A/N- Thank you to those of you who left feedback, nice to hear that you guys are enjoying this :)
Cassie, Jim and Charlene had almost reached the picnic table and Daryl couldn't help but think of a million and one other places he could have taken Kate instead of the fair. What had he been thinking? This was exactly what Daryl got for having zero game when it came to women. Cassie was the one woman he had taken on a blind date in his entire life and now she was coming face to face with Kate on their almost date.
"I get the feelin' ya gonna kill me…" he decided.
Kate's eyes narrowed and she half smiled in the playful way that made the bees in his stomach buzz into a frenzy that could almost mask the sick feelings of seeing Cassie.
"Charlene and Jim are 'ere, ya remember 'bout them?"
Kate tucked her hair behind her ears, "I recall."
"It's kinda… well it goes like this…" Daryl sat silently staring at her, his fingers drumming on the wood of the picnic table to try and dispel the nervous energy that was pumping around his body.
"Do spit it out…"
"Char got it in 'er head that I need settin' up… ya know…" he cleared his throat to try and muffle the next word, "dates... well… ya know… she's here."
"Who?" Kate asked as she took a sip of her lemonade.
Daryl rubbed the back of his neck where he could feel tension creeping in and forced himself to say, "Cassie."
Kate placed her drink on the table, her expression unreadable. "What's that got to do with me?"
She took it better than he had expected but that only disappointed him. He wanted Cassie to be her problem even if she wasn't a problem in the first place. He didn't know exactly what he wanted Kate's reaction to be but maybe anger and jealousy would have been preferable. In fact she looked mildly amused that his blind date was heading right for them.
"Hey man," Jim slapped his back and Daryl stood up to greet Charlene who was only interested in staring at Kate who was still sitting at the picnic table. Daryl looked from Cassie back to Miss Uppity and there was no comparison between the two. One of them made his stomach churn and the other made his heart race.
"This is... Kate…" Daryl's eyes flicked to Jim. He just hoped his old friend had the sense not to mention the rediculous high school crush that he had confessed to having for the english woman.
/
"Kate," Jim repeated, stretching out her name as a slow smile crossed his bearded face. He took the hand she offered and wrapped it in both of his. "Ain't you something," he gave her an odd look before looking to Daryl then back to her.
Charlene backhanded Jim's chest, "you should text Jason and ask him to join us. I'm sure his friends won't mind."
"Why?" Jim adjusted his trucker hat and gave Kate another coy smile until he caught the eye of his agitated looking fiancee. "Alright, Alright," he pulled his phone from his pocket and typed out a message.
Daryl's 'date' wasn't what Kate had pictured when she had heard Cassie's name. She'd pictured Hailee mark two; tiny skirt, diamantes adorning all items of clothing and a thick layer of makeup. Cassie was more ordinary. Her shoulder length hair was neatly pushed off her face with an alice band. She wore light blue bootcut jeans, a lilac tee shirt and a darker purple cardigan that had flowers embroidered into it. If Kate was being picky she would say that the purple washed her skintone out and the cut of the jeans made her look about 15 years older than she probably was. But those wouldn't be very nice things to think or say.
"You never mentioned bringing someone," Cassie eyed Daryl who just stood looking like a startled cat.
"We just decided over breakfast." Kate replied, coming off more territorial than she had planned. There was no 'we', there was simply her and then there was Daryl.
"Ya'll had breakfast?" Charlene confirmed as she pulled the strap of her handbag high up on her shoulder, her eyes darting between Kate and Daryl.
"I er, took her Merle's hangover cure…" Daryl thrust his hands in his pockets and Kate glared at him. Why did he just tell everyone that? This was awkward enough without everyone knowing she was a hungover mess only a few hours ago.
Now, Cassie and Charlene were giving her long once overs before the redhead smiled and turned to the other, "see, he might not look it but Daryl is a real sweetheart. Helping out his little friend an' all..."
