Daryl contracted an infection while recovering from his injuries, a month later he wakes from a comatosed state to find the group is much different than before. Larger, with some familiar faces from the past. DarylxOC
AN/= If you don't realise or haven't seen the new series (which makes you crazy btw) I have made this location up completely and it is not at all based in the series or the comics. I watched the first 2 series no less than a week ago and like many, I fell in love with Daryl's character. Bravo to Norman Reedus for his insane acting and smashing accent. I'll probably keep updating, revising and adding little bits to this so if you do have any suggestions/ideas on how I can make it better I'm all ears. And please don't tell me I've got loads of spelling errors if you're American as I am British, I tried to spell everything I knew the American way seeing as the characters are... American, we spell words different on the side of the water as I've had to point out to several people. General spelling mistakes, you can tell me, I'm okay with that. ;)
Everything was hazy. Sluggish and heavy, like somebody was holding him down, like he was covered with a heavy blanket that he had to wrestle out of. He wasn't entirely sure of what was going on but a loud mumble began to seep into the haze. It was hard to tell what the noise was or where it was coming from but it was becoming irritating. He was trying to sleep, Daryl Dixon was trying to get a good night's sleep and they were disturbing it.
He couldn't work out why but his head was murder, it felt like the time he killed a bottle of whisky in less than an hour, his brain felt like it was squeezing inside his skull every couple of seconds. What the hell happened last night? Daryl could remember falling off a horse and becoming impaled on one of his arrows, he remembered making it back to the old man's farm and that crazy bitch Andrea shooting him in the side of the head, but after that it got patchy.
Hershel was fixing him up, he was laying in the bed thinking about how it was way too soft and he's rather be back in his tent on the solid floor and then there was nothing. He figured he must've fallen asleep but he didn't remember waking up and emptying a bottle, he didn't even remember waking up to eat or... anything. Surely somebody would've come in at some point with some grub or at least some water, but he couldn't remember it at all, nobody even asked him about Sophia's doll. Sophia. Had they found her yet? Had he over-slept and missed joining the search parties?
"I'm gonna check on Daryl." It took everything in him not to yell at the voice to 'fuck off,' he didn't need somebody to check on him, so he got a little roughed up who cares, he just did not want or need a baby sitter! The anger in him grew when he heard the zipper of his tent open up and somebody steeped inside, it sounded like a man but a small and light man probably Glenn. Why the bloody hell had Glenn just stepped into his tent? "Hey Daryl."
"You got some balls steppin' in here, kid." Daryl said expecting Glenn to make some pussy ass excuse for going in and then to run but he didn't, he didn't even say anything back. "I said, you got some balls steppin' in here!"
He heard Glenn sigh and sit on the hard floor beside him, it then occurred to Daryl, if he had fallen asleep in Hershel's house last night how did he get back outside in his tent on the floor? Did he make his way out last night? He wished the fogginess in his mind would just go away and let him think straight, let him remember what he'd done last night. "Sure has been quiet lately without you barking at everybody." Glenn said out loud. "Well, as quiet as it can be with Walkers running about the place and Lori's hormones."
What the bloody hell was Glenn talking about? 'Been quiet without him?' Had that crazy Korean son of a bitch lost his tiny asian mind? Daryl hadn't been anywhere. "Have ya lost it, sound like a crazy ass bitch!"
"Daryl, come on man, wake up. It's been too long, everybody's losing hope." What? Why was he telling him to wake up, he was awake, he was talking and Glenn just wasn't listening. He wasn't listening... he wasn't listening because... he couldn't hear him. Sure Daryl had been answering Glenn but only in his mind, his voice was... lost. Even though the horrific pounding in his head was easing up nothing was becoming clearer, as the haze began to lift and he could think a little easier there were still no memories, there was no functioning. "Wake up Daryl, move. Do something." If that boy didn't see straight soon he was gonna punch the shit head square in the jaw, there was nothing wrong with him, he was awake, he was fine. "It's been a month you lazy redneck bastard, so just get up, you've got work to do."
A month? A month of what? What the hell was Glenn talking about, Daryl heard Glenn get up from the floor and head for the exit so Daryl purposely grabbed for the boy fully intent on getting some sense out of him but he just kept walking. He kept walking because Daryl didn't move a muscle, he thought he did, he full well wanted to move but... nothing happened. He... couldn't move his arm. Or his legs. He couldn't even open his eyes. No matter how hard he tried nothing happened, he kept trying to yell to get someone's attention but nothing came out. What the hell was going on?
His head throbbed harshly making him wince and groan, the noise came out of his lifeless body but in a very faint strangled sound. The panic that flooded him lasted for just a few moments, he was a Dixon, Dixon's do not panic. If Merle had seen him panic even just a tiny bit he probably would've punched him and laughed in his face, he took a deep breath and tried his hardest to gain some control over his thoughts, over his body.
Daryl groaned again he felt... defeated, like he had lost the fight, lost a massive fight. Never had he been in a position where he hadn't been able to control his own body, it wasn't like being pissed, at least then he had some control over himself but now... now he was alone and paralysed.
"Hi, Daryl." It was a woman's voice, a voice he recognised. It was Carol. Definitely Carol. "You're looking a little warm there, got something to held cool you off." He was yelling at Carol in his head, in his head he was screaming to get her attention but nothing happened, it was hopeless. "Hershel said I couldn't give you any whiskey, sorry." He could hear the happiness in her voice, but it was fake and forced, she was forcing herself to be happy for him. They hadn't found Sophia yet. Then he felt something against the back of his head, his neck was craning like she was lifting his head. He wanted to push her away, to tell her get away from him. But then something touched his mouth, something cold and wet like... water. Why was she doing this for him? Why was she taking care of him after he failed to bring back her daughter? He found himself grunting in pain as she laid him back down, his muscles were cramped and it was beginning to get uncomfortable. "Daryl?" Did that noise actually come out? "Daryl are you awake?"
