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Need You Now

Chapter 70


Previously in the Present:It was the day after Sam got drunk at the welcome concert, leading Cassie to be a bit too judgmental and a fight between Daryl and Sam. Cassie has apologized for what happened that night and Rick shaved!





The present: Monday, March 25th, 2012


Crossing the field that separated the town hall from the thicket of woods at the edge of town, Daryl climbed the short stack of concrete stairs that led up to the platform the hunters dropped of their daily kill to be cleaned. He'd done fairly well today, hauling back a selection of woodland creatures, but had managed to break a bolt, which meant his supply was dwindling and in need of being replaced. While the town had the supplies, what had been collected from the Collins's hunting store as well as scavenging runs, Daryl wanted to hold off on going to the building that housed the selection since it was monitored by Bo, whom he wanted to associate with as little as possible. However, after today's breakage, the inevitable was going to happen soon.

After Daryl handed over his bounty, he was turning to leave when the dulcet sounds of Sam's voice floated through the open doors that led to the auditorium. He stopped in his tracks and listened to her play the piano, letting the melodic sounds of the music she had created wash over him, while trying to muster up the courage to make yet another attempt at trying to carry on an actual conversation with her.

Two weeks had come and gone since the night they had argued, the night Sam had fallen apart in his arms over the guilt that plagued her since Emily's death, when she had clung to him and sobbed against his chest only moments before declaring it too difficult to be near him and tossing him out on to the sidewalk. Since that night, Sam only spoke when spoken to, rarely made eye contact and went out of her way to avoid him. Her demeanor could only be described as cordial when forced into interacting with him, but the majority of her time appeared to be spent avoiding him like the plague.

Daryl's attention was pulled from the sound of Sam's voice, and the skill of her fingers on the keys of the piano, when he had the sudden feel of someone watching him. Turning his head away from the open doors, Daryl scanned the area until his line of sight landed on the picnic table at the far end of the landing, to where Jim Collins was watching him like a hawk.

Jim slid his legs out from beneath the concrete picnic table, where he had been discussing supply amounts and scavenging runs with a few of the other elder town members who made up the council, and started towards Daryl; who had already sensed he was being watched and was attempting to make a quick exit. Not as fast as he had once been in his youth, Jim waved down his daughter's estranged husband and called out, "Daryl, hold up a moment."

Mentally cursing himself for pausing at hearing his name, Daryl stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder; peeking out at Sam's father beneath a thick swatch of dark bangs. He had managed to make it just over three weeks being in town without having to deal with the patriarch of the Collins family, only muttering a greeting or acknowledging the man's presence when he was with Jacey, not wanting to be rude to the man she obviously thought hung the moon. Eyeballing Jim as he neared, Daryl cautiously replied, "Yeah?"

"Glad I finally got you alone for a minute. You're a difficult fella to pin down." Jim's cheeks were flushed red and his breathing hindered, a sign of just how much he had aged in the past twelve years. Of course, less than stellar eating habits, drinking more whiskey than reasonably allowed and smoking copious amounts cigars before the outbreak, despite his ailing heart, played a significant part in his current state of health. "You mind if I take a moment of your time?"

"Yeah, alright." Daryl muttered, not entirely trusting of the man in front of him from previous experiences, no matter how many times Jacey sang his praises and Sam promised that her father had changed over the years. He followed Sam's father down the hallway, past where she was tucked away behind the maroon curtain on stage singing her heart out, through the auditorium and all the way back to his office; where he took a seat in the chair that was indicated for him. Narrowing his eyes as Jim took a seat, his natural tendency to keep people at arm's length with his abrasive personality took over. "You got som'thin you wanna say to me?"

"No need to get defensive, son." Jim assured Daryl, after seeing the distrust in his gaze and the coarse growl of his voice. "Not that I blame you for being that way though. I was...well, I was a son of a bitch back before you left back then."

"That's one way to spin it." Daryl lifted a hand to his mouth and proceeded to chew on the edge of his thumbnail, a gesture that he resorted to when he was nervous or agitated, and couldn't be tamed.

"I've noticed you and Sam haven't been talking for the past couple weeks." Jim said suddenly, causing Daryl to stop gnawing on his thumb and glare at him wordlessly. Shrugging, he continued, "I've also been told to keep my nose out of the whole situation, by my wife. She says that whatever is going on is between you and Sam, and is none of my business."

"Nothin' going on between us and no, it ain't none of your business." Daryl grumbled, annoyed at being hauled in to Jim's office to discuss topics that had nothing to do with the man, but, then again, he had always insinuated himself in to anything involving Sam and that clearly hadn't changed. Scooting to the edge of the seat, Daryl prepared to stand up and leave, but first added, "You ain't gotta worry. You're precious Sam ain't slumming again."

