CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Andie wakes up the next morning and she looks around the room that she slept in. She's by herself, avoiding Daryl for obvious reasons, but she's not worried because she knows that the club was secure when they came back in last night.

The brunette groans as she sits up on the hard floor, stretching as she puts her legs out flat and reaches for the toes of her shoes. She listens for anything going on in the rest of the club, but it seems pretty silent apart from Daryl's faint snores in the room with the pool table.

"You should leave."

Andie jumps as she turns and looks toward the door, seeing a pale brunette standing there as she gets to her feet. The woman doesn't seem exactly menacing, but the chill in the air is enough to confirm what the werewolf has already guessed.

"And you shouldn't have dodged your reaper." Andie says as she slings her bag over her shoulder.

"You're not afraid?"

"Ghosts are nothing compared to what's out there."

"You haven't seen the others who are trapped here." The spirit argues. "I do my best to stay me, but I don't think it's possible to hold on forever."

"It isn't." Andie tells her. "Eventually, you all go off the deep end... I'll take it some here already have."

"They can be cruel." She says, and then they hear something shatter in another room of the club.

"Poltergeists. Fun."

"I drove off the other young couple that was here before, and now you have to leave too." She tells the younger girl. "It isn't safe. They're angry."

"Makes sense. Angry spirits are typically born out of violent deaths, and it doesn't seem like we get peaceful ones anymore." Andie says, and then she sees the bruising around the ghost's throat. "I'm sorry."

"Better to die my way than to be eaten by a reanimated corpse." She reasons. "Now leave."

"Yeah, yeah."

The window behind Andie shatters, and she quickly moves. The ghost who was talking to her is gone, so she heads for the door and starts down the hallway.

Daryl rounds the corner, crossbow in hand, and he stops to look at Andie. "I heard glass break."

"Yup. That way." She nudges him back the way he came, and they head back toward the bar.

"Is it walkers?"

"Nope." She answers as a framed photo flies off the wall behind them. "Time to go."

"What the hell..."

Glasses start to shatter on the bar, and Andie gets him to move toward the door that leads to the patio they were sitting on the night before. A frame with a collection of photos falls off the wall, and the brunette grits her teeth.

"We're going!" She shouts behind her. "Cranky bitch."

"You wanna explain to me what just happened?" Daryl questions as she hops off the patio and they start across the green field.

"Lots of dead bodies apparently equals quite a few angry ghosts." She says. "I believe that was called a haunting."

"A hau—" His words fall short when he turns back and sees a woman standing on the porch, staring after them. He blinks, and then she's gone, like she was never there to begin with. "Okay, time to go is right."

"Mhm."

They start walking through the woods, and Daryl's letting her lead the way. She doesn't seem to be in her usual chatty mood, and it's not hard to guess why. He wants to talk to her about last night, but him not knowing what to say to her or how to act around her is what's gotten them into this situation they're in now...and the one they were in before the prison fell. Anything he tries to say will probably only make it worse. Telling her that she caught him by surprise and he didn't know what to do definitely won't make things any better.

Kiss her back, dumbass, that's what you were supposed to do! He shakes his head as they keep walking.

He's never really been good with his words, and she's already shut down as it is. He can't think of anything that'll make things go back to normal. But is that even what he wants? Their normal.

It's already been pretty well established that he can't tell her how he feels. Not that he's really made any sense of his feelings toward her. She's beautiful, he can see that clear as day. He doesn't like when she's upset, and he's gone out of his way to make her laugh, wanting to lift her mood. He loves the sound of her laugh, he's always known that. Her laugh makes him smile every time.

Daryl stops when he sees the house that she led him to. "We found this place with Michonne and Theo."

"Mhm." The brunette nods as she looks up at the house. "Just because you don't wanna look for them doesn't mean I can't. Maybe they'll think to come here... Even if they don't, we already know there aren't any dead bodies inside." She says before starting up the porch steps.

Andie's smart, stubborn, determined, hard-headed...and even when it pisses him off, he knows he wouldn't change it if he could. She's brave and loyal, possibly to a fault. She cares more than she wants anyone to know, maybe even herself. She always puts other people's well-being above her own — it's infuriating, but it's part of what makes her such a good person.

And he is...an idiot.

Should've fucking kissed her when you had the chance. He grinds his teeth before walking up the steps to follow her inside.

She walks into the house with her knife drawn, but she knows that there are no walkers or people inside. The action isn't so much for show as it is a habit, and a good one to have in all honesty. Being what she is doesn't make her impossible to sneak up on, just a little harder.

The house only has one bedroom, and Andie goes to make sure that it's secure while Daryl checks the bathroom. They already raided the house for supplies when they found it months ago, now they're just making sure that no one can get in through anywhere but the front door.

"I'm gonna check the neighboring houses, see if we missed anything last time. Or, maybe if any other groups left anything behind." Andie says as she walks back into the living room. "Can you make sure that window's secure?"

"Yeah." He nods as he looks over at her, and she turns for the door without sparing him a second glance.

Andie walks back in a little while later with her bloody knife in one hand and a trash bag in the other. She sets the bag on the empty table and starts emptying the contents as Daryl walks over to see what she found.

"Window's good." He says, and she nods.

"Found some stuff in the last house, guess we missed it last time." She tells him. "There were a few walkers, but not too many. Maybe luck is on our side for once."

