Chapter 27 - Lotta people

Standing outside Tahlia's bedroom door the next morning, Andrea paused. They were definitely awake - she could hear them talking - but she couldn't help feeling that if she went in she'd be intruding. Knocking anyway, she opened the door after she heard Tahlia's welcome.

"Morning." Andrea said cheerily. "How're you doing, honey?"

The curtains were half-drawn, pale winter light reaching through to where Daryl was slouched in the desk chair, legs stretched out and resting on the side of the bed near to where Tahlia was lying on her stomach, bandaged arms down by her side.

"Only comfortable position for me right now." explained Tahlia with a humorless smile. "I'm ok. Just sore. Bitch of a headache."

"They gave you some painkillers and some other pills to take. Did you take them?"

"Daryl won't let me have them because it says I have to take them with food."

Andrea frowned accusingly at Daryl, and he crossed his arms defensively.

"She ain't hungry right now."

"Well, she has to take the pills, so she has to eat." Andrea flicked her gaze back to Tahlia. "You have to eat. Why don't you get up and I'll fix you something? Anyway, Michonne and Rick are on their way over. They've been trying to get hold of you all morning, you know."

Tahlia wrinkled her nose. "My phone's off."

"Tahly," said Andrea reproachfully, "I know you probably don't feel like dealing with anything right now, but you can't shut people out. Everyone's just worried about you, they want to know you're ok."

She nearly died last night, so no, she ain'tfuckin' ok. Daryl wanted to snap. And if she don't feel like dealin' with nothin', then maybe just leave her the hell alone 'til she does.

But Andrea was just trying to help, so he held his tongue.

"Yeah, ok." sighed Tahlia. "You're right. I'll get up and face the world."

She started to try and push herself up, but Daryl moved faster than she could, and leaning over her, he scooped his arms around her waist and effortlessly hoisted her to her feet, ignoring her protests.

Watching on, curious as always at the ease of their interactions with one another, Andrea noticed that Tahlia was already dressed in a loose t-shirt and sweatpants, her hair brushed and tied back in a low ponytail. Daryl must've helped her with all that because she certainly wouldn't have managed it on her own. About to comment, Andrea then caught a proper look at Tahlia as she moved closer and sucked in a sharp gasp of dismay – grazes from the concrete had scabbed on her forehead, her left eye was nearly swollen shut and the whole area around it was decorated with angry mottling of red and purple.

"God, Tahly! That looks so…" Andrea trailed off and pressed her lips together sadly.

"What? Oh." Self-consciously, Tahlia's fingers fluttered lightly against her cheek, then she frowned up at Daryl over her shoulder. "You said it wasn't that bad."

He still had one arm around her waist and he squeezed her reassuringly.

"It ain't." he replied easily. "Barely even notice it."

Raising her brows at them, Andrea then pointed at Daryl's black eye. "You've got a decent shiner of your own, you know." She smiled fondly. "You two look like a right pair. Come on."

Shepherding them to the bar stools at the kitchen counter, Andrea made for the fridge and started rifling around.

"Right, what do you feel like? And don't say 'just coffee'."

Tahlia blinked innocently. "What, you want me to lie?"

"Seriously, Tahly. When was the last time you even ate? I can do bacon and eggs and-"

"No, honestly," Tahlia held up a hand. "A slice of toast will be enough for now."

Andrea propped her hands on her hips and sent her a hard stare. "Two slices."

"You need to finish all of that."

"I can't." Tahlia had only made it through a few bites of toast and it seemed like there was still a mountain of it piled on her plate, taunting her. She looked wistfully into her empty coffee cup and then hopefully up at Andrea who was leaning on the counter right in front of her. "Maybe if-"

"No." interrupted Andrea firmly. "No more coffee right now. Finish your food."

Tahlia rolled her eyes at Andrea's bossiness, and Andrea smiled sweetly in return.

"I mean it." Then the buzzer to the apartment sounded, and Andrea headed for the door. "That'll be Rick and Michonne."

