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( Terribly Desirable ) ✝︎ ─── 11.
❝ Chupacabra. ❞

     MELODY TAPPED her fingers against the hood of the car as she looked at the map Rick was showing her. He had already discussed everything with the rest of the group, and since she had slept in ── Melody and Carl had stayed up later than she expected ── Rick had to explain everything to her.

Melody hadn't been paying attention to what he was saying, her eyes glancing to his hands every time he pointed to some place on the map. She nodded her head every few moments to make it look like she was listening.

She peeled her eyes away from his hands after she glanced at the silver ring on his finger, leaning her elbows against the hood of the car to look at the map. She had gotten most of what he was saying, the rest had just went through one ear and out the other.

"So, which group do you wanna go with?" Rick asked after he finished explaining, looking up at her. Melody stares at him with an annoyed expression, she expected him to know the answer already.

"Stop asking stupid fucking questions, Grimes" Melody rolled her eyes, grabbing her crossbow that was leaning against the side of the car that Rick had gave her back after a while of debating. Rick rolled his eyes at her, folding the map up and placing it in his back pocket.

Rick had started to learn how Melody worked, which expression she pulled at him meant, which rude gesture she gave him meant, how her tone would change depending on who she spoke to. It was normally a pissed off one whenever she was speaking to him, Shane or Andrea, when she was speaking to Carl, Carol or Lori, it seemed as though pure sugar had came out of her mouth instead.

Right now, she meant that she was going with him whether he liked it or not. Daryl had already left a while ago, telling Rick not to let Melody follow after him since he was taking a horse and he knew that Melody wasn't the best at riding horses. Since Melody had decided she was going with Rick, that meant that he'd have to tell Shane to go with someone else since he didn't want to deal with their bickering.

☾

RICK WAS pretty sure that his ears were going to explode at this point. Melody had been ranting about how she was still pissed at him for leaving Merle behind, how she was sort of glad Otis was dead after shooting Carl, but at the same time she felt sorry for his friends and family, and how Harry had been really creepy towards both her and Carl last night when everyone had went to bed.

Rick stopped in his tracks, turning to face Melody with raised eyebrows. "What do you mean, he was being creepy?"

Melody shrugged her shoulders, stopping when she seen that he had stopped. "He just kept looking at Carl with this really weird look on his face."

Rick waited for her to continue, his eyebrows still raised and a slightly pissed off look on his face. "What type of look, Melody?"

"I don't know," Melody huffed, running her hand through her hair before deciding to tie it up since she was getting too warm. "The type of look you don't give a child."

Rick tensed up, his eye twitching slightly and his grip on his gun tightened. Melody watched as Rick turned straight back around in the direction of the farm, practically stomping his way there. Melody groaned as she followed after him, her legs already aching from how much she had walked.

"Can you slow down?" Melody huffed as she tried to catch up with Rick. Rick ignored her ── he had a habit of doing that ── speeding up as he gets closer to the farm. Rick caught sight of Harrison, practically running towards him. Rick yelled his name, throwing the gun he was holding to the ground. As soon as Harrison turned, Rick landed a punch to his nose.

Harrison stumbled back, a curse escaping his chapped lips as his hand flies to hold his bleeding, most likely broken, nose. Melody grabbed the gun laying on the ground next to them, just to make sure that they didn't end up shooting each other.

"What the fuck?" Harrison curses, failing to dodge Rick's punch again. Melody watched with amusement as Rick and Harrison managed to end up rolling around on the grass, throwing punches at each other. Rick landed the most punches, Harrison's blood somehow ended up on Rick's face as he practically almost punched him to death.

When Rick finally had enough, he landed on final punch to his face, effectively knocking him out cold. Melody handed him his gun as he walked over to her. She noticed the cuts on his knuckles, reminding herself to convince him to let her clean them.

Rick shook his hand to get rid of the stinging on his knuckles before wiping the blood on his face off with his palm. "Why didn't you wake me up last night?"

"I didn't want to leave Carl in the room alone with him," Melody replies, looking over at the bloodied face of Harrison. "Hershel isn't gonna be happy."

