Chapter Twenty-Nine

Daryl

I was back. Everyone was back, well mostly everyone. It brought me to a very dark place for a long time thinking everyone was dead. There was always a slim sliver of hope that I was wrong, but I saw no signs that I was. And I was fuckin' wrong. Thank God for that. We had lost a few, but my core group was okay. I'd miss Tara and her weird off-beat sense of humor. Father G and I were never close, but I respected the fact that he had become a man of action and he had stopped using God as his defense. A bullet worked better on a walker than praying to a nobody that never did shit for me.

Morgan and I never saw eye to eye. I never understood why he wouldn't go to Ezekiel to try to convince the Kingdom to join us against Negan. His all life is precious crap annoyed the shit outta me. Sure he changed at the end, but he and I were never gonna be buddies. He was still a loss to the group.

Enid was the one person I knew the least. What did I have in common with a teenage girl? Nuthin'. I know she was close to Maggie and I think she and Carl had sumthin' going on, but I ain't sure. She seemed like a nice enough kid. Too bad.

All in all, I'm in a good place. Never thought I'd get here again. It felt good, but it was also weird. I was different, not Rick, or Maggie or Carol, but me. I wasn't sure how to act around them anymore. Daryl the loner, the lone wolf who did things when he wanted was pretty much gone. But that's how they knew me. Now it was me and Angel, and I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world, but how was I supposed to act around these people with her?

I guess I'll try to be as normal as I could and see if that pisses Angel off. Our behavior at the house couldn't be the same here. I'd miss being able to take her whenever and wherever I wanted, but it was the price to pay to be back here with people I trusted. And that's why I was looking for Rick. He was the one person beside Angel that I trusted the most.

What was the plan? What needed to be done? I had to get back into the day to day activities.

I stood in the middle of the yard. There was definitely fewer people around that before the attack. The blacksmith hut was dark and unused. There were only a few people that I didn't know compared to when I was here after I escaped from the Saviors. I walked over to the gardens and saw that they were empty. Only small green shoots were poking up from the dirt. The fresh vegetables I promised Angel weren't happening.

"Hey," I heard from behind me. Turning I saw Rick approaching.

"Hey. Where's the food?"

Rick shook his head. "The Saviors ruined it all. We gotta start from scratch again."

"Assholes," I muttered. We all needed food, so fuckin' this up didn't make any sense.

"You and Jessie seemed to have settled in okay." I turned my head, and Rick had the smirk on him that I was hoping not to see. Damn. "You two seem to get along really well."

"Fuck, man. I knew she was being too loud. Tell me you were the only one to hear us?" I was so embarrassed. This could be way worse than him and Michonne hearing us at the house.

The smile on his face told me I was never going to live this down. "How bad?"

By now we had walked up to the mansion, and I swear he was laughing the whole time. "Bad. Put it to you this way, Michonne's already wondering what you got going on that I don't. They all are."

"They?"

"The women, bro."

I was so fucked. How could I face these people again? Especially the ones I knew. I may have to gag Angel if she can't stop being so damn loud. If I acted embarrassed by this, I'd never live it down, so I was hoping to pull off the exact opposite. "Yeah, well….what can I say. When ya got it…"

Rick punched me in my shoulder, not hard enough to do any damage, but enough that it knocked me off balance. "What was that for?"

"You are so full of it," he laughed. He was right, I sure as hell was.

We both sat down on the steps. "How did you guys get out, man? You never got to tell me." Time to get off the topic of me and my sex life.

"A miracle…that's how. The houses were on fire and we were fighting the Saviors, but there were just too many. Michonne was near me, and we both knew it was a losing battle. When she flashed me a "we-need-to-get-the-hell-out-of-here" look, we took care of the guys we were fighting and went to where Carl was hiding in the trees by the graveyard with Judith. We couldn't go out the front, so just as we were about to go over the wall when Maggie ran by with Aaron and called out to us. Apparently, they knew another way out." Rick stretched out his legs leaning back on his elbows. I could tell he didn't like telling the story, but he knew I had to hear it.

I lit a cigarette as he continued. "We were headed towards the field on the far side of the community. Together we took out anything that came at us. There were people and walkers all over the damn place. I saw Rosita and Carol fighting three guys, so we helped them take the fuckers out and then made them come with us. Apparently, there's an old sewer grate in the field. I never knew it was there, but Aaron and Maggie did. It led down to tunnels that took us under the wall. We stayed in that dark, dank disgusting smelling tunnel for two days waiting for the Saviors to leave. There was baby food in the diaper bag Carl grabbed, so we were able to keep Judith quiet. After that, we just walked away from everything. Eventually, we ended up back here when we knew Negan was gone."

