#daddydixon

“You know Daryl’s gon’ kill me right?” Maggie says looking at you as you struggle to keep your head up.

“No he won’t, if this doesn’t kill me he’ll kill me for coming in here.” You try to joke but as you laugh you cough up blood.

Daryl should have been back yesterday… You don’t have much longer. You came down with symptoms the day before, you hoped it wouldn’t get this bad this quick. Now you and Sasha can barely stay alive. Hershel goes to the sound of commotion as you fall into a coughing fit, gasping for breath. All you can think of is Lizzie, Mika, and Daryl as you collapse completely. Hearing the door open you try to see what is happening but before you can see you fall to the floor and begin to seize. Maggie hovers over you and Hershel slides a tube down your throat. That’s the last thing you remember before blacking out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Daryl’s Perspective (set start the Same time as events from above)

y/n is alright, you have to keep thinking that she’ll be perfectly fine when I get home. She needs to be.

“ Can ya drive any fuckin’ slower?” you snap.

No one says a thing to you, knowing that the days’ events put you on edge. Knowing that y/n is there makes your heart race. She’s strong, but if anything ever happened to her… You can’t think like that. Y/n is strong, anything thrown her way she’ll handle. The ride to the prison felt like it took days. 

“Y/n is okay… You don’t have to worry about her.” Bob says to you putting his hand on your shoulder. 

You ignore him and sit forwards, she’ll be okay. No thanks to him.

Pulling up you see Carl running to open the gate for you, almost hopping out of the car before it even stops. You hear banging coming from the death row and you break into a sprint going towards the noise. As you arrive you you see Maggie trying to open the door. Looking in you see why, chaos… One of the patients must’ve turned before Hershel could get to them. Finally making it in you begin clearing the room. Maggie sprints up the stairs and fear hits you like a freight train, just moments after you begin to clear the room you hear Maggie.

“ Daddy!!! Daryl! Rick! I need help!” She screams fear coating each word. 

You run over to her and see y/n on the ground slightly seizing and not taking in any breath. Almost frozen in place at the top of the stairs you watch as Hershel shoves a tube down her throat. Her eyes roll back and she goes limp laying on her side on the cold concrete. Your breath gets caught in your chest as you wait to see hers rise and fall. Finally, as if by magic, you see her chest move. Seeing that lit a fire under your ass and you briskly walk over to her. You kneel next to her and take her hand in yours, watching the color come back to her face. 

“ I can watch her for a bit.” You say to Hershel and Maggie secretly wanting some time alone with this gorgeous being.

“ Okay! Could you maybe bring her to the perch? I want her somewhere that she is in view of someone at all times. I know that’s your spot but..” She asks you looking back to y/n 

“ Of course I can, she can sleep there ill bring some extra blankets and make a spot for me on the floor.” You say cutting Maggie off

“ You and I both know she’d rather you be in that bed with her. Don’t worry, y’alls secret is safe with me.” She nudges you and smiles as she turns away.

As soon as she can’t see you anymore you run over to y/n and scoop her up. Her body lay limp in your arms, the feeling almost made you cry. For the next few hours, you wouldn’t go more than a few minutes without checking her pulse. 

“ Please… Come back to me” You whisper as you lay down next to her and kiss her forehead.

As morning came Maggie took over for you so you could get some food. Just as you are walking back to the cell block you hear maggie.

“ Daryl! Rick!” Maggie yells with no urgency to her voice.

“ What happened!? Is y/n alright???” You yell back as you sprint into the room with Rick at your heels.

“ I’m just fine” y/n’s voice rings out through the air, soft, and weak, but there.

You and Rick immediately go to her as she continues waking up more. She grabs your hand and starts to speak.

“ Hey… If this walker bullshit ever stops I need y’all to promise me something.” She says looking between you and Rick

Gripping her hand tighter you nod your head, gazing to her with a serious expression.

“ Never let me gamble. I’m about as lucky as a broken mirror.” She says smiling slightly and letting out a chuckle before coughing a bit.

“ Welcome back kiddo, and don’t worry we’ll make sure you never gamble.” Rick says laughing and placing a quick kiss on her forehead before walking away.

Looking into y/n’s eyes all you can think is one thing, “you came back to me”.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

y/n’s perspective.

