I was going to wait to post this one but figured, what the hell. I can post it before bed. Yes, I sleep during the day. Until 2:00 anyway. I sort of left that last chapter hanging and I hate doing that to you guys. Thanks for the reviews and all the encouragement. Every one of you are awesome! I've been writing this story for six weeks now and most of you have been with this from the start! Much love to you! Have a great morning! =)

Chapter Seventy Five

"You guys ever had beer before?" Carl asked quietly as the grown ups around them went on with their jokes and conversations.

Duane and Sophia both shook their heads. Ed had drank beer sometimes but she had never tried to taste it. She mostly avoided anything that had to do with the man.

She kept her eye on Carl as he kept glancing around them. They had moved to the blanket that Merle and Maggie had abandoned a few minutes ago. Her mom and Daryl had moved to the other side of the courtyard where T-dog, Milton and Andrea were talking with some of the others.

"What are thinking about doing?" She finally asked.

Carl gave her a sideways grin and then stood up, walking towards one of the cases of beer that was sitting between the fire and the rest of the group.

Duane looked at her and rolled his eyes. "He's gonna get busted and then we're all gonna get it."

Sophia snorted. "Are you serious? All they'll do to you is go tell Merle. I'm the one that would have to deal with Daryl and my mom. Merle would have probably given you beer if you'd asked him too."

"Yeah, I guess. As long as I didn't have to listen to Carl's mom." He muttered.

Sophia had noticed shortly after they had been on the road that Duane avoided Lori as much as he could, but it was hard on him since Rick was the one that was supposedly taking on the responsibility of keeping an eye on him. Sophia had came up with the idea for him to go start talking to Merle. When Duane had asked her what he was suppose to talk to the man about she really didn't know what could break the ice. So she just suggested asking the man how he had known what to do the night they had saved the others.

She had learned a while ago that one of Merle's favorite things to talk about was Merle. He was a different man than the one her and Carl had found in the shack but he was still Merle. He'd talked Duane's ear off for a long time after that. And Duane had been smart about it too, not just listening to Merle's stories but also encouraging him. Merle wasn't the type of man that needed much encouraging. It wasn't long after that that Lori had tried to butt in, telling Duane, right in front of Merle, that he didn't have any business spending any time with the likes of Merle Dixon.

Sophia rolled her eyes at the memory. Any chance Merle could grab to piss that woman off he took it. He had towered over her, asking her if she was the kids momma. Of course she had to say no, obviously. So Merle had grinned at her and told her to mind her own fucking business and that from now on he would be the one to look after the kid. To Sophia's surprise Lori had actually looked relieved.

Carl scurried back with a grin on his face and three beers clutched to his chest. He handed them each a bottle and glanced around.

"What are we suppose to do? Just sit here and get drunk and hope that one of the other fifteen people around here don't spot us?" Duane asked with a frown. "I might be okay regardless but I don't know about you two.

Carl just shrugged. "If you aren't Dixon enough to sneak around and drink a little then maybe Merle should let Milton and Andrea adopt you."

"Carl Grimes, that's an awful thing to say." Sophia snapped.

He blew out a breath. "It was just a joke.

"I wont claim to be a Dixon, but I've spent enough time with Merle to know how to get a person back without them ever knowing it was me. Dixon's are sneaky like that sometimes. Stuff like that rubs off on a kid."

"Ooh, Duane's getting all cryptic now, Carl. Better watch out." Sophia laughed as she clutched the bottle in her hand.

"You startin' on me too?" Duane narrowed his eyes and then he grinned at them both. "Okay, let's see how funny you two think you are when I let Daryl over there know how worried I am about you both?"

Carl and Sophia both frowned and looked at each other, Sophia was the one to ask the obvious. "What are you talking about? Worried about us for what?"

Duane shrugged and then leaned back on his elbows. "You know, we're all like family here, and maybe I'm worried about the two of you sneaking off and kissing when you think no one is looking." He winked and Sophia could have sworn that even that wink had Merle Dixon written all over it. As did that dry smirk that followed.

"You wouldn't." Carl narrowed his eyes.

"You sure about that?" Duane asked.

"Let's go Carl." Sophia said as she pulled the boy up by the hand. She turned to stalk off.

"Where are you two going?" Duane asked, sitting up again, smirk wiped clean.

"Away from you, jerk." Sophia called over her shoulder. When she realized she hadn't dropped Carl's hand yet she instantly let go.

Duane hurried after them, pushing himself between them and throwing an arm over each of their shoulders. "Come on, guys. You know I would never really rat you out. By all means, kiss all you want."

He shut up after Sophia nailed him in the ribs with a sharp elbow. "We weren't kissing." She hissed.

The three of them stopped once they were finally out of the light of the fire. Duane's new cocky attitude was drying up now as he looked from one face to the other. "You guys sure about this? I mean, you know if they catch us you two are gonna be in big time trouble."

