Disclaimer- I do not own the Walking dead
Shadowoftheblackdeat- So sorry. I'm not getting much free time at the moment and when I do I'm just too tired to sit and look at a laptop. This chapter took me from the moment I posted the last one to now to complete. I should start getting my time back in a few weeks.
Alwaysand- Oh no, I don't want you to not be able to read this story anymore, I love your reviews. Haha, she used her mum's voice.
Blackrose0325- hi, I'm so happy you loved it and binged it.
Maddypaddy30- Hi, welcome. Thank you.
Hi, I know it's a short one but I just haven't had time so it's sort of a filler for the next chapter
Enjoy
Danny's POV
I heard one of the babies crying in the night but when I tried to get up Daryl's arms wrapped around me and dragged me back so my front was against his, my head tucked under his and his arms wrapped around my back.
"You don't need to go", is what he'd whispered to me in his deep sleepy voice. I tried to get up not wanting either of them to wake everyone else up, but Daryl just tightened his hold and even though I didn't want to, being in his arms like this, safe and warm did manage to get me to stop and relax.
When I wake again with the sun coming through the gaps in the curtain I don't move, he's still got me pulled against him but I know he's awake because the soft snoring he was doing has stopped.
I tighten my hold on him and hitch my leg higher as it lays between his thighs. His groan rumbles through his chest as one of his hands moves down to my lower back and he suddenly pulls me closer, which I didn't know was possible.
"Don't!"
"What?" I mumble against his chest.
"You know what ya doin'", he grumbles back,
I smile, I wasn't doing anything intentionally but I know what he's trying to hint at. I tilt my head back and with my hand that's hooked over him I grab at his back and pull. He makes another noise in the back of his throat and then he's grabbing the back of my neck, fingers entwined in my hair and pulling my face towards his where he then captures my lips with his.
As the kiss deepens he rolls onto his back, pulling me with him until I'm lying on his chest, he grips my thigh and drags it up so it sits beside his hip. He then does the same with the other leaving me straddling him. I run one of my hands down his chest to his stomach and then suddenly he has my wrist caught in his hand and he stops me.
He turns his head to the side slightly to break our kiss. "Fuck! We need to stop".
I pull up slightly so I can look down at him. He's right, I'm not ready yet and Carol says we should really wait a bit longer before we have sex again. It's also time that we got up.
I roll back onto the mattress and then sit myself up on the edge of the bed. I look over my shoulder at him to find his arm covering his eyes. "Do you need a minute?"
He pulls his arm up a fraction so he can peer out beneath it, he scrunches his nose at me but doesn't reply instead he grabs my pillow and whacks me in the back with it. "Get fuckin' dressed", he grumbles at me.
Once I'm dressed and just sliding my feet into my boots Daryl decides to get up. He slips on one of his shirts that's already missing its sleeves and then shoves his feet into his boots.
"What should we do today?"
He finishes tying his shoelace before coming to stand directly in front of me. "I'm gonna try an' fix the front gates, and start settin' up watch points around the exterior walls." He puts a hand against the crook of my neck. "But you and everyone else need to rest. Take at least a few days to recuperate."
"And you don't need to rest?"
He doesn't respond, just places a kiss against my forehead before walking out of the room. I let out a loud groan in annoyance, he has so many double standards it's frustrating.
I grab the scarf I use for Riley and then hurry out the room to catch up with him.
I hop off the bottom step but immediately regret making the noise. There are still a few people asleep in the living room. I can just see their feet hanging over the arms of the sofas.
As soon as I walk through the open front door Carol greets me with Riley. "Did you get a good night's sleep?" She asks.
I nod at her as I take Riley. "Thank you". And I mean it with everything I have. I needed it, Daryl needed it. He needed a night where he could just sleep uninterrupted for as long as he possibly could. He keeps telling me that now we're here I have to rest but he's the one that spends all night helping keep watch, helping with Riley and then spending the entire day riding his motorbike and going on runs. He never has the chance to just relax.
"If you ever need a night alone all you have to do is tell me. I'm always happy to take them".
Riley starts making little babbling noises as I bounce him slightly in my arms. "I heard them cry last night, he had to force me to lay back down but I really am grateful that you did this so he could rest". I offer her a smile before she can say anything more. "What's for breakfast".
She turns to walk beside me as I head over to the people that are sitting on the grass or on camping chairs eating breakfast. "We've cooked up some powdered eggs but also grabbed some fruit from the back garden".
I don't mean to, it's completely involuntary but I know she catches the small expression of disgust I do. I'm not a fan of powdered eggs but they are what we have so I'll eat them without any arguments.
With Carol back making food for people I put Riley in the scarf, which takes me a good couple of tries before I get it right, I will get better at it. I can see a couple of people looking at me but I want to be able to do this by myself, thankfully they don't do anything more than stare at me cause I won't lie, with how long it took I got a little irritable.
With him finally in place I walk out the gate into the outer fenced off area where I saw Daryl disappear a few minutes ago. He's standing with Merle and Glenn by the main front gate while Abraham is getting tools out of our truck.
