It's Not That Bad

"Why?" You asked again for what feels like 100th time. "Why can't I go by myself, and remind me again why I have to go with Dixon??"

You think back to all the times you had to go on hunts and runs with Daryl Dixon, you always had to go with him. Not Rick. Not Glenn. Always him. 'Stupid filthy redneck' you think.

"Because, I don't want you going alone, it's too dangerous. Glenn and Maggie went for a run yesterday and got trapped inside a warehouse for an hour waiting until it was clear to go. I don't want that happening to you, SO, I am making you take Daryl along with. He already said yes." Rick told you as he grabbed his bowl full of deer meat from Patrick.

Patrick smiled and waved at you, then continued on scooping meat from the deer that Daryl had caught a few days ago into bowls. You think back to that day he left to go hunting, and you remember the fight you both had right before.

|Flashback|

Daryl looked at you as you grabbed a knife from your pack and shoved it into your knife holster that was hanging on your hip.

"Whaddya think you're doing?" He asked, his narrowed his eyes focused on you.

"What does it look like I am doing, dumbass? I'm getting ready to go hunting with you." You replied sassily. You took your water bottle and took a few sips, watching him as he leaned against the door of
your cell.

"The hell you are, you aren't comin' with. I won't be able to catch anything with that big ass mouth of yours yappin' all the damn time." He told you.

'What the hell! Not fair. Rick has him come with you all the damn time but when he wants to go hunting, he can go by himself? No way' you think to yourself as you start walking towards him.

"Hell no, I'm coming! Screw staying here, you get to go off by yourself all the time, but when I have to go somewhere you're right there saying that Rick told you to come along!" You say as you flail your arms around, getting fed up with this whole thing.

"Well, maybe that's cause' you draw walkers for miles with your loud ass yelling! You ever hear of something called 'quiet'? It's needed for going on runs!" He responded fuming.

You stormed past him to find Rick to clear things up, hopefully that would be the end of listening to complaining about you. There would be hell to pay if he got to go alone.

|Flashback End|

See, that's the problem with you and Daryl, you guys always get into fights. ALWAYS, Most of the time about the smallest things; whether it be him going along on hunts, Merle's old bike, who takes watch, the amount of time you take to shower, all kinds of things. It never ends with the fighting between you two.

You think about how he got to go alone anyway, even after you brought up how you never go on hunts alone and, not to mention the excellent point of how it's dangerous out there for him to go by himself because he is a bumbling buffoon and will end up getting himself killed.

"You let Daryl go on the hunt by himself just a few days ago, I even brought up great points of why not to let him go by himself and you still let him!" You call to Rick as you struggle to catch up to him.

"(Y/N), I don't think that saying he's gonna get himself killed cause he's a fool, is a good point. Daryl is more experienced in hunting than anyone here, including you. Therefore, I thought it'd be best that he went by himself. You on the other hand, have a habit of getting yourself into sticky situations, with or without someone with you." Rick said as he turned around to talk to you, causing you to almost slam into his chest.

"Well, I-" You started to say.

"No. Daryl is coming with you, that's final. I don't wanna hear anymore arguments coming from you today. I don't understand, what is this immense hate you feel towards him?" Rick questioned as he eyed you.

Now that you think about it, you don't really know how this hate/hate relationship started between you and Daryl.

'Maybe he said something to me when we first met that made me dislike him?' You think as you stand in front of Rick, pondering the question.

"I... I - I don't really know." You respond after a few moments of silence.

Rick ducked his head a little and let out a tiny chuckle.

"Maybe, just maybe, you try to get along on this run and you'll find you actually just might not dislike him as much as you think you do." Rick said after he was done chuckling. He picked his head up and look at you straight in the eyes.

"Please? Just try. You never know what could happen; it could be an opportunity to make a new friend". He says with a dopey little smile on his face, like he knew something you didn't.

'It's just one run, right? What could it hurt?' You think to yourself.
'It could hurt everything, Dixon is a jackass.' You hear your subconscious say.

Rick clears his throat, trying to get your eyes back on his.

"Look, do or don't, it's not my choice whether or not you guys become friends. Just, try, that's all I am asking. Arguments are the worst, especially yours and Daryl’s." He says.

