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twdeadfanfic · 5 years

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It’s a dog’s life Pt.8

*Summary: The reader is new and alone at the quarry’s camp, the only one she has is her dog, who seems to be best friends with Daryl Dixon, a not so friendly man, but that friendship will bring the reader closer to Daryl, finding that there’s more to Daryl than what you can see at first glance…besides, he’s pretty hot at first glance, isn’t him?

*Slow burn, both reader and Daryl’s pov, violence and language twd style.Follows the events of season 1 and 2.

*3910 words

*Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Chapters: 7/14

*Link to my masterlist with my other works can be found on the description of this blog. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but tumblr doesn’t show posts with links in the tags

Last chapter everyne moved into the Greene’s farm, Daryl kept looking for Sophia and he and the reader decided they’d be taking a couple horses to go looking for the little girl. Let’s see how it goes...

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You stole glances at Daryl while you rode next to him. He wasn’t too used to horses but honestly, he wasn’t doing bad at all. You would be loving this, riding with him through the woods, if it weren’t because you were looking for Sophia and the more time passed the less hopeful you were about finding her alive.

Still, you couldn’t help your smile as you looked at Daryl, your stomach doing funny twirls. You were so grateful for him, always noticing when you weren’t feeling your best and trying to help you however he could, you didn’t know what you’d have done these horrible days since escaping the CDC without him. You admired him for his constant search of Sophia, never faltering, never seeming to doubt. You thought sometimes he felt down too and you tried to help him back as little as you could, but mostly it was him who kept hope high and you admired him for it. He took care of you, though if someone said it he’d probably lash out grumpily, and you hoped you took care of him too.

You tried to stop your wandering mind and focus back on your task, it was past time you found Sophia.

You had been uneasy about taking the horses without asking Hershel, but you weren’t sure the vet would have lent them if you asked, he wasn’t seeming too happy about having you there. You wondered if it was because of her daughter Maggie and Glenn. You thought there was something going on between those two and when you had asked Glenn he had turned all flustered and babbling, which you thought kind of confirmed it. You couldn’t blame him, you knew what it was to feel lonely and that girl was a beauty, but you hoped it wouldn’t get you all kicked out of the safety of the farm, especially with Sophia still missing.

You had worried about taking horses that you didn’t know too, but for now they were behaving well. Cole ran ahead of you, sniffing here and there, though you weren’t hopeful he was smelling Sophia’s trail.

“There.” Daryl pointed at a tattered house, the one he had told you about, where he thought Sophia might have been staying.

You both went inside in case Sophia had come back, but it was empty. Still, the sight of the empty cans and the closet where someone had been staying made you feel more hopeful than you had been during the last couple of days. Daryl was right, Sophia might have been staying there.

“Alright.” Daryl showed you the map while you both walked back to the horses. “I already checked that area, and she wasn’t there.” He pointed out the different places on the map. “I think she also could have gone to this area, over the river, or in this other direction.”

“Okay… I check this one and you check the other.” You pointed at the map before folding it again.

"I ain’t sure splitting up is a good idea…” Daryl frowned at you.

“We’ll cover more ground, we need it. I’m not getting lost, promise.” You had paid attention and you were sure you knew your way back to the farm, and you had borrowed a compass from Glenn. “And there aren’t many walkers around, if I find some then I ride back. And I can work a gun now.” You still had a lot to learn, but at least you were learning.

“Don’t shoot unless you can’t help it or you’ll bring more to you. Gotta be quiet.” Daryl was still frowning.

“I know, it’ll be fine.” You assured him, already getting back on the horse.

“I don’t know…it ain’t good to go alone…”

“You go alone all the time. We gotta find her.” You reminded him. “I’ll be fine, I promise, I’ll be careful.”

“Okay…” Daryl nodded reluctantly. “Get back to the farm before the sun starts to go down, you hear me?”

“Yes, boss.” You winked at him, loving the soft blush that tainted his cheeks. “Nothing’s going to happen, I told you, I’ll be careful.”

“You better.”

