FanFicReader47: Thank you for the compliment! I'm glad you're enjoying. Personally, I think this chapter is the one to blow the fish right out of the water, so to speak. And don't worry, the Michonne/Merle arc is a bit too pivotal in Merle's full redemption for me to make Andrea jump ship too soon.
RaphaeltheCowboy: I'm glad you're enjoying the updates! Tea's badassery knows no ends it seems...I think I might be out-doing myself...XP I hope I don't get burned out or mess her up at a later date...X{
So, this one gets a little dark. This is the reveal. Where Merle and Daryl talk and Tea's past is laid out more than it has ever been before. You've been forewarned.
The Governor walked over to stand next to Tea, feeling the woman stiffen as he grabbed her and pulled her with him to the edge of the arena, holding her back against his chest. He had positioned them so that he could see Chrystal clearly, and the woman was smiling devilishly as she looked at the small thing in his arms. Tea knew without a doubt that she was not getting out of this town alive without a miracle as she watched her sister glare down at her. The crowd was still gunning for their death when Andrea came out of the woodwork, momentarily making Tea forget the situation she was in as she shouted a hoot upon seeing the woman. Unfortunately, that earned her a backhand from Martinez who then went and stopped Andrea.
"Stay outta this," he told the blonde as another scavenger grabbed her.
"Philip! They're my friends!" She fought against the man.
"It's not up to me anymore," the Governor said as he held the tiny woman in his arms. "The people have spoken."
"What?"
"I asked you where your loyalties lie," he said pointing at Merle as Shumpert walked up to Daryl and cut his hands free; Tea glared at the man as he had Daryl's crossbow. "Well, prove it. Prove it to us all. Brother against brother," he said, much to the crowd's delight. "Winner goes free. We'll even throw in the girl as a nice little prize," he said, bringing Tea further back into him, making her mentally gag. "Fight, to the death!"
"Philip, please!" Andrea tried. "Don't do this! Don't do this!"
He simply held onto Tea, watching and listening as the crowd cheered Merle on. Tea was struggling against him and would have broken his hold several times if it weren't for the fact that her arms were bound behind her back. She watched as Merle and Daryl shared that look again, the one that told her at least one of them had something planned, before Merle began peacocking in the ring.
"Y'all know me!" he said, arm raised high, egging the crowd on as Tea started shouting threats at him. "I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do to prove," he punched Daryl in the gut, causing him to fall as Tea cursed his name, "that my loyalty," he kicked Daryl, sending him rolling over, "is to this town!"
Tea tried to run towards Daryl and Merle only to be grabbed back and held even tighter against the man, a warning growled into her ear using her full name. She could only watch with bated breath as Merle continued beating her husband down. Feeling the Governor nod his head, Tea stood horrified as men brought walkers on sticks right up close to the brothers. She yelled for joy when Merle took a swinging punch from Daryl, knocking him back a few paces, earning her a smack to the side of her head, rendering her a bit dizzy as she'd already been punched there several times.
Daryl managed to get on his feet and charged Merle, but he was too injured from the beating he'd taken earlier. He hadn't said nothing, just listened as Ania laughed like a madman in the next room. From the looks of her, they'd done a number on her as well. Somehow he had to get her away from that man. Merle managed to take him back to the ground with no problem, the guys holding walkers bringing the damn things right up on them. He brought his hands up around Merle's neck and tried to choke the man out as he was held to the ground.
"You really think this asshole's gonna let you go?" he asked his brother.
"Just follow my lead, little brother," Merle told him. "We're getting out of here. Us and your girl. Right now!"
He pulled Daryl up and stood back to back with the man. Merle and Daryl began punching and kicking all the walkers back into the crowd, trying to find a way to get out. When Daryl went to punch a walker that was particularly close, it's head was blown open, followed by the sound of more gunfire. In the confusion, Tea reared back and headbutted the Governor, breaking his nose in the process and forcing him to let go of her. For good measure, she quickly spun on her heel and delivered a high kick right under his chin as a smoke bomb went off and more gunfire sounded.
"Daryl! Stay close!" Merle shouted.
"Merle! Daryl!" Tea shouted, running into the smoke.
