my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

n i n e

As soon as I finished that breath, I was sprinting up to him. Could it really be? My dad said he was dead! Wait... so he didn't die at the hospital. That means... my dad left him for dead! How could he?!

"Aspen!" Rick turned around right before I smacked into his side and squeezed my arms around him in a bone-crushing hug.

"I... thought... you... were... dead..." I wheezed out. I just sprinted about the length of half a football field and I was out of breath.

"I would be, if it wasn't for your dad. He put a hospital bed in front of my door to stop the dead from getting through." He looked around our camp. "Where is the little devil anyways? And have you heard anything from Lori or Carl?"

I pulled myself off of Rick and I realized he didn't know his wife and my dad were together. How could they do this to him? I couldn't wait to see their faces when they realized he wasn't dead.

And then I heard him. "Aspen! Where are yo-" His eyes met Rick's and he stopped dead in his tracks. Lori and Carl came out behind him.

"Shane, what's wrong?" Lori asked before she turned and saw Rick.

"Daddy!" Carl released his mother's hand and ran to his dad. Rick picked Carl and held him to his chest. "Aspen told me you were gone daddy." Carl looked at me like I was the most evil person on the planet. "She lied."

"Oh no buddy, don't be mad at her. I bet everyone thought I was dead. She took care of you while I was gone, did she not?"

Carl gave me a sheepish look. " Yeah, I guess she did."

"And I'm very grateful to her for that." Rick gave me a big smile as he set Carl down.

"Carl, I'm sorry. My dad told me he was dead." I hugged Carl. "I'm sorry buddy."

"It's okay." He smiled up at me. "My daddy's back."

"Rick?!" The smile on my face fell into a scowl as I saw Lori running up to Rick. I could hardly contain myself as she hugged him. How could she? She was having sex with my dad and she acts like nothing happened as soon as Rick shows up. How dare she?! Then I saw my dad's face. He was fuming, but he was trying not to blow. My dad has always had anger issues, but the look on his face made me more scared than I've ever been. He looked like he could walk up and kill Lori right then and there. But he just turned away and started to walk towards the woods when Rick called out to him.

"Shane! Is that you?" My dad stopped in his tracks and I saw him take a deep breath. Then he turned around and his look was wiped off his face.

"Rick! I thought you were dead! How are you here?" My dad ran up to Rick and gave him one of those "man" hugs. I read right through his actions. It was all fake. My dad was really pissed because he saw Lori hanging onto Rick.

"I can't thank you enough Shane. You saved my life! You might have left me at the hospital, but by you blocking the door with the hospital bed, it kept the walkers from getting in." I bet my dad is mentally cursing himself for doing that. I know they used to be best friends, but ever since him and Lori became close, I think the last thing he wanted was Rick to show up again.

"No problem man. Something just told me you weren't going to leave us that easily." So then why did we leave him?! Rick turned to Lori and Carl.

"And I wanted to thank you for protecting my family. I don't know what I would do if they were taken from me." I saw my dad stiffen but he quickly covered it up.

"Yeah, sure." My dad mumbled. I glanced at Lori but she had a very good poker face. I couldn't read anything, but I could guess she wasn't very pleased with her husband showing up.

"How did you find us Rick?" I asked, trying to find someway to talk to him. I thought I had lost him, I was going to treat every moment as if it was our last.

"Oh, well that is a very long story." He put his arm around my shoulder as he lead us to the campfire. "But I guess we have time." He said as he winked at me. We sat down with me on one side of Rick and Carl on the other. It seemed like he didn't want to leave Rick for a second either.

We both listened intently as Rick told us his story on how he managed to find us.

—————

Rick's POV:
I had never felt so happy in my life. I had found my family. I had my son on one side of me and a girl who I felt like was my daughter on the other. I told them the story of how I managed to find them. Neither of them moved an inch the entire time. It was like they were scared I would disappear if they did. Although I wouldn't. I would never leave them again.

"And then I came up with a plan to cut open a walker and cover ourselves in walker guts so they couldn't smell us." Aspen made a face.

"Ugh! Gross! That's disgusting!" She gagged and I chuckled.

"Well, it worked for a while until it started to rain. Then we ran for our lives until we hopped a fence and escaped the walkers. We found a truck for me and a Dodge Challenger for Glenn. He blared his horn, drawing the walkers away from me as I picked up the rest of the group." I looked at both of them. "And that's how I made it here."

"Wow! You're like a superhero daddy!" Carl looked at me with eyes filled with amazement. It made me smile just knowing I did well by my son.

"You got that right little buddy." I winked as I rubbed his head.

"All I can say is, I'm glad you're back." Aspen leaned into me. "I couldn't believe it when my dad told me you had died." She stopped and took a deep breath. "I visited you everyday you were in the hospital." She let a tear slip down her face.

"Hey! It's okay! I'm here now! There's nothing you need to worry about. I'll never leave you again." I brought her into my chest for a hug and rubbed her back as she cried softly into me.

Glenn's POV:
I watched as Aspen and Carl listened to Rick's story. It made my heart melt seeing their expressions. They both just realized that the man that they both love as a father-figure is alive and they couldn't believe it. I'm just glad I'm the one to have saved Rick from the tank.

"Hey, hey, hey. I think we all know exactly who the real hero of the story is!" I looked at them as they all looked at me with confused expressions.

"Really? No one?" None of their expressions changed. "Wow, you guys are hopeless." I sighed. "It's obviously me! Rick just sat on his lazy butt the entire time, I am the one who did all the heavy lifting." I smiled as realization hit them that I was joking around. Aspen jumped up.

"Oh really? And I suppose you should get a prize for that shouldn't you?" She smiled mischievously as she glanced behind me and motioned her head slightly towards the woods. I glanced behind me as saw a pair of blue eyes peircing from the woods. I knew where she was going with this.

Aspen's POV:
As Glenn got up I saw that Daryl had made his way back to the campsite and was standing at the edge of the woods. I couldn't let him not recieve a show for his return. I saw that Glenn knew what I was meant and I took my moment. I stepped up on my tiptoes and placed a light peck on Glenn's cheek. Nothing more, but I knew it would get Daryl fuming. Man, I knew how to pull his strings.

I smiled up at Glenn as he had a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Goodnight, hero." I smiled as I hugged Rick and made my way to the RV. Very well knowing that Daryl's eyes were on my the entire time.

Daryl's POV:
How could she?! That little.... Okay, Daryl, calm down. She's not yours and she never will be. You need to take a deep breath because she has every right to be with Glenn.

I watched her all the way to the RV. I knew it shouldn't bother me this much, but it did. Every moment of it pissed me off more and more. I couldn't control it.

I stormed into the camp throwing my squirrels on the ground by the fire. "Here." I growled.

Glenn was smirking. "What the hell do you think is so funny?"

"Oh, nothing." He said, still smirking. Oh, I was going to kill him. I stalked off. I didn't care if I just caught seven squirrels, I needed to go hunting again.