Destiny (A Daryl Dixon One-Shot)

Destiny

Destiny

"A Daryl Dixon one-shot"

Daryl wakes up with a start, rubbing his face as his sleepy mind processes the dream. It's not really a dream, more like memories from years ago. It's so fresh in his mind; her smile, her laugh, the smell of her shampoo. He groans as he sits up, wishing to god it wasn't just a dream. He looks around at the room around him, nope still safe in Alexandria. He sighs as he thinks back to a time in his life when he was almost happy. She was a couple years younger than him and lived on the property that butted up against where he grew up after his Mama died. He spent a lot of time in the woods avoiding his father, especially when Merle wasn't around.

He was about fifteen when he first met Jessie out in the woods. She was sitting on a log holding back tears and nursing welts on her thighs, her sundress bunched up in her lap. He had seen her a few times before but never talked to her. That day he talked to her and probably just about every day after that. Her Daddy had taken a switch to her for talking back, leaving those red welts on her thighs. Her father was a strict bastard but not as bad as his own father. Daryl usually didn't bother with people, especially girls but Jessie was different. Those bright green eyes and long copper red hair had him from the moment he spoke to her. She was a pretty little thing and sassy too, the combination had him mesmerized from the get go. She was only thirteen when they met but over the next couple of years she blossomed into one hell of a fine looking girl. It was when she turned seventeen that things between the two changed from friendship to a whole lot more. That summer before her senior year of high school was something he'd never forget.

It was the first time his kissed her, he'd been wanting to do it for so long. He was shocked when she kissed him back and finally admitted she'd had a crush on him for years. That summer they spent every free moment together in secret, afraid her Daddy would quickly put an end to it. They went swimming, fishing and hunting together that summer, just like they had done for the four summers before, except this time there was a whole lot of kissing in between.

Daryl groans to himself, running his hand through his long messy hair as images of that August night float back into his mind. He had taken Jessie out to the lake in his truck and they were lying in the back of the bed, listening to the radio and just staring up at the stars in the big Georgia sky. He stills remembers it like it was yesterday and not almost twenty years ago. They were making out and she whispered in his ear begging him to make love to her. He remembers hesitating a little, knowing that she hadn't been with anyone before. But he quickly gave in to all the passion that had been building up over the last few years. It was under those Georgia stars that he took the virginity she gladly offered and made her his in every way. That was the first time he ever told someone he loved them and to this day she's still the only one he's ever said it to.

Daryl presses his hands to his eyes as he tries to block out the painful memories that always followed these good ones. It was only a couple of weeks later that he was lying in bed, late at night and heard a soft knock at his bedroom window. Jessie was there, tears streaming down her face as she told him that her father had found out about them and gone crazy. He was putting her on a bus the next morning and sending her to live with an aunt up north. He wanted so bad to run away with her but she was under age and he was nineteen, they'd lock him up for sure. Jessie knew the risk was too great and even though he was willing to chance it she refused; not wanting him to go to jail. She crawled in his window and they spent the next couple of hours saying goodbye. It was the last time he saw her. He'd heard rumors of her where-abouts over the next couple of years and even after he moved out of the area, he would come back just to see if she returned. A few years later when he returned for a visit, a couple of friends swore they had seen her in the area but he wasn't able to find her.