Staying Alive//TWDFanFic

Four

-Two Weeks Later-

Somehow I've managed to feel at home in the weeks I've been here, I've gotten close to Daryl as in I consider him to be in my inner circle along with Maggie, Glenn, Hershel, Beth and Carol. I haven't spent much time with Rick but I have gotten to know Carl a bit more, he's monopolized by farming with Rick most of the time so it's hard to talk to him anyways. According to Beth it has now been 15 days with no incidents, which I'd say is a blessing, if I believed in that kind of thing. Since Daryl and I don't really sleep much through the night, we take turns napping on the night watches now, I also hunt with him two or three times a week now and we've pretty much been partnered up for anything there is to be partnered up for at this point, which I don't mind but I like spending time with Maggie as well. You know, girl time or whatever. For the first time since all of this shit hit the fan, I feel a sense of normalcy and I don't want to lose it.

Daryl and I were doing our nightly watch, he woke up from his hourly nap to swap out with me but I wasn't feeling tired so I motioned for him to go ahead back to the tower. He sat down next to me instead, "You're not tired?" He asked, I shook my head, "Nah, I'm wired. I probably won't sleep much if at all tonight." He sighed and just stared at me, I wasn't looking at him but I could feel his piercing gaze on the side of my face. I rolled my eyes, "I'm thinking about my old life, if you must know." He chuckled, "What part? David? Alex? Your Dad?" I shook my head, "None of the above, I'm thinking about my ex boyfriend." He seemed uncomfortable by that so I quickly explained, "Not anything weird, I'm just wondering if I'll ever feel like that again." He lit a cigarette and exhaled, "The abusive one?" I nodded, "Yeah, he was what he was but there were some good times sprinkled in there." He shook his head, "Doesn't matter, you should never let anyone treat you like that. Doesn't matter if there's good 'sprinkled' in there. Matter of fact, as long as I'm around, no one will even think about beating on you." He squinted down at me, "I'll know, I'll feel it." We both chuckle softly, "There was a guy here that was interested in me but he said he was too afraid of you finding out to try anything." He let out a quick, "Ha!" I looked over at him in confusion, "What was that?" He shrugged, "Doesn't matter. Why would anyone care about me in regard to being interested in you anyways?" I shrug, "I don't know, actually. Apparently it's common knowledge around here that I'm off limits, which is news to me because I thought I was single but I guess we're married now." He chuckled, "I do, then." I shot him a quick glance, "Do you? Do you really?" I was joking but he seemed to be serious as he answered without a second thought, "Yes." I was caught off guard so I just went along with it, "It's settled then, I'm Josie Dixon now." He locked eyes with me, "Jojo Dixon, actually." I giggled softly, "Shut up." He smiled as he glanced down at my lips before looking back into my eyes, "This is going to sound cheesy but hear me out before you make fun of me." He looked away quickly before taking a long drag and exhaling, "I know we haven't known each other long but I feel like I've known you all my life, it just makes sense." I was completely caught off guard because he's been deep/serious with me before but its never been intimate like this, I mean I could kind of tell he was attracted to me a bit but I was kind of just hoping he was because I'm attracted to him secretly. He looked me dead in my soul before saying, "You don't have to say anything, I just wanted you to know how I feel before it's too late." I nodded but stayed silent, I didn't want to make it weird but I didn't want to say the wrong thing so I just grabbed his hand and wrapped my fingers through his. He looked at our hands intertwined together and hid a smile before looking away, I've never held his hand before but it felt nice. We just stayed silent next to each other for a while before I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

I woke up to Maggie gently shaking my shoulder and whispering, "Josie? Josie?" I opened my eyes and realized I was on my side, I looked around for a moment and noticed I was also being spooned by a passed out Daryl. My eyes widened as I looked up at Maggie, who seemed giddy as she pointed at his hand tightly wrapped around my waist, his thumb was tucked into my belt loop and everything, what the hell happened! I couldn't loosen his grip, every time I got close he just pulled me closer and moaned softly like I was bothering him. I tried a few times before I twisted myself up enough to shake his shoulder gently until he opened his eyes and let go of me quickly, almost like he was shocked at what was happening. I got up quickly and grabbed my bag before waiting for Daryl to head down the tower, I waited until I saw him exit out the bottom to turn toward Maggie.