Chapter 42 - The words, they tangle

Eleven days.

Daryl was counting. Eleven long fucking days and finally they were on the home stretch and heading back to the prison.

He had never been one for cellphones, but he would have given anything to be able to call Tahlia just to check in and see how she was doing. Just to hear her voice. He knew she'd be fine - she had the people he trusted the most looking out for her, but that didn't alleviate the dull ache in his chest.

Daryl had always lived in the moment. Had never really thought too much about what was around the corner, about what tomorrow might bring. Life was just what it was, dishing out the daily special, and he accepted it, scooped it up, slopped it on his tray without a second thought. And, for the most part, that attitude had served him well, because there was very little to worry about and even less to be afraid of if you didn't care what the future had in store. His sights had always been firmly focused on the here and now.

Until this here and now.

Where he wanted to be away from here, and back with her, now.

On this run, for the first time in his whole damned life, he felt his own mortality. Felt like it really fucking mattered which steps he took, which way he turned, which shots he made or didn't. His every decision was made with her sitting in the corner of his mind, a corner where there'd never been anyone sitting before. Hell, he hadn't even thought there was a fucking chair there, but there it damn well was, her lounging on it, comfortable as ever, a permanent resident now.

So, this run had been hard in ways he hadn't experienced before. Consuming and taxing and hard.

And even worse after the shitstorm of the day. The final day.

Things had been grueling but going reasonably well – he, Glenn, Sasha, Sylvia and Yohan had all been on runs together before, they gelled well as a team and were all more than capable of dealing with whatever came their way out there. They were exhausted and ready to get back to the prison, however, on the spur of the moment they decided to take a detour that would take them past a small motel a little off the highway that Sylvia had stayed at once before. She thought that there might be some supplies left in the stock cupboards and since they were practically going right past there anyway, they went to check it out.

Things had seemed quiet although Daryl had that antsy prickling feeling, and, looking back, he wished he'd trusted his gut. He'd been loading one last box into the Land Rover, ready to go and round up the others, when he'd heard Sylvia scream. She'd been up on the second floor checking the rooms, and without thinking, had opened the door to the conference room at the end of the row, inadvertently releasing a whole pack of trapped walkers. She'd tried to run, but was grabbed by one and shoved back against the rotting wooden railing, which promptly gave way under the pressure and she tumbled straight onto the concrete below, followed down by more of the undead who tore straight into her.

More were still pouring out of the conference room and flooding across the carpark towards them, the noise drawing others from the woods behind the buildings. Daryl had shoved Sasha straight into the Land Rover, seeing that Yohan, with walkers snapping at his heels, was already in their other car which was parked closer to the motel.

Too close, Daryl realised, too late.

In Yohan's hasty panic to get the hell out of there, he'd careened wildly across the carpark and slammed into a sudden turn to avoid oncoming walkers, driving the car off the concrete lip at the side of the carpark and jamming the front wheel. He'd jumped straight out of the car but was immediately swarmed by hungry walkers and they could hear his agonised screams as he was eaten alive. Daryl dove into the Land Rover after Glenn, and they just managed to drive away from the oncoming undead, sitting in shocked silence for a long while as they sped off down the road, trying to process the fact that in a matter of minutes they'd lost two of their own and a car half full of supplies. It was a horribly crushing end to a long, strenuous run, and just another violent reminder of how things could change in an instant, how uncertain all their lives were.

By the time they arrived back at the prison, it was already dark, and there was no sign of movement in the courtyard as everyone had retired to bed. It was even later after they'd broken the awful news to Yohan and Sylvia's loved ones, then unpacked the supplies that they had managed to get. The only positive thing they could glean from the day's tragedy was that, because the backseats in the Land Rover Discovery could be folded flat, they had stacked most of their supplies into that vehicle and so still had come back with a decent amount of goods and fuel.

Weary, disappointed, sore and drained, Daryl, Sasha and Glenn bade goodnight to one another and made their way back to their cells through the silent prison. Daryl had changed out of his filthy, blood-soaked clothes and splashed his face with cold water, but didn't have the energy for anything beyond that. As much as he wanted to see Tahlia, it was late, and he was certain she'd be asleep. It would have to wait until tomorrow.

