A/N: this is a work of fanfiction, I only own Thea.

Wallflower

By Leah Pensotti

Thea spent the night on Abraham and Rosita's couch. She was hoping she gave Tara and Denise enough time alone. Rosita woke her up at dawn and she made her way back home.

When she arrived at the house, Denise and Tara were drinking coffee in the kitchen. Denise gave her a look and shook her head, "Where were you all night?"

Thea shrugged, "I wanted to give you some space. I went to see Tara and ended up accidentally crashing there."

She poured herself a cup of coffee and watched Denise and Tara gently interact with each other. They seemed...at peace. Thea remembered Jeremy, her one and only serious, long-term boyfriend. They met senior year at VCU and stayed together for over three years and once upon a time, her apartment had also been his.

It had been so long...almost nine years since she allowed herself to feel for someone else; but within the past two days, two men had made her feel different emotions. Daryl compelled her and Rick had given her butterflies.

Thea had wondered if that side of her had shut down; but obviously it hadn't. Her mind had been so full with the feelings she dreamed about both of them while on Rosita's couch.

While sipping her coffee, she remembered that she was to do a little recon with Daryl in a few hours. Thea excused herself from the kitchen and went upstairs to shower.

She was nervous, she thought there could easily be something that went wrong. Thea hadn't been out in awhile, she worried that her senses weren't as sharp as they were a year ago and all the cleverness Aaron and Eric had witnessed was setting her up to fail.

Thea dressed in a navy blue t-shirt, beat up jeans and her faithful sneakers after tying her dark blonde hair in a low ponytail and made her way back downstairs. Tara had shown herself out, and Denise was readying herself for the day ahead at the clinic.

"You know this is your place, too. You don't have to completely leave when Tara comes over. We are totally capable of being respectful and handling ourselves."

Thea smiled and poured another cup of coffee, " I know. I had every intention of coming home. I just want you guys to have your time and me not being some sort of lurker. Being social isn't my forte."

Denise shrugged, "It's seems you've made a few more friends recently."

She sighed, she didn't have a real answer for that, "I, uh...it's just that this town has gotten smaller. There's no being invisible anymore. Everybody has to pitch in. I'm actually going out on recon with Daryl today."

Denise pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "That sounds like the socially awkward Olympics, by the way."

Thea couldn't help but laugh, Denise knew enough about her to know that she clammed up easily and that Daryl was perpetually gruff and stand-offish.

As Denise left for her work day, Thea stepped out onto the front porch and sat on the front step. It was a pretty day, not a cloud in sight and when she turned her head, she saw a familiar form.

Rick Grimes was walking with purpose towards her.

She hadn't been expecting him, but this had become his m.o. in the past couple of days. Thea shot to her feet, bobbled and immediately fell, but was caught unceremoniously by Rick. He held on to her, helping her straighten up, his arms around her.

Thea was so embarrassed. She should've known that moving quickly didn't work in her favor. His blue eyes were full of concern, but he didn't let go immediately.

"Easy, tiger."

Thea finally go a hold of herself and managed an embarrassed smile, "Sorry...sometimes I forget I can't just pop up."

He finally let go of her, but they still stood close, "I...just came by to bring you this..."

Rick handed her a .45 caliber handgun in a hip holster. Thea looked down and took it from him gently, "Thanks."

"I know you're going out today. Daryl's more than capable...but just in case you get in a sticky situation...do you have a knife, too?"

Thea nodded, "Yeah."

She actually had two. The hunting knife at her hip and the buck knife in her back pocket.

Rick looked down at the gun, then back up at her with a small smile pulling at his lips. It was then the butterflies returned and fluttered from her stomach and into her ribcage.

She liked his face...a lot. The stubble and hints of gray in his hair along with his bright, blue eyes. Thea felt her own face grow hot and the desire to turn and run bubble up inside her.

"Be safe out there today. Tell Daryl not to go too far out, it's just practice."

He smiled and turned to walk away. Thea nodded in agreement, "Will do..."


Daryl spent most of his morning getting the car ready for his and Thea's test run. Binoculars, guns, water. He was interested to see if Thea was as good as Aaron and Eric thought her to be.

When he was making his way to Thea's house, he saw her with Rick. His arms were around her like he was helping her back up...but the way she was looking at him made him think silently, "It figures."

He held himself back a bit, waiting for Rick to walk away. Once his friend had made his way to the sidewalk, Daryl picked up the pace.

Rick saw him and smiled, "Hey. I was just dropping off a gun for Thea. Do me a favor Daryl..."

Daryl nodded, "Okay."

"Keep an eye on Thea. Don't go too far out the first time."

He nodded again, "Ya got it."

By the time he got to her porch, she had buckled on the holster of the gun and looked at him and smiled. It wasn't the same look she had given Rick, but it was still warm and made him feel something he couldn't pin point.

"Hey there."

All Daryl could do was nod, "Hey. Ya ready?"

Thea shrugged, "As I'll ever be."

They walked down the street in silence and got in the car. Soon, Spencer opened the gate for them with a wave. They drove passed the pikes and the new sign that Rick had made for the Alexandria Safe-Zone.

