Fire With Fire // D. Dixon

chapter twenty-nine

It was the night of Deanna's welcome party.

With a lot of convincing, Chloe Grimes was able to convince Daryl Dixon to accompany her at the party. She had wanted to go, to stand by her family just like they used to before all of this. Despite how drastically different things were now, how different they had become as people, she longed for a sense of normalcy.

"Welcome!" Deanna walked over to the little family, "It's so good to see you all. Thank you for coming. You know, I didn't get a chance to interview this little one...I envy her."

"Why?"

"Because she'll get to see what this place will become." Deanna spoke, looking at how cute Judith looked in her little outfit. With that, Rick and Carl walked into the rest of the party with Carol following not too far behind.

As Abraham and Rosita walked in, they looked stunned. This was all so absurd to them, feeling far too normal to be real. Chloe and Daryl stayed next to them, watching the people at the party closely.

"I don't know about this..." Abraham spoke, looking around at everyone in normal clothes, clean clothes, and socializing like normal. It was as if these people didn't know about the horrors of the outside world. Abraham didn't know if he hated them for that or envied them.

"They have beer." Rosita said, looking around the party rather curiously. There were so many people here, and they all seemed to know each other well.

Abraham perked up at that prospect, "I'm gonna try." Chloe chucked, as Abraham offered to make her a drink.

Chloe exchanged a knowing glance with Daryl before responding, "I'm okay, thanks." Abraham smiled, thinking nothing of it. Little did he know, she couldn't drink. Not in her current state.

The party went on, Chloe could tell that Daryl felt uncomfortable. He hated these sorts of things, even before the world went to shit, all the socializing and pitiful banter had left much to be desired. There was always someone to please, something to prove at these types of things. He didn't have that, nor did he have the desire to do so. He was only in attendance for Chloe.

It was pleasant, a nice surprise to stray away from the all-encompassing darkness the world had surrounded them in the past few weeks. Maybe even enjoyable. Chloe loved seeing Carl with the other teenagers, laughing and smiling like things were normal. People loosened up a bit, letting go of some of their tension and just relaxed. Chloe also noticed that Daryl wasn't having a good time.

"You wanna get out of here?" Chloe whispered in his ear, watching as he looked at her with a smile.

"Hell yeah."

The pair then left the party, and headed to Aaron's place. He had invited Daryl over for dinner after their venture outside the walls earlier that day. They simply couldn't refuse his offer for spaghetti, after all, Daryl loved spaghetti.

He slurped each chunk of pasta in his mouth happily, not caring about the noises he was making. Chloe smiled at him lovingly, seeing that Aaron and Eric were also smiling at the Dixon man.

"Thanks," Daryl grunted with his mouth full. He had a sauce on his chin, so Chloe used her finger to clean it for him. His cheeks turned a vibrant shade of red at her touch, seeing as Eric and Aaron were watching them so intently.

At least Daryl was having a good time now. And that? That meant the world to Chloe.

-X-

After the party, things were okay. The group had gotten more settled in, more willing to integrate themselves into the world. The new world. However, a lot changed.