d1xonss

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 45 ~ All Good things Must come to an End

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 4

✧ Word Count : 5.8k

In this chapter ~ After living in the newfound community for six whole months, things seem to still be going strong. Relationships had been built, responsibilities had been taken care of, and for the most part, everyone was happy. Though...it can't always stay that way forever.

The smell of cooking meat and eggs filled my senses as I allowed my mind wander for the fifth time that morning alone. Time was a fickle thing, always somehow getting away from me in the end as it was always hard to keep track of and catch. But I couldn't help but try and count the days, knowing that sometime in the upcoming dates would mark six whole months since our community first started. And it still to this day couldn't be more perfect.

I found myself to be very content with where I was in life right now, I was happy, only growing closer with the people we surrounded ourselves with. Though I knew if my past self could see me now, she would be screaming at me. Like I'm talking absolutely losing her shit screaming at me, knowing how much I couldn't trust people in the beginning. But allowing myself out of my shell was probably the best thing that could've ever happened to me. I had never had a family like this before, and I found that I tried to cherish it whenever I got the chance, especially recently.

"Oh, careful it's going to burn!" Carol's somewhat panicked voice spoke up from beside me.

I snapped out of it in an instant, "Shit," I quietly cursed and took the meat off of the makeshift stove, waving my hand over it to get rid of the smoke as it fizzled down.

She peeked around me for a moment and smiled to herself, "You saved it." she said in slight relief before laughing lightly, "What's got you so distracted?"

I glanced over at her as I began to plate the cooked breakfast, "All good things, I promise. I was just...thinking about how far we've come. How happy I am."

Her smile got wider, "We have come pretty far, huh?" she asked while wrapping an arm around my shoulders, looking out to all the people chatting and doing their own thing beyond where we stood.

"We're lucky." I stated as I finished scooping up the food.

She looked back over at me, "Yeah, we are. Couldn't imagine it working out any better than this," she agreed as she gave my shoulder a squeeze, before pulling away to go back to her own pan, "Who's that plate for?"

"Rick." I stated, "I know if I don't give this to him, he won't eat anything at all. I'll just be a sec, you got it handled?" I asked knowingly.

Her only response was to give me a certain look as I laughed to myself, grabbing the plate and heading down to where I knew Rick would be busying himself this morning. These days he seemed to be constantly staying down near the gates, managing the crops we had planted and taking care of the animals we somehow managed to find. In my opinion he didn't really give himself a break and was overworking to the max.

Getting up at the ass crack of dawn just to get a head start on feeding the pigs and checking the vegetables, it's something that he didn't need to be doing. And he knew it too. But he was too stubborn to slow down or take it easy, so I just let him be.

I spotted him in the distance as I slowly walked down the small hill, heading towards the grass to see him filling up the water in the stables. His arms shook slightly as he lifted the weight of the gallons of water, sweat dripping off his forehead as he tried to wipe it on the sleeve of his shirt.

"Hey, Old McDonald!" I yelled to get his attention.

He whipped his head towards me, and a smile broke out onto his face as he squinted his eyes from the blinding sun behind my head, "Yeah, Rosie?" he asked.

I made my way closer to him and let out a small breath, holding out the plate, "Breakfast." I said simply.

"No, I can't, my hands are filthy." he said while looking down at the dirt and mud that was coated everywhere along his palms, under his fingernails.

I frowned, "Okay." I said while grabbing some of the meat in my hand and holding it up towards his face.

He raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

"You said your hands are filthy, but you need to eat...so eat." I said while holding my hand closer to his mouth, dangling the meat from my grasp.

"I'll eat later." he replied.

My eyes narrowed as I wasn't budging and he only sighed in response, slowly opening his mouth anyway. I smiled in victory and dropped the meat in his mouth, listening in as he informed me of the things that needed to be adjusted down here in the fields. It was quite the boring topic of choice, but I only wanted to make sure he actually ate something seeing as he was baking in the hot sun constantly.

Though there were times we had to speak a little louder because of the walkers piled up along the fence, snarling and banging on the flimsy barrier, making too much damn noise. There were a lot of them, and although we had people clearing them every day, they still seemed to be a problem. It had never been an issue before now, but I figured with the amount of noise and people we had behind the gates, it only drew more of them closer.

Suddenly, Rick and I seemed to momentarily stop our conversation when we heard a pair footsteps approaching, the two of us turning around to see Carl coming our way rather quickly like he was late.

He smiled at me before looking towards his dad, "You didn't wake me up." he spoke a little out of breath.

"Cause I knew you were up all night reading comics with a flashlight." he stated with a raised eyebrow.

Both boys then slowly looked toward me knowingly. Carl had a smirk on his face while Rick didn't look the least bit amused as I held my hands up in surrender, "What the hell are you looking at me for?"

"You're the one who got him the comics Ro." Rick stated with a tilt of his head.

"Hey," I said pointing at him, "Michonne got him some of those comics too, why don't you yell at her."

He tried to suppress a chuckle, "Well, she's not here, so you're the only one I can blame right now."

I placed a hand over my heart in mock offense, "Well, that's hurtful." I stated, causing them both to laugh, "You know what, I should've let you starve." I said while placing the paper plate on the thick wooden fence.

"Now that's hurtful." Rick stated, his tone still dripping with sarcasm.

I just raised my hands again with a smirk on my face, "Enjoy your father son bonding time." I winked before backing away.

However, Carl caught my arm before I could get too far, leaning in to whisper in my ear, "Can you still get me some more on your next run?"

I gave him a pointed look, "Just don't tell your dad and we're good." I warned.

He gave me a smile and nodded excitedly, all while letting go of my arm so I could make my way back up towards the prison. As I slowly approached Carol's station again, a few people were quick to notice my presence, greeting me with praises and smiles on their faces. I managed to be as polite as I could considering how early it was, but the attention Daryl and I were getting was only getting worse.

After I went out with him on that hunt just a few weeks ago, I've been getting out more frequently to help out, and to say the people in the community were grateful would be an understatement. Everywhere we went, we would get stopped to talk, or just a simple thank you as we walked by. We both weren't used to the amount of attention, but I tried my best to hide it. I simply smiled at all the good morning's being thrown my way as I approached Carol again to help her finish up.

"Still aren't getting used to it huh?" she smirked, not taking her eyes off the food in front of her.

It's like she read my goddamn mind.

I sighed, "I don't think I'll ever get used to it." I admitted, "But the funny thing is, Daryl's a lot more awkward than I am so it's worth it to see him squirm a little."

She looked up, "Oh, speak of the devil."

I followed her line of sight once she spoke to see the man himself making his way over to us. There of course were a few greetings as he passed by and I almost busted out laughing at his facial expressions. He didn't know how to respond, giving only a simple nod as he passed through the group of people. Though I felt a big grin spread to my face as I saw his eyes light up when he caught sight of me, his pace picking up the smallest bit.

"Mornin." he drawled, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

"Hey, Daryl!" a woman greeted as she passed the three of us.

He pulled away from me and looked over to the woman who said it, only to look back at me with wide eyes and an annoyed look to his face, "This still happenin to you?"

"Worse." I responded, "Just wait for it." I said while briefly holding up my pointer finger.

Not a second later, a teenage boy passed us in a slight rush, "Goodmorning Rose!" he still managed to call out.

I smiled in response before it quickly dropped again as I looked back at Daryl with the same look he gave me earlier, hearing him chuckle at me as he leaned over the small stove. "Smells good." he commented while looking to see the food we were making.

"Goodmorning Dixons!" a man yelled as he walked by.

Carol looked up to see our faces and laughed lightly to herself, "Just so you know, I liked you two first."

Daryl scoffed a little, "Stop." he muttered, tossing some of the meat in his mouth before continuing, "Ya know, Rick brought a lot of them in too. Wasn't just us."

"Not recently," she responded, "Give the strangers sanctuary, keeping people fed, you're going to have to learn to live with the love." she then turned to look at me, "Even you." she smirked.

"Hey, I'm trying here. Just don't like the attention, it makes me feel...itchy."

"Itchy?" she questioned.

I paused for a moment before nodding more confidently, "Yeah."

"Right," she said before taking the meat off of the stovetop again, "Anyway, I need to show you both something quick, Patrick would you mind taking over?" she asked a teenage boy who was standing too far away from us.

"Yes ma'am." he said politely.

I began to move around the grill, walking towards Daryl who snaked an arm around my waist. I glanced up at him and saw him take the bowl he was eating out of, putting the rim of it up to his mouth to get a huge bite of meat. My brows furrowed, and when he looked down at me and caught me staring, he opened his mouth full of food.

I scrunched up my face, "Gross." I muttered, trying to hold back a chuckle while lightly pushing his face away from me.

"Yer gross." he retorted.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I swear, I'm married to a child." I laughed.

He gave me a cheeky smile and began to chew to say something else, but the kid, Patrick, cleared his throat suddenly as if to get our attention. The two of us turned to look at him, and he immediately got flustered and nervous when just making eye contact.

"Uh...Mr. and Mrs. Dixon? I just um...wanted to thank you for bringing the deer's back yesterday. I mean... it was a real treat, and I would be honored to shake your hands."

Daryl and I seemed to share some kind of look. I couldn't tell if it was one of humor or one of dread, but either way I had to bite back another laugh as I pulled away from Daryl's grasp, shaking his hand with a small smile.

Daryl, however, wasn't as polite.

As I backed away from Patrick, he looked at me as if he needed confirmation to which I just nodded. But I clearly didn't know what was coming. He then one by one, licked his fingers clean from the meat and used that same hand to shake his firmly. I pressed my lips together to suppress a laugh that threatened to escape as I saw the look on the poor kid's face. Daryl gave him a smug smile before letting go and placing his arm back around my waist so we could follow behind Carol.

I had to wait for a moment or two so we were far enough away, before I couldn't help but laugh quietly to myself. "What?" Daryl asked almost instantly with a small smirk of his own.

I only shook my head, "That was terrible."

"Ah, but ya thought it was funny." he pointed out, giving my side a small squeeze, as if it was his goal to get me to laugh all along.

I rolled my eyes playfully in response as we continued to walk, feeling him place a small kiss on the side of my head. We followed the woman until she suddenly stopped while looking out at the closest fence, the walkers still surrounding it and trying to get through. From an outsider's perspective, it seemed like we were hardly making a dent when in reality we had people out there taking care of them constantly.

"About today," she started, "I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run." she said as she gestured to the amount of people already working on clearing the walkers.

"We won't need too many." I reassured, "Plus that place is good to go, we're going to clear it today."

"Yeah," she nodded, "The thing is, we had a pretty big build up overnight. Dozens more towards tower three, and it's getting as bad as last month. They don't spread out anymore."

Daryl spoke up, "With more of us sittin here, we're drawin more of 'em out. Ya get enough of those damn fence-clingers, they start to herd up."

"Pushing against the fences again," I voiced my thoughts out loud, "That had been a bitch to deal with these past few weeks."

"Yeah, it has," Carol agreed, "It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long." she spoke before looking towards Daryl, "Sorry pookie." she said before sending a knowing wink my way.

I smiled to myself as I tried not to show too much of a reaction at the nickname Carol had recently given him. Her sole purpose was to get on his nerves and it worked every time without fail, and I personally thought it was hilarious. He scoffed in response, pushing her arm lightly as she walked away from us to go back and finish up whatever she was cooking for the time being. The moment she was out of earshot, I started to laugh quietly to myself.

When my eyes finally moved back up to his face, he was already glaring at me, "Aw pookie." I said while poking his cheek lightly.

He sighed and stood there for a moment as a few beats of silence passed, before he quickly picked me up in one swift motion and tossed me over his shoulder. A small squeal escaped me because of how fast everything happened, feeling him begin to spin me around to I would get dizzy. My protests meant nothing to him as I tried to smack him in order for him to put me back down, but that only seemed to edge him on further, chuckling to himself at his own actions.

"Put me down!" I yelled as my stomach hurt from laughter.

"Quit callin me that." he countered back, beginning to spin me the other way.

My breath caught in my throat as I felt all the blood rushing to my head, "Okay, okay, I give." I spoke slightly out of breath.

He then slowly stopped spinning and carefully lowered himself to put me back down onto my feet. I felt myself sway a little to try and catch my balance, but the whole world was still spinning around me in a nauseating way. He let out another laugh as he placed both of his hands on my arms to help steady me.

"Ya know, I don't really know why I married you. Yer kinda annoying." he joked as he flicked the tip of my nose gently.

My mouth dropped at his words in mock offense, "Well, you're no saint Daryl Dixon, plus there's plenty of other people around here." I gestured to the group around us.

He pretended to look around, scrunching up his face in through for a moment before looking back at me, "Nah...none of 'em are you." he said sweetly before placing a soft kiss on my lips.

I smiled into the kiss, pulling away briefly to mumble, "Damn right." before bringing him in again. He brought his hands to the side of my face and deepened the kiss, feeling his lip slightly upturning into a smirk. But he pulled away before either one of us could get too carried away, leaving a few lingering pecks in the process.

"Alright, we gotta stop or we're gonna be late for that run." he huffed.

I nodded my head in silent agreement, knowing that was nothing but the truth. We headed back towards the cars where a few others were gathering their things, getting a few vehicles ready to head out. Daryl parted from me to pull his bike up closer, leaving me to load the bed of the pickup truck, filling it as much as I could with a few weapons and supplies. Though my eyes glanced up once I saw some movement heading toward me, seeing Tyreese breaking away from his sister before heading my way to place a few things in the back alongside me.

"You're coming along too?" I questioned with a smile on my face.

He shrugged, "Yeah, I figured why not. It's been a while since I've been on a run, and plus you know it's gonna be entertaining when you're going."

I gently pushed his arm, "Oh whatever." I muttered and he smiled at me, before making his way back over to Sasha.

My gaze followed him for only a moment before something to the left pulled my attention away. Zach and Beth stood off to the side, talking quietly with each other before he came along with the rest of us. It was the first time he was coming with us to a place like this, his very first time on a run really and I understood completely why he wanted to see her again before we headed out. Although it seemed like she didn't see the big deal behind it as I watched her shrug it off, feeling Daryl come back next to me to witness the end of the conversation.

She kissed him once more before fully walking away, "Aren't you gonna say goodbye?" he asked.

"Nope!" she yelled over her shoulder, smiling brightly as she passed me, "Bye, Ro."

I nodded to her with a small smile, "It's like a damn romance novel." Daryl grumbled out loud as he zipped up his bag, causing me to hit his arm lightly to get him to stop talking.

But the kid's head snapped over towards him as he clearly heard his hushed words, "Oh you're one to talk." he clapped back.

Daryl glared pointedly at him, pulling away from the truck to approach him and Zach's eyes widened, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." he quickly stuttered out before speed walking in the other direction.

Daryl watched him scurry away for a moment before turning back towards me with a smug smile on his face, "Be nice." I scolded lightly with a roll of my eyes, shutting the bed of the truck with a slam.

He shook his head, "Nah, I only like bein nice to you."

I sighed as I placed my hands on my hips, "Okay... then just be civil." I offered.

He scoffed, "Even that's pushin it."

"Daryl." I warned.

"Rosie." he mocked.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Like I said, a child. I'm married to a child."

"Oh, but ya love me anyways." he said with a goofy grin.

His smile only made me smile, "Yeah, I guess I do." I admitted as I walked over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, "Like a damn romance novel." I whispered with a smirk before walking back towards the others to finally get the show on the road.

Once we got the okay from everyone, Daryl hopped on his bike and held out a hand to help me on the back of it like always. We made our way towards the front gate in a formed line with the cars trailing behind us, and that's when I noticed Rick and Carl were talking with a familiar face. I smiled to myself when I saw Michonne, knowing she must've just gotten back from a run.

To this day she was still looking for The Governor and hasn't given up yet. It honestly broke my heart seeing how much she wanted to find and put an end to him, staying out for longer periods of time now only to come back for a day or two, before she was leaving again. But I supposed it only made me cherish the times when she was here before she disappeared all over again.

The loud rumble of the motorcycle approaching seemed to catch both of their attention as Daryl barely had a chance to slow the thing to a stop before I was quickly hopping off to greet her. She smiled brightly the moment she caught my eye.

"Well, well, look who's back." I said while quickly wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug.

She gave me a gentle squeeze, "It's good to be back." she confirmed, pulling away to wrap an arm around my shoulder and looked towards Daryl, "Didn't find him." she said simply while looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Glad to see you in one piece." Daryl nodded.

She smiled slightly and continued, "I'm thinking of looking over near Macon...it's worth a shot."

"Seventy miles of walkers, ya might run into a few unneighborly types. Is it?" Daryl asked with squinted eyes.

She didn't respond right away, not knowing for sure if all the things she was putting herself through was truly worth it. It must've been a constant conflict in her mind.

I found myself speaking up again to fill the silence after a moment, knowing she didn't need to decide right now. "We're heading out to check the Big Spot a couple miles from here, the one we were talking about. Just to see." I informed Rick.

"Yeah, I got to go out and check the snares. I don't want to lose whatever we catch to the walkers." he replied.

My eyes glanced back to Michonne who still had her arm wrapped around me, bumping her hip with mine to grab her attention, "Why don't you come with us?" I asked.

She smiled down at me and nodded, "Alright...I'll go."

Carl then spoke up for the first time with a slight frown on his face, "But you just got here." he complained.

"And I'll be back." she assured, letting go of me and making her way back to one of the cars with her bag still crossed over her shoulders.

I made eye contact with the kid and noticed the new comic books clutched tightly in his hands, smirking to myself, "I'll keep an eye out." I spoke quietly to him as I gestured to what was in his arms.

He smiled at me and nodded eagerly before I turned back around to hop on the back of Daryl's bike again. As I adjusted myself on the back, placing my hands around his middle, I looked up to Rick as he gave me a small smile, "Stay safe." he said, receiving a nod from us in return.

Daryl started his bike back up, watching as Rick jogged a little towards the gates to open them up for us. I tried to ignore the snarls of the walkers around us once we made it outside the safety of the prison. It seemed like they've tripled, and the groups only kept getting bigger. Their dead eyes followed us as we quickly drove past them, attempting to reach out for us slowly before we were just out of reach.

I rested my chin on Daryl's shoulder and closed my eyes as the wind hit my face and blew my hair wildly behind me. He took one of his hands and gave my thigh a squeeze before putting it back on the handle, revving his engine a bit as the vehicles behind us stayed close. I smiled at his actions and placed a kiss on his shoulder before closing my eyes again, trying to relax for this longer ride ahead of us.

After driving down the long and windy roads we finally made it to the Big Spot, quickly grabbing the weapons we needed from the back of the truck to check out the oddly quiet place. Each of us stayed silent as we made it up to the large double doors of the place, trying to pinpoint the number of walkers in the area. The parking lot was completely trashed, tents and tarps were set up all around as we silently weaved through them, double checking our surroundings.

Once we got up to the door, Daryl peered into one of the big windows before banging his elbow against it loudly to see how many of them were inside. You could barely see though the glass with how dirty it had become over the months.

"Just give it a second." he said to all of us, leaning his head against the building to try and listen for them as he sat propped up near the glass.

I walked over to the other window just a few feet away and attempted to glance inside, seeing nothing as I moved to put my ear up to it to try and listen for any walkers as well, but I couldn't hear a thing. The building was quite large, knowing that there could be a fair amount inside that we would have to clear out before anything. 

I absentmindedly walked back towards where the rest of them were waiting, sitting myself down on the edge of the window. Daryl scooted a bit closer to me the moment I sat down, feeling him giving my leg a light tap as we waited for any kind of noise coming from inside.

Zach then came around the corner, "Okay, I think I got it." he announced.

Michonne tilted her head a bit as she stepped closer as well, "Got what?" 

I nodded towards the man, "Zach's been trying to guess what Daryl did before the outbreak."

"He's been tryin to guess for like six weeks." Daryl muttered to me, though Zach still heard him clearly.

"Yeah, I'm pacing myself." he said in defense while taking a seat on the other side of me, "One shot a day."

Daryl nodded over to him, "Alright, shoot."

"Well, the way you are at the prison, you being on the council. You being able to track, you're helping people but you're still being kind of...surly."

I snorted which earned a light nudge from Daryl as Zach continued, "Okay, big swing here...homicide cop." he spoke confidently.

Michonne instantly began to laugh somewhat loudly to herself upon hearing the assumption, and Daryl squinted his eyes at her, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," she shook her head, "Makes perfect sense."

Daryl then cleared his throat as he nodded, "Actually the man's right; undercover."

My head whipped over in his direction with a shocked expression, using my job as a copout so he could mess with the kid a little bit more. He only gave me a pointed look as if to say play along and I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything as I let the man have his fun.

"Come on, really?" Zach excitedly said.

"Yep...I mean I don't like ta talk about it cause...it's a lot of heavy shit, ya know?" he said before turning his head to hide the small smirk growing on his face.

"Really?" Zach asked again.

"Mhm, that's where I met this lovely lady right here." he continued on as he wrapped his arm around me, "Went through a lot together, only brought us closer."

I couldn't help but scoff at the amount of bullshit coming out of his mouth, but I still didn't say a thing. Though at this point Daryl's voice was dripping with obvious sarcasm and Zach caught on after a moment and sighed to himself.

"Okay, I'll just keep guessing I guess." he muttered.

"Yeah, you keep doin that." Daryl replied.

I knocked Zach's foot with mine as I got his attention, "Hey, if it makes you feel better, not everything that came out of his mouth was a load of shit." He seemed to perk up at that. "I was actually an undercover cop."

"No shit?" he asked.

"No shit." I confirmed.

That seemed to lift his spirits a little, "What's your most badass story?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but that's when a walker finally made its way towards the window as it clawed at the glass, signaling that it was time to head in. I glanced back and forth between him and the people beginning to make their way towards the entrance.

"Maybe some other time." I suggested and he nodded in return.

I hopped off and headed towards the front door along with everyone else, trailing behind Sasha and Tyreese as they began to go over the things we needed to look out for. "You ready to do this detective?" I asked Daryl, nudging his arm as I passed by.

He scoffed but nodded anyway, "Let's get this done."

We easily took out the walkers that piled up towards the front quickly and quietly, Sasha grabbing a hold of a cart as she voiced the main things to grab on our imaginary list. I followed her actions as I grabbed a shopping cart as well, slowly making my way through the isles to grab the things I needed the most. Some new clothes, flashlights, batteries, I even found some new arrows that were practically brand new, nearly shining in the sunlight with how perfect they were.

Though I seemed to stop in my tracks when I turned around a sharp corner, spotting something that made me visibly freeze. There was a small section in the women's hygiene that were packed full of pregnancy tests. They seemed to be untouched. collecting dust as I stared at them, biting my lip in though while eyed them intently, debating if I should grab a few or not. I mean, mistakes happen every day.

Eventually I just shook my head as I made up my mind, grabbing a couple in my hands and placing them in my jacket pocket. I knew for a fact that there was absolutely no way, but it was nice to have a few on hand just in case I ever got a scare. My fear of the unknown was worse than practically anything else.

Though I suddenly heard some hurried footsteps approaching from right behind me rather quickly. Almost too quickly. The sound causing me to practically throw myself away from the shelf as I whipped around to see who it was. 

Glenn stopped dead in his tracks with confusion written all over his face, scanning me before glancing over towards what I was standing right in front of. His eyes got wide as he connected the jots in his head, his mouth falling open as he began to frantically point between me and the wall of tests.

I immediately shook my head and went up to him, "No, no, stop, I'm- I'm not-"

"Then why the hell did you jump out of your skin when I walked around the corner? Does Daryl know? How far along do you think you are?" he asked hurriedly.

I couldn't tell if he was excited, completely panicked, or both. But regardless what he thought was not true in the slightest, causing me to shake my head again, "Glenn honey, I'm not pregnant. I just...I don't know, just figured it was nice to have a few just in case, you know? I swear on my life, I'm not, you don't need to freak out." I finished with a somewhat nervous laugh.

He then sighed in obvious relief, "God Ro, don't do that."

"You're the one jumping to conclusions." I spoke.

He chuckled lightly, "Yeah...yeah, I guess so."

Though I calmed his nerves the smallest bit, I could still clearly see that there was something else bothering him. Something that caused him to freak out the way that he did, similar to how he acted when he found out Lori was pregnant way back on the farm. The thought caused me to stare at him for a moment, knowing something wasn't completely right.

Then, as if reading my mind, he asked quietly, "Can I...have one of those?"

My eyes widened in surprise, "Oh my God, Maggie-"

"I- I don't know, but she's late and uh...we're both kind of freaking out." he admitted, "I was supposed to keep my mouth shut since she didn't want anyone to panic...but when was the last time I ever kept my mouth shut." he finished with a forced laugh.

I nodded silently in understanding, wordlessly handing him one from out of my pockets as he muttered a small "thanks." I didn't know what to say to help ease his mind, I didn't know if there was anything that I could say. But I knew I had to say something.

"Hey, listen...neither of you know what's going to happen. But just know that...everything's going to be okay, and I'm right here for whenever you need me." I finished with a smile.

"But how can you know that? I mean...with what happened to Lori-"

"Don't." I quickly interrupted him, "She didn't have Hershel...and she had to have an emergency c-section. And clearly, I didn't know the first thing about that so... she-"

He shook his head as he realized what he had just said, stopping me from continuing as he placed a hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I shouldn't have brought that up, I'm sorry."

I shook my head, "It's okay," I assured, "But please just trust me on this. Everything's going to be fine."

He looked at me for a moment, before nodding with a small smile, "Okay." he whispered.

However, seconds after the words left his mouth, we heard the sound of glass breaking. The sounds that followed were even worse. A loud crash echoed throughout the entire store, followed by a painful and terrified scream. Glenn and I just looked at each other for a brief second before taking off towards the commotion, and I hoped it wasn't as bad as it sounded. But then again, all good things must come to an end.

~ Thanks for reading!

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Desert Rose

Chapter 44 ~ Little Things

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 4

✧ Word Count : 5.9k

In this chapter - Life at the prison continues on, a bunch of little things keeping the community alive as the time slowly ticks by.

I desperately tried to catch my breath, but I didn't have a lot of time to do so. I whipped around the corner to see more walkers coming my way from the other end of the store and quickly shot a few arrows at them to buy us some time. Glenn and Tyreese were frantically putting more food in their bags while I held the dead monsters off as much as I could, but time was slowly running out and I didn't know how many cans of beans were worth our lives.

My lungs felt as if they were on fire as I pulled the arrows out of a few skulls and stabbed more and more, dodging them right before they could grab me. The only thing that managed to tear my attention away, were the two men's rushed voices calling out saying they had enough, before making a sprint towards the exit, my hurried steps not far behind theirs. Though I managed to skid to a stop at the front door to pick up the one important thing that I just couldn't leave behind, before making a run for it so they could close the doors behind me and trap the remaining walkers inside.

They slammed the glass doors shut the second I made it out, placing a thick piece of wood across the handles so they wouldn't be able to break out, finally allowing ourselves to catch our breaths. I jumped back a little when the walkers started to pound on the glass, but luckily, they weren't able to break out as the material was far too thick. Strongest damn glass I've ever seen with the number of walkers shoving and clawing their way forward.

Tyreese stood up to his full height and walked over to me, "You okay?" he asked breathlessly as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

I stood as well with a small nod, "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. You guys okay?"

They both nodded their heads, our eyes seeming to stay glued to the building, "I think we got enough food, we should make it back to the prison by dark." Glenn stated.

We all seemed to nod absentmindedly in silent agreement and grabbed the entirety of our things to head back to the car before the walkers were able to cut through the unbreakable glass. I quickly hopped in the passenger seat after I placed everything I could in the trunk, a wave of fatigue hitting me suddenly the moment I sat down. Fighting for your life everyday was starting to become exhausting.

My eyes involuntarily closed for a moment as I heard Glenn start the car and begin the drive back to the prison, while Tyreese was in the back rummaging around, making sure we had everything we needed.

"So, why was this so important?" his voice suddenly asked.

I glanced up in the rearview mirror and felt myself smile, seeing the familiar guitar I somehow snatched at the very last second. "Well, Beth said something about her birthday coming up, and I used to teach her to play guitar. But we ended up losing it in the long run, so I figured this was perfect."

His smile somehow turned even warmer as he listened, "That's real sweet."

I shrugged sheepishly, "I try."

Glenn couldn't help but smile as well, "I remember that...all of that just got left with the rest of the farm." he commented before growing silent for a moment. "Oh hey, are you still painting?"

"I do when I have the time," I said, "But lately we've all been so busy I haven't really had a chance to." He nodded in understanding. "Why?" I asked.

He only shrugged, "Just wondering if you ever finished the painting of the farmhouse. Do you still have it?"

I nodded with a small smile, "Yeah, it's still in my sketchbook. I was actually thinking about giving it to Maggie or something? Maybe Hershel? I don't know, I feel like they would like it more than I do."

"I think that's a good idea," he said, before suddenly growing serious as he clearly thought about something much darker. I almost didn't even want to know. "Does...does the farm kind of remind you of Shane?"

"No," I said almost immediately, "I try not to think about that man if I can help it."

Tyreese sat up a little, "Who's Shane?"

Glenn and I seemed to share some kind of look before he started to explain the story behind the man, why he was never talked about in our group. I didn't even remember the last time I heard anyone breathe his name until now, which made me wonder why Glenn brought him up in the first place. Perhaps he was someone who thought about him more than I did. Shane was an okay guy for the most part, but he was blinded by his love for Lori, and that's what tore him apart in the end.

I tuned out most of the conversation between the two because I didn't really want to relive any of the horrible things the man did. But I found myself chiming in when Glenn started to tell the story about how I hit him in the head with an apple. I couldn't help but laugh at the memory, after all I thought it was one of my best moments.

But before I knew it, we had arrived back at the prison in record time, the sun now setting completely leaving us driving up to the building in the dark. Glenn put the car in park as we made it through the gates, a few people started to notice our arrival, getting out to begin unloading everything. I made sure to grab the small item in the center console before hopping out too, following them over to the trunk.

But before I could even attempt to grab something to help carry inside, I was suddenly pulled into a hug by Rick who was standing near the car, "What took you guys so long?" he asked, not letting me go.

I rolled my eyes a little as I gently patted his back, "We're fine...we just stopped by one more place before we came back. Why are you so worried?" I asked softly while finally pulling away.

"I- I don't know. Just had a bad feeling." he sighed.

I silently knew what that meant. It was almost like a code language I could read quite well. The man was terrified to lose anyone else, causing him to worry to no end whenever someone went out into the unknown.

