Chapter 68 - A deal's a deal

"Can't believe Carol couldn't even last a week livin' with ya. Told ya you're a pain in the ass." Daryl teased, referring to the fact that Carol had decided to shift into an empty 2-bedroom at the end of the street and had moved out that morning.

"Me?! I'm pretty sure she left because of our headboard banging all night, every night. That's your fault!" retorted Tahlia from the ensuite.

Daryl smirked from his prone position on the bed as he tucked his hands behind his head.

"I ain't gonna feel bad 'bout that. This is the most privacy and the most space to ourselves that we've ever had and I'm gonna make the most of it while we got it. Anyway, now it means we don't gotta just keep it to the bedroom."

"Oh really?" replied Tahlia. "Thinking of christening every surface, huh?"

"Every damn inch of this place." Daryl declared. "Wanna start now?"

Tahlia laughed as she emerged from the bathroom, fixing a small silver hoop in her ear.

"No. I don't. I'm getting ready for this party thing. And you should be getting ready too."

"Told ya, ain't goin'." Daryl said distractedly because he was now engrossed in staring at her.

She was standing in matching black lace barely-there lingerie and heeled black ankle boots, her hair in loose, shiny curls halfway down her back, her eye makeup smoky and her skin flawless. Despite the fact that she was a little skinnier after the past couple of weeks, she was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Fuckin' hell, Tahly." he growled lustfully. "Ya look like ya walked straight outta the pages of a magazine."

"What, like 'Surgical Monthly'?" she quipped drily, indicating the long white plaster that was covering the length of the healing wound on her side.

"Nah." said Daryl seriously, his eyes dark and hungry. "Like one of them plastic covered R18 ones. C'mere."

"No." Tahlia told him again. "Don't distract me. I'm almost ready to go."

"I'll make it real quick."

"Ooh you ladykiller!" laughed Tahlia. "Please can you get ready? We're going to be late."

"What's this 'we' shit? I ain't goin'. You know I hate that kinda stuff. And you ain't ready – you're standin' in your underwear!"

"Come on! They're trying to be nice, throw us a little welcome party to make us feel more at home. And I'll have you know, all I need to do is put a dress on and I'm done."

"Have fun. I'll be layin' right here waitin' for ya when ya come back."

"Daryl…" wheedled Tahlia.

"Naw."

"How about… if we go to the party for half an hour, I'll let you take these off after." Tahlia arched a suggestive brow as she tugged at the waistband of her panties.

"I'ma be takin' them off tonight no matter what." replied Daryl assuredly.

Tahlia shot him a look of challenge as she stepped into a sleeveless short black skater dress and zipped it up. "Yeah? We'll see about that."

"We will see 'bout that." Daryl said, a predatory glint in his eye. "Maybe we'll see right now."

He slid off the bed and moved towards Tahlia, then kept moving until he had her pressed up against the wall.

"Daryl! Get… get your hands off me!" ordered Tahlia with absolutely zero conviction. "I'm ready to go!"

"Bet y'are. Lemme just check." Daryl murmured gripping her waist as he trailed open-mouthed kisses up her neck.

Leisurely, he swept his hands upwards until they reached her breasts where he thumbed circles over her already hardened nipples for a long moment before drifting south again, all the way down until he reached the hem of her dress. Bunching it up with his fingers, he inched it up higher, higher, until his hands were at her hips, and he spread his palms wide over her skin, his thumbs drawing light lines over the sensitive area just inside her hipbones, making her gasp and shiver with every pass. Spurred on by her rhythmic moans, Daryl kept licking and sucking at her neck, while, ever so slowly, he slid one hand down over the lace of her panties, his fingers moving between her legs, then he let out a low laugh right below her ear.

"Shit, girl, you're gonna have to change out of these. Can't have ya walkin' 'round in soakin', wet clothes. Catch your death."

"Fucksake, Daryl!" Tahlia had intended it to be a complaint, but the words came out all breathy and desperate like she was begging for more. Which, she conceded to herself, at this point she probably was.

Moving his mouth to hers, he continued to stroke his knuckle up and down over the lace, smugly feeling it grow wetter and wetter.

"Yeah." he murmured as he finally tugged her panties down and let them fall to her ankles. "Y'ain't gonna be able to wear them no more."

Sliding his fingers in and out of her, he could feel Tahlia trembling already as she clung to him, then he kissed her roughly, pinning her against the wall, his own desire impossible to ignore. With one hand he undid his belt and dropped his pants, his hot, hard length now pressed against her hip. Tahlia lowered her hand between her legs, wetting her fingers, then she slid them up over his cock, her thumb slipping circles over his tip as he moaned into her mouth.

