Spitfire

"Would you mind bringing this up to Daryl?" Carol caught me on my way in the kitchen, holding a tray of food, she gave me a smile. The conversation we had was still ringing loud and clear in my head. If I didn't know any better, I would think she was trying to set me up with him.

I sighed, taking a hold of the tray, "Sure." He had spent a day and a half in his room, I kind of felt bad. What kind of luck is that? Stabbing yourself with an arrow...twice? I walked up the steps and headed down the hall, it was funny to me that he'd have the room furthest away from everyone. He was definitely a loner and he probably did better that way. I reached his door, knocking on it slightly, I pushed it open. "Hey, brought you something to eat." Setting it down on the nightstand by his bed, I looked around.

The others had thrown all their belongings all around their room, but Daryl? Everything was by the door, I guess being on the run for as long as he had been, you never break old habits. It was neat though, not what I would have expected. Sighing, I looked around the room again, , my eyes falling upon a flower on the dresser, walking over towards it, a smile appearing on my face, "A Cherokee Rose."

"Ya know 'bout those?" He mused.

I nodded, the smile never fading, "Yeah, of course. I had to do a essay about them back in college. How it's supposed to be bring back hope and faith whenever they see them." My finger traced it's beautiful gold center, "I've never seen one in person, just in books and online. It's so much more..." I trailed off, my mind wandering back to the legend. "Where'd you find it?"

"When I was lookin' for Sophia. Found a whole bunch, brought some back to Carol. Figured it'd give her some hope." I heard him stir, looking over my shoulder, he was reaching for the plate of food.

I nodded, setting it back down, "Did it? Did it bring some hope for her?" I've heard bits and pieces of what had happened to Sophia. The group searching day and night for the little girl who was only feets away in a barn full of those monsters. I could only imagine what that must have felt like.

He took a bite of food, shrugging, looking away from me, "I dunno. She seemed to have liked the gesture."

"You and Carol seem close." I stated.

He snorted, "It ain't like that, don't even."

I snorted back, a smile coming to my lips, "I wasn't mentioning it in that way, but okay." I stopped smiling, tilting my head slightly, "Was it true what you said the other day? About the whole trying thing."

He chewed slowly, his eyes scanning over my face, he cleared his throat, "Yeah." Daryl set down his plate, staring at me again, "Merle hated the idea of relationships, that's why he always had whores around. I wasn't like him, had my fair shares of a few one night stands, though. I tried, but like I said, it ain't me. I don't like the cuddlin', the whole romance thing, I ain't romantic."

I smiled, "I didn't peg you for a romantic kind of guy, but giving Carol that flower. That was kind of romantic."

He snorted, "Stop. Carol and I ain't nothin' like that."

"I'm not saying that. I just think-that your not giving yourself enough credit." I pushed off the dresser and headed for the door, stopping at the doorway, "Holler if you need anything." I walked out the door and headed down towards the living room, stopping dead short when I saw two men I've never seen before. "Who the hell are you?" I spat.

Shaun cut in front of me, narrowing his eyes, "Stop, Anabel. This is Luke and Harry." The two men standing before me gave me a bad vibe. Luke had dark eyes that made a very dark contrast against his very pale skin, his mouth was small and thin. Harry seemed a little shy and there was something off about him, judging by the way his hand kept twitching.

I narrowed my eyes towards Shaun, my voice getting thick with venom, "You're fucking kidding me, right? You have got to be the most ignorant and stupid son of a bitch, I know." I pointed towards these men, "What the fuck do you think you're doing bringing in these people?"

He tried to calm me down by putting his hands on my shoulders, yanking him off of me, he sighed in anger, "What the fuck was I supposed to do, Anabel? Leave them out there for those things to eat them? They begged for help, we finally have enough man power to build that fucking wall!"
I turned towards Rick and Glenn who stood off towards the side, "What do you think about this? There's no way in hell, I'm the only one who finds this to be a big problem."

Rick cleared his throat, avoiding my stare, "It isn't our place to say, Anabel. This isn't our home, I'm not the leader."

"Neither is he!" I screamed, I turned sharply towards him, "Just because my brother taught you the fucking ropes about this place, does not give you the right to put our lives in danger."

