Beautifully Silent.

A silent touch.

Exhausted, wounded, but alive. Daryl sunk to the floor. He had just defeated Beta after a fight that felt like it took hours. He was alone and wondered if the others were okay, Henry, Lydia, and Connie. He wanted to go and look to check on them but he couldn't find the strength to lift his beaten and bruised body from the floor. Instead he just sat there. Blood from the fresh open wound on his forehead was steaming down his face onto his lap. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a bandana which he then used to wipe the blood from his eyes. He just sat there. He wanted to call out to them, but he darent incase the dead were still around, or worse, the skin freaks.

After a few moments he heard footsteps approaching him. They were delicate and barely made a sound. As he turned around to see who was there, he saw her. It was Connie. As she saw him she rushed toward him and signed to ask if he was okay. Daryl didn't understand sign language but he could make out her question and nodded slightly before grunting in pain. Connie took the bandana from daryls hand and began lifting it toward his face in an attempt to clean him up. But before she could make any contact with him he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. "I said I'm fine" he snapped at her. "It's just a lil scratch" he said. She could read his lips but she didn't care what he said. He was bleeding quite a lot and she could tell how much pain he was In. She took out her note pad, knowing he wouldn't understand her signs and began to write. After a few seconds she showed him her note which read "wait here, I'm getting the first aid kit from the stash". Before Daryl could argue she had already stood up and turned away. 'Why is she so insistent on cleaning me up?' He thought to himself. 'I said I was fine. Stupid bitch just don't listen'.

Connie returned with the first aid kit. She could tell by his facial expressions Daryl was annoyed that she hadn't listened when he said he was fine, but the man was bleeding and was clearly not okay. She took out a sterile pad and some rubbing alcohol and soaked the pad before approaching the mans face again. She went slowly, just incase he tried to grab her again. But he didn't. He let her wipe the blood from his face and clean his wound. She couldn't help but notice that he didn't look at her the whole time. And wondered why? Truth is, Daryl wasn't one for any kind of affection or physical contact. Yes, she was only cleaning his wound but the touch of soft warm hands on his face still made him feel a little uncomfortable. He couldn't wait for it to be over. Finally she stopped wiping his face and took out another pad and placed it over the cut on his forehead. She knew he'd be too stubborn to let her tape it in place so she simply motioned to him to hold it there for a few minutes instead.

"Where's the kids at?" He said while looking around. Forgetting that she was deaf for a moment, he didn't think to look at her directly while speaking. She saw his lips move slightly so suspected he was trying to talk to her. Connie tapped Daryl on the shoulder to get his attention towards her before giving him a "what?" Type of look. Before he could answer though, she took out her little notepad and pen and handed it to Daryl to write what he wanted to say. She figured this would be an easier way to communicate. Daryl scribbled for a second before handing the pad back to Connie. "Where's the kids?" It read. Connie wrote for a few seconds before handing the pad to Daryl. "They're safe. Downstairs cuddling in a room. Didn't want to drag them up here and disturb the romance". Without meaning too Daryl let out a little smirk, which Connie caught. She smiled at Daryl slightly, it was nice to see that this rock hard emotionless man did in fact have emotions. Well, a sense of humour atleast.

Daryl notice the slight smile on Connie's lips. He wondered wether or not to smile back at her, deciding wether it would make him look soft. But his train of thought ran away. He'd never really noticed before now, but she was actually very beautiful. The way her deep brown eyes sort of twinkled in any kind of light. The way the loose curls of her hair when it was tied back would sit perfectly on her face. The way her smile had a sort of comforting innocence to it. He hadn't noticed before, but he certainly had now.  What he also hadn't noticed, was how he'd been looking at her perhaps a little too long. Long enough for her to notice anyway. He was still looking at the smile on her lips when suddenly the smile turned into a little smirk. He quickly looked up at her eyes and saw them rolling in a playful way. Embarrassed, he put his hands to the floor and began to slowly push himself up from the ground in hope to move on from that moment. His stomach was in knots from embarrassment and he was in a lot of pain. But after a few seconds and a lot of grunting he finally found the strength to make it up from the floor. He darnet even look In look in Connie direction. What must she think of him? Some kind of pervert? A weirdo? Even he didn't know what to think of himself.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and a note being handed to him. "You should take it easy. You're pretty banged up. Maybe we should go get the kids and stay here the night? It's gonna be dark soon." Still to embarrassed to look at her directly, he took the pen and pad from her hands and began to scribble. "Na, can't stay here. Skin jobs might come back. I know place not too far. We'll get there before dark" Connie gave Daryl a concerned nod. She knew he was in pain and would struggle, but she also knew now that there was no point arguing with him. He was far too stubborn, which was something she had very quickly began to like about him.