I'M SORRY FOR HOW LATE THIS IS ASFDAFD. I ended up having to go to my sister's house for dinner, and I ended up staying later than I thought I would. I also felt the need for a 'reaction' chapter, if you will. Which I didn't have originally written out (that's why there's no chapter title for this one, hardy har har ;u; ), so I was kinda rushing to try to get this wedged in here :"D Sorry if it's not up to par. *le sob ;v;

Anyway, since this is more of a continuation of the previous chapter, I'll try to have the next chap out before the end of the week. I need to polish it a lil bit, though, so we'll see how soon I can get to that... :I

Enjoy the story~!


Chapter twenty-nine


Peter rushed into his house, pushing the door shut forcefully behind him against the harsh wind. He breathed out a sigh once he was in the safety of his house. He could still hear the storm outside pelting the home with large droplets of water. The blond shrugged off his jacket and hung it neatly in the closet beside the door. He heard Daniel and Abigail talking in the living room, but he bypassed the room in favor of the kitchen; he had been out all day, getting as much as he could done before the storm hit. Needless to say, he was famished. As he dug around their supply of rations, he listened in on the conversation in the other room.
"Do you have blonde hair?" Abigail questioned the man, boredom apparent in her voice as she continued the game of twenty questions with him. She already knew what he had picked, barely five questions in, and it almost annoyed her that he would pick something so obvious.
"Yes," Daniel answered cheerfully.
"Sammy," Abigail sighed, picking at her ear with her pinky nail.
"What- How did you?" Daniel's ears turned red, but he pressed his lips together and turned away in a huff. "Yeah, you got it. Your turn now."
"Man, you're so gay for her," Abigail huffed now, sitting up straight to fix the man with a hard look.
"Wha-?" Daniel looked at her in surprise, his eyebrows shooting up toward his hairline. "What are you talking about? She's a woman, and I'm a man. What's gay about that?"
"You're not a man!" Abigail laughed, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair.
"Yes I am!" Daniel argued, glaring at the woman now.
"You know what a real man would do?" Abigail asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she stared the man down. "A real man would grab the girl he likes and show 'em how much he loves her!"
Daniel's face turned red at the mental imagery the woman's suggestion invoked. He could practically picture himself, grabbing Sammy as she walked through the door, dipping her real low, and kissing her until she was begging for more. As appealing as the idea was, the man could distinguish between fantasy and reality.
"That would never work," he said timidly, his eyes downcast.
"Yeah, it will," Abigail assured smugly. "Trust me. I'm a woman, I know these things."
Daniel glanced up at her skeptically, pressing his lips together. "Really, you think it would?"
"Definitely," Abigail pushed, nodding her head curtly.
"You think I should do it?" Daniel asked once more, leaning a little closer to the woman with curious eyes.
"Oh yeah," Abigail encouraged, a laugh on her lips. "I think you should do the next time you see her. Like, don't even let her talk or anything. Just plant one on her."
Daniel stared the woman down for several seconds as he thought over the suggestion. Abigail was a girl, and he had no reason to doubt her advice. He had always been too afraid to try anything with Sammy, but maybe he shouldn't be. There were much scarier things in the world now to worry about; things that could easily kill him, such as zombies and psychopaths. He could be dead tomorrow, so why not take the risk? If nothing else, at least he would get a kiss out of it.
"Alright," Daniel agreed, nodding his head somberly. "Next time I see her, I'm gonna kiss her."
Abigail smirked, a chuckle on her lips. "That's the spirit," she encouraged him. The man was so gullible.
"That's a terrible idea," Peter threw in as he entered the room. He took a bite out of the sandwich he had thrown together, glancing between the two as he sat down. "She'll be pissed."
"It's a terrific idea," Abigail argued cheerfully, though she shot Peter a look that she hoped would shut him up. She enjoyed seeing Daniel make an idiot of himself, and she didn't want the blond to ruin her fun. Goodness knew it was more fun than playing twenty questions with the man.
Peter shook his head with a slight laugh on his lips. While he wouldn't mind seeing Daniel get smacked around by Sammy for doing something stupid, he had his best friend's psyche to worry about. He knew how Sammy was when it came to romance and boys; she had her girly moments where she would ogle hot guys with him or drone on about what celebrity was cuter, but for the most part she was uninterested in men. Unless she was already attracted to someone, strong come-ons turned her off more than anything; and Peter knew for a fact that his friend was very much not interested in Daniel romantically. Having a kiss forced on her would send her into a frenzy, he was certain.
"You really shouldn't do it," Peter pushed, sending Daniel a skeptical look.
"Don't listen to him, Danny," Abigail ordered, waving off Peter's words. "He's a guy, he doesn't understand what women want."
