The week and a half that Daryl was gone was rough. Despite the careful rationing of his food, he still ran out after day five. Just to keep going Daryl had to hunt for his own food on top of track and continue his search for bigger game. When it reached a week Daryl considered calling it quits. Considered going back without anything. He could gather enough squirrels and rabbits to make his failure less painful. He considered it but the thought of everyone's growling stomach. Of the desperation on Rick's face, those images drove him onward. He was a Dixon after all.
"Dixon's don' give up." He mumbled to himself and pulled his vest around him tighter. Being in the house for so long made Daryl feel like he was losing his edge. The cold felt sharper than normal. Sleeping in trees was harder than when he was a child. "Gettin' old." Daryl grumbled under his breath. It had been a long time since he'd slept in a tree. It was skill he had picked up from childhood, one of the few talents he had that Merle didn't have or couldn't do better than him. Even when they were children Merle was bigger and more solidly built than Daryl. Daryl had always been smaller and nimbler than his brother. That difference made it possible for Daryl to climb high into the trees and create a nook for him to sleep in, safe for the night. It was how he often escaped from his father's wrath when he was younger.
But unlike Merle who had to rope himself into the tree otherwise he'd fall out. Daryl required no safety net. Never needed one. No matter how many nights he slept in the trees he never fell out. As a child he preferred sleeping in the trees. The noises of the woods kept him relaxed and the trees were safe from his father. The trees were a safe hiding place from reality at least for a few hours. However, once his father realized what he was doing, sleeping in the trees became harder. He nailed his window shut and locked Daryl in his room at night. He had been fourteen when that happened. But as Daryl and Merle soon realized after joining everyone at the quarry, sleeping in trees was second nature for Daryl. He was able to do it just as easily as he did when he was a child.
But now all the sleeping in the beds at the house ruined the feeling of the trees. Or maybe it was the snow on the trees that made it tough. He woke up more often than not shivering and covered in snow. Maybe it was the sounds around him. The snow made everything louder. His footsteps sounded like gunshots in his ears. This caused Daryl to wake up with a jolt at every sound. Whatever the reason Daryl struggled to get enough sleep. He was lucky though overall, having run into only three walkers during the time he tracked.
The hunt for big game got worse and worse. He found no tracks or no living tracks to be exact. The one he found and followed for a while only lead to a small deer that met its end as walker bait. There had been almost nothing left by the time Daryl found it. It was a huge waste of time and energy.
It was by sheer luck that he found the clearing. He had decided to go up into the forest and head towards the mountains in hope that there would be something there. Normally deer venture down the mountains during winter to look for food. But with the walker threat around maybe the deer would return to places that were familiar. At least that's what Daryl hoped.
It was lightly snowing when he spotted it. A big buck moving slowly through the trees. Daryl leveled his bow at it waiting until it paused before he took the shot. The buck however moved at the last second and it clipped his shoulder muscle instead of nailing him right between the eyes. The buck bolted and took off into the woods. Daryl charged after him, the memory of his last deer hunt ending in the doe being a walker's last meal was still fresh in his mind. It was not going to happen that way again. Daryl was determined. The deer wanted to live sure but the group needed the food more. The two raced after each other all over the mountainside. Every time Daryl thought he might have lost the deer, a glimmer of fresh red blood on the snow led him onward. For almost a day, the deer lead Daryl on a crazed path through the mountains. Each time the buck paused to take a break, he took a breath too.
If he'd shot it a little deeper he probably could have waited until the buck exhausted itself from blood loss. But every drop of blood was one more drop that could easily draw walkers in. Daryl refused to let them get his prize first. Midday on day two of his deer chase the buck led him to a large clearing. It was there in the freshly fallen snow that Daryl finally got his kill shot.
The elation that burned through him almost made him scream and holler in ecstasy. Daryl's excitement was cut short when a walker burst through the trees but a quick shot from his crossbow took care of that problem. However, it served to remind him that the area wasn't safe especially for his fresh kill. Daryl quickly maneuvered the buck onto his back. All things considered it was a pretty big buck with a good amount of meat on him. Should be enough to keep them going for a while at least according to Daryl's estimation. Exactly what the group needed. Exactly what Daryl said he'd bring back.
