The update came a little late this time but that's because I am currently going through a very large-scale debate on whether or not I want to put in this part of the fanfic, what I had originally been wanting to put in it since the first moment I saw this episode - "Isolation". I might eventually put it in because it is a pretty damn good plot twist but I'm debating on it for many reasons, mainly because I don't know where the series is going to go and it is a pretty all-encompassing plot twist. So, I don't know, I might put it in, but until I fully decide on whether or not I'm going to, the updates might be pretty erratic, just letting you guys know.
This chapter contains the first real lemon of this fanfic, as well as little shedding of tears here and there. Either way, I hope you guys like the chapter :)
NanamiYatsumaki: You are quite welcome :)
HaloHunter89: Okay, what I've been trying to make a point of with Sam, is the fact that while Tessa and Daryl are almost made to be together, that her and Sam are, quite obviously, not. While Daryl (around her, anyway) is smooth and always knows what to say to set the mood or make her feel better or whatever, Sam is, quite obviously, awkward and doesn't know what the Hell to do. I think I'm portraying that quite well, judging from your reviews ;) I also do plan on having a heart-to-heart between Sam and Ethan, which might come next chapter, so yeah, look forward to that :)
Luv ya guys bunches!
- Nagiana
"Rick . . .!"
"Holy shit . . .!"
"And you found them like this?" Rick asked the completely motionless Tyrese, ignoring both Tessa's wide-eyed comment and Daryl's shocked one. Tyrese had his broad back to them, eyes boring holes into the charred, smoking remains of Karen and David lying on the concrete before them and Tessa placed her hands to her mouth as her eyes immediately welled up with tears. Daryl noticed and immediately took her in his arms, shushing her as Rick continued to devote his attention onto the frighteningly still Tyrese.
Finally he turned his head briefly to glance at him before turning them back onto Karen. "I came to see her . . ." He told them, his voice quiet and shaky. "Then I saw the blood on the floor. I followed it and found . . . found this! I smelled them before I even came up on them." He shook his head, his lips pursing as his body started trembling ever-so-slightly in anger. "Someone dragged them out here and then set them on fire! They killed them and then set them on fire! What kind of psycho does that?"
There was silence for a moment before Tyrese suddenly rounded on Rick and took a few angry steps towards him. Rick immediately backed up as Daryl quickly handed Tessa off to Carol standing nearby as he took a hovering stance behind him, ready to yank him off or away from Rick should the need arise. Tessa had calmed down and the tears had dried up (they never lingered long anymore) but she still couldn't look at the bodies – at the body of her friend. Every time she felt her eyes being pulled in that direction, she closed them. She already had too many nightmares – she didn't need another vision to add to the semi-nightly slideshow.
"You're a cop," Tyrese reminded him, forcing himself to keep his voice level and diplomatic when quite clearly all he wanted to do was rage. "You find out who did this and you bring them to me, you understand – you bring them to me!"
"Hey, come on man, we'll find out who burned 'em -" Daryl spoke up, his voice calm and soothing as he placed a hand on his shoulder but Tyrese roughly pushed him away, his eyes never once leaving Rick's.
"Do I need to say it again?"
"No," Rick told him as he shook his head and took a step towards him. "No . . . no, I get what you're feeling, I really do. I've been there – you saw me there! It's dangerous -!"
"Karen didn't deserve this!" Tyrese interrupted him, his anger quite clearly almost hitting the breaking point. However, Tessa couldn't help but agree with him. The short time she had known her, she had liked Karen. She found her real – none of that phony bullshit that people constantly tried to hand you in this new world. She hadn't deserved what had killed her.
"David didn't deserve it – nobody does!"
"Alright man, come on, tha's enough -!"
"Nah, it ain't!"
"DARYL!"
Carol quickly grabbed ahold of Tessa as Tyrese wheeled around, grabbed Daryl by the scruff of his shirt and then slammed him up against the nearby gate. Rick immediately ran to them, prepared to yank him off, but Daryl held out a hand to him, making him freeze in his tracks. He shot Tessa a comforting look as well and she calmed down, but only slightly. She still retained the wide-eyed look of fright, as well as a tensed body that strained at the strong grip that Carol's had on her arms, but at least she stopped trying to make her way to them.
Daryl turned his eyes onto Tyrese then and immediately, the first thought that popped into his head was that he was currently being held at the throat by a bull seeing red. Hell, he even looked like a bull at that moment. Enraged – eyes seeing only the man he was holding in front of him and steam practically billowing out his nose – right at that moment, the man was one Hell of a force to be reckoned with. And quite frankly, he was a force that Daryl had no intention of messing with.
