This originally was supposed to be for my best friend and I wasn't going to write it until much much later, but I just had to write it tonight. While I was editing it, I realized I forgot to add a part. I think I'm just going to make this a two-parter, with the second part being way shorter. I hope you all enjoy! :)
"Westfield Shopping Mall," Daryl said aloud to the two men behind him as he pulled off the weeds that covered the large sign.
"Looks huge," Glenn commented and stepped next to the hunter. "I'm sure we'll find stuff we'll need in there."
"Clothes, for sure," Rick spoke up. "Maybe we can get our girls the latest styles." He gave his friends a smirk.
Daryl snorted and began heading towards the entrance. They were burning daylight standing out here talking and he wanted to get back to Carol before nightfall.
It had been almost a year since the fall of the Governor and the decision to leave the dreary prison. Together, the original group and Michonne had found another farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Tyreese and Sasha had opted to stay behind and take charge of the prison with the Woodbury citizens.
At first, Rick had been weary but after putting up a large fence around the property, he warmed up to it. Plus, with all the ammo and guns they had scavenged over the months, they were more than prepared for anything.
The farmhouse also had a small cabin on the outskirts the large property and Daryl was quick to claim it as his own. The group was his family, but he still needed his space. The rest of the group, Rick, Carl, Judith, the Greene family, Glenn, Michonne and Carol were left to fit into the large house. Luckily, the house had enough rooms. Glenn and Maggie shared, as well as Hershel and Beth. Rick wanted his family near, so he shared with Carl and Judith. That left Carol bunking with Michonne.
It didn't take long, though, for Daryl to finally man-up and invite Carol to his isolated cabin. They had been on the verge of something for months now and he figured something needed to be done about it.
The little cabin had one room, a bathroom, a kitchen and a small sitting area with a couch. Daryl slept on the couch, while Carol took the bed. Much to her frustration.
"Soon." He'd mumble to himself when she'd walked into her room during the night.
The run to the mall had not really been a necessity, but more of a way to scope out the area around them. They had been surprised when they had found themselves in a small town. Glenn had suggested searching the mall, sure that they were tons of things inside that would be of use. The other two men had agreed.
"Should we split up?" Rick asked after they had scoped the first floor of the shopping center. It had looked like people hadn't wanted to spend their last moments inside of a mall.
"Sure!" Glenn answered, clearly excited to go exploring.
"Alright," the leader nodded. "Daryl why don't you look for any food. Maybe the food court has some canned stuff. I'll get clothing for the men and Glenn, for the women."
The Asian man rolled his eyes, but didn't argue. He was use to be given those types of jobs anyway.
"We'll meet here in about an hour, okay?" Rick looked at each man individually. With one finally nod from each of them; they all went their separate ways.
Forty-five minutes later, Daryl, with a bag full of canned foods, began heading back to the meet up spot. He passed a store and froze when he heard movement coming from it. Glancing up, he saw that it was one of those video stores. He set down the bag at the entrance and swung around his crossbow, but before he could take a step inside a bright light blinded him.
"Daryl?"
He was going to fuckin' kill the Korean.
"The hell you doin' in here?" He shouldered his bow and snapped. "There ain't anythin' in here we need."
Glenn at least had the decency to look sheepish. "I just wanted to take a look. I already dropped off a couple of bags of clothes earlier."
Daryl huffed, but followed his friend farther into the store.
"I use to love this store, you know." Glenn called over his shoulder and his flashlight bobbed along the shelves. "I'd come here at least once a week."
"What for?" Daryl eyed the rows of movies with disinterest. He had never been one to watch much television and instead had spent most of his time outdoors, hunting or getting away from his pa or brother.
The younger man shrugged. "Don't know. I just liked coming in here and looking at all the movies and stuff."
"I bet you loved all them Jackie Chan films." He smirked.
"Ha ha, very funny."
He chuckled quietly and stopped when he came to a row of posters. He began to flip through them, with his flashlight in one hand. He didn't even who or what was on most of them.
"What?" Glenn's surprised gasp caused him stop. "No way!" The Korean gasping.
"What the fuck you find?" Daryl growled and was about to go find his companion, but he was suddenly right there in front of him, a DVD case clutched tightly in his grasp.
"I think you have some explaining to do, Daryl. Or should I say," he glanced down at the case, his eyes narrowing. "Norman Reedus."
"The hell you talkin' about? Who the fuck is Norman Reedus?" He had never heard of that name in his life.
"You, apparently!" Glenn exclaimed and shoved the case into his face. "This looks exactly like you. Right down to the mole above his lip."
Daryl snatched at the movie and nearly dropped it in surprise. What the fuck? The guy on the cover, this Norman Reedus, did look like him.
"So," Glenn crossed his arms and smirked. "When were you going to tell us that you use to be in show business?"
"Cuz I fuckin' wasn't." He angrily shoved the movie at Glenn's chest and turned to walk away. "We gotta meet Rick in five, so hurry your ass up."
"Um, I wanted to get something for Maggie real quick. Can you tell Rick I'll be there in ten? I'll be quick."
Daryl rolled his eyes. Glenn and that damn girlfriend of his.
"Fine." He grumbled. "But ten minutes is all you get, got it?"
The younger man didn't say another word and took off running to God knows where. Probably Victoria Secret or some shit like that.
Twenty minutes later, all three of them were on the road and driving back to the farm. Glenn had returned with another full bag, but wouldn't tell them what was in it.