He grunted again purposely. It was difficult knowing which sounds were coming out and which were internal so he just kept trying, but nothing else happened, the noises stopped and Carol sighed. He felt something warm touch his forehead... she... she kissed him. Carol kissed his forehead again like she had when she had brought him food.
He felt her get up and move away, she left the tent leaving him alone in the shell of his body again. He didn't want that. He wanted to be awake. He wanted someone to wake him up.
He had to get up! He was going to get up! No more lying around trying to work out exactly what was going on, this was it. If there was anything that was ever going to wake him up it was the next sound he heard.
The sound of Merle's bike. His bike. And voices he didn't recognise telling others where to move it.
"Ma Bike." He found himself mumbling, he had to get to it. As the engine cut off he frowned, what the hell happened to his voice, he was drawling like a Texas piece of shit. He weren't no Texas shit. He forced himself to open his eyes. He just kept forcing himself to open his eyes, willing his eyes to open until something happened. A tiny crack of sunlight.
It was so bright, so over powering and made his eyes want to burn, he could barely keep his eyes open and took sometime to adjust to the light. Daryl found himself looking around the tent, but it wasn't his tent, it was someone else's tent and somebody else's bed covers and pillow.
He looked down at his hands and took note of how clean they were, but he was more concerned by how heavy they felt, heavy and numb. It took a lot just to get his fingers to flex, each movement made the fog in his mind swirl around, it was confusing and disorienting. But he had to fight it. Fight the mess.
Daryl forced his hand up his body to his chest and then to his face, trying to scrub his face was difficult because of his insanely heavy arms. But he had to get up, some son of a bitch watch touching his bike, god knows what they could've done to it. He took another look around the tent and spotted a smile pile of his clothes but no crossbow, he couldn't remember who took it or where it went after he went into the farm-house. He'd have to find that too.
Daryl slowly pushed his hands back down to the edges of the bed cover and slid them aside, he hadn't even tried to move his legs yet. He looked down and was relieved to find himself in clothes at least he wasn't going to have to battle through that. The cold air hit his body with quite a force and seemed to bring some life back to him, his arms lifted a little as he rolled himself on to his side, he had no idea how he was even going to get up much less anything else but he had to. After a few deep breaths Daryl stretched his hands out in front of him and used them to drag himself over to the wooden chair in the corner of the tent. It must have been there for whoever was watching over him.
He grabbed the bottom rung of the chair loosely but found himself gasping for breath, he had barely moved, yet he was exhausted. As if a months worth of sleeping was enough. With all the energy he could muster Daryl used the seat of the chair and the bottom rung to hoist himself up on to the chair and collapsed into it grunting and groaning at the stiffness and the dull ache in his bones. He found himself swaying as his head spun and made him feel just a little sick.
He silently listened to everything going on outside, the dull roar he could hear when he first woke became a little more clear, it was people. People talking. Lot's of people. He was having trouble understanding what they were saying, it was still muffled and jumbled together. Daryl took a few minutes rest, trying to build his energy stores back up so he could get outside, he was glad Carol left his tent open, he didn't think he'd be able to get it open otherwise. Daryl watched his legs as he tried to use them, they sluggishly moved but he didn't want to wait anymore, he wanted to get out so he carefully used the chair to push himself upright and back on to his feet. He could feel his legs quaking under his weight and didn't know if he'd even be able to walk on his precariously shaky legs.
Daryl let out a deep and slightly nervous breath as he shuffled forward, he slowly but surely pushed open the tent and found himself cringing in the sunlight, he hadn't seen the sun for a month and despite the cold air the suns warmth felt great.
He had to take his time, the light was extremely bright and it made his head pound harder than it was before. He took a few steps out of the tent and tried to look around but he could barely see anything, that was why he tripped over a rucksack that had been dumped on the ground. His already weak footing gave way and he crashed on to his hands and knees, crying out in pain as he hit the ground.
"D-Daryl?" He couldn't work out whose voice that was, it was definitely a female though. "Daryl can you hear me?" He grunted in reply as a hand touched his shoulder, the woman helped him into a sitting position, his knee's bent so he could rest his head on them keeping his eyes from the sun. "Carol, go get Rick and Hershel tell them he's awake, go. Go now!" The last two words came from the woman's mouth in quite a loud and high voice making Daryl groan and cover the ear closest to her, that noise made his headache worse. "Sorry Daryl I didn't think. Christ, you're freezing." The woman who Daryl was now sure was Rick's wife, Lori said in a quieter hushed tone.
Lori kept gently talking for a while, her hand remained on his shoulder as she waited for the group's Doctor and her husband to arrive.
"Daryl?"
He sat quietly in a collapsible chair beside the fire whilst wrapped in a blanket as Hershel checked him over. People were fussing and whispering while they were stood around him in amazement.
Lori was trying to warm up some stew they had been eating for a while so he could eat, Glenn had placed his hat on Daryl's head when they realized the sun was too much for the recently woken man to handle and the questions people kept asking him, he couldn't even process a rational answer to most of them, it required a lot of thinking and his head just wouldn't allow that. He just nodded and shook his head wherever he could, not only was it difficult to think it was even harder to talk, most of the words didn't come out and the rest were slurred and barely understandable.
"I think you're gonna be fine young man, you just need to take it easy for a while. I'm no doctor but I'm sure that headache will be gone by tomorrow, and don't be surprised if you don't have much of an appetite, we couldn't exactly force feed you." Hershel said standing from his kneeling position beside the other man, Daryl nodded weakly, he was too exhausted to do anything else. He had questions he wanted to ask but he just couldn't, he didn't think he'd be able to manage.
