Mara was standing on the over-turned bus when Christine and Daryl returned. Daryl had a sting of small dead animals around his neck and it was indication of how bad Mara had it for him that it didn't turn her off.
Daryl met her eyes and nodded at her before going inside. Christine split off from Daryl and came to meet Mara. Mara reached a hand down to help her on to the bus.
Something was off. Christine's expression was too innocent.
Mara groaned. "You said something to him didn't you?"
"I just told him about your pining tween crush. You're right by the way, he does have nice arms. I checked them out today."
Mara considered beating Christine over the head with something heavy.
"I didn't want him to know I liked him," Mara protested, feeling very much like she was back in High School.
"Didn't you?" Christine was still pretending to be blameless. She sent Mara a significant look before disappearing back to the prison.
As soon as Mara was relieved of guard duty she went to find Daryl.
"I don't like you," she blurted out when she found him cleaning his arrows.
Daryl raised an eyebrow at her expectantly.
"I told Christine about the kiss and she's just read more into it. She's over protective that way."
Daryl held the arrow head up to examine it closely. "Yeah, I know. You had an itch you wanted to scratch."
"Yes, purely physical. Because we are friends, attractive friends, but friends first. Right?" Mara was rambling, she knew that. Daryl's steady gaze made her feel exactly like the 'tween' Christine had called her.
"Right. Friends," Daryl agreed. When he looked over his shoulder to find a rag Mara practically ran away.
Rick and Michonne were on guard duty together so they weren't at dinner. As if by some prior arrangement the women all went to bed early that night leaving only the men. Daryl was glad to get some space from Mara. She's been acting weird all night and if Daryl was honest with himself, he was confused.
She had been upfront and candid with him the other day on their run into town. But then the conversation with Christine had thrown him off. Christine was under the impression that Mara like liked him. And Mara had seemed awful flustered when he came back to the prison. Now he knew why Merle always said women were crazy and to avoid attachments at all cost.
He felt himself instantly relax without the female element in the room. Without discussion Yussuf found a pack of cards from somewhere and put them in the middle of the table.
"Poker?"
"Hell yes," Glenn said with a grin.
Hershel reached out a hand. "I'll deal."
"You in, Sarge?" Elias asked.
"Have I ever missed an opportunity to beat Yussuf at anything?" he asked.
"Can I play too?" Carl piped up. The men cleared a spot and welcomed him over.
"I got something that'll make this better," Daryl said on impulse and fetched the bottle of bourbon.
He was welcomed back like a hero. He unscrewed the cap and passed the bottle to Nathan first. The sergeant poured a fingers worth into every man's cup except Hershel's, who waved him off politely. He hesitated when he came to Carls but then tipped in an even smaller portion.
"Don't tell your dad!"
Carl's chest puffed up to twice its normal size. He took a ginger sip of the hard liquor and struggled to hide his grimace. Daryl knew he hated it but didn't call him on it. Carl had more than earned the right to act like a man if he wanted to far as Daryl was concerned.
From somewhere they dredged up stuff to bet. Tools, weapons, a random Australian five dollar note, promises to do chores.
Daryl had been playing poker since he'd been old enough to pretend to be old enough to get into bars. He figured he'd do pretty well out of this game.
As they played on, Daryl was glad that before walkers had over run the world, America had felt the need to super-size everything. The bourbon bottle was more than large enough to do some damage. He noticed Hershel abstained and Elias and Nathan didn't drink more than their initial glass. They were on the late guard shift and Daryl admitted it was probably good if everyone wasn't shit faced.
Yussuf and Glenn were matching him shot for shot though and Daryl could feel the alcohol rushing to his head, his tolerance lower after a year of sobriety.
Daryl had just won the five dollar note from Yussuf in the last hand. He was turning it over in his fingers.
"What the fuck use is this?" Daryl demanded. It was pink and plastic. "It's like fuckin' monopoly money."
"All our money is pink!" Yussuf said.
"Really?" Carl asked.
Elias shook his head behind Yussuf's back.
"I saw that," Yussuf said and there was a round of laughter. He went to play a card and ended up knocking a mug over.
Elias and Nathan banged their hands on the table and shouted, "Taxi!"
Daryl had no idea what the hell that even meant but all of them started shouting it whenever someone knocked something over, slurred their words or made a colossally bad call with their cards.
