The ride home is quiet. I'm thinking about everything and I have to wonder if the rat couldn't be someone who Merle pissed off. He or she did mention only him to the cops, not me, not Oscar, only Merle. The cops didn't even know specifics like 'a black guy and a white guy were with him'. Maybe it's some kind of warning, but from who? I didn't want to bring it up before, in case Merle actually did have some enemies he'd think could be behind this. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. I'm positive he wouldn't want to discuss it in front of Oscar and Lumen.

And speaking of Lumen, I am also kinda curious about the story behind her hate for the cops now. But it's linked to her scar and I more or less promised I wouldn't ask about it. So I'm not sure how to go about it and not break that promise. I sneak a glance her way and see her deep in thoughts of her own. She didn't say a word during the whole trip either.

"Do we have something to eat at the house?" I rasp quietly, my throat is dry, but it successfully breaks her out of her musing.

"What?"

"I asked if there is something to eat at home, or do we need to stop somewhere. We'll be passing the last fast food place in a minute."

"Oh, right! No, I don't think there is. I didn't have time to go grocery shopping so the leftovers we ate yesterday were the last we had, I think."

"Alright, I'll stop there then."

She just gives me a nod and turns back to the window. I won't be saying some shit about this whole thing ending alright, I'm on edge because of this situation too. No one likes to have pigs sniffing around.

We are driving into the parking lot soon after. It's after dinner time but the diner is quite full of people. Ugh, I am in no mood to be around anyone. I fish some bills and thrust them into Lumen's hand, she looks down at it, a bit perplexed so I clarify.

"I'll wait here, wanna smoke. I'll have whatever you are having as long as it's not something full of green leaves."

"Men!" she mutters but takes the money before leaving the car with a small smile on her face. I'm pretty sure that was the first smile I saw on her since Merle's visit yesterday. And I think I know exactly how to cheer her up, and myself for that matter.

I get out and let the door open to let some air inside the cabin, it's getting darker, the sun went down and the temperature is finally somewhat tolerable, so I light a smoke outside and wait.

She doesn't take as long as I thought she would. She's not far from me when I hear yelling.

"Hey! Hey, Lumen! Wait up!" I look past her and see a short brunette jogging between other cars after her. Lumen glances behind her too and when she sees who it is she turns back with a tense small smile. She quickly closes what's left from the distance between us and hands me the bags.

"Could you put this inside, I'll just say hi." And without waiting for my response she goes to greet the girl. I look down at the bags and for some reason, the words lost puppy pop out in my head. I shake it, no, being decent to my girl doesn't mean I'm some lost puppy. I hear her call out, "Oh hey, Emma, I didn't see you inside," as I turn to do just as she asked.

I sit in the truck and wait for her. I can see them from my seat and it looks like it'll take awhile because the brunette keeps talking, she goes on and on, so I look inside the bags and pick the bigger burger. I didn't realize how hungry I am until I smelled the food. I wolf it down in a matter of minutes, wait for a few more and then decide to go fetch her. Not that I mind her talking to people, I just want to go home already. I get out again and walk to them. The other girl is still talking but as she sees me approach she stops with a startled expression on her face.

"Um, Lumen, I think we should go somewhere else."

"What? Why?" Lumen asks and looks around, searching for what made the other girl so nervous only to find me.

"Oh! It's okay, that's my-" and she stops and looks at me again like she's asking for help, but with what? When I don't say anything she finishes. "-Daryl. I mean, that's Daryl, we live together now." That information doesn't seem to settle the girl at all. She keeps giving me worried glances while whispering to Lumen like I couldn't hear it from this distance.

"Like together together? Are you sure that's a good idea? Honey, I know you must be devastated after what happened with Anthony, but this guy?"

"Hey, you stupid bitch. I can hear you so-" But Lumen cuts me off.

"-You know what, Emma? I don't see how, where or with who I live with is any of your business. You don't know shit about what happened with Anthony either, safe for some bullshit gossips, so don't tell me how I do or don't feel about it. I'll talk to you about the paper tomorrow at school. We're leaving." She grabs my shirt and starts to drag me to the truck. I glance back to see the girl staring at us, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Damn! I bet she'd look exactly the same while choking. I would wipe that dumb look right off.

