Unexpected Love | Daryl Dixon Fanfic

Chapter 12 - Little Girl Lost

Riding through the woods was much quicker then using the roads. I got Lori back to the farm in little over 10 minutes, and when Rick saw us he practically fell off the porch.

Lori jumped off the horse first and took off running, falling into Ricks awaiting arms and sharing an emotional moment. Maggie opened the screen door and lead the two of them inside the house as I dismounted.

Grabbing the reins, I lead the horse back to the barn and took off all the riding gear. I was itching to know how Carl was, but right now he had both parents with him and that's all that matters.

The last person Lori would want in that room with her was me. I mean, when Rick was in that hospital bed, she wasn't too pleased that I was the one that stayed.

I put the horse back in it's stable and wandered back out to the front of the house. Coming down the driveway, I could hear the sound of Daryl's bike and knew our group had found the turning.

I waited for them to come into sight and directed them to park up over by some trees, on the other side of the farm. The Greene family has been hospitable to us so far, but the last thing they'd want is us hanging our hats right on their doorstep.

I slowly walked back to the farmhouse as I was trying my best to avoid people, but somebody stopped me in my tracks. "Hey..." Daryl said as he grabbed my wrist to turn me around. "Are you okay? Is the boy alright?"

I had tried so hard to push my emotions down, but that three word question was always my downfall. I didn't know how my nephew was. I didn't even know if I wanted to know.

When I turned, he saw the unshed tears brimming in my eyes. I can only imagine the shade of green they were at this particular moment in time.

He didn't say anything else, just pulled me firmly into his chest and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. That was it, the flood gates had opened. My knees buckled from under me, and I wrapped my hands around his waist.

He had me in such a strong bear hug that I didn't fall. He just held me there for what felt like a lifetime. My sobs slowly died down, but I didn't remove my face from his chest.

I knew that right now everybody would be standing looking at me, I was so embarrassed that I would be grateful if the ground just swallowed me up whole.

He must've either read my thoughts or been uncomfortable himself as he pulled me away and swiftly turned us towards the farmhouse. His hand was hovering over my lower back as we sluggishly made our way up the steps.

He was being such a gentleman, and it confused the crap out of me. One moment we were at each other's throats and the next, he does little things like this.

Before we got to the door, I came to a stop. Rick and Lori were most likely still wanting some time and space with their son. Nobody was sure whether he was going to come out the other side of this.

"Thank you. I think I needed that." I said, turning to face Daryl. I looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and he just stared back at me, like he could see straight into my soul. Let's hope he couldn't though, because all he'd see was black.

"It was nothin'." he replied nonchalantly, waving a hand in my direction like it didn't matter. "No Daryl, it was everything."

I gave him a weak smile and opened the screen door. I went into the house expecting to find Shane sat in the living room but he was nowhere to be found.

Instead, I saw Maggie in the kitchen. "Hey." I said as I walked through the doorway, trying not to startle her as she was washing her hands. "Hey Emma."