@twdgdeadmanwalking from X
He set down his wrench and wiped his hands clean. There was obviously something wrong. While he wasn't aware of exactly what, he knew that look. And that tone. Clem was going through it.
"Hey, clem," he started gently, tossing the rag next the his bike. He shifted to face her. "Ya know anything ya gotta say, you can say ta me, right? We all go through it. Ain't no reason for ya ta keep it bottled up."
Advice once similarly given to him by Carol. He had been an expert of shutting everyone out when all this started. And his skills only grew from there. It wasn't until he'd found his family, and Carol, that he felt safe enough to talk to anyone other than himself.
He was willing to pay the favor forward if Clementine would let him.
"Trust me. It only makes things worse. Why don't'cha tell me what's goin' on?"
"F'anybody deserves 'em it's you," he assured her.
But he knew how she felt. It took him a long time to accept that even he was due a win from time to time. No matter how small. Like Clem had with her two cookies. She deserved every bit of it. Her and AJ.
His joy for her was dampened with the inquiry of Sophia. Even though he had been the one to bring her up, he hadn't expected to actually talk about her. He sometimes forgot Clem hadn't been with them in the early days and just expected her to know the story like everyone else left to know.
"She, uh, she was great. Jus' like you," he told her with a small chuckle and a sad smile. "She had a good heart and Carol always liked to say she didn't have a mean bone in her body. N'I agree with her on tha'. Can't say I remember her any other way than happy n'playing with tha other kids," he told her, although he omitted the times her p.o.s. father was around and she was forced into silence and isolation.
It was difficult for Daryl to talk about Sophia in more than passing. The image of a distraught Carol in his arms as she tried to get to her undead daughter at Hershel's farm was one he'd tried hard to forget. He still blamed himself for not finding her sooner, his daily search efforts failing daily.
"Walkers got her," he said simply over her death, though a grimace of regret flashed through his features. "She'd be 'bout Carl's age now," he added.
Her eyes downcast she couldn't help but think that it wasn't true that she and Sophia were alike. She stood in silence fidgeting with her arm, her suspicion all but confirmed.
"I'm not as nice as Sophia," she barely whispered, "I wouldn't be here otherwise," her eyes welling up. It had been a long time coming, as she hadn't thought back to the start of it all for so long.
"I almost didn't make it," she said softly, hugging herself tightly, trembling slightly. She took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally.
"I lost everything in 10 minutes, my mom, my dad," squeezing her eyes shut for a moment she breathed, "Lee," she took a moment to process it all in her mind.
"I shot him, then I was all alone," taking another breath, "the rest is a blur, I walked through dozens of walkers, I don't even know how," she paused.
"I got to the edge of town and into the fields, and found a log to sit on," her eyes all but streaming now, "if they hadn't appeared id be gone too," she choked.
"I had 1 bullet left, I was looking at it, and im so glad Omid and Christa turned up," her face contorted fully ashamed of the thought she had had.
"I just hope Sophia wasn't in as much pain as I was," she said a small smile on her face, "I'd have liked to have met her," she added trying to claw back her sanity.
"Sorry," she said, feeling bad for venting her feelings, "its just it was around this time when it happened and I'm not coping well this time."
"Tell me more about Sophia or Carol, I'd like to know her a bit better," she asked curios about Daryl's friend, noting his sadness to Sophia's death.
