Chapter 15
-Lexi-
She tried sitting quietly, but questions started to form in her mind. She'd been too tired and traumatized by Rick's behavior earlier to pepper anyone with questions but as she sat with the redneck in uncomfortable silence she felt as if she'd burst.
'If silence was golden I'd be a millionaire,' she thought angrily. The phrase had been one of Lori's favorites, given Rick's aversion to talking about matters of the heart. Suddenly she remembered painfully what Carl had said that afternoon. Lori was dead. And Rick hated her.
The unfairness of it all brought frustrated tears to her eyes. Unable to maintain the oppressive silence any longer she turned her chair to face Daryl, determined to make him talk to her.
"So has Rick been this welcoming with everyone recently or is it just me he's decided to hate?" She'd meant to say it casually, but she couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.
Daryl looked over her with an odd expression on his face. She hated her eyes for betraying her in that instant- she was sure he could see them brimming with tears, even though she refused to let them fall.
"He don't hate you. He's just been fucked since Lori died a few months back."
"i wish I could believe you," she said smiling sadly and looking down. The tears had finally won out. She blinked, letting a few of them fall onto her lap silently.
Daryl shifted in his chair, clearly uncomfortable and unsure of what to say.
"He cares. He all but told me he'd beat my face in if I tried anything with you," he offered awkwardly, hoping it'd make her stop crying.
'Of course,' she though rolling her eyes and grinning in spite of herself, 'leave it to Shane's best friend to hate me and cock block me at the same time.' Shaking her head in exasperation she glanced through her lashes at the muscular standoffish man sitting across from her, and smiled.
-Daryl-
He had no idea what had inspired him to tell her about Rick's warning. He'd just wanted her to stop fucking crying, even though the flushed look it gave her combined with the fact she was still in pjs made her look an awful lot like she'd just finished having sex. 'The fuck are you thinking?' he asked himself, trying to shake the thought.
However he'd anticipated her to react to what he said, this wasn't it. She had stopped crying, which was good but rather than simply being happy Rick didn't hate her, she was wearing that half smile expression he'd seen women get right before they rip your head off for saying something stupid. The look was a favorite of Andrea's, and he'd learned early on to avoid her when he saw it spread across her face.
He watched as Lexi shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, adding to the disheveled post sex she'd already been exuding. Then she smiled a him, her green eyes zeroing in on him through her lashes.
"Oh he said that did he?" she said, a smile playing across her lips.
"Yeah..." Daryl said, his eyes shifting around to hide his awkwardness. Why the fuck were they still talking about this?
"Well I've got something you can tell Rick," she said, standing up and making her way over to him. Daryl shrank back as she leaned in close to his ear, willing himself not to look at how her tits moved as she bent over to get closer to him.
"You tell Rick I can fuck whoever I damn well please. It's none of his concern anymore," she said in a half- whisper that sent tingles down his spine.
She straightened up with a satisfied smile on her face and made her way over to the makeshift pallet shed been sleigh on when he came up.
"Now I am going to bed," she said laying down on the ground still looking at him with that funny fight-smile only women used, "and you are more than welcome to join me."