Warning, I have family in town, I'm really sick, and wrote the whole thing on my Chromebook instead of my laptop today, so the writing might be a little rough this chp.
Daryl froze.
All that relief he was feeling just moments before immediately recoiled and felt like he'd been punched in the gut. An overwhelming nausea struck him like a lightning bolt but he didn't move a muscle. He couldn't. He was utterly frozen, like he was face to face with a tiger and if he so much as breathed, it would realize it's hungry and he looks like lunch.
Eve couldn't control the flood of emotion that whirled through her like a blender, mixing and contradicting with just 3 little words, but the one that dominated all the rest was absolute terror.
Not real-life horror movie terror, it was complete petrifaction I-don't-know-what-to-do terror.
Her entire face radiated enough heat you could grill a steak to perfection on it, and the smile that slowly crawled across her face put the sun to shame.
She was overwhelmed by 2 dominating polar opposites of emotion and it crashed her whole brain like the blue screen of death.
Halfway through a mad scramble to get her thoughts together, two of them collided and what came out of her mouth was, "I love me too."
The second it left her mouth, her smile dropped like an egg from the top of a skyscraper and she's never wanted to die on the spot in her entire life more than she does right this second.
"No ah— I meant— you — I-I love you… Too."
'Someone kill me.' Eve chased away a whimper of pure embarrassed frustration that wanted to escape her throat so badly, and grit her teeth to keep herself from making it worse.
She's never felt more mortified than right now. She had to choose now to not be able to speak English. This had to be the thing she had a knee-jerk reaction to instead of just — why couldn't she just have been stunned for a second and then said it back properly, like you're supposed to?
Her thoughts were cut off as soon as she glanced at him and her eyes fixed on the tips of his red ears, and then finally looked at his face.
Daryl pressed his lips together so tightly they were turning white and he still failed to hide the smile that was desperately trying to pull his mouth apart. Even if he had managed to, one look at his eyes would've given everything away in a heartbeat.
He hadn't planned to say it himself, Hell it hadn't even crossed his mind until the exact moment it left his mouth.
When she said it back though, he didn't think this kind of 'thrill' actually existed. He thought it was made up by writers and shit to make romance stories more dramatic.
Daryl's never loved anyone like this in his life. Not his mom, not his brother, certainly not his dad. Nobody. He didn't have even a single guess as to what this felt like and a new wave of nausea hit him, because it scared the shit out of him.
He is actually terrified at how just looking at this one human being makes him feel, against his will. How he feels when she's not in his sight and doesn't know where she is, is the most soul-crushing anxiety he's ever felt.
One person has never meant so much to him. He's hasn't wanted another human being in his personal space since he was a kid and he's never wanted to keep someone so close that they never move out of it.
Daryl barely noticed that he'd pulled her in tighter without even thinking and leaned his head against her shoulder, burying his eyes in her neck but Eve was more than grateful for it. As much as she'd have loved to, she couldn't handle another minute of someone having full view of her face right now.
The fence behind Eve rattled harshly and a particularly loud growl made both of them jump, Daryl arms tightening as he unintentionally pulled Eve farther away from the sturdy fence.
Eve looked at him after a moment and they both snorted simultaneously. Silently agreeing that the moment's over and that maybe this isn't the best place to do this in the first place but whatever. No take backsies.
Daryl finally let her go as she gently pulled back to lean down and swipe his crossbow off the ground from beside her.
Daryl saw what she was doing and did the same with her knife, both of them rising back up to trade their weapons before Daryl wrapped his arm around behind her and gently nudged her forward as he started walking, signaling his intention of following after the other two, finally.
Eve was about to head up anyway, she's starving. And at the moment she remembered it, her stomach decided it was time for choir practice.
Daryl snickered as Eve shushed her tummy, stroking it like a dog, and Eve ignored his amusement in favor of putting her knife back in it's rightful sheath.
Daryl kept his arm around Eve's back, hand resting around her side — not because he just wants to keep it there or anything — it's more out of concern for how tired she is and he's worried she'll fall, as they finally caught up with the other two who are for some reason still outside even though they could've gotten all the way inside during the time it took the two of them to get up here.
However when they neared the door, Eve stopped.
Daryl's thumb absently made circles on her back as he looked at her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Eve looked at the building with wary uncomfortable eyes. Her feet not wanting to carry her forward another step. She just got out of there, she's not too keen on going back in.
She's gonna have to eventually she knows that she just … needs a minute to work up to it.
Daryl knew exactly what she was thinking just by looking at her profile and the face she's making, so he let his hand fall from her side and slid it into her palm.
Eve automatically returned his grip and took a deep breath. She's fine. She's ok. It's spacious inside, there are windows — barred but windows — and the others are all inside.