He was lucky Rick was there to ask some of the questions for him. "Does this mean he's better, he's not going to go back into a coma if he goes back to sleep is he?"
The old man shook his head. "As far as I can tell the infection is all but gone, a few more doses of antibiotics should see to that, as for the coma I don't know I mean that's not my field. We'll just have to keep an eye on him, wake him up every few hours..." At that Daryl groaned, he did not want to be woken up, the groan made Rick chuckle a little.
Daryl just sat in the chair listening to the two men talk about his condition, Rick asked about his voice and why he was having trouble speaking, he asked about how long Daryl would be out of action and these questions Hershel answered as best he could but he didn't really listen he just stared at the fire in front of him and waited for Lori to hand him the tin filled with stew and something to eat it with. She helped him untangle himself from the cover and accepted the food, he looked at and suddenly didn't feel as hungry as before, Lori seemed to notice the change in his expression.
"Don't force yourself to eat it all if you don't want it, just eat what you can and whistle if you need anything." He nodded tiredly, he actually wanted to thank her for what she was doing but all the words evaded him. He had never seen anybody... care before. So as Lori walked away he purposely whistled for her attention making her spin back around and look at him, he smirked a little and held his hands up in surrender, showing her he didn't actually need anything he was just messing with her. Lori laughed and shook her head before carrying on and leaving him in peace.
It had taken a while for Daryl to even realize they were no longer on Hershel's farm. They had at some point moved to a new farm probably because the other was over-run by walkers, that seemed like the only logical explanation for moving away from a relatively safe and comfortable place. He hadn't had chance to take a look around this new farm yet so he couldn't decide on it, but he could already see a few things that were going to need fixing if he was going to live there.
The farm didn't look like it was in too bad of a condition but it was nothing like Hershel's farm, the house was tiny in comparison and the stone it was made from seemed dirty from where he sat. The porch looked small and used to have some kind of tiny swing but that had been destroyed at some point, the wood was probably used to board up the windows.
The farm had a fence that bordered the entire farmyard, there were a few people who Daryl did not recognise trying to secure and fix certain parts of the rundown wooden fence. It was necessary for the fence to be one hundred percent to act as the first line of defence for any walker hordes, it could be something that saved a lot of lives in the future.
In the far corner of the farm stood a red barn just like the one Hershel had, the doors were wide open and a small group of people were transporting hay out to the horses that were wandering around in a large pen. He looked around at the fields and the grass and found himself admiring the deep green colour, Hershel's fields were a very similar colour and it was almost comforting.
Daryl watched everyone as they went about their business, each with their assigned jobs while he sat and ate, while he just sat and did nothing. That aggravated him. He wanted to be up and doing something but Rick had already told him he absolutely was not allowed to even get up without someone helping him, much less actually do some work. He readjusted the cap Glenn had placed on his head and moved it so the sun stayed out of his eyes, didn't know why he'd given Daryl his cap, it wasn't something Daryl would've considered doing if the roles had been reversed. But maybe that was because Glenn had grown up with a loving family, something Daryl had never had, Merle was barely around and their father was never around. He was never taught to love or to share, caring and giving was not something he understood, even though he was trying the phrase every man for himself seemed more appropriate most of the time.
It was at times like these he almost wished he had a good family, a different upbringing. He wished his father chose him over everything else, he wished Merle chose his little brother over breaking the law, he wished he didn't to feel the way he did about his family. If one good thing came from having a dysfunctional family it was that once the walkers hit, he didn't have to worry about them, Merle could look after himself so Daryl just did what he had to; to survive.
The group he was with now were the closest thing he had to a decent family and maybe his upbringing was the reason he dug his heels and tried to distance himself, he did not want to get hurt. Like Jim and Amy, if he had found himself getting close to someone and then them being dragged away from him would be... killer.
Maybe that was why he didn't entirely believe what he saw in front of him, he slowly put down the food Lori had given him and pulled Glenn's cap off, he then slowly pulled the covers he had been wrapped in off himself. Maybe his eyes and his mind were playing tricks on him, he was seeing things that were not really there.
He had to fight to get back up out of the foldable chair, to stand on his two feet. As he got up he saw Lori who had come back to check on him stop and stare at him, ask what he was doing but he did not answer and as she came towards him to help him he held his hand up to her. To stop her. She was a pregnant woman so there was no way he was going to touch her but he had to go, he had to get to what he was seeing. One foot in front of the other. Around the fire. Around the bag he had tripped over.
He felt exhausted all over agin, his body ached and he was struggling but there was no way she was getting away again. That was when she looked up from what she was doing, and the same stunned stare he had dawned her.
"Daryl?" It was quiet for a moment as they stared at each other. "Daryl!" If T-dog had not been passing Daryl at the time, the redneck would have landed straight on his back and that would've really messed up his head. The man caught the other as the young girl ran like a bullet and jumped into his arms, he barely had time to catch the girl as she jumped on him.
"Fuck Cora... You're alive... God Cora... Fuck..." Daryl kept whispering, as T-Dog lowered them both to the ground. Daryl ran his hands through the little girls hair, his calloused hands brushed her cheeks, travelled down her hands and squeezed her hands. "Fuck, Cora..."
He held the girl tight in his arms as they sat on the floor, he could see her eyes filled with tears but she was smiling with happiness. And then she seemed to remember something and jumped out of his arms. "I have to go and get Mommy, she'll wanna see you."
Daryl's eyes widened for a moment. "S-she's here?" He whispered watching the girl jump on the spot. "Aly's here?" He paused in realisation. "Go. Go get her!"
