Disclaimer: Not mine. Sadness overwhelms me.
Note: Next Chapter! Thanks to all the readers and reviewers! You guys rock! I hope you're still enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it!
Big thanks to Angelinaa for emotional support and being in my Daryl Dixon 12 step group...course we refuse to go to the meetings and watch re-runs instead cause we don't want the cure... Daryl addictions are dangerous. :P
Chapter Fifty-Seven
(Daryl's POV)
"Wonder if they'd teach me to do that." Maggie is staring over the fire pit watching Seraphim, Luke and Chris while they duck, pull punches and kick at each other like complete hooligans.
Daryl keeps his eyes on his plate, doesn't need to look up to watch them, he's got the running commentary from Hell he can't escape right here.
"Like Hell." Glenn leans around his wife's shoulder glancing at the two tall blondes flipping each other over with some kind of crazy wrestling move. Seraphim diving out of the way laughing at them.
"What? I can't learn defense from someone who's pretty?" Maggie makes a face at Glenn.
"Careful how you answer that Brother; it's a trick question either way." Rick offers, his grin so wide you can hear it in his voice. They all burst out laughing around him.
He's finding it a little hard to see the humor though.
Michonne has no qualms about watching them from her seat next to Rick.
Beth too….though he gets the feeling Beth is watching them for a whole different reason.
"She's good. They're all good. Those aren't moves you pick up in a few weeks, or even a few months…They've been doing that shit since they were kids. Looks like Krav Maga or Jiu Jitsu…maybe both?"
Sounds like her survivalist uncle did more than teach her how to hunt and fish.
"Is that what you studied, you know with your sword?" Carl asks.
"Nope. Believe it or not I took fencing in college; just kind of picked the rest of it up as I went along."
"No way."
"Way."
"Makes sense to me." They all turn to look at Carol. "I mean about Fin, and you know the martial arts stuff. I mean look at her. What father in his right mind wouldn't teach her and every male member of her family how to fight?"
"She's right, we start teaching Judith how to fight the second she can walk." Maggie pipes in.
Rick is grinning. "No point, she's not allowed to date until she's thirty…..five."
Everyone chuckles alongside him.
"How long you think they're staying?" Glenn finally asks.
"Don't know. Question is if they take Fin with them when they go."
Everyone goes quiet. His chest tightens.
"She won't do that." Carl breaks in shaking his head. "No way."
"We don't know that Carl. Luke and Chris, they're family. And she hasn't been with us that long."
Shit he left them for Merle…almost.
"Yeah well so are we. She won't just leave." Carl sounds so sure.
The words burn through him. Luke is family. Looks good for her even; much as it eats at his insides, claws at his chest to admit it—he's never seen her smile so much, laugh and look so relaxed.
The memory of their fight burns through his stomach like acid, sits like a lead weight on his chest.
Hell was he thinking saying those things to her? He wasn't—too damn blinded by jealousy.
Thinking about her with someone else—anyone else…it's like napalm in his chest. Damn girl had a life before all this; before him; and a damn good one. She was a fucking Doctor for Christ Sake; he was a nobody.
Never did shit with his life before this…just a waste of space, redneck white trash.
She deserves so much better.
He had no idea what the Hell she's doing with him. The more time he's had to think about it lately the less sense it makes to him.
His insecurities had already been rearing their ugly head for days before she'd jumped ship; taken off on him without so much as a warning. Rick telling him she drove off after someone named Luke.
She was back before he could even start looking for her, but he couldn't get it out of his mind…the thought of her meeting someone else. Driving off on a whim, leaving him for some other guy…that he was the reason behind the flush in her cheeks the wild excited look in those wide green eyes.
When he'd lashed out at her that night, it was the only thing he could think about. Some other guys hands on her...touching her…someone she wanted touching her; someone other than him.
Fury still claws through him with the thought; even if he knows now just how wrong that assumption was…it still sends heat searing through his insides, followed by a heavy wash of guilt a moment later.
He'd reacted out of fear and doubt and she'd let him hang himself with his own stupidity.
Leaving with Luke and Chris gives her a Hell of a lot more options than anything he has to offer.
Why the Hell wouldn't she want a part of that old life back?
The shock and hurt on her face from the other day, even though it was just that brief second before she schooled her features back to calm wracks him with guilt. Rolls through his chest making it hard to breath.
She just turned around and walked away from him.
