Whispered Promises

Chapter Eleven

    I woke up around 3:00 p.m. and started to get ready for work. I made my way downstairs to see David, my mother, Mama E, and A man I'd never seen before. " Oh there she is", my mother said as she stood up. "Elizabeth, This is David's brother, Herschel Greene," she continued. "Oh hi", I went to shake his hand. David stood up and put his hands on the Man named Herschel's shoulders. "This guy is my older brother my best friend and my favorite person in the world. He's always been there for me." David said with excitement.

"That's very sweet", I said with a sarcastic tone. I went to sit next to my grandmother and she nudged me. I smiled at her and whispered in her ear "Can I borrow your car?".

"Why?" she whispered back.

" So I can go pick up Daryl for work. He kind of lost his ride".

"Okay, but you can't be out late. David and your mother have something to tell you."

" Fine.".

I rolled my eyes as I stood up to grab her keys and walked out the door.

I see Daryl walking down the street in a black hoodie and a leather jacket. He positioned the hoodie and his hair to cover half his face. I pulled up beside him and rolled down my windows. "Hey there you wannna ride?". He turned towards me and then I saw his face he had a busted lip and a black eye.

"Daryl-

"Yeah, I'm not coming to work today. So don't worry about me", he says mumbling while walking away. I put the car in park and jumped out immediately. "Daryl what happened?", I grabbed his arm to get him to face me. He kept his head down.

"Don't worry about me Elizabeth."

"But Daryl-

He snatches his arm back and walks away from me. I got back in the car and sat there not knowing what to do. I can't let him walk away. Tears started for me in my eyes, and then they fell. I wasn't going to abandon him especially when he was there for me I turned the car back on and did a U-turn to follow him. When I caught up to him I slowed down. "Get in the car Daryl", I yelled.

"Elizabeth please go.".

"I can't, you wouldn't leave me", I pleaded.

Daryl looked like he was about to protest but a bread pickup truck came around the corner. He tensed up and rushed into the car.

"Daryl, What is going on?".

"Shut up and put your head down".

As I tried my best to hide my face from the passing truck Daryl covered his head by pulling his hoodie over his head. Once the truck passed we both brought our heads out.

"Who was that", I looked at him.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go.".

When we got to the bar I asked him if he was okay. He didn't respond just got out of the car and went to unlock the building. I got out and followed him inside.

"Daryl, you have to talk to me and stop running away."

"Why? Because you think we're friends? Well, we're not", Daryl yelled at me.

Even though I knew he was angry with me and didn't mean anything he was saying, it still hurt.

"Don't do that", I told him on the verge of tears.

"Don't what? Hurt your feelings. Like I'm supposed to care.", he said mockingly.

'No, don't act like you don't have any feelings", I snapped at him.

"Maybe it's better that way"

"No! Why would you say that, Daryl?", I screamed at him.

"Because having emotions is weak and all they do is cause you to get hurt", he says as he bows his head and starts to sniffle.

"What are you saying? Who did that to your face?", I begged for an answer. Watching Daryl on the verge of tears broke my heart.

I led him to the bar to sit down. I stroked his hair as I Said, "Darly, What happened? You can talk to me.".

"My Old Man and I got into it over something"

"Your Dad did that?", I said at a loss.

"You don't have to pretend that you don't know, people talk."

"I've only heard rumours"

"I steer clear of him or at least try to"

"Do you know why he hurts you?", I ask but regret immediately because what kind of dumb question is that? I honestly expected Daryl to give me a strange look, but he just kept talking.

"Because some people just look for an excuse to hurt others", he said in a somber tone.

"What was his excuse this time?"

"You"

"Me?", I questioned.

"Yeah, David went to my dad's job and told him to tell me to stay away from you. He came home pissed that I was hanging with a cop's kid and when he learned you're black, he really didn't like that.", he explained.

"Oh"

"But when I told him I wasn't gonna stop hanging out with you. That's when he really lost it.", he dryly chuckled.

"Daryl, I'm so sorry, Especially about David. Don't worry I'll talk to-

"Don't worry about it. Don't want you to get in another argument with your mom."

"So...... You like hanging out with me?"

He rolled his eyes and softly chuckled "God, don't make me take it back"

"Well if it makes you feel better, I Like hanging with you too."

We both looked at each other. I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. I began to panic, I had to move around or something. So I stood up, "Well thank you for having my back, Dixon.".I leaned forward to give him a peck on the cheek but when I got close enough turned his head towards me and our lips touched.

I jumped back because I didn't expect it. "I'm so sorry", was the only thing coming from Daryl.

"Daryl, stop. You're okay.". I tried to tell him it was fine but he seemed to not notice. He got up to walk toward the door. I chased after him and pulled him back to me. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable", Daryl frantically apologized. "You didn't", I reassured him. I reached up and ran my hands through his hair. I leaned up and kissed him. Just as our lips touched I felt Daryl stiffen. I started to pull away as I could feel that he was uncomfortable. But it was like a switch flip in Daryl because he yanked me closer to him. I could feel one of his hands at the base of my back and the other on the back of my head. He moves my head to him with such force and we kiss.

The touch of his lips was warm and soft. They pated slightly allowing my tongue to slip inside. He moved both of his hands to the side of my face and deepened the kiss. Our breathing became heavy and the longer we kissed the weaker my knees began to feel. I started to feel him touching the buttons on my shirt when we heard a voice coming from outside.

We quickly separated to check on who it was. When I open the door, I see Rita coming towards us.

"Hey guys! Are you about to open?", she questioned with a cheerful smile.

"Uhh yeah, I thought you weren't gonna be back for another couple of weeks?", I wondered.

"Yeah, I wanted to check on everything for a couple of days. Come on let's get some people in hear", she walked past us and immediately went to work and we followed.