A/N: This own by AMC with a tad of my imagination. I hope you enjoy this and leave me a Review.
Goodnight
Chapter Five
Tahlee smiled at her young charge as she tucked her into bed after reading some more of the Harry Potter book. "Night, Bug, don`t let the bed bugs bite." Tahlee giggled along with Sophia. "Good night Tahlee, thank you for looking after me." Sophia was thankful since the others seem to be ignoring her. She knew that it wasn't their fault, though. They were worried about Carl and her mother, both of them either injured or lost.
"You don`t have to thank me for that, Bug, I`m not doing this for any other reason than liking you, you remind me of my sister when I was little." Tahlee smiles as she thinks of her lost sister, trying not to feel sad but instead remembering her love for her.
Brushing Sophia`s fringe back she kisses her on the forehead. "Night, Bug, Andrea and Dale should be in soon and I`ll see you in the morning."
Picking up her bag of clothes and the thin woolen blanket she borrowed off Maggie earlier, Tahlee headed outside but paused on the threshold of the RV. 'Where the hell am I gonna sleep' she cursed to herself.
She heads over to the hammock when Dale calls out, "You sure that's safe, sleeping out in the open like that?"
"I don`t have a choice, staying with Daryl isn`t an option tonight and I`ll figure out another option tomorrow. I`ll be fine, g`night Dale," she says as continues on to the hammock.
Setting her bag down against the tree-trunk and placing her knife that Rick let her keep on top in easy reach, she eases herself into the hammock. Tucking the blanket around her body and laying back she looks up towards the stars.
"What the fuck are you doing, Princess?" Daryl growls at her, appearing behind her nearly silently.
Tahlee lets out a sigh, too exhausted to deal with any more drama that day; she didn't even jump in surprise as she would have at his spontaneous appearance. "This is where I`m sleeping tonight, Daryl, please just go to bed."
"Na, it ain`t. Ya sleeping in my tent. Now get your skinny ass in there or I`ll carry ya," he demanded.
Tahlee growled but got up throwing her blanket at his face and climbed out grabbing her bag and storming off towards that stubborn bastard's tent.
Throwing her bag down, she slumped onto her sleeping bag, facing away from him. He enters the tent and zips the door up before sitting down on his bed and kicks his boots off. He watched as she continued to ignore him so he bit the bullet and tried to apologize, "Princess, I didn`t mean how it sounded earlier."
"What`d ya mean then?" she asked curiously.
Daryl rubbed his face and he thought, 'Need to shave soon.'
"I meant that pretty girls like you aren`t the type that hanged out at the bar`s I frequent, they were whore`s who have been with every guy in a 50 mile radius. You`re different; classy."
Tahlee rolled over to face him and she noticed even in the dim light a blush spread across his face, "I think you`re made a wrong impression about me, Daryl, I`m not the Princess you make me out to be. I was a foster kid for over ten years and have been to over 80 different families in that time. I witnessed my mother being murdered by my father at age 6, my 10 year old sister committed suicide because my father`s friends liked to abuse her and I threatened to do the same if the government didn`t take me away. So what part of that screams princess material?" she explained, her throat getting tight as her eyes misted with tears.
Daryl was stunned at her horrible early life, it made him compare their early lives and while he may have had an abusive father and disappearing brother but he still had them. She had no one except people who only looked after her for money.
Moving over, he gently pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her slender body. "I didn`t mean to reject you, I just never thought a pretty girl…woman like you would ever be interested in a dirty redneck like me," he muttered into her neck.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as she turned her face into his neck and her lips brush against his skin before she pulled back resting her forehead against his. "You don`t see yourself clearly do you? I see a protector, provider; a man who is searching for a lost woman and comforts her daughter by giving her a rose. I see a man who is a hunter yet is sweet and you are a man I really like so please don`t degrade yourself like that."
