Chapter Info

Title: The Morning After

Number: 21/?

Warnings: Language

Author's Note: It sucked going from two updates a day not to having any, but I've been so tired! I hope y'all can forgive me. :) I've just been reading. But I wanted to thank you for reading, comments are love!

TheFaceOfAlison: Thanks so much for your comment! I loved that part, too, with his hair because I can just picture his neutral blank expression, and then just BOOM sex hair all over the place not even blinking an eye. They didn't have sex, but still that's what I picture, and then the look on Maggie and Glenn's faces, haha! But thanks again for your comment!

When Amaleen woke up, she was the most comfortable she had ever been in her life. A warm blanket covering her, and a strong man behind her, arms locked securely around her waist in possessive protection. She wouldn't move even if she wanted to, far too content with just lying there in his arms. They hadn't done anything beyond making out, but that was more than enough for her considering how long she had waited to be with him again. When they had gotten back downstairs, she had started to go to her room, but he grabbed her hand causing her to look up at him. He shook his head and silently led her past her room to his own right next door. Her heart beat so loudly she swore he could hear it, but he didn't say a word. He stripped Rick's jacket off and then her own, tossing them over next to his bag. She kicked her boots off leaving her in just socks and he followed suit, also tugging off his vest so he was just in his sleeveless plaid shirt, the kind she used to steal from him to wear to bed. Next he took her and lay her down over across his bed, silently watching her there for a few moments making her squirm, before he lowered himself next to her. He made sure she faced the wall, the bed being small so in case someone fell off, it was him. Plus that also put him in the line of fire and not her if walkers or other threats were to somehow get in. Ever the gentleman, she thought happily. His fingers crawled across her belly to her other hip, pulling her flush against his body, as his lips lowered over hers again.

It had been like that for...well she didn't know how long, it felt like hours, just kissing and soft touches until they both drifted off to sleep. Daryl must have pulled the blanket over them sometime in the middle of the night, and between his body heat which no matter what was always furnace temperature, and the blanket itself, she was nowhere near cold. She had been awake for about half an hour just lying there, feeling his fingers clasp her body to his possessively. His face was buried in the back of her neck, their legs tangled up together, both still clothed of course since no sex was involved. Her fingers gently stroked his and he let out a soft sigh into her hair, moving ever so softly and only wound up bringing her closer.

Finally after forty-five minutes, she realized she needed to pee and tried to wiggle away without waking him, which of course didn't work. His grip just got tighter the more she wiggled until finally she was giggling and he was huffing into the back of her neck. "Your disturbin' my sleep, woman," he said, his voice rough from sleep.

She tilted her head back to look at him, laying it on the pillow next to his, and saw his eyes were open. They looked blurry from sleep, but there was a small smile playing across his lips. She reached over silently and stroked her thumb across those lips, smiling brighter when he gently kissed the pad.

"Don't wanna move, but I gotta pee," she murmured. He groaned and hid his face again, causing another giggle from her. "If I promise ta come back, will ya let me go relieve my bladder?"

Looking up at her with narrow eyes, he looked like he had an internal debate going on. "I suppose I can do that. 'M holdin' ya to your word, though. Better get that sweet little ass back here before I go lookin' for ya."

"I'll seal the deal," she said, leaning up and giving him a slow, deep kiss that was more along the lines of their heated make out session last night than a good morning kiss. "We good?"

"Good," he breathed, causing her to giggle yet again. She seemed to do that a lot around him, but it's simply because he made her so happy. Turning onto his back, he pulled her with him so she didn't break something trying to get off the bed. With one last peck, she stood and dashed for his bathroom, grabbing the camp lantern on the way, practically dancing in need. She took care of business and wiped off her face with some cool water from the bottle he had sitting next to the sink, tying back her hair as it had come loose in the middle of the night—or he took it out, he always liked her hair down more than up—before she finally made her way back into his room.

For a moment she just stood there looking at his beautiful face. She had been lucky enough to get him once in her life, but now she got him all over again. It had been the biggest mistake she ever made to leave him and she knew that without a doubt the moment she did it, for both of them and their son as well. She would spend the rest of her life making it up to him, but she was grateful and so utterly thankful that she would get a second chance. It was a couple seconds later she realized he was looking at her with his eyebrow raised, his arms behind his head just looking right back at her.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," he teased.

She smiled. "I wish I could," she said, almost dreamily, which made him scoff and look away with pink cheeks. She grinned and moved closer, letting him reach up to take her hips and pull her so she was straddling his stomach. "I mean it, Daryl. I wish I had some pictures of us, from back then and from now, too. You're a beautiful man—" She put a finger over his lips as he tried to scoff again. "—and I adore you. There isn't a part of you that I don't love."

He tugged her finger away. "I'm an asshole. I have a short temper, fuckin' stubborn. M'family was a piece of shit. Don't know why ya fell for me the first time neither."

"Because of this." She put her hand over where his heart lay and looked at him expectantly. "This right here is made of gold. No matter what anybody said, your brother or your father or anyone. Don't matter what your face looks like, it's your heart that matters. Your pretty face is just my own personal bonus." She grinned at him and smoothed at his bright red cheeks and knew she wouldn't get much of an answer besides that scoff that she was expecting, but didn't care. She leaned forward to kiss him, his hands coming to her hips. She sighed softly into his mouth and wanted to stay there before there was a frantic knock at the door.

