#daryl drabbles

warnings: allusions to past child abuse and abuse

Daryl could see something deep in your eyes, some recollection of something that was woven into the fabric of who you are as a person, and it made his chest ache. He ducked his head and pulled in slow breaths for a long moment, trying to find the right thing to say, how to thank you for something that so clearly had now sunk you back into unpleasant memories of your own.

The bloody gauze and leftover herbs you’d used on the wound on his back were scattered beside you still.

”Hey,” he drawled softly. You looked up at him, pulled from your dark reverie by the sound of his southern drawl. “Thanks fer—fer patchin’ me up. I know seein’—” he gulped, unable to even mention his scars aloud, “—it probably brings stuff back for ya…”

You gave him a sad smile. “Nothing to thank me for.”

”Look—we ain’t there anymore. We ain’t there…” he trailed off.

You nodded. “Yeah. I know. And hey—sometimes people with the worst past end up creating the best future. We’re working on that. Right?”

He nodded. “Right.” He tilted his head back toward the path. “C’mon. Let’s get home.”

Prompt: “Sometimes people with the worst past end up creating the best future.”