THIRD PERSON POV

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"This stays 'tween us...Nobody else gotta know." He growled, and that just sunk deep into Rosita's mind. The amount of things he could do to her if she spoke on this secret made her nod in one fierce action. As well as Rick.

"She don't wanna live no more." He whispered, eyes only looking directly to the love of his life. The mother of his child...

She said: 'just let me die.'

***

Daryl leaned against the wall across from where Blake was lying lifelessly on the couch. Nothing much changed, the silent tension as the R.V was driving as fast it possibly could while Rosita and Rick just looked to each other.

"Daryl it doesn't mean—"

"When have ya known her to not say somethin' she don't mean?" He spit, shaking his head back into his hand as he pulled his knees further apart.
He felt...Broken.

That's the best way to describe it.

Blake dying was never a thought in his mind, he always thought he'd be the first to go...Never...Never her.

He'd die protecting her and this was just—A misstep, a fucking misstep.

"Carol and Maggie said she was active, she's just wore herself out...Denise will take a look at her the second we get back. She'll put through." Rosita spoke, kneeling down before Daryl to put a hand onto his elbow. But he shrugged it off, he never was one for physical contact.
Only Blake. Only her.

"Ya—Ya didn't see all the blood. She lost too much, and that bump on the side of her head is bigger than my fuckin' hand...H-how'd this happen? She stayed back to—to stay safe!" He growled, yelling at the two of them as he tilted his head back against the wall behind him.

Maggie in the other section of the R.V flinched, hearing the roar of the angered Dixon so close. Carol on the other hand, just looked aimlessly around at the window.

Searching, waiting for a sign of what she should do.

Had they left her alone to sit in her spot, and not feel so claustrophobic...Or left her home, then they would've managed to get out of this mess without losing a member of their ranks.

A high rank.

"S-she wants to die...She wants to leave." He mumbled, starting to wipe his eyes. And the quick glance from Rick towards the women did she nod in response to leaving. And even he suggested it to himself to do the same.

Yet he couldn't leave Blake.

"She's a fighter too...She'll pull through."

"And if she don't?... Ever think 'bout Addie in this? My kid...My fuckin' kid." He breathed, still believing it to be the truth. He closed his eyes to delay the tears once again, something he's seen Blake do for the entire two days since the secret has been let out.

It was a mistake to let either of them out of the compound, even if she was responsible for the mission and it running smoothly.
The backup had failed.

"She didn't even say bye to her ma, she said it to meh...No good luck on Rory's end. If I know that girl any bit, she's gonna blame herself." The eyebrow on Rick's face hardened as he was confused on how he'd know she'd blame herself.

And just when he opened his mouth to respond, Daryl shook his head. Looking to the complete side of the issue.

"Cause that's what I'm doin'...And she'd do it too. That gets passed down, don't it?" He threw his hand up to point to where Blake was sprawled out, her head still encased by Rosita's attempt to stop the bleeding. It did exactly that, the bleeding had stopped.

*

As the R.V neared Alexandrea, Abe had already warned Denise and the people at the gate to pull it open the second they are incoming. And they did, so flawlessly that it took Daryl a minute to get the courage to pick Blake up once more.

He hasn't touched her since her last words.

But he scooped her up, carefully moving his feet, one foot in front of the other as it turned into quite the crowd build-up as he brought Blake into the infirmary. Denise yelled orders to her helpers, and the second he placed her down onto the bed...It was as if he was stuck in a time-altering state.

Everything moved around him, just color, voices, people. Everything just blurred right on by until a faithful screech blared off behind him.

"MOM!" The sound made him look over his shoulder in the instant. Jolting to the door as he caught Addie before she could make it any farther.

"MOM! Let me go! MOM!" She yelled, pushing and kicking at Daryl's hold around her. Taking her a bit outside as one of the helpers closed the door for them both.

"Addie...Addie hun, listen to me. Ya-"

"I want to see mom." She demanded, the tears streaking down her face as the young girl tried to push past her father.

Not since yesterday has she seen the group that left, and it was Rick. Running off in the distant towards them both. Shapely out of breath as he panted. "Ya told her?!"

