Chapter Text
“Okay,” Daryl says as he slides through the back door into the house and finds Rick in the kitchen, gathering mustards and ketchups, “the burgers are on, chip bags are on the table, Lori’s got the lemonade and tea all set, Carl’s been stealing from the cookie plate, and Merle’s trying to deepthroat a hot dog. So...we’re ready?”
“Potato salad,” Rick says as he juggles his fifth bottle, trying to carry everything at once. “Top shelf.”
Daryl grunts and reaches into the fridge, grabs the bowl and turns back to Rick, kicking the fridge door shut. “Check.”
Rick grins over the mayonnaise. “And a kiss.”
Daryl scoffs. “You greedy bastard,” he says, but leans over the salad and the condiment bottles to press his lips firmly to Rick’s. “That going to satisfy you enough to get through the picnic?”
“Satisfy,” Rick says, “is too strong a word. I guess I won’t die.”
Daryl rolls his eyes, but starts walking toward the back and holds the door for Rick so he can slink through with his (five, six, seven?) bottles.
Emerging into the yard is like walking into a circus. Merle is sitting on the picnic table beside the grill, alternatively making slurping sounds at his hotdog and slapping Shane’s ass, who insisted on grilling. Lori and T-Dog are sitting at the picnic table over, T-Dog playing with Lori’s new cornrows and manly gushing about Chamillionaire. And Carl is off by himself, deeply involved in his phone as he carries on what Daryl guesses are two separate teenage sexting conversations, which probably consists of “I kiss the corner of your mouth” and “Let’s hold hands.”
When they come out of the house, Carl lifts his head and gives Daryl that wink that says, “remember how I told you I was dating both Enid and Patrick because we are so grownup and we’ll never get jealous? It’s going well.” Daryl rolls his eyes at the kid, but smiles, and sets the potato salad down on the table in just the right amount of time to lunge forward and grab the ketchup that Rick is dropping while trying to set everything down at once.
“Was it worth it?” Daryl asks.
Rick laughs. “Got it in one trip, didn’t I?”
Daryl shakes his head, but gives Rick a loving shoulder-bump before Rick raises his voice to declare that everything is good to go.
“Good!” Merle says and deep-throats the hotdog in front of Shane again. “Queer-bait and I are ready to eat.”
Lori furrows her brow and frowns. “You shouldn’t use that language in front of Carl.”
“What? Fag? Queer? Ass-pirate?”
“Merle,” Daryl says for the millionth time, “shut your face.”
“Uh huh,” Merle says through his dog. “Chuckles here,” he jerks his thumb at Shane, “decided to get sassy with me last night and call me a faggoty ass vandal. And he knows what that gets him, don’t you, sugar tits? Hell, yeah, you know. Means I get to say as much shit about him as I want and slap his ass with a spatula in public.” Merle grabs his handy-dandy spatula and swats. “All,” swat, “Day,” swat, “Long,” swat.
Shane frowns hella hard, but gives Merle that glimmer in his eye that says he doesn’t really mean it and Daryl really, really, wishes that he didn’t notice how Shane lifts his ass to every hit.
“Can we stop talking about ass-pirates?” Carl asks with a roll of his eyes. “You’re old. It’s gross.”
Merle sucks in an offended breath. “Boy, I will have you know I am in my prime.”
“Please,” Daryl says as he sits down on the bench across from Merle, “that buzzcut mohawk makes you look like your unexpected children have had unexpected grandchildren.”
“Ah, fuck you, man--”
“Language!” Lori says.
“Oh, like it’s any worse than any of your damn rappers, woman,” Merle bites back at her.
“Rap,” Lori says, straightening her back and lifting her nose just slight, “is a sophisticated art form.”
“More sophisticated than your white ass,” T-Dog says from across her and Lori snaps at Merle in a z-formation.
Rick rolls his eyes and sits down beside Daryl with a full plate of food, being the only one that’s even bothered yet to fix his. “I expected that the bickering wouldn’t have started until after we all ate.”
“Oh, Richard,” Lori says, “it’s family. What did you expect?”
Rick smiles. “Aren’t I supposed to expect that hanging out with my family is nice and just always be disappointed? Isn’t that how family works?”
Daryl reaches over and puts his arm around Rick, plays with his curls at the nape of his neck. “You do that, baby, if it makes you happy.”
