Daryl Dixon Fic - Tumblr Posts

Hopeless

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Summary:   After losing everyone when the walkers attacked the quarry, reader can’t see the point on keep going, but then Daryl Dixon becomes her shadow, frustrating her attempts at being alone and end it all. She doesnt know why he’s doing it, neither seemed to know it himself, and neither does reader know if she’ll ever stop feeling like this, if that sense of hopelessness and lonelyness will ever leave her…WARNING for suicidal reader.  (4600 words one-shot inspired by the prompt “I saved your life”)

Requested by @crossbowking though I’m pretty sure this wasn’t what you had in mind, sorru.

You can find more Daryl x Reader stories in the masterlist linked in the description of this blog.

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Everyone was packing their things to leave for Fort Benning the next day but you didn’t see the point. Walkers had attacked the camp, killing half your group…including your whole family, your parents and your brother. You were brokenhearted, you didn’t think you could ever stop feeling this pain. You were alone in the cruel world. You didn’t know why walkers hadn’t gotten to you too. What was the point in keeping going anymore?

Some of the other had begun to drive picks into the heads of walkers and fallen friends, and you felt tears falling down your eyes again as you felt sick to your stomach. Sure that nobody would notice, you went to the woods. You made sure to make noise as you walked, until you saw a walker making his way to you. You flopped down onto the ground and let it come. You shouldn’t be alive. You’d be devoured as your family and the pain would stop.

The monster was almost on you, reaching out its hands, it could almost touch you, and you closed your eyes, terrified, so as not to see it, and waited for the pain not come. Instead, you heard a whistling sound and then the walker fell on top of you. You yelped, pushing the body off you, and you looked around wildly, spotting Daryl lowering his crossbow.

“What the hell are you doing?!” He yelled at you, walking closer.

“No, what the hell did you do!”You snapped back, rushing onto your feet. Daryl’d ruined it all. You didn’t know if you’d have the courage to try again.

“I saved your life!” Daryl shook his head in disbelief at you, scoffing.

“Well, I didn’t ask you to!” You yelled back, embarrassed when you noticed tears in your eyes again. You turned to walk deeper into the woods, but Daryl rushed behind you.

“Where the hell you think you are going?!” Daryl reached out as if to grab your arm but you pulled away.

Keep reading

730 DAYS | daryl dixon [coming soon]

“we protect our people. we’ll protect you–i’ll protect you.”

“don’t make promises you can’t keep, daryl dixon.”

summary: 2 years since you’ve been trapped with the saviors as one of negan’s many wives, and 2 weeks since you’ve made your escape into the world of the living dead, anticipating whatever fate awaits you; but when you meet unlikely hero, daryl dixon, he saves you and brings you to alexandria. it’s a paradise you’ve longed for, but how long will this freedom last until negan finds you?

pairings: daryl dixon x f!reader

warnings: smut, violence, blood and gore, sexual assault, mentions of noncon, use of deadly weapons, fluff, angst, murder, slow burn-ish, strong language, torture, decapitation, s6-11, 18+, minors dni.

author’s note: so i started watching twd again, which i haven’t watched in years but now that i’m a grown woman i’ve been feigning for daryl lmao, he’s so fine idcidcidc.

000

THE SCARS WE SHARE | daryl dixon

❝i looked for you…at the start. why’d you leave without saying goodbye?❞

summary: you were the only good thing daryl had in his life. bonded by similar trauma, you suffered abuse at the hands of your stepmother, just as daryl had suffered from his own father. when you finally decide to escape your abusive home life, you’re forced to leave behind your best friend in the process. now with the world in an apocalyptic state, you’re left wondering if daryl was even alive.

pairings: daryl dixon x f!reader.

warnings: smut, violence, blood and gore, unrequited love, best friends to lovers, mentions of s/a, mentions of abuse, use of deadly weapons, fluff, angst, slow burn-ish, strong language, kidnapping, coercion, seasons 5-11, 18+, minors dni.

playlist: already gone - kelly clarkson | hanging on - emilee moore | through the trees - low shoulder | skin - zola jesus | home to you - fka twigs | words - skylar grey | two is better than one - boys like girls | back to december - taylor swift | how to save a life - the fray | for the love of a daughter - demi lovato | confessions of a broken heart (daughter to father) - lindsay lohan.

©darylmydix. please do not repost.

000 | 001 | 002

Going Nowhere

Click here for my masterlist.

Febuwhump Prompt - Won't Regain Consciousness

Prompt - ‘I thought I'd lost you.’

Despite the early morning, the sun was beating down causing sweat to bead on your forehead. You wiped at it with your arm as you headed down to where the rest of the groups were gathered, a map spread out in front of them as they pulled another day of searching for Sophia.

“I’m gonna borrow a horse,” You heard Daryl say to Rick, pointing at something on the map, “head up to this ridge there, gives me as good a view as any to spot her.”

Rick hummed as he glanced at the map, nodding as his fingers traced it.

“Looks good to me.” He said.

“Maybe you’ll see your chupacabra up there too.” You heard T-Dog laugh as you came to a stop next to Daryl and nudged him gently.

“You saw a chupacabra?” You asked over Rick who repeated the word, smiling as Daryl grunted.

“You’ve never heard the story? Course not,” Dale answered his own question with a shake of his head, “The first night in camp, we’re all together, Daryl tells us the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and saw a chupacabra.”

“Cool,” You grinned as Jimmy laughed, Daryl turning to the kid with a glare.

“Somethin’ funny to you?” He snapped and Jimmy just smiled.

“You believe in bloodsucking dogs?”

“You believe in dead people walkin’ around?” You snorted and Rick rolled his eyes, though there was a fond smile on his face as he turned back to the map.

“Y/N, you can head down-” He began pointing somewhere to the left off the map but you cut him off with a shake of your head.

“I’m going with Daryl.” You told him, leaving no room for argument, though Daryl glared at you half heartedly.

“Like hell you are.” He said, causing you to grin at him, watching as he shook his head at you.

“Come on, you want me out there on my own?” You asked, watching as the glare fell from his face and he grumbled under his breath about how he should have left you to the walkers so he could have a goddamn minute to himself but still he nodded and gestured for you to follow him to the stables.

Daryl gave you a hand as you struggled to climb onto the horse but eventually you were both on, your arms wrapping tightly around Daryl’s waist, burying your face in his back as the horse took off in a run.

It didn’t take too long before you were nearly at the area Daryl wanted to scope out, him stopping a few times along the way to shoot some squirrels, taking great delight in the way you grimaced each time he did.

“Do you have to do that?” You asked him as the horse slowed down.

“Do ya want to eat?” He shot back, smirking over his shoulder as you looked at the dead squirrels with a frown.

The horse kept walking as you and Daryl looked around from atop of it, Daryl searching for any hint of tracks whereas you weren’t quite as skilled as him and looked for more obvious clues but looked back to Daryl as he brought the horse to a halt.

“Stay here a second,” Daryl told you as he climbed off the horse and made his way down to the lake, looking around at something you couldn’t see before he bent down, you raising an eyebrow as you strained to try and see what he had found.

“S’her doll.” He told you as he made his way back onto the horse, holding the doll in his hands like it was the most precious thing in the world and right now it probably was. “Let’s keep looking.”

The horse trotted on for a while longer as the two of you kept your eyes peeled before you were letting out a yell of shock as the horse reared up on it’s back legs and threw both you and Daryl off it.

You felt your head connect with a tree painfully hard, your eyes falling shut on their own accord and though you struggled to, you couldn’t bring yourself to open them, letting out a pained groan as you passed out.

Eventually you blinked awake, not sure how much time had passed but you glanced around, cursing yourself for passing out right where a walker could have gotten to you but then you tensed as you looked around, noticing both Daryl and the horse were missing.

“Daryl,” You called softly out, not wanting to be too loud in fear of attracting walkers, especially when Daryl wasn’t around to save you at the last second.

You felt fear flood through your system as you forced yourself up, leaning against the tree in an attempt to stop the world from spinning before you shakily took a step forward, wishing like hell you’d let Daryl teach you how to track because you were clueless right now as you stood in the woods without a single idea where to go.

You checked the entire area and saw no sign of the man and with a shaky hand you took your knife from your boot and started going in the direction you were heading, hoping Daryl had had the same idea and he just hadn’t been able to get back to you.

He was going to be fine, you forced yourself to think, trying desperately to shove the fear away and remember everything the missing man had taught you should you ever get separated.

You remembered laughing when he had told you that, remembered telling him you’d never get separated because you’d stick to him like glue, you remembered the eye roll you got for the comment but there was a softness to it. After months of working to break down Daryl’s walls, getting him to believe somebody could care about him, somebody could trust him, the two of you had actually become rather close and if anybody was looking for one of you they just had to find the other.

You felt sick as you thought of a life without Daryl and pushed the thought out of your head, blinking away the tears knowing that the man would smack you upside the head if he could see you now.

Daryl, himself, was struggling with his own feelings, cursing himself as he fell down the cliff he’d managed to get half way up, crying as the arrow in his side shifted painfully. Listening to Merle as he badgered on and on at him.

“I liked it better when you was missin’.” Daryl muttered as he pulled himself up another rock, grabbing hold of a branch to steady himself, looking down at how far he’d climbed again before glancing back up at Merle who waited at the top.

“Look at you, baby brother,” Merle laughed, “Bleedin’ from your side and ya still thinkin’ about that girly you left back there.”

“You’d best shut the hell up.” Daryl snarled, groaning as he climbed again.

“You gotta crush on the pretty lady, Darlylina?” He continued laughing and Daryl felt a surge of anger run through him, never liking when Merle spoke about you, cursing himself as he thought about you alone in the woods because of that damn horse. “She don’t care about you, hell nobody does. Ain’t nobody give a shit about you, baby brother, nobody but me.”

“Like to see you say that t’her face.” Daryl chuckled breathlessly, imagining your reaction to those words.

“Don’t think I’ll get the chance, I’m afraid,” Merle said, leaning further down as he lowered his voice, “Girls weak, she’s probably dead already.”

Those were the words Daryl needed to hear as he pulled himself up, blindly reaching for Merle as he struggled to get his body safely onto the flat bit of land, pictures of your lifeless body flashing through his mind, skin torn off as walkers fed on you.

You jumped as you heard a rustle to your side, snapping around in that direction with your knife raised only to let out a huff of relief as you saw the borrowed horse waiting in the bushes.

“S’alright, I’m not gonna hurt you,” You murmured gently, raising your hands non threateningly and pausing as the horse took a step back, “It’s ok, we’re good, take your time,” You told it, reaching one hand forward and waiting until the horse placed its head into it.

“Good job,” You praised as you brushed your fingers along her head. “No chance you know where Daryl is, huh? No? Suppose we better go save him for once then.” You smiled as you grabbed the reins and led the horse in a random direction, not quite ready to get back on it just yet.

You heard a noise in the distance, it sounded like somebody was talking faintly and you hoped like hell it was Daryl and not some random strangers ready to ambush you. You were only just about able to kill the walkers, you didn’t know what you’d do if you came across hostile people.

As you got closer you heard groaning and panting and slowed your steps, careful not to step on any twigs that would give you away as you scanned the area, not seeing where the noise was coming from until two arms appeared over the edge of a cliff and you watched Daryl struggled to pull himself up.

You quickly let go off the horse and made your way over to him, hoping he still had some strength in him because no way were you going to be able to carry him up on your own.

“Daryl,” you gasped, falling onto your knees and grabbing his arms, he let you grab onto him and used you to pull himself up, falling onto the ground with a groan and holding the arrow wound.

Your eyes immediately fell to the wound and you looked at him with wide eyes.

“What happened?” You asked, helping him sit up.