"I—" As either of the men became distracted, Addie took it as a chance. Running directly into the room only to stop short to see her mother.

And the amount of blood coming from the head wrap she was wearing, the young girl collapsed onto the floor and sobbed even harder. Making both Arran and Eric consult her as Rick and Daryl bickered back and forth.

Claiming that he was going to go himself, but he was just too caught in the moment. Too caught up with arguing to Rick and letting his anger soar.

It was in fact Glenn and Maggie, who took Addie into their arms and attempted to consult her. Trying to bring her away from where her mother laid helplessly, but she wouldn't move.
Her body was planted her.

"Addie honey please...You shouldn't see this. Denise needs to—"

"She's my mom! I'm staying!" And at that, Maggie looked off into the distance to see Daryl. His anger making him growl and fling his arms every given way.

He's her father, and Addie knows this. She needs to...It was then Addie removed herself from Maggie's arms and raced towards the bed and stood beside her mom. Reaching out to touch her hand.

The odd idea of it reaching to her was a far fetched dream, but it helped the young girl process that it wasn't going to happen because it can't. The words that flew over the inexperienced daughter.
Things like: Coma, amnesia, nerve damage.

All of these things, results. Are only possibilities as Denise needs to run a few tests to determine the possibility.

"Aight...Addie...Hun, ya ma wouldn't want ya here." She didn't look up to meet Dixon's gaze. Nobodies gaze. She just clung to her mom's motionless hand and waited for a twitch, any sudden movement to make it look like she's alive.

Addie flinched when the heartbeat monitor started to work, the smile spread quickly on her face before disappearing. There's her sign.

"Hun...Why don't ya get some food in ya or somethin'." He spoke softly to her, placing a hand onto her shoulder. Something he'd do time to time, but she didn't hesitate into shaking it off.

She's still angry, torn between hating both her parents and loving them. Licking her lips as she allowed another few tears to fall and to rest her chin down onto her chest.

Instead of Daryl's first failed attempt of just a distant hand on the shoulder, he thought for a moment. Seeing the cutting features of his daughter, their daughter. Her chin, her hair, her flushed cheeks.

All in similarity to himself, her mother and more importantly...To his own mother.

Now Dixon doesn't remember a whole lot about his mother, but if there was one thing. It's that Merle always claimed that he got the best genes, and that was hers.

Instead of gripping her shoulder, he pushed himself. The awkward ward being that he is, he pushed himself forward so the girl would be engulfed into his chest. She was a bit taken back, but the stiff body was still breathing. Allowing her to cry right onto his shoulder.

"Is...Is mom—mom going to d-di—" The quick inhale of Dixon made her stop midsentence at his own reaction.

How else was he to respond? The man wasn't trained in keeping in his emotions like Blake has. He doesn't know how or what to speak about. So the hard swallow allowed him to concentrate for a moment.

"Don't think 'bout that. We was out, she was protectin' Maggie and Carol." The embrace was short-lived as she pushed away, leaving Daryl's arms to dangle before they resumed their place back along his sides.

"But who was protecting her?!" She yelled, and that pushed Denise to speak up.

Blake is in a delicate state, as they both found out. She's sensitive to noise, light, and anything that can distract her mind from healing. The informational scolding led Addie to just nod, sliding her sleeve over her face as she tried to breathe.

"I'm still mad...Why am I still mad at her?" She admitted, and he'd be lying to say he wasn't either.
He's been mad, all this time.

About Toby. About the lies.

It didn't even matter if Toby wasn't real, it was the fact that niether of them knew what was the truth and what was a built upon fantasy that Blake created. So the second attempt to hold her ended up him walking her to the other side of the room towards the exit, now sitting her down for a breath of fresh air on the porch bench.

She leaned into him, Addie making the indication as she hid into his neck.

Although it took time for him to find a comfortable position to place his arm into, once he found it. Addie began to relax a bit.

If this wasn't a dire situation, and Denise wasn't examining Blake's compromised brain. He would've kept that smile plastered, instead it only managed to stay for a second as this is what would've happened if he did stick around.

