#big brother daryl dixon & little sister!reader

[ddaz3d-and-cc0nfused]

༉‧₊˚. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧 || 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧

― pairing: daryl dixon & little sister!reader (platonic)

― era: season 10

― summary: it had been too long since you've seen your older brother, and if he was going to be honest, he thought you were dead.

― warnings: mentions of death, arguments, fluff, and angst.

― wc: 1041

⋆ a/n: i was mentioned in a post by @morgan-wolf that gave me some prompts that they had come up with, and i figured why not do a platonic fanfic? i had a lot of fun making this and thank you for the mention! :] it's always so refreshing to write something platonic omg.

masterlist | AO3

You had honestly thought you would never see your older brother, Daryl, ever again. It just didn’t seem possible; with the lengths you’d traveled on foot to the people you’ve lost, the idea of him being alive was almost too good to be true.

You guys had been separated from each other ever since you were fifteen. It was your fault really, but the argument you had between Merle & Daryl was considered a big deal at the time, but now that you’re almost twenty-six, it was almost laughable. You had gone out drinking with some friends and hadn’t come home until the next night, and Daryl was almost losing his mind worrying about you.

You were a complete accident, your parents hadn’t cared about you since you were born, and the caretaking was left up to Daryl & Merle, but of course, Merle can’t take responsibility for anything, so Daryl was the one that took care of you most of the time. Of course, with the pressures of teenage hormones and the fact that there was nothing to do in your small town, you would eventually give in to the mischief of your friends. Daryl had dreaded the day you grew up truly, and that night was an eye opener for him, and he had no idea how to take it.

“What the hell were you thinkin’?!” Daryl asked angrily. He stood behind one of the dining room chairs, his hands having a death grip on the back of it. “I was thinkin’ that I wanted to go and hangout with my friends without you on my back!” You replied back in irritation. Merle chimed in from the couch he was sitting on, “Don’t act like we didn’t do that when we were her age, little brother.” He laughed to himself before taking a swig of his beer. 

“Shut up man!” He growled.

“You’re not my fucking dad,” You bit. “So I don’t even know why you fucking care.”

His face morphed into something nasty. “Ya think I wanted to take care of ya?” He began to slowly approach you. “Yer jus’ some fuckin’ burden that I was stuck with..” His finger jabbed into your shoulder. A sickening feeling settled in your stomach as you bit back tears; his words hurt worse than you thought they would, and without thinking you said, “Fuck you, Daryl.” As you shoved him away from you and stormed out of the front door.

Daryl went to move when Merle piped up from the couch once more.

“Let ‘er go. She’ll be back, jus’ needs some time to cool off.”

Daryl wished that he hadn’t listened to him.

For the next ten years, you were on your own, and you had spent the first five holding on to hope that the only family you had managed to survive. Even though you hated Merle, he was blood, at least that’s what he had said - which you since learned was a shitty manipulation tactic. You didn’t mean what you had said to Daryl though, you didn’t have the right to say what you did to him, and maybe both of you were in the wrong; most nights when you were supposed to be sleeping, you’d stare up at the stars, your head swimming with questions.

Now, you’ve stopped wondering, just opting to live and save the people that were alive.

You were wandering back to your camp when you stopped in your tracks, slowly drawing your bow and quiver as you watched a man surveying your makeshift camp in the woods.

“Drop your weapons.” You said lowly. 

You could see his back muscles tense under his angel jacket, your eyes falling on the dog that was waiting for its owner's command. Your eyes softened, you hadn’t seen a dog in so long you’ve almost forgotten what they looked like.

“No one’s gotta get hurt.” You heard him say. “You’re right, so drop your shit,” You pulled tighter on the string. “I won’t ask you again.” He froze for a second before quickly spinning around, his crossbow brought up and ready to shoot.

Your tense body deflated at the sight of Daryl.

“D?” You asked in disbelief. 

Those same tears pricked at the ducts in your eyes caused you to lower your bow, becoming completely defenseless. You threw your arms around him and began to sob, clinging onto him as you could barely say a coherent sentence. Years of grief and loss completely melted from your body, as that hole in your heart had finally begun to heal.

He couldn’t believe you were still alive; all hope had died off with you the night that you disappeared. He had no idea if you had found a safe zone or if you were bitten. He desperately searched for you until Merle forced him to move, where they inevitably found the quarry and its people.

“God,” You say as you pull away from him. “You look like shit, old man.” You attempted to joke to cover up your embarrassment of showing your vulnerability. “Ya don’ look any better, brat.” He grumbled light-heartedly. 

You two had begun to walk together, a couple of giggles escaping your lips as Daryl’s dog danced around your legs once he learned you weren’t a threat.

“So, where have you been?” You asked. He just shrugs, “I’ve been around.” You nodded in understanding. “Same here. I can’t even tell you where I’ve gone.” You snorted in amusement. There was another beat of silence before you spoke again. 

“Where’s Merle?”

He nibbled on the skin of his lower lip nervously.

“He uh- he didn’t make it.” His voice almost sounded sad. “Oh.” You didn’t know how to feel about hearing about the eldests’ death. A part of you was sad, but the other part of you was also in disbelief, almost like you didn’t believe him. “How did he die?” 

“Doin’ somethin’ stupid but kinda… heroic?” 

“I would have never expected that.” 

“Me neither.” He said with his classic scoff.

Despite losing one brother, you were grateful that you had the other, and if you were going to be honest, he was your favorite. Your conversations flowed as if you hadn’t had to pick up where you left off.

ೃ⁀➷ my lovely taglist!: @alina02 @louderfortheback @minervadashwood @fandomsarelifee @theendofthe70s @nomajdetective @mgg-theprettiestboy

[dixons-sunshine]

Big Sister | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Summary: With your second child on the way, you and Daryl are tasked with breaking the news to your daughter. Thankfully, your daughter was more than ecstatic at the prospect of a little sibling.

Genre: Fluff.

Era: Alexandria, post bridge explosion.

Warnings: None.

Word count: 1.2k.

A/N: Requested by @banshees-martin. I literally have no good reason why it took me so long to write this request. I’m so sorry for the long wait! I hope this is somewhat okay to make up for it.

Parenthood in general was not always a walk in the park. Parenthood in the apocalypse especially definitely was no leisure stroll. Raising a child before the end of the world came with its own set of challenges, but the challenges only multiplied due to the harsh world you were now forced to live in.

However, despite everything, you never, not even once, regretted embarking on the beautiful journey that is motherhood. You never regretted starting a family with Daryl. And you certainly did not regret your daughter. She was your pride and joy. She was the reason why you felt confident enough to bring up wanting another child to your husband, and why you were currently carrying your second bundle of joy in your stomach.

However, you had yet to tell Hazel about becoming an older sister in the near future, trying to think of how to approach the subject. Thankfully, Hazel—ever the curious little girl that she is—noticed your little baby bump when she clambered onto your lap a few moments prior, and she was the one to bring it up.

“Mama, why’s your belly getting so big?”

You could not help but laugh at your daughter’s innocent question. Daryl, who was seated next to you on the couch, let out a small chuckle as well, his ocean-coloured irises locking with your eyes. Should we tell her? he asked you without even needing to speak. You could read the archer like the back of your hand. Many years together provided you with that ability, an ability that very few people could say they had regarding the usually unreadable Daryl Dixon.

You nodded at him and turned back to Hazel. “You sure you wanna know? This is big girl stuff,” you began in a teasing tone, your eyes widening slightly to dramatize the situation.

Hazel nodded eagerly and pushed herself to sit upright in your lap. “I’m a big girl!”

“I don’ know,” Daryl chipped in, copying the playfulness you used earlier. “She’s only three, after all. Seems like she’s still a lil’ girl.”

Hazel gasped and shook her head, as if deeply offended by what her dad had ‘accused’ her of being. “No, I’m a big girl!” She reached forward and cupped your cheeks in her small hands, urging you to look at her. “Tell Daddy, Mama. I’m a big girl.”

“She makes a pretty convincing argument, Dar,” you ‘reluctantly’ agreed, trying to contain your laughter at your daugher’s exasperated expression, one that practically screamed at you to tell her the big secret she so desperately wanted to be a part of.

Daryl scooted closer to you and wrapped his arm around you, a small, albeit nervous smile on his face. He did not know how Hazel would react to the news that she was going to have a little sibling, but despite whatever reaction she was going to give, there was no changing the outcome. There would be a second baby regardless of how she felt about it, although it would be a relief if she was as ecstatic over the baby as the two of you were.

You carefully transferred Hazel from your lap and onto Daryl’s. With the small weight now off of your—well, technically Daryl’s—shirt, your hands carefully began tugging the fabric up, revealing the small but noticable bump there. Hazel looked at it in wonder.

“You wanna know what’s in there?” When Hazel nodded, you continued. “Your baby brother or sister.”

“A baby sissy or bubby?” Hazel asked in surprise, her eyes widening as she looked up at you. “I’m a big sissy?”

You laughed lightly and nodded. “Yes, babygirl. You’re gonna be a big sister.”

“Like Jude is to RJ?” she asked again, this time turning to Daryl for an answer.

Daryl confirmed her question with a nod of his head. “Yes, Hazelnut. Just like Jude s’to RJ.”

Hazel giggled and leaned forward to touch your belly with her small hands. Daryl steadied her to ensure she did not fall, although he could not help but chuckle fondly at her eagerness to inspect your stomach in the hopes of finding out what fluttered beyond the skin of your slowly growing stomach.

Hazel frowned adorably after a few moments of running her little hands over your abdomen. “How does baby fit?”

You smiled at her question. However, before you could even attempt an explanation, Daryl cut in. “All the mommies that have babies are superheroes. When they have a baby, their bellies get the powers needed so that the baby can fit. They keep the babies safe in their bellies while the babies grow nice ‘n strong, and when they’re ready to come out, the mommies help ‘em.”

“Is that what happened with me?” Hazel asked in wonder, her eyes sparkling up at her dad.

Daryl nodded. “Exactly what happened with you. Your mama’s amazin’, huh?”

Hazel giggled. “Mama’s a superhero!” She turned back to you with a chubby, dimpled smile. “When can I see the baby?”

“Soon, Sweetheart. They still need to grow a bit bigger and stronger though, okay?”

“Can I talk to the baby?”

“Of course you can,” you replied, leaning back slightly so that Hazel could have better access to get closer to your baby bump.

Hazel hastily leaned forward and pressed her cheek against your bump, and instantly began talking away. “Hi little baby! I’m your big sissy! Mama said you still need to grow big and strong. I hope that’s soon. I can’t wait to meet you!”

Your heart practically melted at the little interaction between your first baby and your second one in your stomach. You just knew Hazel would be the best big sister ever. She had so much love in her tiny body and she loved sharing it with the world. She was an amazing little human being.

You looked up from your daughter and locked eyes with Daryl. The archer had a small, soft smile on his face, and you could not help the butterflies that erupted in your stomach when you noticed the look of pure, unadulterated love on his face. It was the moments like these that made all the challenges that came with parenting worthwhile. Amidst all the chaos in the world run by the undead, these small, precious moments with your family was what you lived for, and you would never stop fighting for it.

You got pulled from your thoughts by Hazel sitting back up. She turned to Daryl, and the question that left her mouth had you doubling over with laughter.

“Daddy, how’d the baby get in there?”

Daryl’s eyes widened at that. He looked towards you, then back at Hazel, before looking back at you again. His eyes were begging for you to intervene, but you shook your head as if to say “you’re on your own”.

Daryl cleared his throat. “Well, uh… Um, y’know how when you wanna plant somethin’, and ya gotta… Uh…” Daryl shook his head and stood up from the couch, picking Hazel up as well. “Y’know what I think? I think s’time we get you to bed. You’re gonna need all the rest ya can get before the baby gets here. They’re gon’ wanna play with their big sissy all the time.”

That seemed to do the trick. Hazel nodded and rested her head on Daryl’s shoulder, thankfully dropping the uncomfortable subject. You sent him a mischievous smile, and he simply rolled his eyes, before beckoning you over.

“C’mon, Mama. S’time for a bedtime story.”

Smiling to yourself, you got up from the couch, adjusted your shirt, and followed your husband up the stairs. In that moment, you felt like the luckiest person alive, and it was all because of your little family.

Taglist: @holdmytesseract @thevegandarkelf (Let me know if you want to be added/removed).

[violettwrites]

the fence is white. the lawn is dead. 🏹 daryl dixon

a/n: hi guys !! sorry i haven’t been super active lately but this popped into my head tonight and i thought i’d post it for y’all !! i hope you enjoy 🫶🏻

if you enjoyed, please don’t forget to like, reblog, and/or comment !!

this is my masterlist

and my ask box is currently open !

summary: as the greene farm falls, reader reminisces on her time growing up at the farm. a certain southern male comes along to make sure she gets away safely.

pairing: daryl dixon x greene!daughter (middle child)

warnings: angst !!?

word count: 670

— — —

there was nothing more you hated than the apocalypse. because all it did was take. it took the people you loved the most: your mother, step brother, friends, and now, the place you had grown up in, where you called home.

standing there in the distance as you watched the flames take over the barn, reflecting in your eyes. it could be seen for miles— and to you? it looked like the end of the world. you continued to watch, frozen in place as the place you grew up was overrun by walkers.

that’s all this world did now. it took, and took, and took. and it would continue to do so until everything was gone. until there was nothing left but the undead.

you squeezed your eyes shut for a moment, just wishing that you could go down with your family home— but you knew you couldn’t. because you had to survive. keep the memory alive. because once you were all gone? there would be no one to remember the greene family farm.

pulled from your thoughts by a familiar rumble of a motorbike engine, you turned your head to see a headlight pointed at you; the familiar silhouette getting off his bike and making his way over to you. his pace was rushed, but still steady.

you had grown close with the southern male during his group’s stay at your family’s farm— he had taught you how to use his crossbow, and you had taught him how to ride a horse after he had admitted to you that he was scared of them.

”they’re just too big,” he huffed, arms leaning on the fence of the stables as you stood on the other side, hand brushing over the neck of chestnut, a smile on your face.

“they’re gentle giants,” you retorted, shaking your head as you continued to pat the brown gelding, fingers brushing through his mane.

“c’mon, we gotta go,” daryl called out to you as he neared you, arm immediately wrapping around your shoulders in an attempt to lead you back to his bike.

“it’s gone—“ your voice cracked as you spoke, looking over your shoulders as you let him lead you. you knew better than to put up a fight, especially with a horde that big, but it still split your heart in two. seeing the place you and your sisters grew up just taken away.

you could remember every single little detail about growing up there. the grass between your toes during the summer, how you and beth would take turns on the tire swing your father had put up in the tree, and the many, many arguments between all three of you girls, but you wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

“i know,” daryl spoke softly, his voice low as he moved to stand in front of you, fingers brushing your hair off your face. usually, you would blush. but right now you couldn’t even think straight. “‘m sorry, darlin’. but we really gotta go.”

daryl climbed onto his bike, hands on the handle bars as he looked at you. waiting. you took one more look at the place you called home before climbing onto the back of daryl’s bike, arms wrapping around your torso before he sped off down the dirt road— assuming towards the rest of the group.

you watched the barn in the side mirror of daryl’s bike, your heart crumbling in your chest as you pressed your cheek against his shoulder blade, tears slipping down your cheeks. you could feel him move his hand from the handles of the bike, gently placing it over your hands on his stomach, giving you a gentle squeeze. the gesture was small, but it made you feel less alone in the moment.

with his hand back on the handle, you closed your eyes as you let the wind whip around you, memories flooding your mind as you left your home behind, trying to keep every single memory locked in your mind forever.

[deansapplepie]

Can’t promise ya that Sweetheart

Daryl x f!Reader | Established relationship | pos savior war | Dad Daryl | little fluff

Warnings: angst, mentions of cheating (not Daryl, of course), memory loss, Negan, a little bit of violence, mentions of death, killing threat, a little part of blood, pregnancy, mentions of birth, mentions of torturing, mentions of cancer. (If I forgot anything tell me) Minors do not interact, 18+.

A/N: This is a small story based on this dream that I had in the end of the last year. Finally decided to write something about it.

It didn’t go exactly what I had planned because of the dream, but here it is. Also, I wanted it to be a small drabble, but I turned it into a big one-shot.

Another thing is… Daryl and Reader have a 6 year old son, but in no moment I wrote his name in the history. I received a critique about reader’s son in The Spitting Image, so I’m still deciding if I’ll continue with DJ in my Dad Daryl fics, or if it will be only for The Spitting Image and I’m coming up with another name in my other fics. Just to make it clear, I have no intention in changing DJ’s name in The Spitting Image.

When the Greenes found you, the world had already ended. In one of Otis’ hunting leaves he encountered you, all bloody, your hair a mess of dried blood and dirty. At first he thought you were dead, but then you let a small cry and he checked your vital signs confirming you were indeed alive. That day he didn’t go back to the farm with good meat, he took you in his arms and arrived at the house urging for help.

The moment you woke up, your mind was blank. There was nothing there. No memories. At least, you still had the ability of speaking, reading and writing, besides that, not a thing. You didn’t even remember your own name. You didn’t remember the world before dead people started walking. Some people said you were lucky, because you couldn’t miss something you didn’t remember, but most of the times it was frustrating not knowing about who you were.

Without a name or a history, the Greenes soon adopted you, giving you the name Y/N, because they said it suited you and their last name. You liked how Y/N Greene sounded, and you liked the people that took you in and soon made you love them and be part of the family. Everyday was a new day to discover what you liked or disliked, to learn something new and learn who you were.

The group from Atlanta came, and with them also came a lot of trouble and a certain mysterious hunter that refused to leave your thoughts. He didn’t even looked at you, why were you dreaming about him? Little did you know you never left his thoughts too, and that was incredibly annoying. The farm burned down and all of you lost your safe place. You took the road, then you arrived at the prison and with the months passing you grew closer and closer to Daryl Dixon, but you were only friends. Until… after the people from Woodbury joined you and an event brought you two together.

And that was how you ended up like this, married to him, a 6 year old son and one more baby on the way. Now you lived in Alexandria a community that gave you a home again, a small sense of normalcy and where your strange family only grew. You had all been through a lot already… the prison fell, you were almost eaten by cannibals and you had survived a war against a group called The Saviors, which leader Negan killed many of your friends and broke and destroyed your husband. The first time you listened to the name of the worst person you heard of it made you feel something strange, just like if your guts were being pulled by an invisible hand, but you couldn’t tell why. Maybe it was just because he was a sick son of a bitch.

He killed Glenn which was like your brother in law as you and Maggie had become instantly sisters. He killed Abraham the gigantic ginger of a big heart and a mouth dirtier than a sailor’s. And his worst crime, in your heart, was what he made Daryl go through. He tortured, humiliated and broke piece by piece of the man you loved, and that you couldn’t forgive. You never got to see him. That sounds strange, but every time he showed up you wasn’t in Alexandria, the missions everybody went you couldn’t go because of your enormous belly that had the biggest baby you had ever saw, damn Daryl and his genes, that baby was hard to push - but yet here you were carrying another one. In the final battle you had your baby Dixon in your arms, so you never got to see the man. Even after Rick almost killed him, but in the last seconds asked Siddiq to save him.

You never had to see the man you despised and hated so much, until now that you were walking on Alexandria streets going to get his food and deliver it to him. You managed to keep the distance from him the past 6 years and nobody ever asked you to do a thing for him. Maybe because he brought back the memories of what he did to Daryl, or maybe because you agreed and supported Maggie about killing him. But now, you were making a favor to Gabriel, Michonne wasn’t in town and Rosita needed him. So why not? It couldn’t be so difficult, you repeated the steps on your head: handcuff him, open the cell, put the tray on the floor, close the cell and release him. After that you just needed to leave and never look at him again, at least you hoped so.

