Thanks so much for the amazing reviews! I adore each and every one of them; they really encourage me to write more for you guys! And another thank you to suggies for proof-reading!
Warnings: A make out scene. Sadly, no sex :(.
Payment
(Part 2)
"He's not there," Darcy breathed against Daryl's still lips. "It's just you and me. He's not there," it was for her sake as much as it was for his.
"Not right," he mumbled back, breath fanning against her mouth and stubble scratching her skin. "Don't wanna hurtchya." He meant mentally more than anythin', 'cause god knows he wouldn't do anythin' to hurt her physically. The idea of doin' somethin' so private in front of Joe was enough to make him wanna throw up so couldn't help but worry about how it was for her.
"You won't," she tried to reassure him. "We have no choice; I don't blame you."
He waited a beat, tryin' to let her words sink it. It seemed like she'd accepted it, like she knew there was no other way and it killed him a little inside, knowing that she was just another person he'd let down.
Naw way, he told himself, not another person. Not someone as sweet as her.
He couldn't bear watchin' someone else fall victim to the evil in this world and not do everything he could to stop it. She may have given up but he weren't ready to.
But first, he needed to distract Joe and right now, there was only one way to do that.
He closed his eyes and his lips brushed against her soft ones as he spoke. "'M sorry."
And then he grabbed her roughly, one hand on the back of her neck, pulling her mouth firmly onto his while he crouched slightly and wrapped his other arm around her waist, hoisting her up his body so his hips tucked nicely between her legs.
Squealing in shock, she quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his shoulders so she didn't fall. His lips parted, forcing hers to open with them. Christ, he was warm, and wet, and for a moment, she completely forgot about Joe.
...That was until he spoke.
"That's it, boy. Give it to the bitch," the deep, lustful tone in Joe's voice made Darcy want to puke. He was getting off on it and she squeezed her eyes shut, scared of what she might see with them open.
She tried to concentrate on Daryl's kiss, replaying her words from earlier in her head over and over. He's not there. It's just me and Daryl.
Daryl took one step towards the bed, holding her against him as if she weighed a bag of feathers.
He's not there.
Daryl's knees found the bottom of the bed before her back met the mattress as he laid her upon it, lips still attached to her own.
We're all alone. It's just me and Daryl.
He scooted them up the bed until her head found the pillows. The space between her legs cradled him comfortably as he moved his left hand up to her face, where he brushed her hair aside. He then sat up enough for him to remove the bag off of his back and he placed it down the left side of the bed before returning to his position.
Don't think about Joe. He's not there. It's okay.
Her thoughts weren't helping as much as she liked and she struggled to get aroused, something she knew she wouldn't of had a problem with had they been alone.
And from the lack of hardness poking between her legs, she guessed Daryl was having the same issue.
The hand in her hair moved down her neck in a gentle caress before slithering across her shoulder to her arm. He took the limb away from his shoulders and pressed it against the bed, forcing her hand to hang over the edge as he stroked along her skin until he found her wrist.
His fingers circled it and squeezed tightly. She didn't see it but his eyes opened for a second and peered over to Joe, who was sitting back in the rocking style chair to the right side of the bed with his hand down his trousers, leaving Daryl with no doubt as to what he was doing.
He wanted to vomit and beat the fucker 'til he was dead but knew he needed to keep the act up for now.
On the left side of the bed, where Daryl held Darcy's wrist out of Joe's sight, he guided her fingers to the material of his hunting bag which he'd placed on the floor just within reach.
Darcy froze when she first felt the material. It was a strap and it took a second to realise exactly what it was, and then it occurred to her that Daryl had set this up; he has a plan.
Oh my god, he has a plan. Relief flooded through her like water breaking through a dam. He's saved us. If I can just grab a weapon... This time as they kissed, she meant every damn moment their lips met and parted. You're fuckin' amazing, Daryl Dixon.
Glad that she'd caught on, he continued to make out with her to keep Joe happy. The hand which guided hers to the bag returned to her head where he gripped her hair once more while his other – the one Joe could see – rested on her knee before slowly trailing up the outside of her leg.
