{FYI, we're making Daryl younger in this. Say, 32ish}
"Most of the facilities are powered down." Jenner explained as he lead the group down a narrow corridor where half a dozen doors could be seen on each side. "So you'll have to make do with here." He added, motioning towards the doors.
The small journey through the building had come no longer after everyone had finished eating. It had been Lori who had brought up the subject of sleeping arrangements which seemed to have stirred Jenner from his solemn state. Molly, who was all to happy to get away from the large crowd, followed behind the group, Jacob snugly on her hip as she listened to what the doctor was saying up front.
"The couches are comfortable. There are a few cots in storage if you want to use them." He came to a stop as he spun to face the group. "There's a REC room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just-" he kneeled to address Carl and Sophia who were in front of him. "-don't plug in the video games, or anything that draws power..." he told them before he stood up. "Same applies. If you shower, go easy on the hot water." With that, he turned and walked off.
The hallway fell silent for a moment, each and every member of the group processing Jenner's words differently. Glenn was the first to speak, turning with a look of awe on his face. "Hot water?"
"That's what the man said." T-Dog grinned, the pair laughing out loud.
Molly stood on the spot as she watched the group thin out rapidly. She eyed them all as each person slid through a specific door, essentially claiming the room for themselves.
She stumbled for a moment, beginning to move forward before stopping herself, only to go and move forward once more before she stopped herself again. Molly chewed on her inner cheek, spinning around and moving quickly towards the lone door on the end.
Sliding through, she closed the door behind her and slid the lock in place before she let out a breath of fresh air. "We gone go sleep now?" Jacob mumbled, his head on her shoulder as he tried to keep his eyes open.
"Why don't we get you a quick shower first?" She found herself asking him, not knowing if there would be any hot water in the morning. "Then I'll have one after you're asleep, yeah?" Jacob yawned as he nodded, agreeing with his mother.
An hour seemed to fly past quickly and in that time Molly had managed to shower Jacob, get him to sleep and have a shower of her own. Her spirits were higher than they had been that morning which was something she haven't been expecting.
Molly had slid into a pair of joggers and a loose fitting shirt as she read a book on the floor with her back against the only couch in which Jacob was sleeping peacefully on.
She sighed deeply and let the paperback fall to the ground beside her, looking around for something that could cure her boredom. When she found nothing of use, Molly turned to eye her son who was still sleeping soundly. She pushed herself to her feet and wrapped the blanket tighter around his form before she moved across the room unlocked the door, sliding herself out of it as quietly as possible.
Mostly due to her curiosity, Molly found herself outside the REC room. The open doorway allowed her to see inside the room and figure out just from an overview that it was not that place she wanted to spend any of her time. She smiled politely at the four occupants. "Evening."
"How're you doing, Molly?" Carol asked, smiling kindly as she brushed out Sophia's hair while her daughter played a board game with Carl.
"I'm good, thanks." She told the older women, sending Lori a smile when she waved over the top of a book she was reading the back of.
"Molly, can I ask you something?" Lori called out, making Molly internally groan. Molly could tell instantly that Lori was on the side lines of being drunk and knew that the question would probably irk her.
Carol seemed to think so to as she stood up. "Come on, Sophia. Time for bed."
"You to, baby." Lori told Carl, motioning for her son to follow the pair. "Go and say your prayers. I'll be there in a minute."
Smiling as the trio walked past her. Molly folded her arms across her chest and moved slowly into the room, eyeing the books and keeping her gaze off Lori.
"We're friends right?" Lori asked, her speech ever so slightly slurred. "I never knew that Jacob's dad was in the group all this time." She spoke before Molly could even think of an answer. "I mean, Daryl Dixon? really? it seems like no one else did eith-"
"I'm gonna stop you there because I don't want to make things difficult between us." Molly interrupted, trying to keep her voice causal. "I've known you for like a month. Probably less. If the world didn't go to shit, I can guarantee you wouldn't look twice at someone like me while you're in your big house with a white picket fence. We are not friends. Not at this point in time. I'm sorry if that offends you in any way but I don't want you thinking you have a right to anything that goes on in my sons life. Cause it's just that, he's my son and not yours. Worry about who your sons gonna be calling daddy cause this thing you got going on with Shane and Rick, it ain't pretty."
With that said, Molly spin around and made a beeline out the door, catching Lori's shocked expression on her way out. She breathed a sigh as she wiped a hand down the side of her face, already beginning to hate herself for what she had said to the women. Though none of it was untrue, Molly knew she could have addressed it much better.
Forcing one foot in front of the other, Molly walked down the narrow corridor once more and out into the area in which the group had spent a good two hours eating and drinking. She eyed a bottle of alcohol for a moment, chewing on her inner cheek before she thought better and moved to grasp the jug of juice instead.
"Firs' time I seen you avoid tha' good stuff." An ever so slightly slurred voice made her jump and spin around, her eyes narrowing as they fell on Daryl's form who was slumped in a nearby chair.
