Chapter 10

"Ha, I knew I wasn't crazy." Merle grinned triumphantly. "I never forget a face. Yeah, alright, I admit it,... didn't look at your face too often..." he let his gaze run up and down her body suggestively, making Sam clench her fists and bite her tongue. "You also did a fine job changin' yer looks. That's why it took me a while to recognize you."

"It's amazing what hair dye, extensions, colored contacts, spray tan and heavy make up can do..." Sam said tersely, all the happiness gone from her system. "Did you tell him?"

"Get your friend to cover for you and meet me outside when I'm done eatin'. Now shoo. Not that I don't enjoy the view, but let a man eat in peace, would ya?" Sam wanted to slap the shit-eating grin off of Merle's face, but she knew that that wouldn't earn her any favors at all.

Sam didn't respond. She left for another table to take some orders, but she was merely functioning on auto-pilot. Inside her mind the events that were sure to come were already unfolding. Merle would tell Daryl, Daryl wouldn't be pleased at all, he would break it all off at once, she would be absolutely devastated. Scratch that... she was devastated already. She should have just told Daryl right at the beginning, get it out of the way. Now it was too late for that. Now it looked like she had been keeping secrets. Well, she had... but only because she had liked him so much already back then. It was no excuse though. He will be right to be mad as hell, which she assumed he would be. She had sabotaged herself again. She had tried so hard, but she had gone and done it again. She didn't deserve good things anymore. This was a clear reminder of that. She had been too happy.

As soon as she saw Merle go outside, she nodded towards Jess, who would cover for her for a couple of minutes, and quickly followed him. "So,... you finally remembered, yeah?"

"Had some help." Merle told her while he casually leaned back against the wall and smoked his cigarette.

"Help? What do you mean?"

"Me and my buddy Lizard went down to the club last night."

"Lizard... of course..." Sam sighed deeply with a roll of her eyes when she remembered one of the guys who had developed a little infatuation with her.

"Yeah, we both hadn't been there for a while. Had to lay low after we got ourselves in some trouble with one of 'em bouncers ya had there. Heard he got fired, so we were free to go back, and we did. Imagine how broken up he was when he found out that his precious Bambi wasn't gonna dance for him no more. One of 'em other girls said that ya quit a couple months ago. That ya started working at a diner. That's when all 'em bells up here started ringing. Who started working at Patsy's a couple months ago and seemed fucking familiar? That's right... my brother's hot, new, little girlfriend."

"Did you tell him?"

"You know what's funny to me?" Merle ignored Sam's question for the second time. "My brother ain't never wanted much out of life. He was perfectly happy with what we had. Wasn't interested in no chicks, neither. Thought he was fucking gay for a while, 'til I caught him with one of my momma's catalogs back in the day. Face as red as a fire engine. Must'a been 15 years or so... But other than that... nothin'. And then you come along. And you got great timing, I gotta say, Bambi. He gets a job that pays him a crapload of dough just for drivin' a truck around, and suddenly y'all hook up, huh? Seems all kinda convenient. You quit at the club, sink your hooks into Daryl, make him get a job... lemme guess what your next move's gon' be... You're gon' get yourself fired, and Daryl, 'cause he's such a sweet, little knight in his fucking shining armor, he's gon' give ya money,... help ya out, until ya find a new gig... which ya never will, 'cause he's bringing in the cash, and plenty of it. Enough for the two of ya to live comfortably. Right?"

"Not even close."

"What's your angle here, Bambi?" Merle's expression had hardened considerably. He didn't take lightly to anyone using him or his little brother.

"There is no angle, Merle. Daryl wanted to find a job even before I started working here. That's what he told me."

"Really? Why should I fucking believe ya? The day he took ya home the first time, was the day he suddenly started doin' his own thing. Not wanting to go with me during the day no more. You sayin' that was his own idea?"

"Yes. Because he almost died because of you, Merle. Is it really hard to believe that he wants out of that whole drug scene?"

"Don't matter anyway." Merle's grin was back. "'Cause as soon as he finds out about ya, you're gon' be yesterday's news. Worth less to him than dog shit."

