Chapter 11 - Stay

Five.

The number of phone calls between Tahlia and Daryl that week.

There were a few texts too, but Tahlia quickly learned that Daryl was even briefer and brusquer over text than he was face-to-face, and didn't reply half the time, so it was easier just to call him. She preferred talking to him anyway – at least that way she got to hear his voice and dry humor. Although their contact was primarily centered around Axel's business proposition, there was a new ease to their conversations, a warmth between them kindled from that day they'd spent together.

So, on Saturday, when Daryl buzzed the apartment just after 5pm, Tahlia couldn't help the happy smile on her face or the swarm of butterflies in her belly, and at the risk of being caught standing in front of the door and grinning like an idiot when he came in, she quickly flew into the kitchen and busied herself with stacking stray dishes into the dishwasher.

Soap-scented, damp-haired, and clean-clothed, Daryl hesitantly let himself in the front door and shot a shy smile at Tahlia, wondering where this zing of nerves at seeing her again had come from.

"Hi! Come in." Tahlia greeted him as she wiped down the bench. Then she tilted her head to one side and surveyed him. "Hmm. I suppose I probably should have cleaned myself up a bit too." she said wryly, indicating her leggings, loose-fitting t-shirt and hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head.

Cute. Daryl thought as he shut the door and kicked off his sneakers. Why did she always look so fuckin' cute?

"Brought beer." he announced, dropping a six pack on the counter, then brandished two manila folders stuffed with documents. "And all this shit. Think it's everythin' you said."

"Perfect." she replied, popping the cap on two of the beers and sliding one to him before putting the rest in the fridge. "Shall we get straight into it?"

Leading him to the table, she threw a pointed look over her shoulder. "I would give you a tour first, but you know, you've been here before. Skulking around my room, and all that."

That just earned her a smack across the back with the folders, and she laughed as she took a seat at the table and patted the one next to her.

"Right. Have you had a chance to look through any of this?"

"Flicked through. But I ain't got a clue 'bout none of it, not really. Was hopin' you'd just take a look then tell me where to sign."

She smiled. "That's a lot of trust you've got in me."

"Yeah." he replied soberly. "Guess so." Then for lightness, he quickly added, "So don't fuck me over."

Tahlia's eyes glittered with amusement, but her tone was all sincerity. "I would never." Then she laid out a handwritten chart in front of him that detailed each step of the process and a running checklist. "Here. I wrote this up to make it a bit easier to see where we're at. I did some of the due diligence this week – you know, to get an understanding of what's going on with Axel's business, and I had a colleague look through the financials, so I've got a bunch of notes for us to go through so you know where things are at…"

Although Daryl could see that she'd tried to keep things clear and simple, it was all so far out of his comfort zone that from where he was sitting it was starting to feel insurmountable. Jigging his leg in apprehension, everything was swimming in front of his eyes when he felt Tahlia squeeze his forearm.

"Hey. I know it looks like a lot, but one step at a time will get us there, ok? I'm going to help you through the whole process. And I've got a bunch of people to call on if we need."

Daryl wasn't sure why she was so supportive and willing to help him, but he was grateful all the same, and sent a small nod her way.

"Alright." declared Tahlia, reaching for her laptop. "Michonne emailed me some points to check around the Partnership Agreement… here they are…" With her eyes on the screen, she pointed to a thick stack of paper in front of Daryl. "So, first she says to check the share of the business on offer and how much decision-making power you'll have. Can you flip through and see if you can find the clauses around equity, buy-in, compensation, that kind of thing, and read it out?"

Staring down at the wad of paper with unease, Daryl then shoved it towards Tahlia. "Better if you do it. Probably ain't gonna understand much of this."

"Don't worry about that." replied Tahlia, still skimming through the email as she pushed the papers back to him. "They always load these things up with a bunch of pompous terminology that no one really understands. Just read it out and we'll muddle through."

Dragging his bottom lip through his teeth, Daryl felt his cheeks begin to flame, his palms begin to sweat. He'd been worried about this. And now his choices were: admit it; or make an idiot of himself. Neither particularly palatable, but he opted for the first.

"Ain't like you and Merle." he mumbled, keeping his eyes fixed on the table in front of him. "Ain't much of a reader. No good."

"Honestly," started Tahlia flippantly, "You don't need to – " Then she turned to him, finally registering his reluctance, his tense stance, his bowed head, and she sucked in a sharp gasp. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't even… here, let me take that –"

She reached for the contract, but Daryl's head suddenly snapped up, his eyes flashing as he snatched it from her.

