His phone pinged that night around 7:30 pm, followed by several more sounds right in a row. The group chat was underway, part of Daryl hated this and part of him was excited for some contact with her. He wasn't a group chat kind of guy at all, but It was more than he had ever hoped for with Gina. When she held up her phone earlier asking for his phone number, he had trouble containing himself.

Daryl had nervously given her his phone number, while Parker looked on with disgust, but fuck him.

Now she definitely knew who he was, but he would have been surprised to learn that Gina already knew who he was, and had an unyielding opinion of him. But he didn't know that at the time and wouldn't for quite a while.

Daryl swiped the screen on the phone Merle had gotten him when he was fourteen. There was a message from Rick, followed by Shane and Gina, in the group chat and a single message from Rick. He opened that and left the group chat unanswered.

~ Get her.
~ Are you insane?
~ Don't waste this chance. Jump in that conversation.
~ No
~ Do it.
~Fuck off
~You're never going to get laid with that attitude.
~As if I had a chance with her.
~Ok, die a virgin, just trying to help ya out.
~Rick, fuck off and don't be late tonight, alright.

Merle was banging on his door yelling that it was time to go to his party in the woods, but Daryl at least sent off a text to the group, and after several more pings, they had all decided to meet at the library the next day after school to work on the project in peace.

Daryl was in a cold sweat by the time it was done, he was so afraid of saying the wrong thing. He was very smart and participated in classes all the time, but this one on one stuff was so new to him. The magnet program he was in at school along with most of his friends didn't prepare you for anything but more school. You were on your own in social situations, Daryl was hopelessly inept sometimes, especially when a certain red-haired girl was around.

Rick sent Daryl a thumbs up in their private text and Daryl sent him back a more colorful and rude emoji. Rick had been his best friend since elementary school and the only one who knew about Daryl's crush on Gina. All their lives since then they had been like brothers, yet so different from each other.

It was easier for Rick, he wasn't shy, he went for what he wanted, and almost always got it. He had decided to ask out Lori two years ago, and they had been going strong ever since.
It was so easy for Rick. Everything was so easy for him, Daryl wished that just once some of that would rub off on him.

As Daryl laid back on his bed and sighed, he didn't want to go to this bonfire tonight, and he didn't want to go to the library tomorrow either.
How could he concentrate if he was closer to her than he ever had been before? The thought made his stomach churn with butterflies.

But he didn't want to fail and mess up his GPA and chances for scholarships, so he resigned himself to the fact that he had to do this, no matter how much he didn't want to. Daryl needed the scholarship to get out of this town, that he knew for sure. He would have to step out of his comfort zone.

"Come on brother, times a wastin…" Merle yelled through the door. Merle was another guy who always got what he wanted. Merle had to beat the girls away with a stick sometimes, and unfortunately, his castaways sometimes came after Daryl.

Daryl was not interested in any of that, and he never would be, but Merle was constantly trying to get him laid. He didn't understand that Daryl would never fuck someone for the sake of fucking them, it would have to be someone special, someone, he was in love with and someone who was in love with him.

Daryl closed his eyes and grimaced, at least Lori and Rick would be there, and he'd have someone to talk to while Merle hit on all the girls.

33333333333333333333333333

The bonfire was huge and in the woods behind the trailer park where Merle and Daryl lived. It seemed like all of the kids from the neighborhood between the ages of twelve and twenty had shown up. Merle had the gift of gab, and he was popular at school and around the neighborhood.

Daryl was quiet and kept to himself, and he liked it that way most of the time. Sometimes he loosened up if he had a few beers, but he didn't like the way it made him feel and was too close to home, and the old man for him.

But Merle never stopped trying to get him out there, if he wouldn't put himself out there, like tonight and this party which was all Merle's idea.

He appreciated his brother's efforts, but he wanted to be home asleep, where he might dream of her.

Daryl bet that Gina knew who Merle was, all the girls did, and they followed him around like mice following the pied piper in that song that was playing on the iPod speaker that someone had brought.

**********Just like the pied piper, led rats through the streets…*********

Daryl nursed his beer as he watched his brother making time with a girl already and they had just gotten there. Rick and Lori hadn't arrived yet, but he knew they would be, so he was content to stare into the fire and think.

How was he going to talk to her tomorrow? How could he keep it together long enough to do this project?

Before too long, one of the girls Merle had been flirting with sat down next to him. Her name was Shelly; she was nineteen, and still in high school having been left back twice. She was dumb as a brick, as Merle would say, but a sweet girl. She was not Daryl's type at all.

Merle didn't much care how smart a girl was, but Daryl did. Plus, he felt like Shelly acted dumb on purpose and he didn't like that at all. Daryl liked smart girls, someone he could have a conversation with if he could ever get over himself to actually start a conversation with Gina.

"Hey Daryl," Shelly said as she scooted closer to him on the log he was sitting on. Already she was too close and too much in his space; he didn't like people to be too close to him. Their father was a mean drunk and more than once Daryl or Merle or both of them got the business end of his belt.

Merle wasn't as twitchy as Daryl was, they had both turned out differently, even though they went through the same experience. But Daryl had issues with personal space and touching.

"Hey Shelly," He said looking through the crowd for Rick and not seeing him. Now Iron Maiden was on, and Shelly hummed as the music played. Daryl was leery already about why she was talking to him instead of Merle, which was her usual way.

********So understand, don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years, face up make a stand…*********

"Sixteen huh?" Shelly said, but Daryl wasn't listening, he was pulling his phone out of his back pocket. It was evident that he wasn't going to pay attention to her and she didn't like that at all. Merle had asked her to do this, and she wanted to please him. So she continued, "Nice night."

"I guess," Daryl answered almost absentmindedly, looking around for Rick.

Then Shelly put her hand on his knee.

Oh hell no.

"How about a little birthday gift Daryl?" She said reaching over his thigh, and towards his belt buckle, he quickly pushed her hand away, "You're not jail bait anymore."

Oh, fuck no.

"Come on Shelly stop." He said staring down at his phone, where the fuck were Rick and Lori?

"It's OK Daryl; you're sixteen now." Shelly tried again to grab his dick practically, and he stood up to get away from her.

"So what?" Daryl replied even though he knew what she was getting at.

"What are you saving it for marriage or something?" She said standing up, in apparent disgust now at being rejected. Merle was right; this kid was gay for sure.

Daryl didn't answer her; he just swiped the screen of his phone and began texting Rick and telling him to get the fuck out here quick.

"Who ya texting?" She reached for his phone.

"A friend." He scrolled down and stopped at Gina's name and sighed, Don't I wish.

"A girl," Shelly asked with a grin.

"No."

"Do you even like girls?" She continued.

"I'm not going to even answer that," He said as he saw Rick and Lori coming through the crowd on the other side of the fire, "Don't act this way Shelly, you're better than that."

He stared at her, and she met his eyes in defiance.

"You don't want me anyway," Daryl nodded towards Merle. "You want him, and everyone knows it."

He nodded his head towards Merle who was laughing and throwing back a beer in a huge gulp with a crowd of people around him.

Daryl sighed, sometimes he wished he could be more like Merle, but he couldn't, they were so alike in some ways and others so different.

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