When you entered the dark room only illuminated by the daily light that came from the small window, it sent chills through all your body and you felt your “little pear” get agitated in your belly. ‘Lil pear’ was the nickname Daryl gave the baby you had in your belly, because he was pretty sure that it was a girl this time. You didn’t have an opinion about it, but you knew he would be happy if it was a sweet little girl like his ‘lil ass kicker’. You put the tray on a chair and before catching the handcuff on your pocket, you caressed your already big belly to assure your baby that nothing bad would happen.

“Never thought you’d ever come to visit me.” You heard his voice and once again it was like someone was pulling your guts.

“Believe me, I tried to come for a deadly visit, but I wasn’t allowed to.” You replied, handcuffs already in your hands. “Hands outside the bars.”

“I know you hate me, but you wouldn’t dare to kill me.” He put both hands outside the cage so you could handcuff him.

“Don’t tempt me Negan, or I may take the offer.” You handcuffed him and now took the key to open the cell.

“You really enjoyed fucking Dixon, didn’t you?” People were right he knew so damn well how to make anyone lose their temper. “A precious sweet little boy the one you have.” You had opened the door.

“Never!” You kicked the side of his leg on the height of the knee, earning a grunt in pain from him. “Never talk about my child again! Don’t even look at him!”

“This isn’t how I raised you sweetie… but I’m glad you can take care of yourself in this world.” You went outside the cage to take the tray of food. “But this isn’t the way you should treat your father.”

You gave him an annoyed look. “My father is Hershel Greene, and he’s dead. So, no way a scumbag like you is my father.” Fuck, remembering Hershel made tears surface in your eyes. Damn, fucking hormones.

You lowered the maximum you could to put the tray on the floor and made a mental note to tell Gabriel you’d never help him in such activities again till the end of your pregnancy. He didn’t know how fucked up it was to squat in that situation.

“Your name isn’t Y/N. Your maiden name was Smith. You have a mole in your back, close to your shoulder. You got a scar on your left knee after you fell from your bike, you were 8…” he said and that stroke you in a way you couldn’t explain. Yes, you had a mole. Yes, you had this scar that you didn’t know how you got since you had no memories from your past. You left his cell and closed the door. “Guess, you aren’t Daddy’s pretty princess anymore…”

At that moment the unthinkable happened, a storm of memories hit you running through your mind and you had to hold yourself on the bars, or you could swear you’d fall. Your childhood. Your teens. Memories of an old life you didn’t had anymore, and the day you caught your dad cheating on your stepmom, the reason why you left them not looking back, because you couldn’t bring yourself to tell her and break her heart, but you also couldn’t look at your father’s face and don’t feel anger. A wave of anger that contained all the last years and now also your memories from the past hit you, and when you realized it, you were with your hands on his collar yanking him towards the bars, his face impossibly close to it.

“What did you do to Lucille?” You yelled at him, from all the things you could have asked or yelled at him, he wasn’t expecting this. “What happened to her?! You gave her name to a fucking bat!”

“I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you’re thinking. Jesus… I couldn’t even kill her turned self.” He confessed. “She had cancer. She discovered it a little after you left… she was still in treatment when the outbreak happened.” And then he told you the short story of what happened and you blamed yourself for not being there for her, she was like a mom to you and you ran away just because you couldn’t tell her your dad was a cheater, but now he was worse, he was a psycho.

You released his hands from the handcuff and stored it on your pocket again. “I’m asking Gabriel to take the tray.” You said, you didn’t even need to tell him anything, but you didn’t know why you said.

“Can you bring the boy to meet me?” He had the audacity to ask. You snorted.

“If it depends on me, he’ll never meet you. You killed my friends, my brother… you tortured my husband, and that sweet little boy had a complicated birth because of what you inflicted in all of us, and do you think you have any right of meeting him?” He could see the tears in your eyes threatening to fall, and his heart clenched just like when you were little and would cry because you were hurt. But you’d not let it happen in front of him. You’d not cry. “If you had remained you, if you hadn’t caused so much pain, this would be a completely different reencounter.”

Once you finished talking you left the small little prison and when you turned to go up the stairs, you saw Daryl up the stairs, the look in his eyes indicating worry. He was probably looking for you, and someone probably said where you were. He saw in your eyes that you were in the verge of crying, you went up the stairs and once in front of him, you urged him to leave the place, you didn’t want him to see you crying.

You entered home, hand in hand and he took you to the sofa, sitting there with you. He put one arm on your shoulders and brought you to rest your head against his chest. “What did he tell you?” He asked and you were sure he was already thinking of a way of destroying the prisoner.

“I… I remember everything, Daryl.” You said, and the tears that you had been holding just fell down. “Negan’s my father.”

He didn’t look surprised, because he wasn’t. He knew it. For years already. Being married with the archer for so many years, made you a little observant like him and in that moment you knew there was something wrong.

“You’re not surprised.” You said, it was an affirmation, not a question. “Did you know?”

He took a deep breath, his hand on your head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how was your past with him. I was afraid it was so messed up that you would break if you got your memories back.”

“Did you never doubt my loyalty after you discovered it?” That was a difficult question, that you were not sure if you were prepared to listen to his answer. You weren’t mad at him, you kneel him and you knew he had no bad intentions on hiding it from you and to be honest, deep down you wished Gabriel had never sent you there.

“Wouldn’t have put another baby in ya if I did.” He didn’t want to be coarse, that was just the way he was and when he said that you knew he’d never doubt you. “I’ve been with ya for years, wouldn’t ever doubt you.”

“How did you discover it?” You wrapped your arms around his torso.

Some days after Negan was taken to his cell in Alexandria, he saw something through the small window that he didn’t expected. You. His daughter that had given her back to him many years ago. When the world ended, Lucille had told him to go and look for you, but he couldn’t do that, he needed to take care of her. Months passed and you never showed up at home, he thought you would try to get home if the apocalypse happened, so he just assumed you were dead. He saw you with Daryl and a cute baby in your arms, and that’s how he discovered you were the pregnant wife he had and everyone talked about, but he never got to meet. Also, you were going by a different name. He’d never think it was you. He was a monster, but he was a father, and he was so glad you were alive and well… but he also knew you probably hated him more than anything. Next time Rick visited him, he talked to him and asked to see you. Of course the ex-sheriff didn’t tell you, he told Daryl and that day the hunter had a ‘nice’ conversation with the ex Savior.

“Ya’re not telling her anything, ya aren’t even going ta look at’er or ma son.” He didn’t want to be controlling, abusive or anything of it, but he knew you were better not knowing it. It would destroy you if you knew you were related to a monster. “If ya try anything, a single little thing, I’m gonna kill ya and feed you to the walkers.”

He listened to Daryl, for long 6 years, but he didn’t have many options since he was in his cell all the time and you never came close to it. Everything organized for you to not do so, Rick, Michonne and Carol knew, all of the three knew and would make everything so you didn’t need to have contact with Negan, that’s until the day you decided to do a favor for Gabriel.

“He wasn’t a bad father.” You said when your husband finished telling you what happened. “To be honest, I have mostly good memories of him. A year before the outbreak, or so, I caught him cheating on my stepmom. I ran away, because I didn’t have the courage to tell her and I was so angry at him. I was dramatic and childish.”

“Nah, you weren’t. That was how ya felt, and it’s ok.” He kissed the top of your head and squeezed you in his arms.

“Do you think it would have made any difference if I had stayed?”

“I dunno. There’s no way to know. But one thing I know, we wouldn’t have met, and we wouldn’t have our precious lil boy or our lil pear on the way.” He caressed your belly while talking and he was right… things happened how they were supposed to happen and there was no way you could know if anything would have been different.

Soon the door opened and your little ray of sunshine came running directly to the living room and hugging you and his ‘little sis’, like he was now calling the baby. You thought it was because Daryl would say all the time it was a girl, but he would always say it wasn’t. ‘Kids know these things, they can feel’, he would say.

“Momma, how was your day? Did my lil sis kick a lit today?” He asked with his little face leaning on your stomack and his big blue eyes shining.

“My day was wonderful baby. Little pear kicked just a little today.” You said, your hand on top of your head. “How was school? Who brought you?”

“It was good. Jude brought me.” He said and then he looked at Daryl. “Daddy, you forgot me.”

“I’m sorry little man.” He sat his son on his lap. “Momma needed ma help.”

When he heard you had been sent to take food to Negan, he forgot about everything and ran to get to you. He was so afraid of what could happen that he forgot to take the kids. It was safe, it was inside Alexandria, but either way he needed to be there, to teach your son could only trust you, he shouldn’t go with anybody to anywhere, unless it was people you really trusted.

“Why don’t you go up, put away your things and wait momma to take your bath?” Daryl told the little boy and he went immediately upstairs.

Daryl got up and headed to the hall, you followed him and saw he was ready to leave.

“Where are you going?” You asked, clueless, you had just arrived home and your kid was back.

“Gonna have a talk with Negan.” He said. He was so good at comforting you that you didn’t notice he was boiling in anger. He had told him to not say a thing and he just opened his big mouth!

“Babe, he’s an asshole. We already know it, just let him be. I guess I made everything clear to him.” You tried to soothe him, both your hands enveloping his face.

“I gave him a warning, and still he made ya cry.” He delicately took your hands from his face and walked to the door.

“Daryl, please… don’t kill him.” You had confused feelings, you hated Negan for so many reasons and now at the same time remembering he was your father…

“Can’t promise ya that, sweetheart.” He opened the door and left.

You didn’t know if you believed in God anymore, but in that moment you prayed to whatever force there were that Daryl could calm down and also that none of this mess harm your son and your unborn baby.

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[misguidedasgardian]

Wildcats (part VIII)

VIII. A time to embrace

MASTERLIST

Summary: You negotiate Beth’s release

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Zombie apocalypse AU, living dead, zombies, guts, blood, guns, injures, cannibalism, 

+18, MINORS DNI

Notes: A tame chapter, writing slowburn is just… not what I usually do, arrange marriage is my favorite trope, that’s all I’m saying

You woke up groggy, and with a muscular ache that barely let you get up from the comfortable carpeted floor

“Hey”, you greeted the archer, who had barely changed positions

“Hey”, he greeted back. By the light… you could tell its been hours since you started your little nap, and you frowned when you realized it

“You let me sleep for hours!”, you chided gently, rubbing your forehead

“You fell through the floor!”, he said simply, “it’s fine”, you ate something you scavenge from your old “base”, as you kept watching that hospital

“Anything interesting?”, you asked

“A car jus’ came and went, and a doctor went to tha roof”

“A doctor?”

“White robes”, he muttered, you only hummed.

. . . 

You were actually a bit relieved when you saw the others pulled up, although the team wasn’t complete. Rick hugged Daryl tightly, and then he hugged you

“I thought you had been taken by the Terminus people”, he said angrily, looking at your eyes

“They’re back?”, you asked with urgency, “where…?”, fear settled in your gut

“We dealt with them already”, he said calmly. “we need a bigger place, let’s take some distance before they spot us”, he commanded, and you all got up inside the car and abandoned the office building. “Abraham took Maggie, Glenn and Tara to go with him to DC”, he explained, as you all met in a big room. “We will be meant to follow, after we get Beth”, he said. You nodded, “it's our best shot”

“You are right”, you assured him, “so… what’s the plan?”

If according to Daryl, your plan was so idiotic, you didn’t even shared it with Rick, instead, of course, he took the lead, with the help of Noah, you all hid in a warehouse and started planning the abstraction plan

“We take down those at the office, and then Daryl moves to take out this guard”, he said as his plan involved killing everyone in the hospital

“We were going to be seven, eight once we get a gun to Beth”

Who was Beth anyways? Maggie’s sister and Daryl’s partner? he was the most motivated to get her back, so you’d think she was his… girlfriend or something.

“So you’re just gonna kill everyone?”, asked Tyresse, and a discussion ensued. You also think this was a bit much, to kill them all, they were trained as cops and that made them a good rival.

Daryl grabbed RIck and took him to the side, 

“She thinks we should buy her way out with supplies”, he said quietly, “and medicine”

“She said that?”, asked Rick, with a frown on his face, Daryl looked at his friend and leader, his chosen brother

“Yeah”, he said. Rick saw the reason behind your suggestion, but he shook his head. “It’s too late now, besides, where would we find said things?”, he asked, “the city is completely sacked by now”, Daryl only let out a short growl as an acknowledgement 

You had killed people by now, four, by your counts, did they deserve to die? You had to believe they did, There was no justice system anymore, no religions, nothing, there was only you, and you enemies.

Rick didn’t want you anywhere near the operation, unknowingly to you, because of what Daryl told him, so you had a simple job, which was coming back to your safe house and grabbing everything you could use, including a car.

And it's exactly what you did, you gathered everything, cleaned the pantry and the rest of the weapons, and put it all together in a car you hijacked. 

Carol was with you, watching you intently, as Daryl was needed with Rick, he specifically requested it

“The journey to Washington it's going to be a long one”, you said, to make conversation, it would be an understatement to say Carol really made you nervous.

“Mmm yeah”, she muttered, without much thought, putting everything together, with this you had a couple of day’s worth of food.

“Do you think it’s real… the cure?”, you asked her, she looked at you, frowning

“Maybe”, she said, looking at you with her sharp blue eyes, a woman of few words. You understood her to certain points… you were a stranger, and by your counts, Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Carol went back the furthest, you are talking weeks or days even after everything went to shit, so yes, you’d understand if she was being weary of you, someone who she just met. So you tried not to take it personally. 

“You think they are going to get Beth back?”, you asked her

“I hope they do”, she said, “they will”, she said with determination

“Have her and Daryl… been together long?”, you tried, and you might as well drop a bucket filled with icy water on her, by the way she looked back at you

“You don’t know what you are talking about”, she said, with a somber tone in your voice

“You are right”, you said softly, but surprised, “I have no idea”

“They are not together!”, she said quickly, “Beth is barely eighteen!”, she said then, and you opened your mouth in an “o”

“I didn’t know, by the way Daryl talked about her… I just assumed…”, you said

“He feels responsible because she was with him when they took her, that’s all”, she said, but you didn’t know if she was trying to convince you or herself

You kept working after that, very uncomfortably.

She hated your guts

Now there weren't many personal possessions of yours left in the safehouse, you had tried to take everything with you, but still, you managed to keep some bullets, and a couple of t-shirts and jeans, so that’s that.

When you returned to the group, car loaded, the thing was done, they had taken two policemen as hostages and they were ready to make the trade

You were glad that Rick wanted to spare you from the mess, one of them had tried to escape and got killed by walkers, and Sasha had gotten a bad hit in the head.

You were preparing for the trade in the hospital. The plan was to enter through the main door and make the exchange there. Daryl, Rick, Carol, Tyresse and Sasha were ready to go with him, so was Noah

“Noah”, you called, he looked back at you, “stay here”, you commanded, forgetting yourself a bit

“I want to go”, he protested, Rick had that cray cray look in his eyes, looking back at you for explanations

“They are looking for you”, you said, “they had send men out in a real manhunt, they want you back… men had died because of it, if they see you… they will demand you stay”, you explained severely, “if they ask about you, we should say you ran away from us, that we don’t know where you are”, Rick shook his head, like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and how much sense it made

“She is right”, he said, “Noah stay here” 

“But…”

“They want you to keep working, you owe them some sort of debt” you said, he only nodded. 

“You too”, said Rick, looking at you, “stay here, if you hear gunshots…”

“Go in, guns blazing”, you completed, he looked at you quizzically, but didn’t say anything.

You stood with Noah outside, and hid in one of the tents near the entrance, in case they had prepared a surprise attack and jumped them from behind in the entrance hallway.

“It's taking too long”, you muttered, looking inside the hospital. 

You heard an engine coming, and when you looked, a huge fire truck, and descended Maggie, Glenn, Abraham, Rosita, Eugene and Tara.

You came out of your hiding place and received them

“Rick is inside, trading for Beth”, you said, Maggie squeezed your arm with a soft smile and a nod.

The doors opened at that moment, and here they came, the entire group. led by Rick Carol and Tyresse and behind them came Daryl having his arms around a pretty girl with blonde hair and big blue eyes with a big smile on her face. 

And here came all the rest.

Maggie ran to meet her, and engulfed her sister in a big hug.

They were all so happy, and relieved, and you were so happy that everything worked out

For the first time since you knew him, you saw Daryl smile, like… truly smile.

“We are going to DC”, said Rick with a pleased smile on his face, as he watched all of you together 

But the faces of the crew that was supposed to be on their way there said it all 

And they wasted no time in filling you in…

Eugene was lying, he was no scientist, there was no cure, there was nothing in Washington for you all, not that you knew of.

it was childish of you to think there ever was a way out of this.

There was none, there was only one way to stay alive… to lean into your group, to survive, whatever it takes.

The realization dawned on all of the group as you gathered in that warehouse again, luckily for the morale in general apparently there weren't many of those who believed in it in the first place, including Rick and Daryl they never believed it existed said cure in the first place.

“What are we going to do now?”, asked Sasha

You caught Daryl staring at you, he was relieved but stood stuck to Beth’s side like a guard dog, you looked back at him

“(y/n) had a plan”, said Rick pointing at you, all eyes were on you, “she knows there is an island, on lake Lanier”, he said. “close from here, if we can take it, we can be safe there, an island is where more safer”

“According to the map I found…”, you said softly, “there is only one road leading to the island, if we can close that and control it, we can take control of the island, but I don’t know many details of it.

“Noah is from a safe community in Virginia”, said Beth immediately, you looked back at her. “I was going to accompany him there, he says there are tall walls, a thick gate, good houses..”

“It’s true”, he said, nodding enthusiastically, “my family is still there, my mother and brothers”

The group seemed divided. Rick looked at you, but you only shook your head. Your plan was a dot you saw on a map and hers seemed a bit more solid, but oh the pictures you had seen in that catalog, if it was intact, it seemed like a great opportunity

There was a huge hotel, and in the other side of the island you saw small cabins with lots of privacy, you could all live there, plant your own, even get some animals, like cattle, if you get a hold on a boat you could really just just anywhere around the lake and scavenge, it was a good idea.

But you remained quiet, because what if the island was overrun? what if it was a complete bust, what if someone died because of you and your plan?

Rick saw your doubts, and nodded

“Let's get out of this city first”, he said, “let’s go get Michonne, Carl, Judith and Gabriel, and let’s go”, he offered, you all nodded, and started the journey.

Decided to let Beth live, this is supossed to be a happy fic, so...

@crazyunsexycool

[topazy]

Tomorrow's promise

Pairing: Daryl Dixon × reader, Rick Grimes × sister reader

Warnings: Blood, childbirth, character death

Chapter: 3.03

“Come on, you can do it.”

Jace wraps his small hands around your fingers and manages to take a few steps in front of you before stumbling forward, but you use your hand to break his fall, so your hands are between his knees and the ground below. Jace repeats this action a few times until he becomes too tired and curls into your arms.

Carl claps his hands and says, “Well done, little guy.”

“Wow, big day for the both of us,” Hershel chuckles. “Give it a few days, and me and Jace will be racing each other in the yard.”

Hershel had adapted quickly to his leg amputation and learned how to walk with crutches. He looks great considering how much trauma his body had gone through a few days prior. Hershel really was a strong man. “You’re looking great; it’s good to see you up and about.”

“Well, Beth told me you helped her alter my trousers; I just wanted to say thank you in person.” Now leaning against the wall beside where you’re sitting on the ground, Hershel uses one of the crutches to point at a folded-up piece of paper falling out of your pocket. “What’s that?”

“Oh,” you say as you stand and shove the paper back into your pocket. “Me and Daryl are going on a supply run later; I was just making a list so I don’t forget anything.”

Carl cocks his head to the side. “I thought my dad said we had plenty of food.”

