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Jo

Carol had been so unimpressed by my ability to follow a recipe that she had laid out all the necessary ingredients and left step by step instructions for the dinner I was supposed to make. This time it involved a stack of neatly organized Tupperware with a note taped to the top that read: 

Turn the Crock Pot to High, dump everything together, and don't touch it for four hours. Even you can't screw this up. 

I snorted and pulled the stack out of the fridge, setting it beside the crock pot she had left out on the counter. I shook my head, chuckling to myself. I really didn't think I was that bad. I was just dumping everything together when Carl came in. 

"Hey," he greeted climbing up onto a bar stool at the counter. 

"Hey," I responded smiling at him as I worked. 

He watched me for a few moments in silence before he spoke up. "That's so creepy," he finally said. "How do you do that?"

I frowned at him and them looked down and realized I was rolling a knife around in my left hand. I flashed him a predatory smile. "Takes practice." 

He nodded, reaching out and snagging a snack from the small basket Carol had started stocking with available snack foods for anyone who was hungry. He popped a peanut in his mouth and continued to watch me work. 

"What are you up to?" I asked, pulling out a spoon and mixing the concoction together. It smelled alright but it certainly didn't look very good. Oh well, Carol hadn't disappointed us yet. 

"I don't know," he shrugged. "How about you?" 

I pressed my lips into a line. "I think I'm going to go for a run." 

"A run?" he asked, smirking. 

I nodded thoughtfully. "Can't neglect the cardio," I said with a teasing smile. "It's hard to stay in shape in here..."I dragged off, snagging the lip on the crock pot and cranking it up to High. 

"Without raising suspicion?" he finished for me. 

I nodded. "Hard to look like a meek little teacher if I'm training constantly." 

"Are you really going to be my teacher?" he asked, smirking up at me. 

I arched a brow and nodded again silently.

 He snorted and shook his head, looking down at the food in his hands. 

"What?" I asked incredulously. 

He continued to shake his head, fighting back a smile. "I just have a really hard time seeing you teaching anything but advanced knife skills or hand-to-hand." 

I snorted and tossed one of the Tupperware lips at his head. He swiped it away easily and grinned cheekily at me. 

"I'll have you know I was an excellent teacher," I teased indignantly. 

"You were?" he asked frowning. 

I felt the smile slip from my face and I sank my teeth into my bottom lip. "Yeah, I was." I replied seriously. 

He nodded, noticing my sudden shift in mood. "Cool," he said looking at his hands. 

I could tell he was feeling bad, like he had put me in a bad mood or something. So in the interest in making him feel better I found myself opening up to him when I would have rather kept to myself. 

"I was getting my PhD in Wildlife Biology," I filled in. "I taught when I was in grad school." 

"I heard that," he said nodded. "That's really cool." 

I snorted and shook my head. "Not really, but it's nice of you to say. I studied predators, wolves, mountain lions, bears."

Carl cocked his head to look at me, like he was sizing me up. "That I could see. It explains why you're so good now." 

I frowned, not following. I was good in this world because of what happened to me in Woodbury. Nothing in my previous had prepared me for what the world was now, other than maybe my experience camping and backpacking. 

"You understand how people are, and people are the predators now," was all he said. Then he scooped up his peanuts and walked out of the house. 

I was left stunned, staring after him. Sometimes I was amazed Rick had managed to keep Carl alive given how easily trouble found that boy. And then there were times like this, when I was convinced that kid was smarter than all the rest of us combined and that he would outlive us all. 

I cleaned up my mess in the kitchen and went up to my room, changing into a tank top and shorts. I tucked my small fold up knife on the inside of my shorts, so it was pressed against my bare skin. I still wan't comfortable going out with a knife of some kind. It would take precious seconds to pull this one and open it, but I was pretty quick. I went out onto the front porch and moved through some stretches before I set off at a brisk jog. 

The compound wasn't that big and I ran ten laps around it before I was finally forced to stop. Tomorrow I would do eleven. I was gasping for breath and my lungs were burning. I folded my arms on top of my head to help get air into my lungs. I was on the opposite side of the compound from our house and planned to walk out on the way back. My skin felt hot and was covered in sweat. 

