Farmer's Daughter (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Chapter 11

Daryl's POV

"Yer welcome" I whisper. I could hear her sniffle as she laid her head on my shoulder. This was something new. I had never comforted someone like this, hell there was no one to comfort. Merle just sucked it up and I wouldn't get anywhere near my dad even if my life depended on it.

I could hear Rick trying to talk to Carol about what she had said but Carol was fed up. I understand that she lost her kid and she's pretty pissed, but that gave her no reason to talk to Melinda like that. And because of her little blow out session here I am making a fool of myself, hugging someone.

I have to admit, she's growing on me. Just being around her makes me feel different. She cares more about others than she does herself, she's strong and that's exactly what we need. We need someone here to keep us all in place, to remind us who we are and to not give up. Everyday she seems to put herself out there to help the group.

I can't help but think about how lucky this Tyler guy is. He's got a women that doesn't bitch and complain all the time, she takes charge and can pull her own weight. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I was in his shoes, had a nice wife, a kid. It would be nice to have something to live for everyday.

I can feel the groups eyes on us as they talk. About what, I don't know, but I'm kind of hoping that Rick is gonna make Carol apologize. What she said was out of line.

I remove my arms from around Melinda's shoulders and clear my throat awkwardly, rocking back and forth on my feet.

She takes her hands and pushes her nappy hair out of her face. Even when she cries she still manages to look beautiful.

Wait, what?

I shake the thought from my head. I do not think she's beautiful, she's not!

Don't lie to yourself. You like everything about her!

The little voice inside my head screams. I find myself disagreeing with it everyday. And everyday it just gets worse and worse. I can't let her know about what I think, she's getting married and has a kid. She's happy, and I need to leave that alone.

I open my mouth getting ready to say something but nothing comes out. I just find myself starring at her and thats even worse.

"It's getting late, ye should go to sleep or something." I say as if I don't care. She can't know how I feel. I guess thats why I snap at her all the time. Or maybe because she's so innocent, or has a temper as bad as mine and I just get fed up.

"Oh, um, yeah. I'll do that." she rubs her arm like she's embarrassed that she just spilled all her troubles out to me. She nods once and turns to get her crossbow that I sat on the hood of the car. She turns without another word to me and goes looking through some nearby cars. It's dark as hell so I don't know what she's doing but like I keep reminding myself, I don't care.

I watch her until her body disappears into the darkness. I feel like following her and dragging her back, telling her how stupid it is to venture off this late, but I stop myself and instead climb the latter to the RV, taking watch.

It's been and few hours and it's pitch black now. Dale came up a few minutes ago and sat down, not saying a word. I mentally thank him for that, silence is what I want.

I suppose the group is all sleeping now, either in the RV or in a fairly clean car. I lean my head back on the edge of the chair I'm sitting in and trust my ears to tell me if something is there. Because my eyes are doing a shitty job with barely any light.

A few minutes later there is the sound of something clashing against metal. I was about to sit up and take care if it when I hear Dale chuckle.

"Son of a bitch!" I hear a woman whisper from down below. I guess she ran into one of the cars.