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#twd aaron x reader
samantha-rae-velcher · 6 months
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Master List Pt. 2
YouTubers
Swaggersouls
Streamers Dream - smut
Markiplier
Games of the many - smut
Joysticks and pushing buttons - smut
Sticks and stones - smut
That one look - smut
The punishment unforgotten - Violence/smut
A need for it and her - smut
The stress is real - fluff
"Im sorry, honey" - fluff
Roomies or More? (Egos) - smut
Yancy NSFW alphabet - smut
Love mistaken for hate (Wilford Warfstache) - fluff
Don't fear the reaper (Darkiplier) - smut
Dark lust (Darkiplier) - smut
Static (Darkiplier) - smut
Warp core breech Pt.1 (ISWM) - fluff
Warp core breech Pt.2 (ISWM) - fluff
Seeing Stars (ISWM) - fluff
Jacksepticeye
Blue tint and cold tiles - smut
Marvel
Me and the Devil walking side by side (Daredevil) - fluff
Sorcerer Supreme (Doctor Strange) - smut
More like Einstein (Tony Stark) - smut
Two tons of iron (Tony Stark) - smut
Green-ish (Bruce Banner) - smut
Tender Touch (Scott Lang) - smut
The speed of light (Pietro Maximoff) - fluff
Courts of Green Pt.1 (Bucky Barnes) - fluff
Courts of Green Pt.2 (Bucky Barnes) - fluff
Courts of Green Pt.3 (Bucky Barnes) - Violence/ fluff
Feathers and Swords (Clint Barton) - smut
Hawks gold (Clint Barton) - fluff
As beautiful as an angel (Yondu Udonta) - fluff
Fear makes love (Ronan the accuser) - smut
Sharp as steel (Wolverine) - smut
Blades that steel the heart (Wolverine) - fluff
Obviously not that obvious (Drax the Destroyer) - smut
DC
Tattoo Buddies (Chato Santana) - fluff
Soldier Boy (Rick Flag) - smut
Slice and dice (Captain boomerang) - smut
Scars and stripes (BOP Victor Zsasz) - smut
TWD
Guns of blazing love (Aaron) - smut
Maybe evil Maybe not But just about (Shane) - smut
Barbed Wire Pt.1 (Negan) - smut
Barbed Wire Pt.2 (Negan) - Smut
Barbed Wire Pt.3 (Negan) - Violence/fluff
Barbed Wire Pt.4 (Negan) - Violence/fluff
Barbed Wire Pt.5 (Negan) - smut
Barbed Wire Pt.6 (Negan) - Violence/fluff
Barbed Wire Pt.7 (Negan) - Violence/fluff
Barbed Wire Pt.8 (Negan) - fluff
Star Wars
The light within (Qui Gon Jinn) - fluff
The force of two (Qui Gon Jinn) - fluff
The force binds all (Obi Wan Kenobi) - smut
The intimidating side of things (Boba Fett) - smut
Orders (Poe Dameron) - angst/ fluff
Black ink (Darth Maul) - smut
The Witcher
How The Witcher men react when you cry - fluff
Bard and Bells (Jaskier) - fluff
Gotham
Gotham Villains teaching s/o to shoot a gun
Gotham Villains when s/o doesn't answer the phone
How Gotham Villains react to their s/o getting shot
Sexting with Oswald Cobblepot - smut
Gotham's King and Queen (Oswald Cobblepot) - angst
I will kill you (Oswald Cobblepot) - fluff
Emperor Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot) - smut
Smoking Roses Pt.1 (Victor Zsasz) - smut
Smoking Roses Pt.2 (Victor Zsasz)- smut
Tainted Riddle (Ed Nygma) - fluff
What am I? (Ed Nygma) - fluff/Violence
Five-O (Jim Gordon) - smut
Stalked (Jeremiah Valeska) - Violence/fluff
Fantastic Beasts
Blue fire and silver smoke (Gellert Grindelwald) - fluff
Heaven without fear (Credence Barebone) - smut
Boardwalk Empire
Gentleman with a dark side (Arnold Rothstein) - smut
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madstwd · 2 years
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TWD characters reacting to you coming out:
In honour of pride month I decided to write this! My page will always be a safe place for everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful month whenever you have come out or not! You are all valid and stay safe, if there are any other characters you would like I will do a part 2!
Much love mads <3
Daryl:
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Because of how he was raised i think he would be a little bit confused but once you sat down and actually explained it to him he would accept you no matter what. And if anyone was homophobic towards you, it would be very hard to prevent him from doing anything.
Rick:
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Rick would probably pause to think about it before he realised that not saying anything was making you nervous from his response, causing him to bring you into a hug congratulating you for being brave enough to tell him. Just like daryl if he found out someone made any sort of remark they would probably be injured or dead.
Negan:
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The man wouldn’t hesitate you bring you into an enthusatic hug, congratulating you for coming out and being proud to know you. If he was confused he would sit down and listen to you making sure he made ways within the sanctuary to make you comfortable, anyone that was disrespectful towards you if you told the rest of the community they would 1000% get the iron. The man would be proud to be your ally
Maggie:
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Maggie would straight away bring you into a hug, the woman not even hesitating. She would sit down and listen to everything you had to say before going out with you to make sure you were comfortable within the community’s. She would constantly correct people on your preferred pronouns or your sexuality. Making sure no one missunderstood you and that you felt valid and safe within her company.
Glenn:
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He would be similar to Maggie, the man being extremely thankful you trusted him enough to tell him. Would keep it a secret for as long as he could for you, making sure you were comfortable wishing the group, helping you set up a safe place to tell the rest of the group out your news. Making sure you felt valid af and hurting anyone that made you feel otherwise.
Tara:
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Being part of the community herself she would be exstremely supportive, helping you find ways to tell the others and supporting you against any remarks made by someone else in the community. She would always be a safe place for you.
Carl:
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Carl would hug you straight away, sit and listen to everything you had to say about your sexuality/gender. He would always remind himself of your new pronouns or to help you find people that fit in your sexuality. He would threaten anyone that was homophobic towards you, giving the person an earful. He wouldn’t stop until you or rick dragged him away.
Aaron:
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Aaron would invite you around, creating a meal celebrating you coming out to him, would be a huge gossip with you about anyone you liked or found attractive. Would set you up on secret dates with people. Created a warm environment knowing you’ll always be accepted by him.
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I finally started to watch twd season 11 it got to my country last month (or something like that) and I finally had time to watch it and I’m nearly done (kinda sad about that)
Anyway what I wanted said with this is, expect a few twd stories coming out soon especially with Rick, Daryl, Aaron and a few others (:
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quicksilversg1rl · 1 year
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I’m Never Leaving
daryl dixon x fem reader
warnings: just a bit angsty, usual TWD violence and fluff!
summary: you and daryl both realize just how much you love each other after you have a near death experience.
a/n: set in season 11 & let’s just pretend that Daryl knew beforehand about Carols deal with Pamela to pin all the blame on Hornsby.
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flashback
“Jesus Daryl, go talk to her.”
“What?”
“You’re starin’ at her like a teenage boy who just saw his first pair of boobies; just go talk to her, she likes you too ya know?” Carol chimed as she looked towards her best friend.
“You don’t know tha.” Daryl said as he looked at you, catching you smiling as you spoke to Judith.
God you were beautiful to him. He loved everything about you, your smile, your hair, your kind heart.
Truth was, Daryl had no clue how to communicate his feelings towards you, so instead he just kept them to himself and admired you from afar.
“Hey you two.” You suddenly spoke out, causing Daryl to snap back to reality. Carol pulled you into a tight hug, whispering something into your ear which caused you to laugh. You pulled away from her and wrapped your arms around Daryl, causing his cheeks to grow warm.
You were about to speak up but were quickly pulled away from Carol and Daryl by Gracie and Judith.
“I’ll come find ya later okay?” You shouted as you were pulled further and further away.
“Yeah!” Daryl replied, turning to Carol as soon as you were out of earshot.
“What did ya whisper to her?”
“I dunno.” Carol said smiling as she saw her best friend’s face turn red, quickly rushing away before he could question her further.
end of flashback
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“Leah I swear to God if there is so much as a scratch on her, I’ll kill ya.” Daryl grunted into the walkie-talkie, rage filling his body as he heard Leah laugh.
“Too late for that.” She said before turning it off.
Leah had been watching you lot for a bit before she decided to attack, she figured since you and Maggie were so close she’d use you to lure Maggie out.
So there you were, tied to a chair in some rusty old cabin, Leah twisting her knife further into your leg, causing you to scream out.
“Where is Maggie hiding?!”
“Even if I knew where, which I don’t, I wouldn’t tell you shit.” You spat as you looked up at her.
“Wrong answer.” She said before pulling the knife out and pushing it back in. You screamed out in pain as she did this, your leg throbbing as well as your head from where she hit you earlier.
“I’ll ask you one more time, where the hell is Maggie hiding?”
“FUCK YOU!” You screamed. You could see the anger flooding into her eyes, now you pissed her off.
Her fist connected with your jaw, causing your head to fall back. You stayed still for a while because unbeknownst to Leah, you had been working the knot on the rope she used to tie your hands, and it was almost loose.
Just before she could punch you again, your hands were free and you were lunging towards her. You fist jammed into her jaw causing her to stumble. You grabbed ahold of her head and slammed her against the wall. She fell against the wall, giving you time to gain your strength back. Before you knew it she had managed to get up and lunge a shard of glass into your abdomen.
Your body fell back at the force, her body on top of yours once again. Her hands made their way around your neck, crushing your windpipe.
“Since you’re not helping me, you’re of no use to me.” She whispered out as her hands wrapped tighter around your throat.
You could feel yourself slipping in and out of consciousness, your vision going hazy.
You felt the little air leaving your lungs, your body wanted so badly to give up but you knew you couldn’t let Leah find Maggie or worse, find Hershel.
So you used the little strength you had left and ripped the knife out from your thigh and jammed it into her neck. Her eyes widened as blood seeped from the wound, her hands let up from around your throat as she moved them to her neck, causing you to take a deep breath in. You kicked her body to the side and jammed the knife into her throat again,
and again
and again.
You could hear her choking on her own blood as her limp body lie to the side. You quickly moved towards her and pressed the knife into her skull.
Your body fell back, your energy drained and your mind fuzzy as you passed out.
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Daryl held his gun up as he neared the cabin, his heart racing as he stepped inside. His eyes fell on Leah’s lifeless body, eyeing the knife in her skull. He then moved his gaze until it landed on your limp body.
Panic rushed through his body as he crouched beside you, tears pooling in his eyes as he shook your body, trying to get you to wake up.
“C’mon you gotta wake up f’ me, please!” He yelled out, his arms wrapping around your frame as he lifted you up.
Maggie, Aaron and Gabriel’s eyes fell on your body as Daryl carried you out, Maggie’s face going pale as her hand went up to her mouth to quiet her cries.
“We needa get her to the Commonwealth now!” He yelled out as he moved past them.
He had already lost so much he couldn’t lose you too.
Daryl clung to your fragile figure as he carried you inside the Commonwealth, rushing towards the hospital.
Tomi moved towards you and Daryl, trying to asses your wounds as he placed you down on a hospital bed.
Daryl placed a kiss onto your forehead before Tomi and some nurses took you, immediately rushing you into an operating room.
Daryl sat back, his head in his hands as he ran through every memory he had with you, tears cascading down his face as he thought about losing you.
He was quickly pulled from his thoughts by Carol and a few others approaching.
“She’s going to be okay Daryl.” Carol whispered as she wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to cry into her shoulder.
It felt like forever before Tomi came back, nodding to Daryl to allow him to go see you. He rushed towards your room and a breathed a sigh of relief when he saw you were okay.
He brought a chair next to your bed and sat down, taking your hand in his and squeezing it.
“I love you so much.” He whispered out, bringing your hand to his lips and placing a kiss to the back of your palm.
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The blind lights of the hospital room hurt your eyes as you woke up, your throat and mouth dry as you tried to swallow.
Your eyes adjusted to the light as you scanned the room, your gaze falling on a certain someone asleep in a chair next to your bed.
You smiled as you looked at Daryl, his perfect long hair covering his face as he slept. You were oh so in love with him and almost dying made you realize that even more.
You adjusted yourself in the bed, sitting up as you reached for the plastic cup on the bedside table. You winced in pain as you twisted your body, reaching out for the cup. Your fingers grazed the cup ever so slightly and you almost had it but it slipped from your grasp and fell to the floor.
“Shit.” You whispered out as you sat back against the pillows, a defeated sigh leaving your lips.
The sound of the cup falling caused Daryl to open his eyes, rubbing them as he adjusted to the lights.
You noticed him move in the chair and groaned to yourself as you woke him up from hismuch needed sleep.
“Sorry for waking you up.” You spoke out causing Daryl’s eyes to widen. He rushed up to stand close to you looking down at you and smiling.
“You’re awake.” He said out, reaching out for your hand.
Your fingers intertwined with his, smiling up as he placed a kiss against your forehead.
“I thought I- I thought I lost y-”
You quickly shushed him as you brought his face down to yours and placed your lips against his. Daryl was taken aback by your action but nonetheless kissed you back. His mouth moved against yours before you pulled away out of breath.
“You didn’t lose me okay? I’m not leaving you any time soon old man.” You said, causing Daryl to let out a laugh.
He leaned down and pressed another kiss to your lips, whispering a faint “I love you” against your lips. You kissed him back, your lips moulding against his lips almost as if they were made to fit his, before whispering, “I love you too.”
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my first daryl fic go easy on me 😣
let me know if anyone wants to be added to a tag-list for daryl fics specifically or to a tag-list for the TWD men in general :)
please like and reblog if you enjoyed as it helps a lot 🩷
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celtic-crossbow · 5 months
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Carol: We should all visit Ocean Side more often. Being at the beach was—
Daryl, Y/N, and Michonne: No!
Aaron: Okay, that’s it, you guys. What happened out there?
Daryl, sweating: Went fer a walk. Nothin’ happened. Came back with nothin’ all over me.
Y/N: Smooth, Dixon.
Aaron: What does that even mean?
Carol: Come on, what happened? Y/N?
Y/N: Alright.
Daryl: Don’ ya dare, Y/N.
Y/N: Daryl and I had hardcore sex in the woods near the beach, but bugs kept biting us.
Michonne: And I walked by and saw it, it was horrifying. They were covered in bug bites, but it just didn't stop them. How can two people be so horny, that they don't even stop while being eaten alive by bugs?
Daryl: …
Y/N: Wait, you saw us?!
Michonne: Yep and this is a good time to remind everyone that finding a therapist in the apocalypse is next to impossible.
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daryl-dixon-daydreams · 7 months
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"What are you smirking about?" you asked Aaron, already annoyed by the smug look on his face.
"Me?" he laughed. "Oh, nothing. Absolutely nothing..."
You rolled your eyes. "Why don't I believe that for a second?" Daryl had just stopped by and you had the feeling Aaron's smile had to do with him.
