𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 // 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯

𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨

"Daryl?" My strained voice echos off the walls of the silent church. Everyone fell asleep an hour ago besides me. I sit awake, the past weeks replaying in my head.

And though I usually deal with things myself, I want Daryl this time. After talking in the forest, we have been inseparable all day. And I feel like we've hit this point, that I finally know I can tell him anything without being worried about what's going to happen later.

"Scar?" He whispers back, his blanket shuffles as he lifts his head, squinting his eyes at me.

I fight a giggle, motioning him to me. He listens, picking up his blanket and sitting beside me, draping it over himself and my legs. The small contact, being this close to him, makes me smile, finally feeling my thoughts die down and my heart stops racing frantically.

We sit leaned against the wall, the window still shut, thudding due to the rain. The sound calms me. Daryl sits, staring ahead, patiently waiting.

"Sorry I woke you up" it sounds dumb the second it leaves my mouth and Daryl sighs, turning his head towards me quickly.

Whispering, "Ya know ya never have to be sorry" Daryl places his hand on my knee, rubbing circles on my bruised skin. A simple act, yet we can both tell we need it.

"What are we gonna do now?" I motion towards everyone, a hint of worry in my voice.

"Don't know, do what we always do" Daryl mumbles and I nod. Placing my head on his shoulder, I hear a sigh escape his lips. With his hand still on my knee, the other one sits by his own knee and I reach over, grabbing it softly. I press his hand between my own, trying to warm up the harsh skin.

"What is it?"

"Wats wat?"

"What do we always do?" I try my best to keep my voice light, but worry flows through again. These people are my family and now there's more of them.

Dropping his hand from my knee, he shakes his head, rubbing his face with his now free hand. "We protect all of em"

"Mmm" I hum in agreement, nodding my head slowly. "And what about ourselves?"

"Ya know I'll always protect ya."

Yelling. Why is there yelling? And when did I fall asleep? Sitting up, my body is extremely sore. Yesterday I was so eager to get things right with Daryl, I didn't feel so bad but today it hurts to even breathe.

Letting my eyes adjust, they settle on Daryl. He's standing in a circle along with Rick, Glenn, Abraham, and Maggie. His arms are crossed and his shoulders are tight. He looks like he's angry.

Shuffling in his spot, his eyes drift from his shoes to my face, a small smile forming. Daryl's eyes never leave mine as the group continues to speak, his shoulders slumping and the grip on his crossbow loosening.

Standing up, my joints pop in places I didn't even know could pop, the small group all turning their heads at the sound.

Maggie smiles, taking fast steps towards me. "Good morning" her accent is thick, her face a bit brighter today. I hope she's okay. I know she'll never be fully over her dad's death, I don't think any one of us will be.We can only choose to move forward.

"What's going on?"

She laughs twice but it's a forced sound. Plastering an awkwardly fake smile on her face, Maggie places a hand on my shoulder, pushing it slightly. "Straight to the point this morning" she says, eyes a little wider than usual.

"Maggie, you suck at keeping a secret."

"Ugh not my fault you're a better detective than Rick"

At the sound of his voice, Rick walks over to us too, the rest of the group following behind him. With the tiny circle now focused on me, I feel small. Especially with Abraham looking down at me with a huge grin on his face.