A Painful Place (Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: Stay

When Tilly woke up it was dark and her mouth tasted like copper.
That man, she remembered, I bit off part of his hand.
"Good thing I've had all my shots," she said out loud, chuckling to herself.
"Tilly?" she heard Lana's soft voice beside her and struggled to open her eyes. "You're awake!"
Tilly smiled when she heard her familiar voice and felt her friend's hand holding hers.
"Lan, I'm so glad you're here," she whispered, squeezing her hand. She heard her friend laugh and strained to open her eyes. They were in the back of a van, presumably headed toward the farm.
"What's so funny?" she asked.
Lana pointed to Tilly's hand, grinning from ear to ear. Pain shot through her head as she turned, but she gritted her teeth and held in the yelp that was threatening to escape.
When she finally got her eyes to focus in the dark she saw Daryl's sleeping form lying next to her. It wasn't Lana's hand she held, but his.
"He wouldn’t leave," Lana explained.
"I'm not sure if it's the shot to the head or what, but I'm confused." Tilly wasn't sure what to make of the situation, not that she was complaining. She and Daryl had definitely become friends, but it didn't seem like him to show this kind of concern and affection. He was the sort of guy who justplayed apathetic most of the time.
"He killed that guy, the one who hit you. Almost got shot doing it," Lana told her, but Tilly couldn't take her eyes off of his face.
She hadn't had the chance to really study it before. He tended to quickly break any eye contact they made. It was too intimate for him. As he slept, his face was softer, his normally tense jaw relaxed.
Without thinking, she reached over with her other hand and brushed a strand of brown hair off of his face. He stirred at her touch and his eyes fluttered open, locking with hers.
"Matilda?" he said softly. A smile momentarily swept across his lips before he looked down and realized his fingers were interlocked with hers. He started to pull his hand away, but Tilly held on tighter.
"Don't," she said. “Stay."
He paused for a moment, considering what she said.
Maybe Carol ain't full of shit afterall, he thought. And she was definitely right about the fact that Tilly wasn't shy about what she wants.
He relaxed his hand and sat up a bit, propping himself up with his other elbow.
"You remember what happened?" he asked.
Tilly began to sit up, but winced when sharp pain echoed through her head.
"Hey, hey," Daryl took his hand from hers and laid it on her stomach, gently encouraging her to lay back down. They didn't have any actual pillows, so Lana had rolled up a tarp for her to use as one. It crinkled a bit every time she moved, but served its purpose well enough.
When the pain subsided a bit, Tilly answered him. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I remember it all. He said... Something," she was struggling to get her thoughts straight. It did seem parts of her memory were missing. "He said something, I bit him and then it's just black."
She was frustrated with the fact that details were missing, and looked pleadingly at Lana, hoping she'd fill in the gaps.
Lana got the hint. "After we checked out the clothing store, you offered to go clear the cafe. It was small, so we figured you'd be ok doing it on your own. God, I'm so stupid," Tears filled Lana's eyes. "I should never have let you go by yourself. I'm the worst friend ever."
"Shhh," Tilly comforted her, "don't you dare insult my best friend like that." She smiled at Lana. "Besides, when's the last time I waited for anyone's permission to do something?"
Lana laughed a little at that and wiped her eyes with her sleeve before continuing. "We heard you yelling so we ran outside. You ran out of the cafe, but that man caught up to you. Their group must have been hiding out in there. He was huge, Till."
"I remember that much," Tilly said.
"Michonne ran to help, but stopped when he pulled his gun on you. I thought I was going to lose you, Tills. I’ve never been so afraid."
This time it was Lana who grabbed her hand, and Tilly rubbed her thumb over her friends knuckles, trying to offer her some comfort.
"By then, the rest of our group, and his, were out on the street. He started telling us about what they were going to use you for. I wanted to puke, Tilly, my mind went right back to Memphis and watching you-"
"It's fine," Tilly cut her off. "They didn't do anything to me."
