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You were at the prison’s room that was used for council meetings and also where plans for runs were made, talked and review, generally by Maggie and Glenn, who were in charge of that, overseen by Rick.
You were in the middle of one of those sessions, you were going out tomorrow with a small group, and Rick had been talking for a while. You glanced at Maggie and Glenn and snorted, they were practically cuddling right there in the middle of the meeting. They were tooth-rotting sweet together, always, and you took great pleasure in teasing them about it. What were friends for, right? You might also feel some well-meaning envy when you saw them being so happy and cute, having found each other in the middle of the apocalypse…
“Guys…focus!” You called them out, smiling like a mischievous cat.
“We’re focused!” Glenn yelped, knocking his chair as he pulled away from Maggie, who just rolled her eyes at you, used to you being a kind of pestering best friend.
“Sure you are…you’re not gazing dreamingly at each other, getting lost into each other’s eyes…” You let out an exaggerated sigh. “I can even see you getting handsy under the table…right, Daryl, you saw them too?”
Daryl didn’t say anything, rolling his eyes at you, but you caught his smirk.
“Guys, come on, this is important,” Rick told you all, but he was smirking too. “Let’s review it once more.”
*
The run was a disaster.
Nobody got bitten, nobody died, but you didn’t find anything. The place, a small supermarket, had been emptied, and your small group had faced accident after accident on the way in, including an ugly cut on your hand while you tried to held a crystal window that had been barely hanging and had given up at that moment, stopping it from falling on Daryl…sure, not your smartest idea, to put your hand on the way and stop a falling, crystal plank with it, but you had acted out of instinct. Somehow, Maggie had also hurt her wrist, the wind had closed a door on Glenn’s face, and while riding, Daryl’s bike had slid down over something spilled on the ground at the entrance of the parking, making him fall…might have been spilled oil, might have been guts and blood, you didn’t care to check.
You were leaning against the side of the car, bandaging your hand…everyone looked annoyed and defeated, and you didn’t like that look on your friends.
“See, guys…this is what happens when you cuddle while making plans…you get distracted, so plans are a disaster and everything goes wrong,” you joked.
“Yeah, sure it’s that,” Maggie snorted.
“The plan was good,” Glenn said, sounding defensive, which made you smile. “We just were…incredibly unlucky.”
“Should be used to it,” Daryl muttered, scratching the rash that he had on his arm from when he fell from the bike.
“Yeah…but we’re alive, in one piece, unbitten, ready to go back to cuddling,” you said, trying to lighten the mood. “Just…not on working hours. Come on guys, let’s go back home, I need Hershel to check this cut before I catch an infection or something…”
*
Back at the prison, Hershel cleaned and bandaged your cute properly, and gave you medicine so it wouldn’t infect, advising you to be strict with it, since he didn’t like how the wound was looking.
Maggie and Glenn seemed to still be feeling down at how the run had gone, and you got an idea.
Taking a piece of paper from one of baby Judith’s notebooks, and one of the markers, you wrote in big letters “No cuddles allowed here. This is a run-planning area,” and duct-taped your handmade sign on the door of the room.
You hoped it might make Maggie and Glenn smile at your antics when they saw it, or at least stop being upset about the run and instead focus on giving you shit for being so annoying.
“What ya doin’?” Daryl said when he saw you and he approached the door to read your sign, scoffing and rolling his eyes at it, but he was smirking too.
“They’re gonna throw it to yer head,” he said but you just shrugged, smiling. “It’s yer hand okay?”
“Yes, it doesn’t hurt.” You moved it and winced. “Well, it does…but I’ll live.”
“Yer an idiot…stopping a crystal plank with yer hand,” Daryl said, taking your hand to inspect the bandage, making you feel things in your belly because you might or might not have a crush on Daryl since before you all even found the prison, but you tried to keep it cool.
“If I hadn’t, you’d have stopped it with your head, so…” You retorted.
“Yeah, I know,” Daryl said, letting go of your hand. “Thank ya…sorry ya hurt yer hand.”