"You're Jo right?" I swung around to see Pete, the surgeon, standing behind me. I thought he was the husband of one of the women who worked at the pantry with Olivia, Jessie. And they had kids, but I couldn't remember how many or their names. 

I frowned at him, I hadn't heard him approach behind me. That bothered me more than anything. How had I not heard him? Or had I simply become complacent. The latter was unacceptable. 

"Yeah," I finally choked out, because I realized I had been glowering at him without answering his question. 

He flashed me a smile and I really wanted to take a step back away from him. I immediately tensed. He hadn't done anything threatening but I also wasn't one to ignore my instincts. He frowned at my reaction to him and he ran his eyes over my body. I narrowed my eyes, now he had done something I didn't like. 

"Your group should come in for physicals," he said leaning towards me. "You were out there a long time. It would be good for you to be looked at." 

I swallowed and just nodded because I didn't trust what was going to come out of my mouth. He flashed me an oily, tight lipped smile and sauntered away. I stood, rooted on the stop, watching him walk away. It was a few moments later that I realized my hand had somehow instinctively found it's way to the knife at my waist. 

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Daryl

I had been working on the bike for a while but I wasn't sure how long. That used to happen to me all the time before the turn. I would get to working in the garage and lose track of time, just lose myself in the work. It had always been a good way to lose him too. Once he started drinking he would never come out to the garage. Merle and I would spend hours out there. Merle was the one who taught me all I knew about engines. 

"Daryl?" I looked up to see Carol coming up the driveway. I frowned, wondering if there was anything wrong. I lifted my chin in greeting and looked back at the bike in front of me. 

"It's late," Carol commented. She blinked rapidly as her eyes fought to adjust to the bright light in the garage from coming in from the dark street. 

I frowned up at her and looked around, but this wasn't the garage I grew up in, there was no Busch Light clock in the corner to tell me how late it was. I stood and stretched trusting her that is time to head home. 

"Got distracted," I said, shrugging. 

Carol walked around the bike, looking it over. "This what he's using to bribe you?" 

I snorted and shook my head. "He ain't bribing me, I want to go out." 

She nodded thoughtfully. "Just be sure to watch your back. He isn't one of us."

I nodded, though I didn't necessarily believe her words. Aaron had more than proven himself to me. I trusted him even if Carol didn't. 

"You need to get some sleep," she said stepping up next to me. 

"What time is it?" I asked scrubbing at my face with the back of my wrist so I didn't get any grease on my face. 

"After midnight," Carol said. 

I nodded and put the tools away. I was close to being done, maybe another couple hours, but my eyes were feeling dry and my muscles were achy from kneeling on the garage floor for so long. I turned off the light and closed the garage door behind me as we left. 

The house was dark when we got back. I tried not to let it bug me that Carol was the one who came to find me and not Jo. I thought back, I didn't think I had done anything to make her mad. Maybe I could have been less of a dick to Spencer but the kid needed to back off. 

"Good night, Daryl," Carol whispered, heading towards the stairs. 

The house was still and quiet. I didn't bother turning on any lights as I headed to my room. Now that I was away from the bike I began to realize exactly how tired I was. I frowned as I realized the door to my room was closed. I pushed it open and froze. The small lamp on the bedside table was on and Jo was curled up in my bed, a book resting on the covers beside her. She had fallen asleep reading. 

I set my crossbow down and pulled off my shirt, dropping it and my pants on the ground. I clicked off the light and climbed into bed. She shifted, a frown forming on her face as she fought to stay sleeping. I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her against my chest, brushing my lips across her hair. 

"Shh, sleep Darlin'," I whispered in her ear. She hummed in the back of her throat and tucked her face against my chest, sighing contentedly. There were things about this place I didn't like, but if I got to sleep every night with Jo in my arms I would put up with a lot worse than this. 

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Jo

When I woke up the next morning I was alone in bed. I frowned noticing the pillow next to me had been used and the shirt he had been wearing yesterday was in a pile on the floor. I touched the sheets but they were already cool. Daryl had been up for a while. I sat up, glancing at the alarm clock. It was almost eight. 

