my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

t h i r t y f i v e

Aspen's POV:
I quickly wiped the tears off my face and jumped up as the curtain to my room was yanked back.

"Thomas?! I don't want to see you ever again!" I screamed as I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Please Aspen, just listen to me. I care for you, I really do." He tried to reach for me but I swatted his hand away.

"No! You listen to me! I've heard your lies too many times. You used me to get to Daryl. All you want is to get under his skin. You don't care about me!" I pushed his chest, but he didn't budge. "Get out of here Thomas and don't come back!"

He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. "I didn't want to have to do this Aspen but you leave me no choice."

"Wha-" I started, but it was too late. His hand came down hard across my face. Memories from the CDC came flooding back. "Thomas?" I looked at him but he wouldn't meet my gaze. Instead, he stared at the floor.

"I didn't want to do this. You made me do this." He whispered, like he was trying to convince himself that this was okay.

Then he was on me. His fist connected with my face. I tried to cry out but his hand was covering my mouth. I couldn't scream for help.

I began to sob with each contact. His fists pounded into me. Soon I was on the ground, my body shaking with every contact.

"I didn't have to do this." He whispered, his lips next to my ear. "You made me do this."

—————

After what seemed like hours, the beating stopped. He took a step back and I waited for the next blow to come but it never did. He stood in the corner, breathing heavy.

"I didn't want to that Aspen. I hate seeing you in pain but if you're going to be a bad girl I have no other option."

"P-p-please don't hit me again." I whimpered.

His eyes flashed with anger. "Don't play the pity card with me. You're the evil one here." He took a deep breath. "If you are a good girl I won't have to do this again, do you understand me?"

I tried to nod but it felt like someone was drilling into my brain.

"There are only three rules I need you to follow. Just three." Thomas said. "One, don't tell anyone about what I've done to you. Trust me, I'll find out. And if you do feel the need to tell someone," he paused." Well, it's the apocalypse. Terrible accidents happen all the time."

I began to shake. Would he actually kill someone I loved if I told them what he was doing? "Two, you will be my girlfriend. You will make it very public that we are dating and you will get your friends to trust me. Third, stay as far away as you can from Dixon. You may not even be in the same room as him if I'm not there. I will find a way to make him hurt if you do not follow my rules. Do you understand?"

I nodded slowly. "No... Daryl." I managed to whisper quietly. My throat felt like sandpaper.

"Very good." Thomas smiled. "Now, let's get you some clothes to cover up those bruises."

—————

Thomas put me in leggings and a long sleeve, collared, plaid shirt. He made me wear my hair down to cover the bruises on my neck. I slowly stood up after tying my Converse, my entire body protesting with each movement.

"Now, remember the rules?" Thomas asked.

I nodded slowly, trying to move a little as possible.

"Good, now stay very close to me and don't make eye contact with anyone." When he finished, he wiped the blood off of his hands and changed shirts. You could barely tell anything happened.

"Now let's go." He grabbed my hand lead me out of the cell and out into the main area where the group was talking quietly amongst themselves. I didn't make eye contact with anyone just as Thomas had told me.

"Aspen, you okay?" Maggie asked.

I wanted to scream out that no, I was not in fact okay but I let Thomas answer for me."She's just feeling a little under the weather. I'm sure you could understand why."

Maggie hesitated like she wanted to say more, but instead she just turned and left. I sighed heavily and Thomas squeezed my hand hard. I repressed a scream. 

"Have a good attitude, you look suspicious." He muttered under his breath.

"Sorry." I whispered.

Daryl's POV:
I was sitting in my perch when Aspen came out of the room with that boy. They were holding hands and I had to do everything in my power to stop myself from running over there and punching the smug look off of Thomas' face.

I can't believe I fell for her. I thought to myself. I'm such an idiot. I was reading her signs all wrong. She doesn't like me, she was pitying me and didn't want to embarass me by stopping our kiss.

"Dinner's ready!" Rick called out from below.

I sighed and headed down to sit with the rest of the group to eat.

—————

Throughout the entire night I tried to catch her gaze at least once to try and read her but she wouldn't look up from her plate. Fine. Two can play at that game.

I sat in silence while the rest of the group talked. They carried on conversations like nothing had changed, but I could see them all sneaking glances at Aspen, and especially at her and Thomas' hands which were intertwined on top of the table.

After dinner, I was grabbing my bow to go hunt when someone's hand grabbed my arm.

"Daryl, something's wrong with Aspen." Maggie whispered, worry etched across her face.

"So?" I muttered. "Not ma problem."

"Oh get over yourself for one second and listen to me. I know you have feelings for her and I think she had feelings for you too but Thomas changed her somehow. She's not the same, she's like a ghost of the old Aspen."

"Ya, well she almost died. Let her be with her Prince Charming if that's what she wants."

"I'm telling you, that's not what she wants!" Maggie glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "Something's up with her and it's not because of what she went through. Just talk to her, you'll see what I mean."

Maggie walked away, leaving me with my thoughts. I looked around the room and saw Aspen beginning climbing the stairs to go back to her cell. She looked like she was in a lot of pain, struggling up a few stairs at a time before she would stop and rest for a few minutes.

Maggie's wrong. There's nothing up with her. She just went through a traumatic event. She's fine.

Maybe one conversation won't hurt.

I quickly walked over to her. "Hey Aspen, ya okay?" I asked. "I saw ya struggling over here."

"Daryl!" She whispered, her voice scratchy. "I can't be talking to you!"

"Why not? Is it Thomas because I swear-"

"Aspen!" I sighed as Thomas bounded up the stairs to where we were. "I told you I'd be right back, why are you talking to... him?" Thomas glared at me, and put himself in between me and Aspen.

"We were having a conversation here." I muttered. It was taking every ounce of me to not punch him across the face.

"Oh, were you?" He turned around and glared at Aspen. Aw man, I'm going to kill this son of a bitch.

"Well I think we best be going girlfriend." Thomas said.

"Okay sweetie." She whispered. I wanted to gag. I knew it. She was fine. Maggie was dreaming about things that weren't real.

"Whatever." I huffed, storming down the stairs and out into the cool night.