He grunted but he stayed looking into her beautiful brown eyes and he wonders why this gorgeous girl is interested in him when her lips press against his - stopping all thought as he froze. Seconds pass when she moves away snapping him out of his daze and he hears her whisper, "I`m sorry."
"Don`t be," he mumbles as he locks his arms around her and draws her close to instigate a return kiss.
Tahlee sighed into the kiss as she presses against his chest, pushing him down onto his bed as she straddles his waist. Daryl brings his hands up onto her hips, which were now bare as her shirt had ridden up as his fingers brush against her lower back, causing her to shiver.
Daryl ran his tongue against her bottom lip as she granted him access and then the battle for dominance began. She slips her fingers into his shirt as she slowly unbuttons and her fingers skimmed against his chest, forcing him to freeze.
"No," he grabbed her hands and sitting up forcing her to slide down onto his lap which was proving to be uncomfortable as his jeans became tight. He leans his forehead against hers. "Sorry, `m not ready for that yet," he breathed. Never in his life did he think that he would be in that moment, pushing a beautiful woman away in embarrassment.
Understanding, she caressed his cheek. "It`s properly for the best anyway. We shouldn`t move to fast, besides I should tell you—god this is embarrassing, I`m not a virgin or anything but I`m not really experienced but I know I want this with you." She blushed as as his eyes locked onto hers and an intense emotion shown through.
Daryl lifted her up and sat her beside him because if she stayed sitting on him like that he would have taken her right then and there. "That`s nothing to be ashamed about Princess, It`s a turn on for guys to know there woman haven`t been touched or still new to it." He smirked as he lay down onto his back with his arms tucked under his head.
Tahlee felt flushed with heat that was spreading from her tummy with the intimacy they just shared, she delicately laid down pulling their blanket over their bodies as she laid her head against his chest. Feeling him tense, she goes to sit up but he murmur`s, "Stay," and within minutes they were both fast asleep.
WALKING DEAD
Waking up the next morning was sublime as Tahlee woke wrapped up in Daryl`s strong arms as he continued to sleep; or so she thought as he mumbled, "G`morning."
"Good morning," she smiled as she stretched up and pecking his lips with a kiss.
He grunted while tightening his hold on his woman. "I`m thinking of taking a horse and checking out some higher ground and some of the farmhouses, you`ll be alright?" he inquired. Having kissed her, held her and slept with her so close, he felt that leaving would be abandoning her.
Tahlee was surprised but smitten with him. "I`m gonna get up and help cook breakfast and see if Hershel needs anything done around the farm. I finished all the laundry yesterday." She rolled over and grabbed her clothes bag and starts pulling out a clean set for the day.
Daryl grunted as he watched her change into a new outfit while he too pulled on his stained jeans. "Hows ya foot?"
Glancing over at him she realized she should get Hershel to have a look at it and change the sweaty bandage. "It`s better than I expected as it only hurts when I bump it, I`ll ask Hershel to have a look at it later." She carefully unwraps the dirty bandage revealing the scarring wound on her big toe.
Daryl paused as he undid the tent door. "I`ll see ya later."
She snapped her head up, surprise that he was going so soon. "Aren`t you forgetting something? Beside you should wait until your had breakfast, you more than anyone can`t go without food."
A warm strange feeling spread throughout his chest as he realize she really does care about him. "I`ll grab something quick. Keep that knife close by, this farm may feel like paradise but this world is still dangerous," he warned her.
"I know, Daryl, but you're still forgetting something?" She tilted her head as she watched his face twist in confusion.
"I dunno," he mumbled and frowns as she giggles.
"Sorry but you look cute like that. You forgot your goodbye kiss." She stood and gently rests her hand against his chest, "I know neither of us are used to intimacy but I`d really like to try, and I don`t just mean sex but hand holding, kissing, talking and just being around each other. I don`t want you to change, just add me into your life a little bit at a time," she explained softly.
"Jeez, Princess, I ain`t good in front of people, `m a private person."
