#twd feels like the first time i watched breaking bad

[linusbenjamin]

The Walking Dead S02E07: Pretty Much Dead Already

[thevegandarkelf]

Taken Care Of

18+, MINORS DNI

Masterlist

AO3 link

This oneshot features my OC Lydia Vector (from my story 'Finding Myself, Finding You') & Daryl Dixon (TWD) after they've officially gotten together. I was going to wait until I had posted all the chapters of it to post this, but it's getting too difficult to restrain myself. It isn't necessary to read the story beforehand, but some things from it will be referenced in this piece. If you love smut with fluff, feelsy smut (as someone on AO3 called this), and Daryl being a massive softie for his partner, then this one's for you.

Lydia/Vec/Vector (she goes by all of those) (c) me, TheVeganDarkElf

As their relationship continues to strengthen, Lydia & Daryl begin exploring things in the bedroom. After many trials and tribulations, Lydia finally feels she's ready to take things all the way.

This is my first time ever writing smut, so please go easy on me. Constructive criticism is appreciated (emphasis on constructive), but please be gentle or I'll cry.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x OC

Era: Alexandria, pre-Saviors

Word count: 7.3k

TW: referenced/mention of/allusion to sexual trauma, mention of panic attacks

CWs: swearing, smut (duh), oral sex (female receiving), p in v with protection (wrap it before you tap it my friends), gentle sex, Daryl losing his p in v virginity, dirty talk, praise kink, body worship (maybe? idk?), grinding, hand job (sort of), nipple stuff, a lil' bit of post-orgasm crying from our girl. Let me know if I forgot any!

“You’re practically drooling, Vec,” Rosita laughed, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

“Hmm?” I was only half-present in my response.

“Leave her,” Maggie giggled, “she’s off in her own little world.”

Winter had come to Alexandria, gracing our presence with its ice-cold temperatures and early sunsets. Snow hadn’t fallen yet this season, but it was certainly getting cold enough to do so. I had to break out some jeans and long sleeves, packing away my usual attire of shorts and sports bras for the next few months. Rosita, Maggie and I were sat on the front porch of Maggie & Glenn’s place. Rosita and Maggie had taken the opportunity to have some wine, saying they needed a way to warm themselves from the inside due to the cold. I skipped the alcohol, opting to warm myself with some tea instead. That and Daryl’s leather jacket. Even when he hadn’t been wearing it, his jacket still carried his warmth like it was storing it just for me.

When he was getting ready, I’d tried to convince him to put on his jacket, but he insisted I wear it, telling me he would be fine with a couple of flannels and his poncho. I believed him, as the layers combined with how warm he was all the time would surely keep him nice and toasty, but I also knew his weakness was seeing me in his clothes. That was further corroborated by how handsy he’d been that morning.

He was covering gate duty for the day, his crossbow locked and loaded in his arms, ready to take out anyone or anything that came too close. I was watching him, my mouth slightly agape, dissociating as the corners upturned into a small, delirious smile. There was nothing special or different about his appearance today, but he was looking particularly handsome.

I could’ve been ovulating, but I was down so bad for that man, I didn’t need to be ovulating to be drooling over him.

Rosita pretended to pick something up off the porch and held her hand out to me, palm up, the invisible object resting on it. “Here, I picked your jaw up off the floor for you. You’ll probably want it back. Y’know, so you can use it later.”

“Rosita, please. How many times do I have to tell you that your voice carries?” I snapped.

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” she teased, chuckling softly and taking a sip of her drink.

“You’re one to talk,” I sassed, “your mind practically lives in the gutter.”

“Let her ogle her man,” Maggie retorted. She swirled her wine glass in her hand, the red liquid spiraling up around the sides and nearly spilling over the edge, before taking a sip. “How are things with you two anyway?”

“Fantastic. It’s…it’s like a dream being with him,” I gushed. My eyes fell to my notebook, and the blood was rushing to my cheeks before I had even finished my sentence.

Daryl and I had been official for a few months now, probably four if I had to guess, though no one around here religiously kept track of dates. He treated me like a queen, doting on me despite any sort of little pushback I gave. I was Miss “I’m hyper-independent, let me do it myself,” and I’d met my Mr. “I know you can, but sit down and let me.” And I won’t lie, it had me weak. He was a goddamn angel. I got to wake up next to him each morning and fall asleep next to him each night. Daryl was perfect in every way. Being with him was perfect in every day.

“Still haven’t figured out how to stop blushing, I see,” she laughed. A small smile crossed my lips, and a breathy laugh escaped my nose.

“Daryl thinks it’s cute,” I replied, craning my head in her direction, “doesn’t exactly incentivize me to want to stop.”

There was a tension that hung in the air as Maggie began to ask me her next question. “So…have you...ummm—“

That tension was quickly cut by the sharp knife that was Rosita Espinosa. “How’s the sex?”

“Rosita!” Maggie & I gasped in unison. I gently whacked her arm with my notebook.

“I am not giving you any details about that,” I huffed. My cheeks were quickly turning red once again.

“I told you she wasn’t going to share anything,” Maggie whined, leaning back to talk to Rosita behind me.

I looked back and forth between them before burying myself back in my notebook. “I can’t believe you two.”

Even if I wanted to, truthfully, there wasn’t a whole lot to share.

Our sex life was a journey for the both of us. Daryl was a virgin before we began being intimate. I had given him a crash course in sex ed prior, as the little knowledge he did have about women came from his brother. And frankly, it was horribly inaccurate. Daryl said Merle was degrading when he talked about women, only discussing them in the context of sex and how it was for him. Couldn’t say I was surprised that he never bothered to try to teach Daryl how to please a woman. That didn’t matter to me though. Not having experience in pleasing women meant I got to teach him everything from pleasure points to dirty talk to my praise kink. And Christ, he was a quick learner.

It took some time for him to get confident in the dirty talk department, but he’d quickly mastered that skill once he saw how I responded to it. I had no issues going down on him. Getting comfortable with him going down on me took a bit more work, but he was nothing short of patient and understanding. Early on in that journey, there were times where I’d ask him to talk me through what he was doing, such as telling me where he was going to place his hand before doing so. That didn’t leave any room for surprises, and since I found his voice relaxing, there was a soothing aspect to it too. At first, I was worried he might find it silly, but he never did, Not once. More than anything, he was flattered that I found his voice comforting enough that I wanted to listen to it in our most intimate moments. We’d never gone all the way, but we’d come close a few times.

It had been a few weeks since we last tried, and I’d decided today was the day I was going to tell him I wanted to try again.

I’d been hyping myself up all day, even picking out a matching bra and panty set for later to boost my confidence. If you know, you know. I so badly wanted to experience him in that way. It was almost difficult to put into words how much my body craved him, ached to feel him in the most intimate way. But my brain always had to rear its ugly head and ruin it. It was simply doing its job—trying to protect me from the trauma that lied deep within the recesses of my mind. I couldn’t be too mad at that. My body tingled with nervous energy—excited nerves, anxious nerves, anticipatory nerves—and despite the butterflies in my stomach, I had a good feeling about this one.

“I’m sorry,” Rosita apologized, “I shouldn’t have brought it up. Or at least not been so crass about it.” I peered up at her over the brim of my glasses before adjusting them on my nose.

”I’m sorry too. We just want to know you’re…being taken care of,” Maggie assured.

I chuckled softly. Being taken care of…what a cute euphemism, I thought.

“You both know I can’t stay mad at you.” I looked up and watched Daryl as I continued. “It’s nothing personal, of course. It’s just…it would feel wrong to share details. I know he doesn’t talk about me like that. It wouldn’t feel right to do it to him.”

“We won’t bring it up again,” Maggie promised. She leaned back again, craning her neck to look around me. “Right, Rosita?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Right.”

“I won’t give you nitty gritty details, but I can assure you I’m being taken care of.” I smiled as Daryl turned in my direction, giving me a little nod. “That’s all you’re gonna get.”

I spent some more time with Rosita and Maggie before going home, gathering my notebook and tumbler and walking down the dirt path with an extra pep in my step. I wanted to get home before Daryl so I could get changed and spend some more time hyping myself up. Letting myself inside, I kicked my boots off and went upstairs, eager to change into the cute lingerie set I’d picked out. It was one I’d gotten months ago on a department store run, one that Daryl hadn’t seen yet. One that I’d been saving for a special occasion such as this.

I took the set out of my drawer and quickly undressed, tossing my clothes blindly behind me into some far corner of the bedroom. He could be home at any time, and I wanted to be ready, as well as be able to have some time to myself. I took one of Daryl’s black flannels and tossed it on, leaving it unbuttoned to show off my lingerie. I’d chosen a matching black set, the cups on the bra and the cheeky panties made entirely out of lace. My sternum tattoo peaked out from underneath, the blue flowers adding a pop of color to my dark attire. I adjusted my breasts in the cups, careful not to let my nails snag and tear the delicate fabric. I fidgeted with the straps to make it as comfortable as possible. I wore a 34B, so I met the criteria to join the itty bitty titty committee. My smaller chest had always been an insecurity of mine. I had a smaller frame, so my smaller breasts and butt looked proportionate on me. However, even I couldn’t escape the pre-apocalypse pressure of women’s beauty standards. Daryl didn’t care though. He didn’t care what size my itty bitty titties were or how big or small my butt was. He loved every square inch of me. Plus, he was just happy to be able to see me naked. I chuckled softly to myself as I recalled the first time Daryl saw my bare chest.

“Why ya got your eyes covered?” he’d asked as I approached him, topless and with my face buried in my hands.

“I don’t wanna see the look on your face when you don’t like what you see,” I said, my voice muffled by my hands and my cheeks quickly growing hot. I’d stopped in the hall and waited, anxious wiggling my toes as I heard him step closer. I could hear him laughing softly and feel him eyeing my bare breasts.

“Damn girl, ya got a nice rack,” he replied in an attempt to make me giggle. His hands fell to my hips and pulled my body against his before they wandered up to my hands, removing them from my eyes. I blinked them open, my baby blues meeting his for a brief moment before he kissed me, soft and tender, just like he always did. “Don’t got nothin’ to be shy ‘bout. You’re perfect.”

I fluffed my hair in the mirror, sweeping my bangs out of my eyes and running my fingers along my scalp. I smiled softly and did a few twirls, the hem of Daryl’s flannel flowing around my hips. The outfit was already boasting my confidence, and I knew Daryl was going to love it. He adored lace on me, and that combined with me wearing his shirt was going to drive him wild. I stepped around to the nightstand on my side of the bed and pulled the drawer open, checking to make sure there were still condoms inside, which there were. I rubbed my arms with my hands to try to keep warm. I could’ve put some pants on or threw a blanket around myself, but I wanted my lingerie to be on full display the second Daryl walked through the door. Plus, I’d be wrapped up in his warmth soon enough.

I was filled to the brim with nerves, both good and bad. Of course I was anxious. This would be a new step for us, a step we’d tried to make several times before. Unfortunately, my trauma always got in the way. But I was also excited. Excited to break boundaries, excited to slide into bed and be pleased by him in a new way. Excited to feel him in the way my body had been craving for months.

I heard the familiar creaking of the front door hinges, followed by the sound of Daryl’s bow clattering on the floor. I looked in the mirror and took one last deep breath before walking out. I rounded the corner from our bedroom and stepped out into the hall. The cold winter air that blew inside when he came in had quickly chilled the entire front of the house, the now icy wooden floor shocking my bare feet. I did my best to ignore the feeling.

“Hey handsome. Glad to see you home,” I called out as I made my way down the stairs. He kicked his boots off and turned around, the annoyed look on his face quickly turning into a flirty smirk as he laid his eyes on me. He folded his arms across his chest as he eyed me up and down.

“Lydia Rae, get your sweet ass over here,” he ordered. I skipped over to him, and he picked me up by the waist, spinning us around as he kissed me.

“I told you you’re not allowed to call me that,” I whined as he set me down. My arms remained draped around his neck, playing with the tag inside his shirt.

“Not unless ya’s in trouble.”

“Well what am I in trouble for?”

“For lookin’ so damn good.” His hands wandered down to my hips, his fingers fiddling with the sheer fabric of my panties. “This new?”

“Not new, no. I got this months ago. I’ve been saving it,” I explained. I dropped my eyes to the floor, wiggling my toes once again and scratching the side of my thumb with my index finger behind his head. I was already turning red. “Could we talk?”

“‘Course. What’s goin’ on?” he asked. My arms fell from around his neck to his chest, playing with the buttons on his shirt as I often did when I was nervous. “Ya doin’ okay?”

“I’m okay,” I assured. I bit at the inside of my bottom lip. I was brimming with excitement, but the anxiety had my vocal cords in a chokehold. “I, umm…” I sighed and buried my face in his chest. “Shit,” I said under my breath.

Daryl kissed the top of my head and buried his nose in my hair, snaking his arms further around my hips to pull me closer. “Ain’t a mind reader. Gotta tell me what’s goin’ on in that pretty little head o’ yours.”

“Fuck, this is harder than I thought.” I ran my hands through my hair, taking a deep breath as I did. I closed my eyes and let the words trickle off my tongue before my nerves could stop me. “I, umm…I think I wanna try again. No, sorry, not think. There’s no uncertainty. I wanna try again.”

There were a few beats of silence between that only lasted seconds, but in my mind, they lasted hours.

“Ya sure? Last time was…ya weren’t doin’ so good after that one,” he reminded.

He was right. Granted, every attempt had been similar to the last one, where I was left having a panic attack over who knows what trigger. But I’d done a lot of work on myself in the last couple of weeks, making sure there were no doubts in my mind about being ready.

“I’m sure.” I leaned my head up and kissed his cheek, which was quickly growing hot under my lips. “Very sure, baby. I’ve sat on it for weeks.” ‘Baby’ had become a pet name we only used to indicate to the other person we were in the mood & in the bedroom. 

He eyed me up and down again, his gaze lingering on the junction of my thighs. He’d seen me naked countless times now, but I still found my cheeks turning pink when he looked at me with lust in his eyes. As he closed the space between us again, he pulled my body firmly against his, encapsulating me in his warmth.

His tongue tickled my lips, silently seeking permission to enter. I parted my lips slightly, and our tongues tangled as his hands pulled at his shirt that hugged my body. I lowered my arms to allow it to fall to the floor, quickly bringing my hands back and tangling my fingers in his hair, tugging gently at his chocolate locks. My heart was pounding, the vibrations it sent through my chest radiating across my entire body. The butterflies in my stomach were working overtime. A soft moan escaped me, and he pulled away, gently nibbling my bottom lip as an amused chuckle trickled off his.

“We got condoms?”

“Already checked.”

“Then let’s get somewhere more comfortable.” He picked me up by the waist and held me close, coaxing me to wrap my legs around him. I draped my arms around his neck and continued to play with his hair, the faint scent of our coconut shampoo a sexy juxtaposition to his rugged appearance.

“Daryl Dixon, don’t you dare drop me,” I laughed as he took us upstairs.

“Ain’t ever dropped ya ‘fore, have I?”

We were hardly in the bedroom door before his lips crashed into mine again. Despite the cold, there was already a light sheen of sweat forming on his skin. Those familiar electric sparks tickled my skin, and I smiled into our kiss, remembering the first time I felt those sparks, back when we first met & I walked out of my bedroom door past him, our arms brushing ever so slightly as I did. If only me then could see us now.

He sat back on the bed, laying down and propping me on his pelvis to straddle him. I snickered as pressure built up underneath me. His erection was already begging to be freed from the confines of his pants.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” I giggled, trailing a finger down the buttons of his flannel, drawing little shapes and slowing down as I got lower, “you just get turned on really easily.”

“You’re one to talk,” he teased.

“I mean, look at yourself. Can you blame me?” I tried to lean down to kiss him, but he dug his work-worn fingers into the flesh of my hips to pull me back.

“Just wanna look at ya for a sec.” He held my hips in place with his firm grip, and the pink of my cheeks quickly turned to a rosy red as his cock continued to rise under me, coming in contact with my core. I bit my lip and averted my gaze. Even after all this time, it was nearly impossible to keep eye contact with Daryl when I was blushing. His eyes trailed up to my breasts, and I gathered my hair out of the way to allow him to get a better look. He was devouring every square inch of me with his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Ya change your mind, just say the word,” he reassured. He drew little circles on the front of my hip bones with his thumbs. The tone in his voice shifted to a more serious one as his gaze met mine. “I mean it. Ain’t gonna upset me at all. Don’t want ya pushin’ yourself just so’s I can get my rocks off.”

“I know. I won’t push myself, I promise.”

He pulled me down to his level, our tongues meeting once again. My panties were already soaked, wetness seeping through and coating his jeans as I grinded against him. Hitched, grunt-like moans escaped him, which only turned me on further. Daryl knew how much I loved when he was vocal in bed.

As I continued to straddle him, his hands found my bra clasp, unhooking it with one swift motion and allowing my breasts to fall free. I pulled away just long enough to slide the dainty fabric off and blindly throw it somewhere in the room. I began working at the buttons on his shirt, caressing his chest as I traveled south.

“Shit,” he moaned as I tossed my head back and shook my hair out. He gripped my hips again and rolled us over, pushing me onto my back and pressing his weight onto me. His mouth fell to the sweet spot on my neck, first leaving open-mouthed kisses, then licking and softly nibbling. A series of moans interlaced with soft giggles rolled off my tongue.

When we first began being intimate, him putting his weight on me used to be a big trigger of mine. Now, there was a safety in being underneath him, being protected by him when I was at my most vulnerable. I loved the feeling of his weight on me, and even in the most sensual contexts, it brought back those butterflies I used to get when we were getting to know each other.

His hands kneaded my breasts, his thumbs tweaking my nipples and eliciting little gasps from me. I squeezed my eyes shut, taking in every sensory experience, small waves of pleasure beginning to wash over me. I continued to blindly work at his shirt, which was almost completely unbuttoned now. I wondered if he could feel my heartbeat with how hard and fast it was pounding.

Daryl trailed kisses down my neck to my chest, tracing little shapes with his tongue down to my breast. My head fell back on the bed, eyes squeezed shut and gritting my teeth as he flicked and sucked and licked the supple tissue.

“Goddamnit,” I groaned. I frantically tugged at his shirt, and he pulled away just long enough to rip it off and throw it over his shoulder before focusing his mouth back where it belonged.

He planted sloppy kisses along my sternum tattoo, leaving a light sheen of saliva behind, as if he was marking his territory. As he came back to kiss me, he put his weight on me again,

grinding his clothed cock on my core to the rhythm of his tongue swirling in my mouth.

I had to restrain myself from digging my nails into his back, as I worried the sensation might be too smilier to what caused his scars. I gripped onto the bedsheets for dear life, balling it in my fists with such force, I was sure my nails would tear right through them. The friction of his jeans against my clit was euphoric.

“Oh…God…fuck, yes.”

He chuckled and dropped his head to my neck, his soft lips and gruff voice tickling my ear like a feather as he talked. “Ya like that?”

“God yes,” I replied through gritted teeth, “don’t stop.”

He was rock hard, his erection pleading to be freed from its prison with each pass over my most sensitive area. He was practically throbbing in his jeans as he continued to grind into me, and feeling him twitch, knowing I was the one making him feel this good, only brought me closer to release.

“Shit.” His strained groaning in my ear sent tingles through my core.

“Ok…ok, that’s enough.” I tapped on his shoulder, indicating for him to stop. He did so immediately, panting in an attempt to catch his breath. As much as I was enjoying the feeling, I didn’t want to come just yet.

Daryl brushed some strands of hair out of my eyes and kissed my cheek. “Ya doin’ alright?” Even when he was in the throes of pleasure, Daryl always checked in with me throughout our intimate escapades, making sure I was comfortable.

“I’m great.” I lightly panted and nodded. “But you know what would make me feel even better?”

“What’s that?”

“If you put that skilled tongue of yours to use elsewhere.” The sexiest smirk I’d ever seen crossed his lips as blood rushed to my cheeks. Even after many sessions of mattress action, I was still timid in asking for what I wanted.

“Think that can be arranged.”

He kissed down my body, incorporating more of his tongue the lower he got. Every muscle in my body was clenched, and I fought to keep myself still. Stopping just above my panties, he slid the delicate fabric down my hips and off my legs, letting them naturally fall off my ankles. Kneeling at the edge of the bed, he wrapped his arms around my legs and pulled me to him as he settled into his favorite spot.

He planted soft kisses along my slit, teasing and taunting me by licking and dipping the tip of his tongue in my entrance. My head was back on the bed, my eyes already beginning to roll back in my skull, but I could feel him staring up at me from between my legs, his eyes glossed over with lust and passion. The way Daryl looked at me, kissed me, touched me, was something akin to worship.

“You’re so beautiful. Love seein’ ya like this, gettin’ all worked up just for me.” His sultry Southern accent was dirty talk all on its own, and combined with words of praise made me tingle from head to toe. He left a few more long, teasing kisses before slipping his tongue between my folds of aching flesh.

He was slow at first, taunting me just the way I liked as he repeatedly flicked my clit. As he picked up speed, I reached for his head, tangling my fingers in his hair and rocking my pelvis in motion with his fluid tongue as he brought me closer and closer to the peak of pleasure. I became so lost in the throes of lust that I was struggling to gain control of myself, bucking and shaking and squeezing my thighs together. His moans and grunts sent vibrations across my core, the sounds that dripped off his lips evidence that he, too, was in ecstasy. This was just as much for him as it was for me. My fingers in his hair, being surrounded by my warmth, the intoxicating taste of me coating his tongue…this was his paradise.

“You’re shakin’, baby.” His hands gently pressed against my knees, coaxing them apart. “Gotta keep your legs open for me.”

Fuck, I’ve taught him well, I thought.

Shockwaves of pleasure radiated through every cell of my body. The only sounds echoing off the walls were my mix of luscious moans and delirious giggles. I used to be self-conscious about how loud I was the bedroom, but Daryl had assured me on numerous occasions of how hot he thought it was, how they were sounds often on repeat in his dreams.

“I’m close,” I said, words coming out broken though breathy moans, “so close, baby.”

Daryl took that as his cue to pick up speed, his magical tongue rapidly encircling my most sensitive area and devouring me like I was his last goddamn meal. Every centimeter of my skin was burning with pure ecstasy as the metaphorical cord in my center grew more taut with each pass of his tongue. I instinctively bucked into him, gently tugging on his hair and eliciting more deep grunts and groans from him, and my eyes rolled back into my head as the suction on my swollen clit pushed me over the edge.

“Ah…ah—fuck!” My cries were followed by my signature string of giggles, the telltale sign that I had climaxed. Daryl plunged his tongue in my entrance, yearning to feel my walls twitch around him as I rode out my high.

“That’s my good girl,” he hummed, leaving one last long, tender kiss between my legs.

As my body came down from the peak of pleasure, he crawled back onto me, leaving kisses along my jawline. I was all delirious smiles as the kisses trailed to the sensitive spot under my ear, all the while repeating how much he loved me. No man had ever cared about my pleasure in the way Daryl had. He always made sure to get me off first, and often, more than once.

“Ya still doin’ alright?” he asked, running a hand through my hair and lightly massaging my scalp with his fingers.

“Oh, I’m fantastic,” I replied, giggles still intertwined with my words. His signature little grin crossed his lips as he kissed me again, slipping his tongue in to allow me to taste myself on him.

“Ya wanna keep goin’?”

“Yeah.” I hoped my nod and tone of voice would mask the anxiety creeping up in my chest. Alas, it did not. This man was somehow attuned to my every thought, reading me like a damn book no matter how hard I tried to keep a poker face.

“What’s goin’ on?” The tone of voice softened, and I could tell he was starting to get worried. This was typically the point where I would start having a panic attack, and he was bracing himself to jump into action.

I bit the inside of my bottom lip and nodded again, dropping my gaze. “Mhm. Just a little nervous is all.”

“We can stop,” he reassured, “like I said, ain’t gonna upset me.”

“I wanna keep going. I’m alright, I promise. Just first-time butterflies is all. Those’ll be around until…y’know, it’s not the first time anymore.” I brushed strands of hair out of his eyes, tucking them behind his ear as I brought my gaze back to his. The safety that lied within those baby blue eyes soothed me instantly. “I’m sure you’ve got some of those too, right?”

His cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. “Maybe, yeah.” He dropped his gaze for a moment before bringing it back to mine, biting his lip. “Was worried ya might…I dunno. Just didn’t want ya worryin’ ‘bout me. Wanted ya to focus on yourself.”

“Aww, baby,” I cooed, taking his face in my hands and tenderly caressing his cheekbones with my thumbs, “it’s alright to be nervous. We’re doing something new for the first time. It’s gonna be a little nerve-wracking for both of us.” I kissed the tip of his nose and gave him a soft, reassuring smile. “Do you wanna keep going?”

He adjusted himself to straddle me, my wetness further soaking his jeans. He left a few more tender, open-mouthed kisses on the sweet spot on my neck before sitting up, tossing his head back and shaking out his chocolate locks.

“Sure do.”

I bit my bottom lip as I unbuckled his belt, sliding it off and tossing it down beside me, the buckle clattering on the floor. I rubbed him over his jeans, lingering and swirling my fingers over his swollen tip. I licked my lips in anticipation, my core tingling and aching to feel every inch of him. His breathing picked up, small grunts and groans trickling off his lips, one of the sweetest sounds I’d ever heard. I paused to unbutton and unzip his jeans, his erection breaking free the moment it had even a hint of wiggle room.

I pulled him from his boxers and stroked him. The bulging veins on his member pulsated under my grip, and he was so rigid, you would’ve thought he was made of stone. A small bit of precum started to leak out, which I eagerly swiped up with my finger, maintaining eye contact with him as I licked it off my hand before continuing. He tossed his head back again, his mouth falling open as I drew circles with my thumb over his sensitive red tip. 