"Daryl, sit down. I didn't ask you in here to argue, that's not my intentions." Jim motioned with his hand for Daryl to sit down and leaned over to pull out the bottom drawer of his desk, when he remembered that there wasn't any whiskey in there. "Well, hell, I'd offer you a drink, but Tyler and Sam drank it all."

"Might wanna lock it up next time. Sam ain't exactly a pleasant drunk." Daryl returned to the seat, sliding down so that his legs stretched out and nearly touched the desk. "What'd you haul me in here for anyhow?"

"I see the way you look at her. You're still in love with Sam, aren't you? Ah, hell, one look and anyone can see you are." Jim mimicked Daryl's pose as much as he could, his old bones not able to assume the laid back position as well as Daryl could. "What are your plans? With Sam?"

"Don't got no plans with Sam. Not that it's any business of yours." Glancing away from Jim's gaze, he studied the photographs that lined the shelf and smiled softly at the sight of the one with Sam and Jacey at the beach. He lifted a shoulder slightly, shrugging as nonchalantly as possible. "Don't really matter none anyhow, she don't want nothing to do with me."

"Hogwash." Jim snorted and shook his head. Leaning forward, he put his forearms on the desk and studied Daryl. Although he'd spent the majority of time that Sam and Daryl had been involved ignoring the fact that they loved one another as much as they did, he had come to realize it later in life when all he could do was regret the decisions he'd made in the first place. "Sam, she walks around like she's strong. Like she got over you, fixed her broken heart, but the truth is...didn't matter who else came along, who showered her with attention, she never stopped loving you, Daryl. Don't let her stubbornness ruin things this time, you're gonna have to make her admit her feelings for you."

"What do you care? You spent the whole damn time we was together trying to break us up. Hell, d'you forget the night you tried to bribe me? Threaten me? Ruin me?" Daryl stood up then, shoving the chair backwards with a screech as the legs slid across the floor. He gestured emphatically towards Jim with a wave of his hand and a handful of colorful curses. "You made her life hell long before I did."

"You're right." Jim admitted calmly, clearly surprising Daryl, who stopped his tirade long enough to stare at him with a furrowed brow. "What? You don't think I realized what I did was wrong? Hell, I was the one that had to comfort her when you left, Dixon. I was here to see what your leaving did to my baby girl. And yes, I admit my part in what happened and I'm here to say that I am sorry, for it all."

"Admit your part?" Daryl scoffed as he resumed his pacing. Cutting a glance at Jim, his eyes sparkled with disbelief and contempt for the man that had once spent a great deal of time trying to make his life a living hell. "Doubt Sam knows all the shit you pulled."

"No, she doesn't. Don't see that there's any reason for her to know everything, it would just break her heart and she's had enough of that done to her." Jim stood up and stepped over to look out the window, where the last vestiges of afternoon sun were beaming through. "But, I was wrong and I am sorry for that. I just...I'm an old man now, Daryl, doubt I'll be around much longer and I have regrets, too many to count, and one of them is that I never got to walk my baby girl down the aisle." He turned away from the window to face Daryl, the regrets he spoke of evident in his face. "I'd like to think I'd get a chance to fix that one."

"Don't go holding your breath. Sam ain't given me so much as the time of day in two weeks." Daryl sighed and felt his shoulders drop a bit as the anger that had risen up inside him deflated. "Appreciate the apology, don't do much, but it's something."

"You and Sam, hell, wasn't what I wanted for my baby, but it's what she wanted and I should've honored that." Jim shifted his gaze from Daryl to the photographs on his shelf to land on the picture of his daughter and Jacey, finally seeing that the missing piece of that photo was standing in the same room with him. "Just think about what I've said, Daryl. Don't let her stubborn streak keep y'all apart any longer. These days, you don't know how much time you've got left and it's stupid not to spend them with the ones you love."

As he walked down the hallway, escaping what could only be described as the strangest conversation he'd ever had with Sam's father, Daryl headed towards the auditorium and pulled open one of the doors to be greeted by the sweet sound of Sam's voice. Smiling, he crossed the empty room, his strides more determined than his mind, which had yet to fully process everything it had just heard.

Opting to use the hallway entrance, Daryl stood just outside the doorway and simply enjoyed the sound of her voice. He could tell it was a new song, simply by the way she played; singing, pausing, correcting, writing and repeating, until it was perfect. It was a process he had once been familiar with, and it apparently hadn't diminished with time.

