Daryl called Lydia's name, but nobody answered. He looked at Henry, who didn't seem to be worried at all. This made Daryl suspicious

"Where are they?" He asked. Henry shrugged and said he doesn't know. But when he saw that Daryl was still looking at him in disbelief, he finally sighed and admitted:

"They're fine. They're just preparing something."

"And why didn't you tell me that right away?" Daryl asked a little bit annoyed.

"I promised not to," Henry answered sheepishly. When he saw Daryl narrowing his eyes in confusion, he added:

"It's for you. Connie said something about a ... first date?"

Daryl's eyes widened and he was blushing.

"She really seems to like you." Henry grinned.

Daryl felt how his heart started to beat faster and he didn't know what to say.
They sat down and waited. Daryl was extremely nervous. He still didn't completely realize yet, that Connie wanted to be with him. But what if this date would change her mind? What if he was awful, what if he screwed up? He never had a date before in his life. And what if she wanted to kiss him? God, he didn't kiss a woman in a long time. He couldn't even remember the last time it happened. It was never important to him. During his short encounters with women, he was usually so drunk he couldn't even remember their faces the next day, let alone their names. He didn't think much about kissing back then. The only reason he let those women come close to him, was because he wanted to impress his brother. But this now with Connie was different. This was important. This was something real.
So he sat there feeling like a teenager until Connie and Lydia appeared at the balcony on the second floor. While Lydia went down the stairs, Connie motioned to Daryl to come up to her. Daryl stood up and walked towards the stairs, a little bit insecure. Lydia smiled at him, when they passed each other. When Daryl arrived at the second floor, Connie took his hand and went with him into a room next to the stairs. It was a cozy, nice little room. However, Daryl couldn't help but think it must have belonged to one of Negan's loyal soldiers. Having his first date at the Sanctuary out of all places was weird, especially since he was tortured here several years ago. But Connie didn't know anything about that and it seemed she made a great effort to create a romantic atmosphere. There were some candles and the table in the middle of the room was neatly set, almost like in a restaurant. The bottle of wine, they found at the pantry earlier, was standing on the table too. Daryl smiled. He frantically tried to remember a sign in ASL to tell her how nice all of this was, but couldn't think of anything at the moment.

Connie made a sign with her hand, telling Daryl to sit down. When they both sat down at the table, Daryl was glancing at her nervously.
She poured some wine and they clinked their glasses. The wine had a bitter taste, but Daryl was glad about the alcohol. Maybe it would make him more confident. He didn't intend to get completely drunk, though. He wanted to stay clear in his head and enjoy every moment with Connie.

Let's eat, Connie wrote on her notepad and Daryl nodded. He thought it was good to get something into his stomach with all the wine. Their dinner consisted of some smoked fish. Daryl tried to eat slowly and not to bolt the food, like he usually did. It wasn't hard since he was still very nervous and couldn't eat much.
Daryl knew, Connie must have noticed how nervous he was, and she confirmed that when she took out her notepad and wrote:

Don't be nervous.

"I'm trying," Daryl said. "It has been so long since..." He paused looking embarrassed at her, too afraid to admit it was his first date.

For me too, she wrote and showed him the note with a smile.

After they finished eating, they went to the sofa nearby and sat down next to each other. They sat in silence again, their legs touching slightly. After he drunk up his glass of wine, Daryl took Connie's one hand in his both hands, and caressed it softly with his thumb. They looked each other in the eyes. After the wine Daryl really started to feel more confident.

"You know, actually this is my first date... ever," Daryl admitted making a slight pause before the word "ever". He could see the surprise in Connie's eyes and continued:

"Never been much of a dating person."

Connie wrote: That's okay. I'm pleased to be the first.

They both were smiling at each other and then Daryl put his arm around her shoulder and she snuggled up on his chest. Some minutes passed when they were just enjoying being close to each other. When she looked up to him, he asked her:

"So you were born this way? Deaf?"

Yes, my parents found out when I was a baby, she wrote.

They didn't live long and when they died I took care of my sister.

Daryl nodded.

Tell me something about you, Connie wrote.

"There's no much to tell," Daryl said feeling insecure again.

"Spent most of my life with my brother too."

Rick? Connie asked.

"No. Rick was my brother, but he wasn't blood. I met him when all of this started. No, I had another brother, Merle." Daryl made a pause.

"He was an asshole," Daryl added then in a loving voice.

"And then another asshole came and killed him."

I'm sorry, Connie replied. The world is full of assholes.

"Yeah, we encountered a lot. Lost a lot of people 'cause of 'em."

We did too. But at least we found each other.

"Yeah, we did." Daryl smiled. "And I'm happy about it."

Because you like me? Connie wrote, then showed him the note with anticipation in her eyes.

Daryl felt butterflies in his stomach and after a little pause he said: "I do"

Connie made a sign and then wrote on her notepad: This means I like you too. She repeated the sign.

Maybe it was the wine, or her eyes, or here smile, but in a sudden twinge of courage Daryl asked:

"And how do I say: 'I love you'?'"

Before he even fully realized what he asked just now, she smiled, then she took his face in her hands and kissed him.
The kiss didn't last long and after that they both looked each other in the eyes and smiled.
Then they approached each other for another kiss, but right in that moment, Lydia suddenly burst into the room.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," she said breathing heavily from running. "But you have to come. People from the Kingdom are here. They said something happened."