i hate that when you try and look up shit for writing purposes it starts linking suicide hotlines and addiction advice articles like bro i just wanna know the information im not killing myself i promise. now tell me what i wanna know
pale gold ribbons of sunlight flood the room like warm honey, turning floating dust motes into drifting stars. everything feels blurred around the edges, suspended in that hazy space right between a dream and waking up. daryl is buried under blankets on the mattress, but when his arm sweeps across the sheets and finds your side cold, his eyes blink open, slow and weighted, tracing the quiet until he hears the faint rustle of fabric.
through heavy eyelids, he finds you standing beside the dresser, holding a portable cd player in one hand while the wire from your headphones disappears beneath the collar of his vest. your own clothes are hanging on the clothesline outside, leaving you to steal the first thing you could find. his vest hangs loose on your frame, the worn, cracked leather nearly swallowing you whole against your bare skin and thin cotton underwear. completely oblivious, you fold laundry to a silent melody only you can hear, carrying the cd player with you every time you move across the sun-warmed floorboards, swaying lazily as the leather brushes your thighs. daryl doesn’t move, too content to break the spell, watching through tired squinted eyes.
then, you turn toward the window.
the sunlight catches the back of the vest dead-on, exploding into a bright halo around you. the faded angel wings stitched into the fabric look almost luminous, stretching wide across your bare shoulders. he watches, too tired to move, until the floorboard beneath your foot creaks.
you glance over your shoulder and freeze, suspended in the sunbeam with the cd player loose in your hand. there he is, stretched out beneath the blankets with his dark hair sticking up, squinting with an expression somewhere between amused and completely smitten. heat creeps into your cheeks as you pull one side of the headphones away from your ear.
“what?”
his gaze drops briefly to the vest, to the wings on your shoulders, and then back to you. his morning voice is a low, velvety rasp when it finally cuts through the quiet.
“c’mere, angel.”
you blink. “angel?”
the ghost of a smirk touches his lips, lazy and soft, completely melting the usual tension in his face as he looks at you like you’re the only thing left real in the world.
sorry to be a broken record every month but christ menstruation is a stupid concept. oooooh excuse me for not getting pregnant, why the fuck is there goo falling out of me about it? grow the fuck up and reabsorb that shit for nutrients.
was at the pool today and couldn't stop thinking about daryl bugging you while you're by the poolside because he wants your attention
Everything was good: the sun crashing down onto your skin, no one else around, just you, the sun, and the soft sounds of the pool water moving around. Then, suddenly, the sun was blocked and it was no longer just you.
"Hell are ya doin'?"
You don't even have to open your eyes and move to know that it's Daryl, your boyfriend, blocking the sun from you. "It's a nice day out, just enjoying the sun."
"I was lookin' for you inside." Daryl, as usual, doesn't offer any sort of context as to why.
"I'm here now," you offer, seeing if he would decide to give you any context. When he doesn't, just looks you up and down and looks around the pool, you speak up again, "Wanna go in the pool with me?"
Daryl scoffs and shakes his head, "I ain't playin' in the damn pool. You jus' wanna see me shirtless."
"Who says I can't want both? But if you really won't go in the pool with me, move so I can feel the sun again."
"Oh, so the sun matters more?"
"I could be having both, but someone is being stingy."
As much as Daryl acts like things are corny or not in his comfort zone, he always ends up by your side. In this case, by your side in the pool, shirtless.
thinking about how daryl would choose to show his love for you since he‘s not too big on words of affirmation
daryl would always be on the lookout for things you may like during runs. yeah, he’s making sure he’s staying alert and getting what the group needs, but any trinkets he thinks you’d like are immediately taken with him
daryl would make sure you got the hotter bowl whenever he fetches dinner for you both
daryl would always make sure your guns are clean and unlikely to jam, and make sure your knives aren’t dull
daryl, who doesn’t accept physical affection lightly, would let you run your hands through his hair when it’s not too crowded because your hands don’t make him curl in on himself
daryl who pushes himself out of his comfort zone to be present with you. you’re out gardening? not what he typically does, but he‘ll learn. you’re out teaching the kids something? he‘ll stay close by, taking note of how gentle you are with the kids and how they naturally gravitate towards you
daryl who is so enamored with you that he sometimes forgets why he was so scared to love in the first place
Summary: Daryl Dixon never imagined marriage would mean anything to him after the world ended. Then he found you.
