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She could hear her parents in the tent beside her, going at it unrelenting. It disgusted her to no end that her mother, Lori would be able to cheat on her husband with his best friend one minute then jump back into the arms of her husband the next. She put her hand over the torch light to dim the light as she glanced at her oblivious and sleeping little brother before putting on her steel-capped boots and leaving the tent as quietly as she could.
The night was clear and quiet except for her mother’s moans and the chirping of crickets. The full moon shone brightly and she may have found it peaceful in different circumstances. She groaned quietly as she sat at the fold up picnic table close to the RV. She placed her pale face into her hands, rubbing her startling blue eyes. The air was cold but not unbearable. Perhaps she could just sleep out here, looking at the stars, she thought.
But she could still hear her parents and the only two tents far enough away from the noise was Merle and Daryl Dixon’s. She had barely spoken to either except when Daryl gave her some cooked rabbit and in return she stitched some of the rips in his clothes. It had been an odd arrangement but she had found that he didn’t mean any harm, he was just gruff and unfriendly in his own right. Merle had once commented on her large bra size and how she could stay in his tent anytime. She had let her mouth run away from her then and told him to piss off. He had just chuckled and continued to look at her hungrily.
So she was stuck, she couldn’t go out in the woods because it was not safe and despite her not being completely unfamiliar with the workings of weaponry, she had left her knife in her tent and didn’t want to go back in, in fear of waking up Carl. She ran a hand through her hair sighing.
“What’re ya’ doin’?” She jumped holding her heart, only to find Daryl Dixon climbing down from the top of the RV, having just finished guard duty.
“Can’t sleep with all that goin’ on.” Daryl huffed a husky laugh, surprising her.
“You gotta’ sleep somewhere, girl. Ain’t safe out here.” She unhooked her legs from the picnic table and took in his strong arms, holding his impressive crossbow in the moonlight, the lantern not really needed on the full moon.
She tucked a dark lock of hair behind her ear and bit her full lip, “Yeah, I know. The RV’s full and there ain’t anywhere far enough where I can’t hear my parents going at it.”
Well, there was somewhere, but she wasn’t going to invite herself into Daryl’s bed. There was a silence as he studied her face and she winced as she heard her father groan in pleasure.
“You, uh, could sleep in my tent?” It was a half-hearted offer but the nineteen year old couldn’t help but blush a little.
“You mean, like sharing?”
Daryl shifted clearing his throat, “Uh, I could sleep in Merle’s tent, you can take min-“
“Daryl, I’m not going to steal your bed from you. You work harder than most of the men in this camp. I don’t mind sharing, if you don’t?”
Daryl stared at her and noticed her shiver a bit, struggling to see her fully in the moonlight.
“Alrigh’.” She nodded awkwardly before following him, noticing the hard muscles of his back through his sleeveless vest. They come to a small tent, light snores coming from the tent beside it and she giggled quietly knowing it was Merle. Daryl unzipped the tent and slid inside. She waited a second before slipping in after him, zipping it up.
The small torch she had in her hand lit up the area and she was surprised to see it organised. A large pack in one corner, packed up and ready, a sleeping mat and bedding that took up most of the space in the other. It was small, causing them both to duck down and Daryl to awkwardly lean back so they weren’t too close. She smiled slightly at him, her cheeks warming.
Daryl slid off his boots and lifted up the sleeping bag, unzipping it from its original shape so that it was more of a blanket. She followed him, sliding off her boots. He slid under the blanket and pressed himself to the furthest side of the tent, on his back. She slid under the warm blanket and snuggled down, turning off the torch.
“Thank you, Daryl. You didn’t have to do this for me.” He grunted in response and was surprised when she slid closer to him, which wasn’t too hard seeing as the sleeping mat was quite small. He tensed unused to the sensation. She attentively lay a hand onto his chest, happy to feel hard muscle and a racing pulse. He was older than her that was true but she didn’t mind, because he was warm and strong and kind in his own way.
“What’re ya’ doin’?” She raised her head up to look at him, barely able to see anything but his outline.
“Nothin’, you’re just warm. What, you’ve never cuddled before?” Daryl snorted in disbelief.
