More Than Just Us

I'd traveled the world for 12 years after the day I left Georgia. I didn't see Daryl after he stalked off into the woods. I was left to walk home and after I'd gotten home the old pickup pulled up next to his house. Unfortunately he avoided me. The day I left he watched from his front porch, only acknowledging me with a small nod as I drove away. I wrote him letters every week. They were long, heartfelt letters in the beginning, but as the years grew and as the fatigue from touring got to me, they became short paragraphs that were hardly ever sent. It's not like Daryl ever sent any back anyways. After I told him I was leaving, he hated me. I had left him just like Merle and his mom. He couldn't trust me anymore. I drowned my sorrows in bottles of jack every year on our anniversary, hoping he was doing the same. I hoped that he looked at the moon every night just like I did. I would pretend he was there with me, until the day that I chose to forget him. Every man I slept with couldn't compare with D though. He was the only one I'd loved, so he was the only one I'd remembered. I knew I'd never see him again. But, I stopped believing that the day I came home. I got off my plane in Atlanta and searched for my mom in the crowded airport parking lot for what felt like hours. All I could find that was remotely familiar was a beat up old truck and a dirty redneck leaning against it. "D? Is it really you?," I asked as I approached him. He gave a small grunt and said, "Well who the hell else would it be, Rockstar?" I jumped into his arms and gave him a bear hug, but all he did was push me off and say not to touch him. "D?" I pleaded. He glared at me and I knew that even after 12 years his anger hadn't subsided even a bit. "D I still love you," I declared to no avail. "Look Skip, I'm just here cause your mamma got her car taken away for driving while intoxicated. Don't mistake this for anything. Don't mistake what had happened when we were kids for anything," he said with contempt. I guess I knew he'd never forgive me. All the way home we sat in silence so thick and uncomfortable that you could cut it with a knife. There was loud screaming going on inside my head as I sat with the man of both my dreams and nightmares only two feet away from me. "God, a lobotomy would be more fun than this," I said. He chuckled and I shot him a hopeful smile. "Naw, I think catching a grenade with the pin out would be better," he replied. I raised an eyebrow and gave the best one I could think of. "How about going to a Britney Spears concert with Justin Bieber as an opener." He roared with laughter and as we pulled up to my moms old house I felt like everything would be ok. Until I saw Brandi Carlson coming out of his front door. Anger filled my previously happy heart as I grabbed my things and got out. "Thanks for the ride shithead," I said angrily, slamming the door in his face. I stalked up my front porch and into my house. It was gonna be a long summer.