"Hey!" he bit defensively. "I can fuckin' read!"

"Of course!" said Tahlia quickly, her hand flying to her chest. "I wasn't thinking that -"

"Just sayin' I ain't good like you -"

"- not an issue at all -"

"- just don't wanna read it out loud coz I… I get mixed up sometimes." he huffed tetchily.

Turning in her seat so her knees were touching his thigh, Tahlia propped her chin on her hand and gazed at him curiously. "What do you mean, 'mixed up'?"

His anger quickly melting into shame, Daryl squirmed under her penetrating stare, and dropped his eyes to the paper in his hands, the edges rumpling under his tight grip. "Just that… that… words can get all backwards on me. Takes me a long time to make sense of 'em. Worse when I'm… worked up. So I don't wanna…" he gestured to the papers. "Case I get it wrong."

"Daryl…" started Tahlia softly. "Have you ever been tested for dyslexia?"

He glared at her. "Just told ya, I can read. I ain't that."

"Oh," said Tahlia easily. "It doesn't mean you can't read, it just means that you might have more trouble than others. And there's a huge spectrum of symptoms and severity, so it can look really different on different people." Seeing that Daryl was still scowling at her, Tahlia carried on. "Actually, what you're saying sounds similar to a friend of mine who has dyslexia. He finds reading so tedious because for him, the words swap places and some of them he just doesn't see at all, no matter how many times he goes over it. So, he finds that taking a break then coming back later with fresh eyes sometimes helps to make sense of what he's reading."

Feeling brave enough to meet her eye, Daryl peeked up at her, his expression softening with the relatability of her story.

"And," she added staunchly, "He's smart as hell and so are you, so no matter what people might have said to you, it has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence."

He blushed and wondered how she knew that he'd always been made to feel like it was a badge of stupidity, how heartening it was to be told different.

Then Tahlia frowned. "So, your teachers never picked up on this? School would've been a hundred times harder for you!"

"Naw." he shrugged, picking at his thumbnail. "Teacher used to make me sit down the back. She said if I weren't gonna try harder and keep up then I'd best be outta the way of the kids that wanted to learn."

"What?!" flared Tahlia, furious. "Argh! That makes me so – !" She quickly caught herself and took a deep breath, then said in a clipped tone, "Give me her name. I'm going to make a couple of calls and have her audited."

Daryl huffed out a laugh at her controlled ferocity and white-collar threat. He'd just settled for scratching the side of the teacher's car.

He studied Tahlia for a moment, warm with her easy acceptance of him just the way he was, then gave her a wry grin, no longer self-conscious.

"Y'know that birthday note I wrote ya? Had to copy the word 'bouquet' from the flower display in the store. Wrote it on my hand just to be sure I spelled it right. Then read the note ten times case I missed somethin' out."

Tahlia's eyes misted as she sucked in a quivering breath. "That's the-"

"Gawd. Don't hug me." interrupted Daryl, rolling his eyes and clapping his hand onto her shoulder to keep her at arm's length.

"- sweetest thing I've ever heard and -"

"Don't come no closer."

"- I really want to-"

"Nope."

"Daryl!" complained Tahlia through her laughter. "But what am I supposed to do with all this -" she flapped her hands around in front of her face, "- that I'm feeling if you won't let me hug it out?!"

"Walk it off." he instructed, barely maintaining a straight face as he stood up, pulling her to her feet and shoving her away from him. "Round the table. Off ya go."

"Oh my God. You're so…" she trailed off with a good-natured huff as she did as she was told. "Fine! There. The urge to hug you has gone."

"Has it?" he asked skeptically, folding his arms.

"No." she grinned. "But I can wait."

"Be waitin' a long time."

"Hmm." she hummed airily. "I doubt that."

And he couldn't help but smile because she was probably right. Damn, he was already regretting messing with her just then, wishing he'd just taken her in his arms instead.

Then Tahlia scooped up the documents from the table. "Ok, change of plan!" she announced as she moved to the sofa. "We're relocating to a comfier spot. And I'm going to read through each of these parts then give you a summary –"

"Ya don't gotta –" started Daryl, flushing again as he sat beside her, but she elbowed him immediately.

"Shh. That's not just for you. It's also for me to make sure I understand what I'm reading and don't put you wrong. We'll note anything you don't like or things you want to add or change. Here, you hold this checklist and we'll work our way through so we don't miss anything."

