WARNING: There is naughty sex in this chapter. This is my first attempt at writing sex so give me a break. If you don't like that sort of thing, please skip the italicized part of the story. This chapter is huge! I'm talking really really long! You might want to just read half of it and read the rest later. Just sayin' With all the speculation about Lily, I have to reiterate that this story is not a romance. If you've read this far and this disappoints you, I'm sorry. The good news is that Fan Fiction is chock full of Walking Dead romance stories so you have a gazillion of them to choose from! I'm not a big romance fan, but I've found a couple of them that I just love. (:ahem: Polar :ahem: Blizzard :cough cough:)

Rick and Dale were almost finished installing a gate in the chain link fence. The new gate was placed where the first gate had been, the one that had been moved over near the driveway. The gate panel had been found while Rick explored the storage area above the garage. There were several other chain link fence panels stored there as well, along with several coils of razor sharp barbed wire. Rick had looked at the barbed wire and cringed. The operatives at Looking Glass Base would have placed the barbed wire along the top of the fence once the dead started walking. It was obvious, too that the wire was meant to keep other people out and not the walkers.

Rick contemplated putting the razor wire up along the top of the fence. If there was a military group out there trying to make their way to the base, he doubted that they'd be happy to find Rick and his group of survivors occupying the place. It wouldn't be hard for invaders to just climb the fence and if they were a well armed group and caught Rick and the others off guard, well, that wouldn't turn out very well, would it?

He wondered if maybe he should enlist Glenn's help, too, and run the wire across the top of the fence before taking the exploratory trip around to the other side of the lake. They would need some heavy gloves in order to keep the wire from cutting them.

Rick sighed. This was another one of those times where Shane's physical strength and endurance would have come in handy. He had nothing against Glenn and Dale, but Shane and Daryl were both stronger and a lot less clumsy than Glenn and Dale were. Daryl was in no condition to help out with Rick's fence project and Shane obviously wasn't either.

Rick looked over at Shane's grave. There were little blue flowers growing on and around it and on T-Dogs grave as well. Yellow flowers bloomed on the graves of the family who had lived in the house before. When Rick had noticed the flowers earlier, he thought that Lori had probably planted them, but it turned out that Carol had been the one that had raided the flower gardens near the front of the house. She had dug up some blue forget-me-nots and planted them on Shane and T-Dogs graves, and she had planted some small yellow marigolds on the family graves. Rick thought it was a beautiful gesture on Carol's part and he wondered if it was hard on her, having lost her daughter so recently.

Rick was going to have to have a talk with Daryl and he wasn't looking forward to it. Carol had come down the stairs earlier that day and she was extremely upset. Rick had asked her if she was alright and she had told him with teary eyes how she had taken some milk and cookies to Daryl and how he'd been a complete jerk to her and had kicked her out of the room. Rick had tried to justify Daryl's behavior by reminding Carol that Daryl was injured, he wasn't used to having to stay put and he probably was in pain. Add all that to the fact that Daryl had a grumpy personality and didn't care to be around people to begin with and Rick was not at all surprised that he had told Carol to bug off. Rick had told Carol he'd speak to Daryl if just to calm the woman down a bit.


Daryl's eyes got big and in an instant Maggie could read all kinds of emotions in them, anger, hurt, sadness and then they were suddenly icy hard again.

"Where'd you hear that name?" he asked.

Maggie watched Daryl as she spoke, "When you were waking up, you were talking to her. You told her you'd missed her a lot."

Daryl's cheeks flushed and he looked away from Maggie. "Did I say anythin' else?"

"No. You didn't."

Daryl nodded and started chewing on his thumbnail..

After a moment of silence, Maggie said, "It's okay, obviously it isn't something you care to share and I can respect that. I just wondered if she was a sister, a wife, a girlfriend, a daughter or what she was to you. You don't let anyone get close so of course when you were speaking with affection to someone named 'Lily' it made me curious."

Daryl cleared his throat and said, You know, if you're done with me, you can leave."

Maggie looked disappointed. "Are you in a rush to get rid of me?"

Daryl looked away from her. "It's sorta hard for me to look at you without feelin' embarrassed; so why don't cha run along."

"You need to get over that. You have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about."

Daryl snorted. "Right. Easy for you to say."

"Okay, you're right, but it's over and done with and I promise to never tease you about it. I'm sorry you're so upset about it, but let me ask you this, who would you have rather had clean you up? My Dad? Andrea? Glenn? Carol?"

Daryl cringed. "Good Lord," he said, "don' even say shit like that!"

"Daryl, I care about you. I honestly didn't know if you were going to live or die and I wanted you to be clean and comfortable because dried blood flakes and itches like crazy and it stinks, too. Plus, if you died, you would have been cleaned up before you were buried and since I didn't know, it was also a way for me to do one final thing for you and to be close to you one last time if you didn't pull through. I wasn't just going to wash you up part way. I was so afraid of losing you. I'm sorry what I did bothers you so much. I don't want you pulling away from me because of what I did. What do I have to do? You want me to take off my shirt, strip naked for you, so you could get a good look? Would that fix things? Make us 'even'? Heck, I'll let you wash my chest if it will change your mind about this 'no more being friends' crap."

"Stop." Daryl said.

"Tell 'er yes!" Imaginary Merle shouted. "Tell 'er to show you 'er tits!"

"I can't help how I feel. I'm a private person an' shit Mags, what you done was just wrong. I don't give two shits how fuckin' dirty I was, an' if I'd died I woulda cared even less. As far as bein' friends...I just don't wanna get close to anyone. Can't you understand that?"

"We're already close and you know it. What I did was not wrong. I told you, I care about you. I care about you a lot and I want you to get better and if you want to push me away and pretend we don't know each other at all and kill what could be a wonderful friendship then fine, but I think you're being stupid."

Daryl smirked. "No, come on, go 'head, tell me how you really feel."

