Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

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The drive back was uncomfortable and filled with an awkward silence as Daryl tore through the abandoned back roads, trying to get Eugene back to Alexandria as fast as possible. There was no time to explain what happened to everyone who met them at the gate as Abraham and Daryl hauled off Eugene, followed closely by Rosita, Juliana was left staring at the bed of the truck, and Denise's body that had been covered up by an old tarp they had found lying around.

"What happened?" Rick's voice surprised her, causing her to jump slightly as she looked up to meet his sharp blue eyes. Her gaze flickered behind him, and she could see Carol meandering slowly up behind Rick, eyebrows knitted together in worry.

Clearing her throat, Juliana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, unable to make eye contact with him, "Those assholes.." she ground out, finally turning her gaze up to Rick, the burst of anger breaking through her sadness, "The ones who fucked with Daryl, took his shit," she started, "The same ones who.." her voice trailed off for a moment, "..who took me," she pointed at Denise's body lying in the back of the truck, "Are the same assholes who killed Denise. Who tried to kill Eugene and who tried to kill us." Her voice began to raise, her throat felt hot and tight as she tried her best to keep herself together, "I'm gonna kill 'em."

Before Juliana was able to take a step, Rick's hand was on her shoulder, holding her back from making any sudden movements. He dipped down slightly to be more at her eye level and his other hand came to her opposite shoulder, forcing Juliana to look at him, "I know you're pissed, but you can't be alone without knowing what we're up against."

"I know what we're up against!" she shouted, shrugging her shoulders to get his hands off of her, "You weren't fuckin' shot and tortured; you weren't!"

Carol was suddenly at her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "C'mon, Jules, you need to sit down for a minute." Carol and Rick exchanged a look between them as she guided Juliana away from Rick, bringing her to the front steps of the house they were sharing.

"Sit," Carol ordered, pointing at one of the steps. Juliana did as she was told, taking a seat, which Carol followed, sitting down next to her on one of the steps, "What happened Jules?"

Juliana sighed, "He shot Denise-"

"No," Carol interjected, "With you. What happened?"

Her head turned to Carol, jaw clenched as she decided to tell Carol what had happened or not. Running a hand down her face, Juliana took in a deep breath before she began, "They shot me, and I fell off the back of Daryl's bike. I made him go. And they took me.." she shook her head slightly, the memories of the place a little fuzzy from time to time, "..they took me somewhere, some sort of big, I don't know, factory? It was dark. They wanted to know where I was from. Where Alexandria was. I refused. There was a man-" she frowned, shaking her head again, "I can't remember his name," Juliana lied, "but he had a bat –"

"A bat?" Carol questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, like a baseball bat. It was wrapped it wire or something. But he was in charge, and he threatened me and everyone here. The guy who shot Denise had Daryl's bike. I saw it back at that factory. I told him then I was going to kill him. Then when he showed up again, and he said that he meant to kill Daryl.." her voice faded away.

"Would you have told him?"

"What?"

"Would you have told him about Alexandria?"

"No."

"Would you have told him if Daryl wasn't involved?"

Juliana swallowed hard, "Do you think I'd still be here if Daryl wasn't involved?"

"No."

There was a long pause between the two of them before Carol spoke up again, "You should go and rest. I'll let Daryl know you're okay." Awkwardly, Carol patted her on the shoulder before heading off in the direction they had come from while Juliana begrudgingly made her way into the house.

She never did actually sleep, but merely waited for the shock to die down before she headed out to find Daryl. Juliana had an inkling where he was at, and she was right. She found him finishing up tossing dirt onto a freshly dug grave.

"Hey," she mumbled, coming up next to him. He didn't look over at her as he mumbled a 'hey' back in her direction. Juliana watched in silence as he continued to toss soil back into the ground.

It took her awhile to finally speak up, but she finally did, placing her hand on his arm to get him to stop. He finally turned his eyes up to look at her, staring at her with half-lidded eyes through sweat drenched hair, "Daryl-"

Juliana was unable to get another word out before Daryl pulled her to his chest, one hand cradling the back of her head and the other wound tightly around her waist. Juliana's heart twisted in her chest and her arms wrapped around his own waist, trying to pull him as close to her as possible.

Her fingers clenched at the damp fabric of his shirt as she laid her head on his chest now, listening to the loud thudding of his heart beating through his chest. They were both trying to hold on to each other so hard for fear they'd lose each other, and the more things were progressing, the fear that they were going to lose each other was starting to become more and more prominent each day.

Gathering herself as best as she could, she forced herself to pull away from him, her hands on his forearms, "I'm in love with you, Daryl. I look at you, and I just love you and it fuckin' terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you."

He stared at her a long while before his hands moved to cup her face, pulling her into a hard, passionate kiss. It left both of them gasping for breath as he pulled away from her, pressing his forehead against hers, "I know," he mumbled, "I know."

A/N:
Thanks for everyone's patience in the slow uploads - I'm currently swamped with classes, but with break coming up I hope to write more (if not finish this!). Make sure you leave comments, too! - KC