Show, Don't Tell

The silence that had fallen over the entire farm was heavy with grief and just about any other melancholy descriptor that could be thought of. Elena might not have known the little girl or any of the Greene family members, but she was unable to escape from the blanketed atmosphere. She considered helping clean up the mess of walkers to try to get her mind off of things…but she couldn’t quite bring her legs to move just yet. She lifted her pistol and mechanically checked the number of bullets she had left. She found the clip empty, which shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but she exhaled slowly and slipped the barrel of the weapon through the belt loops of her jeans. Her gaze fell to the grass at her feet, her expression blank as she steadily worked over everything that had just happened.

She was jerked from her thoughts by Beth’s scream, but before she could move to help, the walker that had been her mother was permanently taken care of and the young blonde was ushered back into the house. Elena suddenly felt useless and disconnected; out of place amongst the grieving people around her. She had no emotional connection to those lost, so other than sharing sympathy, she had no reason to mourn with them.

Lori appeared at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We’re just about ready to bury Sophia…would you go tell Carol?”

Elena nodded slowly, her voice quiet when she answered. “Yeah, I’ll let her know. She headed for the RV, right?”

The brunette nodded before squeezing Elena’s shoulder and walking back towards the rest of the group. The doctor turned and headed towards the RV without a glance behind her. She hesitated at the door, taking a moment to breathe in and make sure she was ready to face the anguished mother. Old habits of bad news delivery. She pulled the door open and stepped inside. She immediately and momentarily made eye contact with Daryl who was leaning against the counter. She quickly diverted her gaze to Carol who was sat at the table. Her sobs had quieted, but the occasional tear still slipped down her cheek.

“Carol…” she began, making sure her tone was as soft – as delicate – as possible. The older woman didn’t move. “Everything’s ready for the burial if you’d like to come out.”

She flinched, her gaze hardening for a moment before her eyes shut tightly and she shook her head. “I’m not going.” Elena’s brows rose in surprise before immediately furrowing. She opened her mouth to protest, but Carol finally met her gaze. “That thing is not my daughter…my daughter died a long time ago.” The conviction in her eyes made Elena hesitate. She opened her mouth to protest but then let it close again, her lips pursing. It didn’t seem right…she understood it to some level, but a funeral was still another level of closure that most needed…

“’Lena.”

She turned to find Daryl stood by the door and he jerked his chin towards it. She exhaled slowly, glanced back at Carol but ultimately nodded and followed him out of the RV. They walked in silence for a while until Daryl glanced back down at her, her eyes unfocused upon the group they were approaching. He wasn’t really thinking; wasn’t really sure why he did it, but his hand fell to her shoulder and stopped them both before she turned to face him. His blue eyes searched her amber ones for a moment, the corners of his lips pulled down into a frown. Ever since this stubborn, sarcastic woman had broken down in front of him, he found himself overly conscious of her behavior. He told himself it was because she went out of her way to care about him, and he felt obligated to return the favor…but he was starting to question that excuse.

“Ya alright?”

Her head tilted just slightly, curious at the unusual gesture. She was about to give a mechanical, expected answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it…at least not with the way he was studying her. It would have been like lying to him, and that thought bothered her more than she would like to admit. It was likely he was astute enough not to buy it, anyway.

She shrugged. “I’ll be fine.” He seemed unimpressed by her answer and she forced a small, empty smile. “I will be, honestly…” she trailed off before they both felt the dynamic shift slightly. “Are you alright?” she murmured, the sincerity in her tone and eyes disarming him. The lines on his forehead deepened and he abruptly released her and turned away.

“Fuckin’ peachy.”

She felt oddly cold as she was bereft of the hand on her shoulder and took a moment to catch up to him. “It’s not your fault, you know…” she spoke quietly after a moment.

Neither of them spoke again before joining the rest.

