Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mads, Eddie, Gracie, and Brittany! But more to come! :) Enjoy! )
CHAPTER 4
The sun hadn't yet heaved itself up in the sky, so the sky was still a darkish gray on the one side. The other side an assortment of colors. Blues, purples, pinks and then orange. It was beautiful to say the least. Dew lay on the ground undisturbed in the yard around them. The air had a bite to it since it was the beginning of autumn on this Georgia morning. Everything was peaceful til a dark form came into the yard with a squeak of the gate being opened. A low groan escaped from the young man, making the older one in the hammock twitch from the sound, but didn't stir yet.
Eddie stumbled into the yard, half drunk, half hungover, so his head felt to heavy for him and it throbbed. He finally managed to lift his head up as he stumbled closer to the house. He saw the lumpy hammock and was about to pass it when he thought it odd. He thought about it, and his head seemed to throb even worse, but he looked at it again anyway. What he saw made him . . . he couldn't describe what he felt. But he was hurt and was angry. So angry enough that he tried to tip over the two forms that lay so peaceful in the hammock.
But Eddie was to drunk to actually tip it, only managed to make it swing wildly. It only made him fall on his face below the swinging hammock. He merely groaned in agony, wondering if he could get up again, as Daryl was now wide awake, wondering what the hell happened. His strong arms tightened around Madison when he first felt movement of the hammock. He looked around as he waited for the thing to slow, he looked down at Mads wondering if it woke her or not.
Madison let out a tiny squeal and buried her face into the shoulder of Dixon laying under herself. Her head didn't pop up again till the swinging of the hammock slowed down causing her to be able to sit up once more, and find the blubbering mess of her twin. "Edwin . . . The hell you do that for?"She whispered, still sounding half asleep while rubbing the slight mess of her hair she had from sleeping. Licking over her lips and looking towards Daryl for a moment and back toward Edwin, "Are you just getting home, and still drunk?"
"Fuck . . ." Eddie groaned beneath them, holding his head, tears slowly sliding down his cheeks from the pain. He didn't even look up, afraid of the light from the sunrise would hurt his eyes. He then grumbled out to his sister, "Yeah . . . "
Daryl looked up at her, not sure what to think or do. No, scratch the think part, for he thought Eddie was a dumbass. He then proceeded to stretch out the stiff muscles for sleeping so still in the same position for so long. He stretched so bad that it stretched the hammock and rose Madison up on him.
Madison sighed a little bit rubbing her eyes once more. When she felt him stretch, her hands splayed over his broad chest to keep herself steady. She smiled down at him then said, "Gonna go get him into bed, as well as some water and aspirin." Madison mumbled, pecking Daryl's cheek as she crawled off him and slipped off the hammock tossing the blanket over him again before fixing her dress around, grumbling under her breath about sleeping in an uncomfortable bra. "Come on Edwin." She lent down next to her brother, softly resting a hand on his shoulder, and pulling him up slowly. "You can come in the house if you want, stretch out on our couch for more sleep. Have a feeling my parents wont be home for most of the morning and afternoon." She called over her shoulder as she was helping her brother into the house. "And you . . . The fuck you come home drunk for? Did you drive yourself?" She growled with a glare in her eyes.
He frowned when she said that she was going to help her brother. He thought the bastard should reap what he sowed on the ground, but then he would have to hear the bastard moaning and groaning. "Alright . . ." He murmured back, liking how she steadied herself when he stretched. It only made him ultimately aware of his morning wood. He was thankful when she laid the blanket back for him to hide that fact. He grinned when she complained about her bra, and couldn't help but think, it made her tits look great. He looked at the house for a moment, not sure if he should go in or not. Where ever his skin was exposed the chill in the air bit into him. Grumbling he got up, and stretched once more. After a moment of that he took in a deep breath of the chilly air. He slowly strode inside the house. He looked around, curious of what it looked like inside.
Madison was able to get Edwin into his room, as well as into bed with small little bickering at each other over everything that happened. Mostly because of Daryl. She shut his door with a long sigh before slipping into her own clothes, changing into a comfortable tank top, and a pair of sweat pants; since she was feeling pretty cold from the walk acrossed the back yard, and into the silent and slightly dark house. When she came back down stairs Madison was trying her best to keep herself quiet when she went into the kitchen, thinking Daryl was sleeping on the couch once again.