Aaron laughed again. "You're really going to pretend that you have no idea why I'm smiling right now?" He crossed his arms and surveyed you. "No clue?"
"Aaron—"
"He likes you. And I've watched the two of you interact enough to know that you also like him..."
You ducked your eyes and shook your head, turning to walk back up the hallway. "I have no idea what you're talking about. There's nothing in my rib cage. No heart to break or fall in love... like it that way..." You sank down on the couch and grabbed your book off the coffee table.
Now Aaron was the one rolling his eyes. "I'm not the one who said love," he said with some surprise. "Anyway, the cold-hearted, lone wolf act isn't going to work on me. I've seen your warm and fuzzy side."
You looked up over the pages. "Warm and fuzzy? Ugh. Barf..."
Aaron chuckled and shook his head. "You know I'm right. Don't ignore how Daryl feels about you and how you feel about him. Finding that is rare these days..."
Prompt: "There's nothing in my rib cage. No heart to break. Like it that way."
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snailss · 9 days
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fuck. I knew Jesus/Paul's death was coming up but I still hate it. Poor Aaron.
With the way Aaron reacted to Jesus' death, and the fact they went out of their way to 'train' with each other, you cannot tell me Aaron and Jesus didn't have something going on.
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freakymcnastys · 19 days
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who we write for <3
✫= platonic only
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9-1-1 + Lone Star
-evan buckely, eddie diaz, howie han, bobby nash✫,albert han, lou ransone, may grant ✫ , TK strand, marjan marwani, carlos reyes.
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supernatural
-dean winchester, sam winchester, castiel, meg masters✫, rowena macleod ✫, jack kline ✫, kevian tran, donna hanscum ✫.
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nirvana
-kurt cobain, dave grohl, krist novaselic ✫.
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the walking dead
-rick grimes, negan smith, carl grimes, maggie greene, glenn rhee, daryl dixon, carol peletier ✫.
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outer banks
-jj maybank, sarah cameron ✫, rafe cameron.
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marauders
-sirius black, remus lupin, james potter, petter pettigrew ✫, lily evans ✫, (also poly!marauders).
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daisy jones and the six
-dasiy jones, billy dunne ✫, graham dunne, warren rhodes, eddie roundtree, simone jackson ✫.
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marvel cinematic universe
-peter parker, bucky barnes, nick furry ✫, loki, wanda maximoff ✫, marc spector, steven grant, jake lockely, matt murdock.
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criminal minds
-spencer reid, derek morgan, aaron hotchner, emily prentiss ✫, penelope garcia ✫, jennifer jareau ✫.
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doctor who
-the 9th doctor, the 10th doctor, rose tyler, donna noble.
- love always, kat + devina <3
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cultofdixon · 1 year
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Y/N: Okay. Black Jack. I win, I don’t have to go on the run. You win, I’ll go
Daryl: Do I gotta play for this deal?
Y/N: Uh. Try to find anybody who would beat me
Daryl: *leaves*
——
Y/N: *has the cards set up*
Daryl: I’ve brought back up
Aaron: *appears beside him*
Y/N: I’ve beaten Aaron hundreds of times
Aaron: Oh. But you haven’t beaten Eric
Eric: *sits across from Y/N taking his cards*
——
Daryl: Should’ve been clear about not having outsider players
Y/N: Shut it D
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darylsgirl · 2 years
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Daryl Dixon Fan Fictions
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Claimed
Your sick of waiting for Daryl to make a move or even speak to you and decide to dress up to do your chores hoping you’ll catch his eye.
You manage more than that He gets jealous when other men/ and one woman ;) show an interest and he admits he’s wanted you all this time and roughly claims you.
Word count: 6k
The Farmers Daughter
Reader is Hershels daughter, Sick of being babied by him she begs Daryl to take her on a run as a birthday present, When a herd passes you and Daryl get stuck in a cabin together and finally decided to make your move. Smut Ensues 
Word Count: 4.5k
He's just like the sun
Daryl had saved you from a herd of walkers, When you reached Alexandria he became distant and you started dating Spencer. He stayed away from you fully until Carol brought it to his attention that Spencer could be hurting you. Long slow burn. Smutty ending with Confessions of love :)
Word Count: 8.8k 
Chapter Two
Reader goes missing, Daryl gives up the search after only a few weeks and starts getting closer to another woman. He finds sign of the reader again but rick is the one to save you. Daryl cant handle seeing you broken and pulls away.
Word count: 8.1K
Chapter Three
Daryl had broken you again, You had turned to rick for comfort finding a different kind of life with his family. Negan finding you in Rick’s home ends up bringing you back to Daryl. For Always &lt;3
Word Count: 10k
There ain't no competition darlin
You had just started wearing down Daryl’s walls getting closer to him falling head over heels, When he came back to the prison one day carrying an injured woman, Not able to handle the jealousy you take it out on the walkers in the fence. Getting injured brings Daryl back to you. 
Word Count: 5.2k
You know you want this
Daryl breaks your heart after you let your feelings for him slip, Breaking you completely Spencer helps to put the pieces back together, Finally starting to feel like yourself again Daryl decides he wants you back and he’s not going to take no for an answer - Warning Non-con
Word count: 6k
Spaghetti & Wildflowers
Aaron suggesting you invite Daryl for some “serious spaghetti” leads to confusing feelings for you both
Word count : 6.4k
Part Two
Dreams of a beautiful field of wildflowers leads to an even better reality 
Word count: 6.2k
Seeing Clearly now
Being Shane's fiancee used to be a thing you were proud of before a beautiful archer cleared the fog from in front of your eyes.
Word count: 6.9k
You Found me
Separated for 12 years you are finally reunited with Daryl, It was a big enough shock to him that you were alive, Little did he know he was in for an even bigger one.
Word count: 6k
You found me part two
You and Daryl finally have a chance to reconcile but how will it go and what other surprises are in store?
Word count: 7k
Back to Master List
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mydarllinglover · 9 months
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Alone || Mine
Previous
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After the funeral, Carol had approached  Natalia, when Daryl had been distracted with getting his things ready.
She had been preparing herself to settle the tension between herself and the woman, and to ask her to join them, but Natalia was already a step ahead of her, she had already chosen that she would be accompanying them to the herd, but when she was asked why, she refused to give a reason, just that she needed it to end, once and for all, and that meant any way how, she needed to do her part.
Daryl, who still refused to say a word to her, had all but dragged the woman onto the back of his bike, whilst Carol and Aaron rode two horses.
Once they got to their destination, "parking" their "vehicles", Connie, Kelly, Jerry and Magna had appeared from the foliage.
"Hi." Daryl greeted them.
"Hey, D." Jerry replied. "Nat!"
"Jerry" She grinned, jogging forward to hug the man. "How's Nabila, and the kids."
"Y'know, like normal, heard what happened to Rosita and Archie, they alright?"
"They're... they're all good, I have a lot to thank her for." She nodded, before moving on to greet Connie, as well as Kelly and Magna.
"Let's get to it. Screw these freaks." Magna sighed. "I say that in Siddiq's honour."
"That's the spirit." Natalia looked around the woods, seeing if she could spot anything.
"Thanks for helping." Daryl thanked Connie, patting her on the shoulder.
She pulled out a notebook, preparing to give a reply.
Natalia couldn't see what it said, but she couldn't deny that she craned her neck to see.
"You okay?" Aaron peered at her, as they walked.
"Fine." She smiled at him, pretending to not even notice the two conversing.
It was nightfall by the time they had reached the new border, and with a heavy sigh, they crossed it.
Daryl had been the last person, waiting after the others.
At some point, Carol had drew her bow, seeming to have spot something, though no one really took notice, except for Daryl, as per usual.
"Hey. Wait." He called to her, spotting the bear trap. "Coulda lost a foot." He commented, when she had saw it.
"They laid traps. Means we're getting closer. I saw something over there." Carol said.
"Will you stop this shit?" Daryl asked her. "Please. You want her dead so bad, you don't even care what happens to you."
"That's not true." She denied.
"You never came off that boat." He shook his head. "It's been like talking to a goddamn ghost."
"I'm doing the best I can."
"You didn't have ta drag my wife along with this, she didn't needa be out here."
"She wanted to come." Carol corrected. "I didn't make her."
"Yeah, only cause she thinks she owes you, she blames Henry's death on herself, bin beating herself up about it all morning, causea what happened to Siddiq, with Dante. I know you went and asked her, specifically when I wasn't around."
"She's useful, Daryl. You've been forgetting that, for a while. She's skilled and she knows her way in a fight, better than most of us."
"Not anymore, she's not meant for it out here, anymore, hasn't for a long time."
"You underestimate her, she's still capable."
"Well, the way you bin acting, I don wan' her getting hurt in the crossfire." He stated, before heading forward, to join the rest, temporarily stunting Carol.
The sun had risen high when they reached a clearing, the place Mary had said the horde was, and yet, it was an empty field.
"God damn it!" Daryl cursed, turning away as though it was an offensive sight.
"Wait." Aaron told him.
"For what?" He asked.
"This doesn't mean Mary lied to us, alright?" He tried to reason. "They were protecting this place. T-They put a trap in the road as a deterrent."
"Yeah, from some hunter a decade ago."
"No, that thing was rigged more recently than that, and you know it." Aaron pointed out.
"You wanna stand around and figure it out?" Daryl challenged. 
"Look, the herd could have been here last week or yesterday."
"Or not at all." Natalia interjected.
"We!" He glanced at the woman. "Had an obligation to come check this out."
"Nah. Time to find Lydia. Let's go." He walked away, Natalia shook her head at Aaron in sympathy before also turning and leaving.
"She's our main priority." She reminded.
"You didn't have to snap at him like that, not in front of everybody." Natalia told Daryl, as they walked further ahead than the rest.
"What?" He grunted, trying to look for tracks.
"He was sure on this, and he had hope, its Aaron, you know what he's like, but you didn't have to shoot him down like that."
"I don' need a lecture, alright, we're looking for Lydia so we can get the hell back home." He finalised.
"Oh, how I wonder where our daughter gets her pessimistic attitude from." She sighed to herself.
They hadn't spoke again until they reached water.
"Lydia would have taken this river downstream." Daryl told the group. "Back to our side."
They followed, until they noticed that Carol wasn't,
"Hey, Carol. Let's go." Daryl called for her.
"You go on. I'll meet you." She told him, walking the other direction.
"Nope. We all stay together." He clarified, as though he was some chaperone on a school field trip.
She didn't back down though, so they changed course, following her.
Even when she darted through the tree's.
"Hey!" Daryl shouted, sprinting after the woman. "Carol!"
"It's Alpha, she's following her." Natalia shared, spotting the woman through the leaves as she also ran.
She had managed to pass Daryl, being faster than him, but he got the chance to catch up when she ran into walkers, taking them down, throwing them into the same hole they had passed all those months ago to find Henry and Evie.
"You alright?"  He asked, when she had thrown the last one down.
"Still got it." She huffed. "Come on. Carol's still going after her." Natalia reminded, carrying on.
Daryl had waited back though, checking for more to come, as they ran, Natalia led the rest of the group into the same walkway she saw Carol going through, though she froze when she heard it, the large chorus of walker groans.
"I think we found the herd." She sighed, as the others also stopped staring down at what looked like a hundred walkers. "Well done, Carol.
"Guess they did move them." Aaron spoke lowly.
"Y'know, it's kinda reminding me of both of my pregnancy reveals." Natalia commented, raising her brows.
That's when a loud collision sounded, Daryl rolling along the ground just above them, stopping just before the edge.
"Speak of the devil..." She sighed, whilst Jerry and Aaron helped him up.
"Pregnant?" Daryl sputtered as he got to his feet.
"No, you idiot. I said, I was getting flashbacks to both reveals." She gestured to the horde.
"Yeah, we got a way bigger problem than memory lane." Magna looked around the cave, and so did the others, without the hundreds of walkers, the cave was a danger, alone, it was small, cramped, could possibly collapse at any moment and there looked to be no way out.
"Uh. Hey, guys?" Jerry called over the noise of the walkers, looking up, bringing attention to Alpha, who was stood on a high ledge, holding an torch of fire.
Carol stared at the woman with pure hatred, the realisation that she had been tricked got to her, then... she just screamed, loud, agonisingly and long, letting out all the rage she felt, and Alpha left her to it, exiting the cave.
"Give me a boost, I think I can reach it." Magna said, staring at the platform.
"Maybe Natalia can give it a go, she'll probably be lighter." Kelly suggested, sizing everyone up.
"Pipsqueak?" Magna, assessed the small woman. "Yeah, she won't reach a thing." She then gestured for the three men to help her up, and spot her.
"Ouch." Natalia muttered to herself, halting back, letting the others help up Magna, as she dealt with the walkers that were able to climb above the others, getting pushed towards them. 
"Aah!" Magna screamed, losing her grip and falling to the ground.
"Damn. You okay?" Daryl asked, helping her up.
"I almost had it." She told him.
"Nah, it's too high, no one's getting up there." He said. "You risk breaking your neck."
"We could try hopping across." Natalia suggested
"What?" Aaron asked her.
"Look." She moved Daryl's hand, the one holding the flashlight, showing off the small platforms above the walkers. "Could use those to jump across." She signed as she spoke, her and Daryl had been learning it, as well as teaching the kids, they had decided to, after they met Connie.
"Nice." Daryl nodded, looking at her proudly.
"Wait. For real?" Kelly asked.
"Uhm, yeah, Unless you got a better idea." Natalia asked her. "I'll go first, follow my lead, but don't all bunch up, leave a spot in case I need to turn back."
"Wait, Nat, are you sure?" Aaron asked.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
"Just that... you know, you got kids."
"Yeah, so do you, and you, and you." She pointed to the men in group, who were all fathers. "Alright, ready?"
"Let's go." Daryl slightly squeezed her hip as she got ready to jump, flashing the light over her head.
"Follow after, If I want anyone watching my back, it's always gonna be you." She looked up at Daryl, speaking to him quietly.
"'M always gonna. Don't die." He murmured lowly.
"You either." Then she jumped, reaching the small rock, and the walkers instantly swarmed around her.
"She did it!" Jerry whooped at her success.
"Hey." She grinned. "Look at that, I'm so small, they can barely reach me." She looked right at Magna, who didn't seem at all impressed, but Connie was also smiling nudging her friend.
"Alright, baby, keep going." Daryl told her, moving the flashlight to show her next spot.
She moved up, letting Daryl take her previous space, as she jumped to the next, which was a bit more crowded, having to kick walkers away from her, as she moved around the rock, before running along a small pathway, stopping in a crook, catching her breath.
Natalia lightly threw her arms around Daryl when he sat beside her, kissing his cheek, as the others moved along, towards them.
"You alright?" He asked.
"We're still alive, is it weird that I'm kinda having fun?"
"Yes." He stared at her.
