Chapter 4 - The frog
Now that Daryl knew Cassie was back in town, and what's more - working at his local, he felt like he'd been thrown into a tailspin. He'd spent the better part of the last decade actively trying to keep her out of his head, to forget her, and now he could barely think of anything else. He couldn't yet decide if he wanted to talk to her or avoid her completely, so he'd been laying low all week doing the latter until the jumble in his head settled down a little.
Lost in thought on Friday evening after work, Daryl hadn't even registered where they were until Merle killed the truck's engine.
"Merle!" he hollered, as he sat bolt upright in the passenger seat. "Said I didn't wanna come down here! Wanted to go home!"
Merle scoffed as he jumped out of the cab. "Y'ain't been down here in more than a week. What, ya think you're too damn good to have a drink with your own brother now?"
"Naw, just got shit to do at home!"
"Like what? Lay on the sofa, scratch your ass and have a wank?" retorted Merle. "Everyone thinks you're a fuckin' social tool as it is, least ya can do is have a beer with us once in a while and keep your hand in. Now get the fuck outta my truck."
"It's my fuckin' truck!" yelled Daryl as his brother slammed the door. With an exasperated huff, he resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to be able to get out of spending the evening at Tiny's bar, and he just hoped like hell that Cassie wasn't working tonight.
Merle, a few paces ahead of Daryl, barreled straight through the weary swinging doors to Tiny's like he owned the place, the door nearly hitting Daryl straight in the face as it swung back, but he raised a hand just in time and stepped inside the dingy pub.
She was there. Of course she was there.
He clocked her in a second – she was behind the bar, a big smile on her face as she poured a drink and listened attentively to old Billy who was yammering away. Daryl's mouth went dry and he gave a hard swallow before quickly ducking his head and darting towards the pool table where some of his friends were already in the middle of a game. Positioning himself in the corner with his back to the bar, he wondered if he'd be able to get through the night without having to speak to her.
He'd managed to stay put for a good hour when Merle brandished an empty glass at him. "Your round bro!"
Reaching into his pocket, Daryl threw a couple of notes on the bar leaner. "Here. Go get it."
Merle screwed his face up. "Ain't no damn waitress, bitch! Get your lazy ass up there and bring back the next fuckin' round!"
The Dixons glared at one another for a heated moment, then with a moody huff, Daryl grabbed the money and sloped off to the bar, his nerves jangling loudly in his chest.
Leaning his elbows on the bar, Daryl could see Cassie approaching out of the corner of his eye, the scent of her floral perfume reaching him just before she did.
"Hi." Cassie said softly as she stopped in front of him. "Was hoping I might see you in here."
His eyes flicking between hers and his hands, Daryl felt like the ability to speak had deserted him, but managed a mumbled, "Three beers. Please." feeling his cheeks growing hot at his awkwardness.
Cassie didn't move as she shamelessly studied the man in front of her, able to get a proper look at him that she hadn't been able to get when she saw him in the car. Really still a boy when she'd last seen him, he was all man now, and a gorgeous one at that. He had filled out, lean and muscular, his defined arms on display in his sleeveless shirt. A few days of dark stubble lined his chiseled jaw, and his hair was darker and longer than it had been at school. There was also a hardness in his blue eyes that hadn't been there before, a staunch set to his jaw that suggested maybe life hadn't been all that kind.
Her stomach sparked and bubbled with a whole host of emotions that she couldn't even begin to unpick.
Intently scratching at a scrape in the bar's lacquer, the back of Daryl's neck was prickling as she stared at him. Eventually he couldn't stand it any longer and defensively shot his gaze up to meet her amber pools.
"What?" he snapped.
"You're all grown up." said Cassie faintly, a melancholic note in her tone. "I hope... I hope things have been all right for you."
Daryl's frown deepened. "Still here, ain't I?"
A choked sigh escaped Cassie's mouth. She didn't know if he meant that as a good thing or a bad thing. "Still here." she echoed.
Collecting three glasses for the beers, she put them down just as suddenly as she'd picked them up, drawing a hand quickly over her mouth.
"I thought about you a lot." The words wobbling under the weight of her emotion.
"Ya did?" breathed Daryl, his defenses slipping. Never for a second had he let himself entertain the possibility that he'd been on her mind, even though she'd often been at the forefront of his. He was used to people not giving a shit about him and had firmly told himself that she would be no different.
"Yeah. Wondered about you. Worried about you. Hoped that you were ok. Hated that I... that I..." Ironically, the word left wouldn't leave her lips, so she made a vague gesture in the air as she gave a hard gulp.
Daryl heard it anyway, in its absence, and from being unable to look her in the eye at the start of their conversation, found that now he couldn't look away, and he certainly couldn't remember why he had wanted to avoid her – instead wondering why he hadn't sought her out days ago.
