Ch. 10

"Come on. You've got to eat it."

Daryl was seated at the kitchen table, and David was standing over him. There was a plate with two slices of toast with peanut butter on it, along with a cut up apple.

It wasn't that the food looked unappetizing, it was just that Daryl had felt sick all morning. Seeing and smelling the food just made him feel worse.

"I don't feel well," he murmured, not daring to look David in the eye.

For the past few days, Daryl had felt ill almost constantly. If it wasn't the morning sickness, it was because of the Governor and David forcing him to eat. He had subsisted on so little for so long that eating normal amounts made his stomach hurt. Neither the Governor nor David, especially the former, seemed to care much for that excuse though.

David sighed.

"I know, it sucks. I felt the same when I was carrying Elena. But you have to worry about the baby now, and the baby needs food."

Daryl's shoulders slumped. He wasn't going to win this argument.

Slowly, he picked up one of the pieces of toast and brought it to his mouth. He tried not to breathe through his nose, since the smell of it was what set him off most. It was a combination of luck and sheer willpower that let him get down the entire slice.

"Good job," David said, smiling. "If you can eat the rest I'll leave you alone until lunch. And I'll bring you the second Ender's Game book."

Daryl glanced up at him, then back down at the rest of the food. There wasn't much to do, what with the limited electricity and all. There was a battery powered CD player that Daryl sometimes used, but mainly, he read books. The Governor had a lot of them. Most recently, he had been reading the Ender's Game series. Reading helped get his mind off of the hell he was currently living in.

"Yeah, okay," Daryl agreed.

He picked at the apple for several minutes, slowly eating it. He took small sips of water in between, hoping it might calm his stomach somehow.

Finally, there was only one piece of toast left. Daryl figured that he may as well get it over with. He took one bite, then another, and then one more. Then he dropped what remained. His stomach really hurt. He felt a combination of nauseous and overfull. Instinctively, he lifted a hand and rested it on his stomach. It was still flat, though Daryl could tell that he was gaining weight. His ribs didn't stick out as far as they had before, nor did his hip bones.

"I want to lie down," he told David, looking at him pitifully. The kid sometimes gave in when he looked especially pathetic.

"Oh, alright," David conceded. He picked up the plate. "You have to try to eat the rest with your lunch, though."

"Yeah."

After clearing the table, David held out a hand to help Daryl up. Daryl could get up under his own power, but he allowed the kid to assist him.

The two walked over towards the couch, where Daryl spent most of his time. David threw a couple of throw pillows towards the side that Daryl liked to rest his head on.

"I'll get your book."

Daryl nodded and sat down. He tried to get into a comfortable position. Lying on his back was the only thing that he felt would work. Trying to rest on his stomach or side would definitely be too much. He would surely get sick.

He was just getting settled when David walked back in.

"Here you go," he said, handing over the book.

Daryl smiled at him.

"Thanks."

"Mhm. No problem."

00

It took a while, but eventually Daryl felt better. He didn't even get sick, either. A few minutes after Daryl came to the realization that he was okay, David announced that it was lunch time. Of course.

Daryl walked over to the table. David had laid out two salads - one for each of them. The rest of the toast from that morning was near Daryl's plate as well, but overall it seemed like the kid was taking pity on him. A salad was much easier to get down then a sandwich.

David sat down first and Daryl sat across from him.

"Try to at least finish that," David said. "You need to get your strength up."

Daryl snorted.

"For the kid's sake?"

"For the baby's sake and your own."

Daryl didn't reply. He wasn't allowed to leave the house - all he needed was enough strength to function. If he could function, the baby would be okay.

The two ate silently for a few minutes before David spoke up again.

"So your group… the ones at the prison. Wanna tell me about them?"

Daryl stopped eating and looked at him.

"Why?"

He had been trying his best not to think about them. Their actions - or inaction, really - still hurt him.

"I'm just curious is all. I don't think we ever talked much about them and I doubt that what the Governor says is true."

Daryl sighed.

"I don't know what to think anymore. Anyway, what do you want to know?"

"Hmm. Start with their names?"

"Well, Rick was the leader. Rick Grimes. He used to be a sheriff. You know, back before everything went down. He has a kid named Carl and a wife named Lori."

