Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter. Still waiting on some reviews! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! It helps immensely when I get some feedback for my chapters :)
Disclaimer~ I do not own TWD, only my OC's
The group sat at a large table, laughing and talking as they ate the copious amounts of food piling the table. Piper sat next to Shane as she sipped on her wine, watching with a smile as Bailey bounced from person to person, soaking in all the attention.
"Mr. Daryl?" She said innocently after she approached him. He was sitting behind the group, nursing a bottle of Jack Daniels.
"Yeah, short stuff?" His usual scowl was gone, replaced with a soft gaze as he looked at the little girl that was clasping her hands behind her back and watching him with curiosity.
"Can I has dwink?" She pointed to his bottle of Jack with interest. Daryl snorted and looked up at Piper, who had started laughing at the little girl's question.
"Baby, I think you should stick to your chocolate milk." Piper said as she rose from her seat, carrying a small sippy cup filled with chocolate milk. She crouched next to Bailey and handed her the cup, which she took readily, but still eyed the alcohol with interest.
"Don't even think about it squirt. You wouldn't like it anyway." Daryl said as he took another deep pull. Piper scoffed and rose to her feet, putting her hand on her hip and mock glaring at him.
"That's a good way to convince her, Daryl." He shrugged his shoulder and continued drinking. Piper ran her hand through Bailey's hair affectionately once before making her way back to her spot next to Shane.
She noticed a sour expression taking over Shane's face the more he drank. She scrunched her eyebrows and nudged him with her shoulder. He looked over at her blankly. She gave him a small smile.
"Everything okay?" She asked curiously. He let out a heavy sigh and smirked at her half-heartedly.
"Fine darlin'" Piper shook her head, entirely unconvinced, when Dale refilled her wine glass. She smiled and nodded at him in thanks and took a sip. She had never really been a wine drinker, but beggers can't be choosers these days.
Piper watched as Carl took a sip of wine, which he quickly rejected, much to the amusement of the rest of the group. She saw Bailey sitting in Glenn's lap, laughing as the young man played with her arms, making them flail around wildly.
Piper watched as Jenner came in quietly and sat at a separate table, holding a bottle of liquor in one hand and running his hand down his face with the other. Rick saw him seated at the table and stood.
"We haven't thanked our host yet." He smiled warmly at Jenner, who looked nervous and almost guilty, but gave a small smile in return.
"He's more than our host!" T-Dog added as he raised his wine glass in the air. Jenner tried to wave off the attention, but everyone was sending 'Amen!' and 'Thank you' comments to him as well as Daryl's 'Booyah'.
Piper felt Shane shifting beside her and turned to face him. He glanced at her briefly before turning to face Jenner, taking a long drink from his wine.
"So when're you gonna tell us what happened here doc?" He asked coolly. Everybody groaned and tried to shush him.
"We're celebrating, Shane. We don't have to do this now." Rick said sharply. Shane locked eyes with his friend and gave him a disbelieving look.
"Hold up now, this was your plan man. This is why we're here ain't it? To find out what's goin' on." Piper couldn't help but agree with him, but she still felt like the timing was inappropriate.
As if she felt his somber mood, Bailey climbed down from Glenn's lap and into Shane's, who helped her up and wrapped an arm around her almost subconsciously. Piper smiled at the sight, but it quickly disappeared as Jenner started talking.
"We lost contact." He said flatly. Everybody snapped their heads towards him. He sighed and turned to face the group.
"What do you mean?" Shane asked sharply. Bailey cringed at his tone, but leaned her head against his chest. He rubbed her back as Piper sent a calming smile towards Bailey.
"When it got bad, we lost contact with the other facilities. Whatever this thing is, it's gone global."
Andrea let out a heavy sigh before looking up at Jenner, hopelessness dulling her eyes. "So there's no one left?" Jenner said nothing, taking a large gulp of his liquor.
"Dude, you're such a buzzkill." Glenn groaned as he rose from his place, taking his alcohol with him.
Piper placed a comforting hand on Shane's shoulder, receiving a sigh and small grateful smile in return.
Jenner rose from his seat and looked over the group. "Come on, I'm going to bed but I'll show you where you're staying." He led the group out of the room and down a long narrow hallway.
"Now, when the power started shutting down, we lost it in the living area first, so these offices will have to do. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like." He paused and turned, looking down at the three children standing right behind him.
"There's a rec room that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, or anything else that draws power." Carl and Sophia nodded in understanding while Bailey hopped in place, excitement radiating from her smile. Piper rested her hand on Bailey's head and smiled down at her.
"That goes for all of you. If you shower, go easy on the hot water." He left down the hallway, leaving the group standing there.
"Hot water?" Glenn questioned as a large grin spread across his face.
"That's what the man said." T-Dog smiled broadly back. Piper picked up Bailey before she could take off for the game room.
"Uh-Uh, shower first, games later." She chided the little girl playfully. Bailey whined in frustration, but didn't fight Piper as she led them down the hallway. She watched everyone choose their rooms, and pretty soon they were all filled up, leaving Piper and Bailey standing in the hallway.
"Well, shit." She mumbled quietly. Bailey gasped and pointed up at her. "What?" Piper asked her.
"You said a bad word!" Bailey stared at her accusingly. Piper chuckled and rolled her eyes at the little girl.
"Sorry sweetie." They heard a door open, and Shane poked his head out.
"What're you doin' in the hallway?" He asked curiously. Piper scuffed her foot on the floor and Bailey smiled at Shane, who returned it.
"Well, we might…kind of…not have a room." Shane chuckled and opened his door wider.
