Chapter 39
Daryl didn't sleep much. The whole thing with Merle being back in his life had him more frazzled than he liked to admit. He was scared that he'd fuck up again; that he wouldn't be able to break this spell Merle seemed to have on him. He couldn't lose Bay again. This was his last chance to be with her for as long as this shitty existence would last. None of them had any idea of how long that would be. Could be over tomorrow. One of them could get bit on their way back to the cafeteria. They still had no idea where those walkers had suddenly come from. We checked those fucking hallways. There were no walkers... until there were. Gotta go back in and track where they came from. If they pop out of nowhere again... Next time Bay could be too close... What if she don't notice in time?
Daryl wasn't the type to toss and turn. Instead he stayed on his back and stared up into the darkness when he wasn't able to sleep. But he didn't even have to toss and turn for Bay to notice that he wasn't sleeping. She woke up with a restless and anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. She frowned in sleepy concentration while she tried to sort out what the problem was, so she would be able to go back to sleep. When her sleepy haze dissipated a little, she noticed a couple of things at once. Daryl's body was as stiff as a board. He was a whole freaking ball of tension, and she was sure that the restlessness and anxiety she felt, was radiating off of him in waves. He also was too quiet. Usually when he slept on his back, he snored quietly. She realized that he had to be awake and was most likely brooding over something.
Bay gently rubbed her hand over his chest and tilted her head up to blindly kiss a spot on his jaw. "What's keeping you up, baby?" she whispered against his skin. "Thought I wore you out?"
"Yeah... it's just... everything. You know... Merle..." he admitted.
Bay didn't immediately know what to respond to that. Telling him that she was anxious about Merle being back would surely not help him. "I trust you. I'll always support you and have your back... the rest is up to you." she finally whispered against his jaw.
That's what I'm afraid of, Daryl thought with a sigh. "I don't want you to come with us later."
"Why not?"
"Don't know where the walkers came from. Too risky."
"Daryl, we never know where the walkers come from. It's always risky. Like Rick said, all hands on deck."
"There's something else."
"What?"
"When Erin sees ya... If they wanna come back here with us... Do ya think she'll be able to focus on bein' careful enough on the way back? She'll be a mess. You might be, too. Better if you two meet up here." Daryl explained the other reason why he thought she should stay behind later.
"That actually makes sense." Bay said after a short moment of silence. "We should talk to Rick about it in the morning. See what he thinks."
"He ain't the boss of you, Bay. You think about it, and if ya don't wanna go, then ya won't go." Daryl started to get riled up, but quickly quieted down again when Bay rubbed her thumb over the tattoo on his chest.
"Ssshhhhh... don't get upset. We'll work something out." she pressed another kiss against his jaw. "You should try to sleep."
"Can't... too wound up." he muttered, right before an idea struck him. "Got another one of 'em rubbers?"
"I do, but we're not gonna use it now. We gotta keep it for a better occasion. We don't know when we'll get our hands on new ones."
"Don't matter. Knowing Merle he'll move in right in that cell over there. Next to us. Ain't gon' get it up with him around all the time." he whispered sullenly.
"Once we secured more of this place, we're gonna find ourselves a place to be alone. Don't worry." she told him quietly, while her hand slid down his chest. "Forget about Merle for now... " she grinned at his sharp intake of breath when he felt her slip her hand inside his worn jeans, and wrap her hand around his cock. It was pitch black inside the prison, neither of them was worried about someone seeing what they were doing. Bay stroked him to hardness. The darkness made her other senses sharper, and the feeling of him getting hard in her hand was even better than before. The tiny noises he was making only heightened the sensation for her.
"What are you doing? Were you goin'?" Daryl whispered urgently when he suddenly felt Bay pull away.
"Relax..." he was able to hear the grin in her voice. "Don't wanna make a mess..." she murmured right before he felt her hot mouth envelop him.
"Oh fuck..." Daryl's breath escaped him in a rush and he put his fist against his mouth to try to stifle his noises while she sucked him off. It didn't take too long until her mission was accomplished and the tension vanished form Daryl's body and he was relaxed and limp as a cooked noodle. He started to doze off when she was back in her spot by his side. He quickly turned his head and kissed her forehead. "Thanks." he whispered against it, making her giggle quietly.
"You're very welcome."
