Another beast of a chapter (although it was a lot of fun to write!). I'll be coming back to pick up typos etc over the next couple of days, so please forgive those in the meantime.

Chapter 30 - Spring funfair

The belly of winter descended around them, the nights long, the days short, sliding by quiet and unhurried.

Daryl spent longer hours at work – not just to extract all the knowledge he could from Axel before the handover, but also because he was going to miss having this father-figure around; he went to his classes and battled his way through the content and the assignments with the (sometimes overbearing) help of Merle; and when time permitted, he took Tahlia to the shooting range to teach her how to use a gun.

Although he stayed half the week at the apartment, he didn't see her as much as he'd like – she made sure to keep busy, tire herself out, as was her way when she had a lot on her mind – work occupied most of her hours, but she upped her time spent at the dojo, practiced more with her katana, dedicated energy to getting stronger.

Fridays were at Fox's; weekends were coffee shops and movie nights; daytrip drives to nowhere; walks around the lake – wholesome as hell and painfully platonic.

The rest of January passed in that way, muted and unremarkable, most of February, too - not just for them, but for all their friends, as well - which was why, when the opening night of the annual Spring Funfair rolled around (technically it wasn't quite spring yet, but no one was complaining) a wave of excitement washed through their group because finally there was something to look forward to and break the monotony of the past winter's month.

So, on a crisp and clear Thursday evening, Daryl, Tahlia, Andrea and Merle made their way to meet the rest of their crew at the fair.

Daryl's business settlement was set to be finalized the next morning and despite an undercurrent of apprehension, overall, he was feeling pretty good – everything was in order, and he was about as prepared as he could be – and acting like a kid for a night at a carnival seemed a fitting thing to do before he was locked in to a shitload of responsibility in the morning.

The silhouette of the fair grew luminous against the backdrop of the scorched orange sky as they neared, multicolored lights dazzling and flashing, the atmosphere building, alive and electric. The smell of spun sugar, deep frier oil and burning gunpowder swirled through the air, overlaid with the age-old sound of jaunty carnival tunes, delighted screams and laughter.

Passing through the entry gates, Daryl aimed a side punch at Merle's shoulder. "Hey, remember when I was little and you took me to that carnival?"

Face lighting up, Merle laughed. "Shit, that's right! You coulda only been, what? Five or six?" He looked at Andrea and Tahlia to elaborate. "This travellin' show came through town. Daryl was desperate to go, so on the last night I took him along. It was so shit, the rides were real old, everythin' was just kinda scummy, but he thought it was the best thing he'd ever seen."

"Yeah." agreed Daryl with a fond smile. "Thought it was fuckin' magic. Never seen anythin' like it."

"Couldn't keep him away from the Ferris Wheel. He just wanted to watch it goin' round and round all night."

"We had no money, but Merle had stolen some of ma's cigarettes and he hung out by the toilets and sold 'em one by one to any kids that'd buy until we had enough to go on the ride."

"Had to hide from a couple of pissed off parents," chortled Merle, then gritted his teeth and affected a high-pitched tone, "But it was worth it to see this little asshole's face as we were spinnin' round on that big wheel!"

He ruffled Daryl's hair until he copped a fist in the gut, and they wrestled for a few moments until Daryl finally shoved Merle away and flicked his hair back from his forehead with a grin.

"Was awesome. He stole me a stick of cotton candy, too. Hands down, best day of my childhood."

"Aw, Merley, you thieving little delinquent!" simpered Andrea, giving him a squeeze. "That's the sweetest story I've ever heard."

"You guys are too cute." remarked Tahlia, then with a teasing twinkle in her eye, she reached up to pinch Daryl's cheek. "I can just imagine you running around all small and snot-nosed and excited."

In an instant he'd grabbed her hand and spun her around as he twisted it behind her back, securing her against him with his other arm around her waist. Dropping his face to the crook of her neck, he sniffed loudly, rubbing his nose on her shoulder.

"You callin' me snot-nosed?" He did it again, making Tahlia giggle and squirm. "That what you're callin' me?"

"Security!" came a loud shout. "Some wasted bum's terrorizing the ladies!"

Looking up, Daryl saw a grinning Dwight who was approaching with everyone else in tow, and he released Tahlia, giving her a quick pinch on the back of her arm making her swear colorfully and elbow him in the stomach, and he laughed before jerking a thumb at her.

"Shit, naw, this ain't no lady."

Then Merle pointed at Dwight with a smirk. "Ooh better watch it, D-bag. That's your big boss you're mouthin' off to!"

