Chapter 93
I don't know where Daryl went gallivanting off to, but Lina was dragged by Rico to attend Deanna's party.
She wasn't very willing, after all, she had just beaten up both of Diana's sons.
The people at the party, one by one, wore ignorant smiles, which annoyed Lina.
"Lina! It's nice to see you, especially at this time," a man greeted Lina warmly. Lina looked at him with a puzzled expression; he seemed somewhat familiar.
“Lina, this is Reggie, Deanna’s husband,” Rick said.
Lina glanced at the glass in his hand, curled her lip in disdain, and said, "Alcohol will only kill your brains, drink less."
“Don’t worry, we’re just having a little bit,” Reggie said with a smile. “Oh, right…” He was about to say something when he suddenly stopped and looked behind Lina.
Lina turned around, but within a second, she turned back, looking speechless.
Rick raised an eyebrow curiously, looking on with amusement.
“Lina, this is what I found outside,” Spencer ran over with a box, “It’s all things you like.”
Lina saw the exposed box, which was full of her favorite brand of lollipops.
“They’re all grape flavored, and there are a few boxes with mixed fruit flavors, but I picked out the apple ones,” Spencer said.
Reggie smiled, raised his glass, and took a sip. Rick noticed something and looked at Lina teasingly.
Lina rolled her eyes. "I don't want it. Take it away."
“You can keep it and eat it whenever you want,” Spencer placed the box at Lina’s feet. “I didn’t mean anything by it. It was originally for you. Do with it as you please.”
After saying that, Spencer left dejectedly.
Reggie and Rick's gazes made Lina feel uneasy. "...So your son is hoarding supplies," Lina said to Reggie.
Rick closed his eyes in silence.
Reggie paused for a moment, then said, "Um, I'll have a good talk with him."
Lina glanced irritably at the box at her feet, then looked up and saw that Rick's eyes were strange. Lina turned her head and saw the barber and his family standing in the doorway.
Lena slapped Rick on the shoulder, looking at him with a forced smile. "Where's Michonne? Isn't it interesting that you two patrol every day?"
Rick paused for a moment, looking around. "She was just here. I'll go check on her." Rick nodded to Reggie. Now that only Reggie and Lina were left, there was nothing more to talk about.
Lina looked around. "I'm going out for some fresh air." Before Reggie could react, Lina had already slipped out. She hated these kinds of occasions; they were boring and hypocritical.
Reggie glanced at the box lying on the ground and sighed helplessly. Poor Spencer.
"I caught someone trying to escape!" Amy hugged Lina tightly. Lina looked at her in despair. "That place is incredibly boring. By the way, have you seen Daryl?"
"No, can you stop clinging to him all the time?" Amy said unhappily, letting go of Lina.
“Hmph, you don’t understand,” Lina said.
Amy gave Lina a disdainful look. "Look at you, why are you stabbing deeper and deeper? This is really giving me a headache."
“So what?” Lina looked at Amy smugly. “There will never be another person who can compare to Daryl. I’m not talking to you anymore. I’m going to go find him.”
Amy made a strange noise of disgust, "Lovebirds who've gone crazy..." Amy muttered as she went into the house.
It was already dark when Lina wandered around for a while and finally met Aaron and Aaron talking in front of his house.
"Lina?" Aaron noticed Lina not far away. "Daryl just accepted our invitation. What about you? Want to come along for dinner?"
“Okay,” Lina stepped forward and took Daryl’s arm. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you all day! You have no idea! I…”
Before Daryl could react at all, Lina had already started babbling on and on.
Aaron glanced at Daryl with a smile. Daryl was focused on looking at Lina with his profile. Although he didn't speak, he was listening very attentively.
He thought that others would soon see the depth of the relationship between the two.
"Perhaps you wouldn't mind sharing with us at the dinner table?" Aaron invited.
"Is Eric's foot alright?" Lina asked her fellow sufferer, interrupted.
“Not bad,” the three of them said as they entered Aaron’s room. Perhaps Aaron had already mentioned that he would bring Daryl back? In any case, there was enough food on the table for four people.
Like Aaron said, it's great pasta.
Lena and Daryl ate in completely different ways, which made Aaron and Eric turn their heads in surprise. Daryl was slurping his food loudly all by himself.
Lina, on the other hand, would twirl each small bite with her fork and chew and swallow it quietly.
"Your cooking is excellent, thank you for your hospitality," Lina said, looking at Eric across from her.
“There’s a little trick to it,” Eric said with a smile, then Lina caught a glimpse of Daryl on the disc out of the corner of her eye.
“You wipe it with a napkin!” Lina said immediately as Daryl put down the plate, without even looking at Daryl, and continued to wait for Eric to share his secret.