With a huff he started down the mountain toward the house. As night started to fall, the hunter realized he couldn't sleep in the trees as he'd done the previous nights. Not with the buck on his back. If he had some rope he could hoist it up high enough that if walkers did get close they couldn't be able to get at the deer. No the only and safest path for him and his cargo would be to keep going he realized. The buck got heavier the longer he carried it. But Daryl was still excited by the idea of the fresh meat, it made his mouth water. The taste of venison on his tongue kept his feet moving even when he had to eventually move the crossbow to his hand since the buck kept slipping lower and lower down his back. It took some of the pressure off his back but not all of it.
Daryl hummed softly to himself as he walked. The snow made it slow going. By morning he reached the foot of the mountain. "Now's the easy part." Daryl said softly to the buck on his shoulder. "Lucky it's so damn cold. Otherwise ya'd start to stink." Daryl pushed the deer up higher. "Ya know them city folk. Won' eat nothin' that smells even slightly off. Even now they're still pretty sheltered in what they'll eat. S'ok though ya just have to sneak the food back in their meal in a slightly different way." Daryl realized talking to the deer or rather himself actually helped a bit. It kept his mind off of the long walk and the ache in his body. "Done that ya know. Tried to get them to eat some possum. They wouldn' so I waited, cooked it up again with some beans the next night and they couldn' get enough of it. I told them it was groundhog." Daryl panted slightly when he paused for a moment. The good thing about the effort needed to move the buck was he didn't feel the cold caused by the snow. "Them city folks are a bit spoiled but they'll adjust. They're already doing loads better than the first few nights at the quarry. Hunger makes ya eat 'bout anythin'. But ya-" Daryl pat the buck's rump. "will feed them nice and good for a while." As the sun started to dip he could make out the house beyond the trees. "Almost there." Daryl murmured and shifted the deer once more. As he started across the neighborhood, the door to the house swung open. Within a minute the whole group was out on the lawn watching him. Rick, T-Dog, and Glenn rushed to meet him.
"Hey ya'll." Daryl raised his hand in greeting. Rick's smile was so warm and easy that Daryl felt his heart stutter slightly.
"Welcome back Daryl." Rick said softly.
"Ya'll gonna make yerself useful and help? Or just watch me carry it?" He growled at T-Dog. Daryl used the gruff tone to hide how the stares of admiration and amazement from everyone made him feel jittery and his face flushed but not from exertion. T-Dog helped take the legs while Daryl got the shoulders. No way was he letting the buck out of his sight. The group cheered and pat him on the back as they moved towards the entry of the house. He restrained the instinctual jerks from his body and instead moved the energy to the rest of his body. So it came off as tired muscles shaking from exhaustion when in reality the weight was considerably lessened with T-Dog's help.
Carol held the door open and smiled warmly at him as they passed. "In the kitchen." Daryl jerked his head towards the right. They hiked the buck up onto the long wooden table where Daryl could finally take a deep breathe. The whole group had crowded in to see the buck. In his experience city folk were usually not very comfortable around dead animals. Hersel, Maggie, and Beth lived on a farm so they never seemed bothered by the same things that troubled the others. But even Lori was excited and interested in seeing the deer. Daryl gave them all a few minutes to enjoy the idea of the meat before shooing them out. "Ya'll can' eat it raw!" He exclaimed at the disappointed look on their faces. "Gotta cook it first!" Lori helped move the group away so Daryl could work. She convinced the group that they needed to set places for such a feast. That seemed to satisfy most of them enough to convince them to leave.
"Do you need any help?" Maggie asked as she and her father lingered.
"Nah. I got it."
"If you do holler alright?" Maggie insisted before they too left. Soon it was just Daryl, Carol, and Rick left in the kitchen.
"I'm glad you're back Daryl." Carol said softly as she smiled at him. He nodded in response. "We were all worried." Daryl gave a soft grunt back in reply. He was itching to start cleaning his kill but it didn't feel right to do such a bloody thing in front of her. Daryl ran his finger across the hilt of his blade to try and keep his calm while she talked to him. Carol gently touched his forearm. "Thank you Daryl."
"For what?" She got a strange look in her eyes when she replied.
"For everything." Daryl shrugged.
"Sure." Carol left the room rather quickly after that, saying she needed to help keep everyone occupied while Daryl worked. That left Rick standing in the corner keeping his eyes fixed on Daryl. "What?" Daryl asked as he pulled his knife out.
"Nothing." Rick replied quickly.
"Ya just goin' to stand there?" Rick shrugged.
"Thought I'd help out." Daryl huffed at that. "Or at least watch. Make it a part of my training." Rick said getting closer to the table so he could have a better view.
