#best daryl fact round 1

[dndadspolls]

*his favorite taste is his sister's beer , but it's also his least favorite because it is the taste of defeat vs

[sourpatchys]

Can you do a season 1 Daryl x reader where he meets her at the quarry around the start of the apocalypse and she is the kindest person in camp and is really sweet with him (not a huge fan of merle cause ew).

He starts to crush on her and one day he sees her either playing with Sophia and Carl or helping Carol and Lori around camp and Merle sees Daryl watching her and makes fun of him. Daryl is annoyed by Merle and lashes out at him. Reader hears their conversation but doesn’t make it obvious.

Reader ends up talking to Daryl later and asks what they were talking about and Daryl gets all shy and defensive. You can decide how it ends because I’m not sure if you do smut but if you don’t or just don’t want to you can just make it fluff<3

Title: Lucky Charm

Word count: 2.9k

Rating: fluff!❤️

When: season one!

Summary: ^^^ this was such a cute idea, and I did in fact get a little carried away and took a few creative liberties because it gave me an excuse to use an idea I’ve had for WEEKS. I hope you enjoy!

—

The round, somewhat jagged, wooden charm in your pocket felt like bliss against your cold fingers. You'd been twiddling away with it for hours now– it was much different than it was the day it was given to you, clearly loved throughout the years.

But that didn't matter to you. It was your little ray of hope, tucked away in your pocket, only for you. That was why it was made in the first place afterall.

The sun had already set, its shining rays going under the horizon leaving a chill in its place. You quite enjoyed the cold air– summer was never, and would never, be your favorite season– even if you got teased for it.

A rustling from beside you drove you away from your thoughts, you pulled your hand out of your pocket– not wanting to give your coping mechanisms away to whoever decided they wanted to bother you.

Unsurprisingly, it was Daryl.

That man never slept. He and his brother had been with your group for the best of four weeks, and you weren't sure if he slept more than eight hours the whole time– let alone in one night.

"What are you doing up?" Your own question surprised you. It wasnt that you weren't curious, of course you were– your friends in highschool used to call you the town snoop. But you hadn't ever initiated a conversation with the archer– let alone want too. His gruff exterior always kept you at an arms length, men like he and his brother always made you turn your head.

He looked your way, standing with a hand on his hip, an unreadable look on his face. Maybe he was surprised too.

"Could ask you the same thing."

His tone was different than usual. It didn't have that biting edge it usually did. Throwing your eyebrows up at him, you waved at him, tapping the ground next to you in an invitation for him to sit. You'd already started the conversation, you weren't going to let him off that easily– you were nothing if not stubborn.

He took your invitation, walking towards you and sitting on the cold grass an arms length away as if he was afraid to get too close.

"I couldn't sleep, I've always been more of a night owl." you stated, letting out a breath you didn't even know you'd been holding. Even with his demeanor being different, you were still on your toes.

Humming in response, Daryl picked up one of the sticks that had been deemed 'too pathetic' to use for the fire, (his own words) taking out his pocket knife with his other hand, as he began trying to sharpen its tip.

"You do that a lot," you pointed out, gesturing to his actions. "Any reason on why?"

He flashed his eyes up at you, that same look on his face that you couldn't quite place. You desperately needed to know what it meant.

Shrugging, he looked away and continued with his task. "Dunno."

A bit of his usual gruffness came through– but somehow you knew it wasn't serious. That was his wall, his way of closing people out. His entire demeanor started to become clear to you– he was just protecting himself from everyone.

You could understand why, even without knowing him well. The world was different to everyone, even before this– and while you took that as a way to become closer to the ones around you, the opposite made just as much sense.

The days following your nighttime meeting were much the same. Daryl didn't magically start spending time with you during the day, he was much too busy hunting and keeping his brother under control– but at night– those few hours of peace with him stayed the same.

He never said much, just twiddling away with whatever little project he found himself doing that night– but you never let that stop you. His gruff exterior had almost completely faded with you, it was as if you were in another world, a world of just the two of you sitting under the stars.

Tonight however, he seemed pent up. His usual handy work seemed rushed and sloppy as his blade rushed through the bark with furrowed brows.

You wanted to ask– to delve into his mind, but you really weren't sure how. You would sometimes ask him questions about his life before this and what his new goals were– and even then you'd be lucky to get an answer. Seeing him like this, it had never happened while the two of you sat together.

"Hey Daryl?" you asked, twiddling in your pocket, feeling the rough of the ball between your fingers.

He hummed at you, not looking up, but still letting you know that you'd gotten his attention. You took a deep breath, readying yourself for the vulnerability you were setting yourself up for.

"Can I show you something personal? Just a little secret between the two of us?"

That got his attention a little more than you'd expected. His hands almost unwillingly stopped as he looked up at you, that same look in his eyes that you'd come to know.

"What is it?"

Wrapping your hand around your charm, you slowly pulled it out, its cracked worn down exterior was illuminated by the coals of the fire as you held it in your hand, a bittersweet look on your face.

Clearing your throat, you started to speak, a shake in your voice. "This is my lucky charm, my uncle made it for me when I was little. I guess as a baby I was afraid of him– he made this for me as a way to show that he loved me because he was too afraid to say it out loud. As I got older, and we got closer, he told me that as long as I always had my charm I'd always be safe. I've had it for over 20 years now, and it's not at all what it used to be, but i still feel his love whenever I hold it."

You looked up at Daryl, a smile on your face. "I wanted to share this with you, because I know somethings bothering you. I figured maybe it could help you too."

As much as you'd worried about how the others would treat you if they knew you had such a silly secret, something in you just wanted to find a middle ground with Daryl. If you couldn't ask him what was wrong, you were going to try your best to help soothe it.

He reached his hand towards you, bringing the charm into his calloused fingers, rolling it in his hand as he looked at it.

The look in your eyes as you told your story made his heart melt. He really wasn't sure what made you stay with him most nights– he had never even given you so much as a 'hello' before– even now, sitting beside you after you'd just poured your heart out to him, he didn't know what to say. He was sure you were the only person in the world who could make him speechless in such a way.

Handing the charm back to you, he let out a sigh, leaning back on his hands and staring at the sky.

"Merle's goin' with a group of people to the city sometime soon. I tried to talk em' out of it– wouldn't listen to me."

He heard you shuffle closer as you laid your hand on his. "I'm sure it'll be okay, I'm here if you need me."

The next day, Daryl found himself thinking of your touch. He really couldn't find it in himself to be all that worried about Merel that day. He knew deep down that he should've been– that the city was crawling with geeks and he needed to be prepared for anything, but he wasn't.

He kept to himself, just as he usually did, but he would find his eyes wandering any time he heard your voice. At the moment he was watching you play, what he could only assume was a weird version of cops and robbers, with the kids. He wasn't sure if hed ever actually heard you laugh before– and he was saving it to memory.

"You gettin',a piece of that little brother?"

He turned his head away from you to come face to face with his brother, smirking as he looked in your direction.

"I bet she'd make a good house wife, ya'know considering the kids an' all. I wonder how many you'll pound outta'er?" Merle laughed, taking pride in his crude joke, plopping himself next to the archer.

"Shut up." Daryl knocked him off the log with his shoulder, not impressed.

"Oh don't tell me you two haven't ham hogged yet!" he laughed, sitting himself back up and placing an arm around the younger. "You waitin' on a miracle or somethin' little brother?"

He found himself biting back, "Man shut the hell up!"

"Okay–okay!" he held his hands up in mock defeat, standing up and beginning to walk away, "I gotta get ready for tomorrow anyways!"

When Daryl went to look back at you, your eyes met his with a questioning glance. He knew you hadn't heard his brother’s statements, you were a good few yards away– but you'd still heard something. Part of him knew you were going to bring up up that night. And of course– you did.

–

"Sooo–" you started, looking at him as he sat next to you, a stick and knife already in his hands. "What was all that about?"

He didn't answer you, far too occupied with the wood carving he had just started.

"Daryl!" you borderline wined.

It had been killing you all day– it was the first time the two brothers had gotten into a spat since you and Daryl had started to get closer– it was your time to shine!

"It was nothin'."

You fell back with fake offense as you put your hand over your heart gasping.

"I can't believe I'm being lied to!"

"Shut up."

A smile tugged it way to his lips. He was finding it hard not to smile when you were concerned.

–

The day the group left for Atlanta was a lot more dramatic than you’d expected. You knew there was a possibility of a casualty or something going wrong— but you hadn’t expected Merle to be handcuffed to a roof.

The guy was a dick— above all else you couldn’t confidently he didn’t deserve it. But you knew nothing good was going to come from it.

Lori and Carl had gained a family member— and Daryl had lost one— and he wasn’t even here to hear the news. The thought of it broke your heart.

Honestly, you were afraid you’d lose Daryl because of this. In the few days you’d come to know him, he made you feel safe, he made you smile.

But Merle and Daryl were a package deal.

—

It in fact— did not go well.

You’d never seen Daryl so angry, so hurt and defeated.

Just the other night you’d seen him smile, he laughed with you. And now he was marching away after being forcefully put into a chokehold and told that his brother— his family— had been left for dead.

“Daryl?” You called, inching your way to his tent.

You’d never actually walked over to his side of camp, there were crushed cigarette butts littering the ground beside a full ashtray, a couple camping chairs and some animal skins.

It wasn’t necessarily your cup of tea, but it somehow made sense together.

After getting no answer, you decided to send a few halfassed ‘knocks’ on the outside of his tent, hoping you’d at least get a grunt in response.

But nothing came.

“Daryl.” You sighed, leaning away from the tent’s entrance. “I don’t want to impose, and I know you want your space right now— but I’m still here, okay?”

That night Daryl didn’t come to sit with you by the fire. It hurt a lot more than you expected it too.

—

The next day, without giving it much thought, you tracked him down. He was getting ready to leave. The search for his brother was about to commence, and you knew he needed moral support, even if he didn’t want to accept it.

“Wait! Daryl!” You called, running towards the truck, one hand deep in your pocket as you pulled out your charm, “take this!”

As he walked to the front of the truck, probably to tell you off, you grabbed his wrist, shoving the old metal bracelet on him, not taking no for an answer.

He looked at you, that same look in his eyes that you had only ever gotten to see at night under the stars.

“You need it more than I do right now.”

—

Those words rang in Daryl’s head as they got back to the quarry that night. The sound of your soft voice ripping through his skull over the sounds of screams.

You were wrong.

In all his life, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever felt so scared— so utterly frantic.

He didn’t know where you were, he didn’t know if you were okay.

The charm jingled against his wrist as he fought, its rough exterior keeping him grounded as he searched for you.

And finally, he did.

You were out of commission pretty quickly. Overall you weren’t a terrible fighter, but you’d injured your ankle as a child and it never quite healed correctly— one twist and you were down, locking yourself in the RV with some of the others.

Seeing Daryl after the attack was like whiplash. It was much the same for him.

The hug you two shared was unlike any either of you had ever experienced. The pure warmth overtook you like a smoldering flame.

You were both, undoubtedly Alive.

On the way to the CDC, you decided to ride with Daryl. The truck smelled like smoke and leather, but as you learned— so did he.

He was still wearing your charm, and anytime you felt uneasy you grabbed his hand, so the wooden surface would glide along your wrist. He never complained, and he never took it off.

Once the party had started and drinks were passed around, you got to see a little of the man you’d come to know on those moonlit nights, only now everyone could see it. His smile was contagious, his laugh felt like silk along your brain— but then again— you were pretty drunk too.

You felt his arm wrap against you before you saw him approaching, his warm skin gliding against your own like a furnace in a cold night. His touch felt like heaven.

“Common, I got somethin’ to show you.”

You followed, almost like you were a lost puppy. You weren’t ashamed though, his hand held yours the entire way.

He led you to his room for the night, it was smaller than the others you’d seen, nothing more than a couple chairs and a loveseat. It made sense for him, you would’ve picked this one for him too.

Sitting on the couch, you couldn’t help but lay your head on his shoulder. You weren’t much of a drinker, and you could already feel the headache of your buzz pounding into your skull.

“What were you gonna show me?” You whispered, your eyes half-lidded as you took in his scent. Before the world had ended, you never would’ve liked the smell of cigarettes and leather, especially not together, but now, it gave you the feeling of utter bliss— almost addictive in a way.

He shifted under you, his hand reaching into his back pocket.

It was a wooden charm.

It was in the shape of a heart, and your first initial was painstakingly carved in the middle.

“That night when you came by— I couldn’t answer you.” His accent was thick as he spoke, form drinking or nervousness, you weren’t quite sure. “I remembered yer story, about yer uncle.”

Even without elaborating, you knew what he was saying. You knew the purpose behind his words.

Reaching out a hand, you turned the charm to show the backside, leaning your head up to whisper in his ear.

“It’s not a proper work of art without the artist’s signature.”

Your heart had never felt so full as you watched the archer pull out his blade at your request, slicing a D into the back of his gift to you.

The air was thick, almost as if his confession had filled the room. It didn’t bother you though, as you took the charm and put it directly into your pocket, twiddling it around.

It was perfect.

Leaning your head forward, you planted a soft kiss on his lips, they were chapped and peeled, but they fit beautifully against your own.

The kiss felt as if he had lasted hours— and yet it felt like it had ended too soon at the same time.

In any case, your lucky charm had worked.

You would always be safe with Daryl Dixon by your side.

[the-artistic-animal]

Words Left Unsaid (part 2 / final)

Daryl x Reader

Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria/Sanctuary (set in seasons 7-8)  Warnings: injury, blood, minimally implied sexual abuse, torture, death and a lot of fluffiness! Word count: 3391

Context: Daryl brings Y/N back to the Hilltop and hopes he will be able to say everything he has to say to her.

(If you haven’t read part 1, you can find it here)

The car was coming came to a stop, the people of Hilltop knew from the loud roar of the car’s engine that Jesus and Daryl were back. The curtain of dust it left behind made the everyone rush close to the vehicle, some curious and some preoccupied. Someone opened the back door where Daryl was, he didn’t take notice on who it was, focused on getting the girl to the infirmary. The crowd immediately opening a corridor for the archer to pass, his frenetic eyes looking straight ahead at Doctor Carson, who was standing at the doors of the improvised clinic trailer.

Like a hurricane Daryl entered the room, but his hands were gentle as he lowered the girl on the hospital-type bed. Dr. Carson and Enid took it as a sign to start acting, checking her pulse and looking for any major bruises or bleeding cuts. The archer told then little, as he didn’t know much of what happened to the girl, so he gave them space as they worked on her, never leaving the room. Enid unbuttoned Y/N’s flannel and Daryl’s stomach twisted at the sign of purple and yellow bruises, some shaped like hands hugged around her arms and pulse; but he didn’t allow himself to look away, taking it as punishment for not getting her out sooner.

Her legs matched the angry bruises of her chest, adding to some cuts and scratches on her knees, which she got from the fight she put up with the savior when they took her. Enid cleaned the dried blood, leaving the colored stains to go by themselves. Taking a clean shirt from the small drawer, they dressed her and pushed a thin blanket over her body; the archer analyzed everything, waiting for any sign that she was wake, but finding none.

“She gonna be alrigh’?” The archer’s voice was grave, deeper than usual, as the two finished working on Y/N. “She doesn’t seem to have any serious injuries, as far as we can see. She’s still out probably due to the trauma…” the Doctor’s words lingered in the air as he gave a final glance at her. Daryl felt a tight gulp go down his throat.

“Did they- was she… hum…” the archer didn’t dare to pronounce the remaining words, but the doctor cough on, the hypothesis having crossed his mind too. “I don’t know. All we can do is treat the outside; only her and God knows what kind of trauma she went through. All we can do now is wait.” The doctor patted Daryl’s shoulder before passing through the curtain, Enid was already gone.

Daryl moved to the side of the bed, sitting on the old chair resting there. He took her hand in his and rested his head on the thin mattress. The quietness was interrupted by Maggie and Sasha entering trailer, the metal door ranging loudly. “How is she?” Maggie’s voice was quiet, careful, but her eyes matched the apprehensive look of Sasha’s. Both the girls weren’t much familiar to Y/N but seeing how much she meant to Daryl was enough to make them sympathetic to her condition.

“Doc says we have ta wait. She’s all… bruised, I don’t…” The archer pressed his hands to his face, eyes closed, a tired sign escaping his lips. Maggie pressed her hand to his shoulder in a gesture of comfort, and Sasha offered to take his place for him to go eat something or just rest. Daryl was quick to reject the offer, even though his eyes showed how much he needed it.

After some more useless insisting, they both left, promising to bring lunch for him later. Throughout the day, Daryl watched people come and go through the infirmary trailer, some to see Y/N, some to see other people who were staying there too. The tight knot on his stomach didn’t undo itself for a single moment as he waited. When he got up to look out of the window, the dark of the night had already englobed the Hilltop, but still the girl showed no signs of waking up.

Daryl stayed by Y/N’s side through the whole night, at some moments the tiredness got the best of him, eyes closing for a couple of minutes, but never longer than that. The doctor came in at some point to check on a coughing patient at the bed behind the curtain that divided the room, taking some time to also check on Y/N. According to him, she was stable, but the words did nothing to calm Daryl down.

The next day washed away way too slowly for the likes of the archer, still no change on the girl’s condition, not even when he sprinted to the bathroom of the Barrington House to throw some water on his face, Enid taking his place for, as she said, ‘as long as he needed’. But he didn’t take more than five minutes to burst through the trailer doors, cursing at himself for even leaving. But still nothing had changed.

It was only the second night that Daryl felt some semblance of hope. His head rested on his hands, elbows on his knees and eyes moving from the girl’s eyes to her hands, and from hands to eyes, as if at any moment they would open, or her fingers would slightly move. That’s when he heard a low groan coming out from her throat, eyes not opened yet, but he noticed both of her hands closing in tight fists. The archer was immediately standing, a breath of excitement and fear was held as he waited. Until then, his mind was so caught on the fact that she was still unconscious, that he didn’t prepare for the moment when she would see him. Would he say he was sorry? Would he have the guts to ask her what exactly happened? Would she even want to tell him? To see him at all?

But none of those questions mattered, because when Y/N’s eyes locked on his all he could identify was fear. She was afraid – not of him – of everything, but he couldn’t hide the hurt he felt when she moved away from him on the limited space of the bed like a cornered animal. He raised his hands to show how he meant no harm, and as a reflex her eyes closed – that’s when his heart broke. “Y/N… I- ya’re safe…” his voice was shaky and uncertain, much for his dislike, as the archer wanted to assure her of the safety of the place. Her eyes were wide now, mouth slightly open drawing shallow breaths through her lips. When the girl blinked a few times, eyes never leaving Daryl, she seemed to finally come to reality, and her voice came out so raspy as she spoke his name in a whisper.

And then she was flying to his arms, and like they were made for her, his arms opened to capture her fragile body into his chest. Daryl was glad no one entered the trailer during the time they stayed like that, clinging to each other like their lives depended on it. Perhaps it did. Only when he felt her tears soaking his shirt, he gently pulled away to look into her eyes. Seeing her so close to him, he could not contain his own tears from dropping as he whispered how sorry he was.