Sam hated herself for it, but Merle's words brought tears to her eyes. The thought that Daryl would turn his back on her made them spill over. "I love him, Merle."

"Ha! Right. Why don't ya piss in my ear and tell me it's raining, too?" Merle was extremely amused. "Don't nobody love a Dixon, honey. The only person who's ever gonna care about him is me. Always been like that and it's gonna stay like that. You better tell him quick, Bambi. I ain't known for bein' able to keep secrets. I turn into quite a blabbermouth when I've had my sweets." Merle said conversationally while he took his last drag. "Tell him, and then do both of y'all a favor and stay away from him. Ain't nothing there for ya to get. Go find another fool for your little games, or you won't like what happens."

He walked past her, giving her a hard stare while he left. He didn't buy her tears for even a second. Women. All the same. "Oh, and thanks for breakfast. I'm assuming it's on the house." he chuckled, delivering one last kick before he rounded the corner and left her alone with her sorrow. Where he was concerned, she was only sad about not being able to drain any money out of Daryl.

Hours later, the tears still ran down her face. The sobbing had ceased, but the tears had not. She was a mess, and she hadn't even talked to Daryl yet. For the first time she was dreading the moment he would come over. Her stomach felt like it was filled with a ton of lead. She hadn't been able to eat or drink anything all day, which, combined with the crying, had given her a hellish headache. It was one of those days where she would just be ready to die once Daryl would leave, which she was very sure he would. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to afford to crumble and give in. She would go to an AA meeting later, because this whole thing already made her feel like she wanted a drink... or twenty.

She laid down on the couch, because the restless pacing made her headache worse. The wait for Daryl was driving her insane. For the hundredth time, the whole thing she expected to happen, played out in front of her inner eye like a movie.

"Sam?" Daryl called out for her when he entered the house, but his smile vanished as soon as he saw her. "What's going on? You look like crap." He was as brutally honest as ever, but he was also concerned. She really did look terrible, all pale and with her eyes so red that there was barely any white left anymore. "Someone die?"

"Just my dreams." she muttered while she got over her shock.

"What?"

"Nothing." she shook her head and wiped at her tears. "I'm so sorry... we have to talk. Can you sit down, please?"

Daryl's expression hardened, when her words registered. "Nah. I'm good. Just spit it out. Already know what you're gonna say. Changed your mind, huh? Don't want this after all."

"Oh, I want this. You have no idea how much I want this,... but there's something I haven't told you about yet." she sniffed and tried to keep calm enough to actually be able to talk. "You want a drink or something?"

"No. I don't want no drink. I wanna know what the fuck is going on here." he said while he crossed his arms over his chest. He was still surprisingly calm, but his voice had dropped lower and came out gruffer than before.

"You know how Merle kept saying he knew me?"

"Mhm."

"He wasn't wrong." Sam finally admitted.

"Wha'?"

"I've known him for a while. Not know know, but I knew who he was. I've seen him a couple of times."

Daryl's eyes narrowed. He didn't quite know where this was going, but he already knew that he wouldn't like it one bit. "Seen him where?"

"Bare Essentials."

"Bare Essentials? What?" Daryl had no idea what that was supposed to mean, until it hit him. "Wait,... that strip club?"

"Yes."

"Ya saw him there? The fuck were ya doin' in that fucked up club?"

"I worked there, Daryl." she told him with the wavering mess that was her voice in that moment.

Daryl froze when he realized what that meant. Anger started to build, making every muscle in his body tense up. "Ya worked there? As what? A fucking stripper?" he spat viciously. He already knew the answer and it made him want to lash out and hurt her, just like she was hurting him in that moment. "So ya fucking lied? Ya said, ya didn't have a job."

"I never said that. I said that time was a blur..."

"Lying by omission is still fucking lying, Sam. That even your real name? Or is it some kind of stupid stripper name?" he shouted at her, while he started pacing the floor.

"It's my real name, Daryl. Please let me explain."