Not much more than a day passes and you feel awful, but you need to get up and continue training with Daryl. You start to get up as you hear Daryl walking up to the perch.

“ Hey… I needa talk to you ‘bout somethin’.” Daryl walks up to you looking a bit nervous.

“ What is it?” You ask him, looking worried

“ y/n, I…” He gets cut off by the sound of large vehicles driving up to the fence.

Limping out you meet Maggie and Beth at the fence. Maggie hands you a gun and your arms ache just from holding it up. You watch as Rick and the governor talk. You begin to feel dizzy and you see Daryl’s eyes are still locked onto you. Turning back towards Rick you see the governor raise his sword and bring it down into Hershel’s neck. You are holding down the trigger before you even realize what you’re doing. Looking back over you see Daryl is gone. You let your anger and sadness fly out through the bullets. You feel all the loss come flooding back to you and let out a blood-curdling scream. The weight of 20 worlds were on you at that moment. As you run out of bullets you slowly make your way away from the fence along with everyone else. 

“ Daryl!” You scream out in tears. You can’t lose him again. 

“ Loverboy ain’t comin.” A man says as he and multiple others unload full ammo clips at you.

You jump and hide behind pallets near you, curling in a ball and just accepting the end. You hear a few quiet shots and then all gunfire ceases. Relief washes over you like a wave. Slowly poking your head up you see Lizzie, Mika, Judith, and Tyrese. You jump up and shuffle to them. 

“ It’s time to go.” Tyrese says taking your hand and helping you along.

“ Did you see Daryl?!” You question as you attempt to keep up with his pace. Your lungs burning, legs wanting to give out, and your mind swimming.

Tyrese doesn’t respond, he just keeps dragging you along by your hand.

Walking through the woods you begin to feel light-headed, you collapse and scoot up against a tree. You know that the girls need to go and Tyreese needs to make sure they are safe.

“ Just leave..” You are cut off by screaming coming from a little ways away. Tyreese hands you a gun and tells the girls to stay with you.

He hands you Judith and runs off. Sitting there defenseless you see Lizzie and Mika stand back to back until the rustling started. Dread crept up your back like a cold chill. Moving as much as you could you got up and started to shoot at them. Too many. Then, like an angel, Carol comes out of nowhere and kills the walkers. Helping you up she puts one arm under you, handing Judith to Lizzie. You walk to go find Tyrese. Your body is weak, frail, barely recovered from nearly dying. Twice now...

After walking for what felt like forever you see a house in the distance, you sit with the girls as Carol and Tyrese go in to clear it. Feeling useless you can’t help but get into your thoughts. You took on the responsibility of a mother, now how can you protect them if you can barely protect yourself. You walk in and go upstairs, finding the first bed you can see and throwing yourself onto it. Dust flies around you and you cough a bit. After getting most of the dust off you lay back down and cover yourself in the blankets. The sleep you got that night was restless, it didn’t feel natural. Not after sleeping next to Daryl the night before. Daryl… You feel a lump form in your throat as you think about him. Did he make it out? Did he stay and look for you? You hope and pray he is safe, and with the group. Waking up the next day you hear laughing from outside. Wiping the sleep from your eyes you look out the window and see Lizzie being chased by a walker. Bolting out of bed you run downstairs to see Carol already outside. Mika walks up and hugs you while looking to her sister with slight fear. You ache for her, needing to be her big sisters’ protector. 

“We should live here!” Mika says excitedly showing you her new doll she found.

We should… You know that and so does Carol and Tyrese, but knowing the rest of the group, they’d head to the sanctuary that you saw maps for. Daryl would head there. 

The next day you go with the other adults to get water. As you walk back up to the house you see Lizzie and start smiling. That’s your little girl now. You’ll raise her right. 

