But you’re a k!ller and i’m your bestfriend
S3Daryl x reader angst
REQUEST INFO || Masterlist
Warnings: typical twd stuff, non descriptive or graphic attempted sa
Word count: 2.6k
A/N: Changed the ending a bit just because i, personally would never even attempt to hide it from him, hope that’s alright!
“Hi pookie” you greeted the archer, smiling wildly.
Daryl looked up from the car he was fixing and scoffed at you “When’re ya gon’ stop with them nicknames?”
“Well you didn’t like ‘babygirl’ so i’m trying something new”
Daryl scoffed again. “Where’ve ya been hidin’ all day?” he asked getting back to work on the car.
“You know where. Don’t act like you didn’t walk back and forth in front of the office I was in” you smirked.
The archer shrugged and huffed “I didn’t”
“Yeah whatever”
“But uhh- ya alrigh’?”
You chuckled and swallowed the pain you had felt that morning “What kinda question is that?”
“I dunno, just askin’”
You both began feeling uncomfortable in that pregnant silence and you decided to get up and leave “Okay… i’m gonna– i’m gonna go now” You rushed inside of the cell block, a hand landed on your bare arm snapping you out of whatever spell the conversation with Daryl had put you under. It was Maggie. You immediately pulled away from her, as touch was a delicate subject for you.
“I’m sorry” she apologized.
“No it’s–it’s fine, sorry” you quickly rubbed over the skin she touched, feeling like your personal space had been intruded. Maggie was the closest thing you had to a friend after Daryl but it was still weird. “D–do you need something?”
She smiled “No, I was gonna ask ya if you were okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I feel completely fine. Everything is normal and there’s nothing wrong” you nodded.
“Really?” she grinned again.
Just then, you both turned to the opening door, it was Daryl.
“Yes. I gotta go, my mom’s calling” you said as you quickly began to walk away.
“Y/n, your mom’s dead”
You turned around to her and smiled “I guess i did see a ghost after all”
The days that followed were mostly normal, you kept to yourself and Daryl did the same except for a quick hunting trip. You silently walked behind him, taking in your surroundings, so much so that you hadn’t noticed Drayl looking back at you every couple of minutes.
“Yer quiet”
“I’m always quiet” you answered lowly.
“Not like tha’. Ya’ve been callin’ me ‘Daryl’ for the past week” he couldn’t help but smirk at you when you scoffed.
“Oh so now you like my nicknames?” you smiled at him.
“I didn’t say that”
“So what are you saying babygirl?”
The archer stopped in his tracks and fully turned back to you “Nah, not that one”
“You wanted me to talk so I’m talking. ‘Baybygirl’ it is”
The archer scoffed again and started walking, he wasn’t going to complain when the situation got you smiling like that at him.
“So wha’s on yer mind?”
“I’ve been thinking–”
“Oh tha’ ain’t good”
“Shut up” you smiled, throwing leaves at him. “Maggie has been asking questions and the more she asks them, the less i can ignore them–”
Daryl looked back at you and lifted an eyebrow to urge you to get to the point, you sighed “It’s about us”
“Wha’ ‘bout us”
“Well to begin with, is there an ‘us’? Should there be?”
He stopped walking and turned back to you, emotionless, which wasn’t unusual at all.
“‘S a waste of time. All this hopin’ and prayin’ for a better future. Hell we dun even know if we’ll make it back tonigh’. She barely knows ya, knows nothin’ ‘bout us”
You cleared your throat “Yeah, no you’re right. Yeah”
After that conversation something broke inevitably between you both, the question of an ‘us’ lingered in the air making it hard for you to breathe so distance was the best thing you both could do. Thanks to your isolated nature, nothing much had changed within yourselves. You kept your heads down and worked like maniacs for the community.
“I can go alone” you insisted.
“I rather you didn’t” objected the sheriff “Why don’t you take Daryl?”
“No” you shook your head.
“Why? What happened with you two?”
“I’m gonna leave whether you like it or not and you won’t stop me because you know i can take care of myself”
“That i do”
The store you were in was quiet, you had found many things for your community. Your shopping cart was full of food, clothes and many other supplies when you heard something fall off a lower shelf far from you. Your trained self was already in fighting mode, your hand went to your knife and you slowly walked backwards looking between shelves to a man nearing the aisle you had been in. Entering the aisle next to it, you snuck behind the man who was looking inside your cart and around looking for you and you made quick work of your weapon in one swift horizontal swipe. As he fell to the floor, another man tried to sneak up behind you and another from the side. Both hits made you fall to the floor coughing and your first instinct wasn’t to reach for your knife, you quickly searched over the bottom shelves and grabbed a rolling pin, you used it to swerve their messy hits as they weren’t nearly as well trained as you were. Between bloody hits and kicks all three laid lifeless on the floor. One second you were catching your breath and the next, with a sharp pain to your neck, you were submerged in darkness.