I placed a hand on his arm, "We're fine." I repeated gently, wanting him to hear me.

He smiled slightly and nodded, before slowly moving to the trunk so he could help carry a few things inside to have them be sorted through. I placed the small object in my back pocket and went to grab the guitar sitting in the backseat, but paused when I caught a glimpse of Daryl coming at me with a grin on his face. He picked me up in a hug and spun me around which made me laugh, before setting me back down and kissed my forehead briefly before he spoke.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"Pretty good." I confirmed, "We got some food, clothes, I even found a guitar for Beth. And actually, I managed to get something for you too." I finished with a sweet smile.

He raised his eyebrows, "Really? What is it?"

"I'll give it to you after I see Beth, just meet me in our room."

A slow smirk grew on his face at the suggestive things no doubt clouding his mind and I just rolled my eyes, "It's nothing dirty."

"Damn," he cursed jokingly, "Alright I'll meet cha there." he spoke, giving my arm a squeeze before moving to help the other guys carry the many supplies inside.

I maneuvered my way towards the back to grab the instrument, before rushing towards the building and into the familiar cellblock. I hoped I could catch her in her room before she went to sleep for the night, knowing that it was already pretty late. But after double checking with Carol, I quickly made it into the smaller space, stopping at her doorway to see her sitting on her bed writing something down in her journal.

I cleared my throat from where I stood and she glanced up, smiling instantly once she realized that I had made it back safely.

"Hey!" she said, trying to get up quick to greet me.

But I put my hand out, stopping her in her tracks from getting too close, leaving her looking confused. I leaned in about only halfway so she couldn't see the larger object I attempted to hide behind my back.

"I have something for you." I spoke.

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh yeah? What?"

"Close your eyes."

Her eyelids instantly fluttered closed, a small smile on her face as I slowly walked further into the room and holding it out into view. "Okay, open."

She opened her eyes and lightly gasped once she saw what was in front of her. She hesitantly took it in her hands and began to look over every inch of it while I stood there waiting anxiously for her to say something. Now don't get me wrong this guitar was nice, but a little beat up since I found it in a very random place that most definitely wasn't a Guitar Center.

I hoped she would like it. Knowing that I could teach her a few more things, seeing her being able to use it when she looked after the kids, playing them a few songs. I saw a few tears begin to form in her eyes as she carefully sat it down on her bed, before tackling me in an unexpected hug.

"Thank you so much." she whispered.

I smiled in slight relief and hugged her back, "Of course. Happy birthday, honey."

"This is the best present ever," she stated excitedly as she pulled away to look at it again, "God...where did you even find it?"

"In an abandoned grocery store." I said bluntly with a small huff, "I'm assuming it was someone else's, but they just left it there. I figured you could decorate it, make it look a little nicer."

She nodded, "I will. I really, really love it," she said before pulling me in for another hug, "Thank you, Ro."

"You're welcome." I said hugging her back for a few moments before letting her go.

"Can we practice right now?" she asked, her voice filled with pure delight as well as a certain glint in her eyes.

I smiled a little sadly, "Oh hon, I'm sorry, I was planning on seeing Daryl for a bit and just crashing out. But hey, tell you what, maybe start going over the basics again and what you can remember. And then tomorrow I could teach you some new things?"

She nodded in understanding, "Yeah, that's totally fine. I'll go over a few songs." she said while sitting down and propping the guitar up in her lap.

After biding her a goodnight, I heard the soft strums of the instrument as she attempted to get it back in tune. I slowly made my way up the metal steps to Daryl and I's room, passing everyone's covered cells as I walked. Most people have now gotten curtains for privacy which was an amazing addition in my opinion. Because there were so many people living here now it was pretty much a golden necessity.

As I approached the familiar cell, I gently lifted the curtain to see him sitting on the bed with his head down. Though as soon as he felt my stare, he lifted his head and smiled tiredly at me.

"Hey, baby." he greeted.

"Hey." I smiled, moving into the room to sit myself down next to him.

He then seemed to perk up immediately, rubbing his hands together all while looking like a kid on Christmas, "Alright where is it?" he asked all giddy.

I laughed at how excited he seemed to be the moment I briefly mentioned I had a surprise. "Okay hold on, I don't want you to get your hopes up. It's just a small thing."

"Whatever it is, I'll love it." he reassured, placing a hand on my knee and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Okay," I muttered before reaching back and pulling out the box from my jean pocket, "Here."

He took the object from my hands slowly with a confused look on his face, opening it hesitantly and his eyes instantly softened the moment he realized. "You got me a ring; I figured I would get you one too." I said simply.

I found the piece of jewelry today as we coincidentally passed by some kind of old pawn shop. I didn't really think anything of it as I almost passed by it completely, until I saw a certain section sitting right in the window. To me it was some kind of sign to stop and take a look, telling the others to go on while I searched. But overall, I thought I did a pretty good job. The ring was simple, shiny, and black, thinking that it was absolutely perfect for him. So I didn't hesitate to grab it.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

He nodded as he began to look at it from every angle, "I love it...thank you, darlin."

"Of course," I smiled and watched him carefully pull the ring out and slip it on, mentally crossing my fingers and hoped that it fit. "It's not too tight right?" I asked.

He shook his head, "Nah, it's prefect. Ya did a good job." he said holding his hand out to take a better look at it. I smiled triumphantly and that caused him to chuckle, bringing me in close to place a proper kiss on my lips now that we were completely alone.

Though he pulled away after a lingering moment to speak softly again. "So...I've been waitin on ya to get back. Wanna shower with me?" he asked oh so sweetly.

I laughed, "Why I'd love to."

He smirked and we both made our way out of the cell and towards the showers without another thought. In the past few months, we've managed to fix the showers all the way on the other end of the building which were truly a gift from the man upstairs. Although the water was far from hot, it was still something.

There were multiple stalls lined up with curtains for privacy when you first walked inside, the two of us peeking our heads in through the door to make sure no one else was in there before heading down to the furthest shower from the entrance. We practically sprinted down the way, helping each other remove our clothes which caused us to giggle like a couple of teenagers before hopping in.

I turned the shower on and we both instantly got drenched with the cool water as I grabbed the shampoo bottle to my right. I squeezed a good amount in my hands, rubbing them together as I raised them up to wash my own hair. But Daryl quickly stopped my movements, taking a hold of my wrists and placing my soapy hands on top of his head instead and I laughed lightly at his actions. I began to massage his scalp softly and he closed his eyes and groaned at the feeling, fighting the urge to tilt his head back even more as if knowing I wouldn't be able to reach.

I took my time to make sure I got every place before quietly telling him he could rinse. He leaned back further into the water, running his fingers through the tangles before taking the shampoo bottle in his own hands, instructing me to turn around. My back was facing him as I suddenly felt his hands come up to gently wash my hair, and I now understood completely what the hype was about as I closed my eyes in content. It felt nice to have someone else do it, especially when he makes you weak in the knees.

After rinsing the remaining shampoo from my hair, I took a washcloth and a bar of soap and began to lather the material in bubbles. Once I was satisfied with the amount, I brought it to run across my arms and my chest, slowly feeling his hands snake around my waist as he placed a lingering kiss on my shoulder. I felt myself smile in content as I continued to scrub the remaining dirt from my body, before the washcloth was suddenly taken from my grasp.

His hands gently turned me around and began to wash every inch of me himself, occasionally placing soft kisses on my skin whenever he got the chance. I slowly began to feel hotter the more his hands roamed around me, and it defiantly wasn't because of the water running down my body.

Once he was done and I had rinsed off, I took the washcloth back from him and began to wash his body as well, and I could tell I was having the exact same effect on him. He closed his eyes and huffed heavily when I lightly washed certain spots, and that brought a smirk to my face. Teasing him slightly while he let out a deep sigh, muttering something under his breath that I surely couldn't make out from the running stream of water behind us.

I kissed him lightly on the nose once I was done, to which he huffed out another breath at the loss of contact, but still ran himself under the water nonetheless. Though the moment he was done, he kissed me deeply, and I easily could've dropped to the ground if he hadn't secured an arm around my waist.

"Can't keep my hands off ya." his lips parted from mine just enough to whisper the phrase.

"Hmm...just wait until we get back to our cell." I smirked, and he instantly maneuvered around me to turn the water off as quickly as he could, making me laugh loudly.

We both wrapped ourselves in towels and crept back to our room as quietly as we could. It was pretty late at this point so we weren't worried about someone catching us, everyone was already in bed, or outside on watch.

The second we made it inside, Daryl wasted no time ripping his towel off of him and then looked at me questioningly, silently asking if he could. I nodded my head and he removed the towel from my body as well, tossing it behind him carelessly on the ground. He then picked me up and I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist as he kissed me passionately, his breaths ragged and desperate as he began to move closer to the mattress.

I felt my back hit the mattress as he pulled himself off of me slightly to trace kisses all down by body, which made a chill run through me entirely. He noticed my reaction, my change in breathing as he glanced up at me through hooded eyes, his lip pulling up in his signature smirk and I knew I was done for. Needless to say...it was an eventful night.

Shuffling sounds were heard from all the way across the room, rudely interrupting whatever amount of beauty sleep I had left. My brows furrowed in annoyance as my eyes stayed closed, extending my arm to the other side of the bed to feel the space was completely empty. Letting out a breath, I peeked one eye open to see Daryl standing across the small space with his bare back facing me. He seemed to be in the process of buttoning up his pants, flipping his head back slightly to get his hair out of his face.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He glanced back over his shoulder at me with a small smile once he heard the brief sound of my soft voice, "Gettin ready for the day sunshine, what are you doin?"

I groaned and pulled the blanket up and over my face, "I want to sleep for another six hours." my voice spoke, coming out more muffled as the thick fabric suffocated my face.

I felt the bed shift not even a second later as he sat down on the sliver of space next to me, peeling back the blanket, "Stop that, I wanna see yer pretty face." he said sweetly.

Heat instantly rushed to my cheeks as I quickly yanked the blanket up to cover my embarrassment, "No, no, no," he laughed in protest, pulling it back down, "Why're you so tired anyway, huh?" 

"I don't know, guess you really wore me out." I winked.

He smirked and leaned down to briefly kiss me, but I only pulled him in deeper, letting the blanket slip down a little to reveal my bare chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I attempted to pull him down further against me, but he broke away from my parted lips before I could get to the good part.

He groaned softly, "Don't do this to me." he muttered, his voice almost sounding like a plea.

"Aw come on. What do you have to do that's so important?" I asked.

"I gotta go hunt. We're runnin low on meat so I gotta go today." he complained, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear before he tilted his head a bit. "Why don't ya come with me?" he suggested.

I scoffed, "Yeah because that'll work out, remember what happened last time?"

His cheeks involuntarily tinted pink at the memories flowing through his mind, "That won't happen this time. Plus, I haven't taken ya huntin in a while now and I know ya wanna go out more often. It'll be good for ya."

I hummed to myself as I thought for a moment, "Yeah, you're right. I guess it never really takes much convincing to do anything with you, Daryl Dixon." 

"Well, I feel the same, Rose Dixon." he smirked, kissing me once more before slowly getting back up to finish getting dressed much to my dismay.

Another groan passed through my lips before I finally found the strength to get up as well, leaving the warmth of my bed behind with a heavy heart. The two of us maneuvered around the small space as we got ready to leave, attaching the many bags and weapons across ourselves to prepare for the amount of food we would bring back.

We told the people on watch that we were leaving as we headed out through the gates on foot, having somewhat of a hopeful attitude that we could find some larger animals. Though that was always wishful thinking. But then again, Daryl had been finding a lot of deer in the area lately, so maybe it wasn't a total lost cause. I just knew that everyone around here was getting a little tired of eating squirrel.

Once we progressed deeper into the woods, we stopped talking completely, remaining freakishly silent while having our eyes on the ground looking for any tracks to follow. I eventually spotted some rabbit prints in the mud, the leaves being tossed around messily as it bounded its way through here not too long ago. I began to follow the trail with a silent wave of my hand, knowing that it was better than nothing.

Although I could hardly hear his footsteps, I knew Daryl wasn't far behind as he followed my lead, avoiding the small rocks and twigs that would make too much noise and be a dead giveaway. Before I knew it, I noticed that the tracks were getting fresh and I slowly squatted lower to the ground, holding a fist up to him so he would stop.

My eyes peered through the bushes when I finally spotted the smaller animal. It was peacefully eating some grass, moving its head every so often to look at its surroundings, its ears twitching on instinct. My gaze didn't part from it as I silently gripped my bow in my grasp, getting an arrow ready to shoot. I aimed directly at its head and quickly pulled back to fire at the animal, watching as it fell limp into the dirt instantly. I smiled proudly to myself before standing back up straight, stepping over the greenery to retrieve the animal with my arrow through its head.

"I forgot how good ya are at this." Daryl commented, a hint of pride in his voice.

I just shrugged, "Eh, I'm alright. Could always use some more practice." I winked, before ripping the arrow out of the rabbit's head, handing the bloody animal over to the bad Daryl held out in his hands.

The two of us continued hunting for the majority of the day with ease, actually catching a whole lot more than I was expecting. We headed back to the prison by dinner time, two deer and five rabbits in our grasps by the time we were finished up for the day. I don't know how I managed to carry a whole ass deer back to the prison all by myself, but I did somehow, and now my back was paying every possible price. 

We walked side by side to where Carol was stationed up, dropping off the plethora of meat and watching her eyes widen in astonishment. "Wow, this is great! Thanks you two." she smiled.

Daryl grunted, "No problem."

"Well, I'm sure you guys are starving at this point." she said as she moved around towards a pot, pouring us what looked to be two bowls of soup, "Eat every last drop, I mean it." she said in a motherly tone.

I sent her a tired smile as I accepted it gratefully, "Thanks Carol." 

The night went on peacefully, the whole community gathering around outside to eat together at the plethora of tables scattered around the space. I listened to Glenn for the majority of the time as he went on and on about the events that occurred, apparently not being able to handle be being gone for only a few hours. Though there were a few different times his voice was interrupted by a variety of different people, their figures walking by briefly to thank Daryl and I for the things we brought back. I found that was something else I wasn't totally comfortable with.

Everyone from Woodbury was extremely grateful for what we did, the things we were still doing for them, but it always made me embarrassed at all the attention. And it was safe to say Daryl wasn't the biggest fan of it either. Neither one of us liked the constant praise, but we managed to be polite about it anyways, knowing that they all meant well. Though it took some time for Daryl to start saying you're welcome, progress was still progress.

Though a certain someone seemed to lift my spirits with her infectious joy, coming over to our table a little later to inform me that she had taken the time today to practice nearly every song I taught her back on the farm. It made me happy with how excited she became, now knowing that she would have another opportunity to learn what she absolutely loved. I informed her that I would swing by her room a little later after dinner came to a close, silently knowing I just needed a few minutes to relieve some of this back pain that I desperately wanted to get rid of.

I groaned the second my head hit the pillow as I laid flat on my stomach, silently wishing I could take a few painkillers, but refrained knowing that others might need it more than I did. I barely even heard the curtain being pushed open, but my ears still perked up nonetheless, looking over my shoulder to see Daryl now hunched over removing his boots in the doorway.

My head remained back on the pillow upon seeing it was just him and I felt my eyes flutter closed once more. That is until I felt a sudden pressure on my ass, looking back once more to see Daryl straddling the backs of my thighs.

"What are you doing?" I groaned at the pressure.

"Saw how uncomfortable ya looked at dinner. M' thinkin carryin that deer all the way back here had somethin to do with that." he stated.

I didn't even have the chance to respond before his hands were suddenly moving up and down my back, putting the exact amount of pressure that I need on the tense muscles. I couldn't help the soft groan that left my lips as his hands worked absolute magic, hearing him begin to laugh to himself at the noise I let out.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, shut up. Don't stop." I scoffed quietly as I buried my face deeper into the pillow.

"Yes ma'am." he said huskily, leaning over to kiss my neck a few times before going back to run his hands all over the sore and tender spots.

He took his time massaging from my neck, all the way down to my lower back, running his hands across my hips and giving them a generous squeeze. I felt relief as he worked the knots out of my muscles and was always careful, double checking he wasn't hurting me.

I would almost never get over the fact that he acted so tough and guarded around the others, but was like putty in my hand. Some people from Woodbury had even asked me why I was with him if he was so hotheaded constantly, and I couldn't help but laugh at that. If only they knew.

"Better?" he asked, removing his hands.

I shook my head, "No, keep going."

He chuckled, "I would but you're fallin asleep, and ya promised Beth you'd see her tonight." he reminded me as he slowly got off of me.

"Oh yeah." was all I could say as I sat up and rubbed my eyes a little, stretching my arms up as I felt him sit down next to me. "Hm...you're the best, have I told you that recently?" I asked as I gazed at him sleepily.

"Mm tell me." he muttered while inching his face closer to mine.

I smirked, "You're the best." I said before closing the space between us.

We began to get lost in the moment as our tongues fought for dominance to which he ended up winning. My hands ran up his arms, giving them a gentle squeeze as I could feel him slowly lowering me back onto the mattress. It wasn't until my back hit the bed that I snapped back into reality and pulled away.

"Beth, she's waiting for me." I breathed.

He sighed and slowly got back up again, "Oh yeah." he chuckled.

I kissed him once more, bidding him a goodbye before I reluctantly got up to head down to her cell. I walked in quietly, knocking quietly on the metal door and her face instantly lit up upon seeing me, exaggeratingly waving me inside. I couldn't help but talk to her for a little longer than I meant to as I sat across from her, catching up on some things that we could go on and on about for a lifetime if we wished. But eventually I taught her a few more things like I had intended, watching as she caught onto everything quite quickly.

I could easily see how much she missed playing, having this guitar now would hopefully bring back the hobby she missed doing the most. I was just glad that I found the instrument when I did.

The hour grew late as she practiced before we both eventually got tired of the same thing over and over again, settling with just talking quietly with each other while everyone else now slept peacefully in the rooms around us. It honestly amazed me how much we could talk.

"Did I tell you Zach asked me out?" she said suddenly.

My mouth fell open, "What? No, you didn't tell me!" I exclaimed quietly.

She started to laugh to herself as she blushed, "Yeah, he actually did it! He told me since we couldn't really go on dates anymore, he just asked if I would want to take a walk with him and maybe look at the stars."

"Oh my God, that's so cute." I spoke.

"I know! I'm really excited, but also like super nervous." she confessed as she picked at her nails slightly, "Were you nervous when Daryl asked you out?" 

I thought to myself for a moment, "Well, he didn't really ask me out. We just sort of kissed and then...we've just been together ever since."

She sighed, "I wish it was that easy for me. I feel like I've been trying to ask him out since he got here, and it seems like a lot of work."

"Relationships are a lot of work." I informed bluntly, "But when you find the right one...it's worth it."

"Yeah, I guess so." she said with a shrug, letting a few beats of silence pass before her eyebrows furrowed, "It's crazy how much everything's changing. I mean, you're married now." she spoke in slight disbelief.

I laughed quietly with a nod, "I know, it's kind of weird being called someone's wife. But I guess it's only been a few weeks, so I might just need more time to get used to it."

"Probably." she yawned, "It's good that he has you, you know? You guys are practically perfect together. We can all tell how grateful he is for you...but then again so am I."

I looked at her softly, "I'm grateful for you too, hon."

"No, I mean really grateful," she emphasized, "Like...you've just been there for me though a lot and I've always been thankful for that. Looking out for me constantly...basically being my best friend. I've grown so much just because of you."

"You've grown because you wanted to, I can't take all the credit for that," I said and took her hand in mine, "You have no idea how strong you are, but I do. You're going to do great things in the future I just know it."

She smiled brightly, "Only if you're there by my side."

"Always." I promised as I pulled her into a hug, trying to not get emotional as she practically poured her heart out only seconds ago.

We stayed like that for a few moments in silence before I gently pulled back again, leaving her laughing lightly, "God, when did this turn into a super deep conversation?" she asked while wiping a stray tear that fell.

I couldn't help but laugh as well, "I don't know, but probably because we're both exhausted. Why don't you get some sleep, we can practice more soon." I suggested.

"Yeah, definitely." she nodded.

I gave her shoulder a squeeze before I got up to walk towards the doorway of her room, turning back to see her shutting her lamp off as she began to lay down, "Sleep tight, honey."

"Goodnight, Ro." she said, resting her head softly on the pillow.

I left her cell as quietly as I could, lightly walked back up the steps as to not disturb anyone else. Though I guess I underestimated how long I would be down there with her because when I walked in, I saw Daryl sitting upright on the bed like he was waiting for me, but his head was back against the wall as he snored. I tried my best not to laugh at the state he was in, quietly walking over to gently place my hand on his leg, shaking it lightly. 

He jumped awake suddenly at the feeling of someone else in the room, but relaxed when he saw it was just me. "Jesus Christ, ya scared the shit out of me." he muttered tiredly.

"I'm sorry," I laughed, "You didn't have to wait up for me." I said as I slowly sat myself down next to him.

He scoffed, "Clearly I didn't." he joked.

I shook my head slightly as I glanced down, taking notice that he was still in the same clothes from earlier, "Do you want to change?"

His only response was gently pulling me down to lay next to him, and I didn't argue. I laid down with my back to him and he quickly wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer into his frame, causing me to smile. I felt my eyes slowly droop as I came to terms with how tired I really was, and right as I was about to fall asleep, I heard his voice barely mutter, "Nah."

~ Thanks for reading!

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[d1xonss]

H EY could you possibly write a fic where the readers been on some heat the whole day just overall pissed, then there’s a fight outbreak in Alexandria and everyone crowding around & people calling Daryl so he comes, just to realise it’s his girl and he has to restrain her, pulling her away so she doesn’t continue beating the shit out of whoever and she’s MAD so he has to calm her down and gets her to just talk to him so he can help her. Just a thought yk 😛

Sticks and Stones

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 5

✧ Pronouns : she/her

✧ Genre : Fluff

✧ Word Count : 3k

AN ~ I like this idea a lot! Just the thought of Daryl helping her clean up and take care of her after something like this just makes me melt. ps- Sorry for the inactiveness lately, April has already been such a crazy month for me and I've sadly had little to no time to write. But I'll definitely start getting back on track soon. Hope you enjoy!

The weather was hot, sticky, and humid. Your hair was a frizzy mess, sticking up everywhere as you worked in the miserable weather. You were sweating in places you didn’t even think were possible to sweat from. Bottom line was, you were miserable.

The bad mood that was embedded in you only seemed to grow as the day dragged on longer and longer. It was bad enough that your group joined this new community in the first place, having to live with all of these complete strangers after everything you had been through with your family. But what seemed to make it even worse, was this community had some high expectations upon your arrival. The leader, Deanna, made it very clear that she wanted each and every one of you working like dogs in order to do your part just like everyone else.

Meanwhile her sons were sitting in their air conditioned houses without lifting a damn finger.

Though you didn’t mind putting in the work, in fact, that was all you did your whole life. You were never handed a damn thing, needing to learn to find your own way in life and work for everything you got instead of being spoiled rotten. But again, you didn’t mind. The only thing that bugged you was that there were clearly a few favorites that got special treatment. Though you weren’t just talking about Deanna’s sons.

For the past couple of days you had been scheduled to work with a small group of others that you tried to play nice with. And for the most part, they all seemed friendly enough, willing to pitch in and do the part they were told to complete. Everyone…except for this one bitch who seemed to love getting a rise out of you.

You didn’t know her name, you couldn’t be bothered to learn it. But that didn’t mean the urge for punching her in her stupid, fake ass face wasn’t growing the longer you were in the same vicinity. She didn’t do a damn thing other than tell every other person what to do. And she always seemed to make it her mission to get under your skin at least once a day to really add to your sour mood, really wanting to see how far she could push you. But you, of course, always did nothing. It’s not because you weren’t capable of defending yourself, but you knew even one screw up could get you, and possibly the rest of your family kicked out of here.

You didn’t want to take that chance. After all, this whole opportunity and hard work was the chance to prove that you were all worthy to stay within the thick, sturdy walls they had built. You didn’t want to screw it up for yourself, but you especially didn’t want to screw it up for anyone else. Which is why you kept to yourself for the most part, only smiling politely to the ones who showed you even an ounce of kindness as they passed by with a friendly greeting. Other than that your eyes just stayed down, in hopes that somehow the day would go by faster that way.

You and a few others were currently in the large garden that was placed practically directly in the middle of the community, instructed to pick the fruits and vegetables that were ripe enough to bring back to the pantry. The job was simple enough, knowing that when this last basket of yours was full, you would take everything back, wash them off, and place them in the right sections before finally heading back to your new home. You could practically hear the cool shower calling your name from all the way over here.

Though subconsciously, your gaze traveled up a few different times to keep an eye out for Daryl, seeing if he was maybe passing the area. You didn’t necessarily know the job he was given for the day, but what you did know was that it was hot as fuck outside. And seeing Daryl with his arms exposed, the signature leather vest, and sweat glistening off of him…the sight would surely make your day ten times better than how it was going.

But everytime you did a subtle scan, he was nowhere to be found, and you couldn’t help but sigh a bit dramatically as all you wanted was to take him home and use that last bit of energy you had left.

“Hey!”

You were snapped out of your lustful daze suddenly when you heard a familiar voice from the other end of the space, seeing the one blonde bitch who wouldn’t get off your back, her face scowling into a glare.

You raised your arms up from your slightly crouched position, “What?”

“I can see you slacking off from all the way over here, get back to work!” she called with her hands sassily on her hips.

You sent her a bitter smile before ducking your head back down in attempts to pull yourself together, “Oh, I’ll get back to work.” you spoke under your breath, “Work on shoving this foot up your ass.” you grumbled as you began picking a few more ripe strawberries.

A few minutes of peace passed, moving down the line as you scanned for any more things that were ready to be picked off the vine. Your small basket sat by your feet as it was nearly filled to the brim with the amount of fruit you collected over the past hour or so. That is…until it wasn’t.

Out of the corner of your eye you could see someone’s shadow coming from your left as whoever it was seemed to just be passing by. But the sound of their foot coming in contact with the wooden basket right beside you is what caused your gaze to snap up, already knowing who the hell it was. Her blonde hair blowing behind her as she didn’t even stop to look at the mess she made was kind of a dead giveaway.

You shot up to your feet as annoyance began to quickly overtake you, causing you to open your mouth before you even got a chance to think twice. “What the fuck?” you called after her.

She turned around on instinct, as if she was expecting you to say something, a small smirk on her face as she shrugged. “What?”

You pressed your lips together as your annoyance grew, stepping up closer to her so you could keep the conversation quiet, “What the hell is your problem? You don’t think I can tell you’re doing this shit on purpose?”

“Oh I know you can.” she said with a bitchy tilt of her head, her arms coming to cross over her chest, “I’m just wondering when the fuck you’re going to get a clue.”

“Well, why don’t you just spell it out for me, because I’m getting pretty tired of dealing with the same bullshit from you.” you stated bluntly.

She scoffed, “You and your grubby little group don’t belong here.” she spat harshly, “None of you are what we need for this community, in fact, you’re only tearing us down. I don’t even know why Deanna let you people in here in the first place.”

Her words caused your eyebrows to fly up in utter surprise. You expected her to attack you, shoot insults directed toward you. But you never expected in a million years that she would have the audacity to go after your family the way she did with little to no reason at all. 

And in the end, that’s what pushed you over the edge as you laughed at her, not needing to come up with a single response as you had a few other things in mind.

Daryl was on the other end of the community, patrolling around the streets when he heard the sudden commotion. At first he couldn’t quite pinpoint what was going down, only seeing a swarm of people flooding toward one area where lots of shouts and panicked voices were coming from. Curiosity eventually got the better of him as his brows furrowed in confusion, his pace picking up as he approached the gardens, opening the white gates to step inside.

His eyes squinted as he could tell there was some sort of fight breaking out, the people surrounding them either cheering them on, or trying to rip them apart. He leaned from side to side, trying to see who was in the middle of it all as he silently prayed he was wrong about what he originally assumed. But then there was a small parting in the crowd, allowing him to catch a glimpse in between them, and his face dropped.

Some random guy was holding you back as you attempted to hit the blonde girl at the other end of the circle they created, clawing out of his grip every so often to get another swing in while she cried. Daryl then didn’t waste another second, harshly shoving his way through the crowd to get to you in attempts to stop you from doing anymore damage. It was almost like he couldn’t get to you fast enough, either that, or you were just quick when it came to nearly tearing her head off.

“Hey!” he shouted once he was close enough, pulling you out of the man’s grasp in attempts to hold you back himself, “Stop!”

You hardly even heard his voice, your ears ringing as you continued to try and pry his hands off of you, desperately trying to swing again as the woman sobbed. Her nose bloody and a bruise forming on her right cheek. She clearly couldn’t fight for shit considering she had such a big mouth.

Daryl groaned as he yanked you back harshly, “Damnit (Y/N), I said stop!” he shouted once more, his voice enough to silence everyone in an instant.

The familiar voice then finally registered with you as well, whipping your head around quickly to see him, smoke nearly coming out of his ears. Your face softened as you instantly came to the realization of the damage you just caused, the potential outcome of your actions suddenly terrifying you.

Your head shook slightly as you tried to speak, “I-”

“Get back to the house.”

His tone was firm, but somehow still held a bit of gentleness. You sighed as you took yourself out of his hold, not needing to be told twice as you slowly began to walk out of the crowded area. Now seeing the amount of people that witnessed your meltdown, you suddenly wanted to crawl into a hole and die, feeling all their watchful eyes on you as Daryl quickly ushered you the rest of the way out. The last thing you barely caught a glimpse of, was a few others crowding around the blonde as she continued to cry her eyes out with her beaten face.

There wasn’t a single word spoken between the two of you. Just silence. And it was killing you.

He didn’t utter a word, only gesturing you into the bathroom for you to sit at the edge of the tub, before pulling out a first aid kid from the closet. Your brows furrowed in confusion as she hadn’t laid a hand on you, but then your eyes traveled down to your own hands, seeing how cut up and bloody they were. The pain hadn’t even registered to you, you hardly felt the sting at all as if your adrenaline was still pumping fast through your system.

Daryl wordlessly kneeled down in front of you, taking your hands with such softness in his touch as he cleaned you up with precision. You could tell he was trying to be as careful as he could, despite the fact that he was probably upset. Hell, the whole group would probably be upset with you for a while, over something that you could now never take back. Something that you could never undo. All because you couldn’t keep your head on straight.

