A/N: I've hit a very successful week in writing. Hope you guys continue to enjoy this story. Thanks for the reviews/favs/alerts.
Shane wasn't sure what time it was, but he didn't really care. He had taken over T-Dog's shift. It was clear that the other man was going to fall asleep any second and Shane had nothing better to do. He hadn't had the luxury of thought the past couple of days.
When Rick came back he was happy at first. Surprised, but extremely happy then the jealousy set in. Seeing Rick with his arms around Lori and Carl made Shane angry. He had taken care of the two and had started a relationship with Lori. He had justified their relationship by telling himself that he was taking care of her for Rick. He never expected Rick to be alive, much less find them. But he did and he took Lori away from Shane.
There were no other women in the group that Shane had any interest in. Andrea and Amy, while she was still alive, only cared about being together. The sisters didn't seem to have any eyes for any of the men. Then there was Carol, but she was married to that bastard Ed. Although he was dead now, Carol was still messed up. She was becoming stronger in herself, but Shane still didn't have any feelings for her.
Lori! He had to apologize to her. Just the night he attempted to rape her. He knew that excuses were stupid, but he was drunk and pissed off. In the end, he was glad that she scratched him. It made him realize what an idiot he was being. Idiot wasn't exactly the word, no; there were a whole slew of words that best described him. She was guarded around him now. It helped that they drove most of the day in different cars. But still, he needed to apologize to her. He didn't know if it would matter and he knew that he would never get her trust back again, but he had to try. Which meant that he had to eventually tell Rick what had happened between them, but only if Lori agreed to it.
"Such a fool," he told himself, shaking his head.
On the bright side, now there were two new women in their group, Lilli and Lucy. Both women were pretty in their own way. Lucy seemed to be a bigger handful of the two, but Shane wasn't sure. It wasn't like they had spent months together. But he liked Lilli. He wasn't exactly sure when he developed his feelings toward her. Maybe it was when he caught her after she fell from the chopper. For a moment, he was her knight in shining armor and he liked playing the knight.
Or maybe it was his way of dealing with the loss of Lori. Either way, his body was telling him that he wanted Lilli. He imagined his hands tracing the Celtic tattoo that was on her back, touching her shoulder length brown hair. He wondered why she got the tattoo and what it meant. He had caught a brief glimpse of it when she darted into her bathroom. Slowly, he imagined his hands run down her naked back; her body, so perfect for him, and her turning to look at him as she dropped towel.
"Hungry?" Lilli's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Sorry?" he said as he blushed. His mind was just beginning to imagine her naked. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair as she walked over to him. He was horny as hell and she wasn't helping. She wore a long T-shirt and no bra. He caught a glimpse of the short shorts that she wore underneath.
She pulled out a piece of chocolate and handed it to him.
"Thanks," he said with a smile. "Your group thought of everything." He almost felt as if he was in heaven. Earlier, Georgia had shown them all where the extra clothes were at. It was nice to be able to change clothes. "You're dressed warmly," he teased. He couldn't help but comment on the way she was dressed.
She giggled as she sat down on the floor.
"Think that's wise?" he asked her. "What if we have to leave in a hurry?"
"I have a small bag of clothes ready just in case," she responded. "I would have to run back to my room to get Sara." She let out a soft smile and he nodded. Naturally, the little girl slept with Lilli. "So tell me, Shane. What did you do before this?" she waved her hands around and he smiled.
"Believe it or not, ma'am," he said with his most authoritative voice. "I was an officer of the law right under Rick."
"I believe it," she said with a nod. "The way you walk, like you own the place." She giggled, making him smile.
"What about you, ma'am?" he asked her.
"Psh! Don't call me ma'am. You're making me feel old," she said with a wave of her hand. "Lilli, just Lilli."
He nodded his head, but had a large smile on his face. "As you wish, Lilli."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't do much," she answered his previous question. "Started my own crafts business. Made just enough to live. But I didn't have to get that much. I lived with my father."
He looked at her in surprise. "And how old are you?" he asked her, half teasing, half curious.
"Shut up," she said as she smacked his leg. "My dad has always been one of those 'Family means everything' and 'You can only count on family during hard times' and 'Always be close to your family' type person." She pitched her voice lower each time she quoted her father. Shane found it amusing. "But what he could never do was take care of himself."
She let out a content sigh. He didn't say anything. He didn't want to interrupt her thoughts. Finally, she moved. She wrapped her arms around her legs and placed her chin on top of her knees.
"What does your tattoo mean?" Shane finally asked. He couldn't help himself. He just kept on picturing his fingers tracing the lines.
"You saw that huh? Thought I darted to fast into the bathroom for you not to see," she said. "Okay."