“Christ, woman.” He removed my hand from himself, kissing the back of it and placing it on his chest. His heart was pounding, his ribcage the only barrier keeping it from bursting from his body. “Keep touchin’ me like that, ain’t gon’ last much longer.”

Daryl climbed off of me and dropped the rest of his clothes to the floor. I watched as he retrieved a condom from the nightstand drawer, carefully tearing it open so as to not rip the rubber. I pulled myself up and adjusted, propping my head onto the pillows at the head of the bed. I watched with hungry eyes as he slid the condom down his length. I was craving him, aching, needing to feel him fill me in the most intimate way possible. Though there was still a small presence of nerves, the butterflies in my stomach were beginning to settle. I was ready.

“Ya comfortable?” he asked as he propped his arms up on either side of me and settled between my legs.

“Very,” I responded, “are you?”

“Mhm.” He dropped his head back into the crook of my neck, lips grazing the helix of my ear as his gravely voice whispered erotic promises to me. “Wanna look at ya while it’s happenin’. See how good I’m makin’ ya feel.” I dropped my gaze and snickered as the blood rushed to my cheeks. Only Daryl was capable of making me giggle and blush like a schoolgirl.

His cock twitched on its own accord, grazing my clit as it did and sending little shockwaves through my center. “Ya sure you’re good?”

“I’m great, I promise,” I assured. I ran my hands through his hair and down his neck around to his chest, his muscles flexing as I caressed him.

“Just got one last question.”

The blush on my cheeks returned again. “What’s that?” I wondered. Like I didn’t know exactly what he was about to ask me.

“Can I fuck you?”

“Christ, yes.”

He took his time entering me, sliding in slowly to soak in every second of the feeling. My mouth fell open, and I looked down between us for a moment to watch him slip inside me. His cock slowly sinking further into my entrance was a beautiful sight.

The face he made when he first slid in…I’d give anything to see that face again, to capture a still of it and it imprint it into my memory forever.

“Shit, ya feel good,” he moaned, his head falling into the crook of my neck. 

“Kinda…tilt your pelvis…” I instructed, placing my hands on his hips to help guide his adjustment, “to get—oh, there you go.” His pubic bone put the ideal amount of pressure on my clit as he thrusted. “Nice and easy.”

“How’s that feel?”

“So good,” I replied, words spilling out me between moans as we kissed, “you feel so good.”

I was aching for him to return every time he pulled out. His tongue was magic, but his cock was otherworldly. He was the perfect size, comfortably filling every square inch of me and bottoming out with each thrust. It was like he was crafted just for me, and I was crafted just for him.

My eyes fluttered closed.

“Fuck, baby.” The words trickled off my lips like an erotic prayer.

“You’re so sexy.” He dropped his forehead to mine. “I love ya so much.”

I echoed his adoration, the words coming out between huffs and puffs. “I love you too…so much…you can…go faster…if you want…”

I opened my eyes in time to see him smirk, and I gasped at the pleasure that rolled through me as he picked up speed. “That what ya want?”

“Mhm.” After a few quick thrusts, he slowed his pace again, this time pumping in and out even slower than when he started.

“Ya know I need to hear ya say it,” he reminded. When it came to consent, a nod or an “mhm” or moan in response wasn’t good enough for Daryl. He needed verbal confirmation every single time, and to me, it was one of the hottest things about him.

“Yes,” I practically begged, “I…” I averted his gaze and bit my lip, my cheeks growing hot as I blushed the hardest I had so far. “I want it faster.”

The sinful sounds of skin-on-skin and salacious moans entangled as he repeatedly thrusted deep into my core. My breasts bobbed as we rocked back and forth, the squeaking of the bed becoming the harmony complimenting the melody of our bodies. Despite my eyes being closed, I could feel his on me, watching as my face warped and contorted with each wave of euphoria he sent between my legs. His moans were almost animalistic in nature, and his body was rigid, his face turning red as his breathing became more rapid. He was desperate for release, and it was evident that he had needed me just as much as I needed him. The enticing sounds slipping off his tongue were sounds I often played on repeat in my head when he was gone, my dreams recollections of our past intimate endeavors. I wrapped my legs around him, my heels digging into the small of his back, allowing for him to hit my G-spot at the perfect angle.

“Ugh, fuck, I’m gonna come.”

“Wanna feel it,” Daryl growled, hardly able to form a complete sentence as his tongue followed the curve of my helix, “wanna feel ya twitchin’ ‘round my cock.” I could tell he was close too, using every fiber of his being to hold himself back until I could get off first.

“Mmm…fuck…oh God.” Small initial shockwaves of pleasure began to roll through me, subtle and almost muted at first, letting me know what was waiting for me once I peaked.

“That’s it.” His voice was a sexy dichotomy of gravely and silky smooth as he nibbled at the sensitive spot below my ear. “Ya gonna be a good girl ’n scream my name?”

That alone almost sent me over the edge.

All I could do was nod in response, my eyes squeezed shut and moaning sweet nothings directly into his ear. My legs were beginning to shake, and I knew it was only going to be a few more strokes before ecstasy took over. I was moments from coming undone.

“Mmm…oh…oh, Daryl!”

I clung to him for dear life as I came, my body trembling and writhing underneath him. My fingers dug into his back muscles, my face pressed into the crook of his neck, practically gasping for air as orgasmic bliss nearly took my breath away. I bucked into him instinctively, demanding to feel continued pressure on my clit as I rode out the most intensive waves of pleasure yet. My walls clenching around him, along with my signature string of lewd giggles, were the catalyst to his release.

“Aah! Shit!” Strained moans and gasps came out through gritted teeth as his forehead fell to mine. I gasped at the feeling of him pulsating inside me as he emptied into the condom. He continued to frantically thrust, prolonging both my pleasure and his, before relaxing in my arms, the happy hormones coursing through him bringing a smile to his face. He trailed kisses along my jawline, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

Every muscle in my body felt like jelly. My limp legs slid off onto the bed, and my head fell to the pillow, eyes rolling back. I stared up at the ceiling, taking deep breaths and listening to my heart pounding in my chest. My ears felt full, like when the air pressure changes on a plane. Every cell in my body was singing his praises, and I was seeing stars.

He pulled out once he went limp inside me, rolling over to remove the condom, tying it off and letting it drop to the floor. He grabbed the covers and pulled them up over us, coming back and pulling me close to him. He’d rolled onto his side, propping himself on one arm and leaning over in my line of sight, running his other hand through my hair.

“Hi beautiful,” he practically cooed, kissing my cheek. A silly, delirious smile broke out on my lips.

“I think I just saw God,” I laughed, eliciting an amused chuckle from Daryl. As I panted, my gaze met his, and he kissed me again, tenderly, just like he always did. Even in the naughtiest contexts, this man never made me feel anything short of loved and adored.

“Ya know, I’ve tried my damndest to recreate that sexy little giggle in my head when I’s on the road, but ain’t nothin’ like hearin’ it from the source.” My cheeks began to turn rosy red at the thought of Daryl thinking about me to relieve himself when he was away for too long. “How ya feelin’?”

With those three little words, a myriad of post-coitus emotions coursed through me. Pride, joy, appreciation, and love, just to name a few, hit me like a train and sent me careening into a fit of tears. I was immediately overwhelmed, the feeling building in my chest overflowing as tears streamed down my face and soaked the sheets below me. Even though they were happy feelings, there were a lot of them, more than my body was able to handle in my current state.

“Hey, you’re ok.” He leaned over me, wiping tears off my cheeks and wrapping his other arm underneath me. “What’s wrong?”

The tone of his voice had dropped, and he looked sad, like he felt awful, like he thought he’d done something wrong. The worry radiating off of him was palpable, and I could tell that he thought I was spiraling into a panic attack. I gave him a big, stupid grin, kissing all over his face to reassure him that these were, in fact, happy tears.

“Nothing’s wrong, my love,” I promised, holding his face in my hands and stroking his cheeks with my thumbs, kissing the tip of his nose, “I’m just…overwhelmed, but with good feelings.” I blinked back more tears and took another deep breath. “I did it. I’m so proud of myself. And it was…you were…incredible. First time having sex that was so good, I cried after.”

“That good, huh?” he smirked. He adjusted his position over me, puffing his chest out a bit as he did. Clearly, I’d boosted his ego.

“Mhm. Really good,” I reiterated, biting the inside of my bottom lip as a faint blush of pink returned to my cheeks once again. “How are you feeling? How was your first…time getting your dick wet?”

“Amazin’. I mean, you were amazin’,” he replied, “happy ya said somethin’ when I got home. Ya’s lookin’ so good, I almost lost it.” His fingers trailed down my side, circling over the tattoo on the front of my right hip. “Gotta start dressin’ like that more often.”

I looked up at him, my baby blues locking with his as I gave him a soft smile. Every ounce of love I had for the beautiful man in front of me fought to break free from my chest as my heart swelled in my ribcage. “Thanks for taking care of me.”

He chuckled as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed me. “Takin’ care of…’t’s cute.”

Taglist: @raddydaddydude @lovenormandixon

Divider found on Google via searching for stock images

[scarisd3ad]

To the end and back [daryl Dixon x reader

Chapter four - what died didn’t stay dead

Previous >> next

Masterlist

Taglist

Summary - after the world ended you were sure you’d never find love again but a certain archer catches your eyes and changes the entire trajectory of your life.

Warnings - normal twd warnings

‘Wildfire’

Season 1 episode 5

Edited

Thank you to @starfirette for the Glenn and reader part in this chapt. It’s changed up a little up still mainly the same :)

Andrea sits by Amy's corpse all night, and almost all day. Just leaned over with tears in her eye occasionally whispering how much she loves her, and how sorry she is that this happened. We all watch from a far. We feel bad, almost all of us know what it's like to lose someone you love to this, even if it wasn't a sibling, or a family member we've all lost loved ones to this. We all know how it feels. Lori's the first to go over. she tries to talk to Andrea but she's just kind of in a daze. A saddened, traumatized daze. The abled body people are helping take out all the bodies. Stabbing them through the brain before throwing the walkers into a pit of fire and our people in a pile to be buried.

I'm sitting with the kids as far away from Amy's body as I could. She was like a sister to me, I didn't want to see her like that. I just hoped I was as far away from her body as I could be when she eventually turned.

The kids are fine, somehow their just fine. I don't understand how they're able to just bounce back after all the traumatizing shit they've been through.  Carl, Sophia, Eliza, and Louis played as far away from the dead bodies as their parents could get them. I was in charge of watching them. it seemed like I was always in charge of the kids, when I wasn't busy with my "doctor" duties I was watching the kids. I had both my gun and my knife stuffed in my pocket just in case any walkers stumble out of the woods.

"How'd you get hurt?" Carl asks his brows knotting together in confusion. "Got shot" I reply, His eyes widened with curiosity "really?! Did it hurt?" I shrug, it didn't at first but after I saw the blood coming out of my leg the pain set in. "not really at first but now it does." 

Sophia is playing with a few dolls she brought from home with Morales's daughter Eliza on the ground next to me, and morale's son Louis is playing with some cars and trucks his father brought back from a run a while back. "Are you sad your dad died?" I overhear Eliza asks bluntly, Sophia just shrugs and mutters a quiet "I Dunno" before going back to playing.

Sophia's a little upset that her father passed away but not as much as carol is. I heard her sobbing in her tent last night. I never understood why she loved him so much, he was such an asshole to both her, and their daughter. But I guess when you get used to something or someone it's hard for life to change.

The sound of a gunshot breaks the kids from their light chatter and playing. It must've been Andrea. Amy must've turned. I let out a sigh as I bury my face into my hands. I only look up when I feel someone staring at me. It's Glenn. "Hey" I say with a weak smile, "it's about time you need to change that thing. You need help?" Glenn asks. I shrug and mutter "yeah sure" I normally am the one doing this for others, even if I get hurt I do it for myself. I notice he's already got my med kit in his hands when he sits down. I pull up the leg of my shorts, so the gauze wrapped wound is exposed. He helps me unwrap the first layer of gauze exposing the gauze pad that has a bit of blood on it. I hiss when Glenn lifts it off of my leg exposing my wound to the air. The kids are watching intrigued by the process of changing the gauze on my leg. Glenn mutters a quiet "sorry, sorry" he takes an alcohol pad and wipes over the wound cleaning the bits of blood away. I whimper and I squeeze my eyes shut as the alcohol-soaked pad touches the wound "sorry, I'm sorry" Glenn whispers again. "gross" I hear Carl mumble.  Glenn then takes some antibiotic ointment and squeezes a little onto a fresh piece of gauze before placing it onto my leg. He then wraps some of the rolled gauze around my leg before pulling my shorts leg back down. "You alright?" He asks. 

"Are you guys dating?" Eliza asks with her eyebrows furrowed together. I just chuckle and shake my head "no he's just my best friend" I say looking up at Glenn as if I'm trying to get him to confirm my statement. He nods and says "yep just best friends" as he presses a kiss to the side of my head "I'll see you later" he whispers before getting up and walking away. "Are you sure?" Sophia asks with her brows furrowed "I'm sure" I reply with a laugh her brows furrow together even further as she asks, "but he just kissed you" I let out a small sigh before asking "hey how bout I paint your nails?" to change the subject. Sophia straightens up and nods before scooting towards me. I pick up the previously discarded fingernail polish from beside me.  "What color pink or purple?" I ask holding up the polish in front of her she points to the pink one, and I nod.

"Mkay there you go, don't touch'em they might not be completely dry yet" I say softly as she lifts her hands from my lap. She nods as she turns towards Carl who is now dramatically reenacting some car chase with louis.  "Aren't they pretty carl?" She asks showing the boy her nails. carl pauses and nods as he smiles before going back to his car. She then gets up and shouts "momma!" as she sprints towards her mom who she spots with the other adults.

Lori and the others gather of us gather around. They think we should go up to pay our respects. we all agree, and Glenn helps me hobble up the hill to where Shane, Rick, and Daryl are.

"I still think it's a mistake not burning these bodies" Daryl says as he walks over to where Shane, and Rick are covering the dead with dirt. "It's what we said we'd do, right? Burn'em all, wasn't that the idea?" Daryl asks. that's what we've always done when walkers have stumbled into our camp, but we've never really had people die on campgrounds. when any former members of our group died it was always on runs.

"At first." Shane replies. "The China man gets all emotional, says it's not the thing to do we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here, s'what the rules are" Daryl says, I understand his point of view it's an easy way to get rid of bodies, but these people are friends and family of ours we can't just burn their bodies. it's not like they're just going to rise from dead...right? all the people who had been bit got stabbed right through the head preventing them from reanimation. "There are no rules" Rick replies.

"Well, that's the problem, we haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn, and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." Lori says as she steps closer to the men. we're human we shouldn't just get rid of our practices just because the world has ended, we bury our dead, and we mourn.

We watch as Andrea pulls Amy's wrapped up body into a grave. Dale is stood at Amy's feet trying to help but Andrea refuses. "I can do it. I can do it. I can do it! I can do it." She cry's as she steps into the shallow grave. I try not to cry but I can't I just can't she was my friend. Other than Glenn she was my closest friend. I can't believe she's actually dead; I'd never get to talk to her again. We'd never stay up all night in my tent giggling as we looked through magazines (that Andrea brought back from a run) like we were teenagers, I never even got to say goodbye.

Amy's body falls into the grave with a loud thud. Glenn's got one arm wrapped around me keeping me upright. I bury my face into his shoulder as tears fall down my cheeks soaking Glenns tee-shirt.

We all walk back to camp, half of us still sniffling, and crying. Amy was the sweetest thing to grace this planet, I was so luckily to meet her, she didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve to die.

Glenn finds me a nice place to sit and helps me to it, "you alright?" He asks as I sit down.  "I-yeah im-I'm fine." I mutter as I wipe my eyes. "You know a few days ago when I said I got you something while on the run?" He never ended up giving it to me, I guess we were all so wrapped up in ricks arrival and Merle's disappearance that we forgot.

I nod "mhm" I hum. "I found some vodka while we were out, we should definitely have some drinks tonight" he whispers trying not to let the kids around us hear.

-

We're all grouped up around the fire. Andrea is fast asleep, the moment she got comfortable in that chair she was out like a light. "I've been thinking about ricks plan." Shane says as both him and Rick return back from something the went to do. "Now look, there are no— there are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts." Lori looks up from the piece of wood she was sharpening. "I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning." Lori's brows are furrowed as she looks between her husband and Shane. "Okay?"

-

It's dark and Glenn and I are in my tent with a large bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. We're giggling drunkenly together as we both down dozens of shots. "Oh my god I'm so fuckin-" I stop my sentence to lean my head against Glenn's shoulder and sigh. "I don't think I can drink any more of this" Glenn groans as he drops the glass shot glass. I look up at his face, and my brain is just now somehow processing how handsome Glenn is even when his face is a light shade of red because of the alcohol he's so fucking handsome. His brows furrow "w-what's wrong?" He slurs. "You're so fuckin' pretty" I whisper as I place both hands on either side of his face. He chuckles a bit before leaning in and kissing me. we kiss for a few seconds until I realize I'm kissing Glenn, the guy I swore I only had platonic feelings for, I pull away and mutter "shit." his brows furrow together as he asks "wh-whats wrong?" I shake my head as I mumble "please le-let's not talk about this ever." 

-

I wake up in the morning with a pounding headache and an embarrassing memory of me kissing my best friend. That I have told everyone that I only had a platonic relationship with. I push myself up with a groan "Glenn!" I shout, no answer. "Daryl!?" One of them is bound to help me get up and pack up my stuff so we can leave. My tent starts to be unzipped, and then Daryl's head pops in. "Need help?" He asks I nod with a smile. He sticks out one of his hands and helps me up and out of my tent.

"Ya need help gettin' all yer' stuff packed up?" I nod. he collects all of my stuff out of my tent while I sit in a chair. I can mostly at least manage to walk but just getting up and down is a little painful. I help him put things in bags by which things are most important to the least and then I watch as he packs up my tent into its bag it came with. "Hey, y/n can we talk?" I turn around to see Glenn and behind me rubbing his neck. "Yeah definitely."

"Alone" Glenn mutters and Daryl takes the hint. Daryl stands up and walks away. "So, bout last night" he says rubbing the back of his neck as he stood Infront of me. I chuckle awkwardly "yeah...can we forget about that?" He smiles and nods "yeah! Yeah definitely" he says "we were both drunk" I say, and he nods. "So, friends?" he asks I smile and nod as I say "Yeah, just friends." 

-

"I want everyone to listen up" Shane says, we're all gathered around the cars all our things are all packed up in the cars. I'm a little scared, because what if this plan doesn't work. What if the CDC isn't still up and running. But it's better than staying here, right? The walkers are venturing out of the city, the longer we stay the more are going to be coming. It's just not safe anymore. "Those of you with C.B's we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B, can't get a signal or anything at all you're gonna honk your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh...we're not going." Morales speaks up. "We..we have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people" his wife adds. 

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane says the two adults nod "we'll take the chance I gotta do what's best for my family." Morales replies. Their daughter has her face buried into her mother's chest "you sure?" Rick asks. "We talked about it. We're sure"

"Alright. Shane." Rick kneels down and starts going through the guns in his bag. ".357?" Rick asks. Shane nods, and whispers "yeah." Rick, and Shane then walks up to Morales and hands him a gun, and a box of ammo. "The box is half full." Shane says. Everyone has tears in their eyes, throughout the last 60 something days we've all grown close. We're like a family. So, losing part of our family was devastating. I had gotten close with Morales's kids and wife; Morales kids were almost like my own at times. Lori hops off of the hood of the car she was sitting on and walks over to Morales and his wife. "Thank you all...for everything." His wife Miranda says as Lori hugs her. Lori then bends down and presses a kiss to both of Eliza and Louis's heads. Eliza then runs over to Sophia, hugging her as they both cry. "Bye" Eliza says as she hands Sophia a doll.

I wipe my eyes as both kids walk over to me. I hug them and press a kiss to each of their cheeks as I wipe the little tears falling down their cheeks. "you'll be alright" I whisper as I cup Eliza's face in my hands "I'm gonna miss you" she whispers as more tears fall down her cheeks. "I promise I'll see you again." Morales, and Miranda take their kids towards their car. "What make you think our odds are any better?" Shane asks Rick. "Come on. Let's go! Let's move out!" Shane shouts.

I end up in the van with Rick, Lori, Carl, Carol, and sophia. We end up having to stop because of the rv. I'm still sat in the van with the kids. The others don't want to worry them. Carl and Sophia chit chatting quietly while I read a book.

They drag us all out of the van because Jim's decided he doesn't want to go anymore. He wants to stay here, and die. He was bitten, there was no way he was going to make it all the way to the cdc anyways. He was already getting bad, his fever was through the roof.

Shane and Rick place Jim against a tree. He looks horrible, he's all sweaty and can barely walk, poor guy. Glenn's arm is tucked around my waist helping me up the small hill that led up to the tree. Jim is breathing heavily as he looks up at the tree. "Hey, another damn tree." He says with a light chuckle. "Hey Jim..I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this." Shane says. Jim shakes his head "No it's good. The breeze feels nice" jim rasps out. Shane let's out a sigh as he squeezes his eyes shut "okay." Shane whispers "alright." He says patting his arm as he gets up wiping his eyes. Next to be by Jim's side is Jacqui.

"Just close your eyes sweetie." She says softly with a smile. "Don't fight." She then presses a kiss to his cheek with tears in her eyes, before she stands up. Next is Rick. He squats down and says "Jim, do you want this?" With a gun in his hand. Jim can barely say it but he manages to rasp it out a quiet "no. You'll need it. I'm okay." Rick nods and rubs Jim's shoulder a bit before standing up. "I'm okay." Jim says reassuring himself. Next is Dale, "oh, hey" Dale has a smile on his face, one of those comforting grandpa like smile. One he just has to flash at you and you know you're going to be okay. "Thanks for, uh, fightin' for us."

"Okay" Jim says as he is wheezing out his last breaths. As Dale stands up, we all begin to walk away. Except for Daryl, Daryl gives Jim a little nod before also walking off. We we're all like a big family, these last few days were devastating. We've lost so many people.

We all get back into our cars and began to drive off. Carl and Sophia are still looking out the window at Jim. He's barely even alive anymore. I don't think he is at least. He's slumped over, I can't see his chest rising up and down anymore.

-

We arrive at the CDC a couple hours later. It doesn't look promising though. There are bodies littered everywhere, mostly soldiers. It stinks, the odor that just emits off of the walkers are horrendous. It's rotten, and smells like death. If you would ask me to describe the smell of walkers it would just be death. We're all slowly making our way towards the doors. We're all on a look out for any walkers.

"Alright everyone keep movin' go on."

"Stay quiet let's go"

I feel like I've never heard or seen this many fly's at one time. They normally do follow around the walkers, but this is like a fucking infestation. They're just in a big bubble around all of the dead. We're continuing to walk coughing because of how much it genuinely stinks. "Keep moving. Come on. Shhh"

"Keep it together. Come on." Shane, and Rick say ushering us towards the cdc. There are three large metal roll up doors. Rick and Shane both try to open it up but inevitably fail in the end. Shane pounds on the door "there's nobody here." T-dog says. "Then why are theses shutters down?" Rick asks.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouts. We all wip around to see a walker stumbling towards us. Daryl shoots it right in the head making it fall to the ground. "You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl shouts as he stomps towards Rick. "He made a call." Dale states. "It was the wrong damn call!"

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane says pushing Daryl back and pointing in his face. "Rick, this is a dead end." Shane says.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cries out.

"Do you hear me? No blame"

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori says as she holds onto carl.

"Fort benning, Rick— still and option." Shane suggests. "On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles" Andrea says "125. I checked the map." Glenn corrects. "Forget fort bennning we need answers tonight, now."

Carl's sobbing. I don't know if it's the mix of the walkers, and everyone shouting saying we might die but the kid was just sobbing, the cries coming out of that kid were just heartbreaking. "We'll think of something."

"Come on let's go. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please"

"Alright everybody back to the cars." Shane says.

Rick doesn't budge he's staring up at a camera. "The camera! It moved." Dale turns around brows furrowed

"You imagined it." Dale says. There was no way it moved. No one was in there, and if it did move it was probably automatically. Probably motion activated. "It moved" he says again, "it moved."

"Rick it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? There just winding down. Now come on" It seemed like Rick was going crazy, hanging onto this idea that coming here would save us, save the world, save Jim. Shane grabs onto ricks shirt trying to pull him away. Ricks refusing he's set on the idea that it moved, that someone is moving it "man, just Listen to me! Look around this place it's dead, okay. It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick" Shane says his hands still grasped around ricks shirt, desperately trying to convince his best friend nothing was there. That if we stayed, we'd be dead meat. Rick escapes from Shane's grasp and runs back up to the door. Banging on it "Rick, there's nobody here!"

Rick stares up at the camera "I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. Please, we're desperate"

"Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane shouts.

"Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

Lori leaves Carl with us and runs up to her husband maybe she could talk some sense into him. I pull Carl closer to me and he buries his head in my body. Lori grabs onto Rick "Rick there's nobody here."

"We have nowhere else to go!" Rick begs as he pounds onto the door. " if you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!" Rick shouts. "Come on buddy let's go" Shane says grabbing onto Rick and pulling him away.

"Please help us! You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick screams as he struggles against Shane's grip. Then it opens. We all stop turning around. It opened it actually opened. Someone was there.

Previous >> next

Taglist

@e1d0lonk3k @soul4death @furiousheartpoetry @silicone-bonez @nezukos-number1fan

[greenerteacups]

Hello! I noticed you included TWD in a recent ask reply, would you mind sharing thoughts? Grievances? Character opinions? Anything you’d like, really. :)

Context: I’m watching it or the very first time this year, currently at the beginning of the final season, and it’s been a very volatile, up-and-down show to binge watch to say the least, especially compared to the other shows that ran during the time (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, GOT, etc).

