Next chapter is here, sorry for the wait. VERY exciting stuff in this chapter and an important AN at the end, please read it. I hope you guys are satisfied and don't feel like I'm rushing the story? I do have to warn though, that there is a smidge of mature content in this chapter, sorry if it offends anyone. Anyway, thanks for the follows and favourites, as well as to celia azul, Kaylamrr and Guest for reviewing:)

Guest: Yeah, she always finds the weird ones, like the closet walker in the treasure cabin:'D I'm glad you liked it, I couldn't not give Daryl his crossbow, especially one named Excalibur hahah!

Enjoy!

Chapter 19

Later that night, Anamika and Daryl sat on the porch of the house they shared with Carol, sharing the bottle of Southern Comfort between them as they celebrated Daryl's first hunt with Excalibur, as Anamika called it while sporting a shit-eating grin. The hunt had been a huge success, Daryl having no trouble with the extra draw weight, as Anamika had thought and they had managed to take down a doe, as well as a few pheasants.

The real luck came when they were on their way back and a boar had charged out of the underbrush in front of them. Daryl wasn't sure who was more surprised when he dropped the doe and raised his crossbow in one smooth move, them or the boar. Before the boar had even had a chance to get close enough to plough into them, a bolt had landed squarely between its eyes, dropping the beast with a loud thud. Daryl took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, allowing the adrenalin to seep from his body as he saw Anamika do the same. His lips twitched when a wide grin split her face and he couldn't help feeling warm as she laughed in excitement.

When Daryl walked into Alexandria's gates, the boar slung across his shoulders while Anamika carried the doe over her shoulders next to him, he could clearly see the excitement the people had as they saw the meat the hunters had brought back. Between today's hunt and the turkeys previously, as well as the cache he and Anamika had found a week before, Alexandria was doing alright in the food department.

Rick had patted Daryl on the shoulder, the grin on his face wide as he looked over their hunt, thanking them and commenting how they seem to produce the best results when working together. Daryl felt he had done a good day's work and was damn near ecstatic with his new crossbow, so when Anamika had come up to him with a shit-eating grin and the bottle of sin in her hand, he had joined her without protest. So here they were, at one in the morning, all alone as Carol had gone to Tobin's for dinner and never returned, just passing the bottle back and forth in a comfortable silence.

A giggle interrupted his quiet thoughts and he looked at his companion, her eyes shining in the moonlight. He admired her for a bit, before he realised that she was staring back at him with a dopey grin on her face. "What?"

"Nothing," she replied, her grin stretching wider, "I just can't remember the last time I drank and was this relaxed. When this all happened, it was a hazard to be drunk and I can't remember drinking before that."

"So wha', you're drunk miss military?" She giggled again and instead of irritating him, he found himself smiling instead, enjoying the sound of her drunken laughter.

"Noooo…" She dragged out the word, before giggling again, swaying slightly and stumbling as she stood up to do who knows what, "Ok, maybe a little bit. You know, I feel safe with you, comfortable, so maybe it's ok for me to be a bit tipsy."

"Woman, you're completely arse over tits drunk. Sit down before you hurt yourself." A burst of laughter escaped her lips and Daryl shifted uncomfortably, her words and laughter causing him to become half hard, a reaction he very much tried to ignore even as her loose sleeping shirt slipped off one shoulder, exposing the creamy skin with some faint silvery scars.

"Ok, whatever you say, my big bad overprotective redneck." His pulse jumped and he swallowed at her drunken ramblings, feeling uncomfortable yet wanting something he wasn't sure he could have, as he followed her efforts to sit back down. As she started to bend down to sit next to him, she overbalanced and started falling, her hands shooting out just as his own did to catch her. After some fumbling and cursing, Daryl wound up finding himself with a lapful of Anamika, her blue eyes dark in the moonlight as she stared at him, her face barely an inch away. His immediate instinct was to flinch away, to push her from him, but the intensity in her gaze had him frozen in place.

Her eyes was searching his and she slowly righted herself, but to his consternation, she didn't move from his lap, but rather straddled him, her body warm against him and causing the aching in his member to intensify. Her breath was sweet over his face, the scent of alcohol and those tic tacs she had found in the cellar assaulting his senses. Her hands came up to his shoulders, before one rose further to lay against his cheek ever so softly. Daryl didn't know what to do with his hands, so they laid limp besides him, as he was too afraid to move.

