Daryl/Reader (TWD)
You had been with Rick's group for three months now but you still didn't really get along with anyone. Sure, they were all nice, but you learned not to get attached to anyone anymore. Either they end up dead, or they became walkers. So, you left all emotional attachment alone, or at least tried to. But as hard as you tried, you couldn't help but notice Daryl. You wanted to know what his deal was. He too had no emotional attachment to anyone. He had a brother, but from what you had been told, said brother had been left handcuffed to a roof in Atlanta. They went back but he was gone. Turns out he cut off his own hand to escape the cuffs. Now Daryl hardly talked to anyone. The one thing that he did do, though, was let you come hunting with him because you were an experienced hunter and tracker.
You were stalking a huge buck, waiting for the right time to take it out. You silently moved across the ground with precise steps. You were almost quieter than Daryl who apparently made no noise at all. As the buck stopped, Daryl motioned for you to stop and you obeyed. You watched intrigued as Daryl silently loaded his crossbow. One of these days he'd have to show you how to use it. He took aim and just as he was about to take the winning shot, the buck's head shot up. That's when you heard the bushes rustle. The buck took off as a dozen walkers came lumbering out of the bushes.
"Shit," Daryl said and turned to run as you grabbed his arm.
"We can't just leave them here, they'll come to camp!" You whispered fiercely. He gave you a look of annoyance and continued to walk away. "There's kids!" When you said this, he turned around and glared at you, but motioned for you to go left. You nodded gratefully and snuck around the group of walkers. They hadn't detected you, but they would soon. As you get into position, you saw Daryl opposite of you and motioned for you to shoot. You silently took an arrow out of your quiver and notched it onto the bow string. You pulled the bow back and waited for the perfect moment. One walker walked in front of another as you let your arrow fly. It flew through both heads and into a tree next to Daryl. By now, Daryl shot his bow and you took out another arrow. You let it fly as a walker came at you. You loaded again and took out another one. So far, you and Daryl had killed 7 walkers and there were 5 left. Daryl advanced on them as you kept taking them out with your arrows. Daryl was taking on the last two when you felt hands grab your shoulder and pull you back. You dropped your bow as you fell and looked up to see a walker looming above you. You pulled out your knife, but when the walker fell to his knees, he knocked it out of your hand. The walker was on top of you now and you had nothing to defend yourself. You put your hands up to push him off, but the walker had pinned you left arm down and was trying to take a bite out of your right arm. By now, you were panicking. You could feel his teeth scrape against your sleeve as it tried to bite you.
"DARYL!" You screamed. You could feel the walker's jaw start to clench on your arm and you knew it was over. "DARYL!" You screamed again now in hysteria. You closed your eyes and felt something collapse on you. You opened your eyes to see the walker on top of you with one of Daryl's arrows sticking out of its head. Daryl rolled the body off of you.
"Oh god, it bit me didn't it." You said hyperventilating and crying at the same time. "I'm dead." You cried as Daryl came and crouched beside you. He pulled up you sleeve to reveal no bite.
"Hey, yer okay." He said showing you that there were no bite marks on your arm. You felt relieved, but you still cried, which was embarrassing. It was all too much for you to handle right now. You put your arm over your face as you cried. You could tell that Daryl was uncomfortable and tried to stop.
"Just leave and I'll die of embarrassment instead." You said and tried to laugh, which turned into more crying.
"(Y/N), -" Daryl said trying to figure out what would make you feel better. You took a deep breath and wiped your eyes.
"It's okay, I'm fine." When you said that he snorted and you shot him a glare from your puffy red eyes. You stood up and looked at the walker that had almost gotten you.
"Dumb ass." You said and you kicked it which got a grin out of Daryl. You went and pulled out the arrow that had gotten stuck in the tree and turned around to see Daryl right behind you. You were surprised and stumbled backward, but he caught you. Now, you were so close, you could feel his warm breath on your face. You stared his blue eyes as they drew you closer, so close that your lips were almost touching. You were so lost in his eyes, that you almost forgot your number one rule, not emotional attachments. You pulled back abruptly and turned away. You took a deep breath and realized that that was the closest you'd been to a guy in a long time, and it felt, well, good. But did you really wanna do this? So many things could go wrong, yet so many things could go right too. You turned back to see Daryl stalking away. You missed your chance.
"Damn it." You whispered under your breath. You followed Daryl back to the camp and watched as he walked off to his tent, which was far away from the rest of the camp. You had mixed feeling about him. You knew that he could protect you, but you hated to rely on others. They always let you down. But your body yearned for physical touch. You needed to feel the closeness again. You sat down and put your head in your hands.
"Daryl seems pissed." You heard someone say. You looked up to see Dale standing in front of you.
"Yeah, we lost a big buck." You said which was half true.
"Mmm. Are you sure that’s all that he's mad about?" Dale replied. You looked up to see mischief in his eyes.
"No. That's not gonna happen." You spoke. "He just tolerates me, that's all."
"I think he more than tolerates you," Dale said and you rolled your eyes. "I'm just saying." With that, he was gone. You sighed and got up and made your way over to Daryl's tent. You were going to stop, but you chickened out and kept walking towards a small pond. You sat down and thought about putting your trust in him. You couldn't. Not after Colby.
Colby had been your best friend since you were in diapers. You had done everything together. But, when the shit hit the fan, he changed. When you were surrounded by walkers, he left you there to fend for yourself. He had run. You had to take on all those walkers alone, and you did, but you never saw Colby again. That's why you couldn't trust him. He would turn out like Colby and you knew it.
You had sat beside the pond till the sun started to go down thinking about what you should do.
"I can protect you." You heard from behind you. You turned to see none other than Daryl. You studied all of his features and noticed how handsome he actually was. This was not good.
"I can't." You said. "I've had my trust betrayed one too many times." You said quietly and looked away. If you kept looking at him, you wouldn't be able to control yourself.
"You can trust me." He said and took a step closer and you stood up. You didn't face him, but you could feel how close he was. The heat radiating off his body, but you wouldn't turn around. You stood firm, or so you thought. But you were actually slowly leaning backward, waiting to feel the physical contact and finally, you did. His warm chest pressed up against your back as he pulled you close and kissed your neck. You leaned your head sideways as he kissed where your shoulder and neck connected. He pulled away and you turned around abruptly. In your moment of clarity, you asked,
"Promise me I can trust you." Daryl looked into your (E/C) eyes and said,
"I promise." As soon as he said those words, your lips crashed into his and that clarity was gone, replaced by the raw need of contact. You pulled yourself as close to him as you could as he kissed you roughly. As you kissed, you slowly stumbled towards Daryl's tent. By the time you were halfway there, your hands had moved to his abdomen and were exploring underneath his shirt.
Finally, you reached the tent and Daryl pulled away to open the tent and shove you in. You laid down on the makeshift mattress and took a deep breath. You didn't want to go this fast, but you were scared that Daryl would throw you out if you didn't go that far. You heard the zipper zip shut and Daryl laid down beside you.
"Daryl I-"
"I know." He said and took off his shirt and pants. He dug around and found a clean shirt and gave it to you. You stripped and threw the shirt over your head. He wasn't going to force you to do and anything you weren't comfortable with, which was nice. You laid back down and he motioned for you to come closer. You snuggled up to him and he threw a blanket over top of you both. By now, the stress of the day had gotten to you and your eyes got heavy. The last thing you heard before you drifted off to sleep was,
"You can trust me (Y/N), I promise."