"I don't know, guess I kinda missed when my life was on the line, getting from point A to point B, that kinda stuff, I don't know." She shook her head looking around the cave. "Up there." She pointed, standing up and moving towards it, as Carol came flying towards them.
"Hey! Hey! Come on! Come on!" Aaron began shouting at Kelly, who had just jumped, but fell, hitting at walkers as she scrambled to her feet.
"Come on, I gotchu!" Daryl told Carol, as she prepared to join them.
Carol jumped, but had also skidded, falling and landing on her stomach, walkers reaching at her feet whilst Daryl pulled her up.
"Nice going, like a real knight in shining armour." Natalia commented at him completely not having her.
"Shut up." He scowled, when they were sure Carol was alright.
They then helped the rest over, making sure everyone was okay.
That was until one walker had clung onto Kelly's foot, but Jerry acted quick, using his large axe to chop it off.
"Hey, hand me that thing." Daryl told him, gesturing to the arm.
"Knock yourself out, dude." Jerry said as he passed it to him.
He had ended up turning it into a torch, using it to navigate as they made their way through the mine.
"Alright, I need you to stay here, alright, keep everyone together." Daryl told Natalia, passing her his severed arm torch.
"What, where you going?" She asked.
"Gonna go look around for a way out." He told her, as though that were obvious.
"Nuh uh, Connie, take this, I'm going with you." She handed the severed arm torch to Connie, following Daryl.
Should I even ask how we're doing on food?" Aaron asked Jerry.
"Not great."
"Food?" Kelly asked. "How long do you think we gonna be here?"
"Hey, no worries. Walkers got in here somehow. We'll get out." Jerry attempted to reassure her.
"I think we know exactly how they got here.  Alpha put them here. These are theirs. We have to assume we're not alone." Aaron theorised.
Connie signed to Carol, asking if she was okay.
"I'm fine. Just a lil winded." She replied.
"She's claustrophobic." Daryl answered, as they made their way back over.
"Why didn't you think about that before you got us all trapped down here?" Magna asked.
"Hey." Aaron told her, not wanting to start anything. "It's not the time for this."
"Why not, seems like we got plenty of time for this." She shrugged. "What the hell were you thinking, huh? Running off like that by yourself?"
"Because she doesn't think, she see's and she does." Natalia said. "That's Carol, to hell with the actual important stuff that's going on."
"Hey! We ain't got time for this shit." Daryl told them. "We got in this mess together. We're gonna get out of it together. Now follow me, I think I found a way out."
They had found a large "room" to set up camp in, sorting themselves out, plotting.
"What did you mean, when you said that this place reminded you of when you found out you were pregnant." Kelly asked, filling the silence.
"Long story." Natalia answered, as she layed on her back, staring at the ceiling.
"It's either that, or we can go back to figuring out who's to blame for all of this." Magna said, her tone sounded awfully sarcastic, though.
"Fine, It was a whole bunch of us, all the leaders, basically, we took a trip to a museum in D.C and they have, had this uh, glass floor, so you could look down at all the exhibits, though, at this point, the only thing you could see was dozens of walkers, and as I was walking along it, it started to shatter, which did wonders for my self- esteem , as you can imagine, and as I fell through, like a swinging pinata, Siddiq decided to radio in and tell me that I was pregnant... with twins." She recounted that time, around seven years ago.
"Wow." Kelly raised her brows.
"Yep." Natalia had closed her eyes, her head leaning on her folded arms.
"And the other time?" Magna asked.
"Oh... I didn't actually find out then, he did." She pointed at her husband, who was sat by himself, in front of a fire he had built.
"The story of Archie? We never got to hear about this, either." Aaron, who was beside Jerry, shared.
"Yeah, I wanna hear this." The large man grinned.
"Too bad, I don't feel like sharing anymore." She decided.
"But..." Aaron began to complain.
"I don't wanna talk about it, because instead of being with my 1 year old baby, I'm stuck in a fucking cave."
"You chose to come." Carol remined.
"No one mentioned a cave." She replied. "Or that we were gonna be here... for hours, with nothing to do... just waiting... for a stroke of luck, or death... hopefully soon, I'm not picky."
"She's kidding." Aaron assured Kelly, who was looking terrified by each passing word. "Nat... Nat tends to get morbidly sarcastic when she's either bored or scared. Right now, that's both."
"Naming your son Archie, is a lil on the nose, isn't it?" Magna asked, looking at Daryl.
"I didn't name him, wasn't even there when he was born." He sniffed, examining his knife.
"What do you mean?" Jerry asked.
"Birthed and delivered him, myself, just like the twins. Not bad for a pipsqueak, huh?" She opened one eye, glancing at Magna, who rolled her own. "And I named him after two of my best friends, father and son, just combined the first letter of their names though, Archie Carl."
"Natalia, you are the most terrifying person I've ever met." Aaron complimented her.
"Thank you, Aaron, it means a lot to be taken seriously."
They had sat in more silence, until Magna stood up, walking towards Daryl, with a limp.
"Hey. Hey... can I, Can I get matches?" She asked him.
"You should try to take it easy for a minute." He told her.
"I can't." She breathed heavily. "I need to do something."
He caved, handing her the box.
"Thanks." Magna said, as she accepted them, then walked away, then Carol sat beside him.
Natalia moved to lay on her side, her back to them, so she didn't have to unwantedly over-hear their conversation, she needed to rest, for her own sanity, but she really, really didn't want to die in this cave,
It was quiet for quite a while, before Magna had shouted at them.
"Skins!" She cried, and everyone was up in the second, running towards her.
Magna was trying to fight one off as more emerged.
One, a stocky looking man, had lunged at Natalia, aiming to stab her, but she managed to duck, knocking him on his ass, before stabbing her knife into his skull, she turned around and the others were doing the same, killing without hesitation.
Daryl stood back from his, looking around, whilst another came running at him from behind, but Natalia was quicker, throwing an knife into their head.
"Let's go." Daryl decided, turning in the way they had come from, bending slightly to retrieve Natalia's knife, wiping it on his trousers, handing it back to her as though it were a relay race.
They had ran into another room/spot.
Connie began signing in frustration.
"If we don't follow each other in the dark, we're gonna get split up." Kelly translated.
"She's right. We stick together." Carol agreed.
"At least we know there's a way out now." Aaron said.
"Yeah, but where?" Magna asked.
"I think they went this way." Jerry suggested.
"You see where they went?" Daryl asked him.
"Not exactly, but... I know a road sign when I see one." He shone his flashlight on an arrow, that had been carved into the rock.
Daryl followed it, and the rest followed him.
"Hey, come on." He hollered, reaching something that had caused him suspicion.
Connie shone her light into the crack, but nothing seemed to be jumping out at them, just a path.
"I'll go through." Natalia suggested.
"Naw." Daryl shut her down, instantly.
"I can fit." She argued.
"So can I, I'm going first." instead of giving her space to make her piece, he squeezed through the rock.
Natalia huffed, folding her arms in frustration, leaning against the wall.
"He loves you." Connie signed, nudging her. "And he wants to protect you."
"I don't need protecting, I'm fine to look after myself." She signed back, though hers was a lot slower as she remembered which word meant what sign.
"He knows that, but he's scared, and the best way he can deal with that is by taking charge."
She shrugged not knowing what to say, but feeling slightly defeated.
"Are you guys doing okay?"
"You seem to know more about my husband, then I do, these days."
"This is it." Daryl called, from inside the tomb.
Natalia was the first to move, pushing off the rock to go after him, letting the others follow after her.
"Hey, Nat?" Jerry called, from the back. "I'm really jealous of you, right now."
"I would love to trade, Jerry, obviously, after we get out this cave." She replied, back. "We're almost there, anyway."
She had reached Daryl, who was stood, staring at another hole, except this one wasn't walk through-able, they would have to crawl through it.
"Mine." Natalia decided, getting ready to climb in.
"Nat, no-"
"Nuh uh, this has my name written all over it, you can join the queue." She told him.
"I don't want ya doing that."
"And you think I want you to? Look, I can easily get through that, you're gonna struggle, and so is everyone else, I don't wanna wait behind you lot, besides, if it's a dead end, it's gonna take me half the time to figure that out, then it is you, so I'm going first."
"She has a point." Magna said.
Natalia saw the confliction on his face, and as he was about to speak his mind, she kissed him, briefly, giving her enough time to startle him and sneak into the hole, crawling through.
"Hey, you alright, back there?" Aaron called to Jerry, as the rest were crawling through.
"Yeah, sure, I'm just a 6,2ft dude that had trouble fitting into airplane bathrooms. Why wouldn't I be okay?" He grunted.
"Fair enough." Aaron nodded.
"Hey, quit your whining, I can see the end." Natalia called, "It's like, a hairs away."
"Who's hair are we talking about, before the twins, or after?" Aaron called.
"Don't get her started." Daryl sighed.
"Aaron, you know I don't like to talk about that, okay? It's a real sensitive subject for me." She admitted. "Hey, I'm out! Baby, come on!"
"I'm comin'" He breathed, crawling forward.
"It's so spacious out here, oh wow, come on, keep coming, the oxygen here is great."
Daryl came struggling out, then Magna, Kelly was after.
"I'm good." She told them, as she fell to the floor, despite Daryl helping her out.
Carol's breathing had gotten out of control, by the sounds of it, she was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack, if she wasn't already in one.
"Carol! Carol!" Daryl shouted down the hole, trying to spot her in the very dim light.
"I'm here." She said, weakly.
"Hey, Carol, there's nothing to be scared about, alright, you're so, so close, just a little further." Natalia told the woman. "You've almost made it, and this is like the least scariest thing you've ever done, this is nothing compared to the thing's you've accomplished."
She was still struggling.
"Carol, I get your pain, okay, I understand, I understand it more than anyone could, okay, you know my daughter, my first one, before Evie, damn, when I lost her, I thought my life was going to end, and it did, it did feel like that, but then it didn't and I- I got to greive and I got to live a life that I could imagine her being a part of everyday, but yet, the vengeance I feel, that's never left me, to this day, I still wish I could cause harm over what happened to her, so I get your need to hurt Alpha, believe me, I do, but you're not going to get that satisfaction if you die in here, because you refused to move, but when you get out, I promise you, nothing on this earth will stop me from helping you see her bleed, I swear that on my life, but I need you to get out of that damn crawlspace, so we can drop that bitch and be done with this, with her stupid rules, and her meetings, all of it, so I need you to get the hell out, Carol."
"I can't." She whimpered. "I can't!"
"You can!" Natalia snapped. "You can, y'know why we named our daughter after you? Because you are brave, and you are strong, and one hell of a fighter, nothing stops Carol Peletier from getting to where she needs to be, nothing, because you are not scared of anything, even crawling through this, don't make us have named our child after someone who couldn't crawl through a damn tunnel, at least go down fighting, so we have a story to tell."
They heard movement, Carol was crawling through.
She felt a pat on her back, looking to her side.
"Thanks." Daryl muttered.
"I didn't do it for you, she needed a reality check, it's a long time coming." She smiled, reaching for his hand to hold.
When Carol had reached them, Natalia took the flashlight from her hands so that Daryl could help her out.
"Go ahead." She told him, as he carried her out of the cave
"I got you, I got you." He grunted, dealing with her weight.
"You did it." Natalia whispered to the woman, smiling, before turning back to the hole. "Right, three of you guys left, you got it."
"Hey, love the support, Nat, I really do, it's a nice change for you... but, just be quiet for a second." Jerry instructed, as something started whizzing.
"What is it?" Aaron asked.
"Aaron, man, be quiet." Jerry told him, as the whizzing continued.
Then was the sound of angry walker growls.
"Go, go, go! Go!" Jerry shouted, as Connie and Aaron clambered forward.
"Go, go, go!" Aaron tapped Connie, pushing her forward, faster.
Connie soon emerged, Natalia stepping back so she could climb out.
"Jerry, come on!" Aaron called back, as he also clambered out.
"Come on! Come on!" Daryl encouraged.
"Jerry, come on! You're almost there!" Aaron bellowed, when Jerry got to the tight bit.
"Guys! I'm... I'm stuck." He told them.
"Here, take my hand." Daryl said, reaching to grab for him.
Jerry groaned as he stretched himself tall, reaching for the other man.
"My feet! My feet! They got my feet! They're biting my feet! My feet!"
"Take your gear off!" Aaron suggested. "Take it off!"
He did as told, passing it forward.
"Come on, come on, give me your hand!" Daryl continued, as Jerry kicked at the walkers.
Daryl and Aaron were able to get a hold of him, pulling him out.
Natalia stabbed the walker that followed.
"You good?" Kelly asked, as they checked him for bites. "It's okay. They didn't bite through. You're good. It's all right. It's okay."
They all looked ahead, there was a small light, from up top, shining down onto the dark rock.
"Hey. Hey!" Magna called, standing up. "Look"
"Wait!" Daryl grabbed her around the waist, as she almost plummeted to her death, a large, dark void was just below.
Daryl tore off the arm of Natalia's latest kill, lighting it on fire and dropping it down, illuminating the horde just below them.
They had found another area, that had been boarded up with slabs of wood, Daryl had been the one to break through it.
The group walked through, silently, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did, and they hadn't found anything, either.
"Why are we standing around, just looking at it?" Magna asked.
"We got to be very careful." Kelly translated for Connie. "We take out the wrong piece, this whole thing's gonna collapse."
They took this in mind, as they looked for their exist.
"Alright, find something to dig with." Daryl told everyone, as they heaved and hooed.
"Hey, Aaron, can you help me with this?" Jerry asked, as they worked together.
"Yeah, yeah." He nodded.
"Kelly, what's that?" Natalia asked the young woman, seeing the box she had just uncovered.
"Look for yourself." She grinned, holding up a stick of dynamite. "Guys, look what I found!"
"Kelly! Uhm, that's great, but, that is dynamite, and unless you want to blow up into a million pieces, drop it!, like it's a new born baby!" Natalia demanded.
"What's going on?" Carol asked.
"Nothing, uhm, it's nothing, she thought she found something, but she didn't, it was just a cool looking rock." Natalia lied through her teeth, blocking Carol's view.
"But-" Kelly intervened, having dropped off her new find.
"Zup"
"No, but I-"
"Zup." Natalia repeated.
"But-"
"Kelly, go help the others, now." Natalia told her, pushing the girl around Carol.
"Nat?"
"It's fine, I don't wanna bore you with a rock, we haven't got time for that." Natalia walked away, quickly.
"Want to take a break?" Aaron asked Magna, as they lifted things around.
"I can rest when... when we get home." She replied.
"You in a hurry?" He pried.
"I just don't wanna hang out here any longer than I have to. Do you?"
"No, but... you barely rested, haven't eaten anything. You never stop."
"I didn't leave things good with Yumiko." She breathed, heavily.
"I'm sorry." He squeezed her arm in condolence.
"Me, too."
Daryl had found something, yanking at it hard, until it broke, falling to the ground with a cloud of dust.
