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

Wallflower

By Leah Pensotti

Daryl had gone to Carol's and taken a shower there...she fed him and asked him about the run with Thea. He had never been good talking about stuff...especially not about women. Carol was the only person he knew that he could drop his exterior wall and be the slightest bit vulnerable with.

He sat at her table and Carol placed a cup of coffee in front of him, "Anything you want to talk about? You seem distracted."

Daryl shrugged, "Well...Thea found a bottle of wine. She asked me if I wanted to share it."

Carol sat across from him, a smirk on her face, "Oh really?"

Daryl nodded, "Yeah. Supposed ta go over there tonight."

She teased him warmly, "Do you need the birds and the bees talk?"

He chuckled lowly, "Somethin' like that I guess. I'm just...not sure what she wants."

Carol shrugged, "Maybe she just wants a friend. Or someone to drink with."

Daryl nodded, "Maybe."

"Want to take her a few more books?"

He spent the rest of his time with Carol, looking through her bookshelves. He didn't have the guts to say to his friend what he really thought about Thea; that he was interested in her but total shit at relating to most people. That he wanted her to look at him the way she looked at Rick. That he didn't want to get hurt if he put himself out there.

Daryl had spent his life being broken, being shut off...but now there was this stormy eyed girl that had his attention, and he thought she might be broken like him, too.

And he had no idea what to do with those feelings...the urges to pull her to him. He'd never really been in a relationship. There had been drunken trysts, mostly clothed and not that many. But Thea...she made him feel different...like he wanted to hold her hand and keep her safe.

Practically second grade emotions, but he had no idea how to process them.

After finding two books, he made his way to Thea's house, the sun finally descending and the sky was a sherbet-y orange. When he knocked on her door, Denise answered, a wry smile on her lips.

"Come on in, I was just headed out. Thea will be down in a minute. I got her to take an Epsom salt bath for her legs."

Daryl walked in and felt a little guilty that she was hurting because they had to walk all the way back to town, "She in a lot of pain?"

Denise shrugged and grabbed her tote bag from the kitchen island, "If she is, she isn't saying anything. Girl is as stubborn as they come...and even more independent."

He hung out by the sink, the books in his hands. Denise said goodbye and a few moments later, Thea came hobbling into the kitchen wearing striped pajama pants and a gray tank top. Her hair was down and she smiled when she saw him.

Daryl almost dropped the books.

"Hey. I'm glad you're here. Ready for some wine?"

He nodded quietly, recognizing a long incision scar along her spine that started from her neck and disappeared down the back of her shirt. She did have scars...and wondered if there were others.

She pulled the bottle out of the refrigerator and got out two wine glasses. After unscrewing the lid, she poured two of the pinkest glasses of wine he ever saw.

"I'm surprised you never ran into this when you were younger. It's pretty much the gold standard for cheap, underage drinking."

Thea walked a glass over to him and he noticed how gray her eyes were in that moment. He accepted the glass with a nod, their fingertips brushing softly. She looked down and saw the books, and immediately smiled.

"Did you bring those for me?"

He nodded, feeling a certain rush knowing that he prompted the smile on her lips. Daryl handed them to her and she turned them over, reading the back summaries. She looked up and smiled again, "Thank you, Daryl."

He nodded, he had the distinct urge to pull her to him, to feel every muscle in her body pressed against his.

Instead, he took a sip of the pink wine. It tasted like kool-aid and he could see why teenage girls would drink it. Thea waved him into the living room, and they sat on the couch together.

Daryl watched as she sipped the wine, her small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't get the words to form. Finally, he spit it out, "I'm sorry about today."

"None of it was your fault."

Daryl shook his head, "I shouldn't have taken ya out there."

Thea smiled, "I wanted to go. I want to help. Truth is...I liked being out there with you. I felt useful."

Daryl smiled, he liked hearing that, "Ya did...stay in the background for so long."