When I check again after starting the truck she's gone. What are the chances someone would link it to me through Lumen if the bitch disappears? I glance at Lumen as we leave the parking lot and get on the road again.

"Friend of yours?" I ask.

"Did it seem to you like she's my friend?" She starts, sounding a bit pissed but when she sees my smirk she calms down, clearing her throat she continues. "Sadly I do need to talk to people at school at times. We do have these projects here and there which we have to do in groups or in pairs. Well, she's my other half for this semester. I don't like her much but, you know, I have to work with her if I wanna get a decent evaluation." She sighs and starts with her food, popping some fries in her mouth.

"Can't you get another partner?"

"Not this close to the exams. She was okay at first but then, well you heard, she's too dumb and nosy for my taste. I have a hard time to get her to shut up and get on with the work we have. I think I'd be better off on my own honestly." She talks between her bites. She manages to talk and eat and not to look like a pig. I wish Merle could do that.

"Really, how come?"

"Well obviously because the time she's talking about bullshit that I don't give a crap about I could work on the paper, it's not like she's that much of a help."

"Hmm." I leave the conversation at that, there would be more complications from this than I need right now anyway. I'll have to find someone else, again.

After few more minutes, I'm pulling over in front of our house. When we enter Lumen turns to her room. Oh no, no, no, no. I grab her arm and pull her to me until her whole front is nicely pressed against me. I bend down a bit and murmur.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I just wanted-"

"-I wanna fuck, how about you?" I ask while squeezing her ass with my other hand pushing her even closer to me, letting her feel I'm more than ready to go. But she's not apparently because she presses her hands against my chest trying to make some room between us. I lean back to see her face. She's blushing but keeping eye contact. "What?"

"Umm, well, it's not that I don't want to." I see her gulp. "I'm just a bit sore after yesterday, so, maybe you could... we could go slowly this time. You know, more gently?"

She got me lost at slowly, how the fuck do you fuck slowly? You either fuck or you don't. I could try for her I guess, but for the gentle part? I don't even know how to start trying with that one. I never really thought about it, I never had to be. The two words 'fucking' and 'gently' don't fall into the same category where I am concerned. And she's still looking at me expectantly, waiting for what exactly? In the end, it's her who breaks the silence.

"What? You're looking at me as if I grew a second head. " Yeah, I think that one is more likely to happen. "Come on. Tell me what are you thinking so hard about?" Well if she wanna know.

"I'm thinking I won't like that. I've never even tried to be gentle because it's not the way I like to do it. You were here yesterday. You know how I like it. I know how I like it. You got off alright, more than once, so why change it?"

"Look." She stops to think about it for a moment. "Okay, I get it, this isn't really your thing, but it's mine. As much as I enjoyed yesterday, I like gentle lazy sex once in awhile. We did it your way, let me show you my way now."

First thing that came to my mind is 'what does it matter what her thing is?', when I realized that it actually does matter to me. I want her to enjoy herself with me. I want her to come to my bed willing and happy and to leave it as satisfied as me. So, I guess it won't kill me to try something different for once.

"Alright, what do you want me to do then?" Her face lights up as soon as I say that. She starts to push me toward my room, with the biggest smile I saw on her so far.

"You don't have to do a thing, you just lie down and enjoy." One of her hands slides up over my shoulder and behind my neck and she uses it as a leverage to pull herself up for a kiss. No, not a kiss, she gives me few small pecks before licking my lower lip with the tip of her tongue. I bend to kiss her properly but she moves away and pushes me down on my bed. I sit down, but when she pushes some more for me to lie down I don't budge. I can't explain it, but I just don't want to be lying with her standing over me. She gives me a questioning look but I only shake my head 'no'. She doesn't let it discourage her though. She takes a step back and with a, "Okay, I'll go first." she starts to work on her clothes until she's completely naked in front of me.

That little striptease was enough to make me hard and to set my mind on the right track. I reach for her, grabbing her hips I pull her to me and before I really think about what I'm doing I'm biting her right tit. Her hands shot up to grasp my hair and I hear her suck in her breath sharply. It wakes me up from my horny daze and I realize that this probably wasn't what she had in mind when she talked about gentle sex, crap. When I look up I see her eyes are wide but she's sporting an amused smile, she looks gorgeous. I move my hand to the place I just bit and massage it to ease any pain she might feel. It wasn't as harsh as to break the skin but there is a red and even little blue imprint visible.

