As The Sun Sets

Daryl didn't mean to, but he kept catching himself thinking of her all strawberry smell of her hair from her shampoo, the soft curve ofher hips, the way her blue eyes sparkled in that early morning sun.

He seemed to be stuck on her.

And he had no idea why.

He had noticed her of course the day her and the younger blonde arrived.

Her attitude and ease drew him in as he watched her chatter away to the group, laughing and fitting in as if SHE had been their from the beginning, not him.

He caught himself staring off into the distance numerous times, then realizing it wasn't a random distance. It was her. Joking around with her sister or pulling her mess of blonde waves to the top of her head into a bun. She was a classic southern belle beauty, small and beautifulwith tanned skin, big blue eyes, and a mess of blonde hair.

She was the type of girl that wouldn't have stared in his direction inbefore all this.

Not that it mattered. He had had his own pack of bar bunnies. And theywere the type you could take home, and send away right after.

Girls like Ellie weren't quick fucks. They were the ones who wanted nice dinners, flowers, and attention.

And Daryl had never dared let himself that close to someone.

He couldn't shake how he felt watching her when he came back, after they briefed the group and went their separate ways. Dinner had been a happy affair that he watched from his place atop the RV, crowssbow onlap. He watched as Ellie threw her head back, laughing as if someone had told the best joke she had ever heard. He watched the campfire light her hair up, the light dancing acrossed her cheeks.

But then she noticed him, and with two bowls in hand, made her way towards him. He sat frozen in place, like a deer in head lights.

"Hey!Are you going to help me or what!" He heard her soft voice callout, and with a sigh he stood up, walking over to lean over the edge.

"Whatthe hell do ya' want?" He grunted down at her, but all she did was raise up her hand with a bowl of soup in it. Crouching down the hunter grabbed it from her and watched her clamber up the remaining steps. He stepped back once she went to pull her self up with her free hand, and went back to take his seat, replacing his crossbow onhis lap.

The food smelled like shit, but boy did it taste like heaven after the two little protein bars and the apple he snagged from the tree next to the barn.

They finished their food in silence.

But it was to good to last, because Daryl could see Ellie twitching,ready to start blabbing on about something or another.

He tried to ignore her, but the tapping of her boot against the aluminum roof of the rv was almost to much for him to handle. "What you got to say, girl?"

"What do you think of Shane?" Ellie began slowly, uncertain on what the archers reaction would be. If he liked Shane she was certain he wouldn't take kindly to her own opinions on him, so she paused, gauging his reaction.

He grunted, his eyes slowly scanning acrossed the farm. Checking for walkers or maybe just for any stragglers who might wander by and listen in. "I aint a fan." Was all he said.

Ellie gave a sigh of relief, her shoulders visibly relaxing.

"Thank god. I thought it was just me."

Daryl glanced over at her quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice. Had he done anything to her? His stomach was beginning to twist and turn.

"When I was leaving your tent this morning, he came up to me. Put his hand on his gun and promised that he would keep an eye on me and Gertie. He was trying to intimidate me." She shivered, not from the cold but from the fact that the thought of that man watching her was nerve wracking.

"That son of a bitch." Daryl growled out before he could stop himself. He wanted to punch him. Hard. To break that already crooked nose and draw blood. And he didnt even know why.

"I know that the dead are literally walking around eating people, but he somehow manages to be worse." Ellie mumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.

The archers hands clenched down on the crossbow laying atop his lap, his stomach still rolling. Why should he care? They weren't his problem.

But deeper inside, he knew they were. The moment he saved her was the moment he knew he was going to keep looking out for her. That was who he was, even if he didn't want to be that person. He was doing it for Sophia, and he was going to do it for Ellie and Gertie as well.

"Stay away from him. Somethin' isn't right with him." Daryl grumbled, eyes focusing on the fields yet again.

Things were quite between them again, Ellie slowly tracing the indents and rivets of the RV with her pointer finger.

"Can we share your tent? I feel safer there." Ellie asked boldy.

"Hell no!" The hunter scoffed, face scrunched up at the audacity of her even asking.

XxXxXx

Two hours later, Ellie's and Gerty's bags were repacked and laying on his tents floor, their own tent torn down and shoved sloppily into its bag. Dixon was still not a hundred percent sure how this even ended up happening maybe because she played the Shane card, but he sighed, sliding his boots off as he watched the two girls laugh loudly, trying to get the blankets on their side of the tent nice and comfortable.

He didn't want to admit it, but it was probably the protectiveness he somehow deeply fostered for these girls. They had wormed their way in, and he had no clue how he was going to get them out.

Eventually the two girls settled down and laid on their blankets, Gerty falling asleep quickly. She had had a long day of running around with Carl, playing and laughing right in Lori and Carol's view. It must be so free being so young and carefree.