She let the weight of her head go and let the back of her skull pull her chin towards the sky, taking another deep breath as she stared up at the little puffs of a few clouds floating listlessly through the pale blue.
She took another second to just breathe, letting her eyes close for a few steadying breaths before lifting her head and nodded as Daryl gave her hand a questioning but reassuring squeeze.
She feels bad that he's always helping her with stuff like this. Ever since the first time it feels like it's been happening more and more frequently. Of course she knows why, it was bound to happen what with the stress of just daily life skyrocketing but it feels like since they lost the farm it's been happening way more often than she can even deal with alone anymore.
Unconsciously her grip tightened on his hand.
She'd be lying if she said the fear and paranoia of becoming dependent on him to get through attacks and her own fears hasn't started to creep it's way into the back of her mind.
She can't afford to be dependent on another person to cope but the more she thinks about it, the less sure she is that she was ever doing very well coping with them on her own.
Given the circumstances, the stressors are certainly more frequent than they ever used to be but the fear of actually having an attack has lessened since Daryl — since they met and fell into their partnership, long before he witnessed her first attack. Even when he had no idea what was going on, he still noticed something wasn't right and tried to help her.
Eve shook her head as her stomach rumbled again followed a painful hunger cramp. Casting the thoughts aside, not wanting to think about this right now, she took a step and allowed Daryl to lead her to the door finally. And he took the lead out of habit but also because he somehow just knew she's unconsciously going to resist. She'd stand there all day just staring at the building if he doesn't give her a little nudge.
The second they went in, Maggie looked over from the other side of the room where they've got a small table set up with food preparation stuff and she gasped the second she saw the 4 of them entering, "T-Dog! Eve!"
A thundering of footsteps followed the sound of something hitting metal and two pairs of feet slapped against the concrete as they came running out of the cell block like their lives depended on it.
Daryl guided Eve to sit at one of the tables as Glenn came around the corner out of the cell block and slid to a stop, spotting his girlfriend rushing to one of the tables and throwing her arms around a familiar figure.
A laugh of pleasant disbelief escaped him, enormous relief flooding and relaxing his entire body. Carl on the other hand, who came out only seconds after him, didn't lay eyes on her for more than a second before he ran straight for her, his eyes already welling up with hot stinging tears.
Eve opened her arms staying right where she was as Maggie let go and moved back just in time, having heard the rapid steps coming up behind her.
Carl's arms crashed around her neck, the same way hers had to Daryl and wrapped like a boa constrictor and she hugged him back so tightly Carl's back popped, his Sheriff's hat falling to the table after bonking against her shoulder.
Daryl picked it up as she gently rubbed Carl's back while Randall absently told them he was gonna go tell the others who went down into the tombs that they could stop searching and Maggie jumped on grabbing the both of their lost & newly found comrades something to eat, while everyone took turns hugging and reuniting.
How she and T-Dog ended up outside, none of them know but there's plenty of time for that now.
Carl swiped the silent fluorescent trails from his cheeks before pulling back and Eve gave him a warm reassuring smile, and just looking at her made all the panic about her being gone seem silly.
She looks no different than she did yesterday. She was only gone overnight, and although she's tired & hungry and could probably use a shower, she doesn't look any worse for wear.
Carl finally stepped back, the uncomfortable pit in his stomach finally dissolving back into a feeling of quiet strength he didn't even know he had.
He told himself all night that when she was back everything would be ok. Now that she is, he can finally breathe again.
Glenn finally came over with nothing but a bright relieved smile as Carl finally pulled back and Eve gave him a cheeky smile, ruffling his hair, just like she always does. Who knew something that used to annoy him would become his greatest source of comfort.
"I thought we lost you in the tombs." Glenn's so relieved he's almost crying as he hugged her, her arms wrapping tight around him with an incredibly reassuring amount of strength. Nothing at all like when they nearly left her the morning after the farm was overrun, when she collapsed on the road looking near dead.
Her arms now squeezed him back with enough force that it wiped away every fear he had about her lasting the night on her own.
Sometimes he forgets just how capable his best friend is.
He pulled back to look at her up and down, really making sure that she's alright and his eyebrows actually raised in surprise.
She doesn't even look any worse for wear, just tired, and rightfully so.
Eve's become like his sister. He doesn't know what he would've done if she'd been hurt or if god forbid they never found her.
Their return was celebrated with a much needed change of clothes and a few minutes to clean up before they returned to the dining area to have some much deserved breakfast and about 2 whole bottles of water each, and were filled in on what exactly happened.