"I didn't mean to... you go on."

"You sure?" I nod impatiently. That's what I just said, isn't it? "Okay, will you lie down so I can strip your clothes off?" I nod again and she pushes me down on my back and this time I let her.

She takes my shirt off, leaving kisses all over my chest, giving extra attention to every scar she finds there, then my shoulders, my neck, my stomach and now she's finally getting to my pants. This is taking forever. I know I told her, she could have it her way tonight, but this is just ridiculous. The only reason my dick is still hard is because I have a nice view of her naked body and because I've been playing with her tits the whole time she's been fooling around with her mouth. Well now at last her mouth's taking the right direction. When my pants are off, she kneels between my legs and I can feel her tongue making a path from my balls over the length of my dick, I let out a loud satisfied groan and quickly grab her hair. After all this teasing I deserve a proper blowjob!

"Come on, give it a good suck!" I tell her maybe a bit harshly but I'm not at all sorry for it, my self-control is wearing thin. Despite my tone she does just that. She takes a hold of me with one hand, where is the other one I have no idea, she takes me deep in her mouth and sucks, making me moan loudly with pleasure. I can feel more than hear her moan around me too, then she makes a move as if to bob her head, and for a brief moment, just for a second, I'm tempted to tighten my grasp on her and push her down, choke her on me just a little. But I get hold of myself quickly and don't do it. I can't do it to her, not like this. I let go with one hand and prop up on my elbow so I could watch her sucking me off, and now I can see where her other hand is. She's working on her pussy. I can't see what she's doing exactly, but the thought makes me even hornier. I waited too long as it is, so I tug at her hair slightly, to get her attention. When her eyes meet mine I ask.

"You ready?" She doesn't answer, instead, she let my cock slip from her lips and crawls up on my lap, straddling me. Her hand goes back to my dick to line it up with her pussy. She's looking down at us but when my fingers squeeze her hips and I try to force her down on me, she stops and whispers.

"Let me do it, okay?"

I nod, but then I realize she doesn't see me, so I just loosen my hold on her with a quiet, "Alright. Go on then." I don't wanna push but if she won't be on my dick in five seconds I'm just gonna throw her on the bed and fuck her senseless, my way! But just then she eases herself down onto me. Not all the way, just a few inches, then she goes back up and then down again. She repeats the movements until I'm completely in her. She stays still for a moment and then starts to move her hips painfully slowly. I let myself fully fall on the bed to have some leverage, I put my hands on her thighs and start thrusting against her from below. I watch her moving above me and she really seems to be having a good time. She's rocking her hips while playing with her nipples with one hand and working her clit with the other. Very nice view, I have to say, this slow fucking has its ups.

After few more minutes, her breathing gets more heavy, louder, I feel her tensing around me as her orgasm starts and then she does something I didn't expect at all. She slides her hand from her tit up to her throat and with a moan she closes her fingers around it, making my hips to jerk and my control to snap. I grab her and roll us over for me to be on top. I push her legs more open and then I push back inside her. I lift one of her knees and slung her leg over my arm so I could get deeper, feeling I'm gonna come soon. She's still in her post orgasmic bliss and doesn't seem to mind the change at all. Her eyes are closed and she's moaning softly. I don't think she's even paying much attention to what I'm doing with her. Her hand slipped from her neck when I moved her though, so I let go of her leg and close my own fingers lightly around it. And as soon as I do, I'm coming too.

When I'm finished I move off her, landing beside her. She turns her head to look at me, a triumphant smile on her face.

"So? Wasn't that bad, huh?"

"Nope." But that's all the answer she gets. Most of the time I just wanted to pin her down and start with the fucking already and the one thing that got me off was the one thing I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate if I'd done it like I really want to. But then again, she was the first to grab her neck. Maybe she has some hidden kink in her. Maybe she'd be open to the idea if I met her halfway. I could go slow for a bit and then she could let me have some fun, I would make it fun for the both of us. The thought makes me smile and as I do I feel her snuggle up to my side. I let her rest for a few minutes and then nudge her side.

"I've been promised a back rub in the shower."

I hear her giggle quietly. "No, I said, I'd love to wash your back, some other time. No promises there. And I didn't even mention a back rub."

"Well, you mentioned it now! Come on, up, up!" I push her out of the bed and towards the bathroom.

