A/N: Short chapter but it will pick up soon. Hope you enjoy.
"Son of a bitch!"
Paul twisted around from stabbing yet another walker, only to see Daryl going down in a heap in front of the Walmart. More walkers were present when they pulled up this time, making getting in much more difficult. Several in the community had wanted to come on this run, excited about the prospect of seeing and shopping in a Walmart. Rick had only allowed one more car to join the team, bringing Glenn and Heath. The more supplies the better.
"Daryl!" Paul shouted, probably not the wisest thing to do in this mob of walkers, but he needed to try and distract them. From beneath the small pile, Paul could see Daryl fighting. He ran over, shoving walkers out of the way, stabbing and slashing.
"Get off of me!" Daryl bellowed and Paul re-doubled his efforts to fight the crowd. He saw a heave of motion and two walkers rolled away, their heads rolling in opposite directions of their bodies. Daryl's face came into view as the hunter kicked bodies away from him. Paul reached down to pull him up and Daryl spit out blood, his face covered in gore, his clothes a mess.
"You all right?" Paul asked, his voice anxious. "You bit?" He stepped closer to the other man, reaching out to see if Daryl had been bitten. He was so covered in blood and guts it was hard to tell if any of the blood was his. His hand skimmed his shoulder and Daryl flinched.
"Fuck these dead mutha fuckers!" Daryl spit out more gore and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket. "I'm fine!" He looked down at his clothes in disgust, his sleeves torn and his vest hanging in tatters. "Dead assholes!" He launched a hard kick at the nearest dead body and Paul snorted when Daryl's foot got stuck in the decaying flesh. The hunter glared at him and Paul backed up with his hands raised. No point in pissing the man off any further.
The group headed back into the store, stepping over the previously fallen corpses.
"We gotta hit the stockroom, could be a lot more back there," Daryl said and the others nodded. "But let's clean as much of this as we can." The groups paired off and Paul followed behind Daryl, who cast a quick glance behind him, but didn't say anything. Paul counted that as a win.
They ended up near the food side of the store this time and they both pulled carts. The smell of rotting food was almost overwhelming, but neither of them paid any attention to the rotting vegetables and fruits or molded bread, almost black with fungus. Paul turned down the next aisle that had dry goods and immediately began throwing them in his cart. Daryl went down the next aisle and Paul heard cans hitting the cart.
Daryl.
Paul hadn't been able to stop thinking about the guy. Daryl had intrigued him ever since he threw a can of soda at him on the side of the road. The gesture was double-edged. Petty in that he shook it up first, but thoughtful enough that he gave him something to drink. Paul had admired it, even though it was at his expense and Daryl had mistrusted him for weeks after that. It wasn't until Paul had come to stay in Alexandria on a more permanent basis that Daryl started treating him like a live person, instead of one of those walkers he liked to kill.
Daryl was a mystery to him, but through his keen observation skills while living in Alexandria, he found out that Daryl wasn't attached to anyone romantically. Okay, so Aaron had spilled the gossip about Rick's group, but he still listened whenever conversations out in the community turned to his favorite subject of Daryl Dixon. He had been close to a girl named Beth, Maggie's sister, but she had been killed tragically. He noticed that Carol was protective of him, but their relationship seemed pretty platonic, more brother and sister than anything else. There hadn't been any talk of someone from "before", so Paul wasn't entirely sure what Daryl would want. If he even wanted a companion. And he certainly didn't know if he wanted one of the male persuasion.
But there was something deep and complicated about Daryl and Paul was interested in finding out if he could crack that shell.
His thoughts had distracted him and before he knew it, he had finished filling his two carts and he hurried to take them back to the front of the store. Heath and Glenn were loading the vehicles and Paul left his two carts with them on their insistence. He grabbed two more and headed back towards the food. Out of the corner of his eye, Paul saw a walker stumbling towards him. He sighed and went to deal with it. Once it was dead, Paul noticed he was in the baby clothes section.
Baby clothes. So he could grab some clothes for Judith or as Daryl calls her "Lil Ass Kicker". He moved towards the toddler area and grabbed several clothes from the racks and then saw more baby supplies. He headed over and grabbed baby wipes and a couple of other things that a baby might need. While rummaging on the shelves, he saw that he had moved towards the boys and men's clothes. He paused for a moment, an idea forming in his head. Should he?