"Nah... don't need ya to explain shit." he scoffed. "My brother saw ya naked. Shit, half the town saw ya naked." the realization made his rage grow tenfold. He whirled around and got in her face, full on yelling. "Did ya have fun? Did ya get your rocks off by rubbing your ass on his dick? Ya fuck him? Huh? How many of them did ya fuck?"

"I was a stripper, not a prostitute, Daryl. There is a difference."

"Pffff, right. Keep telling yourself that if it lets ya sleep at night." he shook his head with a humorless laugh. He was so angry, he wasn't able to see straight.

What he said made Sam's tears stop for a moment. She looked at him with an incredulous expression. "Are you serious? You know what? No!"

"No, what?"

"You don't get to do this. You have every right in the book to be mad at me for not telling you sooner, but you do not get to shame me for what I did."

"Yeah, 'cause it's such an honorable profession."

"Stop. I did what I had to do-"

"Right. Somebody force you at gunpoint to act like a slut and take your clothes off for money in front of all of 'em perverts? No? Yeah... didn't think so."

"You're acting like an ass!"

"That's what I am, Sam! That's what I've been telling you all along." he was back to yelling.

"It's not true. Just get that in that thick head of yours." she yelled right back, then she took a deep breath and took a step back. "You're angry. I understand that. You are right to be, Daryl. I will accept if you don't ever want to see me again after tonight, but please, let me explain what happened back then. Please."

Sam jumped and her eyes snapped open, when her front door slammed shut for real. Her mouth went dry, her heart started slamming against her ribcage, and she swallowed several times in order to fight the urge to throw up. She sat up quickly, which her head immediately punished her for. She winced and pressed the heel of her hand against her temple.

"Sam?"

She looked up to see Daryl stand in front of the couch with worry in his eyes. "You don't look good. You sick?"

"No. Just had a shitty day." she put on a brave smile.

Daryl nodded and finally came closer. He gently lifted her legs and sat down before laying them over his lap, so he could be as close to her as possible. He looked at her nervously, but made no move to give her a kiss. Looked like he still needed some more time to get used to it all. Sam couldn't help herself. She put her hand to his cheek and pulled his face closer. She kissed him a little harder than the night before and she lingered a little longer as well, trying to get her fill as much as possible before it would all go to hell. Tears pricked behind her eyelids and much to her embarrassment, a little sob escaped her.

Daryl pulled away and frowned. "The hell is wrong? Something happen?"

"Yeah." Sam sighed shakily. "I have to tell you something."

"Sick of me already?" he half-joked, but on the inside he was scared that it might really be the case.

"No. Never. Shit... you're gonna hate me."

"Why?"

"I kept something from you. About my past. About what I did when I came here... You asked a couple of times, but I never gave you a straight answer. I didn't mean to deceive you or anything... I didn't tell you, because I was very sure that you wouldn't want to be friends with me when you found out... and I really, really wanted to be friends with you,... and then we got closer and, you know... I developed feelings and I wanted more with you and then of course I didn't tell you, because I just knew you would run for the hills..."

"Ain't givin' me a lot of credit, are ya?" he interrupted her with a little laugh.

"That's not it. I know what people think when they hea-"

"Sam?" he interrupted her yet again.

"What?"

"I already know... about the club and everything. About you workin' as a stripper."

Sam's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head, while her jaw dropped to the ground. Daryl smirked at her shocked expression. Seemed like she had expected to shock the hell out of him tonight, but now she was the one who was speechless. He was getting a little kick out of that.

"You... You know?!"

"Yeah. Known for a couple of weeks."

"A couple of weeks?!" Sam shouted in disbelief.

"That's what I said." he nodded with an amused smile playing along his lips. "It don't change nothin', Sam. Still kept comin' here almost every night, didn't I? It don't matter. Jus' like me bein'... you know... It don't change how I think about ya... That why yer so upset?"

"Well... yeah... I thought you would freak out. Like, major blow-out fight. I played through it in my head countless times today... A couple of weeks... how on Earth did you find out?"

