Calling out (Daryl and Blakely)

Daryl was setting out to go hunting again - hoping to find something bigger than a squirrel that the Walkers hadn't decided needed to be eaten for some reason. Turns out the ugly fuckers would eat anything that was bigger than a cat if they got desperate. Sighing a little bit, he grumbled a little bit about having to do the radio message for the day.

He bet that Merle, in the city, wasn't having to deal with this kind of shit.

Moving over to the picnic table, he growled in annoyance before he looking down at the note Dale had left him about what to say on the radio. Scoffing a little bit, he ignored the note and simply turned on the radio,

"If yer hea'in' te atlan'a yer migh' as well shoo' yer own brai's ou' now cus tha's wha' yer'd be getting' ov'r ther'." he declared bluntly to the radio before continuing, "If yer valu' yer lif' an' all tha'... com' ov'r te the quarry on te sout'a te city. We go' foo'... tha' is if I can ge' off tis radio te go hun'. So hurry up if yer comin', dinn'rs almos' on."

Rolling his eyes when Dale gave him a disapproving look, Daryl grinned a little bit as he loaded the crossbow. He was going to have so much fun hunting away from the group... be like being a teenager all over again.

Blakely had been heading towards Atlanta on one of the large motorbikes that she had stolen from the police station down the road from where she had been living, she was very lucky that they were still intact and had enough fuel for her to syphon off. Also, the little handy compartment was useful for placing her backpack in it, and the straps on the side held more fuel should she need it.

Deciding that she might as well fiddle with the radio as she pulled over to take a small rest break, she chugged some of the warm water she had in her backpack and as she twisted the tuner knob she honestly wondered what she was even trying to look for. What did she hope to hear? What was going to be there that wasn't there a month or so ago?

Almost giving up Blakely jumped when she heard someone actually speaking to her, someone was actually on the radio?! Scrambling to press her ear against the speaker so that she could make out what the guy was saying, she couldn't help but think that it sounded a lot like Daryl Dixon. Of course it was absurd to think that, Daryl had been her best friend and crush as a kid but after he moved away at 16 they'd lost contact....he couldn't possibly be here.

But it sounded so much like him, it couldn't possibly be anyone else.

"Come in, come in." she stated, pressing down the button on the receiver so that they could hear her speaking now "I am just off the interstate heading into Atlanta, could you direct me how to get to the quarry from here, I'm not too far from exit 5. Thanks for the warning. Over."

Waiting tensely for a reply, Blakely bit down on her lip hoping that they would reply, that she could get directions to safety.

Daryl almost growled in frustration when the radio crackled back into life before he turned back to the camp. It was his responsibility until he left the camp to go hunting and he hadn't left the camp yet so it was his 'duty' to answer the damned thing. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to him but the person it reminded him of... she couldn't be here. If she was then she was in the wrong state entirely.

What would she be doing all the way over in Atlanta even if she had managed to escape all of the Walkers back in their home state?

Ignoring Dale's smug little smirk, he sat down next to the radio and listened as the person asked for directions to the quarry. He blinked a few times and, for the first time in weeks, Daryl felt a little bit of hope stir in his gut,

"Yer shoul' see a sig' fer a campin' groun' on exit 4. Ten jus' follo' all te way inte te fores'd area an' stay on te roa'. Yer'll lan' righ' in the middl'a camp." he told her before pausing for a moment before he asked the question that was now burning in the front of his mind, "Loo' I kno' tis ain' gunn'a mak' no sens' mos' likely but... do yer kno' a girl call'd Blakely Leighton?"

He was afraid of the answer. She had the right accent to be from around home after all and she might have bad news... or she might turn out to be his long lost friend and childhood crush. It was worth the risk to Daryl.

Blakely jumped again when her radio crackled into life again, someone was there and someone was going to tell her how she was going to get to their group. Finally she would be able to relax now there would be other people around to help watch her back, even now she wasn't relaxing she had to keep her eyes and ears open for not just the sound of the radio but the sound of zombies too, she was all on her own out here after all.

Listening intently she made a note mentally of where she needed to go, and although the person couldn't see it she was nodding her head after each direction, committing it to memory. Blakely couldn't help but think again that this man sounded so much like Daryl it was unfair, she had missed him since he had left but, she had to move on, like he had done.

