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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

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Hot Cocoa Pt. 20

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Summary: Pre-apocalypse. Y/N is an elementary school teacher new to the town, and one of her students is little Dixon, Daryl Dixon’s nephew. Daryl has taken care of him for years, the kid’s mother out of the picture and his father seeming to be in and out of jail all of the time.

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

The next day, after class, Sam stayed with you to the art activity, and so it was Daryl who came to pick him up and not Merle. This time, you didn’t go to have dinner with them, you didn’t want another mess fight with Merle, even if you hated that he was making you expend less time with Daryl and Sam, but you didn’t know to fix it.

The day after that, it was Friday, and Sam didn’t stay to the art activity, as he told you that he was going to the woods with Merle after class. You didn’t mind it…well, you did, a bit, sad that it seemed your weekend movie nights with Daryl and Sam might come to an end, but you understood Sam wanting to be with his dad, and wanting to go to the woods. It seemed he was staying both to the art class some days and with Merle others, and as long as he was doing what he wanted and was happy, you knew you should be content.

Still, when you were alone at your place that evening, you couldn’t help your sadness as you missed the Dixon’s and your evenings with them.

Early on Saturday morning, when you were still barely awake, you heard some knocks on your door. You frowned, confused at who could be at that hour, and you got up to open the door, surprised when you found the Dixon’s there. Sure, they were early risers, but they’d never come to visit so early, excepts when they took you to the woods…still, you were very much not going to complain about them coming to visit.

“Hi, Y/N!” Sam grinned at you while you blinked at them, taken by surprise.

“Hey, sweetheart, you come early today,” you said, smiling. “I’m glad to see you.”

“Yes, we can have breakfast together!” Sam said and you nodded, smiling, though when you glanced at Daryl, you thought something seemed off.

“Sure we can, I’m going to put some breakfast together,” you told him.

“I’ll help ya,” Daryl said and you nodded at him, heading to the kitchen while Sam went to the living room.

“Hi, Laura!” You heard him greeting your cat. “I missed you!”

“I’m sorry if we woke ya up or somethin’,” Daryl said.

“No, it’s fine,” you assured him as you began putting together some hot cocoa and cookies. “But it’s everything okay?”

“Yeah, just…” Daryl let out a sigh as he leaned against the counter. “Merle went out last night, I heard him coming back at the sunrise, brought a girl,” he explained. “Didn’t feel like bein’ there this mornin’ with Sam.”

“Oh…I get it…I’m sorry…but I’m happy Sam and you are here,” you said, smiling at Daryl, who gave you a soft smile, reaching to stroke your cheek before he helped you to carry breakfast to the table.

Daryl and Sam didn’t stay only for breakfast, though, but for lunch too, since Daryl didn’t think Merle would wake up any time soon, and on your side, you couldn’t help but be glad that they were spending time with you.

Late in the afternoon, they were going to go back home, but Sam tugged at your hand.

“Y/N, come have dinner with us,” he told you and you hated to say no to that look he was giving you, but…

“I think your dad will prefer if it’s only you three,” you told him and Sam let out a sigh that broke your heart a bit.

“So you’re never comin’ again? He asked you and it really felt like someone was stabbing your heart.

“It’s not that, sweetheart, just…” You tried to look for something to say, but were at loss for words. “Just…your dad has just come back, wait for him to settle down and…and things between him and I will…settle down too…” You weren’t even convincing yourself, and you hated this feeling of Merle winning nonetheless, either if you went and you both ended up fighting again, or if you didn’t go and disappointed Sam and made him sad, no mention stopping yourself from spending time with Sam and Daryl. “But…yes, I think I’m going to have dinner with you.” You finally decided, screw Merle, you weren’t going to let him take time from you, Sam and Daryl.

“You don’t have to if you don’t wanna…” Sam said, shrugging and still looking down.

“Yeah, ya don’t have to,” Daryl said too, looking at you as if he were worried that you were feeling forced to go.

“I want to,” you assured them. “So…let’s go.”

Once you reached the Dixon’s cabin, Merle was sat down outside, smoking, with a couple of empty bottles of beer next to him.

“I knew ya had left with her,” he scoffed as he looked at you.

“It wasn’t lookin’ like ye were goin’ to miss us this mornin’, like ya didn’t last night,” Daryl bit back, but Merle just chuckled, smirking.

“What’s the problem, lil’ bro, ya wanna be the only one who can get pussy?” Merle taunted Daryl, even though his mean smile was on you.

“Shut up,” Daryl snapped, but you reached to place a hand on his arm, knowing that Merle was trying to rail you both up in purpose, and you weren’t going to follow that game anymore…you ignored your coworkers for a year, you could ignore Merle Dixon too.

“Sam, do you want to show me how the garden is doing?” You asked him. “I haven’t checked in a few days.”

“Sure, and then we can shoot at the cans with the slingshot before dinner?” Sam grinned at you. “I can shoot them from further now!”

“Yeah, that’s what happens when ya practice at that instead of losin’ yer time paintin’,” Merle said, and you bit your tongue again.

“Sure, sweetheart!” You smiled at Sam, ignoring Merle. “And then we’ll make some dinner.”

You walked with Sam to the backyard, and Daryl looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself.

You were checking the garden, happy to see that a new batch of tomatoes seemed ready to harvest, when you heard a gunshot so close that you gasped, scared, and your heart seemed to jump to your throat.

You looked back and saw Merle next to the tree, a rifle on his hands, and one of the squirrels that seemed to have been at your homemade house and feeder dead on the ground. He’d killed one of the squirrels…you were so shocked you couldn’t say anything.

“The hell did ya do?!” Daryl yelled.

“Get dinner.” Merle shrugged, taking the squirrel.

“Dad…dad, those ain’t for dinnin’, those are our yard squirrels…” Sam said.

“He knew that already,” Daryl said, glaring at Merle.

“Come on, like ya don’t come from huntin’ with a bag full of those,” Merle laughed. “This little squirrel house of yers, helps bring dinner home.”

“Ya knew we don’t hunt those…” Daryl growled and Merle scoffed.

You knew that Daryl wasn’t going to be vegetarian, no matter he cooked for you or eat your food, you knew that he still hunted in the woods when he needed meat, but you too knew that he would have never touched any of the yard squirrels.

But Merle…he didn’t even need the meat, Daryl had enough from the last time he went hunting to the woods, and Merle knew about the yard squirrels…he’d done it on purpose, to upset you and anger you…and now a squirrel that came attracted to your feeder was dead because of you…

“Look, kid,” Merle said, looking at Sam. “Don’t let that teacher get ideas on yer head, even if she took yer uncle’s brain,” he scoffed. “This?” He shook the dead squirrel and you looked away. “This is dinner.”

You were beyond upset, beyond angry too, but you didn’t want to explode there in front of Merle, either by crying or by yelling, and so you just began walking away in silence, wanting to go back home and away from Merle.

“Y/N!” Sam ran behind you, holding your hand to stop you, while Daryl was looking like he didn’t know what to do, go after you or fight his brother. “Don’t leave, I’m sorry dad shot a yard squirrel but he won’t do it again.”

You let out a sigh, trying to control your emotions. “Sweetheart…you don’t have to be sorry, I’m not upset with you. But I’m sad and-”

“I’m sorry that you’re sad,” Sam said without letting you finish, hugging you. “Don’t leave sad.” He was making it really hard for you to leave, feeling like your heart was tearing a bit, but you couldn’t stay there with Merle at that moment.

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry, but I’m sad at this moment, and when I’m sad like this, I want to be alone for a bit,” you told him softly. “But when I’m not sad like this, I’ll come see you, or you can come see me, okay?”

Sam just shrugged, looking down and seeming upset, breaking your heart, but finally he nodded.

“Kid, come skin the squirrel!” Merle’s voice said and again, you bit your tongue so as not to snap, and held your tears.

You began walking away again, but before you even left the small, front yard, someone tugged at your hand again, Daryl this time.

“Y/N, hey, wait…I’m sorry,” he told you softly and you took a deep breath, you’d already dealt with Sam about this and now you needed to do it again with Daryl.

“Daryl, I’m very upset at this moment, it’s not at you, but I need to leave, okay?” You said as calmly as you could, but Daryl was looking like it was very much not okay. “I’m not mad at you but I can’t stay here right now, I’m sorry.”

“…okay…” He was still looking like it was not okay, and he glanced back towards the house. He’d seemed concerned as he looked at you, but now he was looking angry again, and you reached to hold his hand.

“Daryl, don’t get into a fight with your brother with Sam listening to everything,” you told him, knowing how upset Sam got when Merle and Daryl fought, and he’d seemed upset enough at everything that had happened.

“I ain’t lettin’ it go!” Daryl waved towards the house. “That shit ain’t right”

“I know, but Sam is going to be upset if he sees you and Merle fighting, and he’s upset enough,” you said. “Go be with him.”

Daryl still seemed torn, but you let go of his hand, and walked away.

Late that evening, you were on the sofa, curled up with your cat. You knew that you should go to sleep, but you were still upset and agitated after the whole Merle thing, and you didn’t think you could sleep.

There was a knock on the door, so soft that you wondered if you had imagined it, but you went to the door and looked through the peephole, finding Daryl there, so you opened.

“Hey…”

“Hey…did I wake ya?”

“No, I haven’t gone to sleep yet,” you said, letting Daryl walk in and closing the door behind him.

“Last time I came this late you had a knife with ya,” Daryl said, and you snorted weakly.

“Yeah…maybe I’ve lowered my guard too much…” You tried to joke, heading to sit down on the sofa again, and Daryl stood in front of you.

“I’m sorry ‘bout my brother.”

“I know you are…” You let out a sigh. “But it wasn’t your fault and it’s not you who has to apologize.”

“Yeah, my brother ain’t apologizin’…” Daryl said and you snorted bitterly.

“That’s not a surprise…” You scoffed, before sighing again. “How’s Sam?”

“Upset…” Daryl sighed too, sitting down at the other end of the sofa, fidgeting. “This shit with Merle…I’m gonna fix it.”

“If you know how, go ahead, because I have no idea,” you said, defeated, and on one hand, you wanted Daryl to do something about his brother, but on the other, you didn’t want him resenting you if he fought with his brother all the time because of you. Daryl wasn’t really looking like he knew how to fix it, and you reached out to take his hand. “For now…just hug me?”

Daryl looked at you, nodding and shifting closer until he could wrap his arm around you, and you snuggled against his chest, feeling his lips on the top of your head. “I’m sorry that Merle’s bein’ a prick…” He murmured.

“I know,” you whispered.

“Ya said…ya said ya ain’t leavin’…ya still mean it?” Daryl asked you ever so quietly, and you pulled back to look at him. He didn’t hold your gaze, seeming shy and unsure, and you reached to caress his cheek before making him look at you.

“I mean it, Daryl, of course I do,” you assured him. “You know that I love you, and I love Sam, and I wouldn’t want to be away from you both, and your brother being a prick is not going to change that or drive me away from you both.” You felt like Merle was trying to make you want to leave, and you weren’t going to let him win. “I’m not going anywhere…besides, you know now I’m trapped on that school for at least another year,” you half-joked and Daryl snorted, giving you a sad smile before hiding his face on the crook of your shoulder.

“I can’t stay,” he muttered against your neck. “I ain’t sure if Merle’s goin’ out this night again or not, I don’t want the kid to be alone at home if does.”

“Okay.” You nodded, you understood, and Daryl pulled away from you with a tired sigh. You leaned to kiss his lips before taking his hand, walking with him to the door.

“Daryl…you know how I ignore my coworker’s bullshit?” You asked and Daryl nodded. “I’m going to do the same with your brother, I’m done fighting, it’s been good for nothing.” Merle ended up winning one way or another. “And you should too.”

“Can’t.” Daryl shook his head. “I , uh…always ignored all his bullshit, went with it, but…if he’s a prick to ya or the kid…I can’t let him…”

“Thanks, but…don’t fight with Merle because of me, try to ignore it…” You still were afraid of Daryl resenting you, or Merle turning things around and putting Daryl against you. “Merle will get tired of trying to start bullshit, or will get used to me and you at some point, or…” You trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah…” Daryl didn’t sound convinced at all, though. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

On the next day, you didn’t hear from the Dixon’s, neither they came to visit you. It saddened you, you missed them, but you guessed that after all the mess with Merle yesterday, maybe they were trying to make things right again…Daryl had said that he was going to try to fix it…but you were worried that it might backfire.

Late that evening, there was a knock on your door, and you hoped that, like last night, it was Daryl coming to visit. When you opened, though, it wasn’t only Daryl, but also Sam, and you smiled at him, more than glad to see them.

“Hi, guys!”

“Hi, Y/N!” Sam grinned at you, lifting up a paper bag that he was carrying to give it to you. “We bring you tomatoes from the garden!”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” you smiled at him, taking the bag. “What if we use some for dinner? Are you both staying?” You asked, looking at Daryl, who nodded.

“Yeah.”

Your smile went bigger at that, and Daryl’s lips curled up into a smile too.

Sam went to greet your cat, and you went to the kitchen to leave the tomatoes and start with dinner, Daryl following you.

“So…it’s Merle okay with Sam and you being here for dinner?” You ventured, wondered if Daryl had managed to talk sense into his brother for real.

“Nah,” Daryl snorted bitterly. “But he ain’t at home anyway. He wanted to go to the woods today with Sam, but Sam was still upset so I thought I should go with them too…that’s why I didn’t come earlier.”

“That’s okay,” you said, reaching to squeeze his hand.

“We were in the woods most of the day, when we came back, Sam still looked upset, so I told him we could pick the tomatoes and bring them to you, that you’d like it, I thought it might cheer him up, it did,” Daryl explained, and you couldn’t help your smile at it. “But, yeah…Merle didn’t like it…began rantin’ ‘bout ya, got worse when I snapped, so I, uh…tried ignorin’ him like ya said…I ain’t sure but I think he got more pissed, and he left…guess he’s at the bar gettin’ drunk or somethin’.”

You let out a sigh, hating that there had been tension between Daryl and his brother yet again, due to you, and that Sam was in the middle.

“I’m sorry,” you said softly, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah…at least we weren’t yellin’ with Sam there,” Daryl said, letting out a tired sigh, and you nodded, you were glad of that too.

That evening, Daryl and Sam stayed after dinner too, watching a movie and eating popcorn as you three used to do on weekends, and you couldn’t be more happy about it, trying to ignore your worry at Merle being mad at this and at how impossible it seemed to fix your relationship with him, no matter how much you knew you should, for Sam’s and Daryl’s sake.

The next morning, you were walking towards the school, when you saw Merle ahead on the street. You thought that maybe he was dropping Sam at the school that morning instead of Daryl…or maybe coming back home after a night out. It seemed the latest, because as you approached, you realized that he seemed drunk, or high, or maybe both. You hoped that, when he reached the Dixon’s cabin, Daryl’d have already taken Sam to school.

The street was too narrow to walk around Merle, and so you tried to keep it civil and polite, and greet him. “Good morning, Merle.”

You had tried to keep walking, but Merle stopped in front of you. “Look who I found…the bitch tryin’ to steal my family.”

“Merle, I am not trying to do that,” you said, feeling more than done. “Let me pass, I have to get to work.”

“Ya think ya can take my family from me, uh?” Merle kept going as if he didn’t hear you. “Put them against me? Ya think I’m gonna let ya?”

“Merle…again, I am not doing that,” you said doing your best to stay calm, even if you were a bit intimidated by Merle at that moment. “I’m sorry that you feel that way, and I’m sorry if I gave you that impression, but it’s not true, but if you feel like that, we both should sit down, talk about it, stop this misunderstanding, but again, not now, because I have to go to the school.”

“Ya think they’d choose ya? My brother and my kid?” Merle still didn’t seem to be listening to you. “Ya think they’d pick ya over me?”

“I don’t think anything like that, Merle, we’ll talk about it when you’re sober, I know you love Daryl and Sam, and I do too, so we really should get along, we both care for them, so-” You kept trying to reason, growing increasingly nervous, but Merle interrupted you again.

“Ya think yer so great, so better, all prim and proper…Go ahead, uppity bitch, ask them,” he said, smirking. “Ask them to pick ya, to choose ya over me, ya’ll see what ya get.”

“Merle, I am not doing that. Now go away and let me go.”

“Yeah…that’s what I thought…” He chuckled. “Ya ain’t askin’ ‘cause ya don’t dare…’cause ya know they ain’t gonna pick ya.”

“No, Merle, is not for that!” You couldn’t help but snap, hurt by this conversation. “It’s because I know that it’d hurt them, if I asked that from them, and I don’t want to hurt them, because as I’ve told you a million times, I care for them!”

“Ya try to take them from me, put them against me, but ya can’t… they ain’t gonna pick ya, they’re gonna choose me,” Merle kept taunting you.

“Oh, I know, I know that” you said, trying not to cry. “That’s what you wanted me to say? You win, then, I know it, because you are a damn lucky man, even if I think you don’t deserve it. Your brother? He loves you, no matter what, no matter all the shit you give him, all the shit he has to endure because of you and your selfish ass. Your kid? Since he was three, he’s only seen you for Christmas and on monthly prison visits, and still, he loves you the way he does, which is, let me tell you, a damn lot, even when you are the prick that you are to him. So, you better appreciate it more than you do!” You spat, angry and upset.

“So yes, they’d pick you, but it’d still hurt them to have to pick between you and me, so I’d never ask that from them, never wanted to, either. But if you want to ask that from them, because you are a selfish prick who doesn’t care for their happiness or their feelings, just for yourself, then, I guess I can’t stop you.” You kept ranting, not caring about the way Merle, who suddenly seemed to have lost his voice was glaring at you. “So do whatever you want to do and leave me alone, because I need to go to class!”

Merle and you kept glaring at each other, but he wasn’t moving out of the way, and you were about to resort to shove him, even if you weren’t sure if Merle, drunk and high, might not retaliate at that, when you heard a voice ahead of the street.

“Hey! What’s going on!”

You looked towards the voice and saw Tulip’s dad, probably on his way to work too.

“Nothing…just bumped into Merle, but he’s going home and I’m going to the school,” you said, pushing Merle with your shoulder and rushing down the street towards Tulip’s dad before Merle could snap.

“What was all that nonsense Merle and you were yelling about?” Tulip’s dad asked you, and you wondered how much he’d heard…and how much you had raised your voice without meaning to.

“Just that, nonsense…I really have to go to class.”

“Okay…hey, Y/N…school’s better since you’re there, and Daryl Dixon? He’s better too, and the kid, he always looks happy now,” Tulip’s dad said, and once again, you wondered how much he’d heard. “Don’t let Merle Dixon get to you.”

“Yeah…I’m trying not to…” You let out a sigh and gave him a weak smile. “Thanks…and to think that I used to think you too hated me,” you chuckled.

“Hate you? Nah…just thought you were…dunno…thought you weren’t gonna last a month here either, that you’d go back to whatever city you came from…but, here you are,” Tulip’s dad chuckled too.

“Yes…here I am, and no prick is making me leave” you said, smiling at Tulip’s dad. “Thanks, but I really, relly gotta go.”

“Okay, my wife we’ll go pick up Tulip later, goodbye.”

N/A

Thanks to the people who let me know they still read this., We’re almost at the end.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

@coffeebooksandfandom @ellerelly @gruffle1 @twdeadlysins @yenne-yen-illustrations @mychemicalimagines @haleypearce @superflannel @sourwolf-sterek32 @angelontheinside @firehoopinmama @lonewolf471 @hopplessdreamer @daryldixonandfrogs @fanfictionsilove @collecting-stories @princessxpunk @hells-mistress @justyouraveragefangirl1967 @carnationworld @smiithys @polkadottedpillowcase @elisdays @mysterious-398 @captainbuckyboobear @dazzledamazon @spidergirla5 @lilythemadqueen @lightning-butterfly @purplebtsmagic @barra-cudaaa @courtnytrash04 @amazingapricot @seizethesam @harpersmariano @eternalslingshot @fuseburner @phoenixblack89 @boywivlove @amaroho @woundmetender @classyunknownlover @masterninjacow @tenderlyunlikelyexpert @shadowfoxey @kaitieskidmore1 @lilac-day-dreaming @datidixon @nj01 @rachelxwayne @elamy17 @angelofthor @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @thanossexual @daryldixonstorm @sttrawberries @huffledor-able541 @lucillethings @browneyes528 @soraitmnt @thereshallbenoother @chickenparmandstoicvulcans @leej2468 @heartlessmarvello @itsmeempar @redneckstrash @bxxbxy @bitchynicole @pulplorrd @supernatural79impala @the-artistic-animal-lover @selfsun @maggie-l-m @baseballbitch116 @tranquiiit @sweatywildpanda @theteaset @my-current-fandom-is @sapphire1727 @insidetoughcake @whitexwingedxdoves @nickangel13 @oceans-daughter-3 @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @sesshomaru-lover @a-dlv @thetypewriterimproviser @lettersshapes @the-artistic-animal @spenciepoo338 @wickedscorpio22 @askerror87 @mysticswan67 @srhxpci @riverscyberwife @actiaslunaa @ani-taaa

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

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Hot Cocoa Pt.19

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Merle’s back and he’s his annoying self.

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

The next afternoon, after you finished your classes, you walked out of the teacher’s room to head towards the art activity, and you found Sam waiting for you in the corridor.

“Hi, sweetheart,” you greeted him. “Are you okay?”

Sam nodded. “Waitin’ for you to go to class.”

“Isn’t your dad picking you up today?” You looked around as you began walking with Sam, half expecting Merle to barge in at any moment.

“He’s mad…” Sam let out a sad sigh and you stopped to look at him.

“Something happened?”

Sam shrugged. “Yesterday I told him that today I wanted to stay to the art activity, but he said no, that we would be doing somethin’ else, but Daryl told him to let me do what I wanted, and they began arguin’…they fought ‘cause of me, like in Christmas…”

“Sweetheart, that was not your fault, alright?” You assured him, hating how sad and guilty he looked, but Sam just shrugged again.

“They argued ‘cause of me, and then dad got mad, told Daryl and me to do whatever we wanted without him and left,” Sam kept explaining. “He’s mad at me…so he ain’t gonna come…”

“He’s not mad at you,” you tried to assure Sam, even if you were upset at the situation too. “He’s just…adjusting to being back,” you said, but judging by Sam’s look, he looked as little convinced as you by it. “Let’s go to class, your friends are waiting,” you finally said, not knowing what else to say about the Merle situation, and Sam nodded, walking with you to the classroom.

You half-expected that Merle would show up at any moment, barge into the art class, and take Sam, but it didn’t happen, and eventually, he was the only kid left, until Daryl came to pick him up.

“Hi, Daryl,” you and Sam greeted when he walked in.

“Hey, ready to go?”

Sam nodded and he began putting the things he’d been using back into their place, while you nodded at Daryl to approach you.

“Sam told me you and Merle argued?” You asked quietly and Daryl let out a tired sigh.

“Yeah…kid said he wanted to stay to the art class today, Merle said no again, I told him to let him, Merle loved that…” Daryl scoffed. “So…yeah...”

“I’m sorry that you and Merle fought, but you did the right thing,” you said and Daryl shrugged.

“Ain’t feelin’ like it…but I know the kid likes to stay here with ya and the other kids, paintin’,” Daryl said and you nodded, reaching to squeeze his hand, before you began tidying up the classroom.

“Y/N, are you comin’ to have dinner with us?” Sam asked you.

“I, uh…” You didn’t know what to say, Sam seemed to want you to, and you didn’t want to disappoint him, but you didn’t think Merle would like it if you showed up for dinner today, and you didn’t want to fight…but neither did you want to stop doing things with Sam and Daryl because of Merle, and you knew Merle and you should try to talk at some point, fix this situation.

“Sam…” Daryl began, noticing your reluctance, but you stopped him.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll go have dinner with you this evening,” you said, and you couldn’t help your smile when Sam grinned at that.

While you walked to the Dixon’s, you couldn’t stop your nerves and the fear of things going really bad with Merle. Daryl seemed to notice, reaching to hold your hand while you three walked to their cabin.

Once you reached it, you spotted Merle on the tattered stairs of the small porch, skinning a rabbit, and you averted your gaze from it.

“What’s she doin’ here,” Merle asked, sounding annoyed.

“She’s staying for dinner,” Sam explained.

“Ya not only went paintin’ with her instead of comin’ to hunt, ya brin’ her for dinner?” Merle snapped at Sam.

“Merle,” Daryl began but his brother snapped again.

“Oh, it was ya and not the kid? Ya wanted to bring yer bitch.”

“Don’t call her that!” Daryl snapped and Merle just chuckled. You hadn’t been sure of what Daryl was going to do, since the last time that Merle snapped at you, he’d taken his brother side, and even though you didn’t want him fighting with his brother, you couldn’t help but be glad that he was speaking up for you too.

“No…no, because it’s the other way around…yer her bitch, ain’t ya, little brother.”

You felt Daryl shaking in anger and you reached to hold his arm before he could snap something that, you knew, he was going to be regretting later, besides, you didn’t think snapping at each other was going to fix things with Merle

“Merle, what is exactly your problem with me?” You tried to speak as calmly as you could.

“I get it, lil’ bro,” Merle kept talking to Daryl without acknowledging you. “She lets ya bang her, yeah, I get it…but don’t let pussy take yer brain…ya think she’s gonna stick around? Look at her…” Merle looked you up and down, scoffing, and you really didn’t know what was so wrong in you, but it still made you feel awful. “She’s playin’ ya…I don’t know why, or what she wants to get from ya, but that’s all she’s doin’, besides tryin’ to put ya and Sam against me.”

“Merle, I’m not trying to put anyone against you,” you tried to reason. “I’m not playing anything with Daryl.”

“Shut up, bitch, ain’t talkin’ to ya!” Merle snapped.

“Nah, ya shut up!” Daryl snapped back. “Told ya not to call her that! Yer just speakin’ bullshit!”

“Not tryin’ to put ya against me, uh?” Merle glanced at you before looking at Daryl again. “Yet look at ya, brother, ya’d never talked to me like this before…and ya shouldn’t,” Merle warned him. “Told ya, don’t know what she’s playin’ but she’s playin’ somethin’…she ain’t like us, she’s just an uppity girl who believes herself better ‘cause she went to college and all shit, and she ain’t never gonna stick with someone like us. Redneck trash, uh? Ya know what they think of us? Once she’s done with whatever she’s playin’ with ya, turnin’ ya into her bitch, she’s gonna scrap you off her boots and walk away.”

“I’ve told you that I’m not playing anything!” You snapped before Daryl could say anything, more than upset. “Whatever you think of me it’s your problem, not mine, but all you’re saying of me is wrong!” You felt like crying and you hated it, feeling like it made you appear weak, but you were so upset that you couldn’t stop it. “I’m with your brother because I love him! He’s not redneck trash, and I don’t let anyone talk like that about him, so I’m not going to let you either!”

“Yeah? And what are ya gonna do to stop it?” Merle taunted you, but Daryl got between you and him before any of you snapped again.

“Merle, shut up!” He snapped. “Ya ain’t makin’ sense! What’s she gonna get from being with me, uh? With a Dixon? To have all town talkin’ shit of her? Being pricks to her? Yeah, she already got that. We’ve just been trouble for her, yet she’s stayin’ in this shit town ‘cause Sam and me!”

You didn’t like Daryl thinking like that, that you had only gotten trouble from him and Sam, you didn’t like it at all, but before you could say anything to him, Merle spoke again.

“Ain’t she nice,” Merle spat.

You wanted to snap, but you glanced at Sam, who was at the front foot door of the cabin, looking down, seeming sad and worried, and you stopped yourself from snapping, but you still didn’t know how to work out things with Merle.

“Look, Merle…if you’re worried that I’m going to hurt your brother, if this is about that, I get it, I do, but I promise, I’m not,” you said, serious. “I love your brother, I care for Sam too, and I’m not going anywhere, I won’t hurt them, I won’t leave them, no matter what.” You meant it, and you weren’t going to let Merle make you leave them either.

“Nah…nah, it ain’t that, this ain’t ‘bout that,” Daryl said, squinting at his brother, and you didn’t know what to think. “He’s just been an asshole on purpose.”

“Oh, so that’s what ya think of me, uh?” Merle said, but you noticed that he was smirking with that mean look…maybe Daryl was right? “Ya got quite a mouth since ya got pussy, uh? Ya better watch how ya talk to yer older brother.”

Daryl was glaring at his brother, but he wasn’t saying anything, and you felt done. You didn’t want to snap and fight Merle anymore, and by now, it didn’t seem that any attempt of talking things out was going to work. You just wanted the fight to be over, at least for a day, you were done.

“I’m leaving,” you said.

“You’re not stayin’ for dinner, then?” Sam asked, and he was looking sad and disappointed in a way that hurt your heart, you hadn’t thought he’d still want you to stay after the fight with his dad, but you didn’t think that staying for dinner would be the best idea, it would just make Merle angry and he would still snap and be a prick to you, and you’d snap too, and maybe Daryl, and it was going to be a big mess…you didn’t want that, neither for yourself, nor for Daryl and Sam, you didn’t want the kid to keep witnessing that and Daryl to feel trapped in an argument between his brother and you.

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” You told him.

“See, kid, she’s already leavin’, told ya,” Merle gloated and you did all you could not to explode but didn’t manage.

“I’m not leaving! I’m just not staying for dinner! And that’s because you’re being a prick!” You snapped.

“Oh, I see…sure, sure, blame everythin’ on me…” Merle chuckled, mocking you.

“Okay…okay…” You took a deep breath, trying not to explode again, but you weren’t going to let Merle win. “I’m staying.”

“Really?” Sam asked, and his small smile, even if he still seemed upset, it made almost worth all the mess with Merle.

“Yeah.”

“Ya don’t have to,” Daryl told you quietly.

“No, I’ve come to have dinner with you and Sam, I’m staying,” you said again without looking away from Merle, who was looking at you with that mean smile.

“Okay, princess…” He said. “Get skinnin’ that other rabbit then, since we have another mouth.”

“She ain’t gonna do that,” Daryl said.

“Oh, so we ain’t only feedin’ her, she ain’t movin’ a finger…”

“Y/N is vegetarian, dad,” Sam explained.

“Vegetarian,” Merle scoffed, looking at Daryl. “Vegetarian…ya really went and picked the only vegetarian pussy in town? Vegetarian…”

Daryl seemed about to snap, but he just scoffed. “Come on,” he told you, placing a hand on your shoulder. “There’s still some of that soup you made.”

The dinner was awkward, uncomfortable, and you had to bit your tongue all the time at Merle’s remarks and whenever he berated you again, also squeezing Daryl’s hand under the table whenever he seemed about to snap. Merle was trying to take the piss out of you, he was trying to make you angry and snap, maybe even leave, you knew it, and you weren’t going to let him win. You were thoroughly done.

Once you finished dinner, you got up to pick up the empty dishes, and you rolled your eyes when you heard Merle chuckling, wondering what the hell did he want this time.

“Good thin’ of havin’ a woman here, we ain’t gonna be doin’ dishes,” he said, smirking at you, and you bit your tongue.

“I’ll help you,” Sam said.

“Nah, kid, yer comin’ to watch tv with me,” Merle said as he got up from the table and headed towards the sofa.

“But-”

“Kid.”

Sam didn’t say anything else, getting up too to go sit with Merle, and once more, you bit your tongue, heading to the kitchen.

“She has yer balls like that?”

Ye heard Merle saying right when Daryl walked into the kitchen too, carrying the rest of the cutlery.

“Ignore him,” you told him softly.

“I, uh…I’m sorry ‘bout all this,” Daryl told you and you let out a sigh.

“I know…it’s not you who has to be sorry,” you said, turning to start with the dishes, but Daryl reached to take your hand.

“Leave it, I’ll wash it later.”

“It’s fine, I’ll help you.” You didn’t want him having to wash everything by himself.

“Nah, ya don’t have to.” Daryl tugged at your hand to make you turn and face him, and you were surprised in the best way when he wrapped his arms around you. “I’ll give ya a ride home, okay?”

“Okay…” You were truly done for the day, but you smiled when Daryl kissed your forehead. He pulled away from you but held your hand as you both walked out of the kitchen.

“I’m gonna take Y/N home,” he said to Merle and Sam.

“Okay!” Sam smiled at you and somehow it made you feel better. “Y/N, tomorrow after class I’ll go with dad to the woods, okay?”

“Okay, sweetheart, good,” you assured him, not wanting him to believe that you’d be upset, ignoring the way Merle smirked at you. “You do what you want to do,” you said, pointedly looking at Merle, whose smirk grew.

“Come on,” Daryl said, tugging at your hand, and you followed him.

“So, Daryl, do we wait for ya or are ya planin’ on bangin’ her this night?” Merle asked before Daryl and you walked out. “I mean, we haven’t feed her for nothin’”

“Fuck off, Merle!” Daryl said, walking outside of the cabin and tugging you with him, as if he were afraid you were going to snap too.

“Watch yer mouth when ya talk to me, lil’ bro, told ya,” Merle’s voice said.

“Whatever…” Daryl muttered, heading with you towards his bike. It was the first time that you rode on it, and so you got situated behind him as best as possible and wrapped your arms tight around him. “Ready?”

“I think so…” You said, and Daryl nodded, kicking the bike into motion.

Daryl parked the bike in front of your place, and you relaxed your grip on him, even though you had enjoyed holding him like that, and you got off the bike.

“It was okay? Daryl asked you and you nodded.

“Yeah, I really liked it,” you said, and a small, half-smile tugged at Daryl’s lip at that. “I still think you should get one of those sidecars so Sam, you, and I can go in the bike.” You joked and Daryl snorted.

“I ain’t puttin’ one of those on my bike.”

“I know,” you said, leaning to kiss his lips, and when you pulled back, Daryl reached to hold your hand, keeping you near.

“I’m sorry ‘bout all the mess with Merle,” he said quietly.

“I know, told you, you don’t have to apologize for him, it’s not your fault,” you told him, but Daryl just shrugged. “Don’t snap at him because of me now, no more fighting, okay? You’ll end up upset and it’s not worthy…” You didn’t want him to fight with his brother because of you, and you were afraid he might end up resenting you for it. “But…thank you for speaking up for me, when Merle was saying all those things about me.”

“Merle was bein’ a prick, ain’t gonna let him be an asshole to ya like that,” Daryl said, and you couldn’t help your small smile.

“Thank you, Daryl…but not more fighting with your brother because of me...” You told him and Daryl just shrugged. “Hey…you know that what he said is not true, right? I’m not going to leave.” You thought Daryl knew, but just in case… “And I’m not playing you, or anything of that, I’m not…”

“Yeah, I know.” Daryl assured you, lifting your hand to his lips to kiss your knuckles, making you feel butterflies again. “He was just talking bullshit.”

“He was…If only I knew what’s his problem with me…but I don’t know how to fix it…” You sighed.

“Ain’t yer fault, Merle’s the one being an ass.” Daryl told you, and you nodded.

“Okay…I should get going…”

“Wait.” Daryl didn’t let go of your hand, and he began chewing the thumbnail of his other hand. You frowned, you knew he was nervous, and you wondered what else was wrong. “Ya, uh…ya said to Merle that, uh…that ya love me.”

“Yeah…I…I do Daryl, I love you,” you whispered, shy. “Of course I do.”

Daryl’s lips curled into a smile at that, looking at you before dropping his gaze down. “Love ya too,” he whispered.

The butterflies began dancing in your belly again, and you reached out to cup Daryl’s face, stroking his cheek before leaning to kiss his lips.

“Tomorrow, once yer done with yer art class, ya wanna come to the garage,” Daryl told you once you pulled back. “And I’ll walk ya home?”

“Sure.” You nodded before kissing him once more. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Good night.”