“M’sorry- shit, m’sorry I let this happen to ya… I didn’t know-I didn’t…” Daryl couldn’t stand to look at her anymore, his trembling lips spilled the words quietly as a round of tears fell from his eyes. But the archer didn’t realize that the girl didn’t know he was alive, as the last time she saw him the saviors were loading him bleeding up into their trunk.

“You are alive… I thought I’d lost you.” Her bloodshot eyes were soft, and she searched for scars and bruises adorning his face. The moment her hands found his cheeks Daryl was frozen, and gently she was lifting his chin up so their eyes could meet. Both of her hands involved his face now, her soft fingers contrasting with the roughness of his sparse beard, and at that moment the archer swore he never felt closer to heaven. Y/N swallowed her tears before continuing, “that guy-Dwight… he kept saying- he talked about you and… and you weren’t there, I thought you were… gone.” The last word came out as a mere whisper.

She didn’t want to ask how he got out – even though she wished to know –, instead she just accepted the fact that he was there, at that very moment of time, and the girl surrendered to the need to hold the archer close. As Daryl held her, check pressed to her hair, he kept saying how he didn’t know she was at the Sanctuary, but Y/N didn’t pay attention to that, her eyes tightly closed, letting her body and soul sink into the lingering felling and sent of the archer..

“Listen,” Daryl removed himself from her embrace to look at her face. “I have to tell ya. When we lost the prison…”. Y/N was confused and about to interrupt him when the archer continued. “Nah, just listen, if I don’t tell ya now, I may never do.” His expression was so serious she didn’t dare to interrupt him anymore. When he opened his mouth, the door cracked open, slow at first, but when Doctor Carson saw Y/N had woken up, he rushed to her. After that, the afternoon was filled with visits from absolutely every person of Hilltop, even Gregory, whom Daryl made sure to keep an eye on at all times, a concentrated frown resting on his handsome face, Y/N noticed. The archer didn’t leave her side during the visits, keeping his distance but making sure his presence was known, by the girl and everyone else, like he was guarding her.

As much as the girl appreciated the attention she was getting from the community, she couldn’t help the anxiety that creeped up every time she would take a glance at Daryl – and every time he was already looking at her, examining. When it seemed like everyone had already paid their visit to the infirmary trailer, the Dr. was back to check on his patient, and after checking through vital signs and asking the same questions she had already answered, her hesitant eyes were expecting the final verdict.

“So, can I go now?” Carson’s eyes went from hers to the archer and them back to hers, Daryl was leaning on the trailer wall, arms intimidatingly crossed in front of his chest, but his eyes held an expression far from that – he was worried. “It’s best if you stay one more night, so we can keep an eye on you.” A pout was set on her lips, Daryl noticed the subtle trait of stubbornness that he knew so well and couldn’t avoid the smirk on his lips.

“I know you are the Doctor, but I know for a fact that I’ll feel much better after spending the night out of this bed.” Her tone was firm and defiant, but warm and pleading all the same. “Daryl will stay with me… won’t you?”. It’s was almost imperceptible, but the archer noticed the insecurity on her final words and he was quick to come stand next to her. “’Course I will, but maybe ‘s best if ya listen to Doc, he knows best…”.

“No. Look, I just wanna take a shower and sleep on a real bed… please.” Her eyes flashed at Daryl first and them at the Doctor, who was busy analyzing a particular stitched cut on her arm. “Alright. But you keep an eye on her,” his words were directed to Daryl, who seemed to listen closely. “and you, I want to see you tomorrow morning. Don’t push yourself, you’re still recovering. Take these painkillers, you will need them.” As the doctor moved to reach the pills from the top cupboard, Y/N was already protesting, but Daryl was quicker, as he took the little recipient from the man’s hand and shoved it in his pocket, receiving a frown from the girl.

On their way out, Daryl watched her every step as if she was made of glass. The girl could only think of how glad she was everybody seemed to be inside their houses and trailers and the sky was dark above them, since she was only wearing a way too big shirt, underpans and a pair of flipflops someone left at the infirmary. Considering the dark bruises that covered a great amount of her thighs, she imagined she was quit the sight.

“Hum… I know I said you would stay with me, but you don’t have to. I-I can just go the Barrington House, I don’t wanna intrude.” As abruptly as she stopped walking, the words nervously came out of her mouth. “Nah, yer staying with me. Unless ya don’ want ta…”. Y/N noticed he was as nervous as she was as he spoke, so she just nodded, assuring him that that was what she wanted – more than anything, she wanted to know what he had to say, but she chose to leave that part out for the moment, as he led her to his trailer.

As they walked in, she took a deep inhale, his sent filling her lungs even though he barely stayed inside the room,, specially given the events that filled the past few days. After the first awkwardness, he offered her to take a shower, which she gladly accepted, walking up to the small bathroom with the clothes Maggie left for her earlier that day.

When Y/N walked out, Daryl was sat at the small couch, which had more holes in it that actual fabric. His expression was unreadable, hand resting over his mouth as a sign that he was deep in thought. “Sorry… I took a bit too long, right? The was so much dirt to scrub out.” A nervous laugh was followed, but Daryl barely smiled as he assured her it was fine just before walking to the bathroom himself.

Y/N didn’t take offense in his behavior, knowing already how the archer was when his mind was working millions per hour. She sat on the couch and waited for him, allowing herself to enjoy the feeling of tiredness sinking her body to the cushions. But when Daryl returned, she was alert again and he seemed so lost that she couldn’t help asking if he was okay.

“’M fine, I just… hum… Ya can sleep on the bed, I’ll take the couch…”. At that she frowned, even though she was exhausted, his words from earlier that day hadn’t stopped playing on her brain for a single moment. “Actually, I was hoping you could tell me what you were gonna say before… if you’re not too tired?”. His hand brushed on his neck in a nervous motion “Nah, but ya need rest and… Doc said–“.

“I’m not tired yet, and you said if you didn’t tell me then you wouldn’t tell me ever… so tell me, what is it?”. At that point he was practically shaking, and when she moved to leave enough room for him to sit beside her, his legs almost gave out as he walked up to her.

His eyes didn’t lock on her just yet, instead he looked at some of the bruises her shirt didn’t cover. “Did they hurt ya? Like… I mean, were ya… did they touch ya?”. As much as it killed him to ask, he could stop it, he wouldn’t rest until he knew. “What?” she was confused at first, but also disappointed that that was his question, but she answered anyway, taking in the blush that creeped up on his face, partly from the embarrassment, but mostly rage.

“No! Not like that, if that’s what you’re thinking. Negan has his policy, his torture is nowhere like that… you know what I’m talking about, you were there too. But no, these are mostly from when his men found me. At least I gave them a little bit of work…” Her tone was sad, Daryl noticed, but he couldn’t help the somewhat relived sign he let out.

“’M sorry I didn’t take ya out sooner-“. Again, he was interrupted, but he didn’t mind it because her hand was holding his now, and involuntarily he sucked in a breath. “You already apologized, and I already said it was not your fault. So maybe we could move past that…” The archer could only nod, as he took in the sight of their hands joined on his lap, his palm turning upwards with the final blast of courage he had to hold hers.

“What I wanted ta say… what I want- shit, ‘m not good at this.” Y/N was patient and now her thumb was softly stroking the back of his hand in such a calm way that he was able to continue. “When we lost the prison, I thought I had lost ya and I promised if I ever saw ya again I’d say it, but then there was Terminus, and we were starving and Beth… and I- I didn’t say it but ya were there with me.” He stopped to take a breath and Y/N searched for signs of where he was going with all that, but his eyes only met her face briefly before the archer continued.

“When Dwight shot me and after Gleen and Abraham…” Her hand held his tighter by the second as she tried to give him as much comfort as she could as he showed his bare heart to her. “I thought I was never gonna see ya again, but then I came back, and I waited for ya to come with Rick, but when he said ya weren’t in Alexandria… I lost it.” His eyes searched for hers now, delicate tears matching her own. When she reached out to wipe a single drop that fell from his eye, he found the last bit of strength he needed to keep his speech.

“When I found ya, on that cell, I thought… ya were just crumbled there, ya didn’t even look like ya-“ he exhaled heavily, like it physically hurt him to describe the vivid scene from his memory. “Tha’s why I have ta tell ya. Fuck…” the archer cursed under his breath and Y/N almost didn’t catch it, wasn’t from the dead silent around the place. Her hand still hadn’t let go of his as she waited for him, the blood pumping inside her ears was so loud she was afraid of not hearing what the archer had to say.

“I can’t lose ya.” His words were firm and steady, contrary to the trembling chill that run throughout his body. His mouth opened and closed slightly a few times, the girl noticed, and when his blue eyes, quite red from all the crying, flashed at hers, she couldn’t resist the urge to hold him, and she didn’t. Daryl was surprised at first, and she wondered if it was a mistake, until both of his arms finally wrapped around her torso in a desperate move. She felt him relax against her, a deep breath he seemed to be holding for way too long left his mouth and his eyes closed.

“I can’t lose you Daryl.” Her soft words was all it took for his eyes to shot open wide, but he didn’t let go just yet. “I love you.” The archer’s body stilled like a statue at that, his mind racing as he tried to decide if it was a trick – he could possibly be dead at that moment, he couldn’t tell. It felt like so much heaven over him.

His body and soul were pulled out of the trance abruptly, she was pulling away from him and he wanted to desperately hold on to her and the feeling she was giving him. But when Y/N looked at him, cheeks softly blushed, he was sure that being able to simply see her was a divine sight. She didn’t have time to apologize or assure him he didn’t have to say anything back because, before she even started, he let them out – all the words that were once left unsaid – “I love ya too.”.

Autor’s note: HOLY CRAP!! Back by popular demand, part two is finally out! I’m sorry it took so long, but consider that it has a lot more words too hahaha

I really hope you enjoyed this and it’s as good as you expected! I really put effort into this so please tell me what you think! I read every single comment and appreciate them so much. It gives me all the motivation I need to write more for you guys!

As always, thank you so much for reading and don’t forget to comment, like and reblog if you liked it!

I’ll be opening a tag list, if you wanna be tagged on my next writings let me know!

Take a look at my MASTERLIST for more!

[trashcanband4]

The Revelation of the Other Woman Ch. 16

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15

Chapter Title: Settling in.  Pairing: Daryl/oc. Setting: The Prison. Wordcount: 4,837. Warning: None that I can thing of.

 After Rick, Daryl and Merle got safely inside the gates we all gathered in the cell block. Daryl, Carol and Beth stood on the perch and catwalk above while Michonne, Glenn, Rick, Maggie, Carl and I stood on the ground below. Hershel sat on the stairs. Merle was locked in the holding room. “We're not leaving.” Rick spoke with finality.

“We can't stay here.” Hershel argued the same case he had been arguing.

“What if there's another sniper?” Maggie asked. “A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds.”

“We can't even go outside.” Beth spoke up as if what she said wasn't already understood by everyone.

“Not in the daylight.” Carol added.

“Rick says we're not running. We're not running.” Glenn spoke up still playing the part of leader even though Rick was back.

“No, better to live like rats.” Merle spoke up through the bar door holding him back from the rest of us.

“You got a better idea?” Rick asked him.

“Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we?” Merle asked. “I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now.”

“We ain't scared of that prick.” Daryl spoke up from the catwalk, but I didn't even bother looking at him.

“Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing? That was just him ringing the dinner bell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to.” As much as I hated to admit it, Merle had a point.

“Let's put him in the other cell block.” Maggie said ringing a rag in her hands.

“No. He's got a point.” Daryl said.

“This is all you. You started this!” Maggie yelled at Merle who wasn't affected by it.

“What's the difference whose fault it is?” Beth spoke up loudly. “What do we do?”

“I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here.” Hershel said for the millionth time and Rick started to walk off. “Get back here!” he yelled at the ex-cop who stopped, but didn't turn to look at the old man. “You're slipping Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this is not a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something.”

After Hershel yelled at Rick he just stared at him for a second then walked off. With him gone, people scattered. Most went to their cell's so that's what I did as well. I wiped the dust off of the metal mirror and looked at myself for the first time in months. Dark circles shadowed my eyes, my skin was darker than it used to be from the amount of sun I'd gotten during the winter and my hair had grown two inches, now touching my shoulders. I didn't look like the me I remembered. I was still studying myself when I heard someone clear their throat and looked over to see Daryl standing with his arm propped up on the door frame.

A pain shot through my chest at the way he was looking at me. With hard eyes and straight lips that gave nothing away. He was different than I remembered, everyone was. I guess we'd all changed over the winter. “Whatever you're selling I don't want any.” I told him emotionlessly and crossed my arms over my chest.

“That your way of tellin' me to go away?” he asked quietly.

“If you're going to call me more names...yeah. That's exactly what I'm telling you.” I said as I sat down on my bed, pulled my legs up and hugged my knees to my chest.

“I ain't good at sayin' sorry.” he said quietly looking more like his old self.

“Good then don't say it. 'Cause I don't want to hear it.” I practically growled at him still hugging my knees to my chest.

“Joanna, I really am-”

“No.” I interrupted him letting go of my knees to scoot to the edge of the bed. “You don't get it. I dreamed about you. Every night that we weren't together was another dream that had you in it.” His face flushed at my words and it was cute, but it didn't put a damper on my anger. “At first they were nightmares. I blamed you for me getting left behind and stuck with that bitch Andrea. But then I realized that you told me to stay behind because you wanted me to be safe and I stopped being mad at you. The nightmares turned to good dreams. I would be hunkered down in a house somewhere and you would find me or vice versa.” my voice was shaking holding back tears. “We would find each other, you would wrap those amazing arms of yours around me and give me the best kiss of my life.” a tear slid down my cheek as I watched him cross his arms over his chest and lean back against the wall.

“Then imagine my surprise when my wildest dream came true. You found me, hugged me and kissed me and...” I closed my eyes and smiled sadly at the memory of his arms around me and his lips on mine. “Damn it that felt heavenly.” I opened my eyes and let the smile fade as I glared at him again. “So stupid me, I think that means you actually missed me as much as I missed you, that you wanted me back. But then your brother comes in the picture and you no longer give a damn about me. I'm just some weak, uppity, booty call. And you leave.” my eyes glared at his hand to his mouth, chewing on his cuticles. “That hurt.” I glared at him with tears slipping down my cheeks. “I never thought you would hurt me. So don't expect me to jump into your arms at the first “I'm sorry.” because it ain't gonna happen.”

He just stared at me for a second as if he were trying to think of something to say before he nodded and walked out. A few minutes later I heard people talking down stairs, practically under my cell so I walked out on the catwalk to see what was going on. “I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch.” Rick said to everyone.

“I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence.” Daryl suggested.

“Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place.” Michonne suggested.

“We can't access the field without burning through out bullets.” Hershel added.

“So we're trapped in here. There's barely any food or ammo. Glenn added not helping one bit. Honestly his negativity was grating to everyone.

“We've been here before. We'll be all right.” Daryl tried.

“That's when it was just us. Before there was a snake in the nest.” Glenn directed at Daryl.

“Man, we gonna go through this again?” Daryl asked, getting in Glenn's face. ?Look, Merle's staying here. He's with us now. Get used to it.” he looked up at me then at the rest of the group. “All y'all.”

“Seriously, Rick, I don't think Merle-” Glenn started, but I interrupted him.

“Just stop it Glenn.” I spoke up from the cat walk as Daryl came up the stairs. “No one likes him being here, but as much as I hate to admit it, we need him. He knows The Governors tactics and he has military training. So just get off your high horse and deal with it.”

Glenn looked from me to Rick. “I can't kick him out.” Rick said with a shake of his head.

Rick's words seemed to piss Glenn off even worse than mine did. “I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you.” Glenn's words pulled a look out of Rick and I tilted my head at Glenn's words. Shane tried to kill Rick?

“He may be erratic, but don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother.” Hershel defended.

“What if we solve two problems at once?” Glenn asked. “Deliver Merle to the Governor. Bargaining chip. Give him his traitor, maybe declare a truce.”

“No.” I said as I walked down the stairs to be a better part of the conversation. “We're sacrificing people now?” I asked with a twisted faced look at Glenn. “Delivering him to The Governor will be no different than leaving him on that roof to die. We couldn't do that back then and we can't do this now.”

“Who put you in charge?” Glenn asked.

I leaned back and raised my brows. “I could ask you the same question mister high and mighty.”

“Guys, cut it out.” Hershel cut off our building argument. “Look, Glenn, Joanna's right. That's not who we are.”

“We're not gonna figure this out now. Let's take a break.” Rick suggested and Glenn and Hershel walked off. Rick jerked his head for me to follow him to his cell so I did. “What all happened out there over the winter? I know you said Michonne found you two while you were running from the farm, but I don't know much more than that.” he asked as he sat down on his bed.

I sat down in the chair in the room with a sigh. “Not a whole lot up until Woodbury. I answered vaguely. Just a lot of running, scavenging and hunkering down for as long as we could. Michonne and I are pretty good friends, we don't communicate a lot, but we work well together. She and Andrea got closer though.” I said with a shrug.

“What about you and Andrea?” he asked looking curious.

“Oh we still hate each other as much as we always did, if not more now.” I said with a small laugh before it faded. “Bitches can't befriend bitches I guess.”

“You're not a bitch.” he said with a shake of his head.

“Really? Because I feel like one after the things I just said to Daryl.” I said looking up from the floor to his blue eyes. I had forgotten how blue they were and the fact that I was apparently a sucker for them. His and Daryl's... the same color yet so different. “But that doesn't matter. What about you and the rest of the group? There's some things I've been wondering since I got here.”

“Like what?” he asked and I sat up straighter.

“Like I hear Shane tried to kill you?” I asked and he nodded with a sigh.

“The night the walkers came through and we all got separated, he killed Randall to lure me into the woods and kill me.” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I killed him first.” he said before his dropped his hand and looked at me. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. “He wanted Lori, thought killing me was the only way to get her and Carl.”

“I'm sorry you had to do that.” I said and he waved me off. “So... I have to ask based off the way Beth spoke to me, did you and Lori ever work things out?”

He shook his head no. “What did Beth say to you?”

“She blames me for Lori's death.” he just tilted his head in confusion. “I guess she thinks that if I had never...been, with you that you and Lori would have been happier. I guess in her mind if you two were happier then you would have been there to save her or something.”

Rick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those aren't only her thoughts...” when he lifted his head to look at me I tilted my head to the side in a questioning manner. “She's just copying what I've heard Carl say.”

“Wait, Carl's mad at me too?” I asked getting tired of being everyone's whipping post.

“Yeah.” Rick sighed and dropped his hand from his face. “He didn't put two and two together until recently...after Lori...”

“I don't know how to handle this... Should we talk to him, try to explain things?” I asked as I shook my head in confusion.

“No, I'll talk to him and Beth. You don't deserve all that hate.” he said as he stood up.

“No, I think it's totally justified.” I sighed as I stood up as well. “I'm a home wrecker.”

“You know that's not true. Lori and I had our problems long before you even came along.” he said taking a step closer to grab my hand.

“I know, but...” I said giving his hand a small squeeze. When I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye I looked out of the cell to see Daryl walk by and glance in our direction. His stopped when he saw Rick's hand in mine and shook his head. I could hear a scoff as he walked off.

