𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚞𝚗 ☼ 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚢𝚕 𝙳𝚒𝚡𝚘𝚗

xᴠ. ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴏʀ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ

You woke up to the feeling of warm breath tickling the back of your neck, and an arm resting heavily over your waist. It took you a few seconds to recognise your surroundings, flickering open your eyes softly to be met by the greyish walls and metal slats of the top bunk above you. You reached a hand carefully to your face, rubbing the remainders of sleep from your eyes. As you did so, you felt your skin brush against the arm that held you close - the warmth from it radiating over your stomach. It shocked you, not used to the sensation of being pressed against someone from the moment you woke up.

You were warm; that was what seemed strangest about the situation. Most mornings you'd wake up and pull your blanket tightly around you, curling up to keep in the heat. This time, however, you felt comfortable without having to do that. The covers had slipped off you a bit during the night, and your collar line was now exposed. Yet, you didn't feel a chill prickle at your skin. Instead, you became acutely aware of the chest pressed flush against your back, keeping you warm, and the face buried in the crook of your neck.

Staring at the stone wall directly in front of you, you let your eyes adjust to the light. Daryl's breaths were soft and regular, fanning the stay wisps of your hair and making you shiver. You remained still and quiet, not wanting to wake the man. Though, you let your gaze travel down to your stomach, and at his palm that rested flat over it. His skin was still a little grimy from the day before, but you didn't mind. You ran your hand down his arm, from his bicep all the way to his fingertips - before intertwining them with yours. You held his hand in your own, loosely, as not to interrupt his sleep. Then, you ran small circles over the back of it with your thumb.

The two of you were so close that you felt his heart beating against your back, and could even tell when he occasionally fluttered his eyes - since his eyelashes tickled your neck. You'd never slept so close to him before, but were left with no other option as you shared the single bed. If you weren't nearly as tired as you had been, the night before, then you thought you would have been too nervous to fall asleep at all. You barely knew how you'd managed to convince the man to stay with you in the first place - given how much he despised the cramped space of the cells. He must've thought you needed the comfort, and perhaps he'd needed it, too.

It had been a squeeze for you both to even fit on the mattress. You remembered the shy awkwardness he'd shown when you pulled him down by his wrist. You'd shuffled about for a bit, trying to get comfortable and make room for him to lie next to you. The bed was scarcely enough for Daryl, let alone the both of you. Yet, you somehow made it work. It had taken a lot of fumbling about in the dark and nervous hands wondering where they should rest, but you'd settled into each other after a few minutes.

He'd seemed so unsure before, toeing off his boots and shrugging out of his jacket. You lifted up the blanket for him, inviting the man inside. Even in the dim lamplight of your cell, you could still make out the apprehension on his face. At first, he'd tried to lie flat on his back, which caused you to giggle as you were shoved against the cold wall from the lack of space. Eventually, you compromised - urging him to lie on his side and hold you in his arms. He'd seemed nervous at first, hovering a hand above your waist like he was debating whether or not to let it drop. It had taken putting it there yourself before he'd decided that it was okay.

The two of you exchanged a few whispers through the early hours, before you eventually fell asleep in his embrace - feeling safer than ever before in this new, indiscriminate world. He must've gotten comfortable with you next to him throughout the night, as you woke up a few hours later to the feeling of him a lot more relaxed against you.

Tentatively, you lifted his arm up so that you could turn over. You did it slowly, trying not to move the mattress and make it squeak, before letting his hand rest over your back in the new position. Your faces were close together, cheeks sharing the same pillow. In the morning light, you could see him a lot clearer, and it surprised you how peaceful his expression looked as he dozed. You watched his chest rise and fall steadily, and his eyelids flicker. He seemed perfectly content, lying there like he didn't have a care in the world.