#s404 writes

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Being raised by Daryl Dixon masterlist!! Being raised by Daryl Dixon taglist!!

A/N: this is just a little freestyle thing (idk if you can even call it a fic) i wrote. easing back into writing and i've been wanting to make a post like this for a while! hope you enjoy, mwah mwah <3333

-S404

note-able that y/n is the same age as carl. y/n is more feminine, although i believe it is easy enough to brush off if needed.

word count: 1k-ish

At the start, Daryl was just another member of the group, if it weren't for his temper and tendency to separate himself from the bunch, you probably would have been too caught up in everything else to notice him.

You were interested in what business he had being around the group, he didn't fit in whatsoever. Occasionally, Shane or Rick would catch you staring at him curiously, they'd redirect you every time, they didn't want you bothering him.

After getting over the hurt of losing his brother, Daryl started to involve himself in the group and became helpful. At some point he began noticing you.

You'd been orphaned shortly after the beginning of the apocalypse, both parents dying on the highway into Atlanta. If it weren't for Carol a few cars behind, immediately taking you in with her family (much to Ed's dismay), you would have died there too.

After learning that information, as well as of the hesitance of the others to take you under their wing, Daryl constantly kept an eye out for you from a distance.

It first happened around the campfire at dinnertime. He'd notice you weren't sitting with the kids, and would be quick to appear at your side. He'd look at you, decide you were getting too thin, and shovel half his food onto your plate most nights. Of course, making sure no one was looking at his display of affection first before taking action.

Still, he never spoke a word to you, and wouldn't be caught tending to you if there were others observing, he couldn't let himself be seen as weak, or 'motherly' as Merle would call him if he was there to see.

Daryl didn't know how to care for a child, that was apparent. He'd watch Carol during the day, and see how she loved you and made you smile. He took serious mental notes.

He got better as time went on, asking "How're ya doin' kiddo?" frequently, and letting it be known to the rest of the group that this kid was his. You tried to hug him a couple of times, but his still stature made it clear this wasn't something he was open to.

At the CDC you saw him happy, he was laughing and conversing with the rest of the group, cracking jokes and getting along with people. It was definitely a sight.

At dinner one night, Rick let Carl try some wine, afterwards you looked straight over at Daryl and he said "No way in hell," to which everyone laughed. He never said anything, but that moment was special to him, he knew he had won you over after that, you had looked to him for approval first in that moment, even though it was over something so trivial.

Daryl was furious at Dr Jenner after he revealed the CDC was going to self-destruct, not because he was betrayed, but because you were. Shane had to restrain him from punching the Dr square in the face.

Everyone grew bleak after the CDC, especially after Sophia went missing. You lost Daryl for a while there, he was gone all day and even nights sometimes, searching for her. You spent all your time with Lori, sitting with Carl, you two had grown close.

One night after returning to the highway, Daryl noticed you waiting on top of the RV with Carol, it took him a while to realise you had been waiting for him. It clocked to him how absent he'd been. He came back with a stuffed bear for you the next day.

After Carl got shot, a lot changed. No one had attention to give you, except for Carol. So far she had acted as a maternal figure to you, her presence brought you comfort whilst Daryl was gone, you knew he trusted her. She was projecting her lost daughter to some extent, and you were aware of that, but you let her braid your hair and tuck you in at night anyways.

A few days into your stay at the farm, you were reading a book next to Carol when Maggie came over to introduce herself. She thought you were Carol's daughter, which stung for both parties. Later that night whilst looking for Daryl, you stumbled across Carol crying to him about the earlier exchange.

You watched Sophia stumble out of the barn, you were in the back of the crowd. Everyone fell silent, frozen, some cried, you just stood there. You weren't exactly close with Sophia, but it felt more real than any death you'd experienced thus far. Daryl had to restrain Carol for several minutes, although after the first the hold seemed like more of an embrace.

Eventually, after everyone else had left the scene, you walked up to the pair who remained. Daryl, upon seeing you, moved closer, he held you in his arms for the first time and did not let go. In that moment, he swore to never let you meet that kind of fate.

