Second to last chapter of this part of "Baryl's" story;-)

Chapter 20

Five weeks after that night they babysat Julian, Bay took the obligatory pregnancy tests, like every time when they had been careless. She had taken the morning after pill, but she still liked to check and give them both some peace of mind about the whole thing. Ever since the last time they've had unprotected sex, they have been very careful and Daryl had made sure to always have condoms handy in his car, in every room of the apartment, in his pants and also in his wallet. He wouldn't mind starting a family with Bay one day, but that day was not in the near future. So now he was chewing his thumbnail while he was nervously pacing back and forth in front of the breakfast bar. On top of it were three pregnancy tests, placed on a paper towel. They always got three and also from three different brands, just to be completely safe and rule out false test results in case that one whole batch of one brand had been contaminated or whatever it was called when they spit out false results.

The timer dinged and Daryl was immediately on the tests, knowing the signs by heart by now and being able to interpret the results right away. His eyes quickly skimmed over all three of the tests and he breathed a sigh of relief. All negative. Not even the faintest line visible.

Bay snickered quietly when she heard his deep sigh. "Told you. Can we go now?"

"Yeah. I need a drink. This shit's gonna send me to an early grave." he lamented while he tossed the tests into the trash can.

"Nonsense. We've been very very good with using protection. No more slip ups and no more pills and tests." she smiled and kissed him gently after putting on her warm jacket. "It's gonna be all good from now on."

"You know,... we do it all the time and spend a ton of bucks on the rubbers... maybe you going on the pill would be better? Less expensive too?" he broached the topic carefully. "We'll totally split costs, like we do with the rubbers... And you said it yourself, it don't feel as good with the condoms... And a damn doctor could finally check ya out."

"This again?" Bay sighed in annoyance.

"Yeah, this again. Don't know why ya keep shutting me down on that. What if something's wrong?" Daryl's voice got louder when his temper suddenly flared up.

"Nothing is wrong!"

"You don't know that. But we know that something definitely ain't right. What's the big fucking deal here? Why don't ya go get checked out and be done with it?"

"Because!"

"Because?" Daryl laughed humorlessly. "Really, Bay?"

"Tell you what. Why don't you go to a doctor's office, get undressed and climb on that disgusting chair with your legs spread for some stranger to see, and have metal instruments shoved into your body? See how you like it, then we can talk about why I'm not doing it." Bay shouted back, before she just left him standing there and left the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"Good Lord!" Daryl muttered and grabbed his own jacket from the back of the chair at the breakfast bar. He had to admit that what she had described really did sound pretty uncomfortable, but he was worried and wanted clarity about what's going on with her and whether it was harmless or not. It drove him up the tree that she wasn't taking care of it, and that she didn't feel the same need for getting clarification of what was happening inside her body he felt. He would never force her to do anything, but with this he wished he could just grab her and force her into a doctor's office and make him examine her. He wished he would have some kind of 'soft blackmail method' in store for her, but the only thing he could think of was withholding sex and that would hurt him even more than it would hurt her, so it was not an option. At least he was able to take comfort in the fact that she looked good and healthy, that nothing was hurting her and she was fit and agile. The picture of good health, so he tried to convince himself that everything was alright and that it was just all that stress and emotional trauma shit from losing her family in a very short amount of time.

Daryl left the apartment and locked up before he joined Bay, who was waiting in front of the building. They were going to attend a parking lot party and both wanted to drink so they left his truck at home and walked. He stuffed his keys into the pocket of his cargo pants, then he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. "Not gonna talk to me now?" he asked after walking for about 5 minutes and Bay being silent the whole time.

"Don't have much to say right now." she replied with a shrug.

"You're mad at me." he stated, making her shake her head.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm just annoyed. I'm gonna do it eventually, okay? Just don't push me."

"But if you're gonna do it anyway, why not now?" he was confused about why she would procrastinate if she was intent on getting the exam anyway. In this case sooner would be better than later.

