"Coco, ook!" Annabelle squealed from where she was splashing in the water of the quarry. Looking over from the shirt she was scrubbing Charlotte smiled as Annabelle stood knee deep in the water zooming a toy boat over the water.
"I see you, Belly Girl," Charlotte acknowledged, "Don't go in any further then where you're at," she reminded the three-year-old.
Going back to the laundry she'd hauled down to the quarry she sighed.
They'd been in the camp for almost a month now and as each day passed the reality that this was their new world was setting in. After losing two people on the run back to her apartment complex it had been decided the smaller the group the better. Every other day Glenn was running down to the city for something by himself. She hated watching him leave not knowing if he'd be back.
Within a few days he'd brought back enough camping tents for everyone. However, she and Annabelle were still sharing with Daryl. He'd never given her the impression he wanted them gone so she didn't bring it up either.
As loud and abrasive as he was Annabelle was comfortable with Merle and following in his brother's footsteps Daryl had begun playing with the child too.
Since that first night in camp their relationship had changed too. She'd stopped teasing him and they'd become actual friends. He and Merle provided most of the meat for the campers and she made sure to thank the brother's even if no one else in camp thought to do so.
A lot of the campers didn't like Merle and assumed Daryl was just like him, so they just stayed away from the two. She didn't mind the older Dixon. However, she had noticed a pattern to his bad days versus his good days and she knew eventually it would have to be addressed.
Hearing the gravel crunching behind her Charlotte looked over her shoulder, "Hi," she greeted with a smile.
"Hey," he greeted back, "Merle's going out overnight hunting. Won't be back till tomorrow afternoon," he told her.
"Okay," she replied, confused.
"Thought we could get drunk while he's gone," he said, reminding her of the alcohol he'd brought back from her apartment. It was still sitting in the bottom of her duffle bag as they hadn't had a chance to drink any with the older Dixon around.
Smiling, Charlotte wrung the shirt out she'd been washing before tossing it in the basket with the rest of the wet clothes. Grabbing another shirt from the dirty pile she began scrubbing as she nodded, "I would love to get wine drunk tonight. It's been way too long."
"Darie ook!" Annabelle yelled.
Smiling over at the little girl, he nodded, "I see ya. Ya look like a mermaid," he told her as she giggled, "How much more ya got here?" he asked Charlotte indicating the laundry.
"Just two more shirts," she replied, "You know it would go much faster if I didn't have to scrub the blood from your clothes. Can you please stop wiping your knife or whatever the hell you're doing on your clothes?" she requested.
"Probably not," he responded with a shrug, "I'll watch her while you finish. Carry that basket back for ya," he told her before walking over to Annabelle without giving her a chance to respond.
Smiling, Charlotte went back to her scrubbing.
Later that night well after Annabelle had gone to bed and the rest of the campers had turned in for the night Charlotte and Daryl sat on the ground close to their dying fire passing the wine bottle back and forth.
"Shut up 'fore ya wake someone up," Daryl hissed for the fifth time as Charlotte giggled next to him.
"Okay, okay, sorry," she whispered, taking another swig of the bottle.
"So, you know you're gonna have to do something about Merle eventually," she told him, passing him the bottle.
Studying the bottle, he took a long swallow before passing it back, "I know."
"Cuz for all that Shane is he's not stupid. I'm pretty sure he knows why he goes off to the woods without you, and eventually he's gonna run out and then his withdrawal is gonna be bad."
"I said I know," he grumbled angrily before grabbing the bottle from her and taking another swig, "He's been tryin to stretch it, but," he trailed off.
"When the withdrawal starts, he gets bad," she finished for him as he simply nodded. Sighing, Charlotte took the bottle back and after taking a healthy gulp she passed it back, "I think Shane and Lori are fuckin."
Snorting, he looked at her, "I know they're fuckin. Caught sight of his bare ass in the woods the other day," he confirmed.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Ain't gonna gain nuthin but upset by knowing," he replied with a shrug.
"I ain't upset," she stated, "I'm pissed off. How she gonna run off with her husband's best friend a mere month after he dies? Like her fuckin marriage didn't mean shit to her," she complained as they passed the bottle back and forth.
"Maybe it didn't," he responded.
