Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I recently moved over the weekend so I spent the entirety of last week getting ready for that. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it although there's nothing special going on in it. Its another flashback chapter but takes place between Daryl and Tessa instead of Tessa and Sam, so . . . yeah, have fun :)
There's also a lemon. Not a bad lemon but a decent lemon I suppose lol.
MaddyMarie1212: If you look at the time-span this story takes place over, not really. She suffered a few miscarriages over the course of two years out of the thirteen she was separated from Daryl. Then, she got pregnant at the end of those thirteen years when they were reunited and for the sake of the story, I had to stretch that pregnancy out over nine months. So really, it only "feels" like she's constantly pregnant :)
NanamiYatsumaki: Thanks for the kind words and don't worry, Tess will be fine. That's as much as I can give in lieu of spoilers, though :(
Guest: Thank you SOOO much for the kind words. It always makes me feel good when I hear that people still take the time to read through the insane amount of chapters in TWTTN and then this one as well, let alone then review! Hopefully you'll keep reading and enjoying :)
DarylDixon'sLover: No spoilers. ;)
HaloHunter89: I can't say anything in lieu of spoilers and it kills me because you pretty much ride on the same wavelength I do when it comes to this series. And with Michonne, I knew I wanted someone to step into the best friend place that Lori left when she died and yeah, Maggie is one of her best friends but I still think that Tessa looks at her as a little sister instead of Michonne, where she looks at her more like a best friend because they're closer in age.
"I was a little too tall
Could've used a few pounds
Tight pants points hardly renown
She was a black haired beauty with big dark eyes
And points all her own sitting way up high
Way up firm and high . . ."
- "Night Moves" by Bob Seger
Crickets chirped in the surrounding forest and the bright moonlight lit up the entire barnyard as Tessa gingerly rubbed her arms and continued on her way to the dimly lit, slightly ramshackle barn. Her boots crunched on the dirt and slight gravel ground and her flesh broke out in ever-so-slight gooseflesh as a cooler than normal breeze blew through the Dixon property, shifting her long blue-black hair away from her face and the hem of her short yellow sundress against the middle of her thighs as she moved. She didn't see Will Dixon's faded firetruck red '60 Chevy sitting out front (probably getting shitfaced at JT's as usual) but Daryl's big black Jeep YJ was sitting out beside the barn.
As she drew closer to the ramshackle structure, she started hearing low music come from inside the dimly flickering space. She furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion as she craned her head slightly in order to try and see where the source of the light was coming from. When she didn't find it was the moment she realized that the song playing was Bob Seger's "Night Moves" and immediately knew that it was Daryl's CD in the CD player. Daryl was the only one in his family that listened to something other than country.
Her eyebrows furrowed even more in confusion, though, especially when she found her interest peaked at all this secrecy. What was he planning?
"Daryl, baby, are you in here?" She called when she stepped into the barn moments later, her eyes scanning the square-bale stacked floor of the barn all the while. Daryl replied seconds later:
"Up here, babydoll."
Tessa's eyebrows rose slightly when she gazed up at the creaky ladder leading into the expansive hayloft that she had been in only a handful of times (heights kinda got to her and she had to admit, the hayloft bordered on that height that made her start to feel queasy). But sure enough, the hayloft was where the music and dim lighting was coming from.
"Daryl, what are you planning?" She asked with a grin and a laugh as she took a firm handhold on the ladder and after making sure it wouldn't buckle underneath her weight, started climbing the rickety wooden ladder. He didn't answer her and when she finally climbed up high enough to see over the edge, she knew why. Standing right smack dab in the middle of a cleared space surrounding by golden colored hay (no wonder there had been so many square-bales of hay on the barn floor) stood Daryl, a slightly sheepish look on his face and standing by a sheeted mattress, with the both of them surrounded by lit candles. The CD player was sitting on a nearby haybale and as she stood there for a moment, comprehending what she was seeing, Daryl gave a sheepish shrug.
"I, uh . . ." He nervously cleared his throat. "Ya, uh . . . ya asked me to take ya to tha stars earlier tonight and I, uh . . ." He trailed off and glanced around him at everything he had spent the rest of the day after coming back from his Graduation preparing, before gesturing to it all. "I hope this is good enough . . . private enough, ya know, and-and . . . romantic enough. I mean, I thought it was pretty good but ya might think it's cheesy and-and tha's fine, but -!"