"If we keep quiet, we should be good then. At least for the night. I haven't heard anything around this place."

"Good."

He watches her for a moment as she sorts through the canned goods. "You didn't seem too fazed back there." He says. "With all the stuff flying around on its own, glass breakin' left and right."

"There's already one version of the dead wandering around out there. Why not another? Do you want peaches or pineapples?" She turns to him, holding up two cans of fruit. "What?"

He shakes his head. "The mystery continues, that's all." He reaches out and takes the peaches, knowing how much she likes pineapple.

"It's not really mysterious. I've believed in ghosts since I was a little girl." She tells him. "Besides, don't I remember Merle telling a story about you and a Chupacabra?"

"I was high. He thinks I imagined it." He says as he walks over to sit in the green recliner.

"Do you think you imagined it?"

"I don't know." Daryl shrugs, and she narrows her eyes as she looks at him, now sitting on the floor on the other side of the room.

"He's not even here, and you still let him get into your head." She says, and he looks over at her, lifting his gaze from the can in his hand. "You're the one who was there. You know what you saw, you know what happened. Why do you let him tell you different all the time?"

"Why do you let the people from your past control you?"

"That is not the same." She argues, shaking her head. "I think about them when I make decisions because I'd want them to be proud of who I am if they were here, but the decisions I make are still my own. And I know for a fact they wouldn't agree with everything I've done."

He keeps his gaze locked on her as he thinks about what she said, and then he nods. "Yeah, it was real. I know what I saw that night." He tells her, and she nods.

"There you go." She shrugs. "So, if there are creatures and dead bodies walking around...then why not the ghosts of people who have died? Seems more realistic, if you ask me."

They sit in silence after that, both having finished their fruit. They're still hungry, but they have to ration their supplies. Can't afford to be stupid about it, and they don't have the resources that they used to.

Andie gets to her feet as it's starting to get dark outside, and Daryl looks up at her. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep." She tells him, but she's looking at the floor as she speaks. "If you want, we can share the bed... And I promise I'll keep my hands to myself." She then walks to the bedroom, and he closes his eyes as he sighs.

He knows that she's uncomfortable around him now, but he didn't think that things would stay so awkward for so long. She's not usually the type to be embarrassed, so he thought she'd have made a joke and brushed it off by now.

The bed's wedged into the corner of the room, and Andie's laying on the far side by the wall when he walks in. Her back's to him as he sets his crossbow on the floor, resting it against the wall beside the bed. He sees her shoes on the floor at the foot of the bed, and he decides to leave his there as well before he lays down on his back.

There's only one pillow, and he pushes it toward her. "Here." He holds it above her, and she turns her head to look at it for a moment before she takes it from his hand, mumbling a quick thanks before laying down in the same position again.

Daryl doesn't sleep much, and light coming in through the window wakes him up early the next morning. He takes a deep breath as he lifts his arm and places his hand behind his head. Not long after, Andie rolls over and curls up next to his side. Her fingertips brush his arm as she moves to place her hand under her head, and he can feel how cold she is.

She's still asleep as she moves closer to him, and he hears her breathing deepen as she rests her head on his chest. He hesitates for a moment before moving his hand from behind his head and wrapping his arm around her. The brunette moves again, seeking out the warmth she feels radiating off of him, and her hand settles on his chest as well.

Andie stirs awake a little while later, and she hears birds chirping outside the window. She takes a deep breath as she starts to move, but immediately stops when she feels fingers tighten around her hand. The brunette lifts her head, seeing Daryl asleep as she's cuddled into him, and she feels his arm slide from her waist as she carefully starts to sit up.

His eyes open as she pulls her hand from his, and he blinks a few times as he looks up at her. Her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she quickly pulls away from him.

"Sorry. I'm sorry." She rushes out as she crawls to the end of the bed before hopping over the frame at the foot of it.

"Andie..." His voice is gruff, and he watches her snag her shoes and her weapons belt before quickly exiting the bedroom.

The brunette's standing on the front porch, shoes on her feet and belt around her waist when she hears his footsteps coming up behind her. His shoes are on as well, and his crossbow's slung across his back as he looks at her; she's staring straight ahead with her arms crossed over her chest.

"It ain't that big a deal, really."

"Yes, it is." She mutters. "I'm an idiot, and I'm sorry."

"Will you quit apologizing?" He takes a step forward. "I get why you're upset, and I'm s—"

"I'm not upset, I'm humiliated." She tells him, covering her face with her hands. "God, Merle was right. I was a stupid, hormonal teenager who fell for the man who saved her. And now..." She scoffs, shaking her head as she pushes her hair away from her face.

"You actually told my brother how old you are?" He asks, trying not to get hung up on the fell for part of what she just said.

"He wouldn't leave me alone, kept saying I didn't look older than sixteen. He was getting under my skin, and then he started calling you a cradle robber and more colorful names. Your brother's a pig." She says, and he nods. "I said that I was twenty, he did the math to tell him that I was eighteen when Glenn and Rick found me...and then his comments got more annoying. Can we just— I don't wanna talk about any of this. Quite frankly, I'd be glad if the earth opened up and swallowed me whole right about now."

"The other night..." He starts, and she groans as she squeezes her eyes shut. "Look, Andie, I—"

"Andie!" A familiar voice gets their attention, and they both look out into the woods to see who's running their way. "Andie! Daryl!"