Désirée was setting back helping Maggie unload one of the run vehicles trying to keep her mind from drifting too much. She didn't want to think about the smart ass bitches that were setting and doing nothing. She felt the sweat running down her back with each thing she shifted and cut her eyes around again looking to see where everyone was.
Merle met her eyes for a second before looking back to the yard. She followed his eyes and seen Daryl walking the slow incline with her father. They had their head down talking low no doubt to just each other. Shooting her eyes around she was hit with the sudden realization of just how right her father was. Most of the women were watching Daryl closely with heated eyes.
Maggie nudged her, "Glaring at them wont take their eyes off him."
Désirée felt her face heat up and she quickly went back to unloading more stuff. Maggie laughed lightly next to her leaning against the vehicle for a second and watching around them. Chancing a look at her she seen her grinning and shook her head.
"Shut it Maggie."
"Oh no! If you would just admit that you like him more than just oh I don't know having sex with him then all this could be avoided." Maggie challenged crossing her arms across her chest.
Désirée stopped and looked at her, "He knows that it's more than that."
"Does he? Have you said as much to him? Cause I'll just say most men don't read between the lines and for as long as I've known Daryl he's always been a straight shooter Désirée. He likes things up front and in the clear." Maggie smiled at her and grabbed the box from her hands.
Taking in Maggie's words she looked back at Daryl and seen him with a frown marring his face while he talked to Rick and her father still. They were making their way over to where her and Maggie were and was glad of it. It was hot and they needed help but she wanted to be around Daryl. He'd been gone most of the day on a run and she got the distinct feeling something had went bad.
All three men walked up and took over unloading things with a tenseness about them that made her and Maggie both take a step back. Daryl looked at her briefly before going back to work. She grimaced at the dark circles under his eyes and the weary look about his face.
Merle nudged her and she looked up at him, "Get on inside for a while. He'll be in a bit."
She raised an eyebrow but he shook his head at her with a slight tightness around his mouth. She nodded and moved off walking towards the group to get something to eat. Maggie trailed her and they both grabbed something to eat setting together.
"What was that about?" Maggie questioned.
"What's that?"
Maggie chewed her food watching the group of men before looking back at her, "Merle, he seemed almost human."
Désirée snorted, "Merle is human Maggie you just wont give him a chance."
Maggie grinned at her, "I have my reasons."
"I think you just like having someone to argue with. That and you know it aggravates Daryl."
"What aggravates Daryl?" Came a smooth voice from behind.
Désirée gritted her teeth and Maggie sighed, "We're just talking Ashley."
The girl set down next to her and she kept her face clear of annoyance knowing the girl didn't like her for some reason. She had never so much as said a bad word to her but from day one of her being here this girl was a bitch. She just didn't have time for bullshit like this. Maggie was eating but her eyes kept dancing in amusement and Désirée let her own grin break through.
"You're right though it does annoy him." Maggie laughed her eyes lifting to over her shoulder.
"Des." Daryl's low voice came from just behind her.
Looking over her shoulder at him he jerked his head and she stood up fluidly. "Are we on watch tonight Mags?"
"We were but I think Glenn got it switched so he was with me." Maggie winked at her.
Clucking her tongue she took her plate over and grabbed Daryl one of his own as he set chewing his thumb waiting on her. She shook her head at his bad habit but didn't comment. Handing him the plate he frowned but she glared till he accepted it.
"Not hungry."
"Don't care."
Snorting he started walking and she fell in step with him easily. He was heading towards the cell block. Daryl was quiet as they walked and she took the time to think over what she needed to do. Maggie's words were nagging at her just like her fathers now. Both of them sparring back and forth in her head for her attention.
Daryl handed her the bowl and looked at her for a second, "Gotta talk to Beth for a second."
Désirée nodded her head not sure what he needed her for if he was going to talk to someone. She settled against the wall as Daryl stepped into the cell with the younger girl. She couldn't make out a lot of what was being said but she could tell from his body language that something was bothering him. It made her want to go to him and smooth away his worries. She didn't like seeing him stressed out and worried it made her do the same.
