A/N: Hello everyone! Well, this chapter has officially caused me to lose my mind! I've stared at this computer screen for hours and even when I wasn't it was in the back of my mind taunting me. So you better like it! Haha, sorry I'm a little sleep deprived, but I really hope you like it because I didn't receive a lot of feedback from the last chapter so I'm not sure what's going on. Tell me in a review what you'd like to see or what I'm doing you don't like. But anyway, for those of you still with me, please enjoy!
I walked back onto the porch, soaking wet and shivering. Maggie and Glenn both wore concerned looks on their faces and the door opened and Daryl stepped out. He walked over to me and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. I smiled at him and sat down on the porch, wringing out my clothes and hair and trying to stay warm. My mind started wandering to before the world went to hell. I hadn't thought about that life in a long time and now it washed over me like a river.
On the forefront of my mind was the day I started art school. I was twenty-one and had just moved out of Shane's house after graduating college. This was my first time on my own since the incident and my brother was more than a little nervous. I was only one town over and it took less than twenty minutes to travel between my apartment and Shane and Rick's place back in King County where they were both working as cops. Shane had insisted on coming with me to check out the new place and make sure it was safe. I rolled my eyes at his worrywart nature but relented and welcomed the help of unloading all of my belongings.
"Now this seems like a pretty good neighborhood, but be careful. No walking alone at night, keep the deadbolt locked and don't let anyone in you don't know," he instructed, inspecting the locks on the doors.
"Yes sir," I mocked and he glared at me.
"Addie, I'm serious," he said and I sighed.
"I know Shane, I'll be careful. Promise," I told him and flopped down on the small couch.
"You want me to stick around until your roommates show up? We could go get some dinner and check out the town," he said, trying to look nonchalant but failing miserably, causing me to laugh.
"Sure Shane, let's go," I told him to ease his anxiety and we left the apartment and headed downtown to a diner that had been advertised every half mile on the way over here.
We ordered some burgers and ate while making casual conversation. The waitress was shamelessly flirting with Shane and I was trying to contain my laughter for her sake. By the time we left, he had her phone number and was glowing with egotistical pride. I rolled my eyes as he slung his arm around my shoulder as we made our way down the street on foot to have a look around. There wasn't too much to see, just another small town in Georgia with its convenience stores and fast food restaurants. However, its redeeming quality was the Preston College of the Arts. It stood in the middle of town, a piece of art all its own.
After determining we'd seen everything worth seeing, we went back to the apartment and the door was open and there was chatter inside. I walked in and sat my bag down and waited for the blonde haired girl to notice my arrival. She turned around and smiled widely and ran to me and wrapped me in a hug.
"You must be Adeline! It's so good to meet you, I'm Tiffany Scott, but you know that already. Who's this? Is he your boyfriend? He's really cute," she bombarded me with questions and gushed about how great the apartment was and how she couldn't wait to get to know me better. Once she finally stopped I began answering her questions.
"Yes, I'm Adeline. It's nice to meet you too. And no, this is my brother Shane," I said, feeling worn out after her hurricane of a conversation.
"Oh, well hello, it's nice to meet you. Do you know if Diane is here yet?" She asked me after sizing up Shane with a rather flirtatious wink.
"I haven't seen her but I just got here too," I told her and she kept gushing about how great this was going to be and Shane and I were trying not to laugh.
"Well I have to go set up my bookshelf so I'll see you later. Maybe we can all go out for dinner later," she said and started retreating into her bedroom.
"Actually Shane is just about to leave, but I'm sure he'd be happy to help you with your bookshelf if you need him," I said with a mischievous smirk and Shane glared at me but went to help her anyway. I knew that this was the beginning of a new part of my life.
I was yanked out of the memory by another blanket being draped over my shoulders. I looked around at the still stormy sky and sighed. That was another life, and another world, this was my reality now. Sitting in the rain with an aching in my heart and a growling in my stomach that was a constant reminder of how fragile our existence was now. I stood up and shrugged off the blankets, turning towards Daryl with a small smile.
"I'm going to go change," I told him, handing him the blankets and walked inside. Everyone was starting to get up now, gathering in the living room but I grabbed my bag and headed upstairs to the bathroom and changed into a pair of jeans and the only long-sleeved shirt I had with me. I fixed my hair back up on my head and pulled my boots on before heading back down to the others. Daryl had come back in and was inspecting his bow.
"We just need to lay low for today, stay in and make a plan on what to do next," Rick said, pacing the floor while the rest of us sat around him in a circle. "We'll take turns keeping watch. I'll take the first one," he said and headed outside, leaving the rest of us alone to sit in the living room, unsure of what to do.
The past snuck up on me again and I found my mind going back to my old life. It was the day after Shane dropped me off at my apartment. Tiffany and Diane were both attending a technical school in town and were fascinated that I was going to art school. They'd insisted on spending the night pouring over all of my drawings. So now it was morning and time for my first class and I was exhausted. I showered and got dressed and practically ran all the way to the school for fear of being late.
I pulled out the map of the school and found my way to the Eliot Building Room 308: Introduction to Photo Realism. I took my seat right as Professor Reid came in and wrote his name on the board. Like with all classes the first day, he just went over what the class was about and how he graded, nothing important. I had a fifteen-minute break before my next class and wandered into the canteen since I had skipped breakfast and got some coffee and a pack of mini donuts. I turned around and bumped into someone, nearly spilling my hot coffee.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," I muttered, backing up and looking to see who I'd nearly scalded with the scorching beverage.
"No, my fault, should have been paying more attention," he said. I gave him a good look. He had dirty blonde hair that fell slightly over his insanely blue eyes. He was tall, very tall. He had nearly half a foot on me and oh was he muscular. Definitely not the type of guy I imagined at art school. "I'm Dean. Dean Carter," he said, extending his hand to me.