I love reading your takes on television and film, but I don’t want to create more labor for you lol. Be as thorough or not as you desire!

My grievances are so milquetoast, I'm not even sure it's worth rehashing, but it's the same basic gripe: the show goes on too long, it bastardizes everyone and especially Rick, the storylines get prolix and ridiculous and the writing goes downhill. The one interesting thing is that it declines in a different way, where the first season is actually high-quality excellent TV, like the best of genre fiction on-air at the time, revitalized my interest in zombie fiction. And then the rest of it is... diminishing returns, put politely. A bit of good stuff, here and there, but it's kind of like zombie Gossip Girl: you're watching the writers shuffle things around for the sake of drama, lacking any gesture at an overriding story that could act as structural support for the characters' arcs. It gets to that stage pretty quickly, and it scrapes by for a while being just good enough for fans to hope that the next season will be better (which, in hindsight, it isn't).

Also, the first season feels wide-open and dangerous in a way that subsequent seasons never do. That's partially due to budget cuts and rising actor salaries, but you have these shots of Rick riding his horse down an abandoned highway in Atlanta, and then in subsequent seasons it's the same combination of random fields, suburbs, or small urban compounds, contained sets that you could honestly do on a sound stage if you needed to. There's not that sense of the world being empty that you get in the first season, and that's what always drew me to zombie and plague fiction in general — the last battle of the apocalypse being one with loneliness.

[bethgreeneprevails]

I kinda feel it's maybe heath that came back??? That his return would be low key problematic in the sense he's gonna maybe be bringing bad news with him about CRM and what it does and this is what is worrying Carol as she is helping lead the commonwealth. It definitely going to cause some issues and maybe it's early days for carol just at that point. Like she sees trouble looming but what exactly she's not sure. she's not close to heath but he's one of her people who went missing so I'd see his return being like low-key oh that's so good he's back its a win but not big deal to her but then he's saying what happened to him and she's just uneasy. Then there's the whole issue of Rick and CRM like maybe Heath said something

Or....

Beth came back and carol doesn't know how to say it to Daryl. Like it's a huge massive thing. That's why she's sort of fronting on the radio not saying so outright because it's such a big thing and she doesn't know how to tell him wanting to break it to him gently. But Daryl keeps pressing because she is evading giving him a straight answer and she doesn't know how to put it. This could all apply to Rick as well because something big has happened at carols end with whoever did return and she can't seem to tell Daryl right away for whatever reason without maybe dropping a bomb etc and he picks up right away on her unease

Hi omg! I haven’t gotten an ask in so long this is so nice 😂 thank you for sharing your thoughts!

There’s definitely a possibility it could be Heath but I don’t believe it is based off of the fact that Daryl and Heath didn’t have much of a relationship/friendship so I don’t feel like it would be something Carol would need to tell him over the radio. I think if Heath did return she would’ve just waited until Daryl got home and found out.

I also don’t think it’s Beth. I believe Beth is most likely in France or somehow tied to FTWD. I don’t think the way Carol said it implied Beth. If it was Beth she would’ve said “is alive” not “came back”.

I do like what you said about her being hesitant to tell Daryl. It was the last thing she brought up to him in the conversation. I didn’t catch that the first time I watched it but the second time I watched it I can see what you’re saying. Which brings me to the people or thing I think it is.

I think it could be Morgan, Dwight, OR I saw someone say she was trying to tell him Ezekiel’s cancer came back. I don’t know why but I think it might be the cancer one. TWD likes the misdirect a lot. By Daryl responding “Who came back?” it implies she was referring to “someone” but we have no idea if she was referring to someone or something. All we heard is “came back”. People were saying how random it was that Daryl listed Ezekiel as one of his friends when talking to Laurent this episode. Maybe this is why? Maybe we are supposed to remember Ezekiel since that is who Carol was talking about. It makes the most sense to me.

If it is someone who came back I would say Morgan or Dwight makes the most sense. Honestly, Morgan makes the most sense since he is so intertwined with Rick and Beth. It would be a good way for them to tie the spin-offs together.

[savedpeople]

thoughts about tonight’s episode:

we got confirmation that maggie didn’t burn ginny’s dino, but is hiding it from negan and is planning to continue hiding it. and the fact that she tells ginny to her face that she can’t have negan knowing she’s there... she was completely planning on keeping ginny away from him and what, try to force her to go back to the community knowing that maggie is lying to him?

she had absolutely no business calling negan a monster in front of ginny, telling her she “doesn’t know him” and that she’d find out he’s a monster if she sticks around long enough. whatever negan’s done in the past is not what he’s doing now, and using crimes from 15 years ago to tell a little girl that the only person she has left in her life, who has been caring for her, is a monster, is uncalled for. the continued flip flopping between “i know you’ve changed/are trying to be better” and “you’re a MONSTER” is still old

the people hating on ginny for caring about negan and calling out maggie’s lies are weird. maggie both directly lied and hid things from negan. that is fact. ginny isn’t a horrible person deserving of death for saying the truth

maggie refusing oxygen for what reason??

was the weird wall of baby doll limbs supposed to shock us or something bc that is extremely tame in the world of twd lmao

tommaso lowkey looking like shane in this episode

i hate that they killed off both tommaso and amaia, and in such a weird anti-climatic way too? i liked them. they’re killing off nearly every character they introduce us to

also the fact that tommaso was apparently not bit or anything during last episode’s fight against the walkers? he really got out of that completely unscathed?

“out of my way, bitch” LOL

the “walker king” looked cool, but the entire “fight” just being maggie on her back stabbing each walker head also felt anti-climatic, given how often they were teasing the walker king in trailers

i saw people who watched it early making fun of negan for “finding any reason to mention he’s a gym teacher” but he only mentioned it bc armstrong literally asked? i don’t see the problem lol. negan’s only mentioned being a gym teacher/working with kids maybe 2 or 3 times total in the entire twdu.

years ago i’d written a headcanon about negan knowing first aid and how to treat a number of various injuries due to being a gym teacher/sports coach. and while everyone at this point in the apocalypse undoubtedly knows how to administer first aid to some degree, i still liked the small nod to/confirmation of my hc in the way negan knew where to find first aid in the school bus and immediately started treating armstong’s injury

so it took armstrong 15+ years into the apocalypse to realize that the world isn’t all black and white?

I’m really worried about this whole thing with the croat and the dama. why do they “need” negan. how does the dama know who negan is. it feels like they want him to help them run nyc or something and if that’s the case i really worry about the writers making him “go bad” again and join them?? like i don’t think they will. but i remember one reviewer mentioning a “plot twist” in the finale that would break the pattern of maggie needing negan’s help and them working together so i am Worried

i really don’t want the dama to be yet another character we’ve never met yet somehow already knows/has worked with negan, bc this spin off is already oversaturated with characters having past connections with him/magically knowing details about his savior era

the croat was acting unbothered about missing an ear last episode in front of negan, but wore a cap to hide it when visiting the dama

I don’t understand how croat knew about maggie’s history with negan well enough to demand she bring negan to him, or how he even knew her at all. he was already gone by season 7. he never met maggie. she and negan hadn’t seen each other in like 5 years and never worked together until long after all the other saviors were gone (meaning no one there to witness it and then later tell the croat, in the way someone told him about the war.) she wasn’t even at the old hilltop location when he took hershel iirc so it’s not like he went back to an old community that he knew had once been under negan’s rule. like how did he have enough information to do this? it doesn’t make sense and i’m tired of characters just magically gaining knowledge related to negan for plot reasons. if i missed something please let me know because i’m lost lol

i... don’t see why maggie had to lie to negan about her situation. why not be honest with him from the start, and try to make a plan together to get hershel back without actually handing negan over to the croat.

overall i was kind of “meh” about this episode; it’s probably my least favorite one of the season. i feel like the plot didn’t move forward much and i’m having doubts about the story wrapping up in the finale in a satisfying way. I have a feeling it’s going to end on a cliffhanger of sorts in hopes of it getting a second season. and it does bug me that if it does get another season, that the bulk of the characters we were introduced to are already dead

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 8,347 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: the Greene farm Warnings: Language, violence, gore, attempted sexual assault, discussions of trauma, typical TWD A/N: This is Part 1 of the new miniseries! This should be 2 or 3 parts total, and it's kind of intense and a bit dark at certain points so heed the warnings ya'll. Summary: Y/N is considered quiet, standoffish, and even a bit odd by the group, but Daryl knows how much she does around camp to care for everyone. After a traumatic incident while searching for Sophia, Daryl starts to discover why Y/N is the way she is.

Your name: submit What is this?

The group was all sitting around the low campfire, eating some breakfast. The two Greene girls came out with baskets in hand. Beth approached Rick and held hers out. “We have some more eggs for you all. Our hens lay more than we can eat,” she said.

Rick gratefully accepted them with an earnest look and a nod. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”

“And some potatoes,” Maggie offered. Lori grabbed her basket.

“Really, you all are being so kind. If there’s anything we can do to help around the place just let us know,” she said.

Beth was looking off into the distance at you sitting alone, away from the group, your back to the farmstead. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked, without really thinking.

“Beth!” Maggie scolded her.

“Well, I—I just mean she never eats with ya’ll. She seems like she’s always off on her own,” Beth explained, a little sheepish from her sister’s scolding.

The rest of the group was looking your direction now too, many of them asking the same questions in their minds.

“C’mon, now. That’s enough,” Maggie said. “Daddy needs help with the laundry.”

The group watched them head back to the farmhouse and Shane was the next one to break the silence. “It’s a fair question,” he said, chuckling to himself wryly, glancing back over his shoulder at you before leaning in to grab another helping of breakfast. “She hasn’t exactly meshed into the fabric of the group, has she?”

“Shane, give it a rest,” Lori said sternly.

“No offense meant but I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say more than two words at a time,” Andrea said. “You can’t pretend like there isn’t something… odd there.”

Dale hummed. “Not that it’s really our business, but she’s never said anything about what happened to her before we found her out by the quarry. I’ve tried to ask her about her family, what she used to do before all this,” he shrugged vaguely. “Never got a thing out of her. That’s her right if she doesn’t want to talk about it, but it does seem a little strange.”

“That’s all I’m sayin’,” Shane said. “Somethin’ weird with that girl,” he trailed off.

Daryl stood up, annoyed. “Ya’ll are a buncha busy body gossips. If ya’d open your damn eyes for two seconds you’d realize she does more for this group than most of ya combined,” he growled. “She gathered that wood burnin’ in your fire right there. Them mushrooms mixed in with your damn eggs, who the hell ya think found those? Ya think they just magically appeared along with that stuff you’re usin’ to make tea every night?” He tossed his empty plate down on the grass and scoffed. “People who don’t trust easily usually got a damn good reason. ’M outta here.”

Shane watched him go in slight amusement, but most of the others looked a little ashamed of themselves. Daryl was right, of course. You did do a lot for the group. You just kept to yourself. You didn’t make a big show of bringing back some meat or foraged food. You never complained when Rick or Shane asked you to do something. You took more than your fair share of the night watches. And the fact that no one knew anything about your past, the fact that you didn’t talk much, didn’t need any explanation to Daryl. Based on his own background, he could guess there was a reason you were the way you were.

A short time later, Daryl noticed you gathering up your pack and grabbing your pistol and recurve bow. He wandered over as you were snapping your knife into its sheath at your hip. “Ya headin’ out to search again?” he asked softly. You and him seemed to be the only ones who hadn’t completely given up hope of finding Sophia. You simply nodded once.

“Alright,” Daryl drawled. “What’s your plan?” Asking a question that wasn’t a simple yes or no was always a toss-up with you. Half the time he’d get a short answer, half the time he wouldn’t.

“North side of the ridge,” you said. Your voice was always quiet and measured. The archer usually wished most people would talk less, but with you he always hoped to hear more. The little that you said was purposeful and deliberate. There was no idle bullshit.

He nudged his nose up in a nod at you. “Alright. I’ll start by that creek and work along the south side. We can be close by in case either of us gets into trouble with walkers,” he said.

You simply nodded again and gave him a long thoughtful look. You did that a lot. Daryl had the feeling there was a lot going on behind your eyes, but you never spoke any of it. Surprisingly, he never felt nervous or uncomfortable when you looked at him like that. He just hoped someday maybe you’d open up a little bit more. The next moment you had turned and were heading toward the tree line already. Daryl scrambled to gather his gear and set off after you.

He could see your figure ahead, disappearing into the brush and soon he couldn’t see or hear you at all. He set out along the south side of the ridge as planned, picking his way along the creek, scrutinizing every inch of ground and hoping for a shoeprint.

Along the north side you were doing the same. You frequently knelt to examine some little scrape in the litter or soil and as you went you filled the little cloth bag you carried with edible and medicinal plants, berries, and fungi. The day wore on with no sign of the little girl and your frustration and fear grew even as the sun reached its apex in the sky and started to drift back down toward the western horizon.

You turned and started picking a new path back, heading toward the farm now rather than away. The deepening shadows made detecting print or trail more difficult but you kept your focus sharp on the ground as you moved, your bow slung over your shoulder next to your quiver.

You were becoming tired when you noticed an impression in the mud. You knelt, one knee of your jeans sinking into the damp soil. It was a boot print, but certainly not left by Sophia. You stared at the detail of the sole impression and your brow drew down low immediately. You have everyone’s shoe designs memorized. It wasn’t one you recognized. Your eyes drifted up and you could see a worn trail through the underbrush and more prints, heavy in the mud. There were at least three men who had left this trail, and they weren’t walkers. The path was straight ahead with no stagger and you could tell they were picking their way through the underbrush. You crouched and started to follow the trail. You needed to get eyes on these people. They were awfully close to the farm… Close enough, certainly, to see the smoke rising from the chimney and your fire circles.

You ghosted through the woods following the trail, moving as silently as you could. You’d been on the path for probably ten minutes when you could hear careless, noisy movement ahead. You must have caught up with them. Your heart hammering in your chest, you stayed low and crept closer. As you moved around a partially downed tree you could finally see the shapes of two men ahead. They were scruffy and filthy, clearly living on the move in the woods. You needed a closer look. You wanted to see what kinds of weapons they had on them. If you could scout out the group, you could determine whether something needed to be done about them or not.

As you tried to shift to another patch of concealing cover, you didn’t notice your bow catching on a low hanging dead branch. By the time you felt the resistance it was too late. The whole branch pulled loose with a loud snapping sound as it bent and cracked other dried branches and twigs on its way down. The two men you had been watching spun immediately and had weapons raised, rifles pointed in your direction. You were swearing under your breath and instantly on your feet aiming your pistol right back.

“Well, shit! What the hell do we have here?” one of the men asked, shifting a little to get a better look at you. “You alone out here, sweetheart?”

You fell an immediate swell of anger and dread rising up in your chest.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” the second man asked, grinning and revealing teeth that were tobacco stained and yellow.

“What’s a fine little thing like you doing out here by yourself? Don’t you know it’s dangerous? There are all kinds of monsters in these woods,” the first man said, looking you up and down thoroughly. His companion laughed.

Fuck. This was bad. Why had you pushed your luck and crept in so closely? Now you were outnumbered and you knew there was at least one other man somewhere that you didn’t have eyes on.

Your chest was heaving with anxious breaths from the rush of adrenaline. The first man stepped a bit closer again and you responded by taking a measured step back, your pistol aimed squarely at his chest. Now what? Should you make a run for it? Would they shoot you? Based on the animalistic looks in their eyes you knew things could go very bad, very quickly if you couldn’t get the fuck out of there. Your mind was whirring.

Suddenly, you heard a stick crack behind you and you turned instinctively to see a third man now rushing you. He landed a fist into your jaw and your vision went black as you fell to the ground, holding onto your pistol as tightly as you could. The pain radiating from your jaw into your head was overwhelming. You blinked, willing the darkness to clear, but it lingered as you suddenly felt rough hands on you, rolling you over and ripping both your bow and rifle from your back.

You struggled blindly and managed to get yourself onto your back again as the darkness in your eyes faded instead to the outlines of blurred shapes. You could make out the shape of the man standing over you and you instinctively raised your pistol and squeezed several rounds which sounded like cracks of thunder in the close woods. You missed, the scene still foggy, and you immediately squeezed again and discharged another round but the man leapt down on you with a wild yell, knocking your arm to the side and pinning it into the ground. His weight pressed down on you and you were vaguely aware of an acrid smell filling your nostrils, causing bile to rise up in your throat. He pried your pistol from your hand and tossed it away into the brush.

You writhed beneath him, struggling to get clear of his grasp but he was much bigger than you and soon there was another set of hands on you. You were rolled onto your stomach again and your arms were pulled back behind you and held painfully tight.

“We got ourselves a wild cat here, boys!” one of the men laughed. “Get her up,” he ordered. You were pulled roughly onto your feet, still trying to blink away the remaining fuzziness in your eyes and struggling against your captor.

The first man, who seemed to be the leader, paced over, watching you with a look of satisfaction on his face as you still tried to fight loose. His rifle was now dropped casually by his side. He grabbed your chin cruelly and pulled it up so you looked right into his eyes. His fingers dug into the tender spot on your jaw where the other man had hit you. “Ain’t you a pretty little thing,” he murmured silkily.

You yanked your face from his grasp and he chuckled, glancing back at the other man standing just behind him. “She’s a good one,” he said, a sick smirk on his face. He looked back at you and his eyes roamed perversely over your body. “This’ll be fun.”

He turned violent and grabbed the front of your light cotton shirt, ripping it harshly down off one shoulder, tearing the breezy plaid fabric easily and popping off the first three buttons. The man holding you only tightened his grip. Your throat constricted so tightly it was hard to breathe. You felt like your heart was beating so hard that it would surely burst. You could feel everyone’s eyes on your newly bared skin. Next the leader withdrew a knife and pressed the point into the center of your chest just above your bra. You cringed at the feeling of the biting cold metal pricking your skin.

He stepped close into you and moved the knife up to your throat, pressing it to the side of your neck and drawing it lightly across your skin just enough to cut you. You winced and shut your eyes, trying to keep as still as possible with that blade to your throat and you soon felt a rivulet of warmth rolling down toward your collarbone. You opened your eyes as the knife left your throat and he slipped it under your exposed bra strap, rotating it and lifted up until the fabric started to separate along the sharp edge. Finally, it gave and the strap hung loosely down. He sucked in a hiss of breath through his teeth, his eyes hungry and crazed. “This will be a lot easier on you if you just cooperate. Then again… I like a woman with some fight in her,” he snarled. “Your choice.” His companions let out more appreciative laughter as fear twisted your stomach.

You felt yourself going numb. Suddenly, you couldn’t feel any pain anymore. You couldn’t feel the man’s hands pinning your arms back. You couldn’t feel the blood that was now running down your chest. Your eyes drifted to the leader’s cold, blue blade and then unfocused so the scene simply became a haze. And you suddenly realized that they hadn’t taken your knife. It was still in its sheath on your hip…

A short distance away, Daryl had been thinking that it was probably about time to call it a day and head back when he heard a series of loud gunshots. His body went rigid and he turned frantically, staring off into the brush. He strained his hearing to its limit. They’d definitely come from your direction. Abandoning any other thought, he sprung into motion, racing through the woods as fast as he could in the direction he thought the blasts had come from.

Back in camp, everyone else had heard the shots too. Shane turned and looked at Rick, his gaze intense.

“Were those gun shots?” Lori asked, fear in her voice.

“Yeah,” Rick said, rising to his feet and rushing to grab his gun from the stash of weapons in the RV. “Shane, T, Glenn, let’s go! The rest of you stay here!”

Hershel stepped out onto the porch and watched the group of men racing across the pasture toward the trees. He had a bad feeling in his gut. Maggie and Beth came out, the slamming screen door punctuating the piercing silence that fell after the shots.

Daryl smashed through the brush carelessly, his eyes scanning the ground for a trail, any trail, something to follow. Finally, his eyes locked on boot prints that were surely yours. He vaguely registered that there were much larger impressions in the soil too, several different boots much larger than yours. And they certainly weren’t from walkers.

“Son of a bitch,” he cursed under his breath. He froze and scanned the thick greenery. He strained his hearing again, listening for some sound, anything, to give him an idea of what was happening. Please don’t let me be too late, he thought frantically. He took off again but more cautiously, following the tracks you had clearly also discovered. Probably what had led you right into something…

Rick and the others were well into the trees now but Shane stopped everyone. “Rick, what the hell are we doin’ man? We don’t have a clue where Y/N and Daryl are. We can’t just go blindly crashing through here or we’re gonna end up in a bad spot too.”

Rick’s eyes frantically whirred over the seemingly endless tree trunks.

“Wait—I saw Y/N’s map yesterday. She had the whole thing sectioned out into search areas,” Glenn said. “Most of them were already crossed off.”

“Well, which ones weren’t?” Shane urged, checking to make sure there was a round chambered in his gun.

“Uhh—” Glenn’s mind raced. “I think—I think by that ridge, straight north of here. But I can’t be sure,” he trailed off.

Rick rubbed a hand over his face. They all listened for any sound, but the woods were oppressively silent now. “Shit…” he cursed under his breath.

“It’s the best we got,” T gasped, out of breath from the frenetic dash from camp.

Rick nodded. “Alright. Then we head north. Keep your heads on a swivel and your eyes peeled for any sign of Y/N or Daryl.”

Daryl moved as swiftly along the trail as he could. Suddenly, he spotted something lying on top of the litter out of the corner of his eye. Your pistol. Daryl grabbed it and the muzzle was still warm. Clearly, you’d been the one to fire at least some of those shots. “Fuck. Fuck…” He tucked it into his waistband and moved more cautiously now. His heart was pounding and sweat was pouring down his forehead. His knuckles were white on his crossbow. He rounded a downed tree and froze when he saw a dark shape on the ground ahead. His heart dropped into his stomach. Please don’t let it be Y/N… He was almost paralyzed with fear but he forced himself to take another couple steps. As he rounded the brush and straightened up, he knew it wasn’t you but his apprehension didn’t evaporate. It was a large man, clearly dead, completely covered in blood. The hair on the back of Daryl’s neck suddenly stood on end and he spun around, his crossbow up to his eye, ready to fire. But he dropped it involuntarily as he took in the scene before him, his jaw dropping partially open and his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what the fuck he was seeing.

You were standing there in front of him trembling from head to toe, your hands out in front of you with your knife clutched in one like it was a lifeline. Daryl could easily see the shakiness in your hands. You were completely covered in blood. Your clothing and skin were soaked in it, like you’d bathed in a crimson river. There was thick splatter on your face, neck, and chest. Your eyes were wide and fixed and you didn’t show any awareness that he was there in front of you. Daryl registered that your shirt was torn down from one shoulder and your bra strap had been cut. He didn’t need an explanation to know what the fuck had happened and rage swelled in his chest, stoking an intense fire. His eyes drifted down to two more bodies lying at your feet, each with uncountable stab wounds and one with his throat cut, his clothing drenched. The metallic smell of blood was in the air and Daryl could almost taste it on his tongue.

Still you showed no awareness that he was there. You seemed frozen, catatonic. He now registered that you had slash wounds through the fabric of your sleeves and cuts on your arms. Defensive wounds where you had blocked a knife attack. There was a purposeful cut partially up the hem of your jeans at the bottom, clearly from one of the men… It was nearly impossible to tell if you were hurt anywhere else because there was just so much blood…

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he murmured. “Y/N?” He took a cautious step toward you. “Y/N? Can ya hear me?”

Nothing. No reaction at all.

Just then Daryl heard the noise of several people in the woods nearby and he planted himself between you and the sound, raising his crossbow. “Ya better get the fuck outta here unless ya want an arrow between the eyes!” he roared.

Rick straightened up. That was Daryl. “Daryl?!”

Daryl gulped. “…Rick?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Shane, Glenn, and T! We’re comin’ to you! Are you alright?”

Daryl glanced back at you again. You were still just standing there shaking. “‘M fine. Wasn’t me who fired…” Daryl swung his pack off his back and dug inside it.

The men crashed through the underbrush and came into view, taking in the scene. “Oh my God.” The words spilled from Glenn’s lips. They were all glancing from the bloody bodies on the ground to your blood-soaked figure.

“Jesus Christ,” Shane uttered, pacing closer and bending to look at the slash wound in the one corpse’s neck. Daryl finally laid hands on his poncho and yanked it out of his bag. He turned to look at you and began approaching cautiously. “Y/N? It’s Daryl. Can ya hear me?”

Nothing.

Rick was slack-jawed as he looked at the scene. “Daryl… be careful,” he cautioned, eyeing the knife still gripped in your fist.

Daryl glanced back at him. “She ain’t gonna do nothin’ to me,” he drawled.

“Do you see this?” Glenn asked him urgently indicating the bodies. “This is insane. You don’t know that! She looks completely out of it, like she doesn’t even know we’re here!”

Daryl’s jaw clenched and he turned back to look at you again. “Don’t ya fuckin’ see her? She’s terrified. Look at her clothes. They were tryin’ to rape her,” he growled. “They deserve what they got.”

Shane straightened up from examining the bodies, glancing furtively over at you. “Maybe but… on the force, we’d call this ‘overkill’,” he said, backing up and exchanging a glance with Rick.