“It’ll be good soon enough,” you assured him, and he gave you a small smile, nodding, before walking away. He still looked kind of guilty, though, and so you decided to follow him, stopping at the door of his cell.
“So, Daryl, tell me…are you a big cuddler?” You teased him, and Daryl rolled his eyes at you, looking at you from the bed where he was sitting down.
“Go pester someone else,” he told you and you chuckled.
“Come on…I hurt my hand saving your beautiful, beautiful face,” you joked, but he did have a beautiful, beautiful face. “So, confess to me that you love cuddles.”
“Sure,” Daryl scoffed. “But I ain’t doin’ a crusade against them like ya.” He smirked and you were glad he was joking along with you.
“No cuddles allowed while planning runs,” you listed as if it were a rule, “it’s not a crusade against cuddles but a work safety measurement.”
“Sure…” Daryl’s smirk grew as he looked at you, making you feel things in your belly again.
“Actually…I love cuddles,” you admitted, shrugging, and Daryl snorted. “What? It’s true,” you said, defensive.
“Closest thing I’ve seen ya to cuddlin’ is holdin’ Judith,” Daryl said. “If I’ve seen ya touchin’ anyone else, it was to punch them.”
You were about to be very offended, but you saw the look in his eyes and realized that he was joking.
“Oh, talking like you’re mister teddy bear cuddling and hugging everyone,” you retorted. “And for your information, I cuddle with Maggie a lot…we just keep it down and quiet so Glenn doesn’t get weird about it,” you joked, smiling when it made Daryl snort again. “But…yeah, I admit it, I’m a big cuddle lover…but I can’t show it or I’ll look soft and not like the badass I pretend to be,” you half-joked. “Just like you.”
“What?”
“You go around like…look at me, I’m Daryl Dixon,” you gestured around, scowling like Daryl used to do. “I’m grumpy, I’m badass, I do not cuddle.” Daryl scoffed at you, but you kept going, turning and gesturing around. “I’m dark, handsome, and mysterious, and…ouch!” A pillow hit you and you realized that Daryl had thrown it from his bed.
“Stop it!”
“Okay…okay…” You chuckled. “But…yeah, I’m pretty sure you are a big cuddler…yes, I know it, you love cuddles.”
“Yeah, sure…” Daryl scoffed, shaking his head at you and rolling his eyes but…was he actually blushing? “Go bother Glenn instead.”
“I think I will…I’m going to see if he and Maggie saw my informative sign already…but if you ever want a cuddle, you know where to find me.”
You delivered it as a joke, wouldn’t dare to otherwise…but wouldn’t you like to cuddle that grumpy, badass, dark, handsome, and mysterious man…you hadn’t been kidding, you were sure he’d be a big cuddler and love it, if given the chance…how you wish you’d be given that chance…
You cleared your throat, trying to stop those thoughts, and walked away, before you could get flustered at those images in your head, or sad at how it was just daydreams and not reality.
*
For a couple of days, you followed Hershel’s instructions regarding the cut on your hand, using the medicine on the schedule that he’d told you. Hershel had said that you should keep that up for a week, but after two days, you thought your cut was healing well enough and decided to stop wasting medicine on it, since probably someone would need it in the future too, and it’d be hard to find once it ran out.
The cut looked good enough to your eyes, you’d make sure to keep it clean and properly bandaged, and you were sure that would be enough.
It wasn’t enough, though, you learned that soon, when you woke up the next day feeling the cut hurting and burning in a way that it hadn’t before. You hadn’t told anyone that you had stopped taking the medicine, and you didn’t want them worrying or scolding you, it was just a cut on your hand…but didn’t it burn like hell at that moment. Keeping it quiet, you washed it carefully with water, and rebandaged it, hoping that it’d get better.
It just got worse, the cut was swollen and looking bad, your hand hurt even without moving it, and you were starting to feel bad too, almost as if you were sick. You knew you had to admit that you’d messed up, that you had been an idiot and your cut got infected…but Hershel was going to be so disappointed in you, he’d clearly instructed you what to do and advised you what could go wrong if you didn’t…and probably everyone was going to think that you were an idiot…
“Ya okay?” Daryl’s voice asked you, taking you by surprise, and when you nodded, he didn’t seem to believe you. Somehow, he seemed to know what was wrong, maybe he’d seen the way you moved your hand, and he reached to hold it before you could do anything, removing the bandage. When he saw the state of your wound, he seemed worried as he glanced at you.