Okay, he should. Paul hurried into the men's department, stopping to end two walkers stuck under a fallen shelf. He skimmed the area and found what he was looking for. He grabbed several T-shirts that looked like they would fit Daryl and tossed them into the cart. He glanced at the back of the section and began to smile. There on another rack were several vests, and Paul helped himself to several different types. He was guessing Daryl's size, but figured something would be to his satisfaction. Paul knew he was being reckless by shopping for a non-existent boyfriend, but at least he was doing it for someone who really deserved to have some new clothes.
Daryl had made three trips back to the front of the store and had helped load their van. Abraham's truck was full and the van was three quarters full and still had to start on Glenn and Heath's car. There was still plenty in the store and Daryl headed back to his food aisles. He hadn't seen Paul in at least a half hour, but he didn't have time to worry about what he was up to. He dropped down to his knees to check the lower shelves to see if there was anything worth taking.
He'd filled several carts up with canned goods and baking supplies like flour and sugar. Several bags had fallen on the floor and spilled, the landscape looking like a ski resort or a cocaine factory. Daryl sighed as he thought about that. What he wouldn't give for a nice drag of weed. He moved on to the next row and saw bottles of ketchup, barbeque sauce and other sauces. None of that was particularly essential, so Daryl passed it by, but then stopped and looked at the bottles again. He grabbed one, hesitated, put it back and then muttered. He grabbed some bottle of condiments and tossed them into the cart.
He returned to the front again and saw the rest of the group piling things in the last car.
"We done here?" Daryl asked, "Did we hit the stockroom yet?"
"Lotta walkers back there still. Got a few things, but still a lot back there." Abraham said, rubbing his ear.
"We're getting low on gas, but we have to keep coming back. No other groups so far and we've got stuff to last months. If we finish cleaning this, we might be able to last a good year with some of this." Glenn said. "And Heath went and looked over that hill, said there's more stores over there, but a bunch of walkers."
Daryl nodded. "Okay, we'll tell Rick. His call. Let's go."
The others made their way to their vehicles and Daryl noticed Paul standing by the back of the van, holding what looked like clothes.
"What you got there? Your prom dress?"
Paul's lip curled at that. "Yeah, and you're my date. Let's make out in the back seat," he said with a chuckle, only god knows he meant every word.
Daryl stared at him and Paul's eyebrows went up at the sight of a speechless Daryl.
"Shut up," Daryl finally said and cleared his throat. Not his best comeback.
Paul decided to save him and held out the clothes. "Grabbed some things for Judith. She definitely could use some new clothes. She's growing and well…there's no clothes to hand down to her."
Daryl looked at the clothes. "Yeah…good thinking. Didn't even think about that."
"Yeah, I know," Paul said quietly, "which is why I had to think for you too." He held out his other hand with more clothes in them.
"What's that?"
Paul shrugged and then nodded at Daryl's tattered shirt and vest. "That thing is finished."
Daryl glanced down at his vest and shirt. He'd been so preoccupied that he'd completely forgotten the state of his dress. But who was this asshole to pick out new clothes for him?
"I don't need that! I'll fix this!"
Paul raised an eyebrow again and Daryl growled out, "Well fine, Carol can fix it."
"Carol is not going to fix that. She'll toss it, just like she'll toss you for handing that mess to her."
"I don't need charity!" Daryl shouted and he turned and stomped to the driver's side of the van and got in. He slammed the door and started the van. Paul stood there as a puff of smoke from the swirled around him and Daryl drove off, leaving him behind.
Paul raised his eyes to the sky and laughed.
"Trouble in paradise?" Glenn asked smugly after Paul had to jump into the car with them. Daryl hadn't bothered to come back for him.
"What the hell is his problem?" Paul said with just a touch of irritation. He didn't want to come off too pissy, because he wanted Glenn to talk; maybe he'd find out more about him.
"Daryl's always like that. He's moody as hell. He's better than his brother though, thank god."
"Oh?" Paul asked innocently.
Glenn rolled his eyes in disgust and grumbled, "Merle was a racist piece of shit! The day we met Rick in Atlanta, he ended up handcuffing Merle on the roof because he was mouthing off at me and T-Dog. He was going to get us killed. We left him by accident…and he sawed off his own hand to get away. Daryl was pissed, made us go back to find him, but he'd disappeared."