"Oh, hunny, please," Peter shot back, lifting a brow at the woman as his, what his friends had deemed, "sassy mode" activated. "I'm more feminine that Sammy, so don't tell me that I don't know what that girl likes." A dismissive snap of his fingers and Abigail was laughing heartily at his rebuttal.
The door slammed open and shut, jarring the discussion between the three housemates. Daniel was on his feet in a flash, heading toward the door. Peter was close behind him, hoping to prevent the boy from doing something stupid. Abigail brought up the rear, hoping to encourage stupidity.
"Sammy," Daniel called as soon as the girl was in sight.
Sammy glanced up at him tiredly as he advanced on her. She really didn't feel like deal with the overly enthusiastic boy right now; she wanted to go into her room and wallow in self pity over how stupid she was. Before she could tell him as much, though, she found her world spinning, her heart leaping to her throat as she was forced toward the ground. She struggled against the vice around her hips and back, but stopped short when soft lips pressed roughly against hers. The contact warmed her chilled skin, but she could only widen her eyes in horror as the kiss was stolen from her. When she was back on her feet, Sammy reacted the only way she could manage. Her fist shot out on instinct, colliding against Daniel's face. The boy let out a startled cry as he fell to the ground.
"Fuck," Sammy hissed, glaring down at her fist. As though silently spiting the area for hurting. She repeated the curse word as her eyes landed on Daniel. The man held his face, groaning in pain as he rocked back and forth in his spot on the ground. "Sorry, Daniel, didn't mean to punch you so hard..." She stared down at the man, feeling a little bad for having caused him so much pain; not for punching him, though. He had deserved that one. Abigail started laughing hysterically, but everyone did their best to ignore her.
"Fuck," Daniel ground out, pushing himself up into a sitting position and sending Sammy a hard look. "That's your free shot."
"Oh, no it's not," Sammy spat, a wry smile pulling at her lips. "That punch was totally justified. You kissed me, you idiot! You can't just force yourself on someone like that, you prick! I-" She faltered, her anger dying down a bit as she realized the hypocrisy of her words. She let out a quiet sigh, fixing Daniel with a sad look.
"Listen, I know you like me, but I don't feel the same way about you," she told him, forcing all emotion out of her voice save for the apathy. "I care about you like a brother. I'm sorry. I have as much control over my feelings as you do; I'm sure you wouldn't feel that way about me if you could help it; I know how that feels, and I'm sorry that I can't return your feelings." She fought back the tears that threatened to spill now. "And, even if I did feel the same, it's a bad idea to act on those feelings. It's the zombie apocalypse for fuck's sake; feelings like that can get a person killed. It's stupid. Stupid. Stupid."
The house went silent. Only the sound of the rain pelting against the roof disrupting the tension in the room. Sammy turned away from the eyes that stared at her, brushing passed the other three occupants of the house and going to her room to dwell on her mistakes.
She was so stupid. Why on earth had she kissed Daryl? She had a very clear set of rules for surviving the zombie apocalypse, and no romantic involvement was at the top of that list. She had just completely disregarded her own rules; and now, she had to deal with that on top of the fact that the man had rejected her. She felt like a complete idiot. Tears spilled from her eyes, despite her efforts to keep them at bay, and she fell into her mattress.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Sammy growled in frustrating, pushing her face into one of the pillows on the bed. She held it tightly, willing her emotions to stop spiraling out of control. What was she supposed to say to Daryl after that? How was she supposed to look at him without remembering that she had practically thrown herself at him and he had rejected her. She just ended up crying harder as the thoughts penetrated her mind. Her sobs were muffled by the soft bundle in her arms, and she hugged the pillow closer as she rode out her emotional breakdown.
"Sammy?" The light knock at the bedroom door startled the girl out of her thoughts.
Sammy held her breath until the sobs stopped trying to escape her. Then, she took several deep breaths between her sniffles, pulling away from the pillow enough to breathe properly. When the door opened, Peter's blond head peeked in.
"Hey, are you alright?" the boy questioned, worry clear in his voice.
"I'm fine," Sammy croaked out, wiping the offending liquid from her eyes. It didn't help, as more just built up and fell in its place.
"You don't sound fine," Peter noted, stepping into the room and gently shutting the door behind him.
"I don't wanna talk about it," Sammy reiterated, pressing her face into the pillow once more. "Just let me wallow in my self-pity."
Peter watched the girl for several silent moments, pressing his lips together. Finally, he let out a quiet sigh and accepted the request. "I'm here if you need me," he stated, opening the door once more. "Just remember that, okay?"
Sammy glanced toward the door, giving the boy a slight smile and a nod in response. With a sympathetic smile in return, Peter let the girl be. The door clicked quietly as it shut, and Sammy let out a pathetic sigh as she stuffed her face into the pillow once more.