Tahlee takes his hand. "I ain`t saying we need to be hooking up in front of everyone, I mean when we're alone or just with Sophia. Would that be okay?"
He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Yeah, Princess, I can do that."
After a quick, passionate kiss they parted ways.
WALKING DEAD
Forty minutes later, Tahlee was pouting as T-Dog continued to laugh at her as he attempted to salvage breakfast of eggs, fried tomatoes and beans. "I think it`s safer for everyone involved if you don`t cook anymore," he said, making Sophia giggle, so Tahlee stuck her tongue out at the pair.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tahlee saw Lori emerge from her family's tent, so she calls out to her, "Morning Lori."
"Morning, I can`t believe I slept in so late," she stretched out.
She could understand that. "You must of needed it, besides you haven`t missed much." The intoxicating smell of breakfast wafted through the air making Tahlee`s stomach rumble and having the opposite reaction with Lori as she covered her mouth.
"You okay, Lori?" she asked worriedly.
Breathing through her mouth, she nodded. "I`m alright; wake me up next time?" She headed inside to check on her son.
Twenty minutes later.
Everyone had eaten a hearty breakfast and they gathered around Otis`s blue Ute as they planned out a search grid. To Tahlee`s delight, Daryl had stuck around and was now pressed up against her side.
"Alright, everyone`s getting new search grids today. If she made it to the farmhouse Daryl found yesterday then she may have gone further east than we expected." Rick explained.
A young cowboy hat wearing boy stepped forward, "I`d like to help. I know the area pretty well."
"Hershel okay with this?" Rick asked.
Jimmy fidgeted. "Yeah, yeah. He said I should ask you."
Tahlee frowned, not liking his answer but Rick seemed fine with it. "Alright than, thanks."
Speaking up for the first time, Shane added, "Nothing about what Daryl found screams Carol to me. Anybody could've been held up in that farmhouse."
"That includes Carol right?" Tahlee defended Daryl`s idea. To assume that it was Carol that had been in that farmhouse was completely logical, but it seemed that Shane was doing his best to have the group abandon the search for Carol.
Daryl growled as Shane second guessed him. 'Who did this pig think he is, `m the tracker not him.' He thought as he spoke, "There was an open can that smelled fresh, opened no longer than a couple of hours."
Agreeing Rick added, "It`s a good lead."
Daryl added more directly to Rick, "I`m gonna borrow a horse and head up to the high ground around here," he explained as he indicated on the map. "Get a bird's eye view of the whole grid."
Nodding along, Rick added, "Good idea, I`ll have everyone paired up; Tahlee with Andrea, Glenn and T-dog then Shane and I."
Not liking the thought of Tahlee heading out into the field so soon, Daryl asked, "You sure she`s ready with her foot an all?" Tahlee frowned as poked him in his side.
"I`m fine, I wouldn`t go if I thought I`d put Andrea at risk. Besides, I`ve borrowed a pair of boots from Maggie and Hershel has given me the all clear."
Before he could argue, they overheard Dale spoke, "Maybe you`ll find your Chupacabra up there, too."
"Chupacabra?" Rick asked confused, glancing over to the older man for an explanation.
Dale chuckled before launching into the story, "Oh, you never heard this? Well, on our first night at the Quarry, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminded him of his time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra."
Jimmy, unfortunately for him, burst into laughter, making three people frown. Rick, Tahlee and Daryl as the latter growled, "What are you braying at, Jackass?"
The young boy stammers, "You believe in a blood sucking dog?"
"You believe in dead people walking around," Daryl snaps back, bringing up a very valid point.
Jimmy glared daggers before trying to get his hands on a gun that was laid out on the hood of the truck. "Wow, buddy what are you doing? You ever fired one before?" Shane blocks him, snatching the gun from the adolescent before he could get anywhere with it.
"Well, if I`m going out I want one," Jimmy exclaimed, appearing honestly shocked that he was not given one.
"Yeah, and people in hell want Slurpee's." Daryl added with a sneer as he prepared to leave.