“Damn horse threw me off a cliff, s’what happened.” He groaned, taking a second to catch his breath before he turned to you, looking you up and down as he inspected you for cuts or bites. “What ‘bout you, you’re ok?”

“Oh I’m fine, me and nature are at one with each other now and just in case we’re counting, I totally saved your arse.” You grinned at him, hoping to relieve some of the tension in his shoulders.

And it worked, you watched as he relaxed upon seeing you were really ok before he let out a scoff.

“Saved my arse,” He grumbled before gesturing for you to help him up, “I pulled myself up that damn cliff but you missed it, too busy becomin’ one with nature.”

“Hey, you’re always telling me I need to!” You laughed as you pulled him up.

“No more complain’ about sleepin’ outside then, or eating squirrels?” He asked, thankful to see the damn horse as there was no way he could have walked back to the farm.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” You said, smiling at him as he helped you onto the horse before he climbed on himself with a wince, “more like less complaining when we have to walk through them.”

“I’ll take it.” He murmured, his lips tilting up into a smile as you wrapped your arms around him, weary of the wound but also not trusting the horse.

“So what’s with the ear necklace?” You asked as Daryl jumped off the horse and handed you the reins, you didn’t want to take the horse back to the stables alone but Daryl insisted.

“I dealt with walkers while you were napping.” He smirked at you causing you to roll your eyes as you knew he wouldn’t let you forget passing out for a while.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t forget I saved your arse.” You called as he made his way up to the farm and you continued through the woods to get to the stables.

As you were putting the horse back into her pen you heard a gunshot ring out and felt your blood run cold as you quickly locked the startled horse in and ran out as fast as you could over to where your group had set up camp, seeing most of the men already in the distance.

Your heart stopped as you saw where they were, knowing Daryl would come back in that way.

“Lori,” You yelled, causing her to turn around, “what happened?”

“I don’t know, Andrea shot at a walker but I don’t-” She began but you cut her off with a curse and took off running with tears in your eyes.

“Y/N!” She called but you didn’t stop to look back, just kept running until you were with Rick, Shane and T-dog and coming to a sudden halt as you saw Daryl on the floor, a sob leaving you as you fell to your knees and shook him.

“Wake up, c’mon Daryl, please,” Rick pulled you away from him, gently pushing you into Glenn’s arms where you turned and sobbed into his chest as Shane and Rick picked his limp body up.

“She just skimmed his head,” Rick told you, causing you to let out another sob, “He’ll be fine, he’s just passed out.”

“Hey guys,” You all turned to look at T-Dog who held the doll Daryl had found. “Isn’t this Sophia’s?”

Everybody looked at you and you nodded.

“Can you please just get him some help?” You managed to ask and you all made your way up to the house, Hershel already waiting for you at the door.

You tried to go into the bedroom with Daryl but Hershel stopped you with a hand on your shoulder and a sympathetic smile.

“I need space to work, I’ll call you when I’m finished.” He promised and nodded to Rick who gently wrapped his arm around your shoulder and led you downstairs to where most of the group were.

“Is he gonna be ok?” Maggie asked, looking at your pale face and the tears falling down your cheeks.

“He should be fine.” Rick answered and led you over to the sofa, watching sadly as you let yourself be sat down next to Glenn without a word, looking more lost than he’d ever seen you before.

“Did you find anything about Sophia?” Carol asked after a few moments of silence and you looked up at her in disbelief as your lower lip quivered.

“Seriously, he’s just been shot.” You managed but shook your head. “He found a doll.” Was all you said before standing up and heading out onto the porch alone, tears still falling down your face, missing the way Carol went to follow you but was stopped by Rick’s hand.

You didn't know just how long you stood outside for before Rick came to join you, sitting down next to you on the floor with your backs to the wall. Hershel had told him that whilst Daryl was stable he was still out cold and asked him what he wanted to do about you.

Rick had told him to leave it to him, though he hadn’t known you for long, it had taken only five minutes of observing you and Daryl to see how close you were, watching as the man always positioned you behind him, putting himself between you and any threat, watched as you followed him around, your smiley, cheerful attitude a stark comparison to his eye rollls and grumbled words.

It was obvious that in the world before you and Daryl would never have crossed paths but he was glad you’d found each other.

“Is he ok?” You asked quietly when Rick hadn’t said anything for a few moments.

“Hershel said he’s stable.” Rick said, voice as soft as yours as you watched the sky turn pink as the sunset.

“Can I see him?” In all the time you’d known Daryl he had never been hurt before, sure he’d had a couple of cuts and bruises but nothing more than that.

Now he was laying in the house somewhere because he had been shot in the head.

“Y/N,” Rick sighed, causing you to smile in an attempt to hold back more tears.

“You said he was stable.” You forced out.

“He is,” Rick assured, “but he’s not waking up.”

“What?” You whimpered, finally turning to face Rick who smiled sadly at your watery eyes.

“Hershel said that his body is exhausted, whatever happened out there took a lot of his energy and the gunshot didn’t help.”

You scrunched your eyes shut as Rick pulled you against his chest, his hand coming up to cup the back off your head and he held you close and let you sob against him.

You don’t know how long you cried but eventually you pulled away from him and wiped at your cheeks.

“Y/N-“ Rick began but you cut him off with a shake of your head before you stood up and headed silently into the house.

You stood in the doorway to the bedroom Daryl had been placed in, barely choking down a sob as you looked at Daryl who lay pale and still in the bed, a bandage covering the gunshot wound and a blanket covering his body.

It was a long few moments before you let yourself enter the room, carefully taking a seat on the bed, making sure you were on his uninjured side.

It was strange seeing Daryl like this and you blinked hard against the tears, as you took his hand gently in yours, brushing your thumb against the skin. Your mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to find some words but having none.

You weren’t aware of time passing, weren’t aware of anything outside of the room. You vaguely recalled somebody coming into the room, softly touching your shoulder as they left a plate on the nightstand for you but you didn’t acknowledge it, just focused on the rise and fall of Daryl’s chest, waiting for a sign that he was ok.

You felt exhaustion pull heavily at your eyes and you found it harder and harder to stay awake but knew you couldn’t leave Daryl, you just couldn’t do it. You carefully moved so you were laying down on the side of the bed, keeping space between you as you did.

“Wake up.” You pleaded softly, voice barely above a whisper.

Four days had passed by much the same way with you laying next to Daryl, watching closely as you waited for any sign of life but none came. People came in and out of the room, trying to get you to eat something and stay hydrated but you didn’t pay them any attention and didn’t notice yourself get weaker as each day passed, your focus purely on Daryl.

Maggie leaned against the door frame, smiling sadly in at you as she watched you hold Daryl’s hand, murmuring soft words she couldn’t hear.

“How’s he doin’?” She asked softly as she entered the room, making her way over to the chair at the side of the bed.

“Same as before,” You told her and she winced at how dry your voice sounded.

“You gotta drink something, Y/N.” She told you, holding a glass of water in your direction but you made no move for it, eyes locked on yours and Daryl’s entwined fingers. She suppressed a sigh and tried a new tactic, “How long have y’all been together?”

She watched as your eyebrows knitted together as confusion spread across your face causing her to tilt her head questioningly as you finally looked away from the unconscious man.

“What?” You asked, “We’re not together.”

Maggie felt her eyes widen in shock as she looked down at you with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course you are.” Maggie said like it was the most obvious fact in the world and you let out a huff of laughter as you shook your head.

“Daryl doesn’t like me like that, hell it took me long enough to get him to like me like this.” You smiled, trying to clear your throat but wincing in pain. Maggie held the water out to you again and you took it with a shaky hand, not letting go of Daryl’s with the other.

“Y/N, I’ve never, never, seen two people look at each other the way you and Daryl do. That man’d do anything for you without a single thought to himself and I’ve seen you follow him blindly, trusting his every move.” She told you with a smile, watching as you frowned and looked down at your joined hands again. “You love him, right?”

Moments passed as you thought over Maggie’s question, not that you needed to think about it, you already knew the answer. Of course you loved Daryl, you’d never met anybody like him before. Nobody, not even before the world ended, made you feel anything close to how Daryl Dixon made you feel and you had never felt this scared over the thought of losing somebody before, everytime you thought about all the ways things could go wrong, Daryl dying had never seemed like a possibility before.

You nodded slowly, looking back up to Maggie with wide eyes causing her to smile softly at you.

“Yeah, I do.” You confessed aloud for the first time.

“You should tell him,” She said, watching as you shook your head, “He feels the same about you, trust me.”

And with that she stood up, pausing in the doorway to see you’d already turned back to Daryl.

“Hey Y/N,” She said, watching you glance back at her with a soft hum, “Make sure you eat.”

“How are they?” Andrea asked as Maggie made her way down stairs.

“They’re going t’be just fine.” She told her with a smile on her face.

Two more days passed before Daryl awoke with a groan, scrunching his eyes closed before prying them open. Sunlight flooded into the room with a soft, golden glow as his eyes flickered down to you fast asleep on his chest, hand fisting his shirt as you did.

He smiled down at you before his eyes blinked shut again and he fell back to sleep, exhausted despite being out cold for nearly a week.

The next time Daryl opened his eyes, the room was brighter and you were still asleep. He savoured the feeling of you pressed against his chest as he lifted his arm and brought his hand up to your hair, running his fingers through it and smiling as you cuddled closer into him, mumbling something he couldn’t make out before humming happily into his chest.

He saw the exact moment you realised he was awake, feeling as you tensed against him before you shot up of his chest and looked down at him with wide, watery eyes before a shaky smile spread across your face as you flung yourself back down into his chest, hugging him tightly whilst being mindful of his injuries.

Daryl froze for a second before he let his arms wrap around you, his face buried in your hair as he held you close, listening as you sniffed back tears.

“I’m so glad you’re awake.” You mumbled into his chest.

“Sorry, I scared ya.” He whispered, tightening his hold on you and the two of you were more than content to lay in each other’s arms until you were pulling back far enough to look up at him.

“You okay? You need me to get Hershel?” You asked, your eyes flickering over to the gunshot wound on his head.

“M’alright,” He told you honestly because sure the wound ached but he didn’t want you leaving his arms any time soon.

You nodded and leaned back into his chest, listening to the comforting beat of his heart and relaxing for the first time in days.

It wasn’t long after that when Hershel checked in and gave Daryl the all clear, his wounds were healing nicely and he was told to keep hydrated and take it easy, advice you knew you’d have to force the man to listen to.

Hershel had offered to let Daryl stay in the bedroom as long as he needed but Daryl just shrugged him off, thanking him before he led you down to where the camp was set up, greeting everyone and assuring them he was fine before he headed towards his tent, you following closely behind.

“Ya okay?” Daryl asked softly as the two of you lay in the tent, Daryl’s arm around your shoulder as he held you close.

You let the question hang in the air for a few moments, Maggie’s words heavy in your mind. You wanted to tell Daryl how you felt but you didn’t want to ruin what you had with him now, the bond you two had was rare, it was something few people had and you’d be damned if you were going to screw it up.

But at the same time the only thoughts you’d had the last few days had been about Daryl’s dead body and it hurt you more than you thought anything ever could. You didn’t want to live with regrets, didn’t want to waste the time you had with him.

As you opened your mouth to say something you were cut off as the flap off the tent was pulled back and Andrea walked in with a guilty expression.

“I feel like shit.” She said, pausing in the entryway.

“Yeah,” Daryl huffed, “You and me both.”

Andrea watched as Daryl smiled and you glared, such a strong contrast to how the two of you usually were, usually Daryl was the one who glared and grumbled and you were the one always smiling and friendly.

“I really am sorry,” She told him, “If there’s anything I can do-”

“Nah, you were protectin’ the group,” Daryl told her, squeezing your shoulder as he did, causing you to look away from Andrea and bury your head in his chest. Andrea smiled and turned to leave, stopping when Daryl called her name, “Shoot me again, best pray I’m dead.”

