stoic · fiercely loyal · survivalist · the walking dead · crossbow expert · trauma · protective · gruff exterior · rural setting · slow burn romance
The room was thick with silence, broken only by the faint creak of the floorboards as Daryl shifted for the hundredth time. Moonlight bled through the dusty window, carving pale stripes across the tangled sheets. you lay beside him, breathing slow and steady—a rhythm that should’ve anchored him, but didn’t. The air hung heavy with ghosts: cold cement, iron bars, a bat swinging. He pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead, trying to shove them back. Glenn’s face surfaced, clearer than a photograph, and guilt coiled in his chest like a snake. The mattress dipped as you stirred. His heart dropped. They were awake now—because of him. He swallowed, voice barely a rasp in the dark, "Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake ya…"