Shane had always been a man of impulse and gut reflexes. He was ruled by emotion, an unbalanced force of action and reaction that had him in constant turmoil. It had always gotten him in trouble. Rick had always been his balancing factor. Throughout their childhood, Rick had always been the one to talk him down and then knock some sense into him. Constantly had his back and was always at his side to ground him and back him up on whatever crazy plan he had this go round, and fully prepared to get them out of it need be. When Rick got shot and fell into a coma that emotion exploded and then shoved its way deep down inside of him. Buried itself beneath the surface of his skin and bubbled, remaining just barely at the surface of his entire being until Rick waltzed into camp like a ghost and it began to boil over.
He'd kept himself in this constant state of lock down and allowed Lori and Carl to be his getaway. His escape. An outlet to calm himself through, though that violence still bubbled and burst out of him at the seams. Shane had done well in the beginning, as well as he could without someone adequate enough to balance out his brash, hot-heated nature. At least until Rick showed up like out of some shitty story book that left him the villain. He and Rick's dynamic wasn't built for the end of the world. It had been built for late nights in the cruiser swapping stories and guy nights at the bar and jumping fences and skinny dipping in the middle of the summer. For high school and girl problems and football. Not for the end of the damn world. Here, they just didn't fit. It was like trying to jam two different puzzle pieces together hoping to god they'd fit somehow.
Shane knew everyone saw him as some horrible guy, but, he began to realize, they always had when compared to Rick. Rick had this stupid hero/god complex. This need to save everyone and this desperation for everything to be just how he wanted it. Right under his thumb and in a neat little row just for him, and whenever it wasn't he questioned his existence. Shane knew all too well that, throughout his entire life, he'd always been shitty compared to his partner. Always been the play boy, flat nose, hot head compared to calm, sweet Rick. And, it was only when Rick pranced back in from the dead he began to realize how much it pissed him off.
Rick had always been perfect. Had the perfect family. A loving mother, a sheriff father who stayed and cared for him, and a perfect little sister with the sweetest smile and cutest dimples sister. And, this perfect house with a white picket fence and a huge backyard and these good grades and perfect smile and beautiful blue eyes and brown curls, whilst Shane got a shitty shack house and a mother who skipped town and a father who threatened but never touched and fucked with his head. The only good in his life had ever been his grandmother and the Grimes family, and fuck if he didn't resent Rick for his perfect life. Resented how much everyone loved him so much. Even if they were brothers until the end, Shane couldn't help the anger that toiled in his gut, especially in that one moment. The moment he stepped out of that truck alive, to once again show him exactly what he could never have.
Shane could admit it now. Maybe not out loud to Rick, but at least to himself. He'd been out of line. He'd gone half crazy trying to handle himself on his own. He'd been convinced that Rick's hero-complex would get everyone killed. Everyone Shane had saved and kept alive until then. But, now, he assumed it had been that resentment and jealousy that had left him warped, and, even if it had taken nearly three decades, he'd gotten over those feelings. Realized a lot of things and made peace with what his life had been and what it was now and what his priorities should be. He'd only accomplished that with the help of Daryl.
In the beginning, he hadn't taken too much of an interest in the male. Nothing past taking note of his whereabouts to make sure he wasn't fucking with the group or causing trouble. It was when Rick returned that his curiosity peaked. Without his brother to hide behind he was quiet and too himself, and, even though he'd remained about as friendly as your neighborhood stray, he made sure to do his part. He kept them fed, stayed at a distance, stayed on watch. He remained with them, which was something that had initially taken Shane by surprise. The archer had stayed hostile, though and had plenty of bark and enough bite to keep you wary, so Shane had stayed at arms length.
It wasn't until the farm he was able to get really close. They had their differences at the time, but Daryl remained pretty damn insistent on finding Sophia, so, though he thought it was a ghost hunt and out of more curiosity then hope of finding her, Shane had helped. They got closer gradually, and eventually it escalated to flings that were formed only due to Shane's mastery of agitation and Daryl's own short fuse at the time. A relationship risky at best and volatile at worst. After finally finding Sophia in the barn their relationship took a turn. Daryl showed a side none of them had seen before, not even when Merle wound up missing. It hadn't been pretty to say the very least. Shane had been the one to take a tentative step forward and calm down the redneck. Things only blossomed from there.
