The branches that shadowed above you were weighed down by the newly fallen snow. Each flake shimmering like a silver star in the dark night sky. And each snowflake that fell down onto you, patterned your coat and gloves with a faint sparkle.

It was cold, as you rested your back against the bark of the pine tree you sit underneath. But it had been cold for months. You had all gotten used to the numbing temperatures that bit at your exposed skin and threatened to freeze you right where you stood. But tonight, with the new snow that fell all around you, it felt even colder.

The group had stopped for the night. An old house on the side of the road they cleared for shelter. It wasn't heated or full of anything you all needed, but it was a roof and four walls. And for the young and the pregnant, they needed that at least.

You had wandered into the wooded area just across the road from the house for some time alone. Something you did fairly often, and tonight you needed the space. It was Christmas Eve, and the white Christmas snow made you miss the family you had lost a while back. You had gained a misfit group of friends and family, but your blood... They were all gone.

A deep crunch in the snow makes your head snap to the right. And despite the darkness that casts over you and the trees you're hidden within, a shadow emerges and you are able to make out just who it is.

His footsteps are heavy as he trudges through the feet of already fallen dense snow. The mounds slowing his movements slightly. And with each step he takes, a boot print is left behind him. Marking his way back with a trail through the fallen snow.

Coming closer to you, the full moon shines down onto him. Illuminating his tanned skin and denim jacket he wears with his leather angel wing vest.

"Got a fire goin, should come warm up." His voice travels over to you faster than he does. But with a few more seconds, Daryl Dixon is soon standing beside you in the underbrush of the evergreen trees.

"I'm alright." You tell him softly, hiding your shivering hands in your laps.

Daryl grunts lowly, and with a swift movement he sits down beside you. Close enough that if you moved an inch to the side, your shoulders would touch. And close enough that you can smell the strangely intoxicating scent of cigarette smoke, sweat and woods on his clothing.

"Tell that to your tremblin hands." Daryl comments and he hands over to you a blanket you hadn't seen him carrying.

Gently, he unfolds the navy fabric and wraps it around your body. Tucking it in so that warmth surrounds every visable part of your body.

Smiling softly at his kind gesture, you look over at the timid redneck. "Thank you."

Daryl just shrugs it off, something he did fairly often when praised for something he did or even just a simple thank you was handed. He grew more quiet and embarassed even, something you could never quite understand.

"What are ye doin out here anyhow?" Daryl asks, shifting the spotlight from him back over to you.

Looking ahead, your eyes stare off at the scenery before you. The rows of tall pine trees sprinkled with Christmas snow. The moonlight casting over it like a flashlight, causing the snow to sparkle like an ornament hung high on your Christmas tree back home.

"Its Christmas Eve," You say into the dense silence of the forest. "Did you know that?"

Releasing a sigh, still staring off into the shimmering tree line. "I couldn't be in there. I couldn't be in there with all the people who still have their family to be with. Not when I lost my own."

Dropping your gaze, you watch your body tremble underneath the blanket. The fabric was warm, but the snow and the wind and the emotions still caused your body to shake.

"I guess I am a little cold." You whisper with a breathless laugh, realizing Daryl was right to bring you the blanket.

Daryl doesn't say anything, he doesn't even chuckle with you. But what he does, speaks louder than his words ever could.

The moment you told him you were indeed cold, his left arm instantly reached out and wrapped around your shoulders. Pulling your shivering body close to his broad and warm embrace. Pressing your petite body up against him, feeling the warmth from him immediately.

You had never felt warmer as you did right there; snuggled up closely to Daryl underneath the snow covered trees. The silence swirls around the two of you like the snow, but it isn't harsh. It isn't uncomfortable, in fact it's anything but.

Feeling Daryl shift for a moment, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, he speaks up into the quiet.

"I did know," Looking up at him, his blue eyes gaze downward at something in his lap. "bout it being Christmas Eve."

Turning slightly in his hold for a better angle to see him, you watch his eyes slowly raise to meet your awaiting gaze. "And I'm sorry ye couldn't spend it with ye family."

His words are kind, gentle and everything you've learned his heart to be when his appearance isn't.

Daryl stares at you and you watch as his lips twitch as though he wants to say something else. But as moments pass by, he shakes his head and instead hands out to you the object he had reached in his pocket for.

Looking down at his leather gloved hands, he holds out to you a small rectangular box. One wrapped in creased and used golden gift wrap. But with a red bow tied around it, the box looks almost new.

