Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
────୨ৎ────
CAROL HAD SLIPPED OUT JULIET'S ARMS, running away from the scene, her sobs echoing through the field.
Juliet stared at her shaking hands, her mind struggling to process everything that had just unfolded. The shock of Sophia's death—her reanimated body stumbling out of the barn—still clung to her like a weight she couldn't shake. It was as if her body had frozen, the world around her muted in grief.
Her breath hitched, and the air felt too thick to breathe.
Slowly, she got to her feet, feeling the heaviness of the moment wrap around her like a blanket. The silence that followed the chaos was unbearable, pressing down on her chest, making it hard to think, to move, to even exist in this reality.
Then she saw him.
Standing right there, head low, as he stared at her too. He was just as broken as she was, the shared weight of their failure etched deep into his face.
For a moment, neither of them moved. They just stood there, staring, as if the world had shrunk to this one space between them—full of all the things they couldn't say.
And then, before she even realized what she was doing, Juliet took a step forward. Her body moved on instinct, pulled by something deeper than words. She buried her face into his shoulder, her hands resting on her sides, as her shoulders shook with every tear that fell.
It wasn't just quiet sobbing—it was the kind of crying that came from the pit of her soul, the kind that had been building for days, weeks. She shook against him, and for a second, she thought maybe he'd push her away.
But he didn't.
Daryl stood still at first, as if he didn't know how to respond. His body was tense, his hands hovering awkwardly by his sides. But then, slowly, he wrapped his arms around her, one hand resting gently on the back of her head, the other steadying her trembling body. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to.
The world remained silent for a second, all Juliet could hear was the beat of his heart, and all she could feel is the hand caressing her hair.
She failed that little girl.
There was nothing she could do that would change that, but standing here, face shoved into Daryl's shoulder. She didn't feel alone.
For the first time, grief didn't feel like it was only subjective to her.
It was shared, felt, known.
It was a comfort Juliet didn't ever want to lose.
And as she pulled away, it almost felt like Daryl's hands lingered a second longer, as if he didn't want to let go.
