A/N: In "Save the Last One," Daryl tells Andrea that while he was lost in the woods Merle was in Juvie and his dad was too busy being drunk to care. No mom to be mentioned. I, like many fans, thought that he was nicer than Merle because he had a positive (motherly) influence, so this was quite a shock to me.
This takes place during that time he was lost in the woods.
To anon: Glad to know you're enjoying it.
A Day in the Life
Title: Mothers and Hugs
Characters: Daryl
Pairings: None
Word Count: 221
It was on his third day in the woods when he fell back into his old habit. He had done it a lot when he was younger, but now that he was eight – practically a man, if you asked him – he didn't think he needed it. He hadn't imagined his mother in years. But now that he was alone in the most dangerous place he had ever been in, he couldn't help but think that if his mother was still alive he wouldn't be there, Merle wouldn't be in and out of lock-up, his dad wouldn't wander from bar to bar all day.
He always imagined a gentle soul that would clean the house and make him wear Sunday clothes and chide him for the vulgar language he had already mastered. She would be warm and sweet and so different from his brother and father that he couldn't mix the two halves of his family.
But that wouldn't help him. He decided it was time to man up. He grit his teeth and wrapped his arms around his torso and did his best to look intimidating to anything – anyone – that might happen to pass by, despite it being near midnight. Yet, when he closed his eyes, he couldn't help imagining it was his mother hugging him and rocking him to sleep.
A/N: I wrote this a long time ago, before Daryl explained a little bit about his mom to Carl. But I like this drabble, so I decided to keep it.
Just consider it AU, it is fanfiction after all.
-Destiny's sweet melody