Broken Crown ~Daryl Dixon~

Cold

As the days went by it was getting colder, Daryl went on a big run, gathering a whole bunch of clothes for the future dates of Florence's pregnancy and grabbed vitamins to help along the way. The entire group could see how protective Daryl had gotten over Florence, he brought up how if this war would go on any longer then it be best to get a group with Florence to safety. The response Daryl wanted didn't go the way he had hoped, the response he got was all about manpower and the more people they had the better they'd be. 

Florence sat outside, smiling as she felt the sun on her skin, she rested a hand on her belly and spoke to the growing baby inside her. 

"I hope I get to see you and raise you. I hope your father gets to raise and be with you too. I want us to be a family, that's all I ask. It's all I ask." Daryl sat beside her after hearing her whisper to her child, Florence glanced at him and a tired smile and sighed as she curled into his side. Daryl wanted to talk to her about what Rick was doing, he knew her moral compass and knew that if she knew, obviously she'd want to do something about it and he didn't want her to have more stress than she already had. 

Daryl rested a kiss on her lips, and ran his hand through her, his fingers trailing down to her cheek. The man stared into her eyes, they were gorgeous and became more vibrant in the sun. He loved looking at them, he could get lost in her eyes and they always held all the emotion in them. 

"Get some sleep. You ain't sleepin' well." 

"It's just bad dreams, I'm remembering what he did to me, over and over again but it just gets worse and worse every time I close my eyes." She confessed, Daryl took her hand in his, rested a kiss on her cheek and pulled her up.

Florence moved with him, sighing as he got her to lie down on the bed, tucked her in and started caressing her hair. Moving it behind her ear, they both kept their eyes on each other, Daryl didn't know what to do to help her and it made it harder for him. 

"I love ya, Flo." She smiled, grabbed his hand and rested a small kiss on the back of his hand. Florence took a deep breath, he cupped her face in his hands and rested another kiss on her forehead. 

"I love you too, Daryl." He rested a hand on her belly, smiling as she closed her eyes to fall asleep, Daryl sat by her side and made sure to have some form of physical contact with her to help her sleep. She finally fell asleep, she slept without waking up and without bad dreams, Daryl was glad to see that she could sleep and have a good rest at last. 

Florence woke up to see Daryl sitting in the room, watching over her, it made her heart sing and made her feel special knowing that he was protecting her and looking after her. Daryl helped her off the bed, watching over her, doing what he could to help her and make her comfortable. 

"I'm gonna go check on Judith." Daryl nodded, watching her as she walked off, smiling softly as she parted with a kiss. Florence smiled at Judith, making faces and cooing at the little baby. Her baby fever was getting stronger, she just wanted her baby to be married before it was too late. Mason walked over to her with a smile, she stared at him with a smile, she carefully handed Judith over to Mason and watched as he lightly bounced her in his arms. 

"Reminds me of when I would hold you and Marie when you were both babies. You were a very calm baby, you could've been a Hollywood baby you were that well-behaved." Florence informed, which caused Mason to smile at the idea of that happening. 

"Are you okay?" Mason asked, watching his sister for a moment, she shook her head and shrugged lightly.

"No, I'm not okay, I'm slowly getting there, after what the monster did to me. I've been having nightmares and haven't been sleeping too well but I'm getting there. It's just gonna take some time." Mason nodded, staring at his sister and smiled lightly. 

"I think I'm seventeen now," Mason whispered, Florence frowned and stepped closer to him, she took Judith from his arms, placed her in the crib and hugged her brother tightly. Mason hugged her just as tight back, holding her as tight as he could and not letting her go. 

"Flo!" Florence stared at Daryl as he walked over, he gave a nod to Mason who already knew what the supposed deal was.

"I got go after my brother, he took Michonne, I'll be back soon. Mason tell her what's going on." Florence nodded, rested a kiss on his cheek and watched as the man who held her heart ran away. She turned to her brother, quick on her heel and stared at him sternly. 

"What's going on?" 

"Rick was going to give Michonne to the Governor, to make peace but he decided not to and Merle didn't get the message, so he took her." Florence sighed, shaking her head and sat down as her feet began to ache. A day passed, and Daryl hadn't come home yet, she waited outside. Waiting for him to come home, despite how cold it was and wouldn't go back inside until he came back. 

Her heart leapt in her chest as she saw him coming home, she waited until he came close enough for her to see the pain and agony on his face. Florence walked over, wrapping him in her arms, she ran her hand up and down her back. Doing what she could to comfort him and look after him. Daryl clutched her shirt, holding onto her tightly and sobbed into the crook of her neck. 

"He's gone." Florence didn't say anything, knowing no amount of comforting words would help bring comfort to Daryl. He brought her closer to him, not wanting her to disappear from his reach, Daryl couldn't lose her and the baby. He didn't want to lose anyone else, despite knowing how unavoidable it was, right now he didn't care. He just couldn't lose anyone else. 

The next morning, Daryl helped pack up their things getting them into the car that she would be in, making sure she had her weapon at her side so they could avoid anything bad from happening for that just-in-case moment. 

"Ya gonna be okay?" He whispered as he started to get her into the car, Florence nodded with a smile stuck on her lips as she did her best to reassure herself from all the hardship. 

"I'm gonna be okay, let's just get out of here." Daryl rested a kiss on her forehead, he took her hands and held them tightly before buckling her up and closing the door. Mason would be driving, they'd have Hershel and Beth in the car with them. 

Mason drove away, keeping his eyes on the road, making sure he could keep his sister safe and get her to safety. Mason smiled at Beth through the mirror, and she smiled back and Florence could see Beth blushing as she looked away from him. Mason parked the car somewhere where they could hide, Florence waited in the car until they were given a signal to return. Florence walked over, Daryl hugged her, resting a kiss on her forehead and helped her sit down. 

"Are we going after them?" 

"Yes." She sighed, shaking her head and pushed herself up. 

"Daryl, I love you but I need to hide somewhere, I can't be pregnant and deal with this war at the same time. If this shit keeps going, I need somewhere safe to give birth." Daryl nodded, he knew she was right and knew that they'd need to do something about this to get by.