He heard the slight movement and turned towards it. He didn't see it and so he went to go see what it was. He found her in the kitchen, wearing something different. He couldn't help but check her out. Now he could openly look at her. Before when he did, he felt guilty for he was just a friend then. Now, not so much. Smirking slightly he leaned against the door jam, just watching her. Just as she was about to pour hot water in a cup, he spoke, "Tea huh?"
Madison jumped a little bit almost knocking the boiling hot water onto the top of her hand instead of pouring it into her mug. "What is it with you men and scaring me?" A small frown formed on her face as she looked back at him before finishing with her water to place the kettle back over the stove top then reached for the sugar jar. "I bet you drink coffee? Either overly sweet or completely black." She said putting a few spoonfuls of sugar into her cup before goin g to tap the coffee pot to start running after she finished.
"And yes, I strongly dislike coffee, unless its the last resort or if I'm stuck at the Greene's house." She chuckled a bit turning to lean back on the counter looking at him now. "Figured you'll go back to sleep on me."
He bit back a chuckle from her reaction and made his way to the counter. "Yes, and either one. I like'em both . . ." He rumbled. He shook his head. "Got enough rest . . . Hell I think that's the longest I've slept for . . ." He paused to think. " Awhile . . ." He nodded. He looked at her and smirked. "You're really cute in the morning . . ."
Madison chuckled a little bit feeling a very hot blush come a crossed her cheeks which cause her to turn away from him and head over to the fridge. "Yeah . . . As much as I wanna go back to sleep, I don't think I should . . . Since I have to work tomorrow anyways." She pulled the fridge door open, looking to see what she could cook up for some breakfast. "So what do you like to eat most in the morning?" She asked looking over her shoulder at him, "Got tons of eggs, maybe some kind of bacon in here . . . Maybe."
He saw her cheeks get red and his smirk only got bigger. "Hardly ever eat breakfast." He then strode over to her and closed the fridge door. "Ya don't have to cook for me Wren. Come on . . . I'll take ya out for breakfast . . ." He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her away from the kitchen.
"Daryl." She whined a small bit as he started to pull her out of the kitchen pouting at the fact her tea would sit there, and well . . . She wasn't dressed to go out to get breakfast somewhere, nor did she wanna ride that cold ass bike this early in the morning. But looked like Daryl was gonna have his way no matter what in this case. "Alright let me at least pull my hair up first? And get a jacket to wear on the bike cause its gonna be cold." She whispered a bit gripping his hand into her own.
He stopped as he looked back to her. "Alright . . . go on . . . Be quick . . ." He stood there to wait but thought better of it. "Imma wait outside . . ." His lips twitched up at this and made his way out. When he got out there he was surprised to find Eddie's truck. His lips turned up into a grin. He nodded, pulled the door open, slid inside, discovered the keys on the seat and turned it on. It rumbled to life. While he waited for her, he grabbed up his pack of cigarettes and lit two. When she came out and got in the truck, he would give her the one.
Madison was quick to grab a light jacket to toss on as well, along with pull her hair into a messy pony tail, and slipping a pair of flats on as she rushed out the door to meet him. He said to be quick, and well . . . Madison wasn't the type of chick to waste time getting ready anyways. A smile spread on her lips when she heard Eddie's truck and not the bike so she went over and climbed inside to join. "So when you said you was bad at relationships . . . This so proves your not." She chuckled a bit getting the door shut and her belt on. "See any jack ass of a guy would have took the bike but you . . . You jacked my brothers truck."
His brow rose at that and he laughed lightly. He shook his head and didn't comment, just merely handed her that cigarette. "I don't know how that's so great . . . but hey . . . I won't argue with ya . . ." He smiled, breathing in deep the smoke as he popped the truck in a gear and rode down the street with it. After about twenty minutes of driving they got to the small restaurant.
