Survive

Not so bad after all

When I woke up, the sun was shining bright. I couldn't remember a time when I had slept that good and long. I didn't know what time it was, but I didn't care. I got up out of bed and went into the bathroom. There was a toothbrush and toothpaste on the sink vanity that wasn't there yesterday. I smiled as I picked it up.
I must have brushed my teeth four times before deciding to take another shower. I took my clothes that were now dry and threw them into the bedroom before closing the door to shower.
After another long shower, I dried off and got dressed in my tank top and ripped jeans. I walked over to my backpack on the floor and put my dad's necklace around my neck. I stood there and held it for a bit before tucking it into my shirt. When I opened the bedroom door to the hall, I smelt food. I slowly exited the room and closed the door softly behind me.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I turned into the kitchen to see a woman with short grey hair making something.
She must have sensed me there because she turned around before I could even say something.
"Good morning, well actually good late afternoon." She placed a plate full of food on the kitchen island.
"I know it's breakfast food, but that's what I brought over. I didn't know you would sleep this late, must have really needed it." She said with a smile.
"I can't remember a time when I slept like that, without having to keep one eye open."
She nodded before turning back towards the oven and picking up a pan. She walked it over to the sink and placed it in.
"I'll clean up... um?" I said trying to think if I knew her name.
"Oh sorry, my name is Carol."
I nodded
"Hannah."
"I know that." She placed the rest of the dirty dishes in the sink before heading to the front door.
"Thank you again, Carol."
She turned to face me one last time
"You're welcome, but thank Daryl too. He told me to come."
I nodded in response before turning to my food and eating. It was amazing. I tried not to eat too fast, but it was so good.
When I was done, I placed the dirty dish in the sink and began to wash all the other plates with it.
"Looks like you're finally awake."
I turned around to see Daryl standing in the doorway.
"Well sorry. I don't think I have ever slept that well in a very long time."
He smirked a little and walked into the house.
"What are ya doin' ?"
"I'm just doing the dishes. Thank you for sending Carol over with all that food. I can't remember the last time I had an actual meal like that."
He nodded in response.
"You found the shower too."
"And you still haven't. " I said back.
He rolled his eyes at me and sat down on the kitchen island stool.
"Are you only here to keep an eye on me now," I said as I started to dry off the plates and pans.
He didn't answer, just cleared his throat.
"There is extra food and clothing down the road that you can take back to the house. We will also stop and get that knife of yours."
I placed the plates on the counter and turned around to face this man.
"Why?"
"Well, I figure you'd like food and clothing..."
"No, no the knife," I said interrupting him.
"Well, safety pro caution."
I nodded slowly at him and made my way to the front door.
"Well, are you coming, show me where to go."
We walked a little up the road to a little store-like building. I grabbed a bag and put some clothes into it, then another for food. When I was done I started to walk back to my house when Daryl jogged after me.
"Don't you want that knife?"
"Will Rick be happy about this, he already doesn't trust me fully. I don't know why you're doing this."
He let out a long sigh
"I saw what was on the knife. It must mean a lot."
I froze in my steps and looked at him. He pulled the knife out of his back pocket and gave it to me. He then began to speak.
"That motorcycle in front of that house you stayin' at means a lot to me. It reminds me of my brother's bike. If anything happened to it, I would be beside myself. Wouldn't have anything left to remind me of him. So that's why I'm giving you the knife. For your brother."
I nodded and looked at him as he spoke. His facial expression changed from a hard look to a soft and almost caring gesture. I had never really realized how attractive this man was, even with all the dirt on him.
"What you looking at girl?"
I was snapped out of my trace and quickly looked at the ground.
"Nothing, sorry. Thank you for my knife. My brother craved his name in it so I would never forget his name. I did the same to his knife."
Daryl started walking in front of me, leading me back to the house.
"Did you ever go back to where you found me?"
"No why?" Daryl said as he continued to walk.
"My brother, he could have come back looking for me."
"He left you there. I don't think he's coming back."
I grabbed his shoulder roughly to turn him around to face me.
"How do you know that" I yelled in his face.
"I just do."
I pushed past him angrily and made my way back to the house.
"Hey stop!" Daryl called out for me, but I ignored him. I went up the stairs of the front porch and into the house. I shut the door behind me and made my way up the stairs into the bedroom. I slammed the door and slid down to the floor with my back pressed against the closed door. I slammed my head back against the door before bringing my legs up to hug my chest. I prayed that he wasn't dead and looking for me, but I knew in my heart there was a chance he was gone since he was away from our small camp for a long while and I could not admit that to myself.
There was a soft knock on the door after a couple of minutes of me crying. I wiped my eyes and slowly stood up. I walked over to the corner of the room, placed my knife on the nightstand, and slid down the wall until I was sitting, pulling my legs back up to my chest. The knocking continued. I wiped my eyes before softly yelling to whoever to come in.