"Not 'til tomorrow morning, he ain't!" retorted Dwight as he gave Daryl a playful push in greeting, then checked his watch. "Got… hmm… like, 14 hours to talk shit to him."

"Have at it." goaded Daryl, feeling a strange combination of imposter syndrome and pride at the thought of being a boss. "Gonna fire your ass in 14 hours anyways."

"I wouldn't blame you." quipped Sherry as she squeezed Daryl in a brief hug, then smiled sincerely. "You're gonna be great."

Cheeks warming, Daryl ducked his head as he turned to greet the rest of their friends, hardly even minding when Amber tucked her arm through his and kept hold of him as they all made their way to the ticket booth to buy tickets to spend at the otherwise cashless fair.

Amber still constantly flirted with him, sidled up to him whenever she could get the chance, and though Daryl remained impassive and did his best to extract himself at the first opportunity, he didn't bother actively discouraging it because he felt a little bad for her – probably wasn't easy being into someone who was obviously into someone else. Because it must be obvious by now - he was nearly always within a stone's throw of Tahlia; God, he lived with her half the time now, too. Not that any of their friends had made a single suggestive comment about their closeness. It was like they'd all just accepted the situation as it was and whatever Daryl and Tahlia were doing or not doing wasn't a topic for discussion. Hell, even Merle had kept his thoughts to himself on the matter since dropping that L-bomb on Daryl – though Daryl was still half-certain that Merle was just lulling him into a false sense of security and any day now would joyfully and publicly spill Daryl's secret.

Only half-listening as Amber related a story about an inappropriately flirtatious client at the spa, Daryl managed to extricate himself from her grip as they reached the front of the ticket booth line, then, quickly exchanging some cash for a string of tickets, muttered something unintelligible and darted off to where Tahlia was watching Merle and Justin goofing off with the mallet at the Hi Striker game.

If Tahlia had any thoughts about Amber hanging off his arm, she didn't voice them.

There had been one night about a month ago, back that same weekend when Daryl had decided Tahlia needed time, that they'd been to a boozy dinner at Frankie and Justin's new place where Amber had been all wined-up and latched on to Daryl for a decent portion of the night. Afterwards, when Daryl and Tahlia were heading back to the apartment, Tahlia had casually commented that if there were other people he'd rather be going home with and other things he'd rather be doing, then he should absolutely do those people and things (he'd swatted her for wording it like that) and he shouldn't worry about going home with her, she would call her backup babysitter (he'd swatted her for that, too) and then, still chagrined about the terrible decision he'd made with Amber several moons ago, he dismissively shrugged off her implication and quickly changed the subject. Tahlia didn't mention Amber or anyone else in that context again.

Tonight was no different, she just tugged his sleeve excitedly and pointed to the nearby Laughing Clowns game. "I need one of those giant teddy bears! I'm going to win one."

Daryl looked over to the massive stuffed toys jammed on the top shelf of prizes behind the rotating clown heads. "Can't try for that now. Even if by some miracle you won -" He laughed as he blocked an indignant jab from Tahlia and pointedly repeated, "Even if by some miracle you won, you'd just have to carry it round all night. We'll come back later."

"But what if they're all gone?"

"They won't be. Game's too hard." Then he nudged her and loftily clarified, "For regular folk like you, I mean. Not for me."

Tahlia gave him a withering look. "Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"You think you're so awesome, huh?"

A cheeky grin spread on Daryl's face. "Know I am."

"Fine." Tahlia pointed to the game opposite. "I challenge you to the shooting gallery."

Daryl raised his brows in disbelief. "You really wanna do that?"

"Yes. I do." retorted Tahlia adamantly.

"I'm a hunter, remember?" he said as he tailed her to the game.

"Oh, so you're scared that you'll get beaten by this novice?"

"I seen you shoot." scoffed Daryl. "And I ain't scared at all."

Handing over a string of tickets to the game attendant and taking the proffered rifles, she passed one to Daryl.

"You're going to be eating those words real soon, mister." she remarked airily, confidently aiming her gun at the rows of metal ducks.

Three rounds later – of which, Tahlia had managed to down around half of the targets, and Daryl, annoyingly, predictably, had hit every single damned one with minimal effort - she studied her gun for a second before laying it on the counter.

"I think the sight was off."

"Oh yeah, the gun was the problem." teased Daryl as he accepted the big stuffed bear he'd chosen as his prize, promptly handing it over to a tiny girl who was peeking shyly up at him from behind her mom's legs.

