A/N- Disclaimer:
This fic is heavily inspired by the book/movie The Best of Me.
Some quotes are also taken from both, so credit to the rightful owners.
Anyway, I have most of this fic already written, so hopefully the gap between chapters won't be long and I hope you all enjoy it.
Daryl Dixon never thought his life was worth much, but when he survived the explosion on the logging site he began to wonder if there was some purpose to his life. That maybe he was on a destined path, even if he couldn't see it yet.
He'd been working at the Alexandria Logging Site for 14 years and thought he had seen it all, from forest fires to loaded trucks losing control and crashing on the muddy terrain. He'd seen more broken bones than he could count, along with the everyday cuts and bruises from cutting down trees, but the explosion was something different. The day started out normal and he had been sawing away at various wooden logs that had already been cut down by the river bed. Making sure they were the correct sizes to fit into the back of the semi-truck. Aaron Raleigh and few others were nearby using the crane to lift the freshly cut logs into piles and that's when it all went to hell.
The crane tipped, crashing into the log pile, the iron droppers set up to keep the logs in place pierced through the fuel tank sending fuel spraying out the crane. Daryl barely had a second to process everything before fire began to spark from the engine of the crane. All the workers began to run away, knowing that fire and leaking fuel wasn't a good combination and Daryl was about at join them before he spotted a bunch of workers including, Aaron, stuck underneath one of the logs with his arm pinned.
He grabbed the axe sticking out a wooden stump beside him and rushed over to Aaron under the log. He didn't really know the younger man that well, but knew he had a husband and daughter waiting for him at home and like hell Daryl was going to leave him.
He wasn't sure how he did it, but he managed to use the axe as some kind of leaver and lifted the log just enough for Aaron to get his arm free. He quickly grabbed the mans good arm, slinging it over his shoulders as he practically dragged the man away from the ticking time bomb of a crane. One of the other workers began to help him and Daryl let the other man take Aaron before he ran back towards the other people stuck under the logs and that's when the explosion happened.
The flames finally reached the leaking fuel causing the entire crane to erupt. The force of the explosion launching him into the air, metal debris flying up and hitting him in the face in the process, as he closed his eyes feeling something slice the skin over his left eye.
The force of the explosion sending him into the river, the quick current sending him down stream towards the waterfall.
He had vague memories of falling from the edge of the waterfall. A fall that he should have killed him in an instant, but the next thing he knew he was floating in the water and for a moment he wasn't entirely sure if he was dead or alive as he closed his eyes and that's when he saw him. Rick Grimes.
He hadn't seen Rick Grimes for over 20 years, but for some reason his mind began to hallucinate the man he fell in love with all those years ago.
Rick was walking towards him through the garden bed of tulips, wearing his usual light brown button-down shirt that was tucked into his jeans with his signature smile plastered on his face. But, Daryl knew it wasn't real. Rick wasn't 18 anymore. He'd look different now, taller, more muscular maybe and probably had some kind of scruff or beard instead of his clean shaven jawline. Although, Daryl hadn't seen him since they were teenagers, so maybe Rick still looked exactly the same, he wouldn't know.
"Time to wake up, Daryl. It's not your time yet." Rick stated, reaching a hand out towards him, but before Daryl could grab his hand, Rick disappeared as he slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on a hospital bed.
"Glad to see you awake, Mr Dixon. My name is Denise Cloyd, I'm your nurse." A woman's voice suddenly spoke up causing Daryl to jump in surprise, spotting a blonde woman with glasses standing beside his hospital bed.
"The hell am I?" He questioned, hating how rough his voice sounded as he sat up and glanced around the room.
He could feel the pull of stitches above and below his left eye and his entire body was a little stiff and sore, but other than that he seemed to be fine. But he was in the water last he could remember, how'd he get to the hospital?
"You're at the UNC hospital in North Carolina." Denise answered with a gentle smile and Daryl nodded, trying to process everything that had happened at the logging site and how someone even found him at the bottom of the waterfall to begin with was beyond him.
"When can I leave?" He asked a few seconds later, looking back at the nurse who was now holding a clipboard.
