Chapter 10
"You ever been to Alexandria?" Jesus enquired as he led Daryl down the street. Daryl narrowed his eyes, obviously a little confused of the context of the question. Jesus saw the look on his face and expanded. "It's a little cafe, restaurant type thing, just round the corner?" "Nah" Daryl mumbled, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. He was a little embarrassed, he had completely forgotten he was meant to be meeting up with Jesus for lunch and he was tired and hadn't showered in a couple days and was wearing the same clothes he'd slept in, also he hadn't even changed his underwear for three days. He just hoped that the deodorant he had sprayed on himself masked the smell of his grimy body and sweaty clothes. Not that Jesus would be the kind of person to call him out on something like that even if he did notice, Daryl presumed he was too polite for that, despite that, he still felt embarrassed that he was going somewhere for dinner looking like he made no effort at all. Daryl lifted his baseball cap from his head and pushed a hand through his hair and sighed when he felt how greasy it was, returning his cap to hide it. "Well you're in for a treat, Tara, Rosita and I come here a lot it's really nice. I can recommend the best meals if you wish" Jesus turned his head round and flashed a kind smile to Daryl. Daryl looked at him in the eyes for a couple seconds before returning his gaze to the ground. Jesus was a few steps ahead of him, Daryl didn't really want to get close to him in fears that he noticed how unprepared he was for this outing, immediately regretting to agreeing to the offer of the younger man. Daryl have a faint nod in Jesus' direction as he continued to follow him down the street, dragging his feet along the pavement due to the lack of sleep he'd had in the past few nights. He wished the caffeine from the coffee he'd had would take toll soon. The men turned the corner to reveal 'Alexandria', the place looked nice Daryl had to admit, maybe a little to fancy looking for his taste but nice nonetheless. The restaurant sign was written in very fancy cursive writing, below it were tables topped with beige umbrellas shading the customers eating their food below. Daryl could see through the windows of the building that it looked quite busy inside and there was plenty hustle and bustle and clanging of cutlery. Jesus held open the door for Daryl to walk in, he uttered a thanks as he passed the man and looked up from the ground to observe the place. There were quite a lot of people, more than Daryl's liking and even though they were all busy eating their food and chatting away he still felt as if they were looking him up and down. He didn't look like the average 'Alexandria' customer. Everyone there seemed dressed well, some were in suits and had briefcases whom he guessed were on a lunch break from work. He felt very underdressed in his hoodie and baseball cap but there was no way in hell he was going to take any of them off to reveal his sweat-stained-armpit t-shirt and greasy hair. Jesus then walked up beside Daryl's left side and leaned over to speak. "Where do you want to sit?" He asked, voice loud enough to be heard over the noisy restaurant. "Uh..." Daryl mumbled as he scanned the room, spotting a table for two in the back corner of the restaurant, slightly isolated from the busy tables in the centre of the room. He started walking towards the table, trying not to make eye contact with anyone at the tables he passed, feeling their eyes burn into him as they looked him up and down obviously judging his appearance. Jesus followed him as he zig-zagged through the tables trying to get to the corner table as soon as possible. They eventually got there and Daryl slumped down on one of the seats, hands still in his hoodie pockets and his eyes gazing forward at nothing in particular. Jesus took the seat across from him, pulling it out before sitting himself down, noticing that Daryl diverted his gaze down at the table when Jesus looked at him. Jesus grabbed the menus from the rack in the middle of the table and handed one to Daryl. "Here, choose anything you want it's on me." He smiled at the biker. Daryl removed his hands from his pockets and took the menu from Jesus, then scanning it for the cheapest meal. He didn't want Jesus paying for his food and he definitely wasn't going to pick anything he wanted, he already felt bad making him pay for anything no matter the price. He stared absentmindedly at the list of obnoxious sounding sandwiches; smoked salmon, cream cheese and egg, cheese and chutney, beef and horseradish. Why did they have to be pretentious couldn't they have just had cheese and ham or chicken mayo, something that didn't sound like it was for a high class family who often had fancy afternoon teas and feasted on caviar. Daryl sighed as he scanned the menu further, then seeing an option for a cheeseburger, finally something more his style. The price wasn't bad but it was pretty pricey for an ordinary cheeseburger, it would have to do considering nothing else on the menu seemed to grab his attention. A waitress then came over, smile on her face as she greeted the