The child squeezed the toy and squealed in excitement, the mother thanking Daryl gratefully as Tahlia caught his arm and dragged him back from the stall.

"Did you just give my fucking bear away?!" she hissed, hands on her hips.

"What did I tell ya before? Ain't carryin' one of them stupid things around all night. Get another later on. Anyway," he inclined his chin. "Was my fuckin' bear. Coz I kicked your ass."

Tahlia rolled her eyes. "You were marginally better than me."

"How much better?" goaded Daryl, jabbing her in the ribs.

"I mean, the difference was barely noticeable." Tahlia maintained, trying to keep a straight face.

"How much?"

Holding her hand up in front of her face, Tahlia pressed her thumb and forefinger together, then squinted as she opened them slightly and made a tiny gap. "This much. If that."

Then she squealed as Daryl suddenly grabbed her in a bearhug from behind and started tickling her.

"That it?" he demanded, his mouth against the back of her neck. "You'd better eat them words and tell me the truth."

Daryl's grip was a vice and his tickling was relentless and Tahlia could barely breathe for laughing.

"Ok!" she gasped. "Ok! You're the best! The champion! The greatest hunter that ever lived!"

"Yeah. That's better." he said smugly, easing up, then quietly conceded in her ear, "You're gettin' pretty good already, y'know. Won't be long 'til you're kickin' my ass."

Then a handful of kettle corn pelted them, and they looked up to see Tanya a few feet away smiling curiously at them. "Hey. We're gonna go through the House of Mirrors. Come on."

Releasing Tahlia, Daryl elbowed her. "Wanna go?" Then he noticed the cloud of apprehension in her eyes. "You been in a House of Mirrors before?"

Glancing up at him, she shook her head. "No, but I just…"

"Ain't scary." he assured her. "Just full of mirrors that make ya look weird. Might disorient you a little, but it ain't dark or nothin'."

With every passing day, Daryl had seen Tahlia brightening, calming, little by little. She was less jumpy, less wary, and that haunted look had faded from her eyes, the happy sparkle returning in its place. She'd even requested to stay at the apartment on her own a few times over the past couple of weeks. Time, routine, secure friendships and support had done wonders for her.

Sure, there were moments like this when she'd hesitate – enclosed, unfamiliar spaces still made her nervous – but for the most part, she was good. So good, in fact, that lately Daryl had been thinking that yeah, this was it, now. The timing was right. All he had to do was pick a moment.

He offered her his hand. "C'mon. I'll keep hold of ya."

After the House of Mirrors – which, Daryl was right, hadn't been scary at all – they wandered deeper into the fairgrounds towards the bigger rides. The group had spread out as people got caught up at different stalls, and up ahead, Merle turned around and grinned at Daryl.

"There's the Ferris Wheel. Let's go on it. Old times' sake."

"Looks a lot smaller this time around!" called Daryl as he followed after Merle and Andrea.

As they joined the queue, Tahlia pointed to a nearby stall that was selling crystals and stones.

"I'll just wait for you over there."

"You ain't comin' on the ride?" asked Daryl as she started to walk off.

"No way!" she exclaimed over her shoulder as she pointed to the apex of the Ferris Wheel. "You seen how high that thing is?"

"She's terrified of heights." supplied Andrea from Merle's side. "You'll never get her on anything like this. So, tomorrow's D-day! The big takeover! How are you feeling?"

With a grunt, Daryl rubbed his hand over his forehead. "Dunno if I'm ever gonna feel ready."

"Nothin' to be ready for." Merle assured him. "You're just gonna turn up same as every other day and keep the place tickin' over, same as every other day. Gonna be just fine, baby bro."

Daryl's lips quirked in a shy smile, fuzzy warmth inside from Merle's easy confidence in him.

Then the sound of Amber's voice had him turning his head.

"Ooh, you guys going on this one?" she asked as she sauntered up to them, then turned to Frankie and Tanya who were just behind her. "Keen, girls?"

"Later." replied Frankie. "Let's pee first. I'm busting."

Amber focused back on Daryl. "You're supposed to ride the Ferris Wheel in pairs. You don't have anyone to buddy up with?"

Eyes widening, Daryl shifted uncomfortably. "Uh…"

"He's good on his own." stated Merle flatly, tired of Amber's unwavering interest in his brother.

"We can't have you going on a ride by yourself!" exclaimed Amber, pressing a hand to her chest. "Where's the fun in that? I'll come with you."