“You gonna tell me what’s goin’ on in that head of yours, huh?” He asked once she was gone and you shook your head, losing any bravery you had only minutes before. “C’mon, Y/N/N, ya can tell me anythin’, you know that.”

He was right you did know that but you didn’t know how to come out and say it - end of the world and you still felt like a kid with their first crush.

Daryl waited in silence, knowing you’d cave eventually and had to fight back a smile as you finally started talking after five minutes of silence passed.

“I thought I’d lost you,” You told him quietly and he stayed silent, knowing that if he interrupted you now you wouldn’t start again, “I thought I lost you and all I could think was he doesn’t know how I feel, he’s going to die not knowing I loved him more than anybody. Watching you in that bed, seeing you like that…I’ve never been more scared in my whole life, not when the dead started walking, not when I was surrounded in the woods alone, nothing has ever scared me more.”

“You love me?” Daryl asked softly, eyes widening as he pushed you away far enough so he could look down at you, hating the fear in your eyes as you nodded at him.

“Yeah, I do.” You forced out softly, feeling like your throat was going to close up any minute as you couldn’t read Daryl’s face.

Daryl let the words sink in, working through the shock that somebody as perfect as you could love a nobody like him. Thinking back to all those times you looked at him like he hung the damn stars in the sky. He’d known how he felt about you for months but was never brave enough to say it, even at the end of civilization you two were still from completely different worlds and he knew you could never feel the same way.

Yet here you were confessing your feelings to him and he felt his heart beat speed up as a smile finally spread across his face, his hand coming up to cup your cheek, thumb brushing your cheekbone before he leaned down, slowly and pressed his lips to yours.

It was the best thing you’d ever felt, that soft brush of his lips against your own as both of you nervously kissed each other, slowly gaining more confidence but the kiss stayed soft and slow until you were pulling away, foreheads pressing together as you looked at Daryl with the softest, most adoring expression he’d ever seen and didn’t feel even a little bit worthy of.

“I love you too,” He whispered the confession before leaning close to peck your lips. “Ain’t ever gotta worry ‘bout losing me, I ain’t going nowhere.” He promised as he pulled you into his arms, feeling you smile into his chest.

There wasn’t any chance in hell Daryl was ever going to leave you, he’d kill a thousand walkers, kill any person who even looked at you funny, to make sure the two of you lived a long, happy life together.

__________

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Hold Him Tight, Don't Let Go

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Febuwhump Prompt - Hidden Scars

Prompt - ‘You're quite possibly the bravest person I've ever known.’

You panted for breath, struggling to scramble up the hill only for Daryl’s hands to grab your upper arms and drag you up, you crawling alongside him before he pulled you up and took your wrist in his hand, pulling you behind him as he dealt with yet another walker.

The herd made its way closer to you both, a walker neither of you had seen grabbed your ankle from its position on the floor. You let out a scared yell as you tried to pull your leg out of its hold, Daryl pulling on you too only for the both of you to go flying backwards onto the floor. Daryl let out a curse as pain shot through his back but he didn’t have time to dwell on it as the walker on the floor crawled towards you, ready to take a bite before Daryl bashed its skull in, turning to look at the countless walkers surrounding you.

“We gotta go,” He told you, helping you up and taking your hand in his, leading you through the crowd as you both used your weapons to kill any walkers that got too close.

“Daryl,” You struggled, a shooting pain in your side as you ran, but the man just kept pulling you along roughly, knowing that if you paused, for even a second, it could make all the difference between life and death, and there was no way you were dying on Daryl’s watch.

“C’mon, there’s a building up ahead.” He told you, raising his voice slightly over the sound of walkers grumbling.

As you entered the gas station more walkers appeared and you and Daryl struggled to get the door closed, both covered in blood as he crushed one of their heads with the heavy door, the two of you leaning your backs against it as you panted for breath.

“Ya alright?” Daryl asked you and you nodded, eyes closed as you leaned your head back.

“I’m good,” You told him before your eyes shot open at the sound of more groans as three walkers appeared in front of you. Exhaustion ran through both of your bodies but you moved quickly together as you took them all down.

“Shit Daryl,” You cursed softly as you turned to the man, his back to you as you saw blood staining the back of his shirt.

The man turned around, looking you up and down to make sure you were ok and upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary raised a questioning eyebrow up at you.

“You’re bleeding,” you told him, moving around to survey the store and finding some needle and thread. You weren’t the best at patching people up but you were the only person here and with the amount of blood on his shirt you didn’t know if he would make it back home and no way could you carry his limp body. “Sit down.”

You gestured to the floor but he shook his head, your eyes becoming even more concerned as you took in his pale, slightly sweaty face as his eyes darted around, looking at anything but you.

“Daryl,” You said softly, reaching over to gently take his arm but he flinched away from you like your touch burnt him.

“Don’t need patchin’ up,” He told you, voice rough as he swallowed a few times.

“You do,” You told him honestly, keeping your voice soft and calm, like you were talking to a scared animal, “There’s a lot of blood, you must have caught yourself when I fell.” You realised, biting your lip guilty.

“Ain’t your fault,” Daryl assured you, “Damn walkers came outta nowhere.”

He was right. It should have been a simple run, you and Daryl leaving the bike hidden in the woods as you walked on foot to scavenge for food and supplies. You’d managed to get a few things but not nearly close to what you needed but your trip was cut short as you opened a door to an abandoned department store and a flood of walkers fell out, no amount of arrows or knives to the skull would’ve helped.

As you fled into the woods, more walkers seemed to appear, surrounding the pair of you as you struggled on the uneven land and now Daryl was hurt and you were fighting to stay calm.

“Will you please let me patch you up?” You asked, turning wide eyes on him.

Daryl looked at you for a long moment, shaking his head as he backed against the wall.

“Please Daryl,” You begged, “I need you to be ok.”

It took a while before Daryl responded, letting out a shaky sigh as he lowered himself onto the floor and shifted so his back wasn’t pressing against the wall. You smiled down at him softly but he avoided eye contact so you sat behind him, pressing a comforting hand to his bicep, giving it a gentle squeeze before you lifted his shirt off.

Your eyes widened as you looked down at the man's back, there were countless deep, jagged scars littered across his back. Your hand came up to your mouth as you tried to react as soundlessly as you could.

Daryl let his eyes fall closed, hating the tears that welled up in his eyes. He sniffed and shifted before he stilled under your fingers.

You reached forward, going to touch one of the scars before changing course and brushing below the bleeding wound, wincing at his winced.

You began cleaning the cut as carefully as you could, murmuring apologies but saying nothing else, eyes flickering over to the scars that covered Daryl’s back.

“You okay?” You asked him softly, voice barely above a whisper as you were half way through the stitches.

Daryl sniffed soundlessly, glad you couldn’t see his face, glad you couldn’t see the few tears that had slipped down his cheeks. A few moments passed before he nodded, forcing out a hum as he did.

More silence passed as you tied the thread before pulling away to sit back on your knees, looking at the fresh stitches before moving to the old but still painful looking scars and you didn’t even want to know how he’s gotten them but still you couldn’t help but talk.

“They look old,” you prompted softly, reaching out to touch the longest one that spread from just below his right shoulder down past his tattoo down to the middle of his spine. You traced the length of it, feeling him still under your touch. “I’m sorry.” You whispered, pulling away again.

A long stretch of silence passed before Daryl spoke.

“S’my dad.” He muttered, voice so low and rough you barely heard the words but you managed, feeling sick to the stomach at them before you touched one of the thicker, nastier ones at the bottoms of his back, the skin felt raised and rough under your fingertips but this time Daryl didn’t flinch away, just scrunched his eyes shut tighter.

“Beat on Merle more than he did me, after Merle left…” He forced out, trailing off and he didn’t need to finish the sentence, his back did the speaking for him.

Your fingers made their way across his back with a gentle, barely there touch. At some point Daryl found himself relaxing under your touch, head bowed as memories assaulted his mind.

“I’m so sorry,” You whispered, moving your fingers downwards before you wrapped both your arms around his waist, holding him in a tight but careful grip, mindful of the new stitches, before you rested your head against his left shoulder blade.

Daryl opened his eyes, looking down at your hands resting against his stomach as you held him. He felt your eyelashes flutter against his back, felt you press a gentle kiss to one of the scars and he finally let the tears fall, knowing he didn’t need to be embarrassed in front of you, didn’t need to be strong all the time.

He let the tears fall down his cheeks freely, a few sobs making their way out of his throat as you squeezed him tighter and he placed his arms around yours, resting his head on his shoulder as you shifted further up so your hair tickled his cheek.

You didn’t know how long the two of you sat there for, you whispering words against Daryl’s back as he allowed himself to cry, gripping on to your arms like they were the only things holding him together.

__________

Daryl Dixon Taglist - @lovinnholland, @canadailluminate , @janesofia7, @cinderellacauseshebroke, @black-rose-29, @classyunknownlover, @cole22ann, @levisbloodcut, @alexxavicry, @mystic-writings, @lizamango, @urbestgrrl, @morganaah, @kaitieskidmore1, @loki-laufeysons-wife, @am-wd-ma, @sadblueberry721

Stuck With Me

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Febuwhump Prompt - Blindfolded

Prompt - ‘No one inspires that kind of loyalty quite like he does.’

You thrashed against the strong arms that held you, unable to see your captor as the blindfold that had been tightly, too tightly, secured around your eyes remained in place. You had no idea how much time had actually passed from you being captured to being dragged outside, held firmly in place as people around you cheered, shouting insults as a deep chuckle sounded close to your ear, taking great delight in the chaos.

Your blood had run cold once you were dragged out, the heat from nearby flames doing nothing to warm you up as you heard the snarls and groans of walkers, dreading what was to come.

You knew that Daryl had to be nearby, you’d both been grabbed together and no amount of struggling from either or you, nor Daryl’s shouts and threats, had persuaded your captors to keep you together. Instead you were led far away from each other, his face being the last thing you saw before your vision was taken by the damn blindfold.

“What can I say?” A voice called out, settling the crowd. It was the man holding you who spoke, you could feel the rumble of his chest and felt his breath from how closely he was holding you.

Despite yourself you froze too, desperately trying to gather as much information as you could, trying to form any sort of plan that would get you and Daryl out of there. You listened as the man gave a bullshit speech about how your group were the bad ones…the terrorists. It was probably a good thing the blindfold was in place considering just how often you rolled your eyes, knowing it would probably get you a beating from them or a bullet in the head.

“I am afraid,” He continued and hell, if you were one of his people, one of the people so blinded by the safety of this town, you probably would have believed him too. ”That’s right, I’m afraid of these terrorists who want what we possess, who want to destroy us!”

Angry yells broke out and the Governor let them, a small smirk pulling on his face as he looked from the crowd and then over at his hostages.

“And what is worse is that one of those terrorists is somebody I trusted, somebody you trusted. Merle Dixon.”

You felt your breath catch as your head moved around on its own accord, not caring that the blindfold obstructed your view of everything as you tried to look for him.

“He led these people here to us tonight, he let them in to hurt you, to hurt your families.” The Governor paused, letting his words hang heavy before he continued. “We have some of the terrorist here with us tonight. Merle’s own brother and this one here is the brother’s girlfriend.”

There was another pause as somebody ripped your blindfold off and your eyes scrunched shut despite the fact that there was no sun to blind you, only flames to light the makeshift arena up as people around you expressed their anger, yelling threats as the Governor spoke over them.

“What should we do with them, huh?”

Those were the words that finally had you turning your head, locking eyes with Daryl who looked over at you guiltily but you shook your head at him, if you were going to die tonight you were not going to let Daryl blame himself for it.

