Daryl felt his hair starting to stick to his skin and wiped the damp tresses from his vision. The sun had long since joined him on his hunt. He'd been out since before sunrise, not able to spend another minute behind the walls of Alexandria.

As soon as he stepped out through the gate he'd felt ten pounds lighter. Solitude had always felt like a second skin to him. Before, when it had been just him and Merle his days had been spent with a constant numbness. Now they were filled with all this noise. The irony of finding the post apocalyptic world too noisy was not lost on him but the fact remained all the same.

The forest was quiet except for the occasional rustling of leaves against the fading gusts of wind. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a sudden movement and he quickly stepped behind the nearest tree. Whatever it was it had moved to fast to be a walker and Daryl silently pulled the crossbow from behind his back. He listened intently but heard only silence. Crouching slightly, he started to make his way back in a large circle with his senses on high alert.

Soon he spotted a figure through the branches. He could tell it was a woman, but the bushes in front of him obstructed his view. Creeping closer he saw that the woman was crouching with her back towards him, seemingly intently focused on something on the ground in front of her.

Daryl took a deep breath and aimed his crossbow as he took two large strides towards the woman, loosing his cover. The leaves rustled below his feet and the woman jumped, instinctively reaching for her knife as she turned towards him.

Daryl cursed under his breath and lowered the crossbow instantly upon recognizing her.

'The hell are ya doing?' he demanded, his voice coming out almost like a growl. Yet when Ava's hazel eyes found his own her face broke into a warm smile.

'Daryl! You scared me half to death.' She laughed and got to her feet, brushing off dirt from her knees.

'Ya following me or somethin'?' he snarled, his annoyance undeterred by her smile.

Ava's brow furrowed at his words, her mouth opening slightly before closing again.

'What? No, I was just following these –' She started; gesturing to the footprints she had been crouching over a few seconds earlier, before stopping. Her mouth formed a small o, and her face fell slightly in realization as she viewed his muddy boots.

'Oh'

She turned back towards him with a sheepish grin, fingers scratching the back of her neck.

'How did you know I was here though?'

Daryl raised his brows; as if it was the dumbest question he had heard in a while. When he didn't answer she pressed him.

'Seriously, I made sure to not make a sound.'

'Don't matter how silent ya are if I can see ya from miles away.' He snapped and Ava took a step back, surprised at his anger.

'The hell were ya thinking anyway, who knows who could've spotted ya following their tracks. Next time ya might not be so lucky.'

Daryl glared at her. He couldn't tell why it bothered him so, her being out here alone. He'd managed to wipe the smile off her face but it didn't make him feel as he'd hoped. Now her jaw was set and there was a glimmer in her eye that made his stomach churn.

'Just what exactly is your problem Daryl?'

'My problem?'

You are my problem his mind added. He cursed under his breath. This woman was getting under his skin.

'My problem, earl grey, is people who don't know what the hell they're doing.'

He closed the gap between them in two large strides, brushing past her shoulder. He squatted down by his footprints and place two fingers down in the heel imprint before looking back at her.

'With a print as fresh as this one ya can still feel the mud being slightly colder than the rest of the ground, telling ya the print is so fresh that yer practically standing on top of whatever yer following. Which should've made ya keep a fucking eye on your surroundings instead of hunching down like some damn walker bait.'

'Can you teach me?' Her interrupting request caught him off guard as she lowered herself next to him to get a better look. He'd expected her to run the other direction after his speech, not coming closer.

He opened and closed his mouth before saying the first thing that came to his mind.

'Don't ya have a class to teach or something?' He tried to pass it off as a snarky remark but failed.

'I –' She hesitated. 'Deanna thought it best that I took the day off, considering what happened yesterday.'

She didn't look at him as she spoke and Daryl thought she looked so small in that moment that he suddenly felt the urge to reach out his hand out to cradle her face from the world. He brushed the feeling off as quickly as it had appeared, but couldn't shake the guilt he felt for her situation.

He rose to his feet, swinging the crossbow across his shoulders before turning to leave. The decision came to him before he had time to think any more of it.

'Fine.' He grumbled.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a huge smile returning to Ava's face as she rushed to her feet.

'But ya have to keep up, I ain't stopping if ya get tired.'

She nodded feverishly before falling in step behind him.

'So – considering what you said about the prints I'm guessing you didn't actually see me from miles away then, did you?'

