Hello! Sorry for the delay. I've been busy! Most of this story has been pretty dark and emotions have ran high so I thought I would at least lighten it up for one chapter before the lights go out again. It's filler but that's how it goes sometimes. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading.

Chapter Fifteen

Merle was groggy when he woke up. He'd been dead on his feet when they had gotten back last night and then, for longer than he thought possible, the whole goddamn lot of them had to listen to whatever magic his brother was putting to that woman in that fucking room. If Merle hadn't been so fucking proud of the boy then he'd have gone in there and demanded that she shut her trap. But he'd patiently waited it out, quietly cheering that awkward, no pussy getting asshole on.

He sat up in the corner of what had used to be a break room for the people that used to be employed here. He'd claimed the spot after one of the girls had handed him a sleeping bag and a sorry worn out pillow. He hadn't been sure what woke him until he sat up and saw Cassidy walking towards him.

He tensed, unsure of what she was carrying. Not much light was coming into the room from the open door and he could see that she was holding something in her hand. Hopefully it wasn't a knife.

She sat down right on the floor a few feet away from him, crossing her legs like an Indian and then holding something out to him. "Here," she said, sounding like she was trying hard to keep that steal out of her voice.

He reached out, his fingers closing around something that crinkled when he pulled it towards him. He squinted and then read the label. "King Sized Snickers?" He asked, his voice a tired rasp.

She nodded once. "From my stash. I want a truce and I thought I'd share. Feel good about yourself because I never share. Not even with people that I like." Her tone was so solemn, like she wasn't giving him a candy bar, but a treasured relic that had been forged in her own blood.

If she could treat him like a human then the least he could do was return the favor. "You want half?"

In the shadows he saw the corner of her mouth turn up slightly. The scared part of her face was hidden in the dark so all he was able to see was the perfect contours of the undamaged side of her face. "You can't tell a goddamn soul. I have a reputation around here to uphold. Someone finds out about this and I could very well lose my position," she said, her voice low.

"Mum's the word," he muttered, breaking the chocolate in half and handing her piece over before tearing into his own. "Fuckin' hell," he winced when his jaws nearly locked as the flood of sweetness spread out over his tongue. It had been a long time.

She laughed, causing him to look up sharply. "Lightweight," she muttered, shaking her head and tearing off a piece of her own.

He was too shocked to respond because he'd never heard her laugh before, didn't think she'd even be capable of laughing after what she'd been through. They ate in silence after that and then she finally stood up, turning without a word. "Thanks for breakfast," he said quickly.

She turned then, nodding stiffly. "Thanks for saving my family." She walked out then, like she couldn't stand being in the room with him anymore. He stared at the closed door for a while before burrowing back into his sleeping bag, hoping to catch a few more hours before they had to figure out what the hell their next move was going to be.

~H~

Daryl woke up slowly, like he was working his way through a heavy fog. There wasn't the telltale ache in his bones from a bad nights sleep, or the instant feeling of dread, wondering what horrors the day would possibly bring. He wasn't wearing stiff filthy clothes, or any clothes at all for that matter. There was a warm body curled into his side, one arm draped over his hip and one long leg shoved between his own.

He blinked in the darkness of the room, knowing that they had slept for a long time. It didn't surprise him. They had been through one hell of a goddamn ordeal and just when things seemed to smooth out a little, something else seemed to happened. He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to face anything outside that door. He wanted to hold on to the peace he'd found in her last night.

He blinked when she stirred next to him and then panic seized him when she tensed. Every muscle in her body seeming to lock up. He thought things were okay. After what had happened, after... She thawed out almost instantly and he felt her fingers begin to trace random patterns into his hip bone, her head turning, lips pressing lightly against his throat. Apparently it had taken her a second to realize where she was and who she was with. Now she seemed fine and the relief that he felt was instant.

"You awake?" She asked, her nails dragging lower, causing him to squirm.

He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah," he croaked.

"How's your side?" She asked.

"Good," he said, not knowing if he was telling the truth but he wasn't going to say a damn thing to cause her hand to stop moving south.

"You sure?"

He tried to roll into her but she stopped him with a hand on his chest. "You hurt yourself last night. I saw the blood," she whispered.

He growled and then yanked her arm until she was on top of him. He gripped her hip with one hand and pulled her down with the other, her lips finding his quickly. Just a little while longer. That was all he needed and then they could face whatever the day brought them. He hadn't had enough time to just fucking be with her and when they left here, it would be them and a whole other group, watching over their shoulders, waiting for death to strike. He'd just got her back for fuck's sake.

