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Need You Now

Chapter 58

The present: Saturday night, March 11th. 2012

Shaking her head side to side, Sam laughed while declining Tyler's offer. "Oh, no. Last time I drank with you, I distinctly remember ending up in the back of Bo's patrol car." Well, she didn't remember it distinctly...more like flashes of memory that were enough to have her second guessing the amber colored liquid her brother had poured into a glass for her. Waving off his offering, she chuckled at what little she could recall of their one and only night drinking together some ten years ago. "Bo said if he caught us that drunk again he wouldn't let us slide by driving us home."

"What's he gonna do? Throw us in the slammer for the night?" Tyler smirked and reminded Sam of her best friend for brief moment when she handed Maggie and Tara the joint last night. He pushed a lock of dark blonde hair out of his eyes and twisted off the cap on the bottle, letting it drop with a clatter to the table top. "On what authority exactly? Come on, one drink. Don't let your big brother drink alone. That's just sad."

"Fine. One and then I have to go back outside." Sam caved, as she normally did when any of her brothers asked her to do something out of her comfort zone; always the eager one to please the ones she loved. She took a tentative sip of the whiskey and felt the burn of the alcohol as it slid across her tongue, down her throat and settled in her stomach like liquid fire. While it tasted far superior to the cheap swill they'd consumed the first time, it still sent shivers down her spine as she'd never grown accustomed to the taste of any type of alcohol. In fact, if you counted how many times she'd been drunk you wouldn't even have to use two hands. Eyeballing Tyler over the brim of the glass, Sam narrowed her eyes and asked, "So, what're you gonna do about Cassie?"

"What do you mean? Like anyone could do anything with her. She's got a stubborn streak wider than the whole country." Tyler glowered at Sam, not aimed at her exactly, more at the thoughts and feelings her question evoked inside him. Shrugging, he took a big gulp of whiskey and considered polishing off the rest of the glass quickly and going back for another dose. "She's here with the new guy. Don't reckon it matters much what I want to do about her."

"Do you love her or is it just a thing?" Sam wasn't entirely sure she'd be comfortable with hearing her brother say that the only thing he wanted with Cassie Delaney was sex, but then again, she wasn't sure she was ready to hear him say he loved her either; not after the good twenty years she'd witnessed them fighting and hating one another. Even in the faint glow of the lantern, she saw the struggle in his dark eyes and took a sip of her drink before saying, "It shouldn't be any of my business, but you are my brother and she is my best friend, so...just don't be a dick, okay? Either tell her you care about her or let her go."

"I rarely plan on being a dick, Sam. It just happens." Tyler went for it and gulped down the rest of the glass in one fail swoop. Pouring another, this time not as full as the previous serving, he leaned back in his father's old leather desk chair and contemplated his next words. Cocking an eyebrow, he pointed out, "You're one to talk about figuring out what you want."

"We weren't talking about me, Ty." Sam followed suit and bit the bullet by chugging the last few dregs of whiskey from the ornately cut crystal glass that was way too formal for the situation, especially given the state of affairs going on in the world these days. Sam held out her empty glass and let Tyler refill it at least part of the way, having had all doubts of consuming alcohol burned away with the first glass. Ever the lightweight, her teeth already felt numb and her insides were warm and tingly. "He's been here a week. I should get a little more time to deal, you know, to process the gravity of the situation before making a decision."

"Gravity of the situation? Geez. You always get so fancy with the words when you drink?" Tyler knew she didn't, because Sam didn't drink, but it was fun to tease his little sister. Growing serious, he sat the glass down on the table and leaned forward, putting his elbows on the cherry wood desk, and said, "I just want you to be happy, Sammie. And, I don't see that with Dixon. Never did, actually. All I ever really saw you do with him was cry and I've seen enough of your tears to last a lifetime...and all of them were because of him."

"Is anyone ever really happy though? Is that even possible?" Sam replied, intending on sounding philosophical, but only managing to sound morose. She took a sip of her drink and tapped a fingernail on the glass while thinking about Daryl and what all Tyler had said during their impromptu therapy session. Feeling as though a lightbulb flashed on above her head, she said, "You're right, you know? I don't know why I'm getting all crazy about him being here. Daryl hasn't said anything about us, not in the ‘we should get back together’ aspect. And, here I am worrying about it day and night. I'm making myself sick for no reason, because he doesn't want me. He hasn't said anything of the sort actually. Shit."

