Part 3: Wind In My Hair, I Was There

Alba laid with her head on his chest with her face tucked under his chin, breathing in his scent. There was no way there would ever come a day that she would be as happy and content as she was in that moment. She'd been in love with Daryl for what felt like her whole life, but he'd never gave her the time a day until now.

For the past couple years, she'd watched him leave the bar with beautiful blondes and brunettes, women with curves in all the right places. Things that she didn't have, but she was just happy that he was coming around again. After her parents died and her Aunt moved her to the other side of town, he stopped talking to her. Almost like she had the plague, once you moved into the rich neighborhood you couldn't be friends anymore apparently. They had ended up losing touch until Merle and him started coming into her bar, a bar she acquired from her Uncle when he died.

Yeah, that is pretty much her story. Everyone dies around her. First her parents when she was 13, her Aunt when she was 16, then her Uncle when she was 22. Trying to balance running the bar and going to school was definitely hard, but she was pulling it off.

"Finch?"

"Yeah?" she answered looking up at him, he was staring up at the ceiling with one of his arms folded up under his head, the other draped over her waist. A few different looks crossed his face, what he was thinking was hard to decipher. Then suddenly he slowly started sitting up, gently pushing her off of him.

"Let's go get these tires fixed so I can get out of your hair." With that he stood and started locating his clothes that had been strewn through the apartment.

Alba sat there on the bed watching him, confused and slightly hurt. Deciding not to say anything, she rose and began putting her clothes back on. Once he was dressed, he walked out of the room without saying anything, so she pulled her boots on and followed him out.

The ride to the tire shop was in silence and awkward. He stared out the window the whole time, looking troubled, which made the knot in her stomach tighten even more. Once they pulled in he jumped from the truck, "Thanks for the ride, one of the boys will give me a ride back to my car. I'll holler at you later." With that he shut the door and disappeared into the garage, leaving Alba watching after him, refraining from beating her head into the steering wheel in frustration.

What was going on? Didn't he initiate both situations? And now it was like she was the last person on earth he wanted to be around. Great. Good job, Alba, she told herself.

She pulled out and headed back towards the bar, she did need to go ahead and start getting ready to open. There was also a big test that she had to study for in the meantime.

Later that evening she was standing at the end of the bar, writing down notes in her notebook when she heard Merles loudmouth.

"Hey Sweet Ass, you gonna get me a drink or do I have to wait for you to finish studying?" he laughed at himself.

She wasn't going to lie, she did look up in hopes that his brother was with him, but there was no sign of Daryl.

"Amy is right down there serving customers, Merle. I bet if ya asked her real nice she'd get you something." She went back to trying to soak in as much of this information she possibly could.

"Well I don't want Amy, I want you." Alba acted like she wasn't listening to him, but then her ears perked up. "There is also a rumor going around that some crazy bitch shot at Big Max last night, you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

"Sure wouldn't."

"Really? That's funny, cause it sounded a lot like you." He said, smacking his palm down on the counter.

"Somebody has to look out for your brother, cause you sure as hell ain't doing it." Frustrated she stood and went to storm past him.

Merle reached out and snatched her arm in a tight grip and whipped her around to face him. "You sure are a snarky bitch, you know that? I take just fine care of my brother, so maybe you should keep your nose in your own fucking business."

Anger coursed through Albas body, then she rotated her wrist towards Merle's thumb and then jerked her wrist from his grasp. While he was still too shocked to react, she slammed his hand down on the bar and pressed the knife from the sink into the top of it. "Listen here Merle, if you think I'm scared of you, think again. Just cause I moved to the rich part of town doesn't mean I forgot how you boys taught me to take care of myself. So if you ever lay a hand on me again, I promise you right now, you will lose it."

She then slung his hand back across at him and walked off, leaving him still too stunned to speak. Which said a lot, she didn't think anything could ever shut up Merle, but I guess everyone is wrong sometimes.

Instead of trying to study anymore, she just let herself get consumed with working. Doing whatever she could to keep her mind off the Dixon boys, she didn't want to think about either of them right at the moment.

When the bar finally closed, she made her way to her apartment, exhausted. She knew she needed to spend a few more hours studying for her exam that she had in the morning, but she really just wanted to take a hot shower and wash the today away. The grumbling in her stomach also told her she was starving, not noticing until now that she hadn't ate anything all day.

Walking into her bedroom, avoiding looking at the bed on purpose, she grabbed a pair of old boxer shorts and a grey tank top from her dresser and made her way to the bathroom. Turning the shower on and stepping into the scalding water she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and finally let herself think about this morning.

Of course, she had been with men before, but not one that she cared about, had fantasized about marrying since she was 6 years old. Letting the water run down her face hoping that it would wash his memory out of her. She almost wanted to cry, but she refused to let herself cry over men, much less Daryl Dixon. She should've known better than to do what she did, but she had been so hopeful he'd finally came to his senses and finally saw her for what she was.

Abruptly turning the shower off she jumped out and started drying off, her hair still wet and hanging onto her shoulders she got dressed and headed for the kitchen.

That's when the knock at the door startled her, almost making her drop the box of noodles she had just grabbed out of the pantry. Grabbing the baseball bat that she kept sitting to the side of the door, she slowly opened it as far as the chain would allow for her to peek out, her breath catching in her throat when she laid her eyes on him.

"Uh, can I come in?"