Daryl groaned and pulled away glowering. "Whoever it is can fuck off," he growled.

Amaleen tutted and shook her head, moving to sit next to him which just made his face fall into a glare. "Go see who it is and if it's an emergency and if not, I'll be here." She grinned which made Daryl send her a longing look before getting up and muttering under his breath.

"Daryl?!" Rick called out, sounding panicked and Amaleen's eyes widened and she moved to the edge of the bed, fully ready to jump up and pull on her boots and coat in a second if needed.

"This better be good, Grimes!" Daryl called, going over to yank the door open.

"Have ya seen Amaleen? She's not in her room and no one saw her leave and she's not on A or C deck and—" At that Daryl opened the door wider and revealed Amaleen on the bed, sheepishly waving to a stunned Rick. When he was left speechless, which was more than amusing as she had never seen Rick speechless since she met him, she laughed and stood up walking for them. She grabbed his coat off Daryl's bag and handed it over to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose you could have your coat back, deputy," she said, blinking up at him innocently as his eyes darted between the two of them.

"...right," he finally said, not saying much of anything after that before he turned and as casually as he could, walked back to his own room. Once the door clicked shut, Amaleen snorted out in amusement and looked up at Daryl who was smirking.

"That was the best thing ever," she said as Daryl shut the door.

"Right," Daryl said. "Now...more kissing, yeah?" She giggled as she was dragged over to the bed and pushed on it just like she was last night.

.x.x.x.x.

They didn't emerge for another hour and they tried to look as nonchalant as possible as they made their way to the galley. They say their good mornings to everyone and grabbed their food and coffee from Carol who didn't have a clue, though Amaleen could see her eyeing them curiously considered before last night, Daryl had done all he could to avoid Amaleen, only being shoved into situations with her when Rick requested it. They sat at the table, Amaleen next to Lori and Daryl across from her next to Rick. She tried to act casual, but it was so hard considering Lori was looking at her with the most excited, shocked look on her face that Amaleen almost broke. Her insides almost hurt from keeping her laughter at bay as she settled in next to the woman and innocently held the coffee pot out to her that Carol had given her. "Coffee?" she wondered.

"I'll take some," Daryl said and she poured him a mug. Looking back to Lori, she couldn't help it. Amaleen burst out laughing and knew that without a doubt, Rick told her what he witnessed. She knew the other couple had been worried about Amaleen and Daryl for a long time now, especially Lori considering how long she's known everything that happened.

"Yes," is all Amaleen said once she managed to compose herself before she poured herself another mug and broke into the cereal that nobody else but Hershel would eat because it tasted like cardboard with raisins, but hey it was food.

"Later," Lori murmured to her before getting up and taking her bowl to the sink. Amaleen grinned at the woman's retreating back. Daryl raised an eyebrow and Amaleen simply shook her head and continuing to eat her "gross" cereal. After she was finished, she followed Daryl upstairs to take a look at the list that Rick had started up to sign up for jobs. Before they got there, though, they heard Daryl's name being called and the sound of Rick jogging for them. Turning, they watched as he approached and tried hard not to just gap at them, and failing miserably.

"We need to make another run," Rick said. "The town you and Amaleen went to, you said there was more there?"

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, we just hit the hardware store and the gas station. Who knows what else they had in the other buildings."

Rick grinned. "Great, so you and I can go?"

"Sure," Daryl agreed.

"I wanna—"

"No," the men said in unison making Amaleen frown.

"Oh c'mon, I've done it before, even after Beachville." The men flinched at the name and the fact that she still had bandages from being there probably wasn't helping. "And you said it yourself, I went with Daryl last time, I know where ta look for stuff. Plus I'm small and quick, can get in and out."

Daryl and Rick glanced at each other and Rick looked like he was going to relent, but Daryl kept shaking his head. "No fuckin' way," he growled and she was torn between smiling at the protectiveness that had grown on him seemingly over night, and frowning at his lack of faith.

"Daryl—"

"No. Fuck, I know what your sayin' is right, but I don't care. I'm ain't gonna have ya get hurt."

"I'll be with you and Rick, I won't get hurt."

"You're already hurt."

"Let's clear it with Hershel," Rick suggested making Daryl's eyes snap to him and narrow with fury. Rick didn't back down though and Amaleen grinned at him. "If Hershel says it's okay, that it won't effect her healing, then she can come."

"But I was worse last time we went..." she said, trailing off at the look on Daryl's face as they all knew that was true, but the also knew he was still trying to hate her at that point.

"Let's talk to Hershel," Rick said. Daryl grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest, but she assumed that's the best sort of confirmation they were going to get from him at that moment. Amaleen grinned and nodded to Rick who led the way down to Hershel's room. Daryl stuck with them of course, wanting to hear it straight from Hershel rather than Amaleen and Rick relaying it back to him.