Maggie sighed and stood up. "I really value your friendship. You tell it like it is and you're smart and you're funny. I promise I won't ever do anything to embarrass or hurt you and I won't ever take you seriously enough to let you hurt me."

Daryl raised his eyebrows and looked at Maggie like she was nuts. "You can't say shit like that! You got no control over my feelins an' I got no control over yours. I can't fuckin' hardly look at cha 'cause I'm ashamed as hell 'bout me bein'...an you seein'...an' maybe it's stupid that it bothers me but it does. And you're right, we have gotten close. I fucked up an' let you in an' now if somethin' were to happen to you, say some walker got cha, I'd feel awful 'bout that. Woulda felt bad before, but now it would be really hard to lose you. I 'spect you'd feel a bit bad if I kicked the bucket, too. See what I'm sayin'?"

Maggie smiled a big smile. "See? You do care! Daryl, caring isn't a bad thing! It's part of what makes us human. You're right, I don't think you should be embarrassed about what I did, but you don't have any control over my feelings and I don't have any control over yours."

The smile on her face faded and she lowered her eyes. "And I lied. You've already hurt me. I was scared to death when you OD'd and I thought you were going to die. I was scared when Shane hurt you and you lost so much blood. I cried and the thought of losing you hurt. It hurt a lot. You can be a jerk and push me away, but we have a connection and you know it. We're friends and I like our friendship and I think it's worth any hurt that it might bring. I'm beyond the point where I'm ever going to be able to dislike you. I'll get mad at you and think you're a jerk at times, but I'll still love you as a friend and if anything happened to you I'd be devastated."

Daryl was caught off guard. She'd be devastated if anything happened to him? "Maggie, I jes' don't do the friend thing well. I don't like caring. Makes me feel.."

"Uncomfortable," Maggie finished. "I know, I know, but dammit, Tiger, we're living in a brand new uncomfortable world and if you try, you can actually take comfort in friendships. Give it a shot and see."

"You gotta stop callin' me that, too."

"No, I think it fits. You're a tiger in a house full of pussycats. You're cranky, you're dangerous, you like to be left alone and you hate being touched. Now I'm glad you agree that we're friends and we care about each other."

Daryl started to object, but Maggie cut him off. "Now, Tiger, I'm going to take some bandages, gauze and other things I need for dressing changes down to your room. I'm guessing you're anxious to get back into your room with that giant bed and the cool stone bathroom. The exterior door is all in now so you can avoid us all much easier than you could before."

Daryl grimaced as the pain increased yet again but managed a small smile. He wasn't going to revive the friendship debate. "The door is in? I can jes' go from my room on to the porch? No havin' to go through the house to the kitchen?"

Maggie nodded and got up and leaned over him in the chair. "I knew you'd be happy to hear that. Now tell me what I can do for you to make you comfortable."

"Tell 'er a blow job'd do the trick," suggested Imaginary Merle.

"I can give you something that will help with the pain but won't make you sleepy if that's what you'd like. I can give you pills or an injection, whatever you want." Maggie smiled at Daryl.

Daryl looked at her as she stood there smiling like a fool. "You sound like a drug dealer tryin' to make a sale."

"Maybe I am, and everything is on special this week."

"Tell you what, why don't you just give me what you think I need? I'll trust your judgement. Jus' nothin' that'll knock me out. 'kay?"

Maggie couldn't believe it. "Seriously? You'll let me help your stubborn ass?"

"Well, if you're gonna say it that way.."

"No! I didn't mean it! I'm just surprised. I hate to see you in pain and it would make me so happy to be able to help make you comfortable. I'll go get what I think you need, and nothing that will knock you out unless the pain gets really bad and you decide you want it, or if I'm going to be changing your dressing."

Maggie smiled a big smile and skipped out of the room.

Daryl closed his eyes. The wound site was throbbing but at least it wasn't itching. He opened his eyes again and stood and looked behind him before he leaned over a bit to grab the wool Aztec patterned blanket off the floor. He arranged it over the back of the couch where it had been originally and looked around the room to make sure everything was in place. Everything except the missing bobcat and skunk. He slowly walked toward the door, anxious to get downstairs and into his room. He hoped the busted lock on the door had been fixed.

He walked down the stairs slowly and held on to the railing. It took a few minutes and he had to sneak by Andrea and Carol's room to avoid being ambushed and forced to stay and visit for a while. When Daryl finally opened the door and walked into his room, his mouth fell open. "What the hell?" Someone had moved things around and rearranged the room. His instinct was to be rip roaring pissed off, but as he looked around and saw the new door, the bobcat and the skunk and the Frederick Remington artwork, all his anger melted away. The room looked great. The bed had to be moved in order to freely access the new door. The door was gorgeous. Mahogany with a stained glass pane in it. The old bench with the coat pegs next to the door looked like it belonged where it was and it would be so easy to hang up his vest or jacket now when coming in from outdoors.

Maggie stepped out of the bathroom and smiled at him. "Do you like it? Carol and Andrea did most of the work, except for putting in the door of course."

"I fuckin' love it." Daryl said, honestly. The carpet was clean and stain free and the walls had been freshly painted.

Maggie shook a bottle at him, "I've got something for you that will make you feel better."

"What cha got for me, you little dealer?"

"Today's special is Tylenol with Codeine. Give it a shot. Take two and if it doesn't help, we'll try something else."


Rick approached Daryl's room and heard Maggie and Daryl talking. He was glad that Daryl had finally made his way downstairs and into his room.

"I don't know, now I'm havin' second thoughts. Maybe I should just try to ride it out a bit." Daryl said after thinking for a moment.

"Why?" Maggie asked thinking 'here we go again'.

Rick knew why. Daryl's strong sense of self loathing would make him feel that he deserved to feel the pain. Damn, that was fucked up. Rick decided that he wasn't going to barge into the room and scold Daryl for "being mean" to Carol. Daryl had enough on his plate to deal with and Daryl and Carol were both adults and could work things out on their own. He was the leader of the group, not a damned playground monitor. He knocked on the door and opened it a crack, "Hey Daryl, glad you're back downstairs.. I won't bother you, just wanted to pop in and say its nice to have you back."