Then, before he'd even realised where his feet were taking him, he found himself standing at the bottom of the stairs that led up to her cell, a light inside glowing through the privacy curtain. Still sure that she would be asleep and the light was just from the candle she always kept burning, he decided to quickly pop his head in, get one quick glance at her to reassure himself that she was ok, then he'd slip off back to his cell.

Quietly padding up the stairs, Daryl slowly opened the curtain. Sure enough, the candle in a jar was burning on the table, and there she was. But she wasn't asleep. She was lying on her stomach on her bed reading by flashlight, feet in the air, those damn tiny shorts she wore to bed riding up in all the right places.

Immediately his heart clenched painfully at the realisation of how much he'd missed her, and he could already feel the heaviness lifting from him. Leaning against the concrete wall at her cell door, he watched her for a while, unable to bring himself to speak. Then, sensing a presence behind her, Tahlia glanced over her shoulder, a happy gasp escaping from her mouth as she clocked him and she jumped up from the bed, beaming.

"You're back!" she exclaimed in delighted relief as she bounded across the short distance between them and launched herself straight at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Reflexively, Daryl's body tensed at the sudden contact, especially since he'd had none for the past week and a half, but she was warm and familiar and her and he was soon pulling her tight, breathing her in and feeling something inside him crack open and spill over.

"Sorry." he murmured in her ear. "Know it's late. Just wanted to check on ya. See that you're ok. Y'ok?"

Tahlia pulled back just enough to look into his eyes.

"Sorry?! I'd have killed you if you had waited any longer to come and see me! And yes, I'm fine. Apart from missing you terribly, of course." she grinned. "Everything has been fine."

Releasing him, she dropped her hands to hold on to his.

"How did it go? Are you ok?" She studied his face, concern shadowing her own. "You're not ok."

He shook his head, the weight of the run dragging on him. "Lost Sylvia and Yohan today."

"Oh, honey." she said quietly. "Not your fault. Not your fault."

She knew how personally he took anything that went bad on the runs, especially when he was leading them. Not that he would acknowledge it, but she'd seen how he carried the guilt and regret around for a few days, kicking himself for not doing things differently.

"You want to talk about any of it?"

Daryl shook his head again. "Naw. Not tonight."

Tahlia now tugged gently on his hands and led him to sit on the edge of the bed. Crouching in front of him, she smoothed his hair back from his forehead, running her thumb under his eyes, taking in his exhaustion.

"Poor, tired darlin'." she murmured so quietly he wasn't sure he even heard her right. "I've got you now."

Unexpectedly, he felt his throat close over as her words filled up a part of him that had always been empty. He'd never had a person before, someone who he could unpack his burdens onto, someone to shoulder some of his hurt, someone to just be there, and he didn't realise how much he wanted it, needed it, until she had stepped into that position.

Blinking quickly, he stared up at the ceiling as she ran her hands over his cheeks, his neck, her touch like silk on his skin, clucking her tongue at the superficial scratches from the run she saw there. Silence draped around them like a comforting blanket, a silence she knew he didn't want filled with words, so she didn't try.

Fetching her first aid kit, a cloth and a bottle of water, she then hooked her flashlight to the base of the top bunk and surprised the hell out of him when she nimbly straddled his lap. Cupping a hand under his chin, she started to gently clean and tend to each of the few scratches and scrapes on his face and neck, then she wet the cloth and carefully wiped his skin clean.

Relaxing into her tender touch, his hands moved to rest on her hips, and he tilted his head up to her, allowing himself to unabashedly gaze into her eyes as her focus moved to the top of his chest, then down his bare arms, slowly, carefully cleaning any wounds there too and wiping away the remnants of the run. Silently, he held out his hand which was wrapped in a bloodied bandage. She unwound it to reveal a gash across the base of his palm, and gave a sad sigh, cleaning that too, then threaded her suturing needle and began to stitch.

Still gazing at her, his other hand gripping tighter around her hip, he thought back to the first time she'd cleaned him up like this, after their car accident, and he had been so uncomfortable with her proximity and ease of which she touched him, that he'd wriggled awkwardly and looked anywhere but at her.

How things had changed since then.

Now, he craved her proximity, craved her touch. He'd be happy to sit in this moment, her on his lap, losing himself in her eyes, for as long as time would allow.