men. "Jesus, nice to see you! And who's this!" She smiled gesturing towards Daryl. "Hey Amy, how are you? This is my friend Daryl" Jesus smiled back at the blonde, curly headed girl. Daryl avoided eye contact with the smiley girl and continued to re-read the menu. "Well nice to meet you Daryl I hope you enjoy Alexandria!" She giggled. "Uh... Yeah" Daryl replied, trying to show at least a small fake smile to the blonde before returning to the menu. "Anyway, what drinks can I get for you boys?" "I'll have... Hmm" Jesus hummed as he scanned the menu with his index finger before haunting at one of the drinks. "The homemade cloudy lemonade please" He settled on, looking up at Amy. "Homemade cloudy lemonade" Amy repeated mumbling as she wrote the order on her notebook, "And what about you?" "Uh... Chocolate shake?" Daryl mumbled, almost embarrassed by his slightly childish choice for the type of restaurant he was in. Despite, Amy looked delighted as she scrawled down the order, a sparkle in her eyes. "I'll be back in a few to take your food orders!" She grinned as she turned on her feet and trotted away through a door to the back of the kitchen. Daryl saw Jesus grinning after her, watching fondly as the waitress endearingly apologised to people she bumped into on her way to the kitchen. "She's nice, she was in the year below me. A little ditsy but very likeable" Jesus turned to face Daryl, "probably not your type at all" Daryl was slightly taken aback by the remark, Jesus was right he guessed, she was the personality type that Daryl seemed to despise. Also a similar personality type found in the man sitting across from him, closed-mouth smile planted on his lips. Jesus obviously saw the confusion on Daryl's face and chuckled before taking his menu and folding it up, placing it back in the rack in the centre of the table. Daryl watched Jesus intently and then copied his actions and placed his menu in the rack alongside the other. He then clasped his hands together, tapping his fingers on his knuckles and staring at the motion of his fingertips in attempts to look occupied as he felt Jesus' gaze on him once again. Jesus then broke the silence between the pair, "did you get home okay on Friday night?". Daryl looked into his eyes for a brief few seconds which were filled with genuine interest. "Stayed with Glenn and Maggie" Daryl replied, eyes still glued to his repetitive finger rhythm. "Oh" Jesus paused, running the fingers of his left hand through his beard before continuing. "I'm sorry I caused you trouble, I could've walked myself. I guess this is why we're here right?" He exhaled sharply with a smile on his face, eyes still locked on Daryl's own. Before Daryl could reply, Amy came over holding a tray with their drinks balanced on top, toothy grin still apparent as she placed the drinks in their designated spots on the table before taking the men's order for food. Daryl ordering the cheeseburger with a side of fries and Jesus the grilled Gouda and zucchini panini, something Daryl had never known existed 'til that moment. Daryl grabbed his glass of chocolate shake and opened his mouth grasping the straw with his teeth and drinking a quarter of the glass within seconds. Jesus' eyes widened at the mans actions, the corner of his lips turning into a smirk as he lifted his glass of lemonade to his mouth and took a sip. "So, how's work so far today?" Jesus said, placing the glass down onto the table where it had left a small puddle of water from the condensation. "Hm" Daryl shrugged and took the straw in his shake and started stirring it making a small whirlwind in the liquid. He looked up at Jesus who looked like he was waiting for something more, a wait that would never end. After realising that was all Daryl had to say about the matter, he opened his mouth to speak and then stopped himself, then giving a small nod instead before taking a couple more sips of his lemonade. "Shop is always quiet on a Sunday" the younger man then piped in, figuring Daryl wasn't going to return his enquires. The men sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a couple minutes before the waitress returned with their food. Daryl sat up straight as he noticed the plate topped with his cheeseburger making its way to the table and then set down in front of him, alongside his bowl of fries. Jesus smiled in thanks as he was handed his panini, despite the strange filling combination, Daryl had to admit it looked delicious. But then again it didn't take much for Daryl to think something looked delicious one thing that he wasn't was a fussy eater. He shovelled the fries in his mouth, forgetting for a moment he was accompanied for his dinner and his cheeks flushed red when he looked up to see Jesus with an amused look on his face. Daryl then slowed down his pace of eating and decided to take one fry at a time and chewing slowly, more like proper lunch etiquette. Daryl finished his cheeseburger whilst Jesus was still left eating his panini. "You want a bit?" The younger man suddenly asked, reaching out to Daryl with the panini in his hand. "Uh...nah, thanks..." Daryl furrowed his brows in reply. He fumbled to get the straw from his