Prompt: The former savior Justin makes a fatal mistake by pushing his luck with you.
Word Count: 3k
Warnings: Violence, cursing, suggestive comments, misogyny, typical TWD gore
Masterlist
Etsy Shop! | Support My Blog | Coming Soon | Prompt Ideas
The day started off like most others. You were on watch this morning, having gotten up barely a couple of hours after Daryl came to bed. Your shift began at dawn, relieving the night crew. You remembered that Daryl was supposed to go out to the bridge today to help with construction, and to keep an eye on everyone in Rick’s absence. He had to go down to the Sanctuary today, so Daryl was covering for him overseeing the bridge.
You hated when he went to the Sanctuary, given all the horror that happened to him there, so you were glad that Rick was going today. However, the bridge construction wasn't a whole lot better. He'd still be surrounded by numerous former saviors, something you found very unsettling. So you typically tagged along, for your own peace of mind, to watch his back.
You left an apple on the bedside table and wrote a quick note beside it telling Daryl that you were on watch and that you’d see him in the afternoon. You hated not being able to see him much anymore - especially waking up together - but you each had a lot of responsibilities to manage.
Standing in the dim light, you lean over the bed to brush the hair out of Daryl’s face. You keep meaning to give him a little hair cut, just so that he could see better, but whenever you were able to see him it would completely slip your mind - too concerned with soaking up as much time with him as possible.
Your fingers brushed against his stubbly cheek ever so lightly, appreciating how peaceful he looked sleeping. He stirs a little, so you quickly try to retract your hand before you accidentally wake him up, but it’s too late - he catches your hand and places it back on his cheek. “Mmm?” He groans, one eye peeking open as his other hand comes up to snatch your free wrist, placing a tired openmouthed kiss on it.
“Sorry,” you whisper with a soft smile, rubbing your thumb over the back of his warm, rough hand.
“Where’re ya goin’?” Daryl questions, his deep voice so raspy that anyone else may have a hard time understanding what he said. You loved his sleepy voice, you found it adorable, sexy.
“I have first watch. Relieving the night shift," you remind him, leaning down so that you are squatting beside him at the bed. He rolls over onto his side, his hand still enveloping yours, and opens his other eye to get a good look at you.
“M’kay,” he mumbles. “Be careful,” Daryl says, his piercing blue eyes meeting your own. A shy smile crawls up your face and you nod in the darkness, moving closer and placing a kiss on his stubble covered cheek.
“I’ll see you at the bridge, hun,” you promise, moving to stand up, but he doesn’t release your hand, keeping you down at his level. He sleepily lifts his head and brings his other hand up to the back of your head. You instinctively meet him halfway, capturing his soft lips in a slow kiss.
His body heat radiates onto you, warming you up in a way only Daryl can. You pull away slowly, a frustrated whimper escaping your mouth as you lean your forehead on his. You miss him so much, you want to lay here beside him forever - but the sunlight beginning to creep through the window reminds you that duty calls.
You loved how Daryl would let his guard down and be more open when he was tired like this. He could be very affectionate in the mornings and nights, which was one of the only times that you go to see him anymore. You stand up from your spot and head out of the room, but not without one last glance at the love of your life.
~
Daryl’s morning was not off to a great start. He was exhausted from the night before, grumpy because he didn’t get to spend any time with you, and it was a cloudy and cold day. Everyone was getting on his nerves and he was practically counting down the minutes until he would be able to go back to Alexandria.
You hadn't arrived yet, and he was antsy about you being on the road without him. He knew you were with Carol and some of the others, coming to relieve some of the people working on the bridge, but he hated being apart from you inside of the walls, let alone outside of their safety.
One person in particular was seriously testing Daryl’s patience today - a savior, Justin. He had been giving everyone attitude from the moment they began working, and Daryl has just about had it.
Daryl was in the process of nailing down a board as Aaron talked to him about Gracie, just as he spotted you. He felt a weight literally lift off of his shoulders as you appeared in his vision. You hadn't spotted him yet, and he momentarily got distracted just watching you.
"-And the diaper just explodes, all over me." Aaron finishes his story.
"Good times," Daryl responds, taking a nail out of his mouth and getting back to hammering.
"You'll see," Aaron remarks.
Daryl shoots him a weird look, before glancing back to where you stood a handful of yards away, pulling your hair up into a ponytail and helping to lift a large board. You were wearing black khakis and a dark tank top, looking absolutely amazing in such a simple outfit. The thought of having a baby with you briefly crossed Daryl's mind, but he shut down the idea almost as quickly as it popped into his head.
"What? You'd be a great dad. Especially with Y/N..." Aaron trails off, teasing the archer.
"Yeah," he retorts sarcastically, dipping his head behind his hair and returning to hammering so that Aaron couldn't see the heat rising to his cheeks.
Aaron dropped it and they got back to focusing, which lasted all of a couple minutes until Daryl heard something stand out to him. Your name. In Justin’s mouth.
