FORGET ME NOT
{Author's Note: Wow, it's been so long...I can only apologise, guys. Illness has taken over again. Anyway, this is a story that had been niggling away at me for so long. I wanted to do something focusing on Daryl before and during the 'apocalypse'. Please enjoy my lovelies x}
Disclaimer: I only own the character(s) you don't recognise.
Lyrics: Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart - Arianna Grande.
[Just a little bit of your heart is all I want...Just a little bit is all I'm asking for]
He didn't need to be the one who got to walk her down the aisle.
Nor did he need to be the man who fathered her children.
No, he was content with being the man who held her close when life had taken its toll on her fragile mind.
To just be able to wrap his muscular arms around her small frame was enough to keep his heart from breaking.
He knew that he wasn't-and possibly never will be-marriage material, and that her Father would never agree to let someone with his background and lifestyle build up a relationship with his only daughter.
Yet, that still didn't deter him from letting his dreams go down a road that led to a life often sought after every night.
In his dreams he was the only man who could make her smile and laugh, with tears of happiness being the only reason her beautiful cheeks would ever feel tears.
Every scene in his dreams he had meticulously thought out from his waking hopes and wishes.
His dreams would allow him to be confident, so that he could lift his hand up to cup her cheek tenderly and be the only one who got to examine and study every single one of her unique quirks that made her perfect.
Brushing away strands of hair and memorising how her pupils dilated at the feeling of his calloused thumb caressing her soft skin, would be the norm in this other reality that existed within his head at night.
Her eyes always captivated him, whether in was in his dreams or waking hours.
He had spent so many times that he had physically lost count, staring into those eyes.
Marvelling at how blue and green can exist in the same space and not merge into one colour; she had no idea just how beautiful she was to him.
"Is there something on my face? Oh God! Please don't tell me I have something between my teeth?"
She would often ask those two questions in horror if his gaze lingered on her for too long.
Those very eyes he had spent just seconds before admiring, would now be wide and fretful as she hastily pulled out a compact from her purse and frantically pulled faces to check if everything was where it should be.
Caught staring at her beauty, all he could do was remain silent and watch as she looked numerous times and moved her face in various angles to see better.
If he were a more confident man, he would smoothly take the compact gently from her hands and say truthfully, "You're so beautiful…"
Only, that confidence required more than what he could give.
Instead, he watched in silence as she shrugged and smiled bashfully, thinking that he must have been staring at another woman.
He never once told her otherwise.
'Coward,' was all he could think whenever she would ask him to join her for a drink at the local watering hole where they could be alone, and all he managed to mutter was a gruff, "I can't."
Fear had always held him back from accomplishing what he wanted out of his friendship with Holly.
Without fear he could do a thousand and one things; all being what could lead to a happier life for him.
To his belief, Holly would always be able to have a happy life and live in complete comfort-he would never get a chance like that.
His destiny was written out the day he was born.
He would live his life precariously on the edge, drifting from place to place with nothing but himself to rely on.
Men like him don't get the preacher's beautiful daughter, with her bright smile and long flowing hair.
As he was so often told when her Father had learnt of their closeness, "You are fire, and she is ice; people like you destroy everything they touch!"
He had half-expected Holly to agree and disappear from his life, but instead she had looked at her Father with fury in her eyes, and proclaimed in front of every parishioner in that small church, "Ice needs fire to shape her, guide her! And fire needs ice to cool down! Ice tames the flames so that fire can also be guided on towards the right path."
Every single person in that church, from man to child, had remained silent as the preacher furrowed his bushy brows, "God-"
"God accepts all, Father." Holly hadn't backed down from his steely gaze; instead she had raised her head high and continued with, "I'm sorry if you can't accept that."
With those last few words still lingering fresh in their minds, she had turned on the heel of her white sandals and marched out of the church with frustrated tears in her eyes.
That night she had sobbed into his chest, feeling all of his pain as though it were hers.
He shouldn't have been the one who had held her to his broken and bruised body for comfort.
No one had taught him how to accept physical contact, or even what the proper protocols were when comforting another.
What if he did something wrong? If he held her too tight? Would she leave him if he rested his hand on her back? Would she leave him if he didn't?
He was scared that she could break in his arms, disappear out of existence and once again be confined to his imagination.
Being left all alone without another human showing him kindness, scared him.
So, gently-hesitantly-he had held her to him and inhaled the vanilla scent that radiated from her warm skin, getting lost in the euphoria that came from this kind of physical contact.
Right there, in that very moment, he forgot that he was Daryl Dixon.
He forgot about the pain and suffering he had to endure at the hands of his Father and peers, he even forgot about the stress of his older brother once again being locked away in prison.
Maybe he would never be the only one in her life, but in that moment, with Holly resting her head against his rapidly beating heart, he was just like any other man.
That was enough for him.
Edit: Please review, as I would love to know if you would like to see this continued.
I really would love to update this regularly if I get enough interest (it helps me feel less anxiety over the quality of my writing, as I'm a wee bit fragile at the moment.)
Thank you so much again for reading.