"That prick fucked up our lives. It's like starting over," I said to Rick. "Woulda loved to have been the one to have taken him out."

"Me too," Rick agreed. "But he's gone, and that's the most important thing." Rick then turned to me. "You gonna be able to work with Dwight?"

I hated that rat bastard. What he had put me through at the Saviors compound was unforgivable. Rick knew the details, but no one else did, not even Angel and I told her everything. I wasn't hiding it from her, it was just something I didn't want to remember. I didn't care that at the end he was trying to work with us to take out Negan, he still was an asshole I wanted dead.

"Maybe." Was the only answer I could give him. "Why didn't he warn us of the raid that night? We all coulda been ready for them."

"Said he had no idea that Negan was planning that. It came out of nowhere to everyone, but he could tell that Negan had it in the works for a little while. He knew exactly what he wanted to be done. If he didn't tell his lieutenants, makes me wonder if he thought he had a mole," Rick said.

"Could be. He was a smart motherfucker."

It was quiet for a few minutes as we sat on the steps just staring off. The only thing that would have made this day better was if we were all still in Alexandria. I would have liked to have brought Angel back there. We could have gotten our own house instead of me still sharing with the others. That was just wishful thinking since everything in Alexandria was a pile of ashes.

"You running things again?"

"Nope. Hilltop is Maggie's. We talk things out, and I run shit by her, but this is hers. She's turned into a good leader. Hey, it's getting close to dinner. We eat in the big house. Bring Jessie up so everyone can get to know her." Rick stood up and stretched.

I flicked the cigarette butt into the dirt and got up to head back to Angel.

"Hey, I'm going on a run tomorrow, you wanna come? Be like the old days." It depended on which old days he as talking about. Initially, we hated each other guts, but now he was a brother to me. Except, when we did runs together, it sometimes ended up being a comedy show with us. And that sure wasn't on purpose.

What the hell. "Yeah, I'll go with ya. Someone gotta keep ya outta trouble."

"If that's the case, we'd have to bring Michonne with us. See ya at dinner." He headed into the mansion, and I turned to go back to Angel. As I was walking back to the trailer, I realized that me going off with Rick tomorrow was going to be the first time I did something without her. I hoped she wasn't going to be pissed. I loved her, but I needed this time with Rick.

Angel

I had unpacked everything a while ago, but Daryl had yet to come back. I could have gone outside and explored, but I was a little bit afraid. Having these people that Daryl considered family accept me was important to me. It wasn't often I was unsure of myself, but I was now. So instead of going out like I should have, I just sat here waiting for Daryl to return.

Stupid things ran through my head like what if now that he was back with everyone, he decided he didn't need me anymore. "Stop thinking that way Jessie," I said to the empty room. "He loves you, just remember that he loves you differently than he loves them. Trust him, you gotta trust him."

"Trust who?"

There was that husky, gravelly voice that I loved so much. "Trust you, of course, to know that this place is what we need," I lied. I didn't want him to know I was questioning his love for me. That was just stupid insecure ramblings. Nothing more.

I got up and went into his arms. "You know I only wanna do what's best for us, right?"

"I do," I smiled up at him. He leaned down and kissed me, but started to laugh. "What?"

"You've been hitting the chocolate."

"Of course I have, I'm hungry. We have food, but not a way to cook it. So how are we going to eat Mr. Dixon?" A loud rumble of my stomach accented my words.

"C'mon up to the house. Dinner's gonna be there. I was just coming back to get ya. Thought you'd be exploring outside," he said opening the door for me.

I stepped down into the dirt, and he followed behind me. "I…was waiting for you."

He didn't answer me right away, but we kept walking towards the big brick house. It seemed even more imposing the closer we got. "Sorry. I got talking to Rick. Let's go eat, and then I'll show ya around, Ain't much, but you gotta feel comfortable here. Okay?"

"I will just give me time." We stood at the front door of the mansion. I turned and saw it gave me a good view of everything inside the walls. There were about a dozen trailers. One or two had a lot of damage to them, others not so much. There were a few open huts that I had no idea what they were for. I saw the gardens, but from here they looked empty and bare. Then there were fields off to the right. Daryl had mentioned they used to have livestock here and I imagine that's where they were kept.

He took my hand, and we walked into the building. The entry foyer was big and imposing but bare of any furniture. The hardwood floors were scraped and ruined, there were darker squares where rugs used to be. The wallpaper had faded, except where dozens of painting no longer hung. Those squares dotted the walls starting down here and went all the way up the curved staircase that led upstairs to maybe bedrooms or offices. A lone broken chandelier still hung down from the upper floors. This was beautiful once, but time and circumstances had changed that.

