A/N: Don't own (although I'd love to have my very own Norman Reedus :D) don't sue!
Lyrics are from 'Rain' by Patty Griffin
Rain
Chapter Three
It's hard to listen to a hard, hard heart
Beatin' close to mine
Poundin' up against the stone and steel
Walls that I won't climb
Sometimes a hurt is so deep, deep, deep
You think that you're gonna drown
Sometimes all I can do is weep, weep, weep
With all this rain fallin' down
Strange, how hard it rains now
Rows and rows of big dark clouds
When I'm holding on underneath this shroud
Rain
It's hard to know when to give up the fight
Some things you want will just never be right
It's never rained like it has tonight before
Now, I don't wanna beg you, baby
For something maybe you could never give
I'm not lookin' for the rest of your life
I just want another chance to live
Strange, how hard it rains now
Rows and rows of big dark clouds
When I'm holdin' on underneath this shroud
Rain
Daryl was looking for Rick. Lori had told him in her usual gruff manner, as if it galled her to be reminded that anything beyond herself existed in this world, and then disappeared somewhere. He could hear voices in Carl's room so he thrust open the door without knocking. He blinked when he found Cassidy sitting cross legged at the end of the bed. Carl was reading from a page of notes and he paused when he saw Daryl. Once Daryl's eyes had adjusted to the slightly dark interior of the room, he realised that Cassidy was sewing a patch onto a pair of Glenn's old jeans.
"Not one word." She said before he could comment, holding the needle towards him as threateningly as if it were a knife.
"Where's Rick?"
"He went to get Carl some water. He'll be back in a minute." She informed him, tying off her thread.
Daryl figured he'd be better off waiting so he leant one shoulder against the wall and watched them. Of everyone there, she seemed to take to Carl the most. Actually he was the only person she'd taken to at all. He was the only one she spoke more than a few polite words to when she had to and the only person she volunteered to spend time with at all. As he watched she held out the jeans for his inspection.
"It's wonky." He said, after squinting at the tiny stitches in the light from the lamp.
She swore at him and tossed the jeans at his head. They landed with a dull thump against the headboard and slithered into a pile besides the bed.
"I don't recall giving you permission to stop working, young master Grimes." She gave him the beady eye. "Don't think I won't cane you, just because you spend all your time lounging around in bed."
He stuck his tongue out at her and continued reading from the page. They seemed to be French words. Daryl studied her in silence. They'd been hit with some sort of heat wave and it was barely tolerable to breathe in the heat. She was in a pair of very short denim cut offs she'd made herself when the weather kicked in and she'd cut the sleeves off an old shirt she'd found that fell almost longer than the shorts. It was hot and sticky in Carl's closeted room. Daryl eyed a bead of sweat that emerged from her hair line and trickled down her back. She was looking intently at Carl as he formed the words carefully. No one could fail to notice that she was attractive and, to Daryl, her nonchalance was intently appealing when he had Lori on one side playing Shane and Rick off against each other and Andrea on the other panting after Shane despite his indifference.
"I'm impressed, young whippersnapper." She whistled when Carl had finished reading.
Rick returned with a jug full of water.
"It's not very cold." He said regretfully, nodding a greeting at Daryl and handing his son a glass of water.
"You wanted me?"
Rick glanced at Daryl as if he couldn't quite remember who he was. Then his brow lifted and he nodded.
"We need a supply run. One of the horses is sick so Maggie won't go-"
"I'll go."
Rick jumped as Lochie bounced into view.
"Have you been eavesdropping? Don't you know anything about manners?" Cassidy asked, although she sounded more amused than upset.
"Means nothing to me." Lochie said cheerfully, sliding between Daryl and Rick and leaping onto the bed between Cassidy and Carl. "So when are we going?"
"It ain't a nature hike, darlin'." Daryl interrupted sternly before Rick could say anything.
"Really? But I wanted to go for a picnic!" Lochie whined, rolling her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I can look after myself."
"Well I will do anything to get out of this house. Stir crazy doesn't even cover it." Cassidy said as she climbed off the bed. "You did good, kid. Keep working at it and I'll give you some more vocabulary when I get back."
Carl beamed as Lochie climbed off the bed and followed them out into the hallway. Lochie followed Rick into the kitchen to get the list of supplies they needed.
"Don't worry." Cassidy said when she saw Daryl eyeing her departing back mistrustfully. "She really can handle herself."