Lori had insisted Daryl sit back in the collapsible chair as he waited for Cora and her mother to return, he couldn't believe it when he saw the tiny girl sat playing with Carl and two other children. He thought the little girl and her mother were... gone.
The four-year old girl stood at just under 3 foot tall, she had always been a little small for her age, even before the world ended. He could remember the first time he had ever met Cora when she was just two and a half years old, she was an unbelievably beautiful little girl.
She had a round face with light pink, baby soft skin and a permanent pink blush over her cheeks, she had large chocolate coloured eyes and ruby-red lips. Cora had shiny blonde hair that tumbled down to her shoulders and curled up slightly at the ends, she always had a small plait in her hair that had been secured with rubber bands.
The little girl was as strikingly beautiful as her mother and she had her no-nonsense attitude to match, that was another thing that struck Daryl when they first met, that even at two years old she resembled her mother in monumental ways.
He had tried to find the mother and daughter when the walkers hit but when he drove to their home a few miles from his, the house was empty. He tried to drive to all the places he knew they liked but Merle refused to let him, he kept saying 'the bitch weren't worth gettin' ya guts fuckin' chewed on.' That was the last time he so much as thought about Aly and Cora, he didn't ever want to hear Merle verbally attack either of them again.
Lori sat beside Daryl as he waited for Cora and Aly, she kept asking him questions about Cora but he couldn't bring himself to answer, he was in shock. He was completely stunned, the swirling madness in his mind had gotten worse, much worse. His head pounded and squeezed making him wish he had something for the pain, he lifted his hands to his temples and looked at Lori hoping she'd understand but just smiled and pointed a little down the field to the little girl who was sprinting as fast as she could back to him. He hadn't noticed earlier but he could now see that she was wearing a knee-length baby pink dress with two bands of white around the bottom, it also has a pink bow around her waist, to anybody else she would've looked beautiful. Even with how dull it looked. To anybody else she would've looked beautiful but Daryl knew Cora didn't like pink, so it meant she probably didn't have any other clothes, they must have just left as fast as they could when the walkers hit. Grabbed the first thing they could while they were running.
Cora dived into Daryl's arms as he sat in the chair and wrapped her arms around him, he held her tight and buried his head in her shoulder as she hid in his neck, he couldn't believe they were here. He wished he hadn't been hurt trying to find Sophia, he would've then been awake when Aly and Cora had been found, he could've been insanely happy when he found them and not this confused, stunned, painful hurt he felt.
His head kept screaming at him, he just wanted to enjoy this moment, he turned to Lori again and looked in her eyes as he winced and frowned. "Lori. My... head." She took a moment and then nodded, she completely understood, she got up and looked for Hershel.
He watched her leave and then turned, stood in front of him was the most stunning woman he had ever laid eyes on. "Aly."
Daryl couldn't stop staring at her as little tears rolled down her cheeks, even when she cried she was beautiful. Cora had been graced with her mother's divine eyes, but she didn't have Aly's sharp defined features, she didn't have those perfectly shaped full lips and flawless tanned skin. Aly had that body that made him want to explode every time he looked at her, the perfect handful, the just-right curves and the looks great in jeans backside. Her hair, the same golden blonde as her daughter that fell straight but curled loosely by her shoulders. God he'd missed her.
She was wearing those skin-tight jeans that made her legs look supermodel long and her bum look supermodel hot, a low-cut tank top but the best thing about what she was wearing... his leather jacket. He had left it at her house the night before the evacuation, she must have grabbed it as she left. Even with that old jacket being too big it looked insane on her.
"I didn't think you were gon' be the out cold redneck Rick told me about." She whispered a little mocking his voice somewhat, keeping her distance while wringing her hands together. She was probably worried about hurting him, she knew Daryl was a tough son of a bitch but he looked awful, like he was really hurting but he was trying to ignore it as he hugged Cora.
Daryl smirked a little never letting his eyes leave hers. "Didn' know I wer' out 'til few hours ago." She smiled weakly while staring into his ice and steel eyes. "I tried t' find ya, but you'se already gone. Went t' ya house, but you'se wer' both gone and fuckin' Merle, he didn' want me searchin' fer ya. I tried Aly I tried real fuckin' hard to find ya, I promise-" He was beginning to ramble, it was the most he said since he had woken up and his ability to speak was coming back but it was difficult to control, his mouth just kept running making him sound like a kid. Something Aly must have recognized as she rushed to him, to stem the flow of words she stood by his side and wrapped her left arm around his neck and her right hand came up to the right side of his face, pulling him slightly towards her so she could bury her face in his hair and kiss his head. It wasn't often Daryl would lose control in this way and become vulnerable and almost scared, usually he would just get mad and go out fighting, breaking stuff and then come back again.
He felt like he had let her down, he felt like he wasn't good enough for her or anybody else just like his father told him. Told him he wasn't good enough. Smacked him around. Showed him he wasn't good enough. Abused him. Neglected him. Blamed him.
Aly didn't want him to think like that, she had spent every day from the very day they had met trying to build him up. She spent hours every week trying to break through his tough exterior to get to the soft interior, to see what Daryl was really like because she knew the racist, tough and rough guy was a front he'd put up. Merle had taught him to be tough physically but his childhood taught him to be tough emotionally, it taught him to keep everything he felt bottled up inside and the only way those emotions were allowed to be expressed was through anger.
