Angel

Chapter Thirty-Five: Angel

"Where are we going?" I asked Daryl as he pulled me toward the kitchen. My idea was to eat and run. Heading into the viper's nest was not part of the plan.

"Gonna get this settled between you two. I'm not gonna deal with this bullshit," Daryl told me as we headed to the back of the mansion.

I hated to admit he was right, but he was. My insecurity here at The Hilltop had me lashing out at Carol. Now, she wasn't an innocent here either. Talking about us and questioning why he was with me was none of her business, but she had tried to apologize and I threw that back at her. Damn, I hated when I was wrong.

Barrington House had had no electricity, but the kitchen had gas appliances. Teams were always on the lookout for propane tanks. Anyone was allowed to cook on the stove or bake in the oven as long as they cleaned up after themselves. Carol did the majority of the cooking for the family and since it was dinner time, she most likely was in the kitchen. It was time to eat crow.

"Carol, you in here?" Daryl yelled.

"Yes," she replied coming out of the pantry. "So there's no need to yell. Oh, what's going on?" Seems she was just as surprised to see me as I was her.

"You two," Daryl said pointing at each one of us. "Need to work this shit out. You both got off on the wrong foot, so fix it. Carol..." he said looking at her. "If you got anything you want to know, ask me, don't go asking others about me and Angel...I mean Jessie. We're together and that ain't changing. She can be a pain in the ass, but she's my pain in the ass. So deal with it." Daryl took a deep breath and turned to me. "Angel, Carol's been a friend since the start. She and I go all the way back to the beginning. Respect that. Talk it out, cause this mess is bullshit."

I watched Daryl walk out of the room. "I'm not a pain in the ass!" I yelled after him.

"Yeah, you are," he hollered back.

Carol and I both looked at each other and started laughing. "Guess he told us," she said.

"Yes, he did. God, I hate him." I saw the shocked look on Carol's face. "I meant that I hate that he's right. I was a bitch to you and I'm sorry. It's just so weird being here," I admitted.

"How so?" Carol asked.

I sat down on a stool at the counter. "I had been on my own for a long time before I found Daryl. I was better off that way. Trusting people only got me hurt. But he was different, yet so much like me too. We got to know each other and became friends...then it became more. I knew I could trust him better than anyone else I had ever known. He's just that type of guy. Then it was just us for months and it worked, but I always knew he missed you guys. In the dark of the night, I could get him to talk about everyone. He told me everything from the very start at the quarry to the night Alexandria was attacked. The loss of you all almost killed him. I had no one to lose, except myself, but I always knew he missed everyone. When we found Rick and Michonne, I immediately knew everything was about to change. I wanted to beg him to let us stay at the house we had found, that we didn't need his friends...his family, but he did. I knew it. So I came here where I am an outsider. I haven't figured out yet where I fit in here, so Daryl is all I have. I should have let you apologized, Carol and I was wrong not to. I handled that very badly and I'm sorry."

I really was. I was surprised that I poured out all of my insecurities to a woman I hated a little while ago. I hadn't even told Daryl how I felt.

"And I know better than to gossip about anyone here. But I was so curious about you, I will fully admit that. Daryl hadn't shown a romantic interest in anyone in the years I've known him. Not even a racy comment. Nothing. Then everything went so crazy when the Saviors attacked. I had left the Kingdom where I was living that day to go to Alexandria to see everyone, but with a detour, I had to make I never made it that night. The next day I saw the smoke and knew something was wrong. I hid on the outskirts watching the Saviors until they left. Finally, I saw Rick and everyone that survived. Daryl wasn't with them and no one had seen him escape. I had always thought he was indestructible." Carol stopped for a moment. I could hear the emotion in her words. Thinking she lost Daryl was painful.