Daryl nodded, shifting closer to her with the intention of attempting to squint at the text in her hands and pick up what he could, but soon gave up on that in favor of studying the little details of her: the faint scar across the back of her hand; the pattern of scattered freckles on her forearm; the blue tangle of veins beneath the pale skin of her wrist. It was still easy for him to concentrate on what she was saying though, because he liked listening to her. Liked the way she made things sound simple without making him feel dumb, liked the way she looked to him for his opinion and the way they worked together.

There was a lot to get through, and after over an hour of slogging through clauses, Tahlia changed her position to get more comfortable, flipping right around so that her legs were hooked over the back of the sofa and her head was hanging off the seat as she held the documents in front of her face with one hand.

"Ok, how are we doing with that checklist?" she asked, slinging her free arm over Daryl's lap to angle the list her way. "Tick those two off. Right."

Leaving her arm resting across his thighs, she continued reading through the page she was on as Daryl became increasingly distracted by the triangle of skin on display above her waistband where her t-shirt had ridden up. He stared at it for so long, his tongue began to tingle with the imagined taste of salty-sweetness, soft warmth. Before he could stop himself, he tilted his head to one side and reached out, pressing his thumb to the closest corner of the triangle then slowly drew his pad all the way to the other side, watching her stomach suck in with every inch. Then he dropped his fingers onto her skin, feathering them at the edge of her t-shirt, satisfied by the quivering gasp she gave when he slid them under the material, fanning them out over her side.

At his unexpected touch, Tahlia's words disappeared on her tongue and her mind went blank for a heady moment, the only thing in her awareness the heat of his palm firing electricity through her body.

Then, with a deep, composing breath, she slowly lowered the papers she was holding to her chest and glanced up at Daryl reproachfully.

"Dixon. I know this is boring, but I just need you to concentrate for a little longer."

Without moving his hand, save for a light squeeze of her side, he drew a slow laser line up her body with his eyes until they met hers, a playful quirk at the corner of his mouth.

"I am concentratin'."

"On the terms of this contract, I mean." replied Tahlia flatly. "You're trying to distract me so that I stop talking, aren't you?"

He smirked and shrugged.

Was that what he was doing? She made it sound innocent and he wasn't entirely sure that it was. Best to go with her interpretation for now.

"Well," he drawled, dropping his head to rest on the back of the sofa, "You have been talkin' for a long fuckin' time."

"Oh no, you're sick of the sound of my voice!" lamented Tahlia as she suddenly sat up to face him, cross-legged, and Daryl reluctantly let his hand fall away from her. "Why didn't you say sooner?!"

He shrugged again. "Seemed like you were on a roll. Didn't know how else to stop ya."

His lazy half-smile was infectious, but she smacked his thigh all the same, wondering at this roguish side of him that she was certain he rarely aired. Loving that he was comfortable enough around her now to show it. But, although she couldn't be certain, she thought there might be something else, there, smoldering in the depths of his piercing blue gaze. Like, yeah, he was just playing, but if she were to move a little closer, place his hand back on her body, he might draw her right in, play a whole different game.

If only she were brave enough to test that theory.

But she wasn't, so instead, she rubbed a hand over her face and did what came easiest to her and kept things light.

"Ok, we need to take a break. I'm ordering pizza. Lucky I already know you like pepperoni."

"Thought ya said we were takin' a break." grumbled Daryl as, while they were waiting for the pizza to arrive, Tahlia directed him back to the table to fill out the paperwork for the bank loan.

"Taking a break from me talking at you. We still have to get this stuff done. Nearly finished, promise."

Daryl had quickly grown serious again when faced with the sobering reality of the amount of money he was about to borrow, and as he signed the last page, he scrunched a hand in his hair.

"Damn!" he exclaimed. "That's a lotta money! Am I really gonna be able to afford these repayments?"

"Yes." Tahlia assured him. "You'll be getting paid more as a partner of the business, and we were conservative with the calculations. You can absolutely afford this."

Daryl smiled at her gratefully, because she'd been thorough in walking him through every aspect of this process, including right down to mapping out his finances. At first, he'd felt exposed having her know how much he earned, where it all went, his meagre savings. But he soon realized that he didn't mind because actually, he'd long stopped wanting to shut her out and instead had left a door open. There was nothing about him that was off limits anymore - it was now just up to her how far in she wanted to venture.