“Night.”

The next day, you went to the garage to wait until Daryl were done working, and while he fixed a car, he explained to you what he was doing. You didn’t get much, even if you nodded along, but you appreciated it.

Once he was done, he walked you to your place, and even though you both didn’t speak much, you enjoyed it nonetheless.

“Hey…do you want to stay for dinner, maybe?” You asked.

“I, uh…” Daryl seemed unsure.

“You don’t have to, it’s fine, I promise,” you assured him, squeezing his hand.

“Nah, I’ll stay, I’ll call Merle,” he finally said.

“Are you sure?” You asked and Daryl nodded. “Okay.” You smiled, pecking his lips, before taking his hand and walking into your place.

Daryl headed to your phone to call Merle, and you to the kitchen to start making dinner. You heard him arguing with his brother over the phone, and you let out a sigh, regreting a bit to have asked him to stay for dinner. Finally, Daryl hung the phone and walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, it’s okay, if you leave,” you told him softly, hating how defeated he looked.

“Nah…nah, I ain’t leavin’,” he told you, chewing on his thumbnail. “I, uh…all my life, I followed Merle around, did whatever he wanted all the time, but, uh…I’m done with that.”

“Okay,” you told him with a soft smile, reaching to take his hand and stop him from gnawing the skin around his thumbnail. “That’s good…I told you, Sam should choose what he wants to do, and so should you.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, just nodded at you with a small smile, and you pecked his lips before you went back to cook dinner, helped by Daryl.

After dinner, you were sat down on the sofa with Daryl, his arm around you, and the tv on, but you weren’t paying attention, something kept distracting you, until you chuckled aloud.

“What?” Daryl asked, seeming confused.

“Nothing, just…Sam’s always with us, and you know I love to spend time with him too, but sometimes I thought that I’d like to have time some evening just for you and me…well, here we are, just you and me…and I’m missing the kid,” you chuckled.

“Yeah…” Daryl chuckled too, giving you a small smile. “I miss him too…dunno what he and Merle are gonna be doin’ by themselves…” His smile was gone, a frown on his face now.

“Go back home to him,” you told him.

“Nah, it’s fine, I told ya, Merle won’t hurt the kid or nothin’.”

“I know, but…but some things he said sometimes to him…are not very good,” you sighed. “Besides, you want to go.”

“Ain’t that, I like bein’ here with ya,” Daryl told you, serious.

“I know.” You nodded. “But you’re thinking about Sam, just like I am…so, go back home to him, and I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” Daryl finally nodded, though he seemed to feel guilty, and so you leaned to kiss him, before getting up and taking his hand, walking him to the door.

“Go and say hi to Sam from me,” you told him before kissing his lips again.

“Yeah…yeah, I will,” Daryl murmured, leaning his forehead on yours for a second before he pulled back. “’night.”

“Good night.”

N/A

I fear this is not the end of Merle trouble.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon fanfic #twd daryl dixon #daryl dixon twd #twd daryl #daryl twd #preapocalypse daryl dixon #daryl dixon preapocalypse

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa Pt. 18

In this chapter: Summer is over and a new schoolar year starts.

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

You were at the Dixon’s kitchen, cooking, when Daryl walked in, frowning as he looked at the soup that you were blending.

“What’s that?”

“Lettuce soup.”

“…that ain’t a thin’,” Daryl said and you chuckled.

“I didn’t know it was, but it is…we have so much lettuce, I don’t want it to go bad, but even myself I’m a bit tired of eating salad every day” The Dixon’s weren’t too fans of salad themselves. “So I looked on some cookbooks what else can you do with lettuce, and it says that you can make lettuce soup!”

“Lettuce soup…” Daryl muttered, looking at it as if it were going to attack him.

“I know, it’s weird…but I thought it was worth a try. It also has potato and onion,” you explained. Once you finished blending and seasoning the soup, you took a spoonful to try it, and your eyes widened at it. “This is…this is actually really good…” You said and Daryl gave you a questioning look. “It is, I’m not joking! I like it maybe even more than salad…it’s good!”

You seemed to pick Daryl’s curiosity, because he took the spoon and tried the soup too, and he too seemed confused. “Yeah…yeah, ain’t bad.” He looked at the pot, seeming surprised, and you couldn’t blame him. “Better than salad.”

“I’m glad you think that because with all that lettuce, we’ll be eating that for the whole week,” you chuckled, now that you had tested it and it was good, you planned on making a big pot of it.

“Okay…” Daryl chuckled too, leaning against the counter to watch you as you began cooking again. “Hey, I was thinkin’…I have next week free, so I was thinkin’, if maybe ya want us to go campin’ to the woods for a few days.”

You grinned at that. “Sure, I’d love to!”

“Okay.” Daryl gave you a soft smile. “I’m gonna tell Sam.”

“He’s going to be so happy about it!”

“Yeah, yeah, he will.”

You camped in the same spot that you had done during spring break, but this time, you stayed for almost a week and not only a couple of days. During those days, you hiked a lot with the Dixon’s, enjoying it no matter your legs always ended up sore, and also every day you’d go to the river, more to play in the water with Sam than to swim.

They taught you how to get oriented in the woods like they did, and also some basics about tracking. You knew Daryl wasn’t planning on hunting with you there, but still, the couple of times that they spot a trail while you hiked, they showed you how to follow it, what to look for tracking, and you couldn’t be more delighted when, one of those times, you followed the Dixon’s until you spotted a cute deer ahead that you could watch for a bit before it ran away.

Back home, one morning you woke up in Daryl’s bed. The sun was raising but for once, he hadn’t waken up before you, and he was still curled up next to you, your arms wrapped around him as you held him, and his back pressed against your chest.

You smiled sleepily, he was so cute when he slept…you didn’t want to move, but you had to go to the bathroom, and so you kissed Daryl’s shoulder and got up. Once you went back to the room, Daryl had moved to lie on his belly, holding the pillow to him…he was just so damn cute.

You sat down next to him and began brushing your fingers over the bare skin of his back. After a while, you heard him humming sleepily, and when you began placing soft kisses over his back, his lips curled up into a smile as he began to wake up. You didn’t stop caressing his back, though, and Daryl didn’t seem in a rush to move either. Eventually, your fingers began to absentmindedly trace one of the scars of his back, the deepest one.

“Looks like shit…” Daryl muttered when he noticed it.

“It doesn’t…I love your back,” you said and Daryl just scoffed, and so you moved to straddle his back. “I love those cute freckles,” you said as your hands caressed his skin before you reached his shoulders, rubbing at them. “And your shoulders…those are the best shoulders in the world…well, your arms are pretty great too, I can’t choose…luckily I don’t have to, I can admire both…”

Daryl scoffed, turning his head to look at you with an arched eyebrow and blushed cheeks. “Ya still asleep so yer talkin’ nonsense?”

“It’s not nonsense!”

“Yeah, sure…”

Daryl rolled his eyes at you, but he snorted when you gently bit his shoulder, and he moved under you so he’d lie on his back but you’d still be on top of him. You grinned at him and he reached out a hand to cup your face, smiling softly while he caressed your cheek, before he went serious.

“My dad, he died before Sam was born,” he said quietly. “And…maybe I’m a shit person but I’m glad for it, that he ain’t around Sam.”

“You are not a shit person,” you said, stroking his cheek. “And if you are, then so am I, because I’m glad too.” You knew that Daryl’s father had hurt him physically and emotionally, you were sure that even more than you knew yet. You hated that Daryl had to go through all that, but you were glad that Sam didn’t have to.

Daryl didn’t say anything else, just looked at you with a small smile, and so you decided not to say anything else either, leaning to kiss his lips.

Before you knew it, summer was coming to an end, and a new school year was starting. You liked your job, sure you did, but you wouldn’t have minded summer to last for another month, so you could still have time for yourself, and to spend it with Daryl and Sam.

You had good news, though you’d been sure that you’d keep your job at the school as you had assured Daryl, even though you knew he’d still been thinking about it, but now it was official, and on the first teaching meeting, you could see some surprised faces to see you again, others seeming to be anything but happy to see you back…they still treated you with coldness and disdain, but you were set on not let them ruin the year for you.

This course, Sam wasn’t in your group, and you had the suspicion that the principal had done it on purpose. He was disappointed, and you also didn’t like that maybe his new teacher was one of those who’d be harsh on Sam for being a Dixon or let the other kids treat him wrong, but you were going to keep an eye on it no matter what, and on the other hand, that way nobody could accuse you of being favoring Sam over other kids for your relationship with Daryl.

Besides, you’d see Sam after class, in your art activity, that would be back too after parents had asked for it.

Once classes started, you were happy enough with your group of kids for that new school year, and you had already been making plans for what you wanted to work with them that year, and also for the art activity, to which most of the kids that went last year seemed to be back.

Around a month or so after the classes started, Daryl told you that Merle was getting released and coming back home the next week. You tried to be supportive of it, be happy for Daryl and Sam, but you couldn’t help but be apprehensive too…you knew Merle didn’t like you, and you didn’t like the way he behaved with Sam, but you hoped you both could put your differences to the side and tolerate each other as best as possible.

On Monday, after the classes finished, you were walking with Sam to the art activity when you saw Merle Dixon walking through the school door. You knew he was released that day, but you hadn’t expected him to show up there.

“Dad!” Sam had spotted him too, and he was running to him to hug him.

“Hey, kid!”

Taking a deep breath, you approached them and hoped for the best. “Hello, Merle, I’m Y/N, I don’t know if you remem-”

“Yeah, I know who ya are,” Merle interrupted you, barely glancing at you. “Come on, kid, we’re leavin’.”

“Actually, Sam was coming to the after-class art activity,” you said and Merle scoffed.

“He ain’t no needin’ that anymore now that I’m back home,” Merle said. “We’re leavin’.”

“That’t true, he doesn’t need it, but I think we should ask him what he wants to do,” you said, trying to sound as polite as you could. “He doesn’t need to stay for the whole afternoon anymore, but maybe he’d like to stay painting with his friends for a little bit and so you can stay with him too if you want to see how we work and what are we going to be doing for the year,” you suggested, you still hadn’t really had any teacher conversation with Merle about Sam, but Merle scoffed.

“Ya hear that, kid? Ya wanna stay here instead of comin’ home with yer dad?”

“I…” Sam looked from Merle to you as if he didn’t know what to do, and you hated that he was put in that situation, feeling like you were to blame to...You should have said anything, it was the first day that Merle was back, sure him and Sam wanted to spend it together, and they should…but you hadn’t been able to stop yourself. “We can go home.”

Sam looked at you as he said that as if he thought you were upset, and so you gave him a smile. “Okay, sweetheart, I see you tomorrow, yeah?” Sam seemed to relax at that, and he nodded, smiling.

Merle chuckled, giving you a smug smile. “Ya really thought my kid was gonna pick ya and yer art thing instead of me?”

“I…I didn’t think or suggest anything like that,” you said, trying not to let Merle get to you and then tried to keep it polite. “And it’s your first day back, so of course you both should spend it together.”

Merle didn’t say anything, just chuckled again as he looked you up and down with a smirk, before grabbing Sam’s hand and walking away. “Come on, kid.”

Once they walked out of the school, you let out a frustrated sigh. You really wanted to make things right with Merle, but you didn’t know how, and your second impression of him hadn’t been better than the first.

“Ain’t it delightful to be part of the Dixon’s family,” another teacher commented venomously while she walked to the school door too, and you resisted the urge to flip her off, instead heading to the office to phone Daryl.

“Hello?” Daryl’s boss answered the phone.

“Hello, it’s Y/N, can I speak to Daryl?”

“Sure, wait a minute.”

“Hey?” Daryl’s voice.

“Hey…Merle just came to pick Sam.”

“He’s here already?”

“Yes…so, you don’t need to come pick up Sam later, he’s already at home with your brother.”

“…’kay… ya want me to pick ya up? Ya can come home if ya wanna.”

“I…” You weren’t looking forwards to spend the evening with Merle, even if you knew you both should work out your situation. “No, it’s okay, it’s the first day Merle’s back home, it should be an evening for you three…I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, then…”

On the next afternoon, when you were walking to the art activity with Sam, Merle showed up again.

“Come on, kid, we’re leavin’,” he said without acknowledging you.

“But dad…told you I wanted to stay to the art class today…” Sam said, and Merle scoffed.

“Ya ain’t gonna waste time paintin’ or whatever ya do with that teacher.”

“It’s not a waste of time!” Sam said. “And Daryl and Y/N say I’m good at it.”

“’course they do…” Merle scoffed again, glaring at you before looking at Sam. “Look, kid, painin’? Aint’t good for nothin’, we’re gonna go to the woods and track some venison, okay? Daryl said ya like tracking and that yer good, let’s see it, yeah?”

“Okay…” Sam sighed.

“Merle, if Sam wants to stay, then he should stay,” you said, trying not to snap. “Even just for a bit, you can come to pick him up in an hour or so, or if you want to, you can stay so you can see what is it that we do in this class.”

“Look, woman.” Merle walked closer to you, but you didn’t back down. “You think that because now yer not only my kid’s teacher but my brother’s bitch, ya have a say in what my kid does or doesn’t?”

“Don’t speak like that here, there’re kids…like your kid, for example,” you said through gritted teeth. “It’s not me having a saying on it, it’s Sam saying what he wants to do.”

“He wants to come huntin’ with me, right, kid?” Merle said, looking at Sam, who glanced from you and Merle, nodding, before looking at you again.

“It’s okay, Y/N, I like tracking in the woods too,” Sam said, and Merle smirked at you, but you weren’t going to fight, even if you were annoyed, the kids from your art activity were waiting and looking from the class door, and you could see a couple of other teachers looking too.

“Okay, sweetheart.” You smiled at Sam. “I’ll see you soon.”

“See you, Y/N.”

Once every kid from your art activity had been picked up, you went to the office to phone Daryl.

“Your brother came again and took Sam, you don’t need to come,” you told him when his boss passed him the phone. “Sam wanted to stay but Merle didn’t care.”

“…I’m sorry…” Daryl sighed, sounding tired.

“Look, Daryl, I don’t care if Sam’d rather go hunting with Merle like today than stay to my art class,” you kept going, upset. “It’s not that, okay? He’s his father, so I understand that Sam’d rather go with him. But Merle can’t say stuff like painting is worthless and a waste of time in front of Sam, who loves painting, and Merle should listen to what his kid has to say.”

“I know…I’m sorry…” Daryl said. “Hey, what if I go pick ya up when I finish, walk ya home?”

“Okay…” You nodded. “But I finished already, so I’ll go pick you up instead, alright?”

“Okay.”

Soon, you were walking into the garage, waving and saying hi to Daryl’s boss and to the other guy working in the yard, before heading towards Daryl.

“Gonna take me a bit to finish,” he said, nodding towards the car he was working on.

“It’s okay, I’ll wait.” You chewed on your lip, looking at him. “Look, Daryl…I’m sorry I snapped at you by phone, I was upset, but it wasn’t your fault.”

“Nah, I get it.” Daryl shrugged.

“Still…I get that Sam would rather go with his dad, he’s missed him, and I know that he likes the woods and tracking, it’s normal that he wanted to go with him when Merle asked…” You knew it, yet you couldn’t help but be upset. “But…I don’t know, Sam said that he’d wanted to stay at the art class before Merle told him they were going hunting, and it looked like Merle would have taken him even if Sam would have rather stayed at class…I didn’t like it…and he can’t say stuff like art being a waste of time when Sam likes it so much.”

“I know…I’m sorry…” Daryl let out a tired sigh, reaching towards you, and you held his hand, unbothered by the grease stains.

“Is not you who has to be sorry,” you told him softly. “I’m just venting but you know I’m not upset with you, right?” You asked and Daryl nodded. “I didn’t mean to snap at you…but Daryl, you have to do something about the way he speaks to Sam…sure, Merle is his dad, but you’re his uncle and you’ve been taking care of him all these years.”

“Yeah, but…” Daryl shrugged helplessly. “It’s just the way Merle is…”

“That’s no excuse…” You let out a sigh, not sure of how to explain it to Daryl anymore.

“Kid likes ya, he likes to be with ya, he likes paintin’ and he likes the art activity, I know it, and he said it yesterday and said that he wanted to stay in it,” Daryl told you.

“Bet Merle loved to hear that…” You scoffed.

“I mean that he ain’t gonna want to go huntin’ with Merle always, he’s gonna want to stay with ya at the art class too.”

“That’s good but…I don’t mean that, Daryl, it’s okay if Sam now wants do something else that’s not the art class, what I mean is that he should do what he wants to, not what Merle tells him because he thinks something else is worthless or because he has a problem with me or something like that.” You were sure that, even if Merle might think that an art class was a waste of time, he also didn’t want Sam to stay because you were the teacher. “Like…if someday he decides that yes, he wants to stay to the art class, I don’t want Merle dragging him away.”

“I know…he won’t…” Daryl assured you, even though he didn’t sound very convincing. “I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay…”

“Merle ain’t gonna be picking up Sam every day, though, he’s just doin’ it ‘cause he just came back, ain’t gonna last…and he’s doin’ it to take the piss out of ya too, takin’ Sam from yer class.” So, Daryl thought like you. “But he’ll get bored of goin’ everyday, or he’ll get drunk, or high, or somethin’ and won’t go.”

“Or, he will get high or drunk and come to the school like that, which will be delightful,” you retorted and Daryl snorted, but he gave you a sad look.

“I’m sorry…”

“I know but it’s not you who has to be.” You squeeze his hands. “Okay…I’ll shut up and let you finish with that car.”

Once Daryl finished working, he walked you home, holding your hand, both of you silent until you stopped in front of your door.

“Ya sure ya don’t wanna come for dinner?” Daryl asked you.

“No…Merle wouldn’t like that, you know it,” you sighed.

“Sam would…” Daryl shrugged. “And, uh…I’d too.”

You let out a sigh and reached to hold his hands. “Maybe another evening…one when Merle and I weren’t snapping at each other just a few hours before…” You weren’t sure if that day would come, though. “But not this evening.”

“Okay…”

“Hey, but, if you want, you can stay for dinner,” you suggested.

“Would like to but…guess Merle and Sam are expectin’ me to go back after work,” Daryl said. He was looking guilty, when he had no reason, and so you gave him a tired smile.

“I get it,” you said, squeezing his hands. “Another day, then.” You chewed on your lip, but you didn’t want Merle to stop you from spending time with Daryl. “I could go for lunch this Saturday, maybe…” There were still a couple of days until the weekend, and you hoped that things would be more settled with Merle by then.

“Okay.” Daryl nodded, giving you a small, half-smile, and you leaned to kiss his lips.

“Have a good night, say hi to Sam from me, and don’t let Merle be a prick to any of you both,” you told him, only half-joking.

“I’ll try…”

N/A

More dealing with Merle in the next chapter.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl dixon #daryl preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa Pt.17

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Domestic Daryl and summer break

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

You were at home, waiting for Daryl and Sam, who that Saturday morning had gone to visit Merle at jail, as they usually did once a month, and you were getting lunch ready for when they came back.

When they did, they both seemed upset, and you worried at it. “There’s something wrong?”

“I told dad about you…that you were uncle Daryl’s girlfriend,” Sam said, seeming sad and a bit guilty, and you reached out to hold his hand.

“That’s okay, sweetheart,” you assured him, and you hoped that Daryl hadn’t gotten angry with him for that or something like that, and that’s why they looked like that, but it would be strange.

“But…he didn’t like it…” Sam sighed and you hated how sad he looked “I don’t know why…”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” you said softly, though you honestly didn’t know what to tell him, but you weren’t surprised, Merle hadn’t given you the best first impression the only time that you saw him, and you knew it was the same for him. “The first time he saw me, he was worried that something had happened to you, he doesn’t know me, I’m sure that the next time we meet, it’ll go better,” you told Sam, who just shrugged. “Hey, what if you go play with the cat while I finish lunch?”

“Okay…” Sam nodded, heading towards the box of cat toys.

You gave Daryl a look and he followed you into the kitchen, closing the door behind you both.

“I’m sorry…” You said quietly.

Daryl was looking tense, but he let out a tired sigh, shaking his head. “Ain’t ya who has to be.”

“Was it too bad?”

“Yeah…a mess…” Daryl sighed again and you reached out towards him but waited for him to move closer, not wanting to overwhelm him, unsure if he’d like to be hugged at the moment, but Daryl stepped closer, pulling you to him.

“Want to talk about it?” You whispered, stroking his hair, and Daryl pulled away, but he kept one of his hands in yours.

“Just…kid mentioned ya, said that ya were…ya know, with me,” Daryl said. “And Merle…he, uh…got pissed, I guess, said some things ‘bout ya, it upset Sam, he tried sayin’ that ya were nice, it pissed Merle more…”Daryl ran a hand through his hair seeming tired, and you stopped yourself from asking him what exactly was Merle saying about you. “So he snapped at the kid too and kept sayin’ stuff ‘bout ya, so I snapped at him…he didn’t like that…so he began yellin’ and, ya know, it’s jail, and inmate yellin’ at someone ain’t gonna be allowed so the guards dragged him away…so I bet he’s more pissed now…”

“Daryl…I’m sorry…” You reached out to hug him again, and Daryl buried his face on your shoulder. You hated that he and Sam had to go through that, especially since in part it was for you.

“Ain’t yer fault,” Daryl murmured.

“Merle…it’s like I told Sam, he doesn’t know me, the only time he’d seen me…it wasn’t the best, I know it, so I get it if he dislikes me…” You tried to understand it, but still, you were wary about Merle, and you didn’t know why he seemed to dislike you that much. “But…he’ll get used to me, right? When he gets to know me…” You said but Daryl just hummed against your neck. “Why does he even dislikes me like that? I mean, what did he said?”

It took Daryl a couple of seconds to say something to that. “Nothin’…ain’t nothin’, just…just Merle’s bullshit…”

“Okay…” You sighed, and Daryl kissed your shoulder before looking up and pulling away from you.

“He, uh…he’ll have time to get used to ya ‘cause he’s going out on probation this fall,” Daryl said, looking down and fidgeting.

“Really?” You didn’t know what to think. “Good…that’s good.”

Daryl snorted quietly, arching an eyebrow at you with a small, half-smile. “You don’t mean that.”

“I…” You let out a sigh. “He’s your brother and Sam’s dad, you both love him and miss him, so yes, despite any misunderstanding between him and I, I guess that it’s good he’s back home.”

Daryl looked at you, the smile that tugged at the corner of his lip getting a bit bigger, and he cupped your cheek, leaning to kiss your forehead. “I won’t let him be an asshole to ya.”

“Thanks…but don’t get in trouble with your brother because of me.” You were afraid that it might end up making Daryl resent you or angry at you, if you were the cause of fights between him and his brother, and you didn’t want their relationship to be strained anyway, much less with Sam in the middle.

Daryl didn’t say anything, and so you turned back to finish lunch.

“So…” You began. “He’s getting out this fall, you said?”

“Yeah…”

“Good…that means I have all summer to hoard you and Sam just for myself,” you said, only half-joking, and Daryl snorted, smiling softly as he looked at you.

Before you knew it, the scholar year came to an end, and with the last day of class, it also came the school play that you’d been organizing for the kids. No other teacher had offered to lend a hand with it, but to your surprise, the parents of the kids in your art activity, did, especially the ones you had met at Tulip’s birthday, and Tulip’s parents themselves.

You used your after school activity to both let the kids rehearse the play, and also make the scenery with them, and so during the last few weeks, while you and the kids worked hard to finish everything, some parents also lent a hand, helping around for a bit when they came to pick their kids, much to Daryl’s awkwardness whenever he came to pick Sam and saw that he wasn’t the only one, but you knew that he was glad that people were helping you, no matter what.

The play was a success, if you may say so yourself, you were sure the kids had a great time with it, and so you were happy.

Not many teachers had come to watch it, only the ones with students that performed in it, and also the principal, you guessed that because she must, but still, no one of them spoke a word to you, and like the last time, they left without asking if they could help with something.

This time, though, not only Daryl and Sam helped you to take down the scenery and everything else, but also most of the kids from your art activity and their parents, and you were pleased when they asked you if you were going to be there the next year too and also organize the art activity again, seeming to want you too, and the kids also seemed to really want it…it made you happier than you could explain.

Maybe the other teachers would still be colder than ice to you next year, ignore you, maybe be back to their mean comments, you didn’t care, it meant the world that the kids from your group and the art activity wanted you to stay, and also their parents, who maybe didn’t dislike you as much as you had once thought.

Later that evening, you were at your place with Daryl and Sam, watching a movie. You were snuggled to Daryl’s side, his arm around your shoulders, while Sam seemed to have fallen asleep at the other side of the sofa, while your cat snuggled between you all.

“I heard some people askin’ ya if ya were goin’ to be here next course,” Daryl said quietly, and you turned to grin at him.

“Yes, it’s made me really happy,” you said, and Daryl gave you a soft smile, leaning to kiss the top of your head.

“So…ya know already if ya’ll still have yer job?” Daryl asked and you let out a sigh, not wanting him to worry about that.

“Not officially, but I’m sure I will, I’ll ask for it, and last year it didn’t seem like anyone else was interested anyway,” you explained. “So I’m pretty sure I’ll keep my job.”

“But want if ya don’t…”

“Don’t worry about that, I will.” You turned to look at Daryl, trying to reassure him, but he still was frowning. “I will, and if I don’t and I end up in another school, which is not going to happen, then, I know it’s not the same, but I’d come to see you and Sam on the weekends.”

“Would ya?” Daryl asked, seeming unsure.

“Of course I’d, you really doubt it?” You asked him, wishing he’d know how much he and Sam meant to you now, how much you’d miss them if you had to leave. “As long as you wanted me to.”

“I want ya to,” Daryl said.

“Then I would miss you both all week and come visit the weekends,” you assured them. “But again, you don’t want to worry about that, because I’m pretty sure I’m keeping the job.”

“When ya’ll know for sure?” Daryl asked, and you had the feeling he wasn’t going to stop worrying no matter how much you tried.

“Not until the end of summer, I’m sorry…but don’t worry, I’m keeping it, who else would my coworkers annoy otherwise?” You joked, trying to make him smile, and Daryl gave you a half-smile.

“Anyone else they send.”

“Well…I want to believe I’m special and they’d rather annoy me and only me.” You grinned and Daryl snorted, tugging at you to hold you tighter against his chest.

Now that there wasn’t school anymore, you spent most of your days, and nights, at the Dixon’s, but you felt guilty about leaving your cat alone for so long, and so some days it’d be them who’d go to your place. You knew that Daryl wouldn’t mind if you took the cat with you, and that Sam would like it, but you didn’t want to stress her and you didn’t think she’d like to go from one place to the other day in day out, no matter she seemed to like Sam.

One of those nights that they spent in your place, you were sat down against the headboard of your bed, playing with Daryl’s hair as he laid with his head on your lap, ranting about some idiot who’d gone to the garage that afternoon and been a demanding prick to him and the other to guys at the garage.

“He went to class with me, was a prick already back then,” Daryl grumbled. “Like half the people in this shit town.”

“Have you ever thought on moving?” You asked as you kept stroking his hair.

“What?”

“Moving to another town, if you really don’t like it here, I know how people talk bullshit about your family and I know how tiring and upsetting that is, even if it’s sad that you’d have to move because of that” you elaborated. “Also Sam could go to another school, somewhere else where teachers won’t be assholes because of whatever problem they have with Dixon’s.”

“Yeah, but…dunno…” Daryl shifted awkwardly on your lap. “I’ve been always here…and got the cabin, it was my grandad’s…and the job and all…”

“I get it.” You nodded. “But you’re a great mechanic, I’m sure you could get a job somewhere else.”

“Yeah, sure,” Daryl scoffed, and you hated it when he berated himself like that, but you didn’t say anything, not wanting to argue. “Doesn’t matter anyway, Merle wouldn’t want to leave, and I can’t just take the kid and go.”

“I understand,” you said, brushing your fingers across his cheek before playing with his hair again.

“I, uh…” Daryl looked at you before looking away. “I’m sorry that I keep ya here.”

“Don’t. It’s worthy, and I told you, I like my classroom, I like the kids, and being with you, sharing my time with Sam and you, it’s well worth and I wouldn’t change it no matter what,” you said, pushing past your shyness. Daryl didn’t say anything, but he held your hand and lifted it to his lips, kissing your knuckles, and you felt as if you might melt.

“I’m sorry ‘bout Sam too, that he has to be in that school with those assholes…” He sighed.

“Yeah…but that’s not your fault, Daryl, okay?” You said, stroking his cheek again. “And you know I’m going to work so things get better at the school.”

“Yeah…things got better already anyway, since yer here,” Daryl told you, looking at you with a soft, small smile, and you couldn’t stop your own, leaning down to kiss his lips.

You woke up one morning in Daryl’s bed, finding it empty. You got up and walked to the kitchen, smiling when you found breakfast for you ready on the table, and when you looked through the small window, you saw Daryl and Sam at the yard, picking up some of the tomatoes that had already grown.

“Good mornin’, Y/N.” Sam waved at you when he spotted you, and Daryl looked back, smiling when he found you on the window.

“Good morning guys.” You waved at them too before you went to eat your breakfast, and you had just finished when Daryl walked in, carrying some tomatoes that he put on a bowl over the counter. “Thanks for breakfast,” you told him. Daryl just shrugged with a small smile, and so you reached to hold his hand, tugging at him closer to you to peck his lips. “I’m thinking about going to visit my family this week or the next.”

“Really?” Daryl arched an eyebrow at you, you hadn’t gone to visit them since Christmas.

“Yeah…I mean, I have holidays, so I should go visit for some days.” You let out a sigh, you weren’t enthusiastic about it, but you knew you shouldn’t go all summer without going home. “Then maybe also visit some friends from when I worked on a school not too far from my hometown.”

“Okay.”

“It’ll be for a week or something like that,” you told Daryl, thinking it aloud. “I’ll leave the cat here so she doesn’t have to travel because you and Sam can look over her, right?” It wasn’t only that your cat hated traveling and it stressed her, also since you had the car accident while coming back from the vet and had been so scared about your cat maybe having gotten hurt or killed, you felt uneasy at the idea of driving with her.

“Yeah, we will.”

“Okay, thanks.” You tugged at Daryl’s hand again, pulling him closer so you could pick his lips again, before looking at him, chewing on your lip. “Daryl, I was thinking…would you mind if I tell my family about you?”

“I don’t but…they don’t know me…” Daryl shrugged, seeming shy.

“Yeah, but, if you don’t mind, I’d like to tell them that…you know that I’m happy with someone and…yeah, all that,” you said, shy too…in fact, you felt shy about telling them, not sure of how to do it, but you knew you wanted to.

“Okay.” Daryl nodded, still seeming shy, but a smile tugged at his lips when you said that you were happy, but soon he was frowning again. “Ya think that…that maybe they dislike me or somethin’, ‘cause…dunno…”

“I doubt it…as you said, they don’t know you, so they can’t dislike you,” you joked and Daryl snorted, shaking his head at you. “But, they wouldn’t…you’re going to say you’re not, but, you’re pretty amazing…and even if they did, I don’t care what they think, honestly.” You shrugged. “I mean…your brother dislikes me, so…” It didn’t seem to have gone well the last time that Daryl and Sam went to visit Merle and Sam tried again to talk about you. “And you don’t care that he does…right?” Now you were feeling unsure. “I mean…it’s not ideal, I know, and you know I’ll try to make things right between your brother and me, I want to get along with him.” It was important for Daryl and Sam, you knew. “But I mean, it’s not like you’re going to dump me because your brother dislikes me…right?”

Daryl blinked at you, and then he snorted, looking at you as if you were silly. “I ain’t gonna dump ya ‘cause my brother talks shit like he always does.”

“Okay…okay, I thought so…” You nodded…but sometimes, you couldn’t help that worry, in the back of your mind, since you knew how important Merle was to Daryl.

“Yer silly…” Daryl said softly, pulling you close and holding you before leaning to kiss your forehead.

“I know…” You chuckled. “So…it’s the same to me, I don’t care what my family thinks…besides, they’d like you, you’re pretty amazing…” Daryl scoffed at that, and you knew better than to try and fight it.

“Yeah, sure…”

“So, I won’t be here to stay with Sam while you work,” you said, you’d given it a lot of thought.

“It’s fine, ya know I can take him to the garage while I work, I did that all the time, and before he even had school.” Daryl shrugged.

“So…you what, had Sam strapped to you with one of those carriers while you worked on cars?” You asked, chuckling.

“Actually…yeah.”

“Really? Oh, I wish I could have seen that! That had to be so cute!” You couldn’t help but squeal and Daryl just chuckled, shaking his head at you, but you could see that he was smiling.

On Monday, you went back to your hometown with the idea of staying at your mom’s until Friday, and then go visit some friends in a nearby town, before heading back home to Daryl and Sam.

That evening, once you needed a break from family, you decided to phone Daryl.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Y/N.”

“Hey, everythin’ okay?”

“Yes…same old…” You chuckled. “I miss you.”

“Ya’ve been away just for eight hours,” Daryl snorted.

“So? Can’t I miss you and Sam already? Because I do,” you half-joked.

“Yeah…kid’s making plans already for when you come back, so I’d say he misses ya too,” Daryl said and you couldn’t help your smile. “He’s here sayin’ that he wanna talk to ya.”

“Okay, give him the phone!”

Sure, family was family and all that, but after three days at your mom’s, you were already pretty overwhelmed and stressed about family, since both her and her husband, and also his daughters were at home all the time, because they had holidays too…you looked forwards to the evenings, when you could escape the full house for a bit while you talked by phone with Daryl and Sam.

On the third day, though, your teacher friend Naomi came to your hometown to visit you for a couple of days, despite not being near hers, and you couldn’t be happier about it, no matter that you had to endure her unrelenting teasing at you and Daryl having gotten together right the same day you had told her that it wasn’t like that between you and him, when she’d told you that Daryl and you should stop being shy and silly and confess your feelings. She was happy for you, though, you knew, and she too seemed to be doing good.

On the weekend, you went to visit some friends in a nearby town, and then, on Monday, you headed back home, arriving after lunch.

You drove directly to the garage, since Daryl was working, and you knew he’d taken Sam with him, like he’d been doing for the week. You parked outside the garage and walked into the yard, smiling when you saw Daryl working on a bike, Sam next to him, seeming to listen to whatever Daryl was explaining about the bike.

“Hi, guys,” you greeted.

“Y/N!” Sam grinned when he saw you, running to hug you, and your heart squeezed at it…you really loved that adorable kid.

“Hey,” Daryl greeted you once Sam released you, giving you a small smile, and he didn’t hug you like Sam, but he leaned to peck your lips, taking you by surprise, since another man was working not far and you knew that Daryl was shy, but he didn’t seem to mind. “Everythin’ okay?”

“Yeah…fine…I had enough family time to last me for a few months, though,” you chuckled. “I missed you, guys.”

“We missed you too,” Sam said, grinning, and Daryl nodded.

“I’m going to head home, see the cat, I missed her too, unpack and get ready some things for dinner” you said. “Sam, do you want to stay here with Daryl or do you want to come with me?”

Sam seemed to think it for a bit, but then he nodded to the bike. “I’ll stay with Daryl so he can finish teaching me how to repair that bike.”

It seemed to take Daryl by surprise who blinked at him. “Ya sure?”

“Yes…can I?”

“Sure, kid, we’ll finish fixin’ this bike,” Daryl said, a smile tugging at his lips.

“And then we can go have dinner with Y/N?” Sam asked.

“Sure.” Daryl nodded, smiling softly at you, and you hoped they’d stay the night too.

“Okay, guys, I’m going to greet my cat, unpack, and start making dinner for us all.”

