Closer By The Day | DESUS

Chp 4: House mates

He smiled to himself. He wasn't even supposed to take anything without permission due to stuff running low again but anything for Daryl, right? Just as He was about to pick up his book for a read while he waited, a knock was heard which startled the crap out of  him making him drop the book, the bookmark falling all the way out. He muttered under his breath and stepped towards the front door. He opened it revealing the man he was waiting for. The archer's hair hung over his eyes shyly, his eyes staring through the strands, his lips pressed together and one hand tugging at his crossbow strap nervously while the other was holding a small bag. Paul snapped out of his long gaze as Daryl cleared his throat.

"So uh, ya gonna let me in or is there a secret password?" He joked. The scout softly chuckled and gestured the older man to come in. Daryl looked around the place, it was much different to how his was. The inside was built quite differently but the first thing he noticed were all the neatly piled books in the corner. There were so many. 

"Your room is just over there" Paul said pointing towards the door near the small kitchen. "Just put away your things and then come sit at the table. I'm about to make dinner. I hope you like pumpkin soup." Daryl responded with a quick nod then headed towards his new room. 

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Paul joined Daryl at the table leaving the soup to simmer for a few minutes.

"Thanks for letting both Aaron and Eric have your trailer. They'd feel much better having a place with just the two of them." 

"Mm, it's nothin." The redneck responded with, eying the bowl of strawberries. Jesus noticed and smirked. 

"You can help yourself to them." The scout said. "I picked them for you anyway." Daryl shot his head up just as he was about to grab one. 

"Me?"

"Yeah, well um...  I figured you'd want something sweet since.. there's no chocolate around." Paul answered. He didn't really wanna reveal the fact to Daryl that he was watching him in the garden. It might sound a bit creepy to him. Paul couldn't help himself though, he liked how Daryl crouched on the ground, those arm muscles tightening as he dug his strong hands into the dirt, beads of sweat forming on his skin and the occasional grunts coming from his throat. He never knew gardening could be so damn sexy. 

"Oh, well thanks. I've been wantin' to pinch some all mornin" Daryl said staring down at the piece of fruit in his hand. Moments went by and he hadn't put it in his mouth. He looked as if he was deep in thought. 

"You okay?" Paul asked in concern. The archer looked up and in response, just stared into the younger man's eyes. It wasn't a glare, or a nervous expression, his soft, blue eyes showed trust, comfort and gratefulness. He finally spoke,

"I don't think I've ever felt this peaceful since we were settled at the prison." Daryl had mentioned the prison to Paul once and how things were running quite smoothly for a while. He had heard about the governor, Woodberry, Merle's death, the deadly sickness that spread killing half the people in the prison and of course he heard about the prison being overrun in the end thanks to the governor and his small army of people then Daryl escaping with Maggies sister, Beth and so on. Jesus was glad to hear that Michonne finished the governor off. It's good to know one less mental case is walking this earth. 

"Well you deserve peace, Daryl and this time, nothing will be coming to destroy what you all have. Not like the prison."

"We don't know that, Paul. We won the war but there are still saviours out there, lookin to screw shit up." Paul sighed and leaned forward across the table.

"Daryl, listen to me." He spoke softly. "We will make it. This place, Alexandria and the kingdom will stay standing for years to come. You will live to see Maggie's baby, you will see Carl and Judith grow up. You will live to see a future worth being in. I promise."

"Shouldn't make promises like that. It's stupid." 

"Maybe. But I have a good feeling things will work out. Yeah, there's always going to be danger outside the walls but I don't see any real threats coming anytime soon." Daryl grunted in response and finally took a bite of the fruit. Paul watched for a moment then jumped to he sound of the pot boiling over.

"Shit" He said running over to the stove. Daryl stared in amusement as he watched the frustrated ninja run to turn the temperature down, looking into the pot in great disappointment. "Fucked it up." he muttered. 

"S'alright." Daryl said. "I've eatin much worse than over cooked soup, that's for sure."

"Yeah, like snakes!" Paul said with a shudder. Daryl bit his lip trying to hold back a joke but couldn't. As Paul went to taste the soup, Daryl blurted it out.

"Thought snakes were ya thing." 

Paul almost choked on the liquid, dropping the spoon on the wooden floor. He looked over to Daryl with wide eyes.

"Was that suppose to be a dick joke?" He asked surprised Daryl would be comfortable enough to bring Paul's sexuality into the conversation. Daryl smirked and hung his head low. 

"Yeah sorry, it was bad." The scouts expression softened as he saw Daryl's shoulders move up and down showing that he was quietly laughing to himself. Paul couldn't help but laugh along with him.

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yeah, yeah it's been over two weeks. I've been sick and lethargic the whole time. still feeling like crap but I was able to push through and work on this chapter at least. Hope ya'll lovelys are satisfied.

xx