Authors Note: Thanks a ton to those who reviewed and followed. You guys are all totally rad! Yep, went all 80's there on you. This chapter is mostly Daryl and Rick, with a sprinkling of Glenn, Maggie, and Carol. Read on and Enjoy!
Daryl could see that Rick was completely speechless. The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The silence was suddenly broken by a muffled laugh, and Daryl looked in the direction it came from, seeing Maggie with her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. He tried to stop himself but the words were out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think about them.
"Somethin' funny princess? Way I see it, you ain't no better, fucking Short Round there. Ain't like we don't know, you think you're bein' real slick, sneaking off into the woods every damn time we stop somewhere, but Glenn has a big fucking mouth and you scream like a freight train."
Maggie's jaw dropped. She wanted to say something but frankly, she had never seen Daryl like this and he kind of scared the hell out of her. She looked over at Glenn, waiting for him to defend them. He opened his mouth to speak but as soon as his eyes met Daryl's warning glare, he quickly shut it again and looked down.
Rick finally found his voice and jumped up from his chair, pushing it back with a loud screech as it scratched the floor. He walked over to Daryl and tried his best to conceal the hesitation in his voice. "What the hell is your problem man? Maggie and Glenn can do whatever they want, they're both adults. And as for Lori, I've forgiven her what happened between her and Shane. It didn't start until she thought I was dead and it ended as soon as she found out that I wasn't. And I don't see where it's any of your business. That's my wife you're talking about. Who the hell are you to judge us?"
Daryl took a step back from where Rick was standing, practically seething and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Never said I was judging any of you. It ain't my place. But ya'll might want to remember your own fucking faults before you go judging other people. I saw the way you all looked at me and Carol when we told you our fucking stories. You looked at me like I was nothing but a poor piece of white trash and you looked at Carol like you felt sorry for her. I really don't give a fuck what ya'll think of me, but she don't deserve that shit. So if I catch any of you lookin' at her like that again, like you think she's crazy, you're getting an arrow in the ass."
Daryl quickly realized what he had said and looked at Carol, seeing a lone tear fall down her cheek. When her eyes met his, she quickly wiped it away and slipped out of her chair, rushing over to the circle of armchairs and dropping into one that concealed her from their view. Daryl was about to follow her when Rick's hand stopped him, shooting out and pushing hard against his chest, knocking him back another step. Suddenly all he could see was red.
There was one thing that Rick wouldn't stand for and that was being threatened. He was really starting to get pissed now and he needed to make that perfectly clear. "Daryl, I don't know what you think you saw, but we sure as hell weren't judging Carol. And how else do you want us to look at you, you've made it pretty damn clear that you don't like any of us. I thought we were past all of this shit, that we could at least work together, but I guess I was wrong. I don't even know what you're still doing here. There's no shelter, there's no food unless we find it or you catch it, and it's not like we're family. I tried to do right by you for what happened with your brother, but you can't stay with us if you're going to be acting like this every time you think someone is looking at you funny. You are not going to threaten anyone in this group. I hear you say one more word about shooting someone in the ass, there's gonna be two hits, me hitting you, you hitting the floor. Do you understand me? "
They were glaring at each other, almost chest to chest, neither one wanting to back down. Glenn could see Daryl's hand starting to ball up into a fist and though Maggie tried to stop him, he stood up from his seat and walked over to them, gently pushing them apart as he spoke. "Guys, break it up. There's no reason for all this. It was just a stupid misunderstanding." he said, trying to calm them both down. They had enough problems without something like this.
Daryl and Rick took a step apart, but when Glenn started to speak again they both told him to shut up, causing him to give up and return to his seat by Maggie, defeated.
Daryl could feel himself getting ready to swing and every cell in his body was screaming at him to stop, but it was no use, if there was one thing that set him off more than anything else, it was being touched, and though the little shove from Rick had thrown him for a moment, he was fully aware of it now and he'd be damned if anyone was going to put their hands on him. He lifted his arm from his side and took aim, but just before his fist could connect with Rick's jaw, he found himself being pulled into a tight grip and tackled to the floor. He struggled to break free, but his arms were locked behind his back and he could feel Rick's weight on top of him as the man calmly spoke.
"You gonna knock this shit off or do I need to cuff you? I don't want to do it man, but you aren't giving me much of a choice. Knock the chip off your shoulder and stay, or get your stuff and go. It's up to you, but if you care what I think, I think you need to go cool down and we'll try to have a rational discussion about this when you're thinking straight."