"Get over here, girly!" Merle's voice shouted as a hand curled around her bicep.
The urge to throw a punch just about had her ripping through her restraints, almost. They'd learned the hard way that she could snap zip ties rather easily when she'd managed to break them in the room they'd put her in during her initial beat down. She'd ruthlessly snapped the neck of one of her captors in an attempt to get to Daryl during the ensuing fight. Both Shumpert and Martinez were sporting bruises from her. In the end, it had taken six guys, all of which were bruised, a couple with broken bones, to finally restrain her and get several sets of zip ties as tight as they could make them half way up her forearm with duct tape around that. If she had been able to break these restraints, she would have long ago. She couldn't even see who it was that had a rough hold of her, but she heard Daryl's voice shout out.
"Merle?!"
"I got her! Let's go!" he said; so that's who's holding me, Tea thought to herself.
As they fled out from the smoke, Merle dropped his hand from her and let her run, albeit awkwardly, by herself between him and Daryl. Shumpert fired Daryl's bow at a walker, completely oblivious to the incoming Dixon parade, leaving him wide open when Daryl grabbed his crossbow from him. His startled gaze allowed Tea to land a jumping roundhouse kick to the man's back as she passed him, sending him right into Merle's waiting fist. They ran past Rick who looked pissed. Stopping after a few minutes of running, Daryl took the knife offered by Rick and cut Tea's restraints. She rolled her shoulders and stretched them out for a minute as Merle spoke.
"They're all back at the arena. This way," he said, leading them along.
"You're not goin' anywhere with us!" Rick said, not caring if the man had helped or not. He wasn't willing to take the risk.
"Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me, Rick?" Tea asked him.
"You really wanna do this now?!" Merle growled back at him as he went banging through the wall of the perimeter.
It made an awful lot of noise until Tea went over, pulled him back. Together, they rammed the metal with their shoulder's, Tea damn near falling down when the metal gave way faster than she anticipated. Merle grabbed the back of her vest, scowling when he saw the angel wings that graced both his and his brother's back gracing hers, though much more colorful. He scoffed as he pulled her back up and out of the wall. The two of them took down a few walkers as Merle shouted at the others. Maggie didn't even hesitate when Daryl told them to get a move on to follow him and Tea behind Merle. Rick, however, was doing everything not to go off on the hunters.
They ran as fast as they could, but it wasn't until the sun was coming up that they reached the road where Glenn and Michonne were waiting. Glenn practically ran to Maggie and embraced her, even though he could barely walk. Rick rounded on the hunters almost as soon as they reached the car.
"What the hell was that stunt you pulled?"
"What fuckin' stunt, Rick? I saved ya ass and got grazed by a bullet then tackled! I don' know 'bout Daryl, but I'm guessin' similar happened ta him! Don' go fuckin' blamin' us for gettin' ya outta there, 'cause ya'd a died if we didn' cova ya ass!"
"You got hit by a bullet?!" Daryl said.
"Nah, jus' a graze," she said, twisting her arm to show him the slight cut. "How bad ya hurt?"
"I'm fine," he said in a huff. "Heard you laughin'. I know damn well they weren't ticklin' you. Heard quite the ruckus too."
"Yeah, they didn' 'xpect me ta break outta the zip ties. Think I broke a couple limbs, definitely broke more'n a few ribs. Snapped some dude's neck," she said as if it was nothing.
"You snapped someone's neck?" Glenn asked surprised.
"Well, I didn' mean ta. Well, yeah, okay, I did. But in that kind a situation, I'd a killed 'em all if it meant gettin' out alive," Tea reasoned.
"You don't gotta explain yourself," Daryl told her, grabbing her and holding her to him for a moment.
"I know," she said, taking a breath and just being thankful for the closeness. "Did Andrea make it out?"
"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn asked.
"Mmhmm," Daryl answered. "Right next to the Governor."
"Oh yeah, the Governor's wantin' to put the wood to her big time baby. Spent all winter next to our Nubian queen here," Merle embellished.
It was Michonne's turn to face Rick's wrath, "You know Andrea?!"