You were forced to think about it even more as the silence only lingered, playing the imagines back over and over again in your mind. You wanted to say it was worth it, to see her actually get somewhat of a taste of her own bitter medicine, knowing now she would probably never fuck with you again. But the fate of the future, what would come next, still weighed heavily on you as it was clearly unknown.

You then sighed softly as you looked down at him, “I…I’m sorry.” your voice spoke barely above a whisper.

He nodded as he kept his eyes down, finishing up your left hand as he wrapped it in some bandages, “I know ya are.”

“You don’t know the things she was saying…what she’s been doing ever since we fucking got here. God…I know I shouldn’t have taken it that far, but that bitch got what she deserves, trust me.” you spoke bitterly, trying to convince yourself more than you were trying to convince him.

Daryl’s eyes then glanced up to you, a small smile on his lips as he nodded again, “I know.”

Your brows furrowed in both confusion and surprise, “You’re…you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” he asked, his voice a lot more gentle than it was before. But then again you could only assume it was all just the heat of the moment.

You shook your head softly, “I don’t know…” you muttered, glancing down to your hands as you slightly examined them, mostly to avoid his eyes as you knew he would be able to see right through you.

And he did. His brows furrowed as a few seconds of silence passed before he spoke again, “Yeah ya do. You just don’t wanna say it.”

A heavy sigh passed through your lips as you looked back up at him, “I just…I know that doing that was a big mistake.”

His eyes softened as he heard the timidness in your tone, “Everyone makes mistakes, sweetheart.” he said as he raised his hand to tuck some hair behind your ear, “It’s alright.”

“No…that’s not what I mean.” you said with a shake of your head, “I…I fucked up…I fucked up everything. Once Deanna finds out what happened, once she finds out that we can’t work with her people, she’ll kick us out. And then we’ll be back on the road without any food, or water, or anything. We barely made it last time, I-”

“Hey.” Daryl interrupted you softly, raising his hands to gently grip your forearms, “What are ya talkin about? None of that’s gonna happen.”

“But she’s already weary of us, we’re the big, scary outside people. The second she realizes that we won’t be able to fit in here, there’s no way she’ll let us stay.”

The man in front of you couldn’t help but smirk, which at first confused you, but then you found yourself rolling your eyes. “The big, scary outside people?” he repeated with a light chuckle.

You gave him a pointed look, “This is serious.”

“I know, I know.” he assured, “But I also know you’ve been bustin yer ass damn near everyday tryin to prove that you can be trusted here. That we can be trusted here. So…I think right now, you just need to take a second and breathe…okay?”

You stared at him for a moment before swallowing a bit thickly and nodding your head, taking a deep breath in attempts to calm your nerves. It felt like your brain was scattered all over the place and you knew he was right in saying that you just needed to fucking chill out for a second. You still had your worries about the outcome, but for some reason the longer you looked at the man sitting in front of you, the more those thoughts started to disappear.

After a few moments of silence, you felt him gently squeeze your arms again as he hadn’t taken his eyes off of you, “Ya got pretty worked up back there, killer. And I don’t think this stress and worryin is helpin. We’re here for a reason…to have a fighting chance. And you just gotta trust that over time, everythin’s just gonna work itself out…no matter what.”

He was so confident in his words, it made you want to feel confident too. It made you want to believe that this would all pass, and you didn’t completely screw up this opportunity like you assumed. Though there was still something else on your mind.

“But what about the fight? I mean…I messed her up pretty bad.” 

He simply shrugged, “Good.”

Your eyebrows raised in slight shock, “What?”

“That bitch got what was coming to her. Truth is, ever since ya told me about what’s been goin on, I’ve been dyin for ya to knock some damn sense into her. If anything, I wanted to cheer you on.” he winked.

You couldn’t help but laugh, “Well, you always have been my biggest supporter…” you trailed off as you looked down toward your hands again, “And the best doctor around.”

He hummed with a small smile before grasping your hands gently, raising them up to his mouth to leave a few kisses on the back of your bandaged knuckles as if to seal the healing process.

You smiled a little to yourself at his actions, “So…you really think we’ll be okay?”

“We’ll be just fine.” he muttered as he placed one final kiss on your skin, “It’ll breeze over, people will move on. Cause I think they all kinda know she was the problem to begin with.”

“God, I hope so.” you scoffed, “And even though I kinda lost it…it felt good.” you admitted almost a bit sheepishly.

He chuckled as he pulled at your hands a little, helping you stand back up to your feet as he did, “Looked pretty good too.” he confirmed as he held you close, placing a kiss on top of your head. “I think you could use some kinda award for doin that.”

You smirked as you looked up at him, “Well…I could use a massage.”

He smiled right back at you as he nodded, “Done.”

~ Thanks for reading!

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x original character #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x reader #the walking dead #the walking dead imagine #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl dixon #daryl twd #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 43 ~ The Honeymoon Phase

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 4

✧ Word Count : 4k

In this chapter ~ After spending a blissful night in the small cabin, officially signifying their love for each other, Daryl and Rose ultimately head back to the prison to share the news with the people they loved dearly. But that’s not all as Daryl seems to surprise her with one last thing.

The sun shining directly on my face is what rudely woke me up from the deep slumber I was embedded in, scrunching my face up in annoyance as it shone brightly over my eyes. A groan escaped my lips as I slowly peeled my eyes open to glance around the room, nearly shooting out of bed the second I didn't recognize my surroundings. But then I felt a pair of strong arms tighten around my waist and a certain feeling on my ring finger, the memories then flooding back in.

A smile stretched across my face at the events of yesterday still replaying freshly in my mind, but it slowly dropped at the thought of having to head back today. A selfish part of me never wanted this to end, just to stay out here for as long as we wanted, letting them think we went missing for however long. It didn't matter to me. I was happy.

I could hear Daryl's heavy breathing from behind me and I closed my eyes again in content, beginning to run my fingers up and down his arm, tracing soft patterns against his skin. My body instantly moved back closer to him, craving the warmth he provided as the cold air around the cabin began to hit my slightly exposed arms. I silently wished I could stay in this moment forever. But then it hit me that the memory wouldn't be as special in the end, so I decided to savor every moment instead.

Only a few minutes of silence passed, before I slowly felt the man behind me adjust his position as he woke, moving his mouth down to trail kisses over my neck.

"Goodmornin, Mrs. Dixon." he spoke sweetly, his voice thick and gravely. One of my favorite sounds in the entire world.

I hummed with a small smile, "Goodmorning, Mr. Dixon." I breathed, bringing his hand up to my lips, kissing the back of it.

He sighed happily and began kissing softly down my neck and towards my shoulder, leaving goosebumps on my skin at the ticklish feeling. I could feel him smirk as he kept going, slowly turning me around to face him, giving me a view of his gorgeous blue eyes.

He smiled and kissed the tip of my nose, "I know we ain't ever talked about you takin my name, but I think Rose Dixon has a nice ring to it, don't ya think?" he asked.

"I would be honored." I said instantly, "I like the sound of it too."

"Good." he said with a warm smile as he brought his lips down and captured mine in a kiss. I laughed softly against his lips as I kissed him back with a little more force, but then my mind seemed to wander, causing me to pull away with a groan as I flopped back down on the mattress.

He chuckled lightly, "What's wrong?"

"The thought of having to go back today is physically hurting me. I want to stay out here forever..." I said dramatically, hearing him laugh in response with a shake of his head.

"We don't gotta leave right now. Rick knows." he said.

I pulled back a little, "Rick knows?"

"Well, I kinda had to tell someone why we wouldn't be back till the next day." he said obviously.

I laughed lightly, "Yeah, good point."

"So...we can head back whenever we want." he said suggestively, moving back down to my neck and sucking lightly on my skin.

I pressed my lips together at the feeling, muffling any sounds I let out as I felt his hand gently grip my waist, "Was three times last night not good enough for you?" I teased.

"Better make it four. Just ta even it out, ya know?"

"Well, if you insist." I laughed, sitting up quickly to staddle him before attacking his lips once more.

After a few long hours passed, trying to savor up every moment we could, we were now slowly getting dressed to head back to the others. Well, I should say I was slowly getting dressed. Daryl was still lazily lying in bed, his eyes watching me carefully. Though I didn't mind at all, I even wiggled my hips a little more than usual when I was sliding my pants back on to give him more of a show.

After throwing my shirt back on over my head, I glanced back over my shoulder at him, giving him a questioning look to tell me what was on his mind. His eyes were still drooped sleepily, his hair disheveled and his head resting in one of his hands with a crooked grin plastered on his face. The sight of him was perfect, making it even harder for me to want to leave.

He shook his head lightly with a small breath, "Just...can't believe yer my wife."

I smiled warmly before walking over to his side of the bed, "Believe it baby, I'm yours." I promised, leaning in to kiss him once again.

The second I pulled away, he groaned at the loss of contact, "You dunno what ya do to me woman."

"Hm, I think I have a pretty good idea," I smirked before slowly picking up a pillow in my grasp, "Now get your lazy ass up we have to get back before they think we're dead." I said while hitting him a few times.

He laughed as his hands reached up to stop my movements, "Alright, alright! Just gimmie a second."

I nodded and kissed his forehead, turning to leave the room and explore more of the small cabin as I waited. The rest of the place was pretty trashed, but it's safe to say neither one of us minded too much as all we could really focus on last night was each other. My eyes scanned around the living room, noticing the smashed in TV and the newspapers that were sprawled out everywhere on the ground. It was hard to tell if this happened before or after the end of the world, though either way, it was still sad to think about how this was once someone's home.

I then found myself wandering into the smaller kitchen, seeing old and worn pictures hanging up on the fridge. Squinting to get a better look, I saw it was a small smiley family with a few pets surrounding them as they attempted to pose for a picture, tugging at my heartstrings the more I stared. I hoped that they were still alive and together, but knowing the cruel world we lived in, who knows what happened to them.

I moved on quickly after seeing that, stopping in my tracks when I saw a box full of jars filled with some kind of clear liquid sitting on the table. Curiosity got the better of me as I picked one up hesitantly, opening the lid and holding it under my nose to smell it. Cringing instantly as the smell hit my senses, I immediately tightened the lid back on and placed it back as I nearly gagged at how foul it was.

"Yep, that's liquor." I said to myself and scrunched my face up.

Daryl's heavy footsteps came out of the room only seconds after that, spotting me in the kitchen and laughing lightly at the look still plastered on my face, "You okay?"

"I think it's moonshine," I said as I gestured down to the box, "And it smells...loud." I smirked.

He cracked a smile and lifted his crossbow to place on his back, "Moonshine? Yeah, the stuff tastes even worse." he said before pausing for a moment, "Ya ready?" he asked, and I could hear in his voice he was just as disappointed to leave as I was.

I frowned, "Yeah, I guess." I muttered, placing my own weapons around my shoulders, "But hey, we can always come back here if we ever need another escape." I winked.

He smirked, "I'll hold you to that."

My hand stuck out towards him as I lingered by the door, wiggling my fingers until he finally placed his hand in mine. Some of the walk back home was spent in comfortable silence, while the other part was filled with random chatter as we lightly swung our intertwined hands. He began to ask how things were while he was gone, and I filled him in on the basics of what's been happening around the prison.

But to be honest there wasn't a whole lot to tell. Everything had been running pretty smoothly as the new people settled in, everyone doing their parts and contributing equally. Through there was this little shit named Jeff, but don't even get me started on that guy.

"I think m' gonna stop." he stated suddenly.

My brows furrowed as I looked up at him in confusion, "Stop what?"

"Stop lookin for The Governor. I'll let Michonne keep goin if that's what she wants, but I think m' done." he confirmed.

"Oh? What changed your mind?" I asked.

He just stared at me for a few seconds and then a small smile was brought to his face, "You." he said simply, "I miss ya darlin, and I don't wanna keep goin out there to chase a guy that isn't even there anymore."

My heart began to warm as his answer seemed so simple, yet so sincere. "That's very sweet...but you don't have to stop just for me."

"I do. I want to. It ain't worth it no more...not when yer my top priority." he said, taking my hand up to kiss it lightly as we kept moving.

I smiled stupidly as I hugged onto his arm a little bit tighter, not arguing with him further because in all honesty I wanted him to stay. I had wanted that since the beginning, but I never said anything of course because I didn't want to be the one thing standing in his way. Though now that he's said he doesn't want to anymore, I couldn't be more relieved. Having him back home instead of constantly worrying about him when he was on the road, a weight was lifted off my shoulders at just the thought.

The prison began to come into view a few moments later, feeling the nervousness in my stomach for when I would see everyone. I grew excited, wanting them to know the second I walked through the gates. I didn't know how any of them would react, but seeing the looks on their faces would be something I hoped I remembered forever.

But one thing was for certain is that Maggie would most definitely have a stroke when she found out the news. Obviously, being a woman in love, she became obsessed with talking about marriage and rings with all the women in the community. So, I knew she would sniff it out like a goddamn blood hound almost instantly.

The person on guard opened up the gates the second he recognized us, sending us a small wave as we passed, leaving us walking up towards the large building in somewhat of an anticipation. But we didn't go unnoticed for very long as Glenn seemed to spot us almost immediately. I didn't know how the hell the timing lined up so perfectly, but he was now making a beeline over to the two of us the second he caught my eye.

"Uh hey. Where the hell have you been?" he asked me with worry and confusion lacing his voice, "I've been looking for you everywhere."

My mouth opened as I attempted to find the words, but my mind suddenly went blank. Where the hell do I even start? I eventually just settled with silently sticking my left hand out to him, watching as he glanced down in utter confusion. It took him a hot second, but the second he processed everything, he closed the space between us instantly, lifting me off the ground as he pulled me into a tight hug. I couldn't help but smile as I held onto him tightly, hearing him laugh in complete disbelief as he slowly wrapped his head around all of it. Hell, I was still trying to wrap my head around all of it. 

He then gently set me down after a few short moments, clearly at a loss for words. "Oh my God this is crazy, congrats you guys." he said and made his way over to Daryl to give him a handshake which he gladly took.

"Thanks Glenn." I said gratefully, watching Daryl smile quietly in appreciation as he placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

But the whole thing seemed to create some kind of domino affect. Maggie and Beth rushed over only seconds later after they saw us in a small circle, the same worried expressions on their faces until they spotted the ring on my hand in a split second. It's almost like I predicted it or something. They both squealed as they pulled me into a group hug, leaving me laughing at their reactions as I hugged them back tightly. They both congratulated me more times than I could even count, their happiness for me nearly bringing a few tears to my eyes.

I lifted my head back up after a moment or two, seeing Hershel make his way over to see what was going on and gently pulled away from the two girls. They both quickly seemed to rush over towards Daryl after I let them go, congratulating him too whilst I made my way over toward the old man. Though before I could even get a word in, he instantly grabbed my hand and brought it up close to his face, examining the ring without saying a thing.

My eyes widened, "How did you-"

"Rick can't keep his mouth shut sometimes, I thought you knew that by now." he said, now looking back up at me.

I just laughed with a shake of my head, "I should've known." I joked.

He smiled and pulled me in for a tight hug, "Congratulations sweetheart." he whispered.

"Thank you." I whispered back, staying put like that for a moment almost as if he was scared to let me go.

Though we managed to break apart when I felt another hand on my shoulder, looking to see Rick standing there with that same knowing smile on his face. I should've known that man knew out of everybody, I just hadn't been able to connect the dots. Although, it shocked me a little to see him so happy.

He didn't waste a seconds before wrapping me in a tight hug, "I'm happy for you, Rosie." he whispered as he squeezed me tighter.

I smiled to myself at the nickname, whispering a small thank you before pulling away and looking to see the many more people very aware of our presence now. I gave a hug to Michonne who just had a small smirk on her face the whole time, telling me she probably knew about it too. I then hugged Carol as well who was just overjoyed for the both of us. It warmed my heart.

Carl was just as happy as she was, if not more, and informed me he wanted to walk me down the aisle if we ever had a real wedding. I couldn't help but smile brightly at his idea, how quickly he was willing to jump to that. Though I had to inform him that it probably wouldn't happen, but he would be my very first choice if it did, and he was more than excited to hear that. 

A lot of excited chatter filled the air, all of them wanting to hear every last detail about how it happened. Though after a little while, I could see Daryl slowly starting to get uncomfortable with all the attention pinned on him, not liking to be in the center of it. So I took it upon myself to break away from them after a few minutes, heading towards the garages with Daryl so we had a chance to decompress after everything that went down the past couple days. That, and I knew he secretly wanted to work on his bike for a bit. 

It was peaceful in the space with no one else around, watching him work as I passed him certain tools every once and a while. The silence was filled with, nice soft music playing from a small cassette player that someone found on a run recently. I didn't know what song it was, nor did I care. It was nice. Everything that happened leading up to this leaving me extremely happy.

I nodded my head along to the melody as my eyes continued to watch him work, biting my lip subconsciously. His arms flexed every once and a while when he fought with the interior, curses falling under his breath as he grew slightly frustrated. But I just sat back and watched in content, seeing this was the best honeymoon I could ever receive.

"Hey Rosie, can ya get me that small wrench from over there?" he asked, breaking the silence.

My thoughts stopped momentarily as I nodded, pretending like I wasn't just envisioning him naked as I got up from my place to head towards his metal toolbox. I searched through the many he had collected over the past few months, maneuvering them around to find what he was looking for.

I began to hum silently to myself, swaying my hips a little to the beat of the song that filled the air as I finally got my hands on the small wrench he had requested. But when I turned around to walk back, he had gotten up and was standing much closer to me than I expected, smirking down at me as he tilted his head.

"Ya like this song?" he asked smugly.

I then realized what I had been doing and I felt my cheeks heat up, my only response being a pointed look. He chuckled before stepping closer to me and took my hand, which made me grow a little confused. But then to my surprise, he twirled me around once before bringing me into a sloppy dip in his arms, causing me to laugh in delight. Though it ended just as quickly as it started, feeling him set me back down on my two feet as he attempted to reach around me to grab the tool that sat on the table.

I frowned at that and held out my hand again, "Dance with me." I said softly.

"Nah," he said quickly, "I don't dance."

I scoffed quietly, "Oh come on. Just this once, please? You can't just start something like that and not finish."

He chuckled to himself, "I've heard that one before."

I rolled my eyes at his attempted joke, gesturing with my hand for him to only come closer. He sighed to himself and stood there for a moment, having a little internal debate in his head. But once he met my eyes, I knew I got him, slowly taking my hand in his as he hesitantly brought me closer. He seemed a lot more nervous than I ever would've expected him to be.

"I...I don't know how." he confessed quietly.

My eyes softened, "It's okay," I reassured, "I'll teach you."

I watched as he bit his lip anxiously, letting out a breath before giving me a small nod to continue. I took both of his hands and placed them on my waist, while mine went up and rested onto his shoulders. We swayed softly to the music while moving in a small circle, slowly spinning around.

"See? You're dancing." I said sweetly, meeting his eyes.

He scoffed, "Ain't really the real thing."

"Baby steps." I shrugged. I then took one of his hands off my waist and held it slightly above my head, "Now just spin me around."

I scanned his eyes and almost laughed a little to myself. The man who feared nothing, who would laugh in the face of death himself, was genuinely scared to dance. He kept swallowing thickly and his hands started to shake a little, but he was still trying. His hand slowly spun me around, as if he was nervous he would somehow do it wrong, before I faced him once again. But once I moved closer to place my hands back on his shoulders, he stepped a little too far and right on my foot.

He felt me flinch and suddenly panicked, "Ah shit, m' so sorry. Are ya okay?" he asked placing his hands on the side of my face.

This time I did allow myself to laugh, placing my hands on top of his, "Yes love, I'm fine. You're worrying too much, it's okay." I assured.

He shook his head and muttered something under his breath that I didn't quite catch, but pulled me back into him again. We continued to sway together as the lyrics sang beautifully in the air. I continued to show him little things to do to switch it up a little bit, and well...let's say I'm definitely going to have a few bruises on my feet afterwards. He kept cursing every time he stepped on my feet and at one point almost walked away embarrassed that he continued to do so. But I just pulled him back and gave him the reassurance that he needed.

"Ya might need a new dance partner." he muttered at one point.

My brows furrowed, "Psh, no way. Who else would make me laugh this much while trying to learn how to dance for me?" I asked.

He couldn't seem to come up with a good enough answer, so he just nodded with a small smile. Eventually one of the songs was coming to an end and I was going to tell him we could stop, but again, he took me by surprise. He spun me slowly once more, trying not to step on me again in the process, and then dipped me back with his arms secured around me. I smiled up at him in surprise and kissed the tip of his nose, before he let me stand back up straight.

Though as he steadied me, somehow, I don't know how, he stepped on me once more and I jumped back a little again, "Ouch." I whispered.

He groaned, "Godamnit m' sorry, are ya-"

"Yes, I'm okay." I said with a small laugh, reaching out to brush the hair out of his face, "Thank you for dancing with me, honey. You actually did really well."

He scoffed, "Stepped on yer feet one too many times, don't think I did that well."

"It takes practice," I assured as my hands lingered on the sides of his face, "But seriously...thank you."

He nodded as he started to run his hands up and down my arms and looked down at me shyly, "Ya happy?" he asked.

"Very." I confirmed with a genuine smile.

He nodded before going back to his bike while I grabbed the wrench he needed, handing it over to him as I followed. We then talked quietly to each other for a while until I got the idea to read another chapter or two from the book he still had in his jacket. He reached in and handed it over to me and I instantly started to pick up from the marked page, hearing him reach over to turn off the music so he could actually listen to me as he worked.

I was focused on the words I was reading out loud, but every once and a while, I let my mind wander a bit. It shocked me to my core just how happy I was in this moment in time. If anyone would've told me that this is where I would end up in the future, genuinely content and happy for the first time in what felt like forever, I never would've believed it. Never in a million years did I expect this outcome, but at the same time I couldn't be more overjoyed at the results.

I was surrounded by an amazing community that was only growing, my family that I cared deeply about, and the love of my life that treated me better than anyone has ever treated me. He'd shown me what love truly meant and I couldn't be more grateful for that. For everything. It nearly made me sick at how much of a sucker I had become for these people, and yet, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

~ Thanks for reading!

Taglist - @justareader95 @hayley1998 @welcumetomyescape @ryoujoking @sipsthecoffee @winterassassin1804 @marsmallow433 @catlalice

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon x original character #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x you #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl dixon #daryl twd #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader #desert rose

[d1xonss]

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

to have a domestic life with him

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 42 ~ Wildflower Wildfire

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 4

✧ Word Count : 6.9k

In this chapter ~ A few weeks had gone by since the people of Woodbury have made themselves at home within the prison walls. All seemed to be well, everything falling into place. That is until it grew painfully obvious that Daryl had been keeping some kind of secret.

My eyes were closed contently as I felt the sun dancing on my skin, standing high on top of the watchtower, the sound of people working around me filling my ears. It was hard to believe that it had been two whole months since we brought in the people from Woodbury, but we were already growing so much as a community. More than I could've even imagined.

The gates that surrounded the prison were now fixed, as that was the first priority. Now we've moved on to planting seeds to grow vegetables, getting some classes set up for the younger kids, and having groups go out on runs almost every day to get the things we needed the most. In my opinion I think we just about nailed the system we had going on here. But most of all, I was so proud of how far everyone's come.

Rick had been doing a lot better as time went on and had officially stepped down from the whole "leader" role, leaving all the decisions we made to the council we created. He was still included in that small group, but he liked it a whole lot better than making the decisions all by himself.

His relationship with Carl had also seemed to improve immensely and Judith was only growing more and more every day. I felt relief in knowing that he was focusing more on himself and his kids, I could tell how much it lifted his spirits. And because of his better mindset, I realized that the two of us had slowly been getting closer than we ever were before, noticing how he started to look to me for a lot of the decisions that were made for the community. And though I wasn't big on making decisions, I still helped him with it, knowing it took more pressure off of his shoulders.

Though that only seemed to be the beginning, the rest of the improvements falling into place right after that. I had to admit, it was odd at first having so many new people around, people that we once hated and nearly went to war with. It was a big adjustment to get used to, but it was also one of the best ones we've ever made.

Now seeing how much we had grown together, seeing Rick's vision come to life, the one that he had held onto since the start, that's what made it all worth it to me.

The only thing that was left to really worry about now, was where exactly The Governor ran to after all the destruction he caused to his own people in the end. Daryl and Michonne were the ones most persistent on finding him, but in the end, they never found anything. I for one hoped he had just disappeared for good, not having a good enough reason to come back after losing all of his people. But the two of them were persistent, and though I respected that, a part of me just wanted to move on.

I was pulled out of my thoughts suddenly when I heard the sound of a car coming up through the gates, opening my eyes to see that it was the two very people I had been thinking about. They had returned from yet another search for the man, leaving for about three whole days this time around. Meaning I had missed them both greatly. I smiled to myself as I made my way down to greet them, trying to hide how excited I was that they were both home safe.

I quickly climbed down and headed over toward the gates, seeing that Rick had beaten me to the punch as he greeted them first, beginning to discuss if they had found anything this time around. My pace picked up the smallest bit as I saw Michonne was out of the car informing him about the potential details, while Daryl was shuffling around in the trunk, pulling out some of their belongings.

Though as soon as she caught a glimpse of me out of the corner of her eye, she stopped talking and fully turned towards me with a smile, accepting the hug I gave her as I held her tightly for a moment.

"Find anything?" I asked, pulling away from her.

She shook her head in slight defeat, "Not a thing. But I know he's alive, and we're going to find him. Eventually." she said as she turned back to Rick.

"I don't know if I like how often you two go out there, we need you here too." Rick stated, "Help around with the things that still need to be done."

"We need to find him so he doesn't cause any more damage." Michonne gently argued.

He sighed, "How can you be so sure he's still alive?" 

"I just know." she said.

"She just knows." I repeated with a shrug which earned a small glare from Rick, Michonne chuckling to herself as he rolled his eyes at the two of us. It was clear he knew I would chose her side over his, especially when it came to something like this.

The trunk of the car then shut with a slam, causing my attention to break away from them, seeing Daryl slowly making his way over to us. He looked at me shyly as a smile was brought to his face, his expression being contagious as I smiled right back at him, walking the rest of the way to wrap my arms around his shoulders, briefly kissing his cheek before hugging him tight. We stood there for a few moments before I finally tried to pull away, only to be held in place by him for another few seconds, causing me to laugh quietly as he rested his chin on top of my head.

"Nothing?" I asked as I rubbed his back softly.

He sighed quietly, "Nothin." he confirmed.

I nodded my head as the news was growing more repetitive, the disappointment only growing each time I heard it. I eventually pulled back fully, seeing Rick and Michonne still deep in conversation, giving me a small opportunity to take his hand as I tugged him aside gently.

"So," I started as we slowed to a stop, "You look kind of tense...do you want to head back to our room for a bit?" I finished with a wink.

He chuckled and took my other hand, "That's tempting, but I uh...I can't. I gotta work on somethin." he said vaguely.

My brows furrowed a little, "What? You never say no to sex." I joked.

"I know, but it's kinda important...I gotta head back out for a little while. But I'll see ya later tonight, okay." he promised with a small smile, before placing a short kiss on my forehead and turning to head toward his bike.

That was something else that I might had some type of complaint about. Lately Daryl has been acting weird. Like he won't be able to look at me sometimes, get oddly nervous, acting as if we hadn't been together long enough for me to take notice at the strange behavior.

Or like just now, he'll say he has to "work on something" and completely blow me off. In my mind I would think he would want to spend time with me after he gets back, but lately that hasn't been the case. I tried to brush it off like it was nothing, but it was really starting to get to me.

I watched with a small frown as he hopped on the back of his motorcycle, starting it up quickly before driving it right back through the gates, disappearing completely down the dirt path. My brows stayed furrowed in confusion and a little disappointment as I watched him leave, before sighing softly and turning back to head towards the watch tower to finish whatever was left of my shift.

I sent Rick and Michonne a small but fake smile as I passed them, though noticing quickly how Rick's eyes darted between me and the gates Daryl just blew through, a sly smile forming on his face.

My feet stopped completely as I looked at him in suspicion, "What?" I pressed. But he only shrugged, the knowing grin on his face beginning to annoy me, "Rick." I warned.

"Nothing, nothing. You're just so pretty." he said sweetly, trying to change the subject.

I rolled my eyes with a scoff and pushed his arm lightly, "Shut up."

He chuckled from behind me as I began to walk away again, climbing back up in the watch tower to keep an eye on the trees before the sun went down. Though I tried not to let my mind wander too much about the things he could be doing, I couldn't help the pit that formed in my stomach of the unknown.

The next morning I woke up groggily, turning over with a small groan once I realized that Daryl had already left for the day. He came back late last night, dodging my questions left and right when I asked him something basic about where he was. He settled on giving me only one-word answers, trying to be short with me every time I opened my mouth.

I rolled my eyes at the empty space next to me, slowly getting up to get dressed and ready for the day. Grabbing my knife to place on my hip, I made my way through the busy, noisy cellblock to head outside for some breakfast. After grabbing a plate from Carol gratefully, I sat down in my usual spot at one of the tables as I began to pick apart my food with the plastic fork, not really feeling too hungry.

Though only seconds after I sat down, Beth quickly spotted me and took a seat across from me with a plate of her own. She seemed much more bubbly than how I was feeling, clearly waking up in a better mood as she began to talk to me cheerfully. But I listened to everything she said, trying to be polite as I continued to just push my food around mindlessly.

She went over the chores she had to get done that day along with taking care of Judith, sneaking in the slight mention of a new guy named Zach that recently joined the group. The brief mention of that made me perk up quite a bit as I began to tease her slightly from the obvious crush she had on the guy. Although she never confirmed anything with me, she would still get flustered at the mere mention of his name, her cheeks turning pink as she shushed me and changed the subject every time.

But the distraction of the conversation didn't last as long as I had hoped, with her quickly realizing what time it was, she began to finish the remaining food on her plate as fast as she could before muttering to me that she was already behind for the day.

She quickly stood back up, placing a kiss on the side of my head before running off in the other direction as fast as she could. I chuckled at her frantic, rushed words and the quick sprint as she desperately tried to make it to the children's reading time, knowing that they were surely waiting around for her patiently.

I then began to turn back towards the table, about to get up and throw my remaining food away, but something bright and colorful coming from my left caught my eye before I could even move.

