*20 Years Ago*
Daryl was slowly making his way across the school carpark, not even caring that he was one of the last ones to leave the school. He preferred to take his time after the bell rang even if it was only a few minutes, it was still a few minutes that he didn't have to spend at home.
He knew other kids weren't like that, most kids sat through classes just staring at the clock wanting to go home and wishing for the weekend. But Daryl was the opposite and wished for weekends to be over quickly.
It wasn't that he liked school, he actually hated it and thought it was pointless with the stupid shit his teachers would teach. But he'd rather sit through bullshit classes than sit through bullshit with his family.
He thought he was the last one to leave the premises, but then he spotted Rick standing in front of his car in the middle of the empty parking lot with the bonnet up.
Daryl quickly glanced around wondering if there was any of Ricks friends around to help him, but they were alone. For a second he thought about just walking off and pretending like he never saw him, but he couldn't just leave someone with a broken-down car, especially not Rick.
He began to make his way over to the other guy, not saying anything as he reached Rick's side and glanced between Rick and what was under the bonnet.
Rick exhaled deeply as he looked over at Daryl. "I don't know much about cars unless the tyre needs changing, but I turn the key and nothing happens." Rick explained, motioning towards the car and Daryl nodded turning his attention back to what was under the hood as his eyes scanned the engine trying to find the source of the issue.
"Think this is karma? Payback for being party to the honking the other day?" Rick asked causing Daryl to snort.
"Reckon the universe dished out swift justice." Daryl responded, staring at the engine as Rick laughed at what he just said and Daryl couldn't help but smile slightly hearing the man laugh.
"Oh, he speaks. He's sorta funny." Rick commented and Daryl could feel his cheeks blushing slightly as he leant over the hood and reached out towards the battery that had been disconnected as he reconnected it and took a step back.
"Try it now." Daryl muttered, pointing towards the drivers seat. Rick walked around the car and opened the door as he leant through and turned the key as his car roared to life.
"Thank you." Rick responded, a wide smile spread across his face as he leant against his open door, resting his arms over the top as he stared at Daryl who shoved his hands into the pockets of his ripped jeans.
"Your battery got disconnected. Ain't major. It happens." Daryl informed, shutting the bonnet as he took a couple steps in Rick's direction not really knowing what else to say or do as he stared at Rick and sighed.
"My friend thinks ya were tryin' to talk to me the other day." He wasn't entirely sure why he said that, but it had been bugging him ever since Glenn said it.
"I was." Rick nodded, an unreadable expression on his face as he stared at him.
"He thinks I blew it."
"You did." Rick admitted, leaning against his car door as Daryl dropped his head and stared at the ground, not really knowing how to respond to that causing Rick to frown. "Okay, maybe I'm reading the situation wrong, but are you... are you gay? If you're not then forget I even said anything and I won't bother you again, but-"
"Yeah." Daryl cut him off and immediately shut his mouth straight after, shocked that he just said that out loud. Why the hell would he tell Rick? Nobody but Glenn and Maggie knew and he did not want that little bit of information to get out. If his father ever found out that he was gay... he didn't even want to think about how he'd react.
"That's a relief, otherwise what I'm going to ask next would have been really awkward." Rick chuckled causing Daryl to snap his head back up towards Rick in confusion. "Do you want to grab a drink with me? Maybe Saturday at Squeals... 6 o'clock?" Rick asked and Daryl stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds before he began to shake his head.
They couldn't just go out on a date to one of the most popular places in town, even if it wasn't popular they couldn't just go on a date together. If people saw the two of them on a date all hell would break loose. Yes, Rick's family was highly respected in town and people might not care about his sexuality. But if word got back to his father or his cousins that a Dixon had been seen on a date with person of the same sex... it would be a totally different story and Daryl would be lucky to live to tell that story.
"I-I can't... We can't just..." Daryl stuttered tripping over his words as he struggled to say what he was trying to and he groaned at himself, rubbing his face with shaky hands. "Can't be gay in this damn town. We can't just go on a date like normal people."
