Howell Lake

She looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap and bit down on her bottom lip trying to hide the frown that somehow had crept its way up on her lips. Small girly chuckles sounded from Cristina and Jessica that sat on the damp grass beside her and Heather quickly plastered on a smile before looking at them.

She didn't want them to see that she was having second thoughts on this.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the small group assembled around the smoldering warm fire and almost shivered when her eyes locked with his. Again. All night, every time her eyes would lock with his, whether it was a quick random glance or a longer more lingering one, an uneasy shiver would run down her spine and she would look away as quickly as possible. She didn't know if the shiver was provoked by something she liked or not; like her body hadn't really determined how she felt around him yet. Which really wasn't that surprising given the fact that she'd only just met him this afternoon.

Cristina, Jessica and her had spent the sun filled hours of the day down by Howell Lake as many of the other teens from their town did on weekends. And they'd stumbled across some of Jessica's friends; Zach, Matthew, Joseph and Daryl who'd invited them to join them down by the lake later. And for the rest of the afternoon, Heather had been listening to Cris and Jess going on and on about how award winningly hot Matthew and Joseph were. Heather had listened, laughed with them and pretended that she thought so too. Not because she did. But because she was too embarrassed to tell them who she thought was the good looking one of the boys; Daryl Dixon.

She was embarrassed because she knew how they were gonna react if she told them: "Seriously? Dixon? Aw come on, he's such a douche, his brother is so hotheaded, jail breakers, he looks so mean, are you kiddin' me, have you met his dad?!"

The comments would never stop and she knew just that because she'd asked about him when they'd had an ice cream earlier that day. As absentmindedly as possible, Heather had said something like 'So that guy with the dark t-shirt, who was he?' and both Jess and Cris had looked at each other and burst out in laughter, glaring at her with amused and mischievous glares.

"Wow, seems like the new gal in town wanna get a piece of the ol' Dixon boy, huh Jess?" Cristina had chirped out in such a soft spoken manner, it'd made Heather's cheeks burn red.

And Jessica had chuckled while jabbing Heather lightly in the ribs with her elbow, saying: "Oh lookie there, her cheeks are already as red as my dad's ass on Sundays!"

"No no, I was just asking…" Heather had tried, but was soon cut off by Cristina: "Aw Heather, honey, we're just kiddin' ya! Seriously though, if ya fancy him just a little, freakin' go for it! Haven't seen that boy as much as touch a girl in, like, forever."

And then they'd carried on their little obsession on the apparently interesting subject that was Daryl Dixon. How crazy his brother Merle was, his dad that seemingly no one in town really liked except the tough guys that hung out at Jill's and his reputation for doing drugs and drinking alcohol all the time.

So Heather had thought it smart to just keep her mouth shut about it and, well, not tell any of those two telltale birdies anything about her little 'thing' for Daryl, if she even had one. She didn't know him and had really counted on staying the hell away from him after all the shit Jess and Cris had told her about him, but… She felt as if she was driven to him; as if his dirty looks and mean stares made her wanna know him, and get closer to him all the time.

And that really infatuated her. Because she didn't wanna know a guy like Daryl Dixon, bad boy trying to make you feel like he's better than you because he rolls with the big boys or something… That really wasn't a type she'd wanna hang out with. And with that in mind she'd joined Jess and Cris and the boys later that night, expecting her little 'thing', whatever it was, for Daryl to have left her brain after the many stories she'd heard about him. But no.

Every time he would look at her with his intense blue eyes, a shuddering shiver would crawl down her spine, and her cheeks would burn red. What for, she had no clue. Maybe somewhere inside her there was a rebellious girl who was interested in him; who wanted to make her daddy mad for spending time with boys like that. Or maybe she just wanted to know if all them stories Jess and Cris had told were true. Either way, she knew she had to keep it to herself; no one was to know she sat there, pretending to be staring into the glowing wood of the fire while she really just secretly tried to get glimpses of the boy right across from her on the opposite side of the fireplace.

He was really something else; he didn't talk much, especially not with the girls, he almost didn't even look at Heather or the others, and he didn't join the guys when they were chasing Jess around with a small viper on a stick. Nor when Matt and Zach yelled out about their recent lady conquests; he just sat there on the tree log, staring into the fire while poking at the glowing embers beneath the flames of the fire with a stick and smirking a bit when the boys said something funny.

Interesting must be the word, she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms around her knees pushed up against her chest.

She found herself biting the nail on her index finger when Joseph smilingly asked Daryl, of course it was Daryl, about the 'little something'. That little something, plus the 'interesting' boy across from her, was the reason of her blood anxiously pumping through her veins that had her acting all weird and nervous. She really started getting uneasy as she saw the smirk on Daryl's face when he pulled out the joint.

