𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XIV pt. II

oOo

Diana took the wildflowers in a delicate hold; they were looking a little droopy and damaged from being stuffed in her medkit, but still nice. She removed a daisy from it, its white petals had some indentations, but still looked presentable, and she wove the stem into her hair by the tie that held it together.

She put the rest on top of her medkit, which sat by the corner of her tent next to their luggage, and grabbed the bow propped against it. She was welcomed by a pleasant tingling that began at her fingertips and coursed all the way up her arm and ended at her chest, which felt warm and bright and made a small smile grow on her lips in delight.

She would never get used to that, but she didn't mind if it meant it would feel this nice every time.

Exiting the tent, she was met by the most comical, yet unamusing sight ever: Daryl standing by the edge of their camp, facing her mom and dad from the distance. Irene hid her disapproval better than her husband, that was clear, and Daryl looked so out of place and uncomfortable under the other man's glare that it was almost laughable.

"Am I interrupting something or what?" Diana asked Irene, who'd seen her first, and in response the woman slapped her husband on the arm and called him off.

"You know your dad," Irene whispered back and had to physically pull Sam away so he'd stop staring at the poor guy. "He just appeared outta nowhere and said something we didn't understand and your dad went straight to the defensive."

"The kids not around?" Diana gave the camp a once-over and confirmed their absence.

Sam threw one last look over his shoulder and went to sit on one of the foldable chairs by his and Irene's tent, breaking twigs with more force than necessary and throwing them into the fire pit as he tried his best to ignore the other man.

Irene glanced at her husband, shook her head and answered, "They took the baseball stuff with them and left. I guess Lori didn't need help after all."

Diana nodded and turned to Daryl. "I'll be right there," she told him and explained his presence to Irene and how they'd agree to meet there for the time being.

"I'll tell that to your dad." Irene nodded and patted Diana's face once. "And you, like I said, any funny business and you're outta there, get it?"

"So you don't trust me going with Glenn, but you sorta trust me going with Daryl, how's that work?"

"Don't get cheeky with me," Irene scolded and swatted playfully at Diana's butt, which she avoided by jumping away.

Diana winked and poked her tongue out and leaped away when Irene took her sandal in hand and made for her butt again.

"I won't take long, see ya later," Diana called to her parents, and to their amusement, gestured subtly at Daryl's back while it was turned and did some sloppy karate chops and kicks in the air.

She left with the image of her mom's eyeroll and her dad's smirk and thumbs up.

oOo

"Sorry about my dad," Diana began after a beat of silence. "He can be scary when he means to, but he's really nice."

Daryl looked at her and adjusted the strap of his cross. "He ain't scary."

Diana suppressed a grin and looked around; she had absolutely no idea where they were going, all forest looked the same to her and she didn't have the best sense of orientation to begin with. They were heading up, though, judging by the slight inclination of the earth. There was a flash of phantom sweaty hands touching her skin, making her nauseous and forcing her to look over her shoulder.