Running through his mind would be a young girl, barely the age of five. Crying into his arms because some punk little kid put gum in her air. The pep talk in that, would've been designated for Blake though.

Psychologist or not, that's a mother's touch.

"You're my dad...After all this time you were just—were in the same state. Alive." She breathed out, muffled into the hem of his vest. The words that he heard made a quick huff fly out of his mouth without any warning.

The arm Daryl had draped squeezed her even closer as she looked back into the room. Eyes blinking so rapidly as he was still crying from before, the log in his throat worsening as he still doesn't know what to say.

No experience with this. Nothing.

"I know...'m sorry, if I knew ya we're 'live I woulda...I woulda came back." That right there, was the truth.
Even if Addie wasn't his, he would've made an appearance at some point.

 It felt like the longest of times for Dixon to just be sitting there with her in his arms. But it was only for a few short minutes, he had thought she'd fallen asleep until she rose out from his hold and began to walk away.

"I...I can't—can't be here." She whispers, walking so fast back towards the house that Daryl was already to his feet and down the porch before he turned back to look at the infirmary.
The man is caught in the crossfires.

So he trailed back a bit, jogging up into the room to see Denise checking Blake's eyes to see for any movement. The doctor, or almost doctor is positive in her returning, but not anytime soon.

The extent of her damage is still unknown, but the fact that she managed to stay conscious throughout a good few hours of being captured and throwing up allows for some standards to pass through.

With desperation written across Daryl's face, Denise silently nods in understanding before leaving the room. That being said, he was able to resume his position for the moment, but it was nothing more than him interlocking his hand with hers. Kneeing down before her as he choked and stuttered on what to say to her.

"Ya gonna be aight, ya hearin' me? Ya gonna pull through. Ya ain't gonna get outta this mess, not with—not while ya thinkin' we're mad at ya. Just gotta get there aight?" He spoke, kissing her directly onto the forehead before placing her limp hand comfortably back onto the bed.

He raced back on out now, running into the direction of Rick's house. But the second he saw Carl sitting on the stairs he stopped his pace. "Hell's Addie?"

"I—" He sniffled, and the man groaned.

It was one thing for Addie to be crying, but for her boyfriend to be...The idea just made him growl.

"S-s-she's...At you-r house." He coughed up, looking a bit horrified towards Daryl. Considering this the first time they've looked to one another since Carl...Did something very bad.

Addie was pressed against her bedroom door, locked. With the Snowball deep in the crook of her arm as she looked at the note again.

The damn note.

Princess,

Ya readin' this means I kicked the bucket and for that hun...I'm fuckin' sorry.

There are things I wanted to tell ya, so badly. But I promised ya ma she'd get the chance to do it.

And if ya ever do see her 'gain. Ya give her a good hug from me, aight?

I dunno when I saw at that dinner, but she was hella pregnant with ya darlin'. She was workin', studyin' and dealin' with whatever lil baby ya threw her way. But there was a time 'fore that. Think it was just a lil after summer, she came stormin' to the house. And it makes sense babygirl.

She was lookin' for ya damn father to yell at 'im 'bout what happened. To tell him.

But she found me that day and ran off. Whatever bullshit lies she told ya 'bout Toby. About the car accident, 'bout him bein' a lawyer or somethin'. They ain't true.

Ya a Dixon through and through hun.

Ya got that fire in ya eyes like my baby brother, that glare. And the aim.

There ain't no tellin' ya sorry hun. There ain't nothin I can say to make ya feel better. But Imma best try.

There was not a fuckin' thing that ya ma wouldn't do for ya. She never wanted to leave ya hun, even if it was for the government. She'd flinch every damn time the phone rang cause she thought it'd be 'em. Taking her 'way from ya.

She bought a house cause a ya. She threw parties, helped me work on a god damn treehouse for ya when she had the time.

But the biggest damn thin'. Is that she wanted to build ya ya own bike. For when ya old 'nough to ride.

That's what we Dixon's do. We hunt. And we ride.

We also drink and cuss to the fuckin' moon, but don't tell ya ma I told ya that one. Ya a lady, best keep actin' like it girlie.

