Ten-I can hear her heartbeat
A/N: Thank you again to everyone for reading, you make my day with your lovely words. xoxox
Late Saturday afternoon Daryl snuck in the house and down the hall towards his room with his backpack slung over his shoulder. All he wanted to do is get some sleep and count the minutes until Friday. With any luck Merle would have been at Teagan's but last weekend but she had moved in with them so now Merle was always home. A few times on Saturdays he was able to get in the house without him knowing and just crash for the rest of the afternoon.
But it wasn't looking good for today.
He was always tired on Saturday afternoons, but he would have stayed longer if he could have. Stephanie had said no, she had plans and she said they would see each other on Friday as usual. Daryl wanted more, more time, more of her, more everything but it didn't go that way. He would take what she gave him with a smile on his face though and be happy about it.
Now he was trying to get in the house without alerting Merle. Teagan was nowhere to be found. Her car was gone so she must have been at the store. That sucked because he could have really used a buffer right now.
"Smells like lemons, where the fuck have you been?"
He stopped and turned in the hallway, feeling like a teenager, so much for sneaking in like a thief. He wasn't in the mood for Merle right now, with his questions and comments.
"Am I thirty or twelve." He called down the hall.
"You coulda called."
He tossed his backpack into his room and walked back down the hall towards the kitchen.
"Merle, I've been out every Friday night for a month." He said. "Aint nothing new."
"It's six, you're usually home at noon asshole."
"Got tied up." He said leaning against the door frame and rolling his tongue against the side of his cheek. The irony of that statement making his eye twitch as he looked over at Merle. And he grinned slightly thinking about the night before and thinking of her.
"Still coulda called."
The backdoor opened and Teagan came in with two bags of groceries. Merle immediately dropped the subject with Daryl and went to help her bring in her packages.
"We aint done brother." He said as he took the bags from Teagan.
They brought the bags in and set them on the table and Daryl and Teagan started unloading them. She had heard them talking when she came in. Merle just wouldn't let it go until he knew what was going on. She had told him to but our and stopped him at least five times from blowing up Daryl's phone when he didn't come home that morning.
"Your brother thinks you're out robbing banks or something just because you won't tell him where you go every Friday." She said bumping shoulders with Merle.
"Cause its none of his business." He walked by to put something on the counter and winked at her. Teagan winked back at him and continued to empty the bags.
"I'm making Meatloaf and mashed potato for you guys tonight. Sound good Daryl?" Teagan said. "And spinach."
"This is some fucked up Threes Company we got going here." Merle said.
"Oh why baby, cause it isn't you and two girls?" She laughed walking over to Merle, putting her hands on his shoulders and kissing him. "I'm the luckiest girl in town."
"That's true darlin." He said pulling her close. "And I'm the luckiest guy."
Then Merle turned to Daryl who was putting things away in the refrigerator.
"Don't think I forgot about you brother, nice necklace." Merle said and he kissed Teagan on the forehead. "Be right back sugar." And he walked down the hall to the bathroom.
Daryl turned to Teagan to hand her the eggs out of the bag.
"Don't pay attention to him, Daryl." Teagan said. "He just…worries."
"I know, but I know what I'm doin." He said.
"I have no doubt at all." Teagan replied. "You know your brother."
"Yeah. I do."
That night he laid in bed thinking about her. He had wanted to stay another night with her so badly. Seeing her just once a week wasn't enough for him, he laid in his bed wishing she was there. He didn't know what he was doing, not really. He could hear music somewhere in the house, Merle and Teagan were dancing in the living room to 'Crazy Love' by Van Morrison and he could hear the words.
I can hear her heartbeat for a thousand miles, and the heaven's open whenever she smiles.
Merle and Teagan danced together a lot at night to slow songs, this was how he knew his brother was truly in love. She had gotten to him and changed him. And slowed him right down. Daryl wanted what they had, he thought it would never happen for him. He had hope now, for the first time, but he was scared. That was breaking the rules.
There was a saying he had always heard and he thought of it as he smoked in the dark laying on his bed wishing for her.
The greatest tragedy for a man is to never get his heart's desire, the other, is to get it.
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"I met someone, Tara." Stephanie had said into the phone five days earlier and they made their plans for the next weekend. She would drive up on Saturday and stay until Monday because she didn't go into the library until noon on Mondays. They planned weekend of food, movies and girl talk and they both needed it.
They never had time for this and they need to make time for it more often, Stephanie intended to suggest that very thing. You just shouldn't go months without seeing your oldest and best friend, it wasn't good for your psyche.
She was instantly excited when they hung up the phone, she missed Tara so much, so many memories in her life included her. She was her bestie and had been for over 20 years, they knew each other better than anyone else on this earth. And she needed Tara right now.
Tara turned to her girlfriend Denise after they hung up and said hell had just frozen over. Stephanie had met someone and she was coming up to talk it out on Saturday.
Stephanie left her house at six after Daryl reluctantly went home and the truth was, she might have let him stay if she wasn't leaving herself. And that was the whole reason why she was going to Tara.
Two nights with him, that wasn't in the rules.
She drove with the music blasting in Connie's speakers and her backpack in the back seat, as if she had not a care in the world. Her mood was light and she was happy, just like she always was, the sun was still out and shining bright. That just made it all the better.
The drive would take two hours, without traffic and she had plenty of music jacked into her radio from her iPod.
'All the Right Moves' by One Republic was playing and Stephanie sang along. She hadn't seen Tara in about a month or so and she couldn't wait to see her.