Sighing, she took the cigarette he'd lit from him, "Before he got shot, they were having problems. She'd call me all the time bitchin about him, but I didn't know what I was supposed to do about it. I mean he was my brother. What did she expect me to do call him up and yell at him for her; tell him to go home and fuck his wife?"
Shaking his head, he clucked his tongue at her as he shook his head, "Shit that comes out your mouth, Girl."
"I'm a fun drunk," she giggled.
"Shut up someone's gonna hear ya."
"What's the craziest thing you've done drunk?" she asked.
"Nuthin," he replied.
"Oh, come on. There ain't a single thing you've done shitfaced that had the potential of getting your ass put in jail?" she questioned in disbelief.
"After Merle had a couple stints in jail, I learned not to take my alcohol on the road," he told her.
"Daryl, I tell you this because I love you, but I think you needed to get a life. Pre end of the world you sounds like a big snooze fest," she told him very seriously.
"Shut up," he muttered, "Well what about you?"
Humming, she gave him a devilish smile, "I don't know there's so many to pick from," she responded as he rolled his eyes, "Okay, here's one. So, Cammie gets this bright idea to make us some screwdrivers, ya know vodka and orange juice," she clarified as he nodded.
"Well, anyways as the night goes on it's more like vodka and a splash of OJ so she gets this bright idea that she wants to go skinny dipping except she don't have a pool. However, her neighbor has this like Olympic sized fucking pool, but he'd never let any of the neighborhood kids swim in it. So, we strip down and go running through the backyard right into this pool," she tells him as he's shaking his head.
"Wait, it gets better. So, in the vodka haze we forget this douche had motion sensors so as fast as we got in the pool, we got out just as fast and went tearing across his yard. Except we went the wrong way and now we're in her neighbor's neighbor's yard, who has a pool. We skinny dipped our way around the entire neighborhood," she finished, covering her giggles with her hand.
"I swear you're insane," he told her, giving her a rare smile, "How old where ya?"
"Eighteen," she responded, taking one last swig of the now empty bottle before grabbing his hand, "Come on," she said, pulling him up.
"What?" he questioned as she tugged him along.
"We're gonna go skinny dipping in the quarry," she replied.
Pulling his hand out of her grasp he shook his head, "No way."
Rolling her eyes, she scoffed, "Stick in the mud," she whispered before taking off through the camp and down to the quarry. She was halfway down to the water when she realized he was following her.
Looking over her shoulder she raised her eyebrows at him before pulling off her shirt and throwing it back at him, "Come on Dixon live a little it's the end of the world."
"Christ Charlie, put your shirt back on."
"Nope," she responded, pulling her bra off and chucking it over her head laughing when he cursed.
Stopping at the edge of the water she kicked her shoes off before shimmying out of her shorts and panties. Turning around she giggled when she was met by Daryl's back, "You didn't have to turn around. I don't care if you look," she told him before walking backwards into the water.
"It ain't safe down here," he replied, keeping his back to her as he heard her splashing into the water.
"Well, that's why I have you, Big Boy," she responded before turning and diving under the water, "You can turn around. I'm in the water now," she told him when she resurfaced.
Huffing, he turned around, "This ain't funny."
"Will you shut up and get in the water," she retorted before an idea came to her, "I'm not a very good swimmer as it is," she told him pretending to have trouble keeping above the water.
"Then get the fuck out of the water," he snapped.
"Nah," she responded, swimming further out before sinking below the surface. Co-captain of her swim team in high school she knew she could hold her breath for longer than the average person. She felt the water shift as he entered the quarry and smiling in triumph, she resurfaced only a few feet from him.
Glaring at her, he splashed her, "You're a fuckin liar."
"I am," she agreed, "But you can't tell me this water doesn't feel good. Even if we don't have soap down here it's still nice to get in and get some of the dirt off of us."
"You come down here every other day with Belle," he reminded her.
"True, but maybe it's not me who needed the bath," she replied, laughing as she splashed him back.
"You ain't funny."
"Yes, I am. Now come here and let me wash your hair," she moved like an eel through the water and before he knew it, she was pulling him down and bending his head back so she could pour water over his head using her cupped hands.
"Can do it myself," he complained, attempting to get away from her.
"You've had all month obviously you can't," she countered, wrestling with him in the water.