Daryl ignored him. “Y/N? It’s alright. You’re safe. Nobody is gonna hurt ya. Just lemme take your knife, okay?” There was no recognition on your face, your eyes still wide and fixed, until Daryl’s hand gently closed over yours and started to open your hand around the handle of your knife. He could feel you shaking beneath his fingers. “S’alright,” he said softly as your eyes landed on his face and then locked with his. Your brow drew down low, casting a shadow over the vaguely confused look on your face. As Daryl gently took your knife, he could see there was a very deep gash in your palm. It was bleeding heavily. He guessed it was either another defensive wound from you putting your hands up to stop one of the men’s knives or otherwise your hand, slick with blood, had slipped down onto your own blade when you’d been fighting them. “Glenn, get some gauze out of my pack and bring it over here,” he said. He spoke calmly and softly. He glanced back over at Glenn when he didn’t move from his slack-jawed frozen position. “Glenn. Gauze.” Glenn snapped himself out of it and went to Daryl’s bag. The archer gulped and draped his poncho over you, covering your ripped shirt. “S’alright,” he murmured again.

You didn’t take your eyes off his face. He wasn’t even sure if you realized the others were there. Glenn walked forward and handed Daryl the small roll of sterile gauze before backing up slowly. The look in your eyes was haunted and dazed and it left all of them feeling empty and concerned.

Daryl opened your hand flat and your eyes drifted down to watch him wrap the bandage over the wound on your palm. You couldn’t feel it. You couldn’t really feel anything, except Daryl’s hands on yours.

Shane turned to Rick. “Rick, what the hell are we gonna do about this? We can’t just waltz her back into camp covered in blood. You don’t want the others seein’ this… Carl? Lori? Or Hershel. Look at her. She looks completely unstable. This might be enough for him to kick us out right now.” He looked back at you over his shoulder.

Rick sighed heavily. “So, we’ll get her cleaned up first.”

Daryl was keeping one ear on the conversation going on behind him. “She needs stitches on this hand,” he drawled. “And who knows how else she’s hurt. Can’t see a damn thing on her right now. And since ya’ll are more worried about yourselves than her, I’ll take care of it. Why don’t ya just get the hell outta here,” Daryl growled.

Glenn stepped forward. “We are worried about her. But you have to admit that this is—this is—” He didn’t even know what word to use. Daryl just stared at him. You were hugging your arms around yourself now, still shaking. Your eyes were downcast, staring unseeing at the ground.

“Listen, I don’t give a shit what ya do. I’m gettin’ her outta here and taken care of.” He hastily shouldered his pack and his crossbow.

“Just—Daryl,” Rick started, pinching the bridge of his nose, the situation weighing on him heavily. “Clean her up a bit before you take her to Hershel to be looked over.”

The archer eyed him through a narrow glare for a moment before he nodded. He turned back to you, your frame swallowed up in his poncho. “C’mon. Let’s get ya home,” he said gently. Your eyes snapped up to his face again and you allowed him to lead you back toward the farmstead.

He picked a path carefully and finally the two of you broke out from the edge of the forest. The others back in the camp were staring at the tree line, wracked with nerves. Lori straightened up as she recognized movement. “Dale—someone just stepped out.”

Dale, standing on the RV, raised his binoculars to his eyes. “Oh my,” slipped from his lips.

“What? Who is it?” Carol asked anxiously.

“I think it’s Y/N and Daryl,” Dale said. “I can’t quite tell properly, but I think something is wrong with Y/N.” He squinted into the binoculars again. “My God. Her jeans are covered in blood and it—it looks like there’s blood on her neck, her face…”

Carol pressed a hand over her mouth. “Is she hurt?” she asked anxiously. “Was she bit?”

Dale shook his head, lowering the binoculars again. “They’re too far. I can’t tell what’s going on.”

Daryl looked up to see everyone standing almost in a line watching the two of you as you started across the field. He gulped and then put a hand lightly on your back, nervous and unsure of how you would react to the contact. He guided you toward his camp which was closest and was set apart from everyone else’s.

“C’mon and sit down, alright. We’re just gonna clean ya up a bit and then take ya to Hershel.” The look in your eyes was worrying him immensely but you sat down on a round of wood pulled up near the fire ring. He anxiously chewed on his bottom lip, trying to figure out how he could reassure you. “Hey. S’alright. You’re safe.”

You met his blue eyes and he finally saw some sense of relief in them. His stomach flipped at the way they softened and he nodded. He took in the sight of you in his poncho again and realized you’d need something else to wear to go see Hershel that wasn’t half ripped off you. “I’m gonna, uhh—” he cleared his throat nervously. “I’ll put a clean shirt out on my cot for ya. Ya can change in in my tent and then we’ll just clean ya up a bit, alright?” He knew better than to wait for a response and climbed to his feet and disappeared into his tent to set the clothes out. He dug around in his duffel bag until he found one that was still folded tightly, definitely clean, and he set it out for you. You watched the handsome archer reemerge from inside his tent and nod his head toward it. “Alright. Go ahead. I’ll just be right out here.”

He watched you get up and disappear, zipping the door behind you. He paced in front of the fire circle, rubbing his thumb over his bottom lip thoughtfully as the image of you standing there in the woods, frozen, absolutely soaked in blood with your shirt half torn surged forward in his mind and he felt another sickening swell of anger. Jesus. Things could have gone so bad with those men… and they were fucking lucky they were already dead when he got there.

The soft rustling of the tent fabric interrupted his thoughts and you stepped out in his long-sleeved flannel, looking a bit dazed still but more grounded. He nudged his nose up in a nod. “C’mon and sit down,” he said, gesturing to the round of wood again. You sank down on it. Daryl grabbed a bucket of clean water that had been warming in the sun all day. He grabbed a cloth from inside his tent and caught sight of your bloody and torn shirt discarded on the floor, feeling another tight twist between his lungs, like someone had tugged a knot there.

You watched him kneel down in front of you and sink the cloth into the bucket of water, wringing it out before bringing it close to your face. He hesitated short of touching you. “S’this alright?” he drawled.

You gave him a questioning look but finally nodded, just one slight tip of your chin. You closed your eyes as the fabric came in contact with your cheek and Daryl started wiping away the blood. The cloth stained crimson quickly. He cleaned the splatters from across your forehead and your nose and the spots on the other side of your face. With the red stains gone, Daryl could see the shadow of a deep bruise along the side of your jaw. Without thinking he gently clasped your chin and turned your head so he could examine it, a heavy shadow falling over his blue eyes. He sunk the cloth back into the bucket of water and wrung it out again, this time pressing it to the side of your neck.

Despite how gentle he was being, you involuntarily sucked in a sharp hiss of air through your teeth as the cloth found the cut on the side of your neck from the leader’s knife. Your eyes blinked open through your wince.

“Sorry,” Daryl drawled, pulling back to look at the wound. “Jesus… Those assholes had a knife to your neck?” he asked. It was rhetorical and he didn’t expect an answer. He wiped at the blood spatter and you closed your eyes again, trying to breathe deeply and still the trembling you still felt wracking through you. Daryl could hear a shaky quality in your breathing. Soon, your face and neck were clean and Daryl turned his attention to your hands. Your eyes were still shut as he rinsed the cloth out again in the bucket. “Lemme see your hands,” he said softly. You found the deep gravel of his voice comforting.

Out of everyone in your group, you usually felt like Daryl was the only one who really saw you. You’d wanted to get to know him better, but held yourself back. He seemed to seek solitude like you did, and you didn’t want to force yourself into his world.

He took your hand, your palm resting against his, and he swept the cloth lightly over the back of it and down each finger. The sensation sent goosebumps rising on your skin and you glanced up at the concerned and intent expression on his face curiously. You couldn’t even remember the last time anyone had shown you so much attention and care. He took your other hand in his now, the one with gauze around it and the deep gash in your palm. He rubbed the blood from the back of each finger and then flipped it over in his hand. He frowned as he noticed that your blood had soaked through the bandage. “Probably need stitches on this one,” he murmured softly. The cloth tickled over the underside of each finger now, sweeping off the ends. “Alright. Push up them sleeves,” he said, dunking the cloth into the bucket again for what felt like the hundredth time.

“What?” He was startled by your voice and his eyes snapped up to look at you.

He straightened up, one of his eyebrows quirking down at the question. “Ya had a buncha cuts on your arms. We need to clean ‘em up and check ‘em. See if ya need stitches anywhere else.”

You shook your head.

He gave you a questioning look for a long moment and chewed on his bottom lip. “Alright. Ya can do it. I’ll just go tell Hershel you’re on your way in, alright?”

You stared at him for another long moment as he set the cloth on the edge of the bucket, whose water was now stained a dark pink. You glanced up as he climbed to his feet and nodded.

“Alright,” he said. “C’mon up when you’re done and we’ll get that hand taken care of.”

Daryl started over toward the farmhouse and as he approached Carol rushed up to him. “What happened?” she urged him. “Are you okay? Is Y/N?”

He stopped, his hand on one hip. He glanced back out toward the trees and saw the rest of the group making their way back toward camp across the field. “‘M fine,” he drawled. “Y/N ran into some men out there when we were searchin’.”

“Men? What men? What happened? Is she alright?”

Daryl chewed his bottom lip and shrugged vaguely. “I don’t know how to—how to answer that,” he said truthfully.

Confusion muddled Carol’s expression and she glanced in the direction of you over at Daryl’s camp. “Well, what happened?” she asked again.

Daryl looked at her seriously and shrugged vaguely. “Y/N killed ‘em. Didn’t have no choice.” He continued his path up to the house and bounded up the porch steps, knocking on the front door. Carol stared after him, a bit shocked. Maggie answered, looking worried.

“Were those gun shots earlier?” she asked.

Daryl nodded. “Mhm… Hey, can your dad take a look at Y/N?”

“Of course. What happened?” she asked, holding the screen door open so he could step inside.

Hershel was there in an instant. “Daryl. What happened? We heard those shots.”

“Y/N and I were out lookin’ for Sophia. There were some men. She—she ran into some trouble.”

Hershel took a deep breath and nodded. “Is she alright?”

“I think she needs stitches in her hand. She took a good hit to her jaw too. Might have a concussion. I dunno,” he said. He anxiously chewed on his bottom lip again. “I know she’s got some cuts on her arms, defensive wounds, but she wouldn’t let me look at ‘em. Got a cut on her neck.”

“Oh my God,” Maggie said, her hand flying up to her mouth.

“What happened to the men?” Hershel asked.

Daryl quit chewing the side of his thumbnail. “Dead,” he said, watching the old farmer’s reaction closely, but the man’s face was blank. He simply nodded.

“I’ll get my kit. Have her come on in.”

Daryl headed back onto the porch to see how you were doing and you were on your way over. His eyes caught on the dark splatters and stains of blood on your jeans and the slit at the bottom. His stomach twisted. Maybe he should have had you change clothes completely… You were trying to ignore the eyes on you as you made your way over to the house.

Andrea and Lori exchanged a look at the state of your clothes.

“Come on in here and sit down,” Hershel said kindly. “Let’s take a look at that hand.” You offered up your gauze-wrapped hand and Hershel laid it out on the table, unwrapping the already blood-soaked bandage and taking a look at the deep gash. “Pretty deep cut here. Definitely need stitches.” He grabbed a needle from his kit and pricked the end of each of your fingers. They all twitched in response. “You can feel that?” You nodded. “Good. Looks like we dodged any nerve damage. Much deeper and you would have needed major surgery for a cut tendon and who knows what else. Maggie, dear, would you get the sutures set up while I clean this off?”

Nerve damage. Cut tendon. Daryl shifted uncomfortably in his spot leaned up against the wall. You hardly seemed to react to the news at all.

Hershel swabbed at your hand and you shut your eyes against the bite of the alcohol. “Now, Daryl tells me you took a good hit to the jaw. I’m just gonna check it and make sure nothing is broken.” He palpated both sides of your face, across your cheekbones and up your jawline. “Just a bit swollen,” he said. “Did you lose sight when you were hit?” he asked you, grabbing a small pen light and checking the dilation response of each of your pupils. You gulped and nodded. “Do you remember your name?” he asked you. You nodded again. “I need you to answer my questions verbally. I’m interested in your answers but also your speech.”

“My name’s Y/N.”

“When is your birthday?” Hershel asked.

You stared at him. “No one here knows my birthday. How will you know if I’m right or not?”

A small smile grew on Hershel’s face. “I’d say your speech and cognition are fine. Probably a mild concussion though with your eyesight blacking out. You’ll need to take it easy the next few days, rest and fluids, and let me know if you develop any new symptoms like vomiting or nausea, confusion, a worsening headache. Understand?”

You nodded again. “Yes. I understand.”

“Sutures are ready,” Maggie said.

Hershel put on a pair of clean gloves and prepared. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything to numb you,” he said, propping your hand up on a towel so he could see it better.

“It’s alright. I would have told you to save it anyway,” you said. Daryl straightened up from his place against the wall and came to stand next to you. You could feel his eyes on your face.

“You’re one tough cookie,” Hershel said. “Let’s get this taken care of.” You hardly flinched as he passed the needle through…

Outside, Rick and the others were just arriving back at camp. Everyone gathered around and seemed to read on their faces that they were all unsettled.

“Rick,” Lori said, grabbing him into a hug. “What happened? We saw Daryl and Y/N come back. Her jeans were covered in blood.”

Rick looked down at her. “Nothing to worry about. It’s been taken care of.”

“Well, what was it?” Lori pressed him, her eyes still a bit wide and fearful.

Carol spoke up. “Daryl said she ran into some men and they’re—she killed them.”

Glenn and T were avoiding everyone’s eyes while Shane let out a frustrated sigh and paced away from the group, disagreeing with Rick still about the decision not to tell everyone you had clearly gone slasher on those assholes. Provoked or justified or not, Shane felt like that was something everyone should know. He’d gone far enough to describe you as a serial killer before Rick had stood him down. Rick nodded and looked at his wife and then at Andrea and Dale. “Y/N was attacked and she dealt with it. Hershel is gonna patch her up and there’s nothing to worry about.

“What if there are more of those men?” Carol asked fearfully.

“We only ever saw three different boot prints out there,” T reassured her. “But we’ll keep watch like we always do. We’ll be fine.”

Everyone still looked uneasy, but settled back into their tasks. Lori was about to go fetch some more water when Shane grabbed her arm and tugged her around the side of the SUV. She gave him a stern look and pulled her arm from his grasp.

“What?” she snapped at him, a bit unkindly.

“Rick ain’t tellin’ you everythin’,” he said.

Lori just stared Shane with a guarded expression. “I trust my husband. And you used to, too.”

“Yeah, well… What happened out there today? It should concern everyone.” His expression was dark and Lori felt her sense of unease grow.

Shane rubbed a hand over the stubble on his face. “Y/N just—” Shane let out a sigh that had the edge of a growl to it.

“What are you talking about?” Lori pressed him in an undertone. “Are we in danger?”

Shane straightened up and pressed his lips into a thin line briefly before meeting her eyes. “Honestly? I don’t know. But I’m not taking my eyes off that girl.”

Inside, Hershel tied off the final stitch and snipped the suture. “All done.” He applied a layer of antibacterial ointment and wrapped your hand in a fresh dressing. “Try to keep it dry. And I mean it,” he gave you a pointed look, “take it easy for a few days. Daryl, you hold her to that. Anything else you need me to look at? Your arms? Daryl said—” You shook your head no. “Alright.”

The archer straightened up as you climbed to your feet. “Thank you,” you murmured to Hershel.

Daryl held the door for you and you cringed at how everyone’s eyes were on you immediately as you stepped out onto the porch. You avoided them and started heading in the direction of your camp. Daryl was still in step beside you and you hazarded a glance in his direction.

He could read a question in your eyes. “I’ll keep ya company for a bit if that’s alright... Besides, ya should be restin’ and somebody needs to make sure ya take care of yourself.” You didn’t say anything, but that also wasn’t a refusal. Daryl could tell you were still reeling a bit, and he wanted to be there just in case.

You arrived at your separate camp area and watched as Daryl immediately went and stirred up the coals in the fire, adding more wood and soon having a nice blaze going. You headed for your tent and glanced back over your shoulder at him. “Just gonna change,” you said softly. He nodded and went about heating something for you to eat along with water for tea. He was sure you had collected more ingredients and remembered that your bag was still sitting at his camp. He jogged to grab it and brought it back along with your bloodied and torn shirt, not sure what else to do with it. When he got back, you were sitting by the fire in clean and comfortable clothes, his shirt resting over your lap. You held it out to him as he dropped your pack beside you.

“Thanks,” he murmured. The fabric was still warm from your body. “Dunno what ya wanna do with this,” he said, holding yours out in turn.

You stared at it for a long moment before your fingers closed on it and Daryl watched as you immediately tossed it into the fire. In a moment, it was only ashes and embers. He sank down beside you and felt you studying him. He turned and met your eyes and was surprised when you spoke. “You aren’t afraid of me now? Like the others?” you asked softly.

“Nah. Why would I be?”

Your striking eyes focused back on the crackling campfire and the embers dancing upward on the warm torrent of air. “You saw what I did. Why wouldn’t you be?”

Daryl peered at you curiously for a long moment. “Ya were only protectin’ yourself. Can’t say I wouldn’t have done worse if I’d been there,” he drawled, and you could hear anger in the tension in his voice.

“I blacked out,” you said suddenly.

“When they hit ya? Ya, yer gonna have a good bruise tomorrow.”

“That’s not what I mean.” You cradled your injured hand absently in the other. “The last thing I remember was the one starting to cut my jeans and then—then I was just covered in blood and they were all dead. And next thing I know you were taking my knife from me.” You shut your eyes for a moment. “I don’t remember anything else.”

Daryl considered the regretful expression on your face. “Don’t matter. Yer safe. That’s what counts. Those men? They had it comin’.”

You looked up at him in surprise and he simply nodded and then grabbed a mug and filled it with hot water for you. You accepted it and dug into your bag, pulling out the small sack of foraged herbs from the day. You dropped a few berries and leaves into your mug and cradled it with your uninjured hand.

It was nearly sunset and the quality of the light was cooling, oranges turning to reds and then fading into deep purples and inky blues. You allowed yourself to frequently study the archer as he shoved a bowl of reheated stew into your hands or added more wood to the fire. You felt surprisingly at ease with him there and he didn’t seem at all bothered by the passing of so much silence. Maybe the concussion just had you slightly numb, but you didn’t think so.

“You aren’t going to ask me?” you finally said.

Daryl looked over at you and he felt a stirring in his chest at the way the firelight was catching the shine and colors in your hair and the soft shape of your lips. “Ask ya what?”

“How I—Why I—” You didn’t even know how to phrase it really.

Daryl watched you struggled for a moment. “Ain’t none of my business. But if ya wanted to talk about it, I’ll listen. Not gonna lie and say I haven’t wondered about what came before ya were with the group.”

You had been on the verge of speaking it but suddenly lost your nerve and sipped at your tea again. Daryl watched you withdrawing again and rubbed a hand a bit nervously over the back of his neck. Darkness had fallen completely now. “Well, I’ll leave ya alone. Yer probably sick of me anyway,” he drawled. “Get some rest, alright?” Daryl had climbed to his feet and started to head in the direction of his own tent but your voice froze him.

“It’s not that I want to be alone all the time…” Daryl could hear the crackling of the fire in the silence that followed. “It’s just that alone usually feels safer.”

He glanced back at you, turning partially. “Ya. I know the feelin’,” he said gently, pacing back.

You looked up at him and something about your expression, your wide eyes, went straight to his core. “Stay,” you said quietly. “Please.” You chewed on your bottom lip for a moment. “Being with you feels safer…” you admitted, timidly.

Daryl felt an ache in his chest and nodded. He grabbed a seat beside you again and puzzled over this unprecedented turn of events.

You seemed to come to some decision suddenly and looked over at him intensely. He caught your eyes briefly and then watched as you pushed up your right sleeve. At first all he saw were the knife cuts, crimson against your skin, but you turned your forearm toward him in the firelight. “This is what I didn’t want you to see,” you said. You gulped. You’d never told anyone, never shown anyone, literally never talked about what had happened to you since you got out. You’d vowed that you would just move on, but the longer you suffered in silence the worse it seemed to get, until you felt like it would consume you. And then today, with those men, you’d just completely lost it. It had triggered something, a memory or maybe more like a nightmare, and when you came to you were bathed in blood and didn’t even recognize yourself, couldn’t believe what you’d done. Enough was enough. Maybe if you spoke it, admitted it, dealt with it in some way… maybe it’d get easier.

Daryl stared at a scar on your forearm. It looked like a brand and the skin was still slightly pink, showing that it wasn’t that old. It was four numbers. 1048.

[lunarimagines]

MOBILE MASTERLIST

I have received many requests to update my masterlist, so here it is! As of October 18, 2020...

-----

~ = TRIGGER WARNING

* = SEXUAL CONTENT

[REDBUBBLE]

-----

Kpop

+ EXO

YOU’RE THE NEW GIRL WITH A ‘BAD GIRL’ IMAGE [VERSION 1] [VERSION 2]

THEY’RE IN THE MOOD, BUT YOU’RE ON YOUR PERIOD

THEIR GIRLFRIEND IS ANEMIC  

PLAYING WITH THEIR GIRLFRIEND’S LONG HAIR

MAKING BREAKFAST WITH YOU

JONGIN REACTION TO HIS GIRLFRIEND ALWAYS ASKING PERMISSION BEFORE INITIATING SKIN SHIP

WHAT DATING JONGIN WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING SEHUN WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING TAO WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING LUHAN WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT BEING SCHOOLMATES WITH KAI WOULD BE LIKE

LATE NIGHT LUHAN FLUFF BLURB

BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH EXO (OT12)

WOLF!CHEN

*ONLY I CAN (KYUNGSOO SMUT)

*HOW YIXING WOULD BE IN BED

*SEX WITH BAEKHYUN

WHAT DATING BAEKHYUN WOULD BE LIKE

*WHAT SEX WITH KRIS WOULD BE LIKE

*I HAVE NO REASON TO BE JEALOUS (SEHUN SMUT)

*WHAT SEX WITH JONGIN WOULD BE LIKE

WHEN YOU CONFESS TO KAI

WHEN THE MANAGERS SUGGEST HE BREAK UP WITH YOU 

*SEX WITH CHEN

*SEX WITH KYUNGSOO

*SEX WITH LUHAN

*SEX WITH SEHUN

WOLF!KAI

*SEX WITH CHANYEOL

*SEX WITH SUHO

DATING CHANYEOL

*SEX WITH TAO

*SEX WITH XIUMIN

DATING KYUNGSOO

BEING SCHOOLMATES WITH CHANYEOL

YOU HAVE BENIGN ESSENTIAL TREMOR

WOLF!BAEKHYUN

THEY FIND OUT THEY’RE DOING A ROMANTIC BALLAD WITH YOU (THEIR CRUSH)

FLUFFY XIUMIN ONE SHOT 

~YOU’RE SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT YOUR WEIGHT 

CUDDLING WITH SUHO AND ACCIDENTALLY WAKING HIM UP

~YOUR SELF HARM COPING NOTEBOOK

YOU’RE DATING IN SECRET AND HE KISSES YOU (UNKNOWINGLY) IN FRONT OF CAMERAS 

JEALOUS!JONGIN

MARRIED LIFE WITH CHANYEOL

CUDDLING WITH KRIS AND SEHUN

*TOUCH IT [JONGDAE SMUT]

DATING KRIS [WU YIFAN]

HUSBAND!JONGIN

SECRETADMIRER!JONGIN

CUDDLING WITH EXO

THEIR GF HAD ADD

WHAT DATING JONGDAE WOULD BE LIKE

GROWING UP WITH JONGIN

YOUR CHILD CALLS HIM DAD

YOU THINK THEY ARE CHEATING

EXO REACTION TO SEEING YOU AGAIN AFTER YOU TWO BROKE UP

WHAT DATING TAO WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING SUHO WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING LAY WOULD BE LIKE

YOU FAINT IN HIS ARMS [CHANYEOL ANGST]

MARRIED LIFE WITH LUHAN

THE OVERLOOK [BAD!BOY CHANYEOL]

A-Z NSFW

[JONGDAE]

TEXTING

[JONGDAE]

+  BTS

YOU TELLING THEM ‘I LOVE YOU’

S/O TRIPPING OVER NOTHING

TYPE OF TUMBLR BLOG BTS WOULD HAVE

HEARING YOU SPEAK YOUR MOTHER LANGUAGE

LOSING SOMETHING OF THEIRS WHILE IN THE CAR

DANCING AND ACCIDENTALLY BREAKING THE T.V.