Despite her initial protests, she ends up giving me rather decent back rub. Not that I had that many in my life but this one just felt really good. I can feel her stop to examine my scars every so often, then give each one a special rub. She felt them yesterday but now she's seeing them for the first time and she's giving them the same attention she gave to the ones on my chest. After she's done she moves to wash rest of my body and when she finds me hard again I turn to her with a smirk.

"Guess we are not done yet." And with a wink, I stand behind her, grab her shoulders and try to move her to the wall. She smiles at me but I can feel her tensing up under my hands.

"I'm sorry, but I think I'm done."

"Why? Still sore?"

"Yeah."

"You just gave me the 'show and tell' lesson about how to go slow. Come on, I'll go easy on you, promise!"

I slide my hands down her arms until I get to her wrists, I grab them and move them so her palms rest flat against the wall. Stepping closer to her, I nudge her legs open with my knees but she still seems reluctant to move. I kiss the side of her neck and whisper in her ear.

"If it'll hurt just say so and I'll stop. Trust me." I nudge her legs again and she gives in, standing with her legs wide apart. "That's my girl." I rasp quietly. She then bends her back pushing her ass against me in the process, giving me another idea entirely. I ran my palms over her cheeks looking at the little hole there. I might take too long to think about it because she suddenly yelps.

"Oh no, you don't!"

I look up to see her watching me with a startled expression. Yeah, she knows exactly what I was thinking about

"What about the hand?" I slip one of my hands around her and up to close it around her throat, but without any pressure. "You like that?"

She hums and nods. "Yeah, sometimes I like to feel how fast my pulse is when, you know, I'm about to come."

"Do you like when someone else holds it?"

She shifts nervously under me. "I don't know, I never asked anyone to do it. It's not like I can feel it with someone else's hand."

"I'll leave my hand here to feel it, yeah?" She doesn't say anything but she does turn her head forward and rubs her ass against me. I guess that's a permission to continue and I grind my dick against her while sliding my other hand up from her cheek to play with her breasts and nipples, then down to her pussy to rub her clit.

It doesn't take that long before I hear her moaning and can feel her getting wet all over for me again. I take my hand from her pussy and press at the small of her back to bend her more for better access. I then grab my dick to line it up with her and push in. I can't be more than two inches inside when I feel her move slightly away from me so I grasp her hip to hold her still but don't push any further right away. Just like she did before I withdraw a little and then push back and continue to do so until I'm all the way in. I stay still for a moment. God, does she feel amazing. My hand on her neck twitch and I suppress the desire to squeeze it. Instead, I focus on her face.

"You good?" It sounded more like a groan but she heard because between her soft moans she gives me a quick nod so I start to move, few long, slow thrusts. I start stroking her clit again, putting more pressure on it. "You good for me to go faster?" Another nod and I start to really move then. The muscles in my right hand twitch again, but I manage to keep the hold on her light. I do feel her blood pumping through the veins under my fingers just like she said. Despite the hold being familiar this particular feeling isn't. And it's a turn on. I still my fingers on her clit, I can't concentrate on the movements no more, my hips start to snap harder and I can feel her brace herself against the wall to take it. I feel her tighten around me and her moans get louder, breathing faster, her body tense up and like a snap, she falls over the edge and I follow soon after.

I lean over her to rest my own hand against the wall to catch my breath, kissing her head in the process. It doesn't take long for me to slip from her and I can see from where I'm standing my cum sliding down her thigh. I watch it for a moment when I realize I didn't use a condom once with her. Shit! How could I forget? I never forget! I turn to lean my back against the wall.

"Hey, darling?" I move her dumb hair from her face and turn her head to me. "You are on some pills, right?" Please be on pills!

"Umm, nope." Fuck! "I don't need them." What?

"What do you mean, 'you don't need them'?"

"Well, you saw my scar. When they did it, they messed me up. I went through a series of surgeries to be put back together, but I've been told I won't be able to get pregnant. Apparently, there is too much scarring."

"Oh, good," I say in relieve when I realize how it sounded. "Not good, I mean-"

"-I know what you meant." She smiles up at me. "I should have told you, I just couldn't find the right time."

I pull her to my side for a moment, giving her awkward half hug before pushing her fully under the water spray and washing her. When I get between her legs I pet her lightly.