When his hand came in contact with her breast, they both froze as he stared at her wide eyed. Taking a steadying breath as it had been way too long since a man had touched her, Charlotte took his hand and pulled it back to her body. Maintaining eye contact she let out a shuddering breath when his hand covered her breast under the water.
Moving closer to him she ran her hands up his wet chest and wrapped them around his neck before pressing her wet body to his," Kiss me," she all but begged. Muttering a curse, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed the breath from her.
Yanking her with him he stood up in the water with one arm wrapped around her waist while the other was under her ass keeping her flush up against him with both of her legs wrapped around his waist. Before they knew what was happening, he was inside of her as they stumbled to the shore and collapsed on the rocky ground.
Gasping as he found a rhythm to satisfy them both Charlotte felt her orgasm building and desperately clawed at him as she moaned underneath him, "Oh God, I'm gonna," and then it hit her, and it was like she fell over a cliff. Coming back to earth she kissed him like her life depended on it.
Pulling his mouth away from hers he groaned, "Can I?" was all he managed to get out before she was nodding and then she felt his orgasm hit him as he emptied himself inside of her. Collapsing on top of her they both laid there attempting to catch their breath.
Running her hand through his wet hair Charlotte was already needing more especially when she realized he was still inside of her. Putting her muscles to work she smiled when she felt him getting hard again, "Holy fuck what are ya doin?" he breathed out into her neck.
"Going for round two," she responded before pushing against him and flipping him to his back, "Just lay there and enjoy the ride, Big Boy," she told him before she began to move.
Laying naked next to each other on the stony ground they both attempted to regain their breath after the second time, "Explain to me why we haven't been doing that since day one?" she questioned turning her head to look at him.
"I'm a jackass," he replied, causing her to laugh.
"So, for clarification purposes that is something we will be repeating sober too, right?" she asked, smiling.
Turning his head to look at her he snorted, "I think we can arrange that," he answered with a smirk.
"Thank God," she breathed out, "As much as I love nicotine that was way more satisfying than a cigarette," smiling when she heard him release a breath of air that sounded like a laugh
"We need to get back before someone realizes we're gone," he told her
Sitting up quickly, she looked around for her clothes, "Crap, I didn't even think about Annabelle," she mumbled, yanking her shorts back on before stuffing her panties into her pocket. Spying her shirt behind them she went to pick it up, "God, I'm too irresponsible to be trying to raise a kid," she complained, attempting to turn her shirt the correct way.
"You're doin fine," she heard him say from behind him.
Turning to thank him, her breath caught at the sight of his back as he was pulling his pants on by the edge of the water. Blinking at the sight of what looked like several long scars crisscrossed across his back she turned back around to put her shirt on.
Some kind of sixth sense told her he wouldn't appreciate her knowing about the marks let alone asking about them and so she simply called over her shoulder, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
Dropping her shoes next to her he looked at her, "I's being serious," he told her as she put her shoes on, "The last month ya been a better parent to her then some I've known."
Making their way back up the hill to camp, Charlotte gave him a small smile, "Thanks, and thank you for the help you've given me with her. She adores you and your brother, which I still find odd, on your brother's part not your part," she clarified.
"Ain't no big thing," he replied.
"It really is," she insisted.
"You two enjoy your swim?"
Jolting, they both turned around to find Dale standing behind them with a rifle over his shoulder.
"Geez Dale. Wear a bell."
"Making noise defeats the purpose of being on watch," he responded, raising his brow as he smiled knowingly at them.
Blinking, Charlotte glanced at Daryl, "You were on watch," she breathed out as she remembered the older man had set up a nightly rotation for someone to sit on top of the RV and watch for geeks through the night.
"Ya got something to say?" Daryl questioned, crossing his arms across his chest.
Holding his gaze, Dale simply shook his head, "Not a word. Enjoy your night," he chuckled, before turning and disappearing back into the dark.
"How did we forget about watch," Charlotte moaned, turning and continuing towards their tent.
"Whole fuckin camps gonna know now," Daryl grumbled.
"Do you care?" Charlotte questioned.
Stopping at the entrance of the tent, Daryl turned to glare at her, "I ain't the one slummin."
"You think I'm slumming?"
"Ain't ya?" he asked, harshly.
"I don't think so," she responded before crawling into the tent.