All too soon she was done, and she crooked a finger under his chin and lightly kissed his forehead. Daryl sighed, his throat choking up as his heart launched into it, words tangling below, everything he wanted to say to her, nothing released. Tahlia crouched down again and slowly removed his boots, then gently pushed him to lie back on the bed. Turning the flashlight off, she left the candle burning, and eased herself onto the mattress next to him, pulling the blanket over them. Lying on her back, wordlessly she coaxed him on to his side, his head on her chest under her chin, a reverse of the position they had slept in the last time they were in her bed. One arm tightly around his shoulders, with the other hand she stroked his arm.

He drew in a ragged breath. He'd never been held like this before.

"Shh..." she cooed needlessly to his silence. "Hush now, rest now. I'll keep you safe tonight."

Safety.

Something that no one else had provided for him before. Something that he hadn't needed from anyone else before. He'd been the only one looking out for himself his whole life.

But the safety she offered was not physical.

She was sweeping up the mess of him, every last smashed and scattered piece, storing them carefully within her so that he didn't have to anymore. One by one, without even knowing it, she was tending to the numerous wounds on his soul, cleaning them and healing them, slowly making him whole again.

God, he was fucked.

And now he was aware of how soft and warm her body was and felt like he couldn't get close enough. He'd been away from her for so long, carnal desire was rising like a king tide inside him. From his position on her chest, the peak of her nipple was right there, poorly concealed by the fabric of her tank top. He wanted to take it in his mouth, to hear her moan, to slide his hand all the way down inside the waistband of those damned shorts and feel the soft warmth there too, to make her cry out his name in the way he'd been dying to hear it – in prayer, pleading, desperation. But he also wanted to cradle her in his arms, to shield her from all of the ugliness of the world, to give her whatever she needed, to make her smile.

It was confusing being so horny and so in love all at once, and he felt like his brain was about to shut down.

He so badly wanted to do all of the first things to her, but he couldn't, not right now, not after everything, not just out of the blue, here in her space where she felt safe.

But, under the guise of getting comfortable, he gifted himself one tiny thing - he shifted a little and pushed his face into her neck, brushing his lips so gently against her he was certain she wouldn't notice, and curled his arm around her, slipping his hand under her top, spreading his fingers wide against the warm skin of her side, allowing his thumb a few moments of gentle circling caress, and was content with that for now.

Tahlia felt Daryl's breathing slow and deepen against her neck.

Thank God he'd fallen asleep, because her skin was flaming from the contact of his body against hers, and she had nearly dissolved from the way his thumb had been tenderly stroking over her ribs. She squeezed her eyes shut, although sleep was far from her mind.

There was a gale inside her, whipping and tossing everything around like leaves in a storm. Thoughts, feelings, him, them, this, that.

It felt like they were slipping speedily past the point of no return, but where the hell were they going?

Spending nights together like this felt like a wildly intimate thing to be doing with someone who was just a friend, and she knew it was questionable because she hadn't told Michonne - and the only things she didn't tell Michonne were things she knew she'd get raked over the coals for.

Yet on the other side of it, spending the night together was literally all they were doing. Nothing had gone any further. Despite the fact that every time he shifted against her she hoped for more. Hoped that he would keep shifting, moving. Hoped that he would take her over.

But he didn't. He never did.

And that set a dark cloud of doubt in motion as she wondered if a close friendship really was as far as this went for him. She knew that he hadn't been exposed to much love or care in his life so maybe this was just him soaking up something he had never really had before, maybe this was just all he wanted.

Things were as murky as ever.

Neither of them hardly moved during the night, and when Daryl woke, he was still sprawled half across Tahlia, and she was lightly running her fingers up and down his forearm.

"Mornin'." he mumbled shyly, as he moved back from her a little. "I sleep on y'all night? Surprised ya can still breathe."

She smiled and rolled onto her side to face him. "Best sleep I've had in nearly two weeks."

"Damn!" he exclaimed huskily, reaching a hand to the top of her chest. "Think I drooled on ya a lil bit. Sorry!"

He shot her a lopsided boyish grin, and it took all of Tahlia's willpower not to drag him straight back into her.

"You gettin' up now?"

She nodded and gave a small sigh. "The sun rises and so do I."

Sitting up, then nimbly slipping over top of him to get out of the bed, she pulled the blanket gently up around his shoulders.