"How's the pussy?" The question makes her smile.

"She's good. Thanks." She leans forward to kiss me. "Let's leave her alone for tonight though," she whispers against my lips. Huh, delicate little pussy looks like we need to tighten her up a bit. I smirk at the thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As usual, Lumen's gone before I even wake up. Not that I mind, I like my quiet mornings. But then again, Lumen is so quiet that there wouldn't be a difference.

I asked Merle if he didn't piss someone off lately. That maybe that could be that same someone tipping the cops off. His answer was, "I piss off people every day, baby brother, but none of them would try to get back at me through the cops. Nobody I know wants to have to deal with pigs for any reason." I guess that makes sense. Didn't help with our problem at all though. We decided to leave it be for the moment, see what happens since there isn't much we can do anyway.

The day's going as usual until I hear Joe call for me.

"Hey, Daryl, there is a guy asking for you personally."

I slide from under the car I'm working on. "What kind of bullshit is that? I don't have any specialization. What I can do, everyone here can do."

"Well, he said he doesn't want anyone else touching his car. I don't know why, and I don't care. He's waiting outside."

What the hell? But Joe's the boss and I do need a job so I drag my legs outside. There is a guy I've never seen before, leaning against black Impala, 1967? Yeah, looks like 67'.

"Nice ride." He turns to me and holds out his hand with a big smile I wanna break his face for.

"Thanks. Hi, I'm Paul. I heard you are the best around here." He lets the arm fall to his side when he realizes I won't shake it.

"Yeah? From whom?" That seems to make him pause like he wasn't expected that question.

"From a friend. I know nothing about cars, but this one was a gift from someone important to me. Well, it does these strange noises, I thought, best to take it for a checkup, right?" Fucking hell, how someone can be this cheerful in this fucking heat. "So I called my friend, because I'm not from around here, and he told me to take it to you." I think it's bullshit, but whatever.

"The office is there." I point to where Joe sits. "He'll do the paperwork with you, leave the keys, Joe should call you sometime tomorrow." With that, I turn around and head to the garage again.

"Hey!" He calls after me. "Couldn't you give me a ride to the town?" Is he serious right now?

"Do I look like a fucking taxi driver to you? There is a bus station down this street." Unbelievable. What kind of asshole is this? Before the door from the garage slams close behind me I hear him yell.

"Okay! sorry! No hard feelings, yeah?"

I just go back to the car I work on. I hear someone chuckle, so I look around and of course, it's Merle.

"Looks like you got an admirer there, baby brother!" Then he burst out laughing, and all of the others join soon after.

"Shut up, you dick!" Fucking pricks! I can't wait to get out of here.

After my lunch break, I get to the car that cheerful asshole brought in and it just pisses me off more. It looks someone wanted to mess with him and fooled around with it. It's no wonder the car makes strange noises when every other screw or nut is loosened and now it's up to me to check every fucking one of them to be sure it doesn't blow up somewhere. Usually, I like working on cars, but this is just bullshit.

At the time I'm finally done with the bitch it's late, everyone else besides Joe has already left. I told him I'll stay because of my early leave Monday, but I just wanted to have this out of my hair so I wouldn't have to go back to it in the morning.

When I get home, Lumen's home. She's usually at home in the evening. There is a casserole waiting on the stove and it smells like some kind of stew. Great, I'm starving. She's in her room, her door is open and she has lights on so I go say hi and find her on her bed in the middle of papers and books. It's always like that when she's studying.

When she hears me come to the room, she puts the book in her hands down to greet me. "Hey. How was your day?"

"Hi." I bend down, resting my hands on the bed on either side of her, to give her a kiss. "I don't even want to think about it. Less talk about it. You gonna study tonight?"

"Yeah, I didn't do anything in the last two days, I don't want to get behind my schedule again. It makes me nervous," she says while playing with my hair. It's getting too long. "There is dinner ready. I used the deer you brought two weeks ago. I don't want to brag, but it tastes really good."

"That's what you think, but it tastes good because it's my deer." I give her one more kiss. "Come to my bed when you finish."

"It might be late."

"Doesn't matter," I say and stand up then go eat the dinner.

A few hours later I feel her snuggle against my side and I finally fall asleep.

 I hope you enjoy the story. If you do, feel welcome to push that little star to let me know, or better yet, leave me a comment ;)