Daryl appeared suddenly a weird look on his face and he grabbed her hand pulling her up from the ground. Désirée thrust his bowl back at him and he took it mutely as he started towards the stairs. She side eyed him as he climbed the stairs and walked through the cell door. Following him in he set down heavily.
"What's going on?"
Daryl set his bowl off to the side and motioned her over to him as he set back against the wall. She moved to him and climbed on the bed next to him facing him so she could see his face.
"Zach got bit today."
Désirée sucked in a breath at the news. Zach had been a complete sweetheart always laughing and joking with everyone. He never had a bad word to say to anyone and was always smiling. He'd been a bright spot in anyones day when he was around. He'd even managed to get Daryl to talk to him some and they'd somewhat built an understanding as he tried to figure out Daryl's past.
She grabbed one of his hands letting her smaller ones rub and massage his larger scarred up one. Daryl set watching her with his head leaned against the wall not saying anything. She knew it was bothering him but didn't push him to talk about it. If he wanted to he would at his own time.
"Was a bad run."
She looked up at him and he shook his head anger starting to work it way into his eyes. Giving him a look he sighed and grasped her hand pulling her to him. She went easily and settled against him feeling his fingers pull through her hair before settling on her back.
"Bout didn't make it out today." His voice was gruff and she tightened her grip on him.
Her father hadn't mentioned Daryl having a close call and neither did Merle for that matter. They had both pointedly avoided talking to her about it and now she knew why. She felt her chest tighten with all the emotions threatening to spill out of her but she fought to keep it under control for him.
Pulling herself up into his lap she set her hands on his chest looking at him. His head was leaned back against the wall his eyes closed. He'd look like he was sleeping if it wasn't for the clenched jaw and straining cords of his neck. She ran her hands up his chest undoing the buttons and letting it fall open. Running her hands across his chest and through the chest hair she was thankful for the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Looking up at his face Daryl's eyes were open watching her, "What'ya doin' Des?" his voice was a low husky tone.
"Shh." She smiled at him and kept sliding her hands along his torso. Daryl smiled at her and closed his eyes again and she kneaded the muscles a little harder causing him to groan. Keeping up her work she felt him start to relax more and more soft grunts and groans slipping past his lips now and then.
Daryl shifted suddenly and his back dropped down on the bed with her still in his lap. Daryl jerked his shirt the rest of the way off and crossed his arms behind his head looking up at her.
"Roll over for me."
Daryl raised and eyebrow at her but she smiled at him lifting herself off and him kicking her boots off. She nudged him to flip over and he complied with a huff at her. She laughed and climbed back on him straddling him again and setting back down. Starting at his lower back she worked her hands against him. Daryl released a breath burying his face in the pillow after a while. Getting to his upper back and shoulders she worked on every kink and knot she found in the muscles pulling deeper groans from him.
She never asked him about the scars that marred his back. She didn't need to because she accepted some things were the past. Daryl had left it buried and so would she. He didn't dig around in her wounds looking for answers so why would she him.
Daryl lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at her before looking at the bed next to him. She took the hint and moved off him and laid down next to him. Daryl rolled back over and pulled her against him her head laying against his chest.
"How did she take it?"
Daryl blew out a breath, "A lot fuckin' better than I thought."
Désirée raised her eyebrow and turned her head looking up at him, "Should she be alone now?"
Daryl shrugged chewing his lip, "Aint my place to coddle her."
Désirée nodded her head, "Has anyone told Hershel or Maggie?"
"Rick."
Désirée ran her hand up his chest and let it slide through the smattering of chest hair. Her mind still reeling over him saying he'd almost got hurt. If they'd come back and told her that Daryl had been bit she'd lost it. No doubt about that. She wasn't sure what she would do but she knew in her gut and heart she would react terribly.