“I need more baby supplies, not just for Jace but also for your new brother or sister as well.” You didn’t want to embarrass your nephew by explaining that your breast milk was drying up. Daryl had overheard you telling Maggie at breakfast and immediately offered to accompany you. Changing the subject, you look to Hershel and ask, “So, how far have you walked now?”

“Only up and down this cell block so far, but I'm going for a stroll outside. Care to join?”

—

“Can I hold him?”

“Sure,” you smile down at Jace, who was trying his hardest to fight sleep. His eyelids would flutter shut, then he'd force them, then he’d whine and open them again. When Beth holds him, he beams up at her before his eyes betray him and close again. “You’re really good with him.”

Beth was only sixteen, and regardless of losing so many people at such a young age, kindness radiated from her. Beth would make such a good mom someday. You smile, noticing the proud look on Maggie, Rick, Daryl, and Glenn’s faces as they watch Hershel walk outside for the first time with his crutches.

Carl raises his gun. “Walkers!”

“Everybody, get inside now!”

You cover Beth as she runs to safety. Hershel hits a walker with his crouch and makes it into the small, fenced-off area with his daughter and Jace. The undead continue to close in on you, their hands reaching out to grab hold of your clothing and pull you down, but you manage to dodge their grasp and continue to fight, the bullets you fire landing in their rotting bodies. Rick, Daryl, and Glenn sprint to the prison yard, but you didn’t have time to wait for them.

“Y/n, quick!” Maggie waves you over to join her, Carl, and Lori as they go into the prison.

You narrowly avoid walkers while getting to the doorway. But you’re unable to close the door behind you, knowing Jace is on the other side of the yard. But when you look back, you see that your brother has reached them and is taking the dead out one by one. Knowing your son is safe, you slam the door shut.

As you run from the walkers already in the prison, your heart pounds in your chest as you catch up with the others. You swear you can feel the hot breath of the undead on your heels, and when you glance back, you see Shane. Except it couldn't be him; his body is still on the farm. The walkers' moans and groans grow louder as they close in on you.

“Aunt y/n! In here!”

You run to the cell block Carl, Lori, and Maggie are in. Soon as your nephew slams the gated door shut, while catching your breath, you notice Lori crouching over in pain, her hand pressing against her back. “Somethings wrong.”

“Are you bit?” Carl asks, panicked.

“No, no, the baby is coming.”

A deafening alarm starts to blast through the prison. You clap your hands over your ears. “We need to move; that damn thing will draw every walker right to us.”

—

You manage to make it to the boiler room without coming into contact with many walkers. You help Lori stand; her screams of pain fill the air. She lets out a deep breath. “The baby is coming, now!”

While Maggie helps Lori lay down and take her pants off, you go to Carl, who is terrified and crying. You gently squeeze his shoulders. “Carl, keep an eye on the door for us, just not, okay?”

His voice is filled with fear and uncertainty. “Is my mom going to make it?”

Unable to respond, you kiss him on the forehead and turn him to face the door. He didn’t need to see his mom give birth.

When you hear Maggie saying, “Okay, it’s time,”

You go over to where Lori is standing, gripping tightly onto the metal poles tightly as she starts to push. You're not sure how to help, you let Lori squeeze your hand so tightly that it will probably bruise as she tries to push again.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Maggie says. Maggie holds up her blood-coated hands. “Somethings wrong.”

—

“Mom, look at me. Look at me. Keep your eyes open.”

As you watch Carl cry, your heart breaks not only for Lori but also because you know he’s about to witness his mother dying. Tears stream down your face as the realization sinks in that she was going to die during childbirth.

“I know what it means, and I’m not losing my baby.” She looks directly at Maggie and says, “You’ve got to cut me open.”

“No, I can’t.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“You won’t survive.”

“My baby has to survive, please. My baby... for all of us. Please! Maggie! Please!”

“Carl? Baby, I don’t want you to be scared, okay? This is what I want; this is right. Now you... you take care of your daddy for me, all right? And your little brother or sister, you take care.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Carl weeps.

Lori breathes through the pain and says, “You’re going to be fine. You are going to beat this world. I know you will. You are smart, and you are strong, so brave, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Maggie holds onto you while sobbing; she wasn’t ready to perform a C-section with Carl’s knife. The baby was breech, and this was the only way to save them. Lori knew that and was saying goodbye. When she meets your gaze, you immediately crumble. No matter how much she hurt you in the past, you never wanted this.

When you kneel beside her, Lori wipes your tears away. “Y/n, when this is all over, you need to do what we talked about; it can’t be Rick.”

“No, no, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can; you need to. And promise me you will love this baby as if it were your own, and you'll take care of Rick and Carl for me. They will need you.”

Kissing the back of her hand, you nod, tears obscuring your vision.

Carl hands Maggie the knife.

All three of them were being so brave. Hershel had taught his daughter the basics of a c-section, so Maggie would take the lead. “Carl, baby, turn around.” Through your blurred vision, you see him still watching. “You don’t want to remember your mom like this; please turn around or close your eyes.”

When Maggie makes the first cut, Lori screams out in agony, and Carl begs for the brunette to stop. Lori suddenly goes still; you weren’t sure if she had bled out or passed out due to the shock of the pain.

“Y/n, give me your hand. Y/n please.” Maggie places your hand on Lori's stomach, where she needs it. “Keep that site clean, okay? If I cut too deep, I’m going to cut the baby.”

Everything that happens next feels like a blur. The alarms have been cut, and the room remains silent except for the distant growling of walkers. Behind you, Carl froze, unable to talk or move.

“I can see the ear. I’ll hold this open, and you pull the baby.”

You follow Maggie’s instructions and pull the baby out. “It’s a girl.” When the baby doesn’t make a sound, you turn her over and rub and pat her back until her cries fill the room. You sob, “She’s breathing; she’s breathing.”

After Maggie cuts the umbilical cord, Carl takes off his jacket and gives it to you to wrap the baby in.

“We can’t stay long,” you whisper to Maggie. “The walkers will smell the blood.”

“I can’t leave my mom like this; she’ll turn.”

“He’s right,” you say, squeezing your eyes shut, and when you open them again, Carl is pointing a gun at his mom's head. “No, no, no!”

He pulls the trigger.

—

The closer you get to exit, the louder Jace’s cries become, which is a relief knowing you’d see him any second, but it didn’t change the massive gaping wound in your heart. Lori was gone. If it wasn’t for the newborn baby in your arms, you would have thought everything that just happened was a horrid hallucination.

Your voice breaks as soon as you see your brother. “Rick…Rick…”

Upon hearing your voice, he smiles for a split second, but the horror etched onto your face and the baby in your arms, and immediately knows that his wife didn't make it.

“Wh-wheres Lori? Where is she?”

You try to answer him, but only a sob comes out.

When Rick tries to go up the staircase you just came from, Maggie stops him. “No,” she says, grabbing his arm. “Rick, no!”

If he saw Lori as you left her, it would completely break him. Rick looks to Carl, hoping his son can reassure him that Lori isn’t dead. “No…no…no.” He cries, “No, no, no!”

Your heart breaks for the innocent baby screaming in your arms, as well as your brother and nephew. She was born into a world that is so cruel and full of darkness and death. You start to shake, your body wracked with sobs, as the guilt of not being able to save Lori sinks in.

Daryl hands Jace to Beth and comes over to you, his eyes full of concern. He wraps a comforting arm around your shoulder. Softly, he asks, “What is it?”

“A girl,” you say, your voice wavering. “She’s—she’s dead. Lori’s dead. The baby… she was the wrong way.”

Holding you tighter Daryl whispers, “There was nothing you could have done.”

[cultofdixon]

Life or Death, Dixon

Daryl Dixon [PLATONIC] • She/Her Pronouns • Youngest Dixon Sister!Reader • It’s always these messy arguments that lead them into messy situations…let’s just hope neither of them have to die for it • ANGST/SFW • TW: Arguments / Gun Violence / Suicidal Tendencies Mentioned / Injuries / Violence / Scar

Requested by: Anon

“Are you seriously still mad at me? It wasn’t just me!”

“Yeah a grieving mother and a fucking ex-tyrant. The perfect team with little miss flight risk”

“I’m your fucking sister and you talk to me like that?!”

“Merle called you way worse!” Daryl snaps as he couldn’t believe he agreed to go on a run with his sister when he hasn’t completely wrapped his head around everything that had happened. The end of the Whispers war and the Reapers.

“At least I didn’t sleep with a fucking pyromaniac’s bitch”

“Hey!” He shoved Y/N to have her get the idea she went too far. But she wasn’t done.

“Seriously. You’re going to be mad about risking my life to save our fucking family when you rolled over on your back for a woman you fucked once in a cabin in the middle of nowhere just to get “inside it all” only for her and her own bitch to escape Maggie’s revenge. They’ve killed a good chunk of her people, Daryl!”

Daryl quickly whipped toward his sister dropping his crossbow and grabbing her by the jacket.

“At least Henry never my goddamn fucking sight long enough for him to get killed” He did it. He needed the last word and the last nerve wasn’t just struck but burned causing Y/N to instantly force him off storming off.

Then what happened next was a blur. Which led them here…

Bounded to wooden chairs and Daryl was the first to wake feeling his mouth was duct taped shut. If only he had duct tape during this risky trips with his bike, it is an easy fix type tool. But that didn’t matter in the moment as he tried to get a better look of his surroundings.

The place wasn’t familiar and once he understood that he quickly glance to his sister noticing the blood pooling from her temple. He didn’t know how long she’s been like such and the panic started to pool inside of him as he tried to make any form of noise to get his sister to react.

But it got someone with a familiar, enraged tone to emerge from the shadows showing the injured Reaper Brandon that had it out for the archer when his idiotic fallen group took him in.

“You weren’t easy to settle down. She definitely was” He laughs lightly as he with all his force kicked the chair she was bounded to watching her quickly sit up.

Y/N had a cut dangerously close to her left eye and it was swollen shut with that side of her face bruised as well. She had to be “put down” in order to be tied up. One can only imagine what they did to Daryl. She didn’t say anything when she rose her head given the pain and she thought if she tried to protest that the gun in the man’s hand would be used on them.

“You pinned my brothers and sister against each other back at our home. Killed big man and that bitch that got away really should’ve been in what…this your sister right?” Brandon grabbed her shoulders from behind her seat watching Daryl tense. “In her place. But you know…pinning siblings on one another make for better entertainment”

Daryl couldn’t say anything but with the way his expression almost always matched his emotions. At least in a way only another Dixon can read. Y/N turned her head toward the man she didn’t know when he rounded back toward her brother.

“What do you want with us? Your family’s gone”

“Yeah…so I need one of you to be” Brandon drops the gun he held onto the table in front of them watching them flinch at first. “There’s one bullet. I think you understand the rules if you’ve lived long enough”

Russian Roulette.

“You know he’ll just aim it at himself” Y/N scoffs spitting a bit of blood onto the table causing the worry and anxiety to build even higher inside her older brother. “Too selfless…”

“Yeah, but I heard y’all’s little squabble in the woods…he may still do what you say. But what are you going to do?” He smirks pushing the gun toward Y/N and taking out his knife threatening to kill Daryl if she didn’t pick it up. But once she did he didn’t retract knowing she would aim at him if he wasn’t going to keep a short leash on the situation.

“Judith gave yea Rick’s gun?”

“Until she’s ready”

“You know how to shoot a colt?”

“I think I can handle a revolver” Y/N laughs holstering it. “We are the only ones besides Negan that have used anything other than a gun. Thought she’d trust you with it more than me”

“You know Rick liked yea. It would’ve been you or Michonne holding that. Both of y’all’s mains not being a gun”

“Michonne is badass with a katana. I’m just a wannabe track and field star with an old javelin”

“So what I’m hearing is you want me to teach you how to use it”

I wish you didn’t Y/N frowns holding the gun in her hand watching Brandon grab her brother by the hair forcing his head back and bringing his knife to his jugular if she didn’t take aim.

The second she aimed it at Daryl, Brandon backed off knowing she was pissed about their argument and finally putting a permanent end to such.

“Life or death, Dixon”

“I choose life, Merle” Y/N rolls her eyes at her eldest brother as they were on the roof he was currently chained on. She decided not to leave him as she watched the vehicles that got the others out flee the city to their camp.

“You chose death here, pumpkin. By staying with me while the walkers flood the building and gain a sense that there’s fresh meat on the roof. You’ve always risked your life”

“For my family.”

“So what are you going to do”

Choose my family. Y/N gripped the handle on the gun, clicking it to load or not load the bullet and right as her finger rested on the trigger.

The two froze watching her quickly aim it to her temple and Daryl fought against the restraints while Brandon stood a bit in shock that she would do such even from what her brother said that he didn’t entirely understand.

Then the gun fired

A thud met the floor

And silence grew in the room causing Daryl to hyperventilate filling the emptiness as he had shut his eyes when he heard the gun fire not wanting to open them.

“You seriously think you’re going to end up alone?” Carol accused Daryl after he had told her about this Leah woman. “As much as not everybody finds a romantic soulmate. There are platonic ones out there”

“I’ve been accused by Y/N that Rick was mine. So I really am gonna end up alone”

“Seriously? Did you forget about the other name in that sentence? Let alone forget that I’m right fucking here?” Carol laughed at such receiving a confused look from her friend. “You still have a family, Daryl. And as much as the world pushed both Dixons into the earth to show them a piece of its mind…Y/N ain’t going anywhere. It will take a real nuclear ending for her to say goodbye to her life. She’s never leaving you, Daryl Dixon”

She’s your blood Daryl felt tears spring in his eyes as his body flinched to the couch of a comforting hand that when he opened his eyes he was met with Rosita’s worry filled expression.

“Aaron told us about his crazy experience being…sort of kidnapped. When you and Y/N didn’t come back when you did…we had to make sure you were alright” She states carefully taking the duct tape off as Daryl quickly whipped his attention to his sister getting cut out of her restraints by Aaron while she also set the gun she held on the table.

The gun was freshly fired. But her end wasn’t met.

Rosita had taken out Brandon and that was the gun fire that out sounded the fire that Y/N triggered. But again, her luck in russian roulette was there this time around.

“You need help standing?” Aaron asked as Y/N shook her head giving out a soft ‘thank you though’ when he went to check their surroundings outside.

The moment Y/N rose to her feet, Daryl brought himself over taking her into his arms caging her a bit. She kept herself cemented at first trying to keep up her front when Daryl has already cracked after what happened. It wasn’t until Rosita gave her a look that led her to give the Dixon siblings a moment of privacy as Y/N sobbed softly the second she left and latched onto her brother.

“You could’ve died…” Daryl stated as the group started their journey back to Alexandria. Y/N just shrugged at him. “Seriously?”

“What? If it was Merle, I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot his bitchass.”

“‘M just glad yea didn’t eat a bullet” Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she opened the barrel and started laughing like an idiot.

“Bro I would’ve met fucking Merle in hell” Y/N showed him the next shot was the bullet as Daryl instantly swiped the weapon from her. “Hey! Imma need that”

“Nah stick to your sharpened stick shit. Shouldn’t have trusted yea with drugs when you were six. Ain’t trusting yea with a gun now”

“I didn’t take the drugs!”

“Whatever”

[1989butcher]

Boots

daryl dixon x reader

he gave you a pair of oversized boots a long time ago, and you’ve kept them ever since.

set: alexandria, you got separated when the prison fell.

2.7k words

FLUFF!!!!!!!! i <3 fluff. this is my first fic pls be nice to me 🥹

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Y/N’s POV

I’ve been walking for months with nothing but a near empty backpack and boots that are far too big for my feet. The last time I slept with four walls was a long time ago at the prison. I haven’t even fully began to process what happened, I simply haven’t had the time.

When this whole thing started, I was visiting my brother in Atlanta. I didn’t know when my parents dropped me off at the airport in Michigan would be the last time I saw them. I lost my family, well everyone but Glenn, but after enough time I gained a new one.

The people I met in Atlanta, the ones that made in to the Greene farm, were some of the best people I had come across in my life. I never thought I would enjoy chilly nights eating rabbits, oddly enough I had one as a pet when growing up. Glenn never failed to remind me when I would be eating one, which led Daryl to tease me about it every time he brought one home. “This one look like yours?” He would always bring it to me first. I turned away quickly. “Stop!” I covered my eyes. I think a smile would curl from his lips. I would almost laugh out of anger. I knew every time he did this, he would come right to me to rub it in my face. “I wish I never told you about Thumper.” I said, basically talking into my shoulder. I turned to him on the log I was sitting on, still covering my eyes but peeking in between my fingers. “I ain’t ever gonna let you live this down.” I sighed, while he turned on his heel and walked away.

Glenn was sitting opposite of me, with Maggie of course. “Whatever happened to the little guy?” Glenn asked, his fingers intertwined with Maggie. Couldn’t even begin to believe my big brother found love at a time like this. I went back to building the fire, slower than before in hopes the archer would make a joke about it. “I dunno, after like five years I’m pretty sure he died, but mom said he ran away. Either way, he got a better fate than he would now.” I replied, staring into the dimming fire. I’m sure Maggie said something about rabbits on the farm, but that’s where the memory stops.

The farm being overrun was something inevitable, especially after we found out walkers were living in the barn. I’ll never forget standing there with Daryl, as he ran to Carol to stop her from going after Sophia. I don’t think he will ever forget that either. I know he blames himself, no matter how many times I said it wasn’t his fault. He would hold his head in his hands and I would rub his back, telling him ‘it’s ok’. He would shake his head and always reply no, or more like “Nah.” I just wanted to be there for him and take away his pain.

Speaking of pain, my feet were throbbing. I have been walking on this road for what feels like years. I don’t even know how much time has passed since the prison fell. I think living there was the happiest I had ever been. Our small family from the farm turned into a full on community. We farmed, had animals, kids went to a sort of school (if that’s what Carol wants to call it), and so much more. Runs were sort of fun, although Daryl never wanted me to go. One time, Glenn, Maggie, and I went on a run and promised to be home by sundown, as usual. I was hardcore third wheeling, but that was my brother and Maggie had become my sister. We were singing in the car, celebrating the canned foods we had found in an abandoned mini-van. Laughing, it almost felt normal. It was night when we returned, since we went a bit farther than we predicted. Rick, Tyreese, and of course, Daryl were waiting at the gate as we pulled up. They looked worried sick but I think the three of us were grinning ear to ear. When I stepped out of the car, unscathed, I saw the archer sigh in relief. “Don’t tell me you were worried Daryl, how sweet!” I teased him, handing him a crate of food. He huffed a quick “whatever” and I turned away and smiled. I think he saw me smile, I hoped he did. I never did tell him about the warm way he made me feel, quite literally warm. I was constantly cold, and he would always be bringing me back blankets or jackets. He even replaced my beaten converse with boots. Boots that were too big, but boots none the less. I also never told him they didn’t really fit, but I loved them too much to find a new pair.

The sun was glaring in my eyes. I laughed at the fact that pre-end of the world, I would have wanted sunglasses to avoid wrinkles from squinting. Even though nowadays, all everyone does is squint. I say everyone as if I have seen a single person since all those weeks ago. Feels like a lifetime has passed.

I decided to take a turn down a road with lots of tire tracks. Maybe I could actually find some sort of shed for the night in a few hours. Cook my very own rabbit. Daryl would be proud. At this very thought, I heard a rustle in the woods. I quickly grabbed my knife strapped to my hip. It indeed was a walker. It growled as it slowly made its way from the forest floor towards me. I walked up to it, shoved my knife into its grey skull, and kicked it back into the forest floor.

I brushed the hair out of my face after putting the knife back in a belt loop. “Where am I supposed to put it?” I asked, as Glenn handed me the knife I carry now. He walked away, passing other weapons out from a run he came back from. Those strong, warm arms came from behind me, with a soft grunt he took the knife from my hands and spun me around, wrapping his fingers through the loops on back of my jeans. His dark hair covering his eyes, he looked through the hair at me. Lifting the knife up for me to see, he slid it through a belt loop. “Got it?” He asked. I nodded in reply, my cheeks red with the fact his hands were still on my waist.

