You couldn’t sleep all night. So you sat on the bank of a small river and just wanted to see the water flowing. You had no fuel left, so you had to keep walking. In the meantime Daryl wandered through the forest in search of an animal for you to eat.

You were still shaken by what had happened just before. The words of Michonne and the cries of the boy hammered through your head again and again, without giving you even a little break. What would have happened if you had told the ‘Governor’ of your group? He would probably have killed them all, one after the other, just for supplies of food and medicines. Bastard…

Your eyes were lost in the stream of water and the dead leaves, which fell gently to the surface and let them flow away with past memories. “Nothing…”

You didn’t turn around at these words. You didn’t want to look Daryl in the eyes, you would have started crying.

“Y/N…”

You stood up, still as a stone as if frozen while Daryl sat down. You felt two hands resting on your shoulders and began to make wide and circular movements. So you tilted your head and let yourself be lulled by this massage, which eased all your pain. His hands went down and gripped your waist and finally you managed to sit on his strong, warm legs.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine…”

Daryl whispered these words to give you confidence and hope that he himself had long lost…

“Tomorrow morning we will go back to the streets and we will look for the others, I promise.”

“Daryl… I have something to tell you…”

“Then tell me.”

You felt his hand stroking your hair and his breath warming your face.

“The woman who rescued Andrea, Michonne, told me that she had recently seen a group of people…”

“Are you kidding?”

“No… She saw them in a jail a few miles from Woodbury.”

Daryl continued to look at you.

“Please, don’t look at me…”, you whispered.

“You know that I can’t do that…”

You were more and more surprised by these statements. Daryl hugged you and ran his lips over the side of your neck. You closed your eyes, listening to the nature, listening to the sounds of Daryl and his calm and deep tone.

“Y/N…”

“Yes?”, you whispered.

“Please wait here for me…”

You got up and looked at him, trying to understand what he was up to. He got up slowly, wiped his dirty pants, took his crossbow and dived into the dense undergrowth. Now you stood there, alone by the river, curious and waiting. So you sat down again. After a few minutes, you saw him emerge with something in his hand. You suddenly got up and were worried about what would happen. “Here.” Daryl had three flowers in his hand… You accepted them, blushed immediately and didn’t say a word.

“Do you see these flowers? Cherokee Roses, I know a derivation from an old legend.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

You approached him and took his hand. He smiled at you.

“When the American soldiers deported the native americans to relocate them to the southeastern United States, they went a long way, which is called the 'trail of tears’ because so many tears were shed by the mothers for their children, many died due to hunger and illness along the way.”

Daryl hugged you tight and turned toward the small river.

“The elders of the tribe prayed to Heaven to send a sign of strength and courage to the mothers torn with pain, and the next day, along the way, these beautiful roses appeared in the places where the tears of the mothers had fallen.” Now you understand it… Daryl had given you these roses to give you strength and courage to look forward and not back to the past.

“They are beautiful, thank you Daryl…”

“Just like you.”, came a soft whisper from his lips. You stood on your toes and leaned your cold lips on his. Suddenly, two dazzling lights illuminated your figures. Daryl lowered himself alarmed and tugged at your top. You heard two doors pop and the leaves crunched under the soles of the people’s shoes. Daryl suddenly held his hand over your mouth and dragged you kinda harsh behind a dense bush.

“Be quiet, Y/N, stay calm.” You opened your eyes again. You saw the Governor approaching your car and looking for something. Shit…

“Where the hell are you!”, he yelled angrily.

Daryl kept holding your mouth and almost stopped you from breathing as he squeezed you with his other hand. You watched the 'Governor’ as he threw your backpacks and other things around. A little later, he cursed like a beast and drove away. What did he want from you?

“He’s gone.”, Daryl whispered. He gently removed his hand from your mouth and wanted to answer, but promptly stopped when you heard the trigger of a gun.

“Good, good, good, look at who we found here!”You recognized this hard and icy voice. (M/N). Damn it! Daryl whirled around and immediately aimed his crossbow at him.

“I wouldn’t do it, I’d rather take that thing down.”But Daryl didn’t give up. “I said, take this thing down!”, (M/N) shouted, slowly emphasizing the words.

“Daryl, please, listen to him…”, you whispered. After a while, he lowered his crossbow and stood like a shield in front of you. (M/N) suddenly struck him with full force and didn’t stop.

“What are you doing?”, you shouted in horror.

“Y/N, don’t worry about him.” You turned around. Before you was a tall and thin figure. The Governor. You were shocked and didn’t know, what you should do. You looked into the pitch-dark forest and met a pair of gleaming but familiar eyes. Who was this person watching the whole scene without intervening?

“Help us!”, you shouted. The 'Governor’ grabbed your hair and threw you to the ground with brutal force, banging your head on a rock. The sight began to darken as you saw your blood glide over the leaves.

“Shut the hell up or I’ll kill you and your damn friend!”

Daryl fought like a wild animal in a cage that was just too small for him.

“Leave her alone, take me, not her!” You could hear Daryl’s tantrums behind you… The 'Governor’ approached Daryl and started brutally beating him and kicking him hard. And (M/N) approached you slowly. He grabbed your hands and tied them tight with a rope. You could feel the meat being crushed by that coarse, thick rope. Shortly afterwards, he picked you up and headed to the van.

“Don’t touch her, you ugly son of a bitch!”, shouted Daryl under the brutal beatings of the 'Governor’. You couldn’t react, you felt increasingly weak and tired.

“Now you are mine, beautiful woman, I will not let you escape so easily.”, said (M/N). You noticed his stinking breath that smelled strongly of alcohol.

“No… You don’t have to… I… No…”, you whispered exhausted. He laughed as he headed to the car. He threw you in and with your tired eyes you saw Daryl being thrown beside you. You lay on a dirty, blood-stained blanket when you looked at your angel with a battered face, a broken nose, and a deep cut above his left eyebrow. With difficulty you approached him and put you face to his face. Your tears soaked the blanket and his slightly torn shirt.

“Y/N…”, he whispered, so as not to be heard by your tormentors.

“Yes…” A tear fell from his cheek and penetrated a wound just below the cheekbone. Nevertheless, he smiled at you.

“I… I…”

“Daryl?”

“You… I… love you…”

You heart broke. You couldn’t see Daryl like that. His eyes screamed 'don’t leave me’… It felt like your heart stopped beating.

“I… love you too…”, you whispered in tears. Shortly thereafter, your vision blurred, which put you in a long and deep sleep.