The distance between them never furthered than being a room apart. To say that night did more than seal just matching feelings and sweaty skin would be an understatement.
Nina Kenyon will always be just that to Daryl: Nina. But now he sees Nina in a new light. Call it after sex clinginess, call it what you will, the only thing confirmed is that the Kenyon woman will surely be the only woman he'll need. Of course, he knew this, but the way she handled him and made him feel was unlike any other woman he couldn't remember now.
Daryl has his own personal insecurities, most do, but Nina promised him something worth more than self-doubt.
Nina almost wanted to go back to how it was before where they didn't talk and barely spared glances. Because honestly, was it really that he went from ignoring her and now he's all over her just because she put out? But she knew that's not how he meant, he saw the sex as a bond tie, a promise, one that she agreed to so they could be happy.
Nina knows the man she has feelings for isn't the most self confident, why is beyond her as he's the only man so openly loyal and secretly caring she's ever met, but that's just how he is. And just like she's been doing since she felt she was in place to do so, she'll continue helping him with that. Besides the momentary doubt, Nina is a put together woman and confident in it, she feels she could rub off on him. Energy can be picked up on subconsciously, you know?
Other than that, her little family was back together, and she couldn't be more thrilled.
"Damn, how much longer 'til the snow melts?" T comes in shaking his coat off, stomping his boots on the mat at the door. Rick, Glenn and Daryl lining in after him to do the same after shoveling the driveway just in case they needed a fast escape.
They got cozy, yeah, that didn't mean they weren't still prepared though. The group never fully unpacked, and the things they need are in their go bags. You can't put your full faith into something in the world, it could be gone in a second, so they needed to be ready for when they were undoubtedly disappointed again.
Nina usually frowned upon them only having the men of the group doing the hard or dirty work, a feminist at heart always, but no way in hell was she going to step out there and stand in the butt-ass freezing cold just to shovel the ground.
"Bet ya wish we had a calendar." Hershel mutters raising his eyebrows at the floor sassily.
Nina snorts from her seat on the couch, knowing it was going to be the same topic from three weeks ago.
T-Dog heard him, of course he did, because even though Hershel said it quietly he also made sure he said it just loud enough for the younger man to hear it.
T rolls his eyes, sighing at the roof, "Oh my god, when will you get over that?" He slaps the sides of his thighs, shaking his head.
On one of the groups runs, Hershel grabbed a couple of calendars, because why wouldn't it be good to keep track of the days? But when T-Dog saw them he threw them out thinking it was stupid.
They already had fire wood, why did they need a bunch of paper?
Only when Hershel told the man that he grabbed them for the original use of a calendar did T realize his mistake. Though the younger man still thought it was stupid. And Hershel has been petty about it ever since.
Daryl raises his eyebrows as the calendar thing gets brought up again, deciding it was better to just stay out of it this time. This was something between Hershel and T-dog, and Hershel and T-dog only. He discards his outside wear and gets comfortable in the seat beside Nina, handing Daphne one of her favourite toys on the way over.
Carl was playing with Daphne, the baby finding extreme amusement in the faces he would make at her after he poked his head out from behind his hat.
The boy said he wanted more practice for when his sister is born, that he might as well learn from the baby that he likes spending time with to do so. Nina enjoyed watching the two interact like siblings so she let him 'practice' with Daphne.
Nina rolls her neck and stops when her head in on his broad shoulder. She thought herself pretty sly.
Daryl felt the corner of his lip twitch at the action, finding it both funny and comforting at the same time.
"Shouldn't be too long now," Lori answers T-Dogs previous question, her eyes on Daryl and Nina as well as Carols.
Carol and Lori had yet to give Daryl their own talk. The ones in which they informed him that if he hurts her in any way, shape or form he will be decapitated by their bare hands. The likely hood of him hurting her is more unlikely than unlikely because Nina would nip that shit in the bud, but she seemed pretty down when he stopped interacting with her, so they couldn't be too careful.
The two were letting him recover from the separate vague threats everyone else contributed to. Maggie drew him a note with the stick figures of Nina and Daryl, Nina crying because of something he did and Maggie behind him with her knife. Hershel walked past him with his finger sliding horizontally across his neck- those were the nonverbal ones.
Everyone trusted Daryl and he's a part of the family, but if he did something to hurt the woman it would cause a huge rift in the group. Just as Daryl knew everyone was only doing what they were doing to protect the bond of the group and his along with Nina's feelings.
"Can't wait 'till summer, need to work on my tan. This weather is sucking all the colour out of my skin." And it was true. Nina was as pale as a ghost in winters, dismiss the rosy cheeks, that's how it's always been. She burns at first and then quickly turns into a tan, she needs that bad right now.
"I couldn't agree with you more." Beth agrees, snuggling into the knitted blanket.
"I don't know about you, but I do enjoy the limitless water supply." Carol smiles. Carol had always been a winter woman, she loved the cute hats and adorable mittens, especially with a warm cup of hot chocolate between her hands.
Carl walks over to Nina and places the baby in her arms, pulling a face. Carl quickly figured out that Daphne was hungry when she grabbed at his chest and grabbed at his shirt. It weirded the boy out to say the least, he wasn't expecting it- caught him off guard.
The mother chortles and stands up before moving upstairs to feed her daughter. Nina rocks side to side and hums, Daphne quickly falling asleep under the spell of the milk and slept in her crib peacefully. Daryl knocked on the door and Nina let out a quiet 'come in'.
She hears his footsteps behind her, once they stop she leans her back against his front, his arms holding around her stomach. The both of them staring out the window and admiring the scenery.
"Carol's startin' soup, asked if you would help 'er," He tells her, delivering what Carol had asked. But Nina wasn't listening, instead just squinting her eyes and pushing herself off of him and out of his arms.
