#husband daryl dixon
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༉‧₊˚. 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 || 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧
― pairing: daryl dixon x plus size wife!reader
― era: season 11
― summary: you're a big fan of the commonwealth's military uniform on your husband but he isn't so sure.
― warnings: unprotected sex, intimate sex, daryl's insecure about how he looks but it's okay, oral sex (r. receiving), missionary, teasing, and praising kink.
― wc: 1293
⋆ a/n: well, hello everyone, and happy pride month!! i'm back (not officially), and of course i'm posting daryl because am i really me if i didn't? also, i do admit i babygirlified daryl in this fic, like- i couldn't help myself, but anyways, enjoy and let me know what you think!
masterlist | AO3
“I don’t understand why you do that.” You said from your shared bed.
“Do what?” Daryl asked you as he stood in front of the full-length mirror. He was essentially checking him out, but with a lot more apprehension for himself than the usual.
“Nit-pick every part about you until there’s nothing left.”
“’Cause I look stupid.” You knew he meant to play it off as a scoff, maybe even a dig at the bulky plastic uniform, but you know that he could be placed in a potato sack and still be convinced that he’s the reason why the sack doesn’t look good.
With a sigh, you got up from the bed, coming to stand behind him.
“Well,” You breathed out as you set your hands on his shoulders. “You want to know what I think?” You asked him softly. He just grunted, giving you a half-hearted shrug, only one of his shoulders moving up as he cast his gaze to the floor. You took that grunt as a means to continue, your hands sliding down to his biceps and giving and them a firm squeeze - the firmest squeeze that you could seeing as though the armor got in your way.
“I think that you look sexy.” Your touch then traveled down to his forearms, resting there for a moment before reaching around his waist, resting your hands on his chest plate. “And strong.” You continued. Your arms snaked back behind him, placing themselves on his pert ass, which was is outlined by the posterior coverup. “But also, it makes your ass look good.” You finished with a smile when you heard his chuckle.
You gripped his hips and softly turned him around, cupping the scruff of his cheeks. His eyes closed at the gentle show of affection.
“You look handsome all the time, okay? So, I don’t want you worrying about some stupid uniform; and besides, I should be worried about other women coming after you once they see you in this.” He let out a sound that was a mix between a scoff and a snort, “Ya ain’t gotta worry about that.” He reassured you. “I know.” You said with a smile.
Your eyes fell on his lips before you leaned up to capture them softly.
He reciprocated your affections, his grip on your waist tightened, pulling you as close to his body as he could despite the uniform that prevented him from feeling your ample, plush form against his.
“Need’ta get this stupid shit off me.” He grumbled against your mouth. You giggled, a smile spreading on your face as you both frantically worked, and managed, to get his top and pants off; now, all he was left in was his black long-sleeved shirt and his underwear.
“Well, don’t you look cute.” You teased. “Ain’t cute.” He growled, pulling you towards him so he could feel you now. “Sure, you aren’t.” You joked sarcastically before intertwining your fingers into his hair and pressing your lips together. He grunted into your mouth at the added pressure to his scalp, but he didn’t complain, slowly walking you backwards until your calves hit the bed.
He gently set you down, motioning you to move up on the bed so that your head was now propped up on the pillows.
He settled himself between your thighs, working your underwear down your legs.
“Tonight is supposed to be about you, Dar.” You sighed as you felt his breathing against your damp labia. “I know, but this is what I wanna do.” He said, throwing your thick legs over his as equally thick shoulders. “Then I suppose I shouldn’t stop you.” You gasped out as he ran his tongue through your folds, the muscle caressing your clit.
He ate you out like a man starved, his tongue dipping in and out of your hole before trailing back up to suck your clit into his mouth, lightly nibbling on it. Your legs twitched around his head, your back arching and your nails scratching at his scalp. He groaned loudly, the vibration of his timbre voice sending an almost electric like current to shoot up your spine; your breathing turning labored as he did. His fervent licks coaxed you closer to your orgasm, your thighs pressing against his ears like warmed earmuffs.
You tasted divine and he just couldn’t stop. With the stress of being recruited and trained, plus having to deal with assholes - mostly Sebastian - he needed this, needed to be able to get lost for just a few moments, and he was grateful that you were his vice, a sea to get lost in.
“Daryl! ‘m gonna- ‘m gonna cum, please.” You cried out. Though your voice was muffled, he could feel it in the way you squeezed around him. As you neared your high, he focused solely on your clit, leisurely flicking and sucking until you shook, your whine that almost sounded like a squeal broke the air.
He pulled away from you once your legs grew weak, your limbs falling open so he could wiggle his way up your chest to deliver you a burning kiss. You could taste yourself on him as you desperately tried to keep up with the rigorous pace that his mouth moved in.
“You fine to keep goin’?” He mumbled. You nodded, laying your head back in bliss so he could deliver heated nibbles and bites to the column of your throat. “Yeah.” You swallowed.
He looked into your eyes one more time before taking your hand in his and lacing your fingers together, the other reached down to align himself to your entrance before allowing himself to push into you.
You drew your bottom lip into your mouth, shutting your eyes and squeezing Daryl’s hand as you got used to him. It wasn’t long before he picked up his pace, his thrusts slow and deep. You could feel him, feel all of him as he took large inhales of air, selfishly breathing you in as he groaned.
“Ya feel so good.” He grunted as he pulled out just to slam his hips back into you. Your head swam at the praise, a meek whimper pushing past your lips. Your nails dug into his shoulders, leaving crescent marks in their wake. Daryl always enjoyed the extra added pain, his body stuttering at the scratches.
“Need’ta feel ya squeeze me.” He heaved. He pressed his body further onto yours, as if he was trying to mold you two together. You fed into his demand, contracting around him that sent his body jolting upward. “God damn girl.” He cursed.
“Faster, D. I need it.” You whined, arching your back to the best of your abilities. “I got you.” He assured you, picking up his pace, the pleasure that shot up your spine scrambling your brain.
His cock constantly brushed up against that spongy spot hidden deep within you.
With the way his hips were stuttering, you could tell he was close.
“Cum in me.” You gasped. Normally, Daryl would choose to take the cautious route, but tonight, your loving words and reassurance had gotten him so pent up that he couldn’t help but agree, marking you as his as he let go inside of you with a deep, earth-shattering combination between a moan and a groan.
You worked him through the aftershocks of his orgasm, running your fingers through his hair, holding him close to you as he shook in your arms.
“You okay?” You asked with a shit-eating grin. He huffed a chuckle. “Yeah, ‘m alright.” He said from the crook of your neck. “Fuckin’ exhausted though.” He grunted as he rolled off of you.
“Oh, how I love my old man.” You teased, cuddling up to his side.
“Shuddup.”
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Still beating
What - dealing with grief as the dust finally starts to settle. Dealing with grief regarding one specific character's death in particular. You know the one.
Genre - heavier, but we get devoted husband/father Daryl out of the mix. And we don't end the chapter on a bummer, never fear. This ain't a French movie, slowpokes
Relationships - wife Reader and husband Daryl as well as your baby. Familial affection with Rick, and that balance between friend and clergy for Father Gabriel.
Perspective - 3rd POV Daryl, and 2nd POV You
Pronouns - she/her
When - time jump! we've briefly hopped to post season 8, pre season 9 (but before The best kind of damn weird). This chapter takes place during the earlier phases of recovery and rebuilding after the war. The previous chapter, Scary as a sleepy kitten, took place during season 2.
TWs - grief, PTSD (including after SA), depression, self-loathing, and some cussing. This chapter is also kinda lengthy, friends, and had to have exposition. (Might should've sliced the chapter in half, but then we'd have another two-parter on our hands :P)
But how long though? - ...20 minutes or so?
Story references and Masterlist link? - under the cut
And is there a pic at the end as a prize for finishing? - yes :D
Have fun and happy reading!
References to other chapters - what we learned in The Interview. There is also grieving/anger as seen in The first Christmas 'without' Part 2 and its conclusion in I don't hate you, a happy reference to Happy 8th of July!, reference to those lovely tugging strings as found in Invisible Tugging Strings, Part 1 and Part 2 (Part 2 I reckon is still glitched and showing as labeled mature, the poor thing's been cleared about 7ish times via help ticket XD ).
