Jinx || Daryl Dixon || The Walking Dead Fanfic

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DARYL

The bed was cold when he rolled over, it took a second for him to realise that he even had enough space to roll over in the small bunk and that meant that Jinx wasn't there. He sat up and looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen. He listened for a second and heard the gentle murmur of voices from downstairs.

After pulling his shirt and shoes back on he started down the stairs, surprised to see Rick pulling Jinx into a brief hug. He felt a small pang of jealousy, he didn't know why, Rick was like his brother, and he knew Jinx thought of him as family too, but seeing her close to anyone but himself these days felt foreign.

"I'm sorry." He heard Jinx tell Rick as he finally got close enough to overhear their conversation.

"Don't be." The other man shook his head, "You needed time, you're here now and that's what matters." He told her. She gave him a small nod and a smile before glancing up towards Daryl as if she sensed his presence. Her smile got wider when she saw him, and the jealousy quickly dissipated. Rick followed her gaze and looked back and forth between the two as Daryl joined them, "So you two... finally?" Rick asked them.

Daryl looked down at Jinx and she smiled up at him with a small shrug, he wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled at Rick, "Yeah." He couldn't help but grin, despite everything that had happened over the last few days, Jinx being back and promising she'd stay was everything.

Rick smiled at them, "So how long have you been hiding this from us?" he asked. Daryl looked down at Jinx and frowned slightly, they'd never put a timeline to their relationship.

"I guess not long after we got here," Jinx told him, "Just before Judith was born." She looked up to Daryl for confirmation and he nodded.

Rick beamed at them, "About damn time! I'm surprised you managed to keep it a secret for so long, I am the first to know right?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm pretty sure Carol figured it out months ago, but you're the first person we've told." Jinx told him.

"Guess that makes us official now, huh?" Daryl looked down at her.

"Yep." She stood on tiptoes giving him a quick peck on the cheek and almost losing her balance, he tightened his grip on her waist just a little.

Rick excused himself to go out and tend to what was left of the farm. Daryl sat down at one of the metal tables with a yawn. Jinx climbed up to sit on the tabletop, kicking her boots off to rest her feet on his leg. He rested a hand on her leg, "So what was that all about?" he asked, he wasn't jealous anymore, just curious as to what she had been apologising about.

"I don't want to shut people out anymore." She told him in a small voice, looking down at her feet. "We could lose the people we love anytime; I don't know how I forgot that before, but yesterday was a wakeup call." She shook her head, glancing towards his face, and he could see the tears in her eyes. "I've wasted months shutting out the people I think of as my family to try and protect myself from what? A man that isn't even here?" she gave a derisive snort in lieu of real laughter, "And now I could lose them all to a stupid virus. I can never get that time back, but I'm sure as hell not letting him take any more from me."

The tears in her eyes had disappeared the next time she looked at him, instead they'd been replaced by a fire in her eyes that had been mostly absent or at least significantly dimmed since he'd found her in Woodbury. He reached out to touch her cheek, but changed his mind, pulling her forwards into his lap to kiss her, she squeal-laughed in surprise as she fell the few inches from the tabletop. As she kissed him back he heard Glenn's voice cheer and laugh in the background.