Heart of Dixon

Chapter 21: Discoveries

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Robin's POV

I ran over to Daryl just as Rick and Shane was picking him up. I fell in a crumbled feet nearly four feet away, sobbing with everything I had. I only let up when Rick turned over to me with a strained smile, "He's alive, Robin. The bullet only grazed him."

A second later, I heard the very slurred voice of Daryl's, "Why's Bitty crying? I'll kill you if you had her cry." He threatened, but his voice was too slurred and jumbled to feel intimidated. It brought a smile to my lips. I got up and ran over, I pushed Shane out of the way so that I could help Rick carry Daryl. He was heavy and he stank something awful but I was still so happy that he was alive, but the happiness quickly went away knowing someone just shot Daryl, and I was about to kill that someone.

"Are those ears?" Glenn asked, looking at Daryl's homemade walker ear necklace. I glanced at it just before Rick ripped the thing away from Daryl's neck and shoved it in his own front pocket.

I didn't hear what Rick had to say, my focus was on Andrea who was running quickly this way. I knew it was her who shot Daryl, "Shane, take Daryl." I grounded out.

Shane quickly took Daryl, both of us ignored Daryl's small protest. I felt his hand weakly grab my shirt but I pulled away. I was marching right over to Andrea with both fists at my sides clenching so hard my knuckles were white. My teeth grounded as I saw red.

"Oh my God, is he alright?" Andrea yelled.

I didn't allow anyone to answer before I snapped, "Yes, no thanks to you, you stupid bitch!"

"Now's not the time, Robin." Rick ordered, but I ignored him.

"I thought he was a walker. I was protecting the group!" Andrea defended.

I scoffed, "Oh my god, use your fucking brain! Even I figured out that he wasn't a walker before I ran over. Rick and the guys weren't moving and he wasn't attacking. Anyone with half a brain can figure out that he wasn't a walker. You nearly killed Daryl!" I screamed.

"Like I said I was trying to do my part…" She snapped.

"You want to protect the group?" I asked.

She actually nodded.

"Then grow a brain, get over yourself, and don't pick up a gun. You can save us by not showing off your shit aim!" I growled. I turned around to help Daryl, who was still able to watch the show. Seeing him bleeding from the head pissed me off again knowing she had been so close to killing him. I whirled around back to Andrea. With all my weight and force, I punched Andrea right in the jaw which made a wonderfully painful crunch sound. Everyone was yelling at me, but I didn't care. I didn't even care about the throbbing pain in my hand. I just stepped over her fallen form, not giving a single fuck.

I turned to the others again for a moment. Rick, Daryl, and Shane stared open-mouthed at me in shock. I glared at Rick and Shane who weren't moving the bleeding Daryl inside, "Get your asses moving, Daryl's bleeding!" That made them move then into a running pace, only to be stopped once more by T-Dog.

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" He held up a very worn and dirty doll. I remembered it being clean the last time I saw it. Sophia got it from Morales' daughter and never let it leave her sight.

"Come on, we'll ask Daryl once he wakes up." I said slowly while looking at the doll.

Rick, Shane, and I carried him to the bedroom I was sleeping in and set him on the bed. I noticed Hershel grimacing at all the dirt and blood that was getting on his clean bedspread, but at that moment I didn't care. It was then I noticed a large blood stain on his abdomen. I pushed past Rick who watched Hershel clean his head wound and pulled up Daryl's shirt. On his side was a hole that continued to ooze fresh blood. I looked at Hershel to see if he noticed only to witness him sigh at the wound.

Underneath my hand, I felt Daryl twitch. His panic-filled eyes flew open and darted around the room. He only seemed to calm when he saw me standing there at his side.

I shushed him gently, "It's alright Daryl, you're safe." I soothed. I squeezed his hand gently, and for once he didn't pull away. He continued to hold on as Hershel cleaned and stitched his wounds, occasionally he would squeeze my hand if he felt pain, but not too hard. When Hershel asked him to turn on his side, Daryl tensed for the longest time but eventually turned over. I let out a silent gasp when I saw the scars that covered Daryl's back, I knew he heard me when he squeezed my hand again. He turned his head slightly to look at me, his beautiful blue eyes filled with fear of rejection. I smiled gently and squeezed his hand back. Immediately his body relaxed.

Rick came in with a map and started asking questions. He asked him what happened and if any men tried to hurt him. Turns out that his horse got spooked and threw him off down a small cliff similar to the one I fell from. Daryl landed on an arrow and tried to climb at the small creek he landed in. I flinched and squeezed his hand when he told us about how he pulled out the arrow to kill a walker.

Rick then laid the map down beside him to show where he found the doll, "I found it washed up on a creek bed right there." Daryl answered pointing at the map, "She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere."

