Work Text:
The sun seemed to be setting earlier and earlier as the days went on, the wind cooling quickly as the sun began to fall behind the trees lining the farm. In any other circumstances I probably would have loved spending my days out here, but with more and more walkers finding their way through the holes in the fences I didn't get much time to enjoy the scenery.
I shuffled the rifle in my arms, letting it rest in the crook of my arm as I fought back the remaining glares from the sun, trying to keep my eyes on the distant reaches of the field while i still could.
“You can come on down!” Dales voice echoed from inside the camper, with the sun finally breathing its last for the day it was time to rotate watch, he would take over for a while leaving me to rejoin the others just in time for supper. I stepped away from our makeshift post and made my way over to the ladder, dale watched from below, reaching to take the gun from me so i could step town onto solid ground once more.
Dust curled around my boots as i landed, dale grabbing my elbow to steady me as i rubbed the remaining glare out of my eyes. “Foods ready, go ahead and get something to eat, I’ll take over out here” he smiled and moved around me to the ladder.
“Thank you dale, be safe up there” i nodded, watching as he moved up the ladder and took his post where i stood moments ago. I waved and began to make my way towards the center of camp where everyone sat around the fire, soup already beginning to be passed around as the smell began to overtake the air as i moved closer. I noticed Daryl first, he sat facing away from the group, off near one of the few trees in camp. He seemed to be fiddling with his knife and what i assumed would soon become yet another arrow for his collection. I stopped close, watching as he moved the knife so carefully, taking off sliver after sliver off the already stripped branch. I could spend hours watching him carve away, he treated it like a ritual, acting as if each piece of wood was a sacred object deserving of the utmost care. Given how many times him and his arrows had saved us already i am more than willing to treat them as such. I hadn’t been with the group long, joining only a few days before rick but the group was a bit more hesitant on accepting me. I wasn’t with a family like the others, i was just one woman, but i stayed anyways. I had liked Daryl when we were first introduced, he wasn’t one for talking to much else than his brother but i would still say hi when i could. I thought back to just how fond of me his brother was in the beginning, choosing to always try and woo me when he could but i always ignored him, sticking close to the other women to try and deter him-
“You going to stare all night?” He had stopped carving, lowering his knife slowly to look up at me where i stood. The pile of wood shavings being blown away by the light breeze as i blinked away the memories.
“Oh- no, sorry. I was just going to ask if you were going to join the others by the fire tonight?” I nodded towards the group who was quietly chatting behind him.
“Nah” he shook his head, taking up the knife again “go ahead, i got work to do, ain’t need to listen to y’all chatting all night” he grumbled.
“Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow then” i smiled before stepping away to let him continue. Listening to the slice of his knife against the wood for as long as i could before being overtaken by the sounds of the group.
“Well look who finally decided to join us” Lori smiled as she passed me a small bowl of soup “i saved you some, hopefully it ain’t too cold by now” i took the can into my hands before moving closer to the fire. I watched the bright orange flames of the fire lick the air in all different shades while eating my food, it wasn’t much just a basic broth made with some scraps we still had as well as some chicken Hershel was nice enough to spare.
Eventually everyone had finished eating, the guys had split off to finish their respective duties for the night while the rest of us sat watching the fire and chatting. I fidgeted with my spoon, rolling it over in my fingers while i continued to watch the yellow flamed tried to sustain themselves on the last of our firewood for the night.
“What about you Y/N?” Carol spoke from behind me, snapping me out of my dazed staring.
“What about what?” I turn to look at her, the rest chucking slightly at my being absent.
“Anything mundane you miss from before? Nothing fancy, the simple things” she held her hand out, taking the spoon from my hands before adding it to the small pile of bowls beside her.
“I hadn’t thought about it.” I caught her smile before i turned back to the fire. “Honestly? I miss my tea, had this routine when the weather would begin to cool down where every night i would make a cup and go sit out on my front porch watching the sunset until the cold got too much and i went back in for the night.” I sighed into the fire “it sounds dumb now i guess, too much going on to just sit down and watch the sky”
I stepped up, brushing the dirt from my pants before turning away from the dwindling embers.
