Well, it's literally been four years since I last posted a Chapter on here. I'm really sorry to any of you guys who were waiting for a new chapter and following the story. Your feedback was amazing and really encouraging, for personal reasons I couldn't dedicate much time and my writing got neglected. Am feeling really passionately about picking the story up again I hope you guys like it. I will be posting my chapters regularly from now on. Thanks for all your feedback and encouragement...

Daryl handed out a beer to me and as I clasped my hand around it he didn't release his grip, giving it a slight tug so I looked up from the bottle and into his eyes which were crinkled with the smirk spread across his face. I grinned back and yanked it out of his grip before turning away from him and sitting down at the table. He closed the fridge door and came to join me and after all the fraught activity of the past few hours I realised suddenly that I was hungry.

"You got anything to eat in this man cave?" I asked him playfully and he returned the question with a grin.

"Sure," he replied getting up out of his seat with his eyes still locked on mine. "Let me know what would please you and I'll whip it up".

Every syllable we uttered now felt loaded with suggestion and desire. I could feel my chest aching with need for him but I was conscious that Merle would eventually return and I had no idea when that would be.

"Hmmm some pancakes would be just fine," I replied. "That's if, you know, you can cook?" I said with irony as I twirled the beer bottle in my hand.

Daryl bowed towards me with his arms outstretched as he moved towards the fridge once again without replying but merely smirking at me as he reached in and grabbed some eggs. I really didn't know what to expect but it seemed that he knew what he was doing. I chuckled to myself as I watched him manoeuvre around the kitchen and got up out of my seat to release the tension I could feel rising inside me. I stood and looked out the window, there was a lamp spreading a warm orange glow over the contents in the front yard. It wasn't very bright but I could make out the various disorganised array of blocks of wood and motorcycle parts strewn across the rough looking grass. I turned around and was surprised to find Daryl staring at me from the other side of the room. I put down my bottle on the counter behind me and faced him, placing my hands up behind me on the counter, staring back. The table was between us.

Dear Lord, I couldn't believe the intensity of my desire from just looking at him. His face and his arms were grubby like he hadn't showered for days and had been labouring. His skin was weathered by the sun and dark enough to suggest he spent most of his days outdoors. He was so beautiful, so feral, a wild kind of beauty he almost felt off limits to me. I had spent years dating preppy high school guys who never satisfied me. I did it because it was expected of me, who would imagine that Daryl Dixon, one of the wild mountain brothers who probably didn't even graduate would be someone who made me much happier. I was preppy myself in everyone's eyes. I remembered Merle's words about him wanting me for years and I suddenly felt a sadness that we had circled around each other for so long without really getting to know one another. What an awful waste of time it had all been, why hadn't I just followed my instincts and my own mind instead of constantly trying to please others?

I remembered a time when my Dad had asked him to help out fixing the roof and he had been there for days either up on the roof mending or stood on the grass behind the house sorting tools or taking cold drinks gratefully from my mother. I had spent most of that time in my room or at school without really interacting with him at all. I had watched him quite a few times from my window when he was out in the garden; his body was sweating in the heat and I remember finding pleasure just looking at his deft movements. His hair flopped into his eyes as he bent over and examined various things and I remember one day as I was watching him do just that he swiftly and unexpectedly looked up towards my room and straight into my eyes. He had a hunter like instinct about him and I remember feeling a frisson of excitement and fear run through me as we held each others gaze for a mere instant. My Dad must have called him and he pulled his eyes away from mine and went to meet him.

On a different day Johnny had come over to try and persuade me to go with him to some dumb party of Connie's on a night I needed to be studying. I was arguing with him about it in my room and the sounds of our raised voices must have travelled down to the garden outside where Daryl was. There was no one else in the house that day. In my anger I moved away from Johnny, down the stairs and into the kitchen to get away from him but of course he followed me there and we continued our shouting without realising the back door was wide open. At a break in the argument I glanced across to see Daryl glaring with murderous intent towards Johnny and I faltered because the look in his eyes was so destabilising. I was also embarrassed by how much he would have heard. I suddenly came back to my senses and turned my gaze back to Johnny who was staring incredulously with his mouth open.

"Oh I see you'd rather be here with Dixon?" He spat and I turned purple.

"Get the fuck out Johnny! Get out!" I screamed and when he didn't move I looked at Daryl who had just dropped the hammer in his hand to the ground and looked as if ready to come charging inside and grab Johnny by the throat. Johnny caught the look in his eye and the intent in his movement and hastily left with me stood in the kitchen ready to burst with humiliation. I looked at Daryl with tears in my eyes and he made as if almost to walk towards me, his expression had softened and his eyes were brimming with concern but he seemed to think twice about what he was doing and awkwardly turned away from me and picked up his hammer. I swiftly went back to my room and that was the last we saw of each other before that night after the bar when I stumbled across him in the woods.

