Author's Notes

Angeni will be updated soon when I am ready to update it

25

The sun was partially blocked off by the leaves as Daryl and I walked in silence. It felt good to be close to him. Whenever a walker came into view, Daryl would walk shoulder to shoulder with me. Once they would pass, he gave me space. But slowly, I felt his hand gently begin to move into mine. It was a soft and cautious gesture, one I was sure he was not used to doing. I gave a gentle smile and let his hand ease into mine, before our fingers curled into each other. I glanced down at our skin touching, but I didn't comment on it.

After an hour or so of walking, we made it to a lake. I smiled at the sight then smiled at Daryl and moved from him and ran out to the water and dove right in. I could feel the caked-up mud washing away from me and it felt amazing. I came back up and smoothened my hair down. I turned and looked to see Daryl just causally strolling to the edge of the water. I smiled at him.

"Join me?" I asked lightly and he just tilted his head giving the water a look over.

"Nah I don't do swimmin'." he replied and I looked down some with mild disappointment before nodding and turning to do my own swimming. I was sure he was tired from coming to find me so I understood. He probably wanted to rest for a bit. I inhaled gently just enjoying the water. I reversed back some so I could stand up on my own. I ran my arms over each other and scratched the dirt off. I heard a large splash and turned around to see no one was there. Daryl was gone, and a pile of his clothes were sitting next to his crossbow. I looked around before seeing something swimming into me. I yelped as water splashed up around me, and a pair of arms grabbed me. In shock I grabbed on to Daryl's neck noticing his bare torso facing me. He gave a gravely chuckle before wrapping his arms around me.

I gave a gentle pant from the shock before finally laughing some. Our foreheads pressed against each other, our faces drenched. Gently I leaned in and kissed his smooth, thin lips. He leaned more into me deepening it immediately, his tongue moving into my mouth finding mine. I gave a gentle exhale as I ran my hands gently down his chest. It was clear we both wanted each other, but I convinced him to let us wait until we were back in Alexandria, in a nice bed together.

We kept moving not wanting to be in the same place for very long. We had to get back to Alexandria. Daryl caught us some rabbit and we ate in silence. I didn't mind the silence, and I guess neither did Daryl. I was half expecting him to want to talk about Negan maybe where his hideout is and how many men he has. But he did not ask. We walked close to each other during the day, staying hidden in the trees. At night, we slept with the blanket over us making sure to remain hidden from humans.

Slowly, our environment around us began to look more familiar. Before we knew it, Alexandria was coming into view. My entire body inflated with happiness and I looked at Daryl before looking him over sympathetically.

"I'm sorry about your bike." I said lightly. He gave a mild shrug.

"It's okay. I'll find another one." he said before looking over my shoulder lightly gripping my blanket I had over my shoulder. "You sure you want to keep this?" I looked over my shoulders and thought about it for a moment. I didn't want to bring anything Negan related into this world, my world. I looked back at him and shook my head.

"We can burn it." I replied and he nodded and continued to the gates. They opened and I saw Rick, Sasha, Abraham, and Carl standing there with smiles on their faces. I was surprised they were here waiting. As we grew closer to them, Carl gave a light sprint up to us and smiled wider.

"You're back! I knew you would come back." he gushed and I opened my arms and he just chuckled and leaned in to my embrace.

"Glad to see you're safe." Rick said and I looked up at him.

"I told you I would be back." I replied,

"Well we can see that." Abraham replied and now they eyed my blanket and I smiled.

"I have been on quite an adventure." I answered. They looked at each other, but didn't question it. "Now I need a need a real shower." Rick nodded and they let us pass. Daryl and I walked from them and once we were out of ear shot he looked at me.

"You know I gotta tell Rick about what happened." he said. I kept walking glancing up at him.

"Why?" I asked lowly.

"If this guy is a threat to you, he could come after you and could come across Alexandria. We need to know what we're up against." he said strongly and I just looked up at him.

"You do what you have to do." I replied taking his hand in mine. We didn't discuss it further. We saw Maggie, Glen and Carol.

"Hey. So you've returned. I hope you have found all the answers to the questions you've been looking for." Carol replied and I nodded.

"I have." I replied. They smiled and all hugged me and I returned it. Once we were back at our home, I separated from Daryl and headed to my room. I immediately moved to the bathroom and cut the shower on. I stripped an got in. The water poured down on me and I tilted my head down at the ground to see the dirt and grime falling into the drain. As I stared at it for a moment, my mind flashed back to that bed, to Negan's body atop of mine, touching and massaging my skin.

"Just look at me. I'll go slow."

Immediately my body shook, and my heart beat increased dramatically. I gasped hard covering my face as fresh tears slid from my eyes. I sobbed into my hands. He was so close, inches away from being inside me, taking the very thing that still kept me… me. I was glad he didn't have my pain, my tightness, my moans, my pants my cries. I would never let myself be in the position to give up my purity to that monster again. I heard a gentle knock at the door and knew who was there. I didn't reply, but the door softly slid open anyways. I wasn't upset. I looked at Daryl's silhouette through the curtains and saw the figure undressing. I just placed my head under the water and beads of it fell over my face. My eyes were closed as the curtains slowly pulled back.

I could smell his scent immediately and I now I was calm. It was the same way with Aiden. His scent used to calm me, but now, there was another. I could feel the warmth of his body as it was inches behind mine. I felt calloused, wet hands gently wrap around me and I let them pull me into him. The mere touch of his skin made me feel at ease, even after what had happened with Negan. I lifted one hand and let it gently curl into his wet tresses as I leaned back, my face turning to his. He gave me a gentle kiss to my lips. His hands massaged my flesh not moving to my breasts or even my vagina. We were enjoying the feel of each other, something I was happy for and I knew. I knew that nothing will ever take me from Daryl's arms.