He smiled, but didn't say anything. Her body was forever engraved in his mind. She pulled up her shirt, revealing her back. She tried to make sure that she covered her front, but there were times when he caught a glimpse of the side of her breast. Finally, he saw the tattoo. The border was a circle with a unique looking triquetra knot in the middle. There were three letters in each one.
"It's the trinity knot," she said. "When my brother, sister and I turned eighteen we decided to get a tattoo together, to forever immortalize our bond."
Shane nodded then frowned. "So who started the tradition?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "I guess we all contributed." She couldn't see the tattoo since it was on her right shoulder, but she pointed to the bottom left where a G was. "G is for Gabriel came first." She moved her hand to the top where an L was at. "L is for me and I was second." She moved her hand down toward the Z. "And J is for Jessica. She was the last," she finished.
He couldn't help but touch her. His hand slowly traced some lines. Quickly, he pulled away. "Sorry," he said.
Lilli giggled. "I let you do it," she replied as she let her shirt fall down.
"So Gabriel, Lilith and Jessica?" he asked. "Odd names."
Lilli laughed and nodded her head. "Mother always loved the name Gabriel, because a man by that name saved her from drowning when she was a child. So she always promised herself that she would name her son Gabriel." She paused as if recalling a memory then shook her head. "My name came from myths. Shortly before we were born she was reading about old myths and came across the one about Lilith. Supposedly, she was Adam's first wife but decided that she didn't want to be under her husband so she was cast out and turned into a demon or something like that."
"Your mom named you after a demon?" Shane asked in surprise.
Lilli laughed and nodded. "But not because of the demon part. She was an activist and believed that women could accomplish just as much as men could. When she read that story she was appalled that Lilith was punished for not wanting to be a man's subordinate. I kind of live up to her name. It's a little harder"
Shane frowned as he thought. "So what about the name Jessica? It's so…" he couldn't think of the word.
"Modern?" she asked.
He nodded.
She chuckled. "The one kid my dad named. He felt sorry that he had two children named after ancient stories. Gabriel isn't that bad, but Lilith is. That's why I go by Lilli. Since dad wasn't around much mom insisted that she get to name two of the three kids." Her eyes grew distant and a small smile escaped her lips. "He really loved her."
"I'm sorry," Shane said softly.
She shrugged. "I didn't know her. She died giving birth to us. Dad always told me stories about her, but I never met her in life." Her eyes grew distant as if she were recalling a memory.
"Wait…" Shane said slowly. "So you're triplets."
A large smile crossed her face.
Shane leaned back as he thought. He had never met triplets before. But then again, her siblings weren't around. "Where are they now?" Shane couldn't help but ask.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Gabriel was stationed in California. Jess lived in Montana with her husband. She was practicing her running. Her dream has always been to run in the Olympics." Lilli laughed. "Both have a good chance of being alive," her voice hollowed as if she knew she was lying. "What about your family?"
It was clear that she didn't want to talk about her family anymore. "Well," he began. "I'm an only child."
!*!*!*!*!*!
Daryl tossed and turned in his bed. He had chosen to ignore what Rick had said and took a room in the second floor. He hated people telling him where he could and couldn't go. However, his rebellion wasn't working in his favor this time. He couldn't help but worry if a geek had managed to break through the front door. Sure, he would be safe in his locked room, but the others wouldn't. But then again, he was sure that he could hear their muffled screams if they were in trouble.
All the rooms in the bottom floor didn't have locks in them. They were easy to open just in case the people needed to escape from their room. At the same time, it made it easy for the geeks to get in too. He didn't care what the original group believed themselves to be safe. There were still plenty of geeks around and to top it all, they had to be rescued from the geeks.
Daryl snorted at the thought. Some dumbass had allowed them to enter the inn, but still. Finally, he couldn't help himself and got out of bed. He was just going to pretend that he was in the first floor to guard the entrance. He didn't need to tell anyone the real reason why he was there.
He was too tired to be careful as he let the door to the stairway slam shut. The clear smell of smoke caught his attention and he looked down. At the bottom of the stairs was Lucy. She looked up at him and she had her hand on a bat. When their eyes met she let out a sigh and returned her gaze in front of her.
"Thought you was a walker," she said without looking back at him.
He casually walked down the stairs. "Thought you was too when I saw your crazy ass hair," he retorted back. Her hair was a mess and it looked like she hadn't brushed it in days.
"I was hoping that the walkers would think I was one of them," she said as she took another drag.
Daryl was tempted to stay with her, but then he figured she wouldn't want him for company. He wasn't exactly like his brother who was a racist and sexist. Daryl's insults and actions were a defense mechanism for him. Too many people just looked at him and figured that they knew him without truly trying to know him. So he decided to just live up to their expectations.
"Want a smoke?" she asked him.
He stopped and turned to look at her. She held up an unused cigarette.
"What do you want?" he asked. There always came a price with kindness.