“I don’t think it’s dumb.” Carol touched my hand as i faced them “maybe someday we can all join in” she smiled up at me.
“Maybe with something a tad stronger than tea though” Andrea added from her spot.
I laughed along with the others before scanning the border of the camp, heart aching as i noticed Daryl gone from the tree he once occupied.
“Goodnight guys.” I waved as i stepped into the now cold night, wind pushing my hair back as i moved towards the bundle of tents, my cot bringing comforting darkness as i closed the flaps of my tent behind me. It was a good day.
The morning drenched my thin tent in blinding light as i fought to hang onto sleep for as long as i could, this mornings birds barely beginning to sing their song as i finally threw off my blanket deciding to just get on with my day. The morning was brisk, the dew clinging to everything outside my canvas walls. I could hear the others beginning to stir as i moved out into the world once more, grumbles of those even less happy than me being woken by the blinding morning sun. I made my way through the camp, back to the fragile embers of last nights campfire. Stirring the ashes and moving new wood into the pile to reawaken the flames i was startled by movement behind me.
“Morning” someone spoke as i turned to see who else was actually up this early and not still tossing and turning in bed. Daryl dragged his hand through his short hair, before kicking an extra piece of wood off the pile and into the beginnings of my new fire. He squatted new to me, taking the branch from my hand before carefully moving the wood around again to get the fire going.
“Morning” i grinned, moving to fully sit on the ground beside him. Warming my hands on the slowly growing fire in front of me i watched as he expertly organized my mess of fire in a way which the flames were now greedily lapping at the wood before it.
There wasn’t much to our relationship, if you could even call it that, it was more like an unspoken thing in my opinion. I liked being around him, he was safe, even with his whole lone wolf persona he tried throwing around we all sort of knew he was a softer man than he would ever admit. I liked telling myself he liked being around me too, he wasn’t obvious about it but on the few nights he would join the group for supper he would always end up near me and my side of the fire. Even carol had tried pointing it out jokingly on day, saying that it was funny how we always ended up being near one another. Until then i had never noticed, it just seemed natural to me.
We sat silently, him still poking at the fire every few minutes as others began to slowly exit their tents and begin their duties for the day, the first of which being our appointed camp leader Rick exiting his tent and making a beeline for Hershels house as he normally would. Shortly he would come out and we would all find out what new thing we would be doing today.
I watched as Carol exited her tent, yawning before noticing me sitting by the fire and smirking as she looked between me and Daryl who was oblivious (or acting oblivious) to the entire thing. I could feel my face warm as i turned back and stared into the flames, scared of drawing attention to my embarrassment.
“You ok?” The man spoke beside me, watching as i tried to avoid eye contact only to be saved by the bell (aka Rick storming out of Hershel’s house like a man on a mission)
He strode directly to the fire “Daryl, i need to see you for a minute.” He tilted his head away before walking away, likely expecting the man to follow.
As Daryl set the branch down and stepped away to follow Rick the others finally began to join me around the fire, warming themselves up as they wiped the sleep from their eyes. i could see carol out of the corner of my eye, watching me as i turned to watch Daryl disappear into the line of vehicles where rick regularly laid out his plans with the other guys.
I didnt see much of him or the other guys for the rest of the day, spending most of my time working away at our never ending list of daily chores before taking my place back on watch duty like the day before. Today the sun wasn’t retreating quite as quickly, allowing me to keep a better view of everything without having to strain my eyes. I allowed myself to sit for a minute, crossing my legs on the cold metal roof before setting my usual rifle next to me.
I feel the vehicle shift as someone makes their way up the short ladder to join me, carols head peeking up over the white painted edge as i held out a hand to help her up. I scooted over, letting her join me in sitting on the roof as i took up the binoculars and began to scan the fence line again.
“I brought some water, figured you had been up here a while.” She passed me a bottle before taking her seat behind me, i handed her the binoculars, trading for the bottle as i leaned back slightly.
“Thank you carol, it’s been uneventful so far.” I brushed my hair back, setting the bottle down as i looked back out, the sun finally beginning to sink into the horizon.
