.oOo.
"You knew," the deep voice startled Diana, causing her aim to deviate and the arrow to misfire.
She dropped her bow arm back to her side and turned to see Rick approach her and Daryl where they had been target-practicing in comfortable, concentrated silence. "Knew what?" she asked hesitantly; his ominous phrasing made her anxious.
Rick eyed Daryl, who had come to stand next to her with crossed arms, biceps bulging; a sight that made her heart flutter. A mutual look of comradery was shared between the men, and Rick confided in them, "Lori's condition. Her… pregnancy." He didn't sound upset with her, just vaguely neutral as if he wasn't yet sure how to feel about the news.
"Oh." Diana tilted her head apologetically at Daryl's raised brow. "Yeah, she told me about it, and that she planned to follow through with it, even though I told her it wasn't a good idea."
"You did what?" Rick stepped forward, not threateningly but somewhat dazed.
The movement still caused Diana to take a step back and Daryl to put out a hand on Rick's shoulder. "Yes, I told her to terminate it," she told the man confidently to make up for her show of weakness. "And I would tell her again, honestly. This isn't the time for pregnant women and newborn babies. Plus, Carl's birth was already a complicated one, she's only endangering herself. But God forbid I mention something as offensive as abortion."
Rick's eyes were devoid of emotion as he sat on one of the crates that had aided Diana and Glenn's ascent into the barn.
Daryl and Diana shared an inquisitive look and shrugged at one another. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't read him at all. "Uhm, you okay, buddy?"
That seemed to snap Rick out of it, and he blinked up at them, rubbing at his forehead. "Carl, he uh- when he was- Lori said this world's too cruel for children, that maybe it would be better if he…" he trailed off with a watery voice and narrowed eyes into the distance. "And now this…"
Diana's broken filter acted up, "What the fuckening." She covered her mouth with a tiny gasp as soon as she said it. "I- I mean, this is a marital thing, I really shouldn't comment." She didn't want to become the catalyst for the first apocalyptic divorce, and she didn't want to invest in other people's interpersonal problems as much, as it usually came back to bite her in the ass. "But she's quite the hypocrite, lemme tell you that."
"Hate to break up the pity party," Daryl interrupted, "but with Lori pregnant, don't that mean ol' Greene might look deep into his bitter heart and find it in him to let us stay a while longer? He don't seem like the type to send away a pregnant woman but I been wrong before."
Diana's brows raised and she snapped her fingers and pointed at Daryl, agreeing with his observation. She wanted to kiss him just for that, but then again, she wanted to kiss him most of the time…
She must've stared for too long, because the man in question furrowed his brow at her curiously, making her blink and turn back to Rick with a thumping heart and heat rising to her cheeks. She made sure to turn her face from him so he wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing her blush.
"Not a bad idea," Diana commented, "but… he's gonna resent us big time." She felt absolutely no shame in using Lori's poorly timed pregnancy as an excuse to prolong their stay. But if Hershel agreed to it, how long would the two parties have to tiptoe around each other, and how long after Lori gave birth would he be willing to provide them shelter? If he said yes to a pregnant Lori, Diana didn't see him saying no to a newborn baby, which meant an unpredictably extended stay. All the while, Hershel and his people might resent them for the emotional blackmail and abuse of his goodwill after all that happened.
Or the other variation would be that they would be charmed by the possibility of helping to bring a baby to the world despite its decrepit state, and would be more than willing to be part of that experience.
Diana didn't know the Greenes well enough to estimate the odds.
"It's worth a try," Rick offered, pushing off the crate. He seemed more than glad to approach this new angle instead of focusing on how his wife had suggested letting their son perish from his totally treatable wounds while deciding that bringing a newborn baby to this world was an entirely plausible idea.
Diana sort of pitied the man; from Cark being shot to his best friend (who had secretly been screwing his wife) dying to his wife announcing a pregnancy.
…
Inner gasp!
How far along was Lori? She had told Diana of a missing period and a positive pregnancy test, which meant at least two weeks since her last period, which meant that the egg had to have been fertilized before that.
Now… How long ago had she and her husband been reunited?
Diana gave Rick a sidelong glance, sympathy making her heart clench. She didn't want to presume anything or voice her scandalous thoughts to anyone in case she was wrong. And since there was no way for her to find out whether she was right or not, she guessed she would be taking those assumptions to the grave. Mayhaps.
As soon as Rick marched off, Diana pivoted on her heel to Daryl, who had been standing closer than she'd expected and had to steady her by the arms, the bow slipping from her grasp in her shock. The warmth of his palms on her skin gave her a sudden chill, and she walked instinctively closer to him in search of his body heat. She came to stand toe to toe with the man that gave her the weightless feeling of being in a death-defying rollercoaster drop; nausea included, but the good kind of nausea, as weird as the concept was.
