I should be asleep but apparently my brain had other plans because here I sit. Here's an update for those of you that are as bored as I am right now. I pity you. Thanks for reading!
Chapter Twelve
"Why the hell do you keep whistlin'?" Merle grumbled, sliding out from under the car he'd been fixing up for the past three months.
Daryl wiped his hands on a rag and shrugged. "Can't a man whistle when he wants?" He slammed the hood closed. Damn Merle always breathing down his neck.
Merle reached up and Daryl grabbed his hand, hauling him off the floor. "Yeah, if you were any other man. Ain't used to your moody broody ass whistlin' tho."
Daryl snorted and leaned against the work bench. "Maybe I'm just in a good mood. You should try it sometime." He was actually in a goddamn terrific mood but he figured that would be a little over board.
Merle sighed. "I am when I ain't tryin' to figure out what to do with you and that damn girl. The two of you can run a man ragged."
Daryl snorted. "The hell you goin' on about? I don't need any lookin' after. I'm grown. You worry about Piper and I'll worry about myself... and I guess I'll worry about Piper too."
Merle handed him a beer. "You're a grown man that's done lost your head over a married woman. That tells me your ass needs at least a little bit of lookin after."
"I ain't lost my head over anything," he argued.
He felt Merle's eyes on him but he kept his eyes on the car. "Boy, you can't bullshit me. You got an unlimited supply of pussy on tap and you pass it up all the time. You sure as hell don't take them up to that room when you don't pass them up. Then from what I hear you were snappin' like a pitbull at every man that tried to get in on it."
Daryl scowled. "That's bullshit. I was just trying to keep their slobberin' asses from freaking her out. She ain't like those other women. She ain't used to shit like that."
"You fucked her in the hallway," Merle said suddenly.
"What! How the hell do you know that?" Daryl felt his ears burning.
Merle just laughed and shook his head. "You ain't gotta pretend like you don't give a shit about her, baby brother. I know you."
"I don't even know her. You just like to pretend like you know what's going on with me. You always have," Daryl grumbled, wondering which one of those asses from last night saw them in the hallway. Fuck it. Maybe they learned something.
"You tell yourself whatever you need to tell yourself, little brother. We both know you ain't done. You can give me that one night stand bullshit till your blue in the face but I know better. You're itchin' to get back in that woman. You're hooked."
"Fuck you, Merle," he muttered as he stomped past him. Merle's words were making him nervous. Merle didn't know what he was talking about. It was a fling. Sure it was an intense one but a fling all the same.
"Where you goin'?" Merle asked, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder.
"None of your business." Daryl tried to shrug the hand away but Merle tightened his grip.
"I want you to remember somethin'," he said, his eyes growing serious.
"What's that?" Daryl asked, even though he was dreading the hell out of whatever Merle was about say to him. He could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't going to like it. Merle didn't look too thrilled about saying it either, which only bothered him more.
"She's a married woman havin' some fun while her husband is gone. You need to keep that at the forefront, brother. Don't get yourself sucked into some nasty shit that you ain't ready for. And don't get your head all fucked up over a woman that don't feel the same way about you."
Daryl just shook his head and grabbed the vest hanging on the hook by the door. "I know what I'm doin', Merle. You ain't got a damn thing to worry about."
"Then tell me where you're going." Merle said, his eyes growing wary.
Daryl shook his head and was out the door before Merle could say anything else. It was well after midnight and regardless of what Merle said, he wasn't going to wait anymore to see her. He didn't understand why the urge to get to her was so strong. Maybe it was because this was about the last time he would be able to really even talk to her. Her asshole husband would be there on Monday and then this little... fling would be over. He went inside to wash up before he left and wasn't surprised to see Piper lounging on the couch. She sat up when he came in.
"You and dad done with whatever secretive crap you've been doing in that garage?" She asked as he passed her.
"Not quite," he answered vaguely.
"You two creepy bastards are scaring me with all this secretive crap," she griped as she followed him to the kitchen.
He laughed but didn't respond.
"You're going to see her again, aren't you?" She asked suddenly.
