Chapter 69 – Seeing stars

Breathing in a big lungful of crisp morning air, Michonne sat on the porch with a coffee in hand and Judith at her feet.

"Wow, that's a tall tower, bub!" she praised, as Judith stacked empty containers one on top of the other.

A smile was never far from her lips these past days and that feeling was still catching her by surprise - the fact that the need for her usual mask of wariness was becoming less and less. This place; this sense of normalcy; this little family; this man; this love. Her heart was full, her hopes were high.

With a contented sigh, she relaxed into her seat, then spotted Rick and Tahlia sauntering back from the pond and waved as they approached.

"Nice to see you two back at your dawn yoga sessions!"

"He's rusty as hell!" stated Tahlia bluntly with a big grin. "Like he's never stretched a day in his life!"

"Hey!" laughed Rick, giving her a shove. "Give me a week - my muscle memory will kick in and have me touching my toes!"

"How can your muscles remember something that has never happened?" teased Tahlia, earning herself another good-natured shove.

There was that smile again. Michonne couldn't help it. She loved that Rick was laughing again, loosening up. He'd been a tightly coiled spring since they escaped from the prison, winder tighter and tighter with every following ordeal, the stress fraying his nerves and stripping away his natural compassion and positivity. Even after arriving at Alexandria, it had taken him a while before he started to unwind, to put the events since the prison in his rearview mirror and look forward again.

Leaping up the porch steps, Rick stopped in front of her. "It's not going to be every morning though. I have a much better reason to stay in bed these days." he murmured as he leaned down to press a slow kiss on her lips.

"Ugh." Tahlia dropped down into the seat opposite Michonne. "My reason is never damn well here anymore!"

"How long's it been this time? Three days? When's he due back?" asked Michonne as she pointed at the plunger of coffee and mugs on the side table. "That'll still be warm."

"Three endless days." complained Tahlia as she poured two mugs. "Due back tonight, apparently. In the last two weeks - since that party - he's been gone nearly every day, and more than half of those nights too."

"Sorry, Tahls." apologized Rick as he accepted a mug. "I know that Aaron had mapped out everything in the surrounding areas, but it's not recent and I don't trust him to see things that Daryl will see - so I had to get them to go out and redo it all. Daryl's the best we've got – he'll pick up on everything out there. I need those maps updated through his eyes. They've covered a lot of ground already, they're nearly done."

"I know." sighed Tahlia. "And I know he prefers being out there to in here. I'm just having a selfish moan."

"You've been keeping pretty busy yourself. Those gardens are looking great!"

"Mm, yeah. They're really picking up. It'll be so much better when that perimeter fence is finished and we can plant that whole area out. The soil is good out there. We'll get a lot of crops going."

Rick nodded. "Abraham has that construction crew working their asses off. They're out there all hours. Those walls will be up before we know it."

"That might have something to do with the fact that he's still trying to steer clear of Rosita." Michonne said into her mug.

Rick raised his brows. "She's not taking that break-up very well, is she?"

"From what Sasha told me, Abe did it in typical Abe fashion and wasn't particularly gentle with his words." supplied Tahlia somberly. "Then he moved straight in with Sash, so it might take Rosita a while to get past that. I imagine it'd be pretty damn hard having to see the man you love shacked up with someone else right across the street."

"Well, one positive outcome is that she's really been throwing everything into the defensive training."

"Rick!" exclaimed Michonne, elbowing him.

"What? It's true! People are raving about how good Rosita's classes are and how much they're learning."

"'Bout time they learned how to defend themselves." muttered Tahlia, tucking her feet underneath her on the seat. "I still can't get my head around the fact that most of them haven't even killed a single walker yet."

"All that's going to change. Come on up, bub." Judith had pulled herself to stand with the help of Rick's knee and he scooped her up onto his lap before continuing. "These guys have been like sitting ducks here, but it's not going to be like that anymore. We're going to fortify this place. The people."

"Deanna seems to be on board with everything." noted Tahlia, sticking her tongue out at Judith who giggled, then copied her.