"I'm not too good around a lot of people. I have had a lot of time alone. Truth is...it wasn't til the town got smaller that I wanted to be noticed. I'm not content with being a Wallflower any more."


Thea was in trouble.

She kissed Rick on that same couch just hours earlier, and the pull to jump on Daryl Dixon now existed.

She had been curious about him for some time. And today out in the woods, she realized just how attracted she was to him.

And to Rick.

Thea felt like a total skank.

While she was overtly attracted to Rick and his masculinity...it was the gentle, brooding aspects of Daryl that got to her. Rick was talkative, made moves...was self assured enough to take what he wanted; almost literally in the case of Jessie Anderson.

Daryl was more like her. He was awkward and he made her look like a chatterbox by comparison. But she liked him...she liked his quiet strength, the thoughtfulness that he brought her books. She was sure that he felt it too...that they had emotional similarities, maybe even some scars to show.

Daryl nodded at her, "That scar...on yer back...how far does it go?"

Thea took a sip of liquid courage and inhaled, "Uh...to my tailbone. I have a matching one on my legs. I had to have a lot of corrective surgeries. Titanium rods and stuff."

Daryl nodded and Thea looked at her hands, "You got any scars?"

He sipped his own wine and nodded...she wondered if he did it for courage, too?

When her glass was empty, Thea went back into the kitchen for the bottle and walked back in. She refilled her glass and leaned over to top his off and when she did, he touched her neck lightly, his finger traced the scar.

She felt her eyes go wide with his touch. His fingers were rough, but gentle. Without speaking she sat up and backed closer to him, pulling her long hair to one side to let him see. His finger traced down her spine, over her clothes...all the way to her lower back.

Thea shut her eyes, the hair on her arms stood up at his touch. Soon she felt his breath on her shoulder as he leaned forward to get his wine glass.

"I still want to know who did this ta ya."

Thea shook her head, "I never said anyone did this."

Daryl took a sip of strawberry wine, "Ya didn't have ta. If it was an accident...something ya were born with...ya'd talk about it. But I know it was someone...'cause that's how I am, too."

Thea was struck by his words and felt her heart drop, "S-someone...hurt you?"

Daryl nodded, "Yeah. I don't talk about with no one. But for some reason...I feel like at some point...I could talk about it with ya."

Thea realized exactly why she was drawn to him. They were cut from the same cloth. She felt tears roll down her cheeks, knowing his secrets were so close to her own, "I'll show you mine...if you show me yours."

He smiled and wiped some of her tears away with the tip of his thumb, "Maybe soon. Ain't nobody here seen them. I'm not good at getting close to people. Besides, ya should probably buy me dinner first if yer wanting somethin' like that."

Daryl laughed lowly, and Thea smiled as he broke the tension, "I'll keep that in mind."


Daryl had come close to leaning in and kissing her. But he wasn't brave enough. Having her trust meant more at the moment.

He helped her dry her tears, though...and soon she put her legs in his lap, rolling up the leg of her pajama pants and showing him the scar that went from her ankle to her knee.

Like with the one on her back, he traced it with his finger, gently. He liked his skin close to hers.

Her scars were neat and streamlined. His were jagged and angry and raised. Daryl wanted to know who had hurt her and why. Why would anyone hurt someone so quiet and kind?

The best thing about the night though, is that she did look at him the way she had looked at Rick. Maybe it was curiosity, but she wanted to be near him and he was alright with that.

After her second glass of Strawberry Hill, Thea had moved closer to him, her body turned inward to his, "Daryl...?"

"Yeah?"

"I knew we were alike. I felt it."

He nodded; he had felt it, too. He knew then and there he'd protect her in any way possible. If she needed to run, he'd happily carry her.

And as for her proposition of showing him her scars if he showed her his...it took everything in his being not to peel the clothes from her skin and taking her in. There was in no way, not even covered in scars, that she wasn't beautiful.

He worried that he'd scare her, or be too rough. He hadn't wanted to be touched in some time. She was the first woman in years to arouse such a desire in him.

