Meet Me Under Our Willow (A Daryl Dixon Pre-Apocalypse Love Story)

Chapter 8 - Confrontations

My eyes stayed glued to his as I stared at him in shock. I can't believe he's been the one watching me. And I can't believe he still remembers this tree, let alone still visit it. I can't seem to move my feet, it's like I'm stuck to the ground. His familiar blue eyes stare at me through narrowed eyelids. His stance is guarded, he doesn't fully face me.

"Daryl." I whisper.

"How the hell do ye know my name?" he spits. His voice makes my heart flutter.

"It's me. Quinn." I said, taking slow steps forward, "You don't recognize me?"

"What are ye doin' here?" he snarls.

"It's a long story..."

"I don' wanna hear yer damn sob story."

His voice makes me jump slightly. He sounds so vicious. I don't understand why he's getting mad, he asked me why I came back.

"I thought you would be happy to see me." I said timidly.

"Well, I'm not." he turns and walks back into the woods.

Once again, my feet are glued to the ground. I cannot believe he walked away from me, again. I think about just going back to the house and curling up in a ball in the dark. But, I can suddenly feel anger steaming off of me.

My feet move forward at a quick pace. I go deeper into the woods in the direction he went in. I finally see his figure.

"Hey!" I shout, "Daryl!"

He stops for a brief moment, looking over his shoulder and scoffing, before turning around and continuing on. My voice finds itself again.

"Are you just going to just walk away?" I yell, still chasing after him, "You seem to be awfully good at that!"

That makes his stop and whip around as I reach him. We stand there, glaring at each other. I should cower away from his cold eyes, but I stand tall, not letting him intimidate me. I haven't seen this man in almost 15 years, and this is how he treats me?

He finally speaks up, "Yer the one tha' walked away. Not me."

"That's a lie and you know it." I said, my voice low.

"Ye just left me here!" he raises his voice.

"If you would've let me explain," I start, "then you would've learned that I had just found out that morning I would be moving."

"I don't wanna hear yer bullshit excuse."

He turns and walks away again, and this time I let him go. I feel drained. I slump back against a nearby tree and put my pounding head in my hands. I guess he really did mean what he told me. He didn't welcome me back with open arms, just like he said he wouldn't. My eyes burn. I can't get his stone cold image out of my head. This is too much, it's overwhelming.

Then the tears come.

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It's been a couple of days since I've seen Daryl. I haven't gone back to the willow tree since then. I don't want to have another unfriendly encounter with him.

Currently, I sit on the front porch swing with a glass of lemonade and a good book. I'm treating myself because I just got a call from the elementary school saying I got the job. They need to clean out the classroom I'll be using, so I can come in next week to decorate it and set it up the way I would like it. I can also get the required guidelines when setting up lesson plans for the year.

I pick up my phone and dial Mom's number. She picks up after four rings.

"Hi, honey."

I smile, "Hey. I have some good news."

"And what would that be?"

"I got the job!"

She gasps, "Oh, Quinn! That's so great! Congratulations, sweetheart!"

"Thank you!" I smiled, "I go in next week to set up my classroom and start lesson plans."

"I'm so happy for you, dear. Just wait until I tell your father, he'll be ecstatic! We'll be up soon to visit, honey. I promise. Oh, you can show us your classroom and we can celebrate!"

"That'd be great, Mom."

"So, what else have you guys been up to? We miss you so much, you have no idea. I have a serious case of 'empty nest syndrome'. I'm driving your dad crazy."

I laughed, "Noah just usually spends his time in his room. I keep telling him to go out and do something, make friends, find a job. It's hard to get two words out of him."

Mom makes a noise of disapproval, "I'm sorry, honey. You'll just have to give him time, that's all. You know how he can be. This is hard for him."

"I know, and I keep telling myself to be patient. I went through the same thing he did, remember?"

"Of course. How could I forget? Moving was extremely hard for you." she said, "Speaking of that, have you seen 'you-know-who'?"

I hesitate, "Yeah. I have. Let's just say, it wasn't exactly a friendly encounter."

"What happened?" she asked, her tone becoming serious.

So I tell her. I tell her about how I felt seeing his expression so hard and distant. How he acted towards me. How he told me he wasn't happy to see me, and how he tried to blame me for walking away from him for good. I became teary eyed, and tried to steady my voice so she wouldn't notice and come running down here.

"That's awful!" she exclaimed.

"I just can't believe how hostile he was."

"He doesn't deserve to be in your life if he's going to treat you that way. You deserve so much better, Quinn."

I didn't have a response.

"Listen, honey. I've got to go. I'm helping out at the restaurant and my break is over. I'll talk to you soon. I love you, Quinny girl." she said.

"Bye, Mom. I love you, too." I hang up.

I sit back in the swing and feel my body decompress as I relax. I wipe away stray tears that fell. I can't help but think of what Mom told me. Maybe he doesn't deserve me. Maybe I don't deserve him. But I don't want that.

I want him in my life.

Hey guys! This is going to be the last update for a while. With school starting up, we don't know when we'll have time to update. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!