I couldn’t take these memories anymore. For all I knew, they were all dead. Or if some weren’t, they assumed I was. I’m sure of it. My family was gone, again. And I couldn’t help but blame myself.

I don’t want to replay that day in my head with what I could have done differently. That heartbreak would kill me. So I kept moving.

As I kept walking, I could swear I heard children laughing. A noise hard to come by these days, and even harder now after being alone. I surely wouldn’t recognize myself with the knotted hair, covered in dirt and blood, some of it was mine.

I picked up the pace, almost as if I was expecting children to come run and laugh by me. I looked around and saw down the road lots of cars lined up. People had to have done that. Survivors had to have done that. I think I was running at this point, I couldn’t tell. My feet have been numb since the last time I slept.

Around the corner from these cars, I saw a wall with a sign that read “ALEXANDRIA”. Holy shit. A town. With walls. I knew walking up to the gates was a bad idea, but at this point if they shot me, they shot me.

My brother was gone, with his wife who became my best friend. Our leader was gone. Same with his son and baby that I had grown extremely close to. The archer, too. And I wouldn’t admit it, but I love that archer.

I walked up the gates, my feet were stunned I had stopped moving. I quietly knocked, with a coarse “Hello?” I hadn’t talked in days, the last drink was from a river probably a day ago.

A man with a dark mullet and khaki shorts opened the gates ever so slightly. “Who are you?” He asked.

“My name is Y/N, is this your community?” I was basically begging. I was fighting tears from welling up in my eyes. A real person.

“I’m not at the liberty to discuss that with you.” He replied sternly. He looked around, as if someone was going to give him an answer. He held a large gun, clearly he didn’t know how to use it. I was frustrated, and I could take him down if need be, but I was going to be civil about this.

“What is it, Eugene?” someone asked him from behind the gate. I swear I’ve heard the voice before, but I thought it was pure exhaustion fueling my delusion/

“One moment, please hand over your weapons.” The man, assumingely named Eugene said. I handed him my knife and my pistol, that maybe had one bullet left in it. Just as quickly as he opened them, he closed the gates. I still had my pocket knife in my backpack. One of those tourists ones with your name on it. Daryl brought it back for me on a run once, and I’ve never used it. Just kept it, like a token.

“I know this knife.” The faceless voice gasped. Now, instead of just the solid wall, both parts of the gates opened and there she was.

Maggie. Maggie Rhee. Tears in her eyes as she held the knife at her waist, her wedding ring my brother gave her shining in the sun. “Y/N?” she said at an almost whisper. I went to reply, but no words came out. Those tears I had been fighting came out in full force as she crossed over to hug me. Her hand at the back of my head as we knelt to the ground to hold each other. Maggie was here, Glenn had to be. And if they were, who knows who else had made it.

I cried into her shoulder for a moment, until she grabbed my face to brush the hair out of my eyes. “I can’t believe it’s really you.” I smiled back at her, bringing her in for another hug. After a few more minutes of tears, we pulled away, stood up, and shut the gates behind us. “Wait here.” she said, running into a house.

I stood there, wiping tears with my shirt. “I’m Eugene.” the mullet man said. Staring awkwardly at me. “Hi.” I said back, taking a deep breath. He went to say something else before someone came out of the house with Maggie, her hands covering his eyes.

I slowly walked towards them. My heart dropped to my stomach and I swear the world stopped. Maggie used her other hand to say ‘Shhh’ to me. I could barely keep it together when she finally removed her hand from his eyes. It was Glenn.

Before he realized it was me I had already gone to hug him. Crying into his thin shirt and sinking to the street. “Oh my God.” he said in reply, coming back down with me, doing the exact same thing Maggie had done. He kissed my forehead and I felt his tears drop onto my head.

“I’m so sorry.” I cried to him. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve listened, I should’ve stayed with you.” He shook his head, sniffled and pulled away. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Y/N. I’m here. Your family is here.” He picked me up from the ground and Maggie came in to hug us again, going to kiss Glenn and wipe his tears. We all sort of exchanged ‘how on earth did you survive’ and ‘you look like shit’ before they took me walking up the street, careful not to tell me about anyone who had died, but who was here. Rick, the kids, Michonne, Carol, Sasha, some people named Tara, Rosita, Abraham, who had come with Eugene. I was in complete disbelief of an entire neighborhood that was safe.

None of them were outside, so seeing me was going to be a surprise, but they had skipped over a certain archer I was missing. While we came up to the porch that Glenn said was Rick’s, I found myself asking if Daryl was here. The couple exchanged looks. Fear took over as I assumed the worst, until Maggie took my hand and nodded. “He’s here, too. Been looking for you for weeks, actually.” My stomach was full of butterflies, even though it had been empty for weeks.

“He was looking for me?” I asked in disarray, the tears that had finally stopped were going to start all over again. My stomach dropped. He searched for Sophia everyday, all day. He never stopped and the heartbreak he has was unbearable. He was sure it was his fault she was gone, and he hadn’t looked hard enough. Glenn nodded. “Ever since,” he looked at Maggie, who looked away onto the street, his voice now lowered “ever since Beth died, he hasn’t been the same.” My heart had broken into a million little pieces. I squeezed Maggie’s hand, quickly saying I was sorry before she assured me she was going to be okay.

Another death that Daryl would blame himself for. I’m certain of that. Probably blamed himself for me running off too.

I followed the pair inside to where Rick was holding Judith on the couch. My first thought honestly was, holy shit a COUCH.

He stood up and smiled, quick to hug me with Judith propped on his hip. He kissed my cheek and brought me in close. I buried my face in his shirt, kissing Judith after. His shirt smelled of fresh laundry, a smell I hadn’t known for a long time. Rick was the most fearless man I had ever met, and I’d be dead without him. All of us would be.

“You’re here.” he broke the silence. I nodded, wiping my tears away. “Don’t know how, but I’m here.” I replied. He smiled again, looking up the stairs to Carl. He raced down them and tackled me into a hug.

“Y/N, I thought you were gone!” He exclaimed. I wanted to reply I thought I was gone too, but instead just laughed. “You couldn’t get rid of me that easy, kid.” playfully knocking his hat off his head. He laughed and flicked me back. “Daryl is not going to believe this.”

My eyes grew to the size of saucers. I was bursting at the seams. I wanted to see him more than I needed a shower at this point. I was looking out the window Rick was seated in front of when I said “Speaking of Daryl, where is he? Where’s everyone, I need to-“ The question didn’t matter anymore. There he was on the street, looking directly through the window. Almost through me. He took a few steps back, as if he was going to take off running. Like I was a ghost.

If anyone said anything to me, I couldn’t be sure. My legs carried me out the door and down the stairs, and into his strong arms. Arms I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. The ones that held me late at night when I was cold, the ones who taught me how to shoot, even shot his crossbow once, the ones I cried into when we lost the farm, the ones I took naps on during long car rides. Home. I was home.

We didn’t say anything to each other. He had dropped his crossbow in the road where he was now holding me, face snuggled into my neck. He was crying. I reached up to rub the back of his head with my hand. “Been awhile, huh?” I whispered, sarcastically, desperately trying to break the silence. He pulled away, tears hidden under his overgrown hair. “Thought I lost ya” He put his forehead against mine. I closed my eyes and smiled. “Never.” I said, placing my hands on his face. His response was the same, putting his hands on mine and giving me the gentlest kiss to ever touch my lips.

Didn’t think the entire community had to watch this go down, especially since that was our first kiss, but it makes for a fun story now. We both sniffled and looked into each others eyes, his blue ones glistening with tears. “Didn’t know I had to go missing for you to kiss me like that, Daryl.” Hearing myself say his name made my heart skip a beat.

He broke eye contact and looked towards the ground. “See ya kept those boots.” he remarked. I pulled his gaze back up to meet mine.

“I thought after long enough they could bring me home.”

[desiderio-dixon]

Seesaws and Stray Dogs

Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Negan's sister!reader

Genre : angst!! some comfort and fluff

Warnings : violence, gore, the lineup, mentions of Daryl's time as Negan's prisoner, guilt, toxic sibling relationship, please lmk if I missed anything!

Word count : 1.2k

Request (by anon) : "daryls wife coming out as negans sister how will everything unfold when she learns????"

A/N : I could definitely expand on this universe more in the future! Hope this is along the lines of what anon was looking for!

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The last time you'd seen your brother, it ended in yells and tears. You were furious to find how he'd been treating his wife, the same wife that was wasting away each day. You'd told him, "Don't call me." And left his apartment. He didn't have much of a reaction, that stone cold expression, never meeting your eyes. But he'd stayed true to your request, and hadn't called ever again.

When the world turned upside down and the dead began roaming, you figured he was dead. Of course you still cared for him, had fond memories of seesaws and stray dogs. But you couldn't stand to think of the person he'd become, so it was easier to believe he was dead. To mourn, and then move on.

And move on, you did. You found a group, a group that quickly became family. To add, you even found love.

Daryl is a big heart hidden behind a gruff exterior, and he stole your heart before you even knew it. After months of pining, you finally threw in the towel and kissed him. It was clunky and awkward but it made your heart grow ten sizes. It wasn't long before he'd found a ring for you. A simple thing, a dainty band with a small green gem in the center. It isn't much visually, but it means the world to you.

Now, on the worst day of your life, you twirl the ring anxiously around your finger over and over. Beside you, Maggie trembles, pale and sweaty. A little further down the line is Daryl. He's hurt, bleeding and doubled over. You want to crawl to him, to stretch your body over his and protect him. Let his blood seep into your clothing. But you can't, you know that. Around you, the saviors keep alert, waiting for someone to act out of line. For someone to give them a reason. You won't.

And then the trailer door snaps open. "Pissing our pants, yet?" At first, you think you're hallucinating. Some sick and twisted trick your brain is playing on you. There's no way that your brother is the big bad wolf.

But then he sees you, and he laughs. A big, hearty laugh that crinkles the corners of his eyes. And then he's strutting over to you, bat swinging at his side. "Holy...shit!" He exclaims, leaning down to face you eye-to-eye. You meet his eyes, searching them. In your peripheral, you see Daryl begin to struggle, trying to reach you. You want to tell him that it's okay, that this is your brother, but you're not sure that's even true anymore. Who has he become? "Definitely did not expect to see you here!" Negan bellows, a happy grin on his face.

You can feel the confused gazes surrounding you, both from your friends and his. You don't dare look away from him, eyes steely and jaw set. But still, your hands move on their own accord, twirling the ring over and over. "Now this here...is an absolute plot twist! That is my baby sister, y'all!" He looks at your hands, at the ring you obsessively touch. "Oh! Now don't tell me my little sister is married to one of these pricks!" Daryl squirms.

"I am, not that it's any of your business." You spit. Negan twirls around, giving the lineup a good once over.

"Now wait! Don't tell me! Let me guess." He walks back and forth, exaggeratedly rubbing his chin in mock-thought. He stops in front of Rick, glancing to see your reaction. You don't move. And then Glenn, but when Maggie cries out, he swiftly moves on. Right to Daryl. You swallow harsh, holding your breath as he raises his bat to him. "I think I hit the jackpot! Get up, kid. Come sit next to your husband." You stand on shaky feet, sending one last lingering glance to Maggie before stumbling your way to Daryl.

When you reach him, falling to your knees, he shuffles forward, hiding you behind his frame. Negan laughs at the display. "Well, now that we've got that settled, let's get started!"

When all is settled and done, you can't look away from the patch of dirt and leaves you're perched on. Because if you do, you'd see your friends. Abraham and Glenn, or what's left of them. A mangled mess of gore, the soil below drinking their blood and tinging a crimson red. And you'd see that he's gone. Your love, ripped from you as you kicked and cried and screamed. You're not sure how long you sit, staring at the ground. But night turns into morning.

And then Maggie stumbles toward her husband. All the girls leap up, yourself included. You, Sasha, Rosita all help Maggie. Like some kind of widows club, you think bitterly.

There's a sense of guilt too, that this blood was spilled by someone of your own. That the same evil that runs through him could be in your veins, too. Rick can hardly meet your eyes.

In shame, you exile yourself to Hilltop with Maggie and Sasha. There's nothing for you in Alexandria anymore. You knew Negan wouldn't hurt you, but everyone else was free game and you didn't want to be there to see it. Let him believe you were dead. Maybe then he'd let Daryl go.

Hilltop is where you and Daryl reunite. It was somewhere around a week after the lineup, a week of hell for everyone. Daryl was weakened, beat and starved and sleep deprived. He practically falls into your arms.

The tears roll freely as your hands roam over his back, confirming that he's really there. Really with you. You're overcome with a strange mix of gratitude and guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." You cry into him, tears staining his shoulder. He doesn't say anything, but he squeezes you tightly. That says more than words.

That night, as you both ready for bed, Daryl tells you all that he went through at the hands of your brother. You run your hands over the fresh bruises and the aged scars. "I'm sorry. I thought he was dead." You mumble, pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder. The dim light of the lamp casts an intimate glow over the two of you.

"He will be." Daryl grunts, but then he timidly adds. "...if ya want him to be." You know he's no stranger to a morally gray (or rather morally black) brother. His own brother was once his enemy too.

"I don't know, honestly. He's my brother but he hasn't been the same since even before all this." You sigh. "I wish things were different." The things Negan has done, they're unforgiveable. And yet, he may be the only blood you have left in the world. Doesn't that mean something?

You settle into the bed next to Daryl, wrapping your arms around his frame. His skin is warm and comforting against your own. Familiar. You begin to doze off, feeling safe knowing he's here with you, but before you reach sleep, you hear him. "Me too."

At that, you make a promise to yourself. You won't let your brother hurt Daryl anymore, no matter the cost. No one, including Negan, will take Daryl from you ever again.

[daichinom]

LAST REFUGE

chap. 1 Daryl Dixon x Grimes Reader Season 1

⚠️Warning: spoilers, blood, mentions of death and suicide, medical terms, angst, typical TWD violence and gore, vomiting, child injury, allusions to gunshot wound

FlashBack

You were sitting at the coffee table where you were, with your computer on and your books and study notebooks, you were about to finish your medical degree and in a few weeks it was going to be your final exam for your career as a general practitioner, You were beyond stressed and eager to devour all the books you had along with your notes.

Suddenly, you felt the vibration of your cell phone against the part of your thigh, making your mind stop focusing on the text on the monitor, you took your cell phone out of your bag and saw that it was Lori, your sister-in-law.

You couldn't help but frown for a second, sometimes Lori called you because she used to argue with Rick about something and you already knew how your brother was, just like you.

So you preferred to listen to her and sometimes almost ignore her while you were cooking or doing something, but now you were busy, so out of courtesy you answered her.

-"Hello? Lori?"

-"Y/N… Hello… Hey, I need to tell you something… It's about Rick"-

She was agitated, you could barely hear a tremor in her voice over the line.

-"Go ahead, what's up Lori?"

-"When I went to get Carl from school, Shane came and… He told me that Rick had been shot"-

Your mind was left processing that last part.

Rick. Got. Shot.

-"I-I understand… Where are you now? Have you already gone to see him? Do you want me to stay with Carl?"

Your brain quickly abandoned the importance of studying, your family was more important in this case.

-"Please… It would be nice to have you"-

Was all you heard from Lori, and then you said yes and hung up.

FlashForwards

Since Shane had "saved" them from the road, you had been more comfortable in a certain way, more and more people joined in, needing shelter and Shane for a moment became the "leader".

You trusted Shane, you'd known him for a long time, and you sometimes questioned his actions, but you felt like he was doing what was best for everyone.

As for you, you were carrying a basket of clean clothes, ready to hang and dry with the help of the sun, while you did so, Lori stayed by your side.

-"This washing without a washing machine is so overwhelming"- you heard her say, -"yeah, of course"- you answered her, without looking at her, continuing with your thing, that didn't stop Lori from looking at you, -"hey… I'm sorry, It hurts me too.."- Lori said, covering that topic that still made your heart tighten. -"Yes?, I guess it hurts all of us"- you answered, while you looked at her, -"please… If it's because of Shane…"- Lori said, it hadn't taken you long to realize how many times Shane and Lori disappeared, but that wasn't a bother as such, and you made it clear to her while you placed her hand on her shoulder, -"it doesn't bother me, I can understand how you feel…I'm just…I still can't get over it…" - you answered, looking into her eyes, trying to convey your emotions, Lori nodded and hugged you, as a small consolation.

-"Sometimes I wish everything were different.."- you murmured, she ran her hand along your back, pampering you with human and maternal affection, the morning slowly became late, you were washing the last batch of clothes that had been washed. hanging out on the river, along with Jacqui, it was nice to have her, she was a woman with insightful comments.

-"I miss my washer and quick dryer set"- you heard her say as she sank the clothes back into the water, -"me too, faster and more effective"- you answered.

Suddenly, you heard a high-pitched, familiar voice, -"Aunt Y/N, Aunt Y/N!"- you turned and saw Carl, straightening up for a moment, -"what's wrong little one?"- you asked your nephew, - "Shane says come back, there are two men with very big guns" - that was enough for you and Jacqui to get up and pick up the amount of clothes, to hell with that, this was more important.

-"Guide me, honey" - you said to Carl, both of you going up the path of large rocks, when you arrived, you left the basket of clothes aside, grouping yourself with the others, Lori received you with her gaze, Carl was next to you, hugging your hip, it was Shane with his rifle aimed at two men, one had a pistol and the other a crossbow.

-"What's going on here?" - you asked, the gazes of Shane and the two men stayed with you, Shane and the guy with the crossbow moved away in the second but the guy with the gun didn't, on the contrary, it was as if he wanted to keep it as long as possible, disgusting.

-"These guys appeared out of nowhere"- Shane explained without taking his eyes off them, -"what do they want from here?"- You asked the two men, looking at them, -"Oh, sweetheart, we just saw a place full of people and. "We've been alone for a while and we like what we see here" - the man who kept looking at you with predatory eyes spoke, in an attempt to sweeten the ear, you looked at Shane, who didn't know whether to shoot or lower the gun. In the end, he opted for the second.

-"Because of your weapons... are both good at hunting?"- Shane asked, the one with the crossbow lowered his weapon and looked at him defiantly, but he did not speak, his silence was adapted to a "yes", - "well, you guys are left in exchange for giving us meat"- Shane sighed, the two men saw each other and the one with the predatory face shook his shoulders at the one with the crossbow, - "what are their names?" - Shane asked, - "Merle Dixon, he is my brother Daryl" - said the supposed man, pointing his thumb at the man with the crossbow.

[alyssaforevermore]

Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon season two, part five

Synopsis: Based on the events of The Walking Dead television series, Y/N Grimes, younger sister of Rick Grimes, attempts to survive in a world now inhabited by walkers. Family has always meant everything to her, but in this new world, can she keep her family safe and together?

Show: The Walking Dead (S1-S11)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Warnings: coarse language, violence, character deaths, drug and alcohol references, series spoilers and general The Walking Dead content warnings!

Tags: @1ivinqdeadqir1 @callmeyn @thegeorgiahuntsman @mellxander1993 @bigbaldheadname @cjmonsterwolf @abbi23323 @actuallyklee @lanxsee @livingdeadblondequeen @sweetz1919 @moonmark98 @sarahbaker2010 @ririi-3 @ryoujoking @hayley1998 @crazyunsexycool @gabriella-aesthetic @dixons-sunshine @strqwbrina @beardedstudentsuit (if you've requested a tag and aren't here, I sadly can't tag you)

Masterlist

You leaned against Shane’s car, surveying the people surrounding you. The highway heading into Atlanta was at a dead stop, everyone rushing around and trying to figure out what was going on.