He laughed angerily, "Fuck off, Anabel. What about them? Hm? You were so against them coming into this home and look at you now! You're all buddy buddy with them."

I pointed at him, "That was different and you know it." I turned to Luke and Harry, "Get the hell out of my house."

Luke squinted his eyes, putting his hands up defense, "Whoa, m'am. We were told by this kind gentlemen that we were allowed to stay."

"The hell you are. Get out, now."

Shaun groaned, "Come on, Anabel. Let them stay the night or until they help us build this wall." He groaned again at my expression, he narrowed his eyes, "We'll take a vote, majority rules."

I scoffed, "Whatever." Walking straight towards the two men, I pushed past them, making sure to knock both of them down a step. Luke gave me a cold stare and the corners of his mouth started to twitch upwards, it made my spine shudder. I glared at the two, making my way outside, I grabbed an axe off the wood block at the top of the hill. Walking down, I angerily started swinging at the walkers the minute I stepped into those woods. I was furious, how dare Shaun let those two men in. My gut told me the group before Rick's were no good and I was right, my gut now? Was screaming for Luke and Harry to leave.

I had been out for hours, my clothes and body splattered with blood. I looked like I had walked straight out of a horror movie, but at the same time, wasn't this world horrific enough? I heard something behind me, turning around with the axe ready to come swinging, I shrieked in shock at Daryl. "Holy shit!"

He looked at me with a confused and angry look on his face, "What the hell ya think ya doin' out here?" His voice was calm and softer than normal, he pointed to my hands that were gripping the axe, "Is that all ya got with ya?"

I nodded, my head still spinning with anger. "Yeah."

"God, Anabel." He rubbed his temples, giving me a look, "You've been out for five hours. We all thought ya were good as dead. Ya got me worried." He cleared his throat towards the end of his sentence, I smiled slightly. So the asshole did care.

I swallowed hard, looking around me, the sun was starting to set. "I'm not going back."

"What?"

"I said I'm not going back. Those men need to leave. I'm not going through that again." I dropped the axe, my arms crossing over my shoulder. That incident happened a few months before Rick's group ever came across our land. There were four men, all were burly and sweet seeming, however, the third night, they had tied Tess and Doc up, leaving me with a knife at my throat. If it weren't for Donny, none of us would be alive. "I just can't." I was absolutely terrified, watching our lives flash before our lives was scary enough. It reminded me of that night. The night my innocence got ripped away from me. I was glad they didn't have a chance to have their way with the three of us. Who knew there would be apart of me that was glad Donny was still alive, although one act of kindness did not dub out the rest of his temper towards me.

Daryl shushed me, giving me a look of comfort, "Sh, it's gonna be okay. Ain't nobody gon' hurt you. I promise."

I had a tear fall down my face, "Last time someone promised me no one would hurt me, someone did." My voice was faltering, I felt ashamed that I was portraying off as weak, but I was more than afraid. History always repeated itself and the way my gut was feeling, it was going to happen.

He grabbed my face, pulling it towards him, his voice, almost like a growl, "Ain't nobody gon' touch you. They'll have to go through me. I won't let it happen." A large hint of sincerity graced his words.

I placed my hands over his, nodding, "Okay." He dropped his hands, giving me a look, his hand slipped into mine, giving me a small nod, he walked me out the woods. The minute we reached the hill, his hand fell, giving me another look, he waited for me to go through the maze. Following close behind me, we entered the kitchen. My eyes avoided the group, I felt a strong hand on my shoulder, turning to look at Daryl, he gave me another nod.

"Oh dear god! Anabel!" Doc came rushing forward, embracing me into a hug, she pulled away just as fast as she hugged me, she looked down at me and then down at her. Blood had transferred onto her, she sighed, placing her hand on my chin, "Why don't you clean up, doll. Everything is going to be fine, these men aren't like them."

I was stuck, this was one time that I had nothing to say or do. I was completely scared, I was afraid to turn my back, afraid to take a step. I couldn't move. Daryl cleared his throat, placing a hand on my back, "I'll help her."

Doc raised an eyebrow, "Oh-okay. Thank you for finding her."

