Unbreakable threads

Chapter Fifty-Six: Daryl and merle.

Merle trudged beside Daryl, his usual swagger dulled by the long trek through the woods. But he could sense something different in his brother. Daryl was quieter than usual, his eyes fixed on the ground, his shoulders hunched. There was a heaviness in him that Merle hadn't seen before, a silent pain that gnawed at the edges of his usual tough exterior.

"Aw, hell, baby brother," Merle drawled, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "what's eatin' ya? You look like a damn puppy that lost his bone."

Daryl shot him a glare, saying nothing, his jaw clenched tightly. He didn't want to talk about it. Didn't want to explain what he'd left behind, what he'd sacrificed by sticking with Merle. Alyssa's face, the hurt that would be in her eyes when she'd realize he was gone—it haunted him. But he'd made his choice, and he'd stick by it, no matter how much it tore at him.

Merle smirked, picking up on the tension in his brother. "You pining over that sheriff's daughter or somethin'? Alyssa, right? Saw her once up on that rooftop. Looked like she got a little fire in her, huh?" He chuckled, his tone laced with his usual crude humor. "Didn't think you'd go for a girl that young, but hey, guess a pretty face'll turn even the toughest Dixon soft."

Daryl stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face Merle, his face twisted with anger. "Shut the hell up, Merle," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Ain't nothin' like that. Alyssa... she's like family, alright? She's... she's been through more than you can imagine. I ain't doin' this 'cause of some stupid fling. I'm doin' this 'cause you're my brother."

Merle raised an eyebrow, his smirk fading slightly as he studied Daryl's face, the raw emotion that flickered in his eyes. "Family, huh?" he scoffed, though there was a note of understanding there, buried beneath his usual sarcasm. "You sure that's all it is, baby brother? 'Cause looks to me like you left a lot more than a group of folks back there. Left a part of yourself, too."

Daryl's jaw tightened, his fists clenching at his sides as he looked away. He hated how Merle could see right through him, hated that he'd left behind the people he cared about most—Alyssa, especially. But he couldn't explain it to Merle. Couldn't make him understand what it meant to him, what she meant to him. Merle would just twist it, make it into something ugly.

"Let it go, Merle," Daryl muttered, resuming his pace, his eyes fixed ahead. "You don't know nothin'."

Merle kept chuckling, unable to let the idea go. "Man, a decade difference? Didn't think you'd be the type, little brother," he sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Never seen you with a woman before, and now you got yourself a young thing? Alyssa, huh? Sheriff's kid, too. Now that's rich."

Daryl's jaw clenched tighter with every word, each taunt digging into him. He forced himself to keep his eyes forward, trying to block out Merle's twisted assumptions. It didn't matter what Merle thought. He didn't understand, couldn't understand. Alyssa wasn't some girl Daryl was chasing after. She was so much more than that to him, and nothing like what Merle was insinuating.

The truth was, Daryl did love Alyssa. Loved her in a way that he couldn't even put into words, a way that felt as natural as breathing. She was like his own blood, like a daughter or a sister, someone he'd protect with his life. It wasn't the way Merle was making it sound. It was innocent, pure, something deeper and more meaningful than any shallow relationship. She'd shown him a kind of loyalty and trust that no one else ever had, and he felt a fierce protectiveness over her.

But Merle's words kept chipping away at him, poking and prodding at his insecurities, twisting something beautiful into something ugly.

"Shut the hell up, Merle," Daryl growled, his voice thick with barely contained rage. "You don't know nothin'. Alyssa's... she's family, alright? Ain't nothin' like what you're thinkin'."