"I just... I'm scared, okay?" she finally admitted it out loud and took a deep breath to will away the tears that were threatening to spill over. "It's a humiliating situation, I don't want anyone else seeing me, but you. I don't want anyone but you touching me there. Just the thought of it makes me sick, alright? I don't want some doctor poking and prodding around down there. Every fiber of my being is ramming their heels into the ground, refusing to take another step. That's what it feels like when I even only think about that stupid examination. I can't do it. I'm gonna feel violated. I don't want it. I just can't. Not right now. I'm not ready. I need to work up to it." she was crying by now and she felt stupid for it, but she couldn't help the fear she was feeling when she thought about the whole thing. She had an irrational fear of doctors. Always had ever since she had been sick as a little girl and had to stay in a hospital for three days without her parents, who only came to visit her once a day for an hour at night, because they had been working and her grandma also had to work and hadn't been able to stay with her a lot. The doctors had taken her blood several times and they had a hard time doing it, never really finding a vein and they had to try over and over again, until little Bay's arms had been bruised and especially the crook of both her arms had been swollen to the size of a plum and had also been of the same color. She had never once complained, just silently cried when she had been alone, but she had developed a lot of anxiety over doctor's visits ever since then. After her girlfriends had told her what went down at the gynecologist, she had vowed to herself to never go see one and let herself be helpless and bare in that horrible chair. It was unimaginable to her. She knew to other people her fear seemed silly, but she had the hardest time to overcome it. That had actually been the biggest reason why she hadn't donated her eggs. Too many doctor's and medical procedures involved. It hadn't been that she had been overly concerned about her reproductive system... It had been the damn doctors why she had said no.

"Hey... don't cry, sweetheart." he stopped walking and backed her up against the wall of another building and gently cradled her face in his hands, his thumbs wiping at her tears. "It's gonna be alright. If you're scared, I'll come with you. You don't have to do it alone."

"It's not gonna help any, Daryl. It's sweet of you, but it won't change anything... I promise, I'll do it, but I need time to prepare for it. So can we please stop talking about it until then? Please? It's not helping." she pleaded with him to finally drop the subject, and Daryl relented and nodded.

"Fine. Okay, I won't say nothing no more. It's your health... but that don't mean that I'm okay with you waiting another year or so." he was just sick and tired of the people around him fucking up their health and endangering themselves. First Bay and that job at the carpet mill and her eating habits, then Merle with his damn addiction, and now Bay again, with this. "Come on," he took her hand back in his and started walking again. "Can't get drunk fast enough." he muttered, and for once, Bay felt the same way.

"He lets you sit on his face?" Erin was downright shouting the words in surprise, while Bay downed her shot of Tequila.

"Sshhhhhhhh! Good God, Erin. Why don't ya shout a bit louder. Don't think my pastor heard you." Bay slurred her words as she put her shot glass down on the truck bed of the car they were using to play 'never have I ever...' Neither her, nor Erin, nor Tammy knew who the car belonged to, but it was a party so nobody cared. Bay was already smashed, so she most certainly didn't care about anything right now.

"Wow. I thought Sam and I were adventurous, but he's not letting me do that. You're a lucky bitch, Bay."

"Yup. I know. I got the best of the best. Liiiiittle overprotective... but still the best." she giggled drunkenly and leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment when the world around her started spinning for a moment. "Lucky, lucky, lucky." she muttered quietly while she waited for the dizziness to pass.

"It sucks." Tammy sighed. "Jason barely does it to me at all. And it's so unfair, because he's so good at it, but he doesn't like doing it. You wanna know what his excuse is?"

"What?" Erin asked as she filled up Bay's glass with a fresh shot of Tequila.

"Girls pee from there. Like, hello? And you don't pee from your dick? Men can be so stupid."

"Hope you pay him back by not blowing him off too often." Erin scoffed.

"I don't. I don't like doing it that much either, so... You do it often to Sam?"

"Not all the time, but I guess a lot. I don't mind it. It's fun getting him to squirm and be putty in my hands." Erin looked over at Bay and grinned. "What about you Bay? Have you done that to Daryl yet? And if so, did you like it?"

"I like everything when it's with Daryl." Bay murmured with her eyes still closed and an almost serene smile gracing her lips.