The woman kept mum, but Merle answered for her, "Yep she does. She had two pet walkers with her. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept 'em in chains. Kinda ironic now that I think about it."
"Shut up, bro!" Daryl said as he pushed the man back.
"Hey man, we snagged 'em outta the woods," he said with a shrug. "Andrea was close to dying."
"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asked.
"At first, now she's our mole. Just gotta wait for her to come back to her hill and spill the beans," Merle told them. "Said she was thinkin' like you, girly."
Tea beamed at that, "Good on 'er. 'Bout time someone sees that me way a thinkin' is betta."
"So whachya gonna do now, Sheriff? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards."
"Shut the fuck up, Merle," Tea growled.
"Or what?" the man growled at her, still pissed about her vest. "You gonna come over and make me?"
"Leave it alone, Ania," Daryl said, getting in her way as she made to march over and do just that.
"Ania? Thought your name was Tea," Merle said. Then something hit him like a ton of bricks, morphing his angered face into a stunned one. She's closer than you think. Raising his hand he pointed at her and yelled, "Fuckin' hell! You're Titania Marie Parker!"
Everyone froze in their spots, Daryl slowly turning towards him and pulling Ania behind him. Glenn, Rick, and Maggie forming a dilapidated triangle around the duo. Tea simply held onto his bicep with a scowl across her face wondering how he knew that name. Merle, however, broke into a shit eating grin, disbelief clouding his judgment as he started laughing loudly. By the time his laughter quieted down his gaze on her had softened immensely for no apparent reason to the younger hunters.
"Fuck, girly, I didn't know I knew ya the whole damn time! No wonder Andrea grew soft on ya. Hell, I didn't even know it was you and I was ready ta chase your tail down ta keep ya under my own wing! You've got one twisted family, haven't you?" he asked, watching as her scowl turned to shock.
"The fuck ya know 'bout it?" she asked, tensing so much that even Merle could see how badly she was shaking.
"Everythin', girly. Everythin'. Everythin' from them druggin' ya and sending you to juvie for killin' the pedophile they sent you to," Merle said, causing all eyes to turn and look at her in shock, her face morphing into absolute terror as she looked down. "Or how 'bout their initials carved into your tailbone? You tell my baby brother about that?"
"That's what those are?!" Daryl roared, ripping himself from her vice-like grip and turning on her.
"If ya know it all," she said in a small, defeated voice, unable to lift her head in shame, "then tell 'im. I can'. I jus' can', and I don' wanna hear it." She turned on her heel and fled into the woods as fast as possible, leaving everyone behind.
If she was lucky, she'd still have a family to go home to and a man to call hers. If not, she was on her own; she fell into a heap on the forest floor after running until her lungs and legs gave out. All she hear was the deafening roar of her blood in her ears while her eyes began to see dark spots. Giving into the feeling of dread that engulfed her, she allowed the darkness to consume her as she passed out.
~x~
Daryl stood staring at her retreating figure, completely bewildered, until it disappeared from sight. He and Rick shared a look while Glenn and Maggie looked completely confused. Michonne just stood, standing and staring at Merle as if trying to figure out what he was playing at. Daryl was trying to figure out what the hell to do when it finally registered that she had told Merle to tell him what she couldn't. He stalked up to his brother and grabbed his shoulder, slightly pushing him and yelling at him as anger coursed through his veins.
"What do ya know Merle? Fuck do you know?!"
"Calm down, baby brother," Merle told him, placing his hand on his brother's to hold him steady; no way in hell would he admit he was trying to comfort the boy. "Let's take a walk, shall we? Ain't somethin' that should be aired in public. Hell, wish I didn't know, but here we are. Y'all go back to the prison. We'll get the girly and get back."
"It won't work," Rick said.
"It's gotta," Daryl insisted.
"It'll stir things up back at the prison," Rick stated.
"Look, the Governor's probably on the way to the prison right now," Daryl argued. "Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."
"He tried saving my life," Maggie defended Merle.
"And he gave me a knife to help get us out of there," Glenn added. "He could have just left us to fend for ourselves, but he was trying to help us escape."
"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats."
"So you wanna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us after everything he did for Glenn and Maggie? For Ania?" Daryl asked.