"Thanks, Rick. Great job on the door, I appreciate it."

Rick laughed, "It was fun putting it in. Later." and he walked down the hall with a smile on his face.


"C'mon Daryl, just try the damned Tylenol with Codeine. Please?"

"Fine. If it'll get you off my back."

Maggie shook out two pills and handed them to him. She smiled when he looked them all over to make sure they were actually what she said they were before he took them.

"This shit gonna make me sleepy?"

"It might, but not like morphine and oxycontin will." Maggie paused for a moment then said, "So...tell me about Lily." She was half joking and really doubted he'd ever tell her or anyone about this mystery woman.

Daryl hopped up on his bed. He stretched out and propped his head up on three pillows. Maggie had done a lot for him, but dammit this was his past, his private life. Then again, maybe if he told her she'd understand his aversion to caring for people. Maybe she'd leave him alone. Maybe telling her would be a good thing. "What you got to trade."

Maggie was shocked. Daryl was actually considering spilling the beans about this mysterious Lily?

"Baked goods! Cookies! Brownies! My firstborn! Whatever you want."

Daryl narrowed his eyes. "Cookies. More an' one batch. Can I mix an' match?"

"Awww, Tiger, you made a poem!"

"Fine, get out."

"No, I'm sorry. Yes, more than one batch and whatever you want. Hell, I'll even steal Andrea's Kahlua if you want it."

"Pussy drink, that Kahlua. I'll tell you a bit, but you can't interrupt me. This is gonna be a hard thing to tell anyway and this is jes' 'tween us two. You don't even share it with Chinaman 'less I say you can. Is that gonna be a problem?"

"Not at all." Maggie pulled the chair over next to the bed. Witholding something about Daryl from Glenn wasn't like lying to him or anything, she reasoned.

Daryl nodded and took a sip of water then placed the water glass back on the night stand. "Lily is the only woman I've ever loved." Daryl said, glancing over at her and then looking away. "Was a long, long time ago an' she wan't never really officially my girlfriend, but I loved her an' it damn near got me killed."

Maggie leaned forward but didn't say a word. She wasn't going to push him any harder to tell her about Lily.

"Ain't never been married, no kids, no sisters. Merle got a job after he come home from the Marines workin' construction for a big contractor, Buddy Farrington. Merle was twenty three an' he'd been workin' for Farrington about a year an' was a foreman. Farrington liked Merle a lot and had 'im workin' enforcement on the side. Bud was prolly the biggest coke dealer in Georgia."

Maggie had thought the name sounded familiar. Buddy Farrington had been brought down by the DEA just a couple of years ago for drug dealing, racketeering and murder. He'd been thrown in prison to rot for the rest of his life. It had been all over the news. Maggie shuddered. Bastard had probably been eaten by now or was out walking around with the millions of undead.

"I'd stopped over to bring Merle cigarettes or some damned thing or other a couple a times at his work site and Bud asked Merle if he thought I might like a job takin' care a the horses at his place and keepin' up the grounds. Sorta like a handy man type a thing. Fixin' fences, helpin' with the hayin', muckin' out stalls. You know, that sorta shit. I was fifteen an' I started workin' for him. I'd walk over to his big house after school an' on Saturdays an' I'd work my ass off, doin' whatever his wife thought needed doin'. They had a couple girls my age workin' in the house doin' the housework an' laundry an' stuff." Daryl paused. What the hell was he telling Maggie about this for? To get her off his back about his aversion to getting close to people. Right.

Maggie had leaned forward in the chair and was totally engrossed in what he was saying.

He looked at her and then dropped his eyes. "I shouldn't be tellin' you 'bout this." He almost smiled when her face dropped and she almost looked panicked. If he stopped now, he thought, she'd probably have a fit; but she had the sense not to push him or to say anything and after a brief pause, he continued.

"I worked there after school an' in the summer. Worked lots with the horses, did a lot a carpentry work, odd jobs like cleanin' the pool, mowin' the grass, prunin' the fruit trees. The house girls, they'd come an' go. Seems they was a new one ever' several months er so. Mrs. Farrington weren't the easiest person to work for. She was fussy 'bout how she liked things done an' I guess sometimes the girls got ornery so she'd fire 'em. I learned right early to do things the way she wanted 'em done. Bud 's gone a lot. Merle'd tell me he had girls he was puttin' it to all over town. He'd take his wife out to dinner once a week, on Thursdays.

She started comin' out to watch me work with the horses an' she taught me to ride. I could break a horse and knew the basics, she taught me 'bout leads an foot cues an' dressage an' stuff. She'd talk to me an' I'd mostly jes' listen. It was nice. I taught her how to shoot an' about what mushrooms in the woods nearby was edible. Stuff like that. When I turned eighteen, she insisted on takin' me out to dinner for my birthday. We had a couple a beers an' talked. Guess it was my first real 'date'. She had a bit too much to drink an' told me she knew Bud was messin' aroun' an' had been for years. She only stayed with 'im 'cause he wouldn't let 'er go an' she was scared a him."

Maggie's eyes grew wide. "Mrs. Farrington? Is she Lily?" Daryl smiled a shy smile and Maggie imagined him at eighteen smiling shyly at the attention this older woman had started to give him. Of course he'd be receptive to it. He was probably dying for the attention. "How old was she?" Maggie asked.

"Don't know why it matters; now don't be interruptin' me."

Maggie nodded. "Sorry. Please, continue."

Daryl obliged. "A few weeks later I was breakin' some a the new stock Bud had gotten in. I took a helluva spill an' messed up my shoulder pretty bad. Mrs. Farrington took me to the house an' had me take my shirt off so she could check it out."