I dropped Ricks hand and scratched the back of my head. “What else have you been wondering about since you got back?”

“Daryl and Carol.” I said crossing my arms over my chest

“What about them?” he asked.

“She seemed really upset to hear that he didn't come back and then she blamed me for him leaving like I pushed him into it or something.” I said and he just looked at me. “Are they...together?” I cautiously asked.

“Honestly, I don't know. It's hard to tell with him.” Rick answered with a shoulder shrug. “You'll have to ask one of them.” I sighed and placed my head in my hands. He placed his hand on my back. “Hey,” I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile, “If I hadn't said it yet I'm glad you're alive.”

I gave him a small smile in return and he engulfed in a hug. “I'm glad you're alive too.” I said with a small laugh then pulled out of the hug. His hands lingered on my neck and mine on his sides. In a split second every tender intimate moment we'd ever had flooded my mind. Then came the bad memories and all the arguments. That made me remember why I chose Daryl, why I love Daryl more than anything or anyone. So I let him go and gave him a sad smile. “Thanks for filling me in. I'm gonna go to my cell and try to process things.” he let me go without a word.

Daryl's cell was on the way to mine and Carol's voice made me stop just outside of it. “This is a tomb.” I heard Daryl say as I made sure I couldn't be seen by them.

“That's what T-dog called it. I thought he was right till you found me.” Carol said and it got quiet for a few seconds. “He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down. After all, look how far you've come.” she said making him laugh. God how I'd missed that sound. It got quiet and I was about to go to my cell when Carol's words stopped me. “I've never thought Joanna was good for you either. She's too weak, those panic attacks of hers...they'll only slow you down and make you weak.” I felt my teeth grind together as I bit down, forcing back more tears and made myself walk by as if I hadn't heard a thing.

About an hour later I heard some one approach my cell and I thought it would be Daryl or Rick, but instead, it was Merle. “What do you want?” I asked sitting up to pull my knees to my chest.

“Just thought that if we're gonna be under the same roof, we should clear the air.” he stated and I just stared at him. “The whole hunting you two down thing... that was just business. Carrying out orders.”

“Sure, whatever, just don't hurt my people.” I said and he just smirked at me. “What?”

“Good taste.” he answered making me immediately think of what he said back at Woodbury. How his brother had good taste. He just smirked again as he walked away.

I was still in my cell when I heard Rick yell for Daryl, Merle and some others to join him outside because Andrea had been spotted. So I ran out behind Michonne and watched as Rick let her in a treated her like the traitor she was. He pushed her to her knees and took her things before she confirmed that she was alone and she was eventually let into the prison, but just the holding room. Andrea greeted Carol first. “Hershel, oh my god.” she sighed, spotting the old man's lack of a limb. “I can't believe this.” she said as she looked around the room and let go of Carol. “Where's Shane?” he asked still looking around the room before she looked at Rick.

“Why should you care? You're sleeping with The Governor now right?” I asked earning a glare from her before she looked at Rick who simply shook his head and looked away from her.

“And Lori?” she asked and Rick just gave her a hard look.

“She had a girl. Lori didn't survive.” Hershel spoke up.

“Neither did T-Dog.” Maggie added and I made a mental note to find out exactly how he died.

“I'm so sorry.” she said before her eyes landed on Carl. “Carl...” the boy just glared at her sympathy. Then she turned to Rick. “Rick I-” she started to walk over to Rick but he backed away from her. So she looked around the room at other people. “You all live here?”

“Here and the cell block.” Glenn answered.

“There?” she asked pointing to the door to the cell block. “Well, can I go in?” she asked.

Rick stepped in her way. “I won't allow that.”

“I'm not the enemy here, Rick.” Andrea defended.

“No you're just sleeping with the enemy.” I said and this time she didn't even look at me.

“We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up.” Rick said still standing in her way.

“He said you fired first.” Andrea defended.

I wanted to point out that he was a liar, but I knew I wasn't the person to point that out. She wouldn't listen to me. She never did. “Well, he's lying.” Rick answered and she just stared at him.

“He killed an inmate who survived in here.” Hershel spoke up.

“We liked him. He was one of us.” Daryl said making her attention turn to him.

“I didn't know anything about that.” Andrea said with a head shake. “As soon as I found out I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out.” she said looking around at everyone.

“That was days ago.” Glenn said and now I agreed with his angry tone.

“I told you I came as soon as I could.” Andrea defended herself and looked around at everyone just to be met with glares and looks of mistrust. She turned to me “What have you told them?” she asked angrily.

“I didn't have to tell them anything.” I said from where I sat at the metal picnic table.

“You poisoned them with lies about me.” she yelled.

“She hasn't bad mouthed ya.” Daryl of all people defended me from where he sat at the table across the room from me.

“I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?” she asked getting mad at everyone.

“He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us.” Glenn started.

“With his finger on the trigger.” Andrea yelled with a point at Merle. “Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?” she asked then sighed and placed her head in her hands for a second. “I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am trying to bring us together. We have to work this out.”

“There's nothing to work out.” Rick said cutting her off. “We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will.”

“We can settle this.” she said taking a step closer to Rick.

“God, Andrea!” I yelled at her. “When are you going to open those ignorant eyes of yours and realize that there is no settling this. He will not stop until we are dead, that is just the kid of man he is. Merle kidnapped us, but it was under the orders of your boy toy. He is sick and twisted.” I said walking over to get in her face.

“There is room at Woodbury for you.” she said not giving up on the idea of peace.

“You're blind as a freaking bat.” I scoffed and walked back to the table.

“There's room for all of you.” she said looking around at everyone now.

Merle laughed at her. “You know better than that.”

“What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?” Hershel asked. “Did he say that?”

“No.” Andrea answered.

“Then why did you come here?” Rick asked.

“Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack.” Andrea warned.

“I'll tell you what. Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye.” Daryl warned back.

“We've taken too much shit for too long.” Glenn spoke up. “He wants a war? He's got one.”

Andrea turned to Rick. “Rick? If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town.” she heaved out a breath as she turned toward us. “Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore.”

“You want to make this right, get us inside.” Rick said walking around her to be in her line of sight.

“No.” Andrea said shaking her head rapidly.

“Then we got nothing to talk about.” Rick walked around her.

“There are innocent people.” she yelled after him trying to get him to stop.

With Rick gone Michonne and Andrea went outside to talk. So with her out of the way I went back to my cell.

I don't know when she left, I didn't go see her off like everyone else did. I didn't even leave my cell until I heard everyone getting together down stairs and the smell of warm food hit my nose. It turned out to just be rice, cooked with a chicken bullion cube for flavor. It wasn't much, but I sat on the floor next to Michonne to eat it. Not long after I finished my bowl Beth started singing. After listening to the song enough to recognize a pattern and pick up the chorus I started to sing along. “You gotta hold on, hold on. You gotta hold on. Take my hand I'm standin' right here. You gotta hold on.” I sang back up catching a few people's attention, but I didn't look at them. Beth glared at me, but I ignored her too. She wasn't going to put a damper on my fun.

When the song was over most people turned in for the night. So I followed suit. As I passed Daryl's cell he spoke up, stopping me. “So it's you and Rick again, huh?”

I stopped and leaned my back against the frame of his door. "Maybe." I replied with a shoulder shrug.

"I ain't interested in none of your games." He practically growled as he sat up on the side of his bunk.

"Are you and Carol together?" I finally asked and he looked at me like I was crazy. "She was more broken up about you leaving the group than everyone else and people around here seem to put your names together a lot. On top of that you two were close at the farm, so what am I supposed to expect when I find you." I explained deciding to leave out the fact that I heard her badmouthing me and Daryl didn't defend me. He just stared at me, biting his nails. “Was I supposed to expect you to just wait around for me to show up out of the blue? I mean as much as I missed you and longed to be with you I supposed you would move on at some point.”

"Did you move on?" He answered flatly.

“Oh, yeah, didn't you hear? Andrea, Michonne and I got real cozy on the road together.” I popped off and he rolled his eyes at me with a scoff. “No, I didn't.” I answered truthfully. “Have you?”

“Na. She's just a friend.” he answered quietly.

“Good.” I told him with a nod and pushed off of the door frame to walk away.

“You gonna give me a straight answer 'bout you and Rick?” he asked stopping me and I turned to see that he had stood up.

“He's just a friend.” I answered with a sigh. “Now if you don't mind I'd like to get some sleep.” I started once again to walk off but he grabbed my hand pulling me to a stop.

“Sleep here.” he suggested, not dropping my hand.

“Why, so I can be your booty call?” I asked sarcastically.

He bit his lip and shook his head. “Cause I love ya, Woman.”

“W-what?” I asked too shocked for his words to fully sink in.

“Come on, I ain't good at this shit, don't make me say it again.” he practically begged.

What he had done and what he had called me...it was all washed away by those three little words. Three little words that when said separately or with other words between them meant nothing. But when one sentence was composed of just these words they seemed to heal the worst of wounds and mend broken hearts. So what did I do when they finally sank in?

Laughter burst from my lips and I fell back to lean against the door frame again. When I managed to stop laughing I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “Even in my best dreams you never said that.” I whispered then looked at him to see him looking at me like if I rejected him he would crack. “I love you too.”

A smile spread across his lips as he closed the space between us grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into him. The kiss was hard and passionate. A moan escaped my lips when his tongue found mine starting a battle with no winner. His hand moved from the back of my head to grip my sides and lift me up and pin me to that wall. My legs wrapped around his waist and my fingers embedded themselves into his soft hair.

Thirty minutes later we lay on his bed sweaty and breathless, but still tangled together like an unkempt line of string. “How do you do that?” I asked, not looking at him, but comparing the size of our hands instead.

“Do what?” he asked quietly.

“Make me lose my mind but stay perfectly grounded at the same time.” I said and he scoffed at me.

“Ya ain't makin' since.” he grumbled sleepily.

“Yeah, I guess my minds still a little lost.” I chuckled as I dropped his hand and rolled over to look at him. “It has to be, because I feel crazy for giving you a second chance.” I explained, resting my hand on his taunt chest. “I felt something for you before, I wasn't sure what it was, if it was love or lust or if it was just simply trust, and companionship. So when you told me I was nothing to you and chose to leave me, it hurt but I lived. Barely, but I did. And now, after tonight, after we said what we said? You have my heart, you're capable of destroying me.”

“Ain't gonna do that.” he promised, low and gruff as he placed his hand on my cheek and ran his thumb over my cheekbone. “Can't make the same mistake twice.” from my face his hand slid down to my neck where he touched the mark his brother had left on me. “Let's get some sleep, missed havin' ya by my side.”

I smiled to myself as I tuned my back to him and he tossed his arm over my side. “Goodnight, Daryl.”

“Night, Ballerina.”

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[shimmershae]

Just a few random thoughts and observations about Daryl’s Origins episode.

Basically my stream of consciousness bullshit brought over from Twitter, lol.  I almost didn’t watch the episode after seeing all the drama over there, but ultimately I decided to because frankly?  I don’t trust certain fans’ perceptions of events.  For reasons.  It’s best, I feel, to always watch with your own eyes and form your own independent opinions because this fandom is teeming with people that delight in tormenting other fans by being very selective and oftentimes downright misrepresentative about what they pass along.  

More under the cut because this is random and all over the place and basically excerpts of my live blogging while watching the special.  Did I mention it’s random?  

You know.  It sure would be nice not going into one of these things so apprehensive.  Maybe one day, hmm?  

First things first.  From the very beginning of this Origins episode, I’m reminded of two things:  1).  Our introduction to Daryl, his colorful Dixonese, and his particular brand of humor certainly stands out as one of show's more memorable introductions.  2).  TWD certainly regressed on the deer front. I mean.  Daryl's deer>Richonne's deer.

I’m never going to get over "On Golden Pond."  Never ever and look.  I actually liked Dale but Daryl spitting those words at him still makes me laugh until I'm weak.

Daryl's still searching all these years later.  Or is he?  Really?  Seems to me the man's found exactly what he's been looking for and he's been chasing it since he came back from those woods:  a future with his soulmate.  The one that happens to be his best friend.  OFC, I’m talking about Carol. Who else?  

How pretty and soft are baby Daryl and Carol?  Too pretty and soft for this tired heart to withstand.  Like I love all versions of them, but baby Daryl and Carol just hit different.  

My immediate thought re: the Beth comment-- Misreads the situation?  WTF?  Whoever wrote this script just had to re-inject some eww into the narrative didn't they?  All those damn dirty spoons.  Ever think about how much it probably reeks in that office space?

Moving along, though.  Here’s some real facts.  Carol is so intrinsically woven into the fabric of Daryl's story, the only way she can be removed is if they are literally both destroyed and cease to exist.  Something happens to Carol?  The man is going to be a reanimated body without a heartbeat.  Basically a Walker.

 An aside, I know they're not making me rewatch a scene I haven't watched since the first time it aired.  The way Negan's head bashing tendencies had me seeing red and wanting that barbed wire bat shoved up his ass every time I saw his face.  My JDM love really took a serious hit for awhile.  I'm never going to forgive the character that hateful act.  I just can't.

Somehow I wasn't expecting this to be a teleprompter-fest.  Like who wrote this script?  Hmm.   Sorry.  Don't mind me.  Lost in my thoughts per usual. You know.  It still strikes me as hella insensitive that Rick had Daryl leading the Sanctuary community knowing what he suffered there.  There's no way Daryl would have returned that kind of favor.  

Yep.  Leah still feels tacked on last minute.  A means to an end.  Sigh.   They completely glossed her over here.  Too bad they had that lapse in judgment with some other toxic waste.  I cannot believe they touched that with a ten foot pole.  It's just cringe-worthy and wrong.

"Daryl can't say no to Carol."  They say those words and I’m like “Join the club, my dude.  Join the club, lol.”  

You know.  All the Carol-related moments in this Daryl Dixon recap speak for themselves.  She's his person, dammit.

Okay though.  That reunion in the tall grass with the sun shining on them all golden and picturesque, after Alpha’s taken Daryl to show him her horde?  That's some romance novel shit right there.  "Look at me.  Just look at me."   I'm never going to recover from that moment or the discovery of Sophia.  They break my heart so.  

This recap is literally 2/3's Carol and the other 1/3 Rick and everybody else.  I mean.  It's so obvious.  Utterly and completely misrepresented by some agenda-driven folks.  

"We have a future."   Oh.  Just some pretty, meaningless words you say everyday to all your friends, lol.   Just friends my whole entire ass.  

"I'm never gonna hate you."  Okay, AMC.  Back up all the talk with some action that even the most willfully blind cannot deny, m'kay?  Because they're not going to buy it until you're explicit about it.  Just saying.

The amount of times "Carol" has left this man's mouth during this recap, lol, and some people keep wanting to ignore it. 

Aww.  Guess who they showed when Daryl mentioned family?  How sweet.  And when they mentioned purpose in connection with C0nnie, it was not any indication of romance, IMHO.  

Let me explain.  

By the time C0nnie is lost,  Daryl’s floundering because he feels he hasn’t been able to help Carol despite giving it all and pushing back his previously established comfort zone(s). ��Enter these pair of sisters.  And they put him in mind of the good parts of him and Merle.  Probably they make him remember  the Greene girls when things were good and hopeful before they went sideways.  In some small way, he’s probably reminded of other family units like Rick and Carl and Lori and Carol and Sophia and later Henry.  And all of those people have something in common.  Well, besides being people Daryl has known and cared for.  They’ve seen their family units fractured and/or destroyed by tragedies wrought by the world they live in.   They made a point and emphasized that Daryl’s a searcher and also that family matters to him.  In some way or form he’s been doing his best to help repair or reunite all these different family members since the beginning and ultimately he’s failed to succeed each time.  So yeah.  He’s been given a purpose in a time of uncertainty again with her because this time he’s determined to get it right.  This time he wants to bring the two sisters back together the way he couldn’t do for the Greene girls.  Like I did not, do not read anything romantic at all into that comment. Just my take on things.  Obviously, everyone else’s mileage may vary.  I’ll step off my soapbox now.  Hopefully, maybe these words might comfort.  

So relax, lovelies.  It wasn't as bad as I feared.  Sure, they could have left that one icky comment out but they didn't and honestly?  I don't think it's a positive for that particular 'relationship' because it's something that's brought up to show just how messed up Daryl was.  Because grown men that have their heads on straight don't usually have those type of misreads.  They know they are inappropriate.  Like I'm not putting Daryl into the pedo category because I don't feel like he belongs there.  But I can see how him being so emotionally stunted and naive so far as interpersonal relationships and the nuances of friendship and non-toxic family could lend itself to him maybe reading more into those moments than were really there and not really knowing how to deal.  

Whoever wrote that teleprompter script though?  That particular asshole is probably grinning like a donkey with a mouth full of briars at all the unnecessary drama they stirred up yet again. Like newsflash, goober.  There are better ways to foster interest in your show.

They should hire a team of fans to do the promotion.  Fans that represent all factions of this fractured fandom so the promotion is well-rounded and not so heavily slanted toward any one of them but the diverse fandom as a whole.

Stop fanning the stupid ship wars and just celebrate the damn characters and the overall story.   Nothing new or groundbreaking to see on this first Origins story but hey.  Who doesn't mind a decent recap now and then?  That said, don't sweat not having AMC+ or feel like you missed all that much because you didn't.

I do have to say.  Them pretending B3th was the first girl to be nice to Daryl really had me going WTF.  

I mean, there’s this little exchange from Carol, the first woman to be nice to Daryl, probably the first person from the group--

"You're every bit as good as them.  Every bit."   

  AMC?  TWD?  Do you even watch your own show?  

There you have it.  My bullshit stream of consciousness, originally posted over on Twitter as I liveblogged the show.  Hope you got something helpful or of entertainment value from this.  

Goodnight, lovelies.  

Until next time.  