"I really wish you would have let me make you breakfest. You like that lunch I brought you that one day, so . . ." She grinned as she slipped out of the truck meeting him at the tail gate so the both of them could walk inside together. The hostess sat them at a nice booth back in the corner even though there was hardly anyone in the place besides a couple of old timers, and a few truck drivers at the bar stools. "Smells good in here at least." She chuckled sitting down on the side closest to the door.
He looked at her with a small smile on his lips, a small glint in his pale blue eyes. "I did like it . . . and hey I wanted to take ya out . . . Treat ya to somethin' nice . . ." He slid into the booth and looked up at the hostess. He knew her from somewhere but he couldn't think of where so he let it not bother him. "I know the chef . . . He's great . . ." That smirk pulled at his lips again.
Madison laughed, "But we just started to date last night! Doesn't this step happen later?" Her brow popped open while looking over the menu unsure of what to order, all looked and sounded amazingly good. Mads brushed some bangs from her eyes finally looking back at him now. "What do you like to get?" She questioned shifting to sit on her foot.
He chuckled softly, his cheeks burning slightly. "Its just breakfast . . . ." He murmured softly. He glanced at the menu and set it aside. "The pancakes are unbelievably awesome . . . but then again so is the french toast . . . Bacon is a a must, along with the fried taters . . . Ham is optional, along with sausage. But I always get extra bacon . . ." He nodded then pointed down to her menu, "And 'the mess' is also amazing . . ."
Madison giggled, watching him talk about the food, as well as saying how it was just breakfast. Just breakfast would have been her staying home and making them something, not heading out to a place where he knew most of the people. "Don't think I could eat that much food and live at the end . . . So I'll just do pancakes with some kind of fruits on the top . . . Or maybe chocolate chips."
He laughed softly at that. "The blueberry pancakes are good . . . the blueberries are cooked into it . . . And they're huge so we can share . . ." His large rough hands then proceeded to play with first the napkin, and then the fork.
Madison nodded laying the menu down to quickly reach for his fiddling hands, running her soft finger tips along the top of his knuckles. "Calm down . . . All's gonna be alright." She didn't look away from him till the waitress came over, also refusing to drop his hand while she ordered herself some tea and whatever he was about to order.
As soon as she took his hands he looked up at her. His heart started to pounded slightly at the slightest touch. A odd thought came to him then. If he was like this now with her. What was he gonna be like when they would have sex? If they did. He shook his head at that, and knew he was dead meat. Once the waitress came over, he cleared his throat and ordered their blue berry pancakes, his bacon and fried taters. "OJ and coffee for me as well." He then looked over at Mads, wondering what drink she would get.
"Tea please," She smiled at the waitress letting his hand go to gather some sugar packets for when her tea was brought to the table. "Man . . . Sleeping in that hammock was hell." She mumbled, stretching up trying to crack her back a small bit. "If it was rough on me . . . Could only feel worse for you."
He stretched his back out as well, hearing the distinctive cracks and pops. It felt good. He then yawned and nodded when the young woman brought them their drinks. He grabbed a bunch of sugar packets himself and dumped them in his coffee. "I've slept on worse . . . And technically you slept on me . . . So . . ." He laughed softly at this.
She also dumped a bunch of sugar into her tea while stirring it around with her straw, also plucking the lemon wedge off the top planting it on a napkin near by. "Next time we can sleep in my bed. Tons bigger and comfortable for us both. Though, I could heat you out in there since I sleep with tons of damn blankets cause I like the windows open . . . And well . . . Other things that won't happen when your there." She giggled with an hard blush. "And yeah . . . Didn't mean to fall asleep on you, nor sleep out there at all. Just way to tired to move."
His brow rose at that, and of course his mind went wild with thoughts. He shifted slightly from the pressure and got comfortable again. He smiled with his own blush as she just kept digging herself in a hole. He shrugged at the next part. "Didn't wanna move either, so you're fine . . . I enjoyed it myself. I'd probably be to nervous to sleep in your bed . . ."
Madison silently chewed on her lip playing with the straw paper. "Yeah . . . Guess I would be as well." She mumbled making a half pout. "Plus . . . Eddie would have been a much bigger problem than he already was. Which I am really sorry about Daryl." She frowned looking down at the table again. "He is an protective dick over me."
