AN: I apologize in advance if there's more mistakes than usual in this. I am on 7 different medications to fight this demon of an illness that has befallen me. I am not quite myself these days. So, sorry:-* Enjoy (I hope).
Chapter 41
Daryl, Erin and Bay sat on the lower cot in the cell Pat shared with his new family. Pat sat on the ground across from them, shoveling some dinner into his mouth.
Bay cleared her throat with an awkward smile. "Ummm,... Alex seems to be bonding well with Carl and Sophia..."
"He is. I'm glad he has other children around him now. He's been very withdrawn..." Erin said as she let her eyes trail over to the open cell door, to watch Alex play a card game with Sophia and Carl on a blanket by the stairs. She sighed deeply before she turned her eyes back on Bay. "Is it true that you were pregnant?"
Daryl and Bay's eyes widened in surprise. "How'd you know about that?" Bay asked her.
Pat swallowed down his food and quickly cleared his throat before he addressed Daryl. "We heard you talking to Merle earlier."
"You told Merle?" Bay's eyebrows rose even higher.
"Yeah. He knows. And he's sorry." Daryl told her.
"That would be a first." Bay scoffed.
"I mean it. He was real shocked." Daryl insisted, sounding like a little boy, just like every time Merle had started to meddle with his head.
"Oh come on." Bay waved him off with a shake of her head.
"He was." Pat came to Daryl's and Merle's defense. "I don't think he meant for all of that to happen."
"I don't care."
"Can we forget about Merle for a moment? That's not what we sat down together for." Erin put a stop to the Merle discussion. "Bay, can you please tell me what happened? Why didn't you tell us about the baby? And what was that about an accident? Please explain to me everything that happened when you left, okay? I wanna try to understand."
"Okay." Bay nodded, and for what felt like the hundredth time, she told the story of her short pregnancy, her decision to leave and her miscarriage and the accident that had her comatose for two weeks. Hearing Bay tell it made Erin cry, which in turn made Bay cry again, and seeing the girls cry made Pat emotional as well. He screwed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose to get himself in check. Daryl looked at the ground and chewed on his lip, not letting anyone see the unshed tears in his eyes while he listened to Bay tell again what had happened to her. It killed him a little bit every single time he heard her say that their child had died and that she had been in such bad shape. "I missed all of you so much. You can ask Hershel... I talked about you a lot, but I just couldn't get in touch with you. I was a coward. I let you all down and I was scared of facing you. Also, all of you bring up so many memories... I didn't think I would be able to handle it. I rarely left the farm, because I was scared I'd run into you in Calhoun by accident... I screwed up in the worst way. I disappointed you and let you down and I'm really, really sorry about it. I'd never do it again."
Erin wiped at her tears while she nodded her head. "You know, I get that you had to get out of town. I know how much those memories can hurt, but that doesn't change the fact that you should have told us about it. I never wanted to think of you as suicidal, but seeing the way you were... You had given up. I'll never get the image out of my head of how Pat had to hold you up while I tried to get some water in you. It was like all systems had shut down inside of you. When it was clear that Daryl wouldn't be back, it was like your soul had left the building. You were like one of those undead things out there. So when that call came... when the cops found your bag... I didn't doubt it when they said you jumped. Now, I wish I had. I'm sure we would have found you, but we believed the police. We thought you had taken your own life, Bay. For over 10 years. Not just Pat and me were grieving for you... Sam, Jason, Jessa, Pete, Tommy,... hell, everybody who knew you. Everybody was devastated. If you had only called, Bay. One single call would have been all it would have taken. You could have prevented a lot of misery. I don't understand why you didn't have it in you to just call us and tell us that you were okay. Yeah, I admit, it would have been hard for us to accept that you didn't want to see us. We would have tried to convince you otherwise, but you owed it to us to let us know Bay. Or even a damn letter... anything. Did we really mean that little to you?"
"No, you didn't." Bay protested while tears ran down her face in a steady stream. "I missed you so much. I truly did. I don't know. I simply don't know why I never got in touch with you. I can't tell you. I wasn't the most rational person back then. I was in a really bad place. Maybe I thought you'd be better off without my drama. I wish I could give you a definite answer, but I can't. I can't take it back unfortunately, all I can do is say that I am so, so sorry for what I did, over and over again. I still love you like I did back then."
Erin nodded and looked at Bay in silence for a moment, before she suddenly started laughing and put her hands on Bay's cheek. "Good God, I really can't believe that you're truly sitting here."