Tessa grinning and letting out a laugh as she immediately cleared the distance between them, a motion that caused him to come to an immediate stuttering halt. "Daryl, it's not cheesy – I think it's amazing!" She gently assured him. "I think you are amazing!"
Daryl gave a laugh as he gingerly rubbed the back of his neck. "Nah, I ain' anythin' special, Tess . . ." He gave another weak shrug. "I jus' don' want this . . . I don' want ya first time to be like any of tha others, ya know? I want it to be special – somethin' tha' ya can always look back on and know tha' it was tha one thing durin' ya highschool years tha' ya didn' make a mistake with!" He shook his head. "Tha' ya didn' make a mistake with me!"
Tessa shook her head in reply, her eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion. "Daryl, how many times do I have to tell you that I will never regret you?" She assured him before a slightly incredulous look appeared on her face. "You're my man and despite whatever my parents say about you or whatever your father says about me – whatever they say about us - you're my devoted redneck and you're always gonna be my devoted redneck! And I love you, Daryl – so much!" He swallowed hard before subtly shaking his head.
"I don' deserve ya, Tess. Ya should be with someone else – someone tha' can give ya what ya deserve in this life!"
"And what is it that you think I deserve in this life, Daryl?" She asked him before shaking her head. "You do to deserve me and your damn right in the fact that you can give me anything and everything I could ever want! All I want is you – all I want is to be with you and to have a family with you - that's all I ever wanted from you since Day One!" She told him firmly, her eyes hard and brooking no argument as she spoke. But then, her hard look dissolved somewhat into a look of amusement as she gave him a small smile. "You hit the jackpot with me, tiger 'cause I don't think any other woman could tolerate her man constantly smelling of squirrel guts and deer piss!"
Daryl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he glanced down at himself. "I, uh . . . I took a shower after I got everythin' set up, so . . ." He trailed off awkwardly and she grinned and rolled her eyes as she reached up and after grasping his neck, pulled him down to her, where she kissed him. Of course they had shared kisses before then and they had even had some pretty hot make-out sessions but never had either of them anticipated the deepness and passion that laced that kiss. It immediately had her moving closer to him while Daryl happily allowed her to, his arms moving to wrap around her frame in a tight embrace.
"Are ya sure ya wanna do this, Tess . . .?" He murmured when they finally broke apart for air, his eyes searching hers as she smiled and nodded.
"I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else, Daryl." She told him and he nodded.
"Well, in case either of us loses our nerve, I nicked this from ma old man . . ." He replied, trailing off when he brought the bottle of Maker's Mark into view and Tessa gave a laugh as she took it from him.
"You know he's gonna tan your hide when he sees this is missing, right?" She told him and he nodded.
"Oh most definitely, but . . . tonight, I figured, was gonna make it totally worth it!"
"It is, is it?" She asked him grinningly and he nodded as he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. She could feel him relaxing and getting used to the situation they found themselves in and when she thought she had summoned up enough courage, she reluctantly pulled away from him. She gently took the bottle from him and sat it down by the nearby mattress before pressing another heated, but much slower kiss to his lips. He returned it for a moment, feeling her slowly move him backwards all the while and blindly allowing her to. Finally, she pulled away from him, only to gently push him down on the mattress behind him, an action that caused Daryl to shoot her a slightly confused look as soon as he hit the soft surface. She simply smiled in return and took a few steps backwards, where she reached behind her and took a hold of the zipper at the back of her dress.
Daryl never thought his heart found itself pounding so hard in his life.
She slowly unzipped the dress and as she hooked her fingers into the thin spaghetti straps and pulled them down, allowing the thin clothe to pool around her feet seconds later, he felt his breathing start to pull ragged from his lungs. It took him a moment too, to realize that his hands had been white-knuckling the sheets and when she noticed, she gave a laugh.
"Breathe, Daryl!"