"We're not normal people? I'm not normal?" Rick questioned and Daryl quickly shook his head. Shit, that's not what he was trying to say. Why can't he ever just say what he means?
"That ain't what I meant, it's just-"
"Relax, I'm messing with you, I know what you mean. But, why can't two friends go out and have a drink together?" Rick suggested a small smile on his face as he watched Daryl slowly process what he just said. "Shane and I go to Squeals all the time together to hang out. We can do that too, nobody has to know that it's a date or something."
"You're askin' me out on a date?" Daryl asked because he couldn't figure out why Rick would even want to be seen with him, let alone ask him out on a date.
"Well, I'm trying to." Rick chuckled nervously and Daryl stared at him for a few seconds trying to figure out if he was being serious before he nodded. "Is that a 'yes'?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." Daryl replied with a slight smile causing Rick to smile too as he nodded, relief evident in his features.
"Alright, I'll see you then. Thank you for fixing my car too." Rick said, climbing into the drivers side as Daryl took a step away from the car.
"No problem." He responded, unable to stop himself from smiling as he watched Rick put the car into gear and drove off before he turned around and began walking home, hoping his family weren't home to ruin his now good mood.
-
It took nearly 20 minutes before he turned off the bitumen road and down the dirt driveway that lead into the Dixon property. There were a couple old rusty trailers parked off to the left where any of his fathers friends stayed when they were over, while Daryl and his cousins live in the small rundown house in the centre of the property with his father.
He spotted his fathers black pickup truck parked out the front, but no others vehicles were in the area indicating that his fathers friends had left while he'd been at school and he sure as hell wasn't going to complain about that.
He hoped his father was already passed out on the couch since he was already two beers down before Daryl even left for school this morning, but as he opened the broken flyscreen door to the house he knew that wasn't the case.
He could hear his father and cousins in the lounge room, laughing and shouting at each other, no doubt playing some sort of card game which Daryl had no interest in joining.
Quietly, he closed the door behind himself and silently walked down the hallway towards his bedroom, hoping none of his family would see him. He didn't want to deal with any of their shit, not tonight. For once Daryl was actually in a good mood and he didn't want his father to ruin it. But, of course, life always had a different idea.
"Where ya running off to, Daryl?" His fathers voice suddenly questioned and Daryl froze where he stood as he stared at his bedroom door that was a few metres too far away.
Slowly he walked back a few steps until he was in line with the lounge room door and looked in spotting his father sitting on the couch while his two cousins, Kyle and Ted sat on deck chairs around a small fold out table between them covered in playing cards and booze. "I expect ya to say 'hello'."
"Hello." Daryl replied with a small nod, not wanting to say anything else in case it might set his father off because for once he seemed to be in a relaxed mood.
"Come on in here. Sit down. Let's play a hand of cards or something." His father suggested motioning towards the card table in front of him while Ted started to shuffle the deck of cards from where he sat.
"No, I'm... I got stuff to do- I got homework." Daryl lied, trying to think of any form of excuse to get him away from his father and cousins, suddenly missing Merle more than ever. His brother was always good at making up lies to get away from their father and always helped Daryl whenever he was stuck in this sort of situation.
"He thinks he's smarter than us. Is that true? Ya think you're smarter than us? Think you're too good for this family?" His father questioned a slight edge to his tone and Daryl quickly shook his head.
"No, sir."
"That's good, because this is where ya belong. Here." He said, pulling out a set of keys from his pocket and tossed it towards him as Daryl caught them easily with one hand, his other holding the strap to his backpack over his shoulder.
"Why don't ya go out back and tune up the Merc. We got a delivery upriver tomorrow night and you're going with us." His father explained and Daryl froze looking up from the keys in his hand as he stared at his father.
He couldn't go tomorrow night. He was meeting Rick at Squeals tomorrow night. He couldn't just ditch Rick and tell him that his father forced him to do a drug delivery with him and his cousins. He didn't want to do any deliveries, he wanted to spend time with Rick.
"I can't go tomorrow night. I got somethin' to do." Daryl answered, but as soon as the words left his mouth he instantly regretted them.