Told ya before, Daryl wasn't fit to be a papa to ya. Don't know if that's changed or not, but he'll be protective as all hell. He's always like that, 'specally to ya ma.

Protective, lovin'...And a damn good provider.

I wish I coulda said this in person, to hold ya when ya cryin'.

I'm sorry princess, but some things were better left unsaid. But to Blake, to ya ma. Ya were never a mistake. Not even close. She's do anythin' for ya hun. Everythin'.

Ya just remember that, always.

-Merley

Ya real Uncle.

The tears were long since streaming down her face as she held the note to her chest and continued to fall back against the door. She had heard Daryl's quick steps up, knowing it was him was easy.

Either he demanded to be heard, or you wouldn't hear him at all.

"Addie? Hun...Open up." She squeezed her eyelids closed as she shook her head, biting down on her lip because it was pointless to talk. Especially to start a conversation that'd only end in more tears anyhow.

Pushing her hand against her mouth did she try to mute the sob, but Daryl could hear it. His ear was up against the door anyhow.

She's a teenager, he thought. How the hell do ya get through to 'em?

So he slumped against the door as well, making enough commotion for her to hear. And he too took out the letter Merle written him. Reading it once more to see how crinkled it was from it surviving this long.

It's downright horrific to see this still around. So he thought of something.

Folding the paper in half did he slip it underneath the door so that Addie could read it. But it was soon returned back a moment later. "Hun I want ya to—" He stopped when he noticed it wasn't the same.

They had traded papers.

The level of kindness was different in all of them. Blake's letter was Merle's helping words to understand their reactions, Addie's was about forgiving and Daryl's was about accepting.

Damn fuckin' asshole still tellin' me what to do. That's what he thought, Addie thought Merle speaking to Daryl was much more of a verbal conversation. She didn't like how sweet and sugar coating he was for hers.

It was silent, for a while actually. And if it weren't for the sobs here and there that broke out, Daryl would've thought she'd fallen asleep.

"Do I gotta bust down the door hun?" He whispered, extending his feet out to get a bit more comfortable.

"Just leave me alone."

"Can't do that hun, ya know I can't." He turned his head as if she were right beside him, and in technicality. She is. Just a wall in between them.

"I mean it. Just go." Her voice picked up a bit, and she hid in the folds of her arms as she sighed to herself.
She was thinking of a fark thought, and she tried so hard to get rid of it before speaking it. "Ya ma's gonna be aight hun. She's tough women. She—"

"I wish Merle was alive instead." She gritted through her teeth, and that made Daryl clench his fist.

"Was gonna get a screwdriver to bust down that god damn door. Really don't want me comin' in there sweetheart. Best open it while ya still got it."

"No." She was being aggressive, and for some reason. That put a frown on one side of his face and a smile on the other.

"We got through it once, we can do it 'gain."

"We thought she was really dead! We...We're being toyed with now!" She shouted, her voice strained as she pulled her hand to sooth it.

Dixon knew the feeling, so he rose up to his feet to head downstairs. His inner thoughts are screaming that she's hungry and thirsty. So that's what he'll do.

And right when everything was set in stone, he saw the gathering of people outside the house.

What happened was that people went to check on Blake. And nobody was there, Denise tried to stop them before stampeding their way to the front door. But it didn't happen. Instead, Glenn, Maggie, Abe, Rosita—Everyone was outside.

So Daryl took a deep breath in and out before opening the door to greet everyone outside. Yet he stopped right at the top of the staircase.

"Hell think ya'll doin'?" He greeted, looking down at the multiple faces.

All of which were either: Concerned, Heartbroken or enraged.

Abe took the position right at the second step, seeing as how he in fact was going to be the one to knock at the door.

"Went to go see sweetcheeks at the infirmary, meet all of them walking to the house. What're you doing here man?" He questioned, honestly. Nicely. But as Daryl hesitated, pulled his thumb to the house behind him.

He was interrupted.

"She's alone...Daryl—if she wakes up...And—and you're not there?" Glenn commented, he felt disgusted. Especially since it's the first day she's like this. Barely within the first couple of hours.