"We're on tha same side, man!" Daryl told him, his voice firm and still soothing, like he was talking down an enraged or scared horse ready to either bolt or run you down. An awkward, dangerous silence immediately descended upon them and Tessa felt her heart thrum like a wire in her chest as she watched the scene before her, her hands tightening like a vice on Carol's arms. Right then, Carol's grip on her was the only thing keeping her from either falling to the ground or lunging at them and trying to pull Tyrese off her man.
"Look, I know what you're going through," Rick eventually spoke, trying desperately to diffuse the situation. "We've all lost someone we love -"
"Tyrese please . . . let him go." Tessa interrupted him, her tone pleading as she shook her head. "Whatever rage you're feeling, please, don't take it out on him. He's not the one who deserves it!" She swallowed hard. "Tyrese, Karen would want you to take your anger out on the one who did this to her, not the one man in this prison who has children he has to look after, you know that!"
At the soothing sound of Karen's name being released from her lips, Daryl immediately felt Tyrese calm down. His grip on his shirt relaxed considerably and Daryl automatically let out a breath of relief, thankful that Tessa had been there to talk him down.
Rick nodded in agreement. "Look, we all know what you're going through, you just . . . you gotta calm down -"
And of course, Rick had to do the wrong damn thing by touching him.
"You step the Hell back from me!" Tyrese roared as he whirled around, shoving him away as he did so, all his anger rushing back with the speed of light. Carol immediately let go of Tessa and she pulled Daryl into her arms as Carol stepped towards the two men, hands outstretched to both of them.
Rick stood there for a minute before shaking his head. "She wouldn't want you to be like this, man -"
BAM.
Tessa winced as Tyrese's fist collided roughly with Rick's cheek and the man hit the cold concrete, letting out an 'oof' of pain when his elbows roughly collided with the hard surface. Tessa froze, her eyes growing wide at the scene rapidly unfolding before them and she felt Daryl freeze as well for a moment, the both of them amazed at how quickly things had unraveled. Carol was darting back and forth between the two men screaming for them to stop but yet afraid of getting caught between them.
Rick sat up and Tyrese's fist collided with the other side of his face, making him hit the floor again. It was then that Daryl shook his head. "Oh Hell no – I'm tha only one tha can punch tha' sumbitch - babydoll, stay here."
"Daryl, what the Hell – DARYL!"
Tessa's eyes grew even wider as she watched as Daryl wrapped his arms around the raging Tyrese and with a firm yank, ripped him off of Rick. He pulled him away with a strength that surprised even him, as Tessa darted over to Rick and slowly helped him to his feet. He told her he was fine with a calm, if not slightly sick sounding voice and she nodded. However, when he then lunged at Tyrese, his fist hitting the side of his jaw with a resounding crack that caused the man to immediately stumble backwards and Daryl to release him and dive out of the way before he got hurt, was when things really took a turn.
"Baby, you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine – Rick!"
Daryl quickly darted out of Tessa's grasp as Rick started pounding his fist into the man's face and showed no signs of stopping.
"Rick -!"
"Get offa me!" He roared and Daryl shook his head as he yanked him off of Tyrese, the man lying there dazed.
"No, Rick, stop! I think he gets tha picture!" Daryl grunted as he wrapped an arm around his collarbone and hefted him to his feet. He stumbled backwards with Rick in his grasp. Good Lord was he going to be sore in the morning!
Rick almost immediately pushed him away and Carol and Tessa continued to stand there, frozen in horror, their hands in front of their mouths. Tessa was so frozen in horror, that she hardly noticed it when she felt Daryl move to stand next to her, where he wrapped a shaking arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest. And it was then, as sobs began to tear forth from Tyrese's chest, and as Rick shakily moved to observe his bloody and busted knuckles, that Tessa moved to bury her face in Daryl's chest, where she began praying fervently that she was still sleeping in bed and that this was all just some horrible, horrible nightmare.
But of course, it could only get worse.
"It's spread. Everyone from Cellblock D has it now – Sasha, Caleb, and now others." Hershel informed them at that afternoon's council session, a heavy silence descending upon them after he spoke.
"Jesus . . ." Daryl muttered as he pulled Tessa tighter to him, something that she hardly noticed. She was sitting there beside him, his arm around her while hers were crossed in front of her chest. She was still reeling from the drama of that morning and Hershel's news, didn't exactly make things any better.