He looked behind him to find Ava grinning at him.

'And no more talking' He grunted before casting one last annoyed look over his shoulder. Behind him he heard Ava let out a small chuckle but she did as he'd asked.

The next couple of hours went by in silence only broken by Daryl's short commands or explanations. He begrudgingly had to admit that she was a quick study. As the sun rose higher in the sky he could sense her growing tired but she didn't complain or fall behind. There seemed to be no game in the forest that day, and whatever tracks they stumbled upon proved to be too old to use.

After a while he stopped to take a sip of water and then handed the bottle to her. Daryl watched her as she tilted her head back to drink. The movement caused a drop of sweat to run down from the back of her head, down her neck and over her collarbone before it disappeared underneath the neckline of her shirt.

He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry and quickly averted his eyes.

'Thanks.' Ava held out the bottle to him, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. A strange sound escaped his lips but she didn't seem to notice.

They walked on for another hour or so before they stumbled upon a small creek shifting it's way through the forest. The sun stood high in the sky and Daryl wiped the sweaty tresses from his eyes yet again. Daring a glance at the girl next to him he found her mimicking him, dragging the back of her hand across her forehead. She stared longingly at the water but kept silent. When he made no sign to move she turned towards him, eyebrow raised in a silent question.

'Ya wanna stop here for a while?' He asked her, his voice sounding foreign to him all of a sudden. Her face erupted in a large grin before she hunched down to kick off her sneakers.

'I thought you'd never ask.' She laughed and made her way to the river's end, dropping herself unceremoniously to the ground and dipping her toes below the surface. She let out a soft sigh and leaned back on her hands while closing her eyes.

Daryl remained behind her, shifting his weight from foot to foot. The sun made the ripples in the water shine like small diamonds around her feet and in that moment she looked so peaceful he almost held his breath as to not disturb her.

Ava turned her head and opened one eye, squinting against the sun over her shoulder. She patted the ground next to her, inviting him to join her while turning her lips upwards in a half smile.

'Come on, I know you want to.'

She leaned further back once again dropping her weight to her elbows before closing her eyes against the sun while Daryl made his way to sit down next to her. After a moment's hesitation he quickly pulled of his boots, throwing them as far as he could behind them before dropping his own feet down in the stream. From the corner of his eye he could see Ava peer at him through lidded eyes with a smug smile tugging at her lips.

He scoffed slightly, looking down at his own dirty feet next to her small and pale ones. It was such an innocent thing to do yet it made him feel almost naked beside her. Stealing another glance at her he found that her face gave nothing away. It seemed unfair to him then that she should look so calm all the time.

After a while Ava shifted beside him, reaching her hands behind her and into the black fanny pack around her waist. She pulled out a protein bar and ripped open the wrapping before splitting the bar in two, handing one half to him.

He was about to refuse when his stomach betrayed him with a loud rumble and he grabbed it from her wordlessly.

'Thank you for this.' She said between bites. 'I really needed the distraction.'

'Didn't mean to get ya in trouble.' He muttered below his breath causing Ava's head to whip towards him.

'What? – No. No, it had nothing to do with you.' She shifted and sat up straight, turning slightly away from him.

She picked up a small stick next to her and started poking the water with it and remained silent for so long that Daryl thought their conversation was over before it had even begun.

'I – she hesitated, 'I had an attitude problem of sorts when I first came to Alexandria. I don't know whether it was PTSD from my time on the road or just the struggle of adjusting but anyway I kept lashing out aggressively and spiraling more and more out of control. By the end of it I'm sure I would've been banished if it wasn't for Aaron and Eric taking me under their wing.' She dropped the stick, her eyes following it as it made is way down the stream before getting stuck between two rocks.

'I was put on recruiting just so that the town wouldn't have to deal with me full time.' She chuckled without humor.

'That's why everybody looses their shit whenever I'm not smiling or happy. Like being angry in this fucked up world is what's so crazy.' He voice hardened and she threw a rock at the stuck stick with stiff movements failing to knock it loose.

'Yer not crazy.' Daryl muttered. She met his eyes briefly, her face softening slightly.

'It sure felt like it though. That made me even more angry, because it felt so unfair that when I had finally made it out through all the shit that I should loose it then and not before. And I felt like I owed it to those that hadn't made it to be happy, but I just couldn't you know?' She let the question hang in the air for a few seconds.