WATCHING A MOVIE WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS WHEN A SEXUAL SCENE COMES ON

WAKING YOU UP IN THE MORNING

~ FINDING SELF HARM SCARS ON YOUR BODY

MOVIE NIGHT WITH JUNGKOOK

WHAT DATING RM WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING JUNGKOOK WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING TAEHYUNG WOULD BE LIKE

WHAT DATING YOONGI WOULD BE LIKE

BEING SCHOOLMATES WITH SUGA

* VISITING NAMJOON AT THE STUDIO

BEING BEST FRIENDS (OT7)

YOU’RE AFRAID OF DOGS

YOU WATCH THEIR EVERY MOVE AT DANCE PRACTICE

YOU HATE WHEN PEOPLE TAKE PICTURES OF YOU

YOU’RE REALLY AFRAID OF BUGS

*SEX WITH JIMIN

*SEX WITH TAEHYUNG

*SEX WITH YOONGI

*SEX WITH NAMJOON

*SEX WITH JUNGKOOK

*SEX WITH JIN

*SEX WITH J-HOPE

*DO YOU WANT ME TO TEACH YOU (JIMIN SMUT)

*WATCH ME BABYGIRL [JUNGKOOK SERIES - COMPLETE] [1] [2] [3] [4] [vmin filler] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

WHEN I HAD YOU [JIMIN ANGST/FLUFF]

BAKING WITH JUNGKOOK

*THEIR S/O GIVING THEM A SHOW

*THIGH RIDING YOONGI

*WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY [NAMJOON SUGAR DADDY SMUT]

THEIR CRUSH/BEST FRIEND IS AFFECTIONATE WHEN SICK

~THEIR TEENAGE CHILD GETS IN THEIR FIRST CAR ACCIDENT

~THEY HAVE A DREAM WHERE YOU DIE

*I HATE YOU. I LOVE YOU? [JIMIN ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS SMUT]

*PHONE SEX WITH NAMJOON

THEIR S/O IS CATCALLED 

BRINGING THEIR AMERICAN S/O TO MEET THEIR PARENTS

DATING NAMJOON BUT BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH BTS

THEIR S/O TAKES THEM TO A HAUNTED HOUSE

BEING FRIENDS WITH JUNGKOOK AND YUGYEOM 

DANCING QUEEN [HOSEOK FLUFF]

*REACTION TO YOU SAYING “TAKE ME”

BTS THINKING THEIR S/O IS CHEATING

THEIR S/O IS A PICKY EATER

*BTS REACTION TO YOU GIVING THEM A SHOW

*YOONGI FWB

BTS REACTION TO YOU SITTING ON THEIR LAP…

~IF YOU’D LET ME [JIMIN ANGST]

YOU CUDDLING THEM IN YOUR SLEEP AND SAYING “I LOVE YOU”

*YOU’RE ON

THEIR S/O GETS A LIP PIERCING

DATING YOONGI BUT BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH BTS 

*YOU “FLEXING YOUR MUSCLES” 

IF SOMEBODY HAD TOLD YOU… [JUNGKOOK FLUFF]

*I WAS KIND OF HOPING THIS COULD BE YOUR PRESENT [JUNGKOOK SMUT]

BTS REACTION TO THEIR GF BRINGING THEM LUNCH

THEIR GF IS SIMILAR TO HOBI AND HAPPENS TO BE CLOSE TO HOBI

*FACE DOWN [YOONGI SMUT]

THEIR CRUSH IS DOTING/MOTHERLY

*YOU MOAN THEIR NAME DURING SEX

*YOU WANT SEX WHILE THEY’RE WORKING

*PHONE SEX WITH YOONGI

*REVERSING ROLES [YOONGI SMUT]

JEALOUS!YOONGI

BTS REACTION TO YOU HIDING YOUR SMILE WHEN YOU LAUGH

EYE ON THE TARGET (JUNGKOOK) [1] [2]

SEOKJIN AS YOUR SUGAR DADDY

BTS REACTION TO THEIR S/O CUPPING THEIR FACE AND KISSING THEM

~BTS REACTION TO THEIR FRIEND NOT BEING COMFORTABLE WITH THEIR BODY SIZE

TEXTING

[JIN] [JIMIN] [TAEHYUNG] [SUGA] [J HOPE] [RAP MONSTER] [JUNGKOOK] BESTFRIEND!JUNGKOOK HIGHSCHOOL!BTS FUCKBOY!YOONGI

SNAPS

[TAEHYUNG]

A-Z NSFW

[JUNGKOOK] [YOONGI]

+ ATEEZ

CONDITIONALLY YOURS (Seonghwa) [1]

ATEEZ REACTION TO ANOTHER MEMBER WALKING IN ON THE TWO OF YOU MAKING OUT [1] [2]

ATEEZ REACTION TO BEING JEALOUS OF ANOTHER MEMBER GETTING CLOSE TO THEIR S/O

+ INFINITE

YOU TALK ABOUT SEX

+ BOYFRIEND

THEY ALL LOVE THE SAME GIRL

ACCEPTING AN AWARD YOU

YOU THREATENING TO FIGHT THE CEO IF THEY DON’T GET A COMEBACK

VALENTINES DAY WITH KWANGMIN

*SEX WITH DONGHYUN

+ MISS A

GOING INTO TOWN WITH YOU

+ MONSTA X

THEY ACCIDENTALLY HUG YOUR SISTER INSTEAD OF YOU

*SEX WITH MINHYUK

SINGING A BALLAD WITH THEIR CRUSH

MARRIED LIFE WITH SHOWNU

REACTION TO THEIR GF AND ANOTHER MEMBER…

BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH MONSTA X 

THEIR GF IS OLDER THAN THEM

ANNOYING THEIR MEMBERS BY SHOWING PDA WITH THEIR S/O

THEIR GF GIVES THEM A MASSAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME

*RETURN THE FAVOR [KIHYUN SMUT]

DATING IN SECRET WHEN HE ACCIDENTALLY KISSES YOU IN FRONT OF CAMERAS

*YOU SAY THEY HAVE A SMALL DICK DURING A FIGHT

WHAT DATING IM WOULD BE LIKE

TELLING HIM YOU’RE A VIRGIN BEFORE THE TWO OF YOU HAVE SEX

*HE WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE IF YOU HADN’T... [KIHYUN SMUT]

YOU HUG THEM FROM BEHIND AND ACCIDENTALLY GRAB THEIR CROTCH

MARRIED LIFE WITH JOOHEON

*SEX WITH IM

MARRIED LIFE WITH IM

*SEX WITH HYUNGWON

*SEX WITH KIHYUN

*SEX WITH JOOHEON

*SEX WITH SHOWNU

*SEX WITH WONHO

MONSTA X REACTION TO THEIR S/O HAVING AN ASTHMA ATTACK

*THIGH RIDING MONSTA X

+ GOT7

*SEX WITH JACKSON

*SEX WITH JUNIOR

*SEX WITH MARK

*SEX WITH JAEBUM

YOU WEAR THEIR SWEATER, YELL “KISS ME”, THEN RUN AWAY

*SEX WITH YUGYEOM 

LIVING WITH BESTFRIEND!JACKSON

THEIR GF HAS SWEATER PAWS

GOT7 AS FATHERS 

BEING FRIENDS WITH JUNGKOOK AND YUGYEOM 

*THEIR GF KNOWS HOW TO DEEPTHROAT

YUGYEOM DATING AN OLDER WOMAN

YOU’RE DATING MARK AND THE OTHER MEMBERS ARE JEALOUS

*SINCERELY, YOUR NEW FWB [YUGYEOM SMUT]

*REACTION TO THEIR GF WANTING TO BE SPANKED

JACKSON HAVING A CRUSH ON YOU

*I DIDN’T HAVE TIME FOR “CLASSY” [JAEBUM SMUT]

*SEX WITH YOUNGJAE

YOU’RE SICK BUT DON’T WANT TO WORRY THEM SO YOU KEEP IT A SECRET

DATING JAEBUM AND BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH GOT7

BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH GOT7

TELLING HIM YOU’RE A VIRGIN BEFORE THE TWO OF YOU HAVE SEX

*SEX WITH BAMBAM

TEXTS

BESTFRIEND!JACKSON

SNAPS

[JINYOUNG]

+ C-CLOWN (DISBANDED)

*SEX WITH ROME

DATING CHRISTIAN YU [ROME]

+RED VELVET

YOU CALL THEM YOUR BEST FRIEND

*AN OVERWHELMING FEELING [IRENE SMUT]

+ INFINITE 

*SEX WITH MYUNGSOO

TELLING HIM YOU’RE A VIRGIN BEFORE THE TWO OF YOU HAVE SEX

+ IKON

*SEX WITH HANBIN

*SEX WITH DONGHYUK

“I DIDN’T LOVE YOU” [DONGHYUK FLUFF]

*SEX WITH JUNHOE 

*SEX WITH BOBBY

+ NCT

SOULMATE!MARK

WHAT DATING LUCAS WOULD BE LIKE

STUDY DATE WITH JUNGWOO

NCT 127 + JENO REACTION TO THEIR S/O BEING 160CM

EXCUSES, EXCUSES [HAECHAN FLUFF]

NCT DREAM REACTION TO THEIR GF BEING 165-170CM TALL

~NCT DREAM REACTION TO THEIR GF BECOMING DEPRESSED BECAUSE HER PARENTS ARE GOING THROUGH A DIVORCE

TEN TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION

WHAT DATING MARK WOULD BE LIKE

DATING TAEYONG

DATING JOHNNY (NCT)

FAKE TEXTS

BESTFRIEND -> BOYFRIEND MARK

WISHING MARK A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[DONGHYUCK]

TWO WRONGS MAKE… A COUPLE? [Prince!Renjun] [1] [2]

+ F(X)

THEIR S/O HAS FIBROMYALGIA 

*SEX WITH AMBER

+ BLACKPINK

BARISTA!ROSÉ

WHAT DATING LISA WOULD BE LIKE

YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON ROSÉ

+ BLOCK B

*SEX WITH PARK KYUNG

+ DAY6

*TENDER LOVE AND AFTERCARE [BRIAN/YOUNG K SMUT]

DATING DOWOON

+ PENTAGON

WHAT DATING WOOSEOK WOULD BE LIKE

+ SHINee [NO LONGER WRITING FOR]

BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH MINHO

LIVING WITH BESTFRIEND!KIBUM

SECRETLY DATING WHEN THEY ACCIDENTALLY KISS YOU IN FRONT OF CAMERAS 

SINGING A ROMANTIC BALLAD WITH THEIR CRUSH

THEY HAVE A CRUSH ON THE SAME IDOL

BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH SHINee

THEIR REACTION TO YOU CRYING

BEING SCHOOLMATES WITH TAEMIN

GROWING UP WITH TAEMIN

YOUR CHILD CALLS HIM DAD

+ TWICE

*WHAT DATING JIHYO WOULD BE LIKE

FIRST KISSES WITH TWICE

STUCK IN TRAFFIC WITH TWICE

*SEX WITH MINA (TWICE)

+ GIRLS GENERATION [SNSD]

DATING TIFFANY

THEY FIND A GUY NAKED BY ACCIDENT

THEY FIND TAENY KISSING ROMANTICALLY

SOMEONE FLIRTS WITH THEIR SECRET GIRLFRIEND

THEIR BEST FRIEND IS HEARTBROKEN OVER A BOY

+ MAMAMOO

THEY ARE JEALOUS 

AND THEN… [MOONBYUL SMUT] [2]

+ SEVENTEEN

YOU’RE A TRAINEE UNDER PLEDIS

SUCK IT UP [JUN ANGST/FLUFF]

“IT’S TIME” [CHAN FLUFF]

*SEX WITH MINGYU

+ VIXX

THEIR GF HAS WAVY/CURLY HAIR

TELLING THEM YOU’RE A VIRGIN BEFORE THE TWO OF YOU HAVE SEX

+ ASTRO 

REACTION TO YOU SQUISHING THEIR CHEEKS

SNAPS

SANHA X CUTE

+ 2NE1

YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON CL

+ SISTAR

BEING YOUR BEST FRIEND IN SCHOOL

+ X1

GOING THROUGH A HAUNTED HOUSE WITH BF!HANGYUL

T.V. SERIES:

TWD

TELLING CARL YOU LOVE HIM

TEEN WOLF

SCOTT MCCALL

UNDERCOVER IDIOTS [PART 1] [PART 2] [PART 3]

DEREK HALE 

INDISCREET JEALOUSY

COME ON CINDERELLA

*SOLID ALIBI

I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS

DON’T DRINK THE ORANGE JUICE

THE MURDER OF THE BETRAYER [PART 1] [PART 2]

ISAAC LAHEY

I HAPPEN TO LOVE THAT ABOUT YOU

I’LL TAKE THAT CHANCE

STILES STILINSKI 

VALENTINE’S DAY

PRANK WAR

TVD

DAMAN SALVATORE

VICTORIAN ERA ROMANCE

~FINDING OUT ABOUT YOUR ANOREXIA

SUPERNATURAL

DEAN 

HUNTING HAS ITS PERKS

PROPOSING TO YOU

BLUSH

BANDS:

5SOS

BLURBS:

ASHTON IRWIN 

FRATBOY! ASHTON

CALUM HOOD 

ROUND TWO

MICHAEL CLIFFORD 

LATE NIGHT

BIRTHDAY AU MEME (AKA MY VERY FIRST IMAGINE EVER ON THIS BLOG)

LUKE HEMMINGS 

WHAT DATING LUKE WOULD BE LIKE

IMAGINES:

CALUM HOOD 

*SAVING WATER

4/4

HE FINDS OUT YOU’RE REALLY TICKLISH

1D

HARRY STYLES 

I’LL BE THOR

MOVIES:

THE OUTSIDERS

SODAPOP

~SODAPOP FINDING OUT ABOUT YOUR DEPRESSION

THE AVENGERS

THOR

BEING ABLE TO LIFT THOR’S HAMMER

YOUTUBE

BEING BEST FRIENDS WITH DAN AND PHIL

[voxmortuus]

Close Bonding

PAIRING: Lee EverettxF!Reader

UNIVERSE: The Walking Dead: A Telltale Games Series

WORDS: 1.3k

SUMMARY/PROMPT: From a lovely Anon: Ok so I saw you that you will write for twd game? I’m a big fan of it and no one else really writes for it so I’m so happy you do! Ok, my request is a Lee Everett fic x fem reader? Tysm! It’s honestly doesn’t matter if you make it sfw or nsfw.

TW: Talk of Death/Loss | Talk of Suicide | Some language | Smut | Unprotected Sex | Foreplay

IMAGE CREDIT: Google

My Masterlist | Taglist | REQUESTS ARE ALWAYS OPEN

The shrieking was getting to you; you hated this. After losing your little brother, you felt helpless, hopeless, and worthless. You promised that you would keep him safe, and before your eyes, he was gone. As you walk down the sidewalk, you wipe your face, carrying his teddy bear. Letting out a breath, you sniffle a moment, and you hear the gurgling of a walker; looking around the corner, you see one having a feast on a family of three. Cringing and shaking your head, you remind yourself that you need to find a place for the night.

Looking around, you spot a house at the end of the road. You quickly but quietly move towards the house. At first, you knock, but there is no answer; you sneak in and check the place. Clear. You tell yourself. You make your way back to the kitchen and find a can of ravioli, and you let out a chuckle and smile, shaking your head. "Hi Chef, been a while." You tell the can. You use your knife to open the can and take a seat and savor the ravioli.

THUD! THUD! You jolt awake and grab your knife holding it close.

"Fuck." Lee mutters to himself.

"Hello?" You call out softly.

"Who is there?" He asks.

"I could ask you the same question." You rebuttal.

"Now isn't the time for bickering." He states. "Uh. Fine. I'm Lee, what's your name?" He asks you.

"Y/N. Where did you come from Lee?" You ask.

"Y/N, that's a lovely name. Uhh, Macon. You?" Lee asks.

"Jeffersonville. Are you good Lee or bad?" You ask him.

"Well I ain't gonna bite cha if that's what you're asking." He chuckled.

"Can I trust you?" You snap

"Can you trust anyone? I just want to be safe." He states.

You decide to go down the stairs and look at him. He turns around and looks at you, giving you a small smile.

"Well, now I can put a face to the name. The lovely name has a pretty face." He smiles. You look him over and chuckle.

"You don't look like a Lee at all. It's getting bad out there huh?" you ask, hearing another shriek, making your skin crawl, and you look down.

Nodding, he lets out a breath. "Yeah, it's getting bad. you alright?"

"I uhh, I lost my brother to a walker today. I promised to protect him, ya know?"

"Well, we can only do so much. It would have happened at some point, I know it's not what you want to hear." He stated, looking at you. Nodding, you look down and let out a heavy breath.

Making your way to the back, you look out the sliding glass door and open it, taking a seat on the patio chair and let out a heavy breath. Shaking your head, you sit there, placing your knife on the table. Lee takes a moment and looks around a bit and noticed the teddy bear on the kitchen table, and it clicks. He was a young child. Letting out a heavy breath, he rubs the back of his neck and heads outside.

Standing there, you feel him looking at you. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have told him to stay put. I thought he was safe, ya know? When they grabbed him, I couldn't save him. I should have tried, but I freaked out; I panicked. I just, I don't know Lee. On my way here, I contemplated suicide, just letting them take me, blow my brains out, jump off a high building, something. It's my fault." You state, shaking your head. Standing up, you look at him. "You should get some sleep while you can." You state.

Heading up the stairs with your brother's teddy bear in hand, you settle yourself in the master bedroom, you strip down into your panties and a t-shirt. You start to cry softly; Lee hears you from downstairs and lets out a soft breath. He slowly makes his way upstairs and knocks at the door. You wipe your face and look towards the door.

"You alright?" Lee asks you with genuine concern.

"I'll be alright. I know you don't know me from shit, but can you come hold me?" You ask.

"Uhhh, sure." He states, stripping down to his boxers and crawling under the blanket with you. Lee wraps his arms around you and lets you cry. Reassuring you that it will be okay, that you're not in this alone. His skin against yours slightly mentally distracts you as you press your body against his, feeling the touch of another. It's been so long since you welcomed someone to hold you like this.

You let out a slow breath and press yourself a little more against him, and he pulls you closer. Biting your lip, you feel him getting a little excited about the idea of being close to someone else. Little did you know how long it's been for him too. You feel his hand on your hip slipping under your shirt; slowly. You're not stopping him, so he keeps going. His hand grips at your breast, and you let out a soft breath, your eyes closed as you press your hips against him, moving a bit.

His breathing picks up, feeling your hips press and move against him. Feeling himself get harder, Lee groans as he moves his hips against your ass, slides his boxers down a bit and slides himself out of his boxers, and slides his hard cock between your legs. You let out a soft whimper, and you being to grind against it. With a free hand, he slides your panties over, feeling your flesh against his; he lets out a soft moan. Biting your lip, you grow wetter the more he fondles you, and you move your hips just enough to help him slip between your lips and slide right in.

You let out a heavy moan as you move your hips back and forth- you press your top against his. One hand on your hip, and the other against your breasts, he pulls you closer to him as he thrusts into you. Biting your lip, you let out another moan, panting and whimpering.

"Fuck, girl." He grunts in your ear. "You're so tight. So wet."

You moan a little louder, moving your hips faster, your hand moves between your legs, rubbing your clit as his hand grips on you harder. You knew it wouldn't take long because it had been so long for the both of you. With a heavy moan, your body begins to shake, letting out a heavy whimper- you growl softly.

Observing you, he gets a little rougher, gripping the fabric of your panties in his hand- he forces your hips a bit rougher, the bed squeaking, you bury your head into your pillow as he begins to fuck you a little harder.

"Damn girl, you feel so good."

"Oh Fuck!" You scream in the pillow. "Don't stop, keep going, right there... Fuck Lee, I'm right there!"

Keeping up his pace, he lets out a heavy groan feeling his cock twitch inside you- your pussy quivers, and your body shakes against him, "I'm going to cum... fuck.. YES!" You scream as you release, a well-needed and overwhelming release. You begin to cry, and he pulls from you.

"I'm sorry... I--"

"No... no it's not you-- you didn't do anything wrong. Just, just hold me okay?" You ask him.

"Alright..." He agrees and lays there with you, holding you close- he kisses your head and reassures you that everything will be okay.

You turn over and face him, looking over his face, your hand runs over his cheek and over his strong arms, and you nuzzle into him; breaking down was what you needed, and he was going to be there to help you through this. He holds you close, licking his lips, and he watches you a moment before closing his eyes.

[ninzied]

into the woods

based on the prompt: you know that scene in TWD where shane is being all cute and kissing up lori’s stomach? that but make it kastle.

rated m. 3k.

“She should’ve been back by now.”

Frank scours the tree line along their campsite, as if she’ll walk out of there any second. She hadn’t taken much more than a toothbrush with her, only a hand towel and a bottle of water to rinse off. How much longer does she need with those things?

“You worry a lot,” Sarah remarks. She doesn’t look up, measuring out coffee grounds for their pour-over stand. “For someone who’s ‘just friends’ with her.”

“Remind me again why I agreed to this weekend,” Frank says with a scowl.

“I could use a refresher myself,” says David. He’s emerging from their tent, zipping it back up the side before stretching. “From what I recall, Karen’s the one we invited. You’re the one who chose to tag along.”

Frank arches an eyebrow at their surroundings. “Thought my invite was implied.”

David makes a protesting sound. “You don’t have a monopoly on manly activities, you know.” He comes over to Sarah, drops a kiss on her forehead in greeting before taking one of the lawn chairs next to her. “I can camp. I can do camping. I’m a survival guy too, remember?”

“Ignore him,” says Sarah. “He gets grumpy before his morning coffee.” She leans over their fire and removes the kettle of water, which has just started to boil.

“There’s one thing we have in common,” says Frank. He nods his head toward the tent David vacated. “Kids still down for the count?”

“Both of them out like a light,” David confirms. “That ghost story Karen told them last night worked a little too well.”

“Trouble falling asleep?” asks Frank, not unsympathetically. “Or was it nightmares?”

“Leo came up with a sequel, actually,” says David. “Which she insisted on recounting in very vivid detail. None of us really slept after that.” He scrubs a hand tiredly over his eyes, but he’s also grinning a little, like he can’t help but be proud of this fact.

Karen would be proud too, Frank thinks, and pictures the smile he’ll get from her later.

“How about you?” Sarah asks Frank, her tone perfectly, deceptively innocent. “How did you sleep?”

“Fine,” says Frank.

The look Sarah gives her husband is a lot subtler than the one she receives in return.

Frank clears his throat. “You two got something you want to say?”

David shrugs. “Only that it’s a pretty small tent you and Karen are sharing.”

“We made do,” says Frank.

Truth be told, though, David’s not wrong.

Karen had borrowed the tent from Nelson, who, as it turned out, hadn’t gone camping since he was about ten years old. It had been a tight squeeze—that palpable warmth in the thin sheets between them, the soft little sighs Karen let out in her sleep, had all been nothing short of torture to Frank.

But the Liebermans are on a need-to-know basis only.

David is opening his mouth to say something else when Sarah interrupts him. “Here,” she says, “drink this,” and presses a tin of steaming black coffee into his hands.

“Guests first,” says David, but Frank’s already standing.

“I’m good for now,” he says with a wave of his hand. “I’m just gonna go for a walk.” He stoops down, checks for the blade inside of his boot.

“Karen’s a big girl, you know.” David takes a sip of his coffee. “I just don’t see how this is going to win you any points in her book.”

“Oh, let him go,” Sarah chides. “He’s not going to rest easy otherwise.” She calls cheerfully after Frank, “Tell Karen that coffee will be waiting when you guys get back, all right?”

…

If anything, Frank figures he could use the time away from the others.

Last night had been exhausting, with the Liebermans up for about half of it, and then Karen so close yet just out of reach. He’d behaved himself perfectly well, but the ache of all that longing for more hasn’t left him, and so he tries to walk it off instead.

Frank steps into the trees, the morning sun filtering through in soft, muted patches of light. They’re barely into September, but the leaves here have already started to pack themselves down into the ground. It makes his job easier, tracking which way Karen has gone.

She can take care of herself; he knows that. But she knows he’s going to worry. It’s something that they’re working on, meeting each other halfway. Still, Frank reasons that there’s a time and a place for these kinds of concessions, and out here in the woods is not going to be one of them.

Frank has been walking for about ten minutes when he steps into a snug little clearing, and suddenly, she’s there.

“Karen?”

She’s a few yards ahead of him, lounging with her back against the trunk of a large maple. She’s resting her arm on one of its thick, gnarled roots, and she—

She has her nose in a goddamn book.

It’s a small paperback of Agatha Christie. One of those rare finds that she’d unearthed from the half-price bin down the street from Frank’s place. It’s where she’d gotten her inspiration for the ghost story she told them last night.

Frank knows this because she’d read it aloud to him three nights ago. The book hasn’t left her side of the bed, until she packed it for this trip. She must’ve tucked it into her hand towel before leaving their tent earlier.

Karen glances up as he approaches. She doesn’t seem remotely surprised to see him there. In fact, she’s looking at him with a teasing kind of impatience, like he’s kept her waiting, and—

Oh.

Oh.

He’d been planning to steal a kiss or two at most from her before they headed back to camp, but she clearly has more than that on her mind.

Always two steps ahead of him, his girl, and he wonders if that isn’t one of the things he loves most about her.

“Frank,” she greets him, lightly admonishing. She puts the book down. “What took you so long?”

She stands as he strides over to her, a disbelieving smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

“This what I think it is?” he asks her. He palms the sides of her rib cage, walking her slowly backward until he’s pinned her to the tree.

“Mm.” She winds her arms a little slyly around him. “You know solving murder mysteries always gets me in the mood.”

“You mean like last night?” He leans down, capturing her mouth in a kiss. Her hands are already pulling at the hem of his sweatshirt, gliding up his body and tugging the fabric over his head.

“I’ve been dying here, Frank.” Karen gasps out as his mouth moves over her jawline. “I thought they’d never fall asleep.”

“I know. Fuck.” Frank snakes his hands beneath her clothes and under her bra, cupping her breasts with a small but satisfied groan. “Couldn’t take it either. Wanted you so bad.” He remembers the reason for the Liebermans’ insomnia, and the kiss he presses to Karen’s collarbone contains the definite edge of a smile.

“What?”

“Tell you later,” he murmurs, stepping back and pulling her with him. With the toe of his boot, he carefully rearranges his sweatshirt over a stretch of some soft-looking moss.

Karen breathes out a laugh, nudging a kiss to his ear as she asks him, “Exactly how much time do you think we have?”

“Enough,” he says, and lowers her onto his sweatshirt.

He kneels over her, nosing her shirt out of the way as he deposits open-mouthed kisses up her bare stomach. He pauses over her belly button, circling his tongue there. She tenses all over with a sigh of content before shrugging her top off and tossing it to the side.

He licks a trail up her body, feeling the hitch in her breath as he reaches her rib cage. When she clasps his shoulders, he goes willingly, rising and settling himself over her. Their mouths meet, lips parting instantly, deepening the kiss.