Daryl knew damn well that he had taken this way too far, but it was just his way. He had never been one to take a slight against him lightly and in his experience he had found that a good swift punch in the teeth usually made him feel better. But laying here, his face pressed against the carpet, Rick talking to him so calmly, it didn't make him feel anything but shame. He didn't know why he had let it escalate this far, he and Rick had pretty much gotten over the incident with Merle and had been working together just fine. But it didn't take much to make Daryl snap these days, he was hungry, he was fucking cold and he would kill someone for a cigarette. More than anything, he was scared, though he'd die before he'd ever admit that to a single soul. Under different circumstances, before the world had ended, being in a situation like this would only make him lash out more, resulting in a fight that would usually end with the other guy in the hospital and him in a jail cell. But he surprised even himself as he stopped struggling for a moment and took a deep breath, feeling his rage subside as he exhaled.
"Lemme up , I ain't gonna fucking hit you. Just get the hell off me before I change my mind." he finally said.
Rick released his arms as promised and watched him as he stood up, still on edge but slightly less angry looking than before. Rick opened his mouth to say something but Daryl beat him to it.
"Just forget I even said anything. You wanna look at me like a piece of trash, go right ahead, you ain't wrong. But all I gotta say is you all need to treat Carol better. I'm an asshole and I know it, but she ain't done a damn thing to you people. Woman washes your clothes and cooks your meals and I don't care if you don't think you did anything, you all look at her like she's crazy. Ain't none of you in any place to be judging no one, like it or not, just cause you were better than us before, it don't mean a damn thing now. I ain't tryin to be mean, I'm just bein' honest, I'd expect you to know the difference."
Rick was once again without words. He knew Daryl was right. They all did. It was just strange to hear him vocalize such a thought. But hearing him speak about himself the way he had, that's what hurt the most. Rick had never tried to make Daryl feel like he was any less than anyone else in the group. But he had to admit to himself that maybe he hadn't been very appreciative of him. It was true that he was baffled as to why Daryl had stayed, but he was thankful nonetheless. Without him, they would have starved to death long before the walkers got a chance to take them out. He needed to tell him that but he couldn't bring himself to say the words. He just nodded and hoped that Daryl understood.
Daryl narrowed his eyes and nodded back reluctantly. "Whatever man, I ain't goin' nowhere, ya'll got kids to feed and I ain't about to leave that up to you. I'm an ass but I'm not about to let no kids go without. You ain't a bad leader, but you're a shit hunter."
Rick actually found that a small smile had crept onto his face. That was the closest he was going to get to an apology. He shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. "I'm not gonna argue with you about that. So, is this over? I know where you stand, you know where I stand, can we forget about this. I'll talk to Carol too if you want."
Daryl nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." He actually felt better for a moment as he watched Rick sit back down at the table and smile as he pulled the letter opener from his map, laying it down next to the paper and resuming his task. The feeling quickly left him as he turned around and saw that Maggie was standing right behind him, looking angrier than he had ever seen her look. He had nearly forgotten what he had said to her and Glenn and now seeing her standing here, he felt like a piece of shit. He was about to open his mouth to try and apologize, but it was quickly shut as her open palm came flying up, slapping him with such force that he knew he was gonna have a bruise. She didn't say anything, just stood there with a satisfied look on her face. Trying to keep his voice calm, he finally spoke after a few moments of silence.
"I deserved that. Sorry I said that shit about you two. You feel better?" he asked her.
She took a step back, her resolve failing her when she realized that he really did seem sorry. "Um… yeah…sorry…I just… don't talk about me and Glenn like that again."
Daryl lowered his head and spoke. "Fair enough." He didn't say anything more and walked around her, making his way over to where Carol was hiding. He took a deep breath and stepped into the circle of chairs, finding her curled up in one, her knees to her chest. She looked up at him, but instead of the understanding that her gaze usually held after he went off on one of his rants, her blue eyes were empty. He could feel a whole new wave of anger surge through him and he bit it back, knowing that it wasn't going to help a damn thing. He flopped down into the chair next to hers, not meeting her eyes as she turned her head towards him. He was trying to figure out what he could say to make her feel better when her quiet voice spoke out.
"Daryl, why did you do that?"
He thought about the question for a moment before answering. "I don't know, I just got pissed off. I can't really help myself sometimes." he admitted, still not venturing to look at her.