His pale blue eyes squinted at that. "Does your brother just randomly come into your room?" He thought that be strange. "Then again I wouldn't blame him in protecting his sister. I would be a protective ass to, if I had one." He shrugged, not touching the creamer but grabbed a few more sugar packets to sweeten the coffee. He stirred it quickly and gave it a tentative sip. "I sadly can't be here to long . . . I start work today . . . so we kinda got to eat and run . . ." He wasn't happy about the fact, but he had to do what he had to do.
Madison chuckled shaking her head. "Well, sometimes he does because he is an idiot of an brother, but he knocks sometimes as well. But Eddie has this incredible sense of hearing and smell! Its crazy because he is such an dumb ass alot of the time." Madison took notice as he would dress up his coffee, keeping it in an record in her brain for if she ever got him an coffee, or made it for him. "I told you that I was happy to make us breakfast Daryl!" She chuckled at him softly, eyes gleaming. "You didnt have to take me out."
His brow went up at that and grumbled out, "What an ass . . . What if you were changing or something?" He shook his head and grumbled, then took a longer drink of his coffee. "I wanted to . . . You've already made me food before . . . so . . ." He shrugged and smiled with embarrassment. His cell phone went off then. He frowned, checked the number and saw it was the farm. He picked it up. "Dixon . . ." He greeted them. They spoke and he nodded. "Alright sir, I'll see ya tomorrow instead of today then . . . Have a good day sir . . ." Then ended the call. "Never mind on speed eating . . . Don't have to go in . . ." He smiled and looked at her and wondered, would it last? God did he hope so. He didn't wanna lose her. As a friend . . . as a girlfriend, whatever . . .
The redhead giggled at him. "You're so cute when your all formal." Madison's hand reached over the table carefully taking his up into her soft palms. Her finger ran along his knuckles slightly before going to touch at his rough finger tips, shivering at the feeling against her own slightly. "Hey . . . I think we need to do something very important . . . Exchange our cell numbers!" She giggled.
His brow went up at that and smirked. His hand gently tightened on hers. Just her reaching out to him made his heart pound. Jesus what was wrong with him? Just when his brow had returned to its normal position, it went up again. He then laughed at that. He nodded and pulled out his phone once more, only to reveal a trac phone. It was all he could afford but it was something. "I don't have alot of minutes, so I can only use it so much . . ." He then rattled off his number to her.
She put his number into her own i-phone feeling slightly uncomfortable at the fact she had such a fancy object and he was left with that, made her feel bad . . . Even if she wasn't trying to flash it off. Plus it was bought with her own money and not spoiled rich by her dad. "Let me see this." Madison took the phone from him now, acting like she was about to type in her number, but she was overly very fucking secretly placing some more minutes on his phone . . . After all he was buying her breakfast. "Don't look at that till we leave." She slid it back to him. "Or else mister."
He let her have it, even though he was embarrassed by it. After a moment, his brow rose again. It seemed to be taking a little longer than expected of putting her number in it. He was about to peek when she set it down and slid it to him. "Okay?" He asked with confusion. At that point the waitress had come back with their breakfast. "Enjoy . . ." She said as she set down everything they ordered and needed. She then left them to waitress to the other tables. The smell in itself was amazing. His eyes grew wide with delight as he looked over at the woman in front of him. "Told ya . . ." He grinned and buttered his knife and spread it over the pancakes, then drenched them in syrup and took a large dripping piece and put it in his mouth.
Madison smiled at him. "Don't worry I didn't like screw up or make mean texts to people on your phone." She chucked a bit as their food was sat in front of them. Madison thanked the waitress before glancing at all the foods before them, tummy growling heavily. "I think you was right. But do you think just a slight pinch of an bit think it would be better if I cooked this meal for you?" She asked wearing an small smirk on her face. "Cause when I feed you at lunch . . . I swear you like . . . Secretly get off in ya jeans." She tried not to snort an giggle, but she found the lewd comment pretty funny, and hope he wouldn't find her . . . Awkward.