Shane was flipping through radio stations, all of them only emitting static. Beside you parked Carol, Ed and Sophia. Sophia was playing checkers with Carl in the back of the Cherokee with Carol watching over them as Ed smoked a cigarette.

Helicopters flew overhead, catching your attention; they were headed towards the city.

“Are we gonna go soon?” Sophia asked quietly.

“I don’t know, baby.” Carol responded. “I sure hope so.”

Carol looked to his mother. “I’m hungry.”

“I know, Carl. We all are.”

Carol looked between Carl and Lori. “Why don’t I get him something to eat? Ed’s into all this survival stuff. We’ve got enough MREs to feed a small army.”

“I'd sure appreciate it.” Lori smiled.

“It’s no trouble.”

You watched as Carol disappeared to the other side of her car, the click of the door opening soon after. Then, the door slammed shut. You and Lori watched quietly as Ed scolded Carol for her offer.

Lori shook her head, turning to Shane who still sat in the driver’s seat. “Still not getting anything?”

“There’s nothing.” He sighed.

“Big shocker.” You responded. 

“No, I mean there’s nothing. The emergency broadcast stopped and that recording about the refugee center.” Shane collected his keys and got out of the car. “It’s all gone.”

“How is that possible?” You asked.

“I don’t know.” Shane responded. “I’m gonna go up the road, see what I can see.”

“I’ll come with you.” Lori responded.

Carol approached you, holding a few granola bars in her hands. “Ed must’ve forgot to pack those MREs. I found these in my purse.”

“Thank you.” Lori responded, taking one and handing it to Carl. She then turned to you. “Listen, do you mind keeping an eye on Carl for a minute?”

“Of course not.”

Lori turned back to Carl. “Shane and I are gonna go scout up ahead a little bit and see if we can find someone that knows what’s going on.”

“I want to go with you.” Carl spoke.

Lori shook her head, kissing him on the forehead. “You’ll be safe here.”

Shane nodded, placing a gentle hand on Carl’s head. “Hey, we’ll be back before you know it. Okay, little man?”

You watched as Shane and Lori disappeared into the crowd of cars. Carl went back to playing with Sophia, worries flooding your mind. What if they were turning people away now and that’s why the recording stopped? How could you possibly be safe here?

As every question raced through your mind, you couldn’t help but think about your brother. You missed him so much. It hadn’t even been twelve hours since Shane had told you he’d died. Everything was moving so quickly that you’d not had a moment to truly mourn him.

The sound of an explosion in the distance caught your attention as you rushed to pull Carl close to you. 

“Did that come from the city?” You asked quietly.

More helicopters flew past you, also heading towards the city, with even more explosions following.

You knew what this meant; nowhere was safe anymore.

…

It had been your first real night on the farm as a group and you had managed to get some sleep in your old tent. You were still weary of any walkers sneaking onto the property, but you felt much safer with the fence surrounding you. 

You visited Carl early in the morning, wanting to check on him before you started on your day. Aside from still being in bed rest, he was in good spirits. You admired him for that; despite everything he was still happy.

This was the first time in days that you felt like you could breathe. You felt like you were slowly getting closer to finding Sophia and you hadn’t stopped thinking about that abandoned house you’d found yesterday.

You were helping Carol hang the laundry when Lori made her way over, her face slightly more pale than usual.

“I can’t believe I slept in.” She mumbled, grabbing some clothing from the laundry bin.

“You must’ve needed it.” Carol responded. “Feeling alright?”

“Next time wake me, alright? Especially on laundry day.”

“We had it under control.” You responded, giving her a small smile.

“I had an idea I wanted to run by you.” Carol spoke. 

“What’s that?”

“Well, that big kitchen of theirs got me thinking.” She began. “I wouldn’t mind cooking in a real kitchen again. Maybe we all pitch in and cook dinner for Hershel and his family tonight. I’m kind of looking for things to keep my mind occupied.”

“I think that’s a great idea.” You smiled. 

Lori nodded. “After all they’ve done for us, It’s the least we can do.”

“Do you mind extending that invitation?” Carol asked Lori. “It might sound better coming from you.”

“How so?”

“Well, you’re Rick’s wife.” Carol responded. “That sort of makes you our unofficial first lady.”

Resentment began flowing through your body, Lori quickly taking note of the way your face began to tense up. She laughed it off as Rick approached your group’s area.

“Goodmorning, guys. Let’s get going.” Rick spoke. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

You cleared your throat. “Are you two okay here? I need to run something by Rick.”

The women nodded and you rushed towards where everyone was gathering around a car.

Rick placed a map on the hood of the car. “Alright, everyone’s getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Y/N found, she might’ve gone further east than we’ve been so far.”

“I’d like to help.” Jimmy spoke up. “I know the area pretty well and stuff.”

“Hershel’s okay with this?” Rick asked.

“Yeah. He said I should ask you.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“Nothing about what those two found screams Sophia to me.” Shane spoke up. “Anyone could’ve been holed up in that farmhouse.”

“Anyone includes her, right?” Andrea asked.

“Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high.” Daryl responded. 

“Maybe we’ll pick up her trail again.” Rick smiled.

Daryl shook his head. “There’s no maybe about it. I’m gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird’s-eye view of the whole grid. If she’s up there, I’ll spot her.”

“Maybe you’ll see your chupacabra up there too.” T-Dog responded.

You couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, earning a glare from Daryl.

“Chupacabra?” Rick asked.

“You’ve never heard this?” Dale asked. “Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra.”

Jimmy began to laugh.

“What are you braying at, Jackass?” Daryl huffed. 

“So you believe in a blood-sucking dog?” Rick questioned.

“Do you believe in dead people walking around?”

“Well, at least I’ve seen that with my own eyes.” You smirked.

Jimmy reached for one of the shotguns, Rick stopping him. “Hey, ever fire one before?”

“Well, if I’m going out, I want one.”

“Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees.” Daryl responded, throwing his bow over his shoulder and walking away.

Jimmy began to walk away, until he heard Shane. “Why don’t you come train with us tomorrow? If you’re serious, I’m a certified instructor.”

“He and Rick both taught me.” You nodded.

“For now he can come with us.” Andrea offered, looking at T-Dog.

“He’s yours to babysit then.” Shane huffed.

Rick gave instructions to everyone else, before finally, it was your turn. Before he could speak, you pointed to where the farmhouse was on the map.

“I want to go back there.”

“I was hoping you’d stay here today.” Rick responded.

You shook your head. “If you don’t have a specific spot for me to search, let me go back there. We left food out for her. If she’s there, she’ll probably be expecting someone to come back for her.”

“I don’t think going alone is the best idea.”

“It’s not like I’m wandering around blind. I was there yesterday. I know the route there and back.” You argued. “I can’t just sit around camp, not when there’s a kid out there alone.”

Rick let out a small sigh. “Just be careful, alright? No unnecessary risks. Keep your gun ready at all times.”

“I’ve got this.” You smiled.

Rick nodded, heading off to join Shane while you collected some water for your journey and headed out.

…

You climbed the front steps of the farmhouse, your gun in your hands. Tapping the door lightly, you decided to make your presence known.

“Sophia?” You called out. “Sophia?”

You heard some movement coming from inside the house, prompting you to swing the door open and step inside. Just as you did, a racoon raced across the foyer and into the living room, causing you to jump.

“Jesus Christ.” You spat, catching your breath.

Then, you heard more movement coming from the kitchen.

“Is anyone there?” You asked. “I’m not here to hurt you, I’m just looking for one of my people.”

You kept your gun up, slowly making your way towards the kitchen. Your eyes quickly found the table, noticing the food you had left was gone. There was quiet shuffling coming from the cupboard and your heart nearly skipped a beat. It had to be her.

“Sophia, it’s okay. You can come out.” You whispered. “Your mom misses you. We’ve all been looking for you.”

You reached forward and slowly pulled the door open, freezing in place as you saw who was inside. A young boy, slightly younger than Carl and Sophia. He huddled in the corner, shaking as he held up a knife.

“Hi there,” You spoke softly, stepping back slowly. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The boy remained silent, keeping the knife aimed in your direction. His eyes kept shifting between your face and the gun in your hand. Without much thought, you slowly placed the gun on the table behind you, holding your hands above your head.

“What’s your name?” You asked. “I’m Y/N. I have a nephew around your age.”

The boy wiggled himself closer to the wall. “Hunter.”

You smiled softly. “Where are your parents?”

Hunter frowned, shrugging his shoulders.

“Do you think you can put the knife down?” You asked. “I have some water if you’re thirsty.”

Hunter stared at you for a moment, uncertainty in his eyes. Then, he dropped the knife, slowly stepping closer to you.

“It’s in my backpack. Do you mind if I grab it?”

He shook his head, his eyes watching your every move. As soon as you handed him the water, he began to guzzle it.

“Be careful,” You warned. “Too much will make you sick.”

Hunter didn’t listen, finishing off every last drop before slowly handing the empty bottle back to you.

“Thank you.” He whispered.

You nodded, placing the empty bottle back into your bag. “Are you alone?”

Hunter nodded.

“How long have you been alone?”

“I-I don’t know.” He responded quietly.

You thought for a moment, unsure of what to do. What if his parents had left to find supplies and were coming back? What if they were dead?

You knelt down to his level. “Hunter, I need to know. Do you know where your parents are?”

Tears began to form in the boy’s eyes. “We were on a road when the monsters came. They told me to run. I heard screaming but I kept going. They haven’t found me yet. I found food on the table and I thought it was them.”

You tried to keep your composure but deep down you knew what had happened. In all the time searching these woods, you’d not seen any sign of any other adults; only the shuffled footprints of the dead.

“I have a place not far from here. We have plenty of food and water. It’s safe and my nephew’s there too. I’m sure he’d love a friend to play with.” You offered with a small smile.

Hunter looked back at the cupboard he’d been living in then back at you. “What if my parents are looking for me?”

“My friends are searching these woods for another little girl, Sophia. If your parents are nearby, I’m sure they’ll find them and bring them back to our place.”

The boy nodded, a small smile forming on his face.

You reached for the gun, causing him to jump back. “It’s okay. I’m just going to hold on to this, in case there are any monsters nearby. Okay?”

Hunter nodded once more, following you out of the house and towards the farm.

…

You approached the farmhouse, Hunter following close behind you when you spotted Rick and Lori by your group’s space. 

You leaned down, looking Hunter in the eyes. “I know this is scary, but I promise you’re safe here.”

He nodded, following you up the path.

Rick looked at you, then at the boy. “Who is this?”

Hunter hid behind you.

“It wasn’t Sophia at the farmhouse.” You whispered.

“His parents?” 

“We’re not sure. I’m going to tell everyone to keep an eye out for them while they search for Sophia.” You responded. “Any luck on finding her yet?”

Rick shook his head. “Daryl’s still out there.”

Lori knelt down next to her husband, smiling at the boy. “We should get you cleaned up. I’m sure some of Carl’s clothes would fit you pretty well.”

“Walker!” You heard Andrea scream. “Walker!”

Hunter clung to you, shaking as he had been when you found him. You ushered him towards your tent. “I need you to stay here for a minute, okay? You’ll be safe.”

He nodded, climbing inside and sitting so his back was flush against the tent wall. You zipped the tent up, promising you’d be back before meeting up with the others around the RV.

“Just the one?” Rick asked.

Andrea nodded, reaching for the sniper rifle. “I bet I can nail it from here.”

“No, Andrea.” Rick spoke. “Put the gun down!”

You all grabbed weapons, making your way towards where the walker was.

“You’d best let us handle this.” Shane said.

“Shane, hold on.” Rick responded. “Hershel wants to deal with walkers.”

“What for, man? We got it covered.”

Rick cursed under his breath, rushing back to the RV to grab his gun before following you all into the field.

You got closer to the walker, Rick pointing the gun in his direction. Then, you all stopped in your tracks.

“Is that Daryl?” Glenn asked.

“That’s the third time you’ve pointed that gun at my head.” Daryl hissed. “You gonna pull the trigger or what?”

A gunshot sounded in the distance, the bullet knocking Daryl to the ground.

“No!” Rick screamed, rushing over to his side.

You inspected his head, noticing that the bullet had just grazed his temple. You helped Rick and Shane pick him up, throwing his arms around them both.

“I was kidding.” Daryl spoke, just before passing out.

“Oh my god!” Andrea screamed, rushing towards you. “Is he dead?”

“Unconscious.” You responded.

“Look at him.” Glenn spoke, “He’s wearing ears!”

Your eyes landed on Daryl’s neck, spotting a necklace made of walker ears.

Rick ripped it off his neck, shoving it into his pocket. “Let’s keep that to ourselves.”

“Guys,” T-Dog spoke up. “Isn’t this Sophia’s?”

You turned around, seeing T-Dog holding her doll in the air.

“What the hell happened out there?”

----

AN: I'm so sorry for yet another long wait between parts! For this chapter, I reached the point where Reader was back in the farmhouse and my mind got spinning. In my eyes, Sophia was never there based on where Daryl eventually found her doll. I assume it got dropped in the creek and floated up stream at some point. This ultimately lead me to introduce a character I did not plan to bring in for a while: Hunter. I felt like this was a unique spot and it made sense for me and with what the show kind of already provided. I'm really excited to focus on that element sooner than expected and how Daryl will interact with him as well. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

[twdsfiction]

[Daryl x Girl Reader] (Ms Rulebreaker pt. 1)

Tw - fluff, mentions of death, thoughts. Mentions of weapons and takes place in season 6

I arrived in Alexandria a few months ago; I didn't really know much of the place, but the leader, Rick, was nice to me and my brother. Although I was new, I fit in great, and Tara was nice to me. Rosita was like a big sister, and Glenn and Maggie were basically parents. But there's one person I could never get a hold of: Daryl Dixon. He was always so intriguing to me because we were basically opposites. He was quiet, dark, mysterious, and always serious, and the only way you'll know he's near is if he allows you to. Kinda hot, if I were being honest. The only person he seemed to be open with was Carol. I am only 19 years old. She is very troublemaking, loves to joke and get under everyone's skin, never shuts up, and is never serious. Always stubborn, unless it was about my brother, so definitely a rulebreaker

I was in the shower, and after a long day of scavenging, I finally got out of the shower to hear my brother sobbing, "No! I want Mr. Snuggles!" I immediately put on my sleeping clothes, not caring that I'm only I was wearing a T-shirt with no bra and my purple panties as I walked out of her bathroom into my living room. One of the first things I saw was Carol closely stating, "If you go over that wall, kid, you're going to be one of the monsters! Mr. snuggles isn't real." I felt so much anger in her at that moment that I shouted at carol, "Hey, leave him alone!" I grabbed my little brother's arm and pulled him closer to me, and the calm asserted. "What happened?" Carol stated a slight annoyance, and she was still caring on her fake smile as if I were the rest of Alexandria's idiots who believed she was nice. "Well, your little brother was playing with one of the other kids, and his rhino went over the wall. And he wanted to get it. But Rick said no one outside the walls, due to the horde."

She looked down, but I knew how much that rhino meant to my brother, and Carol was right. I kneeled by him, trying to comfort him with my words as I whispered, "I'd get it back for you, okay? But if I don't know... I tried. Sometimes things get lost, ok?" he started to cry before running off to his room. As a big sister y/n felt bad, she had to tell him that. Daryl walked inside the house first. His eyes went to Carol, and as he stated her name, "Carol," the way he looked, I could tell something was wrong. 

Then his warm blue eyes looked at me. His eyes were on me longer than usual, and he nodded. And I smiled. "Daryl Dixon, come by to tell me you're a ninja who only comes out at night. "Because I already knew  that."He replied, "Nah, I came by to speak to Carol."And nice purple underwear." before a huge wave of embarrassment washes over me. I completely forgot I wasn't wearing hardly any clothing. He definitely checked me out more than once. Carol asserted. "I knew this was going to happen sooner or later; do not leave this house, she says as she rushes out. I yelled, "Wait!"What!" But the two left in a hurry. I was tired of Alexandria treating me differently because I was 19. I should've been out there with the adults. Y/n thought to herself. 

I turned to check on my brother in his room, but he was sobbing in bed. I felt so bad that there was nothing she could do. I sat on the twin bed beside him, rubbing his hair. "Hey, bud, are you okay?" was only 7, so he turns to me and replies, "No, now we have nothing left of mom," as his huge doe eyes sparkled with tears. I kissed his forehead and said, "Yes, we do; I'm going to go get it! You stay here, and if anyone asks, I'm asleep," he nodded. And then he stated, "Be safe." Before I left, I went to my room, put on a pair of black jeans with one of the white crop tops that I borrowed from Rosita, and the hair clips I always wear, which were black, with brown boots and an oversized jacket borrowed from Glenn.

As I snuck out the backdoor, I searched and looked to see the town basically empty. So I immediately ran to the gate, preparing to climb it. But then Daryl yells, "y/n, what the hell you doing?" I immediately tried to climb faster to get over the gate, but I heard four footsteps before I felt a hand on my waist. It was a warm feeling. He started pulling me from the gate onto my feet, and when it turned around, it was Daryl. Who angrily He scoffed, "You fucking crazy, it's a horde?" I couldn't help but stare at his eyes, and his cheekbones were amazing. I blinked, then I shouted, "Who cares, my brother Rhino is out there; he needs it, so how about you lighten up cupcake? i'd be back." Daryl stated, "All that over a bull." I rolled my eyes in annoyance as I asserted, "It's a rhino." As I picked up my bag off the ground, Daryl muffled, "Who cares? You're not going outside that gate!" I kicked Daryl's leg, causing him to fall into his buttocks as I started climbing fast on top of the gate. ", damnit, you're going to get yourself killed," Daryl yells. y/n! Get down!" and I looked down at the horde of walkers. Back to Daryl, there were three dozen of them, but I needed to get his rhino.

I jumped from the gate onto the ground and immediately started running to get his rhino. When a walker came from the side and jumped onto me, trying to claw into my neck with their dirty brown teeth, I struggled, but I got it off me by taking my pocket knife and jamming it into the side of its head. I hurried up and ran to his rhino by a tree, and then ran as far away from the horde as I could, reaching a spot in the middle of the woods. Thinking I was safe, I mean, it's clear. Before I knew it, another two were by me, and the whole horde was coming near me. I ran faster, but a rock caught my feet and ended up twisting my ankle. I screamed. But then, as one of the walkers reached my back, an arrow went flying through both of their heads. Daryl picks me up immediately and starts to run with me in his arms. I smiled sarcastically and said, "So you are a ninja?" He replied, "There's a shed near by, got supplies, and food, we'd hold up there before going back to Alexandria. And now, Ms. Rulebreaker. What have we learned??"I stuttered at how close we were. I mean, he was carrying me. "C-carry an arrow." He sits me back down on the ground as he states, "Only good girls get carried."

I shouted, "Fine, listen to you! I learned to listen to you." It took me all the courage to say that; i was pretty stubborn. I Was honest. He then picks her back up and adds, "Good girl."

[poetoflawed]

Arrow and Her Boss man

Notes: not proofread, Tell me what you think and if i should do a pt.3! 900 words DDxY/N - platonic (y/n is Daryl's younger sister) RGxY/N - platonic (Y/N sees rick like a dad and he sees her as a daughter) Daryl calls reader Arrow as a nick name and she calls him Boss man.

Tears spilled down her face. Daryl was here, he was here and alive…and bleeding.

“Oh my god Boss wait, you’re bleeding…”  She hurriedly pulls away and inspects his face. It seems Rick landed a blow to the face, and split Daryl’s lip but other than that he seemed fine, she concluded. Unbeknownst to her, her brother was looking at the months toll surviving took on his sister. 

Winding her arms around her brother again, her emotions reign back in. While she was the more feeling of the Dixon children she still didn't know like 90% of the people around her. 

“What are you doing with this pig and why’d you call him that?” Daryl whispers to the girl.

“Long story. Tell you later” slowly pulling away from her older brother she tries to lead him away. 

