*I just want to thank everyone who's been reading and reviewing the story, I'm so glad so many people seem to like it! I just saw episode 2x12 and I have to say I'm really excited to be able to write it into this story, but right now we're on 2x07. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think! -M
A few days had passed since Daryl was shot and he was back on his feet, still sore but capable of moving around. Rose refused to let him go off searching for Sophia alone and though it annoyed him he liked it…he liked that she seemed to care about him so much.
He was watching Jamie for Rose while she was off doing something he wasn't sure of. He lay in his cot, reading the book Andrea had given him the day before, Jamie sitting on the floor with crayons, drawing him another picture.
"Do you like squirrels Mr. Daryl?" Jamie asks and he looks away from his book giving her a shrug.
"Sure, they don't taste as good as rabbit but they're better than 'possum." He teases and Jamie's jaw drops before she frowns.
"I didn't mean to eat." She says pouting still and looks down at her drawing of Daryl and a squirrel; Daryl smiles shaking his head before sitting up, looking down at her drawing.
"I love squirrels." He says and takes the drawing from her, "This is going with the rest." He says and she smiles watching as he set it in the stack of drawings that had formed over time. "Come one kid; let's go find your mom." Daryl says standing and pushing her out of the tent in front of him, her giggling the whole time as she kept her legs stiff not moving.
"Fine, if you're going to play this game I'm gonna hafta carry you." He says and picks her up, tossing her over his shoulder and she laughs, her little fists hitting his back as he marched towards the group, spinning around a few times to make her dizzy.
Daryl normally wouldn't do this, watch over someone's kid; take care of her like she was his own. He normally kept to himself even after being with this group for so long be he could quite seem to be rude enough to Jamie and Rose to shoo them off. He cared about Sophia, and he was dead set on finding her but he never paid her much attention like he did with Jamie. He knew if Merle were here he'd never hear the end of it.
'Can't believe you're letting that hot piece of ass and her kid turn you soft, you're not even fucking the woman' He could hear Merle now, all the obscene comments he'd make and he shakes his head seeing Glenn walking towards them.
"You seen Rose?" He asks setting Jamie down to the ground now, keeping a hand on her shoulder as she swayed. Glenn nods towards the camp, "She's been helping Carol with breakfast." Glenn says before heading towards Dale who was walking over to everyone. Daryl looks at the two strangely as they exchanged whispers then pushes Jamie along in front of him. He spots Rose passing out eggs to everyone, and he sits down in a lawn chair, Jamie walking over to her mother and demanding for food, Rose giving her that 'mom' look, making Jamie ask nicely before she smiled.
"Go get a plate for you and Mr. Daryl." Rose says pointing over to where Carol was, and Jamie skipped over to her. "So you tired of my daughter yet?" Rose asks as she dishes out some eggs for T-Dog and Daryl chuckles.
"Not yet, but I've gotten at least a dozen pictures of me done in crayons." He says making Rose laugh; Jamie marching over with the plates and he takes one from her, watching as she flops down on the ground beside him, raising her plate above her head and asking for food again.
"That's your good dress Jamie, go sit by Carl at the table." Rose says pointing over at Carl and Jamie pouted, "Now." Rose says again and Jamie huffs as she stands, Rose giving her some eggs before she walks over to Carl.
"You're worried about her dress getting dirty when we live in the woods?" Daryl laughs as she gives him eggs and she rolls her eyes at him.
"Yes, because the dirtier it is, the longer I have to scrub my fingers raw and we do not live in the woods, we live on a farm." She says before turning and walked over to where all the plates were, and fixed herself a plate going back over to Daryl, sitting beside him on one of the larger tree stumps.
Rose had become close to everyone in the group, she spent most of her time with Dale and Glenn when she wasn't with Daryl. Jamie had grown very close to Dale and insisted on calling him grandpa, but Dale didn't seem to mind. Jamie had won all the group member hearts quickly; even Shane couldn't help but smile whenever she was near. Rose was glad she had found the group, and became so close with them. She ate quietly, listening to the others joke and laugh, Carol walking around to dish out seconds which Daryl asked for, and Glenn walked over with Dale; the two both looking nervous. Rose couldn't believe what came out of Glenn's mouth next…Walkers were in the barn, it was so close to where her and Jamie slept at night, where Jamie played and Rose knew that she had to get off this land, even if it meant abandoning people she'd grown to love.