There are a lot more details you might recognize, pop on by to the Official Masterlist here, or for those who prefer linear over non-linear, the Chronological Slowpoke Masterlist here
-----------------------
Still beating
She was doing real bad. The past few days had been especially bad. Grief has nasty ways of settling in and rearing its ugly head.
He didn’t know too much about what to do to help her, he’d never been good at that stuff. And there was no fixing all that happened, especially not when the last thing that happened was the worst thing that could’ve.
Just like if TJ or Judith died, it was the worst thing. And part of his wife died right alongside Carl.
Hell, she’d been the one to wait after Carl died, then turned, to pull the trigger.
Now, she felt dead, too.
Gabe had to suggest that she check her pulse when it got bad enough.
Just at that moment, as Daryl was worrying and worrying, TJ started to wriggle and hum in an attempt to root at Daryl's bicep, which pulled him out of his own head for a second.
Gently, he began to bounce to try and keep his baby lulled. He knows Y/N wanted to breastfeed only to get her production up (and so TJ’s suckle could get stronger after the surgery), but Y/N was finally asleep.
Beginning with when Denise was killed, Y/N hadn’t been making as much as she first had. Then, the Saviors stopped the RV and surrounded them, and Negan did what he did. Then Daryl himself got taken away, then there was all the fighting.
And then Carl died.
Getting her milk to come back had been proving damned hard.
A handful of not-very-good times, they’d supplemented what milk she did make with watered-down formula and/or watered-down goat's milk.
One very bad time, they’d used sugar water to fill the babies’ bellies until Jesus got back with goat's milk. Just the one time they had to use sugar water, everybody made damn sure of that.
For now, Daryl could crack into what was still left of the goat's milk in the cooler, right? The two women in the Kingdom who had little guys had sent over actual breast milk with Carol a few days ago, but it was used up yesterday. That stuff had been a God-send, he couldn’t thank the ladies enough.
Between the two babies in Alexandria, TJ and Gracie, everyone had to be smart about using what (non-expired) formula was left. And given that the power got cut, keeping the goat's milk fresh was another problem, hence the cooler. The panels and power were back on, but it was spotty and he didn't want to risk the milk spoiling.
There was still a shit ton of clean-up had since the Saviors nabbed Alexandria’s storage, then firebombed the town. To make things worse, those assholes had their own compound destroyed, and Hilltop and the Kingdom got screwed, too. Even the beach women took another beating. Hell, and them junkyard people were literally all fucking gone except their leader chick.
So, Y/N breastfed the two babies as much she was physically able, all while working as the only other doc left standing in all five communities; she was running herself into the ground.
And with Carl gone…
It ain’t fair that she couldn’t make enough — it was Negan’s goddamned fault.
Which leads to what just went on: so Mich had told him, Y/N’d lashed out at Negan and the new doctor kid with the facial hair, what was his name, Sidney?
Daryl hadn’t been at the infirmary when it happened, but, according to Mich, she’d had to pull her out of the room. Once out, Y/N asked her about TJ, Judith, and Gracie to make sure they were safe, then disappeared after Mich had turned around. Straight up and bolted.
Daryl had checked the escape-closet first, but she wasn’t in there or the attic it connected to, wasn't on the roof that lead to.
He’d then checked the burned church. She’d been there, he recognized her boot prints, but she'd moved on. From there, he was able to follow her sooty tracks in the direction of the place he should’ve known to check first.
Sure enough, Y/N'd been at Carl’s grave.
His wife could barely look at him when he approached. He'd simply kissed her on the head and quietly walked her back home. Once home, he'd cleaned and bandaged her hand while she, again, tried to pump enough for the little guys.
Mich had told Daryl she’d get Rick for her, so he’d be here soon.
Daryl wracked his brain, he even prayed to learn what do to try to help carry Y/N through this shit.
At first, Y/N’d been pacing around the room, crying but trying not to, arms wrapped around her picture frame with a photo of Carl in it as if it was the only thing keeping her afloat.
He'd been able to persuade her to lay down, and ended up laying in bed with her and holding her tight, their baby next to them in little bassinet.
Initially, him holding her and pressing kisses to her neck had made her feel worse. More guilty, that is. A handful of days ago, something got into her head that she needed to give him a damn "annulment."
Nah, for real, she’d even said (to Gabe) that the two of them not having ever done the deed yet was "grounds" to give him one. “Grounds to free him,” were her exact words. It was a whole thing, and the couple of failed attempts at trying to do the deed after getting hitched some months back probably made her feel guilty, as if not having sex yet would make him not love her, or?
Father Gabriel had Daryl's back the whole time during the conversation, though, decent dude.
And no, Daryl wasn’t angry or even real hurt that she’d thought she had to ‘free him’ and shit, he knows it was the grief and physical exhaustion that got her to that point. His woman had full-on blacked out and hurt herself that day, which is why he'd brought her to Gabe in the first place.
But the, um, the walls were thinner than Daryl had expected, which is how he overheard from the person that he was gonna love and stay with and stay faithful to until he dropped dead softly confess that she was “selfish” to keep him “stuck” with a “batshit m-mess” like her and “a baby that ain’t his.”
The fact that Y/N kept maintaining how much she loved him and how she didn’t want no annulment helped it hurt less when she’d sounded just about convinced that it was “loyalty to me ’cause we’re close, loyalty to Rick,” and because of “he’s got so much shame. He feels responsible for what the Claimers did,” that made him marry her those months ago. "He loves our ch—my child, and might love me, but it's not fair to him. He deserves better, h-he needs better, the man's been trapped all his life. I-I don't want him trapped, I want him happy!"
Gabe never played into her fears. He been no nonsense about all of it, told Y/N that she needed a damn rest, and asked her to tell him what she thought about it when she woke up.
The good thing was that after a 5 hour period of uninterrupted sleep (during which they used some of the goat's milk for TJ and Gracie), she woke up in a daze at why she’d thought an annulment was something Daryl needed or wanted.
The bad thing was, she was then socked in the gut with more unearned guilt for it, then with worry that she was too far gone, or crazy, all that.
Been a bad, bad few days.
Been a lot of Daryl showing her love that she felt not worth being shown. So that she fell asleep in his arms today was such a damn win!
After getting up to take a leak and finding that Y/N was miraculously still asleep, he thanked whoever was up there, then tried to figure out what else he could do to help her get through today…and right at that moment, TJ started to rouse, so he got his answer: keep their baby comforted. More shut-eye could only do his woman well.
Deftly lifting the little bundle into his arms, he'd kissed the scar above the baby’s upper lip and tiptoed out to the hall, where he was now.
Lightly he bounced, softly he shushed. He held TJ like a football and moved back and forth, back and forth. Babies smell so damn good, and make the cutest noises, goddamn.
After a couple minutes, through the open door, he peeked at his Y/N.
Shit. She was already sitting up and blinking off the sleep.
Whatever it was she did and said today, she felt low as hell about it, that much was clear. Without looking, she grabbed the now-broken picture frame and clutched it to her middle.
"You're supposed to be asleep, slowpoke," he tried to tease.
Her clothes had ashes from where it looked like she’d knelt down then sat down in the burned church. There was some dirt on them, too, from when she’d been at Carl’s grave. Daryl made a note to shake the sheets out later and pick the tissues up off the floor.
That's when the front door opened downstairs.
Was that Ri—good, that was Rick’s voice, he was finally there. There was a second voice, too, was that Father Gabriel’s? It was soft like Gabe's voice was.
Daryl looked downstairs.
Yup, it was Rick with the rev.
He waved them upstairs, but it must’ve been the clunking of the Gabriel’s new cane that got Y/N stumbling out of the room.
“Rev! I would’ve come to you, y-you need to be takin’ it easy.” She hugged the picture frame in one hand, gripped the banister in the other and started to go downstairs, asking Gabe how he felt, urging him to sit down, had his vision worsened, all that stuff.
“Y/N, more rest won’t stop me from losing sight in this eye,” Gabriel responded in his quiet way, remaining on the second step, not going up or down the stairs. He smiled. “You could say I’m the one making a house call to a patient this time."
