A/N: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters in any way, shape or form.

TRIGGER ALERT: While not in every chapter there are chapters that mention rape and/or abuse.

Chapter 19

Daryl had woken shortly after the sun had risen and went back to Adrian's cell to check on her. Daryl gave a small smile at the sight before him, not having seen the sight before. Adrian was curled up in her bed, her red-orange hair fanned out behind her, her face peaceful in her rest. Her legs were loosely curled inward and her right hand was resting lightly on Ass Kicker's chest, which was slowly rising and falling in her own peaceful sleep. He could tell the position was a practiced one. He could only imagine how many nights she'd slept just like that with her own son.

It was as he silently watched the woman and infant sleep that he had an idea. Some of the others might not like it, but at that particular point in time he didn't care. It was what Adrian needed to heal, at least he hoped it was because if this didn't work he'd be forced to grant Adrian's request of locking her in D Block alone every night. Although if he was being honest with himself he would never lock her in there alone because he'd be going in there with her. She may think being alone was what was best but he'd be damned if he chose sleep over helping his woman when she was suffering.

Daryl didn't know how long he watched them but it had been long enough for everyone else to wake up and start their day. Daryl could hear voices coming from the common area and decided it was time to tell the other's his plan. He turned and quietly walked down the stairs and through the bars that lead from the cell block. He seen Hershel and Rick sitting at a table as Beth and Axel passed out bowls of oatmeal. Daryl accepted his own bowl from Beth before he sat down at the table with Hershel and Rick.

"How's Adrian?" Hershel asked him.

"She'd upstairs sleepin' with the baby." he told the old man before taking a bite of his breakfast. They were all quiet for a few minutes before he broke the silence. "I'm takin' Adrian out for a few days." he said. He was mostly speaking to Hershel and Rick but he could hear everyone else in the room freeze at his words.

"You're leaving? Why?" Glenn asked, shocked.

"I need to get her outta here for a few days, not long, two or three days. I need to get her away for a bit so she can clear her head." he told them.

"Surely the nightmares will pass." Beth said.

"She wants me to lock her in D Block at night so she won't wake everybody up in the middle of the night." Daryl said, looking both Hershel and Rick in the face as he did. Daryl could hear the quiet sighs of sadness all around the room.

"This place is hauntin' her. She's havin' nightmares every night, whether she's screamin' herself awake or not. If I don't do somethin' about it right now, she could spiral into another depression like after the farm." he told them.

Just because they didn't hear them didn't mean she wasn't having them. He slept beside her every night, he could feel her tossing and turning in her sleep, hear her quiet distressed mumbling, and feel the tears that she shed.

"A change of scenery might do her some good. She's already depressed, you can see it already. And if she falls into a deep depression like she did on the road, we may not be able to snap her out of it this time around." Hershel said after a minute of silence.

"Where would you take her?" Rick asked him.

"I found a little shack out in the woods the other day while I was out. It's a few miles out, so we won't be goin' too far." he told them.

"When do you leave?" Rick asked.

"After she wakes up we'll pack what we need for the trip, then we'll head out." Daryl said.

Adrian woke up to feel something squirming underneath her hand. She lifted her head and cracked her eyes open to see Ass Kicker kicking her feet around as she took in her surroundings, as much as a days old baby could anyway. "Hey there, Chipmunk. Did you sleep good?" Adrian asked, tickling the baby's belly and getting a little coo in response from the girl. "I bet you're hungry, huh? How about we get you some breakfast? How does that sound, huh?" Adrian asked the girl as she gently gathered her in her arms before she stood up and walked out of her cell.

No one was in their cells or in the common area, so Adrian assumed that everyone was busy outside. She made Ass Kicker a bottle and popped the nipple into the baby's mouth just as she started to whimper from hunger. Adrian walked to the door that lead to the courtyard and walked outside, quickly shielding hers and the baby's eyes from the harsh rays of sunlight. After her eyes had adjusted she walked farther into the courtyard to see Hershel and Carl sitting on a set of bleachers in the middle of the yard.

"Good morning." Hershel told her as she stopped beside him, her movements having caught his attention.

"Morning. What's going on?" she asked, although from what she could see she could take a guess at what the others were doing.

"Rick wants to finally get those bodies burned. He, Daryl, and Glenn went out a while ago to get some firewood while Axel, Oscar, Beth, and Maggie started piling the bodies." Hershel told her.

