Fanfiction no 1.

Daryl/Paul'jesus'Rovia

High School AU

Chapter 1

Daryl awoke drenched in sweat with his long, dirty blonde hair stuck to his forehead, matted from his rough night tossing and turning after being haunted by yet another nightmare. His father and that goddamn belt were the main feature as per usual, black leather glistening with blood while the cruel laughter echoed from above him and the insults went round and round like a stuck record leaving his mind as battered and scarred as his thin, wiry body after a summer of abuse.

Today was the start of the new school year and he found himself struggling to get enough oxygen into his weak lungs. It had been a rough summer but the game in the woods behind his house had been plentiful so he wasn't noticeably malnourished. Not like anyone would question it if he was, no one ever had, he was just some scrawny kid from the wrong side of town with a drunkass daddy and a brother with a dangerous reputation who had penchant for meth. Although he had his brother to thank for his badass reputation, it left him friendless and alone. This meant he was severely lacking in any social skills, having only his brother and father for interaction and neither of them were particularly good role models for learning the basics of making friends. This all lead to a crippling anxiety disorder that caused him to fuck up more than he cared to admit.

When he finally managed to shake himself out of his thoughts the sun was only just creeping over the horizon, for any normal person this would mean they had plenty of time before school but being the poor fuck Daryl Dixon was, he had to peel himself out of the blood and sweat soaked sheets to assess the damage of last night's brutal beating and take care of lashes both old and new which was the worst way to start the day he imagined. He crept as silently as he could manage in the rickety old trailer avoiding the creaky floorboards to the bathroom where he stared into the cracked mirror carefully taking in the damage without letting himself linger on his protruding spine and ribs lest his self-esteem get any fucking lower if it was even possible. The lashes weren't too deep, he'd had worse so he began the painful torture of cleaning his wounds with a cheap bottle of vodka he had managed to keep out of his dad's greedy hands, the burn helped remind him he was still breathing and his father hadn't gone too far this time.

It was over fairly quickly and he proceeded with his morning routine of an icy cold shower before getting dressed in a pair of ratty jeans with a hole in the knee that were more patches of random fabric than denim, they were also a few sizes too big since they once belonged to his much stockier brother Merle. As was the shirt that had long since lost its sleeves, the only thing he actually wore that hadn't been passed down through the rest of the family was his black hoody that he had managed to pick up at Walmart the week before with money he had earned working his summer away in Dale's garage. It was the one place he felt almost comfortable among the beat down trucks covered in grease and engine oil away from his tyrannical father and brother with good intentions but shitty actions. It was the only thing he was confident in other than hunting but at this point in his life hunting was more out of necessity than for enjoyment. If he didn't hunt he didn't eat, he still found it fun but the pressure bled the pleasure out of it especially in the winter when he was freezing his dick off trying to find the tiniest trail of anything that could mean he didn't spend another night dealing with the gnawing ache of hunger.

He dressed carefully trying not to catch the shirt on his aching wounds, he packed his shitty rucksack for school that he had repaired more times than he could count and laced up his hiking boots. On his way out he sparked up his first cigarette and let the smoke soothe his nerves a little on the long walk to school. His house, if you could call it that, was on the other side of town, the wrong side, so it took him 45 minutes to walk there and 45 minutes to walk back every day. But it meant he got out of his father's way for longer so he couldn't complain. Any time away from that bastard was worth it even if the walk gave him more time to build himself into a panic about all the people he would have to deal and the too small classrooms crammed with bodies that in their very essence were loud and irritating all carrying a pair of eyes that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

As he was approaching the high school he stomped out his 3rd and final cigarette before stepping through the gates into the third level of his own personal hell. As soon as he stepped through the doors into the main hallway the cacophony of teenagers hit him square in the ears. After a summer spent in the relative solitude of the garage and his own home the noise was almost overwhelming, he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his hoody and stalked to his locker avoiding contact with other as students as best he could in the crowded hallway until some piece of shit ran straight into his back and sent him stumbling forward blindly, the pain from his rucksack and this fuckers body colliding with his injured back was enough to make him curse under his breath and flinch so hard it looked like he was having a conniption. The person who collided with him rushed to haul him to his feet while apologising profusely, Daryl just shoved the guy away and began righting himself, cringing a little as he felt the cuts reopen on his back,

"Oh my god, I am so sorry I just wasn't looking where I was going. Are you ok?" the clumsy asshole asked him.

When Daryl finally managed to get his brain in some sort of order and actually processed what was going on he felt his face start burning. Everyone must be looking at him. Laughing at him. His breaths were now coming too short. He pushed past whoever it was in front of him with a swift, "Fuck off asshole," and practically sprinted to his locker. This couldn't happen, not now, not in the middle of the corridor. He ignored the call from behind him and just kept going as his vision started tunneling, this was not the time or place for his brain to be pulling this shit, not on the first day back. Suddenly he remembered he had to go grab his timetable from homeroom before he could even begin anything else. He had to face that asshole Mr Walsh first thing on a Monday morning after that embarrassing incident and now he was late since he had spent so long at his locker trying not to pass out. Well shit today was just turning out peachy for Daryl.