Rick turned to Shane, who was sitting unimpressed, "Cuts the grid almost in half"

Daryl scoffed, "Yeah, you're welcome." He watched Hershel who was stitching up his side wound. I laughed quietly at his sarcastic tone. I was too happy that he was alright and alive to care about his rudeness to Rick.

"How's he looking?" Rick asked.

"I had no idea we'd going through the antibiotics so quickly." Hershel said coldly. He finished with the stitching and walked over to the portable water basin to wash his hands, "You have any idea what happened to my horse?"

"Yeah, the one that almost kill me? If it's smart, it left the country." Daryl said squeezing my hand again.

"We can that one Nelly, as in Nervous Nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you bothered to ask." Hershel scolded Daryl, who didn't seem to listen or care.

Hershel walked up to Rick, "It's a wonder you people have survived this long." He then turned to me, "Do you mind letting him stay in your room until he heals?"

I didn't turn to him to answer, I squeezed Daryl's hand and smiled, "He can stay as long as he needs."

"Well, he needs to get cleaned up first before he sleeps in your bed." Hershel said. When Hershel walked out Rick and Shane followed leaving Daryl and me alone. We were silent for a long time. I held his hand while we stared at each other. It was a little awkward, but I didn't care that much.

Daryl was the first to break the silence, "So you like me again, girl." I frowned at the 'girl' part. Daryl didn't call me girl or woman since he started calling me Bitty. I realized at that moment I really missed being called it. It meant that things were good between us, but now…

"I never stopped liking you, Daryl. I was just going through something and I had to process it. You were rushing me and I just exploded." I explained.

"How about now? You good?" He asked, his voice raspy but it no longer affected me badly.

"No. I can't just go back to being myself again after all that. It will take me a while to stop having the nightmares, but I'll, hopefully, be fine in time." I said, "But I'm better than I was when I first got here."

"Why wouldn't you look at me?" He asked.

I swallowed thickly, "I was ashamed." I answered truthfully, "I thought you would think differently of him if you knew what I had done, what I went through." Before he could say anything, I made a break in conversation, "I thought about you the whole time."

"You thought about me when during all that?"

I nodded, "When I started to give up and needed strength, I thought about the strongest person I know." I looked up to meet his beautiful blue eyes, "I don't think I could have survived if I hadn't."

Daryl opened his mouth to say something but Hershel walked with a large bucket of water, "You can't take a shower because you'll get your stitches wet. So you'll just have to sponge bathe. Here's you two clean towels. Do you need help getting off the bed?"

Daryl shook his head, "Nah." He said sitting up with a grimace, he still held my hand in his rough hands, not that I minded. He seemed reluctant to let go when he slid his legs off the bed.

"Wait, Daryl, before you do that let me go grab your stuff." I said running out the door.

I went out on the porch just as Dale was talking to Andrea. He was trying to comfort her, but what he said made my jaw drop, "Don't be hard on yourself. We've all wanted to shoot Daryl." He accomplished in making Andrea laugh…and making my blood boil.

"I don't think that's funny." I snapped. Both quickly turned around to see me standing there.

Dale stood up and held out his hands, "Now, Robin, I was just saying to make Andrea feel better. I meant nothing by it and I'm glad Daryl is alright. Andrea is just feeling guilty…"

"Good." I snapped, "She needs to feel guilty. She nearly killed Daryl. If there's anyone you should trying to help feel better, Dale, it's the man who has eleven stitches on the side on his head and six in his side!" I pushed past Dale and threw a menacing glare at Andrea. Sadly, she was being smart and didn't say anything to me.

I found Carol putting up laundry, she gave me a small smile when she saw me walking over, "How's he doing?"

"He's good. I'm bringing him his stuff. Do you know where his tent is?" I asked.

She smiled and pointed at the tent furthest away from the group of tents. I said thanks and headed over there. In his tent was pretty well organized, which was shocking for him. He never cared about how dirty he was or how smelly he was but everything was placed neatly in his tent. Even his sleeping bag was laid out nicely.

I was picking up his clothes and packing in a duffle bag when I black cloth fell from a stack of Daryl's underwear. I quickly scooped it up to find out it was my pair of black lace boy shorts. I would have assumed that they were forgotten when Daryl brought me my stuff, except for one obvious cool. The crouch had dry white flakes. Someone most have had a panty fetish.

Most women would be appalled by this and demand for Daryl to tell her why he had the panties and chose to jizz on them, but me on the other hand, felt like I got the biggest ego boost of all time. I smirked down at the panties and pocketed them. I didn't plan on calling Daryl out, not yet at least. He ever all was hurt, but maybe when he got better.