The memories came flooding back like a dam had broken and now he was drowning in them. He had pushed some things into such far corners of his mind that they had almost been forgotten. Now they rushed to the front of his mind, painting vivid pictures and recalling feelings long ago buried. He told Maggie bits and pieces of what he remembered, but not everything. Some things were just for him to know and remember and weren't the business of anyone. Anyone except he and his Lily.


She led him through her bedroom and told him to sit on the end of the bed and take off his shirt as she went into her bathroom. Daryl pulled his shirt off over his head, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. He looked around the room. The curtains were sheer and peach colored, and matched the linens on the bed. The furniture was white and there was a lace white canopy over the queen bed he now sat on. The carpet was a light peachy pink color. The room smelled of flowers and perfume and Daryl smiled. It was obvious that this room belonged to a woman. Mrs. Farrington came out of the bathroom with a towel over her arm and holding a damp washcloth. He looked at her and she smiled at him. Damn, she was beautiful. Her dark blonde hair was pulled back in a hair clip and wisps of it had freed themselves from it and stuck out around her neck and at the top of her head. Her jeans were dirty where she'd taken a dive into the sand and her sleeveless blue gingham shirt was stained with dirt and grass as well.

"Daryl, honey, now I've gotten a good look at you, I think you should just jump into the shower. I'll put your clothes in the wash and find you something else to wear. I'm sure I've got some of Buddy's older clothes around, they should fit you."

"Nah, I can just wash 'em when I get home, Mrs. Farrington."

"Nonsense. I won't have you getting out of a shower all nice an' clean and then putting on dirty clothes." Daryl stood up and she pushed him along towards the bathroom. "Okay young man, be careful of that shoulder. The warm water should make it feel a bit better."

Daryl closed the door and stripped, then handed his clothes out to Mrs. Farrington who was waiting for them on the other side of the door. The proximity of his naked self and this beautiful woman (Lord, it was just a wooden door separating them by inches!) made him blush. He started the shower and when it was the right temperature he stepped into it. The warm water felt good running down his face, off his hair and down his back. His shoulder responded to the warmth as well and started to loosen up and feel much better. His mind wandered as he stood beneath the warm shower. He couldn't understand why Bud would want to cheat on his wife. She was beautiful and funny and smart. What else was there to want in a woman? She was thirty-four, sixteen years Daryl's senior, but she looked like she was in her mid twenties. Daryl had been nursing a crush on the woman for more than a year now, but was very careful not to let it show.

He heard the bathroom door open. "Got some fresh towels." she said quietly. He jumped a moment later when he felt a hand on the back of his shoulder and he glanced over his shoulder quickly. Holy shit! Bud Farrington's wife was naked and getting into the shower with him!

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Daryl swallowed, seriously? "Um..no, not...uh..not at all..if you want..."

"Don't turn around. Just relax."

He closed his eyes. He must be dreaming. That was it, this was a dream. The hand on his back slid up to his shoulder and was joined by another hand and then his muscles were being kneaded and massaged by the two hands. A moment later a soapy sponge was being rubbed across his back and then down the back of each of his arms.

"Um...Mrs. Farrington?" Daryl was starting to panic. Part of his body was suddenly wide awake and standing at attention.

The sponge stopped moving across his skin. "What is it?" Lily's voice asked. "Do you want me to leave?"

The words rushed out of Daryl's mouth. "Oh, no. Hell no! This...this is ...nice...Mrs. Farrington."

She hummed as she ran the sponge over his back and down to the curve of his buttocks. "It's Lily. You have a beautiful body, Daryl." she whispered in his ear and he thought he would die right then and there.

She massaged shampoo into his hair and her fingers rubbed little circles into his scalp as she worked the shampoo in. He'd never felt anything like it and he closed his eyes and let his senses take in the feel of her fingers massaging, scratching and rubbing his scalp. She held his arms to his sides and gently pushed him forward, positioning him directly under the shower head to rinse his hair. He jumped when he felt her lips on the back of his neck and his body trembled. He certainly hadn't expected that. He had to be dreaming. There was no way in hell this could be happening. There was no way a woman like Lily Farrington would be touching him like this. He was sure he'd wake up in his bed at any moment now, panting and messy from this amazing wet dream.

She planted little kisses along the back of his neck and ran her tongue up the side of his neck and grasped his earlobe gently with her teeth. "Do you have a girlfriend, honey?" Because I don't want to cause a problem if you do."

He choked out a "no" and her hands moved down his sides to his waist and slid around front to trace circles on his flat stomach. He sucked in a breath and then her hands moved down and fingers were combing through his pubic hair. His body tensed as she gently reached down and cradled his balls in one of her hands while her other hand ran an exploratory finger up his rock hard shaft. He was sure that he was about to explode. She leaned into him and he felt her naked breasts press against his back.

"What...what are you doin'?" he asked huskily and she smiled at the deep and breathy sound of his voice.

"Do you want me to stop?" she breathed into his ear as she gently stroked him.

"No," he whispered, "no, but I'm not...I've never..." his breath hitched and he exhaled with an almost inaudible moan.

Lily smiled and put her lips close to his ear. "Don't hold back, sweetie," she whispered, "cum for Lily." She massaged his balls between the fingers of one hand and firmly grasped his length in the other one and gave him three fast and firm strokes. He moaned, "Oh, God..." and she felt his whole body quiver and jerk and he pulsed in her hand as he came and came hard. When he had finished, she turned him around to face her and she crushed her lips against his. He opened his lips to her and then she was exploring his mouth with her tongue and he was clumsily trying to reciprocate.

He ran his hands up the sides of her glorious body and cupped her breasts in his hands as they stood under the shower. He kissed her hard and deep and then trailed kisses down her neck and massaged her breasts and ran his tongue around her nipples. The water started to get cooler and Lily pulled herself away from Daryl to shut it off. She pulled him close as water dripped from their bodies and was surprised to find that he was hard again. She took his hand and stepped out of the shower and he followed. Lily pulled a big fluffy white bathrobe off the hook behind the bathroom door and put it on, then told Daryl to turn around. He did, his back to her, and she took a big white towel she had placed on the vanity and rubbed Daryl's hair with it and then his back and then his buttocks and the back of his legs. She moved around to the front of him and dried off his shoulder and his chest, stopping to pull him close for another deep kiss. She wrapped the towel around his waist and tucked it in so it wouldn't' fall down, very aware of the bulge beneath the terry cloth. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Okay? I'm fantastic." he said, totally in awe of what had happened.