Before the evacuations they had; had a big break with Daryl. She had spent all her time being nice and soft telling him he was good enough and he was perfect but he still didn't believe her, even when Cora said he was her best friend, so Aly decided to change tactics and purposely evoked an argument. During this argument she yelled at him telling him he was useless, stupid and not worth the effort. He was enraged, she could remember the way he grabbed her and pinned her to the nearest wall, he ground his teeth as he yelled back. He yelled about how he had tried to make her happy by believing in himself, how he had tried to do right by Cora and stop swearing around her, how he had tried his hardest at everything she had set before him. As soon as those words left his mouth she smiled, all the doubt and self-hatred, all the disgust and bitterness had left for a moment and he believed he was worth something.
"It's ok Daryl, I knew you'd look for us, I tried to call you but there was no reception. I had to protect Cora, we had to go." She said running her fingers through his dirty hair as she tried to explain why he wasn't able to find them. She didn't care about how dirty he was, it wasn't his fault, nothing was his fault.
"I-I looked fer ya, everywhere I went, hoped I'd find yer both somewhere." He rambled a little more securing his hold on Cora who had fallen asleep in his arms where she felt safe, for the first time in months. "I'm sorry I let ya's down, I tried-"
"Shh Daryl, you did your best you didn't let anybody down. We're here now, we're safe now."
Daryl sighed and nodded turning her head to look at him. "I fell off a horse when I wer' out lookin' fer Carol's girl, done gone and stuck ma self with a bow, when I got back... Andrea the crazy bitch shot me. Right in the head, don't 'member much since, woke up and everybody tellin' me I was gone fer a month. Some kinda infection."
Aly nodded at him listening to him tell the story, she could see he was still reeling from waking up after a month of unconsciousness and the shock of everything happening since then by the amount he was talking, there were no grunts and no simple two or three worded answers. He was half way between delirious and panicked. "That Glenn kid told me all about it. The wound got infected even with the antibiotics you gave them, they ran out after a while and had trouble finding more, by that time you were gone. They couldn't wake you again." Daryl sighed, the story seemed to fit. He smiled a little as she ran her fingers through his hair trying to soothe his pain and confusion. "She missed you a lot you know..." She said pointedly looking down at Cora. "And I missed you too."
He was about to reply when Lori and the rest of the group began to slowly drift towards them and the fire for something to eat, many of the group made their way over to him and said how glad they were to see him awake. Nobody mentioned Cora or Aly or asked how they knew each other, they just focused on him but he knew they were probably curious.
Aly grabbed a chair from just beside him and quietly sat down, she wasn't going to leave his side again, he meant too much to her to lose him again. Aly watched Rick as he came over to the group, he nodded towards them and sat down beside his son as some of the woman began cooking for the group. Daryl smiled a little when Hershel handed him a glass of water and some painkillers.
"I think you need to get some rest soon, you're looking a little worn out." The older man said to the man dozing in his chair while cradling the young girl.
Daryl nodded and met Hershel's eyes but instead of answering, the blonde woman beside him answered. "Don't worry Hershel, I'll keep an eye on him."
A small handful of the survivors travelled down to the lake based just behind the farm, there they were in direct sight of the lookout so they could be safe. They were all carrying weapons to protect themselves. Everybody besides Daryl, who was disgusted by being told they didn't want him carrying a weapon, he was still a little unstable on his feet and if he moved to fast his sight blurred but he was adamant he could handle a weapon, Rick compromised and said he'd allow Daryl to carry his hunting knife but not his crossbow.
The group slowly wandered down to the lake together each of them carrying something, some of carry had clothes and laundry in need of washing, a few were carrying water canteens that were in need of refilling. Daryl walked beside the beautiful woman who had come back into his life just a few days ago, her daughter ran rings around the pair skipping and giggling in her new outfit. Carol had approached Daryl a few days ago and told him what happened to Sophia and offered him something that Cora could change into, something she would've been more comfortable in, at first he didn't want to accept but she insisted.
When they reached the edge of the water Daryl continued straight on in so he could clean himself up a little, he walked into the water until it was waist deep and peeled his shirt of in the water.
Aly quietly sat down at the edge of the water beside the rest of the women that had come with them and began to help them wash the clothes, she sat between Carol and Andrea who she knew were part of the original group, she was curious to know what they thought of him. How he had presented himself to them, but apparently the two women also had questions. Two other woman sat beside Andrea and chatted to each other and listened to their conversation at the same time.
Andrea was the first to ask her questions all the while she had a devilish grin on her face. "So how exactly do you two know each other?" Aly smiled thinking about how she'd met the man, it was not an ordinary meeting but she knew at that moment there was something about him she was attracted too.
She had found Daryl sitting with his back against her garden wall, his nose was bleeding quite heavily and was beginning to soak through his flannel shirt, he had a cut above his eyebrow and the skin of his knuckles had been torn. It was obvious he had been in a fight but he didn't seem too badly injured.
Aly climbed out of her car keeping her eyes fixed on the injured man constantly. She was glad Cora was with her Mother's house, Aly didn't want her daughter to be exposed to the blood and this stranger, she didn't know how he'd react to anything. Aly locked the car door and stopped in front of the man who without a word slid away from her, he must have known she was a little weary of him and tried to compensate for that.
"Do you need me to call an Ambulance?" She asked one hand holding the gate as she stared at him. She could honestly say he wasn't the most attractive man she had ever met but maybe that was just because he was covered in blood so she couldn't see him properly, but there was something about him that sparked Aly's interests, he looked like a rugged tough guy but his iced steel eyes said the opposite. They told her, he had seen too much in his life time and it probably started at a very young age. He was glaring at the floor and chewing on his bottom lip in frustration before she spoke, he then just looked up at her, his rage seemed to calm a little and his stormy eyes settled.
"I'm fine, yer'd just be wasting yer time."