I pulled on my jeans and a fitted tank top. I had more flexibility in leggings but it was more likely I would be fighting in jeans and I would rather train for the tougher of the two eventualities. I shrugged on my gear and went out into the living room. I froze when I saw Carl standing in the middle of the room, my target already set up against one wall. I continued to attach the straps and frowned at him. 

"You said you would teach me," he said. 

I nodded. "That I did." 

I was surprised Carl kept up as well  as he did through my workout and I took time to show him how to throw a knife. He frowned when he missed for the fifth time in a row, my throwing knife lodging in the back of the couch cushion, coming no where near the target. 

He glanced at me, his lips pinched in frustration. I smirked at him, rolled the sixth throwing knife across the backs of my fingers and flicked my wrist, lodging the knife in the center of the target. 

Carl smiled appreciatively and shook his head. "It's harder than it looks," he finally allowed. 

I nodded. 

He pulled the knife off of his belt and started trying to flip the grip on it like I did. I stepped up to him and snatched the knife out of the air. I glowered down at him and shook my head. "Go upstairs and grab one of the butter knives from the kitchen, start playing with that before you lose a finger and I get yelled at," I said sternly. 

He laughed and nodded. "Okay," he held out his hand for his knife and when I didn't hand it back right away he rolled his eyes. "I promise." 

I smirked at him and slapped the knife back into his palm. 

He trotted off up the stairs. Halfway up I heard his voice. "Hey Daryl," he greeted but didn't stop. 

I turned to look, because I would never hear him come down the stairs. He glanced over at me then frowned when he saw all the throwing knives that had missed the target. "Ya feeling okay?" 

I smiled and nodded. "Carl wanted to learn." 

He smirked. "Good, I was worried for a minute."

I went over and pulled the knives out of the target tucking them away into my shoulder rig. I turned back to face Daryl surprised to find him watching me. 

"What's up?" I asked. 

"I was wondering if ya wanna go for a ride?"

I frowned, trying to decide what he meant. A slow, seductive smile crept across my face. 

He chuckled. "Stop," he said, moving into his room. He came back and tossed me my leather jacket from where I had hung it up in his closet. I frowned down at it. 

"Can't expect you to climb on a motorcycle dressed like a school teacher," he said with a smirk. "Wouldn't be safe."

I shrugged on the jacket and smiled appreciatively. It felt like home. I looked down at the shoulder rig, gnawing on my lip. I would be in a lot of trouble from Carol if I was caught with it...

Daryl stalked across the living room towards me, his eyes dark and unreadable. His fingers traced along the bottom edge of the jacket as he stood so close I could feel his warmth. His face was inches from mine, his eyes intense as he studied my face. My heart pounded in my ears as I stood, entranced by what he was doing. I wanted to close the distance between us, to touch him, but there was something so deliciously casual about him right now. 

I stared into his eyes, but his were studying my face, a faint smirk tugging at the edge of his lips. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip as I felt his fingers moved. There was a whir of a zipper and it took me a moment to realize he was zipping my coat up. I let out a disgruntled sigh and he laughed out loud. He leaned in and his lips grazed my ear. 

"Go get your boots, we're getting out from behind this wall for a while." 

I huffed as I trudged into the laundry room and snagged my boots. "You are enjoying this far too much," I grumbled. 

He snorted and shook his head but there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes. No matter what he said, he had enjoyed teasing me. 

I sat on the couch and pulled my boots on. I glanced at my knife roll and hid an extra knife in each boot and slid one more into the sheath on the outside of my boot. That and my every day one at my waist would be the only visible knives. Two knives didn't seem unreasonable for the demure school teacher who had a thing for bad boys. I glanced at Daryl smirking. He frowned, not certain what I was thinking now. I just shook my head. 

He chuckled. "Ready to go?" he asked when I stood. 

I nodded.