"Well, you're too damn good for him. Always have been and always will be, in my opinion. Not that I'm biased or anything." Tyler winked at his sister good-naturedly over the rim of his glass before polishing off his second glass. In return, Sam offered him a smile that he thought was meant to be one of happiness, but only came off as sad, so in a big brotherly attempt at fixing the situation, he leaned over and topped off her glass. Sitting back in the chair, the verbal part of their therapy session came to an abrupt end as they both sipped their drinks and contemplated their separate issues in the relationship department.

Outside, Rick was watching Cassie bounce Judith in her lap along to the beat of the music and smiling with happiness that only a parent could understand. When Cassie had asked him to escort her to the night's festivities before he’d left Sam's apartment after picking up Maggie and Tara once their patrol had been completed, he didn't know what had shocked him more-her invitation or the fact that he had accepted. After being in Collins for a week, he hadn't spent much time with the woman, but he had associated with her enough to know that they had little to nothing in common. She was loud and opinionated, and he'd heard from more than one person in town that she had been known to spend a great deal of time in the company of other men, but there was something about her...a spark...that he hadn't felt with another person in a long time. It could just be that he was finally ready to move on after the death of his wife and Cassie was just the person that was there showing interest in him, but then again, maybe not. Maybe opposites really did attract and he was genuinely attracted to Cassie Delaney.

"I'm getting worried about Sam." Cassie suddenly announced, breaking Rick away from his thoughts. She was holding Judith around the waist so that the child could stand on her thighs and 'dance', while peering around her head at Rick. "Maybe I should go check on her?"

"She has been gone a while. Here, give me Judith." Rick reached out and took hold of his daughter and cracked a smile at how she kicked her legs vigorously as though she was still getting down to the music. He turned her around to face him and said, "Don't look like I'll be seeing a bedtime for you anytime soon."

"I'll be right back." Cassie stood up and smoothed out the front of her shirt, noticing that there was a definite dark spot from where Judith had drooled with abject happiness while dancing...and found that it didn't bother her. Playing with Rick's baby had caused fuzzy warm feelings and tugged at her heart. Maybe that pesky biological clock was finally kicking in? She'd never thought about having kids, but after spending the better part of the night helping little Judith shake her groove thing, the thought wasn't entirely a turn off. Although, actually being pregnant and birthing said baby wasn't at the top of her list of fun things to do. "Odd." She muttered to herself as she maneuvered through the thinning crowd in search of Sam.

"Cassie!" Sam burst out of the town hall, throwing open both double doors, and pulled her best friend in to a bear hug after running straight in to her. After she plastered the side of her face in sloppy kisses, she smiled and slurred her words a bit, in a manner that was reminiscent of a younger Cassie Delaney. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Uh-huh," Cassie sniffed the air around them and found the familiar scent of alcohol lingering about. Glaring at Sam and then at Tyler, she asked, "What have you two been up to? Poor Clay's about to die of exhaustion up there if you don't save him...that is, if you're in any condition to sing?"

"Hey, we were just having a little brother-sister talk and time got away from us." Tyler wrapped his arm over Sam's shoulder and steered her around Cassie, who was cutting through him with the daggers in her eyes. "Chill out, what are you? The fun police?"

"Yeah, lighten up, Cass! It's a party!" Sam giggled and lurched to the side a little bit, earning her a darker glare from Cassie. "It's not like you didn't used to tell me that all the time." Looking up at Tyler, she poked him in the chest and, with as serious face as she could manage at the moment, said, "I'm going to go sing now. Remember, just because you can be a dick, doesn't mean you should be a dick."

Cassie watched Sam teeter down the sidewalk, heading back down to the stage with a overly decorative glass filled a quarter of the way with amber colored liquid that sloshed about, but miraculously managed to not spill over the edges. Shaking her head, she cut a dark eye at Tyler and said, "Well, I hope you're happy with yourself. You know she's a lightweight."

"Ah, hell, Cass, let her have some damn fun. She's normally wound up tighter than a coil, she deserves to let loose." Tyler shrugged and walked away from Cassie, leaving her standing alone just outside the building entrance before he said something about her being there with Rick. For once, he was going to attempt and follow his sister's advice about not being a dick.

Daryl had just returned to the table a split second before Cassie flung herself in to the seat next to Rick with a sigh of exasperation. He'd wandered off after Sam had ran away from him and taken a walk while smoking the last of the cigarettes he'd bummed off Cassie. Nudging her in the side, he asked, "Tyler get Sam taken care of?"