"You know," she breathed out, her thumb almost noticeably caressing his cheek, "I meant what I said. I really do feel safe with you Daryl Dixon. That's a first for me…" He couldn't move, his heartbeat frozen in his throat as he watched her. She was watching him as well and after a moment, as if she realised he didn't know what to do or what she wanted, she slowly leaned forward.

The moment her soft, chapped lips touched his, his body locked up, panicking and unsure what was happening. When they moved hesitantly against him, he thought for sure he would push her away, as he usually does when confused, but to his own great surprise, he slowly started kissing her back. When she felt him move against her lips, she became more confident, her kiss harder as she slipped one arm loosely around his neck, her other hand still on his cheek. His own hands came up automatically to rest on her hips and when her tongue trailed across his bottom lip, he opened his mouth to her.

It wasn't fireworks or supernovas that went off behind his eyelids, instead her kiss, her tongue tangling with his as her soft body pressed against his was like molten lava flowing through him, warming him up from every point where they touched and causing him to throb with need. He kissed back harder, his teeth nipping at her bottom lips and she moaned, grinding against his hardened member. A deep groan left him as his hands slid around to grip her ass, pushing her down as his hips bucked up and his growl intermingled with her moan as she threw her head back.

His lips found her throat, placing sucking kisses down it till he reached the junction where her neck and shoulder met and he sucked the skin into his mouth, bruising her as he gave her a hickey. She moaned again, her hands now tugging at his hair as she rolled her hips against his and he choked, holding her tighter to him as he thrust up into the heat of her groin. Their lips met again in a frenzy and he was so distracted by her that he didn't feel her unbuckling his pants till her hand was down them, gripping his member as she pumped her hand up and down.

It had been years since anyone had touched him like that and Daryl cried out, overwhelmed by the sensations she invoked in him and came in her hand, panting as his orgasm flooded through him. He was breathing harshly, her body still against his as he came down from his pleasurable high, but instead of relaxing, his body filled with shame.

He had rutted against her like a lovesick puppy and prematurely ejaculated like a teenage boy who just got his first hand job. She probably thought he was some fool or something and he couldn't handle the thought of her laughing at him. So Daryl regressed back to what he knew, the way he had always acted when embarrassed or trying to distance himself from someone.

He became angry.

Turning his shame into rage was easy for Daryl and he pushed her hands away as he zipped himself up. Pushing her body off his, he stood, his movements jerky as he tried to escape as fast as possible.

"Daryl? Daryl, what's wrong?" He ignored her, striding towards the porch steps, desperate to get away from the situation.

"Wait, Daryl, wha-" Her hand grasped his arm and he ripped himself from her, whirling around to see the hurt expression on her face, which just made him angrier at himself. However, it was easier to yell at someone else than at yourself, so he pointed his finger at her threateningly.

"Stay away from me ya stupid bitch. Don't be needing nobody, least of all you!" She reared back, her eyes wide, before they went cold and he felt a shiver travel down his back. She didn't say anything, just pursed her lips and turned, walking towards the door and slamming it behind her and he walked down the steps, his strides angry as he made his way into the darkness of the night.

WD

The following three days, Daryl avoided Anamika like the plague. He knew she hadn't done anything wrong, hell, he had been more than happy to reciprocate her actions. Since the night everything had gone to hell, he had time to think through everything again and come to the conclusion that he was a major asshole that had completely overreacted. He wanted to apologise to her, but didn't know how, especially since the shame of him ejaculating prematurely, without ensuring her own pleasure was still swirling around inside him.

Since her didn't know how to react or what to do, he ignored her and pretended that entire night never happened. He knew the rest of his family had realised that something had happened between them, but nobody asked after his initial I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it grunt and it seemed Anamika was also keeping her silence. He knew Carol was worried about him, but she was also involved with Tobin now and had her own business to take care of.

Daryl took every opportunity to get out of the gates and away from Anamika, so it happened that he often went on runs with Glenn or Rick. Today was another day he and Rick was out on a run, going to a nearby strip mall to search for medication. Tara and Heath was with them, but they had split into two groups to cover more ground and he and Rick was searching through the pharmacy, while Heath and Tara was going through a general goods store. Since they had arrived, Daryl had felt this trip was going to be worthless, as the windows had been smashed in and graffiti was splashed all across the walls.

