Dixon's Girl- TWD- Completed

Aged 16

Daryl Pov

The most terrifying moment of my life was when Jody sat me down and asked if I would teach her how to drive

"Try getting out of this one," merle laughed, patting me on the back as I searched my mind for a nice reply

Jody kept looking at me, waiting for an answer. "So...Will you, please?"

"I'm not really the best driver yet. Merle could teach ya," I suggested looking at my brother

He didn't care about hurting Jody's feelings as much as I did so he honestly replied, "I'm not getting in a car with her behind the wheel! It's a death sentence."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

Merle scoffed. "Honey, you drive about as good as you can swim."

Jody gasped and hit him, almost knocking his beer out of his hand. Jody never learnt how to swim. Merle tried to teach her when we were kids, but that got cut short when he went to Juvi, and she was too embarrassed to learn after that

I put my hand on her thigh and gave in. "I'll teach ya how to drive. But you've gotta promise me that you'll keep your eyes on the road at all times, and you won't get distracted by other dickhead drivers."

"I promise to try my best."

"That's not very reassuring."

Soon enough, we were in my dad's truck. He was too hungover to notice it was gone, and it was a piece of shit anyway, so if we crashed, he probably wouldn't be able to tell any different

"Hit the gas slowly," I told her, nervously clinging onto the door of the truck

She scoffed and said, "you have no faith in me." Her eyebrows were raised angrily as she looked at me, and I clung on tighter

"Jody, eyes on the road. Eyes on the road!"

She swerved the avoid a pot hole and carried on sheepishly. We continued for a while, going down a straight road just for her first time. I know it isn't nice to judge someone before they've even tried. But we all knew jody would be terrible at driving. She gets distracted too easily and her hand eye coordination is the reason for many broken bones

"Alright, not break slowly," I advised as we neared a cross road with the traffic light on red

"Break...jody...Jesus christ!"

"Shit!" She screamed as we ran over the traffic light all too quickly. In a panic, she stopped, meaning that we were in the middle of a road with passing cars

"Just keep going, and pull over when you can," I said quickly, wanting to get us off the road. She did just that. Thankfully, we hadn't been hit.

The both of us took a moment to breathe before I asked her, "babe, you do know the difference between the gas and the break...don't ya?"

"I'm so sorry. I got confused. So much was happening and I was trying to focus on the lights and the people and then you started talking and I panicked and hit the wrong pedal." As she spoke, she began to cry, gripping the steering wheel tightly whilst her hair fell infront of her face

I felt bad. Me and merle had been so stressed about going out with her on the road that I had forgotten how scared Jody must be. Our teasing probably didn't help.

Gently, I put my hand ontop of hers and took it off the steering wheel, loosening her grip.

With her hands in mine, I pulled her closer in for a hug, her head being buried into my neck as tears ran down her cheeks

"It's alright. You don't have to worry. Everyone makes mistakes when they're learning."

"Yeah but, I can't afford to make mistakes. Because these are the mistakes which end with both of us dead. It isn't like failing an exam. This is different and I hate it."

I hated to see her cry. It happened so rarely yet recently, she had been getting more open with me. I still struggled with crying infront of her. I felt almost as if I were on show, being judged. But I want us to be in a place where we are comfortable with our feelings around eachother

"Jody...I'm sorry for not believing in ya. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's alright. You were only saying what everyone else was thinking," she shrugged, sitting up and wiping her tears

"No, it's not alright. I'm not everyone else. I'm your boyfriend and I should've been more supportive. Take a moment, wipe your eyes and we'll try again."

She turned to me in shock. Gasping, Jody yelled, "oh no, no way. I'm not driving back. I'm gonna get us killed. You can drive."

"We all make-"

"-mistakes, I know. I will try again. But not today. I just want to go home, please."

When she said please, with her adorable bottom lip poking out, I couldn't say no. We switched seats and I was soon driving her home, back to the trailer.

I looked into the passenger seat and placed my hand on her thigh, seeing her asleep with her head against the door, my hoodie draped over her. I didn't even like wearing hoodies, I just knew that jody liked taking them.

Once we got back, I parked the car exactly where it was before. Merle and Donna (Jody's mama) were smoking outside.

"Jody, babe, time to wake up."

She groaned and rubbed her eyes but managed to pry herself from her sleepy state. We got out of the truck and I chucked merle the keys

"Hey mama," jody said quietly, sitting on Donna's lap and resting her head on her shoulder. I took a seat next to merle

"How did it go?" Donna asked

Merle answered before I could. "Better than expected. They're both alive."

"Watch your mouth, Dixon. My baby is a natural at everything she does. Besides, a star like her won't need to drive when she's older. She'll pay people for that service."

Jody rolled her eyes and smirked at me. "Mama, I'm not so sure I'm a natural at driving. But it's alright. Daryl agreed to take me out again."

"Just gotta keep practicing. Only way to get better."

"You're one brave son of a bitch," merle huffed, tossing me a beer. He offered one to Jody but she shook her head

"No thanks. I'm gonna go to bed. Where's daddy?"

"He's staying with some tart tonight, baby. Make sure you set your alarm for tomorrow. Max is picking you up early."

Tired, she nodded her head and yawned. She kissed Donna and merle on the cheek, and me on the lips before going to bed

We were still outside. "Where's Max taking her?" Merle asked

"He's taking her and daryl to the zoo."

"Aw, gonna look at the animals baby brother? Tell me, what noise does a cow make?" Merle teased, putting me in a headlock. I pushed him away and sighed

"I'm only going because it's Jody's birthday present. It's what she wanted."

"Her birthday was a month ago."

"Yeah, but they had to reschedule because she was sick, remember?"

Merle began to laugh, remembering. "Sick, my ass. Hungover more like."

I decided to ignore that and stood up, giving merle the rest of my beer. "I'm gonna go and sleep in Jody's room. See yall tomorrow."

"Make me a grand baby," Donna begged me. I rolled my eyes and went inside the trailer and into Jody's room. She was already asleep when I got there so I quickly took off my jeans and climbed into bed with her. My arm went around her waist and I kissed the side of her head

Not that I'd ever tell her, but I was amazed I survived that day.