"Fine, I'll try, no promises, and if he comes back with a broken nose cause he said something wrong to me, I am not to blame. His own stupidity is to blame for that." You mumble the last part under your breath and Rick cracks a small smile.

"Good. He is waiting over there by the car for you already, better get a move on before it gets dark. Be careful!" Rick says as he starts walking off into the prison.

'Good lord (Y/N). What have you gotten yourself into?' You think as you turn on your heel and start walking towards Dixon. On second thought, you turn around, grab a bottle of water and then walk
back over to him.

"You couldn't have gotten that before?" Daryl asks you as he begins to get into the driver’s seat.

"What the hell was takin' so long for you to get ready? We gotta go and be back before dark, ya know that princess?" He snaps at you.

"Well sorry, let me just grab my alarm clock to set, but wait that would require me getting up again and wasting more precious time of yours." You responded sarcastically.

'(Y/N), you know this isn't playing nice, right?' You think.

"Just get the hell in the car, damn it." Daryl says as you open the car door and put your bag down first.

|Time-skip|

The ride was pretty much silent aside from the occasional bickering between you two. You look out the window at the scenery passing by, it was still light outside, thank goodness.

"Why did we have to come all the way out here, there's plenty of closer stores." Daryl says as he pulls into one of the stores vacant lots.

"Those stores were already cleaned out from previous runs. Rick had me write down some more stores that were a little out of the way for that reason mainly." You replied calmly.

"There are other reasons?" He asked you as he reached in to grab his crossbow from the back seat.

"Yeah, like in case someone from the prison was separated from the group or something and they found themselves all the way out here, they'd know a place to go for food, water, etc." You replied, watching him as he bent over.

'Nice ass, Dixon' you think in your head all while raising your eyebrows in a look of approval.

You look up to see Daryl glaring at you.

"Why are you starin' at my ass?" He grounds out.

Oops. Did you say that out loud? You are pretty sure you looked up before he turned, so you must've.

You just hope you have enough sarcastic attitude left in you after the car ride to bail you out of this one.

"Why was your ass in my eyesight? Hm? You should watch where you’re bending over and I wouldn't have to look at it." You stumble over your words, flustered.

'Well. That was a complete and utter failure. Stupid Dixon, making you flustered.' You think to yourself, standing there dumbly, avoiding Daryl's eyes.

Daryl stands in front of you, watching you, waiting for you to say something stupid again, no doubt.

He looks like he wants to say something, but instead he turns, closes the back door and starts walking towards the front doors of the store.

"Let's go." He called back to you.

'Well, that was easier than I thought. I thought he would've put up more of a fight than that.' You think as you follow behind him.

|Time-Skip|

You're pushing the cart down the aisle, reading from the list what you need to grab. The list is pretty long since Maggie and Glenn weren't able to get anything yesterday, all because of that stupid unexpected herd that they trampled into.

After you and Dixon cleared the store out you both went your separate ways to get this whole shopping trip done faster. He got the list of things the men need and you got the list the of women things, among other stuff.

You see bottles upon bottles of alcohol and start to pick up a few bottles of Jack Daniels Whiskey when Daryl comes walking around the corner.

"You really need that?" Daryl asks as he stares you down.

"It's not for me, it's for the medical station back at the prison, thank you very much. I don't drink alcohol." You snap at him.

"Why don't you drink alcohol?" He asks with curious eyes.

"I just don't like it. It tastes gross." You say as you turn to look at him after putting the whiskey in the cart.

"You think alcohol tastes bad?" He snorts. You see a little grin start to take over his face.

'Dixon, smile; impossible' you think to yourself.

"Yes, I believe that’s what I just said. Alcohol tastes gross." You say as you continue walking down the aisle.

Daryl follows behind you, just watching you with narrowed eyes and a small smile on his face.

You vaguely start to wonder if Rick had the same conversation with Daryl he had with you about being friendlier towards each other, or if this is just a ruse he is using to start the next fight. Your mind focuses on the latter and you start to get defensive.

"What other things do you not like the taste of?" He questions.

"Depends" You say. You keep your answers short.

"What kind of drinks do you like?" He asks you.

"Why?" You whirl around, your (H/C) hair whipping around you.

"Damn girl, I try to ask a question and this is the response I get? Fine, guess I'll just keep my damn mouth shut." He glares and moves around you to walk down further down the aisle, further away from you.

