Red ~ TWD (Daryl Dixon)

It Ends Tonight

I followed Glenn through the crowd, Daryl at my side, doing my absolute best not to think about how badly I wanted to drag my husband behind the nearest hay bale and play hide-the-sausage.

Spoiler alert, I failed.

Whatever emergency ripped us away from almost-sex better be worth it, because the ache between my thighs was becoming a full-blown crisis. I took a few deep breaths. It did nothing. Daryl shot me a sideways glance, his signature smirk tugging at his stupidly handsome face. Of course he'd notice my "predicament." Of course he'd be thrilled about it. He looked like a man who had just discovered the hallelujah chorus was dedicated exclusively to his penis.

"Smug bastard," I hissed, flicking my ponytail like a weapon.

He leaned in, his breath brushing my ear, goosebumps erupted instantly. "If ya behave, we can pick up where we left off later tonight."

Me? Behave?

There was a better chance of shoving spaghetti up Shiva's ass than me behaving.  I needed an achievable goal, a roadmap that clearly outlined the journey to my next orgasm.  Not some aspirational hellscape of self control I had no hope of achieving.

We finally reached the gathering circle which included Rick, Deadpool, Tara, Carol, Ezekiel, Gabby, Lydia, Henry, and the list went on and on were standing in a circle waiting for us when we arrived.  Two seconds later Merle joined the party complete with the twins who sprinted forward waving what appeared to be caramel apples in their hands.

"Mommy, mommy, look, Unkie Merle got us camel apples!" Dom announced loudly, jumping up and down while waving his treat like he was trying to signal a rescue helicopter.

"I can see that.  What a fun treat."  I turned my glare on my brother-in-law who had the good sense not to make direct eye contact.  What part of no more candy did he not understand? "Unkie Merle is going to have so much fun having you two sleep over tonight."

Rick coughed to cover his laugh while all the color drained out of Merle's face.  I was pretty sure I watched his soul leave his body.

"Daddy, do you want a bite of my camel apple?" Niya asked with smile that made my heart skip a beat.

"Caramel apple," he corrected, "not now sweet pea but maybe later."

Gabby looked at Daryl like he was speaking in tongues.  He was only soft with like this with me or the twins, and witnessing it was like catching a unicorn doing yoga during a solar eclipse.

"That's what I said, Silly," my mini me replied with a wave of her chubby hand.

"OK, we're here and we brought camel apples, what is so important I had to stop fu..."  My husband pinched my arm, eyes pointedly looking at our children who were cracking up at the exchange.  "Ouch, that hurt."

"You have to go to timeout Daddy.  You can't pinch Mommy," Dom declared then went back to mauling his apple.

Thankfully, Rick decided to take charge.  "All the communities have signed the mutual protection pact, uniting us all.  An attack on one community is an attack on us all.  We're stronger together and it's time we put that in writing."

"That's it?" I asked, feeling my anger spike.  "I stopped mid-hallelujah chorus because you all finally completed a group project?"

At my mention of singing the twins simultaneously broke out into a remix of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer complete with what I guess was suppose to be beatboxing that sounded more like someone choking on their own spit.

Ezekiel held up a large parchment with writing too small to read and signatures scattered around the edges like it might improve my mood.  He promptly cleared his throat and folded it up when I turned my murder face on him.