My bestie lit a fire under my ass for this story. I have been on a roll this week, clearing out the WIPs and I finished two Daryl/OFC stories this week as well. I have lots of new ideas and I am so grateful to everyone who reads the crazy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I hope you like the rest of this story. There's more on the way. Xoxoxox Krissy
The Impala was Sophia's pride and joy and she washed it every weekend, even before the tires hit the road. She got a job with Carl on the Green's farm just like all the kids did for the summer and looked forward to having some cash for gas money and shopping. The two most important things to a teenage girl. True to his word Daryl worked on it for her and fixed it up over a period of a few weeks. Carl came over and helped turn wrenches with him in Carol's driveway on the weekends.
His car was on the road too and soon he would be driving his sister and Sophia to school. It was going to be a great year for them. There was the senior trip and the prom and so many other things.
Carol remembered as she watched her daughter and Carl looking at each other with different eyes and she knew what that felt like. It was new and thrilling and getting to know him all over again had been just as wonderful as the first time.
They were a family now, she, Sophia and Daryl. Sophia had rolled with all of the little bumps they had hit through the past few months and the three of them were solid now.
Life was falling into place and she could hardly believe that just a few months ago she didn't even know who her father was.
Now she saw him every day.
It was a routine now, Daryl worked at the garage with Merle on most days, then he came over to work on Sophia's car. Sometimes he would stay for dinner and sometimes he stayed over-night, but he was always there. Sophia enjoyed watching her parents together, this was something she never thought she would have.
Two parents that loved each other.
Still, sometimes she had to blink and pinch herself to know it was real. She sat on the porch with Carl and Judith watching Daryl work on the car and Carol was bringing him a glass of iced tea. He rolled out from under the car and playfully grabbed her ankle and she laughed a laugh Sophia had never heard before.
It was a laugh of pure joy. She sounded like a teenage girl, especially when he was around.
They were happy together. Sophia wondered if they would get married. She wanted them to, she knew from the moment she saw them making wishes together at the fountain months ago that they belonged together. They were friends and they genuinely cared about each other.
Sophia hoped one day she would have a love like that, one that lasted through years and misunderstandings, a few bad decisions, and even a war.
Daryl stood up and enveloped Carol in a huge bear hug and lifted her off her feet and Carl reached over to hold Sophia's hand.
/
The kids piled into Sophia's car one day late in April when her car was finally done. Carl had shotgun and Judith rode in the backseat as she backed out of the driveway in Sam and Dean's car. The smile on her face made the four adults, Carol, Daryl, Lori and Rick remember their respective days as teenagers. They didn't know each other then and they all went to sit on the Grime's back deck and talk about what being that age was like for them.
Sophia was on the road now and they knew that they would see her less and less now. It was the way things went with teens, they had all stretched their wings that way back in the day too.
Rick and Daryl developed a nice friendship and often the four of them went out together, sometimes joined by Merle and Andrea. It was almost summer now and he and Merle had been home almost a year now.
Their lives, which they thought were going to settle into mediocre retirement, were full and happy in the most unexpected way.
Sophia stopped at the end of the road when she saw Tara coming down the street on her preferred mode of transportation as of late, a skateboard. She topped the car and demanded that she go for ice cream with them and Tara jumped into the back seat in a flash.
She waved over to Carol and Daryl as Sophia continued down the street.
There was a car in front of them at the green light and he wasn't moving, Sophia tried to be patient but Tara had already rolled down her window and yelled. "Hey, try the pedal on the right."
Finally, the car moved and they were on their way to the ice cream shop.
/
That night Daryl and Carol sat on the front porch waiting for the kids to get home and he turned to her. The sun was going down and his hair and eyes were illuminated in the setting sun. He looked like the boy he used to be and Carol felt tears threaten to spill down her face. So much had happened and yet here they were, together again.
They had both grown up so much and the years apart had made them appreciate each other and what they had now.
"I want to marry you." She said looking at the sun dipping down over the horizon and he turned to her.
"Aren't I supposed to ask you?"
"I've been waiting a long time for you."
He nodded. "I know." Then he took her hand and rubbed his fingers against her knuckles. "I thought about you so much."
She looked up at him. "Promise me we won't ever be apart again."
He kissed her hand and looked up at her with his lips still on her hand. "I promise."
The end