"What are you gunna do when all of this is over?" Rick asked out of the blue.
He lay beside Daryl on the grass outside the prison. The sun was baking down on them and there was a silence which acted as a respite from the chaos that lay on the other side of the chain link fence. Daryl had his eyes closed with his arms folded behind his head, embracing the sun rays. Rick, on the other hand, was gazing up at the pure white clouds while his fingers plucked at blades of grass.
"What d'ya mean?" Daryl mumbled.
"Once it's done. The walkers are gone and we can leave." He knew such a question was painfully optimistic but it still wandered his mind sometimes late at night while he was on watch. "What do you think you will do?"
"When I was young I always wanted to travel... I don't see the point in that now." Daryl spoke softly. He rarely mentioned anything that he thought deeply about so every time he did was sacred. "Find somewhere safe where I can stay, I guess."
"What about..." Rick paused. He didn't speak for a few moments, his eyes focused on the shifting white in the sky, "What about us?" He almost whispered, "Do you think we'd still be together?"
There was more silence. If he strained Rick could hear voices from inside the concrete mass behind them. He swallowed and thought that Daryl's lack of words was his way to express his thoughts.
The sherif was about to get up and leave, he didn't want to cry in front of Daryl, then his partner took his hand and squeezed tightly. Relief flooded Rick's body like a potent drug. He felt his whole body sink into the grass as tension, he wasn't aware he was carrying, ebbed away.
"When I leave this place I want you to come with me... If you want to." Daryl's voice was deep as though he was trying to mask emotion.
Rick turned his head to see his partner staring at him intently. The cop grinned back, ignoring the emotional lump in his throat.
"I'd like that." He spoke, leaning in for a kiss.