But Daryl is nothing if not stubborn, wrenching himself away from his sister he walks over to the man again and grabs him by the collar, 

“What did you do,cowboy?” he growls. 

Rick has his hands up, “Nothing, man. Except watch her back.” 

“It’s true boss!” she cries, trying to pry her brother off her pseudo father. 

“You stay away from us, cowboy. Or you and me gonna have problems.”  

“Daryl-” she looks at him shocked, “i said what i said! You are my responsibility! Not his! You are my kid, not his. Now get!” he growled as he pulled her back to his secluded area of camp.

All while Rick stares sadly, watches the girl that became another child be pulled away by her blood, with no way to stop it. 

Over the next few weeks Daryl noticed Arrow retreat into herself a little. She would smile at him, happy to have her big brother back, but Daryl did see the lingering sadness that hung in her eyes like stars. A sadness that just got deeper as she looked on the Grimes Family. A family that could’ve been hers. She felt like she should resent her brother, somewhat, for ripping that from her. But she knew it came from a place of love and protection. All through her youth she looked to Daryl. She looked to him to stop the relentless beatings of their father, she looked to him to protect her in the night from merle’s skeezy friends were around, she always looked to him. And she knew he didn't know or trust Rick yet. So she understood, and she hated how damn understanding she was. but she couldn't help it. She loved Daryl and didn't want to leave him.  She stayed isolated at their little Camp a ways from the main camp. She went hunting with her brother during the  morning, and made runs in the afternoon. Like Daryl, she helped provide for the group but stayed to herself.

Rick saw this and knew this was her relenting and respecting her brother, but it  still saddened him.  He missed teasing her finds and telling her dad jokes. He missed her. But he didn't push her. Daryl however he pushed his buttons all day long. He couldn't understand why her brother wouldn't let her be with her family. In fact he had invited the both of them to join his family and was declined with some very choice words.

 That was until one day when it all came to a head. Arrow had been out on a run to a nearby town, alone. as she was scoping out of the store she ran into some trouble with some walkers. gracefully taking them out only to then be hounded by raiders. Now the fight with the Raiders was not when most would expect she was well qualified to handle herself. However the back-to-back incidents of the Walker herd and the Raider assholes, made this run in that much more disastrous.

 To this day the group still don't know what exactly went down, except that all the Raiders didn't have to worry about walkers anymore. 

What they did know for sure was about an hour after Arrow was supposed to be due back she spotted entering camp with a limp. the first person to notice is Rick because he is closest to the road and had been waiting watching across from Daryl who had been sitting at camp. He runs out to her and hugs her; she hugs him back only to then slump forward after a wave of dizziness hits her.

“ Arrow what's wrong?”  Rick asked and panicked. 

“ i-i-m not sure…” Arrow lets out. 

It's then that Rick sees the blood seeping through her pant leg. 

“No, NO. You’re fine, you’re ok… Shane! HELP ME.”  Rick is doing his best to stop the bleeding as his friend pushes past where Daryl stands in shock. As he stands there watching Rick and Shane help wrap the wound and haul his baby sister into Hershel's RV, he starts to see that Rick really is her father, because while yes he raised her when it came down to it. 

With his sister in pain and bleeding out from a leg wound he stood there in shock. Yes, there was panic. Yes, there was fear. But not the same kind of gut wrenching, blood freezing, heart pounding fear he saw in Rick. As he is coming to his epiphany, he realizes another thing, Would she live long enough for him to apologize? 

[littlegodzilla]

One more chapter. Thanks for rebloging, reading and commenting.

I'm really glad you all like it!

Enjoy the chapter!

*************************

Our Story.

Daryl Dixon x Wife / Daryl Dixon x Reader.

Part 12.

Masterlist.

Warnings: Slow burn. TWD violence. Death. Angst. Little drama. Hurt/Comfort.

Words: 3400.

Summary: the Governor attacks the prison, you all try to resist, Merle is dead and new people is coming to your home.

**********************

Chapter 12. Come back home.

"No, no, I said get out."  You say when you see Daryl appear by the infirmary, where you've been hiding to try to calm down.

"Ain't gonna go anywhere."

"Of course not. Is this another one of your promises?" You ask acidly and he chews his lip.

"I know I shouldn't have left with Merle...I've gone back to doing the same thing I did a few years ago and..."

"I don't give a shit, Daryl, I'm not going to care about you, not anymore."

"Listen to me..."

"No, you listen to me." You cut him off again. "We're going to hang in here, because it's our place, because we've made it our home, but it's big enough that we don't need to address each other, so don't try." You make it clear to him. "Let alone having your brother here." Your voice shakes a little and you swallow trying to compose yourself. "I thought you were back to your old self... but you were right, that time when I came looking for you at your house... you've always been like that, haven't you? You've always been Merle Dixon's fucking shadow..." You shrug because he doesn't know how to respond to that, no doubt your words have hurt him more than he expected.

You throat clear and turn around to take a tally of what you still have, it's not much, in a little while you'll have to go out for new supplies.

"Sorry." He grunts again. "That's all I can say; Merle is my brother and I know he ain't the most desirable person in the world, but I changed, I'm sure he can too if given a chance." He doesn't wait for your response, he turns and walks away from the infirmary, leaving you alone.

Living together becomes complicated, Merle is still pulling a tight rope, only Daryl is calm having him there, Tyreese and Sasha have left with their group, worried about Rick's lucidity at these moments. Woodbury has gone after you guys, head on, with that huge truck full of infected, making it clear he wants you out of there, but Rick isn't going to leave that place at his mercy, he's going to fight for it and so are you.

"I'll talk to him, we'll meet, we'll put our proposals on the table and we'll see how it all works out..."

"He's not going to give up." Merle says. "He'll put on a good face and everything will look perfect, but he'll come back, and slaughter you all, they have more guns, more ammunition, you're no match."

"He won't have it so easy, if we're not going to leave here, we'll protect their walls." You say and hear how the man laughs.

"Yeah? And how do you intend to do that, beautiful?"

"You're both right, I'll go up there with some of you and the rest of you will stay here getting everything ready." Rick continues speaking.

"Well, in that case let's stick to the plan."

**************

"So you're my sister-in-law." You hear a voice behind you and you get goose bumps.

You turn slowly, behind you, leaning against the doorframe of the library, where you spend your free time consulting the medical books there, but now you're helping to pull out the tables there to reinforce the prison security, making little barricades to hide in for when the Governor and his people return.

"I'm nothing to you, Merle." You make it clear to him by shuffling the table.

"That's not true, if your sister is my brother's wife, then that makes us family." He keeps talking. "Oh no, wait, that your sister is dead...so you're my half sister-in-law?" There's acid in his voice again and you abruptly let go of the table.

"What do you want, Merle? I don't have time for you."

"Fine, I won't beat around the bush." He advances toward you, you fold your arms, defensively. "I remember you, you know, I may look like an idiot, but I'm not that much of one. You've always been after your sister and Daryl, like a little puppy looking for company, always there wanting their attention." He goes on. "Now you've got him back to yourself, don't you? It's just you now."

"What are you talking about?" you frown. "She was my sister and Daryl was my best friend, I didn't..."

"Don't play that card with me, precious, we both know you liked my brother too, that's why you were always after them."

"Of course I wasn't! I didn't feel that way about Daryl!"

"Come on, honey, you can tell me."

"I don't have anything to tell you! Daryl was my best friend, of course I loved him, but as a friend, but you corrupted him, rotted him from the inside because that's what Merle Dixon does, he destroys everything he touches!" 

"Get used to the idea that it's a Dixon curse." He replies to you without taking offense.

You don't want to listen to him anymore, you stop what you're doing and walk away leaving him alone. Merle smiles crookedly now having the way clear all he has to do is go find Michonne to continue with his plan.

****************

Daryl is nervous, he has had a confusing conversation with his brother, he is not sure if he is with them or if he will leave as soon as he has the opportunity, it has always been complicated for him to read his brother's intentions.

But he just can't find him anywhere.

"Fuck, Merle." He growls at nothing.

"Where's your brother?"

Daryl turns to look at you, you're carrying your bow with you, in fact you're also carrying your knife and gun, you look like you're going out somewhere, what surprises him the most is that you're talking to him, after the argument you'd had he thought you'd never do it again.

"Dunno, I was lookin' for him, but... I think he took off."

"Not just him... Michonne's gone too." You tell him and he becomes alert.

"Do ya think he took her to the Governor?"

"To save his ass? It's possible." You shrug and he snorts.

"I'm gonna look for him. Can ya cover for me? I don't wanna anyone following me."

"You keep picking him..."

"That's not the point. That asshole is capable of killing himself doing something crazy. I'm not just going after him, I'm also going after Michonne."

"Okay, then I'm coming with you. For Michonne."

Daryl doesn't insist, you've been the one who said you didn't want anything to do with him, that you've now decided to go with him is a step, he knows you're still angry but at least you're with him. He will accept whatever you offer him. You grab your weapons and leave the prison without attracting the attention of the rest of the group. Quickly Daryl sets about tracking Merle with no problems, they have taken a car near the prison, but the marks he leaves on the bed of dead leaves is obvious, even you could track him without any problems.

"What do you think Merle wants to do with Michonne?" You speak after walking more than half the way in silence.

"I thought ya didn't wanna hear from me anymore."

"Okay." You shrug as you continue walking.

"I think Merle is trying to lead Michonne to the Governor..." He shrugs as you do. "I think he's trying to prevent a prison massacre."

"Why, no one's asked him to."

"He knows no one is very fond of him in prison, he does what he thinks is right. If something happens to him, no one will care about him..." He mutters without stopping walking.

"You do..." You look sideways at him.

"He's my brother, but my whole life he's been coming and going from my life, you know that better than anyone." He snorts shaking his head. "Still I can't abandon him to his fate." He gives you a sidelong glance. "I'm sorry..."

"You're a good person, Daryl. That's why you do those things." You try to ignore the pull in your stomach. 

Your weak spot was that you could never stay mad at him for too long.

You hear footsteps nearby, you become alert and saw Michonne approaching towards your position, when she sees you she looks relieved and picks up her pace, you don't know each other too well but you can't help but give her a hug, glad she's okay.

"Where's Merle?" Daryl asks after seeing that she's okay.

"He's gone to see the Governor by himself." She mumbles. "He wanted to make a trade with me, like I had asked Rick to do, but he let go of me and went off by himself."

"Stupid lunatic." Daryl growls. "You take Michonne to the prison, I'm going to go get him."

"You're going by yourself? what if the Governor has captured him or worse?"

"I'll take care of that, you guys get to safety."

You stay silent, Michonne also seems hesitant to want to leave, but Daryl doesn't wait, he just starts walking holding his crossbow tightly against his chest. You two look at each other and start walking in the opposite direction.

"Why did he let you leave?" You want to know again.

"We were talking in the car, Daryl now has a new family, Merle is just a stone in the road, Daryl will move on, but he's stuck in his own emptiness..." she shrugs as she walks beside you.

"I guess he's trying to make things right for the first time..." You try to understand, she nods, but she doesn't look convinced either.

"Sacrificing yourself is not doing the right thing, Daryl will suffer for it."

Daryl will suffer for it.

Those words fall on you like a slab, they make you think about how long that man has been suffering, since you met, barely thirteen you, fifteen him, Dixon was happy and unhappy at the same time, you could see him when you were in the secret place, when he had your sister in his arms, smoking, just talking, you could also see him happy and calmer when he was talking to you, when the bond between the three of you was getting stronger, but then it was time to go back home, to separate until the next day and he would become silent again, his eyes would lose their sparkle and he would even tremble a little if you looked closely.

How much more did he deserve to suffer?

You stop then and look at the woman with the katana who looks confused, but immediately understands what you intend to do.

"Bring them back to the prison, back home, I'm sure we'll find a way to make it all right." She asks you and you nod before turning around and running off in search of Daryl.

****************

But you're late, as you approach the meeting place, where Rick had planned to deliver Michonne, you hear the gunshots and screams in the distance, you don't know what strategy he has followed, if he has prepared an ambush for them or he has entered there shooting left and right. 

It doesn't matter, the point is that he has driven the Governor's group out of there, but Merle doesn't leave. When you arrive, panting and sweating from the run, you see Daryl on the ground, succumbed by his own pain, not far from him, Merle's body. He had turned, not only had Governor not only killed him, he had let him turn so that you could find him, so that Daryl would have to kill him himself. It's twisted and cruel. Merle will never be your favorite person, but even for you that's too much. You set your bow better and approach him slowly. You touch his back to warn him that you are there, Daryl lifts his head and, once again, accepts your embrace, snuggles against your chest, hugging you, letting the burden of his pain be less heavy now. You cradle him gently and caress his back and hair with pampering letting him calm down little by little.

"The asshole came after them all by himself... I don't know what he intended, to kill the Governor or something, but we could have done it all together... come up with some plan..." He continues mumbling leaning against your chest.

"He just wanted to do the right thing, Daryl. In a suicidal and stupid way, but he wanted to do it... to have a second chance..."

"His second chance was in prison, with all of us."

In that you have doubts, after what he did to Glenn, to Maggie, to Michonne, to everyone in general, it seems, but you don't say it out loud, Daryl would do anything for his brother to be okay, he had already proved it to you, but now there was nothing left to do. You sigh and kiss the top of his head, Daryl moves into your embrace, lifting his head, your gazes meet and you watch each other in silence, neither of you say anything, you just sit there, staring at each other, immersed in the color of each other's eyes. Daryl swallows saliva and you brush your lips with the tip of your tongue. You feel his hands tremble at your waist and you sigh, resting your forehead against his.

"Let's go home." You tell him without raising your voice. "We're not done yet, the Governor can't take our house, we have to fight."

"Yes... let's go home."

On the way to the prison none of you say anything, silence is your ally, Daryl needs to recompose himself, after losing Merle he needs his own time to mourn, to say goodbye for good, to get used to the idea that this time, he won't come back, that it's not one of those times when he disappears and after a few months, he comes back. Not anymore.

For your part you feel your skin bristle, it bothers you, you don't know exactly what feeling it is that envelops you right now. It hurts you to see Daryl like this, you're still upset because he keeps making the wrong choices, to your way of thinking, but now you can't hold it against him, he's lost his brother, the last thing that tied him to his family aside from his own last name, he's the only Dixon alive, you want to give him his time to get back to his old self, but you feel a horrible 'I told you so' scratching at your throat. It's frustrating how easily he manages to get on your nerves, since you've met again, you're on constant alert to know where he is and how he's doing and you feel stupid for it. Daryl knows how to take care of himself, fuck, so much better than you, so much better than all of you and yet you feel entitled to berate him and get mad at him like he's a child. You have to stop doing that, it's not healthy and you know it.

When you arrive at the prison everyone is glad to see you again, the absence of the eldest Dixon is obvious, some give their condolences to Daryl, but he just shakes his head.

"What are we going to do?"

"What are we going to do? Fight." You say utterly convinced.

"We can't fight an entire town, we need to take everything we can and get out of here."

"We can't leave, this place is ours, we fought for it." Rick is on your side and that relieves you.

"Rick, I trusted you to save my daughters, but this is too much, I'm not going to put them in danger for this place." Hershel refuses.

"We will not lose our home, we have fought and lost much to have it. But we will act with our heads, we will come up with a plan to make it all work out."

You have no time to lose, you don't know how long it will take for the Governor to arrive with his people, with his soldiers. You quickly gather everything, finish setting up the barricades, prepare everything, leave the most open and easily accessible areas protected, gather food, weapons, all your things, take Judith away from all the action, you don't want to have to lament unnecessary losses because of a mistake.

It's all risky and you know you'll have to do a lot of cleaning up in there afterwards, but you're relieved to know that you're not leaving that place, that you're not running away.

"Are you okay?" you reach out to Daryl, touching his arm.

"Sure, I have to be..." He nods and looks at you. "I guess I should apologize to you again."

"No, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, I had no right..." You sigh and rub your arms. "But I'm glad you're here again, despite everything and... I'm sorry, for Merle..."

"Nah, don't do that, it's not necessary." He shakes his body and taps you on the shoulder. "Come on, we need to finish up and leave before they start arriving."

You don't respond, the conversation ends there, each of you leaving through different doors to finish as soon as possible. 

You are outside the prison walls before the Governor shows up, he is carrying several truckloads of his people, they all look ready for anything, there are women and children too, he has taken with him every person capable of carrying a weapon, it shows how nervous and desperate he looks. You don't understand why, you are not a threat, if he had let Maggie and Glenn go without harming them, they would each go on with their lives as if nothing, but apparently he is not willing to have neighbors.

When they start to enter the perimeter you move towards them, your idea is to ambush them and also to find some unpleasant surprises inside the place that is already waiting for them. Your intention is not to turn everything into a massacre, besides they themselves will clean the whole area of infected, taking away your work.

Soon you begin to hear gunshots and screams inside, you place yourselves in the strategic areas that Rick has selected for each one, when you see people coming out you begin to shoot in a threatening way, you do not shoot anyone in particular, only those who turn to respond to your shots, but you are only threatening them to leave. The last to leave is the Governor.

The prison is still yours, you have managed to get them out of your home. You are happy and excited, but it doesn't mean it's all over. The children return along with Hershel and Beth. Rick still thinks you should go to Woodbury, make sure the Governor isn't out to hurt you again, the idea is to drive your cars after them to further intimidate them. Before you leave, you bring your stuff back inside the pavilion, fix the fence closest to the building plus you take out the bodies of the infected and some woodbury men who will no longer return home to make a pile in the garden and burn them, also to prevent more Walkers from arriving.

After that you get out of there, you don't go too far either, on the way to Woodbury you discover the cars and trucks on the road, abandoned. You stand on guard looking around you, there are Walkers and soldiers everywhere, not all of them have been bitten, others have been executed, friendly fire itself has taken them down.

"What happened here?" you ask and a scream escapes you, frightened, as a woman hits the glass of one of the trucks.

"Help me, please." You gasp as you open the door and she slowly steps out. "He went crazy, he started shooting at all of us..." She says, her voice breaking with tears.

"Where is he now?" she asks, Rick.

"I don't know... but the people of Woodbury are in danger..."

"Rick... we should go help them, we don't know what he would be capable of doing, he's resentful..."

"Yes, we will go there, we will help those who want to come with us..."

"Thank you very much..." Whispers the woman grateful for your help in spite of everything.

The prison is big enough for everyone.

**

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To be Continued...

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Hope you liked it!

See you in the next stories!!

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Taglist: @green-eyedladywrites @minervadashwood @livingdeadblondequeen @bringinsexybackk69 @phoenixblack89

[deansapplepie]

Till THE DEAD do us part | Chapter 2

A/N: This story will take place in all the seasons, but it’s not exactly a rewriting cause I’d have to re-watch everything to use the exactly lines of the characters, also I think it’s better if I tell a side story without changing the main facts of the story.

This story has a Female Reader, but I don’t describe her appearance, so anyone can identify with her.

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Anything that Reminds you of Me

Summary: In this chapter Y/N Grimes gets back something that she lost, discover some secrets and conflicts Shane.

Warnings: mentions of cheating, swearing, mentions of death, violence, Shane is an ass, Merle being Merle.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Grimes!Reader (Rick’s sister)

Word Count: 3716

Extra notes: I proofread the text, but English is not my first language, so feel free to correct any mistakes, of course with love.

After that day you grew closer to Daryl, it was easy to be with him, you could stay a long moment silently and it would not feel awkward. Also, it was cute to watch his interactions with Luna. He started to interact more with her and sometimes even took her for a walk. But now, you needed to also deal with a super protective Shane that out of nowhere thought you were a little girl.

“Be careful. He’s not the right man for you.” You rolled your eyes at him, he always said the same damn thing and you were getting tired of it.