That’s what you would’ve thought if when you approached she hadn’t turned to reveal a knife and blood-soaked hands. Looking past her you see Mika, before you could get over to her Carol brings Lizzie inside. You get to Mika as quickly as possible and sob as you lift her to your chest. Without thinking you slip the hunting knife Daryl gave you out of your pocket and into her skull. Then you just drop it and sit with her to your chest getting covered with blood. After some deliberation, Carol decides it’s best to kill Lizzie. She is a threat. So almost as fast as motherhood came, it went. You head to terminus the next morning, still struggling to walk. All you can think about is getting to see the group again, they’ll be there. Daryl…. Please come back to me…

A long time has passed since Woodbury, you still hurt but find time to start healing a little more each day. This place has begun to thrive, raising pigs, planting crops, and having a community. The night you had with Daryl almost seems like a dream at this point, you don’t let him get close. You can’t. You lost daddy, momma, Tia… You can’t love anyone, you can’t handle it. You wake up to a gunshot ringing out from the other side of the prison. ‘Shit’...

“Daryl! Rick!?” You scream sprinting down the hallway towards cell block D

As you run closer you hear shots and screaming ringing through the halls, opening the door you see walkers. Your friends. Your family. You go straight to clearing it. As you frantically scan the area with your back against the wall, one final walker pins you against the wall.

“ Shit… Fuck.” you mutter to yourself as you have your knife knocked from you. Your arms start to get weaker as you fight for your life.

“ Drop!” you hear Daryl’s gruff voice yell. 

You drop and not even 2 seconds later Daryl shoots an arrow into the walker. It collapses on you as you lay on the floor panting.

“ I totally had that.” You say “smiling” trying to make light of this terrifying situation. 

“ get up.” He says with slight panic in his voice.

You stand up and he starts checking every inch of you for bites or scratches, when he felt like he checked you well enough he pulled you into a bear hug and squeezed you tight. You both stood there for a moment thankful for each others’ safety. Until you hear your name from the bottom cells.

“ Y/n!! Come quick!” You hear carol yell. You break from Daryls’ grip but he grabs your hand and turns you towards him again.

“Be safe… please” Daryl’s eyes glaze over with worry.

You run down the stairs to Carol’s voice, stopping in your tracks as you see her looking at Ryan’s back and seeing a bite mark. 

“ y/n, I need you to go get Mika and Lizzie for me.” She looks at you with fearful eyes.

“ Wait! Wait… y/n.” Ryan tries to sit up while begging you to wait.

You turn around and see tears streaming down his face, he is aware this is the end. So are you.

“ Will you please take care of my girls… You and Carol are good with kids, I’ve seen y’all.” He pleads looking into your eyes.

“ Of course, I’ll treat ‘em as my own.” You assure him as you turn to walk out the door hearing a faint “thank you” slip his lips.

After grabbing the girls you walk in and Ryan isn’t looking good, sweat and tears mix as they race down his face. He puts on a front for the girls but you see the pain in his eyes.

“ Girls… Be good for Carol and y/n. Listen to everything they say… Do that for me.” Ryan chokes out while hugging the girls. You lead them out of the room as Carol takes care of him.

As they cling to you, you feel eyes on you. Looking up you see Daryl with sympathy in his eyes. Picking up Mika you bring her into a big hug and promise to be there for her forever.

“Girls. Go with carol for a bit, I’m going to go sit in my room for a bit.” Giving them a kiss on the cheek they walk off hand in hand.

That night was sleepless, worrying about how your life is going to be having “daughters” now. You swear to protect them with your life, as long as you shall live. The next morning Daryl knocks on the wall outside of your cell.

“ Hey y/n, there’s an issue. We need you.” There’s a seriousness in his voice that you can’t quite put.

You go with Carol, Rick, and Daryl outside. Before you even walk out the door you smell something you know too well, burned flesh. Tyreese is out there waiting for you. As he starts raging about what went on, Rick attempts to calm him down and Tyreese punches him. Daryl pulls him off and gets pinned against the bars.

“ Tyreese!! Please stop… I’m sorry about what happened but we’ll find out what happened.” You softly speak to him, as you put your hand on his shoulder he swings his elbow back hitting you in the nose and eye.

Rick immediately tackled him and started beating on him while you lay on the ground. Daryl helps you up and you walk away cursing to yourself. You go to your cell and hang your head into your hands.

Letting yourself cry after weeks, it all comes flowing. Daddy, Tia, Momma, Merle… Death is all around you, as much as you hated Merle for what he did, he was Daryls’ brother and his love for Daryl got him killed. As you sob you lay down and just feel the weight of the world press on you. Unknown to you Daryl was sitting outside of your door, wanting to just walk in and hold you. Keeping his feelings for you on the down-low is tiring. He hears you get up and walks away. You walk out after wiping your face, and go to take a shower. You let everyone know so they don’t walk in. Stripping down you wait for the water to warm up. You hear a cough behind you.