When they had finished off the bottle, Daryl decided it was time to go, he didn't want to push it too far too fast. Besides, Thea was a little bit drunk in an adorable sort of way.

When she walked him to the door, she leaned against the entrance way wall and caught his hand in hers.

He had never been much on hand holding. But he could find himself getting used to it with her. Thea smiled and offered, "I can make dinner tomorrow...if you'd want to talk again."

Daryl found the offer hard to pass up, "Alright."

She touched his face gently and smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Christ Almighty, he wanted to press her against that wall and kiss her deeply. Instead he just nodded and said goodnight, knowing that he needed to take it slow.

When he got back to Aaron and Eric's where he tended to crash when he was in town, he had a hell of a time trying to sleep. All he could think about was the look in her grey eyes.


Thea awoke the next morning on the couch, her head foggy from the wine. Normally, two glasses wouldn't phase her...but it had been a long time since she had drank like that.

She liked it when Daryl touched her. She remembered his fingers on her neck and back, tracing the scars. She also liked it when Rick kissed her...and she remembered that she was supposed to meet him at sunrise.

As she went upstairs to brush her teeth and wash her face and change into normal clothes...she thought about the dangerous path she was on.

Two men...who were best friends...who thrilled her in different ways. Rick was confident and handsome, while she and Daryl shared the same darkness and he had a roughness she liked.

It could easily explode in her face. It could easily tear them apart...assuming it wasn't a high school contest between them to see who could get in her pants first.

Neither of them struck her as being capable of being that way, though.

She had read too many bodice rippers and stories of betrayal. Someone like her, mousy and scarred would never be able to incite something dramatic between two friends...could she? She was hardly Helen of Troy.

Thea picked up a book and left the house and made it to the gazebo just before the sunrise. She got lost in her own thoughts about her feelings for both Daryl and Rick.

And before she knew it, Rick appeared in a denim shirt, his holster slung low at his hips. He walked surely towards her with a smile at his lips.

He was so handsome. It was hard not to get completely taken in. All Thea could do was smile dumbly as he sat beside her, he didn't even say hello, he just kissed her, taking her breath away.

When he pulled away he smiled and touched her cheek gently, "Been thinking about doing that since last night."

Thea suddenly felt herself get really shy, he was so forward. She looked down at her hands and he tipped her chin up to look at him, "Hey...you okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah...it's just...I'm thinking about things too much. I um...it's been awhile."

Rick shrugged, "Do you want to take it slower? I don't have a lot of time between the kids and the town...but we can try to spend a little more time together...if you want."

Thea smiled, "That could be nice. It's just...you're the leader and you're incredibly good-looking and I'm not much of anything and I'm still trying to figure all of this out."

Rick laughed at her rambling and covered her hands with his, "Thea...you are so much more than you think. You're brainy and mysterious...and pretty...not to mention tough. Yeah...I definitely think you're tough."

Thea smiled a little, not the appraisal of pretty, but him calling her tough. Rick smiled, "How about coffee...every morning...right here?"

She nodded, "Okay. I'll bring the coffee."

Thea was hoping to buy time to suss out her feelings for both Rick and Daryl, and hopefully without anything blowing up in her face...or either of theirs.


A/N: Hello loves! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I have to say I'm rather blown away by the amount of people who would be okay with Thea keeping them both or having a three-way. Which is sexy and challenging...we'd just have to figure out how to write it ;).

Please keep the favorites, follows and reviews coming! I love them all!

Super Special Shout Outs to: the two Guests, Angie B, Angelicedg, CLTex,enchantmentanjel, PsychoBeachGirl88, Em, BreenaBelle-xoxo, Hawkgirl and TheFaceOfAlison :) Thank you all you are lovely!

Thanks and Love,

Leah P!

xoxo

P.S. If any are you are staunchly team Daryl, I've started a story called "The Redhead and The Redneck"...it's set in a non-zombie world. I'd love it if you'd check it out!