𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄, daryl dixon

𝘹𝘹𝘷𝘪𝘪𝘪. 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
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THIS FEELING WAS just how I had remembered it, calming. It was this warm feeling that just felt nice. I melted into the warm gesture of compassion and rested my head on his shoulder. "Ha, you never did seem like the caring type," I whispered in his ear with a small giggle. It was funny, after all this time we had spent together this was the first time he hugged me without me making the first move.

I was the first to pry our bodies away from one another's. If we stayed like that any longer it would have gotten weird. And the thing was, I didn't want him to end up ignoring me again. His baby blue eyes gazed into mine, and sparks ignited as our eyes locked. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"I can take your mind off it." His voice was lowered into a hushed tone. The comment caught me off, guard. His words puzzled me and I couldn't figure out what he meant by that. Until his face inched closer to mine, amid confusion and tension between us I leaned in. This time was strange, we were both completely sober and he was the one to suggest it.

As our lips touched my thoughts spiraled, why he was doing this? These signals he was sending me messed with my emotions. The problem was I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He was right though, it completely fogged my mind, making me unable to think of anything but him in that short moment. After our lips separated awkwardness soon flooded the room.

"Why?" I asked. The feeling of his lips pressing against mine still lingered. He didn't answer my question which was expected, but that didn't stop my thoughts from running wildly out of control. I wanted to know why, why was he toying with me. He held up a small red colored box that had a white cross in the middle.

He had what we came here for, there was no point in sticking around. I moved past him out the door and started back towards the camp. This was stupid. I didn't like when my emotions were tampered with. Especially when it was someone I cared deeply for. He was toying around with me, Even though he made it clear he didn't have any underlying feelings for me.

Was he lying about not having any feelings? My heart tightened and I could feel it begin to thump faster. A part of me wishes that was the case, that he was longing for me in the same way I was for him. I let the fantasies take over for a moment until I reminded myself of reality. The fact of the matter was he didn't have a secret little middle school crush on me and I was an idiot for thinking otherwise.

My fingers brushed up against my lip, simulating the same feeling as his lips did. Admitting to having feelings for an asshole like Daryl is as painful as an arrow through my heart. Now I found myself hoping these feelings would just leave me alone. I marched down the road mad at him, but most of all mad at myself for having these dumb feelings in the first place.

I wish I would ignore them, I wish I could push them deep down and never think of them again. God knows I've tried, but I can't, I can't seem to get rid of them no matter how much I wanted to. I loved him, and it hurt to care for someone so deeply. He didn't return the feelings and I was fine with it, or so I thought. I wasn't fine, and that was painted clear as day.

I heard his voice calling out for me to stop, which I didn't. I kept to myself and continued forwards, not giving a rat's ass what he had to say. That was until I felt a hand placed on my shoulder. I wasn't in the mood to play his little game today, so I spun around and smacked his hand off of me.

"Stay away asshole, I won't say it again." My emotions got the best of me and I ended up snapping at him. Seeing the hurt expression on his face made me feel happy, maybe now he would know the feeling of being rejected and ignored.

"What, you're not going to talk to me now?" He sounded genuinely confused about what he did that was so wrong. And that was the problem. "You made me fall in love with you, it's your fault, at least have the balls to own up to it." The pain lingered in my voice as I spoke the truth.

A bright ball of gas arose over the tips of the trees further down the road. The morning had come once more. What a pretty sight for such a depressing time. As I expected he was left speechless. He kept leading me on with all the kissing, hugging, and caring. Maybe I was reading too far into it, maybe I was the idiot. But it sounded like he had feelings for me that he-

"I love you!" He shouted. "There I said it, you happy now?" My heart genuinely skipped a beat and now I was the one stuck in a tight position. What words could I say that would make this less awkward than it was? Was he lying just to make me feel better, or was this an honest confession?

"Do you mean it?" I inquired in a low whisper. His glistening blue eyes gazed upon me and he took a deep breath. "What, ya thought I did all that stuff out of the kindness of my heart?" He asked. Now I was the one who was left speechless. Words weren't making any sense in my head.

He strolled up to me and gave me a small peck. The thing my lips have been long yearning for was back. I wanted it to last longer, even if it was just a few seconds. When his lips left mine I was tempted to pull him back in for more but didn't. I needed to let him go, Rick needed medical treatment and I wasn't going to stop that first aid kit from reaching him.