Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

028

Juliana had chosen to stay with Carol after the rest of the group had decided that maybe it was safe enough for them to venture out on their own and be apart from each other longer. She didn't feel right sharing space with Rick, Carl, Michonne and Judith, or with Maggie and Glenn, and the rest of the group she was still trying to get to know better. That night of the party, Daryl stayed the night with her. Nothing sexual happened between the two; it wasn't like either of them to rush into something, no matter high their emotions ran.

Daryl was sprawled out on top of the sheets on the bed, one hand around the handle of his knife out of habit. Juliana laid next to him, her head resting on top of his chest, curled up sideways next to him. Their boots had been kicked off and laid in a pile at the foot of the bed, their dark color splashed with dried blood and who knows what else, contrasting sharply against the beige colored carpet and walls.

Beginning to wake, Juliana shifted slightly against Daryl. His arm that had been extended out came up, wrapping loosely around Juliana's shoulder as he felt her move against him. Juliana let out a big yawn, extending her legs out straight to stretch them before curling them back up closer to her.

"C'mon," Daryl mumbled, the hand that was around her shoulder gave it a squeeze. He wasn't one to lounge around or waste time doing unproductive things. Juliana groaned, sitting up and giving him the time to slide off of the bed to grab his boots.

"You and Aaron goin' out today?" she asked as she also scooted to the edge of the bed, sliding off the end. Daryl was pulling on his boots and glanced up at her briefly through his shaggy, dark hair.

He shrugged, "I 'unno. Probably." Daryl replied, standing up from his crouched over position from putting his boots on. Juliana followed suit, slipping her own boots on and quickly tightening the laces, wrapping the excess around her jeans that were shoved into the leather boots.

"You dunno or you ain't gonna tell me what you're doin'?" she cocked her eyebrow slightly in his direction as she adjusted her shirt, pulling at the hem of it after it had scrunched up from sleeping in it last night. Daryl was watching her from across the room, his thumb and forefinger lightly tugging at his bottom lip. Catching him looking in her direction, she frowned slightly, wondering if something was wrong.

"What?"

"Nothin'," he shrugged, dropping his hand quickly and turned the upper half of his body around, reaching for his jacket and leather vest that he'd taken off last night and slung over the back of the chair.

"Bullshit," Juliana muttered, grabbing her own faded, brown jacket off the empty dresser next to her. Before she had a chance to put it on, Daryl had taken a few long strides over to her, cupping her face in his hands he bent down placing a soft, lingering kiss on her lips before pulling away and bringing her into a hug. Juliana blinked at his strange behavior, wrapping one arm around his waist while the other dangled free, still holding onto her jacket.

"You gonna keep these idiots in line?" Daryl asked as they moved out of the hug. While Juliana was confused about his actions, the only thing she could think of was that he was worried something would happen. There were many times someone would go out on a run and not come back. Now, the fact that they were in a new community, with new people, must have put Daryl on edge even more. Not to mention the fact that they were closer in their relationship, and he must have felt some sort of duty to make sure she would be okay.

Grinning slightly, she finally slipped on her jacket, shrugging it up over her shoulders, "I keep you in line, don't I?" Juliana teased, causing Daryl to smirk at her playful comment.

"C'mon," he repeated, motioning towards the door. They headed out, Juliana noting that Carol must have already left. The two parted ways on the street, a brief and private touch of their hands before each went in different directions.

She spent most of the day quietly watching others, taking note of their day to day lives. Sometimes there would be a bang on the outside of the walls and she could see them tense. It was always short lived once the sound of a gun went off and the banging stopped. The rest of her group had started to assimilate, taking the roles that Deanna had assigned to them while Juliana continued to be a boat in the ocean without a captain: she had no direction, and she had to admit, sometimes it bothered her a little bit.

Suddenly, there was a large crash and the sound of glass breaking not too far from where she was. With a furrowed brow she turned in the direction that the noise had come from. When she began to notice people starting to run in that same direction, she cursed under her breath and began to pick up her pace.

"Put the gun down, Rick."

Shit.

Juliana broke out into a job to find a small group of people standing in a circle around a bloodied Rick Grimes who was pointing a gun at Deanna.

"Fuck," Juliana hissed under her breath as she came up next to Carl, "What the fuck happened?" She asked under her breath to Carl, who only shrugged, keeping an eye on his dad.

"You still don't get it," Rick spat, "None of you do!" he motioned to the original residences of Alexandria, "We know what needs to be done and we do it. We're the ones who live. You!" he raised his voice, pointing at Deanna, "You just sit there and plan and hesitate. You pretend like you know when you don't! You wish thing weren't what they are." He paused. "Well, you wanna live? You want this place to stay alive and standing?" Juliana noticed Michonne was now standing just outside of the circle of people, and she did not look happy.

Rick continued, "Your way of doing things is done! Things don't get better because you want them to. Starting right now, we have to live in the real world. We have to control who lives here."

Deanna was staring Rick down, "That's never been more clear to me than it is right now."

Rick had looked away from her and snapped his head back when she spoke up, "Me? Me?" he let out a short laugh, "You mean-you mean me? Your way is gonna destroy this place. It's gonna get people killed. It's already gotten people killed, and I'm not gonna stand by and let it happen. If you don't fight, you die. I'm not gonna stand by-"

Before Rick could finish, Michonne came flying up, socking Rick hard enough in the side of the head that it knocked him out cold. He fell backwards onto the ground, Michonne standing above him. Past anger towards Rick and what had happened with Beth came flooding back, and she wished she had been the one to punch him in the head.