"You guy's should've woken me. You shouldn't have let me sleep so late." she told him.

"There's more than enough people to get it done and you needed to sleep. Besides, that baby was still sleeping too, so no one seen any point in waking either of you up until you were ready." Hershel told her, even if his tone sounded like it was a lecture.

She could see everyone standing in front of the large pile of bodies as Daryl lit it on fire. She heard the sound of an empty bottle being sucked on and looked down to see the bottle was indeed empty. She pulled the bottle from the baby's mouth and then sat to burp the baby. Ass Kicker had let out a rather loud burp that made them all laugh before Hershel looked at Adrian.

"Let me see the baby. Daryl wants to talk to you about something." Hershel said, holding his arms out for the infant. Adrian turned to give Hershel a curious look but still handed the small girl over to his waiting hands. "What does he want to talk about?" she asked as she stood up. "I think that's something you should let him tell you." he told her as he cradled the baby close to his chest. Adrian looked uncertain at the request but did as she was told and walked down the hill to her lover.

She was already hot before she reached the others who were standing by the fire, but she couldn't even stand to stand beside them so close to the fire. "Y'all are just begging for a heatstroke standing that close to that damn thing." she told them as she tried to fan some of the heat away. They all turned to look at her, some surprised they hadn't heard her coming. Rick looked down at her empty hands before his eyes looked up toward the prison.

"Chipmunk is with Hershel and Carl up in the yard. He told me Grumpy over here wanted to talk to me and that I should leave her up there." she told Rick, knowing that he was wondering where his daughter was. Rick nodded and turned to go say good morning to his little girl. Adrian looked at Daryl but he didn't say anything, just kept looking at her.

"Well? You wanted to talk?" she said, trying to urge him into talking, not that talking was really his strong suit.

"Come on." he told her as he started up the hill. Daryl walked past her and Adrian looked skyward, as if praying. 'I swear, if he makes me drag this information out of him, I'm going to high-five his face with one of Beth's frying pans.' she thought as she turned and followed him up the hill. Daryl walked inside and kept going until he walked inside the cell she had slept in the night before.

"Okay, what's going on? Why bring me all the way up here to talk?" she asked him.

"I need you to pack a bag. Only enough for a few days." he finally spoke.

"Excuse me? I mean, I already planned on packing my things to move cell blocks, but why only pack a bag for a few days?" she asked, very confused.

"We're leavin' for a few days. I told everybody this mornin', so they already know." he told her.

"Leaving? Why? Where?" she asked, the thought of them leaving the group for any reason was absolutely ridiculous in her mind.

"You gotta get outta here for a while, even if it's just a few days. Go somewhere that isn't feeding on your bad memories and causin' your nightmares. If you keep goin' at the rate you're goin' you're gonna end up depressed again, and you barely managed to snap outta the last one." Daryl told her, trying to get her to see that leaving was a good idea. "Daryl-" she tried to speak only to have him cut her off.

"No. We're doin' this. You may think that leavin' isn't a good idea, but I'll be damned if I just stand by as you fall deeper and deeper into all those dark memories you're tryin' so hard to push down. We're not leavin' for forever, just a few days. Just long enough to help you get your head straight." he told her.

He stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders as he looked her in the eyes.

"The last time you were hurtin' like this you let all of us help you get better, you had other things to help you focus, but you don't have that this time around. The last time you were hurt and alone, you asked me to do nothing because you were afraid of me gettin' hurt. Don't ask me to stand by as you suffer when there might be somethin' I can do to help you." he told her earnestly. Adrian looked into his clear blue eyes and could see him begging her to let him help her. She pulled him in and hugged him tightly. "Okay. We'll try it your way first." she told him.

Daryl let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding at her words. He pulled back and they started packing their bags. They only packed one extra set of clothes but Adrian insisted on bringing one of their hoarded comforter's and her thin throw blanket with them. She left Daryl in charge of rolling up and packing away the blankets while she went and grabbed a few cans of food. They didn't bother filling their water bottles since Daryl said that there were a few different water sources that they could stop at on the way there.

They told everyone goodbye before they left the safety of the gates of their new home. They walked about four or five miles from the prison, Daryl obviously in the lead since she had absolutely no idea where they were going. They walked in silence for most of the journey, both feeling comfortable in the silence. They had stopped by a small stream to fill their bottles but that was the only stop they made.

