Hey everyone! I hope you had a good week! Without further adieu, enjoy the show!
Abby smiled as Daryl scowled at the paintball face mask that he held in his hand.
"I know I gotta wear it but I'm gonna look like a tool." Daryl grumbled.
Abby laughed as Carl smiled up at him. "No, you'll look cool! Like me!" Carl said then pulled down the mask over his face and posed.
"Stay like that!" Abby ordered while she pulled her phone out of her pocket and took a picture of Carl and Daryl standing together.
She rather liked the way Daryl looked in the armour they had been supplied for painting balling. The tight black shirt accented Daryl's semi-muscular frame and the padding made him look big and menacing. Abby had opted to pay the extra money to upgrade the guns to ones that looked more like assault rifles for her and Daryl while Carl stuck with the standard issue gun.
Like Carl had predicted, there was a tournament going on. It was largely teens and young adults who were participating, with teams of four or five but Abby was pretty sure that between her and Daryl, they'd school every last one of those youngsters.
Abby handed Carl her phone. "Take a picture of us." She instructed him as she walked over to Daryl and wrapped her arm around his waist. Daryl sighed but wrapped his arms around her shoulders and smiled slightly as Carl took the picture.
Their little team was third on the list to compete, so they stood on the side lines and watched the other teams battle it out. Abby quickly taught Carl some hand signs, apparently Daryl already knew all of them ones she was teaching him, then they worked out a strategy. Abby was immensely competitive and she could tell that Daryl was too but they were supposed to be having fun with Carl and she didn't want to ruin it for him, so she tried to tone her competitiveness down.
This paint ball course was located deep in the woods, offering the owner's a natural obstacle course and the sense of adventure that the concrete courses in city, couldn't offer. It was situated in a natural gully and had trees and shrubs everywhere and even a small stream on the one side. The owner had also set up barricades out of fallen trees and made little cubby holes for competitor's hide in. Abby's natural instinct was to find the higher ground and wait but she didn't think her normal tactics would work the same on a bunch of kids.
When their turn came, they stood by their start point and waited for the signal to be sounded. When the sound went off, they moved quietly into the forest, using the trees for cover as they went. From what the other participants had told her, the team they were facing actually competed competitively in a league and showed no mercy for newbies. Daryl and Abby agreed, they were going to whip those boy's asses.
Abby signalled for them to stop as she heard a branch snap to her left and slightly ahead. She looked back at Daryl who was already looking in that direction, then signalled for him to check it out. Her and Carl crouched down behind a barricade while they waited for him, Abby keeping her ears perked and eyes peeled as they waited.
She suddenly heard two successive pops then a whiny "Aww, man!" from that direction. The voice had been way to high pitched for it to be Daryl, and when he came back, she could tell he was grinning behind his mask.
They moved forward again, only to have to duck behind cover as a volley of paint balls sailed by them. Abby peered over the corner and saw only three of the remaining four.
"There's only three there." Abby whispered to Daryl. "Keep an eye out for the fourth trying to sneak up on us. Carl and I will take care of them."
Daryl nodded then turned to survey the woods around them. Abby focused on the three in front of them.
"Remember kiddo, no more than a couple of shots at a time then duck behind cover again." Abby whispered.
"Right." Carl said, nodding solemnly.
Abby quickly popped up aimed, fired off one shot then ducked behind cover. She grinned, the paintballs weren't the most accurate kind of ammunition but she was still one hell of a shot, having nailed the kid right between the eyes.
"I got one!" Carl exclaimed in delight.
"So, did I. That leaves just two more." Abby whispered.
There was a quick exchange of fire behind her and when she turned, she saw Daryl looking at her smug. "Make that one."
"Okay. Rock, paper, scissors on who gets the last one." Abby said to Carl as she held out fist.
He smiled then held his fist out also. At the count of three they revealed their choices; Carl choosing rock and Abby choosing paper.
"Sorry kiddo." Abby said smiling.
