Broken Crown ~Daryl Dixon~

Alone

Beth's self-harm and mentions of other self-harm

Florence walked away, unable to be staying with all the pain and fear. Florence walked over to her brother, hugged him tightly and felt the tears leave her eyes. Mason noticed that Carol was sobbing and shook his head. Florence nodded which seemed to make her cry more. 

"We have to go." She whispered, grabbing her bag from him and placing it on her back. Mason copied her actions, he glanced at the Greene house with a sigh escaping his lips. 

"She's gonna be upset, they all will be- I think you could say goodbye." Mason nodded, walking over to the house which left Florence to deal with everyone else. Daryl glanced at the girl, he nodded and handed her another gun. 

"For your brother." 

"Thanks." The Riley siblings stayed for the burial, they listened to what had to be said and once it was done they said their final goodbyes. Florence hugged Daryl tightly, he hugged her tightly back and stared at the girl for a brief moment. 

"I hope you find your family, Flo." 

"Thanks, Daryl, stay safe." Florence glanced at the house, Mason went to talk with Beth again and hadn't returned since. Florence waited, not minding to wait as it gave her a chance to collect herself and rest for a moment. 

Florence sat under a tree, her eyes tightly shut, she opened one eye feeling a presence beside her and grinned seeing Daryl holding out the guitar.  She started playing, watching as he listened to her gentle strumming and the ones she lightly sang. Daryl was mesmerised by her voice, she zoned out she continued to play and was off into her own little world. 

The brunette stopped seeing Maggie approach, she gave her a comforting smile, it dropping as she saw Maggie's look. 

"Beth collapsed, Mason's staying with her until she wakes up." Florence nodded, giving her wishes for Beth to be okay. Florence walked to the house, she sat by Mason's side, staring at Beth worriedly and hoping she could recover from whatever had taken place. 

"I'm sorry-" 

"We can stay until she's better." Mason thanked his sister, glad for her kindness and her concern. Florence fiddled with her spear, and she found Daryl hiding and hummed lightly as she sat by him. The girl rested her head on his shoulder, watching as he carved some new bolts for his crossbow. 

"Here, make yourself useful." Florence helped him carve bolts out of the wood, Daryl watched how swiftly and easily she carved the wood. Florence pushed herself up, grabbed her axe and stood a distance from a tree, Daryl watched as she threw the axe at a tree, Daryl smirked impressed and it caught her eye. 

"What's got you smirking." 

"Nothin' just wouldn't think that you could do this stuff." 

"If it were how the world was, I couldn't do any of this shit that I'm doing now." Daryl nodded, it was different for him but the only thing that applied to him was the girl managed to make him soft. Florence grabbed the axe from the tree, held it in Daryl's direction and offered a challenging smile. 

Daryl took it from her hands, he stood where she stood and copied her actions. Daryl easily managed to get the axe stuck in the tree, she shook her head and took the next turn. They each took turns, taking steps back as they managed to get the axe in each time.

Daryl missed, causing him to grumble and handed the axe to the girl. 

"Guess the great Daryl Dixon isn't as talented as he seems." Florence teased, Daryl shook his head, ignoring the girl and Florence stuck her tongue with a smile. Daryl watched the girl, she stood by him and walked away. 

Florence sat in her tent, Beth wasn't awake yet and Mason wasn't leaving anytime soon. Florence closed her eyes, drifting asleep before the sun even went down. Florence exited the tent, she went to the house to check on her brother and smiled seeing him talking to Maggie who was sitting by Beth's bed. 

"Mason was telling me about your sisters." Florence smiled softly, nodding and looked at Beth's shocked form. 

"Mason tells me how much Beth adores you." Mason rolled his eyes, shaking his head and glanced at Maggie who smiled fondly. The three shared stories they each had about their siblings, bringing them closer to having a bond. 

The next morning came, Florence was collecting herbs from around the property, and her eyes drifted to Daryl who was killing animals. Florence shook her head, focusing on the task that she was doing and continued gathering different things. Florence returned to her tent, she make herbal medicines from the herbs and placed them in different containers and dumped them into her bag. 

The day was drifting on slowly, she wanted to leave the farm but she wouldn't for Mason's sanity and it gave her the chance to think about staying with the group if everyone could keep their shit together. Florence glanced at Mason as he walked over, she raised an eyebrow and smiled lightly. 

"Beth's woken up-" 

"We can stay until she's back on her feet. I want you to have a good conversation with her. You've gotten this close and I ain't letting you hate me for making her leave." Mason smiled, thanking her and hugged her tightly before walking back. 

The next day came, Rick and Shane took the hostage somewhere, everyone seemed on edge and Florence was becoming worried for everyone nearby. She glanced at Mason who came running down with a worried look on his face. 

"Mason, what's wrong?" 

"I need you to talk to Beth- please. I need you to help her. You'll know how." Florence nodded, she walked to the house and walked into the house. Maggie glanced at Florence who nodded, trusting the brunette to talk with her sister. 

"Good afternoon, Hershel." Florence watched as he nodded, seeming to also understand what she was here for. Florence glanced at Beth, offering a comforting look, Beth shrugged lightly and hid her hands under a blanket. 

"My brother's worried for you, stay by your side while he waited for you to come out of your shock." 

"He's a nice boy, he keeps looking out for me. That's why you're here, isn't it?" Florence showed her wrists, faint white scars were hidden under some surgical scars. Beth carefully grabbed Florence's hand and looked at them. 

"Yes. It is why I am here." Beth nodded and carefully placed Florence's hand down, waiting to hear her story. 

"When I was your age, I had this boyfriend, he didn't treat me right and I got myself into a bad position. He caused me to hate myself and made me do things I wouldn't normally do. I lost some really good people. One night, we went out... he had his friends with him, they were all drinking and decided to play car chicken..." Florence trailed off, tears in her eyes as she remembered what happened to her.  

"I watched the other car go up in flames. It had my best friend in it and I couldn't do anything to help her. I blamed myself for it and so after I got home after talking with the police... I sat in my bathroom, Dad nearly killed him because he realised what my boyfriend had done to me and he got the boy arrested... anyway, I was so scared and upset. I watched people that I cared about die and I tried killing myself because of what I saw and what was said to me." 

Beth nodded, taking in the story, she wiped away her own tears and smiled sadly. 

"Do you wish that you hadn't done it?" 

"No- it opened my eyes, I wish it would've happened differently but it made me who I am now." Beth nodded, hugging Florence and whispering a thank you.