Torn Apart (A Daryl Dixon/ The Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Chapter 51

Daryl's P.O.V
"Yeah I do Daryl! It fucking hurts and that's why I told her to back off! Why I haven't been spending as much time with Rick, even though sometimes I just want to talk to him. I respect your feelings about my relationship with him and I've taken a step back." She yells at me.

"I didn' ask you too! If you wanna spend time with him, go ahead. I ain't stopping you, you do wha' you want Cat... You do anyway." I mutter.

After I say it, I instantly regret it. She storms past me, slamming the door behind her. I open the door and follow her out.

"Cat-"

"Fuck off Daryl!" She yells.

As she walks towards the church doors Rick stands up and walks towards her.

"What's wrong?" He asks, grabbing her wrist.

"Both of you just leave me alone!" She yells, yanking her arm back and storming out of the building.

From the corner, Maggie gets up and follows her outside the church. Everyone is silent, their questioning eyes focused on me.

"Mind your own damn business!" I say, walking over to the pew to grab my crossbow.

I sling it across my back and walk towards the church doors. Rick steps in front of me, blocking my exit.

"What happened?"

"We jus' got into an argument." I say, trying to get around him.

"What-"

"Leave it Rick!" I yell.

He stops and looks me in the eyes, his jaw clenched. After a moment, he steps out of my way and I storm out of the church. Cat is nowhere in sight and to be honest, I'm too angry to look at her. Carol emerges from around the corner, holding four empty containers. I walk over and grab two from her, leaving her with the others.

"Let's go." I say, turning towards the road.

"What's up?" She says, catching up to me.

"Nothin'." I say.

We walk in silence for awhile allowing me to think, Cat's words echo through my mind. I can't believe that she would do that. I had to deal with her and Rick's relationship, watching them together 24/7. I barely spent any time with Carol and I come out the bad guy? I kick the rocks on the road, sending them flying through the air.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asks.

"I'm fine." I grunt.

"I'm a good listener."

I sigh and look over at her, a small comforting smile on her face.

"Cat and I got into a huge argument."

"Over what?"

I look at her and she soon catches on, "Oh."

"Yeah. The thing tha' gives me the shits is tha' the same thing is happening with her and Rick. And you don' see me ordering him to stay away." I kick a rock really hard, it soaring far into the distance.

"Well maybe you should." She says.

I stop and look at her, "What?"

She stops and turns to face me, "I appreciate her telling me that she thought that what I did was wrong, and it was. I understand that and I respect her choice. Maybe Rick will feel the same way if you confront him and you and Cat will be able to rest easy."

"Yea' but-" I begin.

"Daryl, you have to remember that she is four and a half months pregnant and her hormones are all over the place. She is going to say and do things that you find irrational, but you have to be patient with her. When you get back and she has calmed down, talk to her about how she's feeling and how you're feeling. And you also need to definitely talk to Rick."

I stand there in silence mulling over her words, knowing that she is right.

"How'd you get to know all this?" I ask, picking up the containers.

"I remember when I was pregnant with Sophia, I had the worst mood swings, which pissed Ed off to the extreme. We would argue constantly, but then we'd get over it. This was before he became... Well, you know." She mumbles.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's the past now."

We walk to the creek near the church and begin to fill up the containers. The water is clear and cool and using my hands, I take a drink. The water is refreshing down my dry throat and I splash some over my face. Once the containers are full, we begin our walk back towards the church.

"So what happened to you after the prison?" I ask.

She slows her walk and looks at me, "Why?"

I shrug my shoulders, "You made it out and found us. Just wondering how you made it here."

She returns to normal pace and looks straight ahead, "I made it out alone. After awhile I found Tyresse and..." She pauses.

After a moment she takes a deep breath, "Lizzie and Mika..."

"Wha' happened?" I ask.

"They didn't make it." She whispers.

"How " I question.

"Can we not talk about this please." She says angrily, stopping.

I stop walking and look at her, noticing that her hands are trembling and her breathing is quick. I nod my head and she walks quickly with me trailing behind. After a while, when she has calmed down, I speak up.

"Hey, I get it. You don't wanna talk about it. You okay?" I ask.

"Gotta be." She replies.

"We need to start over. All of us, each other. You saved us all by yourself." I praise.

"I got lucky. You all should be dead." She mutters.

Ahead of us, up the road is an abandoned car covered in dust.

"I'll check it." She says, walking ahead of me.

She places the containers at the boot of the car and walks around to the driver's side. She opens the door and gets into the car, testing the engine. I keep an eye out for walkers as she tries the car. She gets out of the car and opens the boot with the keys.

"Hey. We ain't dead. What ever happened, happened." I say.

She gives me a look of uncertainty and pulls something out of the boot.

"Let's start over." I suggest.

"I want to." She whispers.

"Well you can."

She looks away and presses a button on the battery charger.

She turns to me, "We should leave this here for back up in case things go south at the church."

She bends over to pick up the containers.

"Want me to carry one of those?" I say reaching out. At that moment the container flies out of my hand, the water spilling on the ground.

Carol smirks at me, "No." She chuckles.

I sigh and pick up the container and we walk back to the church.