Chapter 7- "School Skip Day"

Awkward couldn't even begin to describe the bus ride the next morning. If there had been any other seat open when Daryl walked down the grungy isle he would have taken it. He looked at Carol has he sat down next to her, there thighs slightly brushing against each other as he settled against the pleather sticky bus seat. Her was down, straight light brown hair that flipped outwards at the ends, gracing right at her boney shoulders. It was pinned half up, letting Daryl glance at her watery eyes. His eyes trailed her entire body, from the faded pink sweater to the orange, chipped polish on her toes. She stared at the back of the seat in front of her, her eyes half open. She hadn't looked at him yet. Everyday, Daryl could notice at least one quick glance, the kind that Carol thought he never noticed. But he always did. Her dry fingers were glued to each other, soft in her lap and she was stiff.

Daryl tore his dark eyes away when he realized he was staring. He was taken back, clearing his throat as he realized he felt remorse for what he had said to Carol. For Daryl's entire life, the only person that had meant anything to him was his older brother. He had cared so much of Merle's opinion, tried anything he could to be accepted by him, and he couldn't give a shit about all those kids he had to spend the day with at school. He had hurt girls feelings, gotten in fights with guys and been rude to complete strangers, and Daryl never felt a tinge of guilt for it.

But today, sitting next to Carol on the bus, he felt bad. He looked at he one more time, noticing how her eyelashes fluttered when she blinked, the way the pink of her cheeks brightened her entire face. He craved for her to look at him with her hopeful, positive eyes .

"Hey," Daryl grumbles under her breath, his eyes shaky when Carol looks at him. She's watching him with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance and Daryl doesn't know why he is nervous. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

Carol blinks at him, subtly nodding. "That's okay."

A moment passes, and Carol smiles at Daryl.

Another moment passes, and then Daryl smiles back.

Page 285, questions 1-13. Carol frowns at her biology textbook after reading the assignment scribbled on the board messily. A pencil loosely hung in her hand, resting against a piece of blank paper. This is just busy work, Carol sighs, writing her name neatly in the top corner. Just so the dumb ass teacher doesn't have to do his job. She can feel her eyes rolling, but she starts the worksheet anyway. School was the one thing that always came easy to Carol, and she was already half way through the worksheet when Daryl walked up to her desk.

He nodded to Carol, who looked up at him with a slightly open mouth. He almost hesitates before setting down his biology textbook, pushing the chair he brought with him up to the other side of Carol's desk, sitting down without a word. Carol smirks.

"What, you want me to do it for you?"

Daryl smiled with his eyes, shaking his head. He pushes his school work to the side, his dry elbows resting against the polished wood desk. People were talking all around them, moving away from their assigned seats, and Mr. P saw but he didn't say anything. Daryl made steady eye contact with Carol, still and no nerves coming from his body. Carol could feel a lump in her throat, her eyes scanning Daryl's face for an answer.

"You just sat here so you could stare at me?" Carol says, a smile against her cheeks. She had dropped her pencil by now, her fingers dancing around each other in her lap.

"Your little sister," Daryl abruptly says, concern in his voice and Carol is taken back. She swallows, and she feels that feeling she gets when her mom talks about Sophia all throughout her body. She blinks a few times, confusion slashed across her pale face.

"What about her?" Carol finally blurts out, shrugging. Daryl leans back in his chair, his empty eyes glancing around the bright room.

"Tell me what happened."

"She's gone," Carol eyes dart down to the hands clasped into her lap. Her cheeks are getting hot, and suddenly she feels like she needs to cry. "I don't know how-" She cuts her self off, her thin lips pursing. Shutting her eyes for a second before raising her head to Daryl. He leaned away from her, his back against the seat, closing himself off to her by crossing his arms over his chest. "But I could show you." Carol feels her tongue run over her mouth, blinking a few nervous time as Daryl unfolded his arms.

"Okay," He nods, Carol liked the sound of his voice. "Let's go."

Suddenly Daryl is on his feet, stuffing his biology book into his ratted backpack. "Woah, right now?" Carol's eyes widened at him, glancing at her creep of a teacher. "What about school?"

"Fuck school." He shrugs, tossing his bag onto one shoulder.

"But-"

"Come on."

She watches him as he heads for the door, walking right past the teacher on his way out. She sighs, shaking her head to herself as she gathered her things and quickly chased after him.

"Right here."

Today was a sunny day. The sky bathed the blades of grass that surrounded the park a few streets over from Carol's neighborhood. It was a sight of innocence and fun, with monkey bars and slides and the swings and Carol always found it hard to believe it was the place that took away her innocence, and more importantly, her sisters. The park was empty due to the time of day, and Carol and Daryl kept a safe distant away from each other on the bench where Carol discovered her sister was missing.

Daryl leaned against the green, cold park bench as he listened to Carol explain the story. She pointed out to him all the places Sophia had been, even demonstrated the way she had been sitting. She was getting worked up, even starting crying a little and Daryl just sat there, intently listening to her even if he didn't seem like it.

"My mom lost both her daughters that day. One by force," She said, finally making eye contact with Daryl, fresh tears clinging on to her naked eyelashes. "and one by choice."

She was done, but Daryl didn't speak. He just let the silence fill between them, but not the awkward silence like this morning on the bus. Minutes must have passed, and Carol sat there, almost relieved that she got her story out.

"I want to find your sister."

He finally talks, keeping his stare away from her as she blinks at him. Carol feels a mixture of confusion and gratitude, watching him as his eyes gradually move over to meet hers.

"I don't understand. Why?"

He only made eye contact with Carol for a moment, after seeing the way she was looking at him he blinked away. He sat awkwardly, rubbing his hand nervously on his forearm, darting his eyes from the grass to the wood chips surrounding the slides, to the swings being pushed around by the wind.

"A year ago, I woke up and my brother was gone." He finally says, quietly under his breath but Carol can understand him perfectly. "I don't know where the fuck he went, just ditched. But he was gone and my dad beat the shit out of me. Blamed me, ya know? Ass hole. Point is, I should have went and looked for my brother," Daryl looks at Carol, she's looking at him with water along her lash line, her mouth slightly opened as she took in what he said. "But I didn't, and I'm still paying for it."

Daryl had wanted to say more, explain all the things running through his mind, and if he could do open up to anyone, it would be Carol. But he clammed up, feeling dumb for even bringing it up.

"Point is," He finally said, rolling his eyes at himself with a grunt. "If anyone understands what your going through at home, then it's me."

She's crying all of a sudden, and Daryl could feel his head roll back with his eyes. Carol nods to him, letting out a calm breath as she flicks the tears away from her face. She doesn't say anything either, just looks at him as he avoids her pitying eyes. She's wiping her wet hands on the front of her faded jeans, and they tingle at the tips as she can't help but reach out to Daryl, gently clasping her hand onto his.

Daryl swallowed, sharply turning his head to Carol with crinkled eyebrows before snatching his hand away from her. She's slightly shocked but more embarrassed as she slowly brings her hand back to her lap.

"I don't need pity."

"It's not pity."

Carol tries to explain, but she can't think of anything else to say as she watches Daryl rise to his feet, picking up his bag before turning to a worried Carol. "Like I said," Daryl shrugs slightly out of habbit.

"I want to help you find your sister."

A/N: **insert sincere apology for my absence here**

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