Good Lord, when had things started going downhill?
"Well, what do we do?" Carol asked and Hershel nodded.
"First things first: Cellblock A is in isolation – quarantine, if you will. Sick people alone are to be in there – like we tried to do with Karen and David."
"Well what tha Hell are we gonna do 'bout tha others?" Daryl asked and Carol gave a shrug.
"We can have Rick look into it. Maybe make a timeline – who was where, when . . . stuff like that. But I think a more important question would be what are we going to do to stop this?"
"There is no stopping it," Hershel told her gently. "You get it, the only thing you can do is let it run its course."
"But it kills you." Michonne spoke up and Hershel turned around in his seat to gaze at her.
"The illness doesn't, the symptoms do." He corrected her before his eyes fell on Daryl and then Ethan hovering behind his parents. "We need antibiotics." He told them and while Ethan simply nodded, Daryl gave a weak shrug.
"We've been through every pharmacy nearby and then some!" He told him. "We done cleaned 'em out ages ago."
"That veterinary college down at the technical school – they should have what we need. That's one place that people might not have thought to raid for medication. The drugs for animals there are the same we need for people." He told him and Daryl nodded before turning his eyes up to Ethan, who silently nodded in agreement.
"Tha's fifty miles . . ." He reminded him, feeling Tessa stiffen slightly in his arms and Hershel nodded in agreement. His eyes flitted to her but they left when he saw nothing to be alarmed about. "We took a big risk before, we mineaswell take another one. I'll take a group out. Best not waste any more time . . ." He spoke as he got to his feet, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder as he did so, Ethan nodding as he moved to join him. His eyes fell onto Michonne. "You in?"
"Of course." Hershel smiled as he got to his feet as well.
"I know where it is; I'll draw you a map." He told him and Daryl nodded as Tessa finally got to hers.
"When we're out there, it's always tha same. Sooner or later, we run." He told him and Hershel nodded but stopped him as he moved towards the door. His eyes lingered on Tessa's then and her lips pursed as she nodded. Daryl immediately felt his hair stand on end. What the Hell was this about?
"There are other precautions I think we should take," Hershel started out, his eyes moving from all of them. "Tess and I were talking about it and she came up with the idea."
"Came up with what idea?" Daryl asked, his voice gruff and slightly scared, and when he turned his eyes down onto Tessa, he saw her swallow hard.
"The sick have Doctor S taking care of them," She told him. "But what do we do about the children, Daryl? What about the twins and Judith and Wren and the others who aren't sick? What do we do about them?" She asked him before turning to gaze at Hershel, who took over.
"Wouldn't it make sense to separate those who are most vulnerable? We've talked about it - we can use the administration building. They have separate offices, separate rooms . . ." He trailed off and Daryl swallowed hard as he turned his eyes back down onto Tessa.
"Where do ya come in?" He asked her, his voice still gruff and she pursed her lips again as her arms tightened slightly.
"I'm going into the separation with them," She told him and then continued before he could protest. "The sick have Doctor S looking after them; the babies and the children will have no one. Judith will have Beth but she's just a girl, Daryl – she's not a mother! And I don't know about you, but I'm not about to leave the twins alone with someone I don't know and with two girls that I love with all my heart but wouldn't know a thing about taking care of them if something happens," She swallowed hard as she stepped up to him. "Daryl, I need to do this. I'm the only one who can."
Daryl nodded, his movements as stiff as he voice was when he finally spoke. "Yeah, ya might be tha only one who can, but tha' doesn' mean ya should!"
"Daryl, I don't know why you're stressing so bad about this!" She told him later that afternoon as she got her things packed for the quarantine, and Daryl let out a bark of laugh as he continued pacing the same strip of floor in front of her, that he had been for the past five minutes.
"Oh, let me think – maybe it's 'cause as soon as tha three of ya walk through those doors, I'm not gonna be allowed to see ya 'till this is over unless it's through the damn glass window of a door!" He told her, a tad snappishly, before shaking his head. "I'm not gonna be able to hold ya, I'm not gonna be able to hold my kids! I won' even be able to touch ya guys!" He swallowed hard and stopped pacing for a minute, where he turned to her, his eyes pained and slightly fearful as he rubbed at his mouth with his fingers. "What if somethin' happens to one of ya, Tess? What if one ya gets sick and die before I get back and I never get to say goodbye? What if . . . what if one of ya gets sick and tha antibiotics don' work? I don' . . . I don' think I'd be able to handle tellin' ya goodbye through a pane of glass!"