"But you are not getting up. It's early and you need to stay here and catch up on some more sleep."

He thought about protesting, but instead just found himself nodding and turning to watch her unashamedly as she got dressed, wondering what she'd do if he just pulled her back into bed with him. Wishing he had the courage to do it.

Just before she left, she perched on the edge of the bed and ran a thumb gently over his cheek.

"I'm so glad you're back." she said quietly. "Now, sleep. Ain't no good to nobody if ya wanderin' 'round dead on ya feet." she mocked in a low drawl, grinning, and he smiled back at the repetition of his own words as he settled down into the pillow.

In her absence, Daryl felt a heaviness settling deep in his gut as he realised that it wasn't going to be as easy as he'd thought to just love her from within their friendship. Maybe it would have been if he hadn't been on that run, but being away from her and losing people had cast a different light on things. And it certainly didn't help that they'd spent another night together where she had cared for him with a tenderness he'd never experienced before. These weren't things he could go back from, forget.

But what to do? The only thing he was sure of was that he wanted to keep his promise about not trying it on with her. If anything happened between them, he wanted to be 100% sure that it was her choice, not because he'd backed her into a corner. But it's not like he could ask her out for a drink, take her on a date.

So that meant he had to talk to her.

But what the hell was he supposed to say? How did you tell someone that you were into them?

Just the idea of doing that made him balk.

With all of this weighing him down, he was certain there'd be no more sleep for him that morning, especially since the bed was a huge empty expanse without her. But then he turned his face into the pillow and it smelled like her and the memory of her body against his was still fresh in his mind, and the long weariness of the past eleven days caught up with him and he drifted off.

It was late morning by the time Daryl eventually roused himself and headed to the courtyard armed with a strong coffee. Maggie, Glenn and Sasha were on the sofas and called him over.

"How you doing today?" Sasha asked him as he flopped down onto an empty couch.

Daryl shrugged. "Better after some sleep."

Glenn was leaning on Maggie's shoulder. "Yeah, me too. I slept like the dead last night. The regular dead. Not the walking dead."

"You sure did, honey. Didn't think you were even gonna get up today." Maggie said with a small smile.

"Glad to be home." murmured Glenn.

"Yep. That was a tough one." agreed Sasha. "But, hey, what about that house in the woods we've been scoping out? You still wanna hit that?"

Daryl took a long sip of his coffee then nodded. "Think the sooner we do it, the better. Never know who else might get in there first."

"And it might feel good if we can pick up a few bits from there and make up for the stuff we lost yesterday." added Glenn wryly.

"So, when?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow sounds good."

"You guys only just got back! You sure you want to go out again so soon?" asked Maggie, a note of worry in her voice. "I can just go with Michonne and Ty, you three don't need to come."

"Are you kidding?" exclaimed Sasha. "I've been dying to get into that crazy place and check out what's behind those walls!"

"Gonna need all of us." added Daryl, "Anyway, only gonna be a half-day run. Place ain't that far away." Then he looked up and caught sight of Kara, Yohan's widow, as she walked into the courtyard looking wretched. "Aw shit. Any of you talked to her today?"

"Shit, no, not yet." muttered Sasha. "I guess we probably should."

"You do it, Sash." hissed Glenn as he sank lower against Maggie.

Sasha frowned at him, then sighed and gave a nod of concession. "Dammit. Poor woman. Ok, I'm gonna go do it."

They watched as Sasha made her way over to Kara, and within a few seconds, Kara was sobbing her heart out against Sasha's shoulder, while the latter looked over to them helplessly.

"Fuck, I'm outta here." muttered Daryl, feeling terrible about the whole thing, and he jumped up and slunk out of the courtyard.

Heading down towards the vehicle bay, he bumped into Tahlia who was just on her way back up from the gardens.

"Oh hey!" she greeted him cheerily. "How're you feeling?"

Daryl wrinkled his nose. "I'm alright, but Kara's in the courtyard, real upset. Sasha's on it, but I thought I might just shoot out to the woods for a bit." He paused for a second, then added, "Come with?"

Tahlia glanced at the small bag of tools she was holding in one hand, then tossed it on the ground. "Sure, let's go."

