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The sound of the last gunshots seems to echo on forever. The only other noise is Carol's wailing cries, but she soon pushes herself up and away from Daryl before running away.
Beth is crying. Harley doesn't realize that's who it is until she sees the girl rush past her and falls to the ground next to one of the walkers. Her mother, it must be. Poor girl.
Then Beth is screaming. Harley drops her empty gun before she really knows what she's doing, and rushes over despite the pain shooting through her ankle. She removes her knife and grabs the walker's hair in one move. She rips the corpse away from Beth and drives her blade into its skull, killing it once and for all.
Standing tall, Harley inhales sharply as Jimmy grabs Beth and leads her to the house with Hershel and Maggie. Shane follows after them, shouting and Rick chases. Harley limps into the barn and finds an old blanket and carries it out, carefully laying it over Sophia's body.
She finally feels the pain again when she tries to stand. She falters a little and winces but manages to stand just as Daryl reaches her side. "I'm good," She holds up a hand to him, her voice coming off harsher than she meant for it too. She clears her throat and looks around at the bodies. "We need to clean this up. Burry the bodies. Burn them."
"You're not," Daryl shakes his head and Harley's eyes snap up to his face. "Not on that ankle, come on." She's going to protest but shifts her weight a little do much. Her ankle gives out and if it weren't for Daryl holding her up, she would've fallen. "Don't be stubborn now, let's go."
Leaning on him, Harley follows Daryl away from the barn and towards camp. She feels tired but her body is buzzing with energy at the same time. On the walk up, she focuses on her breathing, trusting Daryl to guide her when she closes her eyes. She doesn't know how many times she counts to five before they reach the RV.
He helps her inside and to the seat across her Carol who sits, staring out the window. Daryl glances at her before lifting himself onto the counter. And there they sit together in silence until Lori comes to tell them it's time.
"Come on," She prompts gently when Carol shakes her head.
"Why?"
"Cause that's your little girl," Daryl reminds her softly.
"That's not my little girl," Carol denies. "That's some other...thing. My Sophia was alone in the woods. All this time I thought...She didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry, she didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago."
Lori leaves after a moment without another word. Harley releases a shaky breath and stares across the table at the other woman. "Carol-"
"Don't," She cuts her off, and Harley purses her lips. "Just...don't."
Daryl jumps to his feet. Harley looks up at him and reads the growing anger on his face. He felt the most responsible out of all of them for finding Sophia. Harley had never asked him why, she wasn't sure if he even really knew the reason. And now, after all this time, finding out she'd been dead since-
Harley pushes herself to her feet with him and limps outside. Though he's silent about it, Daryl helps her make her way back down to the barn where most everyone is gathered around three graves.
No words make their way out of anyone's mouth. They only stand in silence, quietly grieving for those lost before everyone splits off.
Regardless of the pain, Harley moves away on her own. Or so she'd thought.
"The hell you going?" Daryl barks at her and quickly moved to catch up. It's not hard, she's not moving very quickly.
"I need a minute," She answers just as hotly. "Kind of hard to have with a shadow following you around."
"You stupid? Wandering off with your leg like that. You tryin' to get yourself killed?"
"When did I become your problem?" Harley stops dead in her tracks and turns to him. "Huh? I don't know if you're aware, but I'm not helpless. Even with a bum ankle. So, I don't appreciate being treated like it."
"Fine! Go off on your own, see if I care!" Daryl yells at her and throws his arm out in the direction she had been walking.
"Fine!" Harley throws her own arms up in the arm and watches Daryl stalk off. She spins around and, in an angry haze, punches the tree next to her. "Fuck." Harley lowers her voice before it can become a shout and cradles her left hand in her right.
Mouth open, Harley pants and looks down at her throbbing hand. Her knuckles are split and bleeding. They'll be bruised by morning, probably swollen too. Biting her lips closed, Harley breaths through the pain and scrunches up her nose.
"Stop being a child, Harley," The woman whispers to herself while sliding down the same tree she'd punched until her butt hits the ground. "The hell is wrong with you?" The force of the punch helped dull her anger, but the newfound pain only annoys her. She feels hot and she wants to punch something else. She would if she didn't know it'd only make things worse.
"Harley!" Turning when her name is called, Harley pushes herself to her feet when Lori rushes to meet her. "Beth collapsed."
"What?"
"I don't know," Lori says and offers her a helping hand. "I think she's in shock."
"Take me to her," Ignoring the help, Harley limps beside Lori all the way up to the house and into Beth's room. She's lying on the bed, unmoving and staring up at the ceiling. Maggie sits beside her, holding her hand but Harley ignores the older girl.
"Beth?" She whispers to the teenager and sits on the edge of the bed beside her.
