Never Have I Ever Fallen in Love

Chapter 17

The drive back to the farm was a silent and oddly intimidating one.

Daryl drove in absolute silence and, for the most part, glared at the vast, empty road ahead of him instead of glancing around the empty fields like he did years ago. It was just one of his habits. Normally.

I cleared my throat and clasped my hands together in an attempt to catch his attention and hopefully start up some sort of conversation between the two of us.

He didn't even bother flinching.

I pursed my lips slightly. Fidgeting with the hem of my shirt, I tried again.

"So..." I started.

He glanced over at me and scowled slightly.

"So you're honestly gonna forgive that sumabitch?" he blurted out, the lack of enthusiasm evident in his voice.

I shrugged, half heartedly, and slouched down in my seat.

"After all of the shit he and his damn brotha put you through? All the beatings? The mental abuse? Kellin and Luca's scum. Why the hell you gonna forgive 'em?"

"After all the shit they put me through...?" I asked slowly. "I thought they were your friends anyway..." Daryl sighed, irradiated, and grunted. "Well, fuck..." I laughed mockingly. "Don't you remember what you did? All the shit you..."

"Tha's different!" Daryl interrupted me and slammed his hand down on the steering wheel suddenly.

"You left me for no damn reason! I gave you everything and you threw it back in my face! I was..."

"I had to! I had no choice!"

"You had to!? Give me one good reason!"

He didn't bother replying and that's how we spent the rest of the journey.

Silent and him in total ignorance of the stabbing pain in my chest.

"Jesus girl! What the hell did you do to him!? Looks like he has a stick up his ass..." T Dog approached me and one of the two bags that Daryl and I had bought back from town and watched the retreating back of Daryl Dixon. He had declared he was going to look for Sophia and "would beat anyone's ass if they tried to follow him."

Charming.

"Me? Oh, I dunno. I...almost got bit but...why the hell would he care about that?" I shrugged and looked over towards the make shift camp.

I still wasn't a huge fan of T Dog and I had tried, and succeeded, in avoiding him up till now.

"Well...I'll see ya then..." I muttered before he could say anything back to me.

I quickly rushed forward, leaving the bag behind for T Dog to handle and made my way towards the camp. On top of the RV, Andrea lounged in the same deck chair as she was sat in when I had confronted her. She had a rifle in one hand and was actually scanning the area instead of staring up at the sky, trying to achieve a  tan. It looked like a couple of people were pottering around in the RV and Lori sat outside, leaning against it while folding a few items of clothing. I made my choice out of the people quickly.

"Hey, Lori!" I greeted as I plopped myself down next to her. She stopped folding momentarily to smile across to me. 

"Hey...Scout?" I nodded and looked at the small pile of washing on the floor.

"Ya need any help with that?"I asked as politely as I could. She laughed a small laugh and gently kicked them towards me. 

"The more the merrier!"

I picked my first shirt up and we worked in silence for several moments until Lori broke it by asking me something I didn't expect..

"Men troubles?"

My eyes widened a bit and I looked towards her. "Naah..." I said hesitantly. "Just...yanno...it's complicated..." she nodded slightly and reached for another shirt.

"I get ya." she replied softly and frowned a little. I decided not to bother asking about it and instead, focused on a lone flower that was growing a couple of metres away from us.

"I saw the way you two were looking at each other when you got out the truck." she stated bluntly. I didn't reply and carried on focusing on the flower. "You told Rick you two have history, right? How?" I shrugged a bit.

After several moments, Lori took the hint that I didn't want to talk about it and remained silent.

"Look...I don't mean to be rude...I just don't really want to talk about it..." she nodded mutely. "How long have you known then?" I attempted a conversation that wasn't focused on me and my past life with Daryl.

"Kno...known about what...?" she glanced at me with what seemed like a worried expression on her face.

"Uh...about the baby..." I replied hesitantly.

She stared at me in shock and complete awe and  I glanced at her in suspicion.

"What?"

"You...how did you know!?" she hissed.

"Your...stance. You're hunched over...one hand firmly on your lower stomach when you ain't folding clothes...why? Aren't you?" 

"I...I only just found out! Please Scout! Please, can you not tell anyone!? I haven't decided if I'm keeping it! I just...dunno."

I glanced at the woman sat next to me and shook my head slightly. "Of course I won't! You don't even need to ask me that! But you should at least talk it out with Rick first..."

"I can't!"

"What...? Why not?"

She remained silent and stared at the floor and it suddenly all clicked. "It isn't his, is it?" She shook her head guiltily.

I sighed at this and stood up, tossing the last pair of trousers on top of the pile with the others. She glanced up at me alarmed.

"Relax." I scoffed. "I'm gonna keep your dirty little secret."

"What? I...I...Where are you going?"

"No offense to you...but I don't wanna be caught up in all this drama...I had at least hoped that would've disappeared when the world went to shit. Obviously not."

And with that, I walked away from the now horrified Lori to find something that I could do. Something helpful yet not have me interacting with anyone else. I couldn't do it. Not today.

Not after the painful reminder I had just received...