Kate opened her mouth to say something, something she would probably regret but she was interrupted by the six foot tall wall of man who stepped on front of her with a bright white smile that crooned, "nice to meet ya ma'am."
"This is my baby brother, Jason," Jim said.
Jason was wearing a blue shirt that matched his bright blue eyes and an actual cowboy hat. He was immaculate, shiny belt and he smelled fresh and citrusy. She held her hand out to shake his and he kissed it, softly as he smiled at her with his eyes like he had just jumped from the front pages of a romance novel. Kate couldn't stop the blush that began to spread like wildfire until she caught sight of Daryl lighting a cigarette and looking like one dirty, angry, redneck.
Kate cleared her throat and pulled her hand from Jason's. Bloody hell, this was uncomfortable. Being here with Daryl was one thing but now she was here with half the cast of Daryl's personal life and that was something bloody else. Although, the redneck looked even more uncomfortable than she did. But then she supposed he deserved it, she didn't want to spend an afternoon with Cassie. She thought about making an excuse to leave when Jason tapped her shoulder.
"Truth or dare…" he said.
"Excuse me?" Kate peeled her eyes from Daryl.
"We can't have fun if we're strangers. Truth or dare," Jason tipped his hat to the side and winked.
Kate bit her lip. Truth or dare. When was the last time she had played this? Could she even play this game sober? She looked at Charlene who was encouraging Daryl to join into her conversation with Cassie and let out a small relenting sigh, "truth."
"Hmm let's see," Jason's smile was even wider now as he placed one thumb through his belt loop and swayed back in his boots while he decided what question, "ya ever kissed a man you just met?"
Kate choked on the lemonade she was sipping before she replied "not today," and decided that truth or dare was definitely a game best served drunk.
/
"Wanna ride the Ferris Wheel baby?" Charlene batted her eyelashes at Jim and Daryl's traitorous friend agreed.
"Cassie hates heights, but you'll look after her won't you Daryl?" Charlene glared at him before she smiled sweetly at her blonde friend.
Daryl grunted and took a long drag of his cigarette. Charlene had the power to kick him out of the house, she also had the power to chew his ear off and she never let anything drop so it was difficult to simply abandon Cassie despite that being exactly what he wanted to do. Then there was Jason to think about, the man was happily taking up all of the pretty brunettes attention.
The group began to move towards the Ferris Wheel and like a giant pussy whipped coward he followed behind everyone while he seethed in silence. When the chance to grab hold of Jim arrived he took it, at least he could take some of his rage out on the traitor.
"What ya go an' do that for?" Daryl demanded in a whisper that could hardly convey his full range of emotion.
"What?"
"Jason," Jason with his head full of glossy black curls and the mega watt smile that lured the ladies like a moth to a flame. Jim's baby brother didn't need any goddamn help when it came to women. Ever since he was in highschool the kid had been fighting them off with a stick.
"Don't blame me, you're the dumbass that double booked your damn dates."
"Maybe I should say somethin' to Cassie."
"Are you crazy? Charlene would kill me and you, I don't wanna take a wupping for your dumbshit thinking."
/
Kate watched Charlene and Jim take their place on the ferris wheel first. They were hand in hand and huddled up in the seat together like lovebirds on a first or second date.
Then the ferris wheel moved around and Cassie took her seat while Daryl held back, "I reckon we should switch…" he said to Jason before he looked to her.
"I don't reckon so…" Jason dismissed him before turning to Kate, "what ya think Sugar?"
"Cassie needs you to protect her from the heights. You can't simply abandon her can you Mr Dixon?" said Kate.
Daryl narrowed his eyes before he scratched his chin and backed away. Cassie and Daryl sat at opposing ends of the ferris wheel seat with a generous gap falling flat between them. Kate couldn't help but smirk at the miserable sigh he huffed as he leaned his chin into his hand.