Aly grinned. "If you won't let me call you and Ambulance, you dirty hick, you'd better come in and let me sort you out." His accent was heavy and it distorted his words quite a lot, he rolled his eyes at the word hick but got up slowly anyway, he made sure there was plenty of distance between them as he followed her down the path and he stayed at the door until she invited him into the kitchen. She told him to sit down at the table and he did, she half expected him to make himself at home but when she returned to him he was sat carefully in the chair with his hands knitted together in his lap. Aly sat in a chair opposite him, as she sat she saw his body completely tense up and his jaw clench, either he was in pain or she made him very uncomfortable. "You gonna tell me your name?"
His eyes met hers and for some bizarre reason it made her heart flutter, he had astoundingly beautiful eyes but they were filled with agony. "Daryl." He said gruffly. "Hew're you?"
"Alvaretta, but I prefer Aly." Daryl scoffed and chuckled a little at her name as she wiped the blood from his nose. "What?"
"That's a dumb name."
Aly paused her story for a moment as Andrea laughed at Daryl's bluntness, it was so typical of him. She could tell Daryl had been serious about her having a dumb name but she wasn't offended by it at all.
"Sit still." She said to him as she stood from her chair, she moved beside him so she could tend to his cut she gently held a wet cloth to it, her free hand holding the side of his face to stop him moving away. His skin was strangely soft for a man and Aly felt the urge to brush her thumb across it, Daryl sat in silence as she did what she had too. He didn't feel as tense and anxious around her as he did a few minutes ago, he hadn't completely let his guard down but he felt a little safer.
Aly looked out at Daryl as he stood in the lake, even from here she could see the scars that riddled his body, she then looked at Cora who was yelling to him, he was smiling at her and talking back. She couldn't go much further out because the lake was too deep and he couldn't come any closer because he was probably naked judging by the clothes floating nearby. Aly took a deep breath and shook away the thought of Daryl naked.
"He let me clean his face and as I got to his hands something changed, the atmosphere was on fire. I was originally just going to clean him up and send him on his way, but I just couldn't, he reluctantly told me he'd gotten into a fight with his brother Merle and that was how he ended up outside. He hadn't eaten and didn't have any money so I fed him, he even helped me clean the dishes, we sat in the living-room, opened a bottle of wine. Next thing he's got me pinned the wall and we're at it like school kids." Aly couldn't help the blush that enveloped her when she remembered how the pair had practically attacked each other, the more he drank the more relaxed he became, the more relaxed he became the more the chemistry between them built up.
Carol giggled and put her arm around Aly for a few seconds. "It's easy to be dragged in by his charm when he tries to be nice."
Aly laughed in reply and nodded. "Next morning I got up and I could hear him talking to himself in the kitchen, when I got to the door he was sat at the table with one of Cora's picture books reading out loud to himself, I think... I broke a little inside seeing him struggle to read a simple book. When he noticed me he panicked a little and was ready to rush off, he was so embarrassed, but I asked him to stay and offered him breakfast and a coffee." Aly became a little more sombre remembering how she asked him if he graduated high school, and he told her he never went.
Carol had stopped laughing and instead looked out at the man who had put his clothes back on and was blissfully unaware of their conversation as he played with Cora. They all seemed to share the same sad smile as they watched him, he'd make a good father by the looks of things, the look of love and adoration for Cora was beautiful. A man who was so rough around the edges, snappy and temperamental was also so soft, kind and gentle but rarely had the courage to show it, he'd rather have people hate him then see what he was really like and that was heartbreaking.
"Daryl, you can't wear that shirt it's covered in blood. Take it off so I can wash it." Aly said walking towards him and undoing one of his buttons to get him moving, for a moment he hesitated but then began to remove it, the further he got to unbuttoning it the more Aly wanted to cry. Why didn't she notice that last night? It wasn't his toned body that had caught her attention this time, it was the scars that littered his skin. She wanted to kiss each one away. "What happened to you?" She looked up in Daryl's eyes and saw his iron resolve, he wanted to tell her but his defense told him not to. But she didn't need to tell him how he got these scars, the small round ones on the inside of his arms looked like cigarette burns, he wouldn't do that to himself. "You were just a child when you got these, hmm?"
Daryl grit his teeth, he didn't expect her to work it out so quickly. "You gonna wash this fuckin' shirt or stand there runnin' yer mouth?" He snapped angrily, Aly wasn't offended or hurt by his sudden hostility, she'd half expected it.
"It took him months to finally admit what happened to him, his father was an alcoholic and Merle was locked up so his father used to beat him, burn him, strangle him. Anything he could to inflict pain on him." Aly wasn't sure if she should really be telling Daryl's story, but she trusted these women and wanted them to know why he was such a hard ass, she wanted them to know how good he really was.
"Oh that poor man, I never even thought..." She paused and watched him slowly wade out of the water with Cora, her hand secure in his. He stopped and pointed on back up to the camp as he said something, she nodded and began to run straight towards where ever he had told her to go. He then met Aly's eyes and she knew he was asking her to come over, he just kept his distance from the group. Aly stood up and brushed herself down, she straightened out Daryl's leather jacket and then headed towards him, ignoring Andrea's wolf whistle and their cackling.
Daryl raised an eyebrow as she met him and gave a one-sided smile as if he knew they had talked about him.
"Somethin' you'se wanna tell me?" He asked curiously as Aly blushed and shook her head.
"We were just admiring the view." She replied stunning him a little.
Daryl nodded and hummed, he didn't entirely believe her but he let it go anyway. "Gonna go back, get some sleep fuckin' out of it." As he said that he yawned and scrubbed his eyes like a child. Aly nodded watching the water run from his hair down to his already saturated clothes, she watched him shiver and began to shrug off his jacket and offer it back but he held his hands up. "Survive a lil' cold fer now, change when I get there. Look's better on ya anyways."