He grunted, which seemed to be his generic response for almost anything. He slanted his blue gaze towards her.
"What about you, Red. Can you handle yourself?"
Cassidy's smile sent a bolt of desire shooting straight through him, reminding him how long it'd actually been. She really was one of the sexiest women he'd ever seen, Before or After. Her golden-red hair was pulled back in a slightly messy French braid, leaving strands sticking to her forehead and neck with sweat. She had a smudge of ink on her throat where she'd scratched at an insect bite while writing Carl's vocabulary earlier. Long willowy limbs, and he'd seen how flexible they were when she was sparring, cool assessing green eyes that always had that naughty glint in them and the pouty little mouth that always looked slightly swollen as if she'd been using it for thoroughly wicked deeds all night.
"I can handle anything you can give me." She purred in a low voice.
He took a step towards her.
"Ready!" Lochie announced, emerging from the kitchen brandishing the list. "Come on Kaiser Soze-" She broke off.
She looked from one to the other in amusement then stepped around Daryl and trotted upstairs to get changed. Daryl lifted his eyebrows and Cassidy shrugged.
"Private joke." He continued to look at her. "When we first met I gave her a fake name. Followed by subsequent other fake names. She started calling me that instead of trying to keep track. What?" She demanded when he didn't acknowledge anything she'd said in any way. "Why are you looking at me like that? You do know what Kaiser Soze-"
"I know." He cut her off, slightly amused at the flustered look on her face.
She glared at him. He was the only one who made her squirm. She was as cool as ice with the rest of them, playful and a little bit sweet with Carl, bratty and sisterly with Lochie and surprisingly gentle with Rick. Personally, Daryl thought she had a bit of a soft spot for the Sheriff. But he was the only one who got under her skin and provoked a genuine reaction from her. She was cool and silent most of the time, she thought things through and never let her emotions rule her judgement, but he brought something out in her. Which was slightly weird considering they hardly spoke to each other, mainly just flirted briefly and stared each other down a lot. They were like two tigers circling, each wary of the danger the other posed but fascinated nonetheless.
Daryl was surprised… actually he was more amazed. He'd been working with amateurs for months now, but these girls actually had an idea of how to survive. They weren't distracted, they kept their heads and they didn't blunder around like a herd of elephants. With one of the horses down the girls had opted to share. Lochie looked more uncomfortable than he'd ever imagined she could be, perched on the tall animal's back with her arms wrapped tightly around Cassidy's waist.
When they reached the edge of town they paused. The long main street was deserted. Lochie clambered down from the horse. Despite the danger they were in, she looked immensely grateful to have her feet back on the ground again. She vanished towards the town.
"Where-"
"She's scouting it out." Cassidy cut him off.
He didn't reply. Her green eyes were flickering over every inch of the town they could see. After a moment Lochie returned.
"Couple of walkers shuffling around at the other end of town but we should be able to avoid 'em." She announced cheerfully. "Everything we need is at the south end of Main Street."
"You're staying here." Cassidy ordered, glowering at her when she opened her mouth to protest.
Something unspoken passed between the two girls and then Lochie folded her arms sulkily. Cassidy swung her fully assembled rifle off her shoulder and handed it reverently to Lochie. She pointed at a raised mound a few feet away.
"You'll have a view of the whole area. Stay low. Use the bush for cover. There's no wind to affect your shot or carry your scent."
Lochie nodded vigorously, looking as if she were trying to drink every piece of information in as if her life depended on it. Which it probably did.
"You remember what I taught you?"
She nodded again, firmly this time. She looked incredibly young carrying such a huge weapon.
"Don't worry. Vera will look after you."
It took Daryl a moment to realise that Vera was the rifle and Lochie was handling it the same way she'd cradle a baby. Cassidy watched Lochie make her way to the concealed spot with a dark expression on her face.
"Worried about the gal, or the hardware?"
She gave him a poisonous look which turned into a reluctant grin.
They were silent as they made their way towards the small street. It was eerie. The sun was warm and bright and there was a pleasant breeze, but the stores were deserted and even their light footsteps sounded loud. Their list was pretty basic, a few things from the pharmacy, a couple of books from the library that Cassidy planned to use with Carl and some more batteries and stuff, but there were also a few things for the horses on there. Their last stop was the veterinary clinic. Hershel was the town vet but there was a little clinic too.
