The group has been on the road for a few months after the whole herd of walkers destroyed their little fantasy land, and they've been jumping from place to place just looking for somewhere to hunker down for an hour or two before they're behind the wheel again.
Tension a little high with what Rick had confessed to doing to his best friend and his knowledge he claimed of having since, what, the C.D.C. But overall the group was fine if you looked past how they were homeless with a pregnant woman and a growing baby.
Speaking of, Daphne was growing like a weed. She could pick her head up all on her own, and she was a lot more vocal in the sense she babbled on in her own little language to whoever would listen. She barely cried - which was an absolute god send. She didn't even cry when she was hungry, she just reached for her mothers boobs.
When Nina was a baby, she never crawled, just lied down until eventually she skipped to walking. So Nina wasn't really worried if Daphne didn't crawl.
Lori's belly was growing more and more, her bump was showing a bit despite not eating much. Nina gave Lori and Carl her food as often as she could, but Daryl made her eat.
He started catching on that she was losing quite a bit of weight and started eating less in the sense she was using her share to feel the more vulnerable Grimes members, so he watched her closely when it came to food; made sure she ate enough. Rick took care of his pregnant wife and child, he fed them - so in Daryl's eyes, Nina didn't have to. Not only did Nina have to eat because it was a basic human need, but she needed to be healthy for Daphne as well.
Winter was blooming in the air, making them all fear that they would be stuck on the road when the snow hit and the roads were slippery.
Daryl, despite wanting to be near Nina and Daphne at all hours of the day, was sent on more and more runs for food with some others and also to search for stores to ransack. No matter how little time he had, the man always made sure to get something for the mother and her daughter, whether it was a snack, a baby toy, a cute outfit for the baby or something that Nina could make use of, he never came back without something for them specifically.
Nina always told him to ignore things like that and to just get what he needed and then get out of there, and Daryl always just nodded his head, and then the next time he went out he handed her something new.
Ever since the farm incident, Nina grew closer with everyone. Her, Glenn and Maggie were practically inseparable, if they weren't around each other it was most likely because one or both of them were on runs. They were Daphne's godparents, a title that they gave themselves.
Nina, Carol and Lori got closer as well. The three women being the moms of the group and always worrying about everyone. They openly gossiped.
Nina, Maggie and Beth were practically sisters. They told each other everything, and if one of them was upset in any way they knew they could always go to each other. They gossiped too, just more secretively.
Hershel quickly became the fatherly figure she wished her own could've been, he was very kind towards his three girls.
Rick and T-dog were like her brothers alongside Glenn, they always made sure she was safe, and never let her go on runs no matter how many times she tried sneaking in the car with them. They, no matter how much the three men would deny it, gossiped too. More than the others. They did it with no shame when it was just them.
The Florence's were just as equal group members as the rest of them. They stuck to their word and pulled their weight, Joel going with on majority of the runs, a fierce protector to the group and making sure everyone was safe whilst taking watch shifts. Nora and Holly took more to hanging out with Beth and Carl, they kept the group on their toes and livened every place they stopped at with their childish personalities, also being able to take watch with others as well.
And then there was Daryl. She didn't know how she felt about him anymore- correction, she did, but against all of her effort, it got tense between them.
Daryl, even though he doesn't completely know what he's feeling, definitely wanted something to happen when she pulled him aside when they were at the highway. Just something little to show that maybe she was getting the same confusing feelings, but nothing happened. He knew Nina would be able to sense something was off with him so he started to distance himself so she couldn't find out how disappointed he was.
Yeah, he always got her something on runs and made sure she was eating enough, kept an eye out for her specifically to make sure she was safe, but those were things he could do silently or from a distance.
The two didn't talk anymore or go on walks with Daphne and play things like twenty questions. Nina didn't get Daryl's opinion on onesies, Daryl didn't stop her from saying something snarky, they didn't sit together under a tree and play with Daphne and make silly faces at the infant. It all just stopped.
Nina tried to talk to the redneck but he shut her out before she could get anything out of him. He started seeing Daphne less seeing as they were on the road and Nina wanted the baby by her side at all times so she didn't have to go through thinking she lost her again.
Even though they stopped talking and he saw the both of them less, Nina still handed the baby girl to him. She didn't know why but it felt wrong if he didn't hold her for too long, and she felt like she was denying him of something that he rightfully got to be around if she didn't let him see her.
And that's why she was walking back to Maggie and Glenn, baby-less. The couple just shake their heads at each other knowing Nina wasn't going to do anything about it. Daryl and Nina were acting like a freshly divorced couple with a kid, Nina got full custody and Daryl got to see Daphne on the weekends; sometimes holidays if he got lucky.
"What?" Nina asks the two, breaking their silent conversation and sitting down beside them. The group had collectively decided to stop for the night, Rick, Joel and T-dog on watch.
"When will you two just get it over with and fuck?" Maggie blurts out, quiet enough for only the three of them to hear it.
Nina freezes, stunned at her bluntness. Glenn snickers. "It would help with the suffocating sexual tension."
"Wha- it is not sexual tension." The mother whispers 'sexual tension'. "If it's anything, it's awkward tension. And it's not."
"What would you call it then?" Glenn asks, picking at the grass while Maggie held his other hand.
"She just called it awkward tension," Maggie reminds him, slightly laughing at his now red face.
"I did not." Nina sternly shakes her head at the two.
"You guys need to get over whatever it is. Even the baby you two share is starting to pick up on it." Glenn turns his head to her, a cheeky smile on his lips.
Nina scoffs at the two as they both burst into childish giggles. "You guys suck."
The group watch from five feet away as Nina and Daryl sleep by the trees furthest from each other, Daphne tucked in the baby basket safely under Daryl's large protective arm.
Glenn gossiped to Rick about the drama between Nina and Daryl while Maggie gossiped to Beth and Nora. Beth then gossiped to her dad and Carl, the Grimes boy then telling Holly who told Joel. Rick told Lori and Lori told Carol who then told T-dog once he came back from going to the washroom. Now they all stand huddled together as they speak about the situation.
"They just need to kiss and get it over with." Carl speaks, fixing his hat. Holly nodding in agreement and flicking his hat back off, the hat flipping behind him and he rolls his eyes.
"They're being ridiculous," T-dog shakes his head.
"You can't just build a relationship like that for weeks and then ignore each other's whole existence." Lori purses her lips beside her son and husband.
"While also passing around your baby between each other." Carol adds on to what Lori said.
The twelve of them all called Daphne both Daryl and Nina's daughter. It was obvious that while the two of them didn't see it, Nina was the girls mother and Daryl was the girls dad.
"It's getting out of hand, definitely." Rick nods.
"You need to do something about it," T-dog raises his eyebrows at Hershel, making the older man look at him horrified.
"Why me? What did I do?" He asks with wide eyes.
"She once told me you were like a wise old tree. It'd make more sense coming from you." Beth told her father.
Hershel glances around the group, everyone nodding at his youngest daughters words and muttering quiet 'yup's. He scoffs at all of them, shaking his head and walking away. "To hell with y'all."
A/N, this chapter doesn't even need to be explained, I mean we all know they gossiped between each other, and there were cliques 100%.
Go Piss Girl.
And the next few chapters will be them on the road before they find the prison. So they'll be more about the relationships Nina has with everyone and other things. Enjoy. Love ya