Lily woke up later than she had meant to. She looked at her clock for just a few seconds before springing out of bed and frantically searching through the clothes in her closet for something to wear. She dressed and did her hair in what she was convinced was record timing before racing out to the kitchen, where Daryl was cradling a cup of coffee. He must have noticed her haste to get ready as he gave her a perplexed look.
"You in some sorta hurry or somethin'?" He asked, chugging down the last of the coffee in his cup before abandoning the empty mug on the bench. Lily nodded yes and quickly shoved a muesli bar in her mouth.
Daryl didn't recall Lily saying she had any plans but he supposed they hadn't talked as much as usual since they'd been so busy lately. Between visiting Merle - which took all day, dinner last night - which left them exhausted and Lily's sleep in this morning- which had her pushed for time, they hadn't had much opportunity for discussion.
"Mhm, told Sophia to come over today. She stop by yet?" Lily asked around a mouthful of half-chewed food. Daryl almost chided her over it but decided he couldn't because he often spoke with his mouth full.
"Nope." Daryl shook his head and moved around Lily to exit the kitchen, she trailed along behind him and headed toward the front door. She picked up a pair of shoes she had left by the door and hopped from side to side as she tried to pull them on.
"She's probably waiting for me," Lily mused aloud before grumbling to herself and trying to tie her shoe-laces as quickly as possible. "Daryl, can you do the laces for me?" She asked sheepishly. Daryl got on one knee and started tying the frayed laces of what was possibly the oldest pair of shoes he had ever seen.
Daryl tied the laces quickly - and even though they were maybe just a little too tight, Lily didn't complain because she was apparently in such a rush. The two walked out onto the porch together before Daryl stopped just a few feet shy of the porch steps.
"I'll be back in a minute with Sophia. Did you want me to ask Carol along, too?" Lily offered, looking quickly between her uncle and the Peletier house. Daryl didn't know if he and Carol were such good friends that she'd want to come over, but he figured there was no harm in extending the offer because he did like spending time with her and it was something he'd dedicated himself to doing more often.
"Sure, careful crossin' the street now." Daryl replied. Lily rolled her eyes, there were barely ever any cars driving down their quiet end of town. She ran all the way across the lawn, stopping just shy of the road to make a point of looking left and right before she continued her sprint to Sophia and Carol's house.
"Sophia, slow down. You'll choke eating like that." Carol said from across the table.
Sophia shook her head, shoveled an impossibly large spoonful of cereal in her mouth and washed it down with a large gulp of orange juice. All morning Sophia had been rushing around - she'd gone so far as to skip her morning cartoons, even her favorites.
In all fairness, Sophia had only woken up thirty minutes ago and she'd been racing around the house at the speed of light ever since, Carol wondered where she was getting the energy.
"I have to hurry, Lily said I could go over," Sophia continued to eat as she spoke. "I said okay-" Chew, swallow. "It's already... oh my gosh it's already nine-thirty-" Slurp, gulp. "I gotta hurry." After swallowing down the last of her meal, Sophia bounced out of her seat, dumped her dirty bowl and cup in the sink and returned to the table.
She couldn't have been sitting more than just a few moments before there was a knock at the door. Carol chuckled as Sophia practically fell over herself in an attempt to reach the door as quickly as was humanly possible.
Moments later the door was opened to reveal Lily standing there, the two girls were both practically vibrating with excitement - apparently whatever they had planned was quite exciting.
"Good mornin', Miss Carol." Lily smiled and waved as Carol came to stand in the doorway. Carol said a quick good morning in reply before Lily started talking again. " I'm just here to collect Sophia, but if you're not busy today you can come over too. I think my uncle would like someone to hang out with." It felt weird, Lily thought, to be inviting an adult over to her house. She didn't mind, though because as far as adults went, Carol was pretty cool.
Carol wondered whether or not to go over and decided she could at least walk the girls over and have a chat with Daryl because even if he wasn't very chatty, she liked his company.
"Okay, how 'bout I walk you two over?" Carol offered. The two girls cheered and ran ahead of her, it seemed as if they didn't have a minute to waste, or perhaps they just wanted to use every hour of daylight to their advantage and squeeze in as much time together as possible.
The two girls immediately scampered off around the side gate and Lily told Carol she could let herself in through the front door and that Daryl was probably just wondering around somewhere in the house. Carol decided she had better knock before she went inside, it was the polite thing to do, after all. She wrapped lightly on the door frame and peered in through the screen door.
"'M comin'!" Daryl called and within moments he arrived at the door and allowed Carol into the house. Although Carol had come over before, Daryl still wasn't used to starting conversation or inviting her into the main area of the house so he just tried a simple, "ya wanna come in?"