"Daryl?" she said sweetly as she pulled back ever so slightly. "Are you gonna come with me to the party?"

"Naw." he grunted, nipping her neck, pushing himself into her hand.

"Daryl…" she said again as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed his cock down so his tip was resting against her clit, then moved her hands to his ass and slowly pulled him close causing him to slide through her folds until he was nestled snugly against her dripping pussy, then she clenched her thighs tightly, and he banged his forehead against the wall and let out a loud curse.

"Just half an hour." Tahlia whispered in his ear. "Come with me for half an hour."

"Naw." Daryl managed, his voice strangled. "Ain't goin' nowhere. Just wanna fuck ya."

He reached down but she intercepted his hand and linked her fingers through his, then languidly tilted her hips back and forth, rubbing herself against him as they both groaned at the sensation.

"Fuck! Tahly!"

Pulling his hand from hers, he gripped his base and angled himself against her entrance, but Tahlia tilted her hips back again and he found himself just sliding against her ass and he gave a frustrated growl.

"Party." she purred.

His eyes were dark and stormy as he pulled back to look into hers. "Naw." he said staunchly before kissing her again, dragging her bottom lip hard with his teeth, feeling her smile as he did so. "Just want..."

"This what you want?" she breathed as she wrapped her hand tightly around his throbbing length and let his tip just dip into her entrance.

With palms flattened against the wall, Daryl grunted desperate assent as he tried to push into her, but she wouldn't loosen her grip.

"Party. Half an hour."

"Fine! Fuck, I'll go! Just lemme…"

She teased him with another little dip inside. "And a clean shirt."

"You're really fuckin' pushin' it." he growled dangerously, gritting his teeth.

Tahlia's lips curved in a sultry smile as she gazed up at him. "Deal or not?"

"Deal! Fuckin' deal!"

She unclenched her fist, releasing him, and Daryl thrust straight up into her in one savage move, causing Tahlia to cry out and smack her head back against the wall. He wrapped one arm around her waist and hooked the other under one of her knees and drew her leg up high, Tahlia helpless to do anything but cling tightly to him as he drove roughly into her.

With eyes squeezed shut tight, a steady stream of curses poured out of Tahlia's mouth as Daryl continued to pound her relentlessly, steadily consumed by her impending orgasm. Trembling and sparking, Daryl was the only thing holding her upright, and soon she imploded, crying out as she crashed violently through the waves, Daryl following quickly behind just as intensely as he dropped his head to her neck, his own cry muffled against her skin.

Slowing his movements, he gathered her tightly against him, and breathless, they stayed pressed together as their panting subsided.

"Fucking hell, Daryl." gasped Tahlia as he gently worked his way along her jaw with his lips. "Fucking hell. It's shit like that that made Carol leave."

He eased himself away from her with a smirk, proudly noting that she was still leaning on the wall for support. "That's the good shit. You'd better go get cleaned up or you're gonna be late."

"We're going to be late." she corrected with an even bigger smirk. "You're coming too, don't forget."

"Naw." he shook his head. "Didn't mean that."

"You have to. You have to keep your word." She flicked him a smug smile as she grabbed another pair of panties from the dresser on the way to the bathroom, her legs still a little wobbly. "Half an hour at the party. There's a clean shirt hanging in the closet."

"That ain't fair! I made that deal under duress!"

"A deal's a deal, baby!" she called back. "Get ready!"

"Goddammit!" grumbled Daryl as he reluctantly zipped up his pants before heading to the closet. "Ain't fair to use your pussy as a bargaining tool. Y'know I ain't never gonna be able to say no when that's on offer!"

"You started it. We're leaving in five."

The group had been at Alexandria for a week, and after giving them that time to settle in, Deanna had insisted on hosting a little welcome gathering at her house that evening. The place was already bustling by the time Daryl and Tahlia showed up, and Daryl couldn't help but roll his eyes at the set up - classical music; plates of fancy looking food; an array of drinks; everyone dressed smartly. Tahlia knew he was out of his comfort zone and slipped her hand into his. They greeted a few people on their way in, but soon Daryl gently pulled away from Tahlia.

"Off ya go and do the rounds. I'll be over here."

"I'm not going to make you come to this thing and then abandon you!"

"I'd rather stand in the corner and drink while you go and do all the talkin'." he told her with a small smile. "Go."

Tahlia pointed at the grandfather clock in the corner. "Half an hour." she promised.

She was soon swept up in conversation by some Alexandrians, and Daryl backed up to the drinks table to grab a beer.