"She is." agreed Michonne. "She's got big plans for this place but just hasn't known how to put it all in motion. She said that having us here has started the ball rolling. And honestly, I think although Rick came on a little strong-" She gave Rick a pointed look, "- she's grateful to have someone who's not afraid to get people in line. Someone who's gotten their hands dirty and can lead the charge." Nudging Rick she added, "Although I still don't think it was necessary to steal those guns."

Tahlia dropped her head back in laughter then pointed at Rick. "You and Carol! It still cracks me up." In a low, dramatic tone she declared, "Upstanding sheriff and do-gooder Stepford wife by day; colluding criminal masterminds by night!"

"I stand by our decision to do that!" Rick said staunchly, although his eyes crinkled in amusement. "We've still got four guns hidden out by that old shed in the woods, just in case we need them."

"Oh God." giggled Tahlia, wiping at her eyes. "I think I'll just get mine from the massive pile of weapons in the armory, like a normal person. And how's Carl doing? Hardly seen him around."

"Neither have we! He's just been hanging with the other kids. They read comics and play video games and God knows what else, but I'm happy that he's finally just getting to be a teenager."

"Yeah." Michonne nodded. "He seems a lot happier too. It's good. It's all feeling good."

"It is." asserted Rick. "But we've still got to keep our guard up. Anyway. I'm going to go meet with Maggie and Deanna, figure out what's next on the agenda for this place." He lifted Judith into the air then swooped her back towards him, peppering her face with kisses as she squealed in delight, then he passed her over to Michonne and kissed her too. "I'll catch you guys later."

Michonne watched him walk down the street a little way, then turned back to Tahlia. "Oh, hey, are you still ok to watch Judith later?"

"I certainly am! Blocked out the afternoon just for her. Gonna head to the gardens now before it gets too hot, then I'll pop in to see if Denise needs a hand with anything, then it's my date with the cutest little kidlet in the world here, and after that, to Eric's for dinner where we'll sit and pine and drink away our loneliness."

With a laugh and a roll of her eyes, Michonne waved a hand at Tahlia. "I can't imagine you two doing any pining at all! Bet you have a great time while your men are away!"

"Ah yeah, you're right. No pining, lots of fun." agreed Tahlia, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Eric's a good laugh. And he's been filling me in on all the goss."

"Ooh, spill!"

Tahlia gave a mock-haughty lift of her chin. "I'm sworn to secrecy."

"Whatever!" Michonne exclaimed. "You can't keep secrets from me! Bet you've told Daryl all of it."

"Nah." Tahlia shook her head. "I try, but he refuses to listen. Says he's not interested! Can you believe it?!"

"Actually, I can. I'm interested though!"

"Bet you are! We'll need a spare few hours – you won't believe some of the scandalous stuff that's gone on here. People misbehave when they're cooped up for so long." Tahlia grinned. "I'll save it for a rainy night. Alright, I'll be back for Judy-cakes at 2 o'clock. See you later!"

Night had fallen and Eric was curled up in an armchair with a book in his lap and a cup of tea in his hand when Aaron and Daryl finally wandered in.

"The travelers return!" Eric got to his feet and Aaron greeted him with a soft kiss. "Did you just get back?"

"Yeah," nodded Aaron, "Not that long ago. Just dropped off some supplies to Olivia."

"Come." Eric beckoned for them to follow him through to the kitchen. "Tahly and I ate earlier, sorry. Couldn't wait. But we saved some for you."

"Perfect, I'm starving." smiled Aaron as he opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water. "Want one, Daryl?"

"Nah. I'm good. Uh…" Daryl glanced around. "Tahly ain't here? Thought she would be. Lights are off at ours."

"Oh, you guys haven't seen each other?" Eric pulled a tinfoil covered dish out of the oven then shot Daryl an astute look over his shoulder. "She's been missing you real bad, you know. She went up to the tower to watch out for you guys coming back. Probably only went ten minutes ago, must've just missed you coming in."

Aaron pressed a hand to his chest and fixed Eric with a look of mock-offence. "And you haven't been missing me bad enough to go up and wait too?!"

