𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XI pt. II

oOo

Before Shane had time to gather his wits and register her threats, Diana whirled around, grabbed a silent-struck Daryl by the crook of his elbow and led him away with hasty steps to his and Merle's truck. To her luck, Merle wasn't around.

With her heart pounding against her ribcage, Diana almost threw herself behind the truck in an attempt to hide. She sat with her back against the back tire, the bow digging into her flesh. One hand grabbed onto the truck while the other clasped her chest, right above her racing heart. Her breathing was rapid and ragged. The adrenaline gave her the feeling of having finished a ride in the world's biggest rollercoaster.

"Oh my God," she breathed out and grabbed her face. "Oh my God."

She ignored Daryl's shuffling feet to her right in order to deal with her panic.

"What did I do?" She peeked over the bed of the pickup. "Is he- is he coming after me?" She fell back to sit on her heels and fanned her face while regulating her breaths. "It's fine, he's not coming to murder me in a blind rage, it's cool, cool cool cool cool. I didn't just insult and threaten a big man with a gun. He's a cop, he wouldn't- unless he's corrupt," she gasped, still murmuring to herself.

Diana was startled out of her downward-spiraling, manic thoughts by a nudge to her thigh, which made her sway in her crouch. Her hand flew out to stabilize her. She looked at the boot and then followed up the length of the leg and up, straining her neck to look up at Daryl.

He tilted his head to her then looked away, arms crossed as he leaned against the bed of the truck. "You done acting crazy?"

Diana faced forward again, her mind feeling somewhat clearer.

She was horrified by how she'd spoken to Shane, no matter how much he deserved it. She hadn't been raised like that, to explode in someone's face at the slightest inconvenience. She knew that had her mom witnessed it, Diana would've been, well, fucked, to put it crudely.

Calm first and foremost, handle things with grace and poise and the dignity of a queen. All things she'd foregone.

Not to mention Shane would never take her seriously after that. And she needed his approval, one way or another, just like she pseudo-needed everyone's approval. Some words from Shane and people would look at and treat her differently. His opinion mattered to them, and their opinion of her mattered to Diana.

She sighed once more and massaged her forehead, forcing away a light headache. "I don't know," Diana confessed, "maybe. I think so." She could deal with this later like she always did. She had other issues right now, now that she'd found Daryl.

"Then stand up, 'cause I sure as hell ain't crouching." He nudged her again, forcing her to stand lest she tipped over.

Diana noticed Daryl's blue gaze on her and felt blood rushing up her neck and resting on her cheeks.

Not only had she acted like a bitch, she'd also had a witness to the whole thing. A witness she wouldn't be able to avoid forever in order to pretend nothing had happened.

She brought her hands to cover her flushed cheeks and let out a sound halfway between a whine and a groan. "That was so embarrassing," she confessed and glanced at the man at her side, gauging his reaction.

Daryl scoffed and kicked some dirt under his foot. "Embarrassing? Hell, I was gonna say damn brave, guy's a grade-A asshole."

"Noo..." Diana dragged, defending weakly, "I mean, yeah uh- kinda, but he seemed okay like, in the beginning... before he talked."

Diana lowered her hands and interlaced her fingers, before deciding that pose looked too forced and putting them in the small pockets of her jean shorts. No, that didn't feel right. She was going to put her hands on her hips but then went for a simple cross of her arms, mirroring Daryl.