It wasn't much later when, with mozzarella-greased fingers and pizza-full bellies, they'd worked through everything, with only a couple of amendments that Tahlia would send to Axel's lawyer after Michonne had given the lot a once over on Monday. All in all, it was a solid and generous proposition from Axel (which Daryl had suspected it would be – the man had been a big-hearted, selfless mentor from day one) – a quarter buy-in now, another in two years, and a full take-over a further three years down the line.

"Ya said that ya weren't the best person for all this, but…" Daryl gestured at the neatly stacked papers in front of him, "Seems like you're pretty fuckin' amazin' with all this business stuff. How'd ya know 'bout all this?"

Tahlia gave him a cheerless smile. "Business is the only language my dad speaks, and I've been trying really hard to communicate with him all my life, but, you know. I'm glad that at least I can put it to good use with you."

Nodding, Daryl reached for her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Thanks, Tahly. Ain't never woulda been able to get through this myself. Probably wouldn't even have considered the offer in the first place. What?" he asked at her wide-eyed expression.

She beamed at him. "I think that's the first time I've heard you say my name."

"Damn, is it?! Maybe I'll start usin' it a little more." Then, realizing that he still had her hand in his, he quickly released her and cleared his throat. "Well, better make sure I find you a decent car next weekend to repay ya for all this. You still up for that?"

"Yes! Definitely. Although," she added sheepishly, "I should probably give you a heads up… I might be a little hungover."

At Daryl's quizzical look, Tahlia elaborated. "We have our work midyear ball on Friday. This year it's at the museum and the theme is Casino Royale – so it'll be suits, cocktails, gambling. They always go all out. It's a load of fun and way too easy to get carried away. At this one, everyone gets a load of chips on arrival and you can try and win more, then trade them in for one of the prizes at the end. They've got all this stuff on offer like weekends away, gift cards, hampers… ooh, there's this one hamper up for grabs that has all this cheese and wine and I'm desperate to win it. Oh!" She sat up straight. "You're good at poker, right? I remember Shadow saying you were. Would you…? I mean, I don't know the first thing about it, but if you could teach me the basics then maybe I might have more of a chance at winning enough chips to get the hamper!"

Daryl chuckled at her unbridled enthusiasm. "Sure, I can show ya. Got cards?"

"Even better," replied Tahlia as she jumped up and opened a drawer in the TV cabinet. "Got a brand new poker set that me and Andrea always swear we're going to get around to using one of these days but never have."

They divvied out the chips as Daryl shuffled the cards and explained the hands, Tahlia nodding earnestly all the while. He was helpful and patient, but eight rounds in (all of which Tahlia lost) Daryl sighed.

"Ya gotta stop doin' that."

"Doing what?"

"You got the worst fuckin' poker face I ever seen!"

"How dare you." remarked Tahlia in a faux-haughty tone, pulling her cards to her chest. "I am a woman of mystery!"

Daryl snorted and shook his head. "Girl, you might as well be tellin' me what you got coz your face ain't hidin' nothin'." He threw his hand on the table. "Three-of-a-Kind. I win again."

Tahlia's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me! You haven't even seen my hand yet!"

"Don't need to. Know y'ain't got nothin' better than that coz I can practically see your cards reflected on your face when ya turn 'em over."

"Well, I'll have you know – I have a Straight Flush!"

"Ya don't."

"I do!" insisted Tahlia, her expression too bright, belying her words.

"Ya don't."

"How can you know that?!"

"Just told ya. It's right there on your face. Gimme them chips."

Although he kept his own expression stern (he was good at that) Daryl secretly loved that he could see every one of her emotions as she experienced them, loved that she was all heart-sleeved and transparent and he just had to look at her to know what was going on inside. Made him feel even more protective of her, like he wanted to throw a blanket over her and shield her away from the eyes of the world, keep her secrets, keep her all to himself.

"Ugh!" complained Tahlia throwing her useless hand down. "How am I ever going to win that hamper?!"

"Sorry, Silver. You'd best kiss that hamper goodbye."

Her face fell into genuine devastation and Daryl felt a sudden surge of panic in his chest, like he needed to do whatever it took to make that look go away and bring her smile back.

"Maybe just stick to Roulette." he suggested quickly, kindly, and then she lit up.

"You could come with me!"

"Huh?"

"Yes!" beamed Tahlia. "Everyone gets a plus-one, so you could be mine! Oh my God, Daryl, just as friends, you don't need to look so horrified." she laughed at his expression. "But you could! We'd both get a bunch of chips, then you could work your magic on the poker table and win me that hamper!"