By the end Glenn was passed out face first on the table. Yussuf was having a deep spiritual discussion with a very tolerant Hershel. Daryl was just drunk enough. He felt mellow but not out of control.
He enjoyed the feeling of clarity he was experiencing. The alcohol made the complications of the last few days fade away. Nathan sighed, "This has been fun boys but Elias and I need to get outside for guard duty."
Hershel was throwing a blanket over Glenn's shoulders, chuckling as he went in search of his daughter to collect Glenn.
Carl was slumped over with his head in hand, sleeping where he sat. He looked young when he was sleeping. Daryl scooped him up to carry him to his cell. Carl didn't wake up and Daryl grunted. Kid weighed more than he looked.
He deposited Carl into his own bed and gently slid the cell door shut. Turns out one standard drink was enough to knock Carl out good. Daryl wondered how he'd pull up tomorrow even if he'd only drunk a tiny bit. He remembered the first time he had gotten drunk after stealing some of his father's beer and the rotten hangover he got the next day.
Maggie and Glenn walked past him, Glenn's arm draped over Maggie's shoulders. Glenn was rambling some incoherent words punctuated with a few I love you's. Maggie rolled her eyes when she caught Daryl's stare but her expression was soft and affectionate. Daryl was glad that they had sorted out the issues that had been driving a wedge between them. He had never bothered giving a shit about other people's relationships before now but he was rooting for these two.
He wondered what it was like to have someone to look after you when you were that drunk that the world was spinning out of control and all you needed was someone to hold you and it together for a few hours. He'd never had that.
He walked past Mara's cell and could hear movement inside. He paused outside. She was still awake which didn't surprise him considering how rowdy they had been. For some reason he couldn't make his feet move.
He was stuck where he stood, separated from Mara by a sheet and some bars of metal.
He was going to walk on when she pulled the sheet back. She was standing there with her hair out, wearing nothing but a tank top and underwear.
"Daryl?"
He didn't say anything and she wordlessly slid her cell door open so he could come in.
"Are you drunk?" she asked.
Daryl still didn't answer, he just walked towards Mara.
In that moment he could see how different they were. How Mara was innocent and naive. Habit had taught him that if a drunk man was quietly stalking up to him, he'd have a beating on his hands. He would have run away. That's what his childhood had taught him but Mara was staring at him placidly, holding her ground.
He pushed his luck even further, bringing his hands up to either side of her delicate neck. Her breathing hitched a little but still there was no fear. Her eyes showed only confusion and interest. She was giving him so much power over her right now. But Daryl didn't have any urge to hurt her and for a few seconds he just enjoyed the contact, the soft skin under his finger tips, the smell of soap and her trust.
The moment made him brave and he closed the final distance between them and pressed his lips against hers in a soft, timid kiss.
...
Mara didn't think any of the women were going to win any academy awards for their excuses but it got them out of the main room and away from the men.
They all congregated in Carol's cell, having received nothing but cryptic clues from Carol and Christine.
Carol took charge of the little gathering. "I know we've all been having a stressful few weeks but Christine and I grabbed some supplies the last town run we did. We thought we could have a good ole' fashioned girls night."
Then she proceeded to dump nail polish, some chocolate and trashy magazines out on her bed. Mara laughed as she grabbed one of the magazines, it was out of date by years now but who cared.
"This is amazing," Maggie said.
"Well this is where we are now so it's important to create some kind of life and re honour the traditions of getting the hell away from the men sometimes," Christine said. "Besides it was all Carol's idea."
Mara knew Christine and Carol had been paired up a few times for guard duty and town runs. Christine liked the older woman and respected her opinion. Mara did too apart from that brief insanity when she had been jealous of Carol's connection with Daryl.
Beth picked up a bottle of pink nail polish that Mara could see from her spot on the floor had gone clumpy and asked who wanted their nails done first. She still volunteered and giggled as Beth struggled to smear the gooey colour on Mara's ragged nails.
The women could all hear the men's raucous behaviour but left them to their own devices. They spent a pleasant evening going through the magazines and laughing at the gossip of the past. They didn't try and speculate about whether any of those celebrities were still alive or not. That would have brought them down.