"What training?" Daryl questioned as he ran clean water over his hunting knife in the sink. Hershel had insisted that they keep some of the bottled water in the kitchen so they could maintain some level of sanitary conditions when cooking food.
"You know the one where you said you'd teach me how to hunt?" Daryl quirked his eyebrow up at that.
"I remember just didn' think ya would be interested in this part."
"It's part of hunting isn't it?" Daryl nodded as he wiped the water from his blade. Rick gave a small half smile before stepping back slightly. Rick might be willing to learn but he wasn't yet ready to start cutting just yet Daryl realized.
"Normally we'd hang it outside. Can' risk that anymore. Plus we'll be movin' on soon enough so don' have to worry 'bout cleanin' up." Rick nodded but his eyes had a distant look to them. "What?" Daryl asked trying to get a response from the man.
"You think we'll be leaving soon?" Daryl squinted at Rick wondering if this was the best way to tell the man that the house was in no way a permanent solution (though Rick undoubtedly knew that.) They all did even if they didn't want to openly admit it. The house and the surrounding area had run its course. The supplies and food would start to dwindle and Daryl knew it would be easier to move onward while they still had supplies to keep the group going. Daryl licked his lip nervously.
"I think it would end badly if ever'one stayed too long." Rick nodded and blew out a deep breath.
"Game is running low isn't it?" Daryl nodded again as Rick's blue tired eyes watched him closely. He looked resigned to this fact.
"I don' know 'bout the supply runs but I had to go pretty far out to find him." The hunter pointed his knife at the buck.
"I was hoping we could put it off for a bit. But moving on has been coming for a while. I just wanted to wait till you got back before starting all the plans." Rick smiled warmly at Daryl who felt his cheeks flush in response. He grunted to shift focus from the feeling like his tongue was full of cotton. He didn't want to outright admit it but the fact that Rick waited made a sliver of relief slide into his chest. Rick didn't want to leave him behind (unlike Shane who always looked for any reason to be rid of him) and a small part of Daryl couldn't help but feel like maybe Rick wanted his opinion on new places to move the group. That maybe Daryl's thoughts on the groups security mattered to their leader. Those thoughts were quickly crushed by the whisper in his ear.
"Scrape ya off their heels like ya was dog shit." Merle hissed at his temple.
"Daryl?" Rick was staring intently at him. His eyes crinkled in worry. "You went all quiet." Daryl shrugged and turned back to the buck. This needed to be dealt with now. He didn't have time to think about any shifts in the group dynamics (especially imaginary shifts.)
"Better get to this." Daryl cleared his throat. Rick nodded but his eyes still glanced at the hunter in concern every few minutes. "We need to remove the skin and head first." Rick took a deep breath and shakily nodded. "We'll start with the skin. First make cuts all around the legs." Daryl explained and cut his knife quickly around the legs. When he finished he showed Rick exactly where he cut and how deep the cut was. The officer dipped closer for a better view. "Now hand me that bucket." Daryl gestured with his knife towards the corner.
"Pot." Rick mumbled when he handed it to Daryl. Daryl rolled his eyes.
"Fine gut pot." Rick's head snapped up and his eyes widened.
"The what?!"
"Gut pot or gut bucket. Think I prefer bucket personally. Pot makes me think of needin' to piss." Daryl mumbled scratching the stubble on his chin in thought.
"Ugh thanks for that mental image." Rick groaned. Daryl huffed as Rick got an even paler color but the man was nothing if not determined. "What's next?"
"We take the blade and cut from the hind legs downward. Ya do it right and it should meet on the belly of the deer. See?" He pointed it out to Rick. "Similar thing from the front legs. Cut up towards the belly." Rick's eyes were glued on the cuts like he was trying to memorize exactly how everything was supposed to look on his first time. "Now we remove the balls and such." Rick gulped audibly. Daryl took pity on the man and did that part as quickly as he could. That wasn't the most important part of the process anyway. "Now comes the skinnin'."
Daryl gave Rick an example by cutting the large part of the hind leg and pulled the skin down. He cut whenever the skin got caught on the deer. "If the skin sticks ya might need to cut the tendons connecting the skin to the meat." Daryl pointed at the area where the white strands still connected the pieces together. He pushed and cut the skin working on removing as much as he could without damaging it. These weren't ideal situations to be skinning a deer but he would make it work regardless. As the process continued Rick got paler and paler. "We'll remove the shoulder muscles now. Get that tub." The hunter pointed at the tub normally used to put office supplies in. "Normally I'd put ice in but we're going to cook everythin' at once. Can' risk any walkers getting at it and it'll be less work for us anyway."