"Probably frilly panties and shit for Maggie." Daryl whispered to Rick as they made trips back and forth to the truck.
Rick had laughed and nodded.
The rest of the group greeted them when they pulled up and helped carry the bags inside. Glenn rushed off to the room he shared with Maggie and that only confirmed Daryl's suspicious.
"Everything go okay?" Carol was suddenly at his elbow, Judith in her arms.
"Fine." He said and ran a finger down the baby's soft cheek. "Everythin' go a'right, here?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yep. Beth and I planted some seeds in the garden earlier, so in a couple months we'll have some fresh vegetables."
"That's good."
Rick walked up to them, then, and Carol handed over his daughter. Her full attention was on Daryl now.
"Maggie made supper. Do you want to grab some and call it a night?"
Hell yeah, he did. He was tired and hungry. A night in with Carol in their little cabin sounded like heaven, right now.
"I'll be right back." She walked off in the direction of the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with two bowls of stew. His mouth watered at the sight.
"Carol!" Glenn called from the staircase as he descended them, a smaller bag in his hand. "This is for you." She passed the bowls to Daryl and grabbed the bag.
"What is it?" She asked and tested the weight in her hands. "It's heavy."
"You'll see." Glenn winked and Daryl got a sick feeling in his gut. What the hell did the Korean man give her?
"Well, thank you." She gave him a bright smile. "For whatever this is."
"No problem." Then he turned to Daryl with a smirk. "Enjoy." And with a wink, he disappeared into the kitchen.
Daryl couldn't help but think he was going to want to strangle the man once Carol found out what was in that bag.
Two empty bowls and two full stomachs later, Carol and Daryl both sat on the couch together. Daryl had his feet on the little coffee table in front of him and Carol had her legs tucked underneath her and had her body angled towards his. This was how they spent most evenings. Sitting on the couch talking.
"Let's see what Glenn has in this bag," Carol announced and grabbed the heavy sack from the floor.
"I have a feelin' I'm gonna wanna kill him when we see what's in there," he muttered. "He was actin' fuckin' strange when he gave it to you."
"I admit he was acting a little strange, but I'm sure he didn't give me anything bad." She reached in the bag and returned with a handful of batteries. A crease appeared in the middle of her nose as she looked at them in confusion.
Placing the batteries on the table, she reached back in and came back with a large box.
A smile spread wide across her face. "A portable DVD player!" She exclaimed. "That's what all of those batteries are for!"
The sinking feeling returned.
"There's one more thing in here." She felt around in the bag. "It feels like a movie. Which would make sense, right, Daryl?"
Shit.
She pulled out the case and read the title. "The Boondock Sa-" She paused when she finally saw the two men on the cover. "Daryl, is that-?"
"No!" He snapped and looked away from her. He was going to kill that kid.
"But it looks a lot like you."
"Yeah, but it ain't me." He crossed his arms. "Already had this conversation with Short Round, earlier."
She smiled. "Let's watch it."
"Hell no."
"Please." Her blue eyes opened wide as she pleaded with him. "It could be like a date." Her voice held that teasing tone, but when he looked at her face she could tell she had been serious.
"Fine. It's a date."
Carol snuggled close to his side, the player sitting in her lap. Her hand covered her mouth and a sob was muffled.
"Poor Rocco," she said quietly and watched as the brothers on the screen sobbed for their friend. Especially the one named Murphy, the one that looked exactly like him.
It was unsettling to watch the man who had his face cry and scream over the bleeding man on the floor. Had he looked like that when he had found his brother turned? Had his face contorted into those expressions?
A little while later, as the credits rolled, Carol turned to him.
"I liked it. Did you?"
He shrugged. "It was a'right." He had liked the film, but knew that if one of the men hadn't looked like him, then he would have liked it more.
"My favorite character was Murphy." She nudged him gently in the ribs. "What about you?"
He shrugged again. "I don't know."
"Come on," she turned to follow face him and rose up on her knees. "You have to have a favorite. Someone had to stick out to you."
Her face got steadily closer and he kept himself still. His mind went blank and if he had planned to tell her his favorite character, he would not have been able to remember the person's name.
When he remained silent, she decided to drop it and ask a different question.
"So," her eyes gleamed with mischief. "Our dates over, now. Do I get a kiss?"
He froze. He knew she was teasing, but he also knew she wanted this. Wanted him to finally make a move and make them a couple. It was about time he stopped being a pussy.
Reaching out, he cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. "Only if you want me to kiss you."
Her eyes widened at how serious he was and nodded.
"A'right. He closed those last inches and finally placed a kiss on the woman in front of him. His woman. She sighed happily and returned the kiss, her hands going for his hair.
He groaned as her nails scrapped against his scalp and then wrapped an arm around her and set her in his lap. She let out a squeak of surprise and went right back to kissing him with passion.
God, he knew right then, he could kiss her forever.
Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. It looked like forever didn't last that long.
She pulled back, her lips swollen with his kisses, hair sticking up from his hands, and climbed off his lap to answer the door. She opened it to find Glenn standing there in the darkness.
"Hey, I forgot to give you this." He handed over another DVD case.
"Thanks." Carol smiled.
"Well, Maggie's waiting for me. You two have a fun night." Then he was off running to the main house.
Carol shut the door and looked down at the movie in her hands.
"Look, Daryl!" She held it up and once again, he saw his face on the cover. "There's a second one!"
So, I don't know if there is any Westfield Shopping Centers in Georgia, but here in Indiana where I live there is one and I decided to use it's name!
Thanks for reading!