𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XXI - 《the things one feels these days》

oOo

Today marked the end of the two-week deal Diana and Daryl had made. So, as a thank you and also departure gift, she had decided to do something different.

The kids had gone swimming, which made her extremely jealous, especially in today's weather. But after promising herself that she would make a friend out of Daryl, even in such a short limited time, she wanted to feel like she'd actually accomplished her goal by spending his last day at camp with him. She assumed it was his last day.

He hadn't ever really talked about it, but he'd made it pretty clear that two weeks was it. Diana could only wonder if they were scheming something. If they would leave them with an unpleasant surprise.

She'd been worried in the past that there was some sort of unlocked potential there. In both Merle and Daryl. That they'd be gone before it could be discovered. It felt good to know that she'd somehow gotten through to Daryl. There was something there, he was more open now and even made some jokes. It was only a matter of letting others see the same him that she did.

From her short encounters with Merle, he remained the same fucking jackass. He never even made an effort to hide it.

"Mami, did you find the blanket?" Diana called from within her tent. She was searching her messenger bag for something she knew she'd seen in one of its pockets. It was of utmost importance that she found it again.

"Here you go," Irene said from the entrance and threw the blue checkered blanket at Diana's kneeling form. "What're you searching for?"

Diana drummed her fingers on her thigh in pensiveness. They weren't there. She looked up at her mom. "You know if Felix and Alice ate the chocolates I had here?" She wouldn't get mad if they did. Okay, who was she kidding, she'd be pissed. She'd been saving them for forever.

Irene shrugged and the corners of her lips tugged downward. "No, I don't think so. But I think you'd find out if they did."

Diana tilted her head in agreement. Yeah, they would've never shut up about it and would've tried to make her feel guilty for hiding the chocolates from them for so long.

She tried another inner pocket, just in case she'd missed them. "Yes!" she shouted in triumph.

"Found them?" Irene asked, coming back to peek inside the tent.

"Yep," Diana responded with a wide smile. They were a bit soft and mushy inside the aluminum wrap, but man, chocolate was chocolate. There were four pralines, all milk chocolate and caramel, who'd been gifted to her by a patient shortly before summer vacation. She'd stuck them in her bag and never remembered them again.

She put two back inside her messenger bag. She'd give those to Alice and Felix, they'd be super stoked. "Do you want one, mami?" she offered, holding them up to her. She already knew she wouldn't have to ask her dad.

Irene smiled warmly and combed back some stray hairs from Diana's ponytail. "It's alright, mija, you keep them."

Diana stood up with a smile and kissed her mom on the cheek. "I love you," she said casually and then wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. She was feeling extra affectionate that day.

Irene's muffled laughter came with her urgently tapping Diana on the arm. Diana released her and Irene immediately took a deep breath. "Ay, filha, you were suffocating me. D'you wanna actually kill me?"

"With love? Yes," Diana affirmed and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. "Did you put the things a sack?"

Irene nodded and rubbed her lower back with a grimace. "I'll bring it to you," she said and exited the tent. Diana would have to offer her mom a massage one of these days. She'd been complaining of back pain since the prior day.