My gaze moved up to see Daryl, with a big and nervous smile on his face, holding a plethora of colorful wildflowers in his hand. A slow smile made its way onto my face as I watched him walk over, my eyes only growing wider in surprise as he made it over to sit himself next to me.

"Hey." he said, before leaning in to place a soft kiss on my cheek.

My eyes brightened as he pulled away, "Hi...what's this?" I asked hesitantly as I gestured towards the huge bouquet.

He looked down, "Well, these are called flowers, and they're for you darlin." he stated proudly, his big goofy smile still plastered on his face.

My eyes narrowed a little at his smartass comment, before taking them as he handed them over to me, "They're beautiful," I said, eyeing each and every one of them as I looked closer, "Thank you, but...what's the occasion?"

He only shrugged nonchalantly, "Just cause I love ya."

I felt my smile only grow, "I love you too," I muttered, leaning in to place a quick kiss on his lips, "Where did you even find these?" I asked, pulling back momentarily again to gawk at the different variety of flowers.

"Just around," he mumbled, "You uh...got anythin important to do today?"

I glanced back up at him, "I have to clear walkers, but other than that not really."

He nodded, "Good. Why don't ya get these in some water and get ready to take a walk with me?"

"Okay..." I trailed off suspiciously, "What's up?"

"Just wanna spend some time with ya. Now get your cute ass in that prison and get ready." he said with a chuckle, pushing my arm to get me to stand.

I laughed as I stood up from my seat, "Okay, okay, I'm moving."

I quickly jogged back into cellblock C and headed up into our room to try and find something to place these in for the time being. There were a few water bottles stocked up in here for whenever we needed them, and I figured that was good enough for now as I took one of the lids off and placed them in there delicately. Quickly grabbing my bow and arrows from their place by the small dresser, I headed back outside to find him in the same exact spot I had left him.

"Okay, ready." I said with a smile.

He smirked up at me and took my hand in his as we began to make our way over to walk out through the gates, heading into the woods as we passed through the first line of pine trees. We made small talk as we walked side by side, listening to him tell me all about the places they found while out on the road instead of traces of The Governor.

He made sure to mention that we should send some people out to check a few stores they came across, a few places that held things that some of the kids might enjoy. Also informing me about the baby store they hit that still held much more stuff inside, things that Judith would need and be able to use. A small smile tugged at my lips as I watched him talk with his hands, going on and on excitedly.

It warmed my heart seeing him talk about the books and toys that he thought the kids would really like, his tough guy exterior slowly coming down with each passing day.

But he then surprised me slightly, jumping behind me a bit to place his hands over my eyes as we no doubt neared the destination he had in mind. "Okay, this is it. No peekin." he whispered in my ear.

I laughed softly at his fast actions, "I could've just closed my eyes."

I could almost sense the roll of his eyes as he slowly started to move me forward, "This adds the dramatic effect, alright?" he joked as he gently pushed me further out.

My nerves slightly grew as I could feel him bringing me through some bushes, ducking under a few tree branches, leaving me no indication of where we were going.

"You're not planning to kill me, are you?" I asked as I nearly tripped over a tree root.

He paused for a second, "How'd ya figure it out?" he asked in a serious tone.

I scoffed as I reached back to slap his chest gently, "Shut up." I muttered as he continued to guide me forward.

We walked for only a few more seconds, the grass evening out as he finally spoke again, "Alright, we made it." he said before slowly taking his hands away.

My eyes opened to take in my surroundings, squinting a little at the sudden brightness of the sun, trying to allow my eyes to adjust. But when they did, I let out a quiet gasp at all the gorgeous colors surrounding our feet. There were practically thousands of beautiful wildflowers all around us, a huge field of them in what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It almost felt like a dream.

I slowly turned back to look at him in astonishment, my mouth still parted a little in shock, "How...how did you find this?"

"I was out huntin one day and just came across it. So...what do ya think?" he asked a bit nervously.

"It's amazing." I said with a bright smile, turning back around to look and memorize all the flowers that were right in front of me.

Though I felt him turn me around by my shoulders after a few seconds to face him again, bending down for a moment to pick a flower before standing back up to put it behind my ear. He placed it there delicately, allowing his calloused hand to move and caress my cheek as I leaned more into his touch.

He smiled softly at me, "Ya really like it?"

I nodded, "Of course I do...it's perfect."

His smile only grew as he looked at me, placing a soft kiss on my lips before pulling away to speak again, "Y'know when I found this place, I was thinkin we could spend a little time together here for a while." he said almost hintingly, before reaching into his pocket to pull out a smaller book I recognized well.

It was a novel we found recently that we both thought looked interesting, deciding we would read it together and take turns at who would read out loud and who would listen. He was never a huge fan of books unless he was dying of boredom, but one day he asked what I was reading when he came back from working after a long day, and I read a page out loud to him so he could get the idea.

After that, he loved books. Well...he loved when I read the books. He claimed that when he heard my voice reading the words, it was just different somehow, actually being able to visualize better. And I didn't mind at all, in fact I loved it.

I smiled, "We came out here to read?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, it's peaceful out here. Plus we can get away from everyone else for a little while."

"Good point." I nodded before grabbing his hand and taking him further out onto the field.

Once we found a good place to sit, not crushing any of the flowers beneath us, he laid down on his back with a huff and rested his head on my thighs, holding the book up to me, "Yer turn." he said with a smirk.

I took the book from his hands, glancing down at him knowingly while he only shrugged in faux innocence. Funny how most of the time it was my turn. But again, I didn't mind.

My fingers began flipping through the pages until I finally landed on the place that we had marked, picking it up from there. I began to start reading immediately, getting lost in the book as I pictured the events that were happening as I read aloud, still feeling Daryl's gaze on me. I could tell I had his full attention as he listened, watching me flip through the pages effortlessly.

After only a few minutes, I felt him take my free hand that rested on his chest and began to play with my fingers, seeming to really test me on how well I could stay focused. I would take it back every few minutes to flip the page, but quickly placed it back down afterwards. His fingers ran gently across my skin, raising it up to his lips every once and a while to place small and gentle kisses all over my palm. He would only smirk and keep going however when he heard my voice faulter, or stutter, only egging him on more as he continued innocently.

Though after about three chapters, I decided to stop for now and mark the page before putting the book down right next to me, glancing back at Daryl who hadn't taken his eyes off me the whole time. I only tilted my head at him, waiting for him to tell me what he was thinking.

"Yer so beautiful." he finally spoke softly.

I felt myself blush, squeezing our already intertwined hands, "Thank you, love." I spoke quietly, tracing my finger along his cheekbone as I felt him smile, "I think you're especially beautiful."

"Stop." he immediately huffed, looking away from me to try to hide his embarrassment, though he secretly loved it.

I laughed quietly, "It's true," I said softly, "Plus it's fun to see you all embarrassed." I joked.

I assumed he would crack a joke in return, the playful banter between us and the constant teasing was just a part of our relationship. But he didn't. He stayed quiet as he gazed at me, looking at me so lovingly that I thought I could cry. His eyes held so much emotion as he stared at me, feeling the familiar butterflies resurface in my stomach at the sight.

"I love ya so much." he said suddenly.

"I love you too." I replied without any hesitation.

He smiled back at me, before sitting back up quite suddenly, getting back up to his feet, "Well...good as time as any." he muttered to himself, rocking a bit back and forth on his feet.

I noticed how uneasy he seemed to grow, a lot of things seeming to weigh on his mind, "Oh God, are you pregnant?" I joked, in hopes to lighten the mood.

He cracked a small smile as he rolled his eyes, "Nah, just...just got some stuff I wanna say to ya."

I nodded my head slowly, "Okay...talk to me."

He took a breath, "M' not uh...m' not good at these things. I don't even know where the hell m' supposed ta..." he trailed off for a long moment before he huffed again, "I love you."

I couldn't help but laugh, "I love you too." I repeated.

He smiled slightly before letting out a small sigh, "Bein with you...is the best damn thing that's ever happened to me. I didn't really even know who I was before I met ya, like...there was a piece missin. But I think after all this time of searchin for that piece...I finally found her." he winked.

A small lump began to form in my throat, my smile unwavering as I stared up at him with nothing but love and endearment, but yet there was still more he had to say as he cleared his throat nervously. "My point in sayin all this is...I can't even imagine sharin my life with anyone else besides you. Yer the only one I want forever. So..." he trailed off, slowly getting down to one knee as he brought something out of his back pocket.

"Rosie...will ya marry me?"

The air was completely knocked out of my lungs, and I had so many thoughts running through my mind all at one time I thought I was going to explode. I could tell just how nervous he was by the shakiness in his voice and the fact that his hand was fidgeting, attempting to hold the ring that he now held out to me. My answer was more than obvious, but it seemed to get stuck at the back of my throat as I tried to memorize this moment perfectly.

Once I finally gathered my thoughts together, I found myself nodding instantly, "Yes."

I could physically see the weight being lifted off his shoulder with just that one word, causing him to sigh in relief as a huge grin made its way onto his face. He shakily raised his hand up to place the ring on my finger, extending my hand out with tears in my eyes as I watched it was a perfect fit.

The moment it was secure on my hand, I wasted no time tackling him in a hug, knocking him completely to the ground as I heard him laugh gruffly in surprise. He was lying flat on his back in the grass, and I pulled off of him slightly to place my hands delicately on the sides of his face, before kissing him deeply. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist as he brought me impossibly closer, squeezing my sides gently as his hands slowly traveled down toward my hips, only bringing me in deeper.

I was so happy I couldn't even think properly, all I could fathom was how I would be with the love of my life forever. I then pulled away briefly to plant multiple kisses on his lips and he couldn't help but chuckle as he kissed me back every time. Catching my breath as I laughed blissfully, I stopped and really looked at him, as he did the same with me. He noticed a few tears slipped from my eyes and took his thumbs to gently wipe them away.

"Are ya happy?" he asked shyly.

I shook my head at how ridiculous he was, "Are you kidding me? Happy doesn't even begin to describe it...I love you so much."

His smile only got bigger, "I love you so much," he kissed me again, "I was so nervous." he confessed.

I laughed lightly, "Why? You thought I would say no?" I asked.

"Nah, but I was nervous I would fuck up on what to say."

I shook my head in reassurance, "It was perfect." I whispered, leaning in to kiss him once more.

He smiled against my lips but quickly pulled away, "Hold on now, the surprises ain't over yet." he smirked.

I raised one of my eyebrows as I looked down at him, "You really are pregnant, aren't you?" I asked again.

He flicked my nose in mock annoyance as he scoffed, "No. I just gotta take ya somewhere else." he finished with a chuckle.

"Well then, lead the way." I spoke.

He took my hand once again helping me stand to my feet before leading me deeper in the woods. We were both so giddy while walking to the destination, barely being able to keep our hands off of each other. Words could not express how happy I was in that moment; I couldn't even begin to describe it.

There honestly was a part of me that thought Daryl and I would never get married, simply because we were in the apocalypse, and that was something that couldn't really happen anymore. Though I was perfectly okay with that as long as I still had him no matter what, and up until this point I thought Daryl felt the same way. That is until he told me how much he loved me and placed a ring on my left hand.

My thought process then stopped suddenly when I lifted our intertwined hands up to get a better look at the ring, too focused on the things Daryl was saying to me to care, but it was truly beautiful. It was a simple silver band with a teardrop shaped diamond in the middle, with another two small diamonds on either side of it.

The man grew nervous again the second he caught me looking at it more intently, "I hope ya like the ring, I wasn't sure-"

"I love the ring," I assured, "But I love you even more. So it doesn't matter to me what it looks like, as long as it's from you."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me again, until we heard the familiar snarls of three walkers coming at us from the other side of the trees. We both looked at each other and rolled our eyes in annoyance seemingly at the same time before getting our weapons and killing them with ease.

We then took each other's hands once more and kept walking all the way up until Daryl covered my eyes again, causing me to laugh and shake my head at the so called "dramatic affect." We only walked a few more feet before his hands left my face to reveal where we were, seeing a small cabin come into view.

"When did you find this?" I asked turning to look at him.

"On a run with Michonne. We came across it, I thought it'd be perfect for tonight." he said.

I raised my eyebrows, "We're staying here tonight?"

"Well yeah...I think we should be alone on our weddin night, don't you?" he asked with a sweet smile.

I thought for a moment as I nodded, "Yeah, I guess we are pretty much married now, aren't we?"

He nodded as we turned to make our way up the stairs of the porch and towards the front door. I opened it slowly to take a peek inside but before I could step through the door, I was being lifted off my feet by Daryl who began chuckling behind me as I yelped in surprise. He picked me up bridal style and walked through the front door before putting me back down on my feet gently. I couldn't help but laugh at the cheesy tradition, but I loved it.

"Did you just carry me across the threshold?" I asked with raised brows.

He began to look nervous, "Yeah...that's what yer supposed to do...right?"

I began to laugh lightly, "You're adorable." I muttered as I kissed his cheek, "Yes honey, it's a thing."

That calmed his nerves a bit and sent me a smirk, "Good. I uh, cleaned up the room to the left" he said as he gestured in the direction down the small hallway.

I nodded in response before making my way over towards the room and pushed the door open fully. My mouth dropped a little as I saw how clean the room was, feeling Daryl squeeze my shoulder gently as he passed me to light a few candles that were on either nightstand by the bed. I watched as he stuck his tongue out a little while he took out his lighter, focusing to not burn himself as he successfully lit them and placed them back. My eyes continued to follow him as he made his way over to the corner of the room, pulling out two glasses and some wine.

He sat himself on the bed and began to open it, but then noticed that I was still stuck in the doorway, easily catching the smirk he sent me. "Come on," he nodded towards the bed, "I don't bite... unless ya want me to." he winked.

My eyes narrowed at him as a smirk was brought to my face, slowly making my way into the room to sit next to him on the bed, "You...managed to do all of this?" I asked.

He looked up, "What do ya mean?"

"I mean the flowers, the field, the proposal...the cabin, the candles, the wine." The list really went on and on. "You put a lot of thought into this and...I'm just falling more and more in love with you."

"Good." he said simply as he finally got the cork out with a loud pop, "Mean's my evil plan's workin" he joked before pouring the wine into the glasses, "But it ain't much."

"Yes, it is," I argued, "It's all so amazing, I wouldn't want it any other way." I spoke as I placed my hand on his arm.

He handed me my glass, "I wanted it to be special. M' glad ya love it darlin."

I smiled at him and held my glass up slightly as he followed my actions, "To...forever together." I toasted.

"Forever together." he echoed, moving his glass to gently collide with mine before we both took a sip of the semi bitter liquid.

I hummed as the taste hit my tongue, before setting my glass back on the floor, "So, tell me...why did you want us to be alone on our wedding night?" I asked with a smirk.

He swallowed hard as he too set his glass down on the floor, "So I can show ya how much I'll love ya forever. Show ya how committed I am to ya til my last damn day on this earth."

I was taken aback for a moment at his words as they seemed so unlike him, but they made me feel intensely warmer inside as I scooted closer to him, "And how do you do that?" I whispered.

He followed my actions as he inched closer, "By kissing ya here," he left a small but heated kiss on my neck, "and here," he moved up to place a kiss on my jawline, "and...here." he moved to finally plant a kiss on my lips.

It started out as soft, gentle, but then quickly deepened as we wrapped our arms around each other, pushing ourselves closer to one another. I easily slipped my tongue in between his lips, and he didn't protest one bit as I explored every inch of his mouth hungerly. My teeth maneuvered to bite his lower lip gently, hearing him groan in approval as his hands began to explore every part of me, feeling him give my hips a tight squeeze.

I began to play with the hair on the back of his head, feeling the heat radiating off of him as he was getting more and more antsy. My hands then traveled across both of his shoulders, helping him remove his angel winged vest, tossing it carelessly to the floor before frantically moving to work on the buttons on his shirt. His mouth never left mine as he didn't hesitate to follow my lead, his fingers working down to get my shirt off as well, breathing heavily in anticipation.

I finally undid the last button after what felt like an eternity, pulling away momentarily to fully take it off of him and leaning in close to leave light kisses down his neck. He tilted his head back involuntary as he let out a heavy breath, ravishing in every second of pleasure. I then moved up closer and straddled his hips in one swift motion, kissing him deeply once again as my mouth crashed clumsily against his, feeling his rough hands begin to glide up my back.

I tangled my fingers in his hair, grasping it lightly as his hands moved up to unclasp my bra, moving the straps slowly down my arms as I helped him fully remove it. He threw it to the ground where our clothes seemed to be piling up, his mouth moving down to my neck desperately, biting and sucking lightly. I couldn't help the moan that escaped my lips as he smirked against my sensitive skin, knowing exactly what he was doing. His lips then only moved down lower, nearing the spot where I needed him the most when he suddenly spoke, his voice sending vibrations through me.

"I love ya so much." he whispered against my skin.

"I love you more." I breathed, hardly able to get the phrase out before my head was in the clouds once again.

He then didn't hesitate to wrap his lips around one of my nipples, sucking lightly as one of his hands came up to gently massage the other. My head involuntary tilted back at the feeling, a soft moan leaving my parted lips as I could feel his mouth getting more and more eager. He groaned against me in response, wiggling his tongue around my breast before letting it go with a small pop, shifting his head to the other.

A wave of pure ecstasy washed over me as my eyes fluttered, giving his hair another gentle tug as some kind of signal not to stop. He got the hint almost immediately, picking up his pace ever so slightly, causing me to squirm in his hold as if his mouth was somehow magic. His tongue then darted out to lick across the entirety of my chest, treating my skin as if it was as sweet as candy. My hips rocked against him in response to his actions, but that apparently was all he needed to send him completely over the edge.

His hands immediately reached down to fumble with the button of my jeans, his movements quick and sloppy, "Get these off." he nearly growled, his lips leaving another kiss across my boobs, "Come on." he breathed pleadingly.

It was clear to me that the two of us were simply too eager for each other to wait any longer, and I for one didn't need to be told twice.

I quickly scrambled off his lap to stand on my now shaking legs, my fingers unbuttoning my jeans and peeling them off my legs as I heard him undo his belt buckle from right in front of me. I kicked the fabric off my ankles, not even bothering to remove my thong before I moved back up to straddle over his hips again. He didn't even get a chance to say a word before I crashed my lips against his once more, kissing him clumsily as I could feel him trying to free himself from his pants.

I couldn't help but gasp softly into his mouth as I felt the tip of his dick barely brush up against me, his hand moving down to gently tug my thong to the side. He then gave me no time to recover before he took himself in his hand, sliding his tip up and down my slit in a slow, teasing manner. My hands moved up to grip his shoulders, a pleasurable breath leaving my lips as my face still hovered close to his, silently begging him for more. But he was clearly enjoying the feeling of me quiver, enjoying the soft sounds I was letting out as I could feel the small smirk creep onto his face as his movements didn't falter.

A moan then erupted from my mouth as I felt him begin to swirl circles along my clit, causing me to grow even more desperate than I was before. "Please." I whispered as my lips moved to kiss along his cheek, "I need you...please..."

I felt his cheeks move up a little as he smiled, "I need ya too baby." he said sweetly, before finally ending the torture he created.

His dick then moved down to hover by my entrance, before slowly pushing himself into me inch by inch, giving us both what we desperately needed. It was like we both simultaneously tilted our heads back with parted lips and tightly shut eyes, our breathing erratic as he continued to push himself further inside me. My grip on his shoulders tightened as he stayed still for a moment, stuffing me completely as blissful sighs echoed around the quiet room as we savored every moment.

But then he started to move, pulling his length out almost completely, before shoving himself back inside me in one slow motion. I moaned breathlessly as I lowered my head to rest in the crook of his neck, feeling him move again as he gradually eased me into it. His pace slowly but surely began to pick up, slapping himself into me as he groaned from the pleasure, hitting that sweet spot inside me with every pass. My mind was clouded, everything around me slowly fading into nothing as I focused on him and him alone.

My hips then slowly began to match his rhythm, bringing myself down on top of him to mimic his movements, causing an even louder groan to escape him at the feeling. We both began panting, our chests heaving up and down, my nails now digging into the skin on his shoulders as I moaned loudly. His hands gripped my hips a little tighter as a low rumble bubbled in the back of his throat, sweat beginning to pool on his forehead as he thrusted in and out of me.

I could slowly feel my high creeping up, the familiar warmth pooling in my stomach as my lungs almost burned now with how fast I was breathing in anticipation. Daryl quickly seemed to catch onto how close I was, keeping his pace exactly the same as he couldn't be far from his either, breathing just as deeply as I was as he focused so hard on my own pleasure rather than his. His hands then quickly moved up to the sides of my face as he continued to pound into me, bringing his lips to mine as he kissed me sloppily, his tongue darting out to taste me.

"I love you..." he breathed in between kisses, "I love you." he repeated over and over again.

I wanted to respond, I wanted to tell him just how much I loved him, but I was slowly losing my ability to speak. My moans and whimpers only grew louder as I was getting even closer to the edge, my nails digging even further into his skin.

"I know baby...I know." Daryl mumbled as if he was able to read my mind, thrusting even further into me as he tickled that sweet spot that ultimately causing me to crumble, bringing us both to that familiar incredible high.

The remainder of that night was filled with lots of soft kisses, and even more praising phrases in between. We've had our fair share of these moments in the past, but yet somehow this one felt so different. It's like as soon as that ring was placed on my finger, a whole new definition of love was brought right before my eyes. And it was something that I could definitely get used to. This night was the greatest night of my life, filled with pure bliss and happiness for the one man I loved more than anything.

~ Thanks for reading! (Finally, we have a smut scene;) Oh and they're married, yay!)

Taglist - @justareader95 @hayley1998 @welcumetomyescape @ryoujoking @sipsthecoffee @winterassassin1804

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon smut #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon x original character #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x you #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl dixon #daryl twd #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader #desert rose

[d1xonss]

so ours babys a lil insecure bc of reader and his lil age gap he vents it to rick a little and since shes such a social butterfly literally talking and befriending everyone he gets upset and starts to think lowly of himself like theres younger men men who arent busy leading the community so they can spend all their time and affection on her blah blah he gets these crazy thoughts and she comforts him eases all his worries ):

Forever

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 6

✧ Pronouns : she/her

✧ Genre : Angst/Fluff

✧ Word Count : 3.1k

AN ~ Aww sad:(( but we love Reader comforting Daryl, it's one of my favorite things to write. And an age gap too?? I love it. Hope you enjoy!

“You’re ridiculous.” Rick spoke with a scoff.

Daryl’s eyes narrowed slightly at the man, not necessarily because of what he had claimed, but because it almost seemed like he hadn’t listened to him at all.

He already felt a little ashamed going to his friend in the first place to talk about how he was feeling, something the man rarely ever did. But that alone showed how desperate he seemed to be for any kind of advice, willing to put himself out there to express what had been going through his mind recently in hopes of some sort of reassurance.

He didn’t really know what had been going on with him recently, but ever since the group had made it to Alexandria, his insecurities slowly began to eat him alive. He started to take note of his appearance a little more, now that they actually had mirrors in the houses provided for them, seeing for himself how much older and tired he really was. It shouldn’t have bugged him as much as it did, but yet, it seemed to be all he thought about. And that constant loop of thoughts only traveled to another, thinking about how much living on the road seemed to age him, while the woman he was madly in love with stayed so young and beautiful.

She was absolutely perfect, not a single flaw, while he on the other hand had countless ones that he couldn’t seem to just get over and ignore. But that wasn’t the only aspect about her that seemed to cloud over his mind. She was quite the extrovert, making friends everywhere she turned as she was constantly radiating such a good and friendly energy. It even drew him in towards her from the start, falling victim to her charming personality. Though it wasn’t her kindness that made him a little more self conscious than before; it was the fact that a few younger men had obviously taken a liking to her natural sweetness ever since they moved here.

Now he knew that she would never cheat on him, the thought never even crossed her mind, but that still didn’t stop his jealousy from bubbling over to a point of no return. Wanting to beat the shit out of any guy who looked at her for just a little too long. He wasn’t blind by any means, and some of them had a hard time hiding the sneaky glances they were taking at his woman whilst she was just in her own little world.

Though the longer he seemed to stew over it for the months and months they had lived there, it made him start to wonder if maybe she would be better off with someone else. Someone a bit younger, more energetic, more outgoing. Someone that matched her personality better than he did. It was no secret that they were polar opposites, but he always imagined that they completed each other in a way, not even thinking twice about it. However, now that he had all the time in the world to think, it slowly started to consume him, thinking more about how he didn’t deserve her at all. But hell, maybe no one deserved her. 

The man then seemed to snap out of his thoughts, scoffing toward Rick who was looking at him with a small smile, “Man, m’ bein serious.” he grumbled.

“So am I.” Rick shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he tilted his head a bit at him, “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about man. You two are always attached at the hip, she loves you…I think you might just be in your own head about it.”

He sighed heavily as he thought to himself for another moment, his thumbnail in his mouth as he contemplated why he was confiding in Rick in the first place. At this point he had it in his head that the man was just telling him what he wanted to hear. “I dunno…” he eventually muttered in response.

Rick only shook his head, “You shouldn’t be so focused on this. You’ve always known how nice she is, everyone loves her-”

“Man, that ain’t the problem. I already told ya that.” Daryl interrupted with irritation in his voice.

“I know…I know.” he assured, “I guess I just don’t see the connection of how you came up with the idea that she suddenly deserves someone “better.”

The archer shook his head with a light scoff, “Seein her talkin with those guys…something kinda just clicked that she should be with someone more fit for her…” he trailed off for a moment, before pathetically shrugging his shoulders again, “I dunno.”

Rick honestly couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Although, he could, he knew that Daryl sometimes got like this, thinking he didn’t deserve the things that he was given. But he never thought he would be standing here listening to him speak about how you would be better off with someone else. Anyone who even caught a glimpse of the two of you could easily see how in love you were with each other. He swore the sight could potentially make someone sick.

The man then cleared his throat, “Well…if you want to know what I think, I say you should talk to her.”

“Talk to her?”

Rick couldn’t help but laugh at how baffled he looked at the suggestion, “Yeah, talk to her. Besides, I think she’ll have a better chance at reassuring you about this than I will, she seems more fit for the role.” he joked.

But Daryl on the other hand scoffed, not exactly loving the idea, “This shit’s already embarrassing, why would I wanna bring it up to her? Didn’t even really wanna bring it up to you.”

“Thanks.” Rick said dryly before stepping closer to slap a hand on the man’s shoulder, “But just trust me on this, alright? You need to tell her how you’ve been feeling. Because if I know you at all, I know you want to keep this bottled up. But that’ll just make it worse and you know it.”

He was right. As much as Daryl hated to acknowledge it, he knew deep down he was right.

But that didn’t stop him from wanting to put it off every chance he got, pushing it into the back of his mind as he always seemed to do in hopes that it would just go away. Though he knew it wouldn’t, he couldn’t bring himself to want to think about it right now.

He went home later that night utterly defeated and clueless on how to even approach the topic in the first place. When the time dreadfully came around, how would he even bring it up? He was never good with words, especially when it came to something about how he was feeling. It was all just stupid and complicated in his mind, not knowing how to actually piece together the things he wanted her to know. But he knew he had to try.

The front door opened and shut with a small creak as he entered the house, kicking his dirty boots off to the side before he softly called out your name. But all was quiet, not a single sound of your voice calling back to him, to which he only assumed you were still out somewhere in the community. It wasn’t often you stayed out this late, but he silently knew that if someone needed the extra help, you would do it in a heartbeat.

The older man sighed deeply to himself before trudging up the stairs, wanting to get out of the filthy clothes he was trapped in before settling for the night, waiting for you to come home. He couldn’t ever really fall asleep without you there. He didn’t know if it was because he would always worry too much if you weren’t right beside him, or if he just physically needed your touch to relax, but it had to be somewhere in that ballpark. Perhaps both…definitely both.

He entered your shared bedroom with a tired huff, beginning to undo the buttons on his vest before folding it sloppily and setting it off to the side on the dresser. His hands then moved to peel off his dirty shirt that stuck to every part of his tanned skin, raising it over his head before throwing it in the hamper across the room to be washed. He ran his hands through his hair to get it out of his face as he crossed the space to get himself another pair of pants to sleep in, when suddenly his movements stopped short.

The tall, full length mirror that sat off in the corner quickly caught his attention as he saw just a brief glimpse of his reflection dancing behind the glass. He blinked a few times as he knew he shouldn’t look too close, knowing it was only going to add fuel to the already ongoing fire. But a part of him couldn’t help it, seeing as it was too late now that he had taken notice of a few new flaws he hadn’t spotted before. It was like some kind of sinkhole that he couldn’t escape from, looking over the things he hated the most about himself over and over again.

He slowly stepped closer toward the object even though he knew he shouldn’t, seeing himself a little more up close as the moonlight poured through the window just above him to illuminate his figure. His eyes scanned everything he could make out in the slight darkness, seeing the wrinkles that were now more prominent on his forehead. Seeing the dark circles under his eyes from the exhaustion and stress that had been weighing on him constantly. And seeing the scars that littered over his entire body.

“Daryl?”

The man nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of your soft voice from behind him, spinning around to see you standing in the doorway. Your eyes widened a little in surprise. Never had you recalled a single time where you had been able to catch him off guard, accidently sneak up on him enough to make his heart skip. He had always been aware of his surroundings, the man had the instincts of a goddamn cat. So to say you were surprised when he hovered about five feet in the air at your presence, would be an understatement.

You raised an eyebrow at him in slight concern, “You okay?” you asked softly as you approached him with hesitance.

Daryl’s stomach had plummeted to his ass, a heat rising in his cheeks from embarrassment as you caught him staring down at himself for a bit longer than usual. He swallowed thickly as he saw you walking further into the room, nodding a bit quickly, “Yeah…m’ fine.”

Though the way he spoke was far from convincing, his voice coming out a bit higher than usual, and the reassuring smile he tried to send your way being a little too forced for you not to realize. Your eyes narrowed toward him in slight suspicion as you came to stand right in front of him, taking in his appearance. There was something that was clearly circling his mind, you had noticed for far longer than he thought you did. But you always knew when there was something off about him.

You gently reached out to grab one of his hands in your own, “Come on…don’t lie to me.” 

He sighed softly, knowing that he should just bite the bullet and tell you, but he couldn’t bring himself to just yet. “Just…just had a rough day. That’s all.” 

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” you said with a slight shake of your head, watching as he furrowed his brows a little in question. “You’ve been acting off for weeks now, you really didn’t think I was going to notice?”

His eyes widened. Shit. 