He glanced at her and nodded. Piper could know things that Merle couldn't just because she wasn't such an ass. Daryl was only eleven when Piper was born. Merle hadn't even known about her until he got a call from the hospital one night telling him that his daughter had been born two months premature with a crack addiction. Social Services had been called, along with Merle. Buck, their dad, had been locked up at the time, leaving Merle in charge of Daryl so he had no choice but to drag him along to the hospital. Even though Daryl had only been a kid the sight of a baby that small with all those tubes hanging out of it had fucked with his head a little. But not as bad as it had fucked with Merle. Daryl thought he'd kill the girl's mom, who just happened to be some strung out chick that Merle had had a brief relationship with.
After a DNA test proved that the baby really was Merle's the crack head had been more than happy to sign over all of her rights, giving Merle sole custody. She wound up dead of an overdose a few months later. Merle had been a mess himself back then but the Dixons had a thing about blood and he had stepped up, shaking his own demons so he could be there for his daughter. Daryl had overheard Merle on the phone, telling their dad that it didn't look good for the baby. The odds were against her. Lucky her, Dixons also had a thing about taking no shit and not giving up. She'd fought hard, Merle had fought with her and now sixteen years later she was more a kid sister to Daryl than a niece.
"I just talked to Sophia an hour ago and she was going to bed. Is Carol sneaking out to meet you somewhere?" She grinned.
Daryl snorted. "No. We ain't a couple of kids. We're grown."
"So you're gonna walk right through the front door?" Piper looked skeptical.
"Hell no. I unlocked her bedroom window this mornin' when I was there to get her clothes. I'm getting in that way."
Piper laughed. "That's very adult of you. I'm sure she'll be impressed."
"Shut up. I'm taking her her phone and then I'm leavin'." That was lie. His intentions were to stay until she forced him out of her bed.
"Bullshit."
He chuckled. "You're right. And when I leave from there I'll be headed to the garage so lock up before you go to bed and you keep them fuckin' boys outta your room."
"I'm not stupid. I plan on sneaking out once dad's in bed."
He gave her a hard look and she put her hands up in surrender.
"I'm bullshitting you. Jeeze. You know, I learn all this sneaky shit from you," she said, following him to the door. "You're a grown ass man about to sneak into some woman's bedroom window to screw her. You all are lucky I'm not a lot worse than I am. You're my role model you know?"
"Shut up. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Have fun!" She called before she slammed the door shut after him.
He took the bike instead of the truck this time. He was just going to park it at the garage and then walk to Carol's. It wouldn't take him long. He did feel like a fucking teenager doing this but what else could he do? Maybe he could have done what he suggested and just given the phone to Piper but then he wouldn't have an excuse and there wasn't any way around it, he needed to see her. He'd see her this one last time and then he was done. Merle didn't know what he was talking about. Sure, Daryl liked her. There wasn't anything there not to like. She was goddamn perfect. She was funny and she was sweet and she was hot and she didn't try to go out of her way to impress him. And they had a lot of goddamn chemistry in the sack. He had never been with a woman like her.
Her room faced the back yard and he had no trouble standing on the banister and shimmying up onto the low hanging porch roof. It was after one in the morning so he was pretty sure that no one would see him. If they did then he'd really be in a bind because the cops would definitely get called. It wouldn't be easy explaining away why he was about to go through a window.
The window opened easily and he climbed in as silent as any burglar. He was having second thoughts about this grand plan of his when he saw her sleeping form curled up in the middle of the big bed. Now he just felt like some kind of fucking weird pervert.
Was Merle right? Was he getting in over his head here with this woman? He had been able to shrug it off on the way here but now that she was right there his head felt all fucked up. His stomach felt all fluttery and his heart was beating too hard. He felt a little panicked. What the hell was he doing? If he had been excited over the sex then that would be one thing because the sex was fucking incredible. And he was looking forward to that. He couldn't act like he wasn't, but he was looking forward to waking her up and seeing the look on her face when she seen him. He was looking forward to asking her how it went with Sophia. He was looking forward to talking to her. Talking? What the fuck? Maybe Merle was right. This wasn't a good idea. There was something else going on here and he didn't know what it was and was starting to freak him the fuck out.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he retrieved her phone from his pocket and sat it down on her nightstand.
He turned to slip back out the window, everything in him telling him not too, to wake her up and to take advantage of what little time they had left, but he didn't. He slid the window open, got one leg out, and then nearly fell back into the room when suddenly, she screamed.
I won't take forever to update again and remember, don't worry. It's me. Those of you that know me should trust by now not to let little bumps in the road scare you too much. Hope you all have a great morning!
