Like Brother - A Daryl Dixon/walking dead fanfic

Chapter 17

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to friends." - J.K. Rowling 

(A/N: This quote will be explained in this chapter.)

Daryl, suprisingly, agreed to give me a deer. He was being nice for some reason that I couldn;t work out why. Maybe it was because, like me, he was tired of us arguing. I had told Cori and Caleb to meet us by the RV. They had accepted and now we were sitting by the RV, sharing stories and eating the deer that Daryl had hunted earlier. It was early afternoon and we were happy. Cori was telling me about her and Caleb's childhood.

"We were born and raised in North Dakota. We lived with our  grandparents as our real parents died in a plane accident when I was 7 and Caleb was 4. After we finished high school, I went to study Science in Florida and Caleb came as well to study Basketball. This apolocalypse thing broke out while we were travelling back home for summer vacation. We got stranded here on account of the biters. So we armed ourseleves and kept moving around." Cori explained when I asked her about her backstory.

Caleb pushed slices of deer meat around his plate with a look of anxiety on his face. I looked at him. "It's not posioned, ya know." I said, having already finished my share.

He looked back at him. "I know. I'm just worried about our grandparents. They raised us after all." 

I nodded, totally understanding. "Do you think they're still alive?" I asked him.

Cori shrugged as Caleb remained silent. "We don't know. We hope." She replied.

I nodded again, sadly. "Hope is a powerful thing." I said.

They agreed. "So, what about you and your brothers? Have you got any family?" She asked me. Caleb looked up at me, interested all of a sudden.

I bit my lip. I had to be careful about what I said. I couldn't say about the abuse that our father had put Merle, Daryl and our mother through.

"Um, well, we were brought up in the mountains of Georgia. Our parents got divorced when I was 12 and I went to live with my mom until the outbreak." I replied, thinking that the best way to explain mom wising up and leaving our father after years of abuse endured by all of us from him.

"What happened to your mom?" Caleb asked, finally eating his plate of deer.

"She was bitten. I had to shoot her. If I had known then that I could cure the bitten, she would still be alive." I said, resentfully.

Cori patted my hand sympathetically. "It's not your fault. At least you've still got your brother." She said. I could sense the admiration in her voice when she said the word brother. I had to ask her if she liked Daryl that way. It was killing me not knowing.

Caleb finishedd his food and told us that he was going to use the bathroom. As soon as I made sure he was out of hearing range, I turned to Cori who was finishing her food.

"Cori, can I ask you something?" I said.

She nodded. "Sure, fire away." She replied.

I took a deep breath. "Do you like Daryl?" I asked and waited anxiously for her reaction.

Her eyes went wide and she dropped her fork on the ground. She hurridley picked it up and wiped it on her t-shirt.

"How do you know that?" She asked back, cleary embarrased.

I had to fight not to laugh at her blushing. "Um, well, I kind of noticed the look you gave when you first met him." I replied.

She blushed again, going a furious red. "Ok, you got me. He is kind of cute. I don't know why, but he is. Has he got a girlfriend?"