A small smirk formed on your lips as you clearly saw that you had caught him in a little white lie. It was written all over his face. You squeezed his hand in reassurance, “I’m not upset…I just want you to talk to me.”

He knew he couldn’t avoid it forever, especially after Rick gave him that little wake up call earlier to just rip the bandage off. But he hoped he could put it off for at least a few more days, wanting a little more time to prepare the things he wanted to express to you honestly. Though he could tell just by the way you were looking up at him, that you wanted answers, and he couldn’t just ignore what was standing right before him.

He sighed softly as he looked at the ground for a moment, before slowly nodding his head, “Alright…” he started, not even knowing where to take this. “Look…maybe…maybe this ain’t workin.” he blurted without thinking.

Your eyes widened a little, “What?” 

Daryl’s eyes then grew as well realizing just how bad that sounded, quickly shaking his head, “No, no, I- I mean…that ain’t how I meant for it to sound at all.” he reassured, before taking another moment to collect his racing thoughts. “I’ve been…thinkin recently and…I ain’t gettin any younger. Hell, I feel like I aged five extra years just from bein out on the damn road for so long.”

You nodded along slowly, not really seeing where this was heading, “So?”

He sighed softly, “So…I’ve been thinkin bout how…maybe…ya deserve to be with someone a little more fit for ya. Someone younger than me…someone who can give ya what I can’t.” he spoke almost regrettably, like he dreaded even saying those words out loud in the first place.

The truth was, he never wanted to let you go, that was a knowing fact that didn’t need to be proved. But at the same time, he didn’t want to hold you back from a chance at a better life. One that you so clearly deserved.

But your expression seemed to soften drastically, now hearing his explanation out loud, it all seemed to click in your head. Why he had been acting off for the longest time, it was because he was just thinking too much about something that meant absolutely nothing. When you first noticed his odd behavior, you automatically assumed you had done something wrong without realizing. But now hearing it out loud, hearing how hurt he sounded, all you wanted to do was hold him and never let him go. Wanting to reassure him for the rest of your lives if you had to that he was truly the only man you would ever want.

A small huff passed through your lips, “Sweetie…that’s what this is about?”

Daryl shrugged a little in response, “Well…yeah. I’ve seen ya makin friends with a lot of the people round here…it just crossed my mind that…maybe-”

“Stop.” you said gently as you moved even closer to him, reaching up to give his arms a gentle squeeze, “Don’t say another word.”

His gaze softened as he stared down at you, regret filling him completely as he saw just how his words had affected you.

“I love you…so much.” you whispered as your gripped his arms a little tighter, “I’m not looking at anyone else…I don’t want anyone else. No one else on this whole damn planet would be a better fit for me than you. I don’t need some younger guy. I’m not even friends with them, they only come talk to me if they have a question about something. And most of them aren’t very bright.” you said bluntly, earning a small chuckle from him. “I just wish you had told me about this sooner.”

He bit his lip a bit shamefully, “I know…m’ sorry. I just thought…ya might be better off-”

“I won’t.” you insisted, “You’re all I will ever need…you hear me?”

A small smile grew on his face upon hearing that, knowing that you meant every word. Though there was still another thing hovering over his mind. “Even though m’ an old man?” he asked half heartedly, though a part of him was still serious.

You rolled your eyes a bit, “Just because you’re older than me doesn’t make you an old man.” you laughed softly, “But if that’s something you’re really worried about…I promise to stick around even when you’re eighty.” you winked.

His lip quirked up a bit in amusement as he reached out to place his hands on your hips, gently tugging you closer, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” you nodded, “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

You then felt his thumbs start to rub soothingly along your hip bones, still a little unsure if this was truly what you wanted. To be with someone like him. “Ya promise?” he eventually asked.

You tilted your head a bit at him, “Come on…what do I have to do to convince you that I want this forever?”

The man was silent for a long moment as he thought to himself, absentmindedly still running his thumbs along your hips as he stared down at you. The truth was he didn’t really need anymore convincing than what you had already told him. Just by the small bit of reassurance you provided, he felt as though he was lighter, a weight being lifted from his shoulders knowing you were his. But still, he couldn’t imagine a more perfect time to make it even more official.

“Marry me.”

Your eyes widened a little in surprise, not expecting him to be so blunt let alone say those words to you at all. He never really struck you as someone who would want to get married at a time like this, but it’s not like you minded. As long as you were with him, that’s all that truly mattered to you.

Only now it felt as if the wind was knocked out of you, hearing him utter those words so clearly as if he meant it with his entire being. You couldn’t help but laugh a bit nervously, “Don’t joke about that, cause you know I will.”

He smiled down at you, shaking his head softly, “M’ serious.” he assured, raising one of his hands to run his thumb along your cheek, “Marry me.”

A lump began to form in your throat as you felt yourself get a little more emotional seeing how real this was becoming. Seeing how serious he was. He really wanted this.

“Okay.” you whispered with a small nod of your head.

His smile only grew, “Okay?”

You nodded a bit more frantically as a large smile broke out onto your face, “Yes…yes I’ll marry you.”

He chuckled, pure relief and happiness filling him completely as he picked you up in his arms, spinning you around lightly as you squealed in surprise. Though he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to seal the deal as he gently set you back down on your feet, kissing you deeply as he felt you hum into his mouth. A part of him almost couldn’t believe that you had agreed, wanting to truly be with him forever. But then again, with the way you looked at him, with the way you said yes with little to no hesitation at all, he knew. You were his forever.

~ Thanks for reading!

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon twd #daryl fanfiction #daryl twd #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x y/n #daryl dixon x original character #the walking dead imagine #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead daryl #the walking dead #twd daryl dixon #twd fanfiction #twd daryl #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader

[d1xonss]

Where do you plan ofn posting the first chapter on season 4 and do you have any original plots for it?

i’m hoping to have the first chapter out by next week at the latest, but trust me, it’s a good one;)

i do have some original things planned of course and i’m honestly just excited to get into a new season. i feel like season 3 dragged on and on for some reason so it just makes me all the more excited for what’s to come!<3

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #twd daryl dixon #daryl dixon smut #desert rose #ash speaks

[d1xonss]

🥀Season 3 Moodboard for Desert Rose🥀

(So excited to start writing season 4!!)

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x oc #daryl twd #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x original character #daryl dixon the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead daryl #the walking dead #daryl dixon twd #twd daryl dixon #twd fanfiction #twd daryl #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader #desert rose

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 41 ~ Peace

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 3

✧ Word Count : 6.4k

In this chapter ~ When the group makes a decision to fight off The Governor in a way they hadn't thought of before, they found they were successful at scaring them away. But they didn't stop there, as they wanted to make sure his men would never come back like they did before. However, a shocking death ensues, though it led to the long-awaited peace they had been craving for so long.

Last night was tough to say the least.

It took about a half hour just for Daryl to finally break away from me, but I waited patiently, holding him close the entire time. But it then took us even longer to finally get back to the prison, everyone rushing over to us and bombarding us with question after question the second we got off his bike. I attempted to calm all of them down, but Daryl had enough before I could even open my mouth to speak.

He snapped at all of them, yelling in their faces about how he had just lost his brother and they all seemed to shut up pretty quickly after that, watching him storm off with nothing else to say. My expression saddened even further as I watched him go, debating in my head whether to just let him go and have some time by himself to process this, or go after him in case he didn't want to be alone.

But ultimately I decided to just leave him be for the time being, explaining to everyone that I didn't quite know what happened, but all I knew was that Merle had turned. I informed them that the place looked like a warzone, leading me to believe that The Governor had something to do with it, potentially Merle's death as well.

The man's voice then echoed in the back of my mind, reminding me of what he told me from the start, that the man would kill him first, then only make his way down the line.

Almost the entire group stayed up for hours after what I told them, coming up with some type of plan to end all of this once and for all. Everyone was fed up, tired of having to constantly look over our shoulder and expecting something to be there waiting to kill us. We wanted this done, taken care of, and finished.

After some time passed and the sun had finally set, the plan now fully set in stone, I slowly made my way back to our cell for the night and saw Daryl laying on the bed with his back facing me. I knew he was awake from the way his breathing was steady, but I said nothing as I gently got into bed next to him. He didn't turn over, or even really acknowledge that I was there, but it didn't bother me in the slightest. He needed time and some space, and I understood that completely.

Though it felt like I tossed and turned throughout the whole night, not being able to stay still for more than a few minutes at least without growing uncomfortable. Maybe it was the nervousness for tomorrow, or everything all together, I wasn't sure. But it was getting harder to ignore that little voice in the back of my mind about the outcome potentially not working out for us in the end. It was what I feared most.

When I finally did fall asleep, I still woke up fairly early the next morning, turning over to see Daryl was still facing away from me, soft snores leaving him now as he got at least a little bit of sleep. I got up quietly, not wanting to wake him as I began to pack up all of our things.

The plan we had devised was that when The Governor and his men roll through here, we would pack up everything and pretend like we fled away. But we were going to trick them, mess with their heads a little bit and then attack them the second that their guard was down. It was a way to scare them, knowing that his people weren't the strongest fighters and that they were scared of us to begin with. Not wanting to come back and mess with us after the scare we were going to give them.

After I gathered all of our bags, I headed out towards the cars to load them all up with all the things I could pick up and place over my shoulders. There were only a few others awake as I made my way outside, placing all of the things in the many trunks we had lined up carefully before offering to take Rick's place where he watched the outskirts of our surroundings. He gave me a thankful nod before he made his way back in the building, making sure Carl was ready to go and doing another sweep through the place to check and see if there was anything we missed.

I didn't know how much time had passed as I looked out to the scenery, making sure they weren't paying us an early visit, but just by hearing the amount of people that were out and about behind me, I silently knew it had been a while. Maybe an hour or two of me completely disassociating and focusing on my surroundings, not really knowing or caring how many minutes passed by.

But the others seemed to be almost ready to go as I glanced back every once and a while, seeing Hershel gathering up Carl, Beth, and Judith to take them out somewhere safe. They were the ones who would take all the things we had packed up, before driving out and finding a secluded place to hide out in the woods until it was all over. The rest of us staying back to fight. I couldn't lie, I was slightly nervous about how well this would work, but it was the best chance we had.

I eventually heard faint footsteps coming up from behind me, turning back over my shoulder to see Daryl slowly making his way over towards me. I gave him a small smile before I turned back around to scan the area once more, not wanting to take my eyes off of everything because of the constant paranoia. But I felt him come up to stand next to me as he too looked out in front of us, an awkward silence filling the air.

I didn't know what to say. He looked a lot better than he did yesterday and he got more sleep than I thought he would, but that didn't mean he was okay. I knew he would put up a front that he was, not wanting anyone else to worry, but I would always know.

Clearing my throat awkwardly, I decided to speak first, "How're you holding up?"

My eyes then closed in slight embarrassment the second the question left my mouth. That was like the one thing you don't ask someone who's obviously mourning.

I opened my mouth to apologize, but his voice cut me off, "Better than yesterday." he stated as he glanced over at me, not taking the question the wrong way like I assumed.

A relieved sigh passed my lips as I nodded, "Good..."

There was another few beats of silence as we stared up ahead, before I felt him gently nudge my side, "Ya weren't there when I woke up."

I let out a soft breath as I turned to face him a bit better, "I know...I just wanted to get a head start on packing everything. Just wanted to be ready, I guess. And...I also wanted to give you some space."

He shook his head slowly, "I don't want no space. I want you."

I smiled warmly at him and nodded, "I just- I just didn't want to say the wrong thing. And I didn't want to push it-"

"Ya don't gotta walk on eggshells around me. I want ya with me, I always want ya with me. I just couldn't talk last night...it was just..." he trailed off, the emotions coming back full force the more he thought about it.

"Yeah," I nodded to show that I understood, "And now I know. I won't leave you alone unless you want to be."

He rolled his eyes playfully, "My God woman do ya ever listen to me?" he chuckled lightly, "I want ya. I ain't ever gonna tell ya to leave me alone, because I want ya with me. Always."

"Well, good to see your sarcastic smartass sense of humor is back." I laughed a bit, "But okay, I'll never leave you again."

He gently grabbed one on my hands, raising it up to his mouth to kiss the back of it lightly, "Good." he nodded.

"I'll even follow you when you have to pee." I joked.

He scoffed, "Okay, no maybe leave me alone for that." he said as he rolled his eyes again.

"No, no, I'll even come with you to shower."

"No, don't-" he began to say but stopped himself suddenly, realizing what I had said as he watched me raise my eyebrows. "Alright...maybe you can come with me for that." he said seductively.

I laughed, bringing my hand up to the back of his neck to bring him close, placing a delicate kiss on his lips, before he quickly pulled back once more as if he forgot something. "Oh, and... m' sorry for all the shit I said to ya yesterday. Ya know I just want ya safe...right?"

I shook my head, "Stop. We're okay, I promise."

He nodded, "I love you."

"I love you too." I smiled and pulled him back in for another kiss.

A few long moments passed where we were just lost in one another's touch, craving the feeling of each other as we were tucked away where no one could really see us. Using the privacy to our advantage as I truly had missed him. Even if it was only a short while.

But the moment was cut short quicker than I expected as someone suddenly cleared their throat from behind us, causing us to slightly jump apart in surprise. Michonne stood there with a small smirk on her face and her hands on her hips as she approached, "Sorry...can I just talk to Rose for a second?" she asked.

We both nodded quickly, Daryl coughing awkwardly as he tried to get away as fast as he could with the embarrassment that was creeping up the back of his neck. Michonne's gaze followed him before looking back at me to see my face a little flushed as I laughed a bit uncomfortably.

"Didn't mean to interrupt." she lightly teased as she came over to stand next to me.

I waved her off, "No, don't worry about it. What's up?" I asked.

She paused for a moment as if to collect her thoughts, "I realized never thanked you for trying to help me. And for taking me in, in the first place."

"Oh no, you don't need to thank me-"

"I do." she insisted, "So...thank you."

I gave her a soft smile, "You're welcome."

"But I also wanted to ask why? I mean you didn't know me at all, you still really don't. So...why were you trying so hard to help me?" she asked.

"Because you needed help." I said simply, "I wanted you to stay because you're a badass and I like you," I winked and she chuckled at that. "And I tried to help you because The Governor is crazy, you of all people would know that better than the rest of us. I just wanted you safe because you belong here...you're a part of this group now."

A slow smile spread across her face as she nodded at my genuine reasoning, "Well...thank you again." she spoke genuinely.

I nodded again as we stayed standing side by side, allowing the peaceful silence to take over as we watched the woods carefully for movement. I felt myself take in a small breath before exhaling it deeply, trying to mentally prepare myself now for the shit show that was about to go down here.

All I could see was darkness as I waited patiently in the tunnels, the anticipation was beginning to kill me as I had no idea what was happening. Glenn and Maggie attempted to convince me to stay with them near the hidden area outside when the time came, to shoot at their feet as they fled, but Daryl was having none of it. He truly meant it when he said he wanted me by his side when The Governor came here, to calm his nerves knowing that I was safe and within his sight. Though no one argued too much considering what he was going through.

Though a part of me wished I had taken them up on that offer regardless because at least out there I could see my own hand in front of my face. Down here, the only light shining in were through the small windows up high against the cement walls, if that at all. I began to worry the longer we sat down there that I wouldn't be able to see a damn thing when it came time to do the most important thing. Aim.

But suddenly, hushed and unfamiliar voices entering the tunnels is what snapped me out of my thoughts, confirming that they were finally here and had found nothing, luring them to search through the dark area. I began to tense up the moment their voices became clearer, their footsteps coming closer and closer to where we hid, and I quickly felt someone grasp my hand. My body jumped a little in surprise, but relaxed quickly once I felt them squeeze my hand three times in reassurance, causing a small smile to trace over my lips.

Hearing The Governor and his people finally creeping up far enough, Daryl gave my hand one more squeeze, signaling me to finally throw the flash bomb. I nodded to myself, though he wouldn't be able to see, quickly pulling the thing from my pocket and pulling the pin out of it, before throwing it around the corner and into the darkness with a small clink.

The second it exploded, they all began to scream as Rick and Carol did the same thing from the other end of the hall, hiding back behind it quickly. The sudden noise, smoke, and gunshots we began to fire near them only drew in some stray walkers into the area, causing them all to panic even more than before. They all fought them off as best as they could, firing through the dead as they rushed out of the place with their tails between their legs.

We were then only met with deafening silence, but none of us seemed to trust it yet, all of us staying quiet as we listened for anything else. There were brief and quieted gunshots coming from outside, hearing them began to scream again as Glenn and Maggie fired bullets to get them out of here faster. Once everything seemed to stop and there wasn't another sound to be heard, we finally all stood back up and headed out towards the entrance, seeing if it had actually worked the way we hoped.

We opened the door hesitantly, seeing that The Governor's men peeled it out of here with nothing left behind. I sighed in relief as Daryl wordlessly pulled me into him, walking out further to check on Glenn and Maggie. The couple looked like they were on cloud nine the second we spotted them, Maggie quickly rushing up to me to wrap me in a hug, while Glenn came around and sandwiched me in between them. We all laughed in relief and pure astonishment that our plan had worked, glancing through the trees to make sure their vehicles were nowhere in sight.

"We did it, we drove them out." Rick stated.

Michonne's eyes stayed fixated on the trees, squinting through them as she thought to herself, "We should go after them."

I almost couldn't believe I was about to agree, but I knew she was right. We couldn't just let them go as if nothing ever happened. We had to make sure they weren't coming back. "...We should finish it." I spoke.

Maggie's expression began to turn sour as she shook her head quickly, "It is finished, didn't you see them hightail it out of here?" she asked.

"They could regroup." Michonne said, "We can't take that chance, he won't just stop here."

Carol was breathless as she nodded along in agreement, "They're right, we can't keep living like this."

"So, we take the fight back to Woodbury? We barely made it back last time." Maggie stated.

"I don't care." Daryl spoke lowly, wanting to end them for good after everything that went down yesterday, grief and loss still fresh in his mind.

A tense silence fell over us, though we all knew that it couldn't just stop here no matter how much we wanted it to. We had to know it was over for good, not wanting to take any chances in case they could somehow come back from this.

Knowing that we were all somewhat in agreement about what to do next, we gave Hershel the okay for them to come back now, knowing that it was safe. They rolled back up slowly through the gates before parking the car off to the side, beginning to unload everything back into the building as we all pitched in to help in one way or another.

I attempted to busy myself with the few crates of food, bringing them back into the building and setting them down on the empty tables in the common room. My pace was somewhat fast as I moved the items we had saved up back onto the shelves, before I spotted Beth walking back inside the building safely. She bounced Judith in her arms as she approached me with a smile, seemingly just as relieved as the rest of us.

"I would hug you if I didn't have this baby in my arms." she joked as she walked up to me.

I laughed softly and kissed the top of her head, moving down to Judith's as well before I spoke, "You guys were okay out there?" I confirmed.

She looked weary, "Yeah...but uh... we sort of ran into this kid while we were waiting. We think he was with The Governor, and he ran up on us. He had a gun, but he was handing it over and... Carl just shot him."

I was taken aback, leaving it to process for a moment before I shook my head in slight disbelief, "Wait what?"

"He's changed, he's...gotten colder. Especially ever since Rick admitted to us about Michonne, he's been so angry. I'm worried about him." she said quietly, making sure no one else could hear.

"I know he hasn't been the same since his mom, and... who would be? But that makes me worry more about him too. We'll both just... keep a close eye on him, yeah?" I asked.

She nodded in agreement before Hershel called her over to help with their things, giving my arm a gentle squeeze before she walked away and back towards the cellblock. But not even a second after she left, Carl made his way back inside to drop off more food I was attempting to put away. I gave him a smile as he passed through, but he only glanced over at me somewhat distantly before walking back towards the door to carry more things.

My brows furrowed, "Hey!" I called out to him before he could fully escape.

His shoulders dropped down with a deep sigh before he turned around to face me again with an annoyed expression, "What?" he asked sharply.

"Woah okay, hi." I spoke in slight surprise at his tone, "You...doing okay? What's up with you?"

"Nothing, get off my back." he snapped as he turned around to speed walk away from me.

I scoffed, "Oh yeah, you better run with how you're talking to me." I called after him, watching as he only moved faster out the door upon hearing my tone.

I knew now wasn't the best time to be petty, but his attitude has been a nightmare. He's never dared to snap at me, leaving me to only witness the many times he's been cold and distant towards the others, but mainly the pattern continued to fall on his dad. I knew he was going through a lot, doing things a kid should never have to do, but it truly tested my patience when he acted distant toward the people who were only trying to help him.

I only sighed to myself however, watching the door he left through without making an attempt to go after him, heading in towards the cellblock instead to give him some time. Carol stood there with the many bags and people's belongings piled up, handing me mine and Daryl's with a smile. I took them from her hands before making my way up the stairs, dropping them on the cell floor for now before I began to pick through my bag for my remaining weapons.

Loading ammo into the handgun I still held onto, and making sure I had enough arrows to take with me as well as my knives, placing them all back in their regular spots around my hips as I pulled them one by one from the bag. But I stopped suddenly when I heard a shuffling sound from behind me, turning around to see Daryl standing in the doorway with an unreadable expression. But it wasn't hard to guess what was going through his head.

I sighed, "What is it?"

He stalled for a moment as he kicked the ground with his dirty boot, "Is there...any chance of convincing ya to stay here?" he finally asked somewhat hopefully.

"No." I deadpanned, causing him to sigh and hang his head while I turned back around to place the rest of my weapons on me.

"Please darlin, I don't want anything to happen out there. I don't wanna take that chance." he pleaded.

I huffed softly and stood up to face him, placing a hand on his cheek, "I thought you always wanted me by your side?" I asked ironically, "Look, The Governor could still come back here if he wanted to. So technically I'm not safe either way."

He sighed heavily again as he thought, before placing his hand over mine with a nod, "Alright."

"We'll be careful," I pecked his lips, "We always are."

He was still very unsure, but in the back of his mind he knew that I could take care of myself no matter what kind of situation we were in. So, we walked back out of the prison together, weapons in hand to place them in the cars and load everything up once more. Hopefully for the last time.

"We're staying," Glenn announced, motioning to himself and Maggie as we gathered around once more before we left. "We don't know where The Governor is, if he comes back, we'll hold him off."

Daryl turned back towards me with hopeful eyes, "No." I repeated again, watching him huff and turn back to continue to load up the car. The two seemed to have a laugh at that, before confirming that's what they really wanted to do, needing to have a watchful eye here in case of any unexpected surprises.

I pulled both of them in for a quick hug, not knowing for sure what would happen out there, before repeatedly telling them to stay safe. It was almost harder now knowing that we were leaving them here to keep the place safe, but we all silently knew it was for the best.

I turned back and made my way over to Daryl's bike. He handed his crossbow over his shoulder to me so I could place it on my back, extending his hand out to help me on before starting up his loud engine, taking off down the gravel roads. Rick and Michonne road in the car not too far behind us, looking back to see the group standing outside waving like crazy as they watched us leave.

There was a pit in my stomach for most of the drive, trying to ignore it as best as I could while the wind whipped by us quickly with how fast we were going. Although, we weren't on the road for very long, not even halfway to their community before we came across what looked like a bunch of abandoned cars parked on the side of the road. We slowed to a stop, seeing a few walkers scattered around feasting on a few fresh dead bodies that where all laying in puddles of blood.

I hopped off the bike quickly, moving to hand Daryl his weapon before pulling out my gun to aim at the dead, Rick and Michonne coming out of the car not even a second later with their weapons drawn as well, scanning the area in suspicion. We all stepped forward to kill the remaining walkers before they could even notice our presence, taking them out quietly as we looked around for anything, wondering what the hell caused this kind of disaster.

I took in the scene in front of me as I slowly backed up, seeing the handprints of blood and guts that were spilled everywhere on the pavement before my back suddenly hit something. I glanced over my shoulder to see I had backed up into a truck, glancing up at the blood that had smeared on the door of the vehicle. But my heart about fell out of my ass as I quickly jumped back upon seeing two hands coming up to the window with a loud slap.

Everyone immediately aimed their weapons towards the glass the moment they heard the noise, squinting through the tinted window to see that the woman in there was still very much alive and nearly shaking in her boots. Her brows were furrowed with fear and her hands shook violently as she glanced around at all of us, her eyes darting to the weapons we had in our hands.

I loaded my gun quickly as I backed up further, "Open the door." I said with a nod of my head, watching Rick move to place his hand over the handle.

The woman came out of the truck instantly the second the door was open, completely disregarding the weapon in my hands and threw her arms around me in a hug, "Oh thank God." she praised as she squeezed me.

I tensed up, "You have about five seconds to get the fuck off of me." I said lowly and she quickly got the message, jumping back with her hands raised.

I pointed my weapon at her head as I nodded around the area, "What the hell happened here?" I asked her.

"The Governor. He shot everyone; he killed them all." she cried.

"The Governor did this?" Rick asked.

I turned to look at him with narrowed eyes, "Did she stutter?" I asked sarcastically.

He fixed me a glare before turning back towards the woman, gesturing with his gun as he spoke, "We need to get to Woodbury, and finish this."

She seemed to understand, nodding frantically, "Take me with you, I can get you in."

A part of me didn't want to agree, we didn't know this woman for shit but I barely even got to open my mouth before Rick was suddenly nodding his head. He gestured for the woman to follow them to the back of their vehicle, helping her in and getting her situated while I tried to pretend like this wasn't a terrible idea.

But we needed to get in, and that's all I cared about.

Night had fallen by the time we made our way up to the familiar gates of Woodbury. It seemed oddly quiet as we slowly made our way through the abandoned cars still littered outside, ducking behind them as we approached closer. We were getting close. But suddenly there were shots coming from the top of the gate, the people on watch somehow spotting us as they fired into the metal of a car we all quickly ducked behind.

"Tyreese! Stop!" the woman yelled over the gunfire.

My mouth slightly dropped in realization as I ran a hand over my face in annoyance. If this was the same Tyreese that Rick screamed at and threatened with a gun, we should all just go ahead and walk away now.

"Karen? Karen, are you okay?!" the man yelled back, squinting through the darkness, watching as she began to stand up to her full height from behind the vehicle.

"I'm fine!" she replied.

"Where's the Governor?" he asked.

"He fired on everyone, he killed them all. These people saved me!" she informed him as her hand gestured down to all of us, giving us the chance to stand as well with raised hands.

The man didn't respond, but the sounds of him opening the gate clearly proved his curiosity, wanting to know exactly what happened. Almost as if he couldn't believe it. We all slowly began to walk up closer to meet him halfway, and my brows immediately raised. There in front of my very eyes was Tyreese and his sister Sasha, the same exact people that Rick flipped out on as he waved a gun around their faces.

I didn't even hesitate as I ducked my head down, turning on my heel to walk away in the other direction to avoid the painfully awkward tension. But I didn't get very far as Daryl caught my arm to stop me nearly the second I turned around, pulling me back to walk forward.

"Come on." I pleaded quietly, noting how close we were getting to them.

He shook his head, "Nah, we go down, we go down together."

I huffed as I ripped my arm away from him and turned to face the brother and sister once again, Rick stepping up to give them a nod, "What are you doing here?" Tyreese asked us while lowering his gun.

Rick sighed, "We came to end this, until we saw what The Governor did."

"He- he killed them?" he asked.

Rick just nodded his head, "Karen told us on the way here that Andrea hopped the wall going for the prison. She never made it." he finished.

Well shit, this was news to me. But Tyreese nodded immediately as he gestured for us to come in with the intention of finding her. Rick moved through the streets easily, not really needing any kind of direction as he assumed she could be in the same building where they held Glenn and Maggie hostage. Without all the smoke covering every inch of the buildings, it was a lot creepier here than I remembered, the uncomfortable silence lingering in the air.

As we finally made it to the familiar tall building with our weapons raised, we searched through the place cautiously but there was no one nearby in the narrowed halls. Though eventually we turned a corner to see a door we hadn't cleared, noticing blood pooling out the small crack underneath of it.

Worry was planted in all of us after seeing that, Michonne quickly taking out her sword while Rick didn't hesitate to break the lock. The door practically swung open after he had got it, peering inside quickly to see a dead body laying right in front of our feet, blood pouring from their head. I recognized the man immediately as Milton, the man we grew to know as we waited together for the meeting to end.

But shock grew on Michonne's face as she stepped in further, seeing Andrea sitting up against the wall only inches away from the man, blood covering the entirety of her body. She was still alive, breathing shakily, but looked to be hurt pretty badly. We all piled in after seeing her, Michonne dropping to her knees at her side as her eyes scanned quickly all over her body for any kind of injuries.

The rest of us seemed to stay back a little as we watched in guilt, seeing her on the brink of consciousness as she tried to keep herself from passing out, smiling the second she recognized it was really us.

"I tried to stop them." she whispered.

Michonne's hand went instinctively up towards her forehead, feeling how warm it was as she moved her hands to the sides of her face, "You're burning up."

Andrea stared at all of us for a moment, moving her hand up slowly towards her shoulder, and pulling her jacket down for us all to see. Revealing a giant bloody bite mark embedded in her skin. We all froze at the sight, Michonne letting out a breath of disbelief as she stared at the injury, not being able to take her eyes away.

"Judith, Carl, the rest of them..." Andrea started.

"Us," Rick corrected her as he slowly got down to her level, "The rest of us."

She smiled slightly upon hearing his voice say that to her, one of the last things she would ever hear was that she was truly always a part of the group no matter what. "Are they alive?" she asked.

Rick looked back towards Daryl briefly, Merle crossing his mind before glancing back towards Andrea and nodding, "Yeah...they're alive." he told her.

My hand moved down discretely to grasp Daryl's hand with my own, giving it a squeeze in reassurance at the things that were most likely still clouding his mind. He looked down to me, his expression neutral yet grateful as he gave my hand a small squeeze in return.

Andrea sighed in relief at Rick's words, glancing back towards Michonne with a smile, "It's good you found them." she told her.

Michonne only nodded her head slowly, her eyes filling with tears and her face contorting with sadness, "No one can make it alone now." Andrea hinted.

Daryl began to nod, "I never could." he stated, swallowing a bit thickly as I felt him grip my hand a little bit tighter than before.

I felt myself smile as Andrea's eyes were glued to us, laughing lightly as she shook her head, "You guys are made for each other. I'm glad you finally saw it just as much as the rest of us did back on that farm."

My eyes softened as I caught her gaze, sucking in a soft breath, "Andrea, I'm sorr-"

"Me too," she smiled slightly, "We got on each other's nerves but...I still wanted you to be okay."

