Author's Note: Sorry it's short and uneventful. It's been a while though, and I figured I'd throw in a little bit of Merle fluff since he's been so mean to Lucy lately.
When Lucy woke up the next morning, she smiled, her eyes still closed. She felt Merle's lips against her skin between her shoulder blades and she let out a content smile before finally opening her eyes. It was getting close to eleven. "You're late for work," she told him.
"I ain't goin' today," he told her, between kisses, his breath against her skin tickled, "It's my day off."
"Oh." He continued kissing her, making a trail up to her shoulder and her neck where he gently nipped the skin. She felt his hand on her arm, it slowly slid down to her wrist, and she winced as his fingers brushed across the bruise that had formed there. He didn't say anything as his fingers intertwined with hers, and she leaned back against him. She turned her head to look up at him, "What's gotten into you this morning?" she asked.
He brought her hand up to his face and kissed the bruise, and she winced again, "I was feelin' bad about last night. I wanted to make it up to you."
"I would have settled for breakfast in bed, but this is nice too," she teased him with a smile, and he nipped her neck again.
"We can eat in a little while." He moved so she could lay flat on her back and he kissed her lips, his tongue sliding into her mouth as her arms wrapped around his neck. His hand covered her stomach, his fingers tracing lines as they slid down to the waist band of her pajamas.
It was well after noon when they made their way downstairs to eat. It was just the two of them there; Daryl had left that morning to go hunting. After they ate, they returned upstairs. They spent the rest of their afternoon smoking weed and having sex. Around seven thirty, Merle asked, "What time do you have to be at the club?"
"I should be there by eight thirty so I can get changed and everything before I clock in at nine."
"I'm hungry."
She laughed, "I think we have a frozen pizza downstairs."
He stood up, pulling out of her arms. He pulled on his pants, "I'll do down and start making it while you get dressed."
She nodded and crawled out of bed behind him, going to her dresser and pulling drawers out to find something to wear. When she walked downstairs, she was fidgeting with the straps on a dress. It was a halter top that tied behind her neck, and she couldn't get the knot out, "Merle, I need you."
"Again, sugarplum? I'm not sure we have time for that," he teased.
She grinned, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. She lightly punched his arm, "I can't get this knot out, it's too tight and it's hurting my neck."
She turned her back to him, and she felt his fingers brushing across her skin while she held up her hair. He got the knot out and began to retie it, "How's that? It too tight?"
"No." He finished tying it and she turned to face him, his hands came to rest on her hips and he pulled her against him, pressing a kiss to her lips. They were interrupted by the sound of the oven beeping to let them know it had finished pre-heating. He pulled away from her and opened the oven door, placing the pan with the pizza inside.
He closed the door while she set the oven timer. It kept switching from 10 minutes to 20 minutes then back to 10. She groaned in frustration, "It's not cooperating," she told him.
He laughed, "That's because you ain't operatin' it right." She frowned when he batted her hand away and set it for 14 minutes. He turned back to her, grinning, "You're so cute when you're mad." Her frown deepened and he lifted her up, sitting her on the counter across from the oven. He stood between her legs, his hands on her thighs as he kissed her again. Her hands rested on his shoulders.
The door opened and Daryl walked in, making his way into the kitchen. He sat his crossbow down on the table and walked over to the oven, turning the fan on, "Don't y'all know how the fan works? It's gonna get smoky in here and the smoke alarm will go off."
Lucy bit her bottom lip while Merle glared at him.
Daryl sighed and looked them over, "I guess y'all made up?"
Lucy nodded.
"It ain't your business," Merle told him.
Daryl rolled his eyes before walking to the fridge to get something to drink before heading upstairs to take a shower.
When Lucy made it to the club she walked into the dressing room, happy for a change. She smiled at Chanel and made her way to her vanity beside her. "Oh my God!" Chanel said as Lucy reached up to untie her dress. "What happened to you?"
Lucy looked at the bruise for the first time that day. It was dark purple and ugly, and you could see the outlines of Merle's fingers. She covered it with her hand, frowning from the ache that came with touching it, "It's nothing. It was an accident."
Chanel took her hand and looked at the bruise, "Lucy, what did he do to you?"
She shook her head, "It's nothing." She pulled her hand free.
"You need to leave him. Stop letting him hurt you."
"Chanel, its sweet that you're concerned, but I promise it's nothing. It was an accident; he didn't realize his grip was that hard." She paused, not sure her friend would really buy that, "You should have seen him afterwards, he felt awful."
Chanel sighed, reluctantly giving into her friend, "I just don't want to see you hurt again."
Lucy smiled, touched that Chanel was so concerned about her, "Trust me, everything's fine. If it wasn't, you'd be the first to know."
"Promise?"
Lucy nodded and Chanel gave her a small smile.
