my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

f i f t y f o u r

We walked a bit deeper into the woods, when Daryl finally stopped. "Dad?"

"He kinda asked me to be his adopted daughter. And I said yes." Daryl gave me a hug.

"That's great Aspen."

"It really is. As a little kid, I spent more time at his house than I did my own. I had always felt I had been born into the wrong family, and now I have the opportunity to be a part of my true one." I sighed happily, and watched as two birds flew past us in the sky.

"So uh..." Daryl started. "I wanted to ask ya somethin." He rubbed the back of his neck, obviously nervous.

"Yes?" I practically whispered.

"I know we've been, uh close, over these past few weeks, and I don't know how ya feel; but I know that I don't want anyone else bein with ya so uh, I wanted to ask ya if you'd wanna be my girlfriend?" My face filled with heat, but my grin managed to cover up most of it.

"Absolutely." I laughed as he pulled me into a tight hug.

Daryl's POV:
Her laugh. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard, and it had been a long time since I had heard it. This world had taken so much from this girl, but she hadn't given up. She was still fighting for herself and for her family. I love her. Those words that I had let slip in the car. I did. I love her more than anything. But I couldn't get myself to say those three words. To take that leap.

"We should be gettin back." She pulled my face towards hers, and kissed my passionately. Her soft lips fit perfectly into mine, as her arms wrapped around my neck. Mine landed on her waist, and we disappeared into our own world for a moment before Aspen pulled away. She grabbed my arm and practically yanked me to the camp; beaming all the way.

*****

Aspen's POV:
One of the worst nights had turned into one of the best days. Daryl's arm hadn't moved from around me even though we had been walking for a few hours. I couldn't believe that he had asked me to be his girlfriend. I assumed he would just let us remain the way we were, and never put a label on it. In that moment, I had realized that I was in fact hopelessly in love with Daryl Dixon. He had my heart, and he had had it for a long time now. But only one step at a time I guess.

Rick stopped at a sign that had fallen, and wiped some leaves off of it. "We're gettin close. Well be there before sundown." Daryl announced.

"Let's head through the woods. We don't know who they are." Rick said, and we made our way off of the train tracks.

After walking for another hour or so, we reached a chain link fence. We could see a railroad station with the letters T E R M I N U S printed across its windows. "We all spread out. Watch for a while. But stay close." Rick ordered.

Daryl and I began to walk off when I heard Rick ask Carl if he wanted to stay with him. "It's alright." Carl responded, and went off with Michonne. I gave Daryl a look, but we kept moving.

We had made our way pretty far around the fence, but saw nothing. "We should head back." I told Daryl, and he nodded. I had a bad feeling about this place.

Rick had just finished burying what looked like a bag of guns, and we followed him up over the fence. All of us pulled out our weapons, and made our way towards a building. The door was ajar, and Rick pulled it open. A woman's voice echoed through the halls. "Those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect."

Daryl led the way into the room the voice was coming from. A grey haired woman was speaking into a microphone, projecting the message through a radio. A small group was working at a few tables in the back. Rick walked towards the woman. "Hello." He called.

The woman took off her headphones, startled, and the rest of the people in the room snapped their heads up. "Well I bet Albert's on perimeter watch." One man said, walking towards us.

"Usually we do this where the tracks meet." He said, stopping and holding his hands out. "Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a long while."

"We have." Rick answered. "I'm Rick. That's Carl, Daryl, Aspen, Michonne." Gareth gave us an awkward wave, which we did not return.

"You're nervous. I get it. We were all the same way. Are you here for sanctuary?" Gareth walked closer to Rick, only a few feet away now.

"Yes." He answered.

"Good. You've found it." He turned toward a man in the back, and motioned for him to join us. "This is Alex. He'll show you around, and ask you a few questions. But first, we need to see everyone's weapons." We all glanced at each other, no one moving.

"Alright." Rick finally said, placing his gun on the ground. We each followed suit, and Alex and Gareth patted us down. Daryl watched as Gareth felt me up, and his fists tensed. I tried to give him a reassuring look, but he wasn't having it.

Finding no other weapons, the two men stepped back in front of the group. "We're not stupid people. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything. As long as we're clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems." Gareth said.

Alex handed Michonne back her katana, and Daryl picked up his crossbow. He handed me, Rick, and Carl back our guns. "Follow me." He motioned, and we made our way outside into Terminus.