"She's not responding," Maggie says in a shaky voice.
"She's definitely in shock," Harley holds the girl's wrist, her fingers pressed against her pulse point. "Her hearts racing." Brushing some of Beth's hair back, Harley looks up to Lori. "Hershel?"
"We can't find him," She shakes her head. "We think he went into town."
"Great," Harley mumbles sarcastically. "Find Patricia, tell her to get me an I.V and a sedative."
"Sedative?" Maggie questions after Lori leaves to do as she was told.
"It'll help her body and mind relax a bit," Harley assures her. "The I.V will keep her hydrated, but... other than that, it's up to her. You can stay with her, talk to her. It'll be good, she can hear you."
Patricia finds her way into the room a few minutes later. She helps hang the I.V while Harley inserts the needle into the crook of Beth's elbow before taping it down. She measures out the sedative and gives it to Beth before standing.
"What happened to your hand?" Maggie asks in shock when she finally looks away from her sister and notices.
"Nothing," Harley shakes her head and covers her bloody knuckles with her good hand.
"I'll get you some bandages," Patricia says calmly before leaving the room once more. Harley sighs before falling into the chair across from her. Closing her eyes, she leans her forehead against her good hand and closes her eyes.
"You alright?" Maggie questions softly and Harley only nods in response.
Patricia returns quickly and cleans Harley's hands for her and wraps it in gauze. Harley thanks her quietly before the older woman once again leaves the room.
The sun sets quickly, and Harley doesn't move from that chair except to check Beth's vitals. The sedative kicked in quickly, sending her into a light sleep. Her heart rate has come down and Harley covers her with a blanket when she feels her skin becoming cold.
Maggie heads down to dinner eventually but Harley doesn't. She told the eldest Greene that she would stay and watch her sister. She'll eat later, she promised. It's one she doesn't plan on keeping.
A little while later, Maggie returns looking a little frantic. "Lori went into town to find Rick and the others."
"Why the hell?" Harley questions and pushes herself to her feet. She knew Lori wasn't the smartest, but she never took her to be an idiot either. It would appear that she was wrong.
"Shane went after her," Maggie informs Harley and gestures her back down. "Please sit, your ankle-"
"Is fine-"
"It's not!" Maggie insists loudly. Harley blinks at the sudden change in the younger woman and cocks her head to the side. "It's not fine," Maggie says again, much more calmly. "There's nothing you can do now, so just-just sit."
"Okay," Harley holds up her hands in surrender and does just that. "Didn't know you had that in you." She says after a moment.
"I've been surprising myself a lot lately," The young woman huffs and falls onto the bed next to her sister.
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Shane returns with Lori thirty minutes later. Harley limps into the living room and sits on the couch beside the woman, a pin light shining into her eyes. "No concussion," She determines. "Just some cuts and bruises, you'll be fine."
"And the baby?" Shane asks from the doorway and Harley resists the urge to roll her eyes.
"It's too early to tell anything without proper equipment. Any pain in your abdomen?" She asks Lori while lightly pressing against her stomach and the woman shakes her head.
"No,"
"Okay, good. Just be cautious about that. Let me know if you feel anything abnormal, okay? Any pain or bleeding."
"Yes, thank you," Lori offers her a grateful smile. "How's Beth?"
"She's fine, resting." Harley glances at Shane and back to Lori suspiciously. "Which is what you should be doing. For the rest of the night, okay? And the next few days."
"Yes, doctor," Lori chuckles but Harley tuts at her.
"Not a doctor," Pushing herself to her feet, Harley ruffles Carl's hair as she passes and makes her way into the spare room she once slept in. She just needs to be away from the others and it's the only place she could think of nearby.
Carol finds her eventually, sitting there, staring out the window. She tells her about Daryl's behavior and Harley feels a stab of guilt. If she hadn't let herself get angry, she wouldn't have snapped at him. If she hadn't snapped, maybe she could've...maybe he wouldn't be so angry.
"I'll talk to him in the morning, give him time to cool off," She promises the woman with a thankful smile. It's best this way, she knows. She's used to bouts of anger like that, and it was always best she was left alone for some time. It prevented her from saying and doing things she knows she would've regretted.
The sun rises and Harley hasn't slept. She's not sure who has. Hopefully Lori and Carl but she doubts it. They're probably both up still, worrying about Rick.
As she's said, Haley stands when she sees Daryl outside through the window the next morning. He's with Shane and Andrea, getting ready to go into town after the others but by the time Harley reaches the porch, their car is pulling up.
The reunions between the others are quick. Before Harley even gets to look Daryl's way, she's being pulled into the shed to help perform surgery on some kid's leg. Randell, Glenn told them was his name. A kid from a group of men who shot at them. Harley is a little foggy on the details.