“Naw, I ain’t never ‘cuddled’ before.” He was mocking her but she didn’t mind. Instead she shuffled even closer to him, lying on her side, flicking one leg over his and between them. She slid an arm over his torso and buried her head into his neck. He smelled like a man, like the forest and sweat.
“Well, that’s a damn shame. Best start now, Mr. Dixon.” It was muffled into his neck, her nose rubbing against his ear for a moment. He felt an odd sensation in his stomach and his neck tingled. Her heart raced at her own bravery, unable to comprehend how ten minutes ago she was listening to her parents have sex and the next she was cuddling with the most guarded man of the group. Daryl stayed tense, unsure of what to do.
“If you don’t like it, we don’t have too.” He breathed through his nose before slowly placing his hand on her thigh and his other on her hip, pulling her slightly on top of him.
“Don’t tell no one.” She giggled slightly and nodded into his neck, feeling more tired by the second. She slowly rubbed circles into his chest and he followed her lead doing the same to her thigh, causing a euphoria of butterflies to spread through her body. The wind blew softly against the tent and she let her free hand play with a strand of his hair, listening to his hitched breath before she fell into a deep sleep.
And so for the nights after that she’d sneak out of her tent and meet him as he finished watch duty, sometimes joining him on top of the RV. The conversation was awkward at first but soon he was telling her unfortunate, somewhat crude but amusing stories and she was making corny jokes before staying the night with him innocently, getting to know the crooks and creases of his body and the pattern of his breathing, enjoying the shortness of his replies, the feeling of him so close.
He spoke of hunting, of Merle and she spoke of Carl, life before, random things like the questions of their existence and he enjoyed listening to her theories and husky giggles as she traced the lines of his body in an innocent way that he had never endured, driving him absolutely insane.
And then she’d find herself sneaking back into her tent before anyone noticed. She felt like every time she saw him, in his rugged redneck manliness, waltzing around camp, her heart was going to burst from her chest, the ghost of his face underneath her fingertips, so real that she could almost feel the roughness of his chin scruff. He glanced at her from time to time, that she knew but other than that they kept things quiet, careful not to stare too long or notice each other more than a glance.
Then approximately one week later, all hell broke loose. Carl had woken to find his sister missing. When she didn’t return from possibly going to the bathroom, Carl woke his parents. Rick and Lori woke the whole camp, searching high and low for her, the sun barely peaking over the horizon.
Inside Daryl’s tent they lay sleeping, Daryl lying on his stomach and the blue eyed beauty on her back, Daryl’s arm peacefully and protectively on her stomach, his head buried in her hair. She woke to a voice and the unzipping of the tent.
“Hey Daryl, we’re looking for my daughter, she’s gone missi- what the hell!?” Daryl sat up, toned arms protectively around her waist, holding her to him, glaring at the girl’s father as if he was going to rip her away from him.
“Dad, I-we it’s not what it looked like, I-“ Steam seemed to escape Rick’s ears as she scrambled from the tent wearing nothing but a bra, a white and quite see through tank-top and shorts, bare-feet cold on the dirt.
“It’s exactly what it looks like!” The camp gathered to watch the inferno as Lori approached angrily,
“I cannot believe it! How can you do this to me? What have I done to deserve my only daughter whoring around with some dirty redneck!?” Lori was red in the face and had a nasty scowl on her lips. Her daughter stumbled back a little by the force of her mother’s words. Daryl’s hand caught her arm to keep her from falling, only angering her parents further.
“I have not been whoring round with anyone! And that so called dirty redneck is better than you will ever be! I had nowhere to sleep because it was you whoring around with any man who would have you and I could hear you and dad going at it while my baby brother was in the tent beside you! Just leave, I’m moving into Daryl’s tent. If you don’t accept him than I don’t want be around any of you. Go, please.” Daryl stood there defiantly, hand on his cross-bow and an unsure look on his face as the girl he was falling for chose him over her family. Everyone in his life had chosen something else over him. Merle chose drugs, his mother chose cigarettes and his father chose everything but him. Then came her, she was a beautiful educated young girl, standing up for him, a dirty no good redneck, because he was who she wanted to spend her time with. He didn’t believe in God but, looking at her, messy bed hair and all, he decided he might start.