Chaos

Why Should It Ever Be Forgot?

Daryl

Daryl lay on his side in bed, watching Ryker stand in the window of the one-room cabin they were in, naked, talking on the flip phone that they had been using for the past two weeks in the wilderness.

When they had arrived at Charlie and Mary's, the ranch wasn't secluded enough for Ryker, so Dary had loaded up the horse trailer and driven till there were no roads, and then they had ridden their horses for nearly a day into the wilderness, till they came to this cabin that Daryl hadn't been to in years. It had no electricity, no connection with the outside world other than the phone that was in Ryker's hand. The old truck that Daryl had used was an ancient farm truck that he had fixed up with Charlie the past year, though Ryker had swept it and everything else they had for trackers.

The surprising thing was that Ryker had found several, all from Knight Corp. Then Charlie had done his thing and found a couple more, again, from Knight Corp.

Ryker was unapologetic, and when Daryl had tried to ask him about it, he had merely said. "Look at what happened to Car and Meri."

And Daryl had a habit of not enjoying being followed everywhere by the company's teams of security, so he supposed he understood. It felt final, though they had only taken enough staples with them to last around a month. Daryl had been pretty efficient at hunting or fishing, so he supposed they could continue on for a while, with Ryker feeding off him, if push came to shove.

They had nearly cut themselves off from everything.

Nearly.

"Tell them I love them, and don't forget the story... don't forget the voices." Ryker's head was ducked, shoulders slumped in defeat. Daryl could hear the melancholy in his mate's voice. "I love you Princess. I will. Miss you. Bye."

Ryker hung up the phone and sighed, turning to look at Daryl with a broken expression on his face. "They're little acorn squashes now, you know."

"I know." Daryl nodded and glanced toward the window behind Ryker, seeing the night fully settling in. He missed Meri and Carbry terribly, but he didn't say it, didn't pressure Ryker at all, knowing that Ryker needed the time to come to terms with things.

"I miss reading to them. I miss Meriwa, even the way that she always steals all the covers...." Ryker whispered softly, sitting on the bed and putting the phone on the bedside table. "I miss... Carbry too."

Daryl nodded carefully, sitting up and moving to wrap his arms around Ryker from behind, kissing his shoulder softly. "Talk to me, my love."

Ryker shrugged. "I just... I don't feel angry anymore. Just hurt. Just like I don't know whether to trust him. It hurts... it hurts knowing he was there and I almost let him go."

"Nah, love." Daryl shook his head and held him closer. "You held on, you held on so tight, and he's still here because of it. You saved his life."

Ryker was silent, still, leaning back into Daryl.

Finally, Daryl continued speaking. "I know he was close, and I know he lied to you about the gun, and that hurts. But he's still here. And I think he's still here cause he stayed for you. Because he promised you that he would be."

Ryker nodded, though he didn't speak, and Daryl pulled him back, guiding them both out to lie on the bed, Daryl behind him, arms around him and kissing his shoulder gently. After a few moments, Ryker turned over to face him, ducking his head into Daryl's shoulder and sobbing.

Daryl just held his mate, rubbing his back and kissing his temple until the man was completely cried out, then still after that. The night stretched around them, the single lantern they had hummed with the electricity that ran it.