonna be around all the time. Hell, I don't see ya as much as I want an' you're only workin' down the road, but it makes the times I do see ya all the better, y'know?"

Aisling nodded. She felt the same way. Daryl pulled her close, and wrapped his strong arms around her as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehad. "C'mon, let's eat. Don't wanna keep ya from your food, sweetheart."

*.*

Daryl stared down at the plate of steak salad and Aisling giggled at the barely disguised look of confusion on his face. "Leaves? You're feedin' me leaves?"

"And steak!" she said, helpfully, waving her finger over his plate. "It's good!"

He shot her a 'whatever' look and cautiously speared a piece of meat and a couple of leaves with his fork, before shoveling them into his mouth.

Shit. Actually is good. Huh, who'd have thought a Dixon would enjoy eatin' leaves.

Daryl nodded as he chewed, and held his thumb up in approval. "Told you so," Aisling smirked, and smiled as she watched him eat.

"So," she said, idly chewing on a piece of steak as she thought about all the things she had to do "got any thoughts on where I'm going to live?"

He hadn't given much thought to the logistics of her move, having been too caught up in the idea of her actually staying, but in the back of his mind he'd assumed that she would live with him. It didn't make much sense for them to have two separate places, seeing as how he stayed with her most nights anyway, and he was a little disappointed that she wasn't thinking the same thing.

"Dunno," he shrugged, trying not to let his frustration show "what's wrong with this place?"

"Nothing, I guess. I suppose I could extend the lease for a while, until we know what we're doing."

"Huh? Whaddya mean, 'what we're doing'?"

Aisling looked up from her plate with a startled expression on her face "Shit, I'm sorry. I just kind of assumed we'd live together. I didn't even ask you… I just jumped in-"

Daryl silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips, and gave her one of his little half smiles "Kinda assumed the same thing. Ain't gotta apologise."

"So you'd be happy with us living together?" she mumbled against his finger, and bit the corner of her bottom lip in a way that made him want to sweep the plates off the table and fuck her right there and then.

"Real happy, Ash. Can't think of nothin' that would make me happier."

*.*

"Aww, fuck, yeah" Daryl groaned as he watched Aisling run her pink tongue across the head of his dick, as though it was the most delicious lollipop in the world. Time had escaped them as they made out on the couch, and as kisses got sloppier, hands explored, and clothes were discarded somewhere nearby, Daryl found himself wondering what he'd ever done to deserve this? How the hell had he gotten so lucky? She was the hottest girl he'd ever met, she loved him, and she was going to live with him.

And the sex? The sex was like nothing he'd ever imagined. Her soft, smooth skin against his, the feel of her tongue as it flickered and teased, the feeling when he was pushing inside her and she would pulse around him as she came undone.

He'd often wondered if this was all too good to be true, and if something would happen to either bring her to her senses or keep them apart, but as the thought again crept like smoke into his brain, he shook his head to clear it.

"C'mere, Sweetheart," he gently pulled her up to lay on his chest and assaulted her lips with a sloppy, uncoordinated kiss. "Ain't never gonna stop lovin' you," he rasped against her mouth "y'hear me, Ash. Yer mine, an' I'm yours."