Dying To Leave

To wake up to soft kisses pressed along her neck and shoulder, Jamie almost felt like crying in joy. She smiled at the feel of Daryl's arm holding onto her waist tightly, the two of them having moved throughout the night and now lying on their sides with Jay pulled flush against Daryl's chest. She opened her eyes when his lips brushed along her jaw, looking up into his eyes when he pulled back.

"Mornin'," he greeting quietly, nearly silent inside the tent. She couldn't hear any movement outside and the tent was still dark enough that it seemed he had woken her right at dawn. She smiled up at him and lifted a hand to his face, placing her palm on his cheek gently. In replacement of a 'good morning' she pressed her lips against his, wrapping him in her arms and drawing him as close as she could.

Daryl's arms slipped beneath her back, causing her to arch her spine and moan deep in her throat. She ignored the tender pain that accompanied his touch when his left arm pressed against the sore side of her back. She knew that he was being as gentle as he could, since he usually was barely gentle at all—and truth be told she missed that—and her heart went out to him for it.

They soon manoeuvred themselves around so that Jamie was straddling Daryl's stomach so that her back no longer taking unneeded pressure. Her hands framed his face, keeping a hold of him as she pressed into the kiss. His hands slid up the shirt that she was wearing to caress along her sides, his left hand as gentle as he could be on her bruised ribs. She shivered at the sensation, even with the sticky, humid air that was already filling the tent, and arched her back toward him.

The world faded away for them as they became immersed in one another; lips pressing, hands roaming, teeth scraping flesh. Jamie felt as though she were drowning in the sensation but could not pull herself away or stop herself. She felt like a drug addict that was finally getting her fix. Her body pressed down against his in such a sign of desperation that she nearly feared she was crushing him.

They were startled apart at the sounds of others moving about outside, greeting one another and saying their good mornings. Both were still gasping for air, their hair having lost the bedhead style and acquired a more 'sex hair' looking fashion. Daryl's hair was mussed about from having Jay's hands gripping and running through it, her own hair flipped around and fluffed from Daryl's attempts to bring her face closer to his.

"Good morning," she finally rasped out, getting a smirk in return.

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Jamie stepped up to Rick as all of the other members of the camp finished loading their things into the vehicles, choosing who was riding where. Morales and his family had already announced that they weren't going to be travelling with them, resulting in a long tearful goodbye from the other members of the group. Rick looked away from the car that he was standing beside, missing most of its parts, and a note tapped to the driver's door.

"I'm worried about him," she said softly as a greeting, looking down at the note that Rick had written in a thick, black permanent marker. "Him and Duane."

"Me too," Rick said mournfully, looking down at the note as well. His eyes soon turned to where the trucks were beginning to start up one by one, Lori sitting in the passenger seat of the truck that he would be driving. "We should get going," he began, looking to Jamie.

"Rick," she said quickly when he moved to leave, stopping him in his tracks. "I never got the chance to truly thank you. You came back, just like you'd promised." Rick let a smile shine through, knowing that she truly was grateful. She stepped up to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug, feeling as he returned the embrace right away, but was still careful of her abused back. "I don't know what I'd have done if I had been on my own."

"I'd have come back no matter what, Jay, just like I promised," Rick assured, pulling away to take hold of her arms. She nodded her head, smiling up at him. "And I guess that it's pure, dumb luck that we both found who we were looking for." She let out a sob mixed laugh and patted Rick on the shoulder as she stepped away. She glanced over to where Daryl was waiting in his truck, leaning his elbow on the door as he chewed on his thumb nail. She had tried to break that habit.

"Time to go," she finally said as she turned to the direction of the truck, hearing Rick step away to head toward his family. They both felt that tug in their gut as they stepped away from the car, from the note that was left behind for Morgan and Duane. They both felt like they were leaving a piece of themselves behind.

"Happy now?" Daryl asked as she walked passed his window, getting a smack on his arm that knocked his thumb away from his mouth and saved his remaining nail. He glowered after her as she stepped around the front of the truck to the passenger side, pulling herself up onto the seat carefully.

"Yes, actually," she finally answered as she closed the door and turned to face him with a faint smile. The truck lurched forward behind the others, making Jamie wince as her back rocked backward against her seat. She looked out the window as they trees passed by, leaving behind the camp that she had barely known. Daryl, however, had become accustomed to having a place to come back to after his hunts. "Everything's gunna be okay," she mumbled to herself, the wind from the open window pushing back her loose hair.

"You know that, huh?" Daryl asked, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. She smirked and looked over to him, a glint in her eye that hold him she had things about her that had changed since he had last seen her. She was still the same in many ways, she didn't act differently with him but there was an air about her that just screamed 'no bullshit'. She had never let herself be walked over in the first place, but now it was life or death.

