Maybe Memories

It had been a few days since Merle came over. Neither me or Daryl heard anything from him after that, and he wasn't at the house, so we assumed he'd fled until the cops quit actively looking for him. He was an idiot, or at least that was what I thought at the time, but he was a good criminal. He seemed to know when to make himself disappear, and at the moment that was all that mattered, even though it didn't stop the cops form taunting us.

I was sitting at the table, it was early morning and I was sipping on a cup of coffee and scrolling social media on my lap top. Daryl soon sat next to me after grabbing a cup himself. "Ain't got nothin' more interestin' to read?" He chuckled, raising an eye brow at me.

"Like what? The newspaper? I figured you'd like this, at least it has pictures." I laughed, teasing him.

He shook his head and sipped his coffee, and for a moment I was able to take a long, deep breath and enjoy my morning. I felt content, happy even, spending my morning sipping coffee with an unarguably beautiful man, that is, until my serenity was disturbed by a light knock on the front door.

"I got it." I said as I got up and answered it. I immediately wanted to slam it shut and hide the moment I came ace to face with one of the worst people I had ever met.

"Mornin' Miss." Officer Rick Grimes said as I stared right into the eyes of Shane Walsh. I couldn't respond, finding my voice seemed impossible, so I just ripped my eyes from the menacing ones I was staring at and forced them to look at Rick. "Mind if we step in and chat for a moment?"

"Uh, why not sit outside? It's beautiful out." I didn't want Shane anywhere near me, let alone inside my house. I turned to find Daryl eying the situation from the kitchen, and as soon as he saw my face he got up and came my way.

"Don't mind my askin', but is there somethin' in there you don't want us seein'?" I understood his concern, but no way was I about to tell him the real reason I didn't want them inside.

"Of course not, its just a beautiful morning. Please, sit." I said as I walked out onto the porch and took a seat on one of the chairs. They both hesitantly did the same as they got out a notepads and pens.

Daryl came out and shut the door behind him. He leaned against the house and crossed him arms, scowling at Shane. "So we just have a few questions if ya don't mind." Rick said, though before I could answer Shane spoke up.

"Hold your horses Rick, no small talk? What happened to manners?" He chuckled, making me sick. I wasn't comfortable with this at all but getting out of this situation wasn't entirely possible. I had to suck it up and play it cool. "Ellie, right?"

"I go by Angela now." I hated hearing my name in his mouth, the same name I'd only recently grown to love. It was the name I loved to hear on Daryl's lips when he was laughing with me, or making fun of me, or even when he was on the couch, half asleep and calling me with his hoarse, gruff sleepy voice. Hearing it come form Shane tarnished that, and it made me absolutely ill.

"Oh. I see, anyway, how long ya been back?" He asked, sitting back in his chair. I couldn't tell if he looked smug or just plain entertained by this. He had to have known what he did to me.

"A while." I didn't want to talk to him and I definitely didn't want to give him any real information.

"How ya been? Seein' anyone?" He asked, eying me in a gross, predator like way.

"Yeah." Daryl spoke up, now obviously glaring. I was shocked to hear him say it, I wondered if he said it like that on purpose, if he'd meant to make Shane think that we were together. By the look on Shane's face, and the way he looked between the two of us, he definitely believed it. "That got anythin' to do with why two cops are sitting on the porch?"

"How long? Heard you were married to some New York guy." He taunted, ignoring Daryl. I was shocked to hear that he even knew about that. What, was he keeping tabs on me after I left somehow?

"I- I'm not really-"

"Ya ain't here to talk about Ellie's romantic life. Quit wastin' everyone's time and get on with it." Daryl looked pretty mad, and it wasn't something I'd really seen recently. His anger often formed into silence, but he was showing a bit of that hot-head side that I remembered existed.

"He's right, best we get on with it." Rick interjected, being the only one unaware of what was really happening. "I know for a fact Merle was back in town a few days back. Ya seen him?"

I thought about lying, but if he was asking, then he already knew. He was looking to see how honest I was going to be. "I did, yeah. He stopped by and wanted to see Daryl."