"What'd he do for Tea?" Glenn asked.
"He pulled her outta there," Daryl told him. "Couldn't see with all the smoke and we were separated. Don't even like her and still got her out."
"She's not coming back," Rick cut in.
"She's not in a state to be on her own," Maggie said.
"And she did bring you guys to us," Glenn defended.
"And then ditched us."
"Why you always tossin' people aside?" Daryl yelled. "You need the damn muscle, Rick! Ania won't let you risk the prison just because you're too much of a fuckin' pussy to take a risk."
Rick squared up, ready to take the man on when Glenn piped up, "He's right, Rick. Tea would be pissed if we left them on their own, especially now."
"We started somethin' last night," Daryl said. "You gotta realize that."
Rick glared at the both of them before relenting, "Fine. Have it your way, then."
Daryl walked over to the vehicle and popped the trunk and grabbed his bag out before walking over to Merle. They followed the trail through the trees in tense silence. He could hardly handle the anxiety that was welling up in him with every step he took. The gravity of the situation was hitting him like a ton of bricks and he was terrified of what could have been so bad that instead of telling him, she ran off. She ran off, he thought to himself again mirthfully as anger began to creep through the anxiety.
They'd been walking for about ten minutes before Daryl pulled Merle to a stop. He was fuming and barely able to contain his rage when he said, "Start talkin'!"
"Well look at you!" Merle quipped, completely amused by his brother's actions. "Finally grew a pair of balls over the winter, have ya?"
"Dammit, Merle! Start talkin'! What d'ya know about her? What the hell do you know?!" he roared, grabbing both of his brother's shoulders and shaking him.
"Calm down, boy, I'm talkin'! I'm talkin'!" Merle told him, holding his hands up in surrender. "It's no wonder that girl is so strong. Every bone in her body's been broke more'n once. Hardly ever went to the hospital to get treated; almost always had to set the damn things on her own and wrap them too. Her birthdays brought her marks on her back equal to the years she lived; can't imagine her back's pretty to look at." Daryl thought about all the thin scars on her back she'd told him her sister did, that was it, just that her sister did it, not why.
Merle watched as the anger began to morph into one of nausea before he continued, "That sick bitch back in Woodbury convinced her three times to try to commit suicide, only to laugh when the girl would take the pills offered, start feelin' 'em take affect and throw 'em up. Damn near put her ass in a coma one time; slept for a week in her own piss, shit, and vomit 'cause her family didn't even bother to check if she was alive, just laughed at the state she was in. She was fuckin' twelve years old when her parents drugged 'er up with an aphrodisiac; I don't even fuck with those. Her sister was the one that took 'er to the pedo, and the bitch was eighteen! Hell, her daddy was sick 'nough to try takin' 'er too. Only got away 'cause she had an old man she would run to who might as well a been drinkin' buddies with our grand-daddy."
Daryl's breath left him completely. If it weren't for his hold on Merle, he would have fallen to his knees. She'd tried to commit suicide? How many times had she had to fight off guys like Shane? He couldn't understand why she would keep all this from him. The world was spinning faster around him than it should as he swayed listening to Merle speak.
"Her daddy was gonna kick her out for not doin' her sister's work or some shit like that, but wanted to have a little fun first. Chased her all the way to that man's house before lettin' up. Had her practically naked, only panties keepin' 'er covered, all kinds of beat up. Soon as she stepped into the old man's property, he had a rifle raised in 'er daddy's face. Even after they kicked her out at fourteen, they'd visit wherever she was living. They'd beat the shit outta her and try to sell her off 'til she was seventeen and shot 'er daddy in the shoulder and damn near killed some sort of instructor dude. If she'd a been just a little harder at the time, she'd a done the smart thing and shot her daddy in the head; could still be out here lookin' for her. Don't know why she was soft on him; she's had to kill at least three guys her parents have thrown on her in a beat down and drugged up state, maybe more. She's been starved, beaten, humiliated, and treated like shit in ways we never once had to deal with. Never thought I'd say it, but I'm kinda glad we had the daddy we had 'cause of that girl's story."