Tessa swallowed hard as she reached her hand out to him. However, he sidestepped her easily and she turned a pleading look up to him instead. "Daryl, honey, come -"
"Do ya know how scared I've been since this whole thing started, Tess?" He asked her, interrupting her mid-sentence. He felt tears well up in his eyes but fought tooth and nail to keep them back. "Virus' have a tendency to take ahold of kids and . . . and Danny and Aayla, they're babies, Tess! It'd be so easy for 'em to get sick and then ya would too, 'cause I know ya, Tess, and ya would refuse to leave 'em – ya'd try ya best to take care of 'em! And I don' . . . I don' think I could handle . . ." He shook his head and stopped for a moment, getting himself back under control before he spoke again. "Tess, I would kill anyone who tried to keep me from holdin' ya as ya died. I swear to God, I would kill anyone who tried to hold me back from holdin' one of my twins or Ethan as they died! I would gladly risk gettin' sick if it meant that I would die knowin' tha' ya didn' die alone – tha' I didn' let ya die alone."
"Daryl, honey, I haven't been exposed and the twins and Ethan haven't been either," She told him, her voice low and soothing as she stood and moved over to him. She gazed at him pointedly as her hands curled around his sides. "We'll be going into quarantine completely healthy and contamination free – so will Wren and Beth and Judith. And Hershel won't let anyone else in with us, who he is not completely sure hasn't been exposed either, you know that!" She shook her head, her eyes wide and pleading. "I'm not going to die, Daryl – no one is going to die! You're going to come back with these meds with Michonne and the others, and everyone is going to get better and then things will return to normal – you know this!"
He swallowed hard. "All ya goin' to have in way of protection, is Carl," He told her before shaking his head. "I don' like tha' either, Tess! Kid's got a trigger finger itchier than a fuckin' wool sweater and what if somethin' happens – what if somethin' happens and no one is there to keep him back?" He shook his head. "Tess, I'm not fine with this at all!"
"Carl listens to me, Daryl," She told him, her voice firm. "He'll listen to what I say – it's no big deal! And besides, I'll have Beth and Wren with me too – I won't be alone!" She gave him another pleading look. "Look, Daryl, one of us needs to be with the twins, and if you're going out and bringing back the one thing that could save our lives, then I need to be with them as a mother until then!" She shook her head as she reached up and curled a hand around his cheek. "I'm not going to die, Daryl. Danny isn't going to die and Aayla isn't going to die, either, and neither is Ethan. I promise." She told him and Daryl shook his head.
"How can you promise such a thing, Tess?" He asked her as his hand moved up to cup her cheek as well. "How can you dare to promise me like that?"
Tessa swallowed heavily. "Because, right now, Daryl, you're running on nothing but promises." She told him before she dragged him down to her, her voice ending in a whisper the split second before his lips met hers. Their kiss was slow and deep, their tongues touching but not fully entering the other's mouths and it took him a minute to respond to what she was asking him to do but when he did, his arms wrapped around her waist and he brought her closer to him in a tight, lingering embrace. God only knew when they would be able to do this again.
Somehow, Tessa managed to clear her mind of anything remotely poisoning, as Daryl gently pressed her backwards until she was lying on the bunk underneath them, his hard, leanly muscular body pressing her so deliciously into the mattress as his legs moved to frame hers between his.
Lips swollen and begging for more, she gazed up him, her still eyes peering up at him, dark from underneath thick black eyelashes and he couldn't help but lean down and kiss her again as he slipped the clothes from her body - the articles moving to fall silently to the floor beside the bunk. Afterwards, he sat up on his knees before her and she closed her eyes, allowing herself to be washed up in the sensation of his hands running reverently over her body. His eyes darkened as they ran along the smooth expanse of olive-colored flesh stretched out before him, shining against the stark white bedsheets beneath them like a beacon. They ran over the smooth swell of her hips (the voluptuous swell that he loved so much) and the smooth plain of her stomach that eventually gave way to the part of her that had housed and then shaped and crafted all three of his children for nine long months, before they eventually reached the smooth mounds of her breasts. And when one of his hands moved up her collarbone to gently cup her jaw, his fingers moving into the silken strands of her blue-black hair as his thumb lightly traced her bottom lip, she finally opened her eyes and he felt his breath catch in his throat and his heart to hammer away in his chest.
