Lone Survivors

We were sitting around a fire on the side of the road, and I was wrapped up in a blanket. Daryl’s arm was still around my shoulders. He hadn’t let go of me since I was told about Andrea. Part of me was still refusing to believe it. She was such a tough woman; she just had to still be alive! But she had been seen going down, and those monsters were stronger than they appeared sometimes, so my hopes weren’t that high. Even if Andrea had made it, what were the chances that I’d see her again anyway? Pretty low. I told Daryl I needed to go to the bathroom and then stood. He offered his protection in the form of the excuse that he too needed to go, so he grabbed his pistol and followed me away from the group. We didn’t stray far, but we were out of earshot from the others.

“We need to talk about what happened when we were leaving the farm,” Daryl said quietly as I pulled the blanket back around me, both of us having finished. What happened at the… Oh. I had kissed him. “I know you’re still mourning and are probably a bit in shock about everythin’, but I don’t wanna do anything that’ll make you uncomfortable, if I interpreted it wrong.”

“I… I don’t know what to say…” I admitted, not meeting his eyes. I just stared at the campsite, seeing people were lying down and probably trying to get some sleep. “I really didn’t think I was going to see you again, so I said goodbye…” Daryl was quiet for a moment. I wanted to talk, but I really didn’t know what to say. If I said I liked him a lot, he could freak out and keep his distance. But if I told him it was nothing, then nothing would happen. I wanted something positive to happen.

“Did it mean something, though?” he whispered. I looked up, seeing a very serious expression. My mind was conflicted with what to say.

“Did it to you?”

“It’s mainly why I came back for you,” Daryl said. I couldn’t hold back my smile. “But I’m done repayin’ you now. We’ve saved each other’s lives once, so that’s it. No more free stuff, and that goes both ways.”

“Okay,” I nodded. That was fair enough. His gaze was strong, so I shifted my eyes away. I didn’t know what to say anymore.

“Would you be okay with me staying next to you tonight? I can protect ya, and help keep ya warm,” he suggested with a casual shrug. I raised my eyebrows at him.

“What? I thought you just said you were done with all that free protection,” I countered.

“That was for repayment. This is because I care about you,” Daryl explained with a small grin. “You’ve had a tough time. I’m here for you.” My head fell as I smiled, feeling so glad that he was saying what he was saying, but also being reminded of the horrors that had recently happened. Comforting arms enclosed me for a while before leading me back to the campsite. Daryl cleared a space for us to lie down in and I got myself comfortable as he talked to Rick, saying he’d take a shift during the night. He then came back and covered us with some blankets, holding me close in a friendly embrace.