Daryl gave a quick shake of his head. "Actually…"

But Amber moved in next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder as she turned on a coquettish smile. "Trust me, I can make it real exciting." Then she looked back to her friends. "You guys go, I'll catch you up."

Just then, Tahlia appeared between Frankie and Tanya. "What's crackin' ladies?"

They grinned at her, and Frankie nudged her side. "We're on our way to the port-a-loos. Care to join?"

"Ooh, you know I do love me a good toilet stop, but I'm going to pass on this one. I want to get my fortune told." She looked around the group. "On that, I'm short five tickets for the tarot card lady. Can anyone spot me five, and I'll go buy some more right after?"

Stepping forward, Daryl grabbed Tahlia's wrist and tugged her towards him, spinning her around so her back was against his chest and she was positioned between him and Amber like a shield.

"You don't got time to do that now. Gonna be our turn on the Ferris Wheel in a second." Then he shot Amber an apologetic look. "Sorry. Promised Tahly I'd go on this with her. She's been a real pain in the ass buggin' me 'bout it."

Amber pinned Tahlia with a frosty stare, and Tahlia glanced up at Daryl, confused.

"Oh, no - I'm not going to-"

"Right, Silver?" Daryl cut in, clamping his hands on Tahlia's shoulders and giving her a warning squeeze. "Ferris Wheel's your favorite ride? Ain't shut up 'bout it since we arrived."

"Oh!" Tahlia finally twigged and shrugged at Amber. "Yep, that's right. Really love that big wheel. Look at it up there all… tall and… spinny. I'm just dying to go on it."

As much as he was rooting for Daryl and Tahlia, Merle could never resist an opportunity to stir things up. "See that's funny, coz just before I swear I heard you say-"

"Line's movin'! interrupted Daryl, glaring at Merle, then he cast a glance over his shoulder as he started shepherding Tahlia forward. "Catch you girls later."

Expression darkening as she watched them walk away, Amber whirled around to face Frankie and Tanya.

"Do they have to live in each other's fucking pockets? It's weird!"

"They're besties." replied Tanya with a nonchalant shrug. "I think it's sweet."

"You cannot tell me they're just friends! They're fucking, for sure."

"They're not." said Frankie earnestly. "I've asked Tahlia and she swore that they're not, that they never have."

Folding her arms, Amber pouted sullenly. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Who cares, anyway?" sighed Tanya, long wishing that Amber would just move on. "Can we pee already before I wet my pants?"

Daryl still had his hands firmly on Tahlia's shoulders, and she craned her neck to look up at him. "How long do I have to keep this charade up? We're nearly at the gate."

"Might as well just come on the ride since we're practically there."

"No!" She tried to plant her feet, but Daryl kept shoving her along. "I'm not going on this thing. No way in hell."

"C'mon." cajoled Daryl, "Just give it a try. You might like it."

"I won't!" insisted Tahlia, her voice starting to rise in panic. "This is different to the other stuff I get nervous about! I'm no good with heights! Like, at all. Never have been."

"You can't really be scared'a the Ferris Wheel." he said in disbelief. "There ain't even a height requirement coz that's how unscary it is. Babies can go on it. Which means even you."

Tahlia smacked him for that, but they were at the front of the line now, and the ticket collector held out his hand.

"Five tickets to ride."

"Excuse me," asked Tahlia quickly. "Are babies allowed to go on this?"

"Babies?" The guy looked at her like she was a loon, then shrugged in disinterest as he pointed to a carboard cutout of a clown with the words you must be this tall to ride next to a measuring stick. "I guess. Long as they're at least 4 feet tall."

With a gasp, Tahlia swiped at Daryl again. "There is a height requirement!"

Laughing, Daryl counted ten from a string of tickets and handed them over. "And lucky for you, you just made the cut. C'mon."

"No! I don't want to, Daryl. I really don't want to."

"I'll win you a giant bear right after."

"I'll win my own goddamned bear, thanks very much."

The attendant gave her a bored look. "Can you make up your mind, lady? People are waiting."

Daryl nudged her gently. "I'm gonna be right there next to ya the whole time."

Eyeing him up warily for a moment, Tahlia then heaved a sigh and dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Fine. But you have to carry the bear around for the rest of the night."

"Deal." grinned Daryl as he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the Ferris Wheel – it was one of the old-style ones with the open-air cars that were basically just a backed bench seat for two - and shoved her to sit down, the attendant pulling the bar down over their laps, shaking it to check it was secure before moving on.

"This is it?!" exclaimed Tahlia, her hands on the thin steel bar as she glanced around at the nothing else holding them in. "This is all that's going to keep me from falling to my death?! Where's my fucking five-point harness? My emergency parachute?!"