She held back a sob and bowed her head. Then, she subtly slipped two fingers around the inside of her wrist…
Rick stepped the rest of the way up the stairs and put his hands on her shoulders. “What's going on, weirdo?”
“Ricky, I'm s-sorry."
He leaned closer and took her in for a hug. “Heart still beating?” he murmured.
Her inhale was shaky. “Mmhm. Yours?”
“Beating strong.”
TJ perked up and began to whimper upon hearing her voice. Y/N unzipped her hoodie to—she still had a gun on her?
Okay, that'd been stealth as fuck, it hadn't even been printing. It was the mini one she'd kept on her when they first got here, when Deanna insisted on keeping the weapons locked up. Still, he'd been literally holding her, how in the hell had he not noticed?
Daryl shared a glance with Gabe. Minus her screwdriver, she'd turned in her weapons after what happened the other day.
Y/N handed the small gun to Rick, who looked wary, but accepted it without question. She hesitated before reaching into her boot to hand over her screwdriver, too.
Daryl slid his hand around his wife’s waist to guide her back to the room. Without looking him in the eyes, she cupped his cheek and told him he was a good father. Then, frame still gripped under one arm, she took the baby into the other.
“Let’s try havin’ a snack before I go with Uncle Ricky awhile, okay, chickpea?” she murmured, then unbuttoned the top of her shirt.
Daryl took off his vest to give her some more coverage, then helped her with her top buttons. When he draped the vest around her, she'd turned her head to kiss his hand. He felt his cheeks warm when she did that.
Walking into the room again, she softly told Daryl that he and Rick could sit on the beds. First, she placed the picture frame on one of the mattresses. Next, with their baby latched on and suckling, she went to the end table at the window to sit down on the floor beside it. The way she sat, it was kinda as if she were using it as a shield.
“Rev, please take the chair,” she mumbled to Gabriel with a glance at the only piece of furniture in the room at the time, other than the bassinet, a nightstand, and the end table. Negan had specifically left the rocking chair as a 'gift' for her. The piece of shit...
Anyway, Daryl had got them their two twin mattresses back (hey, squish them together and you get a big-ass bed) the first trip to and from the Savior’s compound after the war ended, once the folk from Alexandria had begun to move back from the Hilltop. Only, no bed frames yet.
“And sweetheart, I’ll-I’ll take the pumps with me for while I’m in there. Wanna make sure you and Aaron have enough for them,” she said to him, voice still raw. Y/N turned to him and gave him a wobbly smile. “Sorry I used up so much of the tissue supply,” she tried making light, but got close to tears again, so stumbled through asking “Can I, um, Rick, m-might can I bring my pillow? Is that okay?”
Go with Rick where, and take the breast pumps and her pillow, why? He made eye contact with Gabriel, who looked just as puzzled. So, he turned to Rick.
Rick lowered his eyebrows as if he didn’t know what she meant, either. He squatted to sit down on the mattress beside Daryl, and looked at his sister. “Y/N, where are we headed?”
Glancing up from the baby to him then to Daryl, she adjusted TJ’s position on her breast while she figured out how to answer, by the looks of it. Another glance at her husband as if she were worried about his reaction...
“Rick, I thought you was here to…escort me?”
?
Daryl had no clear idea what she meant, it was the rev who understood first.
“No,” Father Gabriel told her gently. “Y/N, you aren’t under arrest.”
Under arrest? Daryl fought between the urge to get angry or dead-ass laugh. 'Under arrest??'
It was for real, though. His wife’s tears started flowing again as she turned her attention to Rick and began to stress, “There can’t be no special treatment—”
“—Is this why you handed me your weapons? Why would you be under arrest?” Rick cut her off to question.
She stared as if he’d grown antlers. “I s-struck a patient, and, and—”
“—And I slit his throat open, which is why that 'patient' is in there in the first place,” he cut her off again, firm.
Thankfully, TJ let out a wail the same time she wailed, “Ricky, y-you weren’t his medic!” pausing any further arguing.
Y/N gulped, pressed down on one breast, then the other. “I know there’s not much in ’em, Teddy-bear, but it-it’ll get better. It’ll come back,” she shushed, lifting him up and tucking herself back in. With a few kisses, she shushed, “You’ve gotten so much faster at drinkin', babycakes.”
Daryl got on the floor with her and took TJ back.
She avoided eye-contact again, and her lip wobbled again as she pulled the top of her shirt higher. That told him there’d been not much milk in there. And he could see all over her face that it was switching her on the legs with more false-ass, unearned guilt.
The familiar string in his chest suddenly tugged in her direction—next thing, he was resting his forehead on hers. “Hey. You’re makin’ more every day, angel,” he whispered in her ear. "And you're a damn good ma." Then, he started to help her button back up.
The way her expression softened and her body relaxed toward his felt better than fireworks going off on the Fourth 8th of July.
And as if he were back in that Georgia-in-July heat, Daryl just about melted right there on the floor when he saw his TJ, neck lifted high, making a face-scrunching, gummy smile at him. "Look how strong your neck is getting, ’lil badass, you’re rockin’ it!”
Shit, their kid was the best damn thing.
Y/N leaned against him and reached to lightly fluff their baby’s hair and rub their baby's teeny feet.
Gabriel sat in the rocking chair quietly, hands resting on his cane. He caught eyes with Daryl and nodded his head toward Y/N, glad to see her no longer convinced she needed to ‘free’ her husband.
Absorbed in the photo, Rick exhaled, then spoke up. “Y/N, how about we start from the beginning? What happened at the infirmary?”
She pressed tighter against Daryl as a pained noise left her throat. “Did you talk to Siddiq yet?” sounded very small.
“I want to talk to both of you.”
“And Michonne?”
He nodded. “She told me some.”
The big watch she’d kept from Dale tick-tick-ticked on her wrist. Then came the sound of light metallic clinking. Daryl didn’t have to look to see that she must’ve pulled out her brother’s necklace and was tugging on it.
“What I did ain’t excusable,” came out raspy and thick.
“It is," Rick answered.
“It’s not, especially not what I said to Sid—” a sob choked her response. She used Daryl's leather vest to hide her face before hugging it around herself like a blanket.
“Walk me through what happened first, kiddo, before you hit Negan with this?” Rick subtly gestured to the broken picture frame.
So she had smacked Negan in the face? Hot damn, Daryl was more in love with her already.
Y/N swallowed and shook her head. “They’d been lookin’ at it, the both of 'em.”
“At the picture?”
A tiny nod. “I’d left the room, and when I got back, they was looking at it. Siddiq brought it over to him. Tried to make like Negan was sad, too. Fuck that!”
TJ started rooting on his bicep again, but Daryl was on it. “Sorry, pipsqueak, I don’t got the right parts for that.” He started to massage the baby’s belly, and TJ quieted.
“It’s okay to let ’em cry a little, it-it helps restock these,” his wife tried joking, nodding down at her chest.
“Y/N.” Rick was delicate about coaxing her for more details. “You got back into the room, Siddiq and Negan were looking at the picture.”
“Negan’s filthy hands were on it,” she grit. "Lookin' at Carl and me, you with Shaney." The sounds of the pendant being pulled across the chain filled the room along with TJ’s soft cooing.
“Is that when you hit him with the frame?” Rick asked.
“No. I told him not to look at it again or touch it, and if he did, I’d hurt him.”
“Angel, slow your breathin’,” Daryl interjected at the same time that he figured out why those words sounded familiar: it was similar to how she'd warned the last Claimer fuckhead, the one who’d had Carl pinned down and was gon——Daryl shut down this brain for a sec, it was best not to think about that night.
He turned his head to see Rick, red-eyed, tracing his thumb along the photo of Carl, Y/N, Shane and him. Seems as if Rick had recognized her words, too.
“And when was it that you did hurt him?” Rick pressed on.
Y/N swallowed. “About half a minute later when he tried to act like it wasn’t his fault.”
Rick’s composure staggered and collapsed. His voice was hoarse when he managed to say, “It’s not his fault.”
But Y/N was fast to shut it down. “Don’t for one more second make like it’s yours, Ricky, you get that monkey off your back,” she comforted and somehow scolded both at once. “Negan was doing what Negan does when he, when he told you that. It was manipulation, nothin’ real. How C-Carl—” another choked-down sob, more tears.