"Oh, yeah. Fucking brilliant, that one. I'm starting to realize he doesn't have a brain in that big ol' head of his. Tyler's solution was to get her drunk." Cassie glowered and stared straight ahead at the stage, where Sam was adjusting the microphone back down to her height and having a bit of difficulty thanks to being inebriated. "Hold on to your seats, boys and girls. I feel we're in for a helluva ride."

Daryl sat back in his chair, slunk down just enough so that he had a clear shot of the stage between Michonne and Carol, who were sitting across the table from him. He had to admit that he was curious about seeing Sam drunk. In the short time they'd been together, the only time he'd seen her even take a sip of alcohol had been the weekend before she had gone back to school when she'd taken a sip of his beer just to see what it tasted like...out of the bottle and not on his lips, because in her mind that had to change the taste. After one sip, she had handed the bottle back to him with her nosed wrinkled in distaste and had never asked to try anything alcoholic again; saying that there was no need when it tasted better on his lips than out of the bottle. Daryl crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture that screamed he had no interest in having a conversation with anyone and focused on Sam.

"Ok! Is everyone having fun?" Sam smiled into the microphone once she finally managed to get it back down to the correct height. "I trust that Clay took care of ya'll while I was gone? While the crowd was clapping in response, Sam took another tiny sip of her drink before sitting it down and turning back to face everyone. "We're gonna start off with some of our newer songs at the request of my girl, Maggie! This one's called Undo It, I wrote it back a few years ago after the guys complained I made them play too many slow and sappy love songs. It was supposed to be on the new album, which obviously never happened." Sam giggled, although she couldn't quite figure out what had caused the moment of laughter, and swayed along with the music as she waited for her cue to start singing. "I shoulda known by the way you passed me by, there was something in your eyes and it wasn't right...I shoulda walked, but I never had the chance, everything got out of hand and I let it slide...Now I only have my self to blame for falling for your stupid games...I wish my life could be the way it was before I saw your face."

"You stole my happy, you made me cry...Took the lonely and took me for a ride...and I wanna uh-uh-uh-undo it! You had my heart, now I want it back! I'm starting to see everything you lack...boy you blew it, you put me through it... I want to uh-uh-uh-undo it!" The words in the song, the power in the chorus recharged Sam and by the time she was gearing up to hit the next verse, she felt as though a burst of energy had seared right through her. She tapped one hand on the outside of her thigh, while shimmying along with the beat of the music; a smile radiated on her face. "Na-na-na-nah!"

While Cassie and the rest of the town had heard this song on more than one occasion, it was new to the people she currently sharing a table with; most of which had no clue what had actually went on between Sam and Daryl, except that they'd once been married. Glancing over at Daryl, she noticed his sunken posture, his crossed arms and surly expression and figured he knew what was coming. The two of them were well versed in how Sam communicated her feelings, even if it had been a while for him, and damn it if she wasn't going to let him have it tonight. Cassie made a mental note to knock the shit out of Tyler for giving Sam alcohol when she was upset; which was only a slightly better option than giving a homicidal maniac a loaded gun.

"Now your photos don't have a picture frame...and I never say your name and I never will...And all your things, well I threw them in the trash and I'm not even sad...Now, you only have yourself to blame for playing all those stupid games...You're always gonna be the same...Oh no, you'll never change." Sam licked her lips and took a deep breath before belting out the chorus once more; swaying and bopping along with the music, both out of the energy of performing and the liquid courage burning through her veins.

"You want my future, you can't have it...Still trying to erase you from my past...I need you gone so fast! You stole my happy, you made me cry...took the lonely and made me cry! And I wanna uh-uh-uh-undo it!" She paused long enough to take the glass of amber colored liquid that her brother held up to her and winked at him before finishing up the song. "You had my heart, now I want it back. I'm starting to see everything you lack! Boy, you blew it, you put me through it. I want to uh-uh-uh-undo it!"

Sam smiled brightly out at the crowd, following it up with a quick tip of her head back to swallow the shot of whiskey. The sparkling lights above the square doubled and blurred for a moment and she swayed to the side once, but it didn't stop Sam from handing her glass back to her brother so he could splash a couple fingers in to it. Tonight's performance was definitely going to be sponsored by Jack Daniels, which she might regret tomorrow morning, but right now Sam felt like she was on top of the world.

*Song: Undo It by Carrie Underwood*



Notes

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