"Fantastic, huh?" Lily smiled and whispered, " I'll be the judge of that."

Daryl was sure he was going to pass out. This sort of thing just didn't happen to him. This woman, the woman who had been the subject of his fantasies for the last year and then some had just jerked him off and now it appeared that his virginity might be packing its bags and getting ready to leave.

Lily walked across the room and locked the bedroom door. She pulled the window shades and then turned to face Daryl. "I think you should know that I've wanted you for a long time." she said and she smiled and dropped her bathrobe.

God, Daryl thought, she's so fuckin' beautiful when she smiles. She pulled the top sheet and blanket on the bed back and patted the bed. He admired her naked body lustfully as she smoothed the sheet with her hand. She was so beautiful. "I've dreamed 'bout you for over a year," he confessed and his face flushed red with embarrassment. "Been smitten with you for a long time."

Lily was more than pleased to hear this. She sat on the bed and said,"Come on, honey, come sit down."

Daryl did as he was told.

Lily wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. She ran her hands up and down his well muscled and taut arms and caressed those wide and impossibly sexy shoulders of his. She wondered if she should feel guilty, he was so much younger, but he acted so much older. He was quiet and mature and a hard worker. His body was the body of a man. The body of a beautiful and well built man. She pulled him down onto the mattress, "On your back, honey." He complied and she leaned into him and felt him pressing hard and hot on her hip. Lily climbed up and straddled him. She pulled his arms above his head and held them there as she looked into his eyes. He had wonderful blue eyes and damn, the young man was handsome. He looked at her with total adoration in his eyes and it overwhelmed her. She didn't know if anyone had ever looked at her like that. "I want to feel you inside me," she said lustily, "I want you so bad...but right now I don't want you to touch me, you let me do the touchin', okay, sweetie?"

Daryl bit his lower lip and nodded.

Damn, he was so fucking adorable! Lily kissed him and ran her tongue along his jaw line. "Is this your first time?" she whispered.

Daryl blushed and she wanted him all the more for it. "Can you tell?"

She giggled and smiled at him. "I'm honored that I'm going to be your first. You're a sweet and wonderful young man, Daryl Dixon, and the fact that your body is amazing and you're gorgeous is just icing on the cake."

Daryl was speechless, she was talking to him? About him? She thought he was sweet and wonderful and had an amazing body? She was honored that she was going to be his first fuck? Again, this had to be a dream. He reached to put his arms around her and pull her close.

"No no." Lily scolded and she smiled and pinned his hands to the mattress above him. "You can't touch me. Not yet. I want you to close your eyes and relax. Just let me explore your body a bit. You're like an unbroken young stallion and I'm doing the teaching and the riding today, capiche?"

"'Okay. My body is yours to do whatever you want with."

And what a body! Oh, she was going to take him up on that alright. She kissed him long and deep and she felt him growing harder beneath her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She trailed little kisses down his neck to his chest, then ran her tongue around each of his nipples and gave each one a little nip. He gasped and she felt him twitch beneath her. She ran her hands up and down his sides and he stiffled a laugh. She smiled. He was ticklish. Her tongue made little circles and spirals down his chest to his navel, circling it twice. She swirled her tongue along the path of hair from his navel to where it grew curly and thicker. His moans and whispered endearments urged her on. She kissed a trail to where his firm erection laid against his body. She grasped him in one hand and he inhaled sharply. Lily ran her tongue around the rim and slid her mouth down and licked and flicked her tongue across the tip. The sounds he was making; throaty murmurs, whimpers and breathy moans, were driving her mad with desire. She took the length of him in her mouth and sucked as she moved her mouth up and down, taking him into her mouth as far as she could and then easing him out as she licked and kissed and rubbed. "You've got a great cock." she breathed and she felt his hard, well muscled body tense and his breathing got heavier and faster. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore and she straddled him. She gripped his throbbing cock in one hand and eased her self down and let him barely enter her.

Daryl felt her warm flesh parting as she slid down over him and then she was pulling herself off of him and then sliding back down, just allowing a couple of inches of him inside of her. He felt like his whole body and mind was concentrating on the sensation of Lily's silky soft folds as they flirted with his impatient and very hard cock. He pushed his hips up in an attempt to push further inside of her and she pushed them back down with her hands and rolled her hips, denying him deeper penetration. "Fuckin' tease." he muttered, enjoying the sensation. He wanted to grab her hips and pull her down onto his length, to bury himself inside of her, to flip her onto her back and fuck the hell out of her, thrusting and driving into her hard, desperately again and again, but she was in charge for now. This was all new to him and he was eager to learn from her, so he kept his hands where she had placed them, up over his head and hoped he would last longer than the next few seconds.

Lily let just a bit of him in again and then she rotated her hips, her soft velvet walls sliding along the very tip. Then she slid herself down, taking all of him inside of her. He gasped and she sat up then she was grinding into him. She sat back and then leaned forward and rode him. She arched her back and pounded herself against him, writhing and rubbing and grinding. He felt so warm and hard inside her and she groaned with pleasure. She slid herself off of his length and then slid back down, taking all of him in again as she pushed and rubbed herself against him. She leaned back and then forward, increasing her speed as she rode him and she could feel herself nearing the point of no return. Daryl watched her through half closed eyes as she drove herself down onto him and slid away and then crashed back down onto him, taking all of him inside her again and again. He bucked and rocked his hips against hers. Shit, he was getting close. Her breathing was faster now, and she moaned as she rocked and rolled her hips against his. "Oh Daryl, my beautiful, beautiful Daryl," she moaned, "I want to feel you cum inside me, come on, honey. I want you, all of you. Come on, babe, you know I want it. Give it to me, Daryl, give it up to me."

