Login with:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

Google

Yahoo

Aol.

Mibba

Your info will not be visible on the site. After logging in for the first time you'll be able to choose your display name.

A New Name, A New Life

Chp 13. Time to Be

After Daryl had made his peace with Tonkin, who had recently taken over scheduling shifts, he went back to his room to clean up. Before tossing on a clean shirt and pants, he cleaned the outside world from his skin with the water by his bed. He thought about Q... He thought about how she felt next to him, how she smelled like fire and honeysuckle, no matter what... And how she tasted... His mind jumped to their time together and he wondered how they were going to figure that out with all of the possible interruptions now.

He felt the constant underlying desire to get back to her, and he was still uneasy with this need he felt on such a primal level. He told himself she needed the time to make amends with Carol. Which was true. He also didn't want to face Carol's all knowing look just yet. He felt a surge of fear that she might not be there when he went back. He took a deep breath.

'Damn man... She got you locked up tight. She'll be there. She ain't lied to you yet, why would she start now?'

He knew he would have to fight this urge with her. The impulse to believe once she was out of sight that she might disappear. He put his head in his hands and smiled...

'I am so fucked.'

****
Daryl had almost made it to the gate when Tonkin stopped him.

"Daryl, I want to introduce you to Peter. Jesus brought him in while you were... gone." He added the last bit with a slightly irritated tone.

"Heh, ya. Hey." Daryl said casually, shaking the new guy's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Daryl." Peter replied.

"Tomorrow, I'd like Peter to shadow you on your shift, get an idea of how we do things."

Daryl grunted and gave a nod. "You any good with that?" he asked motioning to the rifle strapped to his back.

"Good enough I guess. Try to avoid it with the ammo shortage." Peter replied.

"Makes sense." Daryl was sizing Peter up now. Trying to read him, he didn't seem like a bad guy as much as there was something off-putting about him. Daryl just couldn't put his finger on it.

"I got somewhere to be. I'll catch up with you tomorrow." He nodded to them and turned back towards the gate to leave.

"Catch you tomorrow." Peter replied.

***
When Daryl reached Carol's house he paused at the gate, he could see her inside setting the table. He couldn't see Q just yet and that now familiar wave went through his stomach. He knocked, which was unusual for him to do at Carol's but he wanted to be sure he didn't just walk into some conversation he shouldn't. When no one answered, he pushed the door open to see Carol waiting, watching him with one eyebrow raised.

"Since when do you knock?" she asked with her hand on her hip.

He scoffed and closed the door behind him. He felt his heart begin to pound as he looked around the room, seeing Q's door open but no sign of her... As he made his way to the table to sit down he heard the back door open and immediately knew it was her. The fear turned to anxiety as he tries to hide his emotions from his face. Luckily Carol was too busy fighting with the wood in the fireplace to notice. Q walked into the dining room and stopped when she saw him.

Her face, much to her own irritation, started to turn red, and she wondered when she'd stop having that immediate reaction. He shifted in his seat, which told her she had a similar impact on him. She sat at the table next to him, resisting the urge to touch him in any way. It felt like some strong external force kept trying to make their hands or legs meet. Instead they'd bump and make awkward apologies.

Carol brought the stew to the table and began to serve. She talked about the weather, about the cookies she'd traded for the bread, and about the new guy that Jesus had brought in.

"Ya, met the guy on my way out." Daryl finally contributed to the conversation through a mouthful of stew. "Tonkin wants him to follow me around tomorrow... Guess we'll see." He shrugged.

"Are you going back to work tomorrow?" Carol asked, turning to Q.

Q shrugged and looked to Daryl for guidance. "Am I?"

He looked to his stew to avoid the reaction he knew his face had when she locked eyes with him. "Uh, just told Tonkin we were huntin' and got stuck 'cause of the rain. Said you could take the shift tomorrow..." He cleared his throat, "... with me."

"Works for me." Q shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

"Good, best to get back to business as usual. With Fall coming, and eventually the snow, we'll need to do as many supply runs as we can... Probably have to venture out further now... But I'm sure you two wouldn't mind handling that." Carol said matter of factly.

Q about choked on her stew as Daryl adjusted himself in his seat with a scoff.

"Thought not." she said with a smile.

Q was relieved that that was the extent of the interrogation for the day. She'd decided to stay, which was Carol's main request of her before starting anything with Daryl. So given that she hadn't seemed pissed or upset about almost catching them earlier, she figured Carol must be ok with it...