“I stopped using the medicine,” you admitted.
“Why?!”
“I thought the cut was okay…I didn’t want to waste all that medicine, it’s not easy to find…” You said weakly.
You thought Daryl was going to be angry at you, that he was going to scold you, but he just let out a sigh, shaking his head. He reached out and took your good hand, much to your surprise, tugging at you and walking you to find Hershel, explaining to him what had happened.
Hershel did scold you, telling you how it had gotten infected, badly, to the point you were starting to have a fever due to it, and that was why you felt unwell, telling you that he’d already warned you what could happen if you didn’t follow his instructions, that he’d already told you he didn’t like how the cut was looking, that you could have ended up not only losing the hand or the arm but also your life…
You were truly chastised, feeling like an idiot and a burden, almost feeling like crying.
You were still feeling unwell, both due to the fever and the pain in your hand, though Hershel had told you that it’d get better eventually now that you were back to using the medicine, but for now, you felt sick, you had been taken out of the schedule for working that day, and so you decided to just go to bed.
You had been there for a while, lying against the headboard, unable to sleep but feeling unwell and unable to focus on a book or anything else, when you noticed Daryl stopping at the door of your cell.
“How are ya?”
“Feeling like shit…and feeling like an idiot.”
“Yer an idiot,” Daryl agreed, and you looked down, blinking your eyes as you felt like crying again. Daryl walked into the cell, sitting down on your bed and looking at you. “Ya need somethin’?” He asked you, and somehow the softness in his voice made you feel like crying again.
“No…well…there’s something…but you’re not up to it…”
“What?” Daryl frowned, seeming confused.
“I, uh…I told you I love cuddles…wasn't lying…so, uh…I’d really love to be cuddled at this moment…” You didn’t know if it was the fever or how bad you were feeling what made you speak up, or if you were brave by yourself. “Because I’m feeling kind of like shit…”
“Alright…I’ll go get Maggie so ya can cuddle with her,” Daryl said, and when you looked at him, you saw his smirk, he was joking, but his eyes were soft as he looked at you.
Much to your surprise, Daryl shifted on your bed until he was sitting against the headboard too, and even though he seemed shy, then he wrapped his arm around you. For a moment, you didn’t move, taken by surprise, you were afraid that if you even just breathed, you’d scare Daryl away like a wild horse, but soon, you were shifting closer, cuddling to his chest when his arm wrapped more firmly around you.
“Thanks…” You whispered. “Are you sure you’re okay with this? Are you uncomfortable?” You asked, wanting to make sure.
“It’s fine…” He murmured.
“Okay…” You snuggled to him a bit more, closing your eyes with a content sigh…you knew science probably wouldn’t back it, but you could swear that you were feeling better already…and only in your daydreams had you imagined Daryl holding you like that. Even you knew that it was crazy, but you’d be up to cutting your hand again and let it get infected if that meant that Daryl would hold you.
You stayed there curled up with him in silence for a while, until eventually, you spoke.
“So, Daryl…you never told me,” you began, quietly. “Do you love cuddling or not?” Daryl didn’t say anything, and you began to regret it, what if now he didn’t want to hold you anymore and he left.
“Ain’t bad,” Daryl finally muttered. “Don’t hate it.”
“Good to know…” You murmured. “Well…thank you for doing this for me, because I feel better already, somehow.”
Daryl had tensed when you’d asked him about cuddling, but you felt him relaxing again, even though he didn’t say anything. You felt better in his arms, but you were still unwell, and soon, you drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
You woke up a couple of hours later, confused, still cuddled to Daryl…wouldn’t it be nice to wake up like that more often…you knew you had to stop those daydreams, and yet… As you woke up completely, you noticed that Daryl’s fingers were on your hair, playing with it. It surprised you, and it felt so good, that you wanted to freeze time at that moment. His fingers stopped, though, as if he realized that you were awake now.
