Twelve year old Carol Horvath collapsed against a tree, exhausted. It was really dumb to run off into the woods like that. She had just gotten to her Uncle Dale's house. He had gone to pick her up in Valdosta after her parents had been killed in a car accident. Dale was her father's older brother and the only family she had left. As soon as they pulled into the driveway at Dale's house she had jumped from the car and ran.
She couldn't take it. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go back to her house. She didn't want to go to a new school with people she didn't know.Most of all, she wanted her parents to be alive again. And now she was lost in the woods. She had been wandering around for an hour and had yet to find her way out.
'I'm probably going to die out here, she thought. I'll probably get eaten by a bear or something.'
She had been sobbing into her hands for about ten minutes when she felt something nudge her foot. She jumped and scrambled back. She knew it – she was about to get eaten. She looked up to see, not a bear or some other monster her mind had conjured up, but a boy about her age. He had a cast on his right arm and his too-long hair was hanging down in his eyes. She also noticed some bruising under his right eye.
'I wonder what happened to him?'
"You alright?" he asked, shifting nervously from one foot to another while biting his thumb nail.
She nodded. "Yeah," she said, climbing to her feet.
"You hurt? Why you crying?"
"I'm lost," she said, sniffling and sucking back snot, wishing she had something to blow her nose with. Seeming to read her mind, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a red bandana, and handed it to her.
"That why you crying?" he asked as she blew her nose.
"Part of it," she said, wiping her eyes before offering him the bandanna back.
He made a face. "Keep it," he said. "Come on," he called, turning away from her.
"Wait. Where are we going?"she asked.
"You said you were lost. I'll show you the way out," he said. When she didn't move he yelled. "Come on! I ain't got all day."
She ran to catch up. They had been walking for a few minutes Carol finally spoke. "I'm Carol Horvath," she said, sticking out her hand. When he didn't offer anything in return, she spoke again. "This is the part where you tell me your name," she said with a grin.
"Daryl Dixon," he said, falling silent again. "You related to Dale?" he asked after a minute.
She nodded. "He's my Uncle. I just moved here to live with him."
"What happened to your parents?" he asked.
"They died," she sniffled.
"I'm sorry," he said, lowering his eyes.
"It's okay, you didn't know. What happened to your arm?" she asked pointing to the cast she had noticed earlier.
"I fell," he said, dropping his eyes.
"Oh. I broke my arm once. I fell out of a tree house. Is that what happened to you?"
"Sure, lets go with that," he seemed to lower his eyes even more.
"What grade are you in?" she asked.
"Seventh."
"Me too. Maybe we'll have some classes together."
"Maybe."
They walked in silence for a few minutes before either of them spoke again. "What was that?" said Carol in an alarmed voice. "Was that a bear?" She grabbed his arm.
"A bear?" he looked at her like she had lost her mind.
Carol nodded her head and clutched his arm tighter, her eyes darting around the woods.
Daryl shook her arm off. "Ain't a bear."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. It's the wrong time of year for them to be out. They usually hibernating around this time. Probably just some squirrels running around in the trees."
Carol was relieved. It was just some cute little squirrels. She liked squirrels.
"Could have been a chupacabra," he said as they continued walking.
She had to run to catch up with him. "A what?"
"Chupacabra."
"What is that?"
"It means 'goat-sucker'. They attack goats and other livestock and drink their blood."
Carol stopped walking. That was horrifying. He couldn't be serious. "Is that real?"
He stopped and turned to look at her. "Sure, it's real. Saw one once while I was squirrel hunting."
"You hunt poor defenseless little squirrels?" She asked, running after him again.
"They're rodents," he said as he rolled his eyes at her.
"They're adorable and sweet. I had a pet squirrel at my parents' house." She said with a sad smile.
"Oh, yeah?"
"Well, sort of. He would come on the back porch everyday while I was doing my homework and I would feed him peanuts. His name was Charlie. My dad bought a bag of squirrel food for me to feed him and the other squirrels. But Charlie was the only one that came up on the porch. He would stay there until I went inside."
"That's pretty cool. They usually don't like to get to close to people. You must be special." He immediately ducked his head and walked a few steps ahead of her.
Carol looked at him when he said that. She wasn't sure but it looked like his whole face turned red – like he was embarrassed or something. She smiled, she would have to file that away for future reference.
A few minutes later they had made it to the road. "Think you can find your way from here?" he asked.
She shook her head and bit her lip. "No. I wasn't really paying attention to the way I ran."
He sighed. "Come on," he said and started walking up the street.
They spent the rest of the walk in near silence – Carol asking questions and Daryl giving one- or two-word responses.
