The air was cool as you strolled slowly through the long grass. The tall blades of deep green blowing gently in the soft breeze. Autumn was coming, you could feel in everything. And you could see it in every form here on the farm. From the cooler mornings to the leaves that fluttered down to the ground. Falling from the trees before even beginning to turn the faintest shade of yellow or red. You watched in the mornings as the few birds began to fly south for the winter, getting a head start. And you watched as frost coated each piece of grass in the early hours.
Turning a corner around the barn as you walk aimlessly, you spot the shadow of a figure sitting not too far away. There was no light to shine upon his face, but there was a soft glow from the end of his lit cigarette he smoked. The bright orange hue glowed softly in the dark night, like a lightning bug in the dead of summer.
And your footsteps faltered as you found yourself stopping in where you stood. Keeping in the darkness, hidden from his eye, as you studied the man in this rare moment.
He was slouched slightly as he sat on some kind of block of wood. But his height and size that was many times your own, was still obvious even as he was relaxed. And even in the darkness, you could see the even darker fabric he wore. The denim jacket that covered his arms that had developed more defined muscles over the many months, and you could barely make out the stitched vest that he wore everyday now.
"Can't sleep?"
His voice floats in the breeze all the way over to you, and although he doesn't turn his head to look your way, you know he's speaking to you.
Shaking your head, you begin to walk towards him again. Your feet gently brushing through the tall blades until you reach the shadowed redneck.
"No," You answer with a soft sigh. "my mother always said it was because I had my head up in the stars."
Looking up towards the dark navy sky, you spot very few stars sprinkled across the deep blanket. But her words echo in your mind as though she had just said them to you.
"But I think it's all the adrenaline." You add with a slight shrug.
Daryl Dixon looks to you now, as your head turns and your eyes collide. Even as the night dampens your view, you can see the way his eyes gaze deeply at you. The blue almost swelt away into the night.
"Your ma with ye when all this started?" Daryl asks you softly as you take a seat next to him. His shadow instantly falling upon you, and completely swallows you up.
Staring out at the dark abyss, you shake your head. The emotions that you hadn't felt in so long and the thoughts you had pushed far away were slowly trickling back in.
"No," You whisper. "She was gone long before this."
Daryl hums lowly, as his eyes drop and he takes another drag from his cigarette.
"I'm sorry."
You shrug at his words, and although they are sincere and strike a nerve inside of you, you dont try to dwell on the feeling. For you know it'll eat you up.
"We've all lost someone at one time or another."
Daryl is quiet after your comment and you wonder who it is he's thinking of. If it's his outspoken and dare you say, asshole of an older brother Merle. Or if its possibly someone else from his past. But you know that answer will forever stay hidden within the enigma that is Daryl Dixon.
"When we lost my mother," You clear your throat, questioning why you're even still talking to him about this. "my father had me go outside every night and look to the stars."
"He pointed to one the night she died and told me that was her. That she had gone to heaven but she was right there shining down on me every night as I fell asleep."
Daryl turns his head to the right to look at you again, and you feel his gaze even if you don't turn to see it.
"I still look sometimes," You confess in a soft whisper. "Is that silly?"
Your faint laugh falls short as you look to Daryl. And you had expected him to get up by now or stop responding to you in boredom or irritation, but he looks to you with a face full of concentration.
"Nah," He shakes his head as he tosses his cigarette into the grass. Stomping his boot over it. "They gotta go somewhere, and that ain't a bad place to end up."
His words surprise you and he looks away just to look up at the sky as you had.
"You have someone up there Daryl?"
He grunts after a moment, and shakes his head. "Ain't no stars shining for my brother. I know that much."
"You never know." You tell him softly, and look up to the dark blanket spread wide above the two of you.
The night is quiet as crickets chirp faintly in the background. Their noises blowing with the breeze that swirls around you. And there was something about night that brought the calm of the day. There was no peace or serenity in the middle of the day, you felt. Only when the sun went down and the night moved in was the Earth still and peaceful. Only then could you listen to your thoughts and hear them crystal clear.
"That one there," Daryl's low voice breaks through your thoughts. And looking over at him, you follow his finger that points to a small star sparkling against the dark background. "I think I know who's that one is."
"Who's?" You hum softly, looking with him at the tiny fragile looking star.
Daryl doesn't respond right away. As though the words are on the tip of his tongue, yet he just can't say them. And it isn't until he finally reveals the name, that you know why.
"Sophia's."
Her name hangs in the air with an ache that touched each and every one of you. An ache that still hurt for it was fresh and raw and uncovered. Daryl struggled to say her name because once he said it, that only made the fact that you all had lost her that much more real.
Reaching over, your fingertips feel the warm skin of Daryl's hand. And although he tenses, he doesn't pull away. So very slowly, you curl your fingers with his own until your hands are loosely intertwined.
"Its a beautiful star," You whisper warmly to the secretly tender redneck. "I think she would like it."
And there you sat, just the two of you for the remainder of the long peaceful night. Your hands safely held in each others, while you sat silently side by side, with both your heads lost up in the stars.
A/N: This wasn't my original plan for this one but I started writing and just decided to let the words go where they wanted to go. It's a shorter one but hopefully you guys like it alright!💙
