Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

053

They waited with baited breath as the duo watched Ezekiel leave with a handful of others after talking with Carol. As soon as they had gotten out of their line of sight, Daryl was already headed towards the front door of the little house.Juliana cursed under her breath as she jogged to catch up to him,meeting him just as he was about to set foot on the front porch.

"Daryl," she started, reaching out and placed a hand on his forearm, "What are we gonna tell her?"

Daryl stared down at Juliana for what seemed like a long time, but he never replied, and instead, knocked on the door and sat back on his heels.

Juliana side-eyed him as he didn't answer her, and fell back to stand next to him, awkwardly shifting around the weight of the gun that she strapped to her back.

When the door opened, it felt as if as these missing emotions came pouring out of that little house as Carol stared at the two of them with wide eyes. Juliana glanced over to Daryl momentarily, noticing the man swallow hard as he stared back at Carol. The two of them had been together much longer than she had known Daryl, and Juliana knew how important Carol was to him even if he never said so.

Carol let out a sigh, bottom lip quivering as she stepped forwards, pulling both of them into a hug.Her arms wrapped around them tightly. She would be the only other person aside from Beth and herself, that Daryl ever allowed to hug him, let alone touch him. He was the one who pushed her away gently,muttering 'okay' under his breath.

"Jesus took us to The Kingdom," he told her, "Morgan said you just left. We were out here. We saw you." He paused, trying to look stoic as his voice cracked when he asked: "Why'd you go?"

Juliana's throat tightened at the tone of his voice and accompanied by Carol's tearfulness as she looked between the two of them didn't seem to help keep her emotions under control. Noticing Juliana, Carol reached out to Juliana, placing a comforting hand on her cheek before dropping her hand to her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"I had to." Carol breathed out.

There was an awkward silence between the three of them before Carol told the two of them to come inside.She began to busy herself with setting and lighting candles and lighting a fire in the fire place since it would be night soon. Daryl and Juliana set down their weapons and backpacks and shuffled into the small house, settling themselves down at the table next to each other.

"Do you want any help, Carol?"Juliana asked. Carol only shook her head.

"No, no. You two look like you've been doing more than enough today. You should rest for a little bit."Her voice sounded faraway. Juliana and Daryl exchanged a look between each other before Juliana spoke up.

"Carol?"

Carol had set herself down by the fire,back turned towards them, "I couldn't lose anyone. I couldn't lose any of them. I couldn't lose you two. I couldn't kill them." a pause: "I could. I would. If they hurt any of our people-anymore of them; that's what I'd do. And there wouldn't be anything left of me after that."

Juliana had found herself sitting closer to Daryl now, practically pressed up side to side as they listened to Carol. Again, the quiet between the two of them was sometimes everything they needed.

"The Saviors," Carol cleared her throat, "Did they come?"

"Yeah," Juliana mumbled.

Carol turned to look over her shoulder at the duo and then shifted, turning around so that she was able to look at the both of them better. She sniffled, bottom lip quivering as she asked: "Did anyone get hurt? Is everybody okay? Did The Saviors-" her voice broke with emotion, "Is everybody back home okay?"

Juliana's heart sank into her stomach.Her lips parted slightly, and before she could say anything Daryl's hand landed on her thigh, giving it a firm squeeze. It wasn't one of comfort or affection: he wanted to be the one to speak.

"Daryl..Jules.."

He nodded, hand still on her leg, "They came. We got them all. Made a deal with the rest of them like Ezekiel. Everyone's all right."

"Everyone's all right." he repeated.

Juliana knew his reasons why he didn't tell Carol. If Carol knew, she would have gone out and tried to kill Negan herself, and they couldn't bear to lose anyone else to him.Still, her body ached as she just wanted to cry out to Carol what had happened to everyone. What had happened to them. She bit the inside of her cheek, thankful for when Daryl cleared his throat, asking when they could eat.

Carol had warmed up some tinned soup on the fire and brought it over to the two of them, serving up the meal to each of them. They ate in silence, sometimes exchanging smiles from across the table but not saying anything. They didn't need to.

Eventually, when they had finished, it was time for Daryl and Juliana to head back. They gathered their weapons and bags and said their goodbyes awkwardly, both of them unsure what else they should say to her.

Carol stood in the doorway of the house as the two of them stepped off the porch. Daryl stopped soon after and turned, making his way back to Carol and pulled her into an unexpected hug. Juliana waited until the two parted before she also embraced Carol in a hug. When they pulled away from each other, Carol placed a hand on Juliana's cheek, patting it lovingly.

"Take care of him, Jules."

Juliana smiled slightly, "Watch out for yourself, alright?"

Daryl and Juliana both gave one final wave to Carol before they headed off back to The Kingdom for the rest of the night. It reminded her of the beginning: the two of them going out to look for supplies around the prison, staying out until dusk when the sun would filter through the trees and cast long shadows across the ground. The crickets would follow soon after, almost drowning out any sounds of roaming walkers. She and Daryl wouldn't say much to each other, and that was fine. That was how the two of them were. It was what ultimately brought them together.

"Hey," Juliana quietly blurted out,"I love ya', ya' know."

He grunted something inaudible before mumbling, "I know." Moving a tad closer to her, he threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in closer, walking all the way back to The Kingdom.