I wanted to ask him so much about the past and how things were for him, how he used to see me and I wanted to tell him all about how I used to see him. I wanted to know what he thought and felt that day. Now we were here, locked in this place together in this horrific situation and I wasn't sure how it would play out but I knew I wanted to be near him for as long as I could.

"When's your brother coming back?" I asked him and his eyes left mine as he glanced out the window.

"Won't be long now, the gas station aint too far from here" he said sounding slightly irritated by that realisation before looking back at me with his eyes almost flashing in the dim light before turning back to the stove.

"Do you have a bed for me here?" I said as I lowered myself back down into a seat. My nerves got the better of me slightly, just mentioning that word loaded the question with suggestion and my voice quavered.

"Sure," he replied, craning his head towards me and pursing his lips with amusement.

I swiftly lifted the beer bottle to my lips and drank to break the tension. I couldn't hold his intense gaze in mine it felt too much. Something was going to have to give between us soon the atmosphere was electric it was almost as if everything was in darkness around us and there was this burning glow between our two bodies.

"There's a spare room upstairs, this is a pretty big house I'll set you up in there with some clean sheets. I aint got no nightdress for you to wear though", he said as he walked towards the table and loudly brought down a bottle of syrup to it's surface directly in front of me. I jumped slightly and looked up at him, his expression was delicious. Just as I looked back up at him the sound of Merle's bike could be heard coming up the dirt track to the house. Daryl looked up through the window with his hand still on the bottle of syrup and frowned before moving back to the pancakes bubbling in the frying pan. I shifted nervously in my chair not knowing quite what to expect from Merle after our encounter earlier. I also longed to be alone with Daryl with no interruptions and wondered when that would be now we were in this house with his brother.

After listening with nervous anticipation to Merle turning off his engine and arranging his bike along the side of the house he eventually burst through the door to the kitchen just as Daryl was bringing over two plates with a stack of pancakes to the table.

"Woooo! Been cooking up a storm in here brother? Smells delish," he said as he lifted his eyebrows and glanced over at me.

"There's more mix on the side," Daryl replied finishing the last dregs of his beer and moving to the fridge to grab two more, one of which he threw to Merle who deftly caught it in one hand before bringing the lid crashing down accurately on the side of the counter which caused it to go flying off the top and the foaming beer to come spilling out. He made a satisfied gasp and began to drink heavily from the bottle.

"I'll leave you two alone for now", he purred, holding his hands up and moving towards the next room. "But me and you little bro, we need to have a talk after you've gotten your fill", he said looking up at me with his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth and a leering smile spread across his face.

I watched Daryl roll his eyes and couldn't help but stifle a grin as I pulled the pancakes towards me and began to eat. Merle left the room and the sound of him throwing himself heavily into a chair and switching a TV on reached our ears. We ate in silence, occasionally glancing up at each other and catching each other's eyes as we did so. I was forcing the food down me because the knot in my stomach had stifled any appetite I had felt earlier but I knew I needed to eat something, it had been a long day and who knows what tomorrow was going to bring.

After we finished, Daryl threw the plates into a sink and I offered to wash them up.

"I'll get that bed sorted for you", he said sounding almost coy as he moved away nervously, stuffing his hands into his pockets. I watched him move away up the stairs that led off from the kitchen and felt my stomach squirm nervously. I regretted eating those pancakes because they churned uneasily as I washed up the plates and frying pan.

He eventually returned and I turned towards him and followed him up the stairs. The corridor leading to the bedrooms was dusty but he opened a small back room which was a surprisingly warm and inviting place. There was a lamp on in the corner of the room which cast a homely glow on a double bed which was covered with a crocheted spread over it. The walls were all wooden like the rest of the house and apart from the small table the lamp was sitting on and a large green rug at the foot of the bed, the rest of the room was bare. I thought the lamp and the rug were unusually thoughtful touches for the two Dixon brothers and as if reading my mind Daryl explained they were added touches from one of Merle's old girlfriends. I was almost relieved to hear this after considering that it might have been one of Daryl's ex-girlfriends who might have done this. I was faintly jealous at that thought.

I looked up at Daryl and he was stood right behind me with his arm up on the lintel of the door above him looking down at me.

"You make yourself at home girl, I need to go talk to Merle for a while", he said glancing down at my lips. I felt as if they were almost going to catch fire underneath his gaze and my whole mind and body were crying out for his lips to press back against them. Instead he lifted up his hand, placing it on my cheek and brushed his thumb across my lower lip.

"I can't kiss you, I won't want to leave," he said without smirking this time but with a serious look on his face.

I raised my hand up to his and caressed it, moving my cheek closer into his palm. His eyes shone in the light of the lamp and a smile broke out across his face. I returned the smile and moved back into the room.

"We'll talk later Daryl Dixon", I said softly as I watched him close the door slowly.

"I'll be back girl," he replied smiling as he closed the door behind him.