So let me know what you think of this, I've been playing around with this idea and if I get some positive feedback I might go somewhere with it.
He couldn't believe she was standing there in front of him, he blinked and rubbed vigorously at his face yet again expecting her to just disappear from view as though she was some kind of dream. But yet again he pulled his hands away from his face and she was still there just standing there and smiling at him. She looked almost exactly how he remembered her to look, given the hard times had taken a small toll on her like everyone but she still took his breath away. She was taller now and slender, more toned now from what he suspected from constantly moving around and fighting for her life, her long dark brown hair now looked almost black from the lack of washing and dirt and probably blood that was in it. Her dark green eyes seemed to pick up every pin prick of light making them look like they were their own light source. He hadn't said anything yet and he was slowly beginning to realize that everyone was staring at the both of them, he wasn't used to them paying this much attention to him.
He wanted to talk, to yell, scream, and maybe even cry. He thought she had been dead, he had gone to her house looking for her when shit happened, but she was gone. Had she gone looking for him? When Rick had come out of the forest with someone trailing behind him, she was the last person he thought he would ever see again, at least like this. He went to take a step towards her, but his brain didn't want to move so it turned into more of a stumble. She just continued to grin and took it as an opening. She walked forward her hand reaching out and coming in contact with his bicep. He had dreamed about this on and off for the past months always waking up right before she touched him. This was no dream.
He opened his mouth to speak but she reached out and placed a finger over his lips shaking her head. "You don't have to say anything," Her face lit up more, "I already know." Her voice reminded him of the birds singing. His hands darted out and became a small fist as he punched her in the arm.
"What'd you go runnin' off for?! I came lookin' for ya!" He didn't pay any attention to everyone else as he heard the rest of the group gasp.
Her smile didn't falter as she rubbed the spot he had weakly punched, she knew he'd never hurt her. "I guess we had the same idea, because I went looking for you." She shook her head at him again, this time he saw a tear, she never cried. "You big lug, you had me worried sick." She closed the small distance that was between them in barely a step and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his neck. "Fucking idiot." She murmured, he could feel a couple of her tears land on his skin and run down.
"You're the idiot, runnin' off like that. I told ya I'd come get ya." He murmured back, his face was red never really one for public displays of affection.
"And I told you I can take care of myself." She pulled away a bit, far enough to let her arms drop her right hand settling on his jeans pocket like she always had. They had grown up together and she had been his childhood crush always too afraid to say anything to her afraid she liked him more as a friend than anything else. She had bought a house about a mile away from his knowing he didn't like neighbors she never said anything when he stayed in the house he grew up in with his brother. She would drop by every day after she had gotten off of work and they would sit around maybe have a beer and she would often times cook him and Merle dinner. He knew she was one to hold her own, because in all the years he'd known her she had only dated a couple of losers. And she was always able to fend Merle off of her when he got into his drunken moods. He found that out one night when he had worked late only to come home to find dinner on the table and her sitting on the couch flipping through channels while Merle was fast sleep with a bump on his head in the chair. "He's fine, just knocked out for a few hours." She had said as though it was something normal. He always knew she could take care of herself, but this… the world going to shit, he had worried himself sick over not being able to find her.
He looked down at her feeling her hand as it loosely dangled from his jeans pocket and her big green eyes staring up at him. He didn't know how to feel, hell part of him felt like he was going to be sick. Like all the worrying he had that had made its home in the pit of his stomach was going to decide to bust out threw his mouth at any moment. He placed a hand on each of her shoulders pulling her away from him and looking her up and down. "I thought you were dead." He felt like he wanted to punch her again, not hard, but he just couldn't believe she was standing here in front of him.
"Yeah, well I wasn't exactly all sunshine and happiness." She let out a long sigh as he let his arms drop. "It's been a long fucking year. I never gave up hope though, I knew you were still out there." She smirked as her eyes flicked up to his locking them together for a moment before looking back down at his chest.
He turned to Rick who hadn't said anything since they got back to the prison. "Where did you find her?"