"Look at you!" Michonne said with a grin as she gave the collar of Daryl's shirt a tug. "Didn't expect to see you here." Then she laughed at his kill-me-now expression. "Tahly made you show face, huh?"

"Yep. Gonna need a few of these to get through this, I think." muttered Daryl as he downed half his beer in one go.

"They're not so bad here." Michonne told him earnestly. "You know, I've been talking to Deanna and she has some big plans for this place. I think we could make it into something really amazing. Build our future here."

Daryl nodded. That was a nice idea. But he couldn't help wondering how long it would be before someone came and tried to take this from them too.

A while later after Daryl had snuck out for a quick cigarette, he slipped back inside and armed himself with another beer and joined the relatively safe company of Tara and Eugene. He wasn't even pretending to listen to them, but instead was watching Tahlia as she moved around people, smiling and chatting with ease. He was almost envious of her natural ability to gel with most anyone, for her to slide in with strangers like they were old friends. His whole life he'd struggled with feelings of being on the outer and being in a place like this that didn't feel like home, surrounded by people he didn't identify with, only served to stir up and amplify those feelings. Suddenly he found himself stung by a keen sense of longing for the prison - for the familiarity; the routine; her and him and long days in the woods and cool nights in the courtyard.

Finishing his beer, Daryl was tempted to just take off, but first he glanced at the clock. He wouldn't leave until –

A tapping on his arm made him jump in surprise.

Tahlia smiled up at him. "Half hour's up. Let's go."

Daryl nudged her. "You stay, Tahly. You're havin' a good time. I'll just head off and wait for ya back at the house."

"Deal's a deal, remember? We're outta here."

"Ya don't gotta-"

"Shush. I want to hang out with you now." She took his hand and led him through to the door, bidding quick goodbyes on their way out. "Wanna take the long way home?" she asked once they were in the refreshing cool and quiet of the street. "I got us a roadie."

She pulled a half-full bottle of bourbon from her bag and Daryl laughed.

"Ya stole their booze?"

"Not stole, exactly. Spencer encouraged me to take it. Said no one would notice. He was taking a bottle for himself." She took a long swig then passed the bottle to him. "Thank you for coming with me. I know that it wasn't your thing."

Daryl was silent for a long moment as they walked, then said quietly, "I don't fit in here, Tahly. These ain't my kind of people. This ain't my kind of place."

"What?! Of course you do and they are and this is!"

"Seen how they look at me."

"Oh, have you now?" asked Tahlia pointedly. "Because if you'd really seen, then you'd know that they're looking at you with respect, admiration. They've heard the stories of what we've all been through, the things we've done. They know we're survivors. So that's what those looks are." She stopped as they reached the pond and turned to face him, her fingers curling into the front of his shirt as she grinned at him. "And of course they're going to look at you - you're sexy as hell, remember?"

"Shuddup." muttered Daryl, giving her a shove as his cheeks flushed.

With a chuckle, she pulled him down to sit next to her on the grass, the moonlight shimmering on the flat surface of the water in front of them.

"Daryl," Tahlia told him, her tone serious now, "I understand how you're feeling. But let me tell you a couple of the things I learned from talking to those people tonight. So, there's Ted. He was homeless before this. A drifter. He said he feels like a fraud living in these nice houses, like one day they're just gonna throw him out or something. And Olivia, well she was so intimidated by Deanna when she first moved here that for two months she just hid every time Deanna came by. Betsy said that she can't believe she's made it this far, that it's only by pure luck and chance that she's alive, that she wouldn't survive a minute on her own out there and that's the same for a lot of them. What else? Oh, Spencer steals booze from his mom, which you already know. Four people complained about the classical music playing in there and said it just 'wasn't their thing'; and Park said he was bored as fuck and the worst thing about letting new recruits into Alexandria is 'these fucking pretentious parties'. So. You might say that a lot of people feel or at least have felt the same as you."

Daryl looked impressed. "Ya found all that out just now?"

"Well," Tahlia shrugged, "It wasn't as much as I would like. You only gave me a half hour." Then she bumped her shoulder against his. "I guess what I'm saying is, I know sometimes those old-world feelings pop up, but please don't let them get the better of you. We're all the same, Daryl – no one really belongs anywhere anymore, we're all just thrown together and have to just figure it out. And you're doing an amazing job at that, at surviving, protecting what's important to you. You're still the most incredible person I've ever met by a long shot, and that is one of the reasons I love you so goddamned much. And everyone from our group sees it and they all love you too." She thought for a second, then added loftily, "Although, not as much as I do. That would be impossible."

