A Glimmer of Hope

This Moment

Athena POV:

As I walked inside the Welcome Center, I immediately saw Daryl seated in one of the chairs at the front desk. There was a candle lit at the desk, but otherwise, it was dark besides the light of the moon shining through the windows. He looked up immediately as I walked in, getting to his feet. 

Neither one of us spoke for a few moments; we were scanning one another up and down with smiles starting to grow on both of our faces. We had never seen one another in anything besides garments we were in for days on end, clothes stained, our bodies covered in muck, grime, blood from head to toe some days. That was just our lifestyle and we never thought a thing about it, until right now.

"Sweethear', you-you look-" Daryl started shakily. "so beautiful. I think yer damn fine when yer covered in mud and blood too, ya drive me wild either way, don't get me wrong... It's just-" he paused.

"Different." I finished his sentence for him softly with an alluring smile. I had taken a couple of steps toward him. I reached up slowly to touch his handsome face. He had trimmed up his facial hair, he was so clean; he still smelled faintly of the woods but mostly he smelled of soap and clean linen. I ran my fingers to the back of his head, gently massaging his scalp as I went. I brought my other hand up, and interlocked my fingers behind his neck, like we were slow dancing. He had set his hands on my hips.

We were both silently taking one another in for a moment. He pulled me into a full body hug, with more pressure and strength than usual. I noticed his breath had quickened slightly and he was a little shaky. "Daryl? Are you okay?" I asked him tentatively, pulling out of his tight hug to face him.

"I just-I really thought I was going to lose you, after what happened to you, when you were taken-" he said, trying to say every word he could to dance around the word 'raped'. I couldn't deal with that. I had to say something. We needed to be strong about this and move past it the best way we could, and that was to talk about it once in a while if it comes up. I just want to call it what it was if it's just the two of us.

"You need to deal with something. I was RAPED Daryl. I was raped and it was NOT your fault, at all. I took off with Glenn and Maggie when I could have waited for you. Had I waited for you, it never would have happened because Merle wouldn't have hurt you. But guess what, Daryl? I DIDN'T wait for you and it happened the way it happened," I told him bluntly. "I am okay Daryl, I just don't know if you are sometimes," I told him honestly. He nodded at me quickly. 

"Yer right, I just feel so terrible I couldn't get to ya sooner," he said.

"I understand," I said, "Let's just move forward tonight and enjoy feeling sort of normal for once," I told him with a smile.

"Deal," he said. He pulled me in for a quick yet passionate kiss.

"So, you like the dress?" I teased him as I pulled away to playfully pose for him. 

"Mhmm," he purred. "Ya look tasty, girl," he lustfully growled. He could turn me on so quickly.

I playfully walked away from him, making sure to tease him with my ass as I did so. "uh-uh, come 'ere baby," he said as he shook his head. He reached for my hand to pull me back to him gently. He pressed his body against mine, both of us panting our passion to one another. He started placing gentle kisses on my neck and behind my ear. I moaned, "Oh, God Daryl. You know those are my spots..." He put his lips to my ear and gently asked, "Are ya sure yer ready? Is it okay if we do this?"

I pulled away so I could look him in the eye. "There is nothing that could make me feel more like myself again than making love to you, Daryl," I said, caressing his face. "I love how close to you I feel in those moments and I feel like I'm healed enough physically."