Everyone was asleep in their cells, everyone but you. You sat up awake in bed, thinking of the long emotional day.
Getting out of the small cell you walk towards the showers. Needing to be somewhere else but in that cage like room.
Walking rubbing your eyes You don't notice that someone is in here, looking up your eyes widen. Waking you up.
Daryl stands under the steady stream of water, his hands resting against the stone wall in front of him. His head hanging low, water dripping from his growing hair.
His shoulders gently move up and down as the shower muffles the sounds of his sobs.
Today was the day he lost his brother.
You were never fond of Merle, his vulgar comments and the way he came off. But you knew that he and Daryl had been through it all together, so there was pain none the less.
Resting your towel and clothes on the floor you walk closer to him, able to his hear the cries more clearly now.
You'd yet to see him cry, hear him portray this amount of emotion before.
Slowly you wrap your arms around him, your hands meeting his muscled stomach. You can feel him stiffen, as the hold is something foreign to him.
Resting your head against his back just below his shoulder blades, the water splashes on you and the water from his body soaks your own clothes.
You expected him to speak up. Say something by now as you still hold him in this way. But he hasn't, he doesn't.
He stands there allowing you to comfort, letting someone care.
"I'm so sorry Daryl." You whisper against his skin.
The fact that you can see the scars his father left on his back is just another reason you thought he'd turn away. Hide, but he doesn't.
His cries stop as he's left sniffling, turning a bit in your grasp to face you. His head still hanging but you can see his eyes now.
Running you hand over his cheek you find it move through his drentched dark hair. Moving it more out of his face.
Your heart ached for him, just seeing all the pain in his eyes.
The once beautiful blue eyes were now cold and flooding with tears.
"Is there anything I can do?" You asked softly, only in a whisper. Surprise he could hear you over the water.
Daryl doesn't say anything, just drops his head onto your shoulder.
That's when you realize the thing you can do, the thing he needs... Is just someone who's willing to be there.
Holding him tighter you allow for both of you to just stand there under the spray of the water.
Minutes pass before he lifts his head, and you expect him to leave now that he's done crying. But he stays still, looking you in the eyes.
Trying to read them maybe, or just needing to look at something he's sure of. Now that there's nothing really in this world that you can be sure on.
"Why ye care?" His voice is low, throaty and his tone seems tired.
The question makes you think for a moment, unable to answer right as he asks it. Maybe it's because you don't know how to answer or that you know what to say just not if you should.
You shake your head briefly, "I care for you."
Your hands still tangled into his long soaked locks, his face just inches from yours.
You know he doesn't understand your answer, so you show him.
Pressing your lips to his you can feel the wettness of the water droplets and the taste of faint cigarettes from his lips.
He stands still, unsure of what to do. But soon he's doing what he can't help but do, he kisses you back.
His lips moving in sync with yours as this is a new sensation for both of you. Soon his hands find your waist holding you in the heat of the moment.
Pulling back you run your tongue over your bottom lip, the tingling still taking place as you look at him. His eyes back to blue and his breathing just as heavy as yours.
"I care for you, and I want to be that shoulder to cry on when you need one."
Daryl doesn't say anything; as he normally doesn't. But this time it's because he has a better way of saying he understands, of being grateful for you.
He kisses you again, this time being the one to make the move first. And just like last time the feeling is one of overwhelming emotions. A single movement that makes your heart flutter and his beat out of his chest.
You were there for him, when he needed someone to be. And after that day, when you needed someone he was the one to be there.
A/N: Really like this one❤