A small smile, grateful, quirked Daryl’s lips when Aaron gave him the out. He’d been roped into dolls once or twice with Judith and he’d had no damn clue what to do with them. (He remembered ‘taking the dolls hunting.’ Jude had been mystified. Rick had laughed himself sick over it.)

“Can handle that,” he answered, turning his smile back to Gracie. “Long as I got the kid helpin.”

A slowly scrunched nose while she thought about it and Daryl half-thought he might kick up a fuss, but then she was back to beaming. Grabbing his hand with a nod and pulling him back toward the kitchen.

“You’re big, you can get the high plates. I’ll get the spoons and the forks and–– Daddy, did you get the candles?” Lower, conspiratorial, like it was some secret and Aaron weren’t a few steps away, listening: “There’ve gotta be. It’s not a date without candles.”

It wasn’t the first time she’d said something like that. Big expectations for such a small kid. Daryl found himself crouching in front of her, curious.

“How you so smart about all this datin’ stuff, huh?”

Those big blue eyes drifted to Aaron, then back. She chewed over her lip, wobbled on her heels, then waved him closer. He leaned in and she cupped her hands around his ear, whispering: “Sweet Valley High. There’s over a hundred books about them but there’s seven in the library.”

Which all meant about as much as a can of beans with the lid stuck on to Daryl, but when she leaned back out, blinking wide like he might disapprove, he followed her forward and whispered right back: “Might have to give ‘em a read then. Get some tips on this datin’ stuff.”

It was the right move. Her hand squeezed his and there she was, back to beaming. Daryl grinned, pushing back to his feet.

“Now, where them plates at?”

The corner of his mouth quirked up as Daryl played along, hoping that Gracie would find it an acceptable compromise. She could be awfully stubborn when she wanted to be - and she did love playing dolls. Luckily though, she seemed to agree easily enough. Candles. He held back a laugh as he poked at the food on the stove. “There’s some in the cabinet,” Aaron said - he hadn’t gone out to get any specifically, and had had no plans to put any on the table, but if Gracie was going to insist - well, it would be easier to just let her use some of the candles that had been collecting dust than to make a fuss. Even though he couldn’t help but think that there might be a day down the line when they would really need them.

He tried not to listen - he did - but they weren’t so far away. He felt his heart melt a little in his chest at the idea of Gracie getting dating ideas from Sweet Valley High books (though he had no idea why she’d choose to employ them on him instead of saving them up for when she was old enough and nope, no he couldn’t think about that right now).

A low laugh leaves him at her greeting and he slings his good arm around her to bring her in for a hug. He’s well aware there’s a bit of salt starting to sneak into his hair - sometimes he marvels at the fact that he gets to age. It seems ridiculous, how he’s made it this far in this world - but then again, he’s always been determined to make it. He kisses the top of her head, warmth flooding his chest. It’s nice to have people here, people he loves, friends that he can go to - connections are fleeting these days and it would be so easy to harden his heart and turn away from any sort. But he doesn’t want that.  

He nods, following her easily as she leads him toward the tree, his gaze sweeping over Hope in the basket, smile softening. He remembers when Gracie little - well, perhaps not quite that little. But definitely a lot closer to that than she is now.

“Should,” Daryl agreed. “Asshole don’t deserve you holdin’ back on his account.”

It was the whiskey loosening Daryl’s tongue. Loosening his thoughts, driving them all down paths they probably shouldn’t. Like Jesus. Like… other things.

He reached for the bottle again.

It was past Aaron, ‘cause it was always past Aaron on the nightstand, but Aaron seemed closer this time as he swayed for it. He took a mouthful without bothering to lean back and set the bottle back down, feeling it wobble a bit before settling. It was well past half-empty at this point. There was another one on the floor, by the snacks.

He glanced at Aaron’s cards, his own already laid out on the bed, and leaned back with a soft snort.

“You win. Give it t’me.”

The corner of his mouth lifted upward at that. He wished he could think of Paul as an asshole. And he did, most of the time, it was just he knew he didn’t actually believe it.

Even though he really should. 

Daryl was close enough that inhaling brought with it the faint scent of cigarettes and something deeper, something that hit him right in the gut. He swallowed, tried not to breathe in too deeply as he watched Daryl swallow a mouthful of liquor. 

Belatedly, his gaze followed Daryl’s toward the cards, though he hadn’t been certain he’d won until Daryl said it. He was tempted for another truth - there was a lot he wanted to know about Daryl, even if it was probably easier just not to ask. To just let him be some mysterious stranger for the rest of their journey. But there was another temptation, one that he couldn’t quite ignore, especially with the sweet burn of liquor through his veins.

“I don’t want to be the only one shirtless. C’mon, shirt off,” he said, reaching over for the liquor to take a swallow like he needed a reason to keep his mouth busy. 

"let me take care of you, for once." || @mercyprevaild​

Flu season was in full swing around Alexandria - Aaron had thought he’d avoided the worst of it, but it’d snuck up on him all of a sudden, bringing with it fever and exhaustion. He’d tried to fight it off as long as he could - there were things to do, important things, and he couldn’t do them stuck in bed, but eventually he’d succumbed, red cheeked and pale, a line of sweat on his brow. He felt like crap.

okay i’ll accept all of this EXCEPT aaron is the MOST huggable person in the apocalypse and i won’t tolerate this slander. 

Tagged by: @mercyprevaild​