Daryl groaned and breathed deeply, Lily was moving even faster now, he had never felt anything like this, he was so close, so fucking close. "Almost there," he whispered urgently. His body moved with hers and he felt like she was part of him and he was part of her. He sighed and moaned and then Lily was crying out his name and bucking and he could feel her muscles clenching and spasming around him and he went over the edge, thrusting deep into her warmth as he came inside of her. Daryl was lost in the intensity and the ecstasy of his orgasm as he called her name between deep guttural groans. He was overwhelmed with emotions and he was still breathing heavily when Lily leaned forward and passionately kissed him. He brought his arms down and wrapped them around her, holding her close to him, feeling her warm body against his.

Lily's dark blonde hair spread across his chest as she rested her head against it and ran her fingers in little circles on his well developed upper arm. She felt so good, so safe in his big strong arms, listening to his heart pounding in his chest.

Daryl wanted to stay like this forever; wrapped around her and still inside her. They were quiet for a few moments and he had to ask. "Did I do okay?" he whispered.

She reached up and kissed his lips and looked into his blue eyes with her own blue ones. "You were fantastic."

He kissed her forehead and sighed,"Lily, Lily, I love you so much. I've been in love with you for a long time."

Lily lifted her head and grinned at him. "You don't love me, honey," she said, "you just love what we just did."

For the first six months of their relationship, Lily would say that every time Daryl told her that he loved her. One day as he held her close after a steamy late afternoon session in the bedroom, she had surprised him by saying, "Daryl Lee Dixon, would it surprise you to know that I am totally and completely in love with you?" It did surprise him and it made him happy. Someone loved him, and not just anyone; Lily Farrington, the kindest, funniest, smartest and most beautiful woman he'd ever known was in love with him. With him! He could hardly believe it.

They rode horses together and he taught her to drive a standard shift vehicle. They would read to each other and critique the book they'd read when they finished it. She introduced him to poetry after convincing him that it wasn't just for the limp wristed and foppish crowd and he had loved John Milton's Paradise Lost and ee cummings sometimes outrageous poems. She introduced him to Dean Koontz books and he introduced her to Clive Cussler's 'Dirk Pitt' adventures.

They spent a lot of time in the woods, fishing in brooks, ravishing each other, swimming in rivers and just walking hand in hand on the trails in the cool green forest when they were sure they were alone.

Daryl loved Lily with a passion he had never known or thought he was capable of. She was his everything and he lived and breathed for her. He pledged his love to her and swore he would love her until the day he died.

Lily crafted Daryl into an amazing and adventurous lover and after one near disastrous session in a canoe in the middle of a moonlit lake where the simultaneous acts of orgasming and capsizing the canoe had nearly drowned them both; she declared Daryl was into 'danger sex'. "We almost got killed!" she had scolded as she wrung out her shirt on the shore.

He had laughed and said, "Well, then we both woulda had the extremely rare experience a' comin' an' goin' at the same time."

They carried on for three years before Buddy found out what was going on. One of the newer house girls had a crush on Daryl and after being repeatedly rebuffed by him and discouraged from pursuing him by Mrs. Farrington, she figured out that Daryl's affections were already spoken for. She went to Buddy and said that she suspected that there was more than an employer-employee relationship going on between Mrs. Farrington and Daryl Dixon. Buddy called in a private investigator who, after conducting some surveillance, confirmed the affair.

It was a hot day in early August when Buddy came home unexpectedly in the early afternoon as Daryl was working with the horses. Daryl was told his job at the house was no more and to leave and not to come back. . Buddy had three of his enforcers take Daryl out for a little ride and he was told to stay away from Lily in no uncertain terms. They roughed him up, as Buddy instructed them to, just to make sure he got the message and understood that Buddy Farrington was serious and that you didn't mess with the man's wife, whether he wanted her or not. Daryl had been dumped off onto the lawn in front of the apartment building he then lived in, a bloody bruised mess and barely conscious.

Despite the warning, Daryl couldn't stay away from Lily and Lily couldn't stay away from him. They were in love. They talked by cell phone and met in secret in a small wooded area they used to take walks in about ten miles out of town and made plans to run away together to Wyoming. No one would think to look for them there and he doubted that Buddy would even care once they were out of everyone's sight.

As he drove to meet Lily a week later he didn't think he'd ever been happier. He had saved up enough money so that they might buy some land and he would build them a small house. He was a good hunter and knew how to care for farm animals and how to grow corn and field crops and Lily was pretty resourceful herself. They would get married and have a family. He'd bought a ring for her already and had it in the right front pocket of his jeans. The diamond wasn't huge and it wasn't a fancy ring, but he was sure she would love it anyway. He would ask her this evening after he'd picked her up if she would marry him once her divorce from Buddy was final. Lily had always wanted children but Buddy hadn't been receptive to the idea of starting a family and kept putting her off, saying "maybe next year". He'd been saying that now for nine years and he hadn't touched her for the last four.

The sun was setting as Daryl parked his truck. He smiled when he saw Lily's big old Buick. He started into the woods on the trail that lead to a mossy clearing near a brook where they planned to meet. He could see her standing next to the brook and he raised a hand in greeting and called out to her. The smile quickly left his face when he realized that she was not alone. She saw him and shouted to him. "Daryl! Get out of here, now!"

Before he could reply or even try to figure out what the hell was going on, someone holding a good sized rock smashed it hard against his right temple. He went down like a ton of bricks and Lily screamed.

Merle bent over his brother and dropped the rock he held in his hand. He grabbed ahold of Daryl and hoisted him up over his shoulder. "I'm sorry baby brother, but you get caught messin' with Buddy Farrington's woman an' you gotta pay the price," he mumbled as he carried Daryl back to his truck. He dumped Daryl into the pickup bed where Daryl had secured most of his belongings for his trip to Wyoming and jumped into the driver's seat and started the truck. He watched as Lily was escorted to her car and two men got into it with her.