“Sorry,” you said quietly. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“It’s okay,” Daryl whispered back. “Ya feel better?”
“I, uh…” You were not about to say that you felt better since the moment he held you and that right then you were pretty sure you’d be the happiest person in the world if you two could do this on a regular basis. “Yes, thank you.”
“Okay…I have to go take watch,” he said, and before you knew what you were doing, as if acting out of instinct at his words, you snuggled even closer to Daryl at, your good hand grabbing his shirt, as if you were trying to stop him from leaving. It was embarrassing, and you stopped the moment you caught yourself, but you noticed Daryl’s chucking. “I gotta.”
“I know.” You moved away from him, and Daryl got up from the bed. “Thanks for this…really, I needed it, it meant a lot.” Daryl didn’t say anything, just nodded at you with a soft, small half-smile, turning to walk away. “Daryl,” you called for him, summoning all your courage to go for it. “If you, uh…if you ever feel like maybe you want to do this again…like…you know…well, I’m more than up for it…so…yeah.”
Daryl looked at you in silence, and you weren’t sure if he nodded or not, before he was already leaving your cell.
*
You had thought that Daryl wouldn’t go to cuddle with you again, not matter your words to him, but much to your surprise and delight, he did, and so, sometimes, when any of you two seemed to be feeling down or worried, or after a particularly tiring run, you’d find yourself snuggled up to Daryl.
The first time it had been almost an accident, when you both were sitting down in the watchtower, you had absentmindedly rested your head against this shoulder at one point, his arm had found its way around you then…but after that, there was nothing accidental about whenever you two cuddled together.
It was awkward, the first times, you both hesitant around each other, unsure of how to act, but soon, it became almost like second nature, to hold and be held, warm and comforting, almost routine.
It fed your crush on him, though, and you were pretty sure you had fallen for him, hard, but you were unsure as to how to tell Daryl that, you didn’t know how he’d react, what he’d think, if he just saw your cuddling moment as a way of finding and giving comfort or if he too, would want something more…you didn’t dare to say anything, though, afraid of losing what you had with him if Daryl didn’t think of you that way.
One evening, though, when you were snuggled against his chest, his arms around you and his fingers playing with your hair, you looked up at him at the same time that he looked down at you, and you didn’t know how, the next moment, you both were kissing, soft and hesitant at first, growing more confident once both of you realized that each other felt the same way…
*
You didn’t announce to the whole prison that Daryl and you were a thing now, but you didn’t keep it secret or hide it either, and no matter that Daryl was shy and reserved, you were surprised, and very delighted, to find that he didn’t mind giving you little gestures of affection here and there, sometimes, even when there was someone else around, and just having him looking at you on a certain way, so soft and fond, had you feeling the butterflies.
When you were alone, you were surprised to learn how sweet and caring he could be…not too surprised, though, you had already felt that Daryl was a big cuddler at heart, even before you both started snuggling together…now you knew you were right.
*
One day, you were in the “run-planning room”, reviewing the next run, but you kept getting distracted. Daryl kept giving you side glances, looking at you in that certain way of him, making you feel things and butterflies dance in your belly.
You looked at him too, trying and failing to stop the smile that was tugging at the corner of your lip. You reached out under the table to hold Daryl’s hand, your smile growing when his thumb began to gently caress your knuckles.
“Come on, guys, focus!” Maggie’s voice took you out of your Daryl bubble.
“Yes, this is important! This is a no cuddles allowed zone!” Glenn mocked.
“Yes, there’s a sign at the door and all!” Maggie kept her teasing, they had left the sign there, since people had seemed to find it funny.
“Yeah, yeah, I know…” You grumbled, but you couldn’t help your smile…you deserved this, sure you did…and if it made Maggie and Glenn smile, then it was well worth, despite the embarrassment at being caught being all soft and mushy…even more worthy because, despite looking shy and embarrassed, Daryl too had a small smile on his face.
You looked at him and he gave your hand a squeeze, smiling softly, before you both went back to reviewing plans for the next run with Maggie and Glenn.