Hate That I Love You

Chapter 8

After dinner, Jenner leads us down a hall of rooms. "Housing is shut down so this will have to do. There's cots in storage. Oh and if you shower go easy on the hot water," he said.

"Hot water?" Glenn said to T-Dog.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog laughing.

Everyone claimed a room. I walked to the end of the hall to the last room and opened the door. I didn't see anyone so I set my bags down and walked into the bathroom. Walking over to the shower I turned it on. I put my hand under the water and hot water sprayed put. I quickly undressed and got in.

I stood user the spray and let the water run over me. The hot water relaxed my muscles and soothed me. I quickly washed my body and watch the dirty wash down the drain. Then o washed my hair and sighed from how good it felt. I shut the water off and grabbed a towel.

I wrapped the towel around my body and picked my clothes and shoes up. I opened the bathroom door letting the stream out and walked into the cold room. I shivered as my body covered in goosebumps. "The fuck!" I heard a gruff voice and dropped my things holding the towel tight to me.

"Daryl!" I said surprised to see him sitting on the couch.

"I'm sorry I thought the room was empty. I can go see if I can bunk with someone else and you can have the room just let me get dressed quick.

"Nah. I'll take the couch. You can have a cot," he said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you uncomfortable," I said.

"It's fine," he said.

He had a bottle of whiskey in his hand. I grabbed some shorts and a large tee shirt and went back into the bathroom to change. I walked back out and walked over to the couch. "Mind if I join you?" I asked.

He motioned to the other side of the couch and I sat down crossing my legs crisscross. I noticed him looking at my one thigh and looked down at the large scare on the inside of my thigh. I pulled my shirt down more and held my hand out for the bottle. Daryl handed it to me and I took a few sips of it before handing it back.

He took a sip and leaned his head back on the back of the couch. "What happened?" He asked.

I snapped my head to look at him and grabbed the bottle taking a large gulp enjoying the burn as the whiskey washed down my throat. "Umm." Was all I said at first and took another large gulp.

I handed Daryl the bottle back and turned so I was facing him and had my back leaning against the arm of the couch with my legs still crossed.

"It was an accident," I said.

I was a little confused as to why he was being nice and talkative. Maybe it was because he was drinking and the alcohol was helping him. And now that we were safe he was more relaxed.

"Musta been a pretty bad accident," he said.

'Yeah if being pushed out a second-story window is an accident'. I thought.

"Yeah, I umm fell out a second-story window," I said looking down and played with the end of my shirt.

"Fell or pushed?" He asked.

I sighed and looked up swallowing before taking the bottle and take another large gulp. "Doesn't matter anymore," I said.

"No one just falls out a window," he said.

Do you care?" I asked.

"No," he said.

"Then it doesn't matter," I said and got up. I pushed the cot up against the wall so one side was against it. I grabbed a pillow and my blanket that I had in my duffle and laid down. "Good night Daryl," I said.

"Mmm," I heard him hum.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. It had been a while since I felt like I could sleep without worrying about danger being not far from me.

I don't know what time it was but I felt someone shaking me and saying my name. "Nik! Nik! Wake up!" I opened my eyes and shot up in a sitting position.

"Damn I've been trying ta wake ya up for 20 minutes," Daryl grumbled.

"Sorry," I whispered.

He sighed and sat at the end of the cot. "Bad dream?" He asked.

"Yeah, I don't know why. I haven't had any for a couple of years now," I said.

He nodded and got up walking back to the couch and laid down. I noticed he had showered and changed. I laid back down and looked up at the dark ceiling. The last time I had a bad dream was when my ex almost killed me.

He wasn't always the nicest person. He was controlling and liked to use his fist to make a point. I turned on my side facing the wall and pulled my blanket up over my shoulder and fell back to sleep.

The next time I woke up I was alone. I sat up and stretched. Then I got up and got dressed pulled my boots on and walked out of the door. I walked down to the cafeteria and saw almost everyone there. T-Dog was cooking up eggs, Glenn was holding his head, and Rick was taking some aspirin. "Morning," Rick said.

"Morning," I said back.

"Sleep well?" He asked and I nodded. I sat down beside Glenn and patted his back. T-Dog put a plate of eggs in front of me and I started eating.
Shane walked in and sat down beside Rick. "What happened to your face?" Rick asked.

"Must of done it in my sleep," Shane told him.

I noticed the way Lori was glaring at him. "That a not like you," Rick said.

Shane looked at Lori and "Yeah, it's not like me,"

I got up then and went over to grab a cup of coffee. As I did my clumsy ass tripped on air like always and I almost fell but as I braced myself for impact it never came instead a strong calloused hand grabbed my arm and steadied me. I looked over to see that it was Daryl. He had been sitting on the counter behind the table. "Damn, woman. Can't ya do anything right?" He growled.

"Sorry," whispered.

"Nik has always been clumsy. She used to trip over nothing all time when we were kids. She was a nervous, shy kid and had a lot of anxiety," Rick said.

"Thank you, Rick," I grumbled out.

"You doing alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you Daryl and I'm sorry again," I said and walked over to get a cup of coffee trying to forget how embarrassed I was.