"Are you kidding? I can't believe you guys are here, either."
"And look at you. How is it fair that you got even more gorgeous? Jesus Christ... Daryl must have filled one of them buckets you cleaned by drooling all over you."
"Stop! Oh my Lord..." Bay blushed and waved her off. "You know I don't think of myself like that. Never have. At least I got some hips and an ass now, but I still don't like my huge bug eyes. I look like a fly. And just for the record, look in a damn mirror, Erin. You look amazing. And you had a kid! You don't seem to have any wrinkles at all. How on Earth did you manage that?"
"Women." Patrick snorted and looked at Daryl with an incredulous, but also amused expression on his face. "It's the end of the world and they compliment each other on their skin?"
"Pfff, you're one to talk. First thing ya told me was that I look old." Daryl grumbled good-naturedly.
Erin laughed out loud at that. "Well, to his defense, you probably changed the most out of all of us. I'm not sure I would have recognized you, if you would have passed me on the street. Your hair is darker and your face is really different. You had this baby face and now it's all sharp angles and facial hair and so on. You do look older than you are... But in a really good way. Manly..." Erin quickly added when Daryl's scowl deepened.
Bay grinned and pressed her lips to his ear. "What she means to say is, that you're sex on legs now." She whispered, making a little smile tug at the corners of his lips. "I'm crazy about you. Maybe even more so than before."
Daryl pulled back a little and looked deeply into her eyes. "Let's talk about that later." He rasped and squeezed her thigh in his strong grip. Maybe, if they would go looking for birth control tomorrow, they might be able to use that last condom tonight.
"Yeah, absolutely." Bay agreed with him. "So..." She nervously cracked her knuckles when she looked back at Erin. "... do you think you might be able to forgive me?"
"You are aware that all of your reasoning for not getting in touch is bullshit, right?" Erin asked before giving her answer.
"I do... Yeah." Bay shook her head with a laugh.
Erin smiled and hugged her hard. "I'm disappointed and a little hurt, but I love you, too, and I'm glad we are getting more time together. We should make the most of it. Holding a grudge is a waste of time. I won't forget, but I can forgive."
"Thank you." Bay swallowed hard when a fresh batch of tears welled up in her eyes. She was beyond happy that they would be okay. She kissed Erin's cheek and the women hugged a while longer before they loosened their embrace. Then, Daryl had to tell his part of the story all the way up until the day he reunited with Bay on the farm. They both told Pat and Erin of their journey so far, before the other couple told them about their time together. It got very late very fast, and Daryl's hope of sneaking off with Bay for some alone time quickly went down the drain. He didn't mind too much, though. Catching up with their best friends felt really good. He would even go as far as to say that it made him happy. It was a piece of normalcy that had been sorely missing. He was downright ecstatic to have Pat back. He still considered him his "brother from another mother". He was definitely way happier about having Pat back in his life, than having Merle back.
"We should go up and sleep." Daryl told Bay when he realized how late it must be by now. Most of the others had already gone to their cells to sleep. "Gotta be on top of our game tomorrow."
"You're right." Bay agreed, even though she didn't feel like ending their evening already.
"Oh come on, just a little longer. Ain't gonna be too much to do tomorrow. Lure some more motherfuckers into the cells and pick 'em off through the bars, that's what your pal Rick said, right?"
"Yeah. You're on your own with Rick tomorrow. Bay and I are going on a run into town with Maggie and Glenn."
"What?" Erin's eyes widened. She had never been comfortable with the men of their group leaving the prison to go into town. "What in the world for? I would like to think we have everything we need for a while."
"Not everything." Bay smiled. "As you know Lori is pregnant. We want to raid some gynecologist's offices and go look for pregnancy and birth related things... As well as birth control shots. I figured it would be the best for all of us if we can get our hands on that stuff."
"That's a great idea." Erin said as a slow smile broke out on her face.
"Birth control shots?" Patrick frowned. "What's that?"
"It's a shot women can get and it prevents pregnancy. For three whole months if I'm not mistaken." Erin was grinning by now.
"You're kidding!" Pat looked stunned. "Do you really think you could get your hands on something like that? Man, it's been ages since we fucked." He blurted out, making Bay and Daryl blush. Both of them didn't know why in the world they were still getting red faces when someone else mentioned things like that, but looked like it was just the way it was going to be.
"We are most certainly going to try." Bay promised. "Erin, are the doctors offices still in the same places they used to be?"
