Pairings: Daryl Dixon x FemReader
Summary: Set in season 5/6, reader and Daryl to not get along until they go out on a run together and the bowman realises they aren’t as different as he thinks.
"Just take someone out for Deanna, she says she can't let 'em go out on their own."
Rick sighed and ran a hand through his hair,
"I don't know, she just said she needed someone to supervise- look, does it even matter? Just take 'em out for a couple hours then get back here." He replied, "She hasn't asked you for anything yet, so just do it."
Daryl took a long look at his friend,
"Fine." He agreed. Daryl reached for his crossbow and jacket.
"Right. She's waitin', let's go."
The pair walked in the hot sun in the clean streets of Alexandria.
They approached Deanna's door and Rick knocked.
After a few moments, they heard light footsteps and Deanna opened, smiling brightly at the two.
"Daryl, Rick. Thank you for agreeing to do this favour for me, I know she can be difficult but-"
A snarky voice came from inside, y/n shortly sauntering in from behind Deanna.
Her arms were crossed and she wore an annoyed expression. When she spotted Daryl, her annoyance turned to fury and she sharply turned to face Deanna.
At the same instant, Daryl glared at Rick.
"Are you fucking kidding me-"
"No way, I ain't doin' it-"
The pair spoke instantaneously.
Rick glanced helplessly at Deanna who pressed her lips into a firm line and sternly addressed y/n,
"You don't have choice. It's either him or you're not going."
y/n angrily stared at Deanna. She seemed to contemplate something for a moment before she scoffed,
"Fine, whatever." Curtly, she turned on her heel and stormed out of sight.
"She can be difficult, trust me, I know. But I know how important to her it is to not always be stuck behind these walls."
"Nah, not her. Gimme anyone else."
"Daryl- wait. Hold on, give us a minute-" Rick addressed Deanna shortly before grabbing Daryl's shoulders and turning him away from the woman.
"Come on, it's not a big deal-"
"Yeah, I did." He admitted with a sigh, "But I knew how'd you react, and we need to keep good relations here."
"Good relations? Fuckin' joke... ya know how she keeps 'good relations'?"
"I know- I realise you two aren't the best of friends-"
"Daryl!" Rick was clearly frustrated, "I'm sick of you two fightin', Deanna's sick of it two- we can't let that get in the way of our place here, I won't allow it."
Daryl was silent for a time.
"We can't let it get any worse, 'cause who do ya think Deanna's gonna choose, huh? A bunch of strangers or her niece?"
Deanna watched carefully.
Finally, Daryl tightened his grip on his supplies,
Rick let out a relieved sigh then clapped his friend on the shoulder. Deanna gave a small smile,
"Yeah, whatever. Tell 'er to hurry up."
Daryl turned and stalked off towards the gate. Rick gave one more nod towards Deanna,
"He'll look after her, I promise."
When y/n emerged a few minutes later, she was carrying a small bag and some knives were strapped to her belt.
Rick offered her a smile but she barely acknowledged him or her aunt, muttering something incoherent as she brushed past the two of them, headed towards the gate.
"Be safe!" Deanna called after her.
As she stalked past Daryl, she not-so-gently nudged him to signal she was ready to go. He stumbled slightly,
"Watch yer fuckin' self." He angrily hissed at her as they began walking.
"Sorry, didn't realise you were so fragile." She sarcastically replied.
The pair trudged into the woods, finally getting some cover from the scorching heat.
They walked in silence for a while before Daryl finally swallowed his pride to question his unwilling companion,
For a while, he thought she wasn't going to answer but then she did,
"Just into the centre." She replied vaguely,
"That ain't an answer." He paused, "And why the centre? It's been cleared of supplies."
"Because I said so." She replied, "And I thought Deanna told you to escort me, not engage me with your unparalleled charm."
"I ain't takin' orders from you, sunshine. I'm just doin' your aunt a favour, nothin' more."
y/n shot him a short glare,
"Good. I don't want anything more."