"Can't believe you had your first time and didn't tell me about it." Erin had been slightly offended, but then again, they hadn't really talked to each other since the day at Farmer's Lake, because Bay and Daryl had seriously used every free minute to get physical in the past four months. They had seen each other at Shoney's, but then Bay was working and there was no time for girl talk. Daryl hadn't gone to see his friends, either. He was taking his new job seriously and he often worked overtime to pick up some new skills after hours and because Bay was working until 9pm anyway and he didn't feel like waiting around too long for her to come home. Also he used the time between leaving work and Bay coming home to go and check up on Merle. Bay was right, he was getting himself into trouble and Daryl had given him a little bit of money on occasion to help him out. He was keeping that from Bay, though. He hated having secrets, but he didn't want her to chew him out for helping out his brother. The local "Meth Mafia" was no joke and of course Merle had to get involved in all that crap. He wouldn't admit it to Bay, but Daryl was slightly worried about what his brother was doing and the consequences it might bring. So yeah, he right now he liked hiding out with her in their apartment and get lost in each other. They had kind of alienated themselves from their friends, but neither one of them was really aware of it. To them it was just enjoying spending time with each other.

"Bay?" Erin slightly shook her friend, when Bay didn't comment on her previous statement. "Asleep already?"

"No." Bay murmured slowly. "Just enjoying my buzz. I just need to be drunk tonight..."

"Why?" Erin frowned. She sensed that something was off, but she wasn't able to put her finger on it. "Everything okay? You and Daryl aren't fighting, are you? Another break-up that would kill me..."

"What?" Bay asked without opening her eyes as she enjoyed the crisp, cool November breeze against her heated face. "Who broke up?"

"You know, Jessa and Patrick."

"WHAT? They broke up?" Bay's eyes snapped open at that. Erin looked at her incredulously.

"Seriously? Bay, that was like two months ago. You didn't know? Daryl didn't tell you? Why else would Pat be drinking himself into a stupor almost every night? He really loved her and he's devastated."

"I'm not sure that Daryl knows..." Bay frowned. "I don't think he's seen him in a while."

"Jesus Christ, Bay!" Erin was not amused and she wasn't hiding it. "That explains why he's so sad. He didn't just lose his girlfriend, he lost his best friend, too. Seriously, you two are the worst at keeping social contacts alive. Would it kill you to stop by and hang out for an hour on the weekend?"

"Hey, what are you getting on my case for? I'm not keeping Daryl from going anywhere. He makes his own decisions." Bay shot back and scooted off the truck bed. "God, what is it with everybody jumping down my throat these days? No wonder that we rather stay in and not go see anybody." she muttered annoyed.

"Where are you going?" Erin shouted after her.

"Away from you, Mother Superior." Bay fired back. She would feel sorry for flipping out a little a day later, but right now she was fed up with everybody. Yeah, she was acting childish, but she had never liked confrontation very much when she was on the receiving end and she was shitty at dealing with it, especially with the amount of alcohol in her system.

Daryl was not doing much better with the guys. They kept pestering him about why he never shows up anywhere anymore, they gave him a guilty conscience about not being there for Pat and they warned him about Merle. All the shit in the world Daryl didn't want to hear about. He regretted coming and in this moment he had no idea why he had thought it would be a good thing to attend this party. The worst of all? His friends were blaming Bay for "stealing him away" from everyone else. They liked her, they kept emphasizing that, but ever since they got together they hid themselves away and Daryl was forgetting all about his guys. They thought that Daryl might be pussy whipped. Daryl had told Pat about his tattoo shortly before he'd gone in to get it and of course Pat had told the guys. They thought it was a tad too much to go around wearing a girl's name on their chests forever. When Pete mentioned the tattoo, telling Daryl that he might as well wear a real ball and chain around his ankle, Daryl had enough.

"Fuck off. All of you." he snarled and lifted his middle finger in the air, flipping them all off as he backed away from the group. Time to find Bay and go home. He would check on Pat the next day though. That's something he really did feel guilty about. Pat had always been there for Daryl, girlfriend or not and now Daryl had practically abandoned him over night. He loved Pat like a brother, the rest of the bunch he could do without, though. They had been good guys to hang out with, but he didn't feel like it anymore. With them, it was always the same, hang out, drinking, smoking, getting high, doing the odd job here and there... Daryl was done with that. He was happy having a steady job, he was happy being with Bay and having created their own little family. She had changed him, but he had wanted her to. He wanted to be better for her... more reliable. Like it was now with both of them having steady incomes and their routines. Daryl had always thought this kind of life would be boring, but he had to realize that it was a kind of normalcy that he had secretly been craving all his life. He didn't need to get in trouble with the guys to have excitement in his life. Bay was his excitement, in more ways then one. So fuck everybody who didn't understand that.