"I prefer to yearn for you in the warmth and comfort of our home, my love." simpered Eric, then he made a distasteful face. "Plus, knowing that Aiden was going to be up there too sealed it for me. No way was I going to voluntarily spend any time with him. Couldn't pay me enough."

"Aiden?" echoed Daryl, eyes narrowing. "He's up in the tower with Tahly?"

Eric nodded. "Poor girl. We were just walking back from the pantry because I needed more peppermint tea and she was talking about heading up there, then he kind of ambushed us, came bounding up all-" Eric puffed out his chest and swayed side to side pompously. "-said he was going that way himself to do watch and that he'd keep her company. Which," Eric lifted a finger in the air, "I'm not so sure is the truth because I've seen tonight's watch schedule and he's not on it, and the guards are on the fences instead of the tower anyway."

"S'at right." Daryl drummed his fingers on the bench for a moment. "Better go up there and let her know we're back."

Daryl tried to walk at a normal pace to the bell tower but it seemed his legs wouldn't go any slower than a jog.

He wasn't exactly worried about Tahlia being alone with Aiden – he just didn't trust that guy one iota. Being out so much over the past couple of weeks, the only interaction Daryl had had with Aiden was intercepting that fight between him and Glenn. But anyone could see how Aiden and his brother Spencer strutted around with an air of overinflated self-importance like they were lords of the place. Cavalier, laddish types who were used to getting what they wanted - and Daryl had caught enough of the looks they'd thrown Tahlia's way to know that she was one of those things.

Generally, it didn't bother him that Tahlia turned heads – hell, she'd practically spun his right around – as long as people were respectful to her. But there were times (only a few so far) that he'd clock a look in someone's eyes that bore a dark sense of entitlement and they'd leer at her like she was just an object, not a person, and that bothered him. That's what he didn't trust. And that's what he'd seen from Aiden.

Quietly he climbed the tower stairs hearing nothing at first, then as he ascended the last flight, the low hum of Aiden's voice slowly morphed into discernible words.

"… that you guys are here. I'm enjoying having some new faces around the place."

"Are you enjoying it?" Daryl heard Tahlia reply, her voice laced with amusement. "Because you seem to have had a few run-ins with Glenn and Tara."

Aiden let out a bark of a laugh. "Well, maybe I'm just enjoying some of the new faces."

Reaching the door to the belfry – it was ajar, but not enough to see Tahlia and Aiden - Daryl raised a hand to push it open as Aiden carried on.

"Gets boring around here, you know. Same people all the time. Good to… spice things up a bit."

There was a shady cadence to his tone that gave Daryl pause, and he dropped his hand, his body stilling. Surely Aiden wasn't about to try it on already.

"So… are you and that… crossbow goon-" No attempt from Aiden to disguise the disdain in his voice, "- are you actually a… thing?"

Sucking on his top teeth at the slur, Daryl shook his head. Aiden was blatantly fishing. He wanted to bust in right then and tell that little shit where he could go, but he was stopped by the very clear memory of Tahlia once telling him that it was important for her own self-confidence and sense of control to be able to handle situations like this on her own. And, Daryl managed to reason, there wasn't even really a 'situation' yet.

Leaning against the doorframe he decided to wait out here and let Tahlia deal with it – unless there was any indication that Aiden was attempting to get physical, in which case, Daryl would be in there like a shot and have him up against the wall by his throat.

"Daryl." said Tahlia sharply, and Daryl started a little, thinking for a confused moment that she'd somehow seen him, but quickly realized that she was just firmly reminding Aiden of his name. "A 'thing' is a bit of a loose term for what we are, but, yes."

"Huh. That's what I heard. Just find it hard to believe. You two are real… different. You can't have been together before the world turned to shit."

"We could have been if we'd known each other, but no, we weren't." Tahlia informed him casually, not sounding put out in the least by Aiden's insinuations. "I met Michonne right at the beginning then we lost one another. She found Daryl and Rick and the rest of that group, then a long time later, Daryl found me by chance, and I joined up with them too."