"She never told me any a that," Daryl said softly as his shoulders slumped, his legs giving out as he leaned against a tree for support. "'Bout the beatin's, her sister likin' to cut her up, but she never said," he couldn't finish that sentence.
"Can't blame her for not tellin' ya," Merle told him as he dragged Daryl in the direction the little spitfire went. "I gave you the cliff notes version, the long version you're too soft for, at least on her. But trust me, any of those son a bitches come 'round the little girl, I'll give you first go at 'em. She's stickin' with us from now on. Nothin' bad's gonna happen to her ever again. So let's get back to your girl so you can get to makin' up and havin' a go in the woods."
"Jesus, Merle! You just dropped a fuckin' bombshell on me that I've been tryinna get outta her for months! And you think the first thing I'm gonna do when I see her is screw her?!"
"Hell, I don't know. I would," Merle admitted with a chuckle. "Go on, go get you're girl. I'm followin'."
Merle trailed behind, still unable to believe that he'd actually found the girl he had been wanting to protect, let alone knew her all along. But now the guilt from that punch hit him in the gut like a freight train. She had apologized, but it had just been a reaction to what she had dealt with as little more than a child. No wonder she hadn't let up; in her teen years when she began defending herself, letting up meant she got taken down in a constant 3 on 1 match, sometimes more.
~x~
"Merle! Merle?!" a feminine cried out from the trees just as everyone was getting ready to pile into a car. "Merle! Where'd you go?"
A woman with dark hair, pale skin, and blue eyes came out of the woods, bringing all their guns up to her. She immediately shrieked and coward, lowering herself to the ground and raising her hands above her head. The survivors looked at each other somewhat perplexed by the woman's reaction. They lowered their weapons and Rick walked over to her, kneeling down and putting a hand on her shoulders as the woman jumped.
"What are you doing out here? Why were you calling for Merle?" Rick said.
"They, they had my sister!" the woman said still cowering.
"Who did?"
"She was the girl who ran with them, Titania!" she said as she finally looked up at him.
Rick looked at the girl closely, noticing the similarities in the two, "You're her sister?"
"Yeah," she said.
"Merle just said some pretty bad things about your family," Rick told her.
"That was my parents! I never touched her! I swear! I never, she was so damn smart and pretty. Sure, we had our misunderstandings, but I never once touched her! Our parents were assholes, but they didn't understand her! She's autistic and ADHD and they thought they had to beat it out of her! I tried to protect her, I did! But they'd just send me away to boarding school or to a relative's so I couldn't get in their way!" she said quickly, sounding weak and pathetic. Chrystal had perfected this role as a child; always play the weak and pathetic good sister and everyone will eat through her hands.
"Why'd you follow Merle?" Rick asked, seeing how much the woman was crying and standing up, offering her a hand up.
She took it as she said, "I've been looking everywhere for her. Ever since she got in trouble when she was seventeen, I've been keeping an eye out on her." Bet they know nothing of her past, Chrystal thought to herself, making sure to keep the waterworks on her face instead of the smile that threatened to come out.
"She got in trouble when she was seventeen?" Rick asked, this being the first time he'd heard anything about it.
"She has violent tendencies, sir, violent outbursts. It wasn't so bad when she was a kid, but after she ran away when she was fourteen, not that I blame her, but she got worse. She was almost charged with assault and battery of three men. They only dropped the charges because she threatened them because she was a minor," the woman cried; Chrystal cheering her victory in her head as the man ate her story up hook, line, and sinker.
Glenn and Maggie looked at each other. Something within that story didn't add up to them and one look at Michonne showed that it didn't sit right with her either. Michonne knew the true story, she'd been there when it took place; this woman's words were all jumbled for someone who claimed to be keeping an eye out on her sister. Rick considered the woman's words and thought about the few outbursts Tea had had throughout the months. It was more than most people, but were screaming matches with Daryl, Merle, and Shane really considered violent, or just aggressive? And she hadn't openly attacked anyone since Merle, either. Still, she might have reigned it in during the apocalypse thanks to being able to get the violence out on the walkers, especially with how nonchalantly she spoke of breaking a man's neck. He was beginning to question the woman he knew as these revelations came to light.