"You okay?" Natalia asked, as he backed away, covering his mouth.
"Yeah." He nodded, "Fine, now." He pointed at the window he just opened up to the outside. "Come on, go." He gestured for Kelly to peep out."
"Just a little more." She told them.
"Where's Carol?" Daryl asked, as the others gathered around the exit.
"I have an idea," Natalia grumbled, heading towards the now rifled through, box of dynamite. "For fuck sake." She sighed, heading back to where Carol would be.
When they had found her, she was hanging of the edge of the rock, right over the horde, struggling to get up.
Natalia had been the one to go to her, she didn't trust Daryl getting over the rocks.
"Carol, come on." She held her hand out for her. "Just grab my hand, okay? I'm right here."
Carol latched on, and together, they were able to get her up.
"You okay?" Natalia asked, as they still clung to each other?
"We can take out half her horde from here." Was Carols reply.
"And that's worth risking your life for?"
"She killed my boy." Carol broke down.
"I know, Carol, and I am so sorry that she did, but this? You just can't do this, you can't live your life suicidally, he would never want that, you can't let his death be in vain, cause then, then she would win, and you can not let her win, we need to make her pay, this? She can always get more walkers, and she'll just double it next time, no, you need to do what she did to him, to them, you need to take her head, and that's when it stops, that's when this ends, and you can't do that if you're down there. Come on."
Natalia went to move back, and she thought Carol would too, but then she reaching for the stick, dropping it, and they both watched in horror as it fell into the horde.
"Hey! Come on!" Daryl called to them to come back, as the walls around them shook.
"She- She's bleeding." Natalia wheeped, as they reached Daryl, blood was dripping down Carol's face, it was all she could see.
"So are you!" He told her, grabbing hold of her, just as Connie and Magna came, helping support the two.
"Come on! Come on! Hurry!" Magna rushed them towards where Jerry was holding the support beams, by himself.
"I can't!" He grunted, struggling with the weight.
Magna helped Natalia stand, whilst Daryl squeezed her arm.
"You keep her safe, you get her out of here, Imma help from up there." He told her, squeezing the woman's hand again, before darting to the top.
"Give me her hand, I'll pull her up!" Daryl shouted down, when he was ready.
"No, no she goes first, she's bleeding." Natalia urged.
"Nat, so are you!" Magna told her.
"She's bleeding, get her out of here!" She pushed, hitting Connie to get Carol to move.
Connie helped push Carol up, as more rubble fell down.
"We've got more skins!" Magna cried, letting Natalia stand on her own, so she could fight.
Jerry screamed in agony refusing to let go.
"Get outta here!" Magna cried.
"I- I gotta help" Natalia, who was going considerably pale, stuttered, looking for her knife.
"Nat, I love you, but you need to get the hell out of here, before I drop this on you" Jerry told her.
"Hey, come on!" Daryl shouted down.
"But they're-"
"Go!" Jerry screamed at her. "Daryl, your wife, she ain't looking so great, you're gonna have to help her!"
"Nat, baby, come on, just give me your hand!" Daryl told her desperately.
She caved, staggering up, and as soon as they caught sight, Aaron and Daryl yanked her up.
"She's bleeding, real bad." Aaron looked at Daryl nervously.
"Jerry, come on man!" Daryl ignored it, wiping at the blood coming from a large gash on Nat's hairline, dripping down her face.
"We gotta help them" She almost whispered, reaching down as, they tried to pull her away, whilst Jerry climbed up.
They had three seconds to run before the mine exploded, sending a large thick cloud of dust into the air.
The group coughed as they got their barings.
Daryl looked around him, but he couldn't see her, he could've sworn she tried to pull away, but he held on to her, he did, right, he pulled her back, so why wasn't she by his side?
"Nat? Nat! Natalia!" He called, running to the rubble, turning over the rocks. "Nat? Nat, baby, where are you?"
He threw the rocks, as more dust clouded his vision.
"Natalia!"
"No!" Kelly cried, realising that her sister hadn't emerged from the mine, neither had Magna, but he couldn't focus on that right now. "No! No! No!"
"Nat, baby, where are you, please." He begged, as he searched.
Aaron had helped him, then, he found her.
"Daryl..." He said, his voice shook. "Daryl... I- I found her."
He turned in a mili-second, almost running to the man, until he froze, staring at her body, her unmoving body.
"Daryl...." Aaron whispered, as he darted to her.
"Nat?" He threw the large plate of rock that was over her arm, now, it looked out of place, her wrist was bent, he could've sworn that was her bone sticking out.
Her eyes were closed, there was a slash across her cheek, her head injury looked more and more bloody, her skin, that he could see under the dust, was ghost pale.
Daryl held her, her head fell down as his arm supported her neck.
"Nat, baby..." His voice was weak, he layed his head on her chest, listening for a heartbeat. His own fluttered when he could hear it, weak and soft, but there, her pulse was near enough the same, but she was still alive. "Help me!" He shouted to Aaron. "Help me!"
"Daryl-"
"Help me! She's alive! She's-... she's alive, just, just help me, please!"
"This blast is gonna call walkers and Whisperers from a hundred miles from here!" Kelly yelled, staring at the wreckage, from where her sister was buried in. "We don't want our backs pressed against this mountain when they come. We can't save her if we're still here, and we can't save them if we're dead."
"She's- we're, help... help- we're gonna get help, and they're gonna, they'll" Daryl could barely make out his sentence, his eyes welled up as he held Natalia tightly, lifting her off the ground.
"Go ahead, say it to me." Carol
whimpered, clinging onto his arm, but he shoved her away. "I deserve it. Just say it to me. She's going to die because of me. You were right about everything. Just say it to me."
He struggled to get past her again, but she grabbed him once more.
"No, please." She wailed. "You care about her. You've loved her for so long. And now she's going to die because of me. Please, just say it! Please say it!"
He ignored her, turning back to Aaron and Jerry.
"Take her. Go home and get her help, you... you'll get her there. Evie, Rosita, they can help her." He walked towards Jerry, who met him half way. "You... you protect her, you keep her breathing till she can get help." He told him, not giving her up yet.
"I will, Daryl, I will." Jerry looked at him sincerely. "All of us will have to have been dead before anything could happen to her."
Daryl looked down once again, even like this, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever graced his eyes on.
His lip trembled as he took her in, leaning his forehead on hers.
"You stay alive" He whispered. "You stay alive for Evie, For Daisy and Bambi, for Archie, and for me. God damn it, you stay alive for me, Natalia Isabelle Dixon, you fucking stay alive... I love you." He kissed her forehead before letting the large man take her, gently, he made sure she was safe and comfortable, even if she was unconscious, before he turned away, passing Carol without acknowledgement, once more.
"Tell the others we found the horde." He told the group.
"Where you gonna be?" Aaron asked.
"They got out before us." His voice shook, as he fought back tears. "There's gotta be another way in." He needed to stay busy, there was nothing he could do for Natalia, and he'd lose the strength to not hurt Carol if he stayed around, he needed to stay busy, and away.
Jerry walked in the direction of home, holding onto Natalia tightly, muttering words to her every so often, to remind himself that he wasn't holding a dead body, no matter how it felt, Kelly walked in his shadow, whilst Aaron limped behind, focusing on getting home, focusing on getting one of his best friend's back so she could stay alive.
They left Carol.
Next
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Two hearted Love
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Aaron x Fem reader
Requested by: @flowercrowns-goodvibes thank you for the request ❤️
Warnings: Swearing, Gracie (Because she's fuckin adorable), Aaron (Cuz he's fuckin hot), fluffy af!
A/n: This one is definitely on the cute side, extremely fluffy.
Summary: Aaron, Gabriel, and Paul "Jesus", are going out on a run. Aaron has Y/n watch over Gracie, but little Gracie tells Y/n one too many of Aaron's secrets.
___
"You guys gonna be okay?" Aaron asked, Y/n and him stood next to the gate watching Judith and Gracie play on the porch.
"Yeah, we'll be fine." She chimed. "Im worried about you, Aaron. You're going out there, and I know that you can handle yourself. But it's still extremely dangerous, so stay alert."
Aaron smiled and nodded at her words, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Y/n embraced it and snuggled her head into his shoulder.
"Keep her safe." He whispered.
"You know I will."
Y/n watched Gabe, Jesus, and Aaron walked down the road and into the woods before she closed the gate. Gracie came walking up and leaned her head against Y/n's hip.
"Daddy will be okay, right?" She asked.
"Nah, he's as good as walker food."
Gracie gasped.
"I'm kidding, Pumpkin. You're Daddy is one of the most bravest men I know, he'll fight to his dieing breath to get back to you. He'll be perfectly fine, I bet you he won't come back with a scratch."
"Really!?" Gracie asked, sounding cheery.
"Damn right, Princess! Now let's get inside, it's hot out here."
The two walked up to Aaron's house, Y/n was about to walk in, when she stopped. She turned back around and faced the street.
"Hey, Jude! Wanna come in? Imma make some Mac!" Y/n yelled.
Judith got up off her spot on the grass and ran up the steps. The three went inside, and like a pack of Lil Jabba the hutts, they headed for the kitchen.
___
"You alright?" Jesus asked, looking at Aaron.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Im just worried about Gracie."
Gabe chuckled. "Y/n will take good care of her. She loves that little girl like she's her own."
His comment making Aaron smile, the thought of himself, Y/n, and Gracie all being a family made is heart beat faster.
"Y/n is a lovely person. Very kind, someone a lot of men must've chased after in the old world." Gabe continued.
"I know I would've." Jesus said. "A girl like that-"
"Hey!" Aaron interrupted.
Paul threw up his hands. "Im just saying! Besides I thought you guys were a thing."
"Well quit saying! And no we aren't."
"Why are you so salty? You like her?" Paul asked.
"What? No."
Gabriel and Jesus looked at him as Aaron walked in silence, looking down at the road.
"She is beautiful isn't she?" He asked.
"Y/n? Hell yeah!" Jesus looked at Aaron like he was insane. "I didn't want to say anything because I thought you two were something, but now that I know you aren't....I might try my luck."
Aaron then tackled Jesus and wrestled him into the dirt. Gabriel stood on the sidelines laughing and the two men fought like boys.
___
Y/n served up the Mac and cheese and sat down with the girls.
"So, what were you guys up to out there?" Y/n asked.
Judith smiled. "We were drawing."
"I remember doing that with my big brother." Y/n leaned forward. "My drawings were always better."
The girls giggled and pulled out their drawings, Y/n looked at Judith's first. It was dog, the drawing was actually really good.
"Nice job." She said.
Y/n then looked at Gracie's, it was a picture of three people. The smaller one was obviously her, and the taller one was Aaron. She pointed at the woman in the middle.
"Who's this?" She asked.
"That's you."
Gracie's words stunned Y/n, she looked back down at the picture.
"Why am I on there?"
"Because Daddy talks about you all the time. He's always saying how proud of you he is, and how he enjoys spending time with you."
Judith nodded. "I over heard him talking to Mom. He was saying that he trusts you with his life and that he really cares about you."
Gracie smiled. "Only I think he likes you. Like really likes you."
Y/n chuckled at their enthusiasm.
"Well, your dad and I are friends."
___
Aaron, Jesus, and Gabe began heading back when the sun started to go down. The three all laughed and joked about Y/n and Aaron. Jesus was making sarcastic comments while Gabe was speaking words of wisdom.
"I think you should talk to her." Jesus said. "Have you seen the way she looks at you? The way she blushes when you look at her!"
Gabe turned back to the men. "And that hug." He said. "At the gate, that wasn't any normal hug of friendship. Or as Y/n likes to call it "Foo foo shit", there was a spark in there."
Aaron smiled and looked at the sunset.
"You think there could be something between us?" He asked.
"Definitely." Gabe replied. "Or you'll fuck it up and she'll move to Hill top."
___
Y/n put Gracie to bed and went downstairs, she began putting the dishes away when Aaron walked through the door.
"I was wondering when the man of the house would get back."
Aaron chuckled and set his knife down on the table. He glanced up the stairs and looked back at Y/n.
"She's sleeping, I took care of your little angel."
Aaron nodded and looked over at the drawings on the table, he picked up the one that had Gracie's name written in the corner.
"Who's this?" He asked looking at the woman in the middle.
"She said it was me....along with a couple of other things."
He looked over to her, she was faced away from him setting a bowl in the cupboard.
"Other things?"
She turned to him and tossed the hand towel over her shoulder.
"You got something to tell me, Aaron?" She asked.
She walked closer and took the paper out of his hand and set it on the table. Y/n grasped his hands and smiled.
"Your little girl told me that her Daddy appreciates my work. And that he talks about me a lot, and that he really likes me...like really likes me." She said in a bold tone.
Aaron smirked. "Well, she isn't lying." He copied her tone of voice.
Y/n smiled again and rose up onto her tippy toes, to where there lips were almost touching.
"So what are we gonna do about that?" She asked.
He leaned in and closed the gap between them, the kiss wasn't rushed, it was slow and loving. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Only stopping when they heard...
"Ew." Come from the staircase.
THE END ❤️
I hope you enjoyed!
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The Walking Dead
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Navigation
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Aaron
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Daryl Dixon
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Connie
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Glenn Rhee
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Maggie Greene
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Negan Smith
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Paul Rovia 'Jesus'
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Rick Grimes
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Rosita Espinosa
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Everybody Dies
Pairings: Rick Grimes x teen!reader, Daryl Dixon x teen!reader, Carl Grimes x teen!reader, Michonne Hawthorne x teen!reader, Aaron x teen!reader, Negan x teen!reader, Rosita Espinosa x teen!reader, Eugene Porter x teen!reader, Sasha Williams x teen!reader (all of them are platonic)
Requested by: @leahsbasement may i request a teen or child g/n reader that’s really close to the twd group and during the lineup they’re one of the people chosen by negan to yknow- receive the glenn and abraham treatment💀 and like we get some reactions from the group from it🧎 i apologize if this sounds really morbid but i am dire need of some good angst and i love your writing sm it’s amazing <3
Warnings: reader death, angst, a tad bit of fluff (definitely not much), mention of character death, description of Negan doing what he did to Glenn and Abraham, blood, mention of a brutal way to die, idk what more I guess you have all seen twd so you know what might be in this. Not proofread
A/N as usual the gif is not mine, found it somewhere on the internet. This is not proofread, well half of it is.
Now I tried to do a reaction with all of the people at the line up so sorry with Sasha I guess bc I don’t like her so found it a bit hard to write her as a character that’s close to the reader, and once more thank you for the request, it gave me an excuse to write this
Anyway idk what I think of this, wrote it in the middle of the night because I couldn’t sleep, so anyway hope you like it.
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Everybody dies a little when the brightest soul disappears.