Deciding against responding, Daryl walked silently a few steps behind y/n for about an hour as they trudged through the woods.
The place was still relatively new to him but she seemed to know it very well.
To his surprise, she kept quiet as they walked. Usually if they spent more than five minutes together, she'd throw some sarcastic comment his way.
It had just been like that between the two of them since Daryl and the others had arrived in Alexandria a few months back.
Daryl kept to himself, he didn't approve of their way of living. He thought they were too sheltered, too weak.
y/n had been the first person since his brother to really challenge him.
He'd refused to shower at first, or get too comfortable for that matter. Carol and Rick had tried to get him to but he'd simply waved them away.
y/n had walked up to him one morning, bowl in hand and just poured the contents all over him before sarcastically smiling and walking away as he yelled at her, infuriated.
But it worked. He did finally take a shower.
Not to mention, she'd practically blackmailed him into attending the welcome party they were thrown, threatening to tell Deanna and Rick about him sneaking into the armoury if he didn't show.
Annoyingly, she wasn't a stupid girl.
She just drove him up the wall.
Distracted by his own train if thought, Daryl hadn't even noticed y/n slowing to a stop before him.
y/n sounded irritated as the bowman accidently brushed her shoulder.
"Stop cryin'." He gruffly responded before averting his gaze to whatever made y/n stop.
They were closer to the buildings now. The greenery was thinner and the trees less dense, giving way to a view of an abandoned street.
They had stopped on the edge of a deep hole hidden by some rocks.
There was a car which had been there at least a year driven into the ditch, broken and discoloured.
At the bottom of the whole a group of five or so walkers were packed together, snarling and holding their hands out for the two people watching them.
Daryl glanced at his companion sideways.
y/n cocked her head and squinted her eyes,
"Huh, never taken this path before." She casually said, "Looks like the things have been here a while, though."
She smirked and hopped over the rocks.
Daryl cursed and tried to grab her arm but she was too quick for him.
Now teetering at the edge of the ditch, y/n leaned forward dangerously far, looping one arm around a nearby branch of a tree.
"The hell you doin'!?" Daryl angrily asked, trying to pull her back without loosing balance.
The pit of walkers below were almost in arms reach of the girl.
"There's probably some stuff down there." She said lightly.
y/n grinned and dangled one leg off the edge of the pit.
Panicked, Daryl watched as one of the walkers just brushed her leg and she quickly retracted, giggling like she was just playing some stupid game.
"Lighten up, god, you're so stiff and boring all the time!"
Reaching into her belt, y/n pulled out one of her knives.
Still gripped onto the branch, she ducked down and leaned even further over the hole to stab one of the walkers in the head.
"How did you guys even end up here?" She asked the walkers with amusement, wrenching her blade from the walker's skull.
Daryl cursed and looked around to also find a branch to secure him.
He found one and wrapped it around his hand. He stepped over the rocks.
y/n knelt down slightly and just as she raised her arm to drive the knife into a second walker's skull, she was roughly grabbed.
Daryl had tightly gripped her arm and wrenched her away from the side of the hole.
Yelping, y/n stumbled back, losing her footing.
Half dragging and half carrying her, Daryl managed to get the two of them back over the rocks and onto the solid soil.
y/n, still unbalanced, awkwardly fell to the floor. Daryl was still gripping onto her.
Grimacing, y/n brushed some dirt off her and tried to squirm out of her companion's grip to no avail,
"Way to ruin the fun." She muttered.
Enraged, Daryl harshly shook her shoulders,
"Why are ya such a fuckin' brat!?" He spat in her face. His eyes were mere inches away from hers.
y/n looked him dead in the eyes and scowled,
"I don't know, why are you such a fucking asshole?" She retorted.
For a few seconds, the pair glared at each other, neither willing to back down. Then Daryl scoffed and pushed y/n away, creating some distance between them.
