You looked beautiful. There wasn't a question about it. Although Daryl Dixon almost didn't recognize you, he couldn't argue that you looked absolutely beautiful tonight.
Your hair washed clean of the months of sweat, dirt and grease worked in. It shimmered differently than he had ever seen it do so. Your locks flowed down your shoulders like a waterfall, and light sparkled off each strand.
Your body looked different clothed in something clean and something other than jeans and a tank top. The curves that Daryl saw only when he got you undressed was outlined tonight in the tight black dress you wore. The fabric sucking onto your hips and falling till it reached just above your knee. Your hair almost covered the lace back of the dress, but Daryl saw it on you. And it made him see you as a completely different person. Someone who was used to this kind of living, this kind of life. And his stomach twisted at the thought.
Your face that he usually saw bare and burned from the sun, was suddenly painted in make up like the rest of them. The color of your eyes bolded by pencil and shadow. Your cheeks seemed pinker than before, and he could hardly see the sunburn on your nose anymore. You had covered up the you he remembered with the looks of a beauty queen tonight, and as beautiful as you looked... Daryl could hardly recognize you.
The only thing that made him realize the woman he saw at the window was his, was your smile. Although your lips that he loved to kiss were painted a deep red color, he knew that smile anywhere. He could pull you out of a crowd of a thousand people with that smile, and tonight it wasn't any different. Except for the feeling inside of his chest when he found you. His eyes found you tonight and his chest constricted as he didn't recognize the woman he loved. It was as if she had changed bodies with someone he didn't know, and his mouth went dry at the idea.
He stood out in the streets of Alexandria among the trees planted in rows, and under the dark star filled night. Gazing at you from a far, through a window he could see from where he stood. Deanna's house was lit brightly inside and out, the door open for anyone wanting to join in on the party she was throwing. But Daryl watched it all play out from a distance.
You had asked him to go with you, even when you already knew his answer. It wasn't something Daryl could bring himself to do. It was too out of his comfort zone and he wasn't willing to try. So you went without him. And as Daryl watches you chatting with those who attended the party, he realizes this is in your comfort zone. Your smile and your laughter says it all.
Daryl didn't want to be here in Alexandria, it was too confining. He was afraid everyone would lose their edge, become blinded by the beauty of a built comunity and become adapted to this kind of living once again. But what he feared most about Alexandria was losing you to this place. And as he glances once more at the beauty smiling at a party she looks completely at ease at... He knows he already has.
* * *
Music played around you, filling every corner of the beautiful house you stood inside of. The melodies mixing with the sounds of people's laughter and the conversations between them. It was as if you had stepped through some kind of time machine.
Where the world wasn't filled with chaos and decay, where the dead weren't roaming beyond the wall waiting for you to join them. Everything here, it seemed like the time before. A time so long ago you almost didn't remember how it used to be. How life used to be when you weren't constantly on the run or fearing death at every turn. This was a glimpse at the past, and maybe for a moment... Your future as well.
People smiled your way as you mingled with those you knew and those who you had only just met. You couldn't help but feel happy at the remeberance of parties like these. Get togethers with those of the community.
But as much as you smiled and laughed and enjoyed all the company, you still found yourself wishing Daryl Dixon was here by your side. You understood why he wasn't and why he couldn't, but it didn't mean you didn't miss his presence.
Taking another sip of your bubbly drink, you walk over to the window to look out at the night sky. But what you spot is more than just the stars and the moon in the blanket of black. You spot Daryl Dixon walking down the block, as if he showed up but turned back around.
Setting your glass on the table, you scurry through the clusters of people talking and drinking together. Making it to the front door, you pull it open and run out onto the porch. Moving swiftly down the few front steps you run after the man walking down the street. His angel wings standing out amongst the darkness.
"Daryl!" You call his name as you try to reach him, but you know running in heels is what's slowing you down.
"Daryl!" You call once more and this time he turns at the sound of his name.
His steps come to a stop as you finally reach up to him, smiling softly at his presence and trying to slow your breathing.
"What are you doing out here? Did you change your mind about Deanna's party?" You ask, and the moon lends light to the middle of the street you stand in.
"Nah," Daryl shakes his head, looking downward at his feet.
"Then what are you doing?" You ask, and Daryl looks up at you. But doesn't meet your gaze. Instead he looks at the clothes that you wear and the shoes that rub at your ankles.
"Are you alright Daryl?" You ask gently after minutes pass of him staring blankly at you.
"Don't know this you." He murmurs under his breath, but you hear him in the quiet night.
"What?"
"Seeing ye dressed like this, in a party like that. Don't know that person. She ain't the same girl who looked all scruffed up like me or out in the middle of the woods like we used to be."
"Daryl," You say with the softest of laughs. "I'm still the same person."
"Ye ain't."
"I am." You repeat to him. "I may change my clothes or have a drink or two at a party but that doesn't mean I'm any different."
"Look, Daryl," You speak softer as you take a step closer to the redneck. "I like the part of myself that can survive out in the middle of no where with nothing more than you and my knife. I like the part of me that doesn't mind getting dirty and sweaty in the sun. But I also like the part of me that enjoys putting on a cute dress and goes to a party with the people I consider my friends and my family. I like the social aspect of it. But that doesn't mean I'm any different than the girl you knew yesterday."
"You and me, we ain't made for each other." Daryl admits quietly.
"Daryl come on," You plead softly to the man before. "It was just a little party. Its just a dress and a pair of shoes that are eating at my flesh. I'm not any different than--"
"We're different. This is where ye fit in, I don't."
Reaching out, your fingertips graze Daryl's wrist but he's already turned before you can grab hold of his arm fully.
"Daryl!" You call after him, but he's already disappearing into the night. Away from this place and away from you.
A/N: I really like this one and I already have a part 2 planned for this one!