WALKING-DEAD
At the well Maggie had just finished filling up spare water bottles for the group when Glenn appeared behind her. "You know, we still have 11 condoms!"
She snorted in response. "You see 11 condoms, I see 11 minutes of my life I`m never getting back."
Glenn stepped back as she stabbed him emotionally. 'That hurts,' he thought.
"It wasn`t that bad, was it?" he inquired, trying to recover some of his male pride.
She turned at the hurt sound in his voice, unable to control the guilt that ate away at her for her words. "No, of course it wasn`t. I just—look, I don`t even know if I like you like that."
Feeling a smidgen of hope, he asks, "But you're thinking about it."
She couldn't help but to smile at him. "Yeah, I`m thinking about it."
BACK AT CAMP
Tahlee spent nearly twenty minutes reassuring Sophia (who was inside with Carl) that it's safe for them to go out looking for her mother, before they disappeared into their designated section of woods with their blue strips of cloth and a hammer with a bag of nails.
"You and Daryl seem awfully close!" Andrea stated as Tahlee nailed a bit of cloth to a tree trunk.
She paused to wipe her sweaty forehead. "You seem surprised, but yeah we`re getting there."
Together they continued on walking. "I`m just surprised. The Daryl I knew back at the Quarry was a loner, violent and extremely anti-social. It`s strange to see him nice to you and Sophia," Andrea thought aloud.
Hearing an odd sound, Tahlee raise her hand to warn Andrea to stop. "Did you hear that?" she whispered.
They listened for any noise but nothing sounded as Andrea opened her mouth an audible SNAP echoed through the woods. Andrea quickly raised her gun but Tahlee touched her arm lightly to stop her. "We shouldn`t use our guns, it`ll draw more attention, use your knife."
Nodding in understand Andrea swapped her gun for her white leather handled knife and stepped forward when Tahlee stopped her again. "What?" She yelled quietly, beginning to get fed up with her constant interfering.
"I was just going to say maybe we should split up so one of us could distract the walker while the other kills it." Tahlee stepped back.
Agreeing with her plan, they separated after wishing the other 'good luck'.
Tahlee slinked off as quietly as she could and after several tense minutes she finally spotted the mangled female walker and for a split second she felt her heart break. The damage to this once woman was horrendous, her right arm was missing, she was wearing a tattered pink dress indicating she was infected very early on as no one wore outfits like that anymore. Unfortunately, the pain disappeared and the horror of what damage a walker could do to her flared as she gripped her knife.
"Hey, over here," Tahlee calls out to gets it attention as Andrea appeared behind it.
Andrea raised her knife as she stalked behind it until she was in range and she stabbed it in the back of its head. Watching as it dropped to the ground, she cleaned her black stained knife on the pink material before standing up.
"Feel better?" Tahlee asked her.
Shooting her a confused look, Andrea replied, "What`d ya mean?"
"Glenn told me about your sister, I`m so sorry for your loss." Tahlee consoled, before adding, "The best thing you can do now is to gets some training and kill some walkers, that`s how I learned."
Andrea`s face dropped at the mention of her sister. "Did you lose someone?" she asked.
They turned back towards the farm, as they`ve been walking for hours, and it was time for them to return to camp. "No, I had no one to lose."
Minutes pass before Andrea sadly replies. "I`m sorry."
Smiling at each other, they both come to the same conclusion that this could be the start of a lovely friendship as Tahlee says, "Yeah me too."
WALKING-DEAD
A few miles south of the farm-house, Daryl was in some serious trouble as he laid slumped at the bottom of a ravine with one of his own bolts protruding from his side and if the situation wasn`t worse, Merle was mocking him.
"Why don`t you pull that arrow out, dummy? You could bind your wound better."
Pain laced his voice, "That you, Merle?"
"Yeah sunshine who else do you think would be here? You taking a siesta or something?" He continued to mock, sneering down at his baby brother.