'I think I struggled most with the idea of making a permanent home in Alexandria because it meant giving up in a way. It meant accepting that I would never get back to my home and family. And I wasn't ready for that, not for a long while.'

Daryl kept his eyes down the stream, unsure of how to respond. He wondered what it was like to miss a family and home in that way. A part of him wanted to tell her that he liked her better now that he knew of her struggles, but he realized it would probably be the wrong thing to say.

'How Deanna managed to spin it so that I would teach the kids after I stopped recruiting is beyond me. She truly is a politician through and through I guess.' Ava laughed, clearly trying to lighten the mood again.

'Why did ya stop recruiting?' Daryl asked, unable to stop himself. The question had been lingering in his mind ever since he learned of her past job.

Ava's face fell slightly but she quickly recovered. 'That will have to be a story for another time.' She smiled and got to her feet, reaching a hand towards him to help him up, which he ignored.

'I've bored you too much already with my stupid confessionals I'm afraid.'

She leaned down to slip her sneakers back on and Daryl made his way over to his boots, realizing that the conversation was over. He looked up at the sun before turning to Ava.

'We should head back.'

She nodded and followed behind him through the woods. They fell into a comfortable silence for a while, only stopping a few times to handle a couple of rouge walkers that came too close to comfort.

Daryl kept mulling her words over in his head. If someone had told him that he would end up relating to a posh, oxford educated British lady he'd probably punch them in their face for mocking him, but then again he'd never expected to relate to a girl like Beth either. The walkers had flipped everything and deep down Daryl liked it. It made him feel so shameful that he would never admit it out loud.

He watched the petite figure walking in front of him, trying to picture her wild with rage. He'd seen enough to believe her capable of it but he still found it hard to imagine. Rage and anger were so familiar to him, and both such ugly features of his earlier life. And Ava's face was so perfect he struggled to picture it contorted in that way.

Soon they reached the walls of Alexandria and Daryl halted. Looking down at the gates the coil of grief in his stomach suddenly twisted as he thought of how happy Beth would've been there. Ava walked up beside him, her brow furrowed with questions.

Something came over him then and he felt a sudden urge to just say it out loud to someone, anyone.

'Ya know that thing ya said earlier, 'bout owing it to those who didn't make it to be happy?' He glanced sideways at her.

'How do ya do it?'

She offered him a soft smile and gently squeezed his upper arm in comfort. The action made him stiffen but he didn't pull away.

'I just try to get through one day at a time. And when that's too difficult I try to get through one hour at a time, and if that doesn't work I try to get through one minute at a time.' She said softly, her big eyes holding his gaze.

She gave his arm one last squeeze before turning to walk towards the gate and Daryl let out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding.

'Come on Daryl.' She called over her shoulder. 'Eric is making a going away dinner with the rabbits you brought and you should join us.' Her tone left no room for debate.

Kicking a small pebble across the road he found himself following her without any real objection. As he walked behind her up to Aaron and Eric's house he wished Carol weren't around to see him, since he knew he'd never hear the end of it from her if she did.

Aaron and Eric shared incredulous glances at each other as they watched the scene in front of them unfold. When Ava had come back with Daryl in tow behind her they'd been slightly surprised and their behavior towards each other now seemed drastically different from their first dinner together.

Aaron knew that Eric would pester Ava about it as soon as Daryl left and he knew that his boyfriend would get no answers from her. But something has certainly changed between the two even though they both seemed totally unaware of it.

Ava was gesturing wildly with her hands in excitement as she told a story from her time at the university, seemingly in a better mood than he had seen her in for quite a while, but what surprised him the most was the unwavering attention she got from Daryl who were hanging on to her every word and even drew his lips in half a smile on a couple of occasions. It would have gone by unnoticed by anyone else but Aaron saw it as clear as day.

He smiled as he took another bite of the rabbit stew Eric had prepared and thought to himself that it was the small moments like these that made this new world bearable.

A/N – Sorry for the huge delay everyone. I was just so underwhelmed by the way they wrote Daryl this last season that I really struggled with how to continue writing him in this story. I hope I've managed to stay somewhat true to the characters. Please let me know what you think, I really appreciate you guys taking your time to read my little story. Also if anybody else watches Skam you might notice the little easter egg I left in there.