milkshake in his mouth, trying to catch the straw with his tongue and heat rose up to his cheeks once he grasped onto the straw, looking up to see Jesus snickering into his own straw. Daryl adjusted his baseball cap further down his head in attempts to cover his eyes more so he didn't have to make as much eye contact. He let go of the straw with his teeth and covered his mouth as he heaved out a yawn, then rubbing his face with his hands before sighing. "Long night?" Jesus piped up, watching the older man rub his eyes. "Huh, yeah" Daryl huffed before closing his eyes tightly shut and opening them wide trying to stretch them to stay awake. "Me too, I should stop watching so much TV series', it keeps me up at night" Jesus smiled in return. "What about you? Watch any TV shows?" He continued. "Um... Not really, no" Daryl lied to protect his closet nerd. There were still around 25 minutes of lunch hour left, he couldn't exactly leave early so he would just have to bear through the awkwardness for the time being. It would probably be better if there were someone else to join them, to divert Jesus' attention to them instead him being fully focused on Daryl. It also didn't help that he didn't think they shared much of any interest at all other than art but even then Daryl still didn't feel comfortable bringing that up. "Oh, well I can give you a whole list of recommendations if you need anything to watch" The hipster replied, waving his arms out to show the size of list he was talking about. Daryl looked up from his drink to make eye contact with Jesus for a brief few seconds, egging him on to start the list so he would have a break from talking for a while, and to pass the time until they had to return to their jobs. Jesus began the extensive list, pointing at his fingers on one hand with the other each time he listed a show. He would name the show and then give a brief synopsis and then his opinion on it, Daryl zoned out after a while, his eyes drooping shut with fatigue, but his ears did prick up when he mentioned all the shows that Daryl and Glenn had watched together. Daryl was snapped out of his trance when Jesus finished his list. "You can get most of them on Netflix, do you haven Netflix? I can give you my password if you want?" Daryl fluttered his eyes open and looked up at Jesus, "Uh... I...uhm..." He stuttered, trying to decipher what the man said to him whilst he was in his sleepy state. "Nah, don't have one" "Well I'll write my login down for you and you can use my account, Tara shares it too so no worries" He smiled back at Daryl, then grabbing a napkin from the table and fumbling in his pocket for a pen, finding one in his hoodie pocket, sometimes working in an art store had its perks. He scrawled the login on the piece of tissue, covering it with his hand whilst sliding it over to Daryl on the table as if we're an illegal substance. Daryl took the tissue and folded it, then put it in his back Jean pocket saving it for later, if he was ever going use it. He uttered a shy thanks before Jesus started on another subject, his work and boss. "Gregory's a douche. He's barely even there and when he is he's an ass to everyone. He always asks people to cover for him whilst he does God knows what, I don't know how the hell he's the store manager when he's barely even there." Jesus ranted. He was very gesticulative, his hands flailing and eyebrows raising and furrowing as he explained his story, it worked though, Daryl's attention was certainly averted towards the man as he made his wide arm gestures and very emotive faces. Daryl compared him to himself and how he looked while he was giving a similar story. He certainly understood why everyone found the man easy to get along with, he came across as very confident and friendly and his gestures and facial expressions definitely helped convey that. Daryl was the complete opposite, he would sit hunched over not making eye contact whereas Jesus would sit straight up, and always look you in the eyes when making conversation. When Daryl was telling a story he'd mumble and use the same tone of voice the whole way through whereas Jesus would raise his, make himself sound nice and clear and convey his emotions through his use of tone attracting his audience. Daryl would fidget with his hands, tapping his fingers on the table of shoving them in his pockets, Jesus would wave his around making gestures and act out his story. The two men were really chalk and cheese. Jesus seemed like the kind of person that would never associate themselves with someone like Daryl. Daryl was definitely the kind of person that never associated with people like Jesus. Yet here he was, listening to his stories on a lunch break and admiring all the traits he had which Daryl had longed for most of his lifespan. Daryl was so distracted just by how Jesus presented himself that he wasn't really listening to the story, as exciting as he made it look. He got the jist, Gregory was a dick. That was all he really needed to know he guessed, he thought all of his friends bosses were dicks maybe apart from Rick's. The chief commander of Rick's unit was a man named Ezekial, Daryl had met him once before, he