Chapter Four
Allie spent her day helping the other women cook and clean. She got to know Andrea and Amy, the blonde sisters with as big of an age gap as Daryl and Merle she surmised. Carol was good company as well. She was perpetually quiet, but observant, keen even. Amy introduced her to Glenn, a somewhat dorky Korean boy with a lopsided smile.
She felt eyes on her wherever she went. It seemed that whenever she turned around, Shane was somewhere not too far off. He was always watching her- or really, always watching her body. It wasn't her he cared about. So in turn, Allie found her eyes regularly seeking Daryl's. It reassured her to know he was close by, even after his outburst the night before. Maybe he didn't like her? It was hard to tell. While she had felt so instantly comfortable around him, he always seemed tense in her presence. She kept reminding herself that just because she wanted him around didn't mean he felt the same. Calm yourself down, Allie. He's just a man. But nonetheless, she couldn't prevent her mind from drifting back to him as the day went on.
As the sun set, Allie helped Lori and Jacqui prepare dinner. The shadow of a man abruptly passed over her, and she felt large hands on her shoulders. In an instant, she was at his throat. She scratched at him and seethed, "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" Shane was wide-eyed but also livid; he held her back by her arms. Glenn sprung into action to pull her off of the ex-cop, but the restraint only fueled her panic.
"Allie, calm down, it's only me!" Glenn tried to reason. But the words didn't reach her. Her heart was thudding against her chest and tears threatened to shed from her eyes. She struggled away from his grasp, panting and looking around wildly. A half heartbeat later, Matt and the Dixon boys flanked her, prepared for a fight.
"What did you do?" Matt snarled.
"I didn't do anything. That girl is fucking psycho!" Shane defended.
"You touch her?" Daryl questioned, his eyes narrowing. He didn't trust cops to begin with, and this one had done struck his last nerve.
"Barely! She freaked out over nothin'. Bitch is crazy!" Shane fumed.
"You best watch your fuckin' mouth, pig," Merle interjected, cracking his knuckles menacingly.
"Fuck you Merle, y'all brought some wild bitch back to camp and she finally snapped. You only met her yesterday! She could be six shades of psycho for all you know!"
"She's with us," Merle stated, glaring at the cop.
"You wanna take responsibility for that shit? Fine", Shane pointed at Matt, "But you best keep your bitch in line," he growled.
Merle reached out swiftly to hold Matt back. But he'd gone to restrain the wrong man. Daryl pounced on Shane, and the camp was suddenly filled with the sickening sound of fist meeting flesh. He pummeled the man with all the force he could muster, until Merle and Matt lifted him away from the enraged sheriff. With Shane shouting obscenities behind them, Merle dragged Daryl and Matt dragged Allie back to their camp.
Dale turned toward the bloody cop, "That is no way to speak to a lady."
"Screw you old man, she's nuts!"
"Nah, man. When a girl tells you not to touch her, you keep your distance. Simple as that," T-Dog replied as he walked away, shaking his head.
Lori huddled Carl behind her body, away from the still-fuming Shane. "Lori, c'mon. You saw how she was," Shane pleaded.
"Shane, I don't want to see you as much as look at that girl again. Just leave her be," she whispered harshly, herding Carl away from the group and back towards her tent.
On the edge of the woods, Matt sat Allie down on a log and brought her his canteen. "Drink," he ordered.
She took the bottle and stared at it, then finally looked up to meet Matt's eyes. For the first time since chaos had broken out, she seemed aware. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean to. I just-"
"Shh now, it ain't no thing," Matt reassured her, "He shouldn't have touched you now, should he?"
"Don't you worry darlin', you didn't do nothin' wrong. The pig's gonna get his," Merle added. She nodded at their words, almost believing them.
"Where's Daryl?" she asked them, and Merle nodded towards the tent. She retrieved the first aid kit from her and Matt's pack and entered the tent. Daryl was sitting on his cot, rubbing absentmindedly at his knuckles. They were covered in blood; equal parts his and Shane's.
Allie kneeled wordlessly in front of him, briefly seeking his eyes for some sort of permission before picking up one of his hands gently in her own, surveying the damage. He caught himself before he could flinch from her touch. "You don't gotta do that," he rasped.
"I want to," she said simply, carefully wiping away the blood from his cut up hands. To Daryl, it felt almost as if she was caressing him. Her touch was soothing, despite the sting of the alcohol as she cleaned his wounds. When she was satisfied that his hands were taken care of, she looked up into his eyes, her hands on his knees. "Thank you," she told him, "for having my back."
He searched her eyes for something, maybe an indicator that she was lying, pulling his leg with this feigned gratitude. No one had ever had reason to thank him before. Or even if they had, no one had bothered. "Was nothin'," he muttered, staring down at his lap.
"It was," she pressed, now smiling up at him. No, this was genuine; Daryl could see that clearly enough.
"He shouldn't have touched ya. I won't let him get close enough to do it again," he promised her.
"I know you won't," she agreed, still smiling. Slowly, she leaned up on her knees until her shoulders were even with his. Her hands trailed up to the center of his thighs, and she leaned on him, closing the distance between them. Her lips inched closer to his, only centimeters away now. And when he didn't back away, didn't flinch from her hot breath scorching his lips, she leaned in and kissed him. Though the contact started off chaste, Allie soon let her tongue reach out to trace a heated line across Daryl's bottom lip, making him shudder and let out a shaky breath.