Daryl noticed her press her fingertips to the spot under her chin, beside her jaw, checking her pulse to prove it was still beating.
“Negan had nothing to do with how Carl got bit,” Rick whispered. “You know it’s true, kiddo.”
“No—our boy wouldna ended up out there, w-with-with Siddiq, if it hadn’t been for Negan.” Her tone got louder and angry, her stress stutter became more noticeable, the way she tugged the necklace turned rougher. “He and his followers was why we weren’t able to trust no n-newcomers like Sid, which is why Sid was still out there alone, and, and, and why Carl went to him! It, it was because of Negan and his, and his, his-his cult!”
TJ seemed freaked out by the louder voice, the baby’s dark, blue-black eyes grown big.
Daryl spoke Y/N’s name to try and bring her back to herself, but she seemed to have very suddenly calmed.
She was blinking at her hand.
Daryl looked, and then saw the two halves of her brother Shane’s chain, broken.
“How many times did Carol warn me that this would happen when I tugged it,” she muttered to herself. "Good thing I didn't decide to tug on the rosary, huh?"
Inhaling, she leaned her head against the wall behind her, staring into space, fingers to her wrist to check her pulse again.
From beside her, he covered her hand in his. Then, pressing his lips to her fist, Daryl took the necklace from it. He could fix it.
“I lost my temper again, I’m sorry,” she spoke to all in the room, her hand cupping Daryl's cheek a moment. Then, more quietly, she looked at Rick. “How many days’ll I be in there?”
Which sent Daryl straight back to disbelief he was hearing those words, what absolute bullshit. “Y/N, you ain’t going nowhere.”
“You’re not going to a cell, Y/N,” Rick echoed.
“No special treatment,” she softly repeated. “If I were anybody else—”
Rick interrupted her “—It’s not about who you are.”
Father Gabriel had gotten up and was making his way to Y/N by then.
Y/N shook her head at the conversation, tired. “If I were anybody else or had any other role, and if he were anybody else,” she caught her breath, “there’d be reper-re-rep—” a few more tries, and she had to choose a different word, “consequences. Assault and battery on an un-unarmed person—a patient—from their medical provider, that’s serious.” Her hand was back to covering her face. She sat pressed against the wall, knees at her chest.
“You and Siddiq are the only doctors left. We couldn’t just put you in a cell even if you had earned it.”
“I ain't a doctor, at best, I’m a medic,” she grunted. “And I did earn it, just ask him and Michonne. As for my,” she made a shaky inhale, “my duties, I can be escorted out.”
“And TJ? Gracie?” Daryl put out there, hoping to guilt her out of insisting she get jail time, like, what the fuck. What kind of conversation was this?
Screw this, he couldn't even sit. He stood, shaking his head and pacing around the room, still holding TJ.
The expression on Y/N's face should’ve been enough to calm him down, along the defeated, quiet way she reasoned, “I’ll pump and y’all will visit. It’s—no, sweetheart—it’s only for a few days,” when he started to dead-ass leave. As if her being in there ‘only for a few days’ would help this bullshit make sense.
But that’s when he ended up snapping, “This is goddamn bullshit! You bopped a sick fuck on the nose with a picture frame, who in the hell will care? Rick, why you even entertainin' this shit?” and he regretted doing so as soon as he barked it out.
The old, invisible knee rammed him in the nards harder when Rick cautioned, "Brother," and Gabe finally opened his mouth, and louder than Daryl had ever heard him speak. “She cares, Daryl. So do I.”
And to make it all worse, their baby had given a start in fear when he’d shouted, and now the poor kid was screaming—and TJ doesn’t scream, shit, shit, he blew up while holding his child?
“M’sorry! M’sorry," he hushed to his baby, "I love you so much, kid, I’m so sorry I scared ya. I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” With a kiss on TJ’s wild head of hair, he murmured, “Pipsqueak, your old man is an idiot.”
Y/N rushed over when TJ screamed, but she didn’t take the baby away from Daryl. Instead, she caressed her husband’s forearm and triceps and spoke to their child. “Your daddy’s got you safe,” she soothed.
He knew she was trying to look him in the eyes, but he couldn’t return it. He’d just scared an infant because he couldn’t check his temper. Their infant.
His wife’s quiet assurance cut through the rushing in his head. “Daryl? TJ ain’t hurt, sugar, and you’re not a bad father. Do some skin to skin, okay?” She pecked a kiss on his cheek. “And that's a dollar for cussing, pay up later.”
She then sat back down on the floor next to where the rev had made his new seat. Daryl took the now-empty rocking chair, unbuttoned his and TJ’s shirts, then nestled the kid on his chest.
Y/N then told the room the rest of what happened, how after Negan croaked out with what voice he had left, saying it 'wasn’t his fault Carl was dead', that she’d turned around and whacked him across the face with the frame.
Siddiq had reacted by grabbing her shoulders from behind to pull her away from Negan — so she had shoved back and kneed him in the dick plus rammed her head against his, dropping the frame in the process. The frame broke as a result—and when it broke, she'd lost her cool, said some shit, and threw some shit. Mich heard the hubbub and intervened, then Y/N hid herself away cause she 'knew' she was 'gone crazy.'
As far as Daryl was concerned, the new doc was lucky all he got was a shove, a knee to jewels, a clunk on the head, and some words and maybe a clipboard thrown at him, because Y/N could fight damned well. She'd had it drilled into her how and when to do it. Freely taught others moves, too.
When she’d showed Carol some techniques, way back, it was one of the things that sent him falling for her.
And…Y/N might’ve not said it out loud, but when she described how Siddiq grabbed her from behind to pull her away, everyone in that room got why it caused her to react strong.
What she described herself as doing would’ve been instinct.
Siddiq wouldn’t know why. Negan might, the fucker had watched the tape of her Deanna interview.
“See?” Y/N blew her nose again, sniffed, and stared at the floorboards. “It’s not right to Sid or the community to, to have what I did go unchecked. And what I said to Siddiq was so cruel. What’s worse is I meant it. Fuck, I still do.”
What she'd said was basically that she wished he’d gotten bit instead of Carl, and that it was just as much Siddiq's fault that the boy was dead as it was Negan’s. That 'he should be dead.'
She grimaced, then caressed the watch on her wrist. Must’ve been thinking of Dale. “Ain’t fair to…Negan, neither. If there’s anything Carl wanted us to understand, it’s that,” she whispered.
Rick lifted the frame to kiss his son’s picture, wiped a couple tears away. “When I talked with Sid, he was…alarmed. Worried. He thought it was off-character.”
Y/N went rigid where she sat. “Siddiq wasn’t there two years ago.”
Daryl lifted the baby higher on his chest and snuggled closer.
Rick shook his head. “You wishing someone dead, or, dead instead of another, is very off-character, it’s not you. No—don’t shake your head, Y/N.” Her brother maintained, “Even back then, after what happened, you didn’t wish me dead. You wished that Shane was still alive, not that I was dead instead. Even if you did say those things, it wouldn't have been the truth, just the hurt speaking.”
“I attacked you and told you I would kill you. And I-I meant it at the time, you know that.”
“And for a couple days, you left, because you didn’t actually want that. You knew it was wrong.”
“Which is why I need to get put away for a couple days. I decided to hurt a patient and his doctor, my own fr—” She wasn’t able to say what was probably the word ‘friend.’ Y/N bit her lip, and continued, “Then hurled words at him what nobody should get hurled at them.” She swallowed a cuss and grabbed another tissue.
“You’re exhausted, Siddiq knows that.” Rick pointed out. “We’re not ourselves when we’re—”
Y/N wasn’t having it. Probably too exhausted, to tell the truth.
“We’re all exhausted. C’mon, man, you just lost your son!” A sob left her and she tried to breathe through her nose. Checked her pulse again.
“You were also reacting to how he yanked you back, kiddo. That's not nothing.”
Daryl gave Rick a warning glance.
Rick saw, nodded, and held up a hand, which made Y/N turn to see what Daryl was doing. But Daryl simply kissed TJ on the head, not saying nothing.