She didn't resent him for moving away, she would have done the same if her dad had been as bad to her as his had been to him and Merle.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes, I'll be driving a large black and red motorcycle, if you see one approaching then it's me." she stated, letting them know what vechicle she was driving so they would be able to expect her.

As soon as the man asked her if she knew anyone called Blakely Leighton, her heart sped a little bit, so he knew it was her? Then it was Daryl Dixon! Grinning madly she swung her leg over the motorbike and clicked the button down again to speak to Daryl.

"I do, that's her right here." she smiled happily "Is that you Daryl Dixon? I'm going to start on my way right now, so I'll be at the camp in a few moments."

With that Blakely put the radio back on its perch, flared the engine back into life and sped off down the highway, dodging inbetween cars as she made her way towards exit four, and towards the one and only person she had any ties to in this world now it would seem.

Out of all the things to stand out about what the woman said, in that increasingly familiar voice, the one thing that stuck out the most was that she was going to be riding a black and red motorcycle. It struck him as rather odd; he was the only person he'd seen in such a noisy vehicle since people had realised that noise brought Walkers. But he remembered a half-forgotten conversation back in highschool where both Daryl and Blakely had decided that no matter what, they would only ever own motorcycles, simply because they were so much cooler than cars,

"Soun's lik'a swee' rid'." he admitted with a little smirk that he was sure would probably be noticed by the tone of his voice, "Ge' tha' hog ov'r her' doubl' tim' an' yer can hav' te las'a te deer I manag'd te snag yest'rday."

His eyes widened when she said that she was Blakely. Well... well damn! He had been hoping against hope that it was her but to actually find out that that hope was right? Well it almost boggled his mind and he was almost unable to reply. He only replied before Dale closed his mouth. Daryl had been unaware that it had even fallen open,

"Dam' it's good to hea' from yer Blak'y!" he grinned a little bit, "Yea' it's me, Daryl Dixon. Yer jus' miss'd Merl' to... ge' up her' girl! I wanna see yer!"

He set the radio down calmly before he immediately rushed over to his tent, muttering to himself. Dale, confused, followed him along. Daryl came back out of his tent with a leather jacket that was still mostly clean and a comb that looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in a year. Dale chuckled a little bit before emptying a bottle of water on Daryl's head. Before the redneck could attack him, Dale smirked,

"It's settled your hair down."

That was enough for Daryl to immediately cease his attempts to kill Dale and instead he began to pace nervously as the rest of the camp watched, bemused.

Blakely was riding her bike as fast as it would go up towards the quarry, she just hoped that she would be able to get there before her excitement made her combust. She was so happy to hear from Daryl again, after her family had passed on the way to Atlanta she had only herself for company and she didn't think that there would be anyone left in the world she felt so connected to. Of course, she hadn't factored in Daryl Dixon appearing out of nowhere.

Narrowing her eyes as she weaved and dodged several large potholes and rocks in the nature path up to the quarry Blakely took a few moments to appreciate the beauty of the place, and it seemed so removed from Atlanta. Could it really be that dangerous there? All the things she and her family heard must have been lies, it was no safer there than it had been where they were before.

As she approached the quarry Blakely skidded the bike to a halt and tugged off her helmet, safety first of course, running her hands through her hair to push it back into some form of a loose style Blakely hopped off the bike, sticking the spokes into the ground so the bike would stand properly without falling. She was wearing faded torn shorts and a green check shirt that she had rolled the sleeves up on, with her ankle black boots suitable for biking.

"Uhm hello, I was the person you contacted on the radio?" she called out, unsure of who she should really speak to first, but her eyes were scanning for one person in particular.

Seeing Daryl pacing up and down, Blakely blinked, he was older, more lined and rugged but very much the man she had remembered him as, only slightly more muscled than he had been. His hair was still unruly and more often wet than dry, Blakely remembered with a small smile on her lips. Approaching at a swift sprint she laughed;

"Daryl!" Blakely cried out, wrapping her arms around his waist as she neared him, hugging him tightly to her "I never expected to see you again, let alone here of all places."

Daryl wasn't telling the rest of the survivors anything until Blakely was here to talk for herself. She was a fiercely independent woman after all, she would enjoy telling some of the busy bodies where they could stick their ideas about what he role in the group was going to be. He'd be damned if the Blakely he remembered would ever accept that she was going to have to go and wash clothes in the quarry just because she was a woman after all.

