Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

24

Rachel

My mom came into my room first thing in the morning. She lightly shook me awake, "Rachel.. Hey."

I rubbed my eyes open and sat up. She looked sad, stressed. She sighed before taking my hand. "Look, I'm sorry for blowing up last night. You just really freaked out your dad and I. We had no clue where you could be, I drove over to Daryl's and no one was there. You didn't tell us anything, we had no idea."

I nodded, "I know. I'm sorry mom. We both are.."

She shook her head and looked around my room. "I think it just hasn't hit us, how you're actually coming into your own.. I respect that. You will make your own choices, and that's okay. But we need you home at a decent time, and we need to know where you will be if you're going to be out late."

"Okay, I'll do that, I promise it won't happen again."

She nodded and gave me a weak smile, which quickly turned into a frown. "I didn't mean all that about Daryl.. We love Daryl, and you two are so good with each other. I just don't want you to be reckless. I want you to have a full life, and not regret anything."

I shook my head, "Were not stupid.. And he's doing his best. He's hardworking.. smart, and yeah he kinda has no clue what he's doing, but he loves me. He wants to take care of me.. And I want the same."

She nodded, smiling but not looking at me.

"And for the record, I think Daryl is gonna be an amazing dad.." I looked to the floor, smiling at the thought.

She smirked and shook her head, "I know.. just make sure that's when you're ready- when he's ready."

I let out a sigh, "Yeah." She hugged me and left the room. I looked at the clock. 9:13. I had to go see Daryl, to let him know things were fine. So I climbed out of bed and started to get ready.

I was out of the house and at his by 10. I ran up to the door and knocked. I heard Will yelling from the inside, "Dare, it's probably for you!" A few seconds later the door swung open. Daryl was pulling his shirt down, "Hey." He wrapped one arm around me and kissed the side of my head.

"Hey." I smiled up at him, "Can we talk?"

He looked over his shoulder to Will watching tv. "Mm- yeah, c'mon." He took my hand and we walked past Will and into his room. He closed the door behind him and sat at the edge of his bed.

I crossed my arms and walked over to his dresser, his eyes followed. Daryl's room was real uncluttered and tidy for the most part. His cassettes were stacked from his top favorites down, and he had a picture of his mom next to his clock. An almost full pack of cigarettes laid open next to his watch. In the corner was a small pile of clothes and his backpack sat right under his window. It was simple, but very much Daryl.

I looked back to him and he was staring; his thumb was between his teeth.

"They aren't mad.. and she didn't mean it, you know? They were just worried."

His face remained expressionless and if it wasn't for him biting on his thumb, I'd have no clue where his head was at. I looked down for a bit and sighed.

"Are we okay?"

He looked away and grunted, "Mhm."

My brows furrowed, "Daryl." He looked back to me and dropped his thumb from his mouth. He shrugged and huffed out of frustration.

His eyes narrowed for a split sec but softened. He shook his head, "yeah, were okay.."

I sat next to him on his bed and he sighed; I could see the tension leave his shoulders. I took his hand and brought it to my lap. I traced the lines on his hand and smiled at his callouses as I ran my fingers over them. His touch was always so gentle despite his hands being rougher than most.

He lightly closed his hand around mine, causing me to look up to him. His corner of his mouth twitched up and his eyes were warm again. He leaned into me and kissed my forehead softly. As his lips brushed my forehead, I closed my eyes, taking in his scent and the feel of his lips on me.

When he pulled away he brought his hand up to my face slowly. He pushed my hair behind my hair and placed his hand back to my cheek. He stared for a beat before he brought his finger to my nose. I stared as he did this until I felt his finger pick my nose and quickly brush against my mouth. I snorted and pushed his arm away playfully. He laughed as I pushed him arm and scrunched his nose. God I loved him.

I grinned and shook my head, "you're dumb."
He shrugged, "but you love me."

I glanced down to his lips, then to the door. "You think he'll leave us alone?"

His eyes lit up and a smirk formed, his eyes darted to my lips and back up to my eyes. He nodded once, and grinned like a fool, "yeah." I laughed and he leaned in, closing the space between us.

Hey! Sorry the chapter is short. My brain is kinda all over the place. Thank you for reading! What are you guys expecting for the end of this book? How do you think things will go down or play out?? I'm a bit curious lol. Thanks again. Love you guys <3