The ring sat in Daryl’s pocket for six straight days.
Six.
Every morning he told himself he was being stupid. Every night he touched the small velvet box hidden inside his jacket and thought about you anyway.
It had happened during a supply run outside Alexandria. It was just like any other day. Just another abandoned house slowly being swallowed by time and nature. Broken windows, collapsed furniture, dust coating every surface.
Daryl had only entered because Aaron wanted canned food from the kitchen cupboards.
Instead, Daryl found the ring upstairs. A tiny velvet box hidden inside a bedside table drawer.
He almost ignored it completely, but then he opened it.
And there it was.
A simple ring with a small diamond that still caught the afternoon sunlight somehow despite years of dust and ruin. Daryl stared at it for a long moment. The old world felt strange sometimes. He found ghosts everywhere.
People who once loved each other enough to promise forever. Most days Daryl thought forever was a dangerous thing to believe in.
Then he thought about you.
About your sleepy smile every morning when he returned from runs. About the way you automatically reached for him. About sitting on the porch together after dark while you rested your head on his shoulder, fingers interwined. About how Alexandria finally felt like home because you were there. And suddenly the thought appeared so naturally it nearly stole the air from him.
Marry her.
Daryl immediately shut the box again.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered to himself.
Yet somehow the ring still ended up in his pocket. The problem was that once the idea existed in his mind, it refused to leave him alone.
By the second day, Carol noticed something was going on with him. Mostly because Daryl kept absentmindedly checking his pocket every five minutes.
“You’re acting weird,” Carol Peletier observed casually while chopping vegetables.
“Ain’t.”
“You nearly walked into a wall earlier.”
Daryl grunted and Carol narrowed her eyes.
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“You’re going to ask her to marry you.”
He looked genuinely horrified.
“Keep your damn voice down!”
Carol gasped dramatically.
“You are!”
“Shut up.”
“You found a ring, didn’t you?”
Daryl stared at her silently, Carol placed a hand over her heart.
“This is the best day of my life.”
“It ain’t even like that.”
“You have carried around that expression for three days straight, Daryl. You look like a frightened raccoon.”
“A what?” He scowled deeply.
“You heard me.”
Carol spent the next several days being completely unbearable. Every time you walked into a room she smirked at Daryl like she knew a secret.
Which she did.
Daryl considered throwing himself off Alexandria’s walls at least twice.
Meanwhile you remained blissfully unaware, mostly because Daryl still acted normal around you.
Well.
Mostly normal.
You noticed the increased staring and the fact he kept opening his mouth like he wanted to say something before changing his mind. One evening while sitting together on the porch outside your house, you finally nudged his shoulder lightly.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Nothin’.”
“You’re terrible at lying.”
“Said I’m fine.”
You studied him carefully, he looked nervous, which almost never happened unless something truly mattered to him. You reached over and took his hand gently.
“You know you can tell me anything, right?”
Daryl’s chest tightened painfully, that was exactly the problem, because he loved you so much it genuinely frightened him sometimes.
That night he barely slept, and by morning he had decided two things.
First, he was absolutely going to ask you.
Second, he might actually die from the anxiety beforehand.
The opportunity arrived unexpectedly later that afternoon, most of Alexandria gathered near the centre of the street helping repair fencing after a recent storm.
You stood nearby sorting tools while laughing at something Glenn said.
And Daryl suddenly thought, If I don’t ask now, I never will.
His heart hammered violently.
“Hey,” he muttered.
