All of Us (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 26

I took in a deep breath. "Did you hear about what happened on the way to Hilltop?" I asked him in a quiet voice. Daryl nodded his head.

"I dunno much about what happened," he said. "But, yah."

I nodded and told the story.

"When we were on our way to the Hilltop, we met a young girl calling for help. She was surrounded by walkers. I thought we had saved her. I thought we could bring her back to Alexandria just like you had brought me back here," I paused, looking up into Daryl's eyes. He had a frown on his face. "I thought that I could show her that even though she lost all her family, that she could be happy again, that she could be safe again," I laughed bitterly. "Maybe that's why we met her. To remind me that no matter what I think or where I am, we will never be safe." Silent tears started to fall down my face as I talked about Emily. "Because she died, Daryl. She was bit and there was nothing I could do to help her even though I wanted to help her so badly. And I had to watch her die in front of my eyes."

"I'm sorry Sloane," he said quietly.

"And then I came back here to help with the sickness. But then people started getting worse. And we only had two respirators but they were both being used. Florence had one. But then Rick started to get really bad really fast," I paused as I took in Daryl's concerned face. Him and Rick were so close, they were practically brothers. "Florence gave him her respirator," I whispered. "He's okay, but then Florence got worse. She couldn't breathe, just like Emily," I said in a wobbly voice as the tears started again. "She coughed blood all over me, and then died in my arms. The worst part was that when her breathing finally slowed, I thought it was over and that she was getting better. I thought she would live. But then I looked at her, and I saw that she was actually dead," I choked out.

I started to cry harder now, overwhelmed by everything. I was beyond tired and all I could think about was all the people I'd lost and wonder who would be next. I reached my hands up to cover my face as the tears continued. After a moment, I was surprised to feel Daryl's strong arms wrap around my waist for comfort. I leaned in and buried my face in the crook of his neck. Daryl stiffened at first, and then after a moment, he pulled me in a little tighter.

I cried on his shoulder until my breathing started to slow. I focused on Daryl's breathing and took in deep breaths to calm myself. This felt so right, being in his arms. I felt so safe there.

After a few minutes, I slowly pulled away.

"How do you do it?" I asked him. "How do you keep going after losing so many people? After seeing everything that you've seen?" I really needed to know.

He stared at me a moment. "You just do. You gotta keep going for the people you care about," he said. "And, Sloane? You're not alone," he mumbled quietly.

I smiled, remembering how Michonne had said that to me, too. I sighed. He was right. In times like these, I needed to remember what I was fighting for: my friends, my family.

I stared into his eyes, suddenly realizing how close we were. I remembered the night before I left for the Hilltop when we were in a similar situation, but he had pulled away. But, he didn't seem to be pulling away now.

When Daryl's eyes trailed down my face and focused on my lips, I sucked in a breath. Daryl started to chew on his lip, a habit I noticed he did when he was nervous. Was he nervous now?

I didn't want to put myself out there for rejection again. But I swear I wasn't making up the connection I felt between us right now. Daryl must have felt it too.

I moved my gaze from his lips and looked back into his eyes, which caused my face to tilt up slightly. At the same time, he moved in and our lips connected.

The kiss wasn't slow or tender, it was urgent and passionate. But I didn't expect anything different from Daryl. 

His hands went to my waist, and then he gently pushed me backwards. I crawled back on the bed, Daryl moving back with me, and we never broke the kiss once. I layed down, resting my head on my pillow. Daryl hovered over me, leaning on his forearms for support.

I parted my lips and his tongue slipped in, making me moan. I trailed my hands up and down the front of his chest over his shirt, wanting to explore. I felt his hands dip under my shirt. His fingers circled the skin just above the top of my shorts, and then his hands started to slowly make their way up, causing my shirt to rise up too. He pushed it up further and I lifted my head and arms so he could take it off. Our lips barely parted for a moment. Once my shirt was off, his lips were back on mine immediately.

I slid my hands under Daryl's shirt and placed them on his hard chest. My hands started to explore the warm skin of his chest for the first time.

He bent his head and sucked on the skin of my neck, making me gasp. I started to trail my hands slowly down his chest. He let out a low growl when they slid down his abdomen and stopped just above the buckle on his pants.

His lips moved back to my mouth and we kissed feverishly. I couldn't get enough of him, of his lips, of his touch.

I moved my hands to his back and started to lift up his shirt, but he grabbed my hands and stopped them.

"Wait," he said in a raspy voice as he pulled back slightly.

"What?" I asked, panting.

He shook his head. "We should stop."

"Oh," I said as I turned my face away from him, my cheeks heating with embarrassment.

"Sloane," Dayl said as he gently placed his thumb and index finger on my chin and turned my head to face him again. He looked into my eyes. "You've had a hard day. You should get some rest," he said.

At his words, a huge yawn came over me. Getting lost in kissing Daryl had made me momentarily forget how tired I was and that it was the middle of the night. Now that we had stopped, I realized that I was truly exhausted.

He smiled at me, still hovering over me. It was one of his real smiles that I rarely saw. He was just looking out for me.

"You're probably right," I said, stifling another yawn with the back of hand

"I am," he chuckled as he pushed himself up and got off me.

"Go to sleep," he said.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked, not wanting him to leave now.

He looked at me for a moment and then nodded his head in response.

I was too tired to change into pajamas. Daryl lifted the blankets and we both slipped under them.

"Night, Daryl," I whispered as I snuggled into the pillows.

"Night, Sloane," Daryl replied in the dark.

It took me only moments to fall asleep, feeling safe and calm knowing that Daryl was right beside me.