Daryl leaned against their barricade as she prepared to stand up, got her attention and indicated a different direction. The kid had wisely moved from where his buddies had been brought down but he failed to escape Daryl's sharp senses. The kid was creeping from tree to tree but he was still very much in their view. Abby raised her paintball gun, then waited for him to break cover once more. When he did, instead of showing off with a head shot, she double tapped him in the chest.
The kid looked down at his armour in bewilderment then up at them, as they stood up. Carl let out a whoop and jumped on Abby, hugging her. All five guys walked up to them, scowling.
"How on earth two old people and a kid beat us?" One kid asked.
"Hey, we ain't old." Abby growled.
"Show some respect, boy." Daryl also growled. "It's just a game and you lost. Live with it."
They all walked off after that, Daryl not being shy about putting on an air of aggression. The next two rounds were even easier, giving Abby a chance to entertain the crowd a little more instead of just putting them down as quickly as possible. Carl was thrilled when then handed him the small trophy and a five hundred dollar gift card to the local department store.
"Can we spend it right away?" Carl asked as they all climbed into Daryl's truck.
"What you gonna do with five hundred bucks?" Daryl asked as he fired up his truck.
"Well, you and aunty technically won it so I thought we could split it three ways." Carl answered as they drove off.
"My question is still the same."
Carl looked over at Abby. "Could I get a bike with my portion?"
"You sure can." Abby responded smiling at him, then looked at Daryl. "Do you mind?"
Daryl shrugged. "So long as we don't spend too much time there. Don't especially want to spend my weekend shopping again." He replied then suddenly a thought seemed to dawn on Daryl. "Bought that bike from that salesman a couple days ago. Totally forgot to tell you."
"Oh? When did you get the time for that?"
"Went in late after work on Thursday. Haven't touched it though, so I don't know what I need yet." Daryl said as he pulled on to the highway, heading for King County.
"You bought a motorcycle? Like aunties?" Carl asked.
"Sorta. It's newer than hers and it don't work at the moment. The former owner severely abused it." Daryl replied.
"The body as good as the salesman claimed?" Abby asked.
"Not quite but it was decent though." Daryl answered. "Talked him down a bit, got a pretty good deal."
"Now to find the time to fix it. You're getting a lot on yer plate!" Abby exclaimed. Daryl just grunted as they continued driving.
When they got to the department store, Carl immediately struck off on his own to look at the bike's, while Daryl and Abby held hands as they wandered the aisles with a basket in hand. Daryl was mostly interested in the hunting and camping stuff but she managed to drag him to the lingerie section to pick a few items for them. Daryl was grinning at her as they walked away from the section, probably already imagining her in them. All Daryl got with his portion of the gift card was a dozen bolts for his crossbow and a pair of girlfriend approved boots while Abby got her lingerie and new cowboy boots.
When they wandered over to where the bikes were located, it was all Abby could do to not let her anger shine through. As they came to the section, Abby found Shane helping Carl select a new bike with Jeremy standing beside Shane looking unimpressed, both still in uniform. When Jeremy saw her, he walked briskly over to her and put a hand out.
"Don't cause a scene." He whispered to her.
"I'm not putting Carl in the middle of this. I'm not stupid." She hissed back at him quietly then stepped around him towards Carl.
"How's it goin' kiddo?" She asked Carl, ignoring Shane's existence.
"I thought I like that blue one but Shane says this brand is better." He said straddling the 'Shane approved' bike.
"Well this is about what you want, not what Shane wants you to want." She replied, trying to keep the venom from her voice.
"Hey I'm just tryin' to help." Shane replied.
"Shouldn't you be working? Catching speeders and that sort of thing? Not shopping." Abby asked coolly. "I seem to run into you a lot in stores."
"We were actually here on duty. Shoplifter." Jeremy said trying to calm her down.
"What do you think, Daryl?" Carl asked, causing Shane to frown and glare at Daryl, Carl's hero worship obvious in his voice.
"I think you had it right, kid. That blue one looks better built, the welding looks solid and them rims are nice." Daryl replied sounding completely unperturbed by Shane glaring daggers at him.
"C'mon, Shane." Jeremy started, slapping Shane on the back. "We should get our shoplifter back to the station."