He could almost see Lori's head getting redder and redder from all the frustration that Blakely was going to put her through. Honestly, it made Daryl want to laugh out loud but he was already scaring the group enough just by being happy. If he laughed he was pretty sure they're shoot him because they thought he was infected or something like that.

When the biker rolled up and took the helmet off, it was Shane who stepped forwards first to greet her to the camp, a little annoyed that there would be another drain on their supplies. He shook the woman's hand though. He wasn't going to just throw her out,

"Welcome to our little camp." he greeted her, "My name's Shane Walsh. I was elected the leader at one point so welcome to the group. If you stay for long, I hope you contribute as much as you possibly can."

Daryl waited impatiently for Shane to be done before rushing towards Blakely just as she rushed towards him. He did actually laugh happily when she glomped him (there was no other word for it) and he couldn't help but hug her back tightly to him, much to the confusion of everyone around them,

"Blakely!" he laughed happily as he hugged her, "Oh go' girl yer hav' no idea how goo' it is te see yer! Me an' Merl' though' te wors' when we hear' abou' te ol' hometow'... I'm so gla' yer manag'd te kic' enough ass to ge' her'."

Blakely was smart enough to know that you should be polite when it came to the leader of the group, it meant that he wouldn't begrudge you doing something because he liked you as opposed to him hating you if you treated him like shit. Taking the man's hand she shook it firmly with a carefree smile on her lips, just glad to be part of a group again.

"Thanks, I'm Blakely Leighton, don't worry about me contributing, I'm about as handy with a hunting knife as Daryl here, I'll help bring in the food for you guys if I end up sticking around." she winked, her happiness was a little bit odd given her normal mood these days but, she was all too happy to be having these sort of joyful thoughts again.

As Daryl rushed towards her Blakely laughed happily, she was so overwhelmed to have found the Dixon brothers, she had been close with both of them when they had been growing up but Daryl especially as they were closer to each other in age. Merle was way older but played the part of protective older brother well, so much so that he had become her honourary brother while he lived with his dad.

"Oh you never need to worry about me." she grinned cheekily "Papa didn't raise no fool after all, I can kick enough ass for the two of us when I need to you know that."

Giving Daryl a squeeze in the embrace, Blakely eventually let go, begrudgingly;

"What are you two doing here?" she asked with a raised eyebrow "To be honest it doesn't seem your type of thing to be holed up in a group like this, I'm glad though, it meant I got to see you again, you filled out rather well since you left Dixon." Blakely teased softly.

Shane had to admit that if her boast of being as good as Daryl at hunting was true then she would definitely make a great addition to the group. After all, all too many of them seemed to believe that they could get away with contributing absolutely nothing to the security of the camp or helping with supplies or anything at all like that. He nodded a little bit,

"Nice to meet you Blakely, so long as you pull your weight I'll be happy to have you here." he told her with a little smirk, "Hunt as well as Daryl and I'll be very happy to have you here. It seems he's having trouble getting deer without Walkers getting them too. Maybe you could help him there?"

To be honest most of the group had figured out that Daryl and Blakely knew each other from somewhere before all this went down. The only one's who couldn't figure it out were a certain wife-beating fat man and the children. Daryl grinned a little bit in return,

"Oh I rememb'r. I still laug' when I thin' abou' yer puttin' Bill-Joe 'Reck'r on his ass fer tryin' te touc' yer durin' gym." he told her with a smirk before nodding, "Yer still a goo' sho' wit'a rifl' I tak' it ten? Or yer decid' on somethin' else durin' tis trip?"

When she asked what they were doing her he scoffed a little bit at the idea of he and Merle holing up. He led her away from the group, away from the gossips specifically,

"Well Merl' wen'an' go' himsel' arres'd an' ten I go' him ou' aft'r te Walk'rs cam' an' ten we wen'an' kic'd som'a his ol' gang out'a te club." he shrugged a little bit, "Aft'r tha' Merl' wen' bac' te wan'in' te jus' ge' wast'd all te tim' so a grou' was fer te bes' I thin'. How'd yer ge' her'? Did... anyon' mak' it?"

Blakely nodded and smiled at Shane when he told her that this would be an acceptable way to help the group because she sure as hell wasn't going to be doing washing or anything like that, it was so typically feminine that she didn't know if she could handle doing it without vomiting and commenting on the sexism of the jobs assigned to each roles.