She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I know why you said what you said, it's just the way you are. I get that. What I don't get is why you did it because you thought they were judging me. You didn't have to do that, if I was mad at them, I would have said something myself. I probably am crazy anyway."
Daryl finally raised his head and looked at her. "Are you kiddin' me? You ain't crazy. You've lost more than any of these people and you don't stand around bitchin' about it like they all do. And sorry to tell you this, but you know damn well you wouldn't have said anything. You let everybody walk all over you, hell you let me walk all over you. I was just tryin' to help."
Carol was stunned. He had never spoken to her like that before. He had barely spoken to her at all since the farm. She wanted to be mad, wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that she could take care of herself, but she knew all too well that it wasn't true. She lowered her eyes again and spoke, her voice not much louder than a whisper. "I'm sorry." she said.
Daryl couldn't help it, he almost snorted out a laugh. Carol's head shot up at the sound, looking at him as if he was the crazy one. "Shit, didn't mean to laugh. But you just proved my point. You oughta be just as pissed at me as everyone else and you're sitting here sayin' sorry to me. Damn woman, you don't want me defending you, fine, but one of these days, you gotta learn to do it yourself. So come on, get mad. You can slap me too if you want. Gimme a matching bruise on the other cheek."
She smiled as he turned his cheek towards her, giving her a clean shot. But she didn't slap him, she didn't have any desire to. Instead she lifted her hand and placed it gently on his cheek. He pulled away from her touch as if he had been burned.
Daryl was frozen. Why the hell had she done that? He liked her, he still didn't know why, but he did. But his experience with women was laughingly limited and he had no damn idea what the hell to say now. So he said the first thing that popped into his head as he jumped up from his chair and turned away from her. "Um, I gotta go take a piss." He quickly scanned his eyes around the room and found the door that led to the bathroom. He nearly broke into a run as he made his way to it and entered, slumping back against the door once he was inside. This was turning into a very weird day and all he really wanted right now was a smoke to help him calm his shaky nerves. He suddenly remembered the tin of breath mints that he had found in the desk and extracted them from his pocket. It wasn't a Marlboro, but it would have to do. He suddenly smiled as he opened the lid and found that instead of the minty white candies he was expecting, the tin contained what appeared to be a bunch of neatly rolled joints. He lifted it to his nose and inhaled the sticky sweet smell. This was way better than a damn Marlboro. His hand went to his pocket, feeling for his zippo, but his face fell as he found that it wasn't there. He just couldn't win today. He sure didn't want the rest of the group to know about this, bad enough he had been an asshole all morning, but without a lighter he was pretty much up shit creek. He glanced around the room for a moment, looking for a solution but there was none to be found. He was just about to give up when he had a thought. Merle's old army lighter was still in the saddlebag of his bike. Problem was, the bike was outside. He was trying to think of a way to make it through the room and out the door without attracting suspicion, and especially without having to face Carol. He just couldn't deal with whatever was going on between them right now. He leaned his head back against the door in defeat, but was intrigued as he saw that there was some kind of access panel in the ceiling above one of the toilet stalls. He moved from his place by the door and stepped up on the seat of the toilet, pulling the door open and finding that it led to what appeared to be a ventilation shaft. He balanced himself carefully on the tank and popped his head into the shaft, seeing that it appeared to be a straight shot through the library, a bright light visible on the far end where it led to the outside. He suddenly had a thought and went with it, hoisting himself up and into the narrow metal tunnel. He began to crawl on his hands and knees towards the light, shaking his head as he realized just how stupid this was. Whatever, this wasn't the dumbest thing he had ever done. Hell, it wasn't even the dumbest thing he had done today.
There you go, we've had our initial blow up and they've come to some kind of uneasy understanding. But we have a long way to go before we can truly call these five friends. You all know what's going to happen in the next chapter, and if such things offend you, too bad. Lighten up, it's just pot, they aren't going to smoke Merle's meth stash or anything. Also, shout out to alibabwa, who was kind enough to be the first to review on this silly little tale and ask me to include the air duct scene. If there is any specific scene you would like to see included, please let me know. Review, review, review! I am a great big ball of insecure and love to hear that you all actually like this shit that I write. Even if you don't like it let me know. Feedback of any kind makes me happier than an emo girl with a pixie stick sandwich. xoxoxo Bekah xoxoxo