The fast wind tickled Jamie's bare feet from where they were propped up on the open window, her head resting against Daryl's thigh as he drove through the slightly uneven terrain of the worn path that led to the hunting cabin he had taken over after his father left. Jamie's hands were tracing the creasing along the inside of his right palm, the other holding the steering wheel.

"Your hands are so much larger than mine," she finally said, holding her hand up to his, palm to palm, and measured them out. Her fingers were an entire joint shorter than Daryl's were, slightly darker than hers as well. She prided herself with the amount of time she spent outdoors, but still paled in comparison to Daryl.

"Damn ugly, too," Daryl remarked, looking down at their hands. His were rough, calloused and scared from years of hard physical work and hunting, while hers were smooth, the odd scar covering her skin from an accident as a child or some other time. He often marvelled on how her hands could be so smooth, since she used them a lot on a day to day basis.

"I like your hands," she said in protest, looking up at him from her upside down position, her hair loose and draping over his right leg. "They're strong; they show that you've worked hard. I like your ruggedness," she admitted, smiling sheepishly. Daryl raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, but her attention was back on their joined hands.

"Ain't that poetic," Daryl drawled out, getting a slap on the wrist and a mock glare from his girlfriend.

"Shut up, Dixon."

Jamie smiled from her place in the passenger seat, looking out at the passing trees and fields. The wind blew in from the open window, blowing her hair back cooling her face in the hot Georgia air. She looked over to where Daryl was focusing on the road, his hand at his mouth as he chewed on the thumb nail. He caught her look out of the corner of his eye and quickly pulled it away, lowering it to the steering wheel. Jamie scooted toward him until she was sitting in the middle seat, taking the hand nearest to her from the steering wheel.

"What's gotten into you?" Daryl asked, surprised at her gentle actions. He was expecting her to scold him again for chewing on his nail.

"I'm having a nostalgic moment," she said back wistfully, placing their hands palm to palm. His were still a joint longer than hers, but the difference in tan had changed a lot since they started dating. The amount of time that she spent out with him at the cabin or just in the outdoors had drastically changed her physicality.

"Damn, that's never good," he remarked sarcastically, glancing down at their hands briefly before he returned his eyes to the road. She didn't scold him at all, just moved closer to him yet again, lacing her fingers through his and leaned against his side, her head falling to rest on his shoulder.

"Do you remember when you first told me how you felt?" she asked softly, still smiling as she looked down at their hands, her free one tracing all the tiny scars that had accumulated over the years. Daryl snorted at her question, causing her to grin. Of course he remembered.

"I was drunk, jealous and pissed off. Of course I remember," he said back with a bite to his words. "That bastard shouldn't have been looking a' you that way," he said in a low voice, a dangerous tone that she knew all too well. "Family or not."

"Especially family," she corrected automatically. "I'll never forget the look on Merle's face right before you punched him. It had to be the most priceless thing I've ever seen. The broken nose was just the cherry on top." Daryl threw his head back and laughed, knowing that of the list of things that Jamie loved to see, Merle getting his ass kicked was very high, if not number one. "You sat me down that night—completely hammered—and told me that I was never allowed to look at, talk to, flirt with or touch another man ever again."

Daryl winced slightly at the foggy memory of him sitting her down on her apartment sofa, pointing at her and yelling out a set of rules. They hadn't even been dating. Then she had just smiled, stood up and looked in directly in the eye before asking "All except you, though, right?" He didn't remember saying anything to answer, and Jamie had always told him that he didn't have the chance to, before she kissed him, and then walked off to go to bed, saying that he could have the couch that evening.

"I bet you're glad I didn't follow those rules, otherwise we wouldn't be here right now," she added on after a minute, bringing his hand up to kiss the back of his palm. The tendons were standing out against his skin slightly from gripping her hand back, a few faint freckles still visible to her. Daryl grunted as a show of agreement, causing Jamie to laugh slightly and lie her head down on his shoulder again, the same wood and soil smell that always seemed to cling to him surrounding her.

Jamie found herself looking up an incredibly threatening finger.

Daryl stood before her with a menacing look about him, but the fact that he was staggering on his feet from the amount of alcohol he had consumed at the bar made his strict, no nonsense look seem only comical. She had to fight herself from grinning since she knew it would only piss him off further; her attempt resulted with her having a pursed look to her lips that made her seem like she had just sucked on a lemon.

"You stay away from him," Daryl lectured, his words slurred slightly, "And every other guy. I don't care if ya think he's attractive, you ain't even allowed to look at 'im. A'right?" he demanded, stepping forward when his bodyweight swayed that way. "No lookin', no talkin', no touchin'! Definitely no fuckin' flirtin'!"