"How'd you find him again?" Paul asked, truly interested. Heath looked curious too. He probably hadn't heard this story either.
"He ended up with this crazy fucking guy…The Governor," Glenn snarled and Paul and Heath exchanged a look. Glenn was usually pretty mild-mannered. "He caught Maggie and I out on a supply run. He nearly beat me to death wanting to know where we were staying. Michonne was there too, but we didn't know her then. He shot her out in the woods, trying to kill her."
"Well shit," Heath said with a grimace, "And you all still let Daryl stay in your group?"
"Daryl is family. Merle wasn't. It was that simple. Daryl was pissed at Merle, but he felt he owed it to him to stick with his blood. He left but came back without him, because he knew we would never let him in. Daryl picked us over his own big brother. A guy he looked up to. That's what Daryl is to us. Yeah, he may be an asshole sometimes but he's loyal. He's a good guy, you just have to get to know him. He doesn't let a lot of people in."
Paul let Glenn's words sink in. So Daryl's background was pretty much what Paul had expected. Racist family background, most likely homophobic as well. He'd be crazy to even want anything with this guy. But Daryl was friends with Michonne and he spent a lot of time with Aaron and Eric. So if he was like his brother, he certainly wasn't showing it now.
Paul frowned and laid his head back on the headrest. So Daryl's reaction to the clothes was probably something from his childhood then. Hadn't he said his mother died when he was a kid? That meant the dad or someone else had to raise them, which probably meant there wasn't much money. Paul's innocent gesture must've reminded Daryl of painful times as a child. He needed to let Daryl know that he wasn't mocking him, but just really was trying to be helpful.
The convoy arrived in Alexandria with a group of excited residents already waiting. Eager hands helped to unload the vehicles and as Daryl stepped from the car alone, he caught Rick looking towards him and then at the empty passenger seat. Daryl shook his head and jerked a thumb back towards the other vehicle before Rick's face could take on a look of alarm. Instead, he raised an eyebrow in question, but Daryl ignored him and snatched his backpack and crossbow from the seat.
"Something happen?" Rick inquired cautiously, noting Daryl's tense posture and narrowed eyes. Daryl was so touchy about Paul, but Rick honestly didn't understand why Daryl was still holding that long-ago grudge over the truck incident.
"No," Daryl grunted, "but it don't change that he's an asshole." He cast a glance down towards the other cars and he caught sight of Paul, who was laughing with Glenn and Maggie, while she was kissing Glenn's cheek. Of course, Paul takes that moment to look up and catch Daryl watching him, causing the hunter to curse and stalk away towards Rick's house, away from those pitying eyes.
"And what happened to your clothes? You look terrible," Rick called out after him, which only made the man turn back with a nice "Fuck you." Rick smirked.
Once inside his bedroom, Daryl angrily tossed his backpack on the bed and yanked the offending clothes off of him. The vest was literally hanging in threads and the shirt was covered in muck, blood and entrails. He'd been wearing this thing for three days…Jesus. The shirt he didn't care about, but the vest? He'd been through a lot with the vest. It was stupid to get so attached to some cloth, but he didn't need Paul to go shopping for him. He'd go to see Carol, see if she could fix the vest and then he'd be fine. Paul didn't know what he was talking about. He'd go to Carol, but after a shower and some food.
Carol was looking decidedly unimpressed as Daryl held up the sorry mess of a vest.
"What am I supposed to do with that thing?" Carol asked as she eyed it with suspicion, "that's a mess."
"Come on, girl! You can't fix it?"
"With what? There's nothing left of it! Why didn't you get something new? You were at the Walmart! Paul got clothes for Judith. You should have got some for yourself."
"Didn't have time for all that," Daryl said coolly, suddenly finding it hard to look Carol in the eye, to which she frowned at him. "But for real, there's nothing you can do with it?"
"No, Daryl. I can't. Toss it and be done with it. And seriously, take some time to get some clothes on your next trip."
"Fine!" Daryl snarled, suddenly angry all over again. "You're no help." He turned to go but Carol's arm whipped out and caught his sleeve.