Rick looks over at Daryl and Daryl gets lost for a moment in Rick’s eyes, bluer than the summer sky above them. He only snaps out of it when Carl goes, “GROSS! Adults,” and rolls his eyes. Across from him, the other couples are staring as well.
Merle wrinkles his nose. “I feel like I need to throw up, but if I do, it’s just going to come out as a glittery rainbow. That shit is disgusting.”
Daryl slides a look over to Lori in hopes that she’ll defend them. Instead, she just raises an eyebrow. “Yo diggity.”
Daryl rolls his eyes. “I can be sweet with my partner, okay? You people do realize that it’s going to be a year next week, right?”
Lori laughs. “Honey, you do realize that it’ll be a year next week for all of us?”
“Nu huh,” Merle says, distraught. “Ain’t been that long.”
“Was summer when we got together,” T-Dog corrects him, “and it’s summer now, man.”
Merle frowns and thinks. Shane reaches forward and ruffles his tiny buzzcut. “Don’t think too hard or you’ll get headaches.”
“We been fairies for a year?” Merle asks him.
“We’ve been guys who have sex while we channel surf titties for a year.”
“Mmmmm,” Merle says with a fond look in his eye that makes Daryl want to throw up. “Nice year.”
“Let’s talk about something besides titties for a minute?” Rick says with a shake of his head. “Lori, how’s school?”
Lori smiles. “Wonderful. Next semester I have a practicum, which means I’ll actually be working in a hospital. As a nurse! Well, not a certified nurse, but a nurse in training.”
“She’ll get there,” T-Dog says and leans forward to do the typical L-Dog eskimo kiss that makes Carl facepalm. “My baby can do anything.”
“And then,” Daryl says, “Carl will be set with a nurse and a cop as his parents.”
Rick elbows him. “And a service manager and a cellphone tower engineer in addition.”
Daryl kicks him under the table and blushes. Merle furrows his brow.
“Did...did my baby brother...get a promotion?”
Daryl shrugs and grabs a chip off of Rick’s plate, trying to devote all of his attention to it. “Not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” Rick says and Daryl glares at him as he breaks the pact to not make a fuss out of this. “Daryl’s manager retired and they practically begged him to step up. And the owner of the company is pretty much a no-show, so Daryl runs that place.”
“Still do repair, though,” Daryl says. “When I want.”
“Yeah, only now you get to throw people around when you want,” Rick says with a smile.
Daryl grins, nice and slow. “I’ll throw you around when I want.”
“I’m going inside!” Carl says and stands up, giving all of the adults a judgemental headshake. “This is worse than the school lunch table.” He grabs a burger and heads into the house, the rest of the group laughing at his exit.
***
Everyone eventually gets their food and they have a rather good meal, catching up on everyone’s lives. At one point, Lori and Shane seem to get into a contest of who can sit on their partner’s laps for longer, but when Rick gives Daryl the big-eyes, Daryl flat out refuses and so Rick has to settle for some snuggling instead.
They stay out until dark and when the sun begins to set, Lori and T-Dog gather Carl for his weekend over at her apartment. Daryl and Rick bid goodbye to all of their guests and set about cleaning up, but it doesn’t take long for them to get distracted.
Daryl throws away the plastic plates and piles what actual dishes they did use into the sink. He’s just about to turn the faucet on when Rick slinks up behind him and puts his arms around Daryl’s waist. “Love you,” he whispers into his ear and then turns him slowly. Daryl allows himself to be turned, his body obeying Rick’s hands like a personal calling. He can’t keep the grin off his face and Rick smiles at him but shakes his head.
“What?” he asks Daryl and Daryl just keeps smiling.
“Just thinking about how nice it is,” he says and pulls Rick to him. “You remember that night Shane left me at the concert? And I stayed here?”
“Yeah?” Rick says and rubs his hands up and down Daryl’s arms.
“I thought about this. About this house,” Daryl looks around at the kitchen, “being ours. About me doing stupid dishes and you kissing me and just...it’s all real, you know? It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed about. You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed about.”
Rick laughs and rolls his eyes. “Now you’re just trying to get laid.”
Daryl grins and leans his forehead against Rick’s. “You know it, baby.”
Rick smiles and then slowly leans forward and presses his lips to Daryl’s, takes his time as he moves them to the right angle and then slips his tongue inside. They kiss right there against the sink, losing themselves in one another until Rick pulls back just slightly, that dreamy and genuine smile still on his mouth. “Let’s go to bed. And I’ll let you sit on my lap this time.”