[haruhey]

in your opinion, what is daryls best trait (physical or personality etc)

hi anon! i’ll be answering this question in 2 parts (one for physical, one for personality)

physical

for me, i really have three major choices - two that are probably vastly popular within the daryl dixon fandom and one that people don’t seem to talk about enough.

arms

shoulders

nose

arms

his arms are muscular and look strong - they give off the vibe that you would feel protected or safe in them. emotional aspect aside, i so also enjoy the eyecandy his arms give off immensely. they’re sculpted like marble statues with the way they sprout out of his sleeveless shirts and there has been one too many times where i will pause the walking dead to watch the way the muscles flex when he wields his knives or aims his crossbow. i want to be held in them because i’m pretty sure it would make all my problems go away.

shoulders

ok how am i supposed to even MENTION daryl dixon, much less ANY norman reedus character without pointing out his broad shoulders and frankly baffling shoulder-waist ratio? he’s very broad which means when you hug him he can quite literally engulf you in his expanses of chest muscle. i like the way his shirts stretch across his shoulders and when his collarbones are exposed whenthe top few buttons are unbuttoned. i just haven’t really ever seen them the same way since one of my friends said, and i quote: “HIS SHOULDERS WERE MADE FOR RESTING YOUR LEGS ON”.

nose

HIS NOSE IS SO CUTE like no thirsting on this point i just love norman reedus’ nose it truly brightens up my day. as much as i am a hard stan for daryl dixon, i love the way his nose rounds out and deadass kinda looks like the ios 👃 nose emoji.

personality

i think the thing i love most about daryl personality-wise is his loyalty and selflessness. a large part of his character in my opinion is his search for belonging. as much as a lone wolf he liked to think he is, family is a huge part of his character and when you become someone to him, he’ll do everything in his power to protect you. the reason i put the two together is because his loyalty seeps into selflessness.

listen mr daryl dixon here is a RIDE OR DIE hoe. when he didn’t even HESITATE to start digging for connie or when he went on to fight like 5 different whisperers to find out where alpha’s hoard was? when he told beth to run and leave him alone with the walkers despite the fact it was like 12 v 1? when, despite the fact he was filled with rage with the saviours, he vehemently threatened richard for wanting to put carol in danger? the way he said ‘i would die for you, and i would have died for carl’ to rick even after they had that huge fight? hey god it’s me again???

even with runs like when he heard judith needed baby formula he immediately jumps into protective uncle mode and doesn’t even hesitate, or when he tries to be that sort of father figure to carl during those few episodes where rick went a lil nuts. he’s ready to lay down his life if it means the people he cares about are safe and that’s a huge part of the reason i love daryl dixon.

i just?? love him??

[stardust-walker]

High Hopes: Chapter 17

Previous Chapters:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

word count: 2773

_________________________________________________

There was an unease in the air as they all gathered around the fire for breakfast. It felt like something big was about to happen, she just didn’t know what it was yet. Dove perched herself on top of a bucket and was beginning to shovel eggs into her mouth as Glenn cleared his throat. She turned; an eyebrow raised as she looked at her friend.

“So, guys,” Glenn trailed off for a moment. “There’s walkers in the barn.” Dove’s heart sank to her stomach as she dropped her fork back to her plate. A quick glance around the fire showed everyone was about as shocked as she was.

“Well, c’mon then. Show us,” Shane’s harsh voice broke the silence. Dove didn’t want to move from the spot she was in, but it didn’t seem like she had much of a choice. T-Dog stood up from next to her and offered her his hand. She rolled her eyes as she accepted the help to stand.

“I don’t know why we all have to go look,” Dove whispered to Carol as she tugged at the hem of her shirt. “Why would Glenn make that shit up?”

Carol shook her head, “I don’t know.” Carol grabbed her sister’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

Glenn was telling the truth, as expected and Shane was not happy about it in the slightest. “This is Hershel’s land! We’re guests here,” Rick began to argue as Glenn tried to calm the two men down.

“We can’t just sweep this under the rug,” Andrea piped up.

“It ain’t right. Not remotely,” Shane agreed.

Dove shook her head as she put a comforting arm around Carol. “No one’s saying it’s right, Shane. Not a soul is but think about it. If Hershel’s keeping them in the barn, there has to be a reason behind it.”

Shane shook his head as he began to pace, “Don’t really care what the reason is. We’ve either got to make things right or we’ve just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time.”

A mix of anger and panic surged through Dove. Shane was a selfish, arrogant bastard, and now he wanted to leave without Sophia.

“We can’t leave,” Rick spoke up. But that still wasn’t good enough for Shane.

“Sophia’s still out there,” Carol stepped forward, out of Dove’s grasp. “I’m not leaving without her.” Dove chewed nervously on her thumbnail as Daryl walked up beside her.

“I think it’s time that we all just start to consider the other possibility,” Shane tried to keep his voice steady.

Dove dropped her hands to her sides and chewed on the inside of her cheek before she couldn’t hold it in anymore. “What other possibility? The possibility that you didn’t give two shits about finding Sophia in the first place? Because I’ve already considered that possibility,” she hissed at the deputy.

Shane didn’t seem phased at all, though. “Now you listen, bird. We’ve been looking for her since day one, so don’t come at me with that.”

Dove huffed, “Daryl’s been looking is what I think you mean. Rick’s been looking, but you never seemed too dead set on it from the start. So sorry if I’m not fully buying what you’re selling.” Carol shot Dove a panicked glance; it was enough to make the younger woman back down as Rick stepped up.

“We’re not leaving Sophia behind,” Rick stated.

Daryl spoke up next as he began to pace, “I’m close to finding this girl! I just found her damn doll two days ago.”

Shane let out a short laugh and Dove thought about throwing a shovel at his head. “You found her doll, Daryl. That’s what you did. You found a doll.”

“He found the doll; Sophia has to be close by. Right,” Dove was beginning to feel like she was grasping at straws and she didn’t like that feeling. Not one bit. She knew there was a possibility that Sophia was dead, she’d just never thought on it too much. She was an educated woman, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be superstitious. Dove felt like if she thought about Sophia being dead too much, it might be something that came into existence.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Shane,” Daryl shouted as he stepped forward. Dove and Carol were right behind him as he swung an arm at Shane. Dove placed a hand on Daryl’s arm for a moment as he lowered his arm. A quick glance between them said enough, they were all growing tired and wary of Shane.

“I’m just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it’s in the first 48 hours,” Shane explained.

“Shane, stop,” Rick pleaded as Carol began to tear up.

Dove turned her attention to her sister. “Don’t listen to him, Carol. Look at me, we’re gonna find her,” Dove trailed off as Shane began to shout once again.

“Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife and your geek ears around your neck? She would run in the other direction,” Shane shouted.

Carol brought both of her hands up to her mouth as Daryl took a real swing at Shane. Rick tried his best to block the two men from each other and Dove could feel the adrenaline pumping in her veins as she stepped forward. She reached out her hand and caught Daryl’s arm in mid-swing. “Stop it,” Dove shouted over the chaos at Shane. Daryl was stronger than he looked, even recovering from an injury and he broke out of her grasp, like a bloodhound that had caught a scent and continued to go after Shane.

Dove shoved herself in between Rick and Daryl. “Leave it,” she hissed at the redneck as she gave him a sharp shove backwards. Daryl’s blue eyes went wide as he stumbled back a step towards Carol. “Shane’s trying to make you look like a piece of shit and you’re better than that,” she whispered as Rick managed to get Shane to retreat.

“She’s right,” Carol nodded in quiet agreement.

Shane was like a rampaging lunatic and for the first time since everything started, Dove felt true fear. “Just let me talk to Hershel,” Rick tried to reason with his friend. “I have to talk to him about it no matter what. We stay, we clear the barn, but I have to talk him into it! This is his land.”

Dale stepped up, a hand raised in the air. “Hershel sees though things in there as people.” Dove ran a hand through her hair as she tried to process the fact that Hershel thought the people in his barn were still alive. “Sick people. His wife, his stepson.”

“You knew,” the betrayal was obvious in Rick’s voice.

“Yesterday I talked to Hershel,” Dale explained calmly.

“And you waited the night,” Shane rounded on the old man.

Dove let out a heavy sigh as she turned and faced towards the fields behind her. She just felt sick about everything. She tried to focus on the fact that there were walkers on the barn, but she could only think of two things. One, Shane thought Sophia was dead. And two, Shane was becoming less and less stable by the day.

Her thoughts were cut off as loud growls began to leave the barn. A shiver ran down her spine as she grabbed Carol’s arm and began backing up. “How many of those fucking things are in there,” she whispered to Carol.

Carol shook her head quickly, “Too many…”

~

Dove didn’t know what to do with herself when she got back to camp. Her nerves were shot, and she felt like she just wanted to run. She couldn’t even say where she wanted to run too, but she didn’t want to be here. The walkers in the barn pushed her over the edge.

“Hey,” a voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She twitched nervously before she turned her attention to the man who spoke.

“Can I help you,” she responded coolly.

“I just…I wanted to talk to someone from your group,” Julian lowered his voice as he knelt next to her. “I know that you guys are supposed to leave after you find your niece.”

“We might not,” Dove responded quickly as she glanced quickly towards the barn.

“I wanna come with you guys when you leave,” Julian interrupted. Dove’s eyebrows shot up.

“Why would you wanna do that? Isn’t your family here,” Dove inquired.

Julian shook his head. “No, I…” He sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. “My sister and I were trying to get to Atlanta when everything went down. Barely made it any further than that traffic jam you guys said you got stuck in from how backed up it was. Everything went to shit, people panicked. We got separated. I ran here because my parents were friends with Hershel. It’s stupid, but it’s the first place I thought of that wouldn’t lead me right into a herd of panicking people.”

Dove stared at the younger man; hazel eyes scanned him as she tried to think of anything to say. “Sorry about your sister.”

“That’s why I wanna go with you guys. I think she’s still out there,” Julian explained, and Dove opened her mouth to reply before she squinted into the distance. People were walking towards the stables and she didn’t have to look hard to see that her sister was one of them.

“Like I said,” Dove spoke again as she rose to her feet. “Sorry about your sister, but I’m not in charge here. Talk to Rick,” she called over her shoulder as she took off at a slow jog towards her sister.

Dove picked up the pace as she didn’t hear any noise coming from the stable and when she got close enough, she realized what was happening. Carol had followed Daryl to try and stop him. He was going to get himself killed. “We don’t know if we’re gonna find her, Daryl. I don’t,” Carol spoke, and Dove felt like a dagger entered her heart.

“What,” Daryl spoke quietly as Dove peeked around the corner. She didn’t want to be noticed right now.

“Can’t lose you too,” Carol said. Dove took a deep breath and leaned her head against the warm wood of the stable. Carol cared too much about other people for her own good; hell, maybe they both did. Dove jumped at the sudden noise of things being thrown inside.

“Just leave me be,” Daryl’s tone was harsher now and Dove flinched. “Stupid bitch,” Daryl growled as he walked out of the stable. He didn’t even see Dove as he passed her. She watched for a moment as he stomped off towards the trees before she turned and looked into the stable.

Carol stood there with tears streaming down her face, but the second she saw Dove, she began to wipe them away quickly. “What are you doing here,” Carol’s voice cracked.

Dove stepped further into the barn until she was able to embrace her sister. Carol shuddered as she tried to hold back a sob. “Carol, talk to me.” Dove stroked Carol’s back as she tried to soothe her.

“I tried to stop him from going to look for Sophia. He already got so hurt looking for her. He’s a good person, Dove. We can’t lose him too,” Carol wiped her eyes again. “Not after Jacqui. Not after Sophia.” Dove felt another wave of sadness wash over her at the thought of Jacqui. She didn’t realize that she missed the older woman, she tried not to think about it too much. Dove didn’t want to fall down a slippery slope that would take her a long time to crawl out of.

Dove squeezed her sister’s shoulder. “Listen, it’s not gonna happen.” She shook her head.

Carol sniffled and pulled away from her sister. “You saw what Shane did today. What do you think would’ve happened if the two of them actually fought? Shane’s strong, we all saw him put him in that chokehold back at camp.” Dove wrinkled her nose. “What if…” Carol trailed off.

Dove wiped her hands on the front of her shirt before she tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling of the stables. “I’m gonna go find him,” Dove decided.

Carol spoke up, “Wait…”

“Listen, he still needs to get shit for calling you a dumb bitch,” she planted her feet on the ground and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Carol just stared at her younger sister before the brunette disappeared out of the stables.

Dove squinted against the sun as she walked towards the direction that she had last seen Daryl in. She didn’t expect what she saw. Dove stayed quiet as she reached down to untie her shoelaces. The brunette peeled her socks off her feet before she quietly stepped forward. Dove sighed as she lowered herself to sit on the dock next to the redneck.

“What do you want,” Daryl’s voice was quiet. She didn’t expect that either.

“Well, I came out here to tell you that I really don’t appreciate you calling my sister a stupid bitch, but it’s really peaceful out here. Don’t know if I wanna ruin it,” she shrugged her shoulders as she moved her feet back and forth in the water.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Daryl spoke again. “She said that she doesn’t know if we’re gonna find Sophia. Got real mad I guess.”

“Well, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t do it again. She got enough of that shit from Ed, ya know.” Dove shook her head, “The truth is, we don’t know if we’re gonna find Sophia alive or dead. We’re gonna find her, just a matter of when. It’s just Shane getting into her head because she’s stressed out and he got her all frazzled.” Daryl grunted in response as Dove turned to face him. “She means well. Carol does, I mean. She just…worries about you I guess.”

Daryl huffed as he kicked at the water, “Don’t need anyone worryin about me.”

“Well, that’s too bad. Because once Carol decides to worry about something, she basically makes it her job.” Dove nodded her head. “I mean if mothering was an Olympic sport, she would have several gold medals,” Dove chuckled and she noticed the corner of Daryl’s lip twitch up in a light smile.

It was gone before she could say anything, but he turned to look at her. “I’m sorry I haven’t found her yet.”

Dove furrowed her brow as she turned slightly. She pulled one of her feet out of the water and pulled her knee up to her chest as she faced the older man. “Hey,” she hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. Daryl flinched slightly but didn’t make a move to jerk away. “I meant what I said before. You’re better than Shane. Better than half of the people that I knew before this whole thing went down, actually.”

Daryl raised an eyebrow. “Don’t need you lyin to me to make your case, Dove.”

“Shane’s losing his shit out here, man. And if he loses it and kills someone? If he kills you after all the shit we’ve been through over the past few weeks?” Dove clenched her teeth and shook her head.

Daryl scoffed and spoke again as he turned away from her, “Nothing’s gonna happen. I…” He stopped mid-sentence and pulled both of his feet out of the water.

“Hey, what?” Dove frowned as Daryl grabbed her lightly by the arm and pulled her to her feet. “Where are we going,” Dove tried her best to keep up with him before he came to a stop. He released her arm and she followed his gaze towards the edge of the pond. Her jaw dropped.

“Look. Wait right here,” he said as he began to pull his socks and shoes back on.

“Where are you going?” Dove questioned, not looking away from the bush.

“Goin to get your sister. I’ll be right back,” then Daryl was gone.

Dove had always been one to find comfort in nature, but she never felt more at peace than she did as she stood there and waited for them to return. If the story that Daryl had told them had any truth to it, then that bush of Cherokee roses had definitely bloomed for Sophia.

__

@crossbowking​ @momc95​ @chaotic-gary-king-stan​

[marvelstarwarsetc]

All We Know- Daryl Dixon

PART NINE

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Warnings: Cussing, Violence, Gore (The fact that its the walking dead should be warning enough lol)

Summary: Finding her way back to her sisters was all that mattered to her. When the world ended she had lost everything, so finding them became all that mattered. Or at least, it was, until she stumbled across a redneck hunting in the woods.

*Starts in Season 1 and will be a multi part fic*

Part One  Part two  Part Three  Part Four  Part Five  Part Six  Part Seven  Part Seven (Daryl’s POV)  Part Eight

Dr. Edwin Jenner was a kind-looking man in his mid to late 40′s, his light brown hair was just starting to grey, whether from age or the stress of the new world was yet to be determined. He worked at the CDC as a virologist before the world turned, and according to him was the only one who stuck around when it became obvious there was nothing they could do to stop this from spreading. 

After he granted the worn down group entry after they all submitted to a blood test, his guarded expression and apprehension for the other survivors fell and he opened them with seemingly open arms.

It was when Jacqui mentioned no one had had a decent meal in days that Dr. Jenner served up a kind of feast that no one in the group had seen in a long time. The round table was filled with bowls of pasta and a seemingly endless supply of wine, and the group all sat around tables with warm happy expressions. Even Andrea wore a small smile, and Y/n’s smile widened a little at the sight.

The Harrison sisters still hadn’t spoken a word to each other, both still too upset with the other over the things that had happened at the quarry. So while Andrea sat on one end of the table between Dale and Shane, Y/n kept her distance on the other end as she sat with Glenn and T-dog. 

Dr Jenner had offered to fix up the younger Harrison’s battered face a little better than Lori and Carol could, and the mix of appropriate medical supplies and antibacterial cream had already made a huge difference on her face. The swelling had gone down significantly, and her vision was finally clear again thanks to that fact. 

“You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France,” Dale stopped behind Carl as he was filling everyone’s empty glasses at the table. He was looking to Lori for confirmation, who seemed conflicted for a second before she shook her head.

“Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then.”

“What’s it gonna hurt? Come on. Come on.” Rick gently tried to convince his wife, his eyebrows wiggling playfully at her as he did so. The action made Y/n’s smile soften at the playful family banter, and her eyes met her sister’s from across the table before they both looked away again. 

Finally Lori conceded and Dale laughed lightly while he handed Carl a glass with half an inch of wine in it. “There you are, young lad.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch as Carl looked at the liquid in his glass with a curious expression, before lifting the glass to his lips and took a small sip.

When Carl let out a sound in disgust everyone laughed at the young boy, and then Y/n found herself looking across the table to where Daryl sat up on a counter, laughing along with everyone else and seeming relaxed. He had a handgun shoved into the front of his jeans, sticking out around the yellow plaid shirt he was wearing, the sleeves of course torn off like all of his other shirts. Y/n briefly noticed the small patch of skin by his stomach that was exposed thanks to the gun, and she quickly averted her eyes when she felt her face start to heat up. But of course the action didn’t go unnoticed by Glenn, who looked at her with a smirk and a wiggle of his eyebrows, garnering a punch to the arm.

“That’s my boy. That’s my boy. Good boy,” Lori praised her son, pulling him to her in a side hug before she picked up his glass and poured the wine into her own.

“Yuck. That tastes nasty.”

“Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud,” Shane told his best friend’s son, handing the small boy a can from the center of the filled table.

Daryl jumped off the counter at that, and rounded over to Glenn. “Not you, Glenn.”

“What?” Glenn asked the hunter in a confused tone, watching as he grabbed the bottle of wine off the able where Dale had put it down and filled Glenn’s glass to the top.

“Keep drinking, little man. I wan’ see how red yer face can get.” He shook the Korean’s shoulders, everyone laughing at the sight.

It didn’t go unnoticed when Y/n finished the last of what was in her glass and pushed it to the center of the table, seemingly done with drinking for the night. Daryl only clicked his tongue and grabbed the glass, filling it a little less than he had filled Glenn’s and pushed it back into the blonde’s hand. “Uh-uh, yer not done yet either sunshine!”

Y/n went to say something in her defense when Rick started to tap his fork against his glass, everyone stopping to look at the man.

“It seems to me we haven’t thanked our host properly,” He declared, turning everyone’s attention to where Dr Jenner sat off to the side by himself.

“He is more than just our host,” T-dog added, earning a chorus of hear hears and a loud booyah from Daryl.

The doctor smiled at the sentiment for a moment, before Shane spoke up, turning the happy moment into a somber one.

“So when are you gonna tell us what the Hell happened here, Doc? All the—the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?”

“We’re celebrating, Shane. Don’t need to do this now,” Rick tried to stop his best friend, but Shane wasn’t having any of it as he continued.

“Whoa, wait a second. This is why we’re here, right? This was your move—supposed to find all the answers. Instead we—we found him. Found one man, why?”

“Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted.” The doctor explained, yet Y/n could sense he was leaving something out.

“Every last one?”

“No, many couldn’t face walking out the door. They… opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time.”