Daryl groaned as he tried sitting up. "Shitty day, bro."
"Like me to get you a pillow? Maybe rub yer feet?" Daryl glared at his brother until he notices that his brother still has both of his hands—'must be hallucinating,' he thought. "Screw you," he muttered.
Merle laughed, "Looks like you're the one screwed baby brother, all these damn years I spent trying to make you into a man and this is what I get! Look at you, lying in the dirt like a used rubber." He looked down at his bleeding brother and squatted down to his level. "You`re gonna die out here, 'lil brother. And for what?"
Despair slammed into Daryl`s already bruised body. "We lost a woman," he mumbled softly, half hoping Merle couldn`t hear him.
Instead, Merle kicked his lil brothers booted foot. "So, you're looking for some bitch but not for your own kin? Cause I noticed you ain`t looking for old Merle no more."
"Nah, man, I went back for you, but you split. Lit out first chance you got, all you had to do was wait," Daryl argued.
Growling, Merle struck Daryl`s leg again. "So, what, you blaming me? Cause I know you ain`t after what Officer Friendly did to me."
"Rick went back for you, hell even T-Dog went back for you, we did right by you." Daryl wasn`t normally this forceful against his kin, but the blurring of his mind from the knock on a tree seemed to have thrown his perceptions around.
Laughing, Merle added, "Oh I get it. Your his bitch now, his little pet at his beck an' call or is it that 'lil Spanish bitch that`s hanging all over you?"
While Daryl knew he was hallucinating, he still wasn`t going to let Merle wreck the one good thing going for him. "Oh, are you tapping that bitch, 'lil brother? You know she`s only with you for protection and to get her warm at night," Merle laughed as he hit Daryl`s soft spot. "One day real soon, 'lil brother, this girl and Officer Friendly are gonna scrap you off their shoes like you are dogshit."
Daryl shook his head, "Nah, man, it ain`t like that."
Merle yelled, "They ain`t blood, ain`t ya kin. Do me a favour when you get back to that farm and shoot you're buddy Rick in the face and take that whore of yours like the bitch she is." He paused before he added, "I`m the only one who cares about you, baby brother, now you need to wake the fuck up before I kick your teeth in."
Another nudge against his foot caused Daryl to yell, "Knock it the fuck off, Merle." Only to realise that Merle had disappeared and in his place was a walker slobbering all over his boot. Scrambling for a rock he manages to grab hold of one before he bashes it brains out. Swearing like a sailor as another walker stumbles up to him, he wrapped his fingers around the bolt shaft and ripped it out of his body with a choked scream of agony. He tried to load his beloved cross-bow even though he almost doubles over as he struggles to draw back the string. The walker is almost on top of him when he falls back to avoids its teeth and lands painfully on his back.
CLICK
He raises his loaded cross-bow and fires it, hitting the walker through its forehead and the tip of his bolt sticking out the top of its head. He sighs in relief and in agony.
"Come on, Darylina, get up and climb," Merle reappeared as Daryl got up and faced the steep ravine wall.
"I`d liked it better when you were missing," Daryl muttered.
"Hey, no need to be like that. I`m on your side," Merle added, wearing a mocking smirk that usually adorned his features.
Daryl swore under his breathe, "Yeah, since when?"
He lost track of time as he struggle to climb up the ravine and in trying to ignore his brothers words that were starting to make sense, when another voice spoke up;
"Now you shut your mouth, Merle Dixon. Daryl, don`t you believe a word he said. You are wanted and needed, I need ya, 'lil bug needs ya, our whole group needs you more than just your hunting skills." She was a vision before him as she stood on the edge of the ravine looking down at him.
"Yeah, brother, you put food on their table, a fighter against walkers and a bed warmer for this bitch," Merle said sarcastically.
Tahlee frowned down and offers him her hand, "Reach up Daryl and come home to me."
Looking directly into her eyes Daryl saw the truth, he reaches up and links their fingers together and she pulls him up.
THE END
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