"Ain't gonna need none of that today." Daryl assured her, leaning back casually as the wheel slowly rotated to let the next people on.

Just in front of them, Merle started rocking his car wildly, making Andrea squeal and giggle, and Tahlia shot a terrified glance at Daryl. "If you do that, I'll kill you."

"Ain't gonna do that. Gonna sit real still, I swear."

Slowly they crawled higher as the cars were filled, and soon they were nearly at the apex, swinging gently, high above the fairground.

"Are we stopped up here? It feels like we're stopped."

Daryl leaned over the side to look down. "Looks like they're cleanin' that one at the bottom. Maybe someone puked or somethin'."

"Oh my God." muttered Tahlia faintly. "This is so fucking high."

Daryl laughed softly and pointed out over the twinkling lights. "Just enjoy the view, Silver."

Looking at the tiny stalls and people below, Tahlia blanched. "Fuckfuckfuck."

"Ok, maybe don't look down. Try lookin' up."

With a hard swallow, Tahlia slowly shifted her gaze heavenwards, then a shaky whine escaped from her. "Oh God. We're so close to the stars."

Daryl studied her carefully. "You really weren't kiddin' 'bout bein' no good with heights."

"Why the fuck would I joke about that?!"

Now Merle was hooting and hollering at them from the adjacent car, and Daryl turned to yell, "Fuck off, Merle!" then faced Tahlia again, softly saying, "You just gotta relax."

"Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that?!" she bit back sarcastically. "Great advice, Dixon, I'll just relax, shall I?!"

Chuckling at her panicked ferocity, Daryl shook his head. "'Kay, I got somethin' that'll help ya with that. Hold up." Shifting to one hip he dug his hand into his pocket.

"Daryl! Stop fucking shaking this thing!"

"Sorry, sorry. Got it." He held out a half-smoked joint, nodding at her to take it. "Here."

Tahlia just glared at him, and he laughed again when he realized that she wasn't going to remove her white-knuckled grip from the bar for anything.

"'Kay, then. Got a better idea. You had a shotgun before?"

Shaking her head faintly, Tahlia then gasped as he inched closer to her, the car rocking.

Hushing her as he moved up against her side, he slid one arm around her shoulders, and popped the joint between his lips. "All ya gotta do is breathe in, 'kay?"

Sparking his lighter, he sucked in a mouthful of smoke, then slowly leaned closer to her, her eyes widening with every inch. Careful not to burn her, he stroked his thumb over her chin to coax her mouth open a little more, then brought his face closer to hers, their lips grazing lightly as he opened his mouth, releasing the smoke for her to inhale. Pulling back slightly, they stared at each other for a moment, electricity crackling, heat building, until Tahlia exhaled a little cloud between them, and Daryl lifted a brow.

"Let's see if that helped any."

Leaning down, he pressed his ear to her chest and held still for a few seconds as he listened to her heart hammering wildly against its cage, his own speeding up to match her rhythm.

"Damn." he said quietly as he raised his head. "Your heart's still goin' for it."

Tahlia nodded tightly. It was. But she was certain it wasn't because of the height.

"I think…" she started faintly, then licked her lips. "I think maybe I need you to do that shotgun thing again."

"Yeah?" Daryl arched a brow, a flicker of hot anticipation shooting through him at the idea of his lips; her lips; but then he suddenly remembered something. "Fuck, but you get drug tested at work!"

Tahlia had already considered that when he first pulled out the joint, but that seemed like an insignificant detail if it meant she could have him close to her like that again. "Got tested last week. Next one won't be for a while. I'll take my chances."

"You sure?"

When she nodded, he flicked his lighter and took another toke, holding her gaze for a moment before leaning back in, his hand threading through her hair at her nape, gently tugging her head back to raise it to his as he brought his mouth agonizingly close to hers once again. Drawing back just a little, he was mesmerized by her lips, staring at them as she exhaled, then he took another hit, just for him, to steady his own nerves, before reaching back to stub the joint out on the seat behind him. Just then, the wheel lurched into motion again, and Tahlia gasped, clutching tighter to the bar in front of her as they swung higher into the air.

"Hey." Daryl murmured, his arm still around her shoulders, his face still only inches from hers, and he brought his other hand up to lightly cup her cheek, turning her face to his, impossibly close now. "Breathe."

Fine fucking advice coming from him. Thought Tahlia. His proximity was making the use of her lungs damn near impossible.