Tahlia studied Daryl carefully as they meandered through the trees. There had been a moody intensity rolling off him since he arrived back, and he was definitely deep in his head. She figured that the past week and a half was still weighing heavily on him, and it might take him a couple of days to sort through it, shake it off. So, she just left him to his musings as he hunted and she wandered along behind.

Eventually they came across a little sunny spot and Tahlia tapped his elbow.

"Let's sit for a bit. Want to check your stitches."

He almost seemed surprised at the interruption, then shrugged and sank down against a tree trunk, stretching his legs out in front of him.

Kneeling down next to him, she gently unwound the bandage on his hand and carefully inspected his wound.

"Tell me about the run." she said softly, eyes still on his hand.

"Ain't much to tell." he replied quietly. "Things were fine, 'til they weren't. Weren't bein' careful enough, then Sylvia and Yohan and a bunch of our supplies were gone."

Tahlia then ran her fingers up his arm, stopping next to another cut on his bicep. "That's not on you, you know."

Daryl watched her all the while. "On all of us, in a way. Always shit we coulda done different. But I guess that's just the way it is."

Tahlia's fingers continued their light track up his arm, then her eyes met his. "I'm always here for you if you need to talk stuff through."

He gave a hard swallow. "Know that."

"Ok. Well, I'm not going to push you, but I'll always be here."

A heavy intensity hung between them, then Tahlia lifted a hand to his chin and gently turned his head away from her so that she could inspect a graze down the side of his neck.

"You'll live." she declared, moving back to sit cross-legged, facing him. "So... what was the best bit about the past week?" she asked with a smile.

Daryl gazed at her for a moment.

Last night.

But instead he said, "Got somethin' for ya."

"Really? Oh my God, Daryl, I don't want you to feel like you have to bring me things every time you go out there!" Tahlia told him as he reached into his pack.

Daryl shrugged. "Do it coz I wanna. Here." He handed her a book.

Tahlia looked at the title and gasped. "'101 Famous Poems'. You brought me poetry?!"

"Had The Highwayman in there so thought it might have others ya like."

"This is amazing! Thank you! I'm reading you some right now."

"Naw! Tahly!"

But she flopped onto her back and laid her head on his lap and quickly flicked through some of the pages.

"Ooh, this is a goodie! 'The night has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of-'"

"Fuck outta here!" Daryl pinched her hard on the side. "Ain't sittin' in the woods with ya readin' poetry! Only got it for ya coz ya said it reminds you of your momma. Not coz I wanna damn well hear any more."

Tahlia giggled as he then poked her in the ribs for good measure.

"Ok fine." she conceded as she dropped the book to her chest, then looked up at him sincerely. "Thank you."

Daryl started to chew his lip nervously as he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out something else.

"What?" she asked, gazing up at him.

He hesitated for a moment longer.

"This too." he mumbled as he pressed a necklace into her palm.

Tahlia dangled it in front of her face for a second before sitting up like a shot.

"This is beautiful!" she exclaimed, turning it over slowly.

A small piece of asymmetrical emerald green jade with light black mottling hung on a carefully braided black leather cord, two little amber beads flanking each side of the stone.

"Where did you find this?"

Daryl rubbed at his jaw. "Found the jade on 'nother thing. Just kinda reminded me of..." He gestured vaguely towards her eyes. "Then found all the other bits 'long the way."

Tahlia tilted her head to the side curiously as she studied him, the pink on his cheeks deepening the longer she stared.

"You made this?" she asked softly.

With a hard swallow, he gave a little uncomfortable one-shouldered shrug. "Had a lotta time sittin' on watch. Needed somethin' to do."

"You made this." she repeated incredulously, still staring at him.

"Fuck, Tahly." he grumbled, shoving at her. "Don't gotta make it all weird. Just made a simple cord then threw some bits on it. And ain't like I'm gonna wear it, so..."

Tahlia beamed and bit her bottom lip in elation.

"Um, yes, I'm gonna make it so weird!" she enthused as she moved straight onto his lap and wound her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek against his.

"Oh ma Gawd." muttered Daryl.

"This is the most beautiful thing ever, and I think you are so incredible and talented, and I-"

"Stop! S'enough!"

"But I'm not done!"

"Hush up or I'm gonna take it off ya."

Laughing a little at that, Tahlia dropped her arms then turned and wriggled so that she was now sitting between his legs with her back to him.

