Hoooooray! An update. Thank you soooo much for waiting patiently for me as I moved this weekend. Oh my, what an ordeal. I still don't have internet at the apartment, so I snuck away to steal wifi and post this for you guys. :) There is still much work to be done, but hopefully I can squeeze some writing time in.
Also, hello new readers! Thank you for your reviews! I will take some time later this week to thank you personally!
As always... read, enjoy, review!
I've been beaten down, I've been kicked around
But she takes it all for me
And I lost my faith, in my darkest days
But she makes me want to believe
They call her love, love, love, love, love
They call her love, love, love, love, love
She is love, and she is all I need
And when that world slows down, dear
And when those stars burn out, here
Oh she'll be there, yes she'll be there
- She is Love, Parachute
Chapter 20
They didn't talk about that night again. Nor did they talk about marriage. Or even Thanksgiving celebrations. All attention around "camp" had been turned onto the three Bachman siblings. Ethan was making sure he and his sisters kept to themselves, and Ella didn't like it. Not one bit.
She had been trying unsuccessfully to get Katelyn and Jenna to join in group activities. Every time she would go knock on the door, Ethan answered and blocked her view into the house. No matter what she offered, laundry, dinner with everyone, a share of the medical supplies, a chance to join in on watch rotation and even just a friendly hello- Ethan politely closed the door in her face. The only one who had been able to enter the sibling's home since the night Ethan and Katelyn came back was Rick, and even he wasn't allowed to stay long.
"It's like he keeps his sisters prisoner," Ella fumed to Daryl one night.
He watched her stalking around the bedroom, from his perch on the bed. Lately it seemed to him that all she was doing was trying to fix everything and everybody. And he didn't like it. Not one bit.
"I mean, c'mon!" She threw some clothes into a dresser drawer and turned to him, hands on her hips. "Haven't we proved to him that we're trustworthy?"
Daryl raised an eyebrow. "Ain't our problem. Dude's got his own way of doin' things. Leave 'em be."
"I don't like it, Daryl."
"Ya aint got ta like it. It is what it is. This aint some happy hippy commune. It's the fuckin' end of the world. Cain't be expecting nobody to want to just play nice with others and sing 'round the campfire together."
Ella sighed. "That's not what I mean and you know it."
Daryl shrugged. "I don't see the big deal. Just let it be, he'll come round sooner or later."
She moved to where he sat and touched the side of his face, letting her fingers twist into the ends of hair that fell over his eyes. "You need a haircut."
"And you need to stop thinking you can fix everybody," he retorted. "You ain't a shrink no more."
"Middle school guidance counselor," she was getting really tired of correcting him all the time and it showed in the edge her voice held.
"You ain't that no more neither. Just be Ella."
She placed a hand over her heart, "This is me, babe. I'm a fixer. I just want people to get along and be happy. Is that too much to ask?"
"Yeah."
She pouted and then, "We have to care. If we stop caring we have nothing left in this world!"
He held her gaze. "You're all worked up. These new kids. Rick and Lori's marriage. Carol spiraling downwards. My non- existant daddy issues. And whatever else gets you all riled on any given day. I don't like it." He grasped her hips and pulled the overly stressed and tired woman down onto the bed with him. "When are ya gonna start thinkin' 'bout yerself?"
She processed his question before answering with a shrug, "Beats me."
Daryl pushed himself off the bed, "Sometimes you really piss me off, woman."
Ella snorted and as much as she tired to fight them her emotions were starting to escalate, "Because I care about people? That's real classy, Daryl."
"Care too damn much," his voice raised as he turned and stood in front of her.
"Where is this coming from?"
Daryl squared off his stance and crossed his arms over his chest. He let his eyes roam over her body before settling on her eyes. "I fell in love with you because you're different. You care. The world goes to shit and you still care about everyone. Not yerself though. It's gonna kill ya."
"What?"