Andrew, the prisoner that ran after Rick killed Thomas, came back. He took an axe or cutters to the chain they had on that back gate keeping the walkers out and then lured the dead in with pieces of a deer. He turned on the prison generators that were hooked up to the alarm and ambushed Rick, Daryl and Oscar when they got down there to turn it off.
At least one good thing came out of it, Oscar proved himself to Rick by killing Andrew with Rick's gun and then giving it back to Rick even though he could have shot him.
They also learned that Carol never made it back. T-Dog explained that they got separated almost immediately after making it into the prison by a couple of walkers that came out of nowhere, and he never saw her again. But when Rick and the others went searching — while everyone that had fled into the tunnels were still missing — they found evidence that Carol was gone.
Eve's heart broke at the news and noticed how Daryl had his eyes on his shoes, next to her. Wordlessly and without drawing attention to what she's doing, she scooted closer and slipped her hand back into his in his lap, squeezing and gently rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. Giving as much comfort as she herself was taking.
Carol is to Daryl as Glenn is to her. She and Daryl share a profound friendship that seems almost familial and it started after Sophia went missing but during the winter, usually when Eve & Glenn were hanging out or doing the occasional solo run (the awesome duo, forever skirting death just like the good ole days), Eve usually came back to Daryl hanging out with Carol.
The two of them would often banter back and forth and occasionally Eve would chime in and annihilate them both with one comment.
She must admit, he's hiding it very well but Daryl can't keep secrets from Eve. She knows him too well. He's burying the pain, closing off so he doesn't have to feel it and taking it with a grain of salt.
Everyone grieves in their own way but she's not going to let him close himself off entirely. He's the kind of person to deal with his grief silently and by himself. That doesn't mean he should be alone while he does it. Thankfully offering a silent support is what she does best.
Daryl returned the grip on her hand, their interlocked fingers hidden beneath the table as Eve finished her second water bottle after vanishing her plate of food like a magician, as usual.
And then it happened.
Beth came in the room with the baby and Eve smiled when she saw the tiny little human and then froze solid when Beth walked up to her.
"Do you wanna hold her?"
Daryl watched her for a few seconds, before he and Glenn both worked out what's going on in her head at the same time and shared an amused grin from either side of her.
"Here, pass her." Daryl didn't give Eve a choice and Beth carefully passed him the newborn, and Glenn subtly put his hands on Eve's shoulders, gently squeezing her out of her shocked state and launched her straight into a hilarious expression of fear as Daryl carefully put the baby in her arms.
"Hold her head like this, make sure ain't goin' nowhere if she squirms." Daryl positioned her hands and is doing a lot better than Glenn at containing his laughter. Eve looks like he's teaching her how to use a rocket launcher, not hold an infant.
Freaking out is an understatement but she devoted an incredibly unnecessary amount of focus on holding the child, and it's exactly the sort of heart-warming hilarity they all needed.
Daryl teaching Eve how to hold a baby.
Eve looks like she's afraid of her but the baby looks perfectly content with her surprisingly.
After a few minutes of careful concentration and uninterrupted focus, Eve suddenly looked at Daryl with world-ending realization. "It's a baby."
Eve can't remember a time she's ever held a baby, in her entire life. What if she drops it— her? What if she wiggles and Eve can't hold onto her and she drops her and—
Daryl saw the look on her face and really struggled not to laugh now. She helped deliver the kid, how is she only just reacting, now?
"Yeah, she is." He nodded, trying to be a little sympathetic and not taking complete enjoyment out of this but she's not making it easy. "Relax. You got 'er. She ain't gon bite ya."
"Not until she starts teething." Hershel joked and everyone burst into laughter at the sudden alarm on Eve's face. It being painfully obvious with just that look that she has no idea when a baby starts teething.
The baby seems to enjoy grabbing her finger and holding onto her shirt even though she's a newborn. Just flexing her little hands and curling around things, doing what babies do; like scaring the shit out of grown women who can stab a blade clean through an eye socket without so much as blinking.
After a few minutes Eve actually settled down, rocking a little from side to side, more to calm herself down, and it was like magic. That baby was out like a light, and Glenn made sure to comment, "See? She likes you."
Eve stared down at the little bundle in her arms. It's surreal. Holding a child. She can't say that babies and kids in general have crossed her mind all that much in her life, and it was never like this. It was always other kids because the last time she interacted with a kid before the apocalypse for more than a few seconds was when she was still a kid herself, or near enough.
But looking at the little body radiating soft warmth through her little blanket, there's only one thing that comes to mind.
She understands Lori completely now. She would sacrifice life and limb to keep this little one safe.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed your escape from reality, and I'll see you next chp! Don't forget to Favorite, Review, and Follow for more!
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