"No way." Daryl replied distastefully, folding his arms.

"Aww, come on! Michonne and Rick will be there, we'll have a few drinks, some nice food, it'll be fun! Well, you might not find it fun, but it won't be terrible, I promise."

"Don't sound like nothin' fun 'bout that at all. Ain't my scene. I ain't gonna fit in at somethin' like that."

"Pfft." Tahlia waved a hand at him. "It's all just for show, I told you that. It's not really anybody's scene, it's just dressing up for a night."

"Well, there sure as shit ain't nothin' in my closet that I got to dress up in." he lied, conveniently forgetting about the suit that he had bought when he was a pallbearer at a friend's funeral two years ago. "And even if there were, ain't no way in hell I'd ever go to some fancy-ass thing like that with all them damn… lawyers."

"Like me, you mean?!" laughed Tahlia, frisbeeing a poker chip at him for the way he'd said 'lawyers' like it was a dirty word.

"Yeah, exactly. The worst." he smirked, tossing the chip right back. He had kind of meant it though – he'd just been thinking of the self-important big-shots like Negan and how out of place and small he'd feel rubbing shoulders with smarmy assholes like that for a night. "Seriously though, me at somethin' like that? Never in a million years."

"Yeah, alright, fair enough." conceded Tahlia breezily. "Just thought I'd try my luck. Promise I'll still share some of my wine and cheese winnings with you after."

"Won't be holdin' my breath, girl." retorted Daryl, as he kicked back on the couch, tucking one hand behind his head.

"Ooh, you're gonna be eating those words right up when I win that thing!" teased Tahlia, then tossed the remote at him. "Here. See if there's anything on."

In no rush to leave, obligingly, Daryl channel surfed while Tahlia packed up the poker set then fetched another couple of beers.

"Saturday night horror?" he suggested as Tahlia sank down next to him on the sofa and passed him a beer. "The Shining's on."

"Oh God. No. I'm terrible with horror movies."

"Really? But – " He was cut off by the severity of her jump against him as the twin girls appeared on the screen, his beer sloshing onto his jeans, and he stared at her in disbelief for a long moment, then shook his head. "Whoa. Ya weren't kiddin' 'bout that. 'Kay," he said, quickly flicking to the next channel. "No horror movies for you or ya won't sleep for a week."

"Ugh, sorry." Tahlia pressed a hand to her forehead. "I'm a total wuss. Ooh, yes, I can do tornadoes, though!"

"Twister?!" groaned Daryl. "Fuckin' kiddin' me. Gawd. Fine. But I'm gonna need that last slice of pizza."

They were close on the couch as they watched the movie, unnecessarily close, and they both knew it, but Tahlia left her bent knee resting on Daryl's thigh and he slouched against her shoulder all the same. They just made sure to keep up their banter - Daryl making disparaging remarks and Tahlia valiantly defending the storm chasers - so there was no room to dwell on the heat crackling between their bodies.

"They ruined the movie by makin' it a fuckin' romance!" groused Daryl as the endless kiss continued onscreen while the credits rolled.

"It's beautiful!" countered Tahlia, nudging him. "They found their way back to each other through a shared passion. It's better than the movie you wanted to watch with the guy trying to murder his family!"

"Least that had some fuckin' tension."

"Excuse me?! An F5 tornado isn't tense enough for you?! The thunder of God?! That thing was on a path of destruction!"

Daryl couldn't help but laugh at Tahlia's over-the-top response, and wrapped his hand around her thigh, giving it a hard squeeze and making her yelp.

"You are a massive fuckin' geek."

"And you love hanging out with me because it makes you look cool by comparison."

"Actually, think it's ruinin' my bad ass reputation, hangin' out with a nerd like you." retorted Daryl, resting his head on the back of the sofa as he grinned at her.

"Shut up!" laughed Tahlia, swatting at his arm as he squeezed her leg again.

He chuckled, then sighed as he glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Shit. Didn't realize the time. Half eleven. Guess I should go."

"What?" smirked Tahlia, "You're going to turn into a pumpkin if you're not home in half an hour?"

"Huh?"

"You heard me, Cinderella."

Daryl gave her a withering look. "It's the carriage that turns into a pumpkin."

Tahlia's mouth dropped open in glee. "And I'm the geek?! Didn't realize we had the Disney fact checker in residence –"

Grabbing the cushion next to him, Daryl whacked it into Tahlia's face and she squealed but persisted in ribbing him loftily.