As she started to pour the beers Daryl found that having her attention now focused on another task and less on him gave him a little room to breathe and he could finally summon up the courage to say something he should have said a decade ago.
"I never said thank you. For that night. For what you and your momma did."
Cassie spilled the beer in her hand as she started at Daryl's words. A wet sheen descended in her eyes and she shook her head quickly. "No need. I was glad to help you. Always will be."
"Still. Thank you." Daryl said with a brusque nod, doing his best not to let the tangle of emotion inside show on his face. "Uh... so you're back in town? How long ya been back for? Ain't seen ya round."
"Yeah." Cassie busied herself with cleaning up the spilled beer and poured a fresh one. "Been back for about six months now."
"That long?" Daryl couldn't keep the note of surprise out of his tone, nor the thorn of hurt out of his heart.
She picked up on his sentiment and shot him an apologetic look. "I've been kind of busy. Momma was sick."
"Oh. Right. Sorry to hear that. How's Angie doin' now? She still out in that place by the railway tracks? Still listen to Dr. Hook? Still got Koko?"
Cassie stared at him for a long moment. "You remember all that?"
Daryl gave a sharp inhale, as if he'd just let a secret slip, then frowned and shrugged. "Remember everythin'."
Cassie's hand trembled as she brushed her hair back from her face. So did she. "Uh... well I should tell you - they're gone now. Both of them. Koko was old... he died about 5 years ago. And momma... well she got sick but... didn't get better. That's why I came back to town. To look after her. Lost her 'bout two months back."
"Shit." exclaimed Daryl, feeling an equal mix of shock and guilt at the news. "I... I'm sorry, I..."
"No, honestly, it's ok." Cassie reassured him, although the sadness in her voice said otherwise.
"Cass, I wish I'd known." Before he could think about what he was doing, he grabbed her hand and squeezed tight, a bolt of electricity shooting up his arm and straight to his gut as his skin connected with hers, causing his eyes to widen. He stared at their hands for a moment, processing this, then remembered what she'd just told him. "I'm real damn sorry."
"Thank you." she said quietly.
Their eyes locked and a whole host of things unsaid passed between them, erasing the distance of the past decade.
Swinging back into the present, Daryl realised he was still gripping her hand, and quickly dropped it, both of them shifting awkwardly, unsure of where to go from there.
Feeling flustered, Cassie leaned on the bar to try and appear relaxed, and as she did so, the silver locket around her neck swung forward.
"Oh, hey!" she said with a shy smile as her fingers found the locket, popping it open. "Remember this?"
Something very small fell into her hand, and she held it out, dropping it into Daryl's open palm. He sucked in an incredulous breath at what he saw lying there.
A tiny, white origami frog.
He stared at the frog, then stared at her.
"Is this...?"
Cassie nodded, suddenly flushing a burning shade of crimson, fervently wishing she hadn't decided to show him that, quickly realizing that it wasn't funny like she'd thought it would be – it was just crazy.
"Ya kept it all this time?"
"Uh, yeah... but it's not like I… I mean, I put it in there a long time ago and just never…" She trailed off, wishing she could disappear into the ground or anywhere, as long as it was far from Daryl who was staring at her like she had a screw loose.
"Uh..." she faltered again, certain that she was about to combust from her burning cheeks. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a group of women approaching the bar and she quickly pointed to them. "I'd better go and… nice to see you. Bye!"
Watching her hurry away, Daryl then dropped his gaze back down to the frog in his hand. All this time he'd assumed that she'd completely forgotten about him, but here was proof that she'd been wearing thoughts of him around her neck.
Carefully he pocketed the tiny piece of folded paper and collected the drinks, feeling lighter than he had in years.
"Alright, let's blow this joint." Merle announced two drinks later, throwing down his pool cue. "Sick of this shithole tonight."
Following after Merle, Daryl spotted Cassie – who had been doing an excellent job of avoiding eye contact since their conversation at the bar - clearing some glasses from a table near the door and veered in her direction.
Sensing a presence behind her, Cassie turned around to see Daryl only inches away, his eyes stormy and intense, locking straight onto hers, swallowing her up. She was glad that her tray of glassware was still resting on the table otherwise she would certainly have dropped the lot.
Gazing up at him, her breath hitched as wordlessly, he raised a hand to her chest and gently lifted her locket with two fingers, flicking it open with his thumb to tuck the frog back inside before snapping it shut again, his touch casting a visible shiver through her body. Letting his fingers rest against her skin for a moment longer, Daryl could feel her heart racing below, his own drumming a similar wild beat.
Pulling his hand away, Daryl quickly skirted around her and headed for the exit. If he'd allowed himself a backwards glance, he would have seen that her eyes were on him until the door swung shut, looking just as floored as he felt.