"Didn't do anything to you?" Daryl injected, suddenly angry. "The fuck you mean they didn't do anything to you?"
What the hell is wrong with this chick? he thought. Does she not understand what just happened?
"I'm fine, Daryl, really." She couldn't understand why he was so upset.
"You ain't fine, Tilly. You got knocked out by a fucking mountain! Stitches in your head. Hell of a concussion. I'm surprised you woke up at all!"
"Daryl, I-"
"No," he was fuming, "what you did back there was stupid. You tried to take on a man three times your size who had a fucking gun pointed at your head. What if he had shot you? You almost died, Tilly. Do you get that? You’re not invincible.”
Tilly stared at him wide-eyed, unsure of how to respond.
"I ain't saying you can't take care of yourself, but you have to remember that you're with us now. You've got people around to save you when you can't do it yourself. I'll-" he cleared his throat, "we'll take care of you."
"I... I..." Tilly stammered, "I don't know what to say."
"Don't gotta say anything," he said, calming down a bit. "Just lay down and let someone else take care of you for once. You with me, Lana?"
Lana's mouth hung wide open, but she managed a nod.
"Alright," he continued, "we'll take turns waking you up every little bit. Can't have you sleeping too long with your head all fucked up."
"And what exactly are you trying to say about my head?" Tilly teased, trying to lighten the mood.
Daryl sighed, "There's a big fucking hole in it, Matilda. Now stop being a smartass for thirty seconds and get some rest."
Lana swallowed, regaining her composure and laid her hand on Tilly’s arm. “Though I wouldn’t have said it quite like that,” she cast a sideways glance at Daryl, “he’s right. We don’t have to do this on our own now. You’ve done such a good job of looking out for everyone else, it’s time you let other people look out for you.”
They heard a single horn blow from in front of them, and the van slowed to a stop. “Caravan’s stopped,” Bob called from the driver’s seat.
“I’ll go see what’s going on,” Daryl responded, and opened the back of the van to go talk to Rick.
When he returned a minute later, he explained that they were going to make camp here. It was too dark to go any farther tonight.
“Tilly, you’ll bunk here, sleep in the van. I’ll stay and make sure you wake up occasionally.”
“I’ll keep close in case you guys need something,” Bob said. “There are some extra bandages up here. You should change hers out soon.” Daryl gave him a nod and he left to join the rest of the camp.
Lana looked at Tilly, her face giving away that she wasn’t going to leave the side of her friend easily.
“You should get some sleep, Lana,” Tilly encouraged.
Lana hesitated, considering the temptation of sleep against taking care of her best friend. “You sure?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Tilly smiled. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
Lana nodded and turned to Daryl. “Mind if I talk to you outside for a second?”
A look of confusion crossed his face, but he nodded and got up to follow her outside. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Tilly.
Lana leaned down and gave Tilly a kiss on the cheek before exiting. “Love you,” she said.
“Love you back,” Tilly grinned. “Now go get some rest.”
________________________________________________________________________
“What is it?” Daryl asked Lana once they were standing outside of the van.
Lana’s face tensed and she crossed her arms in front of her, looking up at the hunter with her most serious face.
Daryl had to fight to keep from laughing at the sight. This little five-foot-nothin’ chick is trying to intimidate me.
“Look,” Lana began, “you need to be straight with me.”
“Ok…” he replied, confused as to where this was going.
“What are your intentions with Matilda?” she pried.
This time Daryl couldn’t contain his laughter. “You her daddy now?”
“I’m serious, Dixon,” she continued. “She’s all the family I have left. She’s stubborn as a damn mule, I know, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to look out for her. You seem decent enough, and I appreciate what you did for her back in the town, but just know that I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”
“Ain’t gonna do nothin’ to your friend,” he replied, finally composing himself. “Just trying to look out for her, same as you.”
Lana nodded, dropping her arms to her sides. “Alright. Here ends the required best-friend-boyfriend-threatening.”
