This chapter is longer than the others so I hope that makes some of you happy! And there is some Merlie =) Which makes me VERY happy. Read and review!
Chapter Fifty Two
Daryl glared down at the men that were now cuffed inside the very shed that Rick had caught Shane and Lori in. After explaining to Hershel exactly who they were and the things that their dead friend had said the old man said that they were Ricks responsibility and he could do with them what he pleased. Apparently the man didn't have much of a soft spot for rapists, regardless of what his faith had taught him. Some things, for some people, just weren't forgivable. Hershel had two daughters that Daryl was sure had crossed the old mans mind when they were telling him about the girls the men had found in the woods.
Daryl could almost sympathize with him. Sophia wasn't his but that didn't matter. That didn't mean that he loved her any less than if she was his own. She was his in every way that really counted. He didn't know when it had happened exactly but there it was. She had been out there with those same men and as that thought went through his head, for the hundredth time he bent down and punched Dave right in the face. The mans head crashed into the wall by the force of the blow. He thought about how small she was and then he stomped down on the mans injured knee, grinding the heel of his boot into the wet wound. He thought about how scared she would have been if these sick fucks had found her and he punched him again, once, twice, three times.
"Tell me bout them girls ya'll found out there, you sick mother fucker." He growled as he grabbed the man roughly by the face.
It was obvious that Dave was in a lot of pain. His face was swelling from the beating Daryl was giving him but he was an arrogant son of a bitch. He tried to grin but his busted lips wouldn't let him. "Not that great by the time it was my turn." He spat blood in Daryl's face and choked out a laugh.
That did it. Daryl seen red then and without even bothering to wipe his face off first he just started reigning blows to the mans head and face. He didn't stop until there wasn't much left of his face to hit. He'd probably been dead a while but Daryl didn't care.
He finally came to his senses when he heard the other guy sobbing in the corner. "Don't kill me. Please don't kill me. What do you want? I'll tell you what you need to know, just don't kill me. I ain't like him and Tony. I didn't touch those girls."
Daryl glared at him but didn't trust himself to speak. He couldn't do this. Rick had to do it because if he had to stay in this shed with this kid for another second he was going to do the same to him as he did to Dave. He needed to get out. He needed Carol.
He pulled out his knife and plunged it into Dave's head, just in case he hadn't done enough damage to the mans brain. He didn't feel remorse. He felt vindicated. The man got what he deserved. He left Randal sobbing and alone and locked the door behind him. He needed to get himself cleaned up. He wiped his face off on the bottom of his shirt and when he brought it down from his eyes there she was. She had been waiting on the back porch steps. He felt some of that rage slip away when she gave him a small smile and took his hand. Both his fists were covered in Dave's blood and some was probably his own where he had busted his knuckled open.
"Let's get this cleaned up." She said softly.
He let her lead him around the side of the house. Everyone must have been gathered around in the kitchen because the living room was deserted. The house was quiet. There was a small half bath right across the hall from the room he shared with her and that is where she took him. She didn't ask him anything as she ran warm water over his hands and then pumped soap into her own. Her hands were gentle on his as she paid close attention to his busted knuckles. When they were scrubbed down she handed him a hand towel and he watched her rummage through the medicine cabinet as he dried them. He figured she would say something else but she didn't. She didn't throw accusations at him and she didn't judge him for what he knew she knew he had done. She lightly smeared some antibacterial cream on his knuckles and then turned his hand over in hers and kissed his palm.
"There." She said as she dropped his hand.
"That it?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You got something else I need to take a look at?" She raised one eyebrow.
It worked because he laughed a little and then she brought her hand up and placed it on his jaw. He studied her face intently but there wasn't a hint of disgust to be found there. "I killed Dave." He blurted out without even knowing why.
She nodded. "I knew you were going too."
"And that don't bother you?" He asked as he moved so she was trapped between him and the sink.
She shrugged. "You know as well as I do what would have happened to Sophia if they had found her before you did. You heard what that disgusting man said. Like the world isn't bad enough now? There isn't enough room in the world for both types of monsters, Daryl. And I know you'll do whatever you have to do to protect her. It's one of the hundreds of reasons that I love you so much."