“Mm—” Karen moves her hips into his, chasing the friction between them. She’s in a thin pair of leggings, his erection pressed up against the junction of her thighs. He can feel the heat of her, even through his sweatpants, and it only fuels his arousal, has him aching to be inside her right now.

He groans a little, breaking the kiss for a moment. There’s a few breathless seconds of them fumbling with each other’s clothes, of Frank’s vision tunneling out when she reaches down and grasps him.

Christ.

He pumps himself in and out of her hand, bending over to kiss her again. Their tongues slide together, and he swallows the sound of her cry as he slips two fingers down, feeling how wet she is for him.

His mouth falls to her neck, sucking kisses to her pulse point as he replaces her hand with his. He strokes himself before rubbing the full length of his dick up against her, pressing down into her clit with each pass back and forth.

She arches against him with a throaty little sigh. He loves this kind of foreplay with her—the liquid heat of anticipation, the throbbing ache of that sweet almost just on the other side of this moment.

And fuck does he love watching her this way, too. The soft, breathy exhales, the swell of her breasts as she writhes beneath him. The way she bites her lip, and moans.

“Can you come like this?” he asks her, voice roughened with desire. He knows he won’t last long inside her, and he wants her to finish for him at least once.

“Yes.” She’s moving her hips in tandem with his, finding just the angle she likes, the right press and release to send her over the edge into orgasm. “Yes—oh, Frank—yes—mmm—”

She shudders beneath him, her eyes squeezing shut as her mouth falls open in a silent, rapturous oh.

He kisses gently up and down her throat as she descends from her high, slowly relaxing back into him. Frank’s trying to breathe through his own need for release when she threads her fingers through his hair, coaxing his mouth back to hers.

He slides into her slowly, the air between them going shallow as they take a moment to adjust. In some ways, entering her is always going to feel like it’s the very first time, new and yet so familiar. Like the act of loving this woman comes from a place that goes deeper than memory.

Their mouths move together, unhurried, as he pulls out and sinks back in. She clutches his shoulders, pulling him closer. Each thrust of his hips has his body shifting up against hers, and he savors every inch of it, the feel of skin on skin. He cradles an arm around her head, moving his other down to slide a hand up the back of her thigh.

It has him going deeper, and she clenches around him, spine arching back. Fuck. Fuck, she feels incredible, like some kind of fever dream. Her mouth is so very warm on his, their tongues entwined, their kisses splintering apart on a gasp before they’re coming back together.

For these few blissed out moments, this is all that there is. The two of them wrapped into each other, all that soft, pale skin beneath his hands, the little moans she’s letting out as he pounds and pounds into her. It’s rougher than usual, but she only pulls him closer, hooking a leg around his waist and rolling her hips up to meet his.

Heat unfurls down low in his belly, pleasure clenching up his spine. “Karen—fuck, I—” He buries his face into the crook of her neck, trying to hold off for her as long as he can.

She turns into him, mouth finding his ear. “I’m close,” she breathes. “I’m close. It’s okay. Just—ooh—”

She cranes her head back with a soft, keening sound, and he wraps his hand over the side of her neck, kissing up her jawline. He rides her through her second orgasm, and then his own pleasure builds to his breaking point, and he’s coming apart.

Karen’s arms are around him when the strongest waves have subsided, leaving behind the small, lingering shivers. He finally collapses against her, boneless and spent, simply breathing her in for long seconds.

“Fuck.” He brushes his mouth over her shoulder, nudging her bra strap back in place. “That was…” He grunts a little as she turns them onto their side, draping a leg over his waist.

“It was,” she agrees. She looks even softer in the sunlight from this angle, and Frank inches closer, threading his fingers through the golden glow of her hair. “Guess we should head back soon. Before they call an official search party on us.”

“Guess so,” says Frank. He tightens his arms around her, and she snuggles into him, neither of them making any real attempt to move. She gives him a kiss, long, and sweet, and so indescribably tender that he could put down roots into this moment, never let it go.

Finally, with a small sigh of concession, Karen shifts up onto her elbow. She reaches behind him for something, retrieving the bottle she’d brought with her.

She bends down to kiss the crease between his brows, and smiles. “Water?”

…

They walk back to the campsite hand in hand.

Sarah’s cleaning up from breakfast, a thermos of coffee and a full plate of bacon, eggs and toast set aside for them.

“David took the kids down to the lake,” she tells them without turning her head. “They wanted to wait for you, but I told them you’d see them when you got back.”

“’Course,” says Frank, feeling a little pink in the ears. “Yeah. Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you stay behind for us.”

“It was no trouble,” Sarah says breezily. Then, still with her back turned to them, she adds, inscrutable, “Better me than David, I will tell you that.”

She’s still stacking some plates, so Frank sneaks a last kiss to Karen’s temple before he releases her, making his way over to some much-needed coffee. He takes a long drag as Karen goes to help Sarah, the two of them falling into easy conversation about Leo, her writing ambitions, how absorbed she’d been around the campfire last night.

He doesn’t interrupt them, except to come over with the plate of food for Karen. Predictably, she reaches for the coffee instead. “I’ll have something in a bit,” she says, “promise,” and he gives her a look, but decides not to press the issue with Sarah standing so shrewdly nearby.

At one point, he glances up from a piece of bacon just as Sarah reaches over, and plucks part of a leaf from Karen’s hair. Sarah lets it go without so much as a comment, simply continuing on wherever they’d left off.

Later, Sarah passes by Frank as they’re getting ready to leave. “I think there are grass stains on the back of your sweater,” she mentions to him, almost conversationally, and he hesitates a moment before grabbing a hoodie to change into.

He pulls out the sandwich he’d made from their breakfast and passes it over to Karen on the walk, in exchange for the thermos of coffee. His hand instinctively finds the small of her back every time a rock or large root juts up into their path, and after Karen’s done eating she takes his hand instead, twining their fingers together.

If Sarah’s feeling smug about it, she doesn’t let it show—much.

Leo tackles them both as soon as they’ve made it to the lake. “Hey, Pete!” Then, as if she can’t hold it in any longer, she brandishes a notebook and says, “Karen, I have the best idea for a story tonight.”

“Honey,” Sarah starts, with an amused kind of warning in her tone.

“Don’t worry, Mom,” says Leo, looking confident. “This one’s not nearly as scary.”

“Tell me,” says Karen, unable to suppress a smile.

Leo starts to tug her away when she pivots back on her heel a little, and says to Frank matter-of-factly, “By the way, you probably don’t want Zach to see you two holding hands.” She looks meaningfully out onto the water, where Zach and their dad are focused enough on their lines not to have noticed them all there yet.

“Leo Lieberman,” Sarah scolds gently as Frank exchanges a bemused look with Karen.

“He’s too young to find out what heartbreak feels like,” says Leo sagely. “Sorry, Mom. I know you told him she’s already been spoken for. But as his big sister, it’s my job to look out for him.”

“Fair enough,” says Karen, giving Sarah a wink. There’s a wistful quality to her smile now, her gaze soft on his when Frank squeezes her hand. She clears her throat, and gestures down at Leo’s notebook. “Now let’s see what we’re working with here.”

…

Their tent isn’t quite big enough to fit them in lengthwise, so they’re turned slightly sideways, Frank spooning her as they drift off to sleep. He’s hard against her rear in the morning, but they both do their best to live with it, Karen pressing a chaste little kiss to the corner of his mouth as they’re getting dressed.

David’s on coffee duty, and Frank lends a hand as Karen folds herself up in a chair and reads to them the morning headlines on her phone.

It’s slow, and quiet, and so easy that Frank almost forgets they’re not home. Karen hums out a thank you when he brings her some coffee, stooping down to brush a kiss to her forehead.

“Here you go, sweetheart.”

And it’s like any other morning, except this one has David staring at them like he can’t decide what has just happened, and just how long it’s been happening for.

“Blanket?” Karen offers, trying not to look too amused, as Frank drags a chair close to hers. She tosses it over them, and he takes her hand before leaning over to steal a sip of her coffee.

“Did you know about this?” David whispers urgently to his wife when she steps out.

“Know about what, honey?” asks Sarah, kissing his cheek as he frowns at her. “Why, did you see something?”

“You mean other than the obvious?” He gestures at Frank, who’s leaning in to whisper something to Karen. In his periphery, a look of recognition is dawning on David’s face with almost comical slowness. “Shit. You’re right. It was really obvious, wasn’t it.”

Sarah pats him on the shoulder. “So, what are we doing for breakfast today?”

And just like any other morning, Frank feels everything outside of this moment fade, his world narrowing to the small, private things—the warmth of Karen’s hand in his, the glances they steal at each other, and the way she bites her lip when she’s trying not to smile.

[my-mt-heart]

TWD 10x21 “Diverged” Review

This episode has previously been described as TWD's version of Breaking Bad's "The Fly," and that's completely fair in the sense that we only see Daryl and Carol, plus Jerry and Dog, doing mundane activities throughout. But that comparison, basically intended to reduce "Diverged" to uninteresting filler, overlooks an emotional journey that quite frankly, you really have to be invested in Carol's and Daryl's relationship to appreciate. No, it doesn't move the needle too much (I never thought it would), and at times feels a little too light for my personal taste. Still, one who looks closely enough can find something good in an otherwise "nothing" episode and friends, I found a whole god damn treasure trove. Pirate reference intended.

If the end of Find Me subverted our expectations of how Daryl and Carol interact with each other, then the opening minutes of Diverged subvert that previous subversion. By that I mean the two aren’t starting in a place of anger or resentment coming off of their fight. There’s an emotional distance between them of course, emphasized by a literal stretch of space as they trek forward, doleful music playing in the background.

 However, for someone who seemed so adamant about letting his best friend slip away if she so chose, Daryl sure is quick to lend her a hand, or in this case a knife (that knife) when she can't open her canteen, as well as a ride back to Alexandria. And for someone who already declared their luck had "run out," Carol sounds very disappointed that Daryl isn't accompanying her back home. Then again, maybe it speaks to their maturity that no matter how many times Carol stubbornly refuses Daryl's help or that Daryl needs time alone, they both know they don't actually want to lose each other. Maybe being outside that damn cabin, where loss and hopelessness fester, makes that all the more clear, giving way to feelings of guilt, remorse, and longing. The problem is they can't seem to communicate any of it to each other, not with hurt tones, soft sighs, or glances at the ground. Not even a direct "let me help" from Daryl presents a strong enough opportunity to fix things, to fix them. All that registers is the pushback.

Thus, coming to a fork in the road, they're undoubtedly left thinking they could be permanently divided. Wishing each other good luck in lieu of apologies even sounds like parting words, that is, until you realize what luck actually symbolizes for them. Some say it's a replacement for the love they can't yet express in words, and maybe that's true. Regardless, in "Bonds" and "Find Me," luck is alluded to as an outside force that holds Daryl and Carol together, so it stands to reason the same can apply here. They hope that luck will come through for them in the end and ultimately help them find their way back to each other. Needless to say, that requires some time apart first. Absence makes the heart grow fonder right?

Dog unfortunately and hilariously gets caught in the middle, having to choose which parent to follow. After brief consideration, he goes with Carol, perhaps sensing she's the one who could use his comfort the most. She's the one who's feeling lost and without a place to belong, mirroring Daryl when Dog first met him by the river. Dog's simply acting out of an instinct to protect those who are hurting, but that still doesn't stop Daryl from muttering a salty "nice" as he watches the two of them disappear behind the trees.  

Daryl and Carol may be on their own, but to no surprise, they remain strongly connected on a spiritual level. Both are mission-oriented, relying on a shared coping mechanism that helps them take their minds off of each other, their fight, and their guilt. This causes a regression on some level because we see them taking up their former roles, Daryl the loner and Carol the homemaker. However, it isn't long before they have to come to terms with the fact that things are broken. For Daryl, it's the hose on his bike. For Carol, it's practically everything at Alexandria. They have to fix it all, and in doing so they'll get back to who they really are now and get back to each other. Along the way, they both run into walkers, having to prove to themselves that they are still capable fighters (could the army walkers be foreshadowing the Reapers?). Funnily, they also both resort to talking to themselves and their adversaries -- "later, asshole" -- which emphasizes their feelings of a lost connection...and possibly that they're going a little nuts because of it.  

Visual clues tell us they're definitely still thinking about each other, the most significant of them being that knife. It is a tool Carol makes use of frequently -- fixing the solar panel, chopping mushrooms, and demolishing the wall. Because Daryl gave it to her, he is by extension helping her complete all these tasks, reminding her how much she needs him. And because Daryl is missing the knife to fix his bike, he's reminded of Carol, an even more important piece of him that he’s missing. To paraphrase Angela Kang, the knife speaks to how well they work together. But where does Leah factor in, the knife having originally belonged to her? More on that later.

While Daryl and Carol both have something very dear at stake (each other), the emotional impact lands the hardest on Carol. She feels absolutely broken, and worse, has to see that feeling projected all across Alexandria. She knows she needs to fix something, as she even tells Jerry, but is struggling to figure out what she can do and where she's needed. The rag she picks up and hopes to remove the stains from is nothing but a distraction, hence why she later ends up throwing it away. Some things aren't worth the effort, and she needs to face what really matters.

She settles for making soup for everyone, perhaps thinking it could ease the tension between her and a lot of the residents. Something that seems so simple has its string of problems, the most frustrating of all being a rat that's wreaking havoc and making a big mess. It is a symbol of everything that’s going wrong and preventing life from going back to normal. It occupies so much of Carol's headspace that she's willing to knock out an entire wall to get to it, but to no avail. As anyone could've guessed though, the rat isn't really what matters either.  

 It always comes back to Daryl. His room is the first place she goes upon her return, subconsciously finding an alternate way to be close to him again. She picks up one of his books, "The Golden Age of Piracy." There's a hint of a smile on her face as she peruses the cover, apparently thinking back to when she asked Daryl to run away with her so they could be pirates. It seems as though Daryl started reading that after she planted the idea in his head, and if that's not the sweetest thing, I don't--

Anyways. As we know, Daryl has always been Carol's sounding board, but opening up about him has never been her strong suit. This is where Dog comes in. In an adorable exchange between my new favorite duo, Carol clarifies why she stopped Daryl from apologizing. She sees it as nothing more than a truce. "They don't fix anything, but belly rubs do." Though she may be kidding about that last part, it raises a good point that Daryl and Carol are going to need a lot more than words to mend their relationship. They have to take action to show how much they mean to each other, and for Carol that means trying to belong again, and try she does.

But in my absolute favorite scene in the entire episode, taking place in a dark bedroom, Carol tells her new canine companion about the dark thoughts looming over her. Unlike Daryl, who's strength she undoubtedly admires, who "always comes back," Carol lives in a constant state of fear that the "the fight has gone out of her," and that she should just run away.

It's only after Dog licks her face in an expression of love, that Carol is able to finally say out loud “I miss him too.” She wants Daryl in her life. She wants his love, and thus she will stay put. Her longing for him is further emphasized by the score that plays while she lays in bed and later leans against the broken wall, the wall that represents the state of their relationship, with his dog. It's the same score we hear in "A Certain Doom," after Daryl assures her that she still has him and they hug. Carol may not realize it fully, but sometimes you have to break something all the way down in order to rebuild it stronger than ever.

 Along with Dog, the always lovable Jerry is there to guide Carol. At first, in another sign to Carol that Daryl is always with her in spirit, Jerry echoes Daryl's encouragement that she "always makes it work," and later attempts to regurgitate sayings that Ezekiel would use. But this isn't helpful for Carol. Allowing herself to be vulnerable, though resorting to speaking in second person, she admits to being scared that she really is broken and that Daryl, whom she calls her best friend, finally knows it. This time, Jerry offers up something purely from his own heart. A much needed hug. At the same time, the rat she'd been trying to catch scurries out of the garage, showing Carol that things can get better after all. All she had to do was open the door and accept love. Isn't that what Daryl had been trying to convince her all along?

Sadness is in the air when Daryl and Carol finally meet up again if the song playing in the background is any indication (what is this song by the way? Someone tell me. I need to know). Things are still unresolved. They can both see the other covered in the hell they've been through, but once again communication fails them and they end up going to their respective rooms, lingering as if waiting for the other person to chase them. That's always the problem, isn't it?

One big move Daryl makes, however, is allowing Carol to keep Leah's knife. Though Carol is confused about what the gesture could mean, Daryl is trying to show her that he's ready to part with the piece of Leah he took when he was feeling lost. It's become a part of him that he now wants Carol to have as she works to find herself again, which hopefully still leads back to him.

The overall takeaway of this story is exactly what Norman Reedus says. Without each other, Daryl and Carol are "not as capable." We're given a lot of symbols, but it would  have been nice to see them make use of the ones already established and easily recognizable like the double capper. I find it kind of annoying that I always have to watch Talking Dead to pick up on things that end up being really important. Oh, well.

I don't expect to see much if any progression of Carol's and Daryl's story in the finale, which will put them right where you'd expect them to be with each other at the beginning of season 11 if these bonus episodes didn't exist. That's nothing to be too bummed about in my opinion. They still have a lot of healing to do, and when they finally do, it's not going to be sealed with just another hug.

[shimmershae]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let me explain.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goodnight, lovelies.  

Until next time.  

[whimsical-musingss]

Scars

Summary: Daryl shows you his scars for the first time. (Beginning of S4 before everything goes to hell). Daryl feels OOC to me, but I like how it turned out! He’s a tricky man to write. All mistakes are my own!

Warnings: typical twd gore/violence, past abuse/violence towards Daryl. Fluff. Lil heated make out session. Age gap. Not my gif.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon X F Reader

You initiated everything between you and Daryl. He always told you he ain’t scared, he ain’t a wuss. And you knew he wasn’t lying. He was just apprehensive to get close to someone else besides Merle.

He also told himself, if the apocalypse didn’t happen, you wouldn’t even look his way. That he was nothing in your eyes, a younger college girl with a fancy degree and a big family. A big group of friends, and probably a fancy, rich boyfriend.

But when your fingers tilted up his chin, all of his doubts and apprehensiveness went out the window. All he saw was you. Y/N, a survivor, no title, no labels. You were a gardener in the prison, who he met way back at the quarry. A bad ass who killed more walkers than he could count.

When he first met you, he didn’t give a rats ass about you, or anyone, in fact, except Merle. But now, with Merle dead, you were the one waiting at the front gate, hands wringing, and when he steps through into the prison, you see his broken stance and his empty eyes. So you go to him, running. Arms tight around his neck, whispering how sorry you were for what happened. Because you knew Daryl, and he knew you. There didn’t have to be words. You read each other like open books, and he knew you wanted to get closer. So did he. More than anything.

No one else cared as much as you did about anything. Especially for someone your age. You had optimism like Carl, but realism like Daryl. He thought he would hate how cheerful you could be. But now, with his face inches from yours, he didn’t care. How could he? You were different, focused, as he looked down at you.

You initiated that first kiss. Whispering, “Is this okay?” Waiting for a nod or shake of his head. He pauses, staring into your eyes, and when he slowly nods, your lips are on his own, but it’s a short kiss. You’re gone in a flash, watching him, in case you went too far.

Nothing was said, but the look on his face was enough. Your lips form into a small smile, but before you could move away completely, Daryl’s hands are on you, and your eyes snap to his, questioning.

He wants more of you, but doesn’t know how to say it. So you just sit together, close, your breathing slow, eyes focused on each other.

The next few weeks were the same. He would always make sure to say goodbye before he left for a run. When he gets back, he spots you in the garden with Hershel. Your hand raises in greeting, and his head tilts up to you in response. Sometimes, he would return with little gifts or trinkets he would find, giving them to you but avoiding your eyes. He was bashful, he never done this before, but the smile on your face when you receive said trinkets was worth it all.

You knew how fragile he is. At nights on watch, he would be apprehensive to touch you or say anything. So you would initiate conversations, making him less tense and relaxed. You would lead his hands where you wanted them: your own hand, your cheek, your hips. Daryl could only watch his hands trace your body, but soon enough, he was doing it on his own, comfortable enough to touch you. You didn’t even have to ask if he was okay with it.

As the weeks pass, he starts conversations too. Asking how the garden is doing. Asking if you’re making any friends from the people from Woodbury. You ask how his runs are, how hunting is, and he would try to give you more than a one word answer.

After a lookout shift, he froze when you asked if he wanted to go to your cell. It’s been weeks since that kiss, and he feels comfortable, but suddenly he’s back in that tower, with you looking up at him, asking if it was okay to kiss him.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” you say. “I just...wanted some company. Just to sleep.”

He couldn’t say no. He knew that by now, how he could never say no to you. Ever.

So he follows you to your cell, watching you curiously, wondering why you want to share a bed with him. You turn to look at him, as if he’d disappear. But he’s there, staring at you, and he watches your cheeks turn crimson.

You don’t share your cell with anyone else. It had the bed in the corner, with a knitted blanket on top. He recognizes it from the quarry. Candles are spread across the cell, all over your desk, where he sees all the trinkets he got for you spanning weeks before this.

The locket he found in a department store. The mini glass figurine of a flower. A random beer bottle but it’s filled with the wildflowers that he found on the side of the road.

He turns to you, confusion on his face.

“What is it?” You ask, and you close the curtain so no one can peek through the bars.

“You kept ‘em,” he says gruffly.

“Of course I kept them. I love them,” your fingers trace on the figurine.

You’re in front of him, close enough he can feel your breath on his neck. Your eyes peer up at him through your lashes, lips parted slightly and it takes everything in him not to slam his lips onto yours.

“Can you...” she whispers, almost too quiet he can’t hear. “Can you kiss me?”

He stares down at her, and she quickly says, “You don’t have to. I’m sorry, I-“ she gasps when his hands grab her hips, pulling her closer, her nose brushing his chin.

“You drive me crazy, girl,” he grumbles, but there’s a small smirk on his face before he’s kissing you, not to roughly, but hard. Your fingers tangle in his hair and he makes a small noise of approval.

Daryl is now initiating. His body is moving you so you’re sitting on the desk, moving the trinkets so you don’t sit on them. His hands are under your chin, tilting your head up to meet his lips. He’s intoxicating and wild, bending his head down to kiss your neck and you’re breathing heavily.

“Daryl...” you whisper, and that makes him go softer on your neck, kissing under your chin and the side of your neck and back up to your lips. His tongue is on your bottom lip and his hands gripping your hips so he can stand between them. Your fingers go to his shirt, unbuttoning the first button. He stops, stepping back away from your lips.

“I’m sorry,” you say quickly, standing up on shaky legs. “I got...carried away.”

He says nothing, only watches your flushed face and your swollen lips. “I really am sorry, Daryl. If...if you need to leave, you can-“ he’s shaking his head, making you stop talking. You watch his bigger hands take in your own, leading them to his shirt buttons.

“I want you ‘ta see,” he rumbles, and you look up at him, unmoving.

“Just your shirt,” you whisper. “Nothing more.”

He seems to relax more at your voice, and what comes out of his lips next surprises you the most. “Please,” he urges you, and you unbutton the second, the third, the fourth, until his shirt just hangs on his shoulders, exposing his chest to you. You look at it, transfixed, then back to his eyes.

“You sure?” You ask again, and he’s nodding, his chest heaving. “Please,” he says again, and your hands slide under the shirt on his shoulders, removing the shirt from his body. It falls to the floor, and the candlelight makes his skin look warm and like gold.

“You’re beautiful,” you whisper, and he doesn’t move as your fingers graze over his collarbone and down the center of his chest. His heart is beating like crazy, especially when you put your hand over it. “Relax,” you whisper. His breathing is still heavy, as is yours, from the kissing before. But his is also anxious.

“Why do you want to show me now?” You ask, tilting your head.

“‘Cause you ain’t gon’ run away,” he says, and when he finishes, he backs up slightly, turning around, and your eyes widen when you see the scars across his back, big, and you knew at that moment Daryl was showing you everything he had. His life. His memories. His darkest days.

You walk to him, arms wrapping around his warm torso, your lips on his back, over the scars. He’s tense, but with every kiss you bring him down. Every kiss he relaxes under your touch and lips. He’s breathing is still shaky, but it’s not as heavy.

Your hands stay at his torso, but your lips move everywhere on his back. Making sure no scar gets left untouched. You don’t get to finish, however, Daryl is turning around, still in your arms.

“No one has ever...,” he trails off.

You nod, understanding. No one has ever comforted this man, not emotionally, or physically, or any of it. There were no tender moments with him back then, you knew. His back proved that. His apprehension to get close to you proved that.

“I...I love you,” you are whispering, and you knew in your heart it was true. This man had your heart in his hand, and you knew he would never, ever, hurt you.

“I love ya,” he confirms, his voice equally soft as yours, and your lips find his again, and it’s not rough as the ones before. It’s soft, tender, as if you both will break.

“I love ya,” he murmurs, mostly to himself, confirming what he has with you is real, and he will never let you go.

[soniaxdixon]

The New World; Series, Pt 4.

okay this one is definitely longer than the others but I just kept writing. Things get a little more heated in this chapter ngl. I rushed through the first part a bit, I’m kinda assuming we’ve all seen season one so everyone gets the gist of this part.

TW, Shane is a dick in this and starts to get a little too close

Warnings: Swearing, Angst but it gets real fluffy. 

Word Count; 3175 - sorry in advance, I skimmed through reading it so if there are any grammatical errors, my bad.

Okay so this is my first time writing a fic and obviously will be my first series but I’ve just rewatched TWD for like the 17th time and my obsession with Daryl has reached new levels. I hope that it isn’t too shit and that you guys actually read/like it. Thank you in advance for baring with my average writing but I mean, how else will I learn? Anyway, enjoy!

Sonia x

pt 4 of ?? 

