The night called to Daryl from outside his window. The cool breeze that settled over the sun scorched world at night, and the calm quiet that was like no other, pulled at something inside of the redneck. The solitude of night had always been one of his favorite things, and just because he had a bed to sleep in now at the Kingdom, wouldn't and couldn't change that.
Getting up from where he lay wide awake beneath the thin layer of sheets, Daryl reaches for his pack of cigarettes and lighter that lay thrown on the wooden bedside dresser. The only thing cluttering up the empty space.
Daryl's bare feet hit the cold floor, but it didn't faze him whatsoever. In fact, he enjoys the sudden rush of cold that cools down his body for a brief moment. And walking over to the small window in the corner of the room, he opens it up. Allowing for a gust of that nice nighttime breeze to come blowing in.
He feels as it floods over the floorboards as he moves a chair next to the open window, and taking a seat he looks out at the world bathed in the quiet darkness.
There was a certain honesty to the world at night, Daryl always felt. An honesty that was lost the moment sunshine and life returned to the daily routine. For Daryl always believed you couldn't hide the flaws of humanity at night, unlike the popular belief of darkness covering all insecurities or imperfections. He found them to be heightened when the moon and stars traded places with the sun.
And Daryl respected a raw honesty more than a community of cover ups.
Pulling a cigarette from his pack, he places it between his lips before lighting it. And instantly, the scent of smoke swirls around him as the wind picks up the scent and carries it into every space of the small bedroom. Filling each crevice with the deep distinct smell of cigarette smoke.
Daryl watches the smoke roll out in front of him as he blows it out slowly, and his eyes stay with it as the smoke floods out the open window until it dissipates into the night sky.
As Daryl takes another drag from the stick that burns slowly in his hand, he looks out the window at all the scenery around him. It isn't his preferred scenery of tall trees in a secluded forest where all he can hear is his thoughts and the calls of animals, but instead the preferred scenery of all those around him these days.
Walls to keep the threats out. A leader to follow. A roof to keep them dry. Bountiful food for sustainability. People to create a life with.
People craved stability now more than ever, and the Kingdom did that for them. To Daryl, he saw this community as a hoax, just like any so called sanctuary was anymore. But to all the kingdomers here, they needed this place.
Daryl saw the way people acted here, like they had all the freedom in the world when in reality they had no idea how very little they truly had.
Daryl knew better than anyone that the world was a harsh and cruel place. There was nothing bright about it anymore. And the threats out there, they were bigger than just the dead. But some people preferred to turn a blind eye and submerge themselves into a lie because it was easier and more beautiful than the truth.
Just as Daryl is about to take another drag from his cigarette, a sound captures his attention. One that sends a shiver down his spine and one that tugs instantly at his chest. A scream, but more importantly, her scream.
He could identify her voice anywhere, even if she spoke softly in the middle of a thunderstrom. He heard it as though he had super sonic hearing. He had memorized the sound of her voice and it effected him in a way no other voice could.
Flicking his cigarette out the window, Daryl stands up swiftly from his seat. The chair legs scratching against the floorboards as he pushes out the chair a little too quickly. But he doesn't care. All on his mind in that moment, is reaching her room down the hall and making sure she's alright.
Opening his door, he bounds down the hallway to the very end where her room sits on the right side. And every step brings him closer to the anguished screams that echo down the hall. Reaching her door, he sees its already left cracked so he pushes it open further. And the lantern light from the hallway lends a single ray of light into her room.
And there, in the bed pressed against the far wall, Daryl watches as she tosses and turns violently beneath the sheets as blood curdling screams fall from her trembling lips.
A nightmare, Daryl recognizes as the reason behind her screams.
"Hey," Daryl calls out softly as he walks towards her bed. "Hey, wake up!"
His hands reach for her shoulders and he shakes her gently. "Wake up, ye dreaming!"
He doesn't want to startle her further, but he knows she'll hurt herself the longer she stays in whatever hell she's trapped in.
Just as Daryl is about to shake her once more, her eyes snap open. They are wide and more fear filled than the hazel they usually are. And they dart around the room, inspecting every inch of the small space as she tries to figure out where she is.
"Ye alright, just had a bad dream is all." Daryl tells her, trying to help her out. And soon her anxious eyes focus in on the redneck that still holds softly to her shoulders. And her tense body begins to soften beneath the comforting sound of his steady voice.
Daryl removes his hands and backs up a few steps as she begins to look more like herself again. He watches as she runs a hand through her hair and shakes her head.
"I..." She shuts her eyes and her words fall out in a soft stutter. "I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Daryl grunts lowly, as he himself shakes his head. "Had a nightmare, ain't your fault."
The worst had run through his mind the second he heard her distress, and just as her body had calmed, his anxiety slowed inside of him as well. She was alright, and that's all that mattered to Daryl Dixon. He didn't care that she cried out loudly in the dead of night, or even that she sent fear flooding through him. She was safe... and that's all he cared about.
Daryl begins to move towards the door, as her breathing has long since calmed and he can see she's alright now. But the moment his hand reaches to close the door behind him on his way out, her soft voice rings through the air.
"Daryl?"
His body instantly turns at the call of his name, and in the darkness that shadows over the room, his blue eyes find hers.
"Can you stay with me? Please?"
He can hear the nervousness in her voice, and he almost senses a feeling of regret or embarrassment the second the words come flying out. But he simply let's go of the door handle, and finds himself walking back to her. Surprising both her and himself.
Daryl had expected himself to hesitate. He knew climbing into bed with the woman he was secretly infatuated with wasn't a smart idea. Especially after watching her suffer from a clearly traumatic nightmare. But he didn't second guess his movements, not for a single second.
She moved further over on the mattress, leaving plenty of room for Daryl to lay as he climbs into the warm bed. Feeling instantly his heart beating faster as they lay mere centimeters away from each other. But something inside of Daryl rejects his fear. And allows him to accept this moment.
Daryl wraps his arms around her body as she pulls the covers up, and he brings her petite figure into his much larger frame.
"There's nowhere I'd rather be." Daryl whispers against the soft nature of her honey scented hair that rests against his chest. And he feels as she melts against him.
There was no place either of them would rather be than right there in each other's open arms.
A/N: I loved this idea when it came to me at 3:00 in the morning (seriously I'm not kidding!😂) I'm hoping that the writing turned out just as well as I had envisioned! Let me know what you think!💕