"Did he see him?" He asked, looking over at my silent protector who was currently refusing to speak or stop glaring at Shane.

"No, I sent him away. I reminded him he had a warrant." I said, trying to be as honest as possible. Lying to authorities to cover Merle wasn't something I would normally ever do, but Daryl's loyalty almost forced me to, otherwise I couldn't imagine how angry or upset he'd be.

"Why didn't ya call us?" He asked, not looking mad, but more so frustrated.

"Look." I said, leaning forward and sighing. "You know Merle Dixon about as well as most do, you know what you see and what you see isn't good. Do you honestly think that its smart for me to rat him out like that? Would he not want to come for my head? This is a drug game, you know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Calling the cops on a drug dealer is like digging your own grave. I don't want anything to do with it."

Rick nodded, seeming to understand my predicament. "We don't want anyone gettin' hurt." He said, jotting things down and agreeing with me. "Next time, let us know. We'll keep your identity a secret."

I sat back in my chair and nodded, glad I'd gotten out of that. I wasn't all that thrilled about this, I only did it for Daryl. "So is that it then?"

"Not quite. Got a few questions for Daryl." Rick turned to him, looking slightly intimidated. "I know you're more involved in this than ya let on. I've seen ya run the streets with everyone else. Tell me what I need to know, and maybe we can work something out."

He let out laugh, but it wasn't a happy one. "I ain't got shit to do with that. All I ever did was try and keep Merle outta trouble. That's it. If ya think otherwise, go ahead and prove me wrong. We're done here."

Rick nodded and Shane stood up in defense, getting about 2 inches from Daryl's face, who immediately stood up straight, looking ready to fight. "Listen here ya little shit, ya don't tell us where he is, we gon' find a reason to lock your ass up. Got it?"

"Shane!" Rick interjected, but was easily ignored.

"How the hell ya gon' lock up a guy who ain't done shit?" Daryl spat back, and even though there wasn't much of a height difference between the two, he seemed to tower over Shane.

"I'm a damn cop, asshole! I'll-"

"Shane! Enough!" Rick called out, shutting the both of them up. "No one's getting locked up, and no one's getting threatened."

The two didn't break their stare-down, they still looked pumped and ready to fight at any second. I looked down and noticed Shane had a hand on the gun in his holster, and I had no doubts he'd use it. I jumped to my feet and touched Daryl's back, trying to sway his attention. "Don't."

He stared him down a moment longer before shouldering past him, stepping closer to the edge of the porch. He lit a cigarette, and I could see he was seething, but his silence took over and I couldn't have been more relieved. "Thank you." Rick said, giving me a tip of his hat.

"This is over." I shot daggers at him, letting him know that nothing about this was okay. "Officer Grimes, your partner just threatened to find a way to put Daryl in jail for his own benefit. You both, as police officers, know that's wrong and I'm more than positive that breaks your oath. So I suggest neither of you show up on this property again, especially Officer Walsh."

"This is just a misunderstanding, things got out of hand and-"

"No." I stopped him by holding up my hand, unwilling to hear him out. "This should never have happened. He is not to come back." After a second of giving him a warning glare to let him know how serious I was, I made eye contact with Daryl, letting him know it was time to go inside. "If you have any further questions for us, you can call us. Enjoy your day." I flung the door open and walked into the house, letting Daryl shut it behind us. I was shocked to have gotten away with talking to cops like that, but I think they knew that they were both pretty out of line.

"Didn't know ya had a tough side to ya." Daryl chuckled, and I was shocked at his attitude change, I expected him to be mad all day.

"How are you laughing right now? I'm so pissed!" I laughed, not knowing what else to do.

He shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Dunno. Just surprised by ya, I guess."

I rolled my eyes and tried to forget about the awful experience of seeing Shane again. Going on with my day seemed to be difficult because of this too, but eventually the anxiety and stress died down, especially knowing I wasn't alone anymore.

At the end of the day, I sat down on the couch with a glass of wine, more than ready to end the day. I put on a sweater and cuddled up on the couch with a blanket. I was starting to miss the cold on New York, and maybe a small part of me was trying to simulate it. "Ya cold? Its 80 degrees outside." I heard from behind me.