Daryl didn't show it, but he was very happy that Rick agreed with him and didn't start arguing about how much he needed Bay on the team. If the first trip to the cafeteria had shown them anything, it was that they all had to be on top of their game. He didn't want to take any chances with the post-reunion, emotional women. Hershel then volunteered to take Bay's place this time and Rick was okay with that. Taking care of the farm had kept the old man fit and agile, and even though he had more experience in putting down walkers from a long distance with his rifle than he had in hand-to-hand and close up encounters, Rick was sure that Hershel would be able to hold his own. Plus, he was going to put on the riot gear, which would protect him from getting gutted, at least.
The group wanted to leave the cell block for the cafeteria a bit earlier in order to check out where those walkers had come from the last time. They wanted to take some more down, and if it would be too many, they wanted to try to somehow lure them into some of the cells on the way, and contain them in there and take them out safely one by one through the bars. If the smaller group decided to join them in cell block C, then they had to make sure that the way back was as safe for Erin's 6 year old son as possible.
"Excited?" Hershel asked with a slight smile when Bay helped him strap on the gear.
"Not right now." Bay sighed. "I'm extremely nervous about letting all of you go without me."
"I know. But I also know that you're excited. You talked about Erin quite a bit when you came to live with us."
"I did. She was my best friend. I loved her a lot. Still do. I can't believe I'm going to see her soon."
"I'm looking forward to meeting her. From what you told me she seems to be a nice girl. She took care of you when you needed her. That's a good friend. We can use more people like her." Hershel smiled.
"We do. Pat is the same. He's kind of a cheeky monkey... well he was, but I got the impression that he hasn't changed much in that department... he's a jokester, but he's an amazing friend and he cares deeply. Daryl never shows it, but he loves Patrick like a brother, and Pat loves Daryl the same way. He was heartbroken, too when Daryl left. We supported each other. I was glad he forgave me for taking his best friend from him prior to that. We treated both, Erin and Pat, like crap by pulling away from them. I'm glad we get the chance to make it right now. I hope Erin can forgive me for never getting in touch with her again." Bay sighed again and fought tears. "I'm so sad for her that she lost Sam. They were such a great couple. It must have been so hard for her and the little one."
"Looks like Patrick took good care of them since then."
"Yeah. I'm sure Sam would be eternally grateful. She's in good hands." Bay quickly wiped at a tear that had escaped and took a deep breath to calm herself. "There you go, all good."
"Thank you for your help." Hershel thanked her politely. Bay turned to leave his cell, but before she was able to he quickly took hold of her hands and tugged her closer, making her face him again. "I am worried about you, Bayanne." He spoke in his calm and fatherly tone.
Bay's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Why?"
I know you are a strong woman, Bay... But I also know that there's a limit to what we are able to take. You've had a lot to take in your life already, and you dealt with it with the utmost strength, perseverance and grace. You are a fighter through and through, but you do have a breaking point. You reached that point once before when Daryl left... I am worried that Merle being here with us might bring you to that point again. It will bring up painful memories and a painful loss."
"I won't lie... it will be tough and nothing short of annoying to have him here... but I'll be fine, Hershel. I have my family here. Don't worry about me." Bay smiled reassuringly, at least she tried to, but Hershel saw right through it.
"Maggie told me what happened. That you hurt Merle. It's not like you to get violent, Bayanne. The man's presence is already changing you."
"It's not. The violence is a part of me, unfortunately." Bay admitted and laughed a little when she noticed Hershel's eyebrows shoot up. "It's not a big part of me... at least I don't think so, but I definitely have a violent streak, and trust me when I say that nobody was more surprised about that than I was myself. When Daryl and I dated the first time around, there was this girl named Cassie. At first she was nice, but I was crazy jealous... I don't even know why. At that point she hadn't even done anything, but I guess where Daryl is concerned I can get pretty irrational. When I wasn't very nice to her, she started not being very nice to me. She started getting touchy-feely with Daryl and she told me that my parents committed suicide to escape having to be around me... I snapped and I started beating on her. We fought for a bit before Daryl and Sam broke us up. I was banged up, too, but I totally beat her bleach blonde ass."
"Bayanne!"
"Sorry." Bay apologized with a sheepish expression on her face. "I wanted to hurt Carol when Daryl gave her a back rub a couple of nights ago... It's definitely in me, Hershel. It's me... not Merle. He just brings it out in me. Like Cassie... and other women getting too close to my guy."
