Black Sheep - Rick Grimes x Male

Belonging

As Moon walked into the theater, his eyes immediately went to the caged tiger. Daryl sat beside the cage, petting the animal silently. Shiva's head perked up when the doors closed behind him. Moon took a seat in one of the theater chairs quietly.

Daryl only made eye contact with him for a second before looking away. "I'm sorry we did that in front of you. I should've handled it better and gone somewhere private. But I appreciate you staying and having our backs." Moon felt bad for making him uncomfortable.

"Got nothin to apologize for." Daryl muttered gruffly. And he meant it but the way he was acting made Moon think differently. Shiva purred loudly, rubbing her head against the hunter's hand. "Then why won't you look at me?" Moon leaned back in the seat, head tilted as he waited for a response.

It wasn't what he learned that changed the way Daryl saw his friend. It was how much he never realized. Daryl remembered meeting Moon with Merle back in Atlanta. Merle made all kinds of jokes about the Rhee brothers.

Moon always had something to say in return. He wasn't scared of Merle and he said whatever he pleased. Glenn was always there to back his brother up, nodding along to whatever Moon was saying. That made Merle even nastier with his threats and insults.

Daryl never understood why his brother seemed to hate Moon so much. Moon had only ever been kind to them when they first met. Daryl didn't understand until yesterday.

"When we first met, I didn't think you'd last a day out here. Thought you'd just be another body we'd have to dig a grave for." Daryl imagined it, Moon in the ground. It was a sight he didn't think he'd ever have to see. He was sure of it.

"And I thought you were mute. We all thought things about each other when we first met." Moon remembered as well. He remembered Daryl just silently watching as he and Merle argued over nothing. He had his own negative thoughts about the Dixons but nothing that mattered now.

Daryl just shook his head, finally turning toward Moon to look at the scars that littered his hands and arms. They weren't covered up by a long sleeve today. "My brother gave you them scars."

Moon looked down, touching the jagged white lines. "Always thought he was the toughest... no one was stronger than my brother." The Dixon scoffed lightly, his head shaking at the thought.

Merle was the person he silently looked up to all his life. Just like Glenn, Daryl respected his big brother in a way that didn't have to be earned. It was always just there. Like the love babies immediately have for their parents. He had it for his brother because he had no one else.

Daryl didn't know when that respect disappeared. When the blind loyalty he had for his brother went away. He still loved Merle but he no longer felt obligated to respect him. The respect of a brother didn't stop with blood.

Moon had every opportunity to turn out like Merle. A big brother with a drug problem and a rage only an abused child could carry. Merle hated Moon the moment he realized this. And he realized it before anyone else did because they were destined for the same fate. But they both turned out to be very different people.

"It was bullshit." Daryl's voice never wavered. He stood up and with one last look at Moon before leaving the theater, leaving the uncomfortable conversation he didn't know how to have. Moon remained seated, trying to make sense of his words. Moon didn't realize that night he earned the respect Daryl once had for Merle.

~

"What if they don't like me?" Moon Jr fiddled with his hands nervously, watching his dad pack his things. "What's not to like? You're perfect." Moon smiled at the blush he knew he would get in return.