Okay I know I said like Friday or Saturday, but I forgot that it was memorial weekend, and I didn't want to bother anyone with it. I also ran into a bit of writers block. But here it is. Thanks again to LexiieWuncler for beta-ing and helping with the writers block. :) Along with all your kind words.
Daryl could hardly sleep, and by dawn, he got up, grabbed his crossbow and headed downstairs. He headed for Rick's room, but spotted him in the kitchen, starting up a pot of coffee.
"Morning." Rick greeted him with a smile. Daryl just grunted and shoved his shoulder up, signaling he was going out to hunt.
"Don't want to take anybody with you?" Rick said, just as Andrea walked in the kitchen.
"Go where?" she asked, grabbing the unfinished coffee and pouring a cup.
"Daryl's going hunting. I suggested he'd take someone with him. You up for it?" he asked her.
"I can go by myself. Always 'ave." Daryl said, hoping he would drop it.
"Sounds fun." Andrea said. Rick nodded and agreed. Daryl huffed.
"Fine. But I aint watchin' your ass Annie Oakley." Daryl spun out of the room.
He walked outside and around the back. He sat up against the wall and watched the outside start to wake up. His mind drifted to Carol. He tried so hard to keep away from her, but she didn't let him stay away for too long. He was making her soft, and it was bad. He never was in this situation. He was only with one girl, and she ended up using him just to get to Merle. He was only 17 then, but it made him hate the world even more than before. He was just a sick pawn in her game that she ended up losing. Merle used her and dropped her like she was trash. She tried coming back to Daryl, but he did everything but spit at the woman when she did. He rested his head on the wall and closed his eyes, listening to the world around him. Even in this hellhole, it was peaceful right here. He started drifting off, when someone kicked his boot. He opened one eye to see Andrea standing over him.
"Finally" he said, getting up and dusting himself off.
"Ya at least got something ta protect yourself?" he asked, noticing her lack of weapon. She patted her hip and pulled up her shirt to reveal her pistol.
"Anything quieter? Don't need a herd just cause you shot one." he explained, giving her a look. When she shook her head, he sighed and reached for his boot, pulling his knife out of its sheath.
"Here" he said, handing the blade to her.
"Thanks." She said "ready to go?"
"Been ready." He said, heading to the gate.
They had been out for a few hours now, and they were having little luck. With only two rabbits, Andrea was ready to give up.
"We've been out here for a while and haven't caught anything!" she whined.
"Well if you and your big feet didn't scare any potential game away with every step you take, we might be doing better!" Daryl spat back.
"I don't have big feet!" she defended.
"Whatever. Just walk like a woman or something and we can find something decent." He said, walking forward.
"What's your deal?" she asked, quickening her pace to match his.
"What do ya mean?" he stopped and faced her. She looked him up and down.
"When you first joined the group, you acted like you and your brother were doing us a favor joining." Daryl snorted at that. It was partially true.
"But your brother went missing, and you still stayed. You could do fine by yourself, why stay?" she took a step closer to him. He was angered by her words. It wasn't any of her business. Yet she kept prodding.
"You gotta have a reason to be staying here." She said, taking another step, forcing Daryl against a tree.
"Whats the deal ?" she asked, seductively running her hand over his chest.
"Get the hell off of me blondie!" he shoved her away.
"Don't play coy. You know there's something here." She said as she pulled off her shirt.
"I don't know what the hell ya talking about. Now put ya shirt back and let's go back." Daryl said, turning and headed back to camp.
"Crazy bitch" he muttered to himself.
The sun was pouring into the room, forcing Carol to wake up. In a daze, she sat up, and her head started to spin. She placed her feet on the ground and placed her head between her knees. She couldn't help but taste the disgusting taste of wine and vomit in her mouth. She couldn't really remember anything past the second bottle of wine. When she finally felt the room come to a halt, she stood up. She looked around, confused. This wasn't her room, yet her sheets and pillow were on the floor next to the bed. She got up and went to the door. She opened it and went in the hallway. It didn't even take long for her to find out the room she came out of. Right in front of her was her room, the door open.
"Oh God" she thought. What had she done last night? She tried to back to last night, but she couldn't remember anything past the kitchen. She walked back into Daryl's room, grabbed her bedding, and went into her room, shutting the door tightly behind her. She threw the sheets and pillow onto her bed and went into the bathroom.
She turned on the shower, and stripped off the dirty clothes. When she stepped in the tub, the water greeted her. It was hot and turned her skin a slight red, but she sighed in happiness. She loved the feeling of the water smashing into her skin, washing away all the dirt and grime over the past week. She hadn't remembered to grab many toiletries, but she remembered body wash. She opened it up and inhaled the inviting scent. A mix of lavender and vanilla hit her nostrils and she poured a generous amount into her hands. She scrubbed it in as best as she could, and she washed it off. She stayed in the shower as long as possible, but the hot water started running out. She finally turned off the water and stepped out into the cool air. Her body shivered and goose bumps starting forming. She ran into the bedroom. She put on her last clean outfit, thinking of seeing if another trip into town was possible.