Shane looked like he wanted to get into it with Daryl but Daryl was ignoring Shane's existence as he walked forward and pulled out a blue bike, indicating for Carl to get on. Carl got off the other bike and climbed on to the bike, then grinned hugely up at Daryl.
"Yeah, I like it better. I want this one." Carl said making up his mind.
"Sold." Daryl said as Carl got off and hoisting the bike onto his shoulder like it weighed nothing. "C'mon, think we're done here."
Jeremy pecked Abby on the cheek, then him and Shane left the store as her, Carl and Daryl, went to the cash register to pay for their items. Once they paid for their stuff, Daryl threw their stuff into the back of his truck and the three of them climbed back into the truck and headed back to the farm.
111
Later that evening, Abby and Daryl were lying in bed, cuddling after another vigorous session of love making. This time Daryl had his head on her chest, one arm under the small of her back while the free hand lazily traced the contours of her body.
"You know, yer kinda good with kids." She mumbled sleepily, feeling utterly relaxed as she stroked his hair with one hand and the stubble of his beard with the other.
Daryl scoffed, his breath tickling the flesh of her bare breast. "No, I'm not. I'm so damn awkward...like with everything else."
"You might feel awkward but you'd be surprised at how natural you come across." Abby insisted. After pausing for a moment, she continued. "You know Carl practically worship's the ground you walk on, right?"
"Unlikely. The kid barely knows me." Daryl said, starting to mumble as he too became drowsy.
"He does! Why'd you think Shane was giving you such a stink eye? He's jealous." Abby said then lifted her hand to stifle a yawn, before resuming stroking his face. "We should sleep, babe. You got work in the morning."
Daryl groaned. "One day off ain't enough."
Daryl propped himself up momentarily, scooted further up so that his head was now on her pillow as she turned to face him. They wrapped their arms around each other as Abby tucked her head under his chin, then they quickly faded off to sleep.
111
The next morning Abby woke to banging on her door. "Aunty! Wake up! I'm gonna be late for school!"
Abby lurched up and looked at the bed beside her, which was empty. She then looked at the clock as she rubbed her eyes and noticed it was quarter after eight. Abby cursed as she threw off her covers and ran to her closet. She was normally an early riser, it was not like her to be late for anything.
"Sorry, kiddo! I slept in. Go make yerself lunch!" Abby hollered as she rushed to get dressed.
"I already did." Carl replied through. "Fed the kittens too. By the way, Daryl left his truck keys on the island. He figured mom would get upset if you drove me to school on yer bike."
Abby pulled the door open, tooth brush in her mouth as she braided her messy hair. "Let's go!" She said awkwardly around the tooth brush.
They trotted down the stairs, Abby making a quick detour to grab Daryl's truck keys, then running out the door to the truck.
"You got yer homework and lunch?" Abby asked as she fired up the truck.
"Yup." Carl replied confidently, looking at her slightly amused. Probably not used to seeing her look so frazzled.
"You sure?"
"One hundred percent." Carl answered confidently once more.
Abby threw the truck in reverse, backed up quickly then kicked up gravel as she sped down the driveway then on to the dirt road. Abby managed to get Carl to school in record time, with only a minute to spare. He said a quick good bye as he jumped out of the truck, before running so he could get to class on time.
Abby sat there on the side of the road idling for several long minutes, her head resting on the steering wheel, toothbrush still in her mouth, as she collected herself. A tapping sound on the window startled her, causing her to jump as she looked up. When she looked out her driver's side window, she saw Shane standing there in uniform. Abby scowled but after spitting her toothpaste into a cup, she rolled down her window.
"Where's your boyfriend?" Shane asked peering into the cab.
"At work." Abby replied curtly. "What'd you want?"
"I'd appreciate you keeping yer methed out loser boyfriend away from Carl." Shane said trying to sound reasonable.
Abby clenched the steering wheel tightly to prevent herself from punching Shane, she wouldn't be able to use her PTSD this time. "Excuse me? Last time I checked, Rick is Carl's father, not you. Just because you were screwin' his momma don't give you the right to parent him."