Stepping closer to the glass, Nina spots a small figure a little ways away, struggling to run through the thick snow away from a couple of walkers.
"Someone's out there." She points, showing Daryl. Daryl hesitates for a second, debating whether or not he should stay with her. As if sensing his turmoil, she places a gentle pushing hand on his chest and that's all he needs to sprint out of the room. Devil be damned if anyone is going to get close to Nina and Daphne, they'll be safe and he'll make sure of it.
Daryl, Rick, Glenn and Maggie rush out of the house. T claimed he would protect the house from the inside, but really he was sick of the cold and lied on the couch with a blanket around his body and a pair of slippers.
Quite a funny sight to watch four grown adults struggle to run through snow, Nina got a kick out of the whole thing despite the possibly dangerous situation. She told everyone about it and they laughed too, Nina felt good she could ease their nerves.
Fifteen minutes later of chasing the unknown person through the thick snow with great difficulty, they finally caught up and brought him back after checking to make sure the person had nothing harmful on his person.
Once back inside, Daryl stands slightly in front of Nina who holds Daphne. He didn't want the kid's eyes even meeting Nina's figure.
It was a boy, he looked no older than Carl, hazel eyes and brown hair.
Rick ties him to a kitchen chair and crouches down, starting his questioning. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I-I left my group to look for my brother a while ago. Got chased by a bunch of those things when winter hit; just been running ever since."
"What are you doing here?" Rick repeats his other question.
"Saw a few dead-dead ones at some of the houses and thought it might be him." The boy answered, still shivering from the harsh cold.
Nina narrows her eyes at him, trying not to be biased about her opinion on the group letting a boy sit freezing cold. Then she imagines it being Daphne, and how she wished if somehow it were, that someone would at least give her a blanket. Nina huffs, trying not to fight herself on how she's gone soft, grabbing a blanket from a living room chair she wraps it around the boys shoulders. Nina tucks the ends under his arms so it doesn't slip off and goes back to Daryl's side.
"Who's your brother?" Glenn asks, standing next to Maggie in case the boy was a threat.
"Uh, his name is Randal." The boy glances around, trying to decipher the looks being tossed around. "You might've seen him. He pretty much just looks like an older version of me." He chuckles nervously.
"Yeah, we saw him." Daryl grunts, thinking about the kid that caused so much chaos in the group.
"Really?" The spark of hope that flickers through him breaks Nina from the inside out.
Not too long ago she was routing for Randal to be killed off like some animal in a slaughterhouse. She didn't stop to think about if he had a family that was waiting for him to come back, holding on to the small piece of hope that they'd see their son again, or their nephew, grandson, cousin or brother.
Recognition finally passes his face and his bottom lip quivers. His brother was all he had left, Randal protected him from their group, kept him safe from the things that lurked. How come he was left to die instead of one of the other group members? The ones that did disgusting, foul things to the women and girls?
"He's gone?" Rick hesitantly nods, sorrow covering his face despite still being weary of the kid.
Nina knew he felt guilty. Shane was the one that killed him, but they were also talking about shooting him or hanging him. Shane did what they were going to do anyways, and the thought of being as bad as Shane shook them to their core.
"What do I do now?" He sobs, asking no one in particular. Weakness, he knew it was a faulty time for him, but honestly how could he care now?
Nina wants to rip the hair out of her head with the mental arguing. One side was logic, the same logic she felt thinking about Randal, and the other was compassion, thinking about him going back in the cold to die sad and alone. "I mean, he could stay the night at least. Have some food, warm up, we could let him go in the morning with some things to get him started?"
Rick rolls his shoulders back, having the same turmoil in his mind as Nina does, he can see the mirrored thoughts behind his eyes that are the same as the ones in his mind. One of the many reasons they get along so well, because they're so alike.
"We would have to watch him, do you really want another Randal situation on our hands?" He finally asks. He wants to help the kid out, it's the part of him telling him that the kid just lost his only family and should be cared for in this time. But what about the safety of the group, of his family, if this kid wants revenge?
"He weighs no more than a hundred pounds, maybe less. We could give him some dinner, let him sit by the fire for the night. He has no weapons now, and there's always at least one person on watch, they could watch him too." She explains.
"And what if he wants revenge for his brother? What do we do then?"
"What we've always done. Protect the group. It would be stupid to turn down a potential group member that could help with everything."
"I don't know, Nina." Rick scratches his face in thought.
"We were going to kill his brother. And then when it was decided against, we were going to leave him for dead. Shane snapped his neck. It is the least we can do."
"This is how we honour Dale." Nina adds. Much like how Nina once said Dales death didn't bring her much sadness, didn't mean it wasn't undeserving. Dale just wanted to look for the better, Dale was thinking the same thing Nina is now.
Rick sighs. Honestly, if this kid does anything it will be the last time he tries being moral.
"Hershel, could you warm up some tea?" The old man nods and makes his way to the kitchen.
"Lets get the fire going." Nina looks towards Maggie and Beth, they nod as well.
A/N, YALL- I write these with headphones on and listen to music while I type, and it blocks out all sound. And when I get into the writing my peripheral vision blanks cause my full focus is writing. But sometimes I stop to jam out to the songs, and I looked up and my sister was standing at my door with her head tilted down and a grin on her creepy ass face.
The way I screamed, shrieked, yelped, screeched, squawked and shrilled. All definitions I got from google.
Forget twenty dollars- creepy sistas make ya holla
Also what kind of word is 'chortle'? Tf?
Edit:
This is fucking ridiculous. Are you kidding? I love you guys and I hope you have a great rest of your night. Thank you so much <3
Edit: well now it's at 8 thousand reads. You guys are the best