"So let me get this straight, you're forbidding me from having any kind of direct contract with men?" Jamie asked innocently, leaning her chin on her fist with her elbow on her thigh. Daryl seemed to pause a moment, processing her question before glaring at her.

"Yes. Yer mine, Angel."

The admission shocked Jamie enough to silence her, all teasing nature evaporating. Daryl had never been so bold to lay some kind of claim to her before, nor had he ever reacted so violently to her interacting with men at the bar, either. She leaned back into her sofa as her hand rose to her mouth, her mind trying to process what was going on. She had been joking around with Merle in the bar, less irritated because of the alcohol, when Daryl had pulled her off, completely ignoring the booming laughs of his brother as he wiped the blood off his face from Daryl's punch.

"All except you, though, right?" she suddenly asked, watching as a blank look adorned his face, causing her to smile again—just a small smile—and shake her head in amusement. Merle and Daryl had one thing in common when they were drinking, and that was that they have absolutely no brain to mouth filter. Things were just blurted out as they came to mind and they often got in trouble with the people around them for it.

Daryl was left silent as he winced when his fuzzy mind finally realized that he had sworn all men off of her, including him. Jamie let out a short laugh before pulling herself up from the sofa, standing before Daryl. The heels that she was wearing for their night out evened their height, allowing her to look him in the eye with a faint smirk. Before he had a chance to order her back onto the couch again, she leaned forward and pressed a faint kiss to his lips, her hand rising up to ghost her fingertips across his freshly shaved cheek. She didn't give him time to respond before she pulled away again and gave his chest a firm pat before turning toward the short hallway that led down to her bedroom.

"You can take the couch tonight, Daryl, but don't make it a habit."

Jamie was pulled from her musings when the truck started to slow down, the line of vehicles that they had pulling to the side of the road in a forested area. She looked up toward the lead truck, noticing immediately that the RV seemed to be smoking. She remembered Dale talking about how the truck wouldn't make it very far without repairs. It seemed that they had reached that limit.

"Gotta be fuckin' joking," Daryl grumbled out as he shifted the truck into park, leaning back in his seat and throwing his arm over Jamie's shoulders. She peaked into the rear view mirror to see that Shane was pulling to a stop behind them in his jeep, jumping out almost immediately.

"Come on, let's see what we can do," she ordered easily as she popped his door open, climbing over his lap to get out of the truck. Daryl swore faintly when she purposely slipped her leg gently across his lap. She turned to face him once she was back on her feet, looking up at him from the ground. The sun was beating down on her face and she could already feel her body beginning to perspire at the lack of air movement. "Comin'?"

"I need a minute," he growled back, shooting her a look. She smirked to herself before turning to approach the trucks, walking with the others as everyone moved up to the RV to see what the problem was. Dale and Rick were already there, trying to think up something. Apparently they had needed a part from the truck that they assumed Merle to have taken, and there was no other way that they could fix it unless they found a replacement hose.

Daryl came up a minute later, his crossbow in hand, giving her a look of warning. She just smiled innocently and turned her attention back to the others, turning her attention to the distance when Shane said that he saw something through the binoculars.

"I can try and fix something up for ya," she finally offered, seeing the group turn to look at her, as though they had forgotten that she was even there. "As much as I hate Merle, he taught me a lot of things about different engines." She looked over to where Daryl looked annoyed.

"I's true," he threw in, seeing them glance over to him. "Spent hours in that damned garage. Nearly the only time they weren't trying to kill one another."

"Get me a new hose and I can patch you up to last at least until the city." Rick and Dale shared a look before nodding, giving Shane a nod that told him to get going on his jeep to try and find what Jamie would need, taking T-Dog with him as Rick disappeared into the RV to go and talk with Jim. Jamie stood with Dale, taking a look at the cooked engine inside of the mobile home.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Andrea asked as she stood off to the side.

"More than you," Jamie answered back, not meaning to sound so harsh but still getting faintly irritated with the woman. Her baby sister had died, she knew that it would fuck her up for a little while, but she needed to stop lashing out at other people. Jamie had a strong feeling that she was receiving some of the blame for what happened to the rest of the camp that night since Rick and Daryl had been so adamant about going back to the city for Merle, the guns and her.

"Whatever," Andrea scoffed as she stepped off, leaving Dale to watch after her in concern. Jamie noticed that he was giving her a look that told her that she may have been too hard on the woman, and she sighed as she pulled her hands away from the engine, spotted with grease.

"I know that was harsh, but she can't keep blocking everyone out, then lashing out when she finally does talk. She's not a baby; it's the new way of life here. People are going to die, you can't let it weaken you. I don't have any siblings that I can say 'I know how you feel' about, but I watched both of my parents die before their time and it's pretty much the same."