I zipped his tent up before making my way back to the bedroom. I didn't encounter Andrea or Dale on the trip back, not that it would have bothered me if I did. I was still smiling devilishly at my new discovery. My smile was only wiped away, when I walked inside my room greeted by a back full of scars.

Daryl turned around too fast hurting his scars, I only know this because he reached down covering his front wound with a grimace, "Don't barge in like that girl! What if I had been naked?"

I smirked again, "Then it would have made my day even better." I said and smiled wider when I saw Daryl's face turned a bright pink. He turned away to get back to washing his chest and back but was having a hard time reaching because of the pain caused by the stitches.

"Here, let me help." I reached for the rag, but he held it away from my reach.

"Bitty, I don't need your help." I smiled on the inside hearing 'Bitty' again.

"I know you don't need it, Daryl, but I want to. So please let me." I gave him a pleading look. After a minute of just staring at me, Daryl handed over the rag. I could barely contain my excitement at touching Daryl's bare chest. My God, the man looked so damn sexy, even if he was hurt. He didn't have abs but he was toned.

I stood in front of him as I cleaned the dirt and blood from his chest and stomach. My eyes stayed on his even when I dipped the rag into the water and wrung. They only left his when I had to clean around his wound so they wouldn't get wet, but as soon as it was over, I went right back to looking at his blue irises.

When that was over, I started cleaning his face. He flinched when I reached up to clean, but he let me do it. I was extra careful about this head stiches but I still remained eye contact with Daryl. I took a step closer to clean his neck and shoulders, bodies were so close to touching. The whole thing made my body feel hot and I was no doubt blushing the entire time.

My breathing picked up when I realized that it was time to wash off his arms. Finally I was able to touch that I've been obsessing over since I first saw the man, well it's one of things I've been wanting to touch, you can guess what the other part of him was. Anyways, I really took my time washing off his arms. This time, I didn't keep my eyes on him as I bathed him, but I did feel his eyes on me.

Finally I was about to wash Daryl's back. I knew he was going to be tense even before I started and I was right. As soon as he saw me walk behind him, his entire body got tense. Every time I put the rag on his back he would flinch, but less hard and obvious than before. As the dirt and grime washed away, I saw his scars even more and he was covered in them. My heart broke as each one was discovered and when I knew that my theory that Daryl had been abused. Small tears leaked from my eyes just thinking that someone Daryl loved and trusted could hurt him like this.

When his back was clean, I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him to me. I nuzzled my face into his shoulder blades and shook with the silent sobs. It wasn't just about Daryl being abused, it was from everything that happened. From us getting separated, to get captured, our fight and then Daryl getting hurt.

"You crying?" He asked.

"No." I lied with a sniffle. I continued to hold him until his hand touched my fist, the same one that I used to introduce my knuckles to Andrea's jaw. I didn't realize how much it hurt until he gently touched his fingers to them.

"Damn, Bitty you really punched her, didn't ya?" He chuckled lightly.

"It's what she deserves for shooting you." I said, "I have no regrets."

"Not even with your swollen knuckles?" He asked.

"Nope. I don't care that they hurt. I'd do worse to her if I could get away with it." I took a leap of faith and kissed his back. He flinched for a moment but relaxed quickly. When I felt him move, I let go. I was worried that he was pulling away because of disgust, but he turned and faced me without saying anything.

I reached up and touched his face. Once again he flinched but he didn't move or push my hand away. He only watched me as I caressed his face. My brushed my thumb over his bottom lip when the thought of kissing came up. I wanted to kiss him so bad, but I didn't think he would let me. I didn't want him to pull away.

When I saw his eyes dart to my lips and then back to my eyes, I thought to hell with it. I slid my hand slowly to the back of his head. Daryl had the same idea in mind because his head was slowly and steadily leaning towards mine. I tilted my head to meet his lips. It was perfect, just like in the movies and trashy romance novels, time seemed to slow and it was like it was just me and Daryl in the universe. Our lips were just millimeters apart, I could feel his heated breath on my face and he felt mine. I was both nervous and excited about the kiss that my heart was beating a mile a minute in my chest. Our lips finally brushed when that damn door opened, Hershel killed our moment.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked.

Daryl said no while I snapped, "Yes!"

"Sorry but I have to bandage his wound now that's he's clean. Anyway it's best you leave so he can clean his bottom half." Hershel gave me a scolding look. I huffed and pouted. I was really excited about helping him clean 'his bottom half'.

I turned to Daryl, "I'll be back once it's done." I smiled sweetly up at him. He didn't look at him when he nodded, but I could still see his adorable blush. I gave him a quick peck on the shoulder then left. I walked out with a smile, a real smile.

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