Next Chapter up. Just saying this isn't supposed to be a slash story between these two or anybody. Just deep friendship.
Chapter 12
Daryl was still shuddering and sniffing. Shane pulled the younger boy into a hug and let him sit there with his face in his shirt. "I'm sorry," the kid whispered, "for messing everything up." Shane shook his head, "You didn't do anything Daryl. Your mind is just trying to convince you of that." Daryl sighed, "No, I did. Everyone here is mad at you for bringing me in because I was so messed up." "Then I'll deal with that. I don't care what they think Daryl," Shane said. "I think I should leave soon," Daryl said after a few minutes, "I'm just a screw up and everyone knows that." It hurt Shane to hear Daryl talk like that, "You aren't a screw up Daryl. I'm not letting you leave by yourself." Daryl finally gave up and just slumped into Shane, "He'd hit me." Shane was caught off guard by that comment so he wasn't sure what to say, "What?" Daryl looked up at him, "My dad. He'd do that. When Merle left he thought I had told him to leave or something so he started hitting me and stuff. I figured you had pretty much been here through my whole dream." Shane nodded, "Yea I was. But I didn't want to bring it up if you weren't comfortable with it." Daryl shrugged, "No its ok." Shane stayed silent and Daryl picked up in his quiet voice again. "He'd been ok before Merle left. But after that he got really weird. He started going out longer and coming back late every night drunk. He'd go off on my mom and she started closing herself off more from me. I was only seven when I first got hit by him. I had come down the steps to see why they were fighting and he hit me in the head," Daryl paused and he looked up at Shane. There were still tears there but they weren't coming. Daryl continued, "They got worse. He started looking for me every night. I tried to hide from him but he'd find me and do something different to me all the time. I almost never went to school. I barely even left the house. If I did go to school there were these kids that were just like my dad so it was two beatings in one day." Shane waited as Daryl took a shaky breath and he realized that this was going to be the hard part. He rubbed his hand through Daryl's hair and let the kid continue. "He'd do so many things. Most of the scars I have are from a knife or a belt. But he burned me a lot to with his cigarette lighter. Then there were other times where he would just beat the shit out of me. There were mornings where I couldn't get up. I remember he pushed me down the stairs one time and I broke my arm. I got my fingers slammed in a door and those broke," Daryl said softly.
Shane hoped that Daryl's father was still alive so he could kill him personally but he let Daryl finish the story. Daryl started again "I wished every night that Merle would just come back and stop him from doing this but he never did until I was twelve. Then he came by to check out how we were doing one evening and found me in the house with a bunch of cops and my dad in handcuffs. He immediately told the police that he'd take custody of me and they let him. He took me out of the house and back to where he lived. I lived there with him where it was a little better. As soon as I started looking good again I went back to school and stuff. Merle wasn't bad like my dad but he just didn't care. I was always afraid he'd come back one night like dad did. And he did but he never touched me." Shane nodded but there was one part that was missing.
"Why do you keep saying that its your fault?" Shane asked quietly. Daryl stayed quiet and then whispered, "Merle used to tell me things when I lived with him. He'd say that the reason I got hit like that was because I was weak and that if I had been stronger, none of that would've happened. He would tell me that the reason he went out and got wasted was because he had to take care of me because I couldn't carry my own weight." Shane kept his arm around Daryl and then asked, "Is that why you keep wanting to do everything here?" Daryl nodded slightly, "I don't want it to be my fault when something happens. Even though I probably deserve to be blamed for it. I don't even know why I tried after all that. I shouldn't even be here right now. I don't even know how many times I sat in my room contemplating suicide but was too afraid to do it. I wish I had had the guts to do it. It would have been better then this world."
Shane stopped breathing, "No. Shut up Daryl. Don't say that. You may think you're worthless and that no one cares about you but you're wrong. You've been helping the group since you could walk again and I don't want you to go out and kill yourself. You haven't done one thing wrong since I've known you. Your family has put these thoughts into your head that you don't deserve. You think you're not worth a thing but if you weren't then why would I have brought you back?" Daryl shrugged, "I just know that I'm going to mess up one day and then you'll know it was wrong to bring me back." Shane shook his head "I'd never kick you out. I wouldn't ever do that." Daryl's eyes started to close while Shane held him. Shane adjusted his grip so he was holding Daryl's back and let him lean his head on his chest. "Goodnight Daryl," he said but the kid was already sleeping soundly pressed against him.