"If your vitals stay stable, you can go home tonight. You're gonna have a nasty scar above and below your left eye, but the eye itself is completely unharmed. It's incredible. You were in the water for almost four hours, no evidence of hypothermia. The fall alone should have killed you. It's a miracle that you're alive, Mr Dixon. There's just no other word for it." Denise said in disbelief as she stared at him and Daryl nodded, slowly taking in the news. He should be dead, how'd he survive? Why'd he survive?
"Is there anyone we can call to come get you?" Denise asked, but Daryl shook his head.
"Nah, I'm good."
-
That night he arrived home to his small trailer on the outskirts of the woods. His boss Deanna had visited him before he was released and said the company had shut down after the accident. Something about the logging site being too dangerous after what just happened, but Daryl didn't ask any questions. She offered him a settlement, so he wouldn't file a lawsuit against them and he took it and she wrote the check then and there.
He cashed the check on the way home, posting most of the money to a farm in southern Georgia, leaving himself with just enough for fuel and other expenses. He didn't need much and he didn't want much either. He hunted his own meat and didn't venture into town much unless he needed something. He spent most his free time in the woods when he wasn't working. The woods was more of a home than his trailer was, his trailer was just a place where he ate, slept and showered.
For the first month after the accident he just tinkered around the trailer and hunted in the woods, not really sure what else to do with himself since he didn't have a job anymore.
He went for jogs, lifted weights and worked on his old Triumph that he had been trying to get up and running for the past two years. It was his brothers old motorcycle that he'd managed to track down and buy from a man in Dallas. But, the man had crashed the bike only weeks earlier and completely wrecked it.
Daryl went for long drives in his truck and fishing in the small creek a few miles from his trailer. He read old mechanic and car books every night and wrote the occasional letter to Dale Horvath, but that was it. He never went to the local bar or movies, he never went to a friend's house to watch the football or to have a beer. Hell, he hadn't been on a date since he was teenager.
To most, his life seemed boring, but he liked it that way. It was peaceful and far from what his life used to be when he was a kid, growing up in a shitty little town with an even shittier family. He liked the quiet life.
He tried not think about the past, but then he received a phone call one afternoon that brought all those memories flooding back.
For the first time in over 20 years he was going back home and the thought of stepping foot in that town made him uneasy. But, Dale had been like a father to him, he'd been a better father than what his old man ever was and Daryl would do anything for the man who turned his life around.
-
Rick Grimes didn't think much of his phone ringing from the kitchen bench inside as he watched his son, Carl, and his friends mess around by the pool.
It was Carl's 17th birthday and whoever was calling him could wait. It was his son's birthday and he was going to take as many photos as he could.
He knew Carl wasn't a fan of how many photos he would take of the family with his camera. But after losing his baby daughter at just 2-years-old due to cancer, and only having a handful of photos to remember her by, Rick made an effort to take more photos so he could always keep the memories with him.
"Hey, have you thought about what you want to study in collage yet?" Lori's mother asked grabbing Carl's arm gently as he walked past. Carl chuckled and shook his head, making his way towards the veranda were Rick was standing while Lori sat on the porch chair beside her friend, Carol.
"He's thinking about finance." Lori spoke up, looking over at her mother causing Rick to roll his eyes. Lori had been pushing Carl to do something around finance because she thought it would be his best option, but Rick just kept telling him to pick whatever he wanted to do.
"What?" Lori questioned, glancing over her shoulder towards him and Rick must have had a disapproving look on his face as he looked over at his wife and smiled, although he was pretty sure she knew it was fake.
"I didn't say anything." Rick replied.
"Look, it's tough out there and it's getting tougher. Finance makes the most sense." Lori tried to reason as Carl walked past her towards the cooler on the bench and grabbed a can of sprite.
"Whoa, whoa, top me up." She quickly instructed, holding her now empty glass of wine up towards Carl before he could walk away and Rick watched as his son grabbed the half empty bottle of Shiraz and filled up his mothers glass.
"He doesn't have to do finance. He can do whatever major he likes and if he doesn't like it, then he can simply swap." Rick responded, trying to keep his tone gentle, not wanting to spark another argument with Lori while the whole family and Carls friends were here.
"All I said was that he was thinking about it." Lori said defensively, but before Rick could respond Carl walked past him, patting his shoulder as he began making his way back to the pool with his friends.