"Ya better not have . . ." He mumbled after he swallowed. "No doubt it would be better . . . But I got to give ya a small break from feeding me from time to time . . ." He grinned and winked, then laughed softly, even though blushing. "If ya did make this, I probably would have . . ." He laughed softly, his blush only getting worse.
Madison's face also flushed up as bad as her damn hair avoiding the eye contact as she pushed a proud grin over her lips, cutting into her pancakes to pop them into her mouth. "Please don't ask me to take an break. Cooking in my house is the one sane thing I got left in there, and I can only force Eddie to eat so much of it. Its great to have another person to feed." She dove into some more of the pancakes, adding an bit more syrup.
He laughed harder at her blush, grinning now. "Oh trust me . . . You can cook for me anytime ya like darlin' . . . I'll never turn down your cookin' . . ." He sliced another thing of pancake and pushed it in his mouth. As he chewed, he picked up a slice of bacon and thrust that in his mouth to, his mouth exploding in flavor.
"Oh gosh Daryl stop it . . . Make me wanna whisk you away and marry you in Vegas." She teased picking her bacon up off the plate and handing them over to his own. "I'm picky with my bacon . . . So I won't eat it." She grinned at him, before eating more of her pancakes. Madison ate her plate completely which came to an shock to the red-head but she was starving from the night before. "That was really good . . . So you win."
That comment only made him think maybe he should get her drunk and let her. He wouldn't mind gettin' married to her . . . Let alone do a Vegas wedding. He shook his head with a grin and took another piece of bacon, his brow going up as she gave hers up, but didn't comment. He cleaned his plate as well, had very little left in fact. He belched, feeling very fat. He nodded with a grin. "Don't wanna move . . . In fact I wanna nap . . ." He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. He then thought of something and smiled. "Ready for the next surprise?" He asked softly.
Madison giggled at his belch proving out that she was still pretty immature in an slight manner, but she had to make up for the mature part somewhere. "Typical of you men. Ya eat till you don't wanna do anything, and then I have to fight someone to mow the lawn, or deal with the kitchen mess." She teased, talking more about her brother then anyone. Madison silently started to stack their plates up nicely for the waitress, setting their forks on the top with the trash, doing more clean up then the waitress would need to do. "Oh gosh . . . No more surprises Dixon . . . Unless your coming back to my place for that nap."
He smirked when she laughed, liking the sound. His brow went up at that and murmured, "Woman, I do my fair share of work. If you can get me to marry ya, ya would see that . . ." He teased back. He then watched her silently clean up their mess, a smile on his face. Neat freak . . . figures. "I have something better . . ." He grinned laying more than enough money down for the bill. He grabbed her hand up and pulled her from the booth. He nodded and said to the cook and their waitress, "Thanks Larry, Stacy!" They both smiled and waved as Daryl led them out of the small diner. He let go of her hand so she could get into her borrowed brother's truck, then slid in himself. Once the truck rumbled to life, he led the truck out of the parking lot and onto the road. They were on the road for quite a few minutes, leading only deeper into the country. Finally they came to a stop at the edge of the road and woods. He grinned at her like a fool. "Come on . . ." He grabbed her hand and helped her out and led her into the woods. After walking for about five minutes they finally came to a meadow over looking mountains upon mountains.
z/beautiful-meadow-la...
Madison was quiet in the truck during their ride together, doing alot of thinking, mostly knowing that Daryl was WAY to good for her. He needed an woman with alot less troubles, and just better looking as well. Thinking of the troubles she had in her life and how much baggage she came with, made her stomach flop heavily turning her blank gaze out the window over to look at the normally brooding redneck beside her. He had enough shit in his life to worry about, including a baby coming. He didn't need her shit to add onto it. Madison longed to talk about 'em . . . But Daryl couldn't know and would never know about them. Once as the truck stopped, she was pulled from her thoughts and pushed a smile onto her lips, slipping out of the truck with him. "Pretty lucky you are. I ain't the type of gal that is scared of the things in the woods." She grinned following him closely. "I know you like it in here. I bet better then any where else in the world?" Once at the spot she made an tiny awe like noise looking around the spot, plucking an flower from the ground. "Look . . . You even got me my favorite kind of flower." She chuckled with a geniune smile.
