Chapter 14

-Daryl-

An hour later, Daryl climbed the rickety steps to the watchtower, tray of food in hand, with a scowl etched across his handsome face. Who the fuck did she think she was with her breakfast in bed bullshit? Why didn't she just come the fuck inside? Rick knew that he was wrong Daryl knew, he'd spent the whole day in his cell staring up at the ceiling, and both men had been restless at the idea of her sitting outside by herself for so long.

When Carl had come back reporting that she intended to sleep out there, Daryl had cursed under his breath, and insisted on taking watch that night, even though he hadn't slept more than 30 minutes at a time in well over 48 hours.

As he'd left the cell block, tray of food in hand, Rick had stopped him and told him that he expected Daryl to take care of her as if she was Rick's own sister. From his words, Rick could be talking about just keeping her safe from Walkers, but something in his tone told Daryl that he was being told to behave as well.

'Ain't like I'm gonna fuck her,' he thought, blushing slightly at the thought. Not that a pretty, smart chick from a good family would want him anyway,

Rick had always been alright at apologies, but Daryl figured part of him couldn't bring himself to face Lexi because he'd have to explain why. The guilt of killing Shane had never left their group leader, neither had his anger at Shane and Lori's betrayal. It had been enough to ruin his and Lori's marriage, and Daryl grimaced at the thought of watching it destroy another relationship in Rick's life.

He opened the door to the watch tower expecting to find her awake and waiting but instead she lay curled inside her sleeping bag sleeping soundly. She looked smaller somehow, wrapped in her thermal cocoon, and far less jaded than he knew her to be in life. Looking at her breathing softly, he could hardly believe that this woman was capable of cursing without feeling guilty, let alone capable of safely leading a pregnant insane woman through a zombie apocalypse. He remembered how quickly she'd drawn her knife up to Andrea's throat when they'd been discovered, and how steadily she'd driven them through the crowd of walkers outside of Woodberry. But he also remembered how she'd chosen to sedate his guard rather than kill him. Somehow, she'd managed to develop the stomach for making and executing the hard decisions required of people in this new world without losing her humanity. Daryl was impressed with her, in spite of himself.

He shut the door behind him as quietly as he could but the sound caused her to shoot up in bed gun drawn and cocked before he finished turning around.

"Relax, it's just dinner," he said smirking as he plopped down into one of the desk chairs.

"Sorry," she said getting to her feet, still wrapped in the sleeping bag and shuffling over to the chair across from him.

Without him to go hunting, there had been no fresh meat for dinner, but Carol and Beth had still managed to pull together a nice semblance of a Mexican dish, with canned ground beef, corn, black beans, and salsa. She must've liked it well enough, Daryl thought, because while she started eating delicately with one hand still tucked into her sleeping bag, she was soon shoveling it down, holding the plate closer to her mouth to minimize the distance her fork had to travel.

He frowned as he glanced back at her, realizing she'd kept the hand hidden on purpose. It was black and blue and swollen, with clear fingerprints from where Rick had grabbed her. The sight made Daryl furious. It wasn't that he hasn't seen his share of bruises, or that he didn't think she could handle a twisted wrist. He just remembered the way she had reached out to comfort Rick, and the shock and pain in her eyes when he had responded so violently. If Rick wasn't already beating himself up for it, Daryl would've marched back down the guard tower and done it himself.

"Lemme see," he said finally gesturing to her wrist as she finished eating.

Her green eyes flew up to meet his blue ones cautiously. There was something so inexplicably personal about the way she looked at him through her dark eye lashes, as if the only thing that existed in her world in that moment was him.

"It's nothing really," she muttered, but at a look from him she held out her arm anyway. He took it delicately and began to study it carefully. He was worried about the way it was swelling right beneath her thumb, but after inspecting it for a moment he determined that it'd be fine after a few days of being wrapped. He'd had more twisted wrists from being jerked around as a kid then he could remember, and, more than once, a dislocated shoulder. He'd learned early on how to determine between a serious injury and something he could disregard.

He'd stashed a pillow and blanket up hear weeks before and he put her wrist down for a second to fetch them. Pulling the pillowcase off the pillow, he tore of a strip of cloth and sat back down across from her.

As he sat back down, he noticed that the sleeping bag had fallen down to rest around her waist. She was dressed for bed, and even though her teeshirt was baggy he could still see where her nipples pressed against the thin fabric in the cool night air. The sight was enough to give him a halfie, and he looked away in embarrassment, focusing again on binding up her wrist.

"That should do ya," he said finishing, and, without another word, he turned back to the window and began to peer out it into the night as of she wasn't there.

-Lexi-

Lexi stared at him perplexed. She would never have expected such tender treatment from him. The way his callused fingers had gently inspected her wrist sent tingles down her spine and made her feel hot in places she knew she shouldn't.

'This is Merle's brother,' she reminded herself, hoping that the warning would be enough to slow her rising pulse. He got up suddenly and walked across the room giving her space to breathe, but in seconds he was back wrapping her wrist tenderly in a makeshift bandage.

He looked up at her strangely then. A muscle in his jaw tightened and he adjusted in his seat, staring intently back down at her wrist as a soft blush spread across his cheeks.

Finishing, he mumbled something to her, then swiveled around in his chair to stare out into the empty yard. Lexi got the distinct impression he was ignoring her, which bothered her more than she cared to admit. Frustrated, and now, to her horror, horny, she turned in her chair as well and stared out angrily into the night.