"-making sure that everyone-"

Whack

"-gets all their facts straight-"

Whack

"-because God forbid-"

Whack

"-that a Disney story is misinterpreted-"

Whack

"Argh, Daryl!"

Sliding down onto her back on the sofa, Tahlia had to abandon her teasing in favor of breathing as she dissolved into giggles and tried to fend Daryl off as he rained cushion-blows down on her from his position kneeling between her legs, a hand wrapped around one of her wrists, pinning it to the back of the couch. She managed to grab the cushion and toss it away, so he started to tickle her instead.

"Get your damn Disney facts straight or I'll beat ya to death next time!" he threatened through his laughter, finally stilling his hand on her side.

Then, in that inconvenient way time had of catching up and stopping suddenly to spotlight how close they were, how electric, how charged; they stared at one another, frozen in the moment, the only sound the ragged drag of their breath.

Daryl swallowed hard. "Uh… so, I should probably go."

He was leaning over her, his hands still on her as she lay beneath him, hair tousled, eyes wide and luminous, lips pink and parted. Delicious; delectable.

Stay.

What if she said, stay?

God, he hoped that she wouldn't. Because if she did, then he'd kiss her, and maybe that would lead to more, and he didn't want that. Not like this. He'd thought about fucking her, shit yeah, course he had – there'd been that skin-searing attraction from the first time they'd met – but then, somehow, they'd fostered this comfortable closeness and she made him feel things, good things, and he liked it. Liked this thing they had. So, if she said, stay, then he would kiss her and probably ruin everything and he didn't want that. He wanted to keep her.

Tahlia gazed up at Daryl - hair flopped over his forehead, bottom lip between his teeth, cobalt intensity in his eyes. Magnetic; irresistible.

Stay.

She could say, stay.

God, she wanted to, but that word carried a heavy implication of where the night might lead and though, in this moment her body was burning for him, her head reminded her that he only did one-nights, casual fucks, and she didn't. She dealt in strings, feelings, relationships, and already she was feeling too much for him. If she said, stay, it would only be for the night and then he'd be gone and so would this friendship of theirs and she didn't want that. She wanted to keep him.

So, she slowly sat up, her movement like an invisible force pushing Daryl to sit back on his heels, snapping the quivering threads of intense energy between them one by one.

"Yeah," she nodded with a smile, "You're right. Guess it's time to call it a night." She eased herself off the couch, casually stretching her arms above her head, shaking that moment from her body. "I've probably near destroyed you with all that business stuff, anyway."

Daryl gazed up at her, his expression inscrutable, then he shook his head. "Naw. Other way, I think. You saved me."

And then, because there was now a deep ache in his chest that he didn't understand, he quickly jumped to his feet and headed to the door in the hope that distance between them, however small, would provide some relief.

It didn't.

He jammed his shoes back on as Tahlia wandered over next to him.

"Alright," she said cheerily, as if nothing had happened - because it hadn't, she reminded herself, it hadn't. "I'll get Michonne to take a look at all that stuff on Monday, then I'll talk to Axel's lawyer about a couple of things, but if you two are happy, those documents could get signed this week."

"Shit. Right. Ok." muttered Daryl, resting his fingers on the door handle, grateful that there was no weirdness between them. "Guess I'm doin' this."

"Guess you are. It's a good thing. An amazing thing. You should be proud of yourself." Tahlia paused then grinned at him. "Because I sure am pro-"

"Tahly!" groaned Daryl, flicking at her arm.

"Well, I am! I'm really fucking proud of you and you need to hear it!" she said quickly, propping her hands on her hips.

His cheeks flushed as he rolled his eyes, then he smiled shyly. "Thanks."

"Ok." She grinned. "I'll call you on Monday. And now you have five seconds to get out that door, otherwise you'll be getting a goodbye hug."

Daryl made a scornful noise, then looked at the door handle, his shoes, back at the door handle, the ceiling, then at Tahlia who had raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"What are you doing?"

"Waitin'." he said flatly. "And you should get a damn watch coz it's been a lot fuckin' longer than five seconds."

With a delighted laugh, Tahlia wasted no time in stepping in, kissing him on the cheek and slinging her arms around his neck.

"What did I tell you? I knew I wouldn't have to wait long for this."

"Shuddup." muttered Daryl as he tightened his arms around her, closing his eyes for a brief moment as he breathed her in.

Oh.

So, it wasn't distance that provided relief from the ache.

Just the opposite.