"IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT"
I WROTE ANOTHER FIC WITH DARYL
I hope you like it! 💚😌☝
Daryl woke up that morning to a smell coming from downstairs.
At first, he hadn't felt comfortable living inside one of the houses, so Rick had let him live with him and Carl until he felt at ease.
He stretched on the small mattress he'd made on the floor and squinted to adjust to the intense sunlight streaming through the windows.
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and gripped his crossbow with the other.
He knew that only Rick, Carl, and he were in that house, but since you never know, that's why he'd brought the weapon with him.
He slowly descended the stairs, checking all the entrances and exits, including the hallways, just in case. It was likely that Carl had gotten up early that day.
Lately, he'd been doing it (Daryl suspected it was to go to the woods with Enid), but even so, he wasn't going to rest easy until he'd seen for himself.
The smell was coming from the kitchen, so he quickly turned the corner into the room with his crossbow raised, until he saw your back, at which point he lowered the weapon.
You were wearing an apron tied around your waist, your jeans were covered in flour, and your hair was pulled back in a messy bun, which you'd tried to hold in place with a pencil.
Daryl almost smiled at the sight before him.
He paused for a moment, lost in thought, and realized that given the state of the world in general, it was this image of you that seemed so strange. It was clear that everything had changed too much.
It was the moment you turned around and saw him that you almost dropped the glass dish you were holding.
Your quick reflexes prevented that from happening.
"Daryl!" “What are you doing up so early?” you exclaimed, clutching your chest to show him you were startled. “You should sleep a little longer.” He stared at you for a few seconds before answering.
“I heard noises downstairs and decided to come down and see what it was,” he explained tersely.
“Yeah, it was me with the dishes, my bad,” you muttered before putting the glass dish in the oven.
Daryl watched you move around the kitchen until he realized the mess you’d made.
There was a cookbook on the counter, several bowls in the sink, and a few mixtures ready to be added to…
“What are you doing?” he asked, casually.
“Well,” you said after setting the oven timer, “you saved my life the other day, again,” you murmured, “and since I can’t give you back the motorcycle that was stolen because of me, I thought I could make it up to you,” you said. “I felt terrible when you were without it, so…”
“It wasn’t your fault,” he interrupted, making you look at him intently.
“What?”
“The motorcycle, it wasn’t your fault,” he replied. “Besides, it wasn’t stolen from me. I decided to leave it there to save you,” he blurted out. “I can rebuild the motorcycle, but you,” he whispered, his eyes, halfway between light and dark, resting on yours, “there can’t be another you.”
You swallowed hard at the profound meaning of those words. When you found your voice, you answered
"Of course, I… I understand," you murmured. "Even so, I've prepared something to thank you," you explained. "I'm better at cooking than fighting, so… well, that's it," you blurted out shyly.
The oven began to beep, signaling that the mixture was finished.
Daryl watched as you took it out of the bowl and placed it on a plate, sprinkling something reddish on top.
You put a spoon on the plate and pushed it in his direction. He glanced from the plate to you for a few moments, until you spoke again.
"It's a strawberry pie" you explained. "I haven't made it in a while, so I don't know how it will be," you confessed. "I know you like strawberries, Carol told me," you murmured. "I hope you like it."
Daryl was about to tell you that it didn't matter what you made because whatever it was, he was going to like it anyway.
Instead, he held the spoon between his thumb and forefinger and brought a piece to his mouth under your watchful gaze.
"It's really good, Y/N," he said, making you suddenly release all the air you'd been holding in due to the tension you felt.
"Thank goodness," you sighed. "I'm glad you like it," you smiled.
"You know you didn't have to do any of this, right?" he said. You nodded.
"Yes, but I did it anyway," you smiled. "I'm alive thanks to you, and you have sugar in your system thanks to me," you murmured. "To me, that counts as a victory."
A small smile appeared on the dark-haired man's lips as he brought another piece of cake to his mouth.
That was the first time you saw him smile, and the fact that you were the first to see it filled you with a happiness you didn't think you could feel again.










