Daryl guided the RV around a wreck in the road as he followed the car Rick drove with Aaron, Michonne and Judith as passengers toward this supposed wonderland, Alexandria.
He didn't know if he trusted his Aaron jerk. Sure, he seemed all sincere, even after Rick punched him out. But some of the worst people they'd met in the apocalypse had played at being nice to get their trust. Before they, y' know, drove a tank through their fences or tried to slaughter them like pigs for food. And how could they trust someone so clean cut? Who the hell cared how they looked these days? The guy looked like a GQ model for fuck's sake.
If it were him trying to save people who then punched him out and tied him up, he would have told them to go fuck themselves and took his damn apple sauce with him. Maybe Aaron wasn't yet jaded enough in this world to withhold second chances though. And they had saved his boyfriend Eric for him, which was y' know nice of them and all.
Still, he was nervous. He and his family had saved their own asses in many godawful situations, but they had also lost many people along the way. Blonde hair and green eyes flashed through his mind and he squashed the thought before it could really take hold.
This was not the time to dwell on those lost. He had to stay focused.
All those times they'd busted out of dangerous situations before though, he and the family had been in much better shape. Now though, they'd been walking for weeks on little food or water in blazing heat up until that barn. They were weak and exhausted. He knew they were a strong group, capable, but they were truly beaten down right now, physically and emotionally, with little hope for the future.
Rick had said the main thing that had gotten his suspicions aroused at other places they'd been to like Woodbury and Terminus, had been the complete silence outside the supposed safe compounds. There had been little evidence of normal life going on. If somewhere was truly a safe zone, there'd be signs of life. Of people working together to get through the daily chores or children's chatter, as there had been at the prison, or at the farm.
Daryl knew Rick had instincts about things like that more than the average person. He didn't know if that was from his police training, or if Rick was just a particularly observant and smart survivor. Either way, it was part of what made him a good leader, and Daryl had learned long ago to trust Rick's gut. He knew Rick had doubts sometimes about his own capabilities, and Daryl, whilst realistic about the fact that Rick wasn't infallible and could well misplace his sanity again, he still trusted Rick's intuition more than anybody else's that he knew.
It was with that in mind that he watched Rick closely as they pulled up to the gates of Alexandria.
"No one gets out until Rick gives the nod" he said gruffly to the passengers in the RV. Despite Eric's mild protest that there was nothing to worry about, the family watched for Rick's reaction carefully. After a long pause, they saw Rick roll down his window, and then finally, finally, he got out of the car. He looked back to the RV and gave a nod. He looked wary and just this side of unhinged, but he was willing to get out of the car and was now reaching for Judith too. No way he would do that if he didn't have a decent feeling about the place.
As he walked toward the gate, with Rick's concerns about compounds with a lack of noise at the front of his mind, it was somewhat of a relief to hear children playing behind that gate. People chattering and even a dog barking. This must have been what gave Rick the final push to have a little faith in Aaron and this place.
As the gate opened Daryl noticed an opossum nosing in the grass nearby and neatly shot it through the eye with his crossbow.
He saw several people looking at him. His own family were completely unfazed, but the Alexandrians at the gate looked rather disturbed by the rough looking redneck's casual murderous expertise.
Daryl shrugged and picked up the opossum by its tail.
"Brought lunch" he said, unsurprised by their reactions. People had been looking down on him since birth. He wouldn't let a little polite meet and greet stop him from feeding his family when the hunting had been so scarce lately. If anything, you'd think the Alexandrians would be happy to observe a new potential resident's hunting skills.
As Daryl and the others walked through the gates, Daryl snorted as he looked around at the neighbourhood he found himself in. In his wildest dreams he never thought he'd live in a place like this. The houses were huge, the lawns mowed and the people? Well-kept and way too soft for this world. Might as well call them walking dead too.
How in the hell was this all still here? How did these people get to be so lucky that they'd not been invaded, overtaken or overrun? They'd had a prison, fortified and strong. They'd had weapons and tough people on watch and they'd lost it all to a madman! These people didn't even have anyone looking out over the gate to see who was there before they opened the damned thing! He and Rick shared a look. If they were going to stay, the security needed to be sorted out and quickly.
There was a small argument over whether or not they could keep their weapons, Aaron assuring them that no one was armed inside the walls. They had limited ammo left for the guns anyway, and the family knew they could best those they'd seen so far with only knives and even bare hands if needs be, so they let their guns be taken to the armoury.
"Deanna will want to interview you all one at a time" said Aaron. "I'll show you to the houses you can share in the meantime. I'm sure you want to stay close to each other".
