THE WALKING DEAD - Tara x Dale: A Love to Be Reckoned With

Chapter 1

Dale had spent the entirety of the afternoon gazing through those binoculars hoping he would catch even a glimpse of Tara. Oh, how he missed her. Wouldn't that dreadful supply run with Abraham ever end? While some of the Alexandrian's theorized that she would cheat on Dale with the fiery red-head with a temper as easily lit up as dynamite, Dale knew he needn't worry - he knew she was faithful to him. He was her prince in shining Hawaiian armor with a Winnebago steed.

Dale was wearing freshly pressed gray pants that were baggy at the bottom but very tight on his thighs so that they showed off his legs in a way that Tara found very attractive, a sweat-stained undershirt that he had since Atlanta because it was what Tara also liked, a yellow-colored Hawaiian shirt with flowers and tikis along the back and two pockets on the front, and a fishing hat that covered his bald head.

Tara was probably thinking about Dale's hot legs right now. She liked them so much. She would sometimes put on Dale's fishing hot atop her dark haired head, his dark blue Hawaiian shirt with light blue flowers and only one pocket in the front, and his khaki pants with the little stains on them (which she liked those most because they smelled like him since he had never once washed them on her request).

"Are you really still looking for her, Dale!? It's been a week - BE PATIENT!!" called Rick, who had a scruffy beard today because he hadn't shaven in a while and was wearing a blue button up western cut shirt and tight fitting dark jeans with western style boots that complimented his blue button up western cut shirt with a pair of bright red and purple sunglasses. He had two gardening gloves on because he planned on gardening later that day. On top of his head was a beanie that covered his curly hair - it was cold, so he wanted to keep himself warm. But what he really wanted was denim shorts. Maybe he could borrow them from Daryl, who had a really nice tight pair of denim shorts that were stitched at the bottom so they had cuffs. The denim shorts would compliment the blue button up western cut shirt and western style boots and the dark blue beanie nicely.

"I want to lay my eyes upon her as soon as she comes through those gates!" Dale yelled back from behind his dark pair of binoculars that hung around his hairy neck. Today he was wearing Spick N Span Brand Cologne because he wanted to smell great for Tara for when she got back because she would likely smell good, too, and they would have to match nicely so when they hugged the smells would blend nicely. 

Hours passed and he kept his binoculars glued to his gorgeous eyes and his heart raced in hopes of seeing his beloved girlfriend. He had put on a jacket about thirty minutes ago and it had a big bold eagle and a tiger printed on the back as it probably belonged to a biker at one point and those were probably symbols for their riding group or something like that but either way, it was a big dark jacket that did not fully suit Dale's personality but he knew he at least could be warm. He also was wearing loafers. They were dark brown, like Tara's hair. The laces were black, like his eyebrows. The bed of his RV felt so empty without her warm embrace under the teal and bright pink and dark mauve comforter with the filigrees all over them - it was a Kmart purchase years and years ago and only Tara made Dale comfortable under them since his wife died.

"Hey guys guess what they are back!" Eugene yells excitedly. Eugene is wearing bright red sweats, a red oriental style button shirt with black dragons, and red Nike shoes with a red San Francisco Giants baseball hat on backwards which the bill followed his mullet down and he had a pair of cardinal red sunglasses on but he didn't have a jacket, so he didn't wear one.

Dale's heart nearly leapt out of his white hair covered chest. The hair was poking out over the edge of his white sweat stained undershirt. Sweat poured from his many crevices and his yellow Hawaiian shirt now had dark stains in the armpits and his gray pants were also darkening but it was behind the knees. Oh, how he longed to stroke her knuckles gently with his calloused palms before massaging her knee with only his fingertips by tracing her dark black pants. Dale climbed down the ladder, running towards the car with all the agility of a geriatric elephant on marijuana and tylenol PM. Before Abraham could even brake the car, Tara leaped out of the car and ran to him. She was wearing a bright orange tube top she borrowed from Daryl and black jeans and a cape that was teal colored and had little African animals printed on it.