You watched him blame himself for Sophia's death for months. You'd stay awake some nights and eavesdrop on him and Carol talking. He'd be talking to her about everything that had happened, and without prompting, she'd periodically tell him it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't have prevented it, and that she didn't blame him. He hated that it worked.

On the night the barn burnt down, you had been playing cards with Glenn, you left in a car with him and Maggie. He drove as Maggie held you in the backseat, you were weeping, scared of the uncertainty in the group's survival.

Your group was the last to make it to the highway, everyone was relieved instantly after your arrival. Although you had all mostly made it to this checkpoint safe, the group had to deal with the question, where to next?

~

Summary: Alden and Carl are both apprenticing as blacksmiths at Earl's shop in Hilltop, finding comfort in staying late and working on their own projects, bonding over not much else, except Enid.

Notes: Kinda jumbling around the timeline here. Post-whisperer era, Alnid exists

Word Count: 620

A/N: this is just a little imagine type piece i wrote, if this is well-recieved i might write more in this format, it was really enjoyable to write with no real end goal, but rather to play around with a scenario. -404 ~

They'd stayed late again, Earl had left many hours beforehand, and neither of the boys knew what time it was. On nights like these, Alden was usually the first of the pair to depart, leaving Carl to potter around alone for however long he wished. But tonight, they wrapped up around the same time. They usually kept to themselves in this setting, working alongside each other but never questioning what the other was doing. That's not to say they weren't friends, they got along excellently in a social setting, but they mutually understood the boundaries set at work. They both used the place as somewhere to unload and mindlessly do the job they enjoyed, conversation would make it redundant.

A routine had been established, they had their own space, their own equipment, and the handful of phrases that were acceptable to use during a late-night session. Alden would work at the storefront, tinkering with pieces of scrap metal, Carl would stay out back, enclosed in a corner, usually sitting on a bench doing a task secretively. They'd cross paths to remove their tools from the shelf which they all resided, but apart from that there was no physical indication the other was in the shop, only the knowing reassurance that they just were.

Alden was usually the one to initiate the nightly, short-lived small talk, only when Carl was in his physical presence. "Stayin' late tonight?" "Think so, you?" "Yeah, got stuff to do." "Work? Or a project?" "Project, seeing what kind of rings and stuff I can make with that scrap metal Earl left." "Oh, that's cool. For Enid?" "Yeah, she says the rings she steals from the dead hardly ever fit her, I told her she'd have more success taking a less morbid approach to jewellery shopping, but she insists it'd feel immoral to get them from an old world shop. Hopefully she'll let me give her some fitting, handmade ones." "God, I can just hear her saying that. She does it with their pockets too! She'll clear them out and find something she likes, get so excited, and act so stunned that she found it, like she's the luckiest person alive! As if she couldn't have just raided any old house and found ten of the same thing."

They'd both laugh.

After an exchange like that, Carl would wish him luck, Alden would tell him not to stay too late that night. By the time the last sentence was finished, they'd both be out of sight.

~

Although they were decently close, they both got a majority of their information about each other through Enid. She'd tell Alden how awesome Carl was, she'd talk to Alden every time she got back from reading comics in the forest with him, telling him how it was nice to have a friend like that. She'd talk about his family too, walking him through her plans to go back to Alexandria with Carl when he next went back, because she really missed Judith. Alden soaked up the information.

Enid would tell Carl how happy she was with Alden, and how she had a gut feeling he was the man she'd be with forever. She'd tell him how there were still people out to get him, because he was once a saviour, and how it scared her, especially after it once got him badly injured. Carl would agree with her, and tell her that he's happy for her, that she's made a good decision choosing him.

Enid was happy she didn't have to worry about Alden seeing Carl as a threat to their relationship. Even though if he did, she'd definitely see the concern as justifiable. She was also happy that she didn't have to worry about Carl becoming threatened by Alden's position in her life, she was grateful that he was nothing but happy for her.

~