Darcy was struggling to kiss Daryl while attempting to find an opening to the bag, and Daryl could sense it so decided it was better for her to only concentrate on doing one thing. His lips moved from hers and he used the hand in her hair to pull her head to the side so he could lay a trail of kisses on her throat, followed by a thorough suck.
Darcy bit down hard on her tongue when Daryl turned his attention to her neck. It felt good. Real good but she refused to show just how much she was enjoying the sensation of his mouth, especially in front of Joe. The thought of the fucker getting off on her noises was like getting ice thrown over her, and she immediately pushed all thoughts of Daryl lips away and forced herself to concentrate on the bag.
Nimble fingers found an opening in the material, causing her heart to jump with joy. Frantically, and as quietly as she could, she searched through the items.
Tin can.
Compass?
Some kinda necklace or bracelet.
Clothes.
More clothes.
A small piece of paper? Or card? T'fuck he need that for? She pushed the thought away and went back to her task; it wasn't anything to do with her what Daryl carried in his bag.
Something leather. She wasn't sure what it was exactly. Only that there was something inside it that was hard and it was slim. Her fingers trailed along it until the leather stopped and a cold, worn, handle was in it's place.
A hunting knife!
Knowing she'd found her item, she bit her tongue even harder, this time in concentration; she needed to get the blade of the knife out of it's leather sheath before it could be used.
It was a fiddly job; a single pop-type-button was holding it in place and with two hands, she wouldn't of had a problem. But with only one hand, she needed to pop it open while attempting to keep the knife in her grasp. Right now would not be a good time to drop it.
Suddenly, Joe sighed. "C'mon now. I wanna see a little skin."
Asshole. Cocksucker. Dick-face, were a few of the colourful words Darcy insulted him with in her mind but otherwise stayed quiet as she finally managed to pop the button open.
Daryl fault back an angry retort. He wanted to tell the perverted man to piss off but he couldn't risk Joe interrupting Darcy, or for that matter, find out what she was up to. So he exhaled in annoyance against her neck as the hand on her hip slid upwards and under her shirt, causing the material to ride up her stomach and show a bit of skin.
And that's all you're gettin', ya low-life piece'a shit.
The only problem? He could feel the material of her bra against his fingers and it caused his mind to run wild for a moment. He knew for a damn fact that if Joe wasn't in the room, he'd be harder than virgin in a strip club.
Darcy couldn't stop the way her breath hitched in her throat; Daryl's fingers were so close to her breasts and she faltered for a moment, but then she remember the situation and quickly recovered.
By now, she'd managed to get the leather off of the blade which meant there was one last job – get the knife to Daryl without Joe seeing.
Feeling more confident now that she was armed, she didn't even think as she slid the knife along the covers of the bed and over to their bodies. Her hand stopped by their hips and left the knife long enough to tap Daryl twice on the waist through his black, leather body warmer.
His hand then found hers and she guided his to the handle of the knife carefully so he didn't accidentally cut himself on the blade. He wrapped his fingers around the familiar hunting weapon which was about to save his ass once more and finally lifted his head from her neck.
And when he did, she opened her eyes for the first time since they'd started and met his blue ones. They stared at each other for a heartbeat and then she gave him a tiny nod, which he gave back before quickly making his move.
He jumped off of her, ignoring Joe's cry of, "What the fu-" and then quicker than a lion taking down it's prey, he pounced towards the asshole and slit his throat.
Darcy felt absolutely no remorse or regret as she watched Joe's eyes widen, his hands grasping desperately at his throat while blood poured uncontrollably from the wound. He tried to speak, to call out to the others no doubt, as he fell from the chair to the floor but the only noise which escaped him was a wet gargle.
"We need to stab him in the head," Darcy said in a surprisingly calm voice as she climbed off of the bed and stood next to the bag; on the opposite side of the bed to Daryl, who remained in front of Joe, staring at him darkly as Joe slowly choked on his own blood.
"No yet," Daryl replied, flexing his fingers on his blood soaked knife. "He don't deserve no mercy. Wanna see him suffer," he spat.
