𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 | Daryl Dixon

63 | PURPLE GRASS

"When the news started talking about Atlanta, I was calling and calling," Jake spoke quietly. His hands were shaking, clasped around his coffee mug. "I tried your apartment, your cell. Couldn't get through. Dad had to practically drag me out of the truck to go driving down there to find you."

"Good thing he did. Most didn't make it within miles of getting into that city, never mind getting out," Tori nodded along, her voice breaking as she wiped a tear away. "I still don't really know how I did it. I remember driving. Fast... I remember the fire, the gunshots..."

Nearly two years later, she still had nightmares about her escape from hell. The screeching of her truck tires, the clattering of the engine as she drove over speedbumps, the screams and cries of the civilians she drove passed. Too scared, too lost in her head to risk pulling over to save them as they begged.

"I'm so sorry," Jake whispered, reaching for her hand, his palm warm from holding his hot mug so tightly. "I'm sorry you were by yourself."

She lifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug, pressing her lips into a tight smile. "I wasn't alone that long. Found my people. We went through a lot, months on the road, scraping by here and there. They became family."

"And uh, that guy that attacked Nicholas yesterday – Daryl? That's your boyfriend?" he added with a smirk.

Tori smiled, shaking her head. "I guess so, yes. Except, we don't use the terms boyfriend and girlfriend because we're not twelve. I'd like for you to meet him though. Properly, I mean. There's more to him than tackling strangers to the ground, I swear," she chuckled before pausing. "Though, it happens more than you think."

Holding back a smile, Jake hummed in thought for a moment, "Does he treat you right? Does he love you?"

She nodded, feeling the heat in her cheeks as she blushed. "He does."

"Then I'm sure we'll get along great," Jake shrugged a shoulder, reaching over to squeeze her hand comfortingly. "And don't worry about the whole thing yesterday. Pretty sure everyone in this town has been waiting for a chance to drop Nicholas on his ass. Same with Aiden, honestly. He's my brother, sure, but he's also a douchebag."

"That'd make a great birthday card message," Tori squinted.

He looked at her for a few seconds, his bright eyes not even blinking as he took in the moment. It was like looking at a photograph – the one he had pinned up in his bedroom of the two of them together. It was taken years ago, the day Tori opened her store. The whole week, she had been stressed and panicked; it was back when she'd stopped drinking, and he remembered the mood swings that came with that. So to get a picture of her smiling was like a miracle. The day had gone so well for her, and he felt so proud. Hence why it was that picture holding pride and place on his wall.

"You know, sis, I really thought you were gone," Jake whispered, the quiet tone made raspy by the lump in his throat. "I thought about you every day."

Tori nodded slowly, looking down at the steaming mug in her hands. Her palms were bright red from the heat, her skin tingling. Guilt flooded through her body like water at Jake's words, as unlike him, she had avoided thinking of him all this time. In her head, once she'd lost something, there was no point in thinking back to it. Like there was a wall – a barrier that blocked her view of the pain of her past, leaving her numb, alone on the other side.

It had been there all her life. As a child, she saw it as a good thing, a protective thing that stopped her from wondering why she was so lonely. She never questioned where she came from or who her parents were; it didn't matter. When she got sent back and forth between group homes and foster families, she never asked why. Because she was just following the path ahead of her, never daring to look back.