"We don't have time to do that again," she said, the smile in her voice was clear. It wasn't like she couldn't tell that he was more than ready to do that again, but she was right.

"I know," he said, locking his arm around her and rolling so she was pinned under him.

She smacked at his chest. "You're really gonna hurt yourself," she said as she tried to move him off of her but he didn't care at this point.

He kissed her again and then squirmed down a little so he wouldn't be tempted to start doing the very thing that they didn't have the time to do. He laid his head on her chest instead, she ran her hands over his back and then slowly started tracing scars with a feather light touch. She had seen them before but never dared to question him about them. He used to want to hide but he didn't feel like that anymore. Not with her anyway.

"Mine aren't as deep," she mumbled, her fingertips ghosting over the back of his neck and causing him to shift.

"I know," he said, remembering the scars he saw littering her own body. Most of them had come from smaller wounds, but no doubt had brought her just as much pain as his had caused him.

After a few more minutes he sighed heavily and pushed himself off of her. "We gotta get out there. We'll end up walking the whole way and we need to get our asses in gear."

She sat up, groping around for her clothes, tossing his to him while she hurriedly got dressed. He found the lantern and turned it on just as she slid her shirt over her head.

"You gotta find me some damn clothes. I ain't goin' out there like this," he muttered.

She smiled and he drank it in for as long as he could because she hadn't smiled much since he'd found her. "I'll do that," she said, shoving her feet into her boots and starting the task of buckling them up.

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and sat up pushing his hair out of his face. She gave him one last lingering look before she slipped out of the room. He didn't have to wait long before the door opened up but when he glanced over it wasn't Carol standing there. It was Merle.

"Goddamn it," he muttered, shaking his head and dropping back down onto the pile of blankets. He made sure the one they had slept under was pulled up to his waist. He looked up at Merle, who was grinning down at him, clothes thrown over his arm.

"I'd give your ass a round of applause but I only got one hand, baby brother. You wrecked that fuckin' woman last night in all the good ways."

Daryl shook his head, biting down on the inside of his lip.

"Didn't even know you had nothin' like that in you," Merle went on, tossing the clothes right onto Daryl's face.

Daryl pulled them away, grabbed the jeans and started jerking them on under the blanket.

"How was it?" Merle was still grinning so hard Daryl was sure that his face was about to crack in half.

Daryl stood up and put the shirt on, still refusing to say anything at all. He had known this was gonna happen. There was no way the others hadn't heard exactly what was happening but at the time he hadn't given one damn fuck at all. Last night he'd been too busy to be bothered by anything like that, his brain in a fucking lust filled haze. Today... well, today he was gonna pay for it. And by the look in his brother's eyes, he was going to be paying for it big for a long time. There really wasn't anything he could do to stop it and if he let Merle know that it bothered him, the bastard would just make it his goal to make things worse, because that was Merle.

"Well?" Merle asked, taking the liberty of kicking his boots over to him.

"Well what?" Daryl asked, steeling himself for whatever was about to come out of Merle's mouth.

Merle chuckled darkly. "Well, was the pussy as good as it sounded?"

Daryl refrained from making a face at his brother's crude choice of words but he knew for a fact that if he didn't come off with something quick, Merle was going to go out of his way to make his life harder than it had to be. So he shrugged and pulled the door open, glancing over his shoulder and meeting Merle's gaze squarely. "Yeah Merle. I'd put money on the fact that it was better pussy than you've ever managed to get." He turned, satisfied that Merle would be too shocked to say anything else for a while.

And just his luck, he ran right into Carol, who was standing in front of him with her mouth hanging open and an obvious flush on her face. He felt his own redden to match. Jesus, she had just heard him talk about her like she was a piece of meat! Talk about one step forward and two steps back.

She closed her mouth and then cleared her throat, her chin going up a few notches. She met his eyes and he saw a familiar glint that he hadn't realized had been missing. "Glad you liked it," she deadpanned.

"I..." Daryl shook his head and then looked over his shoulder again, glaring at Merle and wishing that looks really could kill. Merle just grinned.

When he faced Carol again she was turning away but he saw a small smile turn the corners of her mouth up. He waited for her to walk away and then rounded on Merle.

"One of these days, you'll pay for that, asshole. You knew she was standin' there didn't you?" He growled.

Merle shrugged. "Women like to know when they got the goods. I just did you a favor," he said, walking past Daryl.

Daryl stuck his foot out and Merle tripped, staggering slightly before he righted himself. Daryl stomped past him, feeling like a shit heel. He should have gone with his gut and just not let Merle bait him into saying anything at all. He almost hoped Cassidy would castrate the bastard in his sleep. It'd serve him right.