Following the funeral, everyone took some time to themselves to work out whatever it was they needed to work out. Hershel had disappeared and Beth had gone into a near catatonic state of shock. It seemed the too-good-to-be-true peace of the farm had finally fallen apart. Rick and Glenn had taken it upon themselves to track Hershel down, which then made Lori a pacing, nervous wreck. Elena found herself walking the perimeter of the farm as the sun began to set, her hair loose as she tried not to dwell too much on any one thing. She couldn’t help but wonder, however, if it was time for her to move on. The tension amongst the group members was high, and she wasn’t sure if she was willing to deal with the drama that would likely follow, anymore. She ran a hand through her hair before completely tousling it in exasperation. She heard the angry footsteps of Lori before she saw her and stared in confusion as the woman stomped off. Her eyes scanned the way the other woman had come and noticed that it was an area Daryl had hung around before. Curiosity – and perhaps concern - getting the best of her, she made her way through the trees to find the man in question whittling at a branch that appeared to be taking the form of a bolt.

His eyes lifted to hers, and it was at that point that she realized that Daryl Dixon was in a particularly foul mood. He scoffed and didn’t stop his movement. “What can I do for ya, Doc? I’m everyone else’s fuckin’ errand boy, so what the hell do ya want?” The sheer sarcastic bite to his tone made her brows rise and she crossed her arms over her chest, unamused.

“The fuck crawled up your ass?” she snapped, the heavy, negative atmosphere of the day finally getting to her as well. He was likely to be the straw that broke the camel’s back if he kept that up...and it seemed that he would as his eyes narrowed into a glare and he finally stopped what he was doing.

“What crawled up my ass?” The repeat of her question was followed by him rising to his feet and dropping the contents of his hands. Despite how intimidating it was to stare him down at his full, angry height, she didn’t move. “Ya wanna know what ‘crawled up my ass’? Everything!” he spat sharply, stalking closer. “Everyone thinks I’m this god damned group’s errand boy or some shit and I’m fuckin’ done! The fuckin’ liars can do their own damn dirty work! I ain’t doin’ it anymore!” His tone was steadily approaching a yell the more he spoke, the distance between them shrinking at the same time.

Elena planted her feet shoulder width apart and dropped her hands, combating his glare with a fiery one of her own as her fists clenched. “I haven’t asked you to do shit, Dixon, so don’t take your shit out on me!” she growled right back. She stumbled back a step when he got close enough that his chest bumped into hers and got in her face.

“Then why the fuck’re ya here, huh?” he seethed and her jaw clenched.

“I just came to fucking check on your grumpy ass!”

“No one asked ya to so get the hell out! Don’t need nobody to ‘check up on me’!”

Without missing a beat she furiously shoved his chest, only managing to knock him back a step because it was unanticipated. “Will you stop with the ‘Ain’t need nobody’ bullshit?! EVERYONE needs SOMEONE! So whether your fucking mopey ass is pissing me off our not, I’m going to keep checking up on you so deal with it!” Her tone was rising as their tempers continued to clash.

“WHY? What’s the fuckin’ point, huh? Ain’t doin shit-!”

“BECAUSE I FUCKING CARE, SO SHUT THE FUCK UP!” she cut him off, full-on yelling at that point and her breathing heavy. “You saved my fucking life, you almost died looking for a little girl you claim wasn’t your responsibility, and you worry about this entire group more than you let on! So yeah, I fucking care about your stubborn ass! SO SUE ME FOR IT!” Her explosion had them both silent for a time, just staring at each other and sizing each other up. She found herself calming down just enough in the pause to begin to feel awkward and spoke again, her tone much more quiet. “None of this is your fault, Daryl. You did everything you could and more. You almost died. Shit happens…”

Again, there was silence as their breathing began to settle and they just stared at each other as seemed to happen so often. Her nostrils still flared as she exhaled and her pupils were dilated, her temper was slowly starting to fizzle out…

Just as quickly as their argument had escalated, her head spun in an attempt to gain her bearings when her back hit the trunk of the tree behind her. Before she could even register that she was pinned between it and Daryl, his lips had aggressively taken possession of hers. The air had rushed from her lungs when her back hit the tree but the shock of his warm lips made her oblivious to it. To put it simply, she didn’t care that the bark of the tree was digging into her back through her shirt or that she had just been yelling at him. The moment she had regained any sense of herself, she reacted positively against him. His hands moved from her shoulders to her hips and gripped, his callused thumb brushing gently against the sensitive skin of her abdomen and eliciting a throaty gasp that gave him ample time to plunder her mouth completely.

