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The next morning Daryl read his Hard Truths chart. He turned the paper over and read the other side. He had written this the morning after he had written Hard Truths. This chart was entitles as Things That Will Always Be True.
I have only this life so why should I waste it by being jealous and afraid.
I love Carol and I want to be with her
I know that Carol loves me
Carol will come first with me,
I want to have a family, wife (Carol) and have children in my life. Doesn't have to be a biological child
Merle was wrong, you can love more than one person.
Tyreese is my role model, my brother, and my best friend (after Carol )
Hershel is the best father I know, I want to be a father like him
Rick is a good man but he isn't perfect and I can disagree with him
I love more people now than I did two years ago, I want to love more people two years from now than I do right now
Last night he and Carol had eaten dinner together and then had taken in the karaoke contest. Beth, Glenn, Maggie, Michonne, and a couple of old people from Woodbury sang. Glenn had won, go figure. He and Carol had competed in the corn hole contest; they were eliminated by two old geezers from Woodbury. There was a movie in the gym after dark, but they decided to just hang out on the bench. They talked about their past lives, not to relive past injuries, but more as a way to share with each other the good and bad in their lives. It seemed to him that they spent the time to move closer both physically and emotionally. He held her hand, kissed her, and she leaned against him while they talked. One of the old geezers who had whipped their ass walked by and teased them, "Get a room". Which would have worked about then, but it was time for Daryl to take watch. He walked Carol to her room and kissed her goodnight about every ten feet on the way. "Goodnight, Caro mio" and he made it back in time to relieve Karen from the watch. He hadn't asked Carol to do the watch with him because there was no way in hell he would be paying attention to anything but her. Rick had warned them that they couldn't get distracted with all the activities because that would be the best time for the Governor to attack. An uneventful watch was always a good thing.
Daryl put the paper away and looked at the blue diamond jewelry still hidden in his run bag. He picked out earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet. He put the jewelry in cases and lined them up on his top bunk. They were spectacular, but he was suddenly lost in how to give them to her.
He finally gathered them up, wrapped them with the "Truths" paper. He knew the words by heart now because he had reread them every morning and night since he had written it. He had some string and he tied the package together. He left the package in her room beside her new dress.
Daryl met Michonne and Tyreese for a quick dance lesson. He waltzed, slow danced, and did the electric slide. Daryl talked to them about checking out the log cabin and he wasn't surprised that they were ready to roll now. They checked out with Rick who reminded them not to stay out too long, he wanted the fighters to be on high alert all day. They assured him that it would be quick, Daryl grabbed his run bag, scooted by the garden area to tell Carol to "Be safe" while he was gone.
The drive over was relaxed: the trip would probably be a dud. Tyreese parked by the log cabin with the Suburban pointed outward. The log cabin was fully furnished with simple but expensive furniture. There were four bedrooms each with its own bath, but only the master suite had been occupied, clothes in the walk in closet, toiletries in the bath, and personal items scattered about. Tyreese was watching the outside while Daryl and Michonne looked to find anything this "prepper" had stored away. They checked out the master suite but didn't find anything. Michonne wandered out to the great room area and on to the kitchen area. It was a large well designed kitchen complete with a large pantry. Michonne zeroed in on the too large pantry. She opened the door wider to let in the light. The floor seemed solid enough, but she found a handhold behind some cleaning supplies. "Bingo!" she called out and Daryl moved to her. Daryl moved in position to pull the floor up and she positioned herself to protect him. Daryl pulled and the trapdoor kept up easily. The hidden room was black as pitch and Daryl called for Tyreese to bring a flashlight. The flashlight was powerful enough to illuminate part of the room, but you couldn't see it all from the top of the stairs. They could see weapons and ammo stacked on shelves. The other side had canned food, large containers filled with rice, beans, and pasta. No one really wanted to go down into that dark hole but it had to be done. Michonne started down grabbing the flashlight from Tyreese. Daryl followed her down, taking his knife from his belt quickly. Thankfully, there were no unpleasant surprises waiting: the place was filled with food, weapons, toiletries, and a good stock of medical supplies. They quickly organized a line to take them out. Daryl carried the supplies to the top of the ladder, Michonne walked them out to Tyreese and he packed them away. They filled the Suburban with the weapons and the ammo first, and then the medical supplies, and then the toiletries last. Someone would get the rest of the food tomorrow.
Carol returned to her room to get ready for the wedding in the late afternoon. She was going to shower, get dressed, and then go get the food ready. Her dress was hanging on the wall, and she admired it for a moment. Just a simple blue flowered dress but it was one that she had picked out for herself and that she had paid for by surviving. Her eyes fell on a package wrapped with notebook paper, and recognizing Daryl's slanted scrawl she eased the string off carefully. There were three jewelry boxes and she opened the first one, a blue diamond necklace managed to sparkle even in this dingy prison. She opened the second box; blue diamond earrings said "Hello, Carol "to her. The last box contained a blue diamond bracelet. Carol read both sides of the wrapping paper over and over. The jewelry was beautiful and she would always love it, wear it with pride, and God willing pass it on down to someone who would love it as she had. Carol knew in her heart the treasure was what Daryl had written, what she would cherish above all was his words that he had written to himself, and then gave to her. Daryl had given her his heart.