Rick held the tub as Daryl pulled out the hatchet they kept in the kitchen. (Rick had insisted that they keep a weapon in every room after that narrow escape a few months back.) Gripping the front leg hard Daryl hacked away. A few solid cuts and he could remove the leg. Daryl dropped it into the tub. Rick's arms trembled slightly but after Daryl gave him a quick look the officer gathered himself and held his ground. Daryl made quick work of the other leg and plopped it next to its mate. "Ya can put that down. We don' need it for a moment." Rick seemed grateful for that as he set it down on the table near the deer's back legs. "Now ya make a cut here. Not too deep." He warned Rick cutting across the stomach. "That way we can get to the intestines and remove them without too much trouble."
"Do you eat those?" Daryl shrugged.
"Ya can eat most of the deer. Though some parts taste better than others. But I won' make ya if ya don' wanna eat it." Rick looked relieved by this.
"What are we eating?" Daryl wiped some of the sweat from his eyes with the side of his arm.
"The heart, liver, lungs, shoulders, legs, ribs, tenderloin, stuff like that."
"And what are you going to do with the rest?"
"Can make stuff from the skin I guess. If it gets real cold ya can use it as a blanket. The guts could be used to bait a trap. Though that might just attract walkers instead. Guess it could be used as a distraction for walkers, the smell of the meat might draw them away. The bones could even be sharpened into a shiv I guess."
"I think I prefer guns and knives thanks." Daryl grunted in agreement.
"What I'm getting' at is there's lots we can do with the leftovers. Might try makin' some jerky, might be hard cause of the weather." Rick nodded, his eyes were bright at the prospect of all the supplies one animal could bring the group. "Now we need to remove the neck and head." Daryl said drawing their attention back to the half-cleaned buck. This was done quickly with Daryl's hatchet.
He tossed the head into the gut bucket as well. He'd never been one for mounting his kills. Daryl preferred to use as much as he could from his kills. Merle and his old man had enjoyed it though whenever they could actually afford the supplies to mount a kill. "Normally the guts would have moved down thanks to gravity but we don' got the setup for that. So…" Daryl trailed off his eyes sparkled with a slightly crazed look as he reached inside of the deer's chest. The sounds it made was like sloshing through a mud pile that was full of guts and blood. Daryl gently pulled the guts down where he could work with them. Last thing he needed was to pick out deer pellets from the meat before they started cooking it.
He cut the meat clinging to the intestines making sure it came out cleanly. When he pulled his hands out they were full of blood and guts. He tossed them into the bucket, which was already close to full. Rick's face was ashen with an almost green shade around the edges of his cheeks. "If ya are gonna be sick do it away from my buck." Daryl warned. Rick shook his head and breathed deeply through his nose. Daryl cut around the heart, lungs, and liver before he tossed all three into the tub with the legs. "Ya okay?" Daryl quirked his eyebrow as he started to work on the rest of the chest. He was mostly done removing the ribs by the time Rick replied.
"Would you believe this is the first deer I have ever seen skinned?" Rick's pale blue eyes looked slightly off just like the man himself looked slightly off kilter.
"Really?! Then why the hell did ya want to gut that walker back in the woods?!" Rick shrugged sheepishly.
"Didn't think you would want to."
"I'm a hunter." Daryl growled in response.
"Didn't seem right to force you to do it if you didn't want to." Daryl huffed.
"That's stupid. Yer stupid."
"Sometimes." Rick half smiled.
"Ya remember this." Daryl warned pointing his knife at Rick. "Never try to take away somethin' a Dixon's good at. Specially huntin'! I've been huntin' longer than most of ya'lls been drivin'." Daryl grunted at the end and pulled the ribs up where he could cut them in half.
"That part of the Dixon rules?" Rick asked softly. Daryl snorted.
"No such thin'." He finished cutting the ribs in half before looking up at Rick again. "I'm serious ya don' try to take huntin' away from a hunter. Never ends well."
"I wouldn't dream of it." Rick raised his hands up trying to calm Daryl down.
"Good." Daryl clicked his tongue before turning his eyes back to the buck.
"If you want I can leave right now and you can work. Not have to worry about anyone taking your job." Daryl scoffed.