"Don't need it." She mumbled, turning to pour herself a glass of juice before she turned to eye Daryl. "Why're you sat out here when you could be in one of them rooms?"
Daryl took a moment to drink from the glass bottle in his hand. "Alla' them are taken. Ain't sharing." He added after a seconds thought.
"So, you've decided to take up residence out here? Surely there's somewhere a little more private you could stash yourself..." Daryl merely shrugged, rolling his head from side to side as he tried to release the tension in his neck. "Right... Er, if you want you could stay with me... Get a shower and what not. Jacob has the couch so you'll have to make do with the floor or go fetch one of them cots if there's even any left."
With that said, Molly was quick to dash away, trying to make it look like she didn't want the ground to swallow her up after making a stumbling fool of herself. She slid back into the room and left the door unlocked before taking her seat in the bundles of blankets on the floor in front of the couch.
Though in reality it must've been seconds till Molly heard the doorknob jiggling, it felt like a lifetime. She was quick to throw herself towards her discarded book and open it onto a random page before she brought it up to her face, beginning to read what was written on the page as she heard Daryl slid into the room and shut the door behind him.
"Just... Try to keep the noise to a minimum." Molly finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper as she lowered the book the look over at Daryl who nodded before he moved off towards the bathroom.
Molly released a deep breath that she didn't know she had been holding in as she pushed her legs out in front of her and crossed them at the ankle. She could hear Jacob's soft breathing coming from his sleeping form in her left ear and allowed all the tension to seep out of her as she listened.
The bathroom door being opened stirred Molly from her thoughts as she wiped at her eyes and sat up straight, brushing her hair from her face and sending Daryl a curt smile. The man in question gave Molly a curt nod as he used the towel to dry his hair while he closed the bathroom door with his foot. The air seemed so brittle that it could've snapped, and if it didn't, Molly might. The pair didn't speak. What is there to say?
Though Molly didn't say anything, she took the time to survey Daryl and take in all his features once more. However, much to her surprise, rather than looking at Daryl as Daryl, Molly found herself looking at Daryl as the father of her child. She picked out all the features she knew Jacob had inherited from him and found herself smiling slightly. "You don't have to stand there all night long." She told him, her voice a murmur.
Daryl himself chewed on his inner cheek before he moved towards the brunette and lowered himself to the floor, placing the towel beside him as he crossed his ankles together and folded his arms across his chest. "Might be a lil' tipsy." He murmured, rolling his shoulders slightly as he sighed a small sigh.
Though he'd probably never say it aloud, he was glad that he had someone from his old life that he could let his guard down with. He could guarantee that he'd never willingly share a room with anyone else if they'd offered and knew for a fact he wouldn't feel zero tension in his body like he did when he was in Molly company. Daryl sighed slightly as he reminded himself once more that she hadn't been around the whole time. She had left four years ago to have his kid.
"What're you thinking so hard about?" Molly whispered, the back of her head resting on Jacob's thigh. "Can hear your brain going ten times an hour from over here and you don't sigh all to quietly."
"Why did ya' leave?" He found himself asking. "I know why ya' left I jus'..." He trailed off, not knowing exactly what it was he wanted to say. "I coulda' taken care of us. Yeh' know I coulda'." He told her, trying to wrap his head around and answer she could possibly give him. "Baby too." He added.
It was Molly's turn to sigh as she lifted her head, tilting it to face the man beside her. "I have no doubts that you could have looked after us, Daryl. You're a good man, too good for me. I'm not trying to make you hate yourself or anything but you and I both know that it would never be you, me and any children cause Merle would always be there cause he's your brother. He... He brings out the worst in people. I didn't realise how fucked up I was till I got out." She spoke words that she had been planning for years. "Before I met Merle, I'd never been arrested in my life. I'm not saying he's fully to blame cause I should've taken action of my own but he was part of it. When I found out I was pregnant I tried to think off a way to make it work... I tried for you, Daryl."
Daryl's head turned almost instantly as he eyed Molly, taking in her features and trying to figure out if she was being honest when she said that. Her sterling grey eyes bore into his as if trying to convince him she was not lying. However, deep down Daryl knew before he had even looked at her that she was telling the truth. Molly had always been so honest and telling.
"You know my dad used to say that I played the clown to cover up all my doubts and I never really knew what he meant until I finally grew up. You see I made it my mission to make people laugh, to make sure everyone around me was happy and I never once stopped to see if I was happy. I was happy with you, Daryl, but I wasn't happy with Merle." She finally admitted. "I'll forever hate myself for taking your son away from you but I can't help wanting to put our son first."
"Yeh' don't have to say anythin' else." Daryl finally spoke up, clearing his throat as he eyed the small body asleep on the couch behind them. "I got him now don't I?" Molly was quick to nod. "Then it don't matter. I'm not stupid. Merle woulda' been a bad influence, I get it. Yeh' did good raisin' him."
"Thank you." Molly spoke, smiling through a wave off tears that hit her. She tried to push them back as Daryl sent her a smile of his own. "That means a lot."