All the right moves and all the right faces, so yeah we're going down. They say, everybody knows, everybody knows where we're going, yeah we're going down.
Do you think I'm special? Do you think I'm nice? Am I bright enough to shine in your spaces?
She drove along singing to all the music that came on and was there before she knew it.
Stephanie arrived at eight and the music was coming out of Tara's apartment, as usual but it wasn't her usual genre it was 'Feel Good Inc.' by Gorillaz. She knocked and waited for her to open the door. As soon as she opened the door they were screaming and hugging each other.
"What the hell are you listening to?" Stephanie asked.
"Don't tell ok?" Tara grinned.
"Oh, I'm calling him right now." Stephanie said.
"You just missed him, he just called and said to give you a big kiss." Tara kissed her on the cheek. "That's from Doug."
"I love your Dad."
"He's alright." Tara grinned.
Tara had her short hair in a half pony tail and her usual jeans and t-shirt on. She had an eyebrow piercing and a Monroe, plus all the ear piercings Stephanie had. She was pretty with short brown hair and a sweet smile. They almost looked like sisters and when they were younger they were often mistaken for just that.
They hugged again because they hadn't seen each other so long.
Stephanie had her hair wound up in two knobs on either side of her head and shorts and bare feet, it was spring in the south and this was her uniform out of work. She dressed up for the library, but she was really a jeans and t-shirt girl. She couldn't wait to put her feet in the ocean.
"Come on Sailor Moon." Tara said. "Let's go to the beach."
"I need a tattoo this weekend, figured it wouldn't be in the way this way."
"And you look so cute." Tara said as she grabbed a hoody for their walk to the beach. "So cute you are."
They walked the short distance to the beach talking about work and music, saving the real topic for later. They stopped and bought coffee along the way and drank it as they walked.
Already she felt the healing powers of the sea as she breathed it in as they got closer. It was like old times and Tara was with her soon they would be sitting by their favorite place at the beach. Tara and Stephanie had known each other almost all their lives. The fact that Tara had met someone who lived in Georgia and now lived only two hours from Stephanie was a stroke of wonderful luck.
There were times in their lives where they were separated by many states and a few oceans. But not now, they were close in proximity and in the heart.
They talked on the phone often, but they had never had this kind of conversation. Tara knew all about Stephanie's life and hearing her say she met someone carried a hell of a lot of weight with her.
This was a first.
Tara was the daughter of a rock star. Stephanie's parents worked for Tara's father on and off and they had grown up together riding on tour buses and counting the days until they could emancipate themselves from their parents.
Stephanie to her grandmother's where she still lived after she inherited the house, when her grandmother died. Tara to art school, where she met a nice Med Student who she moved in with a few years ago.
Tara's father still toured, and he was still a headliner along with the three other guys that played in his band. But he was the most famous of them, he was the lead singer. The best looking, even as he got older, he still turned heads.
He was best known for tying scarves on his microphone and having an amazing vocal range. He was a true rock star and he called his only daughter three times a week.
"How's Doug?"
"Doug is Doug, you know singing and chasing girls." Tara replied. "He's somewhere in New Jersey right now on tour. Some place called Starland Ballroom."
"Bet he's hitting the beach and that place, what was it called? Martell's or Jenkinson's remember on the boardwalk? With the Margarita's and the popcorn?"
"Yeah." Tara said smiling at the memory. "They spotted us and he got up and sang with the house band."
Stephanie smiled. "Your Dad is something else."
"Yeah he is." Tara said. "But I don't wanna talk about Doug, you and I both know he's always gonna be the same." She laughed. "I wanna hear about this guy that's got you driving all the way up here for more ink."
"Oh, cookie, I'm here to see you too." Stephanie said.
"You need to let out some endorphins." Tara laughed. "You need a hit of the ink needle, to hear the buzz."
"No, that's not a problem." Stephanie laughed.
"Ok spill your guts." Tara said rubbing her hands together.
"I told him about Casey and Mick. I told him." Stephanie said as she and Tara sat on a bench together by the water in Savannah watching the boats go by.
"Wow." Tara said. "Like, you told him something personal."
Tara reached for her cigarette and took a drag and handed it back to Stephanie.
"That's not like you." Tara said. "Thought you didn't tell them about that, or anything personal."
"I don't. I don't know why." Stephanie said. "I couldn't not tell him."
"And you told him all about life on a tour bus with our crazy parents?"
Stephanie nodded with a slight frown on her face.
"About the groupies and all the drinking?" Tara asked. "About scalping tickets for pot in the parking lots? About kissing Jacob Dylan backstage at CBGB's when his dad and my dad were touring together?"
"Including your reply when he tried to kiss you too." She smiled. "You do know I'm into girls right?"
They erupted into laughter.
"Jeeez Steph, you're gonna have to marry this guy." Tara said. "He knows too much." She laughed.
"I'm never getting married…"
"Yeah yeah, I know and no kids either god forbid, but you never said jack shit about love." Tara said taking a sip of her coffee. "And that my friend hits you right in the face when you aren't looking."
She held her coffee cup up to her in a toast.
"Congrats Steph, you fought the good fight, but in the end you have no control over it." They were silent for a few beats just sitting together drinking coffee.
Stephanie thought about what her friend was saying, she thought herself incapable of love. She didn't know what it even felt like, that's how sure she was that it had never happened to her before.
"So what are we putting on you tonight?"
"Another fairy and maybe some other stuff."
"Ok, let's do this."