Daryl trailed at the rear of his family group, keeping an eye on their backs as he liked to do in unfamiliar situations. The residents of Alexandria stared at them from their McMansions as they walked passed. Some sat on their porches drinking tea or some shit while they gossiped. Probably about how the level of the neighbourhood was dropping once they spotted Daryl. Daryl snorted at his own thought, but part of him kept wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. Where was the bad guy? When was he going to jump out at them and try to kill them all?
Father Gabriel decided to split from the group to go and see Alexandria's version of a church. None of them tried to stop him. The man was a coward and looked down on the group constantly for the things they'd had to do to survive. They'd watched out for him on the road, as decent human beings would, but he wasn't family.
They reached the end of a row of houses and Aaron gestured to the two last ones in the row, two huge white houses, standing next to each other. "These are both four bed houses, so they should be sufficient for all of you. We have other places free if any of you do want to live elsewhere, just let me know. We'll get you some a welcome box from the pantry in a bit which has the essentials, and I'll introduce you to Olivia in the stock room for anything else you need".
The family looked disconcerted at the pristine white houses with their wraparound porches and perfectly manicured lawns. Welcome boxes? Anything else they needed? They were beginning to think they'd maybe died in that tornado and gone to heaven. How could a home and food just land in their laps otherwise?
They began to cautiously make their way up the steps to the first house, keeping an eye on their surroundings as they did. As they moved forward, they heard a sudden intake of breath from behind and spun around. There a woman stood, short and voluptuous with dark blonde hair and pretty green eyes, currently looking at them with shock.
"Can I help you?" asked Rick, clearly wondering why the woman was staring at them in such a manner. But actually, she wasn't staring at all of them, just Daryl. Rick huffed, annoyed. Seriously the amount of people who underestimated or misjudged Daryl for his appearance was ridiculous. And why did it still matter what the hell the man wore? They all wore whatever the hell they could find that vaguely fit most of the time now and they were grateful for it! "Is there a problem Miss?" he asked, sharply.
The woman didn't respond to Rick, but she took a step forward.
"Daryl?" she whispered.
Rick and the family looked at Daryl in surprise. How did she know him? Did he know her? One look at the hunter answered that question. His face slack with shock as he stared wide eyed back at her, his crossbow hung loosely from his fingers before he shockingly dropped it to the floor.
The woman's eyes welled with tears which began to track down her face. She moved suddenly then, lurching forward towards Daryl much like a walker would, before touching a hand to Daryl's face.
Daryl jerked back with a gasp like he'd been shot, but he didn't go far. His hands shakily rose to touch the woman's arms, then shoulders, then neck and then cupped her face.
"Em?" he whispered. The woman began to sob in earnest and buried her face in Daryl's neck, holding him to her tightly as he gulped, and then began to shush her gently while tears tracked down his own face.
"Daryl!" the woman moaned with a strangled sob and then Daryl's legs just seemed to quit on him and he collapsed to the floor, the woman held tightly in his lap. He buried his face in her shoulder and the pair rocked together in comfort.
"Daryl" the woman said again "I can't believe it's you! I didn't think I'd ever see you again".
Daryl pulled back slightly to look the woman in the eyes. "I thought I'd lost ya" he whispered. "I thought you were gone, Em". He shook his head slightly at all the words and questions flooding his mind as he tried to get them out. He stroked the tears from her cheeks and smoothed her hair back from her face and said the only words that were important. "Look at you. Y'ain't changed a bit. Y' so beautiful, Em".
The woman, Em, gave him a watery smile "You got a bit of grey in your beard" she teased, touching a finger to his chin.
Daryl snorted through his tears and tried not to smile "Shut up" he said, gruffly and Em chuckled.
Daryl sobered and sighed. "I missed ya so much" he said in his raspy voice. "So much, and I didn't want to live without ya". He shook his head at Em's gasp. "I knew you'd be pissed at me if I just quit. So, I kept gettin' up and carryin' on, even when I could barely breathe f' the hurt of losin' ya".
"I missed you, baby" sobbed Em. "I can't believe you found me after all this time. I left Boston as soon as it was obvious it was getting bad, and I tried and tried, but I couldn't get home to you. By the time I made it to Virginia and Aaron found me, I couldn't go on anymore. The road was killing me. I had to stop, baby. I had to rest. I'm so sorry".
Daryl shook his head, then pressed his forehead against hers to look deeply into her eyes. "There was eight states between us. F'r all we knew, both of us was dead. Y' did so good darlin', gettin' so far".
Em smiled a watery smile and pressed her lips to Daryl's in a kiss which quickly deepened. They kissed for several minutes, reconnecting after so long apart. Em drew back to gasp a quick breath and as she did, she noticed the group Daryl had come in with were standing around the couple, not watching them, but keeping watch around them.
"Um, babe? What…?" she waved her hand, indicating the group.
