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JUST AS ARIA FINISHES skinning the squirrels, Andrea sits down in front of her, causing the younger sister to send her a deadly glare. Andrea has never seen Aria this angry, and she wishes she wasn't witnessing it now. Harshly setting the squirrel down, Aria stands to her feet, getting ready to walk away. "Please talk to me." Andrea pleads and Aria licks her lips, turning back towards her sister.
"You can be so fucking stupid, Andrea! We told you not to shoot and what do you do? You shoot! You don't listen and it pisses me off!" Aria snaps, her voice filled with anger. She was never one to express her anger through words but right now, she can't help it. Everything is piling up on her shoulders and it's stressing her out.
Tears build up in her eyes from the frustration and she blows out and breath, quickly wiping her eyes. "I'm tired of this. It's getting out of hand." Aria whispers before marching away, leaving the older sister to think about what she'd done.
♚ ♛
Aria knocks on the wooden brown door before creaking it open. Her eyes catch sight of Daryl's back, which is filled with scars. She quickly looks away before he catches her staring. She wouldn't want anyone questioning her scars so that's not what she's going to do. Daryl pulls the sheet up more around his back, turning towards the solemn female.
"Carol suggested I bring you a tray of food so—uh, here." Aria mutters, awkwardly setting the tray of food down on the bed side table. Quietly closing the door, she then walks around the bed, sitting on the small couch they have in the room. "How are you feeling?" Aria asks, crossing her legs and leaning forward, examining his face. "Fine." Daryl answers, raising his eyes to meet hers. "What do you need?" Daryl questions causing Aria to shrug, pursing her lips.
"Here to keep you company—i guess." Daryl shakes his head, his eyes closing. "I don't need no company." He grumbles and Aria bites her lip, fiddling with her hands. "Are you sure? I mean—" Daryl cuts her off, his eyes snapping open. "Just leave! You're bein' an annoying bitch!" Aria flinches back at his words and she slowly stands to her feet, walking towards the door and opening it, walking out. Her body is heating up from the embarrassment and she just wishes she was brave enough to tell him off, but she's not.
♚ ♛
With a basket of clothes in her small hands, Aria walks towards her tent, her mind in a daze. She hasn't spoken to Andrea since she yelled at her and she's really wondering if she's overreacting. She's just tired of Andrea not listening to others and taking what they say to mind, it's annoying.
"Hey!" Dropping the basket to the floor, her eyes go wide and she quickly crouches down, gathering the clothes back in the basket. "H—hi." She stutters, holding a piece of clothing in her hand. Looking down, her cheeks turn pink as she realizes she's holding her underwear. Quickly stuffing the clothing in the basket, she looks up, her lips pressed in a line.
Chuckling nervously, she looks back up at Daryl, her body heating up. She always has to embarrass herself, doesn't she? Amusement dances in his blue orbs and she stands to her feet, walking to his tent. "What do you need?" She utters, crouching down in the door of the tent. Daryl twirls the arrow in his hand before clearing his throat, lowering his eyes down to the ground. "About last night—i'm sorry.." He trails off and Aria raises her eyebrows, tilting her head to the side.
"It's okay." She tells him, standing back up to her feet. "I'll see you later. I have to go to gun training." She mumbles, looking down at him. Daryl raises an eyebrow, confusion on his face. "You don't know how to shoot?" Aria smirks, cocking her head to the side. "Oh no, I know how to shoot." She tells him and Daryl looks away, trying to figure out what she means.
"You want to prove something to them? Why?" Clearing her throat, Aria backs away, grabbing the basket. "How about this—let me go out this basket up and I'll come back and explain everything. I mean, you don't have anything else to do." Daryl nods and Aria walks away.
Opening the flap to her tent, she sets the basket in the tent. Hearing voices, she furrows her eyebrows and hides herself away from sight listening closely. "What if somebody told you something that somebody else should know—?" A voice sounding a lot like Glenn's speaks up and Aria raises a hand to her mouth, biting her thumbnail. Maybe she shouldn't be listening, but it's too interesting not to eavesdrop. "Glenn, stop being dramatic. Spit it out." Aria confirms the two voices as Dale and Glenn and she furrows her eyebrows.
"There's—there's walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnant." Aria's mouth falls open and she lowers her hand away from her mouth, raising up and catching Dale and Glenn's attention. So much for being stealthy.
"Aria!" Dale exclaims, sending her a nervous smile. Walking closer to them, she frowns, blinking. "We're in deep shit, aren't we?"
♚ ♛ (TRIGGER WARNING)
"Hey." She greets Daryl, sitting down in the tent beside him, facing his way. "What took so long?" He asks and Aria bites her lip, quickly thinking of an excuse. "Glenn had needed me to help with some things."
Daryl nods, shoving the arrow through the netting in his tent. Awkward silence consumes the two and Daryl looks at her, motioning for her to talk. "Why do you have to prove yourself to them?" Taking a deep breath, Aria begins to think over things in her mind. She's never talked to anyone about this but she's about to spill everything to Daryl? She's about to break down the wall she built and she's nervous about it.
"Um—I was always the uglier twin, dumber twin, and so on. I always had to prove myself to people because they didn't believe I could do it, so my second mentality is instead of talking, just show them that you can." Aria begins, raising her eyes to meet Daryl's.
"Trust me, when I was younger, I was so talkative and outgoing but then when I hit middle school, I started getting bullied, not too bad, but it damaged my self-esteem and I became less and less talkative." Her voice becomes more shaky and her hands start to tremble as she begins recalling the worst memories of them all.
"In high school, the bullying became more aggressive and physical. There was always this one person telling me to go kill myself, that I don't belong here—Amy is so much better. I resented Amy because of that because I was told so many times that she was the superior twin, I even believed my family thought that." Aria tries to blink back the tears that have built up but fails. She left out a few details about other things that he doesn't need to know—at least not right now. Quickly wiping at the fallen tears, she clears her throat. "What about you?"
"What about me?" Daryl asks and Aria sends him a small smile, her head tilted to the side. "Everyone has a past that made them who they are today." Daryl shakes his head, his eyes narrowed. "Not me." Aria nods, not wanting to push him.
Everyone has a chapter in their life that they hide for a reason.