"Easy for ya to say . . . ya ain' lookin' at what I'm lookin' at right now!" He told her, his voice low and almost far-away as his eyes continued to run languorously over the body that he had been waiting so long to see in all its nude glory – at her curvy figure glad in a simple black bra and jean shorts and the way her dark skin seemed to shine off of the dull light from the surrounding candles.
"She was a black haired beauty with big dark eyes . . ."
Daryl arched a brow. "See, even Bob thinks so!" He quipped and Tessa gave another laugh, as well as a roll of her eyes, as she finished taking off her boots before moving over to him. He could still see the blush that burned a fiery trail across her cheeks, though, and simply grinned as she moved to crawl over his body, her legs moving to straddle his hips.
"You, Daryl Dixon, are way too overdressed for this party." She told him and he fought to keep his grin from growing any bigger.
"Am I now?" He asked and she nodded solemnly. "Ya care to help me with tha'?"
She grinned then and nodded as she leaned forward and kissed him, her fingers sliding through his hair to hold him close. "I'll be glad to . . ."
Their lips connected again as her fingers began working at the buttons on his shirt and when she finally had them undone and slid the fabric from his body, where she threw it away from them. He had quickly undone her bra too and the black fabric joined his shirt seconds later. It was when he flipped them over, pulling her underneath him as they went. Before she even knew it, his hands and lips had descended onto her breasts as he settled in-between her legs and she let out a moan at the feeling of his mouth encircling one of her nipples, his tongue tracing it and creating strange patterns along the pebbling flesh as his hand gently massaged the other.
His lips left her then and continued with the same white-hot trail, down her stomach to the button and fly of her shorts. He sat up at this obstacle, allowing his hands to fall onto the steel and clothe, and he quirked an eyebrow in her direction for permission. After swallowing heavily, she nodded and he made quick work of the shorts, the denim going over the side of the bed to join the rest of the growing pile of clothes. His fingers hooked into the sides of her panties and he drew those slowly down her legs too, his cock hardening at the scent and sight of her. When her hands moved to undo his belt, they were shaking so hard, she could barely get the leather out of the first belt loop and Daryl grinned a little as he watched her. Seemed Tessa was more nervous than she wanted him to think.
"Tess, ya, uh . . . ya want me to do it?" He asked her and she nodded as she withdrew her hands, allowing them to fall on the pillow above her head, cocking at angles when they landed. She watched with bated breath as he undid the belt, button and fly to his jeans, revealing his tinting boxers. She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath as the jeans and boxers joined the rest of their clothes on the hard floor, and when she opened them, he was as naked as she was. Inquisitively, she reached out a hand and ran a finger down the silky flesh of his cock, watching intently as he closed his eyes and sucked in a harsh breath at the feeling, his cock jumping underneath her hand as she timidly started stroking him. He grew harder and harder underneath her touch and when he grew close to his peak, he gently grasped her wrist and pried her hand off of him, not wanting his fun to be over with before hers had even began. He could tell by her curious, slightly timid look that she was confused as to why he would make her stop. He grinned and shook his head as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"This is ya time, Tess . . . I don' matter!" He told her and she nodded slowly, although he still saw the skeptical look in her eyes as he kissed his way down her body again, ending his journey at her core. She jumped at the feeling of his tongue probing her and her back arched off of the bed and she let out a grunt/moan as he carefully inserted a finger into her, his tongue flicking at her small bundle of nerves to negate the bolts of tiny pain that flickered through her body. Pretty soon he had her writhing and moaning on the bed, her eyes closed with her pleasure and her fingers smoothing through his chocolate brown locks as she begged him for more.
When he brought her to her peak for the first time, the world itself seemed to quake and tremble around them. He crawled up her body as she lay there recovering from her orgasm, and he smiled down at her and let her rest for a moment. It was better for her to rest and savor it . . . this next part would be somewhat grueling.
When he was sure she was somewhat recovered enough for them to continue, he settled between her legs again, bracing himself on his forearms on the bed. Her hands settled awkwardly on his sides and he turned his eyes down onto her. "This . . . might hurt." He told her bluntly and a little hesitantly at realizing that he did not know how else to put it and she nodded.