"..." Daryl lowered his sleeve, picked up a napkin and wiped it, "It tastes good."
“Well, if you’re outside and happen to be in the store, Mrs. Niedermeier really wants a pasta machine,” Eric said, glancing at Daryl and Lena. “Neither of us wants to hear her nagging about it.”
Aaron nodded.
“We have several boxes of dried pasta here, but she insists on making it herself. I think she might just be trying to start a conversation… So… if you happen to see this, it would be a huge help to us,” Aaron and Eric exchanged a glance, and Lina looked at Aaron curiously, “So?”
“I thought they’d talked,” Eric said, idly twirling his pasta. “So you haven’t spoken to him yet?”
Aaron nodded, and Daryl looked at Aaron warily. "What did you say?"
Aaron took Daryl to the garage, while Lena and Eric continued eating. Daryl ate his noodles like they were water, finishing them quickly, while the others had barely started.
“No offense intended, but…” Eric pursed his lips, nodding meaningfully as he looked at Lina.
“Yes, I know, everyone finds it strange,” Lena put down her fork, glanced around (Daryl and the others had already gone to another room), and lowered her voice, leaning closer to the table, “We’ve been getting used to each other lately, you know. Before, we were always outside, without any sense of 'living together,' it felt like we were really going to live together.”
“You can see how adorable Daryl is,” Lina paused, “but, but there’s a little bit of me I can’t accept. Luckily he’s quite cooperative,” Lina raised an eyebrow and breathed a sigh of relief, “otherwise I really would have kicked him off the bed.”
“I completely understand,” Eric lowered his voice in cooperation, “I also have three or four days every month when I want to kick Aaron out.”
“Right? It’s just that sometimes,” Lina glanced cautiously toward the door, “I’m trying to convince him to get his hair removed, it’s killing me, really, and his beard too, I have to nag him about it every day, he just won’t shave it himself, all those men are the same, oh, you and Aaron are the exception, oh my god,” Lina said, “Every time I see your smooth faces, I really want to go back and force each of them to shave, men together, it’s bound to be bad, one infects two!”
Eric laughed. "Well, I do have something good to offer you: hair removal cream."
"You absolutely must," Lina said, her expression saying, "I'm counting on you."
“What do you think,” Lina hesitated, then put down her fork and looked at Lina seriously. Lina thought for a moment, “Am I being too clingy? I mean, about wanting to go outside with him.”
“No, no,” Eric shook his head. “Aaron and I are the same. If I weren’t just a burden, I wouldn’t want to stay here either.” Eric sighed. “The people here are very nice, but, you know, sometimes we really need to go somewhere where nobody knows us, to catch our breath. If anyone’s clingy, it’s me.”
“I have nothing else to do,” Lina said sullenly. “Staying here all the time is driving me crazy.”
“I don’t think he would want to leave you here alone, even though you have many family members. But that’s a different story,” Eric said with a smile.
“I don’t like the way they look at Daryl,” Lina complained. “They have no idea how good he is, and besides, I’m not some brainless idiot. Ugh—I’m tired of pity looks. Who needs them?”
“It’s because there are so many people in the community, but not so many interesting stories,” Eric said.
After thanking Eric and Aaron for their hospitality, Lena, carrying the hair removal cream sponsored by Eric, skipped home arm in arm with Daryl.
"So, have you made up your mind?" Lina asked.
“Yes,” Daryl nodded, “and you?”
“I’ll go with you,” Lina said matter-of-factly. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to keep me safe here.”
“Of course not,” Daryl raised an eyebrow. “If I leave you here, I’m afraid you and Moore will tear Alexander apart.”
“Wow—you’re so good with words,” Lina pinched Daryl’s arm.
“I was just about to ask you, what are you carrying?” Daryl asked.
"Hair removal cream." Lina looked at Daryl, giving him a perfunctory smile. "You dare try not removing your hair?"
He was sure Mor would laugh him to death. Daryl sighed in frustration, but every time Lina got her hands rubbed raw and complained for a long time, and it really looked like it hurt.
“I’ll remember to shave every morning from now on,” Lina said.
“Okay,” Daryl nodded. “Then you have to remember to get up and eat breakfast.”
"I only slept in a few times," Lina muttered, but still agreed.
“We’re getting ready to go out tomorrow, what do you think?” Daryl recalled Aaron’s words.
“I have to give Glenn a heads-up, Aiden and Nicholas, God,” Lena rolled her eyes, “they’re only alive thanks to their dead teammates.”
“Don’t worry, Moore will be going out with them from now on,” Daryl said. “He probably won’t be able to act like a boss in front of Moore.”
"That would be for the best," Lina said, still quite uneasy. "I'm just afraid some fool might come up with a brilliant idea. We've come a long way, and I don't want to lose anyone."
"We won't."
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