"You know, mom, honestly, all I'm thinking about is the beach and what the girls on the beach will or will not be wearing this summer." Carl admitted causing Rick to chuckle as Lori raised her eyebrows at him. But Carl didn't seem to care as he cracked open his sprite and took a drink before Sophia and Henry called out to him from in the pool. Carl quickly put his drink on the table and ran over to the pool, jumping in with his friends.
Rick smiled watching Carl splash his friends before his phone began to start ringing again from inside and he sighed. Could this person not take a hint that he was busy? It was probably just one of his work colleagues from the office asking to swap shifts with him or something. But this was the third time the person had called and he figured he should probably answer it in case it was Shane or someone who really needed to talk to him.
He began to make his way back inside, closing the glass sliding door behind him as he walked into the kitchen picking up his phone from the bench. He couldn't recognise the phone number flashing on the screen and he answered the call.
"Rick Grimes speaking." He said, holding the phone to his ear as he began to get the paper plates and plastic spoons out the cupboard ready for Carl's birthday cake.
"Rick, my name is Andrea Harrison and I'm the estate attorney for Dale Horvath. I'm afraid I have some bad news. Mr. Horvath died in his sleep last night. He was 92." The woman- Andrea – informed and Rick had to grab hold of the bench in front of him to steady himself as he took in the news. He could feel tears starting to rise in his eyes as he stared at the wall opposite him in complete shock.
-
That night after the guests had left and the yard had been cleaned off all the rubbish, Rick told Lori and Carl that an old family friend had passed away, and that he was going back to his hometown on the weekend for the funeral.
Carl had been really understanding and gave him a hug, asking if he needed him to go with him for support and Rick appreciated the offer, but kindly declined. Lori, however, was not as supportive.
"Look I'm sorry about your friend, I really am. But, we've got stuff going on here. I got to be at Jacqui's on Saturday for her Tupperware party thing. Monday night we've got the dinner with the girl from my work and her husband-" Lori began to say, walking into the bedroom where Rick was currently packing a suitcase ready to leave in the morning.
"Next time someone I know dies, I'll call your secretary first." Rick snapped, walking off towards the bathroom to grab his things. He glanced over his shoulder to Lori who was still standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm sorry." He apologised, over his shoulder.
"Yeah." Lori sighed and walked out the room.
Their marriage never used to like this, it used to be happy and loving, but it hasn't been like that for years. They argued more often than not, but it was never violent, neither of them were like that. But it occasionally got loud and they'd shout at each other before one of them walked off allowing them both to cool down.
Losing Judith had changed them. That's when their marriage had started to come apart and over the years it had just started to get worse.
Neither of them wanted a divorce and break up the family, they couldn't do that to Carl after everything the boy had been through. Although, it couldn't be much worse than having to witness his parents arguing all the time. But, as strained as their marriage was, he still believed in his vows. He loved the woman Lori had been, and he loved the woman he knew she could be. But, as he fell asleep that night, his alarm set early for his drive back home, he couldn't help wondering how his life had come to this.
Rick began to think of Dale and how close the two of them had gotten over the years. It was with Dale that he shared his pain and sadness over Judith's death, because his wife refused to talk about it with him. It was with Dale that Rick could unleash his rage at Lori and he was the first and only person he ever told about his worries with his marriage and his worries for Carls future. But, he never spoke or bought up the topic of Daryl Dixon and Dale never spoke about him either because he knew Rick didn't want to.
Although, Rick frequently wondered despite how pointless it was, but he still wondered how different his life might have been if him and Daryl had stayed together. Daryl was the only person in the world that really understood him and he remembered just how deeply he loved him and how Daryl loved him back just as much.
In his own quiet way, Daryl made him feel like anything was possible. He wondered whether Daryl had found someone to make him feel that way again, but life for an ex-con was never easy.
He hoped Daryl wasn't back in jail or hooked on drugs or alcohol. For all he knew Daryl could be dead, but he figured if that was the case then Dale would've told him. He assumed Daryl still kept in touch with the older man, but again he couldn't be sure.
-
*20 Years Ago*
Daryl was sitting at one of the small tables with Glenn outside of Squeal's, the towns best and only café. It was their usual after school hangout, mainly because Maggie had afternoon shifts there. Although most of the popular jocks from school hung around the café too, but Daryl would rather put up with the stuck up teenagers from school then put up with his family.