"She hasn't killed again, has she?" the woman asked sounding terrified.
"Again?" Glenn asked.
"She killed before the turn. A few times. Always claimed it was self-defense, but I wasn't there to know what really happened. I tried to get her help, but she just refused any kind of treatment. I don't know what the real circumstances were around those deaths, no one does," the woman said. "And in this world, what I just saw in Woodbury. She was made for this world. I'm afraid she'll lose herself completely." The survivors looked at one another as the new information was soaked in. Chrystal brought her hands up in front of her face and folded them, bowing her head to hide her smile as she cried in a desperate voice, "Please, can I go with you? I have to keep her safe from herself! Now that I know where she is, I...I just have to keep my baby sister safe!"
"She just ran off with Merle and his brother," Rick told her remorsefully.
"Merle found his brother?" she said sounding shocked; Chrystal inwardly smiled like a Cheshire cat at that information. "And she left with them?!" her voice hitched an octave higher as a look of painful resignation flashed across her face.
Rick found himself trying to comfort her, "Hey, hey now. They're coming back, just a little later. Why don't you come back to the prison and wait with us?"
"Rick," Glenn said. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Me either," Maggie said, remembering the little bit that Tea had mentioned to her about her family.
"Look, we can't leave her out here as defenseless as she is and we all know no one knows Tea's full name unless they knew her from before. It's safe to say...what was your name?"
"Chrystal, Chrystal Abigail Parker."
"Right, it's safe to say that Ms. Parker is just trying to get back to her sister. We're letting Merle come back, why not one more?"
"We know Merle. Merle helped us get out," Glenn told him. "Merle's family."
"I'm blood, that's even better," Chrystal quipped through her tears.
"Not to us," Maggie said. "We choose our family. And Tea has always been rather adamant that she dislikes her blood."
"She...she said that? She," the woman collapsed all over again. "She still hates me. Even after nine years, she hates me. I didn't mean to make him angry or for him to take it out on her. I just asked her for help on a homework question I didn't understand. I didn't know she would say no and he would hear. She ran away because he was beating her so bad. I tried to get him to stop, but he just locked me in my room. I couldn't do anything and she's refused to even speak to me since then!" Chrystal sobbed. "I just want to make things right! I promise, if she doesn't want me there, I'll go, but please! This may be my only chance!"
Chrystal internally smirked triumphantly as she successfully got Rick to take her back to the prison. She sat in the back behind Rick the whole way to the prison talking about all of Titania's achievements, throwing a few stories of her violent outbursts in for good measure, though leaving out the reasons for those outbursts were her and her parents. It was always fun being able to worm her way into her sister's social groups. She always had, and this one would be even more fun to tear apart for the little girl who never fully learned to stand up for herself. Well, at least not without a weapon; the damn bitch had shot her daddy once, and the threat had been enough to make them back off for a few years. Let this be a lesson, little sis, you can never get away from me, Chrystal thought to herself gleefully while telling yet another one of the amazing achievements her sister had gotten, some prestigious award in psychology or something like that. Whatever got her in the doors of the prison and her baby sister back in her waiting arms.
~x~
Tea was sitting against a tree having come to a while ago. She was hugging her legs as tightly as she could to her chest when she heard Daryl barging through the woods who knows how long later. She could tell he was pissed by the way he was not bothering to be quiet. She turned her back towards the woods, hugging herself tighter and hiding her face in her knees. Tea didn't want to see his disgusted face. She didn't want to see the hurt or the anger or the pity. The biggest thing she didn't want was to lose him, and now because of stupid Merle opening his stupid mouth, she was going to. When his footfalls stopped right behind her, she flinched and bound herself into her ball even tighter. It felt as if the world had stopped turning for a moment, dread filling her stomach at the thought of what he would do, what he would say. The last thing she expected was for something to land hard on either side of her and then heavily lean against her back and head.
"He told me," his whisper blew into her ear.