Daryl walked into a small clearing, a slightly run down cabin and a small trailer sitting in the middle of the clearing. There was a porch that ran the length of the front of the cabin, only have of it was open, the other half was covered in screening, large rips in a good portion of the screening. The porch was littered with junk, everything from tin cans to old animal hides. "Go on inside, I'll be right there." he told her, gesturing toward the cabin. She said nothing but raised her eyebrow at the command.

"Don't give me that look. Just do it." he told her as he walked to the back of the cabin, toward the old trailer. It was a good thing she wasn't expecting the inside to be much better than the outside, because the inside was just as bad.

Most of the windows were broken, the wallpaper was peeling from the wall in large strips. There was paper littered everywhere, a huge pile of dishes piled in the small sink, a dingy little foldable table and a few tattered chairs were sitting against the wall opposite of the sink. There was a large rug in the middle of the small living room and an old camouflage recliner that had definitely seen better days. Adrian seen the large gaudy ashtray that was on the floor beside the recliner but she would've known that the run down shack had belonged to a smoker even if she hadn't seen the extremely full ashtray, the smell of cigarette smoke clung to everything.

Daryl walked in and closed the door behind him, holding two mason jars full of clear liquid. "Whatcha think?" he asked as he walked past her and placed the glass jars onto the table before he took off his pack. "A fresh coat of paint and it'll look good as new." she said as she continued to look around, the sarcasm heavy in her voice. "Don't be a smartass." he told her as he walked toward her. "Stupid questions require stupid answers." she told him, giving him a look that said he should've known better. Daryl pushed the pack from her shoulders before tossed it onto the recliner, his own following right behind it. He then reached out and grabbed her hands and gently pulled her until her front was pressed against his.

He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh as they stood inside the filthy but safe cabin. "Promise me you're gonna give this a chance?" he asked her, his eyes still closed, just taking in the peaceful silence. "I promise." she told him, knowing he meant using their time away to let him help her chase her dark thoughts and nightmares away. Daryl released her hands and cupped her face in his hands before he pulled his head back and kissed her for the first time in days.

Adrian kissed him back before she pulled away, her eyes still closed as well.

"We'll make this work." Daryl promised her.

"We have nothing to lose but time." she told him, grinning. "But first" she said as she finally opened her eyes and looked at him as he finally opened his eyes "We're going to clean this place up a little bit before I start twitching from the mess." she said, laughing as he rolled his eyes.

"Typical woman, always gotta clean." Daryl said, rolling his own eyes.

"Typical woman, my ass! Daryl, this place is disgusting and according to you we're living here for the next few days. I'm not saying we have to clean it from ceiling to floor, but we can at least pick up because I'm not sleeping on a floor covered in old newspapers or starring at that enormous pile of dirty dishes for the next two or three days." she told him, refusing to believe that her request of picking up the space they were going to be living in was unreasonable.

Adrian found an old knitted blanket on the floor by the recliner and tossed it over the large pile of dishes. "Dishes are done." she said smiling as she turned and looked at him. Daryl seen the overly bright blanket that was now covering the dishes and shook his head at her even as he smiled at her antics, glad to see her in a happier mood already. They kicked most of the papers into a corner, not wanting to risk starting a fire to get rid of them and Adrian's somewhat eco-friendly mind wouldn't allow Daryl to just throw them outside.

Adrian cleaned off the table and placed all of their food and their water bottles there. She picked up one of the mason jars that Daryl had brought in with him and unscrewed the lid before taking a sniff of the contents. She coughed slightly at the strong smell of alcohol and looked over at Daryl who was laughing at her.

"What the hell is this?" she asked him as he put their packs on the floor by the door.

"Moonshine." he told her, a large smile on his face.

"There's a distillery back there?" she asked, surprised. Although after thinking about the location and and looking at the state of the cabin, she didn't know why finding out that the former resident made moonshine should shock her. "Yep. Lot more moonshine back there too." he told her. Daryl watched as a teasing grin made it's way onto Adrian's face as she put the moonshine back onto the table and made her way over to him.

The way she walked toward him reminded him of a predator stalking it's prey, which was exactly what he felt like as each step she took brought her closer and closer.