Rose stood up setting her plate down and walked over to Jamie as everyone started to head towards the barn, Daryl walking a little slower than the rest to keep an eye on the two. He saw Rose whispering something to Jamie, and shushing her went she tried to argue tears forming in her eyes.
"Rose" Daryl called out now catching her attention and Jamie pulled from her mother and ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his legs.
"Tell mommy it's okay to stay here, please Mr. Daryl." She cried against his legs as Rose sighs heading towards them.
"Don't say a word." She mutters to Daryl and pulls Jamie away from him, taking her hand, heading towards the barn with the others.
Rose was standing outside the RV, speaking with Dale about the situation in the barn what he thought we should do, Jamie asleep inside the RV where she always took her afternoon naps. She had gotten her pistol from the gun bag where all the weapons were being kept, wanting it so she could feel safe again.
"We have to respect Hershel's wishes." Dale said and Rose scoffed shaking her head.
"The man is deluded Dale, we can't stay here when there's a barn full of walkers. If that's what this group decides to do then Jamie and I are leaving." She says quietly, looking down at her feet now as Dale frowns. She knew the group needed her, she was their only medical asset next to Hershel, and he had just been a veterinarian, she had a medical degree. "I need to go for a walk, keep an eye on Jamie for me please?" She asks and Dale nods watching as she stuck her gun into her belt, walking away towards the stables.
Rose could hear Daryl and Carol arguing inside the stables about Sophia, and she didn't dare enter but Daryl came storming out, almost running into her as he turned and headed for the woods.
"You shouldn't have called her that," Rose said as he looked down at her and he glared.
"Mind your own damn business." He spat out and pushing past her making her stumble some as he walked away and she followed right after him.
"She just cares about you." Rose said, keeping up with his pace easily. "You shouldn't be such a prick to people who care, even if she was saying stupid things." She could tell it pissed him off and he stopped, making her run into his back before he turned around.
"What's it matter to you?" He growled out, not wanting to deal with it. "You fucking leaving anyways, you're going to go off and get yourself killed, Jamie too." He says shaking his head, fuming now. He didn't want her to leave; he wanted her to stay with the group, with him.
"I was doing just fine on my own." She says trying to defend her and Daryl let out a humorless laugh.
"Did you not see all those walkers around your car? If you had stayed there you would have died, you and Jamie both." He says shaking his head. "You go off though, go ahead I don't care you're just some dumb bitch with a kid."
"Screw you Daryl." She shoves past him feeling angry tears forming in her eyes as she heads deeper into the woods hearing him call after her before he finally gave up, cursing to himself and heads back towards camp.
Rose wasn't sure had long she had been out, but it had to have been an hour or so and she had traveled pretty far into the woods. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, she knew that she thought she should leave to protect her and Jamie. But what Daryl had said was right; Jamie would have been dead if it wasn't for Daryl coming to save them. She stops when the ground underneath her seemed to come to an end and she looked down, seeing the drop off, it had to be at least an eight or ten foot fall.
"How the hell did I get up here?" Rose asks herself out loud seeing the farm in the distance, she shakes her head and goes to turn letting out a scream as a walker lunged at her both falling over the edge. She landed on her ankle, hearing a loud crack and letting out a scream from the pain that rushed up her leg, the walker slowly getting up, it's arm twisted in a grisly position. Rose gripped the dirt wall beside her, the dirt crumbling in her fingers as she scrambled to get up, wincing at the pain when she touch her foot to the ground, trying keep it elevated as much as possible while she reached for the gun in the back of her pants her heart dropping when it wasn't there, it must have fallen out when she fell. She let out a small cry as she moved backwards, trying to get away from the walker, pulling out her hunting knife the walker making its way towards her, letting out noises that made her tremble. She hears another blood curdling moan and looks to her left another walker coming towards her faster than the one that was in front of her and she whimpered knowing she wasn't going to make this out without a bite. But she bit her lip and lunged towards the walker, putting pressure on her foot hearing another crack and letting out another loud cry from the pain as she stabbed the walker in the forehead, falling down with it. She rolled off it quickly trying to get her knife from its skull but the other walker had already fallen to the ground beside her, its mouth dripping with blood and she tried fighting it off, screaming out for help.
