Chapter 35

Twelve days. "Twelve long fuckin' days," thought Daryl as he stared out the window of the van. New leaves were on the trees and the quiet landscape was starting to fill with color. Spring was a season of growth and change and Daryl was a changed man.

He had pushed Heath and Tara hard so they accomplished as much as they could in a shorter time frame. Now they were headed back two days early and the van barely had room to move in. It was completely filled with anything they could get their hands on that Alexandria needed. Food was top on the list and took up much of the van. They also had medical supplies, toiletries, weapons and other assorted items. They had surprisingly good luck in finding what they needed, so Heath and Tara didn't complain that much when Daryl had them searching longer and working harder than usual.

They were getting really close to Alexandria. Daryl felt a small smile start as he thought of Dayna waiting for him. She'd be surprised at their early arrival, and Daryl was going crazy not seeing her. She was in his head all the time. It was strange and unnerving, yet wonderful at the same time. It took him forty years to find her and he was as nervous as a boy going on his first date.

To look at him no one would know the crazy emotions going on inside of him. He had long ago learned to internalize everything and his face always had that stern formidable look on it. He knew he scared the people of Alexandria that didn't know him, but he didn't care. Every now and then during this trip he'd realize that smirk or small smile would happen when he thought of Dayna. Heath even asked him once if he was okay as that was so out of character for him. Daryl just grunted to him to mind his own business while Tara laughed.

Tara knew what was most likely going on and she was happy for Daryl. She wasn't close to him as she was too many of the others, he was mainly a loner and it was hard to get to know him. Tara had picked up on the sadness that had always radiated from Daryl and had felt bad for him. Now with Dayna hopefully in his life he could find the happiness everyone deserved. She had found it with Denise.

"Comin' up to the gate," Heath called out.

Daryl realized he had been chewing on his thumbnail again. He was excited to see Dayna, yet he was anxious about it at the same time. He prayed the time he was gone hadn't changed anything between them.

Heath flashed the headlights of the car and it took only a minute for the gate to open up allowing them inside. Daryl sat up straighter in his seat as he scanned everything inside. It all looked the same, which hopefully meant nothing bad had happened while they were gone.

"Where do we want to unload first?" Heath asked.

"Infirmary," Daryl told him. He had purposefully loaded the medical supplies on top so that they would have to go their first and that got him to Dayna even faster. They had four boxes to bring in and the second the car stopped Daryl popped out and opened the back doors. He grabbed two boxes and was on the way inside with them before the others were out of the car after the long ride.

Heath looked at Daryl's back as he entered the building's door and shook his head. "What's up with him?" he asked Tara.

Tara laughed at them both. Heath didn't have a clue. "Daryl has it bad for Dayna. Why do you think he pushed us to get done so fast?"

"Really?" Heath said surprised. "Is Dayna aware? Are they like together?"

"Yes and yes," Tara answered him while grabbing a box to bring in. She was just as excited to see Denise again. "It happened just before we left. C'mon let's get this in so we can finish unloading."

Daryl practically burst through the door and called out for Dayna the second he was inside. No one answered him. "Dayna? Denise?" he bellowed again and finally heard a distant "Coming!" from somewhere inside.

Denise was drying her hands when she came around the corner and saw Daryl. "You're back?" she smiled. "Where's Tara?"

"Hopefully getting the rest of this shit. Where you want it?" he asked.

"Over there on the counter is fine."

Daryl quickly put the boxes down and turned to Denise. "Where's Dayna?"

"She's doing a couple of house calls. Should be back in a half hour or so," she told him.

Tara and Heath brought in the remaining two boxes and the two men walked outside leaving the ladies to reunite. Daryl saw Rick and Carl heading towards them and waited for them to arrive.

"Welcome back," said Rick. "How'd it go?"

"Good. Couldn't fit 'nuther thing in there. Just unloaded the medical stuff," Daryl answered.