"Why Mr. Dixon" she said, her voice teasing as she wrapped her arms around his neck "Are you hoping that I'll drink that moonshine and that you'll get lucky afterwards?" she asked him as she raised up on her tiptoes, her lips lightly brushing against his as she spoke.

Daryl gripped her hips and pulled her in so close that they were touching from chest to knees. "Maybe. But we both know I don't need the booze to get you outta those clothes." he said, his voice taking on that gravely sound from his low tone that always sent a little zing of excitement throughout her body. It hadn't always been like that, until their first time together, and then she always felt it hit her right in her lady bits, which was inconvenient most of the times. It was hard for her to concentrate when all she could think about was ripping his clothes off and riding him until neither of them could walk.

He must have heard the almost quiet moan that left her mouth because the next thing she knew was she felt Daryl pull the ponytail holder from her hair and tightly gripped her hair before he pressed a bruising kiss to her lips. The kiss wasn't intended to actually harm her from the roughness, she knew that. Daryl was a man who spoke with his actions more than his words, he had been since she had known him. Daryl may not speak his feelings for her out loud, but that one kiss told her everything she already knew.

He poured all of his passion and possession into that kiss. If Adrian hadn't already known that Daryl owned her down to her very soul, she would have with that kiss. He owned all of her, everything that she was, and she owned all of him in return. They had never spoken of love, they weren't even sure they were in love with each other, but whatever it was that they had, it was more than enough for them.

They didn't need declarations on love to know how they felt about each other. They would do anything for each other, had saved each other more than they could count, but it was the little things that they treasured more than saving each others lives. Their little stolen moments and tiny gifts that before would've been mundane, but now meant the world to them.

Adrian felt Daryl leading her somewhere, at the moment she could honestly care less where he was leading her as long he didn't stop kissing her, and she felt his lips leave hers as he fell back into the recliner. They were both breathing hard, hardly stopping long enough to pull in enough air for them to breath while they were kissing. Adrian quickly followed Daryl into the large chair, planting her knees on either side of his waist before she took his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his.

TWD

Adrian and Daryl were slick with sweat as they tried to catch their breath. They were reclining in the chair that Daryl had wisely reclined shortly after they had lost all of their clothing.

"God, it's been far too long since we've gotten to do that. Of course, if Maggie and Glenn weren't so stingy with the guard tower it would've happened a lot sooner." Adrian panted, still trying to catch her breath.

Daryl huffed out a laugh, still trying to catch his own breath. "Told you I didn't need the booze to get you outta those clothes." he said, his breathing not coming so fast now.

"Shut up." Adrian laughed.

They lay in the silence and enjoyed the warmth of each other, even if it was a typical hot Georgia day outside. Daryl's right hand was absently playing with strands of her hair as he starred at the ceiling, not thinking anything particular, mostly just focusing on the feel of Adrian's fingers on his skin as she traced invisible images on his torso and chest.

"What's something you miss from before?" she asked, her voice pulling him out of his head.

"What?" he asked, having heard her question, just wondering where it came from so suddenly. They hardly spoke of their lives from before walkers were common. Well, he hardly spoke of his past. She was more open about her past, mostly about her son, but her question made him realize how little he actually knew of her from before.

"What's something you miss from before? And don't say that it's sitting in front of the TV in your boxers drinking beer all day." she said as she looked up at his face, a teasing grin on her face. "And what if that's what I miss the most from before?" he asked her, eyebrow raised in challenge. Adrian laughed again at his look. "As if you'd be sitting in your boxers all day with Merle stomping around and complaining about everything under the sun." she told him.

Unfortunately for her, her words caused the playful smile that had been on his face to slowly fall. Adrian tucked her head back onto Daryl's shoulder and started tracing invisible figures on his skin again.

"I miss my job the most, aside from the obvious things. I miss the atmosphere, the people. Parents coming in with their children and the excitement on their little faces. Watching Seth as he would read to them every weekend. Jesus, I even miss the smell of the place." she told him, trying to distract him from whatever troubling thoughts had made his smile vanish.

"Where the hell did you work that you'd miss the smell of the place?" Daryl asked, insanely curious as to what her former profession was that she'd miss something as mundane as a smell.

Adrian looked back up at his face, a wide smile on her face.

"A librarian." she told him, her smile getting even wider as she said the words.

"Of course you was." he said, rolling his eyes. "Only makes sense, you being a huge bookworm and all." he said.