Hershel was sitting up in bed reading from the Bible. He smiled when they came in and when he noticed Amaleen with them, he gestured her forward because he knew just what they were there for. "The bandages need to be replaced anyway," he said, gesturing for Rick to get the med kit sitting over next to his bag. Rick went to grab it and set it down, Hershel pealing back the bandages one-by-one.

First was the ones on her wrists, no longer looking burned from the rope, but angry enough that he put some antiseptic back on along with another bandage. "You'll scar," he said simply making Daryl growl softly from behind her. Next was the one on her forehead and that one he didn't put another bandage on, but dabbed it with the antiseptic to get rid of blood. "This one is healing the best. You'll have a small scar there, but since it didn't require stitches and it wasn't a burn like the ones from the rope on your wrist, it won't be very noticeable. I'm sure your hair will cover most of it." She nodded and finally the last one he looked at was the one on her arm, which required her to take off the long-sleeved plaid shirt and left her in a tank top. She shivered in the cool air, but allowed Hershel to take a look. "This one is actually closed most of the way, except for the couple at the bottom that had been ripped open, those have to stay in for another day or two." He paused. "How again did they rip open?" he wondered grimly as he set to work removing the ones from the closed part.

She shifted and glanced to Daryl who's face was dark and even Rick looked unhappy at the question. "Uh...in Beachville." He nodded as he remembered. "I-I'm pretty sure it's when they tied me to the chair, or when they dragged me out of the shed. I don't remember what happened after the door busted in, whether they carried me or what, but I do remember the chair."

Hershel nodded. "The bruises here?" He pointed to some darker ones faded on her inner arm.

She nodded. "Yeah, my arms were tied behind me and they were shoved up against the back of the chair, I think it was then." Hershel nodded and went silent after that, his frown deepening as she rehashed some of what she experienced, and knew the two men behind her weren't too happy about hearing it again either. Part of her was glad that she didn't remember what happened after the door broke in, or what happened during the time after going unconscious for the second time and she lost her clothes. If anything sexual was done to her, she didn't feel it and didn't know it, and that was okay with her, she would rather not know. Especially considering the looks on the guy's faces and what would happen if she started remembering that done to her.

He checked her lip which had healed easily—which she was glad considering Daryl would've been less likely to kiss her if it was still split—and the bruising around her jaw and cheek had faded to purple and yellow rather than black. The one around her eye, though, was still angry, but not as puffy so she could finally see from it correctly. Over all, Hershel gave her a clean bill of health, and she looked up to Rick and Daryl hopefully. They both exchanged a look which caused Hershel to question them.

"I want to go with them back to North Morton and finish cleaning the stores, and they needed your approval," she said.

Hershel paused. "Well I'd rather you didn't." Amaleen frowned. "Because I don't want to see you come back hurt again. But health wise, you're fine so going won't hurt what's already happened."

Amaleen glanced back at the guys and they looked torn and seemed to be having a mental conversation going on. She could still see where Daryl was firmly set, but he scoffed and looked away, making Rick smile slightly. "You can come with us, but you follow what we say, got it?" he said. She nodded and stood up, thanking Hershel and giving him a hug before following them into the hallway.

"Don't like this," Daryl grumbled to her as they followed rick to C deck where the guns were kept. Amaleen frowned softly and glanced to see no one around and reached for his hand. This was brand new to them again, but Daryl always wasn't exactly a man who liked PDA. Surprising her, his fingers wrapped around hers as well to hold.

"I know," she said softly. "But I just want to help. I'll even stay in the car if you want me to, keep it running, and signal you guys if I see anything suspicious."

He looked down at her quickly and studied her to see if she were serious, but saw that she was. A small smile lifted the corners of his lips as he seemed happy with that plan, and he stole a kiss from her lips before they stepped into the room with Rick. Her weapons were still upstairs, but Daryl outfitted her with another gun and a couple more knives. At her look, he shrugged.

"Can never have enough," he grunted. She nodded and strapped them on purely for his benefit, knowing he needed to know she was safe and armed. They stopped on B deck to grab her original weapons along with their coats before moving to A deck. Their plan was relayed to those up there and Lori looked worryingly between the three of them.

"You be safe, okay?" Lori said, stepping up to Amaleen and pulling her in a hug.

Amaleen nodded and hugged her back. "I promise," she said.

They got their bags and boxes loaded into the back of the truck, Rick driving and Daryl at shotgun while Amaleen took the back. Glenn opened the door for them to get through and Rick drove through quickly so they could shut it right back up to avoid letting in the walkers lingering around. They were quiet on the way over, and she knew they were worried about what they might find. It was true that she and Daryl got in and out pretty quickly, but that was a few days ago, who knew if it was still like that. Other survivors could've passed through and cleaned it out, a herd of walkers could've drifted through and taken over. She was worried about that, too, but they had to try.

Pulling up slowly, there wasn't anything right off the bat that looked worrisome. A couple walkers that were taken down quickly by Daryl's arrows. Glancing around, Rick nodded and Daryl gestured Amaleen into the front. "Alright, you know the supplies we need, let's go." Daryl glanced at Amaleen once before following Rick off to the nearest building, leaving Amaleen and the truck, hoping that they came back to her safely.