Honey, Where's My Arm?

As soon as Daryl and I were finished cooking everyone else had woken up and started coming into the kitchen. "Where's Merle?" Andrea asked.

I watched as Daryl's jaw clenched, then slowly released. I turned to face them and said, "Can I talk to y'all in there?" I nodded towards the living room and, nodding, they went into the other room. I gently squeezed Daryl's hand before following them into the living room. "Merle was infected-"

"Why am I not surprised?" T-Dog blurted out, interrupting me. "That no good, lying, son of a-"

"Hey!" I cut him off, "Regardless of your personal feelings towards the recently deceased, could you please be a little sensitive about the subject around Daryl. He's the one who killed him last night, and he says he's okay, but I have a feeling he's not. I've dealt with losing a family member due to this so know how he feels. That's why after breakfast I'm taking Daryl somewhere that's rather special to me in an attempt to make him feel better. In the mean time, let's just not talk about Merle." I smiled sweetly and turned to leave the room.

"Hey...where's Merle's body?" Shane asked.

"We buried him in the back yard last night."

There was a silent "oh" from him and I turned to walk back into the kitchen. As Daryl and I fixed everyone's plates I whispered, "Are you okay?"

He nodded. Not wanting to push the subject, I didn't say anything else. We ate in mostly silence and then Daryl and I got ready for our day out. Instead of putting on my usual cat suit I slid into a pair of jeans and a purple, button-up shirt. I brushed my hair out and left it down, then grabbed my katanas in case we ran into walkers. I met Daryl downstairs and we went into the garage. I hit a button on the wall and the lights came on, revealing my black Mercedes that had been my father's. "Woah!" was Daryl's only reaction.

I smiled, "I take it that means you like it?"

He nodded, "How'd you get a car like this?"

"It was my dads."

"Daddy's girl!"

I smirked and walked over to the car, unlocking the doors. I got in and said, "Well, aren't you coming?"

"We're going to drive?"

I nodded, "Where I'm taking you is over two miles away. Would you rather walk?"

He shook his head and ran around to the other side. He got in and shut the door as I started the engine. "This car is amazing," he said as I opened the garage door and backed out. "What did your dad do before he went crazy?"

I shrugged, "Don't know. He claims he was a business man. I think he was a spy."

"Really?"

I nodded, "He was fluent in over ten languages and was constantly going on 'business trips'. Plus, he was really secretive about his work."

"What about your mom?"

I shrugged again, "She abandoned us when I was four. I like to think that they were both spies, except she worked for a French terrorist group out to steal our government's secrets, and they fell in love. Then eventually she had to abandon us in an effort to protect us."

"That's so romantic and mushy."

"Yeah. What can I say, I'm a hopeless romantic!"

He chuckled and the rest of the car ride was silent. Finally we pulled up at the carnival and I turned the engine off. "Here we are," I said, opening the door.

He got out of the car and looked around, "A carnival?"

I nodded, "Every summer my cousin and I would ride our bikes here every morning and spend the day riding rides and eating funnel cake. Then we'd ride over to the marina and watch the sun set on the roof of the boat house. I thought that you and I could do that today."

"Won't this attract walkers though?"

I shrugged, "Maybe a few. It's day time so there's no need for the lights, and the music is unnecessary as well. We should be okay."

We slid through the gates and made our way over to the maintenance building to turn the rides on. As we went through the haunted house I laid my head on Daryl's shoulder and he put his arms on me. "When we were little, Victoria and I would imagine what it would be like to be the only people here."

"Is this living up to your expectations?"

I shook my head, "Not really. It's nice not having to wait in line, but I miss all the noise of people laughing and having fun. It doesn't feel the same."

The cart came to a momentary stop, long enough for us to get out at the end of the ride, then circled back through the haunted house. As we walked over to the fun house I said, "I remember one time, I rode that with my uncle and the ride broke down while we were on it. We sat there in the dark for ten minutes before someone came and found us and led us out through the emergency exit."

"Jeez. How old were you?"

"Seven or eight."

We got lost in the hall of mirrors in the fun house. It was more like a maze than an actual hall. I spotted Daryl and ran over to him, only to be separated by a wall of glass. He didn't realize I was behind him because he could see my reflection in a mirror in front of him. He walked towards my reflection and ran into a wall of glass. I started laughing and he turned around, spotting me, so I took off in another direction.

When he finally caught up to me he threw his arms around me and pulled me against him before planting his lips on mine. My body tensed at first, but then I relaxed and let myself get lost in the kiss as his mouth took control of mine. The kiss was so passionate that it made my body feel like it was on fire, my knees went weak, and my head spun. I had never ever felt that way before from a kiss. When he finally pulled away I couldn't think straight.

"It's getting late. We should head back to your house," he finally said after what seemed like minutes of just standing there, staring at each other.