He shifted his palm over her mouth. "Not through your mouth. That's gearin' you up for fight or flight. You told me that, 'member?" His eyes slid up to hers and she just nodded. "Gotta breath deep through your nose."

Then he inched his hand from her mouth, down her neck and onto her shoulder closest to him, drawing his fingers slowly all the way down her arm until they were resting on top of her hand, still clamped tightly around the bar. "Let go'a this one."

She gave a small, abrupt shake of her head.

"Just keep lookin' at me," he instructed gently, never breaking eye contact.

Soon he felt her grip loosen, and he slipped his fingers between hers, gently removing her hand from the bar, and with it firmly encased in his, he laid their hands on her thigh. They had done a full loop and were heading skywards again, and Tahlia's gaze wandered to the dwindling fair below.

"How many times is this thing going to go around?" she choked.

"Maybe like, ten or so."

"Ten fucking times? Oh God, I'm going to die."

Her flair for the dramatic always amused him, but he attempted to keep the smile from his lips.

"Hey, how 'bout I distract ya, and it'll all be over before ya know it."

"There's nothing you can do that will distract me enough to…" She shifted in her seat and the car swung a little under her movement. "Oh, fuck, let go of my hand, I want to hold on to the bar."

"Naw." he said easily. "Ain't lettin' ya go."

Daryl lifted their hands and gently turned her wrist, bringing his cheek down to it, rubbing his scruff on the sensitive inner side. Unmoving, save for the heaving of her chest, she watched him, silent and wide-eyed. With a cheeky flick of his brows, he bit her wrist lightly, then ran his teeth up to the flesh at the base of her thumb, holding there for a moment.

"What are you doing?" squeaked Tahlia, breathless, wondering if her dry mouth and fuzzy head were from the weed or from him.

Gazing up at her through hooded lids, he quirked a smile. "Distractin' ya." Then he drew the tip of his tongue slowly over her jittering pulse point before sucking on the patch of skin there. "It workin'?"

She tightened her other hand around the bar, lest she were to melt completely, slide straight under it and plummet to the ground. "You're killing me."

His laugh was soft and warm against her skin. "Naw, I'm helpin' ya. Want me to stop?"

Tahlia stared at him, pupils dilating, and she gave a tiny shake of her head. "No."

She wanted him to keep going, all the way; to take her over completely – but she'd long since accepted the fact that, with her, he'd chosen friendship over fucking, and (despite the undeniable attraction between them which she knew he felt because she often caught flashes of unbridled hunger in his eyes), he wouldn't cross that line. Aside from that one night when he was all messed up over Merle, he'd drawn his boundaries and stayed within them. And she respected that. Had made her peace with that. Made her peace with the fact that she was probably destined to be single and sexless and helplessly in love with him for the rest of her life. She had a good vibrator. She'd be fine.

But her ability to be ok, to hold herself together within their friendship hinged on him not doing this to her. Not behaving like this and reducing her to a mess, a puddle, an unrecognizable quiver, on purpose. Because even though he knew full well that she'd give it up to him in an instant; knew that he owned her, he was usually so well-behaved and never took advantage of that. Sure, they had a lot of unnecessary physical contact a lot of the time, but not like this. This was just plain bad behavior on his behalf, and the worst damned part was that it felt so good and she wasn't even annoyed with him at all and God, she'd spend the rest of her life on this hellish ride if it meant he wouldn't stop.

And it didn't seem he was going to stop because, with fingers twined through hers, he placed their hands back on her thigh, then shifted a little closer and dropped his chin to her shoulder, rubbing it there gently. He slid his hand from her shoulders and traced it down her neck, pushing her hair away, exposing the skin there, then he moved his face in against her and drew his lips from the crook of her neck up to her ear.

"How distracted do ya wanna be?" he rasped before gently nipping her lobe.

"Um…" replied Tahlia breathily, melting, possibly dying. "A little more."

He laughed again, right against her jaw, an intimate thing, a sound just for her.

"How're ya feelin' now?"

Hot. She wanted to say. Wet.

In the end, she croaked out, "You're a jerk."

"Aw," he drawled, nuzzling her cheek, his arm back around her shoulders, his fingers drawing lazy circles over her collarbone. "I just wanna make you feel better. You feel better?"

Tahlia settled for a grunt because she honestly didn't know how she felt – her very real, belly-flipping, sweat-inducing fear of heights mixed with the pure skin-searing, core-awakening need for Daryl had sent her into total disarray.

Then Daryl shifted their hands higher on her thigh sending a visible shiver rolling through her body.