She had tried to avoid getting attached to anyone from the beginning only sticking close to her father. She had done a good damn job of that till Daryl Dixon came along. He didn't make an effort to get to know her and she made no effort to actively seek him out but they always ended up together somehow.
Her father seen it coming and she hadn't realized it at the time but he did. He'd liked Daryl from the start and had talked to him more than anyone else here. Seeing them get along had made her accept being apart of the group even when she didn't feel like one. She still wasn't sure she fit in with them but she knew she did with Daryl.
He was like her in the fact that he didn't actively seek people. He had a few he was around and that was it. Didn't matter if you were apart of the prison group, you weren't apart of his inner circle. She felt warm at the thought that she had managed to get past his defenses but wasn't sure how he felt about her.
Looking up at him again she seen him looking at her. Daryl pulled her up his body his thumb rubbing a circle against her throat making her pulse speed up. Licking her lips, "Daryl...I." She closed her eyes avoiding the piercing blue eyes that made it hard for her to talk but made her want to at the same time. "This thing between us it's more than just sex to me."
Daryl's thumb applied a slight bit more pressure and but didn't stop its motion. She chanced a look at him and seen his eyes were darker, "What is it to you then Des?"
She eyed him for a second before moving further up in the bed, "You're the first man that has ever mattered to me besides my father. The only I've ever cared for and worried over."
Daryl's thumb never stopped and he was still looking at her not speaking. She closed her eyes worried she'd said to much. Daryl wasn't one to talk about feelings or anything close to them. He moved away from emotional outbursts and preferred being alone for this very reason. Feeling him tug her back towards him when she had unconsciously started leaning away from him she opened her eyes back up.
Laying back down her face in the crook of his neck and her breath blowing softly across his throat she could feel his strong heart beating against hers. She let the sound calm her down and reassure her that he was fine. That he was okay and had made it back. She dreaded when he'd have to go back out but knew he wouldn't stay behind if it came to it.
"I want to make it clear that we're together." She felt his nod as his hand smoothed under her shirt against her back. "What is this to you?"
Daryl didn't talk at first and she fought moving away from him. She knew it wasn't so much what she asked but that it was just the way he was. He didn't address his emotions often, they were better kept stuffed back in a box where things were simpler. She grew up around a man who done the same damn shit. She knew he'd talk once he got it worked out in his head. Until then she just had to set there and not push him.
Désirée ran her hand along his side letting her nails scratch against him before dragging them back down. She let her fingers skim along his waist band before repeating the action over. Daryl had been quiet for awhile and she was starting to hear movement in the cell block letting her know it was getting later in the day.
Looking up at him as his arm was propped behind his head letting him look down on the them better she smiled at him. The corner of his lips lifted just slightly at her his eyes roaming over her. When they came back to hers she seen the shift in them.
"If you don't know how I feel about you, you aint been listenin'." His words were quiet but strong.
Désirée smiled at his words thinking about what her father had said about him in the truck. She nodded at him as they listened to someone on the stairs making their way up. Neither one looked at the door both focused on the other. There was a soft knock followed by someone stepping in the room.
"Hey Daryl just came to get the bowl and let you know-"
Désirée turned and looked at the woman in the door whose eyes kept going between the two of them. Daryl was kicked out still in the bed with his arm folded beneath his head shirtless with Désirée draped across him. Their legs were a tangled mess with his hand up the back of her shirt and her hand splayed out on him.
Daryl's eyes flicked to the bowl setting off to the side but he said no more. Désirée wanted to smile at his dismissal and even more so at the look on Ashley's face. She held it in though instead laying her head back down against him.
"Rick wanted me to tell you that you didn't have watch tonight." Her words were muttered as she left the cell quickly.
"You wanted to make it clear...I give it about five ten at the most minutes before everyone knows." Daryl chuckled.
Désirée smiled against his neck and yawned letting her eyes droop and the solid sound of his heart lull her to sleep. Daryl's arm tightened around her as he rolled them caging her in with his body again.