Red ~ TWD (Daryl Dixon)

Wolves Not Far

"Coffee?"

I nodded yes to Carol's question, keeping my eyes firmly locked on the bowl of oatmeal in front of me, listening to the sound of spoons scrapping against the delicate china as we ate.

I envied my husband right now. He'd risen before the sun, kissing me briefly, and mumbling something about checking out his bike at Aaron's. My only response was incoherent grunting, and a weak thumbs up before I rolled over, promptly going back to sleep. In hindsight that was poor planning on my part.

"I'll talk to Deanna's husband; see if he has any drywall he can spare to patch up your wall."

Rick's statement made my face burn with embarrassment. Ariel, Merle and Glenn cackling like school girls at the table certainly didn't help. In retaliation I kicked my brother-in-law in the shin, but that only made him laugh harder. I closed my eyes, trying to spontaneously disappear.

"Thanks," I muttered, hunching over my bowl, hoping something, anything, would happen to take the spotlight off last night's extracurricular activities.

"What happened to your wall?" Carl asked innocently. This time even Carol and Deadpool couldn't contain their amusement.

"Yur Aunt got a little carried away movin' furniture last night," Merle laughed.

Carl nodded, completely oblivious to the double entendre. "Is that why she was yelling at Daryl?"

I moved my bowl aside, letting my head thump against the table, wishing for a quick death. This was karma, and it was pronounced, "haha, fuck you". Maybe if I held my breath I'd just keel over and die.

"Well, uh, yeah, he was...helping her," Rick added, coughing uncomfortably.

"He helped her alright." Ariel's comment sent everyone into varying degrees of laughter, someone even spit out their oatmeal. Assholes, all of them. "Fact he helped her so good the neighbors got a play-by-play."

I stood up so abruptly the chair slid across the polished hardwood floor, colliding with the wall. Every set of eyes in the house locked on me, and I did my best to stand tall despite wanting to crawl in a hole. There was nothing wrong with a healthy sex life. I refused to apologize for getting...carried away last night.

"The walls in this house are really thin." Trying to defend myself accomplished nothing, but sending Deadpool into a fit of laughter that made her double over. "You'd think a house this nice would have better insulation."

"This house could be a veritable bomb shelter, and it wouldn't have made any difference."

I narrowed my eyes at Carol who simply raised her eyebrows while sipping her coffee in another ridiculously hideous sweater. I was caught in a no-win situation so with limited options I chose the most mature one. I flipped them off and stalked out the front door, slamming it closed so hard the glass inserts rattled. I stood on the porch, chest heaving. I could still hear their laughter through the door.

"Morning Alex."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I fired back at Noah who frowned, looking to Beth for help.

"Uh, it means...good morning?"

I looked between the pair, but saw nothing to suggest they got an unsolicited ticket to last night's show. What I did notice was how close they were standing, and how Noah's hand was possessively wrapped around Beth's waist. The moment he realized what I was looking at he pulled his arm back, pretending to scratch his neck while taking a measured step away from the youngest Greene daughter.

When did this happen?

I knew they were dancing around each other, but a arm around thew waist with a thumb caressing bare skin was not dancing. It made sense from a practical standpoint. There weren't many people their age running around Alexandria, and the two of them had survived a harrowing ordeal at the hospital. I supposed it was only a matter of time before they "made it official". I liked Noah, and I knew Hershel would have liked him too.