“You didn’t leave. Why?” Andrea asked.

“I just kept working, hoping to do some good.”

With that everyone went quiet, not exactly knowing what to say further. The happy mood had gone now, and Glenn looked to Shane with a disappointed look. “Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man.”

----

When it was clear that there would be no more celebrating for the night Dr Jenner guided the group down to the living area.

“Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you’ll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There’s a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don’t plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies—if you shower, go easy on the hot water.”

“Hot water?” Glenn asked excitedly, looking around towards the rest of the group with a huge smile.

“That’s what the man said!” T-dog confirmed as the two ran off down the hall laughing.

----

After Y/n had taken advantage of the hot water, she found herself roaming the halls of the CDC aimlessly, looking for someone to hangout with as she couldn’t take being alone right now. When she was alone her mind drifted to places she’d rather not think of, and sleep wasn’t an option right now as the things she was trying to avoid while awake always caught up to her while she was sleeping.

In her aimless walking she found herself getting lost in her head anyway, and when Daryl’s voice boomed down the hallway after her she jumped in surprise, earning her a soft laugh and a shake of the head from the hunter. 

“Where ya off to?” He asked, a bottle of whiskey held in his hand. He regarded her with a soft smile, and she shrugged her shoulders in response to his question, not having a better answer.

“Just walking, I guess,” She started. “Didn’t really feel like being alone,” She admitted, and Daryl looked at her for a second before he turned in the other direction abruptly and started walking off down the hallway. 

When she didn’t follow him for a moment he looked back over his shoulder at her.

“Well c’mon then girl.”

----

The two found themselves sitting on the floor of the room Y/n had claimed for the night. They both sat with their backs pressed against the couch, sitting far enough away from one another that they weren’t touching, but close enough to where they could if they both moved over an inch. 

For a while neither said anything, just sat in a comfortable silence as they passed the bottle of whiskey to one another quietly. 

“So why ya ain’t wanna be alone?” He asked her in a quiet voice, looking ahead of them at the wall. 

She looked over at him for a fraction of a second before looking back at the wall too, shrugging her shoulders yet again.

“Bein’ alone is hard sometimes I guess,” She admitted in a small voice.

“ “M sorry bout Amy, by the way. Don’ think I ever said nothin.”

She found herself looking at the man beside her. This up close she could see that his shaggy hair was a little darker brown than she had originally thought, still lighter than Rick’s brown locks. His facial hair had grown a little longer than it was when they had first met in the woods, but she could tell he must have trimmed it to be a little neater when he showered earlier. His muscled arms had a warm tan that went all the way up to his shoulders, probably in thanks to the fact that none of his shirts had sleeves and he spent most of his time in the woods. She could also tell that he probably spent most of his time outside before the world turned, as his tan didn’t seem like it was anything new to the hunter.

When he finally looked over at her she faced back towards the wall, her face heating up at being caught staring. 

“I never thanked you,” She started, finishing when he gave her a confused look.

“For taking out that walker I didn’t see back at camp, when everything happened.”

“Ya don’ gotta thank me for that, Walker was comin’ at ya. Wasn’ gon’ let it get ya.”

She hummed in response before gently taking the bottle from him and downed a good amount of the amber liquid, scrunching her face up when the burn registered in her throat.

“Can I ask ya somethin’?” He questioned suddenly, causing her to look back at him again. He was staring at her face intently, and after a moment she realized he was looking at her various cuts and bruises. She hummed in answer to him and he stopped for a second before continuing.

“Why ya let ‘er do that to ya?”

For a second she was caught off guard because the more she thought of why, the more she didn’t know why. At the time it was because she knew she could take a hit and that Andrea needed to blow off some steam. She was just so used to letting people blow off steam that she didn’t even realize that it was wrong. 

“She needed to blow off some steam,” Y/n responded lamely, avoiding his eyes and what she might see in them.

But if she had looked over at the hunter she would have seen something in his eyes she wasn’t expecting. Understanding. It was then that Daryl understood that taking a beating wasn’t something new to Y/n. Even if taking it from Andrea was. She was used to taking that kind of behavior. It was something he knew all too well, and it was something he never wanted her to take again.

“Don’ mean ya gotta be the one to take it.”

She was going to say something back to him, but suddenly came back to her senses and changed the topic entirely. For the rest of the night the two just continued to pass the bottle to each other, making small talk and staying away from anything personal. Even if they both wished they could tell the other more about themselves. 

[wilhelmjfink]

Daryl Dixon Drabble #5 Pt 1

Buckle up, fuckers. You can thank @crossbowking for this one.

ETA: this has become a 2 parter b/c my app didn’t save the rest of it :,)))) igkms

—

Thank God Daryl taught you how to track. Thank fucking God. Because you never would have thought about paying any attention to the fucking direction the grass had been trampled on towards, or the fact that some trash cans had been knocked over very recently — the only tell being the way they lacked the layer of dust everything else around them held. It was the small things, the attention to detail; and you were in such a spiraling panic, you were honestly surprised you remembered anything he’d ever taught you at all.

Your boots splashed in a fresh puddle and instantly your eyes shot downward — another hidden clue you never would have considered before you met him, all those lifetimes ago. Just barely visible was a separate footprint from yours, two, actually, that painted the otherwise dry asphalt beneath you, fresh enough that your heart sped up at the discovery. They both led the same direction, the same time, the same sense of urgency and haste behind them it seemed, as they continued forward in an obvious stumbling-sprint until they faded away outside of an old derelict gas station. You spun on your heels and headed straight for the garage.

The first thing you noticed was that the heavy metal door was ajar, just over a foot off of the ground, fresh blood smeared across the concrete beneath the opening. Somebody or something was inside, but the barefooted, rotten and decaying bottom-half of a corpse that protruded from the opposite side had you halting in your tracks: was that the source of the blood? No — the body was obviously that of a walker, the pant legs tattered and torn and stained with blacks and browns and greens, the exposed skin of its feet a grotesque shade of grey, maggots and worms slithering around the heel, and you swallowed the bile that rose up in your throat. No way their blood was that fresh.

So you rounded the corner and peered quietly through the sagging chain link fence, barbed wire snagging the flyaway hairs not contained in your messy ponytail, and your heart dropped at the sight that greeted you.

Walkers, some alive, some dead, no less than a dozen of them. Some wandered in aimless circles around the old scrap yard, but most of them were pressed unceremoniously against the boarded up window, jaws snapping hungrily, impatiently, in such a way that proved your suspicions that somebody was definitely inside of that gas station.

And if Daryl’s lessons had done you any good at all, you were positive it was him that had led you there.

You didn’t think you’d stopped shaking since you left Hilltop hours ago. In fact, you knew for a fact that you hadn’t been coherent or in any state of mind when you ran through the gates, furious and terrified and nauseas along another whirlwind of emotions that you couldn’t pinpoint after being told that Daryl left by himself to track down Alpha and try to right all the latest wrongs that psychopath had rained down upon your friends and family. Someone had been yelling at you to stop, the same way you surely would’ve been yelling at Daryl had he not snuck out one night right underneath your fucking nose. Nobody followed you out, though. And you didn’t particularly care.

Sure, you were just as worried about Connie and Magna as everyone else. But you knew Daryl better than them — better than anybody did. And you knew the way his brain worked, how it always carried the weight of his loved ones problems, how he accepted the blame even when it had nothing to do with anything he did or could have done. He was so self-destructive, thought himself so unworthy if he couldn’t keep you or your family safe. He would, quite literally, go to the ends of the earth for those he cared about... whether or not it killed him. And if your crippling apprehension told you anything, it was that this particular instance would be no different, and considering the scene you’d just been walked into...

Clammy, trembling hands latched onto the rusty handle of the garage door before you thought better of trying to haul it open and instead laid down flat to army crawl beneath the gap, trying your best to ignore the pool of blood at your right and the corpse at your left. Everything seemed so loud, so hard to ignore, and you were so hyper aware of any and every detail that led you to believe that the worst-case-scenario was indeed the one you were about to be faced with.

It was dark inside the garage, the only light source being rays of dull, dreary outside-world that broke through the rotted wooden boards that would’ve sealed the place up tight four or five years ago. A blanket of dust should’ve covered the steel barstool that was toppled over in front of the man door, but it was much cleaner than anything else surrounding it, and droplets of blood painted a trail over top of it and into the store, beckoning for you to follow them.

You swallowed hard. We’re you even prepared to see what sights may present themselves on the other side of the gas station? The thought had you hesitating, had your breath hitching in your throat and your heart ceasing to beat entirely. But the fear that was threatening to suffocate you was the same impetus that had you raising your combat rifle to your shoulder, poised and ready to fire, as you crept slowly across the threshold with anxiety so deep and heavy in your bones that you weren’t positive you wouldn’t pass out before you found what you were looking for... whatever that was.

The store was a mess, clearly a recent endeavor, with expired foods and liquids covering the floor amongst shattered glass and splinters of wood and blood. So much fucking blood. Footprints that had stormed through it, handprints that slid down the wall, splattering the grimy lockers and old magazine clippings like some sort of abstract art exhibit compiled of your deepest fears. You were almost too scared to explore further — but the smallest sliver of hope that you’d learned to believe in had you pressing forward, Daryl’s reassuring voice in your ears among the obnoxious ringing that told you that, oh yeah, you might actually fucking pass out.

Thank fucking God Daryl had taught you how to track.

If you’d maybe stumbled upon a deer you’d been following, laying motionless against the display counter with a hunting knife lodged into the meat of its thigh, you might have been proud of yourself. You might have even turned to Daryl and smiled in spite of yourself, sticking your tongue out. ‘I told you I could do it,’ you’d tell him happily as you knelt down and began to skin and prepare it to come back home with you, and he would fight a proud smile of his own, rolling his eyes, ‘Yea, only ‘cause I taught ya how to.’

But any obscure, minuscule thought of potential pride and success was shattered and gone in milliseconds. Hell, it was hardly even a fleeting thought, and you actually found yourself momentarily disappointed in your actions as you let your rifle carelessly slip from your fingers and clash against the ground loudly. Instantly forgotten. In fact, the tip of your boot even kicked it aside for emphasis of your stupidity as you strode forward to the crumpled being laying still and silent against the disheveled wooden counter, head lulled to the side, bloody knife handle protruding from his leg.

His name stuck in your throat painfully as you collapsed to the ground by his side, hands hovering uselessly overtop of him with the desire to try and help but lacking any knowledge on how to do so. He was bloody, beaten, pale — so fucking pale, so still and please God please please please he was cold. Cold, but the shallow rise and fall of his chest seemed to breathe more life into you than it was him, literally and figuratively.

The tears that sprung to your eyes actually hurt, blurring your vision, which seemed to be the only working sense you had as everything else seemed to freeze inside you and around you, leaving you absolutely fucking useless.

You shook your head. “Daryl,” you gasped, the breath it took to say his name unintentionally allowing a sob to escape simultaneously. “Daryl?”

He didn’t stir. We’re you not loud enough? “Daryl!” Maybe he just couldn’t hear you. You reached out and gripped his shoulders, fingers intertwining into the fabric of his canvas vest, clutching like a lifeline that would cement your debilitating fears if you let go and let him fall away from you. “Daryl! Fuck — wake up!”

If you’d ever been a religious person, that moment would’ve been the exact time you dedicated your life and afterlife to whatever higher being you believed in when, holy shit, he let out a pathetic whimper that both broke your heart in two and kicked your adrenaline into overdrive but also allowed it all escape you in the form of your own racking sob.

“Oh, my God — fuck, fuck, fuck, Daryl, please — wh — what did you do?” You fought the urge to grip the handle of the knife that was stuck into his thigh and yank it out furiously. “What the fuck did you do?”

You at least had the sense to untie the bandana from around your neck, clumsily and hastily, and secure it tightly around his thigh above the wound, praying to anything that would listen that maybe it would help.

His head lulled softly toward you with another soft whine and fell limply, and you threw your hands to your own face and frantically brushed your hair from your face and wiped your eyes and scratched at your scalp, pulling your hair, and you were panicking, absolutely reeling, if Daryl was here he’d be lecturing you so bad, but he’s not here because he’s laying in front of you almost fucking dead, no he’s not dead, he’s breathing, barely, how do I fix him? How do I help? Do I take the knife out? No, no you can’t fucking do that, you dumbass, what if it hit an artery? He’ll bleed out before you can even... oh, God, his head’s bleeding, gotta stop the bleeding, gotta stop the bleeding...

What the fuck were you supposed to do? You had some bandages in your bag, some sutures and needles, some alcohol... you tore blindly through it, retrieving the liquid and wraps and dropping them stupidly on your lap like you’ve never had to clean and dress a wound before in your entire life.

Once again you had to furiously wipe the tears from your eyes as they skewed your vision, smearing fresh blood his fucking blood, it’s everywhere, please please please no no no across your cheeks and it burnt your skin, taunting you, ticking loudly like an alarm clock that was about to run out right before your eyes.

He’s gonna die. He’s gonna fucking die and you were too late.

—

Also hey this is loosely based off of last nights episode that I didn’t want bc I can’t emotionally handle watching Daryl get hurt bc I’m a mess so sorry if it made no sense or was wrong!! Xoxoxo

Stay tuned for part 2 that I have to rewrite...........

[dndadspolls]

*his favourite thing about glenn is that he put his sons happiness before his own and went to prison vs

[carl-grimxz]

Confused Feelings

Carl Grimes x Reader

PART 1

Summary: You and Carl are friends but he suddenly starts to act strangely and withdrawn like he is avoiding you. The trouble is you can’t work out why. 

Word Count: 2,940

Warnings: None :)

A/N: I’ve never written one of these before... but I love Carl and miss him soooo much so felt like giving it a go. I’ll likely write a few parts to this so please enjoy!

The leaves had fallen and the air was cold. Freezing actually, much worse than it was yesterday by far. Strange that, how quickly winter seems to come. No matter how much Rick drills into us that we need to be prepared for the new conditions this season would bring us, I never do feel ready for it. Then again are we ever really prepared for anything these days? Doesn’t feel like it. 

Even though we spend hours huddled round discussing plans. Strategising. We always end up here. On the road with nothing but the desire to live carrying us forward from place to place. At least we are here though. Still breathing. Surviving together. The majority of us at least. That’s the main thing. That’s what I keep thinking to myself anyway. While I’m standing here, attempting to keep my hands somewhat warm in my coat pockets, I look down at my worn boots as they scuff the frosty fallen leaves across the gravelly road. The time has come again. We’re stood around, waiting for Rick to give us our next move. We’ve been heading North for the most part. I can’t exactly remember why. I’m sure the situation is just as bad up there, but I do trust Ricks judgement, so I don’t necessarily need to understand why. I tend to zone out during these conversations. Not on purpose. I just do. Probably because I’m never involved in the decision making part of it. 

A harsh gust of wind rushes past us. So bitterly cold that it actually makes me lose my breath for a second. At this point I glance up at Carl to see if he’s finding it as intense as I am. We make eye contact and his lips curl up into the faintest smile. So subtle I feel that if it were anyone else looking at him right now, I’m sure they wouldn’t even notice the smile that admittedly, is pretty microscopic, but is definitely there. His hands move to the outer edges of his oversized jacket and grips it tighter to his body, telling me he’s just as cold as I am. I feel almost relieved. Not that he’s cold but that it isn’t just me overreacting. Everyone in this group is so unfalteringly strong, except maybe Eugene, that sometimes it’s exhausting just trying to tough it out and keep pace with them. It’s moments like this that I’m thankful I have Carl. He seems to get it, I dunno. 

I look away and tune into the others conversation. Almost like she’s reading my mind, Maggie speaks up. “Rick we gotta get outta the open and find some shelter. It’s already pretty nippy and it’s gon get even colder the later it gets”. Everyone glances at Rick and he pauses for a moment. He brings the free hand that isn’t holding his daughter up and drags it across his face, scratching at his beard. He has his eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought and glances around at each of us clearly coming to a decision. He sighs, “Yah you’re right. We could all do with finding somewhere to rest up and get warm”.

“There was a place I saw. Bout a couple miles back, a barn I think. Found it when I was hunting earlier. Didn’t think it would be much use to us then, but it’d do for the night. Light a fire, warm up”. Daryl half grunted. Thank god. I’ve almost forgotten what it feels like to be warm.

“Did it look clear?”, Michonne asked.

“More or less. May be a couple walkers, nothin we can’t handle”.

With that we were off walking back the way we came. Along the path, a dense layer of trees either side and what seemed like never ending road straight on, as far as we could see. Rick said it wouldn’t take too long to get there. Less than an hour apparently, even in our weakened state. While we were walking I found myself in one of my daydreams. Just zoning out. Truthfully I was pretty down today, the past few days actually. I can’t put my finger on the exact cause. A mixture of things I suppose. Low on supplies, low on energy. I mean also it may be that Carl and I haven’t spoken much since a couple days ago. Everything was fine, or so I thought but then he went off to speak with Michonne and after that it’s honestly felt like he’s been avoiding me. I don’t know what they spoke about and it could just be me going crazy, but it’s definitely been strange ever since. I dunno, he’s a boy. The other day Rosita told me that boys think girls are crazy but that it’s really the other way round. That was right after she’d had an argument with Abraham cause he’d said something that upset her, can’t remember what. She was not happy though.

I was pulled away from my thoughts when I felt someone nudge my shoulder with there’s. It was Carl. Last I looked he was walking up front with his dad but I guess he dropped back for whatever reason. “Hey” I said, trying to sound like I was in a better mood than I actually was. 

“What’re you thinkin about?”

“Oh uh, nothing. Just tired you know?” A look of understanding washed over his face. “Yeah me to”, he sighed “But I guess we can rest soon. Eat those rabbits Daryl hunted earlier. Sit round the fire. Then all our problems will seem smaller”. He half smiled, eyes meeting mine, waiting for a response. I’m just now realising how blue they actually are. Like the ocean. Funny, I’ve never noticed that before. “That’s true”. I felt the corners of my mouth raising upwards slightly as I looked up at him. 

He was right. That’s why I liked Carl. He was usually right, but not in an annoying way. You can trust his thought process and judgement is all. I rely on him to make me think more rationally than perhaps I would if left to my own devices. I’m a pessimist to be truthful, but not so much with him around. Carl is my best friend actually. We’re all a family, but there’s something with Carl and I. I don’t know what it is. We just click. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that we’re the same age, so it’s like we’re really going through this together. You know, we’ve missed out on the exact same things that kids our age are supposed to experience. So there’s an unspoken link bringing us closer together, and we are close. All we have to do is look at each other and it’s like we’re speaking a thousand words. With one look. He gets it. To be honest, our main form of communication is a simple knowing glance these days. Ever since Terminus and everything that we’ve been through since, spirits have been extremely low within the whole group. In fact, peoples moods have been almost as big a problem as the lack of food. Our energy levels and the general lack of hope amongst us means we don’t really feel like doing much talking at the moment. That’s why I appreciate Carl. He’s just as low as the rest of us but somehow he manages to do a pretty decent job of getting past that and thinking forward. Even if he is acting weird recently.

