Enjoy. Review. Sorry it's late so I need to go. Sorry for mistakes.
Daryl didn't see Paige again that summer.
When he had gotten in later that night Merle had been there, sitting on the sofa and holding a beer.
"Hey' he grinned. "Went well then? Paige called that woman and she nearly cried when she heard her voice. They're pissed at you but at least they ain't gonna call the police on us fer kidnapping." He laughed. When Daryl didn't join in he focused on his brother.
"Wha's wrong? He asked. Daryl didn't answer. Instead he walked past, into his room, shutting the door behind him
XXXXX
It was harder after the holidays ended. He had thought, for a while that she would come around when school started. He kept trying to talk to her, to explain but she ignored him for the most part and when she did speak, it was blank and expressionless. She was cold.
Eventually he stopped bothering. He spent most of the day in the woods but he never saw her there again.
Something else happened in the weeks of Paiges silence that distracted him, however.
A woman in a dark suit had arrived at the trailer one day. She looked nervous, which was understandable given the looks she was getting from the few residents that were around.
Daryl was in bed at the time. By the time he'd stumbled into the living room Merle had shut the door and was sitting on the sofa, rubbing his face.
"Who was tha'? Daryl asked groggily.
"Lawyer." Merle looked at Daryl. "Pa got into a bad fight las' night when he was drunk. He's dead." Merles voice was flat and expressionless.
Daryl let the words sink in. Part of him was in shock. His father had been in hundreds of fights before, thrown thousands of punches.
The other part of him was relieved and he hated himself for that. But the fact that the hell that he felt every time he came home to find his dad there was over… He couldn't help but feel elated at the fact.
Looking at his brother, he could see the same conflict raging in Merle. It was one of the only times he had felt truly close to his brother.
TWD
The weeks after his fathers death were hard on Daryl.
The funeral had been simple, with just him, Merle and a couple of his dads drinking buddies, all looking bleary eyed from drinking the night before.
After that everything sort of blurred for the Dixon. He spent the nights partying with Merle and didn't wake up 'till at least noon every day. He got a reputation for fighting and had been cautioned more than once. People left him alone and learned to stay away from the "trailer at the end of the street."
He still felt flashes of pain when he thought about Paige but he dealt with them differently now. By punching a wall, for example. He tried to forget her but he couldn't get the image of her tear stained face as she walked away, out of his mind.
So he filled the void with more parties, drinks, girls. None were like Paige though. None as quirky, as cool as his former best friend. He tried to push thoughts of her into the corner of his mind but they lingered, ever present.
He remembered her red hair, how she flicked it out of her eyes when the fringe got too long. How she nibbled on the skin of her thumb when she was nervous. How her brown eyes shone when she laughed and how those eyes could look at him in a way that no one else could. Like she cared.
TWD
He was hunting. He did a lot more now, partly for fun, partly for food. And partly to stop thinking about Paige, not that he'd admit it to anyone.
He grinned as he took down a deer he'd been tracking for over an hour. As he moved towards the lifeless body, he prepared to tie it and drag it home. The muscles on his arms were more defined now, from fighting and hunting.
He froze as he heard a sudden sound. He listened. After a few seconds he went back to what he was doing. However his head flashed up when he heard the noise again.
Thump.
The dull thud was barely audible but his sharp ears, trained to track, caught it.
He hesitated for a second, glancing down at his kill but upon hearing the sound again, he set off in pursuit, telling himself he could always come back.
He peered around a tree into a small round meadow. The sound was close and his eyes searched for the source. Only when he found it he wished he hadn't.
It was Paige. She was holding her bow the way he'd shown her and was aiming at a tree twelve feet away. She hadn't changed. Her hair was a little longer but other than that she was the same. The same red hair. The same brown eyes. And- he smiled- the same tights and boots.
She hadn't seen him. She was too engrossed. He watched as she took aim, pulling the arrow back with ease and released. It hit the bulls eye, joining the others there. She'd been practicing.
He turned to move away, to leave her to it but a twig snapped underneath his foot.
Her head shot up and he prayed she'd wave it off. But she moved towards him instead.
"Daryl?" she asked, sounding confused. "What're you doing here?"
It wasn't mean or spiteful, just surprised. It wasn't her to be angry or bitchy, it was one of the things he'd missed about her. He held up his crossbow in explanation and she nodded. She went to the tree, yanking out the arrows.
"You're getting good" he told her. She shrugged, facing away from her.
"So you're just gonna ignore me, huh?" he asked, getting pissed. She turned to face him again slowly and there was no anger in her eyes, only sadness. He realized in that moment that this had hurt her as much as it had hurt him.
"What do you want me to do, Daryl?" she asked, her voice pleading.
He strode forward and took her shoulders so she was looking at him.
"Be my friend again" he told her. "I'm sorry, I told you that."
She looked away.
"That's not the point" she whispered. "You're sorry for all the wrong reasons, Daryl. Still. You're sorry for hurting me. The only way you're doing that is by not telling me how you're hurt. Don't you see that. I only ever wanted to help you but whenever I tried to ask you shrank away. You acted like I would stop being your friend if you told me. As if I would stop wanting to know you. Like that was possible. Right now, I don't know you. This person, who acts cold and mean all the time? I don't know him and I don't want to. I want you to be my friend. The one I met in that science room who could've told me where to go but didn't. Who could've asked a million questions but didn't. You were the only person in that school who I felt looked at me for me and not just the weird new girl."
She looked back at him, her eyes burning fiercely. Her voice had remained calm throughout and it was only her eyes which gave away how upset she was. After a few seconds she pulled out of his arms gently. He let them drop, suddenly empty.
"Until you realize that I want to know you, the good and the bad, I can't be your friend. It hurts too much."
She turned away and he wondered how many times she would walk away from him and if it would always hurt this badly. Before she left she turned back towards him.
"And Daryl?" He stared at her and saw the hesitation in her eyes. She smiled sadly.
"For what it's worth…I'm sorry about your dad."
He stared at her as she disappeared through the trees. When she was gone he sank to the ground heavily. Arms on his knees, staring but seeing nothing, he let his thoughts consume him.
Was this okay? I remembered a comment I got saying something might happen making Daryl change to how he is in the show. That wasn't what I was thinking when I wrote this but two birds, one stone, right? I think Daryl could learn to be more trusting without his dads influence but y'know, opinions? Anyway, night, night,
JAGWALFF