Daryl and Sam stayed for the night, and so late that night, you were snuggled to Daryl’s chest, humming contently as he stroke your hair.

“So..everythin’ was good with yer family?” He asked and you shrugged, letting out a sigh.

“I guess…they can get in my nerves though, but maybe that’s my problem, I let them overwhelm me too easily…” You chuckled. “So, yeah, a couple of days it’s fine, but not more, I couldn’t wait to leave.”

“But, uh…they treat ya good?” Daryl asked you. You didn’t know much about his family, but you knew enough to know what he was asking and why.

“They don’t treat me bad, not like that,” you assured him, pulling back so you could look down at him. “It’s just…I don’t really get along that much with my mom’s husband and the daughters, they haven’t always been the nicest to me, it’s better now because…I don’t know, years pass. But more often than not they seemed annoyed that I’m there…my mom sometimes too, even when she asks me to go, because…well, once she got with her boyfriend, he and his kids became her priority, over me, I know it, so if she believes they’re annoyed by me or something happens, she’s going to blame it on me, she’s not going to be happy…so…yeah…”

You had never told anyone about this, not like that, but you found yourself speaking about it to Daryl.

“They also believe that I think I’m better than them or something, so they get defensive and angry about it even if I do nothing…” You sighed. “Everything I do that annoys them somehow, it was never an accident or a misunderstanding, it’s always on purpose on my side to annoy them…even if it’s not true…so, yeah, it gets pretty tiring once I’m there for more than a couple of days.”

“I’m sorry,” Daryl murmured.

“Don’t be, it’s fine…I just like to complain and whine about them sometimes.” You chuckled. “I told them I have a boyfriend…they seemed surprised that I’ve gotten myself one,” you scoffed, but then smiled as you pulled back to look at Daryl again. “I wish I had taken a pic of you with me.”

“What for?” Daryl frowned.

“To show off, of course!” You giggled, shifting until you were straddling Daryl’s hips and sitting back to look at him. “Like…if I had a pic of you to show to my stepsisters, they’d be so pissed and so jealousy to see how handsome you are,” you grinned at Daryl, who scoffed and rolled his eyes at you, shifting under you, but you didn’t move. “What, it’s true, they’d see I’ve gotten a boyfriend that’s not only looking interesting but also pretty hot too…yeah, yeah, I’d love to see their faces…they’d be so pissed.”

“Yeah, sure,” Daryl scoffed again, and you knew he wouldn’t believe it no matter what, even if sometimes you were indeed kind of surprised that someone as handsome as him had been interested in you that way. He shifted under you again, and you yelped when this time he managed to throw you off him, and you landed on your back with him hovering over you. “Stop it.”

“Okay…” You reached out to caress his face and pulled him down to kiss his lips. “I’ll shut up about it but…you know I’ll be thinking it…” You joked, and Daryl scoffed against your lips before he kissed you again.

N/A

Back to school next chapter...oh, and Merle will be back.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

#daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon preapocalupse #preapocalypse daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfic #preapocalypse daryl #daryl preapocalypse

180 notes · View notes

twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa IX

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: There’s a new teacher at the school, and with it, the chance for Y/N to finally make a friend there, even though he fears that Daryl might feel left out

You can find the previous chapters in my Masterlist

For the next week, neither the principal nor your coworkers gave you much trouble, and by that, you meant that they didn’t talk shit about you or the Dixon’s and your relationship with them in front of you, and that you weren’t called to the principal’s again, but they still acted like you didn’t exist and were invisible, or acted mean towards you pretending that they didn’t realize it, or talked over you when you needed to discuss anything about school or students, and so on, and so on. You tried to pay them no mind, though, as you had told Daryl that you should do.

You had kept seeing Daryl every afternoon when he came to pick up Sam from the art activity, and then, on Friday, they had gone to your place to watch a movie and have dinner with you, and you were happy that it was becoming some sort of weekend routine, that you loved.

On Monday, something happened that made you way happier than it maybe should, and maybe it was mean on your side, but you couldn’t help it. One of the other teachers, Adam, who always was mean to you and shared your student group, broke a leg and applied for leave, and they sent a substitute.

And that new teacher, Naomi, was not mean to you, she was nice, friendly, a normal person, for once. When she introduced herself, she seemed surprised at how snarky or condescending everyone else seemed to be, and you felt for her, and so you tried to be extra nice.

You both had lunch together, talking about the other teachers and how you’d never been on a school with so many assholes that seemed to team together to make an even meaner entity, and it seemed that finally, you maybe were going to have a teacher friend, or at least a coworker who was helpful and not a prick to you.

Later that day, you were with Sam in the classroom, waiting for Daryl after the other kids had been picked up, and when Daryl walked in, both you and Sam grinned at him, talking at the same time as if you had rehearsed it, which you hadn’t.

“There’s a new teacher!”

When you realized that little Dixon and you had said that at the same time, both grinning excitedly, you almost snorted. Daryl seemed amused too, blinking at you both with a small, half-smile.

“Don’t know which one of ya looks happier ‘bout it,” he said.

“She’s nice!” Little Dixon said, as if that explained it all…and for you, it did.

“Yes, she is nice!” You sounded like it was the last thing someone might expect, and for you, that had been the case in that school.

Daryl still seemed amused at how excited you both seemed about it, but he nodded. “Sounds good.”

“It is!” Sam grinned.

“Yeah.” You nodded. “Hey, wait if we get some cocoa before leaving?”

“Yes!” Little Dixon said and Daryl nodded too.

“Alright…help me with it, Daryl?” You asked him, and he nodded again.

“I’ll put everythin’ in place while you make the cocoa,” Sam said, and you smiled at him, reaching to mess his hair.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

You walked to the teacher’s room with Daryl following you, and you turned to smile at him.

“She really is nice, we had lunch together, I think I might have a teacher friend, finally,” you told Daryl, you could help it, happy about it. Daryl was looking at you with that half-smile, and for some reason, the way he looked at you made you feel those funny things in your belly again. “We share groups, so she teaches Sam now too, instead of Adam.” He was one of those teachers who were mean to Sam for his name, which had been a continuous source of arguments between you two, as you shared that group of students. “So, one less asshole around him too.”

“That’s good,” Daryl said, and you nodded.

“Yeah…it’s mean of me that I want Adam to keep breaking his leg so he’s never back and this teacher stays?” You asked, and Daryl snorted.

“Ain’t mean.”

“And it’s mean of me that I’m kind of glad that now there’s a new teacher so I won’t be the new and the foreigner anymore, and they’d pick on her instead of me?” You joked, you didn’t wish that for her.

“Maybe a bit mean,” Daryl joked back and you chuckled. “Wouldn’t have high hopes on that anyway.”

“Yeah…they’ll just be pricks to the both of us,” you snorted, and Daryl nodded, but looked at you with half a smile. "Okay…let’s get ourselves some cocoa to celebrate.”

During that week, you couldn’t be happier to finally have a friend at the school, and on Friday, Naomi stayed with you to the art activity, so you both would go get some coffee after it. As always, Sam was the last kid left, and while you told Naomi about Daryl, his work at the garage and the long shifts, he arrived.

He seemed surprised to see someone there, and you could almost see his awkwardness and that wall he seemed to have around himself, and that he seemed to have been lowering around you, going up again. You couldn’t blame him, though, with how most people treated him, but you wished he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

“Hi, Daryl,” you greeted, smiling, trying to ease him. “This is Naomi, the new teacher.”

“Hi, Daryl, it’s nice to meet you,” Naomi greeted.

“Hi.” Daryl nodded at her, but he seemed awkward.

“She’s my new teacher too, told you she was nice.” Sam smiled at Daryl, and that seemed to put him at least a little bit more at ease, but he still seemed awkward.

“Ya ready to go, kid?”

“Yes, I’ll put this in its place,” Sam said, picking up the papers and pencils.

“Hey, Daryl,” you said as you approached him. “Naomi and I are going to that café near here, do you want to come with Sam?” You’d already asked Naomi if she didn’t mind if you asked Daryl, and she didn’t. You didn’t want him maybe feeling left out.

Daryl looked at you and then down, chewing his lip before shaking his head. “Nah, uh...thanks but we’re gone go home.”

You had been expecting that answer, but still, you wished he’d said yes. You smiled at him nonetheless. “Okay…but tomorrow, you’ll come with Sam to my place for dinner and a movie, yeah?” You still were afraid of Daryl feeling left out, even if maybe it was just in your head, you wanted to remind him that you still wanted to hang with him as always, just in case…maybe you were overthinking it...

Daryl looked at you, nodding once and you were relieved when he gave you a tiny, half-smile, even if brief.

Daryl and Sam left headed home, and you and Naomi went to the café.

“You were right, this place is good,” Naomi said, sipping on her café and you nodded, smiling as you drank your chocolate. “But, hey, I’m sorry if you were planning a date with your boyfriend.”

You looked at her at that, wondering if she was trying to mock you and Daryl as others did and if you had been mistaken about her, but she seemed genuine. “Daryl’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yeah?” Naomi was frowning and you frowned too.

“Yeah…what?”

“Nothin, sorry, just…this week, I heard some people talking about him, then a couple of others were gossiping about you and him…so I thought that you guys were together but kept it quiet so these assholes don’t talk bullshit,” Naomi explained.

“Yeah…gossip is this town’s favorite pastime.” You sighed. “But no, if we were together, I wouldn’t be hiding from those idiots, I don’t care what they think or talk.

“Good, that’s good.” Naomi smiled and you relaxed a bit. “So…he’s not your boyfriend then, really?”

“Yeah, really…I think I’d know if he were,” you snorted, but you were starting to feel quite flustered, and Naomi was looking at you on a certain why that wasn’t helping you to feel less shy about the whole thing. “Why, are you interested in him?” you asked, didn’t even know why, before you could stop yourself, and you heard Naomi’s snort.

“Why, are you jealous?” She retorted, but you could see she was joking…the thing was, you realized that you were indeed jealous…it was stupid, you had no right, you had no claim over Daryl, and yet…yet you felt like that…and it felt awful. “Hey.” Naomi nudged your feet with hers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I was mistaken and then I was just joking.”

“I know, I’m sorry, just…” You shrugged helplessly.

“I was going to say, I am sorry, but then you’ll say it again too and we’ll be like that until tomorrow,” Naomi chuckled and you snorted, nodding. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, though, sorry.”

“It’s okay, really.” You were relaxing again, wondering if you had overreacted a bit, but you hadn’t been able to stop it.

“Anyway, boyfriend or not, I’m still sorry if you had plans with him and I kind of got in the middle,” Naomi said. “If you felt like you had to say yes to come here with me because I don’t know anyone else here…anyone that’s not an asshole, I mean.”

“I know the feeling,” you chuckled. “But no, it’s fine, I’ll see Daryl tomorrow, and I wanted to have coffee with you, really, I’m glad that finally I can talk with not only another teacher but another girl too!” You laughed and so did Naomi. You loved to spend time with Daryl, you did, and you were always wanting to see him, but you had missed this too.

“I get what you mean!”

The next day, around dinner time, the Dixon’s knocked at your door, as Daryl had told you, and you smiled as you opened. “Hi, guys!”

“Hi, Y/N,”Sam grinned at you, walking inside with Daryl following him.

“Hey,” Daryl greeted you with a small smile.

“Hi, Laura!” Little Dixon greeted your cat, sitting down next to her, taking one of her toys that you had shown him the past weekend, a pole with a string and a ball hanging from it, with which your cat liked to play, to Sam’s amusement.

“Do you want to have pasta for dinner?” You asked them.

“Sounds good.” Sam smiled at you, while Daryl just nodded.

“Alright, I’m going to get dinner ready then,” you said, walking into the kitchen, and Daryl followed you to help you.

You had kept wondering, worrying about him feeling left out after yesterday, even if you knew it’s probably just in your head, because you had felt like that a few times before with other people and had been forgotten for other friends…you didn’t want Daryl to feel like that, and he didn’t need to.

You didn’t know how to ask in a way that it wouldn’t embarrass the both of us, though…still, you knew you need to get it out of the middle, or you’d end up overthinking it.

You had your back turned to him, filling a pot with water, when you spoke without looking at him. “Daryl…you know that I like to spend time with you, like, a lot, yeah?” You forced yourself to ask, shy.

Daryl didn’t say anything, though, and so you turned to look at him, frowning and worried, but you saw that his face was blushed as he glanced at you before looking down and nodding once, clearly shy too.

“Okay…it’s just…” You turned towards the pot again. “Yesterday, when I went for coffee with Naomi, I didn’t want you to feel left out…like…I’m happy to have a teacher friend, but, you’re my friend too, I really enjoy spending time with you, and I wouldn’t want to stop hanging with you, no matter any other friends, I won’t,” you finally went to the point. “You know it, right?”

Again, Daryl wasn’t saying anything, and so you turned to look at him, and he nodded at you when you did. “Yeah…ya asked me if I wanted to go with ya both…” He murmured.

So, he didn’t feel left out or was worried about anything like that, that was good, you were glad of it, but you also were embarrassed by having being worrying like that, making it up in your head.

“I…sorry, this was silly of me …” You murmured, awkward and shy, turning around again. “Don’t know what I was thinking…sorry…”

You felt Daryl’s fingers on your arm, soft and brief, but enough to make you turn around to face him again. Once you did, though, he stopped looking at you, dropping his gaze down.

“No, uh…wasn’t silly…thanks for uh, sayin’ that,” Daryl told you.

You didn’t know what to say, you both seemed shy, and so you decided to change topics completely. You had delivered your point, Daryl had gotten it, and he wasn’t worried about what you feared, so better to move on before this embarrassment swallowed you both.

“Do you like tomato sauce with the pasta?” You asked and Daryl looked at you, seeming puzzled at your sudden change of topic, but he nodded, his lips curling up into a small smile as he looked at you, and you found yourself finally relaxing. “Okay, I have a can on the fridge, can you grab it and start heating it on that pan?”

“Sure.”

After dinner, Daryl and you were doing the dishes while little Dixon picked the movie. You were silent, and you were surprised when Daryl spoke.

“Ya wanna…uh…I’m gonna go with Sam to the woods tomorrow mornin’” He told you, and you knew that they went to the woods sometimes on the weekends, for hunting, you thought. “Maybe…ya wanna come with us?” He asked you, much to your surprise.

“I, uh…that’s very kind but…I’m not really into hunting…” You hoped that Daryl wouldn’t take it bad, you wished nothing more than to spend more time with him, and you knew he and Sam liked the woods, but having to see the hunt made you uneasy.

“No, I uh…I guessed ya weren’t…” Daryl fidgeted. “Didn’t mean huntin’, just…just to the woods.”

“Then, I would really like to, Daryl,” you said, smiling, he seemed nervous and you wanted him to relax again. “It sounds really nice.”

“Okay…” Daryl nodded, and you noticed his smile, even if it was just for a second. “We were gonna have lunch there before comin’ back….ya wanna?” Daryl asked, and you nodded. “Okay…what ya wanna eat?”

He was frowning as if in thought, and you felt some twirls on your belly at the idea of Daryl thinking what he could make you for lunch.

“I’ll bring something, Daryl, don’t worry, you know that I always have leftovers around,” you told him.

“Okay…we’ll come pick you up at the sunrise.”

At the sunrise? So early on a Sunday…you almost groaned aloud, but you weren’t going to say no.

“Alright! Thanks for asking.”

Daryl just shrugged, but you noticed again that small, brief smile on his face.

The next morning, you were tying your boots, when the Dixon’s knocked on your door, at the sunrise as Daryl had said.

“Hey, guys,” you greeted.

“Hey.” Daryl looked at you with a small smile.

“Hi, Y/N, you look sleepy,” Sam said and you snorted.

“I am sleepy,” you nodded. “But I’m really looking forwards to going with you and Daryl to the woods.”

“Me too.” Sam smiled at you.

“Ya ready?” Daryl asked and you nodded, taking your bag. “Come on.”

As you walked with the Dixon’s, you realized that they’d come to pick you up even though you were walking back towards their cabin area, which was near the woods where you seemed to be headed, and you were grateful but felt a bit guilty.

As you walked through the woods, Daryl was silent, but little Dixon kept telling you about the woods and how he liked them, pointing plants at you, a couple of squirrels at the trees. You were enjoying it, both the walk through the woods and everything that Sam was telling you, and when you noticed that Daryl, despite his silence, kept stealing glances at you and Sam with a half, barely-there smile, those stubborn butterflies fluttered again in your belly.

“Are those from a deer?” Sam asked at some point, and if he hadn’t pointed to the hoof prints, you wouldn’t have noticed them.

“Yeah,” Daryl confirmed.

“We can track it,” little Dixon said but Daryl shook his head.

“We ain’t huntin’ today.”

“I know, so we won’t upset Y/N,” Sam said, and you felt grateful that they thought on you, but you also wondered if they might think you weird or weak, or something...

“I bet you guys haven’t watched Bambi…” You muttered awkwardly.

“No…but we can watch it someday.” Sam smiled at you.

“Maybe…” You weren’t sure, though, you didn’t want to traumatize the Dixon’s.

When Daryl began walking again, you and Sam followed him.

“So, you can track, Sam?” You asked, impressed at how easily he’d noticed the hoof prints, that you had trouble seeing even when he’d pointed them.

“A bit…not much…not like Daryl.” Little Dixon shrugged. “Daryl’s teachin’ me…but it’s hard.”

“I bet…”

You three kept walking, and you hadn’t imagined that the woods next to the town could be so pretty. You were really enjoying the walk, and you were glad that Daryl had asked you to join them, even if he wasn’t talking to you much.

“Ya tired?” He asked you at some point.

“Don’t worry, I’m okay,” you assured him, even though you had been walking for longer than you had in a long while.

“We can go to sit down near the river!” Little Dixon said, and Daryl nodded. “Is in this direction.”

“I trust you…I couldn’t even walk back home by myself,” you half-joked.

“Sun is there, so the east is there,” Sam pointed around. “And the river is to the north, so that’s there,” he explained, and you couldn’t help your smile at him.

“Impressive.”

Sam grinned at you. “Daryl taught me to get oriented in the woods,” he said before he began leading the way.

“You’ve taught a lot of useful things to this kid,” you commented when Daryl was still silent.

“I, uh…I got lost in the woods when I was his age, for days…” Daryl said. “Didn’t want it happenin’ to him.”

“Understandable…you’ve done a really good job.” You gave Daryl a smile, and he looked down, but you noticed that ghost smile even if just for a second.

Daryl and you let Sam lead the way, following him until you could see the river. You had to descend a slope, and you tried to walk down as carefully as you could, while the Dixon’s walked as if they were more than used to it. As you took a step, some of the stones shifted under your foot, and you prayed you weren’t going to land on your ass and embarrass yourself, but you kept your balance.

You felt Daryl’s hand on the small of your back, barely there, and you knew that he too had thought you might stumble and wanted to steady you as you walked, but still, you felt flustered at the touch, almost tripping again, but you managed to walk down the slope without falling.

Once next to the river, you sat down with the Dixons on a soft patch of green, and you smiled as you looked around at the river and the trees.

“This is very beautiful,” you commented, and both Dixon’s nodded.

“Ya hungry?” Daryl asked, and when Sam nodded, he rummaged into his bag, taking out a package and a container, and you too reached into your bag to take out your package with sandwiches.

“I made enough if you want some,” you said as you unpacked them.

Daryl opened his package, which seemed to have some kind of dried meat, but when he opened the container, you saw those were roasted potatoes. “If ya, uh, if ya wanna…” He said, nudging the container towards you.

“Thanks, those look great.” You smiled at Daryl and he looked down, seeming shy.

After eating lunch, you stayed there for a while, before you three made your way back to the town, and the Dixon’s walked you home, no matter they were closer to theirs.

“Thanks guys, I had a great time,” you told them, once at your door. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Yes,” little Dixon grinned and Daryl didn’t say anything, but he nodded with that small, brief smile.

“See you, guys.”

“See you!”

So, Y/N made a friend and also had a picnic with the Dixon’s. She’s really out there living her best life and I’m so jealous.

We’re getting some more info about Sam’s mom in the next...

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

@coffeebooksandfandom @gruffle1 @twdeadlysins @yenne-yen-illustrations @mychemicalimagines @haleypearce @superflannel @sourwolf-sterek32 @angelontheinside @firehoopinmama @lonewolf471 @hopplessdreamer @daryldixonandfrogs @fanfictionsilove @collecting-stories @princessxpunk @hells-mistress @justyouraveragefangirl1967 @carnationworld @smiithys @polkadottedpillowcase @elisdays @mysterious-398 @captainbuckyboobear @dazzledamazon @spidergirla5 @lilythemadqueen @lightning-butterfly @purplebtsmagic @barra-cudaaa @courtnytrash04 @amazingapricot @seizethesam @harpersmariano @eternalslingshot @fuseburner @phoenixblack89 @boywivlove @amaroho @woundmetender @classyunknownlover @masterninjacow @tenderlyunlikelyexpert @shadowfoxey @kaitieskidmore1 @lilac-day-dreaming @datidixon @nj01 @rachelxwayne @elamy17 @angelofthor @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @thanossexual @daryldixonstorm @sttrawberries @huffledor-able541 @lucillethings @browneyes528 @soraitmnt @thereshallbenoother @chickenparmandstoicvulcans @leej2468 @heartlessmarvello @itsmeempar @redneckstrash @bxxbxy @bitchynicole @pulplorrd @supernatural79impala @the-artistic-animal-lover @selfsun @maggie-l-m @baseballbitch116 @tranquiiit @sweatywildpanda @theteaset @my-current-fandom-is @sapphire1727 @insidetoughcake @whitexwingedxdoves @nickangel13 @oceans-daughter-3 @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @sesshomaru-lover @a-dlv @thetypewriterimproviser @lettersshapes @jodiereedus22

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa Pt.16

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Domestic Daryl.

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

Once school was back, you thought it took less than a week for everyone at the school, and probably for half of the town, to know that Daryl and you were together. You weren’t surprised, with how rumors seemed to fly in that town.

You had expected mean and snarky comments from the other teachers, maybe some remark about the Dixon’s, but it didn’t happen, with your coworkers still not talking to you, not even to be mean, treating you as cold as ice, and ignoring your presence as much as they could.

You guessed that I was better than their mean words, but you still hated that passive-aggressive cold atmosphere of the school, but your group of students, your art activity, Daryl and Sam, made it worthy.

You had wanted to take things slow with Daryl, since he’d seemed nervous and insecure at the idea of having a relationship with you, and he’d told you he’d never been in one, but you weren’t sure if you could call things “slow” when you and he spent pretty much every day together.

As always, Daryl came to pick Sam from your art activity every late afternoon, and usually, you three would end up going either to your place or theirs for dinner, and watch a movie if it wasn’t late or if it was Friday.

On weekends, if Daryl didn’t want to go hunting, you’d see them too, either on Saturday or Sunday, and you’d spend the whole day with them, either at home or they’d take you to the woods for a picnic.

You loved every moment that you got to spend with them. You loved that sweet kid and were grateful for how much he seemed to like you, and you loved to see Daryl relax around you, open up to you, you’d already known he was a caring man, but you were surprised with how sweet and affectionate in his own way he could be when it was just you and him and he let his guard down, and even after weeks, he just had to look at you on a certain way to make you feel the butterflies again as strong as the first day.

On a Thursday, you were at the Dixon’s cabin, sorting through the vegetables that one of the other guys at the garage, David, had given Daryl, from his garden, getting some ready to make a stir-fry with some rice for dinner.

“I’m going to sound like a snob, but really, industrial veggies have nothing to do against the real ones,” you said to Daryl when he walked into the kitchen.

“I guess.” Daryl shrugged.

“You could have your own garden too, at the yard,” you said. Sure, the yard of the small cabin was small too, but enough to plant some vegetables. “You’ve never thought about it?”

“Yeah but never got to do it,” Daryl told you as he started helping you chopping the vegetables.

“I always wanted to have one,” you said. “But I’ve never lived in a place with a yard.”

“Ya, uh…we could plant somethin’ here, if ya wanna?” Daryl told you and you smiled at him.

“Really?”

“Sure.” Daryl shrugged but gave you a small smile. “Don’t know that much ‘bout havin’ a garden, tho.”

“Me neither…but I think we’re in the right season to start one…right?” You asked and Daryl nodded. “Do you think if I ask David he’d give us some tips about it?”

“Sure.” Daryl nodded.

“Okay, then maybe we could try to plant something this weekend or the next?” You asked, excited, and Daryl nodded again. “I’m sure Sam will be happy to help us with it.”

“Yeah, he will.” Daryl chuckled with that fond, lovely smile that he had every time he talked about Sam, and you couldn’t stop yourself from leaning to kiss his cheek.

After dinner that evening, you didn’t feel like leaving even though the next day it was a school day, and so you stayed for a little while, watching some old movie on the tv with the Dixon’s. Eventually, you knew you had to leave, Sam needed to sleep, and so did you…but you really didn’t want to move.

“I should go,” you said, letting out a lazy sigh. “I shouldn’t have gotten this comfortable, I really don’t want to move now,” you chuckled.

“Ya, uh…if ya wanna…I mean, if yer tired…” Daryl began, and you wondered what he was trying to say, he hadn’t been that awkward and flustered with you for a while now. “If ya wanna, ya can stay here…I’ll drive ya to the school in the mornin’ with Sam….if ya wanna…”

It was silly, but Daryl asking you to spend the night at his place made your stomach do something funny.

“I…I’d love it, Daryl, thank you, I really didn’t feel like moving and…and I’d really like to stay here this night.” You nodded, smiling, but then something came to your mind and you snorted, shaking your head. “I can’t…my cat, I can’t leave her alone for that long, I didn’t leave her enough food and water to last her until I’ll go back tomorrow…I didn��t think about it, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Daryl told you, understanding.

“And she’ll worry if you don’t come back and she doesn’t know why,” Sam said, yawning, he’d been falling asleep at the other side of the sofa.

“Yes, sweetheart, that too.” You chuckled, smiling at him. “So…I have to go…I’m sorry, but, any other day that I leave her food and everything, I’d really love to stay, really,” you assured Daryl, you wanted him to know, and he nodded with a small, shy half-smile.

“I’ll drive ya,” he said, and Sam got up too, yawning.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” you told to Sam. “You were falling asleep already, I should have left earlier and I’m sorry that now you have to come drive me back home.” Neither you nor Daryl would want to leave Sam alone at home, even if it took Daryl less than ten minutes to drive you home and back.

“It’s okay, Y/N.” Sam shrugged, smiling sleepily at you. “I like it when you are here,” he said, and you felt your heart squeezing.

“Thanks, sweetheart, I like it too.”

You three went to Daryl’s pickup, and as he drove out of the yard, you looked at his bike. “I know you like to ride, so you should get one of those sidecars for the bike and we’d got the three on it,” you joked and Daryl scoffed seeming offended.

“I ain’t putting one of those on my bike…”

The next day, it was the Dixon’s who came to your place for dinner. After it, you all sat down on the sofa to watch the movie that Sam picked, including your cat.

“We should get goin’,” Daryl said once the movie finished, but you could see he felt as lazy as you had felt the day before, and Sam had been cuddled with your cat too, seeming so comfy.

“If you both don’t feel like walking back home, you can stay here,” you said, pushing past your shyness…after all, Daryl had asked you the same the day before, so he couldn’t be too against it… “If you want…I don’t mind, actually, I would really like it.”

“Yeah?” Daryl asked you, seeming shy too, and when you nodded, he looked at Sam. “Hey, kid, you mind if we stay here with Y/N instead of going back home this night?”

Sam shrugged. “Okay.”

“You sure, sweetheart? It’s okay if you don’t want to, I won’t be upset, okay?” You wanted them to stay, to sleep with Daryl’s arms around you, but not if Sam was going to be uncomfortable or uneasy sleeping in a place that wasn’t his home.

“It’s okay.” Sam gave you a sleepy smile. “Maybe your cat can sleep with me?” He asked as he petted your cat’s head.

“I’m sure she’ll want to, because, you know what, if you want, you can sleep in her bedroom,” you said, smiling at him.

“Cat has her own bedroom?” Daryl snorted.

“It’s the spare bedroom, but nobody uses it so…it became hers,” you explained, chuckling. “Come, sweetheart, I’ll show it to you and see if you like it.”

You reached out and Sam held your hand. You walked with him to the spare, tiny bedroom and turned on the light. There wasn’t much in it but a big cat tree, a single bed, a little bedside table with a lamp, and also a couple of boxes with stuff that you hadn’t bothered to unpack.

“She spends a lot of time either on that tree or on that bed,” you explained to Sam, and even though your cat usually spent the nights with you in your bed, she napped a lot alone in that bedroom during the day. “Actually…the duvet is covered in cat’s fur…I’ll get you another blanket.”

“It’s okay, Y/N,” Sam told you. “It’s her bed, I don’t mind.”

“Are you sure, sweetheart?”

“Yes.” Sam nodded, walking to sit down on the bed and calling for your cat, patting the bed when Laura walked into the room, and she decided to go ahead and jump onto the bed too, much to Sam’s happiness.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” you said as you tucked Sam in, and you reached to turn on the bedside table light, so he could turn it off whenever he wanted to. “If you need anything, Daryl and I will be right there in the other bedroom, okay?”

“Okay, Y/N, goodnight,” Sam said, reaching out to place his hand over your cat, who was curling up to his side.

“’night, kid,” Daryl said, looking at Sam with that fond smile that you loved.

“Come on…” You smiled at him, reaching to take his hand, leaving Sam with your cat as you walked Daryl to your bedroom.

You woke up before the sunrise, smiling at the warm weight of Daryl half lying over you, his head on your chest. He let out a hum when you began caressing his hair ever so gently so as not to wake him, and soon, you were asleep again.

The next time you woke up, it was to the feeling of Daryl nuzzling your neck, the sun already rising.

“You’re ticking me,” you giggled quietly, but Daryl just hummed, nuzzling your neck again and kissing your shoulder before he pulled back to look at you. “Good morning.”

“Mornin’,” he muttered, and you reached to cup his cheek, smiling and stroking his cheek with your thumb before pulling him closer so you could peck his lips. “Kid’s awake,” Daryl said when you pulled back. “Heard him talkin’ to yer cat.”

You chuckled at that. “Okay…I’m going to get you both some breakfast.”

You were at the Dixon’s yard, planting the last raw of tomatoes. Besides that, you had already planted some onions, zucchini, eggplant, and lettuce, and you were exhausted and feeling pretty disgusting after sweating under the sun for hours, and with your hands full of soil, that you had also managed to get on your face and hair…Looking at Sam and Daryl, though, they weren’t much better.

But the garden was planted, it looked good, and you were more than happy about it.

When you had asked for tips about how to plant and care for a garden to David, he’d done more than that, giving you some of his baby plants, saying that it was a bit too late to plant with seeds, and that it’d be easier for you to grow something and keep them alive if you had the plants already going. You couldn’t be more thankful.

“Alright…all done!” You grinned. “Looks good, uh?”

“It does!” Sam said, grinning too, as he patted the soil near one of the newly planted onions.

“Yeah…ain’t bad,” Daryl agreed, getting up from the soil and looking at the whole thing…it took over half his yard, but he hadn’t complained.

Sam got up too, and he looked at the single tree of the yard. Weeks ago, he and Daryl had placed on its branches the squirrel feeder and squirrel home that Daryl and Sam had built, and then you and Sam had painted…it looked quite cute, if you might say so yourself, and once squirrels seemed to tell each other, it wasn’t unusual to see some of them hanging there.

“Will they eat the garden?” Sam asked, nodding to the squirrels, and you frowned.

“I don’t know…I haven’t thought about it…I hope not! I’ll keep them well feed so maybe that way they won’t be interested in our veggies…” You should do some research on how to protect it too, probably.

“Yeah…if they eat yer dinner they’ll become our dinner,” Daryl said, and you knew he was joking, he wouldn’t touch the squirrels of the yard, and you nudged him with your shoulder.

“Alright, guys…I’m going to the shower, I’m disgusting,” you said, even though you’d rather shower at your home, Daryl’s hot water wasn’t the best most times. “And you two should do the same once I’m done if you don’t want me to hose you both like puppies.”

You were in the classroom with Sam, painting while you waited for Daryl, until he finally arrived.

“Hi, Daryl!” Both Sam and you greeted, grinning, and Daryl smiled softly at you both.

“Hey.”

“Daryl! Tulip invited me to her birthday this weekend!” Sam said, grinning excitedly, and you couldn’t have been happier when Tulip’s mom came to pick her up and told you about it, since she too seemed to know that now you were Daryl’s girlfriend.

“Yeah, uh…her dad told me ‘bout it this mornin’ when he came to deliver stuff to the garage,” Daryl said, seeming a bit taken aback by the whole thing.

“Okay guys, what if we put everything back in place and go have dinner together?” You suggested and Sam grinned, nodding.

“Sure!”

A bit later, you were in the kitchen with Daryl, making some pasta for dinner.

“Tulip’s mom told me that the birthday will be at the park,” you said, since you knew Daryl was still thinking about it. “Just a couple of other kids besides Sam, she said that I can go too if I want and that we adults can just have a picnic or something while the kids play.” You glanced at Daryl and almost snorted at how awkward and stressed he looked already. “I see you’re really looking forward to it,” you joked, and at first Daryl blinked at you but then snorted.

“Yeah…don’t think anyone’s wantin’ me to go…” He said.

“Don’t say that, if they didn’t, Tulip’s mom wouldn’t have told me about it,” you said, reaching to take Daryl’s hand and stroke his knuckles with your thumb. “It’s just a polite formality, hanging with the parents of your kid’s friend, it’ll be fine, but if you don’t want to, we can just go and drop Sam and then go back to pick him later,” you suggested. “Or I can be the one going with Sam and stay at the birthday,” you said, in case Daryl might be apprehensive at leaving Sam there without any of you.

“Nah, uh…it’s fine…we can go…” Daryl said, even if he seemed awkward, and when you lifted his hand to kiss it, you noticed his cheeks going pink, but a small, shy smile tugged at his lips. Then, he frowned again, seeming in thought. “…don’t know what to get Tulip for her birthday.”

“Actually…I talked with her mom about that too…” You bit your lip, hoping that Daryl wouldn’t feel like you were overstepping. “Well, it was her who talked to me about it, she asked me if I could paint a wooden sign for Tulip’s bedroom, with her name, and some tulip flowers and butterflies,” you explained. “Daryl, I’m sorry if it feels like I’m taking over it, or overstepping or something.”

Daryl blinked at you, scowling. “Nah…nah, thanks, I wouldn’t know what to do ‘bout this without ya…” He shrugged, shy, and you wondered if he knew how adorable he was sometimes. “Kids never invited Sam to a birthday before.”

“He’s very excited about it, it’s made me very happy,” you said, grinning, and Daryl looked at you with a soft smile.

“It’s thanks to ya,” he said but you shook your head, chuckling.

“I haven’t done anything, Daryl.”

“Ya have…before, kids never played with Sam, they ignored him, ‘cause of the shit people talk ‘bout Dixon’s…and if they didn’t ignore him, they’d pick on him, you saw it,” Daryl said, and you could see him getting hurt and agitated, and so you squeeze his hand. “But, uh…the kids in yer art class, ya got them workin’ with Sam, don’t know how ya did it, paintin’ with him, and so he made friends.”

“That was all Sam, not me.” You shrugged. “He’s great, kids were going to want to be friends with him the moment they gave him a chance and played with him.”

“Yeah, he is…but, ya helped, and, uh…the parents of those kids, they let their kids play with Sam even if he’s a Dixon ‘cause of ya…’cause they trust what yer doin’ in class, ‘cause they like ya, ‘cause ya care for their kids and are nice to them…’cause yer good, a good teacher and a good person,” Daryl said, shrugging and looking down as if he were shy.

