Carol dragged him up the stairs and into the nearest bathroom, slamming the door behind them.
"What the fuck Daryl?" She shouted, crossing her arms and waiting for an explanation.
"I told you Carol! I don't belong here, I'm never gonna get on with these people!" He yelled back.
"You're not even trying!"
Not even trying. He stared at her in disbelief.
"Are you fuckin' kidding me? How would you feel if you walked into a room and immediately knew that people were talkin' shit about you? About Sophia, about your mom? Do you have any idea what that's like?"
All she could do was stare at him open mouthed.
"No! You don't! So don't force me into a room where that is exactly what's happenin' and then tell me that I'm not even tryin'!"
"Daryl…"
"No Carol!" He stopped her, this had been a problem for him his whole life. He realised now that if there was any real chance of salvaging what they had then she needed to hear this. "How do you think it felt when we were thirteen years old, we had just started a new school, you were my only friend and you stopped wanting to go anywhere with me unless you were with your new friends. You were my everything!"
"I was only trying to help! I thought you'd come round eventually but you never did. We were just kids I didn't get why you couldn't just make friends like I could-"
"Cause everybody loved you!" He interrupted. "Nobody loved me!"
"I did…" her voice cracked, the tears welling up in her eyes threatening to spill down her face.
"I know I shouldn't have just stopped talking to you," he continued, his voice quieter now. "I have been tryin' my best to make it up to you for that but it wasn't just me. You gave up on me too."
He was waiting for her to say something but she stood there in silence. Her head bowed low trying to hide her trembling lip from him. He stared at her for a few more moments, wanting to give her one last chance to speak. When she didn't he almost ripped the bathroom door off it's hinges before slamming it hard behind him.
He felt like he couldn't breath, everything had been going so well between them, within just a few hours his whole world had been torn apart again. He shoved his way through the crowd of people, most of who seemed to have already forgotten about the altercation. He made his way to the front door, just leaving in time to see Rosita climbing into the back of a cab with Spencer Monroe. He stormed straight past them and broke into a run, desperate to get home and forget about this whole disaster of a night. He thanked god that neither his mom or Merle were home, he couldn't cope with any questions tonight.
Carol gripped the edges of the bathroom counter and tried to focus on her breathing. She couldn't get his words out of her head, you were my everything. She knew he was right, it wasn't completely his doing, she had given up on him too. She had known him her whole life, knew every little thing about him. She knew what had been ingrained in his mind as a consequence of his father's actions, knew how anxious he got in social situations and yet she had let her patience run out with him. She had never been more disappointed in herself and wanted desperately to undo the damage the last few years had had on her relationship with him.
She needed to fix this now, running from the bathroom and bounding down the stairs she searched desperately for him in the sea of faces. He wouldn't be here, of course he had gone home, it was all he'd been itching to do since the moment they arrived and now he didn't have a reason to stay. She thought about what she had said to him, that he didn't try, that must've been such a slap in the face to him. She knew that he was otherwise he wouldn't have been here in the first place but it had just slipped out in the heat of the moment. She had just about reached the front door when her path was blocked by Ed Peletier.
"Hey baby," he leered. "You can't be leaving already."
"Ed get the fuck out of my way!" She yelled giving him a hard yet ineffective shove in the chest.
"If you're in a hurry to get to the hick I wouldn't bother, I get the feeling he won't wanna be disturbed tonight if you know what I mean," he smirked wagging his eyebrows.
"I don't know what you mean, just fucking move!" She snapped, she had zero tolerance for his bullshit right now.
"He's already gone Carol, just climbed into the back of a cab with Rosita Espinosa. Dixon's gettin' busy tonight!" Ed laughed, his little group of henchmen joining in.
Carol's screwed up her face, shaking her head in disgust.
"You're so full of shit," she said, inwardly cursing herself when her voice cracked again.
"Am I?" Ed sneered. "Look around you, do you see either of them?"
She searched the crowd for Rosita, her heart sinking when she was unable to spot her in the crowds. She needed to get out of there now, she was not going to give Ed the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She managed to push past them while they were busy laughing, as soon as she was out she walked as fast as she could, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
As soon as she had locked herself in her bedroom she crumbled, sliding down the door she curled up in a ball on the floor, sobs ripping through her entire body. She clasped her hands over her mouth, not wanting to wake up her parents or Sophia. How can she have messed this up so badly and not have even realised she was doing it? Just hours ago she was tasting him on her lips, had his body crushed against hers as she lost herself in his soft sighs and gentle touch. Now he was having sex with someone else, and not just anyone, Rosita was beautiful. She tortured herself with the thoughts of her tasting him too, her hands running over the toned muscles of his perfect body, connecting with him in one of the most intimate ways possible.
She felt sick. The physical pain in her chest spreading throughout her body, infiltrating her bones. She cried and cried until her body could barely produce anymore tears. She was completely drained, a harrowing numbness settling over her soul.
She forced herself to stand on shaky legs and shuffled her way over to her window, she looked across to his room, unsure if she was disappointed or relieved to see his drapes were shut. Dragging herself over to her bed she changed out of her dress and buried herself under her duvet, closing her eyes she hoped and waited for the welcoming pull of sleep.