He knew something was on her mind in the truck, but he thought it was maybe just her family problems. Or hell . . . maybe she was doubting on their relationship? That thought only made him seem like the grumpy redneck boy he was known for. But when they came to the meadow his worry and doubt seemed to disappear. "Yeah . . . not to sound corny at all, but I feel . . . at peace out here . . . Like nothing can hurt me . . ." He smiled at her when she picked the flower. He took it out of her hands, then slipped it by her ear. "Beautiful . . ." He smiled, his heart pounding hard in his chest. And in that very moment . . . she was to fuckin' beautiful it hurt. He didn't deserve her. Not in a long shot, but he had her for now. "I . . . wanna kiss ya right now Wren . . ." He said softly, the breeze gently lifted both of their hair. And without further ado, he leaned in, his hand sliding over her long red locks to her nape, giving her time to reject him if needed, and kissed her gently on the lips.
Madison was gonna reject the kiss at first hoping this wasn't a try to get past the said kiss with her because it wasn't gonna happen. He needed to know that. But the way his face looked as he stepped up to her, leaning down into her space, and just the way his fingers felt in her hair sent goose bumps along her tanned skin. The kiss from last night felt nothing like the current kiss she was given, the night before had some spark but this one felt an spark with an added connection for each other heavily. Madison lent into him more, pushing up onto the tips of her toes to deepen the kiss with him, left hand balling a fist in his shirt.
As soon as he felt her lean into him and deepen the kiss, he took a deep breath, inhaling her amazing scent. She smelled of . . . honey and peaches. And tasted like sunshine, syrup and faintly of whiskey it seemed. An addiction of the senses. His other hand slipped over her hip as he leaned even more into her. God she was addicting to him. Her kisses seemed to be . . . He didn't know. But each time he kissed her, it seemed they just kept getting better and better. Before things went really out of hand, he gently pulled away, even though he really didn't want too. Only a half of arms width away, he looked at her, his hands still on her. He took a deep breath, still smelling her of course but it didn't overwhelm him anymore that he was swept away. He swallowed the lump in his throat, his heart beating hard and his body tight, he rumbled out roughly, "Don't wanna push ya to far . . . taking things slow . . ." He nodded, even though he said that more to himself than to her. Cause all he wanted to do was keep kissing her and touching her . . .
If Madison could give her own description of the smell Daryl had about him, it would be simple. He was the type of guy her father warned her about. The smell of leather, cigarettes, and today joined in with the smell of stale whiskey against his clothes would complete Daryl Dixon. Taste wasn't to far behind, replacing the taste of leather with the sweet taste of the sugary syrup from that morning. The redhead was shocked as he was the one to pull away rather than herself. Her heart raced, as she thought that she really messed up the kiss some how, though his hands against her told her another story. There was an awkward silence as she registered his words in her own brain, narrowing her eyes. The teenage girl stepped up to him once again, pecking his cheek. "Please and thank you." She mumbled a bit clearly, more then fine with the idea of slow.
He nodded, his heart still going a hundred miles per hour at the moment. As it slowly normalized, he looked about. His nose twitched, and then he was slipping off his jacket. He laid it down in the meadow so they could sit and or lay on. "We could cuddle and nap here?" He offered with a blush and a smile. God he was lame, but it was something.
Madison nodded with an smile, "Yes. We can do that." She moved over to where he laid his jacket out, lowering down slowly, quickly patting the space next to herself. "Come on. Long as you are around now, I ain't gonna sleep easy alone." She winked up at him.
He grinned down at her and joined her eagerly. "I'm sorry about that ma'lady . . . I'll try to help ya when I can be of service . . ." He teased right back and laid on his side. When she laid down, she lay facing him. He smirked and couldn't help but feel his heart swell and beat hard. He also couldn't help but touch her. His hand slid over her waist to pull her closer to him so that his legs entangled with hers. He took a deep breath, her scent enveloping him as he slowly closed his eyes. Sleep claimed the both of them as they held each other.