He nodded, his hand on my back and his other hand on my wrist, he guided me towards my room. We both entered, closing and locking the door behind him, he let go off me. "Go on." He took a seat on my bed, motioning towards the bathroom, "Ain't goin' nowhere. Promise."

I staggered towards the bathroom, closing the door behind me, I started to strip off my clothing, peeling the blood soaked clothes off of me. I stared at myself in the mirror, blood had stained every inch of me. I stepped into the tub, scrubbing the blood viciously off of me. I started to break down, Daryl could promise me all he wanted but there was no way he would be able to protect me from that. I knew men like that, I could feel it. I didn't feel it as much with Harry, but with Luke? He scared me.

Sinking onto the floor of the tub, I hugged my knees, letting the water rain on my body. I completely broke down. I had never been so scared in my life, it was going to be like the old days all over again. Being afraid to walk around my own house.

I heard the door opening, clinging to my knees tighter, I closed my eyes tightly. I knew if it were to be anyone it would be Daryl. But, the small sliver of me had doubts. Hearing his voice calmed me down, "Anabel..." I heard him turn off the water, stepping into the tub, I felt his hands grip my forearms, pulling me up, "Come on."

I sniffled, "No, just leave me alone."

He growled, "No, come on." Guiding me back into my room, he slowed down. I only assumed the way the lantern shined against my skin, he noticed the scars along the back of my shoulder and mid back, I felt his rough hand trace over them. Shivering against his touch, he muttered, "Sorry." He walked off towards the dresser, looking away as he handed me a pair of yoga pants and a loose tee.

If it wasn't for the fear that was pulsing through my body, I would have been absolutely mortified that Daryl had seen me completely naked. I slipped on the pants and told him it was okay to look just as I pulled my shirt down.

His quick movement towards me made me gasp in fear, he gave me another look of comfort, looking down at my torso, he lifted my shirt slightly, his eyebrows pinching together at the scars that wrapped around my side.

I removed his hand, taking a step back, I looked down, "They say to never be ashamed of a scar, that it only means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you." My voice went low, "I never felt strong,"

His hand lifted my chin, making me stare into those blue eyes. He dropped his hand, taking a step back, he took of his shirt, never breaking our gaze. He turned around, my eyes coming into contact with the countless amounts of silvery faint marks all over his back. I gasped lightly, stepping forward, my trembling hand was a cold contrast against his warm skin.

He slinked away slightly, a deep sigh coming from his lips, he turned his head slightly, "Life don' get easier, ya jus' get stronger." He turned around, the lantern casting a shadow on his face, "Every scar ya have makes ya who ya are." His voice was low, but it was comforting.

I broke away from the gaze, "Does that go for you?"

I could feel him nod, "Yeah. Ain't proud of who I am, but I am who I am."

I looked back at him, turning my head slightly, staring him through an angle, "Why aren't you proud of yourself?"

He sighed, "Done things I ain't proud of, been a certain way I ain't proud of. The list could go on 'n on, Anabel."

I nodded, "I understand, I think I'm in the same boat as you."

Daryl shook his head, sort of taking a step away from me, pulling his shirt back on. Leaving me to visualize the perfected muscles on his upper half. "No don' think. Ya stuck between who ya are, who ya want to be and who ya should be. Your afraid but ya want to be strong and not show any fear and ya think you should be fearless 'cause of what ya went through. Nobody's perfect, Anabel. Nobody."

"I guess you got me all figured out too."

He chuckled, "Ya ain't hard to read, jus' a pain in the ass."

I chuckled back, "You too, but thank you."

He rose an eyebrow, "For what?"

I shrugged, "For being there, I guess." I walked towards my bed, climbing into, I sat cris-cross and pulled the blanket over me, "I didn't see anyone else try to find me."

Daryl nodded, looking towards the armchair, "I'll stay here tonight, like I said, ain't no one gon' lay a finger on ya."

I pulled my knees up to my chest, "You don't have to stay in that chair, it's not exactly the most comfortable chair in the world."

"I've slept in worse."

I shook my head, "You can sleep in my bed with me."

"Anabel," He tested.

I rolled my eyes, "It's not like we're going to do anything, it's just sharing a bed."

He nodded, "Okay." He sighed, "I'll be right back, jus gon' get a few things. Lock the door, alright?"

I nodded, "Yeah."