I was missing my kukri but I still felt better. I stepped out onto the porch and Rick and Carl were there. Rick arched a brow at me and smiled. As I followed Daryl down the steps I was pretty sure I heard him mutter something about a bet with Abraham, but I ignored him. 

Daryl's bike was sitting on the sidewalk out front of the house. He secured his crossbow then climbed on. He stood it up and started it. The engine roared to life. I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face when he looked to me and jerked his chin for me to climb on behind him. 

I settled onto the bike, tucking my thighs in tight against his and wrapped my arms around his waist. It had been so long since I had been on a bike with Daryl. His hand briefly touched where mine were clasped on his flat stomach then he drove off. 

He slowed as we neared the gate. Aidan was on gate duty today. He stepped up to Daryl frowning as his eyes focused on where I was holding onto him. I was sitting much closer than was necessary, leaving no doubt that I was with him. 

Aidan met Daryl's gaze. "Where you going?" Aidan snapped, sounding almost angry. 

Daryl frowned. "Didn't know I had to file an itinerary," he growled. 

I squeezed my arms tighter and he glanced over his shoulder at me. I leaned closer, pressing against his back and resting my chin on his shoulder. 

"You don't have any guns," Aidan said, shaking his head. "I can't let you out there without a way to protect you and her." 

I coughed back and laugh and Daryl snorted, jerking his head towards his crossbow. "I got it," he promised antagonizingly. 

Aidan looked like he wanted to argue some more but Daryl revved the engine on the bike. Aidan's lips pinched into an angry line and he opened the gate. Seconds later there was nothing but the wind in my face and the warmth of being wrapped around Daryl. 

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Jo

Daryl stopped the bike after a while. He turned it off and held it up while I climbed off. I looked around but could see nothing special to differentiate this place from any other part of the tree lined road. I unzipped my jacket and kept my eyes trained on the trees. I didn't see or hear any walkers, but his bike was far from quiet and if there were any in the area they would be headed our way about now. He put down the kickstand and swung his leg over. He then leaned back against the bike, I glanced quickly at him then turned my eyes to the woods. It had been a while since I had been out like this and I felt hyper-vigilant when I normally would have only been consciously aware of our surroundings. 

I felt his arms snake out and grab my waist and I jumped, half expecting him to be shielding me from some kind of attack. He jerked me against his chest, one hand dropping to the small of my back beneath the jacket and the other cupped the back of my head so he was in control of the kiss. He had seemed so calm and in control that it surprised me when his lips were rough and urgent against mine. I hadn't been prepared for it which made it all the better. 

I wound my hands around his neck, pulling him down and closer to me. He made a noise in the back of his throat that left me trembling and I moved my hands down and pushed them beneath his vest so I could touch more of him. He turned around, maneuvering me so I was trapped between him and the motorcycle. His hands dropped so they were grazing my thighs and my mind went absolutely blank when his tongue ran along my bottom lip. I opened my mouth for him, matching his intensity. His teeth nipped at my lower lip and I smiled against his lips. This was still so new, I couldn't imagine a world where I wasn't left a shaking pile of hormones by Daryl being so forward.  

There was a snarl somewhere behind me. Daryl pulled back, swearing loud and long. He reached for his crossbow and fired it one handed over my shoulder. I glanced back just in time to see the walker drop. 

"My hero," I teased, leaning my forehead against his. 

He chuckled and shook his head, frustration clear evident in his jerky movements. "Can't catch a break anywhere." 

I snorted and nodded, running my nose along his jawline and down his neck. "Not a lot of privacy in the house." 

He closed his eyes and a faint shudder ran through his body. I smiled, my lips grazing the skin of his neck. He shuddered in my arms and let out a deep sigh of contentment and suddenly the mood shifted. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest in a tight hug. 

His lips were pressed against my hair when he spoke so his words were muffled. "Ya know I would never push ya," he said in a quiet voice. 

"Course," I responded pulling back so he could see both the sincerity in my face, as well as the frown. I wasn't really sure where this was coming from. I was more than happy to take the next step with Daryl. Hell, I had been thinking of it for over a year. 