A sea of red water mixed with the gravel and mud on the ground. The trail of blood — that had gone its own path from the puddle it was previously in, could be followed towards two bodies. One of a hunched man, who racked with sobs through his entire body. His hands grasped towards the body before him. Blood still oozed from the head. Or what someone would once have called a head, as it was now just remains of smashed bones and brain goo. The once familiar face was unrecognizable to anyone. No one would ever be able to pinpoint who the body belonged to, because the head atop of it was gone. It had been smashed into a puddle of goo. No one would ever be able to see your smiling face, or the mischievous smirk that pulled at your lips whenever you wanted to rebel a bit. Nor would they ever see the sparkles in your eyes whenever you talked about the things you liked.
No one of the group surrounding the three bodies wanted to acknowledge what had happened. How could they. They’d all just seen three of their family members die, because of their actions. Because of them. The teenager in which the hunched man had taken a tight grip of their hands had warned them about the attack. That nothing good would come out of it, that it wasn’t who they were. Rick had been wrong like everyone else to ignore the teenager’s warnings. In the end it was what cost them your life. Their choice of actions had been the beginning of your end.
Rick couldn’t let the image out of his head, he couldn’t even look at your body as he held you tightly. His eyes stared into the distance at nothing in particular as his mind tried to register what had happened just a few hours ago. His cries had stopped only for his eyes to glaze over once more with tears. He couldn’t help but to think that it was all his fault. He had the final vote on what to do, and his vote caused your death. It caused Negan to seek them out. To line them up. To smash your head with his goddamn wired baseball bat. His goddamn Lucille. He swore to kill Negan if it was the last thing he did, whether you would want him to or not, he needed to. Rick wanted nothing more than revenge. Nothing more than justice and revenge brought to you, Glenn and Abraham.
Not soon after Rick had stopped crying his son had walked over to you and him. His eye was bloodshot by the tears that rolled down his red cheek. And his hand went up to rub his eye off the tears as he tried to control himself, as he sat beside his father. Same as everyone else at the brutal scene he couldn’t let go of the events. How everyone got a look of dread and fear on their face as Negan announced that he’d had to kill two more because of Daryl’s little outburst. Carl had glanced at his father to see that for once under this meeting he held actual fear in his eyes when Negan’s bat had landed in front of you. It was deadly quiet as all of the group watched you stare dead into the eyes of Negan who looked at you with a scary face, gleaming with excitement as he noticed everyone’s reaction.
Negan had watched with glee as everyone went into submission after Lucille had stopped in front of you. He’d felt kinda sorry for you. He didn’t usually kill teenagers but something about you annoyed him so greatly. Maybe it was the way you didn’t look with fear into his eyes, how you held your own, even with the knowledge that you would soon be dead. He didn’t know what it was but he had decided to kill you, well he decided in a way.
Maggie who had lost her husband and father to her child, stared with emptiness at you. She didn’t know if she’d be able to take it if you died as well. She had tried to fight the man holding her down, but to no vain. Her already bloodshot eyes had filled with tears and sobbed had shook through her body as soon as she saw Negan start to swing his bat. She didn’t want to lose you, she couldn’t. But her silent prayer came to no good end.
Rosita was no better than Maggie. Since the first time you met when you and Glenn together with Tara searched for Maggie the two of you had gotten close and she as everyone else got flashes of your lives together. Of all your good and bad memories of everything you had survived. How you’d found an apple tree that hadn’t been destroyed at a random location in the forest and thrown apples at your companions heads as they hadn’t stopped when you told them to. Or how you’d draw drawings with the kids in Alexandria or help hunting and scavenging for food. Getting stuck in a building while a herd of walkers walked past. The blood and the gore of every kill. All of them comforting you while you cried yourself to sleep, all the cuddles you forced them into, especially Rick and Daryl. How you forced them to take a break so that they wouldn’t overwork themselves while doing the exact same thing. Needing help from others to make sure you actually took care of yourself and not just everyone else. It just made them all get to the brink of breaking even quicker as they thought of all your moments together. Not only did memories flash inside your head, nor only Rosita’s they flashed through everyone. You had always looked out for them and what had they given you in return, nothing but death.
Sasha wasn’t especially close to you but the previous death of Abraham and Glenn and now you had her at her breaking point. She might not have known you well but you were a good kid, you helped and knew how to survive. You didn’t take unnecessary risks and you’d helped her through her losses. So she tried nothing more than to break herself away from reality as she heard the bat make contact with your head. It reminded her too much of the other two kills and she couldn’t look through another one, not again.
Eugene only stared at the distance as sobs racked through his body not being able to watch you die. He couldn’t even bring his eyes to look at you afterwards, he’d never be able to erase the short scream of pain that had left your lips. He was at a loss of words and he wouldn’t be able to really function in a few days, much like everyone else. He was scared shitless and he didn’t know for anything in the world what to do or say in the hours that came after.
Negan had looked at everyone, gauging even the slightest reaction out of them. Michonne had watched helplessly at you, she’d tried not to flinch everytime the bat hit you among a sound she’d never wished she ever heard ever in her life. The only thing on her mind was how she taught you how to sword fight or when you hunted a deer together and accidentally fell into a puddle of mudd getting every inch of you covered in it.
Arron, who had been right beside you, wanted to crawl away as your blood splashed onto the right side of him. He remembered all the times you’d gone over to him and Eric to eat pasta not wanting to socialize with the rest of Alexandria. You’d always go to him or Daryl.
Arron felt sick as he felt your warm blood on his cold cheek, and he felt even more sick as he made a glance at Daryl who didn’t do anything else but staring with regret and anger at your body who now laid lifeless on the ground. When Aaron dared a glance at you his throat became thick and a sob threatened to come out but he didn’t make a sound instead he stared at you before he looked with fear, numbness, anger and defeat at Negan.
But it wasn’t until Negan had looked at Rick Carl and Daryl did he notice that he sure as hell picked the wrong one to kill, deep inside, he knew that he’d just started a war. A war that wouldn’t take too long to brew over to the real fight. However he was filled with glee over getting a few peaceful weeks at reveling in his power and control over Alexandria. Maybe that would make the war something never to come, how wrong he had been on that thought.
Daryl felt nothing but guilt as he looked at you and it was all he thought of when he got loaded into the car and the Saviours drove away with him. He regretted having lashed out. Regretted ever getting angry. Daryl knew more than anyone that he’d miss you when you were gone. Like Beth, he’d miss you, even more so than Beth.
Carl had held a strong front, but on the inside he was breaking he lost his best friend and the only kid that had been with him since the beginning of the disaster they now lived in.
Now in the present Carl placed his hand on Rick’s shoulder as everyone surrounded your body (except for Maggie, Sasha, Rosita and Eugene). The two Grimes hugged each other as Carl dug his head into Rick’s chest. The older Grimes, having stopped his crying once more, tried his best to comfort his son while he himself was still breaking.
Rick, like Carl and Daryl, had held a shield with spikes as defense against Negan, as they had all starred with the same thought of killing Negan running through their heads. They had let a numb shield cover them while their enemies still surrounded them. They hadn’t let go of the shield until their enemies were gone. (Or in Daryl’s case until he was alone in the cell he was placed in at the sanctuary).
That day, the day you died, was the day everyone in Alexandria died a little with you. You were the brightest soul in most of their lives and to lose you was one of the worst things to ever happen to any of them.
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rainsoakedphoenix · 1 year
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Off-Screen Chemistry
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pairing: ross marquand x actress!reader (even though it's written for the reader i'm still using 3rd person pov because i had it written in 2nd and i thought it was trash)
warnings: none, just fluff :)
note: aaron is one of my favorite characters from TWD and i'm sad that i don't see much love for the character or his actor anywhere, so i wanted to write a cute lil something for him
"So, what would you say is your most daring childhood memory?" Ross questions her curiously in a soft voice, taking a sip of his drink as he gazes at her while awaiting a response.
She chuckles at the first memory that comes to mind, bowing her head quickly in embarrassment before looking back up at him from the passenger seat. "This might be more stupid than daring, but there was this time when I was about seven years old and staying the night at a friend's house; I was standing on a swiveling chair dancing to some music we were playing on her computer, and she climbs onto the chair with me. I knew something was going to happen with us both being up there so I tried to climb down and ended up falling and hitting my eye on the corner of her computer desk." She finishes her story, taking a sip from her own drink and trying not to chuckle at Ross' reaction.
The man's eyes widen in surprise and concern at your story. "At seven years old?"
"Yep. I thought I was going to lose an eye that night, and my friend thought I was going to die. It was a very tear-filled and painful night." She nodded at him, taking another bite of her food that was now half-gone, now briefly thinking about the hospital visit that took place after the events of that night.
"Is that why your eyesight is so bad you have to wear glasses?" he jokes before immediately trying to dodge the piece of food she playfully threw at him, laughing at the woman's expression.
"Yes, Ross, that's probably part of it," she shakes her head as she smiles before continuing "but I wear contacts now too."
He softly smiles and nods along with her words, staring adoringly into her eyes as she changes the subject. "Oh, and I'll clean up that piece of food I threw at you before we leave."
"Don't worry about it," he shakes his head with a small wave of his hand, "I have to clean out my car this weekend when we have a break from filming anyways."
His mention of filming caused her mind to wander to the memory of when he asked her out., resulting in her cheeks heating up a bit. She had a prominent role in The Walking Dead, her character being an Alexandrian and introduced shortly after Ross' character Aaron was. Being that their characters were from the same community and were implemented in the show around the same time, they had quite a few scenes with him among many others and were able to spend a lot of time together behind the scenes, resulting in a crush developing between the two of them even though neither knew of the other's feelings until last week.
She had wrapped up a small fight scene and everyone was heading back to their trailers after congratulating each other on a great day, when Ross had walked up to her to ask if she would be interested in going on a date with him. Of course she was surprised, as she never expected him to return her feelings, much less ask her out, and even now in his car she still can't quite believe it's even happening.
"Are you okay?" he interrupts her train of thought, his hand centimeters from touching hers that was resting on the center console out of concern. She didn't realize she hadn't responded to what he last said, causing her already-warm cheeks to get even warmer at the thought of her mind wandering off for so long like that while on a date with him. That and she found his concern sweet.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking about last week," she responds, turning her hand over to grab his as a way to show him she was okay with him touching her.
"When I asked you out?" he asks softly, figuring out pretty easily what she could be thinking of. She hopes he doesn't think she might be regretting her choice of being with him tonight.
"Yes, but in a good way," she smiles in reassurance at him. "I've actually had a crush on you for a while but didn't have the guts to ask you out myself...pun not intended."
Ross laughed at her joke, throwing his head back momentarily before looking back at her, feeling a little calmer now after hearing that she was glad to be here. "So you're not uncomfortable?"
She shook her head in response to his question, the thumb that was touching his hand beginning to run smooth circles on his.
"I'm glad." He takes a deep breath, softly smiling at her and pausing for a few moments in hesitation before asking "Can I kiss you?"
Her heart sped up in anticipation and happy surprise at his question as she took a deep breath of her own, although she had already hoped that this is what the date would lead to. Because she didn't trust her voice to not betray what she had hoped was a calm and collected demeanor at this moment, she stared into his eyes as she nodded, watching him start to lean forward at her confirmation.
She closed her eyes as she leaned forward herself, helping him close the gap between the two of them. Being so close to him, she quickly got caught up by the smell of his pine-scented cologne, and her heart skipped a beat at the fact she knew he used it just for her.
"Is that okay?" He stares deeply into her eyes, searching for any sign that she may not have liked the kiss or didn't want to continue.
"Yes," she whispered, wanting to give him more than just a head not this time but still not fully trusting her voice. She stole a quick glance at his lips before looking back into his eyes, tentatively reaching up to grab the back of his neck with the hand that was holding his to bring him back to her. He smiled as she brought his face back to hers, choosing to bring his own hand up to cup her face as he kissed her back while tilting his head to the side to deepen the kiss.
She was the one to pull away this time, giggling as she did so. He furrowed his brows at the action but still softly smiled at her as she held a hand to the area of skin around her mouth. She speaks up before he has a chance to ask her what's wrong. "Your beard tickles."
His shoulders shake as he laughs at her words before she initiates another kiss, a smile on both of their faces the whole time.
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celtic-crossbow · 1 month
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But Put Together, the Cracks We’ll Close In
Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader
Setting: Early Alexandria
Warnings: Typical TWD violence and gore; mentions of past child abuse; mentions of suggested abortion; blood and injury
Summary: Fresh into Alexandria, Daryl meets his match in a two year little girl and slowly loses his heart to her mother. You.
A/N: Based on the request/headcanon from @louifaith Just a couple of things. The child is described as in hair and eye color. Nothing is mentioned of reader so these traits could come from her father. There is also the mention of an “Eskimo kiss.” I grew up using that term but I’m not sure if it is offensive or PC nowadays. please feel free to send me a message if I need to change it. It is not my intention to be offensive to anyone! Also, sorry if anyone likes Spencer. He's always my go to asshole.
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“S’that?”
Daryl felt the opossum sway in his grip, looking down with a scowl firmly plastered at the bright eyes returning his gaze, brimming with curiosity. She was a toddler, maybe two years old? Christ, someone had a toddler in this mess. “Dinner.” He grunted, pulling the dead animal out of her reach. He found out quickly that the curious little creature would not be deterred so easily. Standing on her tip-toes, she made a grab for the marsupial. “Knock it off.” He huffed and took a step back, bumping into Carol.
“Daryl, she’s a child. Don’t be such a grump.”
“Ain’t you got a mama—family to get back to?” He snapped, ignoring his best friend. The little girl’s eyes brightened.
“Mama! Mama!” She clapped. Daryl rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm.
“Yeah, go get ‘er.” There was an intense sigh of relief when the little human went running (waddling?) out of sight. “They got kids here.” 
“Yes, Daryl. That’s what that was.” Carol nudged him playfully. “The people seem to think they’re safe here. It gives me the creeps.” He nodded but didn’t comment. “They obviously don’t know what’s going on out there, not like we do. I think we need to be cautious here. Find a way to fit in but keep our guard up, you know?”
Daryl snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that. Ain’t got no intention of tryin’ to fit in with these folks. Livin’ in a fuckin’ fairytale here. Ain’t gonna last.”
“You’re such a ray of sunshine.” Sasha clapped him on the shoulder as she passed, earning yet another grunt. 
“Mama, here!”
Oh dear god, no. “S’back.” The hunter stated flatly.
“Oh, and she brought a friend.” Sure enough, the little girl was dragging you along, tugging incessantly at your hand as if the child had found the world’s most priceless treasure. “You did tell her to ‘go get her.’”
“Nadia, slow down!”
And slow down, she did. Right in front of a scowl-wearing redneck with a bleeding opossum in his grasp.
“Mama, dinner! Dorl dinner.”
Dorl?!? Daryl looked helplessly over to where Carl was carrying Judith, the little light of his life. Would this be what she was like as she grew up? She already knew him, loved him despite how broken and hopeless he was. She would laugh at him if he was ranting about something and hold out those chubby little hands and he was done for, whatever had irritated him was forgotten.
But this child? This wasn’t his lil’ asskicker. 