In the back of my mind, so did I. Andrea got under my skin just as much as I got under hers, but deep down we were still family and I never wanted to see her go like this. It hurt all of us to witness.

"I wanted you to be okay too." I agreed.

She smiled tiredly before turning back to Rick, gesturing for the gun in his hands, "I can do it myself." she breathed.

"No." Michonne declined immediately.

"I have to. While I still can, please? ...I know how the safety works."

A chill went up my spine at her words that she said so long ago, yet it still felt so recent. Rick debated in his head for the longest time, truly not wanting her to have to do this herself, but then slowly handing her the gun. Knowing that this is what she wanted.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Michonne told her.

She nodded in agreement before taking on last final look at all of us, a certain sadness written in her eyes, "I tried." she spoke barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, you did. You did." Rick assured, placing one last comforting hand on her shoulder.

After saying some type of goodbye to her, it was difficult to leave the room, knowing that this would be the final time we would ever see her. But yet we all found the strength, seeing Tyreese still lingering outside of the room, sending each of us a sad and understanding look to tell us that he heard everything.

I leaned up against the wall with my arms crossed over my chest, feeling Daryl come up next to me to follow my actions, beginning to chew on his thumbnail anxiously. There was a long and agonizing silence that followed, before a single gunshot was finally heard from outside the big wooden door, only followed by more silence.

I felt the slight chill of the morning air as I rode on the back of the motorcycle back to the prison. My arms wrapped tightly around Daryl's middle as he occasionally reached to give my hand a squeeze. The long ride back gave me time to think about the things we were doing, the things that we chose to do and move forward with. Though none of us really had to think twice of the idea because all these people from the abandoned community wanted was a fighting chance. Knowing The Governor had ran like a coward, they had no one else to turn to. And we wanted to give them the opportunity they deserved.

As we finally made it back to the familiar building, Glenn and Maggie opened up the broken gates for us, not even attempting to hide the confused look on their faces as a giant bus followed in right behind us. Daryl pulled over to a stop a little further in than usual, getting off his bike while I followed his actions from right behind him. Our eyes then landed on the school bus now parking front and center, watching the many people begin to pile out of it and glance around at the new place they would call home.

The rest of the group came out of the prison in obvious shock, Rick making his way over to the rest of them to explain everything that went down in Woodbury. I knew this would all be a huge adjustment with the many new people we hardly knew moving in to stay with us, but it was an adjustment that I was willing to make. One that I for once was willing to accept.

"Ya think this is gonna work?" Daryl asked.

My eyes followed the new people for a moment, noticing a few little kids bouncing around in excitement along with a woman holding a small baby, and I felt myself smile. "Yeah." I said simply as I glanced over at him.

He smiled softly, having a certain glint in his eye that made my brows furrow, "What?" I asked with a tilt of my head.

He shrugged, "Nothin." he said simply, causing me to drop the topic as I looked back to the many people still introducing themselves as they greeted everyone with warm smiles, resting my head on his shoulder as my mind began to run with all the possibilities.

I couldn't help but think about the bright future that we could have here, together. A small smile stretched on my face as I was confident that everything was going to be okay. We didn't have to run, or fight, or live in constant fear of The Governor. We could all just finally be at peace.

But even though I looked away, I could still feel Daryl's eyes on me. And all I wanted to know is what the hell that man was thinking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ DARYL POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I’m gonna marry this girl.

~ Thanks for reading! (Ahhh season 3 is done!!)

Taglist - @justareader95 @hayley1998 @welcumetomyescape @ryoujoking @sipsthecoffee

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon x original character #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x reader #the walking dead #the walking dead daryl #the walking dead fanfiction #twd daryl dixon #daryl twd #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader #desert rose

[d1xonss]

Could you do a Daryl x reader where at first he doesn’t like her, and she tries to get to know why hes so mean to her? Maybe he yells at her and then some comfort after?

Pretty When I Cry

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 1

✧ Pronouns : she/her

✧ Genre : Angst/Fluff

✧ Word Count : 4k

AN ~ This is a very cute idea. I've been wanting to write something for season 1 Daryl because he's just such a cutie pie, but I didn't really have any good ideas. Though I think if he were to ever snap and "be mean" it would surely be in the beginning; his sassy era lol. But thank you for the request, hope you enjoy!

In an instant it seemed like, all of humanity was completely flipped upside down. You were on your way to work when the chaos all erupted, dead people coming back to life and the military taking matters into their own hands. Bombing places left and right even if that meant killing the ones who weren’t infected. The entire thing shook you more than you were ever willing to admit, after all, you were more fragile, soft and clearly not built for whatever the world was suddenly turning into.

But to your surprise, you made it out alive. Traumatized, sure, but alive.

You seemed to count your blessings every single day since then, thankful for every little thing that had happened to you since. Luck seemed to shine down upon you as you weren’t alone for long, finding a small group camped out in the high mountains merely days after everything went down. They all welcomed you with open arms, clearly taking a liking to your kindness and wanting as many people to come together as they could get. After all, it’s all that was left of the world. People you could rely on.

You grew to love the tight knit group, forming friendships with people you never would’ve guessed you’d meet in a million years. You also tried to keep yourself busy, wanting to be as useful as possible and provide what you could for the others. Not because you felt obligated to, but because you simply wanted to. Things like cooking, collecting berries and mushrooms, doing laundry, anything you could find to help contribute. 

Something you seemed to be ashamed of however, was that you couldn’t really do any of the “heavy lifting.” You had never fired a gun in your life, that alone narrowed down the list. Not being able to stay on watch, not being able to hunt, and…not being able to take care of the dead things that sometimes wandered all the way up here. At first, the thought of you being weaker than the others never even crossed your mind. It was only brought to your attention when a certain man began to poke fun at you because of how small he saw you.

Merle Dixon was a grade A asshole to put it bluntly. Ever since he and his brother showed up to be a part of the group later on, he had made it his mission to annoy and harass you whenever he saw the opportunity. You couldn’t figure out why you were his main target, his main source of entertainment, but you could only guess it was because he always got under your skin in a way he was able to see. That, and he tended to make you cry. He even gave you a nickname because of it after a while, one that you absolutely hated. And he knew it too.

Although Merle was someone you couldn’t stand, his brother Daryl however was…different. He could still be snappy and hot headed just like the other one you supposed, but he had never acted that way towards you surprisingly. His main target was Shane, and honestly, who could blame him? There were many times where the man would take things too far and Daryl would put him in his place, unaware of the watchful wide eyes that watched the interaction. He never seemed to care, wanting to tell everyone how it was without a single ounce of regret. You sort of envied him for that small little thing.

You had never stood up to anyone in your life, always too scared of the outcome and you hated being yelled at more than anything in the world. So it was safe to say you avoided confrontation at all costs. Clearly, as you hadn’t found the strength to stand up to Merle since he got here. But though neither of the brothers particularly cared for you, you were still kind to them just like you were to everyone else. You didn’t miss how the others in the group would almost look down on them in a way you couldn’t understand, so you wanted to be the one who provided just that little bit of kindness. It really went a long way, or at least that’s what you believed.

Though you had to admit, it was a little difficult sometimes. There were moments where you just wanted to yell in frustration, curse at Merle for how he always treated you and how Daryl typically sat there and did nothing. But you always managed to cool off, reminding yourself that they most likely acted like this because of something from their past. Something they couldn’t control. Who were you to treat them differently because of that? It was hard to stay strong at times, but in the end, you always seemed to send them a small smile.

You currently busied yourself on just the outskirts of the camp past the trees, finding and picking a few berries to bring back seeing as the group was running a bit low. And every bit of food counted these days. Your gaze stayed down as you chose the ripest ones, placing them in the little woven basket you brought to gather as many as you could for the time being. Though upon your hunt for different kinds of plant based things you could eat, your eyes happened to catch a mere glimpse of something colorful a few feet away.

To your surprise, it was a small patch of wildflowers growing together, each a different beautiful color and only a reminder to you that the world wasn’t completely dead. There were still many beautiful aspects along the way, even though a bit of hope may be lost, it was little things like this that brought a smile to your face. So you decided to wrap it up, bring back the things you’d collected along with picking one of the small flowers, putting it behind your ear for now to take back and put in your tent with the rest of your things. You had the idea of pressing it into one of the pages of a journal you kept.

You then found yourself slowly trailing back towards the site, almost dreadfully as you could predict what was coming next. You could practically hear it in the back of your mind like it was burned into your memory. Merle’s phantom voice echoed in your mind, knowing he would most likely call out to you the moment he noticed your presence reenter the space. But again, you reminded yourself to just try and be kind. It was the one thing you were best at.

Slowly but surely you made it past the treeline, and only about eight seconds passed before you heard a loud wolf whistle from your left along with the same booming laugh. Like he amused himself or something.

“There she is!” he called from the space in his and Daryl’s separate camp away from the others, “It’s weeping willow.” he smiled widely in hopes to get a reaction out of you.

You sighed as you sent him a small smile, “Still not my name Merle.” you reminded as you just tried to walk past him.

But it wasn’t that easy. It was never that easy. He easily stepped in front of you to block your path, the smirk still plastered on his face. “Close enough.” he waved off, “Besides, I wanna see what you so kindly brought back for me.” he said before quickly snatching your basket out of your hands.

Your eyes slightly widened as you tried to grab it back, but he pulled it away faster. “Merle.” you huffed as you attempted to reach for it again, but he only moved it away quicker. Every move you made, he would make as well, purposefully keeping it from you as he started to walk backwards for you to follow.

Like dangling a damn carrot in front of your face.

Your frustration grew as you continued to follow and reach for it as he laughed, watching your attempts and fails. You could feel your cheeks beginning to heat up in embarrassment now, sensing Daryl’s eyes watching the interaction as he made a few bolts by the small fire they had set up. He sat there still, doing nothing as per usual as he watched the interaction unfold right in front of him.

“Merle, please. It’s for the group.” you tried as you reached for it again.

But he pulled it out of your reach as you stood face to face, “Well, I’m a part of that group ain’t I? I think I deserve this just as much as the next bastard. Unless of course you have a different opinion bout that…” he trailed off as his smirk grew.

You sighed, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. It’s for everyone.” you clarified kindly.

The man only laughed at you, and you quickly began to feel the familiar lump forming in your throat, trying desperately to swallow it down and not let your emotions escape. It was obvious you were sensitive, but also having to fight the same fight over and over again, it got old quicker than you would admit. You could hardly stand these interactions anymore without at least tearing up a little at his teasing and taunting.

Finally after having enough, you reached out quickly and managed to snatch the basket back from him in one quick motion, placing it on your arm as your brows furrowed a little in frustration. Merle’s eyes widened a bit at the fast unexpected action, before he started smirking all over again once he caught the expression on your face.

“Oooh look at that. I almost got ya to snap.” he poked as he swayed a little clumsily on his feet, most likely a little drunk or high would be your best guess.

Sighing to yourself again to calm down, you shook your head as you knew of his only goal, “I’m not snapping.” you stated calmly.

Though he clearly didn’t believe you, wanting to push you even more. His eyes traveled away from your eyes as he grinned wickedly, pointing to your ear. “What’s this lil thing?” he asked. Your eyes widened a little, but before you could even react, he quickly snatched it away all while pulling your hair a little in the process. 

Your hand reached again, “Merle, come on, please.” you spoke desperately as you moved to keep up with him, before your frame accidentally stepped a little too far to the left.

In a fit of embarrassment and clumsiness, your foot accidentally knocked over a bucket that was sitting a little too close to the fire. The only problem was, Daryl’s freshly made bolts were sitting in there, now being engulfed in the flames. Your eyes widened in horror as you quickly scrambled back, watching Daryl instantly stand to his feet in an attempt to save what wasn’t ruined. But it was too late.

“Son of a bitch!” he cursed loudly as he bent down to pick up the bucket.

One of your hands came up to your mouth as you couldn’t believe what you had just done, freezing in place as you now didn’t know what to do. You knew you were in deep shit already, but when Merle suddenly paused just as you did, you knew you were royally fucked as the two of you just watched Daryl stare down at the fire motionlessly.

Eventually you found your voice, stepping forward a little to reach out to him, “Oh my God, Daryl I’m so sorry-”

But your words clearly didn’t mean a thing. He slapped your hand harshly away from him as his head snapped up to look at you, a fire of his own growing in his eyes. “What the hell is wrong with ya?!” he screamed.

You instantly flinched back at his sharp tone, the lump once again forming in your throat as you desperately tried to keep yourself together, “It was an accident-”

“Do ya even know how long it took me ta make those?” he asked angrily, not even bothering to wait for an answer. “Nah…course ya don’t. Cause you don’t do anything around here! Always just sittin in yer own little fairytale, smilin without a goddamn care in the world, when in reality you just fuckin ruin everything!”

His words cut through you like a knife. But not one that was sharp. One that was dull, just sawing back and forth relentlessly and hurting you even more than you could’ve ever imagined. Your eyes quickly filled with tears, not even knowing what to say as he was clearly about to blow up even more with how angry he grew. 

He scoffed once he saw how speechless you became, “Just get the hell outta here.” he spat harshly as he got up closer to your face, aggressively pointing off into the trees.

Tears began to pour down your cheeks at the last of his words, not even wasting another second as you dropped the basket from your arms before taking off in the other direction in a flash. Your chest heaved as you moved quickly through the trees, not being able to get alone fast enough so you could finally let everything out. You almost couldn’t believe the things that just happened, how everything got so messed up after you swore you were making progress with the two of them. But you weren’t. And perhaps you never would, that being something you would just have to accept.

Though finally after feeling like you walked quickly for miles, you came to the clearing of the large quarry, slumping down near the water before you began to sob all by yourself. You let everything out, every built up emotion poured out of you like a rush of water. You could’ve sworn you cried so much that you could fill a quarry of your own, knowing that those emotions were really the only thing you were good at. Crying could be an olympic sport, and you would win first everytime given the chance. 

But that thought only got you thinking more, making you stew over Daryl’s words. Maybe he was right. Anyone could say that it was the heat of the moment, his anger, insults just spilling out of his mouth that were simply not true. But in a way, you knew how true they were. You had to admit that you did feel useless as you hugged your knees to your chest, covering your face as you sobbed even more. You didn’t have useful skills like some of the others, not being able to prove yourself as you truly were weak when it came to a world like this. All you ever wanted to do was be kind, provide for the people you cared about most. But your outlook got ruined in an instant, quickly replaced with a new one that you would surely think about forever.

It was funny, you thought. You once heard Merle’s faint voice playing in your mind repeatedly, but now…you only heard Daryl’s. His insults, his harshness, it was something you never would’ve guessed or expected from him. But now you knew that you had just ruined everything, when all you wanted was to help.

You didn’t know how much time you spent alone, crying off and on to yourself the more you allowed your mind to run, but you could only assume it was a fairly long time. The sun was beginning to set in the sky, the little bit of light that was left shone over the water in front of you, making it sparkle as your tears continued to blur the scenery. You sniffled as you wiped your cheeks over and over again, wanting to pull yourself together enough to be able to show your face again back at camp. But the embarrassment was still weighing heavily, almost a crushing pressure.

But then all your attention was pulled to a shuffling noise coming from behind you, causing you to whip your head around in a panic to see where it came from. Though the sight was more surprising than you could’ve ever prepared yourself for. Daryl slowly emerged from the trees with a hesitant look on his face, and your eyes widened as you quickly turned your head back in the opposite direction. You didn’t want to look at him. You couldn’t even bring yourself to understand why he had come out here. He had already done enough, he made his point crystal clear. You were just silently hoping he didn’t come out here to yell at you again.

Daryl on the other hand felt an immense amount of guilt. His chest tightened a little as he caught barely a glimpse of your red, puffy eyes and your tear stained cheeks, knowing he was the cause of it. He couldn’t describe how it made him feel, but all he knew was he was wishing he could take it all back if it meant not having to see you cry. His brother already caused you to break down enough, he didn’t want to be the cause of that too. And yet, he was.

The man slowly walked up to where you sat near the blue water, the rocks crunching beneath his boots louder and louder as he approached. Your heart was hammering in your chest as you just prayed he would go away, not wanting to interact with him after everything. But Daryl was stubborn, and he didn’t want you out here all night just because you were nervous to come back.

“Dinner’s almost ready.” he said a bit awkwardly, stopping just a few feet away from you. You heard him loud and clear, but you said nothing, not really in the mood to eat. Facing the group after they surely heard the scene that went down, it all sounded like a nightmare.

Daryl sighed heavily as you didn’t respond, you didn’t even look in his direction. Acting as if he wasn’t here at all. “Hey.” he called.

“...Why do you hate me?” you whispered, still not facing him as you spoke.

He almost questioned what you had said, but then it seemed to hit him all at once just how badly he had fucked up with all this. The one girl that showed him a kindness he had never seen, now thought he wanted nothing to do with her from the projected words he spat at her.

He let out a soft breath as he closed his eyes momentarily, stepping up a little closer, “I- I don’t…I don’t hate you.” he said quietly.

You didn’t react, so he managed to push himself a little further than what he was comfortable with. He moved to slowly sit down beside you, keeping some distance, yet he wanted you to know he was there. That he meant it. “I don’t hate you.” he said again.

“You act like it.” you were quick to say as you turned your head to look him in the eye, “I…I don’t even know what I did…” you said, your voice quiet and broken.

The man stared at you for a long moment, before slowly shaking his head, “Ya didn’t do nothin…it’s…it’s hard to explain. But I guess I never really understood…why yer so nice. Thought maybe ya just wanted somethin from me…I dunno.”

You shook your head a little in disbelief, “I’m nice because I care…that’s it.” you assured as you didn’t want him to think otherwise. But you supposed hearing his reasoning out loud made a little more sense, seeing as how you truly were the only one nice enough to show your kindness to the brothers. He was skeptical because no one had done that for them before, the thought nearly broke your heart.

A long moment of silence passed between the two of you, before you were the one to break it, “Listen…I’m so sorry about what happened. I didn’t mean to ruin what you worked so hard on, it was an accident.”

Though Daryl quickly shook his head, “Nah, don’t be. If anythin, I should be apologizin for what I said. I…I didn’t mean none of it…”

You stared at him with a soft expression, “But you were right…everything you said-”

“Everything I said was bullshit.” he said bluntly, looking at you with a seriousness in his eyes, “I say a lotta stupid shit I don’t mean when m’ angry, and this ain’t no different, ya hear me?”

“But it’s true.” you argued gently before looking back out into the water, “I don’t know how to help out…how to survive in a world like this. I always try to do what I can, but it’s never enough.”

Daryl paused as he saw the sadness behind your eyes, a sudden feeling overtaking him as he wanted to say or do something that would get you to smile again. “Hey, that ain’t true. Ya go out and scavenge, ya help cook the food that’s brought back…ya even helped stitch Glenn up when the dumbass hurt himself.”

His words caused a small laugh to escape your lips as you looked back over to him, “Well I knew he would somehow mess it up even more if he did it himself…I didn’t have a choice with that one.”

“Nah…ya did.” he said seriously, “Ya always have a choice, and I see ya puttin others before yerself all the time. That’s somethin ya should give yerself credit for.”

Your eyes softened the longer you looked at him, a small smile forming on your face just seeing how much he cared. Even if he wasn’t willing to admit it out loud just yet. “Thank you.” you said quietly.

Daryl felt his face grow a little hot as he ducked his head, clearing his throat a little awkwardly, “Yeah, no problem…” he muttered before it looked like he suddenly remembered something. “Oh, and uh…I brought ya this.” he said before revealing the hand that sat behind his back.

You looked down to see it was the same small flower that Merle took from you, sitting in the palm of his hand as he held it out to you. Your eyes widened a little as your small fingers delicately took it from his grasp. “You got it back?” 

“Uh, no that one was all smushed by the end of…everythin. So I went and got ya a new one…hope that’s okay.” he explained a bit quietly.

Your smile grew as your eyes lit up at the simple kind gesture, one you would have never expected from him. “It’s perfectly okay…thank you.” you said sincerely, raising it up to place it behind your ear.

He nodded a bit awkwardly as he watched you for a moment, chewing the inside of his lip. “Alright, well come on.” he muttered as he stood back up to his feet, “Best be gettin back.” he spoke, hesitantly extending a hand out to help you up.

His actions surprised you a bit, but that didn’t stop you from taking his hand, letting him help you stand before the two of you slowly headed back through the woods. You half expected complete silence as you walked side by side with him, but he managed to keep a conversation with you as if he suddenly enjoyed your company. Though maybe he always did, he was just cautious as he didn’t always trust people as easily as you did. But you were growing more hopeful as he slowly came around, finding you had to be patient to see how much of a gentle person he really was.

From that day on, you and Daryl had slowly gotten more comfortable with each other. You wouldn’t really call it a friendship per se, but it was something the two of you very clearly cherished. But that wasn’t the only thing that seemed to change.

Merle’s attitude toward you seemed to have completely flipped from what you had grown accustomed to. He rarely ever spoke to you again after that day, and if he did it was always something short and simple, not an insult in sight. Though you were a little surprised, a part of you had a feeling who changed his mind about you.

~ Thanks for reading!

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon twd #daryl fanfiction #daryl x reader #daryl dixion imagine #daryl x female reader #daryl twd #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon imagine #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x y/n #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead imagine #the walking dead daryl #twd daryl dixon #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 40 ~ The Deal

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 3

✧ Word Count : 6.8k

In this chapter ~ The truth is revealed about what The Governor actually wants; some kind of solution instead of the war they all wanted to avoid. But the agreement wasn't as easy as it seemed, causing a series of unfortunate events to take place in just the span of a few hours. And perhaps...a loss.

Two days had passed since Rick's meeting with The Governor, the deadline approaching for the answer Rick would have to give him about something they had previously discussed. Though none of us knew what it was. He was very vague about it, not telling anyone what that something was, what he was or wasn't agreeing to. But whatever it was, I thought it was a waste of time. In my mind, the time was now to attack Woodbury like he wanted, taking the chance to get it done when they were least expecting it.

I happened to be walking out of the prison in hopes to find him to talk about it further, wanting to decide on an actual plan of what was going to happen and how we would deal with the repercussions. But my steps slowed down to a stop when I made my way outside, seeing Rick talking to Daryl and Hershel in a small circle, keeping their voices low. It looked sketchy as hell.

My brows furrowed as I slowly began to move forward again, watching Hershel subtly nudge Rick to get his attention before silently nodding towards me. The moment our eyes locked he straightened up almost instantly, stopping completely in his tracks with whatever he was saying and watched me walk the rest of the way over.

"What is this? A secret girl scout meeting?" I joked as I approached them fully.

But none of them laughed, they just looked at me with a mixture of concern and guilt on their features. I waited for at least one of them to respond to me, but they seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes as they looked back at each other and I just tilted my head, waiting for them to say something as I felt completely out of the loop.

"Guys, what's up?" I asked, growing more concerned.

Rick glanced over at Daryl as if to get some kind of approval from him, before turning towards me with a sigh, "We're talking about the deal with The Governor."

"Okay...care to share?" I asked.

He visibly hesitated for a moment, swallowing a bit thickly to get up the courage to just say it, "You can't tell anyone else, alright?" he asked, earning a nod from me as he spoke again, "The Governor...wants Michonne."

I paused for a moment before scoffing, "Well, that's clearly not happening. So, what's the problem?"

He only gave me one look, but that's all it took for my eyes to widen in realization. "Wait...you're actually considering this? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's the only way, no one else knows." he stated.

"You gonna tell em?" Daryl then asked.

"Not until after, we have to do it today and it has to be quiet." Rick said.

I stepped in again, "Woah, no way. We are not doing this. I mean come on, this is bullshit. You know damn well that he's going to take her and then kill us anyway." No one said a thing. Not a word as they stared at me blankly. "Rick please, she doesn't deserve that. Who knows what he's going to do to her if you just hand her over." I continued.

I was met with more silence, that is until Daryl spoke up, "You gotta plan?" he asked Rick.

My jaw dropped, "Are you serious?" I asked.

He didn't answer, he couldn't even look over at me until I placed myself right in front of him, "You're really okay with this? Seriously?"

There was a beat of silence before he muttered, "Yeah." the word coming out quietly, and not confidently at all.

"No, you're not," I scoffed, "God, all of you are just willing to risk her life like that? After she helped us?" my voice raised.

"We never shoulda told ya." Daryl snapped slightly.

I looked at him in slight surprise, "Why? Because I'm not agreeing with what you're planning? You guys don't get it-"

"Nah you don't get it!" Daryl cut me off, "We do this, there's a chance that everyone else stays safe- that you stay safe! I'm trying to protect ya, and all you care about is a woman we barely know!" he yelled.

"You bet your ass I care about her! She helped save Glenn and Maggie, and is helping us right now prepare for a war against this man we all despise, in case you all forgot? You guys are so gullible to believe that The Governor will just let us off the hook if you hand her over. He won't! He wants us dead! He's going to try and kill us either way, and I want her on our side when that happens." I finished.

I quickly spun around on my heel after that, storming off in the other direction without even giving them a chance to respond to me. I grew livid as I couldn't wrap my head around how they were actually about to fall for this shit, almost like I couldn't believe they were talking about it like it was nothing. Leaving me even more starstruck that Daryl had yelled at me the way he did just because I wanted to spare her life and sanity.

In the back of my mind, I knew he was concerned, he only wanted everyone safe. But he sure as hell had an odd way of showing it by getting up in my face.

I ended up blowing through the common room, ignoring everyone's wide eyes as I rushed into the cellblock, jogging up the stairs to just get to my cell. That is until a louder voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Woahhh, slow down there girly."

I paused upon realizing who it was, backtracking a few steps to see Merle on the ground of an unoccupied cell, ripping up the mattress. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"Just lookin for some drugs annnnd..." he dragged out hopefully as he searched, "...Nothin." he muttered while flopping down in defeat.

Rolling my eyes, I began to walk away again. "You gonna tell me why you're upset?" his voice stopped me once more, turning around to see him standing now as he leaned against the doorway.

"I'm not upset." I stated.

He chuckled, "You're bout the worst damn liar I ever seen."

My arms crossed over my chest as I tilted my head at him, narrowing my eyes in his direction as he quickly caught onto the silent warning I sent him. "Not in the mood for jokin around, huh?" he asked.

I shook my head, and he nodded in understanding, "...You gonna talk bout it?"

There was a beat of silence before I sighed and leaned against the wall beside me, "Rick is planning to hand Michonne over to The Governor, and I told him he shouldn't. That The Governor is just going to try to kill us anyway with or without her. But my guess is they're going to ask you to help them with their dirty work since I got screamed at, and they're deciding to do it anyways." I ranted.

He stood there with his eyebrows raised, "Wow." was all he was able to say.

I scoffed to myself as I nodded, "Yeah...wow."

He then stood up a bit straighter, "So...you don't think they should give her up...why?"

"Because she's a human being, not a trinket to trade off." I snapped before taking a breath, "Look, just...don't do it. Please."

He stared at me for a while, contemplating his next words carefully. "If he asks, I'm gonna do it." he stated. Upon hearing his answer I tried to open my mouth to speakagain, but cut me off before I had the chance. "Listen to me. I gotta do what's best to protect my brother, and..." he trailed off.

My patience was wearing thin, "What?" I snapped slightly.

He sighed, "Come on, don't make me say it."

I couldn't bring myself to even begin to imagine what he meant, only staring at him in utter confusion. But then he gave me a look in return, one that I would be able to read well, and my thought seemed to cut short. Me. He wanted to protect me.

"Why? You barely even know me." I stated in confusion.

"I don't gotta know ya well to see how much my brother cares bout ya. If you're important to him...you're...important to me too."

He said the last part so quietly I almost thought I misheard him, watching as he couldn't meet my eyes anymore as he stared down at his boots. I guess the nervous quirk was a Dixon thing.

I grew almost speechless as I had no idea what to say to him. But when he finally decided to look me in the eye once more, I gave him a small nod of appreciation, before turning around and making my way into my cell. I needed time to think. Between the Michonne situation and the things that Merle told me, having to pull teeth just to get it out of him. I almost couldn't bring myself to believe he actually gave a shit about me. Sure, we were friendly with each other ever since they both came back in one piece but...I don't know, I guess I didn't expect that from him.

Later on, it had been hours since the conversations that took place, currently busying myself with feeding the baby in the common room by myself. I tried to avoid and ignore pretty much everyone, especially since I found out Merle did in fact agree to help Rick with his little mastermind plan. The whole thing frustrated me to no end, watching how everyone was ignoring practically everything I said because they just simply didn't want to hear it.

But that wasn't going to stop me from trying to find Michonne, wanting to tell her about the things they planned to do so she could do something to prevent it. I didn't know if she would run? Stand her ground and fight? That was for her to decide, all I knew is that I was going to warn her.

Judith was just about done with her bottle when I heard footsteps come into the space, and I glanced up to see Merle standing there and he sent me a small smile. I hardly paid him any mind as I just looked back down at the baby, hearing him sigh from a few feet in front of me.

"You still mad?" he asked.

"You still going to help?" I quipped.

When he didn't say anything in return, I scoffed to myself and darted my eyes away from him again.

He sighed heavily after a few seconds, moving further into the room, "Look, I ain't doin this to piss ya off. I'm doin it so no more of your people get killed." he stated.

I was silent for a long moment, before I felt the need to correct him, "Our."

"What?"

I sighed before looking him in the eye once more, "Our people. You may be an asshole...but you're a part of this group now. Everyone's still just getting used to it."

He looked taken aback for a second, his mouth opening and shutting a few times as he was unsure of what to say. "Uh...thanks." he said genuinely.

I nodded back, "And listen, I'm not trying to be pissed...I just want what's best for everyone. I want to make things right." I subtly hinted, "So, can you just...give me an opening here? Please?"

His thoughts were clearly running loud in his head as he stayed quiet, eventually only nodding once before moving towards the other end of the common room. I assumed he wouldn't say anything, like this conversation had never happened, but he turned back once more before he could pass the doorway.

"I'll uh...I'll see ya later Rose." his voice called out.

Glancing back up at him, I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face at the fact that he used my actual name for once, "See ya later."