"You have to fight that. That girl shouldn't have said that, but you can be the better person by ignoring them and kill them with kindness. There is no need to fight. Don't let anyone provoke you. You're better than that, Bayanne."
"No, Hershel. I'm really not." Bay stated and ended the conversation by kissing his cheek. "Be safe." she muttered while she walked out of his cell, leaving the old man to his worrying.
She wasn't proud of the things she felt when she felt like her relationship was threatened by something or someone. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that she wasn't as good a person as she had believed herself to be for the longest time. She had a bit of a dark side. Or a violent side, or whatever people wanted to call it. Thankfully it didn't come out to play very often. Daryl and her were more alike than people might think. Just that he was hiding his sweet side from others a lot, while she hid the dark thoughts she had behind a smile, when Carol (or Cassie back in the day) got a bit too flirty or close to her man.
She sought out Daryl next and motioned for him to come up to their cell when she spotted him. She kissed him long and hard, and wrapped herself around him like a kraken. "It's weird having you leave and me staying here." she breathed when they came up for air.
"Same for me. We're gonna be back 'fore you know it, though." his said in his rumbling voice. "Don't come after us, ya hear? No matter how long it takes."
"You just said you'd be back before I knew it."
"We will,... but... you know. Stay put, alright?"
"Alright."
"Promise."
"I promise." she met his searching gaze full on when she said it.
Daryl gave a satisfied nod, then he gave her another kiss. "We're off then."
"Be safe." she told him and reluctantly let him go. She had a bad feeling when she stood up on the landing and watched the group leave. She hated staying back and waiting, but today she would have to accept that this was how it was gonna be. At least it was only for today.
The group had been able to find one of the "breaches". A door to the outside that had been left wide open. They took care of as many walkers as possible, before closing the door and locking it with their set of keys. Eventually they would have to clear the yard which the door had led to, but they would be able to do that through the fence from the outside, as soon as they had found the armory and had stocked up on ammo.
They arrived at the cafeteria a little early. Pat and Merle weren't there yet, so Hershel took the opportunity to pull Daryl aside for a moment. He had kept shooting scrutinizing glances at Daryl and he had noticed that the man was more fidgety than usual. "You okay, son?"
"Fine. Why?" Daryl didn't know why Hershel would want to talk to him now.
"I imagine you're happy about getting your brother back, but I know that it will complicate things." Hershel said. "Back at the farm, you promised me something. You promised me that you would put Bayanne first from now on. Up until now, you kept that promise... You are doing a splendid job of caring for her and keeping her safe..."
"But?"
"I worry. About her, about the whole situation. I hope you will keep your promise, even more so with your brother back in your lives. Bay needs you, Daryl. She's changed. Sometimes I feel like I don't recognize her anymore. Losing another home, the months on the run... It did something to her. It tore her apart. Now that we'll be able to settle down more permanently, she will need your help to find her way back. She will need you to put her back together." Hershel told him imploringly.
Put her back together? She used to put me back together. How the fuck am I supposed to do it for her? Daryl chewed on his lip nervously, thinking about what Hershel was telling him. The farmer was right, Bay was different. Hardened, almost... for lack of a better word. A bit jaded even. He got it, because it had happened to every single one of them, but he still missed the old version which always saw the positive side of things and who always had a smile on her face, despite some shitty things they had gone through. Somewhere along the way she had lost a big portion of that smile and positivity. He wanted to help her, but he had no clue how to do it.
"I don't want to meddle, Daryl, but I guess I just want to know where you stand on all this."
Daryl opened his mouth to reply when they heard the noises of people entering the storage room of the cafeteria. "They're here." Daryl muttered, before he looked back at Hershel. "Bay comes first. Always."
"I hope you'll be able to keep that promise. I trust you with her life, Daryl." Hershel clapped his hand down on the younger man's shoulder, before they re-joined the others.
They weren't too surprised to see that the whole group had shown up. Now that the first shock had worn off, Daryl's spirits lifted when he spied Pat. It would be good to have him around again. Despite what he had told Bay back at the farm, he had spent some time thinking about him every now and then. Pat had been a big part of his life, and he'd always been there for Daryl, ever since childhood. Guilt gnawed at him when he once again remembered, how shitty he had treated Pat in the past. It all had to change this time around. Daryl was surprised, however, by how good it felt to see Erin. Just like Bay she hadn't changed too much. Her features had matured, but she was as tiny as ever and her hair was much longer. He saw her eyes glance at all the strange men, and he knew that she was looking for him. Finally her eyes settled on him. She narrowed her eyes slightly while she studied him, and Daryl couldn't help the little smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. Suddenly her face lit up and she started smiling and immediately walked over to him with open arms.
