CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

I helped Morgan with the chores of everyday crap. Nothing big. We did laundry again, dusted everything in the living room, cleaned the windows, made lunch, brought the lunch down to the guys in the basement (who ending up coming up from the basement for some light), and just glided through the day. Until lunch time, that is.

Of course, I was still uncomfortable and scared. I didn't want to confront him, and I knew I wouldn't be able to really move on until I did.

Even then, would I be able to move on? I didn't know, but I was nervous. About everything. About if he still loved me, if he loved/liked Beth, if he had cheated on me, confronting him about it all. It was unsavory.

We were all sitting on the back porch, the guys eating their canned food, while the rest of us just talked. Even Beth was there, although she didn't say much. Her head was bent down most of the time until someone said something to her. Then she'd politely smile and nod, sometimes even having something to say back.

Daryl leaned over and squeezed my leg.

"Something wrong, kid?" he asked, his hand instantly leaving to scoop up more of his chicken noodle soup.

"Nope," I sighed, rolling my eyes. I couldn't help it. It just pissed me off when he called me that.

He looked at me for a second, eyes squinted before shaking his head.

"What's the big deal?" he mumbled.

"What?"

"What's the big deal? With me calling you kid, I mean. It's not like I mean to, I've just always called you that," he shrugged, obviously annoyed by me being annoyed by him.

"Daryl, do you not find it at all weir-" I stopped, seeing as how Beth was looking at us. "We'll talk about it later," I shook my head, leaning down to play with the hem of my new shirt. He rolled his eyes and continued eating.

I could probably confront him now, while I was still mad. But I wasn't going to do it while there were other people around. I had a tad bit more class than that. Maybe not according to them, but according to me.

"Hey, Kyra, would you mind assisting me and the boys in a walk after we do dishes?" Morgan asked suddenly and I smiled and nodded. I was kind of good at concealing my feelings when I wanted to.

After a few minutes Daryl stood up, wiped his face, thanked Morgan, and headed back towards the basement/storm cellar. I excused myself and followed.

"Hey," he turned to look at me, slowing his pace.

"Hey," I said quietly. I didn't know what I was doing. The impulse to talk to him had just randomly over taken me. Now I was left wondering if now was the time to confront him.

"Need something?" he asked rather roughly, which made me blush a little and feel rather stupid.

"N-no," I stammered, shaking my head. "No."

"Ok..." he turned and was fixing to head down the storm doors.

"Actually!" I nearly yelled, making him stop and turn around. "I do need something, Daryl."

"What?" he asked, taking his work gloves off again, as if he was gonna run upstairs and get me a pillow to sit on or a new shirt because I spilled something on this one. Nothing.

"An answer."

My gut was twisting around and I felt so nervous. I felt like my head was going to explode or I was going to throw up.

"To what?" his voice was calm. I half expected him to look at me like I was stupid by now, but he didn't.

"Why you lied to me..." I answered him quietly. Now his eyebrows shot up and he shook his head.

"About why we're cleaning out the basement, Kyra? Really? God, of all things you could use to pick a fight, you choose this," he rolled his eyes and a spark of anger shot through me.

Along with it, a little more courage.

"No, Daryl. Why'd you lie about what you and Beth did while you were on the run?" I had to fight myself to keep my voice level. This didn't feel right. I had imagined me confronting him thousands of other ways, and this seemed like the worst possible way.

"I... I didn't."

He was taken by surprise. He squinted at me, more in confusion than wonder.

"Please don't lie again," I honestly thought I'd be more fiery, more pissed. But the longer we stood here, the harder my heart felt.

"Kyra, I..." he stopped and looked over my shoulder. Tray was standing at the corner of the house.

"Erm, hey, sorry. I keep walking in on awkward moments... Um, I'll just..." he turned on his heels and began walking away.

"No, Tray, it's fine," I stopped him, then turned to look at Daryl. "Later," I mumbled.

"Later."

I walked off, feeling worse than when I rushed after him. Raul walked past me on my way to the table, and Michonne, Beth, and Morgan were already cleaning the table.

"You alright?" Michonne pulled me to the side and asked. I nodded, not speaking. She dropped the subject, although she had a look in her eyes that suggested she wanted to say more.

"You ready to go walking?" Morgan asked me, Marcus on her hip.

"Yeah," I nodded, "sure."

She set Marcus down and he took off, the other two boys on his heels. We began walking behind them, at a much more leisure pace.

"Stay close!" Morgan called after them. It felt so normal to have the boys running around the yard and playing. It was like we were just one big secluded family. All of us had managed to stay alive and keep each other alive. It really was a blessing, for now.

We all foolishly believed that we were safe here.