Yeah, joint, weed, as in marihuana. It was actually Jess' idea; she'd really charmed her way in on Daryl when she asked them if they had any. And since Daryl's big brother was known for being stoned all the time, well, then why not ask him? Heather wanted to try it, see what the big fuss was all about, but now as the joint was lighted, she had a small stressed out lump in her throat that told her, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. She watched how the boys took some drags and passed it to Jess, then Cris and how the thick white smoke that escaped their lungs, most often coughed out rapidly, made beautiful formations in the summer night air.

It smelled like dry spruce and reminded her of the many times she'd spent with her dad on his hunting trips back in Seattle, her home town. Well, her old home town; now they were living here in a small town at the outskirts of Macon, Georgia. She'd quickly made some friends, Jess and Cris had been very nice to her when she nervously entered the door of the Spanish class they shared together. And after only living here for a couple of weeks, she already felt like she belonged here. She liked the hospitality everyone showed down here, and the glorious sun of the South always had her smiling. When she woke up in the morning, after having washed off the night's dull layer of sleep, she always found herself staring out her bedroom window, out over the woods that were her backyard and up on the slowly rising sun that would tan her skin during the day.

And she silently thanked her dad's old boss for sending him to their department down here in Georgia, even though she at first hadn't liked it at all. She remembered how the tears had traced down her chins in anger as his words laid in the dusty air of their old house: "We're going to Georgia, sweetheart. We're leaving."

And now as she sat here around the smolder of the fireplace she smilingly shook her head at herself. She'd thrown a tantrum at her old man, yelling at him that he couldn't make her to leave her life in Toronto, her friends, her aunt Claire and her cousin Jake. But now she was actually glad they'd left; she found herself feeling more comfortable here, the school had a much nicer environment, the weather was warmer, she had a bigger room and… well, so far she hadn't really found anything about this small town that she didn't like. Except for maybe the situation that she so willingly had put herself in as of right now.

Her heart sped a little when Cris held the joint out in front of her; it was halfway done already, the filter white while the wrapping that held all the tobacco and weed was brown and dark.

Kinda like how Daryl's hair looks in this light, she thought to herself as she took a small drag, her eyes gazing over to him.

The thick smoke traveled down her throat and an annoying prickle had her coughing lightly, the smoke leaving her body in small clouds that spread before her eyes. The taste had her frowning her lips and her mouth quickly went dry, her salivary glands desperately trying to keep her mouth moist but without luck. Surprisingly, Daryl was looking directly into her eyes, a hard glance, though with an amused light in them. Heather took another couple of drags, knowing she shouldn't smoke much when she wasn't used to it, not letting her eyes leave him.

Their eyes were like glued to each other; she simply couldn't twist hers away from his glare. Well not until she felt a nudging hand on her shoulder and a whispering 'be careful' travel into her ear. She reached around the fire to pass it on to Daryl, coughing lightly. Their fingers touched as she held it out for him, and as if she'd been struck by lightning, she pulled her hand back. Confusion painted her face as she watched him twitch his face into what she would guess to be a smirk; his lips curled a bit upwards and another amused light sparkled in his blue eyes. He put the joint to his lips and took a long drag and she let her head dive down between her knees, breaking the weird staring contest of theirs.

She felt how her heart sped inside of her chest, and how a tickling feeling waved through her legs. Was this caused by him?

She heard Jess giggle next to her and turned her face to have her staring right at her, her eyes questioning her about something she really couldn't comprehend. 'What?' Heather asked silently, her eyes narrowing a little and her head tilting to the side.

Jess scooted closer to her and put her hand on her arm and whispering in a hot breath into her ear: "What's going on 'tween you an' Dixon?"

A not so appreciated smile formed on Heather's lips as Jess chuckled next to her. "Nothing," Heather answered, her voice sounding a bit strange to her. Like it wasn't her speaking, but someone else situated right where she was. Weird…

"Sure," Jess grinned and nudged Heather's arm again, starting to turn away from her, "You feel it?"

Did she feel it? She looked up to the starry sky that towered over them; how the stars and moon shone palely down on her face and she closed her eyes. Yes, she did feel it.

Her whole body waved with tickly sensations; like all of her nerves were being touched by light feathers and lingering smooth fingers. She nodded at Jess and let her face dump down on her knees again; her eyes wandering back to look over the flames at the guy in front of her. A smile was growing on her lips as he observed the guys next to him, his friends, chatting about something Heather couldn't make out what was. She bit down on her lower lip as she looked at his teeth.

