Till Death Do Us Part: A Daryl Dixon Story (The Walking Dead)

27

Rick and I just stared at each other in shocked silence for God knows how long. This couldn't be real. Surely, this wasn't real .After eight months of running around in the cold, after reuniting with Merle; this was where I ended up: home. The snarls of nearby walkers snapped both of us out of our trance, and Rick opened the fence gates. I put the car in drive, shut the door and drove through the top fence and parked next to the green Hyundai. I shakingly breathed out. Rick meant the others were here too. And the others included Daryl.
I slid out the car and turned to face my forgotten family. Carl came sprinting up to me, wrapping his arms around my body. I hugged him back with a huge smile plastered on my face. Jeez, the kid had grown a head taller since I last saw him.
'Oh my God.' I heard Hershel's voice. I ran over to give him a hug. Only after I pulled back did I notice the crutches he sported and the fact that half his leg was missing. What the hell happened? Before I could ask any questions, Beth's happy voice caught my attention. I turned and gasped at the sight of her and the baby cocooned in her arms. I walked over, nothing but love in my eyes, as I stared down at the beautiful sleeping face of the baby.
'When?' I asked her.
'Few days ago,' she said, the tiniest of smiles on her face. Wow. I ran a finger up the baby's perfect cheek.
'Erin?' Rick's disbelieving voice pierced the air. I spun around.
'It's me, Rick.' I said and then threw myself into his open arms. His grip suffocated me.
'I don't believe it.' He muttered over and over as my arms tightened around him. I suddenly pulled back, placing my hands on either side of his stubbled face, and I actually laughed, carefree. For once, it seemed like I was having a good day. But then I saw the expression in Rick's eyes. They were blank, empty and unseeing. The last time he had this air to him was when Carl was on the edge of death.
'Rick?' I asked questionably. Then it hit me -how could I be so stupid? I glanced around at their faces and it was confirmed -Lori didn't make it.
'No,' I said, my voice barely a whisper. 'Rick, no.'
He didn't respond, he couldn't respond. His eyes dropped to the ground and his jaw slackened.
'I'm so sorry, Rick.' Tears blurred my vision as I pulled Rick into a hug again. 'I'm so sorry.'
He didn't hug me back. He was numb to his surroundings, so I reluctantly pulled away. I could feel the pain of Rick's loss just by standing next to him.
'We're so glad to have you back, Erin.' Hershel spoke up. I glanced at him with nothing but love for my family in my eyes. 'After all the loss we've been through, we're so glad to have you here.'
Words couldn't describe how grateful I was in that moment. Then I remembered I had a friend who was bleeding out in the backseat. I told them as much, and Rick carried her out of the car. I handed the basket of formula to Carl, telling them I'd explain later how the hell I'd ended up at their prison.
'Rick,' I said in a small voice as the others went inside to prepare a bed for Michonne. 'Is Daryl inside?'
He nodded. My stomach exploded in a fit of butterflies.
'I'll meet you inside there. Don't say anything yet.'
Rick didn't question my reasoning for remaining outside. He gave me another nod and left with Michonne's limp body in his hands. I began to frantically pace around the courtyard as soon as he left. I raked my fingers through my hair as I thought of the man blissfully unaware of my presence inside.
Was I ready to face Daryl?
I had spent all winter trying my best to forget him. I tried so hard to push away all my feelings for him because it was much easier to forget he ever existed than to acknowledge his absence from my life. Then when I met up with Merle again and learned the truth of what happened that fateful day, it was as if my heart had doubled in love for him. But standing in this courtyard, just a few steps away from him, my mind was thinking otherwise. Daryl didn't have to believe his brother. He didn't have to take off based solely on his word. And when I returned to the Atlanta camp with Rick, he didn't have to just dismiss me like I was a piece of trash. He never once mentioned what happened that day. He hadn't ever brought it up. It was sickening how he just accepted any piece of crap his brother fed to him. If he had known me, if he had really known just how immeasurable my love for him was, then he should have never for a second believed that I would have cheated on him.