He nodded, and his eyes were serious. "Ya been through a lot Jo," he said reaching down and taking my hands in his. "In those walls, it's easy to forget, or pretend like it don't matter no more. Like it can't touch ya. But it does matter," he licked his bottom lip, his brows pulled down. He had thought a lot about this I realized. "Ya been through a lot and we don't gotta rush. I don't wanna rush," he told me. He paused, running a hand over the back of his neck. "I ain't going anywhere," he promised me the corner of his mouth lifting in the small smile I knew was only for me. 

I stood there and stared up into Daryl's gorgeous blue eyes and felt beyond privileged. Kindness was not something Daryl Dixon let too many people see. He had been taught at a young age that is was a weakness and it had been beaten out of him by those who were supposed to love him. He was tough and strong and aggravating, but beneath all that he was also incredibly kind and protective of those he cared about. Somehow, in this great big mess, I had done something good enough to deserve him. 

I knew what I wanted to say to him, I knew it with every fiber of my being. I took a deep, centering breath and just focused on him. I focused on the way his thumb was tracing soothing circles on the smooth skin of my hand. On how he smelled like leather and oil and engines now, like he had when I first met him. How his hair fell forward into his eyes as he studied me with so much intensity it made him frown. 

"Dare I-" I started to say and he went so very still beneath my hands I froze as well. Something of my nerves must have shown in my eyes because he reached up cupped my cheek, his large hand was so warm. I licked my lips, trying to force the words out, but my mind all of a sudden was spinning back out of control as I lost my focus and I chickened out. There was no other way to say it. 

I was still afraid. Not of him, I knew how I felt about him and was almost positive I knew he felt the same way. Just like I knew he was probably waiting to tell me so he wouldn't scare me. Maybe there was something to what he was saying. Maybe I wasn't ready for the next step just yet. I was still afraid, I just didn't know of what. Tears swam in my eyes and I didn't know why. 

Daryl made a noise in the back of his throat, and jerked me roughly into the circle of his arms. He cradled my head in his hand, burying his fingers in my hair. His lips brushed the top of my head and I wondered if he had been able to see the dissonance in my eyes. Whether he knew precisely what was on my mind or not, he sensed what I needed. He held me for a long time, whispering quiet, soothing words. 

I stood in the circle of his arms for a long time before I trusted myself to speak. "When are you leaving?" I asked. 

He stiffened for a moment, surprised I had guessed. Not that I didn't think Daryl would be sweet and want privacy with me, but there had been some other motivation behind our trip. 

"Tonight," his voice rasped in my hair. "Late afternoon," he clarified. "Aaron wanted to go sooner, but I told him I needed time with you and to pack." 

I stiffened at that. I hadn't expected it to be so soon. Aaron had just asked him. 

"How long?" I asked. I worked hard to keep my voice neutral so I didn't sound like a distraught girlfriend. I knew who Daryl was and I knew what it meant when he told me he wanted to be a recruiter. He would be gone, a lot, for extended periods of time and it would be dangerous. What had happened with Aaron and Eric when they brought us in was proof of that. 

He frowned at my question and I knew instantly I wasn't going to like the answer. "Anywhere from three days to a week," he finally said. 

I felt my eyes widen. "A week?" I asked in disbelief. 

He nodded but he wouldn't meet my gaze. It took me a minute to realize he thought I was going to get mad at him. In fact he looked like he had resigned himself to weathering out the storm of my anger. Sometimes it felt good to still be able to surprise him. 

I let out a sigh and reached out, tangling my fingers in his. "Okay," I said smiling up at him. 

"Okay?" he asked cautiously. 

"Okay," I responded nodding. "But-" I said severely pointing a finger in his face. "I damn well better know which direction to come looking for you, because if you aren't back in a week to the minute I'm coming after you. Nothing is going to keep me here." 

His blue eyes were twinkling and there was a devastating smirk pulling at the edge of his lips when he responded. "Yes, ma'am."

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Holy cow, this chapter did not go where I thought it was going to! It sort of took on a life of its own. I hope you guys liked it! That will probably be slightly less domestic bliss in the future, things are about it hit the fan with Pete!