He had nice teeth, straight white ones framed by thin lips he wetted just as her eyes lingered on them. Above his mouth sat a small mole, and then a smaller one just above that, that followed along the movements of his skin as he spoke out muffled words that had Joseph and Zach laughing out loud. Heather felt her cheeks burn as she tore her glaring eyes away from him once more. She really needed to stop that or else Jess and Cris was gonna have her dying from embarrassment.

"Ya know," Cris said, her finger raised at Zach and a lame grin across her face, "Oughta be more careful there, jackass. M' gonna win if we were ta have that race down the hill, and ya know it."

Jess waved her hands in the air as she too felt the need to tell the boys a thing or two: "Yea, she said it. We girls are gon' beat your lazy asses all the way down to the creek! Aint that righ' Heather-girl?"

Heather chuckled and shook her head, feeling her body wave with it. She raised a hand in front of her, saying: "Nope, not running. You go ahead, show 'em what y'all made of!"

She had the whole group laughing as she tried her best impersonating their thick Georgian accents. They all got up, yelling out how they were gonna win, all except for one: Daryl freaking Dixon.

"Ey D, ya not comin'?" Matt asked, reaching out a hand for him to grab but Daryl just waved a hand at him, declining. "Nah, y'all go ahead, 'm gon' stay here, keep the new girl company."

Heather could see a smirk on Matt's lips as he turned around to follow the others off into the woods. She suddenly felt quite self-conscious as she felt his stare on her. As if his blue eyes burned hot on her skin everywhere they wandered. She cleared her throat without wanting to say anything. She just sat there, enjoying the tickly sensations that waved through her lazy body, her eyes glued to the small flames that were licking on the wood between them.

A chill washed over her skin as his voice sounded, her stomach bubbling strangely as he said: "Y'all gonna get a sickass cold if ya're stayin' put on that wet grass."

Heather raised her eyes to find him still staring at her, shrugging his shoulders lightly when she smiled at him. "Whatever," she heard him mumble out, waving a hand in her direction before reaching down to slide out a pack of smokes from the pocket of his pants.

She felt her legs tremble as she got up on her feet and calmly made her way around the fire to sit down next to him on the tree log. "You offering?" she asked, feeling his stare hard on her face as she broke the distance between them.

"A smoker? Not what I expected from a gal like you," he shuffled out, digging out two cigarettes from his pack, lighting both of them and then reaching one over for her to take. She looked at it, sitting there between her index and middle finger, biting down on her lip as she thought about her dad again. Man, he would freak out if he knew she was sitting here, smoking weed and cigarettes with a boy she found kinda interesting, in the middle of the woods this late.

She'd told him that she was going to spend the night at Jess' place, a girls' sleepover, she'd told him. A chuckle escaped her lips as she put the cigarette butt to her lips and sucked in a small drag. This smoke wasn't as thick as the joints' and she almost didn't cough when it left her lungs, traveling over her lips. "M' not," she finally said, turning her face to look at Daryl.

Smoke rolled over his lips and a small curl in the side of his mouth had her eyes lingering on his thin lips and the subtle brown stubble that framed it. "Name's Heather, righ'?" he asked her, fiddling the cigarette between his fingers.

She nodded, giggling at nothing in particular. Maybe the strange situation she found herself in, the weird air that hung between them, as if something traveled there, making her cheeks blush just at the bare thought of her being there with him, alone and this close. And the fact that he was actually talking to her was making her kind of anxious. She would have thought him to keep silent until the other boys were back, but here they were.

"M' Daryl. Daryl Dixon."

Heather nodded her head again, grinning at him lamely. "Yeah, I know. Your brother's Merle, right?"

She saw something travel over his eyes, and he shrugged his shoulders before looking down on his feet. He put the cigarette to his lips and sucked in hard. "Y'all met 'im?" he sounded, his voice raspy from the smoke escaping his lungs.

Heather bit at the inside of her cheek, frowning a bit at her stupid attempt to have a conversation with him. That topic didn't seem to fit him well. She shook her head and put her lips to the cigarette between her fingers. Daryl's lips had touched that same place her lips were touching and a gentle shiver ran down her spine at the bare thought. What was wrong with her? Again she shook her head at her own stupidity, her senses tickling along.

"Ya cold?" Daryl's voice asked and she soon felt his hand traveling over to tug something around her. His blanket. Without wanting to do so, she scooted closer to him, and felt him stiffen next to her. She could feel his warmth crawl on her skin and yet another shiver went through her body.

"You know," Heather started, her voice slower than usual: "People 'round here don't know who you are."

