Chapter Eight
"Rick, who the hell are these people? And what the fuck is going on?"
"Daryl," Growled the eldest of Daryl's companions. "Wanna explain what the fuck that was, son?"
Adrian watched as the Jesus' new beau flinched at his eldest companion's question, hand tightening its grip on the other male's hand.
Whatever he'd expected when it came to the man that stole his lover's heart, it hadn't been this. The man was beautiful in roughish sort of way, with his long hair and piercing grey-blue eyes. The scars across his face and the side of his throat told of suffering, like someone had taken barbed wire and hit him with it repeatedly. His body was slim but well-muscled, his arms bulkier than the rest of him, telling of manual labor and he moved like he expected everyone to ignore him.
He seemed more like the type to hit someone like Paul than date him and yet looking at them, they fit so well together. He smirked slightly. It helped that those jeans showed off his toned legs and a very nicely shaped ass.
Paul's eyes narrowed at the man, icing over in a way he'd never seen them.
"Who're you?"
Daryl, if he remembered correctly, stiffened even more, placing a placating hand on the smaller man's arm.
"Pa, I-"
"I didn't raise you to be a fucking faggot!"
The younger flinched again and Adrian noticed all of the other "time-travelers" move subtly, each of them ready to attack the man's father if he so much as stepped in his direction.
Paul shifted until the taller man was slightly behind him, glaring at the angry behemoth before him like it was a disobedient dog.
"Leave him alone."
The man snarled wordlessly at him then glared at, who Adrian assumed was his son.
"Gonna hide behind yer boyfriend or face me like a fucking man, boy!"
Daryl's hands clenched and he gently pushed Paul aside, quieting the smaller male's protests with a look in a way he, himself had never quite managed.
"I'm nobody's bitch." He growled and there was something feral in his voice. "I love you, you're kin, but I will kill you if I have to."
Rick stepped forward, placing a hand on the tense man's shoulder and silencing the man's father with a dark glare.
"Mr. Dixon. In the times that are coming resources will become scarce. There are no police, no laws, just you and your own human nature. Accidents can happen, resources can run out and no one will look twice at the corpse left behind, unless it's to put you down. My brother loves you, you're his family. That is the only reason you are here right now. If another derogatory word comes out of your mouth," A dangerous smile played at the corner of the officer's lips, "I'm not the only person with a gun that you have to look out for. Understood?"
Dixon Sr. didn't respond for a minute and Adrian was slightly concerned that he was about to bear witness to a murder. Then his scowl lightened and he smirked, impressed.
"Well, Officer Friendly. You've got balls, I'll give you that. Alright, I'll let the boy have his fun," his smirk sharpened into something deadly. "Now tell me who hurt my boy."
Rick's entire group flinched at the question and Paul grabbed Daryl's hand tightly.
Lori stepped forward when no one spoke, smiling tightly.
"How about we head inside."
Daryl was the first to speak once they were inside.
"Where's Aaron and Sasha?"
"Sasha is with her brother. Unfortunately, she has decided to wait to join us. We're gonna swing by the prison after everything starts and get them. Aaron is in Virginia, close to where he and Eric were in Alexandria."
The hunter nodded then sighed as he noted that all the non-time travelers were staring at him.
He hated being the center of attention, especially after what had happened last time.
Luckily, it didn't last long because Walsh finally snapped.
"What the hell is going on, Rick? Who are these people?"
Rick frowned. "We were sent back. That illness that they just discovered, the new one that makes people act cannibalistic, it ended the world. I was shot, and for the beginning of it I lay in a coma."
"The coma you just came out of?" The blond doctor, asked and Daryl's eyes narrowed when he saw the man shoot a strange glance at him and Paul, possessiveness sparking in his chest.
The man had been eying his ninja since they'd entered the house, longing and something else lingering in his eyes and with every passing moment Daryl found himself wanting to hit the man in the face so he'd look away. Granted he was aware that the man was Paul's ex, the person his lover had nearly married before the end of the world, but it didn't make it better. If anything, he felt worse, the scar marring his face making him want to look away rather than look into the gorgeous face of the man across from him.
Just another reminder of his…imperfection.
His lips curled and he looked away before anyone could see the feral snarl that took over his features.
"Hey," Paul whispered as Rick continued to fill the others in one everything, one hand resting on his thigh as he started. His face calmed and he turned back to his lover, who's blue eyes softened as they met his.
"Everything okay?"
"I'm fine."
The ninja pursed his lips. "Don't lie to me."
"I said I'm fine." He repeated and the younger man sighed.
"I'm not gonna leave if that's what you're worried about."
He said nothing, and Paul shook his head with a sad smile.
"One day, I'm gonna make you believe I love you too much to leave." He whispered turning back to the conversation taking place around them.
Daryl blushed lightly and looked away, letting his hair shield his face.
He could only hope they'd live to see that one day.
Merle bit back a smile as he watched his brother interact with the hippy, noting how the younger Dixon relaxed in the man's presence.
He hadn't see Daryl that relaxed since this whole time-travel thing had started, especially not after the thing with the bat.
He frowned.
Rick, the leader of the time-travelers, had explained the whole apocalypse thing to him but he couldn't figure out what this had to do with Daryl's reaction to the bat.
The whole tale seemed fantastical at best, but it explained the comradery and movement of the group so well. Whenever one of the "outsiders" mover, the entire group watched their movements with a wary tension as if they were waiting for them to attack. It was something he'd remembered seeing in the older veteran when he was in army. Whenever the time-travelers moved, they moved in pairs, but never as couples, and they flowed together like a team that had been together for years no matter who in their group they were paired with.
He also noticed that for whatever reason, the entire group was extra protective over his baby brother. This meant that whatever had led to their presence in the past it had to do with Daryl…and he wanted to know what it was.
"Daryl."
His brother looked up and he asked the only question he knew would get him an answer.
"How'd you get those scars on your face."
The entire group paled and his brother's lover tightened his grip on the hunter's hand.
When he spoke, it was in a hoarse, shattered whisper. It was only one word, a name, but it was spoken with so much fear and hatred that every non-time traveler in the room recoiled.
"Negan."
TBC…