"Silver, I..." he started, moving his face back a couple of inches.

She turned her head slightly towards his, eyes hazed, soft lips parted and, "What?" she breathed.

And Daryl's chest tightened because it could be now, it could be, but up here with her kind of terrified and a little stoned and his brother shouting obscenities above them and the sensory overload of the fair gave him pause.

Then suddenly he had an image in his mind of later that night - of after the fair, of Merle dropping them back at the apartment and driving off, leaving them standing on the sidewalk outside the building, the dark silence of the park under haloed streetlights stretching opposite and the tail of winter fresh on their skin and no one else in the world but them, and that would be the moment. It would be then.

"Huh." Daryl looked up into the night, breaking the threads of tension between them. "I just saw a shooting star."

"Oh God." Tahlia dropped her head to rest on his shoulder. "If that star hits me because we're so damned high up…"

Chuckling, Daryl pulled her closer and smiled into her hair. "Shut up, ya baby."

Not long after that, the ride finally came to an end and Daryl helped a wobbly Tahlia to the ground, grinning at her.

"See? Weren't that bad."

Tahlia just shoved him away and shook her head, her nerve endings still thrumming.

"You owe me a bear." Then she pressed her hands to her face for a moment before dragging them down her cheeks. "And don't touch me again for at least like… ten minutes."

Daryl laughed because he'd always known he had an effect on her but he'd never really let himself explore it, and now after seeing how easily her body responded to him, he was desperate for more - and was really looking forward to the end of the night. Throwing Merle and Andrea a quick 'catch ya later' wave, he jogged to follow Tahlia to the ride's exit gate.

Merle had been doing his very best to hold his tongue on the matter of Daryl and Tahlia since the L-bomb - even though they still hadn't sorted their shit out - but it was getting pretty painful, even more so after spotting some of the weird shit they were up to on that ride, and he raised his brows dubiously at Andrea.

"You sure they ain't fuckin'?!"

"There ya go." Daryl said smugly as he fired the last ball into the clown's mouth. "Pick your giant bear."

"I should think so." said Tahlia, attempting to give him a surly look, but his accuracy was really impressive and she was genuinely excited about choosing a prize. "That's the one I want!"

Daryl's brows shot up as the game attendant handed over a huge, plush, green, dinosaur head mask and Tahlia bounced on her toes in glee, thanking him enthusiastically.

"Uh, what the fuck is that?"

With a wide smile, Tahlia pulled the dinosaur head over her own.

"Perfect!" she announced, voice muffled.

"You ain't actually gonna wear that around, are ya?" he asked in horror.

"Yes. I am." retorted Tahlia, adjusting it slightly. "And you're going to have to hold my hand because my vision is very limited and my dino teeth are quite big which makes it hard for me to see the ground."

"Nuh-uh. No fuckin' way am I walkin' round with you wearin' that."

"Daryl Dixon." scolded Tahlia, propping her hands on her hips. "This is your penance for making me go on the fucking Ferris Wheel."

Daryl crossed his arms. "Gonna try tell me you didn't have a good time?"

Now that Tahlia's body and brain had calmed and returned to normal levels of functioning after the intensity of the Ferris Wheel, she was ready to joke about it and move on – although she was (and would be for a while) harboring low levels of mortification about how obviously aroused she'd been, so could only manage to flip him off for that comment.

"C'mon, then." he said begrudgingly (although he was struggling to hold his laughter in because she looked so ridiculous) as he took her hand. "One lap around the fair."

Tahlia wore the dinosaur head for games of Milk Can Toss and Hoop Toss (Daryl was secretly impressed by how well she did given she probably couldn't see jack shit); she wore it far longer than Daryl would've liked, blatantly enjoying his discomfort with all the attention. It was only later when they bought corndogs and he refused to let her attempt to eat hers by shoving it through the dinosaur mouth, that she finally took it off.

"It's really hot with that on, anyway." she panted, running a hand through her hair. Then she held the head out to him. "Ok, your turn."

He threw her a disparaging look. "You can fuck right off."

"Well, at least carry it for me. You said you would."

"I said I'd carry a bear."

"That's very specie-ist of you." Tahlia jokingly accused but still Daryl refused.

"Ok." said Tahlia with a faux-serious look. "It feels like way too soon to have to bring it up again, but – Ferris Wheel. You know what you did."

The corners of Daryl's mouth tugged up smugly and he gazed at her for a long moment, then reached for the dinosaur head. "Alright. Hand it over."