You didn’t know what to do or what to say, feeling almost overwhelmed by emotion at Daryl's words…did he really not know how adorable he was? You could just look at him with bright eyes, and Daryl frowned at you when he looked up and noticed it.

“What?”

“Nothing…just…” You shrugged, still not finding words, and then you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, pulling Daryl into a hug. “Thank you for saying all that,” you said before kissing his lips. “But…haven’t you thought that it was not me, but just people finally seeing how amazing and nice Sam and you actually are, no matter what might be your family name?”

“Sure…” Daryl scoffed, rolling his eyes, but he smiled when you pecked his lips again.

“I think that before you and I agree on this, dinner might burn,” you joked, chuckling. “So…I’m letting it go for now, but…Think about it.” You winked at Daryl, who shook his head and rolled his eyes at you again, but you noticed his smile too.

You finished Tulip’s present right on time, the night before the birthday. The varnish was still wet, but you knew it would dry overnight. You had spent hours getting the wooden sign ready, writing the name in beautiful letters, and painting the tulips and butterflies as best as you could…you were honestly proud of it.

“It looks great!” Sam said, looking at it. He and Daryl were going to stay the night at your place, and also stay for lunch the next day, so you three could go together to Tulip’s birthday.

“Yeah, looks real good,” Daryl agreed.

“Thanks, guys.” You smiled at them. “Let’s let it dry and get some dinner.”

The next day, in the afternoon, you headed to Tulip’s birthday. Sam kept chatting on the way there, seeming excited and happy, a stark contrast with Daryl, who seemed to be dreading it more and more the closer you got to the park, and so you squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him.

“Hello,” Tulip’s mother greeted you when you arrived. “Thanks for coming.”

“Thank you for asking,” you said, smiling, while Daryl just nodded awkwardly and Sam went to greet and play with the other kids. “I bring some potato salad for the picnic, if anyone wants some…” You said, taking the container out of your bag.

“Potato salad…” Tulip’s dad looked at your container, seeming amused.

“Yes…sorry, I didn’t know what to bring…” You chuckled shyly.

“No, it’s fine, thank you,” Tulip’s mom said, taking the container.

“It’s just that…knowing Daryl, I expected venison or squirrels in that container,” Tulip’s dad chuckled, looking at Daryl who still seemed awkward and just shrugged.

“Yeah…” You knew what they meant. “But, I’m vegetarian, so…”

“You’re vegetarian?” Tulip’s dad asked, sharing a look with his wife before they looked at Daryl and you, seeming as puzzled as amused. “Planning on making Daryl one too?”

“I doubt it,” you snorted, looking at Daryl, who still seemed awkward, but gave you a small, half-smile, nodding.

“Me too.”

“It wasn’t that bad, right?” You asked Daryl that night, while you both were in his bed, with you snuggled over his chest.

“I guess…” Daryl said while his fingers played with your hair. You knew he’d been awkward, and the other parents had kept looking at you both a bit weird and awkward too, besides Tulip’s parents, but everyone had been polite enough, and the kids had fun. “Sam liked it.”

“Yes, he did.” You smiled.

“Ya believe me now? That parents like ya?” Daryl said.

“I don’t know…some maybe…but, yeah, now I don’t think they hate me,” you chuckled.

“’course they don’t hate ya.” Daryl kissed the top of your head and you snuggled closer to him, smiling when he wrapped his arms around you, holding you tight to him.

N/A

It’s summer next chapter.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa Pt.14

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Daryl and reader have to face their feelings.

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

You were a bit afraid about how Sam would do once he went back to class the next day, after the fight, and you were ready to stand your ground against any teacher who might want to give him trouble, but to your surprise, everything seemed to go smoother than you had thought…sure, there were mean comments, but no more than usual, and you wondered if your threat to call the school inspector had really worked after all.

In the afternoon, though, during the art activity, you noticed the kids that usually painted with Sam quietly talking with him about it…you had the feeling that, if it were needed, those kids and their parents would have Sam’s back, speak on his favor, even if Daryl wouldn’t believe it if you told him, but you couldn’t be sure, and so you hoped that there wouldn’t be any more trouble.

You had also been a bit afraid for yourself, wondering what the other teachers might think about your behavior the day before, what they might say or do, especially Rachel and the principal, but, to your surprise and relief, they did nothing, whether it was for fear of you contacting the inspector or whether they didn’t know what to try against you this time.

There were looks, murmurs, things like that, nothing you weren’t used to, but nobody talked to you directly, in fact, everyone seemed to want to avoid you, but you weren’t going to complain, no matter that cold feeling all around you unsettled you, but it wasn’t like you missed the mean comments, snarky remarks, or the gossip about you with you right there.

The only accident, if you could call it like that, was when you bumped into another teacher, Kate, as you took a turn on a corridor, dropping your folder.

“Excuse me, I wasn’t looking,” you told Kate while you bent to pick the folder.

“Be careful, Kate,” Gary said, walking from behind her. “Or she’ll might go tell the inspector that you pushed her and send him for you.” Kate didn’t say anything, but they both walked away.

You let out a sigh…annoying, yes, but still, better than how you’d feared the day might go…

As days passed, you started to relax, it didn’t seem that the principal or anyone else was coming after you. They still treated you coldly, colder than they’d ever done, even if they weren’t as mean to you anymore, nobody talked while you were around, nobody approached you or said a word to you anymore, not even in teacher’s meetings, everyone seemed to try to avoid being in the same place than you…you guessed it was better than them snapping at you or than their mean comments, but it still made you feel uneasy whenever you were around the other teachers, except Naomi, to whom they were giving the cold shoulder too, but when you apologized, she said she didn’t mind it.

Weeks passed without any more accident, much to your relief, and you were glad that Sam didn’t have any more problems, you knew Daryl was glad too. Besides when he came to pick Sam from your art activity every day, you’d also hang with them on the weekend, having dinner, watching something, usually at your place but a couple of times on theirs too.

Before you knew it, the week leading to the spring break arrived. You were looking forwards to the break, to have some time off, away from the cold, passive-aggressive feeling of the school, having time for yourself, and also to plan and work on some things for the last part of the course, including a new play that you wanted to get ready so the kids who wanted to either act or make the scenery, or both, could do it with you on the afternoon…you doubted any other teacher volunteered to help if you were in it…

Not all were good news, though, and you felt a lump in your throat when you talked to Naomi during the lunch break on Friday.

“You’re not coming back after spring break?” You asked and she shook her head.

“No…Adam’s getting back to work, so that’s the end of my contract.”

“Can we…go and make Adam break another leg?” You joked and Naomi snorted.

“I’ll do it if you help…but honestly…I’ll miss you, but I’m glad to leave this school, I already got a call to work on another after spring break...hopefully it won’t be like this place.”

“Good for you,” you smiled, even though you were still sad at losing your friend. “And yeah, I get it, not being sad about leaving this school and our dear coworkers.”

“What about you, will you leave after summer? You wanted to, right?” Noemi asked you, and you shifted on your seat.

“Yeah…well…I wanted to but…I’m not sure…”

“Mmh mmh…” Naomi squinted at you.

“What?”

“Not sure anymore…I see…and that has nothing to do with Daryl Dixon, right?”

You felt your face heating up, you couldn’t help it. “No…maybe I’m just tired of going from one place to another, one school to another, maybe I want to try and settle on one, if I can… and…and yeah, okay, yes, I like to spend time with Daryl...”

“Enough to want to stay in this school where nobody will say a word to you while they hope you’re not here next year.”

“Thanks for the reminder…” You grumbled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…I mean…” Naomi let out a sigh, shaking her head. “You two are frustrating.”

“…what?”

“Daryl and you…you like him, he likes you, you both are like dating already without knowing it, and yet I’m going to leave without you two having even kissed yet.”

You snorted, but you were very much flustered. “It’s not like that…”

“Yeah?” Naomi raised her eyebrows at you, smiling. “You’re really trying to say, to my face, that you don’t like him, and I don’t mean as a dear friend? Come on, I’ve seen how you look around him enough times, don’t try to sell me that.”

“I…” You chewed on your lip but let out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, okay, I do, I like him…I really like him.”

“So?” Naomi grinned.

“So what?” You frowned.

“What are you waiting for? Go for it!”

You snorted, shaking your head. “He doesn’t like me that way, sure, he cares for me…” You knew he did, and the thought made you feel warm. “But he likes me as a friend, that is.”

“Yeah, sure…” Noemi chuckled. “The guy who looks like he wants to murder everyone with that grumpy face of him, but turns all soft when he sees you and gives you the heart-eyes, because he doesn’t like you like that.”

“He doesn’t do that…” You snorted, even though you couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he did?

Sometimes, while you battled with your feelings, you couldn’t help but wonder, when he looked at you on a certain way, or sometimes when you two were talking, or cooking together, you’d feel…something, between you and him…or when he smiled softly at you, or casually touched your arm…so…maybe…but…nah…

You let out a sigh. “Daryl, he…I don’t think he’d be interested in someone like me in that way, I’m not…we’re very different, I guess…I guess we don’t even have that much in common…and it’s not only because he hunts Bambi and I’m vegetarian,” you said, mentioning a joke that Naomi had made about that once.

“Why did I even make that joke…” Naomi sighed. “Sure, you two guys had different lives, so what? You both enjoy expending time together no matter you’re different. You care for him, everyone can see it, he sees it too, that you care for him and his kid, and he cares for you too.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean that he’d like to be more than friends with me,” You shrugged and Naomi rolled her eyes.

“I’m gonna smack you two together I swear!” She groaned. “Daryl likes you, Y/N.” You wished to believe it, but at the same time, you didn’t dare…you didn’t know how to talk to Daryl about it, and if Naomi was wrong…you knew it’d crush you, and you really didn’t want that to happen.

“I don’t want to mess things between us…” You said quietly and Naomi let out a sigh.

“Y/N…I know that you’re scared, I know you don’t want to end up disappointed or hurt…but don’t miss on this, it’ll hurt worse than if you take the risk,” she told you, seeming serious now. “Daryl is a good guy…took me a bit to see it, but I do now, and he likes you, and really cares for you, and you…you’re head over heels...so…yeah…don’t miss on this.”

You didn’t know what to say, what to think, feeling a bit emotional, and you just shrugged, making Naomi sigh again.

“You won’t take the first step , he won’t take the first step…so I’m hoping that one of you just stumbles or something and falls lips first onto the other’s mouth,” she said and you snorted.

“I don’t think that happens in real life,” you said.

“Yeah…so, stop being silly about it, gather your courage, and go for it…and call me when you finally kiss Daryl,” Naomi said, nudging your feet with hers, and you gave her a weak smile, but you couldn’t help but still be full of doubts…

That afternoon, once Sam was the only kid left in the art activity, you and he talked about Naomi leaving. She’d been his teacher too, someone who was nice to him, and you knew he too was sad about her leaving.

When Daryl walked in, he frowned at you both, sat down on a desk, and seeming down. “Somethin’ happened?”

“Naomi’s leavin’,” Sam said and you nodded sadly.

“Yeah? Why?”

“Substitute teacher’s life, you know we’re sent here and there…” You sighed. “Adam’s coming back to work, so she has to leave.”

“I see…” Daryl nodded, looking at Sam and you. “Ya both, uh…want some cocoa or something?” He asked, seeming a bit lost and unsure about what to do, and you realized that he was trying to comfort Sam and you without really knowing how…it was sweet…

“Can we, please?” Sam asked you, and you smiled at him.

“Sure, sweetheart.”

You got up and Daryl followed you to the teacher’s room, where you began making the hot cocoa. Daryl wasn’t saying anything, but you felt him looking at you…Naomi’s words about you two kept going through your mind, but you tried to ignore it, knowing that you’d end up flustered around Daryl, and you didn’t want that…

“I’m sorry ‘bout yer friend leavin’,” Daryl finally told you, and you gave him a soft smile.

“I knew it was going to happen, substitute teacher’s life…it’s hard to keep friends, I told you about it…but I’m sad anyway,” you let out a sigh, but tried to smile again. “She got another job already, though, can’t blame her for being happy about leaving this school and the coworkers who’ve been assholes to her.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, just nodded without looking at you. You weren’t sure, but you felt as if something were off. You didn’t know what, though, or how to ask, maybe it was in your head, and so you decided to let it go, focusing back on making the cocoa.

“Hey, Daryl…do you want to do something this evening?” You asked while the cocoa heated in the microwave. “Come to mine’s for dinner or something.”

It took Daryl a couple of seconds to reply, but then he shook his head. “Can’t. There’s, uh, a leak or some shit on the ceiling, it was rainin’ yesterday and saw it, wanna fix it.”

“Oh…” You couldn’t help but be disappointed, you really were looking forward to spending time with Daryl now that you were feeling down about Naomi leaving, but you tried not to show it, not wanting to be annoying. “Okay…that’s okay…just give me a call tomorrow if you wanna and if you’re free, maybe…”

Daryl didn’t say anything, and when you turned around, holding the mugs of cocoa, you saw him looking at you, and you wished that you could know what was he thinking.

“I’m gonna be fixin’ the leak but, uh…if ya wanna come anyway…” Daryl shrugged.

“Are you sure you don’t mind? We can meet any other day,” you told him.

“I don’t mind…but…ya might get bored,” he said.

“I won’t…I don’t think I’ll be of much help fixing a leak…but I can cheer you on it and cook dinner,” you half-joked, and Daryl snorted, nodding and giving you half a smile as he looked at you, but then he looked down, and again, you had the feeling that something’s off, but you couldn’t put your finger on what, neither knew how to ask.

“Alright…come on.”

Once at the Dixon’s, Sam went to train with the slingshot while Daryl went to fix the ceiling leak, stepping onto an old chair that you were afraid might give up under his weight at some point.

“Tell me if I can help with something,” you told him, watching him work, and he just hummed, but as he worked, you noticed him stealing glances at you from time to time without saying a word to you, and you still felt like something was off between you and him.

Had he felt, somehow, how Naomi’s words were still going through your mind? Come on, that was impossible, stupid and silly…Something was going on, though, but what…or it was just in your head, maybe…finally, you couldn’t bear it anymore. “Daryl, there’s something wrong?”

Daryl’s eyes snapped at you as if you had caught him doing something wrong, and he shook his head, looking back at the ceiling. “No,” he said.

“Okay…”

Not even a minute later, Daryl spoke again, not looking at you. “Yer leavin’ too, right?” He asked, taking you aback. “After summer I mean…yer a substitute teacher too.” Oh…so that was what was bothering him…

“I…I don’t know,” you let out a sigh and looked at him. “Could you…could you step down there while we speak?” You asked him, and Daryl looked like he didn’t want to, but he did, stepping down the chair, though he didn’t look at you.

“Ya’ll be in some other school too next year.”

“I don’t know that yet,” you said. “I’m not here working in place of another teacher like Naomi, I was sent here because they were short on staff.”

Daryl frowned at you before looking down. “What does that mean?”

“It means that yes, I can be sent some other school next course, or I can apply to still hold this job here, if nobody wants it, and it wasn’t looking like it,” you explained.

Daryl scoffed. “Ya hate workin’ here…they’re all pricks to ya, yer leavin’.”

“Well, I haven’t decided yet.” You shrugged. “So I might stay.”

Daryl frowned at you. “Why’d ya do that?”

You shrugged, shy, unsure about admitting why, scared of how Daryl might react…but he kept frowning at you, expectantly, and so you just went ahead. “Maybe I’m tired of going from school to school…I’d never had the chance to apply for the same job in the same school again until this year…and also…I…yeah, coworkers are shit, but…but I like it here, with you and Sam…I like to be with you both…so…yeah…”

You made yourself look at Daryl, but he was looking at you weird, and when he scoffed and began pacing, you couldn’t help but be afraid that you had messed up.

“Daryl?”

“Ya can’t stay,” he said, still pacing, and you felt your heart dropping a bit.

“You want me to leave?”

Daryl looked at you at that, and when he seemed to realize what you were thinking, he stopped pacing and approached you, sighing. “Didn’t…didn’t mean that,” he told you, softer this time. “Thank ya for, uh…sayin’ that…for thinkin’ on stayin’ for Sam and me,” he said, seeming as shy as you, or more. “But …this town aint’ good for ya…and the coworkers, they’re assholes to ya…”

“I don’t care for that, you know it…” You bit your lip. “Daryl…would you like me to stay or not?”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me,” you said, hating how vulnerable you sounded, but you couldn’t help it. “So please, can you…can you answer me? Would you like me to stay?” Daryl was looking down, seeming to be fighting with himself, but then he nodded, and you felt your heart doing something weird. “Then, I am staying.”

Daryl looked at you, still seeming torn, and then he looked down, shaking his head. “Ya can’t stay just ‘cause I’d like ya too…I shouldn’t…the other teachers, they’ve been givin’ ya shit all year…ain’t gonna get better with them, or in this town…ya’ll be better in another school, somewhere else…”

“I want to stay with you and with Sam, Daryl, I don’t want to go to another school…yes, my coworkers here are assholes but…but they don’t matter, I like my job, I like my kids, and I…I like to be with Sam and you…and some assholes being pricks to me are not going to change that.”

“Y/N-”

“No,” you stopped whatever Daryl was going to say. “Don’t tell me that I have to leave, unless you want me to.”

“I…” Daryl frowned, looking again like he was fighting himself. “Can’t tell ya to leave… ya should but…but don’ want ya too…” He said quietly.

“I’m not going to leave,” you said, and you realized that you had already made your mind about it a while ago, even if you hadn’t known it until now.

Daryl didn’t say anything, looking at you, still seeming to be fighting himself, but you wouldn’t change your mind, now that he’d told you that he wanted you to stay. He lifted his hand as if he were going to caress your face, but he dropped it again, and you found yourself longing for his touch, even more with how those intense blue eyes were looking at you.

“Daryl, I…” You bit your lip, but you couldn’t keep it in anymore. “I like you…and I don’t mean as a friend…I mean, yes, yes, sure as a friend too…but…but I mean…not only that…I mean, I really, really like you…you know…” You finally said it, or tried to, but you thought you’d delivered your point. You waited, shyer than you had felt in your life, but Daryl was silent at your words, he wasn’t snapping, he wasn’t saying anything at all, and you felt your embarrassment grow. “I…you know, I think…I…I’m going to go out with Sam and see if I’m better today at shooting at those cans.”

You needed to get out of that house, feeling like you might cry out of embarrassment, you didn’t want Daryl to think that you were upset with him, even if you couldn’t help how your heart hurt.

“Y/N…”

“Daryl, I’m…I’m sorry…I’m very embarrassed right now, and it’s not your fault, but I need a moment, okay? Please?” You gave him a tense smile, feeling like crying even if you hated it, and turned to leave, trying to retreat, to run away from all those stupid feelings.

“Wait…” You felt Daryl’s fingers on your arm, making you stop even without actually holding your arm. You turned to look at him, but he wasn’t looking at you, instead his eyes were on his fingers, that caressed your arm up to your shoulder, ever so softly, making you stop breathing for second, before he pulled his hand back. “I…I like ya, too,” he said, so quietly that you barely heard it.

Your heart seemed to skip a beat, butterflies dancing in your belly, but your insecurity was still there, nagging at you…“Daryl…you don’t have to say that just because I said it, don’t think that maybe you have to…I get it if you don’t feel that way, I really do, and it doesn’t matter if you only want us to be friends, I still want to stay here and won’t leave…so…please, if you don’t mean it…” You stammered but Daryl stopped you.

“But…but I mean it.” Daryl was frowning at you, seeming taken aback by your reaction. For a moment, you thought he might be angry at you, snap…but then a small, half-smile was tugging at his lips as he shook his head at you, but his eyes seemed so soft and fond that it took your breath away. “I like ya, Y/N…” He said it louder this time, even if it was still barely past a whisper.

“Really?” It was still hard to believe, but you could see that Daryl was genuine as he nodded, looking at you, not avoiding your gaze this time. “Then…then, can I…Daryl, can I kiss you?” You whispered and Daryl chewed on that lip that you wanted to kiss so bad, but then he nodded. “Are you sure? It really is okay if you don’t want me to, I promise.” He was looking nervous and you didn’t want to force him to do anything, but he nodded again.

You got even closer to him, slowly placing your hands on his shoulders, trying to give him time if he wanted to think it better or if he felt like he didn’t want this, but you felt one of his hands on your waist, and you couldn’t help your smile at it.

You lifted one of your hands to cup his cheek, gently caressing it, before you leaned in and kissed his lips softly, feeling like your heart might jump out of your chest and those twirls in your belly going out of control.

“Okay?” You asked him softly when you pulled back and he nodded. “Sure?” Daryl had kissed you back but he still seemed nervous, even though he nodded again, and you still weren’t sure that he wanted this. He swallowed hard and you smiled softly at him. Your hand was still cupping his cheek and you stroked his cheekbone with your thumb. “You look scared.”

“I ain’t scared,” Daryl scoffed, and you thought he might pull away from you, but instead, he leaned into your touch as if he couldn’t stop himself, before he looked down.

“Okay,” you conceded, even though you could feel how nervous he was. “Hey,” you gently made him look at you with your hand on his cheek. “It’s okay…I’d never hurt you,” you whispered, trying to ease him somehow, and Daryl looked down, swallowing hard again, but you were relieved when he looked at you and nodded at your words, as if he knew.

“I’m not going to leave you, I told you, I meant it. If you don’t want this, if you only want us to be friends, it’s okay, I won’t leave you and Sam either way, I’m going to stay, I promise.” You were still afraid that you were imposing on Daryl, that he didn’t want this.

“I want this,” Daryl rasped, leaning into your touch again, making the flutters in your belly get even stronger.

“Sure?” You asked, and Daryl nodded. “Can I kiss you again then?”

Daryl nodded, and you leaned in, but this time, you waited for him to be the one to initiate the kiss, you needed to be sure that he really wanted this, and when you felt him kissing you, you thought you might just start floating.

When you pulled back, he followed you, leaning his forehead on yours, and you felt as if you might melt at it.

You could still feel that he was nervous, and you reached to caress his hair with one hand while your other arm held him to you, trying to help him relax. “It’s okay…don’t be nervous, you don’t have to…” You whispered, even if you were a bit nervous too.

“I, uh…” Daryl began, forehead still on yours, and when you tried to pull back so you could look at his face, he didn’t let you. “I…just…never had…ya know…a relationship…” Daryl murmured, and he sounded so insecure, you wanted to squeeze him to you, wondering if that was what made him seem so nervous.

“You’re adorable,” you couldn’t help but say.

“I ain’t,” Daryl scoffed, and if he wanted to prove his point, hiding his face in your shoulder wasn’t helping.

“Okay,” you conceded, stroking his hair again, even though he was adorable. “It’s okay if you haven’t been in a relationship, Daryl, that doesn’t matter…not like I’m much better…and it’s okay if you don’t know yet if you want that with me,” you wanted it, badly, but you didn’t want Daryl to feel pressured or rushed into a relationship, when he seemed so insecure and nervous, you wanted him to be sure of what he wanted and at what pace.

Daryl looked up from your shoulder to look at you, and though at first his eyes didn’t meet yours, then they did. “I want it.”

“Yes?” You asked, losing the fight against the butterflies in your belly, and when Daryl nodded again, you couldn’t help the big smile that spread across your face.

Daryl looked at you, a small smile on his face at yours, and when he leaned in to kiss you again, you could swear you couldn’t remember a moment in which you felt so happy and giddy.

You were so focused on Daryl, that you didn’t notice anything around you, not until Daryl pulled away from you quickly and you heard that the back door was opening, and Sam walked in.

“Did you fix the leak?” He asked.

“I, uh…I…” Daryl stammered, and you wondered if you looked as flustered as him or maybe more. “Not yet, but uh…if ya help me, I’ll think I’ll fix it faster, ya want to?” That made Sam grin and you couldn’t help your smile at how adorable they were.

“Yes!” Sam nodded.

“Okay…come on then.” Daryl picked up Sam, lifting him up so he could see the leak on the wooden ceiling.

“I’m going to make dinner while you fix that,” you said. “Be careful, okay, guys?”

“Yeah.” Daryl nodded.

“Don’t worry, Y/N, we got this,” Sam said and you couldn’t help your snort.

“Okay, then…”

You decided to make some veggie stew, and you were almost finished when you saw Daryl walking into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

“Hey…” You greeted, couldn’t help how you felt a bit shy.

“Hey…” Daryl said, seeming shy too, but he reached out to caress your arm with his knuckles ever so softly, his eyes following his fingers as they brushed down your shoulder, forming goosebumps on your skin and making your heart skip a beat, before he stepped back and looked at the pot on the stove.

“It’s veggie stew,” you explained. “Not squirrel in it, sorry,” you half-joked and Daryl snorted. “Daryl, uh…” You’d been thinking about something while you cooked, but you weren’t very sure of how to ask. “Are you going to tell Sam about us?”

“I…uh…” Daryl frowned, scratching the back of his head.

“I’m not asking you to do it,” you explained. “I’m just asking so I don’t mess up, whatever you want to do, I’m okay with it, if you want to wait, I understand, and this really is up to you, okay?”

Daryl nodded. “I, uh…wanna tell him…just…don’t know how…” He seemed shy and you got it, you felt shy about it too, even if you knew it was silly to feel like that…and it was silly too, to feel nervous and insecure about it, you knew it yet you couldn’t help it, Sam seemed to like you, so he wouldn’t be upset that you and his uncle were more than friends, right? Still, you couldn’t help your nerves… “But I’ll tell him.”

“Okay.” You nodded, smiling at Daryl and reaching to hold his hand, squeezing it. “No rush, alright? Whenever you feel like it’s the right time.” Daryl nodded, giving you a soft smile that for some reason made the butterflies in your belly go crazy. “Okay, then…let’s get some dinner.”

Daryl nodded, giving you a soft smile, and the way in which his blue eyes were looking at you, so soft and so fond, made you feel like you were about to start floating again.

N/A

So, yes, they’re finally together, but there are still 8 chapters left for them to be together.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl dixon #daryl preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

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Hot Cocoa VIII

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Y/N gets in trouble with the principal after she spoke up for Daryl Dixon.

You can find the previous chapters in my Masterlist

When Monday arrived, Daryl’s words warning you that speaking up for him was going to be trouble for you seemed to become true when, during the break at school, you were summoned to the principal’s office.

“There’s something wrong?” You asked as you sat down in front of her desk, a feeling of dread filling you. You knew she couldn’t just go and fire you, that wasn’t what worried you, but you wondered what might she want from you now, or what had you done wrong to her eyes…you didn’t want to argue anymore…

“Mrs. Clark told me that you were rude to her on Friday when she came to pick up her kid from your art activity,” the principal said, and you had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. Damn woman.

“I’m sorry she feels like that, but I believe I was as polite as I could while explaining to her why some rude remarks that she’d actually made were not appropriate for the classroom,” you said, doing your best to sound professional. “She was saying some hurtful comments about one of my students and their guardian, with them hearing it.”

“Yes, Daryl and Sam Dixon, right?” The principal said and you nodded. “I understand that it seems you and Daryl have gotten close…”

“So? It’s not like I’m not allowed to have friends,” you said, sounding more defensive than you’d have liked. “There are other teachers here who are friends with kid’s parents, a couple of them even have their own kids in the classroom.” After all, everyone seemed to know each other in that damn town.

“I’m just saying, maybe your relationship with Dixon is making you not see things clearly…” The principal said and you almost scoffed.

“This is not about Daryl being my friend. I’d have done the same if it was anyone else, those things Mrs. Clark was saying were really hurtful and the kid shouldn’t have heard them.”

“Mrs. Clark says she was just trying to be helpful,” the principal pointed and you took a deep breath, knowing that it was best to just play along, but you hated it.

“Well…if that’s the case I’m sorry she thinks I was rude, but I don’t believe I was…I was just trying to be helpful too.” You shrugged.

“She was concerned about what Dixon was doing here…” The principal said.

“He was picking up his nephew, Sam, he’s been in my art activity since the first day,” you said, feeling more than done with this conversation, the principal had to know all that by now.

“And picking you up too, I guess, since you said that you two were…friends?”

You didn’t fail to notice the principal’s tone…great, that’s what you needed, gossip even from the principal.

“No, he was not, and again, as far as I’m concerned, I’m not the only teacher who’s friends with a kid’s parent or family member,” you said, trying not to sound as done as you were. “And it’s that kid who I was trying to stop from hearing hurtful things about his family.”

“The kid…Sam Dixon.” The principal nodded. “Don’t you worry that your closeness to Daryl Dixon might make you favor Sam Dixon here?”

Now you were offended. “Does the other teachers who are friends with kid’s parents favor those kids or even their own?” You didn’t know neither cared. “I won’t, I can assure that.” You didn’t treat little Dixon any different in the classroom, when he was with your other students.

“That kid, I’m sure we briefed you about his situation…” The principal began and you nodded. “Father in jail for dealing drugs, an addict. The mother, another addict, left the kid as soon she was allowed to leave the hospital, word is that she didn’t even get to see the baby because she forbid the nurses from showing him to her.” You hadn’t known that much about Sam’s mother, it picked your interest but you weren’t about to ask the principal for it, and you wondered if half of it wasn’t just gossip anyway… “Quite a problematic kid, as you can see.”

“Problematic?” You almost snorted. “I don’t think so, that’s just his family situation, a rough one indeed, but that doesn’t mean he’s problematic. He’s been in my classroom for five months, there’s not been any problem, he’s a sweet kid,” you said. “If anything, I think such rough family situation means we should watch over him more carefully and make sure he’s alright.” You knew that Daryl took more than good care of him, but still, the whole Merle situation worried you, and that family situation would be rough on any kid.

“Well…you just said your closeness to Dixon didn’t mean you’d treat Sam different…I guess I’ll have to believe you…” The principal said and you wondered if she was actually mocking you, but you were more than done.

“If this was all, then, yes, I’m aware of Sam’s situation, yes, I’m aware of the rumors and gossip about the Dixon’s, and if Mrs.Clark thought I was rude to her, then I am sorry, send her my apologies,” you said, not sounding quite professional anymore, but you wanted to finish this conversation and leave that room.

“Those things about the Dixon’s that I’m sure you’ve heard are not rumors or gossips, Y/N, those are true.” The principal didn’t let it go, and you knew better than to try to fight her ideas about Daryl, even if it annoyed you, it’d just make it worse. “So I’m concerned about you getting close to one of them, I’m sure Mrs. Clark was worried too and that’s why she said whatever you found rude, just concern, if nobody had warned you already about the Dixon’s, we’re doing it now.” Sure, sure they were real worried about you…you almost rolled your eyes.

“Thanks for the concern, but I think I can pick who I am friends with by myself,” you said, stern.

“If you say so…” The principal gave you a smile that was more condescending and mocking than anything. “It’s your life…as long as it doesn’t affect the school.”

“It hasn’t. It won’t,” you said firmly. “If that was all, I have to get some things ready for the next class.”

“Okay Y/N…I hope there won’t be more trouble about you and the Dixons’.”

“There won’t.”

You’d thought that your day couldn’t get worse after that, but it seemed that other teachers knew about your visit to the principal and why, and they didn’t care about you hearing them gossiping about it.

You even caught a couple of them smirking and laughing quietly as they looked at you, and when you looked at them, arching your eyebrows, feeling more than done, one seemed bold enough to ask you if you were hooking with Daryl Dixon, because a friend seemed to have seen you walking to your place with him and Sam past midnight on New Year’s. Great, fantastic…you wondered if someone had said so to Daryl too, and if he’d get angry, maybe distance himself from you…you really hoped not.

When you assured them that no, you were not hooking with Daryl, they just looked at each other, smirking again. Whatever, they could believe whatever they wanted, it wasn’t their business anyway…you tried not to let it upset you, but it wasn’t being easy, and you wondered how Daryl dealt with all those people gossiping about him…small wonder that he’d always seemed so reserved and mistrustful, and now you were even more grateful that he seemed to have decided to start trusting you.

Back in the classroom, some of your students seemed to have noticed too your trip to the principal’s, including little Dixon. They asked you about it, and it was sweet of them that they seemed worried, even though you just wanted to stop thinking about it. You assured them that nothing was wrong and you had just needed to talk with the principal about some teacher things, which was not really a lie, and you didn’t want Sam knowing all that conversation about him.

Even though you had tried to ignore it all and forget it, you were still upset during your art activity, even if you tried to act the same with the kids.

When Daryl came to pick Sam, the last kid left as usual, he seemed to notice, his gaze shifting to you a couple of times while he looked at the drawings Sam’s was showing him, and this time it was you who looked down, afraid that those pretty blue eyes could just see right into you.

“Ya okay?” He finally asked and you nodded.

“Yeah…”

“She was called to the principal’s,” little Dixon said before you could stop it.

“I thought only kids were called,” Daryl said, sounding amused, but he was back at looking worried when he seemed to notice that you were, in fact, upset, and you just shrugged. “There’s somethin’ wrong?”

“No…just…” You didn’t know what to say, you didn’t want to lie to Daryl, but you worried that maybe he’d be upset if he knew that the principal had wanted to talk about him with you. “The principal just needed to talk about some things with me.”

Daryl frowned at you, and you were sure he still thought something was wrong, and so you tried to busy yourself tidying up the classroom.

“Hey, uh…” Daryl began, fidgeting. “Ya still have cocoa in yer locker?”

Now it was you who frowned, taken by surprise. “Yeah…”

“Could ya, uh…make some for Sam and me? Ain’t late today...” Daryl asked without looking at you.

“Yes, please!” Sam said as he grinned at you.

“Sure…sure, yeah…” You nodded, still a bit confused, Daryl’d never been the first to ask for hot cocoa.

“I’ll help ya while Sam finishes the drawin’,” Daryl said, and it clicked what he was doing. You’d used the excuse of asking Daryl to help you make hot cocoa as a way to talk to him alone a couple of times already, and it seemed now he was using it on you…

You let out a sigh, you couldn’t backtrack now. “Alright…let’s go…”

Daryl followed you, and once in the teacher’s room, he looked at you while he chewed on his thumbnail. “Ya sure, uh…ya sure there’s nothin’ wrong?”

You sighed again, shrugging. “Not more than usual…”

“It’s the principal givin’ ya trouble?” Daryl asked and you didn’t know what to say. “It’s, uh…it’s ‘bout what happened the other day with that woman?”

You looked at him, biting your lip, then looked down, and back at him again…no, you couldn’t lie to him.

“Kind of…” You said vaguely. “She seemed to think I was rude to her and told so to the principal.”

Daryl shook his head and scoffed. “Told ya she was gonna be trouble for ya,” he said as he began pacing, and your fears of him being upset if he knew came back. “Told ya that ya shouldn’t have said nothin’…told ya it was gonna be bad for ya…”

“Hey…don’t be angry with me you too…please?” You asked, and Daryl looked at you at that, letting out a sigh, seeming to be trying to calm down.

“Ain’t angry at ya, just…” He shrugged and looked down. “Just… don’t want ya havin’ trouble ‘cause us…”

“And I appreciate it, Daryl, I really do,” you assured him. “But it’s not trouble, just a mean woman thinking that I’m rude, and a principal being as mean to me as she’s always been.” You shrugged. “I don’t care.”

“Yer upset, ya care.”

“Yes, I’m upset, I can’t help it, when people are assholes to me and my friends, and it feels unfair like this,” you admitted. “But I do not care of what they think of you and me being friends…come on, they were assholes to me before already, you know it. If it wasn’t about this, they’d be coming for me for any other thing.”

Daryl looked down again, back to chewing on his thumbnail. “Told ya that it was goin’ to get worse if ya hang with me…that ya shouldn’t…”

“It hasn’t gotten worse, they just have another excuse.” You shrugged. “You’re my friend, I like hanging with you, and I’m not going to stop just because some mean people are saying whatever shit about you, or for whatever you believe they might think about me if we’re friends.”