She wasn’t fooled. When Y/N looked back at Rick after giving her husband a look of it’s okay, Daryl gave Rick another warning glare, then a nod.
“You didn’t react like that without reason, Y/N. There’s no shame to admit it was a trigger.”
She grumbled at the word. “Trauma ain’t an excuse to traumatize others.” After exhaling, she ran her hands over her face and took a moment. Hardly louder than a whisper, she challenged, “Ricky, not all my problems stem from the rapes. I’ve always been too hot-headed.”
At that moment, Daryl wanted to scoop her and TJ up and drive them away from everything, keep the two of them safe and unbothered for a month or two or four.
“Getting grabbed like that m-might, y’know, might could’ve reminded me of it—when they—" She ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, it did get me going. But, I,” she paused. “It wasn’t that I saw red or blacked out, I chose to keep goin’ once I’d started. I threw stuff because I was raging, I didn't want to stop because I thought he deserved it.”
Y/N fiddled with Dale’s watch, and turned to Father Gabriel beside her and almost smiled at him, close to the way she used to smile at Glenn, as if he were in on a joke. “Here I’d hoped I was re-domesticated by now.”
“Let us give thanks that you’re still housebroken,” he responded, taking Daryl by surprise. "You're...still housebroken, are you not?"
The way Y/N then cracked up and grinned woke up the butterflies in his stomach.
“Y/N, you’ve come miles since I first met you,” Gabriel told her softly, smiling back.
“All the way from Georgia,” she joked back, then grew more serious. “You’ve grown a whole lot, too.” She wiped her eyes, and Gabe closed his.
“And Y/N,” he shook his head. “You aren’t losing your humanity. I know you’re frightened of that, after what you told me happened to your other brother.”
It hadn’t even registered in Daryl’s mind that Shane’s memory would be scaring her. She loved her brother like hell, but she was always terrified of going down the same path he did.
He looked to Rick to see what his reaction was. His reaction was tear-rimmed eyes and a nod of his head toward TJ, silently asking if he could hold the baby awhile. Daryl nodded, Rick stood, and returned Y/N the frame as he walked by to pick up the little one.
Hands empty, Daryl took out his army knife and the broken chain from his pocket so he could fix his woman’s necklace. Wasn’t gonna be hard.
He heard Y/N whisper, “Hey, punk," to Carl in the photo. "Miss you. Miss you, too, loser,” she said to her brother's photo. He let his eyes travel to where she sat under the window, and watched her kiss the picture and well up. It was the old one of her and preschool-age Carl photo-bombing Rick and Shane, after one of them got some kind of cop award.
Clutching the frame once more to her belly, she and Father Gabriel then started to talk in low voices with one another.
“The red haze in your right sclera is so close to bein' clear. Did you talk to Rosie today? She’s been seeming less depressed.”
“I thought this was me visiting my patient, not the other way around,” Gabe gently hinted. “Y/N, please talk to me.”
Daryl heard her sniffle. “Rev, but I don’t want to have meant those words. I’ve been workin’ on it. It-it might be his fault, but I know he’s innocent, he’s humane—Sid even counts walkers like I do, man, yet still, I—” her breathing shuddered. “After whatever this mess is kicked in, every time I see him now, I hate him. Why do I hate a decent person?”
“Grief,” he offered simply. He gave her another shrug and small smile. “Keep doing what you have been. It will get easier every day, the same way your, um,” he was careful about his wording regarding her tits, “that you have more for the little ones every day.”
She huffed but didn’t raise her voice again, she stayed quiet as could be. “It don’t feel like none of that’s happening.”
“Our perception of things doesn’t always equal the truth, Y/N.” Gabe seemed to take a moment. Maybe he was praying.
Y/N’s fingers found her pulse again.
“We are all healing,” Gabriel next said, and smiled again. “Your heart is still beating, is it not?”
Y/N stared for a few moments, caught in the act. Eyes meeting Daryl’s for a moment, she removed her fingers from her neck, and inclined her head at the reverend. “What about yours?” she asked softly.
“Still beating. And that’s the proof,” he assured her just as softly. “Y/N, as for the way you understand your actions and your emotions toward him as not being right, I would like you to take it as a comforting sign. And, you just handed over a weapon you plainly wanted to keep concealed, you didn’t use said weapon to hurt Negan, either,” he pointed out, for which Daryl was grateful. “Perhaps, if you begin to make excuses, begin to feel no sense of having done wrong when you have, I will worry.”
Weirdly enough, he next grinned up at the ceiling. “But I am not, because you are simply broken and in need of healing. You’ll get there, as will I,” he held his hand out to the room. “As will your brother, your husband. All of us.” He sighed. “So long as our hearts are still beating.”
Daryl looked back at his wife in time to see her bit her wobbling lip and nod. Her gaze turned to Rick with the baby. He was kissing TJ’s scrawny little feet.
Her face softened seeing them, and as Daryl’s stomach fluttered again, she turned to look at him. His stomach full-on did a happy flip (and, yeah, he lost his grip on the necklace’s broken link and dropped it).
Y/N said to Rick, “Well, we still need to show ’em that Alexandria—that you—are accountable and fair. How many nights will do, you think?”
Rick shook his head. “Zero. But, because you have a point and won't take 'zero' as an answer,” he quickly added, “how about one?”
“For a piggy, you’re actin’ awful chicken.”
He was unmoved by the cop joke. “Bawk, bawk.”
And Y/N laughed, for what it was worth. And it was worth everything, hot damn was that laugh the best sound.
Daryl figured he might as well check, “What about bail, that still a thing?”
“Not with you owing a whole dollar. That’ll take weeks to pay off,” she said, back to doing her best to lighten up things. He loved her so fucking much, goddamn.
“Supervision when outside the cell,” she stated to Rick.
He shook his head again. “I have a better sentence in mind. When I saw you wearing Lori’s belt earlier today, it reminded me of it. See, and you left this at the infirmary.” He reached into his jacket pocket.
Recognition swept across her face when he held it out. “Do you think he’ll feel safe?”
“The headphone cord is too thin to choke him with, it’d snap.”
“Ricky, that joke was very dark,” she lightly chided.
He squinted, kissing TJ’s feet one more time first. “I hereby sentence you to one night—”
“—Three.”
“One in lock-up,” he spoke over her, then was fast to tack on, “with Daryl and this one as guards.” He motioned to the baby.
"Women shouldn't have male guards," she dryly droned.
"Overruled. You'll also get supervised outings for your duties tomorrow and the day after, including the trip to the Hilltop for Maggie’s prenatal visit. And,” he held up the music player, “you’ll need to listen to music with Siddiq on this. We know it works.” He cocked his head. “Let’s start with 20 minutes per day, like you and I had.”
Some tears slipped out even though she was smiling. She mouthed I love you to him, then asked out loud, “How many days?”
Rick squinted. “Fourteen.”
---------------------------
You
“You pick the songs. Whatever you like,” you told him, staring at the photo and rubbing the ‘22’ pendant over your lips. Daryl fixed the chain for you shortly after you’d broken it. You really love him.
Sid accepted the mp3 player out of your hand.
You and he each had one earbud in, one apple beside you, and Michonne sat nearby with Judith. Supervision was your stipulation, yet being proactive about ensuring it had done nothing for how humiliating it was.
Still, you took an objective look and figured Siddiq should know that his safety mattered, that your people were fair and held themselves to standards.
Just looking around the place, it looked as if standards were a given here. That Alexandria’s power grid and some panels were already repaired within two weeks of Negan’s razing was almost unbelievable.
Sucks for the Saviors that cult that the Alexandria community had been built to withstand up to magnitude 4.1 earthquakes and be fairly fire-safe as part of its self-sustaining (and for-politicians) model, so in the least, a good number of the homes were still standing.
Carl's gazebo was another story, as were other similar structures, like the church, but the ash had been washed off by the rain, and the communities' walls were back up.
Next to you, Siddiq asked you how to work the mp3, citing, “Carl had been the one to…”
Had been the one to work it when he borrowed it to visit you out there, in order to show you some kindness. Before he got himself bit because of you.
The words festered inside of you. Whatever. Let them fester, you felt dead anyway.