"It's really you." She grinned before her small form connected with his and she hugged him. "I can't believe it. It's so good to see you, Daryl. I thought Pat had lost his mind, but then Merle said it's true and... wow. All back together in Dalton, huh? Home sweet home, right?"
Yep, ain't changed much. Still talks a bunch, Daryl thought with a wry grin. "Good to see ya, too. Been a while..." he still wasn't the best at small talk. His eyes fell on the little boy, who was obviously Erin's son. Daryl swallowed hard. The boy looked exactly like Sam had when the boys had all been in elementary school together. His heart hurt when he realized that Sam would never know that. "I'm sorry about Sam."
"Thanks. That's Alex. Our son." She said with a smile while she looked back at the young boy, who waved shyly from behind Patrick.
"Hey." Daryl gave him a little smile, but his smile soon vanished, when he looked at Merle and fucking Nick Mayer. "Nick." Daryl said curtly.
"Hey, man." Nick smiled at him. He was unaware of Daryl's negative feelings towards him. Bay had never let Nick know about her crush on him, so he had no idea that Daryl wasn't his biggest fan right now.
Introductions with the others were made, before Pat addressed Rick. "Guess I won't have to tell you that we wanna merge groups. Is the way back safe enough for Alex to come?"
"Yes. We were able to locate where the walkers had come from the last time. We chained that door up good. It's safe now." Rick told him.
"Good. Then let's grab some food and get going. While Erin and Alex get settled in, I'd say we guys go make a couple of trips to get all of it back to your cell block. What do you say?"
"Sounds good." Rick agreed with the plan and they all started filling the empty packs they had brought.
Bay meanwhile stood in the doorway to Lori's cell. It had been a while since they had the chance to just sit down and have a chat, so to pass the time, Bay thought it would be nice to catch up with the others a little. "Hey."
"Hey, Bay." Lori smiled as she leaned back against the pillows made out of rolled up blankets, and rubbed the small baby bump.
"How are you feeling?" Bay asked and sat down next to Lori on her cot.
"Good. No more nausea thankfully. Just tired a lot."
"It's a good thing that you can rest whenever you feel like it now. It will do you both good, I'm sure."
"I think so." Lori nodded. "How are you doing?"
"I'm alright. Do you need anything? Some water? Want some more beans?"
"I'm good, thanks Bay. Don't pamper me too much or I'll get used to it." Lori laughed.
"You should get used to it. Might be the last time you'll ever have the luxury of getting pampered." Bay told her with a little laugh, before she turned serious again. "Rick isn't sleeping in here?"
"No." Lori shook her head. "My son and my husband both hate me."
"They don't. I don't believe that." Bay tried to reassure her, but she knew that it was probably a lesson in futility. "What happened?"
"What hasn't happened?" The pregnant woman scoffed. "Things haven't been right since he found out about the baby. The bigger I get, the more distant he gets. I think that he thinks it's Shane's."
Bay wasn't able to argue with that, because it seemed like that truly was how Rick felt. "It's gonna be okay. Once he has that little bundle in his arms, he's just gonna fall in love with it."
"I don't know. Things are very different now."
"Don't lose hope, Lori. It's the only thing that still keeps us going."
"What if that hope gets shattered in about 5 months? What if he hates the baby? What then?" Lori looked at Bay with tears in her eyes.
"Rick is a good man. He has honor. He won't hate the baby. I don't think he could even if he wanted to. Don't worry too much. Things will work out, I'm sure of it. Even if you hit another rough patch... the rest of us will still be here for you and the little one, okay?"
"Thank you." Lori tried to suppress her tears while she squeezed Bay's knee gratefully.
Bay left the cell a little while later and checked on Beth, who was in the cell she shared with Hershel and was writing in her journal. "Just like old times." Bay grinned and leaned against the wall opposite from the cot and slid down until she sat on her ass on the floor.
"It passes the time." Beth shrugged. "And having a journal around makes me feel like having an old friend around."
"I know."
"I was just writing about the others in the prison." Beth explained. "Do you think they'll come join us?"