Neither was certain how long they were there before they parted. Her chest heaved between them, her lips bruised and swollen and her eyes glazed over in a dazed, confused and hazy film. His grip hadn’t changed, although her squirming against him had pulled her shirt somewhat out of his grasp and gave him further access to bare skin that burned and tingled with the contact. Their eyes met again, the silence between them not quite awkward, but definitely more than just a comfortable pause. It was a…different weight. They were each trying to gauge the other’s reaction and reasons: Why had he initiated it in the first place? And why hadn’t she pushed him away?

His hands finally fell back to his sides, although the distance between remained slight. He was caught in those eyes again; those amber irises filled with light and, at that point, confusion and perhaps a little lust, although he couldn’t be completely sure. Then again, his own blues weren’t much more telling. She wanted to speak, but couldn’t find the words to say…not like that had ever stopped her before.

“So…still think I came here to ask a favor…?” she murmured, her voice much quieter – huskier - than she’d expected it to be. She could think of a few favors he could do for her…

He quirked a brow at her, a mischievous smirk that matched hers tugging the corners of his lips upward. “Dunno. What do ya think?”

She scowled and exhaled sharply through her nose, attempting to ignore the warm ache that pooled in her abdomen. “Fuckin’ men…and they say women can’t give straight answers…” she grumbled, to which he snorted and pressed his chest to hers. Her breath started to hitch again and her knees weakened while her chin tilted up in anticipation for what she hoped would follow.

“No…though ‘m thinkin’ ya want one now…” he growled lowly, the rugged gravel in his tone nearly making her collapse right then. She coyly bit her bottom lip and let her gaze drop to his lips, hoping not to let him see what an affect he had on her and keep some semblance of control over the situation. He was much-too pleased with himself as it was. Her arms snaked around his shoulders, coaxing him closer.

“I don’t know if I would call it a favor per say…” she breathed, her lips brushing against his as she spoke. “I’m thinking we would both make out pretty well…”

She could feel the muscles in his back and shoulders flex as his arms encompassed her waist. Before he could do more, though, there was a voice.

“Daryl? You back here somewhere?”

He was suddenly gone and Elena almost slipped down to the ground with the absence of support. Her senses were swimming until she heard Dale’s voice once more.

“Ah, there you are! Have you seen Elena or Lori? We haven’t seen either of them for a while…”

Daryl didn’t even get a chance to speak before Elena had recovered herself and stepped away from the tree and over to join them, concern flashing through her eyes and replacing the prior emotions. “Lori’s not back at camp? I saw her head back that way a while ago…” Dale had been momentarily confused and curious by the discovery of the pair that had apparently been hanging around together in the near dark, but Elena’s words brushed those thoughts immediately to the side. Her attention was back on Daryl. “What did she talk to you about?”

The hunter crossed his arms over his chest uncomfortably and scoffed. “Wanted me to go ‘n get Rick. Told her to find ‘im, herself.”

Dale’s and Elena’s eyes widened, the latter rubbing her forehead. “You don’t think she’s stupid enough to…?”

“We need to let the others know!”

Elena nodded to Dale and moved to follow the older male back to camp before she realized Daryl wasn’t joining them. She glanced back at him and made eye contact, much of the feelings from their moment prior returning. She hesitated. “You coming? We could probably use your help…”

He snorted. “Don’t wanna deal with the rest of ‘em,” he grumbled and she simply sighed and nodded. Like hell she was okay with him distancing himself from the rest of the group like that – especially at a time like this – but she couldn’t very well force him to do much of anything…and so she just caught up with Dale and joined the rest of the panicking group.