Cowboy

22) A Little Chat

Alicia walked out onto the porch with Maggie. She watched as Andrea ran toward the porch, a sudden bubble of anger swelling in her.

"Where the fuck were you?" Alicia hissed as she got to the porch.

"I heard. Is she alright?" Andrea panted, out of breath.

"She would be if you had stayed with her. Where were you?" Maggie snapped.

"How bad is she?"

"It wasn't deep." Alicia said sharply.

"She wants to live. She made her decision." Andrea smiled, looking past Maggie into the house.

Maggie scoffed. "She tried to kill herself."

"No she didn't." Andrea continued to smile, shaking her head.

"My father is stitching her wrist right now." Maggie said thickly.

"She'll live."

"Stay away from her. From both of us. Don't you dare step foot inside this house again." Maggie snapped, sending Andrea on her way.

Alicia sighed. "I don't agree with, and she wasn't right... but Beth has made her choice. She wants to live and now she knows it. Sometimes you have to cross the line."

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Alicia paced outside of the barn. Daryl was in there with that boy. He sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. He had been in there for about thirty minutes now.

She flinched, hearing something hit the ground. She turned watching as Daryl came out. "You ok?"

"Yeah." He grunted, stopping to look at her. "What?"

She sighed. "Daryl, why are your knuckles bloody?" She grabbed his hands, looking them over.

He shrugged. "Had to teach the little shit a lesson."

She pursed her lips, looking up at him. "Why?" He just shrugged her off, continuing to walk. "Why?" She called after him. He still didn't stop. "Daryl Dixon!" She yelled. "What did he say!?"

Daryl hung his head, sighing before turning to her. He walked up to her. "He's a rapist." He spat. "A fucking rapist."

Alicia looked back to the barn. "Oh..."

"Yeah." Daryl scoffed. "He... he used you as an example. He said 'real pretty girls like the one waiting outside for you' and it... it made me sick."

Alicia sighed, wrapping her arms around Daryl's neck. "I'm ok." She assured him.

He grabbed her face, leaning down so their noses were touching. "If he ever touches you... if he looks at you, thinks about you." He shook his head, laughing. "If he so much as breathes near you... I'll kill him."

His voice was gruff and deep. Alicia wasn't gonna lie... it definitely turned her on.

"And I appreciate that, but you don't have to worry about me." She smiled, leaning up to kiss him. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself."

Daryl chuckled. "I know."

"On a totally unrelated... that was hot." She grinned. "We got five extra minutes?" She smirked, tugging on his belt loops.

Daryl groaned. "We're gonna need a little more time than five minutes." He said huskily.

Alicia tugged harder, pulling him towards her. "Oh yeah... I forgot it takes you twenty."

Daryl grabbed the back of her neck, his lips hovering right over hers. "Naw, I only need twenty minutes so I can show you who's in charge... Darlin'."

Alicia shivered, standing there quite flustered as he walked away. She let out a breath, clearing her throat before following him.

"We will definitely be finishing this conversation later tonight." She mumbled to herself.

She reached the group, going to stand beside Dale.

"Boy there's got a g*ng, 30 men. They have heavy a*tillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna... They're gonna wish they were." Daryl explained to Rick, glancing to Alicia as he said the last part.

"What did you do?" Rick asked, looking down at his knuckles.

"Had a little chat."