Then it was time for her and Jason. "Ya ever met the Queen?" he grinned as he asked another one of the million questions he'd been grilling her with while they waited in the line.
Kate took her seat on the ferris wheel next to him, knee to knee, "oh yeah, we all have tea with Betsy, it's great fun."
The attendant slammed the safety bar down over their legs and Jason coked his head to the side with a shrewd smirk, "ya get asked that a lot huh?"
Kate smiled, "yeah. I once was asked if I could sing ' a spoonful of sugar'," she recalled the grown man that had requested it in earnest, "Julie Andrews I am not."
Despite her earlier reservations, this was nice. Jason was funny, attractive but best of all was the long, intense looks that Daryl would give her when ever she caught his eye. Like nobody else existed, just the two of them until Charlene would prod him and direct his attention back to Cassie and Kate would laugh at the look that snaked its way around his face. She could probably have saved him from the unwanted attention or insisted that he switched places with jason but part of her wanted to watch him suffer.
"When my brother asked me to come babysit a girl that Daryl had with him... well you ain't what I expected, no siree" Jason winked'
Kate's interest was piqued, "what did you expect?"
Jason laughed and tipped his hat back, "Daryl ain't exactly much of a ladies man, lets leave it at that."
"He isn't?" Kate pried further before she cleared her throat, "a ladies man I mean..."
"Nah. I never see him with chicks."
"Well... he took Cassie on a blind date."
"He'd have to be blind," Jason snorted.
"That's a horrible thing to say."
"Then why'd it make you smile?"
Kate bit her lip and let her face relax before she insisted that "it didn't."
Jason's arm fell along the back of the seat and leaned in close to her before his baby blue eyes studied her face, "you sure do ask a lotta questions about Daryl… you ain't sweet on him are you?"
Kate felt herself flush as she shifted in her seat causing it to sway, "don't be absurd."
"Steady girl, I won't share your secrets" he nudged her arm and she gave him an incredulous look. "Truth is, ya ain't the only one..."
Kate's head whipped around to stare at Jason who gave her a shy smile and it hit her like a confetti canon. Of course he was gay. He was beautiful and more well manicured than she was. Probably why she felt to bloody relaxed around him.
"I won't tell if you won't," Jason promised.
"Nobody knows?" Kate wondered how strange, terrifying and liberating it must be to reveal a part of your very soul to a stranger.
"I think my brother suspects, it ain't the easiest lifestyle choice around here and ya haven't met my parents," the smile dropped from his face for a moment before he nudged her arm, "Ya have a sneaky look about ya so don't let me down."
Kate scoffed, what the hell was the supposed to mean?
"Anyway, ya wanna know about Daryl?" Jason gave her a shrewd look. "His Daddy's a real mean sonofabitch. His brother is an asshole too. We all call Daryl the 'sweet one'. The boys at the bar are always hard on him cos he don't chase tail like they do. Guess he was just waiting on some pretty brown eyes huh?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Kate insisted as their turn on the ferris wheel ended and the attendant lifted the bar.
"Sure ya don't…." Jason wrapped his arm around his shoulder and pulled her closer to him with a conspiratorial wink.
/
Daryl endured another fairground ride with Cassie as his partner. He didn't know what was worse, the uncomfortable feeling of spending time with the blonde or the uncomfortable feeling of the rides. Then he looked at Jason using his thumb to wipe some powdered sugar off the side of Kate's soft, pink lips, that was worse. Fucking hell, that was way fucking worse.
Jim spotted a little shooting game where you had to shoot the little tin ducks and if you hit enough targets you could win a prize. He decided he was going to win Charlene one of the oversized teddy bears on display and he did, first attempt.
Before Daryl could challenge Miss Uppity to a marksman competition Charlene was paying for a turn and handing him the gun.
"Why don't you show Cassie what you're made of?" the redhead winked.
