Taking a Chance

Chapter 2

When the flight took off it really wasn't as bad as Daryl expected it to be. The takeoff down the runway was a bit intimidating, but he survived it without getting too nervous. It was just the weirdest thing to him to be flying through the clouds he saw whipping by outside the window. He knew thousands of people flew every day, but it was still quite unnerving for him. The guy in the seat next to him was engrossed in his laptop, so Daryl was happy to be left alone. He closed his eyes to try to relax and think. He always did his best thinking while out riding. The roar of the motorcycle engine helped to block out everything around him, so he could simply concentrate on the road and what was running through his head on that day. Today, instead of the loud rumble from his bike, it was the quiet hum of a jet engine right outside his window.

Rick was going to owe him big time for this, but then again his friend helped him more times than he could count. Daryl had left home at sixteen after a very violent fight with his drunken father, and moved in with the Grimes family until he graduated high school. He had no place else to go as his older brother, Merle was doing a stint in jail. Mrs. Grimes was adamant that he needed to stay in school and he appreciated that she cared enough about him and his future. No one in his family ever did, especially after his mother had died when he was just eight years old.

The last year and a half that he lived with the Grimes', he was able to see what a real family was like. They treated him like one of their own and he saw how a father was supposed to treat his son. It sure didn't involve screaming at him, calling him horrible names or beating him bloody.

All these years later, it still got to him. He was thirty-seven years old and he still hated his old man as much as the day he left with only the ragged clothes on his back.

Once he finished school, he moved out of the Grimes house to live with his older brother Merle who was now out of jail. Mrs. G wanted him to stay, but he knew he had already imposed on them enough. His brother was bad news, but he was all the family Daryl had left. Living with his brother lasted for more years than it should have. They bounced from place to place never settling down in any one town for long.

Daryl remembered the big fight they had almost a year ago. His frustration with Merle had been growing and growing and he had been putting up with him for the better part of over twenty years. Merle's inability to keep his mouth shut and to say and do the most inappropriate things had finally gotten to Daryl. His older brother was nothing short of a complete embarrassment. That day ended up with punches thrown, blood flying and words said that could never be taken back.

Daryl quickly packed up his stuff, which sadly was not a lot from the apartment that his paychecks usually paid for and left without looking back. One night in Rick and Michonne's spare room ended up being almost three months. They refused his offer to pay them rent and instead wanted him to save for a place of his own. Eight months ago he moved into his own apartment after saving for the first and last month's rent and the deposit. It was small, but it was his. He picked up some used mismatched furniture to help furnish it, and along with some pieces that Rick had left over from his parent's place. Daryl had his first solo apartment.

And he loved it.

Yeah, he owed Rick more than he could ever repay and that's why he was flying to Las Vegas to help his best friend get married. Hell, Rick was really more of a brother to him than a friend. Rick would never have put him through the grief that Merle did.

Daryl closed his eyes and tried to take a nap as the plane took him closer and closer to Las Vegas. As much as he didn't want to go, seeing all of the bright lights and fun that Vegas had to offer was starting to grow on him. This was a done deal, so he had to start finding the bright side about going. Daryl chuckled to himself, he was definitely more of a glass half-empty type of guy, so this was going to be hard for him, but he was ready to try. He soon found himself drifting off with his head resting against the window.