"Ah. That makes more sense."

"What does?"

Derisively Aiden replied, "As to why you're with him. You know, like he rescued you, so you saw him as some sort of hero or you thought you owed him or something, and that's why you latched on to him."

Tahlia snorted at that. "For a start, it wasn't a rescue. More like a… hold-up. And that had nothing to do with us getting together. We got to know each other, I found out how amazing he is, I forced him to hang out with me every day and refused to leave him alone, and then there came a point where I couldn't hold out any longer and I threw myself at him. That's how the latching happened."

Even though Daryl's skin was prickling with simmering anger at that smarmy fucker's comments, he couldn't help but huff a quiet laugh at Tahlia's breezy, tongue-in-cheek explanation of the onset of their relationship.

Aiden sounded scornful, however, when he then said, "Not like you had much choice though, did you? Back at that prison? There's a better selection here. You've got options now."

The amusement quickly faded from Daryl's face as a burning wave of anger surged through him.

The fuckin' cheek of that little prick.

But then, unexpectedly, old embers of insecurity sparked in his belly. Embers from a fire his father had set in him decades ago and stoked with his constant fuel of spiteful words (worthless; unlovable; unwanted; nothing; no one), embers he thought had been extinguished through finding his place in this group. And though Tahlia had never given him reason to doubt her love for him – he felt the incredible warmth of it every day - hearing those words from Aiden reminded him of questions he'd once asked himself. Questions that he'd buried beneath those cinders of self-doubt: Would she? Given different places, situations, people - would she still choose him? Was he enough?

His breath shallowed as he bowed his head to find out.

"I don't need options." soon came Tahlia's frosty reply, her earlier light-hearted tone gone.

"You sure?" Aiden's voice had lowered as if he were getting closer and closer to her. "He's hardly ever around. Maybe you just need someone else to keep you company. Keep you… warm."

With fists clenched, Daryl's body was now quivering with rage, but also a massive dose of apprehension. Icy blades sliced through his chest because what if… what if…?

"You mean… you?" Tahlia's voice now, contemplative.

"Yeah." Aiden's, low, suggestive. "Me."

Then silence.

Sudden, vivid images of what could be transpiring between the two of them in this torturous noiseless moment were scorching Daryl's mind and he wanted to burst in, see for himself, but the torment of it all had him frozen to the spot.

Then he heard a short laugh from Tahlia. "Oh, you're serious?! You're actually serious? Shit, sorry, I thought it was a bad joke."

"Of course I'm serious." drawled Aiden, still attempting to reel her in. "You're hot as fuck. That fucking redneck's no match for you. You can do better. Let me show you a good time. Show you what a real man can do."

"You want to…? Oh my God." Tahlia's tone was first incredulous before turning dangerously stony. "Firstly, if you take another step closer, I'm going to break your fucking nose; and secondly, you should know that anyone who is actually a 'real man' doesn't refer to themself as a 'real man', so you've fucked yourself over with that one."

Daryl's eyebrows shot up, his misgivings momentarily forgotten - it was incredibly rare for Tahlia to bite back at anyone. In fact, the only person he'd ever heard her snap at was him, and that was way back in the early days when he'd pushed and pushed, deliberately trying to get a rise out of her.

"And while we're on the topic, you have no goddamn clue what it takes to be a real man, what they're made of. That 'fucking redneck' – by the way, I will also break your nose if I hear you calling him that again – is more man that you'll ever be. Compared to him, you're just a little boy. You don't even come close to measuring up to him. Not even in the same damn stratosphere." Her voice had risen, but she was managing to maintain her composure. "I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the whole damn world ever, and especially not you."

Hands now hanging loose at his side, Daryl's anger and doubt had evaporated. If he hadn't heard this firsthand, he wouldn't have believed that those caustic comments would have come out of Tahlia's mouth – she was usually the diplomatic peacekeeper who would rather hold her tongue than risk hurting someone's feelings. He bit back a smile. He liked this side of her. And shit, it seemed she wasn't done yet.