Great, now you feel bad.

"Daryl, wait!" You shout, hoping he turns around or at least waits for you to continue talking.

He stops walking, but doesn't turn around. Thank god.

"I'm not used to you being friendly towards me, okay? That's all. I just, don't know how to react when you ask me questions or speak to me in a way that’s not entirely rude, alright? I guess I think everything you say to me is a way to start fighting with me.. heh" You end with a lame chuckle.

Daryl turns his head and looks at you. Moments later he starts walking back up the aisle towards you, "You think I like fightin' with you? Believe it or not princess, I don't. You irritate me to no end, but I don't like snapping at ya' all the damned time. If you didn't have such a big mouth I wouldn't feel the need to." He mumbled the last sentence to himself, but you heard it.

You didn't comment on it.

"Yeah, heh, guess I could lower the volume sometimes." You try the approach gently.

"Sometimes? More lik-" Daryl starts to say...
"Don't push it Dixon." You cut him off.

He holds his hands up in surrender, and he continues on his way towards the end of the aisle.

|Time-Skip|

Your plan was to take the shopping cart to the front door when you were done, Dixon's was already up there, you just needed to finish getting what you need and then bring it up so you both could leave.

Daryl was off doing who knows what, and you were finishing the last of the list off.
You were just about finished; when you heard the bells on the door go off. You thought it was Daryl going outside, but the chatting from a few different male voices you heard told you otherwise.

"Look right here gentlemen! Real toilet paper, would be nice to use that again, better grab some for the road." One of the voices said.

You ducked down in the aisle you were in, and did a quick check to see how close you were to the front of the store.

-Feminine Hygiene-

Oh, okay, that's good. It's only about 3 AISLES AWAY FROM THE DOORS.

'Fantastic, what a pickle I am in. Guess Rick wasn't wrong. Where the hell is Daryl?' Just as you think that, you feel a hand cover your mouth and you turn around getting ready to beat whoever the hell it is to a pulp, when you see Daryl's face with a finger over his lips.

You nod your head quickly and he moves his hand away from your mouth.

''What do we do" you whispered to him.
"Distract them." he whispers so quietly, had you not leaned in you would have missed it.

You nod once again and he picks up a can of carrots and tosses it across the floor making sure it lands on the other side of the aisle.

The men at the front of the store go quiet, and it's like you can hear a pin drop. Fortunately they aren't as quiet on their feet as Daryl is, so when he heard them coming, he grabbed your arm and tugged you towards the back of the store where there was a door that led outside.

You grabbed a hold of the door handle and were getting ready to push on it when Daryl quickly grabbed your hand and pulled it back down to your side. He pointed upwards towards the top of the door. That's when you noticed the alarm on it. It was an emergency exit. There was a 50/50 chance of the alarm going off, that's what Daryl was trying to tell you. If you open that door, there's a possibility that walkers for miles will hear it and come running.

You hear the men coming closer; searching for whatever it was that had distracted them from their shitty jokes; literally.

You looked Daryl in the eyes and nodded your head, preparing yourself to run. He looked at you readying yourself and then grabbed the door handle. He pushed it open and a deafening alarm sounded, bright red lights blinding your vision as you raced outside with Daryl.

"This way!" He hollered at you as he ran to the front of the building.

You followed after him, already seeing walkers appear from out of trees. You spun around the side of the building seeing Daryl holding open the driver side of the door, you ran over to him, climbed inside and then scooted over to the passenger side. Daryl got in, put the car in drive and drove out of the parking lot around the same time the men from the store started running out of the store screaming.

About a few minutes later, Daryl pulled over on the side of the road and you were panting, trying to catch your breath. You could still hear the alarm ringing in your ears. Daryl moved your head so that you were facing him.

"You okay?" He was saying.

You couldn't hear him but you know that's what he was asking.

You nod your head gently, still trying to regain your breath.

"You sure?" He asked you with worried eyes.

"Yeah" You whispered. "I'm good."
Daryl waited a moment, nodded and leaned back and put the car in drive.

You hoped you'd both be back before dark, and judging by how it was already 7o'clock, you doubted it.

|Time-Skip|

You were tired, no doubt Daryl was either. You took over driving a few hours ago, but you still had a pretty long way to drive. You looked over at Daryl, who had his eyes closed at the moment.

