Nothing's Gonna Hurt You (Daryl Dixon x Reader)

Another Sleepless Night

(This chapter is longer than the previous one. First there isn't much daryl x reader but later in the chapter there is. Enjoy!)

Carol was walking in front of you. She was taking slow steps, looking down.
There was no wind and the sun was burning on your shoulders. You took your hair tie off your wrist and made a side braid.
"What kind of flowers are we looking for Carol?"
"Nothing specific. Just flowers."
Sophia, Carol's daughter, was one of the victims who passed away last night.
You couldn't imagine what she was going through.
"These are beautiful don't you think?" You said to carol, pointing at a type of white flowers.
"Yes. Those are okay, we'll use them."
She clearly didn't care what flowers we were going to use for the funeral.
"Carol?"
"Yes."
"When I saw you like that... last night... Please don't blame yourself okay?"
"We have enough flowers, time to go back." She said, ignoring your words.

This wasn't the first time you had been at a funeral, though it never got easier. Some people were silently praying, thinking of the people that they had lost.
You were standing next to Carol, tears in your eyes because she was crying. You tried to comfort her but nothing could sooth her pain.
...

Later that day Rick gathered everyone together, he needed to tell something important to the group. When you got there last, you saw Rick, Lori and Carl standing in front of everyone else. You stood next to Daryl and his brother, behind the rest of the group.
"I know it's been a rough day... we're all tired so i won't take long."
"What is this about?" Shane asked. He didn't look happy with the fact that Rick didn't inform him about this meeting.
"Me, Lori and Carl... we decided that we're going to leave, find a safer place."
"What?!" Shane got angry now, clenching his fists. "You just decided for them?"
"No, we decided it together, as a family." Said Lori.
This really made his blood boil. "So now you suddenly don't need me to take care of you and Carl?"
Rick was confused, looking at Lori. "Shane, not now okay?" said Lori.
"Do we need to be here for this we got better things to do ya know." Merle was walking to the front. "Why did you ask us here?"
"I wanted to say that whoever wants to go with us, you're all welcome. We're leaving tomorrow morning." Shane shook his head and walked away.
"I'm coming with you guys." You said as you walked closer to where Rick was standing.
"That's good." He said.
You noticed the doubt on people's faces, they couldn't make the decision that fast.
"I'm coming too." Said Carol.
The rest of the group didn't make a choice yet so they were going to let Rick know the next day.
You were going back to your tents, it was getting darker and everyone was tired.

After lying awake for several hours you decided to take a walk.
You took a flashlight and knife with you.
You were walking to the RV to grab some water but on your way someone grabbed you. The person also had a flashlight and a weapon. You saw that it was Merle, he was keeping watch tonight.
"It's me, (Y/N)! Let go!"
He did what you said.
"Where are you going so late?" He asked.
"I'm thirsty and I can't sleep."
He followed you to the RV.
"Hey, (Y/N), you're going away with Rick and the rest of 'em right?"
"Yeah."
"My brother. He wants to come too. But me and Daryl, we ain't people to be in a group. He won't listen to me."
"Okay?" You grabbed the water and headed back to the door of the RV but Merle was blocking the exit.
"He won't listen to me but he might listen to you." He said.
"Why would he listen to me? Besides he's old enough to make his own choices." You took one more step to indicate that you wanted to get out.
"Merle, you heard Rick. It isn't safe here anymore."
He laughed a little with what you said. "Nowhere is safe anymore."
"We can find something for a while. We can't just stay here forever." You said.
"Now you tryin to change my mind? It ain't gonna work girl. Daryl and I are stayin here ya hear me?"
You didn't want Daryl to stay here with Merle, you wanted to be with him. You didn't know why, but there was something about him.
"Why don't you let him make his own choices? He might be your brother but he's still an individual who has the right to go where he wants."
"Right... you just want him to come with you because you like him. Well he ain't into soft girls like you so don't waste your time."
You didn't want to talk to him anymore so you tried to push him away to get to the door.
To your surprise he let you pass.

...

The next day everyone told Rick whether they wanted to join us or not.
Unlike the others Shane, Daryl and Merle had decided to come along. You were relieved that Daryl and Merle had come to this agreement.
"Anyone want breakfast?" Daryl showed the group what he had found this morning. Squirrels. You didn't like the idea of eating them but you were starving so you tried it.
"Is everyone ready to go?"
Shane took lead this time and Rick didn't seem to mind so you assumed they had a conversation about it.
Before getting in the RV to leave, you said goodbye to the people who were staying.
It felt weird leaving but part of you knew that it was the right choice. There was no way you would be camping out there for the rest of your life.

*Few hours after leaving the camp*

Shane's yelling woke you up. You noticed that the RV wasn't moving any longer.
"We're not going by foot! Not tonight!" Shane yelled in Rick's face.
"You have a better plan?" Rick asked, he tried to stay calm.
"We start walking tomorrow. We walk til we find working cars and go from there."
You asked Carol what was going on.
"The RV stopped working."
"Shane's right. We can't get out and start walking in the dark, it's too dangerous." Said Lori.
Rick agreed and said no one needed to worry.
But that didn't help you. All you could do was worry.

That night you couldn't sleep, again.
Although Merle and Daryl had offered to sleep outside because there wasn't enough space and Shane was keeping watch, the RV was too crowded for you.
You tried to be as quiet as possible while going outside because the rest was sleeping.
You saw Shane climbing off the RV.
"Thought I saw and heard a few walkers but I'm not sure it's too dark." He said to Merle.
"Let's take a look." Merle said.
"Yeah, leave your gun it could attract more..." Shane stopped his sentence when he noticed you.
"Oh, it's you. What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nothing, just wanted to go outside for a minute."
"Don't stay too long, you'll get a cold." Said Merle. You already got used to his annoying comments and smirks.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." You said ironically.

You saw Daryl climbing up the RV. He sat down and lighted up a cigarette.
"You know that can kill you right."
He looked down, seemingly annoyed by what you said, or just annoyed by you.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He said.
You went to him, even though you saw that he wanted to be left alone.
"I'm sorry if I said something wrong."
"You didn't."
He kept looking at the ground.
You sat down next to him. There was a silence for a while which made you feel awkward.
You looked at him, he was smoking the end of his cigarette. He looked back and your heart jumped. You wanted to say something to break the silence but you couldn't think straight. Daryl was about to say something but the sound of a walker startled you both. It walked up to the door.
You got up and stepped to the walker while Daryl checked if there were more.
You stuck your knife in it's brain.
"You good?" He asked.
"Yeah. It was only one?"
"Yeah."
Shane came running up to the both of you, Merle followed him at a lower pace.
"We gotta get in the RV now! There's too many of 'em. We gotta wait it out til the morning." Shane seemed afraid.
Once you got inside everyone was waking up. Shane explained what was happening and said no one needed to worry, that everyone was safe.
Though, everyone was scared. Rick held Lori and Carl close. You sat down next to Carol, she kept her eyes closed.
The walkers were gradually becoming a small herd. Even though they couldn't hurt you from the outside, you were still scared and felt unsafe.
Daryl saw that you were crying but he didn't seem to care.
He went to the back of the RV where no one could bother him and stayed there til the morning.