In Another World (Kathryl One-Shots)

A World In Which There's A New Chapter

Kathryn sat cross-legged on her bed, surrounded by what seemed to be every piece of paper known to existence. She jumped as the door to her bedroom opened. Her father wasn't supposed to be home until six. She relaxed when she saw a familiar head of unkempt hair poke its way into her room.

"Hey," Daryl said, fully walking inside the room. "I saw the truck was gone so..." he trailed off with a shrug.

Kathryn smiled. Daryl leaned against the wall, crossing his arms across his chest and his legs at the ankles. She couldn't believe that he had once been lanky. He had grown into himself wonderfully this past year. A gift senior year had bestowed upon him.

Daryl smiled, small and shy as per usual. Kathryn was his favorite person in the whole wide world. Even though he had never been outside of Georgia, Daryl was sure no one could be as perfect as Kathryn. He soon became curious of the papers surrounding his friend. Pushing himself off the wall, he approached Kathryn's bed. He knelt down and read the tops of the papers. They were all letters from colleges. Daryl looked on and saw numerous applications were scattered across her bed as well.

His throat went dry, and his stomach dropped. "What's all this?" he managed to ask.

Tucking a piece of stray hair back, Kathryn replied, "College applications. I have to send most of these by the end of the month in order to be taken into consideration."

Panic was starting to fill Daryl as he saw most of the colleges weren't even in Georgia. She was leaving?

Kathryn narrowed her eyes at Daryl as she saw he had grown tense. "Daryl, what it is?"

Daryl's eyes flitted up to Kathryn. Did she really have no idea? He scoffed and rose to his feet. Emotions were starting to spill over the walls he kept them trapped behind. He turned to leave, but stopped as Kathryn was suddenly in front of him. Her green eyes were filled with confusion, begging him to speak.

So he did. "You seem busy. I'll just go." He'd leave before she'd leave him.

"You don't have to leave. You just got here," Kathryn said, still confused as to what had shifted in her friend.

Daryl set his jaw. "You're leaving."

Kathryn reeled back. "Daryl, I'm not going anywhere w-"

He let out a sharp laugh, spun on his heel, and picked up a pile of papers. "California? Washington? Maine?"

"I don't even know if I'm going to be accepted to any of those schools. I just want as many options as possible."

"Of course you're going to be accepted!" Daryl yelled.

"You don't know that!" Kathryn shot back. "They're just applications. Nothing is written in stone."

Daryl disagreed. He saw the writing on the wall. She'd be accepted to a fantastic school because she was fantastic, and she'd leave, forgetting everything about this town, himself included. Why should she remember him anyway? "I get it," Daryl growled. "You've never wanted anything to do with this town."

Kathryn could only stare at Daryl in disbelief. Why was he so worked up about this?

"Un-fucking-believable," he spat. "You'd think thirteen years meant something."

"Daryl-"

"I don't wanna hear it, Kath. Was that the plan all along? Once we graduate, you were gonna just...leave." Why should she stay? There was nothing in this awful town for someone as wonderful as Kathryn. It didn't lessen the blow to Daryl's heart though. He had thought he meant more to her than that. He had been a fool.