They never agreed on some sort of name. Never referred to one another in a way that was past anything more then partnership, but it was painfully obvious to everyone they become more then that. Of course they still managed to fight and sometimes it would result in a bloody nose or a black eye, but no love was ever lost between them. No hard feelings or grudges harbored due to the small quarrels. Daryl became his rock. His guiding light. And, fuck, the process had been so delicate. He'd never have thought, in the beginning, that delicate would ever be a word he'd use to describe Daryl Dixon, but there it was.
He'd think of it at the strangest of times. Sometimes when he was gliding his lips over the smooth, pale planes of his inner thighs or when they would curl into each other late at night and Daryl's features would fall lax and sated and he'd look so much younger and smaller then before. Like when he smiled as Judith played in his hair or giggled or reached for him. Or when he'd go out hunting with him and watch him in his element, at ease and gliding over the leaves with little noise, all sharp eyes and ears and completely serene, shrouded by a canopy of tree littered sunlight. Or occasionally when they had time to go slow and he'd fuck the man smooth and deep and careful, and these sweet noises would escaping the hunter's throat as his eyes fluttered shut and fingers twined in the sheets, eyelashes fanning out over his sharp cheekbones. He couldn't help but think of his partner as something delicate in those moments. Something precious. And, then a primal need to mark and claim his love would overtake him in a frenzied rush. A need to make sure Daryl would always remain his and only his. An assurance Daryl wouldn't leave.
He'd never exactly taken time out of the day to ponder his feelings for the Dixon until Alexandria. There had never been time until then. Never time to take a breath or to think about any future. There had only been time for the present, just barely enough time to act on instinct and split second urges. But, here, behind the walls of Alexandria, protected and a hell of a lot safer then out camping in some tree, you could think all you wanted. Hell, there was nothing to do but think. And, as had come to pass, Daryl consumed most of those thoughts.
They'd never really mentioned or pondered the nature of their relationship, but Shane was sure it wasn't as unhealthy as it had been in the beginning. They balanced each other now. Daryl took care of him. Helped him think things through on a rational level and bring him back down from bouts of rage or discomfort or grief. And, he, in turn, balanced out Daryl. Soothed over his scars and smoothed his worries and insecurities and kept him sane behind the walls. Comforted him through nightmares and Merle and Beth's deaths and that engrained voice in his skull that told him it was all his fault. That it was because of him they weren't alive. Hell, he'd even felt like he was responsible for Lori's death in a way. Like it was his fault they couldn't find a way around the emergency C-section. No, this thing they had wasn't bad at all. Far from it in his opinion. It was good. Good like Daryl. Pure and wholesome like Daryl. Like the sensation he got in his chest when he held the man or kissed him or just fucking looked at him. Yes, this had to be good.
These were his thoughts as his lazily trailed his lips up the hunter's torso, worshipping the pale skin with only his mouth and gentle caresses of his fingertips. Normally they'd be rutting together like dogs, overcome by the primal urge to fuck and fuck now, but now they had time. A luxury they'd never imagined they'd indulge in again and Shane was going to take every advantage he could from it while he had the chance. And, besides, the noises Daryl made when they went soft were always so sweet and breathy and it always made Shane's heart ache with affection. Made him want to bottle the noises up and play them on loop until he memorized them and the way Daryl's spine would arch into a graceful c shape and the way his hips would stutter back as if he was shorting out from all the pleasure and how he'd look up with damp eyelashes and give Shane a look that would center him completely. Let him known that he was Daryl's world as much as Daryl was his.
Brown flicked up to meet stormy blue and Daryl gasped as Shane's lips met his sensitive chest, tongue darting out to gingerly brush against a pink bud, a hand coming up to twine in his dark locks. The ex-deputy hummed at the sensation, the corner of his lips curling upwards before he lightly suckled the raised flesh, rewarded with a whine and a soft roll of Daryl's hips against his stomach.
"Like that, sweetheart?", he muttered warmly, pulling back only slightly to blow cool air against the little peak, watching it tighten further under the stimulation. He shifted his weight before caressing a thumb over the raised flesh, rolling it gently and rubbing at it.
Daryl didn't respond, merely shifted and whined softly in the back of his throat, chest shifting forward into the man's strong calloused hand. Shane huffed out a fond chuckle, eyes sweeping over the red flush that was creeping down his lover's chest, seeping out over his shoulders and over his collarbone. He hummed, obviously pleased by the sight, leaning down to press a kiss to the other's pulse point before laving his tongue over the soft flesh. The hunter writhed beneath him, his breath shuddering and fingers tightening around the dark curls of the deputy's hair, earning a soft growl and a bite. Shane took a moment to lavish the spot with attention until it began to darken, promising a nice sized mark, then pulled back to run his nose along the column of the brunette's throat, kissing and nuzzling here and there.