As you went to point to show him, the picture hung from your outstretched, bandaged hand. The pic you'd chosen this time was another older one from the before-times, not one of the newer polaroids. You'd been the one to take it, actually, using a disposable camera about five and a half, maybe six years ago.
It was blurry, Lori and Carl had been being silly and stopped posing, Rick was mid-comment. You loved this one.
It felt so unreal now, felt fake.
Felt dead.
You checked your pulse. Still beating.
“The, um, just use-use those two buttons there for up and down to search,” you mumbled, tucking the photograph into your shirt pocket. “That one is for back, that one for options. Press down on the middle to click.”
He went huh. “Here’s the Indian music playlist,” he chuckled. Appears he’d found the Desi Party! playlist. Carl told you he’d played it for him.
Before he’d gotten fucking bitten.
How could your heart rage and ache so much if you were dead?
“It’s got all sorts on it,” you replied blankly to Siddiq. Remembering your oldest sister who’d made all the playlists before handing her mp3 down to you, it felt like she was made up. All your siblings except Shane felt made up. Your own mother, the foster siblings over the years, they felt made up, too.
Felt like everyone before was made up.
Fake.
Dead.
“My mother was a big filmi fan,” Siddiq shared.
But you simply repeated, “Pick whatever you like, you’re in charge of the songs.”
There was no emotion in your voice. You didn’t want to chat with him, didn’t want to nerd out about Bollywood music, and also didn’t want to face him after saying such awful things to him early today.
Hating him felt right. It felt "deserved," which is a word you'd learned to not use, thanks to Dale.
Granted, hating Siddiq felt wrong, too, which invited shame to take a seat on your lap.
So, you followed the rev’s advice and took comfort in the shame because it meant your conscience was still ordered in a good direction. It meant you weren’t fully dead yet.
You checked your pulse again to remind yourself that it was still beating. Life was still going. You even have a child that fills you with such an intense, aching, healing love.
Father Gabriel also told you that feeling dead didn’t make you a bad mother or a bad wife or bad person, it simply meant you were broken and grieving.
“Y/N?”
“What?” you growled — and immediately wished it hadn’t come out that way. In your head, you told Carl you were sorry, you’d do better next time. Then, you prayed to stop hating the sight of Siddiq, the sound of his voice. Wished Dale or Hershel or Glenn or T-Dog or Deanna or Denise or Sasha were there for, for—advice, support, you don’t know…
And because the rev has enough on his plate and needs to rest, maybe later you’d risk everyone’s ire and sneak away to visit Mr. Jones at the junkyard. At least he wasn’t dead yet, too. Maybe visiting him would convince him to move back to Alexandria.
“I never apologized for pulling you backward like that,” Siddiq said to you, a little short. Couldn’t blame him.
In truth, you had done all you were going to do to Negan after smacking him the once, but Sid wouldn’t have known that. Wouldn’t have known how grabbing you like that would flip an alarm, either.
No use moping, if your positions were reversed, you’d have wrangled him back, too.
And yet, you just caught yourself licking your teeth and sneering in response to his apology.
But it wasn’t out of anger or hatred so much as…you still aren’t certain what the emotion was. Grief, depression, shame, all three. You supposed it didn’t make a difference. Didn’t feel like much of anything.
Briefly, you put two fingers to your neck to check your pulse again. Still beating. Still alive.
Alive, and needing to eat some crow, as it were.
“Don’t apologize, you were protectin’ our patient. What I did was wrong,” you recited. “I-I threatened a patient and then whacked him across the face.” Your conscience then prompted you to apologize again for what you’d said to him. “And, just—Siddiq, what I said to you was bullshit and lies and m'sorry I said it. Cruel bullshit, naught else. Don’t go believing a word of it.”
He wasn’t clicking through the playlists and songs anymore.
Appearing uncomfortable, he peeked at you before he put his attention back on the mp3. “Michonne said pulling you like that was a trigger, which is why you, um…I’m sorry,” he said again. “I didn’t know.”
First, you relaxed your jaw. “Ain’t your job to know. It’s mine to learn past it.” Next, you spackled on something of a smile and added quietly, “It’s good that you, that you stepped in. Thank you.” You did mean it, for what it was worth.
How many minutes until the twenty was up, you wondered, and tried to not be obvious about checking the time on your wrist. Eyeing Michonne, she seemed more preoccupied with Judith than with being punctual regarding your penance/sentence.
“PTSD is serious. That’s why I’m sorry, I, um,” Siddiq faltered. He went back to clicking through the music choices.
“We all have at least a little PTSD, bud.” With a light nudge to try and convey camaraderie or something, you attempted to tease, “C'mon, you chosen at least one song, yet?”
“Sorry, let me just, uh…” and with a few more clicks, the first song started. It was Bohemian Rhapsody.
“You chose the playlist ��Songs Everyone Likes.’”
He chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, figured I couldn’t go wrong with that one.”
The memory of belting out this song with Carl, Glenn, Beth, and Maggie before your group even found the prison whooshed back and you started to smile—until you remembered that Carl was gone now. He was dead.
You’d forgotten all of that for hot second, but your Carl was dead. So was Glenn. So was Beth. So was Lori, who'd joined, so was T-Dog, so was...
Maybe you were dead, too. You felt dead—so, you pressed your fingers to your neck to feel for a pulse.
Still beating.
The lyrics of the song began to register. You know, the early parts like ‘I don’t wanna die,’ and ‘carry on, as if nothing really matters.’ Sounded a little too personal, tell you the truth.
And just like that, the song was skipped. You glanced at Siddiq.
He shook his head. “Not the right mood for it.”
“Mm.”
The intro to the next song in the shuffle was very bouncy, and ‘Dance to the Music’ started to jive through the earbuds. You didn’t sway along like you naturally would have. No urge to.
The song played, finished.
“First time I heard this was in Shrek,” Siddiq made small talk while munching on his apple. “Love that movie.”
You might’ve hummed in acknowledgment, you aren’t sure. He handed your apple to you, you took it. Held it.
The next song started, ‘Young Hearts Run Free.’
The song played, finished.
Siddiq made more small talk. “I remember that one in Romeo + Juliet, the one with, um, Claire Danes? We watched that version in high school after we finished reading it.”
You hummed again. Pressed your fingers to your wrist, just in case. But no, your heart was still beating.
The next song started, ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash.’
“A lot of oldies,” he commented once the singing began. He took the final nibble off his apple.
“But goodies,” you responded, willing yourself to sound less stiff and monotone. “Modern stuff is on this playlist, too, don’t worry.”
The song played. Finished.
The next song started. ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’ Siddiq promptly skipped it once the refrain started and the lyrics sank in.
“Good call,” you grunted.
The next song started. ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.’
“Oh n—please skip this one, too." You loved that one, but you’d queued it up for Glenn at his and Maggie’s wedding, and it was not the time to go reminiscing. You swallowed the lump in your throat. Checked your pulse. Still beating. "Please skip 'Thunderstruck' if it comes on, too?”
The mp3 player clicked as Siddiq skipped the song. Next on the shuffle was ‘Under Pressure.’
He adjusted his seat and coughed. “This one fits.”
A combination sigh/groan was your contribution, because he was right. The two of you were the only doctors major medical personnel left standing.
The song played. Siddiq’s knees and wrists bounced to the rhythm where he sat beside you. You stared at your boots. Where’d all the soot and dirt on them and your clothes come from, you couldn’t remember…
…
It was when a strong gust of cold wind blew that you noticed that the music had stopped, your earbud was out, and the sky wasn’t as cloudy anymore.
When did that happen?
You sat up and blinked a few times, your apple still in one hand, Shane’s necklace in the other.
“Hey,” you heard Siddiq call.
What, why were your cheeks wet? “S-sorry, I,” you dropped the necklace, wiped your eyes with your sleeve, and put the apple down, “must’ve, um, checked out.”
“I’m not sure how long it was after it began when I noticed the change,” he let you know. “Is…this what happened earlier?”
You closed your eyes and shook your head. “Earlier was somethin’ else. This was just—” ‘Dissociation,’ was a misunderstood word, so Denise taught you. And you didn’t want to use the word for that reason.