Daryl had brought Carol to where he found the Cherokee roses, trying to reassure her that he'd find Sophia when he heard the screams. It was Rose, that much he was positive of and he told Carol to run back to camp to get help as he ran towards the screams.
"Rose! Rose!" He shouted, crossbow drawn as he ran through the woods, following the trail she had made until he saw her, one dead walker to the right of her and another one clawing at her; her trying to keep him off while reaching for the knife that was lodged in between the other's head. Daryl took aim and fired the walker going still and falling on her.
"Rose!" He said running over to her side kneeling beside her, his eyes scanning her body for bites, "Did you get bit? Are you okay?" He asked gripping her forearms to help her up, her crying out when she put weight on her leg.
"No I'm fucking not okay!" She said through clinched teeth, "I broke my ankle, that bastard came out of nowhere made me fall down from there." She says pointing over to the small cliff, watching as he pulled the arrow from the walker's head, and her knife from the other. She let out a cry when he picked her up, a hand around her waist and another under her legs.
"You're an idiot for coming out here alone." He says shaking his head before heading towards the camp, hearing Rick's shouts in the distance.
"Shut up, you let me walk away." She says looking away from him her arm around his neck as he carried her to the camp, and she sees everyone running to them.
"What happened? Was she bit?" Rick asks lowering his gun as Daryl shakes her head.
"She's broke her ankle." Daryl said heading straight for Hershel's farm seeing Jamie sitting on the front porch with Carl.
"Mommy! What's wrong? What happened?" Jamie shouted running over to Daryl, and Rose let out a whimper from the pain when he walked up the steps, burying her face into his neck, Hershel meeting them and leading them to his bedroom. He set her down in the bed, listening as Hershel told him to move the pillows, hearing the sound of ripping jeans as he cut open the pants leg.
"These were my favorite pair." Daryl looks down at Rose as she pouted about her pants, which made him roll his eyes smiling a little.
"You've broken your ankle." He says, Rose shouting out that she knew that already. Daryl looks down at her leg, grimacing at the site of the bone sticking out of her skin, her ankle bloody. Rose winces and cried when Hershel touched it, "We're going to have to pop it back in place." He says and Rose knew that was coming she looked at Daryl as he sat beside her gripping her arms as Hershel tells him to hold her down and she grips his forearm, preparing herself for the pain she was about to endure.
Her grip on his arm tightened as she let out a cry of pain, her nails digging into his skin, shooting up some but Daryl was stronger and was able to keep her down, a few tears slipping down her cheeks now as she laid back down looking up at him with cloudy eyes, his voice a distant echo as she drifted off from the pain.
Daryl sat at Rose's bed side, his leg bouncing up and down nervously, his lips pressed against his intertwined fingers as she waited for her to wake, she'd been out for an hour now, and it was nearly noon. He glances over at Jamie who sat at the window seat, pushing a toy car along the window pane as she waited for her momma to wake up, her eyes still red and puffy from all the crying she had done.
Hershel said that she was going to be fine, she hadn't lost much blood and they were able to reset her ankle, but she'd have to stay off of it for some time. She had passed out from the pain, and he remembered that look in her eyes, he didn't like it seeing her in pain like that, seeing her lying in this bed motionless. He cared too much already, and he hated it. He heard Rose let out a noise and he looked over at her as her eyelids flickered open, calling out to Jamie who's head perked up before she ran over to the bed.
"Momma," She says climbing into the bed next to her pressing wrapping her arms around her mother's shoulders. "Why did you go into the woods? There were walkers, you're so stupid momma." She scowled her mother and Rose gave her a weak smile running her fingers through her daughter's blonde curls.
"I'm sorry baby." She says softly, sitting up in the bed wincing as she did and Daryl stood, grabbing a few of the pillows that were on the floor and set them behind her.