A while of strangely uncomfortable silent walking later, and just like Daryl said, five minutes through the woods and we approached a barn. Lucky for us no walkers in sight. Although we’ve all come to understand that that doesn’t mean there aren’t any there at all. As we came up close to it I realised that the area surrounding the barn was actually quite pretty. It sat in the middle of a large opening in the woods, enclosed in a field of flowers. I don’t know what kind they were but the colours were mostly indigos and violets and were so beautiful that it was verging on emotional. Probably from lack of sleep more than anything else, but there are so few things of beauty left in this world now. I really needed to see something like this. I’m sure we were all thinking the same thing because every one of us was smiling. Grinning even, and that hasn’t happened in a long time. “So beautiful” Sasha beamed,

“Right?!” Rosita added “I hope it’s clear inside”.

“Let’s find out” Rick responded with his hands firmly on his gun. “Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, Rosita with me”.

The rest of us stayed put outside, on watch for walkers, letting the others do their thing. 

As I was scanning the tree line I caught Carl staring at me. That’s happened a lot lately. I’ll just so happen to glance at him and he’ll already be looking my way. He usually just pretends that he’s looking elsewhere and I let him believe that I don’t really notice, but I do. I was about to ask him what his deal was but decided not to bother when Rick and the others wandered back out of the barn. 

“All clear. Looks in good shape actually, we’ll be good here for the night”. Relief washed over me. I am actually exhausted. I really don’t think I could cope if we had to spend another night on the side of the road again. A few sighs of relief could be heard from us and in through the heavy wooden doors we all went. The size of this place is actually pretty impressive. Something I had missed initially due to being distracted by the flowers. Somehow I was reminded of the poppy scene in The Wizard of Oz.

As soon as we were inside, everyone got to settling in. Organising the little supplies we had, starting a small fire. That kind of thing. Daryl went straight on watch, looking through the small window on the left of the door. This place isn’t too bad. It’s large enough to fit us all in comfortably and there’s some hay in the far corner that it looks like we’ll be sleeping on. Glenn and Maggie were already setting down blankets and the odd sleeping bag over there. It didn’t take long for me to warm up slightly. Just being under shelter and not out in the wind made a lot better. Such a relief, I really do hate being cold. Rick and Carl attempting to get a fire going in the centre of the barn. I thought for a second. Should I go help? Maybe get to talk to Carl and work out why he’s acting funny. I think I will. I’ll play it cool though. 

I started walking over to them and Rick saw me coming almost immediately. We both exchanged smiles but then he nudged Carl to make him see me I guess, then left to go talk to Sasha. That’s weird. Carl looked up ever so quickly and then just carried on organising the fuel for the fire as if he didn’t even see me. “Need some help?” I asked as soon as I reached him to brake the tension that was between us all of a sudden.

“Nah, I’m good”, he mumbled, “But thanks though” he added, smiling as he looked up at me stood above him noticing that I had my eyebrows furrowed in a frown. “Ok…” I said slowly as I took a seat on the ground next to him, legs crossed. Carl said nothing, just stared at the tiny fire that his dad had just managed to start before he left. This is definitely odd now. He’s never been this quiet before. Not around me anyway. What is with him? “That was quick.” I uttered, referring to the fire “What?”, he asked, clearly confused. “The fire”, I explained, pointing to it, “You got it lit really fast. Impressive”. 

“Oh, thanks. Well it was dad actually. I didn’t really do anything”. I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t seem to work. He still just sat there staring at the slowly expanding fire. I’d had enough now. I had to know what was going on inside that head of his. “What’s up with you?”. It wasn’t nearly as assertive as I had meant it to come out. My voice was soft. I just wanted him to talk to me. His head flicked up. I had his attention. “What? Nothing” he grumbled at me. A lie. I could tell he was hiding something. “Don’t lie Carl. I know something’s wrong. You’ve been acting weird the past couple days”. He watched me as I spoke. He had a guilty look on his face like he knew what I was talking about. He stayed silent as I carried on, “Except for when we spoke for like two minutes on the walk over here, you’ve been avoiding me”. I looked to him for an explanation but still silence. Whatever. “Ok fine”, I’m getting annoyed now. I got up to leave, “I’ll just leave you alone alright? That’s clearly what you wa-“, “Wait” He murmered. I turned back towards him. He had his hand around my wrist but no sooner than I had noticed it was there, he’d taken it away again, almost shocked he grabbed it in the first place. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I just feel weird. I dunno why. I just feel like stuff has changed”. He looked down again, almost ashamed. What is he talking about? “I don’t understand. What stuff?”. I really wanted to know. I stood there looking down at him.

“Ever since we had that run in with those walkers. You almost got bit. It scared me… and now it’s different” Carl sighed. 

“It scared me too”, I admitted. I was trying not to think about that to be honest. It was pretty frightening, I’m not gonna lie. I was millimetres away from having my neck torn open. “Hey Y/N!” Carol called across to me. Perfect timing… not. She likely wanted help preparing the food. I usually help her. I glanced over to her and then back at Carl who was studying me closely, probably hoping for me to say something more than what I had. “Speak later, ok?” I asked him hopefully.  

“Yeah sure”. It was almost a whisper.

I did a lot of thinking while Carol and I prepared the food. It was mostly quiet between us. Carol isn’t a massive talker, but I liked it that way sometimes. While I watched the squirrel get yacked apart ready to cook I over-analysed everything Carl had said to me. Replayed my near death experience with the walker over and over in my head. It was actually Carl that saved me. I had dropped my knife stupidly and was trying to hold the terrifying monster at arms length with both hands. Trying and failing. As it was seconds from ripping my neck open with it jaw when Carl sent a bullet straight through it’s skull. The walker dropped to the ground and I stepped away in shock, my eyes wide as I came to terms with what had nearly happened. Carl ran over from where he was, which wasn’t that far away to be fair and before I knew it his arms were around me. Engulfing me so tightly it was as if his life depended on it. I wondered if that was what Carl was talking about, now that I think of it. That’s the only time we’ve ever done that. Hugged. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but when we finally pulled apart after what felt like a lifetime, I looked into his eyes and I had seen something in them that I had never seen before. I can’t describe it. He just looked different. Scared. Really terrified. Not long after that was when we had managed to find somewhere to settle down and set up camp in amongst the trees, and Carl went off for that chat with Michonne. Carol brought my attention back to her with a smile. “Come on Y/N, let’s go serve up some squirrel!”.

We were all sat around the fire. There were a few conversations going on but it was pretty quiet. I was just observing everyone. I found myself watching Sasha who was chatting with Michonne over their bowls of squirrel and canned tomatoes. She must have felt me watching because she looked across at me and smiled, giving me a nod. I’ve always been super close to Sasha. She looks out for me and we get along well cause we have a lot of the same views on everything I think. She’s very straight to the point and thinks with her head. I admire her for that. Sasha has often told me if I ever need to talk to her about anything I can. She might just be able to help me work Carl out. Although I think I may need help working myself out as well. Ever since he brought up that walker encounter I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. About him. The fear and adrenaline must have caused me to block it out at first but the more I remember it, the more I understand Carl for acting oddly. Something about that hug and the look on his face has changed something. He was right. God damnit he’s always right. As soon as this food is done with, I’m heading straight to Sasha.

[your-iron-lung]

La Chasse au Loup - 3

available to read on AO3 HERE

Story Synopsis: All things considered, there’s a lot of strange things a man could find in the back-bush of his own farm, rural as it may be. Some of it he could be aware of and do his best to work around, but a lot of it went so far under the radar it almost wasn’t worth thinking about. Mostly it was animals- a goat or a sheep that hadn’t been bedded down proper wandered out overnight and didn't wander back come morning. Turned up the next day in the bush in a strange, disemboweled sort of way.

It's coyotes that do it, Wayne reasoned. Wolves, maybe, but whatever it was it certainly wasn't anything living under his very nose.

Chapter Word Count: 2970

Pairings: (background, minimal) Wayne/Daryl

Genre: Dark/black comedy with a lil bit of drama

Next Chapter: Unavailable

Previous Chapter: 1, 2

-------

THE BUSH

All things considered, there were a lot of strange things a man could find in the back-bush of his own farm, rural as it may be. Some of it he could be aware of and do his best to work around, but a lot of it went so far under the radar it almost wasn’t worth thinking about. (The incident with finding the cannabis plants first came to mind whenever Wayne had the hindsight to think back on it).

Mostly it was animals- a goat or a sheep that hadn’t been bedded down proper wandered out overnight and didn't wander back come morning. Turned up the next day in the back-bush in a strange, disemboweled sort of way, with its limbs all askew and guts just hanging out in the brush like they were only meant to take in the sun for a quick minute before coming back to the barn.

It's coyotes that did it, Wayne reasoned. Wolves, maybe, taking advantage of Dary’s own incompetence for forgetting to lock the livestock in at night. Forgetful as Dary was (or wasn’t; he was always quick to insist that he  did  bed them down and locked them in proper whenever they found one out there, but if that were true, how’d they wind up dead out in the bush then, eh, big shoots?), that’s why it eventually became so important to grab a chair, a rifle, a best bud and go out there to thin down the local population a bit to discourage that kind of gore from turning up. It was nice to be outdoors, and nicer still to earn $65 a coyote tail, but even so, sometimes things turned up in the back-bush in that strange, disemboweled sort of way that didn’t always look like it  could  be the work of a coyote or wolf.

Like that one time they found a human hand out there, lying casually in the shade of a wild blackberry bush like whoever it’d been attached to had simply been caught berry-picking and left it behind in a hurry. Uncleanly severed at the wrist, its pale fingertips were stained purple from blood loss and berry residue and unfortunately had to be wrested from Stormy’s strong jaw before she could run off with it. 

They hadn’t found the rest of whoever the hand had belonged to, but the hand alone was enough to leave a bad taste in Wayne’s mouth, though it was one he didn’t have to swallow if he didn’t pay too much attention to it. And anyway, if the authorities they’d called in to deal with it weren’t worried about it, then Wayne didn’t see much of a reason to fret over it either.

“We’ll get to the bottom if it,” they’d assured him, but they never got back to him on whether or not they ever did.

So, all things considered, Wayne knew firsthand about the strange things a man could find in the back-bush of his own farm, but it still took him by surprise when he and Dary stumbled upon the latest oddity his land had to offer.

A moose- specifically, a big old bull, lying dead on its side in the snow with one antler broken roughly in half and its guts torn viciously away from its stomach like something hadn’t just been trying to find a meal, but had been trying to dig its way  in  . They both stared at the carnage in repressed awe, because the only thing dumb enough to try and take down a  full grown bull moose  was likely a Canada goose, and even though those beautiful fowl were tougher than nails with teeth on their tongues, there was no way in hell a Canada goose was capable of taking down anything bigger than a Gus-sized dog when it came right down to it.

The corpse alone was intimidating. The sheer, archaic  size of it. The fact that one of its antlers lied half-buried in the snow, fractured in half and splintered, indicated that whatever killed it had power. Strength to not just kill it, but to maim it viciously in the process. As he came to understand this, Wayne subconsciously gripped the butt of his rifle just a little bit tighter.

Beside him, Dary turned his head to spit, but he didn’t take his eyes off the ruination of that great big moose.

“What’ya reckon’s done that, Wayne?” he asked, and he was either nervous or tired or an uneasy combination of both, because there was a tightness to Dary’s voice that cut into his nonchalance and managed to get Wayne to spare him a quick look of contemplation.

He wanted to say coyote, maybe, or a wolf, more than likely, but he knew well enough that it couldn’t have been either of those things, and knew that Dary knew that, too. Creatures like that were too small, and who’d ever heard of a  coyote getting after a moose? Not savage enough, even on the off chance they’d gone rabid and the moose was sick or something. They didn’t have claws nearly big enough to shred open the side of a moose like that anyway, because whatever tore into it had hollowed it out almost completely.

A bear then  , he reasoned to himself, although given that it was the dead of winter and any bear capable of disemboweling a moose was probably tucked away in its den, sleeping the cold away, hardly bothered enough to decimate a moose.  A moose.

Coyote, wolf, or bear, though- all three would’ve eaten more than just its guts, which were left in long, wet tendrils strewn across the snow like big pink worms.

“Dunno, Dar,” he eventually said slowly. He stood there looking puzzled, because there weren’t any tracks in the thick snow for him to make a fair assessment of what could’ve happened, but he tried not to let it show too much. “But if it starts comin’ round near the house, it’ll be trouble.”

Dary grunted in affirmation and hocked another spit, pulling the phlegm into his throat with a gross wet sound. He licked his lips afterwards. He couldn’t take his eyes off the corpse.

“Better find it before it gets there, then,” he said after a long moment.

“That’s the biggest Texas sized 10-4 I ever heard, good buddy.”

Even so, they stood there silently, contemplating the dead moose for a long minute before hoisting up their rifles to bravely spend the day prowling about in the bush searching, tracking, dreading running into whatever butchered the moose. In the end, though, they couldn’t find even a small trace of it, whatever it was.

No prints to follow, no blood-trail towards a den; nothing. The snow around the moose had been too disturbed by whatever it’d been fighting to retain any helpful information, and they were left with nothing but the knowledge of a threat.

After the sun began to set, they crept slowly back to the farmhouse, unnerved, retreating from the darkness before they started taking potshots at shadows that started to look a little too wrong the longer they stayed out there.

They buried the corpse the morning after Wayne reported it to wildlife. It required the use of tractors and other rented machinery to get it into the earth, but once it was gone, they all felt better for it.

Except Wayne. For a man who mostly lived inside the confines of his own mind, out of sight, out of mind never really did apply to him like it did others.

The incident with the moose left him troubled and wondering. The mere suggestion that  something  large and violent enough to kill a moose was running amok on  his  property was both equal parts infuriating and terrifying.

It could get one of the dogs, if they weren’t careful. It’d already been at the sheep; why would it stop there? He resolutely did not think of Dary, alone in his trailer on the outskirts of the property and what might happen if it started sniffing around there.

Though, that was  if  it continued to hang around, which, of course it did. In the months that followed, more unexplainable gore turned up around the property, but nothing as shocking as the moose. It was small things, mostly: bloodied strips of matted fur, dismembered pieces of animals (both farm-raised and wild). The corpses that began to litter the farm, coupled with the broken sections of fencing that turned up every so often were strong enough evidence to let them all know that it was still out there and still, clearly, a problem. As if to spite him, Gus and Stormy began bringing the remains of things they found out in the fields home to him, laying them out on the back porch and staining the wood dark with blood and rot and reminding him, constantly, that he couldn’t  find the damn thing.  

It worried him that there was something so unknown out there. He wasn’t used to having problems he couldn’t outright deal with, but no one who knew anything about what was going on at the farm could make heads or tails of it. If it was a degen he could fight them and get them to fuck off with his fists, but as it was, they couldn’t even figure out  what  it was they were dealing with.

Just something strange, out there in the bush.

We’ll get to the bottom of it, the authorities had assured him.

But had they? Had the authorities actually done anything at all?

With the rash of recent animal deaths around the farm, they started to keep the dogs inside at night, and some of Katy’s favourite barn cats, too.

As troubling as it all was, though, it wasn’t like they found something out there every day, or even every week (aside from what the dogs sniffed out and brought home); for the most part, the back-bush remained barren. Empty, except for the occasional degen or worm-picker they have to chase off the property for fear of finding their bodies out there one day.

There were long periods of days where livestock went untouched. Sometimes, even weeks passed where no wildlife turned up in that strange, disemboweled sort of way they’d all started to get used to, and life progressed at its usual, slow, small-town pace, until a month or so later when it all began happening again. Something strange. Something disemboweled. Something that, again, left no trace of ever having been there at all, except for the ruined corpse it often left behind that had them all scratching their heads in its wake.

We’ll get to the bottom of it.

Staring down at the bloodied remains of not one, not two, but  three  maimed coyotes, two of them dead, one still barely hanging on, breathing hard and whimpering for mercy, Wayne felt his frustrations reach a peak. All three of the coyotes have been practically torn to pieces, yes,  pieces , and the words of that first initial assurance begin to repeat themselves in his head:

Don’t trouble yourself over it, Wayne. We’ll get to the bottom of it.

“Fuck’s sake,” he muttered, and turned away to squint off into the horizon, squaring his jaw as he internalized his frustrations in order to pretend he couldn’t hear the agonized whines of that poor coyote.

“Wayne, buddy, I hate to say it, but I think you might have a real problem on your hands here.” Dary’s face was drawn tight and pinched with exhaustion. He’d grown jaded to it; they all had, but even so he looked miserably tired. Drained in a way that suggested he’d had a rough night out at the ‘rippers or something.

The rough, unshaven scruff of a wiry beard around his jaw had Wayne do a double take, wondering when Dary’s facial hair had taken to forming anything but sporadic, unformed pre-pubescent patches.

“Well, you don’t fuckin’ say,” Wayne responded tersely as he unstrapped the gun from his shoulder. He lined up the rifle to the head of the injured coyote and held it there unwaveringly until it died on its own with one long exhalation.

Dary didn’t make any further comments. He scratched the fuzz lining his face unaware and followed Wayne around for the rest of the day as they made arrangements to bury the coyotes, sectioning off yet another piece of land that was quickly growing full of animal corpses.

And then, normalcy. Farming. Spending the evenings at MoDeans, as though a few rounds of Puppers would save them from their problem. Rumors grew about the goings on at the farm; (‘Bad gas travels fast in a small town’, someone’s always saying), despite their efforts to quell them. They hadn’t been keeping the animal carnage that had been taking place a secret, not exactly, but once enough people started hearing about it, word began spreading that maybe one of the dogs he reared had gone full Cujo, causing the produce stand’s success to take a hard financial hit, and Wayne’s frustrations only ever grew.

After the failing return to normalcy, a body.

Except, it wasn’t an animal this time.

“Jesus Christ,” Dary said, in a panicked way that meant, ‘Oh fuck buddy, we’ve stumbled onto something really terrible here’. He turned around and immediately threw up, and the sound of Dary’s sickness paired with what he was looking at was enough to make Wayne’s stomach start to turn sour too.

It was a person- a  whole person; not just a hand this time. Unrecognizable, but dead and disemboweled all the same.

“Oh fuck, Wayne.” Dary choked out his name like a whimper as he wiped the spit off his chin, turning back to face the body, his eyes wide as he tried to identify it. “Is that- is that one of the  skids ?”

It was bound to happen , Wayne thought idly to himself amidst Dary’s panic. The only thing left to discover out there short of another fucked up moose was a fucked up man, but even so it was shocking.

There were whole chunks missing; huge bites torn out of this man’s body that were much too large to fit into the mouth of a wolf or coyote, or even a bear. Wayne stared down at the corpse and remembered the words of the police the last time they’d been around:  we’ll get to the bottom of it.

Well, they hadn’t. They hadn’t done fuck-all, from the looks of it.

“Pick your jaw up off the floor, Dary, there’s work to be done here,” he said icily, trying to channel a firmer constitution before turning away from the body with a concise, jerky movement. Anger, fear, and disgust bitterly powered through his veins, because when it came right down to it, the authorities  hadn’t gotten to the bottom of anything.

They  hadn’t, but  he  would.