Daryl turned to look at her and she was looking out of the window curiously. If he rolled the window down he was sure she would poke her head out and let the wind hit her face.

"Ya ain't been out in awhile?"

Thea shook her head and turned to look at him, "Only to help build the walls for the herd."

He wondered in the back of his mind, what it would be like if Thea looked at him the way she looked at Rick? Would it make him retreat? Or would he become more bold?

They came up to a grocery, some place they had scouted before...but he wanted to know her take. He pulled in to the parking lot and handed her the binoculars. She shook her head, "I don't need them. Not for this one. It only has two doors. That place is too big to only have two doors. If we were talking a gas station, it would be okay. But I bet you had trouble getting in and out of this one, didn't you?"

Daryl nodded, that he had. Luckily Aaron and Glenn had been with him, "What if we had gone through the roof? Dropped down?"

Thea shrugged, "Yeah, you could do that. But you are assuming the roof is solid...intact. I wouldn't send more than two people up at a time. Even then you'd have to have a pulley system to lift everything you wanted out."

Daryl looked at her closely, "And ya did that before, right? The pulleys?"

Thea nodded, "Yeah. I don't have a lot of strength. It helped me a lot."

"So ya wouldn't go in there?"

Thea shook her head, "Not without plenty of back up and plenty of planning. I'd try to find out as much as I could before going in all willy-nilly."

He almost laughed out loud at her terminology, but instead, he just nodded and drove a bit further down I-270. Thea sat in the passenger seat, her right elbow leaned near the window and her cheek rested against her balled up hand.

"So, uh, why don't ya talk about yer surgeries?"

Thea shrugged, and spoke plainly, "Do you like talking about your past?"

He shook his head, he did not. Daryl thought that perhaps she would tell him more after she had made him breakfast the other morning...but now he knew just how alike they were.

He now also knew how it felt when people tried to talk to him, and he wasn't nearly as pretty and nice as Thea was.

Daryl was broke from his reverie by the front right tire blowing out. As he stopped the car, he sighed heavily and Thea looked at him curiously, "Need my help?"

He shook his head, "Nah, I got it. Stay in the car, okay?"

Thea looked a little peeved, but relented. She obviously thought that Daryl didn't think she was capable, but that wasn't it at all...he just didn't want her to get spooked about going on runs. He actually wanted all of this to work out. Daryl Dixon wanted to know more about Thea, and the way he saw it...this was the best way to do it.

Besides. There wasn't Rick Grimes drawing her attention away.

Daryl felt awful about saying that about his best friend...someone who he considered a brother. As he got out of the car and pulled the patched is spare tire out of the trunk, he saw Thea roll down the window and hang her head outside to watch him.

"So...I hope I didn't come off like a raging bitch about my past..."

He removed what was left of the flat tire and shook his head, "I get it. No need ta apologize."

Thea rested her head on her arms, "I honestly don't know if I'll ever be able to talk about it. I went to a therapist at one point and there was no use. I clammed up...as always."

As he jacked up the car to put on the new tire, he felt bold, "So what happened with yer mom?"

Thea sat up a little, "She was young. Never really wanted to be a mother. Ran off. Probably drugs or something...or a man."

"My mom died. Fell asleep holdin' a cigarette. Dad did time in the state pen. He was as mean as a snake anyhow. My older brother took care of me when he came of age. Sometimes I think I woulda been better off in the system."

Thea's eyes softened a bit and she shrugged, "I don't know. It was rough. I ended up in foster care and group homes. It wasn't the best, and it wasn't the worst. I just knew I had to get out. Make my own way."

Daryl nodded and finished putting the tire on. As he lowered the jack, he heard something in the near distance...motorcycles.

He looked up to Thea and her eyes widened with worry, "Grab the guns. We need ta get to the trees."

Thea shook her head, "Daryl...I can't run."

He threw the tire tools into the back seat and opened the passenger side door and helped her out. She looked scared, and immediately, he felt guilty.

Daryl took her face in his hands and made her look at him, "We have ta get off the road. I can carry ya."

Thea's gray eyes studied his features for a moment and she nodded, "Ok...okay."

He turned around and allowed her to climb on his back, his arms linked around her legs and Thea held on to the guns. Daryl hustled the both of them out of the road and into the cover of the trees.


A/N: hello lovelies! Next up: Thea and Daryl try to make it back home. Some real romance in the next chapter, too.

You guys are great! Thank you all for the reads, the favorites, the follows and reviews :). You know how to make a fangirl feel loved :)!

Super special shout outs to: StrangersAngel (aw thanks! More Daryl next chappie!), Angie B (Kissyfaces next chapter...but with who?), CLTex (she and Rosita will be getting closer. I enjoy writing female friendships just as much as I love romance :), Inkaholic4u (lots more Daryl next chapter, too :), Rebornrose1992 (I feel the same way!), Angelicedg (perhaps, perhaps!), Jemstone6259 (I'm glad you enjoyed it! Hope you liked this chapter too!), TheFaceOfAlison (lol, the "other place" ;), and enchantmentanjel (here it is!)

Please let me know what you think :).

Love,

LeahP!

xoxo