A/N: 12/24/2014 It's Christmas Eve, everybody! And you know what that means? Of course you don't, so I'm gonna tell you even though no one cares: I'm getting my gifts early! Woo! :D Oh, and I work on Holidays. Fanfics don't post themselves, haha am I right, Bob? *nudges ribs*
wildcow258: As always, thank you for your review. I'm glad you thought it was 'moving', so to speak :)
Guest: I don't really understand your review, and I've read it several times. What are you trying to say? Is it positive, or negative? Regardless, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to type and post it. It means a lot :)
Prettyprincess45, SBR1222, and Terp4Life:: Aww! I'm sorry! Both me and someone else read through it before it was posted and neither of us teared up, so I didn't think a tissue warning was necessary D: I'll keep that in mind for future chapters. Thanks for your reviews! :)
Idk if this one needs a tissue warning. I'd say it doesn't, but pace yourself.
Reading time: 3 mins.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.
Chapter eight: Patient~
It had been a few days since Sophia's death.
Carol grieved, and she grieved alone.
He wanted to comfort her, to tell her it was alright, that it was gonna be okay. But he didn't know what it was like to lose a child, let alone your own, and he knew she didn't want anyone to give her any false sympathy. They could all throw her one big pity party that lasted an entire week if they wanted, but at the end of the day not a single one of them would know what it was like to lose their child.
He could never hold a candle to the unbearable grief that woman must have been feeling, and if he went and tried to make it better he would only make it worse, and then she would lash out at him and never talk to him again and then he would have no one. And so he kept his distance.
Besides, for all he knew, a herd of walkers would storm the farm and then he wouldn't have anyone to tell him how important he was, how much he meant to people, how much he could mean to people. And then he would miss it, miss her, and then he'd be the one feeling bad. And he didn't want that.
So when she'd spontaneously come to his tent one day, carefully secluded from the others, asking him to join in on some group discussion that was going on at the house, he had brushed her off, not wanting her or anyone else to get all close and 'touchy feely' with him, lest he only make things worse.
And she'd left, just like that. She didn't push or press or urge him to jump head first into something he was hardly familiar with. He didn't know how to handle people - the very word was foreign to him! And she knew that. She respected his feelings, and so he would respect her.
He told himself it was for the best, and in actuality it was, but in the end, her stupid damned kind words and his stupid damned freaking brain got the better of him, and he followed after her into the house not two minutes later.
Daryl awkwardly leaned against the screen door of the farmhouse, crossing his arms as everyone stared at him, every one of them surprised.
Everyone but Carol.
Heat collected at the back of his neck from being gawked at, being scrutinized, but he had made a decision, and he was sticking to it.
He was staying.
Whether Rick or Hershel or anyone else liked it or not.
The conversation quickly carried on, and he spared a glance at Carol.
She was smiling at him.
He gave her a nod, and focused his attention on the debate at hand, chewing away at his thumbnail.
Carol was getting to be many things, and now, even despite the fact that she was still mourning the loss of her daughter, she wasn't giving up on him.
She was patient.
He'd give her that.
A/N: I actually had this chapter planned to come before the previous one, but then I realized that the whole 'farmhouse debate scene' happened after Sophia died, so I changed some stuff and flipped it around.
Also, has anyone noticed the 'new' document editor on ff? More specifically the lack of a spell checker? That makes me mad. That makes me real mad }:(
Anyway, see you tomorrow.