Daryl's Precious Gem: Iridescent (Daryl Dixon/ Negan Fanfiction)

10: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Seven year old Ruby POV:

"Tommy? Why do the stars shine so bright?"

"Shhh!" My brother shushed me, holding his finger in front of his lips. "Do you want to get us in trouble?"

I shook my head as I sat next to him on the rooftop with my pink camouflage blanket wrapped around me. The last thing we needed was to be caught by our mom or worse, dad!

"According to astrologists all stars, including the Sun, are hot balls of glowing plasma held together by their own gravity. Each star radiates x-rays which emits the light that we see." Tommy pointed to the twinkling stars.

"Wow." I whispered as my jaw dropped in pure amazement. I was fascinated by the new information.

Tommy smirked, "My teacher said that we are all practically stars too."

"We are?" My eyes widened as I stared at my brother in astonishment.

"Yes." He grinned. "We eat, drink and breathe the air that is provided by this planet which is technically a star. So, if you think about it we're practically stars too."

"Then how come we don't glow?" My brows knitted together.

Tommy laughed, "We all glow and shine in our own way, Ruby."

"How do you glow, Tommy?"

"I glow when I'm doing the things I love most. Like hunting or fishing."

"How do I glow?" I scooted closer to him.

"One day when you're old enough you won't have to ask—you'll know."

Present:

I longed for a night beneath the stars as I stared at the white popcorn ceiling. A couple of tears escaped and trickled down the side of my face.

Daryl smirked, "Done this before?"

"Tommy and I used to do it a lot. We'd grab blankets and lay out on the roof in the summer evenings and just watch the stars. Tommy would sometimes scare me with alien stories and then other times he'd fascinate me with facts about the universe." I hugged my knees to my chest.

"Were ya ever caught?"

I grinned, "Once by my mom but she didn't scold us. She knew we weren't doing anything bad and that we were being safe so all she did was tell us to be vigilant."

"What was her name?"

"Jade." My eyes roamed the constellations.

"So, gemstone names are a common theme in yer family?" Daryl exhaled his smoke.

"Yeah," I laughed. "My great grandmothers name was Pearl. Her daughter, my grandma, was named Amethyst. Mom was given the name Jade and then myself, Ruby."

"If ya were able to have kids what name would ya have given them?"

I eyed Daryl somewhat surprised that he would ask such a forward question. I didn't take offence to it because I knew he meant well.

"If I had a daughter I'd probably name her Amber."

"What about a boy?"

"I'm not too sure. Maybe Thomas, after my brother. What about you?" I nudged Daryl's shoulder.

"I like the name Amber." Daryl flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette. "Not sure what I'd name a boy."

I smiled lightly as my eyes wandered the sky. The stars sparkled as the moon shone brightly at its fullest.