"Hey." he nudged Erin when he reached the truck where he had last seen Bay. "Where's ma girl?"

"Took off in that direction." Erin pointed towards a building opposite the parking lot.

"The hell..." Daryl took off at a brisk pace towards the building. What on Earth would possess her to take off by herself in the dark and walk over to an abandoned building? Crazy girl. One of these days she really got a spankin' comin'. He walked around to the backside of the building and breathed a sigh of relief when he found her leaning against the wall and having a smoke. "Bay... whatchu doin, girl?"

"Hell of a party... Literally." she laughed humorlessly.

"Tell me about it." he plucked the cigarette from her fingers and took a long drag. "Girls give ya trouble, too?"

"Yup... Why? The guys chew you out?"

"Yeah... fuck all of 'em."

"Did you know about Patrick and Jessa?"

"Nah... didn't know. Feel shitty bout that. Gonna go see him tomorrow."

"That's a good idea." she grabbed his wrist and lifted his hand to her mouth to take another drag of her smoke. "It's bad that we didn't know about that. They say he's in real bad shape."

"I heard. Fuck,... really ain't done right by him."

"You will. Tomorrow. Say,... how did we manage to turn all our friends against us?"

"Dunno. Don't really care." he shrugged and stomped out the cigarette before he advanced on her. "We good?"

"Yeah." she smiled and rubbed her nose against his. "I know you just mean well."

"Exactly." he murmured as he nuzzled her. "That's all it is... just want you to be okay."

"I will be." she promised before she pulled him down to press his lips against hers.

"I hate tequila." he mumbled against her lips after tasting it on her, making her laugh.

"Sorry... want me to get a soda before we continue?"

"Hell no."

"Thought so." she grinned and let her hand travel down to his crotch, palming him through his cargoes. "You got condoms, right?"

"You bet yer sweet ass I do." he smiled. "Really? Here?"

"Mhm... want you. And I'm cold. I'm sure you can help with that."

"Ah, so that's what ya want me for? For playin' personal radiator again?" he grinned and started unbuttoning her jeans. He pulled the zipper down next and slipped his hand inside her panties, but not without difficulty. "Fuck, Bay. How can ya move in these? They're too tight to even move my hand right."

"Mmm, don't worry." Bay's eyes closed while she mumbled her words a little sluggishly when his fingers pressed against her clit. "Your hand is right where it's needed."

"Is it now?" Daryl grinned teasingly. "What's it called?"

"I'm not gonna say." Bay giggled, even in her alcohol induced haze a little blush crept into her cheeks.

"Come on, baby girl. Tell me... where do ya need my hand?"

"Stop it, Daryl. I'm not gonna say it. You can't make me!" she laughed and swatted at him. For all the things they've done up until now, she couldn't bring herself to talk dirty to him, but Daryl loved trying to get her to do it, because seeing her embarrassed and blushing was the cutest thing ever to him.

Daryl leaned in and trailed his tongue along the side of her neck until he scraped her earlobe with his teeth. "I bet I could make ya... but I don't feel like waitin' right now. Turn around." he breathed into her ear, making her shudder with lust. He removed his hand from inside her pants, and when Bay had turned around, he tugged her tight pants down to her knees. He pulled a condom out of his pocket, opening the wrapper with his teeth, before he hurriedly freed his erection from its confines. It took a couple of tries to get the condom on his dick, because the alcohol was influencing his coordination a little, but finally he was done and he positioned himself behind her. Daryl pulled at her hips, making her arch her back so he could get a better angle before he slowly pushed in.

He pulled out a little and pushed in again, deeper and deeper with every stroke until his pelvis was pressed snugly against her round ass. He let her adjust for a moment and used to short pause to push his hands underneath her jacket and sweater, expecting to find her bra-covered breasts, but all he found was naked skin. "Goddamn! Ya ain't been wearing a bra all night?" he groaned and relished in the sensation of feeling her nipples harden against his palm.

