* Please review! My Co-Writer had her baby!*
When Rebel woke in the morning, she wasn't surprised to find that she was alone. She rolled from her side to her back, her body hating the sleep on the van floor. The blankets Daryl had laid down hadn't offered much protection against the steel floor and her body was sore. In more places than just her back. Rebel pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and started to rub them hard. Part of her was glad he had left before she had woke. She groaned as the memory of their time together moved over her.
She had thrown herself at him, not that he seemed to mind much. The sex had been good, better than good. It had been amazing. If it wasn't for the slight ache between her legs, she won't have believed she hadn't dreamed the entire event. Rebel sighed loudly, dropping her hands down from her face. She smiled to herself, remembering how flushed his skin had been after she raised herself off him, freeing him from her body.
" Holy shit...he is built for sex." Rebel whispered to herself, giggling. But the giggling stopped almost right away. He had always been stand offish after they had kissed, what would he be like now that they had had sex? She frowned but didn't have any more time to ponder that because the door to the van flew open, making her jump and sit up. Daryl looked startled to see her at first. His eyes widen then narrowed down. He looked off to his right, bracing one hand on the closed door and the other still holding onto the door he had opened.
" She's up!" He yelled out. He gave a curt nod to whoever he had been talking to before he looked back at her. Their eyes caught but didn't hold. He dropped his eyes to the floor as his face flushed. One of his hands started to pick at the paint on the door. " Time to get up. Rick wants to get goin."
" Yeah, yeah okay. Do you..." Her voice trailed off when he turned and walked away from her. Rebel's eyes fluttered shut as she groaned. " Of course." She muttered to herself as she stood up. Why won't he walk away?
She combed her fingers through her hair before she pulled it and used the hair band she always worn around her wrist to hold the hair into a bun. The day wasn't as hot as it had been but it was still warm enough for her to sweat. Rebel licked her lips and smoothed her shirt down her body. They had both slept in their clothes, in case they needed to make a quick get away.
Rebel jumped down from the van to see Carol coming towards her slowly, a backpack strapped to her front and two backpacks in her hand. Rebel's good mood died off quickly at the sight of the grieving mother. Sadness and pain gripped at Rebel's hand. She just couldn't imagine what Carol was feeling. She took a deep breath.
" Carol..." She started but stopped when the older woman put a hand up.
" Don't. If you say it, I'm going to cry again. At least I know where she is. At least I know she didn't spend night after night in the woods, alone. She's not in pain anymore. She's not scared. She's not hungry. She's with the Lord." Carol said. Rebel nodded slowly. If that was what Carol wanted to say and believe, who was she to say differently. " Here. Put one backpack on your back and one on your front."
" What's in there?" Rebel asked, reaching for them.
" Just a few supplies we picked up this morning." Carol said. She sighed and blinked slowly. " Some clothes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, whatever canned foods we could find. Rick and Daryl are checking to see what cars they can get working. Then we are going to fill them with things and hit the road." Rebel nodded, slipping her arms through the straps of one backpack.
" Where are we going?" She asked. Carol shook her head sadly.
" He doesn't know. No one does. We are just going to try and find somewhere." She said.
Daryl took the lead of the cars they were able to get running, with his bike. Rebel didn't ask to join him and he didn't ask her. She was watching him as they got things ready and knew he had been stealing looks at her but by now, she knew better than to rush over and question him. Daryl needed time to wrap his head around what they had done, she knew that. She won't, though, let him try and tell her he didn't enjoy it. She knew for fact he did. She had heard his moans, grunts and groans during the sex. She had felt his body thrusting into hers. She had felt the evidence of his orgasm slipping down her thighs as she dressed before falling asleep so she was not going to let him pretend like he hadn't liked it.
The entire day was spent with the group on the road. They passed a few houses, only to find walkers milling around outside of them. Carol and Rebel sat next to each other in car T-Dog was driving but they weren't talking. Every once and a while, Carol would wipe at her eyes but Rebel didn't ask about how she was feeling. The mother had made it clear she wanted to deal with this death on her own so Rebel was going to let her.
It was close to the evening when they group found a house with no walkers outside of it. Rebel hung back with Lori and Carol as the guys searched the house, deeming it safe after a while. They all filled in, locking the door behind them. The group members fanned out, pulling the curtains closed on the windows to hid their movements from any walkers who might wander by and locking the back door. Carol went up the stairs and disappeared in a room, saying she needed to lay down. Rebel caught Daryl's eyes but he dropped them right away and muttered that he needed to go out and hunt for dinner.
By the time he had come back, Rebel was on edge. She had given him the space she knew he needed but now she needed something for her. She needed to talk to him and make sure he wasn't going to just push her away. She ate dinner with the group, catching the way he would shoot her shy looks while he tried to act annoyed. She waited until everyone either went up the stairs to sleep in the rooms there or spread out around the house to keep watch. She held her breath and crept through the darken rooms, knowing Daryl was in one of the back rooms for his watch.
" Hey." Rebel said as she leaned against the door frame of an old mud room. Daryl jumped, clearly startled by her appearance. He stood up straight and dropped his eyes before he turned to give her his profile. He pretended like he was glancing outside the window to the backyard but she knew what he was doing.