"I'll just tell him that his son is a creep," He responds, his fingers touching his burst lip with a slight wince. Melody takes a glance at his lips, telling herself that it was just because of the cut on them.

☾

MELODY SLAPPED Andrea as hard as she could the minute she seen her, glaring hard at the woman. Andrea looked shocked from the sudden slap, too stunned to do anything. "The next time you do something stupid like that again, I'll kill you."

Melody didn't let Andrea reply, turning back around and walking into the house. Hershel was stitching Daryl's wounds up while Daryl told them about where he found Sophia's doll.

She grimaced at the sight of her dad without a shirt on. He was covered in dirt and blood which made him look worse. Melody gestured for Rick to move out of her chair with an annoyed look on her face, sitting down and glaring at her dad. Daryl rolled his eyes, wincing as Hershel pulled the needle through his skin.

"You stink," Melody comments, narrowing her eyes at Daryl. Daryl ignored her, watching as Hershel finished stitching him up.

"How's he looking?" Rick questions as Hershel placed the needle back onto the cabinet next to the bed. Melody slapped Daryl's hand when he went to touch the stitches, rolling her eyes at him.

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly," Hershel replied as he walked over to the small bucket to wash his hands. "Any idea what happened to my horse?"

"Yeah, the one who almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country," Daryl responded with annoyance. Melody stifled a chuckle at the thought of her dad being thrown of a horse.

"We call that one Nelly, as in Nervous Nelly," Hershel told him, drying his hands. "I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long."

"Tell me about it," Melody sighs, slapping Daryl's hand again. "Stop touching it, you'll get it infected."

Daryl groaned in annoyance, watching as Rick and Shane left the room. Hershel waited until the door closed behind Shane before looking over at Melody.

"Any idea on how my son ended up unconscious and bloody?" Hershel asked Melody. Melody shook her head, faking a confused look. Hershel nodded his head, checking the stitches to make sure they weren't popping before leaving.

Daryl looked over at his daughter, nudging her hand when he seen that she had started to zone out. "You good?"

Melody hums, nodding her head. "Just thinking about Uncle Merle and the fact that he's running around with one hand." She paused for a few moments, biting the skin around her nail. "Do you think he's still alive?"

Daryl took in a deep breath, not answering the question. He most likely would be alive, it's Merle for crying out loud, yet, there was still a nagging feeling that a walker had gotten him. 

☾

     MELODY FED Leona the food off her plate after she had ate enough, sipping at the water in her glass. Everyone was silent, only the sound of forks and knives clattering together echoed throughout the house.

"Does anybody know how to play guitar?" Glenn asked with a smile on his face as he turns to speak to the other table. "Dale found a cool one, somebody's got to know how to play."

"I haven't touched one since I was like thirteen," Melody replies, putting her glass down. "But, I think I know how to play it."

"What can't you do?" Glenn smiles happily at her. Melody smiles back, that familiar feeling of someone staring at her causing her to glance over at the person she had a suspicion it was. Rick took a sip of his drink when she looked over at him, neither one of them looking away.

Shane looked between the two, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Shane had started to notice the lingering looks the two had started to give each other. When Rick was telling Shane that he had to pair up with someone else on the hunt for Sophia, Rick had kept looking over at Melody as she spoke to Carol.

After everyone had finished eating their dinner, Melody waited until Carol walked out of the room Daryl was in. She had taken some food to him and had a quiet conversation that Melody couldn't make out. When Carol walked out of the room, Melody sent her a soft smile and gave her a quick hug.

Daryl looked over at her when she walked in, picking at the food Carol gave him. Melody rolled her eyes at him eating the food with his fingers instead of the fork. She sat down on the side of the bed, reaching over to grab the fork and shoving it into his hands.

"Use it," Melody huffed in annoyance, eyes narrowed at him. Daryl grunted and took the fork, hesitantly using the cutlery to eat his dinner. "You stink, you need a shower."

"No," Daryl replies, the thought of a shower grossing him out. Melody stared at him, grimacing at the dirt and grime on her dad. Daryl noticed her expression and groaned. "Fine."

Melody smiles happily, handing him the glass of water after he gestured to it.