zoo hq: daryl x reader

chapter six

daryl was your boyfriend.

each time that thought popped into your head, it managed to get more shocking.

beautiful, funny, kind, gentle daryl was your boyfriend.

he was the dan to your phil. the steve to your bucky. the hardigree to your paperno.

you had been lost before you found daryl. it was almost as if you had gone on a cruise traveling to santiago, chile in the stormy summer of 1998 and there had been an accident, leaving you ultimately shipwrecked on an abandoned island 800 miles south of valparaíso with no hope of rescue and survival with limited water and the occasional tropical fruit and all of the sudden a gorgeous, tanned sailor had come and rescued you and given you water and edible delicacies and had taken care of you until you finally arrived in chile but you had fallen in love with him and he had fallen in love with you and so instead of departing you married him and spent the rest of your life sailing the seven seas with the breeze whipping through your hair as you lived without a care in the world.

almost.

the point is, you loved daryl.

your phone buzzed, jerking you out of your daydream.

could it be daryl? surely not.

you checked.

it was!

y/n, how does getting pizza tomorrow at the zoo sound? 😘😘
sent 10:09 pm

your throat closed and you began to wheeze. daryl used the kiss emoji. no one had ever sent the kiss emoji to you before except your dad, but that was honestly just embarrassing.

once you had regained your breath, you typed a reply.

yeah boo ❣️
sent 10:11 pm

what were you doing? that wasn't even the heart emoji you usually used. well, not that you sent heart emojis to people often, but one at least has to know their standard heart.

okay! see you then.
sent 10:11 pm

•••

the next afternoon, you and daryl met at the pizza place. you ordered your favorite, and daryl ordered a vegan one.

you sat at a booth, facing each other, and enjoying your pizza.

"so, how has your week been?" daryl asked.

"better now that i'm with you."

he smiled softly. "i'm flattered. anything else happen?"

you lowered your eyes and took another bite of pizza. "eh, you know, it was just any other week."

daryl suddenly reached across the table and grabbed your hand. you stared up at him, surprised.

"tell me more," he implored, his dark brown eyes soft and wanting. "i care."

"um, okay," you said, your voice shaking. no one had ever said anything like that to you before.

"well, i don't know. um, first period i have math," you started.

"how's that?" daryl asked.

"it's...math, you know?"

daryl smiled. somehow, you knew he did know. "okay, let's try something else. how are you?"

"i'm... good?" you said, confused.

"but how are you feeling? physically, emotionally, mentally."

"oh," you said. "well, i'm—" you stopped mid sentence. you realized you were about to insist that you were fine, but really, that wouldn't do you any good. what would do you good would be to open up to daryl, to let him know what was going on in your head, to tell him about everything, all of your struggles. after all, he really did care.

and so you did. you told him everything. he listened, offered sympathy when appropriate, and gave advice.

when you were at last finished, he told you to do something you were not expecting.

"come here."

"what?" you asked.

"come sit on my side. come on, it's okay."

"okay," you said, both unsure and excited.

you got up and slid into his side of the booth. it was very cramped; you were practically sitting in his lap.

and daryl hugged you. it felt so good. he exuded warmth and compassion and safety. plus, he smelled really good.

you didn't realize how much you needed that hug. at last daryl pulled away and then he planted a soft kiss on your cheek.

before you had time to react, a couple of teenage girls sitting on barstools a couple feet away started squealing. "y'all are sO CUTE!"

you blushed.

"thank you, thank you," daryl said, pulling you closer to him.

you didn't try to contain your grin.

after daryl had paid (he was far too polite to let you pay, disregarding your pleas), the two of you strolled around the zoo aimlessly, holding hands.

some people watched you, and that was okay.

that's right, you said in your head to them. i am dating this beautiful man.

and you felt as if you were made of pure joy.

•••

later that night at your house, with your dad sound asleep in his room, you and him were watching queer eye on your sofa, sharing a blanket. you held hands under the blanket.

you cuddled up to daryl, and he rested his head on your chest. before long, he was asleep. you played with his hair, running your fingers through his dark, thick locks.

you pulled out your phone and opened instagram. you snapped a picture of daryl sleeping soundly and got ready to post it. your fingers hovered above your keyboard, thinking of a caption. at last you typed it.

daryl (dare-ull)
noun
the best thing that has ever happened to me.