He had just thrown a bottle of Tylenol in his backpack, about the only thing he could find, when Rick started speaking from behind him, causing his back to tense up.

"Daryl, what's going on with you and Anna? I appreciate you going on all these runs, but everyone knows something happened and Anna has been closing herself off from the rest of us. I wasn't going to say anything, but Carl told me she was quiet yesterday and left earlier when she usually would when playing with Judith. I don't know what happened brother, but you need to fix it."

"I don't need to do shit!" Rick's eyes were trained on him and Daryl huffed angrily, turning away from his long-time friend. He felt uncomfortable, mainly because he knew Rick was right, but he didn't know how to go about it or how to get over his shame.

"Daryl, you care for her."

"Man, stop talking shit about shit you don't know shit about!"

"No, you do! If you didn't care for her, you wouldn't be this bothered by whatever happened. Brother, if you want to go down this road and cut her off, go ahead. Just remember the world we live in and how once you do go down this road, there's no turning back or do-overs." With that, Rick walked away to another part of the store and Darl was reminded of how Rick had lost it after Lori's death and the guilt he felt knowing she had died thinking he hated her. He never wanted to experience that, but it also wasn't easy to open up about his vulnerabilities to someone.

The remainder of the run went smoothly, even with Daryl distracted and soon they were on their way back, not having found much of anything. When they got back home, he looked around for Anamika, but couldn't see her and some part of him was relieved he was able to put off his talk with her, since he still didn't know what he wanted to say. He went to bed in an empty house that night, Carol still at Tobin's and Anamika nowhere to be found. He was a bit worried, but he knew the woman could take care of herself and Carol had assured him she had seen Anamika right before they came back and the woman just needed some time. He went to sleep, his dreams troubled and uneasy.

Daryl was jerked from his sleep into a sudden wakefulness, uncertain what had caused his abrupt awakening. A shift of weight on his body had him trying to fly up, his body bucking to fling the assailant off, but whoever was on him was better than he expected, their body going with his movement and then pinning him back to the bed. He was just about to try again, when he felt a warm heat ground down on him and that shocked him enough to actually look at who was on him. It wasn't some enemy attacking him in his sleep, but rather Anamika, a fierce expression on her face that caused Daryl's breath to hitch.

He was screwed and he knew it.

WD

While Daryl was on a run with Rick, Heath and Tara, Anamika had been wandering around Alexandria, her mind miles away. While she wouldn't say she loved Daryl, she knew it had the strong potential to turn into that given the chance and that scared her. If he could make her feel this bad when she didn't even love him yet, she dreaded what he could do to her when she did love him. She wondered if she really wanted to be in a group, if this is the kind of pain that came from it. People you care about rejecting you or dying wasn't something she had to worry about in a long time and she found herself unconsciously distancing herself from others in the group, afraid they, too, would hurt her.

Daryl's reaction was one born of shame and maybe regret, she wasn't sure, but she knew he wasn't someone who would just use her for pleasure. That made it all the more difficult to accept that he had probably realised that he didn't want to try and have more with her, when she had obviously been more than eager to take it further. She felt like such a slut and, to her memory, she might be a virgin for all she knows. It made her realise she really didn't know what she was doing. Sure, she knew the basics of sex and the way she had reacted to his groping told her she probably had sex before, but she couldn't remember it, so this was her first time again, having sex and trying to be in a relationship.

She knew she was scared of it, but she was also willing to try, but apparently Daryl wasn't. She sighed again, deciding she needed to blow off some steam. Making her way to the front gate, she waited for Spencer to open it and headed out, only carrying her pistol, machete, kukri and two throwing knives. For anyone else, that was a lot of firepower, but for her it was the bare minimum. She walked the perimeter of Alexandria, checking the braces and seeing how the pitfalls they were busy digging was coming along. She spent about a hour helping Glenn sharpening stakes they were planning to add to the pitfalls and stick into the cars parked outside the gates, asking him about Maggie's pregnancy and generally getting to know him better.