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe I don’t want the right one? Maybe I just want the wrong one?” You were tired, you would always tell he was just your friend, that you knew how to defend yourself, but he always came with the same judgmental words about Daryl and about you.

“Y/N…” That was it, you had enough.

“Shane, I’m no damsel in distress, and… you’re not Rick, okay?” You chose your words carefully almost saying ‘you’re not my brother’, but you considered him your brother, right? You tried change your words to not hurt him, but what you said… he understood what you said, he was not Rick which means he’s not your big bro to boss you.

“Fine.” He answered teeth greeted.

“Fine.” You throw back at him, leaving your side of camp followed by Luna.

A group was getting ready to do a run to get more food and any other thing that could be useful. You weren’t going this time, so you approached Glenn to give him a list of things you needed. He was the one with more experience on the runs, so he was the best person to have the list.

“Just that?” He asked looking at your very small list.

“Yeah, I don’t need much.” You scratched Luna’s ears while she got a lick from Glenn’s hand.

“Nothing special? A candy? Maybe some cookies?” He suggested, you never asked those kind of things to him, but he would always bring something to you. He was like that cute baby brother that everyone wanted to have.

“If you see anything that reminds you of me, you can bring it.” You simply answered, everything was almost ready for them to go. So you decided not to get on their way. “Be careful, ok?”

You left them finishing getting things done and went to the other side of the camp where a certain archer was also preparing his things to go hunting.

“Good morning” you said as you got close to him, Luna already attacking him with her tongue and paws.

“Morning”, he answered while petting the happy dog. “Luna, stop” he tried commanding the german shepherd when she wouldn’t let him finish what he was doing. “Stop” he said again.

Then she stopped looking at him, puppy eyes, tongue out and the tail going side to side. “Good girl” he scratched her ears. You smiled looking at both of them, they were too much cute to not smile at.

“Can I go hunting with you?” You finally talked.

“It’s better not, I’m planning on bringing something big this time and ya make much noise walking, no offense” he was not wrong, but you could use leaving the quarry for a while.

“Alright, do you want Luna to go with you?” You asked, you’d prefer Luna stayed with you, but you knew he also needed some company.

“Nah, I’m ok. She sometimes doesn’t obey me, I don’t wanna risk anything happening to her.” You sat on a beach chair that was close where he was preparing to head out, Luna on your feet.

“When you come back, you’ll teach me how to shoot the crossbow, right?” You had asked him the other day and he said he could help you, but then you never had the opportunity.

“Yeah, I’ll…” he stopped mid sentence watching Merle approach, he was going on the run, so why was him coming back?

“Want anything special lil bro?” He asked, then looked between you and Daryl with a smirk on his face. “Maybe, some condoms?” He knew he would get Daryl pissed, most of the time he would say this things just so he could see Daryl’s reaction.

“Shut the fuck up Merle!” His face burned and he was trying to hide his blushed cheeks. Your cheeks were also blushing and you had nowhere to hide.

“Don’t you have to go on that run Dixon?” He laughed and tried to pet Luna, but she barked to him making him jump.

“It’s okay love birds, I’ll leave you alone.” He said returning to the group that was almost going.

“Don’t mind him.” Daryl tried to apologize, he felt like he was always apologizing or making excuses for his brother.

“Don’t worry, it’s just Merle being himself, there’s not much you can do.” You stayed there with him until he was ready to leave to the woods, you wished him good luck and told him to take care. He gave you a little grunt that you interpreted as ‘thank you, take care too’.

The rest of the day was uneventful. You helped around camp, took care of the kids and also rested a little. It was getting late but nobody had came back from the run yet. You were starting to become worried.

“Any sign of them?” You asked Dale who was at his usual spot near the RV.

“No, not yet.” He answered and looked with his binoculars again.

“What if something bad happened?” Amy asked worried, Andrea, her sister, had gone with them and she was not used to go on these runs.

“I’m sure they are fine, maybe they run into some trouble, but they have T.Dog and Merle, they are strong. They’ll be fine.” You tried tranquilizing the younger woman.

Not longer after this conversation you heard a big noise, just like a car alarm. Down the road a red sports car came in a high speed and the noise of the alarm became higher and higher. Soon the car stopped in the entrance of the quarry and it was Glenn inside. Shane ran to stop the noise of the alarm and soon after a truck stopped behind the beautiful car. ‘They freaking stole a truck’, you thought admired. ‘What could possibly have happened?’

You saw T.Dog, Morales and Andrea coming from the truck. Amy was helping Andrea to walk, something had gone really wrong. Where was Merle? Suddenly you heard a commotion, you thought you heard Carl yelling the word ‘dad’ and it couldn’t be it. What were the chances? Luna ran from your side in the direction of the group and you had to follow her. “Luna, stop! You can’t go running like that!” You yelled at the dog, only stopping when she jumped on Lori, Carl and… Rick.

“Rick?” You didn’t even know if anyone could listen to you, you felt as if you were in one of those dreams where you want to talk, scream and you just can’t, but that wasn’t a dream. Rick was there in his uniform, hugging his family, tears in his eyes and he heard you, if it was another sad dream he’d have ignored you like in every other that you had. But he got up from where he was hugging Lori and Carl, and he walked in your direction, you ran the short distance between you, and threw your arms around him.

“It’s really you” tears were already coming from your eyes.

“It’s me, I’m here now.” He was alive and his heart was beating, he kissed the top of your head and you hugged him tightly.

“I thought you were dead, I- I should have gone and saw it for myself. I’m sorry, you were left alone… I’m so sorry.” Many feelings came to your mind at this moment, Shane told you he was dead, but he wasn’t. You were happy about having your brother back, but now you were infinitely angry at Shane.

“It’s ok, you couldn’t know. None of us are going to separate again, I promise.” After you departed from his embrace, you looked at Shane and for second he was scared. He knew you were mad, and he knew he had screwed everything. Your look meant many things and he was scared of what he could lose if you ever opened your mouth.

You were informed that they let Merle cuffed to a rooftop.

“Damn, I know he’s an asshole, but it’s not going to go well when Daryl get to hear about it. I’m not telling him, you guys tell, I’ll just be around in case he gets out of control.” You said. Fuck. You knew they probably had a good reason for that, but Daryl was his brother and he would get very upset about it. Actually, upset doesn’t really represent how he would be. And you couldn’t blame him, you were a young sibling too and if it was Rick… you’d be angry too. In fact, at this moment you were still mad about Rick being left in the hospital to die.

“What will you do? Are you gonna kiss the calm into him?” Shane mocked you up, good everything you needed.

“Fuck you Shane!” You showed him your middle finger and left, if it was any other time, it would become a playful moment between both of you. But right now, you couldn’t. There was too much on your mind.

You closed into yourself for a while, trying to calm yourself down and organize your thoughts, but it was almost impossible. You wanted to thank Glenn, for bringing your brother back to you, but with everything that happened you didn’t get the chance to thank him. When you told him to bring something that reminded of you, you were not expecting him to bring your brother that you thought was dead. You were so glad at Glenn for it, he could have ignored Rick and let him to die, but he helped him.

“We’re organizing to go get him by the morning” Rick sat by your side, concern in his eyes. “I know we shouldn’t have left him there, but things got out of control and T.Dog lost the key.” You know he was being honest, and you were happy they were going back to rescue him.

“Daryl is probably coming back tomorrow morning, maybe he’s able to go with you. I think he’d like to.” You felt Rick tense, you knew your brother, it was just like you could feel his energy. Shane already opened his mouth.

“This Daryl Dixon, what’s going on between you two?” There was the question you were waiting he would drop.

“Nothing, he’s my friend. I have no idea what Shane told you, but he’s an ass. He judges people without knowing them. Daryl is a good person and he was with me when I needed the most.” You gave him a brief explanation, omitting the part that you were crying over his cheating friend and wife, and telling it was because you missed him. Not completely a lie. “Trust me, he’ll probably hate you tomorrow, but you’ll get to know him and you’ll see who he really is.”

Rick tried to trust you, he knew you well and he also knew Shane’s temper, but he could not stop protecting you now that he was back.

The other day early in the morning Rick, Glenn and T.Dog already had a plan and were packing everything to rescue Merle and pick the guns Rick had lost. Everything was going just fine, till Daryl made his big entrance cursing a walker that ate the deer he was tracking.

‘Just good, he’s already moody. That helps a lot’, you thought. As soon as the news were told, Daryl jumped in Rick’s direction and you had to come between then.

“Hey! Hey! Daryl! Listen to me! Calm down.” You were in front of him, your back turned to Rick, hands up.

“Easy for ya to tell, yer brother is back from the dead while mine is handcuffed to a damn roof.” He looked at you and you could see anger, fear and despair in his eyes.

“I know. I have mine back and you need to rescue yours. They are going back to rescue him. Rick is really sorry, trust me.” You put your hands on his chest praying he would not flinch at your touch or take your hands away, but he didn’t move. “Now we can stay here, fighting each other while Merle is alone in that rooftop, or you can all work together and rescue him. I know right at this moment you wished Rick was dead, but I’d never wish it for Merle. Our brothers can do stupid things, but they don’t deserve to die.”

A long silence came and Daryl contemplated the possibilities, he trusted you, but he wanted to punch Rick’s face as much as he wanted to punch Shane for going around talking shit about his brother. He looked at you one last time and said “Fine. I’m going.”

After they went on the rescue mission the camp started to go back to normal. But it was not over to you, and you had something you needed to do. You walked large steps on Shane’s direction.

“Hey Shane!” You called, in the moment he turned to you, you were already close enough and in seconds your closed hand were making contact with his face.

“What the hell was that for? Because of your boyfriend?” He asked his hand touching the left side of his face.

“That was because of my brother, and you know why. All the reasons going on your mind right now, it’s because of them.” You know he understood, his angry face became a worried one in seconds.

“Y/N… I didn’t know. I swear, he was not breathing, his… his heart had stopped.” He tried to explain. Some people looked at you and other pretended to be minding their own businesses but you couldn’t care less.

“Well, then explain me this. Because I see two options, first you lied, or second we need to take Rick to the authorities immediately, because he’s the cure to all this shit.” You decided to go to the side of the camp where your tents were, you have had enough. The show was over.

“Aunt Y/N, why did you punch Shane?” Damn the kid saw it, Lori wasn’t going to like it.

“Shane said I needed to practice, so he asked me to practice on his face. Very dumb decision I’d say.” You gave the first excuse you could think to Carl, but then Lori came.

“You punched Shane?” She asked in low voice, everybody saw there was no secret about it.

“Yes, he deserved. You know he deserved, I was holding up since yesterday when Rick showed up.” You answered actually there was way more time that you wanted to this, but no way you were going to say Lori what you saw one and a half weeks ago.

She had nothing to say, she also was angry at Shane for making her think Rick was dead. Lori was angry at herself too, for getting involved with Shane, but now it was too late. After that you took some clothes and went to the lake to wash them with the other women, you also decided going at Daryl’s tent and took the clothes of him that you could find. After what happened that was the least you could do to him. You took Luna with you so she could play a little and experience the freedom. Most of the day was alright, the exception was the scene Ed cause ending with Shane punching the shit out of him, you hope he understood the message to not touch Carol again. Also, Jimmy had an insolation and were kind of having hallucinations forcing you to tie him to a tree.

Later that day, you were starting to get anxious about them not returning to the camp. You had just gotten your brother back and even though you knew he did the good thing going back to Atlanta, you were worried you’d lose him again. All of you were around the bonfire eating the delicious fish that Amy and Andrea had fished, you were not a fan of fish, but this was the apocalypse so you would eat whatever you needed to survive. Soon after Amy told she was going to use the bathroom and got up, you heard to her scream and from that moment everything went wrong on that night.

Zombies were attacking the camp, one had bitten Amy, but you didn’t had time to feel sorry for the younger girl that was so dear with everyone from the camp. Everyone got up and ran trying to pick something to defend against the dead. You always carried your gun and knife, so you took your knife and got ready to defend yourself and your family.

“Carl, Lori, Y/N, stay behind me, I’ll protect you.” Shane said, you just ignored him and started stabbing the dead on the head with your knife.

If you could fight, you would not stay behind any man hiding yourself. Rick and Shane didn’t teach you how to knock out a rapist so now you could hide away from the zombies, they were even easier to deal with than alive people. You started counting how many you killed, using it to concentrate and not let your mind wander, soon you had lost count of how many. While you killed your last one, another came on your direction falling on you making you go to the ground, the dead on top of you, you lost your knife, you put one arm between you and the neck of the zombie, trying to reach out for your gun, but before you could take it the dead fell to the side an arrow on his skull.

‘Thank God, they are back.’ You thought and when you looked Daryl was already in front of you offering his hand to pull yourself up.

“Thank you” you said trying to catch your breath from the tiring wrestle you had with the dead one.

“ ‘s nothing” He replied and then shoot another one from the spot you were. You looked around finding your knife on the ground not very far from where you were fighting for you life, but not so close that you could grab it at the time. You took your knife, but the camp was already under control.

The dead that were not lifeless on the ground were being killed by the others, so you allowed yourself to relax a little. You spotted Rick not very far with Lori and Carl, your eyes roamed through the quarry and you also saw T.Dog and Glenn, but where was Merle?

“Merle?” You threw the question at Daryl, but you couldn’t deny… you were afraid of his reaction and of his answer. He made a face and shook his head, you thought about the worst.

“Oh my god, Daryl… I’m sorry.” You said, but was almost cut off by him.

“He’s alive, the dumbass cut his own hand and scaped, we were hoping he was back to camp and worrying about what he’d do once he arrived here. He stoled our car.” Well, this was totally Merle, you were glad he was alive, but you couldn’t even imagine what would happen if he had came back to the camp.

“That’s what took you all so long to come back?” You wanted to say you were worried, not only about Rick, or Glenn that was your good friend or T.Dog, mostly about him, but you didn’t know how the words would sound to him, so you stopped yourself before you could say anything.

“That too, but we had other problems.” You were going to ask more about it, but just when you were going to open your mouth Rick came to you.

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt?” Rick asked holding your shoulders and scanning you over to see if you were hurt anywhere.

“I’m alright, despite what some people think I’m not useless and fragile.”

“That’s not what I meant, I was just worried” Rick took a deep breath and looked in your eyes. “I just got all of you back, I can’t lose you again.”

“I can’t lose you too, so stop doing stupid things.” You said and tugged his hat brim to cover his eyes playfully. When you looked to the side, you saw the archer in the distance, already close to his tent.

The night was turning into day and one new morning was starting, the camp was a mess. You had people to burry and walkers to burn. And to think that hallucinating Jimmy dug two graves the other day. You were so caught up in all the confusion that you forgot about Luna, and you didn’t see her anywhere. You started to call her name, until she came running to you from inside Dale’s RV. You were so relieved she was good and alive. You squatted and hugged her while she tried to lick your face. All the people you cared for were good and alive, and you couldn’t be more grateful for it, but you didn’t know what you would do now, the quarry didn’t seem to be safe anymore. The question was, where could you possibly go?

Final Note: Thanks for everyone reading, liking, reblogging and commenting, it’s really good to receive your feedback.

[theteasetwrites]

Protector

❧ Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Female Grimes!Reader ❧ Era: Season 1 ❧ Pronouns: she/her ❧ Warnings: swearing, violence, attempted sexual assault ❧ Word Count: 5.2k

❧ Requested by @quinnmccurty (this request)

❧ Summary: A one-night stand with your brother's best friend, Shane, proves to be more trouble than it was worth when he develops a bit of a worrisome obsession with you, and your friend and confidant, Daryl, isn't too happy about it.

❧ A/N: I was so excited about this request, especially because (as I said once before) I was initially planning on having a little love triangle between Shane, Daryl, and Reader in The Beginning series, where Shane has a thing for Reader and there's some jealousy and idk it just didn't get put in because I had enough plot to work with there, but I like being able to put that idea into a oneshot! This version is a little different, with Reader being Rick's sister and there actually being a history between her and Shane, plus the incident with Lori at the CDC happens with Reader instead, and it's pretty scary. Basically, Shane is a huge asshole in this story so if you're a big Shane fan you might not like it lol. But, everyone who follows me is probably a huge Daryl whore anyway so if you love Daryl then you'll like this story! Protective, sweet Daryl is always a treat. <3

He watched you with a sharp, critical eye as you moved, carrying a basket of laundry down across the campsite.

One look at him now was enough to fill your entire being with regret so potent it burned the back of your eyes as images of what had gone on between the two of you played in your head. It was like the feeling of getting too close to a fire, how the heat could become so unbearable against your skin the longer you stood still, letting that faux burning sensation warm you far beyond the realm of comfort.

You’d known him for so long that he had at one point been the closest thing you had to that sense of comfort and warmth, but the morning after you realized what had happened, that you’d slept with him, you were burned.

For you, it was a moment of weakness, a yearning for the world to return to the way it was, for your brother to be alive again, with his family, but for him, it must’ve been something more, since he hadn’t left you alone since.

His gaze sharpened with every step you took as you hurriedly made your way down to the quarry, and when you felt his hand on your shoulder, and heard your name on his lips, you turned with a startled yelp to face him, nearly dropping the basket of laundry in your arms as you did so.

“Jesus, Shane,” you huffed, returning to your hurried pace as you made your way towards the water. “I’m busy.”

He scoffed, biting his lip with his hands on hips as he watched you scooping out blood-soaked clothing in preparation to be washed, rung out, and dried in the warm late August air.

“What, doin’ laundry?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head, looking around to make sure there was some semblance of privacy, so he could speak to you without the impediment of another man who seemed to captivate your attention recently.

“I gotta talk to you,” he said. “(Y/N)... Why aren’t you talking to me? It’s been, what, two weeks almost? Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” you said quietly, still unable to look him directly in the eye. “I—I just…”

He grew impatient with your silence. “Just what?”

You shrugged, soaking one of Dale’s shirts in the shallow water at the edge of the quarry. “I, um… It was a one time thing, you know?”

His face seemed to freeze, and though he seemed to break into a smile, you knew from all the time you’d known him that wasn’t a good sign.

“Shit, (Y/N),” he said, chuckling under his breath. “That… That ain’t true. You know it.”

You shook your head, laying the shirt out flat to dry upon the rocks. “It’s true,” you said. “I’m sorry if you thought it was something else, but it wasn’t that for me.”

“What was it then?”

His face jutted forward, questioning you as his eyes bored into the side of your head. You tried looking away, not matching his eye contact as you wrung out someone’s sock, you weren’t sure whose.

“You owe that to me, (Y/N),” he said. “What was it? What’d it mean to you? Think about it.”

You raised your head to look him in the eyes now, fire rising up in you as he continued hounding you with questions. “It was nothing,” you said simply. “I was lonely, and you were there. That’s all. I’m sorry, Shane, but that���s what it was—nothing. It didn’t mean anything to me, so please just leave me alone.”

Shane bowed his head, and peered back up at you from the lower angle, almost enraged now as he studied your face. “Well, it meant something to me.”

You huffed and turned to face your body towards him, now feeling guilty for what you’d said. Maybe you’d been too harsh, and maybe you should have known better than to sleep with your brother’s best friend, who’d had his eye on you long before Rick died, but you couldn’t change what you’d done two weeks ago, and at the time, it seemed like exactly the right thing to do.

“Shane, I—”

“Nah,” he said, rising to his feet to look down at you with something new in his eyes, something you’d only been noticing rather recently. Until now, you’d only seen this vitriol out of the corner of your eye, but now it was on display in full right in front of you. “Just forget it.”

He left it at that, and in a way, you were grateful, thinking it wasn’t so bad of an ending to your fling as it could’ve been. Certainly, he handled it better than you thought he would, considering how quick to anger he was, and how blunt you were in your rebuff. Still, his gaze only became harder, more calculated, in the following days, and though you were sure he would leave you alone now, you found yourself jumping at the slightest motion, expecting the man to approach you again, maybe to even touch you or hurt you, if his looks were anything to go by.