Dale's eyes showed his sympathy for her before she turned away to face the burning engine again, beginning to pry free the ruined hose that had been repaired with so much tape that it had nearly melted it onto the engine. She had to pull her hands back several times before she ended up getting burned before she had finally ripped the old hose free. Daryl was an ever present shadow, his crossbow resting on his shoulder as he looked about for any sign of danger.

"Do you mind?" Jamie finally asked in a low voice when Daryl appeared behind her for the fifth time in almost ten minutes, his body heat only serving to add to the discomfort of the sun on her back. His breath was ghosting on her neck as he faked looking in at what she was doing, turning his head enough so that when he spoke, his lips brushed her ear.

"Payback's a bitch, Babe," he answered in a husky voice, pressing his chest to her back. The sweat that soaked his shirt dampened hers further. She felt her stomach flutter before she jabbed her elbow backward to force him away and give her space. He laughed deeply at her reaction before he let his emotionless mask fall into place and resume his lookout for danger.

Shane soon returned with the parts that she needed and then some, T-Dog remaining behind to make sure that she didn't need any help. She looked up to see that Rick and Shane were moving Jim over to the forest to rest, the group following after to be there to say their goodbyes. She was able to convince T-Dog to go as well, since he had known Jim better than she did, while she remained behind so that she would have the RV repaired for when they were ready to leave.

She had always been bad when it came to keeping her hands in good condition whenever Merle was teaching her, often cutting up or burning herself. She was more careful than she had ever been before as she attached the new hose with extreme precision, her head nearly shoved inside the engine to get the best look that she could. She only glanced up when she was sure that she had done all she could, only knowing what Merle had taught her briefly on the subject, and looked over to where the others were beginning to depart from their farewell to Jim.

She could see when Daryl lingered a minute, his crossbow still propped up on his shoulder, before he turned away from the dying man and made his way over to the path that led back down to the road. Jamie turned back to the mobile home and placed the front grating back on, nodding to Dale to try starting it up as she walked passed. She looked up to the front windshield as he turned the key in the ignition, starting the truck back up. No smoke emerged from the engine this time.

"Yes, I am that brilliant!" she cheered, getting a grin from Dale in the front seat before his mood returned to mourning of losing another group member. She made sure that everything that she had used was packed away and returned to where it belonged before she moved down to where Daryl was waiting outside his truck, squinting in her direction against the sun. She greeted him with a kiss before sliding into the truck through the driver's door. She shrieked in surprise when Daryl smacked her ass on her way across the seats, chuckling to himself as he watched her face flush in embarrassment and anger.

She waved to Jim as their truck drove by, feeling the sadness that gripped everyone at the sight of the man lying at the base of the tree. He wouldn't last until nightfall, she was sure of that.

I know that this chapter's taken a bit longer to get out, I wasn't able to get to my computer too much. I had another doctor's appointment. People aren't kidding when they saw the gel used in ultrasounds are cold.

I'll update again tomorrow, I'm sorry for the long wait because I can relate to how annoying it can be! Hope that I get lots of reviews, it always brightens my day!

Chapter 13 – Desperation, Salvation

"And when Carl is in Italy or France he can have wine with dinner," Lori said as she placed her hand over Carl's empty water glass to stop Dale from giving him even just a little bit. Jamie was laughing softly as she watched them, knowing that with Rick encouraging her to let their son try some she would cave. And she did, allowing Dale to pour a small amount into the cup.

She took a gulp of her own wine, nearly finishing off the glass, before more suddenly poured into it. She looked over her shoulder to where Daryl was leaning on the counter behind her, drinking straight from one of the bottles, and let him continue to refill her cup. She smiled up to him in her fuzzy minded state, watching the smirk tug his lips in return.

She looked over to watch Carl's reaction when he took the cup from Dale and brought the glass to his lips, taking in a sip of the red wine. As soon as he had drunken the liquid, he slammed the cup down on the table and made a face, the remainder of the wine sloshing around in the glass. Everyone erupted into laughter again, Lori patting him on the back happily before pouring the small amount of the wine into her glass.

"Why don't you stick to soda pop there bud?" Shane teased, watching the many faces that Carl was making, his face slightly pink from the sharp tang of alcohol in the drink.

"Not you, Glenn!" Daryl yelled from behind Jay, pointing at the Asian as Glenn read the label on the bottle that he was holding. Glenn looked up, surprise, and smiled as he asked 'what?' in confusion. "Keep drinkin' little man, I want to see how red your face can get," Daryl challenged, causing Jamie to burst into laughter as she threw her head back to rest briefly on Daryl's knee.