Feeling all choked up, Daryl sniffed a little. Her and that ability of hers to say things so easily, to sound genuine, to reassure him, build him up. The intensity of love he felt for her made his heart ache. Draping one arm around her shoulders he pulled her close and pressed a long, firm kiss against her temple as she tucked her arm over his thigh and reached for the bourbon with the other.

"This is more me, anyway." Tahlia declared as she took a sip. "Sitting under the stars drinking illicit booze with some hot piece of ass."

Daryl smiled. "Me and you both, babygirl."

It hadn't long been light, but Sasha knew that Daryl and Tahlia were early risers, so she had no qualms about banging on their door at this time of the morning.

Shortly, it was opened by Daryl who was holding a steaming mug in one hand and was clad only in a pair of jeans as he squinted in the bright rays of the morning sun.

Neither of them bothering with pleasantries, Sasha jumped straight into it. "Tahly here?

"Yeah, she's just-"

Not waiting for any more information, Sasha nodded and squeezed past Daryl, heading inside.

"C'mon in." muttered Daryl, closing the door.

Tahlia was standing in the kitchen wearing only panties and a fitted tank top as she poured a coffee, unperturbed by Sasha's sudden appearance.

"Oh hey, Sash. Wasn't expecting company. Let me just go put some pants on."

"Fuck pants!" stated Sasha, taking a seat at the island. "No time for pants!"

"Right then!" replied Tahlia, amused. "Fuck pants it is. Here. Have a coffee."

"You two left the party early last night." Sasha commented as she took a sip from her mug.

"Yeah. I could only get Daryl to agree to half an hour. That was long enough for us though."

"Did you see Abraham?"

"Hmm…" Tahlia thought for a moment. "I remember seeing him sitting outside on his own when we left, but I didn't talk to him. Why's that?"

Daryl had gone upstairs to finish getting dressed, and came back down into the kitchen behind Tahlia slipping one arm around her waist and handing her a pair of leggings with the other.

"Mm, thank you."

"Gonna head out." he murmured in her ear. "Catch ya later."

"Ok." Tahlia tilted her head back and to the side and he caught her lips in a brief but tender kiss before he headed for the door, calling over his shoulder, "Later, Sash."

"Ugh." Sasha wrinkled her nose. "You guys are too cute."

"Daryl!" shouted Tahlia gleefully. "Did you hear that?! We're cute!"

His only response was the hard slam of the door.

The women laughed, then Tahlia quickly shimmied into her leggings before leaning on the bench.

"Right. What's up?"

Sasha took a deep breath. "So, like you said, Abe was outside and he was hitting the whiskey pretty hard. I went out to join him and we were drinking and talking a bit – I think the whole Eugene thing brought up a bunch of other stuff that he's now trying to work through – anyway, we drank more, talked more, and then… he kissed me. Or I kissed him. I'm not sure, but there was definitely a big kiss going on."

Tahlia's eyebrows shot up. "Ok… and then?"

"Well," sighed Sasha, "Then Ty came out so we quickly stopped, and then Ty said he was going home, so... I left with him."

"You just walked off?"

"Yup. Just took off. And now… shit."

Tahlia took a thoughtful sip of coffee. "So was it just a drunken thing, or is there more in it for you?"

Sasha rubbed her hand over her mouth. "We've spent a lot of time together since Terminus. You know, just chatting, hanging out, and… there's more. From me, there's more. I really like him. And I want to say that maybe he feels something too?" Then Sasha clapped her hand to her forehead. "But he's with Rosita! I feel like such an asshole!"

Tahlia shrugged. "Well, you guys are kind of both assholes."

"Tahly!"

Laughing, Tahlia waved a hand. "No, you're not, you're not. Look, sometimes stuff like that just happens even though you didn't mean for it to pan out that way, but the important thing is what you do next."

"Which is?"

"You gotta talk to him, Sash. Gotta talk to him, figure it out."

Sasha groaned. "Ugh. Can you just talk to him?!"

"I can," chuckled Tahlia, "But I'm pretty sure it's you that he'd prefer to be talking to."

"Ok." Nodded Sasha. "You're right. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna talk to him now." She stood up, then planted her hands on the bench. "Or maybe I'll just leave it for-"

"Now."

"It's early though, so…" She stumbled for excuses.

"And they start construction early to get the work done before it gets too hot - so you know exactly where to find him." supplied Tahlia sweetly.

"You suck."

"And you are welcome. Good luck!"

Around midday, Daryl found Tahlia pottering around in the herb garden.