It all went wrong about ten miles from the prison. The Suburban stopped and they couldn't get it going again. They got the vehicle off the road, and considered their options. Option one, stay with the vehicle and wait for help. Option two, walk back to the prison. They decided on Option one, mostly because they wanted to keep control of the weapons. Michonne looked under the hood, fiddled with the something and the vehicle started again, and ran for another two miles. They had to wait until the Suburban cooled down and it would start again. It was a really long day. They got it running again and it got a couple more miles. Another wait and this time the neighborhood walkers came to visit thankfully only a few at time. Daryl could see a fairly large herd headed their way and as he found himself silently praying that the engine would start. The walkers were too close for comfort when they sped away. Tyreese drove slowly hoping the engine would last longer. Eventually it conked out again and all three of them had to get out and fight off walkers. It seemed to take forever before the vehicle started this time. Tyreese drove very slowly and the afternoon had faded into evening. They inched along but they were moving , finally they made the turn to the prison, and the Suburban kept going until they stopped at the gate. There it died, but Carl opened the gate and they were inside. Rick came down, he had been busy with things and stuff and was just now going to look for them. They used the end loader to drag the vehicle in the gate and up the hill.
They were tired, hungry, and covered with dirt and various bits from the walkers. Tyreese, Michonne, and Daryl stood together in the courtyard looking bedraggled and weary. Tyreese gave his hearty laugh, "Time to celebrate, my children. The Angel of Death has passed us by one more time. Get on your dancing shoes, tonight is about being alive and being glad of it." Michonne shook her head, these damn people were all crazy, but bossed Daryl around by saying, "I didn't waste all that time teaching you how to dance for you to stay home like Cinderella. You owe me a waltz, Daryl." Daryl just held up both hands for a fist pump. The trio held it a little longer than necessary, something passed between them, some awareness of their bond.
Daryl hustled through his shower and dressed in his "good clothes". He took care to use some of the toiletries from the cabin. He looked as good as he was ever going to. It really was time to see his "Caro mio".
Carol hadn't been worried when Daryl didn't show up to the wedding. Hershel had performed the ceremony and it had been a sweet occasion. The wedding cake had been cut, and the couple had danced to their song "I Only Have Eyes for You" and the dancing had begun. She had danced with Rick, Glenn, and the old geezer who had teased her the night before. She watched the other dancers and wondered where Michonne and Tyreese were. Daryl might not show up to a dance, and that was all right with her. Michonne had picked out a tight red dress when they went shopping and Tyreese would not miss seeing Michonne in that dress.
Glenn had scavenged through a music store for the music. He had wanted to play "At Last" by Etta James for the first song, and though it was way down on the playlist it finally came on. Carol politely declined a dance with Rick; she just didn't want to dance to that song with anyone but Daryl. Carol looked toward the doorway and saw Daryl. He had come, dressed in the clothes she had picked out, and he was headed toward her. She was wearing the blue diamonds and looking very beautiful Daryl thought. He could dance to this song. "Would you like to dance?" he asked. She floated into his arms as an answer and they were dancing. She did give him a quizzical look, and he laughed and said, "Michonne and Tyreese taught me". She smiled at him, "They did good".
They danced by Noah who was manning the CD player and Daryl asked him to play the song again. Noah was way too intimidated by Daryl to refuse. Daryl closed his eyes and just danced with Carol. He made it through the electric slide without crippling any one and watching Carol's face as they danced was worth everything.
Michonne and Tyreese showed up. Michonne was wearing a red dress, ruby jewelry, and an occasional smile. Tyreese had on a white linen suit with a red tie. They looked like a couple out on the town with no worries at all.
Daryl asked Michonne to dance to a slow dance. He asked her how she thought he was doing. "You are moving your slow cracker feet pretty good out there. Don't think you are keeping your man parts to yourself though." He pounced back, "Doesn't look like Tyreese is keeping his man parts away from you". She just laughed at him, "Was it worth it, Daryl? You knew I could have embarrassed and humiliated you, but you showed up anyway." Daryl looked at Carol and Tyreese dancing; really only looking at a radiant Carol, who caught his glance and smiled at him. "It was the least I could do to make her so happy tonight". "Tonight is easy, how about all those tomorrows?" She asked. Daryl was silent a minute, "A very kind and wise woman gave me some words to live by. Loving someone is like dancing: it isn't walking by yourself. It's being linked with another person, moving with them, touching them, and enjoying the music. "Michonne said, "Better listen to that woman, she's damn smart." And to herself Michonne thought as she looked at Tyreese, "Physician, heal thyself"
That night Daryl walked Carol back to her room, he shut the door behind them, and knew he was finally home.