When Daryl was storming through the woods, he was so angry he had every intention of telling her off for not telling him. But then he saw her and she looked so broken. Her body was shaking so badly as she held herself as he looked down on her, her back turned to him. Everything in him wanted to scream, shout, kick something, punch anything, just do something. But he knew if he did, it would hurt her more than him just knowing already was. All he could do was let the grief the knowledge of her childhood brought weigh him down as he fell to his knees and slumped over her huddled form. He couldn't even bring his arms up to hold her, afraid of breaking her with how hard he wanted to hold her.
She sobbed a laugh, "Yeah, well, now ya know. Go on and be angry at me for not tellin' ya I'm a murdara. Tell me how much a monsta I am for bein' a killa so young. Tell me how much a coward I was for not fightin' back. How I musta liked all the damn attention I got early on. Go on and tell me ya hate me like everyone else 'cause a what I done, what I am," she shot at him as she tried to move away from him.
The fear of her leaving over-rode the fear of him hurting her, and his arms crashed around her like a cage. "You ain't fuckin' movin'," he growled at her as he pulled her with him so that he was off his knees and she was sitting across his lap, side pressed against his chest with her chin tucked low, his arms wrapped tightly around her. "I don't hate you, girl," was all he could say. He didn't know what else there was to say but to hold her; his anger at her not telling him morphing into understanding. Daryl really hadn't talked much about his dad, just that he was a drunken mean bastard that didn't have an ounce of caring in a single finger. He didn't want to relive the terror and vulnerability his father had made him feel, and he could only assume she didn't want to either.
"I'm sorry, Ania," Daryl said as her tremors began to subside. "For everythin'."
"Ya didn' do it, so don' apologize," she chastised.
"You know you ain't no damn monster, Ania. You did what you had to," Daryl murmured against her hair. "Fuck, baby girl, you're more of a fighter than you ever let on. And I thought my daddy was mean."
"He was. There's kids out there who's had it worse than me," she stated, finally willing herself to look at his face. "Don' mean me blood was nice."
There was anger and sorrow on his face, but there was also pride and something akin to awe in his gaze that gave her strength. He wasn't running for the hills like she thought he would. But then again, why would he when that's what they said others would do when they found out? Her parents had been wrong about everything at the end of the world, and she really needed to stop listening to the fears and echoes they left in her. Hoping it would be okay, she leaned in and laid a gentle, lingering kiss to his lips. She started smiling and holding onto him like her life depended on it when he held her neck and kept her there. He didn't deepen the kiss and just laid his forehead against hers when he pulled away, but the sweet gentleness of the action took her breath away.
"How many total?"
"Countin' Woodbury? Twenny total, 'fore and afta," she said softly, feeling his breath shutter at the number.. "I'm sorry I couldn' tell ya."
"S'fine," Daryl said. "I get it, girl. I get it. You're good."
"I love ya, D."
"I know, you too," Daryl said before gently kissing her again.
"Really, D? That's the best you got?" Merle's voice called from behind him.
They both looked up and over at his expected but unwanted intrusion. He was smiling smugly at himself, and they both wondered just how long he'd been standing there. What they didn't expect was for the old coot to practically tackle the two of them, knocking them both onto their backs on the ground, causing Tea to bust out laughing.
"The fuck, Merle?" she asked, reigning in her giggles.
"Just looked comfy down here. Fuck girl, you're legs are like fuckin' bricks! How can ya sleep on this, D?"
"Stop," Daryl said, the smile at the decent interaction between the two quickly morphing to embarrassment as she answered his brother.
"He sleeps on me tits or I sleep on 'im," she said with a shrug before becoming nervous. "Are the two a ya really...Am I still...Can I..."
"You're still my fuckin' wife!" Daryl growled out.
"Wife?" Merle asked as he sat up, looking at the two. "I don't see no ring. What? You give her a vest like ours and call it good?"
"Ain' that 'nough?" Tea asked.
"Hell no!" Merle fussed as he stood up. "You're makin' an honest woman of this girl, ya hear me, boy? I was wrong back in the quarry. So you make her a proper Dixon, ya got it?"
"Holy fuck," Tea said looking at Daryl. "I think ya brotha is happy we're tagetha."
"I reckon you're right," Daryl said before capturing her lips in a searing kiss even Merle had to look away from, needing to reclaim what was his, what he felt he almost lost.
Updated 9/9/21