"Hey! You don't have to be a librarian to love books you know. You should pick up a book or two every now and then, do that hillbilly brain of yours some good to learn a few things." she told him, lightly slapping him on the stomach.

"Reading can be as much about learning as it can be for entertainment." she told him, lightly running her fingers over his skin again. She didn't get to touch him like this often, next to never really, and she could admit to herself that she was a touchy-feely type of person. The thought made her giggle a little inside. She, the touchy-feely one, was in love with someone who didn't like much contact with others.

Her fingers stilled as she caught onto what had just run through her mind. Was she in love with him? She had never been in love before, so how could she be sure? Sure, she felt deeply for him, but were those feelings actually love? She had felt love for her son, and even love for friends and family but she knew that those kinds of love were different from the love you felt for another person you shared a bond with.

When she and Daryl had first kissed all those months ago she had known it wasn't love. She cared deeply for him, she knew that. She had started caring about him at the farm and her feelings only grew the longer their lives continued on the road. The man he had grown into was a wonderful and caring man, he did the necessary and hard jobs asked of him, sometimes even gave some of what little he owned to someone else who needed it more than him.

She had had crushes in the past, but her feelings had grown past a small crush long ago. She thought of all of the things he had done, for her specifically. Back at the farm he had been there when she had come back injured with Rick and Shane. He had stayed with her when he had no reason to. He allowed her into his camp numerous times after he had moved it away from the farm house to distance himself from everyone. He had sat with her in companionable silence as she was plagued with memories and loneliness of her son, just sat with her but never asked her what was bothering her.

Once they were on the road and she had become almost cripplingly depressed after the loss of not only the farm but of Kale as well, he had been there for her, making sure she ate when they had food, even forced her to when she refused. He never denied her requests to join him on his hunts and even teaching her how to track, like he had promised weeks before, because he knew it helped keep her mind focused on the there and then instead of in the past. And once she had pushed past her depression, he still let her join him on his hunts and would even sometimes keep her company on watch.

Her mind then traveled to that day that they had gotten separated and she'd been hurt. Daryl had every reason to leave her, had no good excuse for turning around and tracking her down. He had said that he had needed to know what had happened to her, whether it had been good or bad, but it had been dangerous for him to do it. They had only just gotten away with their lives from a small herd, he could've been killed going back for her. And then when he had finally found her, the look of relieve on his face had taken her breath away. His face had turned pale and pained when he had thought she had possibly been bitten.

And then he had kissed her breathless when she finally revealed that her shoulder was merely dislocated. She had known of her growing feelings for him, but she had been unsure of his feelings for her so she had kept them locked away. But that one kiss from him had broken a dam inside of her and she knew that she'd never be able to lock her feelings for him away again.

And then he had told her that he was going to find her something to help her shoulder and she had felt such panic that she hadn't felt since the night she and Seth had fled Atlanta. He was going to go out there, in the dark and walker infested woods, and he may not come back. But he had promised to come back to her and she believed him once she'd looked into his eyes. And he had come back, just like he'd promised, and she had thought her heart would beat out of her chest.

But it was thoughts of recent events that made Adrian's stomach flutter and warmth spread throughout her chest. The day they had lost Lori, T-Dog, and Carol she had been a mess, but he stayed strong through it all. They had lost so much that day, but Daryl's only concern, after making sure she was unharmed, was the survival of the baby. Upon finding out that if Ass Kicker didn't get formula soon that she would die, he immediately took it onto himself to get her what she needed to survive.

He had been worried for them, Rick, Carl, and herself, but he had given himself a mission to save the newest member of their group and nothing would stop him from accomplishing that goal. He had come back with everything that would keep the baby alive and she had to admit that she had melted at the sight of him holding that little girl as she ate her first meal. And then later that night, he held Adrian as she slept, and even held her through her nightmare she later found out. And then the next morning he made sure to stay with her as she tried to keep herself from drowning in grief, helping her keep her head above the waters of grief.

He was there to comfort her, what little comfort she allowed herself, for the next two nights as she screamed herself awake from nightmares. He didn't push her about talking about her nightmares, even though she could tell he wanted too, and she was both grateful and disappointed that he didn't. She had thought it best to separate herself from everyone until the nightmares stopped but Daryl refused to believe that was the solution to helping her, refused to lock her away as if she had done something wrong.

