Authors Note: Sorry this took so long! Hopefully I will be able to update quicker next time! ENJOY XX
Previously
He strokes her cheek lovingly, his whisper almost silent, "love you Angel," before aiming his gun at her temple.
Chapter Sixteen
Daryl POV
"Love you Angel," he had finally gathered up the courage to tell her how he felt but it was too late, the words would mean nothing to the monster that had now taken over her body. The gun clicked as he pulled the trigger back and took the safety off. He pressed the barrel of the gun to her temple and she seemed to flinch back, his spare hand moved to cup her cheek. Daryl's ice blue eyes became glassy with unshed tears.
"…Dar…" the whisper was practically silent, if he hadn't been so close he would have missed it. Daryl leapt back as if he had been burned, he hastily put the safety back on and dropped the gun. Moving back to her side he pushed back her matted hair. The silver glow of her eyes met his stare, they were her eyes, not a monster's, "…Daryl…" this whisper was just as quiet as the first.
Forgetting where he was, forgetting that they were expecting him to kill her Daryl kissed her; his lips caressing hers gently. Taking the key for the handcuffs out of his pocket he quickly undid them but instead of letting her hand fall, he held it gently and brought it back to the bed, his thumb stroking the back of her hand.
The others who were in the room and had watched the scene playing out before them and came forward, tears in their eyes, but this time ones of joy.
Joelle POV
Joelle was confused; she hurt all over and was struggling to breathe, wasn't death supposed to be painless, easy, a groan slips through her lips in pain. Her arm was numb and she tried to tug it into a different position but something was keeping in there, a hiss escaped her lips.
"Oh my god," the broken whisper comes from Roxie, Joelle turns her head to see her sister but her hair had matted in front of her eyes and only the light was visible; blinding Joelle slightly.
She feels a strong hand on her cheek, "love you Angel," Daryl's rough voice is sad as it reached her ears, it sounded like a goodbye. There's a click before the unmistakable coolness of a barrel from a handgun. Joelle flinches back away from the threat, Daryl's hand again cups her cheek.
She wants to speak but her mouth is as dry as dust, "…Dar…" she can hear the gun drop to the ground, calloused fingers brush against her forehead as her hair is moved away from her face. Joelle meets his icy gaze and her heart breaks as she sees the tears gathered in his eyes, "…Daryl…" it's no louder but he seems to have heard.
When his lips touch hers it's like finally coming home, in that moment the fight is forgotten, the apocalypse is forgotten, all there is, is the two of them and it's enough.
He pulls back and undoes the cuff before holding her hand and gently guiding it to her side. Then the others surrounded them happiness evident on each of their smiling faces. They each came forward and gave her a gentle hug, holding her like she was made of glass, no one was shocked when Merle hugged her, they'd come to realise that Elle had forced her way into his black heart and that they were family.
"We thought you were a walker, you stopped breathing for a long time Jo," Rick said after the round of hugs Joelle had given. Lucas came back after leaving to fetch some water and Jo smiled gratefully and downed the bottle he offered.
"It'll take more than a bullet to the shoulder to kill me and you should know that." She turned to Roxie and Lucas, "thank you, for not giving up, for saving me."
Roxie sniffed a little, wiping away her tears, "that's what families are for Jo, we couldn't lose you," she moved forward and delicately held her damaged sister. Joelle's eyes were dropping and Daryl ever aware of her quickly told her to go back to sleep and shooed the others out.
Her eyes were closed when he finally turned around; she could feel his stare as it bore into her. Lazily she beckoned for him to come and lay down with her, she smiled as she felt the bed dip under the added weight. He was clearly as exhausted as she was, letting out a deep sigh as he laid back and carefully wrapped his arms around her. Joelle smiled as she snuggled into his embrace, "Love you too Daryl," and with those soft spoken words she drifted off.
Daryl POV
She slept a lot after the incident but woke when she was hungry or thirsty which was a good sign well Daryl thought so anyway. He slept beside her each night, unwilling to let her out of his sight but at times it was unavoidable. He'd been distracted since that night though her words replaying over and over in his mind "Love you too Daryl" she'd heard him and not gone running in the opposite direction, better yet she'd said it back. There was a question that had hung in the back of his head though What now? Daryl Dixon didn't do relationships but that's what this was, wasn't it?
A delicate yawn drew Daryl out of his thought and to the woman beside him, he could help but smile at her scrunched face, mouth open in a perfect O, she was so adorable when she was sleeping a fact that everyone in the prison knew especially Daryl.
"C'mon Angel it's time ta go eat 'fore we have ta see Hershel," they got up slowly and he helped her dress, her arm making it too hard to do on her own.
After they were both dressed they walked into cellblock C's small cafeteria, once Elle was sitting down he collected their allocated food from Carol; who was once again doing the cooking, he sat down next to her. Throughout the meal Joelle would shyly smile through tresses of her hair before looking down a pale blush staining her cheeks.
He took their plates away before going back to Joelle and lifting her easily, he carried her bridal style to the infirmary. She giggled before frowning teasingly, "I demand you put me down!" she said her face serious, he rose an eyebrow, her face broke into a huge smile before a fit of giggles broke free from her throat. He held her tighter and couldn't help his own smile that had suddenly appeared, Daryl leaned down and softly brushed his lips against hers.
Joelle's giggles stopped and she sighed in pleasure, her good arm wrapped around his neck and she pulled his head down to increase the pressure he was applying, he moaned which made her instantly wet, "better stop this D or I'm going take you right here," her voice was husky with her arousal.