"And honey," she continued, her voice now as sweet as the word itself, "The good times he shows me? The things he does to me? The fucking stars he makes me see? That's some shit that you could only ever dream about doing to anyone. In fact, I'm gonna leave this pack of tissues with you and you can sit here and keep yourself company and dream on. I'm going to go and wait for my real man."

Daryl could hear Tahlia collecting up her things and he quickly darted down the stairs before she caught sight of him. The grin on his face was probably the widest it had ever been in his life and he was fairly sure he flew home. He'd still like to beat the shit out of Aiden, but hearing all that had been so much more satisfying. Having Tahlia assert her love and defend him and their relationship so staunchly set him aglow in a way that left no space for darkness inside him.

And those fucking embers? Now nothing more than ash on the wind.

As Tahlia strode out onto the empty street, the chill in the air was a welcome sting on her damp skin, her heart only just slowing its hammering pace after that little performance.

God, she wasn't sure what had just come over her – the snarkiness was well out of character, usually just the thought of an altercation was enough to make her pulse race. But she had just discovered that she had a spiky, fierce protective streak when it came to Daryl, and God help anyone who tried to badmouth him. The thought of that made her blood boil; made claws she didn't even know she had come slicing out. It was one thing to be insulted, hit on; but another thing entirely to have someone denigrate Daryl's character, to tear him down. That she wouldn't fucking stand for.

Now that her breathing had returned to normal, she was surprised to find that, in the aftermath, she felt kind of… bold. Invigorated.

Maybe she could get used to being a bitch.

The ridiculousness of that thought made her laugh (especially because she was already feeling obliged to smooth things over with Aiden at some point soon, have a 'no hard feelings' conversation), and in turn, that dispersed the tension in her body. She took a deep breath and tipped her head back, rolling her neck from side to side, until suddenly something up ahead caught her eye and she let out a happy squeal.

Only one house away from home, she could see Daryl lounging on the loveseat on the porch, the soft light above him outlining the smirk on his face.

"You're back!" Tahlia cried as she jogged up to the picket fence and vaulted over it – although her foot caught on the way and she tumbled into the flowerbed with a thud. "Ow, fuck!"

Daryl snorted at her clumsiness, and then again at the goofy grin on her face when she made it back up on to her feet, brushing the dirt from her pants.

"Any chance you didn't see that?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "None."

"Dammit. Anyway!" She was standing in front of him now. "Hi! I really fucking missed you!"

With elbows on his knees, he grinned as he squinted up at her, his heart full to bursting. "So I've heard. Y'ok?"

"Uh, well I just…" She pointed in the direction of the tower, then made a face. "I'll tell you about my night later. Right now, there's only one thing I want to think about, and lucky me – here he is."

With a smile that glowed from his eyes, Daryl stood and took her hands in his, stroking her knuckles with his thumbs, then slowly, he ran his fingers up over her arms, shoulders, until his hands were cupping her cheeks. Dropping his forehead to hers he held her for a long moment before kissing her intently, a slow summer storm.

"So did everything go alright out there?" asked Tahlia breathlessly when he finally let her up for air.

Daryl's only reply was to drop his lips to her neck and tighten his arms around her as he backed her up to the front door and shoved it open, before kicking it shut behind them.

"Does that mean yes? Things went well?"

Wordlessly, Daryl pulled her pack off her shoulder and tossed it to the floor before doing the same with her katana, her jacket soon following.

"Daryl? Is everything-"

"Shh." He breathed into her mouth as he pressed her back against the door, his hands on an unhurried, purposeful exploration of her body.

"What's this about?" she managed to murmur.

He pulled back from her, a spark of amusement shining through the dark lust in his eyes.

"Gonna make ya see stars."

"Is this the 'Abandoned Partners' support meeting?" called Tahlia as she let herself into Aaron and Eric's house the following morning.

"Tahly! Thank God you're here!" Eric appeared in the entrance hall and caught her arm, ushering her towards the lounge. "You're just in time to help settle a debate. Was Julia Roberts' best work 'Steel Magnolias' or 'Pretty Woman'?"