"God, you're so beautiful, Tess . . . !" He couldn't help but breathlessly whisper, his voice filled with awe, and she couldn't help but grin and released a sigh and arched her back underneath his callused fingers, pushing more of herself into him as the callused hands continued to lazily peruse her body.
"I bet you tell that to every woman you sleep with, Daryl!" She teased him and he replied with a grin as a callused thumb ran over and played with one hardened nipple as his other hand cupped her hip, pulling her into him. She couldn't help but let out another small moan as she reached up and began undoing the buttons to his shirt, his hands flying up to help her seconds later upon slipping the leather vest from his shoulders.
"Naw, I've only told tha' to jus' ya, Tess." He told her with a wink, and she grinned, although truth be told, she had hardly heard him. Her gaze was full of a kneeling Daryl before her as they slowly divested him of his clothing, which eventually gave way to the sight of his well-built, scarred, tattooed chest. She sat up and her lips connected with his sternum. He let out a slight moan when she cupped him through his pants and rubbed. It was a motion that immediately caused any lingering amounts of blood that was still in his head, to rush down to where she was holding him, where he swelled even more.
His nimble fingers undid the customary clip holding up her hair, where the wealth of her dark waves wasted no time in spilling free, where they tumbled around her shoulders as she proceeded to undo the button and fly of his jeans. She pulled them open seconds later, allowing his member to spring free - hard, thick and duskily beautiful in the afternoon light spilling into the room. The skin that was stretched taut over a lean, hard musculature in front of her was completely Daryl – sweat, the ever-so-slight fruitiness of the cheap perfume she used and which managed to coat every single thing they owned, and the harsh but not completely overpowering scent of the soap they used in the shower. And the hand that buried gently in her hair and tilted her head back slightly to gaze up at him was callused and hard – a touch she knew she would never be able to live without again.
The eyes that gleamed in the darkness above her as her heart continued to pound against her chest and as she held his unwavering gaze, was Daryl's comforting blue gaze – the eyes that every single one of their children had inherited (and thank God too, for what a beautiful blue they were!). She forced her mind to fall silent and to stop its incessant chatter as, slowly, she took him into her mouth, his cock head disappearing seconds later in-between her lips. He immediately sucked in a harsh breath and closed his eyes as his head fell backwards against his shoulders. He let out a groan as he felt her hands skim up his sides, only to eventually settle on the outsides of his thighs. His hand fisted gently in her hair as she closed her eyes and paused when his tip reached the back of her throat, where a low hum soon vibrated from deep within her.
"Good Lord, Tess, ya blow ma mind whenever ya do tha'!" He grinned breathlessly, and she grinned and laughed too upon releasing him. He was still hard - his cock throbbing, in fact - but she continued to grin as she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him over and backwards. He fell onto his back amidst the soft covers of the bed and she climbed on top of him moments later, her hands moving to rest on his well-built chest. His hands fell onto her thighs . . . she was poised so temptingly over him so that he was only brushing at her entrance and he swallowed hard at the sight . . .
He tensed slightly underneath her palms, wanting so desperately to just thrust forward and bury himself inside her wet heat. He was straining and practically begging to do so, but he also knew from the look in her eyes that she wouldn't allow him to. He was trapped for the moment, and damned if he didn't know it!
Quickly, before it could get to him too bad, she lowered herself down onto him and stayed there for a moment, holding herself in place and her chest heaving, her body as flushed as his eyes were wild with want. Her hands slid along his chest as she angled herself just right on him - adjusting her position until she had him just where she wanted him to be. Her breasts just brushed his chest as she began moving again.
It felt amazing! His breathing started to come faster and faster as she moved, his hands on her hips setting the friction between their bodies to a deliciously heightened point. He felt a tightness gathering as he got closer and closer to the edge and he was nearly there when she suddenly stopped. Immediately, Daryl let out an irritated growl, his eyes adopting an ever-so-slight look of anger. He tried to move his hips, but the surprisingly strong, petite woman on top of him wouldn't budge. She held herself in place, tension visible in every line of her body.
"It's your turn, Mr. Dixon . . ." She breathed out, her eyes filled with amusement, but yet as feral and wild with want and need as his were. Daryl immediately gave her one of his customary wolfish grins, his overwhelming need to hit his peak temporarily gone. He then placed a biting kiss on the nape of her neck as he wrapped his arms around her and flipped their positions so that he had her pinned against the bed underneath him again. Taking his sweet time, it wasn't long until he himself had kissed down to the dark curls at the apex of her thighs. His need and now painfully throbbing cock clashed violently with what he now wanted to do, and he struggled with himself – and with his self-control - as he parted her thighs.