She slumped awkwardly to the floor with a light grunt.
y/n rubbed her arms as Daryl paced for a bit.
He finally turned to her,
"Why the hell do you gotta make this so hard, huh?"
"I'm not making anything hard, that's all you and your shitty attitude."
"Yeah, and ya know why I got a shit attitude?"
y/n huffed and rolled her eyes,
"We get it, Daryl. Your group went through some stuff, tough shit. We all have." She said, "So stop holding it over us."
"You ain't seen nothin'."
"You don't even fucking know what I've seen!"
"I know girls like you, stuck up college kids." He hissed at her, "Ya think bein' pretty gives ya the whole world. You don't know shit."
"Oh really?" She said with a wry smile, "Yeah, sorry to ruin your insightful little moment, but I didn't fucking go to college."
She threw up her arms in dramatic effect,
"'Cause I was too fucking busy burying my mom and dealing with my alcoholic father who beat me for fun."
He gave her a blank stare to which she just scoffed.
y/n gripped her shirt and pulled it up to reveal her torso.
There was a long, ugly scar that looked like it never had the time to heal across her stomach. The skin was dark around the area.
y/n smiled again but there was the faintest glisten of tears in her eyes,
"What? Wasn't what you expected?" She said, pulling her shirt back down.
"Yeah, Deanna barely spoke to me for the first sixteen years of my life then when I decided I had enough of the shit at home, I up and moved to Ohio to maybe make something of myself. I met her at some rally, she felt sorry for me and the rest is history."
For the first time in a while, Daryl wasn’t sure what to say.
“I feel sorry for you Daryl Dixon.” Her voice was quieter, “Just go home, or whatever you want to call Alexandria.”
Daryl didn’t attempt to follow her at first as she stalked off hastily towards the road.
As she disappeared out of view, Daryl finally broke out of his stupor.
For about ten minutes, he deliberated about what he should do next.
It was clear he’d messed up and he was not welcome to accompany her anymore but on the other hand, he couldn’t just turn up at Alexandria without her.
Daryl peered up towards the road,
The centre was crawling with walkers and he could already hear snarling in the distance.
He set his face in a firm stare and began walking to where she’d disappeared.
The sun hit his face and he was almost caught of guard by a pair of walkers lunging at him from the side.
Daryl made quick work of them with his knife.
Looking around, he could see some walkers strewn on the floor, leading further down the road.
Almost like a trail for him to follow after her. So he did.
Following the occasional walker corpse down the roads, Daryl stayed on alert.
It was eerie, seeing all the houses and stores looking untouched with walkers aimlessly wandering in front of them.
The trail led him eventually to a big building.
A lifeless walker had been stabbed through the skull and tossed to the side next to a big set of doors that had been forcefully opened.
He frowned, trying to think of why y/n wanted to go to a school.
Nevertheless, he stepped inside, assessing the surroundings.
It was truly unsettling as he passed the front desk area and into a hallway.
Dust coated many drawings and photos of smiling children, cars, animals, flowers. It was hard to believe that life had once been like that.
Daryl cautiously looked into the first door.
It had been a classroom but the desks had been pushed to the sides, some dirty blankets were strewn across the floor.
Someone had lived there after the apocalypse.
A loud crash of glass snapped Daryl out of his thoughts.
It was followed by a sharp scream and a loud bang.
He had no doubt about who’s scream it was.
Hands on his knife, Daryl darted out of the classroom and down the hallway towards the source of the noise.
He narrowly missed tripping over a dead walker in front of another classroom.
Daryl entered the classroom and looked up, fear in his eyes.
Two walkers were lying, unmoving on the classroom floor. Similarly to the other one, this room’s tables were also pushed to the side.
Glass covered the floor below a broken display case and blood dripped in crimson streams.