"Daryl," You say softly. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know." Is all he responds with.

Smiling softly to yourself, you run your own gloved fingers over the small box. "What is it?"

Its then that Daryl releases a low chuckle. One that rumbles deep inside of his chest, and one you can feel as your body is pressed against his closely.

"Open it," Daryl tells you simply.

And feeling your smile spread wider across your cold lips, you untie the red bow slowly.

"Did you wrap this?" You ask as you begin to remove the tape from the sides of the clumsily folded gift wrap.

Daryl shrugs sheepishly, but you only smile at him. Feeling special that Daryl Dixon of all people wrapped a gift just for you.

As you peel the gold wrap back, you are met with a small brown box. And lifting the lid up slowly, you are met with a bed of red tissue paper. But what lays on top of the Christmas colored paper, is something that makes your heart stutter for a moment and your eyes widen.

A walkman. A small rectangular cassette player with earbuds attached. Something so small and so simple, yet something you never thought you would ever see again.

"Where on Earth did you find one of these?" You exclaim in disbelief.

Looking up at Daryl with a wide grin, he looks at you almost nervously.

"Found it couple months ago," He answers softly. "Didn't want to give it to ye till I could find a cassette for it."

Looking back down at the music player, you spot that there is indeed a cassette already inside. Sitting there ready to be played.

"So, you searched for a cassette for me?"

Daryl nods his head, "Every time I was out."

Your heart swells at his words.

Picking up the ear buds, you place one in your right ear and taking the other one you hand it to Daryl. Silently asking him to listen to the song with you.

Once Daryl puts the ear bud in his left ear, you press the play button.

You have no idea what song will soon enter your ears, it could honestly be anything. From hard rock to soft classical melodies. But something tells you that whatever the song is, it will soon become your new favorite.

Soft notes on the piano softly float through the ear bud with a steady melody on the drums to match. And the tune is faintly familiar.

"Wise men say, only fools rush in."

Elvis Presley's smooth and very distinct voice sings out and instantly you know the song. A song everyone knows. And one that causes the cold to instantly melt away and warm you to your very core.

"But I can't help, falling in love with you."

As that line plays out, you become suddenly more aware of Daryl's presence right beside you. Not that you had forgotten he was there, but the intimate line makes everything about him more prominent to you in that moment.

"Shall I stay, would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you."

Looking over at Daryl, your eyes slowly raise to meet his deep blues that are already looking to you. And the breath you were breathing somehow dissipates as everything around the two of you fades. And all that's left, is you, him and the song being sung.

"Like a river flows, surly to the sea, darling so it goes, some things are meants to be."

And just like that, you are able to breathe again. The melody playing softly in your ear and the steady gaze you share with Daryl sustains you right there.

"Take my hand, take my whole life too,"

As the song reaches it's final chorus, Daryl's eyes seem to soften as he stares deeply at you. And as the final line begins to play, his lips move softly. Pulling your gaze and pulling at you heart strings. And there underneath the snowy evergreen trees on a cold Christmas Eve, Daryl Dixon softly sings to you the final line.

"For I can't help falling in love with you."

His voice is barely heard over Elvis's velvet smooth one, but Daryl isn't trying to be louder than him. He's just trying to be loud enough for you to hear him and see him. And you do.

Tears well in your eyes as you watch him become vulnerable before you. Becoming more honest than you had ever seen him be before. Sure he used someone else's words, but to you, they were still his. He had made them his own somehow, and staring at him as he whispers the line one last time as the melody begins to fade, your heart swells beyond compare.

As the quiet of the night seeps in as the song ends, you reach forward. Pressing your hands to the sides of his face, and with a smile on your face you lean forward. Brushing your lips gently against his own, he kissed you back.

You had lost so much over the span of a year, but this... Right here... You had gained more in one night than you ever thought possible.

"Merry Christmas Daryl Dixon," You whisper against his lips and as the words leave your lips, his curve upward. Smiling against yours as he kisses you once again.

And it was this Christmas Eve, one in the midst of chaos, loss and decay, that you had received the greatest Christmas gift. Not just the walkman or the cassette with the romantic Elvis song, but him. This man.

The greatest Christmas gift of all was Daryl Dixon.

A/N: Ahh! I love love love this one!!! I hope you all do too! Merry Christmas everyone!❤🎄