Daring Dixon (A Daryl Dixon fanfiction)

Chapter 24

We all dispersed shortly after that. Daryl stalked back to his tent, obviously pissed off by Shane's outburst earlier. I followed him, hoping I could try to reason with him. I wasn't saying Shane was right, but he wasn't completely wrong either. We shouldn't be out there, risking out lives. How many people had been hurt or killed since the CDC? Only T-Dog wasn't because of Sophia.

I wasn't saying that we shouldn't look for Sophia, but she had been gone for weeks and it was about time to face the fact that we may never find her. There was no way to know.

I followed Daryl into his tent where he had plopped himself down on his sleeping bag. I sat cross-legged behind him and ran my fingers through his hair. He stiffened under my touch, but relaxed and then turned over to face me.

"What do you think we should do?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "We need to get rid of those walkers, that's for sure," I said.

"That's not what I'm asking. We all know what needs to be done with those walkers. What about Sophia?" he clarified.

"I don't think we should be risking perfectly good men on a daily basis for a girl who had been missing for weeks," I said quietly. He sat up quickly, his eyes smoldering with anger.

"How the hell can you say that? She's a child! You know, when I got lost in the woods for nine days straight, nobody gave a damn about me! Nobody cared! Had they, I may have been back at home much, much sooner, and without my ass itching from poison oak!" he outbursted.

"I'm not saying we should stop searching for her, but-"

"Then what the hell are you suggesting we do? Everything in life is a risk, Rosaline, in case you hadn't noticed. You need to realize that there is no such thing as safe. That the illusion of safe is what eventually lead to the downfall of most of the dumbasses in this group, including you if you're not careful," Daryl exploded.

"Daryl, we almost lost you over a doll. I almost lost you over a doll. We have to face the fact that we may never find Sophia," I reasoned. His face turned purple with anger and he pointed to the entrance to the tent.

"I want you out, now," he growled.

"Excuse me?" I demanded. "Who are you to just order me around like I'm some school girl?"

His face turned even darker and he stood, standing over me menacingly. "You've got five seconds to get out of my tent before I throw you out," he threatened. I shot him a dirty look, but I left, walking out to the rest of the group.

There was concern on Dale's face as he saw me approaching. "What was that about?" he asked quietly when I climbed up to the top of the RV.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded with more venom than I intended.

"The two of you were fighting. Why?" Dale asked.

"I told Daryl that we shouldn't be out there everyday looking for a girl who's been missing for weeks. Daryl was almost killed for Christ sakes! You, Glenn, Lori and Daryl are all I have left, and some of those bonds aren't very tight to begin with. Daryl is the closest thing I have to a husband, or a best friend, or even family for that matter. I can't loose him, and that's all I meant, but he seems to want to blow everything out of proportion!" I vented.

Dale gave me a small smile and nodded. "You'll figure it out. This whole thing will blow over, and you'll apologize and then you will be back to normal," Dale promised. But I knew better.

"Dale, I think this is our normal. We fight more often than not. He's so distant and guarded that I barely know a damned thing about him, and he thinks that I was a spoiled brat that was handed everything I wanted as a kid, which wasn't the case. It's so hard with him," I said with a sigh. "With Riley, everything went naturally, you know? I didn't have to censor every thought because it might upset him. But with Daryl I can't pee without him getting upset. I'm tired of all this fighting!"

Dale nodded, listening intently. "Have I ever thanked you for being such a great listener?" I asked him suddenly.

"I'm not sure," he lied, trying not to make me feel bad.

"Well thank you. Nobody else will listen to me rant like you do, especially Daryl. He always wants to challenge my views. You just want to listen," I said.

"Can't you make him listen?" Dale asked.

I let out a sarcastic laugh. "Maybe if I hog tied and gagged him."

Dale laughed. "I don't think he's as difficult as you think he is. You both are hard headed people and you both want to be heard. Maybe you two should sit down and have a calm conversation," Dale suggested.

"This is Daryl we're talking about. I've only seen him calm twice," I said a light blush powdering my cheeks as I thought about just when he had been calm.

Dale raised his eyebrows. "He's calmed a lot since you showed up," he spoke quietly.

"Oh, sure," I scoffed.

"He has. Between you showing up and Merle disappearing, he has become his own person instead of in Merle's shaddow. And he is so much calmer now than he was before," Dale said.

"That's hard to believe, seeing he still acts like an asshole now and he definitely acted like one when I first met him," I said.

"Daryl is actually apart of the group now. He didn't act that way before. He's changed for the better. He's went out and risked his life for Sophia. If Merle was here, he wouldn't have done that. He's changed, and it's made him better," Dale informed me.

I sighed. "You're right, I guess, even if I didn't know him before this."

"Of course I'm right," Dale said with a smile over to me.

"I  guess that means I should go talk to him then, huh?" I asked.

He nodded. I sighed heavily, not wanting to go through with it but knowing I had to.

Hello everyone! Thank you for the great support. Over 2,000 reads? What?

I've decided to ask another question after this chapter. What is your opinion on Rosaline's take on the Sophia situation? Do you think she and Daryl are overreacting? Let me know what you think in the comments!

And my dedication goes out to @Chupacabra94 because she is one of the awesomest people I have ever met! :-) And she is just a very friendly person who shares the same obsession with all things Reedus.

And don't forget to vote, comment, fan, and share!