Daryl looked at you, then down, and it seemed like he didn’t know what to say, but you hated to think that he might be blaming himself about stupid people being mean to you, same that you hated what those idiots said about him and how it affected him more than he wanted to admit, to the point you feared he did believe them.

“Look…we really shouldn’t let them upset us like this,” you said softly. You and Daryl both said that you didn’t care what they said about you, but it was clear you both did, even if you knew you shouldn’t. “It’s not worthy, they’re not worthy…just…just don’t stop being my friend just because you believe it’ll be bad for me or whatever you’re thinking, or for whatever you believe they might think or say about me, please? I don’t care about that, but I do care about you being my friend…okay?” You made yourself look at Daryl, even if you felt shy, and he seemed shy too, but finally he nodded. “Nice…now let’s stop paying those assholes any mind and let’s get some hot cocoa, okay?”

Daryl looked at you, and for a moment you thought he might begin arguing with you again, telling you that you should stop hanging with him again, that it’d be trouble…but then he nodded, a small, half-smile tugging at his lip, and you felt as if you finally could relax.

“Okay.”

While you got the hot cocoa ready, you noticed Daryl watching you, until he dropped his gaze down again before speaking.

“Ya, uh…” He began, seeming shy, and he gestured towards the mugs of cocoa. “After that, ya wanna, uh, come have dinner with Sam and me?”

You were more than surprised at his offer, and you could just blink at him for a second, before a smile spread across your face, along with those damn twirls in your belly. “I’d love to, yes, thank you.” You nodded, but then you thought on something and frowned. “Daryl…if you’re doing it because you think you’re to blame for the principal being mean to me or anything like that, don’t, you’re not…”

“Just…ya wanna come or not?” Daryl asked again, sounding defensive now, so you rushed to answer.

“Yes, Daryl, I do want to, I told you,” you assured him. “Thank you for asking.”

“I, uh…I got squirrel stew, but I can make some for ya without the squirrel…” Daryl told you shrugging.

“So…warm water stew?” You couldn’t help but joke and Daryl frowned at you.

“Nah, uh…it doesn’t got only squirrel, it got-” he began to explain awkwardly, but you stopped him.

“I was kidding, Daryl, I’m sure it’ll be great,” you said, smiling, and Daryl looked down again. “Or I can go home first and pick some leftovers.”

“Nah, ya don’t have to, I’ll get ya the stew without squirrel.”

“Okay….okay, nice, then…”

When you went back to the classroom, Sam had already begun to put everything in place and tidy up by himself, and as you thought back to the principal calling him problematic just for his name, you almost scoffed again…but like you’d told Daryl, it was not worth to think on those people any more than you needed to.

When Daryl told Sam that you were joining them for dinner, he seemed more than happy, and you couldn’t help but be grateful that the kid seemed to like you that much. He was a nice kid, despite his rough family situation, who deserved way better than he was treated by people at the school, just like Daryl did.

After your hot cocoa, you made sure to clean the mugs and to check that everything was in place in the classroom, told the custodian that you were leaving, and you three made your way to the Dixon’s place. Now that you thought about it, you had to be grateful that the custodian had actually never told to anyone how much time Daryl and Sam spent with you in that classroom sometimes, and about your cocoa drinks with them, it seemed that at least someone was nice at that school, and not a mean gossiper for once, and you were sure to always be nice to him in return.

Once at the Dixon’s cabin, Daryl made his way to the kitchen, and you followed him. “I’ll help you.”

“Nah, ya don’t have to...ain’t much to help with anyway,” he said, and you were about to insist when Sam tugged at your hand.

“Y/N, do you want to see the slingshot that Daryl made me for Christmas?”

“Sure, sweetheart…” You nodded at Sam before looking at Daryl again. “You sure you don’t need help?”

“Told ya.”

“Okay.” You turned to smiled at Sam. “Show me that slingshot, then.”

He grinned and rushed into what you guessed was his room, coming out with the slingshot on his hand. “Daryl made it!”

“Woah, it looks very…professional,” you said as you looked at it, if Sam’d told you that he bought it in a store you’d have believed him, if it weren’t because the slingshot had “Sam Dixon” roughly engraved. “You’re good at that,” you said to Daryl, who was heating up water on a pot, but he just shrugged it off.

“Yes!” Little Dixon grinned. “I train every day shooting the cans…come!”

You followed him outside, stopping in front of a row of cans, and Sam took a small bag from next to them, in which he seemed to keep pebbles for the slingshot. Stepping back a few meters, he aimed at one of the cans, and he didn’t miss.

“That was a really nice shot!” You said and Sam grinned at you.

“Thanks…I can’t do it further than that, though…” He told you, shrugging. “Daryl’s been teachin’ me how to aim, he never misses when he’s huntin’, his aim is the best!”

You felt a bit uneasy about the hunting thing, but you nodded at little Dixon, cheering him when he knocked another can.

“Do you want to try?” Sam asked, handing you the slingshot, and you frowned at it.

“I’m not sure…”

“Just try.”

“Okay…” You aimed at another can and shot the stone, but it passed next to the can without knocking it. “I can’t say I’m surprised…” You chuckled.

“It’s okay, just try again, it’s just practice, I’m sure you can do it too,” Sam encouraged you, and you felt your heart kind of squeezing a bit at how adorable that kid was.

You tried again, and you thought this time it was closer, but the can still didn’t get knocked off.

“That was sad.”

You heard Daryl’s voice and when you looked back, you saw him watching Sam and you through the kitchen’s small window, but he was smirking, and the way he looked at you let you know that he was joking.

“My, thank you,” you joked back, bowing at him, and his smirk grew bigger at that.

“No, it wasn’t bad!” Sam said. “It’s just practice, like Daryl told me, I’m sure you’ll knock the next can!”

“I wish everyone was as encouraging as you in life, kiddo, thanks,” you told him, but Sam just shrugged, passing you another pebble.

You and Sam kept shooting at the cans, him way better than you, until Daryl called you for dinner, and you sat with them on the small table. They were eating their squirrel stew and you the one that Daryl had just made for you, which seemed to have potatoes, carrot and onion…it made you feel all kind of things, to think that he’d asked you to go have dinner and cooked something vegetarian for you…

“Ain’t good?” Daryl asked, sounding insecure, and you realized that you had been staring at the stew in silence while you thought about all that and felt those stubborn butterflies in your belly.

“Oh, no, no, it’s really good,” you rushed to say, flustered, and you ate another spoonful as if to prove it, but you meant it. “It honestly is, you’re good at cooking,” you said, and Sam agreed to, but Daryl scoffed at it.

“If ya say so.”

“We say so,” Sam said, and you chuckled. Daryl just shook his head at you both, eyes on his stew, seeming more than shy…why he had to be so adorable…

“Those potatoes are really good,” you commented, trying to make him feel a little bit less shy and embarrassed, even if he looked cute like that.

“There’s, uh…there’s this guy at the garage, he got a garden, he brings us some of his vegetables when he got to spare,” Daryl explained. “Can save some for ya next time, if ya wanna.”

“That would be really nice, Daryl, thank you!” You grinned at him, and Daryl still seemed shy, but he looked at you with a small smile, that one that you found so damn cute.

After dinner, you went to help Daryl with the dishes, ignoring it when he told you that you didn’t have to.

“Thank you for asking me to come have dinner, Daryl, and for cooking something else for me, it really means a lot,” you said when you finished cleaning up, and Daryl just shrugged, looking down. “I should be going, there’s school tomorrow.”

“We can walk ya,” Daryl offered, but you didn’t want him and Sam having to go all the way to your place and then back to theirs. Besides, you worried that someone might see him walking you this time too, like your coworker, but this time maybe someone who’d ask Daryl instead of you about it…you didn’t want Daryl getting awkward with you if that happened.

“No it’s fine, it’s not late, I can go myself, you’re already at home,” you said.

“We don’t mind…” Daryl shrugged, and you didn’t know what to say, you didn’t want to refuse his kind offer either…your silence made Daryl frown. “But, uh…ya don’t wanna…okay.”

“No, it’s…it’s not that I don’t want to…just…” You decided to be honest before Daryl could think anything worse. “When you walked me back home on New Year’s, one of my dear coworkers saw us, she had a lot to gossip about it.”

Daryl had seemed relaxed around you for a while now, but he seemed to stiff again at your words. “You’re embarrassed they’ll see ya with me again.”

“What?! No!” You didn’t know how he’d jumped to that and you hated it. “Not at all, Daryl, I’m not embarrassed! Why would I! I just…I thought…I thought maybe you’d be…like, yeah, embarrassed of them gossiping…”

Daryl seemed confused at that, scowling at you. “I ain’t…don’t care ‘bout what they wanna say.”

“Okay…okay, good then…”

“But, uh…if ya don’t want them seein’ ya with me ‘cause they’re givin’ ya shit ‘bout it…’cause…ya know, the principal and all that…I get it,” Daryl said, looking down.

“No, Daryl, I don’t care if they see me with you,” you assured him. “I already told them that I’m not going to stop hanging with you, and I told you too, I don’t care what they think or say, okay?” Daryl nodded, but he still seemed a bit unsure, and you didn’t want him to feel like that. “Walk me home, let’s go.”

“Thought ya said ya’ll go by yourself.”

“Changed my mind.” You shrugged, but then you worried that maybe it’d be bothersome and Daryl’d just offered to be polite. “Unless you don’t want to, or it’s a problem, that’s okay, I can go by myself, I mean, you’re at home already, so, yeah, I can go by myself, I was going to, really, so-”

“Stop it,” Daryl cut your ramble. “We’ll walk ya, come on.”

You still weren’t sure you weren’t bothering him, but he looked at you with half a smile, and it made you feel all weird again, but it didn’t look like he didn’t want to walk you home, and you couldn’t help your own smile.

“Okay…okay, thanks…come on, then.”

Just a cute chapter. Y/N makes a new friend in the next...

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

@the-artistic-animal

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon imagine #preapocalypse daryl dixon #twd daryl dixon #twd daryl #daryl twd #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon preapocalypse

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa Pt.13

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Sam Dixon gets in trouble at the school...

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

For a couple of weeks, everything seemed to be calm. No car accidents, no coworkers trying to get your classes canceled or retaliating after the parents supported you…they were still assholes, but you could deal with it, and you hoped the rest of the year was going to be calm like that.

One day, though, as you walked to the teacher’s room during the lunch break, you heard some commotion and rushed to it. You froze for a moment when you saw that another teacher, Gary, was dragging Sam away from three kids, one of them you recognized as the kid of Rachel, one of the teachers, and a year older than little Dixon.

“What happened?!” You asked, scared, looking from Sam, who had a bruised cheekbone and tears in his eyes, to the other teachers.

“Dixon got into a fight,” Gary said, holding Sam’s arm. “I’m taking him to the principal’s.”

“And the other kids?! What with them?” You looked at them, but they didn’t seem hurt, and one of them was smirking but stopped when another teacher looked at him.

“Dixon started it, so he’s the one I’m taking to the principal’s,” Gary said.

“He started it?” You didn’t know if it was true or not, but still… “So he went and picked up a fight with three older kids, out of nothing?”

“Yeah…it doesn’t sound right,” Naomi said, reaching you all too.

“I saw it, I was at the other side of the corridor,” another teacher said. “He threw the first punch.”

“Because he’s stupid and feral like all his family,” one of the other kids said, and Sam, who had been looking down, tried to go for him at that again, but the Gary dragged him back.

“Stop it!”

“Hey!” You looked at the kid who had said that. “That’s a mean thing to say, yeah?” The kid just looked at you like you were an idiot, scoffing.

“Yes, stop it, the three of you,” another teacher said, and at least she wasn’t agreeing with the kid openly. “Go to the classroom.”

“I think they four should go to the principal’s, not just Sam, so we can speak about this, all together, see what’s going on, fix the problem and-” You began, trying to sound professional.

“Sam started it, I’m bringing Sam,” Gary told you without letting you finish. “If you want to talk, do it yourself.”

“This is bullshit…Sam started it? Yeah, sure those other kids did nothing,” Naomi muttered to you. “You go with Sam, I go to try to talk to those other three?”

“Yeah…thanks.” You nodded.

“There’s no need for that.” Rachel, the mother of one of the kids, seemed to come out of nowhere, stopping in front of Naomi when she was going to follow the kids. “I’ll talk with my kid and his friends myself…”

“Sure you will,” Naomi scoffed.

“I’m not his mother here, I’m his teacher,” Rose said, and you almost rolled your eyes at how full of bullshit you knew she was. You were about to turn around and follow Sam and Gary to the principal’s, when Rachel got closer to you. “If your boyfriend’s kid has hurt mine, I’m getting him and you too kicked out of here, don’t think I can’t make it happen,” she whispered to you.

You had never felt the urge to punch someone as you did that moment, didn’t even bother saying that Daryl wasn’t your boyfriend, but Gary was already walking, dragging Sam to the principal’s, and so you glared at Rachel but headed to the principal’s too, Naomi following you.

Gary almost closed the principal’s door on your face, but you held it, and you and Naomi walked in too.

“What’s this and why is everybody here?” The principal said, seeming annoyed.

“Dixon got into a fight,” Gary informed.

“With another three kids that for some reason aren’t here to talk about it,” you pointed.

“He started it,” Gary retorted.

“We can’t really know that,” Naomi said. “The other kids, it looked like-”

“Shut up all of you,” the principal stopped the argument and looked at you. “So…Dixon gets into a fight and you’re around…small wonder.” She smirked at you.

“I wasn’t there, I heard the commotion and so I rushed there,” you explained, trying to remain calm.

“So, she didn’t see that Sam started it,” Gary provided and you rolled your eyes.

“Did someone see it? Because it’s looking to me like nobody did and you all are making assumptions,” you couldn’t help but snap.

“Y/N, dear…maybe you’re not the most suitable for discussing this?” The principal gave you that mean smile. “We talked about it already…you’re too close to Daryl Dixon, you said it wouldn’t affect how you treat Sam, but…”

Before you could snap, Naomi spoke. “I wasn’t there either, but Y/N has a point, nobody saw it, I think…if Sam started it, which we don’t know, I think the other kids might have said something to him, something hurtful.”

“And that’s an excuse to start throwing punches.”

“I…I’m not saying that…”

“It’s not an excuse,” you said, managing to control yourself, trying to go back to sound professional. “But it’s not the first time I see kids saying hurtful things to him and picking on him, I really think we should see into it, do something about it.”

“Maybe, or maybe you’re too involved.” The principal shrugged, and you wondered if maybe you should leave and trust Naomi to deal with it, because it seemed your presence was doing Sam more harm than good. “Kid’s here…let’s ask him…so Sam Dixon…did the kids say something to you? Did they start it? Or did you?” Sam didn’t say anything as he kept looking down. “Just like his uncle…”

“What?” You couldn’t help but ask.

“Daryl Dixon…he was in my classroom, my first year of teaching… he was older than Sam but…yeah, they’re the same.” The principal had been looking at Sam, but then she looked at you. “Only, he’d get in more fights than Sam…not a month that kid would go without his knuckles bloodied, had to drag him away from another kid myself once, the animal broke that kid’s nose and all…then you’d ask him about it and he’d act all skittish, wouldn’t even look at you…” The principal scoffed. “Just like this other Dixon kid.”

“I really don’t think we should be speaking like this with Sam here,” you said through gritted teeth.

“Principal’s just saying the truth,” Gary said. “And the father, Merle Dixon? I went with him to high school…man wasn’t just an asshole, he was a beast, there was no fight he wasn’t in...saw one up and close myself, sent one of my friends to the infirmary.”

“And I’m sure like Sam now, he started it and you and your friends did nothing,” you snapped. “Again, we shouldn’t be speaking things like that with Sam here.”

“You’re too involved Y/N, you can’t be objective,” the principal said. “I want you to leave.”

“First tell me how are we going to deal with this,” you didn’t let her intimidate you.

“We? Who’s we, I am writing a report on what Sam did today and it’s going to his folder, and I am sending him home,” the principal said.

“That is, that’s your solution for this?” You scoffed…sure, why bother on trying to see what had happened, on talking with the kids, on saying why it was bad to fight, and to say hurtful things about others, to investigate what was happening with Sam and the kids that, you knew, were always bullying him and saying things about his family.

“Yes, not good enough, right?” The principal smiled menacingly at you. “Maybe he should be expelled for a month.”

Again, you felt like you were making everything worse for Sam, that he was being punished because of you and your constant pushing at the principal, and you knew you should shut up, but you were too angry.

“You can’t do that.”

“Oh, can’t I?” The principal squinted at you. “Well, I’m about.”

“Yeah? Show me the report that you’re going to write, not for Sam, the one you need to write to expel him, I want to read all you have to say, all this grand investigation you’re going to conduct on the issue, right? Why are you expelling him, what happened, what the other kids have to say, what parents and families have to say, not only theirs, teacher’s witness and testimony, both about this fight and any other problem with Sam and kids bullying him, if any other kid and parent know more about that…in fact, I think I might get in contact with the school inspector, tell them to come see how things work in this school.”

You didn’t know to which point it might be an empty threat, if the inspector might ignore you, or might not care, or even agree with the principal…and so you almost were the first surprised when it seemed to work…you guessed the principal didn’t want an inspector on her back checking the school.

“I’ll phone Daryl Dixon, tell him to come pick Sam at this moment, take him home…he can come back tomorrow, for now,” the principal said, glaring at you as if she wanted to slap you. “Now, you all, leave.”

Gary and Naomi just nodded, turning to leave, and you looked at Sam, who was still looking down and silent. “Come on, let’s wait for your uncle.”

“Sam’s going to wait for Daryl here,” the principal said, and you decided not to fight it, in case things would go south again, and so you walked out of the office too.

Once out, you let out a sigh, running a hand through your hair and tugging at it in frustration.

“That was awesome,” Naomi said, you hadn’t even noticed that she was waiting for you. “I thought you were going to punch her or something.”

“I wish…” You snorted.

“She’s full of shit,” Naomi said and you nodded. “It was a good idea, an inspector would have a field day here.”

“Or they might be just like her…I don’t know…” You sighed.

“Yeah…I’m sorry they’re still blaming Sam, but could be worse, you did all you could, and you made it better, yeah?” She said and you just shrugged, you still felt they were being rougher with him because of you. “I never imagined you could be that scary…”

“Sure, terrifying” you snorted, but smiled weakly at Naomi when she nudged you. “I’m going to wait for Daryl, I want to tell him first.”

“Okay.”

You walked to the yard to wait for Daryl, and he arrived way sooner than you thought he could. You knew he rode, but it was the first time you saw him on his bike, that he parked next to you.

“What the hell happened?!” He asked you as he dismounted.

“What did the principal tell you?”

“That I had to come pick Sam right now and then she hung up on me,” Daryl told you, and you noticed how worried he seemed. “Is he hurt?!”

“No, no…not really…” A bit bruised, sure, but nothing too bad… you didn’t know how to tell Daryl what had happened, knowing how it was going to affect him. “Just…don’t freak out…”

“The fuck’s goin’ on?!” Daryl snapped again, walking into the school with you behind him.

“Don’t get mad…” You told him, though you knew it was a lost cause. “Sam, he, uh…got into a fight, but he’s not hurt, just a bruise, but-”

“A fight?” Daryl snapped and you hadn’t been wrong when you thought he was going to explode. “Ain’t ya supposed to not let that happen?!”

“I…I wasn’t…” You began but decided not to try to explain yourself, if Daryl wanted to be upset, then let him, you rather talk about little Dixon. “Look Daryl, the thing is, they’re blaming it on Sam, saying that it was him, but, don’t be mad at him, listen to him if he speaks to you, I think the other kids said something to him and-”

“And ya didn’t stop it!” Daryl snapped again, and before you could say anything, he walked past you and towards the principal’s, and you watched him go, letting out a sigh…this really hadn’t gone good…

“Problems with the boyfriend?” Rachel mocked you, walking down the corridor, and you had enough for the day.

“You know, yes, I do have a problem,” you snapped. “My problem is that I have to work with someone so unprofessional, so bad at her job, such asshole of a person, that all the kids from her group want to change classes because nobody can’t stand her, I wouldn’t even be surprised if her own kid, who seems to take after her and enjoy bullying other kids, wanted to get away from her too…so yes, I do have a problem…I wish she was the only one, though.”

Rachel glared at you, you didn’t know if looking more angry or shocked, but she didn’t seem to know what to say, and so she just walked away, fuming.

“That was awesome…” Naomi said, having witnessed your outburst. “Unwise, but awesome.”

“Unwise for sure…” You sighed. “What a shit of a day…”

Daryl left the principal’s quicker than you thought he would, slamming the door behind him, with Sam holding his hand.

“Daryl, hey,” you tried again, but Daryl didn’t stop, ignoring you, still looking agitated, and Sam was still looking down.

“Shit…” You sighed, and you felt Naomi squeezing your hand.

“He’s being an asshole.”

“No…I mean, yes, kind of but…I get it…he was upset and I was the first person he had in front of him…he’ll apologize…” You hoped so, at least.

“He better!”

“Want to come have a coffee before we head back to class?” You asked, needing some distraction.

“Get going, I need to do something first, I’ll see you there,” Naomi said as she began walking down the corridor too.

“Okay…”

Later that day, once in your art activity, you missed little Dixon, and you wondered how he was feeling, hoping that he was okay. Just fifteen minutes into the activity, though, the custodian came to tell you that you had a phone call from Daryl Dixon…you frowned, wondering what he wanted, hoping that it wasn’t more bad news.

“I’m sorry, but could you make sure the kids are okay while I answer?” You asked the custodian, who nodded. You felt uneasy leaving the kids alone. “Thanks, for everything, really.”

“I was new here once too…ain’t fun to go through all the bullshit you’re goin’ through.”

“Yeah…yeah, thank you,” you smiled and rushed to the office, picking up the phone. “Daryl.”

“Hey…”

“There’s something wrong?”

“No…uh…I…I’m sorry ‘bout this mornin’…I didn’t mean…sorry I snapped at ya like that…” Daryl apologized, and you smiled, you’d known he would.

“Okay…I get it, Daryl. Thank you for apologizing.”

“Ya, uh…ya wanna come here, when yer done with the class?” Daryl asked you, taking you by surprise.

“Really?”

“If ya don’t’ wanna it’s fine…”

“No, no, I…I’d love to.” You wanted to check on Sam, see how he was doing, and also see Daryl and talk to him about what had happened.

“Okay, we, uh…we’ll be here.

“Alright, see you later.”

Once all the kids had been picked up, you headed towards the Dixon’s cabin. Once at the yard, you heard the sound of cans getting hit by pebbles, and so you walked around the house, finding little Dixon shooting cans with his slingshot.

“Hey, kiddo,” you greeted, and Sam turned to look at you, but then he looked down.

“I’m sorry ‘bout this mornin’, Y/N…are you mad at me?”

“No, sweetheart, I’m not mad at you,” you rushed to assure him, reaching out for him, and he went to hug you. “I know you’re sorry, but promise you won’t get in more fights, okay? It’s not right.”

“Okay.” Sam nodded, and you brushed your thumb over his bruised cheekbone gingerly.

“Does it hurt?”

“No.” Sam shook his head. “Daryl checked it already…he says he ain’t mad at me…but…”

“He’s not, sweetheart, I promise,” you rushed to assure him. “He was just very worried about you and doesn’t want you getting into fights.”

“I know….I’m sorry…” Little Dixon said, looking down.

“Sweetheart, did the kids say something to you that hurt you and made you angry?” You asked him softly, and for a moment you thought Sam wasn’t going to say anything, but then he nodded without looking at you…you knew it. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I promise I’m going to make it stop.” You didn’t know how, but you sure were going to try. “I know that it hurt you, but if it happens again, no fighting, alright? That’s not good. You tell the closer teacher and then you come find me, alright?”

Sam shrugged, and then looked at you. “But the other teachers are mean to you ‘cause you help me,” he told you, and you felt angry at the world while at the same time feeling your heart breaking a bit at how little Dixon was looking at you.

“No, sweetheart, it’s not that,” you assured him, in fact, you still thought they might be going harder on Sam due to their dislike of you. “It’s not your fault, don’t think that, okay?”

“Okay…” Sam nodded but he still seemed sad and you couldn’t stop yourself from hugging him again.

“Where’s your uncle, sweetheart?” You asked, wanting to talk to Daryl too.

“He’s in the kitchen thinkin’ what to make you for dinner,” Sam told you, and when you looked towards the kitchen’s window, you noticed that Daryl had been watching you both from there, but he retreated when he saw you looking.

“Okay, I’m going to speak to him.”

“Because I was bad?” Sam asked and you thought your heart might be breaking again.

“No, sweetheart, of course not.” You assured him. “Just because I want to speak to him…But no more fighting, alright?” You told him again, and he nodded.

The backdoor of the cabin was ajar, and so you pushed it open, walking inside and finding Daryl standing in the middle of the living room, looking down when he saw you walking in.

“Hey…” You greeted as you closed the door behind you, but Daryl remained silent for a couple of seconds.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered without looking at you. “’bout this mornin’ and snappin’…the stuff I yelled to ya…”

“I know…” You let out a sigh. “Thank you for apologizing,” you said and Daryl nodded, seeming shy and still not looking at you, and you approached him. “I’m really sorry about what happened with Sam…I wish I could have stopped it, prevent it from happening, but I wasn’t there, when I arrived the other teachers were already stopping the fight.”

“I know, I…” Daryl glanced at you before looking down. “Didn’t mean what I said to ya this mornin’…I just…I’m sorry…”

“I know.” You reached to take Daryl’s hand, seeming to take him by surprise, but he held your hand. “Are you okay?” You asked and Daryl nodded. “And Sam?”

Daryl let out a sigh. “Dunno…”

Daryl seemed worried and a bit lost, and you squeezed his hand. “It’s normal that he’s upset, but he’ll feel better, just be there for him.”

“I try…” Daryl murmured.

“I know you do, and he knows it too,” you assured him. “Did he tell you what happened?”

“Kids talkin’ shit ‘bout him and Dixon’s…same old…” Daryl seemed frustrated and angry again, and you brushed his knuckles with your thumb softly, trying to calm him down. “Ain’t the first time this happens…but I told him he can’t get into fights even if they say all that…’cause…don’t want him to be like Merle and me, and I know it’d just get him more trouble…but it doesn’t matter, they go for him anyway…”

“I’m sorry, Daryl, it’s not fair,” you told him. “I’m going to look into it, I promise, I’m going to work so this doesn’t happen again, I’m going to make sure nor Sam or any other kid goes through this again, I’m going to make it stop.”

Daryl looked at you, chewing on his lip before looking down. “Thanks, but, uh…I know ya wanna do all that, but…uh…ya ain’t gonna fix nothin’, all ya’ll get is trouble and get angry…” Daryl glanced at you as if he thought you were going to be mad, but you snorted.

“Thanks for all that trust.”

“I didn’t mean…I…I just…I mean…” Daryl stammered, seeming frustrated with himself, and it was kind of cute.

“I know,” you stopped his ramble, squeezing his hand. “I know what you mean…doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.”

“Yeah…yeah I know ya’re gonna…” Daryl nodded, giving you a soft, brief smile. “Your friend, uh, Naomi…she came after me, reached me before I even got on the bike…told me I’m an asshole.”

You couldn’t help your chuckle. “I’m sorry, Daryl.”

“Nah, I, uh…I deserved it, I was an asshole to you.”

“Maybe a tiny bit…” You half-joked, and Daryl snorted, smirking at you.

“She told me what ya did, tried for them not to blame only Sam, tried to find what had happened,” Daryl said and you nodded. “That ya snapped at the principal, when she was talkin’ shit and wanted to expel Sam…that ya, uh…threatened her?”

“I wouldn’t call it threatening…” You snorted. “I just said I’d tell the school inspector.”

“Said ya snapped at another teacher too.”

“Yeah…I might have…” You said vaguely, you were sure Rachel had gone to tell the principal what you had said to her the moment Daryl left the office.

Daryl let out a sigh. “Thank ya, but, uh…you can’t do that,” he said and you frowned at him. “Told ya already, ain’t good for ya, it’s gonna get ya into trouble, gonna make things worse for ya, and-”

“Daryl,” you stopped him. “Don’t start with that again. I don’t care what they think, and they already tried canceling my art activity and couldn’t, anything else they’re going to try, I don’t care, let them…there’s not much they can do anyway, can’t fire me or anything like that…all they can do? Be assholes and talk shit. And I don’t care about that.”

“Ya, uh…yer always wonderin’ why they’re still assholes to ya...why they pick on ya, always…” Daryl said. “It’s ‘cause me and Sam, ‘cause they saw how ya were with him the moment he stepped in yer classroom, ‘cause ya wouldn’t listen to their shit, let them or kids stay bullshit ‘bout Sam if ya were there... ‘cause ya talked to me too…and then ya started hangin’ with us…” You knew that Daryl thought like that, he’d told you already, but at that moment, you couldn’t help your snort, and Daryl frowned at you. “What?”

“You think all that…I think that all those teachers are worse to Sam, treat him rougher, because they dislike me and they know you and I are friends, and so they pick on him more for that…in fact, I think I might have made things worse for Sam this morning, snapping the way I did,” you explained.

“What…nah.” Daryl’s frown deepened. “Nah, ya know most of them were assholes to him before ya came, ‘cause he’s a Dixon, ya know what they say…ain’ t ya.”

“And you know that they were pricks to me since the moment I arrived, before knowing you or Sam,” you said…but you felt Daryl would stick to his point, and you to yours. “So…let’s agree that they’re assholes who would pick on us anyway for any shit reason, stop blaming each other for making it harder for the other, and blame the actual assholes…okay?”

Daryl blinked at you, but then he smirked. “Okay.”

You were glad to see his smile, and that he seemed more relaxed, but he still looked tired and sad, and you couldn’t help but reach out to wrap your arms around him and hug him. At first, Daryl didn’t move, and you were afraid you were overstepping, but before you moved away, Daryl wrapped his arms around you too, leaning into you with an exhausted sigh.

“I’m sorry that you have to deal with all this…” You whispered, meaning every word, and Daryl didn’t say anything but you felt him hiding his face on your shoulder, the gesture making butterflies fly in your belly.

You knew that you cared for Daryl, you had no doubt about it. You had admitted to yourself too that you had a crush on him, even though you didn’t know what to do about it…but now, as you held him to you like that, trying to comfort him, you wondered if you weren’t kind of a bit in love with him too, maybe…

The thought made your heart skip a beat and you froze. Daryl seemed to notice and he pulled back as if he thought that maybe you didn’t want him to hug you like that any longer, which was pretty much the opposite, but you didn’t know how to tell him, shy, and he too seemed bashful as he looked down.

“What, uh…what are you going to make for dinner?” You asked, out of the blue, wanting to change topics, wanting you both to stop feeling so shy, and wanting to stop thinking about maybe being in love with Daryl.

He frowned at you, seeming taken aback by your unexpected question. “I, uh…” he glanced towards the kitchen. “I dunno…I got some vegetables, from the guy with the garden,” he explained. “Thought…dunno, ya fried some the other day for lunch, thought ‘bout doing the same.”

“Okay.” You smiled at him and headed to the kitchen. “Veggie stir-fry is it.”

“I, uh…saved some of them for ya,” Daryl said, nodding towards a paper bag on the counter.

“Thank you, Daryl, really.” You smiled before leaning to look towards the small window. Sam wasn’t shooting pebbles at the cans any more, and was now sitting down on the ground, drawing on his notebook. “I know it’s not the first time kids pester him…I don’t like that he got into a fight, it’s not right, I told him, but honestly…I’m surprised he hasn’t snapped before to the kids that pick on him, that he’s so self-controlled, he’s only six.”

“Yeah, but, uh…ain’t the first time he gets into a fight, told ya.”

You hummed, nodding. “He hadn’t in all this year.”

“Yeah…told him not to do that again, last time it happened…he knew I was, uh…upset…” Daryl seemed regretful, and you wondered if he’d snapped at Sam without meaning to when that happened. “And this year, with ya, it got better…told ya, ya don’t let kids tell him shit when yer around, and uh…he made friends with the kids that stay to your art activity, so…yeah…” Daryl shrugged.

“Thank you for saying that, Daryl…I’m not sure if I’m helping, but if I did, then I’m glad,” you said, smiling to him, before glancing at little Dixon through the window again. “Do you know what they said to him to make him snap after all this time?”

“Ain’t sure…” Daryl looked through the window too. “But somethin’ ‘bout Merle.”

“Yeah?” You chuckled. “I’ve seen him endure kids and adults say hurtful shit about him…but they say something about his dad, and he snaps…” You smiled at Daryl, and he seemed confused at you. “He loves Merle and family just as much as you do.”

Daryl blinked at you and then looked down, shrugging, but you noticed the small smile that tugged at his lips. “Yeah…I guess…”

“You should tell Merle, I think he’d be happy to know that,” you said.

“Yeah…” Daryl smiled softly, though he looked sad. “Would be proud of Sam getting into a fight too,” he scoffed.

“I bet.” You snorted. “As long as he doesn’t encourage it.”

“He would.” Daryl nodded. “He always told me I couldn’t let people talk like that ‘bout us Dixon’s, that I had to, uh…stop them…”

“Mmh mmh…the principal, she told me that you got into a lot of fights when you were her student…little trouble maker were you,” you joked, or at least you hoped that Daryl knew that you were joking and he wouldn’t get angry…he seemed to get it, because he snorted, and he smirked at you.

“Yeah…you said Sam’s, uh, self-controlled? I wasn’t,” he said and you snorted. “When kids picked on me or talked shit ‘bout Dixons, I’d snap and fight them…they were assholes, but uh…I could be an asshole by myself too, it wasn’t only them…but…Sam ain’t like me, or like Merle, and I don’t want him to be,” Daryl said, and you thought that Sam was kind of like Daryl in some things, no wonder if he had raised him, but you didn’t say anything. “So, uh…don’t want him gettin’ into fights…ain’t gonna do him any good.”

“Yeah…” You nodded, reaching to squeeze Daryl’s hand again. “It’s not going to happen again, I’m going to work on this so things get better.”

You thought that Daryl might tell you again that you couldn’t fix anything, but he didn’t, he just looked at you and nodded with a small smile, squeezing your hand back. You didn’t say anything, just smiled at him and turned to look through the window again.

“Hey, Sam, you’re going to get cold out there,” you called for little Dixon. “Why you don’t come in here to help me and Daryl with dinner?” Sam looked at you, and you were more than glad to see him smiling.

“Okay.”

N/A:

They’re a family and everyone knows but them.

I think you’re going to like the next chapter...