" Should be sleepin." He muttered.
" I'm not tired." Rebel said. Daryl nodded once, it was sharp and curt as his eyes shifted to her then back to the yard.
" Don't know when you're gonna get a chance to sleep in a bed again." He said.
" We should talk about last night." She said. Again Daryl looked at her. But again, it was a brief shift of his eyes to her and away again.
" Ain't nothin to talk about." Daryl said.
" You liked it." Rebel rushed to say. " I know you did. I saw your face. I heard you groaning. I felt you cum and your shit ran down my legs afterwards so don't you even try and act like it was a mistake or you didn't like it!" She heard her voice raising but couldn't help it. Her old fear of rejection was starting to settle back in her chest and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
" Will you keep your voice down!" Daryl snapped, looking at her fully with a dark frown.
" What?" Rebel asked. Daryl ate up the distance between the in four strides. He looked down the hallway before he stepped back away from her and glared.
" I said keep your damn voice down! Don't need everyone knowin what we did!" He snapped in a whisper. Rebel crossed her arms over her chest and tried to ignore the annoyance settling in her chest.
" What is it that we did, Daryl?" She asked slowly. Daryl shook his head sharply before he looked back out his assigned window.
" You know what we did." He said with a frown. " Don't need to talk about it or spread that shit around. Last thing the group needs to worry about is that you and me fucked." And just like that, the annoyance was swept away by hurt, pain that hit her at her heart and made her spin on her heel and hurry away from him. The last thing she needed was for Daryl to see the tears burning her eyes. She would never let him see her cry, no one got to see that..." With Lori bein pregnant, don't need them worrin bout two babies comin." Daryl finished. He waited in the dark and silence of the house for a few seconds before he looked to the doorway. " What the hell..." He wondered when he saw the space was empty.
Rebel took the stairs two at a time and managed to make it all the way to the bedroom Carol had picked before the tears were slipping down her cheeks. Her face burned with embarrassement. What was so wrong with her that he won't anyone to know that they had been together? How had she been so stupid to think that he actually liked her or cared about her? That they had actually bonded over things? Why had she just not listened to that voice in her head that protected her instead of giving into what she wanted?
TWDTWDTWD
Rebel didn't get much sleep in the house. She had thrown herself a pity party and cried silently most of the night. She cursed herself over and over again, yelled at herself for following her heart and not her head and sometime in the early, early mornings, she had finally managed to fall asleep. Carol had woken her up sometime later. The sun was just starting to color the sky and her eyelids felt heavy. Her eyes felt like they were filled with sand. Carol took in her expression but didn't say anything. Rebel was sure the woman knew she had been crying but was grateful for Carol's silence.
Daryl was standing in the kitchen of the old house, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed as he waited with a few of the others. Group members were filling in the space, ready to listen to what Rick had to say before they left. It had been decided to try and check out the prison Daryl had found when out hunting. Rick was convinced it could offer them the safety and security they needed.
Daryl's body responded as soon as he saw Rebel enter. His heart kicked up it's pace, pumping his blood harder through him. And that blood was quickly making it's way to one spot, located in the center of his pelvic area. Damn thing was getting harder and longer, so much so that Daryl had to discreetly adjust it so it didn't look like his pants were tenting. Even though she looked pale and exhausted, he wanted her. He hadn't stop thinking about the sex they had had in the work van and his mind had been working all the day after, working to figuring out how he could get more of that while being careful. Rick didn't let them loot places alone so the next time they ran into a gas station or another house, he was going to have to be sneaky if he was going to look for and sneak out condoms.
But that line of thinking stopped short when he noticed the look she threw him before she focused on Rick. It was an angry, dark look. One that made Daryl stop short and started to frown. He should have known. A girl like her won't want a man like him forever. She had had him once, seen what he had to offer and decided it wasn't what she wanted again. In fact, she looked like she completely regretted being with him and that pissed Daryl off. Who was she to think he's wasn't worth anything?! So what is that is what his dad thought and Merle sometimes said! He was worth something and he had proven that over and over again! She didn't want him, he didn't want her!
TWDTWDTWD
Almost an hour later, the large, looming prison came into sight. Daryl pulled his bike off to the side while the other cars parked behind it. One by one the doors to the cars opened and people began to step out. They all stared up the large yard of the prison, watching the walkers as they roamed around. Rick sighed and turned to face his group.
" Let's go and walk around the fence. We'll check to see if there are walkers in the outer fence area. If there isn't, we will enter the prison and go there first. We will lure the walkers to the inner fence at different points and put them down. Once we have most of them, we will make our way into the actually yard and take out the rest." He informed them.
And the work began. They silently toured the outside of the fence then moved to stand in the between space of the inner and outer fence. Rebel held a crow bar in her hands and stared hard at the walkers who had noticed them and were lumbering towards them. Daryl was just down the way but she refused to look his way, even if she could feel his stare. She was hurt and pissed off and the walkers coming her way were going to feel her emotions soon enough.
