Daryl Dixon x Reader

Bullets

"We should get going." You say throwing your katana across your shoulder. Daryl looks up at you from his seat on the floor, shielding his eyes against the sun with his hands. You hold out your hand to him and he takes it. You pull him up and watch him wince in pain "Sorry." You mumble offering him a sympathetic smile. He forces a smile and then grabs his crossbow. "Are we still heading to Terminus?" You ask Michonne.

She looks to Rick and then back to you. "I guess so; as I said, some people in our group heard the radio transmission it's our best chance of finding others."

"Alright, y' know the way?" Daryl says grabbing his bag.

"Yeah, we had a map but when we got separated... Let's just say I lost it. I think we just follow the railroad tracks." You look to Michonne for confirmation.

"Yeah." Michonne smiles.

You quickly find your way to the railroad tracks and begin your journey. Michonne, Rick and Carl walk ahead leaving you and Daryl to take up the rear.

"How you feeling?" You ask kicking a rock as you walk.

"Been better," Daryl admits. "been worse too though."

"I hope this place has ice, you're going to need some for that." You point at his black eye with a smirk.

"Is it that bad?" Daryl laughs. You polish off some of the blood on your katana using your sleeve and hand it to him. He angles the blade so he can see his reflection. He laughs and prods his eye gently. "Damn," He hands the katana back to you. "looks as bad as it feels." You smile and intertwine your fingers with his. He lightly brushes his rough thumb over your soft knuckles and smiles softly to himself. "Y'know, maybe this place will be good for us." Daryl mumbles, his features becoming more serious. His eyes meet your's. "We can work through what happened back at that garage... try and put it behind us."

Your face goes visibly pale at the memories. "I don't think I can ever forget what happened Daryl..." You whisper. Daryl squeezes your hand gently.

"I know you can't forget, just, know that I ain't letting you work through it on your own." Daryl looks at Rick, Carl and Michonne in the distance. "You wanna tell them what happened?"

"No," You whisper looking at the ground. "It's not fair to make it their burden..." Daryl nods and removes his hand from your's. He quickly wraps his arm around your shoulders as he walks, pulling you closer to him. You lean into him and lay the side of your head against his chest as you continue to walk. Daryl presses his lips to your hair and mumbles something you can't make out.

"What did you say?" You laugh halfheartedly. Daryl lifts his head and smirks.

"I said, I hope there's some food at this place. I'm starvin'"

"Aren't we all?" You laugh looking up at him. He smiles down at you warmly. His thumb draws light circles on your shoulder as you keep walking. The action is soothing and you hum contently.

"Y' like that sweetheart?" He smirks. You laugh in response and place a light kiss to his cheek. "Take that as a yes..."

"You think this place is as good as it sounds? I'm not as trusting as I used to be."
"Gotta hope, right?" Daryl says after a moment of thought. "I mean, if it is... we can start over y'know? If not then we find somewhere else."
"I always fancied living in a small cottage," you admit. You look to Daryl with a smile. "With roses and those green vines that climb up the walls." Daryl looks back down at you and laughs giving you one of his adorable lopsided smiles. "A cottage with one of those cute little brick fireplaces and hanging baskets. Y'know the ones?"
"Yeah," He laughs. "I'll tell y' what, if this place ain't legit I'll find us a cottage, hangin' baskets and everythin'. How does that sound?"
"Deal" You hold out your hand to him. He shakes it with a smile.
"If y're lucky I might find y' some of those plastic garden gnomes, the ones with the fishin' lines; maybe a few of them small plastic windmill things." You laugh at the image and bite your lip.
"I can just see it now," you smile. "We'll have to find one of those small mail boxes and write our names on it."
"What kind of mail are you expecting?" He smirks.
"Well, my subscription to Walker's Weekly magazine of course. I'm their biggest fan!" You joke. Daryl lets out a bark of laughter at your crappy joke. Rick and Michonne turn at the sound of Daryl, it was rare they even saw him smile let alone cry with laughter.
"You crack me up woman." He smirks when he finally composes himself. "Damn end of the world and y' can still crack jokes, even if they are shitty." You raise an eyebrow and chuckle.