They wandered around the fair some more, watched a magic show, bumped into a few of their friends, and Daryl had quickly had enough and was pretty keen to get away from the crowds and back to the apartment to see if he could make that moment he'd envisioned happen, nerves fluttering in his belly just at the thought.

"Where the hell is Merle? He said to meet by the red tent."

"There's a red tent over there, too." pointed Tahlia. "Should I go and see if that's where they are?"

"Naw, I'll call him." Daryl fished his phone out of his pocket. "Oh, I just missed a call from him. He left a message."

Holding the phone up to his ear, Daryl rolled his eyes as he listened to his brother's loud and long-winded voicemail.

"Basically he says, they're comin'. Oh," Daryl looked surprised. "I got more messages I didn't even know I had. Ain't from you are they? You're pretty much the only person that calls me."

Tahlia smiled and shrugged. "Could be. I do like leaving you pointless messages."

Listening, Daryl frowned. "It's from the bank!" His eyes widened as he kept the phone glued to his ear, and he looked at Tahlia. "Says they're still waitin' on the loan paperwork…" Dropping his gaze as he concentrated, his face slowly clouded with confusion.

"Now they're saying my original loan account's closed and…" Hanging up, he pressed a hand to his forehead in panic. "I don't get it! They're sayin' they ain't got the paperwork so I don't got no loan! And then that last message was sayin' that my other account's now a zero balance so it's closed – I don't know what the fuck that means, guessin' they've made some mistake but…" Agitated, he started to pace back and forth, one hand tangled in his hair. "But I filled everythin' in, right? I filled in all the paperwork and left it with you to file with the bank?" He stopped and stared over at her in worry. "Was there somethin' else I was meant to do? Was there a problem with the application? Must be a mistake, right?!"

Tahlia was standing very still, her expression carefully measured. "It's ok, Daryl-"

"It ain't ok, Tahly!" he cut in wildly, pacing again. "The settlement's tomorrow mornin', and I ain't got no money for it! What am I gonna do?!"

"I didn't file the papers for the loan."

"Wait, what?" asked Daryl, perplexed. "Thought ya said it was all sorted?"

Shifting nervously, Tahlia nodded. "Yep. Well, it is."

"How can it…?" Suddenly he stopped moving and stared at her, his eyes narrowing in distrust.

"Daryl, the repayments would've put you in the red before you'd even gotten on your feet with this thing! I just –"

"What did you do?" Daryl's voice dangerously quiet now.

Brow knitted, she bit her lip. "I put my money into it. And…" she squinted over at him, "I paid off your original loan. That's uh, that's why the account's closed."

"And when were ya gonna tell me all this? You think I wouldn't notice?!" He slammed the dinosaur to the ground, his voice rising. "You think I just wouldn't notice that I ain't got a three hundred fuckin' grand loan with the goddamn bank?!"

Paling, Tahlia sucked in a quick breath. "Of course I was planning on telling you, I just couldn't talk to you about it sooner because I… I knew you wouldn't let me do it."

"Then why did you DO it?!" yelled Daryl, oblivious to the fact that people around were staring. "I fuckin' TOLD you I don't want your money; I TOLD you NO!"

"I know, but-"

"Well, I still don't want it. You can keep your goddamned money, I'ma go to the bank first thing in the mornin' and sort it out."

"You won't be able to." said Tahlia in a small voice, ringing her hands nervously.

"Huh?"

"You won't be able to get anything from the bank in time. Your original loan terms have expired so they'll have to start the application process again. And… and I've already paid the money for the sale into a holding account. It'll be transferred to Axel in the morning."

Staring at her in icy rage for a long moment, Daryl shook his head angrily.

"I can't BELIEVE this!" he exploded. "You lied to me! I trusted you with all this and you fuckin' lied to me!"

Merle and Andrea had just arrived, stunned looks on their faces at Daryl's words and the palpable tension in the air, and Merle strode straight up to his brother and caught his arm.

"What's goin' on?"

"Get the fuck off me!" snarled Daryl as he shook free of Merle, then stormed away into the night.

"Tahly?" asked Andrea softly, studying her friend who was standing stock still, her hands pressed together in prayer, her fingertips against her lips.

Drawing her gaze up to meet Andrea's, Tahlia just gave a little shake of her head then slowly opened her palms, dropping her face into them in despair.

Cue frustrated groans. I knooooooooow, but remember that this story has no zombies and death and action, so in this fic, their relationship IS the story, that's all I've got. Which is why I can't make it easy for them. And wouldn't anyway, because, you know - burn.

Thank you for reading! xx