AND THEN I FOUND YOU » Daryl Dixon

28. MARLBORO REDS

The moonlight had appeared brighter upstairs, infiltrating with ease through the large bedroom windows. Downstairs, everything had been boarded up, transforming the house into a place of shadows and ghosts whenever night fell.

Darkness was what Jasmin had expected to descend into. However, instead of having to navigate herself blindly down the stairs, her path was illuminated by an orange glowing light. The steady flicker came from the first level, cascading along the god-awful wallpaper beside her.

Tripping over a step whilst walking up a set of stairs did little damage — a scrape and maybe a bruised ego was all you could get. Missing a step and tumbling down a flight of stairs would not just cause serious injuries, but also severe embarrassment, and she already had her fair share of both those things.

At that moment, not taking the box of condoms seemed even more like the right choice. She wouldn't have wanted to replace one embarrassing experience with another. Had Daryl discovered her with that box, the humiliation would have crippled her far worse than falling down the stairs.

That was only one way that situation could end. Her mind begged to imagine another outcome of him finding her with one hundred and forty-four condoms — one that was more indecent, but she refused. The last thing she needed was to enter another hypnotic trance and end up with her brain matter splattered on the landing below.

Anyway, as the Lord supposedly said, let there be light!

Though she was thankful the light illuminated her path, it also made the pictures on the wall more visible. More photos could be seen — more pictures of that little girl. Attempting to block her peripheral vision, Jasmin cupped her hands on either side of her face despite knowing how strange it must have looked from an outside perspective.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, the light became even brighter. Sitting on the console table was a thick, white candle burning bright and casting a glare on the golden-framed photo of the two owners. There appeared to be more candles dispersed around the house, lighting up every room with a soft glow.

Daryl must have lit them whilst she was upstairs.

She walked through the archway he had entered upon their arrival which led to a living room. More candles were scattered around the room, turning the walls, which were once silver from the midnight moon, a blazing orange. There was a long couch in the middle of the room facing two sofa chairs that sat across from it. At the back of the room was a built-in fireplace made out of bricks and on the right side of the room were two double-hung windows. Sitting on the ledge of the furthest window was Daryl.

The glass pane wasn't obstructed by a wooden plank; he must have knocked it out, allowing a view of the graveyard outside. His face was hard as he glared out the window, making her think he was trying to scare off any danger with his intimidating stare. Only, she realised he wasn't looking out the window, rather at his own reflection.

He had his arm resting on his knee, which was propped up on the window's ledge as he absentmindedly chewed at his bottom lip. It was a tell-tale sign she had come to learn that indicated he was either deep in thought or mulling something over.

Either one left her feeling uneasy. If he was deep in thought, that meant he had something that was playing on his mind, something that caused him to worry. And though they both had plenty to be concerned about, she couldn't help but feel his heavy pondering was about her.

If he was mulling something over, he was weighing his options for something. For what? She wasn't sure, but the anxious voices in her mind didn't hold back on giving her a few ideas.

Careful not to startle him, Jasmin took a few slow steps in his direction, letting her foot drag between a stride to signal her presence.

Despite her efforts not to alarm him, his head snapped in her direction, muscles tense and ready to move if needed. Once his eyes found hers, the hardness dropped from his face and was replaced with a much softer expression. He noticed her skin was literally shining, both from the sweat formed from the heat and the light from the flames that danced across her skin. Somehow, his expression turned even gentler.