Daryl glanced at his family surrounding them and shrugged. "That's our family" he said. He shook his head, he couldn't believe he'd been so oblivious to any possible dangers around them as he reunited with Em. Thank god for his family watching his back. He stood, pulling Em to her feet and cleared his throat. The family turned to look at him with a mixture of emotions on their faces. Shock and amusement being top of the pile.
Rick tilted his head curiously at the couple, clearly questioning Daryl without words.
Daryl shrugged and put his arm around Em, drawing her closer to his side. "This' my wife. Em" he stated in his usual simplistic style, but he shot a soft smile toward her, more love and affection in that one glance than any of the family had ever seen from him before.
There was a stunned silence before the questions started. Daryl had never mentioned having a wife, but then he'd never mentioned much of his life before the apocalypse at all. Daryl frowned at the barrage of questions thrown at them and quickly lost his patience with them.
"Okay!" he yelled, silencing them. "Em and I have got married straight outta high school. Em was in Boston visitin' some of 'er family when the world went ta shit and I thought I lost 'er. 'T's why I never said nothin' about 'er. Weren't none o' your damn business".
The family knew Daryl well enough to understand that his gruff statement was actually to cover up the world of grief and pain he'd been going through.
After a moment's silence Rick stepped forward, patted Daryl on the back said "Well, hell, it's nice t' meet ya Em". The rest of the family joined in greeting Daryl's wife, still shocked that she existed, but happy for their brother. The man deserved some happiness in his life after being nothing but their protector and provider for so long.
"I don't want to interrupt the reunion" said Aaron, a wide smile on his face "but Deanna is ready for the first interview. Rick, if you wouldn't mind coming first?"
Rick's scowl returned as he refocused on their current situation. He sent Daryl another look, which the hunter understood and turned to his wife.
"Em, who are these people? Is it safe to stay?" he asked.
Em looked at Aaron "Could you give us a minute, Aaron? Let me take them inside and tell them what we're about here. It might make things go a little smoother?"
Aaron agreed and Em led the way into the first house, before Daryl pushed her gently behind him as he and the others quickly cleared the house. Eventually he returned to Em.
"Ain't gone in a house without makin' sure it's clear in months. Ain't likely to any time soon neither".
Em nodded and hugged him in understanding. She'd had a hell of a journey to Virginia herself. She understood how her husband and this group felt suddenly thrust into a new place surrounded by strangers.
They all settled into the living room, Abe and Rosita standing guard by the window and door as was the habit of the group.
"Can you tell us Em? Can I trust these people with my family?" asked Rick, his gaze on her intense.
Em sighed and settled herself down on Daryl's lap, his arms winding around her automatically and feeling so good after such a long time apart.
She shook her head trying to gather her thoughts. "They're… like children" she started. "Most of them have been behind these walls since it all started and they're living in a bubble. I don't know why they haven't been overrun, or attacked by other people yet, but it's probably only a matter of time".
"They ain't gon' try ta eat us then?" asked Daryl with a frown.
"What?!" gasped Em.
The others pieced together an outline of the things they'd been through getting to Alexandria so far for Em and she grasped Daryl's hands tightly. God she'd come so close to losing him, so many times, and had never known. Would never have known. Her journey had been eventful to say the least, but she hadn't run into cannibals, thank god.
She nodded thoughtfully, coming to the realisation of what she'd have to tell them. The people of Alexandria had been good to her, but her loyalty was with her husband, always.
She took a deep breath. "Okay" she sighed. "We've got two choices". None of the group missed how she automatically included herself in their family and watched as Daryl smiled faintly and kissed her shoulder. "We either stay here, fortify Alexandria, take it over if we have to. Or, we stay a few days, let you guys regain your strength, take what we need from this area and go. I know a place we can make a home. I came through it on the way here but kept moving south to try and get home".
"You think we'd have to take this place over?" asked Michonne, concerned. She'd been the one to convince Rick they had to try Alexandria at least. She felt the weight of that decision on her shoulders heavily. It was just a small part of what Rick went through daily making decisions for the group.
Em shrugged. "I've tried to warn them what the world is like out there. Tried to show them, but they don't listen. Maybe with you guys trying as well…" she shook her head and turned to look at Daryl. "There's a group I ran into, not too far from here. Call themselves the Saviours. They're run by this psychopath called Negan". Em looked down and swallowed. "I was with another group for a while. We were set up in an old school about fifty miles from here. The Saviours just showed up one day and demanded half our stuff every week. There were so many of them, all armed to the teeth. Negan has this bat wrapped in barbed wire. He calls it Lucille. He bashed in two of my friend's heads, then took myself and a few others back to their compound. They call it the Sanctuary". Em bit her lip as her eyes welled with tears. "It's no Sanctuary" she whispered.
"What happened?" said Daryl, gruffly, clearly imagining the worst.