"You really are stupid, Jamie's right." Daryl says and Rose looks over at him shaking her head.
"Don't start with me Daryl, you did the same thing and then got shot." She murmurs leaning her head back against the backboard, her ankle still hurt badly.
"Yes, but I left to go find Sophia." He mutters with a shrug earning a glare from Rose. "Jamie can I talk to your momma for a sec?" Daryl asks glancing down at Jamie expectantly, and she bit sighed, pressing her lips to her mom's cheek then hopped off the bed.
"I'm going to go play with Carl." She says and heads out of the room, leaving Rose alone with Daryl.
Rose glances over at Daryl again as he walked around to the other side of the bed, handing her the glass of water and some pills.
"Hershel says you'll need to stay off your feet awhile." He says watching as she took the pills, taking a drink from the water before setting it back down on the night stand. "I'm sorry 'bout calling what I said." Daryl says catching her attention now. "I didn't mean it…I was just pissed off." He says and Rose bites her lip, and pats the bed beside her, asking him to sit which he does slowly.
"Daryl," She trails off as he meets her eyes waiting for her to speak. "You've saved me twice now." She says sitting up some more, wincing as she did so. "I care about you." She says her voice shaky as she tries to get comfortable and Daryl looks at her not sure what to say. "If you…If you want Jamie and I to stay we will, Jamie loves you and she'd hate me if we left." She says and Daryl looks at her.
"It's not safe alone," Daryl says and Rose bites back a smile, "You go out there and you're as good as dead, so yeah…you should stay with the group." He says with a nod and Rose smiles a little, nodding too.
"Then I'll stay with the group." She says and sighs, leaning back against the bed. Daryl looks at her, watching as she closed her eyes, she had a small bruise on her cheek and a cut on her lip. He shakes his head and stands up making her look up at him again.
"I've got to go check with Rick about the barn." He says quietly and she nods slowly, wishing she could be out there helping. Daryl stares at her for a moment, thinking back to when she kissed him when he was in her place in that bed. He licks his bottom lip before leaning down, resting a hand beside her on the bed and pressed a kiss to her lips, waiting there for a moment before she kissed him back and he pulled away. "I'll see you later." He says looking down at her as her cheeks reddened then walked out the room.
Hershel had supplied Rose with a sufficient amount of pain killers and a pair of crutches for her to get around in a few hours after Daryl's kiss. She sat on the farm house's porch, wearing a new set of clean clothes, looking down at her bandaged ankle. She turns at the sound of Shane seeing him passing out guns to everyone talking about killing the walkers in the barn and Daryl takes a rifle from him, everyone but Hershel's family taking a gun, determined to protect themselves. Lori and Carl were the only ones that stood with the Greenes and Lori started to argue with Shane before T-Dog interrupted them with an 'Oh Shit'. Rose stood up now as she sees Rick coming out of the woods with a walker; everyone rushed towards the scene and Rose told Jamie to stay on the porch as she made her way towards the group hating the fact she had the stupid crutches holding her back.
Shane started going on about the walkers everyone in the group who had a gun had it pointed at the two walkers Hershel and Rick were leading towards the barn and Rose stood there baffled by the scene, hearing Jamie let out a whimper and she turns to see her pulling her close to her as Shane fired onto the walker Hershel had before turning to the barn and broke open the door, all the walkers coming out and everything went from bad to worse.
Rose held Jamie to her, keeping her eyes turned from the scene as all the walkers went down one by one until everyone thought it was over. But Rose sees another walker coming out, a young girl maybe only a few years older than Jamie and tears filled her eyes when she head Carol scream. It was her daughter Sophia, and Rose's heart ached watching as Daryl kept Carol from running to Sophia, the girl, no, the walker making its way towards Rick as he stepped forward, raising his pistol to the Sophia's head and fired. Rose's eyes went straight to Daryl watching as he slowly let go of Carol, the look on his face breaking her heart even more. He stands up ignoring the group as he starts to walk away heading towards Rose and she reaches out to him but he dodges her hand, storming away towards his camp, ignoring Jamie calling out to him.