Daryl followed the source of blood.
y/n sat slumped against the wall, knife in one hand and what looked to be a framed photo in the other. Blood was splattered across her face and clothes.
Her expression was almost void of any feeling, she barely paid Daryl any attention.
“You alright?” He dared ask her.
Daryl fumbled in his back for a rag. He pulled it out and observed her carefully,
“Come here.” He grunted softly and approached her.
Bending down before y/n, he gently gripped her face with one hand and softly wiped away the blood.
She looked him in the eyes but there was no contempt, just sorrow.
y/n half-heartedly raised the photo she was gripping,
“They’re dead.” She gestured to the dead walkers.
Daryl looked behind him then at the picture. It was a photo of a smiling woman with three children.
He drew the rag back as y/n tossed the photo aside, shaking her head,
“I knew there was people living here, Deanna didn’t believe it - said it was too infested. Wouldn’t let me go out here either.” She explained, “I thought maybe I could find them, bring them back.”
Daryl narrowed his eyes slightly,
“It ain’t yer fault.” He reminded her softly.
“No.” She admitted, “Doesn’t make me feel any better, though.”
“The hell you doing here anyway? I thought I told you to fuck off.”
y/n huffed and crossed her arms,
“I don’t need a babysitter.” She grumbled, “I’m not a baby.”
“Nah, you definitely ain’t.” Daryl agreed, after a moment of deliberation, he then offered his arm.
y/n observed it for a second before sighing and taking it, allowing the bowman to help her up.
Daryl looked uncomfortable.
“You have something to say?”
“I accept your apology, Daryl.”
“Thought it was probably the shittiest one I’ve ever-”
Daryl was already half the way out the room,
For once, the tension between them wasn’t high as they walked silently side by side back to Alexandria.
Deanna and Rick also seemed to realise as they were greeted at the gate by the pair of them, suspiciously questioning them about their lack of hostility.
Of course, y/n just rolled her eyes and stalked off whilst Daryl pretty much just did the same.
In fact, they didn’t really argue for a while after that. They didn’t fight anymore, although y/n didn’t relent in throwing in the occasional snide comment.
Daryl began warming up to Alexandria more, and began going out with Aaron to find people to bring into the community.
It was about three weeks later when y/n, taking watch at the gate, stopped Daryl and Aaron walking towards Alexandria from the tree line.
They weren’t alone, accompanied but a group of about six people, some smaller children in tow, looking in awe at the large walls.
Deanna greeted them at the gate and began welcoming the new arrivals in as y/n hopped down from her position on the gate.
Aaron had gone off to greet Eric, leaving Daryl peering up at y/n as she jumped down just before him.
He looked at her in amusement,
“You were right, ya know?” He grunted, crossbow still slung across his shoulder.
She paused, then frowned at his unimpressed expression,
“Fine, what was I right about this time?”
“There were people in the centre, it some of the big buildings. Just took a bit of distractin’ to lead the walkers away.”
y/n’s smug look was wiped clean off her face,
“You went to the centre?”
“Yeah, you ain’t stupid - thought I’d take a look.” He said, “And you were right, ya probably saved ‘em.”
He gestured where the new group had been lead.
Without any warning, y/n placed both hands on the sides of Daryl’s face and stood on her tippy-toes to lean forward and plant a short kiss right onto his mouth.
Daryl barely had time to react, instantly stiffening up.
y/n grinned and patted Daryl on the shoulder,
“You’re the nicest asshole I’ve ever met.” She said with amusement.
With that, she abruptly turned and walked off towards Deanna’s house, a happy skip in her step.
Daryl blinked then wondered if he’d just hallucinated the whole encounter.
Rick’s voice behind him shook him out of his daze as he whipped around,
“Did I just see that right?”
Daryl felt his cheeks getting hotter, it was very unfamiliar to him,
Rick, still grinning held his hands up in mock surrender,
“You wanna talk about it?”
Daryl blinked after the disappearing figure of y/n.