Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

11

Rachel

Once we got home, my parents were at the door waiting. My dad checked out Daryl's bruises. They were pretty bad. Daryl told them some story and like always, they believed him. After everything settled down he jerked his head towards my room. I nodded and he followed me.

He sat on my bed and I stood by my door, waiting for him to say whatever he needed to. He looked unsure, but he eventually spoke up. "I'm sorry for snappin' at ya.. back in the car." I frowned, "It's alright."

He glared at me, "Nah, it's not. I was bein' an ass.. Thanks for covering for me.."

I nodded, "Let's just enjoy the rest of today, Kay? It'll be nice."

He gave me a weak smile, "Mkay."

The rest of the day was pretty good. My grandparents came over for dinner and my grandma brought him a cake. Singing happy birthday to Daryl was always amusing. The poor dude never knew what to do with himself, so he'd just sit there awkwardly.

Daryl loved his new tapes he got from everyone. He looked happy, and it made me happy. I wanted this to be our normal. I wanted him to feel and allow happiness, peace, a sense of security. He deserved it.

It got late fast. My parents were pretty skeptical about letting me drive him home since he was "jumped" and all. But I managed to convince them that we'd be fine. We listened to the Led Zeppelin tape my parents gave him, and when we got to his house I parked so we could continue to listen to it. He tapped his fingers, his arm was resting on the door. The windows were down, and everything about it was nice. Every now and then I could hear him humming along, he'd even nod his head slightly.

After a couple songs he turned to face me. "Thanks Rache.." His voice was soft, warm even. He looked down at the tapes in his lap. "I love em, imma listen to all of em by tomorrow."

I laughed, "Happy you like them, we have a wayy better selection for road trips now so that's cool.."

He smiled at the mention of road trips. "Mhm... I uh- I needed today.. Thanks for draggin' me outta here."

I smiled, just nodding. He lifted his arm, wincing as he did so, and rested it behind me on the seat. We listened to the rest of the songs in silence, and he would occasionally meet my eyes. Each time lasting a few seconds. Our eyes met again, and this time he stared.

He slowly raised his arm and brought his hand to my hair. He brushed his hand against the side of my face, pushing my hair out of the way. I froze, my heartbeat was ringing through my ears, but my eyes never left his. He brought his hand up, cupping the side of my face. He began to sit up, not leaving my eyes, his breaths shakey and his shoulders were tensed.

His head moved forward- his porch light turned on and his dad stepped out, holding their hunting gear.

As fast as Will stepped out, Daryl had retreated back into his own space; I let out long breath.

I looked back to Daryl and he didn't look at me, but he spoke up, "He must be leavin'" He sighed and finally looked over to me.

Will approached the car. He leaned through Daryl's window and nodded to me. "Miss Rachel."

My face remained expressionless as I stared him down. He looked away sheepishly and looked to Daryl. "We're gonna go huntin' with Jess n' Buck kay? We're leavin' first thing tomorrow so get packed.. G'night Rachel." He walked over to his truck and began to put his stuff inside.