Daryl liked kids but he liked them from a distance. He had no business being around them, save for Carl and Judith. I wish I could have known Sophia. He wouldn’t bother getting to know anyone in this place. It’d burn like every other home they had anyway. 
“Dorl, huh?” You smiled.
“Daryl.” He replied flatly, his lip curling.
“I’m Y/N. I assume Aaron found your group?” 
He didn’t answer, too occupied with trying to continuously move away from the small child clumsily reaching for his knife sheath. “Stop that.” He barked, expecting the kid to balk. She did quite the opposite and wrapped her tiny arms around his leg, just below his knee. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? Shake her off? Of course not. She might get hurt. While he really didn’t want to be touched, he couldn’t help but feel like it was somehow his job to make sure this kid wasn’t hurt. “Can ya—would ya—?” Shoulders slumped, he didn’t even gesture. You know what he was asking.
Chuckling, you reached down and gently pried the little girl loose. “Nadia, you’re supposed to ask before hugs, remember?”
“Hug Dorl.” The dark-headed child pouted.
That was his cue to step away, as quickly as possible, without running. He absolutely did not run. 
When you looked up, he was already gone, lost in the middle of his group as they headed in to surrender weapons and be interviewed by Deanna.
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Daryl sat on the now red-stained porch, prepping his kill for cooking later. Carol had scolded him and made him promise to use the backyard going forward, but he doubted they would be there long enough for him to need the area. It was just the way the world was. Nice places like this could never last.
“Dorl dinner!” 
Jesus take the wheel. “Ya need a bell.” He grunted, looking around for you. “An’ apparently a leash.” Maybe if he ignored her, she would go find you. But what if she wandered off alone and somehow made it out of the gates? Shit. “Sit down, gremlin.”
She giggled and patted her chunky hands against her chest. “Nada.”
Daryl stopped moving and stared for a moment. Wasn’t that Spanish? Maybe? Wait. You had called her Nadia. Maybe that’s what she was trying to say. “Nadia?” Blue eyes squinted in wait.
Nadia bounced and nodded and then pointed at him. “Dorl! Dorl, Nada!”
He released his knife and leaned his elbow against his knee, the heel of his hand pressing into his forehead. “Dare-ul.” He tried.
“Dooorl.”
“Oh, for fucksake.” The archer gave up, picking up his knife and continuing with his task. Nadia didn’t even seem to notice what he was doing but leaned in closely with the most serious look he’d ever seen. He needed to lean back once she made it much too far into his personal space.
“Fucksy.” She said, maintaining eye contact as if she were challenging him. 
“No! Don’t say that. Can’t be teachin’ ya sh—stuff like that!” He panicked, opossum forgotten. Daryl threw back his head with a groan. “Can’tcha please just go to your mama?”
Nadia’s little face lit up and off she went with a chorus of mama mama mama. Watching her go, Daryl wondered where the little one’s father was, but soon banished the thought. It was none of his business. What was his business was to make sure the annoying curtain-climber made it home safely. Abandoning his dinner—no time to cover it if he was going to catch up—he walked briskly until he caught sight of her. Little legs can fuckin’ move. We’re fucked when Jude learns to walk. 
He stayed close, but far back enough to not catch her attention. She seemed to know exactly where she was going. Rounding the curb to the end of the street, he caught sight of the small house. Quaint compared to the other homes. The front door was open but he dared not go closer. Boots firmly planted on the sidewalk, he observed the struggle of a tiny human tackling front porch steps. Nadia was determined though. Had he chosen to help, he was certain she would give him that serious look again and yell at him in baby-speak.
“Nadia Avery, how do you keep getting out the door!” 
Maybe cause you leave it open? He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. 
Regardless, there you were, swooping down to gather the bundle into your arms with a couple of sobs and more than a few sniffles. “Baby, you have to stop doing that! You scare mommy.” Nadia was nuzzling your jaw but then suddenly pointed right at him. 
“Dorl got Nada.”
When your eyes found his own, Daryl froze. His arms were out to his sides, his eyes wide. He looked nothing short of a deer caught in the sights of his crossbow when it realized it’s about to be shot. “I—uh, kid found me.” Forcing himself to relax a fraction, he rubbed at the back of his neck. “Didn’t want ‘er wand’rin’ ‘round by herself.” 
Your face softened into a grateful smile. “Thank you for making sure she got home.” He nodded curtly and you turned away, only to turn back in the same motion. “Would you like to come inside? I have some stew that I’m heating. Plenty for the three of us.”
A part of him that he didn’t know existed wanted to immediately accept the offer but the part of him that had kept him alive this long spoke louder. “Nah, got my own dinner I need to take care’a. Thanks, though.”
You nodded, the smile never faltering. “Think of it as a standing invitation. Nadia seems to like you. She’s a good judge of character.”
He snorted. “Alright.”
“Goodnight, Daryl.”
“Night.” He took two steps.
“Nigh’ nigh’, Dorl!” 
He heard the sound of a kiss being blown his way, but didn’t turn around. Maybe if he ignored her, she’d go away.
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It had been three days since he had last seen you or Nadia. He found that it unsettled him but not enough to go looking. Aaron had gifted him a work area and parts to build himself a bike. It was the best thing anyone could have offered him at that point. He felt like he still wasn’t fitting in, and while that was the idea at first, now it just felt…lonely. 
Carol was always gone when he got up and not home yet when we retired to bed. Rick and Michonne couldn’t stay out of the bedroom for more than five minutes unless something ‘coppy’ needed to be handled. Carl was always outside with Jude in the nice weather. 
Daryl was alone. Though he usually preferred it that way, he couldn’t seem to shake the negativity it seemed to bring to the surface. 
Spending time around something familiar from the old world came to be a comfort. When the posh little community with its “good morning” while walking the dog and laughter over coffee at the gazebo became too much for Daryl, he disappeared into Aaron’s garage. Aaron and his husband seemed okay in the archer’s book. They never once stared at him like he was going to rob them blind or beat them to a pulp. They showed him kindness even if his only attempts at conversation consisted of nods and grunts. 
“You going to this party tonight?” Aaron asked from the doorway the led into the house from the garage. 
“Nah.” Daryl picked up a wrench and continued his work, not giving the question a proper thought. 
“You really should make an effort to get to know more people here.” 
“They don’t like me. Shouldn’t, really.” The archer shrugged. 
“They just don’t know you. Maybe you should give them a chance.” Aaron kept his persuasion in the doorway. He had gifted Daryl that space and was unwilling to step into it without an invitation he was unlikely to receive without asking. 
“Better they don’t know me.”
There was a sigh that made Daryl curl his lip. “Just think about it, okay?” The shuffle of feet and the door opening signaled the other man’s exit. 
Why should Daryl go? He had little interest in fitting in, even when his own group was making such an effort. Carol and Rick were wary and had whatever it was they had but Carol would tell him if she felt it necessary. Daryl was just plain wary, utterly uninterested. Most of them would likely be dead soon and he didn’t need anyone else to mourn. 
So why he found himself showered and in a fresh set of clothing that was his own form of presentable was absolutely beyond him. It had nothing to do with the fact that on his walk home, he thought maybe you’d be at the party. Nope, nothing like that. 
He had made it at least to the yard outside, watching the festivities through the window. Everyone he knew seemed so at ease in there. Dressed up, laughing and drinking. Mingling like they belonged there. He didn’t belong there. 
“Nah.” He said softly before turning away. He was passing by Aaron’s house when a call of his name from that familiar voice had him stopping with a sigh. “Yeah?”
“You went. Good for you. Did you have a good time?” Aaron asked from the porch. Daryl shrugged. The man’s eyes narrowed and suddenly the archer was nervous, feeling judged. “You didn’t go in, did you?”
Daryl shook his head. “Just ain’t my thing.”
“Hey, you tried.”
“Why didn’t you go?” That wasn’t supposed to sound so accusatory but Daryl was tired and had simply had his fill of the day and that place. 
“Eric’s ankle is still giving him trouble. We just thought it best to skip out on this one.”
This one? Christ. That insinuated there would be more. With an inward groan, he answered outwardly with a grunt. 
“We’ve got dinner ready. More than can feed us. Can we tempt you?” The offer was sincere and Daryl was hungry, but his battery was running on fumes. He glanced toward his own home and then back at Aaron. “Eric makes a mean spaghetti, man. Come on, you’re already out.”
Daryl sighed. “Fine.” He was grateful for the invitation, he just sucked at showing it, as with almost every other emotion. Aaron held open the door and with a nod, the archer entered, still ill at ease being inside someone else’s home when his own still felt less than comfortable. 
“Dorl.”
Before he could prepare himself, Nadia was latching onto his lower legs. Arms out awkwardly, he glared at Aaron. “Didn’t say she was here.”
The man just shrugged a shoulder. “Didn’t say she wasn’t either.”
“Hi, Daryl!” You came around the corner from the dining room, no doubt to gather your spawn but he couldn’t seem to form a thought around the smile you were giving him. 
“Mama! Dorl!”
“I can see that, baby. You think you can let go so that he can walk?” Nadia shook her head with a vicious pout. 
“Dorl up?”
“What?” He looked down at the toddler and back up at you, silently hoping you’d act as translator for the little gremlin. 
“She wants you to pick her up. You don’t—”
For reasons unbeknownst to even him, he bent down and placed his hands beneath Nadia’s arms, lifting her onto his hip. It felt no different than holding Judith. Nadia was heavier of course. 
“Dorl!” Chubby arms wrapped around his neck, her little cheek rubbing against his stubbled one. “Tickle.” She giggled like it was the funniest thing in the world and repeated the action. 
You were still smiling but much more softly. “She really likes you.” Daryl grunted. “You don’t say much, do you?”
“Ain’t gotta lot to say.” He shrugged the shoulder Nadia’s chin was resting on, sending her into another fit of giggles. She pulled back suddenly, very in his space and then pressed her face against his cheek. He flinched but otherwise didn’t move. There was the smallest flutter that tickled his skin before she reared back again, smiling proudly. “What—”
“Butterfly kisses.” You informed, arms crossed but your smile hidden behind your hand. 
“What the fu—heck’s that?” 
“Oh come on, you never gave your mom butterfly kisses?” You chuckled. 
Daryl felt nauseous at the mention of his mother. The only thing he’d shared with her were bruises and a few after-beating hugs. But you didn’t know him. He took the anger and locked it down, but it must have spilled into his expression. 
“I’m sorry.” Your smile was gone, but to his surprise (and relief), there was no pity in your eyes. Only understanding. Still, it wasn’t a subject he cared to let linger. 
He turned his attention to the child, who had developed a sudden interest in the hair over his ears. “Ya ever gave a Eskimo kiss?” He almost laughed out loud when Nadia’s eyes flew wide with wonder. She didn’t confirm or deny but the fact that she hadn’t moved was answer enough. “S’simple.” Daryl brought a hand up to the back of her head and gently urged her forward, rubbing the tip of his nose over hers. “There. Eskimo kiss.”
She kept those wide eyes as her little mouth began to spread open into one of the biggest smiles he’d ever seen on a kid, granted he hadn’t spent much time around any. 
“Again!” She squealed, grabbing his cheeks and pulling him forward. He expected to have a bloody nose from the force with which she came at him, but her movements became deliberate and gentle, as if getting it right was the most important thing in the world. 
Nadia was incredibly pleased with herself, her little hands patting against Daryl’s chest before she wiggled out her request for freedom and sprinted toward the dining room with this newfound information to share with Eric and Aaron. 
“Careful.” You said, though there was no hint of anything unkind in your tone. When he looked away from the other room, he found your expression to be one he couldn’t seem to identify. It was soft yet guarded. He didn’t move away when you reached a single hand out to adjust his vest. “You’re smiling.” And you walked away, leaving him there to realize that he was indeed wearing a small, lopsided grin. 
He shook it off with a groan, absolutely regretting his decision to come in for dinner. 
“Dorl!” Came the loud shout from the table. “Dorl, sketti!”
This was not going to end well. 
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It had been two weeks since the spaghetti dinner, which in fact had ended rather pleasantly. Aside from your giggles when he realized he was eating his meal with the same gusto and manners as the toddler next to him, Aaron had offered him a job that let him go outside the walls. He’d accepted almost immediately. 
Little Nadia had been determined to take him home with them, so he walked you there with her tiny hand in his. Halfway, she had begun to tire and fuss, instinct had kicked in and he scooped her up in the same manner he would Judith. The child was asleep on his shoulder almost instantly. 
He had zero intention of entering your home and was thankful the kid was out cold so that she couldn’t initiate the suggestion. He had passed her off to you and started to leave. 
“Daryl.” You had called quietly. He still wasn’t sure why he had turned back to you so quickly. “That invitation is still open.” You smiled, he grunted. “Thanks for being so sweet with her. Goodnight.”
There had been a heavy feeling in his chest but he had nodded. “G’night.”
Now, you and little Nadia were almost a constant presence when he wasn’t beyond the wall. A presence that he found no longer really irritated him. 
He would sit on the porch with the kid, working on his crossbow while Nadia colored or played with toys. He had to find her some of her own to have there because it seemed she and Judith were at odds about Daryl’s attention. He had made the mistake of lifting lil’ asskicker out of her playpen while Nadia was on his heels and the latter had begun to wail. 
He had quickly passed Jude off to an equally concerned Michonne and scooped up the kid. “S’wrong? Hey.” Little arms wrapped around his neck and, though he didn’t see the angry pout directed at the other baby, Michonne did. He turned at her chuckle, eyes wide and confused. 
Before she could explain, those little arms squeezed harder. “My Dorl.”
From that moment on, he saved time with Judith for emergencies (there were none) and for after Nadia had gone home with you. 
“Don’t touch that, Dia.” Daryl huffed, catching her little hand reaching for the knife he had on the porch table. He had spent the morning skinning a few squirrels for Carol to use in a stew but was at that point, working on the tension on his bow. 
And babysitting. 
You had some inventory to do at the infirmary with Pete. The doctor gave him bad vibes so when you had asked, he’d accepted all too quickly. Even offered to tag along and keep an eye on the kid there. In the end, after you had politely declined, he had reasoned that you were a grown woman and could handle yourself. 
“Babysitting, again, hmm?” 
Daryl glanced up from his crossbow toward Carol on the top step, Nadia already beaming up at her from the hug around her waist. It lasted all of three seconds before the kid was back to her toys beside Daryl’s boot. 
“Mhm.” Was the only answer he offered, one that was mimicked from the little person below him. He didn’t smile but Carol didn’t miss the way his eyes left the weapon to regard Nadia for a moment before returning to the task.
“Where’s Y/N?” She asked, plopping down onto the other chair. She grabbed a toy that had rolled away and handed it back to the child.
“Some inventory shit at the infirmary.” Daryl shrugged, rotating the bow to check his work. Carol made a noise that gave him pause, one he didn’t like. “What?”
“No one’s at the infirmary. I was just there for Mr. Henderson’s blood pressure medication.” 