Cassie's puppy dog hazel eyes looked longingly at him and let out a low groan as he brought the sight to his eye. Daryl didn't do as good as Jim since it was hard to concentrate when he could barely take his eyes off Kate and Jason who were sharing a bag of donuts and having a enthusiastic conversation about one thing or another. What they talked about didn't matter but it was the way they talked. Kate was smart, funny, she was the type of person who could hold a conversation about anything and Jason was a fucking nice guy. Daryl missed several shots but still won a little purple pig that Cassie was less than satisfied with.
"Least it won't take up all the room in the bed," he teased with a wink to try and ruffle her feathers. Instead of a cute little bashful smile or a sassy reply Cassie just stared at him like he'd ripped off the pig's head and set it on fire.
Daryl held in the miserable groan that wanted to be released instead he turned his attention back to Kate and her girlish giggle. She was holding a rifle to taker her own turn at shooting the ducks while Jason and the young boy that worked the stand both fawned over her which was no surprise since she looked so fucking sexy.
Cassie started talking about some nonsense and Daryl let her words fade to static as he watched Jason put his arms around Kate to help line up the first few shots. She delighted in every one that they managed to hit and Daryl felt sick with jealousy at the easy way she was laughing with Jim's brother. Together they were having a great time at missing most of the targets and in the end they won the complementary bubble wand which of course delighted them both even more.
Fucking Jason, maybe he never liked that kid afterall. Too fucking charming for his own fucking good.
After a few more games their time at the fair was thankfully over. Daryl was going to be more than happy to get in Miss Uppity's Mustang and have her back to himself. More than ever he had realised that the way he felt when he was Kate wasn't something that could be replicated with another woman. She was special and now that he had met her he wasn't sure he could ever settle for anything else. For the first time in his life he started to be think about passports and travelling. England was so far away.
Just as Daryl was breathing his sigh of relief and planning on saying goodbye to Cassie he heard Jason say, "it's still early, ya wanna go bowling Katy?"
"We could play couples teams," Charlene chimed.
Daryl wanted to kill them both. He'd spent long enough watching another man having fun with his woman. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand it before he smacked Jason and knocked the smile off his chiselled face. Even if he was Jim's baby brother.
"Maybe we should just get goin', ya don't wanna get caught in traffic…" Daryl thought of the first excuse that popped in his head.
"Don't be silly Mr Dixon, it's a Sunday..." Kate patted his back and gave him a gentle nudge towards Cassie. "I bet she loves to bowl as much as she loves your truck."
It occurred to Daryl that Miss Uppity might be fucking with him. But no matter what was going on in her crazy head she would be his at the end of the night. His sex truck was parked outside of her house afterall.
Kate gave him a devilish smile before she jumped into her Mustang with Jason. Daryl lined up his imaginary crossbow before he took the shot to the slamming of the door. He'd have this woman if it goddamn killed him.
"I'm terrible at bowling," Cassie interrupted him and he turned to look at her. She was holding tight to her pig and despite the fact that he'd acted like an asshole, she was still being nice. He wondered why he wanted Kate over her? Was it just looks or something else? Maybe it was because he knew he could never quite have the English woman. Maybe some twisted part of him actually liked that she was leaving. But the second he considered that idea he knew it wasn't true. The idea of her leaving was what kept him up at night.
"Ya'll better ride with us," Charlene shoved Daryl along and he made damn sure to take the seat next to Jim in the front rather than the one next to Cassie in the back.
Now, Daryl sat pulling on his bowling shoes, cursing under his breath. He hated bowling, he hated bowling shoes and he hated listening to Kate and Jason's strategies on how they were going to "kick everyone's ass."
Then he had to sit and watch them high fiving and cheering each other on as they played themselves to the top of the board with a clean win. Kate and Jason, K & J, it even rhymed. Daryl couldn't be more miserable. Biding his time was fucking painful.
