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Need You Now

Chapter 110

The Present: Sunday, April 22nd, 2012


A cursory glance out the back door confirmed there was no one loitering around behind Sam’s building and thus, no one around to see him sneak out of her apartment. Daryl clamored down the rickety metal stairs and wondered why Sam chose to use the back entrance and suffer through the stairs, which were a disaster waiting to happen, instead of simply using the front entrance. Slinking through the alleyway, Daryl turned the corner on to the main strip of town and came face to face with Cassie, who had a knowing smirk plastered on her face.

“What’s the hurry, Dixon?” Cassie asked, her raspy voice heavy with the trademark drawl of her Southern upbringing. “You know, if you’re trying to look inconspicuous, you might wanna slow it down some.”

Daryl opted to keep his mouth shut, knowing that she was right didn’t mean he wanted to admit that fact. Noticing the half burned cigarette in her hand, he nodded towards it and asked, “You got another one?”

Cassie reached around to her back pocket and procured a partially squished pack of cigarettes and handed it to Daryl, who shook one out and returned it to her while digging in his pocket for the lighter that lived there. “My supply is dwindling. Don’t have the hookup for smokes like I used to.” Cassie grimaced as she raised her hand to her mouth and took a drag of the cigarette. “Tyler always made sure to let me have first pick if they found smokes while out on a run. Highly doubt he’s going to do that anymore…probably time to quit anyway.”

“Yeah, keep telling myself the same thing.” Daryl said around a puff of smoke. Leaning against the brick wall, he rolled the butt of the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger, his brow furrowed as he thought about something Sam had mentioned that had been eating away at him with curiosity. Unfortunately, thanks to his tight lipped stance on his past, he didn’t feel it was fair to probe Sam with questions regarding her previous love affairs. Eyeballing Cassie, he decided to use the best source of information available to him, which would probably give him all the details that Sam wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about anyway. “Who’s Judah?”

Cassie coughed and exhaled the smoke she had just inhaled, clearly thrown off guard by Daryl’s question. “She told you about him?” Shaking her head, a scowl marred her beautiful features as she mimicked Daryl’s pose by leaning against the wrought iron column across from him. “Judah was the guy that discovered Sam. Saw her perform at the Bluebird when I dragged her ass up to Nashville for a vacation the summer after you guys broke up. What an asshat.”

“Summer after? Shit, she didn’t wait long, did she?” The bitter remark slipped out of his mouth and he cringed at the look Cassie pointed in his direction afterwards. “Sorry, just didn’t expect to hear it was that soon.”

“It wasn’t actually, which you’d know if you hadn’t interrupted me. I shouldn’t be telling you this anyway, it’s Sam’s story to tell…but, we both know she wouldn’t give you all the gory details you want to hear, right?” Cassie stubbed out the glowing ember of her cigarette and pocketed the butt to throw away later. Without waiting for a reply to her clearly rhetorical question, she continued, “He was the anti-Daryl, by the way. I think that’s what finally sealed the deal for him with Sam. Judah was rich, well dressed, a smooth talker and so fucking full of himself that it made me want to puke. He helped her get an agent, worked some connection of his to get her an apartment, basically catered to Sam’s every whim until he finally wore her down and got her in to bed. Took a while though, nearly a year actually. I think that was part of the fun for him…the hunt, the take down? Fucking prick. I mean, just the worst person ever.”

“They together long?” Daryl tried to not let on that jealousy was gnawing at him inside and casually lifted the cigarette back to his lips for another drag. “I mean, were they serious or something?”

Cassie scoffed and cursed with a shake of her head. “Not in the slightest. Total opposite, hence the asshat comment. Once he conquered the pretty new girl in town, Judah split. Never called, never talked to her again…even if he saw Sam at an event or something. To him, he’d gotten what he wanted and she no longer mattered anymore. Sam tried not to let on how much it hurt her, but I knew…I could tell it ripped her up inside.” She saw the flicker of jealousy in Daryl’s eyes and added, “She was upset because she’d had sex with him and got brushed aside, Daryl…not because she loved him and he broke her heart. That honor was always yours. It’s a good thing you’re getting a chance to fix that. She was trying to move on from you, but we both know she’s not the casual sex kind of girl.”

