Please hold my hand || Daryl Dixon

𝟗.

Nina sits reading a book she got from Dale before the argument. She was still trying to avoid the older man, she didn't per say hold a grudge, but she most definitely did not like how he was insinuating that the boy was all innocent. It did not matter if Randall wasn't participating in those heinous acts, if he watched and did nothing, then to Nina what they're about to do to him is justified.

But Nina took a breath and cleared her mind every time before she could get too mentally heated about it. The boy was about to die, she never believed in talking bad about the dead.

Nina closes the book with a sigh after remembering the page number, not having to worry about forgetting it as her mind always seemed to remember the smaller things.

Through all of her mental debates and arguments of the topic going on just in the barn, it always came down to Daryl.

Nina immediately took a liking to him, after all he did bring her to the people she's grown so fond of. He saved her in a moment of need- he's her guardian angel. But is it more than just gratitude for him taking her in?

Is it more than him taking such great care of herself and Daphne? Is it more than how her heart butterfly flutters in her chest when he's near?

She barely knows the man. So why did he feel so much different?

He felt like a soft song, one with a kind of sad beat, sad melody, and soothing tone of voice with lyrics that hit home. A sad Indie song. It all just drew her in, and she couldn't stop listening. He quickly became her new favourite song.

She can quite clearly see why others are intimidated by the man and find him mean, but that's not the case with her.

Nina finds his protectiveness more of a promise than meanness, never has his loyalty for the group wavered from what Nina has seen in her time with them. His unwavering commitment easily makes him a value.

But it's not only protectiveness or commitment that has and continues to pull her in. It's just him overall.

She can remember how comforting rain was to her as a kid, she loved opening her window to let the aroma of it in, to feel it. Listening to music just high enough where she could get indulged in both, but still hear the patter against her roof and the pavement outside. It just felt like a dream, so surreal.

He gives her that kind of solace, that calmness. Just being around him is like being on cloud nine, she's scared of being so high up but she doesn't want to fall back down without exploring what it means.

He's her rain person, there aren't words to explain what that means for her and how he makes her feel completely. It's just a feeling.

It's not stupid to her, she understands. Nina has only met one other person that brought her a similar experience, but it wasn't as peaceful or nearly as smooth as this.

Every little thing with him only further narrows her vision on him until he's the only one in her sights. Seeing him holding Daphne or wrapping her in a blanket, getting her dressed, she feels... happy. Very happy.

Nina has been through a similar thing, one that made her feel on top of the world. She told him things and never once felt exposed to the feeling that her secrets weren't safe. She smiled so hard it physically hurt her face and laughed so hard so did her stomach. That was just how he loved Nina. But Nina is one hundred percent sure that Daryl is not him, Daryl is better than him no matter how much the little voice in the back of her head says she doesn't want him to be.

Nina liked to think of herself as a diary. The people who deserved and worked for it got to see her feelings and just overall the real Nina, not the one she reserves for acquaintances. They got the key. The people who earn that get to see Nina.