The beginning

Chapter 13

Daryl and I began walking down the long driveway when we were stopped by Rick, "you two sure you're happy going out now. You could wait till tomorrow, more people. It would be safer. We have a map now."

Daryl scoffed, "we'll get this done faster just the two of us. We'll be back before its dark."

Rick turned at me, "are you happy doing this?"

"Yes Rick, Daryl and I work well together."

"Yeah, in more ways than one," Daryl muttered.

Rick turned back to Daryl, "you don't owe us anything."

"Yeah, well plans change," Daryl grunted, walking away.

I waved to Rick and raced after Daryl. I waited till we were out of earshot and asked what he meant by 'plans change.'

Daryl shrugged, "I guess I wasn't plannin' on us being a thing," he admitted.

We walked along the path for a little while then cut through the field and made our way to the forest. My mind was racing a million miles an hour.

"Whatcha thinkin?" he asked.

"Nothing..."

"I've known you long enough to understand that when you pull that face, you have somethin' on your mind. Spill it."

"You reckon..." I paused. "You reckon if Merle hadn't been left in Atlanta...if he hadn't disappeared from the rooftop, that we would be as close?"

"I don't want to think about that," Daryl mumbled.

I played with my hair awkwardly. "So, no?"

"I don't know, Talia!" Daryl snapped. "You heard how he was when he saw we were going huntin' together. He didn't like me getting close to anyone."

"Why did you two stay then? If you didn't plan on making any friends?" He didn't answer. "Daryl? Don't shut me out. Please."

"He wanted to steal all of y'all's shit, okay?"

I stopped in my tracks, "what?!" My mouth was agape.

He turned to me and looked around, worried as if someone was listening in on his confession. We were alone. Hershel's farm was now a tiny blip in the distance.

"Merle had in his mind to rob the camp the second we met y'all," he confessed.

"So why didn't you?" I wondered. "You were with us for weeks."

"I convinced him to wait a while longer. Build your supplies up..."

I raised my brows and shook my head, "so, if Merle hadn't disappeared, would you have gone through with it?"

"I don't know the answer to that," he admitted dejectedly. "I'm sorry if that changes things for you."

He stood there miserably, waiting for me to say something. Instead, I walked forward and stood on the tips of my toes, holding his face in my hands and pulled his head toward me. I kissed his forehead gently, then his lips. "I don't need an answer," I whispered. "That was in the past. This is now. And right now...us...that's what I want to focus on."

"You don't hate me?" he asked.

"Not one bit," I replied. "Come on, we should keep going."

Daryl and I passed time by asking each other questions. Our favorite movies, music, food. Anything and everything. Nothing was off the table, but we had one rule. If you asked a question, you had to answer it too. The questions started off innocently but soon enough became a little more risqué.