Tale: Not Today

Daryl did not know how exactly it had happened… He only knew it had. The living and rather loud evidence laying on his cot as she let out short whimpers in her sleep. The girl could make a lot of noise for someone her size.

“Mh,” she contently sighed  in her dream.

He smiled at the weird sound, wondering how on earth she had ended up in his sleeping bag. Sure, he had been watching her for a couple of weeks now, brooding on what to say to her. But Daryl never remembered inviting her inside his tent. That was all her. She had been verypersistent. He liked that about her.

Daryl wondered how long her persistence would last though, knowing that he was bound to fuck up eventually. He had always fucked up good things in the past and expected the future to be no different. He knew that there would be a day he will no longer be allowed to kiss and touch her perfect skin… to want her in such a way. 

So far Daryl had managed to keep the scarring on his back hidden from her curious eyes. Though, he knew the days of his secret were numbered. There would come a day, she would feel the bumps on his back or even see them. And that would be the day she finally realized how weak and disgusting he really was. She would call him all sorts of names and leave him. And then, when even the simplest look at him will disgust her she will ask him to leave the group. Daryl just knew that day would come.

Every time he got back from a hunting trip like today, he was surprised to find her in his tent, still waiting on him. ‘Not today,’ his mind would say, ‘Today is not the day she’s gonna to make you leave her alone.’

Daryl stretched out his hand, letting himself touch her soft hair as it radiated in the rays of the morning sun, sweeping through the broken zipper of his tent.
“What took you so long?” Her sudden voice made him flinch back his hand as if he was a little boy caught in the act of stealing candy. Turning on her back to get a better glimpse at the hunter, the girl rubbed the crust from the corner of her eyes.

“I – I went hunting,” Daryl mumbled under his breath, glancing from his feet to her face.
“How long have you been standing there?” She asked, seeing him nervously shift the weight from one foot to another.
“A while,” he admitted, making her smile at his awkwardness.
“Why don’t you come over here? It’s your cot after all,” she suggested, holding up the blanket.
“Nah, I got sweat all over me,” he replied, touching the grease and dirt on his trousers.
“I don’t mind. Just take them off.”

Doing as she asked, Daryl settled in next to her. His self-doubts kicked back in the moment he felt her legs against his. Daryl’s hands curled up thightly in fists as he fought the urge to touch her. It had been a week and he still did not know how to act around her.  

“You know, you’re allowed to touch me. I’m yours,” she whispered to him. “I want you to.” A trace of her typical persistence making her pupils darker. “Sorry,” he felt the need to apologize even though he did not understand the cause.
“I missed you,” she said, tucking her head in the crook of his neck. “I was so cold without you here. You’re not going away again today, are you?”
“Nah,” Daryl merely replied, not knowing how to respond to her caring for him. “I’m ain’t going anywhere… Not today, at least.”

[Gif: feedus-reedus]