"A couple of days after we were up by them waterfalls, I went to Patsy's pretty late. Sat at the counter, while they were starting to get things ready for closing. Was just me and another guy. Those girls you work with, they were talking. Guess as soon as your name came up, I paid more attention." he blushed slightly at that. "One of 'em talked 'bout taking some class at the gym. Like a pole dancin' class or somethin'? And the other one asked why she would spend money on a class, 'cause they work with you. Said you worked at that club as a stripper and knew a thing or two about pole dancin'... said she should just ask you to teach her." Daryl explained what he had witnessed a little over a month ago.

"She did ask me, but I said no. Never gonna do that again. Ugh, I wanna kill them, but it's not really their fault. When you're behind the counter with the back to the people, you just forget they're there..." Sam released a deep, long breath and rubbed her pale face and red eyes. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Something about not poking the bear? Lettin' sleeping dogs lie? Figured you had your reasons why ya didn't tell me. I knew 'bout that shit with your ex and you livin' off the grid for a while. Put two and two together. Knew that the companies who would've hired you wouldn't have agreed to pay ya in cash, so I'm guessin' you didn't have too many options to get money. When we started hanging out more, ya didn't struck me as the kinda person who did it because ya liked it so much... Thought maybe ya were too embarrassed to tell me,... Thought one day when you're ready, you're gonna come out with it. I knew you were tryin' ta start over. Thought you wanted to keep the past in the past, so who am I to bring it up if you ain't ready to tell, you know?"

"And it doesn't bother you at all? You know your brother was there a lot, right?" A fresh batch of tears rolled down her cheeks and Daryl carefully wiped them away with his fingers. His tenderness coupled with his understanding made her cry even more.

"Yeah, I know..." Daryl sighed. "Ain't gonna lie, it's a tough pill to swallow... Look, I don't care what ya were. Ain't like ya killed someone... It's done. You got a different life now. Ain't strippin' no more, ain't doin' booze no more... Turned over a new leaf and shit... That's what counts right now. And about Merle... he don't even remember. He don't know that what he saw was you."

"He does know. He remembered." Sam sniffed and all her hope flew out the window when she saw the surprise on his face. "Why do you think I'm such a mess today? Why I wanted to tell you today?"

"What are you talking about?"

"This morning at work,... he told me he remembered. His friend Lizard? He was one of my biggest 'fans'. They were at the club last night and Lizard asked one of the girls about me. She told him I quit and worked at a diner now, so Merle put two and two together as well."

"Awwww shit..." Daryl let his head fall back against the back of the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. That was most certainly a bummer (and that was probably the understatement of the year). He was okay with Sam's former job. He would never judge her for that, especially not since she probably didn't have a choice, but knowing that Merle had seen the woman, he was getting involved with, naked, wasn't easy to deal with. The fact that Merle hadn't known that it had been Sam, had made it a lot easier, but now that was gone. He ain't never gon' shut up about it. That's gonna suck. However, it still didn't change how Daryl felt about her. He wouldn't give up on this, because of Merle having ogled her naked body. It sucked, but he would find a way to deal with it. Hopefully. "What did he say?"

"Unsurprisingly, he wasn't very nice." Sam scoffed. "He wants to protect you."

"From you?" Daryl was slightly amused by that, but his smile quickly died on his lips, when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

"Yeah. He thinks it's too much of a coincidence that you started living your own life the day we met. He thinks I am using you. That I saw you and thought you would be the perfect gullible pawn in my plan to never have to work again or something like that."

"What? The hell is he thinking?"

"He thinks I made you get a job. He thinks that I only hooked up with you, because you're bringing in the big bucks now, and that I'm gonna get myself fired, so I can sit on my ass and have you pay for me until the end of days. He doesn't believe that you wanted this for yourself, to get a job and to spend time away from him. He told me to stay away from you, or else..."

"Or else... Or else what? He threaten you?" Now Daryl did get angry.

"He said I wouldn't like what happens if I didn't leave you alone."

"Don't you worry 'bout Merle. Stupid shithead." Daryl cursed his brother, making Sam crack a smile.

"He's your brother and he loves you. He just wants to make sure you're safe."

"Don't defend him. He had no right to say that shit to you. Imma talk to him tomorrow." Daryl promised. "Now come on, stop crying. We're good."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop."