"Hands down, 'Steel Magnolias'!" declared Aaron from his prone position on the couch.

"Pfft! Richard and Julia were dreamy together and 'Pretty Woman' is a classic! That necklace scene where he snaps the box shut?!" Eric held his hand out and snatched it back, then did a very convincing impression of Julia's hearty laugh of surprise.

Tahlia was staring at Aaron, her face cloudy with confusion.

"Tahly!" Eric nudged her. "Which one?!"

"Oh!" She shot a glance at him. "Um… neither. It's got to be 'Mystic Pizza'."

At that, Eric propped a hand on his hip and threw the other in the air before slapping his palm to his head. "'Mystic Pizza'! How did we not think of that one?! Take a seat, Tahls. We've got a serious discussion on our hands here."

Tahlia let herself be shoved into the armchair, then she pointed at Aaron. "Why are you still here?"

He raised his brows and grinned. "Would you like me to leave?"

"No! Shit, sorry, no, I don't mean like that. No, it's… Daryl told me that he was heading out again for three days. He left a couple of hours ago. I just assumed it was with you to finish mapping... but…"

"It's not with me." Aaron stated the obvious. "He's probably just gone hunting."

"For three days? He never goes for that long. And you guys only just got back last night. Not sure why he'd need to head out again so soon." Something wasn't quite adding up.

Eric perched on the arm of the chair opposite and shrugged. "What else would he be doing?"

"Shit." Tahlia's eyes widened. "Maybe he's cheating on me. Maybe he's got another girl over in the next settlement!"

Without missing a beat, Eric quipped, "Well, honey, her boobs have got nothing on yours and she's had way too much work done."

Tahlia dissolved into laughter at that, then she ran her hands down her face. "Oh God. I'm not actually worried. At least I don't think I am. Yet. It just kind of feels like something's off. Maybe he just needs some space from me."

"No way." Eric shook his head firmly. "He's mad about you. It can't be that. Right? Aaron!" He swiveled around to his partner. "You've spent the last two weeks with him, has he said anything to you?"

Aaron sat up quickly, suddenly looking put on the spot. "No."

"Well, what do you talk about during all that time?"

"Uh…"

"He must talk about Tahlia."

"Um, yeah a little… never anything bad though. He's not really a big talker."

Eric kept pressing. "So? Has he mentioned anything else? Has he been doing anything weird? Is there another girl?!"

"Oh my God." Aaron jumped to his feet then held his hands up, conciliatory. "Stop. There's no other girl. There's nothing going on. We've been mapping, now he's gone hunting. Nothing more to it. Well... I'm going to head out – check in with Deanna, then do a few other… things." He gave Eric a quick kiss on his way past. "Stop analyzing."

Eric stared after him until he heard the front door close, then he whipped his gaze to Tahlia. "Now that was weird. He definitely knows something."

"You think he's actually going to see Deanna? I mean he hightailed it out of here pretty fast. Seems like he's just trying to avoid the questioning." noted Tahlia, brows raised.

Eric leaned forward dramatically. "He said there's no other girl, but maybe there's a…" His mouth dropped open. "Oh. My. God. Him and Daryl have been spending a lot of time together… you think that they…?!"

Letting out a loud laugh at Eric's implication Tahlia pressed a hand to her cheek, then quickly attempted to don a serious expression. "Well, it can't be a coincidence that they've both just ditched us again today!"

"Right." Eric stood purposefully and beckoned to Tahlia. "To the kitchen for coffee drinking and plan-making on how we're going to destroy Daryl's bike and Aaron's license plate collection for screwing around behind our backs."

"Hell hath no fury!" grinned Tahlia as she followed him. She loved that Eric was so like her – facetious, over the top, everything with a grain of humour, nothing taken too seriously.

"Scratch the coffee!" he then declared theatrically. "This calls for espresso martinis!"

I know, talk talk talk talk. But I promise that all this stuff is (somewhat) relevant for the upcoming chapters and I also promise there's action in the next chapter.