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

@coffeebooksandfandom @ellerelly @gruffle1 @twdeadlysins @yenne-yen-illustrations @mychemicalimagines @haleypearce @superflannel @sourwolf-sterek32 @angelontheinside @firehoopinmama @lonewolf471 @hopplessdreamer @daryldixonandfrogs @fanfictionsilove @collecting-stories @princessxpunk @hells-mistress @justyouraveragefangirl1967 @carnationworld @smiithys @polkadottedpillowcase @elisdays @mysterious-398 @captainbuckyboobear @dazzledamazon @spidergirla5 @lilythemadqueen @lightning-butterfly @purplebtsmagic @barra-cudaaa @courtnytrash04 @amazingapricot @seizethesam @harpersmariano @eternalslingshot @fuseburner @phoenixblack89 @boywivlove @amaroho @woundmetender @classyunknownlover @masterninjacow @tenderlyunlikelyexpert @shadowfoxey @kaitieskidmore1 @lilac-day-dreaming @datidixon @nj01 @rachelxwayne @elamy17 @angelofthor @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @thanossexual @daryldixonstorm @sttrawberries @huffledor-able541 @lucillethings @browneyes528 @soraitmnt @thereshallbenoother @chickenparmandstoicvulcans @leej2468 @heartlessmarvello @itsmeempar @redneckstrash @bxxbxy @bitchynicole @pulplorrd @supernatural79impala @the-artistic-animal-lover @selfsun @maggie-l-m @baseballbitch116 @tranquiiit @sweatywildpanda @theteaset @my-current-fandom-is @sapphire1727 @insidetoughcake @whitexwingedxdoves @nickangel13 @oceans-daughter-3 @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @sesshomaru-lover @a-dlv @thetypewriterimproviser @lettersshapes @jodiereedus22 @the-artistic-animal @spenciepoo338 @wickedscorpio22 @askerror87 @mysticswan67 @srhxpci @riverscyberwife @actiaslunaa

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fix #daryl dixon preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl dixon #daryl preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl

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twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa Pt.12

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Y/N has a proble but Daryl has her back, again.

You can find the previous chapters and more fics in my Masterlist

On a Saturday morning, you were on your way to the veterinarian with your cat. It was for nothing severe, just for her annual checkout and vaccines, as you had assured little Dixon when he heard you talking about it last evening with Daryl, while you both made dinner.

There was not a veterinarian in that town, though, so you had to drive to the nearest town, but that was just a twenty-minute drive, so it wasn’t that big of a deal, and you were lucky that the vet also opened some Saturday mornings, so you didn’t need to take time off your art activity for it, now that it was back.

Once there, the veterinarian checked your cat, saying that she was perfect, much to your relief, and so once everything was done, you headed back home.

You’d been driving for a little while, though, when suddenly a car seemed to come out of nowhere, ignoring a stop and going way faster than you were sure anyone should be driving on those secondary country roads.

You slammed the breaks, and if you hadn’t managed to act that fast, slow down the speed of your car as you did while turning, it’d probably had been much worse, but still, the half-front of your car crashed against the side of the other car.

Your first instinct was to panic, once you realized what had just happened, but some part of you knew that it couldn’t have been too bad, if all the pain you’d felt was the seatbelt digging into your skin as you shifted forwards and the dull pain at the back of your head when you hit it on the headrest as you were thrown backward again.

Your first thought was not for you, though, but for your cat, and you turned to look at the backseat in panic, hearing her meowing like crazy. The carrier had fallen from the seat and you rushed to pick it up. She didn’t seem hurt, you had placed inside of the carrier several towels and cushions to try and make it nicer for her since she hated traveling, but she seemed very scared.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but you’re okay, yes, you’re fine, aren’t you…” You didn’t know if you were convincing your cat of yourself, still panicking, reaching to pet your car, trying to calm her down, before placing the carrier back on the seat.

Your second thought was to the person in the other car, and so once you put the cat carrier back on the seat, you got out of your car, probing at the back of your head, which still hurt a bit, but it didn’t seem too bad.

“Are you okay?” You asked to the man who was getting out of his car too. He seemed good, though, and his car seemed in better shape than yours, with only a dent on one of the backdoors, even if a big one, but looking at yours, the dent on the front seemed bigger and worse, and you gave thanks again that you and the cat seemed to be fine.

“Yeah, and you?” The man asked.

“Yes, I’m good.”

“You sure?” The man asked again, and you wondered if it was for how the front of your car looked, but he was looking at you, and only then did you realize that you were crying.

“Yes…yes, I’m fine,” you said again, rubbing your eyes. “Just scared.”

The man nodded, and once he seemed to see that you were okay enough, he went to examine the dented door of his car, while you did the same with the front of your car, even though you had no idea of what to check. Once the man checked that his car was not too bad and could drive with no problem, and that you seemed good enough, you exchanged insurance numbers and he drove away.

You had to drive back to the town, you knew, even if you hadn��t really come out of your fright yet, and so you got into your car too. You checked your cat again, who was still meowing pitifully, but she seemed unhurt even if anxious and scared. She usually spent the trips to the vet meowing like that, though, but the accident had made her even more anxious and scared, and you felt more than guilty.

You wanted to drive back home, try to make her feel better, and then go to the garage where Daryl worked to get your car fixed…your hands shook as you placed them on the wheel, though, but you took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

When you tried to start the car, it made a sound that even you knew couldn’t be good…shit…You knew you shouldn’t risk driving it with it sounding like that, if you were able to get it running, and you resigned to call the tow truck.

You didn’t have the number, though, and so you decided to call the garage where Daryl worked, you had the number in case you needed to call him about Sam someday. You could explain to them what had happened and ask if they could send someone…besides, you thought Daryl was working that morning. You really hoped he was.

“Hello?” A voice answered the phone.

“Hello…could I speak to Daryl Dixon, please?” You knew you could just explain to anyone what had happened, but you really felt like you wanted to hear Daryl’s voice at that moment.

“Sure…who are you?” The voice sounded confused.

“I’m Y/N.”

“Okay.”

You had to wait for a bit until you heard Daryl’s voice. “Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s…it’s Y/N…” You hated how your voice was still weak and shaky. “I, uh…I was driving back from the vet and…kind of had an accident-”

“Ya okay?!” Daryl asked before you could say anything else.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry, the cat and I are okay,” you assured, noticing that he had sounded worried. “It looks worse than it is, I think…but the car is making a weird sound and barely running, could you tell someone to come pick it up, please? And me…”

“Where are ya?”

“Main road between the towns, kind of in the middle.”

“I’m goin’.”

“No, no, if you have to work just tell someone, or the tow or-”

“Wait there,” Daryl said, ignoring what you were saying and hanging up, and you knew he was on his way. You felt guilty, but also grateful, and at that moment, when you were still scared and shocked, you wanted to see Daryl.

Around ten minutes later, a pick-up showed up on the road, approaching your car. You saw it was Daryl and Sam, and so you got out of the car, waving at them.

“Hi, guys, thanks,” you greeted when they parked the pick-up next to your car and got out of it.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked as he walked towards you, looking scared as he looked at your car, and then he was reaching to hug you, while Daryl looked from you to the car, then back at you, silent but seeming worried too.

“Yes, sweetheart, thank you,” you assured him, holding him a bit tighter than you wanted, but you were still shaken.

“Is Laura okay?” Sam asked you and you nodded, but you felt your eyes watering again, you’d been so scared for your cat.

“Yes, she’s good, but can you go check her and try to make her feel better? She was very scared,” you said, you didn’t want him thinking that you were hurt if he saw your tears, and you wanted to talk with Daryl about your car…besides, you really wanted someone to check on your cat and be with her at that moment.

“Sure.”

Sam went to the backseat of your cat and you approached Daryl. “How bad is it?”

“Ya okay?” He asked you instead of answering, and you nodded. “Ya sure?” He looked at your face, and you knew you had tears in your eyes, and then he looked at the mark that the seatbelt had left on the skin of your neck and shoulder.

“It’s nothing…I just…I’m not hurt…I was just scared,” you said, swallowing hard and trying to blink your tears, even though you were still shaking. “I’m good…”

Daryl didn’t say anything, but then, you felt his arms wrapping around you as he pulled you to him. You were taken by surprise, but you wrapped your arms around him too, couldn’t stop yourself from snuggling to him, but Daryl didn’t seem to mind as he held you to him, and you didn’t know how the smell of motor oil and smoke could be so comforting.

“Thanks…” You whimpered, almost melting into him. “I thought…I was scared thinking that something had happened to my cat…getting hurt or….or killed…or maybe the carrier breaking and then maybe she’d run away scared and get lost or killed…it’d be my fault…” You babbled, you couldn’t help it, the idea of your cat maybe haven gotten badly hurt or killed at the accident terrified you, so much that you hadn’t even stopped to think that you could have gotten hurt too.

“It’s okay…” Daryl murmured, and you felt his fingers timidly caressing your hair, comforting you, but when he placed his hand at the back of your head to pull you close, you flinched when he touched the spot you’d hit. Daryl pulled away, frowning at you. “Ya hurt yer head?”

“No…well, hit it on the headrest,” you admitted. “But it’s nothing, it doesn’t hurt, only if I touch it, but my head doesn’t hurt, I’m not dizzy or anything, I’m good.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, and you noticed his blue eyes going again to the mark that the seatbelt had left on your skin, and that was already bruising, before he brushed his fingers over it ever so gently, and even in that situation, you felt your skin tingling at it.

“Does it hurt?” Little Dixon asked, and you realized that he’d gotten out of the car and was looking at you and the bruising too.

“No, sweetheart,” you assured him. “I’m not hurt, just scared.”

“It had to be scary,” Sam said, hugging you again, and you didn’t know how to say how grateful you were for the Dixon’s.

Daryl was back at looking at your car, lifting the hood, and you let out a sigh. “How bad? Besides the dent…”

“Not bad…” Daryl said, looking at…whatever was he looking. “Motor’s touched but…ain’t too bad.” He closed the hood again. “I’ll fix it...let’s go.”

“Thanks…”

You took the cat carrier, placing it on the backseat of the pick-up, and Sam sat down next to it, saying that he’d keep her company and make sure she was alright, and you were honestly glad of it. Daryl got your car on the pickup’s bed and then got inside the pickup too, sitting behind the wheel, next to you.

“Can you stop at my place before going to the garage?” You asked once he began driving. “To leave the cat, she’s very scared and anxious.”

Daryl nodded. “Ain’t goin’ to the garage, gonna take the car home, get some things from the garage and work on it this weekend.”

“No, Daryl, it’s the weekend, you don’t have to work,” you told him, you didn’t want him spending his scarce free time on that, and you suspected he might not want to charge you either. “Get it to the garage, you know I don’t even use it.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, and you were pretty sure he was just going to ignore you nonetheless.

The drive was silent, filled only with little Dixon talking to your cat and sometimes to you too, but you noticed Daryl glancing at you from time to time, as if wanting to make sure that you were alright. Soon, you reached the town, and Daryl parked in front of your place.

“Thanks, guys, really, thank you so much,” you said.

“Ain’t nothin’…” Daryl shrugged. “Ya, uh…ya wanna come to our place, once ya leave the cat? Get some lunch or somethin’.”

You were sure that Daryl was asking you because you were still shaken and he was still worried, wanting to make sure you were alright. You didn’t want to impose, take more of his time, but you really wanted to go with him…you didn’t want to be alone, think about the accident…

“Yes, Y/N, come with us!” Little Dixon said.

“I…okay, okay, thanks.” You nodded, grateful. “But first I have to make sure that my cat is okay and calm at home.”

“Yeah.” Daryl nodded. “I’m gonna go to the garage, get some stuff I need for yer car, then come pick ya up, okay?”

“Okay…okay, thanks.”

Once at home, you checked yet once again that your cat was alright. When she realized that she was back home, she stopped meowing, walking out of the carrier as you opened it, and you picked her up to check her, but she seemed unharmed and like nothing hurt her. You left her on the floor again, thinking that she’d go run to hide, but she didn’t, she just went to her water bowl, drank some, and then went to lie on her favorite cushion of the sofa while she cleaned herself. All in all, she seemed alright, probably she hadn’t known what had happened, just that her carrier had fallen from the car seat because you were a driving idiot.

Now sure that your cat was fine, you tried to get a hold of yourself…you weren’t crying, but you were still shaken and your heart was still beating a bit too fast, and so you took deep breaths, trying to calm down, remind yourself that your cat was fine, you were fine…

By the time Daryl and Sam came to pick you up, you were feeling better, even if still a bit shaken. You followed them back to their pick up, this time you three on the front seat with Sam between Daryl and you, and you were glad for little Dixon’s animated talk that helped you to take your mind off the accident.

Once at their place, Daryl headed to your car, and you followed him. “You really don’t need to work on this the weekend,” you told him again, but he just shrugged, opening the hood and setting to work.

You weren’t very sure of what to do, but it was past lunchtime by then, and so you decided to make yourself busy preparing some food.

“Hey, Daryl, it’s okay if I cook some lunch?” You asked and he nodded, focused on checking you didn’t know what in your car’s motor, before he looked at you.

“Yeah…thanks, use whatever ya wanna from the kitchen.”

“Okay…do you want to help me with lunch, Sam?” You asked and he nodded.

You felt shy going through Daryl’s stuff in his kitchen, but Sam handed you anything that you needed and didn’t know where to find, and soon, lunch was ready. You had brought with you some vegetables that you needed to use, and so you decided to make a stir-fry.

Once it was ready, you went to the door to call for Daryl.

“Lunch is ready.”

“Okay…start eatin’ if ya wanna…”

You waited for a bit, but Daryl wasn’t coming and Sam was hungry, and so you decided to have lunch with him. After that, he helped you wash the dishes, and then he began telling you about the book he was reading. Daryl was still not coming, and so you left Sam reading his book, reheated leftovers of the stir-fry, and placed them on a plate for Daryl.

You walked out of the cabin and approached him. “Lunch.”

“In a sec…” He said, looking at the motor of the car instead of you.

“You said that half an hour ago…eat.”

Daryl looked at you, seeming a bit surprised when he saw that you had brought him a plate with food and were almost nudging him with it.

“Thanks…” He cleaned his hands on a rag and took the plate, sitting down with it on the old stars of the porch, that creaked under his weight, and you sat down next to him. “It’s good,” he said as he munched.

“Thanks…it has broccoli so I wasn’t sure you were going to eat it,” you joked and Daryl snorted, smirking at you.

“I’m gonna keep workin’ on your car,” Daryl said once he finished the food. “Ain’t too bad, I’ll finish it today.”

Leaving the plate on the stairs, you followed him, watching him as he swiftly worked…it was clear that he knew what he was doing more than enough, and that he enjoyed it.

“You’re good at this,” you commented and Daryl glanced at you.

“Ya don’t know, I haven’t fixed it yet.” He shrugged before he focused on the motor again.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t see you’re good at it,” you said and Daryl didn’t say anything to it. “And that you like it, yeah?” Daryl nodded, and you watched him in silence for a bit, before speaking again. “Did you study mechanics?”

“Nah, I, uh…” Daryl glanced at you before looking at the motor again. “Didn’t study nothing…dropped out of school…”

“Okay.” You hoped you hadn’t made him uncomfortable. “You always can go back to study…if that’s something you want to do, I mean, study mechanics…not that you need it, though, you don’t,” you pointed, not wanting Daryl to believe that you thought that. “Just because you like it.”

Daryl just hummed at that, but it didn’t look like you had made him uncomfortable or angry. Then, he finally looked up from the hood of your car, closing it. “Should work now…” He muttered, but you thought he was talking more to himself than to you.

Getting into your car, he turned the engine on, and your car came back to life, not making any weird sound now.

“You fixed it!” You grinned.

“Yeah…looks like so…” Daryl nodded, giving you a half-smile as he got out of your car.

“Thank you!” You couldn’t stop yourself from reaching out and hugging Daryl, even if it was just for a couple of seconds, not that he seemed to be bothered or to mind it, even if both of you looked down bashfully when you pulled back.

“Told ya it wasn’t bad.” He shrugged.

Sam seemed to have heard the sound of your car, and he walked out of the cabin too. “Is it workin’?”

“Yes!” You grinned. “Daryl fixed it! Your uncle is really good at it!”

“Yes, he is.”

Daryl scoffed, rolling his eyes at you both and seeming shy. “Yeah, almost like I work fixin’cars, or somethin’.”

“That you work on it doesn’t mean you couldn’t be bad at it…look at all my coworkers,” you joked, and Daryl snorted.

“I’m gonna fix the dent.”

You didn’t leave right away when Daryl fixed the dent, instead, you stayed at the Dixon’s for the whole day, and you were grateful that they seemed to want to have you around, so you wouldn’t have to be alone at home, overthinking the accident.

You watched while Sam trained with the slingshot, helped by Daryl, trying your luck sometimes too, trying to follow Daryl’s instructions. Then, you painted with Sam for a while, talking with him, trying to make conversation with Daryl, glad whenever you managed to have him speaking with you two too.

Later, you cooked dinner with Daryl, and after dining with them, when you were going to get on your car to go home, Daryl told you that he’d drive it, just to check that it was actually running okay, and then he and Sam would walk back home. Part of you wanted to decline, say he didn’t have to, but the part of you who wanted to say yes won.

Your car seemed to work without a problem, and soon, Daryl was parking it on your usual spot in front of your place.

“Thanks for everything, Daryl, really,” you told him as he turned off the motor. “I don’t know how to tell you how much everything you did today means.”

“Was nothin’…” Daryl murmured.

You didn’t say anything else, but you leaned to kiss his cheek, either feeling brave enough or not overthinking it enough to stop. Daryl froze at it, blinking at you, but then he was giving you that cute, half-smile of him as he looked down bashfully, and once again, butterflies fluttered in your belly.

Once you three got out of your car, Daryl locked it and passed you the keys.

“Thanks again,” you told him before smiling at Sam. “And thank you too, sweetheart, for making me feel better when I was scared.

Sam grinned at you, reaching out to hug you, before he went to hold Daryl’s hand. “Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, guys, thanks for everything.”

N/A I promised more hugs, not how those where going to be delivered...also...what if next chapter is not Y/N having a problem for once...but maybe Sam...

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

@coffeebooksandfandom @ellerelly @gruffle1 @twdeadlysins @yenne-yen-illustrations @mychemicalimagines @haleypearce @superflannel @sourwolf-sterek32 @angelontheinside @firehoopinmama @lonewolf471 @hopplessdreamer @daryldixonandfrogs @fanfictionsilove @collecting-stories @princessxpunk @hells-mistress @justyouraveragefangirl1967 @carnationworld @smiithys @polkadottedpillowcase @elisdays @mysterious-398 @captainbuckyboobear @dazzledamazon @spidergirla5 @lilythemadqueen @lightning-butterfly @purplebtsmagic @barra-cudaaa @courtnytrash04 @amazingapricot @seizethesam @harpersmariano @eternalslingshot @fuseburner @phoenixblack89 @boywivlove @amaroho @woundmetender @classyunknownlover @masterninjacow @tenderlyunlikelyexpert @shadowfoxey @kaitieskidmore1 @lilac-day-dreaming @datidixon @nj01 @rachelxwayne @elamy17 @angelofthor @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl @thanossexual @daryldixonstorm @sttrawberries @huffledor-able541 @lucillethings @browneyes528 @soraitmnt @thereshallbenoother @chickenparmandstoicvulcans @leej2468 @heartlessmarvello @itsmeempar @redneckstrash @bxxbxy @bitchynicole @pulplorrd @supernatural79impala @the-artistic-animal-lover @selfsun @maggie-l-m @baseballbitch116 @tranquiiit @sweatywildpanda @theteaset @my-current-fandom-is @sapphire1727 @insidetoughcake @whitexwingedxdoves @nickangel13 @oceans-daughter-3 @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @sesshomaru-lover @a-dlv @thetypewriterimproviser @lettersshapes @jodiereedus22 @the-artistic-animal @spenciepoo338 @wickedscorpio22 @askerror87 @mysticswan67 @srhxpci @riverscyberwife @actiaslunaa

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fic #twd daryl #daryl twd #daryl dixon twd #twd daryl dixon #preapocalypse daryl #preapocalypse daryl dixon

208 notes · View notes

twdeadfanfic · 3 years

Text

Hot Cocoa XI

Daryl Dixon x Reader

In this chapter: Y/N’s problems with her coworkers reach a more personal level but Daryl has her back.

You can find the previous chapters in my Masterlist

No matter that there was a new teacher at the school and so you weren’t “the new” anymore, the others kept picking on you, even more than on the new one, and you were starting to take it even more personal.

That didn’t mean that they weren’t pricks with Naomi too, they were, and so one day she taught you a new technique to deal with your mean coworkers that, at first, you thought nonsense, something that would never work.

It consisted in being overly friendly and overly nice with everyone, instead of snapping back, on never showing that you were angry or hurt. When someone said something mean, you thanked them profusely while turning it into something nice. When you were ignored, you were overly friendly. You were all nice, all smiles and sweet words, as helpful as friendly as you could muster to be.

You were more than baffled to see that it worked…somehow your coworkers not only seemed puzzled and like they never knew how to react, they also seemed pissed.

You had told Daryl about it, and he had also thought that it wouldn’t work, so he seemed as puzzled as you when you gloated about how it worked, but he smiled at your grin.

It seemed to work too well, though, and when you were called to the principal’s, right after Naomi walked out looking like she wanted to murder someone, you knew you must have pissed someone badly.

“Something wrong?” You asked as you sat down in front of the principal without bothering to even smile.

“No, not really.” The principal’s smile was not friendly at all. “I just wanted to talk about your art activity.”

You had a bad feeling about it right away. “What about it?”

“We had never offered an extracurricular activity in this school before,” the principal said, without getting to the point. “And yours is the only one we have.”

“Well…we can brainstorm ideas if you want to add more, if someone’s up to it.” You frowned, wondering what was all this about.

“No, you see, I was actually wondering if extracurricular activities are something we want at this school at all.” The principal’s mean smile went bigger.

“Now? After half a year, you’re wondering that now?” You almost scoffed…was this just any teacher trying to hurt you, or had anyone realized how many time Daryl spent with you there, and this was about it…

“I admit, I hadn’t really thought about it until now.” The principal shrugged. “But now that I do, I feel a bit strange that you’re here on your own at the school after work.”

“I don’t mind, I offered…I always leave before the custodian leaves his shift,” you said, grateful once again for a guy who’d never said anything about Daryl being there. “I’m on my own because nobody started any other activity…as I said, I don’t mind brainstorming more ideas if any other teacher is up to.”

“Nobody is, we all have our schedule, it’s only you who wanted to work extra hours.”

“Yeah, well…wanted to be helpful and some extra points on my curriculum,” you said, defensive.

“I understand that, but I’m not sure I want activities going on at the school after the classes…there’s something else,” the principal said, and you wondered again if she was going to say something about Daryl. “You have kids from your class group in your activity, but also some others from other teacher’s groups, like Rachel’s.”

You almost rolled your eyes…Rachel was a personal friend of the principal, you knew, and a mean witch with you more often than not.

“So I worry…those kids, in the morning, they’re in class with their teachers, learning actual stuff, working…then on the afternoons they go with you, they just paint and play, no work…I worry that it might make them favor you over their actual teachers, who spend their mornings trying to make them learn, it would be unfair…I know of a couple who wanted to change groups to go with you, imagine how upsetting and sad that must be for their actual teachers.”

“I, uh…” You didn’t know what to say or how not to snap, offended in more than one way. In your actual class, you did more things than paint and play, besides, that was important too, and if Rachel’s kids wanted to change classrooms, maybe it was because she was a mean witch them too. You knew that nothing good would come of saying anything like that. “That was never my intention.”

“I know, dear, I’m not accusing you of anything,” the principal said with that fake smile. “Just wondering if this extracurricular thing after class are I good idea…I want to pause them, see how it works, okay?” No, it was not okay, but you didn’t say anything, there was no point. “We’ll keep it this week, but you won’t need to work after hours the next.”

“What about the parents whose kids stay in the activity because they’re still working after class?” You asked.

“They managed before your activity, they’ll manage again without it, don’t worry about that.” The principal shrugged. “Don’t burden yourself thinking that you’re more essential than you are, dear.”

You were as offended as hurt, but you tried not to show it. “Okay. I have to go, I’m busy.”

With that, you got up and walked out of the office. You found Naomi on an empty corridor, and she approached you.

“She went for you too, yeah?” She asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah…what did she do to you?”

“She said that they might not need a substitute after all, that she can temporally put the kids from Adam’s group in other groups until he’s back, so they wouldn’t need me.”

You scoffed. “She can’t do that, you know it, she knows it, it’s just bullshit talk.”

“I know.” Naomi nodded. “Didn’t mean I didn’t want to punch her…what she said to you?”

“She’s canceling my art activity.” You had tried not to let it affect you, but it did, and you couldn’t hold it anymore, and your eyes filled with tears.

“What? She can’t do that.”

“Yes, that’s one thing she can do,” you said, rubbing your eyes, embarrassed. “This week is the last that she allows it...apparently, she doesn’t like activities after class and I’m stealing kid’s affection from their teachers.”

“Bullshit.” Naomi scoffed. “I’m sorry…it was me who told you that we should kill them with niceness and now they do this…”

“Nah, they’d have come for it one way or another…” You shrugged. “I have to go back to the classroom…I don’t want to tell the kids yet.”

“Okay…I’ll see you later for lunch, okay? We’ll talk about this more.”

“Sure…”

No talking will fix it, though, and you rubbed your eyes again, forcing yourself to look like everything was okay for the kids, walking towards your classroom.

You knew you should tell the kids and parents about the art activity ending, but you didn’t feel ready yet, and you didn’t want to end up crying in front of the parents and make a fool out of yourself, and so, you tried to hold it together and act the same with the kids that afternoon.

As always, little Dixon was the last kid there, until Daryl arrived.

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hi, Daryl!” Sam grinned at him, and you tried to smile but couldn’t.

“Hi, Daryl…do you want some hot cocoa before leaving?” You straight up asked, needing to tell him what was going on.

“Sure…” He nodded but he was frowning at you.

“Yes, thank you!” Little Dixon grinned at you, and you tried to smile at him before going out of the classroom with Daryl following you.

“What’s wrong?” Daryl asked you as soon as you stepped into the teacher’s room.

“They’re canceling my art activity,” you said, trying to hold it together but barely managing.

“What?”

“It seems I pissed off the principal and her friends,” you sniffed. “She said she’s decided she doesn’t want activities after class and mine is the only one…so, she’s canceling it…also, apparently I’m stealing the kids affection and putting them against their teachers because with me they only paint and play…”

“Bullshit,” Daryl scoffed and you nodded, but couldn’t look at him when you felt tears rolling down your cheeks. “Hey…no…come on, stop it,” he told you shyly, and when you looked at him you let out a weak snort when you saw that he looked kind of scared at seeing you crying. “What?” He snapped.

“Nothing...just…you look scared…” You chuckled, even though your eyes were still wet.

“Ain’t scared…” Daryl muttered, defensive.

“Okay…what do you do when Sam cries?”

For a moment, you thought Daryl was going to snap again, but he snorted as he looked at you with a small smirk. “Get scared,” he said, and you didn’t know if he was kidding or not, but it made you chuckle again, and you gave him a grateful smile.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t want to cry, but…” You shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed as you sniffed again. “I know it’s just an art activity, that it meant I was working more hours…but it really feels like they tried to come for something mine as best as they could…

You weren’t looking at Daryl as you spoke, and he didn’t say anything, but then, you felt his hand gently holding yours. You were surprised at it, and when you looked at Daryl, he was looking down, but when you squeezed his hand, he returned your gesture.

“Yeah, they came for something yers, ‘cause they’re assholes, but ya know what they said ain’t true, it’s just bullshit,” Daryl told you. “They’re bitter that the kids like ya more, but that’s ‘cause yer good with them, ya care for them.”

“I guess…” You shrugged, you weren’t able to be positive at that moment. “But anyway, they won, they took something mine that I care about…”

“I’m sorry…” Daryl said quietly, his thumb stroking softly over your knuckles, comfortingly, and you looked at him, swallowing hard.

“Why everyone hates me so much here?” You didn’t know if you were overreacting, you couldn’t help how awful you felt about the whole thing.

“Hey, come on, everyone doesn’t hate ya…” Daryl told you. “There’s a lot of pricks in this town, yeah, and ya work with some…but that doesn’t mean everyone hates ya…”

“They don’t like me either…” You shrugged. “Pretty sure everyone but you dislikes me.”

“Ain’t true,” Daryl insisted. “The parents of the kids at yer art activity, they like ya.”

“If you say so…doesn’t look like it.” Yes, maybe they didn’t hate you, but they were cold towards you nonetheless, still treating you as a foreigner.

“They just don’t know ya,” Daryl said. “But they like that they have a place where they can leave their kids while they work, somewhere they know they’re gonna be alright and havin’ fun, with someone who cares for them.”

“Yeah…and now that’s gone because the activity is getting canceled…” You let out a sigh. “I haven’t told the parents yet…they’re gonna be pissed…”

“Not at ya.”

You shrugged. “Who they’re going to snap at, the new teacher they don’t know or care for, who’s delivering the news, or the principal who’s their neighbor since forever…”

“They ain’t gonna blame ya,” Daryl insisted. “Just tell them, you’ll see. Told ya, they don’t hate ya, they like ya, ‘cause ya care for their kids and ‘cause their kids like ya.”

You couldn’t really see it like Daryl was saying it, couldn’t agree, but still, you appreciated what Daryl was saying, and that he was trying to make you feel better, and so you gave him a small, sad smile, squeezing his hand, which was still holding yours.

“I’ll tell them…” You had to, you knew, and you couldn’t wait much, they needed to look for something else to do with their kids while they worked. “Just…couldn’t today…didn’t want to just start crying or something…I guess I’ll do it tomorrow, when they come pick up their kids…”

“They ain’t gonna be mad at ya,” Daryl told you again.

“I guess we’ll see…” You weren’t very sure, but you tried not to dwell on it more, and you looked at Daryl, smiling softly. “But…thanks, Daryl, I mean it, I was feeling like shit, thanks for listening to me and for telling me all that.”

“Ain’t nothin’…” Daryl shrugged, giving you a shy smile before looking down, letting go of your hand.

“It’s not nothing, thanks, I mean it.”

You really wanted to hug him, both because you needed a hug and because you were grateful for him, and before you knew what you were doing, you were lifting your arms and reaching out to hug him, but when you realized it, you worried that he might not want it, that you might make him uncomfortable, and you awkwardly lowered your arms again, overthinking it.

“What ya doin’?” Daryl asked, frowning.

“I…” You felt your cheeks burning, but you couldn’t look for any excuse even if the truth was kind of embarrassing. “I wanted to hug you but then I thought that maybe you didn’t want that, and I don’t want to impose or make you uncomfortable, so I just…” You wiggled your arms helplessly…maybe you were just overthinking it and he wouldn’t have minded it, and now you were making everything awkward and he’d think you were weird… “I’m sorry, I’m silly…”

Daryl was looking at you with a tiny, half-smile, seeming kind of amused. “Come here.”

You still were feeling rather embarrassed and shy, but Daryl reached out towards you, and so you moved to hug him, wrapping your arms first gingerly around him, then more firmly when you felt his around you. It was warm and comforting, even with the smell of cigarette smoke and motor oil, and it fed the butterflies that Daryl always seemed to make flutter in your stomach. You wished you could have a hug like that at least once a day, it made you feel like the world was kind of better somehow…

“Thanks…” You murmured, shy, when you finally made yourself pull back, and Daryl just shrugged, seeming shy too. “We, uh…should go back to Sam, he’s going to wonder if we got lost.” You chuckled awkwardly.

“Yeah…but ya haven’t made the cocoa yet,” Daryl pointed, again with that amused, half-smile.

“Oh…right…” You were really embarrassing yourself that day…still, the way Daryl was looking at you helped you to feel more at ease somehow. “Okay, let’s get it ready quick and go back to Sam.”

“Yeah…” Daryl nodded before he looked down shyly. “Ya, uh…wanna have dinner with us and watch somethin��?”

You were as surprised as you always were when Daryl asked you do something with him, and even more glad. If there was something that could make you feel better and take your mind off your troubles for a while, that was having dinner with Daryl and Sam and watching something with them.

“Yes, Daryl, I’d love that, thank you.”

Daryl didn’t say anything else, just nodded with a smile.

The next day, you tried your best not to think much about your art activity getting canceled, at how the people who seemed to dislike you that much had really managed to find a way to hurt you, and you tried to ignore it whenever you thought people were talking about you.

At midday, though, you were called to the principal’s, and you didn’t think you could deal with more bullshit.

“Yes?” You said as you sat down in front of her, already done.

When you looked at the principal, you could feel that she was angry, but she didn’t start telling you off, instead, she gave you one of those fake smiles, and you frowned, confused at what was going on.

“Hello, Y/N…do you remember I told you that I had to think about what to do about the after-class activities,” she said and you hummed a yes, trying not to let her upset you. “I’ve been thinking about it, I think it’s best if we keep it for now.”

“What?” You blinked at her, yesterday she was saying that it was canceled, now she wanted to keep it.

“What you don’t understand, dear,” the principal told you, gritting her teeth.

“Yesterday you canceled it, now you say you want to keep it…” You wondered if she was laughing at you.

“Yesterday I said that I had think about what’s best, and I think that for now, we’re keeping it,” the principal said. “Now, leave, I have a lot of work to do.”

You were more than confused, but you didn’t know what to say or do, or what to think. Despite her words and her fake smile, you still could feel that the principal was angry, and she seemed to be having a hard time not acting on it, more each passing second, even making you wonder if she wasn’t going to go ahead and slap you, so you decided to just leave, puzzled.

“Okay…”

When you walked out of the classroom, you went in search of Naomi, still wondering what had just happened. You found her alone on a table at the school cafeteria, and you sat down next to her.

“You’re not going to believe this…”

“Your art activity is back,” Naomi said, and you blinked at her…this day just kept getting weirder…maybe you were dreaming or something…

“How do you know?”

“It’s amazing what you find out when you listen to the gossip…turns out some things are not plain bullshit.” Naomi chuckled, but you always tried to ignore the gossip, in case someone talked shit about you and Daryl, knowing that you’d get mad and snap, and they’d win.

“Yeah…it’s…it’s weird…” You frowned. “I don’t trust it…maybe she wants to make me crazy, say one day that she’s going to cancel it, then the next that she’s not, and so on…she looked about to slap me or something…”

“Nah, there’s a reason why she’s pissed and wants your activity back, it’s being quite the talk,” Naomi told you, smiling. “You’d know it if you hadn’t been avoiding the teacher’s room.”

“Yeah…I didn’t want to see anyone…” You were afraid of them talking to you about your activity getting canceled, and you either snapping or crying. “What’s going on?”

“So…it seems that the father of one of the kids of your activity sometimes goes to that garage where your not-boyfriend Daryl works,” she began to explain. “It seems that he went this morning, and Daryl must have told him that the activity was canceled or something, because that father didn’t only phone the principal to complain about it, he also told the news to his friends whose kids are also in your activity, so the principal got more calls from parents…they were complaining because they didn’t want the activity to be canceled and saying that they wanted you to be the teacher in it.”

For a moment, you could just blink, trying to make sense of all that. “Parents were complaining because they didn’t want the activity to be canceled?”

“That is.” Naomi nodded. “And, they want you to still be the teacher in charge of that activity.”

“Seriously?” You kind of felt like this was a big joke to try and mock you.

“Yes, or at least that’s what they were saying.” Naomi shrugged. “I mean, sure, it’s gossip, might not be true…but I think it is.”

“Okay…okay…” You were still trying to process all the news. “That’s…that’s good…” So your activity was back for real, because parents wanted it back, and they wanted you to be the teacher in charge of it…

Then they couldn’t hate you, right? Maybe not even dislike you…if they were asking for you, then they had to kind of like you, at least as a teacher for their kids? Maybe Daryl’d been right…Daryl…so, he’s been the one to tell that father who then had told others and complained? You wondered if that father had mentioned that it’d been Daryl who had told him, and if that’d make the principal be even more against Daryl…you hoped not.

“Yeah, that’s good.” Naomi grinned. “But I think those assholes who’re always giving you shit are going to get worse after this…I mean, a lot of parents complaining, saying that they want your activity and their kids with you…that’s going to sting.”

“I don’t care, let them talk their bullshit, they can try to be as mean to me as they can, I don’t care anymore.” You shrugged, smiling, as it finally sank in that you were going to keep your activity and that people had spoken up for you. “They couldn’t cancel my activity…and the parents don’t hate me? Maybe they like me, a bit? As a teacher for their kids, at least…”

“Why would they hate you?” Naomi laughed.