Once she, Hershel, and Patricia finish with the boy, they return to the house to join the discussion. Not much is said, not enough anyway, before everyone's splitting off again. Harley sees Daryl shove his way out the door and follows.
"Hey," She calls out to him as she hobbles down the stairs. He stops, clearly reluctantly, and turns halfway to face her. She waits until she's a few feet away before speaking again. "I'm sorry, I'm an asshole when I'm angry," He gives her an agreeing look and Harley points to him. "And so are you, so don't start. It's gotten me into a lot of trouble before and I'm sure it will again." Stuttering over nothing, Harley looks off to the side and sighs. "I am sorry. And...well, I like being your problem." A smile slowly pulls her lips up when Daryl looks down at her with narrowed eyes.
"Ain't no problem," He eventually says.
"Good to know," Harley continues to grin. He doesn't return the motion, but he doesn't look angry. She'll take what she can get. "Rick wants to talk to me a bit more about when the kid will be ready to travel, but after that, I'm going to come to find you. We're gonna talk, okay?"
"'Bout what?"
Releasing a measured breath, Harley looks to her left before back to him. "You offer to listen to me, I'm offering to listen to you. Or to just sit, not say anything," She shrugs. "I know you moved your tent away. You can be there when I come by, or you cannot be there. Your choice." Without waiting for a response, Harley leaves to find Rick.
Harley thinks Daryl chose not to be there when she finally makes it to his new camp sight. Near the same tree they spoke under just the other day. The same one he'd gone to after arguing with Carol. Sighing, Harley shifts her weight solely onto her good leg. Her ankle will never heal at this rate.
"What happened to your hand?" Harley looks down at her bandaged hand before glancing over at Daryl. He doesn't look at her, just continues to tend to things around the camp. It's a nervous habit, though he'd never admit it. An excuse to avoid possible confrontation.
"A tree got caught in the crossfire of my anger," She answers truthfully. No secrets, after all. She'd made that promise and it's one she intends on keeping. "Just like those rabbits did yours, it would seem."
Lowering herself onto the ground in front of a fallen log, Harley leans back against it and rests her ankle. She watches him move around silently and waits. She'd offered an ear to listen or just a presence, his choice. Patients is key with him, she knows.
"I'm not going to tell you how you feel. How you should feel. It-" Harley speaks some minutes later. She doesn't mind silence, loves it usually. But she feels something here that needs to be...spoken. She sees Daryl's movements slow, so she knows he's listening to her. She stares at the side of his face, willing him to turn and meet her eyes. "But I will ask that you don't push us away because of it. Don't push me away."
Finally stopping whatever the hell it was he was even doing, Daryl stands in thought before moving to sit beside her. He doesn't say anything for the longest time and when he finally does respond, it's not with words.
Reaching out slowly, Daryl takes Harley's injured hand and pulls it to himself. He unwraps the loose bandage and gently runs his thumb over the cuts and bruises. Harley lets him do all this with a soft smile on her face.
Seemingly satisfied, Daryl takes the bandages and rewraps her hand securely. Before he can let her go, Harley turns her hand and grabs onto his own. He turns to look down at her, but Harley just stares forward.
"How do ya-..." Daryl trails off, his voice quiet and gravely. Harley turns her head towards him to see he's looking down at their hands.
"Calm down so quickly?" She takes a guess at what he's trying to ask and he nods. She smiles a little before answering. She's getting better at reading him. "Lots of counseling, lots of therapy. Learned techniques to calm myself down," Inhaling deeply, Harley decides to add a joke to break the serious tension of the conversation. "Or I punch something."
Daryl huffs and rolls his eyes, squeezing her hand a little tighter in his. "I always refused meds," She continues. "Now I'm glad I did. It's not always so easy, sometimes it's harder than others. But usually, I can snap myself out of it with a good distraction. I have breathing exercises. Uh, the one that I found works best for me is counting to five, in my head or out loud. Give myself a moment to think before acting. And if I can't do that then I just need to walk away. Stay away from whatever's causing me that anger until I've calmed down."
Pausing, Harley looks up into Daryl's eyes. "I can teach you some things, if you want," Chewing his lip, Daryl sweeps his eyes over her face before nodding. "Okay." Smiling a proud smile, Harley pats Daryl's hand.
Part of that feels a little off but I do love this part. It's a very important moment in their relationship, as you'll see in chapters to come.
Harley and Daryl's little fight was lowkey childish, but I love it.
Keep you eyes out for the next chapter, it's one of my favorites! We learn something about Harley and super cute moments. It's a hurt/comfort type of chapter.
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