Carl just shrugged and used the hem of his shirt to twist off the cap. He handed the open bottle to Sophia and then took the other from her, opening that one as well and then sniffing the top. Duane did the same so Sophia joined in.

"It doesn't smell that bad." She mused as both boys wrinkled their noses.

"On three?" Carl asked.

They both nodded, Carl counted and they all three turned up their stolen beers and took a long swig from the bottle just like they had seen the others do all night.

Carl and Duane managed to swallow theirs down but Sophia turned her head, spraying the foul tasting stuff out of her mouth. "Oh my God. How can they drink this crap?" She muttered as she wiped her mouth off on the back of her hand.

Duane and Carl both made disgusted faces and then looked dejectedly at their mostly full bottles.

"You kids having fun?"

They all three turned at the sound of Dale's voice, hiding the beers behind their backs.

"Yes sir." Duane said with a nod.

"What's behind your backs?" Dale asked with a knowing smile.

Sophia knew it was over. She showed Dale the bottle and then the boys followed suit. Dale clucked his tongue and then took them one by one and dumped them out.

"Let's go back over here where it's warmer and I'll tell you all a story about my first experience with alcohol."

The trio followed the man back to the blanket, Sophia stifled a groan. Sometimes Dales stories never seemed to have an end.

"Thanks a lot, Grimes." Duane whispered as they settled down for an extra boring night.

~H~

She was all over him before he could even get down the hallway. Her mouth hot on his her hands pushing off his vest and then trailing up to his broad chest. The whole while all he was trying to do was kiss her back and clear his head enough to figure out how he was going to go about doing this. It wasn't like he was the one that had never done it before. He had done it plenty of times. But never with anyone he gave a shit about and certainly never someone that he knew he was about to hurt. He couldn't even fit two fingers in the girl so this was going to be a real mother fucker.

So why the hell was she so eager? He told her that it wouldn't be any good. Not this time. He shouldn't have even mentioned it. He could have just kept on with their junior high bullshit for as long as she would have him and then that be all. But he wanted her. And for some crazy ass fucked up reason she wanted him just as bad.

He finally had the bedroom door open and she went in backwards, pulling him by the shirt that she had fisted in her hands.

"So you finally came around, huh?" She whispered and then her mouth was on his again.

"You ain't gonna be too happy about it in about five minutes, girl." He growled when he pulled away. He had put his bag by the bed earlier. That was where he had stashed all the condoms he had grabbed earlier. He hadn't wanted to keep them in his jacket like some freak. Carol had a habit now of just grabbing it and putting it on whenever she got cold. He had made a mental note of picking one up for her if they ever found a store that had them.

"Just this one time. I trust you." She whispered as she tugged his shirt up, hands instantly going to the hard muscled chest.

He frowned in the dark. Had she really just said that? No one trusted Merle Dixon. Not even himself. So what the fuck was she doing saying shit like that to him?

She pulled away but was back in seconds and when her bare skin met his he forgot what it was he had been thinking about. Her hand slid down the front of his jeans and then she was tugging at the button. He let her have her way for now. Later, however, he was going to have to figure out how he was going to go about doing this. He didn't know if he should take it slow or just go right for it. He had no idea how to not hurt her.

He grabbed her around the waist with one arm and then backed her into the bed. He couldn't just stand there kissing her all night. He had been careful with her for weeks and now it was time to stop fucking around and do it already. He wasn't a pussy. He wasn't scared of this girl. He never gave a shit before whether or not the other person liked it, he was in it to get his own rocks off.

He sighed internally. But this wasn't just someone else. This was Maggie. And Maggie mattered even if he couldn't figure out why.

When she felt the bed behind her she didn't remove her arms from around her neck or her mouth from his. She pulled him down on top of her and scooted herself back so her legs weren't hanging off the edge of the bed.

He pulled his face away from hers when she started moving her hips back and forth, grinding herself against him, he could feel what little control he had slipping quickly so he slid down a bit until his face was buried in her chest. He nearly growled when she guided his head to her breasts with her hands.

A little more of that control slipped away. His mouth assaulted her first and then he used his teeth to pull at the tender skin, maybe a little more rough than he should have been. That was the problem with this. He didn't know how to be gentle. But she must not have minded because she gasped and then used her hands to hold his head in place. So far he had used his hand on her a lot. He didn't trust himself enough to go any further, knowing that if he got the slightest taste of her then he would throw all caution to the wind like he had done on the farm when she had taken her shirt off. He had been about ready to go ahead and take her right there. Until he found out that she had never even had sex before. Then he had stopped himself. Just barely. But this wasn't like it was on the farm. He had given her every chance in the world to move on and forget about him but she stuck by him for weeks now. And now he didn't have to worry about it. He'd made his decision and he was sticking to it. Besides, weeks in this world was like years. They were to him anyway. Every day had been a battle for survival and he wasn't going to go out without having her first. He knew it sounded bad but it was the truth.