"Please put it on me before you change your mind, then." she said as she scooped her hair to the side.

Slowly, Daryl laid the necklace around her neck, gently sweeping some stray strands of hair out of the way and secured the clasp, then he ran her fingers over her nape.

"Hold up a minute. Gotta get my pen. Got somethin' to write here."

Tahlia turned to him and batted his hand away as he laughed. "Don't you dare!"

Then she looked down at the necklace and turned the jade between her fingers.

"I love it." she said happily. "Thank you." Then she looked up at him. "I feel like I need to make something for you."

Daryl raised a brow and smirked at that. "Like what?"

Tahlia thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Cup of tea?" she suggested.

Chuckling, Daryl shook his head, and then his smile faded as a shadow passed over his face.

"What is it?" asked Tahlia, seeing the change in him immediately. "I can also make coffee."

Daryl nudged her with his knee. "You're a jackass." Then, feeling a little braver, he said, "Missed this."

Tahlia nodded. "Yeah, me too. You were away too long. I didn't like it."

Taking a deep breath as he inspected the callouses on his hand, Daryl said, "Me neither. Felt harder to be out there this time. For so long. Felt like a long time to be away... from..." He flicked his eyes quickly up to her then back down again. His heartrate upped its tempo and his breathing shallowed as he chewed his lip again. He wanted to say more. This was the time to say more. He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Just... I just..."

Words.

Fucking thousands and thousands of them in the English language and not a goddamned handful of them at his disposal to help him out right now.

He opened his mouth, but a sigh was the only thing to escape, so he shook his head instead.

Tahlia, mistakenly thinking that the run was still getting him down, dropped her hand to his thigh in reassurance.

"Yeah, it's a really long time to be out there, especially in a small group where everyone has to carry a big share of the load. I know it takes a lot out of you. And the fact that you can't contact anyone makes it even harder. I know you said you'd be longer than a week, but I still got really worried as the days wore on. It's just the most awful thing to have someone not come back and you never know what happened to them. And I wouldn't even know where to start looking!"

He smiled at that, even though he realised the moment to say what was on his mind had slipped on by.

"You'd have no chance of findin' me, girl. Can barely find ya way from the gardens back up to the courtyard."

Tahlia smacked his leg for that as he chuckled.

"Well," she said loftily. "I guess you're just going to have to take me with you wherever you go, then."

A somber look settled on his face as he said, "Maybe I will."

"I think Maggie will be saying the same thing to Glenn." Tahlia carried on breezily. "She was beside herself worrying about him. Spent the last few days stalking up and down the fences waiting for you guys to come back."

"Yeah? Ya better'a been down there with her." teased Daryl.

"Nah." Tahlia shook her head with a smile. "I knew you'd come back. Nothing tougher than a Dixon. Come on, let's keep moving."

They were picking their way along the top of a bank several yards above the stream, when Tahlia stopped to peer down through the trees.

"Hey, you think I can find some jewelweed down there? Hershel really wants some, says it's good for insect bites."

"Yeah, t'is. 'Specially good for chigger bites. Grows by the water so probably some down there."

"Can we go down?" Tahlia looked over the side of the steep bank.

"Not the best bit to climb down, but..." Daryl appraised the slope, then shrugged. "C'mon."

Easing his way carefully through the thin trees growing out the side of the bank, Daryl led the way down towards the stream.

"Careful, this bit is a little-"

Daryl's warning was cut off by Tahlia's squeal close behind him, as her boot skidded on a patch of wet leaves and mud, and she slipped forward, losing her footing. Whirling to catch her, he managed to grab her arm, but the momentum of her fall caught him off balance too, and the next thing he knew, he was on his ass sliding down the side of the bank, still clutching onto Tahlia.

They came to a muddy stop as the ground levelled, Tahlia giggling at the suddenness of it all.

"Y'ok?" Daryl asked breathlessly, propping himself up on one elbow.

It was only then that he realised how close he was to her. She was on her back in the grass, and he was pressed right up against her, his leg hooked across her thigh, his hand resting on her exposed midriff where her top had ridden all the way up to the base of her bra. Her face was only inches from his, and the laughter quickly faded from her lips as her eyes reflected the intensity she saw in his, a near palpable heat now crackling between them.