"Oh I'm sure I can whip the Dixon boys into shape." she grinned "Have no worries about that."

It was so fun to just talk to Daryl, to have someone she had a history with around. It helped to take her mind off what had gone wrong in her life this past week or so, and how lonely she had been now that her family had passed away slowly, one by one as they had begun to travel. Atlanta was a dead end, and they had all died for nothing...now that their goal was void.

"I remember that as well, that month of detention was so worth it, damn creep." she stated turning her nose up at the memory of him trying to slip his hand up her gym skirt "I'm still a sharp shooter but, for convenience sake I got myself some hunting knives, guns are all well and good when they have bullets, but useless without."

As she was led away by Daryl, Blakely fought the urge to wrap her arm through his, linking them both together now they weren't in the spotlight so much, but she could hear some faint whisperings about the two of them still, so she wasn't far enough away for her liking.

"Makes sense I suppose, although I had hoped this would have helped him, you know, get clear and all that. We were trying to make it to the CDC in Atlanta, trying to get some answers for all this, I rode my bike across the state."

Bringing up her family, was something that Blakely was not used to and she shook her head; "Too soon." she stated in answer to Daryl's question.

Shane nodded his head when she said that she would sort the Dixon boys out. Hopefully she would sort Merle out as well; that guy was getting out of control and right now Daryl didn't seem at all inclined to stop his older brother. Perhaps with Blakely as well then maybe Merle would back off on all the drugs but, to be honest, he didn't hold out a lot of hope. Sighing a little bit as she rushed over to Daryl, he made sure that Lori and the other gossips went right back to work, not given them the chance to bombard Blakely with questions and gossip.

Least he could do for a newbie.

Daryl had to agree with her about Bill-Joe. Man he had hated that guy during school... and trying to touch Blakely like that had gotten the other kid to the top of his shit list for a long time. After all, Daryl had had such a big crush on Blakely during school and seeing Bill-Joe trying to cop a feel left him angry and jealous beyond words. He nodded in agreement and linked his arm with hers,

"I only go' mah skinnin' knif' an' mah huntin' crossbow." he admitted with a little sigh, "I go' a shi' loa'a goo' shi' befor' Merl's gang go' te bett'ra me onc' an' took it all from meh. Ah well, te bolts are reus'abl' unlik' bull'ts an' it's quie'."

Linking his arm with hers had been an instinctive reaction but he was enjoying it very much, truth be told. When she spoke about the CDC he nodded slightly in agreement,

"We've bee' arguin' abou' tha'. Som' peopl' say go to the CDC an' oth'rs say jus' skip it an' ge' to som' army bas'." he admitted before nodding slightly in understanding, "A'cours'... yer go' a ten'? I mean yer can shar' wit' me til yer do."

Blakely blushed a little to herself when she felt Daryl linking his arm with her own, it made her smile to herself too, she was glad that they still seemed to be so intuned to each other. She had only been thinking a few moments ago how she had wanted to link arms with him, and here he was having done it. It was strange but, it really did feel like they had picked up where they had left off together.

Although the few weeks of heartbroken moping and tears when he had left imprinted itself pretty clearly on all her families minds, mostly through annoyance at her eating all the ice cream in her siblings sense, or concern in her parents sense.

"Seems like a pretty sweet weapon if you ask me." Blakely commented with a soft smile "I have to say, I am so glad that you and Merle are alright, I thought about you a lot when this first happened, I thought you would have been holing up in some cabin in the middle of nowhere, living quite normally waiting for this to blow over."

Honestly she was surprised that wasn't what they were doing, the Dixons had never been one for including others in what they were doing, and they had never been people persons. Her thoughts turned to where Merle was right now, before she heard Daryl's offer and a large cat like smirk appeared on her lips;

"You're asking me to share your tent with you?" Blakely asked with a cheeky grin "That's like asking me to share a bed! But seeing as I don't have a tent myself I'll take you up on that offer, its not like we haven't done it before."

Back home, when Daryl had gotten scared or beaten by his dad, he had often clambered through the gap in the fence to her house, and taken refuge in Blakely's bed until the early morning, when he would have to leave before her parents got up.

