NATE
"Nate....Nate...."
Daryl gave my shoulders a little shake to make me look at him.
"Did yer hear me? Take the Mutt and go home. I'll be along later."
I simply nod in reply. Taking one last guilty peek at Deanna, who was clasped in Michonne's arms.
Aaron and Tobin covered Pete's body with a blanket. Rick and Abraham took care of Reg. Most of the crowd had left while I was lost in my own head, shaking in my husband's embrace.
"I got her, Daryl" Morgan took me by the arm and led me away, with Muttley as our escort.
It was a silent five-minute walk to our front door. Morgan gently pushed me inwards, before wrapping his arms around me from behind. Holding me against him.
"Something's eating you all up, Funny Face?" He whispered and I dipped my head, not turning around.
"You tell him, tell Daryl. It'll be Ok. You talk to him....and get it all out."
Morgan gave me one last loving squeeze. Kissed my head and gently closed the door behind him.
Like an automaton, I walk into the kitchen. Grab one of the cans of dog food that Olivia kindly dropped off earlier. To supplement the kibble Helen had already given to us.
Muttley swirled around my legs as I carried his dish to the laundry and placed it on the mat we'd set out for him. I watched as he wolfed it down. Then kept standing there, staring blindly at the empty bowl as he nudged his way outside via the big doggy door.
Bending over, I pour some biccies in.
He came back a few minutes later and climbed onto the large cushion that's now his bed. Turned in circles until satisfied....then settled down with a happy doggy sigh.
I return to the kitchen. Wash out the empty can and place it on the drainer to dry. It'll join the others that we've strung together as a Walker warning system outside the walls.
*
I stand at the sink, staring unseeingly at a tiny chip in the marble benchtop surrounding it. For how long?
Who knows.
My eyes blinked when fingers gently prodded my head. And he whistled through his teeth....once he found the bump.
But that was nothing compared to the sound he made once he pulled the neckline of my jacket down. Glimpsed part of the bruising left behind from the attempted Walker love-bite through the canvas.
"Jorge told me that yer took a fair old beatin out there. Are yer Ok? C'mon, let's go clean up. Then yer can tell me."
He was being so gentle and considerate. Only I don't deserve it and I can't stand it any longer. I'm going to disappoint him yet again.
Nup, this is going to be more than a disappointment.
Pulling away, I turn. Look him in the eyes and start talking.
My shame....
DARYL
"Shit, Nate....WHAT IN THE FUCK WERE YER FUCKIN THINKING?" I cut in angrily, when she was mid-way through telling me about putting her knife against that prick's neck.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think....I just did it. I...." Her voice remained really low and all choked up.
Only now? She couldn't look me in the eyes as I growled over her again.
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Home Is Your Heartbeat ('Home Is' Book Two - Daryl Dixon)
FanfictionSemi-mature. Completed. Book Two picks up immediately from the last chapter of Home is You. Nate is an Aussie girl who was stranded in Georgia during the outbreak. She and fellow traveler Leo joined a group of survivors in Atlanta. Nate got her firs...