"Let me think... yeah, I think so. If you have time you should check the free clinic, too. And maybe Planned Parenthood?"
"Yeah, those are good ideas. I don't think we'll be able to look at all those places, but we'll do our best." Bay said before she smiled at Daryl. "You're right. If we wanna do good tomorrow, we should go to sleep now. Looks like the little guy is tired, too." Bay nodded her head over to the little boy, who was still with Carl on the blanket, but was starting to yawn real big.
"Too bad." Erin smiled and hugged Bay once more. "I'm being silly, we're living together now. We're gonna be fed up with each other soon, but it's been nice catching up just now."
"I know what you mean." Bay smiled while she hugged her back.
"Come on." Daryl urged her. "See y'all tomorrow."
"Sleep tight." Pat smiled. "Come on, Alex. Time for bed."
Alex said good night to Carl and got up to walk over to his parents. Bay smiled at him when he passed her and Daryl. He was a cutie. She got a bit melancholic when she remembered her own child, once again wondering if he or she would look like Daryl, just like Alex looked like Sam. She would never get an answer, a fact she had accepted a long while ago, but it still hurt every now and then.
"Stop! Bay, stop!" His hand on her wrist and his firm, yet gentle, grasp had pulled her out of her rage-fueled haze. She let him pull her backwards, taking a step back from the corpse on the ground. Her chest was heaving as she blinked in confusion, trying to understand what had just happened. She had obviously gone berserk on a walker, and she hadn't even realized it while it had happened. It was like a partial black out in her head. Everything about her shut down and her single focus became inflicting as much damage as possible. It was a little scary. Not just to Daryl, but to her as well. It wasn't the first time this had happened. It had happened with Cassie so many years ago, albeit in a much less scary way, and it had happened with another walker before. Those rage fits seemed to get more hardcore with every passing time and it worried the both of them. "You alright? Did it get you?" Daryl asked as he quickly looked her over.
"I'm fine."
"Christ, girl. Ya gotta be quick about it. Don't let 'em come too close." Daryl admonished her.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." Bay rubbed her tired face. She grasped the hilt of her knife tighter, wincing when she felt a cut. She had cut herself again, just like the last time.
"Ya gotta keep a clear head, Bay. Only way to survive out here." Daryl shook his head with a sigh. "We've been through this before. Whenever possible ya keep 'em at arms length. If they come too close, you try to kick 'em back a little. That'll give ya some more time to strike. I know you're strong, but don't use your full strength. Knife's sharp, it goes in easily. If you plunge it in there with all ya have, ya can get it stuck and you're gon' be in a world of trouble. Your hands get sweaty and bloody, so the hilt will slip from your grasp and you won't have no chance to pull it out of the walker while others are coming closer. Ya gotta remember that at all times, ya hear? Keep it together."
"Sorry, Dad." She rolled her eyes at his lecture, making his expression harden.
"Don't get funny with me. This ain't no damn laughing matter. There comes another. Show me you can do it or you'll stay in the car with the kids the next time. I ain't kiddin', Bay." His stern gaze through narrowed eyes let her know that he was serious. She sighed and with renewed purpose, she ignored the stinging pain of her cut and grasped the knife firmly in her hand while she strode towards the stray walker that was making its way towards them. Once she was close enough she kicked it to the ground and stepped on its chest while she plunged the knife into its forehead. She made a face at that disgusting squelching sound when she pulled it out, but she quickly slipped back into a neutral expression before she turned around and looked at Daryl.
"There. Better?"
"Yeah." Daryl put his hand on her stomach to stop her when she was about to walk past him. "I just wanna make sure you're safe, Bay." he murmured in a gentler tone.
Bay's breath hitched when she felt his hand on her body. She hated that he always had this kind of effect on her, even when they were tired, starving, dirty and pissed off. She hated feeling that tingle in her loins that let her know that it had been way too long since her lover had touched her more intimately. While she thought about it, the picture of Daryl's thick digits sliding down between her legs and cupping her flashed up inside her head, making her have to shake herself and take a deep breath.
"I know." She said and gingerly removed his hand from her belly before she kept walking.
Bay was laying in Daryl's arms with her eyes closed, but she wasn't falling asleep. She kept thinking about the past couple of months and how her slight depression and her frustrations had caused her to act like an unbearable brat towards Daryl. She had lost her cool. The sense of inner calmness she had used to possess had burnt to ashes along with part of her former home. Thankfully, she felt it start to come back to her little by little. Who would have thought that these glum, grey prison walls would be a key element to her finding her hope and optimism again?