"What was this place?"

"Some sort of museum I think. Had a lot more shit in it when I was last here," he replied.

"Barrington House. That's what it used to be called." We both turned to see Maggie standing in a doorway. "The Saviors did their best to destroy it, but this old house held her own."

She walked over and hugged Daryl, but they ended up laughing. 'You're kinda bigger than when I last saw ya."

"Well, the baby's due in a week or so. I feel like I'm carrying around a beach ball in front of me." Then she turned to me. "I'm glad you came for dinner, Jessie. I'm looking forward to getting to know you." She linked her arms with ours. "Follow me. I'm starving."

Together we headed through the foyer to an open doorway on the left. Rick and two other men were already there. "Why don't you both sit? I'll go help the girls."

I put my hand on her shoulder to stop Maggie. "No. You stay here. I'll go help, just point me in the direction of the kitchen."

"You sure?"

"Definitely. Now, which way is it?" Maggie told me where the kitchen was and I headed off to help. This has been ingrained in me since I was a kid. You go to someone's house for dinner, and you always helped. That was a code among women, and I wasn't going to break it on my first day here, even though I dreaded doing it.

I followed the short hall off to the left of the room until I heard women talking. I stopped for a second to get my courage up. Their conversation caught my attention.

"Michonne, you and Rick spent the night with them, what's she like? Do you think she's using Daryl?"

"Using Daryl for what, Carol? His money?" I heard a few people laugh.

"You know to protect her or something like that. This isn't normal for him."

"I agree this isn't normal for him, but it's Daryl. He does things on his own terms. And no she doesn't need him for protection. She's very capable of that herself. Why can't you just understand that he likes her?"

"Michonne, he's never liked a woman that way in all this time. Why her?"

This conversation was starting to piss me off. It was none of their business why Daryl liked me, no make that loved me. He did. End of story.

"Maybe because she's extremely pretty and she doesn't put up with his or Rick's bullshit. I like her so back off, Carol." Thank you, Michonne.

Then another voice spoke. "We all heard how much she liked him this afternoon. Damn, they were loud." I heard all three voices laugh again. Oops, going to have to learn to keep it down from now on.

"Do you really think he's that good? C'mon girls, it's Daryl."

As I walked into the room, my mouth just started going without my brain stopping it. "You have no idea what you've been missing out on ladies. Daryl…my Daryl is fucking awesome in bed. What you heard was not me faking it, but enjoying another incredible orgasm courtesy of Mr. Dixon. I'll try to keep it down, cause we tend to do it a lot. Now, what can I take to the table?"

Daryl would kill me if he knew what I just said. They asked, and I was tired of being talked about. The three women, Michonne, Carol, and Rosita, looked at me in surprise and embarrassment. "You can take the potatoes," Carol finally told me. I smiled at them, and with my heart beating a million beats a minute I grabbed the dish. I was almost at the door when Carol called out, "He's that good, huh?"

"You have no idea," I said forcing a laugh. "No idea."

After that, the tension in the kitchen dropped a bit but that didn't mean I wasn't pissed. Soon we had all of the food ready and on the table. I took the empty seat next to Daryl. It was very weird sitting down to eat this way. It was like the world had righted itself and everything was back to normal.

But it wasn't.

Food was passed, but before most of us started eating Rick stood up with a glass in his hand. "I want to make a toast." The rest of us picked up our glasses. We were only drinking water, but a toast was a toast.

"This has been a long hard road, but we're finally getting back on track with Hilltop being our new home. Thank you, Maggie and Jesus." Everyone took a sip, but Rick stopped us from putting our glasses down. "Not done yet."

"C'mon man, the foods gettin' cold," Daryl mumbled.

I watched Rick completely ignore Daryl. "Yesterday…when Daryl pulled his crossbow on me, it brought back memories of the beginning. His redneck ass hated me being a cop. We clashed a lot early on, but throughout it all, he always had my back. When I thought he was dead after Alexandria, I felt I had lost a brother. It's been different these last few months not having him to run things by and argue with. Realizing he was alive was incredible, right Michonne?" I saw Rick look down at his teary-eyed love. "Like now, we both got a bit choked up."

"I seem to remember three of you choking up," I added.

"Shut up, Angel."

"Awe, babe I love you, too," I said causing the whole table to burst out laughing.

Rick threw me a wink. "As I was saying, it was pretty emotional. I know we are still missing others that we know we won't be seeing again. This world is a cruel hard place to live, but for now, we have a little bit of happiness. Welcome back, Daryl!"

Everyone echoed his sentiments, and we all took another drink. "Got one more thing," he said. This time Daryl wasn't the only one to groan. "Welcome to the family, Jessie."