Daryl pulled back and was suddenly very thankful that he was carrying her as she was hiding the bulge that now occupied his pants, "righ' ya are Angel," and with those words they continued on their way to see Hershel.
Joelle POV
Two weeks after the Governors attack on the prison, Hershel deemed her fit enough to be able to go on runs; much to Rick, Lucas and Daryl's displeasure. Joelle was itching to get out and do something she was not the kind of person to sit still so when Maggie, Sasha and Michonne declared they were going on a hygiene run she literally jumped up and said she was going.
Daryl grumbled the whole time upset that he wouldn't be there to watch her back seeing as he and Lucas were going hunting. She smiled at him before taking his hand and leading him away from the group.
"I know your worried D, I get it, if I were you I'd be worried too but Michonne, Maggie and Sasha will be there too and you know they'll probably make me watch the car anyway," her voice was hushed and urgent as she tried to relieve some of his worry.
Her pleading seemed to break through to him and he nodded slowly, "kay' Angel I trust ya bu' as soon as ya start hurtin' ya tell em? Deal?" he looked at her, his icy gaze searching hers.
"Promise," as soon as she'd said the word his mouth was on hers, his tongue begging for an entrance and she gave it to him, she let out a moan as his silky tongue stroked hers.
Joelle pulled away a little breathless, "I have to go now, but I'll be back before you know it D," with a small smile she pulled away and walked towards where the others were waiting.
Once she was sitting in the car she turned to find Lucas, Daryl, Rick, Hershel and Beth waving goodbye, wow way to make it depressing thought Joelle as they drove through the prison gates.
The trip was longer than the usual runs because of the fact that more and more places were being cleared out and the group was having trouble finding new places that were within a reasonable distance.
Maggie was sitting in the front seat when she started humming a soft tune recognisable to Joelle who soon joined in, making the car ride a little less dull. Soon Michonne was tapping the steering wheel along with the beat and Sasha was also humming, at the end of the song the four women shared a look before bursting into laughter.
"So Jo, you and Daryl all good now?" Maggie asked, a grin firmly in place.
"Yeah really good actually," she couldn't help the small smile that had appeared on her face in mention of Daryl.
"Enough of that gooey stuff ladies where here," Michonne smiled in mirth and they had in fact reached their destination.
The pharmacy looked old and run down but reasonably salvageable, they stepped out of the car in unison; weapons at the ready and ears open. Once they reached the dust covered door, Maggie went to enter when Joelle stopped her.
Three eyes turned to her in question but instead of replying Joelle knocked hard on the glass door, "to draw the walkers out, so we have no hidden surprises," she whispered back answering their questioning gazes.
A look of understanding crossed their expressions but before anything could be said two walkers slapped themselves against the glass door, drawing a startled jump out of Joelle and Maggie. The constant moans and hisses coming from the walkers were loud so without further ado Maggie opened the door and let the walkers limp towards them.
Sasha took out the first; a decaying old woman who's face had been torn off by another of her kind. Her hand wound around the walker's neck before a knife was plunged through its skull. The next walker was a ratty looking male with a missing arm, Michonne was quick to take care of the problem; slicing his head in two with her katana. Joelle didn't fail to notice that the others had purposefully left her out of danger.
They stayed in formation while doing a sweep of the pharmacy, there were three more walkers and Joelle made sure to kill at least one of them. After the sweep was done and Maggie deemed it safe they began gathering supplies for the prison. Soon the duffle bags and backpacks were filled with body wash, deodorant, pain killers, flu medicine, shampoo and conditioner, and a whole lot of baby things for Judith.
Michonne rounded the corner, "hey Jo do you need many of these?" she held up a box of tampons.
"Uh… I haven't…I'm not…" Maggie and Sasha came up to them Maggie quickly stuffing a few boxes of condoms into her bag.
"Joelle when was your last period?" Maggie asked hands on her hips and a motherly air about her.
"I guess a few days before Daryl and I…" Sasha raised her eyebrows along with Michonne and Maggie, "that's not possible I had a low fertility count before the world went to shit… I can't be…" she whispered her heart racing; they already had to care for Judith another baby would be incredibly difficult.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when Sasha placed two small boxes in her hands, "there's a toilet out the back why don't you just do the tests and we can't work from there." Sasha's voice was calming and worked on the obviously stressing woman beside her.
Joelle walked numbly to the toilet pulled out the two pregnancy tests and quickly followed the instructions. Once she was done she walked out both the test in her hands, the others had been busy while she had been doing her business. More bags now littered in newborn items and nappies, along with prenatal vitamins.
They lugged all the bags back out to the car, loaded it up; Jo dragging her feet at the prospect of going back to the prison, after they were all in Michonne winked at her in the mirror and drove off. Maggie and Sasha were staring at her intensely and even though Michonne's eyes were on the road Joelle could tell she was paying attention to what was happening in the back of the car.
"Come on Jo, you have to do it sooner or later and if you do it now we can work out what to do," Maggie reasoned with her.
"You sound like you already know what the result is…" Jo stated bitterly but with a sigh did as she was told.
Pulling out the test from where she had stashed them in her pocket, she took a deep breath before looking down. Two pink lines stared back at her and Joelle Grimes promptly burst into tears.
OOhhh she's pregnant! Shit! What to you guys think boy or girl? And I'm open to any suggestions for the name! Anyways I would like to thank Sallie and Aidan my beta's and also those people who took the time to review! It was really helpfully and I really appreciate it! Thanks to everyone who followed and favorited! XX