Daryl could tell that Blakely was enjoying the linking of their arms just as much as he was but the difference was that he was also enjoying the physical contact of another human being. After all, who was going to have shown him any physical kindness in this camp? All of the women were afraid of him and the men knew better than to try and make him look week in front of others. He could also tell that the talk about weapons was boring her, as it always had done back when they were younger. Smirking a little bit at the idea of the Dixon brothers in some cabin, Daryl shook his head,

"Nah we'da kill'd eac' oth'r within te firs' few days." he told her with a chuckle before nodding, "But we though' abou' it an' decid'd we wan'd somewher' wher' we coul' relax yer kno'? If we did tha' on'a us woul' always be on te watc' at leas'."

To be honest there wasn't a day that went by recently where he didn't wish that he was able to just leave the group, with or without Merle. The group annoyed him to no end before but with Blakely here he was pretty sure that he could stand to be around a lot more than he could before. He smirked a little bit when she put it like that,

"I guess I am askin' yer te shar' mah bed lik' we us'd to bac' when we wer' young'r." he agreed with a smirk before nodding in agreement, "Yer righ'... it's jus' ov'r her'."

Leading her over to his, surprisingly clean, tent, he opened the flap to show that it was really only big enough for one large sleeping bad and he had one. So only room for one person... or one couple if they were pushed to hug each other to save space,

"Tis alrigh' fer yer Blakely?"

Blakely laughed happily when she heard Daryl say that the brothers would have killed each other within the first few days of living in the cabin on their own. To be honest she could see that being true, Merle wasn't the easiest of people to get along with, even his own brother had trouble with him, Blakely had her fair share of 'Merle Encounters' but she didn't hold it against him, he had been plenty nice over the years.

Although she did see Daryl's point, a group was better, you could relax more, being out there on her own was beginning to shut down her nervous system, each rustle had her pointing her knife at the bush it came from for about 10 minutes in case something jumped out.

"I see what you mean, after all you two do argue a lot of siblings, and, being in a group is better than being off on your own, or only with a few. There seem to be a lot of people here...how are they?" Blakely asked, looking back up towards the camp "Come on Daryl clue a girl in with all the gossip so I know who to avoid and who is single and all that."

Winking Blakely followed Daryl to his tent and peered inside it was clean and oddly didn't smell too bad, the sleeping bag was about the same size as her bed had been back at home, and a pang of nostalgia ran through her. She would have loved to be able to go back to those joyful times with Daryl, even if she ended up patching him up and holding him close instead of laughing and joking.

"It's perfect for me." she smiled softly "It'll be nice and warm at night with the two of us in together, kind of reminds me of my bed at home, and, Im kind of glad the tent doesn't smell like man." Blakely grinned, sticking her tongue out "Merle doesn't sleep in here does he?"

Daryl knew that Merle hated being in any form of group that was larger than just the two of them but that didn't mean that he would just abandon something that he knew was working for him. After all, Merle could get high without worry when there were others in the group to watch his ass when he was coming down from his high. Shaking his head a little bit at some of the memories, he smirked a little bit. Ah Merle was just someone you had to catch on a good day,

"Te group ain' te wors' tha' I've seen aroun' I hav' te say. It ain' grea' thoug'... Shan' ain' a lead'r. He's too foc's'd on his lil wom'n." he admitted before laughing a little bit and shaking his head a bit. Humming, he thought about it, "Me an' Merl' are singl... so's tha' china-m'n Glenn who's doin' supply run in te city. As fer avoidin' peopl'... Lori an' Carol. Tey 'like' tha' te wom'n get te do nothin' but clea'... giv's tem chanc' te goss'p."

When he looked into the tent, he couldn't help but be reminded of her bed back at her home to. It had been the scene of many comforting embraces for the two of them and Daryl suddenly wished that they were back home with that bed rather than in some cold camp site trying to see a double sleeping bag as something that compared to the bed,

"It'll be nic' an' toas'y an' tha's fer te bes' seein' as it's gettin' a lil' col' ou'sid'. Oh an' I plan on huggin' yer. It'll mak' it mor' comfortabl' don' yer agree?" he winked at her before scoffing a little bit and gesturing at a tent a little further down, very run down and very dirty, "Tha's Merl's tent. I thin' I was te on' who go' te gen's fer bein' tidy an' shi'."

Chuckling a little bit, he pulled up two lawn chairs and some Budweiser beer from the cans. He handed one to Blakely and sipped at his own. He sighed happily before turning to her, "Wan' te tell me abou' wha' I miss'd in yer lif' Blakes'?"