He lowered his head to her stomach and she held her breath. He hadn't touched her in over a week. Not the way he had wanted too. A few stolen kisses here and there but he had basically kept his hands to himself, figuratively speaking. So she was really squirming under him now. His head ghosted lower and her breath came out in a rush, her hands pushing the top of his head down until his mouth was inches away from her. He could feel the heat from her on his face.

That did it. All the control that he had been trying to hold onto flew straight out the window. He didn't hesitate or take his time at all. He nearly devoured her, tongue lapping and lips tugging, causing her to actually sit straight up. He shoved her back down, never breaking stride, never loosing his single minded focus.

He had wanted to do this for a long time and even when she was writhing and panting and trying to push his head away he kept going. He didn't stop until she came again, back arching off the bed, a strangled cry escaping her lips. When she finally came down he lifted his head quickly and yanked the bag up from off the floor.

It didn't take him too long to put the condom on one handed. He was an old pro. He figured that she was about as worked up as she had ever been in her life and he hoped like hell that it had helped at least a little bit. One good thing about it was the fact that this wasn't going to be his finest moment. He'd be lucky if he didn't get off as soon as he put it in. He couldn't remember a time he ever wanted something as bad as he wanted her. No other woman, no drugs. Even when he was hooked on the hard stuff and had to go through detox, even then he didn't want another hit as bad as he wanted her right then.

Her hands slid up around his neck when he finally lowered himself over her. This was going to be the hard part. He had no clue how to do this. She kissed him hard and then her lips trailed down to his shoulder. She seemed to be relaxed, distracted. He just wanted to get this over with. He was going to warn her but he figured if he did that then she would just start to get tense and it would be worse than it had to be. So without warning he shoved himself into her swiftly, feeling that barrier break. She yelped in pain and tried to bring her legs together. He froze, not sure what to do anymore. He felt like an asshole. She made a small whimpering sound and he was glad for the dark because if he had seen any kind of pain on her face he wouldn't have been able to live with himself.

"I'll stop. Just tell me to stop and I'll stop, alright." His voice was strained. This was probably the most pleasure he had ever felt from a woman and he couldn't even enjoy it.

"No." She whispered, her voice shaking. "Don't stop."

He started moving into her then, slowly, until she relaxed her legs and then hesitantly she wrapped them around him, her arms going around his neck once more as she raised her head up slightly to kiss him. "You okay?" He asked when she pulled away and let her head fall back down onto the pillow.

"Yeah." She whispered and her voice sounded more normal, stronger.

He felt better then but still kept his pace slow and easy. He knew it still didn't feel good to her. Not yet. Him on the other hand, he felt like he was about half out of his mind with how good she felt and even though he wasn't moving as fast as he would have loved too he could feel that tightening in himself. He sped up just a little, unable to stop himself and she must have been able to tell that he was close because her mouth moved close to his ear.

"Come for me Merle." She breathed.

That had him coming undone. He groaned into her neck as he felt a wave of pleasure crash over him, more intense than anything he had ever felt before. He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut as he just kept coming. Her hands were all over him, running up and down his back and stroking his neck. When it was finally over he kissed her as he pulled his body away from hers. He put his forehead against her chest as she ran her fingers across his shoulders. He could hear her heart hamming in her chest, her breathing coming fast and hard.

"You okay?" He asked again as he rolled off of her and onto his back. There was a small waste basket next to the bed where he tossed the condom.

She curled up next to him and laid her head on his chest. "It actually wasn't as awful as I thought it was gonna be."

"Mmm, what every man wants to hear after fuckin'. You got about as much tact as I do, darlin'."

She slapped his chest and laughed. He was glad to hear it. He was afraid she wouldn't even want to talk to him after that.

Okay, I know that the Merle and Maggie finally getting it on wasn't as... well... hot as some other stuff you have read. But I had to keep in mind that Maggie wouldn't have been enjoying herself quite as much as Carol gets too in these chapters. Haha. So, I had to do the best I could and I hope it met your expectations! And the kids sneaking beer, it made me feel all nostalgic. I was totally stealing my dads beer at that age. I never spit it out though. In my house that was called "alcohol abuse". No wasting that stuff, even if it was stolen. No, really, I thought that really was the definition of alcohol abuse until I was like, 14. And no. I didn't end up becoming an alcoholic XD Anyway, moving on from my sleep deprived rambles about virginity and alcohol, I hope you liked this chapter! Review. Because I totally ADORE the reviews ;) I must not have gotten enough attention as a child. Either that or I was too drunk to remember it. No really, that last part was a joke. I really need to sleep now! Good day!