"Wait, Daryl. What's the matter with you? Are you really that pissed about a vest? There's something else, isn't it?"
Daryl pulled away from her, but he did it gently. He gave a half shrug and started to bite his thumbnail. "Nah, ain't nothing wrong."
Carol just looked at him and then said quietly, "Bullshit. What's wrong?"
Daryl looked at her through his fringe of hair and Carol looked right back, waiting patiently. He sighed and shrugged again saying, "So what's it mean when someone does something you didn't ask them to do, but it's like they're making fun, ya know?"
Carol frowned at him and said, "Making fun? Like how? What did they do?"
"Something dumbass! Kinda…left something for me. But I ain't ask for that! Don't need it!"
"Like a gift? Someone left you something?"
Daryl snorted rudely and hissed, "A gift? Why would someone give me a gift? Don't get no gifts."
Carol gave him a small sweet smile. "Someone thought of you to give you a gift. Maybe because you're a good guy and deserve something nice." Her smile widened. "You've got some girl here looking at you? It's about time! Who is she?"
Carol's eyes widened in surprise as an actual blush crept up Daryl's face and pinked his ears. "I 'on know. Ain't talking like that to no one." But Carol knew that Daryl was keeping something. His blush told her that something was going on.
But she raised her hands in surrender and murmured, "Okay, Casanova. I won't pry, but if someone is willing to give you a gift then take it. Nothing wrong with someone doing something nice for you for once."
Daryl looked uncertain for a moment and Carol nodded encouragement. "Just take the gift! And next time, ask for some new clothes from your secret admirer."
Daryl just groaned, grabbed the vest from the table top and left. Carol watched him go, her mind working on who the mystery lady could be. There were some possible candidates of the Alexandria residents, but she supposed she couldn't leave out their own small group. Sasha or Rosita would really be the only ones, but Carol wasn't really hedging on it being one of them. So Alexandria it was. She would find out who it was and make sure that she was right for her friend.
Daryl took the scenic route around Alexandria before he returned back to Rick's. Eugene and Tara were on watch near the gate, and Daryl nodded at them. Tara gave him a big smile and Daryl couldn't help smirking back at her. He had found Tara's girlfriend Denise strange as all get out, but as long as Tara was happy, Daryl couldn't mind a bit of strangeness. He headed back around towards home, so strange to finally consider someplace "home", after all the years of traveling from place to place, but it felt good to say it.
As he neared the property, he once again noticed something sticking out of the bushes. It was a bag, and Daryl knew what it would be before he even picked the thing up. He pulled the bag free and opened it, seeing a number of vests and short and long sleeve shirts. Daryl fingered the top vest for a moment and then stood there, thinking. Maybe Carol was right and he should just accept the clothes. Carol had misunderstood the whole thing, thinking that some girl was involved. But he couldn't just tell her that Paul had picked out clothes for him. Maybe this wasn't a big deal and he needed to get over it.
But why would Paul get him clothes? Was it really a simple thing that he'd been standing there picking out baby clothes for Judith and then just thought of him too? Paul didn't know anything about his humiliation as a kid to get hand me down clothes from the local church or Merle's old stuff. The kids made fun of him at school, until he blackened the eye of the lead bully. And then blackened the eyes of all the others. Daryl's reputation certainly preceded him after that, and there were no more taunts about his wardrobe. But the psychological damage had been done and Daryl hated being regarded as a charity case.
Okay, so maybe he had overreacted about Paul's gesture. Paul didn't know shit about those dark secrets of his, so his gesture could've been very simple after all. And now he had gone and made a big deal out of it, which would probably make the other man suspicious and wonder what those secrets were. Great.
He went upstairs with the clothes and tossed them on the bed. His backpack was still lying there on the bed and Daryl looked at it for a moment.
Stop making things a big deal, Daryl.
He nodded, grabbed the backpack and headed back downstairs and outside. He walked the few blocks to Aaron's place and stood there, watching the door. He looked around quickly, making sure that no one was out to see him standing there gawking at the door. He unzipped his bag and hurried up the stairs and stopped at the door. Reaching inside the bag, Daryl pulled out three bottles of marinara sauce, that he had found while food shopping. He set them down beside the door and hurried away.
On his way back to Rick's, he tossed the ruined vest in the trash.