When she moved on, she killed any walkers she saw, stacking them on a pile for pickup later and then continued on to where Maggie was directing some people on the area they were planting to grow crops. Smiling and waving at the woman, she decided not to interrupt her, but rather continued her circuit. It was as she was dragging another walker to the pile on her second circuit, having been outside the walls for a good two and a half hours, that she saw Carol approaching.

"Hey."

"Hey." She grunted back. She wiped her hands on her jeans after dropping the walker by the pile, before she looked at Carol, curious what the woman searched her out for.

"Look, I know something happened between you and Daryl and I know it isn't any of my business. I just, I care for Daryl and I hate seeing him this way. I also care for you Anna and I've seen how you're pulling away." Anamika stayed quiet, not sure what to say and not being able to refute Carol's words, as they both knew that's exactly what she was doing.

"Look, I don't want to interfere, but I want you both to be happy. Daryl doesn't know how to act around someone he cares deeply about and he's never been involved with anyone before. Whatever happened, just… please keep in mind that he is confused and when Daryl is confused, he withdraws and acts out. He sometimes still doesn't see how good of a man he is."

Anamika nodded, understanding what Carol was trying to say without actually coming out and saying it. Daryl might actually be interested in her and that's precisely why he had reacted as he did. She felt irritated that he couldn't communicate that to her, but then again, neither of them were big with communication. After all, she didn't see herself seeking Daryl out and demanding an explanation. The thought that Daryl might be willing to try and have more with her, if she could just get past the wall he had built, had hope inflating in her chest and for the first time in days, a smile twitched at her lips. Carol seemed relieved when she saw this and Anamika couldn't help but laugh.

"Ok, I'll make sure he listens to me and keep haranguing him till he gives into my charms." Carol chuckled and smiled at the younger woman, a hand on her hip.

"Just be nice to my pookie." At hearing the nickname, Anamika burst anew into laughter, tears in her eyes and she realised, she really did like Carol very much. Sure, the woman could be scary as fuck, but so could she and she felt an odd camaraderie with the older woman. Carol smiled and nodded at her, then wrinkled her nose.

"But first, I think you should take a shower. You stink." Still chuckling, Anamika followed Carol back inside Alexandria, heading to the house she shared with Daryl and Carol and taking a long, relaxing shower, where she took the time to do the small, unnecessary luxuries, like shaving and conditioning her hair. After, she climbed out her window onto the overhanging roof, before grabbing onto the edge of the upper roof and pulling herself up onto it. Lying down, she watched as the sun started to set, finally at peace as she considered what to do concerning Daryl. There was several routes she could take, some easing him into it, but she realised that wasn't her.

She never cared what someone thought of her and always spoke her mind and though she didn't want to hurt Daryl, now that she was thinking with a clear mind, she knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She had felt his desire a few nights ago and had seen the lust darkening his eyes, so she decided to not tip toe around him, but rather go straight in for the kill, like she usually does. Despite her conviction, it took her a few hours to get the courage to get down from the roof and into Daryl's room. He could either lash out at her in a rage or give in to her, but she hoped for the latter.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at his sleeping form, giving herself a pep talk, before she crept forward, shucking her jeans and climbing to straddle him in just her panties and shirt. His eyes popped open and she knew she was in for a wild ride, one way or another.

WD

Right, sorry for the cliffhanger, but good news is I might be convinced to post the next chapter sooner;)

I do have to ask you guys something though. I've heard a lot of horror stories about people's fics being reported or taken off the site due to explicit content and from the next chapter onward, mature scenes are coming, as Daryl and Anamika explore the new aspect of their relationship. Usually I don't write sex scenes, but shockingly, I actually felt it was necessary for Daryl and Anamika's development. I couldn't just hint at it, since a lot of Daryl's inner struggle and shame is revealed and dealt with during sex.

So I was planning on cutting the sex scene on and only posting it on ao3 and wattpad, but I didn't want to inconvenience you guys here. So I can take the risk and post it, with CLEAR WARNINGS and hope I won't be reported, as, to be honest, I've seen a lot worse explicit scenes on than what I wrote; or I can cut it and just provide links to my account on ao3/wattpad (which I don't really want to do, since, as I said, a lot of Daryl's development happens there). Let me know what you guys think?