And with that did Maggie keep her head down. She knows why he's not there, but all the more reason to be beside her. Addie too.

"Look, Addie's locked in her room crying, I can't even get her outta her room. I've been sittin' by her door tryin' to her but it ain't working." He admitted, and the man felt...Broken.

He was at a lost and Carl couldn't help. He knew he wouldn't be able to. So the boy looked up at his father from the back of the crowd, he shook his head but then decided to walk towards Maggie.

"Can you talk to her?" The boy questioned, she didn't even have to look towards Glenn as she removed the hold he had on her to walk on up. She was one of the last people to see her mother active, maybe it'll help.

Walking past Daryl, his eyes pinned to something else. Everything else, other than the eyes of the crowd. But once he started to look at faces, they all darted away. The anger seeping into him rose and rose.

So he took a single step down.

"Ya know...Don't ya'll, how many of y'all knew?!" He growled, so the given few who's heads fell down made it obvious. Carol. Rosita. Carl and Rick.

They knew.

But the rest didn't.

"Know what?" Abe snorted, and that sent the dragon right to the target. Abe's been scared, a few times. Horrified even. But damn was he set off the moment he saw Daryl shaking with anger.

"That Addie's my kid." The growl was flat, and the second all eyes popped back up again. They darted immediately towards Abe, who was leaning against the porch railing coughing up a laugh.

When he had finally finished, the man took the honest tear that came out of his eyes at he looked around to see everyone's face in shock. Each and every god damn face, well...Besides Rosita's.

"Wait...You serious?!" The man shouted, taking another step to challenge's Dixon's level. Now it was Rosita's to scoff at the mess. Now she knows how everything's connected, how Daryl and her broke up.

How sleeping with Rick is so fresh.

"She's a mini god damn you...She shoots a bow. She's fuckin' crazy. And you're telling me, you didn't know she's your kid?!" Abe yelled, taking the final step to level with Dixon. Almost on the brink of touching noses did Glenn rally them up, removing them from the position altogether to break it up.

"Ya don't know nothin'..." Daryl warned, his fist crystal white as they tightened.

"Least I know if my kid's were near." That was the last straw, and all that was processed in Dixon's mind.

Was being the shitty father that everyone thought he'd be.

So Rick and Rosita were at the front, attempting tearing the other off. But Glenn had to help the girl yank back at Daryl because he was just too heated—Too triggered. By the events displayed.

 "Enough!" Rick dictated, coming between them both now. And it was just a quick twitch of Abe's jacket that he fixed. He might've pushed the line, but he lost his family...With Daryl complaining and fucking it up, the man is pissed too.

"Is she going to be okay though?" Carol's voice pipped up from the back, looking around and finally coming closer to the inner group. So it was Glenn who sighed, considering he has the newest information.

"Denise said she might wake up in a few days...If not then—" He choked on his own thought. So he shook it off, staring directly at Rick.

All eyes directed with Rick.

However, back into the house. Did Maggie just stand off towards the door, waiting to listen before going up the flight of stairs. And the only door that she saw closed, turned to be the one in question.

"Go away Daryl." The girl groaned, wiping her hand across her face. It was a blessing that she didn't hear anything from the outside, not that it mattered anyhow to her.

But if she did, she would be crying even more.

That Daryl didn't feel the connection, nor did she.

"It's me..." Maggie whispered, and the smile on the girl's face shot straight up.

"Oh...I thought you were—Are you going to tell me I should go and see mom?" She shot, the aggression almost mimicking what happened just below.

"That's what I was sent up for hun, but you don't have to do anything you don't want to do." She whispered kindly. Not threatening as Daryl, even if he tried to tone it down. His anger cracked through at most ends.

It was rather silent after that, so Maggie thought back to when Beth was alive, how to deal with these sorts of matters.

But then she too sighed down to feel her stomach, she wasn't around much either. The age gap the two sisters had didn't allow much of anything.

Maggie had gone to college when Beth barely finished middle school, there wasn't much time to deal with it.

"Do...Do you remember the first time we met?" She stumbled out, smiling to the door as if Addie to potentially see it. But as the question came forward into the young girl's mind, she nodded. 