Bay turned around in his arms so she was facing him. It was dark and she was barely able to make him out, but she still smiled when she was able to make out his profile in the bit of moonlight that shone through the windows. They loved each other unconditionally, she knew it was true, but thinking back to the way she had acted, she was surprised that he hadn't kicked her ass to the curb, figuratively speaking. "Thank you for your patience and for loving me no matter what. I love you." She whispered and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
"Welcome." Came the sleepy reply that had her chuckling quietly. She had figured he would hear her. He was a light sleeper and had probably woken up a little when she had turned in his arms. His breathing had already evened out again by the time she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes again to try to get some shut eye after all.
"Alright, let's see what we're dealing with." Daryl mumbled around the small flashlight in his mouth while he got his bow ready to fire. Glenn then banged his fist against the doorway and whistled, making noise to attract walkers that might be inside the building of the first gynecologist they decided to try their luck at. They waited a minute, but it stayed quiet. No shuffling feet, no inhuman groans coming closer. They filed in and split up into two teams, then they carefully checked all the rooms for walkers.
"Clear!" Glenn's voice traveled through the medical practice a couple of minutes later.
Daryl had checked the waiting room and was now following Bay into the exam room. "Clear." he shouted back to Glenn and Maggie. He looked around and made a face upon seeing that famous exam chair and all those weird instruments that were still laid out. "Jesus Christ..." he muttered with a shudder, making Bay laugh.
"Still wonder why I was so reluctant to come here all those years ago?"
"Nah,... I get it." Daryl watched her stuff some of the instruments into her backpack, along with bottles of disinfectant. "The hell is that?"
"This?" Bay held up a speculum before she put it in her pack. "This is what they put inside of you and then they turn this little thing here and see? Spreads you open. Not the fun kind of stretching, I can tell you that."
Daryl shuddered visibly and turned his back on her. "Christ..." he muttered again, before he got it together again. "What am I looking for?"
"Walkers." Bay smiled. "Leave the rest up to me and Maggie."
"Ain't gotta say that twice." Daryl gladly took the job of being on the lookout for walkers that might be strolling in, even though it was not too likely. The streets had been pretty clear and the building was clear, too. However, he walked over to the door and took watch.
Bay used her knife to open the drawers of the doctor's desk. She found some samples for condoms and prenatal vitamins, as well as some helpful literature. She used her knife once more to open a big locked cabinet and her hunch was confirmed when the doors opened. She had found the meds. "Bingo." She quietly smiled to herself and quickly checked some labels. Some painkillers, antibiotics, local anesthetic, among other things, and last but not least, she found what they had initially come for. "Depo-Provera... you have no idea how happy I am to see you." She grinned and saw that they not only had some vials of it, but also some ready-to-use syringes already filled with the proper amount of the drug. She grabbed it all, as well as supplies they would need to give themselves the injections from the vials, and when her pack was stuffed to the brim, she went to join the others. "You find anything?" She asked Maggie.
"Iron pills and a couple of books that might come in handy. Aaaand a portable ultrasound?"
"Seriously? That is awesome!"
"I know. What about you? Any luck?" Maggie asked her, eager to know if her search for the birth control shots had been successful.
"You have no idea. Enough shots to last us about 2 years I guess. Found some rubbers, too."
"Are you for real?" Glenn didn't dare smile when he heard Bay say it, but it was obvious how happy he was at not having to worry about getting Maggie pregnant for a long while.
"Very much so. Also packed some other meds and things we can use for examining Lori a bit better."
"Let's get out of here then." Daryl urged them. "Still wanna hit that other place?"
"Of course. The more we can find, the better."
And find even more they did. The next place was bigger, because it was kind of a small medical center with 4 different OB/GYNs, but it also meant that they had more supplies. Bay had been right. Nobody had thought to raid the "women doctors", and there were plenty of meds to go around. Thankfully they had taken a car and were able to fit everything into the back. They had surgical scalpels now and stuff to make sure they are clean and germ-free. If push came to shove they might be able to do some old-school surgery. Of course they didn't hope it would ever come to that, but it eased their minds a bit to know, that they had those things.
Making the building walker-free had been a bit of a bitch, but it had been worth it in many ways. "Should we try and hit a store? See if they got some food left?" Bay asked when they got back into their car.