"I should have told you right away. This keeping secrets shit is never leading to anything good. I don't deserve to get this lucky... with you being such a damn angel about it all." She started sobbing again when all the tension burst out of her. "I almost screwed this whole thing up, just because I was too afraid to come out with it. I never have trouble telling people, just with you, I was so scared to loose you, and now I almost lost you because I didn't tell you and... shit I'm a fucking mess..."

"Hey... stop. It's alright." He put his hand on her shoulder, unsure if she wanted a hug, but Sam immediately climbed on his lap and straddled him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in the crook between his head and her arm. Daryl wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, letting her cry it out. "Come on, stop crying. Shhhhh,... it's all good. Come on, Sammy. It's okay."

Sammy? That made her cry even harder. He had never called her that before, but it sounded so comforting and sweet and affectionate coming from his lips, that she never wanted him to call her anything else ever again. "I like that." she pressed out between sobs, making Daryl frown.

"You like what?"

"You called me Sammy. I like that. Nobody ever called me that before."

"Seriously? Nobody?"

"No." Sam pulled back, wiping at her wet face while she shook her head. "My parents say Sam or Samina and all my friends always called me Sam, too. My grandparents always called me Mina. But no Sammy."

"Hm. I like Sammy better than Sam." Daryl mused almost to himself. He hadn't even consciously called her that, it had just slipped out while he'd tried to comfort her, but the thought of being the only one to call her that appealed to him for whatever reason.

"I like it, too." she smiled, then she leaned in and kissed him sweetly, before she hid her face in his hair again, letting him hold her for a while longer. "Daryl?"

"Hm?"

"There's something else. And I swear, after that, you know everything."

"What now?" he asked, a little wariness seeping into his gaze.

"When I left my ex and Charleston... I wasn't alone."

"What's that mean?"

"Come with me." Sam climbed off his lap and took his hand. She guided him to the one room he'd never been in. He'd assumed that it was a spare bedroom for guests and that maybe she used it for storage, since they had always slept on the couch whenever he had stayed the night. Sam opened the door and turned on the lights, and Daryl found himself right smack in the middle of a little boy's dream. Now he was the one who was shocked after all. He hadn't seen that coming at all.

He looked around, silently taking everything in for a little moment, before he spoke up. "Didn't kidnap a kid, did ya?"

"No, of course not. Well, in a way... maybe. But he's mine... My son."

He nodded and started to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, when he remembered her drinking problem. He feared that it might not have been the stripping and the fear of her ex that had driven her into alcoholism. "Is he dead?"

"No! God, no." Sam quickly exclaimed. The thought alone was making her shudder. "He's fine. He's with my parents. They took him a couple of months after we got here."

Daryl didn't know what to think or how he felt. A little overwhelmed maybe. A little bit mad, too. "I get why ya didn't tell me bout the strippin'... but ya could have told me about him at least." Daryl mumbled while he picked up a book and thumbed through the colorful pages.

"I'm sorry."

"Why didn't ya?"

"I don't know. It tied in with the whole stripping and stuff... I should have told you everything right away."

"Yeah, maybe..."

"Now you're mad."

He shrugged. "Dunno if I am... " he put the book back on the shelf and looked around some more, picking up a toy here and there. The whole room looked like the kid was just at daycare or something. Like all of this was just waiting for him to come back and get played with. Knowing that the kid wouldn't come here made the whole thing have a bit of a sad feel to it. Daryl shook it off and sighed. "After I heard about your old job, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, ya know? And now this... Little more than I bargained for. Don't like feelin' like this... Like I don't know what's going on. Like I ain't got no control over shit. It's why I'm tryin' to get out of the whole Merle lifestyle..." Daryl had no idea what he was even saying. There were a lot of unanswered questions and Sam would have to provide at least some answers before he would be able to sort through all of what was going on inside of him. "Come on. Let's make some coffee and then you're gonna tell me what happened when ya got here..."