"Dale!!!!!! I've really missed you!" she yelled. She was running which was made easy by the fact she was wearing a pair of really cool boots with black laces, black exterior, and 5" treads.

"Gosh darn it, Tara!" Abraham yells from the car, which is a 1994 purple Hyundai Highlander sedan. Abraham is wearing tight plaid 70s style pants, a yellow polo shirt with a horse and nordic rider on the front (its a patch over the pocket), a golfer hat, gold wrist wraps, three gold rings, a silver chain around his neck with bold words at the bottom that say "CHANGE", gold rimmed sunglasses, and floral flat shoes he borrowed from Daryl.

She dove into his arms before kissing him on his sun-cracked lips. They were so chapped from sitting outside waiting for her that dried skin flaked off of them and stuck to her teeth, but she didn't care. Not even when his mustache hairs went so high up into her nostril that she sneezed into his ear. He ran his hands slowly up the side of her head, his fingers probing into her ponytailed hair as he tightly squeezed her temples lovingly. His thumbs pressed against her eyebrows really hard.

"Would you please and thank you take your romance elsewhere?" Abraham asks kindly. "Thank you very much." He was still mildly bothered by the fact Tara jumped out of a moving vehicle five times in one month in order to kiss Dale.

The two lovers made their way to the Winnebago, which Dale had repainted with a galaxy style paint job with a picture of Dale and Tara airbrushed onto the side like the picture of the sailor kissing the lady in the World War II street because he felt it really captured his love for Tara. Inside, they sat on top of the orange courdoury couch and Dale stretched his neck because it was sore.

"My neck is tight. I watched day and night for you," he said.

Tara massaged his hairy neck and used Dale's sweat in place of lotion because they were all out of the shea butter lotion since Daryl took it for his new moisturizing regimen. Dale's body odor was such a warm and familiar smell to Tara that was very much like home. It was like skunky onions, potatoes, and exotic booze. The sweat stains on his white undershirt matched the dark spot on his calf - the one Tara had nicknamed "Little Kentucky" because it looked like that state. They had thought about going to Kentucky because of that dark spot. It was probably a liver spot. Dr. Denise said that was usually the case with older fellas because she was dating Hershel, and he had one on his shoulder she thought looked like a mix between Rhode Island, Cauliflower, and Steven Tyler.

"Climb on my lap." she invited him.

He got up which lifted up all the smells beneath his pants with him before bringing himself down on Tara's black pants covered lap. They were probably a name brand like Guess jeans since those were the stores she found them in. His kneeds creaked the whole way like a broken door that got slammed by the Hulk. As he sat down, he rotated his rough palms around her elbow. She could smell beef jerky, Pepsi cola, and banana on his breath which made her want to kiss him even more. They made out with each other. Tara felt a warm trickle go down her thigh from above.

"Dale, did you....?"

"I didn't go once while waiting for you and I guess this did me in. Well I did have adult diapers but I used it so many times it started springing leaks."

Even though her pants leg was now drenched, she didn't care because it was warm and reassuring that Dale was hers...all hers....always hers. Dale started petting her hair and nose with his pinky. She liked the way his calloused fingers felt inside her nostril. When she touched his nostril she shivered at the familiar comfort of his rough nose hair. His liver spots were as adorable as she remembered. When Dale began to struck her knuckles she was in absolute bliss because the dirt underneath his nails added character to the thick cuticle coverage there. The food lodged between his teeth from his lunch yesterday and the day before glistened with sunlight filtered through the window. She rubbed the back of her forearm against his sweat-stained undershirt, brushing across his wiry white chest hair. She buried her cheeks in its white curliness. The sweat stained undershirt pushed it out almost like a bun.

Dale turned on his radio with his CD player in it, and his CD mixtape of love songs was in it and he hit play. The song "Love Me Like You Do" was playing and that made Tara smile before kissing his nose on its clearly visible veins.

"I love you babe." she said.

"I love you more babe." he said.