He could feel his heartrate picking up, a sense of foreboding so strong that he could barely think straight. “Pete weren’t there?”
Carol shook her head. “No one.” She sat up straight when Daryl stood, sheathing his knife and placing his crossbow on the railing. “Daryl?”
“Dia, I’m gonna be right back. You’re gonna stay with Carol for a few minutes. Tell me the rules.” 
Nadia’s wide eyes narrowed into seriousness. “No bow. No move. Be good. No shit.” It took her a moment to babble through the small list but Daryl ruffled her hair with the smallest of half smiles.
“No shit, Daryl?”
He was already stepping off the porch. “Her mama hears ‘er sayin’ that an’ m’a dead man.”
Carol laughed and shook her head, turning her attention to the little human that was already working up to a cry as Daryl walked out of sight. “Do you like cookies, Nadia?”
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He checked the infirmary first. He didn’t doubt Carol, but maybe she had missed a room or something. It was, as Carol had said, empty. “Fuck.” The next most logical place would be your home. He ran the entire way. He’d feel like an absolute fool if you were fine, but he’d cross that bridge later. The door was open, he could see that from the moment he rounded the curb. You had a habit of doing that and he hated it, but who was he to tell you what to do?
“Y/N?” He took your steps two at a time and stopped on the threshold. “Y/N? Are ya here?” No answer. He felt like shit the moment his boot touched the floor inside. He’d never taken you up on an invitation for the dinner you continuously offered him, much less any offer to simply come inside. Now here he was tearing room to room, in your safe space. There were covered pots on the stove and the oven was on, but where were you? “Y/N!” He placed a booted foot on the bottom stair before your voice stunned him frozen.
“Daryl?”
He nearly collapsed in relief.
“What’s wrong? Where’s Nadia? Daryl?”
“She’s fine. She’s with Carol.” He rasped, sheathing his knife when he saw you staring at it. Your hair was wet, your clothes damp. You must have been in the shower. “M’sorry. Carol said ya weren’t at the—just got worried. M’sorry.” His eyes had lowered to the stairs below you but then your bare feet were padding down them to stop directly in front of him. “I’ll, uh—lemme go get ‘er.” He had barely moved before your hand was on his shoulder. To his shock, he didn’t flinch; didn’t even have the urge.
“Are you okay?” You asked, ducking your head to seek out his gaze. He continued to expertly dodge.
“M’fine. Just—I’ll go get Dia.” He stepped away and out of the loose grip you had on him, immediately missing the warmth of your hand. What the hell was wrong with him?
“I was making us dinner.” The words rushed out of you, like you were trying to get them out before he could leave. Daryl looked over his shoulder from the doorway, an eyebrow arched. “Us. Me, Nadia, and—well, you.”
“Me? Why?” He hadn’t meant to sound so unkind, ungrateful, but that was just who he was down deep, wasn’t it? Still, you seemed unbothered, your nervousness born of something else entirely.
“Because Nadia likes you. I like you. We’d like to spend time with you that doesn’t involve me asking for favors or the entire community leering and making assumptions.”
He still hadn’t fully turned, but narrowed his eyes. “Think they ain’t gonna make assumptions when ya have me in your house?”
“Fair point.” You nodded, chuckling. “Honestly, I don’t give a fuck what they think but I worry that you do.” Head tilted, Daryl turned but remained in the doorway. “You seem so private, quiet. I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.” Your bottom lip disappeared between your teeth for a moment. “So, will you come? Please?”
As much as he tried, he couldn’t sense a single ounce of dishonesty or ill intent in you. It was certainly there, wasn’t it? No one outside of the group that had grown to like him over months of death and sorrow wanted anything to do with him. So, why you? Why Nadia? “Alright, I’ll go get ‘er an’ be back.” He turned and took a step before you called out again.
“Don’t worry about changing or anything. Just bring you, okay?”
He nodded around the very foreign flutter in his chest, clearing his throat and leaving the house before he could overthink things right there in front of you. He’d be able to do that in abundance on the way to grab the kid. 
To say he was confused was the largest of understatements. You were a beautiful woman. Where was Nadia’s father? In that world, the absence usually meant he was either dead or had willingly left, which he couldn’t fathom either. Was the kid the reason all the single men weren’t knocking down your door? That couldn’t be it. Nadia was amazing, all bright smiles and such an innocence that was refreshing in a world as dark it was. 
Even if you did have suitors, why were you taking the time to get to know him? He was damn sure nothing special and had nothing to offer you. Daryl growled at himself. He was jumping the gun. You hadn’t expressed any real interest in him. You wanted to have dinner. Aaron and Eric had him over for dinner all the time. It was what friends did. He was your friend after all. He had to be for you to trust him with Nadia. He snorted. Maybe that was all the brat’s doing and you were just along for the ride. 
His shoulders were slumped, feet dragging by the time he made it back to his house, already opening his arms in expectation of the bundle of Nadia that would be leaping into them any moment. “Dorl!” 
“She was about to strap on your crossbow and come find you herself.” Carol teased from the doorway. 
“I was barely gone twenty minutes, kid.” He nodded to Carol and turned back to take Nadia home. “Your mama’s at home makin’ something for supper. Ya hungry?”
“Mmmmhmmmm!” Little legs were swinging while bright eyes watched the street in front of them, her arms loosely around his neck, trusting him to not let her fall. And he would never. Daryl craned his head to look at her, all dark hair and big blue eyes. She could pass as his own kid to anyone who didn’t know better. 
Whoa. That train of that was roughly derailed. 
Easily done when the top of her head leaned against his temple and she began to hum some tune he didn’t know. It calmed his anxiety enough to not eat him from the inside out before he made it back to your house. Nadia was wiggling to be lowered before he could even get her to the steps. Much to her annoyance (if her little growl and pout were anything to go by), he didn’t place her on her feet until they were on the porch.
The door was still open and, man, he really wanted you to stop doing that.
“Mama!” Nadia squealed, running right into your arms.
“Hi, baby! Did you have fun with Daryl today?” You hefted her onto your hip, your face turned toward hers even though your smile was aimed at the archer.
“We always have fun.” He was close enough to ruffle the kid’s hair without invading your space.
“No shit!” Nadia proclaimed with her arms in the air. You were smiling but your eyebrows shot up toward your hairline. Daryl cleared his throat.
“M’a tell Carol to watch ‘er mouth.”
“Carol. Right.” You chuckled. You started to reach for his arm but must have thought better of it and motioned toward the dining room instead. He found he was disappointed. “Go ahead and sit down wherever. There’s some wine and water already there.”
Daryl liked wine. He’d partake when at Aaron and Eric’s for dinner but here? He wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. The table could seat six but there were three places set, the middle chair holding a booster seat. He didn’t sit, wouldn’t until you did. Instead he noticed how close the glasses of wine were sitting to Nadia’s place and took the liberty of moving each of them to the other side. Not that the kid would bother them but it just felt—right?
“Alright, kiddo. You get to eat first.” You weren’t carrying Nadia anymore but she was right behind you, looking up at the bowl of pasta like a pup that was about to get its kibble. Daryl was already lifting the kid into her seat when you turned from placing the bowl on the table. “Thank you.” You did touch his arm then. “Go ahead and sit. I’ll be right back.”
Nadia had apparently chosen his spot for him, patting the back of the chair to her left. Chewing on the side of his thumb, he glanced toward the kitchen. Wasn’t he supposed to pull your chair out for you or something? Aaron had. 
“No, no, Dorl.” Nadia pulled at his elbow, earning a halfhearted scowl before he realized she was trying to get him to stop the anxious habit.
“Sorry.” He mumbled, not sure why he was apologizing when she just went back to dancing and eating once he had dropped his hand. He watched her for a moment, just being a kid, innocent and oblivious to the dangers and heartache that lay in wait just outside of Alexandria’s protective walls. She and you—just two more people for him to mourn in the end. What was he doing there? He had no business being in your lives. If he didn’t lose the two of you, then you would lose him. It was inevitable. It was fate. It was the way the world worked now, tirelessly snuffing out any semblance of light that could give someone like him hope.
And goddamnit, he’d be devastated. He adored your kid and though he couldn’t quite decipher what it was that he felt for you, he knew that if anything happened to you, he’d shatter. 
“Daryl?”
“What?” He snapped out of reflex, not fully out of his head before he had realized you were speaking. You flinched, the pasta in the two bowls you were holding bounced but didn’t spill. “M’sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?” The bowls were placed on the table and a basket of fresh bread that he hadn’t noticed you had already brought out. How long had he been standing there?
“Yeah, uh—yeah, m’fine.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot, suddenly feeling very trapped in the small room. It wasn’t really that small, was it? “M’just—” He didn’t finish before he all but ran to the door, closing it behind him like he really wished you would start doing. He had a cigarette lit within seconds, trembling fingers bringing it to his lips for a long drag. 
Pale light from inside cascaded around him as the door opened. You didn’t move any closer, obviously staying near Nadia while the little girl ate. “You okay?”
“Mhm.” Lie. 
“Come back inside?” You requested after glancing toward Nadia, finding her eating her pasta elegantly with her fingers. Daryl said nothing, wasn’t even sure he could, but he flicked his cigarette toward the sidewalk and stood, walking past you with but a beat of hesitance. 
Despite Nadia’s excitement at his return, he remained quiet, but offered the kid a ghost of a smile when she offered a bite of her own food. Disgruntled at his refusal, she wore her own version of a scowl and continued to eat. You had taken your seat, giving the bread basket a tiny shove toward the archer.
“Thanks.” He mumbled. He wasn’t sure how to act around you anymore. Staring at his food, he questioned whether the way he usually ate might disgust you. It was never something he actively thought about. He grew up in a home where he snatched what he could get and ate it quickly before someone could take it or reprimand him for it. It was nearly the same now that the world had ended. Thankful for any scrap of food, but quick to make sure it was gone before someone came ready to fight for it.
“If you think any louder, I might be able to hear it.” 
Daryl glanced up, unable to meet your eyes. You were swirling the wine around in the glass with your gaze settled on him. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s just dinner, Daryl.” 
With a barely there nod, he picked up his fork and began to eat, slowly and carefully, not noticing the way you watched him with a quizzical expression.
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Nadia was having a hard time keeping her head up by the time dinner was finished, her little eyes closing before snapping open with a jerk of her head. 
“Time for bed.” You announced, attempting to wipe her face around languid movements of annoyance. “Come on, baby.” Lifting her from the chair, you tilted your head when she leaned her upper body back toward Daryl, reaching out with lazy, grabby hands.
“Dorl night night.”
Halfway out of his seat, he froze. “Think ya should, uh—your mama should handle this’un, Dia.” She didn’t seem to have it in her to argue, flopping onto your shoulder. You managed to hold up a finger, asking him to wait while you put Nadia to bed. He did, but busied himself gathering the dishes, taking them to the sink, and rinsing them out as Carol had trained him to do. “Wow, my very own human dishwasher. Can I keep you?”
Daryl felt the heat rise in his face, traveling down to his chest and up to the tips of his ears. “Stop.” God, you were just as bad as Carol.
“Daryl.” 
Oh, boy. Your tone had gone from playful to serious in two seconds flat. His stomach was in knots but he dared not turn around and rinsed the same bowl at least three times. “Hmm?”
“I’d like to see, uh—I’d like it if you'd come around more often. Tonight was—it was nice.”
And there it was. The one thing that had caused him so much inner turmoil now confirmed. You were interested and, for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why. When he finally managed to get his tongue to work, the words that spilled out were nothing like the ones running through his head and he regretted them immediately. “Where’s Dia’s daddy?” Christ, Dixon. “M’sorry.” He tried to backpedal, finally turning toward you and leaning back against the sink with a white-knuckled grip against the edge of the countertop. “Ain’t my business.”
“Gone. I don’t really give a fuck where.” You shrugged, so nonchalantly that he had to look at you. “He didn’t want her. Nearly got himself killed finding pills for me to take. I refused, he left. But I have her and I hope he’s a walker.” Your gaze was fond but serious, and he found not a single trace of annoyance or anger. “She’s never really liked men. Even Aaron and Eric had to coax her inside for dinner with a stale candybar.” You laughed at the memory, and Daryl realized he could listen to that sound for the rest of his life. “But then you. She wasn’t afraid, not for a single second.”
“It was the ‘possum.” He shrugged, shyly ducking his head for only a moment but looking back up through his fringe when you laughed again.
“Okay, we can go with that.” You lifted yourself up onto the island, kicking your legs, reminding him of Nadia. “Doesn’t really explain why she stuck to you like glue every moment since then, though. Dorl this and Dorl that. I’m not complaining. You’re good for her.” Daryl scoffed, ducking his head once more. “You are, Daryl. And I think she might be good for you too.”
“She’s a kid. Don’t know no better.” He shrugged, the urge to run becoming more and more prevalent. He didn’t belong there. It wasn’t his family. Nadia wasn’t his kid and you weren’t his. God, he wished you were.
You hummed, holding back something. “I had fun tonight, but when you come back, don't worry so much about what I think, okay?” The way he tried to eat more slowly?
“Yeah, okay. Was nice. Thanks, uh—thanks for havin’ me.” The archer made the choice to pass you and head for the door. Your bare feet hit the floor just behind him. “I’ll see ya ‘round. Lemme know if ya need someone to watch Dia.” Why the hell did he offer that?
“I will. Thank you.” The smile you gave him was almost sad. Maybe disappointed? “Goodnight, Daryl.”
“Yeah. Night.” He crossed the threshold but turned back, keeping his head low. “Keep your door shut.” There was no time for you to answer before he was jogging down your steps, barely slowing his stride all the way home. All the lights were off when he arrived and he couldn’t be more grateful to slip in and down to his room to berate himself properly until he was finally able to fall asleep.
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Logically, he should have avoided you since that night, but Daryl never claimed to be the brightest crayon in the box. He absolutely did not look for reasons to go to your house, satisfied to find the door closed each and every time. If he saw you carrying something, he’d jog over to take it from you, no matter how big or small. He responded by meeting Nadia in the middle each time she called for him, even if he was covered in dark blood and brain matter.
“Dorl smell ick.” She would say.
He was down bad and though he would deny it until his last breath with the age old line of we’re just friends, Carol was smarter than that.
“Daryl, you and I are friends. You’re sweet on that girl and you can fight me if you try to claim any different.” She stirred at the brownie batter, intermittently swatting away his hand when he tried to sneak a taste. “You should just tell her how you feel.”
“Stop actin’ like ya know ev’rythin’.” He snapped with no real heat.
“Okay, fine. I know nothing.” She stated coolly, spreading the mixture into a baking pan. “Except that Spencer has been spending an awful lot of time around her and Nadia.”
Well, that had his attention. “What? When?” He hopped off the countertop and was quickly standing just beside Carol, moving accordingly so that she could continue her baking.
“Usually when you’re out. I think you intimidate him.”
“Damn well better intimidate him.”