Daryl knew that Justin had tried hitting on you once before when you came to the bridge to help out, and he had given him a stern warning to stay away from you. Normally Daryl would have trusted you to handle the guy yourself, but seeing as he was a savior, and he was being very pushy toward you, Daryl had stepped in.
He stands up from where he was crouched, brushing the dirt off of his gloves and wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, listening in on the conversation Justin was having with some other savior.
“She’s a hot piece of ass. The things I’d do to her if that redneck asshole would let her out of his sight, I swear.” Justin remarks as he hammers at a nail unsuccessfully. The man beside him just scoffs.
“She’d never go for you, man," he responds.
“Sure she would. Just gotta get her alone.” Justin continues, a gross smirk on his face.
By this point, Aaron had taken notice and knew that shit was about to go down. The look on Daryl’s face was enough to warn the younger man that he needed to intervene, now.
"Hey! Back t' work! Stop chattin so damn much!" he growls as he shoves his way past Justin, abandoning Aaron to approach you.
You heard Daryl shout and immediately got distracted, almost wacking someone in the head with the board you were helping to carry. As soon as you and Rosita place it down, you search for Daryl, only to find him heading right over to you.
"Hey, you okay?" you ask, wiping your forehead with the back of your hand.
"Yeah, that prick over there pissin me off again," he grumbles, wiping some dirt off of your shirt for you. You smile softly, appreciating the gesture.
"Don't let him bother you, babe," you start. "Your only giving him the attention he wants."
Daryl grumbles in response. "Hi Y/N, hi Daryl," Henry greets you guys as he approaches with the large jug of water. "Need a drink?" he asks. Daryl motions to you and you open your mouth to fight him, but he shoots you a look, so you accept and take a very small cup of water from the boy.
"Thank you, Henry." You hand the cup to Daryl and give him the same look. He knows better than to argue with you and he was very thirsty anyway, so he pours himself a small cup too.
Henry then moves on and you let Daryl head off to grab another large plank with Gabriel. All is well for approximately three minutes, until...
You hear commotion and turn around to see that Justin has shoved Henry onto the ground and is now downing a bunch of water straight from the jug directly into his mouth. You immediately abandon your work and make your way toward Henry, but before you can get to the prick to handle business yourself, Henry has stood back up and knocks him clean off his feet with his staff.
You finally reached the two and just as the asshole is scrambling back onto his feet and some other former saviors are laughing at him, you place yourself between the man and the child.
"You better fucking not," you warn as he looks over your shoulder toward the boy who was hurrying to gather the water jug and get back to work.
"You see that shit?" Justin shouts, shuffling his body like he wants to go after Henry.
"Yeah I saw you bullying a child and him stand up for himself, just like he should," you retort.
Justin's eyes squint at you in shock and disbelief.
"Whatever! I let him do that. Better not get a big damn ego now!" he shouts dramatically.
"Yeah okay why don't ya get back to work," you roll your eyes and turn to walk away.
"Hey, hold up now. I finally gotcha away from the redneck," he grabs your shoulder and positions himself in your way.
"'scuse me?" you all but growl.
"Oh come on now, you know how long it's been since I seen a pretty face like yours?" he attempts to flirt with a gross smirk. "Take it as a compliment, sweetheart. Like you don't walk around in those tight little pants hoping every guy here is looking at you," he continues, and you move to walk away from him, but he follows you.
"I mean why else would you be here anyway? Not like a woman can be much help buildin a bridge," he blabbers on. You spot Daryl and instantly start walking toward him. The dumbass hasn't spotted Daryl and continues trailing you. "Hey, hold up! You think you're too good for me bitch?!" he grabs onto your shoulder, and before he has the chance to do anything else, Daryl literally tackles him to the ground like a football player, knocking the wind out of him and banging his skull against the ground.
Daryl gets two good swings in before you grab his shoulder to pull him off. He resists until you call out his name, wrapping your hand tightly around his raised fist. "Daryl!" you shout again, and he finally takes pause. Justin lies limp on the ground underneath Daryl. He grabs him harshly by the collar before saying: "Ya come near her again.. I'll beat yer ass into the ground," Daryl growls viciously before slamming him down as Rick shows up and gets an arm around him before he is able to decides to continue beating the prick to death.
He tries to scramble up as fast as he can as Rick and Aaron struggle to keep between him and Daryl. "Hey! Ya hear that shit! Huh?" Justin shouts and points over Rick's shoulder, trying to rile Daryl up some more.
"Enough!" Rick shouts, but Daryl doesn't stop pacing and stalking back and forth as he glares. Justin stupidly starts talking smack again.
"Unbelievable! Tried to kill me over nothin!" Justin tries to get people on his side. "Fuckin redneck asshole!" he shouts around Rick's shoulder. Before he can get any other insults out at Daryl, you reach up and punch him in the nose. Your hand immediately aches and you grab it instinctually, cursing out in pain. In your distraction, Justin grabs a hold of your shirt and suddenly you are in the middle of no less than four grown men pulling at you. Justin holds onto your shirt for dear life, as if keeping a grip on you will somehow prevent him from getting his ass kicked anymore.