"I'm serious Abby! Him and his brother are bad news! I don't want that around Carl. You neither." Shane looked like he thought he was being considerate.
"You know nothin' about Daryl! Just 'cause Merle's been into all sort of trouble, don't mean Daryl's no good too. He don't do drugs and he's good man. Even Rick thinks so. He knew Daryl would be over this weekend, he don't care. So, you have no right to tell me to keep Daryl away from my nephew." Abby growled. "We're done here." Abby rolled up window, then drove off.
Abby slid to a stop in front of her house, slamming the truck door as she marched towards her house then slammed the front door. After taking a long shower, trying to wash away the stress of her encounter with Shane, she went downstairs to quiet her rumbling stomach. After feeding herself, she decided to make her and Daryl a tasty lunch.
After finishing getting herself ready for the day. She once again climbed into Daryl's truck and drove back into town. On the way to the grocery store, the sound of a police car siren, sounded behind her. Abby rolled her eyes as she pulled over to the side, then watched her mirror and was a little surprised to see Jeremy climbed out of the car. He was grinning as he walked up to her window.
"What can I do for you officer?" Abby asked, smirking.
"License and registration." Jeremy said, trying to keep a straight face but in the end, he cracked a grin once more. "Just kidding. You seen Shane?"
"Did you seriously pull me over to ask if I've seen Shane? There's this new invention called a telephone." Abby said sarcastically. "And aren't you boys supposed to have your radios on at all times?"
Jeremy chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. Just saw you driving and decided to ask. Why you driving Daryl's truck anyway?"
"Daryl let me drive it today, figured Lori would freak out if I drove Carl to school on my bike." Abby replied.
Jeremy chuckled. "Yeah she probably would freak out. Considerate of him. I have to admit, I wasn't too sure of him but he seems alright, even Rick likes him and that—is a first."
Abby laughed. "Yeah I'm as shocked as you. Shane on the other hand, is being an ass. I did see him about an hour ago, he came up to me after I'd dropped Carl off at school and told me to keep Daryl away from Carl." Abby's face darkened as she thought about their confrontation once more.
Jeremy shook his head. "Ass. Ever since it's come out that him and Lori were together, he's been acting like Lori and Carl are his. It's like he thinks he can be a better dad then Rick. If it weren't against worker laws, I think Rick'd have fired him already."
"I'm pretty sure Rick could find something to fire him for, he's been bailing Shane's ass out of trouble since they were kids." Abby growled.
"Tell me about it." Jeremy said with a sigh. "Anyways, Daryl gonna be down for supper today? I was thinkin' of crashing yer house for supper, get to know the guy better."
"I don't think he was planning on it but I was planning on bringing him lunch, so I'll ask him if he'll come over. Either way, you can come. Carl would probably like the company." Abby said.
"Alright, you've pulled my leg." Jeremy said, grinning. "Better get going, people probably don't like me slowing traffic up."
Jeremy winked at her then walked back to his car. As she pulled away, Jeremy finally turned off his lights and also pulled away. Abby finally made it to the grocery store, now with a longer shopping list than she had when she'd left the house. Almost forty-five minutes later, she was finally back home in her kitchen, sorting supplies and getting ready to cook.
After sending Daryl a quick text to let him know she'd be coming to see him for lunch, she went to work making them lunch. An hour and half later, she packed up the food in an insulated container, grabbed four beers then headed out once more. When she rolled into Daryl's driveway, she was surprised to see her motorcycle in his driveway already.
Frowning, Abby walked up the sidewalk to Daryl's front door and walked in without knocking. "Daryl?" She called, not seeing him in the small living area.
As she walked to the fridge, to put the beer away, she heard the creak of Daryl's bed then saw him shuffle into the kitchen; hair sticking out in every direction. "Hey." He mumbled as he tried to pat his hair down.
"Am I late?" Abby asked as she set the food on the new counters.
Daryl shook his head. "Naw. Since we worked on the weekend, the boss decided to give us all an hour and a half lunch. Figured I should take a nap since I haven't been sleeping much."
Abby smiled. "Sorry."
Daryl chuckled as he came up behind wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her neck. "I don't mind spending my nights with you, it's the long days at work that's wiping me out."