He had yelled at you to leave him, to run, as he provided cover for everybody to make it over the fence, but you refused, not willing to leave until Daryl left too. In the mess of flash grenades though you and Daryl had both been taken but still you didn’t regret the decision to not leave without him.

You knew you’d make the same decision again and knew that nothing Daryl did would change your mind. You also knew you had to get out of here alive, all three of you, so that Daryl could kill you himself once you were safe.

Threats for the three of you to be killed were called out unanimously and you felt the man tighten his grip on you, watched as Daryl and Merle glared over at him and heard the words meant for Merle.

“You wanted your brother, now you got him.”

The sound of another voice had your head darting to the side, eyes wide as you looked at a ghost from the past, a woman thought to be dead.

“Let them go, Philip.” Andrea demanded but one of Philip’s men grabbed her, securing her in his arms like you were in his. “They’re my friends!”

“The people have spoken. You said you stand with us, prove it. Brother against brother!” The Governor announced, causing the audience to cheer and chuckle as your head moved back to look at Daryl, too many emotions playing across his face as he looked from you to Merle. “Fight to the death.”

“Don’t do this,” you said, voice cold and devoid of emotion despite the fact your eyes were watery as you watched Daryl shake his head. “Put me in there.” You pleaded.

“Oh don’t you worry, little lady, your time will come.” He whispered into your ear, voice low and deep, meant to be heard by only you.

“Don’t do this.” You repeated, eyes locked on Daryl as Merle began to give a speech about his loyalty to this town.

“You know, Merle told me about you and his brother,” The Governor told you, keeping his voice quiet, watching the scene play out  before him, “told me how his brother had a girl who trusted him with her life, who had managed to claim her loyalty, told me you never questioned him, never doubted him, just trusted his moves, his every decision. Loyalty like that is rare.”

You frowned as you listened to him, not disputing any of his words because yes, you did trust Daryl Dixon in a way you had never trusted anyone before, you trusted Daryl to protect you, but it was more than him saving your life more than once. It was about the bond you’d created with him, you trusted him deeply, knew that he made decisions for a reason and even if you couldn’t always see why he made them eventually you could.

Though you hated to agree with the bastard you knew he was right, the loyalty you had for Daryl was rare.

“I could do with some of that loyalty.” He told you, turning his head so his lips brushed against your ear, and you barely suppressed a shudder, taking a moment to take a deep breath, not speaking until you were certain your voice was strong and even.

“Daryl Dixon has my loyalty until the day I die.” You said, glad as your voice did as you had hoped, you were ready to leave it at that, but you continued talking, knowing that losing Merle had hurt him, hurt his reputation. “The reason a man like you doesn’t have that loyalty is because you don’t deserve it, deep down people can see what type of man you are and trust me when I say, Daryl Dixon is a hundred times the man you’ll ever be.”

Those were the words that struck a nerve it seemed. Just as Merle punched Daryl, sending him to the floor, the Governor pushed you away from him, not giving you a chance to move before his own fist connected with your face.

You let out a cry as you fell to the floor, your head turning away from the Governor’s continued assault just in time to watch Merle beating on Daryl as walkers were brought out.

The Governor continued punching at you before standing to his full height and letting his boot connect with your ribs causing you to choke on your breath as you hunched in on yourself, crying in pain as you were dragged up. The Governor held you in a choke hold and your eyes went wide as your hands flew up to his arm, desperately trying to claw him off you.

“Watch,” He growled in your ear, “Watch as the man you trust so damn much is killed, then see where your loyalties lie.”

“That’s your problem,” You choked out, struggling for breath but refusing to let this man win, “You think you can scare people into being loyal to you, you can’t.”

The man's grip on your neck tightened and you felt the panic running through you as you couldn’t get any air to your lungs and yet somehow you still managed to smile as Daryl and Merle stood back-to-back with one another, taking hits at the walkers that had been brought out.

“See,” You managed to choke out, lightheaded and desperately trying to keep your eyes open. “Another person loyal to Daryl Dixon.”

You knew you needed to shut up, knew that at least one of the Dixon brothers had a plan and your only job was to stay alive long enough for them to execute it. To your left you heard Andrea begging and pleading with the man for him to stop but you just chuckled as best you could as you watched the brothers move together.

The gunshots startled you as screams could be heard around the crowd as people fell down before smoke filled the air quickly and you felt the Governor shift before you saw the gun he pulled out and in the chaos of smoke and the crowd you lost track of Daryl as the Governor began to walk, dragging you along with him as he finally took his arm from your neck and grabbed your forearm instead.

You tried to pull away from him, desperately scratching and thrashing but you couldn’t get away from him, not until gunshots littered the space in front of your feet, stopping either of you from moving and the Governor threw you down to the floor and aimed his gun towards where the shots were coming from.

You wasted no time, quickly moving to stand and running in a random direction.

“Y/N!” You heard a shout and your head shot around as Daryl came up behind you, not stopping as he ran, grabbing your hand in his and pulling you along and you could do little else but let him, feeling nothing but relief flood you as he squeezed your hand in his.

The sound of gunshots could be heard echoing from inside the fence as you all ran out, Rick and Merle bickering over bringing the elder Dixon brother. It was too dangerous to be stood outside the gates, Daryl knew it too and urged everybody to follow as Merle led them into the woods.

Your neck was in agony as you made it back to Glenn and Michonne and as the fight over Merle’s presence broke out you took a step back to rub at the already forming bruises on your neck.

You listened as Glenn and Michonne argued with Rick, demanding to know why he’d been brought back, smiled as Daryl turned to Merle in an attempt to shut him up, watched as everybody’s face changed as Merle mentioned Andrea.

“Andrea’s in Woodbury?” Glenn asked in shock.

“Right next to the Governor.” Daryl told him and you nodded, remembering her words.

“Real close to him, she called him Philip.” You told them with a grimace, your voice coming out scratchy and barely above a whisper as pain shot through your throat.

Daryl immediately turned his attention to you as Rick questioned Michonne, the two of you shutting him out as Daryl stepped closer, letting his hands come up and his fingers brush softly against the bruises.

“Should have left when I told ya to.” He said, letting his head lean forward, coming to rest on your forehead.

You smiled and lifted your own arms and let them rest around his shoulders, fingers coming up to play with his hair.

“Would you have left me there?” You asked him softly, watching him wince at how painful the words sounded.

“Don’t be stupid.” He glared at you, and you couldn’t help but smile, you were supposed to leave him behind, but God forbid you even suggest he would ever leave you.

“We don’t leave each other,” You smiled watching as he looked into your eyes, searching for something, and clearly found it as he nodded against your head. “You’re stuck with me, Dixon.”

Daryl let himself chuckle, you were safe now and that bastard couldn’t hurt you.

“Stuck with me too, Y/L/N.” He murmured, giving himself one more moment of peace with his forehead against yours and your fingers in his hair before he pulled away and listened to what was being said, not leaving your side and you let your hand brush against his.

“Shut up!” Daryl shouted at Merle as he began to yell at the group but was quickly cut off by Rick knocking him out.

You all made your way out of the woods, Rick glaring at Michonne to stay at the car whilst the rest of your group walked away, trying to come up with a solution to the Merle problem, Daryl trying desperately to convince Rick to let him come to the prison.

“It won’t work.” Rick told him but Daryl shook his head as he argued that Merle knew the man who was without a doubt coming for you all.

“We don’t know who she is,” Daryl said as you all looked to Michonne and he was right you didn’t know her, you didn’t know if she would turn out to be a friend or another enemy to add to the list, “Merle’s blood.”

Glenn immediately disagreed and you couldn’t blame him, something more had happened when they’d been taken, something more than Glenn being beaten by Merle.

“My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison.” Glenn told him firmly.

“You’re part of that family.” Rick told him seriously, looking Daryl in the eyes and you could see him pleading with him, begging Daryl to go with them.

To choose them over Merle Dixon.

“Fine,” Daryl said as you turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow at the thought of him giving up on Merle so quickly, “We’ll fend for ourselves.” He told the group and you let your eyebrow drop because of course Daryl wouldn’t give him up.

“No him, no me.” He told them simple and you gave an inaudible sigh as you looked from Daryl to the rest of the group and over to Merle who was awake and leaning against a tree.

Great, you thought to yourself, back to sleeping in the woods.

You had never gotten used to being without a bed, sleeping on the floor, even in a tent you had never been fond of it. You’d grown used to the prison, the mattress may have been another form of punishment for the prisoners but after months of sleeping in a tent it felt like a cloud and now you didn’t know how long it would be until you slept on a bed again.

You glared at Merle as the group tried to persuade Daryl to stay.

As Daryl walked away from the group you let out a louder sigh and followed him.

“Wow, hey, where are you going?” Maggie asked as she grabbed your arm and out of the corner of your eye you saw Daryl pause as they all turned to you.

“Apparently I’m going to live in the woods.” You grimaced before gently pulling away from her and jogging over to Daryl who raised an eyebrow at you as he pulled a bag from the car.

“You don’t have to leave.” He told you quietly, but you just rolled your eyes at him.

“Yeah I do, we don’t leave each other, remember?” You smiled, watching as his expression shifted and he looked at you in disbelief.

“You don’t gotta do this.” He told you again and you just grabbed the bag off him, making your way into the woods before turning around so you were walking backwards.

“You’re stuck with me, Dixon.” You told him with a grin before turning away and heading over to Merle who grinned at you.

“You willing to give up a warm bed and food for Daryl?” Merle asked you, seeing how Daryl had frozen as he kept staring at your retreating figure.

“For Daryl.” You confirmed easily, meaning it with every fibre of your being.

“You must really love him then, huh? I still remember you moanin’ like a damn bitch over sleepin’ on the floor, eating squirrels…” Merle said trailing off with a chuckle.

“I do.” You confessed to Merle, voice soft as you glanced over your shoulder and saw Daryl making his way over to the two of you.

“Then he’s damn lucky.” Merle murmured quietly as Daryl neared, the words only meant for you.

“You really don’t have to do this.” Daryl told you for a third time and you smiled up at him, expression soft as you took his hand in yours and gave it a squeeze.

“Let’s go.” You said, nodding to Merle who nodded back before leading the way.

Daryl was wrong because you did have to do this. The Governor had been right in his assessment of you, his take on your blind faith in Daryl. He had been right that loyalty was rare in this world, but nobody had your loyalty quite like Daryl Dixon had and you knew that for as long as you should live nothing could break that and you would follow him blindly for the rest of your life.

__________

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Getting You Back

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Febuwhump Prompt - Restrained

Prompt - "You just took the one thing I care most about away from me, that makes me very dangerous and it should make you very scared."

You kept your eyes trained on the floor as you were forced onto your knees, not daring to look up. You missed Dwight opening the van, missed as members of your group were forced out of it and onto their knees beside you. You didn’t look up, you couldn’t look up, not when Glenn called for Maggie, not as Maggie sobbed and Dwight shoved Glenn down.

You didn’t look up, not until Rick nudged you, then you turned to him and watched as he nodded ahead. You let out a sob as you saw a bloody Daryl on his knees, watching you with wide, scared eyes.

You went to stand, not giving a damn about the amount of guns trained on your group, not giving a damn about anything other than getting to Daryl but Sasha saw the move before you could make it and grabbed your arm. She held you tight enough to bruise but it kept you in place even as you fought against her, not taking your eyes off Daryl.

“Don’t.” She murmured to you, quietly but her tone was hard, knowing that one wrong move was all it would take for you to be killed.

You watched as Daryl shook his head, barely moving it but you caught it and a silent sob wracked your body as you sat heavily back on your knees, body shaking as you stared at him, pleading with him for something, anything.