So he had come up with a different solution. To help her fight back her nightmares and depression he did separate her from the others, but not alone. She had thought the answer was in her being alone, to find the solution herself, but Daryl was a stubborn man. He knew that she didn't need to be alone, and deep down she knew it too and was so thankful that she wasn't alone now. He had brought her out to this cabin to help her clear her mind of all of the dark thoughts that were troubling her.

And she realized in that moment, she did love him.

She was in love with Daryl Dixon.

She lifted her face to look at his own, and wondered how she could have been so blinded as to not have known it before now. Or maybe this was the final step that had caused her love for him to be known. Whatever the case, she now knew that she loved him and nothing would ever stop that. And Lord have mercy on anything that tried to take him from her.

TWD

They didn't leave the cabin for the rest of the day but they were by no means bored. After the third time of them tearing each others clothes off Adrian seen little point in getting fully dressed after that, opting to only wear her panties, one of the few pairs she owned, and Daryl's shirt.

They had just eaten a simple and rather bland meal of canned tuna and water, not her favorite meal but it was better than nothing. The sun was setting and she was now laying out their blankets on the floor so it would be ready for when they were ready to go to sleep. Daryl was sitting in the 'dumpster chair', as he called it, in his boxers, chewing on his thumbnail as he silently watched Adrian.

He may have been quiet but his thoughts were anything but.

He watched her as he'd never seen her before. He always thought she was beautiful but she looked even more so now. So much of her pale skin was on display, which made sense considering she was wearing so little. Her bottom half was covered in a thin pair of black cotton boy shorts, her upper half covered in his light blue button up sleeveless shirt. His shirt had never looked as good as it did when she had picked it up off the floor and put it on, only buttoning three or four buttons right down the middle.

Every time she would bend over or lift her arms he gave a little smirk at the sight of her perky breasts. They weren't large, like he used to prefer them on a woman, but they were firm and just enough to fill his hands when he felt the need to hold them. Her ginger hair definitely had the look of someone who had thoroughly been sexed up. He was never a gentle lover before, he liked his sex rough and never stayed after it was over before.

But it was different with her. Everything was different with her.

He came to realize that Adrian wasn't as delicate as she looked. He had always thought that making love was for pussies but Adrian had shown him the error of his thinking. He had known his first time with her that sex with her was different from anything he had ever experienced before. He had always heard guys say that it was different when you actually had feelings for the person you were with but he'd always thought it was a load of bullshit. It wasn't though.

He had never felt for anyone what he felt for Adrian. He didn't know it was possible for him to feel what he felt for her. He didn't know if he loved her or not, he'd never loved anyone besides his brother, and even that love was mixed with other emotions, most of them negative. He loved things about her, he knew that for sure. He didn't know if he loved her but if he could ever love anyone, it would be her.

She wasn't afraid to show her emotions, to let others know what she was feeling. She was open with her love and affection towards the others and he loved that about her. He loved that she could smile and laugh so easily, that she was so sensitive to the feelings of others around her and her willingness to help them feel better. He was glad that she had been willing to let him help her this time. He gave a little smile as she hummed to herself as she set up their blankets for the night, he wasn't even sure she was aware that she was humming and gently swaying her hips to whatever melody she was softly singing.

He didn't know what he'd ever done in his miserable and worthless life to deserve to have her in his, to have her care for him as she did, but whatever it was he was eternally grateful for it. She finished with the blankets and looked down at them with a happy smile of her beautiful lips. The sun was going down and it was getting dark in the dingy little shack, but what few rays of light were left were touching her in a way that completely stole his breath away.

"Come 'ere." he said, pulling his finger from his mouth and holding his hand out for her to take.

Adrian looked over at Daryl's words and seen his hand outstretched towards her. She gave him a soft smile before she took his hand and felt him pull her to him, draping her across his lap before he placed his lips on her own. He didn't push the kiss further, didn't deepen it as he usually did. He wanted to kiss her softly, to enjoy the feel of her lips against his own, and enjoy the feel he certainly did.

He pulled away with the same care he had when he first kissed her, lightly running his fingers across her cheek, across her lips, and down her nose, which made her scrunch her nose and softly giggle. The sound made him smile, a warmth filling his chest at the sound. When she opened her eyes and looked into his own he watched them soften with emotions that made his heart beat faster. He couldn't name the emotion he seen in her green eyes because he had never seen them directed at him before.