His hands relocated to her back and hers went automatically around his waist, bringing them so close together that they felt the other's chest expand with each breath. Diana's mind went blank as her most basic carnal instincts took over like a tidal wave washing over her. She had turned to him with a thought on the tip of her tongue, but it had vanished like cotton candy in one's mouth. Now, she wouldn't mind something else in her mouth. She wondered if Daryl could feel her heart's frantic beat against his own chest as her half-lidded eyes shifted from his parted lips to his equally lustful gaze.
Diana wanted to laugh at her own stupidity. How had she let the veil of naivety blind her so badly? She had been so hellbent on denying her attraction to Daryl simply because he hadn't fit into her preconceived standards when he had his own charm and unconventional good looks that set him apart from anyone she'd ever been attracted to. And she'd been so determined to friendzone herself because she'd never imagined that he could feel interested in her in the same way.
Diana was, indeed, a naïve fool.
But not anymore.
With lethargic anticipation, she closed the space between them and connected their awaiting lips. At first, sweet and hesitant like pink colored dreams, contrary to how she was feeling but the best she could do with her lack of experience. Their lips moved together harmoniously; gone was the awkwardness of that first kiss they'd shared. Diana copied Daryl, learning quickly, adapting to the electrifying sensation running all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes, feeling the blood rush to her head and breathing through her nose just to keep them connected.
Daryl was patient with her, and Diana loved it. His rough hands were on her back, then her neck, then the back of her head, deepening the kiss with a new angle, and Diana let hers roam from his waist up to his chest, grabbing on to his shirt to keep him close, feeling his heart beat as fast as hers.
They separated for a few seconds, their hot breaths mingling together as their eyes burned into one another; his baby blues almost begging her. With a shy grin, Diana walked backward with Daryl's shirt still in her grip until the back of her thighs hit one of the wooden crates, and Daryl didn't hesitate to grab her by the waist and prop her atop it.
Diana pulled him back to her and their mouths crashed together once more, this time messy and aggressive like a forest fire, as her legs wrapped around Daryl's hips and her hands found his hair, digging her fingers in and pulling at the root, making him moan into her mouth as his tongue first made contact with hers; warm and wet and delightfully new. Diana had no brain cells left to think about anything other than his hands on her skin, slipping under her shirt, crawling their way up her spine and giving her shivers, his warm body between her thighs and the heat pooling in her lower abdomen, craving more and more and more.
She moaned when her hips slipped forward and she felt the hard evidence of Daryl's attraction towards her press against her, her legs suddenly feeling boneless and she knew she had to stop before things went any further in the euphoric spur of the moment. Diana broke them apart with ragged panted breaths and her forehead pressed against his, eyes closed in intoxication. The taste of mint lingered in her mouth, and her lips felt swollen when she ran her tongue over them.
With eyes still closed and hands still on each other, their lips found the other's in lazy open-mouthed kisses until Diana's grin and soft giggles broke through the atmosphere, infecting Daryl, and she felt his deep chuckles reverberate in her chest, giving her a giddy joy. Her plump lips touched his once more before she kissed the corner of his mouth, and then his prickly stubbled cheek, making her way to his ear, where she licked and playfully pulled on his earlobe with her teeth while her fingers stroked up and down his nape, feeling him shudder against her with a sharp inhale.
Diana was thriving on this, feeling the bonfire in her chest roar high and run piping hot as she placed her arms around his neck and simply hugged him tightly. She felt Daryl reciprocate silently, his arms steadfast around her torso. "I wish we could stay like this forever," the cliché jumped out, but Diana couldn't even find it in herself to cringe, she was much too elated to care.
"What'd you say?" Daryl whispered, not having understood the Portuguese words.
Diana simply shook her head and moved back to look him in the eye. "That you were cutting off my oxygen supply and I was about to conk out."
"Coulda said something." He gave her a teasing smile as his hand moved on her back in circles soothingly.
Diana felt the endorphins numbing her to a lethargic state of bliss, almost post-orgasmic – which she hadn't felt in a long time. Before her mind could take her further, she said, "Eh, I knew you woulda caught me if that happened."
"Not much of a choice, is it?" Daryl jostled her in his grip, making her realize that she was completely off the crate and being held aloft by her legs around his hips and his arm around her back. "Where did that come from?" he asked softly, his hand caressing her cheek and tucking some wispy curls behind her ear.
"Oh, honey, it's been a long time coming," she teased, her lips curling upward. "And there's a whole-ass arsenal where that came from, so prepare thyself."
They left their target-practicing-turned-make-out-spot with laced hands, paying no mind to the curious glances. Diana had even forgotten all about Rick's predicament and his resolve to introduce Hershel to the new reason to extend his kindness, and at the moment she didn't care.
A dull ache joined the joy surrounding her heart when she thought of her parents, of how all they had ever wanted for her was to see her happy – be that with someone at her side or not – and how she wanted them to be there so she could show them that even though she missed them terribly and would always feel their absence like an arrow in her chest, their wish was slowly coming true.
i,,,, i have excuse for this
pls tell me what you think, i love you all
