𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚢𝚜𝚖 ➳ 𝚝𝚠𝚍/𝚜𝚙𝚗

11. Day 505

Dean shoveled another thick slice of heavenly bacon into his mouth, groaning in a way that probably wasn’t fit for the breakfast table if the way both Carl and Beth flushed was any indication. The brunet brazenly winked at the squirming teens, smirking when Carl pulled a bitch-face in response while Beth primly ignored his antics in favor of consuming her own meal.

Their lack of a reaction was probably a sign that they were getting used to Dean’s special brand of picking fun, the brunet liked to watch others flounder using his sex appeal.

Dean had found that -surprisingly- Daryl was the most fun to fuck around with, the younger redneck outright fleeing the room when targeted by the brunet. But, despite the teasing, Daryl never avoided Dean afterward, but he didn’t act like it never happened either. The younger Dixon wouldn’t hesitate to sit next to the brunet at the table during meals and he no longer shook Dean off or moved away when the brunet was tactile with him.

Dean had discovered that an arm over the shoulders and the forehead bumps were okay, but hugs were still a hard no. But that was fine, they were working up to the hugging. Another strange thing that the brunet noticed was how Daryl would sporadically seek Dean out during the day to randomly share his own water canteen or offer the brunet a snack before running off to do something or another. When Dean had asked about it, Carol explained that the younger redneck only did stuff like that for the group.

Apparently, the former people of Woodbury were excluded from this behavior.

So Dean watched Daryl interact with the others, which merely confirmed what Carol had told him. The younger Dixon would hand out water and snacks to the others as well, especially if they were out in the sun for a long time or had forgotten to eat.

The previous occupants of Woodbury noticed the gestures too, whispering amongst each other as rumors concerning Daryl’s love life spread like wildfire. Almost everyone was convinced that the younger redneck was with Rick, which was hilarious because anyone who knew Rick was painfully aware of just how straight the man was.

Dean had choked on his mouthful of lemonade when he first overheard two women gossiping about how Rick was in bed, a third lady commenting that Daryl would probably know. The brunet had coughed and sputtered like he was dying, drawing the women’s wide eyes to his hunched figure. He waved off their worry, stumbling away to hack up a lung somewhere more private.

Unfortunately, he -quite literally- ran into the younger Dixon and Rick. They had both immediately grabbed Dean before he could land on his ass, interrogating him about what happened after the brunet managed to catch his breath. Dean started laughing halfway through explaining what he’d heard because of their faces, Rick had looked amused by the news and Daryl’s mouth was hanging open in disbelief. And thus the nickname ‘Honey’ was born, Rick jokingly using the moniker to refer to a certain grumpy redneck.

“Good mornin’ y’all.” Merle yawned, marching through the door with Daryl a step behind him. Most days, someone had to actively go wake the elder Dixon and coax him out of bed with promises of food and instant coffee -which had been one of Dean’s finds while out on a run- before the big lug would drag himself off the mattress. But apparently the younger redneck had decided to do it for Dean even though it was the brunet’s turn.

Dean’s mouth was full of fatty goodness, so he opted to wave enthusiastically at the wonder duo instead. Merle shot the brunet a toothy grin before hurrying over to Carol, thanking her profusely as she dutifully plated the elder Dixon’s portion.