"I think they will. Pat is smart. He probably figured out that they have better chances at survival if they become a part of a bigger group."
"Looks like they did pretty well so far. Just the five of them." Beth pointed out.
"Because just like Daryl, Pat is a survivor. It's all he knows. They were kind of made for this."
"But so were you. You were left with nothing and you survived."
"That was different. I always managed to have a roof over my head and food in the fridge, no matter how shitty the food might have been. Daryl slept in his car a lot and before he was able to make money, he went into the woods, hunting and foraging for food."
"He slept in his car?"
"Yeah."
"I can't even imagine what that's like." Beth said, before she paused and made a face. "Well, I guess I can now. But back then in the old world... why didn't he get a job, like you did?"
"Merle." Bay stated, like it would explain everything. When Beth looked at her questioningly, Bay elaborated. "Daryl kind of raised himself, but with Merle's influences whenever he decided to give a shit about his little brother. Merle put a lot of shit in Daryl's head. Made him believe that he was worthless and that nobody would ever care about him. That striving to have normal things and a normal life was something only pussies did. His friends got raised kind of the same way, so Daryl didn't really know anything else other than hang out, drink beer and do the odd job here and there. When we got together, he saw that a normal life was in the cards for him. He kind of got his first steady job and he tasted blood. He realized that with our incomes, we were able to provide for each other. He realized that his skills would be able to help not just him, but me, too. He would hunt and he would built things for our apartment. I think it built up his confidence. He would provide food and I would make him good meals in exchange for it. We had a really good thing going, and when his boss had to let him go, because they had finished the project, he immediately pounded the pavement and looked for something else. Because of Merle, he had always thought that he would die of boredom with a steady routine, but then he found out that he actually loved it. He loved having a real home and everything that came with it. Well, to make a long story short, he got a job eventually. But before we met, he didn't, because Merle had always told him that nobody would even give him the time of day."
Beth smirked a little when Bay had just rambled about the past, and the older woman actually blushed a little in embarrassment. "You like talking about the past." Beth stated with a little smirk.
"Yeah, I guess I kind of do." Bay shrugged. "The time I had with him back then was wonderful. A lot of great memories."
The two fell silent for a bit and Beth studied Bay closely. Then she got up and dug through her backpack. "Here." Beth handed Bay a spare notebook and a pen.
"Um... thanks?" Bay was confused. "I'm not really into the whole 'Dear Diary'-thing, Beth."
"Try it. You have some time today. Writing can be pretty good for you. Even if you just write down your happy memories with Daryl... Someday it will be nice to open that book and read through it. Might put a smile on your face when you need it." Beth told her with a gentle smile on her face.
Bay narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. "You have the same expression on your face like your father had earlier. Are you worried about me, too?"
"I'm not worried..." Beth shrugged in her youthful, nonchalant way. "I just feel like something is weighing you down. I don't know if you even know or if you just don't want to talk about it, but you just don't seem... "
"I just don't seem what?"
"Happy."
"I am happy. I have Daryl and my family." Bay protested.
"Okay." Beth shrugged again. "Just give it a try. Open it up, get that pen ready and see what happens."
"Fine." Bay sighed and heaved herself up from the ground. She leaned over the cot and kissed Beth's cheek. "I love you."
"Love you, too, Bay." she smiled and watched the woman, she considered her oldest sister, leave her cell.
"Okay, book is opened, pen is ready... now what?" Bay said quietly to herself while she stared at the blank page and tapped the pen against it repeatedly. She didn't know what to write and also, she felt a bit silly about trying this. After a couple of minutes she sighed deeply and just started doodling in the corner of the blank page. Random patterns and symbols soon littered the top of the page. She didn't even realize what she was drawing, because she was starting to lose herself in her thoughts. Suddenly words started to pop into her mind, out of nowhere, and she started writing them down. The thoughts started to burst out of her and onto the paper as she kept writing them down. She didn't know how long it was, but judging by the fact that she had only written two pages, it probably was only a couple of minutes, when she heard Carl yelling.
"They're back!"