She immediately regretted saying anything and sucked in a quick breath, as if she could pull the words along with the air. Daryl grunted next to her, his foot starting to jump up and down on the ground beneath them. Her interest grew when he didn't answer her, when he didn't look at her, and she couldn't help but to talk, even if it was just to herself. "They don't know you, Dixon. Only presume what kinda guy you are. But you're not like that. What they think. Right?"

Her words came out short and as she stared into the fire in front of them, she could feel his burning gaze upon her. "What's it to ya?" he spat with an angry voice.

Heather gulped down and felt goose bumps spread on her warm skin. "Just thought, you know. You should show them more of yourself, like, that you're not who they think you are."

Daryl's voice cut her off, the tone hard and irritated: "Y'all don't know me!"

His gaze still burned holes and she kept her eyes on the fire, not wanting to meet the blue intense looks he was sending her. He was mad. Mad at her. She gulped down; both her throat and mouth dry as a dessert. Hadn't they brought something to drink?

"Hey!" Daryl sounded beside her, his hand grabbing around her wrist. She breathed out heavily as she felt his warm hands on her skin, small lightning bolts shooting up through her arm and down to her stomach. She looked over and was surprised to see how close his face was to hers; she could literally feel his hot breath on her lips and she backed off a bit. His eyes held a certain light she couldn't define and she looked down at his hand that still grabbed at her arm.

"Y'all think ya can see through me, huh? Well then know this; Imma sum'bitch who don't take no shit from nobody. 'Specially not some blonde bitch from Seattle."

His words hit her hard, and she felt his hand rip away from her. She looked at him, narrowing her eyes at his clenching jaw. And then his eyes were on her again. "Ya see me as some white trailer trash redneck who can't stand up for'imself, huh? Bitch, ya can kiss my lily white ass, 'cause that's all ya'll get from this."

Daryl's hand clenched into a fist as he looked over to the woods. A small chuckle escaped her lips. His eyes shot back to her, narrowing down at her and another chuckle sounded from her. Confusion flashed across his face. "The hell ya laughing at?" he asked, his voice not sounding as angry as before.

Heather's chuckle turned into a full-out laugh and she put her hands up to cover her face. A mix of a snarl and a chuckle sounded from his chest and she looked at him through her fingers. "Please don't make me kiss your butt," she laughed out.

The whole situation seemed so bizarre; she didn't know this guy and here she was telling him that she should let others know something about him, something she herself even didn't know. Daryl laughed with her know, his shoulders relaxing now that the weird tension between them had evaporated. All of her senses tickled and she tried her hardest to try and stop laughing but it felt like her cheeks were being pulled at, forcing her to smile.

She wasn't in control of her body; she knew that as soon as she felt her head leaning down on the hard surface of Daryl's shoulder. Her eyelids felt heavy and she sighed out in the night. To her surprise Daryl didn't flinch away from her, he simply held still, letting her rest her heavy head on his shoulder. And as soon as she realized that she was actually that close to him, warmth spread through her body, her lips curling up in a small smirk. She didn't wanna push her luck or anything, but she couldn't help to turn her face a bit, so she could steal a glance of his face.

He quickly looked away when he realized he'd been staring at her and Heather noticed a weak blush spread on his cheeks. Again the air between them tensed, the silence pounding in Heather's ear as she scooted herself even closer to the guy sitting next to her, her head still resting on his broad shoulder.

"What'cha doin'?" Daryl said in something close to a whisper as she reached over to let her fingers brush his forearm. The small hair on his arm made her fingertips burn and she smiled lamely at him. She had no idea what was going on inside her head as she leaned closer to him, her eyes gliding over his face to stare at his mouth. He wetted his lips and she could feel hers part slightly as she closed in on him. His heat radiated from him, the muscles of his arms rolled as she reached over to rest her hand on his chest. He breathed out and she felt his breath on her cheek. Her eyes sought his, but he avoided her glaze, looking down on the small hand on his chest, the fingers that slowly curled up to hold the soft fabric of his shirt in a tight hold.

Some part of her brain was shouting at her to stop whatever the fuck she was doing. She knew that this wasn't clever, hell, this was dumb. But another part of her brain had her staring at him, the interesting boy who sat there right next to her and had her move closer and closer, wanting to feel his skin against hers. And she couldn't fight it. The words stumbled out of her mouth, calm and collected, as if she wasn't feeling the turmoil inside of her at all: "Can I kiss you, Dixon?"