"The Sanctuary works on a points system. Work for points and points equal food and other necessities. And it's a hard system. Most of the people there are close to starving and if you can't work, well then you die. You're either a worker or a soldier. Or, you're a wife. Negan gave us women the option of being one of his wives" she said, her lips twisted on the word option. "He says it like it's actually optional, that he don't hold with rape, but if you don't do what he wants, he hurts your family".
"Did he…?" started Daryl.
Em shook her head "I had nothing for him to hold over me. I barely knew the group I was with and besides he was more interested in one of the other women, Sherry. She was married to a guy called Dwight and had a sister with diabetes too. Medicine requires a lot of points. She had to do it to save them both. And I guess with his interest in her, I wasn't so important. I played along, followed the rules and gained their trust. I showed them I could hunt and eventually they let me go out with just one guard to hunt for them". Em looked down "I killed him. That guard." she whispered. "I was going to run anyway just as soon as I saw the opportunity. But he saw the hunt as an opportunity to try and rape me, so I killed him and took off".
Daryl hugged her tightly to him for a moment and kissed her head. "It was you or him darlin'. Ya did what ya had to".
Em nodded with a sigh. "Anyway, Aaron and Eric found me a few days later". She snorted a small laugh "I punched him and ran off, not willing to trust another group so soon".
The group laughed and Em looked at them in confusion. Rick looked a bit embarrassed "I punched him too" he said with a wry smile.
"Knocked 'im the fuck out" snorted Daryl.
Em giggled "Poor Aaron. He really does mean well. He deals with the dead so well, but he's still naïve about people in this world".
"So how did you end up here?" asked Michonne.
"I tracked them back here and spied on them for a while. They had no clue I was hanging around their walls for days. Even snuck in one night for a closer look. When I saw they were harmless, I decided to knock on the gate and stay for a while. It's easy to fall into the bubble where you feel safe here, with the hot running water and regular meals. They even have a doctor, even though he's a complete asshole. Some people here have probably not even seen a walker up close" she shook her head in disbelief.
She looked at Daryl and then Rick, seeing he was the leader of their group "Thing is, when I was at the Sanctuary, I learned a lot about what the Saviours do. They basically terrorise communities into doing their scavenging or farming for them. If they don't produce, people get killed or maimed. They've got so many people and so many weapons. Most communities don't stand a chance, and it's only a matter of time before they find Alexandria".
Rick nodded and looked lost in thought, a slight hint of crazy in his eyes.
"What'cha thinkin' Rick?" asked Maggie.
"We could take this place" said Carol, interrupting, and Em looked at her in surprise. Carol seemed meek and mild, like the weak link of the group, but she could see the steel in her eyes now. This woman was no weak link.
Rick nodded, his eyes darting around his family and his children. His grip tightened minutely on the sleeping baby in his arms. His jaw tightened as he considered the threat these Saviours would pose to this community. He wouldn't let his family get hurt and if that meant he had to take over this place, to make it strong… he would kill anyone that stood in the way of keeping his children safe if he had to…
"Rick" said Michonne softly and she placed a hand on his arm. She could see from the wild look in his eyes that he was descending into the insane Rick that would violently protect the family at all costs.
He looked at her startled. More and more he was taking Michonne's counsel on what they should do. He knew he was prone to overreact in protection of his family. Michonne had the ability to make him pause to consider his actions twice.
"Rick, we don't have to hurt these people" she said gently.
Maggie nodded "I know we're all tired, Rick. We need a place to just stop moving, like we had at the prison, but are we those people?" she asked. "We had our home ripped from us by a madman. If we do that to the Alexandrians. We're the madmen".
"It's how the world is now" said Sasha quietly, but with a fierce tone to her voice. The woman was still furious with the world after the rapid-fire loss of both Bob and her brother. Why should anyone else have the luxury of staying safe?
"Dad, we should go" said Carl, and Rick looked at him sharply. Carl was maturing faster than any kid should have to and was often the last voice of reason that Rick could listen to. "I don't want to hurt these people like the Governor hurt us". He nodded towards Em "Daryl's wife says she knows somewhere else we could go, we should do that".
Rick sighed "I want this place" he said in a rough voice. "I want this place, these walls. This bubble. For you, Carl. For Judith. For all of us".
"Where's the place you know, Em?" Daryl asked, softly. He wasn't disagreeing with Rick, but he wanted to hear the options that didn't require the family and his wife, to go to war.
"I travelled down the coastline for a bit in New Jersey and finally took a small sail boat, thinking I'd sail down the coast. I had food and water aboard. I kinda hoped I'd make it to Georgia by sea, all by myself". She shook her head looking amused "I didn't take into account that I had no idea how to sail a boat, especially when I got hit by a storm and lost my sail". She smirked at Daryl who looked faintly horrified. "I'm definitely better in the forest that I am on the water" she chuckled, earning a small, if slightly disturbed smile from him. "So anyway, I got blown way off course and ended up on an island. There's a small hotel on there and a bit of farmland, but that's it. It's mostly forest. There's a few walkers, but nothing I couldn't avoid and no people. It must have fallen early and there was only one way on and off the island, unless you wanted to climb cliffs. It would be easy to clear the walkers bit by bit and it's easily defensible. We could use boats to explore up rivers and along the coastline for scavenging. We could fish, farm and there's small game on the island too".