"After Woodbury...Right?" She sniffled, wiping her eyes as she didn't know how else to respond.

It was right after Woodbury, Maggie had been walking with the entire cast of them. Leaving Glenn and Michonne at the car in waiting while she watched Addie being carried in her mother's arms the entire five miles back to the car.

"You fell asleep in her arms, we were walking all night....The entire time, Daryl—Merle and Rick. They were all asking if she wanted to take a break, but she kept you in her arms." Maggie whispered, almost in awe at how a mother touch turned so colorful.

Rubbing her stomach a few times over did she nod to herself.

I want to be the kind of mother Blake is.

"Didn't I threaten you?" The girl confessed, and that sparked a chuckle. A rusty and weak one from either side. "Yeah...Yeah you did, but you wouldn't have known who I was." It was an honest response, Maggie and her family joined the group around the time Addie had disappeared.

"You probably thought I was crazy..."
"No. But it explains a lot...Daryl being your father." Maggie retaliated, and instead. She flinched at the girl's inhale of air.

"D-did you know?" The adult figure quickly shut that down, it was only a few given people in the world that knew.

Merle.
Michael. Annett.
Jarod.
Shawn. Rachel.

Everyone, other than her father.

"You think I'm like Daryl?" She questioned, and Maggie could only feel her heart cracking in pain as she felt so heartbroken for the girl behind the wall.

Addie is so sweet, kind, and could definitely protect herself.
Just like her mother. And just like her father.

"Yes. And all he wants right now is to talk to you honey,"

"I don't know what to say to him..." The child was telling the truth, the whole truth.

"Then tell him that. Because he doesn't know what to say either." They were both caught in this mess, not knowing how to act like a child to a father or a father to a child.

And while Daryl was within his hands at the porch, listening to Rick's advice.

It didn't stray far from the knowledge that the man might be right. That all Addie needs is space. "I just want mom back." 

"I know sweetie, Denise said that she might wake up in a few days when the swelling calms down." Now that wasn't something Daryl wanted her to know, how excessive the injuries are.

But Addie does have the right to know.

"Can...Can you get the photo album?... It's in their room I think." She requestioned, and Maggie wasn't about to deny her. So off she went, straight to see the given mess of it all.

The unmade bed, the obvious picture of one of the two parents sleeping on the couch.
And there it was.

The leather booklet that managed to survive all this time. It was already opened, Daryl had looked it over all night. That's what the evidence shows to Maggie at least.
But picking it up did she see something else. A small folded piece of a paper right beside a pillow. Hugging the book to her chest did she go straight towards it. Unfolding the paper and reading something that could only be described in one way.

Blake's handwriting.

Daryl,

I told you that I went to help Olivia sort through the guns, but I lied. Add that to the list. Instead, I'm outside. I have a pack of food, few arrows and water. I need a breather just as much as you do.

Addie as well.

Don't try and come to find me, don't try to follow my tracks. I'll come back, you two don't me to talk. You need to talk to each other.

I've studied enough about other families that maybe I know a little bit about my own. Even with all the hate that I know you feel, I am so happy that I finally had the courage to tell you. If I waited any longer, I think I would've cracked.

There are so many things I should've done in my life. But I don't regret you or Addie.

If It weren't for Addie, I would've been alone my entire life. I wouldn't have been warm and loving, I would've been shielded off.

I've loved you for a long time Daryl Dixon, but I don't think I've ever written you a letter. It's always been you. And to be honest I don't know how the hell you do it all the time.

-Rory

Maggie gulped as the letter wasn't meant for her eyes. So she returned to Addie for a moment, dropping it off and explaining how she needed to talk to Daryl for a moment.

So instead, when Addie peeked open at the door, she realized how hungry she was. Hurrying along downstairs to hear the conversation. But it was inaudible, just Daryl looking down at the piece of paper Maggie had handed off.

And before they all knew it, he began racing to the back of the house.

Why was mom's bow outside? She thought...

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Date Posted: 08-16-19

Time: 11:44

Words: 5073

I think the chapter title is perfect, because this was completely overdue. I'm sorry!