The door was half open. Cassidy crept in as silently as she could, squeezing past the open door so she wouldn't knock the bell above it. They didn't encounter any walkers until they reached the back room. They moved into the store room and Cassidy went straight to the cabinets.
"They're locked." She said quietly, eyeing the glass fronted cabinets with a frown.
If they broke the glass they might attract something. She opened her mouth to speak but Daryl's hand whipped out and clapped over her mouth. He took three rapid steps backwards until his back was against the wall besides an open door, which presumably led out towards the back of the building, leading Cassidy with him. He kept his arm around her, his hand tight against her mouth although she'd made no sound. His other arm was gripping his crossbow so tightly that his knuckles were white. Cassidy could hear it now, the awful shuffling. They were shielded by the open back door; Daryl must have glimpsed it while she was looking at the cabinets. The shuffling was closer now. His arm tightened infinitesimally and she was drawn even closer against him. Her heart was pounding. She could taste sweat and the sharp tang of metal from his crossbow on his palm against her lips. She could feel his heart thumping against her back.
She slid her knife out of its sheath against her thigh as Daryl raised his crossbow. The shuffling was louder; it must have been right at the doorway when he saw it. She turned her head a fraction. Through the crack between the door and the doorframe she could see a shadow hesitating on the doorstep. Mainly she could see Daryl's jaw, the muscles tight beneath the stubble as he watched the walker through the opening. She could see his pulse jumping in his throat, smell the spicy scent of his skin so close against her. Eventually it shambled in. It looked sort of young, probably a receptionist or volunteer or something. Its matted hair was brown, stringing down its back. Its bright orange sweater was streaked with dirt and blood and a chunk of flesh was missing from between its breast and collarbone, streaking gore and pus down its front. It staggered into the room. The smell in the heat was overwhelming but Cassidy concentrated on the reassuring scent of Daryl's hand beneath her nose instead.
For a small moment, she thought that it might just head straight out, onto the street where Lochie could nail it from a distance. Just as it neared the doorway it paused. Every muscle in Cassidy's body was clenched so tightly it hurt, her stomach was an iron fist of tension and her brow was pouring with sweat. As it started to turn towards them, Daryl released an arrow and it sprang through the air, skewering the walker to the cupboard just behind it. Its jaw continued to move silently for a moment, its eyes rolling in their sockets until it finally stopped moving.
Only when it had been still for a full minute did Daryl let her go. For a moment she was paralysed, her body still ready for attack and rigid with tension. It was only when Daryl moved behind her that she forced herself to take a step away from him. She tucked her knife away, turning away from him so he wouldn't see her shaking hands. She'd never frozen up before, probably because she'd never come that close before. If Daryl hadn't grabbed her, it could have sneaked right on top of her and she wouldn't have realised in time.
"You good?" He asked as he removed the arrow from the walker's head. It slid down from the cupboard soundlessly, leaving a streak of nasty smelling blood and brain matter behind.
"Sure." She said, not quite meeting his gaze. She stepped around him and studied the walker. There was a name badge half dangling from the sweater. It had a set of keys attached to its belt loop. "Sorry, Clara." She muttered, kneeling down besides it.
She removed the keys, her eyes fixed firmly on the walker's mouth for any sign of movement. The keys were smeared with god-knows-what and she wrinkled her nose. Daryl was busy wiping the walker's bodily fluids off the used arrow. Cassidy jangled the keys at him and then moved back over to the cabinets. She paused.
"Keep an eye on that, will you?" She said, jerking her head towards the walker.
He looked at her.
"I just don't like the idea of turning my back on it." She snapped.
She rooted through the cabinets for a while. Apparently they hadn't been a big fan of the filing system around here because nothing was organized at all. It took her nearly ten minutes to find all the different medicines and equipment Hershel had asked for. She tucked them into her bag.
"What took you so long?" Andrea grumbled as the two horses trotted back into the field by the house.
"Well we did some window shopping. Got ice creams. Put the lottery on. You know, the usual." Cassidy shrugged. "What do you think we've been doing?"
She handed Maggie and Hershel the bag with the medicines in and swung down from the horse. Lochie bolted the instant her feet touched firm earth and Daryl and Cassidy led the horses back to the stables. They hadn't spoken to each other since the incident at the clinic. She could feel the glances Daryl kept shooting at her as she rinsed the sweat from her horse and rubbed it down. She didn't really think he was concerned about her, more about whether she was going to become some sort of useless loose cannon after what had happened or not. She'd been shaken up but she was fine. Pretty much.