"Town, just a few miles North, she saved my butt back there." Rick said letting out a sigh of his own. "I got stuck in a corner and if she hadn't shown up…" He trailed off, everyone know what he meant.
Daryl turned back to her looking her over again, she had a bag strung from her shoulders just a simple camo draw string bag. Along with it was a quiver of arrows and a cross bow of her own, he couldn't help but smirk at the fact that it was pink. She also was donned with a long sword, and knowing her like he did he would bet his life that it was sharper than anything. She was wearing clothes much different than what he remembered her wearing. She had always been a bit more of a girl when it came to her looks, light makeup, girly clothes, but she never wore pink, she always hated pink he knew her parents had lots to do with her girly attire, and she was always in dress pants and a blouse. They never really liked her hanging around him, never bothering to be silent at how they felt about him, always telling her she was going to end up a 'redneck's whore' if she kept hanging out with him. Now she was wearing a pair of tight fitted jeans, a belt, a black ribbed tank that was covered with a tightly fitted hooded sweatshirt, and a pair of knee high combat boots, the jeans was tucked into the boots.
"Nice cross bow." Daryl kidded, knowing he would get a rise out of her.
"You might not think so when it's shoved up your ass…" She muttered loud enough for him and a few others to hear. She unloaded her back and sat down rubbing her neck, he realized how tired she looked. "If you remember it's the one you gave me as a gag gift that one year for Christmas." She nudged it with her foot. "It's held up pretty good, I've been working on taking the paint off when I've had down time." He had noticed certain spots where the pink paint was missing. "So is this where you've been holed up since shit went down."
"Naw, we've only been here for a few months." Daryl said sitting down next to her, "I can tell you've been runnin' round."
"Yeah, constantly looking for your butt." She nudged him with her shoulder, her smile faltered as she looked down at the floor, her voice broke a bit. "I didn't think I'd see you like… this…" He saw another tear fall from her eye onto the top of her jeans.
He let his hand snake around her shoulders pulling her closer to him as he made soft comforting sounds trying to keep her together. "I know… I didn't think I'd see ya like this either." His hand ran up and down her arm, he felt her get some goose bumps at his touch.
She stood pulling her pack on along with her weapons. "Well, I guess I'd better leave you folks…" She said looking over at the door her and Rick had come in. "I'm not going to impose, Daryl's safe, and most importantly alive, it's good enough for me." Her normally happy voice was tired and sad, and Daryl was confused. Why was she leaving?
"And where you think you're goin'?" He asked standing up and taking ahold of her wrist. "Ya just got here and you think you're gunna leave?" He felt like his head was spinning.
"I haven't been asked to stay, and just because I'm your…" She looked him over, "friend, doesn't give me a rightful admittance. I saved your friend because it was the right thing to do, I'm not looking for anything in return." She didn't look him in the face. "That would be too much to ask for." She gently pulled trying to gain her wrist back from his grip, but he wasn't letting go anytime soon.
"Now, you don't have to go running off so soon. At least rest for a couple days," Rick said stepping forward blocking her direct way to the exit. "It's the least we could do. We don't even know your name."
She let her wrist go slack in Daryl's grasp, although he still clung to it, he knew she was one for being able to make a fast get a way when she really wanted to. "My name?" She looked at Rick like he had gone a bit crazy. "There are those things walking around out there and you care about someone's name?"
Rick just shrugged and looked down at her.
"Come on, just stay for at least the night." Daryl muttered pulling on her a bit she looked back at him and then back to Rick.
"Annabelle… My name is Annabelle." She said it softly and Rick nodded and held out his hand towards her.
"Nice to meet you Annabelle." He gave her a smile, she looked down at his hand and shook it. As she let go Rick turned around and started dishing out chores for the night. Annabelle noticed he didn't give her or Daryl any, she was going to protest when Rick turned towards them when everyone else walked off to do what he had asked. "You need to rest," He nodded to Annabelle, "And I thought you'd like the night off, you've been helping out so much you deserve it. I just need you to do one thing." Daryl raised an eyebrow waiting for the order. "Find her a place to sleep, alright?" He knew it would be done, and walked off to oversee everyone else.
