Ruin Me So You Can Save Yourself (Daryl Dixon X Male OC)

27. Book Worms

Daryl Dixon

Few days of being a useless bastard laying in bed and I was allowed to move to my tent and be a useless bastard there. Can't really complain, my side hurts like a bitch and that scratch on my head doesn't help either. But at least I took a shower so I'm not covered in extra thick layers of grease and dirt, that's something. Got myself a fresh shirt and even a pillow, now laying the whole day on my back doing nothing. Which is not really fun, but not that I have much choice. I fiddled with one left bolt from my crossbow, the one that was sticking out of my side just a few days back, now I was poking holes in the net of the window of my tent. I got fed and watered like a damn houseplant, never been this useless in my life.

"Hey." Andrea walks in through the open flap of my tent and plops down on the cot on the other side of the tent. "This is not that great, but..." she sighs as she holds out a book to me. I take it from her hands and set my arrow down flipping through pages instead.

"What, no pictures?" I ask looking over at her. I was never big on books, there's always more productive shit to do out there than reading books.

"I'm so sorry. I feel like shit." She confesses, shaking her head a little.

"Yeah, you and me both." I huff and set the book down, fixing up the pillow under my head.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, but if there's anything I can do..." She suggests and I cut in.

"You were trying to protect the group. We're good." I nod at her and she sighs a little before getting up and walking out of my tent. "But hey." I call out and she stops looking back at me. "Shoot me again, best pray I'm dead."

She smiles and walks off. I'm only half joking though. I never throw threats into thin air, not my policy. I glance over at the book and sigh picking up my arrow resuming toying with it. Books are not for me.

Later Sam appears in the doorway of my tent with a basket of peaches in his hands and he smiles brightly at me.

"You want a peach?" He asks, setting the basket down and grabbing three in his hands, walking in and holding them out to me.

"Yeah." I mutter pushing myself up a little and grab peaches from him. I rest them on my stomach as I fix up my pillow to lean against it.

"Oh, that's not a bad book. I didn't know you read." Sam says picking up the book from the floor where I left it.

"I don't. Andrea brought it as sorry or some shit." I mutter as I bite into the peach. "You've read it?"

"Yeah, once, long ago. It's not a bad read, but not really your style." He says plopping down on the floor close to my cot.

"Yeah? How so?"

"Well, it's a book and it has actual words in it." He says grinning as he looks up at me and I scoff.

"Brat." I grunt and I grab the book out of his hands and hit his head with it, which made him laugh. I toss the book to the side.

I bite into my peach again and Sam is watching me. He has no more business here, he can leave, he should leave, but he doesn't. He sits as close to me as he can. His legs are crossed and are under the cot as he sits by my side, not like Andrea who sat on the other side of the tent when she came in. It's obvious he wants to be close to me, hell he'd probably climb into the cot by me if I'd let him, but I won't. Because I don't want him to and even if I wanted, all the flaps and windows are open for everyone to see. Though he stares at me with that look I can't read, watching me bite into the peach like I'm committing some crime or something, but at the same time he has that sparkle in his eyes, similar to one he has whenever we're close. But the smile on his lips is bright and sweet like always. He's damn confusing me right now. Really confuses me. I don't understand what's going on in his head and it almost scares me.