"Clinging to me, like a last breath you would breathe...You were like home to me, I don't recognize the street."" Sam experimented with the first lines, something that came to her during yet another sleepless night; plaguing her until she'd scribbled down the lyrics dancing through her insomnia riddled brain. She was supposed to be working on a song specifically for Maggie and Glenn's wedding, the one she'd had a part in convincing them to let happen, and yet, all she could do was focus on writing yet another song about a certain someone she refused to acknowledge openly.

Sighing with frustration, she paused and pulled the pencil from where she had jammed it in to the base of her ponytail and scribbled a note in the corner of the paper; returning the pencil to her hair when she was done. "Please don't close your eyes, I don't know where to look without them."

Feeling like a stalker, Daryl stood in the dimly lit hallway, leaning back against the cool cinder block wall, and simply enjoyed the sound of Sam's creative process. He could recall the times vividly when she would sit at the piano, or perch on the porch swing with her guitar, and work on new material. It was something he hadn't realized he missed that much until he'd stumbled upon his past once more. Daryl waited as patiently as possible in the hallway, not wanting to interrupt. A couple handfuls of minutes passed by, so many that the sounds of movement from dinner prep could be heard in the other room, but he'd stand there forever if it meant hearing Sam sing.

"I used to run down the stairs...to the door and I thought you were there...Do you shape to the comfort of us...two lovers loved out of love." Sam paused once more, but this time was to push aside the memories that suddenly popped in to her mind. Recalling the countless days when she'd ran down the stairs at her parents’ house every time someone would ring the doorbell, in hopes that Daryl had returned. Removing the pencil from her hair once more, she chewed on the yellow ridges for a moment before scrawling a notation on the page. She dropped the pencil on to the bench beside her and returned her fingertips to the ivory keys to work on the chorus. "Oh but I know you care, I know it is always been there...But there is trouble ahead and I can feel it...You were just saving yourself when you hide it ...Yeah I know you care...I see it in the way you stare."

The music stopped. Silence filled the hallway as Daryl waited to see if she would resume playing, but after a moment the only thing he heard was the bustle of the others in the auditorium. Mustering up the courage to face her, Daryl turned the doorknob and cautiously poked his head inside to find Sam gathering up a pile of notebooks. She looked up as he took a step in to the room towards her, his heart cracking as she abruptly stood up and shied away from him. Misreading her expression, he sighed with frustration. "I ain't gonna hurt you, Sam. Just wanted to talk."

Daryl had no idea how wrong he was about that. He could hurt her in ways that no other person could, simply by allowing herself to love him again. Sam backed away from him so far that the curtain brushed against her back, but it put the distance she needed between them. Shaking her head, she avoided his intense gaze and muttered, "I can't. Um, not right now. I have to go."

"Don't shut me out." Daryl's voice was too low, barely above a whisper as though his heart wouldn't allow him to project his words out of fear of rejection. He watched as Sam turned her back to him and started searching for the split in the curtain so that she could escape being around him. Sighing, he almost gave up, but the odd sound of her father's voice in his head changed his mind. Crossing the space between them, his arm circled her bicep just as Sam jerked the curtain aside and stepped through the opening. "Just talk to me, Sam."

"I said I can't." Sam whispered, her skin tingled beneath his touch and her body hummed simply because of its proximity to Daryl. Shaking her head, repeated her words with more force and jerked her arm away from Daryl's, momentarily throwing herself off balance. She hadn't been lying to him when she'd said that being with him was too hard, but she had left out the fact that not being with him was harder; far more difficult than being involved with him. But, by doing so, by steering clear of him, she allowed herself the much needed distance to keep her heart intact. Giving in to her feelings for Daryl would allow him the power to break her heart once more, to break her, and Sam didn't think she could come back from that again. Lowering her voice, erasing the hysteria that bubbled up from her anxious nerves, another sleepless night keeping her on edge at all times, Sam apologized. "Not right now, Daryl. I'm sorry."

Shaking her head once more, Sam turned towards the stairs to leave, but pulled up short when the double doors across the room were yanked open and a cluster of men barreled through. She cocked her head to the side and studied them, trying to see past the layers of grime and dirt that coated their skin, the tattered clothing and bloodstains that were liberally splattered across them. Her eyes widened when she realized what she was looking at, or better, who. Her notebooks fell to the ground, the pencils that were stuck inside them scattered across the floor, as she scurried off the stage and took off at a full run towards one of the men that had collapsed just inside the entryway.

"Ryan!"

Daryl's heart clenched at the sound of her scream, the worry that filled it and echoed through the room. He watched for a brief second as Sam tore across the room and skidded to a stop at the side of the man who was kneeling by the door; watched as she fell to the floor beside him with tears spilling down her cheeks. Daryl watched, his heart breaking, his hopes dashing, as Sam sobbed and pulled Ryan in to her arms.

No one noticed the maroon curtain fall back in its place

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