"Let's get back." Maggie disagreed with her.
"Yeah, shouldn't stay gone too long." Daryl said. "We got enough food at the prison for now. We can come back another time. Got enough shit in the back anyway."
"You're right. Okay, then let's head back." Bay leaned back into her seat with a satisfied smile. Their mission had been a success and she was proud that it hadn't just been a selfish trip for birth control, but that they had also found useful things for Lori and the baby, as well as the rest of the group.
"You wanna do the honors?" Bay held the syringe with the birth control drug out to Daryl. "I can't do it myself. I hate needles."
Daryl paused and looked at the item with suspicion. "Ain't gotta put that needle inside of ya, do I? Like 'tween your legs?"
"God no!" Bay laughed and shuddered at the same time. "Arm or butt, just like any other injection."
He smirked at hearing that. "Alright. Take your pants down, sweetheart."
"Why did I know you'd say that?" Bay laughed lightly while she unfastened her belt. Daryl covered the bars of the cell with his poncho, once again thinking that they would have to hunt down some bigger sheets or something to use as curtains.
"That was a pretty predictable one, I reckon. Ain't never wastin' no chance to see your pretty ass naked." Daryl said while he watched her shove her black jeans down to her knees. "Brace yourself against that wall." he told her as he held on to her hips and positioned her.
"Jesus, what are you gonna do? Shoot it into my butt with your crossbow?" Bay laughed, before she looked at him over her shoulder with a bit of panic in her eyes. "Seriously, that's not what you're gonna do, right?"
"Ain't that dense." he laughed and kissed her gently. "Relax. Gonna be better for ya if ya trust me and relax, baby girl."
"I know." She exhaled a shaky breath and turned her face back to face the wall. Daryl went down on his knees behind her. He slowly pulled her panties down over her right butt cheek, softly kissing the skin he was unveiling.
"Ain't never played doctor before." He said while he grabbed one of the disinfectant wipes Bay had brought with her into their cell.
"Me neither, but I'm guessing people don't usually use real needles for that." She said while she exhaled deeply with nervousness. She really hated needles.
"Might be right about that." Daryl agreed as he wiped down her skin. "Don't worry Miss Moore, it's gon' be over soon."
"Oh my God." Bay laughed. "Are you Dr Dixon now?"
"Right this moment? I guess I am." he smirked while he took the cap off the needle. He shifted a little to get a better angle. Bay was about to tell him to get it over with already, when suddenly she jumped and let out a mix between a laugh and a yelp, when she felt him bite her ass.
"Daryl! Would you stop being cheeky and get it over with, please? I'm about to die here."
"Already done." He shrugged in his nonchalant way and pressed the cap back down on the needle. He kissed her ass in the spot he had bitten and handed her the empty syringe.
"Are you serious? Wow. Okay, Dr. Dixon. Guess I'll come back to see you again in 90 days." She smiled while she pulled her pants back up. She put her hands to his face and pulled him down to kiss him sweetly. "Thank you."
"Anytime. That stuff work right away?" He asked, trying not to sound too eager.
"It says that we should wait 7 days."
"Mhm." he grunted as his hope deflated. Waited over 11 years... 7 days ain't gon' be no problem, he tried to give himself a pep talk, but he couldn't wait to be able to be with her without having to use a condom. That's why he'd been so pushy about her going on birth control back in the day, because the rubbers did make a huge difference. Without those pesky things it simply felt a hundred times better and more intense. Also, ever since they've found this save haven and he didn't have to worry nonstop, he's been finding himself to be pretty horny lately. He was a bit ashamed of it, because big-picture-wise, there were way more important things he should be thinking about, but he couldn't help it. Seeing Bay walk around in her little tops and t-shirts, mostly bra-less of course,... that sight never got old for him. Walking in on her changing every now and then, seeing her bare legs and that scrumptious ass of hers or even her pretty boobs... yeah, he was a guy... he couldn't help but keep those images in mind and/or take advantage of the situation a little bit.
"Okay, today is Day 1..." Bay grabbed the notebook Beth had given her and flipped to the last page. "Birth control calendar." She muttered while she wrote down the headline and then made the first mark. "Alright, done. I'm gonna go down and organize the meds and everything." She said as she fastened her belt and quickly pecked his lips.
"Imma find Rick and Pat. See if they need more help and how they got along." Daryl sighed and grabbed his crossbow. He would have loved to stay in the cell with Bay a bit longer, but they couldn't be selfish. There were still a lot of things that had to be done.