“Yeah, it is.” Daryl mumbled as he fidgeted with the cigarette and dropped his gaze to the ground, suddenly very interested in the brick pattern beneath his feet. While he had never in a million years thought he would have been given the chance to make things right with Sam, much less have her love again, he couldn’t shake the pessimistic voice in his head that kept whispering over and over how bad he was going to fuck it up again. And, as usual, that annoying voice sounded oddly like his brother.

“You don’t sound as happy about that as I would have thought you’d be, Dixon. What gives?” Cassie probed, kicking out to nudge the toe of his scuffed boot. “I saw the look in your eye when you saw Sam the first night y’all strolled in to town. I saw each and every hurt feeling that passed through those baby blues when she’d pull away from you those first few weeks. Most people wouldn’t have, but I did…so why’s your voice got that dull, lifeless tone to it?”

Daryl wanted to tell Cassie to leave it alone, that he didn’t want to talk about what was bothering him, but somehow, like many times before with her, he found himself spilling his guts to her. Cassie was just easy to talk to like that, she listened and only rarely made fun of him for what he had to say. “She got upset this morning, ended up in a fight. Can’t seem to get her to understand I don’t wanna talk about my past, what I was doing up until now, after leaving her back then. She’s like a damned dog with a bone about it.”

She didn’t have to ask Daryl why he didn’t want to talk about his past with Sam, Cassie was familiar with the look of shame that haunted his eyes. Their shame was different, no doubt, be in the end, it was all the same. Swallowing the lump that was suddenly in her throat, Cassie’s voice was husky with emotion when she finally spoke. “You know how Sam is, Daryl. She needs all the information. That’s just her…she’s tenacious. She just wants to know you again and feels that’s how to go about it. But, I get it, you don’t want to talk about it…no one likes to admit everything they’ve done wrong. Trust me.”

“Doubt you’ve got a clue. I’ve done things I can barely stomach thinking about now.” Daryl’s words were barely a whisper as he lifted a shaky hand to his mouth and polished off the cigarette, instantly wishing for another one. “She doesn’t need to know.” Because, if Sam ever did find out, she wouldn’t love him anymore…couldn’t love him anymore, at least in Daryl’s mind.

“Sam loves us in spite of our faults.” Cassie gave Daryl a watery smile and laughed softly as she wiped away the sudden tears clinging to her lower lashes. She distinctly recalled each and every time her best friend had come to her rescue, driving wherever was needed to pick her up from whatever one night stand she’d stumbled home with and not once asking a question or belittling her life choices. It had taken Cassie many years to see the error in her ways, but by then it was too late to repair the reputation she had created within the community and nothing could ever erase that from the memories of the people that still lived in Collins. Cassie took a step towards the alley way and motioned in the direction of Sam’s apartment. “I’m gonna go check on our girl. See if she’s ready for lunch. Before I go though, just think about telling her. It doesn’t have to be now, or even any time soon, but it might make you feel better to get it off your chest.”

Leaving Daryl leaning against the brick wall, Cassie retreated from the unexpected emotional talk and hot footed it towards Sam’s apartment. Running up the stairs, she barged in to the residence without bothering to knock and called out to Sam, who replied from her loft. “What’s taking you so long? You’d think you’d be starving after having sex all night and day.”

“Hush.” Sam blushed as she stepped on to the ladder and made her way downstairs. When her feet hit the wooden floor, she turned to Cassie, who had already made herself home in the plush armchair she favored while at Sam’s apartment. Smiling, she poked at Cassie’s bare knee and playfully chided her. “And you’re one to talk about having all the sex, ma’am. Did you work up an appropriate appetite last night with Deputy Grimes?”

“Um, actually we didn’t have sex.” Cassie admitted and chuckled at the sight of Sam slack jawed with amazement. Waving her hand nonchalantly, she continued, “Yeah, yeah, save the surprise for someone who didn’t already experience it last night. I was prepared for the having of the sex, but there was no sex to be had and I am strangely OK with it.”

Sam sank down on to the closest couch cushion to Cassie and leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees as she studied her friend. This was brand new territory for Cassie, but she seemed to be handling it well enough. “So, you two what? Played cards? Did the hokey pokey? I need details.”