"Pinche mamadas," Lucy hissed. "Do you want one or not?"
He took the cigarette and lighter from her hands and lit it before sitting next to her to smoke.
She let out a soft laugh. "My mom was one of those activists against smoking. She would tell me that smoking would kill me. But any given day in this world can kill me now."
Daryl snorted in agreement. Neither said anything but just stared straight ahead and smoked. Finally, he realized that she was looking at him.
"What?" he snapped as he looked at her.
"You're not that bad, Daryl," she finally said as she crushed the cigarette on the step beside her then she took out another.
"Why do you say that?" he asked her. She didn't look at him and he allowed his eyes to wander her body. She was roughly 5'6" and it was clear that she exercised every day. She wore a tank top, no bra and long pajama pants. She leaned forward for a second and he could clearly see part of her cleavage.
She turned her head toward him and he quickly darted his eyes away. He couldn't help but imagine what he would do with her breasts. His hands itched to touch her, but he didn't dare. He wasn't a gentleman, but he wasn't a rapist. And she had given no clear indication that she wanted him, despite his earlier comments to Rick and Shane.
"Rum?" she asked him. He looked at her in surprise.
"Thought you folks didn't have any drinks," he said.
She laughed as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a bottle of rum. It was unopened.
"We raided Wal-Mart a few days ago. Matt let us get what we wanted. The important stuff we had to share like canned food, water, juice, but boozes, cigarettes and the like we could use that to bargain for stuff. Money is no good in this world, but items are." She smiled as she opened it and produced a shot glass. "To bad all the limes were ruined." She filled up her glass and then one for him. "To the loved ones we lost."
He nodded to her and the two drank together. He missed the burn of a strong drink running down his throat. Suddenly, she got up with the bottle and headed toward the door. He wasn't exactly sure what to do. She turned and looked at him.
"Come," she beaconed as she walked into the hall. He quickly stood up and followed after her. It was clear that she was going to go to her room until she spotted Lilli and Shane. "You know," Lucy started, causing Shane and Lilli to turn and look at her. "Reminiscing on the past is so much more fun when you're drunk," she said to them.
Lucy plopped herself down next to Lilli. She was in the middle of the hallway and faced the lobby and front doors. It didn't seem to bother her. No one had heard any noise against the windows. If the walkers were out there, they didn't know people were in the inn.
Lucy filled up the shot glasses then pulled out two plastic cups.
"I can't believe these haven't broken," Lilli said as she grabbed one of the glasses.
"I take extra care of them," Lucy said with a smile as she handed the guys the plastic cups. Daryl sighed as he walked pass Shane and went into the meeting room. It didn't take him that long to bring out two more chairs. "You're sweet," Lucy said with a smile then shook her head. "I like the ground."
Daryl shrugged. "Whatever," he said as he sat in one chair and took a large gulp of his drink. Warmth ran through his body and he quite enjoyed it.
"Lilli and I were discussing our families," Shane said as he stared at his drink. After what happened the other night, he wasn't sure if he wanted to drink.
"Oh yeah?" Lucy asked. "That's depressing." Lucy turned her attention to Daryl. "Daryl, what about your family?" Clearly, she didn't see the irony of her question. Shane paled as Daryl leaned forward.
"It was jus' me and me brother," he said as he glared at them. "Until these asshole left 'im handcuffed on a roof in Atlanta. We found his stub of a hand but no body. I'm sure he's alive and around."
"Hey!" Shane snapped. "I wasn't part of that group. They had just reason…"
"Reason?" Daryl interrupted. "You don't treat another person like that."
"Chicos, para!" Lucy said as she stood up. "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't know. But let's not argue. You guys are killing my soon to be nice buzz."
Daryl leaned back but glared at Shane who looked away.
"Don't want to wake the others up and share my booze with them too. Less for you guys," Lucy said as she put more in their glasses. "How about music? What did you guys like to listen to?"
The men shrugged their shoulders. They weren't in a mood to talk anymore.
Lucy snorted, causing Daryl to raise his eyebrows as he looked at her. He was surprised that she would snort. It didn't seem like something a woman like her would do. "You guys are useless. Come on, Lils. What was that song that you liked?"
Lilli shook her head. "And risk you trying to remember the words and singing it?"
"What?" Lucy asked in horror. "You sayin' I can't sing well?"
"The geeks run in fear every time they hear you sing… and see your hair," Lilli said with a smile.
Lucy huffed then pretended to puff her hair. "My hair is fabulous. It's the new style. Everyone has their hair like this." She paused then jumped up and down, clearly anxious. "Come on, guys. I miss clubbing. Need to have music while you dance." She moved her body smoothly as she twisted her hips. She stopped and looked at Daryl. "Dance with me," she told him as she grabbed his hand.
