XLVI

—/<3/—

Rory sat alone in the watch tower that night, staring helplessly down at the walkers that wandered the fields aimlessly. She'd offered to take watch that night to get away from Merle's incessant yapping. There were other people that needed sleep more than she did, like Glenn, Maggie and Rick, who probably hadn't slept for days.

She rested her head on the railing in front of her with a sigh, trying her best to come up with any solution that could help them be rid of the governor just so they could live in peace. It was clear the man was not right in the head, he was overly violent and definitely had some sort of superiority complex, but hopefully Jonah could gather some useful intel.

She looked behind her when the hatch hinges creaked loudly and was surprised to see Daryl emerge.

"Hey," he said awkwardly.

"Hi."

Daryl sat beside her silently, letting out a harsh sigh when he watched a few more walkers from outside stumble through the broken gates, joining the others in the field.

"'M sorry 'bout this mornin', what Merle said."

"Why are you apologising? It's not like you said it." Rory glanced over at him, but his eyes remained on the gates.

"I know, but he's my brother, and what he said was messed up," Daryl said.

Rory shrugged. "Yeah, but you shouldn't be apologising for him. He's not sorry for saying that, I'm not sorry for hitting him and that's fine."

"So you ain't angry with me?"

"I'm mad at you because you tried to leave without saying anything. You've been avoiding me all day too."

"Because I thought you wouldn't want to talk to me no more, not after that. I didn't want..." Daryl paused to clear his throat, embarrassed. "I didn't want us to not be friends anymore just 'cause my brother's an idiot."

"You aren't him. You're two different people. Nothing Merle could ever do would put me off you, Daryl." Rory swivelled to face him.

Something clicked in him at that moment, and he realised that the dread he felt when he thought Merle ruined everything for him wasn't because he thought his friendship with Rory was broken, it was because he liked her. He'd entertained the idea before, they spent a lot of time together, he trusted her enough to let her use his crossbow and he was comfortable around her, but he'd never been in a proper relationship before, he didn't know how it worked or if he even really did like her, so he kept it to himself and hoped it would disappear.

But it seemed that everything she said was everything he needed to hear. He didn't want to be like Merle or his dad, he wanted to be better than that.

"Are you okay? You're zoning out," Rory said, waving her hand in front of his face.

Without thinking, Daryl leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips to hers, pulling away in a panic when Rory let out a surprised squeak. He stood up and tried to make his way back to the hatch to make his escape.

"you're just gonna kiss me and run away like we're in middle school?" Rory grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.

"I shouldn't have done that." Daryl sighed, refusing to meet her eye. "I ain't good enough for you, Rory."

"You don't get to tell me what's good for me, Dixon," Rory replied, stepping closer to him. "If you regret kissing me, that's fine. But don't tell me I'm not allowed to like you."

Daryl's eyes darted to her face, searching for any sign of dishonesty. "You like me?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Rory quirked an eyebrow.

"...No."

"Good." Rory let go of his arm and placed her hands on his cheeks. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him sweetly, properly this time. It took him a second but Daryl's hands moved to her hips and his eyes fluttered closed as he kissed back, shuffling closer to her.

They pulled away a moment later and Daryl's eyes were wide with disbelief. He moved his hands away slowly and cleared his throat yet again. "So, what does that mean? We together or somethin'?"

"Is that what you want?" Rory smiled.

"...Yeah, I guess."

"Then we're together," Rory said simply. She moved back towards the railings to keep an eye on the last remaining gate.

"Just like that?" Daryl asked, following her. "You're just my girl?"

"Just like that," Rory repeated, laughing lightly.

"Okay." Daryl nodded. Rory looked over and noted the small, giddy smile that decorated his face. She was sure that if she was able to see, Daryl's face would be red. "So, does that mean this is what you want too?"

"Do you think I would've said we're together if I didn't want to be?"

"No, but ya made it seem so simple, it kinda feels fake. And what about that Jonah guy? You were together 'fore all this, right?"

"The world's ended, Daryl, we don't have time to see where things go. If you want to be in a relationship and I want the same thing, we should do it. I dated Jonah when I was eighteen and it last less than a year, it didn't work out and we both moved on." Rory reached out and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, okay." Daryl let out a deep breath, placing his hand over hers.

"Now, are you gonna kiss me or what?" Rory teased him, expecting Daryl to get shy.

"Yes ma'am," he said instead and closed the distance between them with one step. He angled his head and kissed her with a newfound confidence that took Rory by surprise. A second ago, he was shy and awkward, but he'd managed to flip it around like it was nothing.

—/<3/—