Title: With your arms around the future and your back up against the past
Author: Taevyn Daeganstar
Fandom: The Walking Dead
Pairing: Daryl/Carol
Rating: PG 13
Warnings: Possible triggers for cruelty to animals, and dubious consent.
Word Count: 904 (says MS Word)
Summary: Daryl Dixon had learned a long time ago that once you laid claim to something it could, and probably would, be taken away.
A/N: This is what came from the Weekend Challenge prompt. I'm not sure it fits the prompt.
Daryl didn't have a name for this *thing* between him and Carol. He refused to put a name to it. He'd learned a long time ago that once you claimed a thing it could (and probably would) be taken away.
Daryl was three when his mother went away, he remembered she gave him a little brown, soft teddy bear one day, and the next she was gone. She told him to hug that bear whenever he got sad. A week after she left he found that bear by following the trail of its stuffing. His father had cut it apart and left the pieces in the kitchen trash.
When he was six he'd found a stray cat foraging in the in the woods behind the house. He'd been so careful, saving up parts of his dinner to take to it; he was hoping to coax it closer to the house. He thought maybe if it was just there he could get away with it being his. Merle, who was 12 at the time, caught him feeding the cat scraps. Merle had teased him about it for two days. Then, finally on the third, he told their dad. Daryl had taken to calling the cat shadow, because it was gray with little white patches, and he thought if he told his dad that the man would let him keep it. He cried the whole time he and Merle tracked the cat; and almost threw up as he watched his older brother break the poor things neck.
Two months into his freshman year of high school a girl left a note in his locker. It was silly and childish, in retrospect. The girl wanted to know if he'd sit by her at lunch. Sitting together at lunch soon turned into walking to classes together; then skipping classes together. They would pass notes in a spiral bound notebook in a study hall they shared. Daryl searched for that damn notebook for two days when he realised it wasn't in his backpack. One day Charlene wasn't in class; so Daryl said 'fuck it' and skipped the rest of the day. The last thing he expected to walk in on was Merle and Charlene in his bed. Naked.
So, yeah; Daryl learned his lesson. He wasn't going to 'lay claim' to Carol, because he didn't want her taken away. They'd been at the prison for a couple years. The only way to keep track of times real passage was by the shift of seasons. They'd been there through two fall harvests. He was coming in from hunting; a big doe slung across his shoulders, passing by the kitchen when he heard giggling, then Carol's voice. "Then I guess by your definition we're married. For whatever it's worth at the end of the world. We share a cell, sit beside each other for meals, and he's taken me hunting a couple of times. I don't think we'll be picking out china patterns, but maybe I'll set up a registry at Target, next time we go for a scavenge. Now will y'all drop it? He'll be coming by with supper any minute. He values privacy, and so do I." There was another burst of laughter, which was quickly cut off when he stomped his boots and cleared his throat a little louder than was strictly necessary.
Carol was right though; they'd been sharing a cell, if not a bed, since the Woodbury people had moved in. And yeah he had taken her hunting a few times. He also refused to let her go on scavenge runs without him. He wanted her safe. That was why he hadn't put a name to what they were. But maybe, just maybe, it was time. He came into the cafeteria freshly clean, wearing clothes he knew she'd washed just the day before, worrying something between his fingers. He grabbed his plate, and one for her; making his way to the table they shared with Sophia, Rick, Carl, Michonne, Lil' Ass Kicker, Glenn and Maggie. When she sat down beside him he still had no idea how exactly to go about doing this. He'd almost scrapped it as a bad idea; making a public display was just asking for trouble. Before she could take a bite he quickly worked up the courage and held out his hand over her plate. Sitting on his palm was a thin silver band. To this day he couldn't recall why he'd taken the ring off the ribbon that was tied around his teddy bears neck. But he had; and he'd kept it safe and hidden for all these years. The table had grown quiet around him and when he looked up he could clearly read shock on everyone's faces. Well, everyone but Carol's. He wasn't real sure what she was thinking. She looked at him, a question in her eyes. He nodded back, just a small quick jerk of his head. She took the ring out of his hand and slipped it on her finger. The rest of the tables occupants slowly came back to themselves and went about their meals as if nothing had happened.
At the end of the world Daryl Dixon was finally ready to claim something for his own, and he'd be damned if he was going to let it be taken away.