Imagines // Daryl Dixon

coffee

The once blue sky had traded white clouds for grey, threatening rain and providing the forest with a rather ominous aura. Behind you, you heard the growls of what was to be several walkers. Before you had the chance to turn, Daryl grabbed your arm ushering you forward through the trees. Several feet ahead a walker stumbled out from behind a tree, making its way to you. He swiftly took it out before making his way through the trees once again. You took a step in his direction before stopping, holding your hand out, palm up to the sky. Sure enough, cold droplets hit you; mesmerising you.

"Never seen rain or somethin'?" You looked up at him, noting the irritation clear on his face. The two of you had been on a run when a small horde invaded the store, forcing you'd out the back door and into the forest. Hours had passed and you'd made a wide arc and were finally on the right track back to the store and your vehicle.

"I just like it. Why not enjoy the small pleasures in life? It's not like there's many these days anyways."

"Right." He sighed and you rolled your eyes, dropping your head as you followed him further through the forest. Lately, everything you did seemed to irritate him, and you couldn't understand why. Lost in thought, you hadn't realised when he stopped, causing you to walk straight into him. You stumbled back a step before he grabbed your waist, steadying you. He moved his hand from your waist and gestured to a log cabin nestled neatly amongst the trees. You did a quick walk around the building, whilst he banged on the door, waiting. As you joined him, he opened the door; knife raised.

The small living room was empty of any undead, instead a large fireplace dominated the far wall. Shutting the front door behind you, you made your way to what you presumed was a bedroom. You creaked the door open and an arm flew through the gap, grabbing the air above your head. You fell backwards wit ha shriek and the door flew open, the walker stumbling out. Your hands flew to your pockets, desperately grasping for your knife. As your hand clasped around the handle, Daryl shoved the walker against the wall before ploughing his knife through its brain. It slid down the wall, and Daryl turned extending his hand for you. You grabbed it and he pulled you up, your face mere inches from his. You turned away mumbling a thank-you, as he bent down to drag the corpse outside. You made your way to the kitchen, rifling through the draws. Uncovering piles of useless junk aside from a packet of matches, you began opening cupboards. You found a sack of rice and several canned goods, before climbing onto the counter to see into the higher cupboards.  Opening one, your hands flew to your mouth and you let out a shriek. You couldn't believe your eyes. 

"What are ya doin'?" You turned in time to see him shut the door, crossing his arms. Without a word, you quickly grabbed the tin from the top shelf and held it out for him to see. He made his way to you, taking the can.

"Coffee?" You nodded your head furiously, as he handed it back to you. Sitting on the counter, you beamed down at the can, before raising your gaze to meet his.

"Do you not like coffee? I also found matches for the fire if that's more exciting?"  he shook his head, stepping forward and leaning back on the counter. 

"It's not that." 

"What's up then?" He shook his head, stepping away. 

"'m gonna go start the fire." You watched him walk away, sliding off the bench-top. Shaking your head, you scoured the cupboards for a mug. Filling the stove kettle with water from your bottle, you made your way over to the fire, placing it on the coals. The two of you sat in silence as you waited for the water to boil. 

As the whistle filled the air, you grabbed the kettle and went back to the kitchen, making your first cup of coffee in over a year. 

"What the hell are we doing?" Your turned to face him.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"Well yeah that's my question too. I can't think of what i've done to you, so maybe you can shed some light on the situation? Seemingly everything I do is wrong, or an inconvenience to you. I know you didn't want me coming on this run with you, I only did what Rick asked of me," you were yelling now, and you felt tears begin to prick your eyes. "You know, it feels you don't want to do anything with me anymore. You don't even fucking talk to me anymore Daryl! If there's someone else, or you're just done, fine, but just say it and stop.. stop fucking breaking my heart." You crossed your arms over your chest, dropping your head.

"Fucks sake, only reason I don't want ya going on runs, is cause I don't want ya to get hurt. There ain't nobody else i care about, but you, ya ought know that."

"Then what's been going on with you lately?" Your voice came out a mumble as you pulled away from him. He shrugged his shoulders as he looked away. 

"Gonna go and check whats in the shed out back. Stay in here." You watched as he stepped out the door, and as he shut it, you slid to the floor, a tear falling down your cheek. 

The rain battered against the windows, and as you slinked off to the bedroom with your coffee, you couldn't help but be reminded of your life before the apocalypse. Spending days in bed with coffee because you simply couldn't find the energy to get up and do anything. Laying under a blanket, you drifted off to the sound of the rain. 

The sound of glass shattering jolted you awake, and you sat up panting. You couldn't see anything aside from an orange glow coming under the bedroom door. A sharp cold wind hit you as you stood causing you to shake. The door flew open revealing a tired looking Daryl. You ran to him, burying your face in his chest. 

"What happened?" His voice was husky and you pulled away, shrugging your shoulders. He made his way over to the window, where you could now see a tree branch has come through, shattering the lower half of the window. "C'mon." You watched as he grabbed the blanket off the bed, leading you out to the living where the fire was still burning away. He pulled the cushions off the couch, pulling it out. You dropped down onto the stiff mattress patting the space beside you for him to join. He draped the blanket over you, laying beside you. Neither of you said anything and you were sure he'd dozed off when he sighed.

"(Y/N)?" His voice was quiet and you hummed in response. "Glenn and Maggie gettin' engaged jus' got me thinking." He stopped as you sat up, turning to face him. "I just wanted t' give ya something, so people would know ya mine, just didn't know how." You felt the prickle of tears in your eyes as he reached into his shirt pocket and held out a sparkling diamond ring. It was the most beautiful thing you'd ever seen. 

"Oh my god... how?"

"Rick and I broke into th' jewellery store. Benefits of all this aye." You felt a tear trickle down your cheek and you leant down to him, kissing him deeply. You felt his arms wrap around your waist as he pulled you on top of him. You straddled him as you pulled back and he held your hand, slipping the ring onto your finger. You stared at the ring, then back up at him grinning. You leant down to him, kissing him again, as he rolled you over so he was on top, trailing kisses down your neck...