"Shouldn't be liftin' that." Daryl pulled the watering can out of her hands and took over watering the plants.

"It's only half full!"

"Still. Meant to be takin' it easy." He emptied the can and turned back to Tahlia. "What did Sasha want this mornin'?"

"Oh." Tahlia's eyes widened. "Kind of… advice. Relationship advice. She-"

"Naw." Daryl held a hand up. "Stop there. Don't wanna know no more."

"Come on! This is some juicy stuff! How can you not wanna know?!"

Daryl gave her a flat stare. "You know enough about everyone else's shit for the both of us. I don't want no part in it. Anyway, I came to find ya to see if ya wanna come for a bike ride."

"Really?" Tahlia's eyes lit up. "But I'm not supposed to leave these walls for another week!"

"It'll be our secret."

"Yeah, zooming up to the gates on your roaring bike is gonna be a real well-kept secret."

Daryl grinned. "Promise I'll drive real quiet. C'mon."

Tahlia had forgotten how much she loved being on the bike with Daryl. They'd only just driven out of their garage, and she was already beaming like an idiot. As they approached the gate, Daryl slowed down, then stopped and killed the engine, tapping Tahlia's knee.

"Jump off for a sec."

Tahlia did as he asked, and he quickly followed suit, putting down the kickstand. Only then did Tahlia notice what had caused him to stop.

Just in front of the gates, Glenn was in the middle of an argument with Nicholas and Aiden, the guys in charge of the supply runs, Tara standing close behind.

"…dangerous! You have no idea what you're doing and that's gonna get people killed!" accused Glenn.

"And you know everything, huh? You come crawling on in here and expect us to bow down and do things your way?!" retorted Aiden. "Well I got news for you, asshole – we're in charge and you'll do what we say out there!"

Glenn scoffed. "And if we had listened to you just now then Tara would be dead! You're fucking idiots!"

Aiden grabbed the front of Glenn's shirt, Glenn promptly smacking his hand away then quickly ducking out of the way of Aiden's fist, before popping back up and landing a punch of his own against Aiden's jaw.

Cursing loudly, Aiden went to dive at Glenn, but Daryl jumped in between them, pushing them both back.

"The hell is goin' on?"

"These assholes treat walkers like they're playing a game and Tara nearly got bit because of it! They don't know the first thing about protecting themselves or anyone else out there, and we're supposed to team up with them?!"

"We're still here, aren't we?" countered Aiden. "You and your fucking group just want to take this place over but we're not gonna damn well let you!"

By this time, Deanna and Rick were jogging over, Deanna quickly grabbing hold of her son's arm. "Aiden. Stop this."

"This guy-"

"Stop. Not here. Let's go see if we can work this out."

"I've got nothing to work out with those cowboys." stated Glenn resolutely, folding his arms.

"Let me talk to my people then I'll come and see you after." Rick told Deanna before leading Glenn and Tara away to hear what they had to say, Deanna heading in the opposite direction with Aiden and Nicholas.

"Don't usually see Glenn fire up like that." remarked Daryl as he met Tahlia back at the bike. "Musta been bad out there. Make sure ya steer clear of them guys if they don't know what they're doin'."

Tahlia drew her bottom lip in and out of her mouth for a moment. "You know that I've been talking about getting on the supply runs as soon as I can."

"Not with them."

"Well, it would be with whoever's going. I'll be extra careful." she added when Daryl's frown deepened.

"Can't ya just stay behind these walls?"

"No! I'll go crazy. Need to get out there and do stuff. Plus, you're gonna be out recruiting most of the time so I'll be all bored and lonely."

"Rather that than have you out there in danger." Daryl told her, then he gave her a calculating look. "Maybe I'ma go tell the doc that you're sneakin' out and ain't doin' what you're told. See if I can get ya grounded for a month."

"Maybe she'll just tell me that I need to ditch my badass boyfriend who keeps leading me astray." countered Tahlia with an arched brow.

"I only lead ya there coz I happen to know it's your favourite place to go." grinned Daryl as he planted a big kiss on her lips. "Now get on this bike before this badass changes his mind and sends ya back to boring, lonely garden duty."

So I found an old Daryl/OC story on my computer which I've decided to dust off and post if you're interested, you can find it under my profile, it's called Lady and the Trash.

Also, separately, is there any interest in a Daryl/Tahlia AU no ZA story? Like basically just the two of them meeting & getting to know one another in the real world. It's just that random scenes for something like that have been writing themselves in my head lately, so if there's interest I'll start penning them and shape it into a story that I'll post sometime in the not too distant future.