Jason picked his "pretty little partner" up and spun her around while Daryl kicked off his shoes with a heavy grunt. Cassie was shitty at bowling and she didn't even care that they had lost. She'd been more interested in the waffle fries and planning some church bake sale. Ordinarily he wasn't bothered about winning but this was different. He wanted to beat Jason, he wanted to beat his ass into the fucking ground.
Daryl felt his hand ball into a fist at the sight of Jason giving Kate a quick, friendly hug. The whole goddamn bowling game had been torture. He wanted her big brown eyes looking at him and her cute little giggle laughing with him. He wanted the bowling victory and the bubble wand. Most of all he wanted to kiss her. Jesus Christ, he'd wanted to kiss her so bad. Ever since he'd laid his eyes on her and every day he knew her was only making the want more despertate.
He was done playing this stupid game. What was he doing wasting half the day with Cassie? Fuck Cassie, he was done with being polite. Charlene could turn him out of the house for all he cared. Daryl didn't want to be Cassie's slice of man pie, he wanted to be Kate's cup of tea, hot and steamy with enough caffeine to keep her up all night.
His boots were on and before he knew it he was slipping his hand in Kate's, their fingers intertwining in a perfect fit. Holy shit, what the hell was this woman doing to him? This was the sort of thing a person could only stand once in their life.
Daryl needed to make a move on Miss Uppity before he made himself crazy or some other interruption disturbed them. Lord knows he might kill Jason if the man laid his hand on her one more time. It was only 7pm, it was still light, the sun wouldn't be going down for another couple of hours. The day wasn't over yet.
/
"Let's get outta here," Daryl commanded low and husky.
Kate stared at their hands intertwined and had no chance to say 'yes' or 'no' before he was pulling her outside at a speed just below sprinting.
"What about your date?" Kate teased as she tugged her hand from his ironclad grip.
Daryl wiped his hand across his face and let out a pained laugh, "your a real pain in the ass with that shit, ya know that?"
"You only have yourself to blame Mr Dixon," she pulled her keys out from her handbag before she leaned against the back of her car and laughed at him. She couldn't deny she hadn't enjoyed watching him squirm.
"Well I suppose you were gettin' on just fine with Jason…"
"He's a nice guy."
Daryl narrowed his eyes, "he ain't so nice…"
"You're not jealous are you Mr Dixon?" Kate's mouth ran away from her brain and she knew she shouldn't have asked the question. She knew it the second his eyes darkened and something intangible settled in the space between them causing her breath to catch in her throat.
Daryl swallowed down hard, his eyes roving over her and she felt her heart picking up speed. In truth she'd been almost glad of Cassie being there to distract away from moments like this. Moments when they were alone and one intense blue eyed look made her feel completely at his mercy. Why was he so deliciously awkward with Cassie yet had the power to make Kate feel like she was floundering? He edged closer until the toe of his boots were against the toes of her shoes and his gaze lingered on her lips before he looked her in the eye.
Kate's heart was pounding hard and fast, she wanted to look away as much as she wanted to see what he would do next. Daryl leaned in closer and closer until his nose was nudging its way through her fallen strands of hair to where it brushed against the outside of her ear. "Yeah, I am..." he whispered letting the words send tingles down her spine turning her legs to jelly.
Bloody hell, her whole body was jelly. She felt like she might melt into his arms like Haagen Daz on a summer's day, trying desperately to hold its shape but losing all control under the intense heat.
Kate tried to steady the frantic breaths that seemed to be in a race with her heartbeat. She'd spent the past 18 months building up a wall, brick by brick. Now it was so high she didn't dare look over the top of it. She wasn't sure she would ever be quite ready. She wondered if she looked at Daryl right now he might have the power to punch a hole right through it. So instead of looking at him she stared at the point where their shoes were touching and tried to ignore all thoughts and feelings he was stirring from the tip of her toes to the far recesses of her mind.
"Gimme ya keys," Daryl held his hand under her line of sight.
"Why?" the word came out a whisper.
"Because I ain't finished with ya yet."