Annabelle looked up at Daryl as he looked down at her, "That makes it sound kinda permanent doesn't it?" She asked as Daryl took the items off her back placing them on his own as he pulled her towards the cell he had designated as his own, she noticed it was farther away from the others.
"That's cause it is." He said as he dropped her things to the floor and looked at her once they arrived in the room.
"Daryl," She said before he silenced her. He knew she was going to argue, but there was no way in hell that he was going to let her go back out there by herself. Not when he had finally given up hope that she was still alive and well. "Daryl, I couldn't do that, it'd be rude." She folded her arms. She looked just as stubborn as she always had.
Daryl walked over to her leaning towards her a bit to look her right in the eyes. "Ya ain't goin' nowhere. I've done enough worrying 'bout you and you're here now and ya ain't leavin' my sight again."
She rolled her eyes the slight smile back on her lips as she nibbled at the bottom one. "You think so huh?"
"I know so." He took her by the arm leading her over towards the bottom bunk of the beds, he had taken the mattress from the top one as well doubling the padding. "Get some sleep." He said looking down at her as she crawled onto the bed laying on her side and looking up at him. They had never actually slept in the same bed together, he always had chickened out before. Yeah he had been with women before, but he knew doing something like that with her would be different. It wouldn't be wham bam thank you ma'am. There were feelings he didn't know how to explain and he wasn't about to worry about them right now. All that mattered was her getting some rest.
She watched as he sat near her feet picking at his thumb like he always did when he was nervous, she always thought it was cute. She gave a soft giggle looking down at him, propping her head up on her arm. He hadn't really changed much, besides the lack of showering which even before she had always teased him gently about. She watched him for a few more moments before getting up and crawling towards him. She never really knew how to tell him her feelings, she knew he was standoffish, she knew he wasn't like other guys, that was one of the main reasons she had fallen for him. He wasn't like other guys, he was messy, and dirty, and he didn't care what anyone thought. Her parents hated him, always telling her she needed to find a nice man maybe a lawyer, they always wanted a rich son-in-law, and settle down and have kids. But she didn't want a nice man who couldn't fend for himself, in fact she didn't want any other man besides Daryl. He had taught her to hunt and fish and fend for herself, she owed him everything to why she was alive right now. She had stayed behind when she was 18 and her parents had said they were moving back to London, she was staying, old enough to be on her own and have a job along with her own place. When shit hit the fan she knew right away there was never a chance of seeing her parents again, she had come to terms with it right away that they were no longer her parents. And she had been okay with that, she didn't even shed a tear, but when she had ran busting into Merle and Daryl's place and finding it empty, well unless you counted the walker that had found its way in which she had quietly disposed of, she had panicked thinking the worse. But here he was, just as she remembered him, well with longer hair, but oh how it fit him. She contemplated telling him, just spilling it all out. Telling him her feelings, the worst that could happen would be he didn't feel the same way. And if he didn't she would leave, just sneak out and cover her tracks so he couldn't follow. She opened her mouth prepared for the worst as his head turned to meet hers. "Ya should be sleepin' come on now." He pointed towards the top of the bed with a quick jerk of his thumb, telling her that it was the end of the conversation. "We can talk when ya wake up." He moved towards the top sitting himself upright but stretching his legs out somewhat trapping her in against the wall. She looked up at him again as he went to town on his thumb, she couldn't help but smile to herself as she felt her head hit the pillow falling asleep within seconds.
He hadn't noticed she had fallen asleep, he had been too involved with his own thoughts, until he felt her arm stretch out laying on top of his lap, right across his privates. That had made him give a small jump before he noticed she was asleep, he couldn't move now and wake her up. He let out a puff of air, wishing he had a cigarette right now. He was glad she was here, he was glad she was alive, now he just wished he could get the words out to tell her how he felt… If only he could figure that part out himself.