The events of the day that followed your night encounter with Daryl went by quickly. Between watching Andrea mourn the death of her sister while the rest of you grieved for the people you lost, you felt the day slipping away fast. Finding out about Jim being bitten broke your heart and before you knew it, you were packing your life away yet again and preparing to head to the CDC.

You crammed your camping gear in the back of Shane’s car along with your bags, walking over to your group when you heard Morales say that he and his family were not going to the CDC with you, he had to do what was best for his family and you understood that. You all said your good byes as you headed towards your cars.

“Y/N, you can ride with me if ya want.” You heard Shane say and you nodded. Your stuff was already in his car, you may as well.

“Thanks, Shane.”

Daryl shot you a look that you couldn’t quite comprehend as you jumped in the passenger side of Shane’s car. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, stepping into his pick up truck and slamming the door shut as you all began driving away, towards what you hoped was safety.

The RV came to a halt in front of the convoy, smoke and steam spilling out of the front. Jacqui interrupted everyone with news about Jim’s state. Shane said he was going to head up to what he thought looked like a gas station while rick stepped inside the RV to see Jim. He came out soon after breaking the news to you all that Jim wanted to be left here to die.

“He said he wanted to be with his family.”

Tears formed in your eyes as you thought about leaving the man who had become a dear friend.

The group decided to do what Jim had asked. Shane and Rick helped place him gently under a tree as you all stood around him and shared one final moment. You walked up to Jim and kissed him carefully on the forehead, caressing his hair one final time, forcing yourself to look into his eyes as you said good bye.

You watched as Daryl simply nodded to the man and you all made your way back to your cars, ready to continue the journey you had started.

After a while, the CDC finally came into view, you all slowly got out of your vehicles, hands on weapons as you hastily made your way to the entrance. Walkers were strewed across the ground, the smell of decaying bodies filling the air making you gag repeatedly. Shane and Rick began bashing on the front of the CDC roller door as walkers started approaching.

You began pacing, looking for ways to get in to the building when you looked up at the camera as it moved.

“The camera, it moved.” You heard Rick say

Dale was quick to respond “You imagined it.”

You backed Rick up “No, I saw it move too. It moved.”

Walkers started approaching quickly, threatening the groups safety. While Shane attempted to convince Rick to leave the CDC you started bashing on the door, yelling at the camera.

“I know you’re in there, let us in!”

Rick joined in, bashing on the roller, “I know you can hear me, please, we’re desperate.”

More walkers began pacing towards you while there was still no answer.

Shane started dragging Rick away while he was yelling.

“You’re killing us, you’re killing us!”

And then the light shone upon you. The doors opened emitting the brightest light you have ever seen. You all froze.

You followed Rick’s lead and stepped in cautiously, guns raised. A man rounded the corner, gun aimed at you all.

“Anybody infected?”

“One of our group was, he didn’t make it.”

“Why are you here, what do you want?”

“A chance.”

The only thing the man asked of you was to submit to a blood test which made you feel sick. Walkers, they were scary but you could handle them. Needles, now that’s where you drew the line. Rick looked at you when he remembered your fear. You locked eyes with him and then you looked around, it was the first time that you had walls surrounding you in a long time and if a needle was what would allow you to have that safety again, you would do it. You looked back at Rick and nodded.

“We can do that.”

“You got stuff to bring in you do it now, once that door closes it stays closed.”

You grabbed your bags from the cars and ran back inside, allowing yourself to finally take a breath. You heard the man say his name was Dr Jenner as you followed him into the main room. Rick asked the question that you were all thinking. Where were the other doctors? Jenner replied saying that he was the only one left.

Your leg started bouncing up and down while you sat and waited for your turn to have your blood test. You felt a wave of nausea over come you, your head became heavier and you felt like you were about to pass out. Jenner called you up and your knees became weak, you braced for your fall but Shane caught you.

“Woah there, don’t go fallin’ for me.”

You chuckled, “Ain’t gonna be that easy, thanks for catching me.”

“Ya still scared of needles?” He asked while linking his arm around your back and leading you towards Jenner.

“Never got over the fear, still scares the shit out of me.”

He gently placed you on the chair and asked Jenner if he had a smaller needle or something to help you calm down. You looked up at him in surprise at how kind he was being right now.

Jenner reached for the butterfly needles and proceeded to set it up, as he grabbed your arm, you subconsciously reached for Shane’s hand and squeezed it slightly, looking into his eyes as Jenner pushed the needle into your arm.

“Thanks, Shane.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Daryl was forced to sit there and watch the entire interaction between you and Shane, seething at every word that came out of Shane’s mouth. His heart tightening when you were returning the affection towards him and when you grabbed Shane’s hand his heart broke. That should have been him comforting you but no one knew about the night the two of you had, no one knew about the feelings you shared and now he wasn’t sure if you were even telling the truth.

Jenner led you all to the dining area, food graced the table and Jenner even brought out a few bottles of wine and other alcohols. You all laughed like never before. Telling each other stories, relaxing more and more as the alcohol set in. You were on your third glass of wine, glancing occasionally at Daryl who was drinking straight from the bottle. You wondered why he hadn’t spoken to you since last night and why he looked so angry every time your eyes crossed paths.

Shane brought everyones mood down instantly when he began questioning the doctor about where all the other staff had gone. You just sat and listened while Jenner explained everything, including the way that some of the doctors ‘opted out.’

Jenner began taking you through the halls as he explained that most of the rooms had couches but there were some beds available, all though some people may have to share rooms. There was also a rec room down the hall filled with books which made you extremely happy.

“If you shower, go easy on the hot water.”

Those words were like music to your ears, shower, hot water. Things you always took for granted in the previous world.

You walked past a few of the rooms that were already taken, Glenn and T-dogg sharing one, Lori, Carl and Rick in another when suddenly Shane stopped you.

“You can share a room with me if you’d like.” You looked up as Daryl walked past and saw the sudden look of hurt flash across his eyes.

“That’s okay Shane, thanks for the offer.”

You chased quickly after Daryl after he had turned into a room that had a double bed, he threw his bag on top and then threw himself next to it. You knocked on the door quietly and he shot up.

“The hell do ya want?”

The sudden burst of anger had your chest aching.

“Excuse me?”

“Ya heard me, what the hell are ya doin’ in here?”

“I was coming to ask if you wanted to share a room, you know, after last night and all.”

He scoffed at you “Last night was a mistake.”

And there it was, you felt yourself grow angry at his words but you knew this was what he did, he pushed people away to make himself feel less attached.

“What did you just say?”

He stood up from the bed now, stomping over to you, his face inches away from yours. “I said, last night was a fuckin’ mistake.”

“Thats bullshit Daryl Dixon and you know it.”

“I meant what I said.”

“Fuck you.” It came out as barely a whisper but it was enough for him to hear it, tears started uncontrollably streaming down your face as you wiped them away quickly but they fell too fast for your sleeves to stop them.

Daryl looked at you crying and felt his heart break even more. To think that he was the reason for your crying broke him. “M’ sorry.”

“No, fuck you, you don’t get to apologise just like that. You don’t get to say that last night was a mistake when you know it wasn’t. You told me how you felt, you expect me to think that just went away over night.”

He went to reach for your arm but you smacked his hand away. “Are you kidding me, don’t try and touch me, don’t try and comfort me, just tell me why you’re fucking acting like this.”

“Ya should be with Shane, not me.” He couldn’t stop himself from blurting it out.

“What?”

“Ya deserve someone better, like Shane. He’d treat ya better than I ever could.”

“What in the world makes you think that?”

“I saw the way he was helpin’ ya before, I didn’t even know ya were scared of needles.”

“Daryl, I don’t like Shane, I like you.”

“Naw, ya just sayin’ that, just like ya said all that shit last night, ya didn’t mean it.” You could see the pain in his eyes when he forced himself to speak his worries.

“I meant every word and I’ll say it again. I like you Daryl, I’ve liked you since the day I met you. Seeing you walk into our camp with your brother, I knew you would be a pain in my ass and I was right but God, I wouldn’t change that for the world. I know you like me too, I know you’re scared to admit how much you like me, but I know you do.”

He just stared at you, his eyes flicking between your eyes and your lips until slowly he reached up and pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear. “Ya know I’m not good with words but can I, uh…”

“Yes.”

With your permission he leant down and kissed your lips, so gently that you could hardly feel him, your hands reached behind his head, entangling in his hair and pulling him in closer, deepening the kiss.

After a short while of staying in that moment you pulled away from him to look in his eyes, your hands staying in his hair.

“Do you believe me now?”

He just nodded and leaned his forehead against yours.

“Will ya stay with me tonight? I’ll take the couch. Ya can have the bed.”

You chuckled slightly pressing another gentle kiss to his lips before completely stepping back. He watched in confusion as you walked away into the hall, leaving him standing there alone, only to return with your bag in your hand, putting it down on the couch. His eyes grew brighter when he understood that you were staying.

“We can both stay in the bed but God I need a shower…And so do you.”

“Nah, ya heard what Jenner said, there ain’t much hot water, ya go and have a shower, I’ll wait here.”

“Daryl Dixon, I am not sleeping in a bed with you if you’re dirty, you’re just gonna have to shower with me.”

His heart raced at your words, his cheeks flushing red and then he remembered his scars and you saw the panic set into his face.

“You can face me the whole time, I promise I won’t make you do anything you’re not comfortable with.” You walked closer to him, grabbing his hands and slowly pulling him towards the bathroom. He allowed you to lead him.

You turned the water on and let out a small squeal of joy when you felt the hot water hit your hand, this earned a small smile from Daryl. You slowly removed your shirt, then your pants as you watched Daryl struggle to figure out where he should be looking. You laughed softly at the awkwardness of this man which drew his eyes back to you, the tips of his ears turning red. He began chewing his thumb as you pulled off the rest of your clothes and stepped into the shower, relishing in the hot water, something you didn’t realise you had been craving for so long.

“Whenever you’re ready, only if you’re comfortable.”

You heard him undo his belt and a minute later he was stepping into the shower with you. You pulled him carefully under the water and watched as the dirt began to discolour the floor beneath you. You placed your hands gently on the sides of his face, pulling him into a slow kiss, breaking away moments later. You reached for the shampoo behind you and put some in your hands as you reached up to his dirty hair and began to wash the dirt away, watching as Daryl’s face softened and his eyes closed at the feeling.

“Hold your head up while I rinse, I don’t want to get it in your eyes.”

He tilted his head up and let the water wash the soap out of his hair, you couldn’t help but smile at how relaxed he was in this moment, because of you. No one had ever cared for him this much.

He slowly put his head back down, looking at you before he placed his hands on your waist and pulled you into him, burying his head in the crook of your neck, letting the water wash over the both of you. Your hands found his hair as you played with his wet locks until you were both ready to get out.

You got out first so you could pass him a towel to cover his back. He took it from you nodding as you dried yourself off and began to dress in some clean pyjamas. He pulled on some loose pants and one of his tanks before making his way into the room that you were both sharing. He laid down on one side of the bed, covering his eyes with his arm.

“I’m gonna go and check out the book collection, I’ll be back.”

“M’kay.”

You felt like you were on cloud nine as you made your way just down the hall into the rec room, Carl and Lori had just walked out as you walked in, you ruffled Carl’s head on his way out and he gave you a cheeky look.

As you shuffled through the books you heard a door shut and you jumped slightly at the sound. “Jesus Christ Shane, you scared the shit out of me.”

“Ya with the redneck now? That how it is?”

Your eyes snapped to him quickly as you heard his words, you could hear they were slurring slightly from the amount of drinks he’d had.

“He has a name, ya dick.”

Shane began pacing towards you, forcing you to put your hands against him when he slammed his body against yours, pushing you both into a wall.

“Ya know he ain’t gonna treat you right, girl. Ya know I can.”

“Shane, get off me, now.”

“Ya know I’ll protect ya better than he ever can.”

“Shane I’m warning you, get off of me.”

“What are you gonna do girl.” He dropped the bottle that was in his hands to pin your arms above your head, holding you in place against the wall as his lips found your neck.

“Shane please, stop, please.”

“Beg for me, I like it when ya beg.”

You twisted beneath him trying to get out of his grip but it was no use, he had you pinned and you couldn’t move.

“DARYL!” You yelled as loud as you could.

“Shut up, god damn it.” Shane slammed you into the wall again, winding you. You couldn’t find your voice to yell again so you prayed that Daryl had heard you.

Within moments, Daryl came barreling into the room ripping Shane off you and throwing him to the floor.

“Ah shit” was all you head Shane muster before he copped punch after punch, Daryl’s weight completely holding him down. You reached for Daryl’s hand as he was about to swing yet again.

“Daryl stop, please.”

He looked at you, you had never seen him this angry but when his eyes found yours, the anger melted away.

He stood up, climbing off of Shane, looking down at him again.

“Ya ever touch her again, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Daryl grabbed your hand and quickly led you back to the room where he checked you over for any injuries, lightly tracing his fingers over your neck sending shivers down your spine. You wrapped your arms around his middle and he felt your tears start to soak his shirt. He caressed your hair as you stood there for a good five minutes until you finally let go of him and looked up.

“I didn’t think you heard when I yelled. I thought he was gonna…”

“Stop. I’ll always protect ya, ya hear me. Always.”

You felt the effects of the long day start to take a toll on you as you led Daryl towards the bed, pulling the covers back you climbed in on one side and Daryl climbed in on the other. Something about being with him made you feel calm, made you feel like everything was going to be okay. You turned over on your side, your back facing Daryl as you felt his arm snake around your waist, pulling you into him. You fell asleep within minutes of being in his arms. It was the best sleep you both had in a long time.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

TWD 10x17: Home Sweet Home - First Thoughts

All right, I can finally post my analysis. Actually, there will be several. So there’s a LOT to go over for this episode. As I usually do for episodes, I’ll just talk about broad themes I’m seeing today, and then I’ll do a details post tomorrow.

***As always, spoilers for 10x17 abound below. Don’t read until you’ve watched. You’ve been warned!***

It was all fabulous! It was a really great episode even independent of the TD stuff. Raises lots of questions about these new villains that has me super intrigued.

But let’s talk about the important stuff first!

So, there were the four mentions I talked about based on spoilers, and I was pleasantly surprised to find another that kind of trumped them all.

The two by-name mentions came in Daryl and Maggie’s conversation. I have no idea why the screener said Beth wasn’t mentioned by name. She totally was. Twice. Maggie first calls her “Bethie.” It’s when she says, “After Bethie died, Glenn and I talked about going there [to the ocean].” Then a minute later she talks about telling Hershel stories about his family. She says “Beth and Shaun and his granddaddy.” So yeah, two times.

Then there are mentions that we picked up from the spoilers, when Daryl says people are just gone and when Maggie and Kelly talk about their sisters. In the Maggie/Kelly convo, there’s not a huge smoking gun or anything. The thing that stood out to me was Kelly saying, “you had a sister too, right?” I feel like that’s a very blatant example of the writers reminding us of Beth. That Maggie once had a sister. But beyond that, they didn’t talk about Beth specifically.

The other one I noticed that trumped them all was during Maggie and Daryl’s convo about Connie. Maggie asks if Kelly’s sister is still out there and he says his “some people are just gone” line. (Which is obviously an exact callback to him saying this same line about Beth in 4x16).

And then Maggie says something that can really only be about Beth. She says, “even if you find them, you don’t always get them back.” Which is a reference to finding someone but they “die” anyway. And originally, I was thinking that this could point to more than one person. Glenn, Merle for Daryl, and the main reason to connect it to Beth is that they’re talking about Connie’s sister. 

But the more I think about it, it can really ONLY apply to Beth. Because while plenty of people have died, they were never really missing, either. Merle left, and Daryl went to find him, but just before his death, he wasn’t missing or separated from Daryl for a long period of time. Same with Glenn and everyone else they’ve lost. Maggie wasn’t with Glenn before he died, but she didn’t think he was missing, either. She didn’t even know he’d been captured until she saw him in the clearing. The ONLY person who was missing, found, and then lost again, was Beth.

So, we literally have Daryl and Maggie talk about Beth the night before, and then again the next morning with this convo. And then Maggie and Kelly reference her near the end. So great!

But that’s not by far all the great stuff in this episode. Lydia doing the voice-over recap at the beginning was super interesting. Most of it is just recapping the Whisper War, Alpha and Beta’s deaths, etc. But then at the end, she says, “But we were on the verge of something else. A bigger world.” And as it says that, it shows first Michonne on the boat, heading to look for Rick, followed by Eugene’s group being captured. So, both those storylines, in other words, are leading to this “bigger world.” We might have figured that with Rick, given the CRM and all that. But it kinda proves Eugene’s group is about to stumble onto some part of it, too. So bigger world for Michonne is Rick/CRM. Bigger world for Eugene’s group is Beth? Here’s hoping.

There were some minor changes to the opening credits, as we might expect. There is a burning ship in the background at once point. And at the end, when we see the walkers that have Whisperer masks on, there are a lot more walkers around them. Not all Whisperers or anything, but just a much bigger group of walkers. But I noticed the one that is a Whisperer was still there, which is interesting. And given that the Whisperers left a hole in the Alexandria wall when they left, we might have to deal with some stragglers at some point. Everything suggests they aren’t completely gone, even if the war is over.

Lots of great dialogue, most of which we’ve already mentioned from spoilers, but I’ll go over that more in my details post tomorrow.

So, obviously my TD brain was working overtime and I noticed a lot of sequential callbacks to earlier seasons. For one thing,  when Maggie and Daryl’s group is walking through the woods, it started showing them each walking in slow motion as they traveled. 

Remember in S5, when we got the slow motion walking from each member of TF throughout the episode? I think it was in 5x02. It reminded me of that. Like they might be calling back to that. So once again, it would just make sense if they’re doing this at the beginning and Beth shows up at the end.

There was a green preying mantis that was an obviously-placed symbol. I had to look that one up. Yes, we saw a preying mantis in Still. Or was it Inmates? It was around Beth either way. And check out this post on praying mantis symbolism. 

They actually use the term “stillness.” And of course it’s bright green. Yeah, I’d call that a purposeful symbol.

The cargo containers they stayed in overnight were very reminiscent of Terminus. Oh, but this is interesting. I’m seriously probably the only person in the fandom who would even notice this. There’s a sequence where a bunch of walkers are trying to come out of the container, but there’s tons of them and it would be bad for them to break out. 

So Maggie tries to hold the door shut. Daryl runs up to help her but here’s too many in there for just the two of them to overpower them. Finally, Elijah comes to help and there’s a super-gnarly moment where one of the walkers is pushing its head through the door and they squish it. But the point is they work together and actually do get the door shut and lock the walkers inside, so they aren’t overwhelmed.

Two things I think this calls back to. The first, perhaps most obvious one is 5x10, Them, when the entire group held the barn doors shut against the walkers. And once again, the music box woke up RIGHT after that. So it could be a harbinger of Beth.

The second thing it reminded me of was in 4b with the school bus. Remember Sasha and Bob tried to hold the back door to the bus closed but couldn’t and all the walkers got out? There’s a blond walker that falls at Maggie’s feet in that sequence and Maggie stabs her in the forehead. I always thought it was a Beth foreshadow. This almost feels like the opposite of that. In this case, they were able to get the door shut and didn’t have to kill all the walkers. So, if that sequence foreshadowed Grady, maybe this foreshadows the opposite? Things going better this time around? Just a thought.

Oh, Maggie hurts her forearm, though. I won’t say much about this except that we’ve seen other characters with this same injury and I’m sure it’s significant. I just haven’t entirely figured out what it means, yet. It’s not exactly the same as Beth’s because it’s on the wrong arm. But just keep it in mind. I’ll probably mention it again in the future.

When talking to Daryl, what she says about Georgie is interesting. I think we got most of it via spoilers and the Q&A. But she says Georgie went out west. I can’t help but wonder if she’ll be part of the New Mexico symbolism.

One thing the spoilers really didn’t do justice to is how upset Maggie is about what happened to the community she and Hershel were living in before. She’s REALLY upset about it and you can tell she’s barely holding it together. Daryl asks her what happened, but she says she can’t talk about it, yet. She told him the other stuff about Georgie, and says it’s nice to voice some of it, but she can’t voice all of it just yet. So whatever happened must have been pretty bad, because she’s really messed up about it.

I got the same vibe from Elijah. When he takes off his mask and him and Kelly bond, it’s because the Reaper sniper is hunting them. And it’s obvious that he’s terrified of these people (the Reapers). And that’s surprising because this is gray ninja guy who throws knives and had no trouble killing walkers and Whisperers, but he’s super afraid of the Reapers. We also know he lost his sister to them, so it may have a lot to do with that.

But still, I definitely want to know more about these Reapers. The sniper really is pretty creepy.

We see a lot of sunlight filtering through the trees. We had a small dark tunnel moment. Looking for Connie, Kelly is looking into the back of a truck and we see her from the inside, like someone looking out from the inside. Nothing really comes of it. She doesn’t find anything or crawl into it or anything. She’s just looking in as if to see if Connie is in there, but she isn’t.

In this same scene, she opens the cab of the trunk and looks into the front seat, which is empty. And then she sees a coat on top of the truck. That’s when Maggie and Daryl find her, and Elijah jumps up on top and throws some stuff down. The only other interesting thing is a little notebook (the one mentioned in the Q&A, I think). It’s not really a journal and there’s not much color to it. They don’t show us what’s actually in the notebook, but it’s obviously not Connie’s. I’m assuming it’s blank.

But think about all the callbacks there. This truck looks a lot like the one Bob slept on in 4x13, which was obviously a Beth parallel. We have an empty front seat. Now, we’ve mostly seen representations of a walker being in the front seat, right? And this is the opposite of that. So, much like Maggie managing to hold the door shut against walkers, I feel like they’re purposely showing us the opposite of what we’ve seen before, which just tells me Beth is about to appear.

There’s the notebook, which calls back to Connie, Beth, and the wolf trap in 5x16. The coat they threw down wasn’t a huge thing, but it looked vaguely blue. But the fact that it was on top of the truck (which was white) shows that someone slept up there. Also, when Judith and Maggie talked about looking at the stars, they specifically talked about going up on the roof to do it.

Oh, another interesting line that I’m wondering about. It’s back when Daryl and Maggie are talking about Connie. Maggie says the thing about how even when you find them you sometimes don’t get them back. Daryl says maybe it’s better that she doesn’t know that yet. (He means Kelly. Maybe it’s better if Kelly doesn’t realize that’s often the case.) And Maggie says no, Kelly should know. She says her daddy always said a wound couldn’t heal until air hits it. And Daryl says, “You know that’s not true, right? Medicine-wise?” And Maggie just kind of laughs and said her dad made it sound like it was.

So, I’m not sure what to make of that, but it’s obviously a purposeful line. And a medical reference.

Okay, so when Maggie gets back to her group, they’ve been attacked and scattered and two of them are dead, burnt to death in the fire. We had lots of X shapes in the burnt beams of the shack where they were staying. 

The two burnt bodies reminded me of the burnt walkers in 6x06. And as the episode went on, it occurred to me it was kind of a replay of the prison. This place burnt down and her entire group scattered. They were all out looking for each other in the woods. Also, the reason they knew it was burning is that when they got close, they could see smoke rising into the sky. It looked EXACTLY like the smoke from the moonshine shack in S4.

They eventually face off with the sniper guy. At one point, we see his one eye staring at them from where he’s hiding. Creepy, but also maybe a Sirius thing?

Maggie steps in a rope trap (one of those things that pulls you upward by one foot. The guy almost kills her while she’s trying to get lose. Daryl shoots him with his crossbow but drops it after that and goes after him with a knife. (This is why Kelly gets the crossbow. We don’t really see him drop it but I assume he did because the guy was really close to killing Maggie and he knew he didn’t have time to reload.) This guy is huge and throws Daryl against the tree like a rag doll.

Then we get this really interesting thing where we see the camera looking up at the sniper from Daryl’s point of view. We even seem the camera sort of “blink” which is supposed to be his eyes. And it’s interesting because 1) the guy is taking off his disguise. Yeah, this sniper kinda looks like a swamp thing when we see him. He’s covered in camouflage and that brown netting special ops guys wear to blend in with their surroundings. But at this point, he takes it off. I felt like it was him taking off his mask, as it were. 2) It’s blurry and in slow motion. That’s because Daryl is hurt from being thrown against the tree, but it just struck me as a foreshadow of something. We’ve always said that when he first sees Beth he’ll probably think he’s hallucinating. I have no idea if that’s what this is about, but it really jumped out at me as an intentional thing.

And about the Kelly/bow thing, it’s nothing. People were really freaking out about the picture of her with Daryl’s bow, but it was seriously small potatoes. Daryl recovers and Maggie gets free and they both attack the sniper at the same time, but then the rest of Maggie’s group shows up with Kelly. One of them shoots the sniper with an arrow before Maggie or Daryl can, and Kelly shows up holding the crossbow. I think she just picked it up from where he dropped it, but she doesn’t even shoot it or anything.

So then Maggie asks the sniper who he is and why his group bulldozed their community. He won’t answer her and then pulls out the grenade.

And this is another thing that’s really interesting. I almost want to connect this group to the Wolves. Not literally but symbolically. Because from what they said, this group didn’t just attack them to take their supplies or because they were bad guys who wanted to take over their community. After their community went down, they’re actually hunting them. Trying to pick them all off. Why? That’s weird. And the Wolves are the only other group I can think of that actually hunted people just to kill them.

The sniper does say, “Pope marked you.” I don’t know if that’s a name or a title, but it has religious implications. So, someone has marked Maggie’s group for death, but we have no idea why, and neither does she. See why I say this was a great episode even aside from TD stuff? It’s just very intriguing and raises lots of questions moving forward.

Then there’s little Hershel. Not only does he look like Glenn, but he’s practically wearing Glenn’s S1 outfit. Complete with blue and white shirt and baseball cap. So. Stinking. Cute.