With Daryl in tow, Wayne stalked back to the farmhouse with dark purpose, a plan of action already beginning to take form in his mind as they stepped into the wide opening of the barn.

“I won’t ask you to be my accomplice in this,” he said as he stood amidst the hay and a tractor, looking around briefly before taking hold of a shovel. He looked at Daryl, who was pale and clearly frightened, but seemed to already know what edict Wayne was about to lay out. “Now, I’m going to bury this man, and if you think I oughta do somethin’ different about it, well, then you’d better fuck off now. You can report me to the authorities if you like, but I think by now you and I know that nothing’s going to get accomplished that way.

“Whatever’s going on here requires more attention then they can spare, and if we don’t figure something out it’s only going to get worse.” Mental images of his dogs and friends and Katy lying out there dead and mauled rose to the forefront of his mind. “I don’t know what the fuck’s out there, but I’m willing to find out and could use the help, if you’d be so willing to lend it.”

Dary eyed the shovel in Wayne’s hand nervously, the implications of what he was saying mulling around in his mind uneasily until a stoic form of clarity stole over his face. His eyes hardened with resolve as he grabbed hold of a pickaxe lying up against the barn wall. “You know, I’d likely follow you into Hell if you asked me to,” Dary said with grim contemplation, feeling the weight of the pickaxe’s handle in his hands, his injury no longer plaguing him as it once did.

Wayne thought he did know, but felt it would’ve been too soft to say so.

Well, that’s why I asked.

“Some things are better left unsaid, good buddy,” he replied instead. He felt both relieved and full of divine purpose all at once as he gripped the wooden shovel’s handle tightly. “I’ll tell Katy after the fact so she won’t be held accountable to anything, if we get found out. Dan too, I think. Fuck, with all the bodies around here maybe we’ll let him start a garden; might take well with all the natural fertilizer and such.”

“Sounds like you’re gearing us up to be like Scooby-Doo and the Blues Clues gang here,” Dary said with a crooked, inappropriate grin.

“Those are two different things, Dar,” Wayne said sullenly before turning his steely gaze back out towards the bush, where something strange and disemboweled lay waiting to be put to rest. “But I’ll let it slide if I get to be Fred.”

“Ain’t no one else among us with a big enough neck to fill out that kerchief, super chief.”

[tarandallben]

putask03: playlist

1. Come and Follow Me - Fraggle Rock OST

While the sun goes 'round I'll still be found Following the sound Something's calling me  

This is just an overall song for Taran, who spent his life imagining exploring and going on adventures outside of the small farm he lived on out in the country. 

2. The Feeling You Get When - The Hoosiers

You sent the sun round the earth Made me feel twice what I'm worth

These are literally the only lyrics to this song and they perfectly encapsulate how Taran feels about Eilonwy (as a friend or more who knows?)

3. Head Above Water - Daryl Hall & John Oates

I'm holding my head above water It's so hard to keep my head above water Head above water It's so hard to keep my head above water

This song is here just for the fact that it’s something Taran grew up on. Thanks to his dad he probably has the entire Hall & Oates catalog memorized, but this is a personal fave.

4. Take It Like A Man - Legally Blonde the Musical 

God, I love shopping for guys! Okay this is strange. Watching the change right before my eyes. Don't watch me change.

Just because I feel like the entire scenario in this song would be Taran and Eilonwy if she could ever successfully drag him to the store to get new clothes

5. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - Skylar Astin (cover of The Proclaimers)

And when I'm dreaming well, I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you

Alright, now, where do I start with this one? There is a reason I picked this version of the song instead of just the original or any other cover. The first part is very upbeat and closer in styling to the original version. In this part he talks about being the person to go out along with and to get drunk next to (you). While in general the whole song is about someone who has feelings for someone else, this first part feels very reflective of how Taran feels about Eilonwy as a person on the surface. Eilonwy’s the person he likes being around the most.  She’s his best friend and he wants to be that person in her life forever. 

Then in the second half things change. It’s slower and more personal and sounds like someone pouring their heart out to the other person. This part of the song is reflective of how Taran feels about Eilonwy deep down. Past the denial and the insecurities and the feeling that Eilonwy deserves so much more than him.  

-----

B-B-B-Bonus Song

6. Are We Electric - The Kooks

When will we believe it, when will we see the light? Stop running from it; why do we keep denying? That we can feel it, when we've got each other And we are electric together 

This is just my personal frustration at Taran, so it had to be added. Okay? Okay.

[luckylq27-blog]

Bylsma said he knew the players were shocked right away

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[stardust-walker]

High Hopes: Chapter 6

Previous Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5

word count: 5078

If anyone wants to be added to my taglist, feel free to reach out!

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Glenn couldn’t be gone there was no way. There was no time to really process what happened before Daryl’s attention immediately turned back to the boy. Dove lunged forward and tried to grab Daryl’s arm, but was only able to grasp his shoulder tightly as he swung at the boy. She dug her heels into the ground as she heard Rick and T-Dog approach. “Stop it,” Rick shouted.

Dove nodded quickly and stepped aside as Rick grabbed Daryl. The two of them pushed back further into the alley. T-Dog looked confused as ever but Dove just pointed. “Grab him!” She motioned towards the boy who looked ready to make a break for it.

“I’m gonna kick your nuts up in your throat,” she heard Daryl shout as she marched over and grabbed the boy by the wrist. Her head was pounding.

“Let me go!” The boy shouted.

T-Dog shoved him back against the wall, “Chill out!”

“They took Glenn! That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends,” Daryl yelled as he paced like an animal. Rick looked back quickly before he turned his attention back to Daryl.

“He’s not making it up,” Dove called over to Rick, “His friends took Glenn…and tried to get the guns.”

Daryl pointed over Rick’s shoulder. “I’m gonna stomp your ass, kid.”

Dove felt her anxiety rising as the chaos ensued around her. Then she heard Rick yell for them to move and the boy was pulled from her grip by T-Dog. “C’mon! Let’s go!” She followed as fast as she could. Part of her still wanted to raise absolute hell and just run down the street to try to get Glenn back, but that just sounded like more of a death wish than anything had in the past few weeks.

She realized once they were inside that her hands were empty. “Shit!” She stopped in the middle of the hallway. T-Dog shoved the boy against the wall again as he turned to scrutinize her.

“Why’d you stop,” he hissed back down the hall.

Dove threw her hands up in the air before she rested them on the back of her head, “The crowbar! I promised Jim I was gonna…” She trailed off as Rick and Daryl rounded the corner. The weapon was shoved roughly back into her hands as the two of them walked past her. More stomped in Daryl’s case.

“C’mon. I meant what I said. No one’s savin your ass. Better not drop that shit again, girl,” Daryl called over his shoulder after her. Dove sucked in a deep breath as she wrapped her fingers tightly around her weapon again.

It was hard to keep up with a fast moving group when your head was pounding. Dove entered the room and her gaze fell on the boy seated in a chair. “I ain’t telling you nothing,” was the response he gave to whatever they had asked him. This was going great.

T-Dog looked away from the boy, back at Daryl. “What the hell happened back there, man?” He had a right to ask. There hadn’t been much time to explain.

“I told you! This little turd and his douchebag friends came out of nowhere and jumped me! Damn near knocked bird out tryin to beat the shit out of me too,” Daryl glared at the boy as he paced.

Dove narrowed her eyes as the boy replied, “You’re the one who jumped me, puto. Screamin bout trying to find his brother like it’s my damn fault.”

“Yeah? And your guys ganged up on him with weapons. On top of that, it was two on one. He tried to ask you a question, you didn’t answer. So I think it’s best you start answerin,” Dove pointed to crowbar in the boy’s direction. A warning look from Rick only caused her to shake her head and set the weapon down. Eyes not leaving the boy, she leaned up against the side of the desk as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

“They took Glenn. Could’ve taken Merle too,” Daryl attempted to reason with the others. On one hand, she could see how it made sense. On the other, it definitely seemed like he was reaching for any possibility that his brother could be alive and not bleeding out in the street somewhere.

“Merle? What kind of hick name is that,” the boy snickered, “I wouldn’t name my dog Merle.” Dove pursed her lips and shared a worried yet amused look with T-Dog for a moment before Daryl lashed out. This time, he aimed a kick right for the boy’s head. The brunette really had to admire the sheriff’s reflexes, especially when it came to keeping the angry redneck from beating someone.

Instead of staying back, Daryl marched right past Rick and began digging in Glenn’s backpack. Dove straightened up and tilted her head to the side as she observed what was happening. “Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off,” Daryl said. His tone was eerily calm as he turned to the side so they could see what he was holding. It was the do-rag he had borrowed from T-Dog.

“Oh Jesus Christ,” Dove whispered as she brought a hand up to cover her mouth. She fought back a laugh as Daryl threw the severed hand right into the boy’s lap. She couldn’t understand why she found it funny, but if she had to venture a guess it would probably be the stress.

The boy screamed as he threw himself out of the chair and onto the floor. “Start with the feet this time,” Daryl still sounded amazingly calm as he gripped the boy up by the collar. Rick took advantage of the situation, he was really good at playing good cop.

“We just want to talk to your friends,” he said calmly as he got down to the boy’s level,” See if we can work something out.”

Daryl leaned over to pick up the hand off the ground as Dove spoke up again from behind the desk. “We don’t wanna have to let him cut your feet off, but if you don’t talk to us or tell us anything,” she shrugged her shoulders, “We just might not be able to stop him.” She smiled at the boy. The boy’s eyes flickered nervously between all of the others in the room.

He gulped and nodded his head slowly. “Alright. Just keep that crazy puto away from me!” It was almost sad to see the way the boy almost plead with Rick, but it was worth it. They were going to get their answers.

~

A little while later, Dove was seated alongside a brick wall; dark eyes locked on the boy as he sat away from the rest of them. She found herself feeling bad for the boy. Odds were he had no idea what was going on when Daryl started yelling about Merle and yet he found himself in this insanity with them. Dove’s attention shifted to Rick as he spoke up. “You ready?” He stared at her for a moment before she nodded.

The brunette nodded her head as she looked down at the gun that had been placed in her hand. It made her nervous as hell just holding the thing.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the boy again as he threatened to put an arrow in his ass. T-Dog shook his head as the kid retaliated with, “G’s gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know.”

“G?” Rick questioned as he finally turned his attention back to their hostage.

“Guillermo. He’s the man here.”

Dove rolled her eyes as she rested her back against the wall. “Some man he is. Sendin a kid out to do his dirty work and shit.”

Rick hummed in agreement before loading his gun. “Let’s go see Guillermo.”

Dove stood as she watched Daryl disappear through the window.

There was a moment of silence before either one of the lookouts spoke. “We don’t tell Carol about what a shit show this was or I’ll be the next one handcuffed except this time to a fucking car. Deal?” She turned her head, a serious expression on her face.

T-Dog pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “Christ. Deal. Only because Dale doesn’t need to be putting us all on lockdown either.”

Dove smirked as she followed quietly after T-Dog. “Knew you’d see it my way.”

Once they were in their positions, Dove peeked over the edge of the building. “Holy shit that’s a lot of people,” she mumbled as she looked through the scope of her gun.

“If this goes south, I say we book it,” T-Dog whispered. The only response he got was a gentle slap on the back of the head.

Finally, the other man looked in their direction as he followed Rick’s gaze.

“Make the trade. Please,” T-Dog practically prayed.

There was a shout from down below and she saw Rick’s gaze go up toward the roof of the building. Dove’s attention snapped in the same direction and her stomach dropped. She gripped the handle of the gun tighter as she bit down on her tongue hard to keep from shouting. Glenn was alive at least for now.

“Fuckin bastards,” Dove’s hands began to shake and her ears rang. She couldn’t even pay attention to what was happening with Rick right now. In fact, a shoot out could be happening right under her nose and her only thought might still be about getting Glenn down off that roof safe and alive. T-Dog nudged her arm, finally bringing her attention back to reality.

“Let’s go, cmon.” He didn’t seem happy at all and they were walking away without Glenn.

~

Dove paced the room as Rick slammed the bag of guns onto the table. She chewed on her already bitten thumbnail as she tried to keep herself calm.

“Those guns are worth more than gold. Gold won’t protect your family or put food on the table,” Daryl said. Was he actually trying to reason with someone? “You willing to give that up for that kid?”

That triggered something in Dove’s brain and she stomped over, a finger pointed right in Daryl’s face. “You best take that back, Dixon!”

“What? It’s the truth! You willing to give away something that could keep you or your sister from dyin to save some kid who wanted to put himself on death’s door,” Daryl didn’t back down. She had counted on that.

“You’re damn right I am! I would die for Glenn if I had to! You were about to put both of our asses in the grave when you decided to fight Miguel in that alleyway when you thought he might have Merle. So don’t you dare try to preach to anyone about what we gotta give up for anyone else in the group. You got me,” Dove’s hazel eyes could have burned holes right through Daryl if T-Dog hadn’t stepped in between them. A hand pressed against each of their shoulders as he pushed them away from each other.

“Listen. If I knew he would hold up his end of the deal and give Glenn back, I might agree to it. But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?” T-Dog looked right into Rick’s eyes as he said this.

“You calling G a liar,” Miguel piped up from the floor.

“Are you a part of this,” Daryl snapped at him just before he slapped him on the side of the head. Dove gripped the edge of the desk tightly as she struggled to regain her composure. “You want to hold onto your teeth, kid?”

“Question is, do you trust that man’s word,” T-Dog spoke up again.

“No. The real question is, what are you willing to bet on it,” Daryl cut him off before he could say anything else. “Could be more than guns. Could be your life.” Dove glanced over her shoulder and caught Daryl’s eye for a second before he looked away.

“What life I have I owe to him,” Rick stated. “I was nobody to Glenn. Just some idiot stuck in a tank.” Dove stood up straighter, arms crossed in front of her chest. “He could’ve walked away but he didn’t. Neither will I.”

“So you’re gonna hand the guns over,” Daryl was surprisingly calm. Dove felt even more embarrassed about losing her cool as she listened to him actually talk reasonably to others in the group.

“I didn’t say that. There’s nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp while it’s still light out,” Rick tried to explain to the others in the room.

“And what do we tell your family,” T-Dog sighed as he closed his eyes.

“We leave you here alone and we go back without you, without guns, without Glenn. Hell, without Merle? What was the point,” Dove shrugged her shoulders as she shifted her gaze to Rick.

The four of them looked around at each other for a moments before Daryl nodded his head. Dove reached over onto the table and grabbed the gun closest to her. She paused a moment before she shoved the crowbar back into the bag in its place. “You know how to shoot that?” Rick questioned as the other men examined their guns.

Dove pursed her lips and looked the gun over for a moment. With a shake of her head, Dove flashed Rick a surprisingly confident smile. “Nope, but I’m countin on your diplomatic talkin to make sure that I don’t have to.”

Rick frowned before he nodded at her. He held his hand out for the gun and she handed it over to him slowly. Dove’s eyes studied his hands as he loaded the gun for her. “Now listen. If it comes down to it, the safety is right here, alright?” Rick showed her and Dove nodded her head. “You remove the safety, place the butt of the rifle against your shoulder, right here. Then you look through the crosshairs to get your target. Then you pull the trigger and pray the kickback doesn’t get you.”

Dove nodded her head as she took the gun from Rick. “Thanks, Sheriff.”

~

Dove followed closely behind Rick as they moved through the courtyard of the building where the Vatos were holed up. She was still praying that they wouldn’t have to actually use their guns, but the way that Daryl shoved the boy through the door didn’t look promising for any of them.

Dove raised her rifle slightly as she followed Rick into the building. She could feel eyes on her as she walked through the doorway and she tried her best not to shiver.

“I see my guns, but they’re not all in the bag,” the leader that Dove recognized from before smirked slightly as he addressed them

“That’s because they’re not yours. I thought I mentioned that,” Rick retorted as he raised his rifle slightly.

“Let’s just shoot these fools right now, ese,” a bald headed man spoke up from next to Guillermo. Dove clenched her jaw as she felt her hands begin to shake. “Unload on their asses, ese.”

“I don’t think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation,” Guillermo eyed Rick suspiciously. Dove felt some ounce of gratitude for the man. It seemed like he had some sense still, unlike the man that had just threatened to unload on them all.

Rick shook his head at the shorter man, “No, I’m pretty clear.” Rick nodded at Dove. The brunette lowered her gun and took the pocket knife from Rick with a shaking hand. She cut through the tape around Miguel’s arm as quickly as she could before Daryl shoved the boy forward. “You have your man. I want mine.”

For a second, she thought it was over. “I’m gonna chop up your boy. Gonna feed him to my dogs.” Dove felt a hand on her shoulder and a slight shove backwards. She caught Daryl’s gaze out of the corner of her eye as he raised his gun again. She followed suit as she took in a deep breath through her nose. Nothing could ever be easy anymore. “They’re the evilest, nasiest, man-easting bitches you ever saw. I picked em up from Satan at a yard sale.” Dove quirked an eyebrow at the man. He was really trying to put on a show for a guy who seemed so ready to kill them. “I told you how it has to be, are you woefully deaf?” Yes.

“My hearing’s fine. You said come locked and loaded.” Rick raised his rifle again. Daryl and T-Dog were right behind him, gun’s locked and loaded. Dove’s hands froze in place. Her brain knew what to do but her body wouldn’t listen. She didn’t want to have to shoot someone but she sure as hell wasn’t expecting what happened next.

“Felipe,” an older woman called as she entered the room. Dove’s eyes widened in shock as T turned and pointed his gun in the direction of the new voice.

“Abuela, go back with the others,” the bald man called back at her.

“Dude what the hell is your grandmother doing,” Dove couldn’t help but hiss through gritted teeth at the man. What the fuck was going on. 

“Get that old lady outta the line of fire,” Daryl snapped, though he didn’t lower his gun.

Guillermo just sighed and seemed to roll his eyes before he turned his attention away from them. “Abuela! Listen to your mijo, okay? This is not the place for you right now.” Dove’s head was spinning. He genuinely seemed concerned about the older woman as she continued to walk closer to them despite the many protests.

“Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing,” the old lady pleaded with Felipe. “He needs his asthma stuff! Carlito didn’t find it.”

Despite what everyone else seemed to be doing, Dove lowered her gun. Her right hand held rightly to the butt of the rifle as she raised her left hand to cover her mouth. Then it all clicked in her head. There was a reason they didn’t just kill them all in the alleyway. They could have easily killed her, Daryl, and Glenn and made it out with the guns with no issue. But they didn’t want to. They were more like them than Rick or any of them had realized.

“Felipe!” Guillermo shouted and it broke Dove from her train of thought. “Go take care of it! And take your grandmother with you!”

She noticed the change in the bald man’s demeanor almost instantly too as he turned to his abuela. He tried to pull her away, but the old lady wasn’t leaving that easy. “Who are those men? And that girl?” The woman squinted at them and began to walk closer. Felipe tried to plead with her in Spanish again but she didn’t listen. “Don’t you take him. Felipe’s a good boy. He have his trouble but he pull himself together. We need him here.” Dove felt herself choke up a little bit at the old woman’s pleas. She turned her head and locked eyes with T, who looked just as torn as she felt.