Daryl shut the door behind him as he entered his designated room. It slammed against the frame with more force than he intended, and the man stopped short to mentally curse the mistake. The thought didn't linger long, though, as his mind was quickly re-invaded with his previous thoughts.
The kiss. Daryl touched his lips lightly, feeling the odd string of emotions stirring in his stomach. Sammy had kissed him; it was barely a kiss, but a kiss none the less. And he had just stood there like an idiot until the girl ran away. He should have said something before she left; anything would have been better than watching her leave with that pained look, hidden behind a tight-lipped smile. What could he have said, though? He hadn't the slightest idea.
Did he even have feelings for her? He had never even entertained the idea; she was always so sunny and happy and he never thought that she would have any romantic feelings for him. She seemed so perfect, and he was... Well, he was Daryl Dixon. He was quite and rough around the edges. He was broken; why would Sammy want him? He couldn't even understand why the girl spoke to him, let alone why she would feel the desire to kiss him.
A knock at the door startled the man out of his thoughts. He spun around and pried the barrier open. Carol stood on the other side with a strange look on her face; something akin to worry.
"You alright?" she questioned, confused. First, Sammy had all but stormed out of the house, then Daryl was in here slamming doors. She wasn't sure what she should be worried about, if anything.
"Fine," Daryl grumbled. He glanced down at his clothes, the material still damp and sticking to his body uncomfortably. "I'm gonna change." He jerked his head back toward his room, shutting the door after he got a nod of confirmation from the woman.
Daryl went to the small pile of clothes that had been tossed near the corner of his room; the reason why he had his own room to begin with. All the others in the group had griped over his unorganized pile of clothing in the living room during the first week. He never understood why; it's not like he had that much to wear, it didn't take up much space at all. Regardless, he had been instructed to keep his mess in his room. He didn't have any complaints over that, and had been happy to oblige.
Pulling out some random clothing and giving them the smell test, Daryl changed out of his wet outfit and into something more comfortable. He thought on his situation, wondering how to go about handling it. Even if he had feelings for the girl, it would be a bad idea to act on them; in his experience, women changed once they trapped a man in a relationship. They got clingy and moody, always expecting things from him without telling him what; expecting him to change, be more open and sympathetic and not him. He didn't want things to change with Sammy. He enjoyed her company as it was and, while he wouldn't be opposed to a quick tumble in the sheets now and again with the girl, he wasn't sure that anything more would be a good idea.
No, he knew what he would do about the situation. He would ignore it. Pretend it never happened; surely, Sammy would be grateful if he never brought it up again. And the two could go on as they had been the passed few weeks. As good friends, who seemed to understand each other without the need for mindless chitchat, and nothing more. What could possibly go wrong?


Oh, Daryl, you're such a guy c: I feel the need to point out the fact that I THINK DARYL IS A PERFECT BEING OF LIGHT SO BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING I JUST CAN'T, HE BLINDS ME WITH ALL HIS AWESOME. All that junk about being broken and stuff, I just think that's some self-doubt he would have. I mean, it makes him so adorably awkward, much as I hate that he would ever see himself as anything less than the amazing creature he is; it's one of those 'he doesn't know how perfect he is and that makes him even more irresistible' things, I think. Also, I TOTALLY DON'T THINK SAMMY IS IN ANY WAY PERFECT. I figured that, having developed (coughrepressedcough) feelings for her, he would see her in such a way.. I did my absolute best not to make her Mary Sue, and if she is, well... Hopefully I'll get to even out her character traits some more in these next few chapters and make her less so.. She has a lot of faults, I'm just not sure if they've really gotten through yet... But, don't get me wrong, I do think she's totally awesome and I love writing her character. c:

Anywho, enough of my rambling! I'll see you guys next time, have a wonderful week! ;) (Hopefully less than a week before the next update, I suggest checking back Thursday or Friday for it c: )