"Ohmygosh we're going to die." Lily whined, dramatically throwing herself onto the sofa, where she collapsed into a little ball; tucking her knees under her chin. It was only eight in the morning and Daryl could already feel a dull but rhythmic hammering in his head. He made a pained expression as he opened the kitchen cabinet. He could hear Lily saying something from the sofa but he wasn't paying attention.
Gotta be something around here. He thought, searching frantically through the kitchen cabinets. Lily abandoned her position on the sofa to join him in the kitchen, aiding him in ransacking the cabinets. Having searched everything about five times, Daryl and Lily gave up. Lily slumped down against the counter and Daryl sat beside her. The two each let out an exasperated huff.
What were you supposed to feed kids? – For the most part, he and Lily had been surviving off of Cup O' Noodles and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It dawned on Daryl he'd probably have to go grocery shopping, have to find foods both he and Lily could eat and not break the bank in the process. The dull hammering in his skull suddenly amplified three fold as his tired mind tried its hardest to balance grocery shopping, a starving eleven year old and his slowly depleting bank balance.
No. Pull your shit together. He mentally ordered himself, his bones creaked and his head span as he lifted himself up off the ground. The Cup O' Noodles and PB&J streak had to end somewhere. Daryl gave himself a few moments of mental preparation, readying himself for the great task on which he was about to embark upon.
"Lily," Daryl helped Lily up off the ground. "We're goin' grocery shopping."
Sophia was a naturally curious little girl, she couldn't help but wonder about the strangest things. Another thing Sophia really liked to do was observe. Just watch things and see what happened. So to her curious, eleven year old mind, watching the Dixon house from her living room window didn't seem so crazy. The usually interesting morning cartoons had once again been abandoned in favor of the Dixon household and Sophia couldn't help but jump a little at the sound of her mother's voice.
"Sophia, are you watching the neighbors again?" Carol asked.
"No, I was just observing." Sophia answered innocently enough, hopping up and joining her mother at the small dining table, sparing only one last, parting glance toward the window. She pulled up a chair at the table and read the small piece of note paper her mother was scribbling on.
Milk, bread, eggs, peanut butter, flour, apples, peaches…
"Are we shopping today?" Sophia asked, furrowing her brow and redirecting her gaze from the list to her mother's face. Carol nodded and made an 'mmhmm' noise. Sophia groaned, she hated grocery shopping, it always took so long. It was so monotonous; going up aisle after aisle looking for boring old groceries.
"Okay, how's it look, Soph? Are we missing anything?" Carol slid the completed list across the table, waiting for Sophia to review it. Sophia added a few things to the bottom of the list and handed it back across the table to Carol and they decided that was enough. The pair headed out to the car and Sophia gave one last look at the Dixon house. She noticed that the car which was in the driveway just minutes ago was now absent. I wonder where they went. Sophia thought before hopping up into the car.
Plastic bags, shopping trolleys and scrawny teens sporting name-tags and uniforms was the best way to describe the view Daryl received upon entry to the small shopping center. The discontented howls of toddlers could be heard from pretty much every location in the store, and it was rivaled only by the sound of chattering adults. The shopping center wasn't quite hell, but to Daryl's anti-social mind it was the closest thing to it.
"This way," Lily gave a sharp tug on the hem of Daryl's shirt, steering him toward the trolley bay. He pulled the trolley out and wheeled it past a few aisles. Lily wondered if Daryl had ever been grocery shopping, she'd been grocery shopping a handful of times. She shrugged it off and instead took to scanning over the shelves for things they needed.
The closest Daryl had come to grocery shopping in his adult life was when he and Merle would duck into a 7-11 or stop in at a gas station when they needed something. He felt almost lost as he cruised down the aisles at the super market. Lily didn't look as confused and he figured it was best if she did most the shopping.
"Okay, Lil. Yer the expert here. Ya just grab the stuff ya need." Daryl explained. He'd let the kid grab what she needed and he'd grab what he needed. There was the obvious; coffee, bread and milk. He had to have that, he knew you could get some decent deodorant and shaving utensils at supermarkets, soap too. The only thing he was blank on was what Lily needed. So he figured it was best if she just grabbed whatever she needed.
Lily's eyes widened, she could buy whatever she wanted, whatever junk food her heart so desired, and Daryl would be none the wiser. This is the best day of my life she thought, her eyes scanning the supermarket for any snack foods that stood out.
"This aisle," she grabbed the end of the trolley and directed Daryl toward the snack food aisle. Clueless Daryl followed along behind Lily as she casually strolled down the aisle, occasionally tossing something in the trolley. "I need these cookies, oh but also these ones. Wow, I need some of this soda too. Hey Daryl, what's that? – Oh never mind, we'll just get four. "Lily coasted through the aisle. Daryl was beginning to become suspicious of Lily's shopping list.
"Ain't ya supposed to be havin'… fruit or somethin'?" Daryl asked as Lily led him down the dairy section. All she said was, "that's what the fruit roll ups are for" and then she kept walking. She added a big tub of ice-cream to the trolley.
"Calcium is important for my growth." Lily explained, Daryl nodded and let her put it in. They were just turning around when they knocked carts with someone else.
"Watch it." Daryl grumbled, looking from Lily to the controller of the rogue trolley which had bumped them. He wished he could take that back as soon as he saw Carol standing there. "Oh uh, shit sorry. My fault, that one was uh… sorry." He took a moment to compose himself.