Daryl was still awake late into the night, not accustomed to the sound of two other people breathing around him, so he just stared straight up to the fabric cloth of the tent roof. He had never had anyone so interested him. In just being close to him. He had never had anyone so willingly trust him right off the bat. Hell, half the group still couldn't stand him, and he'd been with them since day one. When they had all since the two sisters transferring their items a few hours before they had stared at them if they were nuts. Hell Andrea had asked if they were okay, eyeing Daryl allthewhile, as if he had a gun to their heads, making him do it.

"Daryl?" Came a soft whisper from the other side of the tent, and then a soft rustle of fabric as the older blonde sat up. "Daryl, are you awake?" she whispered again.

"Yeah?" He whispered back gruffly.

"Did you hear that? Someone's out there."

Daryl sat up quickly, and shoved on his boots, not bothering to lace them back up. He snatched up his crossbow and quivers, and unzipped the tent flap. The light from the moon shined brightly down, showing that he was still wearing his outfit from earlier. He didn't see much point in changing seeing as the Walkers didn't have a time frame on when they could and couldn't attack.

Ellie quickly crawled over the curled, and still sleeping, form of Gerty, wishing she too slept in her clothes from earlier. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep in her dirt covered clothes from earlier. So here she was, decked in short black cotton shorts and light grey t-shirt. She hadn't even had the foresight to put shoes on, so here she was, standing in the soft breeze that shook the grass in the fields gently, barely dressed and right behind the hunter.

His eyes were darting everywhere, looking for the source of the noise, but Ellie noticed it before him, making a low squeak and pointing frantically in the direction of a soft fast light, flicking slowly behind the doors of the shed the horses were kept.

It was nearly 3 A.M. The tents were quite and the house lights were dark. Everyone was sound asleep, peacefully in their beds.

So, slowly, the duo made their way towards the shed, their feet light and making no noise.

When the reached the shed, Daryl placed his arm on her shoulder, motioning for her to stay quite, and then clutched his knife in his hand, ready to strike any lurkers behind the door. And then suddenly, he kicked the door open, a loud squeak breaking lose as they revealed a breathless Glenn, shirt on the ground and pants unbuttoned, with a frantic Maggie, quickly trying to pull the front of her shirt closed. She seemed to give up and give him a solid shove away from her.

Ellie let out a loud startled laugh, before quickly clamping her hand over her mouth. She didn't want to draw any attention to their group.

"Couldn't ya'll do that shit somewhere else?" Daryl snapped, lowering his knife and sliding it back into its holster.

Glenn, who's face was on fire, frantically pulled his shirt over his head. "W-Where? Your tent, like you guys?" He stammered out, obviously embarrassed. Maggie, done buttoning her shirt, said his name sharply to reprimand him.

Now Daryl's face was afire, and he took a unconscious step away from Ellie. "Ya know it ain't like that!" He snarled back. "Not with her!"

Ellie's heart gave a pang, and she wondered why. She didn't feel anyway certain way about him, besides the fact that she trusted him. Maybe it was just the feeling of rejection, but she scolded herself upon that thought. The dead was literally walking. Boy drama was the least of her worries.

Not that she cared about it opinions anyway.

Okay, maybe she did, a little.

"Well, I'm going to go back to the house before Daddy starts wondering where I'm at." Maggie excused herself, heading back towards the house as quickly as possible

Glenn grumbled something incoherent, heading off towards the Rv. Dale, who had been conveniently looking away the entire time turned and saw Glenn's approach. He said something to him, and Glenn responded, slowly climbing up the ladder to join him.

And that left two.

"Come'on. Lets get back. You aint dressed to be out here wandering." Daryl said nodding to in the direction of the tent she was crashing in. He hadn't noticed what she was wearing until just then, and he swallowed hard.

Sure, he'd seen beautiful women before, but he'd never been this close, or sharing a tent with one. Not that it was ever going to lead to anything. He'd just promised to protect her, that was all. He made a promise and he was going to keep it.

He was having a hard time convincing himself.

Here she was, standing with tan legs shining in the light, messy blonde hair blowing in the soft breeze. He could smell the soft scent of her rose shampoo, and he wanted to grab a fist full of her hair and press it to his nose, breathing it in deeply.

"Yeah." She said, uncharacteristically quite. "I'm done with today."

The hunter cleared his throat, unsure what to do. "You okay?" He flinched at the question. That wasn't a common characteristic of him, he, Daryl Dixon, didn't care what she was thinking about. Merle would be turning over in his grave. Hell, if Merle was here, he'd be mocking him to his face.

Her blue eyes shot up to his and back down.

"I'm just tired. Tired of always being on edge."

He shifted uncomfortably, and Ellie saw. She gave him a light smile. "Lets just go back to the tent? Gertrude's waiting." And then she led the way, weaving through the tent to their own, not noticing the figure watching them from the distance. Instead, she crawled into the tent, covered herself up, and turned away from the hunter.

Listening softly, Ellie heard him push off his boots and lay on his own pile of blankets. He let out a long sigh. This was going to be hard.