I breathed in shakingly as I thought of Martinez. That was different, I told myself. You weren't sure if you were ever going to see Daryl again, I willed myself to believe those words, but I wasn't kidding myself. Till Death Do Us Part, Erin Dixon. It had to count for something that I couldn't go through with it.How could I show my face to Daryl? Oh God, Merle was right about one thing -I had almost betrayed my husband. It didn't have to be that idiot Liam who I used to work with, as Merle had told Daryl, all though he had gotten the names mixed up. Andrew happened to be my cousin, not my boss. When I told Daryl this huge secret both Merle and I had been keeping from him, I would have to confess that I had almost been with another man. I couldn't tell Daryl the truth about what happened the day I got left behind and expect us to move on if I harboured another secret.
The only thing I knew for sure was that I loved that man inside and that he loved me back. But he was wounded, his pride shattered. He still saw me as that monster Merle made me out to be. I realised I couldn't hide in the courtyard forever. But before I charged inside guns blazing, I had to clear my head. As much as I wanted to run inside there, straight into Daryl's arms, I just couldn't carry on with this lie. But before I could tell Daryl anything, we had to sort out this Merle issue. He had kidnapped two of the group. And right now that was first priority.
But then something else struck me once more -Daryl's stubbornness at the farm, at the camp. I wasn't that same desperate woman back at the farm who would've clawed through iron to reach Daryl. I had changed. Winter had changed me. Being out in the open had changed me. Being alone with nothing but my thoughts and the truth had swayed me. I had lowered my value by clinging to Daryl so desperately. And that just wasn't me. I would never sink that low ever again. Daryl had humiliated me countless times and he had rejected me even more. How many times had I begged for him to come back to me? How many times did I plead with him to just forget everything and step up as my husband? But he had refused to forget. He had been stubborn, selfish and rude. Daryl had made it clear that I was nothing to him. He made it clear that our vows were nothing but words. Even though we promised each other that we'd always fight for us, Daryl had given up pretty easy. He had chosen to forget all those promises we made and all because of that brother of his.
The rest of the group inside would probably be wondering how the hell an unconscious woman with baby formula ended up at the prison. My face hardened as I turned to the doors where Rick and the rest of them had went through minutes ago. Now it was my turn to show Daryl just how easily I could forget those same promises. I slid my rings off and dropped them in my pocket with an angry frown.
The cell block they'd cleared out was small but it was safe. I walked slower than I had to, my fists clenched at my sides. All I had to do was keep my head clear when I saw Daryl. I marched through the common area, into the cell blocks themselves. I heard their excited chatter and I wondered what the hell had them so cheerful. I stood in the entrance, my face as expressionless as a rock. I glanced at Hershel who was leaning against the cell wall. He was watching me carefully, a cautious look in his eyes. And then my eyes met Daryl's. His face fell and the grip on his crossbow slackened till it dropped to the floor, alerting the others.
There he was, the same man I fell so completely in love with four years ago. My husband, my everything, my-
'Erin?' Carol's voice echoed through the cell block.
Daryl took two huge steps until he was right in front of me. I swear I saw tears in the corner of his blue eyes. With no hesitation, no second thought, he pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. All caution, all the walls we'd both built up crumbled into nothing as he pulled me closer into him. Thousands of butterflies erupted from the cocoons in my stomach, and I finally broke down in my husband's arms. The tears streamed down my cheeks as I pressed my face tighter into the comforting warmth of his chest. Daryl repeated my name over and over like his favourite prayer, his lips pressed against my scalp. I loved him -I loved him and we could finally be together and...
I snapped out of it and suddenly pulled back. I stared at him accusingly. He gazed back with bloodshot, teary and confused eyes.
I couldn't do it. I couldn't let him back in after all the rejection he'd shown me. I couldn't wrap my arms around him when my arms had been wrapped around another man just the other day. And most importantly, I couldn't carry on with this marriage so long as the huge boulder that was Merle's lie hovered above us. I stared back into Daryl's confused eyes.
He had so many questions, and I had so many heart breaking answers
//
Not the reunion you guys were expecting right? Sorry if I broke a couple hearts xx btw I'm double updating again today lol, just really wanna get this depressing part over with.