Q made her way outside after dinner, climbing up to her favorite spot on top of the shed. She had snuck out, hoping to put Daryl in the hot seat she'd found herself in earlier. As she looked at the stars she started to think about her family. Her old family... She was battling her own guilt at starting a new life. She'd convinced herself that since she was never settling down, she wasn't moving on. But now... now she had reasons to stay... Carol... Daryl... She even found herself caring about the King's opinion of her. She knew she'd have to face that head on by requesting an audience with the King himself... but that could wait. For now. For now she needed to adapt to the idea of staying and the truth of actually starting a new life.

***

He sat on the counter, playing with the cigarette in his hand just waiting. He was waiting, waiting for Carol to ask, or tell... Whatever. He just needed it to be over. Needed her to be the one to address it. So he waited... waited while she cleared the table... did the dishes... dried them... put them up... and he was pretty sure she knew exactly what she was doing. But, he knew he could wait her out...

Finally, after almost an hour, Carol put the towel on the counter and turned around.

"So. What happened?" She finally asked.

He was surprised to find that he couldn't articulate a simple answer... and when the words escaped him he shrugged slightly and muttered, "Dunno."

"Really? You've been lingering, no, hovering, for an hour, waiting for me to bring it up and that's all you can give me?" She laughed.

" 's complicated."

"Well that's exactly what she said... Since you two apparently don't know or don't want to talk about it... What happens now?"

He just looked at her.

"I swear Daryl if you say ' I dunno ' one more time... Just..." She let out a sigh, "Just tell me this much... Did she tell you anything about what happened to her?"

He nodded, chewing on his thumb, careful not to make eye contact.

"And?"
"She's been through her fair share of shit."

She leaned against the counter, crossing her arms, "Did she tell you about the rest of them?"

He knew she was asking about the scars... He shook his head.

"Listen to me... Q? She's family now. She made her choice to come back. But whatever this is between you two..." Daryl shifted uncomfortably and Carol waited until he looked up, "Whatever this is? Just be smart. I don't want either of you to get hurt... Especially since we're all stuck with each other now. Right?"

He scoffed and jumped down off the counter.

"Ya done?" he joked.

"For now." She smiled. "Go on." She motioned her head to the back door.

He gave her a hug. Knowing what being family meant to her, he wanted to reassure her that they would be, no matter what.

***

"Well? How bad was it?" Q asked as she heard him make his way to the top of the shed.

"I'm alive ain't I?" He joked as he laid down next to her.

"Ya know, all the shit I've seen... No one scares me quite like Carol does." She smiled.

"Pfft, you dunno the half of it."

As they laid there, Q moved her head closer to Daryl's shoulder. She was so exhausted from the emotional roller coaster of the day, and he put her at such ease, she actually felt herself begin to drift off to sleep.

After a few minutes, he felt her drifting, "Let's get you inside." He said. She groaned but knew he was right, it was irresponsible to let your guard down too much outside.

Carol had already gone to bed, her door closed. Daryl walked Q to her door and stood in the doorway as she pulled her boots and socks off and threw them in the corner. She unbuttoned her pants and slid them off with some difficulty, then climbed into bed facing the other wall.
He started to close the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked without turning to him. "Can you... Will you stay with me?"

He lingered with his hand on the door, thinking it through. Of course he wanted to, but he felt strange given that it was Carol's house.

The door creaked.

"Daryl?" She rolled over to see that he was gone... and the door had been closed behind him. A sharp pain hit her chest and in her exhaustion she started to tear up as she rolled back over.

Then the door creaked open and Daryl came into the room, closing it behind him. He shuffled around in the dark, kicking his boots off and putting his pants on the side of the bed. He climbed in and laid on his back. She rolled towards him and let out an unexpected sniffle.

He turned his head to face her, but his eyes were still adjusting to the dark, "You ok?"

She let out a small laugh, "Ya... No, I'm good."

"Had to make sure we were locked down for the night." He put his arm out and she adjust herself into his side.

She smiled to herself, 'Of course he did...'

Notes

Fluffy, but things gotta develop y'all! :D

Comments

So... I'm going to delete the TBD Chp# Time to Claim Chapter now that I've posted the next chronological chapter--you'll see it again. SOMEDAY! :D

Thanks for reading and for the feedback! Hope to have the next couple chapters up soon!

@Grimesgirl63

Just started reading your story...really love Q, how Carol and Daryl are at the Kingdom, and the interaction between them all. It is so well written, and I am really enjoying it!

Grimesgirl63 Grimesgirl63
10/27/17

@Loul461
Thanks for reading!! :)

Love it!

Loul461 Loul461
10/7/17