“Who knows, I might be the one who ends up finding Sophia instead of you.” You tried to get a smile out of Daryl but he was still eyeing you with worry. “It’s going to be okay, come on, let’s go. Be careful, alright?”

“You be careful.”

As you rode back to the Greene’s farm you felt down and hopeless again, not to mention useless. You had been scouting the area Daryl had told you for hours, yet you hadn’t found Sophia or any trace of the little girl.

You were worried thinking maybe she was actually there, somewhere, or close, but you couldn’t track her because you didn’t know how to do it. Maybe Daryl and you had split for nothing and he’d have to go there and check himself anyway, wasting time.

There was the chance Daryl had found her, but you weren’t in your most hopeful moment. There was also the chance Sophia had already been attacked by walkers, but you couldn’t even think about that. At least there didn’t seem to be many walkers around, you had only seen two. You had wondered what to do, leave before they saw you or put them down so they wouldn’t stumble into anyone, but you hadn’t dared to try to kill two of them all by yourself.

Back on the farm, you tried to sneak to the stable without being seen but Maggie was waiting for you, hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Well, shit.

“Where’s the other horse?”

“Daryl’s looking for Sophia with her, they’ll be back soon.” You said while you dismounted and walked the horse into the stable, not making eye contact with Maggie.

“I hope the horse throws him onto his ass for taking her without permission, Nervous Nelly she’s called, she does that.” Maggie followed you, sounding annoyed.

You look at her at that. “The horse does what?!” She had seemed good enough while you both rode but now you couldn’t help but worry. Maggie seemed to notice she had scared you, her anger faltering a little.

“Well…only when she gets scared and not always.” She sounded less angry though you could tell she was still annoyed.

“I should go find Daryl.”

You couldn’t help but worry thinking the horse might have thrown him off, you shouldn’t have split, you knew Daryl wasn’t as used as you to horses and you didn’t even know those horses, you shouldn’t have taken them in the first place. Maggie grabbed your wrist, preventing you from getting back onto the horse.

“Not the best idea right now.” She nodded towards the door and you saw Hershel approaching, though he was still far enough. “He’s mad at you.”

Maggie tugged at your arm and you both walked out of the barn. You shook your arm free when you were far enough from Hershel, you still intended on going back for Daryl.

“All you had to do was ask.” Maggie snapped.

“And your father’d have lent us the horses?” You snap back. “I doubt it, I know he doesn’t want us here.”

“Can you blame him? You came here, carrying guns he doesn’t approve, take my little sister to train with those guns.” Maggie began listing. “He was already wary of you and now you stole his horses.”

“We borrowed them…” You muttered and Maggie rolled her eyes, ignoring you.

“He does want you to find the little girl, okay? If you had asked he might have lent you the horses or at least he’d have told you which one not to take, but instead you just made him angrier.”

You looked down, not knowing what to say to all that. You had been pestering Glenn about hooking up with Hershel’s daughter, thinking it might get you kicked out of the farm, but you knew if Hershel wasn’t thinking about that before then he certainly was now and all because you decided to take his horses without asking. Not only that but Daryl might end up hurt because of that too. You wanted to kick yourself and you felt like crying. Cole whined a bit hearing the argument and Maggie patted his head.

“Dad’s not going to send you all away, he’s angry, yeah, but he’ll get over it…” Maggie’s voice was softer now, as if noticing how upset you were. “I’m not gonna lie, he wants you all to leave, but I’ll talk him around, I’ll try to make him understand you won’t be safe out of here.”

“Hope you manage or you’ll be saying goodbye to your boyfriend.” You muttered.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Maggie snapped but she blushed.

“Yeah, sure.”

Maggie let out a sigh before reaching out a hand to you, peace offer you guessed. “Come on, Carol and Lori are cooking dinner for all of us, let’s help them.”

“I have to find Daryl.”

“He’s gonna be fine, he looks like he can handle himself.” Maggie tried to reassure you. “If the horse throws him off then he’ll come back with some bruises and he won’t be taking horses without asking first ever again.” Maggie gave you a small smile but you shook your head, worried still. “Come on, I’ve fallen off a horse before and I bet you too, he’ll be fine.”