As soon as Andrea's back was turned, Daryl quickly swapped his half-full coffee cup with Tahlia's empty one, then snagged the remainder of the toast off her plate and gave her thigh a brief squeeze as he scarfed it down while Tahlia suppressed a giggle and grabbed the coffee gratefully.

Then, in a cloud of careful hugs and concern, Michonne and Rick descended on Tahlia and fussed over her until she managed to wave them away, and then they directed nods and murmurs of relieved appreciation at Daryl, and he immediately ducked his head.

"I can't believe this happened at work." said Michonne as they all made their way to the living area and settled into various seats, Tahlia pulling a dining chair over for herself, insisting it was more comfortable for her back. "Negan's furious about it. He's already commissioned a whole revamp of the security system and the parking lot."

"Don't think I'll be parking there again in a hurry." remarked Tahlia drily, then her brows shot up. "Oh shit, my car's still there."

"We'll sort it for you." Rick assured her. "You don't have to go back there any time soon."

Andrea turned to Daryl. "That reminds me – Dwight's going to pick up your truck and drop it here for you this morning. Said he'll get the spare keys from work."

Daryl nodded as irrational irritation prickled at him. He didn't need coddling. He was perfectly capable of sorting his own shit out.

Just then, the buzzer sounded again and soon Hershel appeared, dousing Tahlia in fatherly concern and acknowledging Daryl with a thankful shoulder-clap, and then he took a seat and all the recent events were rehashed and dissected once again.

Tahlia dutifully answered questions and did her best to stay engaged, but Daryl could see that she was tired, weary of reliving it all, and he wondered if she wouldn't rather be swept away from all this for a little while, taken to the cabin or somewhere where she could fucking breathe for a moment; fancied himself as the one to do that sweeping.

"So," Rick was saying, "I spoke to one of the guys down at the central precinct. They messed up, you know. They thought that Brooks was out of town, that's why they only had eyes on Len and Hudson. Thought they had them covered so didn't put a detail on you, Tahly. I'm going to head down there later and see where things are at and I'll keep you updated."

"Right. Thanks." replied Tahlia a little vacantly because she was finding it hard to concentrate on much else other than the thumping of her head and the stinging of her arms and the too many people in the room. Which was soon to be more, apparently, as the door went again.

It was Alden this time, flanked by Dwight who'd just parked Daryl's truck outside, and Tahlia painted a smile on her face, preparing herself to run-through everything once again.

Distractedly thanking Dwight for bringing his truck around, Daryl's gut twisted as he watched Alden lay a pretty bunch of flowers on the counter and rush to Tahlia, worry etched across his face as he crouched in front of her, kissing her softly and stroking her cheek, murmuring commiserations.

Daryl hadn't seen them together before, and it was a fuckload worse than he'd imagined it would be. It was also accompanied by the stark reminder that if anyone was going to be sweeping Tahlia away, it was Alden that had pride of place to do it.

Didn't help matters that Alden was now looking at him like that, the same way that everyone else had been looking at him today, with fucking gratitude, radiating respect, like he'd done something goddamned heroic when in reality he'd done nothing of the sort.

Daryl hated it. Didn't want it. Didn't deserve it.

What he wanted was someone to shove him and demand why the fuck he hadn't gone straight to Tahlia yesterday when he'd found out about Brooks' threat; demand why the hell he'd spent so long sitting at the goddamned hospital twiddling his thumbs and doing nothing. He wanted someone to yell and say if he'd acted faster then this whole ordeal might've been avoided and Tahlia wouldn't be sitting there all banged up, and he wanted to yell at her in turn and say why didn't you fuckin' call me like I told you to? Why didn't you stay put?

