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Third Person POV

He sat there at the fire, feeling the warmth but ignoring all signs. What he wanted to feel was her lips back onto his, to have her in his arms. To feel the warmth that he tried to replace with the fire instead.

It wasn't working out.

Just like his plans to woo her back. 
There was more than distrust, it was solid hatred. But with him sinking his head between his knees and start unmasking himself in finally being alone. Did he realize, that he almost did hit her. He woke up for the split moment, and what was even worse...

Was that she wasn't going to defend herself, that was the level of trust that he broke.

As he heard the given steps come closer and closer, he planed on what he wanted to say to Rory. His Rory. How he could make everything better, but all these promises were the same he tried to stick to before.

Protecting her...And all he has done today for the past couple of hours was hurt her even more, and physically.

Instead, he just stayed in the same position. His head between his leg, almost like a dog's tail between there's. And as he finally looked up to see the figure, wiping one clear eye from the dreaded tears. He realized it wasn't Rory.

Course she wouldn't come back this quickly.

"I heard yelling, is everything alright...?" Carol's voice sounded out, and he shrugged as his gaze just went straight to look back into the fire.

The women further her approach so hesitantly, she realized why Blake might've been scared in the first place. He just had set up camp and didn't think anyone would take the long journey over.

That's why Blake chose this tree, right? To see when people are coming.

"...between you and Blake?" His eyes flickered over towards her, almost as if inviting her to sit down. The two mother's who lost their daughters must talk, talk about something in common at least.

He hasn't had to ask about another person like this, not since high school when he was trying to find everything he could about Blake.

Little did she know, that Daryl already knew everything about her. Minus the name portion, along with a few other things. But his knowledge about her stepdad and brother and all that was already known.

Hell, the day he met her at the diner. He asked Shawn about her in the instant. Back when they were still friends rather.

In the house, the issue wasn't doing at all any different. Lori informed Shane that Rick knows about the adultery they committed back at the Quarry, and Blake was listening in to the entire thing. Shaking her head and giving the same silent judgment Maggie was giving as well.

They were whispering, bonding over how ridiculous this entire situation is.

As were Daryl and Carol, yet they were just silent as they sat and stared at the fire together. They didn't speak, not unless Carols started the conversation, which she tried more times than once.

And some of those questions involved:
 "You love her...Don't you?"


"I did. And I still do...My fault I'm an ass." 
He confessed the love he has to Blake to someone else, and he's never done that before. Maybe to Jarod, but that was her brother. Daryl even had doubts on how much his brother knew about their relationship.

Merle knew enough. Enough to have information sent to her every other week of the year for the last decade. Instead, he stood beside the fire and became the unsocialized beast he was so desperate to continue to be.

As Carol finally stood up to say her goodnights, was he quick to ask her to look in on Blake for him. And she agreed.

It seemed like the given pattern for people to look out for one another. And the only person that has his back was Blake. 
And it is was, because he has doubts if he'll ever achieve it again.

Everything was fine until Shane opened the barn and caused this guilty conscious to sprout in Blake's mind. She became hopeless, making them both angry, then she became hopefully without telling him right away. Instead she waited until after his outrage was out in the open.

But the note. The damn note lingered in his mind.

He gave it to her when he got arrested on his birthday. If she knew the entire story, boy would they have gotten in a whole load of trouble.

They were on their way to the army base to see her. Or as much as he can recall at least, they barely made it on the highway considering how fucked up they truly were.

Instead, he managed to screw everything over and apologize in a note that turned around the tables in an instant. It was the letter he told her 'I love you' in, he was deathly afraid of saying it in person. And it was alright that she didn't return it in the moment because he understood.

She needs to build a certain level of trust before she could say it.
 Because not only do they have the shitty father's that are comparable, but the same given feel of people leaving them. They were both afraid, and he finally realized that at this very moment. 
So why did she keep the letter? Why keep anything? 
He couldn't deny the fact that he kept the vest, or the pictures.

But he couldn't deny the addiction he had. It wasn't a long one, he had gotten himself out of it thank god. He forced himself to go straight into the woods and keep himself away from the drug for a given few weeks before destroying the habit.

Another secret he couldn't deny, was that he cut all ties to Jules after the first year or two. He tried fixing his life.

He fell back from his position, just watching the smoke admit from the fire at his feet as he tried to rest. His balled up fist was placed at his forehead as he studied the stars, remembering how Rory tried to explain all the stories to him...
Right before she left for college...

Back at the house, there was another unsettling nerve happening. And Blake feared for more than just Lori. Shane was sounding hostile, completely and utterly insane as he tried to convince himself whatever him and Lori had was real.

In his mind it is.

And Lori, although she's trying to plead her own case. He's not having it and won't see it any other way.

He's cracking, Dale's seen it. And Blake noticed it the first time when he questioned why Addie had a pistol. He knows that she is trained in handling it. So why bother? It was his need to get someone to disagree with him to get this amped up.

And now he is.

Although Blake wanted to run back to Daryl and ask for his protection. She just asked Maggie kindly if she could stay in the house tonight. And she did nothing more than offer a solid nod as they continued to listen to their conversation.

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Date Posted: 09-24-18// Time:3:15 

Word-Count: 1284

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