Another man approached the truck and got in on the passenger side. "You gonna be okay with this, Merle? I know he's your brother."

Merle shifted the truck and followed the Buick. "I'm okay with it, Rob." Merle sighed. "Buddy wants to teach 'im a lesson and I ain't' got no problem wit' 'at. Boy's gotta learn you don't go after sumthin' belongs to another man."

Rob was quiet for a second as they drove. "Buddy ain't touched her for years. He's always braggin' 'bout the young chicks he's bonin' all over town. He has a couple of them set up in apartments. Bought 'em new cars, clothes, jewelry. Can't for the life figure out why he don't just get a divorce."

Merle laughed. "Man like Bud don't give up sumthin' that's his, even if he don't wan' it no more."

The full moon was rising in the sky and the stars started to come out. Merle pulled into a lumber warehouse parking lot and parked by one of the loading docks. He jumped out of the truck and hauled Daryl out of the truck bed as Rob went inside.

Daryl was dizzy and his head hurt. Merle half led and half dragged him up the stairs and into the warehouse. "The fuck's goin' on..Merle?"

"You were told to stay away from Lily Farrington an' you din't listen. She's our boss's wife ya fucknut. You're gonna pay the price tonight an' I gotta help 'cause you're my brother an' I gotta show Bud where my loyalty lies. Can't deny it, 's gonna be painful, baby bro, but you're a Dixon so you can suck it up. Least you damned well better." He gave Daryl's arm a squeeze. "I aint' gonna let 'em kill you an' I won't let nothin' get outta hand."

Daryl nodded. Merle had his back even though he was one of the men who had brought him here. That was reassuring. As much as they butted heads, he and Merle were still brothers and kin and cared about each other in their own strange way.

Bud approached Daryl and Merle as they walked across the cement floor of the warehouse. Rob was already standing with Buddy and the two other men were there as well. Buddy stopped in front of Daryl and glared at him with his dark brown eyes. He stood at least six foot three and weighed about sixty pounds of solid muscle more than Daryl. He grabbed Daryl by the hair as Merle held him and yanked Daryl's head back. Buddy brought his face down so it was an inch from Daryl's. "You been fuckin' with my wife, junior?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the man but didn't answer him. He suddenly felt the cold steel of a knife blade against his neck. "Answer me, or I'll slit your throat right here, right now."'

"Yes," Daryl answered. Buddy punched him hard in the stomach and he doubled over, but remained on his feet.

"You were given fair warning and told to stay away from her and yet, here you are, all packed up and ready to ride off into the sunset with my wife. Are you fuckin' stupid? Are you lookin' to die young?"

Daryl caught his breath, "I love her. She loves me. Why don't you jes' let 'er go. You don't care nothin' 'bout her no more."

Buddy laughed. "That isn't the point. The point is that you were stealin' from me. Takin' something that is mine. No one takes things that are mine from me," Buddy grinned a big toothy grin. His dazzling smile had probably cost thousands in dental work, "Except maybe the IRS."

Daryl didn't speak.

Buddy backed up a couple of steps and motioned to Merle, "Get his shirt off." He then turned to Rob and the other two men. "You boys hold him down on the floor."

Daryl didn't fight Merle and actually helped him to pull his t-shirt off over his head. Merle crouched down and pulled Daryl down with him. Rob and the other two men were on him in a second, Rob holding Daryl's left arm and left shoulder down as the other two men stretched out his legs and held them down. Merle put his knee on Daryl's right arm and held his right shoulder down. Buddy got on his knees next to Daryl and leaned forward, looking into his eyes. "You think you love my wife?"

"I know I do." Daryl said immediately.

Buddy held his knife out in front of him. It was a beautiful Bowie knife with a very long blade and Buddy had had it custom made for him. The handle was ebony with inlaid mother of pearl and the forged steel blade was razor sharp. Buddy turned the knife in his hand, admiring how the dim light in the warehouse reflected and bounced off it's blade. He pressed the knife against Daryl's skin beneath his right collarbone and sliced through it, going in about a half inch.

Daryl flinched and grit his teeth. The knife was so sharp the pain felt more like a burn than a cut.

"Still love my wife?" Buddy asked.

Daryl exhaled deeply, "Yes. A little pain ain't never gonna change that."

Buddy pulled the knife through Daryl's flesh and went deeper, angling downward. Daryl's body jerked and it caused the cut to veer slightly off course.

"Do you think a lot of pain might change that?" Buddy asked.

"You could slice me up into little ribbons an' it wouldn't change how I feel 'bout her." Daryl answered.

The knife slowly plowed through Daryl's flesh across the top of his chest, cutting deeper. Daryl cried out as it cut deep through muscle.

Buddy smiled and pulled the knife out and Daryl could feel the blood running off his chest and down his stomach.

Merle was getting nervous. He was damned proud of how his little brother was toughing this out, but Buddy had a look in his eyes that made Merle feel uneasy. A disturbing, cold and mildly insane look.

Buddy wiped the blade of the knife off on Daryl's pants. He poised the knife over Daryl's crotch. "What do you think? If I castrated you right here, right now, would you still be in love with my wife?

Bud was going to castrate him? Daryl was getting ready to lose it. He could feel hot tears stinging the corners of his eyes, but dammit, he could not, would not, cry in front of this bastard and definitely not in front of Merle. "I will always love Lily. Nothin' you do to me will ever change that."

The knife came up and Buddy yelled, "You bastard!" as he buried the knife into the spot beneath Daryl's collarbone where it had made its very first cut. It went deeper and impaled bone.

Daryl yelled. He couldn't help it; this fuckin' hurt! He hoped Merle wouldn't be too disappointed in him for being such a pussy. The knife sliced deeper across it's original path and Daryl howled with pain. Shit, Merle must be so fuckin' embarrassed.