"Well I'm not outside, am I?" I smiled, catching onto his light mood.

"Haven't been since earlier today. Ya okay?" He came and sat down next to me, and I was surprised he picked up on my weird mood I'd been in.

"Yeah. I just didn't really expect my day to go like that." I shrugged, taking a sip of wine.

"Right." He said, and paused, before speaking up again. "He ain't gon' do anything. Ya know that right?"

"How are you so sure?" I asked, getting a little worried at the thought.

"That's why I'm stayin' here, ain't it?" Honestly, I'd forgotten about the real reason he was around. I was so happy just to have him there and keep me company that I'd forgotten that it was actually for a safety precaution.

"You gonna be the one to save me Dixon?" I smiled, looking over at him.

He rolled his eyes as he always did when he wasn't all that sure of what to say. "Sure. However ya wanna put it."

"Well thank you. I don't really know what I would've done if you weren't here today." I was being real and honest when I said it, but he, of course, turned it into something he could fluff off.

"Ya more tough than ya give yourself credit for. You'da been fine." He got up and grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat back in his place.

"I would have been mortified." I mentioned, continuing our conversation. "More so, anyway."

"I didn't do nothin'." He looked a little shy, his modesty was really astounding sometimes.

"You were there for me, that's more than I can say about the man I married. He's never really been there when I needed him." I didn't like to bring him up, but he was a part of my life and I found it necessary sometimes.

"I told ya he was a bastard." He had a way of redirecting conversation and it made it hard to make a point. I wanted him to understand how much I really appreciated him for what he was.

I put my hand on his face and forced him to look me in the eye. "Don't do that. Take the gratitude."

We had this strange moment of comfortable silence, just looking at each other. We were both so lost in our own heads that this normally awkward moment didn't even bother us. We were both making very big decisions silently, and we seemed to make the same one.

I made the final move to close the gap between us, pressing my cold lips to his warm ones. I didn't know what I had expected, but this exceeded anything I could have dreamt of, which scared the hell out of me. He seemed timid at first, and maybe I was too, until something just clicked and somehow both of us accepted this for what it was, and took advantage of the moment, not knowing if it would ever happen again. I became engulfed in the most explosive yet soft and caring kiss I'd ever had. For a red neck with little to no experience with women, hell for any man, he was a great kisser, it must have just come naturally to him. He had such a gentle and knowing way of kissing me, I felt breathless and not one second did I spend thinking about anything but what was happening in that moment.

He licked my bottom lip and I immediately let him deepen the kiss, all thoughts of how wrong this really was blew far from my mind. I lightly bit his lip making him smile against mine, which in turn made me smile. This was just so far from what I ever thought this would be. Of course in the past I'd wondered what being in this position with him would be like. I thought it would be awkward or purely sexual, but it really wasn't either of those. It was caring, flirty, and so much more passionate than anything I'd ever experienced. I hadn't dated much in my life, but a married woman should know what this feeling was, and I had been oblivious to it until this moment.

He smelled like cigarettes and some sort of light cologne, even though I was sure he didn't use any. His mouth tasted of beer, but I didn't even care or think much about it, it didn't bother me in the slightest. His hands travelled up and down my back and sides, while mine stayed on his neck and tangled in his hair. This moment was surreal, and I never wanted it to end, but like all good things...

I pulled away from him and stared into his gorgeous blue eyes, knowing the mess I'd just created for us. I couldn't form clear thoughts, and speaking actual sentences was out of the question. I waited for him to speak, which didn't take long. "Ain't ever kissed a girl before."

"What? Really?" I asked in pure shock. I hadn't known him to ever be with a girl, but I really didn't think this was his first time. He sure didn't kiss like it was his first time.

"Nah. I'm fuckin' with ya." He smiled, making my cheeks flush and a laugh to escape my mouth. "Get over here." He pulled me closer to him, letting me cuddle up to him. I was so amazed at everything happening that I couldn't even believe it. I never thought that this was how I was going to end my day, but I wasn't complaining. It was a much needed break from the chaos, but it was also another stress. But I didn't know real stress until the next morning came.