"No way ya could take over my job. Yer too squeamish." Rick bristled at that and crossed his arms angrily. "Doesn't matter anyway. Ya need to stay."
"Why?" Rick looked perplexed. His anger lessened as his confusion increased.
"Cause I made the blood oath to teach you."
"You technically didn't." Rick cut in. Daryl shrugged.
"I figured it was part of comin' back with the buck. Teach ya to hunt and brin' meat as an example of what ya can do with the right skills and trainin'." Rick smiled at Daryl's words.
"That sounds like you." Daryl's face felt hot again. He dropped his eyes quickly down to the buck.
"'Sides if somethin' happened the group needs at least one person who knows how to catch food." Daryl bit his lip, he hadn't meant to let that slip. Rick's eyes had thrown him off his game and he'd spoken without thinking. He hadn't mentioned this thought to anyone, mostly because the group never wanted to talk about it. It wasn't something anyone would want to dwell on but Daryl knew that if something did happen to him the group would be in a hard place without as much food coming in. Rick had to be the one to learn because he would survive, Daryl would make sure of it.
"Nothing will happen." Rick said harshly. His eyes narrowed in that self-assured way he had. The man had a nature that felt like he was demanding the world to bend to his will. It wasn't there always but the times that that side did come out the group felt it to its core. The last time Daryl had seen this side in Rick had been the night when they'd all fled from the farm and Rick declared himself the unopposed leader of the group.
"This world isn' like it was. 'Sides even in the old world people died for no reason. Hell my aunt Kathy died on the pot when I was thirteen. Didn' find her for days. 'Course she was a nasty piece of work. By the time they found her she'd swollen up like a giant balloon. The heat does that ya know. Took almost the whole family to pull her off of that pot and into the grave." Rick's eyes were cold and narrowed.
"Don't do that." He hissed.
"Do what?"
"Try to change the subject." Daryl grunted. He moved to focus back on the buck's hind legs but Rick cut him off. "Did you agree to teach me because you've been thinking about this?" Daryl shrugged. It wasn't something he could avoid thinking about. Even if he managed to push the thoughts away it was always there at the back of his mind. "Look I promise-"
"Can' make promises anymore." Daryl cut in. Rick sighed.
"Okay then how about this, I'm tired of watching people die. I don't care if it's our world we live in now or not. I'm just tired of it. So we the group stay alive all of us. No dying not if we can help it."
"Not just 'bout dyin' anymore." Daryl locked eyes with him. "It's about dyin' and turnin'. That's the real problem. Death's natural. Everyone dies. It's the comin' back that's the problem." Rick's shoulders sagged.
"You're right."
"Then we need to figure out what to do."
"If I remember correctly you said zero tolerance for walkers." Daryl looked away from Rick quickly. It's one thing to kill a walker or someone out of mercy. But it's a completely different thing to kill a friend. But if it came down to it better to kill than let them become one of those walkers. Especially if they came back and ended up hurting the people they cared about. At least that's how Daryl felt about it. Rick sighed. "We'll talk to the group. See what they think." Daryl nodded.
"Whatever ya say goes." Daryl mumbled.
"Not on this." Rick replied sharply. "This involves all of us." Rick rubbed the bridge of his nose. He seemed resigned to fact that this discussion would end badly. "But maybe we should wait until after dinner huh?" Rick peeked between his fingers at Daryl. Daryl dipped his head in agreement. When Rick had his assent, he moved out of the hunter's way who worked rapidly with the rest of the buck's meat. Rick watched him closely but silently. Neither man wanted to talk about the upcoming debate with the group. Daryl was content to be left with the methodical task of cleaning the deer. That was something he knew. The world may have ended but it had stayed much the same.
When Daryl finished the gut bucket was filled to the brim. He moved it to the side. The idea of using it as walker bait was one he was itching to try. But that would have to wait until a later. The skin he'd also love to spend some time with to make a blanket or some leather for the group. But that too would have to wait until he had more time.
"Is there any wood in the fire?" Daryl asked washing some of the blood from his knife and hands.
"I think so. If not we can take wood from upstairs." This house was rather extravagant in Daryl's opinion. It had three fireplaces spread around the house, one in the living room, one in the master bedroom, and finally one in the kitchen. Daryl didn't understand why a house would need so many fireplaces but he was relieved he didn't have to go outside and cook up the deer in the snow. "Want me to start the fire?" Rick asked.
