From Now On (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Dinner

" I almost didn't recognize you until I heard that beautiful voice. It's been so long since I've seen you! How have you been?" Tyler asked as he started walking towards me but Daryl stepped right in front of me blocking Tyler, " And who the fuck are you?" Daryl growled back at him. Tyler put his hands up in defense taking a step back.

"Daryl, this is one of my Navy SEAL buddies Tyler. He was a part of the team that found me over in Syria. Tyler, this is my husband Daryl," I said coming around Daryl's side to introduce both of them. Daryl squinted as he looked Tyler up and down before sticking his hand out. Tyler smiled shaking Daryl's hand.

"Lauryn and I actually knew each other before the fiasco in Syria. I met her at a bar on base when she was still in the Navy," Tyler smirked at me before looking at Daryl who was staring him down. I could sense Daryl was jealous. There was no need for him to be jealous though. Tyler was just a good friend that happened to save my life. Okay now that I think about it, that's probably what ticks Daryl off the most. I have a history with Tyler and he saved me over in Syria.

I was never interested in Tyler. He was a good-looking guy, but just not my type. All of the girls had a crush on him because he looks like Chris Hemsworth, but he has a huge ego. Thinks he is the toughest guy out there just because he is a SEAL and because he gets all of the girl's attention, except for mine. I treated him like any other sailor.

"Mhm, well we have to get goin'," Daryl said grabbing my hand and we started to walk away from the group of men, but the leader wasn't going to let us go that easily, " It ain't safe out there on your own. Why don't you come with us? Safer as a group. Abide by our rules, and I think we all can get along just fine."

Daryl turned around looking at all of the men staring us down before eyeing Tyler, " Nah, we're good," he said turning around to keep walking, but I tugged on his arm, " Maybe they can help us find Noah. They are right that it is safer as a group. That's more people we can have searching for Noah," I whispered to him and Daryl thought for a moment.

I could tell he hated the idea of being around these guys, but he knew it is a better chance of finding his son. Daryl grunted in annoyance, but I knew he agreed. "We'll come with you guys if you can help us find our son. Somebody took him and our friend," I said looking innocently at the group to see if they would be kind enough to help.

"Of course Lauryn. We can help find your boy, right Joe?" Tyler asked looking at the leader of the group. The man thought for a moment and nodded his head, " Yeah, we could do that. And to be honest, I'm a little scared of her killing us all if we don't help," Joe chuckled," We will start the search tomorrow, but for now, we need to find a place to lay low for the night, maybe catch us some dinner. Sound good to you folk?"

Daryl and I looked at each other and nodded. We followed the group of men in search of a place to stay. As we were walking through the woods, Tyler and I were catching each other up on everything that had happened since we last saw each other. Daryl was walking behind us and I could tell his blood was boiling. I didn't want him to feel that way so I made it a point to gush over how incredible Daryl is every chance I got.

"Sounds like you have a pretty amazing guy here Lauryn," Tyler commented before looking back at Daryl who pretty much had a death glare on Tyler the entire time. "So did you ever find anybody special Ty?" I asked and he just chuckled, "No. I mean there was this one girl, but I never got the chance to tell her how I feel, but-" Tyler was cut off by an arrow flying right between our faces and piercing a rabbit a couple of yards ahead.

"Dinner," Daryl said walking between Ty and I to get the rabbit. I needed to do something bigger to make Daryl feel more at ease around Tyler. So I walked up to Daryl before he could pull the arrow out of the rabbit, " You are the best honey, " I said putting my hand on his cheek before giving him a kiss. Daryl kissed back with all his might. So much love and frustration was poured into that kiss.

I pulled away just enough to look into his eyes, " I love you," I whispered before kissing him again. I could feel him relax into the kiss, " I love you too," he said pulling away to pick up the rabbit, " I don't trust him," Daryl whispered just loud enough for me to hear. " I don't either," I whispered back. I looked back to Ty and he had a scowl that quickly turned to a smirk when he saw that I was looking at him.

"Claimed," Tyler smirked as he motioned to the rabbit Daryl was holding. "Uh no it's not, Daryl caught it, it's ours," I stated giving Tyler a questioning look. " He didn't say "Claimed" it isn't his. I thought you would understand that rules are rules given your background Lauryn since we used to follow orders all the time," Tyler snapped back with a smile on his face. Something just wasn't right about him, but I knew how to play this game.

"I'm sorry Ty, we didn't know. You're right rules are rules, but can you let us have just this one rabbit? I'm so hungry," I said sweetly batting my eyes. Tyler's face softened, " Alright, you can have it, but now you know the rules."

"Everything okay over here?" Joe asked walking over to us. "Just peachy," Tyler smiled and Joe just nodded his head not really convinced that everything was okay. "Well, the others found an old machine shop down the road. A couple of biters in there, but we took care of them. We got a fire going in there, can cook up the rabbit if you want," Joe offered and Daryl nodded before glaring at Tyler who was staring right back at him.

"Thanks Joe, we appreciate it," I said taking Daryl's hand and following Joe back to the main road. Tyler was walking right behind us and it made me a little uneasy. He's not the same sailor I knew all those years ago.

Author's note: I'm sorry it took me so long to get another chapter written! I recently got a promotion which I'm super grateful for, but it's also requiring more time from me and I haven't had much free time and motivation to write. I love this story and I plan to continue it, but it may take me longer to post more chapters. Thank you all for understanding!