"Where is the island?" asked Maggie.
Em bit her lip and grimaced a little, knowing they might be put off by the distance. "Chesapeake Bay, in the Pokomoke Sound" she replied.
Michonne leaned forward and squeezed Rick's hand "We should go, Rick" she said earnestly. "We could stay here for a few days, play nice until we are strong again and go".
Rick shook his head "It's gotta be over a hundred miles away" he said, looking around at the group. "Another hundred miles of travelling, meeting god knows what with my children possibly dying of starvation, thirst or walkers". He looked at Daryl "We could stay here. Make it strong. Fight these Saviours if we have to".
"We've gone further before" said Maggie. "We could use this place as a base as we scavenge supplies to move on with. Be ready for the road this time".
Rick nodded, but still looked at Daryl, wanting his opinion.
Daryl nodded "We could take this place" he agreed. "But y'know we shoulda killed the Governor when we had the chance instead of tryin' ta reason with the psycho. From what Em says, Negan ain't even tryin' ta pretend he's a good guy. An' his army is fifty times the size o' the Governor's too. If he finds us, we wouldn't stand a chance".
"What if we get to the island and other people have taken it already?" asked Abe. "Then we're up the fuckin' creek, sorry fuckin' Bay, without a paddle and back to square fuckin' one".
"There's lots of islands in the Sound" said Rosita. "If that one doesn't work out, we could probably find another".
Abraham shook his head "Probably is a shit prize for a hundred miles more of sore feet, dehydration and a fuck ton of walkers".
"Not if we took a boat down the Potomac River" said Glenn. "Walkers don't drown, but they can't swim with purpose either. It would be safer than the roads".
"We should do it, Dad" said Carl. "This place gives me the creeps".
"If Em could spy on the Alexandrians and even get in the walls without being detected, then anyone could" said Rosita. "No offense" she said in an aside to Em, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"These walls are great against the walkers, but against people? Did you see those struts outside the walls?" asked Abraham. "Might as well be ramps with Goddamn welcome mats on them. It would take a lot of work to fortify this place against people".
"And if we already know there's a group not too far away who would attack…" said Maggie. "I don't want to fight if we don't have to, Rick. I want to find this island, try to live in peace".
"But we know what enemy we're facing here" said Sasha.
"Yeah, an enemy we probably couldn't defeat" said Glenn. "If we could go back in time and just avoid ever meeting the Governor, isn't that what we'd do?"
Rick sighed and looked around the group, his eyes landing on Michonne.
"We can do this, Rick. We can rest here, get strong again, get supplies together and then go" she urged, putting her hand on his arm. "If these people can't be helped, if they don't want to be helped, then we may as well consider them as walking dead already. But I don't want to be the one to kill them".
Rick nodded and sighed. "Okay". He looked at Em "Are ya sure you can find this island again? Findin' an island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay doesn't seem like an easy thing to do".
Em nodded confidently "I can" she said. "I stayed there a while and explored the areas around it while I was scavenging, and I'm good with a map. I know I can find it again".
Rick looked to Daryl as if asking his opinion.
"If Em says she can find it, then she can" Daryl agreed with a sure nod.
Rick straightened, decision made now everyone had their say. "Okay" he nodded. "We stay for a while, make nice and get strong while we gather supplies, but then we move on to Em's island. Everyone good with that?".
There was a general murmur of consent, some more confident than others.
"It's the right decision, Dad" said Carl, soberly. "Bubbles burst. We know that too well. It's not going to be long before the bubble bursts here. They've been too lucky already".
Rick nodded and gently squeezed the back of Carl's neck. His son was growing up way too fast.
"I guess I'd better get over to this Deanna for my interview. Any advice Em?" he asked.
"She was a politician" replied Em with an eye roll. "Thinks she knows how to govern the world as it is, but really doesn't. Thinks she reads people better than she does, but she means well and she's smart. Stick to the truth as much as possible".
Half of the family decided to go with Rick and wait outside this Deanna's house for their own turn. It seemed foreign to allow their leader to go off to meet another alone, even if they'd been told she was truly non-threatening.
Abraham turned to Em as they got left behind. "So, can you tell us places to scavenge around here?" he asked.
Em nodded. "Yeah. I've been building my own stockpile of stuff anyway for when I moved on, from hunting and scavenging. It's not enough for the whole group to live on for long though".