Daryl entered the room, looking around the room until his eyes landed on my puffy ones. He walked over to me, sitting down on the bed.
"I'm sorry." He said softly. I could tell he was uncomfortable with showing this kind of emotion and expressing it.
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand before speaking.
"You're probably right," I said softly.
"No, I had no right to say that." 
Again I could tell this was probably his first time apologizing. He kept playing with his hands and would not look up. I stood up from the floor and walked in front of him.
"Daryl just stops, really it's ok. Now get off my bed you're making it dirty."
He finally looked up at me and let out a little laugh, as did I too. He could tell I was trying to hide my pain with humor.
"This is your house too you know. Take a shower for once." I said after a couple of minutes of silence. Feeling like I needed to say something to lighten the mood.
"Wow, bossy aren't we. You just met me." Daryl said as he stood up from the bed.
"Just go do it. You need one."
Daryl stood there staring at me. He seemed a little upset with the topic I chose to start, but I wanted him away so I could deal with my emotions on my own.
"Stop trying to change the subject," Daryl said
"Well, I'm doing you a favor. You definitely don't know how to apologize."
"Well, I'm working on it." He snapped back
We stood there looking at each other before I finally spoke again.
"Don't tell anyone I was crying. I have an image to portray." I said quietly.
"Then don't tell anyone that I'm about to shower."
I laughed and nodded in response before exiting the room.
I went downstairs to the living room and laid down on the couch. Once my head hit the pillow, I heard the shower turn on. I decided that I was gonna do him a favor and wash his clothes for him. I haven't seen any other clothes in this house so I thought it would be a good idea. I took my time going up the stairs. I figured he would have to take a long shower with the amount of dirt on him. I picked up his clothes in the bedroom and brought them downstairs. I started to wash them in the sink for him. He has been one of the nicest people here out of all the others I have met here and I felt like I need to do him a favor.
As I continued to wash the clothes I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to be startled by Daryl.
"Hey, are those my clothes?" He said pointing at the sink.
"Ya sorry I just wanted to do something for you, something small, since you saved my life and are letting me stay here."
"I need those." He said awkwardly. It was then I noticed that he had just a towel on, wrapped loosely around his waist. I all of a sudden felt myself blushing from embarrassment seeing him like this, even though I liked it. I liked it a lot.
"Oh I'm sorry, I thought since this was your house, you would have other clothes."
He cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking
"Well I do have other clothes... but not at the moment."
I gave him a weird look at his answer and turned back towards the clothes.
"I can go find you some clothes, these might take a while to dry."
"No, it's ok. It's late. I can wait until tomorrow." He turned towards the living room and laid down on the couch, fixing his towel. I grabbed the wet clothes and placed each article of clothing on a separate chair in the dining room so they could dry. I walked back out and into the living room.
"There are other beds you know, or you can take the master."
He sat back up to face me
"Nah you take it. Don't do much sleeping anymore. Don't wanna wake you up with my walking around."
I gave a soft single nod. I reached over to the loveseat next to the couch Daryl was on and grabbed a few blankets. I threw them at Daryl and began walking upstairs.
"Hey, girl."
"It's Hannah," I said stopping in my tracks.
"Tomorrow we'll go check out where I found ya. See if you're brothers there."
I gave him a small smile and headed upstairs. I closed the bedroom door and took off my clothes. I went through the bag I filled with clothes earlier and pulled out some cotton shorts. I put them on and put a sports bra on as well and laid down on the bed pulling the covers over me. From under the covers I reached out and grabbed my knife, putting it under one of the pillows by my head.
"Goodnight Daryl," I whispered to myself before dozing off.