“Let’s meet the man.” Simon said and your whole body tensed but you refused to look away from Daryl, desperately blinking away the tears.

A man, clad with a spiked baseball bat and a leather jacket stepped out of the RV with a smirk but you refused to look at him, eyes trained on Daryl who looked back at you like somehow his gaze alone could protect you.

“Pissing our pants yet?” The man asked and you scrunched your nose up, trying to hold back tears.

“Which one of you pricks is the leader?” He asked and both you and Daryl glanced away from each other for a second as you looked at Rick out of the corner of your eyes as Simon pointed him out.

You listened to Negan talk to Rick, hating everything about him as you knelt there, hating the sound of his voice but you also knew that if he was talking, he was distracting himself and not hurting any of you.

You could hear Rick’s shuddering breath as Negan told him the new rules, the cocky jackass demanding all of your supplies, letting Rick know exactly who was in charge and letting you all know that none of you were safe.

“You didn’t really think you were going to get through this without being punished, did you?” Negan asked and you felt your blood run cold at the words, eyes shifting from Daryl to the baseball bat he carried. “I’m gonna beat the holy hell out of one of you.” Negan warned as he stared at each of you, swinging the bat around as he introduced Lucille.

You heard Negan talk to Abraham and Carl and then he was crouched down in front of you and you could feel your heart threatening to beat right out your chest as he followed your gaze over to Daryl with a smirk before he took your chin in his hand and gently turned your face so you were looking at him.

You immediately lowered your gaze, looking at the floor instead of at him but still saw the way he smirked.

“You wanna pay attention?” He whispered into your ear, his smirk widening as you shivered. “That your boyfriend over there, that sonofabitch killed a hell of a lot of my men, maybe I should introduce him to Lucile.”

Negan grinned as your gaze snapped up to him, eyes narrowing into a glare as no words were needed to get your threat across, don’t touch him.

“Oh, I like you.” He laughed as he looked you up and down with an approving nod before he stood back up.

He moved onto Maggie after that, laughing as Glenn jumped for him only to be stopped by Dwight holding Daryl’s crossbow to his face. You watched as Negan let the man off with a warning, raising an eyebrow as a tear made its way down your face, certain that Glenn’s outburst would get him a one on one with Lucille.

Negan watched your face change as you looked at him and laughed before he warned the group against any more daring moves.

Your gaze shifted back to Daryl, seeking comfort in his scared eyes. Daryl looked right back at you, a warning in his eyes for you not to look away as Negan started whistling, fear coursing through your whole body as you nodded at him, hating that it felt like time was about to run out.

“I simply cannot decide.” Negan told you all and you hated that he was getting what he wanted as the tension and anxiety continued to consume you and you desperately wished to be by Daryl’s side. “I got an idea,” He said before the bat was pointed in Rick’s face, then Maggie’s, then Abraham’s, then Michonne’s.

Your heart stuttered as he pointed it at Daryl, using it to turn Daryl’s face away from you and letting it linger there before he moved onto Sasha, Aaron, Carl and then you, continuing down the line before he finally stopped, you and Daryl staring at each other with matching fear as tears slid down your face.

“Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start.” He warned before he brought the bat down and people around you screamed.

You choked out a sob, feeling vomit burning your throat as you watched the bat continue to thud down on Abraham. You continued looking towards Daryl as the tears poured down your cheeks and Daryl swallowed heavily as he took in the scene, hearing the noises and Negan’s enjoyment.

It took everything in Daryl to stay knelt down, knowing there were too many guns trained on your group, knowing that Negan wouldn’t give him an opening to get to you, to get you as far away from him as possible. Right now Daryl would give anything for you to be back home.

Then Negan started grinning and laughing, waving the bloody bat around, first in Rosita’s face, then Michonne’s, then Maggie’s before he stopped at you. Daryl watched as the bloody bat was ran along your cheek, leaving a mix of Abraham’s blood and your own blood that poured from cuts as the barbed wire nicked your cheek.

That’s when Daryl couldn’t take it anymore, that’s when he jumped into action. He was up before anyone even realised, taking two big steps towards Negan and punching him in the face with a grunt before Negan’s men had him on the ground, you crying out as Negan stepped close to him, holding the bat out towards him.

Sasha caught you as you went to stand up, pulled you into her and held you tight as you struggled against her, listening to Negan laugh.

“Stop,” She muttered into your ear, “You’re going to get him killed.” She hated the bluntness of her words but they worked, you stopped struggling and she let you pull away from her, you leaning forward as you cried, your forehead resting on your knees.

“That is a no-no,” Negan exclaimed and you lifted your head slightly, watching him crouch down in front of Daryl, missing the looks Rick and Sasha shot at you, Sasha ready to catch you again knowing that if Negan made one move you’d be up.

She wasn’t going to let him kill you too.

You watched as two of Negan’s men pinned Daryl to the floor and it took everything in you to listen to Sasha, to stay still even though every bone in your body was screaming to move, screaming at you to kill Negan.

“Do you want me to do it?” You heard Dwight say, aiming the crossbow at Daryl’s head.

“No!” You yelled and Sasha barely caught you as you leapt up only to have her pull you back onto the floor.

Negan turned to look at you, grinned as he watched you struggling and fight against your friend and let out a chuckle as he gripped Daryl’s hair.

“Get your hands off him!” You shouted and Negan looked between the two of you before he told Dwight no, shooting you a smile as he did.

You listened to Daryl grunt but breathed a sigh of relief as he was dragged back into the line up.

“I told you people the first one was free, then what did I say, huh? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions.” Negan exclaimed but you weren’t listening to him, you pushed yourself away from Sasha again and she let you go, keeping a hold of your shirt as her blood ran cold at Negan’s words.

You ignored the man as you turned to Daryl, Daryl already looking over at you, panting with fear clear in his eyes. You forced yourself to smile at him, it was a terrible attempt as your lips wobbled and tears continued to flow down your face but you watched as some of the tension left him as he smiled back just as badly as yours had been.

Neither of you listened to Negan, not until the sound of the bat connecting with a skull sounded. Daryl’s head snapped over to Negan as did yours, all of you watching in horror as Glenn was killed before your eyes, listening as Maggie sobbed and none of you were able to do anything.

You had to look away, your gaze turning to Daryl who kept his eyes locked on Glenn’s body, flinching with every hit and you knew he was blaming himself. You sobbed as the urge to kill Negan spread through your body, looking away from Daryl and lowering your head and not listening as Negan began to speak again.

“Give me his axe.” Negan said to Simon and you watched as it was passed in front of your face, Negan staring down at Rick before he stood and pocketed the axe for himself before dragging Rick away into the RV.

“I’ll be back, maybe Rick’ll be with me.” He said as he left and you closed your eyes, more tears making their way down your face.

You didn’t know how much time had passed before the sound of the RV coming back drew everyone’s attention but you kept your eyes scrunched shut and head down, not able to look up as Negan and Rick left the RV.

“Get some guns to the back of their heads.” Negan said and that made you raise your head, looking straight ahead.

You took a deep breath and let your shoulders square up, sitting straighter and preparing yourself for what was to come. You glanced over to your right, forcing a smile as you saw Daryl already looking at you, guilt, fear and anger clear across his face.

“Not your fault.” You mouthed to him, watching him shake his head.

“Kid,” Negan said and you watched as he forced Carl over to him, watched as he strapped the belt to his arm and felt sick as Negan forced him to the ground and realised what he was going to do, listening as Rick pleaded with Negan.

You gasped as Negan demanded Rick choose between your lives or Carl’s left arm.

You looked away from the scene, looked towards Michonne before looking past her at Daryl who’s horror was reflected in his eyes.

“Look at me.” He said and you swallowed, not looking away from him as you listened to Rick hand himself over to Negan.

Daryl repeated the words to you, making sure your eyes stayed locked onto his even as he glanced back over to Rick watching as his best friend, his brother, sobbed, begged and pleaded with the bastard. Daryl’s eyes couldn’t keep watching the scene but he couldn’t look away either, his eyes darting from you back over to Rick and Negan every few seconds, shaking his head when you tried to look away just as Rick picked the axe up.

Daryl felt himself let out a breath of relief, tension leaving his body as Negan stopped him from cutting Carl’s arm off. He nodded over at you again and you felt yourself gasp breathlessly, nodding back at him.

“Dwight,” Negan said and Daryl glanced over to him watching as the bat was pointed at him, feeling his stomach drop and he glanced over to you, glad you missed the action as you did as he said, not taking your eyes off him.

“I love you.” He mouthed, watching as your eyebrows knitted together.

“I love you too.” You told him before Negan spoke words that turned your stomach cold.

“Load him up.”

At those words though your head shot over to Negan and saw exactly who he was talking about, not even getting a chance to react before Dwight was pulling Daryl up and throwing him into the back of the van he was brought in.

“No!” You yelled, standing up and running over to him, clawing at Dwight’s back, desperately trying to tug him away from Daryl, screaming and sobbing when you felt a hand grab the back of your shirt before you were thrown onto the floor.

“Get your damn hands off her!” You heard Daryl yell as Negan held you against the floor, roughly holding your hair and chuckling as you struggled against his knee on your back, trying to fight him off of you.

“You people just don’t learn do you?” He asked with a grin, “You really want me to kill another person?”

“Take me,” You begged him, still struggling against his hold despite the fact it was getting you nowhere.

“Best get your hands off her or I swear t’God-” Daryl was still shouting and Negan looked over to Dwight with a sharp look.

“Shut him up,” He said and chuckled as Daryl fell silent whereas you were still pleading with him, tears slipping down your face.

“Please, please, just take me. I’ll do whatever you want, just, just leave him alone, please, leave him alone, don’t take him.” Negan relaxed his grip on your hair, brushing it out of your face and watched you look up at him with wide, pleading eyes.

“Shit girl, you’re almost making me feel bad.” He smiled, his fingers trailing across your cheek. “I like you but I want him, he’s mine now.”

“No!” You yelled, still trying to get his weight off of you.

“Yes!” He shouted back, sick of the group now. “I cannot make these rules more simple, you do as I say, I say he’s mine you smile and say yes Negan. I already let your people off with one warning, do not test me today.”

You watched as the door slammed shut on Daryl’s face and you sobbed as he gestured for somebody to take his place, the man pointing a gun at you as you turned around you were on your back and glared up at Negan.

“Want to try something else?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, “And the answer to that better be no because if one more person forgets my rules I’m going to start cutting pieces off…” Here Negan trailed off, looking towards his second in command. “Hell’s his name?” He asked and you felt anger burn inside of you as you sat up, trying to calculate if you could snatch the gun out of the man’s hand and kill Negan before somebody shot you.

From behind him you saw Michonne shaking her head at you, pleading with you to just let Negan do as he pleased.

“Daryl.” Simon said after a pause and you turned away from Michonne to glare at him.

“Wow, that actually sounds right.” He chuckled and crouched down next to you again, locking eyes with Rick as he spoke, “I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep or better yet I’ll bring him to you and have you do it for me.”

He turned his head towards you and gave you a grin before he leaned in close, whispering words meant only for you.

“Now I have a feeling you aren’t going to follow my rules so let me be very clear, I will not hesitate to hurt him, you make one move I don’t approve of, his death is on your hands.” He smiled as you turned to face him, so close to each other and he could see the hatred clear as day in your eyes as everybody watched you.

“Go to hell you bastard.” You whispered back, hearing your group gasp and cry as they expected Negan to retaliate.

“I like you.” He repeated with a smile, patting your cheek and standing you.

“I’m gonna leave you a truck.” He told you all, “We’ll be back for our first offering in a week until then,” Negan waved a hand at you all and you could do nothing but watch as they all left, your eyes not leaving the van that held Daryl.

You were going to get him back.

