The Man With The Crossbow (Daryl Dixon romance)

Chapter 18

My eyes cracked open at the sound of birds chirping.  Rubbing my the sleep eyes, I hadn't realize I was curled up into Daryl's side.

Looking up, Daryl was sitting up straight looking out toward the forest.  I took this time to really study his face.  His blue eyes were a given, they always find a way to distract me whenever we spoke.  His brows were always a little scrunched,  giving him a permanent scowl that I learned to love.   Looking at his  lips, they were in a thin line.  But when kissing, they were soft and full.  Glancing to his hair, I could tell that it had grown a bit since we had first met.

"Ya done?"

Snapping my eyes back to his, he was staring down at me.

"What?" 

"Ya done starin' at me?" His voice sounded like he was scolding a child.  My cheeks burning bright red as he smirked down at me.   Smiling big at him, I could practically feel my heart beaming up at him,  and I wasn't completely sure why.  I want to remember this, this feeling and this moment.  I wanted this memory to stay with me forever . "Yeah yeah, I'm done"

"Good, we needa find some food"  he spoke as he started getting up, stretching his arms above his head, only making his muscles in his arms seem bigger.  Standing up next to him, I looked at the area around us. "Which way should we go?" 

"I say east, stay as far as possible from that group of walkers" he replied.

"Sounds good"

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"Alright ya got this, just pull the trigger when you're ready" He whispered.

We were both kneeling on the ground and we stared at the decent sized rabbit about 20  or so feet away.  I watched as it nibbled on some grass, harmlessly foraging for its next meal. But so were we.  There was no time to feel guilty for hunting little Peter Cottontail.  Exhaling a long slow breath as I pulled the trigger.  The bow missed the rabbit by mere centimeters. 

"Dammit."  Huffing out in frustration and sitting the crossbow angrily next me.

Daryl walked away to retrieve the bow, not seeming as upset as I was.  Which only seemed to anger me more.

"You'll get it next time"  He spoke as he handed the bow back to me.

I ignored his outreached hand with bow.  Getting up angrily, I pushed the crossbow into his arms.  "Let's just go"  I caught a glimpse of a smirk as I walked past him.

"Don't be a sore loser" he commented quietly.

"Always have been, always will. Deal with it" I grumbled.

He chuckled behind me as we continued are way though the forest.  Quickly Daryl was the one leading me, seeming to know exactly where to go.  I watched as he'd shift his eyes all around our surroundings, then slow his pace. His crossbow always ready to shoot right away.   He seems to constantly be ready for something bad to happen.  More than me even.  Must be a tracker thing.

"Where ya learn to hunt and track?"

His walk began to slow down, and he lowered his crossbow a bit.  My question seemed to confuse him a bit.  

"Been takin' care of myself for as long as I can remember"  His clipped tone told me that this was a subject he didn't want to continue.

"You always had Merle though, that must have helped at least a little?"

"Merle was in and out of juvie more than I can count. Then he left the minute he could. So no, I didn't have Merle"  He was stopped completely now. Staring down at me, daring me to continue.  I guess I had assumed his relationship with Merle was similar to my brother and I.  But I was wrong.