"Everyone could use some more clothes" she thought, and decided to ask Rick later. They hadn't found a washer or dryer on the property, so they still had to get those, but she didn't mind washing by hand. She walked back into the bathroom, to try and wash the lingering taste out of her mouth as best she could before going downstairs.
"It's going to be a long day." She thought, gathering her clothes and heading downstairs
Carol was out back, using a tub of water and a washing board she found under the kitchen sink. She was working hard on one of Carl's shirts. It had stains of every size and color.
"Even in a world of nothing, that boy still could make a mess of his clothes" she laughed to herself.
As she was working the last scrubs into the shirt, she noticed an angry Daryl storming back into camp. A sad and slightly distraught Andrea followed far behind. Carol wanted to talk to Daryl, but she thought better of it right now. Andrea came up and sat beside Carol, playing with the tip of a knife.
"Everything okay?" carol asked, scrubbing at the clothes.
"I just think I made a mess of things." Andrea said. Carol placed the clothes into the water to "soak" and sat next to the sad woman.
"Daryl just doesn't like anybody getting in his way." She offered, patting the woman's shoulder sympathetically.
"It wasn't anything like that. I basically threw myself at him and he flat out rejected me" she covered her face with her hands. Carol pulled her hand away.
"Oh" was all she could say. She went back to scrubbing the clothes.
"What do you think I should do?" Andrea asked. Carol sighed. She didn't know.
"I don't really know. I've never been in that situation." She continued with the clothes
"Maybe he's just playing hard to get." Andrea perked up.
"I'll let him cool down and try again. Maybe he just likes the chasing games." Andrea looked like a giggling school girl right then. Carol didn't even look up at her. She took the clean clothes and wrung them out, a little rougher than necessary before hanging them in the sun.
The rest of the day sped by, and Carol was glad. After everyone had finished with dinner, Carol offered to do dishes. Lori and Beth offered to help, but she waved them away. As weird as it sounded, Carol found peace in the process. It was a mindless task and it helped her gather her thoughts. She was busy working on one of the last dishes and humming to herself. She hadn't noticed that Daryl came in until he leaned up against the counter, next to her.
"Oh!" her hand jumped to her heart, feeling it lightly slam against her chest. She had gotten away most of the day avoiding him, but she knew it wouldn't last forever. She placed the cloth she was using on the faucet and wiped her hands on her jeans.
"Didn't mean to scare ya." He smirked.
"Is there something you needed Daryl?" she tried to sound annoyed and his smirk turned into a frown.
"Is ev'rything alright?" his voice was filled with concern.
"Nothing. Just tired is all" she faked a yawn and headed for her room.
"Does that mean another rendezvous in my room" Daryl laughed. Carol spun on her heel, her face red to see an amused look on his face.
"You are a pig." She spat, and stormed off to her room. All amusement was sucked out of him when she said that.
"Ah hell." He said aloud, slamming his fist into the counter, feeling the immediate pressure in his hand. He stretched his fingers, knowing there was going to be some swelling later, and went to his room.
Rick had decided to head into town tomorrow for some baby things and pick up necessities and Daryl and Glenn were tagging along so Daryl decided to go to bed. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
He woke up a few hours later when he heard his door creek open. He started to reach for his crossbow when he made out a womanly figure.
"Carol?" his voice was groggy, as he tried to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.
"Guess again.." the light voice was right in his ear.
"Andrea?" he asked, already sure of the voice.
"Mmhmm." She mumbled in between placing kisses on his neck.
"What are you doing?" he said, shoving her off again. He struggled to stand, still half asleep.
"I know you're playing hard to get, but we both know how this is going to end." She said huskily, and even in the darkness he could make out her figure, undressing. He finally found the feeling in his legs, and reached the light switch. He stared at the woman. He couldn't lie. She was a figure. Thin, but not scary thin. She had curves in all the right places, and she was standing naked right in front of him. Even with the willing woman, he felt sick to his stomach and one thing came to mind.
"Carol." He thought to himself, and his mind became clear.
"Dammit woman! Can you put your clothes back on?" he looked away, way too late.
"What's wrong? Too woman for you?" she asked, taking a step towards him, but he put his hand up, looking back at her, keeping his gaze on her face.
"Look. I don't know say to make you believe this, but I'm not playing any games. I don't want you and I never will. You just ain't my type. I prefer my women not to be umm. What's the word I'm looking for? Whores? Yeah. That sounds right." He said, watching her face twist into a tie between disgust, embarrassment, and horror.
"You know what? You're a real pig Daryl Dixon!" She yelled, scrambling for her clothes and storming out.
"Not the first one to think that blondie!" he retorted, slamming the door and jumping back into bed.
"Damn woman." He laughed himself to sleep.
I've already started chapter 9, but not sure how many are going to be happy because it gets…well yeah. I already have like half of 10 written so I think these two will come out a lot quicker. Thanks again for all your kind words. I seriously love reading them, so keep them coming! Please? :)