"Always so responsive for me, aren't you, baby?", he muttered lightly, mouthing at the concave where the hunter's shoulder and neck met. It was a completely rhetorical question – of course – and Shane gave his little archer no room to ponder the words, distracting him by wrapping a hand around the male's cock and giving it a slow upstroke. A careful movement that shifted from root to tip with just enough pressure to have Daryl squirming beneath him. "Yeah, always aching for me. Just me, isn't that right, sweetheart." Daryl's reaction to his words were confirmation enough, the shudder and the soft moan and the bucking of those slender hips. "Yeah, that's right, darlin'. I know. Know exactly how much you love bein' able to go slow like this. Feel every second. How much you miss me on those runs.", Shane purred, hand loosening before swirling around the archer's head. Daryl huffed and groaned quietly, dragging his hips forward before peering up at Shane through his overgrown bangs.
"Would you shut it, Walsh? Like you can't go a damn second without running your mouth.", he grumbled, with no real heat to his tone. Shane smiled knowingly, observing the red tint to the tops of his redneck's ears and knowing the words were less out of irritation and more out of embarrassment.
"Awh, c'mon now, sugar. I know you like my big mouth a lot more then you let on. Bet I could get you leakin' for me with just words, all desperate and squirmin' for my cock without ever touching you.", he teased, moving his hand away from the archer's member entirely and sliding them over the male's thighs, thumbs rubbing gentle circles into the pale flesh.
Daryl's face darkened further and he looked away with a scoff even though his dick twitched against his stomach in obvious interest. "Fuck off, Five-O..", he mumbled before gasping sharply and letting out a strangled whimper as Shane's mouth made contact with his balls. Shane chuckled warmly at the sound and lightly shifted his scruff against the sensitive skin. He looked up at Daryl with twinkling brown eyes before his tongue snuck forward to carefully draw an orb into the his mouth. The brunette cursed sharply and his hand flew down to once again bury itself in his hair, grasping it gently as his head fell back and hips rolled down. Shane drank in the sight for a moment, paying careful attention to his little archer before drawing back and licking a wet stripe up the underside of the male's cock.
"What was that, darlin'? Didn't quite catch that last part.", he muttered, earning a glare and a shove to his shoulder. The ex-deputy laughed warmly and shifted up to peck Daryl's lips before setting their foreheads together, smiling as the redneck relaxed into him nearly immediately. "You know I'm just playin', sweetheart….C'mon, help me get outta these clothes and I'm yours for the rest of the night.", he murmured warmly, sweeping a hand over the male's side before pressing their lips together again in a slow kiss. He hummed against the man's lips, lowering him back fully into the sheets and their mouths molded together, sighing blissfully as Daryl's fingers shifted to undo the buttons of his shirt. The man beneath him went slow, fingers moving in careful, calculated motions before he'd pause for a moment to caress the newly revealed skin.
They finally pulled apart for a breath so that Shane could toss the shirt away and sit up long enough for Daryl to manage open his belt and pants. With the freedom to shift without the cargos' zipper rubbing against his erection he dipped down again to kiss the archer, cupping his neck in both hands in order to hold him still as he thrust their tongues together. The other shuddered beneath him and keened lowly, his hands shifting to softly grasp the larger man's wrists before he pulled his head back, panting into the cool air of their bedroom. "Shane, fuck…Please….Don't make me wait, anymore..", Daryl breathed, his tone low and pleading and Shane felt heat pool in his gut at the words. He groaned faintly and shook his head before capturing Daryl's lips in one more sloppy kiss before he was moving up on his knees to shove his pants down. The ex-deputy managed to wrestle them off fairly quick, before he was reaching over to their bedside table drawer and rummaging about, clambering back onto the bed with a bottle of lube. "Took ya long enough. Been waitin' here for two years, nearly went soft.", his redneck teased earning a snort and a light kiss to the forehead.