~H~
Merle followed Sophia into the house. There was no way he was going to let her out of his sight now. Not with Shane slinking around like a fucking snake. He didn't know if Shane would do anything to the girl but he wasn't taking the chance. He was pissed too because he didn't want to have to follow the kid around all day. People would probably start thinking he was some sort of weirdo.
His brother and Carol came around the corner just then and he let out a sigh of relief. Carol smiled at them both but he kept his face as hard as he could.
"Ya'll don't let her out of your sight." He grumbled. "I can't watch her all day. I got shit to do."
Daryl frowned. "She ain't a fuckin' toddler Merle."
"She pulled a gun on Shane earlier. I don't want her anywhere near him just in case he decides to get even with her, or me."
"Merle!" Sophia hissed as she turned around and glared at him.
"What'd you just say?" Daryl asked, disbelief clear in his voice.
"Sophia?" Carol's voice was high pitched.
Merle looked down at the angry girl and shook his head. "I ain't fuckin' around with this, kid. That mother fucker ain't right in the head and they need to know to keep an eye on ya."
Carol was staring at them with them wide eyes of hers. "Why would you do something like that?" She asked, her voice still strained.
Merle answered before she could. "Because he was about to blow my brains out the back of my head. That's why. She saved my ass. Again." He said that last part grudgingly.
Daryl stormed over to them, eyes flashing. "He was gonna shoot you?" He growled.
"That's what it looked like to me. Had that hand canon pressed right up to my forehead." Merle tapped his head.
"I'm gonna fuckin' kill him." Daryl growled.
Carol was just gaping at all of them. Like she still couldn't believe anything she was hearing.
Rick chose that moment to enter the room. "Daryl. Did you kill Dave?" He asked angrily. "I just went out there to get some information out of them and that kid tells me you beat Dave to death."
"I did." Daryl said in a tone that indicated he didn't have time for Rick at the moment.
"Why? Why would you do that?" Rick asked as he threw his hands in the air in frustration.
"He pissed me off. Can we talk about this later?"
Rick stared at him in disbelief. "Are you serious? Did somethin' come up that more important than you killin' a man?"
Merle had to hide a grin when Daryl spun around and glared at Rick. "Yeah, as a matter of fact somethin' did. I'm bout to go hunt down that buddy of yours and beat him to death too. And that's more important than you bitchin' at me about killin' some piece of shit rapist."
"Shane?" Rick asked, looking confused now.
"He pulled a gun on my brother. Was gonna blow his brains out in front of her." He pointed at Sophia.
Rick looked from one face to the other and then he finally settled on the girl. "Is this true?" He asked.
Now it was Daryl who threw his hands in the air and paced around angrily.
Sophia nodded solemnly. "He was about to shoot Merle so I pulled a gun on him."
Rick took a step back, clearly shocked. "You had to pull a gun on him to save Merle? Are you sure he was gonna shoot him?"
"He had the gun pressed right up to his head. He was talking about how he could get away with it cause no one gave a crap about Merle. Guess he forgot about me. And if it happens again, I swear I'll shoot him dead." Sophia was using that calm voice which made the words she uttered even more disturbing to everyone in the room.
"You ain't gonna have to do that, Sophia." Rick said. It sounded like he said it to himself more than to her.
"What the hell you plan on doin' about this?"Daryl barked, causing them all to jump.
"Do about what?" Lori asked as she entered the room.
Merle smirked. This was about to get real interesting.
"Shane." Rick spat out the name like it left a real bad taste in his mouth.
"What about him?" Lori asked, at least having the decency to drop her head as she muttered the question.
Rick shot her a disgusted glare. "He's gotta go. He needs to get out of here. Hershel don't care too much for him anyway and he was about to shoot Merle in the head. He's a loose canon. He's a liability to our group."
Lori's head shot up and she looked from Rick to Merle. "You'd kick him out of the group over Merle Dixon? He could die out there. He will die out there on his own."
Carol grabbed Daryl's hand and it seemed to relieve some of the anger that Merle could see on his face. Merle wasn't a stupid man either. He knew Rick wouldn't kick Shane out of the group over him. Rick wanted Shane out of the picture because he knew the guy was banging his wife.
"Watch it." Sophia growled at the woman. Merle put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back a little.