"Didn't you have to share what you brought back in the gates?" asked Rosita.
Em shrugged with a smirk "I gave them a bit, but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them, right?"
Daryl's eyes wrinkled in amusement and he leaned in to kiss her briefly. "My smart girl" he praised, and she blushed prettily.
Abraham rolled out a map of the local area he'd taken from the RV and together they poured over the best possible scavenging spots.
"These are places I couldn't hit on my own and the Alexandrians have avoided because they're overrun with walkers" said Em, pointing to a couple of big superstore's locations. "But with some experienced help and a decent plan, I think we could do it. I'm sure these places are gold mines".
"We'd need to find somewhere to hide the supplies outside of the walls if we get a big haul" said Rosita.
"Already done" said Em and tapped on two different spots either side of Alexandria. "There's a house tucked away in the woods here with a cellar. And there's a run-down barn here with a hayloft".
"Smart" said Abraham "Keeping two like that, in case everythin' went to shit, right?" he asked.
"Yeah" nodded Em. "Been cut off from supplies by herds of the dead before and learned my lesson" she said with an eyeroll.
Rosita smiled at the other woman "I see who got all the brains in this relationship" she teased.
Daryl snorted "Ain't that a fact" he said in full agreement of the woman's teasing, and kissed Em again.
Eventually the other half of the group had to go for their interviews too, and Daryl dragged Em along with him. He didn't particularly want to have this damn interview, but there was no way he was letting Em out of his sight anytime soon, so she'd just have to go with him.
The others had warned him that Deanna was going to film the interview and that her questions seemed relatively harmless. She tried to protest Em's participation at first, but soon allowed it with a shrug, seeming pleased for the couple's reunion. She also appeared slightly aggrieved by Daryl's appearance at first, but having Em on his lap warmed the surly man no end and whilst she got few words out of him, it was clear he was utterly devoted to Em. Any man that showed that much devotion to his wife couldn't be bad, no matter how much of a rough-neck he looked. She put Daryl on the hunting team with Em, realising they would go together no matter what she offered. And fresh meat was always welcome for the residents of the town.
After their meeting, Daryl walked Em back to the house she'd shared with two other women to pick up her things. She would move in to the big houses with Daryl and the family now. They held hands as they walked through the streets, and most of the local residents stared at them. A few were brave enough to come and speak to Em with her rough looking man, but Em hadn't ever tried to make friends in Alexandria before Daryl showed up, as she'd always intended to leave, and wouldn't change that now either.
The group had originally decided to stay in one house, but since Em had reassured them that they were in no danger from the residents of the town, and they trusted her as an extension of Daryl's obvious trust in her, so they spread over the two houses instead. After eating the biggest meal that the family had had in a long time, they took the opportunity to clean themselves up with showers in their respective houses and fresh changes of clothes.
Em put her duffel bag down in one of the double rooms she was to share with Daryl and sat on the bed waiting for him to get out of the shower. He was probably showering as fast as he could, but she struggled with the small separation so soon after they'd reunited.
Finally, the bedroom door opened, and Daryl stepped in wearing just a towel and a shirt thrown over his shoulders to cover his scars from the rest of his family, in case they saw him. They all knew the scars were there, but he was never comfortable having them on display.
He closed the door and walked straight to Em as he entered the room, pushing her backwards so she lay on the bed and climbing over her. He lay on top of her, braced on his arms as he leaned down to kiss her thoroughly.
"That was too long" he eventually said, panting. "Too long to be away from ya".
Em nodded "I know" she whispered and reached up to pull him back into another kiss. They kissed deeply, over and over and Em gasped as Daryl's erection made itself known through his towel, pressing against her jean clad pussy.
"Daryl" she moaned softly. "Want you".
Daryl raised his head to look at her, his hips continuing their slow grind against her, unable to help himself.
"Y'sure?" he asked. "It's been a long time darlin'. I can wait if it's weird for ya".
"Daryl I've missed you so bad, baby. I want you inside me".
Daryl groaned and pressed his cock harder against her. "I love ya, Emmaline" he growled and bent to kiss down her neck to her collarbone, nibbling slightly on the protrusion.
He stripped off his towel and shirt without fanfare, then helped her strip her clothes quickly, delighting in each inch of skin he revealed. He kissed new marks and scars he wasn't familiar with as well as old ones, lovingly and thoroughly before pushing her legs apart and kissing her mound.
He groaned looking at her pink, glistening lips. He bit his lip and looked up at her briefly and she smirked, nodding, understanding what he wanted.
She gasped as his lips and tongue made contact with her and began to devour her like a starving man in the desert, groaning and growling at her taste and her own sounds of delight. He wound her up urgently and she quickly found herself on the edge. She gasped his name and knowing what she needed, he thrust two fingers inside her, hooking upward as he pumped them and suckled gently on her clitoris at the same time.