"Were you friends with them?"

Daryl shrugged.

"We got along well enough."

David nodded. "Go on."

"Hershel was there. He was an older guy. Real nice, let us stay at his farm a while back. He had two kids, Beth and Maggie. You know about Maggie. And of course, Glenn."

"I remember them. Carol was part of that group, too?"

"She was." Daryl said, softly. He still missed Carol.

"You sure you weren't with her? You look so sad when you mention her."

"We weren't together."

"Not even, ya know, fucking her? You can tell me man."

David reminded Daryl of one of his friends from years ago. They'd grown up together, and the guy was always trying to get info on who banged who and where and how.

"Nah. Not fucking her."

"Damn. That sucks. She wasn't interested?"

"I think she was. She seemed like she was."

"Oh. Why, then?"

"Because…" Daryl trailed off.

"Because what? Sorry, there's not much news around here so it's nice to hear about something different."

Daryl stared at him. He could feel his cheeks turning red. He debated lying, but ultimately decided to tell the truth.

"I wasn't sure I was ready. I hadn't done it before."

Having said that, Daryl found that he suddenly couldn't maintain eye contact with David.

David's jaw dropped.

"Really? So you're like… A forty year old virgin?"

Daryl continued to stare down at the table.

"I don't mean that, like, to be rude. I'm just surprised. There was a movie about that, you know. A forty year old virgin. But he got laid at the end."

Again, no response.

"Oh, fuck. I just realized… The Governor…. He was your first, wasn't he."

It was a statement more than a question.

"He was," Daryl whispered.

"I'm really sorry," David said, sincerely. "I didn't realize. I knew it was bad, but I thought at least you'd had experience prior. This just makes it a thousand times worse."

Daryl nodded. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He decided to ask David some questions, if only to get the spotlight off himself.

"What about you? Did you have lots of girlfriends? Before your wife, I mean?"

"Yeah. I had a few. A couple serious ones, mostly just hook ups."

"Where'd you meet her?"

"Maria? That's my wife's name… Was her name," David corrected himself. "I met her at a bowling alley."

"Really?" Daryl was surprised. That seemed like a weird place to meet someone.

"Yeah," David said, smiling. "Starlight Lanes. Me and my friends went for one of those cosmic bowling night things. You ever done that? Where everything glows in the dark?"

"No…"

"Oh. Well, anyway, the bowling places have that sometimes. Maria and her friends were at the lane next to ours, and every time she would bend over to roll the ball, I got the best view of her ass. It was perfect. Big, but perfect. Heart shaped."

Both David and Daryl chuckled.

"Nice. So you went for her?"

"I tried to talk to her but she wouldn't have any of it. Said she wasn't looking for a fling or nothing like that."

"Is that what you wanted her for?"

"At first, yes. But when she turned me down, it sorta became a challenge to get her."

"So what'd you do?"

"I got my friend to get her number from her friend. Then I called her. Texted her. I asked her out every day for two weeks and she kept saying no."

"Wow."

"See, no one ever said no to me! That's why it made me crazy! She just kept turning me down, thinking nothing of it. Then finally, after two weeks, I called and said that I wasn't going to ask her again - that this was the last time. And then she said yes."

"Christ. Women are nuts…"

"They really are. We went out to the movies, saw that Battle for Los Angeles movie, then we had dinner. She was older than me - twenty five, I was eighteen. I moved in with her a month later and we were together all the time after that."

Though David was smiling, thinking about his wife, Daryl could tell that he also felt sad. There was a pain that was visible in the kid's eyes.

"I'm sorry she's gone," Daryl said. "It seems like you loved her."

David's smile faded.

"I did. Still do. But at least I have Elena. She reminds me of Maria a lot. Same smile."

"Yeah."

There was another silence before David forced himself to perk back up.

"Okay. Enough talking. You need to finish your food or he's gonna chew me out."

Daryl rolled his eyes.

"I'll try."

He picked up his fork and began eating again, trying to ignore the slight pain in his stomach. He used his free hand to rub it, trying to make himself feel better.

David caught sight of this and frowned.

"Don't worry, man. We'll figure something out. I promise."

Daryl nodded, wondering to himself what the kid meant.