“Ma’am. I’m not here to arrest your grandson.” Rick tried to reason with the older woman.

“Then what do you want him for,” she questioned Rick. The sheriff struggled for a moment before Dove spoke up.

“He’s…”

“Well, you see, ma’am,” she stopped for a moment. The brunette woman turned to Rick, who just nodded his head. “Our friend went missing. We think your grandson might be able to help us find him. His name is Glenn…”

“The Asian boy,” the old woman perked up slightly. “He’s with Mr. Gilbert! Come. I show you.” She reached out her hand to Rick and he paused for a moment before taking the old woman’s wrinkled hand in his. Dove could only look on in shock as the two of them started to walk away.

Guillermo closed his eyes, clearly a little frustrated before he waved his hand. “Let em pass.” Dove didn’t wait for the others as she immediately pushed past Felipe and followed as close behind Rick as she could.

She fell back a few steps as they rounded the corner into another courtyard. “Whoa…” Dove caught the eye of Felipe as he walked past her except this time, he smiled a little and nodded his head at her. “This place is amazing.” She whispered to Daryl as she fell into step next to him.

“Better than a quarry for sure,” was the only response she got. They walked up the steps and into another building in silence. Dove peered into the first room they passed as they walked inside just as Rick was taking his hat off. Another old woman was sat on a chair in the room and she turned just as Dove peeked into the doorway. A small smile appeared on the old woman’s face as she waved a hand feebly. Dove waved back slowly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was T; with a slight nod, he motioned for her to keep walking.

She couldn’t help but look in every room as they passed. Her heart jumped in her chest as they finally arrived in what had to have been a cafeteria of sorts. There was a little stage in front with a group of people crowded around the front of it and in that group was “Glenn!” Dove shouted. She couldn’t hold in the excitement at seeing him alive for a second longer as she ran forward.

Glenn turned his head just in time for Dove to wrap her arms around his shoulders. “Oh my god, you’re alright!” She whispered as she tried to fight back tears. Glenn chuckled a little bit as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Yeah, I’m more worried about Mr. Gilbert right now. I’m fine,” he assured her.

Dove released Glenn from her grasp, only to place a hand on his shoulders before emotion took over her once again. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on both of his cheeks as Rick and the others approached. “I’m chaining your ass to that god damn RV when we get back, Rhee! I swear it.”

“What the hell is this,” Rick hissed.

“An asthma attack,” Glenn explained. Dove finally turned her attention to the scene in front of her. Her hands slipped into her back pockets as she observed Felipe administering the inhaler. These weren’t bad people at all.

“I though you were being eaten by dogs, man!” T-Dog snapped.

Glenn turned suddenly and all of their gazes followed his until they landed on three little dogs in a bed on the floor.

“Are those…” Daryl raised an eyebrow.

“Chihuahuas?”  Dove cut him off. She was quiet for another moment before a hysterical laugh escaped her lips. “Oh Jesus Christ,” she shook her head as she covered her mouth to try to stifle another laugh.

Rick was clearly not as amused as Dove heard him speak to Guillermo, “Can I have a word with you? You’re the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met.”

Dove turned her attention back to Glenn as she pointed a finger at him. “You’re lucky we like you or I would be totally kicking your ass right now.”

Daryl shook his head in amazement as T-Dog let out a deep sigh. Rick interrupted anything either of them had to say as he called out to them from the doorway before he motioned for them to follow him.

“C’mon, Karate Kid. Say goodbye to your little friends, you’re grounded,” Dove said as she grabbed Glenn by the arm and pulled him after her. She thought she heard Daryl let out a snort of laughter.

When the six of them finally reached a more isolated room, Rick questioned Guillermo. “What about the rest of your crew?”

 “The rest of the Vatos trickled in. They came in to check on their parents or grandparents, they saw how things are here. Most decided to stay,” Guillermo explained. “It’s a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we’ve encountered since this all started? The worst kind. Plunderers. They like to take things by force.” Dove leaned back against a wall as she listened to him

“That’s not who we are.”

“How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage. Appearances,” Guillermo shrugged.

“I guess the world changed,” T-Dog piped up from his spot on the floor.

“No, it’s the same as it ever was. The weak get taken so we do what we can here.” Guillermo shook his head.

Dove bit her lip as she shook her head. They really were more alike than Dove thought they could ever be when she first met them in the alley way.

“These people here? They all look at me now. I don’t even know why,” Guillermo said.

Dove thought for a moment before speaking. “They probably see that you’re smart. Capable. Plus, there’s no one telling them that they can’t,” she shrugged her shoulders as she ran a hand through her long hair.

Once Rick finished splitting up the guns, they were led to the door. An immense sent of relief rushed through Dove as she realized they were going back to the group. With a final goodbye, the five of them set off in silence towards the box car. It had been a long day and, surprising no one, it was Glenn who broke the silence.

“Admit it. You only came back to Atlanta for the hat,” Glenn teased Rick as Dove let out a snort of laughter.

“And you probably only wanted to come back to steal another car,” she elbowed Glenn in the side gently as she walked alongside him.

“You gave away half our guns and ammo,” Daryl growled from alongside Rick.

“Not nearly half,” Rick corrected him calmly.

“For what,” Daryl snapped back, “A bunch of old farts? How long you think they got left anyway?” Sometimes Dove just really just wanted to grab him by the hair and slam him against a car for being so ignorant.

“How long do any of us have,” Rick retorted.

“Son of a bitch.” Dove shouted as her gaze locked on where the box car should have been.

“Where the hell’s our van,” Daryl sounded dumbfounded.

 “Who the hell would take it,” Glenn stared at the empty spot.

“Merle,” Rick snarled.

Dove clenched her jaw and shook her head. “If I ever see that bastard,” but she trailed off as a horrible thought entered her head at the same time Daryl spoke.

“He’s gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp,” Daryl actually sounded worried.

“Then we best get fucking walking because he’s not going to take some revenge on my sister,” Dove frowned as she began to move forward.

Rick nodded his head. “Right. Glenn?”

Glenn rubbed his face before releasing an annoyed grunt. “We can probably make it back by nightfall.”

“Let’s go!” Dove shouted as she slipped through the hole they’d cut in the gate. The only thing on her mind now was getting back to her sister before things got bad.

~

Dove ran behind Glenn as the thought of getting back to Carol was the only thing that kept her moving. Her legs were tired and her lungs were burning, but for the first time all day since Glenn had went missing she thought of her family. A million emotions and thoughts ran through her head as she ran. Guilt, fear, and regret were among the many. While she was happy that they were all able to return safely, she was worried about what had happened while they were gone. What if Ed had done something while she was gone? She was really going to kill him when they got back.

“We’re getting close,” Glenn spoke up as they slowed down.

Dove drew in a deep breath but any reply was lost as gun shots rang through the air. Panic shook her to the core and before anyone could stop her she screamed, “Carol!” Dove was off like a shot in the dark. Her feet carried her faster than she could ever remember running as the screams and gun shots got closer with every second. The metal from the crowbar in her hand dug into her palm as she gripped it tight.

A scream left her throat as she broke through the tree line and brought the claw end of the crowbar right down into a walker’s face. She had never killed one before but there was no time to think. The screaming kept continuing and the gun shots from Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, and Daryl rang out around her. Dove’s brain only seemed to focus on Sophia. She was screaming from somewhere up by the RV. As she looked around, she caught sight of Daryl as he slammed the butt of his gun into a walker’s head over and over.

“Carol,” Dove shouted over the chaos. “Sophia?” She shouted even louder as she saw Carl run forward and hug Rick. Finally she saw them. Carol was crouched next to her, arms protectively around Sophia. A sob escaped her as she stumbled forward towards them. It seemed like it took forever, but she collapsed next to them on her knees and wrapped her arms around both of them. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” The words spilled out through choked sobs as Sophia cried and wrapped both of her arms around her aunt’s waist.

Carol smoothed Dove’s hair out of her face as she stifled a sob. “We’re okay…we’re okay.” Then anything she said was cut off by Andrea’s screaming. It chilled her to the bone as Carol grabbed Dove by the arm and helped her to her feet, Sophia still clung to her waist as the three of them continued to choke back sobs.

“I remember my dream now,” Jim spoke suddenly. Dove turned her gaze from her sister to the older man. “Why I dug the holes.” Then he said nothing else. He didn’t have to because as she finally took in her surroundings, Dove could only see bodies littering the ground around them.

_____

@crossbowking​

[storytime-hoe]

Tough Love Ch.12

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x O/C

Summary: Story picks up during season three as the group goes into Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie from the Governor. However, they pick up another prisoner of Woodbury, Emma (O/C). She is a thief who fears friendships after her hard losses. She stays on the move, studying communities from afar and then robbing them blind. She has stayed alive this way for a while until the Governor catches her in the act. Now she finds herself with the group from the prison in a mission to kill the Governor for what he has done to her. She plans on stealing supplies from the prison group after the Governor is killed, but she might be growing a little too close to the groups members, especially one man in particular: Daryl Dixon.

Warnings: Slow burn, language, usual twd violence, mentions of abuse/rape

Authors Note: Here ya go lads. 

Previously: Ch.1        Ch.2       Ch.3       Ch.4     Ch.5      Ch.6     Ch.7       Ch.8       Ch.9       Ch.10          Ch.11

I felt hollow. I felt alone, despite the fact that there were more people around me than I was comfortable with.

Sleep was not an option that night. When I closed my eyes all I saw was Daryl. Not the pissed off version of him or the softer version of him, but I saw that fucking look of hurt that he had the last time I had seen him. I bet he regretted every nice thought he ever had about me, if there even were any. He should have closed himself off from me like he did everyone else. I didn't deserve his friendship but he gave it to me anyway. And now we were hurting because of it.

The day after I caused an uproar, Sasha was at my door at sunrise. I didn't know Sasha too well, but I liked her better than most of the people here. She knew how to take care of herself and she was smart too. Plus, I liked that she didn't try to pry into the lives of others that didn't welcome her. She left me alone unless it was something important, never giving me a neighborly visit just to chat me up. So, she was here on business.

I sat up in the bed with a deep sigh, my lack of sleep was weighing me down. I didn't have the energy to ask her what she wanted, so I raised an eyebrow and waited for her to get the hint that that was her cue to speak.

"A few of us are going on a run. Thought we could use you with us if you’re up for it."

My mood immediately rose. Finally, I was being put to use. I felt a sense of pride that she came to me to join her and whoever else was going. It gave me that ego boost that I needed. It was good to know that my reputation hadn't been damaged during my forced time in recovery. People still saw me as a valuable member. Things were going to turn around. It was about time I had a good day, or at least I thought it was good until I went to meet the rest of the people going on the run with me.

I bounced outside cheerily, feeling the intoxicating anticipation of being out in the dangerous world again. But I stopped in my tracks as my eyes landed on Daryl tossing a leg over his motorcycle to sit on it.

Well fuck me then. How was I supposed to have a good day with him looking all gloom and doom the whole time? The answer was that I wasn't going to have a good day, I didn't deserve it anyhow. And with the dreadful look he got when he saw that I was coming too, I decided it best to stay out of his way. Daryl was too good of a person for me, so I would be doing him a favor by letting him forget about me. I wasn't going to attempt to heal what I had broken, it was for the best.

"We're taking the car," Sasha said, coming up behind you with her rifle in hand.

She tossed a few bags and more weapons into the small trunk of the car and hoped into the passenger seat as Glenn got into the drivers side. I sighed deeply with one last glance at Daryl on his bike. I couldn't help but feel he was riding separate from us because of me joining them. Had Sasha mentioned asking me to come along to him before she came to get me? She must not have, otherwise he would have stopped her. He didn't want me anywhere around him ever again, and I was trying real hard to accept that.

"How far out are we going?" I asked from the backseat once we were out on the road.

"Almost everywhere around has been cleared out already," Glenn explained. "The next town will be at least two hours out I'd say."

I peered over Sasha's shoulder as she showed me on the map where exactly the town we were looking for was located. The town was small enough we could probably clear out the entire place before we had to make the trip back. Glenn had already planned where our best exits would be in case we ran into any trouble. We didn't know if there were people there still, but if there were chances are they wouldn't be too friendly.

The car ride was a slow and quiet one. No one talked unless it was to give direction. The rumble of Daryl's bike behind us lulled me into a sleep that I was in great need of. It was probably the best nap of my entire fucking life. There were no dreams to keep me stirring and even though it wasn't the most comfortable bed, the back seat of the old car served it’s purpose.

But like everything pleasant in my life, it didn't last long.

The door I was leaned against opened with a quick swing, sending me falling backwards. I blinked in my confusion, rubbing the sleep from my eyes whilst I was hanging upside down from the car.

"C'mon, don' have fuckin' time for this," the impatient voice of Daryl growled from above me.

Once my eyes adjusted to the bright sun that shone down on him, I huffed at his displeased expression.

Turns out Daryl didn't just want to stop being my friend now, but he planned on being an even bigger asshole to me than he had been before. I didn't think that would be possible, but he never missed a chance to give me hell. Ever wrong move I made me was up my ass about it, but I just took his cruel words with a clenched jaw, not fighting back for the first time in my life.

Finally, we reached our last stop– a small convenience store. We entered quietly, each of us scanning a different corner of the room before deciding it was all clear. We split down a different isle each, scanning for any kind of items that we could take back with us, falling into the routine we have repeated a million times before.

I was standing with Sasha as she shoved cans of food into her backpack. My own bag was weighing down my shoulders, but I ignored the ache. That’s when I spotted the jackpot.

"Oh, hell yeah," I called out, making my way to the two bottles of vodka that had caught my eye.

I held the bottles and shook them at Sasha playfully, proud to see a smile spread over her as she shook her head at me. Soon enough Glenn and Daryl were popping into our isle to see what I was so excited about.

When no one responded to my enthusiasm I held my arms out in exasperation. "Well, lets have a few drinks." God knew I needed that right now.

"That's not a good idea Emma,” Sasha pointed out, standing up from her overflowing bag. “We would be extremely vulnerable, not thinking straight enough to defend ourselves if we needed.”

I knew it was a bad idea too, but the reckless side of me was being brought out by how shitty I was feeling all the time. I just wanted to get piss drink and not have a care in the world. Sure, I might not be able to walk straight, but it would be an experience. I just needed to convince them of that too.

"I don't know about you, but drunk me can still chop a dead fucker down. So, I say lets go for it," I smiled at them and I could tell that Sasha was suppressing the want to give in to my plan as she held back her smile.

But here came Daryl, the fucking stick in the mud.

"The hell s'wrong with ya," he complained, snatching one bottle away from me. "We have a damn job ta do, ain't no time ta fuckin' mess 'round."

I scrunched my nose and faced him with the same force of dominance that he had. "What's the matter Dixon? Afraid I'll out drink you?" 

It had been the first time I talked back to him since the tragic events of last night. I'd let him push me around all fucking morning, telling myself I deserved it. He could hate me all he wanted, but I was done being his punching bag.

I might be crazy, but I think I saw a flicker of excitement pass in him. Was he glad that I was finally going to stick up for myself again? Did he enjoy bickering with me all the time? 

I quirked an eyebrow at him, and shook the bottle at him temptingly,  but his scowl never faltered.

He scoffed, painfully forcing himself to break his eyes away from mine. "Ain't scared of ya, just don' wan' us all ta end up dead."

"It's not a good idea right now Emma," Glenn agreed from behind Daryl's shoulder. I could tell he wanted to butt in the argument before it escalated. "Why can't we just take it back with us? That way we can all kill our livers in the safety of the prison later."

I felt my spirits deflate. They were all right. I was being a selfish bitch again. Maybe if I agreed with them and put the bottle in my backpack I could have it all to myself that night. It would be a good friend to cuddle and cry myself to sleep with tonight.

But before I could even bend to what they wanted, the sickening sound of Walkers rolled through the store. We all heard it at once, soft and distant at first, then loud and overpowering. I pushed past Daryl to get a look at the door of the store. The bottle of vodka slipped out of my hand and shattered onto the ground when I saw the swarm of Walkers.

They were filling the streets by the hundreds, and my stupidity of dropping the glass bottle drew them to the store we were in. I stared in awe as they began to file into the open doors.

Oh fuck. I broke from my paralyzation in an instant and made a break towards Sasha, who was holding the back door open and shouting for me to hurry up. I ran through the door and skidded to a stop behind Daryl and Glenn, searching wildly for somewhere to run, but the streets were getting more crowded by the minute.

I followed lead of the others who were firing at any Walker that came close to us, but it became too much too fast. I was was pushed back by the Walkers until I had been completely separated. The last I saw of them was the angel winged vest that Daryl wore before I groaned out of frustration and had to take off in a sprint in order to get away.

There were too many of them for me to out run forever. So, my next solution was to get higher ground. I spotted a tiny balcony above one of the shop doors. It was one of those things that was for design only, not for someone to walk out on, so there was no door leading out to it. However, that wasn't stopping me from getting to it as I rammed my gun into my waistband and started climbing up the skinny support beam.

I rolled over the railing of the balcony and laid on my back, taking in shaking breaths. Where the hell had all of the Wakers come from? There were so many of them, how the fuck did they catch us by surprise like that. I should have been more focused on shit like that, not planning to drunk. I was so stupid sometimes. They all told me it was a bad idea and I distracted them by arguing. If I had just agreed then we might have seen the herd coming and gotten out before... Wait, where the fuck had the others gone gone?

I sat bolt upright and scanned the sea of the dead. My eyes darted around rapidly, but the others were no where to be seen. My heart clenched at the thought of them being ripped apart. I could hear what their screams would sound like. Sasha. Glenn. Daryl. It haunted me, making my shake uncontrollably and my breaths become shallow. This couldn't be happening.

The balcony I was on rocked slightly and I looked down to see that the Walkers were shaking the beams holding it up. If the others were dead, I would be joining them soon enough. I needed to break out a window and crawl into the building that the balcony was attached to, but I couldn't make myself move. I still had hope that they could be out there and I couldn't convince myself otherwise right now.

I heard the gunshot before I saw the source, and I couldn't breath when my eyes landed on Sasha on top of a nearby roof. She had out her rifle and was picking off Walkers that shook my balcony. I met her eyes hopefully and slowly Glenn came into view behind her.

But where the fuck was Daryl.

I asked the question with my eyes before it even got a chance to reach my lips, but Sasha's slight shake of her head told me that she had no idea where he was, or if he was alive.

I turned back to glazing over the crowded street, my heart sinking with every growl from the dead.

"Daryl!" I screamed for him, but I knew there would be no response.

No. Fuck no. Daryl couldn't be gone. He would never leave like that; he was too stubborn to go down that easily. I needed him. He might hate me for life and yell every sentence he speaks at me from now on but I couldn't care less right now. I wanted my tempered redneck back and I wanted him now. He couldn't be gone, I wouldn't allow it. He was all I had these days, never failing to call me out on my shit but always someone I could rely on, no matter what he said last night or how he had treated me today. 

And that's when it hit me, I couldn't imagine a life without him.

Holy shit. I gulped at the realization. I was hopelessly falling hard for that son of a bitch. And the worst part was that he would never know it. Because he was fucking gone. Forever.

***

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