“Why? You’re ‘just friends,’ remember?” Daryl curled his lip at her air quotes, turning on a heel to head toward the door. 
“Shuddup.”
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He hadn’t been focused, lingering on what Carol had told him that morning. Worrying that Spencer was putting the moves on you that very moment he wasn’t there to do anything about it. What if he’d missed his chance? He growled, trying to take more of his own weight off of Aaron but his leg burned and ached.
“Ain’t that bad.” He tried to brush it off, but it was, in fact, that bad. He hadn’t seen the damn trap, the walker backing him right onto it. He was lucky the dead bastard didn’t take a chunk of him when he went down, but Aaron was quick. Had Daryl been alone, he’d likely be snarling and growling on the ground with his calf still locked within that metal.
“Keep telling yourself that and maybe your stubbornness will keep you on your feet until we can make it back.” The other man huffed. “First Eric, now you. I swear, I’m cursed.” Daryl groaned but couldn’t disagree. 
Christ. The archer’s head was fucked. He couldn’t focus with images of you running rampant at the forefront of his mind. The way you would smile when you saw him; how you’d laugh when he’d huff at Dia for calling him Dorl; you’d have him for dinner a few times a week and it was less and less awkward.
He was so fucked.
“Open the gate!” Aaron called urgently. Daryl hadn’t even been paying attention but maybe zoning out was what brought him that far with such an injury. The toe of his boot was dragging, his leg both numb and throbbing in a way he couldn’t seem to understand was even possible. Sasha was yelling, but he couldn’t understand what she was saying. He was too busy trying to look over his shoulder at the steady crimson trail that followed them. Would walkers follow it right to the gates? “Jesus, okay. I’m going to get help to carry you to the infirmary.”
“Fuck Pete. Gimme Y/N or just take me home.” Daryl slurred, his head falling back against the metal just inside the gates. He was fading, tired and smothered by a dark cloud that was creeping into the edges of his vision and mind. He knew he wouldn’t die from this, but damn, did it still suck.
“Dorl! Mama, Dorl boo-boo!”
Tiny, warm hands were on his face. He was cold, didn’t even realize it. Big blue eyes were hovering right in front of his face, a little mouth between chubby cheeks speaking with an urgency that made him want to scoop her up and soothe the worry. “Dia.” He breathed, his mind finally catching up, though he wasn’t sure for how long.
“Nada kiss boo-boo.”
Daryl chuckled breathlessly but pulled the little girl against his chest. “Nah, baby girl, don’t kiss that boo-boo. S’gross.” Big crocodile tears were forming and falling, and his heart ached. His little girl was never supposed to cry, never supposed to even be sad. “M’okay. Your mama’s gonna make it all better, you’ll see.”
“Mama, Dorl got big boo-boo.”
“I see that, baby. Can you move so mommy can take a look?” You were there, your voice a balm to the pain that was slowly fading. 
“She’s alright.” Daryl shifted Nadia to his side, letting her hold on with her head on his filthy chest. You’d have to give her a bath later and somehow, he had the energy to feel bad about that.
“Jesus, Daryl, what did you do?” You were cutting the lower part of his pant leg, right there on the street, but he didn’t have it in him to see who might be watching. He muttered bear trap but didn’t really recall it being his voice. Was it even him?
The child holding to him made a noise when the wound was revealed, jagged punctures that still steadily bled and she shouldn’t be seeing that. Why wasn’t someone taking her away? “Ssh. S’okay, Dia. Just look at me—can ya hum that song ya always do when we take ya home?” A tiny sniffle but then a little tune in his ear.
“What happened? He okay?” Rick.
“Daryl!” Ah, Carol. Good.
“Hey, take her, would ya? Don’t need to be here.” He was gentle if not weak when he tried to hand off Nadia, kissing one of her little hands when he finally peeled them away from his neck. “M’a be okay, Dia.” She cried. Even as Carol promised her cookies and brownies, she cried and his heart ached more than his leg. He barely caught the word disinfect before the hellfire in his leg struck him like a hammer to the head and he knew no more.
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“S’not that big’a deal. I can take care’a myself at home.” Daryl grimaced and watched you moving things around in your living room. You disappeared and returned several moments later with pillows and blankets. 
“I know you can, but I also know you’re stubborn as a mule and you’ll try to go out of those gates behind Aaron within a day.” He barely opened his mouth before you held up an authoritative finger. “Don’t lie to me, Daryl Dixon. And don’t pretend I don’t know at least a little by now.”
“Dorl!” 
Before he could process her voice, the archer had a lapful of toddler. It was hazy but he could remember how he felt at the gate, the protective instinct, the absolute knowledge that Nadia was his no matter how untrue it was. He couldn’t seem to shake it.
“Hey, Dia.”
“Be careful of his boo-boo, sweetie.” You admonished in the most gentle tone while propping Daryl’s leg up on a pillow. “He’s going to stay with us for a few days so I can keep an eye on him.”
“Why?” Came the innocent reply. 
“Because Daryl is naughty and doesn’t like to listen when he’s told he can’t do something. Like you with Miss Carol’s cookies.” 
Nadia gasped dramatically and turned those big blues to Daryl. “Dorl takes cookies.”
Glancing at you, expression bland, he nodded. “Yeah, I take the cookies.”
“So he has to stay right here on this couch unless mommy is helping him, okay? Can you be my junior nurse and make sure he stays put?”
“That ain’t fair.” Daryl objected with an indignant pout. 
“Why? Because you know it’ll work?” 
Daryl grunted and crossed his arms. He was in for a long few days. 
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A week later, the stitches were out but there was residual swelling that was hindering healing. Nothing to worry about, you had told him. 
“Why ain’t Ken wearin’ no clothes?” Daryl was concerned to be ‘playing Barbies’ when Barbie wore a bathing suit and Ken was naked as the day he was—assembled? So far he’d been able to avoid dialogue and just bounce the doll around with facial expressions that kept the toddler occupied. “Seems a lil’ fucked up.”
“You try finding doll clothes nowadays.” There was laughter in your voice and tenderness in your touch while you cleaned the wound and changed the dressings. Only a couple more days of that. 
“Maybe I will.” The archer mused, standing the doll on top of Nadia’s head, keeping it there with his finger on the top. Her little arms could only reach the legs, facing reddening and scrunching with giggles. 
“Time to pick up your toys. Daryl needs to rest and you, missy, need to get to bed.” 
“Noooooo.”
“Don’t sass your mama.” Daryl dropped the doll in favor of patting the kid on the head. “G’on now.” The archer dropped an arm outward, fully expecting the hug that was incoming. “Night, kid.”
“Nigh’ night’, dada.”
It was at that moment Daryl Dixon completely forgot how to breathe. His eyes were already on yours before the kid decided to drop that bomb and skip away to brush her teeth like she hadn’t just turned his world upside down. 
“M’sorry. M’so sorry. I don’t—she didn’t—”
“I’m just—” you interrupted, backing toward the doorway, “I need to put her to bed.” You stumbled out of the room as if he were chasing you. 
He wasn’t sure he could move if he tried. His heart was in his nose, his stomach in his ass, and his lungs were plaited around his spine. Why would the kid call him dada? It made no sense. A couple of months wasn’t long enough for anything like that. Right? Fuck, he needed to talk to Carol. His brain was malfunctioning. He couldn’t process this. 
Throwing off the blankets, Daryl sat up, levering to his feet. He still had a limp but it was easier now. Shuffling to the exit, he stopped, staring at the handle of the closed door. You’d been doing that now, hadn’t you? He said something once and you had listened. 
“So you’re just gonna run away after that, is that it?”
The archer spun so fast that he lost his balance, righting himself with a hand on the wall. “It ain’t—I was—just needed to talk to Carol.” He admitted. His shirt was damp and he was certain he would vomit. 
“She didn’t mean anything by it, Daryl. I’ll talk to her.” You were wringing your hands, your chin wobbling. 
Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. He had the sudden desire to hug you but didn’t dare move. Aside from casual touches, bumping shoulders in jest, and of course the occasional wound treatment, the two of you had never physically interacted. Not that he hadn’t thought about it. Wow, had he thought about it. “I know she didn’t mean nothin’.” Ouch. Somehow that revelation was worse. 
“She loves you, Daryl. I’ll talk to her, I promise. Please don’t walk out on her. On—on me.”
He likely looked like an idiot hobbling half the distance to where you stood. “Ain’t goin’ nowhere.” When you nodded and dropped your head, he dared another unsteady step. “M’a stay as long as ya want me here. You an’ Dia.” With one hand, he touched your shoulder and left the decision up to you. You needed no further prompting to step into his arms. For a moment, nothing else mattered. But then you were stepping back.  
“Okay.” You nodded, turning your head to wipe away a tear you thought he didn’t already notice. “I like having you here.” He returned the nod silently. 
Nothing else was said. Daryl went back to the couch, you went to get ready for bed. The night went on with both you and Daryl feeling more alone than ever. 
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“She really called you dada?” Carol asked in an excited whisper, the wide grin on her face in direct contrast to Daryl’s frown. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“No!” He shot back immediately, looking over his shoulder at the little girl playing on the living room floor. They had somehow even managed to get her to sit next to Judith’s playpen, so long as Daryl didn’t touch Lil’ Asskicker, peace remained. “I mean, yeah. Fuck, I dunno what I mean, Carol.”
“Daryl.” The seriousness in her tone brought his gaze to hers, flinching when he found her leaning on her elbows much closer than she had been just a moment ago. “I’m gonna ask you a question and I want you to answer me honestly.”
“Ain’t never lied to ya.”
“Okay.” Her eyes, just as blue as his own, narrowed. “Do you love that little girl?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” It was true. It was so different from how he loved Judith but yet completely the same. He would give anything for her to have been his, to have been there while you carried her. He wanted to spit on the man that tried to force you to end it. He couldn’t imagine a world without you and little Nadia anymore. It was as if the two of you were the missing pieces that could give him a chance to be whole. 
“And Y/N?”
“What?”
“Do you love Y/N?” Carol leaned back a little, her gaze no less intense. 
“S’a lil’ more—I, uh—”
“I said STOP!” 
Daryl was on his feet instantly at the sound of your voice, running outside. His limp was less profound and didn’t hinder him from descending the steps to see you across the street with your arm in Spencer’s grasp. You were likely on your way to collect Nadia.
“Come on, Y/N. You’re beautiful, and I’ve seen the way you look at me.” Spencer pulled you toward him. 
“You’re delusional!” 
“Stop being such a prude. You’ve got a kid. You think you got any other options out there?”
“Yeah! She does!” Daryl’s fist had already connected before the other man had even realized he was approaching. The archer stepped in front of you and stayed there, coiled to attack but holding steady until he was given a reason. 
“You?” Spencer spat, literally, a glob of blood and saliva landing next to Daryl’s boot. “The dirty redneck everyone’s afraid of? That’s laughable.”
Daryl started to move until he felt the smallest tug on his jeans. Nadia was looking up at him, equal parts curious and afraid.
“Dada mad?”
Your arms encircled his stomach with whispers of he’s not worth it repeated over his shoulder. “Get the fuck outta here an’ don’t come near my girls again.” The archer waited, arching a brow when Spencer hesitated. 
“You heard him.” Rick stepped up to Daryl’s left, Michonne and Carol on this right. “Best be going now.” Spitting again, the man curled his lip and scrambled to his feet, stomping off toward his mother’s home. “Well, that’s gonna be a problem.”
“I’ll go talk to Deanna.” Maggie offered, nodding at Rick but stopping to squeeze Daryl’s arm on her way by. What the fuck? Had everyone noticed?
“We should make ourselves scarce.” Michonne suggested with a knowing grin. 
Once they were all out of sight, Daryl deflated, one hand falling to the top of Nadia’s head. “Ain’t angry, Dia.” She sniffled and seemed to only hug his leg tighter. When it was clear he couldn’t turn with the added weight to his injured leg, you stepped around in front of him.
“Your girls?” You asked, expression so terrifyingly unreadable. 
“I just—he needed to leave an’ I didn’t want him to think he could come back ‘round.” His bottom lip was instantly being gnawed between his teeth. “Needed to make sure ya were okay.”
“So, we’re not your girls?” There was definitely disappointment there. You were wringing your hands again before reaching toward Nadia.
“I mean, if ya—yeah.” Daryl swallowed hard. “Yeah, you’re my girls. Have been for a while. M’just a idiot an’ I was—I’m scared. Don’t wanna be like my old man.”
You hummed, stepping into him to brush back the fringe across his eyes. “You haven’t told me anything about your parents, but I’m willing to listen. I wanna know everything about you.”
“Me too—’bout you, I mean. ‘Bout Dia.” He was reaching for your face, leaning in just as you did. His lips barely brushed yours before there came another tug at his jeans again. 
“Home, dada.”
You laughed while Daryl just looked stricken and confused. “You heard her, Daryl. Let’s go home and figure this out.” 
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One Year Later 
“Daddy! Lookit picture!!” 
Daryl looked up from the mess of rabbits he was skinning on the porch, blowing upward to move some of the hair from his eyes. The almost four year old was sprinting down the street from the Grimes’ house, a piece of paper waving in her grip above her head. He waved to Michonne who had been watching Nadia make it back safely. “Whatcha got there, Dia?” She was grinning from ear to ear when she presented it to him, holding it out in front of her because ew no when he reached for it with bloody fingers.
There were three stick figures. One was obviously him if the crazy hair and scribbled attempt at a crossbow were anything to go by. A small figure was at his side, dark hair and a big smile: Nadia. And then there was you. Daryl snorted. You were a stick figure with a circle drawn around the middle. 
“Your mama’s gonna ‘preciate that, kid.”
“Appreciate what?” You stepped out with two glasses of water, placing them on the table and resting your hand on your swollen belly. Nadia proudly displayed the drawing and received a big smile and mhm, so pretty from you while Daryl snickered into his shoulder. “Go put it on the fridge, baby, and wash your hands. Supper’s nearly ready.”
“Okay, mama!” And off she went in a blur.
“Not funny, Dixon.” You dug your bare toes into his lower back until he yelped.
“S’a little funny.” He wiped his knife across his jeans.
“About as funny as you cleaning these rabbits on my front porch.” He ducked his head sheepishly when he turned to watch you lower into your chair. 
“I’ll clean it up, Sunshine. Don’t get all uppity ‘bout it.” Rising from his perch, he gathered the meat onto a parchment you had given him and wrapped it, leaving the bones and fur to handle later. “Dia! C’mere!” Moving at inhuman speed, she was looking up at him from the doorway the next second. Daryl jerked his chin toward a bag on the table beside his water glass. “Broughtcha somethin’ back.”
You leaned forward with curiosity and watched your daughter pull out the contents of the bag, barely catching a glimpse of the different colors before Nadia hugged Daryl’s leg and disappeared back inside with squeals of delight echoing in her wake.
“What did you bring her?”
Daryl smirked. “Told ya I’d find clothes for them dolls.”
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