TWD : Love Is You

Chapter 10

"Hey," Daryl greeted as he sat down on the log beside Lori. She was eating her breakfast, and was a little further off from all of the others who were sat around the campfire and eating their breakfast.

Lori had been off ever since they had left the CDC almost a week earlier, but she had gotten even worse over the past couple of days, and it was time that Daryl spoke to her. He'd been neglecting their friendship for a long time, and he was starting to feel guilty about it, especially since Carl was well on the mend now, and Rick was mostly back to his usual self.

Lori forced herself to give him a small smile, "Hi," she replied, "How are you feeling?"

Daryl shrugged, "Fine," he replied, "Just stressed, and this heat is a fucking pain, but my son's not going to die, so I can deal with all that other bullshit," he told her.

She nodded, "You don't know how relieved I am about that," she sighed, running a hand through her messy hair, "God, I was terrified for him, for you, Rick," she told him, "I can't imagine either of you having to go through losing him. I remember what it was like losing my son, and I didn't get those ten years of bonding that you two have,"

Daryl frowned, Lori very rarely brought up Kaiden, as it was always too painful for her and Shane to even think about.

"I'm relieved too," Daryl eventually settled on, "Losing him… He and Rick are the only things keeping me going, the baby too. If it weren't for them, I would have given up already, I want to survive for them," he sighed, running his hand through his hair, and then turning his head to look at her.

Her eyes were red and watering, and she swallowed thickly before speaking, "I'm pregnant," she whispered, "I don't know how far along, could be recently, or it could have been three months ago,"

Daryl's brows raised slightly, "Did Glenn get you the pregnancy test?" he asked, reaching out and taking her hand to squeeze it softly.

She nodded, and wiped at her eyes, "Yeah," She replied, "I haven't told Shane yet, I don't even want to," she said and looked up to meet his eyes, "I see what he's like with Carl, and it's not healthy, Daryl he believes Carl is his son, or that he should be. He's so resentful towards you and Rick because of Carl, he obsessively talks about how you two aren't parenting him right, that you shouldn't have let him join y'all in the woods," Lori began to tell him, waving her hands as her face flushed, "Hell, he even brought up the whole gay thing,"

Daryl rolled his eyes, and gently laid a hand over his stomach, "Before the outbreak, he was great, a good uncle, and he obviously loved Carl. It became a little unhealthier after you lost Kaiden, but ever since the outbreak, and we thought Rick was dead, it's gotten so much worse. It's scary… it's been making me doubt whether he ever thought Rick was dead when he was back at that hospital, or if he just saw an opportunity,"

Lori nodded, "I've been thinking that too. I never used to, but recently, he scares me, Daryl, I'm scared of what he might to do to me if he gets angry, what he'll do to you and Rick to get to Carl, to anyone else," she told him, and then she laughed, "I used to think we were a fairytale, that we could never be more in love. Jesus was I wrong,"

"You can't blame yourself for that change, Lori," he told her, running his thumb along her knuckles.

Lori smiled at him softly, and then looked down at her hands, picking at the dirt under her nails, "Back at the CDC, after you and Carl had taken Carl back with you, and Carol the same with … he tried to rape me," She admitted softly, and Daryl's lips parted, "He was so drunk, he didn't even know what he was doing," she murmured.