Your vision was blurry, your restrained wrists were sore and the room around you was humid and dark. You began pulling at your restraints to estimate whether or not it was possible to break free. Just then, the door opened and you sat up right on the chair. You didn’t recognise the man but you didn’t appreciate the look on his face.
“Look at you, little lady killer. Do you know how many of us you killed? Even after we tried putting you to sleep you were still fighting” he told with an amazed but angry voice.
“Not hard enough” you scoffed looking around the empty room.
“5, that’s the number of men you killed in that store”
“Why don’t you get a little closer and we can make that a solid six”
“Ohhhh i knew i liked you for a reason” he smiled. The door opened and another man you didn’t recognize walked in with a wicked smile. He began fumbling with his belt while approaching you, the first man just smiled and nodded, urging him to make it fast before some other guy came in. As he crouched down to your level you hit him head first, shattering his nose as the other man rushed to push over the chair, the fall causing your lungs to empty themselves, you wrapped your thighs around the guy and squeezed until his lungs gave up. Your eyes and face screamed rage as you looked at the other man.
Blood tickled your face as you looked at the bodies at your feet. The door opened again and he walked in. Merle.
He laughed “Y/n i knew i liked you for a reason”
“7”
“Wha’?”
“I killed seven of your men”
The smile on his face made you sick, he walked around inspecting you. “Where’s my baby brotha’?”
“Fuck you”
“No, yer under my roof so you’re gonna answer me. This bullshit may work on my little brotha’ but it don’t work on me”
You smiled, causing him to slap you. You spit red on his boots and then smiled again, red coated teeth being the visual representation of what was on your mind.
He nodded “Yer a piece of work Y/n. You and i could’ve been good”
“There’s no ‘you and i’ Merle”
Merle pulled out his knife and pressed the blade to your cheek, breaking through it.
“Where is he” he demanded.
“With his people”
“Nobody’s gonna care for ‘im the way i do” he assured.
You shrugged and looked around to make your point “You see him around? That alone is proof that he’s better off without you”
The man launched at you, knife in hand. Between his messy swipes he cut your restraints and 3 more men entered the room rushing. The fight was hard and your body felt tired and sore, you didn’t remember how it happened, you just knew you had to survive, one second you were fighting for your life and the next time you blinked, you looked down at a knife you had been holding, arm shaking and bloody. You blinked hardly again, and held your head in your hands, your head was pounding and you were disoriented. You suddenly were able to hear the men whimpering at your feet and when you looked to a corner, there he was, Merle, taking in his staggered last breaths. The clinging of the knife you once held over the concrete floor caused your tears to spill over as you rushed to him.
“No, no, no, no. No! You’re not dying” you sobbed as you looked over his injuries. You quickly realized that they were fatal. The man coughed as his eyes took longer to open up everytime he blinked.
“No, please. No! I can’t do this to him. Please” you cried, you got up and left the room, looking around the now empty abandoned building you were in. You found a bottle of vodka and what could be clean clothes and you ran back to Merle, first tending to the worse injuries although you could barely see anything as his body had been swallowed by the red that once provided him with life.
“Merle? I-I’m gonna take you to him, okay? Just stay awake. C-can you talk to me?” you breathed out in between cries as you worked. “You can insult me if you want. It doesn’t matter anymore. It doesn’t, I promise.” Your tears were blinding you and your shaking hands kept you from being efficient. “M-Merle?” you called for him. Your eyes found his closed ones. “Merle!? Wake the fuck up! Merle!” Your body crawled backwards until it hit a wall, a safe corner in the red soaked room where you cried and cried until you fell asleep.
“Why did ya let ‘er go?!” Daryl screamed at Rick while many others watched.
“She wasn’t in the store?” Carol asked, trying to divert the archers’ anger towards their leader.
“Nah, just found wha’ i brought back and bodies”
“Well you said she did it, how can ya be so sure?” Maggie wondered.
“Ain’t nobody else I know who can fight like tha’. Do ya? Do any of ya?” he rhetorically asked anyone who would listen.