When you heard the snapping of that branch under his foot, you turned with an anxious swiftness, steeped in the combined guilt and fear you’d been experiencing since you’d put an end to whatever relationship you had with him.

Except, it wasn’t Shane. Not in the slightest.

“The hell you doin’ out here alone?” he asked, covered in sweat and dirt from his hunt, and with a string of freshly shot squirrels dangling over his shoulder. 

“Daryl,” you sighed, breaking out into a wide grin as you chuckled at your own jumpiness. “Sorry, thought you were someone else.”

He scoffed and sat himself down against the base of an aspen tree, patting the space beside him to invite you there, too. It had become somewhat of a ritual now, unexpectedly running into Daryl in the woods, where you often retreated when Shane’s stares got too much for you to handle. 

Daryl would stumble upon you, usually alone, staring up at the canopy of treetops above you, wishing to live a life as simple as the birds upon their branches. At first he tried to get you to come back to camp, insisting that being alone in the woods wasn’t safe, but you’d poke holes in his logic, pointing out that he, too, was alone, and how if the two of you were together, then neither of you would be alone. 

That, and you’d refuse to go back to camp until you’d gathered the courage to face Shane again, his heavy presence always weighing down on you, and seemingly becoming more and more volatile.

You smiled and picked up your bag, dragging it over to sit beside Daryl, who smelled putridly of walker blood and decaying squirrel, but the offensive odor had become somewhat of a comfort to you, something to look forward to when you inevitably crossed paths, as if something was bringing the two of you together.

“Loverboy again?” he asked, in that characteristic southern drawl of his. 

“Mhm,” you answered, trimming the moss off a stick you’d picked up from the ground. “As usual.”

He himself played with a leaf in his hand, twirling it around by the stem as his eyes watched your fingers deftly peel off the moss, and roll the green, spongy substance between your fingertips to create a tiny ball. 

Biting his lip, he shook his head, scoffing under his breath at the very idea of Shane. Daryl himself had been the victim of some less than friendly interactions with the man, and had received his fair share of dirty looks from afar. He could take it, of course. He couldn’t care less about Shane, about what he thought of him, but what really got to him was how he looked at you, how he followed you around and made attempts to speak to you despite your clear indications that you didn’t want anything to do with him. 

“You should let me take care of him,” he said. “Asshole wouldn’t bother you no more.”

You chuckled and shook your head. “Oh, Daryl,” you laughed, “I told you, it’s fine. He’ll get over it eventually. I told him it was just a one time thing.”

“Yeah, and since when does Shane listen to anybody ‘cept himself?”

He had a point, and indeed, Shane had only seemed more hostile towards you the last few days, to the point you were afraid of being alone. Maybe that’s why you went alone into the woods that day, hoping somewhere in your heart that you’d run into Daryl again, that you wouldn’t have to be alone.

Or, maybe, that you could be alone with him. 

“God,” you sighed. “What have I done, Daryl? I mean, am I a whore?”

Daryl’s eyes shot open wide at the notion. “Absolutely not,” he said with a scoff. “You were lonely. Said so yourself. Was a mistake. Don’t make you a whore. Everyone gets lonely sometimes.”

You smiled at his reassurance, and nudged his shoulder with yours—a recent development in your repertoire of interactions with the surly redneck, who seemed to stiffen up whenever anyone in your group touched him, but in your presence, he loosened up somewhat, and the more you talked to him, the more you realized he wasn’t all that bad.

“Thanks,” you said. “You really know how to make a girl feel good.”

God, you thought to yourself, immediately regretting how you spoke to him, with a subconsciously expressed flirty lilt to your tone of voice. You really are a whore. 

The feelings you had towards Daryl were different, though. They weren’t born out of fear or loneliness or grief. Your feelings for him were built over hours of hammering at his hard exterior, breaking down his walls and finding yourself intrigued with every word that came out of his mouth. Indeed, you were fond of him, and you had the subtle feeling that maybe he was fond of you, too.

“Shut up,” he said, rolling his shoulders as if to shrug off what you’d said, and how it made him feel. Indeed, he was fond of you. “Just said you ain’t a whore.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

Not long after that, your brother, risen from the dead and blissfully unaware of your onetime tryst with his best friend, led your group to the CDC in the hopes of finding a new home, somewhere safe in the wake of a herd running through your camp.

Tensions seemed to come to a head that night, as Shane, drunk on whiskey and more emboldened than he had been the last few weeks, kept his eyes locked on you… and Daryl.

You didn’t leave his side all night, yourself tipsy and rather flamboyantly falling into his arms as he walked you to your room, holding your waist and helping you into bed, spending much longer in that room with you than Shane would’ve liked.

“Daryl…” you mumbled, laughing at his disheveled hair that you’d messed up somewhere along the line. “Oh, your hair.”

He shook his head and suppressed a laugh, trying to maintain his stoicism despite his equally tipsy state.

“Go to sleep,” he said.

“Mm… Wait,” you said to him just before he could turn to leave. “Daryl, you’re a great guy, you know that?”

He chewed his lip and averted his gaze, wiping his nose in an attempt to distract you from his blushing cheeks.

“Ain’t nothin’ special,” he said. “Just wanted to make sure you got into bed safe, that’s all.”

You found yourself twirling your hair around your finger, biting your lip as you admired his strong arms and broad shoulders. 

“I think you’re special,” you said, and raised your hand to hold his, tugging him down until you could lean up to kiss his warm cheek. “And very sweet.”

He found himself frozen, unable to quite comprehend what you’d just done, but when you turned his cheek and pressed your lips ever so lightly against his, he pulled away with all the strength he had, convinced you had no idea what you were doing.

“(Y/N),” he said, swallowing hard as he spoke your name. “You’re drunk.”

You turned serious. “Just a little… Sorry if I…”

“Nah,” he said, shaking his head adamantly. “Don’t be sorry, just… I don’t want ya doing something just ‘cause you’re lonely.”

You smiled at the notion that the feelings you had for Daryl could be anything remotely close to what had spurred your fling with Shane.

“I’m not lonely,” you said. “Actually, I’ve never felt happier than I am right now, here with you. It’s nice. I feel… light, you know? I always feel light when I’m with you, like everything’s okay.”

He smiled. It wasn’t a big smile, as Daryl wasn’t known for that, but it was a small, slight curvature of the lips, a little gesture to show how happy your words made him. 

“Guess I feel the same,” he said.

You bit your lip, eying his once again. They weren’t particularly plump lips, but had a sweet, defined shape, with prickles of dusty brown hairs above and below the modest pink pillows upon which you very much desired to rest yours. 

He cleared his throat, unsure of what to do now, and terrified he’d ruin this moment if he dared open his mouth, but words came tumbling out regardless.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked. “I—I mean, ya know… if that’s okay, and if that’s what ya want.”

You nodded and leaned up to hold his cheek in your hand, pulling him closer until your lips met, and though the kiss was pure, short, and sweet, it was everything you’d imagined it could be, and you didn’t need anything else to solidify this feeling.

Your fingers trailed delicately over the scruffy surface of his cheek as you pressed one more short peck to his trembling lips.

His eyes fluttered open as you waved your hand in front of his face, attempting to wake him from his stupor.

“Daryl,” you laughed. “You okay?”

He cleared his throat as he opened his eyes, nodding his head to try to play off how shocked he was in this situation, having done something he’d wanted to do since he met you.

“Yeah,” he said. “I, uh… That was nice.”

You bit your lip and stared hazily, wandering over the delicate features of his face, some you hadn’t noticed before, especially his lips. God, you wanted so much more from those lips… But it was late, and you were tired, and you didn’t want to rush it. 

After all, what would Daryl think if you asked him to make love to you barely a month after a one night stand with Shane? Surely he’d think you were a whore then, though you knew he was better than that. 

“It was lovely,” you agreed. “I’d love to do it again sometime.”

He nodded, scratching the back of his neck in an anxious habit. “Me too… You should get some sleep. You look tired.”

“Mm,” you hummed, letting your head sink down into the pillow beneath you. “I’m very tired, Daryl. Thank you for the goodnight kiss, though. I think I’ll have nice dreams tonight.” You kissed your palm and pressed it to his cheek, which felt hot under your hand. 

He tentatively grabbed your hand, and placed his own kiss upon your palm, despite the shakiness of his nerves sending a tremor through his arm. “Goodnight.”

He pulled the door shut, and stepping out into the hallway, he could’ve sworn he noticed a strange presence, familiar yet somehow different in that a pair of sharp, critical eyes were fixated more directly on him.

Of course, he was still quite inebriated, and it might’ve been his imagination, so he rubbed his eyes and crossed the hallway to his room, closing the door behind him and eager to sleep, in the hopes he, too, would have pleasant dreams about you.

For Shane, though, this was the opportunity to tiptoe to your room, quiet so as not to alert the ever alert hunter across the way.

There was hate in his heart when he saw Daryl sneak out of your room, a redness to his cheeks and a cold sweat dripping down the side of his face, his clothes a little askew, as well. He knew there was something going on between the two of you, something more intimate than friendship. 

When he looked at you, though, half asleep on the cot in your room, eyes fluttering open at the narrow beam of light shining through the crack in the door, his drunken mind could only process one thought: mine.

“Sh-Shane?” you asked, sitting up in your cot and rubbing your eyes as you reached over to switch on the lamp on the side table. “What are you doing?”

He shut the door behind him, and you immediately eyed the bottle of whiskey dangling in his hands. “Shane, you should go to bed.”

“(Y/N),” he said, out of breath and nearly slurring his words as he approached, the whiskey bottle dangling haphazardly in his hand. “I need to talk to you.”

You scoffed and pulled the covers up further, as if they could protect you from him as he came closer to your bed. “We can talk tomorrow,” you said. “You’re drunk, and I need you to leave.”

“Daryl sure was in here a long time,” he said lowly, eying you with a strange darkness in his gaze. His lips were wetted by the alcohol and slightly hanging open as he licked them. “You let him fuck you?”

“What?” you replied, angered at the questioning. “Get the hell out of here, Shane. I’m serious.”

“Answer me, (Y/N),” he barked, backing up from the bed as you swung your legs over the side, preparing to stand up and push him out now. “Did he fuck you?”

You stood up to your feet and shoved him away, but his face only kept jutting at yours, almost to the point his reddened forehead knocked against yours. 

“That’s none of your goddamn business,” you said. Your eyes narrowed at him, and your nostrils beginning to flare with each indignant breath you took, you shoved him again, causing him to stumble a little as he tried to catch himself. 

“Yeah, actually,” he said. “Yeah it is.”

He carelessly placed the whiskey bottle on your nightstand, and you were careful to watch his hands as they moved, one going so far as to touch your shoulder. 

“Stop,” you said, removing his hand with so much disgust you’d think his touch was poisonous. 

He tilted his head, now gazing at you with a softness that seemed almost hostile in its insistence. His presence was terrifying, much more than it had been before, as he somehow had begun to push you backward with each step, cornering you until your back hit the wall beside your bed. 

“I know it wasn’t just nothing, (Y/N). It meant somethin’ to you.” His hand trailed up your arm now, while his other rather harshly held your cheek. Your face contorted in fear at how he touched you. The only time he’d touched you this way before was that night you slept together, and this wasn’t at all what you wanted. 

“N-no,” you stuttered, swatting away his hands despite his continued attempts to touch you. His body was so close to yours now, and so much bigger and stronger than yours, that you were sure you couldn’t go anywhere, not if he didn’t want you to. “Shane, please leave.”

He shook his head, as if frustrated by your failure to admit your feelings for him. “I love you, (Y/N),” he said. “And I know you love me too. What we had that night was special, it was real. You need to come back to me.”

You tried to shove him away again, but this time he responded by pinning your shoulders against the wall, causing a loud thud to echo through the underground halls of the CDC. 

“Shane!” you cried out, nearly sobbing in fear of whatever he was going to try to do to you. “Let me go!”

“You’re confused,” he slurred, holding your trembling body snug against the wall, this time not leaving any room at all between your bodies. He raised one hand to brush back your hair, while his knee split open your thighs. “But I need you to know who you belong to… Just let me show you.”

You squirmed and attempted to push his hands away as they groped your body, one making its way down to your crotch and feeling you over your pants. 

“No!” you cried out. “Stop it! Stop!”

His lips suctioned onto your neck, and with one hand you tried to push his forehead away, the other tried to remove his hand from your crotch. 

Your protests fell on deaf ears, and your desperate attempts to push him away were no match for his strength as he pinned you to that wall, groping and kissing you despite every fiber of your being screaming out “no.”

The only thing stopping him from further assaulting you was the slam of the door as its handle was launched against the wall, flying open as Daryl wasted no time socking Shane in the face with every ounce of strength in him.

“You son of a bitch!” he bellowed as he leaned down to pick up the disoriented Shane by the collar of his shirt. “I’ll kill you.”

You could only fall into your brother’s arms as he ran to you, holding your cheeks in his hands to make sure you were all right. 

His words were muffled against the sheer volume of the next hit Daryl threw at Shane, though this blow didn’t send him tumbling down this time, and Shane quickly lunged forward, throwing a punch at Daryl as he yelled. 

“This ain’t none of your damn business, Dixon!”

Daryl scoffed and moved forward to attempt another blow, but this time, Rick quickly moved to stand in between them, holding his arms out to keep them at bay.

“Stop this!” he yelled, and quickly turned to Shane, a deep, dark anger rising up in him as he realized just what Shane was about to do to his sister. “What the hell is goin’ on in here?”

You had sunk down in the corner now, shaking and holding your sobbing face in your trembling hands as Rick screamed some incoherent words at Shane.

All you felt then was Daryl’s hand gently touching your shoulder, and when you removed your hands from your eyes, you saw him kneeling down before you, his face somewhere between sheer rage and utter melancholy. 

“(Y/N),” he said. “Are ya—”

You interrupted him as you threw your arms around him, nearly clawing at his shirt as you sobbed into his shoulder. Even Rick was surprised by this, turning his attention away from Shane to see you in the arms of a man he hardly knew, as the man you had known since you were a teenager glared the both of you down, nearly lunging at Daryl again before Rick could stop him.

“What is wrong with you?” Rick growled, pushing Shane back as Daryl lifted you to your feet, your hands still clinging to him in a terrified stupor. 

You suddenly remembered where you were now, in a strange milieu of your brother, your former one-time lover, and a man you genuinely were starting to believe you might actually love, all of whom were at odds with each other in some way in this moment of questioning and utter confusion. 

Daryl found himself sheltering you from Shane’s eye contact, standing in front of you and puffing his chest up in an instinctual display of defense. “Your buddy here tried to force himself on your sister,” he answered, his chest heaving in rage with each word that clawed its way out of his throat and emerged cloaked in his hoarse, abrasive voice. “Can’t take no for a goddamn answer. You better do somethin’ about it before I do. Can’t have that kind of shit in our group.”

“What the hell would you know about it?!” bellowed Shane, still fighting against Rick’s weight as he held him back. “Rick, you know me. (Y/N),” he said, daring to address you now, a gesture which surely would’ve ended his life if Rick wasn’t standing between the two men. “(Y/N)... I—I’m sorry.” He chuckled nervously as he spoke, his feet stumbling underneath him as he tried to go forward towards you. “I love you.”

“She don’t love you,” replied Daryl, his voice so heavy now it even weighed him down as he spoke from the depths of his abdomen. “Even if she did, you got no damn right to touch ‘er like that.”

Rick held him back once again. “We’ll deal with this tomorrow,” he said. “But you stay away from her.” 

“Bullshit,” growled Daryl. “Rick, you either throw his sorry ass out now or I’ll kill him. I will, I swear.”

Rick huffed, peering over Daryl’s broad shoulders to see your forehead leaning against his back as you cried, and his hand holding yours by his side. He had no idea what was happening between you and him or you and Shane, or what had happened, but he knew you were upset, that he had to do something. Just not now, not like this.

“Tomorrow,” he said, glowering down at Daryl. He turned to face Shane again, pushing him towards the door. 

Shane was losing his balance now, the effects of the blows to his head and his drunkenness surely affecting him now as Rick dragged him away, taking him as far from you as possible. 

He eyed Daryl as he left, though, as if warning him, silently telling him to beware whatever ill intentions he might have, despite the feeling in the pit of his stomach that he’d never hurt you. 

Daryl turned to face you then, encircling his strong arms around your waist and welcoming you against his body again, with so much comfort and warmth in his presence as you cried into his shirt.

He didn’t say anything, not for a while, at least. He simply held you, at some point sinking down to the ground with you, leaning his back against the bed, legs outstretched as you lay your head upon his lap, his hand gently rubbing your back. 

“Daryl,” you said, your voice still shaky, fragile like ancient glass that could shatter if breathed on the wrong way. “I wish I’d never slept with him. I feel so stupid, so… I don’t know, I just should’ve known this would happen.”

“It ain’t your fault,” he said, his voice equally as quiet and soft as yours. Whatever pain you felt he seemed to absorb, taking it within himself in an attempt to shield you from it, to rid you of the feeling of helplessness and vulnerability, but there was only so much he could do. He could never know the feeling, as much as he tried to relieve you with his sympathy. “You were lonely, scared…”

“Yeah,” you sniffled, “and now I’m scared again.”

That plunged Daryl’s heart into an abyss, so deep and dark he couldn’t bear to pretend he was strong enough to handle it. Fear was a feeling he knew well, and to know you were afraid again, when your group was safe, when finally things were starting to look up… It was horrible, and all because of Shane.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N),” he said. “You don’t deserve that… I swear, I’ll keep you safe, though.”

You turned your head to look up at him, curious as you wiped away your tears. “Y-you mean that?”

He never meant anything more in his entire life. Even if you never kissed him again, never felt what you had felt in that moment that night again, he’d keep you safe as if it was his sworn duty, as if he were some medieval knight with a chivalrous code of conduct to always stand strong for you. 

You, his only friend, his favorite person, the one thing that kept him barely scraping by in this world. There were a lot of shitty things about the end of the world, but meeting you had to be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

“Course I do,” he answered. “You mean a lot to me, (Y/N). And I’ll tell you somethin’ else, Shane ain’t ever gonna hurt you again.”

You closed your eyes and sighed, raising your hands to your face and wiping away the stray tears that had fallen. “As long as you’re with me,” you said, “he can’t hurt me… So you should stay with me… Always.”

He raised an eyebrow, almost skeptical of your statement. “You sure about that?” he asked. “Think you might get tired of me.”

You laughed through your tears, and raised your hand to rub his cheek. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of you, Daryl. You make me feel strong.”

That touched him, glued angel wings onto his heart as it fluttered away, up into the clouds where your sweet words held him blissfully hostage. You had that effect on him, that light, fluttery feeling. He knew what it was, of course. It was love. He might’ve never felt it before, but it was the kind of feeling one knows the moment it tears down one’s defenses and seeps in like a flash flood. It was love, and he was swimming in it.

“You are strong,” he replied. “But if I make ya more aware of it, and if it keeps ya safe, I guess I’m gonna have to stick around ya, huh? Make sure no one ever hurts you.”

You smiled weakly, though if you weren’t still a little terrified from your experience that night, you’d be beaming from ear to ear. Still, you weren’t about to let what Shane had tried to do to you ruin the beautiful moments you shared that night with Daryl, a man who you knew truly cared about you, a man with whom you didn’t feel like you needed to use to find relief. What you felt for him was real, and it was beautiful, whatever it was. 

“Protector,” you sighed. “That sounds nice… Best guy for the job, I think.”

Living up to his job description, he held you all night, keeping you wrapped up in a tight, protective embrace. There wasn’t any obligation, no fear or loneliness, just a sense of innocent comfort and stability. 

Whatever would happen in the morning would happen, and whatever awaited you in this uncomfortable, unstable world would still be there when you woke up, but in this moment, at least you had him, and he had you.

~

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