Mara was just turning in when she thought she could hear footsteps and breathing from outside her cell. There was a faint silhouette against the sheet. She waited to see if it was one of the group just passing by but when they stayed there she pulled aside the sheet and was surprised to find Daryl standing there, looking lost.
"Daryl?"
He didn't answer her, just stood there staring at her like she was a ghost. She opened her cell and stepped back so he could come in if he wanted to.
Mara noticed he wasn't his balanced self and only took a second before she could smell the alcohol on him.
"Are you drunk?" she asked. So that is what the boys had been doing earlier.
He still didn't speak. Daryl took a careful step towards her. He was watching Mara closely, as if he expected her to run.
He was standing right in front of her, that inch too close to the front of her body. The look in his eyes was intense and, underneath that intensity, frightened. Mara stayed very still, not wanting him to be scared off.
With a second of hesitation, Daryl put his hands on either side of her neck. Mara couldn't prevent the small gasp that escaped her mouth. There was nothing threatening in his touch but the unexpected contact shocked her system.
His thumbs were resting gently under the line of her jaw. Mara was confused by these actions. Part of her knew he was only doing this because he was drunk but Mara didn't want to break the spell before she found out how this ended.
Then with the slightest of pressure Daryl was tilting her face upward and he pressed his lips lightly to hers.
Mara was sure he could feel her pulse leaping under his fingers as his mouth melded to hers.
There was something tentative and tender about this kiss. He didn't push her up against the wall or bite her lip this time. He seemed to be experiencing her. Capturing the scent, taste and feel of this moment in his memory.
That was what Mara was doing. She could have let it last forever but the sweet burning taste of his lips reminded Mara that he had been drinking.
She covered his hands with her smaller ones and slowly, gently slipped out of his hold.
Daryl inhaled one shuddering breath, focusing on Mara's face.
"Why are your nails pink?" he asked hoarsely.
Mara laughed. "Beth's administrations."
"Makes sense."
Daryl had her in his hands, holding Mara close to him.
"What do you want, Daryl?" she asked. She hoped she didn't sound accusatory or defensive.
"I've been thinkin' bout what you said, and I thought maybe we could-"
"Have sex?"
Even drunk the words still brought a flush to Daryl's cheeks.
Mara sighed, cursing the timing. "Daryl, I can't have sex with you."
Daryl froze and he stepped away from Mara like she had caught fire.
She grabbed his shirt hurriedly before he could get too far away. "Tonight," she hastened to add. "I'm not having sex with you when you're drunk."
Daryl looked perplexed. His default setting was to be insulted and run away but the alcohol was slowing him down just enough for her words to register.
"So you do still want to have sex with me?" He sounded like an awkward teenager. Mara knew that Daryl was prone to rash decisions and she could only imagine that was heightened by whatever he'd been drinking. She didn't want him waking up in the morning with a hangover and regret.
"Yes but I want you to make the decision to do it when you're sober and in the right state of mind. If you still think it's a good idea, well you know where I live." Mara smiled shyly. She knew she should make light of it and say something about how it would just be physical but the lies stuck in Mara's throat. She knew what it would mean, at least to her. Daryl was too guarded to let someone in.
Daryl nodded and Mara hoped he understood. He swayed visibly and Mara grabbed both his arms to steady him. Mara hadn't realised he was that drunk. He had seemed so in control when he had walked into her cell.
She led him to the bed intending to let him sit down and clear his head for a minute but Daryl lay down and stretched right out.
"Make yourself at home," Mara grumbled. She hovered next to the bed. Daryl was not going anywhere soon by the looks of him.
She wasn't sure if sleeping next to him was crossing the line and taking advantage of his vulnerability. On the other hand, she wasn't sleeping on the ground or the perch he called a bed.
Mara gingerly got into next to him, trying to arrange herself in the bed so she wasn't touching him. Which was impossible in these tiny cell beds.
Daryl let out a ridiculously loud snore and she giggled. She was sharing the bed with him as a concerned friend. At least that's what she told herself over and over again as she tried to ignore the heat radiating from his body.
AN: So here is another chapter. I was just having a moment of much love for the fanfic community. It's actually awesome that even when someone is criticising a fundamental part of your story, they can still be polite and kind. I know there are some obnoxious flamers out there with not a shred of compassion but on the whole the fanfic reviews are such a generous supportive bunch. That said if the next bout of reviews could espouse some love for Mara, that would be nice too lol.
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