"Well, here you are," he said, coming to a stop in front of Dale's house just as he came out the door, talking to a police officer. A look of relief crossed his face when he saw her. "You better go," he said, nodding his head at Dale and the officer.
"Yeah," she said, turning to walk to the house. She stopped and turned back. "Thanks," she said, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She pulled back and smiled at him. "See you at school on Monday," she said, running towards the house. She had just made her first friend.
"What are thinking about?" asked Daryl as the waitress brought them their check. "You've been quite for a few minutes."
"I was just thinking about the day we met," she said.
He smiled. "Oh, yeah. You were the most annoying girl I'd ever met," he said with a smirk, pulling out his wallet and laying down money for their dinner, plus a tip.
"I was not annoying. I just liked to talk."
"Same thing," he said, standing up and taking her hand, pulling her from the booth.
They walked out to the truck and he opened the door for her. He leaned forward and caught her mouth with his. They kissed for a few minutes before they pulled away breathless. He started the truck and pulled out the parking lot.
"Where we going?" she asked.
"I thought we could go over to the lake at Hershel's. It's nice out there this time of year."
"That sounds fun. Are you sure it's alright with him?" she asked, reaching across the seat and grabbing his hand, interlacing their fingers.
"Yeah. I already asked him," he said, squeezing her hand. She scooted a little in the seat until she could lay her head on his shoulder. He took an arm off the wheel and wrapped it around her shoulder.
They pulled onto the road leading to Hershel's farm, and then down the dirt road leading to the lake behind Hershel's house. As soon as he put the truck in park, she jumped out, tugging on his hand and pulling him towards the dock. "Come on."
"Calm down. There aint no hurry." But he had to smile at her energy. He patted his pocket to make sure the ring was still there. He was a little nervous about giving it to her. He didn't really think she woudn't take it. But that didn't stop the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach.
When they made it to the dock, she immediately sat down and starting pulling her shoes off.
"What are doing?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"I wanna put my feet in the water," she said, scooting forward so she could drop her feet in. "You should take yours off, too. It feels great," she said, kicking her feet and splashing a little water on him.
"Oh, you're gonna pay for that," he said, pulling off his shoes, rolling up his pants legs and kicking some water back at her. She retaliated by kicking at the water harder to splash him even more. This went on for a few minutes before Carol held up her hands.
"Okay, okay! I give up, you win. I'm starting to get cold now," she said, pulling her feet from the water. He pulled his out as well, wrapped an arm around her and tugged her against him. He rubbed her arms with his hands to create some warmth.
"Better?" he asked as she snuggled into his chest.
"Much," she said, placing a kiss on his neck. The only place she could reach from the angle she was at.
He shivered, but not from the cold. He pulled back slightly so he could press his lips to hers. He dropped his hands to her waist so he could tug her closer. She wound her arms around his neck and opened her mouth slightly to allow him access, when she felt his tongue scrape against her teeth, asking permission.
He rubbed small circles against the side of her waist. When he felt his hands starting to inch upwards he had to force himself to pull back. He wasn't doing that yet. He hadn't even given her the ring yet. He pulled himself away, but not before placing a kiss to the side of neck, just below her ear, causing her to visibly shudder.
He smiled and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before speaking. "I got something I want to give you," he said, reaching into his pocket.
He pulled out the ring that he had attached to the chain before he left the house.
"Your class ring?" she asked.
He nodded. "Do you want to wear it?" he asked, the confidence from earlier suddenly leaving. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought you might like it."
"I'll wear it," she said with a smile.
"You will?" A smile blossomed across his face.
She nodded. "Put it on me?" she asked, turning around and lifting her hair. He fumbled with the clasp for a minute before getting it attached.
She picked up the ring rolled it around between her fingers before letting it drop. "Does this mean we're going steady now?" she asked, using a term she was sure hadn't been used since the 1950s.
"I guess it does," he said, kissing her again. She pulled back slightly and pulled her class ring from the ring finger on her right hand.
"If we're going steady," She began, pulling his hand towards her. "That means you're mine."
"But it's pink," he prostested when she put the ring onto his pinky finger.
"Well if you don't want to wear it…" she said, reaching for it.
"I didn't say that. Just don't know why it's gotta be pink," He grumbled. He really didn't mind, he was just enjoying giving her a hard time.
"Because I was born in October," she said, letting go of his hand but leaning into him laying her head on his shoulder. "It's not like I could help it."
"I know, I'm just teasing you," he said, kissing the top of her head and wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her as close to him as she could get. "Are you happy?" he asked.
"Very," she said, grabbing his free hand in hers and holding it in her lap.
"Me, too."
They sat on the dock and watched as the moon rose higher in the sky and danced across the water.