Not that he blames her; after what he said to her…what he called her.
Fuck. She slept upstairs that night; and the night after; stayed away from him for the first time ever…
He never knew a bed could feel so empty. Shit.
Years alone. Years without dipping his wick; complicating his life and now one damn girl and he's a complete fucking wreck. He's torn in a never ending battle between with is dick and his head.
Damn girl makes it as difficult as possible too.
Most of the time he's not sure if he should rip off all her clothes and fuck her senseless or maybe just arm wrestle her into submission.
No wonder Merle was half out of his damn mind all the time, all the women in his life that came and went that he screwed around with no matter what his damn reasoning...Shit. Just what he's been through with her in the last few weeks is enough to drive any man to drink…He wouldn't mind crawling into a bottle of something stiff and mind-numbing right now.
Just to escape it all, for a few hours.
One girl, just one; and he's a hot damn mess.
He itches to get up and leave, doesn't want to make it obvious though. He's enough shit to deal with, without everyone knowing their damn business; as if they don't already with her sleeping upstairs away from him.
He's not even listening to the damn conversation anyways, just picking at his plate. Too busy trying not to growl every time that fucking pretty boy Chris touches Seraphim…his hands linger a Hell of a lot longer on her skin then Luke's…
There's the heavy sound of someone hitting the ply board floor off to his right; it vibrates the ground under him with the force of the landing.
"Holy shit!" "Awesome!"
Daryl looks up at that.
Not at Glenn or Carl though, he's no doubt what their outbursts are over. It's all they've been talking about for the last thirty minutes.
Luke is on the ground flat on his back and Fin is laughing sitting on top of him. Chris is shaking his head standing a few feet away.
She can get off his fucking chest now.
Cousin or not something inside him flares white hot.
He turns his head back to glare down at his plate, teeth grinding.
Maggie is laughing and so is Michonne both of their eyes wide.
Maggie holds her hands up to her face yelling over to them. "Do that Again!" She's thumping Carol's arm next to her excitedly pointing and grinning like a fool. "Watch this, seriously!"
Fin gets up finally; backing away from Luke who looks nervous. He's rubbing at the back of his neck as he gets up off the ground; waves his hands away, shaking his head, all the while pointing his thumb at Chris.
Chris immediately starts shaking his head adamantly in a gesture of 'no' pointing back at Luke.
There seems to be a conversation happening between the three of them they can't hear from this distance.
"Don't think he wants to get flipped again…" Rick sounds amused.
Everyone's having a fucking party. Daryl has the sinking feeling he's going to like this a lot less than everyone else seemed too judging by the way the end looked.
"What did she do?" Carol asks from the bench behind him, she obviously missed it as well.
"She flipped Luke using her legs around his freaking head!" Maggie sounds like she still doesn't believe it.
Definitely not going to like this.
"Okay, it's official you're definitely not learning how to do that." Glenn points at his wife who starts snickering.
"Should she be doing that with her shoulder?" Carol sounds concerned at least.
"Probably not, but anyone that stops her is probably going to get a punch to the throat." Rick is grinning, "I'm not going to volunteer for that job…Daryl?"
His eyes narrow for a brief moment on Rick's face, then he looks away chewing his nail.
Maybe everyone doesn't know they've been fighting.
"Hell naw, let 'em have their fun."
It's none of his damn business after all; she made that clear the other day.
"Well, I seriously want to learn to do that!" Maggie is still grinning like a fool ignoring Glenn shaking his head with theatrical exaggeration while Rick and Michonne laugh at them.
"Oh! Here she goes!"
He glances up to watch Fin sprint the short distance towards Chris this time. She leaps up in the air sliding onto his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his neck, legs hanging over his back...
She balances there for a split second mimes punching Chris in the face before bending so far over backwards it looks like she's doing a back bend off his neck keeping her legs locked around Chris's head—He loses his balance, kicks his legs jumping into the fall rolling them almost gracefully despite his position. Fin keeps doing her odd backbend as he falls, sliding through his legs and flipping them both ass over tea kettle, leaving Chris ultimately flat on his back pinned and her on top.
She mimes punching Chris in the head once he's on the ground beneath her supposedly subdued…she's practically sitting on his face…
"Yeah, that is not a girl I'd want to piss off…"
He jerks up from the ground with a snarl. Can't take this anymore, it's either leave or shoot someone. So he leaves.
:: Walking Dead ::