The Road to Bethyl {Slow Updates}

Twister.

I wake up half expecting last nights conversation to be a dream. I have to say, I was shocked when I woke up to Daryl's hot breath fanning across my face. He lays the same distance he did last night, two inches between us.

I should peer around and see about what time it is. I should wake Daryl so we can have a head start for the day. I should start packing up camp so he doesn't have to help me in a rush later. And honestly, the sensible me would do all these things... but I don't know when the next opportunity for this will be. Will I get another chance to examine him and take in his appearance?

Without thinking about it much after that, I let my eyes scan over his face. He looks younger asleep. He looks less stressed now. His whole look is altered. You can still see the lines in his skin he has made when he was awake around his mouth and corners of his eyes.

The main thing that stood out to me though, is how his eyebrows aren't scrunched together. It seems as if they are always together, whether it is out of concentration or frustration. He looks relaxed, care free, and calm. This is definitely not the Daryl I know, but hopefully I will get to.

I can faintly see his eyebrows twitch in movement towards the center of his eyes. There is quick movement behind his eyelids and his nostrils flare. Huh. So the mighty, fearless Daryl has nightmares too, eh?

This thought just brings me back to last nights conversation. I don't know whether to feel embarrassed or happy. He knows I had a nightmare about losing him, of all people, but he cried. He cried and said he cared for me too.

Daryl's breath begins to differ from the ones he was taking earlier and his body is beginning to stir a tad bit. Next thing I knew, I was making eye contact with him at this close range.

His eyes go wide and he jumps back, obviously startled. Once he recognizes its only me, I see his muscles begin to relax and his eyes calming down. He clears his throat.

"How long I been out?" His accent slurred and thick with rasp because it's morning. I sit up and sit with my legs cross crossed.

"Only a few hours." I respond, my eyes staring at the ground we recently occupied. I see in the corner of my vision, his hand slightly shake. After a few silent moments, he speaks again.

"We should get goin'." He states before standing up.

My feet follow faster than my brain because I am already undoing the wires we tied to the trees. Daryl starts on putting out and covering the fire. He packs up the necessities we unloaded last night when setting up. When we are done and all our equipment is put up, we begin to walk. Shocker..

Every day, we are the same. We walk endlessly until we find a tiny secure spot. We set up camp with our home made security system. We sleep. We wake up, pack up, and leave, looking for the next tiny and secure spot. It is boring and annoying; it's not really living.

I walk behind Daryl and begin to think back to last night again. I still can't believe he cried. He cried and said he cared for me. That's just... crazy. Unforgettable, really.

Me and Daryl walk up this long road, off to the wooded side area of course, towards this neighborhood. We walk into the entrance of it and see several houses, all have that 'classic perfect family' feel to them. It's so foreign now.

"Wanna pick one out?" He asks me. I shrug my shoulders with a small grin and walk over to the second house on the right.

It has white as a main color, now fading with time and wear. The complementary color is green. There are two white rocking chairs on the porch with green cushions, complementing the green curtains.

Daryl grunts in response but mutters a 'let's clear it'. We walk in and he is mostly the one checking out the surroundings. My eyes are looking at the house. It's decor, it's feel to it, it's everything... is perfect.

Us two are done cleaning out the place, nothing was here, and we relax our weapons. Barricading the door, we set down our bags. I begin to check out the kitchen and Daryl soon follows suit. That's when I decide to do it. Make everything awkward.

"So, that talk last night." I see him tense up and hear a cabinet slam closed. I'm guessing he didn't like this topic too much.

"What about it?" He snaps already. Okay, so he really doesn't like this topic. I roll my shoulders back and take a deep breath.

"I want to discuss it, talk about what happened." I say. It came out sturdy and calm, much to my surprise. His back is still turned towards me as he looks through cabinets for useful objects.

"You cried, you got over it, we slept. What's there to discuss?"

Is he just going to act like what he said didn't happen? Because we both know pretty damn well what really happened! We both cried! We both said how we cared for each other!

"Well first of all, I'm not fucking over it. Second, You cried too, if you don't remember! You said you cared about me! Ring a bell?!" I yell at him. He turns around to meet me face to face, only about two feet of distance between us.

Daryl's eyes lock with mine. At first, I see intense anger and fury, yet when he locks the stare, I see those fade away. He breaks the eye contact only to look down at my mouth. His gaze rises back up to mine. His lips part to say something but he changes his mind and closes them before his words could relieve my confusion.

"Will you please talk to me?" I say in a serious tone.

"I can't." Daryl says after a minute of silence. He is avoiding eye contact now, finding any distraction with his eyes. I continue to gaze at him.

"Why not?" I ask, gently. I don't want to wake the giant.

Daryl is a complicating person and figuring him out is going to be hard as hell, I can already tell. He won't give me anything to work with, here!

"Because I'm still trying to sort out stuff. I'm just.. confused." He admits. Well, that's a start! I send a small smile and nod. After a couple minutes of somewhat tense silence filling the room, I speak up.

"I'm gonna go finish up the barriers." He clears his throat and just nods and grunts in response. I take that as my que to leave.

He said he was still sorting stuff out. He said he is confused. Confused about what? Sorting out what? I have so many questions but I know there is no way Daryl will answer any.

I feel like Daryl is like a game of Twister. You've gotta move around and contort in order to be with him. I have to move so I don't interfere with him and his stance in the twisted world. And one wrong move, could send everyone tumblin' down.

~-~-~-~
Well, I continued.

Thank you to everyone who voted and commented, it really did mean a lot. I will continue with this story as long as I see that everyone wants me to!

I hope you like this chapter! Please vote, comment, and stuff. It makes the world of difference.

You are all awesome and I will see you next chapter!