Carol nodded and followed him through to the house to the kitchen, where they sat at the bench. After looking around for a few moments, Carol noticed that all the boxes from a few weeks prior were almost all gone, save for a few stacked neatly away in corners. It brought a smile to her lips to see that the house that had been almost empty a few weeks ago was now looking like a real home.
"I see you're all moved in," Carol commented, her gaze drifting around the kitchen and adjoining dining and living area. Daryl nodded and followed her gaze around the room. "I see Lily's been decorating as well." She added with a chuckle, noting the drawings stuck on the fridge and even some taped to the kitchen wall.
"Mhm, always scribblin' away," Daryl replied absently. The two let a silence fall in place between them. "How 'bout you and Soph. What ya been up to?" Daryl wasn't one for small talk, but he was genuinely curious to see how Sophia and Carol were getting on. It seemed as if Carol was constantly asking Daryl about what him and Lily had been up to, and he was hardly ever asking her.
"Nothing much, we usually just hang out with you guys," Carol shrugged. "Sophia's summer youth program is starting up again soon, so she's excited for that." She said after a few moments thought.
"Summer youth program?" Daryl asked. Carol nodded in confirmation.
"Mhm. Basically, the youth program leaders organize for the kids around town to hang out and do stuff over vacation. It's usually just at the scout hall - but sometimes they go to the park or the library. Lily might like it, there's a lot of art." Carol explained. Daryl nodded, he guessed Lily might be interested in something like that, it sounded like her kind of deal. He'd think some more about it later, but for now he would just enjoy the company of Carol.
"Are you sure we can't get in trouble for this?" Sophia asked timidly as she inched her way over the thresh-hold of the old, ramshackle shed at the very back of Lily's yard. Everyone on Lily's side of the street had a bigger yard than the people on Sophia's side of the street and the shed was located at quite a distance from the house.
"Daryl never uses the shed, it's fine." Lily shrugged nonchalantly, she hadn't specifically asked if they could play in the shed, but she guessed Daryl wouldn't mind.
"It's sort of creepy, don't ya think?" Sophia stood just a few feet inside the shed. It sort of gave Sophia the skeevies, the windows were covered in a thick coat of dust, some of them boarded up, the paint had peeled off the entire building - inside and out, the roof seemed to sag and ivy and weeds seemed to be sprouting in abundance.
"Maybe right now, but it'll be better when we're done." Lily touched something before quickly withdrawing her hand to see it covered in dust, it appeared as if the shed had been disused for quite some while now.
Since last night, Sophia and Lily had begun discussing the idea of turning the shed into a place to hang out, a fort or play house, if you will. They knew there would be cleaning and probably some fixing, but they guessed it would all go over okay in the end.
"Do you think we should start with the windows? We'll have some better light then." Sophia suggested, peering around their dark surroundings. Even with the door open it was still a very dark and gloomy lighting scene in the shed. Lily nodded and walked out the door.
"I think there's some cleaning stuff in the garage and buckets too." Lily explained and with that, the two girls went to gather their resources and set hard to work.
After a time, Daryl and Carol decided to venture into the yard and see what the girls were up to. It was unusual that they hadn't come inside yet for something - a toy or something to snack on or maybe just to escape the humidity of the Georgia summer.
Upon entering the yard Daryl noticed the girls were nowhere in sight - that was never good. Daryl was sure if left unattended the two could start a nuclear war. It wasn't that they misbehaved, just that they could go a little overboard on things sometimes. Carol quickly spotted them however, Lily was scrubbing away at a window in the shed and Sophia was pulling weeds outside it.
The two adults exchanged a confused look followed shortly by a shrug and then walked slowly toward the girls, who hadn't yet acknowledged the adults presence but occasionally called something out to each other.
"Grown ups." Lily finally called to Sophia before wondering out of the shed just as Carol and Daryl arrived. Sophia took a break from pulling weeds and stood up next to Lilly.
"What are ya doin'?" Daryl asked, inspecting the cleaning job the two girls had done. So far it was looking far better than it had a few hours ago, it appeared Sophia had dealt with most of the weeds in the surrounding area and Lily had scrubbed just about every surface in sight - floor, windows, you name it.
"We're making a fort." Lily explained. Daryl nodded and peeped his head through the door.
"Paint's lookin' pretty bad in here. Reckon I got some paint in the garage if ya wanted it." Daryl suggested, his eyes scanning over the peeling paint. The two girls looked at each other excitedly before nodding with enthusiasm.
"Oh my gosh, yes please!" Lily beamed, jumping up and down, Sophia nodded next to her.