Em flew over the edge and groaned loudly as she came, belatedly covering her mouth with the back of her hand as her other hand gripped his hair.
He backed off when he knew she'd become too sensitive and kissed his way up her body, paying special attention to her generous breasts and their rosy tips.
Em moaned and slid a hand between them to wrap around his hard, pulsating cock. He felt hot in her hand and he whimpered slightly as she began to gently pump him.
"Em" he moaned. "Ain't gonna last two minutes of that darlin'".
Em bit her lip and lined his cock up with her pussy, rubbing his tip against her, ready for him again.
"Best you get inside me then baby" she whispered. "I need you".
Daryl pressed his lips to hers as he pushed inside quickly, almost as if he couldn't help the instinct to be in her. He moaned against her mouth at the feel of her surrounding him and broke the kiss to catch a breath of air. They panted into each other's mouths for a moment, savouring the feel of their connection as their eyes locked and their lower limbs trembled.
"Fuck, Em!" he gasped as she shifted under him and he slid minutely further into her hot sheath. "Y' feel so good darlin'. I thought I had ta be rememberin' with rose colour glasses how ya felt, but ya feel even better n' I remember!"
Em whined a little as she tried to thrust up into him, but his heavy weight pressed her down and kept her still. "Move baby! Please!" she begged.
Daryl huffed a small laugh "I'm tryin' not ta cum like a teen on prom night here darlin'" he said with a smirk and pressed more kisses over her face.
Em groaned, the feel of his hard cock inside her as his groin pressed against her clit alone was driving her back to the edge, but she badly wanted him to just fuck her already.
"I don't care baby, please. I just need ya to fuck me. Fuck me hard".
Daryl growled and pulled back slightly, holding himself above her with one hand as his other slipped under her buttocks to lift her to him. "Y' better hold on ta somethin' then" he said gruffly before starting to thrust inside her, faster and harder with every moan she made. She threw one hand back to brace herself against the headboard of the bed and grasped his buttock firmly with her other hand.
Well he didn't specify what she should hold on to.
She thrust back against him until they moved frantically together, grunting and gasping unconsciously, overwhelmed with sensation after such a long time apart.
Daryl grabbed one of her thighs and shoved it upwards to open her further for him. The change in position had Em crying out and within just a few more thrusts, she came hard around him. The clenching rhythm of her pussy virtually sucked Daryl's own orgasm out of him as he filled her with his cum, groaning her name.
He collapsed on to her briefly before regaining sensation in his limbs and he was able to lift his weight off her again. He pressed kisses to her lips and all over her face. "Are y' okay?" he asked breathlessly. "Sorry I was too rough darlin'. I shoulda been gentle with ya".
Em smirked and stroked a hand up to Daryl's cheek "Do I look like I'm upset?" she teased.
Daryl huffed a laugh "Nah, but I still shoulda been gentle after all this time. Y' gonna be sore".
"I hope I am" Em replied with a chuckle "You don't know how bad I needed to feel you inside me again. If I'm sore, that just means I'll know it's not a dream".
Daryl shook his head but smiled and kissed her. He didn't like to be rough with her, especially not in bed. He loved Em more than life itself and couldn't bear the thought of her in pain. She deserved to be treated like a princess, not like some bar slut, but it was an ongoing argument between them. She'd tell him she needed him to be a bit rough sometimes, and he'd keep his touch gentle until she teased him into getting what she wanted.
He rolled off her with a sigh and rumbled contentedly when she wrapped her naked self around him like a vine. The warmth of her body feeling like home.
Right from the start of their relationship, she was the first person he'd ever craved touch from. He'd come to appreciate Rick's brotherly affection over the years, borne through the many opportunities for him to prove his trustworthiness – that and the other man was so tactile with those he cared about, he guessed he'd just worn Daryl down eventually. But no one else in Daryl's life had ever been immediately invited into his personal space the way Em was.
From the day they'd met in junior year at high school, both cutting class for a smoke on Em's first day as a transfer student, she'd dropped herself down next to him on the ground and asked for a light. Anyone else would have gotten a violent rebuke for startling him like that and intruding on his personal space, but it hadn't ever occurred to him that she didn't belong there, even when he didn't know her. She clearly hadn't heard he was a no-good Dixon though, and that she'd better not socialise with him or else no one else would ever talk to her. Despite his ease with her touch he felt he should warn her, but her bright smile as she looked at him stalled the words in his throat. Hell, it was clear from the way he was dressed, from his dirty hair, black eye and permanent scowl that he wasn't the sort nice girls mixed with, but she'd chosen to anyway and he couldn't tell her to do otherwise.
