THE FARM PART 2


He'd been gone for hours, he went to hunt again. All Lana could do was pace the floor and watch the double doors on the farmhouse every time they opened. From behind her, Dale said quietly, "I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later. He probably just needed to cool off too, you guys did have one hell of an argument earlier. He's fine. He'll be back." as Lana stepped away from the window in the farmhouse and tried to find something to do to occupy her mind. She was a ball of nervous energy and something just felt weird... Like he'd never been gone this long before.

"Worrying isn't good for you or the baby." Glenn spoke up from behind Lana, he and Maggie moved to sit down on the couch with her. Lana nodded but said quietly, "It's just he's been in a mood lately and I have no idea why..." as she took a few deep breaths. They were right, she knew it. Worrying wasn't good for her or the baby, but she couldn't help but worry. She saw a lone figure making it's way across the field and towards the farm at the same time that Andrea took a shot. When she heard the scream and saw Rick and Glenn as well as a few of the other men who'd been outside running in the direction of the figure she'd just seen walking towards the farm she felt her stomach churning.

That feeling got even worse when the men thrust the doors to the farmhouse open and were helping Daryl into the house. "What the fuck happened?" Lana asked, feeling the beginnings of a panic coming on. If she'd thought she might be falling for the tough as nails redneck before, seeing him covered in blood and the obvious gunshot wound he'd gotten seconds before only affirmed that thought. It hit her like a speeding train rushing at a brick wall too, the knowledge that she wasn't just falling for this man, she'd in fact already fallen for this man.

"Andrea thought he was a Walker coming so she took the shot. It was an accident." Rick explained in the calmest tone he could manage, trying to keep Lana from getting too upset. Hershel went to work on Daryl's bullet wound and Lana paced the floor outside the room, eyes fixed on the door to the room when she was finally sitting down.

"He'll be fine."

"I know, I just... I realized something, okay?" Lana mumbled quietly as Carol sat down next to her and then said quietly, "He's got to be okay. Pretty much the only thing holding this group together is that man." as Lana nodded in agreement. She knew he'd be okay, he'd only been shot in the shoulder, but it was still enough that she panicked when she'd seen him being helped in the door just an hour or two ago. Hershel came out and Lana stood and then asked, "He's okay, right? He wasn't bit or anything or.." Lana asked in a rush, Hershel shook his head and said quietly, "He's resting right now, coming off the medicine I had to give him to knock him out so I could remove the bullet. He should be waking up soon. You can go in if you want."

Lana made her way into the room quietly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Daryl was rolled on his side, looking away from her. He felt it when her hand slid through his hair. "I'd roll over, princess but fucking hurts ta move right now." he finally spoke up. Lana stood and made her way around the bed, getting onto it, rolling so that she faced him. "You scared the living hell out of me."

"Ain't like I planned that bimbo ta shoot at me." Daryl mumbled, looking at Lana, noticing that yeah, she'd been crying a little bit. He'd been moody earlier, they'd kind of argued before he stormed out to go and try to hunt and cool down after their argument earlier. He'd stayed away longer because he just needed to think, to try and figure out what he wanted to happen between them; to sort of slowly work up the nerve to go for it; to finally tell her that if this thing were going to go any further it had to be just him and her. He had to know if she was really done with her past.

He knew it, to some degree, he just had to be sure they were both on the same page.

Now, seeing the redness of her eyes and the overall panicked look on her face, he definitely felt like he knew it. Because she hadn't even shed a single tear when it was revealed that Shane and Hershel's oldest daughter Abigail slipped off during the night and went only God knows where together. But she'd been crying earlier when they'd had their fight and from the looks of it, she'd been crying now, worried about him after he'd gotten shot on accident by Andrea.

"I know, I just... When they carried you in, Daryl, it freaked me out, okay?" Lana admitted as she moved to lay down in front of him, touching him all over as they talked back and forth in whispers. "I'm sorry about earlier, okay? I just don't get why we even started arguing in the first place. Then when you stormed out to cool down, I kind of realized why... We don't know what's gonna happen ten minutes from now; let alone tomorrow. We keep dancing around all this, the way we feel, I mean I know I do. Neither of us are brave enough to say the words. You don't have to, Daryl. I will. I love you, Daryl Dixon, even when you make me so mad I want to punch you in the dick."

Daryl studied her intently, staying quiet. He knew how he felt, he knew that he wanted to say the words to her but he also knew that when he did say them the timing was going to be better. He wanted to say it when he felt like he was ready to admit it to everyone else and himself. He just wasn't quite there yet. Saying the words when he wasn't ready just kind of felt like making an empty promise and that jackass Walsh had done it more than enough to her. He also wanted to make sure she was it. Because he wasn't going to just shack up with someone because it was the end of the world and because that someone was sexy and sweet and they 'got him' and 'let him get by with stuff' like Lana did.

It might be an infuriating trait but Daryl Dixon was a precise and practical person. He saw no reason to rush into things despite the fact that the world was ending and they might not get a tomorrow.

Instead of giving her an answer, he pulled her lips against his and mumbled against them, "Shhh. Anybody ever told ya you talk too much, woman?" as Lana kissed him back and then said quietly, "About earlier... I'm sorry. I hate fighting with you, okay? You and the baby are pretty much the only good things in my life."

"Even when I'm a stubborn pain in the ass."

"Even when you're a stubborn pain in the ass." Lana echoed.


CAVEAT LECTOR:

Another chapter posted and I am seriously beyond amazed at this point because I now have 39 reviews 60 favorites and 85 follows. And a special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed and left reveiws because they mean the world to me and they keep me encouraged.

Okay, so I wanted to have them face a few obstacles. The argument mentioned in the chapter was basically them arguing because neither of them really know how to just let go and let things happen. Plus Daryl's temper and Lana's temper. I realized that I left a pivotal moment in Daryl's story out and I wanted to put it in. So this is the whole thing where Andrea shot him, but instead of Carol, it's Lana. I hope no one minds. It turned out kinda sweet. Daryl's still holding out on those 3 words. Basically, this was a little bit of a fluff fest. Hopefully it wasn't a shitty fluff fest though. I'm trying my best to keep him IC.

I love you all so much!