"I know, jus' . . . go slow, okay?" She asked him with a hard swallow, and he smiled reassuringly – wondering how the Hell she could be brave enough to put so much damn faith in him - and leaned down, where he pressed his lips to her as he entered her slowly and as gently as he could. His mouth swallowed her grunts of pain as she stiffened and arched off of the bed, her entire body rigid with the pain that tore throughout her entire body. He stopped for a moment to allow her to adjust to him and to kiss away the tears that slid down her cheeks from underneath her beautifully thin, closed eyelids. Her nails were buried into the skin at his sides but he felt them slowly retract as she adjusted to the foreign organ buried inside her and when she felt sure she could continue, she slowly nodded her head.
When he started moving after that, it felt like heaven.
The pain was quickly replaced with pleasure and soon, she was clinging to him, her legs wrapping around his waist as he moved rhythmically within her, on top of her - with her. His mouth sought out her lips, the flesh of her neck and collarbone and eventually settled on her breast again as his fingers wormed in-between their tightly clasped bodies and teased her, quickly bringing her closer to her peak for the second time that night. He wasn't going to last long now and he wanted to come with her. He wanted to see the look in her eyes as she came around him, with him . . .
And then it was happening. Her inner muscles were rippling around him, milking him as he reached his peak with her, the both of them hitting the Milky Way against a cacophony of moans before they gently floating back down in each other's arms. They saw stars behind their closed eyelids when they closed them and as they lay there for a moment catching their breath. Suddenly, a similar dopey grin spread across both their faces and they dissolved into a fit of laughter, Tessa's lips landing on his in a romantic, loving kiss.
"Insert total cheesy cliché line here . . ." He muttered when they broke apart and she gave another laugh as she reached over him and picked up the bottle of Maker's Mark. As she did so, they heard the crunch of tires on gravel and she immediately felt her man tense beside her. There was only one person that could be, especially at this hour, but he relaxed when the sounds of high-pitched, flirtatious laughter could be heard along with Will Dixon's own gruffer, deeper chuckles. Daryl shook his head. "Looks like I'm good 'til tomorrow . . ." He muttered and Tessa smiled a small smile.
"Hope your night just didn't get ruined . . ." She replied and Daryl gave her a soft smile and a shake of his head as his hand curled around her hip to bring her closer to him.
"Nah, don' worry . . . nothin' could ruin this night, babydoll . . ."
"Woke last night to tha sound of thunder . . ."
It took Michonne a moment to realize that the low singing she heard was coming from Daryl sitting beside her in the passenger's seat, observing the stone he had snatched up for one of the other group members and completely submerged in his own thoughts. She glanced behind her at Ethan, only to see him gazing at his father with a look of slight interest and confusion on his face.
"How far off I sat and wondered . . . started hummin' a song from 1962 . . ."
"Finally lost it, deddy?" Ethan grinned and Daryl slowly shook his head. It took him a moment to realize that the low music coming in from the car's CD player, was the very same song he had been singing along to. He glanced back at him and shook his head again.
"Naw, I'm good, I jus' . . ." He gave a shrug. "Song takes me back, ya know?" They all nodded as Ethan nodded towards the radio.
"What is it?"
"Ya shittin' me? Ya never grew up listenin' to Bob Seger?" He asked him, shock immediately finding a home on his face and Ethan gave a little half-shrug, half nod combination. Daryl sat there gazing at him in shock for a few moments longer until he realized that of course Tessa never would have listening to Bob Seger with him. That was their band – "Night Moves" and "Against the Wind" were their songs! If she was trying to make his memory easier for her to handle, then of course she wouldn't have listened to him with their son.
Still didn't make it right, though. Being a rock fan and not listening to Bob Seger was almost sacrilegious if you asked Daryl.
Daryl shook his head. "It's Bob Seger's "Night Moves". It's one of me and ya momma's songs." He told him simply and Ethan nodded as Michonne glanced at him.
"How bad do you think it's gonna be when we finally get back?" She asked him and Daryl gave a shrug.
"Hopefully not too bad, but ya never know . . ." Michonne nodded in agreement.
"So . . . I'm not the only one -?"
"Who feels like tha shit has hit tha fan while we've been gone?" He interrupted her and she nodded. He pursed his lips and nodded as well.
"No, ya not . . . I'm jus' tryin' not to think 'bout it . . ."