You had too.

__________

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Then and Now, We’ve Got Each Other

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Prompt - ‘Let’s leave this nothing town behind us, we don’t need anything else, we’ve got each other.’

Daryl Dixon wasn’t somebody who enjoyed his life. His dad drank himself stupid every day, beat on their mom until she went and got herself killed. Their dad, when he could stand straight enough, beat on him and Merle so much that both of them had learnt from a young age to hide their marks, at least until they realised that nobody cared.

Merle was the first to drop out of school, nobody fought much to get him back there either. It wasn’t like their dad gave a damn about where they were and the teachers saw the Dixon boys as a troubled pair that would amount to nothing. Merle was always involved in some sketchy business but Daryl learnt not to ask what it was, especially not when it meant Merle sometimes snuck him the occasional sandwich when their dad was passed out.

Daryl had stuck school out for longer than Merle but it didn’t take much longer for him to leave either. He was ready to leave when Merle had but something happened that made his life different, he still didn’t enjoy it, he wasn’t happy but he felt…different.

You had moved states and ended up at a new school. You hadn’t even been there a few days when you’d heard the whispers of the Dixon boys and it hadn’t taken long to realise who they were talking about, the boy in your class with long, dirty hair and even dirtier clothes. You assumed he had a brother who looked equally as dirty and scrawny and felt your heart ache as people gossiped about the pair.

He never spoke to you but he felt less sad when you smiled at him. He knew people spoke about him but he had never cared, nothing these kids said could hurt more than his dad’s fists but still, you made it better.

He lasted a few months before dropping out and you worried the whole week he didn’t show up for school. You weren’t stupid, you had seen the bruises that nobody else seemed to care about, seen the cuts and the way Daryl swiped food so quickly it had taken you a while to notice, you had started bringing extra food in after you had though and leaving it in your place after you left.

You were worried sick that whoever was hurting Daryl had gone too far but there wasn’t anything you could do. You didn’t have a phone number for Daryl, didn’t know where he lived, didn’t know who his big brother was to ask about him.

When the next week rolled around and Daryl still hadn’t been seen you started asking around, ignoring the odd looks people gave you and eventually pieced together enough to figure out where Daryl lived.

After school you walked to where Daryl should live, it was out of the way, run down and had you glancing over your shoulder as you walked down the street trying to find any sign of Daryl. You had only been able to get the street he lived on, not his actual house number, so short of knocking on every house there wasn’t much you could do and sighed to yourself feeling helpless.

The rundown street was surrounded by woods that only made the place seem even more dangerous but just passed it all there was a river and without meaning to you found yourself walking towards it. Twigs and leaves crunched under your feet and you jumped at every sound in the distance but the river was quite nice considering the area and once you were out of the trees it was actually quite peaceful.

You walked for a while before stopping, eyebrows knitting together as you saw a figure in the distance sat alone staring out at the river. You hadn’t ever spoken to him but you’d spent more than enough time looking at him to know it was Daryl and felt a small smile pull at your lips.

At least he was alive.

You made your way over to him, trying to keep your footsteps light even though unbeknownst to you Daryl had heard you long before you had seen him. Daryl had that feeling again, he hated his life, there was nothing good in it but here you were and suddenly it felt different again.

You didn’t say anything when you finally joined him, just sat down on the floor next to him and Daryl couldn’t help but glance at you out of the corner of his eyes. Here you were, clean and neat sitting on the dirty, muddy floor with him.

It made it easier to breathe somehow even as his ribs ached from his dad’s boot.

The two of you sat side by side for a while in peaceful silence, neither one of you knowing what to say and yet it didn’t feel awkward. It was weird to Daryl, he wasn’t used to having somebody with him, not even Merle came out here with him. He was used to being alone, it was better that way and yet for some reason he didn’t hate that you had joined him.

“You didn’t come to school.” You finally said, breaking the silence but keeping your voice soft.

You hadn’t asked a question, there was no reason for Daryl to say anything, he didn’t owe you an answer, didn’t need to explain himself to you but you had come to find him and he had wanted to talk to you for a while.

“Dropped out.” He finally muttered, not looking at you as his voice came out weak and croaky…he wasn’t used to speaking much.

You didn’t know what to say to that and kept looking ahead at the river in front of you. Daryl looked even skinnier than when you had last seen him and this time he had a split lip and black eye that made you wince.

You wished you could do something to help him but you figured Daryl wouldn’t exactly be the type to let you call the police for him. People whispered about the Dixon family, they knew full well what was going on, if somebody was going to step in they would have long before you showed up in town.

So maybe you couldn’t get Daryl away from his house, maybe you couldn’t stop whoever was hurting him but you could do something. You could be a friend to him, give him somebody to talk to who wouldn’t judge him and use it to gossip, you could be there for him and bring him food and make sure he had somebody on his side.

“I brought this for you.” You said, turning to root through your school bag and pulled out a sandwich, a chocolate bar, and an apple as well as a bottle of soda.

You held the items out for Daryl who finally looked at you properly, he hid it well but you could see the shock on his face, the surprise that somebody was helping him.

“Don’t need y’to feed me.” He muttered, turning back to face the river and you bit back a sigh.

“I know you don’t.” You told him honestly because to get as far as Daryl had in his house he had probably had to fend for himself, he would see any small act as charity. Sure he had been fine swiping the half a piece of sandwich you left at lunch or the candy you left behind but he would struggle to accept something being outright given to him. “It’s for you though, you don’t have to eat it but it’s there.”

You left the food on the floor in between you and went back to sitting in silence. It was less than ten minutes later when Daryl’s hunger won out and you heard the wrapped being pulled from the sandwich and you had to bite back a relieved smile, watching as Daryl practically inhaled the food, glad to know he had something in him for the day.

It went on like that for months, every day after school you would walk down to the river, though walking through the woods still sent a shiver down your spine, especially when the winter meant that it got dark earlier. Each day you and Daryl would sit together, you always brought food for the two of you and mostly the silence would be filled by you. Daryl liked listening to you talk, it didn’t matter what you were saying he just liked listening. He spoke too, not much but whenever he did you always gave him your full attention, listening to every word he said like it was important.

He always walked you home, by the time you were standing to leave it was well into the night, sky dark and Daryl didn’t feel right letting you walk alone. So he led you through the woods and watched as you glanced around like something was going to jump out at you, it never did but even if something were to happen Daryl wouldn’t let anything hurt you.

By the time he had walked across town to your street, and the first time he had seen where you lived he flushed with embarrassment at the big house in the nice part of town, and walked back to his house his dad was usually passed out and Merle was either nursing his wounds with a beer or out doing whatever he got up to.

Daryl’s life still wasn’t good, it wasn’t enjoyable but the few hours a day he got to steal with you made it easier, it made him see that maybe there could be good in it, maybe he was allowed to feel happy.

When he started working on his bike, months into knowing you, he had to smile when you first saw it. You had looked at him like he was crazy and he probably looked it, split lip that kept bleeding when you made him smile, one eye swollen shut and all kinds of black and purple as he sat surrounded by a rundown bike and even more run down parts and tools.

“There’s no way you’re riding that if you ever build it.” You had told him as you sat down next to him and he felt his lip sting again as he smiled over at you.

“Course I am,” he told you confidently and chuckled as you shook your head, “you’re comin’ on it too.”

“Like hell I am!” You protested, pulling a face at the mess of a bike that lay on the floor in the middle of you.

“Sure ya are, not like I’m gonna let anything bad happen to ya.” Daryl said as he swiped at his lip with his tongue before screwing something into the bike, so focused on what he was doing that he missed the way your face softened into a smile as you could do nothing but stare at him for a second. “‘Sides this bike’ll be the best once I get it runnin’.”

“You’re crazy if you think I’m getting on that death trap, even crazier if you think I’m letting you on it.” Daryl just grinned at you again as he put the spanner down and wiped his forehead with his arm. “How long have you been working on this thing anyway?”

“Couple hours? I dunno.” Daryl shrugged and you gave him a look that made his smile grow.

He still wasn’t used to that, it had been nearly a year since you had decided to join him out by the river and he still wasn’t used to smiling so damn much.

“Take a break, Dixon, time to eat.” You told him and he nodded at you as he moved around the bike to sit next to you, reaching over to wash his grease covered hands in the river as you pulled food and drinks out of your bag.

“Why the bike anyway?” You asked as the two of you were eating and Daryl shrugged before finishing his bite.

“Gotta have a way to get outta here someday.” He told you and the answer didn’t shock you, you knew Daryl wanted out of this town, wanted plenty of distance from his dad.

You couldn’t blame him, you were surprised he had stuck around this long but you supposed it wasn’t like he had the money to just up and leave. Part of you wanted to leave with him when he finally put this town behind him, just because your family lived in the nice part of town, just because you had money and food, didn’t mean that your parents were great people. Of course you didn’t have it as bad as Daryl, your parents didn’t hit you, didn’t starve you and let you go however long without a shower or didn’t give you a warm place to sleep. Your parents were just cold people, the kind that weren’t really meant to be parents but it was what was expected of them and you were expected to follow in their footsteps.

“Getting ready to leave me behind?” You asked jokingly but both of you could hear the sadness behind it and Daryl shook his head fiercely.

“Like hell imma leave you in this dump, ya coming with me.” Daryl told you and you couldn’t help but smile over at him, Daryl smiling right back at you and it was then you realised that you had already made your decision without thinking about it because you would follow Daryl Dixon wherever he went.

“Not on that thing.” You laughed and just like that the serious moment was gone and Daryl’s smile widened even as he rolled his eyes.

“Just wait, it’s gonna be great.” He assured you just to hear you laugh again.

It was anything but great. The thing roared to life and spluttered causing Daryl to groan and kick it before the engine ran properly and you gave him an incredulous look when he turned to face you.

“It’s gonna be great.” He told you again, repeating the words he had told you months ago.

“It’s a death trap!” You exclaimed, causing him to laugh and pick a helmet up off the floor before making his way over to you.

“I tested it before you even saw it ‘cause I knew you’d bitch about me gettin’ on the thing.” Daryl told you and you glared at him as he stopped in front of you. “Trust me, it’s good.”

With that he lifted the helmet and settled it over your head, smiling at the glare still on your face. He made sure the helmet was properly on you before he climbed onto the bike and held a hand out to help you on.

“Daryl-” You began but he cut you off.

“Trust me, you really think I’d let ya on here if I didn’t think ya were gonna be safe?” He had a point, Daryl might have had no regard for his own safety but when it came to you…God was he protective.

Daryl grinned when you sighed, knowing he had won and felt your hand in his as you got onto the bike, slotting behind him perfectly. His smile softened as he chuckled in amusement when your arms went around his waist, holding him in a death grip before the bike had even moved.

“Relax.” He told you over the noise of the engine and you just shook your head before he felt the helmet rest against the back of his shoulder. He didn’t need to look at you to know your eyes were screwed shut and he laughed again as he began to move the bike and your arms tightened even more around him.

“I hate this!” He heard you call over the sound of the bike speeding through the road and he smiled widely, one hand coming off the handle to squeeze your arm before he put it back, he was serious when he said he wasn’t going to let anything happen to you.

Daryl had known you for long enough now that he struggled to remember his life without you by his side, he remembered a time where he struggled to think of one good thing in his life, struggled to remember what being happy was like, if he had even felt it before.

He knew he had never known true happiness before you arrived, before you broke past every wall he put up and made sure you were a part of his life despite the rumours and how it would have been better for you to stay away from the Dixon boy.

Now, in this moment, the bike carrying you two away from his street, your arms around his waist as you tucked yourself against his shoulder, he knew this was true happiness. You were his happiness and he would do everything he could to make sure you were happy too.