“Ain’t nobody’s boyfriend,” he shot back at her.
“Ok, Daryl,” she smiled. “Goodnight.” She left to join the rest of the group as he went back into the van.
“Why’d you have to go and sick your munchkin on me?” Daryl asked he shut the van doors behind him. Tilly lay right where he had left her, her eyes closed.
“Hey Till,” he nudged her arm. “Need to change your bandages real quick, then you can sleep for a bit.”
“Huh?” she blinked. “Alright.” She pushed herself up with her hands, a little too quickly, and her elbows buckled at the pain that shot through her.
Daryl shot his arm behind her back, catching her before she fell back down and hit her head again. “Goddammit, woman, be careful.” He used his arm to help ease her to a sitting position. “You’ve gotta take it slow for a while.”
“That’s not really an option out here,” she replied, rubbing her forehead with her palm once she was upright.
Daryl shook his head. Like Lana said, stubborn as a mule. “It’s the only option for you right now. You won’t do anyone much good if you jump back into things right now. You’ll just end up actually getting yourself killed.”
“Why do you care so much?” Tilly asked, locking eyes with him.
Daryl paused before breaking their eye contact and starting to get the new bandages ready. “When you ain’t off getting yourself kidnapped you’re pretty useful.”
Tilly just smiled. She knew that was all she was going to get out of him. “How’d things go with Carol earlier?” she changed the subject, remembering the two of them scouted together earlier.
“Fine,” he said, taking a small pair of scissors and cutting through the old bandage on her head.
She hissed at the pain as he slowly pulled it off of her wound.
“Damn,” Daryl exclaimed, examining the gash. He gently reached up and pushed some of her hair away from it so he could get a better look. She winced as his fingers grazed the tender area. “Sorry,” he said softly. “This looks pretty gnarly. The whole side of your head is bruised.”
“Yeah,” she replied, “I can tell.”
She watched his face as he continued checking and cleaning the wound with a bit of peroxide. His blue eyes were focused and he bit his lip as he worked, his face close to hers in order to see better in the dark.
This is a nice distraction from the pain, she thought.
“Hey Daryl?” she said softly.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He pulled back a bit so he was looking her in the eye. “For what?” he asked.
“Lana said you killed that man, that you almost got shot doing it. I’ve only known you a couple of days, but you risked your life for me.” He looked away, almost as if he was embarrassed. “Hey,” she reached out and put her hand under his chin, making him look back at her, “why can’t you just accept my gratitude?”
He shrugged.
“What you said earlier? You were right,” she continued, staring into his eyes. He looked like he wanted to turn away again, but he fought the urge. “No more letting my pride get in the way of making smart decisions.”
“Bout time you figured that out,” he smiled.
“I want you to know that I trust you,” she said. Her hand had dropped from his chin, but he stayed in the same position she had left him. “Everyone here has been kind to me, but you’ve gone out of your way to include me, to make me feel part of this family.”
“Rick asked me to,” he responded, finally looking away. He grabbed a new piece of gauze and began re-wrapping her head.
“I know,” she responded, feeling his warm breath on her cheek as he worked. “But I don’t think that’s the only reason.”
“Huh?” He finished securing the bandage in place and started to pull away from her, but she brought her hand up behind his head and held his face near hers.
Something sparkled in her eyes, and it made Daryl nervous. What’s she doing? he wondered.
“Not to be forward, but I’d very much like to kiss you, Daryl Dixon,” she whispered, a smile crossing her lips.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Daryl wasn’t sure how to handle this. Do I want to kiss her? He asked himself. He thought back to what Carol had told him earlier about Tilly and how he needed to skip the bullshit and be honest about how he felt.
“I’d like to kiss you, too, Matilda…” he paused, “Uh, I don’t think I know your last name.”
“It’s Snow,” she grinned.
“Matilda Snow,” he repeated, and he felt his heart pounding in his chest as he slowly leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers.
Yes, he thought, I definitely want to do this.