Buddy moved the knife lower and cut a little 'x' into Daryl's chest between his left nipple and his sternum and smiled. "'X' marks the spot. I'm gonna cut your fuckin' heart out and hold it up so you can watch it stop beating right before your eyes! Think you'll still love my wife then, you fuckin' little dick?"

"Yes!" Daryl gasped, "I told you, nothin' you can do will stop what I feel for 'er. You kill me an' I'll take my last breath still lovin' her. That ain't gonna change. Never."

"If you're dead, it won't really matter, will it?" Bud snarled.

Merle looked wildly at Rob. Rob's face had gone pale and he looked backed at Merle with worried eyes. Merle nodded slightly and Rob returned the gesture.

Daryl realized that Merle wouldn't be able to save him. He was going to die so why hold back? "Prolly not," Daryl said between clenched teeth, "but lovin' Lily, feelin' her arms aroun' me and hearin' her breathe my name is worth a thousand deaths."

"That's it!," Buddy bellowed, "You're time is up!. I'm ending you now, you miserable bastard!" He raised the knife above his head and Daryl closed his eyes and waited for that last jolt of pain before he stepped out of existence.

Suddenly Daryl was being violently yanked to his right and the knife blade collided with the cement floor. The men holding Daryl's legs weren't prepared and had lost their grip on his legs as Merle was hauling Daryl out from under Buddy's knife. He pulled Daryl to his feet and supported his brother against him.

"I can't let you kill him, Buddy. He's my baby brother. My blood. I know what he done was wrong an' stupid, but he's only twenty-one an' he don't know shit. He's still my brother, my kin, my family and I ain't gonna let cha do this." Merle had pulled a Glock service revolver and he slowly trained it on Buddy, Rob and the other two men.

"Merle!" Buddy shouted. "What the hell? How can you do this to me?"

Merle snorted. "Do this to you? You said you were gonna cut him a bit, scare him! You promised you wouldn't kill 'im! How can you do this to me? He's all I got for family now. All I've fuckin' got!"

Buddy gave himself a moment to calm down and then nodded and picked up his knife. "Merle, you've been a loyal and hard working employee for years. Disloyalty to me in order to be loyal to family is the only form of disloyalty I find tolerable."

Merle felt his brother lean heavier against him and then Daryl lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor at Merle's feet. Merle looked from Daryl to Buddy and then back down at Daryl.

Buddy laughed. "Go ahead, big brother. Put your piece away and get your miserable little brother out of here. It's too damned bad he isn't more like you." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet and thumbed through it before he extracted a wad of bills.

Merle holstered his Glock and Buddy took a couple of steps toward him and held out the stack of bills."Here," he said, "Take Romeo to the hospital. You might want to hurry before he bleeds out. Lily is catching a flight to California. She'll be staying with her mother there indefinitely." He motioned to where Daryl lay on the ground. "You can let him know." Buddy bent down and scooped up Daryl's shirt and tossed it to Merle.

Merle had gathered up his younger brother from the bloody cement floor and carried him to the truck. He had then driven like a madman to the hospital. A lot of questions were asked in the emergency room and Merle easily lobbed them away. Daryl had been in a fight in an alley by a bar and neither he nor Merle had any information on the attacker. It had been dark, after all and when Merle showed up everyone had split. Daryl was in the hospital for almost a week, the cut was deep enough so that a drain was put in. He'd ended up with a helluva scar to show for his involvement with Lily Farrington, but it was nothing compared to the one that was left on his heart.

Merle learned shortly afterward that Lily was never put on a plane to go anywhere. Buddy Farrington was convicted of her murder and the murders of two informants years later when a cement patio at his house was dug up during an investigation into his illegal activities.


"I loved her. I lost her, and hell, I'll even admit that it fuckin' hurt, an' I don't wanna take that ride again. Ever. End of story." Daryl sat up on the edge of the bed slowly and gave Maggie a nod. "Happy now? Do you understand where I'm comin' from? I don't wanna get close to anyone, it ain't worth the hurt."

Maggie stood up from the chair. She had tears in her eyes and Daryl looked away. Then she was hugging him, her arms pulling him close to her. She sniffled, "I'm so sorry Daryl. I'm sorry." He found himself hugging her back and he was surprised that he was okay with doing that. It actually felt kind of nice. She was trying to comfort him and he was trying to return the favor.

"What the hell you sorry for?" he asked quietly. "You din't do nothin." He held her close and he could feel her tremble. Shit, was she crying? Damned women and their tears. They had a way of bringing down his walls and he hated that.

"I asked about her, I made you relive it all over again. I'm so sorry."

Daryl held her at arms length, "Lookit me, now, dammit. Stop this damned 'sorry' business. Don't a day go by when I don't think a her at least once, so shutup. Okay?"

Maggie sniffed and nodded.

"Good, now get outta here before your boyfriend thinks somethins' goin' on an' comes in here an' hits me again."

"Okay. I'll bring you something to eat." Maggie said, wiping her eyes..

"You don' hafta.."

"I'll do it anyway, that way you can avoid a heavy traffic situation in the kitchen."

Daryl nodded. "Thanks." Maybe she did know him better than he thought.

Maggie slipped into his room half an hour later with a plate of pork chops, shredded potatoes with melted cheese on them and a big pile of broccoli. She'd also brought him a big glass of iced sweet tea.

Daryl thanked her and dug in when she left the room. She'd brought him four pork chops and the pile of shredded cheesy potatoes was huge. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was and he ate everything on his plate and guzzled the glass of sweet tea to wash it all down. He pulled the shades and stripped down into his boxers and climbed into his bed. It felt so good to be back in his own room.

He pulled the blue quilt up over his shoulders and just let himself get lost in his thoughts. He thought of Lily and of Merle and of the group of people now living in the house. He thought about T-Dog and Shane. He thought about Wyoming and horses and he thought about how nice it would be when he could strap on his crossbow and his guns and hit the woods again.