Blakely listened to the dynamics of the group and almost sighed, it seemed like she wasn't going to have any female companionship here, what with them sounding like they enjoyed nothing but bitching about other members of the group while they worked. No doubt they would be doing the same thing about her now. Wiping her forehead on her rag she used as a handkerchief she sighed softly.

"Well it sounds like it can be manageable after all, as long as I don't plan on getting any female companions to girl talk with, I'm sure Merle won't mind if he's just gotten some stuff in him." Blakely commented with a cheeky wink "Ah so the two Dixon brothers are single, this is good for me to know."

Of course she had been with other people when Daryl had left but, none of them had been connected to her in such an emotional manner as Daryl had been connected to her, still was connected to her. Never the less she hadn't been treated badly by any of them, things had just sort of fizzled out. The idea of Daryl hugging her was not unwelcome. Maybe he would stop the nightmares.

"I do agree!" Blakely grinned "I guess, after being on my own this past week, it will be nice to get some proper sleep, I was really too anxious and frightened to get much sleep while I was travelling the last few miles on my own." she admitted, why did things so easily roll off her tongue when Daryl was concerned?

Sitting down on one of the lawn chairs, Blakely gratefully took the Budweiser and popped the lid, sipping at it happily; "What's been going on in my life?" she asked with a small hum "Well I went to College, got my degree in engineering like I said I would, proved everyone I wanted to prove wrong. Moved back home and opened a little shop for motor design and repairs. I'm guessing you want the love life to be omitted?"

Daryl laughed at the idea of Blakely using Merle as a kind of pseudo girl-friend by getting him so high that he wouldn't mind. Of course most of the laughter came from the fact that he was reasonably sure that Merle would probably not mind if he was, indeed, drugged up to the eyeballs as he so often was these days. It would teach him a valuable lesson Daryl was sure,

"Yea' well if yer do tha' I can tell yer now tha' yer'd be helpin' te settl' Merl's addicti'ns bac' down." he joked a little bit before smirking a little bit and giving her a cheeky wink back, "Dam' straigh'. Ain' no wom'n from roun' her' who can handl' on'a te broth'rs Dixon! Only our hom'tow' girls can handl' us..."

Leaving home had been a no brainer for Daryl since about the age of ten but what had made the decision hard was that he didn't want to leave Blakely. But he couldn't just loiter in the area; his dad had gone mad with anger and declared that he would beat him to death a few days before Daryl had just left. He hadn't dated since then either... Blakely was the only woman he felt any form of attachment to, to be perfectly honest,

"Yea' don' yer worry, yer'll get a goo' nigh's sleep wit' me her' yea'?" he urged her with a little grin before chuckling a little bit in remembrance, "Jumping at shad'ws ain' no fun I adm't."

He sipped at his beer as he listened to her tell him about her life before all of this. It was, he decided forlornly as he sipped his beer, a happy life. It might sound selfish but he wished for a moment that he could have been there; been there with her as she experienced all of these high points in her life. He chuckled a little bit,

"Soun's lik' yer wer' leadin' a muc' bett'r lif' tan I hav' been." he joked a little bit before shaking his head, "I bee' huntin'... ran wit' a few gangs... been arrest'd... hunt'd som'mor' an' ten tis cam' along. Ain' exactly te mos' fulfillin' lif' I hav' te say. Yer's was bett'r. Now... love lif'! Com' on, spill an' I'll com' clea' too."

Blakely smiled softly up at Daryl when he said that only women from his home town could handle him, and of course handle Merle. Reluctantly Blakely admitted to herself that Daryl especially had felt so much pain he wasn't going to be able to open up to someone easily, she was the only person he had opened up to completely, not even Merle knew how bad his father was to him, he was in Juvie half the time.

Of course, jumping at shadows was no fun, she didn't like having to constantly second guess herself as to where to sleep, if she was safe. It had struck her though that in this new world she could never truly be safe, unless she was locked in some sort of panic room with an unlimited food supply. Then she would be safe as houses but that wasn't going to happen.

"I'm sure that I will sleep safe and sound with you like I always did." Blakely commented with a small smile on her lips "You look a little tired Daryl, I suppose you haven't been having many comforting warm nights out here though so, that's to be expected. Maybe we'll both sleep better tonight."