Daryl is literally jumping over Rick to get to you as Rick tries to peel Justin off of you while keeping himself positioned between the two men, and Aaron tries to help hold Daryl back. By now a huge crowd has formed and everyone is egging each other on. "Enough!" Rick shouts again as he finally releases you from Justin's grip. "I said enough!" He hollers viciously as Daryl continues shoving his way through the men.
"Daryl!" you shout, finally halting him. He takes pause and notices your stretched out shirt hanging down low on your chest. He grabs your wrist, glancing at your knuckles and then peels his vest off of his back and swiftly pulls it over your shoulders, buttoning it in the front for you to cover you up a little better.
"Everyone get back to work! Now!" Rick hollers, guiding you and Daryl away from the crowd. "What the hell was that?!" he growls under his breath once you guys are far enough away.
"That asshole had it coming! This was neva gonna work Rick! Ya hear the shit he was sayin? He put his fuckin hands on 'er!" Daryl begins shouting again.
"Hey, hey!" Rick puts his hand up and you take Daryl's bicep. "You trying to kill the guy in front of everyone solves nothing, Daryl. You just stirred everything up!" He scolds.
"I'on care! He had it comin!" Daryl huffs.
"And you," Rick turns to you. "Not any better. Are you guys trying to make sure this doesn't work?" he scolds you guys like children.
"Hey," Daryl glares at Rick, pointing at him. "Leave 'er outta it. That prick should die for touchin 'er." Daryl warns Rick, who raises a brow at his friend. Rick puts his left hand up and his right on his hip, tilting his head and huffing.
"Daryl," he starts, trying to deescalate. "Alright, why don't you two go work on the logs, huh? Go cool off..." Rick sighs like a disappointed parent. Daryl wastes no time in grabbing your arm and quickly but gently leading you away to grab your stuff and head off to work on the logs.
Once you're out of earshot, outside of the cabin, Daryl stops and turns to face you. "Ya okay?" he asks, looking you up and down. You chuckle at his worry.
"I'm fine. Just stretched out my shirt," you respond, glancing down at your chest, which is covered by Daryl's vest.
"I'll getcha some new shirts. Go on a run tomorrow," Daryl mutters, grabbing your hand and inspecting your knuckles. "Shouldn't have hit him, don't want ya gettin' hurt," he continues, rubbing your knuckles with his calloused thumb.
"Asshole had it coming," you respond with a shrug. Daryl chuckles lightly and grins proudly.
"That's m' girl," he touches your chin. "Ya should head back for the day."
"Hell no. I just got here. I'm not leaving 'cuz of him," you state firmly. Daryl looks at you for a long moment, nibbling on his bottom lip before nodding in agreement.
"A'right, but stay with me," he starts leading the way toward the area of the woods where they are taking down trees for the bridge.
~
The rest of the day is pretty uneventful. You and Daryl spent a few hours helping with the logs, loading them up onto the trucks and whatnot. By the time the sun had gone down, your whole body was on fire. You'd definitely be feeling it in the morning.
You hadn't seen Justin since the incident in the afternoon, and you kept near Daryl for the most part, like he asked. The two of you were heading back through the woods, past the cabin and campsite, right when he happened to come out. Rick and Carol were right there talking to one another, and Rick made stern eye contact with Daryl from where he stood a few yards away. Daryl stood on your left as you continued to walk, his body shielding you from Justin.
The two men made intense eye contact as they passed one another, but neither spoke. Just when you thought you were in the clear... You hear: "Better keep your dog on a tighter leash!" Both you and Daryl whip around and spot Justin shouting at Rick as he is slowly walking away. "Damn near killed me for nothin," he continues stupidly.
You grab onto Daryl's bicep and Rick is instantly approaching Justin, his glare on Daryl, anticipating another fight - which seems to be exactly what the savior wants.
"Daryl don't," you try to stop him but he shrugs out of your grasp and strides over.
"Daryl," Rick warns, and Justin puffs his chest, anticipating his attack. Instead, Daryl stops two yards away from where Rick was standing near Justin.
"Listen up. Real good." Daryl points a finger at Justin. "Ya come near her again. Touch her. Talk to her. Hell. Ya look at her sideways," Daryl continues in a calm but dangerous tone. "Stitches won't fix what I do t' ya." It's not a threat, it's a promise. You cautiously take Daryl's bicep again, tugging him lightly to get him to back off, and when neither Justin nor Rick say anything, Daryl allows you to guide him away.
"I love you," you mutter up at Daryl once you are plenty out of earshot, taking his hand and interlocking your fingers as he leads the way toward the awaiting horses and other members of Alexandria to head home for the night. He squeezes your hand and smiles softly in return, silently saying it back.