I wasn't expecting that. Not at all. Everyone was looking at me, and I didn't know what to do, so I merely said, "Thank you." I appreciated Daryl giving me knee a squeeze under the table.

"Can we eat?" Carl asked his dad. "I'm starving."

"You're a teenage boy, you're always hungry," laughed Michonne.

Rick sat down, and we all started eating a hot, wonderful meal. Meat. We had honest-to-god real meat. The last time I had, it was when Daryl came back with two rabbits. "What type of meat is this?" I asked glancing over at Carol.

"Aaron went hunting and brought back a couple of rabbits and a few squirrels. It's a combination of them both. I cooked them up, put them in gravy and we have dinner." She smiled at me, but I noticed it didn't reach her eyes. She was starting to bug me.

"It's very good. Thank you." For the rest of the meal, people enjoyed the food and conversations flowed between different small groups. It was hard for this many people to talk together, but the room was still filled with laughter. Only Daryl and I were a bit quiet during the meal. It was when everyone was pretty much finished, that Carol asked the question I knew many were dying to know the answer to.

"So, Daryl how did you two meet?"

I felt him tense up next to me. "Shit, Carol. That's a long ass story. Nobody here wants to know."

"You not only came back from the dead but with a girlfriend. That's unusual, so spill the story. What else have we got to do?" I noticed that Carol was immune to his evil glares. Now I wondered if they worked on anyone.

I put my hand on his strong bicep. "I'm sure they want to know how you made it out alive and what happened after that. Just tell them. Okay?"

"Not that much to tell. I was fighting like the rest of ya, but the houses were all on fire and they outnumbered us way too much. I couldn't find any of ya, so I went over the back wall and hid out for a couple days before going back. Everything was gone…the buildings, the people…everything. The only thing left was walkers. Saw too many faces I knew, so I put them down and got out of there in a hurry. Then I headed here and found the broken gate and no one. I tried the Kingdom, but that was also burned to the ground. After that, I just went off on my own never staying in anyplace longer than a few days. Was camping in the woods when three guys tried to jump me. I had two cans of food left, so there wasn't much. Cost them their lives and I got banged up some."

Really Daryl? "Banged up some? Are you kidding me? When I found you..." I interrupted him, "you were in bad shape. Really bad."

"Fine. Then you finish it," he grumbled. I knew he didn't like the attention on him.

"Okay, I will. So I had been on my own too. I took to the woods to stay out of the way of some nasty looking guys. I had been walking for hours when I came upon a clearing with an old run-down shack in it. That's where I found Daryl bleeding out and unconscious. He had knife wounds all over him, but the worst was this one in his side. I stitched him up and waited to see if he was going to live or die. Well, he woke his cranky ass up and I let him know who was in charge. He had broken ribs and his face was a bruised swollen mess. We planned on staying in the shack until he healed. Then we stayed longer cause…" I sneaked a peek at Daryl, "cause we wanted to. But the woods filled with walkers one day and we took off. I knew of a house that I thought would work for us from a run I had done when we got low on food. I went alone because he couldn't even lift the crossbow yet. That's the house we brought Rick and Michonne to last night. It was untouched when I found it. It was fenced in, had food, clothes, and transportation. I didn't want to leave it. Daryl and I were fine there…just the two of us, but he let me know that the iron fence was good, but wouldn't withhold a herd or a vehicle ramming it. So safe as I thought we were, we weren't. We came here so that Daryl would have his family back and we'd be safer."

People started asking Daryl and me a few questions, but none were personal. Thank God. Everyone then helped clean up the table, and when the dishes were washed Daryl and I could finally leave. Back in the day, I loved a good dinner party, but that was then. Now, I just wanted to head back to the trailer.

The sun was almost set but there was enough light left for him to give me a tour of where everything was. It didn't take long for us to make it back to our new home. I lit a few candles inside to give us light, but when I turned to look at Daryl I instantly knew what he wanted...me. Clothes flew off and I did my best to keep it down, but with him, it was so hard because we just worked. What he wanted, I needed and I tried not to cry out like I usually did, but he made it damn near impossible.

We were snuggled together in the small bed. Daryl had fallen asleep ahead of me for change. I didn't know where I was going to fit in here. I needed to earn my keep. We all did, but I was unsure of how I was going to do that. I decided to see what Daryl thought in the morning. Hilltop was being rebuilt and I wanted a hand in that. I finally allowed my eyes to close and Daryl's soft breathing helped lull me to sleep. He was my world….now more than ever.

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A/N - Rick's explanation on how they escaped through the sewer tunnel was long written before the midseason finale for season 8 aired. I had no idea the writers were going to do that.