"Do you guys need an extra pair of hands?" Carol offered, the two girls accepted her offer and it was decided that Lily and Carol would finish up dusting and getting rid of cobwebs in the shed so the paint could go on and Daryl and Sophia would go get the painting stuff ready.
"Come on then, kid." Daryl had said and Sophia had trailed on after him and the two had soon arrived in the garage, which was an absolute mess. It had taken several minutes of cussing and falling over things on Daryl's half before the paint had been found. He'd pulled out a large drum of paint and a few brushes and rollers.
Sophia immediately went to pick up one of the big drums of paint only to find it was surprisingly heavy.
"How 'bout you carry the brushes and I carry the paint?" Daryl reasoned. Sophia agreed to that and the two made their way back to the others with their painting gear.
"Hey, Mister Daryl," Sophia had said, hugging a few paint rollers to her chest. "Thanks for helping us... with the painting. I've never had a fort or a play house or anything." She finished and smiled up at him. He seemed a little cross sometimes, but Sophia decided right then he was a bit of a softie.
"No problem," Daryl had mumbled. "Let's get to work then."
Daryl and Carol had been surprised at the girls painting skills, they'd gotten the whole first coat done very quickly and very well - with minimal mess and only a little help too. Daryl and Carol were also surprised when the girls had come out wearing less paint than the adults at the end of it all. They were, however, exhausted.
"We could keep painting, y'know. We could paint all night and get the outside done." Lily suggested as the four made for the house.
"That'd be cool." Sophia agreed, giggling and smiling with Lily. Daryl even smiled a little but shook his head quickly and redirected his gaze to the sky, which was starting to cloud over.
"Storm's on the way and 'sides, ya can paint more tomorrow if ya feelin' like it." Daryl replied. The girls chattered away about what they could do tomorrow and made some great plans for their exclusive fort slash play house.
When the four got inside, Daryl asked if Carol and Sophia wanted to stay a while longer and they agreed. The girls went and jumped through the shower and Lily gave Sophia something clean to wear for the next few hours. Meanwhile, Daryl and Carol organized something to eat - which was easy, seeing as to how they just stuck a frozen pizza in the oven.
After the girls were washed up the two families sat around in the living room eating and watching T.V and talking, all with the storm happening outside. The only time they were interrupted was for a phone call, which only lasted a few minutes - It was Daryl's work telling him he had to come in tomorrow. Daryl was okay with that and if he was being honest, he was just glad that he was enjoying his time at home now. Because it was nice to eat frozen pizza and watch shitty T.V with some of the people he cared about most in the world. Even when the girls fell asleep on the sofa and the power went out and it was just he and Carol, that was nice too.
It was about four in the morning, Daryl guessed. The power wasn't back yet and even though he was feeling tired he didn't think he would sleep. Carol had fallen asleep for a few hours on the sofa, when she'd woken up Daryl had asked if she wanted to go to bed and said that she could have his bed for the night. She had declined, though.
"Have you slept yet?" She had asked as she hugged her knees close to her chest. Daryl shook his head. He'd been awake, watching the storm through the window. He didn't like storms all the time, but sometimes it was good to appreciate them. Carol followed his line of vision to the window, raindrops sliding down the glass. "You like to watch storms?" She wondered, tilting her head to the side.
"Not all the time," Daryl shrugged, keeping his eyes glued to the window. "I was thinkin' about goin' onto the back porch but..." He trailed off, ducking his head.
"I'd keep you company, if you wanted to." Carol whispered into the darkness, ever mindful of the slumbering girls. That was all the coaxing Daryl needed before he was on his feet and moving soundlessly through the house - guiding Carol through the darkness.
They came to the back door and he opened it, letting them both out. It was very cool outside and he felt himself getting gooseflesh before he adjusted to the temperature. He and Carol sat at the very edge of the porch, their bodies mostly guarded from the rain by the porch roof, they purposely let their arms hang out though so they could feel the raindrops on their skin.
"So, who was on the phone before?" Carol asked after a large clash of thunder. Daryl waited for the lightening to strike just seconds later before he answered.
"Work, want me to go in tomorrow." He shrugged. Carol took on a concerned looking expression.
"I'm sorry if me and Soph kept you up. Aren't you tired?" Daryl momentarily turned his attention away from the storm to Carol.
"Don't be sorry, I ain't tired. I only gotta go in at noon anyway." Daryl shrugged and refocused on the storm that was still going on quite strongly. He liked to wait for the thunder because it made his whole body tingle when it rumbled, sometimes it made Carol jump, though.
"Do you know I just realized I don't know what you do?" Carol mused, there was an edge of sleepiness creeping into her voice but only just. Daryl gave a little chuckle at that.
