Shared Moments

Chapter 3: Alexandria

Looking back, maybe you should have known better than to think that you could live in that prison forever, especially after what happened at the Greene's farm...but after all those months living there, happy, it really felt like a home...

Now, you had lost that home and your family too, everyone was scattered around, maybe dead, and if you hadn't ended up with Daryl, if you had gotten separated from him, you didn't know what you'd have done.

Daryl was as devastated as you, though, or more, he seemed even more broken than when he found Merle dead, and he'd already been beyond heartbroken by then. You tried to help him, but you didn't know how, nothing seemed to work...it worried you to no end, it made you feel useless, unable to help him...

It got even worse after you lost Beth, and when you thought that things might get better after finding your family and escaping those cannibals from Terminus, after even finding Beth again...then, she had gotten killed in front of you.

After that, and with all the struggle to find food, water, shelter, with your family so weak, you were afraid you were going to lose Daryl, he seemed so broken and depressed, you were scared thinking that he might not pull back from this, nothing seemed to work, you wanted to take care of him, more than anything, but nothing you did seemed to make things better, to help him...you were beginning to despair...

Then, at your lowest moment, a man called Aaron had fond you all, talked about his community, a place where he wanted to take you, safe, and that sounded too good to be true...but you all didn't have any other choice, and so, there you went, to Alexandria.

It was an unbelievable place...big, so many people, real houses...you weren't very sure of what to think of it, but it had food, water, walls, and you needed that, and so, even if it was strange, you gave thanks for it.

Your family wouldn't die of hunger and thirst, this place could be good, and maybe, you could help Daryl heal from all the pain there.

There were some things in Alexandria too, many things, that you had never expected to see again...

...like an actual, functioning in-suit bathrooms, in those big, catalog-looking houses that you were give.

You looked at small bottles of berry-scented body wash and lotion, shaking your head in disbelieve. This Alexandria place was like a dream in the apocalyptic world, it was surreal...not only showers with hot water but also scented body wash? The last time that you had something like that, you almost blow up in the CDC. This place seemed safe, though, surreal and naïve, but not like a threat for you and your people...

You took the bottles. They were small like the ones you were given at hotels, and you wondered if someone had lived in that house, that looked unused, or if they had been used as props to make it more homey and beautiful while the houses were shown for selling. Well...you could use them, why not.

You spent more time than you should scrubbing yourself under the hot water, surrounded by the scent of berries, and then applied some of the lotion too. You smelled your arm...it was frivolous, an unnecessary luxury, but you gotta admit that it felt good.

When you walked out of the bathroom, wearing a long shirt, you found Daryl on the bed. He raised an eyebrow at you, smirking. "Thought ya were gonna sleep in there."

"I got a bit too happy with the hot water." You chuckled, flopping down at the other side of the bed. "It feels nice, after all this time."

Daryl just hummed, you knew that all this still felt strange to him, that he was feeling out of place and was having a hard time adjusting to Alexandria. He shifted on the bed to lie on top of you, head pillowed on your chest, and you kissed the top of his head.