You really wanted to keep a shred of dignity for yourself in the eyes of that guy. He didn’t even know that you’d hurt yourself when you’d ‘blacked out’ the other day…so, you decided upon a white lie highly euphemistic layman's term. “I spaced out.”
He nodded, but his brows sunk, as if he weren’t buying it.
And when he did that thing where someone slightly opens their mouth because they’ve put together a response, you changed the subject. “Listen to anythin’ good while I was in space?”
Siddiq wasn’t swayed. “Do you still feel detached?”
“A little,” you answered truthfully, inhaling deep and checking your watch to try gauging how long you’d been out. Except, you had no recollection of what time it had been earlier, so it was a bust. God save you, you were a mess.
“Sid. I’m sorry you’re trapped dealin’ with this shit, it ain’t fair to you. If, if you wanna bounce early, don’t feel obligated to stay, and, and—like, if you don’t wanna do this whole music thing, it’s fine. W-we don’t want you feelin’ unsafe.”
“Unsafe? Y/N, I…” he paused. “I forgive you for what you said earlier. And I’m not scared of you. Hitting Negan wasn’t okay, but…” another pause. “Compared to the way most others are baying for his blood and how you defended saving his life, I mean—you helped me save him, Y/N—” He lifted his hands, palms to the sky. “You’re my friend, we work together, it’s not like I can’t see that you’re drowning.”
Nothing prepared you to hear that.
He was calling you a friend and was still trying to be understanding, after all that…
You wanted to slam your head on a hard, rough surface and cry from the shame and simultaneous relief. You also didn’t want to accept it, and so pushed back: “You were alone out there too long. Friends d-don’t tell friends they wish they were dead.” And mean it, you did not confess.
But of all things, he merely raised one shoulder and snorted. “I’m a really good friend?”
Tears spilled at the same time that you almost laughed.
No, it's true, you almost laughed. Things felt a little unreal again, but in not a bad way. The most you could do right then was send up thanks for the mercy that came out of the mess. You pinched your wrist first, then felt for your pulse.
“Compared to a few minutes ago, do you feel more like yourself now?” Siddiq made sure.
Huh. You used to ask Shane a very similar question, when he was forgetting his goodness.
You kept feeling the small beats at your wrist, reminding you that you were indeed alive, therefore capable of healing and growth.
“Heart’s still beating,” you sniffled, making yourself smile at him. The hatred and disgust you’d felt earlier seemed to you less like a fact and more like a bad dream.
Then, from the far right of the oak tree, you heard Aaron’s voice saying, “Not yet, man, they’ve got four minutes left.”
Aaron and Daryl then came into view. They waved to you as they walked by with the babies, another reminder that you that you weren’t fully dead inside. Gracie was in a stroller, TJ was bundled in Daryl’s arms. Your husband lingered behind, eyes on you as he absently pecked a kiss to your baby’s covered head.
Something stirred, and your chest fluttered and tugged in their direction, reminding you again that your heart was still beating. So was Maggie’s, so was her and Glenn’s baby’s, so was Rick’s, so was Aaron’s. Life was still going. You had a child, a husband; lifelines. Their hearts were still beating, too.
The unexpected wink and the way Daryl’s gaze softened as he looked at you made you feel as if you’d been freezing and someone just handed you a cup of cocoa with mini marshmallows. The way he next moved his lips to pronounce ‘troublemaker,’ however, you ought to have seen coming a mile away.
The heaviness in your body eased a bit. A smile started prodding the corners of your mouth. Shyly, you returned the wave and mouthed ‘mangy hick,’ your wrist bumping against the photograph sticking from your shirt pocket.
Aaron noticed him acting like a dope lagging and gestured for him to keep up. “Four more minutes and we’ll come back to get her.”
Daryl called out "slowpoke," and waved your baby’s little arm to the two of you as they walked away. He kept peeking behind him, too, it warmed you. When they reached far enough, you once again took the photograph out from your pocket.
With a final peek at Carl’s picture, you sent up a prayer and reaffirmed the promise that you’d made to him. That you’d live for him, do him proud.
So long as your heart was still beating, you’d try to do him proud. “Seems you and I got four more minutes, Sid. What’ll we pick?”
-------------------------
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(inbox is open if you would like on or off the taglist, slowpokes. Please don’t feel bad or nervous if you don’t want to be tagged anymore, just let me know, we’re all friends here and your comfort level is important!)
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And here's the picture prize for getting through the long chapter!
#twd#the walking dead#twd fanfiction#the walking dead fanfiction#daryl dixon imagines#daryl dixon#daryl dixon x you#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon x reader#twd daryl#daryl twd#reader insert#reader insert fanfiction#canon compliant#rick grimes#father gabriel#gabriel stokes#father gabriel stokes#daryl dixon x y/n#daryl x y/n#wife reader#husband daryl dixon#dad daryl dixon#the slowpoke series#daryl x reader#daryl x you#grief#siddiq twd#dadyl#carl grimes
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#my four murder husbands#slash babydaddies#Joel miller#rick grimes#negan smith#negan#daryl Dixon#Norman Reedus#andrew lincoln#jeffery dean morgan#JDM#Pedro pascal#the last of us#TLOU#the walking dead#twd#the ones who live#dead city#tlou 2
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holy trinity of dilfs
#my fav dilfs#husbands#rick grimes smut#daryl dixon smut#negan smut#rick grimes x reader#daryl dixon x reader#negan x reader#andrew lincoln#norman reedus#jeffrey dean morgan#twd smut#rick grimes fluff#daryl dixon x y/n#negan x y/n#rick grimes x female reader#rick grimes x you#rick grimes fanfiction#rick grimes#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon x female reader#daryl dixon#negan fanfiction#negan smith#negan fic
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I’m a sucker for a angry man with a tragic backstory. There just so hot
#twd#the walking dead x reader#the walking dead#twd daryl#the walking dead daryl#daryl dixon twd#daryl dixion imagine#daryl dixon x reader#zaddy#my husband#oldermen#older men do it better#daddy af#twd family#twd fandom#the walking dead fanfic#inappropriate thoughts#daryl x reader#daryl dixon#daryl imagines#the walking dead Daryl Dixon#twd Daryl Dixon#feral#he’s so babygirl
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slow mornings with daryl ✩‧₊°
all pictures are from Pinterest.
#daryl dixon twd#the walking dead#daryl dixon x y/n#moodboard#daryl dixon as your husband#slow living with daryl
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Pictures I took of my husband (and his friends) <3
#I actually did take these#daryl dixon imagine#the walking dead fanfiction#twd daryl#daryl dixon fanfic#daryl and his friends#my husband
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Younger daryl would not let you anywhere near his hair but older him would let you plait/braid it and put cute little bows in it.
#the walking dead#twd#daryl dixon#norman reedus#boyfriend#i love him#just one chance#daryl dixon the walking dead#hair#plaiting hair#braiding hair#tv series#husband#husband material#my husband#pretty princess
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<3
#daryl dixon#norman reedus#the walking dead#daryl twd#norman reedus smut#bigbaldhead#daryl the walking dead#twd daryl#daryl dixon x reader#daryl dixon smut#dilfism#hes my husband#i love him#daryl dixon x original female character#norman reedus x reader#<333#his hats#😩😩😩
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#polls#twd polls#the walking dead#witchthewriter#twd#daryl dixon#alden twd#eugene twd#abraham twd#king ezekiel#merle dixon#siddiq#twd siddiq#negan smith#negan#twd negan#rick grimes#who is your twd husband#the walking dead poll
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Hey friend!! Me again!
Can I please request:
Daryl Dixon x Wife!Reader (Prison Era)
After the group escapes from Woodbury and Daryl and Merle reunite, Daryl is forced to choose either his wife and family or Merle! Maybe wife tries to convince and in the end you choose what he picks!?
Love your blog and your writing!! ❤️
༉‧₊˚. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 || 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐧
― pairing: daryl dixon x plus size wife!reader
― era: eeason 3
― summary: as sad as it was to say, with merle gone, your relationship with your husband grew stronger than ever, and now that he's back, you're afraid that your marital bliss might have been short lived.
