Beautifully Silent.

Distance.

***** this is about a 3 week jump since my last chapter. I've decided to skip the fair and the pike situation purely because I want to keep it exactly the same (as portrayed on tv, not the comics) and i don't think it would be interesting to read. Also, I need a time jump for the next part of this story to play out how I envision it to :) *****

It had been a few weeks since daryls fight with beta. And a lot had happened since. He'd spent most of his time at the kingdom helping out. Since the loss of Henry, Carol and Ezekiel hadn't been able to find the strength to run things the way they had before. Truthfully everything was falling apart. Although he was extremely busy taking over the roles of the King and Queen while they dealt with the loss of their son, whenever Daryl managed to get a few minutes of peace his mind only thought of one thing. Connie.

They'd seen each other a few times since, but only briefly and hardly making any conversation at all. Connie was always busy and Daryl still felt embarrassed and confused about what had happened between them those weeks ago. In truth, he was trying to avoid her. He'd never been one for catching feelings, and everything about it made him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. A thousand questions would run through his head when thinking about her. Was she embarrassed too? Does she regret getting close to him? Was he just convenient for keeping her warm? Why would she even think of him that way?.

Daryl had spent all day trying to keep the kingdom running as smoothly as he could, same as every other day. It was around lunchtime when he finally got a chance to sit down and eat, skipping breakfast almost every day. He was sat on his own, again letting his thoughts run away with him about the beautiful woman he couldnt get off his mind. Suddenly, footsteps approached him. He automatically assumed it was a resident of kingdom coming to tell him about yet another issue. Without even looking up he huffed and with an angry tone said "what now?!" After a few seconds with no response he finally looked up and was stunned by who he saw. It was her. It was Connie.

"Hey stranger" she signed to him. "Mind if I sit here?" Daryl nodded and patted the floor next to him. "What you doing here?" He signed back. Daryl had been practising his signing recently. And truthfully he'd gotten quite good at it. "Came with michonne and Aaron to drop off some supplies for the kingdom, just thought I'd come and say hi". Daryl nodded in response. He wasn't sure what to say to her, his overthinking and insecurity had him convinced that she didn't like him, certainly not the way he liked her. He didn't know what to do so just continued eating. She tried to converse with him some more. "So how are things going down here?" She signed. "Fine I guess" he replied bluntly. Connie had started to get the feeling he didn't want to talk to her, which in truth broke her heart a little. She had been so excited about coming and finally getting a chance to talk to him. But like every other time she tried he was shutting her down and seemed uninterested. "Look I'm going to go. You clearly don't want me around" she signed to Daryl. He looked up at her face finally and noticed her eyes had started to water. He felt horrible. Daryl reached out his hand to grab her  saying "Connie wait..." but it was too late. She'd already turned and started to walk away.

He put his plate on the floor and began to stand up to go after her. He'd upset her. Again. But worse this time. He couldn't let her leave without fixing this. He didn't ever want her to cry and especially not because of him. Just as he was about the chase after her a hand grabbed him. It was a kingdomer that had come to tell him that the water pipes had burst again. Without Henry around to fix them anymore they'd been failing a lot and only Daryl knew what to do to fix them. His heart sank. He knew that he had to go and fix the pipes and wouldn't be able to chase after Connie to explain. He didn't think she liked him anyway, but if she did, she certainly wouldn't now.

He'd spent almost an hour trying to fix the damned pipes. Trying to work as quickly as possible in the hope that he could catch up with Connie and apologise for his behaviour before. The whole time working he couldnt stop thinking about the look on her face before she walked away. He was so angry at himself. She didn't deserve the way he spoke to her. She didn't deserve how he'd been avoiding her for weeks. And one thing was clear In his mind now, he certainly did not deserve her. Finally the pipes were fixed. He ran out to the main courtyard hoping to spot Connie somewhere. But she was gone. Michonne and Aaron were gone and so were the horses and wagons they'd rode here on. Connie was gone. And now there was nothing Daryl could do. He knew, he messed up. But he had to fix this. He had to tell her how sorry he was. He had to tell her...