“I don’t know…everyone was always so…” You shrugged, not sure of how to explain it. “But they don’t…the principal has to be so pissed…” It might be mean of you, but you liked it.

“Yeah, I bet she wants to rip off your head.” Naomi snorted. “But she can’t do anything or the rage of the parents of your group will fall on her again!”

“Yeah…yeah, it will!”

You couldn’t stop smiling for the whole morning, which just seemed to piss off more the coworkers that had tried to go for your art activity and get it canceled, but you enjoyed that too…screw them.

Late that afternoon, when Daryl arrived to pick up Sam, you grinned at him, almost bouncing with happiness.

“Hi!”

“Hey...ya look happy,” Daryl told you with half a smile, and as he looked at you, you knew he knew what was going on.

“I’m happy!”

“I’m happy that you are,” little Dixon said while he finished a drawing, and you felt your heart squeezing at his adorableness.

“Thanks, sweetheart…what if we get some hot cocoa before leaving?” You asked and Sam nodded, smiling.

“Come on.” Daryl nodded towards the door, going with you without you having to ask him.

Once at the teacher’s room, you grinned at him, barely containing your excitement. “My art activity is not canceled!”

“I know.” Daryl nodded, looking at you with a small smile.

“How?”

“One of your kids, Tulip, her dad comes sometimes to the garage, delivers us stuff, he came at lunchtime to tell me ‘bout it,” Daryl explained.

“Oh…he’s the one you told about the art activity getting canceled?” You asked.

“Ya, uh…ya know that…” Daryl looked down, biting on his thumbnail.

“Yes, I heard,”

“Are ya mad?” Daryl asked, scratching the back of his head and still looking down.

“Mad?” You blinked at him. “Why would I?”

“’Cause…uh…’cause I told him before ya, without askin’ ya…’cause ya didn’t want to tell them yet…” Daryl said, fidgeting. “But, uh…he came in the mornin’ to deliver us stuff, and he knows that Sam’s in your group with Tulip…so, uh…I thought…dunno…”

“I’m not mad, Daryl,” you assured him, reaching out to squeeze his hand, holding it. “He’s someone you know and I’d have had to tell him anyway, I’m not mad…besides, it helped me. He called the principal to complain and so did the parents that he told about it, until the principal had to pick my activity back…so thank you.”

You smiled at Daryl, but he just shrugged. “I did nothin’…they’d have done that once they knew anyway, once ya told them.”

“Maybe…I should have just told them sooner, instead of being a coward about it, right?” You chuckled. “It’d have made everything easier…” Or at least, the matter would have gotten solved even sooner.

“Nah, ya weren’t a coward, ya just were upset,” Daryl told you. “But…told ya, it wasn’t ya who they were gonna be mad at.”

“Yes…yes, I guess they don’t hate me, yeah? Like you said…” You smiled, and Daryl gave you a small smile too, nodding.

“Told ya, they like ya…”

“I wouldn’t say that much but…yes, I suppose they like me as their kid’s teacher?” You grinned, and Daryl didn’t say anything, but he nodded, still looking at you with that half-smile that made you feel all fluffy. “I’m going to get the cocoa ready…to celebrate, I’m going to put not one but two marshmallows with it,” you half-joked, letting go of Daryl’s hand to start with the cocoa, and you heard him chuckling as he watched you.

More hugs coming next chapter.

If you enjoyed this, comments and reblogs are always more than welcome, thanks, comments really make my days and make me happy about posting this.

Also, as always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

New taglist for Daryl, if you want to be tagged let me know and also, please, if you are not interested in being tagged anymore let me know too, please.

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon/reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon fic #daryl dixon & reader #daryl dixon preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl dixon #daryl twd #twd daryl #daryl preapocalypse #preapocalypse daryl #daryl dixon twd #twd daryl dixon

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twdeadfanfic · 4 years

Text

Played

Preapocalypse. Daryl and Y/N have been friends since they were kids, and now in their early twenties, Y/N works at the bar where the Dixons go every night, where Daryl is about to meet Ima, the cousin of one of the girls who hover around Merle, trying to get something out of his drug-dealing business. She didn’t seem to be like them, though, as she starts talking to Daryl, seeming to like him, and despite Y/N trying to warn him that Ima is bad news and trying something, Daryl falls for it…but when he’ll find out how Ima truly is, will Y/N be there to mend his heart?

This fic is a collaboration with @ddixons-angel, I wrote Daryl’s side, while she wrote Y/N’s side.

Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7

#played #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon

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twdeadfanfic · 4 years

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New Year, New life (Pt.2)

Daryl Dixon x Reader

You don’t really need to read the first part before this, but I think it’d be a bit nicer to read that way. You can find it in my masterlist.

Summary: Preapocalypse. Daryl and Y/N had known each other since they were kids, both their brothers being in the same biker club. Reader was in an abusive relationship, but spending new year’s last year with Daryl, she finally gathered the courage to leave her abusive husband. This part starts one year after that night, new year’s eve again, and also flashbacks to the previous year.

Words: 14.289 I know, I know, but I didn’t feel fitting to divide it, sorry.

You glanced towards your watch…eleven in the evening, late, but not unusual late for the patrons that went to the bar in which you had been working for a few months by now, your shift ending late at night. They were always the same people, ordered the same, and got drunk almost every single night, but at least they weren’t angry drunks, just sad drunks, and it didn’t seem like this night they had changed their routine, despite being new year’s.

Despite the drunken patrons every single night, the bar was a quiet one, owned by a married couple, almost old enough to retire, that knew your struggles and had offered you the job. They couldn’t pay much, but it was a job, a kind offer, so you were glad for it, and you felt less of a burden for Daryl now that you had your own money, he’d been paying for all your stuff since he took you in, a year ago.

You had spent new year’s last year with him, your best new year’s in so, so long, and when once more Daryl had told you to leave the abusive piece of shit that you called husband back then, somehow, at that moment you had found the strength to say yes.

Then…

You were asleep on Daryl’s bed, him having taken the couch, when loud knocks on the trailer door woke you. You groaned, opening your eyes, it was still dark, though a candle illuminated the trailer, as if Daryl hadn’t wanted to leave you in complete darkness, and a glance to the old clock near Daryl’s bed told you that the sun would come up in a few hours.

You had a pounding headache, you had drunk too much last night when you weren’t used to do so, but the sound of your husband’s voice made you feel sober in a second.

“Y/N, are you in there, you bitch?! Of course you are! Y/N! Y/N get here right now!” So he hadn’t found you at home and had gone looking for you to the only place you always ran to…

“Daryl…” You saw him getting up for the couch.

“Stay back,” he growled and before you could tell him not to open and just ignore it, he was already yanking the door open.

“She’s here, isn’t she?” You heard your husband, Daryl’s body covered most of the door frame so you couldn’t see him, even if you got up from the bed. “Fucking you behind my back like she’s been doing all those years? Come out here, you ungrateful bitch!”

“Shut your mouth now!”

You gasped when you saw Daryl shoving your husband back, and he was drunk enough to fall back onto the ground.

“I’m gonna kill you, you bastard!” Your husband threatened from the ground, drunkenly trying to get up, but Daryl was already on him, punching him and pinning him down.

“Told you to shut your mouth!” Daryl growled. “She ain’t gonna go with you anymore, she’s gonna leave you, you piece of shit!”

“Leave me?” Your husband laughed drunkenly. “Yeah? And what’s she gonna do without me, that useless bitch? She’s gonna fuck you so you take care of her? She got you like that again?” He scoffed. “She ain’t gonna leave me, I’m her husband…so come out here right now, Y/N, or I’m gonna go to get you, and you ain’t gonna like it!”

You knew that Daryl wouldn’t let your husband hurt you, but you were shaking anyway, and you flinched when he yelled for you. You didn’t want him hurting Daryl either, it wouldn’t be the first time that they fought, but your husband was so drunk that you thought he wouldn’t be able to fight Daryl back…you worried anyway, though…

Daryl punched your husband again and dragged him back onto his feet, holding him by his shirt. “Shut the fuck up,” he growled again. “She’s gonna leave you, we’re gonna go get her stuff in the morning and you ain’t gonna be there, you got it? And you ain’t gonna show your face here ever again, you ain’t gonna be near her again, you ain’t gonna even glance at her ever again, alright?” Daryl growled, and even you had to admit that he could be really scary when he wanted to.

“What if I do?” Your husband scoffed, trying to get off Daryl’s hold, but he didn’t let go.

“Then you ain’t got no face anymore!” Daryl yelled at him. “You ain’t gonna getting near her ever again, you hear me?! Get the fuck out of here.” Daryl pushed your husband backward, and he stumbled but that time he managed to stay on his feet, and he tried to punch Daryl, but he was too drunk and uncoordinated, and Daryl dodged it, punching him instead before giving him another hard shove. “Told you to get the fuck out of here, before I change my mind and punch the shit out of you!”

Your husband tried to look past Daryl, into the trailer where you were watching them, but Daryl didn’t allow it, pushing him hard again, and for a moment you thought your husband was going to try to fight back again, but he seemed to realize that he was too drunk to come on top, and so he just scoffed, called you a bitch again, got another hard shove from Daryl, and stumbled away.

You knew that it wouldn’t be so easy if or when he came back sober, and that Daryl would get into a fight with him for you, as he had done many times before, that he’d get hurt so your husband wouldn’t drag you away…your husband was going to be so angry, even angrier once he weren’t drunk…

Once your husband couldn’t be seen anymore, Daryl walked into the trailer, locking the door, looking so angry that it was intimidating, but he seemed to soften when his eyes found you, a shaking, crying mess on the floor.

“Y/N, hey, hey…” Daryl knelt down next to you and he cupped your face, gently making you look at him. “Hey…it’s gonna be okay…he’s gone, he ain’t gonna hurt you, okay, he’s gone.”

“He’ll be back…” You sniffed.

“Nah…nah he knows what will happen to him if he does…” Daryl said. “I ain’t letting him get near you again, I ain’t letting him hurt you ever again.”

You shook your head. “He’ll be back…he’ll hurt you…hurt you because of me…” You didn’t want that, you never wanted it, you hated it, enough people had hurt Daryl without having to add your husband to it, he didn’t deserve that, and it was your fault.

“He can try,” Daryl scoffed, but you had seen him end up hurt when fighting with your husband, both them ending bloodied and bruised, and he’d gotten a broken lip once. You didn’t want that again. You went to say something but Daryl didn’t let you. “No. You ain’t ever going back to him, he ain’t gonna hurt you anymore, okay?”

Daryl looked into your eyes, not avoiding your gaze like sometimes he still did despite having being friends since you were kids…you wanted to stay there with him, where you felt safe and cared for, you didn’t want Daryl to get hurt, but you didn’t want to go back to your husband, and you were so scared thinking what he might do to you after that night.

“Okay…” You nodded weakly.

Daryl gave you a small smile, reaching out to caress your cheek softly, brushing your tears. Then he leaned to kiss your forehead, and you couldn’t stop yourself from wrapping your arms around him, snuggling to him. You knew that Daryl wasn’t used to giving affection, that he struggled with it, yet there he was, holding you and stroking your hair while you shook and cried again.

“Come on, let’s get you to the bed, try to sleep until the morning, okay?” Daryl told you eventually, cupping your face to make you look at him again.

You nodded, sniffing, even though you were sure you couldn’t fall asleep again, but you didn’t want Daryl to have to be up all night because of you. You were going to get up, but Daryl just scooped you into his arms, picking you up from the floor and walking a couple of steps before carefully lowering you onto the bed.

“There you go…try to rest.”

“Wait…” You didn’t let go of Daryl’s arm, still feeling shaken and scared, and feeling like if Daryl wasn’t near you, your resolution to be brave would disappear, fear filling you instead. “Could…could you…” You bit your lip shyly before finishing the sentence.

It seemed Daryl knew what you meant, and he seemed hesitant, but finally he swallowed hard and nodded, sitting down on the bed and half lying against the wall, and you curled up to him, timidly resting your arm across his chest.

“Is this okay?” You whispered, hoping he’d trust you enough to tell you the truth and not be uncomfortable just for your sake, feeling how stiff he was. “Are you uncomfortable?”

“It’s okay…” Daryl murmured, and he swallowed hard again, but he too placed his arm over you ever so gently. “Get some rest.”

You were sure you weren’t going to be able to sleep, you were still shaken, but you didn’t feel so scared lying next to Daryl, his arm over you, feeling his warmth and his heartbeat under your palm, eventually lulling you into sleep.

You woke up when the first rays of sun started to slowly illuminate the trailer, and you were confused for a moment, hungover and sleepy, until you realized that you were on Daryl’s trailer…not only that, but sleeping beside him, your arm over him, his hand on your shoulder... Oh…yeah, new year’s…your dinner with Daryl, getting drunk, laughing, being happy, and…and your husband, coming for you, yelling, Daryl stopping him…For a moment, your resolution to leave your husband almost left you, as fear at the memory of your husband filled you, but the feeling of Daryl’s arm around seemed to reassure you, making you feel safe and protected, brave almost…You ventured a look at his face and realized that he was awake, looking at you.

“Hey…uh…” You pulled back. “I uh…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Daryl rasped.

“No, I mean…I…I’m sorry about everything.” You gestured vaguely around. You were sorry about running to him every time, making him be there for you, get into fights with your husband, get hurt, burdened by having to take you in once more, always taking care of you, when you had brought all of it onto yourself, and also now there you were, sleeping almost over him, making him awkward probably…

“Hey.” Daryl stopped your train of thought, placing his knuckles under your chin to lift your head. “You got nothing to be sorry about. Okay?” You nodded, even though you felt a lump in your throat. “I’m gonna get you some breakfast.”

Daryl got up from the bed and began fumbling with the stove, getting some eggs from his small fridge while you looked at him from the bed.

“Can I help?”

“Nah, it’s fine.”

You got up and went to help anyway, letting him cook the scrambled eggs while you washed the dishes and cutlery that you both had used last night. Once he was done, Daryl placed both your plates on the table.

“How’s your head?” He asked you while he poured you a cup of black coffee. “Hangover?”

“Could be worse,” you said and took a sip of the coffee, grimacing. “Jeez, this is disgusting.”

“Thanks,” Daryl snorted, but he nodded and grimaced when he sipped the coffee. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“It’s what we deserve for having drunk the entire bottle of whiskey by ourselves.”

Daryl and you had breakfast in silence, though you could see Daryl sneaking glances at you, but he didn’t speak until you finished your food.

“Y/N…you are really leaving him, ain’t you? You’re staying here and not going back with that prick, yeah?”

“I…I don’t want to be a nuisance for you…” You said quietly, chewing on your lip.

“You ain’t, I told you a million times…” Daryl rolled his eyes. “You changed your mind? Come on, you can’t go back with that asshole.”

“I don’t want to…” You murmured, feeling a lump in your throat and anxiety gripping your heart at the idea.

“Then you ain’t going to, you’re staying here.”

“Thank you…” You said quietly. “For everything…I’m sorry, Daryl…I…”

“Shut it,” Daryl told you, his words harsh but his touch was gentle when he reached to squeeze your hand briefly. He got up, taking your plates to wash them. “We’ll go to get your things, okay?”

You swallowed hard but nodded. You were worried, though, wondering what would happen if your husband was at home, what would he do to you? Would he hurt Daryl too? They’d fight for sure…maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go…but you needed your things. You thought you remembered Daryl last night telling your husband not to be there when you picked your things in the morning, but you weren’t sure he would listen…

“It’ll be okay,” Daryl assured you, and you could only hope that he was right.

Once there, Daryl walked before you into the small flat that you shared with your husband, in case Rian was there, but it didn’t seem so…Daryl had stopped at the door, though, wasn’t walking in, and you frowned as you waited at the other side of the open door.

“Daryl?”

“Maybe we should, uh…” He began to turn around as if to walk outside, and you didn’t know what was happening, you couldn’t hear Rian. You went to walk in but Daryl reached to hold your arm.

“What’s going on?” If Rian was passed out on the couch, you were used to it, if you were lucky he wouldn’t wake up while you picked up your scarce belongings. You walked past Daryl, looking into the living room.

Your husband wasn’t there, but in the middle of the room, you could see your scarce clothes scattered around, torn and ripped…but that wasn’t the worst.

It seemed that your husband had searched the whole place, cupboards and drawers had been opened and emptied, everything was thrown here and there, and he had found your stash, where you kept your more precious possession hidden from him, the gifts that Daryl had made you over the years and a stack of old photographs, most of them with your late brother.

“No…no, no no…”

You dropped onto your knees next to the mess, looking around, feeling your heart breaking. Every gift that Daryl had made you with any material that could break, was broken, smashed, torn to pieces…even a little piece of wood that Daryl had roughly carved for you one year had burning marks. All the pictures were torn apart, broken into pieces. The only one who was intact, showing you and your brother smiling, had the word “bitch” written over your face with a black marker.

“Fucking asshole…” Daryl muttered, looking at the mess.

You couldn’t stop your tears looking at the mess, all your prized possession and memories ruined, and you sat down on the floor, hugging your knees to your chest as you sobbed, holding a piece of one of the pictures.

“Y/N, hey, Y/N…hey, don’t cry….” You felt Daryl’s hand on your shoulder as he knelt down next to you but you didn’t look up from your knees, not wanting him to see you crying. You felt Daryl wrapping his arms around you, carefully holding you, and you let him do so, hiding your face on his chest as you cried. “It’s okay…” He whispered, and you felt him kissing the top of your head. “It’s okay…we’ll fix them, okay?”

You sniffed but tried to stop crying, pulling away from Daryl and nodding. You rubbed your eyes and got up, and you went to pick up a shoebox. You began getting inside all the broken gifts and pictures, Daryl helping you. It took less than a couple of minutes.

“Let’s…let’s go…” You said weakly.

“You don’t need to pick anything else?” Daryl asked, and you shook your head. All your clothes were cut and torn into pieces and you didn’t have anything else to take with you. “Alright…let’s go back home,” he said, wrapping his arm around your shoulders and walking you out of there.

Once back at his trailer, Daryl got some tape and glue, placing it on the table. You sat down on the floor near it, taking out of the shoebox all your broken things and placing them on the table too. Daryl sat down next to you, and he patiently helped you to fix, glue, and tape everything that could be fixed, no matter how long it took, and placing back into the shoebox the ones who couldn’t be fixed.

“I’ll put it in the closet, okay?” He told you quietly, nodding towards the tiny closet near the bed, in which he kept his clothes, as he took the shoebox with the stuff that you hadn’t been able to fix.

“You’re not going to throw it away?” You asked, brushing your fingers over one of the pictures that you had taped back together as best as possible.

“No, not unless you want to.”

“Thanks…” You said as you watched Daryl get the box into the closet, before coming back to sit down near you again.

Daryl picked up one of the pictures that you had carefully taped back together. You didn’t know who had taken it, but it showed Daryl and you when you were teenagers, outside the biker’s club, with your brother and Merle. You were in the middle, sat down on your brother’s bike, grinning, while he standed next to you, holding the bike. Merle had an arm thrown around Daryl’s shoulders, who was next to you and seemed to be trying to squirm away from his brother’s grasp, and you snorted looking at the picture, even if tears filled your eyes again.

A small, sad smile tugged at Daryl’s lip as he looked at the pic.”Can I…do you mind…” He nodded from the picture to the wall.

“Yeah, sure…” You murmured, watching as Daryl got up and stuck the picture to the wall with some tape. “Thanks…” Daryl didn’t say anything, but he smiled at you, coming back to look at the pictures with you.

That day, after having lunch on rabbit stew, you had started to feel sleepy, exhausted after a night of drinking and little rest, and after the draining emotions of the day. Daryl had convinced you to take a nap, even if you were hesitant, and when you woke up, he wasn’t around. Before you could worry, you saw that he had scribbled you a note, saying that he needed to take care of something and that he’d be back soon, and to wait for him there, and so you did.

When finally Daryl walked into the trailer, you instantly noticed the bruises on his face, and it seemed his nose had bled. You jumped onto your feet, rushing to him while he closed the door.

“What happened?!” You asked, worried, but Daryl didn’t say anything, looking down, and it clicked in your head. “It was…it was Rian, yeah? You went for him…why you did that, Daryl!”

“Cause he deserved it! ‘Cause all he did to you, and now he pulls up that shit!” Daryl said angrily, waving at the photographs on the table, and if it were someone else who seemed as angry as Daryl, who snapped like that, you’d have been scared, but not of him.

“It wasn’t worthy!” You snapped back. “It’s not going to fix anything!”

“It fixes shit for me…” Daryl muttered, scoffing, and you let out a sigh, shaking your head. You were grateful, you were, but you also felt guilty, Rian had hurt Daryl again because of you, and you were worried thinking that Daryl could have gotten even more hurt.

“I hope he looks worse,” you finally said, and Daryl snorted.

“Yeah, he does…he deserved worse, though.”

You let out another sigh and took his hand, pulling him to the couch. “Sit down…” You went to the tiny bathroom and opened the cabinet where you knew Daryl kept the first aid kit, it wasn’t the first time that you patched him up.

You washed his face with a wet cloth before you dabbed disinfectant on the couple of open wounds on his face, and then you carefully applied some butterfly stitches on a cut on his eyebrow. After that, you went to the kitchen, coming back with a can of beer from the fridge, that you pressed against the worst of his bruising.

“This is the last time…okay?” You said softly and Daryl scoffed.

“That depends on him… I think he ain’t bothering you no more, I think I made it clear to him…but if he gets near you again…”

“Seriously Daryl…I don’t want you getting hurt anymore, not by him, not because of me…it’s not worthy anymore, he’s…he’s not in my life anymore…” You barely could believe it as you said it. “I don’t want him to be…and I want him out of your life too. So no more fights.” Daryl let out a sigh, and he wasn’t making any promises, but he nodded. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate you standing up for me, and protecting me, and taking care of me…and beating the shit out of that asshole…” You half-joked, and Daryl snorted. “Because I do, I really do Daryl, I’m so grateful for all that you’re doing for me, all that you have done…more than I can say…more than I know how to say…”

“Ain’t nothing…” Daryl muttered.

“It is something, and I appreciate it, and I’m grateful, I am,” you said again. “But I don’t want to have to patch up anymore, you’ve been hurt enough…I want this to be the last time…” Shyly, you leaned to kiss Daryl’s forehead softly, above the cut on his eyebrow, and Daryl gave you a small, half-smile, before looking away shyly, taking the bottle of beer that you still had pressed against his cheek.

He looked at the table, reaching out to take some of the pictures that you both had fixed as well as possible, browsing through them.

“What you wanna do with them?” He asked and you shrugged, you guessed you should keep them somewhere, though you didn’t want to take over any of Daryl’s drawers . “If you want to hang them around too, you can, alright?” Daryl nodded towards the photo that he had taped to the wall earlier that day. “I’m gonna get you a box to keep everything else…”

At first, you hadn’t dared to hang more pictures, afraid that you were being intrusive and taking over Daryl’s space, but over time, you had started hanging the pictures that had you, your brother, and Daryl on them, finding also a couple with Merle too. Daryl didn’t say anything, but he smiled when he looked at them.

You had kept the rest of the pictures in another small shoebox, and also the few gifts from Daryl that you both had managed to fix a bit with glue, but for your birthday, Daryl gave you a small wooden box for you to keep all of that. He hadn’t given you the box plain, though, he had roughly carved patterns on it and also your name, and to you, it was the most beautiful box in the world.

As for your husband, he didn’t leave you alone, not during the first month. He’d get drunk, as always, and stumble to Daryl’s trailer late at night at least a couple of times a week, calling for you, threatening you, scaring you even if Daryl always threw Rian away like he had done the night of new year’s, until eventually Rian seemed to catch the message, and he stopped showing up, but it was not until a couple of months after he stopped coming for you that you started to sleep without fear of waking up to his voice, although you knew that if he came back, Daryl would be there so he wouldn’t hurt you.

Eventually, as months passed, you had even dared to walk around the town without Daryl by your side when you needed to do so, even if the fear of bumping into Rian or him coming for you was always at the back of your mind. Daryl encouraged you, wanting you to feel free and safe to walk around, but you knew that he worried too, afraid of Rian approaching you when he wasn’t there.

Out of the blue, Daryl had given you a hunting knife that you could keep under your clothes to help you feel safer, to ease both yours and his peace of mind, and that you could use to threaten Rian if he dared to approach you so maybe he’d decide that it wasn’t worthy. The handle was made of wood, and Daryl had carved some rough patterns in it, making it unique for you. You loved it. Whatever the reason, Rian had never tried to bother you again, and in late autumn, you had caught word that he had left the town. You were glad of it, though you pitied the next innocent and unaware woman that might cross his path. You were in theory still married to him, but you weren’t in the mood to check all that you needed to do in order to divorce him. Legally married or not, you were free of him, and for that, you were grateful.

Now…

You glanced at your watch again…so close to midnight. You looked around the small place, letting out a sigh. Your few patrons were obviously drunk, two of them looking blankly to the ground, occasionally sipping their drink, another seemed to stare past the wall, lost in drunken thoughts, another was watching the new year’s show that was muted on the small tv, letting out a drunken sigh almost at the same time that you let out your sober one, and a man seemed to be already dozing off on his chair.

It was a sad sight…you felt sorry that those people didn’t have anyone to spend New Year’s, like you had felt for so long, or maybe for them this was just another night, spending it like they’d any other.

You had been feeling down at the idea of working on New Year’s instead of spending it with Daryl like the year before, but at least, you had a job and you had a place to go once you finished, even if it was after midnight, you had Daryl, and you gave thanks for it once more. Without him, you’d probably still be trapped with your husband, and you didn’t know what you’d have done that year without him.

You couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corner of your lip as you thought on Daryl, and you glanced at your watch again, wondering what he might be doing.

“New year’s plans?” Maria, your boss, asked you, smiling knowingly.

“Not really, just being thankful for everything good in my life now, including this job.” You smiled.

“I know working on New Year’s is not ideal for a young woman,” she said, and you chuckled.

“I wouldn’t call myself young…”

“You’re young…and way younger than me!” She chuckled too. “So you don’t have plans with the younger Dixon?”

You had to stop your giggle every time that she called Daryl that. Merle, who you didn’t know where he was but you hadn’t seen in years, was called the older Dixon by her, and their father was called…something way ruder but quite accurate. Maria didn’t hide her hate for the man, and she didn’t like Merle that much either, but it didn’t seem to extend to Daryl, and you thought she might be one of the very few people who were able to see inside the “younger Dixon”, beyond his family name and his façade.

“No, he knows I’m working late, I guess he’ll come to pick me up when we close to go home…” You didn’t know when you had started to think of Daryl’s place as home, but it felt like it. “Maybe we’ll have some drinks at home to celebrate or something…he’s not really into celebrations.”

“I guessed so…” Maria chuckled, and she reached out to take a bottle of whiskey from one of the shelves. “Take it, have a toast with Daryl tonight thinking on us.” She nodded towards Howard, his husband, who was sat down on a chair at the back of the room, tinkering with an old, broken radio You had considered asking Daryl if he could fix it, but you had realized that Howard enjoyed tinkering with it, whether he fixed it or not.

“Oh, no, I can’t take it!” Your bosses already struggled enough to pay you a salary as it was.

“Nonsense, you know our regulars never order this one.” Maria pushed the bottle onto your hand. “Late Christmas present.”

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

“Now, come on, go spend new year’s with the younger Dixon.” Maria chuckled. “You can see I can deal with this by myself.” She waved at your depressed and drunk patrons. “You go and have fun.”

“No, no, this is my job, I’ll help you to kick out these people when it gets too late and I’ll close.”

“It’s your job, I’m your boss, and I’m saying that you’re finishing early tonight,” Maria’s tone didn’t leave room for an argument. “We are not kicking anyone out tonight, it’s new year’s after all…if these people have nowhere else to go, then we’ll be open for them even if we have to wait until the sun comes out.”

Christmas had been like that too, and Maria had told Daryl to come to spend the night there at the bar too. He’d seemed reluctant but finally he’d showed up…it was an unusual Christmas, but way better than any other that you had in so, so many years. Your usual patrons were there, lonely, sad and drunk, but even them and the atmosphere seemed less sad, with the strings of old, colorful lights and the small, fake Christmas tree.

There had been not only booze that night, but also food, roasted meat that Daryl had hunt and got ready, and a pie that Maria had baked. You’d enjoyed yourself immensely, and you thought Daryl had enjoyed the night too, even if he had seemed awkward, but he’d been eating and drinking, and helping Howard, who that night hadn’t been tinkering with the radio but with a clock as ancient as broken. The sun was already shining when the patrons had been asked to go home, and Daryl and you had finally go home to nap and share your handmade gifts, keeping your childhood tradition.

Last year, Daryl had made you a pendant with broken car glasses and metal, you still didn’t know how, and this year he had made you earrings that went with the pendant. You had seen him working on a pretty much-broken bike that someone had left him for fixing, and you had no idea that he would take some of its broken glass and metal to work on your gift, neither how he could turn those into something as pretty as the earrings that he had given you, and that you wore every day.

The guys from the old biker gang left Daryl their bikes when they needed to be repaired, because apparently, Daryl worked on bikes better than anyone else, and was cheaper than the town garage anyway. You had stopped seeing anyone else from the gang when you married, but now whenever they came with a bike and you were there, they’d talk to you. Soon everyone knew that you had left your husband, and sometimes some of them came just to check on you, or to talk memories about your late brother, and slowly, you felt like you were coming back to life, back to yourself even…the only reason why you hadn’t lost yourself completely was Daryl, you were sure, and now it was thanks to him too that you were coming back to the world.

You had cheated that year when getting Daryl’s gift ready. You had a handmade one, an empty bottle that you had taken from the bar and that you had painted with different colors to make it a vase, if you put a candle in, it’d shine with the different colors. You thought it was a bit lame, but you hadn’t been able to come up with anything else.

You had something else, though. While walking near a charity market, you had spotted a t-shirt that you thought would be perfect for Daryl. It was black, it had a small drawing of a silhouette of a bike in white, and also the phrase “It seems I’m paying attention to you but in my head, I’m riding my bike.” You had a good chuckle, you were sure that sentence could be applied to anyone from the old gang more than once, and twice, and a hundred times, including Daryl.

You knew that he had loved it, he’d worn it a couple of times despite the colder weather, even if he had scolded you for spending money on it. But it was perfect for him, Daryl deserved it, after everything that he had done for you, he had spent much more getting you back on your feet, even if he’d never let you mention it. And…the black t-shirt looked really good on him, you had to admit it…you felt your cheeks heating up at the thought and you shook your head. Your silly crush had just gotten worse that year, but you were still able to control yourself, even if your mind betrayed you often.

Your mind went back to earth and the present moment when you felt Maria pushing your coat into the hand that wasn’t holding the bottle of whisky, and telling you again to leave.

“Come on, dear, go celebrate, have fun, wish young Dixon a happy new year from Howard and me,” she ushered you towards the door. “No, wait, I’ll phone him so he comes to pick you up.”

“No, no wait! Don’t! I want it to be a surprise, he thinks I’m going to be working almost the whole night.” You grinned, knowing he wouldn’t expect you calling until way later.

“I don’t know, Y/N, I don’t like you going alone this late,” Maria said, and you knew Daryl didn’t like it either, that’s why he went to pick you every single night, but you were sure you’d be fine, and the bar wasn’t far from Daryl’s trailer. Besides, you always kept under your clothes the hunting knife that Daryl had given you.

“I’ll be okay,” you assured her, putting on your coat. “I promise. Thank you a million times.” You’d look for a way to repay it.

“It’s nothing, darling.” Maria smiled at you. “Happy new year, and remember that you have a free day tomorrow.”

“Happy new year.” You grinned. “Happy new year, Howard!” You said loudly and you heard his voice coming from the backroom, wishing you the same. “Happy new year,” you said once again, this time waving to your patrons, a couple of them grunting a reply.

“Come on, Cinderella, or it’ll be past midnight!” Maria chuckled and you nodded, rushing outside and checking your watch.

It was close to midnight, and so you alternated between walking fast and running, and when you reached Daryl’s trailer, you were out of breath but on time. You checked your watch while you took the spare key…only a couple of minutes for midnight. You opened the door quickly and walked inside.

“Surprise!”

Daryl’s head snapped up at the sound of the door unlocking and your voice, frowning. He was sat down on the tattered couch, one hand holding an old bike magazine, the other a jar with moonshine that a guy from the gang made. You always told Daryl not to drink that, joking that he’d get sick or blind, but he did anyway. The old, small tv was on, some old movie on it, volume low, and the painted bottle that you had made for Christmas was near it, a candle inside it, shining the different colors in which you had painted it.

“What…” Daryl began but you interrupted him.

“Maria let me finish early because it’s new year’s,” you said before Daryl could ask anything, trying to catch your breath. “Also, a gift.” You placed the whiskey bottle on the table and shrugged off your coat, discarding it on the floor carelessly in your rush.

“Why you didn’t call, it’s late and-” Daryl began to say, still frowning, but you stopped him.

“No, hush, shh, it’s almost midnight! You can tell me off later, now hush, there’s no time!” You said as you dropped on the couch next to him, grinning excitedly, happy that you had arrived right on time.

Daryl blinked at you but he stopped speaking, and his frown gave way to a smirk as if you amused him, and you couldn’t help your smile. He left the magazine on the couch and the moonshine on the table next to the whiskey, turning to look at you again, and at that moment you heard them, the firecrackers. It was a new year.

“Happy new year!” You wrapped your arms around him, and Daryl huffed as you threw yourself at him, catching him by surprise, but he wrapped his arms around you too, holding you, and chuckling when you squeezed him a bit tighter.

“Happy new year, Y/N,” he murmured, burying his face on the crook of your shoulder.

You swallowed hard, feeling a lump of emotion in your throat as you held each other for a little bit longer. You smiled at him when you finally pulled back, but Daryl didn’t smile back, he seemed worried, and you realized that you had tears in your eyes.

“What…it…there’s something wrong?” Daryl asked, seeming about to panic. “Did someone-”

“No, no, no, I’m fine!” You rushed to assure him, holding his hand and squeezing it. “I’m okay, I’m…I’m more than okay, I’m crying because I’m happy. I’m very, very happy. It is a happy new year.” You grinned, even if your eyes were wet.

“Oh…” Daryl seemed surprised and he looked down, shyly, but a smile tugged at the corner of his lip. “Yeah…yeah, it is…” He muttered, and you took him by surprise again when you leaned to plant a kiss on his cheek, you were too happy and exultant to care about being shy…besides, the year before you had gotten drunk and kissed his lips out of impulse, a cheek kiss was way more innocent, you guessed, chuckling to yourself, even if you wished you could kiss his lips again…

“I’m going to get us some glasses!” You rushed up from the couch, reaching into the kitchen shelf and getting a couple of glasses, leaving them on the table as you sat down again. You grinned at Daryl, and chewed on your lip when you saw him looking at you with a soft smile, and eyes so fond…your heart skipped a beat and something twirled inside your stomach, and so you looked away, trying to control it, and you focused on opening the whiskey and pouring it into the glasses.

“We gotta toast to Maria and Howard’s honor,” you said as you picked up your glass. “They wish you a happy new year too so…happy new year to the best bosses in the world.” You clinked your glass with Daryl’s, and he nodded and smiled.

“Yeah, they’re good people, there ain’t many people like that in this town,” he said, and you agreed.

“Happy new year, Daryl.” You smiled, raising your glass and taking a sip

“Happy new year,” Daryl sipped the whiskey too. “It’s good.”

“Yeah, Maria didn’t give us anything cheap, this is the good stuff.” You chuckled, taking another sip.

