Everybody thought he was a loner. Everybody thought he couldn't love anybody. Everybody thought he was an ass. Nobody knew the truth. The truth was even worse than what they already knew. They all heard stories of his childhood, being beaten and Merle stepping in between him and bullets. They never heard anything about him like it. Daryl never wanted them to. It wasnt him and Merle. No, it was about her...It was always about her. All those years he spent taking care of her. Raising her. Training her to be the Dixon she is. All those years, watsed. The first day the apocalypse started he had her in his arms. He had her right next to him the entire time. Then she just ran in the other direction. Pulled herself from his arms. He would have followed her but he would have got ripped to peices. She would have too. He needed to be alive for her. They assumed her dead. A part of him hoped she was dead. Besides there was no way in hell that him and Merle were gonna find her. Not that night. They tried. They really did. They just couldnt couldnt find her. Every night he had to, just had to , pull out that picture he had. The last picture. She was only three years old. She was only eleven when they lost her. But that picture, he's put his life on the line just for the picture. The last part of her he had. He wasnt about to forget that. He just couldnt bear it.
He was poking the bed above her with an arrow. Merle stood in the doorway.
"What? "
"Nothing"
"It's always something"
He sighed "Layla"
Daryl glared up at his brother "Dont talk about Layla"
"We have to"
He threw the arrow on the ground "Why?"
"Because it aint healthy"
"What aint healthy about it?"
"Daryl look at me" He looked up. "You lost your daughter and every night you just shove her in your back pocket."
He stood up "Dont tell me what to do about my little girl!"
He ran out of the cell. Ran past Carol. She heard everything. She asked Merle about it.
"Its his daughter"
"Daryl has a daughter?"
"Yeah...She ran in the other direction. We couldnt find her after that"
"The poor thing"
"Layla or Daryl? "
"Both"
"It honestly never really bothered him. He just tried to forget about losing her...I dont think its healthy"
"Its not, he needs to miss her"
"I know but he wont talk about it"
"Maybe I'll try"
"What good would it do?"
"He listens to me"
She went to look for him. He was outside, in the field by the graves. As she was coming closer to him he fell to the ground. She almost ran to him. But she realized he was crying. He was burying his face in his hands. She couldn't tell whether it was hurting more because of his daughter or that he was crying. She didnt know if she should go back or if she should go comfort him. She decided to let him have his moment.
Layla was only about three years old at the time. Daryl was trying to get her to touch a dead animal. She was trying for a while but then she got scared because she thought it would get her sick.
"C'mon it would be so funny to see you touch it"
"I dont wanna"
"Oh c'mon"
"No"
"It aint tht bad"
"Yeah huh"
"No it aint"
She felt like he was forcing her to touch a dead animal. She backed away from it a little. She started to cry.
"No, I dont wanna touch it daddy!"
He realized that she wasnt going to touch it and he was just making it worse by still trying to make her.
"Hey, baby, dont cry. You don't have to touch it if you really dont want to" he picked her up "Lets go home before Merle comes over here and throws that thing at you"
They were at their house again later. Merle was just waiting for Layla to come home with some blood on her hands.
"Did she do it?!"
"No"
"Aww, why not? "
"Merle, I'm not gonna force her to touch a dead animal"
"But it would be so cute"
"She doesnt wanna touch it"
They bickered about that for a while and Layla played with legos, making random clumps of colors. At about 8:00 she fell asleep on the floor. Daryl carried her into her room and tucked her into bed. He sat with her for a while. He usually did and waited for her to fall asleep. But since she was already asleep he didnt know what to do. He pulled some of her hair out of her face and just kinda looked around. It didnt look like a girl lived in it. It still had some of Daryls stuff in it. Just not dangerous stuff. Then he just decided to go watch tv so he kissed Laylas forehead and left her to sleep.
He came back in his cell almost covered in dirt. He went and laid on his stomach in bed, covering his face in the pillows. Carol came in, she leaned against the bed.
"I know about your daughter"
"How? "
"Merle"
"Merles an ass"
"He's worried about you. I am too. "
He looked at her "Why?"
"Because you should be more upset"
"They tell me to be happy, they tell me to be sad, I just dont know what to do"
He burried his head in the pillow again. Carol sat next to him and rubbed his back. This time she would comfort him.
She couldnt go on anymore. There was barely any food. She wasnt as great a hunter as her dad was. Is. She hasn't given up on him. Hes just having trouble finding her. She knew she didnt have enough energy to take down another herd. She missed her family. She missed her dad. Hell, she even missed Merle. She wished she could have just let her dad hold onto her and keep her safe. She lost that chance. And she would trade anything to get it back.