He smiled back before leaving and heading towards the tunnels for whatever reason, stomping loudly as his footsteps echoed through the halls. A part of me was surprised he agreed, but it only gave me more time to warn Michonne before Rick could do whatever it is he planned to do. I had an opening.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ DARYL POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few hours had gone by in a flash as I kept myself busy helping everyone else outside, trying to piece back together what was left of the fence and clearing out some of the walkers. But no matter how much I tried to distract myself, guilt was beginning to eat me up inside. Not only was I stewing over the deal I agreed to about Michonne, but I was also thinking about how harshly I had snapped at Rose. She didn't deserve that no matter what the hell we disagreed on, but I guess with all the stress that's been going on, weighing down heavily on all of us, I accidentally took it out on her.

But I knew she was right about everything, of course she was. That's why everyone didn't have anything to say after she made her point, because none of us could argue with that. I hadn't seen her since she stormed off, leading me to believe that I should just give her space right now before I eventually fessed up and apologized.

When I realized it was about noon, I knew I needed to move my ass and find Merle, to talk with him about the plan we would be going through with. Rick had talked to him a while ago, but he needed more details on how and when to do it. So I made sure to slip past everyone when they were all occupied so they wouldn't seem to notice.

I found myself searching everywhere through the prison, not being able to pinpoint where he was. That is until I heard shuffling coming from some random room deep within the tunnels. I held up my crossbow as I walked further into the dark, calling out his name a few times but received no answer. My brows creased as I cautiously went around the corner once I was close enough, seeing Merle rummaging around through some cabinets in the far corner of the room.

He turned towards me the second he felt my gaze, "Hey little brother, I was just about to holler back at ya."

Lowering my weapon, I eyed him up and down for a moment, "What are ya doin down here?" I asked while walking further into the space.

"Oh, just lookin for a little crystal meth. Yeah, yeah, I know, shit will mess my life up when everything's goin so sweet right?" he chuckled.

I sighed, "You talk to Rick yet?"

"Yeah, oh yeah, I'm in..." he hesitated slightly.

I looked him up and down, "Are ya sure? Don't seem like it."

He scoffed, "Yeah well, you can thank your girl for gettin in my head about it. She's stubborn, that's for sure, but...nice."

I raised an eyebrow toward him, "She talked to you?"

He nodded his head with a hum, "She asked me not to do it. But I told her I needed to protect you and...and her too. So, I'm in."

I found myself wanting to push further about what the two of them had talked about, but he spoke up again as he continued, "Your pal Rick though? He ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle you know that right?"

"Yeah, well...if he does, he does." I said simply.

"You want him to?" he asked.

I shook my head almost instantly, "Nah, I want Rose safe. Don't care about nothin else besides that."

He whistled lowly, "Man...you sure as shit are whipped by that girl."

"Oh, yer one to talk, you just admitted that you wanted to protect her too." I snapped slightly, "Why do ya want her safe anyway? Ya don't even know her."

For once in what seemed like our whole lives, he didn't have a smartass comment to say in return, he just stood there still, biting the inside of his cheek. I pressed my lips together as I nodded my head slowly, knowing without him even having to say a word.

"...You know what's funny about all this is? You people look at me like I'm the devil for what I did to them lovebirds. But y'all are turnin around and doin the same damn thing. Doin what you gotta do." he finally said.

I scoffed at the fact that he was connecting the two together, trying to switch sides the way he was. I didn't have time for any of that, nor the patience, so I just turned on my heel to walk out. Until his voice suddenly called out before I barely made it out of the room.

"You yell at her?" he asked.

My brows pulled together as I turned around, stepping back in the room to glance at his face, "What?"

"Did you yell at her?" he asked again.

"Yell at who?" I asked.

"Rose."

A huff passed through my lips as I stood there for a second, staring at him, "I snapped at her. But I just wanted her to understand that I want her safe. Somethin that don't concern you."

He nodded slightly, "Alright fine...I get that. But you're messin up. Ya can't just yell at her like that and expect everythin to be alright afterwards. She was upset, she still is."

"Why do you care so much all of a sudden? Huh?" I asked, getting up closer to his face.

He shrugged, "I'm just sayin I know how you are. If you keep it up with that temper of yours, you're gonna lose her."

"No I ain't." I spoke coldly, turning around to fully walk away.

There was a beat of silence before the faintness of his voice called out one last time, "Your girl has a heart of gold baby brother. Don't let her go." I heard him say as I walked out, only this time, I kept going.

My head shook in frustration as I couldn't stop myself from wondering why Merle suddenly cared so much about Rose. I didn't think they spent enough time around each other for him to open up to her and let her in so easily. Though I might've not known the reason behind it, what I did know is that Rose had us both wrapped around her little finger.

But the words Merle spoke stuck with me, about how I could lose her. Apart of me wanted to jump to that conclusion that he was cruelly messing with me yet again, but I couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was right in a way. He did know how bad my temper could be, but I would never scream at Rose the way Merle and I used to scream at each other. At least I hoped I wouldn't. I had never thought about it before now, before I had the nerve to take my frustrations out on her for what seemed like the very first time.

But the more I thought about it, the more worried I became. More than I would ever like to realize.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ROSE POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After some time had passed, I was still sat in the common room, Hershel and his girls joining me at the table after a while to talk. Although I found myself a little distracted, watching the double doors for Michonne as I knew she would come back inside after working out in the heat for most of the day. I wanted to catch her and take her off to the side, warn her like I had planned. But my loud thoughts were suddenly interrupted when I heard Hershel's voice ask if I would be okay with him reading from the bible during this horrific time. Perhaps to pray. I found I didn't mind at all, though I wasn't very religious anymore after the world went to shit.

I thought how cruel God must be if he cursed us so badly with this new world we were stuck with. But if I'm being honest with myself, I silently hoped that there was a chance that heaven was a real place. For the sole purpose that I would see all the people we've lost once again someday. Thinking about that alone gave me some peace of mind, and I would continue to think like that, in hopes that it would be true.

I held Beth's hand in my own as we all listened to the passage Hershel was reading, and for the first time in a while, I felt calm. I let myself forget about everything negative going on around us for a moment, letting some peacefulness in for once in a very long time.

But the older man suddenly stopped and placed the book back on the table, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he thought. I slowly reached over to grab his free hand as I looked up at him, "You okay?"

He looked at me and nodded, "What I wouldn't do...to keep you three safe." he said while looking at all of us, giving my hand a squeeze.

I knew exactly what he meant by that, catching the knowing glance he was throwing my way after the discussion we both witnessed earlier. His intentions were in the right place when it came time to protect our family, but the thing itself was just wrong, He and I both seemed to know that. Though I still took what he said to heart, seeing the honest love and protectiveness in his eyes from how he looked at the three of us. It filled me with comfort, and only made me think of the things I would do to keep him safe as well, right along with his two girls.

We then suddenly heard the door open, my head snapping up immediately as I nearly stood almost instinctively, but it was only Rick returning. Still, I felt I had to say something to perhaps sway his decision. Hershel and I seemed to share a look before I stood up to face him, to try and stop him from doing something that he might most defiantly regret.

I sighed as the man caught my eye, coming to a stop right in front of me, "Rick, what you're about to do-"

"I can't." he shook his head, "I won't." he whispered as he put a hand on my shoulder.

His words stunned me momentarily, not expecting him to say that at all, but the second they registered I was pulling him into me for a tight hug. He hesitated for a moment at the suddenness before wrapping his arms around me, chuckling lightly to himself.

"I thought about what you said, and you're right. You're absolutely right." he muttered quietly into my hair.

I nodded and let him go, "We'll find some other way, we have to. I'm just glad you changed your mind."

"I need to find Merle, tell him it's off." he said with a nod of his head.

"I'll come with you." I offered, following him as he began to move.

We made our way through each and every part of the prison, searching for him in the large and endless building. But as we passed each and every room with no sign of him, we quickly began to panic more and more. Not only had we not seen Merle, but we also hadn't spotted Michonne since she was outside helping a few others just merely minutes ago.

As we rushed back outside to make a loop around the building, Daryl was standing nearby, watching us pass in confusion.

"I can't do it," Rick informed him, "But we can't find Merle and Michonne anywhere, I'm thinking he already took her."

A look of panic passed through the man's eyes before he nodded back, "Come on." he muttered before jogging towards the tunnels.

The two of us followed behind him through the deep parts of the place, passing by almost every room before he entered the one towards the end, glancing around like he was retracing his steps, "He was in here, said he was lookin for drugs. Said a lot of things actually..." he muttered before glancing up at me.

"Like what?" Rick asked.

"That you were gonna back out, said you were gonna change your mind...and mentioned you a few times." Daryl mentioned, pointing to me.

I looked at him confused, "Me?"

He only nodded his head before moving further into the room, walking around furniture and heading toward the back, before he found something on the ground. There was a bag laying there, a little bit of blood coating the material as he picked it up in his grasp.

"Here we go. Yeah, he took her here, they mixed it up."

My heart dropped. "Damn it," Rick cursed, "I'm going after them." he stated before walking out towards the door leading to the outside, Daryl and I hot on his trail.

"You can't track for shit." I stated as I kept up with his long strides.

He turned around to face me, "...Then... I'll take you with me." he suggested.

"Nah, just me." Daryl suddenly protested as he shrugged his crossbow over his shoulders, "I said I'd go, and I'll go. Plus, when we come back here you need to be ready...everyone needs to be." he said before pushing the door open to leave.

I shook my head despite his protests and followed him out, but Rick stayed behind. He couldn't even argue or protest when it came to going after the man, knowing that he needed to tell everyone else what had happened.

My eyes followed him as I watched him make a beeline towards his bike, "Daryl, wait!" I called out before he was able to completely take off.

"Rose, you gotta stay here." he said, not stopping or turning around to face me.

Though I pushed myself to finally catch up to him, "You really want to go out there all by yourself?" I spoke as I grabbed his arm gently so we would both come to a stop.

"He's my brother, he's my responsibility. I don't wanna drag ya into this, I need ya here where it's safe." he stated.

I slowly nodded my head in understanding, knowing in the back of my mind that we were just wasting time going back and forth. There was still time for him to catch up to them, stop him before he did anything rash.

"M' sorry." he spoke again when a moment of silence passed.

"Don't worry about it...just come back safe, okay?" I spoke.

He nodded and kissed my cheek quickly before turning around, jumping on his motorcycle to go after Merle.

It made me uneasy to let him go out there by himself, but I knew he would be okay. I just hoped that he would catch up to them in time so that Merle didn't hand her over. I then slowly thought back to the opening that he and I talked about, about how we had come to an agreement to wait until I had spoken to Rick again before he made any moves. And this was how I found out that he just lied right through his teeth, not waiting for one moment before taking off with her without hesitation.

It made me angry, every single thing he did leading up to this point just made me utterly furious that he couldn't listen for once. But I knew there was nothing I could do about it now. All I was able to do was distract myself in any way that I could until they got back.

My feet eventually moved from the spot I was standing, waiting until I could no longer see or hear his bike roar before finally making my way back inside. I slowly dragged my feet through the common room and into the cellblock, passing by Beth's room as I saw her sitting down on her bed somewhat somberly.

I backtracked a few steps once I noticed, leaning against the doorway, "Hey honey, how're you holding up?" I asked from outside.

She looked up and smiled at me, "I'm okay. Well...as okay as I can be I guess." she muttered before patting the space next to her as she invited me to sit.

I smiled as I moved in further, "How are you holding up?" she asked just as I plopped down on the mattress.

A sigh passed my lips as I shrugged, "Just trying to be okay."

She nodded in understanding, "Yeah...seems like all we're doing these days is fighting and hoping we make it to see another day."

I hummed in agreement as I knew exactly what she meant. So much for the distraction I hoped for when I waltzed back in here. "I wish we could just...breathe. I wish we could finally be comfortable with where we are."

She stayed quiet for a second, thinking some things over before a small smile was brought to her face, "I wish we still had that guitar." she admitted jokingly.

I laughed quietly, "So do I. It was fun while it lasted."

She smiled in agreement, before it slowly fell from her face as she began to think back to everything else, somehow not being able to escape the thoughts for very long. I noticed her change in mood, quickly wrapping an arm around her and bringing her closer to me as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I hope it all works out okay." she spoke barely above a whisper as she gently grabbed my free hand.

"Me too." I whispered back, resting my head on top of hers as I closed my eyes.

We sat like that in silence for what only felt like minutes, before we both sat up a bit straighter upon hearing rushed footsteps that entered the cellblock, clearly in some kind of hurry. The two of us then slowly got up and peeked around the corner to see Maggie like she was on some type of mission, her eyes darting around endlessly before she spotted us together in the cell.

She quickly made her way closer to us with an unmistakable grin on her face as she stared at us, "What's up Mags?" I asked cautiously.

She said nothing as she only held her left hand out for us to see, the diamond ring glistening in the light as Beth and I caught on immediately. Her sister squealed as her eyes widened, taking her hand in hers as she examined every inch and angle of the new ring dangling off of her finger.

Maggie's eyes then traveled up to mine in excitement, watching as I just smiled knowingly, and her face dropped. "You knew didn't you." she accused.

"Well yeah," I said as if it were obvious, "Glenn's my best friend who else was he supposed to tell?"

She scoffed as she pushed my arm playfully, eventually letting me bring her into a hug as I whispered a congratulations, telling her how unbelievably happy I was for the two of them. She thanked the both of us as she beamed with joy, going into detail about how it happened and how nervous she could tell he was. It was something she would surely remember for the rest of her life, thankful that something good like this happened for once in what felt like forever.

Though her voice quieted down as we heard more footsteps entering the cellblock, Carol poking her head in with a smile as she bounced Judith on her hip, "Hey, sorry to interrupt but Rick wants us outside so he can talk to us about something."

We all nodded silently as we began to follow her out, knowing in the back of my mind that it was about Michonne, and he was about to come clean to the group. There really wasn't any other way around it, especially if people started to notice the missing members of the group, beginning to put it together themselves.

As soon as we walked outside where everyone else was gathered, I saw just how nervous he was as he paced in front of everyone that gathered around, waiting until we were all there before he even began to open his mouth. I flicked Carl's hat down as I passed him, glancing over my shoulder to see him sending me a playful glare before a small smile broke out onto his face, moving over to then sit next to Hershel. My elbows leaned down on the table in front of me as I followed his pacing steps, catching his eye as he finally worked up the courage to face us, sending him a nod of reassurance.

He only gave a barely noticeable nod in return before clearing his throat nervously, looking up at the others who eyed him expectantly. "When...I met with The Governor...he offered me a deal. He said- he said he would leave us alone, if I gave him Michonne." he said.

I managed to stop the laugh that threatened to escape my lips, leaning closer to Hershel to speak quietly, "I didn't know Dr. Seuss was talking to us." I whispered.

The man pressed his lips together tightly as the corners quirked up, before glancing over and giving me a look that told me to stay quiet. I leaned back with my mouth closed after that, knowing that sometimes humor helps in situations like this. I for one needed it more than I was willing to admit.

"And I was going to do that, to keep us safe," he continued, "I changed my mind...but now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl went after them. I don't know if it's too late. I was wrong not to tell you...and I'm sorry. What I said last year, that first night after the farm, it can't be like that. What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are, it can't be my call. It can't be..."

I took a moment to glance around at everyone in the small, formed circle, watching their expressions change drastically that Rick could even come up with a plan like this. Seeing them all begin to question everything as he struggled to find the right words.

"I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We're the reason we're still here...not me. This is life and death, how you live and how you die, it isn't up to me. I'm not your Govenor. We chose to go, we chose to stay, we stick together. We vote, we can stay, and we can fight...or we can go."

With his last remining words still hanging in the air, he began to walk away again, as if he couldn't look at all of them anymore. As if he couldn't handle the disapproving glances that were being thrown his way. The air was thick as he left, everyone silenced similar to the night right after we lost the farm, but this was different.

He was calm, willing to hear what we wanted instead of what he wanted, wanting everything from now on to be a unanimous decision. Rick saw what The Governor was doing, who that man became as he led his people, and I could tell it scared him. He didn't want to be like him, lead his people like that and turn into some kind of monster, but what he didn't realize, was that he was so far from that.

And without even realizing it, he proved just now how he could never get to that point. Being open and vulnerable, honest about the situation he was being put in, treating us like his family instead of just some people who looked to him for guidance.

But I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts, seeing Rick no longer walking away, but running towards the front gate. My concern only grew as I wordlessly got up from my spot and followed him, seeing who was coming up through the fences. I failed to hear the sound of Daryl's bike which only worried me more, but as I got closer, I watched as Michonne jogged through the open space Rick provided, stepping back as he shut the gate once more.

I picked up my pace drastically upon seeing that she was okay, barely giving her time to process my presence before I tackled her in a hug. She became frozen suddenly with her hands hovering over my back, before I felt her slowly relax as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

I only pulled away after merely seconds to get a better look at her face, "I'm so sorry...I tried to stop whatever happened from happening, but it just-"

"It's okay," she cut me off and gave me a small smile, "I'm okay."

"What happened?" Rick asked as he came closer to us.

She looked over at him, "Merle let me go. Said he had something to take care of."

My eyes widened, thinking of all the shit that man had probably gotten into. I slowly shook my head, "I'm going after them." I said, turning to walk towards the gate, before Rick quickly grabbed my arm to stop me.

"No, are you insane? You can't go out there by yourself, not with The Governor and his men walking around." he said sternly.

I ripped my arm away from him, "I don't care, Daryl is still out there! I can track him."

"What if he comes back and you're not here? Huh? What am I supposed to tell him?" he asked, stopping me again.

"If I'm not back in a few hours, then start to worry. But I need to make sure that they're okay." I said briefly before fully walking away, hearing and ignoring the calls of protest from behind me.

I didn't know how much time had passed; I didn't care. My eyes stayed firmly on the ground as I held my weapon tightly in my hands, passing his tire tracks ages ago along with his bike, now only focusing on his footprints that lingered. They were only becoming fresher, causing me to only push myself further to finally catch up and find him. Though I seemed to recognize the place immediately as I slowed my pace upon the familiarity, seeing that this was the same junked up place that Rick had met with The Governor.

I took in my surroundings with my bow raised, seeing the many dead walkers that were laying lifeless scattered all over the dirt. Something didn't feel right. Something hadn't felt right from the start but now that I was here, listening around but hearing nothing but silence, I was growing more worried.

My steps then came to a halt when I saw a certain walker that was pinned up against the trunk of a tree, a bolt sticking out of its head. The familiar black and green pattern on the ends told me that they were his and it only made the pit in my stomach grow further.

Getting the courage to finally peer around the corner, my heart instantly dropped at the sight as my weapon lowered to the ground. Daryl was placed firmly on his knees as his shoulders lightly shook, staring down at a walker that he had just taken down. Upon looking closer, I couldn't recognize its face from how bashed in and bloody it had become, but taking one glance down at Merle's familiar stump, I knew.

My heart shattered as I stood back, watching him cry for his brother right in front of me. My instinct was to rush over and comfort him as much as I could during something terrible like this, but I didn't know how he would react to me being here when he told me to stay back in the first place. I just pathetically stood frozen as my face fell the longer I processed what happened.

But after only a few seconds, I took a breath and began to walk over to him hesitantly, his head whipping over his shoulder as he heard my steps almost immediately. Tears were streaming down his cheeks when he looked at me, a gasp leaving his lips once his mind processed that it was actually me. He then wasted no time standing up to his feet, walking the rest of the way over to me and stopping right when our chests were about to touch.

"He... he-" he tried to speak, but a sob escaped his throat instead.

I just shook my head, silently telling him he didn't need to say a word before pulling him in for a hug. He instantly crashed into my arms and buried his face in my neck as he let out his quiet cries. My heart broke even more the second I was holding onto him, hearing how broken he sounded as I rubbed his back lightly.

This was the first time Daryl had ever cried in front of me and I was completely speechless. I couldn't think of the right words to say, all I could think about was the last things I said to the man, thinking and knowing how much he meant to Daryl. The familiar feeling of loss was all too heartbreaking.

"I'm sorry love. I'm so, so sorry." I whispered as I kissed the side of his head.

I felt him nod in appreciation, but he didn't move. We just stayed there in each other's arms, lightly rocking back and forth as he squeezed me tighter. I didn't care how long I stood there with him, because I wanted him to take all the time he needed. Knowing I was going to be here for him no matter what.

~ Thanks for reading!

Taglist - @welcumetomyescape @hayley1998 @justareader95

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon x oc #daryl dixon x original character #daryl dixon x female reader #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x reader #the walking dead daryl #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #twd daryl dixon #daryl twd #twd daryl #twd fanfiction #twd #norman reedus #norman reedus fanfiction #norman reedus x reader #desert rose

[d1xonss]

Hi! So recently I've been getting a lot more requests than I normally do, which is great! However, it will probably take me a while to get to all of them and I feel kind of guilty in a way that I can't write fast enough to get them out there. I don't want anyone to think I'm just ignoring them or anything, they're on the way, I promise! I just need some time lol, thank you all for being so patient xoxo - Ashie

#daryl dixon #norman reedus #the walking dead #daryl dixon the walking dead #daryl dixon x oc #ash speaks

[d1xonss]

Hi! I was thinking about a run that ends up being too long because of something like a heard , were Daryl and the reader have to stay the night in a library. The reader is a big fan of books and she knows a lot about literature (maybe you can say she was a student of a literature degree back before the outbreak). Daryl is like 'I've never really read any book' or 'noone read anybook for me when I was little' and reader ends up reading one of her favourites to him while he lays his head on her lap and she tuches his hair or something fluffy like that. Some of my favorite books include Carrie, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Lord of the Rings; just if you wanted inspiration for the book that she reads him.

I hope you like the idea!

Bedtime Stories

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Reader

✧ Era : Season 2 (time jump)

✧ Pronouns : she/her

✧ Genre : Fluff

✧ Word Count : 3.1k

AN ~ This idea is so cute, I love it! But I am sorry to the person who requested this because I took way longer to write this than I usually would. It’s just been sitting in my drafts for a while now, but I finally got around to writing out the idea. Thank you for being patient and I hope you enjoy!

Your lungs started to burn, your legs beginning to weaken as you continued to run as fast as you could, desperately trying to keep up as the two of you quite literally ran for your lives. Somehow the run you both volunteered to take just turned into one giant disaster, one thing falling apart after another.

It was the dead of winter, the group hopping from place to place ever since the loss of the farm, and everything always running low. All the supplies you managed to have saved went out the window in a flash, leaving you with almost nothing when you had numerous people to feed. So desperate times called for desperate measures, leading to you and Daryl leaving early that morning, trudging through the cold weather and into a small town nearby in hopes that they had at least something to bring back for the others. But luck wasn’t really on your side.

There were a couple small buildings the two of you came across, a few cans of food here and there that you could easily toss into your bags. Though none of it was nearly enough to feed all the people you had. The thought alone saddened you to no end, coming to the realization of how complicated everything was now that you were out on the road constantly. You found yourself not even really knowing how good you had it back when you had sanctuary, a safe place to sleep at night, food…it was all very frustrating.

But you knew you were preaching to the choir as everyone else was easily feeling the same way as you, defeated and exhausted twenty-four-seven now. Though that wasn’t necessarily the only thing going wrong at the moment. The group itself was much more tense than it ever was before, the whole atmosphere seeming to change ever since that night Rick broke down completely. The loss of Shane and Lori being pregnant was taking a toll on him that no one else could understand, leading to him taking it out on everyone else. A part of you almost wondered if you and Daryl subconsciously took this run on purpose just to get away from all of that for a few hours.

Though that wasn’t the only reason you wanted to go, another part of you wanted to be able to bring something back. You wanted to be the one to lift their spirits, hoping that you and Daryl would come across something that would bring back that light. But then again, luck wasn’t on your side.

Unbeknownst to the two of you as you searched, a large herd of walkers were slowly limping their way down the streets of the small town, making even more noise the closer they approached. Eventually you both perked up at the sudden familiar sounds, walking out of the building you were once in to see the group coming straight towards you, their jaws hanging and their arms stretched out with the intention to tear into you.

“Go.” was all Daryl said as he pushed you to run first, sprinting down the narrow streets in hopes to find somewhere to hide. Most of the stores you came across were completely locked up tight, and it was too late to turn back into the one you once occupied. So according to you, you were pretty much fucked. 

The two of you looked around frantically as you ran, adrenaline pumping through your system as your heart pounded roughly against your chest. There was close to nothing else around, nowhere else to shield yourselves behind as they slowly crept up closer, surprisingly fast with how slow they appeared to move. It now seemed that last bit of bad luck had wiped out all the hope that was left in your being.

That is until Daryl came across a door neither of you had tried before, tugging at it as it surprisingly flew open loudly. Relief filled your chest as you didn’t hesitate to book it inside the space, Daryl following in close behind you before he slammed the door shut again. The two of you then frantically looked around for only a moment, before shoving a few pieces of furniture near the double doors to block off the walkers that would surely try to push their way inside. As expected, they began to pound on the structure from the outside, sending the two of you flying back a few steps as you caught your breath, making sure they weren’t strong enough to push through.

Though after listening for a few passing seconds, it was clear they weren’t getting inside anytime soon, leaving you able to slightly relax as you hunched over to place your hands on your knees, your breathing still heavy.

Daryl noticed out of the corner of his eye, reaching out to place a hand on your shoulder, “You alright?”

You nodded as you stood back up straight, “Yeah…that was just…too close.” you sighed, running a hand stressfully through your hair.

He huffed, “Yeah…shit’s messy all over the damn place apparently.” he commented, clearly referring to how much had happened in the span of only about a month, or maybe two. You weren’t totally sure, but what you did know was that the whole thing felt like an eternity.

You found yourself wordlessly nodding in agreement, turning away from him momentarily as you grew curious as to where you had ended up. It had grown dark outside with how long the two of you stayed out searching, leading the place being completely pitch black as well. Nothing but a brief glimpse of moonlight shining through the small windows.

You reached back to the side of your backpack, pulling out your flashlight and flicking it on to see a plethora of bookshelves lined up in the large space, your face also seeming to light up in the process. It had been way too long since the last time you came across so many shelves stuffed full of mountains and mountains of books.

But apparently Daryl was less than amused, scoffing to himself as he looked around as well, “Great…we’re stuck inside some damn Barnes and Noble.”

You gave him a look, “It’s a library, Daryl.” you said in an unimpressed tone.

He raised an eyebrow towards you in response, “Yer tellin me there’s a difference?” he asked in amusement.

Your mouth parted to respond, but your mind came up blank as you slowly came to the realization that there really wasn’t much of a difference at all. He chuckled as he watched you grow silent, nudging your side before taking out his own flashlight. “You go ahead and take the left, I’ll take the right. Gotta make sure this place is safe.” he muttered before slowly walking off.

You followed his lead as you turned to head in the other direction, shining your light in different parts of the area to make sure there weren’t any lingering walkers nearby inside with the two of you. Though you couldn’t hear anything besides the corpses still banging on the outside, it was better to be safe than sorry. But everything was eerie and quiet as you passed by the many tall bookshelves, the scene itself almost making you more paranoid that something was going to just jump out at you out of nowhere. The area looked almost untouched however, causing you to smile a little to yourself at the thought of raiders and survivors just passing this place by because well…it was just a library. But you found yourself just the smallest bit excited, always knowing you were a bit of a bookworm at heart.

Your gaze continued to lazily scan the space for any danger, when all of a sudden, a certain section to your right caught your eye and made you stop in your tracks. The sign read in big blocked letters: Horror. That brought a big smile to your face as you found that was your favorite genre to read back when you actually had the time to read. You loved the thrill, the suspense, everything it had to offer as it left goosebumps on your skin. Something about those kinds of books always drew you in, in a way you couldn’t really understand.

The covers and titles easily had you distracted, hovering toward them just to take a peek at what this place had to offer. And to your surprise there were a fair amount of good finds. The Exorcist, Rebecca, Frankenstein, Salem’s Lot. You found yourself going deeper down the rabbit hole as your eyes scanned the spines of them thoroughly, wondering how many you would be able to actually fit in your bag to take back. Because the truth was you missed being able to read, wanting something simple like this again to pass the time like you used to.

“The hell you doin?”

You physically felt yourself jump out of your skin at his sudden presence, holding a hand up to your chest as you let out a shuddering breath. “Holy shit…don’t do that.” you said as you reached over to push his chest gently.

He laughed softly in response as he raised an eyebrow at you, “I can tell ya what yer not doin.” he hinted, “How’s the left side lookin?”

You shrugged, “It seems...safe enough…” you smiled sheepishly.

“Uh huh.” he muttered.

“I got distracted, okay?” you said with a light laugh before your gaze fell back on where you were once looking, “I mean I can’t even remember the last time I saw this many books.”

The man paused for a minute as he watched your expression, how it seemed to light up even more in the darkness as you looked back to all the covers you still had yet to pick through. A sense of fondness washed over him as he watched you obviously gush over something you were passionate about. He wanted you to speak more about it, wanting to listen to your voice go on and on about the things you loved most about them, but he was almost too embarrassed to ask.

Though after a few moments of silence, his frame leaned up against the shelf to his left as he continued to stare, “Didn't know you were a reader.” he commented.

You shrugged as you didn’t break your gaze away from the book you pulled out to look at, “I guess I just never mentioned it…” you trailed off as you read the short summary on the back, before placing it up in it’s place again, “But I used to read all the time. What about you, you got any favorites?” you asked as you looked back towards him with a small and exciting smile.

It was an innocent question really, but all Daryl could do was pathetically shrug, not really wanting to go into depth about the real answer.

But you tilted your head at him as you wanted to know, genuinely growing curious, “Oh come on. You have to at least have one.” 

Daryl scoffed as he looked back up to you, “I…I ain’t ever really…” he trailed off again before letting out a harsh sigh, “Look, I ain’t ever read anythin before, alright? I don’t got no favorite.”

You were slightly taken aback, almost not believing him at first. But his face and tone were nothing but serious, showing you that he was telling the truth about having not read a single book in his life. “...Really?” you asked softly, “Not even in school or anything?”

He huffed out a small chuckle, “Ya mean when I actually went ta school? Yeah…don’t really think readin was at the top of my priority list.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, “Okay, fine. But seriously, no one ever read anything to you? Not even your…”

The two of you froze when you trailed off, though it was obvious what you were about to say. You knew of his past, how hard things were on him when he was a kid, you honestly didn’t even mean to let that last part slip as if you had forgotten. You hadn’t. But now you just wished you could take it all back as you felt ashamed and utterly embarrassed, a part of you also feeling terrible that he had never had that kind of comfort before.