“Someone’s gonna get drunk and complain of a hangover tomorrow.” Daryl teased.

“Yeah, it’s you,” you teased back, chuckling. “Questionable moonshine and good whiskey, a deadly combination.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, just looked at you with an amused, fond smile. You looked away, feeling some twirls in your stomach, and focused on kicking off your boots. Once you were done, you lifted your feet onto the couch and leaned back on the armrest with a sigh, taking another sip as you looked at Daryl.

“Wait…” Daryl reached back, looking for something on the ground, and then he pulled up a blanket that he carefully threw over you, but you made sure that he didn’t place the blanket only over you but over him too, the trailer was cold in winter, shifting until your legs were almost over his, but it didn’t seem that Daryl minded it, resting one of his arms over your legs. “Are you cold?”

“I’m okay, thank you.” You smiled and reached out to pour you another glass of whiskey, refilling Daryl’s too. “Besides, this will warm you from the inside.” You giggled.

“Yeah…” Daryl chuckled, nodding as he took a sip. “Take it easy, don’t want you to get sick.”

“I’m not going to get sick.” You nudged his leg with your feet, but Daryl retaliated grabbing your ankle and tickling the sole of your socked feet, making you yelp and yank your feet away, almost throwing the whiskey on yourself. “No!”

Daryl didn’t say anything, just chuckled, looking at you with a smug, amused smile, but he stopped trying to tickle you, and you relaxed, laying against the armrest again and taking another sip

“Besides…it’s new year’s, what’s the matter if I get drunk.” You shrugged, smiling contently. “I want to celebrate that I had the best year since…since so long. Probably the best year that I ever had, after my brother passed and I…you know…got married and all that…” You trailed off, you didn’t want to think about that, you had just meant to say how happy you had been that year, thanks to Daryl.

You felt his hand on your left, squeezing it gently, reassuringly, and when you looked at him, he gave you a soft, half-smile. “It was a good year,” he said and you smiled, nodding.

“Yeah…yeah, one of the best.

“I know that…uh…” Daryl looked away. “That you, uh…that it wasn’t easy…but you…uh…just…I’m proud of you, you know, for all you did this year…so…yeah…”

You felt butterflies again, that love and fondness for Daryl seeming to squeeze your heart, and you felt so grateful for him. “Thank you, Daryl…you know that I couldn’t have done it without you…”

“Nah…” Daryl shook his head, still looking away. “You could.”

“No, and you know it,” you insisted, you wanted him to know. “You protected me, you didn’t let Rian hurt me, you got hurt yourself.”

“Was nothing…” Daryl murmured, but you kept speaking.

“You took me in, gave me a roof and food, you got me back onto my feet when I had nothing, you helped me so much, Daryl, you did, so don’t say that you didn’t, or that it was nothing.” Daryl shrugged but stopped himself from saying what you had told him not to, and he gave you a half-smile, squeezing your ankle again, and you reached to place your hand over his. “You also gave me your bed, I still have you sleeping on this couch, it’s not fair.”

“Couch is fine…”

“Yeah?” You arched an eyebrow at the small, tattered couch. “Then we change, I sleep on the couch and you sleep on your bed.”

“Nah, I’m good here,” Daryl said and you chuckled, shaking your head, you had been sure that would be his answer, but still, it felt unfair.

You knew that Daryl would never tell you that, that probably he didn’t think it himself, but after a year living in his place, you were starting to feel a bit like an overstaying guest. The trailer was small and you felt like you were always on Daryl’s hair, not giving him privacy, except when he was in the woods or outside fixing a bike. You were afraid that your presence was overwhelming, that Daryl probably missed his solitude. You felt like you had taken over his life, his place, his everything, and you couldn’t help but feel guilty sometimes.

You didn’t want to leave, you loved to be there with him, and you felt like without Daryl near you, that anxiety that always threatened to fill you would win, but you couldn’t lean on Daryl always, you should let him get his life back, and maybe it was time…

“You know…” You took a big gulp of whiskey, grimacing at the burn. “I’ve been thinking that maybe this year, once I’ve saved enough now that I’m working…maybe eventually I could rent my own place.”

Daryl frowned, shifting away from you. “You don’t wanna stay here?”

“It’s…it’s not that I don’t want to, just…” You let out a sigh and took another sip of whiskey. “You’ve been feeding me for a year, you had to put up with me for a year, been all the time in your space, everywhere you look, there I am, I know it must be annoying, so…maybe it’s time I got my own place…”

“You know you ain’t annoying, I told you already.” Daryl kept frowning at you, and you could see him getting defensive, taking a long sip of whiskey and looking away from you, shrugging. “If you don’t like it here just say it, I get it.”

“Daryl, no, it’s not that.” You reached out to place a hand on his arm, but Daryl flinched, still looking away. “I like it here, I like to live with you.”

“You wanna leave,” Daryl scoffed.

“I don’t want to, I just feel like I should give you space,” you tried to explain. “But I like it here, I like to spend time with you, I feel safe when I’m here with you, and happy, and…yeah…” You shrugged shyly, realizing that you had gotten bit carried away. “Told you, best year since forever…just don’t want to be a nuisance”

“You ain’t that, I uh…I like having you here…” Daryl murmured, still not looking at you. “If you wanna leave then leave…” He shrugged again. “But don’t say it’s ‘cause of me.”

“I don’t want to leave…” You nudged Daryl with your feet, trying to get him to look at you, and he did.

“Then don’t.”

“Okay…” You nodded. “Are you sure? It’s okay if you want the space, I understand, I won’t be upset, I know that-”

“Told you that I like that you are here.” Daryl stopped you and he looked away again, shy. “If you leave it’s cause you wanna, not ‘cause I want you to leave…’cause I don’t…”

“And I like to be here…I don’t want to leave…”

“So don’t.”

“Okay…okay, I won’t.” You nodded, smiling, and when Daryl looked at you, a smile tugged at the corner of his lip. “At least let me buy you one of those couches that you can pull into a bed…or let me take the couch so you can sleep in your bed.”

“You think there’s space in here for one of those?” Daryl scoffed. “And nah, I’m good on the couch.”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow…” You didn’t want Daryl to still sleep uncomfortably in his own place, just because he was too good to you. “Now…you think we can finish this bottle?” You reached out to pour more whiskey into yours and Daryl’s glasses, and he chuckled.

“You’re gonna regret it in the morning.”

“Well, I don’t have to work.” You grinned and took a sip. “So I can lie on bed all day, while you are in are all scrunched on this couch.”

“Yeah? Maybe I’ll feel like revving the bike’s engine as loud as I can,” Daryl said, trying to tickle your feet again, and you squealed, trying to pull away without throwing the whiskey.

“Or you can sleep in your bed and leave me the couch.”

“Nah.” Daryl didn’t relent, smiling before gulping down the whiskey.

“Bed is big enough for two,” you blurted out, eyes going wide when you realized what you had said, it felt as if your heart was going to jump out of your chest waiting for Daryl’s reaction, but to your relief, he seemed to think that you were joking, and he scoffed, shaking his head and taking another sip.

“It ain’t.”

It wasn’t the biggest bed in the world, sure, but it’d be enough for two people, it’d just be…cozy. You tried not to imagine how it’d be to curl up there with Daryl, and how much you wanted it.

“Then, we can take turns, one night I take the bed, the next you take it, and so on.” You shrugged.

“I told you I’m okay here, stop it,” Daryl grumbled.

“Okay…but I’m stopping just for this night…” You grinned and took another sip. “Because I just want to drink, and celebrate, and have fun, and be happy, because this year was the best in forever for me…and I want this to be the best new year’s, even better than the last one…and that was great and the best for me since…forever, again.” You giggled.

Sure, your husband had come for you in the middle of the night, scaring you, but still, it was the night when you had found the courage to leave, thanks to Daryl, and the night when you had so, so much fun, more than in so many years.

“It was…last new year’s was the best in forever for me too…” Daryl told you quietly, looking away. “Since those that we spent on the club, with your brother and mine, and the others.” Yes…yes, those had been good years, indeed…

The memories of your brother were bittersweet…so many years and you still missed him so much…

“Daryl…I’m sorry that Merle didn’t come this year either…” You reached out to squeeze Daryl’s hand, who just shrugged.

“I wasn’t expecting him…” He murmured, as if he didn’t care, but you knew he missed his brother.

“Well…let’s make this new year’s better than the last one.” You grinned, wanting to dissipate the melancholy that had fallen over you both. You raised your glass, clinking it with Daryl’s. “To a great year and one that will be even better.”

“Yeah…” Daryl gave you that half a smile that had given you the butterflies for the first time when you both were kids, and he gulped down his whiskey. You did the same, trying to stop the butterflies, and Daryl refilled your glasses.

“Trying to get me drunk, Dixon?” You joked.

“You don’t need me for that, and you’re kind of drunk already,” Daryl smirked, snorting when you nudged him with your feet, even if he was right and you were feeling tipsy, Daryl and you had drunk a few glasses already.

Daryl took another long sip, and you wondered who would get drunker, you or him..probably you. He gulped down the whiskey, looking at you before looking away. “I, uh…this new year’s is already better than the last one anyway.”

“Yeah? Why?”

Daryl shrugged, sipping his whiskey again. “You don’t have to be worried about Rian, you don’t have to think of him, he ain’t gonna come for you…” yeah…yeah that was a very good reason. “And…you’re happy, so I… uh…” He shrugged, shy. “I like it.”

“Yes…yes, you’re right, Daryl.” You reached out and squeezed his arm softly. “But I was happy here last year too, I had a lot of fun with you, eating, and talking, and drinking, it was so good, I told you, it was the best new year’s since forever.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his lip, and he nodded. Then, though, he looked at you, and he chewed on his lip as you knew he did when he was unsure about something, and you wondered what was he thinking. He sipped his whiskey and looked away.

“You kissed me last year.”

You felt your heart stop for a second at Daryl’s words, and then your face seemed to burn. Daryl had never mentioned that, and you were surprised that he had brought it up. But it was new year’s, you both were on the tipsy side, probably he had remembered the year before. It didn’t mean that it wasn’t embarrassing, though at least Daryl hadn’t been annoyed by it.

“Yeah, I…uh…I…” You babbled. “I was a mess…and drunk…sorry.”

Daryl just hummed, still not looking at you, and you wondered what was going on through his head, trying not to worry, he hadn’t seemed annoyed by the kiss last year, just surprised and awkward, and he hadn’t said anything about it during the whole year, so there was no reason to think that he might be annoyed now…but he was serious, looking away from you, thoughtful, and you didn’t know what to do.

Daryl took another sip of whiskey before speaking again, still looking away. “So you ain’t drunk enough to kiss me this year?”

You blinked at him, taken aback. Not what you were expecting, and you didn’t know what to make of his words, confused and surprised. “Wha-what?” Daryl didn’t say anything, didn’t look at you. Did he want you to kiss him? Maybe it was because it was new year’s? Or maybe…could he really want it? Maybe he was just joking or trying to get a reaction out of you…you didn’t know what to do, you didn’t want to make a fool out of yourself by taking it too seriously, even though you couldn’t stop the butterflies. “Are you messing with me? I can embarrass myself enough on my own.”

Daryl shook his head, and you heard him scoffing quietly, muttering something about being stupid as he pulled away from you, finishing his whiskey in a long gulp. You knew Daryl, you could feel him getting defensive, his walls coming up, distancing himself from you both physically and emotionally. He wasn’t messing around, maybe he did want you both to kiss for new year’s, you didn’t know what to think, what to do.

“I…uh…I’m gonna…” Daryl was pulling the blanket away, looking around and he went to get up as if to run away, but you placed a hand on his leg, stopping him, even if you still weren’t sure of what to think or what to do.

“Wait,” you said, pulling at him so he’d sit down again, and Daryl looked at you before quickly looking away. “Do you… want me to kiss you?”

Daryl didn’t say anything and you still didn’t know what to do, but you decided to push past your shyness, past your insecurity and the fear of Daryl rejecting you, or worse, of annoying him or making him uncomfortable, but it was him who had brought up the kiss.

You leaned closer, but Daryl was not looking at you, his body tense even if he wasn’t pulling away, and so you didn’t feel like kissing his lips like that. Instead, you pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, near the corner of his mouth, feeling Daryl swallowing hard.

Daryl wasn’t saying anything, sneaking a glance at you before looking down, and you wondered if that was bad or good…it didn’t seem like he wanted to kiss, though, despite his words, and you leaned back against the armrest, letting out a sigh. Probably it had been just drunken talk, him remembering your foolishness last year, when you kissed him out of the blue, but it wasn’t the same now.

“I don’t need to be drunk to kiss you anyway…” You muttered, reaching to leave your glass on the table, deciding that you had enough whiskey, and then throwing an arm over your eyes…maybe it wasn’t a good idea, you started to feel the alcohol now that your eyes were closed, and your not kiss with Daryl seemed to have turned you from a happy drunk to a sad one.

“You said you kissed me ‘cause you were drunk.” Daryl rasped, he seemed to be speaking again, and you scoffed.

“No…I mean, yes, but…nah, being drunk is what gave me the courage to kiss you, I guess…” You admitted, removing the arm from your eyes, looking at the ceiling. “Been wanting to do it since forever.”

It was Daryl who scoffed now and you felt him shifting on the small couch and pouring more whiskey, but you but didn’t look at him. “Yeah, sure.”

“What?” You chuckled bitterly. “It’s true…I’ve had a big, stupid crush on you since we were kids.” You decided to just go with the truth, after all, Daryl had you living with him, maybe he should know your feelings before deciding if he still wanted you both to live together, knowing about your stupid crush might change his mind, and you’d understand it. “So there, now you know it, if you don’t feel comfortable living with me I get it, so If you want me to leave, I told you that-”

“Told you that I don’t want you to leave,” Daryl stopped you and then he shook his head. “You got no crush on me, you are just drunk.”

“I am drunk,” you agreed, leaning against the armrest again. “And I do have a crush on you…I can’t help it, I can’t stop it.”

Daryl scoffed, gulping down his whiskey, and suddenly he got up, this time moving too fast for you to stop him. You frowned at him, confused, as he paced away from the couch. “You got a crush on me? Yeah, yeah, sure, that’s why you left, why you married that fucking asshole, and why you stayed with him! ‘Cause you got a crush on me…yeah, yeah sure.” He scoffed again.

Daryl seemed upset, angry even, taking you by surprise as you looked at him pacing around the trailer. The place was small, too small for him to vent with you there, you knew it, unless he went out, which you hoped he didn’t. You didn’t know how you had upset him, but his words hurt nonetheless.

“I…you…you know why I did that…”

“Yeah, yeah, ‘cause you got a crush on me, that’s why you couldn’t wait to marry that fucking piece of shit!” Daryl chuckled humorless, glaring at you. “Makes tons of sense!”

“I…why…” You babbled, you didn’t know what to say. “Why are you angry at me now? What did I do?”

Daryl scoffed. “I ain’t angry, just calling your bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit, it’s true! What’s the matter with you! Yes, I married an asshole having a crush on you, it wasn’t like you were interested in marrying me instead! And I didn’t know he was an asshole, I didn’t run to him to fulfill my dream of marrying an abusive prick! And you know why I didn’t leave him…But you can think whatever you want.”

You rubbed your eyes when you felt tears on them, and hugged your knees to your chest. “So much for the best new year’s ever…” You muttered, you didn’t know how you both had gone from having fun to fighting in five seconds.

Daryl didn’t say anything, and you heard him pacing before he sat down on the couch again, but you didn’t look at him. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, but you still didn’t look up. “Y/N…hey…” You chewed on your lip but glanced at him. “I’m sorry I yelled. I am.”

“Okay…” You whispered.

“I, uh…I’m an asshole when I’m drunk…”

You snorted quietly. “Not always…you can be an asshole or you can be nicer than ever, but there’s not knowing which one you will be until you are drunk already.”

Daryl snorted too. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah…just…” You let out a sigh. “Just don’t know why you are angry…”

“I’m not angry, I’m just an idiot, I’m sorry.”

“Nah…just…” You chewed on your lip and looked at him. “Daryl, you know how I ended up married to that asshole…”

Daryl shrugged, looking down. “All I know is that one day you were here then the next you were leaving with him.”

“It was…it wasn’t like that…” You sighed,

“Felt like it…” Daryl murmured.

You looked at him, unsure of what to say, of what Daryl was thinking. Maybe…maybe he felt like you had left him, back then? It hadn’t been your intention, you hadn’t known that your husband was going to take control over you, get you away from anyone, but you had always fought to keep contact with Daryl anyway.

When you were in your late teens and your brother died in an accident, and you had nothing, when you didn’t have the strength to get up from bed, Daryl had taken you in, he had taken care of you, like he was doing now. But he was younger too, things were hard for him, and you had felt like a nuisance, grateful but worried that he’d end up tired of you.

You had already met Rian, the man who would be your husband. He was around your brother’s age and went to your brother when he needed his car fixed, but he started talking to you more after your brother died, seeming afflicted and worried about you, though he only sought you when Daryl was out in the woods, hunting dinner.

Soon, Rian had made his intentions clear, letting you know that he liked you…he wasn’t…he wasn’t your dream, but he was nice and nobody had asked you out before, and so when he did, you said yes, flattered, wanting to feel something that wasn’t sadness about your brother’s loss and about your crush on Daryl, which was growning at the same time that you felt it’d never be more than a silly unreciprocated crush too stubborn to die.

Rian wasn’t Daryl, but when he showed you his affection, when he told you beautiful words and made promises, so different from his true self that you’d end up meeting too late, you thought you could feel butterflies in your belly in a way. Not much later, he told you to move with him, he would make sure you’d have everything you needed, he’d take care of you.

Daryl took care of you too, and you liked to live with him, but you didn’t want to still be a nuisance for him, he had so much trouble having to fend for both of you, you felt useless unable to find a job, you still cried yourself to sleep every night, you felt like a mess…but a nice, handsome man was interested in you, a man that, when seeing your hesitance, proposed, letting you know that his intentions were real. It had shocked you, but it had also made you feel giddy with excitement. He had proposed! He wanted to marry you! Maybe…maybe this could be your chance to get your life together? To be a real, proper adult?

Rian had proposed and Daryl…Daryl had never looked at you like that, you thought…he cared for you, loved you in a way, but you guessed he wasn’t interested in having with you more than a good friendship, a friendship that you loved nonetheless, you two were family in one way or another…but he didn’t reciprocate your feelings. So, maybe it’d be best to move on…and so, soon, you had moved with Rian, and you were married.

Daryl never liked him, didn’t bit his tongue when telling you how he disliked him, the asshole he thought him to be, but your husband had told you that he was just overprotective like your brother would be, telling you that it was time you stopped listening so much to friends and started being yourself, and listening to him…soon, though, you had learned the hard way that it’d have been better to trust Daryl instincts. Soon, your husband was someone else, his true self, making sure you had nothing and nobody but him…Daryl, though, was always there for you, getting into fights with your husband, trying to talk you into leaving him, but as years passed, you felt more and more terrified, more and more trapped…

…until last year, when, with Daryl at your side, you worked the courage to leave.

You thought about it all while you stared at Daryl, who wasn’t looking at you but fidgeting with his glass, though he wasn’t drinking more.

“Daryl…I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you warned me about Rian all those years ago.”

Daryl shrugged, looking at you. “You don’t have to say sorry for that.”

“Oh, but I am sorry…” You chuckled bitterly. “Believe me, I’m very sorry.” Daryl didn’t say anything, just reached out to squeeze your ankle gently before going back to fidget with his glass, and you wished so much that you knew what was going through his head. “Daryl…do you want me to tell you why I married Rian?”

“Cause you liked him…” Daryl shrugged.

“No…I mean, yeah, in a way, I wanted to, he seemed nice, I wasn’t in love, I know it now, but I was…I don’t know, it was a good feeling…” You didn’t know how to explain it. “Sure, he wasn’t the guy I was crushing on…”

Daryl scoffed at that, and he seemed about to get up again, so you placed your leg over his to keep him on the couch. “Listen, I’m speaking Dixon,” you half-joked, nudging him with your feet, and Daryl snorted, but he didn’t try to get up again, even if he seemed awkward.

“So…yeah…he seemed nice and he was interested in me…his attention felt nice, and…I don’t know, I feel like maybe that way I could become a proper adult, get my shit together and all that, because you know I was a mess back then, Daryl, after my brother died, you know how I was…” You said, and you felt Daryl’s hand in your leg at that, squeezing it softly, reassuringly. “If it wasn’t for you…I don’t know what I’d have done. You took me in, and you had so much going on in your life already, and Merle had come back again and you had to deal with his bullshit, he was high most of the time…” You knew him since you were a kid, though he came a went, but Merle high wasn’t a good thing be around.

“You had to fend for yourself, and now also for me, you did so much for me…I felt like a nuisance, I knew you would never tell me so, but…I felt like that…because I was useless, couldn’t find a job, couldn’t do anything useful, couldn’t do anything for you, pay you back…I feared…I feared you’d end up tired of me…resenting me…that our friendship would die ‘cause I was always around you, and you had to take care of me and…I don’t know…I thought you would be better off without me all day around you…Rian…he, uh…kind of told me something like that once too…so..”

“Fucking asshole…” Daryl muttered, and you knew he was trying to listen without talking over you, even if he wanted to speak, probably to stop what you were saying.

“So…yeah…I didn’t want you to resent me, I didn’t want to be a burden to you, you had enough, I didn’t want to…make your life harder or…I don’t know, stop you from doing what you wanted or…dunno…and I thought Rian was nice and that I could love him…I was young and stupid, I thought if I married I’d magically become this proper adult, with a home and a husband, and her life together…” You snorted bitterly.

Daryl looked at you and then down, chewing on his lip before looking at you again, as if he were looking for words. “I could never resent you…you uh…you weren’t a burden, you weren’t annoying, you weren’t a nuisance or nothing like that…I uh…I wanted to help you, you, uh…you…you’re important so…I care and…yeah…” Daryl trailed off, shrugging shyly, and his words brought tears of emotion to your eyes. “Just…I liked it, being with you…same that I like it now…didn’t want you to leave…”

“And I appreciate it, Daryl, more than I can say…you know that you’re important to me and that I care for you too.” You reached out, looking for his hand, and he let you held it, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lip at your words. “And I appreciate you telling me all that. I’m sorry that I was an idiot back then…I should have listened to you when you told me about Rian…I shouldn’t have left like that, I shouldn’t have assumed things, I should have talked to your about all this, shouldn’t have waited all these years…” So many regrets, it felt as if your life was made of regrets, making your heart heavy, pulling you down…it seemed like Daryl noticed, because he squeezed your hand, and somehow everything felt a bit better.

“Yeah…well…maybe if you had told me this then, I’d have been an ass about it and you’d have left anyway, I was a mess back then too…still are,” Daryl joked darkly, looking at you with half a smile when you snorted, before looking away, serious again. “It’s just…”

“Yeah?” You asked when he didn’t say anything else.

“Nothing.”

“No, come on, tell me…” You squeezed Daryl’s hand, shifting closer, wanting to know what was going through his head. “Please?”

Daryl let out a sigh, glancing at you briefly before looking away. “Just…it felt…it felt like…like as soon as you found something better you left…”

“Daryl…” You had no idea that he had felt like that, and it made you feel awful…you had hurt him, you could see it now, you had made him feel less when he already was so insecure, you hated it, it hurt you too. “Daryl, no, it wasn’t like that, never, nothing like that, I promise.”

“I know.” Daryl nodded, looking at you, squeezing your hand when he noticed that you were upset. “It’s okay, I know.”

“I’m sorry I made you feel like that, it wasn’t like that at all, I never wanted you to think that, if I had known…I…I’m sorry.”

“I know, you don’t gotta be sorry, it’s okay.” Daryl shrugged but gave you that tiny half-smile.

“Besides, finding something better? Seriously?” You asked and Daryl just shrugged, looking away, and you shifted even closer to him, kneeling next to him on the couch, resting one hand on his shoulder and cupping his face with the other to gently make him look at you. “There can’t be anything better than you. You’re the most amazing person in the world, Daryl. I know I am a bit drunk, but I am dead serious.” Daryl just scoffed, looking away again. “Don’t do that. You are, you are amazing, and not only for everything that you have done for me, and believe me, you have done a lot, but…just because you are…I’ve got a damn crush on you for years after all…although, yeah, considering whom I married, maybe my taste shouldn’t be trusted, maybe you are actually an asshole not only when you are drunk,” you joked.

Daryl looked at you at that, scoffing, but he seemed amused, and he tickled your side, making you yelp in surprise. Daryl snorted at it, and you giggled too. “Yeah…yeah, you can be an asshole…but you are damn amazing too…the best person I ever knew…”

“Stop it…” Daryl murmured, looking away again.

“Why, are you blushing?” You teased, though Daryl was indeed blushing, even if he scoffed. You looked at him, chewing on your lip. “Daryl…you wanna know another reason why I went to get married?” Daryl looked at you, frowning, and he nodded. “Well…the guy I was crushing on wasn’t interested, so I thought I should try to move on…I guessed he’d meet a girl or a guy that he liked, and I knew it’d hurt even if I wanted him happy…so maybe it’d be better to move on…and also, maybe if I left, maybe then I’d stop having that crush, because being all day around this amazing guy…yeah, it was just getting worse.” It hadn’t worked, though, there you were, so, so many years later, crush still going strong.

“Daryl…you know the amazing guy I’m talking about is you, right? I literally just told you,” you half-joked when Daryl didn’t say anything, and he glanced at you but seemed shy. You backed off, you didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. “Anyway, it didn’t work, still got the silly crush, I told you, so…yeah.” You let yourself fall back against the armrest. “And don’t go saying that it’s not true, okay, because it is, don’t try to explain my feelings to me, assholes do that. I got a crush on you, that is, I said it, I won’t take it back now.”

“I didn’t know.” Daryl finally said. “You never said.”

“Yeah, well…I wasn’t about to embarrass myself to death.” You chuckled. “I knew you weren’t interested, I didn’t want to make things weird…I never was drunk enough to blurt it out I guess.” You chuckled again.

“Why you say you knew I wasn’t interested?” Daryl finally said, and you shrugged.

“You didn’t seem to be.” Besides, you hadn’t seen how someone like him could be interested in you in that way.

“I didn’t know that you were.”

“Would it have changed anything?” You shrugged, sure that the answer was no.

“I don’t know.”

You let out a tired sigh. “You either liked me like, not only friends, or you didn’t.”

“I don’t know.” Daryl shrugged, defensive. “But…but I liked to be with you, and I liked living with you, and having you around, and…yeah…don’t know…when you left…just…” He shrugged again, and then reached out to take a sip of whiskey from the bottle. “I…I liked being with you...so I…I don’t know…all I know is that I liked it when we were together and that you were important to me…” Daryl looked at you and you couldn’t stop the butterflies in your belly. He took another sip of whiskey looking away from you.

“And you’re still important to me, and I still like it when we’re together, and I don’t want you to leave again, I want you to be here with me…‘cause…dunno…I like it…” Daryl gulped down another sip of whiskey before reaching to leave the bottle on the table. “And…and the way I feel when I’m with you…the way I feel about you…I don’t know…but…you’re…you…uh…” Daryl trailed off, shrugging and letting out a sigh, as if he didn’t know what else to say, as if he didn’t know what he wanted to say, but his words already had you almost in tears.

“Thank you for telling me all that, Daryl,” you said quietly, feeling the butterflies swirling in your belly. Daryl shrugged, but a shy smile tugged at the corner of his lip as he glanced at you, before he looked away again. You chewed on your lip, gathering the courage to follow the butterflies and speak. “Daryl…can I kiss you for new year’s again? It’s really okay if you don’t want to.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, but then he glanced at you, and he seemed shy but he nodded. Your heart fluttered at it, and you moved closer, shifting onto your knees next to him again, feeling a bit nervous and shy too. You placed one hand on Daryl’s shoulder and cupped his face with the other, making him look at you, leaning towards him.

“Sure?” You whispered, and when Daryl nodded, you kissed his lips softly, hoping that he wouldn’t regret it.

You still remembered your kiss a year before, the way it had made you feel, but this time, it felt even better…it lasted more than the second that the other kissed had lasted, and Daryl was kissing you back instead of pulling away. The sparkles seemed to be even bigger this time, the butterflies in your belly going crazy, same that your heart.

“Was…it was okay?” You asked quietly as you pulled away, though you didn’t move far, your hand still on Daryl’s shoulder.

“Yeah…” He breathed out, opening his eyes, and when you looked at him, you wondered if he might be feeling a bit, even just a bit, like you, and it gave you the courage to speak.

“Daryl…I want to kiss you not only in new year’s but…any day…” You chewed on your lip, looking at Daryl, but he wasn’t saying anything. You had tried not to have much hope, and you smiled sadly, leaning to kiss his forehead softly this time. “It’s okay…I understand…” You murmured, and you began moving away, but Daryl stopped you, and then he was leaning in and kissing you again. When he pulled back, you looked at him surprised, feeling like you had forgotten not only how to breathe, but also how to speak and even think.

“Thank you,” you stammered somehow, cringing at your words, why in the world would you say that, but your brain seemed not to be working.

Daryl had seemed more than shy, but that made him snort. “You’re…thanking me?” He still seemed shy, but amused too.

“What?” You shrugged, embarrassed, but Daryl amusement didn’t make you feel bad, even if you were still cringing, and you couldn’t help but snort too. “It was a good kiss, okay? So yeah, thanks, whatever…” You shrugged again, chuckling shyly. Daryl didn’t say anything, seeming shy again as he looked down, but he was smiling softly. “So…” You tried to gather enough courage again. “Does that mean I can kiss you even when it’s not new year’s?” Daryl glanced at you and then he looked down, nodding. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Daryl looked at you, a small smile tugging at his lips, before he looked down again, shy, and you felt as if your heart might burst, but you still couldn’t stop your doubts.

“You’re not saying that because you’re drunk…yeah? And regret it when you are sober?” You asked, trying to sound like you were joking, even if it did worry you.

Daryl scoffed and looked at you. “I ain’t that drunk.”

“Well…you are kind of drunk…” You shrugged, smiling when Daryl rolled his eyes, muttering again that he was not that drunk.

“What about you, uh? You’re drunk too, sure you ain’t only kissing me when you are drunk?” He asked again, but you knew he was just joking shyly.

“I am not that drunk either.”

“You’re drunker than me.” Daryl snorted.

“Yeah well…I’m less drunk than the last new year’s,” you chuckled, smiling at Daryl, he seemed less shy, more relaxed, and it was helping you relax too. “Besides, I told you, I’ve been wanting to kiss you since forever.”

You shrugged…you wished you had kissed him earlier, that you had talked with him earlier, years ago, you felt you had wasted so many years…your feelings seemed to reflect on your face, because you felt Daryl’s hand squeezing yours, and when you looked at him, he arched an eyebrow at you. You shook your head, you didn’t want to think about any regrets at that moment. You chewed on your lip and then decided to just go for it, leaning to kiss Daryl again.

“Still okay?” You asked.

“Yeah…” Daryl nodded, and you smiled at the feeling of his fingers running through your hair as you pulled away. You looked at him, chewing on your lip, feeling almost in awe at the moment and at how all your feelings for Daryl seemed to grow even more, your heart feeling almost too big to fit inside your chest.

“I love you,” you blurted out while you looked at him, couldn’t stop your thoughts from turning into words and escaping your lips, but somehow, you weren’t embarrassed. It was true, and you wanted Daryl to know it. “I love you in so many ways…I love you as a friend, and I love you as family, and I love you as…something more than all that…as in…well…as in I’m in love with you…” You said shyly, looking down, but you couldn’t help your small smile as you said it, your heart fluttering. “So if you want us to be together as more than friends…I’d love that too.”

Daryl didn’t say anything, but then you felt his hands cupping your face, thumbs stroking your cheeks softly, and when he held his forehead against yours you felt as if you might melt. “You know that I…uh…I…”

“I know,” you whispered, nodding, Daryl didn’t need to say anything that he felt too shy to say.

“Love you,” he whispered against your lips, barely audible, before kissing you again, and that time you were sure you were melting.

By the time you pulled back, you couldn’t stop your grin, you hadn’t felt like that in so, so long, that happiness, that giddiness, your heart feeling so full…Daryl seemed shy, but he seemed happy too, smiling bashfully, keeping you close to him, his fingers softly caressing your hair, and it made you feel as if your heart were growing even bigger, as if you could be even more in love.

You shifted closer to him until you were sitting on his lap, and before you could ask if it was okay, Daryl was already wrapping his arms around you, holding you to him. You smiled at him, stroking his cheek and pecking his lips again before you got comfortable lying against Daryl’s chest, no more words needed between you and him.

“What were you watching?” You asked, glancing at the almost muted, old movie on the tv.

“Wasn’t watching nothing…” Daryl murmured, kissing the top of your head, which made you smile again, the butterflies in your belly twirling again. You just hummed, snuggling even more to him, and Daryl reached out for the discarded blanket, wrapping it around you both.

You both watched the old movie, snuggled together under the blanket, Daryl’s arms keeping you snuggled against his warm chest, and every time you felt him nuzzling your hair, your heart fluttered.

“So…” You turned around to smile at Daryl. “It’s past time we went to bed and slept until the afternoon…and you are not staying on this sofa, you are coming to bed with me. You can’t say no.”

Daryl chuckled, smirking at you. “Alright.”

You went to get up but Daryl didn’t let you, instead he placed an arm under your thighs, keeping the other around your shoulders, and he got up with you in his arms, making sure to keep the blanket around you. You giggled, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and kissing his cheek, and Daryl walked you both to the bed.

Carefully, he lowered you down on it, and then pulled down the covers for you to get in. You did so, snuggling under the covers, and also making sure to stretch and place the blanket over everything for good measure, nights in the trailer were cold, and you watched while Daryl went to the door, locking it. Then, he turned off the light, leaving the trailer illuminated only by the soft colored light of the candle inside your handmade candle-holder bottle, and then he made his way back to the bed.

“Are you cold?” He whispered.

“No, I’m good…better once you get in here too…come on,” you said, shifting towards the wall to make room for Daryl. He got inside the bed and you tugged at the covers and the blanket, covering you both with them, before looking at Daryl, unsure of what to do… to curl up with him, to give him space…

Daryl seemed shy and unsure too, but then he lied on his back and glanced at you. “Come here?” He whispered and you nodded, smiling as you shifted to snuggle over his chest.

Daryl wrapped his arm around you, holding you to him. He nuzzled your hair before pressing a kiss to your head, and you couldn’t help your smile. “Get some rest…” He whispered, and he began to stroke your hair softly.

“That feels good…” You hummed. “I…I don’t think I’ve ever slept feeling this safe and content…” Daryl didn’t say anything, but you noticed him holding you tighter and kissing your head again. “This really was a new year’s even better than the last one…”

Daryl chuckled quietly. “Yeah…yeah it was.”

“This was the best year I had in so, so long, thanks to you, and you know…” You looked up from Daryl’s chest to smile at him. “This new year is going to be even better, I know it…” A year that started with Daryl and you together as you had dreamed, with him kissing you, you both snuggled together to sleep…yes, it was going to be the best year.

Daryl smiled shyly, and he nodded. “Yeah…yeah, you’re right…it’s gonna be the best year.”

You lent to kiss his lips and then snuggled against his chest, Daryl’s arms wrapping around you, fingers playing with your hair as you fell into the happiest, most peaceful sleep that you had in years.

There you got it, the biggest one-shot ever. It’d have been a mini-series, but I felt it suited more the new year’s day, you know? I hope it wasn’t too much. I can’t help myself, I love pre-apocalypse.

If you enjoyed it and have a moment, please let me know your thoughts! Thanks to all the people who keep supporting this blog ❤

As always, excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

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