𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑, rickyl

thought of losing you

"Rick?" The redneck called out, seeing the shaken up man standing in front of the campfire with a gun in hand. His baby blue orbs shot over to where the voice came from only to see Daryl standing there with some broken sticks in hand to keep the fire burning. There was a brief moment of silence as the redneck sat down the sticks.

Once Daryl emptied his hands he was practically knocked over by a large weight clinging to him. Rick's wrapped his arms tightly around Daryl's neck, holding him close. After all his searching he was finally able to find the stubborn redneck.

"Shit man, 'bout knocked me over," Daryl said, not expecting to be tackled out of nowhere. "Aye, you alright... Rick?" He asked, his voice filled with concern for his leader. Daryl let out a small sighed and gave in, wrapping his arms around the sheriff's frame.

"I thought I lost you." Rick's voice sounded weak as those painful words left his lips. Never wanting to imagine the day that he would find the redneck's cold lifeless body staggering around. His heart sunk with just the thought of him turning into one of the dead.

"I ain't gonna go down that easily," Daryl reassured him. He figures that something must have happened for this sudden outburst of attention. He reminded Daryl of a trained mutt when the dog saw that its owners had returned. He took his finger and drew small circles on the sheriff's back to calm him down.

They stayed in the same position for what felt like forever. Lucky enough not to get swarmed by walkers in these late nighttime hours when they're most active. A puddle of water grew on Daryl's shirt as tears flowed down the sheriff's face. The redneck wasn't much of a compassionate type, not knowing what to do in a situation like this.

"I-I don't know how I could live if you..." Rick stammered, his words muffled by his face pressing against the redneck's shirt. "Come on, don't say sappy shit like that," Daryl whispered, not knowing the right words to say. Rick was always there when he needed him, but now that the roles were reversed his mind went blank.

Thinking back on all the times he needed someone to be there for him, Rick was always there. Even with all the sheriff's responsibilities as the leader of Alexandra he still made time. Daryl wanted to be there for him the same way that Rick was, he wanted to comfort him, and he wanted to make him feel safe.

Without another thought, the redneck did the one thing he knew that calmed him down many times before. Breaking the hug and getting a good look at the streams of tears highlighted by the orange flames on Rick's face. In the heat of the moment, he leaned forwards, placing a gentle kiss on the sheriff's lips.
The unexpected sheriff didn't resist or back away.

Instead, he deepened the kiss, enjoying every second of the pleasant feeling. Sure it was far from perfect, the kiss was sloppy and anything less than elegant, but he didn't care. The tears that rolled down the sheriff's face collided with their small make out session, sending the slight taste of salt into the mix.

The sound of gurgling filled their ears and almost immediately they parted, forgetting all about being exposed to the dead out in the open like this. Daryl patted Rick's shoulder and gave him an I got this look. The redneck walked over to the groaning dead man, sinking his knife deep into its brain before pulling out the blood covered blade.

"Come back with me, back to the hilltop," Rick said out of the blue. Daryl turned back to face him, from the light that the fire gave off he was able to see the glimmers of trails that rolled down his rosy cheeks. Daryl grunted in annoyance at Rick's offer.

"That's why ya came all the way out here, forget it," Daryl answered sharply. He knew Rick was only trying to protect him from the dangers that lurked in Alexandra, but he didn't require anyone's protection. And yet the way Rick looked at him, shimmering tear filled blue eyes that could make anyone do as he asked.

"And what 'bout you? Hell if I'm gonna let you fight this battle by yourself. I ain't gonna be some worried housewife waitin' for her husband to come back from war, screw that." Daryl snapped. His eye stayed glued to the floor as he let his emotions rain free.

Daryl wanted to protect him like they'd been doing for years, he wanted to make sure Rick wasn't going to lie dead on the battlefield. If he was stuck back at the hilltop all he would do is worry. That did neither of them any good. "I don't wanna see you die, I don't think I can live with myself knowin' you're gone."

"And I can't live without you, this group needs you, I need you." Though he thought it was sappy and just hearing those words come out of his mouth made him cringe, in the end, they weren't lies. Rick was the reason they made it this far, without his guidance they all would have been walker food.

There was an abrupt pause, where the only thing echoing around them were the faint chirps from various crickets that came to ease the silence. There was no clear way to move forwards from this, rendering them both at a standstill. There was a yawn that tugged on the corners of Rick's lips, as much as he tried to cover it up it was obvious he was tired.

Daryl let a sigh fly from his mouth. "Get some rest, we'll talk more 'bout this in the mornin'," Daryl said, in the state that Rick has been in he needed to get some sleep before morning rolled around. "But who's gonna-" "I'll be takin' first watch, you get some shut eye," Daryl ordered.

To Daryl's surprise, the sheriff didn't fight back like he expected. The redneck made his way over to the closest pine tree and slid down the base. It wasn't too far away from the fire where he would freeze but also not too close. The redneck looked back at Rick who couldn't make up his mind where to sit. Their eyes met and Daryl patted the spot next to him.

"Waitin' for an invitation?" He grinned slightly as those words left his mouth. A small smile lit up on Rick's face as he made his way over to the tree. He sat down next to Daryl and rested his back against the tall sturdy log. A good fifteen minutes passed and the redneck was on high alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"Rick, you still awake?" He asked only to get no reply back. Daryl sighed and adjusted his position against the tree bark. Though he wanted to get everything off his chest there was one thing lingering that he never told the former sheriff about. One thing that has stuck with him since the beginning, and no matter how much he wanted to shake it, the just feeling kept coming back.

Like feeding a stray dog that just kept coming back for more he couldn't get rid of it no matter how much he tried. Though he has never experienced such a strong emotion before, this could only be described as one thing and one thing only.

"I think I'm fallin' in love with you..."