Aly smiled and shyly looked at the ground, she didn't really know where the two of them stood right now, before the apocalypse they had begun a romantic relationship but then they lost each other for months. Who knows if he still had the same feelings for her, if he still wanted to be with her. "Yeah, you go get some sleep. We... need to talk later."
Daryl's brow furrowed in confusion and he lifted a cold hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, his hand then lowered to her neck where he could rub his thumb along her jaw. "I do somethin' wrong?"
She shook her head and covered Daryl's hand with her own. "No you didn't do anything, I just... I need to know... what we are you know?" She paused and tried to be more specific, he didn't quite understand and was still easily confused. "I need to know if there's still an... us, or if we're just friends-"
Daryl cut her off with a chuckle before moving his free arm to wrap around her waist and drag her close to him, his clothes were cold from the water but his skin radiated heat. "You'se can still be ma girl, if that' what yer tryin' ta say." He leaned in close so their lips were just a few millimeters apart, she could feel his hot breath tickling her mouth and her heart was racing, he still wanted her. "Yer mine forever, you, yer girl. Mine." It took just moments for the memories to come flooding back as their lips touched, she could remember their first kiss, his first kiss. The first night it was just sex, his first time, not that she knew that. Every time they hooked up after that it was more than just sex, it was love, they had made love.
Aly found herself lacing her arms around the man's neck so she could draw herself closer to him, god she'd missed him. She missed the way he'd bury his hand into her hair while slipping his other into her back pocket and she missed the way it felt to be pressed against his chest. His passion and his fire. The way he made her stomach turn.
They both heard Andrea yell at them to get a room and Aly wasn't surprised when Daryl let her go for a moment just so he could flip the other woman off all the while not breaking their kiss. He had learned not to be too rough when he kissed her, not that she was fragile and delicate but sometimes it was just too much and he seemed to be putting that lesson into practice. He placed soft, tender kisses against her mouth each one lasting longer than before, making her mouth tingle. He smiled a little as he kissed her, like he was truly happy for the first time since he'd lost her, like nothing mattered as long as they had each other. She could barely stop the moan as it left her mouth, he was surprised he could have that kind of effect on her.
Her lips had the same taste as the first time, like cherry lip balm, it was delightfully more-ish. Daryl could feel his heart pounding as her lips replied softly to his, he couldn't stop his tongue flicking out a little to taste her mouth. He hadn't intended to make their kiss any more than reassuring but once again he got sucked in by her being.
Daryl Dixon, the angry redneck who'd suffered as a child at the hand of his family, who'd build himself a mental fortress to live inside felt... free. And he could be free with a woman who was perfect for him. She'd give him a good shove when he was unnecessarily rude, she'd stand by him when he was having a hard time and she'd love on him whenever he wanted. And that was what he wanted, to just continue this moment.
To hear the birds singing in the trees and the sound of laughter, he wanted to keep feeling incredibly loved and he wanted to keep loving her forever. He let his hand run from her pocket up the back of her t-shirt to touch her skin, she flinched and groaned at how cold his hands still were making him chuckle against her lips. He pulled back from her slightly, so his forehead could rest against hers, they both kept their eyes closed as the pair tried to catch their breath. The lack of oxygen made Daryl feel a little delirious, his head span a little making him stumble back.
"Are you ok?" Aly asked suddenly looking worried. He just smiled and nodded before kissing the top of her head and reluctantly letting her go. He felt euphoric, it was a feeling only she had ever given him and it was a feeling he was learning to enjoy.
Aly was just about to say something when she heard the most horrific scream that she recognized instantly, without a second thought she dived out of Daryl's arms and ran up the hill just as her daughter came sprinting towards her, she gathered the girl in her arms and ran back behind Daryl just as a stray Walker appeared over the top of the hill. Daryl pushed Aly back further behind him before pulling out his knife. "Bring it on, you son of a bitch..."
Aly was near frantic back in camp and Daryl was furious, their peaceful moment had been ruined, he had just cleaned up and now he was covered in blood again.
"Who the fuck was on watch, who let a geek inta the camp?" He stopped for just a second as he glared at Rick. "She could'a been fuckin' killed. You're the leader of this shit, you sort it!" He growled pointing a finger at Rick before looking down at Aly as she checked Cora over for scratches or bites.
He didn't hang around for long, he stayed until Aly confirmed Cora was well before storming off towards the edge of the farm, he propped himself up against the fence looking out and stayed there until it began to get dark, he ignored everybody when they called him in for supper and went back on his own accord. He had to clear his head and there was no way he would've managed that in a crowd of people. They would've just aggravated him by asking if he was okay, or if Cora was okay, they'd be lucky if Cora went as little as a week without sleeping properly after this.
Slowly with his hands buried in his pockets Daryl wandered back down the field to his tent, he was still pretty pissed off about what had happened, if that Walker had got Cora, he didn't know what he would have done. It made his heart hurt to think of that little girl ending up like one of those flesh-eating freaks, ending up like... Sophia, he finally understood a fraction of what Carol must have felt. To see her daughter in that zombified state trying to tear apart living people, he didn't ever want to think about Cora ending up like that. He wouldn't be able to put her down like any of the others, it'd destroy him. And Aly.
He got to his tent, unlaced his boots and kicked them off before picking them up and stepping inside, he was a little surprised to see Aly already cozy in his sleeping back while Cora slept in hers on the far side of the tent. He was shocked to find her there because he hadn't spoken to her or anybody else since the incident down by the lake. Neither half of the couple spoke as Daryl undressed, stripping down to underwear and then pulling on a pair of shorts. He always wore them to bed in case Walker's came in and he had to make an emergency exit, didn't want to get caught in his underwear or worse. Naked.