“ Can I join?” Daryl’s voice is soft behind you but you still jump.

“ Of course.” You quietly say trying not to continue crying in front of him.

He strips and steps in pressing his torso into your back and wrapping his arms around you and holding you to him. You melt under the pressure of his big arms, you lay your head back on his chest letting the water hit your face. He grabs the shampoo and starts to massage it into your hair as you enjoy this new side of him, he’s gentle, sweet, loving. You turn towards him to rinse your hair and you see his eyes, not wondering about your body. They are locked on your face, with pure admiration. A smile creeps on your face and a tear slips out, hidden by the water. He brings his face to yours and just when you thought he was going to kiss you, he lightly rubs his nose against yours. You finish rinsing your hair and start cleaning his body while he scrubs the shampoo into his scalp. With his eyes closed you bite your lip looking at the man in front of you, completely naked but you know he didn’t come in here for sex. You are blown away by the intimacy of this, the cleansing of 2 bodies. He presses his body to yours putting the soap from him onto you. You stand there caressing each other’s bodies, memorizing every curve and dip. 

“Daryl I...” you start to speak but he lightly kisses you.

“ Shhh. Let’s just enjoy this.” He whispers as he moves to kiss your forehead gently.

He puts conditioner in his hands and ran it through your hair, getting every strand. You put your arms around his neck and just hold yourself to him feeling his warm skin against yours. Rinsing all the soap off of you, you turn off the shower. Before even registering what is going on he grabs your towel and wraps you up hugging you in your little fuzzy cocoon. As he pulls it over your head and dries your hair like a wet dog you laugh, something you don’t get to do often. You get dressed and begin to go back to your cell, before getting too far Daryl clears his throat.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve been actin’... Y/n you are amazin.” Daryl sheepishly said as his gaze locks onto you.

Daryl walked quite a bit behind you so that no one suspects you two. He slips into your “room” when no one was looking to see you half-asleep on the bed. He sits down and places your head on his lap. Grabbing your brush he started brushing your hair as you slip into sleep. That night you don’t dream about walkers, the look on tia’s face before she died, or even your time at Woodbury. That night you dream of Daryl, years and years later. You are taking care of Lizzie and Mika but also have a baby of your own. You have a house, a dog, a fence, a car, and most of all… You have peace. 

The next day you sleep in, head still hurting from the blow you took from Tyreese. You hear arguing between Daryl and Rick. It sounds heated so you just wait to go to talk to them. 

“ What was that all about.” You ask Daryl with concern splayed on your face.

“ I can’t tell you the details but Carol is gone, she’s not dead but she ain’t coming back.” He tries to sound collected but he speeds through his words.

“ I’m so sorry” You try to hug him but he shakes you off walking away.

Later that day a group goes out to get supplies for Hershel to help everyone. You stay home although Daryl begged you to go with him. You assured him you’d stay safe and keep the girls away from the sickness. You sit for hours and wait, Lizzie starts coughing.

“ Lizzie sweetie… I’m going to bring you to Hershel okay?” You hold her hand and lead her to death row. How fitting….

“ Okay Momma” She stops quickly after saying that.

“ Sorry..” She says looking at the floor.

“ It’s fine. If you feel comfortable calling me that then go right ahead. I don’t mind” You say kissing her on the forehead and handing her off to Hershel.

Going back to Mika you sit on the other side of the door and feel a love you never felt towards anyone… A mothers love. You assure her that you are okay and that Lizzie is fine before walking away to rest. Once you wake you make a decision that could get you killed.

“ Hershel! Hey..” You stand outside the door to death row and get his attention.

“ y/n!? Are you alright?” He asks worried.

“ No, I’ve been coughing and shaking.” You lie but shudder to sell it.

Hershel lets you in and immediately sees through your lie, his eyes drop to the floor.

“ Why?” he asks quietly

“ I know where I need to be.” you say walking in to start rounds.

a/n- I must say… Soft Daryl has my entire heart, I thought y’all would enjoy him being a sweetie pie and me adding the song in. I am actually hella proud of this part, next part holds a LOT of drama.