His first lick was firm as he just simply stroked her outer lips with his tongue and she made a new sound, one that he had never heard come from a woman before – a sound he had never heard come from her before - and it made him almost grin again. The next time, he slid the flat of his tongue along the entire length of her and Tessa immediately made another sound – a strangled moan that told him she was clearly enjoying this.
After that one strangled moan, he decided that he had no intention of stopping, his need for release be damned.
He teased the sensitive bud with the tip of his tongue until her breath was coming fast and hard again and until her moans turned more desperate. Tessa's hands were fisting in his hair, her fingers clenching tight around the dark brown strands, holding them there as firmly as his hands were holding her thighs apart.
She gasped as he licked harder, savoring the unique taste of her. "Oh God, Daryl, baby, please . . .!" She whimpered but he kept going, his tongue moving a little faster, a little harder and firmer. She was nearly there – right on the brink - when he suddenly stopped and drew back with one dark chuckle.
His confidently cocky eyes held her angry ones as he quickly positioned himself at her entrance, knowing that if he didn't do something fast to alleviate the feeling inside her, then there was most probably a slap in his immediate future, and not a good slap, either.
She had just but one moment to prepare herself before Daryl slid home, successfully eradicating everything from her mind. It felt amazing – so damn incredible that the both of them couldn't even begin to describe it. He drew back and thrust again and again, which earned small sounds of approval from Tessa with every powerful thrust that he gave her. She was wonderfully responsive as she writhed beneath him and for a moment, that sight alone was better than the sex.
He had been teased by her so much that he knew he couldn't keep this up for long. He slid a hand between them, stroking that small neglected bud right above where they were connected so intimately, and that was all it took. Her groans entered into an immediate crescendo, culminating in a strangled cry of his name that, when combined with the tightening and clenching around him, was enough to push him over the edge as well.
Their bodies spasmed in a rhythm all their own against each other, and, for just a second, there was not Daryl nor Tessa, but a moaning, cursing (Daryl) chorus of ecstasy.
He came in Tessa and held himself there for a moment so that he could enjoy the sensation, as his hips quaked against hers. Eventually, he withdrew and collapsed onto the bunk beside her, his chest heaving as his breathing tore ragged from his chest.
Eventually, when the both of them had rested long enough for their breathing to return to normal, Tessa sat up and straddled him, her face strangely calm and expressionless. "Sit up for a minute, will ya?" She asked him, her voice slightly stiff, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but nodded and did as he was told nonetheless. He sat up, where he moved to lean back on his hands on the bunk. He then watched as she reached around behind her to undo something around her neck. His eyes grew wide with shock when she eventually brought into view the glossy wooden pendant that had hung around her neck from the very second they had been reunited – the pendant that she had worn since the day they first met in highschool.
It was the pendant that had belonged to her now long deceased but very beloved grandmother.
Silently, she clasped it around his neck and he shook his head as she pulled away slightly to watch as it fell a little way beneath the horseshow indentation of his collarbone. Eventually, her eyes met his and he shook his head again. "Tess, babydoll, no, this is ya grandma's -!"
"Yes, I know that," She interrupted him calmly, levelly. "But I want you to come home. No matter what happens, I want you to come back and I don't doubt that you will! However, we also need to realize that, baby . . . things are bad right now and they're only gonna get worse before they get any better. And if you don't . . ." She trailed off then and closed her eyes as tears appeared in her eyes. She then opened them a few seconds later, when she felt she had regained control of herself, where she continued: "Then I want you to die with a piece of me with you. I have this necklace you got me back on the farm, and I have your children – I have a piece of you in Danny and Aayla and Ethan, Daryl – I always will, but you . . . you don't have anything of me. And I think that this more than fits that criterion."
Daryl gazed at her for a moment before he slowly nodded. She gave him a grateful, tearful smile as she cupped his cheek and when he pulled her close to plant a loving kiss on her lips, he tasted the salt from the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. And when she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck as her legs stretched out on the bed behind them, he felt the sobs as they came – for the first time in so long.
He sat there and held her as she sobbed – as she let out every fear and worry and heartache that had plagued her since the farm. He didn't cry, though, he couldn't cry, but he did allow himself to bury his face in her hair as a few tears did manage to escape from his eyes. He knew the only time he would ever fully cry would be if he held her – or Ethan or Danny or Aayla – as she died and he prayed that, that would never, ever come.