"Don't worry, Princess. Won't have to wait much longer. Gonna stretch you out and spread you good and open for me before I fill you up and fuck you nice and slow, just how you like.", he replied simply, as casually as if they were speaking about the weather, but he was close enough to hear the soft gasp Daryl gave in response and see the way his eyebrows furrowed slightly in obvious arousal. Shane chuckled lowly and dipped his head down to peck the man's Adam's apple before kissing his way down to his chest again, paying it gentle attention to keep his hunter satisfied while he opened and warmed the lube. Daryl whimpered softly into the air when Shane's finger shifted to softly tease at his entrance, causing the ex-cop to smile against his skin and nip sweetly as he slowly pressed the digit into him. "Fuck, baby. You're so tight.", he breathed in awe, finger swirling lightly before easing deeper, "Always look so good for me, too. Spread out like this…Fuck, missed you.."
The younger Dixon shuddered and reached down to softly tug at the man's hair, guiding him up so their lips could meet whilst Shane took to carefully stretching the male. He kept the motions slow and methodical, swirling and hooking his fingers here and there and lightly rubbing at the archer's prostate, never giving him so much that he'd come, but enough to have him panting wetly between them and moaning out into the air desperately. The ex-deputy had made it up to three by they time they finally pulled back from their clumsy lip locking, and he pushed himself up so he could watch the male, groaning softly as the man writhed beneath him, pushing back against his hand.
The archer moaned weakly and arched, trying to gain enough leverage to take the fingers deeper before he whined and threw his arm over his eyes, sucking in shaky breaths. "Fuck, Shane...Shane…" He bucked and moved against the sheets as best he could, desperate and wanting underneath the larger. He shifted his arms to tightly grasp at Shane's shoulders and biceps and sides, anything to ground him as he went crazy against the sensation of Shane's skilled fingers right where he needed them most. "Shane…Fuck, need you, please. M'ready. Don't make me wait no more, please.", the archer hissed finally, the fire beneath his skin becoming too much to bare and the look Shane giving him only fueling his desperation.
The ex-cop hummed in a soft reply, and nodded, massaging his fingers hard against the archer's prostate before slipping them out slowly, watching fondly as the smaller shuddered and whimpered at the loss. "I know, princess. I know. Sssh. I got you. I'm right here, baby girl.", he murmured, tugging the male a little further down the bed by his thighs, "I'm gonna take care of you, sweetheart. Just a little more." Daryl keened at the words and endearments, shifting his legs a little further apart and urging Shane closer to him. The man chuckled warmly and moved out of the archer's grasp only long enough to lube up his cock before he was stooping down and gathering Daryl up in his arm, pressing soothing kisses to his neck.
The hunter paused for a moment and Shane pulled back slightly, giving the man a questioning and concerned expression before he was eased with a light kiss. "Slow?", the redneck breathed quietly, as if scared to ask, a sentiment that made Shane feel warm in a way that had nothing to do with arousal. Even after all the time they'd been together, his little archer was still nervous when it came to asking for things, even sexual things. He'd still get shy even though they'd bedded hundreds of times. Still flush when Shane called him 'gorgeous' or 'sweetheart' or 'baby'. Still remained so pure and innocent and endearingly skittish over certain things.
Shane gazed at the male lovingly for a moment, eyes sweeping over his features with an expression that was shrouded wholly in admiration. Took a second to rememorize the little mole above his top lip and the light scruff covering his cheeks and those beautiful stormy blues. He let out a gruff sound and slipped down to kiss the male slow and deep, drawing him just slightly closer before breaking off with a nod.
"Yeah, baby. Slow.", he breathed situating the male's lower half on his thighs, taking only a moment to take in the look the male gave him before beginning to carefully press into his lover. He let out a shaky exhale and pressed his forehead to Daryl's as he eased in, watching his features scrunch up at the sensation of being stretched. He cursed softly when he hit home, his hand coming up to brush through Daryl's hair, smoothing it back with a gentle hand. "So beautiful…So good for me..", he whispered, causing the archer's eyes to flutter open and lock with his own punch drunk browns.
The hunter let out a shaky breath and leaned his head into the touch before slowly rolling his hips against Shane's causing the man to groan and buck forward gently. "Please, Shane." The words were whispered delicately, barely there, but breathed out in a tone that made the larger male's chest ache. He hummed out a gruff noise, raspy and low, and moved forward to meld their mouths together, arms encasing his beloved protectively as his hips began to cant forward. Daryl's soft moans were lost between them, swept away or drunken down by Shane as they began to rock together in careful, smooth motions, bodies sliding against one another, slick with sweat.
