When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 95 - Coffee

"A new group?" Lou asked as she walked beside Rick down the dimly lit streets of Alexandria. The sky above them was darker than usual, barely hiding the stars that blinked randomly at the raven-haired woman.

Rick nodded. "Oceanside. Tara found them when she was out scavenging"

"Why didn't she say anything?"

"They've had run-ins with the Saviours' before. It's a group primarily of women...Negan's soldiers killed their men months ago" he said, tucking his hands in his pockets. "They're not gonna give us the guns willingly, Lou"

"So you want to take them by force" Louise didn't phrase it as a question. She didn't need too. She knew what he was asking of her and he knew what her answer was going to be. With a nod of her head and a heavy sigh, she continued. "When?"

"Tomorrow, we leave at dawn"

"Alright" she said, moving towards her front door. "I'll see you bright and early"

"Lou?"

"Yeah"

"We're gonna end this. Tomorrow we get the guns, then we end this" he stated.

Louise offered him a small smile and nodded. "We end this...goodnight, Rick"

"Night"

He didn't moved until he heard the door click shut. Lou stood with her back pressed against the other side and her eyes closed tightly. Every ounce of her being knew what the next morning was going to bring and every ounce of her knew that it was wrong...but could stealing from someone in order to survive really be a bad thing?

Of course, she knew the answer. She knew it just as she knew the sun would rise tomorrow...but her family needed her.

Louise took to the kitchen counter. She longed for the taste of a stiff drink on her tongue but spirits were far and few between. So instead, she put a pot of water on to boil and waited not-so-patiently beside the stove top. The tips of her fingers tapped old tunes on the marble surface, passing the time the tiniest bit quicker - though if Aaron were there, she'd know he'd find the noise annoying.

Once satisfied with the temperature, she poured herself a cup of black caffeine and brought it to her lips. It had been days since she felt the familiar tingle of coffee on her tastebuds and Lou would be lying if she said she was excited about it. It felt comforting. The house had been quiet in the days prior, with only Aaron and Eric as company and as much as Louise loved her friends, she missed the repetitive sound of Daryl's boots thudding across the laminate. Call her stupid but being one household member down, she'd never felt so alone. He may have been safe at the Kingdom but she'd never felt so far away from him.

Her fingers laces around the plain white mug, taking in the heat and turning her hands a light shade of pink as she stared down at the liquid. She'd been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed someone enter the house.

"You always look at yer coffee like tha'?" Daryl asked as he stood in the open doorway, bag in hand.

Louise's eyes went wide and she dropped the mug on the counter, almost breaking the ceramic. "Daryl..."

The archer wrapped his arms around the young female as she ran into his chest. He placed a hand on the back of her head, taking in the familiar scent of her shampoo, finally feeling something resembling 'home'.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, pulling away and looking up at him. Daryl simply pulled her forward and pressed his lips to her forehead in reply. "If they find you-"

"They won't. You'll need all the help yer can get tomorrow"

"Daryl, I-" Lou sighed and walked away from him, resting against a stool at the breakfast bar. Daryl's eyebrows pulled together and he moved towards her, poured himself a drink and balanced against the refrigerator door. He could tell something was wrong with her and the anticipation of waiting for her caused greater worry than the days he'd spent locked in a cell.

"What's wrong?"

Louise locked eyes with him, in the seconds before the question left his mouth, she had been going over every answer to her own in her head. Her hands were shaking rapidly. She took a deep breath and exhaled, willing every ouch of courage she had to climb to the surface.

"When you..." she took another breath. "When you were taken, I didn't know if you were alive or dead. I tried to get you back, I really did but the Saviours showed up and they took all of our guns. Even without them I wanted to try but Rick stopped me...said it was suicide"

"It woulda bin"

"Yeah but I still woulda done it" she stated as she wiped her cheek and cleared her throat. "I would've done anything to get you back Daryl...'cause I love you"

His eyes softened. In his entire life, nobody had ever said they had loved him. Girlfriends were far and few between and once his mother died, the only people in his life were Merle and his dad...and neither of them were expressing feelings in a positive way. Daryl's heart sped up and he moved from behind the counter. Before she had the chance to start rambling about how saying 'I love you' probably wasn't what he wanted to hear, he pulled her body towards him. His lips connected with hers forcefully at first, until she wrapped her arms around his neck, and he slowed his pace. He snaked his arms around her, his hands brushing her waist softly until they rested on the bottom of her back. She could feel every nerve in her body ignite under his touch. They needed each other. They lived for each other.

Louise pulled away slowly, her cheeks flushed slightly, a light pink heugh dancing across them. A shaky breath escaped her lips. She looked up at him, her blush deepening as he smiled down at her. In the back of her mind, she was worried...worried that he hadn't said it back but before the thought could force its way forward, he brushed her hair behind her ear and said:

"I love you too"