𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. L - 《give me joy》

.oOo.

"You knew," the deep voice startled Diana, causing her aim to deviate and the arrow to misfire.

She dropped her bow arm back to her side and turned to see Rick approach her and Daryl where they had been target-practicing in comfortable, concentrated silence. "Knew what?" she asked hesitantly; his ominous phrasing made her anxious.

Rick eyed Daryl, who had come to stand next to her with crossed arms, biceps bulging; a sight that made her heart flutter. A mutual look of comradery was shared between the men, and Rick confided in them, "Lori's condition. Her... pregnancy." He didn't sound upset with her, just vaguely neutral as if he wasn't yet sure how to feel about the news.

"Oh." Diana tilted her head apologetically at Daryl's raised brow. "Yeah, she told me about it, and that she planned to follow through with it, even though I told her it wasn't a good idea."

"You did what?" Rick stepped forward, not threateningly but somewhat dazed.

The movement still caused Diana to take a step back and Daryl to put out a hand on Rick's shoulder. "Yes, I told her to terminate it," she told the man confidently to make up for her show of weakness. "And I would tell her again, honestly. This isn't the time for pregnant women and newborn babies. Plus, Carl's birth was already a complicated one, she's only endangering herself. But God forbid I mention something as offensive as abortion."

Rick's eyes were devoid of emotion as he sat on one of the crates that had aided Diana and Glenn's ascent into the barn.

Daryl and Diana shared an inquisitive look and shrugged at one another. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't read him at all. "Uhm, you okay, buddy?"

That seemed to snap Rick out of it, and he blinked up at them, rubbing at his forehead. "Carl, he uh- when he was- Lori said this world's too cruel for children, that maybe it would be better if he..." he trailed off with a watery voice and narrowed eyes into the distance. "And now this..."

Diana's broken filter acted up, "What the fuckening." She covered her mouth with a tiny gasp as soon as she said it. "I- I mean, this is a marital thing, I really shouldn't comment." She didn't want to become the catalyst for the first apocalyptic divorce, and she didn't want to invest in other people's interpersonal problems as much, as it usually came back to bite her in the ass. "But she's quite the hypocrite, lemme tell you that."

"Hate to break up the pity party," Daryl interrupted, "but with Lori pregnant, don't that mean ol' Greene might look deep into his bitter heart and find it in him to let us stay a while longer? He don't seem like the type to send away a pregnant woman but I been wrong before."

Diana's brows raised and she snapped her fingers and pointed at Daryl, agreeing with his observation. She wanted to kiss him just for that, but then again, she wanted to kiss him most of the time...

She must've stared for too long, because the man in question furrowed his brow at her curiously, making her blink and turn back to Rick with a thumping heart and heat rising to her cheeks. She made sure to turn her face from him so he wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing her blush.

"Not a bad idea," Diana commented, "but... he's gonna resent us big time." She felt absolutely no shame in using Lori's poorly timed pregnancy as an excuse to prolong their stay. But if Hershel agreed to it, how long would the two parties have to tiptoe around each other, and how long after Lori gave birth would he be willing to provide them shelter? If he said yes to a pregnant Lori, Diana didn't see him saying no to a newborn baby, which meant an unpredictably extended stay. All the while, Hershel and his people might resent them for the emotional blackmail and abuse of his goodwill after all that happened.