He dropped his shirt in the corner of the tent and turned to the little girl in her sleeping bag as she shuffled, she cracked her eyes open a little and looked at him sleepily. "Daddy?" She whispered, for a minute Daryl didn't know what to say or to do as he looked at Aly for help but she said nothing she just stared at him in return, so slowly and carefully he knelt beside her. He brushed her hair away from her eyes and smiled a little, not sure if she could see it in the dark or not.
"Uh, w-what is it darlin'?" He asked surprised to hear his voice shaking like it was.
The girl yawned. "Are you still mad?"
Daryl sighed, he didn't realize she had taken notice of his outburst, he thought she had been to hysterical herself to take note of it. "No, I ain't mad no more. What happened was a mistake, I am sorry if I scared ya, didn' mean too." He leaned down and kissed the girl's forehead as he zipped the sleeping bag up a little more to keep her warm.
"It's ok Daddy." She said using the parental term again, it knocked the wind out of him a second time. "I love you." She whispered snuggling down and allowing herself to fall asleep. Daryl stayed frozen in his spot for a moment, had that all really happened? Did she really tell him she loved him? The only thing that broke him from his daze was Aly whispering his name, he glanced at her and licked his dry lips before slowly crawling and sliding into the sleeping bag with her, she had cleverly joined the two bags by the zippers to make one larger one. Daryl settled into it and Aly automatically shuffled closer to him propping herself up on her elbow so she could watch him, he stared up at the top of the tent in shock. His hands were tightly fisted by his sides making Aly place her free hand over his until he loosened up and let their fingers weave together, she hadn't held his hand in so long she had forgotten how perfect it felt.
"I-I couldn't say it back, couldn't say the fuckin' words." He whispered for the first time ever, feeling like shit because he couldn't please someone he was trying to make happy. "What kinda person..."
Aly shook her head unwinding their hands so she could grasp his chin and turn him to face her. "Stop it Daryl. You are a good man but you're also a man whose never seen the same kind of love she has, you've never been in a position where you can honestly express how you feel like she has. Cora knows how much you care about her and she knows how hard it is for you. Don't beat yourself up." Their eyes met and even in the dark she could see how mad Daryl was at himself for not being able to return Cora's sentiment, she let go of his chin and placed her hand on his chest where she could feel his heart beating, but she could also feel some of his scars.
"Will ya, tell me about yer family again?" Daryl asked, he seemed a little shy when he asked but she happily granted him that wish.
"I grew up in the same mountains you did, just a little closer to town with my parents and my older brother. Mom worked in a store on the outskirts of town that never really made much money and Daddy, well he couldn't get a job so he'd carve little wooden statues and every weekend he'd take my brother to town and they try to sell them to the folks. Sometimes they did well but most times they spent more money on gas than they actually made." Aly said out loud. "My brother he was good, kind, like a brother should be. But being kind wasn't enough to save his life. He'd been seeing this girl who lived in town for a while, he was serious about her, wanted to marry her even. On his way to see her one night a... drunk driver smashed straight into the driver's side of his truck and after three days of solid agony he eventually... died, 22 and he had his life snatched out of his hands." Aly whispered the last sentence as she thought about her older brother, the man who could make her smile at the hardest of times.
Daryl nodded and reached up to brush a tear away from Aly's face. "After Michael died, Mom and Dad fought a lot and eventually Daddy left us and moved away to Texas, turns out he had saved up money to help pay for our future weddings so he used that money to go elsewhere. Momma and I slaved away to earn enough money to keep the house going and live well, then Cora came along and those plans changed, there were days where we had nothing and I thought I was going to lose my daughter but we survived. Daddy died when Cora was just a few weeks old and left all his money to me, everything he owned was to be sold and the money that made would also come to me. I gave some too my Mom and bought a home a little up the mountain with the rest. Up in this mountain lived this strange redneck man, one of the Dixon brothers, have you ever heard of him?"
Daryl smirked and pondered for a moment before shrugging. "Don't know him, bet he was a real fuckin' stud though right?"
Aly giggled. "Oh yeah he was. Had a real way with words too, could drop the F-bomb in one sentence more than I had in a month. But along with being devilishly handsome..." Aly started as she shifted herself over Daryl so she straddled him. "...He was very angry at the world, thought nobody would ever care about him and that he weren't worth shit-"
"-Sounds like a real pussy." Daryl said a little sadly.
"No, he was far from it. He was beautiful, charming, an exceptional hunter and brilliant with my daughter, his childhood had been horrific but it did not stop him from becoming a wonderful, if a little hotheaded, person that I adored." Aly splayed her fingers across his chest as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "And he had this awfully sexy habit of sucking his fingers when he was done eating. That made me want to do things to him you can't even imagine."
That instantly got Daryl's attention and Aly knew it, she felt it. "Jesus Christ woman, you betta stop, can't while the girls here."
She found herself giggling again. "You're no fun." Daryl groaned and she could see in his mind he was weighing the pro's and con's of what was about to take place, what could go wrong but how right it would feel. "Daryl Dixon, you better make your damn mind up!" She said sternly leaning down to place a gentle kiss on his lips, without a second thought he flipped himself and the beautiful woman so he was above her. His stare was intense but Aly was distracted by his hand reaching under the pillow. "What are you doing?"
He smirked as he grabbed hold of what he was looking for, holding the foil square so she could see it. "Don't think Grimes could deal wit' another Dixon." The woman shook her head and reached up to capture the man's mouth in a burning kiss that said everything they ever wanted to say to eachother. Everything they felt all at once.
I want you.
I need you.
I love you.