"Speaking of spending the night with me; why didn't you wake me up this morning?" She asked as she divvied the food onto two plates.
"You were sleeping so soundly, lookin' so beautiful, didn't want to wake you up." He said as he moved down her neck to her shoulder.
"Well apparently I was so soundly asleep and I wouldn't have woken up in time to drive Carl to school if he hadn't come banging on my door. I'm not sure if he made it on time yet or not. There was like a minute left before the bell." Abby groused.
Daryl chuckled as he finally let her go and walked over to his tiny table. As he sat down, she picked up the plates, setting down one in front of Daryl and the other where she was going to sit. She went back to the counter grabbed them a fork and knife, the only ones that he had, then brought them to the table before walking to his fridge.
"There ain't no beer in there." Daryl said through a mouthful of food.
"I brought some with me." She said as she brought them over to the table and finally sat down.
Daryl instantly popped one open, chugged almost half the bottle then resumed eating.
Abby chuckled. "A little hungry?" She asked.
Daryl smiled. "Famished."
After a brief pause, Abby spoke again. "You wouldn't believe what Shane said to me today." Abby said as she scooped up a pile of potatoes and brought it up to her mouth.
Daryl looked from his plate, which he held a loft in one hand while shovelling potatoes and chicken into his mouth with the other and frowned. "What'd that ass hole say now?"
"Told me to keep you away from Carl, figures you're a bad influence." Abby replied rolling her eyes before putting the food in her mouth.
Daryl lowered his plate while looking angrily off into the distance. "He needs an arrow in the ass." Daryl growled making Abby laugh. Daryl smirked as he asked. "What'd you say back?"
"That he ain't Carl's father and my brother happens to like you. Told him he don't know shit about you. Shane tried to tell me yer nothin' but trouble, mostly because of Merle's screw ups." Abby shook her head, annoyed.
"He checked into me?" Daryl asked angrily.
"Technically, so did my brother but he has a little more reason. You could be president of the Yacht club and he'd still check yer criminal history. As for Shane, he thinks it's his God given right to boss me around and tell me how I'm screwin' up."
"Why's yer brother friends with that guy? He don't seem the type to put up with pricks like him. Jerry, I get. He seems alright—even knowing you two were a thing once." Daryl said mumbling the last part.
Abby rolled her eyes. "We weren't a thing, just... friends with benefits. And all three of 'em have known each other since they were like eight, I guess you develop a blindness to your friend's stupidity after knowing them for that long." Daryl grunted then resumed shoving food into his mouth as Abby ate a couple bites of food then looked at Daryl again. "Thanks for lending me yer truck by that way."
"No problem. Can't say I'm sufferin' for it, I'm rather enjoying driving your bike around. Carl's stayin' one more night, right?"
"Yup, that's what they told me." Abby said nodding.
When he finished eating and cleaning his plate, he looked over at the clock on the wall, then looked back at her smiling.
"Wanna screw? Still got half an hour." He asked nodding towards the bedroom.
Abby smiled at him coyly. "Are you sure you can stay awake long enough?"
Daryl reached across the table and tried to flick her nose but Abby leaned back just in time, laughing. Daryl stood up and walked around the table as Abby got up, bent over and threw her over his shoulder. Abby laughed the whole way to his bed, smacking his ass every couple of steps.
When he eventually left to go back to work, Abby remained in bed for a while, taking in Daryl's scent as she lay there. As she laid there, she started to reminisce about how she felt in the better years of her marriage, then compared it to how she felt now. Martin had been able to make her laugh but Daryl could send her into hysterics with his odd sense of humor. When her and Daryl did argue, they seemed to reach a resolution fairly easily but they hadn't dated long enough to her to know if that'd continue. When her and Martin argued, they didn't seem to come to a resolution easily and very often never agreed and just gave up.
She had never been in love with Martin, she was certain of that but she was pretty sure she'd never been in love before, period—until Daryl. She was so in love with him, that if he asked her to marry him today, she'd say yes. Daryl was obviously in love with her too, he didn't seem to be bothered by the thought that he might get her pregnant; they kept on having unprotect sex, like just now. Abby knew why it didn't bother her, she'd wanted a baby for a long time already and she was pretty sure Daryl would be a good dad.