Rick walked around the van to peer in the back. It was indeed jammed full of everything under the sun. They did really good, better than normal. Rick was sure that Daryl's presence on the trip helped. He had an uncanny ability with this type of stuff. He turned back to the group and noticed Daryl looking up and down the street. Rick smiled to himself. He knew Daryl was looking for Dayna. It was good to see his friend getting involved with someone. Daryl had never shown interested in anyone in all the time they spent together until Dayna came around. Rick was happy for them both.

"Alright," Rick said starting to take charge as usual. "Heath, you and Tara drive down to the pantry and Carl and I will meet you there to help unload. Daryl why don't you go get Carol so she can help Olivia organize all this stuff. "

"Got it," Tara and Heath both said and they got back into the van and slowly took off.

Daryl started walk away to go get Carol, but Rick called out to him first so he turned his attention back to him. "While you're at the house, you may want to take advantage of the shower and clean up before you see her," Rick said with a grin. "Carl can do your unloading."

"Thanks. Already planned on it." Daryl took off at a jog, his pack and crossbow had already been retrieved out of the van before it headed over to the pantry.

Rick and Carl watched him vanish down the street. "Hey Dad, how did I get volunteered for this?" Carl asked as they headed down the street.

"Because, your old man is a sucker for young love and I get the feeling that Daryl needs all the help he can get. Plus, after not showering for two weeks, he needed one bad," Rick laughed.

"You're right about that shower," Carl smirked. "I don't get it - Daryl and Dayna? How did that happen?"

Rick put his arm around his teenage son's shoulders. "One of the great mysteries of this world, Carl. I can't explain it myself." Together the father and son duo headed down the street to help unpack the van. Carl secretly hoped Daryl had found some more comics for him and this also gave him more time to spend with his Dad.

Daryl burst into the house calling out for Carol at the same time. "I'm upstairs," she called out and Daryl took the stairs two at a time. Carol was waiting for him at the top.

"Is everything okay?" She asked hm.

"Yeah. Rick wants you to help out Olivia with the supplies we brought back." Daryl turned away from her and started heading to his room.

"Daryl…Daryl!" Carol called out.

He stopped and took a deep breath before turning around. "What?"

"It's good to have you back," she told him. "And take a shower before you see Dayna, you stink."

"That's what I'm trying to do, but people keep bothering me," he said in a huff and went into his room slamming the door.

Carol was having a good laugh as she headed down the stairs. "I'm going to have to thank Dayna. Daryl finally has a reason to shower! Thank you God!"

Daryl locked the door behind him and started taking off his clothes and dropping them anywhere they fell. Naked he headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stepped under the hot water and just stood there for a moment. It felt good going over his tired muscles. The soap soon had the dirt and sweat washed away, but he stayed under the hot stream.

He was back and he and Dayna could pick up where they left off. At some point that night he expected to be with her in a bed – hers or his didn't matter, he just needed her. Imagining what she looked like naked and under him, soon had his dick standing at attention. Seemed it did that a lot more lately than it ever did. There was only one way to finish this so he took his dick in his hand, imagined Dayna writhing under him as he pounded into her and soon he was coming in the shower with the water washing anyway the evidence.

His hand had been his best friend these past two years and that was going to change tonight. The thought of having sex was a huge turn on for him, he was guy after all. However, he knew this was going to be different as he actually cared about Dayna. She wasn't a faceless body under him. He had fucked his fair share of women before, but that's all they were a fuck. Dayna was not going to be that and he figured he had some learning to do.

He quickly dried himself off and even towel dried his hair, before searching for something clean to wear. He found a clean pair of black work pants with patched knees and a shirt that was more gray than black. He buttoned it up and flexed in front of the mirror he rarely used. "Not bad for a guy in his forties," he thought. "Shit when did I get that old?"

This was not the time for him to deal with shit like getting older. He quickly brushed his hair so it was somewhat controlled and just before he raced out of the room, he stopped. He needed one more thing he remembered and it brought a smile to his face. He went over to his pack that was thrown on his bed and rummaged through it. He pulled out the box on condoms he had found during his supply run. In fact he had found several boxes that didn't make their way in with the rest of the stuff they found. He kept these for himself. He opened the box and put a couple in his back pocket.

Now it was time to find Dayna.