Glenn entered the room running “She’s back”, the whole group led by Daryl, ran outside just in time to see you walk out of the car. The sun hadn’t set yet and your cuts and bruises were visible.
Daryl was the first to approach you and you could even look at him.
“Doc! Get yer ass inside, she’s gon need some stichin’”
He extended his arm to help you walk and you shook your head, then forced your eyes to look at him “Trust me, you don’t want that”
“The hell ya talkin’ ‘bout”
You turned back to a worried Rick and struggled to walk up to him. “None of this is your fault–” you wavered as savage tears fell “Ask me”
“Ask you what?”
“What all of you are wondering”
He shook his head, approaching you and speaking lowly “There will be another time for that, get inside and–”
“I’m not walking in until you ask, Rick”
He looked at Daryl beside you who nodded firmly at him.
“How many people have you killed?”
“11”
The whole group except for you and Hershel was silently waiting for the farmer to come back with news, it had been hours of painful and suffocating silence. Daryl couldn’t stay still as he walked back and forth in front of the door separating the eating area from the sleeping one.
Whenever someone tried to talk about what might have happened, Rick was quick to shut it out. They all turned to a returning Hershel who sighed before he spoke.
“She’ll be fine eventually.” he assured “Nothing too bad, she fought to make sure of that” Everyone got up to go see you but he quickly stopped them “She’s asking for Daryl”
Your hands shook as the archer’s footsteps got closer, you struggled to get up from your bed to face him. Daryl quickly approached you but you stepped back even when you were aching for his familiar touch or merely his presence. You shook your head as tears fell again.
“Wha’? ‘Trust me, ya dun want tha’? Is tha’ it?” You sniffled as he looked over your visible injuries. “Wha’ happened?”
“Daryl i fucked up” you sobbed.
“Hey, hey sunshine. It ain’t on ya, alrigh’?” he whispered as he took your face in his hands and as selfish as it may sound, you let it happen.
“It’s a really bad time for you to start with the nicknames” you smiled through the sadness.
“It ain’t”
“No it is Daryl– I gotta tell you something and you’re gonna regret ever coming in here. And i’m sorry. I’m so sorry” you sobbed “i-i tried to make it right but it was too late–”
“Wha’re ya talkin’ ‘bout”
“Merle was there and I–i blacked out and w-when i snapped out of it, i- Daryl i didn’t mean to, they were attacking me, one after the other and i didn’t know–”
“Is he, is he dead?” he boldly asked, blinking rogue tears back.
You could only stare at him, your lips quivered and your body shook as you held onto the top bunk for support. You wanted to throw up. “Daryl I– um, I–” you struggled to speak as your vision faded into black and when you blinked it away, the room was spinning “I–um…”
The archer caught you as your limp body fell, the last thing you remembered was hurried calls for Hershel. Hours had passed as each member of your found family entered your cell to see your exhausted body lying limp on the bed. When you blinked away, the first thing your eyes landed on was Daryl. He had moved his cot to your cell and was just sitting there, making arrows and looking over you. Your groggy voice caught his attention.
“How long have I been out for?” you asked fumbling to get up.
He rushed to your side to help you sit up “Hey, slow down. Ya been out for 16 hours. Ya’ve been in and out”
You breathed out, tears threatening to spill again and body already shaking “Fuck. Daryl i have to tell you something–”
“Ya already did. And tried to, ev’ry time ya woke up”
“Then why are ya still here, Daryl, i fucked up. I fucked up big time”
Daryl shook his head and sat right next to you “Nah, Merle did that first”
“No Daryl, i don’t think you understand–”
“I understand just fine. Dun’ need ya to tell me how t’ feel”
“What?” your brows furrowed in confusion.
“Ya said that i’ll regret ever comin’ in here when ya called and i dun”
“But he’s your brother” you whispered as culpability choked you.
“Family ain’t always blood. I got everythin’ i need righ’ here. Unless ya start with them stupid nicknames again”
It took you a while to find an answer to what Daryl said, mostly because feelings were a sensitive subject and because somehow he had found a way to forgive you and you couldn’t understand how or why. Merle was his brother, no matter how many times he had wronged him, he was still his brother. You blinked and cleared your throat.
“I thought you liked them”
He scoffed “Shit, then ya might have a concussion too, doc!–”
“No! okay fine— what about ‘princess’?”
“Y/n–”
You nodded in defeat “Got it…i’ll keep trying-” Daryl’s sharp eyes quickly caught yours and said more than he’d ever say “or maybe not”.