"River was just 6 months old when we left his father and came here. He was the main reason I finally left. I didn't want to die and leave him in the hands of his father. Who knows what Oliver would have done to him... I told Oliver a couple of times that I would leave if he wouldn't stop hitting me. He threatened to take River away from me if I would leave him. That he would find a way to get full custody. Not because he loves his son so damn much, but because it would hurt me."

"Sounds like a real prize." Daryl scoffed quietly.

"Obviously, yeah... I don't know why I chose that day to leave. I don't know why I didn't leave sooner,... Didn't know what to do or too scared of being on my own... I don't know. But I finally got off my ass, packed a bag as soon as Oliver left in the morning, went to the bank, got my money, which wasn't too much, but enough to get us started, and then I put River in the car and started driving. Next I did some stuff I had seen in some really bad movies." Sam laughed a little. "Ditched the car by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and walked until my back and feet wouldn't keep going anymore. I chopped off some of my hair and dyed it in a dirty gas station bathroom. I'm not kidding. It was bad, but I guess it worked. I walked some more until I found the guy who sold me the Jetta. Loaded River and our stuff in the car and kept driving and at one point, we landed here. Seemed like a nice place and it was far enough from home, and frankly, I was tired." She laughed again. "I think we both slept for three days straight. River was completely worn out, too. Half the time he slept with my breast still in his mouth, because he kept falling asleep while I fed him... but he bounced back quickly. After that, I checked the internet for news from Charleston. Oliver was looking for us. I found some reports. They found the car and that's where they lost us. I did a good job. I wore colored contacts, lots of make-up, kept bleaching my hair... Nobody really asked any questions. Oliver had given the press newborn pics of River, which was a lucky for us. He looked different than the pics, too. You know what happened next. I was still paranoid that he would find us. I wasn't able to relax at all. Money got tight, too and I needed a job. Like you said, I needed them to give me cash. Didn't dare opening an account... I still don't have one. So yeah, I didn't have many options where work was concerned. I needed a job that would pay well enough for us to get everything we would need and enough so that I could afford a nanny while I worked. I very quickly found out that providing for River would be much much harder than I had thought. I was lucky that he was still so little and I was able to breastfeed him and didn't need to feed him too many solids, but because I wasn't eating right, my milk supply got less and less. Needless to say, I was now able to add a lot of stress and worry to my paranoia. That's when the real trouble started. One day we were out, just taking a stroll, when some guy approached me. He gave me his card and said if I would ever be out of a job, I should give him a call. So I did. It was the manager of Bare Essentials. With my bleached blonde hair and tacky make-up and the knockers, guess I had stripper written all over me."

"Ya really had blonde hair? Can't even imagine what that looked like. Ain't you at all." Daryl mumbled with a frown while he took in her brunette locks.

"I know. I hated it, but it did the trick. Anyway, I called the guy and he told me to come there for an interview. I was so excited that I didn't even check what kind of establishment he was managing. Imagine my shock when I got there and found out I was auditioning to be one of the dancers."

"But you did it?"

"No. I bolted. I held out for another three weeks, but when I wasn't even able to buy some bananas and wet wipes for River, I gave in. It was hell. I've never been shy. I've always been mostly okay with my body... not in love with it, but it was alright... but dear God, this was just a whole different ball park. All these people staring at you while you move around up there and take your clothes off... One more thing to pile on top of the stress and paranoia. I wasn't able to deal with it all anymore. I wasn't able to look at myself in the mirror any longer. I wasn't ashamed for taking my clothes off for money, because it enabled me to give River what he needed, but I was ashamed for how I was fucking up my life and his. The drinking started and it got more and more. It went on for about three or four months. One day, River got sick and I was so out of it that I didn't wake up when he cried. He was in pain and I didn't even notice. Neighbors said he had cried a long time..." Sam started crying again when she remembered that horrible day and how River had to suffer because of her. "I put him in danger... because of me he had to suffer for hours, before I woke up. That's when I knew that I wasn't able to keep going like that. I contacted my parents and told them everything. They thought we had died for sure. We had been off the radar for almost half a year. They came to see us immediately and when they learned what was going on, they told me they would take River... bring him back into a normal and healthy environment, while I took care of myself and got help for my problems. I let them. It tore my heart out, but it was the best thing for him. I got treatment, stopped drinking, did all the counseling stuff, started going to meetings, started looking for another job. I had to dance sober for six months... that's not an easy feat, I'm telling you. But I did it. I fought through it and at one meeting I met Patty from the diner. I had shared at the meeting that day and we got to talking and went for coffee and she offered me help to get out of that club. The rest is history."