You looked over immediately, smiling the second you saw him.
There it is, Daryl thought helplessly.
That damn smile.
“You alright?”
“Yeah.”
He absolutely was not. Daryl rubbed his suddenly sweaty palms against his trousers before glancing around.
Too many people.
Nope.
Absolutely not.
“Can ya come with me a sec?”
You tilted your head curiously but followed him without question, Daryl led you behind one of the quieter houses near the edge of Alexandria where the noise from the others faded into the background.
“What’s wrong?” you asked, worried, you have never seen Daryl like this before. Daryl turned towards you. Then immediately forgot every single sentence he had prepared.
Brilliant.
“Daryl?”
He swallowed hard, his fingers fumbled nervously inside his jacket pocket before pulling out the small velvet box. Your eyes widened instantly.
“Oh.”
Daryl stared firmly at the ground, he was too afraid to look at you in the eyes.
“Found it on a run.”
You looked down at the ring before looking back at him, he was still staring at the ground.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah.”
Daryl’s heart pounded so hard he genuinely thought he might throw up, finally he forced himself to continue but he still couldn’t look at you.
“Been carryin’ it around.”
“Why?”
Daryl finally looked up at you then, his blue eyes were full of something so open and vulnerable it made your chest ache.
“Cause I kept thinkin’ about you.”
Daryl rubbed a hand nervously over the back of his neck.
“Ain’t got some big speech planned or nothin’,” he admitted roughly. “Don’t really know how ta do this right.”
“You’re doing fine,” you whispered, he laughed a little under his breath.
“Nah. Prob’ly not.” Then his expression turned serious again. “But I know I wanna wake up next ta you every day I got left.”
Tears immediately filled your eyes Daryl stepped closer.
“Know the world’s all messed up now. Maybe rings don’t mean much anymore.”
“They do,” you whispered shakily as his thumb brushed nervously against the edge of the box.
“You make this place feel good.” His voice cracked slightly. “Make me feel good.”
Your heart completely melted.
“And I…” He exhaled shakily. “Hell.”
“Take your time.” You smiled, you could only imagine how difficult this was for him. He was never a man of many words. Daryl looked at you with so much love it nearly hurt.
“Will you be my wife?”
Silence.
Daryl’s entire body tensed immediately. Then you started crying, his eyes widened in panic.
“Oh God. Was that bad?”
“No!” You laughed through your tears instantly.
“You cryin’ seemed bad!”
You grabbed his jacket quickly before he could spiral further.
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes!”
Relief hit his face so hard it almost looked painful, you were sure a huge weight fell off his shoulders just then.
“Oh thank Christ.”
You burst into laughter while he shakily slid the ring onto your finger. It fit surprisingly well.
“There,” Daryl muttered softly, staring down at your hand like he could not believe it. “Mine.”
Your entire chest warmed.
“Your wife,” you corrected gently.
Daryl looked absolutely wrecked emotionally by those words.
Then he kissed you, with overwhelmingly tenderness.
One hand cradled your face while the other settled firmly against your waist like he needed to keep you close.
When you finally pulled apart, both of you were smiling helplessly. Unfortunately, neither of you realised Carol had followed him.
“Oh my God!”
You jumped, Daryl groaned. Carol stood nearby looking ready to explode with excitement.
“I knew it! I knew it!”
“You were spying on us?!” Daryl snapped.
“Yes,” Carol replied easily. “And I regret nothing, that was so cute.”
Then she spotted the ring on your hand and immediately screamed loud enough to alert half of Alexandria. Within seconds, people started appearing around the corner.
Glenn looked delighted, Maggie gasped happily, Rick blinked once before grinning.
The entire street erupted into celebration, yet through all the noise, Daryl only looked at you. Still staring at the ring on your finger like he could barely believe this was real.
“You happy?” you whispered, Daryl looked back up immediately, then he cupped your face gently.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Got everythin’ I ever wanted.”
janainaart
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
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