Bay got up hastily, leaving the notebook and the pen laying on the mattress inside their cell, while she peeked out the door. She exhaled in relief when she saw Maggie, Hershel, Glenn, Rick and Daryl returning in one piece. Her blood pressure immediately rose back up though, when she spotted Merle sauntering into the cell block like he owned the place. She was going through a variety of emotions very quickly, because the next second she got teary-eyed and emotional when she saw Erin and a young boy, who looked a lot like Sam, clutching her hand tightly. The sandy-haired child looked around with wide, shy eyes, while Patrick gave him reassurance and support by resting his hand on the boy's shoulder, squeezing gently here and there. Just in these couple of seconds it was obvious to Bay, that Pat loved the boy a lot. Most likely he loved him like the boy was his own by now. Like Hershel loved her. People had called them white trash, but the truth was, that Pat and Daryl and a lot of the other guys were the sweetest, most selfless and most loving people in the world. They had tons of love to give, and when they loved you, you knew that it was real and genuine.
"Everybody..." Rick called out and everybody started to gather. Bay hid behind Dale, so she wouldn't be seen right away. "As you can see Patrick and his group decided to join us. This is him, his girlfriend Erin and her boy Alex. This is Nick and most of you already know Merle."
The newcomers all nodded or waved quickly, still a bit reserved despite the warm welcoming smiles they were receiving.
"That's Hershel's other daughter, Beth..." Rick went on and proceeded to introduce his group to the others. "My wife Lori and my son Carl. Carol and her daughter Sophia. The gentleman over there is Dale..." Rick paused and couldn't help but smirk a little, just like Pat and Daryl, while all their gazes turned to Erin. "And I believe you already know Bay..."
Erin looked at Rick with a frown on her face, because the guy wasn't making sense. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the older gentleman named Dale was stepping aside, revealing another figure behind him. Erin looked over there and focused on the person that stepped into view. She didn't understand what she was seeing at first, but realization hit her, as soon as she heard the familiar voice.
"Hey Erin." That kind of scratchy and hoarse voice, which had always been pretty unique to her. It was deeper now, but those trademarks were still there and Erin's memory connected the dots quickly.
"Bay?" Her eyes widened when she took in the other woman. She had changed, but not enough to be unrecognizable. This was Bayanne Moore, her best friend from school. Her best friend which had been dead for 11 years.
"Holy shit!" Erin heard Nick mutter through her confused haze.
"You see her, too... Right?" A shell-shocked Erin looked back and forth between Pat, Nick and Merle. "Are we dead?" she muttered, making a teary-eyed Bay laugh.
"No, we are all very much alive." Bay told her and slowly came closer. "You're not seeing things."
"She's real, babe." Pat said and squeezed Erin's shoulder now. "She ain't dead."
"Never was." Bay smiled through the tears that kept rolling down her cheeks. she took another step closer and carefully put her hands on Erin's arms. "See? Very real."
"But the cops... they said you jumped!"
"I didn't. Never intended to neither. I just needed to get out of Dalton. I got hit by a car though. I lost my bag during that accident and I guess with everything that had happened to me and my parents, they assumed I jumped." Bay explained while she tried not to start full-on bawling.
"All these years... you were alive?" Erin was still looking at her in shock.
"Yes. I was in the hospital for a while, but yeah... I was alive."
Something in Erin's expression changed, but Bay didn't notice it right away. "Did you have memory loss?"
"No. I was a bit shaky, head-wise, after the coma, but no memory loss."
Erin nodded with a sarcastic laugh. Bay was startled when the other woman roughly shook her hands off of her. "So you knew full well that you had friends who were worried about you, right? I grieved over your 'death' for months, Bay! And you can't be bothered to pick up the phone and at least tell us that you were alright?! Or at least let us know that you needed to get out of town?! We took care of you when you broke down after Daryl left, remember that? We were fucking scared to death that you wouldn't survive Daryl leaving with the way you were, and you know it! You couldn't have left us a fucking letter or something? Explaining what you were about to do? You let us believe you had died for 11 fucking years?!"
"I-I... I didn't know that you thought I was dead."
"That doesn't even matter. No, you know what? Actually, that's even worse, Bay!" Erin shouted at her. "You cursed Daryl for the way he left town and then you went ahead and did it the exact same way? We had to go through that shit twice! Losing our best friends like that... I am so angry at you I can't even see straight." Erin was flushed from anger and turned towards Rick. "I'm sorry. Can you please show us to the cells we can use? I'd like to get settled in."
"Sure." Rick nodded.
Lori held her hand out and motioned for them to follow her. "Come with me." she said with a smile and led Erin and Alex to the cells at the end of the block. Nick started to trot behind them.