He had been ready for this moment for years, ready to leave everything behind and get away from this town. He had nothing left here, Merle had packed up and left years ago and his dad would soon be nothing but a distant memory.

He would have left so long ago but he refused to leave without you and even though you had been ready to leave with him he wanted to make sure you at least graduated first, you were smart, smarter than him and had a chance of a future doing whatever you wanted. He wouldn’t let you throw that away. If you wanted to come with him that was great, hell Daryl wanted nothing else, but if something happened one day and you wanted to leave then he was going to make sure you had a backup plan.

Daryl had the bike, he’d been working on it for ages now and it was a proper functioning bike. You had insisted on helping build it up, you were getting out of town on it and you’d be damned if it fell to pieces on you. Daryl had scoffed and told you it’d be fine only for you to show up the next day with all kinds of new, shiny pieces, you had no idea what they did but Daryl had been able to upgrade the bike even as he glared at you.

Daryl waited outside the school on his bike, the two of you had no real destination in mind but you were finally ready to leave. He watched you come out of the building and scan the area before your eyes landed on him and your whole face lit up as you ran over to him, Daryl’s hand already out for you to slide yours into as you climbed on the bike.

“Ready t’get the hell outta here?” Daryl asked as he passed the helmet back, ignoring the way you pushed his shoulder because he refused to wear one with a smile on his face.

“More than ready.” You told him as you secured the helmet on your head and wrapped your arms around him, thumb brushing up and down on his stomach as you rested your hands against him.

Things like this had been happening more too, touches between the two of you. You were usually the one to instigate them unless Daryl was feeling brave but they were there and Daryl was hyper aware of them all.

He knew he liked you, he’d be an idiot if he didn’t. Some part of him figured you liked him too, God he sounded like an idiot with all this does she like me does she not crap, but he was never quite brave enough to ask, to make a move. Instead he told himself the lingering touches were enough.

For years the lingering touches were enough, they had to be because whilst the two of you were brave enough to leave your town behind neither of you were brave enough to make the first move. For years you and Daryl had been at each other's side, travelling the country on Daryl’s homemade bike that had broken down plenty and despite all your protests to use the money you’d both earned doing odd jobs to buy a new bike Daryl refused to budge.

You don’t know what was different about tonight. Maybe it was because you’d made your way out to the west coast, the air cool as the sun had long since set and the moon cast a soft glow over the water in front of you and Daryl.

Maybe it was because it reminded you of a time many years ago when you had first realised you had like Daryl. It wasn’t much different than this night except instead of the massive stretch of ocean it was a river and where there had been nothing but twigs and dirt here there was warm sand.

Back then Daryl had been covered head to toe in bruises whereas now his skin was clear with the exception of a few scars that would never heal, scars that still ached him to this day.

Maybe it was just the kind of night where you reminisce and feel a sense of longing for a future that could be, a sense of regret for all the lost moments because neither one of you were brave enough to just tell the other how you felt. It was the kind of night where you realised that one day things could change before you knew it and you’d kick yourself for wasting the opportunity to tell Daryl how important he was to you, hate yourself for letting so much time pass where he didn’t know that.

Or maybe it was just the kind of night where you’d had too much to drink.

Either way you were ready, you were ready to say those words to him and you weren’t scared, you had never been scared in the whole time you had known Daryl. You were always safe when you were with him.

“You’re my best friend,” You found yourself saying, they weren’t the words you wanted to say, they weren’t the only words you would say tonight, but they felt like the right ones to start this conversation.

“You’re my best friend too, Y/N/N.” Daryl murmured, turning his head slightly to press his lips to your hair and you were both content to fall back into a peaceful silence, your head on Daryl’s shoulder as you stared at the water.

“Thank you,” You said after a long stretch of quiet and you lifted your head to see Daryl looking at you questioningly. “I never thanked you for getting me, for getting us out of that town. I’m glad we did it together.”

“Don’t gotta thank me for that.” Daryl told you and he smiled at you, this smile was maybe your most favourite one. Daryl didn’t smile for most people but for you he had a whole variety of smiles, this one though, the shy, almost flustered smile was your favourite. “But I’m real glad we left together too, can’t imagine doin’ this without you.”

“And you’ll never have to. You’re stuck with me, Daryl Dixon.” You grinned at him and his smile turned softer as he lifted his hand to your cheek and brushed his thumb along your cheekbone.

“Ain’t no one else in the damn world I’d rather have.” He told you and the two of you just smiled stupidly at each other for a long moment before you were both moving closer at the same time.

Daryl’s lips were slightly chapped as they brushed against yours, your eyes falling shut at the first touch. Neither of you had much experience and the kiss was slow and a little uncoordinated but felt like everything you had been waiting all those years for. It was every cliche in the book finally getting to kiss Daryl and you practically melted against him as you kissed until the need for air was too much and even then Daryl chased after your lips and placed small kisses against yours as you both tried to catch your breath.

“Waited so long to do that.” Daryl murmured against your lips, leaning forward to place a soft kiss against your lips again.

“Me too.” You breathed out, eyes finally opening as you leaned your forehead against Daryl’s and the two of you looked at each other with flushed faces and smiles pulling at your lips.

You had just met up with Merle back in Georgia when things had gone south. At first it didn’t seem like a big deal, just find some shelter, and stay inside for a few days which then turned into cities being bombed and communications being shut off and the dead roaming the streets.

If you had thought you were attached to Daryl’s side before this then it was nothing compared to now, you were practically his shadow, his hand always gripped in yours unless he needed to use his crossbow which made you wince each time.

Daryl knew you were scared, hell he was freaked out too though he had to do a damn good job of hiding it to make sure you didn’t panic more than you were. It had been easy at the start, he had told you it was just a virus or something, that it’d be fixed in weeks and the two of you would be back on the bike in no time.

Instead you’d somehow ended up with a group, being told that the cities were dangerous and bombs had been dropped. The first night in the camp you had cried for the first time in years and Daryl felt helpless, this wasn't something he could fix but he could damn well protect you, in all the years you’d known Daryl one of the things you had always told him was that he made you feel safe and that wasn’t about to change now.

So he did what he could to keep you safe. This time it was his job to make sure you were fed, when supplies ran low he gave you his share of food and water, you didn’t know of course, God he could already hear the argument if you were to find out. Any time there was danger, whether it be the walkers or fighting in the group, Daryl was always quick to put himself between you and it, much to the amusement of Merle but Daryl didn’t give a damn about whatever his brother had to say so long as you were safe. He kept you close to him, you were never out of his eyeshot, when night came he spent it waking up every few hours to make sure you were still safe and tucked against his chest.

Daryl didn’t know what the hell was going to happen, the world had fallen apart in front of them with no sign that it was going to fix itself. Daryl wasn’t holding out much hope of a cure like the rest of the group were, he could tell you wanted to believe in it but didn’t want to get your hopes up. He hated seeing the realisation on your face when you figured this was it for the world now but then he watched you look at him and some of the despair faded.

The world might have gone to shit but you and Daryl still had each other. Families had been separated but you and Daryl had been lucky to still have the other, something you would never take for granted. You didn’t know how you were meant to survive this, especially not when months later you’d all found out there really was no cure. You were still that scared kid from all those years back who jumped at every noise heard in the woods leading to the river but then, just like now, you had Daryl.

Daryl had one job, he promised himself it years before the world fell to pieces, and that was to keep you safe. It was a promise that was more important now than ever before. He trained you to track, something he had tried to do throughout the years but you always laughed it off, this time you listened to what he had to say because you knew it really was the difference between life and death. He taught you how to use a gun and he hated seeing you with it but he knew it had to be done just in case something happened to him and he couldn’t get to you.

Daryl had one job and that was to keep you safe and he would damn well make good on that promise and get you to whatever hope there was in a future after all of this, and there had to be something for you at the end of this, he’d make sure of that too.

__________

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No

Pairing: Daryl x GN!Reader

Summary: Him, yourself and some others are lined up and meets Negan

Daryl, Glenn, Michonne and Rosita get dragged out the back of a truck and pushed on the graveled ground. 

Glenn and Maggie look at each other as Abraham, Rick, Sasha, Aaron, Carl and Eugene look at the other three. “Daryl?” you furrow your eyebrows at a pale-looking Daryl. He looks at you kneeling in between Maggie and Rick. “Let’s meet the man.” Someone says, hitting the RV’s door.

It opens to show someone with a leather jacket and a barbed-wire bat leaning against his shoulder. “Pissin’ our pants yet?” He walks out of the RV and starts to talk whilst walking around. He almost hits Maggie, but Glenn kinda saved her. Daryl then gets tackled from hitting Negan in the face.

“No!” you move towards him. You get held back with hands on your shoulders. Daryl gets taken back to knee. You lean against your hands with tears going down your face. “Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father, and then we’ll start. You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell,” Negan raises his bat, “you’re all going to be doing that.” He hits Abraham’s head with everyone crying out.

“Suck. My. Nuts.” Abraham says slowly and straightening his back. Negan hits him again and again until his skull has been split open and his brain scattered around it. “You hear that? He said ‘Suck my nuts’.” Negan impersonates Abraham.

Tears blurs everyone’s eyes. Negan continues to bash Abraham’s head in. “Oh, my goodness. Look at this.” He shows everyone his bloody bat whilst chuckling. “I need you to know me. So, back to it.” He turns around, whacking the top of Glenn's skull, making Maggie cry out.

Glenn straightens his back and looks at Maggie with half his face bloodied from the bashes on his head and his left eye popped out of his socket. "M-Maggie, I-I’ll find y-you.” Negan bends down to Glenn’s level and starts to ramble on before continuing to bash it in.

Negan stops and looks in between you and Daryl. “I saw your little movement before when he got tackled.” Negan says to you. “And from that, I’m thinking you two together.” He looks at Daryl. “No exceptions.” Negan says before hitting the bat upwards and peeling the left side of your face, your body falling to the floor with another hit coming in, making a wound on the top of you head.

You struggled to hold yourself up to kneel like you were before to look at Daryl with your face pretty much covered in blood. “Y-You’re g-going to be t-the last m-man s-standing. I l-love y-you.” yod manages to get out before getting more bashes to the head and your body falling to the ground once again. Daryl flinches with each hit with tears flowing down his cheeks. “No.”

Tiger Cuddles

Pairing: Daryl x M!Reader

Summary: You and Daryl stay in the Kingdom for a few days with some others for a festival. Shiva hangs out with the both of you as you eat and Shiva giving you some cuddles from time to time

You and Daryl walk hand in hand around the Kingdom, who’s holding a festival. 

You hold out a teared pretzel in front of Daryl to let him tear some off and pops it in his mouth. Walking around the festival a little longer with more food in hand, you both sit down somewhere out of the way.

People move out of the way from something walking towards the couple. You observe the King's pet, Shiva the tiger, walking towards you. She walks behind you and nuzzles the side of Daryl's face before doing the same thing to you. “Hi, Shiva.” you wraps your right arm around the tiger's face and scratches behind its ear.

Shiva lays on her stomach. The couple starts to have a conversation. It stops as you stand up and walk off. "I'll be right back." After a few minutes, you come back with meat on a bone. You whistles, getting the attention of the tiger. You throw the bone towards her to eat and lick the bone.

"Where'd ya get that?" Daryl asks. "The meat locker in the kitchen." you answer before eating more of the pretzel. "Ya carried that thing all the way from the kitchen?" He raises an eyebrow at you. "Yeah." you nods. You continue your conversation whilst petting the tiger often.

Shiva stands up after finishing up the bone to lick the side of your face. "Ugh, gross, Shiva." You stands up, pulling your collar to wipe the tiger saliva off your face. Daryl softly laughs at the sight in front of him. "You think this is funny?" you glare at him. "Shiva, kiss him." The tiger does the same thing, Daryl having the same reaction.