"I don't know what you do, either." It was silly, but he smiled at it.
"I'm a nurse, down at the hospital just a few blocks away." Carol answered. Daryl decided he could see Carol as a nurse - she was very kind and patient to boot, after all. He thought she would make a very good nurse indeed.
"Well, I'm a mechanic." Daryl closed his eyes as a breeze blew a few raindrops into the undercover area. Carol imagined Daryl as a mechanic, she thought it was something he would be good at. It fit him.
"I'll watch the girls tomorrow, if you'd like." Carol offered. Daryl said that sounded good, and that if the girls wanted to work some more on painting and Carol did too then they could do that. Then the two let themselves slip into a silence, and it was the kind of silence that was peaceful in every sense of the word and no one wanted to bother trying to fill it.
Somewhere along the line Daryl had taken a moment away from watching to storm to watch Carol; and he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, her delicate features illuminated by the pale light from the continual lightening and the raindrops shimmering on her pale skin. Daryl had noticed how pretty she looked before but now she seemed to be especially beautiful. And he didn't think it had anything to do with the light or anything. It was just that she was there enjoying the silence with him and sitting so close that their shoulders were touching, then there was the dreamy smile on her face as she sat with him and watched the storm and saw the rain and felt the thunder shake the earth and all the other things that make you feel small in the world.
As a particularly loud wave of thunder sounded itself, he felt Carol come closer to him and wrap her index finger around his.
"Sorry." She mumbled, keeping her eyes downcast.
"'S okay." Daryl replied, keeping his voice as soft as he knew how to. He didn't know why he did it or even what it meant but he gave her index finger a light squeeze with his and he thought maybe it would be okay to keep them intertwined for a while. Just a while.
"Daryl, I think I'm falling asleep." Carol's voice was only very quiet now and Daryl didn't know what to do, he didn't want to go inside yet, he didn't want to stop feeling whatever it was he and Carol were feeling at the moment.
"Do you wanna go back in?" He asked, if Carol was tired they would go back in and he would let her sleep all she liked. He was actually starting to feel a little drowsy himself. She shook her head no. "You wanna sleep out here?" Daryl had slept under the stars plenty of times before, never in such a peculiar circumstance though. He didn't make a habit of falling asleep on the porch in thunder storms. He thought he might like to though. After a few moments he felt Carol nodding off beside him and he shook her lightly.
"M'kay, inside." She mumbled sleepily. Daryl helped her to her feet and the two walked back inside together before crashing down in the mess of pillows and blankets scattered around the living room. And although it terrified him, it also comforted Daryl strangely when he noticed the feeling from outside hadn't gone away. And it stayed with him until he fell asleep.
A.N: Another chapter, quality is questionable at best and I'm really iffy on that last part. Blegh. Sorry again for taking so terribly long to update, I got distracted by internet and another WIP. Please don't throw things at me, I'll update sooner this time, scout's honour. By the way, do any of ya'll have Tumblr? My mum was trying to teach me to use it? - There's a linky on my profile... I think *shrug*.(I learned how to make a post! So proud of myself!).
Thank you so very muchly to these people for the lovely comments on last chapter: Zombieslayer5, General KJ, yogapantsinpublic, Dixonrocks, Vickih, Lismrox and itsi3. You guys motivate me to update and are awesome :).
Also thanks for the favs and follows: 9livesremember, AemryAvalon, BrucieBaby, Creed757, Dianahhh, Dixonrocks, DoctorGrimes, EmbraceYourFREAK, Emma Kellog, General KJ, HeartMachine, Jhill88, Kabrinastar, Lisab876, LopezG, LucyC-96, MSHK, MarcesibleLea, Mione788, , Prodigium, Riah222, Shaniqua Nunyadamnbidness, Stacey73, TWDHGfan, Tasshhy, The name you will never know, TimetravelingArchaeologist, Tinkerbell99, Writingismypassions, adelicateflower08, anngun22, hearhead, bspooky3, crystal2817, eowynmd, ferrisbueller, georgiapeachs, green angel01, hockeydrmr9, itsi3, lilhanna, lismrox, liveinadive, mcmannusdixon, melniewn, naenurse, nanashipsCARYL, pharmtechgrl71, protonefrid, sarafina2012, smclendon, smolderhalderxo, spygrrl99, texasbelle91, tyffany86, vickih, wandwaving, wolfie22, xmoonlightxdreamsx, cthammons, defending-alien, eowynmd, jadastar, juliaye, snake-charmer68, tessuhhh and Zombieslayer5.
Next chapter: Carol babysits the girls and has an unexpected guest!