"This is insane, Rick. Daryl just beat a man to death and you don't seem to have much of a problem with that but Shane can threaten Merle and you'd throw him out?" Her eyes flashed down to Sophia, "And you need to watch your tone when you talk to adults, young lady."
Merle tensed at the tone that Lori used to talk to the girl."You need to shut your fuckin' trap, bitch, before I let her go and she shuts it for you. You don't talk to her like that again. You ain't no kinda momma to be sayin' a word to her." Merle snarled.
"That's enough." Rick said calmly. "Lori, Shane's out. He made his own decision. Daryl did what he did and I ain't sayin' I agree with it, but there ain't anything to be done about it now."
"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?" She asked, eyes wide.
Rick just shook his head and gave her a sad smile. "Lori, just go. This has nothin' to do with you."
By the look on her face you would have thought that Rick had hit her. She shook her head and left the room.
Merle had had enough. He gave Sophia's shoulder a pat and then he left the room. Stepping back out onto the porch. He stormed down the steps and then damn near jumped out of his skin when someone grabbed his arm and then leaned a soft body against his side.
"Hi there, Merle." Maggie beamed up at him.
"Hey, girly." he said lightly. "You stalkin' me now?"
Maggie just grinned and looped her arm through his. "I can't resist an angry redneck in black jeans and leather, Merle. Everyone knows that." She patted the leather vest.
"Is that right? My lucky day then, huh?" he mumbled.
Maggie's usually bright face fell a little. "What's the matter, Merle?" She asked and he was a little taken aback by the genuine concern in her voice.
"Nothin', darlin'. Just been a real fucked up day is all."
She smiled and then squinted up at him, wrinkling her nose a little. "Walk with me?"
He nodded and let her lead him off down the driveway. "Where the hell we goin'?" he asked gruffly.
"You ain't never just walked without havin' some place to walk too?" She leaned into him a little.
He shook his head. She wasn't anything like other women he had been around. For one, he never made it a point to hang out with women at all, so this was a bit of a first for him. Usually he'd meet a bitch in a bar, talk to her long enough to decide whether she was likely to put out or not and then go from there. He usually only had to make small talk for about ten minutes before he knew if he would end up getting laid or not.
"You ever just take a minute to look around and take in the view?" She asked as she glanced up at him again.
"What view?" He asked as he gazed out over the fields. All he saw were fields. Wasn't nothing special about it.
She stopped and came around to stand in front of him. "You're real hard, Merle." She muttered.
He glanced down and then back up at her. "Not yet." He smirked.
She pulled her arm away from him and placed her hands on her hips. "Does that really get you anywhere?" She laughed.
He just shrugged. "Pretty much. I ain't one to waste my time on a female unless I know I'm gonna get in her pants. It's a rule of mine."
"And you're sure your gonna get in mine with that filthy mouth?" She asked as she held up one hand to shield her eyes from the setting sun.
"If you had the slightest clue exactly what this filthy mouth could do to that pretty body of yours, I woulda had them pants off your ass any time I wanted." he smirked.
"Is that right?" She asked, not looking completely uninterested in his antics.
He nodded and watched as she hopped up onto a split rail fence, her boot clad feet swinging back and forth.
"Come here, Merle." She smiled and then bit her bottom lip.
He walked over to where she was but stopped about two feet away from her. "What?" He asked.
"Closer, Merle. I ain't gonna hurt ya." She laughed and just kept swinging those long legs back and forth.
"You're gonna kick me in the balls, ain'cha?" He asked suspiciously. "Cause I wont hit a woman but I'll knock you right off that goddamn fence if you try it, darlin'."
"Stop bein' scared. Just come here a minute." She rolled her eyes but she kept that smile.
He walked a little closer and then stopped.
"Keep comin'." She coaxed.
He finally just closed the distance completely until he was standing there right between her legs, he instantly looked down at her chest but she brought his head back up with a finger under his chin.
"Nope." She shook her head and gave him a severe look.
He frowned at her and then his eyes grew wide when he felt her legs wrap around him and yank him the rest of the way in. His arm slid around her waist and then he grinned. "Well damn, baby. If this is what ya was wantin' all you had to do was say so."