"You know I hate those things." Bay gasped. Sometimes she wished she had more cleavage, but most of the time she was glad to have little enough to get away without wearing a bra. She literally only wore them to work. In her personal free time she preferred to go without. "For the love of God, move!" her moaned beg made him chuckle, but he gladly obliged. He stroked his dick inside of her at a steady rhythm, pulling and pinching her nipples while he did it, making her even wetter than she had been before.

"My naughty little sweetheart... making me fuck you out in the street. 'nother thing to confess to on Sunday, huh?" Daryl grunted out between clenched teeth. The cold late November chill around them just emphasized how hot her pussy was, the sensation enveloping Daryl from head to toe and making him run even hotter. He was starting to sweat underneath his warm clothing.

"Worth it." Bay breathed and pushed her hands and her cheek against the cool wall of the building and braced herself for Daryl's onslaught as his thrusts gained speed and intensity. He slid one of his hands out from under her sweater and down between her legs, letting three fingers press down right on the top of her slit and move them in hard, jerky, circular motions to stimulate her clit and make her cum with him.

"Cum for me, baby girl. I want everyone around ta hear how good I can make ya feel. Show everyone how dirty ya really are for having me fuck ya out here in the open. Come on... come on..." With a couple more rubs of his finger and a hard tug on her nipple, Bay finally went flying over the edge, her constricting warm, wet walls helping Daryl milk his orgasm from him. "That's a good girl." he breathed shortly before he pulled out and removed the condom from his cock, and tossing it aside. They both got properly redressed, before Bay turned around with a little giggle and kissed him happily.

"You know what, Daryl? Friends, schmiends... Even if we are kind of out of friends right now, the good thing is that we'll always have each other."

Daryl stilled and looked at her for a moment. Somehow her cute and still slightly drunk little statement was tugging at his heartstrings. He didn't know why, but it did.

"I love you."

The words came out of his mouth without him even being really aware of it. Bay stiffened and looked like a deer caught in headlights. "I... um... " she was at a loss. She felt the same way, no doubt about it, but hearing him say it out loud was overwhelming and made her speechless. She downright attacked him, knocking him back two steps with the force of her kiss as she pressed her lips against his. She tried to put everything she had into that one kiss, but she knew it wouldn't be enough. He already thought she wasn't into this just as much as he was. "I love you, too." she muttered almost inaudibly, but for Daryl it was loud enough to hear it and make him smile. He was about to lean in and kiss her again, when she avoided his lips and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Please don't hurt me." she asked in a heartfelt plea.

"Never." he promised quietly before he finally pressed his lips against hers again, kissing her hard, but full of love. He only pulled away when he felt her shiver from the cold. That's when he noticed that her nose was ice-cold, too. "Let's go home." he grinned and kissed the tip of her nose, then he intertwined their hands and guided her home in the cold dark night.

If he hadn't been distracted, he might have noticed the eyes they had on them on their way home. He had a sixth sense for doom, after all, but he was so focused on Bay, that he missed that they were being followed.

Once Daryl and Bay had entered their building, the man in the black Mercedes Benz smirked and opened the glove compartment to get out his big cell phone.

"Boss? It's Larson."

*You find him?*

"Yep, found Daryl. Got an address, too."

*Good. Now go and find me Merle Dixon and bring him in. Time to teach him a lesson.*

"Will do, Sir."

Thank you for reading!

Scared yet? Ha! I guess you can imagine that the next (and last 'young') chapter will be full of drama.

For those of you who do not follow me on tumblr, a quick info about the next updates: As it turns out my son will need surgery. It is scheduled for October 14th. I will definitely try to get the next chapter out before that and start writing the first ZA-chapter. Surgery is minor and usually the kids are back to their usual selves a couple hours later or the next day, however, it was said that some kids get nightmares for up to a couple of weeks after having been in the OR with all the strangers and without their parents, etc. So if that happens, I obviously won't sleep much and therefore my brain will be too tired and mushy to write and I will take a break. If he does fine post-op, there shouldn't be much of a delay until the first ZA-chapter. Especially not with the show already being back on air and the promise of emotional Daryl, lol. I seriously can't wait.

Thank you so much for all your love and support! You guys have helped me through some tough days. Thank you for that.

Dear Snowbird: So happy to see you back. I'm glad that you had a great vacation! Thank you for the kind words. I think you will get answers to your questions in the near future:) Much love to you!