He quickly pulled away from her. "I don't dance," he said, shaking his head. Lucy looked at Shane, who moved his chair back.
"Smooth," she told him.
Lilli stood up and dusted herself. "What was that song you've been singing?" she asked.
Lucy smiled and nodded as she started to move. Clearly she could hear the music in her head. "Las manos arriba cintura sola/ Da media vuelta danza kuduro / No te canses ahora que esto solo empieza," Lucy started to sing. Lilli was right the woman couldn't sing, but it had been a while since either man heard a woman sing. She wasn't the worst, but she wasn't the best either.
Both women twisted their bodies as they danced around each other. Daryl and Shane both perked up. Lucy bumped Lilli's hip with hers, then grabbed Lilli's hand and twirled her. Lilli twirled back and almost slammed into the other woman. Her hands wrapped around Lucy and she slowly ran her hand down Lucy's back. Suddenly, Lucy snorted as she laughed. Lilli pulled away laughing. Her laughter forced her to fall to the ground as Lucy doubled over. Both women were laughing hard, but doing their best not to make too much noise.
"What was that?" Lucy asked after she finally caught her breath.
Lilli shrugged. "The guys didn't want to dance with you so I figured I'd try to make a move on you and take you away from them."
Lucy smiled then rolled her eyes as she looked at the two men. Both men didn't seem to know how to react. "No Spanish music?" she asked them. They were relieved that she changed the subject. "How about some post-hardcore," she paused, cleared her throat then let out hoarse soft "yeaaaaaah" as she raised her hands in the air and squeezed her knees together. She hummed for a minute before she opened her mouth. She lifted her hands in the air and pretended like she was singing into a microphone. "They say that love is forever/ Your forever is all that I need…" her voice cracked and she laughed. "No?" she asked. "Thank you for listening to Lucy's renditions of 'Danza Kuduro' by Don Omar and 'If I'm James Dean then You're Audrey Hepburn' by Sleeping with Sirens. Join me tomorrow when I sing the bits and pieces to classics like 'Back in Black' by AC/DC, 'White Blank Page' by Mumford and Sons, and 'Hips don't lie' by Shakira. Lucy, out," she said with a smile as she sprawled herself on the ground.
Everyone was quiet and nobody seemed to want to move or say anything.
"I think that's what I miss the most," Lucy finally said, breaking the silence.
"What?" Daryl asked.
She sat up and looked at them. "The music. We have to be so careful now. Too much noise and we'll attract them. Not to mention there is little power to be found. There are still people around, despite what the geeks are trying to do to get rid of us all. You know, my life has always been on the fast lane. I used to work long hours and party the rest. If I had eight hours of sleep then I was lucky. I'm used to little sleep. Not running for my life, but life was still fast. The one time I truly enjoyed myself was when I drove. My mp3 player had all sorts of music and allowed my mind to take a small break from thinking about work or friends."
The three remained quiet.
"I'm sorry," Lucy said with a little giggle. "Now look who's the buzz killer."
Daryl shrugged as Shane looked away.
Lilli had a distant look as she stared at the doors in front of her. "Down by the riverside by the boats/ Where everybody goes to be alone," she sang softly. She moved her fingers in the air as if she were playing a piano.
Lucy sat up and looked at her friend. "I didn't know you could sing," she said with surprise after Lilli finished.
Lilli blushed and put her hands down. "Yeah," she said. "Mom was the pianist for her church. She had this large grand piano at home and dad hated to see it go to waste. He didn't have time to play and he didn't want to get rid of it. So he had us take piano lessons and sent us to choir. Which is why I can hold a tune."
"Psh," Lucy said, shaking her head. A yawn escaped her lips, making the others yawn as well. "Well," she said as she stretched her arms. "I think I'm bummed enough now that I can sleep." She stood up, grabbed her things and walked down the hall. Her thigh brushed against Daryl's knees and he looked at her in surprise. She didn't look at him as she swung her hips. "Maybe I'm not as tired as I thought," she said, but didn't look at him.
Daryl stood up and ignored Shane who watched him. Stopping in front of her door, she turned and looked at Daryl. For a second, she opened her mouth then closed it as she smiled. He stopped near her then opened the door to the stairs and walked up them. It was clear that she was disappointed. She sighed as she opened her door and walked into her room.
"I better get back to bed," Lilli said as she stretch. "Ouch," she hissed, nearly losing her balance as her leg tensed.
"You alright?" Shane asked as he jumped to his feet.
She nodded her head. "Sorry," she said. "Got a cramp earlier which is why I came out. Leg is still sore cause of it." She smiled at him, trying to reassure him. "Good night," she said as she limped back to her room. Shane watched her with worry.
A/N: The song that Lilli briefly sings is "Riverside" by Agnes Obel. I don't normally put songs into my fics. I just thought that it would be sad to live a life where listening to music could get you killed.