Chapter One:
Daryl Dixon was holding a Strawberry Shortcake backpack.
Yes, Strawberry Shortcake; with her baby-pink sun hat and glittery skirt. He sighed as he slung it over his shoulder and picked up pace down the narrow sidewalk. It was only nine in the morning but it was shaping out to be a run of the mill summer day; the sun was beaming brightly from the cloudless blue sky and the air smelled sweetly of flowers.
"Ya gonna have to ride in the front."
That was the first thing he ever said to her. He none-too-delicately tossed Strawberry Shortcake into the back of the truck, the bag landed just next to a big box labelled 'Kitchen'. The girl was already scrambling into the passenger's seat and buckling up by the time Daryl climbed into the car. He twisted the key to start the car and waited for the engine to start up; it spluttered a few times but didn't start. The girl's eyes darted frantically from the key to Daryl.
"Takes a couple tries sometimes." He mumbled sheepishly, twisting the key again and praying the car started; if only so he didn't have to endure the blatant staring from the child sitting next to him. His prayers were answered and - after just a few painful whines from under the hood - the car spluttered to life.
The car was becoming increasingly uncomfortable by the minute, and the clock on the dash told the car's passengers that they had been at a stand-still for a good fifteen minutes. Gridlock. As far as the eye could see, all the way up the long stretch of road was gridlock. Daryl glanced down at the little girl by his side. Lily was her name, so the social worker had told him. He could see her fidgeting in her seat and white-knuckling her Hollie Hobbie doll. Daryl had the kid sussed out, he reckoned. Bright pink sneakers that looked a little too worn and a little too snug, the rainbow leggings from hell and planted in the middle of her red curls was one of those plastic headbands – the cheap ones you get from a dollar store. He figured they must have put her in the system for a while, no longer than a few weeks. A month at most.
"Mister Dixon, how long do I hafta stay with you?" She asked. That was the first words she said to him, other than 'thank you', which she had said when he grabbed her Strawberry Shortcake backpack for her.
"Dunno," Daryl shrugged, sighing wearily at the orchestra of car horns. "'Till Merle – uh, ya Daddy gets back from… Business, I s'pose." Yeah, the kid was Merle's, and you could see it in her face. In her cobalt blue eyes and her features. If there was one thing he had to admire in Lily, it was her honesty, because right then and there she let go of her Hollie Hobbie, twisted in her seat, looked him dead in the face and said, "I don't want to stay with you."
She immediately wished she hadn't said that because she'd once been told by her mother 'you can't just say things to people when they pop into your brain. You need a filter between your brain and your mouth!'
"I – I don't mean anything by it, sir, just that I miss my mom, is all." Lily admitted. She didn't miss her Dad. You can't miss something if you've never had it and Lily had never had a Dad. She'd met Merle once, in brief passing, right before his court date. "I wanna stay with mama." But mom is gone to Heaven now. She mentally chided herself and looked at her knees.
Well shit. What was Daryl supposed to do with that? What sage advice did he have to offer? What words of comfort?
"Ya gotta stay with me." deadpanned, and for the billionth time he willed the car trip to be over.
Lily crossed her arms and pouted.
"Says who?" She wondered, batting her eyes, all innocence.
"Says the state a' Georgia, little miss." Daryl grumbled and kept his eyes on the traffic flow. There was a small awkward pause while both parties thought of something to contribute to the conversation. "We're movin'." Daryl said all-too-eagerly and put the pedal to the floor.
Daryl relaxed in the silence and turned into the street he lived on. The street was still new to him, seeing as he only began moving in a few days before Lily was released into his custody. Prior to that, he'd been living in a cramped two-bedroom with Merle in a kinda sketch part of town, not really suitable for a kid he'd thought. But, then he'd found this new place, some old guy was renting it for cheap. Daryl pulled himself from his thoughts to roll into the driveway.
"Uh, there's boxes and shit everywhere so just kinda… move 'round 'em." He explained before climbing out of the car, grabbing Strawberry Shortcake and a box from the back and heading for the house.
"What you got your eyes on, Soph?" Carol called from the kitchen, glancing toward the girl.
Sophia, who had been peeking around the curtain for the past few minutes, excitedly jumped up and down, her head flicking back and forward between her mother and the window.
"New neighbours!" Beamed the little girl. "Can we go say hello?"
A.N: Plot bunnies. I need to write this and I do not know why. This A.N right here is more of a formal apology more than anything. If you actually liked this though I really welcome reviews and follows and all that stuff. I'm a tad worried about this. *Ducks the bricks that you're probably throwing right now*.
Hugs and Kisses
~Boo~