Once she'd seen to the horses her back was aching and she was covered in dirt and sweat. Daryl looked up when he heard her clinking past.
"Whatcha got there, Red?"
She held the bag open for him. It was full of bottles of liquor, scavenged from the convenience store.
"I don't know about you but it's been a hell of a month. I am going to get wasted." She informed him cheerfully. "You can join me, if you like." She peered at him coyly over her shoulder as she sashayed out of the stables. "Unless you've got a better offer."
"You really stole all this?" Lori asked in a thoroughly disapproving tone.
"Looted. The term is 'looted'." Lochie corrected as she spread the bottles out around the fire. "It means the same thing but it doesn't sound quite so illegal."
"It is illegal." Lori argued, watching the never ending bottles emerging from the bag.
"How about if we left a nice little I.O.U. for the owners? In case they get back and their new hobby isn't eating their friends and neighbours? Would that make you feel better?" Cassidy said bluntly, quite ready in her current mood to start a decent argument with the whining bint.
"We're just taking what we need to survive." Carol interrupted smoothly, trying to quell the argument before it started.
Lori nudged a pile of bottles with her foot pointedly.
"Lady, I don't know about you, but this is definitely on my list of essentials." Lochie waved a bottle of Jack Daniels at Lori for emphasis.
"Besides, what good would leaving it there do?" Cassidy said sweetly.
"Do you think, when alcoholics get bitten… that they still crave drink?" Lochie mused.
They stared at her. None of them were quite sure how to take Lochie yet. Sometimes she seemed so kooky it was abnormal, and sometimes she was deadly serious. None of them had figured out how to tell which mood was which yet. Lochie broke the silence by dividing up the bottles, which led to a few squabbles.
After they'd eaten she'd had T-Dog help her build a fire and gather enough chairs for them all to sit around it. They'd placed it between the RV and the house to minimise the chances of walkers seeing it. Carol had agreed to sit with them but she refused any of the alcohol and none of Hershel's people joined them besides Maggie.
"I'm going to sit with Carl." Lori announced, getting to her feet and stepping out of the warm circle.
She paused for a moment, clearly waiting for Rick to follow her. He gave her a steady appraising look but remained firmly seated between Shane and Dale. Eventually Lori left without saying goodnight to her husband.
"OK, quickest way to get drunk without wasting alcohol is drinking games." Lochie declared, handing around the bottles.
Daryl took a huge slug of the whiskey he'd commandeered almost immediately. He blinked when he found Cassidy's little hand on his arm. Her palm was pleasantly cool against his warm bare skin.
"I'd slow down if I were you." She advised in an undertone, her eyes shining with amusement.
"You think I can't take my drink, Red?"
She cocked her head so her long hair fluttered over her bare shoulder. She had a certain way of peering at him from her under long feathery lashes that made his stomach squirm and heart flare through his groin.
"I'm sure you can… but I've been drinking with Lochie before."
She lifted her bottle of Southern Comfort to her mouth. In the orange glare of the fire he watched her press the neck of the bottle to her lips, her long slender throat moving as she swallowed. A trickle of the liquor dribbled from the crease of her parted lips and trailed over the contours of her throat. He suddenly found his own mouth was very dry and he took another hearty gulp, the alcohol's slow burn bringing him back to his senses a little.
Lochie was explaining the rules of some drinking game to a thoroughly over-excited Glenn. They drank and told stories and laughed and teased and for a while, it was almost as if none of it had ever happened. Glenn was halfway through taking another shot when he keeled over and slid out of his chair in an ungainly heap of limbs. Dale had already gone to bed and Rick had gone to check on Carl so it was left to T-Dog and Cassidy, who was closest, to roll him over and cover him with one of the blankets they'd brought out.
Cassidy was feeling the chill night air and stayed on the ground, closer to the fire. She'd brought a looted hooded sweatshirt out with her but it was so big it kept slipping down her shoulders, even after she'd zipped it up. As she shifted to tug it back up onto her shoulder again, she realised that Daryl was closer than he had been. He'd moved his lawn chair closer to the fire to close up the gap she'd left when she'd abandoned her seat. She could feel his presence half-behind her half-besides her, burning even hotter than the dying fire.