He leant back in his chair as Glenn ranted about some History assignment, but Daryl was more focused on Rick Grimes, who was sitting at the benches on the porch of the café, talking and laughing amongst his friends.
Daryl had seen Rick around school and in classes ever since they were kids. There was only one main school in town, so of course they had gone to the same school, but they had never spoken more than a word to each other.
Rick was the rich popular guy, whereas Daryl was the total opposite. The Grimes' were practically royalty in their town and everyone knew and respected them. Although, everyone knew about the Dixon's, they definitely did not respect them. Everyone tried to stay clear of the Dixon's knowing they were nothing but trouble, which was why Daryl always tried to keep a low profile.
He knew a guy like Rick Grimes was way out of his league. Hell, he was almost certain the guy was straight, although in this town it wasn't really an option to be gay. So, maybe Rick was in the closet like he was, but it wasn't like he'd act on his attraction to the guy even if he was gay too, because no way would Rick Grimes go from someone like him.
"Hey, are you even listening to me or you too busy eyeballing Rick?" Glenn suddenly questioned, snapping Daryl out of his thoughts realising he had been staring directly at the man. But to his relief Rick was too focused on whatever his best friend, Shane, was saying beside him.
Daryl looked over at Glenn who tried to look annoyed, but failed miserably when a grin slowly began to take over his face causing Daryl to roll his eyes. Glenn and his girlfriend, Maggie, were his only friends and the only people who knew he was gay.
For most of his schooling Daryl never really had any friends. Everyone was too ashamed and didn't want to be seen talking to a Dixon. But, him and Glenn got put together for lab partners a couple years ago and for whatever reason he befriended Daryl almost instantly and they had been best friends ever since.
Glenn and Maggie had started dating not long after and at first the farmers daughter was a bit cautious around him which was fair enough. He knew all the rumours that got whispered around town about the Dixon's, but Maggie quickly warmed to him, realising that he wasn't like the rest of his family and now he considered her one of his closest friends.
"Shut up." Daryl muttered, focusing back on Glenn who opened his mouth about to say something, but Daryl shook his head knowing exactly what his friend was thinking.
"Ain't gonna talk to him, so don't even bother." He stated and Glenn quickly shut his mouth and rolled his eyes.
"Well if what Shane was saying to Jim when I over heard them talking, Rick apparently has a crush on you." Glenn responded and now it was Daryl who rolled his eyes because like hell that was true. No way would Rick even be remotely interest him. He was one of the most popular guys at school, he could have whoever he wanted, so why would he want him?
"Foods here." Maggie's voice suddenly called and Daryl welcomed the distraction as he spotted Maggie walking over to their table with a large bowl of wedges and two cokes. She was smiling happily at them and seemed to be in good health, but Daryl had seen her earlier this morning at school and she looked a bit pale.
"Thanks, Maggie. How are you feeling?" He asked, watching as she placed the bowl on the table between the two of them along with the two drinks.
He knew she was about eight weeks pregnant. He had woken up to a phone call in the middle of the night from Glenn crying happily while freaking out and Daryl had to calm him down without waking his father sleeping in the room across the hall.
"She was throwing up a lot." Glenn informed and Daryl gave her a sympathetic looked because that would fucking suck, waking up every morning and feeling nauseas. But so far Maggie has taken the pregnancy in her stride and although she wasn't showing yet, it was only a matter of time before she did. But she didn't seem worried about being pregnant at school, hell, she wouldn't be the first one.
"But I'm not now, so that's good." She replied with a bright smile as she leant down to Glenn and gave him a kiss causing Daryl to smile softly as he took a drink of his coke. "I'll catch you guys in 20, after my shift." She said, pulling away from Glenn before she walked off to continue work.
"She's so pretty." Glenn commented and Daryl chuckled, but nodded in agreement. "It's going to be tough, I know it's crazy and we're young, but... her father is really good to us. He doesn't judge us, he just wants a Bible name for the baby." Glenn explained and they both chuckled.
"You two are gonna be great parents." Daryl said sincerely before the two of them began to eat the wedges while they waited for Maggie's shift to end and Daryl definitely wasn't checking out Rick when the guy had his back turned. Nope, not at all.
-
A/N- Thank you so much for giving this fic a chance, the next chapter will up soon!
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and I hope you all enjoyed it. Until next time, stay safe everyone and have a great day xx
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