"Still good to see ya, Bay." he told her in passing, to which Bay just nodded curtly.
Pat scratched his head awkwardly. "Well,... you know she has a point. Wasn't exactly right what y'all did... Maybe I should have told her before we came over here. She'll come around though. I know it. Just let her steam a bit."
"Yeah... right." Bay sighed when Pat briefly put his hand on her arm, before he followed his family. The others were still gathered around and felt a bit awkward after having witnessed what had just happened. Bay felt highly uncomfortable and decided to remove herself from the situation. "Keys, please?"
"Why?" Daryl asked her.
"I need some air. Please?" she begged him with her eyes and Daryl relented. He handed over the keys and let her go outside. It was secure for now, so he didn't worry too much about her not being safe. Also, he would join her out there soon, just to keep an eye on her.
Merle grinned at Daryl when Bay had left. "Sooo, baby brother... gonna show me to my new humble abode now?"
"Just shut up." Daryl grumbled, but he still thought that it would work out better if he would show Merle to a cell instead of having his older brother choose one himself. The bottom ones were filled now, so he took Merle up the stairs and led him to the cell the farthest away from his and Bay's. "Get settled in." Daryl told him. "Then we gotta talk. Not in here, though. I'll be back in a bit."
Maggie had sat down on the steps, which lead out into the yard, and put her arm around Bay's shoulder and let the smaller woman lean into her side and cry silently. "Not the reunion you hoped for, was it?"
"I actually didn't have any expectations at all." Bay sniffed. "She's not wrong. I did screw up majorly. The truth hurts. She is rightfully angry at me. But yeah, after Daryl and Pat being happy that I wasn't dead, I guess I didn't expect her to be mad at me. Was just surprising."
"Why didn't you ever call them?"
"I don't even know... I think I was just being a coward. I was scared to face their disappointment in me. A part of me didn't want to see them or talk to them, because everything was connected to Daryl. I dunno... I just never did, even though I never stopped thinking about them."
"You'll work it out." Maggie smiled and leaned her head against Bay's.
"I hope so." Bay exhaled shakily. "Now that I got you alone for a moment, I wanted to run something by you."
"Okay. What is it?"
"Remember Jackie, my friend from the vet classes I took?"
"Yes. What about her?"
"Once, after class, I accompanied her to her gynecologist, because she said it wouldn't take long and she would give me a ride home after. Anyway, she told me that she was getting a birth control shot. I had never heard about that before, so she told me a little bit about it. She said that it is actually one of the most efficient ways to prevent pregnancy, if you got the shot regularly every 12 weeks. Like, only 1 out of 100 women got pregnant."
"Okay, where are you going with this?" Maggie had an idea, but she wanted Bay to elaborate.
"I remember the name of the drug she got injected with. I know two gynecologists in this town, plus there's the Associates in Obstetrics & Gynecology offices on Burleyson Road. I bet when people went raiding for meds and supplies, they didn't think to clear out the gynecologists offices. And I'm sure not very many, if any at all, went looking for that specific drug. I think since it would be a trip mostly for us couples, that you, me, Glenn and Daryl should go for a run to check out those offices. They might have condoms, too. Birth control pills, maybe and hopefully that Depo-Provera stuff. It's one shot every three months. All we would have to do is keep track of time and that's it. If we find a decent supply and one shot lasts for 12 weeks, we would be good to go for quite some time without having to worry. And they might have stuff that might be useful for Lori's pregnancy and the birth and all those things. We would be able to examine her better with the right instruments."
"Sounds like a good idea. We should talk to the guys about it."
"That's the plan."
"Great thinking." Maggie praised Bay, who just shrugged her shoulder.
"I just want to be with Daryl without having to worry all the time."
"Would be great not having to worry about the damn rubbers. I hate condoms."
"You and me both. Always a hassle."
"Let's hope we'll be in luck." Maggie smiled and kissed the side of Bay's head, before she released her hold on the older woman, and got up. "I'm going back in. You coming?"
"No. I wanna stay here a little longer."
"Alright. Later."
"Later." Bay smiled before she was left alone with her thoughts again. She wasn't ready to go back in yet. She wasn't ready to face Merle and hear his voice and look at Erin's angry face. She just wanted to hide out here a bit longer and pretend that nothing had changed.
Thank you for reading!
And yes, we will find out what Bay wrote down in her notebook and we will get to the chat between Merle and Daryl:)
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