Abby looked at the clock beside Daryl's bed, it was one-thirty. Abby finally rolled out of bed and got dressed. As Abby exited the bedroom, she looked around the small living area. It was largely put back together; the walls had been painted to the color that Abby had recommended to him and the kitchen had a countertop and a tile back splash. All that seemed left was for him to finish replacing light switches and plugs. And to his credit, he had kept the place clean; probably worried about her dropping by again and cleaning up after him.
Abby jumped a little when a knock came at the front door. She thought about ignoring it for a moment, it not being her house, but in the end, she thought it'd be ruder not to. When she opened the door, a tiny old lady stood on the front step holding a container, smiling up at her.
"You must be Abby." She stated then offered her hand. "I'm Attison, Daryl's landlady. It's nice to meet you finally."
Abby shook the old woman's hand and smiled at her. "He's told you about me?"
"Oh, absolutely. Most of what he does talk about entails you. He's quite smitten with you, dare I say he's in love with you." She nodded her head slowly. "He's a good man that one, comes over to fix things for me and cuts my grass. Please don't hurt that good man."
Abby's smile softened from pleasantly polite to affection. "I have no intention of doing that. Don't tell him this but if he popped the question, I'd say yes."
The woman sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that. He deserves something good for once. I can see it in his eyes, he's suffered a lot. He has a hard time trusting people, expects the worse out everyone. But since he's started dating you, he's been so much happier."
"I'm glad to hear that. People tend to make the wrong assumption about him, think he's violent and up to no good. I'm glad to hear that someone actually understands him."
"Like wise. Now here, I brought this for him so he can eat supper. I heard how busy they've been at the shop, I didn't think he's been eating too well this last week."
Abby took the offered container. "Thank you, I'm sure he'll be grateful. I'll leave him a note, let him know you dropped it off."
"You aren't staying?"
"No, I have to pick my nephew up after school and look after him until his folks get home."
"Oh, too bad. I'm sure Daryl would have liked you to spend the night."
Abby laughed. "I'm sure he would have."
"Well I'll let you go dear, it's nice to meet you."
"And you as well."
When she disappeared down the driveway, Abby closed the door and walked to the fridge, putting the food away. She then set out to find a paper and pen but after searching every drawer in the house, she'd found neither. She looked momentarily at her phone, considering texting him but instead grabbed the truck keys and left.
She drove the couple blocks to his work then climbed out once more. Once again, the bay doors were wide open as the scream of power tools came loudly from within. Once she'd parked, she jumped out of the truck and walked to the open doors. She paused to look around, she saw several of other men, whom she had seen on Friday when she'd pick up Daryl's truck, but she couldn't see him standing anywhere. She was about to ask someone where he was when she saw a pair of familiar boots sticking out from underneath a banged up half ton. She smiled as walked over and kicked his feet.
"What?" Daryl snapped as he rolled out from underneath. He looked annoyed but that instantly changed when he saw who it was.
"Long time no see, sexy." She said as leaning against the truck as he sat up on his crawler.
Daryl grinned. "Whatdya doin' here? Figured you be home by now."
"Well I was going to just leave you a note but apparently you don't have even one scrap of paper or one pen, so instead of texting you I decided to pay you a visit on the way home." She replied.
"Why'd you need to leave me a note?" He asked as he continued to look up at her from his seat.
"Your landlady stopped by left you some food. Gonna be well fed today."
"You met 'er huh? Nice lady, too bad she's got shitty kids. Look babe, love to talk to ya but I gotta get back to work." He said as he got to his feet.
"I know, I get it. Just wanted to tell you 'bout the food and say good bye. Probably won't see ya 'til the weekend again." She said as he approached.
"Probably not. If it's not too late I'll call ya, okay?" He said.
