Healing Broken Wings [Daryl Dixon] The Walking Dead

Fifteen| Wouldn't Kill You

⛏️Daryl⛏️

I stare out into the dark woods, letting my thoughts wander. I hear Kris shifting in her sleep. She's finally starting to get better. Her color is coming back, she's conscious most of the time, and her fever has gone. She's been staying in my tent even though I told her she could move back to her own if she wanted to.

I laugh quietly to myself as I remember her answer. "I've spent nearly a week away from you and I don't care to go back there." It made me feel a little bad about how I treated her but I'm happy she still wants to be around me. I mess with the bolt in my hand.

I feel someone brush against me as they sit beside me. I look and see Kris, staring out into the woods as well. "Did I wake you?" She shakes her head and gives me a small smile. "No, but I heard your laugh, I knew you were awake and I've been restless for a while now."

"Yeah, being unconscious on and off for the last few days will do that to you."

"So what were you laughing about?"

"I wouldn't call it a laugh more like... a chuckle." She laughs and crisscrosses her legs. "Okay, what were you chuckling about?" I shrug my shoulders. "Just thinking, letting my mind wonder."

"Since when do you let your mind wander?"

"I always let my mind wander. I just try to stay focused more often than not." I listen to her laugh again and think about how nice it is to hear. She rests her head on my shoulder. I sigh internally, trying to push away the question in the back of my mind. I start digging the bolt into the ground, Kris watches, giving me a curious look.

"Kris, I...I can't help but want to know. Even though it's not my business, but...do you care for, Dean?" She lifts her head off my shoulder and looks at me. "Why are you asking?" I look back down at my crossbow bolt, not meeting her eyes. "Remember when I brought back that doll after that damn horse threw me off?"

"You mean when, Andrea, almost killed you?" I nod my head and she nods to. "Vaguely," she says and I chuckle before going back to clenching my jaw. "Well, that morning, when I was going to the stables to get a horse. I walked in but certain "noises" made me stop. I didn't see it, I didn't need to, I already knew what it was. So, I just walked away before I did something stupid. Do you care for him?"

I stare down at the grass, waiting patiently for the answer. "Not in the way that I care about you." I look up at her but it's her turn not to meet my gaze. "It was only once and he understands that. I don't know what I was doing. I guess I just wanted to feel something other than sadness, even if it was just for a minute. But all that brought on was guilt."

She looks down at her hands, clasping them together. Her hair came forward, covering the side of her face. I reach up and tuck the brown strands behind her ear so I could see her face. "Don't beat yourself up. If anyone should be beating themselves up it's me, I drove you away and for stupid reasons. Almost ruined the only good thing that ever walked into my life."

She lets a small smile grace her face. "Carol told me what you did for me while I was sick. How you pleaded my case and kept Shane away."

"Well, I don't plead for anything, I simply told them the truth and what I thought. And in the matter of Shane, anyone would have done the same."

"Not just anyone, you. Most of the group would have submitted through fear. Fear of what I might have become. But you and Carol didn't let fear control you, you stood up for me."

"Saying fear didn't drive me is bullshit. I was afraid, more afraid than you can even imagine. Afraid of losing you, afraid of what Shane would have done if I didn't pull the trigger." Her gaze softens and she takes my hand in hers. I'm not a big hand holder but I don't pull away, instead, I welcome the warmth her touch brings.