His cousins had learnt from an early age to just agree and do whatever Will says, but Daryl had never seemed to learn that. Merle had been the same, which was why he needed to get out before he ended up killing the bastard and got sent to jail and sometimes Daryl wished Merle would come back and do it.
Suddenly, his father slammed his half drunken bottle of beer down on the card table as he stood up from the couch and marched towards him, but despite the amount of alcohol running through his fathers blood, the man didn't even look drunk. Fucking seasonal drinker.
"Ya didn't listen to a goddamn thing I said, did ya?" Will questioned, taking a few more steps towards him until they were practically face to face before he slammed his fist into the side of Daryl's face.
Sudden pain erupted across the left side of his face as he stumbled back a few steps. His hands instantly reached for his left eye that he could already feel was starting to bruise.
"I'm not-" Daryl began to say as he stood back up straight and stared at his father who cut him off.
"I'm not what?" He questioned, taking a step towards Daryl who's hands balled into fists by his side, but forced himself to stay calm.
He might not have learnt how to shut up and just agree to whatever his father says, but he'd never fought against his father before and he did not intend to see how well that would end. Yes, Daryl had started to get stronger over the past couple of years, his muscles slowly getting bigger while his father just kept getting older, greyer and fatter. The alcohol and smokes doing nothing but adding an extra ten years to his looks.
"I'm not what?" His father repeated and Daryl just glared at him, knowing it was best not say anything and piss his father off even more, but apparently not saying anything also seemed to piss him off as he punched him across the face again.
"Hey, hey, come on, Pop. Let's play some cards." Kyle suggested, trying to get Will's attention away from Daryl which he was grateful for. He might not like Kyle much, the guy was an asshole and drunk more often than not. But the two of them always looked out for each other whenever Will was in a violent mood, whereas Kyle's brother, Ted, was the total opposite and egged Will on whenever he was in that mood.
"I swear to God, Daryl, you are a slow fucking learner! Ya still got someplace to be Saturday night?" Will questioned and Daryl knew this was a test, but he was beyond the point of caring at the moment because he was done with this. He was done with his fathers bullshit. He was done with letting his father drag him around and doing runs or deliveries for him. He was done with it all.
"Yes, sir." Daryl answered, hating how his voice trembled slightly as he forced himself to stand up straight and his fathers eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched and Daryl knew exactly what was about to happen. But as his father took another swing about to punch him again, Daryl quickly took a step back and caught his fist before it could connect to his face.
The look on his fathers face was priceless as Daryl's hand tightened around Will's fist before he pushed it away and Will stared at him in disbelief before a grin slowly broke out across his face.
"Ya wanna hit me? Ya hit me, ya see where that'll get ya." Will threatened and Daryl just stared at him for a few seconds before Will chuckled and walked back into the lounge room, sitting down on his couch as Ted passed him another beer.
Daryl took that as his cue to leave and rushed down the hallway to his bedroom and shut the door behind himself. He couldn't stay here anymore. He could barely hold himself back from punching his father and all his father had done was hit him twice. Will had done a hell of a lot worse than that over the years, most of which involved belts and cigarettes, and Daryl knew if his father so much as reached for his belt to whip him then he wouldn't be able to hold himself back and he might end up killing the bastard himself.
Now he understood why Merle left. He knew why his brother left, and understood that it was his only choice, but now Daryl understood how Merle felt during those last few months at home with their father and how close he'd come to snapping and taking the man out before the army finally accepted his application and shipped him overseas. But Daryl didn't have that option, although he knew he needed to leave. He couldn't stay here anymore.
Quickly, Daryl began to throw the little belongings he had into his backpack. A few pairs of jeans that weren't completely torn to shreds along with a couple flannel shirts, some with the sleeves others that had been ripped off years ago either by himself or Merle, since most of his clothes used to belong to his brother.
He grabbed his leather vest, throwing it on over his long-sleeved black button down shirt before throwing his backpack over his shoulders. He grabbed his crossbow from under his bed, clipping the spare bolts he had onto the quiver attached to his crossbow.