But he wasn't going to yell at her because it wasn't really her fault and she'd been through enough; and no one was going to yell at him because Rick had just shifted any blame onto the cops, so Daryl sat there with all that writhing in the pit of his belly, jigging his leg restlessly and wishing that Alden would get his fucking hands off Tahlia. Which he did do, a few seconds later. Said he'd make her some tea. And Daryl could feel the anger bubbling, building inside him now, because it was obvious she didn't need tea, what she needed was quiet and rest and a dark room, and how could nobody else see that? How could they not see that she was exhausted and hurting? And he wanted to say something, take charge of her, but he didn't feel like he could, not here with all of these people who knew her better, longer, or more intimately than he did; didn't feel like he had the right. Felt like torture just sitting here though, miles away from her, doing nothing.

Abruptly, Daryl got to his feet and glanced over to where Alden had filled a vase with water for the flowers he'd brought and Daryl wanted to stalk over, rip the bouquet from his hand, hurl it off the balcony and shout, don't you even know she don't like dead fuckin' flowers?!

But he swallowed that down and instead muttered, "I should go."

Daryl could feel Tahlia's eyes on him as he made for her bedroom to grab his things, but he kept his gaze firmly on the floor. Reaching her desk, he shoved his phone and keys in his pocket then paused for a moment, knowing that she was now standing behind him.

"You don't have to go." she said quietly. "I mean, if you don't want to."

Turning slowly to face her, Daryl gestured vaguely in the direction of the living room.

"You got a lotta people here for ya."

But I want you.

The thought blared in Tahlia's head, but she couldn't say it out loud, because how selfish. He'd already done so much for her, been through so much with her, she couldn't ask him to stay, hang around, just because it made her feel better to have him close.

"They're here for you, too." she told him instead.

Daryl scoffed at that because he didn't agree.

"Well, I got shit to do."

"Oh!" nodded Tahlia quickly. "Yeah, of course. Well, thank you for-"

"Don't!" Daryl growled suddenly, his anger resurfacing. He couldn't stomach anymore gratitude. Especially not from her. "Don't fuckin' thank me for nothin'.

"But you-"

"Don't." he repeated sharply.

Tahlia studied him carefully for a moment, wondering what was going on, what had triggered this prickliness, but the rhythmic pounding in her head was drowning her thoughts and she was just so tired. Decided maybe she'd just attempt a hug. Felt like they could probably both use one.

She'd only taken one step towards Daryl when his eyes darkened, and then from behind her she heard,

"Everything alright in here?"

Tahlia turned to see Alden standing in the doorway, genuine concern shadowing his face as he gazed at her.

"It's just… you got up so fast that I thought maybe you weren't feeling well so I came to check, but…" Alden trailed off as he glanced between the two, the fact that he might be interrupting something only just dawning on him.

"That's sweet of you." said Tahlia, pulling a decent attempt at a smile. "I'm fine though, really."

"You ain't." stated Daryl bluntly. "Your headache's worse and the light's botherin' ya."

Tahlia looked slowly over at him. Was it that obvious? Was she that transparent? And then Alden was next to her, one hand alighting on her hip.

"Is it? Is it real bad? I'm sorry, I didn't realize. Do you have painkillers or something to take?"

Ah. Transparent only to Daryl.

Then Daryl answered for her by just pointing to the paper bag of medication lying on the desk and as Alden nodded and moved to rifle through the contents, Daryl asked him, "So, you plannin' on stickin' around?"

"Here?" replied Alden as he opened a bottle and tapped two white tablets into his palm. "Yeah, for sure. Or wherever Tahly wants to be." He smiled tenderly at Tahlia as he handed her the pills. "I'm not going anywhere."

Daryl's eyes locked onto Tahlia's. "Looks like ya don't need me, then." he said, his tone measured and his expression indecipherable. "So, I'm gonna go."

And Tahlia felt all caught in the middle and fucking torn and she didn't know what to say, so she said nothing and Daryl walked out the door.

Daryl knew he shouldn't have left things like that with Tahlia, but all the shit and the intensity of the past couple of days had caught up with him and had come to a head and he still wasn't particularly adept at dealing with big emotions, so off he'd went.