"Adeline Walsh," I said and took his hand with a smile.
"So, are you from around here?" He asked, leaning against the vending machine.
"Not here, I came here from King County. I've been here a couple of times but never for longer than a day," I told him, taking a sip of the coffee.
"Well, I've lived here my whole life, so maybe I could show you around. Maybe grab some dinner and take the official Preston County tour," he said with a smirk and I couldn't fight the goofy grin on my face.
"That would be nice," I said.
"Here, let me get your number and I'll call you," he said and handed me a pen and strip of paper. I scrawled out my number and returned it.
"Cool. So I'll see you around Adeline Walsh," he said and walked away, leaving me grinning like an idiot in the canteen.
"Adeline," Lori's voice dragged me back to the present and I was more than a little annoyed. "Can I speak with you for a minute?" She asked and jerked her head towards the kitchen. I sighed and stood up, deciding not to argue with her right now, my mind still absorbed by the memory of Dean.
"What is it?" I asked her once we were in the other room. She looked uncomfortable and was wringing her hands in a sign of obvious nervousness.
"I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry," she began and I felt my walls snap up, all fuzzy, warm, feelings gone now that I was standing here with her in this situation.
"Lori, don't," I warned through gritted teeth. I had successfully pushed my doubts about Shane from my mind and now they were running back up, demanding to be noticed.
"Adeline, please, just let me finish. I'm sorry about Shane. I really am. I don't know what happened but Shane was a good guy and he loved you," she said and emotions swarmed me from all sides.
"Thank you," was all I said after a full minute of me silently staring at my shoes and her staring at me in awkward silence. Satisfied that she had done a good deed, she left me alone in the kitchen and I sank against the counter, the sadness coming back ten fold. Once I managed to calm down, I walked back in to join the others and took a seat on the floor next to Daryl who was looking at me somewhat anxiously.
Everyone was engrossed in their individual conversations, feeling relaxed at the seemingly safe haven, but in the back of all of our minds was what happened on the farm.
"Where you been at all morning?" Daryl leaned over and whispered in my ear. I knew what he meant, where had my mind been. It was early afternoon by then and I hadn't said ten words to anyone all day.
"Just thinking," I replied vaguely, not sure how much of my past I was willing to share with Daryl, after all I knew next to nothing about him before all of this. Then again, he already knew more about me than anyone except maybe Rick did, and I had a feeling I knew more about him than anyone here.
"I saw your sketchbook open this morning. Late night drawing?" He asked gesturing to where my belongings were lying in a corner.
"Yeah. Just trying to clear my head a little. A lot of memories around here," I told him honestly. The house was one big reminder of everything I had lost, but in a weird way it was helping me cope, reminding me that those times were still there and nothing could erase my memories, not even the end of the world.
Daryl didn't push for more information and I was thankful for that, for just being able to tell him what was wrong and him not demand more of me. He put a supportive arm around me and I was more than a little surprised by the public gesture, but didn't pull away. I was grateful that at least one person was here for me.
…
Night came quietly, all of us still reeling from the excitement of the last few days. T-Dog was keeping watch now so Daryl and I were in the living room alone, everyone else upstairs getting ready for bed. It was a treat to have a safe place to sleep again. I was leaning against the wall with my sketchbook open, drawing again while Daryl was busy cleaning his arrows. I was studying him in the dim light, recreating him on the blank page and then a small smirk appeared on his lips.
"What?" He asked, putting the bolts down and turning to me.
"Nothing," I said with a blush but was smiling as I shaded in the picture. He stood up and walked over and sat next to me, leaning over to look at the book.
"Hm, getting kind of stalkerish there Walsh," he teased and I smiled even brighter, glad to finally have my mind on something other than the ghosts from my past that had been haunting me all day.
"Don't flatter yourself Dixon. I was just bored," I joked right back, our light banter was familiar and put me at ease. We continued like this for the next half hour before I started yawning and felt my eyes drooping.
"Get some sleep. I'll take next watch," he whispered to me and I was too tired to argue with him. I crawled into the blankets serving as my bed and was asleep instantly.
Unfortunately, the sleep wasn't peaceful. The nightmare was back with a vengance. I was forced to watch my brother dying and crying out for me yet again, not able to stop it. Once the dream ended, I didn't wake up like last time. Instead I was sitting across from Shane in my old apartment.
"Shane?" I asked, confused.
"I was wondering when you would show up. I've been trying to get your attention all day," he said with a half smile and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "How are you doing Addie?"
"What is going on?" I asked. I knew this was a dream, but it felt so real because I wasn't observing the way I had been in the nightmare. No, it was actually me talking and I was deciding what to say. It was strange.
"I've been watching you. Seems like you're doing okay. Or as well as you can be, I guess. Seems like Dixon is helping you. I have to say I wasn't thrilled with the idea of the two of you, I'm still not, but I'm glad you have someone to talk to."
"How is this happening?" I asked, feeling tears prick in the back of my eyes.
"You needed me lil' sister, so I'm here. I'm always here for you. There's a lot I need to say, but I don't have a lot of time so I'll keep it simple. I love you Addie, always will and I want what is best for you. It's okay to mourn me, but you have to move on too, you can't stay angry and sad forever. You're strong Adeline, stronger than anyone I've ever met, stronger than me. You can beat this world, if anyone is going to survive this, it's going to be you. You're going to get out of this and grow old and have a family and tell them all about your crazy life. Don't you dare give up. Ever," he spoke quickly and walked closer to me and once he was done, he wrapped me in a hug and it felt like him. I could smell him and I was crying as I muttered I loved him and a bright light enfolded us both and I woke up in the living room, alone.