Daryl seemed to become aware of her at the exact moment she realised how close he was. He could see her profile, dark against the bright fire. The slope of her slightly snub nose, her long lashes, one high cheekbone, the planes of her face. One smooth pearly shoulder bathed in a warm golden glow, exposed when she'd tugged up the shoulder of her hoody. As if she could feel him watching her, her head turned slowly. Her hair was almost as bright as the fire and he couldn't see her eyes, they glowed in the reflected firelight like coals.
He was immediately aware of quite how close she was. His boot was nestled against the swell of her left buttock. Her shoulder blade was leaning against his shin, the denim of his jeans and the heavy material of her sweater barely a barrier against the heat of her body. It seemed an interminably long time that they stared at each other.
Cassidy didn't know how the others could keep giggling, telling their stories about a time that didn't seem to have possibly existed. All she was aware of was his presence between her and darkness beyond his outline, illuminated by the fire. Lochie called out to her and Cassidy turned away from him to reply. Her loose hair brushed against his hand resting on his thigh and his fingers clenched against his jeans convulsively. Almost without realising it, his fingers twisted around her hair. She'd showered after their ride and the strands were silky and soft against his rough fingers. Her shoulders and the muscles in her neck tightened imperceptibly so he knew she felt his fingers but she didn't move away. His knuckles brushed the soft nape of her neck and she shivered.
T-Dog let out a particularly loud howl of laughter and Rick and Shane heaved him to his feet. The three of them wobbled unsteadily, weaving towards the tents. Carol had long since retired to the RV to sleep. Glenn had revived enough to walk Maggie back to the house, although it looked more like Maggie was helping him from their staggering backs as they retreated. Andrea had fallen asleep in her chair and Lochie was peering at them shrewdly as if she knew exactly what was happening. With a sigh she clambered up from her chair and the moment was shattered.
Cassidy got to her feet and grabbed Lochie's elbow as she wobbled a little. To Daryl she looked just as she normally did, but Cassidy knew her better. Her eyes were sparkling so brightly they were like jewels and her usually fluid carefree movements were restrained and concentrated. In short she was very very drunk. Cassidy jiggled slightly as she gained her feet, not entirely from Lochie's added weight. It had been a long time since she'd drank quite so much and, while she wasn't drunk, she was well on her way to being so.
As they made their way out of the circle of chairs, they had to pass by Daryl. He was still sitting there, staring intently into the fire as if it held all the secrets of the universe, his bottle of whiskey dangling from one hand. He didn't look at them. As they passed him, Cassidy reached out her free hand and trailed her fingertips lightly along his bare forearm. He tensed at the contact but he didn't lift his gaze from the fire. Her fingertips lingered over his collarbone, drifting for the briefest of seconds under the collar of his shirt to touch bare skin and then traced along his neck.
Daryl sat there for a long time, watching the fire slowly dying down. The late night air was filled with noises; crickets and the horses and the crackling of the fire. Andrea stirred in her sleep. Daryl lifted the bottle and gulped some more whiskey, wondering if it might make him feel better. It didn't. He was not a twenty-one year old youth seducing women left and right anymore, he was old enough to know better. Especially now. He had screwed his fair share of women, had flings, one night stands, the odd relationship… and not one of them had ever given him an ounce of the fire now scorching through his veins. Maybe it was just because he'd been celibate for so long.
He grunted to himself. Even he wasn't buying that one. He could still feel every inch of where she'd touched him. A trail of heat blazing over his skin. When he lifted his hand to light a cigarette, he could smell her hair on his fingers, taste her against his lips beneath the smoke and tobacco. He tossed the butt of the cigarette in the fire. He only realised how drunk he was when he climbed rather unsteadily out of his chair.
NixyKnight – Thanks I quite like her myself lol I'm hoping they kill Andrea off soon. Doubt it though :(
SaraLostInes – I was thinking more Katie Cassidy myself, especially as Ruby in "Supernatural" but that's just me :)
Daniyell37 – Thanks. I was a bit surprised too but for my taste he's the only interesting character in the show. I don't mind the others but he's what I watch it for.
PsychoBeachGirl88 – I think Carl is adorable and he's not given nearly enough screen time. He's way more fun than half of the others bless him. Thanks here's an update for you :D