His knuckles turned white as he gripped the cot. Could he touch her? Did she want him to? As if listening in on his thoughts, Allie answered his questions by soothingly taking his hands and placing them on her waist. Her tongue danced along the crease of Daryl's mouth, and with a moment of uncertainty, he allowed her entry. Her fingers were trailing tantalizingly up his neck and into his hair. And when her tongue finally made contact with his, massaging it gently, he couldn't hold back a groan. Allie smiled into the kiss, scratching lightly at his scalp.
She tugged at his hair, bringing him back to reality. He blushed at the tightness in the front of his pants, grateful that her eyes were still closed and mouth still on his own. But she seemed to sense his distress, and she slowly wound down their kiss, pulling away from him at long last. She stroked the side of his face one last time before standing up.
"I'll tell them you'll be out in a couple minutes," she said with a smile, and went outside. Her eyes had never left his. She couldn't have known about the embarrassing situation in his lap. And yet she knew anyways. Daryl's blush deepened at the thought. It was just a kiss, Dixon. Fuckin' pull yourself together. When the coil in his abdomen had finally unwound, he went out to join them by the fire.
"If we head up over that ridge yonder, we might be able to snag ourselves a deer," Merle was saying.
"Better chances the further from camp we go," Matt agreed.
"We goin' huntin'?" Daryl asked.
"Yup," Merle said, "But we can't all four of us go."
"We were thinkin' Allie should stay back, and one of us should stay with her. I figured it'd either be you or me." Daryl nodded his agreement, not quite trusting himself to voice a true opinion. A day alone with her? Two even? Ain't a chance in hell he'd be that lucky.
"You got a preference Allie-cat?," Matt asked. She smiled at the nickname. It was something her dad had called her, years ago, that Matt had somehow picked up without her ever explaining the significance. To her, it was just further proof that she and Matt were always meant to find each other.
"I don't know Mattie, this week of all Matt all the time has been a bit much for me. Could use a break from ya," she teased.
He snorted, "You think you need a break, psh. Swear to God I thought our periods were gonna line up for a minute there." She rolled her eyes at him and gave him the finger.
"Daryl, you okay with stayin' here then?" Matt asked him.
"S'fine by me," Daryl replied, but his eyes were on Allie. She caught his gaze and smiled at him. She knew it hadn't gone unnoticed by Matt, and she imagined Merle was an observant man as well. But neither said anything.
"We'll probably be gone a couple days," Matt mused, "Try to stay out of trouble." He looked pointedly at Allie and she glared at him.
"Well why don't you tell the trouble to stay the hell away from me," she retorted.
"I imagine he will," Matt mumbled, mostly to himself.
"Why don't the two of y'all share a tent tonight? Matt and me will take the other one in the mornin', no need to wake ya up for that. You two look like you could use a bit of beauty sleep."
"Okay!" Allie agreed, immediately kicking herself for sounding over-eager. Daryl simply nodded.
Grabbing her things, she followed Daryl back into his tent, fairly tired from the day's strains. He plopped down on his cot and stared at his shoes, seemingly unwilling to get undressed. Maybe he slept with his clothes on? Suppose that would make sense nowadays. Allie, on the other hand, couldn't stand to wear clothing to bed. They felt too constricting. Daryl bit his nail as he watched her undress. Her shorts hit the floor and her tank top was lifted easily over and off her body. She sat next to him on the cot, making him jump.
"I liked what we did before. Liked it a lot. And I'd be happy to do it again, any time you want really. But if you're not interested, we never have to bring it up again. Okay?"
"S'hard to say no to ya when you're lookin' like that," he said quietly, gazing at her body. She blushed at his words, and he reveled in the fact that he could get that reaction from her.
"Do you want me to put my clothes back on?" she asked him. Daryl just continued to stare at her, unsure where this was going. Sure, he had an idea of how all this worked. Merle certainly talked about it plenty. But having almost no experience to speak of, he didn't know what to do next. He never knew what to say. Even less so when confronted with a beautiful woman.
She started to lean towards him, seeking his lips, but he pulled back from her. "You don't gotta do this," he gruffed.
"I know," she replied softly, "But I want to. Really want to."
"You don't owe me nothin'."
"Daryl, I want you. Not as some way of thanking you for saving my life, or for protecting me from Shane. Being with you, that's not a 'Thank You' for anything. I want it too. More, probably."
He took in her words, but seemed unconvinced.
"Why don't we just sleep, for now? You can have some time to think, don't have to decide anything right now. I understand."
He listened for the hurt in her voice but there was none. She went to stand but Daryl grabbed her wrists, holding her to him.
"Sleep here," he ordered, and she nodded at him, crawling onto the cot beside him. He put out the lantern and went to lie next to her, but quickly realized he had no idea how to lay in bed with a woman.
Allie sensed his hesitation, so she took him by the arm and wrapped him around her protectively. Her back was to his front. She craved the closeness, but feared he would shy away. It took a few minutes, but he relaxed into her, letting her warmth lull him. And just like that, they fell asleep.
