AN: Leave a comment if you want this to be a multi-chapter! I will only do so if I gain enough comments. C: also, leave me your prompts in the ask box! I will post periodically in the Caryl tag. I needed some post-hospital, so there's this?
The car tires sloshed in the mud as the gravel of the worn road crumbled, speeding toward their destination. Daryl had one arm leaning on the windowsill of the car, his fingers brushing his stubble, his other hand on the wheel, his brow furrowed. Carol watched the rain beat down from the passenger seat, pale and exhausted from the hospital rescue. Rick had luckily known vaguely about medicine enough to pick out a few drugs that would help her recovery and sedate the pain and Daryl had swiped a few bottles of ibuprofen just in case. He had bundled her in an old blanket because it was cold out and the car was worse for wear when it came to the heater. She looked so small and fragile in the seat with her knees curled up to try to soothe her sore stomach. He wanted to stop because he knew it was giving her motion sickness but he knew he had to keep going.
"I like the rain." Her voice wakes him up from his daze, even though his eyes have never left the road.
He glanced at her, his overgrown hair falling in his face. He didn't say anything; he was partially still trying to process the fact that she was back...
"Do you like the rain, Daryl?"
Daryl snapped back into focus again, this time straightening. He had to get his head together. He smiled over at her softly, seeming to reassure her fears, but it faded when he turned his gaze back. He sighed and looked at the rain, before responding slowly, "Lonely. Rain has always seemed lonely to me..."
He felt her hand touch his, and his heart burst just a little too much. Before she could move it away, he switched hands on the wheel and gave her hand a tiny, butterfly kiss, squeezing it before releasing her. "It's not as lonely as you think..."
"Oh yeah?" he responded, unable to help but snort a little, but he looked a little apologetic when she pouted. He raised an eyebrow, but he was quiet, seeming to contemplate as the car turned a corner, lurching a bit at a bump, and Carol turned a little green. He bit his lip worriedly, before deciding to entertain her for the sake of the car ride, whispering, "Why don't you make me believe it? You've made me believe in everything else... Maybe you were all I ever needed to wake up."
He's not sure why he said that, but her blush and her small smile despite her pale face leaves him with no regrets. He can spare a little mush. She looked out the window, the walkers seeming rather deterred from the roads when it rained. But then again, they were in a fairly deserted area, and though the walkers traveled in herds, there were some spaces it would still lay quiet. "Well," she said softly, "It's the opposite of fire... But they do the same thing. They make room for new life.
"The water lets plants grow, and it nourishes us. We need it to live, just like we need each other. It soothes us, even the thunder. It's a quiet night compared to walkers and even you can admit to enjoying when it rains. I've seen you when you used to stand outside the prison when it rained and stare at the sky... Just letting it touch your face. In a good mood, of course. In a bad one, you'd just come home looking like a cat that got a bath."
She giggled when he growled a little, muttering embarrassedly, "Ya saw that?"
"Of course," Carol said, a little dreamily, curling tighter to brace herself for another turn, hugging the blanket to herself and setting the seat back a little. It was dark except for the bright full moon hanging in the sky, and she seemed intrigued by that as well, before continuing, "The rain... It gives us hope. Hope that someday... We can come back from this, and we can spread out again... Not nearly as much as before, but..." She paused, before murmuring, "I may have lost Lizzie and Mika and Sophia, and... a-and I still need... time, I still don't... want to talk about it, but someday... maybe..."
"Don't worry about that right now then," Daryl replied, saving her of the crack in her voice, though the thought of parenthood burned fear inside his soul, he was at the same time inherently longing of it, whispering after several moments of silence, "We'll see, when that day comes. We'll see."
She was silent still and he began to feel concerned when she suddenly gave a little giggle, whispering, "And when your kids are old enough to understand the rain, they want to catch it. You give them a bucket and they run out in the rain, hopping around each other and everyone around them, just catching the rain in a bucket, and when they're done... They'll run up to you, and they look so pleased with themselves... I always told my little girl the story of the Dovekeepers, how the old lady's grandchildren got their voices back after being mute for years from traumatically watching their parents taken because they filled buckets of water in the first rain from the drought. They always think if they fill that bucket with rainwater, somewhere someone's gonna get their voice back."
Daryl was stunned into silence, in awe of the picture she had painted with her story. He even felt his eyes getting a little glassy, biting his lip again. They rolled into a very deserted town, checking his map to assure he was on the same path the rest of their group, his lip trembling a little, trying not to show it. He had never heard of such a story in all his years, but then again he had never been told many stories, least of which inspired a stirring hope. He had always thought there was no point in stories anymore in this new way of life, but he realized maybe he had thought wrong. Stories and people and love kept them going. That was the real way to survive, not power and obedience.
"Stop the car, Daryl," Carol said abruptly with a gasp, in such a way Daryl almost slammed the brakes. She lurched a little and he looked guilty again but she looked a little happy. His heart fluttered at the thought he might be the only one that could light her face with a smile or a smirk even in the darkest times. He watched her get out of the car, the blanket tied around her shoulders, concern creasing his brow. When she beckoned to him, he got out of the car, approaching her slowly, looking around worriedly. "Shh, Daryl, it's fine, we're safe... Dance with me."
Daryl looked taken aback, shrinking a bit. "But you're hurt," he tried to protest, but she took his hands and began to waltz with him in a circle, directing him on where to put his feet but quickly finding he knew how.
He relaxed when she seemed alright, searching her eyes, before softly saying, as if fearful someone else would hear, "I'll be good... I'll be good... and I'll love the world like I should..." He rested his forehead against hers, watching her eyes close and pulling her closer though the rain drenched them to assure her warmth, dancing with her under the moonlight in the rain in front of that old rickety car. Nobody was watching here, he could spare everything to make her happy. He kissed her lips gently, swaying his hips slowly as he stepped. "For all of the times I never could... for all of the things that I've done..."
"I missed you," she murmured, her words all she needed to show her love, and his compliance all she needed, dancing in the rain in the middle of nowhere in the apocalypse. He hummed softly, resting his chin on top of her head, sweeping her around in slow, graceful sways though no music played except for in their imaginations, until her feet began to move a little more like lead.
So, Daryl picked her up and carried her to the car, stroking her hair, tipping her seat all the way back because he couldn't bear to not have at least his peripheral vision on her. He didn't even want her in his rear view mirror. He laid her down, draping a spare blanket on her and buckling her in. Her fingers curled in his and she whispered a thank you, to which he choked out ever so quietly, "I love you."
He then got back in and began to drive again, glancing at his map. Only a little longer until he met up with Rick and Michonne, Glenn and Maggie... The others. They had split to insure to leave no heavy trace. These were all deserted back roads anyway.
He glanced down at her sleeping form, smiling wryly before sucking in a breath.
"You were right," he said, looking at the rain spattering the windshield, "Rain is beautiful."