"You heard me. Do I need to repeat myself?" There went those big brown eyes of hers staring at him like she could see into his soul again. Behind them pooled a mixture of sadness and anger.
"Daryl?"
His firm stance didn't waver at her soft voice, but his gaze moved to the corner of the room. "I need to go hunting. We haven't had meat in o'er a week."
"Huh?" She blinked at the sudden change in conversation, before realizing what he was saying. "Oh. You don't think I can take care of myself."
"Didn't say that."
"You thought it."
His eyes moved back to her and locked on Ella's face. The steely blue stare spoke volumes. He was scared to leave her.
"Yeah. Well, I had a good teacher when it comes to defending myself."
Suddenly, Daryl stalked towards her and with a roughness she wasn't expecting pushed his hand onto her chest, right above her heart. "This, Ella! Never paying attention, always thinking with yer heart and not yer head!"
She frowned at him before pushing his hand away from her breast. "So? No need to get all riled up, Dixon."
"Dammit, Ella! I can't always be around to watch yer back!"
"If you're so worried take me hunting with you," she spat out her challenge.
"Hell no. I aint letting you leave here. If'n it was up to me, I wouldn't even let you leave this damn house. Just like Ethan. Maybe that kid is onto sumthin'."
"Stop acting like a caveman!"
He growled at her.
"Yeah, like that. Use your words, Daryl." Ella wasn't sure why her tone was becoming so sarcastic and biting. She wanted to make excuses for their tiff. They were both exhausted after all, but she couldn't, she just kept making jabs at him. "I'm not a princess you can lock in a tower."
"Never said that," his scowl deepened.
They stood facing each other, shoulders square, lips in thin lines. Finally Ella threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "This is stupid. Why are we fighting?"
"Ain't fighting."
"Our definitions of fighting are obviously different."
"Just a disagreement, El." He moved towards her, suddenly concerned. "Did I hurt ya?"
"No," she shook her head and let him encase her hips in his large hands. "I love that you want to protect me, I do. Sometimes I just… I dunno… you make me feel incapable."
He frowned down at her. "I aint good at this shit."
Immediately Ella felt her emotions soften and smiled encouragingly, "You do just fine. I don't expect you to be perfect. We just have to talk things out. Calmly. Work through things and come out on the other side stronger."
He pressed his forehead to hers and took a deep breath. "I can be zen."
"Zen enough to take me on the hunting trip?"
Daryl pulled back and his teeth went to work on the left side of his lower lip. She could tell he was thinking hard, weighing the pros and cons of the request. Honestly, she had no idea where it came from. Ella had always been quite happy to leave Daryl to the hunting and go on his merry little way, but what else was she going to do? Wait alone in this big house wondering if he would ever come back? No, thank you.
Finally, he nodded. "Alright. "
"Really?"
"Don't give me a chance to change my mind."
Ella stood on her tiptoes and planted a solid kiss on the side of his mouth, "You really do love me."
"Reckon so."
Daryl was still frowning, so Ella slowly inched her fingers under his shirt looking for the place on his side that she knew was ticklish. She knew she found it when he squirmed under her hands, "Christ, woman! Quit playin' dirty."
His mouth found hers and he kissed her hard, pushing her backwards towards the bed. Ella refused to give in so easily though, her fingers wiggled harder against him causing growls to erupt from Daryl.
"Now yer really askin' for it."
"You gonna give it to me?" Her tone was playful and Daryl took the challenge.
He answered with a growl and rough push onto the king size mattress. "You make it so hard for me to be mad at ya," he said as his lips barely rose from the skin of her neck.
"It's my superpower," she managed to breathe out as his mouth made careful work of ravishing the skin right above her collarbone. She responded by pushing herself into him. Her hands traveled up and down his sides, fingernails trailing, causing Daryl to shiver under her touch.
