The Lost Ones

Twenty-One

*Carol's POV*

"You- you love me?" I asked.

"Yeah. I didn't realize that I did, until today," replied Daryl.

"I- um, I love you too," I said with a smile. I felt his lips against mine in the next moment. he pulled away quickly and took his hands off my face. He sat on the bed and was looking around the room.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I sat beside him on the bed.

"Nothing," he replied.

"You can tell me, you tell me everything," I said. I stared at him for a while, until he turned to face me.

"It's just, I never thought I would find love, especially when the world ended. I always wanted to find love," he replied.

"Well you found it, so, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm just afraid," he replied.

"Afraid of what?" I asked. "The walkers?"

"No," he said. "I'm afraid that it's gonna turn out like it did for my parents. That, I would hate you, and I don't want to hate you,"

"It won't turn out like your parents' relationship did," I replied.

"How do you know?"

"Because we're different- you're different," I said. I started rubbing his back. "You are nothing like your parents. You are much kinder. All the abuse you went through, made you a stronger person. It made you nicer, because you didn't want to fail your kids, if you will ever have any."

"I'm afraid that I did, once," he replied.

"What?"

"I failed my kid, and his mom," he said. I was taken back. I thought I knew all about him.

"You had a kid?" I asked. I took my hand off of his back.

"I was just a stupid teenager," he replied. "Seventeen. I thought I was in love with her. Once Chase came, I panicked. I realized that I didn't love her. I stopped talking to her. Dropped out of school so I could be on my own. I moved two hours away, just so I didn't have to see her anymore."

"What was her name?" I asked.

"Billie," he responded.

"Do you ever think about them?" I asked.

"All the time," he said. "I often wonder if they're still alive. And if they are, I probably will never see them again." He reached for his pocket and pulled out a folded up picture. "I carry this around all the time to remind me not to fail Chase again." He handed me the picture. It was a picture of him holding a baby. "I look at it when I can't sleep or I'm having a bad day."

"How old was he when you left?"

"About three months," he replied. I handed the picture back to him.

"How old would he be now?" I asked.

"He would be around 21 to 23," he replied. I moved the hair out of his eyes and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. It was mine," he replied.

"I'm gonna go get a water," I said. I got off the bed and headed towards the door. I turned around and saw a tear streaming down his face. I opened the door and walked out. I walked downstairs and found Rick in the living room playing with Judith and Carl asleep on the couch behind him.

"Where are the waters?" I whispered.

"In that bag over there," he pointed across the room to a green backpack. I grabbed two waters and started for the stairs.