"Okay." She leaned forward and he obliged in kissing her but just a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you around." She kissed him again then turned and started walking towards the truck then stopped and looked back. "Just so you know, Jeremy's comin' over for supper. He wanted to visit with you but I'll tell him you had to work. Daryl looked off to the side, looking unhappy. "I can tell him to come another night." Abby offered, not wanting to make Daryl uncomfortable.
Daryl shook his head. "No, he's your friend and I trust you."
Abby's face softened, Daryl didn't trust easily and she was glad he trusted her. "Alright. Call me when you get home." She waved then continued walking back to the truck.
When Abby got home, she went to work making a nice supper for her, Carl and Jeremy. She put the pot on the stove and left the meat on it's pan and put it in the fridge and left to go pick up Carl.
When she arrived at the school, he came running out of the school and waved at her enthusiastically when he saw her. Once he climbed inside, Abby headed straight for home.
As they walked up the steps Abby ruffled Carl's hair. "You should go do your homework now, then you don't have to worry about it when Jeremy comes over."
"Jerry's coming?" Carl asked enthusiastically. "Is Daryl coming to?"
Abby smiled as they walked into the house. "Yes, to Jeremy and no to Daryl. Daryl's still got a lot of work to do, he's gonna be workin' late."
"Oh." Carl said sadly. "Well Jerry's cool too."
Abby laughed. "I won't tell him how disappointed you were that it was just him coming over."
Carl grinned sheepishly. "I see Jerry all the time. He's basically an uncle. Daryl's awesome, even if he can be a little awkward sometimes, he knows how to do so many cool things!" Carl suddenly got a hopeful look in his eye. "Do you think he'd teach me how to shoot that crossbow he talks about! Or even a gun!"
Abby smiled as she patted his head. "He could probably be persuaded with the crossbow but yer daddy would love to teach you to shoot. That's the kind of thing dad's wanna do themselves!"
Carl suddenly looked glum. "I doubt mom would let him."
"Have you asked?"
"No." Carl said as he shook his head. "But I know what mom's like."
"It never hurts to ask." Abby said. "Your grandma didn't want to know how to shoot, so instead of your grandpa teaching me, your great grandpa taught me!"
"Then can you teach me?" Carl asked, suddenly hopeful again.
Abby laughed again. "Ask your daddy first, then we'll see. Now go do your homework, I gonna finish supper."
Several hours later, Abby and Jeremy sat on the ground of her living room, drinking and laughing. Supper had been eaten and cleaned up and Carl had already been asleep for several hours. They had been trading stories from their jobs, mostly light hearted funny ones but the atmosphere suddenly sobered up when Jeremy asked if she'd lost friend's and if she'd seen then die.
Abby looked at her hands as she peeled the label. "I've lost several friends." She answered quietly. "And I saw most of them die."
Jeremy suddenly looked guilty. "I'm sorry, I was an ass to ask that."
Abby shook her head. "Its okay, you meant no harm."
"Rick says that you've been doing great lately." Jeremy said as he sat forward and put a hand on her knee "I'm really happy that you are doing better."
Abby nodded. "I still get the nightmares sometimes but they aren't so intense. That incident with Shane was the first and only one I had in the last six months."
Jeremy sighed as he studied her. "I wish there was something I could do."
Abby shrugged. "There's nothing no one can do."
Jeremy stared at her a moment, then suddenly bent further forward and startled her by kissing her. Unlike past times that he'd kissed her, Abby immediately pushed him back and lunged to her feet.
"What are you doing? We agreed to be friends!" Abby said, wobbling a little from too many beers but she managed to keep herself from slurring. "I'm in a relationship, that, for once I'm happy with!"
Jeremy looked up at her guiltily. "I'm sorry, I just like you so damn much. I can't help it!" Jeremy wobbled to his feet. "I should go."
Abby sighed as he walked to the door. "Wait." She said as she put her hand to head. "Yer to drunk to drive. I'd let you sleep where Rick's been sleeping but after what you just did, I think the air mattress in the back room is best."
Jeremy looked at his boots. "Sorry."
Abby stumbled to the stairs. "I'll get you a blanket and pillow."
Bad Jeremy! Haha Abby must really like Daryl to resist her kryptonite! Thanks for reading!
-Shockra