"Well, come on then. The couch is pretty big, you'll both fit on it easy enough. I'll grab a cot from storage." Piper smiled thankfully at him.
"Are you sure? We can be awful high maintenance." Piper said playfully. Shane shook his head and laughed.
"I think I can handle it." He sent her a smirk, which made her blush furiously. Desperate to regain her dignity, she sent him a small flirty smile and a wink before leading Bailey into the room. Shane shook his head and headed for the shower room, towel over his shoulder.
Piper shrugged her bag off her shoulder, putting it down beside the couch. She walked into the bathroom, grabbed towels for herself and Bailey and led the little girl down to the showers. She walked in the room full of showers. She heard appreciative groans and laughs as the group had their first showers in a long time.
Piper found an empty shower stall and led Bailey inside. She closed the fogged glass door, turned on the water and stripped herself and Bailey. When the water was hot, but not unbearable for Bailey, she gently pushed her up to the water, smiling when she saw the happiness on the little girl's face as she played with the water. Piper took her time washing Bailey's hair before handing the little girl a loofa and telling her to wash up.
While she was doing that, Piper reveled in the hot water as she washed herself. She felt the grime wash away in the hot water and was in pure bliss. After a couple minutes, she felt Bailey poke her leg insistently. She looked down and saw Bailey soap covered and shivering.
"Momma, can I has hot water now please?" Piper 'awww'ed and moved out of the water, letting the little girl rinse off. After Bailey was all rinsed off and clean, Piper turned the water off and wrapped one of the big towels around Bailey's shoulders, drowning her in the soft cloth. Piper patted her hair with the towel before wrapping it around herself tightly, grabbing all their dirty clothes and opening the door.
Piper led Bailey back to their room. When she opened the door, she saw Shane sitting on a cot, facing the wall as he drank straight from the bottle. She sent him a concerned look before he met her eyes.
"Sorry, I'll leave so y'all can change." He muttered as he stumbled towards the door. Piper grabbed his arm before he could leave.
"Wait, we'll change in the bathroom. Just, don't leave okay?" Shane looked at her, confused, but nodded. Piper quickly grabbed her and Bailey's clothes and led the little girl into the bathroom, where she helped her into her Scooby-doo pajamas before pulling on a pair of sleep shorts and a large, baggy t-shirt of hers and opened the bathroom door.
Shane was lying back on the cot with one hand behind his head, the other holding the liquor bottle beside him.
Piper walked up to him and touched his shoulder to get his attention. He turned and looked at her blankly, eyes reddening and blood shot.
"I'm going to take Bailey over to stay with Carl and Sophia. I'll be right back okay?" He nodded his head and turned back over. Piper sighed and picked Bailey up before leaving the room, heading down the hall to Carol's room.
She knocked lightly on the door and smiled when Carl and Sophia greeted her. "Mind if you have one more?" Bailey squirmed eagerly to be put down when she saw the other children. Carol walked up to the door and smiled sweetly at her.
"Of course we don't mind, do we, kids?" Both children shook their heads and each grabbed ahold of one of Bailey's hands and led her inside where they had some toys laying out.
"Thanks Carol, I think something is wrong with Shane and I figured he'd be more likely to talk to me if she wasn't there, you know?" Carol nodded and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.
"Just be careful, I know he's not a bad man, but you never know what people will do when they're drunk."
Piper smiled and nodded before walking out of the room and returning to her own. When she walked in, Shane was seated on the couch, bottle in hand, taking a large swig of the amber liquid.
She walked over and sat next to him, looking at him questioningly. "Everything okay Shane?"
Shane shook his head wearily and turned slightly to face her. "Nothin's okay. Nothin's ever okay anymore." He slurred and rubbed his face. Piper cocked her head to the side curiously.
"What's the matter?" She asked him gently. He shook his head and took a long pull from his liquor.
"Don't matter." He muttered quietly. Piper sighed and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.
"That's not like you. What's got you so out of it tonight?" She asked gently. He ran his hand over his face before turning to face her, looking at her appraisingly before letting out a heavy sigh.
"Everything is just…screwed up, ya know?" His voice cracked slightly as he leaned against the back of the couch. Piper slowly nodded and leaned back next to him.
"Yeah it is… but there's nothing we can do about it but try to survive." She said sadly.
Shane scoffed. "Hard to say if it's even worth it anymore…"He said quietly. Piper whipped her head towards him and fixed him with a glare.
"Don't you dare say that Shane. Not you. I lost my mother, my father, my nephew and maybe my brother and sister-in-law. The only reason I have to keep fighting is Bailey. You still have Rick, Lori, Carl. You have so much to fight for, so don't you dare give up." Her voice broke as she spoke of her family. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
Shane looked at her, seeing how vulnerable she was in this moment, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side.
"Sorry Piper, I didn't mean for you to relive all that…" Piper shook her head sadly.
"You didn't have to remind me. I relive it every moment of every day. I can't do anything about it though because I have to be strong for Bailey. This world is hard enough for a child, I can't have her dealing with my emotions on top of it." She said sadly.
"Well, then I guess you'll have to take this as a moment of weakness." He smiled at her gently and she caved, tears pouring down her cheeks as she sobbed violently into Shane's chest. He rubbed her back with one hand while the other cradled the back of her head gently.
Piper clutched to his shirt desperately as her sobs slowly quieted. She looked up at Shane as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"Guess it's your turn big guy." She smirked slightly as she watched him. He stared at her silently, making her slightly uncomfortable.
"Shane, why are you-" She was silenced as Shane pushed himself forward suddenly, closing the distance between their lips in a heated kiss.
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