“It’s dangerous, he can get badly hurt if the horse throws him, you know it,” You said, feeling a lump in your throat.

Maggie let out a sigh, shaking her head, before looking at you again.

“Okay, okay…let’s give him about an hour okay? And then if he’s not back we take two horses and I’ll go with you to look for him, alright?”

You weren’t sure about waiting, if Daryl was hurt then he might need you already, but Maggie knew the area better than you and you could use her help. Besides, maybe you were overreacting and Daryl was alright after all, you knew well how skilled he was. You nodded sadly.

“I’m sure your boyfriend is fine.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Maggie chuckled softly and you couldn’t help your small smile.

“He’s not, though.”

You both walked into the house and to the kitchen, where Carol, Lori and Patricia were getting dinner ready.

“You went out looking for Sophia again?” Carol asked you when she spotted you.

“Yes.” You nodded, feeling guilty you didn’t bring any good news. “Daryl’s still at it.”

“Thank you.” Carol gave you a weak, sad smile, reaching to squeeze your hand, and you just felt worse.

You helped around for a while but as time passed and Daryl still wasn’t back, you couldn’t help but grow more and more worried.

“You were serious about helping me?” You asked quietly to Maggie, who nodded. “Sun’s going down and he’s not back…”

“Come on.” She looked around as to make sure Hershel wasn’t around and you both sneaked out of the house. You crossed paths with Rick and Shane, who came from target practice.

“Hey, have you seen Daryl?” You asked, hoping he was back but he hadn’t thought about coming to check on you.

“No, he’s not here, I guess he’s still looking for Sophia,” Rick told you before getting into the house.

When Maggie and you walked into the stables you saw that the horse Daryl had taken was there, saddle and everything still on, but Daryl was nowhere to be seen. Your heart jumped onto your mouth and you looked at Maggie with wide, scared eyes. When had the horse come back and why wasn’t Daryl with him.

“I’m sure he’s okay,” Maggie told you but she sounded unsure too.

You wanted to cry. Daryl had been worried about splitting up in case you ran into trouble, you should have thought about him too, knowing he wasn’t that used to horses. You shouldn’t have let him ride a horse that none of you knew, and alone. If you’d have said something he’d probably been angry and would have lashed out, but it’d have been better than him getting hurt because of it.

“I bet maybe the horse threw him off and he’s having to walk his sorry ass back here.” Maggie kept trying to reassure you. “But I bet he’s alright, let’s find him and you can give him a ride back like a lady knight in shiny armor.”

“Come on.”

You hadn’t gotten far from the farm when you heard a gunshot coming from there. Both Maggie and you looked at each other, eyes wide and scared, and galloped back. You both jumped off the horses as soon as you reached the house.

“What happened?”

“It’s everyone okay?”

There were people coming in and out the house in a rush, obviously something had happened but none stopped long enough to tell any of you anything, until Carol approached you, seeming distressed and holding what you thought was Sophia’s doll. Had Daryl found the little girl? Were they alright?

“It’s Daryl.” Carol’s worried eyes matched yours. “There’s been an accident.”

“The horse threw him.” This was your fault…

“The horse? I don’t know…” Carol looked at you confused. “Andrea shot him.”

“What?!”

“It was an accident.” Glenn chimed in as he rushed towards Maggie.

“Honestly he looked like a walker, you should have seen him.” Shane words did nothing to help your worries and you glared at him.

“I have no time for this shit.” You muttered, annoyed and worried

There were only two bedrooms downstairs and one was occupied by the still recovering Carl, so you headed to the other, guessing they must have taken Daryl there. You pushed the door open and found Daryl lying on the bed, groaning in pain while Hershel worked on him, helped by Patricia and Rick.

“Wait outside!” Patricia tried to usher you but you ignored her. “And get that dog out of here!”

“No.” Daryl groaned.