"Good idea. See you later, baby." she smiled and left the cell ahead of him.
Bay had delivered the prenatal vitamins to Lori, who had been very grateful, before she went into one of the cells they used for storage. Everything had been tossed on the bunks in wild disarray, and she started to sort through everything and organize it. She was engrossed in her work and therefore she didn't notice that someone was watching her do it. Only when the person came closer and leaned against the open cell door did she notice that someone was there. She looked over with a smile on her face, expecting a friendly face from the group, but her expression quickly hardened when she saw that it was Merle, of all people, who was standing there and watching her.
She didn't say anything to him. She just shot him a dark look before she averted her gaze again and went back to work. Merle wasn't perturbed by it. He was used to getting not-so-friendly receptions. He kept watching her and studying her. Girl still looks good... a real woman now. Back then I used ta think 'if she'd only be a couple years older...' Well, now at this age, age don't matter no more... If things were different I'd give that sweet ass a try. Merle was smirking to himself when he watched her bend over to pick up a pack of latex gloves that had fallen off the top bunk.
Bay kept ignoring him and it worked pretty well while he was just standing there, but of course it didn't take too long until he decided to open his mouth. "Goin' back out there tomorrow, yeah?"
Bay didn't reply, she just let out an annoyed sigh, but that still didn't deter Merle. "Ya need a better knife. Can't believe my dummy of a brother didn't make sure ya have a better one."
"My knife is fine. Daryl did the best he could, given the circumstances. You know that bashing him won't win you any points with me." Bay told him sharply. From where she stood, Merle hadn't changed at all. Already back to calling his little brother an idiot.
"Ain't sayin' the knife is bad... jus' sayin' there's better ones." Merle said and stepped fully into the cell, making Bay bristle and take a step back. "Like this one." he fumbled the sheath containing a knife off of his belt and held it out to her.
"I don't need it. I'm fine." Bay declined.
"Take it."
"No. You need it yourself."
"Bayanne! Take. It." he said more forcefully and held his hand out towards her even further. "If you're going back out there, ya should have the best you can get. This one's sharper and it's got a bigger blade. Penetrates the brain easier, causes more damage. It ain't too heavy, you can handle it. You're strong enough. Don't worry about me needin' it for myself... I got another one."
Bay stared at the knife in his hand for quite some time. She wanted to be stubborn and decline his help, but the rational part of her brain knew, that a good knife always came in handy. Maybe he did something to it... So it won't work right and the blade will fall off or something. A frown formed on her face and she looked up at him suspiciously. "What did you do to it?"
"Wha'?" Merle was confused. "The hell ya mean, Chickadee?"
"Oh come on, don't play dumb. You've always wanted to get rid of me. These days it couldn't be any easier. Just send me out with a knife that you sabotaged or something, so it gives out on me when I need it most..."
"You're crazy! I ain't never wanted to kill ya!" Merle had to admit that he was a little bit surprised that she would think that. He was an asshole, but he wasn't the devil. He was about to give her a piece of his mind, but then he remembered that he had had a hand in killing her baby. Just giving her his knife and thereby telling her to be safe out there would never be enough to mend what he'd ripped to shreds years ago. He pressed his lips together in a grim line in order to keep his mouth shut. He took another step closer, getting right in her personal space. Bay didn't take a step back this time, but instead, she watched him closely with defiance in her eyes. Merle stared right back and pushed the knife into her pants pocket. "Just take it and watch your ass out there." he told her in a low voice before he turned and left the cell.
Bay released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Being around him stressed her out. She was fully aware that someday they would have to settle things between them, but she wasn't ready to yet. Merle brought up a lot of insecurities and fears in her, and she would have to work through those first, before she would be able to face him and have a talk with him. Today was not that day.
Thank you for reading!
And thank you so much for being patient. Some of you lovely Tumblr-folks know what's going on. I'm really sick right now and it's kicking my ass. Thankfully the fever is gone and I was able to finish the chapter for you today. I'm still in quite some pain, so the next chapter might be delayed again unless the antibiotics work quick like bunnies. I haven't been able to hear, smell or taste anything in three days. It sucks so much for a big foodie like me, lol. But thank you for all the lovely messages I received. It is certainly uplifting.
Thank you especially for the wonderful reviews. I loved that some of you picked up on that little bit of karma that came back to bite Merle in the ass. He stole from Bay and he lost his hand for it.
Until next time. Much love to all of you.