Daryl pressed the tip of his tongue against the corner of his lips as he grimaced while shoving an arrow into a walker's head. His hair was plastered to his head with his sweat and the back of his shirt was stuck to the center of his back. There was dead, old blood splattered on his hands and arms but he couldn't worry about that. The walkers in the yard were making their way towards the fence. They needed to put them all down then they could rest.
Daryl yanked his arrow out of the head and spared Rebel a look. His eyes twitched at the sight of her. She was sweating as bad as he was. Strands of her hair had escaped her bun and were sticking to her neck and the sides of her face. She was squinting her eyes in the bright sunlight as she heaved her crow bar forward and through one of the holes in the fence, her aim dead on. She struggled to pull the weapon out but when she did get it loose, she swiped it across her thigh to clean it before he caught her eyes. A flash of an angry expression pass over her before she looked away and to the walker coming towards her.
The rest of the afternoon the group worked hard at clearing the walkers away. They moved around the prison, drawing the walkers to them then putting them down. They moved around, yelled and killed until no more walkers came at them. Carefully, they walked back to the main gate of the prison. Daryl rode his bike up and into the main yard, thinking if their yelling hadn't brought any walkers around, the sound of his motorcycle would.
Rebel watched as he stood up with the bike between his legs and his back to her. He reved the engine hard, making her breath catch. He looked...amazing, like some kind of Greek God. His tan, bare arms were glistening with a mixture of sweat and black blood that shouldn't turn her on but did. His flannel didn't cover his ass and it was drawing her eyes to it like a beacon. His red rag was sticking out of his back, right pocket while his pants stuck to his tight ass. She sighed and almost moaned as her mouth watered. He reved the engine again then gave his legs a shake, loosening his pants from his body.
" He is so sexy..." She whispered so low that no one heard her.
Rebel swallowed hard and tried to focus on the yard ahead of Daryl. She knew she needed to pay attention for walkers, and not just because they were a danger but because Daryl didn't want her again. Well, he might want her but he didn't want anyone to know that. He didn't want to the group to know they had been together, that much was clear, straight from his own mouth the night before. And Rebel would never be anyone's dirty little secret. She frowned and exhaled. Yeah, she needed to pay attention to for walkers, they were dangerous...and her heart was killing her. She needed to not focus on Daryl.
Daryl frowned and turned partly around to look back at Rick. He hitched his head to the side then looked at Rebel. His frown harden when he noticed she wasn't looking at him. Daryl looked straight forward. Whatever, he thought. She didn't want him, he won't want her. Daryl sank down on his bike before he raised his legs up and started forward. He was going to drive around the yard with Rick and a few others following, ready to take out any walkers or appeared.
Later in the day, as the sun set, a fire was built and some members of the group were sitting around it. Some, but not all. Not that Rebel was going to pay attention to Daryl and Carol standing on top of a trailor a few paces off. She sure wasn't paying attention to the fact that they were standing close together, facing each other with one of Carol's hands on his arms.
A flash of jealously shot through her when Carol smiled and then Daryl smiled. Carol let go of him so Daryl could start to climb down the letter and whatever she said to him, Rebel heard Daryl laugh out loud. He actually laughed. He never laughed with her. He never smiled either. Rebel sighed and looked back to the fire. No wonder he wanted to be around her. Carol made him laugh and smile.
And as far as their time in the van, Rebel was now sure that was nothing but sex to him. A means to an end. He needed a release from the events of the day and Rebel had given it to him. Stupid ass, she silent cursed herself. Why hadn't she bothered to figure out if there was something between them before she opened her legs? Oh yeah, that's right. She thought there was something between them.
Rebel hauled herself up, offering Beth a small smile when the girl asked her if she was okay. Rebel nodded before turning her back and walking a few steps away. She laid down on the grass, turning on her side so her back was to the fire. She tucked her hands under her head and stared off into the darkness. She only had herself to blame for her heart breaking, she told herself. This was her fault.
Daryl jumped down the last two steps of the ladder and turned around. His eyes swept over the group at the fire, frowning when he didn't see Rebel. Where had she gone off too? Had she left the group? Had their time together in the van disgust her so much that she took off? Daryl's eyebrows slammed together as he dismissed the thought quickly. There was no way she would have been able to get the gate open without drawing attention to herself.
His steps slowed as he walked towards them. Hope and excitement was flowing through them all. This might be it for them, their safe place. If they could clear away the walkers that might be inside, they could actually turn this into their forever and that was something that appealed to them all, even him. Daryl was tired of the running and he longed for a stable place, for once in his life.
A small body laying in the grass behind the group caught his attention. He silently made his way over to her, making sure his steps slow and quiet. He knew it was her. He knew what her jeans and shirt looked like because he stared at her more than he wanted to admit. But why hadn't she brought over any of the blankets they had taken from the highway cars and the house?
Rebel felt her body start to relax as sleep washed over her. She was bone melding tired. The heat of the day, the stress of all the events, her fight with Daryl in the house, being on the road, everything that had happen to them made it so hard for her to stay awake. She just wanted to sleep and forget everything for a while.
And just before sleep claimed her for the night, warmth from a blanket draped over her. She sighed and snuggled into it more. Was that the scent of woods that washed over her seconds before it was gone?