He'd known for a long time that he felt very protective of her, but he realized now that he also felt very possessive of her and he didn't like that - the consuming, strangling blackness of it. The way it made him unreasonably resentful of anyone close to her. Thought maybe it would be best to take some space from her, step back, especially while her friends – and Alden – were gathered around her.

So, when Tahlia texted him later that evening, a short, sweet thing, checking in, he ignored it.

He ignored her call the next morning, too. And the voicemail she left.

And then, after a couple of hours of working on his bike - his anger long evaporated and the clouds in his head long dispersed – his brow furrowed thoughtfully and he sat back on his haunches, tapping the spanner in his hand on the garage floor.

What was he doing?

If nothing else, Tahlia was (though he'd never admit it out loud) his best friend, so it was kind of a dick move to just take off and ignore her, especially after what they'd just been through. And if he took into account the fact that he was pretty fucking keen to have her as more than a friend, then space definitely seemed counter-intuitive. Seemed like he was just doing Alden a favor. And sure, Alden was a decent guy, but, y'know - fuck him. If Alden wanted to hold on to Tahlia, then he could work for it, because Daryl wasn't going to be letting her go that easy.

So, he called her.

She answered in a breathless rush, like she'd been waiting to hear from him (well, that's what he told himself) and he launched straight into an apology just in case he lost his nerve.

"Sorry 'bout leavin' like I did yesterday, if I seemed mad or somethin', coz I ain't. Just felt like there was a lotta people there and… I dunno, guess I didn't deal with it so well."

"Oh!" Tahlia sounded surprised, as if an apology was the last thing she'd expected to hear. "Ok, well thank you – wait, am I allowed to thank you for anything yet?"

Daryl rolled his eyes and Tahlia must've known because she laughed softly before continuing. "But you don't need to apologize for anything. You're right - there were a lot of people there. It was a bit much, actually. I mean, I'm grateful that people care but I just wanted quiet. And for everyone to stop looking at me with pity. You know," she paused for a moment, huffed out another low laugh, "This is stupid, but yesterday I kept thinking about how perfect the cabin would be. How great it would be up there, all cut off from the world."

Daryl's breath hitched at that admission – she'd been thinking the same thing as him.

"We can go there." he found himself saying. "Go today. Long as we leave by mid-afternoon we'd be there before dark. I'm sure Axel would give me at least a day off work."

Silence met his offer, and Daryl screwed his face up. He'd overstepped. Wasn't fair to put her in that position when she had Alden.

Eventually, Tahlia spoke. "I guess you didn't listen to my message."

"Your…? Oh, naw, I didn't. Why?"

She sighed. "My Uncle Jack heard what happened and flew in first thing this morning to come and see me. I've been signed off work now and I was going to be heading to their place in Charlottesville in a couple of days anyway, so…"

"So?"

"He's taking me back with him today. Now. We're at the airport."

Now it was Daryl's turn for silence, so Tahlia quickly carried on.

"Hey, I know we spoke about you maybe coming out for Christmas? You're still welcome to do that, you could still-"

"Naw." Daryl shook his head, followed it up with another verbal decline to seal his decision, more for himself than for her. When the idea had first been floated it had been weightless, alight with shimmering possibility, but too much had shifted since then and it felt shadowed now, like it wasn't the right thing to do, wasn't the right time. "Better you have some time with your family after… after everything. And Merle ain't gonna be outta the hospital by Christmas, so, y'know, I'd better stay here, go see him, help Andie out."

"What about -" An announcement sounded over the loudspeaker in the background and Tahlia paused to let it finish. "Damn. We're boarding now. But I'll call you, ok? I mean, there's basically no cellphone service at the vineyard because they're in this big basin, but they have a landline. I'll call you from that."

"Sure. I'll see ya."

Chewing on his lower lip as he tossed his phone down, Daryl nodded slowly to himself. Figured. He'd managed to wait too long to act again.

Ok, just give me one more chapter to dig myself out of this depressing pit I've created.

And that chapter is nearly done, I'll post it tomorrow.