Darcy understood completely and as much as she wanted Joe to suffer too, she didn't have the stomach to continue to watch. So she turned her attention elsewhere which was when she noticed the items had fallen out of Daryl's bag and onto the floor. She must have done it when searching through it without realising.
So she knelt down and began placing them back into the bag; his clothes, the tinned can with no label, a worn card which looked an awfully lot like-
Holy shit.
Darcy swears her heart came to a crashing stop in her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe as she stared down at the pink, ripped, bloodied business card. Or more specifically, her sex line business card.
Why the hell would Daryl have this? Even if he'd called her in the past, why the hell would he have kept it?
Maybe...maybe he just forgot it was in there?
Maybe it wasn't even his? The bag could have been someone else's at some point – maybe he just didn't empty it out properly.
And then she remembers the feeling of a bracelet in her hand when she searched through the bag which suddenly seems as if it felt all too similar.
She felt dizzy; her mind was racing as she tried to make sense of what this could mean.
Slowly, with the hand not holding the pink card, she brushed a few pieces of his clothes aside and then her throat was tightening when she suspicions were confirmed:
It was her bracelet.
The one her Mother gave her.
The one her Daryl accidentally broke off of her wrist when he attempted to reach for her.
"Get off! Please!" she begged as she was pulled through the crowd. "Daryl!"
A hand appeared through the crowd and then her name was called again. She knew it was him and she reached out desperately. Her fingers grazed his but it wasn't enough. "Daryl." she whimpered out.
He must have somehow sensed it was her because he attempted to close his hand around hers but she was pulled back once more and all he managed to grip was her bracelet, the one her Mom had given her.
It snapped under the pressure and she was once again pulled away; away from Daryl. She screamed out his name again and watched tearfully as his hand, along with her bracelet, disappeared from sight with one last shout:
"I'll find ya, Darcy! I promise, I'll find ya!"
"Daryl..."
As the memory faded, she still attempted to understand what this meant.
Was Daryl – the prison, crossbow wielding, Daryl – her Daryl? The one she shared those phone calls with? The one she fell in love with? The one she'd spent months and month searching for, only to realise that he was most likely dead?
Was he that Daryl?
She couldn't think; could barely form a coherent sentence.
"We're gonna leave him," Daryl said suddenly, making her jump and quickly pack everything back into the bag so he didn't know what she'd found. "We're gonna make a run for it. Out the window. Let the others find him. Hopefully he'll kill a few."
"O-okay." she replied shakily, her fingers numb as she closed his bag and stood up. She couldn't feel her legs; everything felt so...unbelievable. Maybe it was just a dream.
It was then he turned away from Joe, who looked as if he'd finally passed away, and turned his attention to her. His gaze softened as he took in her form, thinking the look on her face was from everything that had just happened. "Ya alright?"
God... he even sounded like Daryl, she realised in that moment. Or maybe it's because she wanted to hear it that way. Words. She couldn't seem to find the right ones so she nodded at him and threw him a quiet, "Yeah."
Shock; she guessed that was what was happening to her right now. It had been a while since she'd experienced it. The last time had been when the end of the world started.
He eyed her for a moment, not looking as if he believed her but chose not to press it; they needed to get the hell out of here before Joe turned, or the others came looking. So he gave Joe's corpse a shift kick and felt better for it before he walked around the bed and over to Darcy who was holding the strap of his bag in her hand.
He took it off of her and flicked his head towards the window, signalling her to follow. She did as she was told without saying a word and it worried him.
Daryl slid the window open and glanced outside. It was pitch black and they were in the middle of the woods but they didn't have any choice; it was run and take the risk or stay here, where their fate was undoubtedly worse than death.
He looked down, trying to find anything that would help aid in their escape but came up with nothing. They'd have to be extra careful. "Gonna have to climb out and drop from the window," he informed her quietly. "Want me to go first? Can catch ya that way."
She gave him a nod, not once looking in his direction. She had so much to ask him – so much that she wanted to know but she had to keep it to herself for now especially since she still couldn't be entirely sure it was her Daryl.
She'd wait until they were safe and go from there. But until then, she knew she couldn't stop how hard her heart was pounding at the thought of finally finding him.