Glenn smiles at me when he notices me coming closer so I give him a little finger wave. Maggie wasn't in the front yard and considering she's not out here I'm assuming she's one of the ones that's still asleep. At least she's getting some well deserved rest. Beth is up as she was walking around the garden carrying Judith, showing her plants as if she understood what was being said to her. Beth is one of those people that would make an excellent mum, even though she's young she has the knack for it.
As I get closer Merle lays his hand on Riley's head and ruffles his hair gently. "Morning squirt".
"Morning. You guys figured out how to fix the gate yet?" I ask.
Daryl makes a mmhmm sound but it's Merle that chuckles. "How hard could it be!"
"Well considering you're all just standing here looking at it I'm guessing harder than you thought".
"That's an insult to our capabilities". Abraham remarks as he walks past me carrying Merle's bag of tools.
"She likes to insult people." Merle starts. "You'll get used to it".
I playfully glare at him causing him to throw me a wink and half a smirk.
I stand and watch them talk about the gate for another few minutes in silence, none of them seem to have the same idea on how it works. "Have you thought about asking that lot in there if one of them has ever done something like this before?"
They all stare at me and I can tell from each one of their faces that no, no they haven't thought to ask.
"Cause we're just gonna have 'appened to let in a stray gate fitter." Merle replies with extremely heavy sarcasm.
I roll my eyes at him. "But we might have found an electrician. It is an electric gate after all." Merle opens and closes his mouth like a fish trapped out of water. "I'll go and see if anyone can help". I then turn my back on him and his speechless expression.
When I emerge back into our new front yard a lot more people are now outside, I'm guessing nearly everyone is up. I look around at everyone and then clear my throat but before I have the chance to say anything to get their attention Tyreese beats me to it.
"Listen up everyone". He says loud enough for his voice to carry. Everybodies heads lift up in his direction, he then points at me.
"I know everyone is tired and you all deserve to rest for as long as possible but if any of you feel like you're up for doing a little work then you're also more than welcome to help." I take another look around at their faces. They all look so tired, and it'll take a lot longer than one good night's sleep to fix. "The decision is completely up to you guys and there'll be no judgement or issues with what you choose. Right now they're trying to fix the main gate out front but they're struggling. Do any of you happen to have been an electrician, or more specifically ever had any jobs that involved those sort of gates?"
Sasha's hand goes up, "I can't help with that but I'd like to help out with anything else." A few more people put their hands up and say the same and then Sean puts his hand up.
"I think I might be able to help". He shifts uneasily on his feet when everyone looks at him. "With the gates I mean", He adds for clarification. "I was a sparky for twenty years, worked on a few gates in my time, they aren't all that different from each other".
"Thank you." I give him a smile and then tilt my head back towards the main gate. "They're out there scratching their heads". He huffs out an awkward laugh and then gets up to go and find Merle out front. "For those of you that are up for helping we need lookout stations made. But we might have to take a trip out for supplies if we can't find what we need here".
Two hours later and we've thoroughly searched through all four houses and their sheds. We've found a few bits we can use but nowhere near enough wood so Oscar, Trevor and Fred have offered to come out on a run with me. Trevor and Fred want to help more and honestly I trust them, plus Fred says he was a builder so he'll know what we need. But I need to tell Daryl.
As the four of us get closer to him, he looks at us and when his gaze lands on me he tilts his head to the side slightly.
"What?" He knows I want something.
"The four of us are going out. We need to build watch points".
"You're supposed to be taking a break, at least for a couple of days".
"I can't do that until we've sorted out this place".
He comes a step closer, "I'll go instead". I grab his hand and move us away from everyone.
"No", I say softly.
"I'll come with you then", I can hear the pleading tone he uses but I'm not gonna let him think I'm not ready to help.
I shake my head at him. "No, I need you to have Riley while I'm gone." I tug on his hand. "I'll be fine, we had a good night's sleep and honestly I feel great. So let me, let us help you and then people can rest. I'll rest, I promise."
He pulls a corner of his bottom lip between his teeth and then he looks at someone behind me.
"I'll go with them", Michonne tells him but he still isn't convinced.
"We have a base now", his eyes land back on me, "if something was to go wrong we have a place to come back to".
He scrunches his nose and I won't lie, it's kind of adorable. I smile which causes him to scowl but finally he gives me what I want. "Fine. But you must know that I have every right to fight you about going".
I immediately know what he's talking about, I knew it the moment we got up this morning. He's talking about my breakdown, but that was over a day ago. Even though he didn't see it he's heard plenty of retellings from various people.
"I know, but you're alive", I shrug a little, "So we can forget that it happened thanks". I know it won't be something people can just forget because I technically threatened all of them and broke my bat in half. I can kind of see why he thinks I may not be of sound mind.
He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth for a second and I know that he won't be forgetting about it for a good while but finally he nods. "You have fifteen hours or I come out and get you".
I sigh with fake frustration. "Twenty hours. Give us a chance at finding something".
"Okay, but not a minute more".
I bounce on my feet. "Thank you. We'll be okay"
He just grunts.