Penance (Book One): Daryl Dixon x Sage Wilson

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"Come on, we need to find a way out." I try to sit out to snap out of my trance, but Daryl's grip remains tight onto my waist. "Daryl, come on." I push away, but his strength doesn't waver. I look up to him, and all I see is him looking down at me with a somber look. Almost as if he has seen things like this before.

"Let me go, please," I beg.

Daryl bites his lip as he shakes his head. "No point. Rick and them will end this soon enough- we can't fight back a fight when we are short handed." He looks into my eyes, intimating me in a way I couldn't describe.

I look down at the ground, my hands remaining grabbed onto his muscular forearms.

"How are you calm." He wasn't asking, but it was a statement.

"Daryl.." I sigh, turning my head up towards him as I cover my chest with my knees. "I've been through this- instances like this many times."

"You shouldn't."

"I know. But it's said and done, isn't it?" I reach over, grabbing my bra. It felt as though acid was sprayed on it as I thought about the Governor touching it.

Daryl turns his head as I snap my bra on, my torso still exposed. My shirt was torn to shreds, and all I could do was put on my jeans and call it decent. I stand up, my legs shaking from adrenaline as I bend over and grab the grey pants. I slide my legs into them, hugging them around my hip.

"You're good," I say.

Daryl looks over to me, then looks to the door. Then to me again. "You okay?"

I nod. "Have to be."

Daryl clenches his fist, and I could tell we were both thinking of that same night in the CDC. With Shane.

"Thank you." I say short as I slide down next to him.

"For what?" He rasps.

"For comforting me. Just like with the CDC. I'd probably still be in shock if you hadn't." I bite the inside of my cheek as I pick away the dirt from under my finger nails.

"It's nothin'," he says looking at me with his lengthening hair.

"I just.. can't see you like that." He says suddenly. I look to him as he picks at a scar on his hand. "When Carol got kicked out by Rick. I thought I would feel alone; but I knew that you were there. It was less lonely. But it always feels lonely."

I reach for his forearm, slightly grabbing it as I bring my knees up to my chest.

"You've seen all the good, bad, ugly, and uglier sides of me Daryl Dixon. You've saved my ass. There's nothing to feel guilty of- I'm not going anywhere."

Daryl looks down at my hand, then meets my eyes. There was something here, and I couldn't ever pin point what it was exactly. I cared for Daryl Dixon. I knew he cared for me. We have come a long way since the farm- and it felt like a fever dream.

Daryl Dixon, to me, was no longer a calloused asshole. He had anger issues still, but his temper was always manageable if you knew him enough.

I wish I could tell him how much his embrace means to me. What it feels like, like tiny electrical zaps each time he touches me. How my stomach lifts up to my throat when he looks at me in certain ways at times.

But we both weren't the romantic type of people- we were too head strong, and refused to ask for help. We were similar yet different, and it was a tricky combination. How can you speak to someone who has the same mind outline as you do?

Instead of speaking more, I lean the left side of my head against his right shoulder. His body tenses beneath me, then slowly relaxes after a few seconds. All I could focus on was how my cheek felt against his broad figure, and how every puzzle piece fit into place with him.

It was just the matter of where the hell was the missing piece.