“What do I do?” You walked towards the bed, ready to help in any way you could. You winced as you saw Hershel working on an awful looking wound at Daryl’s side. He had another wound on the side of his head and he was all battered and bruised, looking out of himself.

“You don’t take horses without asking for permission,” Hershel replied harshly without looking at you.

“The horse threw him, right?” You looked down, chastised.

“Yes. And then that woman shot him with one of those rifles I told you not to have in my land. I don’t know how he got this, though.” It was clear Hershel was angry, but he worked swiftly nonetheless.

“Arrow.” Daryl whimpered when Hershel began sewing the wound.

Daryl reached out and you went to take his hand but he placed it on top of Cole’s head, who was as close to the bed as possible, whining as he looked at Daryl. Daryl’s fingers curled into Cole’s fur and you snorted quietly.

“You really love this dog more than you’ll ever love any of us, uh?” You whispered. “I don’t blame you.” You placed your hand on top of Daryl’s, hating to see him in pain and seeming so weak, you’d never seen him like that.

You had a lump in your throat watching Hershel work on Daryl’s head wound and hearing Daryl whimper in pain quietly from time to time as Hershel stitched him. He had been so lucky the bullet had only grazed him or else he’d be dead.

“Alright.” Hershel finally stepped away from the bed. “I’ve done everything I could, now he has to rest and keep the wounds clean. The painkillers should help. Hope you all learned your lesson.” He looked at you intently, as if you needed to feel more guilty, before leaving the room, muttering how it was a miracle Daryl had survived whatever he’d gone through, which felt like a kick to the stomach.

You sat down at the side of the bed, looking over Daryl. He wasn’t whimpering anymore though his eyes were still bleary. You weren’t sure if he was really conscious or not but his fingers were running through Cole’s fur weakly.

“Why would you take the horses without asking Hershel?” Rick asked and you groaned.

“Don’t start with that you too.” You glared at him, you felt guilty enough. “We had to look for Sophia, Daryl thought we would cover more ground like that and it doesn’t seem like Hershel is into lending us anything else…”

“He didn’t find Sophia,” Rick said quietly.

“Found her doll,” Daryl said weakly as he tried to sit up, wincing and groaning in pain, ignoring you when you tried to stop him. “She can’t be far from there. Give me the map.”

“Okay…” Rick looked at Daryl unsure but he nodded. “I’ll let everyone know you’re okay.” He said before walking out of the room.

“Like they care,” Daryl muttered.

“Don’t talk like that.” You told him softly. “They’re all worried about you out there.”

“Sure. I know what they think of me.”

“Yes, that you’re a damn skilled, stubborn survivor, who finally got a clue at where Sophia might be.”

Daryl just scoffed.

“Look how worried my dog is,” you said, knowing fully well that it’d make him smile. It did. “I was too. We care about you, okay? And Carol, she-”

Before you could say anything else the door opened again and Rick and Shane walked in, bringing the map. Rick sat down carefully at the other side of Daryl, rolling the map open on top of the bed. Shane stood frowning at you all.

“I found the doll there.” Daryl pointed at the map. He still sounded weak and pained, and it seemed he was fighting just to keep his eyes open, but you knew he wouldn’t let himself rest until he had told you everything he could to help you find Sophia. “She can’t be far from there.”

“Okay, we’ll check it as soon as we can.” Rick marked the spot on the map and you arched an eyebrow, wondering how soon would that be.

“It’s just a doll.” Shane finally spoke. “And look, man, you aren’t looking like you even know where you were ten minutes ago.”

“What you mean?” You snapped, glaring at him.

“Shane, can we speak outside, please?” Rick said before any of you could say anything else. Shane rolled his eyes but nodded and both men left without another word.

“They ain’t gonna look for her,” Daryl grumbled, wincing as he shifted to lie down again, closing his eyes with a groan.

“I’ll make them.”

Daryl opened an eye to look at you, smirking. He groaned again when Cole jumped onto the bed, joisting it.

“Careful.”