In your childhood home, it was somewhat of a nightly routine that your parents would read you a short story every night before bed. You always loved that part, getting all snuggled up while your eyes slowly fluttered closed, hearing the soothing sound of their voices as they spoke until you were fast asleep. Now realizing that Daryl had never even had a sliver of that, brought a small frown to your face. But in a way, it also made you a little determined to make it up to him somehow.

Your eyes slowly trailed back to the bookshelf for a moment or two, before your eyes widened ever so slightly when you caught a glimpse of an all too familiar title. Carrie by Stephen King was one of your favorite books of all time, the plot being so interesting it left you at the edge of your seat as you went on. It was almost like some sort of sign to you as an idea formed in your head.

“Well…” you spoke quietly as you reached up to grab it, “It looks like we could be stuck in here for a while.” you mentioned, jutting your thumb back towards the doors where the walkers were still lingering. “What if I read to you?”

His eyes whipped back up to look at you, his face almost unreadable as he processed what you had just said. At first he wanted to decline, not because he didn’t want to hear the gentleness of your voice reading aloud to him, that sounded like a damn dream. But he didn’t want you to do something like this out of guilt, like you pitied him for not having that kind of luxury you used to have. It honestly wasn’t that big of a deal, something he hadn’t really thought about until now. But not even he could deny that as he stewed over it, he found himself missing out on something else from his childhood that he could never get back.

“Nah,” he shook his head as he stood up a bit straighter, “You don’t gotta do that, it’s alright.” he assured.

But your brows furrowed as you shook your head, “But I want to. I think it’ll be…nice.” you said honestly, wanting to reassure him that you actually wanted to do this.

He took in a breath as he studied your facial expression, seeing you were truly being genuine and sincere, and that warmed his heart more than you were able to imagine. You truly were the sweetest person he had ever met, constantly treating him with kindness ever since you had first met. And that only made his tough exterior soften in an instant.

“Alright…if you’re sure…” he finally agreed hesitantly.

You smiled brightly at him, “I’m sure.” you promised, nodding your head back for him to follow you to find a place to sit for the time being. Neither of you knew how long you would be trapped in here. A few hours? Overnight? You weren’t sure, but one thing you did know was that the two of you did not want to go back to the group just yet. You could almost feel the tension radiating from all the way over here when they were miles and miles away.

The flashlight in your hand shined down towards a spot where there were a few cushioned seats, causing you to pick the one placed in the corner before you plopped down, removing the bag from your shoulders in the process. As your body was turned away for just a brief moment, you then felt Daryl sit down beside you, before he adjusted himself to where his head was gently resting in your lap. Your eyes quickly glanced back down to look at him, catching the small smile he had on his face as he stared up at you softly. You couldn’t help but smile back, shaking your head a little to try and focus. But it was hard to do when his eyes were piercing, so clearly full of gentleness and care.

“Okay, so this right here is a classic.” you said as you pointed to the cover, “It’s one of my favorite horror novels, and I actually think you’ll really like it.”

His eyes moved over the cover as he nodded along, “Do I get ta hold yer hand if I get scared?” he suddenly teased with a small smirk.

You laughed quietly, “Sure, tough guy, you can hold my hand.”

He chuckled lightly as he nodded, watching you intently as you opened up the book, using the light of the flashlight you placed behind you to be able to see the tiny words on the pages. You squinted a little at first, before your soft voice began to read out loud to him, already feeling himself relax a little more at something so simple. If he was being completely honest with himself, he didn’t really care what you were reading. You could be reciting words from the English dictionary for all he cared. There was just something about hearing your voice in general that sent a wave of peace through him.

Eventually as the minutes flew by with the two of you engrossed in the events happening, your other hand traveled down to his hair, running your fingers through it gently. Daryl felt his heart flutter in his chest at the mindless action, almost as if it was second nature to you, making his eyes involuntarily close as he sighed deeply. He hadn’t felt this calm, this comforted by someone he cared about deeply in quite a long time. In fact, he seemed to question to himself if he ever had this feeling. The realization seemed to hit him then, but he almost didn’t care. He was just happy he had someone in his life now that was willing to give him all of that and more.

You noticed quickly however how his breathing seemed to change as he still laid beneath you, your eyes moving down to look at his face and see that he had fallen asleep after only barely getting through about three chapters. A small smile stretched across your face, closing the book and placing it back down beside you as your hand continued to gently run through the locks of his thick hair. Your eyes moved over the calm features of his face, taking in the fact that you had given him something that you once used to cherish. The unwinding feeling of someone reading you to sleep.

“Thank you…” his voice suddenly spoke quietly, moving to get even more comfortable in your lap as he drifted off.

In an instant your eyes seemed to glisten with tears at the simple gratitude, seeing how precious he really was. “Of course.” you whispered back, blinking away your tears as you hesitated for a moment, before leaning down to place a soft kiss on his forehead.

And after that night you two spent together, you found yourself always trying to do the little things for him to make him feel safe. Because those were the things you found that mattered the most.

~ Thanks for reading!

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[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Series Masterlist ~ Seasons 1-5

✧ Media : The Walking Dead

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x OC

✧ Status : Ongoing

Warnings : Mentions of blood, death, gore, swearing, sex, violence, etc.

Prologue ~ When a zombie apocalypse breaks out and wipes over half of the population, Rose is left alone to take on this new world as it unfolds. She knew it would be difficult, for things to not work out the way they once did, turning in ways she never would've expected. But what she really didn't expect was to come across more survivors like her. Not only that, but the journey that would come right along with it.

Disclaimer ~ This is a fan fiction I wrote that follows the TV show The Walking Dead, Seasons 1-11. This mainly follows the entirety of the plot of the show, but there will be little changes here and there that I've added on my own. There may be some disturbing topics in some chapters, but there will always be a warning at the top before you read. I don’t own any of the characters in the series except for my OC. As of now the story is not complete, but there will be weekly updates. Let me know if you would like to be added to the taglist!

Hope you enjoy!

Season 1 ~ Moodboard

Chapter 1 - Introductions

Chapter 2 - Who the hell are you?

Chapter 3 - Opening up

Chapter 4 - One long day

Chapter 5 - Decisions

Chapter 6 - Metallica

Chapter 7 - Overthinking

Chapter 8 - Panic Room

Season 2 ~ Moodboard

Chapter 9 - Sophia?

Chapter 10 - Darkness

Chapter 11 - The Farm

Chapter 12 - Cherokee Rose

Chapter 13 - Hey Stranger

Chapter 14 - Thank you

Chapter 15 - Heart Attack

Chapter 16 - It ain't like that

Chapter 17 - Guitar lessons and confessions

Chapter 18 - Gone

Chapter 19 - Goodbye

Chapter 20 - Stay

Chapter 21 - Randall

Chapter 22 - Scars

Chapter 23 - Broken

Chapter 24 - Good Mourning

Chapter 25 - The Herd

Chapter 26 - Reunited

Season 3 ~ Moodboard

Chapter 27 - New Beginnings

Chapter 28 - Stranger Danger

Chapter 29 - Shit happens

Chapter 30 - Three little words

Chapter 31 - Happy Birthday

Chapter 32 - Avoiding Me

Chapter 33 - Woodbury

Chapter 34 - Come with me

Chapter 35 - Hey Jude

Chapter 36 - The Attack

Chapter 37 - Welcome Back

Chapter 38 - Worries and Apologies

Chapter 39 - Going to War

Chapter 40 - The Deal

Chapter 41 - Peace

Season 4 ~ Moodboard

Chapter 42 - Wildflower Wildfire

Chapter 43 - The Honeymoon Phase

Chapter 44 - Little Things

Chapter 45 - All Good things Must come to an End

(Coming soon!)

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[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 39 ~ Going to War

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 3

✧ Word Count : 5.4k

In this chapter ~ The realness of the situation sets in for the group as Rick decides to sit down with The Governor, to go over the things that desperately needed to be discussed. But it doesn't all go according to plan.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ROSE POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been about a week since Andrea showed up at the prison to talk to us, and now I was sitting outside of an abandoned junkyard, thinking to myself about how the fuck I ended up here.

After Rick and the others returned from their run, surprisingly bringing back the amount of guns and bullets we needed, we all started to prepare more for the major storm coming our way. But what seemed to surprise me the most was Rick coming to some sort of agreement to meet with The Governor himself. Just like Andrea advised and influenced from the start. However, it genuinely shocked me to my core that after all Rick's big talk about killing this man and taking back what was ours, he was willing to sit down and have some coffee and baked goods, while they talked about the war they both wanted to start. I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around it.

My eyes scanned our surroundings out of the windshield, not seeing any movement whatsoever, but the feeling I had was telling me something very different. The minute we pulled up to the location, Rick and Daryl took their weapons and scoped out the area, leaving Hershel and I nervously waiting for their return as we pathetically sat back in the running car. My anxiety was slowly beginning to skyrocket the longer they were gone, leaving me clueless as to what was happening. I didn't want to be anywhere near this man to begin with, and now knowing that the two of them were out there beyond where we could see was worrying me.

Though the older man could clearly sense my uneasiness, glancing over at me as I couldn't seem to sit still. "They'll be okay." he reassured me.

I let out a breath, "You don't know that." I responded, my eyes staying firmly in front of me. "I mean, this man is kind of a psychopath and we just sent two of our guys back there blindly."

He then grew silent. The fact that he didn't say anything back to me after that, like I had a point, wasn't making me feel any better.

After a few lingering minutes of sitting in silence, I finally had enough and opened my door to step outside of the vehicle. I quickly saw Hershel about to protest but I held my hand up to stop him, while my other hand gripped a machine gun tightly.

"I'm not going anywhere; I just need to stand for a second." I told him, watching him not in return.

Theoretically though, I could just go after them. I mean what's he going to do? …Run after me? Although just as I was thinking about actually taking off to go check on them, Daryl came back from around the corner, and I sighed in relief.

"He's already in there, sat down with Rick." he informed us once he was close enough.

My eyes widened a little in surprise, not being able to recall a single other vehicle or even a glimpse of movement since we showed up. "Really?" I asked.

He only nodded in response, Hershel sticking his head out and glancing around once more at the trees that seemed to move with the breeze. "I don't see any cars." he voiced out loud.

"Yeah…it don't feel right, just keep it runnin." Daryl told him before looking back at me, "You get ready to hop on the bike if things go south."

I silently nodded my head as it all fell silent once again, the two of us leaning against the car as we waited. The area itself was oddly quiet, the feeling it left behind was far from safe as I felt uncomfortable being so out in the open while Rick was already along with him. My gaze stayed strictly on our surroundings, even glancing over my shoulder every once in a while in suspicion.

"Look, I know Rick's here to just talk with him, but couldn't we just…" I trailed off, taking my gun and pretending to fire it.

"Believe me…I thought bout it." Daryl muttered.

Suddenly, our heads all whipped to the right at the sound of a few loud vehicles approaching us through the grass. Daryl and I didn't hesitate to aim our weapons at the cars, while Hershel hopped out of the driver's seat and then aimed his right alongside us. My eyes squinted as I attempted to look through the tinted windows as they slowly came to a halt, not being able to see a damn thing through the darkened glass. That is until the car doors finally opened, two men jumping out right alongside Andrea as she managed to send us a small smile. Though it quickly dropped once she saw the scowls on our faces instead.

"What the hell, why's yer boy already in there?" Daryl asked.

Her face dropped as she walked forward, "He's here?"

Daryl only nodded, watching as she sighed and muttered something under her breath, before making her way back to butt into their conversation which made me roll my eyes at the thought. She wanted peace, all of us could clearly see that, but she just had to be a part of everything and that's what seemed to annoy me the most.

Eventually after a bit of time passed, we all lowered our weapons and just sat there bored out of our minds and in the most painfully awkward silence you could imagine. I mean these are the people who we just shot at a week ago, and now we're just hanging out as if it didn't happen at all. But then again, I couldn't even imagine how Rick was feeling right now since he was the one actually trying to have a civil conversation with the enemy. However I didn't necessarily mind the strangers presence as for once it seemed to be decent. But my opinion quickly seemed to change after only a short span of a few minutes.

I easily noticed one of the men couldn't seem to stop staring at me every chance he got, tilting his head to the side as he studied me. Anytime I would catch him, I would just stare back at him coldly until he found the decency to look somewhere else. There was a smugness about him that I didn't like, one that I couldn't bring myself to get over, and it was driving me up a wall.

"Maybe I should go in there." Hershel suddenly suggested.

The other man with the glasses, writing things down in a notebook was the one who spoke up without even taking his eyes off the page. "The Governor thought it best if he and Rick spoke privately."

I scoffed, "Then why the fuck is Andrea in there right now?"

Both men just stared at me blankly in response, I just slowly nodded my head with my lips pressed together at the fact that they didn't have an answer for me. But the answer was clear, it was because she couldn't just mind her own business for once. She was the one who set this shit up, I'll give her that, but she wanted to be a part of it so badly that it was almost too pathetic.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked the man after a beat of silence.

"Milton Mamet." he responded.

Daryl scoffed and bumped my elbow with his, "Great, he brought his butler."

I couldn't help the snort that escaped my lips and I quickly put a hand over my mouth to laugh silently. Daryl quickly began softly chuckling beside me at his own joke, while I wordlessly held out my hand to give him a high five. He slapped his hand on mine and held it for a moment before letting it go, glancing back up at the men to see they were far from amused. But that honestly just made it even funnier.

"I'm his advisor." he corrected as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Yeah? What kind of advice?" I asked.

He sighed, "Planning, biters, uh…you know, I'm sorry I don't feel like I need to explain myself to the henchmen and some harlot."

My mouth slightly dropped at his words, "Hey, you better watch yer mouth sunshine." Daryl said without missing a beat.

I couldn't help but scoff to myself, "Wow, big talk coming from a guy like you. But the thing is, I would hit a guy with glasses so you better keep yourself in check." I warned.

Milton seemed to gulp as his eyes widened ever so slightly, but the other man wasn't having it as he huffed out a breath at the two of us. "Alright look, if we're going to be out here, pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor and keep both of your mouths shut."

"No, I don't think I will," I suddenly stood up straighter, coming closer to his frame as I spoke, "Cause you're too much of a creep to keep your eyes off of me for five seconds, you're lucky I'm just talking. Now do us all a favor, and keep your eyes to yourself before I take them out and shove them down your fucking throat."

He looked taken aback for a second as he stared at me, seeing how serious I was. "Stop. We don't need this. If it all goes south in there, we'll be at each other's throats soon." Hershel spoke up from behind me.

I eyed the man up and down for a long moment, "Not soon enough." I muttered before finally backing off.

Daryl looked tense as I stepped back over next to him, eyeing the man for a moment longer than I did as if he was trying to prove some kind of point. I leaned against the front end of the vehicle once more with a breath, the awful silence overtaking us again.

That is until Daryl leaned over to whisper in my ear, "That was hot."

I scoffed as I saw him smirk at me, "It was supposed to be intimidating."

"It was…that's why it was hot." he whispered back.

"Hm." I muttered in understanding, winking at him before looking back across at the man I just threatened moments ago. His eyes were already on the ground, looking nowhere near me as my voice clearly repeated the phrase I spat a few times in his mind. Glad I got the message across somehow.

Almost hours seemed to pass by in silence after the whole encounter. It was clear that none of us really wanted a fight, not wanting to have to do any more damage than there already was. But in the end, it was clear it wasn't going to work out the way we hoped.

The only movement that happened between all of us was Andrea coming back out, joining the rest of us in silence and looking utterly defeated, her expression alone telling the rest of us that she had obviously been kicked out. I couldn't help but smirk a little to myself at that, seeing her finally start to understand what the rest of us have been seeing for weeks.

She was trying, reaching for something so hard and it just wasn't working, leaving her feeling hopeless as we all were there to witness it. Watching her slowly figure out that it wasn't going to work out the way she wanted it to.

Though finally, someone seemed to speak up. "There's…no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves." the butler suggested.

The other man piped up as if it were an instinct, "The boss said sit tight, and shut up."

"Don't you mean The Governor?" Daryl scoffed.

Butler ignored them and continued, "It's a good thing that they're sitting down to talk, especially after what happened. They're going to work it out, no one wants another battle."

My brows furrowed, "I don't think anyone would call this thing a battle."

"I would, and I did. I recorded it." he replied.

Daryl looked at him confused, "For what?"

He shrugged, "Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through, it'll be a part of our history." he explained.

"…That makes sense." Hershel said with a small smile.

Butler's eyes lit up as he noticed someone understood his point of view, but the sounds of snarling caught all of our attention before he got the opportunity to say anything else. I immediately moved forward toward the noise, seeing Daryl and the other man following me out of the corner of my eye. They were very clearly a good distance away, but just close enough where we should take care of them. Though I briefly saw Andrea step up from her place to follow after us, but I paused and held out my hand for her to stop.

"No, you should keep an eye on your little boyfriend. He might go bullet crazy again." I muttered before following behind the two guys.

I heard her scoff from behind me, yet she didn't follow. Part of me believed she knew I was right. My steps quickened a bit as I caught up to them just in time to see they found the walkers, but neither one of them had made an attempt to kill them.

Daryl looked toward the man, "After you." he gestured.

"No way, you first." he scoffed with a point of his baseball bat.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh for the love of God." I muttered as I shoved past the two of them, taking out my bow to aim, before hitting the walker right in between the eyes with an arrow.

As I went to retrieve it, I heard the man mutter, "Pussy." to Daryl before making his way over to the other walkers that were coming at us.

He brushed past me and did a few fancy twirls with his bat before slamming it in a walker's head against the metal structure to its left, causing the blood to splatter everywhere. He looked back at us with a cocky smile but I saw Daryl shrug from right beside me, telling him he wasn't impressed.

Daryl then spotted the next walker and took out his crossbow to aim, hitting the walker in the head with a bolt. They both just looked at each other with a glare, competing for dominance? Or something? I honestly don't understand men, and probably never will.

Though we all turned our heads to see one final walker limping our way, and it was humorous seeing the two rush over to try and be the one to kill it first. I just scoffed and took one of my knives, carefully aiming between their retreating figures before throwing it sharply and successfully killing the walker in an instant.

They both froze before their heads whipped back towards me, and I only shrugged, "I win." I stated with a smile as I pushed past them to retrieve my knife from the walker's head.

A small smirk was brought to Daryl's face, before he quickly got down low to the ground, searching the walker's pockets for anything good. I felt the other man's eyes boring into the side of my head as I stood back up to place the knife back on my hip and I turned back to face him, but this time he spoke.

"You handle yourself well." he stated with a nod of his head.

I slowly nodded in return, eyeing him somewhat awkwardly, "You kind of have to these days." I spoke before placing my bow back around my shoulders.

Daryl then let out a small sound of surprise, turning around with pleased eyes at the things he had found. "Look what he's got." he said while dangling a carton of cigarettes from his fingers.

My eyes lit up, "No shit, hand me one." I said while holding my hand out.

He looked back over at me, slightly shocked with a cigarette already between his lips, "You smoke?"

"Only when I was stressed, and believe me the time is now." I replied, wiggling my fingers for emphasis so he would finally hand one over.

He chucked quietly as he took out one and handed it to me, taking out the lighter from his pocket and raising it up to his own that was placed in between his teeth. I placed mine in between my lips and reached out for the lighter, but instead, he gently grabbed my face and pulled me in while he held up the small flame lit the cigarette himself. I smiled up at him as he did so and he returned the gesture, before letting go of me and placing the lighter back in his pocket.

"You army or somethin?" Daryl suddenly asked the man.

"Nah, just- just hate these things. After what they did to my wife, my kids…" the man trailed off.

I inhaled the smoke suddenly, beginning to feel sorry for the man after the subtly of his words. He seemed like an asshole, the pride in his demeanor slipping through the cracks, but before all this he was just a regular guy with a family. These days you almost forget about things like that, who people used to be.

"Sucks." was all Daryl said, earning somewhat of a nod of appriciation from him.

We stood there in silence for a few moments before he spoke up again, "This is a joke right? They ain't gonna work anything out. Sure, they'll do their little dance, but the next day, they'll give the word."

The two of us nodded in agreement, hearing someone actually say the obvious out loud. "We know." I said.

He slowly nodded in return, gesturing suddenly for Daryl to hand over a cigarette to him as well, finally giving in as I saw my opening to head back, "Hey, I'm going to head back…check on Hershel." I said as placed my hand on Daryl's arm.

"Alright." he muttered, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze before dropping it so I could walk away.

I turned on my heel to head back, walking around the corner of the scraps and metal as I took a deep inhale of the smoke. But the man's voice continued to echo around me as he spoke up again.

"That's your girl?" he asked.

I paused my movements momentarily as I stayed in place, the curiosity creeping up to see where this was going as my brows furrowed a little. "…Yeah." Daryl rasped after a moment.

There was another beat of silence, before the man spoke again. "Just some advice…don't let her go. You'll have no idea how special she is until you lose her." he stated.

I felt my heart drop a little, hearing the sadness in his voice I could tell his words were more than genuine. But Daryl stayed quiet for a minute, almost as if he wasn't sure what to say. Until I heard the faintness of his voice speak again.

"Already lost her once…ain't plannin on doin it again."

A slow smile was brought back to my face, raising the cigarette back up to my lips as I slowly began to walk away as if I hadn't heard a thing.

By the time I had made it back, Daryl and the man not too far behind me, nothing had changed whatsoever. They were still in there talking about anything and everything under the sun it seemed like, my concern only growing at what was taking so long. At this point I was just inches away from either killing him, or myself.

But as soon as that thought crossed my mind, The Governor and Rick stormed out of the old wooden structure and around the corner, both looking fumingly angry. Daryl looked over at me and nodded once to get on his bike with him, and I didn't hesitate to move, tossing the weapons in the back of the car before beelining it towards the motorcycle. He hopped on first before holding his hand out to me to help me get on right behind him.

I glanced back up once everything was secure, seeing everyone scatter to get into their own vehicles in a rush before Andrea had an obvious debate about who to go with. It surprised me, seeing her actually thinking for once, but in the end, she followed after her boyfriend like a little lost puppy. It's safe to say that her decision affected all of us, knowing now where she stood even after everything.

Daryl then started up the engine, taking the lead to head off back to the prison in a flash with Rick and Hershel following behind. Although I didn't turn around to look, I could practically feel The Governor watching us all drive away with an evil glint in his eye.

It didn't take very long, a split second it seemed like before we were heading back through the prison gates, the rest of the group slowly making their way outside when the roar of the motorcycle coming closer to the building. Their faces held obvious worry they watched us pull up and step out to face them, praying any of us to say something. But Rick only spoke once, saying that we would talk about it inside before he ushered everyone back inside, feeling their anxiety rising as they were itching to hear every small detail about what happened out there. I even found myself in the same boat, wanting to know what happened at the end that caused us to leave so suddenly.

It's not like I was expecting an after party, but that particular exit left an unsettling feeling in my stomach.

We all waited around in utter silence back in the cellblock, watching Rick pace back and forth trying to piece together exactly what he wanted to say. The fact that it was taking this long to begin with was already making me nervous as I began to subtly fidget with my hands.

But finally, he spoke up, "So I met this Governor, sat with him for quite a while."

"Just the two of you?" Merle asked from my left. Rick looked toward him before slowly nodding his head. "Should've gone when we had the chance man." he muttered with a shake of his head.

"He wants the prison," Rick continued, "He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead, for what we did to Woodbury…We're going to war."

At that, a shiver ran down my spine as goosebumps riser on my skin. But I was ready. I was scared to lose any of these people standing in this room with me, leaving me worried of the outcome. But I was ready. I knew we had to fight, we knew that from the beginning. But hearing Rick say those words just made everything a little more real to me, to all of us.

I looked around at everyone's expressions and they were all the same. Terrified. They were utterly terrified for the things that we would have to do, the things we would have to see and experience. But more importantly, they were terrified of the things that they would actually feel. To potentially feel and grieve the loss of someone close, that's what we were all terrified of.

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw Merle hesitate for a moment, before placing a sympathetic hand on my shoulder, looking over to nod to his brother before slowly making his way out of the cellblock to process everything on his own. I could tell the man felt a little guilty, feeling somehow this had something to do with him because of his history with The Governor in the first place. But that was far from the truth.

The rest then began to slowly spread out to think this over however they needed to, feeling Daryl wrap his arm around my shoulders gently and place a short kiss on my temple. I subconsciously leaned more into his touch as I glanced around at everyone again, but then my eyes landed on Glenn. He gave me a worried look as he stared, before nodding his head in the direction of his cell and I slowly found myself slipping away from Daryl for a moment to follow him.

Once we were completely alone, Glenn pulled me into a tight hug and I immediately reciprocated as I let out a quiet sigh. Neither one of us needed to say anything, knowing that we were both feeling a type of fear that couldn't be described. It was such a weird thing to comprehend, but it wasn't something we could avoid now.

"I feel like I just got you back…I don't want to lose you again." he whispered in my hair.

I nodded, "I know." was all I was able to say, feeling him giving me another gentle squeeze before pulling away from me as he reached back in his jean pocket.

I grew confused as I watched him, seeing him then take my hand in his, placing something delicate in my palm and I glanced down to see it was a necklace. It had a longer black, adjustable string, and a simple small, dark crystal in the middle of it. The stone was a little jagged, uneven in certain places, but yet it was still abstract and beautiful.

Before I could even open my mouth to ask any questions, he spoke first. "I've had this necklace for a long time, like I'm talking before the apocalypse long time." he chuckled, "I've always worn it under my shirts and stuff, but it was always there and for some reason this has always been important to me…and I want you to have it."

I shook my head almost instantly, "Wait, what? Why-" I began to ask.

"Because we don't know what's going to happen out there. And if I don't-"

"Don't," I interrupted, shaking my head at him, "Nothing is going to happen to you."

He sighed, "If I don't make it…I want you to have something to remember me by, okay? Just wear it, keep it close. It's kind of just a reminder that you're never getting rid of me." he laughed lightly.

I slowly shook my head again, "I don't want to get rid of you…but you should give this to Maggie, I mean she should-"

"I'm giving her this," he said while pulling out the engagement ring he showed me not too long ago, "I want you to both have something special, you're the two most important people in my life. Ro, you're my best friend."

A lump formed in my throat as I pulled him in for another hug, the necklace still clutched tightly in my hand, "And you're mine." I spoke quietly.

We held onto each other for a few more moments before he gently pulled away and took the necklace out of my hand, "Turn around." he said softly.

I did as he asked, turning to face away from him as I moved my hair to the side. He placed the jewelry over my head, adjusting the string in the back to where it sat perfectly in the middle of my chest. I turned back around to smile at him, raising my hand up to mindlessly play with the stone as I repeated the importance behind it in my head.

"Thank you," I said, "But are you sure?"

He smiled and nodded, "Of course."

I only nodded in response, silently wishing I had something to give back to him, something important, but no object or material came to mind. But then it all hit me when I remembered something in my sketchbook, briefly telling him to wait there while I walked up the stairs and grabbed it for him.

I rushed into the cell in search for the piece of paper that had been more than important to me ever since I first had the idea. It came to me randomly out of sheer boredom, but the more time I put into it, the more I loved it. When I finally spotted the sketch still sitting in the same place among the other pages, I scanned over it one last time before heading back down to give it to him.

The image was a drawing I had been working on for a little while, one of me and Glenn. I drew out the both of us sitting together on a log, with a fire going directly in front of us, similar surroundings to the camp back in Atlanta when I first met him. It was the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking of some kind of gift to give him in return, mainly because I was planning on giving it to him anyway when it was fully done. But now was as good as time as any.

As I walked back in, I told him to close his eyes as I placed the paper delicately in his hands, "Okay, open."

He did and instantly looked down at the paper in awe, "I've been drawing this for a little bit, just whenever I had some free time. I was planning to paint it with the watercolors, but I figured why not give it to you now since you gave me something so special."

His gaze traveled around the many details as he took it all in, "I love it," he breathed while finally looking at me, "It's amazing, thank you Ro."

"I know it's not the self-portrait I promised you, but-"

"This is better." he assured, instantly bringing me close to wrap me up in another hug.

I smiled and hugged him back, silently taking the time to memorize this moment. Now we both had something special from the other, but I was praying that neither one of us would have to look at these things differently when this war was all said and done. I wanted all of us to make it through this so badly, but I almost had to remind myself that this world is not kind, and I couldn't count on that. I just had to cherish these moments I had with these people as much as I could.

We stood there for a few more moments in each other's arms before eventually breaking away to leave the space. He wanted to check on Maggie and Beth, and I found myself in that boat right along with him as I thought of Daryl.

I headed out of the cellblock to try and find him, my first instinct was to look for him somewhere outside. But I had come to realize I couldn't find him anywhere in the space. I checked off almost every single place around the building besides the tunnels, yet still couldn't find him and apparently no one had seen him since the discussion.

Walking back into our room slightly defeated and worried, I then saw him sitting down on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. My mouth slightly dropped at how stupid I felt, looking back to realize that he probably made his way back up here after I grabbed the drawing for Glenn. So much for the marathon I just ran around this building.

But I noticed his whole body seemed rigid and tense, breathing slightly heavier to himself as I could tell his mind was racing beyond repair. "I can feel you overthinking from here." I voiced with a small smile on my face.

He looked up slightly at my sudden presence, but didn't say a word as he moved his gaze back down to continue to stare at the floor. I frowned as I moved further into the room, slowly taking a seat next to him on the edge of the bed as I tried to figure out what was wrong. But it didn't take a genius to guess.

"You won't." I said in a soft voice.

He looked up at me confused, "Wha?"

"You won't lose me again." I assured, perfectly capable of reading his mind and seeing the worry line only increasing on his forehead.

He breathed in and out deeply with a heavy sigh, "Ya don't know that."

I tilted my head a bit at him with narrowed eyes, "What happened to my oh so confident man when I was panicking like this?" I asked.

He scoffed, "I don't know…now that it's actually happening…it makes it more real, ya know?" he asked as he finally gazed back up to look at me. I nodded in understanding, and he continued on, "Look, whatever happens, however we plan ta do this, can ya just…stick with me the whole time?"

"I'd follow you anywhere." I stated like it was a fact.

His whole body relaxed hearing his own words repeated back to him, "Ya promise?"

"On my body and soul." I promised.

He finally gave in as he heard me speak the only thing that he wanted to hear. The only thing that he needed to hear. He brought me into his chest tightly as he sighed at the feeling of my body suddenly wrapped around his. I could almost feel the panic and fear leaving him the moment he realized that I wouldn't be going anywhere. Not without a fight.

~ Thanks for reading!

(I've also been wanting to make a taglist for this series so let me know if you want to be added!)

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