After sitting in silence for a while i heard the familiar sound of Daryls bike cruising down the dirt road followed by rick and Shane, i watched as they all drove past taking their vehicles back to their normal stopping points for the night.
“So… you and Daryl huh?” She said so casually, leaning back and passing me back the binoculars.
“I- um- yeah no. There is nothing going on!” I shoved her lightly as i covered my face with the goggles.
“Uh huh, sure.” She laughed, shuffling over to the edge of the trailer “keep telling yourself that” i could hear her smug smile before i even had a chance to look over. She climbed down off the trailer, i scoffed watching her walk away to join the group once more.
I shook my head, brushing off the warmth i felt rising hopefully before it made its way to the surface. ‘Me and Daryl? No… right? No…’ i shook my head again, standing to bring my attention back to what i was supposed to be doing. ‘He would never…’ i sighed.
My watch continued for a while longer before i heard the knocking on the side of the camper once more. “One second! I finished my look over the darkening field before stepping to look over the side of the trailer. Daryl stood by the ladder watching as i moved to look down, tilting his head slightly as i jumped slightly. “Oh! Daryl, I wasn’t expecting you!” I exhaled “what’s up?” He grabbed the ladder to climb up so i moved off to the side, trying not to block his way up as i turned my attention back to the field. I brushed the goosebumps off my arms and took a seat on the edge of the trailer, the field looking as empty as ever.
He came up behind me, standing over me and looking out into the woods.
“I found something while i was out today, figured… well…” he coughed avoiding looking down at me.
“Come on, sit down.” I pat the side next to me, i took one last look around before setting the goggles down to watch Daryl move around the roof. He eventually sat down next to me before reaching into his vest, grabbing at something.
He pulled it out, a small, slightly crumpled box no bigger than his hand. The paper worn down from likely time as well as being in his pocket for however long. He passed it to me, grazing his hand over mine slightly before looking back out to the woods.
“What’s this?” I turned the box over, trying to decipher the contents before opening. Inside lay a few unopened tea packets of all things, no special brand, not even a type i would have bought before everything, but tea. “How did you-“
“Heard you talking the other night, saw em and thought of you.” He watched i turned the packets over, listening as the leaves shuffled inside before i folded the box shut again and tucked it into my jacket.
I smiled, closing my eyes to try and hide the tears creeping up. “You thought of me?…” i whispered as i tugged my jacket shut again. Either he didnt hear it or didnt want to comment.
“I- thank you Daryl, that means a lot.” I turn to face him, blinking away the few rogue tears still trying to fight their way out. He watched, still mostly stoic per usual but he didnt turn away when i finally faced him. “No one would have put that kind of effort in, especially for me of all people” i motioned to the group already beginning to gather around the fire for the night. Lori and Andrea toiling away on dinner while the others helped where they could.
“Watcha mean by that?” He kept watching me, even as i looked past him to the group.
“They all have someone looking out for them, someone that matters to them” i grimaced turning to look out to the sky again. “I am just the random woman who wouldn’t leave.”
“You have me.” His gaze still burned into me as i fought to not cry, that task seeming harder and harder before a tear finally broke the dam. It wasn’t much, just a few small tears, my need to cry having long dried up during my long nights mourning those i had already lost, but it was enough for him to notice and put his hand on mine. A small gesture, but grand in terms of the emotions Dixon allowed himself to show this close to the group.
I wiped the tears onto my sleeve before tilting my head to look at him “yeah, i do have you” i whispered.
I leaned towards him, closing my eyes as i allowed my lips to brush his, savoring the moment before pulling back. Fear began to creep in when i got no response, i peeked my eyes open, fearing anger from the man before he rushed forward capturing my lips again. I smiled, leaving in as new tears began to sprout, i lifted my hand, cupping his cheek as he moved to press his head to mine.
“You have me”
Bonus:
Carol stood off to the side of the fire, watching the shadows as we sat on top of the camper.
“Should we interrupt them?” Dale spoke out from beside her “they aren’t keeping watch very well right now.” He laughed.
“Nope.” She smiled “leave them be for now”
‘I told you so’ she whispered to herself before turning back to rejoin the group.