Once satisfied that he had collected what he needed he opened his bedroom door quietly, peaking his head out to make sure nobody was in the hallway. He sighed with relief hearing his father and cousins talking from the lounge room, indicating that it was clear.
Silently he made his way further down the hallway and sneaked out the back door, wincing when the door squeaked as he closed it, but luckily his family were too loud to hear the noise before he took off jogging through the woods out the back of the property.
Daryl knew the woods on the outskirts of town like the back of his hand. The only thing he liked about the Dixon property was that it was literally located on the edge of the woods and none of his family ever went out there except him and Merle. The woods was his escape, his safe place. It was the one place he could disappear to where his family wouldn't be able to find him.
Merle bought him out to the woods as soon as he could walk. Taught him how to hunt and track as soon as he was old enough to pull a slingshot back and once Merle deemed him strong enough, his brother bought him a crossbow and he'd hunted with that ever since.
Daryl wasn't really sure where he was going to go as he slowed down to a walk and glanced around the woods to get his bearings. He knew if he kept going straight he would eventually reach the town, but he didn't really want to go into town.
He thought about going to Glenn's house or even Maggie's family farm. He knew Glenn wouldn't mind having him over until he figured out what to do nor would Maggie, but he also knew that Glenn's parents probably wouldn't want a Dixon in their house and Hershel definitely wouldn't want that either.
Plus, he knew how much danger he'd be putting his friends in if he stayed at their houses. He knew his father would eventually find out where he was and would try make him come back home and he didn't want the Rhee or Greene family in any danger or on his fathers radar.
However, when it started to rain he knew he needed to make a decision. He could easily outlast the light shower of rain in the woods, but when the rain began to get heavier and heavier he knew he needed to find shelter somewhere unless he wanted to get cold.
He jogged through the woods until he reached the outskirts of the town. The sky now dark after sunset covered by thick storm clouds as he continued running down the street, relieved that his family property was on the other side of town and know none of them would be out driving in this weather.
He continued to jog down the bitumen road. His clothes and hair absolutely drenched as thunder echoed through the sky followed by flashes of lightning in the distance. The faint street lights lighting up the road as he jogged until he had to stop, unable to run any further as he tried to get air back into his lungs.
He glanced around the street, spotting a dirt driveway to his left that lead to a fairly large house and a wooden garage. He figured that was a good a place as any to camp out for the night or at least until the rain died down a bit.
Making his way over to the garage, he glanced over at the house and couldn't see any lights or cars parked out the front so he figured nobody was around as he tried to open the sliding door before he spotted the padlock connected to it. But, he spotted a window on the side of the garage and jogged over to it and to his relief it wasn't locked as he slid the window up, throwing the bag and crossbow inside before climbing in.
It was dark outside, but a couple work lights were on inside, lighting the garage up as Daryl took in the area and quickly realised it was some kind of work shed if the vintage Chevrolet Chevelle parked in the middle of the room was any indication.
He walked around the garage for a few minutes, smiling slightly at the framed photo of an older couple before he glanced around the room again and figured he might as well sit down and get comfortable until the rain stopped. Dropping his backpack and crossbow to the ground beside him, he sat down leaning his back against the front tyre of the Chevrolet Chevelle.
He only meant to stay there until the rain stopped and he'd go back outside and try figure out why he'd go, but he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew something was poking him in the shoulder.
He opened his eyes in confusion to find an older man standing above him with a leaver action rifle aimed at his face.
Daryl's body instantly tense as he sat up straighter, his hands instantly raised in surrender as he looked around and sighed, realising that he had fallen asleep and the owner had found him. Shit, he was in so much trouble.
He glanced down at his backpack and crossbow to find that his crossbow had been kicked away from him and he had to give the old man credit for moving the weapon away from him, but Daryl was already regretting bringing the crossbow with him. If this guy calls the cops he'd be done for trespassing and he had a weapon with him, that was just a thousand times worse.
-
A/N- Thank you all for your support, I still can't believe people are actually liking this fic and your comments mean the absolute world to me. I hope you are all still enjoying this fic, let me know in the comments below if you are, I would love to hear your thoughts.
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