He wrapped his arms around her and pushed her further onto the bed, they lay side by side enjoying the taste of each other's mouths. Sucking, licking, nipping and moaning as Daryl grew against her thigh. He moved his rough hand under her shirt and rubbed her left breast through the lacy fabric of her bra, her nipple hardening at his touch. Ella broke their kiss only long enough to help him remove the shirt and throw it onto the floor.
"Much better," Daryl said into her mouth.
They moved slowly, kissed deeply and stripped lazily. Ella loved that he knew all her pleasure points. His hunting skills paid off even in the bedroom. He was observant. Learned quickly. And was completely thorough. His hands moved expertly along her body, turning Ella into a pile of mush. When her hands went to undo his belt, she made quick work of stripping his pants and allowing him to spring free before running her hand up and down the length of him. She kissed his mouth one last time before taking her lips south and working them on and around him. Daryl moaned in pleasure and grabbed fist fulls of her hair as she pleasured him with her mouth. Her name escaped his lips in a low and lazy drawl.
Daryl pulled her up and flipped Ella onto her back before she finished him off. He loved her mouth, but needed to be one with her. As Ella wrapped her ankles around his waist and enveloped him in her heat, she met his eyes and let out a breathy, "I love you."
His head came down into the crook of her neck and with each kiss he repeated her words.
"I."
Kiss.
"Love."
Kiss.
"You."
Kiss.
\\
The next morning, before dawn, they headed out into the woods surrounding the community. The air was cold and Ella could see her breath when she exhaled. Daryl had strapped a knife to her thigh, put a pistol in the waistband of her jeans and given her a machete to carry. On her back was a small pack, filled with food and water. Daryl also had a small pack, only his was filled with ammo and other weapons.
Daryl led the way, over the fence and into the surrounding woods. Quiet, quick and on alert. He looked behind him, where Ella was trying to keep up with his pace. He sighed. Maybe this wasn't a great idea. She was just going to slow him down. Distract him. Make him worry. But, damn, she was beautiful. The cold turned her pale cheeks pink and she had piled her unruly hair on top of her head in a messy knot, but a few rebellious curls fell down around her face. He felt like stopping right there, forgetting the hunt and just enjoying her body, like he had the night before.
"What?" Ella asked with a smile when she looked up from the ground to catch him staring at her.
"Yer hot."
"You're sexy," she winked.
"Don't let it distract ya," he warned with a smirk before moving onward.
It wasn't until they had trekked about a half a mile into the woods that Daryl started to seriously track. Ella watched. His brow furrowed in concentration, and muscles rippling across his back as he moved. She stayed as close to his side as possible, even though his legs and stride were longer. Daryl saw things she didn't, his eyes were drawn to any movement and his reflexes were stealth. He was firing his bow into squirrels and knocking them down before Ella could even blink.
After they had collected five squirrels and one rabbit, he stopped to examine the ground. "Look, a deer's been through here."
"Recently?" She didn't tell him that everything on the ground where he was pointing looked the same to her.
He nodded, "Just ahead of us," his voice was barely above a whisper. "Stay close and quiet."
She tried, but Daryl moved too quickly. Ella found herself getting winded and falling behind. She could still see him, just a few paces ahead and knew that if she ran she could easily catch up, but that would scare away anything in the vicinity. So she kept a steady pace behind him, her eyes never leaving his back. Until a rustle in trees to the right caught her attention. Ella froze. A twig snapped. She gripped the machete in her hand tighter while wildly looking around for the source of the sound. However, the trees were still and the horizon clear. Ella shook her head, convinced that it was just a bird or small rodent traipsing through. It was too quiet for a walker to be around and the air was still fresh and crisp. There wasn't even a hint of rotting flesh in the air.
She turned to continue following Daryl. Only, nothing but the shedding trees and sharp colors of fall stretched before her. Ella spun in a small circle desperate for a glimpse of angel wings. Nothing. She looked in the direction that she thought Daryl had headed and quietly called out, "Daryl?"
Silence answered her.