― warnings: arguing, fat shaming, sexism, merle just being merle, mentions of drug deals, mentions of past arguing.
― wc: 1117
⋆ a/n: AHHH THIS WAS SUCH A FUN WRITE. i don't know, maybe some may see this as daryl being out of character, but this is just what i would imagine daryl choosing. thank you for your request! it was a super fun one even though it took me literally centuries to make!!
masterlist | AO3
Merle had always been a thorn in Daryl and your asses. Him and you had been together before the fall, and it was safe to say that your relationship was strained would be an understatement. You couldn’t stand the older brother’s constant rude comments and crude teasing, or the fact that he always felt the need to bring Daryl with him on his drug runs, risking his life more than once, and even getting him arrested at one point. You couldn’t just bail out one Dixon brother, but if you had the choice, you would’ve left Merle there to rot.
He was the reason why Daryl and you were on the brink of breaking up, that you had fought all the time and couldn’t even function as a stable couple. It was like Daryl was a whole different person when his brother wasn’t around, he was the man that you fell in love with; the one that was sweet and showed his love in his own way, not the one that would pick fights or explode on you, leaving the house for prolonged periods of time in a fit of rage.
You were ashamed to say that the apocalypse started, it had brought out Daryl’s soft side for you, rushing home as soon as he could to come and get you. Sadly, when he showed up, Merle was right behind him, bitching about how you ruined a deal that would have brought him a lot of money, and it just wasn’t a loss that you could bring yourself to care about. Soon, all of you soon found that money would forever be irrelevant as the dead had begun to eat the living.
You were grateful for Shane’s group allowing you guys to tag along despite the pair being quite the characters.
When Rick had confessed that he left Merle handcuffed to a roof, there was a shameful spark of relief, but before that flame could burn brighter, Daryl’s painful cries of anguish were quick to extinguish it. Even though the two of them had a funny way of showing it, they loved each other, so much to the point where he had demanded to be taken to where his older brother had been holed up, and when they had come back, that’s when chaos had ensued.
He had never held you as tight as he did then, when you guys were at the CDC, when Carl had gotten shot and then Daryl had gotten hurt looking for Sophia, and then when the farm had been over run.
It had been a long time since then, and what’s left of you guys had begun to create a new home, in the prison.
It was peaceful for a while, even after Lori’s death and the birth of Judith.
Then there was the Governor. When you had heard he had taken Glenn and Maggie, it was like you were losing everything all over again, and to add on top of it, Daryl had been taken.
You swore your heart sank when he had come out with Merle.
“He’s not coming with us!” You heard Glenn tell as you guys arrived at the car. “Like hell he ain’t!” Daryl argued. “He tortured me, and Maggie…” Before he could say anything else, Maggie had cut him off.
“Enough!”
“Daryl.” You called his name to draw his attention towards you. “I hate to say this, but they’re right. He is an asshole.”
“Well, ain’t it nice to see you too, tubby.” Merle laughed. “Fuck you, Merle.” You bit. “Alrigh’ enough.” Daryl said sharply. “C’mon little brother, you gonna let her talk to me like that, your blood?” You scoffed, “Blood? Please. You haven’t acted like you’ve been blood since the day I started living with you.” You turned your attention back to Daryl.
“Looks like you’ve got to choose.” Merle snarled with a smile.
Daryl was conflicted.
On one hand, Merle was right, they were blood, brothers to be precise. He must admit that yeah, he wasn’t the best, but they went through everything together. On the other, Daryl had entrusted you with parts of him that he would never tell Merle in fear of being called a pussy or worse. You cared for him, reassured him, calmed him down, you had become his vice, his wife. Yes, you guys had gotten married; it wasn’t anything too big, just Daryl slipping on a wooden ring he had made you, the both of you acknowledging your newfound titles together.
“Dar,” You said as you pulled him out of his thoughts, “Think about what we’ve gone through, what we’ve been doing, what we’ve been building. We have something good going for us. Do you think we would have gotten married, let alone still be together if he was still around?” You asked the last part quietly, but it seems as though Merle had heard it.
“Well, I’ll be damned, it looks like you’ve gotten comfortable Darlena.” He eyed you up and down. “I thought you would’ve gotten rid of her by now, but I guess you’re pussy whipped for a fat broad.” For the first time, Daryl stood up to his brother, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.
“Watch what yer sayin’ about my wife, jack ass.” Daryl all but growled at him. You could tell a fight was about to break out between the two of them, and you’d see in before. When they would fight when you all lived together, punches would be thrown, things also thrown at one another, a scene that you would be forced to clean up as Daryl did the same, albeit guiltily.
“Hey, hey, hey. Everyone just calm down.” Rick said as he tried to quickly diffuse the situation.
“Nah,” Daryl said as he let his brother go, “were done. C’mon.” He left no room for argument as he grabbed you by your hand and tugged you towards the car where the rest of them waited. There were stars in your eyes as you allowed him to lead you away, Merle’s threats and calls falling on deaf ears.
The ride back to the prison was tense but comfortable, your head resting on your husband’s shoulder as he stared out the window.
“Hey,” You called out to him softly. He turned his head to look at you, his teeth nibbling at the skin of his lip. “I know what you did was hard, and I appreciate what you did for me. I love you, Daryl, and I won’t ever forget about this.” His grip on your hand tightened as he released his lip.
“I love ya too, sunshine. Yer my family now.”
ೃ⁀➷ my lovely taglist!: @alina02 @louderfortheback @minervadashwood @fandomsarelifee @theendofthe70s @nomajdetective @mgg-theprettiestboy
#✰ ― meau's inbox !#daryl x reader#daryl dixon x reader#daryl fanfiction#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon#daryl dixon angst#daryl dixon fluff#daryl dixon x plus size reader#plus size reader#x plus size reader#plus size!reader#chubby reader#x chubby reader#fanfiction#fluff#angst#husband daryl dixon#daryl dixon imagine#daryl dixon oneshot#daryl dixon drabble#daryl dixon blurb#daryl twd#twd daryl#daryl dixon twd#twd daryl dixon#daryl the walking dead#daryl dixon the walking dead#twd#the walking dead
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screaming in agony sobbing crying throwing up hyperventilating ripping my hair out of my head munching on drying cement chunks chewing on drywall doing backflips why is he so gorgeous
#twd daryl#the walking dead daryl#daryl dixon#hes so pretty#baby gorl#husband material#i need him biblically#gorgeous man
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me n daryl 💗
#daryl dixon#norman reedus#twd daryl#daryl dixon twd#daryl dixon x reader#daryl dixon x male reader#daryl dixon imagines#daryl dixon smut#literally me n him#we're meant to be#i'm his husband (real)#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon x ftm reader#daryl dixon x you#daryl x female reader#daddy
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ARMS AND HANDS
#the only 3 men#HUSBANDS!!!!#im going crazy over the jeffrey one#he’s so husband#ANDREW STOP IT NOW!#the walking dead#rick grimes#andrew lincoln#rick grimes smut#rick grimes x reader#rick grimes fluff#rick grimes x you#andrew lincoln smut#rick grimes fanfiction#rick grimes x female reader#norman reedus#norman reedus smut#daryl dixon#daryl dixon x female reader#daryl dixon x y/n#daryl dixon fanfiction#jeffrey dean morgan#negan smith#negan smut
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Pov: your in love with Daryl Dixon 🏹
#daryl dixon#daryl dixon moodboard#daryl dixon twd#zaddy#my husband#oldermen#older men do it better#twd family#the walking dead x reader#the walking dead#twd daryl#the walking dead daryl#daryl dixion imagine#daryl x reader#daryl imagines#moodboard#moodboards#daryl fanfiction#twd#pov#imagines#fluff#aesthetic#norman reedus#norman reedus x reader
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yummy 😋
#norman reedus#the walking dead#daryl dixon twd#daryl dixon#hot male#twd daryl#please give me a chance#i want him#i want his attention#i want to marry this man#i need him#he looks so good oml#screaming crying throwing up#give me a chance#i wanna marry him#have my babies#my husband#on my knees#marry me#meow#the walking dead daryl#omg omg omg#gulps nervously#he’s gorgeous#mhmmmmm#black and white#please#in love#thank you#idk how to tag this
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