"Yah." Daryl mumbled absentmindedly. "We'll cook the ribs and back first. Then heart, liver, and lungs. Finally the legs and shoulders and whatever is left." Rick nodded as he picked the wood up. He started the fire quickly as Daryl set the meat in the left over pots and trays. When the fire was roaring Daryl set each close to the flames where they could cook properly. It wasn't as easy as cooking on a stove or in an oven but Daryl had cooked meat over a campfire plenty of times so it wasn't anything new for him.
"Now what?"
"We wait. Gotta cook all the way through. Otherwise ever'one will get sick."
"It smells good." Rick said a few minutes later. Daryl nodded.
"Been a while since I've had venison." Daryl checked the meat every few minutes, replacing the wood when it was necessary and when a piece was done he replaced it with another cut piece. After every piece was cooked he breathed a deep sigh of relief. He allowed his body to relax. The tension bled out of his limbs.
"Is it done?" Rick asked looking over Daryl's shoulder as he cut the center looking for any pink signaling that the meat wasn't done. The outside was crispy and crunchy. When he cut into a piece the smell of cooked meat nearly drove the men crazy.
"Too bad we can' just dig in right now huh?" Daryl joked as he checked the other pieces. Rick chuckled.
"Yeah, might cause a revolt if we did." Daryl nodded.
"Looks like it's all cooked." He declared finally.
"Let's put them on some big plates than you can cut it up in front of everyone." Rick said excitedly.
"God what do ya think this is? Thanksgivin'?" Rick laughed.
"It feels like it!" Rick defended himself. The pair set the pieces on two huge serving plates.
"Why don' ya take it to them." Daryl mumbled wiping his hands and knives completely clean of blood. "I'll clean up and join ya later." Rick's eyes narrowed.
"Oh no you don't. You aren't going to hide away while we eat."
"I'm not hidin'."
"Okay then you can't get away from our praise. You worked hard to get this for us and deserve to eat with us so we can thank you personally. You got the food you get the gratitude, that's the rule." Daryl glared at Rick. He did want to hide away until everyone stopped giving him looks of gratitude and words of praise. It made his stomach twist and coil in on itself. He just wasn't used to it. Daryl doubted he would ever get used to the feeling.
"Next time I let ya'll starve." Daryl grumbled under his breath. Rick laughed and clasp his shoulder gently.
"Come on Daryl. It's a learning experience for you." Rick grinned widely at him. Daryl blew out a breathe. Rick's hand wasn't on him long enough to make any childhood trauma surface but his shoulders did feel warmer than it had a moment before. "Come on." Rick said again as he picked up one of the large plates. Daryl sighed and picked up the other plate and followed behind Rick. He tried hard to shrink into the other man's shadow. Not that anyone let him get away with that. He was dragged to the center of the room where everyone could shower him with praises (much to his dismay.) The group all waited until everyone had a big slab of meat in front of them before biting into the rich meat. The joy and moans of delight filled the room and Daryl realized taking his own bite that their responses made the whole thing taste all the better.
Man! That was a long chapter! I'm sorry about that. I try to keep each chapter around 3,000 or so words but that one was way over. Sorry. I couldn't find a good place to split it apart. Also I'm never gone hunting or skinned any animals in my life so I did a bunch of research to try and get it right. Hopefully I did. If I didn't I'm sorry! I will say that it was fun to be researching this! In one class there was a girl looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing on my computer. Probably scared her pretty badly. But she probably shouldn't be so nosy. *shrugs*
Anyway I've gotten a few questions asking about the nature of this story. Mostly is this going to be a pairing story with RickxDaryl ect. That answer is YES! Absolutely. I'm a huge fan of pairing especially slash or yaoi (whichever you prefer.) I'll probably put up a warning before it gets heavy into that because I know not everyone enjoys that sort of story. Secondly I've also gotten a few questions if this is going to have smut ect in it. Answer is also yes. But I'm going to come out and admit I'm a sucker for the slow buildup. I mean purely physical relations are fine and all but I love that slow build that draws you in and then gets to the physical stuff. Call me a romantic or just an overzealous writer. When it does get to the smut/physical stuff it will probably jump in ratings just for warnings sake. (Also a little worried about the smut if I'm honest since it's been a long time since I've written anything like that. But I'll cross that bridge later!)
Wow! Long authors note too. I'm super sorry about this guys! Review if you have time/liked this. Otherwise hopefully I'll see you all in chapter 5 (if the long chapter hasn't frightened too many way.)
