The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 60

Meredith

I ROCKED LIGHTLY on the chair on the front porch. I enjoyed the air tonight. It was warm, soft breeze. I wanted to keep enjoying the warm air before fall and winter took over. Harley was inside, dead asleep. I know he was reading comic books when he went to bed, as I went inside his room to check on him, his comic book was resting on his chest face down with it still in his hands. Still, I took the book away, turned off the lamp and shut his door and came out here. 

I saw Daryl and Rick come back. They had somebody with them, must've been somebody hurt or something. Or so I thought. After Denise had checked the mysterious person out, Rick and Daryl carried the person over to the holding cell. Daryl should be on his way here any minute now. Speak of the devil himself.

"You're up past your bedtime." He nods his head at me. I let out a small scoff, shaking my head as I looked down and smiled.

"You're out past curfew." I say. 

"Pfft." He rolls his eyes.

"Saw you guys brought back a friend." I look at him.

"He ain't no friend." He shakes his head, rolling his eyes.

"An enemy?" I ask him.

"An asshole." He corrects me. 

"How so?" I ask. 

"Rick and I found a large truck full of supplies. We were gonna take it, bring it home. And that...jackass, decided he was gonna ride on the roof of it, we fought and it's...at the bottom of a lake." He sighs.

"Dayum." I shake my head. 

"You're tellin' me." He nods. 

"Well. Did you knock his ass out?" I ask him, holding back a smile.

"I wanted to leave him up in a tree, leave his ass behind. Rick wanted to bring him back, get some answers from him, see who he really is. Tomorrow, we let him go if he wants to leave." He explains. 

"Hm." I hum lightly. Daryl frowns at me.

"'Hm', what?" He asks. I scrunch my nose up a bit.

"I don't think you would've left him behind. I think you would've strung him up in the tree, only to turn around and bring him back here." I say. Daryl rolls his eyes.

"You and Rick need to stay away from each other. Stop talking so much." He frowns. I let out a small laugh.

"So, what? Does he have a name?" I ask.

"Guy calls himself Jesus." He snorts. 

"No, way." I laugh.

"Yes, way." He nods. He holds a stare with me, giving me this long look. I felt that it was nothing, being that I catch him staring at me often. But this stare was a bit different, it was...like he was wanting to ask me a question.

"What?" I ask him. He walks over to the side of the porch, leaning back on the structure. He swallows hard and he looks down for a second.

"You remember...what it was like when you first took drugs? Not talkin' about weed, I mean...the hard shit, cocaine, pain killers, opioids, shit like that." He says. I threw him a frown. Odd. He's never asked me any question like that. Never. He knows I don't like talking about it, always let's me open up to him about it and all. But...things are changing and I'm opening up to him. We're opening up to each other.

I pull my brows together, trying to sum up the words. I know exactly my first time taking them, and I wasn't even in the known about it. Yeah, somebody threw it in my drink, stuck it in my food, shit something for me not to notice it.