"Daryl" You said softly.
He turned to look at you, looking like he has been alert for hours.

"Yeah?" He said just as softly.

"Should I pull over somewhere? So we both can rest? We can head back to the prison in the morning." You say as you continue driving.

He nodded his head and pointed to the side of the road as he adjusted himself in the seat.

"Yeah, best get some rest, not like you can even see the road anymore." He rasps out.
You can't help but think about how sexy his voice sounds at the moment.

"Awesome" You say as you pull over. You put the car in park and leave the keys in the ignition. You unbuckle yourself and then turn in your seat and pull your knees up to your chest.

"Front or back?" You ask him.
"What?" He says, looking at you like you're some weirdo.

"Front seat or back seat? Which do you want to sleep in?" You clarify.
"Don' matter to me, either one is fine." He said as he moved himself around to face you.

"Okay, I'll take the back." You said as you got out of the car and clambered into the back seat. "I'll see you in the morning." You called up front as you laid down and closed your eyes.

"Night" Daryl said softly.

|Time-Skip||Last one I promise|

When you woke up, the car was moving.

'Daryl must've woken up earlier than me and started driving.' You think as you stretch.

"Daryl?" You questioned once you sat up.

"Hmm?" He grumbled from the driver’s seat.

"How long was I asleep?" You asked, cracking your neck and back.

"Not that long, I got a head start around 5am, couldn't sleep." He said. "Look in the trunk."

You peered behind you and you saw all the stuff that you and Daryl had both left behind at the store yesterday.

You were pissed.

"Pull over. Right now." You said in a stern voice.

Daryl pulled over and looked behind at you confused, but you had started getting out of the car. He got out also and stood in front of you.

"What the problem?" He questioned.

"What's the problem? WHAT'S THE PROBLEM HE ASKS! Oh, I'll tell you the damn problem, you went back to the store! You went inside and grabbed all this crap!!" You yelled.

"It isn't crap, it's the stuff for back at the prison! What the hell is the matter with you! There was barely any walkers there, wha's the big deal?!" He hollered at you.

"YOU WENT BY YOURSELF, THAT'S THE BIG DEAL! Always! You always just HAVE to go by yourself! Huh? Always! I can't do one damn thing by myself and have it turn out right, and then you always come in and save the damn day! You asshole!" You shout in his face as you start pounding on his chest.

"Hey, just because you can't do a damn thing right doesn’t mean you take it out on me! Stupid bitch!" He shouts back at you and grabs your fists in his hands and slams you against the door of the car.

"You son of a bitch! I can do plenty of things right! Like handling being around your ass, not many can do that, you bastard!!" You scream in his face.

"Calm your ass down! You’re gonna attract walkers! NOT LIKE THERE ISN'T GONNA BE ANY WHENEVER YOU'RE AROUND!" He roars at you.

You struggle against him and try to free your wrists from his grasp, not like any of it works though.

All the sudden, you feel lips pressed against your own.

You are still, not moving, barely even breathing.

Then, you react. Your lips move against his, almost angrily.

He grabs your hair and pulls your head back so he has more access to your neck. You grab his hair and yank as hard as you can and wrap your arm around his back, pulling him closer to you.

You feel something hard poking your hip, and you moan loudly, bringing his lips back to yours.

You feel him grabbing your legs and wrapping them around his waist, and he grinds into you.

You break away for air and grab a hold of his arms. You put your forehead against his, and you stare at each other, panting.

Finally, you break away as you hear rustling from trees nearby.

You both look in the direction it came from to see 3 walkers stumbling out of the woods.

"Walkers. Get in the car." He says to you.

He gently puts you down and opens the car door for you to get in. He climbs in after you and starts down the road again, heading for the prison.

He takes a glance at you.
"You done carryin' on now?" He asks.

You look over at him and wink.

"Oh yes, I am 100% better now." You tell him with a cheeky smile.

"Just so you know, I'll be more than happy to go on runs with you if they all end like that." You tell him matter-of-factly.

"Count on it, princess." He says to you as he looks back to the road.

One thing for sure though, is that when you get back to the prison, you're shoving it in Ricks face, that arguments are the best thing in the world.