He ran his fingers through her hair and watched as she leaned into his touch, closing her eyes as a peaceful expression settled over her delicate face. "You asked me before what I missed from before." he said quietly. Adrian opened her eyes at his statement, curious as to why he was bringing that up now. "Mhmm." she hummed in return. "I didn't answer because there's nothin' that I miss from my life before." he told her, his voice low. "Nothing?" she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Nah. I mean, I miss my brother, even if he was a dick 95% of the time, but he's my brother, ya know." he told her, watching his fingers as they ran through her tussled hair. "There's nothing at all you miss? A place you used to go? A friend?" she asked. She knew so little about his life from before and she wanted to know everything there was to know about the man she loved but Daryl was nothing if not a very private person.

"My life was meaningless before. Didn't do anything that really made my life worth livin'. Jus' did whatever Merle told me to do." he told her, ashamed to admit to her that he'd been a worthless nobody. He felt her finger under his chin, felt her lift his head enough so that his blue eyes met her green ones.

"You really believe that, don't you?" she asked even as she seen the answer in his eyes.

"It's true." he murmered, just loud enough for her ears to hear.

"Will you tell me about it? You're life? I know so little of who you were before and I want to know. I know the man you are now, I've watched you grow into the man you are now, but I also want to know about the man you were before. If you're willing to tell me." she asked him. She could tell her request made him uncomfortable, she wanted to know everything there was to know about him, but only when he was ready to tell her.

"There really ain't nothin' to tell. Mom liked her wine and her smokes, ended up dyin' in a house fire. Dad was a worthless drunk. Merle was there sometimes but he spent most of his time in juvie and when he was old enough he lit out like his ass was on fire. Once I was old enough to leave home I stuck with Merle. Worked a bunch of dead end jobs, if I worked at all. That's really all there was to my life before. I'm lucky I even made it alive to see all this shit go down." he told her. It sounded like there were things he had skipped over from his life, but honestly that was all there was to his life before.

He was so focused on looking at anything other than her face that he jumped slightly when he felt her softly run a finger over an old scar on his torso. He looked at her to see her focused on her finger as she ran it over another scar and then another, a pained looked on her face as she did it.

"I'm sorry for the way he treated you. It was wrong of him and if he were still alive I'd kill him myself for what he did to you." she said softly, tracing another scar left by his father.

He grabbed her right hand and lifted her arm until he could see the long scar that ran along her forearm in the dim light. He rubbed his thumb against the pink skin, his touch light, before he released her wrist and ran his hand underneath the shirt that was covering her own torso and traced the long scar that stretched from her back to her side, looking her in the eyes as he did so.

"You didn't have it easy either." he told her softly.

"Not like you did though. I only had to suffer my father's abuse for a short while before I was taken from him and given to granddad." she told him.

Daryl kept tracing the scar on her side, remembering the story of how she had gotten it, and the longer he thought of it the more it made his blood boil. "If the fucker was still alive I'd kill him for this. For everything he did to you." Daryl swore. And she knew he meant it, could see the look of hatred on his face in the dying light of the day. She gave him a sad smile as she placed her hand on his cheek.

"Bad things did happen to me, yes, but good things came from the bad ones. My father abused me and killed my mother, and because of that I got to live with a grandfather who loved me and gave me everything I could ask for. I may have been raped by a deceptive boyfriend who wasn't who I thought he was, but I gained a son from it. A son that I loved with every fiber of my being and who loved me in return." she told him. Bad things had happened to her in her life, yes, but unlike Daryl, good had come from the bad things in her life and she wouldn't change anything that had ever happened to her.

"You're life may not have been worth much before, but your life now is worth something. The world may be harder to survive in now, but your harsh life prepared you for it and you've thrived. You're surrounded by people who count on you and love you now. You're family may not have appreciated you, but your new family does and we will always fight for you, just like you would fight for us. No matter what." she told him.

Daryl looked her in the eyes as she said all of it, and he knew she meant every single word of it. Daryl couldn't explain the warm pressure he felt in his chest as he realized she believed every word, believed in him, thought him worthy of that belief, but it brought tears to his eyes. He pulled her lips to his, kissing her deeply, pouring all of the words he couldn't bring himself to say into that kiss. He wouldn't realize it until much later, until after mistakes were made, but the feeling he was feeling was his own love for her.