"No, Merle." She moved his hand down so it rested lightly on her hip.
He frowned again. "No?"
She shook her head and kept her eyes on his as she draped her arms over his broad shoulders and laced her fingers at the back of his neck. "No."
"Why?" He asked. He didn't get this girl at all. For one, she was usually cussing him out or threatening to chop off his other hand. Then she would turn right around and joke right along with him. Now she was trapping him here right between her legs, pressing right up against his dick with her legs wrapped around him and now she was telling him no. He was starting to think she was just flat out crazy.
"Because not everythin' is about sex, Merle." She leaned in and planted a light kiss on his forehead. Right where Shane had been pointing the gun not so long ago.
"The fuck was that for?" he asked gruffly.
She smiled. "Did it feel good?" She asked, looking much more innocent than she usually did.
"I 'spose so." He grumbled.
Her smile widened and then she unlaced her fingers and trailed them down, pushing the vest open and then exploring the hard muscles of his wide chest through his t-shirt. His hand tightened on her hip. "Does that feel good?" She asked simply.
He nodded. What the fuck was she trying to do to him? But her hands did feel good. That wasn't a lie. He just didn't see the point in it. If she wanted to fuck then he was definitely willing. She didn't have to do all this. But he was finding himself liking it. A lot.
"Good." She said in a low voice. "Do you wanna kiss me, Merle?"
His eyes widened. He wasn't expecting that one at all. He hadn't thought about kissing her. He thought about all sorts of other things though. But all of a sudden that's all he wanted to do. So he nodded again, knowing that she saw the confused look in his eyes. And surprising himself further by not caring that she saw that confused look. He never put much thought into kissing a woman before. He wasn't comfortable with kissing women. Sex was one thing. There was a purpose to it. A goal accomplished at the end of it. Kissing was different. Too intimate. Somehow more intimate than sex.
"Close your eyes then." She whispered.
He obeyed. He felt like he was under some sort of weird spell. The world was sort of slowing down around him and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He felt her hand stop moving over his heart and he knew she could feel it pounding under her palm. This made him feel exposed somehow. Like she was violating some private place in his head. He almost wanted to pull away from her. It was pretty clear she wasn't going to put out. So why the hell was he finding himself closing his eyes?
"There ya go." She whispered and he could feel her hot breath on his face and knew that she could feel it when that caused his heart to speed up a little.
He felt her lips touch the corner of his mouth lightly and he couldn't even remember how to respond. She moved over a little and kissed him again. Her lips felt good but he still just stood there, his eyes closed getting kissed by a girl that he wasn't kissing back for whatever reason. What the hell was going on here?
"Come on, Merle. I know you can do better than that." She said against his unresponsive lips. He felt her soft hands slide up to cup his face and so he parted his lips a little. She kissed him again. This time he kissed her back lightly and for some reason he felt like a fucking fool. But then her lips were on his again, more forceful now and something in his head clicked. He started kissing her back. Only with his lips. He never tried to force his tongue in her mouth, she didn't either. They just kissed. She tugged at his bottom lip a little as she pulled away.
He opened his eyes then and stared at her like she was the devil. Right then she might as well have been. He didn't know why but he felt even more exposed than before. Felt like she could see everything in the world that he tried to keep hidden away from people.
"Did that feel good?" She asked with a smile.
He nodded again but kept his mouth closed, his eyes warily studying her.
"You're a good kisser, Merle."
He thought about popping off with another perverted comment but nothing came to mind.
"You ready to head back?" She asked brightly.
"Thought ya wanted to walk?" He asked, his voice coming out huskier than he wanted it too.
She shrugged. "I really just wanted to try to figure you out a little."
He backed up from her so she could hop back down. "And did it work?" he asked as she twined her fingers through his and started leading him back up to the house.
"More than I coulda hoped for Merle."
What the fuck was he doing? He didn't pull his hand out of her grip, even though everybody knew that holding some girls hand was about the pussiest thing you could do. Other than kissing her for no good reason. He liked the way her hand felt in his and it made him want to go punch somebody in the face. He didn't want to like it. But she was right. Sometimes shit just felt good. Like having her hand in his. He glanced around just to make sure Daryl wasn't around to see this.