“We spooned.” A warm smile spread across Cassie’s face as she maneuvered around so that she was better suited for gossiping with Sam. “You know how much I like to, um…fork, but we just spooned. It was nice.”

“Snuggling. Huh.” Dumbfounded, Sam considered the news for a moment before realizing just how big last night had been for Rick and how unprepared he must have felt. “I think that’s great, Cass. I really do. He must like you a lot. I mean, if it was just a sex thing you’d think he would’ve done that by now, right?”

“You really think so?” Cassie asked hopefully and she flushed with embarrassment at the giddy hope that clung to her voice. The only other man she had ever been as enthralled with as she was with Rick, was Tyler and that had not only been one sided, but a total disaster to boot. She did not want to repeat that mistake again and doubted her heart could take it either. “He took off his wedding ring. That had to be something.”

“It was something, trust me. Taking off your wedding band, regardless of the reason, hurts your heart.” Sam replied with heartfelt knowledge that shone brightly in her eyes. “Rick’s one of those ‘one woman’ kind of guys. Old fashioned, I can tell. Taking off his ring, for any reason, was a big move for him…and, I think he did it for you.” Thinking back to the conversation she had with him just two days before, remembering the flash of sorrow in his eyes that was heavily threaded with guilt in reference to his relationship to Cassie and the fact that he was still wearing his wedding band, Sam nodded her head and added, “Actually, I know it was for you. Rick’s ready to move on and he wants it to be with you, Cass. Are you really ready for that? He’s the serious commitment kind of guy.”

“And, I’m not the serious commitment kind of girl.” Cassie’s reply was flat and dry. Sam’s comment wasn’t meant to be hurtful, but it was just another reminder of the past she longed to be free of and yet, would suffer the burden of her youthful choices until the end of days. “I think maybe I am that kind of girl. I really like him, Sam, like…a lot. He gives me the tingles.”

“Whoa, too much info. I do not need to know about the tingles Rick gives you.” Sam waved her hands at Cassie to get her to stop before any further information was divulged. While she loved her best friend dearly, and had listened to detailed descriptions of her sexual conquests on more than on occasion, she wouldn’t be able to look at Rick the same way with that knowledge.

“Not those kind of tingles. Geez.” Cassie chuckled and swatted at Sam’s leg, narrowly missing when her friend anticipated the move and dodged her hand. “I mean the feeling tingles. Rick Grimes gives me the feels. Big time.”

Pushing off the couch, Sam tackled Cassie in a bear hug that sent both of them sprawling backwards against the back of the overstuffed chair. Giggling, she couldn’t wipe the smile of happiness off her face as she snuggled against her lifelong best friend. “I think that’s great! You two are adorable with each other. It’s just the cutest thing ever. And, who knows…maybe I’ll finally get you hitched after all!”

“Hey, settle down. No one said anything about wedding bells!” Cassie shrieked with horror, but deep down in her gut, the thought of the notion wasn’t as horrible as it had once sounded. Upon making that realization, she had a feeling of happiness mixed with the feeling of being punched in the stomach, but it wasn’t the worst sensation she’d ever experienced. As Sam crawled off the chair and reached out to help her to her feet, Cassie wondered if what her friend had said was something that could actually happen or just another hope to be dashed in her life.

Notes

Thank you for the reviews so far!!! Only 30 more chapters to go and this story will be done! LOL

Comments

@aphishinthec


Wow! Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed it again. :)

Serenity Serenity
12/1/16

I binge read this too over thanksgiving weekend and literally could not put it down. I was a constant reader when the updates were regular, but sadly am the worst at remembering to review. Excellent story to binge read!!

aphishinthec aphishinthec
12/1/16

@Tripper


Squee! Glad you liked it just as much the second time around. :)

Serenity Serenity
11/28/16

So, I may have just gorged myself on this story and read it all over again in a few days. This is one of my very favourite stories of all time. So freakin' good. Thanks again for this wicked story!

Tripper Tripper
11/25/16

@Lunabelle4


Thank you so much!

Serenity Serenity
11/14/16