"No, no that was my bad. Sorry, I kinda just rammed you guys, sorry." Carol apologized, and proceeded to apologize, quite profusely, for the next few minutes. There was a few moments where they didn't say anything to each other, Lily and Sophia were already chattering and giggling away. Daryl glanced at the contents of Carol's trolley and immediately felt quite sheepish. Lily had hustled him.
"Mom, can I take Lily to look at the toys?" Sophia asked. She didn't feel completely comfortable talking to her friend around her mother, and she certainly didn't feel comfortable within a ten foot radius of Daryl. Carol sighed.
"You'll have to ask Daryl if he's okay with it." Carol glanced from the two girls to Daryl expectantly. Lily gave Daryl a pleading look and he buckled, nodding in consent. He actually felt sort of relieved to have the kid out of his hair for fifteen minutes. Now he just had to deal with the groceries. He began depositing the various junk foods back onto the shelves from whence they came, grumbling about how Lily was a damn rogue and how she was going to age him. "I think you just got hustled by an eleven year old." Carol chuckled as she came to help him make sense of the trolley.
Sophia led Lily through the labyrinth of aisles in the supermarket toward the section where they would find the toys.
"I can't believe you were allowed to buy all that junk food! My Mom would never let me do something like that." Sophia's eyes were nearly popping out of her head at the idea. Lily giggled and picked up a pack of crayons. for inspection.
"Well… Daryl kinda doesn't do a whole lotta shopping so I got put in charge." Lily and Sophia couldn't help but laugh. "I don't think Daryl's ever been grocery shopping. No kidding." Lily added, cocking her head to the side in thought. Sophia mumbled a quick phrase of agreement and the two continued perusing the trinkets on display.
"Can I interest you in a flyer?" Sophia and Lily spun on their heels to face a little boy about their age, he had some flyers in his hands. He sounded like he was talking from a script but the girls didn't say anything.
"What's it for?" Lily asked, stepping forward to take one for herself and then handing one to Sophia. The little boy looked at them.
"It's raising money for the police and council and stuff. My Dad's a sheriff and he's in charge of it. It's gonna be really good and there'll be rides and games! It's tomorrow, at the fairgrounds." The little boy no longer sounded like he was reading from a script and his previously monotone voice had taken on an excited tone. "So, are you guys gonna go?" The boy finally asked. Sophia squeaked out a little 'I'll ask my Mom' while Lily nodded in confirmation and said 'yeah, sure'. The little boy told them he hoped to see them there and then whizzed off passed them.
Carol and Daryl caught up with Sophia and Lily before going through the checkout and they headed toward their respective vehicles, each carrying bags of groceries. Daryl couldn't help but notice that Carol struggled somewhat, she had a lots of heavy stuff to carry. He paused in the middle of the lot.
"Here," he took a few of the heavier bags from her. "Where ya parked?" He asked, his gaze scanning across the lot. Carol was quite lost for words, she couldn't recall the last time someone other than Sophia might have helped her with such a trivial task.
"We're just over here." Carol hurried over to the car, Sophia and the Dixons in tow. She quickly opened the trunk and Daryl none-too-delicately placed the bag inside. Sophia quickly dumped the bags she was carrying and began chatting with Lily, the two girls whispered excitedly. Carol turned to Daryl and thanked him for her help. The families were about to part ways when Sophia and Lily took center stage.
"Mom, look at this!" Sophia beamed, handing the flyer she had received earlier over to her mother. Carol gave it a quick look over. Lily handed her flyer to Daryl and he glanced over it.
"Looks like fun, you wanna go?" She asked Sophia. Sophia nodded excitedly and looked at Lily.
"Can we go, Daryl?" Lily asked, her eyes big and hopeful. He nodded and mumbled something along the lines of, "Don't see why not." The two girls started jumping up and down, squealing with joy and giggling. Daryl didn't see what the big fuss was.
"Daryl, you and Lily could go with us. I mean, if you like. We could all drive over tomorrow morning and then let the girls hang out there for the day." Carol suggested, she didn't know why she felt so nervous asking him. Daryl nodded and shrugged casually.
"Sure, see ya tomorrow."
Really, a fair? – What had he gotten himself into?
*Bangs head against wall* I'm sorry. That is all. This was... I... This is quite terrible and I should have updated sooner. Sorry, everyone for the delay. Also still so sorry about that chapter 4 mix up, that's fixed now. So I wanted more Caryl in this chapter but I've decided to hold off 'til next chapter, which hopefully will be a Caryl fest! Oh, and hopefully an upcoming Merle filled chapter! (Both of which I am super excited to write and will probably be posted quite quickly!) Also this A.N was really long, sorry for that too. I feel like a rambling douche-bag when I write these ._.
Thanks much to: Prodigium, LopezG, Mione, Bearhead and Guest for the reviews on chapter 4. 'Tis appreciated.
Thanks also to the favoriters and followers: vickih, tessuhh, lismrox, adelicateflower08, Writingismypassions, Stacey73, LucyC-96, vickih, tiffany86, texasbelle91, smolderhalderxo, protonefrid, pharmtechgrl71, nanashipsCARYL, melniewn, mmcmannusdixon, hockeydrmr9, ferrisbueller, crystal2817, bearhead, Tinkerbell99, Shaniqua Nunyadambidness, Prodigium, Mione788, MSHK, Lisab876, Kabrinastar, EmbraceyourFREAK, Creed757, BrucieBaby.
Thanks for not throwing bricks at me (so far).
~Boo~