Not tons to add about Maggie and Kelly’s convo aside from what was in the spoilers. But I will say that there’s a huge “coming home” theme in this episode. Maggie says she almost came home after Knoxville. Daryl asks her to come home. At the end, he asks if this means she’s coming home. (She says yes.) They just say it like half a dozen times through out the episode.

So, let me just mention my biggest takeaway from this episode. Hershel Jr. is a type of Beth or Beth proxy. It took me watching a couple of times to put this together, but here’s the short version. The building Maggie’s people were in that burnt down is a lot like the prison going down. Her group scatters into the woods into several small groups, much like TF did after the prison. And little Hershel goes missing. Now, Maggie doesn’t really think he’s dead or anything, but she just doesn’t know where he is or if he’s okay. Then, at the end, she finds him. It’s kind of a return, you know?

And once I realized that, I started seeing all kinds of parallels and callbacks. For one thing, when Daryl was tracking him, he recognized Hershel’s tracks because they were kid tracks, rather than adult. That’s a parallel to Beth and Daryl tracking Lizzie and Mica’s kid tracks in Inmates.

Maggie had a “we don’t know that” line, which is exact Beth dialogue. For Maggie, it was about whether or not any of their people were still alive in the wake of the attack. Beth said it about whether anyone from the prison survived in the wake of the Governor’s attack. And there are tons of those. But I’ll go over more of them tomorrow.

And finally, they find Hershel sitting in the tree. Tree/trunk is a Beth symbol, as @frangipanilove has show us. But the tree is also in the shape of a giant cross. So this isn’t just a return. It’s a Christ, resurrection symbol. See why it parallels to Beth?

So yeah, I’ll go over more template details tomorrow and later in the week. But there was SO much good stuff in this episode!

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 5,229 Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: Alexandria Warnings: Language, typical TWD stuff A/N: This is Part 7 of a series! Find the previous parts on the Masterlist! Summary: Daryl continues to worry about Y/N and wonder about her past, but they continue to bond inside the safe walls of Alexandria.

Your name: submit What is this?

From that day forward, you and Daryl were almost inseparable. The growing closeness between you was obvious and spending your time together was like a subconscious habit you couldn’t break.

When he wasn’t around you, Daryl felt like something was just missing and it seemed you always ended up together, even if it was just to do nothing.

Not too long after your last bad run-in outside the walls, Deanna insisted on having a town get-together as a morale booster. There would be food and a bonfire and supposed comradery. You were lying on your couch when there was a knock on the front door earlier in the day. You winced from the continued soreness in your ribs as you climbed to your feet and when you rounded the corner into the hall you could see Aaron on the front stoop.

You immediately gave him a look when you pulled open the front door.

“Y/N,” he said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

You nudged your head as a way to say “come in” and Aaron stepped inside. You walked back up the hallway and stood in the kitchen, waiting for him to follow. “I know that isn’t why you came by,” you said.

“It is too!” he argued. “Well… it’s at least one of the reasons…”

“Uh huh.”

“Tonight—”

“No,” you interrupted.

“But just—”

“Aaron, you know I hate this pretend bullshit…”

He sighed heavily. “It’s not pretend. It’s real. This place is real.”

“And so is what’s out there!” you argued back. “Daryl and I just almost died. That just happened! Am I supposed to forget about my busted ribs or this,” you asked, gesturing to the bruising on your neck, which thankfully was starting to fade at last.

Aaron’s face softened and turned apologetic. “No. Of course not. But if we stop trying, if all we do is think about what’s out there… what’s the point of living?”

Goddammit. He had a damn point. You sighed heavily and closed your eyes for a moment. You shook your head. “I hate you,” you said sarcastically.

He smiled. “Love you too. Starts at 7. I’ll wait for you to show up, and if you don’t, I’m going to come get you, okay?” He started to head toward the front door but turned around halfway. “Oh—and hey, maybe think about bringing Daryl with you?”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “…what’s that mean?” you asked suspiciously.

“What? Nothing! Just—you two are kind of alike in some ways. You know he won’t go unless someone drags him,” Aaron said.

“Uh huh…”

Aaron only grinned back at you. “I’ll see you tonight,” he said. You heard him open the front door and returned his shouted goodbye.

“Fuck,” you said aloud. You needed a shower and something to wear that would hopefully cover up worst of the bruising on your neck… At least you could count on dim lighting conditions since it was a bonfire.

That evening, Daryl was sitting on the steps of the house hoping, waiting to see if you would step outside. Finally, he saw you coming out onto the porch, shutting the door behind you. You were wearing a long sleeve thermal, with the sleeves partially pushed up to accommodate your wrist brace and the still balmy evening air. You had a light scarf looped around your neck, and Daryl knew that was purposeful. He got up as you came down the stairs and strode toward you.

You saw the archer and couldn’t help but smile at him as he approached. He had that stride, leading more strongly with one shoulder and foot than the other.

“Hey.” There was something about his deep voice that instantly put you at ease and you paused in the middle of the street.

“Hey,” you returned. You noticed again that his hair was shiny and looked soft, clean. He’d obviously cleaned up. “You going to this thing?” you asked.

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and shrugged. “I dunno. Was thinkin’ about it. You’re goin’?” he asked.

You nodded. “Gonna try. I guess,” you said with a laugh. “Aaron talked me into it…”

“Yeah, uhh—yeah, he came by here earlier, too.” Daryl rocked on his feet a little bit. He wished he was better with words because he really wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful, even just in your jeans and thermal, bruises and broken wrist and all. “Well, if you’re headin’ there I’ll walk with ya.”

You nodded and Daryl fell into stride beside you. As you approached the center of Alexandria, you could already hear loud laughter and conversation and there was a warm glow from lanterns and the bonfire. Kids were running around playing the kinds of games you did when the world was free—Ghost in the Graveyard and Hide and Seek. You shook your head as you took in the scene, your feet faltering a bit. “Surreal, isn’t it?” you said vaguely. Daryl couldn’t help glancing at your expression. Far from looking content or like you were enjoying the domestic scene, your brow was furrowed and there was a faraway look in your eyes.

“Mhm,” he acknowledged. “C’mon. Let’s get a drink at least.”

You followed him through the crowd, feeling somewhat more at ease, more okay with him beside you. Daryl handed you a cold beer and grabbed one for himself, nudging his head over toward the reservoir just outside the circle of firelight and bubble of conversation. As you left the refreshment area you snagged a bottle of whiskey too. You collapsed down onto a wooden bench with a sigh and stared toward the water. You took a long drink from your beer and drummed your fingernails against the glass. Daryl was standing nearby, his blue eyes narrowed as he stared out over the water.

“Hey,” you said, drawing his attention. “Come on and sit by me at least. Then they can’t accuse us of being totally anti-social.”

He let out a small snort in place of a laugh and rolled his eyes. His stomach fluttered a little as he complied and took the other seat next to you on the wooden loveseat, spinning his beer anxiously in his hands. The bench was small; your shoulders were almost touching.

“Look what else I got,” you said, reaching down and lifting up the bottle of whiskey. Instead of the reaction you expected, Daryl just gave you a calm but perceptive glance.

“Ya plannin’ on gettin’ drunk?” he asked sharply.

You stared down at the bottle in your hand and your eyes fell again on the brace on your wrist. “Maybe,” you said quietly, not even really sure you had said it aloud.

Daryl’s brow furrowed more deeply. “Why?” he drawled.

You shrugged. “Does there have to be a reason?”

He licked his lips and leaned back in his seat. “Usually is one, whether or not there needs to be.”

He was annoyingly observant. You’d known him a matter of weeks and he always seemed to see right through you. But you simply uncorked the bottle and took a pull. It burned your lips and left a warm trail all the way down into your stomach. You chased it with another sip of your beer and tried to distract yourself by just staring out at the water again, looking at the glowing orbs of porchlights in the distance reflecting there. Every so often you could feel Daryl’s eyes on you.

“What?” you said, finally turning to face him. You were only a few inches apart. You thought you saw his cheeks grow a bit pink for a moment, but in the dim light you couldn’t be sure.

“Nothin’,” he said, turning away and gazing out across the water the way you had been just a moment earlier.

You sat together in silence for quite a while and although it felt tense at first, both of you relaxed into it. You alternately sipped from your beer and took pulls off the whiskey, a dangerous pattern because you weren’t paying any attention to how much you were drinking and you were a lightweight even before alcohol was a rare commodity.

But the longer you sat, the more you felt like there was a bubble in your chest, growing bigger and bigger and waiting to burst. Finally, you couldn’t hold out in the strenuous anticipation any longer and spoke what was on your mind. “You ever wonder how this place is going to fall?”

Your words were quiet and definitely a bit slurred. Daryl’s eyes snapped over to yours which were already on his face, surprising him as they flickered back and forth between his, holding his gaze steadily. He gulped and nodded. “Yeah,” he admitted.

“Or when…” you added.

“Yeah…” he agreed again. “I do.”

You sighed and turned back to look at the water. “I think about it all the time,” you said softly, and Daryl thought he heard your voice break. You stood up abruptly and whipped your empty beer bottle into the water, watching the ripples expanding across the small pond. You wavered a little on your feet and Daryl jumped up, hands extended in case you needed to be steadied.

“I think ya better slow down on that booze,” he growled.

You simply gave him a defiant look and took another pull from the bottle. You held it out to him but he only stared you down.

“Nah. If you’re gonna be stupid, then I’m gonna be sober. And I’m gonna get ya some water,” he said, turning to leave. His momentum stopped when he felt your hand gentle on his arm. He looked back at you in shock and couldn’t help the kneejerk way his body stiffened. But it was only from surprise. A split second later his stomach flipped at the feeling of your hand there and he wished you would never take it off. But you had obviously perceived his tension and you withdrew it quickly.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, sinking back down onto the bench, wanting to kick yourself for grabbing onto him.

The archer was left puzzled and chewed his bottom lip as he considered you a moment. “I’ll be right back.”

You were alone on the bench, waiting for Daryl to return, your head more than a little hazy from the whiskey, when footsteps approached. You knew they weren’t Daryl’s. They didn’t have his cadence and his footsteps were almost silent, even when he wasn’t hunting or tracking. You turned to see Spencer and internally groaned.

“Isn’t right that you’re over here all alone,” he said, walking around and sitting in the seat that was Daryl’s without any invitation.

“I wasn’t,” you snapped, leaning away from him.

“Look pretty alone to me,” he said, downing what was left in his drink glass and actually taking the bottle of whiskey from you to refill it with a healthy share.

“Yeah, well, that seat—the one you’re in—it’s reserved. Already taken,” you said, snatching the bottle back.

He scoffed. “What? By that redneck? Seriously?”

You shot a sharp glare at Spencer, but knew the sting was likely diminished by the glazed look in your eyes on account of the booze. “You know his name. It’s Daryl Dixon. Not ‘that redneck’.”

“Whatever,” Spencer laughed. “Guy’s a nobody. Who cares?”

“I care. Now get the fuck out of his seat,” you growled.

Spencer only smiled back at you. “I think you’re just afraid that if you let me sit here, something might actually happen between us… Come on. You know there’s something here—as much as you fight it. Some spark.”

You stood up abruptly and stepped away from him, scoffing. “What the hell is wrong with you? I feel like I’ve been perfectly clear with you over and over again. Did you forget that I punched you out?” He seemed impervious to your refusal and only stood up too and stepped closer to you.

“Come on, Y/N. You know you want this,” he said, reaching a hand out and trailing his fingers down your arm.

You shrugged him off. “Don’t. touch me. I won’t tell you again.”

He soured somewhat immediately. “What is your problem? Is it seriously something to do with that hick you’re always hanging around? You have something going on with Daryl?” he said, mockingly. “Seriously? What a fucking joke. He’s a mess. Just some—dumb redneck. You deserve way better than him. You deserve someone with their shit together, someone who will string together more than two words at a time. Someone like me.”

You physically recoiled from him again. “You’re a fucking joke. Everything you’ve ever had in life has been handed to you and you’ve turned out to be a spineless, spoiled dick. You have no idea what’s out there and you wouldn’t last a day. You’d be lucky to ever be even a quarter of the man Daryl is.” Your jaw was set. “Now fuck off and go find someone else to bother,” you growled. “Try one of the other sheltered suburbanites. They’d probably fall for your bullshit.”

“I can’t believe this shit,” he muttered angrily, but you heaved a sigh of relief as he stalked off, hopeful that he would finally get the fucking hint for once and leave you alone for good. You turned back to stare at the water in front of you, gentle ripples still bouncing off the shore from when you’d tossed your bottle in. Your uninjured hand went to clasp around your wrist brace absently.

You didn’t know that Daryl was only a few feet away, returning with some water for you, and that he had been watching the entire interaction. And Spencer’s words had stung. Sure, Daryl knew Spencer was an idiot and he certainly had no high opinion of the moron but Spencer had also just verbalized some of Daryl’s own deepest insecurities about himself and even… about you and how you felt about him… and that had stung him deeply. But then came your words… and he felt complete disbelief, sure he had misheard. He felt paralyzed for a long moment as he puzzled over what you had said and how you had said it. But you had been forceful and purposeful. Daryl hadn’t imagined that.

He was so shocked that his boots were rooted in place. He stood there with that cup of water in his hand, dumbfounded, before he finally snapped himself out of it and went around the bench to stand beside you. “Hey,” he said, holding out the water. “I just, uhh—I just saw Spencer stalk off. He looked pretty pissed. Was he botherin’ ya? Are ya alright?”

You accepted the glass and drank deeply from it, suddenly realizing that you actually were pretty thirsty. You rolled your eyes. “I’m fine. And maybe now that fucking asshole will finally leave me alone… Idiot,” you mumbled, looking back at the water.

Daryl shifted awkwardly on his feet. His heart was racing as he thought about what you had said. He watched with concern as you took another drink of whiskey from the bottle, this time grimacing a little at the burn. “Would ya quit that?” he asked, drawing your eyes to him.

You studied him for a moment. “Wanna get out of here?” you asked, glancing back at the crowd around the bonfire. Daryl followed your eyes and then looked back at you. His expression was unsure. He was trying to guess at your meaning. “Just—go for a walk or something. We can at least tell Aaron we came,” you said.

He chewed his bottom lip for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, alright. Somebody oughta babysit ya anyway,” he snarked. You pulled a face at him in response and one corner of his mouth twitched up.

“Alright then, chaperone. C’mon,” you said. Bottle in hand, you started to follow the edge of the reservoir, moving away from the glow of the bonfire and the loud laughter and conversation. Daryl walked next to you, content just to walk quietly. You ended up on the other side of the pond from the party, leaning on the railing of the dock and looking back across the water. Daryl walked past you to stand at the end of the dock. You meandered over to him and took in his broad shoulders and muscular arms. You couldn’t help biting your bottom lip. Oh, fuck You are in trouble… you thought to yourself. “Can you swim, Dixon?” you asked him suddenly. He had just enough time to snap around to look at you before you were grinning at him and pushing him hard, your uninjured hand flat in the center of his chest. He went plummeting into the water backwards and came back up gasping as you laughed hard at his expense.

“Are ya frickin’ kiddin’ me?! The hell is wrong with ya?!” he barked at you, treading water. His long hair was plastered to his face. “Oh, yer dead,” he growled at you.

“I’m dead? What are ya gonna do?” You slowly paced backwards on the dock, a wide, genuine smile crinkling your eyes, and the sight of that was enough to make any real annoyance Daryl had evaporate. He couldn’t resist that megawatt smile. “You made it so easy! You were just standing right there at the end!” you said back. “What, I was supposed to just not take that opportunity?”

Daryl let out a chesty growl and pointed a finger at you. “You and whiskey should not mix.” He pushed his wet hair out of his face and swam back to the edge of the dock. “Well…” he said expectantly, staring at you.

You laughed again and shrugged. “Well?”

“At least come help me get the hell out of here,” he rumbled.

You let out a loud laugh. “How stupid do you think I am? I know you just want me to come over there so you can pull me in or splash me or something! Besides, I can’t pull you out. Wrist? Ribs? Remember?”

Daryl muttered under his breath and pulled himself out on the dock, his wet clothes sticking to him, complete with sopping wet boots. He stared down at the water pouring off him onto the wooden deck.

You pressed your lips together in a pleased attempt to stifle more laughter.

“You’re dead,” he growled again, looking up at you. “I ain’t babysittin’ your ass no more. I dun care if ya do fall in and drown,” he barked, starting to stalk toward you to leave the dock.

“Oh, come on, Daryl. It’s pretty funny. I mean, if it were reversed—”

“My damn boots,” he interrupted, giving you another glare.

You stared down at his feet and grimaced. “Right… well… come on. I’ll walk you back to your house so you can change. It’s the least I can do,” you said, trying hard to stifle more laughter at the glare the archer was giving you.

“I should throw ya in right now,” he said. “Maybe it’d sober ya up,” he said, shaking the water from his arms.

“Hey—I probably shouldn’t be swimming! I’m a cripple, remember?”

“Uh huh. Convenient,” he muttered. He started down the sidewalk, leaving wet footprints. You jogged a little to catch up with him and although he could feel your eyes on him he was determined not to look at you, trying to pretend he was still mad. It didn’t last long and when he next looked up you saw that one corner of his mouth was quirked up in a half-smile. Your grin widened. “Ya are gonna pay for this eventually, ya know,” he said gruffly.

“Worth it.”

You walked with Daryl in a comfortable silence all the way back to the house he was sharing with many of his group members, although some had split up and moved in to the other house by now. You froze suddenly at the bottom of the stairs as Daryl climbed them.

“Woah,” you said. You pressed a hand to your head.

Daryl glanced back at you and rolled his eyes, letting out a sharp exhale. “Whiskey?”

“Yeah, it’s like it all just hit me at once.”

He let out a gruff laugh. “It ain’t hittin’ ya at once. Ya been slurrin’ for over an hour now.” He came back down the steps and gently grasped your elbow, his heart jumping as his fingers made contact with you. “C’mon. Let’s get ya some more water.”

You smiled at him a little abashedly as he led you inside. It was the first time you’d ever been in their house and you looked around, taking in Rick’s spare pair of boots by the front door and Judith’s high chair at the table.

“Here,” he said, shoving a full water glass into your hands. “I’mma get some dry clothes and rinse off this pond smell all over me. Thanks to you…” You laughed again and shrugged.

“You look good all wet though,” you said, the words surprising you even as they slipped out.

Daryl’s blue eyes narrowed and he ducked his head, mumbling a gruff “whatever” before disappearing downstairs to retrieve some clothes, completely baffled and unable to come up with any response to that. He hoped you hadn’t been able to see the warmth he certainly felt in his face. He came back quickly with a towel over his shoulder and some clothes under his arm and pointed at you vehemently. “Now just sit down and quit with the damn whiskey. Don’t go anywhere.”

You saluted him and affected a serious face, resulting in him rolling his eyes at you again. But you left the whiskey bottle on the counter and took your glass of water into the living room with you. As you sunk down on the couch, you heard the shower turn on. You unwound the light scarf from around your neck and tossed it down carelessly. Daryl’s crossbow was sitting on the coffee table and you picked up one of the spare bolts from where it was laying on the table and spun it absently between your fingers. You collapsed back on the couch so you were laying out flat and stared up at the shapes of the shadows on the ceiling. They shifted a little as your vision seemed to spin. You planted a foot on the floor to ground yourself.

You knew it was stupid to get drunk… but sometimes you just wanted to try to forget.

That’s where Daryl found you when he came back out, now in his change of dry clothes. “Y/N?”

“Over here,” you said, still spinning his crossbow bolt between your fingers. He looked over the back of the couch at you, leaning on his forearms.

You smiled up at him, just a small one, but it sent his heart fluttering. He was always amazed that that smile was just for him.

“Well, I think I smell a bit less like pond now,” he drawled.

You leaned up on your elbow a little, ignoring the twinge in your ribs. You dramatically sniffed in his direction and he gave you a look. “Less pond,” you said. “For sure.”

Leaning up closed half the distance to Daryl as he looked down at you and you felt suddenly like the air was charged. Probably just the alcohol, you thought to yourself, gulping at the sudden lump in your throat.

Daryl felt it too and he suddenly couldn’t hold your gaze any longer, running away from the feeling. It was magnetic. But he told himself there was no possible way you were feeling the same thing and he straightened back up and just like that the electricity, the heaviness in the air evaporated.

You glanced down at his crossbow bolt in your hands with a fluttering in your chest. “Probably shouldn’t leave these lying around with a baby in the house, ya know,” you said, waggling the bolt at him.

“She ain’t crawling much yet. But yeah… you’re probably right.”

“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” you said. Daryl gave you a questioning look, one eyebrow raised. “Judith.”

Daryl smiled and looked down at his hands on the back of the couch. “Ya. It is.” You liked the way his expression softened at the thought of her.

You strained to sit up straighter, an arm wrapping around your ribs. Daryl watched the tight expression of pain take your face over and then pass and he felt another hot flash of rage about what had been done to you outside the walls. And he had so many questions he wanted to ask you, so many worries… but you were so closed about it…

You spoke again, interrupting his thoughts. “You’re lucky. You have so many people, good people, and—they all obviously care about you. A lot.” Your voice was soft and Daryl finally looked up again and met your eyes with his. He felt a rush of nerves.

“Ya. Don’t make any damn sense, really,” he drawled.

“Makes perfect sense to me.”

Daryl felt those annoying butterflies flit to life in his stomach again. God, you hardly had to say anything, do anything for that to happen. What the hell was wrong with him? “Ya got people, too,” he said. “That care about ya.”

You let out a somewhat wry laugh. “I’ve got Aaron and Eric. Aaaand… that’s about it,” you said. You discarded his bolt back on the table.

“Nah. Ya got more than that.”

Daryl’s response drew your eyes back to his in surprise and you swore that his gaze was flitting between your eyes and your lips. Your lips parted slightly of their own accord. You felt suddenly breathless and the space between the two of you was charged again.

You gulped at the tightness in your throat suddenly and looked away, running scared. “I’m just—I’m not good at letting people in,” you whispered, not meaning it to come out so softly.

“And ya think I am?” Daryl laughed gruffly. “People have a way of gettin’ in anyway. If they want to.”

You were struggling to come up with something to say to that when the front door suddenly opened. Daryl straightened up and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding. You suddenly remembered you weren’t the only two people in the world.

“Oh, good! Daryl, you’re—oh!” It was Carol. “I didn’t realize we had company!” Her voice had been much more relaxed, much lower when she first spoke, but her tone and face suddenly brightened when she realized you were there.

You climbed to your feet and gave her a tight smile. “I was just heading out actually. It’s late,” you said, shooting a glance over at Daryl. He rubbed a hand awkwardly over the back of his neck.

“Ya, alright. I’ll walk ya out,” he murmured. He could feel Carol watching the two of you all the way across the kitchen and up into the front hall.

You stopped in the entryway to turn and give him a small smile. “Thanks. For tonight,” you said quietly. He gave you a dumbfounded look.

“I didn’t do anything,” he murmured. “’Cept not kill ya after ya pushed me in the damn pond.”

You laughed at his confusion. “Yeah. You did.” You turned to leave but froze once again with your hand on the doorknob. “Oh—and you can tell Carol she can knock off the suburban sweetheart act with me, okay? I’m not buying it. I’ll see ya, Daryl. Goodnight.”

Daryl spun around to see Carol standing at the end of the hall, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the space you had just occupied. “Did ya hear—”

“Huh,” Carol interrupted. “Yeah. She’s the only person to figure that out so far.” She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded before looking back at the archer. “I like her.”

Daryl rolled his eyes. “Ya, she’s annoyingly observant. Rick tell ya she knew he was a cop immediately, too?”

“Well, sorry to interrupt your date,” she said with a small smile. “She didn’t have to leave just because I showed up.”

“Would ya quit?” he rasped gruffly. “Wasn’t a ‘date,’ alright? We’re just—” he shrugged and Carol raised her eyebrows at him knowingly.

“Wait—why is your hair all wet?” she asked, moving closer to Daryl.

He groaned and rolled his eyes again. “She fuckin’ pushed me into the damn pond,” he admitted in a low growl. Carol let out a loud guffaw.

“Oh, yeah. I definitely like her,” she said with a grin. “You should bring her around more often. Let everyone get to know her.”

Daryl rolled his eyes again and headed for the living room to collect his bow. “Quit tryin’a meddle, would ya?”

Carol laughed and tried to look affronted. “I haven’t done anything! God, you’re so sensitive,” she teased him. “What’s that?”

Daryl’s hand closed around your scarf, which you had discarded carelessly on the floor. “Y/N’s.”

“Little warm still for scarf weather isn’t it?” Carol asked, peering at it curiously.

“Ya. She was—she was wearin’ it because of the bruises on her neck. One of those assholes was—” he broke off as he remembered turning the corner and seeing the guy on top of you with his hands around your neck. He felt another hot flush of rage. “When we were outside the walls, one of ‘em was choking her. She’s got marks all around her neck. Probably didn’t want anyone else seein’ em.”

“God. I couldn’t see them in here. It’s too dark,” Carol muttered. “That’s horrible,” she said. Daryl nodded, feeling the soft fabric between his fingers.

“Mhm.” He gave one more nod to Carol. “G’night,” he said, heading immediately for his space in the basement, the scarf still dangling from his hand. He flopped down on his back on the bed, running the soft fabric between his fingers. His stomach was turning as he thought of you, that brilliant smile you gave up so rarely staying in his mind’s eye. He squeezed his eyes shut and chewed his bottom lip, trying to banish it. The hell were all these damn feelings? The archer finally let out a frustrated sigh and set your scarf down on his bedside table before putting out the flame of his lantern and rolling onto his side, chasing sleep.