It felt very different to the tender intimacy they shared in the nighttime, and the bright sunlight made it difficult to ignore the electricity between them. Gazing down at her, he couldn't stop himself from stroking a lock of hair back from her forehead, her red, wet lips parting slightly at the gesture, and he found himself running his tongue behind his teeth in want, unable to tear his eyes away from her mouth.

With the hand resting on her stomach, he drew an excruciatingly slow, light line across her midriff with his calloused thumb, bringing it to rest in the tender hollow by her hipbone, hand cupping her hip. Her eyelids flickered and she gave a tiny gasp as her hips reflexively tilted ever so slightly into his, and her hand, which was already on his chest, tightened around a fistful of shirt.

As if drawn by a magnet, he found himself leaning closer to her, his breath hitching in anticipation – but in an instant, the moment was gone as he noticed his fingertips were slick with blood.

"Ya bleedin'!" he stated, pushing himself up to sit, rolling her onto her side, noting the scrape across her lower back where a fallen twig had lifted the skin on her way down the bank.

"I am?" she breathed, sitting up now too, heart still racing from – whatever that was. "Oh, just a graze." she noted, running her fingers over the wound. Then she pulled her top down and gazed back up at Daryl who was hurriedly getting to his feet, brushing the leaves and dirt from his pants and doing an excellent job of avoiding eye contact.

"Daryl."

At her voice he froze for a moment, then he drew a hand over his face before turning slowly to face her. The silence between them stretched until it became awkward. For him, anyway. Tahlia was looking quite comfortable.

"That weren't... I didn't mean to..." he gestured to where she was still sitting on the ground.

Watching him carefully, Tahlia appraised his general discomfort, furrowed brow and the shadow of bewilderment still lingering on him, and knew how she needed to handle this.

"It's ok, nothing happened, we're fine." she said reassuringly, despite the wave of disappointment crashing through her.

Daryl shook his head. "Naw, I... I..."

All the words were gone again. Everything was gone. Only a blank empty space in his head and the sound of his heart smashing around wildly in his chest.

Then, unbidden, three little words burst like fireworks behind his eyes, and he visibly flinched.

Fuck no.

Those were not the words he was looking for right now.

He didn't know much about love, but he did know you shouldn't tell someone you weren't even with that you loved them. Especially not someone who, by their own admission, did not respond well to love. But now that those words had appeared, they were flashing like a neon sign in his mind and they were all he could see.

"Daryl?"

The soft repetition of his name brought him back to the present, to the concern on her face as she pushed herself to her feet.

All of a sudden he felt sliced open, exposed, like everything was pouring out of him and he was powerless to stop it. That burning ball in his chest was becoming painful now, his body raring for fight or flight. But he really didn't want to fight with her. So, he needed to shut down. Shut her out. Just for now. Just until he had a minute alone to sort through the debris inside.

Tahlia started towards him. "Hey, I think-"

"There's a big patch of jewelweed." Daryl cut her off as he pointed towards the stream.

"Uh..." Tahlia raised her eyebrows.

"Want me to help ya get it?"

"No, I want you to-"

"I'll get some for ya."

Tahlia rolled her eyes at his blatant avoidance. "Guessing you probably don't wanna hug it out." she remarked lightly.

Then Daryl turned to her, his expression slightly pained, his tone a little wounded. "Tahly, can ya just... not. Not right now."

Although his words initially stung, she quickly reminded herself of how much he'd been through in the past couple of weeks.

He'd killed people for her, supported her through the aftermath, and now had only just returned from a long, grueling run. Naturally he would still be processing all of that and probably didn't have the capacity to cope with this little incident.

She could give him the space to decompress, then they'd figure it out. One way or another.

"Ok then." Tahlia said easily. "Let's get some jewelweed."

After that, they stayed quiet all the way back to the bike, to the prison, and for that Daryl was grateful.

The only thing she said, when they were back inside the fences, was, "We're all good, you know. We're always going to be. No matter what."

To which he could only give a tight nod. "I'll catch y'up later, 'kay?"

I know, I know. I hear the collective groan at the continued painful glacial burn.

I almost deleted half of this chapter... but I just reeeeally wanted to write an almost kiss.

I promise I won't drag it out too much longer.

Also, the poem Tahlia starts to read is: The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, by Francis William Bourdillon