You'd had a crush on Daryl Dixon since you first laid eyes on him at the quarry but you'd barely gotten close to him because, not only was he intimidating as hell, but he was also the hottest white boy in the whole of Georgia... or the entire world as far as you were concerned.
Now, you had been living in Alexandria for about a month and the pantry was running low so Rick had needed people to go out scavenging.
It just so happened that he chose you and Daryl to go together.
Daryl had driven the beat up truck a few miles down the road, it was a quiet ride since Daryl wasn't much of a talker, until he pulled up to a small convenience store on the side of the road.
You two had managed to get in without trouble and you surprisingly found some pretty good stuff whilst scanning the store with a basket in your hand as if you were shopping in a non-apocalyptic world. You almost jumped when Daryl finally spoke up, a few isles down from you.
"Aye..."
That's all it took for you to pace over to him. When you slowed next to him you noticed his cheeks were tinted pink and then you looked in the direction his finger was in.
"Maggie said ya gotta get those..."
He was pointing to one lonely box of tampons on the shelf without really looking at it.
You glance at his face before picking the box up and scoffing.
"It ain't gon' burn ya, Dixon...", with that, you lightly pressed the box to his bare forearm.
"Tssss..." you impersonates the sound of fire burning his skin before throwing the box in the basket.
"Good eye, they'll be needed" you pat his shoulder before walking away.
Fifteen minutes later, you had managed to bleed the store dry and headed for the exit when you both noticed a large horde of walkers slowly scuffling past the dirty windows.
"Shit..." Daryl muttered to himself.
"By the time they're gone it's gon' be too dark t' head back...", he chewed his lip "We'll have t' hol' up in here"
He didn't seem to have any interest in whether or not you had any alternative ideas, which you didn't, Daryl was the smartest guy you knew, you knew you'd be safe.
You decide to perch on the counter, swinging your legs when you realised you hadn't heard a grunt in a short while so you hopped onto your feet and decide to play 'find the hunter'.
It wasn't hard, it was a small store, but you weren't expecting to catch him in the small bathroom cubicle , the door half open, frowning at his reflection in the small square mirror.
It had never crossed your mind to ponder on what Daryl thought of himself. You knew he was hot so you assumed he knew as well. Come to think of it, when was the last time he had even looked in a mirror, he didn't seem like the type of guy to worry about how he looked and that's kinda what you loved about him. Was his hair short and blonde last time he caught his reflection? Did he recognise himself?
You didn't know how to approach it so you went with light heartedness.
"Like what ya see?" You smirked as you moved into his line of vision.
He didn't seem too startled, his eyes moved to yours in the mirror before he grunted then looked down.
"Do you?" You pressed.
He looked at his hair in the unfamiliar reflection.
"Look different... Forgot"
You smile at him, sensing his unease.
"When was the last time you saw yourself?...like in a mirror, not a dirty window"
"Before", he squinted, he seemed to be really looking now, you could tell he was picking himself apart.
You'd never seen him look that way before, so insecure and unsure of himself.
So you spoke before you thought.
"You look good... handsome"
His eyes darted to you again, he scoffed before turning away from the mirror to look at the real you.
"Look like I've been living on the streets for a year"
"Pffft... you have Daryl, me aswell, I don't look too special" you try to lighten the mood.
He just chews on his lip, one of his Darylisms you'd noticed.
"Do you not think you're handsome?"
He gave you a squinted side eye as if the answer was obvious.
"I've always thought you were handsome, and for what it's worth, I like your hair longer... suits you"
it was as if you couldn't stop the words, like they were pouring out of you, a years worth of thoughts being released from your lips.
"Shut up" but you could see his red tinted cheeks and tops of his ears.
"You seen the way the ladies back home look at you?" You giggled "myself included"
He tilted his head towards you, "you're ridiculous".
"I'm honest... Daryl... I've liked you for... a real long time"
"Don't"
"You just scare the shit outta me and-"
"Stop, y/n"
It's silent for about five seconds.
"Just wanted you to know... I think you're very handsome... you're pretty too, your eyes"
"I ain't good" his eyes suddenly found the floor extremely interesting.
"What do you mean?"
"...with all that stuff... girls..." his ears were burning.
"I know... I like that..."
"Don't lie-"
"I haven't lied, not once" you interrupted him.
His feet shifted, he looked as if he wanted to bolt out the room, he'd rather be torn to shreds by the lazy walkers, than cornered by the person that had been giving him butterflies since day one.
He suddenly felt embarrassed with how bashful he was being so he forced himself to look up at you.
"...like ya back" his eyes shifted to your lips for a millisecond before going back to your eyes.
You smiled softly, "is that why you've avoided me since we met?"
He chewed his lip again "didn't wan' to... dunno how to do it"
"Me neither... wanna figure it out together?" You smiled warmly up at him.
He had to struggle hard to push away his embarrassment as he nodded gently.
"Okay pretty boy"
"Shuddup..."