She was just so… perfect. She didn't blather on about a load of nonsense like a lot of the other girls in their class, but what she did say was smart, observant and funny. Another first for him. Someone who could make him smile at school, or anywhere really. The moment she'd called all the other students assholes and a waste of her breath and time, he knew he'd liked her. By the time she'd told him weeks later that he'd better kiss her before she gave up flirting with him anymore – not that he'd realised that was what she'd been doing – he was so far gone on her that he didn't even hesitate in his shock to press his first ever kiss against her soft, inviting lips.
He couldn't believe this funny, sexy girl was interested in him, but he wasn't going to push her away. She was smart enough and realistic enough to know what she was getting into with him. So, if she wanted him to kiss her, who was he to say no? He wasn't an idiot. Inexperienced and terrified, but not stupid. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to realise she couldn't be with a Dixon, but twenty years later, he was still waiting.
Merle could never understand their relationship either. He kept telling Daryl one minute not to settle for the first girl he "got his dick wet with" as Dixon's were not one-women men, the next minute he was telling him to marry her and get the hell away from the Dixon life he was otherwise doomed to. By this time their Pa was in jail for killing a man in a bar brawl and Daryl was about to be the first Dixon to ever graduate high school, largely thanks to Em's influence.
On the day of their graduation, Merle said again to Daryl, in front of Em, that he'd better marry her before she got away. Em had just rolled her eyes at Merle and told Daryl that she was more than ready for it if he was, and by the end of the following week, he was carrying his bride over the threshold of his father's cabin and instructed Merle to get the fuck out for at least a week, so they could honeymoon properly. Daryl had been working all the hours he could around school, learning from the local mechanic, and by graduation had a firm job offer to work there full time. Within six months, he'd managed to save enough to put a deposit on their own small house – Merle as a room-mate being the main incentive – and they moved in to their own home.
Life was almost idyllic for many years. Em went to the community college after graduation and became a kindergarten teacher, which she loved. They both worked hard but enjoyed their life together.
It was several years before Daryl agreed to having children, so scared was he of passing on bad Dixon genes and being a terrible father. Em eventually made him understand he was not his father and had him helping out at many of her school events to get him interacting with children. He took to it like a duck to water. The children responded well to his manner of treating them like short adults, with infinite patience, but with an expectation of them doing what he told them, and they loved it when "Mr Daryl" came to help out.
Unfortunately, after months of trying to get pregnant, still nothing had happened. They both visited the doctor to see if anything was wrong physically with either of them – the most mortifying appointment Daryl had ever attended – but the doctor found nothing wrong and told them to just keep trying. Em was initially heartbroken every month, but eventually resigned herself to the fact that a baby might never happen. She had her Daryl, her world. And the kids at work helped too. She couldn't help feeling wistful about a baby but refused to let it take over their lives. Daryl had mixed feelings over the whole situation but concentrated on keeping Em as happy as he could. He wasn't convinced he'd make a good father, but he would be the best damned husband he could be. Em deserved that.
Em sighed and snuggled against him in her sleep and Daryl smiled softly, pressing a feather light kiss to her hair. He was still in shock that she was actually alive and with him. He felt guilty that he hadn't tried harder to get to Boston, but it had been clear that travelling was next to impossible. He might have managed alone, but he couldn't leave Merle behind. His brother was a drug addict and wouldn't last five minutes alone and high. And Merle refused to even try, saying that Em was likely one of the first dead. She'd be too busy trying to protect everyone around her to look out for herself. And how in the hell would they find her when Boston was likely evacuated and then bombed, the same as Atlanta?
As much as he hadn't wanted to, Daryl could hear the truth in Merle's words. Em was a born protector. She would have been trying to save her family and everyone else around her too, before thinking of herself. She had some hunting skills thanks to Daryl, and some idea of how to survive in the wild. But this wasn't about living off the land. The dead were walking and eating the living and very quickly outnumbered the living by thousands to one. And Em didn't have a violent bone in her body.
Daryl had witnessed one miracle in seeing Rick find his family against the odds. There was no way a Dixon would ever be that lucky. That he would also be granted a miracle. So, he believed he'd lost Em for good and hadn't stopped grieving for her since.
Daryl breathed in Em's scent. The shampoo may have changed, but the underlying essence of Em was still there. She was his home, his place to be himself. It didn't matter where they were. Whether they were going to stay in Alexandria, go to Em's island or be somewhere else. She was his home and his miracle. He tucked her tighter against him and let himself drift off to sleep. They'd figure everything else out in the morning.
A/N: Well, this was supposed to be a cheeky little "Surprise! Daryl's actually married, gets reunited and has a lot of sex" one-shot, but it got away from me (as usual lol) and I can see potential for a lot more! Anybody want more? I won't abandon Daryl's Turn either way lol, in case anyone's worried! Daryl's Place would be a lot less canon storyline than that I reckon! Let me know what you think, anyway!