seemed like a decent man, very well spoken and kind and Rick had never had any negative things to say about him. Jesus finished his story with an exasperated sigh, taking a last sip from his drink before reaching the pile of ice cubes at the bottom of the glass. "Sounds like a dick" Daryl rasped as he looked up at Jesus. Jesus exhaled through his nose, a smirk growing on his face, "yeah you could say that." "My boss is... Weird... I dunno" Daryl began, deciding to carry on the conversation. "How come?" Jesus then replied, furrowing his brows and perching his elbow on the table, leaning his chin on his hand. "I dunno he's kinda just... Strange like l... He's nice sometimes but other times he just cracks . It's like he's got this weird act goin' on all the time" Daryl drawled in his strong southern accent. "He's been nice to me but... He's said some crazy shit to co-workers. I'm glad I've always been on his good side ya' know?" He continued, then taking a sip from his drink, chewing the straw. "Hm, is there anyone you could tell if he maybe went to far one time?" Jesus had a legitimate look of concern on his face. "Um... Nah... I couldn't say. I mean, he's the boss of the whole firm, ain't much I can do about him. Wanna keep my job too." "Well, as long as he definitely doesn't go too far" "Yeah" Daryl mumbled in return before finishing his milkshake. "Can we get the bill please?" Jesus smiled as he alerted one of the restaurant waiters once they passed the table. "We should do this again some time, I like the company. I'm usually just by myself for lunch hour." The smaller man grinned at Daryl who felt his cheeks heat up. "Uh... Yeah sure. I'll have to pay though" he muttered in reply. He still felt bad letting Jesus pay even if he had insisted. The waiter came over with the cheque to which Jesus' eyes scanned as he took his wallet out from his back pocket and placing $25 (including tip) on the little tray with he receipt on top. He put the wallet back in his pocket before Amy, the waitress came to pick it up, thanking him before getting on her way back to serve more customers. Jesus stood up and pushed in his chair, Daryl mirroring his actions before they both headed towards the exit, Daryl still keeping his eyes focused on the ground in front of him. They walked into the cool air before walking back round the corner to their work places. They walked in silence, not an uncomfortable one, more of a satisfied one. "Thanks for coming with me, I'll see you whenever!" Jesus waved before turning on his feet and crossing the road to head towards the art store. "Um... No problem... Uh thanks for having me" Daryl stuttered, returning a small wave towards Jesus before making his own way back into his work. He walked into the shop, taking of his baseball cap and patting his hair down, which was now looking greasy as ever plastered to his head. He sighed deeply before making his way to the back of the shop to finish off the files he fell asleep whilst filling out. He was stopped midway by Dwight. "The hell was that?" He muttered, curious of Daryl's random "lunch partner". "Uh... Jesus, that's what people call 'im anyway" he mumbled, trying to get out of Dwight's slightly uncomfortable situation. "Ain't he that gay guy from the shop across the street?" He then enquired, a smidge of a smirk captured on his face. "Yeah, why?" "Why you friends with him" "He's a friend of a friend" Daryl replied gruff tone, he knew what Dwight was trying to imply and he wasn't going to stand for it. He probably wouldn't even really class Jesus as a friend just yet but he didn't really know what else to call him. Acquaintance? Nah, that probably sounded even worse. Daryl huffed before heaving open the door to the back of the shop as he heard Dwight mutter to himself something about Daryl having friends, to which - jury's open, Daryl was surprised himself. He sat down and got to work, his lunch giving him the boost he needed to stay away and get everything done. It was probably a good thing that he was planning on staying in late today otherwise he'd just be pissed off he had to stay in late without planning to, so it was nobody's fault but his own. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Daryl got home at around 7pm, he'd done a lot more than he planned to do, just so he could leave early the next time he was working. He was tired and smelly but still didn't have the motivation to shower, to which he decided he'd do the next morning. He sat in his usually spot on the couch and rested his feet on the coffee table, turning on the TV and flicking the channels before remembering Jesus' Netflix. He took the scrumpled napkin from his pocket and de-scrumpled it trying to decipher Jesus' handwriting in the creases of the paper. He already felt bad making Jesus pay for his lunch and now he was using his Netflix account, although, Jesus did definitely tell him it was okay. Plus Tara was supposedly using it too so it made him feel less responsible for Jesus' student loans never declining. He logged into the account on his smart TV (the one he had saved up for months for) and began scrolling through the endless list of entertainment. He