Daryl nodded. "That's quite a story. What about your ex? He ain't looking for you no more?"

"Not actively, I think. It's been over a year. I don't know how it works, but I'm guessing it's like a cold case now. Missing people who never get found... I'm still worried sometimes, especially now that I'm no longer disguising, but I think he moved on by now."

"If he ever shows up here, Imma kick his ass into the next century, don't worry."

Sam smiled at that. "Does that mean you're gonna stick around? Despite everything?"

"It don't change nothin', Sam." he assured her once more. "I ain't happy 'bout my brother knowing ya like that... I ain't happy ya kept your son from me, but I can deal with that. Just no more secrets now, alright?"

"I promise."

"I gotta ask something though."

"What?"

"When ya danced and Merle was there... "

"There has never been any physical contact between us, I promise. All I did was take my clothes off. I never did any friction dances or something like that. Never. With no one. Just looking, no touching." Sam vowed.

Daryl released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. That certainly made things a bit easier to deal with again. "Alright. That's all I needed ta know." Daryl leaned back comfortably against the sofa and gently touched her arm, signaling her that he was ready for some cuddling again. Sam snuggled into his side and made a little happy sound when he wrapped his arms around her to hug her to him tightly. Sam tilted her head up and tentatively pressed her lips against his, carefully testing if he was up for some kisses as well. This time he responded immediately and put his new skill to use, even daring to part his lips a little more and suck on her bottom lip just a little bit.

The sound Sam made in the back of her throat was exhilarating to Daryl. He had never thought that he would ever be a guy to draw any sounds of pleasure out of a woman, but here he was. It boosted his confidence and he started to feel a bit more secure in this new situation. Sam let him guide her this time. She didn't want to take charge and push forward and overwhelm him more than she already had tonight. She let him set the pace and the intensity, but she was pleasantly surprised, when his kisses deepened a little and got a bit more passionate. It was so amazing for her to see and feel, that she wasn't the only one affected by it all after all. It certainly made her feel a lot less needy, and for that she was grateful.

"I hate myself for interrupting this..." Sam sighed with regret when she pulled away a little later, "... but I wanna go to a meeting. Today has really done a number on me."

"I'll take ya." Daryl said and gently pushed her off.

"Hey..." Sam smiled and stopped him for a moment. "You're driving me crazy, you know that?"

"What?"

"You're definitely a natural." Sam grinned and traced her index finger over his soft lips.

"Yeah?" Daryl was smiling proudly with an endearing blush creeping into his cheeks.

"Yeah." she nodded and pressed her lips down on his once more. "You coming back here with me later?"

"I will. Ain't gon' leave ya alone tonight. I'll wait outside at the meeting. Get us something to eat while you're in there."

"Sounds good. Thank you."

"Anytime. Let's go, I'm starving already."

Thank you for reading.

And yes, she will get her son back eventually. Patience;-)

Thoughts? I know everyone had their own expectations of how Daryl was going to take the news. I agree with the reviewer loveorpain, who said that Daryl is not one to judge someone for their past/job/etc. It made sense to me that he already knew but just kept it to himself and let her tell him in her own time. Still, I like some angry Daryl, so I had both versions in here, Sam's imagination of how he might react, and his actual reaction. Hope you liked it.

Tell me what you think.

Of course they are not done discussing everything yet, there will be some more to come in the next chapter.

Hello, welcome and thank you to all new readers, followers and favorite-ers. I hope you enjoyed this one, too.

Special thanks to the awesome reviewers:

DarylDixon'sLover

EastDenise

ElsaEditorial

krissyg49

mamareadstomuch2

An Amber Pen

lewis7

wabi-sabi1090

butrrfly023

Nurse jean

cemmia

54hay

ReidsGirl

loveorpain