His face twitched, his eyes narrowing and his upper lip rising a bit in something that looked like a snarl. His breathing seemed to speed a little as she leaned all the way in, her face inches from his, their noses almost touching. She wetted her lips and looked down at his mouth. She felt her body burn hot, senses insanely active as she closed the distance between them and breathed out. Her lips softly stroked his, the stubble of his chin pricking at hers as fire rocketed around inside her stomach.

She pulled back a bit, her eyes searching for his to ask if it'd been alright. Her breath got caught in her throat when she looked at him. His eyes were halfway closed, his lips parted and his shoulders tense. His eyes opened fully as he realized she was looking at him, and he raised his hand to bite at the skin of his thumb. She reached over, grabbed his wrist in her hand and lifted it over to have it dump down on her shoulder. His fingers twitched and she closed her eyes at the feel of his rough finger tips wipe along her soft skin. His thumb stroked the skin of her neck and she sighed out. The weird tension between them grew more and more intense as he kept his eyes on her, kept stroking the sensitive skin of her neck.

Her body trembled when she felt his breath on her lips and her eyes snapped open to see him inches from her face again, his eyes staring into hers with their piercing blue color. He kissed her now, not as gently as she'd been, and a subtle and breathy moan escaped Heather's lips when she felt his nails claw gently at her shoulder blade. Her blood rushed through her veins as their lips moved against each other, their breathing heavier. She let her hands reach over to grab around the back of his neck, pulling lightly for him to get closer. Daryl's other hand crawled under the blanket that covered both of them to have it pull at the small of her back, tugging her closer too. Heather felt his warm wet tongue lick slowly and awkwardly at her lower lip and she immediately intertwined her tongue with his, forcing Daryl to breathe out quickly in surprise.

It felt good and wrong at the same time. Heather knew she shouldn't be doing this, but that didn't change the fact that her body was burning and longing for this guy. And he seemed to burn for her too.

The hand placed on her shoulder started to glide down her arm and randomly landed on her thigh. The sensation was amazing and Heather smiled into their kiss. She felt him shift nervously on the log, probably not knowing what he was supposed to do with the hand that lay on her thigh. Heather sucked in his lower lip and bit down gently on it, earning a hiss from Daryl. His unsettled hand grabbed at her thigh, his nails dug into her skin and she pulled a little back, smirking at his reaction. Her vision was a bit blurred and her eyes closed when he crashed his lips upon hers again, eagerly entering her mouth once more. Her body leaned into him, and suddenly his hands were grabbing at both her thighs, pulling her up to sit on top of him.

Their tongues worked quicker as his hands stroked her sides, earning a slow shiver to run down her legs. Her back arched without her wanting it to and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling herself even closer to him. The only sound you could hear was the low crackling from the smoldering ember behind her and their ever speeding breathing.

Suddenly Heather felt Daryl's hands cup her breasts and a hiss escaped both of their lips. Her body raced with heat and she grabbed at his broad shoulders, tucking at them as his fingers explored her heaving chest. Their lips parted and Heather let her head fall down on the hard muscles between his shoulder and neck as she tried to get her breath back. Daryl's hands traveled around her torso and swiped down her back to grab at her ass. Roughly, he pulled her closer so her abdomen was pushed close to his. A deep but quiet growl vibrated from his chest as he bucked his hips against her ass and a strange fire shot up from the pit of her stomach.

A female laughter was heard from behind them, sounding from somewhere inside the thick forest that surrounded them. They both froze and Heather felt her breath get caught in her throat.

"Told ya girls like y'all don't stand a chance 'gainst us!" a male voice sounded from somewhere closer than the female laugh that had them both quiet.

"Get off," Daryl snarled and pushed at Heather's chest, forcing her to glide off his thighs.

She breathed out as she sat back down on the tree log and turned her stare back into the fire. An unpleasant feeling grew in her chest as she heard the sound of crumbling twigs and leafs, footsteps coming closer. She stole a last glance of Daryl's face before shrugging off the blanket that had warmed both of them since the others left. His face seemed off, his mouth was formed into a frown but his eyes looked hungry and eager. She put her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees as the others entered the small fireplace. She looked up to see a smiling Jessica.

"So…" she started, raising her eyebrows a bit before sitting down, "Y'all had a good time while we was gone?"

Heather heard a small snarl from Daryl that probably only she could hear as she shrugged her shoulders. "Um, yeah," Heather said, "Yeah, a good time."

How the fuck was she gonna let that kiss slide? It had been all too heated for her to just forget. She looked back at Daryl, and his eyes were staring back. 'Not a word' was all she could read from them.

She gulped down. That's easier said than done, Dixon, she thought to herself as she looked down at her hands.

Easier said than done…