A pang of sadness ran through her when she heard the type of life that Daryl had led, he had never been one for academics, missing so much school that he barely even went 10 times a year towards the end of his teenage days but...Blakely had always hoped he would carve a better life for himself than the die he had been cast by his family.

"I had hoped when you left you...you would stop doing things like that." she admitted, hugging her knees up to her chest "That was a fresh start for you and I hoped Merle wouldn't drag you back into that sort of life, but, if you found some happiness then, it was worth you leaving."

When he wanted to hear about her love life she spilled; "Well I started to work in Dillard's Bar in the town center to raise money for College, I met a few nice guys there, dated one of them for a little while, when I went to college I met a guy there on my course, it was sweet and I had a nice time but, nothing really seemed...to set my world ablaze you know." she sighed softly "I guess now everything's fucked up the chances of that happening are a little slimmer."

Daryl had known, right from the first time he had gotten into the same bed as her, that Blakely was going to be the only woman who was able to make him feel relaxed. The only woman who would be able to each his troubled soul and let him rest each and every night. He had proven himself right after he wandered around the state and found no one who made him feel like she made him feel.

He nodded in agreement, he wanted to know that same level of security that he had always felt when he was around her. After all, he had only ever slept without nightmares when he was around her or when he had taken sleeping tablets,

"Well yer don' hav' te worry cus I'm her' te help protec' yer... an' I ain' gun' let anythin' happ'n to yer." he assured her resolutely before chuckling a little bit and nodding in agreement, "Damn righ' we'll sleep bett'r tonigh'... or at leas' I kno' tha' I will sleep a hec'a a lo' bett'r. Jus' becaus' it's yer an' yer ther' wit' me."

Daryl had never really felt ashamed of the life he had lived before until she looked at him that way and suddenly he knew he should have done something more with his life. Then, maybe, the zombie apocalypse would have been something horrible to him, rather than something that gave his life purpose and meaning. That was just sad,

"I tri'd te pus' mah self inte new areas but no one was willin' te giv' me a sho'. Ther' was this polic' offic'r... saw mah rap shee' when I was tryin' te ge' inte privat' security... arres'd me fer no oth'r reas'n." he said with a sigh, "Yer hav' no idea how har' it is te hav' a goo' lif' when no on' is willin' te list'n an' help. No one asid' from yer a'cours'..."

When she mentioned worked at Dillard's Bar his eyes widened and he crushed the can of Budweiser in his hand a little hard. Straightening the can a little bit, he looked at Blakely sadly,

"Dillar's Bar ain' no plac' fer yer... Wha' wer' yer doin' down ther'?" he asked with a sigh before shaking his head a little bit. He was, however, slightly hopeful about the nature of her love life. He nodded, "I fel' som'thin' simil'ar... Lik' tey jus' weren' goo' enough or somethin'. No wom'n has ev'r been abl' te mak' me smil' or mak' me as happy as yer coul' wit' jus' one jok'... Somethin' lik' tha'?"

Blakely felt a little bad for being upset with Daryl that he hadn't taken his life in a more positive direction when he had left, she thought it would have made it worth it if he had a better quality of life away from her away from his father and his home. Biting her lip softly, she hoped that she hadn't made him too upset with her, she didn't want their first meeting after so long to go badly so quickly.

Luckily for her it didn't, and Daryl seemed to think that she was right as well, he wanted to do so much more she knew that, all his sweet dreams as a child of what he wanted to do were bright in her mind. When he left, she had hoped he would have ended up being one of those things he had dreamed of.

"I understand Daryl, I knew it would be hard after all you had been through as a child to get a job, especially in the recession but, I guess it was always a happy dream of mine to think of you off happy and living the life you dreamt of when you were small." she stated with a sad smile "If you'd have come back I'd have hired you, you could have helped me make motorbikes."

Seeing his reaction to her telling him she had worked down in Dillards made Blakely smile shyly to herself he was really quite protective of her and it was sweet. She had missed his protectiveness and the way that he made her feel about herself.

"I just needed a fast way to make money and drunk guys give big tips when you wear the uniform they ask you to." she stated with a small shrug "You know I can take care of myself to creeps weren't an issue. Well Daryl aren't you flattering yourself thinking I was waiting for you to come back to me, but, I suppose you'd be right." Blakely teased with a soft smile.