You went to drag Cole back but Daryl was already reaching out to stroke his fur, and Cole curled up next to him. You chuckled quietly when you saw he still had the t-rex band-aid wrapped around his thumb, though it was full of dirt and blood now, and you took his hand on yours to unwrap it.

“It was time I took off that silly thing.” He murmured.

“Yeah? When Hershel removes that bandage off your head you’re getting a raptor one there.”

“Ain’t happening.”

He hadn’t taken his hand off yours and so you began to gently brush your thumb over his knuckles.

“This was a bad idea.” You said quietly.

“What?”

“Taking the horses.” You felt so guilty you couldn’t look at him. “We should have asked Maggie or Hershel, they’d have told us that horse’d throw you. We shouldn’t have taken horses we didn’t know.”

“We needed them to find Sophia, didn’t know if Hershel’d lend them.” Daryl was looking at your thumb traced circular patterns over his knuckles. You stopped, wondering if you were making him uncomfortable but he wasn’t flinching his hand away so you kept holding it.

“He might…And we shouldn’t have split.” Then you’d have been with him when the horse threw him off, you could have helped him, maybe even prevent the horse from throwing him. Daryl himself had admitted he didn’t like riding horses that much and yet you had let him go in one alone, Daryl was skilled, sure, but you were more used to horses, this was on you. Daryl could have died.“This is my fault.”

“That’s bullshit.” Daryl frowned at you, seeming confused. “Damn horse saw a snake and threw me down a hill and I was dumb enough to impale myself with my own arrow and I was almost dinner for walkers, and then I come back and Andrea shoots me. Ain’t your fault, you did nothing. Damn shit of a day.”

“Shit, Daryl…” You couldn’t help but squeeze his hand tighter when you heard everything he had gone through. “I was so worried when Maggie told me the horse might throw you, and then the sun was going down and you weren’t back but the horse was, I went to look for you, Maggie came with me too…I was so scared…” You were surprised when you felt Daryl’s shaky fingers lacing with yours. You looked at him but he averted his eyes from you.

“Thanks,” he said quietly, barely above a whisper.

“I should have been with you, I could have helped you. I’m sorry. We’re not splitting anymore, it’s not good to go alone.”

“Ain’t your fault, told you already. I’m good alone” Daryl grumbled. “I’ll go find Sophia tomorrow, she has to be there.”

You snorted quietly, shaking your head in disbelieve. “You are not going anywhere in a while, Daryl. You have to recover.”

“I’m fine.” He let go of your hand, wincing as he shifted to curl up on his good side. You could see his back now, covered in old, deep scars. You wondered how he had gotten them, someone had given them to him for sure, maybe it had something to do with all the trouble he and his brother seemed to have been always getting into, according to the little Daryl had told you about his life. He had a tattoo on his shoulder too, two kind of winged figures, maybe devils, you weren’t too sure of what they represented. Kind of got you thinking about the Dixon brothers, though.

“That’s a nice tattoo you got,” you said quietly and Daryl didn’t say anything, seeming tense. You took the sheets and you pulled them up so they’d cover his back too. “Thanks,” Daryl muttered, wrapping himself with the sheets tightly and closing his eyes.

“Rest.”

Your heart ached looking at him, he seemed so weak and not like his usual self. He had to rest, whether he wanted it or not, and you knew the painkillers Hershel had given him would make him sleepy, so you stayed silent to encourage him to fall asleep. Once he did, you careful got up from the bed to let him rest and also to have some dinner. Cole opened his eyes, yawning and looking at you drowsily, and you chuckled quietly.

“You can stay here, lazy dog.”

You whispered, patting his head. You looked at Daryl’s sleepy face, his frown burrowing as if he were in pain or having a bad dream. Resisting the urge to reach out to smooth his frown, you got up and quietly left the room.

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Aw, poor Daryl got hurt :( But you know how much I love the idea of taking care of him, so we have some reader playing nurse!

Anyway, thank you for reading! Please, if you have a moment drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts, I’d love to read it and talk to all of you, it keeps me inspired and going!

As always, English is not my first language so sorry if there are mistakes.

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