Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

97

My whole body was shaking. Not from the cold, but from fear. It's been a few weeks since...Alpha did what she did. I sent the kids home after that. I had to stay with the Kingdom, help them get to Hilltop, then go to Alexandria. "Daryl." I spoke softly as I approached, arms crossed in an attempt to keep out the cold.

"What's wrong?" He asked, noticing the look on my face.

I scoffed. "What isn't wrong right now?" I bit the inside of my lip. Tell him.

He nodded. "I know. Things probably couldn't be worse right now. We can handle it." I sighed, wrapping my around around myself. Tell him. "You cold?" He asked, rubbing my arms. Tell him. No, not now. There's too much going on. I nodded. "C'mere." He mumbled, hugging me tight to his chest. I melted into him, feeling the tension leave my body. He's right. We can handle this.

~*~

When we left the Kingdom, I couldn't help but feel sad about it. It wasn't my home, but it was a beautiful place and didn't deserve it's fate. Ezekiel closed the gates and I feared that would be the last time we were there.

We walked down the road, horses pulling the carriages carrying supplies and children. We were all bundled up and wearing as many layers as possible. I kept a hand on my machete and used a walking stick in the other. I jumped when one of the horses whinnied. We looked to the field beside us and saw a few walkers moving slowly. Or were they skins? If they are, how many more are lurking in the woods? Stop. Worrying gets you nowhere. People started whispering, speculating if it was them. "Is that them?" Alden asked. "Your people are watching us now, huh?" He was directing his questions at Lydia. She just looked at him. "Well, we followed their rules. Haven't they done enough to us?"

"Hey." Daryl spoke beside me. "Why don't you lay off." It wasn't a question or a suggestion. Alden glared at Lydia. She looked away, slowing down to walk beside Daryl.

"You don't have to protect me. I know how they feel about me."

"No. Don't mean they get to talk to you like that."

"I just don't wanna cause any more problems."

Daryl scoffed lightly. "It's their problem, not yours."

We continued walking in silence for a few miles. I looked at Carol up ahead, I could tell she was looking at Lydia every few minutes. "Go talk to her." I nudged Daryl ahead. He nodded and picked up his pace, falling into step beside her.

I jogged to catch up with Lydia. I smiled softly at her. "You have a place with us, if you want. You'll have to ride the couch until we get you a bed, but..." I trailed off.

The corner of her mouth tipped up just slightly. "Thank you." She paused. "You don't...have to like me just because Daryl feels some...obligation towards me."

I shook my head. "I like you Lydia. You should break the habit of thinking otherwise."

I looked at the ground as we passed over footprints, a lot of them. The herd can't have passed by long ago. This snow is fresh. The horses started to whinny again and I heard growls. Shit. I fell back some, eyeing the walkers by the edge of the forest. They almost blended in with the tree line, just as covered in snow as our surroundings. They were slow, much slower than usual. Daryl shot one and Carol shot the other. Daryl went to collect the arrows and Ezekiel followed him. I placed a hand over my stomach.

~*~

We stopped a bit further up the road as the weather got worse. The wind picked up and it started snowing harder. "Weathers already kicking in. Even if we hauled ass overnight, we'd never make it." Jerry spoke.

"We need to get off the roads, find shelter between here and the next waystation." Aaron added.

"You have a place in mind?"

I looked at Michonne and instantly knew the idea she had in her head. We weren't far. "Yeah." Was all she said.

~*~

We rushed inside, weapons raised and ready for anything. It was empty. "People actually lived here?" Magna asked, shocked.

Michonne breathed deeply. "Welcome to the sanctuary."

~*~

I settled in by one of the fires and hunched up, trying to calm my stomach. The smell of the wood fire and cooking food made me more nauseous than any rotting corpse ever had. I looked around and saw Daryl talking to Carol. I know she needs him after what happened, but I couldn't help the jealously that rose in my gut. I needed him too.

I guess it's my fault, considering I haven't told him yet. Someone walked by with a steaming bowl of soup and that was it. I grabbed a bucket nearby and spilled my guts into it. I whined my mouth and groaned. Suddenly, Daryl was crouching in front of me.

"You okay?" He asked.

I scoffed. "Define okay."

He felt my forehead and shrugged. "You don't have a fever."

I set the bucket down and gave him a look. His lips parted slightly. "Nah, no way. We were-"

"The pullout method doesn't always work Daryl. It's not foolproof."

"He grabbed my hands. "Any other time...you know I would be thrilled. Right now? With everything going on? Shit, Charlie..."

I shook my head. "Hey, you're as much to blame as I am." I paused. "If....if you want I could ask Siddiq about...." I trailed off, not wanting to say it.

Daryl's eyes went wide. "Christ Charlie, no, no way. I can tell you don't want to. Neither do I. It'll be fine. This baby will be fine."