You laugh at Daryl as he wipes it off as well. He finishes cleaning it up before lunging towards you. He was about to tickle you, but you moved out of the way just in time before running off. "Shiva!" The tiger runs towards you. You climb on the animal's back and run away from Daryl.

About the blogger

Masterlist

AO3 link

↣ My name's Taylor, I'm 31, and my sun sign is Virgo

↣ If you see something in the tags & there's not a story for it, it's a WIP

↣ I've been writing as a hobby since I was 14

↣ I prefer to write x OC work. I love creating a character from the ground up and crafting their backstory.

↣ My current writing obsession is my Daryl Dixon x OC pairing (I don't care that she only exists in my head, they're my OTP and I'm not sorry)

↣ I'm by no means new to the TWD fandom, but I only recently started writing fanfic for it.

↣ Daryl Dixon has become my comfort character (he's such a cutie in this gif I can't get over it)

↣ I'm an elder emo

↣ My favorite bands are Black Veil Brides, Motionless in White, and Ice Nine Kills

↣ I'm a gamer

↣ My favorite video game is Skyrim (my build is a dark elf destruction mage)

↣ My current games-to-play are Elder Scrolls Online, Baldur's Gate 3, Morrowind, Still Wakes the Deep, and Ark Survival Ascended

↣ I've been vegan since I was 23, and I went vegan for animal rights reasons

Ideas/Works In Progress:

↣ Two pieces of Daryl Dixon x OC smut (one is finished & will be posted once I finish posting my story that explains the development of their relationship, one is being written as we speak)

↣ Something where my OC (who's a doctor) gives Daryl a crash course in women

↣ A story where my OC returns to her childhood home with Daryl

↣ The forest scene with Negan featuring my OC

↣ Some sort of altercation between Negan and my OC

↣ A Daryl Dixon x OC Halloween oneshot

Title:A Fight For Survival

--

In the desolate wasteland, the abandoned warehouse stood as a grim reminder of the world’s collapse. Its skeletal remains were dimly lit by the weak light seeping through broken windows. The oppressive silence was occasionally broken by distant groans and the shuffle of the undead, signaling the encroaching danger.

Daryl Dixon was slumped against a rusted metal pillar, his face a mask of pain. A severe wound along his side had him barely able to move, his bow resting uselessly on the floor beside him. His breath came in labored gasps as he tried to stay alert despite his injuries. The warehouse had become a trap, overrun by walkers, their guttural growls growing louder with each passing moment.

You, a skilled survivor and his steadfast companion, had been through countless perils together. This time, however, the stakes were higher. Daryl’s injury left him vulnerable, and the threat was imminent. You were determined to protect him. With a deep breath, you readied yourself, gripping a makeshift weapon—a metal shard attached to a sturdy stick.

The first walkers appeared, their groans filling the space with a chilling certainty. Without hesitation, you sprang into action. The clash was immediate and fierce. Each movement was a blend of desperation and precision, your weapon cutting through the encroaching threat. The walkers’ unnatural, jerky motions made them unpredictable, and every successful strike was met with the unsettling sounds of crumbling flesh and bone.

Daryl’s eyes, usually so steely, now held a mix of fear and frustration. He tried to rise, but pain kept him grounded. “Leave,” he rasped, his voice barely audible over the chaos. “Save yourself.” But you weren’t about to abandon him. You pushed through the throng of walkers, defending him with every ounce of strength you had.

Amid the battle, you carved out a temporary safe zone. The weight of your task was immense, each decision a matter of life or death. The relentless walkers seemed to multiply, their numbers overwhelming. Your focus was laser-sharp, every swing of your weapon purposeful and driven by the need to keep Daryl safe.

Slowly, the tide of battle began to shift. The walkers' numbers dwindled, their advance slowing as their bodies accumulated on the floor. You could feel your strength waning, but the sight of fewer walkers gave you renewed energy. With the immediate threat reduced, you hurried back to Daryl’s side.

You knelt beside him, breathless and worn. “We need to get you patched up,” you said, your voice shaky but determined. Daryl looked at you with a mix of gratitude and relief. The battle had forged an unspoken bond between you, a testament to the trust and reliance that had deepened over time.

Carefully, you assisted Daryl to his feet, guiding him through the wreckage of the warehouse. Exhaustion was evident in every step, but the silent understanding between you made the journey bearable. As you reached a safer corner, the immediate danger had passed, leaving a heavy but welcome silence.

In that moment of quiet, the severity of your situation and the strength of your connection became clear. The world outside remained perilous, but together, you had faced another deadly challenge and emerged stronger for it.

Request if you want something different 😊

Daryl's three favorite memories

3-

—You should take advantage of the fact that there's a long barrier and a roof over our heads to rest at least a bit— Kat's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as I stared out the window.

—Normally it's me telling you that you should sleep, like now that you should be with your eyes closed taking care of Carl— I said crossing my arms over my chest.

—I can't if you're not beside me to hold me.

—You're a spoiled brat, Kat— I shook my head as I looked down at my chest.

—Maybe— she rested her head on my shoulder.

We both stood in silence, gazing at the starry sky, listening to our breathing and occasionally the breathing of others.

—The sky will look better outside, come with me— she took my hand and pulled it with a slight smile.

We left the house being careful not to wake anyone. She was very poorly dressed, only wearing her red plaid shirt buttoned up to her chest and bare feet, so I gave her my vest as if that would help.

She leaned her forearms against the railing of the white porch while the moon and I stood behind her with my arms beside hers, gazing at her while we both sighed.

—It reminds me of my previous home, before everything started.

—Go wake everyone up, we're leaving now— I said as I stepped away, and she grabbed my hand.

We stared into each other's eyes again as I approached the railing, now her elbows resting against the cold wood and her eyes on mine, my hands on her waist without breaking eye contact.

—Not the aspect of a racist neighborhood full of multimillionaires but in the sense of a private place full of houses, artificial air, and the superficiality with which reality is painted outside of this place— she said as she touched my chin, analyzing the small hairs I had.— These people don't know what's really out there, and it shows from the plasticity of the environment.

—I never thought I would say it, but now I miss being outside.

She let out a small laugh, wrapping her arms behind my neck and pulling me towards her.

—It's only been hours, give this dollhouse a chance— she said with laughter in her voice, and I just gave her a dirty look.— Or until I take over the place, whichever comes first.

I laughed with her then, knowing her, she would be the new leader in a sort of coup d'état if she found more flaws than what she already had on a list in that stupid notebook she always carried around.

—My girlfriend is always going to be the next dictator of every place we go to, ¿right?— I asked, burying my face in her neck and smelling the cleaning products she forced me to use.

—Not a dictator, I like to think of myself as a kind of savior superior to the previous leaders.

—And then the narcissist is me, obviously.

She laughed, grabbing my face and pulling me away from her neck to be inches apart.

—I know you feel uncomfortable, really, I know, it's just like you looked around with disgust but believe me, for once in our lives, ignoring the harsh reality is going to come to us to relax at least our shoulders a bit— her voice was sweet, her gaze hopeful.

She always comforted Carl, saying that everything would be fine because somewhere near or far there was a place where we could all be together as a family and give him and Judith a "normal" life. Since Terminus, that hope began to bother me, but now she seemed so happy within what she was accustomed to before that I couldn't help but smile.

—I don't want anything to happen, I want to protect everyone— I said, playing with the fabric of her waist.

—I know, Daryl, really, I know, but in this world, I think we should already know that something is always going to happen, and we should also learn that there will be few places or moments where we could breathe safely, at least for a while, this is one of those times, I know everything seems so Barbie-like but for once, you should be able to lie down and live the heterosexual and vanilla fantasy of the American dream.

—We said we wouldn't have children— I looked at her confused.

—Not with ours, but with Carl and Judith or whoever happens to be the cool guys with dogs and cats, Deanna said we could have a house as a "young" couple to have new population, I think she wanted us to have children. and no pets, but never specified— She swayed his hips from side to side with a teasing smile on his face.

—I highly doubt she meant having children after asking in front of the whole group if he was your father— I looked at her with a sour face seeing her amused smile.

—It was funny, actually.

—For you, not for me, it's the first time they've told us that, and I'm not even that old— I said with indignation but with some fun in my face; this conversation could be taken too seriously.

—There are a couple of years difference between you and me, we know that, I think we were so used to everyone in our world being people who knew we were from the beginning that it caught you by surprise but not me.

—Yes, because you're the sweet and young girlfriend of this old and grumpy man who could be your father, of course, you won't mind being called my daughter.

—A little, I didn't really mind, but it was still weird, I didn't feel very comfortable with how natural it was for him to say it.

We both fell silent for a while, looking at each other in the eyes, but in my head, I could only think about how lucky I was to find a woman like Kat, things like these situations that I knew were going to happen since 16 years of difference is too much.

I could see the rest of the people in that plastic place and I realized how things were.

I noticed the looks that were directed at Kat; I never forgot how beautiful my girlfriend was. It never crossed my mind to not give her at least one compliment a day, as in my eyes, she was the most beautiful woman on earth. But I also noticed that now more unfamiliar and shallow people around us looked at her with eyes beyond doubt or fear. It struck me to the core to have been so accustomed to being the only one who could see her in that way, as everyone else was family, which now left me banging my head against the wall.

Our age difference had always been marked, but after so much time together, it was hardly noticeable, neither to us nor to the group, so it became something normal. Now, with many more people her age and the same youth, I had some doubt that she might see that she was with an old, bitter, tired, and fed-up man, and might leave for someone with her same energy and positivity.

—¿What are you thinking about?— she asked, running her fingers through my long hair.

—That I don't deserve you, but you're still with me— I said as I looked at her.

She straightened up, leaving her relaxed posture behind and looked at me with concern, grabbing my hands and leaving them in the middle of both of us.

—¿Is this because of what Deanna said or because I laughed? Because I swear my intention wasn't to make you doubt our relationship; it was just something funny— she said, worried, and I wanted to kick myself.

—It's not because of that, darling, but it's related a bit. There are so many people your age that I'm afraid you'll realize you're with an old man like me, knowing that there are many more possibilities with someone like them.

She relaxed as she looked at me teasingly.

—Daryl, I don't want anyone my age; I don't want anyone else but you, the one who has been with me all the way. Even though we didn't get along at first, we managed to iron out our differences, and look where we are. I want the man who held my hand and supported me all the time, and believe me, the age of both of us isn't a very important factor for me because you could be my age, or I could be yours, and the situation would be the same, ¿right?— her hands framing my face with a smile that melted my heart.

I just nodded.

—I love you, ¿okay?— she said as she looked at me with a small smile.

We had agreed a long time ago that "I love you" between us would only be in very serious moments because it was a true show of love for us. I could still remember our first "I love you" when the prison was attacked.

—I love you— I said as I kissed her lips forcefully, pressing her hips against the railing.

Daryl could see the house where they had spent their first night in Alexandria, while everyone was gathered with him except Kat, who was in the house they shared with their little cat Luna. He wanted to run to her after escaping from the Saviors and reunite with the group, but according to Maggie, she had fallen into a deep depression, so things had to be taken very calmly.

Hello everyone, I wanted to clarify that I'm not a native English speaker, so if there are any errors, please let me know with utmost respect. Don't forget to give a like if you enjoyed it or reblog to reach more people. Sending greetings and kisses to all <3

Daryl Dixon was always messy, let’s be honest. His room was mostly messy before the apocalypse, and so was his attitude. So let’s not be shocked when we find out he’s messy when eating you out. It’s disgusting, really. Lewd noises coming from your heat and your mouth. The tongue he used less than an hour ago to cuss someone out is now doing numbers on your cunt. He’s not stopping till you’re practically dumb just on his tongue.