Mushaboom • Daryl Dixon

13

Daryl

Halloween came and went. I went with Rachel, Ricky and their cousin to the pumpkin patch. That night Rache and I stayed in. We watched a couple movies while carving the pumpkins and then she baked these ghost cookies for when everyone got back from trick-or-treating. We didn't go out, wanting to avoid Matthew and his friends. The past two years we had the fortune of runnin into those assholes, so we didn't want to deal with it.

Now her birthday was this week and we all had it planned out for her. Ricky and I pitched in to get her tickets to see Brenton Wood, the 3 of us would be going in January. I went to the music store and came back with Orson Welles's "War Of The Worlds" radio play, and a couple of jazz and swing tapes. Was all I could really afford, but I knew she'd appreciate it.

We had a small party for her. Her grandparents and cousins came over, and the food was amazing as always. She went nuts over the tickets, and her parents got her new camera equipment. Her best cousin and grandparents got her some paint and stuff to go with that. She had a good time and towards the end of the night we went into her room to put her new stuff away. Everyone had gone home and her parents were cleaning up.

"Thank you Daryl.. Today was perfect." She smiled at me as she put set up her new art stuff on her shelf. 

I nodded and sat at the edge of her bed. "Mhm." I got lost in thought for a bit, was biting on my thumb when I heard her say "Stay the night."
I looked over to her. "Huh? Sorry.."

"I said you should stay the night.." She continued to put her stuff up. "Like your birthday.. Except this time just stay?"

"Alright.. What do I do in the morning then?"

She thought for a moment. "You can come to the door around 7, and have breakfast with us. And here I have one of your sweaters from a couple weeks ago." She brought out my blue hoodie I let her borrow when she forgot to bring one to school.

I shook my head. "I don't know Rache.."

"And we've got a spare toothbrush.." She quickly added.

I snorted, "Ya got this all planned out?" She laughed and shrugged. I shook my head. "Alright. Better take me home soon then." She perked up and bounced onto the bed.

I laughed, as she laid down and looked up at me. I poked her face playfully. I stared down at her for a beat, takin in her just being there in that moment. I shot up from the bed grabbed her hand, "C'mon, les' go."

Rachel

He rushed us out and into the kitchen, letting go of my hand before my parents would see. "Imma take him home now." I announced.

My dad said goodnight but my mom stopped us before we left. "Please don't take long.. it's late." Daryl and I both nodded and she waved us off.

We drove to the gas station a few blocks down. We both grabbed a couple snacks. He grabbed a pack of smokes and I scrunched my nose in disapproval. He shrugged, with his bag of chips hanging from his mouth as he carried out stuff to the counter.

Afterwards, we sat in the car until he finished one of the cigarettes. Once he was done we headed home, he carried the snacks with him to the side of the house where my window was. I headed inside, and tried to wrap up my night with my family quickly. Of course they wanted to talk for a bit. When they headed to bed, I went straight to my room. I locked the door, and opened the window for Daryl.

"Took you long enough." He teased as he climbed through the window. I shushed him, and he nodded. For someone so quiet, he wasn't good at whispering.

I shrugged, "Sorry, they wouldn't go to bed."

He laughed. "Damn near froze my ass off." I rolled my eyes as he set down everything and sat on my bed. I had the luxury of having my room all the way at the end, furthest from my parents. So while we had to stay quiet,  it wasn't likely they'd hear anything.

"I'm - um, gonna change." I walked to my dresser and took out shorts and a plain tshirt. Daryl tensed and quickly laid down, facing the wall. I smiled at how awkward he was and quickly changed. When I finished I laid down next to him. He was picking at his thumb again, and stared up at the ceiling. He sat up, took off his shoes, and slid off his sweater before stopping. He hesitated for a moment, then began to unbutton his pants. I began to feel a bit nervous about the whole thing.

Once he got them off, he quickly laid back down and was very still. I got up and lifted up my covers, sliding under her and he looked over to me before doing the same.

He laid on his back, his head rested on his arm. I turned over onto my side and tucked my hand under my cheek. I watched Daryl laying there, staring up at the ceiling, just breathing. I watched as he took in each breath and exhaled slowly. After some time he turned his head to face me. He was starring, so I took it as an "ok" for me to scoot closer. He lifted his arm from under his head, allowing me to get as close as possible. He held onto me and I rested my arm on his chest.

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours. Neither of us saying anything. I was drifting to sleep when I heard a faint voice. "Rachel?" I kept still, not entirely sure if I was completely awake or not. I just kept listening to the sounds of Daryl's breathing. A minute must've past when I finally heard his voice again. "..I love ya." He sighed. "Imma love ya with all the good I've got in me.. Promise."

Although I was half asleep, I smiled to myself. I didn't dare say anything or show that I was awake. Despite his words belonging to me, it felt so private, like it was only really for him to hear. So I continued to just lay there and listen to his breathing until I was able to fall asleep. From the feeling of his chest rising and setting, to each heartbeat, I found myself slipping away.

Hey! I actually really like this chapter.. Hope you did too. Thanks for reading <3