Eventually Shane broke the kiss, wetly mouthing his way down Daryl's jaw before burying his nose in the male's neck, inhaling his scent. He smelled of the outdoors. Of damp, dew covered Earth and sweet pine. Of the changing of seasons and crisp wind. He smelled like home. Something from before the apocalypse. That one piece of the puzzle he'd never been able to grasp. That missing half of him. Shane groaned and mouthed at the male's shoulder, mind drifting back to a year or two ago when this had been purely for a release. Back when he wasn't allowed to touch his back or see it. Back when Daryl couldn't bare his chest being touched and barely allowed his hips to be messed with. Back when the shirt never came off. The thought made him cant his hips a bit faster and his hold on the man to tighten. He buried his face in the male's neck, held him dearly against his chest as they intertwined, muttering soft praises against his skin, promises and fears and proclamations of love, things he'd said a million times and would say a million more times.
A hand stroked through his hair and his words tipped off as the male held him, cradled him gently compared to the vicelike grip Shane had on him. Lips pressed to his forehead and moans and pants reached his ears like the notes of a symphony, sounding as if each played individually first sounded like a song all its own and then all played together morphed into something to beautiful for words. A sudden desperation creeped up his spine and he gingerly bit down on the male's collarbone, creating a small hickey before he commenced to litter Daryl's neck with them, holding him still while he worked.
"Mine, Daryl…All mine…Only I can see you like this. Do this to you. Only me. Isn't right, baby? You're all mine, aren't you sweetheart. C'mon..Tell me..Say it…You're mine..", he rasped lowly, slowing his thrusts down, but hardening them, forceful motions that had Daryl gasping and arching against him. Normally he kept his possessive side under watch. He was always careful to remain within his lover's comfort zone and he knew how protective he could be, but occasionally it would bubble over the surface, driven by insecurities and fears left by his mother and father and Lori. A need to know Daryl was his. A need to claim him. Hold him close and protect him and that Daryl would always be his.
The archer nodded shakily, head bobbing up and down, forcing his eyes open to lock with Shane's against the onslaught pleasure. "Y-your's...Only ever been your's…Oh..oh, fuck. Fuck. Shane. I'm gonna come if you kee- Fuck-shit-I can't.." And, Shane could see it, feel the way the male was tensing around him, how his muscles were going taunt and inside tightening against his cock. Noticed the tell tale hitch in his breath and the scrunch of his brow that always signaled orgasm. Knew this man as well as he knew himself and his own body. He'd known the moment Daryl tugged him into bed that the archer wouldn't last long. Knew he was too high strung because of the walls and the people and how their group was adapting.
"Go on, baby. Don't have to hold back. Come for me..", he murmured softly, pressing their foreheads together and speeding up his thrusts once more, hand shifting from under the male to fist at the smaller male's cock. The noises the action elicited only drove Shane closer to the edge, and he felt the moment Daryl's body let loose. The moment his body changed to a different tension entirely. He watched in blissful awe as the man arched and came between them. Took in every soft curve and sharp angle and dip and divot of the male's form while at the peak of release.
He fucked Daryl straight through it with long, hard, deep strokes until he finally hunched forward and groaned out into Daryl's neck, burying himself deep within the man and curling close to his warm, sated form. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, just laid out against one another warmed by shared body heat even as their sweat cooled, catching their breath. Daryl's fingers remained twined in his hair, rubbing at his scalp here and there and Shane's lips would trail delicately over what skin he could reach without turning his head. Eventually though, they drew apart, Shane slipping out of Daryl's body with a shudder and fetching one of their discarded shirts to lightly mop up the mess between them before settling into the blankets with a pleased sigh, pulling Daryl close so he could wedge himself comfortable under the ex-deputy's arm.
The curly haired male hummed to himself, caressing his fingers over the darkening marks that littered Daryl's neck and collarbone, looking a little too pleased with himself. "That oughta keep Aaron and Eric off of ya. And, any one else for that matter.", he mutter causing Daryl to roll his eyes lightly, though his lips tilted up in amusement.
"Don't have to mark me up to keep people away. Like I said before. It's only ever been you. It'll only ever, always be you. Ain't got anything to worry about. Now, shut up and got to sleep. I want a round two in at least an hour and you look like your already about to quit on me.", the archer muttered offhandedly, stretching out lightly before tangling their legs together and nestling his nose into the male's neck.
The words made Shane huff out a laugh, but also warmed him, spread this relief through his being that allowed him to dose off easily with the other man curled into him, fiddling with the necklace resting on his chest. Everything was right in the world with Daryl at it's side.