my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

t h i r t y s i x

TWO WEEKS PASS

Aspen's POV:
The past weeks have been torture. I've been locked in my own head, unable to talk to any of my friends or loved ones about my situation. All I want to do is run into Daryl's arm everytime I see him, but instead I've just been abused by Thomas.

"I'm going out with Rick to work in the garden, don't do anything stupid." Thomas whispered as he left the cell we had been sharing.

I sighed and slowly sat up, making my way to the mirror we had in our room. I, ever so slowly, peeled my tank top off and examined my abdomen and chest. As I was standing there in my bra and leggings, I noticed just how skinny and pale I had gotten. Thomas rarely let me leave the room, so I got very little to eat. I also hadn't been outside since Daryl found me.

"Hey Aspen can I ask you someth-" Maggie stopped short when she entered my cell as I quickly tried to coverup my bare stomach.

"Aspen?! What happened?!" She asked, horror filling her eyes.

"It's n-nothing. It's just reminits of the w-walker attacks." I stammered.

"It's been two weeks, the bruises would have been gone by now. This has happened recently." She said, making her way to me.

"N-no. It hasn't."

"Aspen, has Thomas been doing this to you?!" Her eyes filled with rage as she put together all of the pieces.

"Maggie..." I started.

"No, don't lie to me. Tell me the truth. Now."

"He said he would hurt whoever I told..."

"Don't you worry about me. I am a strong ass woman and can take care of myself. Now start from the beginning and tell me everything."

—————

And I did, I told her about my high school days and how I had a crush on him for forever. I told her about his violent moment at the farm. I even told her about my kiss with him in the field. The only thing I kept from her was my kiss with Daryl. I didn't know how she would react.

I finally got to the last couple of weeks. It was hard, and I had to stop multiple times but I finally go through it. I told her about every hit, every punch, every kick.

When I finished, Maggie had tears rolling down her face but her eyes were filled with hatred. "We have to tell Rick. We can make him hurt like he made you hurt everyday since you got back."

"No Maggie, I don't want to do anything. I'm okay, I'll get through this. It will pass and I'll learn to live with it."

"No! You shouldn't have to just live with it. You should be able to enjoy every moment because you never know when you're life is going to be taken away. You should be able to have the life you want. We're going to-"

"You're going to what?" Thomas' voice rang through the room and I began to shake. "What are you going to do Maggie?"

Maggie glared at him but said nothing. "That's what I thought. Now for you..." He said, turning to me. "I thought I specifically told you not to say anything to anyone or else they would get hurt?"

"You did." I whispered.

"Well, I guess you don't care too much about your friend here then because I have no choice. I can't let her go around and spill our secret now can I?"

"Sorry about this Maggie." He said, pulling out a knife. "You really are a pretty woman."

Just as he started to make an advance on Maggie, we heard shouts from downstairs.

Thomas looked between me and Maggie, mulling over the choices he had. He finally decided that whatever was happening down there was more important than me and Maggie and he turned to leave.

"We'll finish this later Aspen." He muttered, storming out of the cell.

I turned to Maggie, releasing the breath I didn't know I was holding. "I'm so sorry Maggie, I never meant to bring you into this."

"Don't you blame yourself for one second. Thomas is an evil man and the group will protect you. You're safe."  Maggie gave me a quick hug. "Now let's see what all the fuss is about."