probably should watch one of the things Jesus suggested as to seem like Daryl had actually payed attention to his extensive list. He went through the list of names in his mind that he recalled the younger man listing and then eventually gave up, settling on finally starting 'The Office'. He wasn't sure if Jesus had listed that one but Daryl had promised Rick and Glenn to watch it for years now and it was probably way overdue. ~~~~~~~~~ It wasn't until after Daryl had actually binged the whole first season that he heard a buzz emerge from his phone. He picked it up and pressed the home screen checking the notifications, ~ one new text from Jesus He read as he swiped on the screen, clicking on the number pad to let him into his phone. He unlocked it and went straight to the messages app and opened Jesus' message. Jesus ~ good choice, always one of my favourites! Daryl cocked his brow as he read the text then suddenly came to the realisation of what it was about. He had forgotten that Jesus could see everything that he was watching, a little embarrassing considering he just binged a whole season with no breaks in-between. Daryl ~ yeah Glenn and Rick watch it so I've seen a couple episodes Jesus ~ ahh! It's great to watch after a long day, some relief for the system :) Daryl smiled at his phone, thoroughly agreeing with the comment, it certainly was an easy watch. He was just away to place his phone back on the arm of the couch when came another buzz. Jesus ~ btw I forgot to ask you at lunch today (sorry!) but me and a couple friends are going to a haunted house scary walk through thing this Saturday for Halloween, would like to see you there if you're up for it? Daryl swallowed as he read the offer. He's never really enjoyed Halloween, particularly as a kid. He was never allowed to go trick or treating or dress up. In fact the first time he carved a pumpkin was the year where his dad was away for the day on Halloween, his ma had went to the local pumpkin patch that was around each fall and picked out two big pumpkins and brought them home for her and Daryl to carve. Merle was a little too old at the time but Daryl was delighted at the idea. He remembered carving a face into it, quite proud of the outcome of he could say so himself. His mother has carved a face too, a lot more advanced looking that Daryl's; she had always been the creative type. He then remembered the pumpkin pie ma had made afterwards with the leftovers, it was one of Daryl's favourite treats and his mom's cooking/baking was always the best. Daryl could almost smell the ghost of the past scent, looming from the kitchen as he closed his eyes and treasured the moment from his past. Daryl took the offer into consideration, if he got out of the house that night he could maybe suppress the unrelenting unhappy feeling he always dreaded when the day came each year, and also avoid all the trick or treaters that some how found their way to his porch (to which he never answered the door to). Daryl ~ who's all going? Jesus ~ so far, me, Tara, Rosita, Eugene, Sasha! Glenn's a maybe as is Aaron Daryl hummed, it wasn't his usual crowd. They were all nice and he's obviously met them before but he wasn't particularly close to any of them so if Glenn didn't come then he'd be a little screwed. He mulled over the activity before finally deciding on an answer. He'd rather be surrounded by friends on Halloween to distract him other than sitting in his house alone in the dark and wallowing in his own self pity. Daryl ~ ok I'll come where is it at? Jesus ~ great! And don't worry! Rosita is driving, she's picking up me and Tara, you can join us if you give me your address we'll be there at around 8pm? Daryl huffed. He didn't like giving people his address because it then gave them the opportunity to come visit whenever they liked. To which Daryl was most certainly opposed to unless it was planned, this was something Glenn had learned the hard way after turning up at Daryl's and being rudely rushed away as Daryl was in a severely bad mood that day. He gave in anyway and sent Jesus his address. Jesus ~ thanks! I'll see you then. Also you have to wear a costume or you don't get in ;) Daryl groaned at the winky emoticon at the end of the text. He didn't exactly want to dress up. He also didn't know what to dress up as, he was sure as a kid he would've loved to pretend to be something he wasn't but as an adult he just felt stupid. He got up from the couch and walked over and into his bedroom throwing open the closet to take a look inside for anything he could throw together. As he liked at the few items of clothing on the hangers, he sighed and stepped back closing the doors before taking off his hoodie and shirt, dropping them onto the floor haphazardly and falling back on to his bed. He closes his eyes taking in deep breaths and exhaling before kicking off his boots to the corner of the room. Then, still lying on the bed, he shuffled off his jeans onto the floor with very little enthusiasm. He then swung his legs up onto the bed and pulled the duvet over his body quickly drifting off into a deep sleep, hopefully this one would be enough to keep him awake the next day.